Today’s Readings: Wed 22 May 2024

Judges 4–6

4:1And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD after Ehud died. 2And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim. 3Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD for help, for he had 900 chariots of iron and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years.

4Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment. 6She sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun. 7And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hand’?” 8Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” 9And she said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10And Barak called out Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. And 10,000 men went up at his heels, and Deborah went up with him.

11Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh.

12When Sisera was told that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13Sisera called out all his chariots, 900 chariots of iron, and all the men who were with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon. 14And Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which the LORD has given Sisera into your hand. Does not the LORD go out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. 15And the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak by the edge of the sword. And Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot. 16And Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left.

17But Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 18And Jael came out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord; turn aside to me; do not be afraid.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. 19And he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. 20And he said to her, “Stand at the opening of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’” 21But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died. 22And behold, as Barak was pursuing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went in to her tent, and there lay Sisera dead, with the tent peg in his temple.

23So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel. 24And the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.

5:1Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day:

2“That the leaders took the lead in Israel,that the people offered themselves willingly,bless the LORD! 3“Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes;to the LORD I will sing;I will make melody to the LORD, the God of Israel. 4“LORD, when you went out from Seir,when you marched from the region of Edom,the earth trembledand the heavens dropped,yes, the clouds dropped water.5The mountains quaked before the LORD,even Sinai before the LORD, the God of Israel. 6“In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath,in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned,and travelers kept to the byways.7The villagers ceased in Israel;they ceased to be until I arose;I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel.8When new gods were chosen,then war was in the gates.Was shield or spear to be seenamong forty thousand in Israel?9My heart goes out to the commanders of Israelwho offered themselves willingly among the people.Bless the LORD. 10“Tell of it, you who ride on white donkeys,you who sit on rich carpetsand you who walk by the way.11To the sound of musicians at the watering places,there they repeat the righteous triumphs of the LORD,the righteous triumphs of his villagers in Israel. “Then down to the gates marched the people of the LORD. 12“Awake, awake, Deborah!Awake, awake, break out in a song!Arise, Barak, lead away your captives,O son of Abinoam.13Then down marched the remnant of the noble;the people of the LORD marched down for me against the mighty.14From Ephraim their root they marched down into the valley,following you, Benjamin, with your kinsmen;from Machir marched down the commanders,and from Zebulun those who bear the lieutenant’s staff;15the princes of Issachar came with Deborah,and Issachar faithful to Barak;into the valley they rushed at his heels.Among the clans of Reubenthere were great searchings of heart.16Why did you sit still among the sheepfolds,to hear the whistling for the flocks?Among the clans of Reubenthere were great searchings of heart.17Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan;and Dan, why did he stay with the ships?Asher sat still at the coast of the sea,staying by his landings.18Zebulun is a people who risked their lives to the death;Naphtali, too, on the heights of the field. 19“The kings came, they fought;then fought the kings of Canaan,at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo;they got no spoils of silver.20From heaven the stars fought,from their courses they fought against Sisera.21The torrent Kishon swept them away,the ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon.March on, my soul, with might! 22“Then loud beat the horses’ hoofswith the galloping, galloping of his steeds. 23“Curse Meroz, says the angel of the LORD,curse its inhabitants thoroughly,because they did not come to the help of the LORD,to the help of the LORD against the mighty. 24“Most blessed of women be Jael,the wife of Heber the Kenite,of tent-dwelling women most blessed.25He asked for water and she gave him milk;she brought him curds in a noble’s bowl.26She sent her hand to the tent pegand her right hand to the workmen’s mallet;she struck Sisera;she crushed his head;she shattered and pierced his temple.27Between her feethe sank, he fell, he lay still;between her feethe sank, he fell;where he sank,there he fell—dead. 28“Out of the window she peered,the mother of Sisera wailed through the lattice:‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?’29Her wisest princesses answer,indeed, she answers herself,30‘Have they not found and divided the spoil?—A womb or two for every man;spoil of dyed materials for Sisera,spoil of dyed materials embroidered,two pieces of dyed work embroidered for the neck as spoil?’ 31“So may all your enemies perish, O LORD!But your friends be like the sun as he rises in his might.”

And the land had rest for forty years.

6:1The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. 2And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. 3For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. 4They would encamp against them and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey. 5For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come like locusts in number—both they and their camels could not be counted—so that they laid waste the land as they came in. 6And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the LORD.

7When the people of Israel cried out to the LORD on account of the Midianites, 8the LORD sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. 9And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10And I said to you, ‘I am the LORD your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice.”

11Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. 12And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.” 13And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” 14And the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” 15And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” 16And the LORD said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” 17And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. 18Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.”

19So Gideon went into his house and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the terebinth and presented them. 20And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them.” And he did so. 21Then the angel of the LORD reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight. 22Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the LORD. And Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face.” 23But the LORD said to him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” 24Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and called it, The LORD Is Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.

25That night the LORD said to him, “Take your father’s bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it 26and build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down.” 27So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the LORD had told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night.

28When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. 29And they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And after they had searched and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.” 30Then the men of the town said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it.” 31But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down.” 32Therefore on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he broke down his altar.

33Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East came together, and they crossed the Jordan and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. 34But the Spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. 35And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.

36Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, 37behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.” 38And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. 39Then Gideon said to God, “Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.” 40And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.

Mark 10:13–22

13And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. 14But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 15Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” 16And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

17And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Psalm 88:9–18

9my eye grows dim through sorrow.Every day I call upon you, O LORD;I spread out my hands to you.10Do you work wonders for the dead?Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah11Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,or your faithfulness in Abaddon?12Are your wonders known in the darkness,or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? 13But I, O LORD, cry to you;in the morning my prayer comes before you.14O LORD, why do you cast my soul away?Why do you hide your face from me?15Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.16Your wrath has swept over me;your dreadful assaults destroy me.17They surround me like a flood all day long;they close in on me together.18You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;my companions have become darkness.

Proverbs 13:4–6

4The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing,while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.5The righteous hates falsehood,but the wicked brings shame and disgrace.6Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless,but sin overthrows the wicked.