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The Midianites Oppresses Israel
6 The Israelites[a] did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and Yahweh gave them into the hand of the Midianites[b] for seven years. 2 The hand of the Midianites[c] prevailed over Israel; because of the presence of the Midianites,[d] the Israelites[e] made for themselves hiding places that were in the mountains, caves, and strongholds. 3 And whenever Israel sowed seed, the Midianites,[f] Amalekites,[g] and the people of the east would come up against them. 4 They would camp against them and destroy the produce of the land as far as[h] Gaza; they left no produce in Israel, or sheep, ox, or donkey. 5 For they, their livestock, and their tents would come up like a great number of locusts; they and their camels could not be counted; they came into the land and devoured it. 6 Israel was very poor because of the presence of the Midianites,[i] and the Israelites[j] cried out to Yahweh.
7 When the Israelites[k] cried out to Yahweh on account of the Midianites,[l] 8 Yahweh sent a prophet to the Israelites,[m] and he said to them, “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: ‘I brought you up from Egypt; I brought you from the house of slavery.[n] 9 I delivered you from the hand of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors, and drove them out from before you;[o] and I gave you their land. 10 And I said to you, ‘I am Yahweh your God; do not fear[p] the gods of the Amorites,[q] in whose land you are living.’ But you have not listened to my voice.”
The Angel of Yahweh Calls Gideon
11 The angel of Yahweh came and sat under the oak[r] that was at Ophrah that belonged to Jehoash the Abiezrite; and Gideon his son was threshing wheat in the winepress to hide it[s] from the Midianites.[t] 12 The angel of Yahweh appeared to him and said to him, “Yahweh is with you, you mighty warrior.”[u] 13 Gideon said to him, “Excuse me, my lord. If Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonderful deeds that our ancestors[v] recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?’ But now Yahweh has forsaken us; he has given us into the palm of Midian.” 14 And Yahweh turned to him and said, “Go in this your strength, and you will deliver Israel from the palm of Midian. Did I not send you?” 15 He said to him, “Excuse me, my lord. How will I deliver Israel? Look, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.” 16 And Yahweh said to him, “But I will be with you, and you will defeat Midian as if they are one man.”[w] 17 And he[x] said to him, “Please, if I have found favor in your eyes, show me a sign[y] that you are speaking with me. 18 Please, do not depart from here until I come back to you and bring out my gift and set it out before you.”[z] And he said, “I will stay until you return.”
19 And Gideon went and prepared a young goat[aa] and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour; he put meat in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and he brought them to him under the oak[ab] and presented them. 20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes and put them on this rock; pour the broth over it.” And he did so. 21 Then the angel of Yahweh reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand, and he touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and fire went up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of Yahweh went from his sight.[ac] 22 And Gideon realized that he was the angel of Yahweh; and Gideon said, “Oh, my lord Yahweh! For now I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face.” 23 And Yahweh said to him, “Peace be with you. Do not fear; you will not die.” 24 And Gideon built there an altar to Yahweh, and he called it “Yahweh is peace.” To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.[ad]
25 Now on that same night Yahweh said to him, “Take the bull of the cattle that belongs to your father, and a second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah[ae] that is beside it; 26 and build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold in the proper arrangement, and take a second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah[af] that you will cut down. 27 Gideon took ten men from his servants, and he did just as Yahweh told him;[ag] and because he was too afraid of his father’s family[ah] and the men of the city to do it during the day, he did it during night.
Gideon Destroys the Altar of Baal
28 When the men of the city got up early in the morning, look, the altar of Baal and the Asherah[ai] that was beside it were cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. 29 And they said to one another,[aj] “Who did this thing?” So they searched and inquired, and they said, “Gideon son of Jehoash did this thing.” 30 And the men of the city said to Jehoash, “Bring out your son so that he may die, for he has pulled down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah that was beside it.” 31 But Jehoash said to all who stood against him,[ak] “Will you contend for Baal? Will you rescue him? Whoever contends for him will be put to death by the morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself because his altar has been pulled down.”[al] 32 Thus, on that day he[am] was called Jerub-Baal, which means,[an] “Let Baal contend against him,” because he had pulled down his altar.
33 Then all the Midianites,[ao] Amalekites,[ap] and the people of the east gathered together and crossed the Jordan; and they camped in the valley of Jezreel. 34 So the Spirit of Yahweh took possession of[aq] Gideon, and he blew on the trumpet, and the Abiezrites[ar] were called to follow him. 35 He sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they were also called to follow him; and he sent messengers throughout Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.
Gideon Tests Yahweh With the Fleece
36 Then Gideon said to God, “In order to see that you will deliver Israel by my hand, just as you have said, 37 I will place a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and all of the ground is dry, I will know that you will deliver Israel by my hand, just as you have said.” 38 And it was so. He arose early the next day and squeezed the fleece, and he wrung out dew from the fleece, a full drinking bowl of water. 39 And Gideon said to God, “Do not let your anger burn[as] against me; let me speak once more. Please let me test once more with the fleece; let the fleece be dry, and let there be dew on the ground.” 40 And God did so that night; only the fleece was dry, and dew was on all the ground.
Jesus Before the Sanhedrin
54 And they arrested him and[a] led him[b] away and brought him[c] into the house of the high priest. But Peter was following at a distance. 55 And when they[d] had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. 56 And a certain female slave, seeing him sitting in the light and looking intently at him, said, “This man also was with him!” 57 But he denied it,[e] saying, “Woman, I do not know him!” 58 And after a short time another person saw him and[f] said, “You also are one of them!” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” 59 And after[g] about one hour had passed, someone else was insisting, saying, “In truth this man also was with him, because he is also a Galilean!” 60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about!” And immediately, while[h] he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. 61 And the Lord turned around and[i] looked intently at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord,[j] how he said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” 62 And he went outside and[k] wept bitterly.
63 And the men who were guarding him began to mock[l] him while[m] they beat him,[n] 64 and after[o] blindfolding him they repeatedly asked[p] him,[q] saying, “Prophesy! Who is the one who struck you?” 65 And they were saying many other things against him, reviling him.[r]
Jesus Before the Sanhedrin
66 And when day came, the council of elders of the people gathered, both chief priests and scribes, and they led him away to their Sanhedrin,[s] 67 saying, “If you are the Christ, tell us!” But he said to them, “If I tell you, you will never believe, 68 and if I ask you,[t] you will never answer! 69 But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” 70 So they all said, “Are you then the Son of God?” And he said to them, “You say that I am.” 71 And they said, “Why do we have need of further testimony? For we ourselves have heard it[u] from his mouth!”
Jesus Brought Before Pilate
23 And the whole assembly of them rose up and[v] brought him before Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us[w] to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying he himself is Christ, a king!” 3 And Pilate asked him, saying, “Are you the king of the Jews?” And he answered him and[x] said, “You say so.” 4 So Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no basis for an accusation against this man.” 5 But they insisted, saying, “He incites the people, teaching throughout the whole of Judea and beginning from Galilee as far as here.”
Jesus Brought Before Herod
6 Now when[y] Pilate heard this,[z] he asked if the man was a Galilean. 7 And when he[aa] found out that he was from the jurisdiction of Herod, he sent him over to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem in those days. 8 And when[ab] Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had been wanting to see him for a long time, because he had heard about him and was hoping to see some miracle performed by him. 9 So he questioned him at considerable length,[ac] but he answered nothing to him. 10 And the chief priests and the scribes were standing there vehemently accusing him. 11 And Herod with his soldiers also treated him with contempt, and after[ad] mocking him[ae] and[af] dressing him[ag] in glistening clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. 12 And both Herod and Pilate became friends with one another on that same day, for they had previously been enemies of one another.[ah]
A Call to Worship and Obey
95 Come, let us sing for joy to Yahweh;
let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving;
with songs let us shout joyfully to him.
3 For Yahweh is the[a] great God,
and the great king over all gods,
4 in whose hand are the unexplored places[b] of the earth,
and the heights of the mountains are his,
5 to whom belongs the sea that he made, [c]
and the dry land that his hands formed.
6 Come in, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before Yahweh, our maker.
7 For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture
and the sheep of his hand.
Today[d] if you will hear his voice:[e]
8 “Do not harden your heart as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the wilderness,
9 when your ancestors[f] tried me.
They put me to the test,
even though they had seen my work.
10 For forty years I loathed that generation,
and said, ‘They are a people whose heart wanders.
And my ways they do not know.’
11 Therefore I swore in my anger,
‘They shall surely not enter into my rest.’”
Yahweh the King Comes in Judgment
96 Sing to[g] Yahweh a new song;
sing to[h] Yahweh, all the earth.
2 Sing to[i] Yahweh; bless his name.
Announce[j] his salvation from day to day.
3 Tell his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples.
4 For Yahweh is great and very worthy of praise;
he is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,[k]
but Yahweh made the heavens.
6 Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to Yahweh, you families of the peoples,
ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength.
8 Ascribe to Yahweh the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come into his courts.
9 Worship Yahweh in holy array;
tremble before him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “Yahweh is king!
Yes, the world is established so that it will not be moved.
He will judge the peoples fairly.”
11 Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice.
Let the sea with[l] its fullness roar.
12 Let the field with[m] all that is in it exult.
Then all the trees of the forests will sing for joy
13 before Yahweh, for he is coming;
for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with his faithfulness.
5 A faithful witness does not lie,
but he who breathes out falsehood is a witness of deceit.
6 A scoffer seeks wisdom, but there is none,
but knowledge comes easily to him who understands.[a]
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