The Daily Audio Bible
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22 Abimelech reigned three years over Israel.
23 And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem, and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech,
24 That the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and that their blood might be laid upon Abimelech their brother, who slew them, and upon the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to slay his brothers.
25 And the men of Shechem set men in ambush against [Abimelech] on the mountaintops, and they robbed all who passed by them along that way; and it was told to Abimelech.
26 And Gaal son of Ebed came with his kinsmen and moved into Shechem, and the men of Shechem put confidence in him.
27 And they went out into the field, gathered their vineyard fruits and trod them, and held a festival; and going into the house of their god, they ate and drank and cursed Abimelech.
28 Gaal son of Ebed said, Who is Abimelech, and who are we of Shechem, that we should serve him? Were not the son of Jerubbaal and Zebul, his officer, servants of the men of Hamor the father and founder of Shechem? Then why should we serve him?
29 Would that this people were under my hand! Then would I remove Abimelech and say to him, Increase your army and come out.
30 When Zebul the city’s mayor heard the words of Gaal son of Ebed, his anger was kindled.
31 And he sent messengers to Abimelech slyly, saying, Behold, Gaal son of Ebed and his kinsmen have come to Shechem; and behold, they stir up the city to rise against you.
32 Now therefore, rise up by night, you and the men with you, and lie in wait in the field.
33 Then in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, rise early and set upon the city; and when Gaal and the men with him come out against you, do to them as opportunity permits.
34 And Abimelech rose up by night, and all the men with him, and they laid in wait against Shechem in four companies.
35 And Gaal son of Ebed came out and stood in the entrance of the city’s gate. Then Abimelech and the men with him rose up from ambush.
36 When Gaal saw the men, he said to Zebul, Look, men are coming down from the mountaintops! Zebul said to him, The shadow of the mountains looks to you like men.
37 And Gaal spoke again and said, See, men are coming down from the center of the land, and one company is coming from the direction of the oak of Meonenim [the sorcerers].
38 Then said Zebul to Gaal, Where is your [big] mouth now, you who said, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? Are not these the men whom you have despised? Go out now and fight with them.
39 And Gaal went out ahead of the men of Shechem and fought with Abimelech.
40 And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him; and many fell wounded—even to the entrance of the gate.
41 And Abimelech lodged at Arumah, and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his kinsmen so that they could not live in Shechem.
42 The next day the men went out into the fields, and Abimelech was told.
43 He took his men and divided them into three companies and laid in wait in the field; and he looked and behold, the people were coming out of the city. And he rose up against them and smote them.
44 And Abimelech and the company with him rushed forward and stood in the entrance of the city’s gate, while the two other companies rushed upon all who were in the field and slew them.
45 And Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He took the city and slew the people who were in it. He demolished the city and [a]sowed it with salt.
46 And when all the men of the Tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered the stronghold of the house of El-berith [the god of Berith].
47 Abimelech was told that all the people of the Tower of Shechem were gathered together.
48 And Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the men with him; and Abimelech took an ax in his hand and cut down a bundle of brush, picked it up, and laid it on his shoulder. And he said to the men with him, What you have seen me do, make haste to do also.
49 So each of the men cut down his bundle and following Abimelech put it against the stronghold and set [the stronghold] on fire over the people in it, so that all the people of the Tower of Shechem also died, about 1,000 men and women.
50 Then Abimelech went to Thebez and encamped against Thebez and took it.
51 But there was a strong tower in the city, and all the people of the city—men and women—fled to it, shut themselves in, and went to the roof of the tower.
52 And Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it and drew near the door of the tower to burn it with fire.
53 But a certain woman cast an upper millstone [down] upon Abimelech’s head and broke his skull.
54 Then he called hastily to the young man, his armor-bearer, and said to him, Draw your sword and slay me, so that men may not say of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died.
55 And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed each man to his home.
56 Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech which he had done to his father [Gideon] by slaying his seventy brothers;
57 And all the wickedness of the men of Shechem God repaid upon their heads and caused to come upon them the curse of Jotham son of Jerubbaal.(A)
10 After Abimelech there arose to rescue Israel, Tola son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he lived at Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim.
2 He judged Israel twenty-three years; then he died and was buried in Shamir.
3 After him arose Jair the Gileadite, and he judged Israel twenty-two years.
4 And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkey colts, and they had thirty towns called Havvoth-jair [towns of Jair] which to this day are in the land of Gilead.
5 And Jair died and was buried in Kamon.
6 And the Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, served the Baals, the Ashtaroth [female deities], the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. They forsook the Lord and did not serve Him.
7 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites,
8 And they oppressed and crushed and broke the Israelites that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.
9 And the Ammonites passed over the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was sorely distressed.
10 And the Israelites cried to the Lord, saying, We have sinned against You, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals.
11 And the Lord said to the Israelites, Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, and the Philistines?
12 Also when the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites oppressed and crushed you, you cried to Me, and I delivered you out of their hands.
13 Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods; therefore I will deliver you no more.
14 Go, cry to the gods you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress.
15 And the Israelites said to the Lord, We have sinned, do to us whatever seems good to You; only deliver us, we pray You, this day.
16 So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord, and His heart became impatient over the misery of Israel.
17 Then the Ammonites were gathered together and they encamped in Gilead. And the Israelites assembled and encamped at Mizpah.
18 And the leaders of Gilead [the Israelites] said one to another, Who is the man who will begin to fight against the Ammonites? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
13 And behold, that very day two of [the disciples] were going to a village called Emmaus, [which is] about seven miles from Jerusalem.
14 And they were talking with each other about all these things that had occurred.
15 And while they were conversing and discussing together, Jesus Himself caught up with them and was already accompanying them.
16 But their eyes were held, so that they did not recognize Him.
17 And He said to them, What is this discussion that you are exchanging ([a]throwing back and forth) between yourselves as you walk along? And they stood still, looking sad and downcast.
18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered Him, Do you alone dwell as a stranger in Jerusalem and not know the things that have occurred there in these days?
19 And He said to them, What [kind of] things? And they said to Him, About Jesus of Nazareth, Who was a Prophet mighty in work and word before God and all the people—
20 And how our chief priests and rulers gave Him up to be sentenced to death, and crucified Him.
21 But we were hoping that it was He Who would redeem and set Israel free. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things occurred.
22 And moreover, some women of our company astounded us and [b]drove us out of our senses. They were at the tomb early [in the morning]
23 But did not find His body; and they returned saying that they had [even] seen a vision of angels, who said that He was alive!
24 So some of those [who were] with us went to the tomb and they found it just as the women had said, but Him they did not see.
25 And [Jesus] said to them, O foolish ones [sluggish in mind, dull of perception] and slow of heart to believe (adhere to and trust in and rely on) everything that the prophets have spoken!
26 Was it not necessary and [c]essentially fitting that the Christ (the Messiah) should suffer all these things before entering into His glory (His majesty and splendor)?
27 Then beginning with Moses and [throughout] all the Prophets, He went on explaining and interpreting to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning and referring to Himself.
28 Then they drew near the village to which they were going, and He acted as if He would go further.
29 But they urged and insisted, saying to Him, Remain with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is now far spent. So He went in to stay with them.
30 And it occurred that as He reclined at table with them, He took [a loaf of] bread and praised [God] and gave thanks and asked a blessing, and then broke it and was giving it to them
31 When their eyes were [instantly] opened and they [clearly] recognized Him, and He vanished ([d]departed invisibly).
32 And they said to one another, Were not our hearts greatly moved and burning within us while He was talking with us on the road and as He opened and explained to us [the sense of] the Scriptures?
33 And rising up that very hour, they went back to Jerusalem, where they found the Eleven [apostles] gathered together and those who were with them,
34 Who said, The Lord really has risen and has appeared to Simon (Peter)!
35 Then they [themselves] [e]related [in full] what had happened on the road, and how He was known and recognized by them in the breaking of bread.
36 Now while they were talking about this, Jesus Himself took His stand among them and said to them, Peace ([f]freedom from all the distresses that are experienced as the result of sin) be to you!
37 But they were so startled and terrified that they thought they saw a spirit.
38 And He said to them, Why are you disturbed and troubled, and why do such doubts and questionings arise in your hearts?
39 See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself! Feel and handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.
40 And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.
41 And while [since] they still could not believe it for sheer joy and marveled, He said to them, Have you anything here to eat?
42 They gave Him a piece of broiled fish,
43 And He took [it] and ate [it] before them.
44 Then He said to them, This is what I told you while I was still with you: everything which is written concerning Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.
45 Then He [thoroughly] opened up their minds to understand the Scriptures,
46 And said to them, Thus it is written that the Christ (the Messiah) should suffer and on the third day rise from ([g] among) the dead,(A)
47 And that repentance [with a view to and as the condition of] forgiveness of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
48 You are witnesses of these things.
49 And behold, I will send forth upon you what My Father has promised; but remain in the city [Jerusalem] until you are clothed with power from on high.
50 Then He conducted them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up His hands, He invoked a blessing on them.
51 And it occurred that while He was blessing them, He parted from them and was taken up into heaven.
52 And they, worshiping Him, went back to Jerusalem with great joy;
53 And they were continually in the temple celebrating with praises and blessing and extolling God. Amen (so be it).
Psalm 100
A Psalm of thanksgiving and for the thank offering.
1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all you lands!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness! Come before His presence with singing!
3 Know (perceive, recognize, and understand with approval) that the Lord is God! It is He Who has made us, not we ourselves [and we are His]! We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.(A)
4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and a thank offering and into His courts with praise! Be thankful and say so to Him, bless and affectionately praise His name!
5 For the Lord is good; His mercy and loving-kindness are everlasting, His faithfulness and truth endure to all generations.
11 The house of the wicked shall be overthrown, but the tent of the upright shall flourish.
12 There is a way which seems right to a man and appears straight before him, but at the end of it is the way of death.
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation