Old/New Testament
Deborah and Barak
4 The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud had died. 2 So the Lord sold them to King Jabin(A) of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor.(B) The commander of his army was Sisera(C) who lived in Harosheth of the Nations.[a] 3 Then the Israelites cried out(D) to the Lord, because Jabin had nine hundred iron chariots, and he harshly oppressed them twenty years.
4 Deborah, a prophetess(E) and the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5 She would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to settle disputes.(F)
6 She summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “Hasn’t the Lord, the God of Israel,(G) commanded you, ‘Go, deploy the troops on Mount Tabor,(H) and take with you ten thousand men from the Naphtalites(I) and Zebulunites?(J) 7 Then I will lure Sisera commander of Jabin’s army, his chariots, and his infantry at the Wadi Kishon(K) to fight against you, and I will hand him over to you.’”(L)
8 Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go. But if you will not go with me, I will not go.”
9 “I will gladly go with you,” she said, “but you will receive no honor on the road you are about to take, because the Lord will sell Sisera to a woman.” So Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; ten thousand men followed him, and Deborah also went with him.
11 Now Heber the Kenite had moved away from the Kenites, the sons of Hobab,(M) Moses’s father-in-law,(N) and pitched his tent beside the oak tree of Zaanannim,(O) which was near Kedesh.
12 It was reported to Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up Mount Tabor. 13 Sisera summoned all his nine hundred iron chariots and all the troops who were with him from Harosheth of the Nations to the Wadi Kishon. 14 Then Deborah said to Barak, “Go! This is the day the Lord has handed Sisera over to you. Hasn’t the Lord gone before you?” So Barak came down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.
15 The Lord threw Sisera, all his charioteers, and all his army into a panic(P) before Barak’s assault. Sisera left his chariot and fled on foot. 16 Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth of the Nations, and the whole army of Sisera fell by the sword; not a single man was left.
17 Meanwhile, Sisera had fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was peace between King Jabin of Hazor and the family of Heber the Kenite. 18 Jael went out to greet Sisera and said to him, “Come in, my lord. Come in with me. Don’t be afraid.” So he went into her tent, and she covered him with a blanket. 19 He said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink for I am thirsty.” She opened a container of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him again. 20 Then he said to her, “Stand at the entrance to the tent. If a man comes and asks you, ‘Is there a man here?’ say, ‘No.’” 21 While he was sleeping from exhaustion, Heber’s wife, Jael, took a tent peg, grabbed a hammer, and went silently to Sisera. She hammered the peg into his temple and drove it into the ground, and he died.
22 When Barak arrived in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to greet him and said to him, “Come and I will show you the man you are looking for.” So he went in with her, and there was Sisera lying dead with a tent peg through his temple!
23 That day God subdued King Jabin of Canaan before the Israelites. 24 The power of the Israelites continued to increase against King Jabin of Canaan until they destroyed him.
Deborah’s Song
5 On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang:
2 When the leaders lead[b] in Israel,
when the people volunteer,
blessed be the Lord.
3 Listen, kings! Pay attention, princes!
I will sing to the Lord;
I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel.
4 Lord, when you came from Seir,(Q)
when you marched from the fields of Edom,
the earth trembled,(R)
the skies poured(S) rain,
and the clouds poured water.
5 The mountains melted before the Lord,
even Sinai,[c] before the Lord, the God of Israel.(T)
6 In the days of Shamgar(U) son of Anath,
in the days of Jael,(V)
the main roads were deserted
because travelers kept to the side roads.
7 Villages were deserted,[d]
they were deserted in Israel,
until I,[e] Deborah, arose,
a mother in Israel.
8 Israel chose new gods,
then there was war in the city gates.
Not a shield or spear was seen
among forty thousand in Israel.
9 My heart is with the leaders of Israel,
with the volunteers of the people.
Blessed be the Lord!
10 You who ride on white[f] donkeys,
who sit on saddle blankets,
and who travel on the road, give praise!
11 Let them tell the righteous acts(W) of the Lord,
the righteous deeds of his villagers in Israel,
with the voices of the singers at the watering places.[g]
Then the Lord’s people went down to the city gates.
12 “Awake! Awake, Deborah!
Awake! Awake, sing a song!
Arise, Barak,
and take your prisoners,
son of Abinoam!”
13 Then the survivors(X) came down to the nobles;(Y)
the Lord’s people came down to me[h] against the warriors.
14 Those with their roots in Amalek[i] came from Ephraim;
Benjamin came with your people after you.
The leaders came down from Machir,(Z)
and those who carry a marshal’s staff came from Zebulun.
15 The princes of Issachar were with Deborah;
Issachar was with Barak;
they were under his leadership[j](AA) in the valley.
There was great searching[k] of heart
among the clans of Reuben.
16 Why did you sit among the sheep pens[l]
listening to the playing of pipes for the flocks?
There was great searching of heart
among the clans of Reuben.
17 Gilead(AB) remained beyond the Jordan.
Dan, why did you linger at the ships?
Asher remained at the seashore
and stayed in his harbors.
18 The people of Zebulun defied death,
Naphtali also, on the heights of the battlefield.
19 Kings came and fought.
Then the kings of Canaan fought
at Taanach by the Waters of Megiddo,
but they did not plunder the silver.
20 The stars fought from the heavens;
the stars fought with Sisera from their paths.
21 The river Kishon swept them away,(AC)
the ancient river, the river Kishon.
March on, my soul, in strength!
22 The horses’ hooves then hammered—
the galloping, galloping of his[m] stallions.
23 “Curse Meroz,” says the angel of the Lord,
“Bitterly curse her inhabitants,
for they did not come to help the Lord,
to help the Lord with the warriors.”
24 Most blessed of women is Jael,
the wife of Heber the Kenite;
she is most blessed among tent-dwelling women.
25 He asked for water; she gave him milk.
She brought him cream(AD) in a majestic bowl.
26 She reached for a tent peg,
her right hand, for a workman’s hammer.
Then she hammered Sisera—
she crushed his head;
she shattered and pierced his temple.
27 He collapsed, he fell, he lay down between her feet;
he collapsed, he fell between her feet;
where he collapsed, there he fell—dead.
28 Sisera’s mother looked through the window;
she peered through the lattice, crying out:
“Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why don’t I hear the hoofbeats of his horses?” [n]
29 Her wisest princesses answer her;
she even answers herself:
30 “Are they not finding and dividing the spoil—
a girl or two[o] for each warrior,
the spoil of colored garments for Sisera,
the spoil of an embroidered garment or two for my neck?” [p]
31 Lord, may all your enemies perish as Sisera did.[q]
But may those who love him
be like the rising of the sun in its strength.
And the land had peace for forty years.
Midian Oppresses Israel
6 The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.(AE) So the Lord handed(AF) them over to Midian seven years, 2 and they oppressed Israel.(AG) Because of Midian, the Israelites made hiding places(AH) for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds. 3 Whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people of the east(AI) came and attacked them. 4 They encamped against them and destroyed the produce of the land, even as far as Gaza. They left nothing for Israel to eat, as well as no sheep, ox, or donkey. 5 For the Midianites came with their cattle and their tents like a great swarm of locusts.(AJ) They and their camels were without number, and they entered the land to lay waste to it. 6 So Israel became poverty-stricken because of Midian, and the Israelites cried out to the Lord.(AK)
7 When the Israelites cried out to him because of Midian, 8 the Lord sent a prophet(AL) to them. He said to them, “This is what the Lord(AM) God of Israel says: ‘I brought you out of Egypt and out of the place of slavery.(AN) 9 I rescued you from the power of Egypt and the power of all who oppressed(AO) you. I drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10 I said to you: I am the Lord your God. Do not fear the gods of the Amorites whose land you live in.(AP) But you did not obey me.’”
The Lord Calls Gideon
11 The angel of the Lord(AQ) came, and he sat under the oak that was in Ophrah,(AR) which belonged to Joash, the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress in order to hide it from the Midianites. 12 Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “The Lord is with you, valiant warrior.”(AS)
13 Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened? And where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about? They said, ‘Hasn’t the Lord brought us out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.”
14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and deliver Israel from the grasp of Midian. I am sending you!” (AT)
15 He said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Look, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s family.”
16 “But I will be with you,”(AU) the Lord said to him. “You will strike Midian down as if it were one man.”
17 Then he said to him, “If I have found favor with you,(AV) give me a sign(AW) that you are speaking with me. 18 Please do not leave this place until I return to you. Let me bring my gift and set it before you.”
And he said, “I will stay until you return.”
19 So Gideon went and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from a half bushel[r] of flour. He placed the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. He brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.
20 The angel of God(AX) said to him, “Take the meat with the unleavened bread, put it on this stone, and pour the broth on it.” So he did that.
21 The angel of the Lord extended the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire came up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.
22 When Gideon realized that he was the angel of the Lord, he said, “Oh no, Lord God!(AY) I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!” (AZ)
23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace to you. Don’t be afraid, for you will not die.” 24 So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace.[s] It is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites today.
Gideon Tears Down a Baal Altar
25 On that very night the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s young bull and a second bull seven years old. Then tear down the altar of Baal(BA) that belongs to your father and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. 26 Build a well-constructed altar to the Lord your God on the top of this mound.(BB) Take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down.” 27 So Gideon took ten of his male servants and did as the Lord had told him. But because he was too afraid of his father’s family and the men of the city to do it in the daytime, he did it at night.
28 When the men of the city got up in the morning, they found Baal’s altar torn down, the Asherah pole beside it cut down, and the second bull offered up on the altar that had been built. 29 They said to each other, “Who did this?” After they made a thorough investigation, they said, “Gideon son of Joash did it.”
30 Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son. He must die, because he tore down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”
31 But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Would you plead Baal’s case for him? Would you save him? Whoever pleads his case will be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him plead his own case because someone tore down his altar.” 32 That day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, since Joash said, “Let Baal contend with him,” because he tore down his altar.
The Sign of the Fleece
33 All the Midianites, Amalekites, and people of the east gathered together, crossed over the Jordan, and camped in the Jezreel Valley.(BC)
34 The Spirit of the Lord enveloped[t] Gideon,(BD) and he blew the ram’s horn and the Abiezrites rallied behind him. 35 He sent messengers throughout all of Manasseh, who rallied behind him. He also sent messengers throughout Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, who also came to meet him.
36 Then Gideon said to God, “If you will deliver Israel by me, as you said, 37 I will put a wool fleece here on the threshing floor. If dew is only on the fleece, and all the ground is dry, I will know that you will deliver Israel by me, as you said.” 38 And that is what happened. When he got up early in the morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung dew out of it, filling a bowl with water.
39 Gideon then said to God, “Don’t be angry with me; let me speak one more time. Please allow me to make one more test with the fleece. Let it remain dry, and the dew be all over the ground.” 40 That night God did as Gideon requested: only the fleece was dry, and dew was all over the ground.
Driving Out an Unclean Spirit
31 Then he went down to Capernaum,(A) a town in Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbath. 32 They were astonished at his teaching because his message had authority.(B) 33 In the synagogue there was a man with an unclean demonic spirit who cried out with a loud voice,(C) 34 “Leave us alone! What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” (D)
35 But Jesus rebuked him(E) and said, “Be silent and come out of him!”(F) And throwing him down before them, the demon came out of him without hurting him at all.
36 Amazement came over them all, and they were saying to one another, “What is this message? For he commands the unclean spirits with authority and power, and they come out!” 37 And news about him began to go out to every place in the vicinity.
Healings at Capernaum
38 After he left the synagogue, he entered Simon’s house.(G) Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked him about her.(H) 39 So he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up immediately(I) and began to serve them.
40 When the sun was setting, all those who had anyone sick with various diseases brought them to him. As he laid his hands on each one of them, he healed them.(J) 41 Also, demons were coming out of many, shouting and saying, “You are the Son of God!” (K) But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.(L)
42 When it was day, he went out and made his way to a deserted place.(M) But the crowds were searching for him. They came to him and tried to keep him from leaving them. 43 But he said to them, “It is necessary for me to proclaim the good news about the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because I was sent for this purpose.” 44 And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.[a](N)
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