JUDGES 6

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Israel Oppressed by Midian  6:1 Then the sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD gave them into the hands of Midian seven years. 2 The power of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of Midian the sons of Israel made for themselves the dens which were in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. 3 For it was when Israel had sown, that the Midianites would come up with the Amalekites and the sons of the east and go against them. 4 So they would camp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel as well as no sheep, ox, or donkey. 5 For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, they would come in like locusts for number, both they and their camels were innumerable; and they came into the land to devastate it. 6 So Israel was brought very low because of Midian, and the sons of Israel cried to the LORD.
    7 Now it came about when the sons of Israel cried to the LORD on account of Midian, 8 that the LORD sent a prophet to the sons of Israel, and he said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘It was I who brought you up from Egypt and brought you out from the house of slavery. 9 I delivered you from the hands of the Egyptians and from the hands of all your oppressors, and dispossessed them before you and gave you their land, 10 and I said to you, “I am the LORD your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But you have not obeyed Me.”’”
Gideon Is Visited    11 Then the angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites. 12 The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O valiant warrior.” 13 Then Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” 14 The LORD looked at him and said, “Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?” 15 He said to Him, “O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.” 16 But the LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man.” 17 So Gideon said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who speak with me. 18 Please do not depart from here, until I come back to You, and bring out my offering and lay it before You.” And He said, “I will remain until you return.”
    19 Then Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour; he put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, and brought them out to him under the oak and presented them. 20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so. 21 Then the angel of the LORD put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight. 22 When Gideon saw that he was the angel of the LORD, he said, “Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face.” 23 The LORD said to him, “Peace to you, do not fear; you shall not die.” 24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and named it The LORD is Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
    25 Now on the same night the LORD said to him, “Take your father’s bull and a second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it; 26 and build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of this stronghold in an orderly manner, and take a second bull and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.” 27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the LORD had spoken to him; and because he was too afraid of his father’s household and the men of the city to do it by day, he did it by night.
The Altar of Baal Destroyed    28 When the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was torn down, and the Asherah which was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar which had been built. 29 They said to one another, “Who did this thing?” And when they searched about and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash did this thing.” 30 Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has torn down the altar of Baal, and indeed, he has cut down the Asherah which was beside it.” 31 But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal, or will you deliver him? Whoever will plead for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because someone has torn down his altar.” 32 Therefore on that day he named him Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he had torn down his altar.
    33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the sons of the east assembled themselves; and they crossed over and camped in the valley of Jezreel. 34 So the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon; and he blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him. 35 He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and they also were called together to follow him; and he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they came up to meet them.
Sign of the Fleece    36 Then Gideon said to God, “If You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken, 37 behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken.” 38 And it was so. When he arose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece, he drained the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not let Your anger burn against me that I may speak once more; please let me make a test once more with the fleece, let it now be dry only on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the ground.” 40 God did so that night; for it was dry only on the fleece, and dew was on all the ground.

PSALM 89

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The LORD’S Covenant with David, and Israel’s Afflictions.A Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.
89:1 I will sing of the lovingkindness of the LORD forever;

To all generations I will make known Your faithfulness with my mouth.

2 For I have said, “Lovingkindness will be built up forever;

In the heavens You will establish Your faithfulness.”

3 “I have made a covenant with My chosen;

I have sworn to David My servant,

4 I will establish your seed forever

And build up your throne to all generations.” Selah.

5 The heavens will praise Your wonders, O LORD;

Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.

6 For who in the skies is comparable to the LORD?

Who among the sons of the mighty is like the LORD,

7 A God greatly feared in the council of the holy ones,

And awesome above all those who are around Him?

8 O LORD God of hosts, who is like You, O mighty LORD?

Your faithfulness also surrounds You.

9 You rule the swelling of the sea;

When its waves rise, You still them.

10 You Yourself crushed Rahab like one who is slain;

You scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.

11 The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours;

The world and all it contains, You have founded them.

12 The north and the south, You have created them;

Tabor and Hermon shout for joy at Your name.

13 You have a strong arm;

Your hand is mighty, Your right hand is exalted.

14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;

Lovingkindness and truth go before You.

15 How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!

O LORD, they walk in the light of Your countenance.

16 In Your name they rejoice all the day,

And by Your righteousness they are exalted.

17 For You are the glory of their strength,

And by Your favor our horn is exalted.

18 For our shield belongs to the LORD,

And our king to the Holy One of Israel.

19 Once You spoke in vision to Your godly ones,

And said, “I have given help to one who is mighty;

I have exalted one chosen from the people.

20 “I have found David My servant;

With My holy oil I have anointed him,

21 With whom My hand will be established;

My arm also will strengthen him.

22 “The enemy will not deceive him,

Nor the son of wickedness afflict him.

23 “But I shall crush his adversaries before him,

And strike those who hate him.

24 “My faithfulness and My lovingkindness will be with him,

And in My name his horn will be exalted.

25 “I shall also set his hand on the sea

And his right hand on the rivers.

26 “He will cry to Me, ‘You are my Father,

My God, and the rock of my salvation.’

27 “I also shall make him My firstborn,

The highest of the kings of the earth.

28 “My lovingkindness I will keep for him forever,

And My covenant shall be confirmed to him.

29 “So I will establish his descendants forever

And his throne as the days of heaven.

30 “If his sons forsake My law

And do not walk in My judgments,

31 If they violate My statutes

And do not keep My commandments,

32 Then I will punish their transgression with the rod

And their iniquity with stripes.

33 “But I will not break off My lovingkindness from him,

Nor deal falsely in My faithfulness.

34 “My covenant I will not violate,

Nor will I alter the utterance of My lips.

35 “Once I have sworn by My holiness;

I will not lie to David.

36 “His descendants shall endure forever

And his throne as the sun before Me.

37 “It shall be established forever like the moon,

And the witness in the sky is faithful.” Selah.

38 But You have cast off and rejected,

You have been full of wrath against Your anointed.

39 You have spurned the covenant of Your servant;

You have profaned his crown in the dust.

40 You have broken down all his walls;

You have brought his strongholds to ruin.

41 All who pass along the way plunder him;

He has become a reproach to his neighbors.

42 You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries;

You have made all his enemies rejoice.

43 You also turn back the edge of his sword

And have not made him stand in battle.

44 You have made his splendor to cease

And cast his throne to the ground.

45 You have shortened the days of his youth;

You have covered him with shame. Selah.

46 How long, O LORD?

Will You hide Yourself forever?

Will Your wrath burn like fire?

47 Remember what my span of life is;

For what vanity You have created all the sons of men!

48 What man can live and not see death?

Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah.

49 Where are Your former lovingkindnesses, O Lord,

Which You swore to David in Your faithfulness?

50 Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your servants;

How I bear in my bosom the reproach of all the many peoples,

51 With which Your enemies have reproached, O LORD,

With which they have reproached the footsteps of Your anointed.

52 Blessed be the LORD forever!

Amen and Amen.

PSALM 90

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God’s Eternity and Man’s Transitoriness.A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.
90:1 Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.

2 Before the mountains were born

Or You gave birth to the earth and the world,

Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

3 You turn man back into dust

And say, “Return, O children of men.”

4 For a thousand years in Your sight

Are like yesterday when it passes by,

Or as a watch in the night.

5 You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep;

In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew.

6 In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew;

Toward evening it fades and withers away.

7 For we have been consumed by Your anger

And by Your wrath we have been dismayed.

8 You have placed our iniquities before You,

Our secret sins in the light of Your presence.

9 For all our days have declined in Your fury;

We have finished our years like a sigh.

10 As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years,

Or if due to strength, eighty years,

Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow;

For soon it is gone and we fly away.

11 Who understands the power of Your anger

And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You?

12 So teach us to number our days,

That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.

13 Do return, O LORD; how long will it be?

And be sorry for Your servants.

14 O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness,

That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

15 Make us glad according to the days You have afflicted us,

And the years we have seen evil.

16 Let Your work appear to Your servants

And Your majesty to their children.

17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us;

And confirm for us the work of our hands;

Yes, confirm the work of our hands.

PROVERBS 7

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The Wiles of the Harlot7:1 My son, keep my words

And treasure my commandments within you.

2 Keep my commandments and live,

And my teaching as the apple of your eye.

3 Bind them on your fingers;

Write them on the tablet of your heart.

4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”

And call understanding your intimate friend;

5 That they may keep you from an adulteress,

From the foreigner who flatters with her words.

6 For at the window of my house

I looked out through my lattice,

7 And I saw among the naive,

And discerned among the youths

A young man lacking sense,

8 Passing through the street near her corner;

And he takes the way to her house,

9 In the twilight, in the evening,

In the middle of the night and in the darkness.

10 And behold, a woman comes to meet him,

Dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart.

11 She is boisterous and rebellious,

Her feet do not remain at home;

12 She is now in the streets, now in the squares,

And lurks by every corner.

13 So she seizes him and kisses him

And with a brazen face she says to him:

14 “I was due to offer peace offerings;

Today I have paid my vows.

15 “Therefore I have come out to meet you,

To seek your presence earnestly, and I have found you.

16 “I have spread my couch with coverings,

With colored linens of Egypt.

17 “I have sprinkled my bed

With myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.

18 “Come, let us drink our fill of love until morning;

Let us delight ourselves with caresses.

19 “For my husband is not at home,

He has gone on a long journey;

20 He has taken a bag of money with him,

At the full moon he will come home.”

21 With her many persuasions she entices him;

With her flattering lips she seduces him.

22 Suddenly he follows her

As an ox goes to the slaughter,

Or as one in fetters to the discipline of a fool,

23 Until an arrow pierces through his liver;

As a bird hastens to the snare,

So he does not know that it will cost him his life.

24 Now therefore, my sons, listen to me,

And pay attention to the words of my mouth.

25 Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways,

Do not stray into her paths.

26 For many are the victims she has cast down,

And numerous are all her slain.

27 Her house is the way to Sheol,

Descending to the chambers of death.