The Daily Audio Bible

¹⁸ And he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner men were they, that ye killed in Tabor? Which answered, They were like thee, and one of them was as the son of a king (and one of them was like a king’s son).

¹⁹ To whom Gideon said, They were (all) my brethren, the sons of my mother; (as) the Lord liveth, if ye had saved them, I would not slay you.

²⁰ And he said to Jether, his first begotten son, Rise thou (up), and slay them. And Jether drew not his sword; for he dreaded, for he was yet a boy (But Jether would not draw out his sword; for he was afraid, for he was still a boy).

²¹ And Zebah and Zalmunna said (to Gideon), Rise thou (up thyself), and fall on us; for thou art by the age and strength of [a] man. (So) Gideon rose (up), and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and (then he) took the ornaments, and (the) bells, with which the necks of (the) kings’ camels be wont to be made fair.

²² And all the men of Israel said to Gideon, Be thou lord of us, thou, and thy son, and the son of thy son; for thou deliveredest us from the hand of Midian.

²³ To whom he said, I shall not be lord of you, neither my son shall be lord on you, but the Lord shall be lord on you. (To whom he said, I shall not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you, but the Lord shall rule over you.)

²⁴ And Gideon said to them, I ask one asking of you, give ye to me the earrings of your prey; for Ishmaelites were wont to have golden earrings.

²⁵ Which answered, We shall give (you them) most gladly. And they spreaded forth a mantle on the earth, and casted forth therein [the] earrings of the prey;

²⁶ and the weight of the earrings that he asked (for) was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold, without [the] ornaments, and brooches, and cloak of purple, which the kings of Midian were wont to use, and besides [the] golden bands of camels (and without the gold bands for the camels).

²⁷ And Gideon made thereof (an) ephod, that is, a priest’s cloak, and he put it in his city (of) Ophrah; and all Israel did fornication, that is idolatry, therein (therewith); and it was made to Gideon, and to all his house, into falling.

²⁸ But Midian was made low before the sons of Israel, and they might no more raise up their nolls; and the land rested forty years, in which Gideon was sovereign.

²⁹ And so Jerubbaal, the son of Joash, went, and dwelled in his house;

³⁰ and he had seventy sons, that went out of his thigh, for he had many wives.

³¹ And a concubine, that is, (the) secondary wife, of him, whom he had in Shechem, engendered to him a son, Abimelech by name.

³² And Gideon, the son of Joash, died in [a] good eld [age], and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash, his father, in Ophrah, of the family of Abiezrites.

³³ And after that Gideon was dead, the sons of Israel turned away, and they did fornication, that is, idolatry, with Baalim; and they smote (a) bond of peace with Baal(berith), that he should be to them into God (and they made a covenant with Baalberith, so that he would be their god),

³⁴ neither Israel had mind of their Lord God, that had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies by compass/about; (and the people of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies around them;)

³⁵ neither they did mercy to the family of Jerubbaal, that is, Gideon, after all the good things that he did to Israel. (nor were they grateful, or loyal, to Jerubbal’s family, after all the good that he had done for Israel.)

9 Forsooth Abimelech, the son of Jerubbaal, went into Shechem to the brethren of his mother; and he spake to them, and to all the kindred of the house of his mother, and said, (And Abimelech, the son of Jerubbaal, went into Shechem to his mother’s brothers and her kinsmen; and he spoke to them, and to all the kindred of the house of his mother, and said,)

² Speak ye to all the men of Shechem, (and say,) What is better to you, that seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, be lords of you, whether that one man be lord to you? and also behold, that I am your bone, and your flesh. (Say ye to all the men of Shechem, What is better for you, that seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you, or that one man rule over you? and also remember, that I am your own flesh and blood.)

³ And the brethren of his mother spake of him all these words to all the men of Shechem; and they bowed their hearts after Abimelech, and said, He is our brother. (And his mother’s kinsmen spoke all these words about him to all the men of Shechem; and they turned their hearts to Abimelech, and said, He is our kinsman.)

⁴ And they gave to him seventy pieces of silver (out) of the temple of Baalberith; and he hired to him thereof men poor and having no certain dwelling (and with it he hired men to join him who were poor, and who had no certain dwelling), and they followed him.

⁵ And he came into the house of his father in Ophrah, and killed his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone. And Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, was left, and hid. (And he came to his father’s house in Ophrah, and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, was left alive, for he had hid himself.)

⁶ And all the men of Shechem, and all the families of the city of Millo, were gathered together, and they went, and made Abimelech king, beside the oak that stood in Shechem.

⁷ And when this thing was told to Jotham, he went, and stood in the top of the hill Gerizim (and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim), and cried (out) with (a) voice raised [up], and said, Ye men of Shechem, hear me, so that God (may) hear you.

⁸ Trees went to anoint a king on them (The trees went to anoint a king over themselves); and they said to the olive tree, Command thou to us.

⁹ Which answered, Whether I may forsake my fatness, which both Gods and men use, and come, that I be advanced among trees? (Which answered, Can I forsake my rich oil, which is used to honour both gods and men, and go that I be advanced over the other trees?)

¹⁰ And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and take the realm on us (Come thou, and take the kingdom, and reign over us). Which answered to them,

¹¹ Whether I may forsake my sweetness, and my full sweet fruits, and go that I be advanced among other trees? (Can I forsake my sweetness, and my full sweet fruits, and go that I be advanced over the other trees?)

¹² Also the trees spake to the vine, (and said,) Come thou, and command to us.

¹³ Which answered, Whether I may forsake my wine, that gladdeth God and men, and be advanced among other trees? (Which answered, Can I forsake my wine, that gladdeneth both the gods and people, and go that I be advanced over the other trees?)

¹⁴ And all the trees said to the rhamn, or the thieve-thorn, Come thou, and be lord on us (Come thou, and be lord over us).

¹⁵ Which answered to them, If ye make me verily king to you, come, and rest ye under my shadow; and, if ye will not, fire go out of the rhamn, and devour the cedars of Lebanon. (Which answered to them, If ye truly shall make me king over you, come, and rest ye under my shadow; but if ye will not, then let fire go out of the rhamn, and devour Lebanon’s cedars.)

¹⁶ Now therefore, if rightfully and without sin ye have made Abimelech king on you, and if ye have done well with Jerubbaal, and with his house, and if ye have yielded while to the benificences of him, (And so now, if rightfully and without sin ye have made Abimelech king over you, and if ye have done the right thing with Jerubbaal, and with his household, and if ye have yielded to him according to his good deeds,)

¹⁷ that fought for you, and gave his life for perils, that he should deliver you from the hand of Midian; (yea, he who fought for you, and gave, or risked, his life to perils, so that he could save you from the hands of the Midianites;)

¹⁸ and ye have risen now against the house of my father, and have slain his sons, seventy men, on one stone, and have made Abimelech, [the] son of his handmaid, king on the dwellers of Shechem, for he is your brother; (and ye have risen up now against my father’s household, or his family, and have killed his sons, seventy men, on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his slave-girl, king over the inhabitants of Shechem, for he is your kinsman;)

¹⁹ therefore if ye have done rightfully, and without sin with Jerubbaal and his house, today be ye glad in Abimelech, and be he glad in you; (and so if ye have done rightfully, and without sin with Jerubbaal and with his household, or his family, today, then be ye happy with Abimelech, and let him be happy with you;)

²⁰ but if ye have done waywardly, (may) fire go out from Abimelech, and waste the dwellers of Shechem, and the city of Millo; and (may) fire go out from the men of Shechem, and from the city of Millo, and devour Abimelech.

²¹ And when Jotham had said these things, he fled, and went into Beer, and dwelled there, for dread of Abimelech, his brother (in fear of his brother Abimelech).

⁴⁴ And it was almost the sixth hour, and darknesses were made on all the earth into the ninth hour [till the ninth hour].

⁴⁵ And the sun was made dark, and the veil of the temple was rent atwo [and the veil of the temple was cut the middle].

⁴⁶ And Jesus crying with a great voice, said, Father, into thine hands I betake my spirit. And he saying these things, gave up the ghost. [And Jesus crying with great voice, saith, Father, into thy hands I betake my spirit. And he saying these things, sent out the spirit, or died.]

⁴⁷ And the centurion seeing that thing that was done, glorified God, and said [saying], Verily, this man was just.

⁴⁸ And all the people of them that were there together at this spectacle, and saw those things that were done, smote their breasts, and turned again.

⁴⁹ But all his known stood afar, and women that followed him from Galilee, seeing these things.

⁵⁰ And lo! a man, Joseph by name, of Arimathaea, a city of Judaea, that was a decurion, a good man and a just, [And lo! a man, Joseph by name, that was a decurion, or having ten under him, a good man and just,]

⁵¹ this man consented not to the counsel and to the deeds of them; and he abode the kingdom of God. [this man consented not to the counsel and deeds of them, of Arimathaea, city of Judaea; the which and he abode the kingdom of God.]

⁵² This Joseph came to Pilate, and asked the body of Jesus,

⁵³ and took it down, and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid him in a grave hewn, in which not yet any man had been laid [in which not yet any man was put].

⁵⁴ And the day was the even of the holiday, and the sabbath began to shine.^[a]

⁵⁵ And the women following, that came with him from Galilee, saw the grave, and how his body was laid.

⁵⁶ And they turned again, and made ready sweet smelling spices, and ointments; but in the sabbath they rested, after the commandment.

24 But in one day of the week full early they came to the grave, and brought sweet smelling spices, that they had arrayed [bringing sweet spices, which they had made ready].

² And they found the stone turned away from the grave.

³ And they went in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.

⁴ And it was done, the while [while] they were astonished in thought of this thing, lo! two men stood beside them in shining cloak^[b].

⁵ And when they dreaded, and bowed their semblance into the earth, they said to them, What seek ye him that liveth with dead men [What seek ye the living with the dead]?

⁶ He is not here, but is risen. Have ye mind, how he spake to you, when he was yet in Galilee,

⁷ and said [saying], For it behooveth man's Son to be betaken into the hands of sinful men, and to be crucified, and the third day to rise again.

⁸ And they bethought on his words.

⁹ And they went again from the grave, and told all these things to the eleven, and to all [the] others.

¹⁰ And there was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary of James, and other women that were with them, that said to the apostles these things [that said these things to the apostles].

¹¹ And these words were seen to them as madness [And these words were seen before them as madness], and they believed not to them.

¹² But Peter rose up, and ran to the grave; and he bowed down, and saw the linen clothes lying alone. And he went by himself, wondering on that that was done.^[c]

99 The Lord hath reigned, [the] peoples be wroth; thou that sittest on cherubim, the earth be moved. (The Lord reigneth, let the peoples tremble; thou who sittest above the cherubim, let the earth be shaken!)

² The Lord is great in Zion; and high above all peoples.

³ Acknowledge they to thy great name, for it is fearedful and holy; (Praise they thy great name, for it is fearful, and holy/for it is to be revered, for it is holy,)

⁴ and the honour of the king loveth doom. Thou hast made ready (ad)dressings; thou hast made doom and rightfulness in Jacob. (and mighty; and, O King, thou loveth justice. Thou hast prepared directions, that is, laws, and commands, for us; thou hast made justice and righteousness in Jacob.)

⁵ Enhance ye our Lord God; and worship ye (at) the stool of his feet, for it is holy. (Exalt ye the Lord our God; and worship ye, or bow ye down, at the stool of his feet, for he is holy.)

⁶ Moses and Aaron were among his priests; and Samuel was among them that inwardly call his name. They inwardly called the Lord, and he heard them; (Moses and Aaron were among his priests; and Samuel was among those who called on his name. They called on the Lord, and he answered them;)

⁷ in a pillar of cloud he spake to them. They kept his witnessings; and the commandment which he gave to them. (he spoke to them from the pillar of cloud. They obeyed his laws, and his commandments, which he gave to them.)

⁸ Our Lord God, thou heardest them; God, thou were merciful to them, and thou tookest vengeance on all their findings. (Lord our God, thou answeredest them; God, thou were merciful to them, even though thou punished them for all their sins.)

⁹ Enhance ye our Lord God, and worship ye in his holy hill; for our Lord God is holy. (Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship ye at his holy hill/and bow ye down towards his holy hill; for the Lord our God is holy.)

⁹ A fool scorneth sin; grace shall dwell among just men. (A fool mocketh sin; favour shall dwell among the righteous.)

¹⁰ The heart that knoweth the bitterness of his soul; a stranger shall not be meddled in the joy thereof. (The heart knoweth the bitterness of its own soul; a stranger cannot be mixed in, or mingled, with its joy.)