Judges 11

• 1. Now Jephthah of Gilead was a great warrior. He was the son of Gilead, but his mother was a prostitute.
• 2. Gilead's wife also had several sons, and when these half brothers grew up, they chased Jephthah off the land. "You will not get any of our father's inheritance," they said, "for you are the son of a prostitute."
• 3. So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Soon he had a large band of rebels following him.
• 4. At about this time, the Ammonites began their war against Israel.
• 5. When the Ammonites attacked, the leaders of Gilead sent for Jephthah in the land of Tob. They said,
• 6. "Come and be our commander! Help us fight the Ammonites!"
• 7. But Jephthah said to them, "Aren't you the ones who hated me and drove me from my father's house? Why do you come to me now when you're in trouble?"
• 8. "Because we need you," they replied. "If you will lead us in battle against the Ammonites, we will make you ruler over all the people of Gilead."
• 9. Jephthah said, "If I come with you and if the LORD gives me victory over the Ammonites, will you really make me ruler over all the people?"
• 10. "The LORD is our witness," the leaders replied. "We promise to do whatever you say."
• 11. So Jephthah went with the leaders of Gilead, and he became their ruler and commander of the army. At Mizpah, in the presence of the LORD, Jephthah repeated what he had said to the leaders.
• 12. Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of Ammon, demanding to know why Israel was being attacked.
• 13. The king of Ammon answered Jephthah's messengers, "When the Israelites came out of Egypt, they stole my land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River and all the way to the Jordan. Now then, give back the land peaceably."
• 14. Jephthah sent this message back to the Ammonite king:
• 15. "This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not steal any land from Moab or Ammon.
• 16. When the people of Israel arrived at Kadesh on their journey from Egypt after crossing the Red Sea,
• 17. they sent messengers to the king of Edom asking for permission to pass through his land. But their request was denied. Then they asked the king of Moab for similar permission, but he wouldn't let them pass through either. So the people of Israel stayed in Kadesh.
• 18. "Finally, they went around Edom and Moab through the wilderness. They traveled along Moab's eastern border and camped on the other side of the Arnon River. But they never once crossed the Arnon River into Moab.
• 19. "Then Israel sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled from Heshbon, asking for permission to cross through his land to get to their destination.
• 20. But King Sihon didn't trust Israel to pass through his land. Instead, he mobilized his army at Jahaz and attacked them.
• 21. But the LORD, the God of Israel, gave his people victory over King Sihon. So Israel took control of all the land of the Amorites, who lived in that region,
• 22. from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River, and from the wilderness to the Jordan.
• 23. "So you see, it was the LORD, the God of Israel, who took away the land from the Amorites and gave it to Israel. Why, then, should we give it to you?
• 24. You keep whatever your god Chemosh gives you, and we will keep whatever the LORD our God gives us.
• 25. Are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he try to make a case against Israel for disputed land? Did he go to war? No, of course not.
• 26. But now after three hundred years you make an issue of this! Israel has been living here all this time, spread across the land from Heshbon to Aroer and in all the towns along the Arnon River. Why have you made no effort to recover it before now?
• 27. I have not sinned against you. Rather, you have wronged me by attacking me. Let the LORD, who is judge, decide today which of us is right--Israel or Ammon."
• 28. But the king of Ammon paid no attention to Jephthah's message.
• 29. At that time the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he went throughout the land of Gilead and Manasseh, including Mizpah in Gilead, and led an army against the Ammonites.
• 30. And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD. He said, "If you give me victory over the Ammonites,
• 31. I will give to the LORD the first thing coming out of my house to greet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering."
• 32. So Jephthah led his army against the Ammonites, and the LORD gave him victory.
• 33. He thoroughly defeated the Ammonites from Aroer to an area near Minnith--twenty towns--and as far away as Abel-keramim. Thus Israel subdued the Ammonites.
• 34. When Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, his daughter--his only child--ran out to meet him, playing on a tambourine and dancing for joy.
• 35. When he saw her, he tore his clothes in anguish. "My daughter!" he cried out. "My heart is breaking! What a tragedy that you came out to greet me. For I have made a vow to the LORD and cannot take it back."
• 36. And she said, "Father, you have made a promise to the LORD. You must do to me what you have promised, for the LORD has given you a great victory over your enemies, the Ammonites.
• 37. But first let me go up and roam in the hills and weep with my friends for two months, because I will die a virgin."
• 38. "You may go," Jephthah said. And he let her go away for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never have children.
• 39. When she returned home, her father kept his vow, and she died a virgin. So it has become a custom in Israel
• 40. for young Israelite women to go away for four days each year to lament the fate of Jephthah's daughter.

Acts 15

• 1. While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to teach the Christians: "Unless you keep the ancient Jewish custom of circumcision taught by Moses, you cannot be saved."
• 2. Paul and Barnabas, disagreeing with them, argued forcefully and at length. Finally, Paul and Barnabas were sent to Jerusalem, accompanied by some local believers, to talk to the apostles and elders about this question.
• 3. The church sent the delegates to Jerusalem, and they stopped along the way in Phoenicia and Samaria to visit the believers. They told them--much to everyone's joy--that the Gentiles, too, were being converted.
• 4. When they arrived in Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas were welcomed by the whole church, including the apostles and elders. They reported on what God had been doing through their ministry.
• 5. But then some of the men who had been Pharisees before their conversion stood up and declared that all Gentile converts must be circumcised and be required to follow the law of Moses.
• 6. So the apostles and church elders got together to decide this question.
• 7. At the meeting, after a long discussion, Peter stood and addressed them as follows: "Brothers, you all know that God chose me from among you some time ago to preach to the Gentiles so that they could hear the Good News and believe.
• 8. God, who knows people's hearts, confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he gave him to us.
• 9. He made no distinction between us and them, for he also cleansed their hearts through faith.
• 10. Why are you now questioning God's way by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear?
• 11. We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the special favor of the Lord Jesus."
• 12. There was no further discussion, and everyone listened as Barnabas and Paul told about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.
• 13. When they had finished, James stood and said, "Brothers, listen to me.
• 14. Peter has told you about the time God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for himself.
• 15. And this conversion of Gentiles agrees with what the prophets predicted. For instance, it is written:
• 16. 'Afterward I will return, and I will restore the fallen kingdom of David. From the ruins I will rebuild it, and I will restore it,
• 17. so that the rest of humanity might find the Lord, including the Gentiles--all those I have called to be mine. This is what the Lord says,
• 18. he who made these things known long ago.'
• 19. And so my judgment is that we should stop troubling the Gentiles who turn to God,
• 20. except that we should write to them and tell them to abstain from eating meat sacrificed to idols, from sexual immorality, and from consuming blood or eating the meat of strangled animals.
• 21. For these laws of Moses have been preached in Jewish synagogues in every city on every Sabbath for many generations."
• 22. Then the apostles and elders and the whole church in Jerusalem chose delegates, and they sent them to Antioch of Syria with Paul and Barnabas to report on this decision. The men chosen were two of the church leaders--Judas (also called Barsabbas) and Silas.
• 23. This is the letter they took along with them: "This letter is from the apostles and elders, your brothers in Jerusalem. It is written to the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. Greetings!
• 24. "We understand that some men from here have troubled you and upset you with their teaching, but they had no such instructions from us.
• 25. So it seemed good to us, having unanimously agreed on our decision, to send you these official representatives, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
• 26. who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.
• 27. So we are sending Judas and Silas to tell you what we have decided concerning your question.
• 28. "For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay no greater burden on you than these requirements:
• 29. You must abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or eating the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. If you do this, you will do well. Farewell."
• 30. The four messengers went at once to Antioch, where they called a general meeting of the Christians and delivered the letter.
• 31. And there was great joy throughout the church that day as they read this encouraging message.
• 32. Then Judas and Silas, both being prophets, spoke extensively to the Christians, encouraging and strengthening their faith.
• 33. They stayed for a while, and then Judas and Silas were sent back to Jerusalem, with the blessings of the Christians, to those who had sent them.
• 34. See Footnote
• 35. Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch to assist many others who were teaching and preaching the word of the Lord there.
• 36. After some time Paul said to Barnabas, "Let's return to each city where we previously preached the word of the Lord, to see how the new believers are getting along."
• 37. Barnabas agreed and wanted to take along John Mark.
• 38. But Paul disagreed strongly, since John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not shared in their work.
• 39. Their disagreement over this was so sharp that they separated. Barnabas took John Mark with him and sailed for Cyprus.
• 40. Paul chose Silas, and the believers sent them off, entrusting them to the Lord's grace.
• 41. So they traveled throughout Syria and Cilicia to strengthen the churches there.

Jeremiah 24

• 1. After King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon exiled Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, to Babylon along with the princes of Judah and all the skilled craftsmen, the LORD gave me this vision. I saw two baskets of figs placed in front of the LORD's Temple in Jerusalem.
• 2. One basket was filled with fresh, ripe figs, while the other was filled with figs that were spoiled and could not be eaten.
• 3. Then the LORD said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I replied, "Figs, some very good and some very bad."
• 4. Then the LORD gave me this message:
• 5. "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: The good figs represent the exiles I sent from Judah to the land of the Babylonians.
• 6. I have sent them into captivity for their own good. I will see that they are well treated, and I will bring them back here again. I will build them up and not tear them down. I will plant them and not uproot them.
• 7. I will give them hearts that will recognize me as the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me wholeheartedly.
• 8. "But the rotten figs," the LORD said, "represent King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, all the people left in Jerusalem, and those who live in Egypt. I will treat them like spoiled figs, too rotten to eat.
• 9. I will make them an object of horror and evil to every nation on earth. They will be disgraced and mocked, taunted and cursed, wherever I send them.
• 10. I will send war, famine, and disease until they have vanished from the land of Israel, which I gave to them and their ancestors."

New Living Translation: 209 of 365 days.