Podcasts about Jephthah

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Judges 11:1 tells us that Jephthah was a mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a harlot. His father had a legitimate wife who bore sons, and those sons kicked him out of their home, telling him he would have no part of their inheritance because he was an illegitimate heir. All God's Women is a daily devotional women's Bible study podcast and internationally syndicated radio show where we journey through the Bible one woman's story at a time. If you enjoy learning about women in the Bible, tune in each weekday for 2-minute Bible stories about Bible women.If you enjoy listening to All God's Women podcast and radio show, you're going to love my brand new Women of Prayer Bible study. Get to know the character of God by studying the prayers of women in the Bible. Grab your copy today. Available in paperback and Kindle.

Civil War breaks out in the land of Israel! Jephthah and his men defeat the instigators from Ephraim. Why did Jephthah wage this war? What were its ramifications? Who were the judges that succeeded Jephthah and what is remarkable about them? We discuss all of these interesting points and others below! judges_12_-_9_18_22_8.36_am.mp3File Size: 54110 kbFile Type: mp3Download File judges_12.1-15.pdfFile Size: 20 kbFile Type: pdfDownload File [...]

In this chapter we find both a great man of faith, a great deliverance of the nation of Israel, and a highly controversial event with Jephthah and his daughter. What actually happened so long ago in the land of Israel? Listen in and find out! judges_11_-_9_14_22_6.09_pm.mp3File Size: 122909 kbFile Type: mp3Download File judges_11.1-40.pdfFile Size: 20 kbFile Type: pdfDownload File [...]

Jephthah is not prepared for the sacrifice he'll have to make after God helps him win a ginormous battle.  Like, SUPER unprepared. But what happens as a result is the most epic Ladies' Weekend in the Bible. Come to the mountains with us, friends! No Jephthahs allowed.P.S. Join the Listeners' Ark! 2 by 2, file into our Patreon at the link below to support the show for as little as $1 a month.You can also support the show by leaving a review. We LOVE to see them, and we are so grateful for you!SUPPORT THE SHOW ONPatreonInstagramFacebookSupport the show

And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you.2 And now, behold, the king walketh before you: and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day.3 Behold, here I am: witness against me before the Lord, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.4 And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man's hand.5 And he said unto them, The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found ought in my hand. And they answered, He is witness.6 And Samuel said unto the people, It is the Lord that advanced Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.7 Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the Lord of all the righteous acts of the Lord, which he did to you and to your fathers.8 When Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers cried unto the Lord, then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, which brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place.9 And when they forgat the Lord their God, he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.10 And they cried unto the Lord, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord, and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee.11 And the Lord sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelled safe.12 And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the Lord your God was your king.13 Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired! and, behold, the Lord hath set a king over you.14 If ye will fear the Lord, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following the Lord your God:15 But if ye will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall the hand of the Lord be against you, as it was against your fathers.16 Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the Lord will do before your eyes.17 Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the Lord, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking you a king.18 So Samuel called unto the Lord; and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.19 And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the Lord thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king.20 And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart;21 And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain.22 For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake: because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people.23 Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:24 Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you.25 But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king.

This week we dive into one of the more darker passages of scripture found in the Old Testament - Jephthah's daughter (Judges 11:34-40). Our pastors talk about how this passage can challenging to read and interpret and try to find hope within this grim story.   On this episode: Pastor Annette Stiles Pendergrass Pastor Allee Willcox Grace Stiles Williams (Director of Welcome and Outreach)

This week we dive into one of the more darker passages of scripture found in the Old Testament - Jephthah's daughter (Judges 11:34-40). Our pastors talk about how this passage can challenging to read and interpret and try to find hope within this grim story.   On this episode: Pastor Annette Stiles Pendergrass Pastor Allee Willcox Grace Stiles Williams (Director of Welcome and Outreach)

A new MP3 sermon from Providence Baptist Chapel is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Commitment of Faith - Jephthah Subtitle: Hebrews 11 - Faithful Heroes Speaker: Pooyan Mehrshahi Broadcaster: Providence Baptist Chapel Event: Midweek Service Date: 9/7/2022 Bible: Hebrews 11:32 Length: 28 min.

Pastor Joseph's Sunday sermon on Judges 10:17-11:40 entitled "The Complicated Life of Jephthah".To learn more about CCPV, visit us on our...Website: www.calvarypv.orgInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/calvarychapelpomonavalleyFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/ccpomonavalleyBulletin+: Calvary Chapel Pomona Valley

Our weekly worship service and message from St. Augustine, Florida with Pastor Josh Hersey. [Recorded live on September 11, 2022 at Church On The Rock with Pastor Josh Hersey] So glad you are joining in with us for our online worship service. New Here? Did you make a decision to follow Christ today? Fill out our digital connection card: https://www.churchontherock.net/connect-card How can we pray with you? www.churchontherock.net/prayer Give online at: https://www.churchontherock.net/give

A Reason For Hope with Pastor Scott Richards! Sharing the Word one question of the heart at a time. Tags: Sola Fide, Jephthah, and Contradictions

Ange Gratsounas pm - Narwee Baptist Church

Lessons from Jephthah- Judges 11-12

Jephthah and his successors. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/matt-russell6/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matt-russell6/support

Judges 11-12. Note 1: Kadesh was the chief site of encampment for the Israelites during their wandering in the Zin Desert (Deuteronomy 1:46), as well as the place from which the Israelite spies were sent to Canaan (Numbers 13:1-26). The first failed attempt to capture Canaan was made from Kadesh (Numbers 14:40-45). Numbers 10:11-15,24

Jephthah the ninth judge. Jephthah's tragic vow. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/matt-russell6/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matt-russell6/support

Psalms and Wisdom: Psalm 23 Psalm 23 (Listen) The Lord Is My Shepherd A Psalm of David. 23   The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.2     He makes me lie down in green pastures.  He leads me beside still waters.13     He restores my soul.  He leads me in paths of righteousness2    for his name's sake. 4   Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,3    I will fear no evil,  for you are with me;    your rod and your staff,    they comfort me. 5   You prepare a table before me    in the presence of my enemies;  you anoint my head with oil;    my cup overflows.6   Surely4 goodness and mercy5 shall follow me    all the days of my life,  and I shall dwell6 in the house of the LORD    forever.7 Footnotes [1] 23:2 Hebrew beside waters of rest [2] 23:3 Or in right paths [3] 23:4 Or the valley of deep darkness [4] 23:6 Or Only [5] 23:6 Or steadfast love [6] 23:6 Or shall return to dwell [7] 23:6 Hebrew for length of days (ESV) Pentateuch and History: 1 Samuel 12 1 Samuel 12 (Listen) Samuel's Farewell Address 12 And Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have obeyed your voice in all that you have said to me and have made a king over you. 2 And now, behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. 3 Here I am; testify against me before the LORD and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me1 and I will restore it to you.” 4 They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man's hand.” 5 And he said to them, “The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.” 6 And Samuel said to the people, “The LORD is witness,2 who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 7 Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the LORD concerning all the righteous deeds of the LORD that he performed for you and for your fathers. 8 When Jacob went into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them,3 then your fathers cried out to the LORD and the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. 9 But they forgot the LORD their God. And he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor,4 and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them. 10 And they cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.' 11 And the LORD sent Jerubbaal and Barak5 and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. 12 And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,' when the LORD your God was your king. 13 And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the LORD has set a king over you. 14 If you will fear the LORD and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God, it will be well. 15 But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you and your king.6 16 Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the LORD will do before your eyes. 17 Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the LORD, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking for yourselves a king.” 18 So Samuel called upon the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel. 19 And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” 20 And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. 21 And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. 22 For the LORD will not forsake his people, for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you a people for himself. 23 Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. 24 Only fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. 25 But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.” Footnotes [1] 12:3 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks Testify against me [2] 12:6 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks is witness [3] 12:8 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks and the Egyptians oppressed them [4] 12:9 Septuagint the army of Jabin king of Hazor [5] 12:11 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew Bedan [6] 12:15 Septuagint; Hebrew fathers (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Lamentations 3 Lamentations 3 (Listen) Great Is Your Faithfulness 3   I am the man who has seen affliction    under the rod of his wrath;2   he has driven and brought me    into darkness without any light;3   surely against me he turns his hand    again and again the whole day long. 4   He has made my flesh and my skin waste away;    he has broken my bones;5   he has besieged and enveloped me    with bitterness and tribulation;6   he has made me dwell in darkness    like the dead of long ago. 7   He has walled me about so that I cannot escape;    he has made my chains heavy;8   though I call and cry for help,    he shuts out my prayer;9   he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones;    he has made my paths crooked. 10   He is a bear lying in wait for me,    a lion in hiding;11   he turned aside my steps and tore me to pieces;    he has made me desolate;12   he bent his bow and set me    as a target for his arrow. 13   He drove into my kidneys    the arrows of his quiver;14   I have become the laughingstock of all peoples,    the object of their taunts all day long.15   He has filled me with bitterness;    he has sated me with wormwood. 16   He has made my teeth grind on gravel,    and made me cower in ashes;17   my soul is bereft of peace;    I have forgotten what happiness1 is;18   so I say, “My endurance has perished;    so has my hope from the LORD.” 19   Remember my affliction and my wanderings,    the wormwood and the gall!20   My soul continually remembers it    and is bowed down within me.21   But this I call to mind,    and therefore I have hope: 22   The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;2    his mercies never come to an end;23   they are new every morning;    great is your faithfulness.24   “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,    “therefore I will hope in him.” 25   The LORD is good to those who wait for him,    to the soul who seeks him.26   It is good that one should wait quietly    for the salvation of the LORD.27   It is good for a man that he bear    the yoke in his youth. 28   Let him sit alone in silence    when it is laid on him;29   let him put his mouth in the dust—    there may yet be hope;30   let him give his cheek to the one who strikes,    and let him be filled with insults. 31   For the Lord will not    cast off forever,32   but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion    according to the abundance of his steadfast love;33   for he does not afflict from his heart    or grieve the children of men. 34   To crush underfoot    all the prisoners of the earth,35   to deny a man justice    in the presence of the Most High,36   to subvert a man in his lawsuit,    the Lord does not approve. 37   Who has spoken and it came to pass,    unless the Lord has commanded it?38   Is it not from the mouth of the Most High    that good and bad come?39   Why should a living man complain,    a man, about the punishment of his sins? 40   Let us test and examine our ways,    and return to the LORD!41   Let us lift up our hearts and hands    to God in heaven:42   “We have transgressed and rebelled,    and you have not forgiven. 43   “You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,    killing without pity;44   you have wrapped yourself with a cloud    so that no prayer can pass through.45   You have made us scum and garbage    among the peoples. 46   “All our enemies    open their mouths against us;47   panic and pitfall have come upon us,    devastation and destruction;48   my eyes flow with rivers of tears    because of the destruction of the daughter of my people. 49   “My eyes will flow without ceasing,    without respite,50   until the LORD from heaven    looks down and sees;51   my eyes cause me grief    at the fate of all the daughters of my city. 52   “I have been hunted like a bird    by those who were my enemies without cause;53   they flung me alive into the pit    and cast stones on me;54   water closed over my head;    I said, ‘I am lost.' 55   “I called on your name, O LORD,    from the depths of the pit;56   you heard my plea, ‘Do not close    your ear to my cry for help!'57   You came near when I called on you;    you said, ‘Do not fear!' 58   “You have taken up my cause, O Lord;    you have redeemed my life.59   You have seen the wrong done to me, O LORD;    judge my cause.60   You have seen all their vengeance,    all their plots against me. 61   “You have heard their taunts, O LORD,    all their plots against me.62   The lips and thoughts of my assailants    are against me all the day long.63   Behold their sitting and their rising;    I am the object of their taunts. 64   “You will repay them,3 O LORD,    according to the work of their hands.65   You will give them4 dullness of heart;    your curse will be5 on them.66   You will pursue them6 in anger and destroy them    from under your heavens, O LORD.”7 Footnotes [1] 3:17 Hebrew good [2] 3:22 Syriac, Targum; Hebrew Because of the steadfast love of the Lord, we are not cut off [3] 3:64 Or Repay them [4] 3:65 Or Give them [5] 3:65 Or place your curse [6] 3:66 Or Pursue them [7] 3:66 Syriac (compare Septuagint, Vulgate); Hebrew the heavens of the Lord (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: 1 Peter 5 1 Peter 5 (Listen) Shepherd the Flock of God 5 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight,1 not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you;2 not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Final Greetings 12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. 13 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. 14 Greet one another with the kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ. Footnotes [1] 5:2 Some manuscripts omit exercising oversight [2] 5:2 Some manuscripts omit as God would have you (ESV)

And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thine house upon thee with fire.2 And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, ye delivered me not out of their hands.3 And when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the Lord delivered them into my hand: wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day, to fight against me?4 Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites.5 And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay;6 Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.7 And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.8 And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.9 And he had thirty sons, and thirty daughters, whom he sent abroad, and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years.10 Then died Ibzan, and was buried at Bethlehem.11 And after him Elon, a Zebulonite, judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years.12 And Elon the Zebulonite died, and was buried in Aijalon in the country of Zebulun.13 And after him Abdon the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite, judged Israel.14 And he had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on threescore and ten ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years.15 And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the mount of the Amalekites.

A Devotional on Judges 12:1 1And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thine house upon thee with fire. I Am Crucified with Christ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0_1jazh454

Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.2 And Gilead's wife bare him sons; and his wife's sons grew up, and they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house; for thou art the son of a strange woman.3 Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him.4 And it came to pass in process of time, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel.5 And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob:6 And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may fight with the children of Ammon.7 And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me, and expel me out of my father's house? and why are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress?8 And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.9 And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the Lord deliver them before me, shall I be your head?10 And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, The Lord be witness between us, if we do not so according to thy words.11 Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and captain over them: and Jephthah uttered all his words before the Lord in Mizpeh.12 And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against me to fight in my land?13 And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably.14 And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon:15 And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon:16 But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh;17 Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land: but the king of Edom would not hearken thereto. And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab: but he would not consent: and Israel abode in Kadesh.18 Then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab.19 And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my place.20 But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and pitched in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.21 And the Lord God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.22 And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan.23 So now the Lord God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it?24 Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever the Lord our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess.25 And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them,26 While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred years? why therefore did ye not recover them within that time?27 Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me: the Lord the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.28 Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah which he sent him.29 Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon.30 And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,31 Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.32 So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord delivered them into his hands.33 And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.34 And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back.36 And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the Lord hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon.37 And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows.38 And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains.39 And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel,40 That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.

Jephthah's Daughter Judges 11:29-40 Dr. Darryl Evans “Whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord's, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.” — Judges 11:31  

August 22, 2022 – Were all the judge good guys? Judges 10 - 12 The judges seem so different from each other. Were they all good guys? Let's find out together as we study the story of Jephthah in Judges 10 - 12.

Boundless, ungodly ambition destroys.

With family: 1 Samuel 12; Romans 10 1 Samuel 12 (Listen) Samuel's Farewell Address 12 And Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have obeyed your voice in all that you have said to me and have made a king over you. 2 And now, behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. 3 Here I am; testify against me before the LORD and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me1 and I will restore it to you.” 4 They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man's hand.” 5 And he said to them, “The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.” 6 And Samuel said to the people, “The LORD is witness,2 who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 7 Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the LORD concerning all the righteous deeds of the LORD that he performed for you and for your fathers. 8 When Jacob went into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them,3 then your fathers cried out to the LORD and the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. 9 But they forgot the LORD their God. And he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor,4 and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them. 10 And they cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.' 11 And the LORD sent Jerubbaal and Barak5 and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. 12 And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,' when the LORD your God was your king. 13 And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the LORD has set a king over you. 14 If you will fear the LORD and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God, it will be well. 15 But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you and your king.6 16 Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the LORD will do before your eyes. 17 Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the LORD, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking for yourselves a king.” 18 So Samuel called upon the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel. 19 And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” 20 And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. 21 And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. 22 For the LORD will not forsake his people, for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you a people for himself. 23 Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. 24 Only fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. 25 But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.” Footnotes [1] 12:3 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks Testify against me [2] 12:6 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks is witness [3] 12:8 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks and the Egyptians oppressed them [4] 12:9 Septuagint the army of Jabin king of Hazor [5] 12:11 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew Bedan [6] 12:15 Septuagint; Hebrew fathers (ESV) Romans 10 (Listen) 10 Brothers,1 my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.2 The Message of Salvation to All 5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. 6 But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?'” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?'” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?3 And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. 18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for   “Their voice has gone out to all the earth,    and their words to the ends of the world.” 19 But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says,   “I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation;    with a foolish nation I will make you angry.” 20 Then Isaiah is so bold as to say,   “I have been found by those who did not seek me;    I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.” 21 But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.” Footnotes [1] 10:1 Or Brothers and sisters [2] 10:4 Or end of the law, that everyone who believes may be justified [3] 10:14 Or him whom they have never heard (ESV) In private: Psalms 26–27; Jeremiah 49 Psalms 26–27 (Listen) I Will Bless the Lord Of David. 26   Vindicate me, O LORD,    for I have walked in my integrity,    and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.2   Prove me, O LORD, and try me;    test my heart and my mind.13   For your steadfast love is before my eyes,    and I walk in your faithfulness. 4   I do not sit with men of falsehood,    nor do I consort with hypocrites.5   I hate the assembly of evildoers,    and I will not sit with the wicked. 6   I wash my hands in innocence    and go around your altar, O LORD,7   proclaiming thanksgiving aloud,    and telling all your wondrous deeds. 8   O LORD, I love the habitation of your house    and the place where your glory dwells.9   Do not sweep my soul away with sinners,    nor my life with bloodthirsty men,10   in whose hands are evil devices,    and whose right hands are full of bribes. 11   But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity;    redeem me, and be gracious to me.12   My foot stands on level ground;    in the great assembly I will bless the LORD. The Lord Is My Light and My Salvation Of David. 27   The LORD is my light and my salvation;    whom shall I fear?  The LORD is the stronghold2 of my life;    of whom shall I be afraid? 2   When evildoers assail me    to eat up my flesh,  my adversaries and foes,    it is they who stumble and fall. 3   Though an army encamp against me,    my heart shall not fear;  though war arise against me,    yet3 I will be confident. 4   One thing have I asked of the LORD,    that will I seek after:  that I may dwell in the house of the LORD    all the days of my life,  to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD    and to inquire4 in his temple. 5   For he will hide me in his shelter    in the day of trouble;  he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;    he will lift me high upon a rock. 6   And now my head shall be lifted up    above my enemies all around me,  and I will offer in his tent    sacrifices with shouts of joy;  I will sing and make melody to the LORD. 7   Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud;    be gracious to me and answer me!8   You have said, “Seek5 my face.”  My heart says to you,    “Your face, LORD, do I seek.”69     Hide not your face from me.  Turn not your servant away in anger,    O you who have been my help.  Cast me not off; forsake me not,    O God of my salvation!10   For my father and my mother have forsaken me,    but the LORD will take me in. 11   Teach me your way, O LORD,    and lead me on a level path    because of my enemies.12   Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;    for false witnesses have risen against me,    and they breathe out violence. 13   I believe that I shall look7 upon the goodness of the LORD    in the land of the living!14   Wait for the LORD;    be strong, and let your heart take courage;    wait for the LORD! Footnotes [1] 26:2 Hebrew test my kidneys and my heart [2] 27:1 Or refuge [3] 27:3 Or in this [4] 27:4 Or meditate [5] 27:8 The command (seek) is addressed to more than one person [6] 27:8 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain [7] 27:13 Other Hebrew manuscripts Oh! Had I not believed that I would look (ESV) Jeremiah 49 (Listen) Judgment on Ammon 49 Concerning the Ammonites. Thus says the LORD:   “Has Israel no sons?    Has he no heir?  Why then has Milcom1 dispossessed Gad,    and his people settled in its cities?2   Therefore, behold, the days are coming,    declares the LORD,  when I will cause the battle cry to be heard    against Rabbah of the Ammonites;  it shall become a desolate mound,    and its villages shall be burned with fire;  then Israel shall dispossess those who dispossessed him,    says the LORD. 3   “Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste!    Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah!  Put on sackcloth,    lament, and run to and fro among the hedges!  For Milcom shall go into exile,    with his priests and his officials.4   Why do you boast of your valleys,2    O faithless daughter,  who trusted in her treasures, saying,    ‘Who will come against me?'5   Behold, I will bring terror upon you,    declares the Lord GOD of hosts,    from all who are around you,  and you shall be driven out, every man straight before him,    with none to gather the fugitives. 6 “But afterward I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites, declares the LORD.” Judgment on Edom 7 Concerning Edom. Thus says the LORD of hosts:   “Is wisdom no more in Teman?    Has counsel perished from the prudent?    Has their wisdom vanished?8   Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths,    O inhabitants of Dedan!  For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him,    the time when I punish him.9   If grape gatherers came to you,    would they not leave gleanings?  If thieves came by night,    would they not destroy only enough for themselves?10   But I have stripped Esau bare;    I have uncovered his hiding places,    and he is not able to conceal himself.  His children are destroyed, and his brothers,    and his neighbors; and he is no more.11   Leave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive;    and let your widows trust in me.” 12 For thus says the LORD: “If those who did not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, will you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you must drink. 13 For I have sworn by myself, declares the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a horror, a taunt, a waste, and a curse, and all her cities shall be perpetual wastes.” 14   I have heard a message from the LORD,    and an envoy has been sent among the nations:  “Gather yourselves together and come against her,    and rise up for battle!15   For behold, I will make you small among the nations,    despised among mankind.16   The horror you inspire has deceived you,    and the pride of your heart,  you who live in the clefts of the rock,3    who hold the height of the hill.  Though you make your nest as high as the eagle's,    I will bring you down from there,      declares the LORD. 17 “Edom shall become a horror. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its disasters. 18 As when Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities were overthrown, says the LORD, no man shall dwell there, no man shall sojourn in her. 19 Behold, like a lion coming up from the jungle of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make him4 run away from her. And I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd can stand before me? 20 Therefore hear the plan that the LORD has made against Edom and the purposes that he has formed against the inhabitants of Teman: Even the little ones of the flock shall be dragged away. Surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. 21 At the sound of their fall the earth shall tremble; the sound of their cry shall be heard at the Red Sea. 22 Behold, one shall mount up and fly swiftly like an eagle and spread his wings against Bozrah, and the heart of the warriors of Edom shall be in that day like the heart of a woman in her birth pains.” Judgment on Damascus 23 Concerning Damascus:   “Hamath and Arpad are confounded,    for they have heard bad news;  they melt in fear,    they are troubled like the sea that cannot be quiet.24   Damascus has become feeble, she turned to flee,    and panic seized her;  anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her,    as of a woman in labor.25   How is the famous city not forsaken,    the city of my joy?26&

Do you feel weak? I have a recommendation for you. Read some of the Old Testament stories about Moses, Joseph, David, Gideon; amazing women like Ruth and Esther and Deborah. These were people just like us. Each struggled in many, many different ways. Yet each had one thing in common: they believed God. They believed that God would forgive them, because He said He would. That He would empower them to do what He had asked them to do. They believed that He would provide for them and strengthen them because He said He would. And Hebrews 11 says that their “weakness was turned to strength.” Do you feel weak? Believe Him. Read the accounts of these lives. God was faithful to them. He will be faithful to you. This is Wendy Palau. "How much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets.By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight." Hebrews 11:32-34 radio.hopewithgod.com

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost The Collect: Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life: Give us grace to receive thankfully the fruits of his redeeming work, and to follow daily in the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. Old Testament: Jeremiah 23:23-29 23Am I a God near by, says the Lord, and not a God far off? 24Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them? says the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord. 25I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, “I have dreamed, I have dreamed!” 26How long? Will the hearts of the prophets ever turn back—those who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart?27They plan to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, just as their ancestors forgot my name for Baal.28Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let the one who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? says the Lord. 29Is not my word like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? Psalm: Psalm 82 1 God takes his stand in the council of heaven; he gives judgment in the midst of the gods: 2 “How long will you judge unjustly, and show favor to the wicked? 3 Save the weak and the orphan; defend the humble and needy; 4 Rescue the weak and the poor; deliver them from the power of the wicked. 5 They do not know, neither do they understand; they go about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. 6 Now I say to you, ‘You are gods, and all of you children of the Most High; 7 Nevertheless, you shall die like mortals, and fall like any prince.'” 8 Arise, O God, and rule the earth, for you shall take all nations for your own. Epistle: Hebrews 11:29-12:2 29By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. 30By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days.31By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace. 32And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. 36Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented— 38of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. 39Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect. 1Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,2looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Gospel: Luke 12:49-56 49“I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! 51Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! 52From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three;53they will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” 54He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain'; and so it happens. 55And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat'; and it happens. 56You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

"Be Faithful & Fruitful in Uncertain Times" Alvin Oommen Hebrews 11:32 - 12:2 - And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets - who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated - of whom the world was not worthy- wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. For more information about Pennington AG Church, please visit our website, penningtonag.church.

INTRODUCTION This chapter closes Leviticus by underlining the true covenant between God and His people through vows. Not only does God take His Word, and the obedience (or disobedience) of His people seriously (cf. Lev. 26), God takes the words of His people seriously. This is why Jesus cautions us against thoughtless vows. God keeps covenant, and His people are to be people of their word. THE TEXT “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying speaking unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, when a man shall make a singular vow, the persons shall be for the Lord by thy estimation…” (Lev. 27). SUMMARY OF THE TEXT When Israel swore vows to the Lord, they would promise to dedicate people or beasts to the service of the Lord or give an offering of equivalent value plus twenty percent (Lev. 26:1-13). Likewise, if a house or land were dedicated to the Lord, it would be considered holy to the Lord, and its value would be reckoned from the year of Jubilee with the fixed value of the tabernacle shekel (Lev. 26:14-25). Only the firstborn of animals could not be redeemed, along with those things devoted to the Lord (Lev. 26:16-34). VOWS THAT HELP & HURT Throughout the Old Testament, God's people worshipped Him through paying vows (Dt. 12:6ff, Ps. 50:14, 61:8, 66:13, 116:14, Jon. 1:16, Nah. 1:15). These were promises of offerings in response to particular answers to prayer. Jacob vowed to give tithes to the Lord if the Lord kept him safe and brought him home again safely (Gen. 28:20-22). One infamous example is when Jephthah vowed to sacrifice whatever came out to meet him when he returned from battle in peace, and his daughter was the first to greet him (Jdg. 11:30-40). The context of Jephthah's vow indicates that his daughter was dedicated to service in the tabernacle as a virgin (cf. Jdg. 11:39), not literally sacrificed, but it was still a great grief to the family. In Numbers 30, God says that adult males must not break their vows, but that young women who are still in their father's house still have the protection of their father hearing and confirming or annulling their vows (Num. 30:4-5). The same protection and forgiveness is granted to a married woman (Num. 30:6-7). But the vows of a widow or divorced woman stand against her (Num. 30:9). When a man annuls the vow of someone in his household, scripture says that he bears the iniquity and it is forgiven (Num. 30:12, 15). This is why Psalm 15 says that the man who dwells on God's holy hill swears to his own hurt and does not change (Ps. 15:4). When people swear a vow to the Lord, they are invoking His name, and therefore Jesus warns against making vows (Mt. 5:33-37). James warns of the same danger, lest you come into condemnation (Js. 5:12). And yet Paul took a Nazirite vow, and there is no indication of sin (Acts 18:18, cf. Acts 21:23). And Hebrews says that people may swear an oath to solve matters of contention (Heb. 6:16). So we conclude that swearing vows is lawful and sometimes necessary, but vows must be taken seriously because God will hold us accountable. CHRISTIAN VOWS Christians have determined that where the covenant stakes are high, vows are necessary, invoking God's name, asking God to judge the parties for loyalty or disloyalty. A business contract is one form of this in order to avoid contention. Marriage vows are some of the most important and potent. The wise woman of Proverbs 31 says that her son is the “son of her vows” (Prov. 31:2), and the adulterous woman forsakes her husband by covenant (Prov. 2:17, cf. Mal. 2:14). This is why civil and ecclesiastical leaders also swear vows to fulfill their covenant offices faithfully and why we swear membership and baptismal vows as a congregation. The word “Amen” is also a vow and pledge of loyalty to the Lord (cf. Num. 5:22, Dt. 27:15ff). APPLICATIONS Some are tempted to get wound tight about reading the fine print on a user agreement, but the central point is that because we are made in the image of God, our words are powerful like God's Word. The power of life and death are in the tongue (Prov. 18:21). The tongue is a fire that sets whole worlds ablaze, full of deadly poison (Js. 3:6-9). We live in a land full of foul words, cursing, and poison, frivolous vows and many lies, and it can be easy to get used to it. You can become accustomed to speaking disrespectfully to or about your husband or wife. You can get used to biting your children with criticism, being angry at parents, or just telling lies. But you are spewing poison, and you are asking for God's judgment. In our wedding ceremonies, we not only swear to keep ourselves only for our spouse in sexual purity and fidelity, we also swear to “love, honor, and cherish.” Harshness, bitterness, anger, and critical spirits are not a fulfillment of your vows to the Lord. Peter warns husbands in particular that failure to honor wives as the weaker vessel and a co-heir of the grace of life hinders prayer (1 Pet. 3:7). God promises to listen to your words and honor your words as well as you listen to and honor the words of your wife. Elsewhere, God promises to forgive us as we forgive others, and Jesus says that as we do “unto the least of these” we either do or do not do unto Him (Mt. 25:31ff). What kind of words are you serving Jesus? The wisdom from above is pure, peaceable, gentle, easily intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy, and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace (Js. 3:17-18). Yes, our culture is disintegrating in perversion and bitterness, but you cannot fight fire with fire. The only antidote to words of death and broken vows is the Word of Life and God's covenant kindness and mercy. Have you been harsh? Have you been critical? Have you made promises and not kept them? Some of the most potent and powerful words are words of confession and forgiveness. Forgiveness is God's great covenant vow to us in the blood of His Son, and it is the central vow we make and keep that builds Christian culture.

Has it ever occurred to you that what you believe determines how you behave? What you believe about God affects everything about you. The decisions you make as well as your attitude in life are impacted by your beliefs. They can be glorious or tragic, as we will discover in the life of Jephthah.

Has it ever occurred to you that what you believe determines how you behave? What you believe about God affects everything about you. The decisions you make as well as your attitude in life are impacted by your beliefs. They can be glorious or tragic, as we will discover in the life of Jephthah.

Proper 14 First Psalm: Psalm 89:1–18 Psalm 89:1–18 (Listen) I Will Sing of the Steadfast Love of the Lord A Maskil1 of Ethan the Ezrahite. 89   I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD, forever;    with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.2   For I said, “Steadfast love will be built up forever;    in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.”3   You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one;    I have sworn to David my servant:4   ‘I will establish your offspring forever,    and build your throne for all generations.'” Selah 5   Let the heavens praise your wonders, O LORD,    your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!6   For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD?    Who among the heavenly beings2 is like the LORD,7   a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones,    and awesome above all who are around him?8   O LORD God of hosts,    who is mighty as you are, O LORD,    with your faithfulness all around you?9   You rule the raging of the sea;    when its waves rise, you still them.10   You crushed Rahab like a carcass;    you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.11   The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours;    the world and all that is in it, you have founded them.12   The north and the south, you have created them;    Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.13   You have a mighty arm;    strong is your hand, high your right hand.14   Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;    steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.15   Blessed are the people who know the festal shout,    who walk, O LORD, in the light of your face,16   who exult in your name all the day    and in your righteousness are exalted.17   For you are the glory of their strength;    by your favor our horn is exalted.18   For our shield belongs to the LORD,    our king to the Holy One of Israel. Footnotes [1] 89:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term [2] 89:6 Hebrew the sons of God, or the sons of might (ESV) Second Psalm: Psalm 89:19–52 Psalm 89:19–52 (Listen) 19   Of old you spoke in a vision to your godly one,1 and said:    “I have granted 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   so that my hand shall be established with him;    my arm also shall strengthen him.22   The enemy shall not outwit him;    the wicked shall not humble him.23   I will crush his foes before him    and strike down those who hate him.24   My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him,    and in my name shall his horn be exalted.25   I will set his hand on the sea    and his right hand on the rivers.26   He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father,    my God, and the Rock of my salvation.'27   And I will make him the firstborn,    the highest of the kings of the earth.28   My steadfast love I will keep for him forever,    and my covenant will stand firm2 for him.29   I will establish his offspring forever    and his throne as the days of the heavens.30   If his children forsake my law    and do not walk according to my rules,331   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 remove from him my steadfast love    or be false to my faithfulness.34   I will not violate my covenant    or alter the word that went forth from my lips.35   Once for all I have sworn by my holiness;    I will not lie to David.36   His offspring shall endure forever,    his throne as long as the sun before me.37   Like the moon it shall be established forever,    a faithful witness in the skies.” Selah 38   But now you have cast off and rejected;    you are full of wrath against your anointed.39   You have renounced the covenant with your servant;    you have defiled his crown in the dust.40   You have breached all his walls;    you have laid his strongholds in ruins.41   All who pass by plunder him;    he has become the scorn of his neighbors.42   You have exalted the right hand of his foes;    you have made all his enemies rejoice.43   You have also turned back the edge of his sword,    and you 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 cut short the days of his youth;    you have covered him with shame. Selah 46   How long, O LORD? Will you hide yourself forever?    How long will your wrath burn like fire?47   Remember how short my time is!    For what vanity you have created all the children of man!48   What man can live and never see death?    Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah 49   Lord, where is your steadfast love of old,    which by your faithfulness you swore to David?50   Remember, O Lord, how your servants are mocked,    and how I bear in my heart the insults4 of all the many nations,51   with which your enemies mock, O LORD,    with which they mock the footsteps of your anointed. 52   Blessed be the LORD forever!      Amen and Amen. Footnotes [1] 89:19 Some Hebrew manuscripts godly ones [2] 89:28 Or will remain faithful [3] 89:30 Or my just decrees [4] 89:50 Hebrew lacks the insults (ESV) Old Testament: Judges 12:1–7 Judges 12:1–7 (Listen) Jephthah's Conflict with Ephraim 12 The men of Ephraim were called to arms, and they crossed to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the Ammonites and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house over you with fire.” 2 And Jephthah said to them, “I and my people had a great dispute with the Ammonites, and when I called you, you did not save me from their hand. 3 And when I saw that you would not save me, I took my life in my hand and crossed over against the Ammonites, and the LORD gave them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?” 4 Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought with Ephraim. And the men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they said, “You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and Manasseh.” 5 And the Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me go over,” the men of Gilead said to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” When he said, “No,” 6 they said to him, “Then say Shibboleth,” and he said, “Sibboleth,” for he could not pronounce it right. Then they seized him and slaughtered him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time 42,000 of the Ephraimites fell. 7 Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in his city in Gilead.1 Footnotes [1] 12:7 Septuagint; Hebrew in the cities of Gilead (ESV) New Testament: Acts 5:12–26 Acts 5:12–26 (Listen) Many Signs and Wonders Done 12 Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon's Portico. 13 None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. 14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16 The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed. The Apostles Arrested and Freed 17 But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy 18 they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 20 “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.” 21 And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. 22 But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, 23 “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.” 24 Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. 25 And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” 26 Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. (ESV) Gospel: John 3:1–21 John 3:1–21 (Listen) You Must Be Born Again 3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus1 by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again2 he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.3 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You4 must be born again.' 8 The wind5 blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you6 do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.7 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.8 For God So Loved the World 16 “For God so loved the world,9 that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” Footnotes [1] 3:2 Greek him [2] 3:3 Or from above; the Greek is purposely ambiguous and can mean both again and from above; also verse 7 [3] 3:6 The same Greek word means both wind and spirit [4] 3:7 The Greek for you is plural here [5] 3:8 The same Greek word means both wind and spirit [6] 3:11 The Greek for you is plural here; also four times in verse 12 [7] 3:13 Some manuscripts add who is in heaven [8] 3:15 Some interpreters hold that the quotation ends at verse 15 [9] 3:16 Or For this is how God loved the world (ESV)

The unbelievable grace of God does not care about heredity. It is not limited by the social, parental, and environmental factors that men consider determinative. If God can use a man like Jephthah . . . and can use you and I as well!

The unbelievable grace of God does not care about heredity. It is not limited by the social, parental, and environmental factors that men consider determinative. If God can use a man like Jephthah . . . and can use you and I as well!

Proper 14 First Psalm: Psalms 66–67 Psalms 66–67 (Listen) How Awesome Are Your Deeds To the choirmaster. A Song. A Psalm. 66   Shout for joy to God, all the earth;2     sing the glory of his name;    give to him glorious praise!3   Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!    So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.4   All the earth worships you    and sings praises to you;    they sing praises to your name.” Selah 5   Come and see what God has done:    he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.6   He turned the sea into dry land;    they passed through the river on foot.  There did we rejoice in him,7     who rules by his might forever,  whose eyes keep watch on the nations—    let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah 8   Bless our God, O peoples;    let the sound of his praise be heard,9   who has kept our soul among the living    and has not let our feet slip.10   For you, O God, have tested us;    you have tried us as silver is tried.11   You brought us into the net;    you laid a crushing burden on our backs;12   you let men ride over our heads;    we went through fire and through water;  yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance. 13   I will come into your house with burnt offerings;    I will perform my vows to you,14   that which my lips uttered    and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.15   I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals,    with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams;  I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah 16   Come and hear, all you who fear God,    and I will tell what he has done for my soul.17   I cried to him with my mouth,    and high praise was on1 my tongue.218   If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,    the Lord would not have listened.19   But truly God has listened;    he has attended to the voice of my prayer. 20   Blessed be God,    because he has not rejected my prayer    or removed his steadfast love from me! Make Your Face Shine upon Us To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song. 67   May God be gracious to us and bless us    and make his face to shine upon us, Selah2   that your way may be known on earth,    your saving power among all nations.3   Let the peoples praise you, O God;    let all the peoples praise you! 4   Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,    for you judge the peoples with equity    and guide the nations upon earth. Selah5   Let the peoples praise you, O God;    let all the peoples praise you! 6   The earth has yielded its increase;    God, our God, shall bless us.7   God shall bless us;    let all the ends of the earth fear him! Footnotes [1] 66:17 Hebrew under [2] 66:17 Or and he was exalted with my tongue (ESV) Second Psalm: Psalm 19; Psalm 46 Psalm 19 (Listen) The Law of the Lord Is Perfect To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. 19   The heavens declare the glory of God,    and the sky above1 proclaims his handiwork.2   Day to day pours out speech,    and night to night reveals knowledge.3   There is no speech, nor are there words,    whose voice is not heard.4   Their voice2 goes out through all the earth,    and their words to the end of the world.  In them he has set a tent for the sun,5     which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,    and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.6   Its rising is from the end of the heavens,    and its circuit to the end of them,    and there is nothing hidden from its heat. 7   The law of the LORD is perfect,3    reviving the soul;  the testimony of the LORD is sure,    making wise the simple;8   the precepts of the LORD are right,    rejoicing the heart;  the commandment of the LORD is pure,    enlightening the eyes;9   the fear of the LORD is clean,    enduring forever;  the rules4 of the LORD are true,    and righteous altogether.10   More to be desired are they than gold,    even much fine gold;  sweeter also than honey    and drippings of the honeycomb.11   Moreover, by them is your servant warned;    in keeping them there is great reward. 12   Who can discern his errors?    Declare me innocent from hidden faults.13   Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;    let them not have dominion over me!  Then I shall be blameless,    and innocent of great transgression. 14   Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart    be acceptable in your sight,    O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Footnotes [1] 19:1 Hebrew the expanse; compare Genesis 1:6–8 [2] 19:4 Or Their measuring line [3] 19:7 Or blameless [4] 19:9 Or just decrees (ESV) Psalm 46 (Listen) God Is Our Fortress To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth.1 A Song. 46   God is our refuge and strength,    a very present2 help in trouble.2   Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,    though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,3   though its waters roar and foam,    though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah 4   There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,    the holy habitation of the Most High.5   God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;    God will help her when morning dawns.6   The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;    he utters his voice, the earth melts.7   The LORD of hosts is with us;    the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah 8   Come, behold the works of the LORD,    how he has brought desolations on the earth.9   He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;    he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;    he burns the chariots with fire.10   “Be still, and know that I am God.    I will be exalted among the nations,    I will be exalted in the earth!”11   The LORD of hosts is with us;    the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah Footnotes [1] 46:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term [2] 46:1 Or well proved (ESV) Old Testament: Judges 11:1–11; Judges 11:29–40 Judges 11:1–11 (Listen) Jephthah Delivers Israel 11 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was the father of Jephthah. 2 And Gilead's wife also bore him sons. And when his wife's sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You shall not have an inheritance in our father's house, for you are the son of another woman.” 3 Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob, and worthless fellows collected around Jephthah and went out with him. 4 After a time the Ammonites made war against Israel. 5 And when the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6 And they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our leader, that we may fight against the Ammonites.” 7 But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and drive me out of my father's house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?” 8 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is why we have turned to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the Ammonites and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” 9 Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight against the Ammonites, and the LORD gives them over to me, I will be your head.” 10 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD will be witness between us, if we do not do as you say.” 11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and leader over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words before the LORD at Mizpah. (ESV) Judges 11:29–40 (Listen) Jephthah's Tragic Vow 29 Then the Spirit of the LORD was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, 31 then whatever1 comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the LORD's, and I will offer it2 up for a burnt offering.” 32 So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD gave them into his hand. 33 And he struck them from Aroer to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a great blow. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel. 34 Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the LORD, and I cannot take back my vow.” 36 And she said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to the LORD; do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the LORD has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites.” 37 So she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions.” 38 So he said, “Go.” Then he sent her away for two months, and she departed, she and her companions, and wept for her virginity on the mountains. 39 And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow that he had made. She had never known a man, and it became a custom in Israel 40 that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year. Footnotes [1] 11:31 Or whoever [2] 11:31 Or him (ESV) New Testament: 2 Corinthians 11:21–31 2 Corinthians 11:21–31 (Listen) 21 To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that! But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. 24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food,1 in cold and exposure. 28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant? 30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. Footnotes [1] 11:27 Or often in fasting (ESV) Gospel: Mark 4:35–41 Mark 4:35–41 (Listen) Jesus Calms a Storm 35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (ESV)

EPISODE 20 In our study of Judges 12, we take a somewhat nicer look at Jephthah and his encounter with Ephriam. Scripture quotations are from the Christian Standard Bible®, copyright © 2017, by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by Permission. Be sure to check us out at our website, adoptedbelievers.com. You can find out more about us, articles, and access to all our podcast content and links to various podcast platforms.

7.2/2022. Five Minutes in the Word scriptures for today, Judges 12:4-7. The men of Ephraim were better at talking than fighting and were easily defeated by the men of Gilead. Resources: Enduring Word commentary; Faithlife Study Bible; and/or Matthew Henry Commentary. #Podchaser list of "60 Best Podcasts to Discover for November 2021" #MinutesWord; @MinutesWord; #dailydevotional. Listen, like, follow, share! Available on Apple podcast; Spotify; Tune-in Radio; iHeart; Goodpods; Stitcher; and many others!! #MinutesWord. Financial support is welcome at https://anchor.fm/esbc-webmaster #prayforukraine #prayforpeace

Psalms and Wisdom: Song of Solomon 8:8–14 Song of Solomon 8:8–14 (Listen) Final Advice Others 8   We have a little sister,    and she has no breasts.  What shall we do for our sister    on the day when she is spoken for?9   If she is a wall,    we will build on her a battlement of silver,  but if she is a door,    we will enclose her with boards of cedar. She 10   I was a wall,    and my breasts were like towers;  then I was in his eyes    as one who finds1 peace. 11   Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon;    he let out the vineyard to keepers;    each one was to bring for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver.12   My vineyard, my very own, is before me;    you, O Solomon, may have the thousand,    and the keepers of the fruit two hundred. He 13   O you who dwell in the gardens,    with companions listening for your voice;    let me hear it. She 14   Make haste, my beloved,    and be like a gazelle  or a young stag    on the mountains of spices. Footnotes [1] 8:10 Or brings out (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Judges 12 Judges 12 (Listen) Jephthah's Conflict with Ephraim 12 The men of Ephraim were called to arms, and they crossed to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the Ammonites and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house over you with fire.” 2 And Jephthah said to them, “I and my people had a great dispute with the Ammonites, and when I called you, you did not save me from their hand. 3 And when I saw that you would not save me, I took my life in my hand and crossed over against the Ammonites, and the LORD gave them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?” 4 Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought with Ephraim. And the men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they said, “You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and Manasseh.” 5 And the Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me go over,” the men of Gilead said to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” When he said, “No,” 6 they said to him, “Then say Shibboleth,” and he said, “Sibboleth,” for he could not pronounce it right. Then they seized him and slaughtered him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time 42,000 of the Ephraimites fell. 7 Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in his city in Gilead.1 Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon 8 After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. 9 He had thirty sons, and thirty daughters he gave in marriage outside his clan, and thirty daughters he brought in from outside for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years. 10 Then Ibzan died and was buried at Bethlehem. 11 After him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel, and he judged Israel ten years. 12 Then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried at Aijalon in the land of Zebulun. 13 After him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel. 14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys, and he judged Israel eight years. 15 Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried at Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites. Footnotes [1] 12:7 Septuagint; Hebrew in the cities of Gilead (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Jeremiah 27–28 Jeremiah 27–28 (Listen) The Yoke of Nebuchadnezzar 27 In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah1 the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD. 2 Thus the LORD said to me: “Make yourself straps and yoke-bars, and put them on your neck. 3 Send word2 to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the sons of Ammon, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon by the hand of the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4 Give them this charge for their masters: ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: This is what you shall say to your masters: 5 “It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me. 6 Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and I have given him also the beasts of the field to serve him. 7 All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson, until the time of his own land comes. Then many nations and great kings shall make him their slave. 8 “‘“But if any nation or kingdom will not serve this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, declares the LORD, until I have consumed it by his hand. 9 So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your fortune-tellers, or your sorcerers, who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.' 10 For it is a lie that they are prophesying to you, with the result that you will be removed far from your land, and I will drive you out, and you will perish. 11 But any nation that will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave on its own land, to work it and dwell there, declares the LORD.”'” 12 To Zedekiah king of Judah I spoke in like manner: “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people and live. 13 Why will you and your people die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, as the LORD has spoken concerning any nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14 Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon,' for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. 15 I have not sent them, declares the LORD, but they are prophesying falsely in my name, with the result that I will drive you out and you will perish, you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.” 16 Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the LORD: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you, saying, ‘Behold, the vessels of the LORD's house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon,' for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. 17 Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city become a desolation? 18 If they are prophets, and if the word of the LORD is with them, then let them intercede with the LORD of hosts, that the vessels that are left in the house of the LORD, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem may not go to Babylon. 19 For thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the pillars, the sea, the stands, and the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, 20 which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take away, when he took into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem—21 thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of the LORD, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: 22 They shall be carried to Babylon and remain there until the day when I visit them, declares the LORD. Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.” Hananiah the False Prophet 28 In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and all the people, saying, 2 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 Within two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the LORD's house, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. 4 I will also bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon, declares the LORD, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.” 5 Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to Hananiah the prophet in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the LORD, 6 and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the LORD do so; may the LORD make the words that you have prophesied come true, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the LORD, and all the exiles. 7 Yet hear now this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. 8 The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. 9 As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes to pass, then it will be known that the LORD has truly sent the prophet.” 10 Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke-bars from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke them. 11 And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Thus says the LORD: Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations within two years.” But Jeremiah the prophet went his way. 12 Sometime after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke-bars from off the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 13 “Go, tell Hananiah, ‘Thus says the LORD: You have broken wooden bars, but you have made in their place bars of iron. 14 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put upon the neck of all these nations an iron yoke to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they shall serve him, for I have given to him even the beasts of the field.'” 15 And Jeremiah the prophet said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah, the LORD has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie. 16 Therefore thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will remove you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, because you have uttered rebellion against the LORD.'” 17 In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died. Footnotes [1] 27:1 Or Jehoiakim [2] 27:3 Hebrew Send them (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: Hebrews 11–12:2 Hebrews 11–12:2 (Listen) By Faith 11 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. 4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. 8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. 13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. 17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. 20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. 21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones. 23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king's edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them. 29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. 32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two,1 they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith 12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Footnotes [1] 11:37 Some manuscripts add they were tempted (ESV)

8/1/22. Five Minutes in the Word scriptures for today, Judges 12:2-3. Jephthah responds to the accusations of the tribe of Ephraim. Resources: Enduring Word commentary; Faithlife Study Bible; and/or Matthew Henry Commentary. #Podchaser list of "60 Best Podcasts to Discover for November 2021" #MinutesWord; @MinutesWord; #dailydevotional. Listen, like, follow, share! Available on Apple podcast; Spotify; Tune-in Radio; iHeart; Goodpods; Stitcher; and many others!! #MinutesWord. Financial support is welcome at https://anchor.fm/esbc-webmaster #prayforukraine #prayforpeace

Psalms and Wisdom: Song of Solomon 8:1–7 Song of Solomon 8:1–7 (Listen) Longing for Her Beloved 8   Oh that you were like a brother to me    who nursed at my mother's breasts!  If I found you outside, I would kiss you,    and none would despise me.2   I would lead you and bring you    into the house of my mother—    she who used to teach me.  I would give you spiced wine to drink,    the juice of my pomegranate.3   His left hand is under my head,    and his right hand embraces me!4   I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,    that you not stir up or awaken love    until it pleases. 5   Who is that coming up from the wilderness,    leaning on her beloved?   Under the apple tree I awakened you.  There your mother was in labor with you;    there she who bore you was in labor. 6   Set me as a seal upon your heart,    as a seal upon your arm,  for love is strong as death,    jealousy1 is fierce as the grave.2  Its flashes are flashes of fire,    the very flame of the LORD.7   Many waters cannot quench love,    neither can floods drown it.  If a man offered for love    all the wealth of his house,    he3 would be utterly despised. Footnotes [1] 8:6 Or ardor [2] 8:6 Hebrew as Sheol [3] 8:7 Or it (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Judges 11:4–40 Judges 11:4–40 (Listen) 4 After a time the Ammonites made war against Israel. 5 And when the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6 And they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our leader, that we may fight against the Ammonites.” 7 But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and drive me out of my father's house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?” 8 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is why we have turned to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the Ammonites and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” 9 Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight against the Ammonites, and the LORD gives them over to me, I will be your head.” 10 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD will be witness between us, if we do not do as you say.” 11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and leader over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words before the LORD at Mizpah. 12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said, “What do you have against me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?” 13 And the king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel on coming up from Egypt took away my land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan; now therefore restore it peaceably.” 14 Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites 15 and said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites, 16 but when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh. 17 Israel then sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,' but the king of Edom would not listen. And they sent also to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained at Kadesh. 18 “Then they journeyed through the wilderness and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and arrived on 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, for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab. 19 Israel then sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land to our country,' 20 but Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory, so Sihon gathered all his people together and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel. 21 And the LORD, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country. 22 And they took possession of all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan. 23 So then the LORD, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel; and are you to take possession of them? 24 Will you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? And all that the LORD our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess. 25 Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend against Israel, or did he ever go to war with them? 26 While Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, 300 years, why did you not deliver them within that time? 27 I therefore have not sinned against you, and you do me wrong by making war on me. The LORD, the Judge, decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon.” 28 But the king of the Ammonites did not listen to the words of Jephthah that he sent to him. Jephthah's Tragic Vow 29 Then the Spirit of the LORD was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, 31 then whatever1 comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the LORD's, and I will offer it2 up for a burnt offering.” 32 So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD gave them into his hand. 33 And he struck them from Aroer to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a great blow. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel. 34 Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the LORD, and I cannot take back my vow.” 36 And she said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to the LORD; do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the LORD has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites.” 37 So she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions.” 38 So he said, “Go.” Then he sent her away for two months, and she departed, she and her companions, and wept for her virginity on the mountains. 39 And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow that he had made. She had never known a man, and it became a custom in Israel 40 that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year. Footnotes [1] 11:31 Or whoever [2] 11:31 Or him (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Jeremiah 26 Jeremiah 26 (Listen) Jeremiah Threatened with Death 26 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the LORD: 2 “Thus says the LORD: Stand in the court of the LORD's house, and speak to all the cities of Judah that come to worship in the house of the LORD all the words that I command you to speak to them; do not hold back a word. 3 It may be they will listen, and every one turn from his evil way, that I may relent of the disaster that I intend to do to them because of their evil deeds. 4 You shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD: If you will not listen to me, to walk in my law that I have set before you, 5 and to listen to the words of my servants the prophets whom I send to you urgently, though you have not listened, 6 then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city a curse for all the nations of the earth.'” 7 The priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD. 8 And when Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying, “You shall die! 9 Why have you prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without inhabitant'?” And all the people gathered around Jeremiah in the house of the LORD. 10 When the officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king's house to the house of the LORD and took their seat in the entry of the New Gate of the house of the LORD. 11 Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and to all the people, “This man deserves the sentence of death, because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.” 12 Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and all the people, saying, “The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the words you have heard. 13 Now therefore mend your ways and your deeds, and obey the voice of the LORD your God, and the LORD will relent of the disaster that he has pronounced against you. 14 But as for me, behold, I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you. 15 Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants, for in truth the LORD sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.” Jeremiah Spared from Death 16 Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man does not deserve the sentence of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.” 17 And certain of the elders of the land arose and spoke to all the assembled people, saying, 18 “Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and said to all the people of Judah: ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts,   “‘Zion shall be plowed as a field;    Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,    and the mountain of the house a wooded height.' 19 Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Did he not fear the LORD and entreat the favor of the LORD, and did not the LORD relent of the disaster that he had pronounced against them? But we are about to bring great disaster upon ourselves.” 20 There was another man who prophesied in the name of the LORD, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim. He prophesied against this city and against this land in words like those of Jeremiah. 21 And when King Jehoiakim, with all his warriors and all the officials, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death. But when Uriah heard of it, he was afraid and fled and escaped to Egypt. 22 Then King Jehoiakim sent to Egypt certain men, Elnathan the son of Achbor and others with him, 23 and they took Uriah from Egypt and brought him to King Jehoiakim, who struck him down with the sword and dumped his dead body into the burial place of the common people. 24 But the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah so that he was not given over to the people to be put to death. (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: Hebrews 10:19–39 Hebrews 10:19–39 (Listen) The Full Assurance of Faith 19 Therefore, brothers,1 since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. 26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33 sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 34 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. 35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. 37 For,   “Yet a little while,    and the coming one will come and will not delay;38   but my righteous one shall live by faith,    and if he shrinks back,  my soul has no pleasure in him.” 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. Footnotes [1] 10:19 Or brothers and sisters (ESV)

7/31/22. Five Minutes in the Word scriptures for today, Judges 12:1. Ephraiam has it out for Jephthah for not inviting them to fight the Ammonites with him. Resources: Enduring Word commentary; Faithlife Study Bible; and/or Matthew Henry Commentary. #Podchaser list of "60 Best Podcasts to Discover for November 2021" #MinutesWord; @MinutesWord; #dailydevotional. Listen, like, follow, share! Available on Apple podcast; Spotify; Tune-in Radio; iHeart; Goodpods; Stitcher; and many others!! #MinutesWord. Financial support is welcome at https://anchor.fm/esbc-webmaster #prayforukraine #prayforpeace

Psalms and Wisdom: Song of Solomon 7:10–13 Song of Solomon 7:10–13 (Listen) 10   I am my beloved's,    and his desire is for me. The Bride Gives Her Love 11   Come, my beloved,    let us go out into the fields    and lodge in the villages;112   let us go out early to the vineyards    and see whether the vines have budded,  whether the grape blossoms have opened    and the pomegranates are in bloom.  There I will give you my love.13   The mandrakes give forth fragrance,    and beside our doors are all choice fruits,  new as well as old,    which I have laid up for you, O my beloved. Footnotes [1] 7:11 Or among the henna plants (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Judges 10–11:3 Judges 10–11:3 (Listen) Tola and Jair 10 After Abimelech there arose to save Israel Tola the son of Puah, son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, and he lived at Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. 2 And he judged Israel twenty-three years. Then he died and was buried at Shamir. 3 After him arose Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years. 4 And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities, called Havvoth-jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead. 5 And Jair died and was buried in Kamon. Further Disobedience and Oppression 6 The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the LORD and did not serve him. 7 So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites, 8 and they crushed and oppressed the people of Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the people of Israel who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. 9 And the Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed. 10 And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, saying, “We have sinned against you, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals.” 11 And the LORD said to the people of Israel, “Did I not save you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites, from the Ammonites and from the Philistines? 12 The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and I saved you out of their hand. 13 Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. 14 Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.” 15 And the people of Israel said to the LORD, “We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day.” 16 So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD, and he became impatient over the misery of Israel. 17 Then the Ammonites were called to arms, and they encamped in Gilead. And the people of Israel came together, and they encamped at Mizpah. 18 And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said one to another, “Who is the man who will begin to fight against the Ammonites? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” Jephthah Delivers Israel 11 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was the father of Jephthah. 2 And Gilead's wife also bore him sons. And when his wife's sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You shall not have an inheritance in our father's house, for you are the son of another woman.” 3 Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob, and worthless fellows collected around Jephthah and went out with him. (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Jeremiah 25:15–38 Jeremiah 25:15–38 (Listen) The Cup of the Lord's Wrath 15 Thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16 They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of the sword that I am sending among them.” 17 So I took the cup from the LORD's hand, and made all the nations to whom the LORD sent me drink it: 18 Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day; 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, all his people, 20 and all the mixed tribes among them; all the kings of the land of Uz and all the kings of the land of the Philistines (Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod); 21 Edom, Moab, and the sons of Ammon; 22 all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastland across the sea; 23 Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut the corners of their hair; 24 all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the mixed tribes who dwell in the desert; 25 all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media; 26 all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth. And after them the king of Babylon1 shall drink. 27 “Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of the sword that I am sending among you.' 28 “And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: You must drink! 29 For behold, I begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the LORD of hosts.' 30 “You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:   “‘The LORD will roar from on high,    and from his holy habitation utter his voice;  he will roar mightily against his fold,    and shout, like those who tread grapes,    against all the inhabitants of the earth.31   The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth,    for the LORD has an indictment against the nations;  he is entering into judgment with all flesh,    and the wicked he will put to the sword,      declares the LORD.' 32   “Thus says the LORD of hosts:  Behold, disaster is going forth    from nation to nation,  and a great tempest is stirring    from the farthest parts of the earth! 33 “And those pierced by the LORD on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground. 34   “Wail, you shepherds, and cry out,    and roll in ashes, you lords of the flock,  for the days of your slaughter and dispersion have come,    and you shall fall like a choice vessel.35   No refuge will remain for the shepherds,    nor escape for the lords of the flock.36   A voice—the cry of the shepherds,    and the wail of the lords of the flock!  For the LORD is laying waste their pasture,37     and the peaceful folds are devastated    because of the fierce anger of the LORD.38   Like a lion he has left his lair,    for their land has become a waste  because of the sword of the oppressor,    and because of his fierce anger.” Footnotes [1] 25:26 Hebrew Sheshach, a code name for Babylon (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: Hebrews 9:11–10:18 Hebrews 9:11–10:18 (Listen) Redemption Through the Blood of Christ 11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come,1 then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify2 for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our3 conscience from dead works to serve the living God. 15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.4 16 For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. 23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. Christ's Sacrifice Once for All 10 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? 3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Consequently, when Christ5 came into the world, he said,   “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,    but a body have you prepared for me;6   in burnt offerings and sin offerings    you have taken no pleasure.7   Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,    as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.'” 8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. 10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ6 had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, 16   “This is the covenant that I will make with them    after those days, declares the Lord:  I will put my laws on their hearts,    and write them on their minds,” 17 then he adds,   “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” 18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. Footnotes [1] 9:11 Some manuscripts good things to come [2] 9:13 Or For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies [3] 9:14 Some manuscripts your [4] 9:15 The Greek word means both covenant and will; also verses 16, 17 [5] 10:5 Greek he [6] 10:12 Greek this one (ESV)

7/30/22. Five Minutes in the Word scriptures for today, Judges 11:36-40. This passage is perplexing; thank God that salvation is plain as accepting Christ as your Lord & Savior. Resources: Enduring Word commentary; Faithlife Study Bible; and/or Matthew Henry Commentary. #Podchaser list of "60 Best Podcasts to Discover for November 2021" #MinutesWord; @MinutesWord; #dailydevotional. Listen, like, follow, share! Available on Apple podcast; Spotify; Tune-in Radio; iHeart; Goodpods; Stitcher; and many others!! #MinutesWord. Financial support is welcome at https://anchor.fm/esbc-webmaster #prayforukraine #prayforpeace

7/29/22. Five Minutes in the Word scriptures for today, Judges 11:34-35. Jephthah vows to offer whatever or whoever meets him from his victory as a burnt sacrifice. Resources: Enduring Word commentary; Faithlife Study Bible; and/or Matthew Henry Commentary. #Podchaser list of "60 Best Podcasts to Discover for November 2021" #MinutesWord; @MinutesWord; #dailydevotional. Listen, like, follow, share! Available on Apple podcast; Spotify; Tune-in Radio; iHeart; Goodpods; Stitcher; and many others!! #MinutesWord. Financial support is welcome at https://anchor.fm/esbc-webmaster #prayforukraine #prayforpeace

With family: Judges 12; Acts 16 Judges 12 (Listen) Jephthah's Conflict with Ephraim 12 The men of Ephraim were called to arms, and they crossed to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the Ammonites and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house over you with fire.” 2 And Jephthah said to them, “I and my people had a great dispute with the Ammonites, and when I called you, you did not save me from their hand. 3 And when I saw that you would not save me, I took my life in my hand and crossed over against the Ammonites, and the LORD gave them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?” 4 Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought with Ephraim. And the men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they said, “You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and Manasseh.” 5 And the Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me go over,” the men of Gilead said to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” When he said, “No,” 6 they said to him, “Then say Shibboleth,” and he said, “Sibboleth,” for he could not pronounce it right. Then they seized him and slaughtered him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time 42,000 of the Ephraimites fell. 7 Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in his city in Gilead.1 Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon 8 After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. 9 He had thirty sons, and thirty daughters he gave in marriage outside his clan, and thirty daughters he brought in from outside for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years. 10 Then Ibzan died and was buried at Bethlehem. 11 After him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel, and he judged Israel ten years. 12 Then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried at Aijalon in the land of Zebulun. 13 After him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel. 14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys, and he judged Israel eight years. 15 Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried at Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites. Footnotes [1] 12:7 Septuagint; Hebrew in the cities of Gilead (ESV) Acts 16 (Listen) Timothy Joins Paul and Silas 16 Paul1 came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. 2 He was well spoken of by the brothers2 at Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily. The Macedonian Call 6 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. 8 So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 And when Paul3 had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. The Conversion of Lydia 11 So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the4 district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. 13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. 14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. 15 And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us. Paul and Silas in Prison 16 As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” 18 And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour. 19 But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. 20 And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. 21 They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.” 22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. 23 And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. 24 Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. The Philippian Jailer Converted 25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 And the jailer5 called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. 34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God. 35 But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” 36 And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace.” 37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.” 38 The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. 39 So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city. 40 So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed. Footnotes [1] 16:1 Greek He [2] 16:2 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 40 [3] 16:10 Greek he [4] 16:12 Or that [5] 16:29 Greek he (ESV) In private: Jeremiah 25; Mark 11 Jeremiah 25 (Listen) Seventy Years of Captivity 25 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), 2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: 3 “For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken persistently to you, but you have not listened. 4 You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the LORD persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, 5 saying, ‘Turn now, every one of you, from his evil way and evil deeds, and dwell upon the land that the LORD has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. 6 Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them, or provoke me to anger with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.' 7 Yet you have not listened to me, declares the LORD, that you might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm. 8 “Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, 9 behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the LORD, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. 10 Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the LORD, making the land an everlasting waste. 13 I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. 14 For many nations and great kings shall make slaves even of them, and I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.” The Cup of the Lord's Wrath 15 Thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16 They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of the sword that I am sending among them.” 17 So I took the cup from the LORD's hand, and made all the nations to whom the LORD sent me drink it: 18 Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day; 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, all his people, 20 and all the mixed tribes among them; all the kings of the land of Uz and all the kings of the land of the Philistines (Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod); 21 Edom, Moab, and the sons of Ammon; 22 all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastland across the sea; 23 Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut the corners of their hair; 24 all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the mixed tribes who dwell in the desert; 25 all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media; 26 all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth. And after them the king of Babylon1 shall drink. 27 “Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of the sword that I am sending among you.' 28 “And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: You must drink! 29 For behold, I begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the LORD of hosts.' 30 “You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:   “‘The LORD will roar from on high,    and from his holy habitation utter his voice;  he will roar mightily against his fold,    and shout, like those who tread grapes,    against all the inhabitants of the earth.31   The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth,    for the LORD has an indictment against the nations;  he is entering into judgment with all flesh,    and the wicked he will put to the sword,      declares the LORD.' 32   “Thus says the LORD of hosts:  Behold, disaster is going forth    from nation to nation,  and a great tempest is stirring    from the farthest parts of the earth! 33 “And those pierced by the LORD on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground. 34   “Wail, you shepherds, and cry out,    and roll in ashes, you lords of the flock,  for the days of your slaughter and dispersion have come,    and you shall fall like a choice vessel.35   No refuge will remain for the shepherds,    nor escape for the lords of the flock.36   A voice—the cry of the shepherds,    and the wail of the lords of the flock!  For the LORD is laying waste their pasture,37     and the peaceful folds are devastated    because of the fierce anger of the LORD.38   Like a lion he has left his lair,    for their land has become a waste  because of the sword of the oppressor,    and because of his fierce anger.” Footnotes [1] 25:26 Hebrew Sheshach, a code name for Babylon (ESV) Mark 11 (Listen) The Triumphal Entry 11 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus1 sent two of his disciples 2 and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?' say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.'” 4 And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. 5 And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. 7 And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. 8 And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. 9 And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” 11 And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. Jesus Curses the Fig Tree 12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it. Jesus Cleanses the Temple 15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. 19 And when evening came they2 went out of the city. The Lesson from the Withered Fig Tree 20 As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21 And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” 22 And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received3 it, and it will be yours. 25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”4 The Authority of Jesus Challenged 27 And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, 28 and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” 29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.” 31 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,' he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?' 32 But shall we say, ‘From man'?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet. 33 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” Footnotes [1] 11:1 Greek he [2] 11:19 Some manuscripts he [3] 11:24 Some manuscripts are receiving [4] 11:25 Some manuscripts add verse 26: But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your trespasses (ESV)