18 Next, Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?”

“Men like you,” they answered, “each one resembling the son of a king.”

19“They were my brothers,” Gideon replied, “the sons of my mother! As surely as the Lord lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.”

20 So he said to Jether, his firstborn, “Get up and kill them.” But the young man did not draw his sword; he was fearful because he was still a youth.

21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Get up and kill us yourself, for as the man is, so is his strength.” So Gideon got up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments from the necks of their camels.

22 Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us — you and your son and grandson — for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”

23 But Gideon replied, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son. The Lord shall rule over you.”

24 Then he added, “Let me make a request of you, that each of you give me an earring from his plunder.” (For the enemies had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.)

25“We will give them gladly,” they replied.

So they spread out a garment, and each man threw an earring from his plunder onto it. 26The weight of the gold earrings he had requested was 1,700 shekels, in addition to the crescent ornaments, the pendants, the purple garments of the kings of Midian, and the chains from the necks of their camels.

27 From all this Gideon made an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his hometown. But soon all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.

28 In this way Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. So the land had rest for forty years in the days of Gideon, 29and he— Jerubbaal son of Joash — returned home and settled down.

30 Gideon had seventy sons of his own, since he had many wives. 31His concubine, who dwelt in Shechem, also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.

32 Later, Gideon son of Joash died at a ripe old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

33 And as soon as Gideon was dead, the Israelites turned and prostituted themselves with the Baals, and they set up Baal-berith as their god.

34 The Israelites failed to remember the Lord their God who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. 35They did not show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) for all the good things he had done for Israel.

1 Now Abimelech son of Jerubbaal went to his mother’s brothers at Shechem and said to them and to all the clan of his mother, 2“Please ask all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Is it better for you that seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you, or just one man?’ Remember that I am your own flesh and blood.”

3 And when his mother’s brothers spoke all these words about him in the presence of all the leaders of Shechem, their hearts were inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is our brother.” 4So they gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-berith, with which Abimelech hired some worthless and reckless men to follow him. 5He went to his father’s house in Ophrah, and on one stone murdered his seventy brothers, the sons of Jerubbaal. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, survived, because he hid himself.

6 Then all the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo gathered beside the oak at the pillar in Shechem and proceeded to make Abimelech their king.

7 When this was reported to Jotham, he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim, raised his voice, and cried out:

16 Now if you have acted faithfully and honestly in making Abimelech king, if you have done well by Jerubbaal and his family, and if you have done to him as he deserves— 17for my father fought for you and risked his life to deliver you from the hand of Midian, 18but you have risen up against my father’s house this day and killed his seventy sons on a single stone, and you have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the leaders of Shechem because he is your brother — 19if you have acted faithfully and honestly toward Jerubbaal and his house this day, then may you rejoice in Abimelech, and he in you.

20 But if not, may fire come from Abimelech and consume the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo, and may fire come from the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo and consume Abimelech.”

21 Then Jotham ran away, escaping to Beer, and he lived there for fear of his brother Abimelech.

44 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour. 45The sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn down the middle.

46 Then Jesus called out in a loud voice, “Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit.” And when He had said this, He breathed His last.

47 When the centurion saw what had happened, he gave glory to God, saying, “Surely this was a righteous man.” 48And when all the people who had gathered for this spectacle saw what had happened, they returned home beating their breasts. 49But all those who knew Jesus, including the women who had followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching these things.

50 Now there was a Council member named Joseph, a good and righteous man, 51who had not consented to their decision or action. He was from the Judean town of Arimathea and was waiting for the kingdom of God. 52He went to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus. 53Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and placed it in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had yet been laid. 54It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was beginning.

55 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how His body was placed. 56Then they returned to prepare spices and perfumes. And they rested on the Sabbath, according to the commandment.

1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. 2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4While they were puzzling over this, suddenly two men in radiant apparel stood beside them.

5 As the women bowed their faces to the ground in terror, the two men asked them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you while He was still in Galilee: 7‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’”

8 Then they remembered His words. 9And when they returned from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. 11But their words seemed like nonsense to them, and they did not believe the women.

12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. And after bending down and seeing only the linen cloths, he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.