The Daily Audio Bible
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6 But the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian for seven years.
2 And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of Midian the Israelites made themselves the dens which are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds.
3 For whenever Israel had sown their seed, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east came up against them.
4 They would encamp against them and destroy the crops as far as Gaza and leave no nourishment for Israel, and no ox or sheep or donkey.
5 For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came like locusts for multitude; both they and their camels could not be counted. So they wasted the land as they entered it.
6 And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the Israelites cried to the Lord.
7 And when they cried to the Lord because of Midian,
8 The Lord sent a prophet to the Israelites, who said to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt and brought you forth out of the house of bondage.
9 And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out from before you and gave you their land.
10 And I said to you, I am the Lord your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But you have not obeyed My voice.
11 Now the [a]Angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak (terebinth) at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, and his son Gideon was beating wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites.
12 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, The Lord is with you, you mighty man of [fearless] courage.
13 And Gideon said to him, O sir, if the Lord is with us, why is all this befallen us? And where are all His wondrous works of which our fathers told us, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.
14 The Lord turned to him and said, Go in this your might, and you shall save Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?
15 Gideon said to Him, Oh Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Behold, my clan is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.
16 The Lord said to him, Surely I will be with you, and you shall smite the Midianites as one man.
17 Gideon said to Him, If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You Who talks with me.
18 Do not leave here, I pray You, until I return to You and bring my offering and set it before You. And He said, I will wait until you return.
19 Then Gideon went in and prepared a kid and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket and the broth in a pot, and brought them to Him under the oak and presented them.
20 And the Angel of God said to him, Take the meat and unleavened cakes and lay them on this rock and pour the broth over them. And he did so.
21 Then the Angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in His hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes, and there flared up fire from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. Then the Angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.
22 And when Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of the Lord, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face!
23 The Lord said to him, Peace be to you, do not fear; you shall not die.
24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The Lord is Peace. To this day it still stands in Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.
25 That night the Lord said to Gideon, Take your father’s bull, the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has and cut down the Asherah [symbol of the goddess Asherah] that is beside it;
26 And build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this stronghold with stones laid in proper order. Then take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice 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 told him, but 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.
28 And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the Asherah was cut down that was beside it, and the second bull was offered on the altar which had been built.
29 And they said to one another, Who has done this thing? And when they searched and asked, they were told, Gideon son of Joash has done this thing.
30 Then the men of the city commanded Joash, Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has pulled down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it.
31 But Joash said to all who stood against him, Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? He who will contend for Baal, let him be put to death while it is still morning. If Baal is a god, let him contend for himself because one has pulled down his altar.
32 Therefore on that day he called Gideon Jerubbaal, meaning, Let Baal contend against him, because he had pulled down his altar.
33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east came together and, crossing the Jordan, encamped in the Valley of Jezreel.
34 But the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon with Himself and took possession of him, and he blew a trumpet, and [the clan of] Abiezer was gathered to him.
35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and the Manassites were called to follow him; and he sent messengers to Asher, to Zebulun, and to Naphtali, and they came up to meet them.
36 And Gideon said to God, If You will deliver Israel by my hand as You have said,
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 shall know that You will deliver Israel by my hand, as You have said.
38 And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the dew out of the fleece, he wrung from it a bowlful of water.
39 And Gideon said to God, Let not your anger be kindled against me, and I will speak but this once. Let me make trial only this once with the fleece, I pray you; let it now be dry only upon the fleece and upon all the ground let there be dew.
40 And God did so that night, for it was dry on the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.
54 Then they seized Him and led Him away, bringing Him into the house of the high priest. Peter was following at a distance.
55 And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and were seated together, Peter sat among them.
56 Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the firelight and gazing [intently] at him, said, This man too was with [a]Him.
57 But he denied it and said, Woman, I do not know Him!
58 And a little later someone else saw him and said, You are one of them also. But Peter said, Man, I am not!
59 And when about an hour more had elapsed, still another emphatically insisted, It is the truth that this man also was with Him, for he too is a Galilean!
60 But Peter said, Man, I do not know what you are talking about. And instantly, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed.
61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter recalled the Lord’s words, how He had told him, Before the cock crows today, you will deny Me thrice.
62 And he went out and wept bitterly [that is, with painfully moving grief].
63 Now the men who had Jesus in custody treated Him with contempt and scoffed at and ridiculed Him and beat Him;
64 They blindfolded Him also and asked Him, Prophesy! Who is it that struck [b]You?
65 And they said many other evil and slanderous and insulting words against Him, reviling Him.
66 As soon as it was day, the assembly of the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes; and they led Him into their council (the Sanhedrin), and they said,
67 If You are the Christ (the Messiah), tell us. But He said to them, If I tell you, you will not believe (trust in, cleave to, and rely on what I say),
68 And if I question you, you will not answer.
69 But hereafter (from this time on), the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.(A)
70 And they all said, You are the Son of God, then? And He said to them, [c]It is just as you say; I Am.
71 And they said, What further evidence do we need? For we have heard [it] ourselves from His own mouth!
23 Then the whole assembly of them got up and conducted [Jesus] before Pilate.
2 And they began to accuse Him, asserting, We found this [d]Man perverting (misleading, corrupting, and turning away) our nation and forbidding to pay tribute to Caesar, saying that He Himself is Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One), a King!
3 So Pilate asked Him, Are You the King of the Jews? And He answered him, [[e]It is just as] you say. [I Am.]
4 And Pilate said to the chief priests and the throngs, I find no guilt or crime in this Man.
5 But they were urgent and emphatic, saying, He stirs up and excites the people, teaching throughout all Judea—from Galilee, where He began, even to this place.
6 Upon hearing this, Pilate asked whether the Man was a Galilean.
7 And when he found out [certainly] that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him up to Herod [a higher authority], who was also in Jerusalem in those days.
8 Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad, for he had eagerly desired to see Him for a long time because of what he had heard concerning Him, and he was hoping to witness some sign (some striking evidence or spectacular performance) done by Him.
9 So he asked Him many questions, but He made no reply.(B)
10 Meanwhile, the chief priests and the scribes stood by, continuing vehemently and violently to accuse Him.
11 And Herod, with his soldiers, treated Him with contempt and scoffed at and ridiculed Him; then, dressing Him up in bright and gorgeous apparel, he sent Him back to Pilate.(C)
12 And that very day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other—[though] they had been at enmity before this.
Psalm 95
1 O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise!
3 For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
4 In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights and strength of the hills are His also.
5 The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.
6 O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker [in reverent praise and supplication].
7 For He is our God and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice,(A)
8 Harden not your hearts as at Meribah and as at Massah in the day of temptation in the wilderness,(B)
9 When your fathers tried My patience and tested Me, proved Me, and saw My work [of judgment].
10 Forty years long was I grieved and disgusted with that generation, and I said, It is a people that do err in their hearts, and they do not approve, acknowledge, or regard My ways.
11 Wherefore I swore in My wrath that they would not enter My rest [the land of promise].(C)
Psalm 96
1 O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Sing to the Lord, bless (affectionately praise) His name; show forth His salvation from day to day.
3 Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples.
4 For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; He is to be reverently feared and worshiped above all [so-called] gods.(D)
5 For all the gods of the nations are [lifeless] idols, but the Lord made the heavens.
6 Honor and majesty are before Him; strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to the Lord, O you families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
8 Give to the Lord the glory due His name; bring an offering and come [before Him] into His courts.
9 O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; tremble before and reverently fear Him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations that the Lord reigns; the world also is established, so that it cannot be moved; He shall judge and rule the people righteously and with justice.(E)
11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all the things which fill it;
12 Let the field be exultant, and all that is in it! Then shall all the trees of the wood sing for joy
13 Before the Lord, for He comes, for He comes to judge and govern the earth! He shall judge the world with righteousness and justice and the peoples with His faithfulness and truth.(F)
5 A faithful witness will not lie, but a false witness breathes out falsehoods.
6 A scoffer seeks Wisdom in vain [for his very attitude blinds and deafens him to it], but knowledge is easy to him who [being teachable] understands.
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