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May 8 - Bible-in-a-Year
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Judges 9
Chapter 9
Abimelech Becomes King
1 Abimelech son of Jerubbaal went to his mother's brothers at Shechem and spoke to them and to all his maternal grandfather's clan, saying, 2 "Please speak in the presence of all the lords of Shechem, ‘Is it better for you that 70 men, all the sons of Jerubbaal,(a) rule over you or that one man rule over you?' Remember that I am your own flesh and blood."[a]
3 His mother's relatives spoke all these words about him in the presence of all the lords of Shechem, and they were favorable to Abimelech, for they said, "He is our brother." 4 So they gave him 70 pieces of silver from the temple of Baal-berith.[b] Abimelech hired worthless and reckless men with this money, and they followed him. 5 He went to his father's house in Ophrah and killed his 70 brothers, the sons of Jerubbaal, on top of a large stone. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, survived, because he hid himself. 6 Then all the lords of Shechem and of Beth-millo gathered together and proceeded to make Abimelech king at the oak of the pillar in Shechem.
Jotham's Parable
7 When they told Jotham, he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim,(b) raised his voice, and called to them:
Listen to me, lords of Shechem,
and may God listen to you:
8 The trees set out
to anoint a king over themselves.
They said to the olive tree, "Reign over us."
9 But the olive tree said to them,
"Should I stop giving my oil
that honors both God and man,
and rule[c] over the trees?"
10 Then the trees said to the fig tree,
"Come and reign over us."
11 But the fig tree said to them,
"Should I stop giving
my sweetness and my good fruit,
and rule[d] over trees?"
12 Later, the trees said to the grapevine,
"Come and reign over us."
13 But the grapevine said to them,
"Should I stop giving my wine
that cheers both God and man,
and rule[e] over trees?"
14 Finally, all the trees said to the bramble,
"Come and reign over us."
15 The bramble said to the trees,
"If you really are anointing me
as king over you,
come and find refuge in my shade.
But if not,
may fire come out from the bramble
and consume the cedars of Lebanon."
16 "Now if you have acted faithfully(c) and honestly(d) in making Abimelech king, if you have done well by Jerubbaal and his family, and if you have rewarded him appropriately for what he did— 17 for my father fought for you, risked his life, and delivered you from the hand of Midian, 18 and now you have attacked my father's house today, killed his 70 sons on top of a large stone, and made Abimelech, the son of his slave, king over the lords of Shechem ‘because he is your brother'— 19 if then you have acted faithfully and honestly with Jerubbaal and his house this day, rejoice in Abimelech and may he also rejoice in you. 20 But if not, may fire come from Abimelech and consume the lords of Shechem and Beth-millo, and may fire come from the lords of Shechem and Beth-millo and consume Abimelech." 21 Then Jotham fled, escaping to Beer, and lived there because of his brother Abimelech.
Abimelech's Punishment
22 When Abimelech had ruled over Israel three years, 23 God sent an evil spirit(e) between Abimelech and the lords of Shechem. They treated Abimelech deceitfully, 24 so that the crime against the 70 sons of Jerubbaal might come to justice and their blood would be avenged on their brother Abimelech, who killed them, and on the lords of Shechem, who had helped him kill his brothers. 25 The lords of Shechem rebelled against him by putting people on the tops of the mountains to ambush(f) and rob everyone who passed by them on the road. So this was reported to Abimelech.
26 Gaal son of Ebed came with his brothers and crossed into Shechem, and the lords of Shechem trusted him. 27 So they went out to the countryside and harvested grapes from their vineyards. They trampled the grapes and held a celebration.(g) Then they went to the house of their god, and as they ate and drank, they cursed Abimelech. 28 Gaal son of Ebed said, "Who is Abimelech and who is Shechem that we should serve him? Isn't he the son of Jerubbaal, and isn't Zebul his officer? You are to serve the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem.(h) Why should we serve Abimelech? 29 If only these people were in my power, I would remove Abimelech." So he said[f] to Abimelech, "Gather your army and come out."
30 When Zebul, the ruler of the city, heard the words of Gaal son of Ebed, he was angry. 31 So he sent messengers secretly to Abimelech, saying, "Look, Gaal son of Ebed, with his brothers, have come to Shechem and are turning the city against you.[g] 32 Now tonight, you and the people with you are to come wait in ambush in the countryside. 33 Then get up early, and at sunrise charge the city. When he and the people who are with him come out against you, do to him whatever you can."[h] 34 So Abimelech and all the people with him got up at night and waited in ambush for Shechem in four units.
35 Gaal son of Ebed went out and stood at the entrance of the city gate. Then Abimelech and the people who were with him got up from their ambush. 36 When Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, "Look, people are coming down from the mountaintops!" But Zebul said to him, "The shadows of the mountains look like men to you."
37 Then Gaal spoke again, "Look, people are coming down from the central part of the land,(i) and one unit is coming from the direction of the Diviners' Oak." 38 Zebul replied,[i] "Where is your mouthing off now? You said, ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?' Aren't these the people you despised? Now go and fight them!"
39 So Gaal went out leading the lords of Shechem and fought against Abimelech, 40 but Abimelech pursued him, and Gaal fled before him. Many wounded died(j) as far as the entrance of the gate. 41 Abimelech stayed in Arumah, and Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers from Shechem.
42 The next day when the people went into the countryside, this was reported to Abimelech. 43 He took the people, divided them into three companies, and waited in ambush in the countryside. He looked, and the people were coming out of the city, so he arose against them and struck them down. 44 Then Abimelech and the units that were with him rushed forward and took their stand at the entrance of the city gate. The other two units rushed against all who were in the countryside and struck them down. 45 So Abimelech fought against the city that entire day, captured it, and killed the people who were in it. Then he tore down the city and sowed it with salt.
46 When all the lords of the Tower of Shechem heard, they entered the inner chamber[j] of the temple of El-berith.[k] 47 Then it was reported to Abimelech that all the lords of the Tower of Shechem had gathered together. 48 So Abimelech and all the people who were with him went up to Mount Zalmon. Abimelech took his ax in his hand and cut a branch from the trees. He picked up the branch, put it on his shoulder, and said to the people who were with him, "Hurry and do what you have seen me do." 49 Each person also cut his own branch and followed Abimelech. They put the branches against the inner chamber and set it on fire around the people, and all the people in the Tower of Shechem died—about 1,000 men and women.
50 Abimelech went to Thebez,(k) camped against it, and captured it. 51 There was a strong tower inside the city, and all the men, women, and lords of the city fled there. They locked themselves in and went up to the roof of the tower. 52 When Abimelech came to attack the tower, he approached its entrance to set it on fire. 53 But a woman threw the upper portion of a millstone on Abimelech's head and fractured his skull. 54 He quickly called his armor-bearer and said to him, "Draw your sword and kill me, or they'll say about me, ‘A woman killed him.'" So his armor-bearer thrust him through, and he died. 55 When the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they all went home.
56 In this way, God turned back on Abimelech the evil that he had done against his father, by killing his 70 brothers. 57 And God also returned all the evil of the men of Shechem on their heads. So the curse of Jotham son of Jerubbaal came on them.(l)
Job 38
Chapter 38
The Lord Speaks
1 Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind.(a) He said:
2 Who is this who obscures My counsel
with ignorant words?(b)
3 Get ready to answer Me like a man;
when I question(c) you, you will inform Me.
4 Where were you when I established(d) the earth?
Tell Me, if you have[a] understanding.
5 Who fixed its dimensions? Certainly you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 What supports its foundations?
Or who laid its cornerstone
7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God(e) shouted for joy?
8 Who enclosed the sea behind doors
when it burst from the womb,
9 when I made the clouds its garment
and thick darkness its blanket,[b](f)
10 when I determined its boundaries[c]
and put its bars and doors in place,
11 when I declared: "You may come this far, but no farther;
your proud waves stop here"?
12 Have you ever in your life commanded the morning
or assigned the dawn its place,
13 so it may seize the edges of the earth
and shake the wicked out of it?
14 The earth is changed as clay is by a seal;
its hills stand out like the folds of a garment.
15 Light[d] is withheld from the wicked,
and the arm raised in violence is broken.
16 Have you traveled to the sources of the sea
or walked in the depths of the oceans?
17 Have the gates(g) of death been revealed to you?
Have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
18 Have you comprehended the extent of the earth?
Tell Me, if you know all this.
19 Where is the road to the home of light?
Do you know where darkness lives,
20 so you can lead it back to its border?
Are you familiar with the paths to its home?
21 Don't you know? You were already born;(h)
you have lived so long![e]
22 Have you entered the place where the snow is stored?
Or have you seen the storehouses of hail,(i)
23 which I hold in reserve for times of trouble,
for the day of warfare and battle?(j)
24 What road leads to the place where light is dispersed?[f]
Where is the source of the east wind that spreads across the earth?
25 Who cuts a channel for the flooding rain
or clears the way for lightning,
26 to bring rain on an uninhabited land,
on a desert with no human life,[g]
27 to satisfy the parched wasteland
and cause the grass to sprout?(k)
28 Does the rain have a father?
Who fathered the drops of dew?(l)
29 Whose womb did the ice come from?
Who gave birth to the frost of heaven
30 when water becomes as hard as stone,[h]
and the surface of the watery depths is frozen?(m)
31 Can you fasten the chains of the Pleiades
or loosen the belt of Orion?
32 Can you bring out the constellations[i] in their season
and lead the Bear[j] and her cubs?(n)
33 Do you know the laws(o) of heaven?
Can you impose its[k] authority on earth?
34 Can you command[l] the clouds
so that a flood of water covers you?(p)
35 Can you send out lightning(q) bolts, and they go?
Do they report to you: "Here we are"?
36 Who put wisdom(r) in the heart[m]
or gave the mind understanding?
37 Who has the wisdom to number the clouds?
Or who can tilt the water jars of heaven
38 when the dust hardens like cast metal
and the clods of dirt stick together?
39 Can you hunt prey for a lioness
or satisfy the appetite of young lions(s)
40 when they crouch in their dens
and lie in wait within their lairs?
41 Who provides the raven's food(t)
when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?
Acts 18
Chapter 18
Founding the Corinthian Church
1 After this, he[a] left Athens and went to Corinth,(a) 2 where he found a Jewish man named Aquila,(b) a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius[b] had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul came to them, 3 and being of the same occupation, stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers[c] by trade.(c) 4 He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade both Jews and Greeks.(d)
5 When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with preaching the message[d] and solemnly testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah.(e) 6 But when they resisted and blasphemed,(f) he shook his robe[e](g) and told them, "Your blood is on your own heads!(h) I am innocent.[f] From now on I will go to the Gentiles."(i) 7 So he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. 8 Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed the Lord, along with his whole household.(j) Many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed and were baptized.
9 Then the Lord said to Paul in a night vision, "Don't be afraid, but keep on speaking and don't be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to hurt you, because I have many people in this city." (k) 11 And he stayed there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
12 While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack against Paul and brought him to the judge's bench.(l) 13 "This man," they said, "persuades people to worship God contrary to the law!"
14 As Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, "If it were a matter of a crime or of moral evil, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you Jews. 15 But if these are questions about words, names, and your own law, see to it yourselves. I don't want to be a judge of such things."(m) 16 So he drove them from the judge's bench. 17 Then they all[g] seized Sosthenes,(n) the leader of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the judge's bench. But none of these things concerned Gallio.
The Return Trip to Antioch
18 So Paul, having stayed on for many days, said good-bye to the brothers and sailed away to Syria. Priscilla and Aquila were with him. He shaved his head at Cenchreae because he had taken a vow.(o) 19 When they reached Ephesus(p) he left them there, but he himself entered the synagogue and engaged in discussion with[h] the Jews. 20 And though they asked him to stay for a longer time, he declined, 21 but he said good-bye and stated,[i] "I'll come back to you again, if God wills."(q) Then he set sail from Ephesus.
22 On landing at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church[j] and went down to Antioch.(r) 23 And after spending some time there, he set out, traveling through one place after another in the Galatian territory and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.(s)
The Eloquent Apollos
24 A Jew named Apollos,(t) a native Alexandrian, an eloquent man who was powerful in the use of the Scriptures, arrived in Ephesus. 25 This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit,[k] he spoke and taught the things about Jesus accurately, although he knew only John's baptism.(u) 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. After Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him home[l] and explained the way of God to him more accurately.(v) 27 When he wanted to cross over to Achaia, the brothers wrote to the disciples urging them to welcome him. After he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace.(w) 28 For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating through the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah.(x)
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