Judges 7

• 1. So Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and his army got up early and went as far as the spring of Harod. The armies of Midian were camped north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh.
• 2. The LORD said to Gideon, "You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength.
• 3. Therefore, tell the people, `Whoever is timid or afraid may leave and go home.'" Twenty-two thousand of them went home, leaving only ten thousand who were willing to fight.
• 4. But the LORD told Gideon, "There are still too many! Bring them down to the spring, and I will sort out who will go with you and who will not."
• 5. When Gideon took his warriors down to the water, the LORD told him, "Divide the men into two groups. In one group put all those who cup water in their hands and lap it up with their tongues like dogs. In the other group put all those who kneel down and drink with their mouths in the stream."
• 6. Only three hundred of the men drank from their hands. All the others got down on their knees and drank with their mouths in the stream.
• 7. The LORD told Gideon, "With these three hundred men I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites. Send all the others home."
• 8. So Gideon collected the provisions and rams' horns of the other warriors and sent them home. But he kept the three hundred men with him. Now the Midianite camp was in the valley just below Gideon.
• 9. During the night, the LORD said, "Get up! Go down into the Midianite camp, for I have given you victory over them!
• 10. But if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah.
• 11. Listen to what the Midianites are saying, and you will be greatly encouraged. Then you will be eager to attack." So Gideon took Purah and went down to the outposts of the enemy camp.
• 12. The armies of Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts. Their camels were like grains of sand on the seashore--too many to count!
• 13. Gideon crept up just as a man was telling his friend about a dream. The man said, "I had this dream, and in my dream a loaf of barley bread came tumbling down into the Midianite camp. It hit a tent, turned it over, and knocked it flat!"
• 14. His friend said, "Your dream can mean only one thing--God has given Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite, victory over all the armies united with Midian!"
• 15. When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he thanked God. Then he returned to the Israelite camp and shouted, "Get up! For the LORD has given you victory over the Midianites!"
• 16. He divided the three hundred men into three groups and gave each man a ram's horn and a clay jar with a torch in it.
• 17. Then he said to them, "Keep your eyes on me. When I come to the edge of the camp, do just as I do.
• 18. As soon as my group blows the rams' horns, those of you on the other sides of the camp blow your horns and shout, `For the LORD and for Gideon!'"
• 19. It was just after midnight, after the changing of the guard, when Gideon and the one hundred men with him reached the outer edge of the Midianite camp. Suddenly, they blew the horns and broke their clay jars.
• 20. Then all three groups blew their horns and broke their jars. They held the blazing torches in their left hands and the horns in their right hands and shouted, "A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!"
• 21. Each man stood at his position around the camp and watched as all the Midianites rushed around in a panic, shouting as they ran.
• 22. When the three hundred Israelites blew their horns, the LORD caused the warriors in the camp to fight against each other with their swords. Those who were not killed fled to places as far away as Beth-shittah near Zererah and to the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath.
• 23. Then Gideon sent for the warriors of Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh, who joined in the chase after the fleeing army of Midian.
• 24. Gideon also sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, "Come down to attack the Midianites. Cut them off at the shallows of the Jordan River at Beth-barah." And the men of Ephraim did as they were told.
• 25. They captured Oreb and Zeeb, the two Midianite generals, killing Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. And they continued to chase the Midianites. Afterward the Israelites brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was by the Jordan.

Acts 11

• 1. Soon the news reached the apostles and other believers in Judea that the Gentiles had received the word of God.
• 2. But when Peter arrived back in Jerusalem, some of the Jewish believers criticized him.
• 3. "You entered the home of Gentiles and even ate with them!" they said.
• 4. Then Peter told them exactly what had happened.
• 5. "One day in Joppa," he said, "while I was praying, I went into a trance and saw a vision. Something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners from the sky. And it came right down to me.
• 6. When I looked inside the sheet, I saw all sorts of small animals, wild animals, reptiles, and birds that we are not allowed to eat.
• 7. And I heard a voice say, 'Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.'
• 8. "'Never, Lord,' I replied. 'I have never eaten anything forbidden by our Jewish laws. '
• 9. "But the voice from heaven came again, 'If God says something is acceptable, don't say it isn't.'
• 10. "This happened three times before the sheet and all it contained was pulled back up to heaven.
• 11. Just then three men who had been sent from Caesarea arrived at the house where I was staying.
• 12. The Holy Spirit told me to go with them and not to worry about their being Gentiles. These six brothers here accompanied me, and we soon arrived at the home of the man who had sent for us.
• 13. He told us how an angel had appeared to him in his home and had told him, 'Send messengers to Joppa to find Simon Peter.
• 14. He will tell you how you and all your household will be saved!'
• 15. "Well, I began telling them the Good News, but just as I was getting started, the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as he fell on us at the beginning.
• 16. Then I thought of the Lord's words when he said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'
• 17. And since God gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to argue?"
• 18. When the others heard this, all their objections were answered and they began praising God. They said, "God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of turning from sin and receiving eternal life."
• 19. Meanwhile, the believers who had fled from Jerusalem during the persecution after Stephen's death traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch of Syria. They preached the Good News, but only to Jews.
• 20. However, some of the believers who went to Antioch from Cyprus and Cyrene began preaching to Gentiles about the Lord Jesus.
• 21. The power of the Lord was upon them, and large numbers of these Gentiles believed and turned to the Lord.
• 22. When the church at Jerusalem heard what had happened, they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
• 23. When he arrived and saw this proof of God's favor, he was filled with joy, and he encouraged the believers to stay true to the Lord.
• 24. Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith. And large numbers of people were brought to the Lord.
• 25. Then Barnabas went on to Tarsus to find Saul.
• 26. When he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. Both of them stayed there with the church for a full year, teaching great numbers of people. (It was there at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.)
• 27. During this time, some prophets traveled from Jerusalem to Antioch.
• 28. One of them named Agabus stood up in one of the meetings to predict by the Spirit that a great famine was coming upon the entire Roman world. (This was fulfilled during the reign of Claudius.)
• 29. So the believers in Antioch decided to send relief to the brothers and sisters in Judea, everyone giving as much as they could.
• 30. This they did, entrusting their gifts to Barnabas and Saul to take to the elders of the church in Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 20

• 1. Now Pashhur son of Immer, the priest in charge of the Temple of the LORD, heard what Jeremiah was saying.
• 2. So he arrested Jeremiah the prophet and had him whipped and put in stocks at the Benjamin Gate of the LORD's Temple.
• 3. The next day, when Pashhur finally released him, Jeremiah said, "Pashhur, the LORD has changed your name. From now on you are to be called `The Man Who Lives in Terror.'
• 4. For this is what the LORD says: I will send terror upon you and all your friends, and you will watch as they are slaughtered by the swords of the enemy. I will hand the people of Judah over to the king of Babylon. He will take them captive to Babylon or run them through with the sword.
• 5. And I will let your enemies plunder Jerusalem. All the famed treasures of the city--the precious jewels and gold and silver of your kings--will be carried off to Babylon.
• 6. As for you, Pashhur, you and all your household will go as captives to Babylon. There you will die and be buried, you and all your friends to whom you promised that everything would be all right."
• 7. O LORD, you persuaded me, and I allowed myself to be persuaded. You are stronger than I am, and you overpowered me. Now I am mocked by everyone in the city.
• 8. Whenever I speak, the words come out in a violent outburst. "Violence and destruction!" I shout. So these messages from the LORD have made me a household joke.
• 9. And I can't stop! If I say I'll never mention the LORD or speak in his name, his word burns in my heart like a fire. It's like a fire in my bones! I am weary of holding it in!
• 10. I have heard the many rumors about me. They call me "The Man Who Lives in Terror." And they say, "If you say anything, we will report it." Even my old friends are watching me, waiting for a fatal slip. "He will trap himself," they say, "and then we will get our revenge on him."
• 11. But the LORD stands beside me like a great warrior. Before him they will stumble. They cannot defeat me. They will be shamed and thoroughly humiliated. Their dishonor will never be forgotten.
• 12. O LORD Almighty! You know those who are righteous, and you examine the deepest thoughts of hearts and minds. Let me see your vengeance against them, for I have committed my cause to you.
• 13. Now I will sing out my thanks to the LORD! Praise the LORD! For though I was poor and needy, he delivered me from my oppressors.
• 14. Yet I curse the day I was born! May the day of my birth not be blessed.
• 15. I curse the messenger who told my father, "Good news--you have a son!"
• 16. Let him be destroyed like the cities of old that the LORD overthrew without mercy. Terrify him all day long with battle shouts,
• 17. for he did not kill me at birth. Oh, that I had died in my mother's womb, that her body had been my grave!
• 18. Why was I ever born? My entire life has been filled with trouble, sorrow, and shame.

New Living Translation: 205 of 365 days.