The Daily Audio Bible

¹⁸ Then he said to Zebah and Zalmun′na, “Where are the men whom you slew at Tabor?” They answered, “As you are, so were they, every one of them; they resembled the sons of a king.” ¹⁹ And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother; as the Lord lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not slay you.” ²⁰ And he said to Jether his first-born, “Rise, and slay them.” But the youth did not draw his sword; for he was afraid, because he was still a youth. ²¹ Then Zebah and Zalmun′na said, “Rise yourself, and fall upon us; for as the man is, so is his strength.” And Gideon arose and slew Zebah and Zalmun′na; and he took the crescents that were on the necks of their camels.

Gideon’s Idolatry

²² Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also; for you have delivered us out of the hand of Mid′ian.” ²³ Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.”^{[a] 24} And Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you; give me every man of you the earrings of his spoil.” (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ish′maelites.) ²⁵ And they answered, “We will willingly give them.” And they spread a garment, and every man cast in it the earrings of his spoil. ²⁶ And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold; besides the crescents and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Mid′ian, and besides the collars that were about the necks of their camels. ²⁷ And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah; and all Israel played the harlot after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family. ²⁸ So Mid′ian was subdued before the people of Israel, and they lifted up their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.

Death of Gideon

²⁹ Jerubba′al the son of Jo′ash went and dwelt in his own house. ³⁰ Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives. ³¹ And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he called his name Abim′elech. ³² And Gideon the son of Jo′ash died in a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Jo′ash his father, at Ophrah of the Abiez′rites.

³³ As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and played the harlot after the Ba′als, and made Ba′al-be′rith their god. ³⁴ And the people of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hand of all their enemies on every side; ³⁵ and they did not show kindness to the family of Jerubba′al (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.

Abimelech Attempts to Establish a Monarchy

9 Now Abim′elech the son of Jerubba′al went to Shechem to his mother’s kinsmen and said to them and to the whole clan of his mother’s family, ² “Say in the ears of all the citizens of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you, that all seventy of the sons of Jerubba′al rule over you, or that one rule over you?’ Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.” ³ And his mother’s kinsmen spoke all these words on his behalf in the ears of all the men of Shechem; and their hearts inclined to follow Abim′elech, for they said, “He is our brother.” ⁴ And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Ba′al-be′rith with which Abim′elech hired worthless and reckless fellows, who followed him. ⁵ And he went to his father’s house at Ophrah, and slew his brothers the sons of Jerubba′al, seventy men, upon one stone; but Jotham the youngest son of Jerubba′al was left, for he hid himself. ⁶ And all the citizens of Shechem came together, and all Beth-millo, and they went and made Abim′elech king, by the oak of the pillar at Shechem.

The Parable of the Trees

⁷ When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Geri′zim, and cried aloud and said to them, “Listen to me, you men of Shechem, that God may listen to you. ⁸ The trees once went forth to anoint a king over them; and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’ ⁹ But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my fatness, by which gods and men are honored, and go to sway over the trees?’ ¹⁰ And the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come you, and reign over us.’ ¹¹ But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to sway over the trees?’ ¹² And the trees said to the vine, ‘Come you, and reign over us.’ ¹³ But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my wine which cheers gods and men, and go to sway over the trees?’ ¹⁴ Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘Come you, and reign over us.’ ¹⁵ And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’

¹⁶ “Now therefore, if you acted in good faith and honor when you made Abim′elech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubba′al and his house, and have done to him as his deeds deserved— ¹⁷ for my father fought for you, and risked his life, and rescued you from the hand of Mid′ian; ¹⁸ and you have risen up against my father’s house this day, and have slain his sons, seventy men on one stone, and have made Abim′elech, the son of his maidservant, king over the citizens of Shechem, because he is your kinsman— ¹⁹ if you then have acted in good faith and honor with Jerubba′al and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abim′elech, and let him also rejoice in you; ²⁰ but if not, let fire come out from Abim′elech, and devour the citizens of Shechem, and Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the citizens of Shechem, and from Beth-millo, and devour Abim′elech.” ²¹ And Jotham ran away and fled, and went to Beer and dwelt there, for fear of Abim′elech his brother.

The Death of Jesus

⁴⁴ It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land^[a] until the ninth hour, ⁴⁵ while the sun’s light failed;^[b] and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶ Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. ⁴⁷ Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, and said, “Certainly this man was innocent!” ⁴⁸ And all the multitudes who assembled to see the sight, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. ⁴⁹ And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance and saw these things.

The Burial of Jesus

⁵⁰ Now there was a man named Joseph from the Jewish town of Arimathe′a. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, ⁵¹ who had not consented to their purpose and deed, and he was looking for the kingdom of God. ⁵² This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁵³ Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud, and laid him in a rock-hewn tomb, where no one had ever yet been laid. ⁵⁴ It was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was beginning.^{[c] 55} The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and saw the tomb, and how his body was laid; ⁵⁶ then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments.

On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

The Resurrection of Jesus

24 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices which they had prepared. ² And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they went in they did not find the body.^{[d] 4} While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel; ⁵ and as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.^{[e] 6} Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, ⁷ that the Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise.” ⁸ And they remembered his words, ⁹ and returning from the tomb they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. ¹⁰ Now it was Mary Mag′dalene and Jo-an′na and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told this to the apostles; ¹¹ but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. ¹² But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home wondering at what had happened.^[f]

Praise to God for His Holiness