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Gideon Surprises and Routs the Midianites
7 Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the troops who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod, and the camp of Midian was north of them, below[a] the hill of Moreh, in the valley.(A)
2 The Lord said to Gideon, “The troops with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand. Israel would only take the credit away from me, saying, ‘My own hand has delivered me.’(B) 3 Now, therefore, proclaim this in the hearing of the troops, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home.’ ” Thus Gideon sifted them out;[b] twenty-two thousand returned, and ten thousand remained.(C)
4 Then the Lord said to Gideon, “The troops are still too many; take them down to the water, and I will sift them out for you there. When I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you, and when I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”(D) 5 So he brought the troops down to the water, and the Lord said to Gideon, “All those who lap the water with their tongues, as a dog laps, you shall put to one side; all those who kneel down to drink, putting their hands to their mouths,[c] you shall put to the other side.” 6 The number of those who lapped was three hundred, but all the rest of the troops knelt down to drink water. 7 Then the Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred who lapped I will deliver you and give the Midianites into your hand. Let all the others go to their homes.”(E) 8 So the people took provisions in their hands and their trumpets, and he sent all the rest of Israel back to their own tents but retained the three hundred. The camp of Midian was below him in the valley.
9 That same night the Lord said to him, “Get up; attack the camp, for I have given it into your hand.(F) 10 But if you fear to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah, 11 and you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to attack the camp.” Then he went down with his servant Purah to the outposts of the armed men who were in the camp.(G) 12 The Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the east lay along the valley as thick as locusts, and their camels were without number, countless as the sand on the seashore.(H) 13 When Gideon arrived, there was a man telling a dream to his comrade, and he said, “I had a dream, and in it a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell; it turned upside down, and the tent collapsed.” 14 And his comrade answered, “This is no other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, a man of Israel; into his hand God has given Midian and all the army.”(I)
15 When Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped, and he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Get up, for the Lord has given the army of Midian into your hand.”(J) 16 After he divided the three hundred men into three companies and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with torches inside the jars, 17 he said to them, “Look at me, and do the same; when I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. 18 When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you also blow the trumpets around the whole camp and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’ ”(K)
19 So Gideon and the hundred who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch, and they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands. 20 So the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars, holding in their left hands the torches and in their right hands the trumpets to blow, and they cried, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”(L) 21 Every man stood in his place all around the camp, and all the men in camp ran; they cried out and fled.(M) 22 When they blew the three hundred trumpets, the Lord set every man’s sword against his fellow and against all the army, and the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah,[d] as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath.(N) 23 And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after the Midianites.(O)
24 Then Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters against them, as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they seized the waters as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.(P) 25 They captured the two captains of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb, as they pursued the Midianites. They brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan.(Q)
Gideon’s Triumph and Vengeance
8 Then the Ephraimites said to him, “What have you done to us, not to call us when you went to fight against the Midianites?” And they upbraided him violently.(R) 2 So he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? 3 God has given into your hands the captains of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; what have I been able to do in comparison with you?” When he said this, their anger against him subsided.(S)
4 Then Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the three hundred who were with him, exhausted but still pursuing. 5 So he said to the people of Succoth, “Please give some loaves of bread to my followers, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”(T) 6 But the officials of Succoth said, “Do you already have in your possession the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna, that we should give bread to your army?”(U) 7 Gideon replied, “Well then, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will trample your flesh on the thorns of the wilderness and on briers.”(V) 8 From there he went up to Penuel and made the same request of them, and the people of Penuel answered him as the people of Succoth had answered.(W) 9 So he said to the people of Penuel, “When I come back victorious, I will break down this tower.”(X)
10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of all the army of the people of the east, for one hundred twenty thousand men bearing arms had fallen. 11 So Gideon went up by the caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the army, for the army was off its guard. 12 Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and threw all the army into a panic.(Y)
13 When Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres, 14 he caught a young man, one of the people of Succoth, and questioned him, and he listed for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven people. 15 Then he came to the people of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Do you already have in your possession the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna, that we should give bread to your troops who are exhausted?’ ”(Z) 16 So he took the elders of the city, and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he trampled[e] the people of Succoth.(AA) 17 He also broke down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.(AB)
Jesus Sentenced to Death
13 Pilate then called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people 14 and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people, and here I have examined him in your presence and have not found this man guilty of any of your charges against him.(A) 15 Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us. Indeed, he has done nothing to deserve death. 16 I will therefore have him flogged and release him.”[a](B)
18 Then they all shouted out together, “Away with this fellow! Release Barabbas for us!”(C) 19 (This was a man who had been put in prison for an insurrection that had taken place in the city and for murder.) 20 Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again, 21 but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” 22 A third time he said to them, “Why, what evil has he done? I have found in him no ground for the sentence of death; I will therefore have him flogged and then release him.”(D) 23 But they kept urgently demanding with loud shouts that he should be crucified, and their voices prevailed. 24 So Pilate gave his verdict that their demand should be granted. 25 He released the man they asked for, the one who had been put in prison for insurrection and murder, and he handed Jesus over as they wished.
The Crucifixion of Jesus
26 As they led him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.(E) 27 A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him.(F) 28 But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.(G) 29 For the days are surely coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ 30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’(H) 31 For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”(I)
32 Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him.(J) 33 When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus[b] there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. [[34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”]][c] And they cast lots to divide his clothing.(K) 35 And the people stood by watching, but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah[d] of God, his chosen one!”(L) 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine(M) 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 There was also an inscription over him,[e] “This is the King of the Jews.”
39 One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding[f] him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah?[g] Save yourself and us!”(N) 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.”(O) 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come in[h] your kingdom.” 43 He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”(P)
Psalm 97
The Glory of God’s Reign
1 The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice;
let the many coastlands be glad!(A)
2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.(B)
3 Fire goes before him
and consumes his adversaries on every side.(C)
4 His lightnings light up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of all the earth.(D)
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all the peoples behold his glory.
7 All servants of images are put to shame,
those who make their boast in worthless idols;
all gods bow down before him.(E)
8 Zion hears and is glad,
and the towns[a] of Judah rejoice
because of your judgments, O God.(F)
9 For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth;
you are exalted far above all gods.(G)
10 You who love the Lord, hate evil;
he guards the lives of his faithful;
he rescues them from the hand of the wicked.(H)
11 Light dawns[b] for the righteous
and joy for the upright in heart.(I)
12 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,
and give thanks to his holy name!
Psalm 98
Praise the Judge of the World
A Psalm.
1 O sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things.
His right hand and his holy arm
have gotten him victory.(J)
2 The Lord has made known his victory;
he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.(K)
3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the victory of our God.(L)
7 Leave the presence of a fool,
for there you do not find words of knowledge.
8 It is the wisdom of the clever to understand where they go,
but the folly of fools misleads.(A)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.