Gideon Defeats Zebah and Zalmunna

¹zThen the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they accused him fiercely. ²And he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not athe gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? ³bGod has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?” cThen their anger1 against him subsided when he said this.

⁴And Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and dthe 300 men who were with him, exhausted yet pursuing. ⁵So he said to the men of eSuccoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” ⁶And the officials of Succoth said, f“Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, gthat we should give bread to your army?” ⁷So Gideon said, “Well then, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, hI will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.” ⁸And from there he went up to iPenuel, and spoke to them in the same way, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. ⁹And he said to the men of Penuel, j“When I come again in peace, kI will break down this tower.”

¹⁰Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about 15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of lthe people of the East, for there had fallen 120,000 men mwho drew the sword. ¹¹And Gideon went up by the way of the tent dwellers east of nNobah and Jogbehah and attacked the army, for the army felt osecure. ¹²And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them pand captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw all the army into a panic.

¹³Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres. ¹⁴And he captured a young man of Succoth and questioned him. And he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men. ¹⁵And he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, q‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are exhausted?’” ¹⁶And he took the elders of the city, and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth a lesson. ¹⁷rAnd he broke down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

¹⁸Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where are the men whom you killed at sTabor?” They answered, “As you are, so were they. Every one of them resembled the son of a king.” ¹⁹And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. tAs the Lord lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you.” ²⁰So he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise and kill them!” But the young man did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a young man. ²¹Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength.” And Gideon arose and ukilled Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took vthe crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.

Gideon's Ephod

²²Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” ²³Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; wthe Lord will rule over you.” ²⁴And Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you: every one of you give me the earrings from his spoil.” (For they had golden earrings, xbecause they were Ishmaelites.) ²⁵And they answered, “We will willingly give them.” And they spread a cloak, and every man threw in it the earrings of his spoil. ²⁶And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels2 of gold, besides ythe crescent ornaments and zthe pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the collars that were around the necks of their camels. ²⁷And Gideon amade an ephod of it and put it in his city, bin Ophrah. And all Israel cwhored after it there, and it became a dsnare to Gideon and to his family. ²⁸So Midian was subdued before the people of Israel, and they raised their heads no more. eAnd the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.

The Death of Gideon

²⁹fJerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house. ³⁰Now Gideon had gseventy sons, his own offspring,3 for he had many wives. ³¹And his concubine hwho was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech. ³²And Gideon the son of Joash died iin a good old age and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, jat Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

³³kAs soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and lwhored after the Baals and made mBaal-berith their god. ³⁴And the people of Israel ndid not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side, ³⁵oand they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.

James Killed and Peter Imprisoned

¹About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. ²He killed fJames the brother of John gwith the sword, ³and when he saw hthat it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during ithe days of Unleavened Bread. ⁴And when he had seized him, he put him jin prison, delivering him over to four ksquads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. ⁵So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest lprayer for him was made to God by the church.

Peter Is Rescued

⁶Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, mbound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. ⁷And behold, nan angel of the Lord ostood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. pHe struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And qthe chains fell off his hands. ⁸And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and rput on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” ⁹And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but sthought he was seeing a vision. ¹⁰When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. tIt opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him. ¹¹When Peter ucame to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that vthe Lord has sent his angel and wrescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”

¹²When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of xJohn whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and ywere praying. ¹³And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, za servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴Recognizing Peter's voice, ain her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate. ¹⁵They said to her, “You are out of your mind.” But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, “It is bhis angel!” ¹⁶But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed. ¹⁷But cmotioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Tell these things to dJames and to ethe brothers.”1 Then he departed and went to another place.

¹⁸Now when day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. ¹⁹And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined the sentries and fordered that they should be put to death. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there.

The Death of Herod

²⁰Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they came to him with one accord, and ghaving persuaded Blastus, the king's chamberlain,2 they asked for peace, because htheir country depended on the king's country for food. ²¹On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. ²²And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” ²³Immediately ian angel of the Lord struck him down, because jhe did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

²⁴But kthe word of God increased and multiplied.

²⁵lAnd Barnabas and Saul returned from3 Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them mJohn, whose other name was Mark.

Jerusalem Will Fall to Nebuchadnezzar

¹This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent to him uPashhur the son of Malchiah and vZephaniah the priest, the son of wMaaseiah, saying, ²x“Inquire of the Lord for us, yfor Nebuchadnezzar1 king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to zall his wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us.”

³Then Jeremiah said to them: “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, ⁴‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: aBehold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. bAnd I will bring them together into the midst of this city. ⁵I myself will fight against you cwith outstretched hand and strong arm, din anger and in fury and in great wrath. ⁶And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence. ⁷Afterward, declares the Lord, eI will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. fHe shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.’

⁸“And to this people you shall say: g‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, hI set before you the way of life and the way of death. ⁹He who stays in this city shall die iby the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out and jsurrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live kand shall have his life as a prize of war. ¹⁰For lI have set my face against this city for harm and mnot for good, declares the Lord: nit shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.’

Message to the House of David

¹¹“And to the house of the king of Judah say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, ¹²O house of David! Thus says the Lord:

o“‘Execute justice pin the morning,

and deliver from the hand of the oppressor

him who has been robbed,

qlest my wrath go forth like fire,

and burn with none to quench it,

because of your evil deeds.’”

¹³r“Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley,

O rock of the plain,

declares the Lord;

you who say, s‘Who shall come down against us,

or who shall enter our habitations?’

¹⁴tI will punish you according to uthe fruit of your deeds,

declares the Lord;

vI will kindle a fire in her forest,

vand it shall devour all that is around her.”

Traditions and Commandments

¹pNow when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes qwho had come from Jerusalem, ²they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were rdefiled, that is, unwashed. ³(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly,1 holding to sthe tradition of tthe elders, ⁴and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.2 And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as uthe washing of vcups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.3) ⁵And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to sthe tradition of tthe elders, wbut eat with rdefiled hands?” ⁶And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you xhypocrites, as it is written,

y“‘This people honors me with their lips,

but their heart is far from me;

⁷in vain do they worship me,

teaching as zdoctrines the commandments of men.’

⁸You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

⁹And he said to them, “You have a fine way of arejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! ¹⁰For Moses said, b‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, c‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ ¹¹But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)4— ¹²then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, ¹³thus dmaking void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

What Defiles a Person

¹⁴And he called the people to him again and said to them, e“Hear me, all of you, and understand: ¹⁵fThere is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”5 ¹⁷And when he had entered gthe house and left the people, hhis disciples asked him about the parable. ¹⁸And he said to them, “Then iare you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, ¹⁹since it enters not his heart jbut his stomach, and is expelled?”6 (kThus he declared all foods clean.) ²⁰And he said, l“What comes out of a person is what defiles him. ²¹For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, mmurder, adultery, ²²coveting, wickedness, deceit, nsensuality, oenvy, pslander, qpride, rfoolishness. ²³sAll these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

The Syrophoenician Woman's Faith

²⁴And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon.7 And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. ²⁵But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. ²⁶tNow the woman was a uGentile, va Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷And he said to her, “Let the children be wfed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and xthrow it to the dogs.” ²⁸But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's ycrumbs.” ²⁹And he said to her, “For this statement you may zgo your way; the demon has left your daughter.” ³⁰And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.

Jesus Heals a Deaf Man

³¹aThen he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to bthe Sea of Galilee, in the region of the cDecapolis. ³²And they brought to him da man who was deaf and dhad a speech impediment, and they begged him to elay his hand on him. ³³And ftaking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and fafter spitting touched his tongue. ³⁴And glooking up to heaven, hhe sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” ³⁵dAnd his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. ³⁶And iJesus8 charged them to tell no one. But jthe more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. ³⁷And they were kastonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”