The Year of God's Divine Agenda

Building a Life That Matters for Good -  the Quest for Significance

The Christian Mom in Business Guidebook Devotional

Authentic Manhood

R.I.P or Rest in Peace With God Daily

In Her Image: Character Study of the Proverbs 31 Woman

Gifts and Gratitudes - a 5-Day Reading Plan

Encountering the Lamb of God

Christianity in a Nutshell

The Finish Strong: Transition Through Seasons Seamlessly

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkJDG">
 <div class="chapter ch8" data-usfm="JDG.8">
 <div class="label">8</div><div class="s1">Zebah and Zalmunna</div><div class="p"> 1Now the Ephraimites asked Gideon, &#8220;Why have you treated us like this? Why didn&#8217;t you call us when you went to fight Midian?&#8221; And they challenged him vigorously.</div><div class="p"> 2But he answered them, &#8220;What have I accomplished compared to you? Aren&#8217;t the gleanings of Ephraim&#8217;s grapes better than the full grape harvest of Abiezer? 3God gave Oreb and Zeeb, the Midianite leaders, into your hands. What was I able to do compared to you?&#8221; At this, their resentment against him subsided.</div><div class="p"> 4Gideon and his three hundred men, exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit, came to the Jordan and crossed it. 5He said to the men of Sukkoth, &#8220;Give my troops some bread; they are worn out, and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 6But the officials of Sukkoth said, &#8220;Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your troops?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 7Then Gideon replied, &#8220;Just for that, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and briers.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8From there he went up to Peniel#8:8 Hebrew Penuel, a variant of Peniel; also in verses 9 and 17 and made the same request of them, but they answered as the men of Sukkoth had. 9So he said to the men of Peniel, &#8220;When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 10Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with a force of about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of the armies of the eastern peoples; a hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had fallen. 11Gideon went up by the route of the nomads east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the unsuspecting army. 12Zebah and Zalmunna, the two kings of Midian, fled, but he pursued them and captured them, routing their entire army.</div><div class="p"> 13Gideon son of Joash then returned from the battle by the Pass of Heres. 14He caught a young man of Sukkoth and questioned him, and the young man wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven officials of Sukkoth, the elders of the town. 15Then Gideon came and said to the men of Sukkoth, &#8220;Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me by saying, &#8216;Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your exhausted men?&#8217;&#8198;&#8221; 16He took the elders of the town and taught the men of Sukkoth a lesson by punishing them with desert thorns and briers. 17He also pulled down the tower of Peniel and killed the men of the town.</div><div class="p"> 18Then he asked Zebah and Zalmunna, &#8220;What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;Men like you,&#8221; they answered, &#8220;each one with the bearing of a prince.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 19Gideon replied, &#8220;Those were my brothers, the sons of my own mother. As surely as the Lord lives, if you had spared their lives, I would not kill you.&#8221; 20Turning to Jether, his oldest son, he said, &#8220;Kill them!&#8221; But Jether did not draw his sword, because he was only a boy and was afraid.</div><div class="p"> 21Zebah and Zalmunna said, &#8220;Come, do it yourself. &#8216;As is the man, so is his strength.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221; So Gideon stepped forward and killed them, and took the ornaments off their camels&#8217; necks.</div><div class="s1">Gideon&#8217;s Ephod</div><div class="p"> 22The Israelites said to Gideon, &#8220;Rule over us&#8212;you, your son and your grandson&#8212;because you have saved us from the hand of Midian.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 23But Gideon told them, &#8220;I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.&#8221; 24And he said, &#8220;I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder.&#8221; (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings.)</div><div class="p"> 25They answered, &#8220;We&#8217;ll be glad to give them.&#8221; So they spread out a garment, and each of them threw a ring from his plunder onto it. 26The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred shekels,#8:26 That is, about 43 pounds or about 20 kilograms not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains that were on their camels&#8217; necks. 27Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.</div><div class="s1">Gideon&#8217;s Death</div><div class="p"> 28Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. During Gideon&#8217;s lifetime, the land had peace forty years.</div><div class="p"> 29Jerub-Baal son of Joash went back home to live. 30He had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives. 31His concubine, who lived in Shechem, also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelek. 32Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.</div><div class="p"> 33No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god 34and did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. 35They also failed to show any loyalty to the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) in spite of all the good things he had done for them.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkJDG">
 <div class="chapter ch9" data-usfm="JDG.9">
 <div class="label">9</div><div class="s1">Abimelek</div><div class="p"> 1Abimelek son of Jerub-Baal went to his mother&#8217;s brothers in Shechem and said to them and to all his mother&#8217;s clan, 2&#8220;Ask all the citizens of Shechem, &#8216;Which is better for you: to have all seventy of Jerub-Baal&#8217;s sons rule over you, or just one man?&#8217; Remember, I am your flesh and blood.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 3When the brothers repeated all this to the citizens of Shechem, they were inclined to follow Abimelek, for they said, &#8220;He is related to us.&#8221; 4They gave him seventy shekels#9:4 That is, about 1 3/4 pounds or about 800 grams of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, and Abimelek used it to hire reckless scoundrels, who became his followers. 5He went to his father&#8217;s home in Ophrah and on one stone murdered his seventy brothers, the sons of Jerub-Baal. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerub-Baal, escaped by hiding. 6Then all the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo gathered beside the great tree at the pillar in Shechem to crown Abimelek king.</div><div class="p"> 7When Jotham was told about this, he climbed up on the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted to them, &#8220;Listen to me, citizens of Shechem, so that God may listen to you. 8One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, &#8216;Be our king.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 9&#8220;But the olive tree answered, &#8216;Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and humans are honored, to hold sway over the trees?&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 10&#8220;Next, the trees said to the fig tree, &#8216;Come and be our king.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 11&#8220;But the fig tree replied, &#8216;Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the trees?&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 12&#8220;Then the trees said to the vine, &#8216;Come and be our king.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 13&#8220;But the vine answered, &#8216;Should I give up my wine, which cheers both gods and humans, to hold sway over the trees?&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 14&#8220;Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, &#8216;Come and be our king.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 15&#8220;The thornbush said to the trees, &#8216;If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, then let fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 16&#8220;Have you acted honorably and in good faith by making Abimelek king? Have you been fair to Jerub-Baal and his family? Have you treated him as he deserves? 17Remember that my father fought for you and risked his life to rescue you from the hand of Midian. 18But today you have revolted against my father&#8217;s family. You have murdered his seventy sons on a single stone and have made Abimelek, the son of his female slave, king over the citizens of Shechem because he is related to you. 19So have you acted honorably and in good faith toward Jerub-Baal and his family today? If you have, may Abimelek be your joy, and may you be his, too! 20But if you have not, let fire come out from Abimelek and consume you, the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and let fire come out from you, the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and consume Abimelek!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 21Then Jotham fled, escaping to Beer, and he lived there because he was afraid of his brother Abimelek.</div><div class="p"> 22After Abimelek had governed Israel three years, 23God stirred up animosity between Abimelek and the citizens of Shechem so that they acted treacherously against Abimelek. 24God did this in order that the crime against Jerub-Baal&#8217;s seventy sons, the shedding of their blood, might be avenged on their brother Abimelek and on the citizens of Shechem, who had helped him murder his brothers. 25In opposition to him these citizens of Shechem set men on the hilltops to ambush and rob everyone who passed by, and this was reported to Abimelek.</div><div class="p"> 26Now Gaal son of Ebed moved with his clan into Shechem, and its citizens put their confidence in him. 27After they had gone out into the fields and gathered the grapes and trodden them, they held a festival in the temple of their god. While they were eating and drinking, they cursed Abimelek. 28Then Gaal son of Ebed said, &#8220;Who is Abimelek, and why should we Shechemites be subject to him? Isn&#8217;t he Jerub-Baal&#8217;s son, and isn&#8217;t Zebul his deputy? Serve the family of Hamor, Shechem&#8217;s father! Why should we serve Abimelek? 29If only this people were under my command! Then I would get rid of him. I would say to Abimelek, &#8216;Call out your whole army!&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;#9:29 Septuagint; Hebrew him.&#8221; Then he said to Abimelek, &#8220;Call out your whole army!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 30When Zebul the governor of the city heard what Gaal son of Ebed said, he was very angry. 31Under cover he sent messengers to Abimelek, saying, &#8220;Gaal son of Ebed and his clan have come to Shechem and are stirring up the city against you. 32Now then, during the night you and your men should come and lie in wait in the fields. 33In the morning at sunrise, advance against the city. When Gaal and his men come out against you, seize the opportunity to attack them.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 34So Abimelek and all his troops set out by night and took up concealed positions near Shechem in four companies. 35Now Gaal son of Ebed had gone out and was standing at the entrance of the city gate just as Abimelek and his troops came out from their hiding place.</div><div class="p"> 36When Gaal saw them, he said to Zebul, &#8220;Look, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains!&#8221;</div><div class="p">Zebul replied, &#8220;You mistake the shadows of the mountains for men.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 37But Gaal spoke up again: &#8220;Look, people are coming down from the central hill,#9:37 The Hebrew for this phrase means the navel of the earth. and a company is coming from the direction of the diviners&#8217; tree.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 38Then Zebul said to him, &#8220;Where is your big talk now, you who said, &#8216;Who is Abimelek that we should be subject to him?&#8217; Aren&#8217;t these the men you ridiculed? Go out and fight them!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 39So Gaal led out#9:39 Or Gaal went out in the sight of the citizens of Shechem and fought Abimelek. 40Abimelek chased him all the way to the entrance of the gate, and many were killed as they fled. 41Then Abimelek stayed in Arumah, and Zebul drove Gaal and his clan out of Shechem.</div><div class="p"> 42The next day the people of Shechem went out to the fields, and this was reported to Abimelek. 43So he took his men, divided them into three companies and set an ambush in the fields. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he rose to attack them. 44Abimelek and the companies with him rushed forward to a position at the entrance of the city gate. Then two companies attacked those in the fields and struck them down. 45All that day Abimelek pressed his attack against the city until he had captured it and killed its people. Then he destroyed the city and scattered salt over it.</div><div class="p"> 46On hearing this, the citizens in the tower of Shechem went into the stronghold of the temple of El-Berith. 47When Abimelek heard that they had assembled there, 48he and all his men went up Mount Zalmon. He took an ax and cut off some branches, which he lifted to his shoulders. He ordered the men with him, &#8220;Quick! Do what you have seen me do!&#8221; 49So all the men cut branches and followed Abimelek. They piled them against the stronghold and set it on fire with the people still inside. So all the people in the tower of Shechem, about a thousand men and women, also died.</div><div class="p"> 50Next Abimelek went to Thebez and besieged it and captured it. 51Inside the city, however, was a strong tower, to which all the men and women&#8212;all the people of the city&#8212;had fled. They had locked themselves in and climbed up on the tower roof. 52Abimelek went to the tower and attacked it. But as he approached the entrance to the tower to set it on fire, 53a woman dropped an upper millstone on his head and cracked his skull.</div><div class="p"> 54Hurriedly he called to his armor-bearer, &#8220;Draw your sword and kill me, so that they can&#8217;t say, &#8216;A woman killed him.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221; So his servant ran him through, and he died. 55When the Israelites saw that Abimelek was dead, they went home.</div><div class="p"> 56Thus God repaid the wickedness that Abimelek had done to his father by murdering his seventy brothers. 57God also made the people of Shechem pay for all their wickedness. The curse of Jotham son of Jerub-Baal came on them.</div>
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New International Version

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkLUK">
 <div class="chapter ch8" data-usfm="LUK.8.22+LUK.8.23+LUK.8.24+LUK.8.25+LUK.8.26+LUK.8.27+LUK.8.28+LUK.8.29+LUK.8.30+LUK.8.31+LUK.8.32+LUK.8.33+LUK.8.34+LUK.8.35+LUK.8.36+LUK.8.37+LUK.8.38+LUK.8.39+LUK.8.40+LUK.8.41+LUK.8.42+LUK.8.43+LUK.8.44+LUK.8.45+LUK.8.46+LUK.8.47+LUK.8.48+LUK.8.49+LUK.8.50+LUK.8.51+LUK.8.52+LUK.8.53+LUK.8.54+LUK.8.55+LUK.8.56">
 <div class="p">22One day Jesus said to his disciples, &#8220;Let us go over to the other side of the lake.&#8221; So they got into a boat and set out. 23As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.</div><div class="p"> 24The disciples went and woke him, saying, &#8220;Master, Master, we&#8217;re going to drown!&#8221;</div><div class="p">He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25&#8220;Where is your faith?&#8221; he asked his disciples.</div><div class="p">In fear and amazement they asked one another, &#8220;Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Jesus Restores a Demon-Possessed Man</div><div class="p"> 26They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes,#8:26 Some manuscripts Gadarenes; other manuscripts Gergesenes; also in verse 37 which is across the lake from Galilee. 27When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. 28When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, &#8220;What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don&#8217;t torture me!&#8221; 29For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.</div><div class="p"> 30Jesus asked him, &#8220;What is your name?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;Legion,&#8221; he replied, because many demons had gone into him. 31And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.</div><div class="p"> 32A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission. 33When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.</div><div class="p"> 34When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, 35and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus&#8217; feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 36Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. 37Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.</div><div class="p"> 38The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39&#8220;Return home and tell how much God has done for you.&#8221; So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.</div><div class="s1">Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman</div><div class="p"> 40Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. 41Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus&#8217; feet, pleading with him to come to his house 42because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.</div><div class="p">As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. 43And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years,#8:43 Many manuscripts years, and she had spent all she had on doctors but no one could heal her. 44She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.</div><div class="p"> 45 &#8220;Who touched me?&#8221; Jesus asked.</div><div class="p">When they all denied it, Peter said, &#8220;Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 46But Jesus said, &#8220;Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 47Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. 48Then he said to her, &#8220;Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 49While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. &#8220;Your daughter is dead,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Don&#8217;t bother the teacher anymore.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 50Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, &#8220;Don&#8217;t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 51When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child&#8217;s father and mother. 52Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. &#8220;Stop wailing,&#8221; Jesus said. &#8220;She is not dead but asleep.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 53They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54But he took her by the hand and said, &#8220;My child, get up!&#8221; 55Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. 56Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.</div>
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