The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Tuesday April 27, 2021 (NIV)

Gideon Defeats the Midianites

7 One day Gideon and all his men got up early and camped beside Harod Spring. The Midianite camp was in the valley to the north of them by Moreh Hill.

² The Lord said to Gideon, “The men you have are too many for me to give them victory over the Midianites. They might think that they had won by themselves, and so give me no credit. ^3 (A)Announce to the people, ‘Anyone who is afraid should go back home, and we will stay here at Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand went back, but ten thousand stayed.

⁴ Then the Lord said to Gideon, “You still have too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will separate them for you there. If I tell you a man should go with you, he will go. If I tell you a man should not go with you, he will not go.” ⁵ Gideon took the men down to the water, and the Lord told him, “Separate everyone who laps up the water with his tongue like a dog, from everyone who gets down on his knees to drink.” ⁶ There were three hundred men who scooped up water in their hands and lapped it; all the others got down on their knees to drink. ⁷ The Lord said to Gideon, “I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites with the three hundred men who lapped the water. Tell everyone else to go home.” ⁸ So Gideon sent all the Israelites home, except the three hundred, who kept all the supplies and trumpets. The Midianite camp was below them in the valley.

⁹ That night the Lord commanded Gideon, “Get up and attack the camp; I am giving you victory over it. ¹⁰ But if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah. ¹¹ You will hear what they are saying, and then you will have the courage to attack.” So Gideon and his servant Purah went down to the edge of the enemy camp. ¹² The Midianites, the Amalekites, and the desert tribesmen were spread out in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and they had as many camels as there are grains of sand on the seashore.

¹³ When Gideon arrived, he heard a man telling a friend about a dream. He was saying, “I dreamed that a loaf of barley bread rolled into our camp and hit a tent. The tent collapsed and lay flat on the ground.”

¹⁴ His friend replied, “It's the sword of the Israelite, Gideon son of Joash! It can't mean anything else! God has given him victory over Midian and our whole army!”

¹⁵ When Gideon heard about the man's dream and what it meant, he fell to his knees and worshiped the Lord. Then he went back to the Israelite camp and said, “Get up! The Lord is giving you victory over the Midianite army!” ¹⁶ He divided his three hundred men into three groups and gave each man a trumpet and a jar with a torch inside it. ¹⁷ He told them, “When I get to the edge of the camp, watch me, and do what I do. ¹⁸ When my group and I blow our trumpets, then you blow yours all around the camp and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”

¹⁹ Gideon and his one hundred men came to the edge of the camp a while before midnight, just after the guard had been changed. Then they blew the trumpets and broke the jars they were holding, ²⁰ and the other two groups did the same. They all held the torches in their left hands, the trumpets in their right, and shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” ²¹ Every man stood in his place around the camp, and the whole enemy army ran away yelling. ²² While Gideon's men were blowing their trumpets, the Lord made the enemy troops attack each other with their swords. They ran toward Zarethan as far as Beth Shittah, as far as the town of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.

²³ Then men from the tribes of Naphtali, Asher, and both parts of Manasseh were called out, and they pursued the Midianites. ²⁴ Gideon sent messengers through all the hill country of Ephraim to say, “Come down and fight the Midianites. Hold the Jordan River and the streams as far as Bethbarah, to keep the Midianites from crossing them.” The men of Ephraim were called together, and they held the Jordan River and the streams as far as Bethbarah. ²⁵ They captured the two Midianite chiefs, Oreb and Zeeb; they killed Oreb at Oreb Rock, and Zeeb at the Winepress of Zeeb. They continued to pursue the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was now east of the Jordan.

The Final Defeat of the Midianites

8 Then the people of Ephraim said to Gideon, “Why didn't you call us when you went to fight the Midianites? Why did you treat us like this?” They complained bitterly about it.

² But he told them, “What I was able to do is nothing compared with what you have done. Even the little that you people of Ephraim did is worth more than what my whole clan has done. ^3 (B)After all, through the power of God you killed the two Midianite chiefs, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I done to compare with that?” When he said this, they were no longer so angry.

⁴ By this time Gideon and his three hundred men had come to the Jordan River and had crossed it. They were exhausted, but were still pursuing the enemy. ⁵ When they arrived at Sukkoth, he said to the men of the town, “Please give my men some loaves of bread. They are exhausted, and I am chasing Zebah and Zalmunna, the Midianite kings.”

⁶ But the leaders of Sukkoth said, “Why should we give your army any food? You haven't captured Zebah and Zalmunna yet.”

⁷ So Gideon said, “All right! When the Lord has handed Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I will beat you with thorns and briers from the desert!” ⁸ Gideon went on to Penuel and made the same request of the people there, but the men of Penuel gave the same answer as the men of Sukkoth. ⁹ So he said to them, “I am going to come back safe and sound, and when I do, I will tear this tower down!”

¹⁰ Zebah and Zalmunna were at Karkor with their army. Of the whole army of desert tribesmen, only about 15,000 were left; 120,000 soldiers had been killed. ¹¹ Gideon went on the road along the edge of the desert, east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and attacked the army by surprise. ¹² The two Midianite kings, Zebah and Zalmunna, ran away, but he pursued them and captured them, and caused their whole army to panic.

¹³ When Gideon was returning from the battle by way of Heres Pass, ¹⁴ he captured a young man from Sukkoth and questioned him. The young man wrote down for Gideon the names of the seventy-seven leading men of Sukkoth. ¹⁵ Then Gideon went to the men of Sukkoth and said, “Remember when you refused to help me? You said that you couldn't give any food to my exhausted army because I hadn't captured Zebah and Zalmunna yet. Well, here they are!” ¹⁶ He then took thorns and briers from the desert and used them to punish the leaders of Sukkoth. ¹⁷ He also tore down the tower at Penuel and killed the men of that city.

Jesus Is Sentenced to Death^(A)

¹³ Pilate called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people, ¹⁴ and said to them, “You brought this man to me and said that he was misleading the people. Now, I have examined him here in your presence, and I have not found him guilty of any of the crimes you accuse him of. ¹⁵ Nor did Herod find him guilty, for he sent him back to us. There is nothing this man has done to deserve death. ¹⁶ So I will have him whipped and let him go.” ^17 [a]

¹⁸ The whole crowd cried out, “Kill him! Set Barabbas free for us!” (¹⁹ Barabbas had been put in prison for a riot that had taken place in the city, and for murder.)

²⁰ Pilate wanted to set Jesus free, so he appealed to the crowd again. ²¹ But they shouted back, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

²² Pilate said to them the third time, “But what crime has he committed? I cannot find anything he has done to deserve death! I will have him whipped and set him free.”

²³ But they kept on shouting at the top of their voices that Jesus should be crucified, and finally their shouting succeeded. ²⁴ So Pilate passed the sentence on Jesus that they were asking for. ²⁵ He set free the man they wanted, the one who had been put in prison for riot and murder, and he handed Jesus over for them to do as they wished.

Jesus Is Crucified^(B)

²⁶ The soldiers led Jesus away, and as they were going, they met a man from Cyrene named Simon who was coming into the city from the country. They seized him, put the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus.

²⁷ A large crowd of people followed him; among them were some women who were weeping and wailing for him. ²⁸ Jesus turned to them and said, “Women of Jerusalem! Don't cry for me, but for yourselves and your children. ²⁹ For the days are coming when people will say, ‘How lucky are the women who never had children, who never bore babies, who never nursed them!’ ^30 (C)That will be the time when people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Hide us!’ ³¹ For if such things as these are done when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

³² Two other men, both of them criminals, were also led out to be put to death with Jesus. ³³ When they came to the place called “The Skull,” they crucified Jesus there, and the two criminals, one on his right and the other on his left. ^34 (D)Jesus said, “Forgive them, Father! They don't know what they are doing.”^[b]

They divided his clothes among themselves by throwing dice. ^35 (E)The people stood there watching while the Jewish leaders made fun of him: “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah whom God has chosen!”

^36 (F)The soldiers also made fun of him: they came up to him and offered him cheap wine, ³⁷ and said, “Save yourself if you are the king of the Jews!”

³⁸ Above him were written these words: “This is the King of the Jews.”

³⁹ One of the criminals hanging there hurled insults at him: “Aren't you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

⁴⁰ The other one, however, rebuked him, saying, “Don't you fear God? You received the same sentence he did. ⁴¹ Ours, however, is only right, because we are getting what we deserve for what we did; but he has done no wrong.” ⁴² And he said to Jesus, “Remember me, Jesus, when you come as King!”

⁴³ Jesus said to him, “I promise you that today you will be in Paradise with me.”

God the Supreme Ruler

God the Ruler of the World^[c]

⁷ Stay away from foolish people; they have nothing to teach you.

⁸ Why is a clever person wise? Because he knows what to do. Why is a stupid person foolish? Because he only thinks he knows.