The Daily Audio Bible

Gideon

6 Then the people of Israel sinned in the eyes of the Lord. And the Lord gave them into the hands of Midian for seven years. ² Midian was stronger than Israel. Because of Midian the people of Israel made big caves in the sides of the mountains where they could live which were safe places for themselves. ³ For when Israel had planted seeds, the Midianites and Amalekites and the people of the east would come and fight against them. ⁴ They would set up their tents beside them and destroy the food of the field as far as Gaza. They would leave no food for Israel, and no sheep, cattle or donkeys. ⁵ They would come with their animals and their tents. They were like locusts, there were so many of them. There were too many of them and their camels to number. And they came into the land to destroy it. ⁶ So Israel became very poor because of Midian. The people of Israel cried to the Lord.

⁷ The people of Israel cried to the Lord because of Midian. ⁸ And the Lord sent a man to speak for Him to the people of Israel. The man said to them, “The Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘I brought you here from Egypt. I brought you out of the house where you were made to work. ⁹ I set you free from the power of the Egyptians and from the hands of all who made it hard for you. I drove them away from in front of you and gave you their land. ¹⁰ I said to you, “I am the Lord your God. Do not be afraid of the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live.” But you have not obeyed Me.’”

¹¹ Then the angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak tree in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. The angel came as Joash’s son Gideon was beating out grain where grapes are crushed, to save it from the Midianites. ¹² The angel of the Lord showed himself to Gideon and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O powerful soldier.” ¹³ Gideon said to him, “O sir, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all His powerful works which our fathers told us about? They said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has left us alone. He has put us under the power of Midian.” ¹⁴ The Lord looked at him and said, “Go in this strength of yours. And save Israel from the power of Midian. Have I not sent you?” ¹⁵ Gideon said to Him, “O Lord, how can I save Israel? See, my family is the least in Manasseh. And I am the youngest in my father’s house.” ¹⁶ But the Lord said to him, “For sure I will be with you. You will destroy Midian as one man.” ¹⁷ Gideon said to Him, “If I have found favor in Your eyes, show me something to prove that it is You Who speaks with me. ¹⁸ I ask of You, do not leave here until I return to You with my gift and lay it before You.” And the Lord said, “I will stay until you return.”

¹⁹ Then Gideon went into his house and got a young goat ready. He made bread without yeast from a basket of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the water from boiling the meat in a pot. Then he brought them out to him under the tree and set them down in front of him. ²⁰ The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the bread without yeast and lay them on this rock. Then pour out the water.” Gideon did so. ²¹ The angel of the Lord put out the end of the stick that was in his hand and touched the meat and the bread without yeast. And fire came up from the rock and burned up the meat and the bread without yeast. Then the angel of the Lord was seen no more. ²² So Gideon knew that he was the angel of the Lord. And he said, “I am afraid, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” ²³ The Lord said to him, “Peace be with you. Do not be afraid. You will not die.” ²⁴ Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord. He gave it the name, The Lord is Peace. It is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites to this day.

²⁵ That same night the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s bull and a second bull seven years old. Use them to pull down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father. And cut down the tree of the false goddess Asherah that is beside it. ²⁶ Build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of this strong place. Set the stones in the right way. Then take a second bull and give a burnt gift. Use the wood of the tree of the false goddess Asherah which you cut down.” ²⁷ Gideon took ten of his servants and did what the Lord had told him to do. But he was too afraid of those of his father’s house and the men of the city to do it during the day. So he did it during the night.

²⁸ When the men of the city got up early in the morning, they saw that the altar of Baal was torn down. They saw that the false goddess Asherah which was beside it was cut down. And the second bull was given on the altar which had been built. ²⁹ The men said to one another, “Who did this?” After they had looked around and asked, they were told, “Gideon the son of Joash did this thing.” ³⁰ Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, so he may die. For he has torn down the altar of Baal. And he has cut down our goddess Asherah which was beside it.” ³¹ But Joash said to all who were gathered against him, “Will you fight for Baal? Will you save him? Whoever will fight for him will be put to death this morning. If he is a god, let him fight for himself because someone has torn down his altar.” ³² So on that day he gave Gideon the name Jerubbaal, which means, “Let Baal fight against him.” Because he tore down his altar.

³³ Then all the Midianites and Amalekites and people of the east gathered together. They crossed the Jordan and set up their tents in the valley of Jezreel. ³⁴ But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon. He blew a horn and called together the Abiezerites to follow him. ³⁵ He sent men with news to go through Manasseh. And the Manassites were called together to follow him. He sent men with news to Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali. And they came to meet him.

³⁶ Then Gideon said to God, “Save Israel through me, as You have said. ³⁷ See, I will put wool on the floor where grain is crushed. If the wool is wet, and it is dry on the ground, I will know that You will save Israel through me, as You have said.” ³⁸ It was so. Gideon got up early the next morning and took the wool in his hand. Enough water poured from the wool to fill a pot. ³⁹ Then Gideon said to God, “Do not let Your anger burn against me for speaking to You once again. Let me make one more test with the wool. Let it be dry only on the wool. And let the ground be wet all around it.” ⁴⁰ God did so that night. For it was dry only on the wool. And all the ground was wet around it.

⁵⁴ Then they led Jesus away to the house of the head religious leader. Peter followed a long way behind Him.

Peter Said He Did Not Know Jesus ^(A)

⁵⁵ They built a fire in the yard and sat down. Peter sat down with them. ⁵⁶ One of the servant-girls saw Peter as he sat by the fire and looked right at him. She said, “This man was with Jesus also.” ⁵⁷ Peter lied and said, “Woman, I do not know Him.” ⁵⁸ After awhile another person saw him and said, “You are one of them also.” Peter said, “No, sir, I am not.” ⁵⁹ About an hour later another person said the same thing, “For sure, this man was with Jesus also because he is from Galilee.” ⁶⁰ But Peter said, “Sir, I do not know what you are saying.” And at once, while he was talking, a rooster crowed. ⁶¹ The Lord turned and looked at Peter. He remembered the Lord had said, “Before a rooster crows, you will say three times that you do not know Me.” ⁶² Peter went outside and cried with a troubled heart.

⁶³ Those who watched Jesus so He could not get away made fun of Him and beat Him. ⁶⁴ They covered His eyes with a cloth and asked Him, “Tell us who hit You!” ⁶⁵ They said many other bad things against Jesus.

⁶⁶ When it was morning the leaders of the people and the religious leaders and the teachers of the Law got together. They took Jesus to the court of the religious leader. They said, ⁶⁷ “Tell us if you are the Christ.” He said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe Me. ⁶⁸ If I ask you something, you will not tell Me. ⁶⁹ From now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the All-powerful God.” ⁷⁰ They all said, “Then are You the Son of God?” He said, “You say that I am.” ⁷¹ Then they said, “What other word do we need against Him? We have heard Him say this with His own mouth.”

Jesus Stands in Front of Pilate ^(B)

23 Then all the many people got up and took Jesus to Pilate. ² They began to tell things against Him, saying, “We have found this Man leading the people of our nation in a wrong way. He has been telling them not to pay taxes to Caesar. He has been saying He is Christ, a King.”

³ Pilate asked Jesus, “Are You the King of the Jews?” He said, “What you said is true.” ⁴ Then Pilate said to the religious leaders and to the people, “I find nothing wrong in this Man.” ⁵ They became more angry. They said, “He makes trouble among the people. He has been teaching over all the country of Judea, starting in Galilee and now here.”

Jesus Is Sent to Herod

⁶ When Pilate heard the word, Galilee, he asked, “Is the Man from Galilee?” ⁷ As soon as Pilate knew Jesus belonged in the country where Herod was king, he sent Him to Herod. Herod was in Jerusalem at that time also.

⁸ Herod was very glad when he saw Jesus because he had wanted to see Him for a long time. He had heard many things about Him and had hoped to see Him do some powerful work. ⁹ Herod talked to Jesus and asked many things. But Jesus said nothing. ¹⁰ The religious leaders and the teachers of the Law were standing there. They said many false things against Him.

¹¹ Then Herod and his soldiers were very bad to Jesus and made fun of Him. They put a beautiful coat on Him and sent Him back to Pilate. ¹² That day Pilate and Herod became friends. Before that they had worked against each other.

A Song of Praise

95 Come, let us sing with joy to the Lord. Let us sing loud with joy to the rock Who saves us. ² Let us come before Him giving thanks. Let us make a sound of joy to Him with songs. ³ For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. ⁴ The deep places of the earth are in His hand. And the tops of the mountains belong to Him. ⁵ The sea is His, for He made it. And His hands made the dry land.

⁶ Come, let us bow down in worship. Let us get down on our knees before the Lord Who made us. ⁷ For He is our God. And we are the people of His field, and the sheep of His hand. If you hear His voice today, ⁸ do not let your hearts become hard as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the desert. ⁹ Your early fathers put Me to the test and tried Me. But they had seen the work I did. ¹⁰ I was angry with the people of that day for forty years. I said, “They always think wrong thoughts. And they do not know My ways.” ¹¹ I was angry with them and said, “They will never go into My rest.”

A Call to Worship the Lord

96 Sing to the Lord a new song. Let all the earth sing to the Lord. ² Sing to the Lord. Honor His name. Make His saving power known from day to day. ³ Tell of His shining-greatness among the nations. Tell of His wonderful works among all the people. ⁴ For the Lord is great and should be given much praise. He is to be honored with fear above all gods. ⁵ For all the gods of the nations are false gods. But the Lord made the heavens. ⁶ Honor and great power are with Him. Strength and beauty are in His holy place.

⁷ Give to the Lord, O families of the nations, give to the Lord the honor and strength that He should have. ⁸ Give to the Lord the honor of His name. Bring a gift and come into His holy place. ⁹ Worship the Lord in holy clothing. May all the earth shake in fear before Him. ¹⁰ Say among the nations that the Lord rules. The world is built to last. It will not be moved. He will be right when He says who is guilty or not.

¹¹ Let the heavens be glad. And let the earth be full of joy. Let the sea and all that is in it make a loud noise. ¹² Let the fields and all that is in them be full of joy. Then all the trees of the land will sing for joy ¹³ before the Lord. For He is coming. He is coming to say who is guilty or not on the earth. He will be right in what He decides about the world. And He will be faithful to the people.

⁵ A faithful man who tells what he knows will not lie, but the man who is not faithful will lie.

⁶ One who laughs at the truth looks for wisdom and does not find it, but much learning is easy to him who has understanding.