Gideon's Ephod

²² Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” ²³ Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; ^(A)the Lord will rule over you.” ²⁴ And Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you: every one of you give me the earrings from his spoil.” (For they had golden earrings, ^(B)because they were Ishmaelites.) ²⁵ And they answered, “We will willingly give them.” And they spread a cloak, and every man threw in it the earrings of his spoil. ²⁶ And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels^[a] of gold, besides ^(C)the crescent ornaments and ^(D)the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the collars that were around the necks of their camels. ²⁷ And Gideon ^(E)made an ephod of it and put it in his city, ^(F)in Ophrah. And all Israel ^(G)whored after it there, and it became a ^(H)snare to Gideon and to his family. ²⁸ So Midian was subdued before the people of Israel, and they raised their heads no more. ^(I)And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.

The Death of Gideon

^29 (J)Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house. ³⁰ Now Gideon had ^(K)seventy sons, his own offspring,^[b] for he had many wives. ³¹ And his concubine ^(L)who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech. ³² And Gideon the son of Joash died ^(M)in a good old age and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, ^(N)at Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

^33 (O)As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and ^(P)whored after the Baals and made ^(Q)Baal-berith their god. ³⁴ And the people of Israel ^(R)did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side, ^35 (S)and they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.

Abimelech's Conspiracy

9 Now Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to ^(T)his mother's relatives and said to them and to the whole clan of his mother's family, ² “Say in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you, that all ^(U)seventy of the sons of Jerubbaal rule over you, or that one rule over you?’ Remember also that ^(V)I am ^(W)your bone and your flesh.”

³ And his mother's relatives spoke all these words on his behalf in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, ^(X)“He is our brother.” ⁴ And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of ^(Y)Baal-berith with which Abimelech hired ^(Z)worthless and reckless fellows, who followed him. ⁵ And he went to his father's house at ^(AA)Ophrah ^(AB)and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, for he hid himself. ⁶ And all the leaders of Shechem came together, and all ^(AC)Beth-millo, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar at Shechem.

⁷ When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood on top of ^(AD)Mount Gerizim and cried aloud and said to them, “Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem, that God may listen to you. ^8 (AE)The trees once went out to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ^(AF)‘Reign over us.’ ⁹ But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my abundance, by which gods and men are honored, and go hold sway over the trees?’ ¹⁰ And the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹¹ But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit and go hold sway over the trees?’ ¹² And the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹³ But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my wine that ^(AG)cheers God and men and go hold sway over the trees?’ ¹⁴ Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹⁵ And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and ^(AH)take refuge in my shade, but if not, ^(AI)let fire come out of the bramble and devour ^(AJ)the cedars of Lebanon.’

¹⁶ “Now therefore, if you acted in good faith and integrity when you made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with ^(AK)Jerubbaal and his house and have done to him ^(AL)as his deeds deserved— ¹⁷ for my father fought for you and risked his life and delivered you from the hand of Midian, ¹⁸ and you have risen up against my father's house this day ^(AM)and have killed his sons, seventy men on one stone, and have made ^(AN)Abimelech, the son of his female servant, king over the leaders of Shechem, ^(AO)because he is your relative— ¹⁹ if you then have acted in good faith and integrity with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then ^(AP)rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. ²⁰ But if not, ^(AQ)let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the leaders of Shechem and from Beth-millo and devour Abimelech.” ²¹ And Jotham ran away and fled and went to ^(AR)Beer and lived there, because of Abimelech his brother.

Released from the Law

7 Or do you not know, brothers^[a]—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? ² For ^(A)a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.^{[b] 3} Accordingly, ^(B)she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.

⁴ Likewise, my brothers, ^(C)you also have died ^(D)to the law ^(E)through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, ^(F)in order that we may bear fruit for God. ⁵ For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work ^(G)in our members ^(H)to bear fruit for death. ⁶ But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the ^(I)new way of ^(J)the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.^[c]

The Law and Sin

⁷ What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, ^(K)I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if ^(L)the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” ⁸ But sin, ^(M)seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. ^(N)For apart from the law, sin lies dead. ⁹ I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. ¹⁰ The very commandment ^(O)that promised life proved to be death to me. ¹¹ For sin, ^(P)seizing an opportunity through the commandment, ^(Q)deceived me and through it killed me. ¹² So ^(R)the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

¹³ Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. ¹⁴ For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, ^(S)sold under sin. ¹⁵ For I do not understand my own actions. For ^(T)I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. ¹⁶ Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with ^(U)the law, that it is good. ¹⁷ So now ^(V)it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. ¹⁸ For I know that nothing good dwells ^(W)in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. ^19 (X)For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want, ^(Y)it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

²¹ So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. ²² For ^(Z)I delight in the law of God, ^(AA)in my inner being, ²³ but I see in my members ^(AB)another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. ²⁴ Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from ^(AC)this body of death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Life in the Spirit

8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.^{[d] 2} For the law of ^(AD)the Spirit of life ^(AE)has set you^[e] free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. ³ For ^(AF)God has done what the law, ^(AG)weakened by the flesh, ^(AH)could not do. ^(AI)By sending his own Son ^(AJ)in the likeness of sinful flesh and ^(AK)for sin,^[f] he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that ^(AL)the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, ^(AM)who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. ⁵ For ^(AN)those who live according to the flesh set their minds on ^(AO)the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on ^(AP)the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For to set ^(AQ)the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ For the mind that is set on the flesh is ^(AR)hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; ^(AS)indeed, it cannot. ⁸ Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

⁹ You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact ^(AT)the Spirit of God dwells in you. ^(AU)Anyone who does not have ^(AV)the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹ If the Spirit of ^(AW)him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus^[g] from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies ^(AX)through his Spirit who dwells in you.

Heirs with Christ

¹² So then, brothers,^[h] we are debtors, ^(AY)not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you ^(AZ)put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For all who are ^(BA)led by the Spirit of God are ^(BB)sons^[i] of God. ¹⁵ For ^(BC)you did not receive ^(BD)the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of ^(BE)adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ^(BF)“Abba! Father!” ^16 (BG)The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then ^(BH)heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, ^(BI)provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Future Glory

¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time ^(BJ)are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits with eager longing for ^(BK)the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰ For the creation ^(BL)was subjected to futility, not willingly, but ^(BM)because of him who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that ^(BN)the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²² For we know that ^(BO)the whole creation ^(BP)has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. ²³ And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have ^(BQ)the firstfruits of the Spirit, ^(BR)groan inwardly as ^(BS)we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, ^(BT)the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For ^(BU)in this hope we were saved. Now ^(BV)hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we ^(BW)wait for it with patience.

²⁶ Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For ^(BX)we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but ^(BY)the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. ²⁷ And ^(BZ)he who searches hearts knows what is ^(CA)the mind of the Spirit, because^[j] the Spirit ^(CB)intercedes for the saints ^(CC)according to the will of God. ²⁸ And we know that for those who love God all things work together ^(CD)for good,^[k] for ^(CE)those who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those whom he ^(CF)foreknew he also ^(CG)predestined ^(CH)to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be ^(CI)the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also ^(CJ)justified, and those whom he justified he also ^(CK)glorified.

God's Everlasting Love

³¹ What then shall we say to these things? ^(CL)If God is for us, who can be^[l] against us? ^32 (CM)He who did not spare his own Son but ^(CN)gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? ³³ Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? ^(CO)It is God who justifies. ^34 (CP)Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—^(CQ)who is at the right hand of God, ^(CR)who indeed is interceding for us.^{[m] 35} Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written,

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than ^(CU)conquerors through ^(CV)him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God's Sovereign Choice

9 ^(CW)I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— ² that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³ For ^(CX)I could wish that I myself were ^(CY)accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers,^[n] my kinsmen ^(CZ)according to the flesh. ⁴ They are ^(DA)Israelites, and to them belong ^(DB)the adoption, ^(DC)the glory, ^(DD)the covenants, ^(DE)the giving of the law, ^(DF)the worship, and ^(DG)the promises. ⁵ To them belong ^(DH)the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, ^(DI)who is God over all, ^(DJ)blessed forever. Amen.

⁶ But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, ⁷ and not all are children of Abraham ^(DK)because they are his offspring, but ^(DL)“Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” ⁸ This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but ^(DM)the children of the promise are counted as offspring. ⁹ For this is what the promise said: ^(DN)“About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” ¹⁰ And not only so, but ^(DO)also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, ¹¹ though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of ^(DP)him who calls— ¹² she was told, ^(DQ)“The older will serve the younger.” ¹³ As it is written, ^(DR)“Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

¹⁴ What shall we say then? ^(DS)Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! ¹⁵ For he says to Moses, ^(DT)“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” ¹⁶ So then it depends not on human will or exertion,^[o] but on God, who has mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ^(DU)“For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” ¹⁸ So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

¹⁹ You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For ^(DV)who can resist his will?” ²⁰ But who are you, O man, ^(DW)to answer back to God? ^(DX)Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” ^21 (DY)Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump ^(DZ)one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? ²² What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience ^(EA)vessels of wrath ^(EB)prepared for destruction, ²³ in order to make known ^(EC)the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he ^(ED)has prepared beforehand for glory— ²⁴ even us whom he ^(EE)has called, ^(EF)not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? ²⁵ As indeed he says in Hosea,

²⁷ And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: ^(EJ)“Though the number of the sons of Israel^[p] be as the sand of the sea, ^(EK)only a remnant of them will be saved, ²⁸ for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” ²⁹ And as Isaiah predicted,

Israel's Unbelief

³⁰ What shall we say, then? ^(EO)That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, ^(EP)a righteousness that is by faith; ³¹ but that Israel ^(EQ)who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness^{[q] (ER)}did not succeed in reaching that law. ³² Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the ^(ES)stumbling stone, ³³ as it is written,