1The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. So the Lord handed them over to the Midianites for seven years. 2The Midianites were so cruel that the Israelites made hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds. 3Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, marauders from Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east would attack Israel, 4camping in the land and destroying crops as far away as Gaza. They left the Israelites with nothing to eat, taking all the sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. 5These enemy hordes, coming with their livestock and tents, were as thick as locusts; they arrived on droves of camels too numerous to count. And they stayed until the land was stripped bare. 6So Israel was reduced to starvation by the Midianites. Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.

7When they cried out to the Lord because of Midian, 8the Lord sent a prophet to the Israelites. He said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of slavery in Egypt. 9I rescued you from the Egyptians and from all who oppressed you. I drove out your enemies and gave you their land. 10I told you, ‘I am the Lord your God. You must not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you now live.’ But you have not listened to me.”

11Then the angel of the Lord came and sat beneath the great tree at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash of the clan of Abiezer. Gideon son of Joash was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites. 12The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!”13“Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.”

14Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”15“But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!”16The Lord said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.”17Gideon replied, “If you are truly going to help me, show me a sign to prove that it is really the Lord speaking to me. 18Don’t go away until I come back and bring my offering to you.”He answered, “I will stay here until you return.”

19Gideon hurried home. He cooked a young goat, and with a basket* of flour he baked some bread without yeast. Then, carrying the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, he brought them out and presented them to the angel, who was under the great tree.20The angel of God said to him, “Place the meat and the unleavened bread on this rock, and pour the broth over it.” And Gideon did as he was told. 21Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and bread with the tip of the staff in his hand, and fire flamed up from the rock and consumed all he had brought. And the angel of the Lord disappeared.

22When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he cried out, “Oh, Sovereign Lord, I’m doomed! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”23“It is all right,” the Lord replied. “Do not be afraid. You will not die.”24And Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and named it Yahweh-Shalom (which means “the Lord is peace”). The altar remains in Ophrah in the land of the clan of Abiezer to this day.25That night the Lord said to Gideon, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one that is seven years old. Pull down your father’s altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah pole standing beside it. 26Then build an altar to the Lord your God here on this hilltop sanctuary, laying the stones carefully. Sacrifice the bull as a burnt offering on the altar, using as fuel the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down.”

27So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord had commanded. But he did it at night because he was afraid of the other members of his father’s household and the people of the town.28Early the next morning, as the people of the town began to stir, someone discovered that the altar of Baal had been broken down and that the Asherah pole beside it had been cut down. In their place a new altar had been built, and on it were the remains of the bull that had been sacrificed. 29The people said to each other, “Who did this?” And after asking around and making a careful search, they learned that it was Gideon, the son of Joash.

30“Bring out your son,” the men of the town demanded of Joash. “He must die for destroying the altar of Baal and for cutting down the Asherah pole.”31But Joash shouted to the mob that confronted him, “Why are you defending Baal? Will you argue his case? Whoever pleads his case will be put to death by morning! If Baal truly is a god, let him defend himself and destroy the one who broke down his altar!” 32From then on Gideon was called Jerub-baal, which means “Let Baal defend himself,” because he broke down Baal’s altar.

33Soon afterward the armies of Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east formed an alliance against Israel and crossed the Jordan, camping in the valley of Jezreel. 34Then the Spirit of the Lord took possession of Gideon. He blew a ram’s horn as a call to arms, and the men of the clan of Abiezer came to him. 35He also sent messengers throughout Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, summoning their warriors, and all of them responded.36Then Gideon said to God, “If you are truly going to use me to rescue Israel as you promised, 37prove it to me in this way. I will put a wool fleece on the threshing floor tonight. If the fleece is wet with dew in the morning but the ground is dry, then I will know that you are going to help me rescue Israel as you promised.”

38And that is just what happened. When Gideon got up early the next morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung out a whole bowlful of water.39Then Gideon said to God, “Please don’t be angry with me, but let me make one more request. Let me use the fleece for one more test. This time let the fleece remain dry while the ground around it is wet with dew.” 40So that night God did as Gideon asked. The fleece was dry in the morning, but the ground was covered with dew.
 
Luke 22:54–23:12

54So they arrested him and led him to the high priest’s home. And Peter followed at a distance. 55The guards lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat around it, and Peter joined them there. 56A servant girl noticed him in the firelight and began staring at him. Finally she said, “This man was one of Jesus’ followers!”57But Peter denied it. “Woman,” he said, “I don’t even know him!”58After a while someone else looked at him and said, “You must be one of them!”“No, man, I’m not!” Peter retorted.

59About an hour later someone else insisted, “This must be one of them, because he is a Galilean, too.”60But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.61At that moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Suddenly, the Lord’s words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.” 62And Peter left the courtyard, weeping bitterly.

63The guards in charge of Jesus began mocking and beating him. 64They blindfolded him and said, “Prophesy to us! Who hit you that time?” 65And they hurled all sorts of terrible insults at him.66At daybreak all the elders of the people assembled, including the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. Jesus was led before this high council, 67and they said, “Tell us, are you the Messiah?”But he replied, “If I tell you, you won’t believe me. 68And if I ask you a question, you won’t answer. 69But from now on the Son of Man will be seated in the place of power at God’s right hand.”

70They all shouted, “So, are you claiming to be the Son of God?”And he replied, “You say that I am.”71“Why do we need other witnesses?” they said. “We ourselves heard him say it.”

Chapter 23

1Then the entire council took Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor. 2They began to state their case: “This man has been leading our people astray by telling them not to pay their taxes to the Roman government and by claiming he is the Messiah, a king.”3So Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”Jesus replied, “You have said it.”4Pilate turned to the leading priests and to the crowd and said, “I find nothing wrong with this man!”5Then they became insistent. “But he is causing riots by his teaching wherever he goes—all over Judea, from Galilee to Jerusalem!”

6“Oh, is he a Galilean?” Pilate asked. 7When they said that he was, Pilate sent him to Herod Antipas, because Galilee was under Herod’s jurisdiction, and Herod happened to be in Jerusalem at the time.8Herod was delighted at the opportunity to see Jesus, because he had heard about him and had been hoping for a long time to see him perform a miracle. 9He asked Jesus question after question, but Jesus refused to answer. 10Meanwhile, the leading priests and the teachers of religious law stood there shouting their accusations. 11Then Herod and his soldiers began mocking and ridiculing Jesus. Finally, they put a royal robe on him and sent him back to Pilate. 12(Herod and Pilate, who had been enemies before, became friends that day.)

Psalms 95:1–96:13
 
1  Come, let us sing to the Lord!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
 
2  Let us come to him with thanksgiving.
Let us sing psalms of praise to him.
 
3  For the Lord is a great God,
a great King above all gods.
 
4  He holds in his hands the depths of the earth
and the mightiest mountains.
 
5  The sea belongs to him, for he made it.
His hands formed the dry land, too.
 
6  Come, let us worship and bow down.
Let us kneel before the Lord
our maker,
 
7   for he is our God.
We are the people he watches over,
the flock under his care.
If only you would listen to his voice today!
 
8  The Lord says, “Don’t harden your hearts as Israel did at Meribah,
as they did at Massah in the wilderness.
 
9  For there your ancestors tested and tried my patience,
even though they saw everything I did.

10  For forty years I was angry with them, and I said,
‘They are a people whose hearts turn away from me.
They refuse to do what I tell them.’

11  So in my anger I took an oath:
‘They will never enter my place
of rest.’ ”

Chapter 96

1  Sing a new song to the Lord!
Let the whole earth sing to the Lord!
 
2  Sing to the Lord; praise his name.
Each day proclaim the good news that he saves.
 
3  Publish his glorious deeds among the nations.
Tell everyone about the amazing things he does.
 
4  Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!
He is to be feared above all gods.
 
5  The gods of other nations are mere idols,
but the Lord made the heavens!
 
6  Honor and majesty surround him;
strength and beauty fill his sanctuary.
 
7  O nations of the world, recognize the Lord;
recognize that the Lord is glorious and strong.
 
8  Give to the Lord the glory he deserves!
Bring your offering and come into his courts.
 
9  Worship the Lord in all his holy splendor.
Let all the earth tremble before him.

10  Tell all the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
The world stands firm and cannot be shaken.
He will judge all peoples fairly.

11  Let the heavens be glad, and the earth rejoice!
Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise!

12  Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy!
Let the trees of the forest rustle with praise

13  before the Lord, for he is coming!
He is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with justice,
and the nations with his truth.

Proverbs 14:5-6
 
5  An honest witness does not lie;
a false witness breathes lies.
 
6  A mocker seeks wisdom and never
finds it, but knowledge comes easily to those with understanding.