The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Friday April 28, 2023 (NIV)

¹⁸ Then Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What about the men you killed at Tabor?”

They answered, “They looked like you—every one of them like the son of a king.”

¹⁹ Gideon said, “They were my brothers, my own mother's sons. I solemnly swear that if you had not killed them, I would not kill you.” ²⁰ Then he said to Jether, his oldest son, “Go ahead, kill them!” But the boy did not draw his sword. He hesitated, because he was still only a boy.

²¹ Then Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, “Come on, kill us yourself. It takes a man to do a man's job.” So Gideon killed them and took the ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.

²² After that, the Israelites said to Gideon, “Be our ruler—you and your descendants after you. You have saved us from the Midianites.”

²³ Gideon answered, “I will not be your ruler, nor will my son. The Lord will be your ruler.” ²⁴ But he went on to say, “Let me ask one thing of you. Every one of you give me the earrings you took.” (The Midianites, like other desert people, wore gold earrings.)

²⁵ The people answered, “We'll be glad to give them to you.” They spread out a cloth, and everyone put on it the earrings that he had taken. ²⁶ The gold earrings that Gideon got weighed over forty pounds, and this did not include the ornaments, necklaces, and purple clothes that the kings of Midian wore, nor the collars that were around the necks of their camels. ²⁷ Gideon made an idol from the gold and put it in his hometown, Ophrah. All the Israelites abandoned God and went there to worship the idol. It was a trap for Gideon and his family.

²⁸ So Midian was defeated by the Israelites and was no longer a threat. The land was at peace for forty years, until Gideon died.

The Death of Gideon

²⁹ Gideon went back to his own home and lived there. ³⁰ He had seventy sons, because he had many wives. ³¹ He also had a concubine in Shechem; she bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech. ³² Gideon son of Joash died at a ripe old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash, at Ophrah, the town of the clan of Abiezer.

³³ After Gideon's death the people of Israel were unfaithful to God again and worshiped the Baals. They made Baal-of-the-Covenant their god, ³⁴ and no longer served the Lord their God, who had saved them from all their enemies around them. ³⁵ They were not grateful to the family of Gideon for all the good that he had done for Israel.

Abimelech

9 Gideon's son Abimelech went to the town of Shechem, where all his mother's relatives lived, and told them ² to ask the men of Shechem, “Which would you prefer? To have all seventy of Gideon's sons govern you or to have just one man? Remember that Abimelech is your own flesh and blood.” ³ His mother's relatives talked to the men of Shechem about this for him, and the men of Shechem decided to follow Abimelech because he was their relative. ⁴ They gave him seventy pieces of silver from the temple of Baal-of-the-Covenant, and with this money he hired a bunch of worthless scoundrels to join him. ⁵ He went to his father's house at Ophrah, and there on top of a single stone he killed his seventy brothers, Gideon's sons. But Jotham, Gideon's youngest son, hid and was not killed. ⁶ Then all the men of Shechem and Bethmillo got together and went to the sacred oak tree at Shechem, where they made Abimelech king.

⁷ When Jotham heard about this, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim and shouted out to them, “Listen to me, you men of Shechem, and God may listen to you! ⁸ Once upon a time the trees went out to choose a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king.’ ⁹ The olive tree answered, ‘In order to govern you, I would have to stop producing my oil, which is used to honor gods and human beings.’ ¹⁰ Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and be our king.’ ¹¹ But the fig tree answered, ‘In order to govern you, I would have to stop producing my good sweet fruit.’ ¹² So the trees then said to the grapevine, ‘You come and be our king.’ ¹³ But the vine answered, ‘In order to govern you, I would have to stop producing my wine, that makes gods and human beings happy.’ ¹⁴ So then all the trees said to the thorn bush, ‘You come and be our king.’ ¹⁵ The thorn bush answered, ‘If you really want to make me your king, then come and take shelter in my shade. If you don't, fire will blaze out of my thorny branches and burn up the cedars of Lebanon.’

¹⁶ “Now then,” Jotham continued, “were you really honest and sincere when you made Abimelech king? Did you respect Gideon's memory and treat his family properly, as his actions deserved? ¹⁷ Remember that my father fought for you. He risked his life to save you from the Midianites. ¹⁸ But today you turned against my father's family. You killed his sons—seventy men on a single stone—and just because Abimelech, his son by his servant woman, is your relative, you have made him king of Shechem. ¹⁹ Now then, if what you did today to Gideon and his family was sincere and honest, then be happy with Abimelech and let him be happy with you. ²⁰ But if not, may fire blaze out from Abimelech and burn up the men of Shechem and Bethmillo. May fire blaze out from the men of Shechem and Bethmillo and burn Abimelech up.” ²¹ Then because he was afraid of his brother Abimelech, Jotham ran away and went to live at Beer.

The Death of Jesus^(A)

^44-45 (B)It was about twelve o'clock when the sun stopped shining and darkness covered the whole country until three o'clock; and the curtain hanging in the Temple was torn in two. ^46 (C)Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father! In your hands I place my spirit!” He said this and died.

⁴⁷ The army officer saw what had happened, and he praised God, saying, “Certainly he was a good man!”

⁴⁸ When the people who had gathered there to watch the spectacle saw what happened, they all went back home, beating their breasts in sorrow. ^49 (D)All those who knew Jesus personally, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance to watch.

The Burial of Jesus^(E)

^50-51 There was a man named Joseph from Arimathea, a town in Judea. He was a good and honorable man, who was waiting for the coming of the Kingdom of God. Although he was a member of the Council, he had not agreed with their decision and action. ⁵² He went into the presence of Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁵³ Then he took the body down, wrapped it in a linen sheet, and placed it in a tomb which had been dug out of solid rock and which had never been used. ⁵⁴ It was Friday, and the Sabbath was about to begin.

⁵⁵ The women who had followed Jesus from Galilee went with Joseph and saw the tomb and how Jesus' body was placed in it. ^56 (F)Then they went back home and prepared the spices and perfumes for the body.

On the Sabbath they rested, as the Law commanded.

The Resurrection^(G)

24 Very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, carrying the spices they had prepared. ² They found the stone rolled away from the entrance to the tomb, ³ so they went in; but they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ They stood there puzzled about this, when suddenly two men in bright shining clothes stood by them. ⁵ Full of fear, the women bowed down to the ground, as the men said to them, “Why are you looking among the dead for one who is alive? ^6 (H)He is not here; he has been raised. Remember what he said to you while he was in Galilee: ⁷ ‘The Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, be crucified, and three days later rise to life.’”

⁸ Then the women remembered his words, ⁹ returned from the tomb, and told all these things to the eleven disciples and all the rest. ¹⁰ The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; they and the other women with them told these things to the apostles. ¹¹ But the apostles thought that what the women said was nonsense, and they did not believe them. ¹² But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; he bent down and saw the grave cloths but nothing else. Then he went back home amazed at what had happened.^[a]

God the Supreme King

⁹ Foolish people don't care if they sin, but good people want to be forgiven.^[a]

¹⁰ Your joy is your own; your bitterness is your own. No one can share them with you.