M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Civil war between the Benjaminites and the Israelites

20 Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beer-sheba, as well as from the area of Gilead, marched out, and the group assembled as one body in the Lord’s presence at Mizpah. ² The commanders of the people and of all the tribes of Israel took their place in the assembly of God’s people, four hundred thousand foot soldiers armed with swords. ³ And the Benjaminites got word that the Israelites had marched up to Mizpah.

The Israelites inquired, “Tell us how this evil act happened.”

⁴ So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered, “My secondary wife and I came to Gibeah of Benjamin to spend the night, ⁵ and the leading citizens of Gibeah tried to attack me. They surrounded me in the house at night and were determined to kill me. They abused my secondary wife until she died. ⁶ I took her, chopped her up, and sent her pieces into every part of Israel’s territory, because they had committed a disgraceful act in Israel. ⁷ All you Israelites, say what you think should be done here and now!”

⁸ At this, all the people stood as one to say, “Not a single one of us is going home or returning to our house! ⁹ This is what we’re now going to do to Gibeah: We’ll march up^[a] against it as the lot determines. ¹⁰ From all the tribes of Israel, we’ll get ten men for every hundred, one hundred for every thousand, and one thousand for every ten thousand to take supplies for the troops who are going to pay back^[b] Gibeah of Benjamin for the disgraceful act they’ve done in Israel.” ¹¹ So all the Israelites joined together and were united as one against the city.

¹² The Israelite tribes sent men throughout the whole tribe of Benjamin with this message: “What about this evil act that happened among you? ¹³ Now hand over those perverse men in Gibeah so that we can execute them and remove the evil from Israel.” But the Benjaminites refused to comply with the demand of their own relatives the Israelites. ¹⁴ Instead, the Benjaminites from all the cities came together at Gibeah to march out for battle against the Israelites. ¹⁵ On that day, the Benjaminites called up from their cities twenty-six thousand men armed with swords, not counting those living in Gibeah.^{[c] 16} Out of this entire army, seven hundred specially chosen men were left-handed, and every one of them could sling a stone at a hair and not miss. ¹⁷ Not counting Benjamin, the Israelites called up four hundred thousand men armed with swords, and every one of them was a trained warrior.

¹⁸ Then the Israelites marched up to Bethel to ask for direction from God. They inquired, “Who should go up first to fight against the Benjaminites for us?”

And the Lord said, “Let the tribe of Judah be first.”

¹⁹ So the next morning, the Israelites got up and camped near Gibeah. ²⁰ They marched out to fight against the Benjaminites, lining up in battle formation against them at Gibeah. ²¹ But the Benjaminites marched out from Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelite men that day.

^23 [d] So the Israelites went back up and wept before the Lord until evening. They asked the Lord, “Should we move in again to fight our relatives the Benjaminites?”

And the Lord replied, “March out against them.”

²² The Israelite troops regrouped and lined up in battle formation again in the same place they had lined up the first day. ²⁴ The Israelites moved in against the Benjaminites the second day. ²⁵ But the Benjaminites marched out of Gibeah to meet them on that second day and cut down another eighteen thousand Israelite men, all of whom were armed with swords.

²⁶ Then all the Israelite troops went back up to Bethel and wept, just sitting there in the Lord’s presence. They fasted that whole day until evening. Then they offered entirely burned offerings and well-being sacrifices to the Lord. ²⁷ Now in those days the chest containing God’s covenant was there, ²⁸ and Phinehas, Eleazar’s son and Aaron’s grandson, was in charge of ministering before it. The Israelites asked the Lord, “Should we march out once again to fight our relatives the Benjaminites or should we give up?”

And the Lord replied, “March up, for I’ll hand them to you tomorrow.”

²⁹ So the Israelites set ambushes around Gibeah. ³⁰ Three days later, the Israelites marched out against the Benjaminites. They lined up for battle against Gibeah as before. ³¹ When the Benjaminites came out to meet them, they were drawn away from the city. They began to strike down some of the troops just like the last time, about thirty Israelites along the main roads, one of which goes up to Bethel and one to Gibeah, as well as in the open fields. ³² The Benjaminites thought, They’re being wiped out before us like the first time. But the Israelites had planned, We’ll retreat and draw them away from the city toward the main roads. ³³ The Israelites moved from their position and reformed their battle lines at Baal-tamar. Then the Israelites who had been set in ambush charged out from their positions west of Gibeah.^{[e] 34} Ten thousand specially chosen men from all the Israelites came against Gibeah. The fighting was fierce, and the Benjaminites didn’t realize that disaster was almost on them. ³⁵ The Lord wiped out the Benjaminites before Israel. The Israelites slaughtered twenty-five thousand one hundred Benjaminite men that day, all of them armed with swords. ³⁶ Then the Benjaminites saw that they had been defeated.

The Israelites had given ground to the Benjaminites because they relied on the ambush that they had set around Gibeah. ³⁷ Indeed, those in the ambush had dashed swiftly into Gibeah and killed all the people in the city with their swords. ³⁸ The plan between the main force of the Israelites and those in the ambush was that when they sent up a big cloud of smoke from the city, ³⁹ the Israelites would turn around in battle. The Benjaminites had begun to defeat some of the Israelites and had killed about thirty men, thinking, They are definitely going to be wiped out before us, as in the first battle! ⁴⁰ But then the column of smoke began to rise from the city. When the Benjaminites looked back, there was the entire city going up in smoke to the sky. ⁴¹ The main force of the Israelites turned around, and the Benjaminites lost heart, because they recognized that disaster had fallen on them. ⁴² They turned back before the Israelites in the direction of the desert, but the fighting caught up with them, and those from the towns were slaughtering them there.^{[f] 43} They encircled the Benjaminites, chased them from Nohah,^[g] and trampled them to the east of Gibeah. ⁴⁴ Eighteen thousand Benjaminites fell, all of whom were strong warriors. ⁴⁵ When they turned back and fled toward the desert to the rock of Rimmon, the Israelites picked off another five thousand men on the main roads. And when they caught up with them at Gidom, they struck down two thousand more.

⁴⁶ All in all, the total number of Benjaminites who fell that day was twenty-five thousand men, all of whom were armed with swords and were strong warriors. ⁴⁷ Six hundred men turned back and fled toward the desert to the rock of Rimmon. They stayed at the rock of Rimmon for four months. ⁴⁸ But the Israelites turned their attention to the rest of the Benjaminites and massacred them entirely—the city, the people, even the animals, and everything else they found. They also burned down every city they came across.

Paul’s trial before Felix

24 Five days later the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and a lawyer named Tertullus. They pressed charges against Paul before the governor. ² After the governor summoned Paul, Tertullus began to make his case against him. He declared, “Under your leadership, we have experienced substantial peace, and your administration has brought reforms to our nation. ³ Always and everywhere, most honorable Felix, we acknowledge this with deep gratitude. ⁴ I don’t want to take too much of your time, so I ask that you listen with your usual courtesy to our brief statement of the facts. ⁵ We have found this man to be a troublemaker who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the empire. He’s a ringleader of the Nazarene faction ⁶ and even tried to defile the temple. That’s when we arrested him.^{[a] 8} By examining him yourself, you will be able to verify the allegations we are bringing against him.” ⁹ The Jews reinforced the action against Paul, affirming the truth of these accusations.

¹⁰ The governor nodded at Paul, giving him permission to speak.

He responded, “I know that you have been judge over this nation for many years, so I gladly offer my own defense. ¹¹ You can verify that I went up to worship in Jerusalem no more than twelve days ago. ¹² They didn’t find me arguing with anyone in the temple or stirring up a crowd, whether in the synagogue or anywhere else in the city. ¹³ Nor can they prove to you the allegations they are now bringing against me. ¹⁴ I do admit this to you, that I am a follower of the Way, which they call a faction. Accordingly, I worship the God of our ancestors and believe everything set out in the Law and written in the Prophets. ¹⁵ The hope I have in God I also share with my accusers, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous. ¹⁶ On account of this, I have committed myself to maintaining a clear conscience before God and with all people. ¹⁷ After an absence of several years, I came to Jerusalem to bring gifts for the poor of my nation and to offer sacrifices. ¹⁸ When they found me in the temple, I was ritually pure. There was no crowd and no disturbance. ¹⁹ But there were some Jews from the province of Asia. They should be here making their accusations, if indeed they have something against me. ²⁰ In their absence, have these people who are here declare what crime they found when I stood before the Jerusalem Council. ²¹ Perhaps it concerns this one statement that I blurted out when I was with them: ‘I am on trial before you today because of the resurrection of the dead.’”

²² Felix, who had an accurate understanding of the Way, adjourned the meeting. He said, “When Lysias the commander arrives from Jerusalem, I will decide this case.” ²³ He arranged for a centurion to guard Paul. He was to give Paul some freedom, and his friends were not to be hindered in their efforts to provide for him.

Paul in custody

²⁴ After several days, Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and summoned Paul. He listened to him talk about faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁵ When he spoke about upright behavior, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became fearful and said, “Go away for now! When I have time, I’ll send for you.” ²⁶ At the same time, he was hoping that Paul would offer him some money, so he often sent for him and talked with him.

²⁷ When two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. Since Felix wanted to grant a favor to the Jews, he left Paul in prison.

Lessons on obedience and disobedience

34 Jeremiah received the Lord’s word when Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar and his army, and all the countries and people he ruled, were attacking Jerusalem and all its towns. ² The Lord, the God of Israel, proclaims, Go and speak to Judah’s King Zedekiah and say to him: The Lord proclaims, I’m handing this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down. ³ You won’t escape but will be captured and handed over to him. You will see the king of Babylon with your very own eyes and speak to him personally, and you will be taken to Babylon. ⁴ Even so, hear the Lord’s word, King Zedekiah of Judah: This is what the Lord proclaims about you: You won’t die in battle; ⁵ you will die a peaceful death. As burial incense was burned to honor your ancestors, the kings who came before you, so it will be burned to honor you as people mourn, “Oh, master!” I myself promise this, declares the Lord.

⁶ The prophet Jeremiah delivered this message to Judah’s King Zedekiah in Jerusalem ⁷ when the army of the king of Babylon was attacking Jerusalem and all the remaining Judean towns, Lachish and Azekah—the only fortified towns still standing in Judah.

⁸ Jeremiah received the Lord’s word after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim liberty for their slaves: ⁹ everyone was to free their male and female Hebrew slaves and no longer hold a Judean brother or sister in bondage. ¹⁰ So all the officials and people who entered into this covenant agreed to free their male and female slaves and no longer hold them in bondage; they obeyed the king’s command^[a] and let them go. ¹¹ But afterward they broke their promise, took back the men and women they had freed, and enslaved them again.

¹² Then the Lord’s word came to Jeremiah: ¹³ The Lord, the God of Israel, proclaims: I made a covenant with your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ¹⁴ I said that every seventh year each of you must free any Hebrews who have been sold to you. After they have served you for six years, you must set them free. But your ancestors didn’t obey or pay any attention to me. ¹⁵ Recently you turned about and did what was right in my sight; each of you proclaimed liberty for the other and made a covenant before me in the temple that bears my name. ¹⁶ But then you went back on your word and made my name impure; each of you reclaimed the men and women you had set free and forced them to be your slaves again.

¹⁷ Therefore, the Lord proclaims: Since you have defied me by not setting your fellow citizens free, I’m setting you free, declares the Lord, free to die by the sword, disease, and famine! And I will make you an object of horror for all nations on earth. ¹⁸ I will make those who disregarded my covenant, violating its terms that they agreed to in my presence, like the calf they cut in two and then walked between the halves of its carcass. ¹⁹ The officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the eunuchs and priests, and all the people who passed through the pieces of the calf ²⁰ I will hand over to their enemies who seek to kill them. And their corpses will become food for birds and wild animals. ²¹ I will hand over Judah’s King Zedekiah and his officials to their enemies who seek to kill them: namely, the army of Babylon’s king, which has just withdrawn from you. ²² I’m about to issue orders, declares the Lord, that the army of Babylon return to this city. They will wage war against it, capture it, and burn it down along with other Judean cities. I will make Judah a wasteland, without inhabitants.

Psalm 5

For the music leader. For the flutes. A psalm of David.

Psalm 6

For the music leader. On stringed instruments. According to the eighth.^[a] A psalm of David.