Song of Songs was written by King Solomon. It is a series of love poems probably between him and one of his many wives. We really have no way of knowing what woman is in question, or if this corresponds with a real person. It is included in the scriptures for its mystical truths. I cannot pretend to be an expert in the text. It has always made me a bit uncomfortable. But just because something causes discomfort does not mean it is wrong. Rather, there is a good deal in the scriptures that is specifically designed to make us uncomfortable. Song of Songs does that ins a particular way.

Enjoy!

Song of Songs 1

This is Solomon’s Song of Songs. 

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! 

For your love is more delightful than wine. 

The fragrance of your perfume is pleasing; 

your name is like perfume poured out. 

No wonder the maidens adore you. 

Take me away with you—let us hurry! 

May the king bring me to his chambers. 

We will rejoice and delight in you; 

we will praise your love more than wine. 

It is only right that they adore you. 

I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, 

like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon. 

Do not stare because I am dark, 

for the sun has gazed upon me. 

My mother’s sons were angry with me; 

they made me a keeper of the vineyards, 

but my own vineyard I have neglected. 

Tell me, O one I love, 

where do you pasture your sheep? 

Where do you rest them at midday? 

Why should I be like a veiled woman 

beside the flocks of your companions? 

If you do not know, O fairest of women, 

follow the tracks of the flock, 

and graze your young goats 

near the tents of the shepherds. 

I compare you, my darling, 

to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots. 

Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments, 

your neck with strings of jewels. 

We will make you ornaments of gold, 

studded with beads of silver. 

While the king was at his table, 

my perfume spread its fragrance. 

My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh 

resting between my breasts. 

My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms 

in the vineyards of En-gedi. 

How beautiful you are, my darling! 

Oh, how very beautiful! 

Your eyes are like doves. 

How handsome you are, my beloved! 

Oh, how delightful! 

The soft grass is our bed. 

The beams of our house are cedars; 

our rafters are fragrant firs.

Song of Songs 2

I am a rose of Sharon, 

a lily of the valley. 

Like a lily among the thorns 

is my darling among the maidens. 

Like an apricot tree among the trees of the forest 

is my beloved among the young men. 

I delight to sit in his shade, 

and his fruit is sweet to my taste. 

He has brought me to the house of wine, 

and his banner over me is love. 

Sustain me with raisins; 

refresh me with apples, 

for I am faint with love. 

His left hand is under my head, 

and his right arm embraces me. 

O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you 

by the gazelles and does of the field: 

Do not arouse or awaken love 

until the time is right. 

Listen! My beloved approaches. 

Look! Here he comes, 

leaping across the mountains, 

bounding over the hills. 

My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. 

Look, he stands behind our wall, 

gazing through the windows, 

peering through the lattice. 

My beloved calls to me, 

“Arise, my darling. 

Come away with me, my beautiful one. 

For now the winter is past; 

the rain is over and gone. 

The flowers have appeared in the countryside; 

the season of singing  has come, 

and the cooing of turtledoves 

is heard in our land. 

The fig tree ripens its figs; 

the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. 

Arise, come away, my darling; 

come away with me, my beautiful one.” 

O my dove in the clefts of the rock, 

in the crevices of the cliff, 

let me see your face, 

let me hear your voice; 

for your voice is sweet, 

and your countenance is lovely. 

Catch for us the foxes— 

the little foxes that ruin the vineyards— 

for our vineyards are in bloom. 

My beloved is mine and I am his; 

he pastures his flock among the lilies. 

Before the day breaks and shadows flee, 

turn, my beloved, 

and be like a gazelle 

or a young stag on the mountains of Bether.

Song of Songs 3

On my bed at night 

I sought the one I love; 

I sought him, 

but did not find him. 

I will arise now and go about the city, 

through the streets and squares. 

I will seek the one I love. 

So I sought him but did not find him. 

I encountered the watchmen on their rounds of the city: 

“Have you seen the one I love?” 

I had just passed them when I found the one I love. 

I held him and would not let go 

until I had brought him to my mother’s house, 

to the chamber of the one who conceived me. 

O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you 

by the gazelles and does of the field: 

Do not arouse or awaken love 

until the time is right. 

Who is this coming up from the wilderness 

like a column of smoke, 

scented with myrrh and frankincense 

from all the spices of the merchant? 

Behold, it is Solomon’s carriage, 

escorted by sixty of the mightiest men of Israel. 

All are skilled with the sword, 

experienced in warfare. 

Each has his sword at his side 

prepared for the terror of the night. 

King Solomon has made his carriage 

out of the timber of Lebanon. 

He has made its posts of silver, 

its base of gold, its seat of purple fabric. 

Its interior is inlaid with love 

by the daughters of Jerusalem. 

Come out, O daughters of Zion, 

and gaze at King Solomon, 

wearing the crown his mother bestowed 

on the day of his wedding— 

the day of his heart’s rejoicing.

Song of Songs 4

How beautiful you are, my darling— 

how very beautiful! 

Your eyes are like doves 

behind your veil. 

Your hair is like a flock of goats 

streaming down Mount Gilead. 

Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep 

coming up from the washing; 

each has its twin, 

and not one of them is lost. 

Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon, 

and your mouth is lovely. 

Your brow behind your veil 

is like a slice of pomegranate. 

Your neck is like the tower of David, 

built with rows of stones; 

on it hang a thousand shields, 

all of them shields of warriors. 

Your breasts are like two fawns, 

twins of a gazelle grazing among the lilies. 

Before the day breaks and the shadows flee, 

I will make my way 

to the mountain of myrrh 

and to the hill of frankincense. 

You are altogether beautiful, my darling; 

in you there is no flaw. 

Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, 

come with me from Lebanon! 

Descend  from the peak of Amana, 

from the summits of Senir and Hermon, 

from the dens of the lions, 

from the mountains of the leopards. 

You have captured my heart, 

my sister, my bride; 

you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, 

with one jewel of your neck. 

How delightful is your love, 

my sister, my bride! 

Your love is much better than wine, 

and the fragrance of your perfume than all spices. 

Your lips, my bride, 

drip sweetness like the honeycomb; 

honey and milk are under your tongue, 

and the fragrance of your garments 

is like the aroma of Lebanon. 

My sister, my bride, you are a garden locked up, 

a spring enclosed, a fountain sealed. 

Your branches are an orchard of pomegranates 

with the choicest of fruits, with henna and nard, 

with nard and saffron, with calamus and cinnamon, 

with every kind of frankincense tree, 

with myrrh and aloes, 

with all the finest spices. 

You are a garden spring, 

a well of fresh water  

flowing down from Lebanon. 

Awake, O north wind, 

and come, O south wind. 

Breathe on my garden 

and spread the fragrance of its spices. 

Let my beloved come into his garden 

and taste its choicest fruits.

Song of Songs 5

I have come to my garden, my sister, my bride; 

I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. 

I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; 

I have drunk my wine with my milk. 

Eat, O friends, and drink; 

drink freely, O beloved. 

I sleep, but my heart is awake. 

A sound! My beloved is knocking: 

“Open to me, my sister, my darling, 

my dove, my flawless one. 

My head is drenched with dew, 

my hair with the dampness of the night.” 

I have taken off my robe— 

must I put it back on? 

I have washed my feet— 

must I soil them again? 

My beloved put his hand to the latch; 

my heart pounded for him. 

I rose up to open for my beloved. 

My hands dripped with myrrh, 

my fingers with flowing myrrh 

on the handles of the bolt. 

I opened for my beloved, 

but he had turned and gone. 

My heart sank at his departure. 

I sought him, but did not find him. 

I called, but he did not answer. 

I encountered the watchmen on their rounds of the city. 

They beat me and bruised me; 

they took away my cloak, 

those guardians of the walls. 

O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you, 

if you find my beloved, 

tell him I am sick with love. 

How is your beloved better than others, 

O most beautiful among women? 

How is your beloved better than another, 

that you charge us so? 

My beloved is dazzling and ruddy, 

outstanding among ten thousand. 

His head is purest gold; 

his hair is wavy and black as a raven. 

His eyes are like doves 

beside the streams of water, 

bathed in milk 

and mounted like jewels. 

His cheeks are like beds of spice, 

towers of perfume. 

His lips are like lilies, 

dripping with flowing myrrh. 

His arms are rods of gold 

set with beryl. 

His body is an ivory panel 

bedecked with sapphires. 

His legs are pillars of marble 

set on bases of pure gold. 

His appearance is like Lebanon, 

as majestic as the cedars. 

His mouth  is most sweet; 

he is altogether lovely. 

This is my beloved, and this is my friend, 

O daughters of Jerusalem.

Song of Songs 6

Where has your beloved gone, 

O most beautiful among women? 

Which way has he turned? 

We will seek him with you. 

My beloved has gone down to his garden, 

to the beds of spices, 

to pasture his flock in the gardens 

and to gather lilies. 

I belong to my beloved and he belongs to me; 

he pastures his flock among the lilies. 

You are as beautiful, my darling, as Tirzah, 

as lovely as Jerusalem, 

as majestic as troops with banners. 

Turn your eyes away from me, 

for they have overcome me. 

Your hair is like a flock of goats 

streaming down from Gilead. 

Your teeth are like a flock of sheep 

coming up from the washing; 

each has its twin, 

and not one of them is lost. 

Your brow behind your veil 

is like a slice of pomegranate. 

There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, 

and maidens without number, 

but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, 

the favorite of the mother who bore her. 

The maidens see her and call her blessed; 

the queens and concubines sing her praises. 

Who is this who shines like the dawn, 

as fair as the moon, 

as bright as the sun, 

as majestic as the stars in procession? 

I went down to the walnut grove 

to see the blossoms of the valley, 

to see if the vines were budding 

or the pomegranates were in bloom. 

Before I realized it, my desire had set me 

among the royal chariots of my people. 

Come back, come back, O Shulammite! 

Come back, come back, that we may gaze upon you. 

Why do you look at the Shulammite, 

as on the dance of Mahanaim ?

Song of Songs 7

How beautiful are your sandaled feet, 

O daughter of the prince! 

The curves of your thighs are like jewels, 

the handiwork of a master. 

Your navel is a rounded goblet; 

it never lacks blended wine. 

Your waist is a mound of wheat 

encircled by the lilies. 

Your breasts are like two fawns, 

twins of a gazelle. 

Your neck is like a tower 

made of ivory; 

your eyes are like the pools of Heshbon 

by the gate of Bath-rabbim; 

your nose is like the tower of Lebanon, 

facing toward Damascus. 

Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel, 

the hair of your head like purple threads; 

the king is captured in your tresses. 

How fair and pleasant you are, 

O love, with your delights! 

Your stature is like a palm tree; 

your breasts are clusters of fruit. 

I said, “I will climb the palm tree; 

I will take hold of its fruit.” 

May your breasts be like clusters of the vine, 

the fragrance of your breath like apples, 

and your mouth  like the finest wine. 

May it flow smoothly to my beloved, 

gliding gently over lips and teeth. 

I belong to my beloved, 

and his desire is for me. 

Come, my beloved, 

let us go to the countryside; 

let us spend the night among the wildflowers. 

Let us go early to the vineyards 

to see if the vine has budded, 

if the blossom has opened, 

if the pomegranates are in bloom— 

there I will give you my love. 

The mandrakes send forth a fragrance, 

and at our door is every delicacy, 

new as well as old, 

that I have treasured up for you, my beloved.

Song of Songs 8

O that you were to me like a brother 

who nursed at my mother’s breasts! 

If I found you outdoors, I would kiss you, 

and no one would despise me. 

I would lead you and bring you 

to the house of my mother who taught me. 

I would give you spiced wine to drink, 

the nectar of my pomegranates. 

His left hand is under my head, 

and his right arm embraces me. 

O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you: 

Do not arouse or awaken love 

until the time is right. 

Who is this coming up from the wilderness, 

leaning on her beloved? 

I roused you under the apple tree; 

there your mother conceived you; 

there she travailed and brought you forth. 

Set me as a seal over your heart, 

as a seal upon your arm. 

For love is as strong as death, 

its jealousy  as unrelenting as Sheol. 

Its sparks are fiery flames, 

the fiercest blaze of all. 

Mighty waters cannot quench love; 

rivers cannot sweep it away. 

If a man were to give all the wealth of his house for love, 

his offer would be utterly scorned. 

We have a little sister, 

and her breasts are not yet grown. 

What shall we do for our sister 

on the day she is spoken for? 

If she is a wall, 

we will build a tower of silver to protect her. 

If she is a door, 

we will enclose her with panels of cedar. 

I am a wall, 

and my breasts are like towers. 

So I have become in his eyes 

like one who brings peace. 

Solomon had a vineyard in Baal-hamon. 

He leased it to the tenants. 

For its fruit, each was to bring 

a thousand shekels of silver. 

But my own vineyard is mine to give; 

the thousand shekels are for you, O Solomon, 

and two hundred are for those who tend its fruit. 

You who dwell in the gardens, 

my companions are listening for your voice. 

Let me hear it! 

Come away, my beloved, 

and be like a gazelle 

or a young stag 

on the mountains of spices.

Last week many Nowata residents recieved letters from the city adressing the material of the water supply lines coming into their homes. These letters caused quite a bit of confusion and concern not only about the water supply lines but also other water related issues our community has. We sat down with the mayor of Nowata, Garry Gibson, to discuss these concerns and bring some clarity to what is going on with the water supply for the city of Nowata and the surrounding community.

Links to Sources & Other Resources:

News on 6 Report:

https://www.newson6.com/story/673eb7be0dab6679591a7168/oklahomas-own-in-focus:-explaining-the-letters-about-lead-pipes-and-how-to-check-if-your-home-is-safe

DEQ 2024 Consumer Confidence Report for Nowata:

https://nowataok.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/OK1021503.pdf

DEQ Website:

https://www.deq.ok.gov

Cherokee Nation Donates 1 Million Dollars to Nowata:

https://www.cherokeephoenix.org/services/cherokee-nation-contributes-1m-to-nowata-project-providing-safer-cleaner-drinking-water-to-community/article_df1b85d2-f186-11ec-978c-fbd40550c469.html

Checking for Lead in Drinking Water:

https://www.newson6.com/story/673e995f27a5b1305ad94028/protect-your-tap:-a-guide-to-checking-for-lead-in-your-drinking-water-

I preached through Colossians a year ago. It was a rewarding experience. There is a lot of good history that can be reconstructed through modern archaeological finds. There is also a little that can be somewhat safely inferred about angel worship in this community. I have always wondered at the story of Epaphras and how he came to plant these churches in Colossae, Hierapolis, and Laodicea. What a guy. And for Paul to pour himself into this community from jail, bringing the runaway slave Onesimus to repentance…these were very powerful days.

The Lord is continuing to bring men and women to repentance, showing them what abundant life looks like. The Holy Spirit continues to turn the world upside down. In the meantime, how ought we to live? Today’s reading helps make the answer to that question rather clear. I pray God gives you an obedient heart to heed these words today.

Colossians 1

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 

To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: 

Grace and peace to you from God our Father. 

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints— the faith and love proceeding from the hope stored up for you in heaven, of which you have already heard in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. 

All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood the grace of God. 

You learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our  behalf, and who also informed us of your love in the Spirit. 

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have full endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you  to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 

He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 

For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him. 

He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 

And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence. 

For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross. 

Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil deeds. 

But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy, unblemished, and blameless in His presence— if indeed you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope of the gospel you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature  under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. 

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, which is the church. 

I became its servant by the commission God gave me to fully proclaim to you the word of God, the mystery that was hidden for ages and generations but is now revealed to His saints. 

To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 

We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect  in Christ. 

To this end I also labor, striving with all His energy working powerfully within me.

Colossians 2

For I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me face to face, that they may be encouraged in heart, knit together in love, and filled with the full riches of complete understanding, so that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 

I say this so that no one will deceive you by smooth rhetoric. 

For although I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, and I delight to see your orderly condition and firm faith in Christ. 

Therefore, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. 

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ. 

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form. And you have been made complete in Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority. 

In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of your sinful nature, with the circumcision performed by Christ  and not by human hands. 

And having been buried with Him in baptism, you were raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead. 

When you were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our trespasses, having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross! 

And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. 

Therefore let no one judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a feast, a New Moon, or a Sabbath. 

These are a shadow of the things to come, but the body that casts it belongs to Christ. 

Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you with speculation about what he has seen. Such a person is puffed up without basis by his unspiritual mind. 

He has lost connection to the head, from whom the whole body, supported and knit together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God causes it to grow. 

If you have died with Christ to the spiritual forces of the world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its regulations: 

“Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!”? These will all perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. 

Such restrictions indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-prescribed worship, their false humility, and their harsh treatment of the body; but they are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

Colossians 3

Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 

For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your  life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. 

Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry. 

Because of these, the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience. When you lived among them, you also used to walk in these ways. 

But now you must put aside all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 

Do not lie to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 

Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all. 

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 

Bear with one another and forgive any complaint you may have against someone else. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 

And over all these virtues put on love, which is the bond of perfect unity. 

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, for to this you were called as members of one body. And be thankful. 

Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. 

Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 

Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. 

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord. 

Fathers, do not provoke your children, so they will not become discouraged. 

Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only to please them while they are watching, but with sincerity of heart and fear of the Lord. 

Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being, for the Lord and not for men, because you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as your reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 

Whoever does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.

Colossians 4

Masters, supply your slaves with what is right and fair, since you know that you also have a Master in heaven. 

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful, as you pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 

Pray that I may declare it clearly, as I should. 

Act wisely toward outsiders, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. 

Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a beloved brother, a faithful minister, and a fellow servant in the Lord. 

I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know about us, and that he may encourage your hearts. 

With him I am sending Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you about everything here. 

My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you greetings, as does Mark the cousin of Barnabas. You have already received instructions about him: If he comes to you, welcome him. 

Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me. 

Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, so that you may stand mature and fully assured in the full will of God. 

For I testify about him that he goes to great pains for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis. 

Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas send you greetings. 

Greet the brothers in Laodicea, as well as Nympha and the church that meets at her house. 

After this letter has been read among you, make sure that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans, and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea. 

Tell Archippus: “See to it that you complete the ministry you have received in the Lord.” 

This greeting is in my own hand—Paul. 

Remember my chains. 

Grace be with you.

It is somewhat of an offensive thing in today’s culture to speak about men and women as though they are different, or, rather, to acknowledge that men and women are different. One of the liberating things about reading the bible is that our scriptures do not care to toe the line of whatever civic orthodoxy any culture might have. Rather, God speaks through historic cultures, namely those of the Ancient Near East, to tell us the truth about ourselves.

Today’s passages deal with righteous living in the midst of a cruel and harsh world, particularly for what used to be called the “fairer sex” in our culture: women. God does show a unique care and concern for women. It would be a mistake to think that God’s concern has at all diminished alongside our society’s concern, which has effectively turned women into deficient men. There is unique virtue in being a godly women, as exemplified by Ruth, as depicted in the Psalter, as portrayed in Proverbs. As men are expected to grow in masculine virtue throughout our scriptures, women are similarly expected to find a right identity for themselves with God as a primary reference point. While our society might portray that as a sort of demeaning thing, it is actually quite ennobling.

The Christian faith has been the single largest blessing for the women of the world throughout history. Our roots are in these Jewish scriptures that speak of the difference between the sexes, alongside the unique and powerful ways that women can be exemplars of righteousness. One more reason to give God glory for these treasures we find in the scriptures:

Ruth 1

In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. And a certain man from Bethlehem in Judah, with his wife and two sons, went to reside in the land of Moab. 

The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah, and they entered the land of Moab and settled there. 

Then Naomi’s husband Elimelech died, and she was left with her two sons, who took Moabite women as their wives, one named Orpah and the other named Ruth. 

And after they had lived in Moab about ten years, both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and without her husband. 

When Naomi heard in Moab that the LORD had attended to His people by providing them with food, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to leave the land of Moab. 

Accompanied by her two daughters-in-law, she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road leading back to the land of Judah. 

Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you to your mother’s home. May the LORD show you loving devotion, as you have shown to your dead and to me. 

May the LORD enable each of you to find rest in the home of your new husband.” 

And she kissed them as they wept aloud and said, “Surely we will return with you to your people.” 

But Naomi replied, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb to become your husbands? 

Return home, my daughters. Go on, for I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me to have a husband tonight and to bear sons, would you wait for them to grow up? Would you refrain from having husbands? No, my daughters, it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.” 

Again they wept aloud, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her. 

“Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; follow her back home.” 

But Ruth replied: 

“Do not urge me to leave you or to turn from following you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live; your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD punish me, and ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.” 

When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped trying to persuade her. 

So Naomi and Ruth traveled until they came to Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole city was stirred because of them, and the women of the city exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?” 

“Do not call me Naomi,” she replied. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty  has dealt quite bitterly with me. 

I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? After all, the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me.” 

So Naomi returned from the land of Moab with her daughter-in-law Ruth the Moabitess. And they arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

Ruth 2

Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a prominent man of noble character from the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. 

And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go into the fields and glean heads of grain after someone in whose sight I may find favor.” 

“Go ahead, my daughter,” Naomi replied. 

So Ruth departed and went out into the field and gleaned after the harvesters. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech. 

Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and said to the harvesters, “The LORD be with you.” 

“The LORD bless you,” they replied. 

And Boaz asked the foreman of his harvesters, “Whose young woman is this?” 

The foreman answered, “She is the Moabitess who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab. 

She has said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the harvesters.’ So she came out and has continued from morning until now, except that she rested a short time in the shelter.” 

Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Do not go and glean in another field, and do not go away from this place, but stay here close to my servant girls. 

Let your eyes be on the field they are harvesting, and follow along after these girls. Indeed, I have ordered the young men not to touch you. And when you are thirsty, go and drink from the jars the young men have filled.” 

At this, she fell on her face, bowing low to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you should take notice of me, even though I am a foreigner?” 

Boaz replied, “I have been made fully aware of all you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth, and how you came to a people you did not know before. 

May the LORD repay your work, and may you receive a rich reward from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have taken refuge.” 

“My lord,” she said, “may I continue to find favor in your eyes, for you have comforted and spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your servant girls.” 

At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here; have some bread and dip it into the vinegar sauce.” So she sat down beside the harvesters, and he offered her roasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied and had some left over. 

When Ruth got up to glean, Boaz ordered his young men, “Even if she gathers among the sheaves, do not insult her. 

Rather, pull out for her some stalks from the bundles and leave them for her to gather. Do not rebuke her.” 

So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening. And when she beat out what she had gleaned, it was about an ephah of barley. 

She picked up the grain and went into the town, where her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. And she brought out what she had saved from her meal and gave it to Naomi. 

Then her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today, and where did you work? Blessed be the man who noticed you.” 

So she told her mother-in-law where she had worked. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said. 

Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the LORD, who has not withdrawn His kindness from the living or the dead.” Naomi continued, “The man is a close relative. He is one of our kinsman-redeemers.” 

Then Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also told me, ‘Stay with my young men until they have finished gathering all my harvest.’ ” 

And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “My daughter, it is good for you to work with his young women, so that nothing will happen to you in another field.” 

So Ruth stayed close to the servant girls of Boaz to glean grain until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

Ruth 3

One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek a resting place for you, that it may be well with you? 

Now is not Boaz, with whose servant girls you have been working, a relative of ours? In fact, tonight he is winnowing barley on the threshing floor. 

Therefore wash yourself, put on perfume, and wear your best clothes. Go down to the threshing floor, but do not let the man know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. 

When he lies down, note the place where he lies. Then go in and uncover his feet, and lie down, and he will explain to you what you should do.” 

“I will do everything you say,” Ruth answered. So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law had instructed her to do. 

After Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then Ruth went in secretly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. 

At midnight, Boaz was startled, turned over, and there lying at his feet was a woman! 

“Who are you?” he asked. 

“I am your servant Ruth,” she replied. “Spread the corner of your garment  over me, for you are a kinsman-redeemer.” 

Then Boaz said, “May the LORD bless you, my daughter. You have shown more kindness now than before, because you have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. 

And now do not be afraid, my daughter. I will do for you whatever you request, since all my fellow townspeople know that you are a woman of noble character. 

Yes, it is true that I am a kinsman-redeemer, but there is a redeemer nearer than I. 

Stay here tonight, and in the morning, if he wants to redeem you, good. Let him redeem you. But if he does not want to redeem you, as surely as the LORD lives, I will. Now lie here until morning.” 

So she lay down at his feet until morning, but she got up before anyone else could recognize her. 

Then Boaz said, “Do not let it be known that a woman came to the threshing floor.” 

And he told her, “Bring the shawl you are wearing and hold it out.” When she did so, he shoveled six measures of barley  into her shawl. Then he went  into the city. 

When Ruth returned to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked her, “How did it go, my daughter?” 

Then Ruth told her all that Boaz had done for her. 

And she said, “He gave me these six measures of barley, for he said, ‘Do not go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’ ” 

“Wait, my daughter,” said Naomi, “until you find out how things go, for he will not rest unless he has resolved the matter today.”

Ruth 4

Meanwhile, Boaz went to the gate and sat down there. Soon the kinsman-redeemer  of whom he had spoken came along, and Boaz said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he went over and sat down. 

Then Boaz took ten of the elders of the city and said, “Sit here,” and they did so. 

And he said to the kinsman-redeemer, “Naomi, who has returned from the land of Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech. 

I thought I should inform you that you may buy it back in the presence of those seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you want to redeem it, do so. But if you  will not redeem it, tell me so I may know, because there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next after you.” 

“I will redeem it,” he replied. 

Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the land from Naomi and also from Ruth the Moabitess, you must also acquire the widow of the deceased in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance.” 

The kinsman-redeemer replied, “I cannot redeem it myself, or I would jeopardize my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption, because I cannot redeem it.” 

Now in former times in Israel, concerning the redemption or exchange of property, to make any matter legally binding a man would remove his sandal and give it to the other party, and this was a confirmation in Israel. 

So the kinsman-redeemer removed his sandal and said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.” 

At this, Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I am buying from Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech, Chilion, and Mahlon. 

Moreover, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, to raise up the name of the deceased through his inheritance, so that his name will not disappear from among his brothers or from the gate of his home. You are witnesses today.” 

“We are witnesses,” said the elders and all the people at the gate. “May the LORD make the woman entering your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you be prosperous in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem. 

And may your house become like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring the LORD will give you by this young woman.” 

So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And when he had relations with her, the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 

Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a kinsman-redeemer. May his name become famous in Israel. 

He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.” 

And Naomi took the child, placed him on her lap, and became a nurse to him. 

The neighbor women said, “A son has been born to Naomi,” and they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse, the father of David. 

Now these are the generations of Perez: 

Perez was the father of Hezron, 

Hezron was the father of Ram, 

Ram was the father of Amminadab, 

Amminadab was the father of Nahshon, 

Nahshon was the father of Salmon, 

Salmon was the father of Boaz, 

Boaz was the father of Obed, 

Obed was the father of Jesse, 

and Jesse was the father of David.

Psalm 58

My heart is stirred by a noble theme 

as I recite my verses to the king; 

my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer. 

You are the most handsome of men; 

grace has anointed your lips, 

since God has blessed you forever. 

Strap your sword at your side, O mighty warrior; 

appear in your majesty and splendor. 

In your splendor ride forth in victory 

on behalf of truth and humility and justice; 

may your right hand show your awesome deeds. 

Your arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s foes; 

the nations fall beneath your feet. 

Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever, 

and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom. 

You have loved righteousness 

and hated wickedness; 

therefore God, your God, has anointed you 

above your companions with the oil of joy. 

All your garments are fragrant 

with myrrh and aloes and cassia; 

from palaces of ivory the harps make you glad. 

The daughters of kings are among your honored women; 

the queen stands at your right hand, 

adorned with the gold of Ophir. 

Listen, O daughter! Consider and incline your ear: 

Forget your people and your father’s house, 

and the king will desire your beauty; 

bow to him, for he is your lord. 

The Daughter of Tyre will come with a gift; 

men of wealth will seek your favor. 

All glorious is the princess in her chamber; 

her gown is embroidered with gold. 

In colorful garments she is led to the king; 

her virgin companions are brought before you. 

They are led in with joy and gladness; 

they enter the palace of the king. 

Your sons will succeed your fathers; 

you will make them princes throughout the land. 

I will commemorate your name through all generations; 

therefore the nations will praise you forever and ever.

Psalm 58

Do you indeed speak justly, O rulers? 

Do you judge uprightly, O sons of men? 

No, in your hearts you devise injustice; 

with your hands you mete out violence on the earth. 

The wicked are estranged from the womb; 

the liars go astray from birth. 

Their venom is like the venom of a snake, 

like a cobra that shuts its ears, 

refusing to hear the tune of the charmer 

who skillfully weaves his spell. 

O God, shatter their teeth in their mouths; 

O LORD, tear out the fangs of the lions. 

May they vanish 

like water that runs off; 

when they draw the bow, 

may their arrows be blunted. 

Like a slug that dissolves in its slime, 

like a woman’s stillborn child, 

may they never see the sun. 

Before your pots can feel the burning thorns— 

whether green or dry— 

He will sweep them away. 

The righteous will rejoice 

when they see they are avenged; 

they will wash their feet 

in the blood of the wicked. 

Then men will say, 

“There is surely a reward for the righteous! 

There is surely a God who judges the earth!”

Proverbs 31

These are the words of King Lemuel—the burden that his mother taught him: 

What shall I say, O my son? 

What, O son of my womb? 

What, O son of my vows? 

Do not spend your strength on women 

or your vigor on those who ruin kings. 

It is not for kings, O Lemuel, 

it is not for kings to drink wine, 

or for rulers to crave strong drink, 

lest they drink and forget what is decreed, 

depriving all the oppressed of justice. 

Give strong drink to one who is perishing, 

and wine to the bitter in soul. 

Let him drink and forget his poverty, 

and remember his misery no more. 

Open your mouth for those with no voice, 

for the cause of all the dispossessed. 

Open your mouth, judge righteously, 

and defend the cause of the poor and needy. 

A wife  of noble character, who can find? 

She is far more precious than rubies. 

The heart of her husband trusts in her, 

and he lacks nothing of value. 

She brings him good and not harm 

all the days of her life. 

She selects wool and flax 

and works with eager hands. 

She is like the merchant ships, 

bringing her food from afar. 

She rises while it is still night 

to provide food for her household 

and portions for her maidservants. 

She appraises a field and buys it; 

from her earnings she plants a vineyard. 

She girds herself  with strength 

and shows that her arms are strong. 

She sees that her gain is good, 

and her lamp is not extinguished at night. 

She stretches out her hands to the distaff 

and grasps the spindle with her fingers. 

She opens her arms to the poor 

and reaches out her hands to the needy. 

When it snows, she has no fear for her household, 

for they are all clothed in scarlet. 

She makes coverings for her bed; 

her clothing is fine linen and purple. 

Her husband is known at the city gate, 

where he sits among the elders of the land. 

She makes linen garments and sells them; 

she delivers sashes to the merchants. 

Strength and honor are her clothing, 

and she can laugh at the days to come. 

She opens her mouth with wisdom, 

and faithful instruction is on her tongue. 

She watches over the affairs of her household 

and does not eat the bread of idleness. 

Her children rise up and call her blessed; 

her husband praises her as well: 

“Many daughters have done noble things, 

but you surpass them all!” 

Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, 

but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. 

Give her the fruit of her hands, 

and let her works praise her at the gates.

"And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Matthew 14:28-31

This week we make it though chapter 14 of the Gospel of Matthew. In this chapter we are told about the death of John the Baptist, Jesus feeding the five thousand, Jesus walking on water, & Jesus healing the sick in Gennesaret.

Today we finish Judges. It is a rough book. The last few stories get increasingly messed up. It is always important to remember that, while the cultures were indeed quite different from us today, we are no better than they were. Human nature is the same across time and space. We are born in sin and inclined towards evil. The bible is clear about these things. Were it not for the supernatural interference of Jesus, we would be lost.

Humans are not naturally noble creatures. While we have remnants of God’s goodness in us, we are wrong to think that those parts dominate, or that they can win out against our worst selves. Rather, supernatural interference is required if we are to know any measure of holiness in this life, much less the next life.

Read these stories and be warned: This is what awaits any society that insists on doing things their own way. “In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.” This is a portrait of hell on earth. Any man or woman with a shred of wisdom flees from a society ungoverned by the King of Heaven.

Judges 16

One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute and went in to spend the night with her. 

When the Gazites heard that Samson was there, they surrounded that place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They were quiet throughout the night, saying, “Let us wait until dawn; then we will kill him.” 

But Samson lay there only until midnight, when he got up, took hold of the doors of the city gate and both gateposts, and pulled them out, bar and all. Then he put them on his shoulders and took them to the top of the mountain overlooking Hebron. 

Some time later, Samson fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 

The lords of the Philistines went to her and said, “Entice him and find out the source of his great strength and how we can overpower him to tie him up and subdue him. Then each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.” 

So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me the source of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.” 

Samson told her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I will become as weak as any other man.” 

So the lords of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him up with them. 

While the men were hidden in her room, she called out, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” 

But he snapped the bowstrings like a strand of yarn seared by a flame. So the source of his strength remained unknown. 

Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me and lied to me! Now please tell me how you can be tied up.” 

He replied, “If they tie me up with new ropes that have never been used, I will become as weak as any other man.” 

So Delilah took new ropes, tied him up with them, and called out, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” 

But while the men were hidden in her room, he snapped the ropes off his arms like they were threads. 

Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me and lied to me all along! Tell me how you can be tied up.” 

He told her, “If you weave the seven braids of my head into the web of a loom and tighten it with a pin, I will become as weak as any other man. ” 

So while he slept, Delilah took the seven braids of his hair and wove them into the web. Then she tightened it with a pin and called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” 

But he awoke from his sleep and pulled out the pin with the loom and the web. 

“How can you say, ‘I love you,’ ” she asked, “when your heart is not with me? This is the third time you have mocked me and failed to reveal to me the source of your great strength!” 

Finally, after she had pressed him daily with her words and pleaded until he was sick to death, 

Samson told her all that was in his heart: “My hair has never been cut, because I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, my strength will leave me, and I will become as weak as any other man.” 

When Delilah realized that he had revealed to her all that was in his heart, she sent this message to the lords of the Philistines: “Come up once more, for he has revealed to me all that is in his heart.” 

Then the lords of the Philistines came to her, bringing the money in their hands. 

And having lulled him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his head. In this way she began to subdue him, and his strength left him. 

Then she called out, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” 

When Samson awoke from his sleep, he thought, “I will escape as I did before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him. 

Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze shackles and forced to grind grain in the prison. 

However, the hair of his head began to grow back after it had been shaved. 

Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They rejoiced and said, “Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hands.” 

And when the people saw him, they praised their god, saying: 

“Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy who destroyed our land and multiplied our dead.” 

And while their hearts were merry, they said, “Call for Samson to entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison to entertain them. And they stationed him between the pillars. 

Samson said to the servant who held his hand, “Lead me where I can feel the pillars supporting the temple, so I can lean against them.” 

Now the temple was full of men and women; all the lords of the Philistines were there, and about three thousand men and women were on the roof watching Samson entertain them. 

Then Samson called out to the LORD: “O Lord GOD, please remember me. Strengthen me, O God, just once more, so that with one vengeful blow I may pay back the Philistines for my two eyes.” 

And Samson reached out for the two central pillars supporting the temple. Bracing himself against them with his right hand on one pillar and his left hand on the other, 

Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” 

Then he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people in it. So in his death he killed more than he had killed in his life. 

Then Samson’s brothers and his father’s family came down, carried him back, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. And he had judged Israel twenty years.

Judges 17

Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver  that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse—I have the silver here with me; I took it.” 

Then his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the LORD!” 

And when he had returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I wholly dedicate the silver to the LORD for my son’s benefit, to make a graven image and a molten idol. Therefore I will now return it to you.” 

So he returned the silver to his mother, and she took two hundred shekels of silver  and gave them to a silversmith, who made them into a graven image and a molten idol. And they were placed in the house of Micah. 

Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household idols, and ordained  one of his sons as his priest. 

In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. 

And there was a young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah who had been residing within the clan of Judah. 

This man left the city of Bethlehem in Judah to settle where he could find a place. And as he traveled, he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim. 

“Where are you from?” Micah asked him. 

“I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” he replied, “and I am on my way to settle wherever I can find a place.” 

“Stay with me,” Micah said to him, “and be my father and priest, and I will give you ten shekels of silver  per year, a suit of clothes, and your provisions.” 

So the Levite went in and agreed to stay with him, and the young man became like a son to Micah. 

Micah ordained the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house. 

Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, because a Levite has become my priest.”

Judges 18

In those days there was no king in Israel, and the tribe of the Danites was looking for territory to occupy. For up to that time they had not come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. 

So the Danites sent out five men from their clans, men of valor from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and explore it. “Go and explore the land,” they told them. 

The men entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night. 

And while they were near Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite; so they went over and asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?” 

“Micah has done this and that for me,” he replied, “and he has hired me to be his priest.” 

Then they said to him, “Please inquire of God to determine whether we will have a successful journey.” 

And the priest told them, “Go in peace. The LORD is watching over your journey.” 

So the five men departed and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living securely, like the Sidonians, tranquil and unsuspecting. There was nothing lacking in the land and no oppressive ruler. And they were far away from the Sidonians and had no alliance with anyone. 

When the men returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers asked them, “What did you find?” 

They answered, “Come on, let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and it is very good. Why would you fail to act? Do not hesitate to go there and take possession of the land! 

When you enter, you will come to an unsuspecting people and a spacious land, for God has delivered it into your hand. It is a place where nothing on earth is lacking.” 

So six hundred Danites departed from Zorah and Eshtaol, armed with weapons of war. 

They went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. That is why the place west of Kiriath-jearim is called Mahaneh-dan  to this day. 

And from there they traveled to the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah’s house. 

Then the five men who had gone to spy out the land of Laish said to their brothers, “Did you know that one of these houses has an ephod, household gods, a graven image, and a molten idol? Now think about what you should do.” 

So they turned aside there and went to the home of the young Levite, the house of Micah, and greeted him. 

The six hundred Danites stood at the entrance of the gate, armed with their weapons of war. 

And the five men who had gone to spy out the land went inside and took the graven image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molten idol, while the priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred armed men. 

When they entered Micah’s house and took the graven image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molten idol, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” 

“Be quiet,” they told him. “Put your hand over your mouth and come with us and be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest for the house of one person or a priest for a tribe and family in Israel?” 

So the priest was glad and took the ephod, the household idols, and the graven image, and went with the people. 

Putting their small children, their livestock, and their possessions in front of them, they turned and departed. 

After they were some distance from Micah’s house, the men in the houses near Micah’s house mobilized and overtook the Danites. 

When they called out after them, the Danites turned to face them and said to Micah, “What is the matter with you that you have called out such a company?” 

He replied, “You took the gods I had made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you say to me, ‘What is the matter with you?’ ” 

The Danites said to him, “Do not raise your voice against us, or angry men will attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.” 

So the Danites went on their way, and Micah turned to go back home, because he saw that they were too strong for him. 

After they had taken Micah’s idols and his priest, they went to Laish, to a tranquil and unsuspecting people, and they struck them with their swords and burned down the city. 

There was no one to deliver them, because the city was far from Sidon and had no alliance with anyone; it was in a valley near Beth-rehob. 

And the Danites rebuilt the city and lived there. They named it Dan, after their forefather Dan, who was born to Israel—though the city was formerly named Laish. 

The Danites set up idols for themselves, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. 

So they set up for themselves Micah’s graven image, and it was there the whole time the house of God was in Shiloh.

Judges 19

Now in those days, when there was no king in Israel, a Levite who lived in the remote hill country of Ephraim took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. 

But she was unfaithful to him  and left him to return to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah. 

After she had been there four months, her husband got up and went after her to speak kindly to her and bring her back, taking his servant and a pair of donkeys. So the girl brought him into her father’s house, and when her father saw him, he gladly welcomed him. 

His father-in-law, the girl’s father, persuaded him to stay, so he remained with him three days, eating, drinking, and lodging there. 

On the fourth day, they got up early in the morning and prepared to depart, but the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Refresh your heart with a morsel of bread, and then you can go.” 

So they sat down and the two of them ate and drank together. Then the girl’s father said to the man, “Please agree to stay overnight and let your heart be merry.” 

The man got up to depart, but his father-in-law persuaded him, so he stayed there that night. 

On the fifth day, he got up early in the morning to depart, but the girl’s father said, “Please refresh your heart.” So they waited until late afternoon and the two of them ate. 

When the man got up to depart with his concubine and his servant, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Look, the day is drawing to a close. Please spend the night. See, the day is almost over. Spend the night here, that your heart may be merry. Then you can get up early tomorrow for your journey home.” 

But the man was unwilling to spend the night. He got up and departed, and arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), with his two saddled donkeys and his concubine. 

When they were near Jebus and the day was almost gone, the servant said to his master, “Please, let us stop at this Jebusite city and spend the night here.” 

But his master replied, “We will not turn aside to the city of foreigners, where there are no Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah.” 

He continued, “Come, let us try to reach one of these towns to spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.” 

So they continued on their journey, and the sun set as they neared Gibeah in Benjamin. 

They stopped to go in and lodge in Gibeah. The Levite went in and sat down in the city square, but no one would take them into his home for the night. 

That evening an old man from the hill country of Ephraim, who was residing in Gibeah (the men of that place were Benjamites), came in from his work in the field. 

When he looked up and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, “Where are you going, and where have you come from?” 

The Levite replied, “We are traveling from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote hill country of Ephraim, where I am from. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and now I am going to the house of the LORD; but no one has taken me into his home, even though there is both straw and feed for our donkeys, and bread and wine for me and the maidservant and young man with me. There is nothing that we, your servants, lack.” 

“Peace to you,” said the old man. “Let me supply everything you need. Only do not spend the night in the square.” 

So he brought him to his house and fed his donkeys. And they washed their feet and ate and drank. 

While they were enjoying themselves, suddenly the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they said to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house, so we can have relations with him!” 

The owner of the house went out and said to them, “No, my brothers, do not do this wicked thing! After all, this man is a guest in my house. Do not commit this outrage. 

Look, let me bring out my virgin daughter and the man’s concubine, and you can use them and do with them as you wish. But do not do such a vile thing to this man.” 

But the men would not listen to him. So the Levite took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go. 

Early that morning, the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, collapsed at the doorway, and lay there until it was light. 

In the morning, when her master got up and opened the doors of the house to go out on his journey, there was his concubine, collapsed in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold. 

“Get up,” he told her. “Let us go.” But there was no response. So the man put her on his donkey and set out for home. 

When he reached his house, he picked up a knife, took hold of his concubine, cut her limb by limb into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout the territory of Israel. 

And everyone who saw it said, “Nothing like this has been seen or done from the day the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt until this day. Think it over, take counsel, and speak up!”

Judges 20

Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out, and the congregation assembled as one man before the LORD at Mizpah. 

The leaders of all the people and all the tribes of Israel presented themselves in the assembly of God’s people: 400,000 men on foot, armed with swords. 

(Meanwhile the Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) And the Israelites asked, “Tell us, how did this wicked thing happen?” 

So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered: “I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night. 

And during the night, the men of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house. They intended to kill me, but they abused my concubine, and she died. 

Then I took my concubine, cut her into pieces, and sent her throughout the land of Israel’s inheritance, because they had committed a lewd and disgraceful act in Israel. 

Behold, all you Israelites, give your advice and verdict here and now.” 

Then all the people stood as one man and said, “Not one of us will return to his tent or to his house. Now this is what we will do to Gibeah: We will go against it as the lot dictates. 

We will take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred out of every thousand, and a thousand out of every ten thousand, to supply provisions for the army when they go to Gibeah  in Benjamin to punish them for the atrocity they have committed in Israel.” 

So all the men of Israel gathered as one man, united against the city. 

And the tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that has occurred among you? 

Hand over the wicked men of Gibeah so we can put them to death and purge Israel of this evil.” 

But the Benjamites refused to heed the voice of their fellow Israelites. And from their cities they came together at Gibeah to go out and fight against the Israelites. 

On that day the Benjamites mobilized 26,000 swordsmen from their cities, in addition to the 700 select men of Gibeah. 

Among all these soldiers there were 700 select left-handers, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair without missing. 

The Israelites, apart from Benjamin, mobilized 400,000 swordsmen, each one an experienced warrior. 

The Israelites set out, went up to Bethel, and inquired of God, “Who of us shall go up first to fight against the Benjamites?” 

“Judah will be first,” the LORD replied. 

The next morning the Israelites set out and camped near Gibeah. And the men of Israel went out to fight against Benjamin and took up their battle positions at Gibeah. 

And the Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down 22,000 Israelites on the battlefield that day. 

But the Israelite army took courage and again took their battle positions in the same place where they had arrayed themselves on the first day. 

They went up and wept before the LORD until evening, inquiring of Him, “Should we again draw near for battle against our brothers the Benjamites?” 

And the LORD answered, “Go up against them.” 

On the second day the Israelites advanced against the Benjamites. 

That same day the Benjamites came out against them from Gibeah and cut down another 18,000 Israelites, all of them armed with swords. 

Then the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, where they sat weeping before the LORD. That day they fasted until evening and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to the LORD. 

And the Israelites inquired of the LORD. (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there, and Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, served before it.) The Israelites asked, “Should we again go out to battle against our brothers the Benjamites, or should we stop?” 

The LORD answered, “Fight, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.” 

So Israel set up an ambush around Gibeah. On the third day the Israelites went up against the Benjamites and arrayed themselves against Gibeah as they had done before. 

The Benjamites came out against them and were drawn away from the city. They began to attack the people as before, killing about thirty men of Israel in the fields and on the roads, one of which led up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah. 

“We are defeating them as before,” said the Benjamites. 

But the Israelites said, “Let us retreat and draw them away from the city onto the roads.” 

So all the men of Israel got up from their places and arrayed themselves at Baal-tamar, and the Israelites in ambush charged from their positions west of Gibeah. 

Then 10,000 select men from all Israel made a frontal assault against Gibeah, and the battle was fierce. But the Benjamites did not realize that disaster was upon them. 

The LORD defeated Benjamin in the presence of Israel, and on that day the Israelites slaughtered 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords. 

Then the Benjamites realized they had been defeated. 

Now the men of Israel had retreated before Benjamin because they were relying on the ambush they had set against Gibeah. 

The men in ambush rushed suddenly against Gibeah; they advanced and put the whole city to the sword. 

The men of Israel had arranged a signal with the men in ambush: When they sent up a great cloud of smoke from the city, the men of Israel would turn in the battle. 

When the Benjamites had begun to strike them down, killing about thirty men of Israel, they said, “They are defeated before us as in the first battle.” 

But when the column of smoke began to go up from the city, the Benjamites looked behind them and saw the whole city going up in smoke. 

Then the men of Israel turned back on them, and the men of Benjamin were terrified when they realized that disaster had come upon them. 

So they fled before the men of Israel toward the wilderness, but the battle overtook them, and the men coming out of the cities struck them down there. 

They surrounded the Benjamites, pursued them, and easily overtook them in the vicinity of Gibeah on the east. And 18,000 Benjamites fell, all men of valor. 

Then the Benjamites turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and Israel cut down 5,000 men on the roads. And they overtook them at Gidom and struck down 2,000 more. 

That day 25,000 Benjamite swordsmen fell, all men of valor. But 600 men turned and fled into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, where they stayed four months. 

And the men of Israel turned back against the other Benjamites and put to the sword all the cities, including the animals and everything else they found. And they burned down all the cities in their path.

Judges 21

Now the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah, saying, “Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite.” 

So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, lifting up their voices and weeping bitterly. 

“Why, O LORD God of Israel,” they cried out, “has this happened in Israel? Today in Israel one tribe is missing!” 

The next day the people got up early, built an altar there, and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings. 

The Israelites asked, “Who among all the tribes of Israel did not come to the assembly before the LORD?” For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to come up before the LORD at Mizpah would surely be put to death. 

And the Israelites grieved for their brothers, the Benjamites, and said, “Today a tribe is cut off from Israel. 

What should we do about wives for the survivors, since we have sworn by the LORD not to give them our daughters in marriage?” 

So they asked, “Which one of the tribes of Israel failed to come up before the LORD at Mizpah?” And, in fact, no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp for the assembly. 

For when the people were counted, none of the residents of Jabesh-gilead were there. 

So the congregation sent 12,000 of their most valiant men and commanded them: “Go and put to the sword those living in Jabesh-gilead, including women and children. 

This is what you are to do: Devote to destruction  every male, as well as every female who has had relations with a man.” 

So they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young women who had not had relations with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan. 

Then the whole congregation sent a message of peace to the Benjamites who were at the rock of Rimmon. 

And at that time the Benjamites returned and were given the women who were spared from Jabesh-gilead. But there were not enough women for all of them. 

The people grieved for Benjamin, because the LORD had made a void in the tribes of Israel. 

Then the elders of the congregation said, “What should we do about wives for those who remain, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?” 

They added, “There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out. But we cannot give them our daughters as wives.” 

For the Israelites had sworn, “Cursed is he who gives a wife to a Benjamite.” 

“But look,” they said, “there is a yearly feast to the LORD in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel east of the road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.” 

So they commanded the Benjamites: “Go, hide in the vineyards and watch. When you see the daughters of Shiloh come out to perform their dances, each of you is to come out of the vineyards, catch for himself a wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. 

When their fathers or brothers come to us to complain, we will tell them, ‘Do us a favor by helping them, since we did not get wives for each of them in the war. Since you did not actually give them your daughters, you have no guilt.’ ” 

The Benjamites did as instructed and carried away the number of women they needed from the dancers they caught. They went back to their own inheritance, rebuilt their cities, and settled in them. 

And at that time, each of the Israelites returned from there to his own tribe and clan, each to his own inheritance. 

In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Today we meet Samson, who was a real threat to the Philistines. I cannot help but feel sorry for the Philistines a bit. He’s implacable and aggressive against them, and quite unfair to the poor gal he chose to be his bride. The story about the foxes always amuses me greatly, as it was surely more labor to capture them and tie them to those torches than it would have been to just do the arson himself. The energy he has for hatred of the Philistines is really quite remarkable.

A few years ago, I read John Wesley’s Notes on the Old Testament. Throughout Judges, he does all kinds of mental gymnastics to make all of these judges look like good guys. In the face of Jephthah, who kills and sacrifices his own daughter, Wesley straight up denies that it happened despite the clear language here. I have a hard time excusing him that easily. And despite the fact that she isn’t named, the fact that a tradition existed for some time afterwards, such that it was mentioned in the bible, that her memory would be preserved is quite a thing. There is a beauty to the scriptures even when what is described is quite reprehensible. It is a general reminder to me that the Lord and his word are not at all under an obligation to meet my standards of acceptability. The holy comes to me on terms that aren’t mine. My posture is to be that of complete surrender.

Judges 11

Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor; he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father. 

And Gilead’s wife bore him sons who grew up, drove Jephthah out, and said to him, “You shall have no inheritance in our father’s house, because you are the son of another woman.” 

So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where worthless men gathered around him and traveled with him. 

Some time later, when the Ammonites fought against Israel and made war with them, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. 

“Come,” they said, “be our commander, so that we can fight against the Ammonites.” 

Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and expel me from my father’s house? Why then have you come to me now, when you are in distress?” 

They answered Jephthah, “This is why we now turn to you, that you may go with us, fight the Ammonites, and become leader over all of us who live in Gilead.” 

But Jephthah asked them, “If you take me back to fight the Ammonites and the LORD gives them to me, will I really be your leader?” 

And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD is our witness if we do not do as you say.” 

So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him their leader and commander. And Jephthah repeated all his terms in the presence of the LORD at Mizpah. 

Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, saying, “What do you have against me that you have come to fight against my land?” 

The king of the Ammonites answered Jephthah’s messengers, “When Israel came up out of Egypt, they seized my land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and all the way to the Jordan. Now, therefore, restore it peaceably.” 

Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites to tell him, “This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or of the Ammonites. 

But when Israel came up out of Egypt, they traveled through the wilderness to the Red Sea  and came to Kadesh. 

Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,’ but the king of Edom would not listen. They also sent messengers to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel stayed in Kadesh. 

Then Israel traveled through the wilderness and bypassed the lands of Edom and Moab. They came to the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, since the Arnon was its border. 

And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land into our own place.’ 

But Sihon would not trust Israel to pass through his territory. So he gathered all his people, encamped in Jahaz, and fought with Israel. 

Then the LORD, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, who defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites who inhabited that country, seizing all the land from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan. 

Now since the LORD, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from before His people Israel, should you now possess it? 

Do you not possess whatever your god Chemosh grants you? So also, we possess whatever the LORD our God has granted us. 

Are you now so much better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend with Israel or fight against them? 

For three hundred years Israel has lived in Heshbon, Aroer, and their villages, as well as all the cities along the banks of the Arnon. Why did you not take them back during that time? 

I have not sinned against you, but you have done me wrong by waging war against me. May the LORD, the Judge, decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites.” 

But the king of the Ammonites paid no heed to the message Jephthah sent him. 

Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, then through Mizpah of Gilead. And from there he advanced against the Ammonites. 

Jephthah made this vow to the LORD: “If indeed You will deliver the Ammonites into my hand, then whatever comes out the door of my house to greet me on my triumphant return from the Ammonites will belong to the LORD, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.” 

So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his hand. 

With a great blow he devastated twenty cities from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel-keramim. So the Ammonites were subdued before the Israelites. 

And when Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to meet him with tambourines and dancing! She was his only child; he had no son or daughter besides her. 

As soon as Jephthah saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “No! Not my daughter! You have brought me to my knees! You have brought great misery upon me, for I have given my word to the LORD and cannot take it back.” 

“My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me as you have said, for the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites.” 

She also said to her father, “Let me do this one thing: Let me wander for two months through the mountains with my friends and mourn my virginity.” 

“Go,” he said. And he sent her away for two months. 

So she left with her friends and mourned her virginity upon the mountains. 

After two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she had never had relations with a man. 

So it has become a custom in Israel that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

Judges 12

Then the men of Ephraim assembled and crossed the Jordan to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why have you crossed over to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go with you? We will burn your house down with you inside!” 

But Jephthah replied, “My people and I had a serious conflict with the Ammonites, and when I called, you did not save me out of their hands. 

When I saw that you would not save me, I risked my life and crossed over to the Ammonites, and the LORD delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come today to fight against me?” 

Jephthah then gathered all the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. And the men of Gilead struck them down because the Ephraimites had said, “You Gileadites are fugitives in Ephraim, living in the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh.” 

The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim, and whenever a fugitive from Ephraim would say, “Let me cross over,” the Gileadites would ask him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” 

If he answered, “No,” 

they told him, “Please say Shibboleth.” 

If he said, “Sibboleth,” because he could not pronounce it correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. So at that time 42,000 Ephraimites were killed. 

Jephthah judged Israel six years, and when he died, he was buried in one of the cities of Gilead. 

After Jephthah, Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. 

He had thirty sons, as well as thirty daughters whom he gave in marriage to men outside his clan; and for his sons he brought back thirty wives from elsewhere. Ibzan judged Israel seven years. 

Then Ibzan died, and he was buried in Bethlehem. 

After Ibzan, Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel ten years. Then Elon the Zebulunite died, and he was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun. 

After Elon, Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, judged Israel. He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. And he judged Israel eight years. 

Then Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, died, and he was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

Judges 13

Again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD, so He delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. 

Now there was a man from Zorah named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, whose wife was barren and had no children. 

The angel  of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “It is true that you are barren and have no children; but you will conceive and give birth to a son. 

Now please be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, and not to eat anything unclean. 

For behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son. And no razor shall come over his head, because the boy will be a Nazirite  to God from the womb, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” 

So the woman went and told her husband, “A man of God came to me. His appearance was like the angel of God, exceedingly awesome. I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name. 

But he said to me, ‘Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son. Now, therefore, do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the womb until the day of his death.’ ” 

Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, “Please, O Lord, let the man of God You sent us come to us again to teach us how to raise the boy who is to be born.” 

And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God returned to the woman as she was sitting in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her. 

The woman ran quickly to tell her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has reappeared!” 

So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he asked, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?” 

“I am,” he said. 

Then Manoah asked, “When your words come to pass, what will be the boy’s rule of life and mission?” 

So the angel of the LORD answered Manoah, “Your wife is to do everything I told her. 

She must not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor drink any wine or strong drink, nor eat anything unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her.” 

“Please stay here,” Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “and we will prepare a young goat for you.” 

And the angel of the LORD replied, “Even if I stay, I will not eat your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the LORD.” For Manoah did not know that it was the angel of the LORD. 

Then Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes to pass?” 

“Why do you ask my name,” said the angel of the LORD, “since it is beyond comprehension?” 

Then Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the LORD. And as Manoah and his wife looked on, the LORD did a marvelous thing. 

When the flame went up from the altar to the sky, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame. 

When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell facedown to the ground. 

And when the angel of the LORD did not appear again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it had been the angel of the LORD. 

“We are going to die,” he said to his wife, “for we have seen God!” 

But his wife replied, “If the LORD had intended to kill us, He would not have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things or spoken to us this way.” 

So the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the LORD blessed him. 

And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him at Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Judges 14

One day Samson went down to Timnah, where he saw a young Philistine woman. 

So he returned and told his father and mother, “I have seen a daughter of the Philistines in Timnah. Now get her for me as a wife.” 

But his father and mother replied, “Can’t you find a young woman among your relatives or among any of our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?” 

But Samson told his father, “Get her for me, for she is pleasing to my eyes.” 

(Now his father and mother did not know this was from the LORD, who was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines; for at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.) 

Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother and came to the vineyards of Timnah. Suddenly a young lion came roaring at him, and the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon him, and he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as one would tear a young goat. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done. 

Then Samson continued on his way down and spoke to the woman, because she was pleasing to his eyes. 

When Samson returned later to take her, he left the road to see the lion’s carcass, and in it was a swarm of bees, along with their honey. 

So he scooped some honey into his hands and ate it as he went along. And when he returned to his father and mother, he gave some to them and they ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion’s carcass. 

Then his father went to visit the woman, and Samson prepared a feast there, as was customary for the bridegroom. 

And when the Philistines saw him, they selected thirty men to accompany him. 

“Let me tell you a riddle,” Samson said to them. “If you can solve it for me within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes. 

But if you cannot solve it, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.” 

“Tell us your riddle,” they replied. “Let us hear it.” 

So he said to them: 

“Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet.” 

For three days they were unable to explain the riddle. 

So on the fourth  day they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband to explain the riddle to us, or we will burn you and your father’s household to death. Did you invite us here to rob us?” 

Then Samson’s wife came to him, weeping, and said, “You hate me! You do not really love me! You have posed to my people a riddle, but have not explained it to me.” 

“Look,” he said, “I have not even explained it to my father or mother, so why should I explain it to you?” 

She wept the whole seven days of the feast, and finally on the seventh day, because she had pressed him so much, he told her the answer. And in turn she explained the riddle to her people. 

Before sunset on the seventh day, the men of the city said to Samson: 

“What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?” 

So he said to them: 

“If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle!” 

Then the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, killed thirty of their men, took their apparel, and gave their clothes to those who had solved the riddle. And burning with anger, Samson returned to his father’s house, and his wife was given to one of the men who had accompanied him.

Judges 15

Later on, at the time of the wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat and went to visit his wife. “I want to go to my wife in her room,” he said. But her father would not let him enter. 

“I was sure that you thoroughly hated her,” said her father, “so I gave her to one of the men who accompanied you. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her instead.” 

Samson said to them, “This time I will be blameless in doing harm to the Philistines.” 

Then Samson went out and caught three hundred foxes. And he took torches, turned the foxes tail-to-tail, and fastened a torch between each pair of tails. 

Then he lit the torches and released the foxes into the standing grain of the Philistines, burning up the piles of grain and the standing grain, as well as the vineyards and olive groves. 

“Who did this?” the Philistines demanded. 

“It was Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite,” they were told. “For his wife was given to his companion.” 

So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father to death. 

And Samson told them, “Because you have done this, I will not rest until I have taken vengeance upon you.” 

And he struck them ruthlessly  with a great slaughter, and then went down and stayed in the cave at the rock of Etam. 

Then the Philistines went up, camped in Judah, and deployed themselves near the town of Lehi. 

“Why have you attacked us?” said the men of Judah. 

The Philistines replied, “We have come to arrest Samson and pay him back for what he has done to us.” 

In response, three thousand men of Judah went to the cave at the rock of Etam, and they asked Samson, “Do you not realize that the Philistines rule over us? What have you done to us?” 

“I have done to them what they did to me,” he replied. 

But they said to him, “We have come down to arrest you and hand you over to the Philistines.” 

Samson replied, “Swear to me that you will not kill me yourselves.” 

“No,” they answered, “we will not kill you, but we will tie you up securely and hand you over to them.” So they bound him with two new ropes and led him up from the rock. 

When Samson arrived in Lehi, the Philistines came out shouting against him. And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him. The ropes on his arms became like burnt flax, and the bonds broke loose from his hands. 

He found the fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and struck down a thousand men. Then Samson said: 

“With the jawbone of a donkey I have piled them into heaps. With the jawbone of a donkey I have slain a thousand men.” 

And when Samson had finished speaking, he cast the jawbone from his hand; and he named that place Ramath-lehi. 

And being very thirsty, Samson cried out to the LORD, “You have accomplished this great deliverance through Your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” 

So God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned, and he was revived. That is why he named it En-hakkore, and it remains in Lehi to this day. 

And Samson judged Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

Psalm 49

Hear this, all you peoples; 

listen, all inhabitants of the world, 

both low and high, 

rich and poor alike. 

My mouth will impart wisdom, 

and the meditation of my heart will bring understanding. 

I will incline my ear to a proverb; 

I will express my riddle with the harp: 

Why should I fear in times of trouble, 

when wicked usurpers surround me? 

They trust in their wealth 

and boast in their great riches. 

No man can possibly redeem his brother  

or pay his ransom to God. 

For the redemption of his soul is costly, 

and never can payment suffice, 

that he should live on forever 

and not see decay. 

For it is clear that wise men die, 

and the foolish and the senseless both perish 

and leave their wealth to others. 

Their graves  are their eternal homes— 

their dwellings for endless generations— 

even though their lands were their namesakes. 

But a man, despite his wealth, cannot endure; 

he is like the beasts that perish. 

This is the fate of the self-confident  

and their followers who endorse their sayings. 

Selah 

Like sheep they are destined for Sheol. 

Death will be their shepherd. 

The upright will rule them in the morning, 

and their form will decay in Sheol, 

far from their lofty abode. 

But God will redeem my life from Sheol, 

for He will surely take me to Himself. 

Selah 

Do not be amazed when a man grows rich, 

when the splendor of his house increases. 

For when he dies, he will carry nothing away; 

his abundance will not follow him down. 

Though in his lifetime he blesses his soul— 

and men praise you when you prosper— 

he will join the generation of his fathers, 

who will never see the light of day. 

A man who has riches without understanding 

is like the beasts that perish.

Today we get the stories of Gideon and Abimelech. Each of them are remarkable in their own rights. Gideon is generally lauded as a hero, but we learn that he also formed an ephod that became something of an idol to himself and the people. Abimelech is generally hated as a fratricidal tyrant, but we also see him leveling politics in Shechem. Clearly a lot of texture is needed to fully understand these things. We get what we get.

I’m generally grateful for the field of anthropology, which is fleshing out a lot more of the culture and practice from this era. These small city-states and interrelated people groups interacted in ways that are quite foreign to us today. Of course, understanding these things is not key to salvation, but it can be helpful for making sense out of some of this stuff, I’m sure.

All that to say that study of the scriptures is not contained only to the text itself. Rather, if the truth is of God, then it is helpful for us to study fields of knowledge that add to the texture of the truth that we find in the scriptures. No truth can be offered or received that contradicts the scriptural witness, but there is a great deal in many bodies of human study that actually validate and vivify the scriptural witness. Remember that theology was once termed the “queen of the sciences” precisely because it sat atop all sciences as the primary witness of who God is. Anyway, enjoy learning more, or reinforcing more, with me today.

Judges 6

Again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD; so He delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years, 

and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds. 

Whenever the Israelites would plant their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east would come up and invade them, 

encamping against them as far as Gaza and destroying the produce of the land. They left Israel with no sustenance, neither sheep nor oxen nor donkeys. 

For the Midianites came with their livestock and their tents like a great swarm of locusts. They and their camels were innumerable, and they entered the land to ravage it. 

Israel was greatly impoverished by Midian, and the Israelites cried out to the LORD. 

Now when the Israelites cried out to the LORD because of Midian, 

He sent them a prophet, who told them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 

I delivered you out of the hands of Egypt and all your oppressors. I drove them out before you and gave you their land. 

And I said to you: ‘I am the LORD your God. You must not fear  the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.’ But you did not obey Me.” 

Then the angel  of the LORD came and sat down under the oak  in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to hide it from the Midianites. 

And the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon and said, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.” 

“Please, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all His wonders of which our fathers told us, saying, ‘Has not the LORD brought us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hand of Midian.” 

The LORD  turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Am I not sending you?” 

“Please, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.” 

“Surely I will be with you,” the LORD replied, “and you will strike down all the Midianites as one man.” 

Gideon answered, “If I have found favor in Your sight, give me a sign that it is You speaking with me. 

Please do not depart from this place until I return to You. Let me bring my offering and set it before You.” 

And the LORD said, “I will stay until you return.” 

So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread and an ephah of flour. He placed the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot and brought them out to present to Him under the oak. 

And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so. 

Then the angel of the LORD extended the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread. And fire flared from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight. 

When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he said, “Oh no, Lord GOD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!” 

But the LORD said to him, “Peace be with you. Do not be afraid, for you will not die.” 

So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. 

On that very night the LORD said to Gideon, “Take your father’s young bull and a second bull seven years old, tear down your father’s altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. 

Then build a proper altar to the LORD your God on the top of this stronghold. And with the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down, take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering.” 

So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the LORD had told him. But because he was too afraid of his father’s household and the men of the city, he did it by night rather than in the daytime. 

When the men of the city got up in the morning, there was Baal’s altar torn down, with the Asherah pole cut down beside it and the second bull offered up on the newly built altar. 

“Who did this?” they said to one another. 

And after they had investigated thoroughly, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did it.” 

Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son. He must die, because he has torn down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.” 

But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Are you contending for Baal? Are you trying to save him? Whoever pleads his case will be put to death by morning! If Baal is a god, let him contend for himself with the one who has torn down his altar.” 

So on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend with him,” because he had torn down Baal’s altar. 

Then all the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east gathered together, crossed over the Jordan, and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. 

So the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, who blew the ram’s horn and rallied the Abiezrites behind him. 

Calling them to arms, Gideon sent messengers throughout Manasseh, as well as Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, so that they came up to meet him. 

Then Gideon said to God, “If You are going to save Israel by my hand, as You have said, then behold, I will place a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that You are going to save Israel by my hand, as You have said.” 

And that is what happened. When Gideon arose the next morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water. 

Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me; let me speak one more time. Please allow me one more test with the fleece. This time let it be dry, and the ground covered with dew.” 

And that night God did so. Only the fleece was dry, and dew covered the ground.

Judges 7

Early in the morning Jerubbaal  (that is, Gideon) and all the men with him camped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. 

Then the LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many people for Me to deliver Midian into their hands, lest Israel glorify themselves over Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ 

Now, therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people: ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’ ” 

So twenty-two thousand of them turned back, but ten thousand remained. 

Then the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many people. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go. But if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” 

So Gideon brought the people down to the water, and the LORD said to him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel to drink.” 

And the number of those who lapped the water with their hands to their mouths was three hundred men; all the others knelt to drink. 

Then the LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men who lapped the water I will save you and deliver the Midianites into your hand. But all the others are to go home.” 

So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred men, who took charge of the provisions and rams’ horns of the others. And the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley. 

That night the LORD said to Gideon, “Get up and go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. 

But if you are afraid to do so, then go down to the camp with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying. Then your hands will be strengthened to attack the camp.” So he went with Purah his servant to the outposts where armed men were guarding the camp. 

Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and all the other people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and their camels were as countless as the sand on the seashore. 

And as Gideon arrived, a man was telling his friend about a dream. “Behold, I had a dream,” he said, “and I saw a loaf of barley bread come tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent so hard that the tent overturned and collapsed.” 

His friend replied: “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has delivered Midian and the whole camp into his hand.” 

When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Get up, for the LORD has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand.” 

And he divided the three hundred men into three companies and gave each man a ram’s horn in one hand and a large jar in the other, containing a torch. 

“Watch me and do as I do,” Gideon said. “When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do exactly as I do. 

When I and all who are with me blow our horns, then you are also to blow your horns from all around the camp and shout, ‘For the LORD and for Gideon!’ ” 

Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after the changing of the guard. They blew their horns and broke the jars that were in their hands. 

The three companies blew their horns and shattered their jars. Holding the torches in their left hands and the horns in their right hands, they shouted, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!” 

Each Israelite took his position around the camp, and the entire Midianite army fled, crying out as they ran. 

And when the three hundred rams’ horns sounded, the LORD set all the men in the camp against one another with their swords. The army fled to Beth-shittah toward Zererah  as far as the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath. 

Then the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali, Asher, and all Manasseh, and they pursued the Midianites. 

Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim to say, “Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth-barah.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they captured the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth-barah. 

They also captured Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian; and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. So they pursued the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan.

Judges 8

Then the men of Ephraim said to Gideon, “Why have you done this to us? Why did you fail to call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they contended with him violently. 

But Gideon answered them, “Now what have I accomplished compared to you? Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? 

God has delivered Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian, into your hand. What was I able to do compared to you?” When he had said this, their anger  against him subsided. 

Then Gideon and his three hundred men came to the Jordan and crossed it, exhausted yet still in pursuit. 

So Gideon said to the men of Succoth, “Please give my troops some bread, for they are exhausted, and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” 

But the leaders of Succoth asked, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your possession, that we should give bread to your army?” 

“Very well,” Gideon replied, “when the LORD has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with the thorns and briers of the wilderness!” 

From there he went up to Penuel  and asked the same from them, but the men of Penuel gave the same response as the men of Succoth. 

So Gideon told the men of Penuel, “When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower!” 

Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army of about fifteen thousand men—all that were left of the armies of the people of the east. A hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had already fallen. 

And Gideon went up by way of the caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he attacked their army, taking them by surprise. 

When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, Gideon pursued and captured these two kings of Midian, routing their entire army. 

After this, Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle along the Ascent of Heres. 

There he captured a young man of Succoth and interrogated him. The young man wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven leaders and elders of Succoth. 

And Gideon went to the men of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your possession, that we should give bread to your weary men?’ ” 

Then he took the elders of the city, and using the thorns and briers of the wilderness, he disciplined the men of Succoth. 

He also pulled down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city. 

Next, Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?” 

“Men like you,” they answered, “each one resembling the son of a king.” 

“They were my brothers,” Gideon replied, “the sons of my mother! As surely as the LORD lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.” 

So he said to Jether, his firstborn, “Get up and kill them.” But the young man did not draw his sword; he was fearful because he was still a youth. 

Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Get up and kill us yourself, for as the man is, so is his strength.” So Gideon got up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments from the necks of their camels. 

Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you and your son and grandson—for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” 

But Gideon replied, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son. The LORD shall rule over you.” 

Then he added, “Let me make a request of you, that each of you give me an earring from his plunder.” (For the enemies had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.) 

“We will give them gladly,” they replied. 

So they spread out a garment, and each man threw an earring from his plunder onto it. 

The weight of the gold earrings he had requested was 1,700 shekels, in addition to the crescent ornaments, the pendants, the purple garments of the kings of Midian, and the chains from the necks of their camels. 

From all this Gideon made an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his hometown. But soon all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household. 

In this way Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. So the land had rest for forty years in the days of Gideon, and he—Jerubbaal  son of Joash—returned home and settled down. 

Gideon had seventy sons of his own, since he had many wives. His concubine, who dwelt in Shechem, also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech. 

Later, Gideon son of Joash died at a ripe old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. 

And as soon as Gideon was dead, the Israelites turned and prostituted themselves with the Baals, and they set up Baal-berith as their god. 

The Israelites failed to remember the LORD their God who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. 

They did not show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) for all the good things he had done for Israel.

Judges 9

Now Abimelech son of Jerubbaal  went to his mother’s brothers at Shechem and said to them and to all the clan of his mother, 

“Please ask all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Is it better for you that seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you, or just one man?’ Remember that I am your own flesh and blood.” 

And when his mother’s brothers spoke all these words about him in the presence of all the leaders of Shechem, their hearts were inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is our brother.” 

So they gave him seventy shekels of silver  from the temple of Baal-berith, with which Abimelech hired some worthless and reckless men to follow him. 

He went to his father’s house in Ophrah, and on one stone murdered his seventy brothers, the sons of Jerubbaal. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, survived, because he hid himself. 

Then all the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo gathered beside the oak  at the pillar in Shechem and proceeded to make Abimelech their king. 

When this was reported to Jotham, he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim, raised his voice, and cried out: 

“Listen to me, O leaders of Shechem, 

and may God listen to you. 

One day the trees set out 

to anoint a king for themselves. 

They said to the olive tree, 

‘Reign over us.’ 

But the olive tree replied, 

‘Should I stop giving my oil 

that honors both God and man, 

to hold sway over the trees?’ 

Then the trees said to the fig tree, 

‘Come and reign over us.’ 

But the fig tree replied, 

‘Should I stop giving my sweetness 

and my good fruit, 

to hold sway over the trees?’ 

Then the trees said to the grapevine, 

‘Come and reign over us.’ 

But the grapevine replied, 

‘Should I stop giving my wine 

that cheers both God and man, 

to hold sway over the trees?’ 

Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, 

‘Come and reign over us.’ 

But the thornbush replied, 

‘If you really are anointing me as king over you, 

come and find refuge in my shade. 

But if not, may fire come out of the thornbush 

and consume the cedars of Lebanon.’ 

Now if you have acted faithfully and honestly in making Abimelech king, if you have done well by Jerubbaal and his family, and if you have done to him as he deserves— for my father fought for you and risked his life to deliver you from the hand of Midian, 

but you have risen up against my father’s house this day and killed his seventy sons on a single stone, and you have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the leaders of Shechem because he is your brother— 

if you have acted faithfully and honestly toward Jerubbaal and his house this day, then may you rejoice in Abimelech, and he in you. 

But if not, may fire come from Abimelech and consume the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo, and may fire come from the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo and consume Abimelech.” 

Then Jotham ran away, escaping to Beer, and he lived there for fear of his brother Abimelech. 

After Abimelech had reigned over Israel for three years, God sent a spirit of animosity  between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem and caused them to treat Abimelech deceitfully, 

in order that the crime against the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come to justice and their blood be avenged on their brother Abimelech and on the leaders of Shechem, who had helped him murder his brothers. 

The leaders of Shechem set up an ambush against Abimelech on the hilltops, and they robbed all who passed by them on the road. So this was reported to Abimelech. 

Meanwhile, Gaal son of Ebed came with his brothers and crossed into Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem put their confidence in him. 

And after they had gone out into the fields, gathered grapes from their vineyards, and trodden them, they held a festival and went into the house of their god; and as they ate and drank, they cursed Abimelech. 

Then Gaal son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is not Zebul his officer? You are to serve the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem. Why should we serve Abimelech? 

If only this people were under my authority, I would remove Abimelech; I would say to him, ‘Muster your army and come out!’ ” 

When Zebul the governor of the city heard the words of Gaal son of Ebed, he burned with anger. 

So he covertly sent messengers to Abimelech  to say, “Look, Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem and are stirring up  the city against you. 

Now then, tonight you and the people with you are to come and lie in wait in the fields. 

And in the morning at sunrise, get up and advance against the city. When Gaal and his men come out against you, do to them whatever you are able.” 

So Abimelech and all his troops set out by night and lay in wait against Shechem in four companies. 

Now Gaal son of Ebed went out and stood at the entrance of the city gate just as Abimelech and his men came out from their hiding places. 

When Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, “Look, people are coming down from the mountains!” 

But Zebul replied, “The shadows of the mountains look like men to you.” 

Then Gaal spoke up again, “Look, people are coming down from the center of the land, and one company is coming by way of the Diviners’ Oak.” 

“Where is your gloating now?” Zebul replied. “You said, ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Are these not the people you ridiculed? Go out now and fight them!” 

So Gaal went out before the leaders of Shechem and fought against Abimelech, but Abimelech pursued him, and Gaal fled before him. And many Shechemites fell wounded all the way to the entrance of the gate. 

Abimelech stayed in Arumah, and Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem. 

The next day the people of Shechem went out into the fields, and this was reported to Abimelech. 

So he took his men, divided them into three companies, and lay in wait in the fields. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he rose up against them and attacked them. 

Then Abimelech and the companies with him rushed forward and took their stand at the entrance of the city gate. The other two companies rushed against all who were in the fields and struck them down. 

And all that day Abimelech fought against the city until he had captured it and killed its people. Then he demolished the city and sowed it with salt. 

On hearing of this, all the leaders in the tower of Shechem entered the inner chamber of the temple of El-berith. 

And when Abimelech was told that all the leaders in the tower of Shechem were gathered there, he and all his men went up to Mount Zalmon. Abimelech took his axe in his hand and cut a branch from the trees, which he lifted to his shoulder, saying to his men, “Hurry and do what you have seen me do.” 

So each man also cut his own branch and followed Abimelech. Then they piled the branches against the inner chamber and set it on fire above them, killing everyone in the tower of Shechem, about a thousand men and women. 

Then Abimelech went to Thebez, encamped against it, and captured it. 

But there was a strong tower inside the city, and all the men, women, and leaders of the city fled there. They locked themselves in and went up to the roof of the tower. 

When Abimelech came to attack the tower, he approached its entrance to set it on fire. But a woman dropped an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head, crushing his skull. 

He quickly called his armor-bearer, saying, “Draw your sword and kill me, lest they say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’ ” 

So Abimelech’s armor-bearer ran his sword through him, and he died. And when the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they all went home. 

In this way God repaid the wickedness that Abimelech had done to his father in murdering his seventy brothers. 

And God also brought all the wickedness of the men of Shechem back upon their own heads. So the curse of Jotham son of Jerubbaal came upon them.

Judges 10

After the time of Abimelech, a man of Issachar, Tola son of Puah, the son of Dodo, rose up to save Israel. He lived in Shamir, in the hill country of Ephraim. 

Tola judged  Israel twenty-three years, and when he died, he was buried in Shamir. 

Tola was followed by Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years. 

He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys. And they had thirty towns in the land of Gilead, which to this day are called Havvoth-jair. 

When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon. 

And again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD. They served the Baals, the Ashtoreths, the gods of Aram, Sidon, and Moab, and the gods of the Ammonites and Philistines. Thus they forsook the LORD and did not serve Him. 

So the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and Ammonites, who that very year harassed and oppressed the Israelites, and did so for eighteen years to all the Israelites on the other side of the Jordan in Gilead, the land of the Amorites. 

The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim, and Israel was in deep distress. 

Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, saying, “We have sinned against You, for we have indeed forsaken our God and served the Baals.” 

The LORD replied, “When the Egyptians, Amorites, Ammonites, Philistines, 

Sidonians, Amalekites, and Maonites  oppressed you and you cried out to Me, did I not save you from their hands? 

But you have forsaken Me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you in your time of trouble.” 

“We have sinned,” the Israelites said to the LORD. “Deal with us as You see fit; but please deliver us today!” 

So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD, and He could no longer bear the misery of Israel. 

Then the Ammonites were called to arms and camped in Gilead, and the Israelites assembled and camped at Mizpah. 

And the rulers of Gilead said to one another, “Whoever will launch the attack against the Ammonites will be the head of all who live in Gilead.”

Psalm 43

Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case 

against an ungodly nation; 

deliver me from deceitful and unjust men. 

For You are the God of my refuge. 

Why have You rejected me? 

Why must I walk in sorrow 

because of the enemy’s oppression? 

Send out Your light and Your truth; 

let them lead me. 

Let them bring me to Your holy mountain, 

and to the place where You dwell. 

Then I will go to the altar of God, 

to God, my greatest joy. 

I will praise You with the harp, 

O God, my God. 

Why are you downcast, O my soul? 

Why the unease within me? 

Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, 

my Savior and my God.

We begin Judges today. It is a book written for adults about very adult things. I always have a hard time reading it. Failure, betrayal, abuse, dysfunction, and death are the norms throughout these stories. Such is one’s life when lived outside of faithful covenant relationship with the LORD.

It’ll be a few dark days as we make our way through the material. It can’t be all sunshine and rainbows, y’all. Christ walks us through the valley of the shadow of death, so we need not fear the evil. Indeed, there’s a reason why the scriptures lead us here. Lots of reasons. Let the wisdom speak to you.

Judges 1

After the death of Joshua, the Israelites inquired of the LORD, “Who will be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?” 

“Judah shall go up,” answered the LORD. “Indeed, I have delivered the land into their hands.” 

Then the men of Judah said to their brothers the Simeonites, “Come up with us to our allotted territory, and let us fight against the Canaanites. And we likewise will go with you to your territory.” So the Simeonites went with them. 

When Judah attacked, the LORD delivered the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands, and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek. 

And there they found Adoni-bezek and fought against him, striking down the Canaanites and Perizzites. 

As Adoni-bezek fled, they pursued him, seized him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes. 

Then Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have gathered the scraps under my table. As I have done to them, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, where he died. 

Then the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire. 

Afterward, the men of Judah marched down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, in the Negev, and in the foothills. 

Judah also marched against the Canaanites who were living in Hebron (formerly known as Kiriath-arba), and they struck down Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. 

From there they marched against the inhabitants of Debir (formerly known as Kiriath-sepher). 

And Caleb said, “To the man who strikes down Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage.” 

So Othniel son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz captured the city, and Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to him in marriage. 

One day Acsah came to Othniel and urged him  to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you desire?” 

“Give me a blessing,” she answered. “Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me springs of water as well.” 

So Caleb gave her both the upper and lower springs. 

Now the descendants of Moses’ father-in-law, the Kenite, went up with the men of Judah from the City of Palms  to the Wilderness of Judah in the Negev near Arad. They went to live among the people. 

Then the men of Judah went with their brothers the Simeonites, attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and devoted the city to destruction. So it was called Hormah. 

And Judah also captured  Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron—each with its territory. 

The LORD was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the plains because they had chariots of iron. 

Just as Moses had promised, Judah gave Hebron to Caleb, who drove out the descendants of the three sons of Anak. 

The Benjamites, however, failed to drive out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. So to this day the Jebusites live there among the Benjamites. 

The house of Joseph also attacked Bethel, and the LORD was with them. They sent spies to Bethel (formerly known as Luz), 

and when the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, “Please show us how to get into the city, and we will treat you kindly.” 

So the man showed them the entrance to the city, and they put the city to the sword but released that man and all his family. 

And the man went to the land of the Hittites, built a city, and called it Luz, which is its name to this day. 

At that time Manasseh failed to drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and their villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land. 

When Israel became stronger, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor, but they never drove them out completely. 

Ephraim also failed to drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer; so the Canaanites continued to dwell among them in Gezer. 

Zebulun failed to drive out the inhabitants of Kitron and Nahalol; so the Canaanites lived among them and served as forced laborers. 

Asher failed to drive out the inhabitants of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, and Rehob. 

So the Asherites lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, because they did not drive them out. 

Naphtali failed to drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath. So the Naphtalites also lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, but the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath served them as forced laborers. 

The Amorites forced the Danites into the hill country and did not allow them to come down into the plain. 

And the Amorites were determined to dwell in Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim. But when the house of Joseph grew in strength, they pressed the Amorites into forced labor. 

And the border of the Amorites extended from the Ascent of Akrabbim  to Sela and beyond.

Judges 2

Now the angel  of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I had promised to your fathers, and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you, and you are not to make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall tear down their altars.’ 

Yet you have not obeyed My voice. What is this you have done? 

So now I tell you that I will not drive out these people before you; they will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a snare to you.” 

When the angel of the LORD had spoken these words to all the Israelites, the people lifted up their voices and wept. 

So they called that place Bochim  and offered sacrifices there to the LORD. 

After Joshua had dismissed the people, the Israelites went out to take possession of the land, each to his own inheritance. 

And the people served the LORD throughout the days of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him, who had seen all the great works that the LORD had done for Israel. 

And Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of 110. 

They buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath-heres  in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. 

After that whole generation had also been gathered to their fathers, another generation rose up who did not know the LORD or the works that He had done for Israel. 

And the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. 

Thus they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they followed after various gods of the peoples around them. They bowed down to them and provoked the LORD to anger, for they forsook Him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. 

Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of those who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist. 

Wherever Israel marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them to bring calamity, just as He had sworn to them. So they were greatly distressed. 

Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them from the hands of those who plundered them. 

Israel, however, did not listen to their judges. Instead, they prostituted themselves with other gods and bowed down to them. They quickly turned from the way of their fathers, who had walked in obedience to the LORD’s commandments; they did not do as their fathers had done. 

Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for the Israelites, He was with that judge and saved them from the hands of their enemies while the judge was still alive; for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning under those who oppressed them and afflicted them. 

But when the judge died, the Israelites became even more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods to serve them and bow down to them. They would not give up their evil practices and stubborn ways. 

So the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He said, “Because this nation has transgressed the covenant I laid down for their fathers and has not heeded My voice, 

I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. In this way I will test whether Israel will keep the way of the LORD by walking in it as their fathers did.” 

That is why the LORD had left those nations in place and had not driven them out immediately by delivering them into the hand of Joshua.

Judges 3

These are the nations that the LORD left to test all the Israelites who had not known any of the wars in Canaan, if only to teach warfare to the subsequent generations of Israel, especially to those who had not known it formerly: the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived in the mountains of Lebanon from Mount Baal-hermon to Lebo-hamath. 

These nations were left to test the Israelites, to find out whether they would keep the commandments of the LORD, which He had given their fathers through Moses. 

Thus the Israelites continued to live among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 

And they took the daughters of these people in marriage, gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods. 

So the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs. 

Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram-naharaim, and the Israelites served him eight years. 

But when the Israelites cried out to the LORD, He raised up Othniel son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz as a deliverer to save them. 

The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he became Israel’s judge and went out to war. And the LORD delivered Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram into the hand of Othniel, who prevailed against him. 

So the land had rest for forty years, until Othniel son of Kenaz died. 

Once again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD. So He gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD. 

After enlisting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join forces with him, Eglon attacked and defeated Israel, taking possession of the City of Palms. 

The Israelites served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years. 

And again they cried out to the LORD, and He raised up Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed Benjamite, as their deliverer. So they sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab. 

Now Ehud had made for himself a double-edged sword a cubit long. He strapped it to his right thigh under his cloak and brought the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was an obese man. 

After Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he ushered out those who had carried it. 

But upon reaching the idols near Gilgal, he himself turned back and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” 

“Silence,” said the king, and all his attendants left him. 

Then Ehud approached him while he was sitting alone in the coolness of his upper room. “I have a word from God for you,” Ehud said, and the king rose from his seat. 

And Ehud reached with his left hand, pulled the sword from his right thigh, and plunged it into Eglon’s belly. 

Even the handle sank in after the blade, and Eglon’s fat closed in over it, so that Ehud did not withdraw the sword from his belly. And Eglon’s bowels emptied. 

Then Ehud went out through the porch, closing and locking the doors of the upper room behind him. 

After Ehud was gone, Eglon’s servants came in and found the doors of the upper room locked. “He must be relieving himself in the cool room,” they said. 

So they waited until they became worried and saw that he had still not opened the doors of the upper room. Then they took the key and opened the doors—and there was their lord lying dead on the floor. 

Ehud, however, had escaped while the servants waited. He passed by the idols and escaped to Seirah. 

On arriving in Seirah, he blew the ram’s horn throughout the hill country of Ephraim. The Israelites came down with him from the hills, and he became their leader. 

“Follow me,” he told them, “for the LORD has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” 

So they followed him down and seized the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross over. 

At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all robust and valiant men. Not one of them escaped. 

So Moab was subdued under the hand of Israel that day, and the land had rest for eighty years. 

After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath. And he too saved Israel, striking down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad.

Judges 4

After Ehud died, the Israelites again did evil in the sight of the LORD. 

So the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his forces was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim. 

Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, because Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and he had harshly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years. 

Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 

And she would sit under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, where the Israelites would go up to her for judgment. 

She summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “Surely the LORD, the God of Israel, is commanding you: ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, taking with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun. 

And I will draw out Sisera the commander of Jabin’s army, his chariots, and his troops to the River Kishon, and I will deliver him into your hand.’ ” 

Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” 

“I will certainly go with you,” Deborah replied, “but the road you are taking will bring you no honor, because the LORD will be selling Sisera into the hand of a woman.” So Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh, 

where he summoned Zebulun and Naphtali. Ten thousand men followed him, and Deborah also went with him. 

Now Heber the Kenite had moved away from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law  of Moses, and had pitched his tent by the great tree of Zaanannim, which was near Kedesh. 

When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up Mount Tabor, 

he summoned all nine hundred of his iron chariots and all the men with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the River Kishon. 

Then Deborah said to Barak, “Arise, for this is the day that the LORD has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the LORD gone before you?” 

So Barak came down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him. 

And in front of him the LORD routed with the sword Sisera, all his charioteers, and all his army. Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot. 

Then Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth-hagoyim, and the whole army of Sisera fell by the sword; not a single man was left. 

Meanwhile, Sisera had fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 

Jael went out to greet Sisera and said to him, “Come in, my lord. Come in with me. Do not be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket. 

Sisera said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a container of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him again. 

“Stand at the entrance to the tent,” he said, “and if anyone comes and asks you, ‘Is there a man here?’ say, ‘No.’ ” 

But as he lay sleeping from exhaustion, Heber’s wife Jael took a tent peg, grabbed a hammer, and went silently to Sisera. She drove the peg through his temple and into the ground, and he died. 

When Barak arrived in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to greet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man you are seeking.” So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera dead, with a tent peg through his temple. 

On that day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan before the Israelites. 

And the hand of the Israelites grew stronger and stronger against Jabin king of Canaan until they destroyed him.

Judges 5

On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song: 

“When the princes take the lead in Israel, 

when the people volunteer, 

bless the LORD. 

Listen, O kings! Give ear, O princes! 

I will sing to the LORD; 

I will sing praise to the LORD, 

the God of Israel. 

O LORD, when You went out from Seir, 

when You marched from the land of Edom, 

the earth trembled, the heavens poured out rain, 

and the clouds poured down water. 

The mountains quaked before the LORD, 

the One of Sinai, 

before the LORD, 

the God of Israel. 

In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, 

in the days of Jael, 

the highways were deserted 

and the travelers took the byways. 

Life in the villages ceased; 

it ended in Israel, 

until I, Deborah, arose, 

a mother in Israel. 

When they chose new gods, 

then war came to their gates. 

Not a shield or spear was found 

among forty thousand in Israel. 

My heart is with the princes of Israel, 

with the volunteers among the people. 

Bless the LORD! 

You who ride white donkeys, 

who sit on saddle blankets, 

and you who travel the road, 

ponder the voices of the singers  

at the watering places. 

There they shall recount the righteous acts of the LORD, 

the righteous deeds of His villagers  in Israel. 

Then the people of the LORD 

went down to the gates: 

‘Awake, awake, O Deborah! 

Awake, awake, sing a song! 

Arise, O Barak, 

and take hold of your captives, O son of Abinoam!’ 

Then the survivors came down to the nobles; 

the people of the LORD came down to me against the mighty. 

Some came from Ephraim, with their roots in Amalek; 

Benjamin came with your people after you. 

The commanders came down from Machir, 

the bearers of the marshal’s staff from Zebulun. 

The princes of Issachar were with Deborah, 

and Issachar was with Barak, 

rushing into the valley at his heels. 

In the clans of Reuben 

there was great indecision. 

Why did you sit among the sheepfolds 

to hear the whistling for the flocks? 

In the clans of Reuben 

there was great indecision. 

Gilead remained beyond the Jordan. 

Dan, why did you linger by the ships? 

Asher stayed at the coast 

and remained in his harbors. 

Zebulun was a people who risked their lives; 

Naphtali, too, on the heights of the battlefield. 

Kings came and fought; 

then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach 

by the waters of Megiddo, 

but they took no plunder of silver. 

From the heavens the stars fought; 

from their courses they fought against Sisera. 

The River Kishon swept them away, 

the ancient river, the River Kishon. 

March on, O my soul, in strength! 

Then the hooves of horses thundered— 

the mad galloping of his stallions. 

‘Curse Meroz,’ says the angel of the LORD. 

‘Bitterly curse her inhabitants; 

for they did not come to help the LORD, 

to help the LORD against the mighty.’ 

Most blessed among women is Jael, 

the wife of Heber the Kenite, 

most blessed of tent-dwelling women. 

He asked for water, and she gave him milk. 

In a magnificent bowl she brought him curds. 

She reached for the tent peg, 

her right hand for the workman’s hammer. 

She struck Sisera and crushed his skull; 

she shattered and pierced his temple. 

At her feet he collapsed, he fell, 

there he lay still; 

at her feet he collapsed, he fell; 

where he collapsed, there he fell dead. 

Sisera’s mother looked through the window; 

she peered through the lattice and lamented: 

‘Why is his chariot so long in coming? 

What has delayed the clatter of his chariots?’ 

Her wisest ladies answer; 

indeed she keeps telling herself, 

‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoil— 

a girl or two for each warrior, 

a plunder of dyed garments for Sisera, 

the spoil of embroidered garments 

for the neck of the looter?’ 

So may all your enemies perish, 

O LORD! 

But may those who love You 

shine like the sun at its brightest.” 

And the land had rest for forty years.

Psalm 3

O LORD, how my foes have increased! 

How many rise up against me! 

Many say of me, 

“God will not deliver him.” 

Selah  

But You, O LORD, are a shield around me, 

my glory, and the One who lifts my head. 

To the LORD I cry aloud, 

and He answers me from His holy mountain. 

Selah 

I lie down and sleep; 

I wake again, for the LORD sustains me. 

I will not fear the myriads 

set against me on every side. 

Arise, O LORD! 

Save me, O my God! 

Strike all my enemies on the jaw; 

break the teeth of the wicked. 

Salvation belongs to the LORD; 

may Your blessing be on Your people. 

Selah

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field." - Matthew 13:44

Matthew 13:44-58. This week we finish chapter 13 of the gospel of Matthew. In this section we go over three more parables (The parable of the hidden treasure, the pearl, and the net) as well as the story of when Jesus returned to his hometown to teach and perform miracles.