The Daily Audio Bible
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Israel Oppressed by Midian
6 Then the sons of Israel (A)did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord gave them into the hands of (B)Midian seven years. 2 The [a]power of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of Midian the sons of Israel made for themselves (C)the dens which were in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. 3 For it was when Israel had sown, that the Midianites would come up with the Amalekites and the sons of the east and [b]go against them. 4 So they would camp against them and (D)destroy the produce of the earth [c]as far as Gaza, and (E)leave no sustenance in Israel as well as no sheep, ox, or donkey. 5 For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, they would come in (F)like locusts for number, both they and their camels were innumerable; and they came into the land to devastate it. 6 So Israel was brought (G)very low because of Midian, and the sons of Israel cried to the Lord.
7 Now it came about when the sons of Israel cried to the Lord on account of Midian, 8 that the Lord sent a prophet to the sons of Israel, and (H)he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘It was I who brought you up from Egypt and brought you out from the house of [d]slavery. 9 I delivered you from the hands of the Egyptians and from the hands of all your oppressors, and dispossessed them before you and gave you their land, 10 and I said to you, “I am the Lord your God; you (I)shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But you have not [e]obeyed Me.”’”
Gideon Is Visited
11 Then (J)the angel of the Lord came and sat under the [f]oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the (K)Abiezrite as his son (L)Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites. 12 The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior.” 13 Then Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But (M)now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” 14 The Lord [g]looked at him and said, “(N)Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?” 15 (O)He said to Him, “O Lord, [h]how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in (P)Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.” 16 (Q)But the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall [i]defeat Midian as one man.” 17 So [j]Gideon said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me (R)a sign that it is You who speak with me. 18 Please do not depart from here, until I come back to You, and bring out my offering and lay it before You.” And He said, “I will remain until you return.”
19 Then Gideon went in and (S)prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an [k]ephah of flour; he put the meat in a basket [l]and the broth in a pot, and brought them out to him under the [m]oak and presented them. 20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so. 21 Then the angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and (T)fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the Lord [n]vanished from his sight. 22 (U)When Gideon saw that he was the angel of the Lord, [o]he said, “Alas, O Lord [p]God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” 23 The Lord said to him, “Peace to you, do not fear; you shall not die.” 24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and named it [q]The Lord is Peace. To this day it is still (V)in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
25 Now on the same night the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s bull [r]and a second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the [s](W)Asherah that is beside it; 26 and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of this stronghold in an orderly manner, and take a second bull and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.” 27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the Lord had spoken to him; and because he was too afraid of his father’s household and the men of the city to do it by day, he did it by night.
The Altar of Baal Destroyed
28 When the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was torn down, and the Asherah which was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar which had been built. 29 They said to one another, “Who did this thing?” And when they searched about and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash did this thing.” 30 Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has torn down the altar of Baal, and indeed, he has cut down the Asherah which was beside it.” 31 But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal, or will you deliver him? Whoever will [t]plead for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because someone has torn down his altar.” 32 Therefore on that day he named him (X)Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he had torn down his altar.
33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the sons of the east assembled themselves; and they crossed over and camped in (Y)the valley of Jezreel. 34 So (Z)the Spirit of the Lord [u]came upon Gideon; and he (AA)blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him. 35 He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and they also were called together to follow him; and he sent messengers to Asher, (AB)Zebulun, and Naphtali, and (AC)they came up to meet them.
Sign of the Fleece
36 Then Gideon said to God, “(AD)If You will deliver Israel [v]through me, as You have spoken, 37 behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that You will deliver Israel [w]through me, as You have spoken.” 38 And it was so. When he arose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece, he drained the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, “(AE)Do not let Your anger burn against me that I may speak once more; please let me make a test once more with the fleece, let it now be dry only on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the ground.” 40 God did so that night; for it was dry only on the fleece, and dew was on all the ground.
Jesus’ Arrest
54 (A)Having arrested Him, they led Him away and brought Him to the house of the high priest; but (B)Peter was following at a distance. 55 (C)After they had kindled a fire in the middle of (D)the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter was sitting among them. 56 And a servant-girl, seeing him as he sat in the firelight and looking intently at him, said, “This man was with Him too.” 57 But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know Him.” 58 A little later, (E)another saw him and said, “You are one of them too!” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” 59 After about an hour had passed, another man began to insist, saying, “Certainly this man also was with Him, (F)for he is a Galilean too.” 60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. 61 (G)The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “(H)Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.” 62 And he went out and wept bitterly.
63 (I)Now the men who were holding [a]Jesus in custody were mocking Him and beating Him, 64 and they blindfolded Him and were asking Him, saying, “(J)Prophesy, who is the one who hit You?” 65 And they were saying many other things against Him, (K)blaspheming.
Jesus before the Sanhedrin
66 (L)When it was day, (M)the [b]Council of elders of the people assembled, both chief priests and scribes, and they led Him away to their (N)council chamber, saying, 67 “(O)If You are the [c]Christ, tell us.” But He said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe; 68 and if I ask a question, you will not answer. 69 (P)But from now on (Q)the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” 70 And they all said, “Are You (R)the Son of God, then?” And He said to them, “[d](S)Yes, I am.” 71 Then they said, “What further need do we have of testimony? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth.”
Jesus before Pilate
23 Then the whole body of them got up and (T)brought Him before Pilate. 2 (U)And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this man (V)misleading our nation and (W)forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is [e]Christ, a King.” 3 So Pilate asked Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He answered him and said, “(X)It is as you say.” 4 Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “(Y)I find no guilt in this man.” 5 But they kept on insisting, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching all over Judea, (Z)starting from Galilee even as far as this place.”
6 When Pilate heard it, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. 7 And when he learned that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him to (AA)Herod, who himself also was in Jerusalem [f]at that time.
Jesus before Herod
8 Now Herod was very glad when he saw Jesus; for (AB)he had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had been hearing about Him and was hoping to see some [g]sign performed by Him. 9 And he questioned Him [h]at some length; but (AC)He answered him nothing. 10 And the chief priests and the scribes were standing there, accusing Him vehemently. 11 And Herod with his soldiers, after treating Him with contempt and mocking Him, (AD)dressed Him in a gorgeous robe and sent Him back to Pilate. 12 Now (AE)Herod and Pilate became friends with one another that very day; for before they had been enemies with each other.
Praise to the Lord, and Warning against Unbelief.
95 O come, let us (A)sing for joy to the Lord,
Let us shout joyfully to (B)the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us (C)come before His presence (D)with [a]thanksgiving,
Let us shout joyfully to Him (E)with [b]psalms.
3 For the Lord is a (F)great God
And a great King (G)above all gods,
4 In whose hand are the (H)depths of the earth,
The peaks of the mountains are His also.
5 [c]The sea is His, for it was He (I)who made it,
And His hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let us (J)worship and bow down,
Let us (K)kneel before the Lord our (L)Maker.
7 For He is our God,
And (M)we are the people of His [d](N)pasture and the sheep of His hand.
(O)Today, [e]if you would hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts, as at [f](P)Meribah,
As in the day of [g](Q)Massah in the wilderness,
9 “When your fathers (R)tested Me,
They tried Me, though they had seen My work.
10 “For (S)forty years I loathed that generation,
And said they are a people who err in their heart,
And they do not know My ways.
11 “Therefore I (T)swore in My anger,
Truly they shall not enter into My (U)rest.”
A Call to Worship the Lord the Righteous Judge.
96 (V)Sing to the Lord a (W)new song;
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
(X)Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
3 Tell of (Y)His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
4 For (Z)great is the Lord and (AA)greatly to be praised;
He is to be (AB)feared (AC)above all gods.
5 For (AD)all the gods of the peoples are [h]idols,
But (AE)the Lord made the heavens.
6 (AF)Splendor and majesty are before Him,
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
7 [i]Ascribe to the Lord, O (AG)families of the peoples,
[j](AH)Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
8 [k]Ascribe to the Lord the (AI)glory of His name;
Bring an [l](AJ)offering and come into His courts.
9 (AK)Worship the Lord in [m]holy attire;
(AL)Tremble before Him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “(AM)The Lord reigns;
Indeed, the (AN)world is firmly established, it will not be moved;
He will (AO)judge the peoples with [n]equity.”
11 Let the (AP)heavens be glad, and let the (AQ)earth rejoice;
Let (AR)the sea [o]roar, and [p]all it contains;
12 Let the (AS)field exult, and all that is in it.
Then all the (AT)trees of the forest will sing for joy
13 Before the Lord, (AU)for He is coming,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
(AV)He will judge the world in righteousness
And the peoples in His faithfulness.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.