Book of Common Prayer

9 Avimelekh the son of Yeruba‘al went to Sh’khem, to his mother’s brothers, and spoke with them and with the whole clan of his maternal grandfather. He said, ² “Please ask all the men of Sh’khem, ‘Which is better for you — that all seventy sons of Yeruba‘al rule over you, or that one person rule over you? And remember that I am your blood relative.’” ³ His mother’s brothers spoke to all the men of Sh’khem and said all this about him, so that they followed their feelings and supported Avimelekh, arguing, “After all, he’s our brother.” ⁴ They also gave him seventy pieces of silver from the temple of Ba‘al-B’rit; and he used these to pay good-for-nothing thugs to follow him. ⁵ He went back to his father’s house in ‘Ofrah and killed his brothers the sons of Yeruba‘al, all seventy of them, on a single rock, except for Yotam Yeruba‘al’s youngest son, who stayed alive because he hid himself.

⁶ All the men of Sh’khem and all Beit-Millo got together and went and made Avimelekh king at the oak by the cult-pillar in Sh’khem. ⁷ When they told this to Yotam, he went and stood on top of Mount G’rizim and shouted, “Listen to me, you leaders of Sh’khem; then God will listen to you! ⁸ Once the trees went out to choose a king to rule them. They said to the olive tree, ‘Rule over us!’ ⁹ But the olive tree replied, ‘Am I supposed to leave my oil, which is used to honor both God and humanity, just to go and hold sway over the trees?’ ¹⁰ So the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You, come and rule over us!’ ¹¹ But the fig tree replied, ‘Am I supposed to leave my sweetness and my good fruit just to go and hold sway over the trees?’ ¹² So the trees said to the grapevine, ‘You, come and rule over us!’ ¹³ But the grapevine replied, ‘Am I supposed to leave my wine, which gives cheer to God and humanity, just to go and hold sway over the trees?’ ¹⁴ Finally, all the trees said to the thorn bush, ‘You, come and rule over us!’ ¹⁵ The thorn bush replied, ‘If you really make me king over you, then come and take shelter in my shade. But if not, let fire come out of the thorn bush and burn down the cedars of the L’vanon!’

¹⁶ “Here’s the point. Have you been honest and straightforward in making Avimelekh king? Have you been fair with Yeruba‘al and his household and treated him as he deserves?

¹⁹ I say this: if you are dealing honestly and righteously with Yeruba‘al and his household today, then may you enjoy Avimelekh and may he enjoy you! ²⁰ But if not, let fire come out from Avimelekh and burn up the men of Sh’khem and Beit-Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Sh’khem and Beit-Millo and burn up Avimelekh!” ²¹ Then Yotam fled, making his way to Be’er, and he lived there for fear of Avimelekh his brother.

¹³ When they saw how bold Kefa and Yochanan were, even though they were untrained ‘am-ha’aretz, they were amazed; also they recognized them as having been with Yeshua. ¹⁴ Moreover, since they could see the man who had been healed standing right there beside them, there was nothing they could say to discredit the healing. ¹⁵ So they told them to step away from the Sanhedrin while they discussed the matter privately. ¹⁶ “What can we do with these men?” they asked each other. “Why, anyone in Yerushalayim can see that a remarkable miracle has come about through them — we can’t possibly deny that. ¹⁷ But to prevent it from spreading any further among the people, let’s warn them not to speak any more to anyone in this name.”

¹⁸ So they called them in again and ordered them under no circumstances to speak or teach in the name of Yeshua. ¹⁹ But Kefa and Yochanan answered, “You must judge whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than God. ²⁰ As for us, we can’t help talking about what we have actually seen and heard.” ²¹ They threatened them some more but finally let them go — they couldn’t punish them because of the people, for everyone was praising God over what had happened, ²² since the man who had been miraculously healed was more than forty years old.

²³ Upon being released, they went back to their friends and reported what the head cohanim and elders had said to them. ²⁴ When they heard it, they raised their voices to God with singleness of heart. “Master,” they prayed, “You made heaven, earth, the sea and everything in them.^{[a] 25} By the Ruach HaKodesh, through the mouth of our father David, your servant, you said,

²⁷ “This has come true in this city, since Herod and Pontius Pilate, with Goyim and the peoples of Isra’el, all assembled against your holy servant Yeshua, whom you made Messiah, ²⁸ to do what your power and plan had already determined beforehand should happen.

²⁹ “So now, Lord, take note of their threats; and enable your slaves to speak your message with boldness! ³⁰ Stretch out your hand to heal and to do signs and miracles through the name of your holy servant Yeshua!”

³¹ While they were still praying, the place where they were gathered was shaken. They were all filled with the Ruach HaKodesh, and they spoke God’s message with boldness.

2 On Tuesday^[a] there was a wedding at Kanah in the Galil; and the mother of Yeshua was there. ² Yeshua too was invited to the wedding, along with his talmidim. ³ The wine ran out, and Yeshua’s mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” ⁴ Yeshua replied, “Mother, why should that concern me? — or you? My time hasn’t come yet.” ⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” ⁶ Now six stone water-jars were standing there for the Jewish ceremonial washings, each with a capacity of twenty or thirty gallons. ⁷ Yeshua told them, “Fill the jars with water,” and they filled them to the brim. ⁸ He said, “Now draw some out, and take it to the man in charge of the banquet”; and they took it. ⁹ The man in charge tasted the water; it had now turned into wine! He did not know where it had come from, but the servants who had drawn the water knew. So he called the bridegroom ¹⁰ and said to him, “Everyone else serves the good wine first and the poorer wine after people have drunk freely. But you have kept the good wine until now!” ¹¹ This, the first of Yeshua’s miraculous signs, he did at Kanah in the Galil; he manifested his glory, and his talmidim came to trust in him. ¹² Afterwards, he, his mother and brothers, and his talmidim went down to K’far-Nachum and stayed there a few days.