Daily Reading for April 11

Tola Becomes Israel’s Judge

10 After Abimelech died, Tola son of Puah, son of Dodo, was the next person to rescue Israel. He was from the tribe of Issachar but lived in the town of Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. ² He judged Israel for twenty-three years. When he died, he was buried in Shamir.

Jair Becomes Israel’s Judge

³ After Tola died, Jair from Gilead judged Israel for twenty-two years. ⁴ His thirty sons rode around on thirty donkeys, and they owned thirty towns in the land of Gilead, which are still called the Towns of Jair.^{[a] 5} When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon.

The Ammonites Oppress Israel

⁶ Again the Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They served the images of Baal and Ashtoreth, and the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and Philistia. They abandoned the Lord and no longer served him at all. ⁷ So the Lord burned with anger against Israel, and he turned them over to the Philistines and the Ammonites, ⁸ who began to oppress them that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites east of the Jordan River in the land of the Amorites (that is, in Gilead). ⁹ The Ammonites also crossed to the west side of the Jordan and attacked Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim.

The Israelites were in great distress. ¹⁰ Finally, they cried out to the Lord for help, saying, “We have sinned against you because we have abandoned you as our God and have served the images of Baal.”

¹¹ The Lord replied, “Did I not rescue you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, ¹² the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites? When they oppressed you, you cried out to me for help, and I rescued you. ¹³ Yet you have abandoned me and served other gods. So I will not rescue you anymore. ¹⁴ Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen! Let them rescue you in your hour of distress!”

¹⁵ But the Israelites pleaded with the Lord and said, “We have sinned. Punish us as you see fit, only rescue us today from our enemies.” ¹⁶ Then the Israelites put aside their foreign gods and served the Lord. And he was grieved by their misery.

¹⁷ At that time the armies of Ammon had gathered for war and were camped in Gilead, and the people of Israel assembled and camped at Mizpah. ¹⁸ The leaders of Gilead said to each other, “Whoever attacks the Ammonites first will become ruler over all the people of Gilead.”

Jephthah Becomes Israel’s Judge

11 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 band of worthless rebels following him.

⁴ At about this time, the Ammonites began their war against Israel. ⁵ When the Ammonites attacked, the elders of Gilead sent for Jephthah in the land of Tob. ⁶ The elders said, “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,” the elders replied. “If you lead us in battle against the Ammonites, we will make you ruler over all the people of Gilead.”

⁹ Jephthah said to the elders, “Let me get this straight. 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 elders replied. “We promise to do whatever you say.”

¹¹ So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him their ruler and commander of the army. At Mizpah, in the presence of the Lord, Jephthah repeated what he had said to the elders.

¹² Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of Ammon, asking, “Why have you come out to fight against my land?”

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:

²⁸ But the king of Ammon paid no attention to Jephthah’s message.

Jephthah’s Vow

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 from there he 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 whatever comes out of my house to meet 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 crushed the Ammonites, devastating about twenty towns from Aroer to an area near Minnith and as far away as Abel-keramim. In this way Israel defeated the Ammonites.

³⁴ When Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, his daughter came out to meet him, playing on a tambourine and dancing for joy. She was his one and only child; he had no other sons or daughters. ³⁵ When he saw her, he tore his clothes in anguish. “Oh, my daughter!” he cried out. “You have completely destroyed me! You’ve brought disaster on me! For I have made a vow to the Lord, and I cannot take it back.”

³⁶ And she said, “Father, if you have made a vow to the Lord, you must do to me what you have vowed, for the Lord has given you a great victory over your enemies, the Ammonites. ³⁷ But first let me do this one thing: 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 sent her 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 the vow he had made, 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.

Teaching about Prayer

11 Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

² Jesus said, “This is how you should pray:^[a]

⁵ Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, ⁶ ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ ⁷ And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ ⁸ But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.^[d]

⁹ “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

¹¹ “You fathers—if your children ask^[e] for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? ¹² Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! ¹³ So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”

Jesus and the Prince of Demons

¹⁴ One day Jesus cast out a demon from a man who couldn’t speak, and when the demon was gone, the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed, ¹⁵ but some of them said, “No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan,^[f] the prince of demons.” ¹⁶ Others, trying to test Jesus, demanded that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority.

¹⁷ He knew their thoughts, so he said, “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A family splintered by feuding will fall apart. ¹⁸ You say I am empowered by Satan. But if Satan is divided and fighting against himself, how can his kingdom survive? ¹⁹ And if I am empowered by Satan, what about your own exorcists? They cast out demons, too, so they will condemn you for what you have said. ²⁰ But if I am casting out demons by the power of God,^[g] then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you. ²¹ For when a strong man is fully armed and guards his palace, his possessions are safe— ²² until someone even stronger attacks and overpowers him, strips him of his weapons, and carries off his belongings.

²³ “Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.