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Midian Prevails Against Israel
6 Then the sons of Israel (A)did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh; and Yahweh gave them into the hands of (B)Midian seven years. 2 And 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 And it was when Israel had sown, that the Midianites would go up with the Amalekites and the sons of the east and go up against them. 4 So they would camp against them and (D)ruin the produce of the earth [b]as far as Gaza and (E)leave no sustenance in Israel as well as no sheep, ox, or donkey. 5 For they would go 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 make it a ruin. 6 So Israel was brought (G)very low because of Midian, and the sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh.
7 Now it happened when the sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh on account of Midian, 8 that Yahweh sent a prophet to the sons of Israel, and (H)he said to them, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘It was I who brought you up from Egypt and brought you out from the house of slavery. 9 I delivered you from the hands of the Egyptians and from the hands of all your oppressors and drove them out before you and gave you their land, 10 and I said to you, “I am Yahweh your God; you (I)shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But you have not listened to My voice.”’”
Yahweh Sends Gideon to Save Israel
11 Then (J)the angel of Yahweh came and sat under the [c]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 [d]preserve it from the Midianites. 12 And the angel of Yahweh appeared to him and said to him, “Yahweh is with you, O mighty man of valor.” 13 Then Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His wondrous deeds which our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?’ But (M)now Yahweh has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” 14 Then Yahweh turned to him and said, “(N)Go in this strength of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?” 15 (O)But he said to Him, “O Lord, with what shall I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the least in (P)Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.” 16 (Q)But Yahweh said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike down Midian as one man.” 17 So [e]Gideon said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your eyes, then do (R)a sign for me that it is You who speak with me. 18 Please do not depart from here until I come back to You, and I bring out my offering and lay it before You.” And He said, “I will remain until you return.”
19 So Gideon went in and (S)prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an [f]ephah of flour; he put the meat in a basket [g]and the broth in a pot and brought them out to him under the [h]oak and presented them. 20 And 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 Yahweh 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 Yahweh went away from before his eyes. 22 (U)And Gideon saw that he was the angel of Yahweh, so [i]he said, “Alas, O Lord Yahweh! For now I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face.” 23 And Yahweh said to him, “Peace to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” 24 So Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh and named it [j]Yahweh is Peace. To this day it is still (V)in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
25 Now it happened on the same night that Yahweh said to him, “Take your father’s bull [k]and a second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the [l](W)Asherah that is beside it, 26 and build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold in an orderly manner, and take the second bull and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.” 27 So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as Yahweh had spoken to him; and now it happened that 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.
Gideon Tears Down the Altar of Baal
28 Then the men of the city arose early in the morning, and 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 And 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 save him? Whoever will contend 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 Now 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 But (Z)the Spirit of Yahweh clothed Gideon; and he (AA)blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him. 35 And 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.
The Test of the Fleece
36 Then Gideon said to God, “(AD)If You will save Israel by my hand, 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 save Israel by my hand, as You have spoken.” 38 And it was so. Indeed he arose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece. And 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 And God did so that night. So it was dry only on the fleece, but dew was on all the ground.
54 (A)Now 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)And 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 And after about an hour had passed, another man began to insist, saying, “Certainly this man was with Him too, (F)for he also is a Galilean.” 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)And 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 cried bitterly.
63 (I)Now the men who were holding [a]Jesus in custody were mocking Him while they beat 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)And as the day came, (M)the Council of elders of the people assembled, both chief priests and scribes, and they led Him away to their (N)Sanhedrin, saying, 67 “(O)If You are the [b]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 [c]God.” 70 And they all said, “Are You (R)the Son of God, then?” And He said to them, “(S)You yourselves say that 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 their whole assembly rose 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 [d]Christ, a King.” 3 So Pilate asked Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He answered him and said, “(X)You yourself say it.” 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 Now when Pilate heard this, 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 in those days.
Jesus Before Herod
8 Now when Herod saw Jesus, he rejoiced greatly; 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 [e]sign performed by Him. 9 And he questioned Him [f]at some length, but (AC)He answered him nothing. 10 And the chief priests and the scribes were standing there, vehemently accusing Him. 11 And Herod with his soldiers, after treating Him with contempt and mocking Him, (AD)dressed Him in a bright 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 at enmity with each other.
Let Us Kneel Before Yahweh Our Maker
95 Oh come, let us (A)sing for joy to Yahweh,
Let us make a loud shout to (B)the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us (C)come before His presence (D)with [a]thanksgiving,
Let us make a loud shout to Him (E)with songs of praise.
3 For Yahweh 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 [b]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 Yahweh our (L)Maker.
7 For He is our God,
And (M)we are the people of His (N)pasture and the sheep of His hand.
(O)Today, [c]if you hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts, as at [d](P)Meribah,
As in the day of [e](Q)Massah in the wilderness,
9 “When your fathers (R)tried Me,
They tested Me, though they had seen My work.
10 For (S)forty years I loathed that generation,
And said they are a people who wander in their heart,
And they do not know My ways.
11 Therefore I (T)swore in My anger,
They shall never enter into My (U)rest.”
Ascribe to Yahweh Glory and Strength
96 (V)Sing to Yahweh a (W)new song;
Sing to Yahweh, all the earth.
2 Sing to Yahweh, bless His name;
(X)Proclaim good news of His salvation from day to day.
3 Recount (Y)His glory among the nations,
His wondrous deeds among all the peoples.
4 For (Z)great is Yahweh and (AA)greatly to be praised;
He is [f]more [g](AB)fearsome (AC)than all gods.
5 For (AD)all the gods of the peoples are [h]idols,
But (AE)Yahweh made the heavens.
6 (AF)Splendor and majesty are before Him,
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
7 [i]Ascribe to Yahweh, O (AG)families of the peoples,
[j](AH)Ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength.
8 Ascribe to Yahweh the (AI)glory of His name;
Lift up [k]an (AJ)offering and come into His courts.
9 (AK)Worship Yahweh in the splendor of holiness;
(AL)Tremble before Him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “(AM)Yahweh [l]reigns;
Indeed, the (AN)world is established, it will not be shaken;
He will (AO)render justice to the peoples with [m]equity.”
11 Let the (AP)heavens be glad, and let the (AQ)earth rejoice;
Let (AR)the sea [n]roar, as well as its fullness;
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 Yahweh, (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.
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