The Daily Audio Bible
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7 Then Jerubbaal, that is, Gideon, and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod; and the camp of Midian was north of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley.
2 The Lord said to Gideon, The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel boast about themselves against Me, saying, My own hand has delivered me.
3 So now proclaim in the ears of the men, saying, Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him turn back and depart from Mount Gilead. And 22,000 of the men returned, but 10,000 remained.
4 And the Lord said to Gideon, The men are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. And he of whom I say to you, This man shall go with you, shall go with you; and he of whom I say to you, This man shall not go with you, shall not go.
5 So he brought the men down to the water, and the Lord said to Gideon, Everyone who laps up the water with his tongue as a dog laps it, you shall set by himself, likewise everyone who bows down on his knees to drink.
6 And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.
7 And the Lord said to Gideon, With the 300 men who lapped I will deliver you, and give the Midianites into your hand. Let all the others return every man to his home.
8 So the people took provisions and their trumpets in their hands, and he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his home and retained those 300 men. And the host of Midian was below him in the valley.
9 That same night the Lord said to Gideon, Arise, go down against their camp, for I have given it into your hand.
10 But if you fear to go down, go with Purah your servant down to the camp
11 And you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp. Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the camp of the armed men.
12 And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the sons of the east lay along the valley like locusts for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand on the seashore for multitude.
13 When Gideon arrived, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade. And he said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of [a]barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down so that the tent lay flat.
14 And his comrade replied, This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon son of Joash, a man of Israel. Into his hand God has given Midian and all the host.
15 When Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped and returned to the camp of Israel and said, Arise, for the Lord has given into your hand the host of Midian.
16 And he divided the 300 men into three companies, and he put into the hands of all of them trumpets and empty pitchers, with torches inside the pitchers.
17 And he said to them, Look at me, then do likewise. When I come to the edge of their camp, do as I do.
18 When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and shout, For the Lord and for Gideon!
19 So Gideon and the 100 men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when the guards had just been changed, and they blew the trumpets and smashed the pitchers that were in their hands.
20 And the three companies blew the trumpets and shattered the pitchers, holding the torches in their left hands, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow [leaving no chance to use swords], and they cried, The sword for the Lord and Gideon!
21 They stood every man in his place round about the camp, and all the [Midianite] army ran—they cried out and fled.
22 When [Gideon’s men] blew the 300 trumpets, the Lord set every [Midianite’s] sword against his comrade and against all the army, and the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah by Tabbath.
23 And the men of Israel were called together out of Naphtali and Asher and all Manasseh, and they pursued Midian.
24 And Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites and take all the intervening fords as far as Beth-barah and also the Jordan. So all the men of Ephraim were gathered together and took all the fords as far as Beth-barah and also the Jordan.
25 And [the men of Ephraim] took the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, and they slew Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian; and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan.
8 And the men of Ephraim said to Gideon, Why have you treated us like this, not calling us when you went to fight with Midian? And they quarreled with him furiously.
2 And he said to them, What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of [your big tribe of] Ephraim better than the vintage of [my little clan of] Abiezer?
3 [b]God has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, and what was I able to do in comparison with you? Then their anger toward him was abated when he had said that.
4 And Gideon came to the Jordan and passed over, he and the 300 men with him, faint yet pursuing.
5 And he said to the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are faint, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.
6 And the princes of Succoth said, Are Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?
7 And Gideon said, For that, when the Lord has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will thresh your flesh with the thorns and briers of the wilderness!
8 And he went from there up to Penuel and made the same request, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had done.
9 And [Gideon] said to the men of Penuel, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.
10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army—about 15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of the sons of the east, for there had fallen 120,000 men who drew the sword.
11 And Gideon went up by the route of those who dwelt in tents east of Nobah and Jogbehah and smote their camp [unexpectedly], for the army thought itself secure.
12 And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and terrified all the army.
13 Then Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres.
14 And he caught a young man of Succoth and inquired of him, and [the youth] wrote down for him [the names of] the officials of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men.
15 And he came to the men of Succoth and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you scoffed at me, saying, Are Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are faint?
16 And he took the elders of the city and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth [a lesson].
17 And he broke down the tower of Penuel and slew the men of the city.
13 Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people,
14 And said to them, You brought this Man before me as One Who was perverting and misleading and [a]turning away and corrupting the people; and behold, after examining Him before you, I have not found any offense (crime or guilt) in this Man in regard to your accusations against Him;
15 No, nor indeed did Herod, for he sent Him back to us; behold, He has done nothing deserving of death.
16 I will therefore chastise Him and [b]deliver Him amended (reformed, taught His lesson) and release Him.
17 [c]For it was necessary for him to release to them one prisoner at the Feast.
18 But they all together raised a deep cry [from the depths of their throats], saying, Away with this Man! Release to us Barabbas!
19 He was a man who had been thrown into prison for raising a riot in the city, and for murder.
20 Once more Pilate called to them, wishing to release Jesus;
21 But they kept shouting out, Crucify, crucify Him!
22 A third time he said to them, Why? What wrong has He done? I have found [no offense or crime or guilt] in Him nothing deserving of death; I will therefore chastise Him [[d]in order to teach Him better] and release Him.
23 But they were insistent and urgent, demanding with loud cries that He should be crucified. And their voices prevailed (accomplished their purpose).
24 And Pilate gave sentence, that what they asked should be done.
25 So he released the man who had been thrown into prison for riot and murder, for whom they continued to ask, but Jesus he delivered up to be done with as they willed.
26 And as they led Him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross and made him carry it behind Jesus.
27 And there accompanied [Jesus] a great multitude of the people, [including] women who bewailed and lamented Him.
28 But Jesus, turning toward them, said, Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.
29 For behold, the days are coming during which they will say, Blessed (happy, fortunate, and [e]to be envied) are the barren, and the wombs that have not borne, and the breasts that have never nursed [babies]!
30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us! and to the hills, Cover (conceal, hide) us!
31 For if they do these things when the timber is green, what will happen when it is dry?
32 Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be executed with Him.(A)
33 And when they came to the place which is called The Skull [Latin: Calvary; Hebrew: Golgotha], there they crucified Him, and [along with] the criminals, one on the right and one on the left.
34 And Jesus prayed, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And they divided His garments and distributed them by casting lots for them.(B)
35 Now the people stood by [[f]calmly and leisurely] watching; but the rulers scoffed and sneered ([g]turned up their noses) at Him, saying, He rescued others [[h]from death]; let Him now rescue Himself, if He is the Christ (the Messiah) of God, His Chosen One!
36 The soldiers also ridiculed and made sport of Him, coming up and offering Him vinegar (a sour wine mixed with water)(C)
37 And saying, If you are the King of the Jews, save (rescue) Yourself [[i]from death].
38 For there was also an inscription above Him [j]in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew: This is the King of the Jews.
39 One of the criminals who was suspended kept up a railing at Him, saying, Are You not the Christ (the Messiah)? Rescue Yourself and us [[k]from death]!
40 But the other one reproved him, saying, Do you not even fear God, seeing you yourself are under the same sentence of condemnation and suffering the same penalty?
41 And we indeed suffer it justly, receiving the due reward of our actions; but this Man has done nothing out of the way [nothing [l]strange or eccentric or perverse or unreasonable].
42 Then he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when You come [m]in Your kingly glory!
43 And He answered him, Truly I tell you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.
Psalm 97
1 The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles and coastlands be glad!
2 Clouds and darkness are round about Him [as at Sinai]; righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.(A)
3 Fire goes before Him and burns up His adversaries round about.
4 His lightnings illumine the world; the earth sees and trembles.
5 The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
6 The heavens declare His righteousness, and all the peoples see His glory.
7 Let all those be put to shame who serve graven images, who boast in idols. Fall prostrate before Him, all you gods.(B)
8 Zion heard and was glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoiced [in relief] because of Your judgments, O Lord.
9 For You, Lord, are high above all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods.
10 O you who love the Lord, hate evil; He preserves the lives of His saints (the children of God), He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.(C)
11 Light is sown for the [uncompromisingly] righteous and strewn along their pathway, and joy for the upright in heart [the irrepressible joy which comes from consciousness of His favor and protection].
12 Rejoice in the Lord, you [consistently] righteous (upright and in right standing with God), and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.
Psalm 98
A Psalm.
1 O sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have wrought salvation for Him.
2 The Lord has made known His salvation; His righteousness has He openly shown in the sight of the nations.(D)
3 He has [earnestly] remembered His mercy and loving-kindness, His truth and His faithfulness toward the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have witnessed the salvation of our God.(E)
4 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth and sing for joy, yes, sing praises!
5 Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the voice of melody.
6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!
7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it, the world, and those who dwell in it!
8 Let the rivers clap their hands; together let the hills sing for joy
9 Before the Lord, for He is coming to judge [and rule] the earth; with righteousness will He judge [and rule] the world, and the peoples with equity.
7 Go from the presence of a foolish and self-confident man, for you will not find knowledge on his lips.
8 The Wisdom [godly Wisdom, which is comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God] of the prudent is to understand his way, but the folly of [self-confident] fools is to deceive.
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