The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Saturday April 27, 2019 (NIV)

Gideon's Three Hundred Men

7 Then ^(A)Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside ^(B)the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them, ^(C)by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

² The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, ^(D)lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ ³ Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ^(E)‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained.

⁴ And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ shall not go.” ⁵ So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.” ⁶ And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. ⁷ And the Lord said to Gideon, ^(F)“With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.” ⁸ So the people took provisions in their hands, and their trumpets. And he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the 300 men. And the camp of Midian was below him ^(G)in the valley.

⁹ That same ^(H)night the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, ^(I)for I have given it into your hand. ¹⁰ But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant. ^11 (J)And you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” ^(K)Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the armed men who were in the camp. ¹² And the Midianites and the Amalekites and ^(L)all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number, ^(M)as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance. ¹³ When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade. And he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.” ¹⁴ And his comrade answered, “This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp.”

¹⁵ As soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped. And he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the Lord has given the host of Midian into your hand.” ¹⁶ And he divided the 300 men into three companies and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with ^(N)torches inside the jars. ¹⁷ And he said to them, “Look at me, and do likewise. When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. ¹⁸ When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and shout, ^(O)‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’”

Gideon Defeats Midian

¹⁹ So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch. And they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands. ²⁰ Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. ^(P)And they cried out, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” ²¹ Every man stood in his place around the camp, ^(Q)and all the army ran. They cried out and fled. ^22 (R)When they blew the 300 trumpets, ^(S)the Lord set ^(T)every man's sword against his comrade and against all the army. And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah,^[a] as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. ²³ And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian.

^24 (U)Gideon sent messengers throughout ^(V)all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and capture the waters against them, as far as ^(W)Beth-barah, and also the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they captured the waters as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan. ²⁵ And they captured ^(X)the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb ^(Y)at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. Then they pursued Midian, and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon ^(Z)across the Jordan.

Gideon Defeats Zebah and Zalmunna

8 ^(AA)Then the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they accused him fiercely. ² And he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not ^(AB)the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? ^3 (AC)God has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?” ^(AD)Then their anger^[b] against him subsided when he said this.

⁴ And Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and ^(AE)the 300 men who were with him, exhausted yet pursuing. ⁵ So he said to the men of ^(AF)Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” ⁶ And the officials of Succoth said, ^(AG)“Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, ^(AH)that we should give bread to your army?” ⁷ So Gideon said, “Well then, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, ^(AI)I will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.” ⁸ And from there he went up to ^(AJ)Penuel, and spoke to them in the same way, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. ⁹ And he said to the men of Penuel, ^(AK)“When I come again in peace, ^(AL)I will break down this tower.”

¹⁰ Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about 15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of ^(AM)the people of the East, for there had fallen 120,000 men ^(AN)who drew the sword. ¹¹ And Gideon went up by the way of the tent dwellers east of ^(AO)Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the army, for the army felt ^(AP)secure. ¹² And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them ^(AQ)and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw all the army into a panic.

¹³ Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres. ¹⁴ And he captured a young man of Succoth and questioned him. And he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men. ¹⁵ And he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ^(AR)‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are exhausted?’” ¹⁶ And he took the elders of the city, and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth a lesson. ^17 (AS)And he broke down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

¹³ Pilate then called together the chief priests and ^(A)the rulers and the people, ¹⁴ and said to them, “You brought me this man ^(B)as one who was misleading the people. And ^(C)after examining him before you, behold, I ^(D)did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. ¹⁵ Neither did Herod, for ^(E)he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. ^16 (F)I will therefore punish and release him.”^[a]

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified

^18 (G)But they all cried out together, ^(H)“Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas”— ¹⁹ a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and ^(I)for murder. ²⁰ Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, ²¹ but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” ²² A third time he said to them, “Why? ^(J)What evil has he done? ^(K)I have found in him no guilt deserving death. ^(L)I will therefore punish and release him.” ²³ But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. ²⁴ So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. ²⁵ He released the man who had been thrown into prison ^(M)for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, ^(N)but he delivered Jesus over to their will.

The Crucifixion

^26 (O)And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. ²⁷ And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were ^(P)mourning and lamenting for him. ²⁸ But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For behold, ^(Q)the days are coming when they will say, ^(R)‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ ^30 (S)Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ ³¹ For ^(T)if they do these things when ^(U)the wood is green, what will happen ^(V)when it is dry?”

^32 (W)Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. ^33 (X)And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, ^(Y)one on his right and one on his left. ³⁴ And Jesus said, “Father, ^(Z)forgive them, ^(AA)for they know not what they do.”^[b] And they cast lots ^(AB)to divide his garments. ³⁵ And ^(AC)the people stood by, watching, ^(AD)but ^(AE)the rulers ^(AF)scoffed at him, saying, ^(AG)“He saved others; ^(AH)let him save himself, ^(AI)if he is ^(AJ)the Christ of God, ^(AK)his Chosen One!” ³⁶ The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and ^(AL)offering him sour wine ³⁷ and saying, ^(AM)“If you are ^(AN)the King of the Jews, save yourself!” ^38 (AO)There was also an inscription over him,^[c] “This is ^(AP)the King of the Jews.”

^39 (AQ)One of the criminals who were hanged ^(AR)railed at him,^[d] saying, “Are you not ^(AS)the Christ? Save yourself and us!” ⁴⁰ But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? ⁴¹ And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² And he said, “Jesus, remember me ^(AT)when you come into your kingdom.” ⁴³ And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in ^(AU)paradise.”

The Lord Reigns

Make a Joyful Noise to the Lord

A Psalm.