The Daily Audio Bible
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22 ¶ When Abimelech had dominated over Israel three years,
23 then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem, and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech
24 that the cruelty done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal and their blood might come to be laid upon Abimelech their brother who slew them and upon the men of Shechem, who aided him in the killing of his brethren.
25 And the men of Shechem set ambushers for him in the top of the mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them; and it was told Abimelech.
26 And Gaal, the son of Ebed, came with his brethren and went over to Shechem; and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him.
27 And they went out into the fields and gathered their vineyards and trod the grapes and made merry and went into the house of their gods and ate and drank and cursed Abimelech.
28 And Gaal, the son of Ebed, said, Who is Abimelech and who is Shechem that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal? And is not Zebul his deputy? Serve the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem. For why should we serve him?
29 If these people were under my hand, then I would remove Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, Increase thine army and come out.
30 And when Zebul, the prince of the city, heard the words of Gaal, the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled.
31 And he sent messengers unto Abimelech astutely, saying, Behold, Gaal, the son of Ebed, and his brethren have come to Shechem; and, behold, they have fortified the city against thee.
32 Now, therefore, rise up by night, thou and the people that are with thee, and put an ambush in the field.
33 And in the morning as soon as the sun is up, thou shalt rise early and set upon the city; and, behold, when he and the people that are with him come out against thee, then thou may do to them as thou shalt find occasion.
34 And Abimelech rose up and all the people that were with him, by night, and they put an ambush against Shechem in four companies.
35 And Gaal, the son of Ebed, went out and stood in the entering of the gate of the city; and Abimelech and all the people that were with him rose up from the ambush.
36 And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold people that come down from the tops of the mountains. And Zebul said unto him, Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.
37 And Gaal spoke again and said, See there come people who descend through the middle of the land, and another company comes along by the plain of Meonenim.
38 Then Zebul said unto him, Where is now thy mouth, with which thou didst say, Who is Abimelech that we should serve him? Is not this the people that thou hast despised? Go out now and fight with them.
39 And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem and fought with Abimelech.
40 And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many were overthrown and wounded, even unto the entering of the gate.
41 And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah; and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his brethren that they should not dwell in Shechem.
42 And it came to pass on the next day that the people went out into the field, and they told Abimelech.
43 And he took the people and divided them into three companies and set ambushes in the field and looked, and, behold, the people were come forth out of the city; and he rose up against them and smote them.
44 And Abimelech and the company that was with him rushed forward and stood in the entering of the gate of the city, and the two other companies ran upon all the people that were in the fields and slew them.
45 And Abimelech fought against the city all that day, and he took the city and slew the people that were therein and beat down the city and sowed it with salt.
46 And when those of the tower of Shechem heard that, they entered into the stronghold of the temple of the god Berith.
47 And it was told Abimelech how all those of the tower of Shechem were gathered together.
48 Then Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people that were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand and cut down a bough from the trees and took it and laid it on his shoulder and said unto the people that were with him, What ye have seen me do, make haste and do as I have done.
49 And all the people likewise cut down each one his bough and followed Abimelech and put them next to the stronghold and set the stronghold on fire upon them; so that all those of the tower of Shechem died, about a thousand men and women.
50 ¶ Then Abimelech went to Thebez and laid siege against Thebez and took it.
51 But in the midst of the city there was a strong tower, and all the men and women fled there, and all those of the city, and shutting the doors behind them, they climbed up to the top of the tower.
52 And Abimelech came to the tower, and fighting against it, he came to the door of the tower to burn it with fire.
53 But a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull.
54 Then he called hastily unto the young man, his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword and slay me that it not be said of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died.
55 And when the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed each one unto his place.
56 Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did against his father in slaying his seventy brethren.
57 And all the evil of the men of Shechem God rendered upon their heads, and upon them came the curse of Jotham, the son of Jerubbaal.
10 ¶ And after Abimelech there arose to save Israel, Tola, the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in Mount Ephraim.
2 And he judged Israel twenty-three years and died and was buried in Shamir.
3 And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years.
4 And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called the cities of Jair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead.
5 And Jair died and was buried in Camon.
6 ¶ And the sons of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD and served the Baalim and Ashtaroth and the gods of Syria and the gods of Zidon and the gods of Moab and the gods of the sons of Ammon and the gods of the Philistines and forsook the LORD and did not serve him.
7 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the sons of Ammon,
8 who dashed in pieces and crushed the sons of Israel for eighteen years, all the sons of Israel that were on the other side of the Jordan in the land of the Amorite, which is in Gilead.
9 Moreover the sons of Ammon passed over the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim so that Israel was sore distressed.
10 ¶ And the sons of Israel cried unto the LORD, saying, We have sinned against thee because we have forsaken our God and served the Baalim.
11 And the LORD replied unto the sons of Israel, Were you not oppressed by Egypt, by the Amorites, by the sons of Ammon, by the Philistines,
12 by those of Zidon, by Amalek, and by Maon, and ye cried to me and I delivered you out of their hands?
13 Yet ye have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore, I will deliver you no more.
14 Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your affliction.
15 And the sons of Israel said unto the LORD, We have sinned; do thou unto us whatever seems good unto thee; only deliver us now, we pray thee, this day.
16 And they put away the strange gods from among them and served the LORD; and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.
17 Then the sons of Ammon were gathered together and encamped in Gilead. And likewise the sons of Israel assembled themselves together and encamped in Mizpeh.
18 And the people and princes of Gilead said one to another, Who shall it be that will begin the battle against the sons of Ammon? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
13 ¶ And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was about sixty furlongs from Jerusalem.
14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened.
15 And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near and went together with them.
16 But their eyes were held fast that they should not know him.
17 And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another as ye walk and are sad?
18 And one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?
19 Then he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,
20 and how the princes of the priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and crucified him.
21 But we were hoping that it was he who should redeem Israel, and beside all this, today is the third day since these things were done.
22 Although also certain women of our company made us astonished, who before daybreak were at the sepulchre;
23 and when they did not find his body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive.
24 And certain of those who were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said; but they did not see him.
25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken;
26 ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter (like this) into his glory?
27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded this unto them in all the scriptures concerning himself.
28 And they drew near unto the village where they went, and he made as though he would have gone further.
29 But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.
30 And it came to pass as he sat at the table with them, he took bread and blessed it and broke and gave to them.
31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.
32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us in the way and while he opened to us the scriptures?
33 And they rose up the same hour and returned to Jerusalem and found the eleven gathered together and those that were with them,
34 saying, The Lord is risen indeed and has appeared to Simon.
35 And they told what things were done in the way and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
36 ¶ And as they spoke these things, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and said unto them, Peace be unto you.
37 But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed that they were seeing a spirit.
38 And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?
39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
40 And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet.
41 And as they were not believing him yet for joy and wondering, he said unto them, Have ye here any food?
42 So they gave him a piece of a broiled fish and of a honeycomb.
43 And he took it and ate before them.
44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spoke unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the psalms, concerning me.
45 Then he opened their understanding that they might understand the scriptures
46 and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day;
47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
48 And ye are witnesses of these things.
49 And, behold, I shall send the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye are endued with power from on high.
50 ¶ And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them.
51 And it came to pass while he blessed them, he was parted from them and carried up into heaven.
52 And they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy
53 and were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.
A Psalm of praise.
1 ¶ Make a joyful noise unto the LORD all the earth.
2 Serve the LORD with gladness; come before his presence with joy.
3 Know ye that the LORD he is God; it is he that has made us and not we ourselves; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise; be thankful unto him and bless his name.
5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endures to all generations.
11 ¶ The house of the wicked shall be made desolate, but the tent of the upright shall flourish.
12 ¶ There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
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