Today's Reading

¹Now these are the nations which the Lord left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan;

²only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing of it:

³namely, the five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to the entrance of Hamath.

⁴They were left, to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would listen to the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded their fathers by Moses.

⁵The children of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites:

⁶and they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons and served their gods.

⁷The children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgot the Lord their God, and served the Baals and the Asheroth.

⁸Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Cushan Rishathaim eight years.

⁹When the children of Israel cried to the Lord, the Lord raised up a savior to the children of Israel, who saved them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.

¹⁰The Spirit of the Lord came on him, and he judged Israel; and he went out to war, and the Lord delivered Cushan Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand: and his hand prevailed against Cushan Rishathaim.

¹¹The land had rest forty years. Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

¹²The children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.

¹³He gathered to him the children of Ammon and Amalek; and he went and struck Israel, and they possessed the city of palm trees.

¹⁴The children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.

¹⁵But when the children of Israel cried to the Lord, the Lord raised them up a savior, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a man left-handed. The children of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab.

¹⁶Ehud made him a sword which had two edges, a cubit in length; and he girded it under his clothing on his right thigh.

¹⁷He offered the tribute to Eglon king of Moab: now Eglon was a very fat man.

¹⁸When he had made an end of offering the tribute, he sent away the people who bore the tribute.

¹⁹But he himself turned back from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, "I have a secret message for you, king." The king said, "Keep silence!" All who stood by him went out from him.

²⁰Ehud came to him; and he was sitting by himself alone in the cool upper room. Ehud said, "I have a message from God to you." He arose out of his seat.

²¹Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his body:

²²and the handle also went in after the blade; and the fat closed on the blade, for he didn't draw the sword out of his body; and it came out behind.

²³Then Ehud went forth into the porch, and shut the doors of the upper room on him, and locked them.

²⁴Now when he was gone out, his servants came; and they saw, and behold, the doors of the upper room were locked; and they said, "Surely he is covering his feet in the upper room."

²⁵They waited until they were ashamed; and behold, he did not open the doors of the upper room: therefore they took the key, and opened them, and behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth.

²⁶Ehud escaped while they waited, and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped to Seirah.

²⁷It happened, when he had come, that he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim; and the children of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he before them.

²⁸He said to them, "Follow after me; for the Lord has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand." They went down after him, and took the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites, and did not allow a man to pass over.

²⁹They struck of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, every lusty man, and every man of valor; and there escaped not a man.

³⁰So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. The land had rest eighty years.

³¹After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who struck of the Philistines six hundred men with an oxgoad: and he also saved Israel.

¹The children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, when Ehud was dead.

²The Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth of the Gentiles.

³The children of Israel cried to the Lord: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.

⁴Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, she judged Israel at that time.

⁵She lived under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.

⁶She sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh Naphtali, and said to him, "Hasn't the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded, 'Go and draw to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?

⁷I will draw to you, to the river Kishon, Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into your hand.'"

⁸Barak said to her, "If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go."

⁹She said, "I will surely go with you: nevertheless, the journey that you take shall not be for your honor; for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman." Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.

¹⁰Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh; and there went up ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him.

¹¹Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, even from the children of Hobab the brother-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far as the oak in Zaanannim, which is by Kedesh.

¹²They told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to Mount Tabor.

¹³Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles, to the river Kishon.

¹⁴Deborah said to Barak, "Go; for this is the day in which the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand. Hasn't the Lord gone out before you?" So Barak went down from Mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.

¹⁵The Lord confused Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his army, with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera got off from his chariot, and fled away on his feet.

¹⁶But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the army, to Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; there was not a man left.

¹⁷However Sisera fled away on his feet 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.

¹⁸Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, "Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; do not be afraid." He came in to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug.

¹⁹He said to her, "Please give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty." She opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him.

²⁰He said to her, "Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man comes and inquires of you, and says, 'Is there any man here?' that you shall say, 'No.'"

²¹Then Jael Heber's wife took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him, and struck the pin into his temples, and it pierced through into the ground; for he was in a deep sleep; so he swooned and died.

²²Behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, "Come, and I will show you the man whom you seek." He came to her; and behold, Sisera lay dead, and the tent peg was in his temples.

²³So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel.

²⁴The hand of the children of Israel prevailed more and more against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.

¹Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying,

²"Because the leaders took the lead in Israel, because the people offered themselves willingly, be blessed, Lord!

³"Hear, you kings! Give ear, you princes! I, even I, will sing to the Lord. I will sing praise to the Lord, the God of Israel.

⁴"Lord, when you went forth out of Seir, when you marched out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the sky also dropped. Yes, the clouds dropped water.

⁵The mountains quaked at the presence of the Lord, even Sinai, at the presence of the Lord, the God of Israel.

⁶"In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied. The travelers walked through byways.

⁷The rulers ceased in Israel. They ceased until I, Deborah, arose; Until I arose a mother in Israel.

⁸They chose new gods. Then war was in the gates. Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?

⁹My heart is toward the leaders of Israel, who offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless the Lord!

¹⁰"Speak, you who ride on white donkeys, you who sit on rich carpets, and you who walk by the way.

¹¹Far from the noise of archers, in the places of drawing water, there they will rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord, the righteous acts of his rule in Israel. "Then the people of the Lord went down to the gates.

¹²'Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, utter a song! Arise, Barak, and lead away your captives, you son of Abinoam.'

¹³"Then a remnant of the nobles and the people came down. The Lord came down for me against the warriors.

¹⁴Those whose root is in Amalek came out of Ephraim, after you, Benjamin, among your peoples; out of Machir leaders came down, and out of Zebulun those that handle the staff of office.

¹⁵And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah. As was Issachar, so was Barak. They rushed into the valley at his feet. By the watercourses of Reuben, there were great resolves of heart.

¹⁶Why did you sit among the sheepfolds, to hear the whistling for the flocks? At the watercourses of Reuben There were great searchings of heart.

¹⁷Gilead lived beyond the Jordan. Why did Dan remain in ships? Asher sat still at the haven of the sea, and lived by his harbors.

¹⁸Zebulun was a people that risked their lives even to death; Naphtali also, on the high places of the field.

¹⁹The kings came and fought, then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo. They took no plunder of silver.

²⁰From the sky the stars fought. From their courses, they fought against Sisera.

²¹The river Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. My soul, march on with strength.

²²Then the horse hoofs stamped because of the prancings, the prancings of their strong ones.

²³Curse Meroz, said the angel of the Lord. Curse bitterly its inhabitants, because they did not come to help the Lord, to help the Lord against the mighty.

²⁴Jael shall be blessed above women, the wife of Heber the Kenite; blessed shall she be above women in the tent.

²⁵He asked for water. She gave him milk. She brought him butter in a princely bowl.

²⁶She put her hand to the tent peg, and her right hand to the workmen's hammer. With the hammer she struck Sisera. She struck through his head. Yes, she pierced and struck through his temple.

²⁷At her feet he collapsed, he fell, he lay. At her feet he collapsed, he fell. Where he collapsed, there he fell down dead.

²⁸Through the window she looked out, and cried: Sisera's mother looked through the lattice. Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why are the hoofbeats of his chariots delayed?

²⁹Her wise ladies answered her; indeed, she answers herself,

³⁰'Have they not found, have they not divided the spoil? A lady, two ladies to every man; to Sisera a spoil of dyed garments, A spoil of dyed garments embroidered, Of dyed garments embroidered on both sides, for the neck of the plunderer?'

³¹"So let all your enemies perish, Lord, but let those who love him be as the sun when it rises forth in its strength." And the land had rest forty years.

¹Therefore when Jesus knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John

²(although Jesus himself did not baptize, but his disciples),

³he left Judea, and departed again into Galilee.

⁴He needed to pass through Samaria.

⁵So he came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son, Joseph.

⁶Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being tired from his journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

⁷A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink."

⁸For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

⁹The Samaritan woman therefore said to him, "How is it that you, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

¹⁰Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."

¹¹The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. From where then have you that living water?

¹²Are you greater than our father, Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself, as did his children, and his livestock?"

¹³Jesus answered her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again,

¹⁴but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."

¹⁵The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I do not get thirsty, neither come all the way here to draw."

¹⁶Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here."

¹⁷The woman answered and said to him "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You said well, 'I have no husband,'

¹⁸for you have had five husbands; and he whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly."

¹⁹The woman said to him, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.

²⁰Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship."

²¹Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour comes, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, will you worship the Father.

²²You worship that which you do not know. We worship that which we know; for salvation is from the Jews.

²³But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to be his worshippers.

²⁴God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."

²⁵The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah comes," (he who is called Christ). "When he has come, he will declare to us all things."

²⁶Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one who speaks to you."

²⁷At this, his disciples came. They marveled that he was speaking with a woman; yet no one said, "What are you looking for?" or, "Why do you speak with her?"

²⁸So the woman left her water pot, and went away into the city, and said to the people,

²⁹"Come, see a man who told me everything that I did. Can this be the Messiah?"

³⁰They went out of the city, and were coming to him.

³¹In the meanwhile, the disciples urged him, saying, "Rabbi, eat."

³²But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about."

³³The disciples therefore said one to another, "Has anyone brought him something to eat?"

³⁴Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work.

³⁵Do you not say, 'There are yet four months until the harvest?' Behold, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and look at the fields, that they are white for harvest already.

³⁶He who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit to eternal life; that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.

³⁷For in this the saying is true, 'One sows, and another reaps.'

³⁸I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor."

³⁹From that city many of the Samaritans believed in him because of the word of the woman, who testified, "He told me everything that I did."

⁴⁰So when the Samaritans came to him, they begged him to stay with them. He stayed there two days.

⁴¹Many more believed because of his word.

⁴²They said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of your speaking; for we have heard for ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Savior of the world."

⁴³After the two days he went out from there and went into Galilee.

⁴⁴For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.

⁴⁵So when he came into Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did in Jerusalem at the feast, for they also went to the feast.

⁴⁶Jesus came therefore again to Cana of Galilee, where he made the water into wine. There was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.

⁴⁷When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to him, and begged him that he would come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.

⁴⁸Jesus therefore said to him, "Unless you see signs and wonders, you will in no way believe."

⁴⁹The nobleman said to him, "Sir, come down before my child dies."

⁵⁰Jesus said to him, "Go your way. Your son lives." The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.

⁵¹As he was now going down, his servants met him, saying that his son was alive.

⁵²So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. They said therefore to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour, the fever left him."

⁵³So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives." He believed, as did his whole house.

⁵⁴This is again the second sign that Jesus did, having come out of Judea into Galilee.

¹ God, give the king your justice; your righteousness to the royal son.

²He will judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice.

³The mountains shall bring prosperity to the people. The hills bring the fruit of righteousness.

⁴He will judge the poor of the people. He will save the children of the needy, and will break the oppressor in pieces.

⁵They shall fear you while the sun endures; and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.

⁶He will come down like rain on the mown grass, as showers that water the earth.

⁷In his days, the righteous shall flourish, and abundance of peace, until the moon is no more.

⁸He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth.

⁹Those who dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him. His enemies shall lick the dust.

¹⁰The kings of Tarshish and of the islands will bring tribute. The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.

¹¹Yes, all kings shall fall down before him. All nations shall serve him.

¹²For he will deliver the needy when he cries; the poor, who has no helper.

¹³He will have pity on the poor and needy. He will save the souls of the needy.

¹⁴He will redeem their soul from oppression and violence. Their blood will be precious in his sight.

¹⁵They shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba. Men shall pray for him continually. They shall bless him all day long.

¹⁶There shall be abundance of grain throughout the land. Its fruit sways like Lebanon. Let it flourish, thriving like the grass of the field.

¹⁷His name endures forever. His name continues as long as the sun. Men shall be blessed by him. All nations will call him blessed.

¹⁸Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds.

¹⁹Blessed be his glorious name forever! Let the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and amen.

²⁰This ends the prayers by David, the son of Jesse.

¹The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a glad father; but a foolish son brings grief to his mother.

²Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivers from death.

³The Lord will not allow the soul of the righteous to go hungry, but he thrusts away the desire of the wicked.

⁴He becomes poor who works with a lazy hand, but the hand of the diligent brings wealth.

⁵He who gathers in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during the harvest is a son who causes shame.

⁶Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.

⁷The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot.

⁸The wise in heart accept commandments, but a chattering fool will fall.

⁹He who walks blamelessly walks surely, but he who perverts his ways will be found out.

¹⁰One winking with the eye causes sorrow, but a chattering fool will fall.

¹¹The mouth of the righteous is a spring of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.

¹²Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all wrongs.

¹³Wisdom is found on the lips of him who has discernment, but a rod is for the back of him who is void of understanding.

¹⁴Wise men lay up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near ruin.

¹⁵The rich man's wealth is his strong city. The destruction of the poor is their poverty.

¹⁶The labor of the righteous leads to life. The increase of the wicked leads to sin.

¹⁷He is in the way of life who heeds correction, but he who forsakes reproof leads others astray.

¹⁸He who hides hatred has lying lips. He who utters a slander is a fool.

¹⁹In the multitude of words there is no lack of disobedience, but he who restrains his lips does wisely.

²⁰The tongue of the righteous is like choice silver. The heart of the wicked is of little worth.

²¹The lips of the righteous feed many, but the foolish die for lack of understanding.

²²The Lord's blessing brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it.

²³It is a fool's pleasure to do wickedness, but wisdom is a man of understanding's pleasure.

²⁴What the wicked fear, will overtake them, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.

²⁵When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more; but the righteous stand firm forever.

²⁶As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him.

²⁷The fear of the Lord prolongs days, but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.

²⁸The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hope of the wicked will perish.

²⁹The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the upright, but it is a destruction to the workers of iniquity.

³⁰The righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not dwell in the land.

³¹The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off.

³²The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked is perverse.