The Daily Audio Bible

¹⁸ Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What about the men whom you killed at Tabor?” They answered, “As you are, so were they, every one of them; they resembled the sons of a king.”^{(A) 19} And he replied, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother; as the Lord lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you.” ²⁰ So he said to Jether his firstborn, “Go kill them!” But the boy did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a boy. ²¹ Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “You come and kill us, for as the man is, so is his strength.” So Gideon went and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescents that were on the necks of their camels.^(B)

Gideon’s Idolatry

²² Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have delivered us out of the hand of Midian.” ²³ Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.”^{(C) 24} Then Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you; each of you give me an earring he has taken as spoil.” (For the enemy^[a] had golden earrings because they were Ishmaelites.) ²⁵ “We will willingly give them,” they answered. So they spread a garment, and each threw into it an earring he had taken as spoil. ²⁶ The weight of the golden earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold (apart from the crescents and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian and the collars that were on the necks of their camels). ²⁷ Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his town, in Ophrah, and all Israel prostituted themselves to it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family.^{(D) 28} So Midian was subdued before the Israelites, and they lifted up their heads no more. So the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.^(E)

Death of Gideon

²⁹ Jerubbaal son of Joash went to live in his own house.^{(F) 30} Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives.^{(G) 31} His concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.^{(H) 32} Then Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash at Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

³³ As soon as Gideon died, the Israelites relapsed and prostituted themselves with the Baals, making Baal-berith their god.^{(I) 34} The Israelites did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hand of all their enemies on every side,^{(J) 35} and they did not exhibit loyalty to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.

Abimelech Attempts to Establish a Monarchy

9 Now Abimelech son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his mother’s kinsfolk and said to them and to the whole clan of his mother’s family,^{(K) 2} “Say in the hearing of all the lords of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you, that all seventy of the sons of Jerubbaal rule over you or that one rule over you?’ Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.”^{(L) 3} So his mother’s kinsfolk spoke all these words on his behalf in the hearing of all the lords of Shechem, and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is our brother.” ⁴ They gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the temple of Baal-berith with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows who followed him.^{(M) 5} He went to his father’s house at Ophrah and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone, but Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, survived, for he hid himself.^{(N) 6} Then all the lords of Shechem and all Beth-millo came together, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar^[b] at Shechem.

The Parable of the Trees

⁷ When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim and cried aloud and said to them, “Listen to me, you lords of Shechem, so that God may listen to you.^(O)

¹⁶ “Now therefore, if you acted in good faith and honor when you made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house and have done to him as his actions deserved^(Q)— ¹⁷ for my father fought for you and risked his life and rescued you from the hand of Midian, ¹⁸ but you have risen up against my father’s house this day and have killed his sons, seventy men on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his slave woman, king over the lords of Shechem, because he is your kinsman^(R)— ¹⁹ if, I say, you have acted in good faith and honor with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you,^{(S) 20} but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the lords of Shechem and Beth-millo, and let fire come out from the lords of Shechem and from Beth-millo and devour Abimelech.” ²¹ Then Jotham ran away and fled, going to Beer, where he remained for fear of his brother Abimelech.

The Death of Jesus

⁴⁴ It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land^[a] until three in the afternoon, ⁴⁵ while the sun’s light failed,^[b] and the curtain of the temple was torn in two.^{(A) 46} Then Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Having said this, he breathed his last.^{(B) 47} When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, “Certainly this man was innocent.”^{[c](C) 48} And when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts. ⁴⁹ But all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching these things.^(D)

The Burial of Jesus

⁵⁰ Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph who, though a member of the council, ⁵¹ had not agreed to their plan and action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God.^{(E) 52} This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁵³ Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid. ⁵⁴ It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning.^{[d](F) 55} The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid.^{(G) 56} Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments.

On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.^(H)

The Resurrection of Jesus

24 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared.^{(I) 2} They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they went in they did not find the body.^{[e] 4} While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them.^{(J) 5} The women^[f] were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men^[g] said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen.^{[h] 6} Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,^{(K) 7} that the Son of Man must be handed over to the hands of sinners and be crucified and on the third day rise again.” ⁸ Then they remembered his words,^{(L) 9} and returning from the tomb they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest.^{(M) 10} Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles.^{(N) 11} But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.^{(O) 12} But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.^[i]

Psalm 99

Praise to God for His Holiness