[Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR FRIDAY, SATURDAY, & SUNDAY MARCH 11, 12, & 13

[Donnie Parrett]

DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR FRIDAY, SATURDAY & SUNDAY

NOTE: We were away this weekend and I forgot to send out the "Daily Bible
Readings". So, here they are for Friday, Saturday & Sunday.

DAILY BIBLE READING FOR FRIDAY MARCH 11

Judges 1-3 New King James Version
The Continuing Conquest of Canaan
1 Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass that the children of Israel
asked the Lord, saying, "Who shall be first to go up for us against the
Canaanites to fight against them?"

2 And the Lord said, "Judah shall go up. Indeed I have delivered the land
into his hand."

3 So Judah said to Simeon his brother, "Come up with me to my allotted
territory, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I will likewise go
with you to your allotted territory." And Simeon went with him. 4 Then Judah
went up, and the Lord delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their
hand; and they killed ten thousand men at Bezek. 5 And they found
Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and fought against him; and they defeated the
Canaanites and the Perizzites. 6 Then Adoni-Bezek fled, and they pursued him
and caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes. 7 And Adoni-Bezek said,
"Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to gather scraps
under my table; as I have done, so God has repaid me." Then they brought him
to Jerusalem, and there he died.

8 Now the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it; they
struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire. 9 And
afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites
who dwelt in the mountains, in the [a]South, and in the lowland. 10 Then
Judah [b]went against the Canaanites who dwelt in Hebron. (Now the name of
Hebron was formerly Kirjath Arba.) And they killed Sheshai, Ahiman, and
Talmai.

11 From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. (The name of Debir
was formerly Kirjath Sepher.)

12 Then Caleb said, "Whoever attacks Kirjath Sepher and takes it, to him I
will give my daughter Achsah as wife." 13 And Othniel the son of Kenaz,
Caleb's younger brother, took it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah as
wife. 14 Now it happened, when she came to him, that [c]she urged him to ask
her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said
to her, "What do you wish?" 15 So she said to him, "Give me a blessing;
since you have given me land in the South, give me also springs of water."

And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

16 Now the children of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up from the
City of Palms with the children of Judah into the Wilderness of Judah, which
lies in the South near Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people. 17
And Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they attacked the Canaanites who
inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. So the name of the city was
called Hormah. 18 Also Judah took Gaza with its territory, Ashkelon with its
territory, and Ekron with its territory. 19 So the Lord was with Judah. And
they drove out the mountaineers, but they could not drive out the
inhabitants of the lowland, because they had chariots of iron. 20 And they
gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said. Then he [d]expelled from there the
three sons of Anak. 21 But the children of Benjamin did not drive out the
Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; so the Jebusites dwell with the children
of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

22 And the [e]house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was
with them. 23 So the [f]house of Joseph sent men to spy out Bethel. (The
name of the city was formerly Luz.) 24 And when the spies saw a man coming
out of the city, they said to him, "Please show us the entrance to the city,
and we will show you mercy." 25 So he showed them the entrance to the city,
and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man
and all his family go. 26 And the man went to the land of the Hittites,
built a city, and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day.

Incomplete Conquest of the Land
27 However, Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its
villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its
villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants
of Megiddo and its villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in
that land. 28 And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the
Canaanites [g]under tribute, but did not completely drive them out.

29 Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; so the
Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.

30 Nor did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of
Nahalol; so the Canaanites dwelt among them, and [h]were put under tribute.

31 Nor did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Acco or the inhabitants of
Sidon, or of Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob. 32 So the Asherites
dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not
drive them out.

33 Nor did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh or the
inhabitants of Beth Anath; but they dwelt among the Canaanites, the
inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and
Beth Anath were put under tribute to them.

34 And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountains, for they
would not allow them to come down to the valley; 35 and the Amorites were
determined to dwell in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in [i]Shaalbim; yet when
the strength of the house of Joseph became greater, they [j]were put under
tribute.

36 Now the boundary of the Amorites was from the Ascent of Akrabbim, from
Sela, and upward.

Israel's Disobedience
2 Then the Angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: "I led
you up from Egypt and brought you to the land of which I swore to your
fathers; and I said, 'I will never break My covenant with you. 2 And you
shall make no [k]covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear
down their altars.' But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done
this? 3 Therefore I also said, 'I will not drive them out before you; but
they shall be thorns[l] in your side, and their gods shall [m]be a snare to
you.' " 4 So it was, when the Angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the
children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voices and wept.

5 Then they called the name of that place [n]Bochim; and they sacrificed
there to the Lord. 6 And when Joshua had dismissed the people, the children
of Israel went each to his own inheritance to possess the land.

Death of Joshua
7 So the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of
the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord
which He had done for Israel. 8 Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of
the Lord, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. 9 And they buried
him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Heres, in the mountains
of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. 10 When all that generation
had [o]been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them
who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel.

Israel's Unfaithfulness
11 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served
the Baals; 12 and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had
brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from
among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down
to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger. 13 They forsook the Lord and
served [p]Baal and the [q]Ashtoreths. 14 And the anger of the Lord was hot
against Israel. So He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who
despoiled them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around,
so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. 15 Wherever they
went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for calamity, as the Lord
had said, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were greatly
distressed.

16 Nevertheless, the Lord raised up judges who delivered them out of the
hand of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they would not listen to their
judges, but they played the harlot with other gods, and bowed down to them.
They turned quickly from the way in which their fathers walked, in obeying
the commandments of the Lord; they did not do so. 18 And when the Lord
raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge and delivered them
out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord was
moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed them and
harassed them. 19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they
reverted and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, by following other
gods, to serve them and bow down to them. They did not cease from their own
doings nor from their stubborn way.

20 Then the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and He said, "Because
this nation has transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers,
and has not heeded My voice, 21 I also will no longer drive out before them
any of the nations which Joshua left when he died, 22 so that through them I
may test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the Lord, to walk in
them as their fathers kept them, or not." 23 Therefore the Lord left those
nations, without driving them out immediately; nor did He deliver them into
the hand of Joshua.

The Nations Remaining in the Land
3 Now these are the nations which the Lord left, that He might test Israel
by them, that is, all who had not [r]known any of the wars in Canaan 2 (this
was only so that the generations of the children of Israel might be taught
to know war, at least those who had not formerly known it), 3 namely, five
lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites
who dwelt in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to the entrance of
Hamath. 4 And they were left, that He might test Israel by them, to [s]know
whether they would obey the commandments of the Lord, which He had commanded
their fathers by the hand of Moses.

5 Thus the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the
Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6 And they took
their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons;
and they served their gods.

Othniel
7 So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot
the Lord their God, and served the Baals and [t]Asherahs. 8 Therefore the
anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of
Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served
Cushan-Rishathaim eight years. 9 When the children of Israel cried out to
the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the children of Israel, who
delivered them: Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. 10 The
Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war,
and the Lord delivered Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand;
and his hand prevailed over Cushan-Rishathaim. 11 So the land had rest for
forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

Ehud
12 And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. So
the Lord strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because they had
done evil in the sight of the Lord. 13 Then he gathered to himself the
people of Ammon and Amalek, went and [u]defeated Israel, and took possession
of the City of Palms. 14 So the children of Israel served Eglon king of Moab
eighteen years.

15 But when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up
a deliverer for them: Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed
man. By him the children of Israel sent tribute to Eglon king of Moab. 16
Now Ehud made himself a dagger (it was double-edged and a cubit in length)
and fastened it under his clothes on his right thigh. 17 So he brought the
tribute to Eglon king of Moab. (Now Eglon was a very fat man.) 18 And when
he had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who had
carried the tribute. 19 But he himself turned back from the [v]stone images
that were at Gilgal, and said, "I have a secret message for you, O king."

He said, "Keep silence!" And all who attended him went out from him.

20 So Ehud came to him (now he was sitting upstairs in his cool private
chamber). Then Ehud said, "I have a message from God for you." So he arose
from his seat. 21 Then Ehud reached with his left hand, took the dagger from
his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. 22 Even the [w]hilt went in
after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the
dagger out of his belly; and his entrails came out. 23 Then Ehud went out
through the porch and shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked
them.

24 When he had gone out, [x]Eglon's servants came to look, and to their
surprise, the doors of the upper room were locked. So they said, "He is
probably attending[y] to his needs in the cool chamber." 25 So they waited
till they were embarrassed, and still he had not opened the doors of the
upper room. Therefore they took the key and opened them. And there was their
master, fallen dead on the floor.

26 But Ehud had escaped while they delayed, and passed beyond the [z]stone
images and escaped to Seirah. 27 And it happened, when he arrived, that he
blew the trumpet in the mountains of Ephraim, and the children of Israel
went down with him from the mountains; and [aa]he led them. 28 Then he said
to them, "Follow me, for the Lord has delivered your enemies the Moabites
into your hand." So they went down after him, seized the fords of the Jordan
leading to Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross over. 29 And at that time
they killed about ten thousand men of Moab, all stout men of valor; not a
man escaped. 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And
the land had rest for eighty years.

Shamgar
31 After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed six hundred men of the
Philistines with an ox goad; and he also delivered Israel.

Footnotes
Judges 1:9 Heb. Negev, and so throughout the book
Judges 1:10 attacked
Judges 1:14 LXX, Vg. he urged her
Judges 1:20 drove out from there
Judges 1:22 family
Judges 1:23 family
Judges 1:28 to forced labor
Judges 1:30 became forced laborers
Judges 1:35 Shaalabbin, Josh. 19:42
Judges 1:35 became forced laborers
Judges 2:2 treaty
Judges 2:3 LXX, Tg., Vg. enemies to you
Judges 2:3 entrap you
Judges 2:5 Lit. Weeping
Judges 2:10 Died and joined their ancestors
Judges 2:13 A Canaanite god
Judges 2:13 Canaanite goddesses
Judges 3:1 experienced
Judges 3:4 find out
Judges 3:7 Name or symbol for Canaanite goddesses
Judges 3:13 struck
Judges 3:19 Tg. quarries
Judges 3:22 handle
Judges 3:24 Lit. his
Judges 3:24 Lit. covering his feet
Judges 3:26 Tg. quarries
Judges 3:27 Lit. he went before them

___

DAILY BIBLE READING FOR SATURDAY MARCH 12

Judges 4-6 New King James Version
Deborah
4 When Ehud was dead, the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of
the Lord. 2 So the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who
reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who dwelt in
Harosheth Hagoyim. 3 And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord; for
Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and for twenty years he had harshly
oppressed the children of Israel.

4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at
that time. 5 And she would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah
and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim. And the children of Israel came up
to her for judgment. 6 Then she sent and called for Barak the son of Abinoam
from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, "Has not the Lord God of Israel
commanded, 'Go and [a]deploy troops at Mount Tabor; take with you ten
thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun; 7 and
against you I will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his
chariots and his multitude at the River Kishon; and I will [b]deliver him
into your hand'?"

8 And Barak said to her, "If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you
will not go with me, I will not go!"

9 So she said, "I will surely go with you; nevertheless there will be no
glory for you in the journey you are taking, for the Lord will sell Sisera
into the hand of a woman." Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.
10 And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; he went up with ten
thousand men under[c] his command, and Deborah went up with him.

11 Now Heber the Kenite, of the children of Hobab the father-in-law of
Moses, had separated himself from the Kenites and pitched his tent near the
terebinth tree at Zaanaim, which is beside Kedesh.

12 And they reported to Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to
Mount Tabor. 13 So Sisera gathered together all his chariots, nine hundred
chariots of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth
Hagoyim to the River Kishon.

14 Then Deborah said to Barak, [d]"Up! For this is the day in which the Lord
has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the Lord gone out before you?"
So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him. 15
And the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the
edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot and
fled away on foot. 16 But Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as
Harosheth Hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword;
not a man was left.

17 However, Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of
Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the
house of Heber the Kenite. 18 And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to
him, "Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; do not fear." And when he had
turned aside with her into the tent, she covered him with a [e]blanket.

19 Then he said to her, "Please give me a little water to drink, for I am
thirsty." So she opened a jug of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him. 20
And he said to her, "Stand at the door of the tent, and if any man comes and
inquires of you, and says, 'Is there any man here?' you shall say, 'No.' "

21 Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand,
and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went down
into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. 22 And then,
as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, "Come,
I will show you the man whom you seek." And when he went into her tent,
there lay Sisera, dead with the peg in his temple.

23 So on that day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan in the presence of the
children of Israel. 24 And the hand of the children of Israel grew stronger
and stronger against Jabin king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin
king of Canaan.

The Song of Deborah
5 Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying:

2 "When[f] leaders lead in Israel,
When the people [g]willingly offer themselves,
Bless the Lord!

3 "Hear, O kings! Give ear, O princes!
I, even I, will sing to the Lord;
I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel.

4 "Lord, when You went out from Seir,
When You marched from the field of Edom,
The earth trembled and the heavens poured,
The clouds also poured water;
5 The mountains [h]gushed before the Lord,
This Sinai, before the Lord God of Israel.

6 "In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath,
In the days of Jael,
The highways were deserted,
And the travelers walked along the byways.
7 Village life ceased, it ceased in Israel,
Until I, Deborah, arose,
Arose a mother in Israel.
8 They chose new gods;
Then there was war in the gates;
Not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel.
9 My heart is with the rulers of Israel
Who offered themselves willingly with the people.
Bless the Lord!

10 "Speak, you who ride on white donkeys,
Who sit in judges' attire,
And who walk along the road.
11 Far from the noise of the archers, among the watering places,
There they shall recount the righteous acts of the Lord,
The righteous acts for His villagers in Israel;
Then the people of the Lord shall go down to the gates.

12 "Awake, awake, Deborah!
Awake, awake, sing a song!
Arise, Barak, and lead your captives away,
O son of Abinoam!

13 "Then the survivors came down, the people against the nobles;
The Lord came down for me against the mighty.
14 From Ephraim were those whose roots were in Amalek.
After you, Benjamin, with your peoples,
>From Machir rulers came down,
And from Zebulun those who bear the recruiter's staff.
15 And [i]the princes of Issachar were with Deborah;
As Issachar, so was Barak
Sent into the valley [j]under his command;
Among the divisions of Reuben
There were great resolves of heart.
16 Why did you sit among the sheepfolds,
To hear the pipings for the flocks?
The divisions of Reuben have great searchings of heart.
17 Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan,
And why did Dan remain [k]on ships?
Asher continued at the seashore,
And stayed by his inlets.
18 Zebulun is a people who jeopardized their lives to the point of death,
Naphtali also, on the heights of the battlefield.

19 "The kings came and fought,
Then the kings of Canaan fought
In Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo;
They took no spoils of silver.
20 They fought from the heavens;
The stars from their courses fought against Sisera.
21 The torrent of Kishon swept them away,
That ancient torrent, the torrent of Kishon.
O my soul, march on in strength!
22 Then the horses' hooves pounded,
The galloping, galloping of his steeds.
23 'Curse Meroz,' said the [l]angel of the Lord,
'Curse its inhabitants bitterly,
Because they did not come to the help of the Lord,
To the help of the Lord against the mighty.'

24 "Most blessed among women is Jael,
The wife of Heber the Kenite;
Blessed is she among women in tents.
25 He asked for water, she gave milk;
She brought out cream in a lordly bowl.
26 She stretched her hand to the tent peg,
Her right hand to the workmen's hammer;
She pounded Sisera, she pierced his head,
She split and struck through his temple.
27 At her feet he sank, he fell, he lay still;
At her feet he sank, he fell;
Where he sank, there he fell dead.

28 "The mother of Sisera looked through the window,
And cried out through the lattice,
'Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why tarries the clatter of his chariots?'
29 Her wisest [m]ladies answered her,
Yes, she [n]answered herself,
30 'Are they not finding and dividing the spoil:
To every man a girl or two;
For Sisera, plunder of dyed garments,
Plunder of garments embroidered and dyed,
Two pieces of dyed embroidery for the neck of the looter?'

31 "Thus let all Your enemies perish, O Lord!
But let those who love Him be like the sun
When it comes out in full strength."

So the land had rest for forty years.

Midianites Oppress Israel
6 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord
delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years, 2 and the hand of
Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the children of
Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which
are in the mountains. 3 So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites
would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up
against them. 4 Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce
of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither
sheep nor ox nor donkey. 5 For they would come up with their livestock and
their tents, coming in as numerous as locusts; both they and their camels
were [o]without number; and they would enter the land to destroy it. 6 So
Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children
of Israel cried out to the Lord.

7 And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord
because of the Midianites, 8 that the Lord sent a prophet to the children of
Israel, who said to them, "Thus says the Lord God of Israel: 'I brought you
up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of [p]bondage; 9 and I
delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all
who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10
Also I said to you, "I am the Lord your God; do not fear the gods of the
Amorites, in whose land you dwell." But you have not obeyed My voice.' "

Gideon
11 Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was
in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon
threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. 12
And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, "The Lord is
with you, you mighty man of valor!"

13 Gideon said to Him, "O [q]my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has
all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers
told us about, saying, 'Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?' But now
the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites."

14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, "Go in this might of yours, and you
shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?"

15 So he said to Him, "O [r]my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan
is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house."

16 And the Lord said to him, "Surely I will be with you, and you shall
[s]defeat the Midianites as one man."

17 Then he said to Him, "If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show
me a sign that it is You who talk with me. 18 Do not depart from here, I
pray, until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before You."

And He said, "I will wait until you come back."

19 So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread from an
ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot;
and he brought them out to Him under the terebinth tree and presented them.
20 The Angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened bread and
lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth." And he did so.

21 Then the Angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in His
hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire rose out of
the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of
the Lord departed out of his sight.

22 Now Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of the Lord. So Gideon said,
"Alas, O Lord God! For I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face."

23 Then the Lord said to him, "Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not
die." 24 So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it
[t]The-Lord-Is-Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

25 Now it came to pass the same night that the Lord said to him, "Take your
father's young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the
altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the [u]wooden image that is
beside it; 26 and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this [v]rock
in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt
sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down." 27 So Gideon
took ten men from among his servants and did as the Lord had said to him.
But because he feared his father's household and the men of the city too
much to do it by day, he did it by night.

Gideon Destroys the Altar of Baal
28 And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, there was the
altar of Baal, torn down; and the wooden image that was beside it was cut
down, and the second bull was being offered on the altar which had been
built. 29 So they said to one another, "Who has done this thing?" And when
they had inquired and asked, they said, "Gideon the son of Joash has done
this thing." 30 Then the men of the city said to Joash, "Bring out your son,
that he may die, because he has torn down the altar of Baal, and because he
has cut down the wooden image that was beside it."

31 But Joash said to all who stood against him, "Would you [w]plead for
Baal? Would you save him? Let the one who would plead for him be put to
death by morning! If he is a god, let him plead for himself, because his
altar has been torn down!" 32 Therefore on that day he called him
Jerubbaal,[x] saying, "Let Baal plead against him, because he has torn down
his altar."

33 Then all the Midianites and Amalekites, the people of the East, gathered
together; and they crossed over and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. 34
But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon; then he blew the trumpet, and
the Abiezrites gathered behind him. 35 And he sent messengers throughout all
Manasseh, who also gathered behind him. He also sent messengers to Asher,
Zebulun, and Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

The Sign of the Fleece
36 So Gideon said to God, "If You will save Israel by my hand as You have
said- 37 look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there
is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall
know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said." 38 And it was
so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he
wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. 39 Then Gideon said to
God, "Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test,
I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the
fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew." 40 And God did so that
night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.

Footnotes
Judges 4:6 march
Judges 4:7 Lit. draw
Judges 4:10 Lit. at his feet
Judges 4:14 Arise!
Judges 4:18 rug
Judges 5:2 Or When locks are loosed
Judges 5:2 volunteer
Judges 5:5 flowed
Judges 5:15 So with LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg.; MT And my princes in Issachar
Judges 5:15 Lit. at his feet
Judges 5:17 Or at ease
Judges 5:23 Or Angel
Judges 5:29 princesses
Judges 5:29 Lit. repeats her words to herself
Judges 6:5 innumerable
Judges 6:8 slavery
Judges 6:13 Heb. adoni, used of man
Judges 6:15 Heb. Adonai, used of God
Judges 6:16 Lit. strike
Judges 6:24 Heb. YHWH Shalom
Judges 6:25 Heb. Asherah, a Canaanite goddess
Judges 6:26 stronghold
Judges 6:31 contend
Judges 6:32 Lit. Let Baal Plead

___

DAILY BIBLE READING FOR SUNDAY MARCH 13

Judges 7-9 New King James Version
Gideon's Valiant Three Hundred
7 Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose
early and encamped beside the well of Harod, so that the camp of the
Midianites was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley.

2 And 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 claim glory for
itself against Me, saying, 'My own hand has saved me.' 3 Now therefore,
proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, 'Whoever is fearful and
afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead.' " And twenty-two
thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained.

4 But the Lord said to Gideon, "The people are still too many; bring them
down to the water, and I will test them for you there. Then it will be, that
of whom I say to you, 'This one shall go with you,' the same shall go with
you; and of whomever I say to you, 'This one shall not go with you,' the
same shall not go." 5 So he brought the people down to the water. And the
Lord said to Gideon, "Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a
dog laps, you shall set apart by himself; likewise everyone who gets down on
his knees to drink." 6 And the number of those who lapped, putting their
hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people
got down on their knees to drink water. 7 Then the Lord said to Gideon, "By
the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites
into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his [a]place." 8
So the people took provisions and their trumpets in their hands. And he sent
away all the rest of Israel, every man to his tent, and retained those three
hundred men. Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

9 It happened on the same night that the Lord said to him, "Arise, go down
against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. 10 But if you are
afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant, 11 and you
shall hear what they say; and afterward [b]your hands shall be strengthened
to go down against the camp." Then he went down with Purah his servant to
the outpost of the armed men who were in the camp. 12 Now the Midianites and
Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous
as locusts; and their camels were [c]without number, as the sand by the
seashore in multitude.

13 And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his
companion. He said, "I have had a dream: To my surprise, a loaf of barley
bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and struck it so
that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed."

14 Then his companion answered and said, "This is nothing else but the sword
of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand God has delivered
Midian and the whole camp."

15 And so it was, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its
interpretation, that he worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel, and
said, "Arise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand."
16 Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a
trumpet into every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the
pitchers. 17 And he said to them, "Look at me and do likewise; watch, and
when I come to the edge of the camp you shall do as I do: 18 When I blow the
trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you also blow the trumpets on every
side of the whole camp, and say, 'The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!' "

19 So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outpost of
the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just as they had posted the
watch; and they blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers that were in their
hands. 20 Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the
pitchers-they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their
right hands for blowing-and they cried, "The sword of the Lord and of
Gideon!" 21 And every man stood in his place all around the camp; and the
whole army ran and cried out and fled. 22 When the three hundred blew the
trumpets, the Lord set every man's sword against his companion throughout
the whole camp; and the army fled to [d]Beth Acacia, toward Zererah, as far
as the border of Abel Meholah, by Tabbath.

23 And the men of Israel gathered together from Naphtali, Asher, and all
Manasseh, and pursued the Midianites.

24 Then Gideon sent messengers throughout all the mountains of Ephraim,
saying, "Come down against the Midianites, and seize from them the watering
places as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan." Then all the men of Ephraim
gathered together and seized the watering places as far as Beth Barah and
the Jordan. 25 And they captured two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and
Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the
winepress of Zeeb. They pursued Midian and brought the heads of Oreb and
Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan.

Gideon Subdues the Midianites
8 Now the men of Ephraim said to him, "Why have you done this to us by not
calling us when you went to fight with the Midianites?" And they reprimanded
him sharply.

2 So he said to them, "What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not
the [e]gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than [f]the vintage of
Abiezer? 3 God has delivered 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 subsided when he said that.

4 When Gideon came to the Jordan, he and the three hundred men who were with
him crossed over, exhausted but still in pursuit. 5 Then he said to the men
of Succoth, "Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for
they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian."

6 And the leaders of Succoth said, "Are[g] the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna
now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?"

7 So Gideon said, "For this cause, when the Lord has delivered Zebah and
Zalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the
wilderness and with briers!" 8 Then he went up from there to Penuel and
spoke to them in the same way. And the men of Penuel answered him as the men
of Succoth had answered. 9 So he also spoke to the men of Penuel, saying,
"When I come back in peace, I will tear down this tower!"

10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were at Karkor, and their armies with them, about
fifteen thousand, all who were left of all the army of the people of the
East; for one hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword had fallen.
11 Then Gideon went up by the road of those who dwell in tents on the east
of Nobah and Jogbehah; and he [h]attacked the army while the camp felt
secure. 12 When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued them; and he took the
two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and routed the whole army.

13 Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle, from the Ascent of
Heres. 14 And he caught a young man of the men of Succoth and interrogated
him; and he wrote down for him the leaders of Succoth and its elders,
seventy-seven men. 15 Then he came to the men of Succoth and said, "Here are
Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you ridiculed me, saying, 'Are the hands of
Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your weary
men?' " 16 And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness
and briers, and with them he [i]taught the men of Succoth. 17 Then he tore
down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

18 And he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, "What kind of men were they whom you
killed at Tabor?"

So they answered, "As you are, so were they; each one resembled the son of a
king."

19 Then he said, "They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord
lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you." 20 And he said to
Jether his firstborn, "Rise, kill them!" But the youth would not draw his
sword; for he was afraid, because he was still a youth.

21 So Zebah and Zalmunna said, "Rise yourself, and kill us; for as a man is,
so is his strength." So Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took
the crescent ornaments that were on their camels' necks.

Gideon's Ephod
22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, "Rule over us, both you and your
son, and your grandson also; for you have delivered us from the hand of
Midian."

23 But Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule
over you; the Lord shall rule over you." 24 Then Gideon said to them, "I
would like to [j]make a request of you, that each of you would give me the
earrings from his plunder." For they had golden earrings, because they were
Ishmaelites.

25 So they answered, "We will gladly give them." And they spread out a
garment, and each man threw into it the earrings from his plunder. 26 Now
the weight of the gold earrings that he requested was one thousand seven
hundred shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments, pendants, and
purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that
were around their camels' necks. 27 Then Gideon made it into an ephod and
set it up in his city, Ophrah. And all Israel played the harlot with it
there. It became a snare to Gideon and to his house.

28 Thus Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, so that they
lifted their heads no more. And the country was quiet for forty years in the
days of Gideon.

Death of Gideon
29 Then Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house. 30
Gideon had seventy sons who were his own offspring, for he had many wives.
31 And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, whose name he
called Abimelech. 32 Now Gideon the son of Joash died at a good old age, and
was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

33 So it was, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel again
played the harlot with the Baals, and made Baal-Berith their god. 34 Thus
the children of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had
delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side; 35 nor did
they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (Gideon) in accordance with the
good he had done for Israel.

Abimelech's Conspiracy
9 Then Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem, to his mother's
brothers, and spoke with them and with all the family of the house of his
mother's father, saying, 2 "Please speak in the hearing of all the men of
Shechem: 'Which is better for you, that all seventy of the sons of Jerubbaal
reign over you, or that one reign over you?' Remember that I am your own
flesh and bone."

3 And his mother's brothers spoke all these words concerning him in the
hearing of all the men of Shechem; and their heart was inclined to follow
Abimelech, for they said, "He is our brother." 4 So they gave him seventy
shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, with which Abimelech hired
worthless and reckless men; and they followed him. 5 Then he went to his
father's house at Ophrah and killed his brothers, the seventy sons of
Jerubbaal, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left,
because he hid himself. 6 And all the men of Shechem gathered together, all
of Beth Millo, and they went and made Abimelech king beside the terebinth
tree at the pillar that was in Shechem.

The Parable of the Trees
7 Now when they told Jotham, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim, and
lifted his voice and cried out. And he 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,
'Should I cease giving my oil,
With which they honor God and men,
And go to sway over trees?'

10 "Then the trees said to the fig tree,
'You come and reign over us!'
11 But the fig tree said to them,
'Should I cease my sweetness and my good fruit,
And go to sway over trees?'

12 "Then the trees said to the vine,
'You come and reign over us!'
13 But the vine said to them,
'Should I cease my new wine,
Which cheers both God and men,
And go to sway over trees?'

14 "Then all the trees said to the bramble,
'You come and reign over us!'
15 And the bramble said to the trees,
'If in truth you anoint me as king over you,
Then come and take shelter in my shade;
But if not, let fire come out of the bramble
And devour the cedars of Lebanon!'

16 "Now therefore, if you have acted in truth and sincerity in making
Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and
have done to him as[k] he deserves- 17 for my father fought for you, risked
his life, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian; 18 but you have risen
up against my father's house this day, and killed his seventy sons on one
stone, and made Abimelech, the son of his female servant, king over the men
of Shechem, because he is your brother- 19 if then you have acted in truth
and sincerity with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice in
Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. 20 But if not, let fire come
from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and Beth Millo; and let fire
come from the men of Shechem and from Beth Millo and devour Abimelech!" 21
And Jotham ran away and fled; and he went to Beer and dwelt there, for fear
of Abimelech his brother.

Downfall of Abimelech
22 After Abimelech had reigned over Israel three years, 23 God sent a spirit
of ill will between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem
dealt treacherously with Abimelech, 24 that the crime done to the seventy
sons of Jerubbaal might be settled and their blood be laid on Abimelech
their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who aided him in
the killing of his brothers. 25 And the men of Shechem set [l]men in ambush
against him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all who passed by
them along that way; and it was told Abimelech.

26 Now Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brothers and went over to Shechem;
and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him. 27 So they went out into
the fields, and gathered grapes from their vineyards and trod them, and
[m]made merry. And they went into the house of their god, and ate and drank,
and cursed Abimelech. 28 Then Gaal the son of Ebed said, "Who is Abimelech,
and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of
Jerubbaal, and is not Zebul his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father
of Shechem; but why should we serve him? 29 If only this people were under
my [n]authority! Then I would remove Abimelech." So [o]he said to Abimelech,
"Increase your army and come out!"

30 When Zebul, the ruler of the city, heard the words of Gaal the son of
Ebed, his anger was aroused. 31 And he sent messengers to Abimelech
secretly, saying, "Take note! Gaal the son of Ebed and his brothers have
come to Shechem; and here they are, fortifying the city against you. 32 Now
therefore, get up by night, you and the people who are with you, and [p]lie
in wait in the field. 33 And it shall be, as soon as the sun is up in the
morning, that you shall rise early and rush upon the city; and when he and
the people who are with him come out against you, you may then do to them
[q]as you find opportunity."

34 So Abimelech and all the people who were with him rose by night, and
[r]lay in wait against Shechem in four companies. 35 When Gaal the son of
Ebed went out and stood in the entrance to the city gate, Abimelech and the
people who were with him rose from lying in wait. 36 And when Gaal saw the
people, he said to Zebul, "Look, people are coming down from the tops of the
mountains!"

But Zebul said to him, "You see the shadows of the mountains as if they were
men."

37 So Gaal spoke again and said, "See, people are coming down from the
center of the land, and another company is coming from the [s]Diviners'
Terebinth Tree."

38 Then Zebul said to him, "Where indeed is your mouth now, with which you
said, 'Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?' Are not these the people
whom you despised? Go out, if you will, and fight with them now."

39 So Gaal went out, leading the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech.
40 And Abimelech chased him, and he fled from him; and many fell wounded, to
the very entrance of the gate. 41 Then Abimelech dwelt at Arumah, and Zebul
[t]drove out Gaal and his brothers, so that they would not dwell in Shechem.

42 And it came about on the next day that the people went out into the
field, and they told Abimelech. 43 So he took his people, divided them into
three companies, and lay in wait in the field. And he looked, and there were
the people, coming out of the city; and he rose against them and [u]attacked
them. 44 Then Abimelech and the company that was with him rushed forward and
stood at the entrance of the gate of the city; and the other two companies
rushed upon all who were in the fields and killed them. 45 So Abimelech
fought against the city all that day; he took the city and killed the people
who were in it; and he demolished the city and sowed it with salt.

46 Now when all the men of the tower of Shechem had heard that, they entered
the [v]stronghold of the temple of the god Berith. 47 And it was told
Abimelech that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together.
48 Then Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were
with him. And Abimelech took an ax in his hand and cut down a bough from the
trees, and took it and laid it on his shoulder; then he said to the people
who were with him, "What you have seen me do, make haste and do as I have
done." 49 So each of the people likewise cut down his own bough and followed
Abimelech, put them against the [w]stronghold, and set the stronghold on
fire above them, so that all the people of the tower of Shechem died, about
a thousand men and women.

50 Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and he [x]encamped against Thebez and took
it. 51 But there was a strong tower in the city, and all the men and
women-all the people of the city-fled there and shut themselves in; then
they went up to the top of the tower. 52 So Abimelech came as far as the
tower and fought against it; and he drew near the door of the tower to burn
it with fire. 53 But a certain woman dropped an upper millstone on
Abimelech's head and crushed his skull. 54 Then he called quickly to the
young man, his armorbearer, and said to him, "Draw your sword and kill me,
lest men say of me, 'A woman killed him.' " So his young man thrust him
through, and he died. 55 And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was
dead, they departed, every man to his [y]place.

56 Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his
father by killing his seventy brothers. 57 And all the evil of the men of
Shechem God returned on their own heads, and on them came the curse of
Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

Footnotes
Judges 7:7 home
Judges 7:11 you shall be encouraged
Judges 7:12 innumerable
Judges 7:22 Heb. Beth Shittah
Judges 8:2 Few grapes left after the harvest
Judges 8:2 The whole harvest
Judges 8:6 Lit. Is the palm
Judges 8:11 Lit. struck
Judges 8:16 disciplined
Judges 8:24 Lit. request a request
Judges 9:16 Lit. according to the doing of his hands
Judges 9:25 Lit. liers-in-wait for
Judges 9:27 rejoiced
Judges 9:29 Lit. hand
Judges 9:29 So with MT, Tg.; DSS they; LXX I
Judges 9:32 Set up an ambush
Judges 9:33 Lit. as your hand can find
Judges 9:34 Set up an ambush
Judges 9:37 Heb. Meonenim
Judges 9:41 exiled
Judges 9:43 Lit. struck
Judges 9:46 fortified room
Judges 9:49 fortified room
Judges 9:50 besieged
Judges 9:55 home