M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Israel Prepares for War

20 All the people of Israel from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, as well as from the land of Gilead in the east, answered the call. They gathered in one body in the Lord's presence at Mizpah. ² The leaders of all the tribes of Israel were present at this gathering of God's people, and there were 400,000 foot soldiers. ³ Meanwhile the people of Benjamin heard that all the other Israelites had gathered at Mizpah.

The Israelites asked, “Tell us, how was this crime committed?” ⁴ The Levite whose concubine had been murdered answered, “My concubine and I went to Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin to spend the night. ⁵ The men of Gibeah came to get me and surrounded the house at night. They intended to kill me; instead they raped my concubine, and she died. ⁶ I took her body, cut it in pieces, and sent one piece to each of the twelve tribes of Israel. These people have committed an evil and immoral act among us. ⁷ All of you here are Israelites. What are we going to do about this?”

⁸ All the people stood up together and said, “None of us, whether he lives in a tent or in a house, will go home. ⁹ This is what we will do: we will draw lots and choose some men to attack Gibeah.^{[a] 10} One tenth of the men in Israel will provide food for the army, and the others will go and punish Gibeah^[b] for this immoral act that they have committed in Israel.” ¹¹ So all the men in Israel assembled with one purpose—to attack the town.

¹² The Israelite tribes sent messengers all through the territory of the tribe of Benjamin to say, “What is this crime that you have committed? ¹³ Now hand over those perverts in Gibeah, so that we can kill them and remove this evil from Israel.” But the people of Benjamin paid no attention to the other Israelites. ¹⁴ From all the cities of Benjamin they came to Gibeah to fight the other people of Israel. ^15-16 They called out twenty-six thousand soldiers from their cities that day. Besides these, the citizens of Gibeah gathered seven hundred specially chosen men^[c] who were left-handed. Every one of them could sling a stone at a strand of hair and never miss. ¹⁷ Not counting the tribe of Benjamin, the Israelites gathered 400,000 trained soldiers.

The War against the Benjaminites

¹⁸ The Israelites went to the place of worship at Bethel, and there they asked God, “Which tribe should attack the Benjaminites first?”

The Lord answered, “The tribe of Judah.”

¹⁹ So the Israelites started out the next morning and camped near the city of Gibeah. ²⁰ They went to attack the army of Benjamin, and placed the soldiers in position facing the city. ²¹ The army of Benjamin came out of the city, and before the day was over they had killed twenty-two thousand Israelite soldiers. ^22-23 Then the Israelites went to the place of worship and mourned in the presence of the Lord until evening. They asked him, “Should we go again into battle against our brothers the Benjaminites?”

The Lord answered, “Yes.”

So the Israelite army was encouraged, and they placed their soldiers in position again, where they had been the day before. ²⁴ They marched against the army of Benjamin a second time. ²⁵ And for the second time the Benjaminites came out of Gibeah, and this time they killed eighteen thousand trained Israelite soldiers. ²⁶ Then all the people of Israel went up to Bethel and mourned. They sat there in the Lord's presence and did not eat until evening. They offered fellowship sacrifices and burned some sacrifices whole—all in the presence of the Lord. ^27-28 God's Covenant Box was there at Bethel in those days, and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron, was in charge of it. The people asked the Lord, “Should we go out to fight our brothers the Benjaminites again, or should we give up?”

The Lord answered, “Fight. Tomorrow I will give you victory over them.”

²⁹ So the Israelites put some soldiers in hiding around Gibeah. ³⁰ Then for the third straight day they marched against the army of Benjamin and placed their soldiers in battle position facing Gibeah, as they had done before. ³¹ The Benjaminites came out to fight and were led away from the city. As they had before, they began killing some Israelites in the open country, on the road to Bethel and on the road to Gibeah. They killed about thirty Israelites. ³² The Benjaminites said, “We've beaten them just as before.”

But the Israelites had planned to retreat and lead them away from the city onto the roads. ³³ So when the main army of the Israelites pulled back and regrouped at Baaltamar, the men surrounding Gibeah suddenly rushed out of their hiding places in the rocky country around the city.^{[d] 34} Ten thousand men, specially chosen out of all Israel, attacked Gibeah, and the fighting was hard. The Benjaminites had not realized that they were about to be destroyed. ³⁵ The Lord gave Israel victory over the army of Benjamin. The Israelites killed 25,100 of the enemy that day, ³⁶ and the Benjaminites realized they were defeated.

How the Israelites Won

The main body of the Israelite army had retreated from the Benjaminites because they were relying on the men that they had put in hiding around Gibeah. ³⁷ These men ran quickly toward Gibeah; they spread out in the city and killed everyone there. ³⁸ The main Israelite army and the men in hiding had arranged a signal. When they saw a big cloud of smoke going up from the town, ³⁹ the Israelites out on the battlefield were to turn around. By this time the Benjaminites had already killed the thirty Israelites. They told themselves, “Yes, we've beaten them just as before.” ⁴⁰ Then the signal appeared; a cloud of smoke began to go up from the town. The Benjaminites looked behind them and were amazed to see the whole city going up in flames. ⁴¹ Then the Israelites turned around, and the Benjaminites were thrown into panic because they realized that they were about to be destroyed. ⁴² They retreated from the Israelites and ran toward the open country, but they could not escape. They were caught between the main army and the men who were now coming out of the city,^[e] and they were destroyed. ⁴³ The Israelites had the enemy trapped, and without stopping they pursued them as far as a point east of Gibeah, killing them as they went.^{[f] 44} Eighteen thousand of the best Benjaminite soldiers were killed. ⁴⁵ The others turned and ran toward the open country to Rimmon Rock. Five thousand of them were killed on the roads. The Israelites continued to pursue the rest to Gidom, killing two thousand. ⁴⁶ In all, twenty-five thousand Benjaminites were killed that day—all of them brave soldiers.

⁴⁷ But six hundred men were able to escape to the open country to Rimmon Rock, and they stayed there four months. ⁴⁸ The Israelites turned back against the rest of the Benjaminites and killed them all—men, women, and children, and animals as well. They burned every town in the area.

The Case against Paul

24 Five days later the High Priest Ananias went to Caesarea with some elders and a lawyer named Tertullus. They appeared before Governor Felix and made their charges against Paul. ² Then Paul was called in, and Tertullus began to make his accusation, as follows:

“Your Excellency! Your wise leadership has brought us a long period of peace, and many necessary reforms are being made for the good of our country. ³ We welcome this everywhere and at all times, and we are deeply grateful to you. ⁴ I do not want to take up too much of your time, however, so I beg you to be kind and listen to our brief account. ⁵ We found this man to be a dangerous nuisance; he starts riots among Jews all over the world and is a leader of the party of the Nazarenes. ⁶ He also tried to defile the Temple, and we arrested him. ^{7 [a] 8} If you question this man, you yourself will be able to learn from him all the things that we are accusing him of.” ⁹ The Jews joined in the accusation and said that all this was true.

Paul's Defense before Felix

¹⁰ The governor then motioned to Paul to speak, and Paul said,

“I know that you have been a judge over this nation for many years, and so I am happy to defend myself before you. ¹¹ As you can find out for yourself, it was no more than twelve days ago that I went to Jerusalem to worship. ¹² The Jews did not find me arguing with anyone in the Temple, nor did they find me stirring up the people, either in the synagogues or anywhere else in the city. ¹³ Nor can they give you proof of the accusations they now bring against me. ¹⁴ I do admit this to you: I worship the God of our ancestors by following that Way which they say is false. But I also believe in everything written in the Law of Moses and the books of the prophets. ¹⁵ I have the same hope in God that these themselves have, namely, that all people, both the good and the bad, will rise from death. ¹⁶ And so I do my best always to have a clear conscience before God and people.

^17 (A)“After being away from Jerusalem for several years, I went there to take some money to my own people and to offer sacrifices. ¹⁸ It was while I was doing this that they found me in the Temple after I had completed the ceremony of purification. There was no crowd with me and no disorder. ¹⁹ But some Jews from the province of Asia were there; they themselves ought to come before you and make their accusations if they have anything against me. ²⁰ Or let these who are here tell what crime they found me guilty of when I stood before the Council— ^21 (B)except for the one thing I called out when I stood before them: ‘I am being tried by you today for believing that the dead will rise to life.’”

²² Then Felix, who was well informed about the Way, brought the hearing to a close. “When the commander Lysias arrives,” he told them, “I will decide your case.” ²³ He ordered the officer in charge of Paul to keep him under guard, but to give him some freedom and allow his friends to provide for his needs.

Paul before Felix and Drusilla

²⁴ After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he talked about faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁵ But as Paul went on discussing about goodness, self-control, and the coming Day of Judgment, Felix was afraid and said, “You may leave now. I will call you again when I get the chance.” ²⁶ At the same time he was hoping that Paul would give him some money; and for this reason he would call for him often and talk with him.

²⁷ After two years had passed, Porcius Festus succeeded Felix as governor. Felix wanted to gain favor with the Jews so he left Paul in prison.

A Message for Zedekiah

34 ^(A)The Lord spoke to me when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia and his army, supported by troops from all the nations and races that were subject to him, were attacking Jerusalem and its nearby towns. ² The Lord, the God of Israel, told me to go and say to King Zedekiah of Judah, “I, the Lord, will hand this city over to the king of Babylonia, and he will burn it down. ³ You will not escape; you will be captured and handed over to him. You will see him face-to-face and talk to him in person; then you will go to Babylonia. ⁴ Zedekiah, listen to what I say about you. You will not be killed in battle. ⁵ You will die in peace, and as people burned incense when they buried your ancestors, who were kings before you, in the same way they will burn incense for you. They will mourn over you and say, ‘Our king is dead!’ I, the Lord, have spoken.”

⁶ Then I gave this message to King Zedekiah in Jerusalem ⁷ while the army of the king of Babylonia was attacking the city. The army was also attacking Lachish and Azekah, the only other fortified cities left in Judah.

Deceitful Treatment of Slaves

⁸ King Zedekiah and the people of Jerusalem had made an agreement to set free ⁹ their Hebrew slaves, both male and female, so that no one would have an Israelite as a slave. ¹⁰ All the people and their leaders agreed to free their slaves and never to enslave them again. They did set them free, ¹¹ but later they changed their minds, took them back, and forced them to become slaves again.

¹² Then the Lord, ¹³ the God of Israel, told me to say to the people: “I made a covenant with your ancestors when I rescued them from Egypt and set them free from slavery. I told them that ^14 (B)every seven years they were to set free any Hebrew slave who had served them for six years. But your ancestors would not pay any attention to me or listen to what I said. ¹⁵ Just a few days ago you changed your minds and did what pleased me. All of you agreed to set all Israelites free, and you made a covenant in my presence, in the Temple where I am worshiped. ¹⁶ But then you changed your minds again and dishonored me. All of you took back the slaves whom you had set free as they desired, and you forced them into slavery again. ¹⁷ So now, I, the Lord, say that you have disobeyed me; you have not given all Israelites their freedom. Very well, then, I will give you freedom: the freedom to die by war, disease, and starvation. I will make every nation in the world horrified at what I do to you. ^18-19 The officials of Judah and of Jerusalem, together with the palace officials, the priests, and all the leaders, made a covenant with me by walking between the two halves of a bull that they had cut in two. But they broke the covenant and did not keep its terms. So I will do to these people what they did to the bull. ²⁰ I will hand them over to their enemies, who want to kill them, and their corpses will be eaten by birds and wild animals. ²¹ I will also hand over King Zedekiah of Judah and his officials to those who want to kill them. I will hand them over to the Babylonian army, which has stopped its attack against you. ²² I will give the order, and they will return to this city. They will attack it, capture it, and burn it down. I will make the towns of Judah like a desert where no one lives. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

A Prayer for Protection^[a]

A Prayer for Help in Time of Trouble^[c]