Judges 11; Judges 12; Luke 6:1-26

Judges 11

1 Jephthah the Gileadite was a great warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father.

2 Gilead's wife bore him sons, and when they grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, "You will have no inheritance in our father's house, because you are the son of another woman."

3 So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Then some lawless men joined Jephthah and traveled with him.

4 Some time later, the Ammonites fought against Israel.

5 When the Ammonites made war with Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.

6 They said to him, "Come, be our commander, and let's fight against the Ammonites."

7 Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead, "Didn't you hate me and drive me from my father's house? Why then have you come to me now when you're in trouble?"

8 They answered Jephthah, "Since that's true, we now turn to you. Come with us, fight the Ammonites, and you will become leader of all the inhabitants of Gilead."

9 So Jephthah said to them, "If you are bringing me back to fight the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me, I will be your leader."

10 The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "The Lord is our witness if we don't do as you say."

11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead. The people put him over themselves as leader and commander, and Jephthah repeated all his terms in the presence of the Lord at Mizpah.

12 Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, saying, "What do you have against me that you have come to fight against me in my land?"

13 The king of the Ammonites said to Jephthah's messengers, "When Israel came from Egypt, they seized my land from the Arnon to the Jabbok and the Jordan. Now restore it peaceably."

14 Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites

15 to tell him, "This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites.

16 But when they came from Egypt, Israel traveled through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh.

17 Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, 'Please let us travel through your land,' but the king of Edom would not listen. They also sent [messengers] to the king of Moab, but he refused. So Israel stayed in Kadesh.

18 "Then they traveled through the wilderness and around 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 did not enter into the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab.

19 "Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon. Israel said to him, 'Please let us travel through your land to our country,'

20 but Sihon did not trust Israel. Instead, Sihon gathered all his people, camped at Jahaz, and fought with Israel.

21 Then the Lord God of Israel handed over Sihon and all his people to Israel, and they defeated them. So Israel took possession of the entire land of the Amorites who lived in that country.

22 They took possession of all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.

23 "The Lord God of Israel has now driven out the Amorites before His people Israel, but will you drive us out?

24 Isn't it true that you may possess whatever your god Chemosh drives out for you, and we may possess everything the Lord our God drives out before us?

25 Now are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend with Israel or fight against them?

26 While Israel lived 300 years in Heshbon and its villages, in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, why didn't you take them back at that time?

27 I have not sinned against you, but you have wronged me by fighting against me. Let the Lord [who is] the Judge decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites."

28 But the king of the Ammonites would not listen to Jephthah's message that he sent him.

29 The Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah, who traveled through Gilead and Manasseh, and then through Mizpah of Gilead. He crossed over to the Ammonites from Mizpah of Gilead.

30 Jephthah made this vow to the Lord: "If You will hand over the Ammonites to me,

31 whatever comes out of the doors of my house to greet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites will belong to the Lord, and I will offer it as a burnt offering."

32 Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the Lord handed them over to him.

33 He defeated 20 of their cities with a great slaughter from Aroer all the way to the entrance of Minnith and to Abel-keramim. So the Ammonites were subdued before the Israelites.

34 When Jephthah went to his home in Mizpah, there was his daughter, coming out to meet him with tambourines and dancing! She was his only child; he had no other son or daughter besides her.

35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, "No! [Not] my daughter! You have devastated me! You have brought great misery on me. I have given my word to the Lord and cannot take [it] back."

36 Then she said to him, "My father, you have given your word to the Lord. Do to me as you have said, for the Lord brought vengeance on your enemies, the Ammonites."

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

38 "Go," he said. And he sent her away two months. So she left with her friends and mourned her virginity as she wandered through the mountains.

39 At the end of two months, she returned to her father, and he kept the vow he had made about her. And she had never been intimate with a man. Now it became a custom in Israel

40 [that] four days each year the young women of Israel would commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

Judges 12

1 The men of Ephraim were called together and crossed [the Jordan] to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, "Why have you crossed over to fight against the Ammonites but didn't call us to go with you? We will burn your house down with you [in it]!"

2 Then Jephthah said to them, "My people and I had a serious conflict with the Ammonites. So I called for you, but you didn't deliver me from their power.

3 When I saw that you weren't going to deliver me, I took my life in my own hands and crossed over to the Ammonites, and the Lord handed them over to me. Why then have you come today to fight against me?"

4 Then Jephthah gathered all of the men of Gilead. They fought and defeated Ephraim, because Ephraim had said, "You Gileadites are Ephraimite fugitives in [the territories of] Ephraim and Manasseh."

5 The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim. Whenever a fugitive from Ephraim said, "Let me cross over," the Gileadites asked him, "Are you an Ephraimite?" If he answered, "No,"

6 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. At that time, 42,000 from Ephraim died.

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

8 Ibzan, who was from Bethlehem, judged Israel after Jephthah

9 and had 30 sons. He gave his 30 daughters in marriage [to men] outside the tribe and brought back 30 wives for his sons from outside [the tribe]. Ibzan judged Israel seven years,

10 and when he died, he was buried in Bethlehem.

11 Elon, who was from Zebulun, judged Israel after Ibzan. He judged Israel 10 years,

12 and when he died, he was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.

13 After Elon, Abdon son of Hillel, who was from Pirathon, judged Israel.

14 He had 40 sons and 30 grandsons, who rode on 70 donkeys. Abdon judged Israel eight years,

15 and when he died, he was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

Luke 6:1-26

1 On a Sabbath, He passed through the grainfields. His disciples were picking heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them.

2 But some of the Pharisees said, "Why are you doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?"

3 Jesus answered them, "Haven't you read what David and those who were with him did when he was hungry-

4 how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the sacred bread, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat? He even gave some to those who were with him."

5 Then He told them, "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."

6 On another Sabbath He entered the synagogue and was teaching. A man was there whose right hand was paralyzed.

7 The scribes and Pharisees were watching Him closely, to see if He would heal on the Sabbath, so that they could find a charge against Him.

8 But He knew their thoughts and told the man with the paralyzed hand, "Get up and stand here." So he got up and stood there.

9 Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you: is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?"

10 After looking around at them all, He told him, "Stretch out your hand." He did so, and his hand was restored.

11 They, however, were filled with rage and started discussing with one another what they might do to Jesus.

12 During those days He went out to the mountain to pray and spent all night in prayer to God.

13 When daylight came, He summoned His disciples, and He chose 12 of them-He also named them apostles:

14 Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew;

15 Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot;

16 Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

17 After coming down with them, He stood on a level place with a large crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon.

18 They came to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; and those tormented by unclean spirits were made well.

19 The whole crowd was trying to touch Him, because power was coming out from Him and healing them all.

20 Then looking up at His disciples, He said: Blessed are you who are poor, because the kingdom of God is yours.

21 Blessed are you who are hungry now, because you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, because you will laugh.

22 Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you, insult you, and slander your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

23 "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! Take note-your reward is great in heaven, because this is the way their ancestors used to treat the prophets.

24 But woe to you who are rich, because you have received your comfort.

25 Woe to you who are full now, because you will be hungry. Woe to you who are laughing now, because you will mourn and weep.

26 Woe to you when all people speak well of you, because this is the way their ancestors used to treat the false prophets.