6 And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah: and Jehovah delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. ² And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel; and because of Midian the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds. ³ And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east; they came up against them; ⁴ and they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance in Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. ⁵ For they came up with their cattle and their tents; they came in as locusts for multitude; both they and their camels were without number: and they came into the land to destroy it. ⁶ And Israel was brought very low because of Midian; and the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah.

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⁷ And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah because of Midian, ⁸ that Jehovah sent a prophet unto the children of Israel: and he said unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage; ⁹ and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drove them out from before you, and gave you their land; ¹⁰ and I said unto you, I am Jehovah your God; ye shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell. But ye have not hearkened unto my voice.

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¹¹ And the angel of Jehovah came, and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. ¹² And the angel of Jehovah appeared unto him, and said unto him, Jehovah is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. ¹³ And Gideon said unto him, Oh, my lord, if Jehovah is with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not Jehovah bring us up from Egypt? but now Jehovah hath cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian. ¹⁴ And Jehovah ^‍looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian: have not I sent thee? ¹⁵ And he said unto him, Oh, Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. ¹⁶ And Jehovah said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. ¹⁷ And he said unto him, If now I have found favor in thy sight, then show me a sign that it is thou that talkest with me. ¹⁸ Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and lay it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again.

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¹⁹ And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of meal: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the ^‍oak, and presented it. ²⁰ And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so. ²¹ Then the angel of Jehovah put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there went up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of Jehovah departed out of his sight. ²² And Gideon saw that he was the angel of Jehovah; and Gideon said, Alas, O Lord Jehovah! forasmuch as I have seen the angel of Jehovah face to face. ²³ And Jehovah said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. ²⁴ Then Gideon built an altar there unto Jehovah, and called it Jehovah-shalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

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²⁵ And it came to pass the same night, that Jehovah said unto him, Take thy father’s bullock, even the second bullock seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the Asherah that is by it; ²⁶ and build an altar unto Jehovah thy God upon the top of this stronghold, in the orderly manner, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt-offering with the wood of the Asherah which thou shalt cut down. ²⁷ Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as Jehovah had spoken unto him: and it came to pass, because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city, so that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.

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²⁸ And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built. ²⁹ And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they inquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing. ³⁰ Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die, because he hath broken down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the Asherah that was by it. ³¹ And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye contend for Baal? or will ye save him? he that will contend for him, let him be put to death ^‍whilst it is yetmorning: if he be a god, let him contend for himself, because one hath broken down his altar. ³² Therefore on that day he called him ^‍Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal contend against him, because he hath broken down his altar.

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³³ Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east assembled themselves together; and they passed over, and encamped in the valley of Jezreel. ³⁴ But the Spirit of Jehovah came upon Gideon; and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered together after him. ³⁵ And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; and they also were gathered together after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

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³⁶ And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast spoken, ³⁷ behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing-floor; if there be dew on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the ground, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast spoken. ³⁸ And it was so; for he rose up early on the morrow, and pressed the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. ³⁹ And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be kindled against me, and I will speak but this once: let me make trial, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. ⁴⁰ And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.

⁵⁴ And they seized him, and led him away, and brought him into the high priest’s house. But Peter followed afar off. ⁵⁵ And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the court, and had sat down together, Peter sat in the midst of them. ⁵⁶ And a certain maid seeing him as he sat in the light of the fire, and looking stedfastly upon him, said, This man also was with him. ⁵⁷ But he denied, saying, Woman, I know him not. ⁵⁸ And after a little while another saw him, and said, Thou also art one of them. But Peter said, Man, I am not. ⁵⁹ And after the space of about one hour another confidently affirmed, saying, Of a truth this man also was with him; for he is a Galilaean. ⁶⁰ But Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew. ⁶¹ And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how that he said unto him, Before the cock crow this day thou shalt deny me thrice. ⁶² And he went out, and wept bitterly.

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⁶³ And the men that held Jesus mocked him, and beat him. ⁶⁴ And they blindfolded him, and asked him, saying, Prophesy: who is he that struck thee? ⁶⁵ And many other things spake they against him, reviling him.

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⁶⁶ And as soon as it was day, the assembly of the elders of the people was gathered together, both chief priests and scribes; and they led him away into their council, saying, ⁶⁷ If thou art the Christ, tell us. But he said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe: ⁶⁸ and if I ask you, ye will not answer. ⁶⁹ But from henceforth shall the Son of man be seated at the right hand of the power of God. ⁷⁰ And they all said, Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, ^‍Ye say that I am. ⁷¹ And they said, What further need have we of witness? for we ourselves have heard from his own mouth.

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23 And the whole company of them rose up, and brought him before Pilate. ² And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this man perverting our nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ a king. ³ And Pilate asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answered him and said, Thou sayest. ⁴ And Pilate said unto the chief priests and the multitudes, I find no fault in this man. ⁵ But they were the more urgent, saying, He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Judaea, and beginning from Galilee even unto this place. ⁶ But when Pilate heard it, he asked whether the man were a Galilaean. ⁷ And when he knew that he was of Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him unto Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem in these days.

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⁸ Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was of a long time desirous to see him, because he had heard concerning him; and he hoped to see some miracle done by him. ⁹ And he questioned him in many words; but he answered him nothing. ¹⁰ And the chief priests and the scribes stood, vehemently accusing him. ¹¹ And Herod with his soldiers set him at nought, and mocked him, and arraying him in gorgeous apparel sent him back to Pilate. ¹² And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day: for before they were at enmity between themselves.

Praise to Jehovah, and warning against unbelief.

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95 Oh come, let us sing unto Jehovah;
Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
² Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving;
Let us make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
³ For Jehovah is a great God,
And a great King above all gods.
⁴ In his hand are the deep places of the earth;
The heights of the mountains are his also.
⁵ The sea is his, and he made it;
And his hands formed the dry land.
⁶ Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before Jehovah our Maker:
⁷ For he is our God,
And we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
To-day, oh that ye would hear his voice!
⁸ Harden not your heart, as at Meribah,
As in the day of Massah in the wilderness;
⁹ When your fathers tempted me,
Proved me, and saw my work.
¹⁰ Forty years long was I grieved with that generation,
And said, It is a people that do err in their heart,
And they have not known my ways:
¹¹ Wherefore I sware in my wrath,
That they should not enter into my rest.

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A call to worship Jehovah the Righteous Judge.

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96 Oh sing unto Jehovah a new song:
Sing unto Jehovah, all the earth.
² Sing unto Jehovah, bless his name;
Show forth his salvation from day to day.
³ Declare his glory among the nations,
His marvellous works among all the peoples.
⁴ For great is Jehovah, and greatly to be praised:
He is to be feared above all gods.
⁵ For all the gods of the peoples are idols;
But Jehovah made the heavens.
⁶ Honor and majesty are before him:
Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
⁷ Ascribe unto Jehovah, ye kindreds of the peoples,
Ascribe unto Jehovah glory and strength.
⁸ Ascribe unto Jehovah the glory due unto his name:
Bring an offering, and come into his courts.
⁹ Oh worship Jehovah in holy array:
Tremble before him, all the earth.
¹⁰ Say among the nations, Jehovah reigneth:
The world also is established that it cannot be moved:
He will judge the peoples with equity.
¹¹ Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof;
¹² Let the field exult, and all that is therein;
Then shall all the trees of the wood sing for joy
¹³ Before Jehovah; for he cometh,
For he cometh to judge the earth:
He will judge the world with righteousness,
And the peoples with his truth.

⁵ A faithful witness will not lie;
But a false witness ^‍uttereth lies.
⁶ A scoffer seeketh wisdom, and findeth it not;
But knowledge is easy unto him that hath understanding.