The Daily Audio Bible

²² And Abimelech reigned on Israel three years. (And Abimelech reigned over Israel for three years.)

²³ And the Lord sent the worst spirit betwixt Abimelech and the dwellers of Shechem, which began to hold him abominable, (And the Lord sent the worst spirit between Abimelech and the inhabitants of Shechem, who began to hold him abominable,)

²⁴ and to areckon the felony of [the] slaying of the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, and the shedding out of their blood, into Abimelech their brother, and into [the] other princes of Shechem, that had helped him. (and to reckon the felony of the slaughter of the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, yea, the shedding out of their blood, unto their brother Abimelech, and unto those other men of Shechem, who had helped him.)

²⁵ And men of Shechem set ambushments against the king in the highness of hills; and while they abode his coming, they haunted thefts, and took preys of men passing thereforth; and it was told to Abimelech. (And so the men of Shechem set men in ambush against the king in the highness of the hills; and while they waited for him, they robbed, and took plunder, from those who passed by; and this was told to Abimelech.)

²⁶ And Gaal, the son of Ebed, came with his brethren, and passed into Shechem; at whose entering the dwellers of Shechem were raised, (And Gaal, the son of Ebed, came with his kinsmen, and went into Shechem; at whose entry, the inhabitants of Shechem were raised up, and turned to him,)

²⁷ and went out into [the] fields, and wasted vineries, and trode grapes; and with companies of singers made, they entered into the temple of their God, and among meats and drinks they cursed Abimelech, (and they went into the fields, and emptied out their vineyards, and trod down the grapes at the winepress, and made merry; and they entered into the temple of their god, and over food and drink they cursed Abimelech,)

²⁸ while Gaal, the son of Ebed, cried, Who is this Abimelech? And what is Shechem, that we serve him? Whether he is not the son of Jerubbaal, and made Zebul, his servant, prince on the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem? Why therefore shall we serve him? (while Gaal, the son of Ebed, cried, Who is this Abimelech? And why should we Shechemites serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal? Is not Zebul but his servant? Yea, we should serve the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem! Why do we serve him?)

²⁹ Would God, (that) some man would give this people (to be) under mine hand, and (then) I should do away Abimelech from the midst of Shechem. And it was said to Abimelech, Gather thou the multitude of an host, and come thou (And then he said to Abimelech, as if he were there, Gather thou the multitude of thy army, and come thou out, if thou darest).

³⁰ For when the words of Gaal, the son of Ebed, were heard, Zebul, the prince of the city was full wroth; (And when the words of Gaal, the son of Ebed, were heard, Zebul, the leader of the city was very angry;)

³¹ and he sent privily messengers to Abimelech, and said, Lo! Gaal, the son of Ebed, is come into Shechem with his brethren, and he exciteth the city to fight against thee; (and he sent messengers privately, or secretly, to Abimelech, and said, Lo! Gaal, the son of Ebed, is come into Shechem with his kinsmen, and he exciteth, or rouseth, the city to fight against thee;)

³² therefore rise thou by night (and so rise thou up tonight), with the people that is with thee, and be thou hid in the field;

³³ and first in the morrowtide, when the sun riseth, fall thou upon the city; and when Gaal goeth out with his people against thee, do thou to him that that thou mayest.

³⁴ And so Abimelech rose with all his host by night, and set ambushments beside Shechem, in four places. (And so Abimelech and all his army rose up that night, and set men in ambush beside Shechem, in four places.)

³⁵ And Gaal, the son of Ebed, went out (the next morning), and stood in the entering of the gate of the city (and stood at the entrance to the city gate). And Abimelech, and all the host with him, rose (up) from the place of [the] ambushments.

³⁶ And when Gaal had seen the people, he said to Zebul, Lo! a multitude cometh down from the hills. To whom Zebul answered, Thou seest the shadows of hills as the heads of men, and thou art deceived by this error.

³⁷ And again Gaal said, Lo! a people cometh down from the midst of the earth, and one company cometh by the way that beholdeth the oak. (And Gaal said again, Lo! many people cometh down from the midst of the land, and one company, or one group, cometh along the road of the Soothsayers’ Oak.)

³⁸ To whom Zebul said, Where is now thy mouth, by which thou speakest, Who is Abimelech, that we serve him? (And then Zebul said to him, Now where is thy mouth, by which thou speakest, and saith, Who is this Abimelech, that we should serve him?) Whether this is not the people, whom thou despisedest? Go thou out, and fight against him.

³⁹ Therefore Gaal went (out), while the people of Shechem abode; and he fought against Abimelech. (And so Gaal led out the men of Shechem; and they fought against Abimelech.)

⁴⁰ And pursued him fleeing, and constrained him to flee into the city; and full many of the part of Gaal felled down, unto the gate of the city. (And Abimelech fought back, and pursued after them, and sent them fleeing; and a great many of Gaal’s men were killed, all the way back to the city gate.)

⁴¹ And (then) Abimelech sat in Arumah; and Zebul put Gaal and his fellows out of the city of Shechem, and he suffered them not to dwell therein (and he did not allow them to stay there).

⁴² Therefore in the day following, the people went out into the field (And on the following day, the people came out into the open); and when this thing was told to Abimelech,

⁴³ he took his host, and parted it in three companies, and he set ambushments in the fields; and he saw that the people went out of the city, and he rose, and felled upon them with his company, (he took his army, and divided it into three companies, or three groups, and he set men in ambush in the fields; and when he saw the people go out of the city, he rose up, and attacked them with his company,)

⁴⁴ and (he) besieged them and fought against the (men of the) city. And two companies went about openly by the field (And the other two companies went about openly in the field), and pursued their adversaries.

⁴⁵ And Abimelech fought against that city all that day, the which he took, when the dwellers thereof were slain, and that city was destroyed, so that he sprinkled abroad salt therein (and then he sprinkled salt on it).

⁴⁶ And when they, that dwelled in the tower of Shechem, had heard this, they entered into the temple of their god Berith, where they had made [a] bond of peace with him; and of that idol the place took the name, the which place was full strong. (And when they, who lived in the tower of Shechem, had heard this, they entered into the temple of their god Berith, where they had made a covenant with him; and that place took the name of that idol, and it was well-fortified.)

⁴⁷ And Abimelech heard that (all) [the] men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together (there),

⁴⁸ and he went up into the hill of Zalmon with all his people (and so he went up to Mount Zalmon with all his people); and with an ax taken, he cut down a bough of a tree, and he bare it, put upon his shoulder, and he said to his fellows, Do ye at once this thing, that ye see me do.

⁴⁹ Therefore with strife they cutted down boughs of the trees, and followed the duke; the which compassed the tower and burnt it up; and so it was done, that with smoke and fire a thousand men were slain, men and women together, of the dwellers of the tower of Shechem. (And so they cut off the boughs of the trees, and then followed their leader; and they surrounded the temple, and then burned it down; and so it was, that with smoke and fire, a thousand people were killed, men and women together, all those of the tower of Shechem.)

⁵⁰ And Abimelech went forth from thence, and came to the city of Thebez, which he compassed, and besieged with an host. (And then Abimelech went forth from there, and came to the city of Thebez, which he surrounded, and besieged with his army.)

⁵¹ And the tower was high in the midst of the city, to which men and women fled together, and all the princes of the city, while the gate was closed full strongly; and they stood on the roof of the tower by [the] turrets. (And the tower there was high in the middle of the city, to which all the men and women, and all the city leaders fled, and then the gate was securely closed; and they stood on the roof of the tower by the turrets.)

⁵² And Abimelech came beside the tower, and fought strongly against it, and he nighed to the door, and endeavoured him to put fire under it (and he came up to the door, and endeavoured to put fire under it);

⁵³ and lo! a woman casted from above a gobbet of a millstone, and hurtled to the head of Abimelech, and it brake his noll. (and lo! a woman threw a piece of a millstone down from above, and hurtled it onto Abimelech’s head, and it broke, or it cracked, his skull.)

⁵⁴ And he called anon his squire, and said to him, Draw out thy sword, and slay me, lest peradventure it be said, that I am slain of a woman. Which performed the commandments, and killed Abimelech; (And he called out at once to his squire, and said to him, Draw out thy sword, and kill me, lest it be said that I was killed by a woman. And he followed the order, and killed Abimelech;)

⁵⁵ and when Abimelech was dead, all (the) men of Israel that were with him turned again to their places.

⁵⁶ And God yielded to Abimelech the evil that he did against his father, for he killed his seventy brethren.

⁵⁷ Also that evil was yielded to [the] men of Shechem, (for) that (that) they wrought, and (so) the curse of Jotham, the son of Jerubbaal, came upon them.

10 After Abimelech rose a duke in Israel, Tola, the son of Puah, son of Dodo; Tola was a man of Issachar, that dwelled in Shamir, of the hill of Ephraim; (After Abimelech, a leader arose in Israel, that is Tola, the son of Puah, the son of Dodo; and Tola was a man of Issachar, who lived in Shamir, in the hill country of Ephraim;)

² and he deemed Israel three and twenty years, and (then) he died, and was buried in Shamir.

³ His successor was Jair, a man of Gilead, that deemed Israel two and twenty years;

⁴ and he had thirty sons, sitting upon thirty colts of she-asses, and they were princes of thirty cities, the which be called by their father’s name, Havothjair, that is, the cities of Jair, unto this present day, in the land of Gilead.

⁵ And (then) Jair died, and was buried in a place that is called Camon.

⁶ Forsooth the sons of Israel joined new sins to eld sins, and did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served to the idols of Baalim, and to Ashtaroth, and to the gods of Syria, and of Sidon, and of Moab, and of the sons of Ammon, and of Philistines; and they left the Lord, and worshipped not him (and did not worship him).

⁷ And the Lord was wroth against them, and he betook them into the hands of Philistines, and of the sons of Ammon.

⁸ And all the sons of Israel that dwelled beyond (the) Jordan in the land of Amorites, that is, in Gilead, were tormented and oppressed greatly by eighteen years, (And all the Israelites who lived on the eastern side of the Jordan River, in the land of Amorites, that is, in Gilead, were tormented and greatly oppressed for eighteen years,)

⁹ in so much that the sons of Ammon, when they had passed [over] (the) Jordan, wasted Judah, and Benjamin, and Ephraim; and Israel was tormented greatly. (in so much that the Ammonites, when they had crossed over the Jordan River, attacked Judah, and Benjamin, and Ephraim; and so Israel was greatly tormented.)

¹⁰ And they cried to the Lord, and said, We have sinned to thee, for we forsook our God, and served Baalim. (And they cried to the Lord, and said, We have sinned against thee, for we deserted our God, and served the Baalim.)

¹¹ To whom the Lord said, Whether not the Egyptians, and Amorites, and the sons of Ammon, and Philistines,

¹² and Sidonians, and Amalek, and Canaan (and Maonites), have (all) oppressed you, and ye cried to me, and I delivered you from their hands?

¹³ And nevertheless ye have forsaken me, and worshipped alien gods; therefore I shall not add to, that I deliver you [any] more (and so I shall not do anything more to save you again).

¹⁴ Go ye, and call (on) [the] gods which ye have chosen; deliver they you in the time of anguish (let them save you in your time of anguish).

¹⁵ And the sons of Israel said to the Lord, We have sinned; yield thou to us whatever thing pleaseth to thee; only deliver us now. (And the Israelites said to the Lord, We have sinned; yield thou to us later whatever pleaseth thee; but right now, please save us!)

¹⁶ And they said these things, and casted forth from their coasts all the idols of alien gods, and served the Lord; which had ruth, either compassion, on (all) the wretchednesses of them.

¹⁷ And so the sons of Ammon cried together, each moving (the) other to battle against Israel, and setted tents in Gilead, and the sons of Israel were gathered against them, and setted tents in Mizpeh. (But then the Ammonites cried together, each moving the other to battle against Israel, and pitched their tents at Gilead; and the Israelites gathered themselves together against them, and pitched their tents at Mizpeh.)

¹⁸ And the princes of Gilead said each to his neighbours, He, that beginneth first of us to fight against the sons of Ammon, shall be duke of the people of Gilead. (And the people and the rulers of Gilead said to each other, He of us who first beginneth to fight against the Ammonites, shall be the leader of all the people of Gilead.)

¹³ And lo! twain of them went in that day into a castle [And lo! two of them went in that day to a castle], that was from Jerusalem the space of sixty furlongs, by name Emmaus.

¹⁴ And they spake together of all these things that had befallen.

¹⁵ And it was done, the while they talked, and sought by themselves, Jesus himself approached, and went with them. [And it was done, while they talked, and sought with themselves, and Jesus himself nighing, went with them.]

¹⁶ But their eyes were holden, that they knew him not.

¹⁷ And he said to them, What be these words, that ye speak together wandering, and ye be sorrowful?

¹⁸ And one, whose name was Cleopas, answered, and said [to him], Thou thyself art a pilgrim in Jerusalem^[a], and hast thou not known, what things be done in it in these days?

¹⁹ To whom he said, What things? And they said to him, Of Jesus of Nazareth, that was a man prophet, mighty in work and word before God and all the people;

²⁰ and how the high priests and our princes betook him into condemnation of death [and how the highest priests and our princes betook him into damnation of death], and crucified him.

²¹ But we hoped, that he should have again-bought Israel. And now on all these things the third day is to day, that these things were done.

²² But also some women of ours made us afeared, which before day were at the grave [which before the light were at the grave];

²³ and when his body was not found, they came, and said, that they saw also a sight of angels [they came, saying, them also to have seen a sight of angels], which said, that he liveth.

²⁴ And some [men] of ours went to the grave, and they found so as the women said, but they found not him [but him they found not].

²⁵ And he said to them, A! fools [O! fools], and slow of heart to believe in all things that the prophets have spoken.

²⁶ Whether it behooved not Christ to suffer these things, and so to enter into his glory?

²⁷ And he began at Moses and at all the prophets, and declared to them in all scriptures, that were of him. [And he beginning at Moses and all the prophets, expounded to them in all scriptures, which were of him.]

²⁸ And they came nigh to the castle, whither they went. And he made countenance that he would go further.

²⁹ And they constrained him, and said [saying], Dwell with us, for it draweth to night, and the day is now bowed down. And he entered [in] with them.

³⁰ And it was done, while he sat at the meat with them, he took bread, and blessed, and brake, and took to them [and gave to them].

³¹ And the eyes of them were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished from their eyes.

³² And they said together, Whether our heart was not burning in us, while he spake to us in the way, and [he] opened to us [the] scriptures?

³³ And they rose up in the same hour, and went again into Jerusalem [to Jerusalem], and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them,

³⁴ saying, That the Lord is risen verily, and appeared to Simon.

³⁵ And they told what things were done in the way, and how they knew him in breaking of bread.

³⁶ And while they spake these things, Jesus stood in the middle of them, and said to them, Peace to you; I am, do not ye dread.

³⁷ But they were afraid and aghast, and guessed them to see a spirit.

³⁸ And he said to them, What be ye troubled, and thoughts come up into your hearts [and thoughts ascend up into your hearts]?

³⁹ See ye my hands and my feet, for I myself am. Feel ye, and see ye; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see that I have [as ye see me to have].

⁴⁰ And when he had said this thing, he showed hands and feet to them.

⁴¹ And yet while they believed not, and wondered for joy, he said, Have ye here any thing that shall be eaten [Have ye any thing here that shall be eaten]?

⁴² And they proffered to him [And they offered to him] a part of a fish roasted, and an honeycomb.

⁴³ And when he had eaten before them, he took that that (was) left, and gave to them; [And when he had eaten before them, he taking the reliefs, gave to them;]

⁴⁴ and [he] said to them, These be the words that I spake to you [and he said to them, These be the words which I spake to you], when I was yet with you; for it is need that all things be fulfilled, that be written in the law of Moses [which be written in the law of Moses], and in prophets, and in psalms, of me.

⁴⁵ Then he opened to them wit [Then he opened wit to them], that they should understand [the] scriptures.

⁴⁶ And he said to them, For thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and rise again from death the third day [and to rise again from dead the third day];

⁴⁷ and penance and remission of sins to be preached in his name to all folks, beginning at Jerusalem.

⁴⁸ And ye be witnesses of these things.

⁴⁹ And I shall send the promise of my Father into you [And I send the promise of my Father into you]; but sit ye in the city, till ye be clothed with virtue from on high.

⁵⁰ And he led them forth into Bethany, and when his hands were lifted up [and, his hands lifted up], he blessed them.

⁵¹ And it was done, the while he blessed them [while he blessed them], he departed from them, and was borne into heaven.

⁵² And they worshipped, and went again into Jerusalem with great joy, [And they worshipping went again to Jerusalem with great joy;]

⁵³ and were evermore in the temple [and were ever in the temple], praising and blessing God.

100 A psalm to acknowledge. All earth, sing ye heartily to God; (A song of praise. All the earth, sing ye heartily to God;)

² serve ye the Lord in gladness. Enter ye in his sight in full out joying. (serve ye the Lord with gladness. Enter ye before him with rejoicing.)

³ Know ye, that the Lord himself is God; he made us, and not we made us. His people, and the sheep of his pasture, (Know ye, that the Lord himself is God; he made us, and we did not make ourselves/and we belong to him. So let his people, and the sheep of his pasture,)

⁴ enter ye into his gates in acknowledging; enter ye into his porches, acknowledge ye to him in hymns. Praise ye his name, (enter ye his gates with praise, or thanksgiving; enter ye into his courtyards with hymns of praise. Thank ye him, and bless ye his name/and praise ye his name,)

⁵ for the Lord is sweet, his mercy is [into] without end; and his truth is in generation and into generation. (for the Lord is good, his love is forever; and his faithfulness is for all generations.)

¹¹ The house of wicked men shall be done away; the tabernacles of just men shall burgeon. (The houses of the wicked shall be done away; but the homes of the righteous shall flourish.)

¹² Soothly a way is, that seemeth just to a man (Truly there is a way, that seemeth right to a person); but the last things thereof lead forth to death.