Tuesday, 16 July

4.   When Gideon came to the Jordan, he and the three hundred men who were with him crossed over, exhausted but still in pursuit. 5.   Then he said to the men of Succoth, "Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian." 6.   And the leaders of Succoth said, " Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?" 7.   So Gideon said, "For this cause, when the LORD has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers!" 8.   Then he went up from there to Penuel and spoke to them in the same way. And the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. 9.   So he also spoke to the men of Penuel, saying, "When I come back in peace, I will tear down this tower!" 10.   Now Zebah and Zalmunna were at Karkor, and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand, all who were left of all the army of the people of the East; for one hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword had fallen. 11.   Then Gideon went up by the road of those who dwell in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah; and he attacked the army while the camp felt secure. 12.   When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued them; and he took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and routed the whole army. 13.   Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle, from the Ascent of Heres. 14.   And he caught a young man of the men of Succoth and interrogated him; and he wrote down for him the leaders of Succoth and its elders, seventy–seven men. 15.   Then he came to the men of Succoth and said, "Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you ridiculed me, saying, ‘ Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your weary men?’" 16.   And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth. 17.   Then he tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city. 18.   And he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, "What kind of men were they whom you killed at Tabor?" So they answered, "As you are , so were they; each one resembled the son of a king." 19.   Then he said, "They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the LORD lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you." 20.   And he said to Jether his firstborn, "Rise, kill them!" But the youth would not draw his sword; for he was afraid, because he was still a youth. 21.   So Zebah and Zalmunna said, "Rise yourself, and kill us; for as a man is, so is his strength." So Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent ornaments that were on their camels’ necks. 22.   Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, "Rule over us, both you and your son, and your grandson also; for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian." 23.   But Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the LORD shall rule over you." 24.   Then Gideon said to them, "I would like to make a request of you, that each of you would give me the earrings from his plunder." For they had gold earrings, because they were Ishmaelites. 25.   So they answered, "We will gladly give them ." And they spread out a garment, and each man threw into it the earrings from his plunder. 26.   Now the weight of the gold earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments, pendants, and purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were around their camels’ necks. 27.   Then Gideon made it into an ephod and set it up in his city, Ophrah. And all Israel played the harlot with it there. It became a snare to Gideon and to his house. 28.   Thus Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted their heads no more. And the country was quiet for forty years in the days of Gideon. 29.   Then Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house. 30.   Gideon had seventy sons who were his own offspring, for he had many wives. 31.   And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, whose name he called Abimelech. 32.   Now Gideon the son of Joash died at a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. 33.   So it was, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel again played the harlot with the Baals, and made Baal–Berith their god. 34.   Thus the children of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side; 35.   nor did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (Gideon) in accordance with the good he had done for Israel.

1.   Thus says the LORD: "Where is the certificate of your mother’s divorce, Whom I have put away? Or which of My creditors is it to whom I have sold you? For your iniquities you have sold yourselves, And for your transgressions your mother has been put away. 2.   Why, when I came, was there no man? Why , when I called, was there none to answer? Is My hand shortened at all that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver? Indeed with My rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness; Their fish stink because there is no water, And die of thirst. 3.   I clothe the heavens with blackness, And I make sackcloth their covering." 4.   "The Lord GOD has given Me The tongue of the learned, That I should know how to speak A word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear To hear as the learned. 5.   The Lord GOD has opened My ear; And I was not rebellious, Nor did I turn away. 6.   I gave My back to those who struck Me , And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting. 7.   "For the Lord GOD will help Me; Therefore I will not be disgraced; Therefore I have set My face like a flint, And I know that I will not be ashamed. 8.   He is near who justifies Me; Who will contend with Me? Let us stand together. Who is My adversary? Let him come near Me. 9.   Surely the Lord GOD will help Me; Who is he who will condemn Me? Indeed they will all grow old like a garment; The moth will eat them up. 10.   "Who among you fears the LORD? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness And has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD And rely upon his God. 11.   Look, all you who kindle a fire, Who encircle yourselves with sparks: Walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you have kindled––This you shall have from My hand: You shall lie down in torment.

1.   For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, 2.   that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, 3.   in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4.   Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. 5.   For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. 6.   As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7.   rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. 8.   Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 9.   For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10.   and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. 11.   In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12.   buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13.   And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14.   having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15.   Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. 16.   So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17.   which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. 18.   Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19.   and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. 20.   Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations–– 21.   "Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle," 22.   which all concern things which perish with the using––according to the commandments and doctrines of men? 23.   These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self–imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.