Allowing Our Children to Grow and Go: A 3-Day Parenting Plan

Faith Under Fire

Bible Study 2: Naomi's Journey - Finding Strength in Mentorship

The Benefit of Doubt: How Confronting Your Deepest Questions Can Lead to a Richer Faith

Raising the Next Generation: Trusting God’s Plan for Single Mothers

The Fasting Zone

The Way of the Cross

TheLionWithin.Us: 3 Questions to Unlock Deeper Insights in God’s Word

Wives Who Win for Christ: Influencing Your Unsaved Husband Through Discipleship by Dr. Treal Ravenel

The Big 5

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkGEN">
      <div class="chapter ch31" data-usfm="GEN.31">
         <div class="label">31</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Jacob Flees From Laban</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="GEN.31.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Jacob heard that Laban&#8217;s sons were saying, &#8220;Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="GEN.31.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">And Jacob noticed that Laban&#8217;s attitude toward him was not what it had been.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="GEN.31.2"></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="GEN.31.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Then the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> said to Jacob, &#8220;Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="GEN.31.3"></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="GEN.31.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were. </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="GEN.31.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">He said to them, &#8220;I see that your father&#8217;s attitude toward me is not what it was before, but the God of my father has been with me. </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="GEN.31.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">You know that I&#8217;ve worked for your father with all my strength, </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="GEN.31.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">yet your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times. However, God has not allowed him to harm me. </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="GEN.31.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">If he said, &#8216;The speckled ones will be your wages,&#8217; then all the flocks gave birth to speckled young; and if he said, &#8216;The streaked ones will be your wages,&#8217; then all the flocks bore streaked young. </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="GEN.31.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">So God has taken away your father&#8217;s livestock and has given them to me.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="GEN.31.9"></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="GEN.31.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">&#8220;In breeding season I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled or spotted. </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="GEN.31.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">The angel of God said to me in the dream, &#8216;Jacob.&#8217; I answered, &#8216;Here I am.&#8217; </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="GEN.31.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">And he said, &#8216;Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="GEN.31.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="GEN.31.13"></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="GEN.31.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">Then Rachel and Leah replied, &#8220;Do we still have any share in the inheritance of our father&#8217;s estate? </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="GEN.31.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">Does he not regard us as foreigners? Not only has he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us. </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="GEN.31.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">Surely all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and our children. So do whatever God has told you.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="GEN.31.16"></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="GEN.31.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">Then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels, </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="GEN.31.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated in Paddan Aram,</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="fr">31:18 </span><span class="ft">That is, Northwest Mesopotamia</span></span></span><span class="content"> to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="GEN.31.18"></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="GEN.31.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father&#8217;s household gods. </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="GEN.31.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away. </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="GEN.31.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">So he fled with all he had, crossed the Euphrates River, and headed for the hill country of Gilead.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Laban Pursues Jacob</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="GEN.31.21"></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="GEN.31.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. </span></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="GEN.31.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">Taking his relatives with him, he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead. </span></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="GEN.31.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="content">Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, &#8220;Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="GEN.31.24"></span><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="GEN.31.25"><span class="label">25</span><span class="content">Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there too. </span></span><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="GEN.31.26"><span class="label">26</span><span class="content">Then Laban said to Jacob, &#8220;What have you done? You&#8217;ve deceived me, and you&#8217;ve carried off my daughters like captives in war. </span></span><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="GEN.31.27"><span class="label">27</span><span class="content">Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn&#8217;t you tell me, so I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of timbrels and harps? </span></span><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="GEN.31.28"><span class="label">28</span><span class="content">You didn&#8217;t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye. You have done a foolish thing. </span></span><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="GEN.31.29"><span class="label">29</span><span class="content">I have the power to harm you; but last night the God of your father said to me, &#8216;Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.&#8217; </span></span><span class="verse v30" data-usfm="GEN.31.30"><span class="label">30</span><span class="content">Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father&#8217;s household. But why did you steal my gods?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v30" data-usfm="GEN.31.30"></span><span class="verse v31" data-usfm="GEN.31.31"><span class="label">31</span><span class="content">Jacob answered Laban, &#8220;I was afraid, because I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force. </span></span><span class="verse v32" data-usfm="GEN.31.32"><span class="label">32</span><span class="content">But if you find anyone who has your gods, that person shall not live. In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself whether there is anything of yours here with me; and if so, take it.&#8221; Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the gods.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v32" data-usfm="GEN.31.32"></span><span class="verse v33" data-usfm="GEN.31.33"><span class="label">33</span><span class="content">So Laban went into Jacob&#8217;s tent and into Leah&#8217;s tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he found nothing. After he came out of Leah&#8217;s tent, he entered Rachel&#8217;s tent. </span></span><span class="verse v34" data-usfm="GEN.31.34"><span class="label">34</span><span class="content">Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them inside her camel&#8217;s saddle and was sitting on them. Laban searched through everything in the tent but found nothing.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v34" data-usfm="GEN.31.34"></span><span class="verse v35" data-usfm="GEN.31.35"><span class="label">35</span><span class="content">Rachel said to her father, &#8220;Don&#8217;t be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I&#8217;m having my period.&#8221; So he searched but could not find the household gods.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v35" data-usfm="GEN.31.35"></span><span class="verse v36" data-usfm="GEN.31.36"><span class="label">36</span><span class="content">Jacob was angry and took Laban to task. &#8220;What is my crime?&#8221; he asked Laban. &#8220;How have I wronged you that you hunt me down? </span></span><span class="verse v37" data-usfm="GEN.31.37"><span class="label">37</span><span class="content">Now that you have searched through all my goods, what have you found that belongs to your household? Put it here in front of your relatives and mine, and let them judge between the two of us.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v37" data-usfm="GEN.31.37"></span><span class="verse v38" data-usfm="GEN.31.38"><span class="label">38</span><span class="content">&#8220;I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks. </span></span><span class="verse v39" data-usfm="GEN.31.39"><span class="label">39</span><span class="content">I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen by day or night. </span></span><span class="verse v40" data-usfm="GEN.31.40"><span class="label">40</span><span class="content">This was my situation: The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes. </span></span><span class="verse v41" data-usfm="GEN.31.41"><span class="label">41</span><span class="content">It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times. </span></span><span class="verse v42" data-usfm="GEN.31.42"><span class="label">42</span><span class="content">If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v42" data-usfm="GEN.31.42"></span><span class="verse v43" data-usfm="GEN.31.43"><span class="label">43</span><span class="content">Laban answered Jacob, &#8220;The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks. All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne? </span></span><span class="verse v44" data-usfm="GEN.31.44"><span class="label">44</span><span class="content">Come now, let&#8217;s make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v44" data-usfm="GEN.31.44"></span><span class="verse v45" data-usfm="GEN.31.45"><span class="label">45</span><span class="content">So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. </span></span><span class="verse v46" data-usfm="GEN.31.46"><span class="label">46</span><span class="content">He said to his relatives, &#8220;Gather some stones.&#8221; So they took stones and piled them in a heap, and they ate there by the heap. </span></span><span class="verse v47" data-usfm="GEN.31.47"><span class="label">47</span><span class="content">Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="fr">31:47 </span><span class="ft">The Aramaic </span><span class="fq">Jegar Sahadutha </span><span class="ft">and the Hebrew </span><span class="fq">Galeed </span><span class="ft">both mean </span><span class="fqa">witness heap.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v47" data-usfm="GEN.31.47"></span><span class="verse v48" data-usfm="GEN.31.48"><span class="label">48</span><span class="content">Laban said, &#8220;This heap is a witness between you and me today.&#8221; That is why it was called Galeed. </span></span><span class="verse v49" data-usfm="GEN.31.49"><span class="label">49</span><span class="content">It was also called Mizpah,</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="fr">31:49 </span><span class="fq">Mizpah </span><span class="ft">means </span><span class="fqa">watchtower.</span></span></span><span class="content"> because he said, &#8220;May the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other. </span></span><span class="verse v50" data-usfm="GEN.31.50"><span class="label">50</span><span class="content">If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v50" data-usfm="GEN.31.50"></span><span class="verse v51" data-usfm="GEN.31.51"><span class="label">51</span><span class="content">Laban also said to Jacob, &#8220;Here is this heap, and here is this pillar I have set up between you and me. </span></span><span class="verse v52" data-usfm="GEN.31.52"><span class="label">52</span><span class="content">This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me. </span></span><span class="verse v53" data-usfm="GEN.31.53"><span class="label">53</span><span class="content">May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v53" data-usfm="GEN.31.53"><span class="content">So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac. </span></span><span class="verse v54" data-usfm="GEN.31.54"><span class="label">54</span><span class="content">He offered a sacrifice there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night there.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v54" data-usfm="GEN.31.54"></span><span class="verse v55" data-usfm="GEN.31.55"><span class="label">55</span><span class="content">Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then he left and returned home.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="fr">31:55 </span><span class="ft">In Hebrew texts this verse (31:55) is numbered 32:1.</span></span></span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkPSA">
      <div class="chapter ch31" data-usfm="PSA.31">
         <div class="label">31</div><div class="cl"><span class="heading">Psalm 31</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="ft"><span class="heading">In Hebrew texts 31:1-24 is numbered 31:2-25.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="d"><span class="content">For the director of music. A psalm of David.</span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.31.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">In you, </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">, I have taken refuge;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.31.1"><span class="content">let me never be put to shame;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.31.1"><span class="content">deliver me in your righteousness.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.31.1"></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.31.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">Turn your ear to me,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.31.2"><span class="content">come quickly to my rescue;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.31.2"><span class="content">be my rock of refuge,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.31.2"><span class="content">a strong fortress to save me.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.31.2"></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.31.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Since you are my rock and my fortress,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.31.3"><span class="content">for the sake of your name lead and guide me.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.31.3"></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.31.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">Keep me free from the trap that is set for me,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.31.4"><span class="content">for you are my refuge.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.31.4"></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.31.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">Into your hands I commit my spirit;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.31.5"><span class="content">deliver me, </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">, my faithful God.</span></span></div><div class="b"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.31.5"></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.31.5"></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PSA.31.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">I hate those who cling to worthless idols;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PSA.31.6"><span class="content">as for me, I trust in the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PSA.31.6"></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PSA.31.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">I will be glad and rejoice in your love,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PSA.31.7"><span class="content">for you saw my affliction</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PSA.31.7"><span class="content">and knew the anguish of my soul.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PSA.31.7"></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PSA.31.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">You have not given me into the hands of the enemy</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PSA.31.8"><span class="content">but have set my feet in a spacious place.</span></span></div><div class="b"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PSA.31.8"></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PSA.31.8"></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PSA.31.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Be merciful to me, </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">, for I am in distress;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PSA.31.9"><span class="content">my eyes grow weak with sorrow,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PSA.31.9"><span class="content">my soul and body with grief.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PSA.31.9"></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="PSA.31.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">My life is consumed by anguish</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="PSA.31.10"><span class="content">and my years by groaning;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="PSA.31.10"><span class="content">my strength fails because of my affliction,</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="fr">31:10 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">guilt</span></span></span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="PSA.31.10"><span class="content">and my bones grow weak.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="PSA.31.10"></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="PSA.31.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">Because of all my enemies,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="PSA.31.11"><span class="content">I am the utter contempt of my neighbors</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="PSA.31.11"><span class="content">and an object of dread to my closest friends&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="PSA.31.11"><span class="content">those who see me on the street flee from me.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="PSA.31.11"></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="PSA.31.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">I am forgotten as though I were dead;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="PSA.31.12"><span class="content">I have become like broken pottery.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="PSA.31.12"></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="PSA.31.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">For I hear many whispering,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="PSA.31.13"><span class="content">&#8220;Terror on every side!&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="PSA.31.13"><span class="content">They conspire against me</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="PSA.31.13"><span class="content">and plot to take my life.</span></span></div><div class="b"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="PSA.31.13"></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="PSA.31.13"></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="PSA.31.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">But I trust in you, </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="PSA.31.14"><span class="content">I say, &#8220;You are my God.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="PSA.31.14"></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="PSA.31.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">My times are in your hands;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="PSA.31.15"><span class="content">deliver me from the hands of my enemies,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="PSA.31.15"><span class="content">from those who pursue me.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="PSA.31.15"></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="PSA.31.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">Let your face shine on your servant;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="PSA.31.16"><span class="content">save me in your unfailing love.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="PSA.31.16"></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="PSA.31.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">Let me not be put to shame, </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="PSA.31.17"><span class="content">for I have cried out to you;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="PSA.31.17"><span class="content">but let the wicked be put to shame</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="PSA.31.17"><span class="content">and be silent in the realm of the dead.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="PSA.31.17"></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="PSA.31.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">Let their lying lips be silenced,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="PSA.31.18"><span class="content">for with pride and contempt</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="PSA.31.18"><span class="content">they speak arrogantly against the righteous.</span></span></div><div class="b"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="PSA.31.18"></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="PSA.31.18"></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="PSA.31.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">How abundant are the good things</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="PSA.31.19"><span class="content">that you have stored up for those who fear you,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="PSA.31.19"><span class="content">that you bestow in the sight of all,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="PSA.31.19"><span class="content">on those who take refuge in you.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="PSA.31.19"></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="PSA.31.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">In the shelter of your presence you hide them</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="PSA.31.20"><span class="content">from all human intrigues;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="PSA.31.20"><span class="content">you keep them safe in your dwelling</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="PSA.31.20"><span class="content">from accusing tongues.</span></span></div><div class="b"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="PSA.31.20"></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="PSA.31.20"></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="PSA.31.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">Praise be to the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="PSA.31.21"><span class="content">for he showed me the wonders of his love</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="PSA.31.21"><span class="content">when I was in a city under siege.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="PSA.31.21"></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="PSA.31.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">In my alarm I said,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="PSA.31.22"><span class="content">&#8220;I am cut off from your sight!&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="PSA.31.22"><span class="content">Yet you heard my cry for mercy</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="PSA.31.22"><span class="content">when I called to you for help.</span></span></div><div class="b"><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="PSA.31.22"></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="PSA.31.22"></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="PSA.31.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">Love the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">, all his faithful people!</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="PSA.31.23"><span class="content">The </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> preserves those who are true to him,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="PSA.31.23"><span class="content">but the proud he pays back in full.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="PSA.31.23"></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="PSA.31.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="content">Be strong and take heart,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="PSA.31.24"><span class="content">all you who hope in the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">.</span></span></div>
      </div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkJDG">
      <div class="chapter ch7" data-usfm="JDG.7">
         <div class="label">7</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Gideon Defeats the Midianites</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="JDG.7.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="JDG.7.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">The </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> said to Gideon, &#8220;You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, &#8216;My own strength has saved me.&#8217; </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="JDG.7.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Now announce to the army, &#8216;Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221; So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="JDG.7.3"></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="JDG.7.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">But the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> said to Gideon, &#8220;There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there. If I say, &#8216;This one shall go with you,&#8217; he shall go; but if I say, &#8216;This one shall not go with you,&#8217; he shall not go.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="JDG.7.4"></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="JDG.7.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> told him, &#8220;Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="JDG.7.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="JDG.7.6"></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="JDG.7.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">The </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> said to Gideon, &#8220;With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="JDG.7.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites home but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="JDG.7.8"><span class="content">Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley. </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="JDG.7.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">During that night the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> said to Gideon, &#8220;Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="JDG.7.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="JDG.7.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.&#8221; So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp. </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="JDG.7.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="JDG.7.12"></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="JDG.7.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. &#8220;I had a dream,&#8221; he was saying. &#8220;A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="JDG.7.13"></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="JDG.7.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">His friend responded, &#8220;This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="JDG.7.14"></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="JDG.7.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, &#8220;Get up! The </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> has given the Midianite camp into your hands.&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="JDG.7.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="JDG.7.16"></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="JDG.7.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">&#8220;Watch me,&#8221; he told them. &#8220;Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="JDG.7.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, &#8216;For the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> and for Gideon.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="JDG.7.18"></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="JDG.7.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="JDG.7.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, &#8220;A sword for the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> and for Gideon!&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="JDG.7.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="JDG.7.21"></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="JDG.7.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath. </span></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="JDG.7.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">Israelites from Naphtali, Asher and all Manasseh were called out, and they pursued the Midianites. </span></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="JDG.7.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="content">Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, &#8220;Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth Barah.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="JDG.7.24"><span class="content">So all the men of Ephraim were called out and they seized the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth Barah. </span></span><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="JDG.7.25"><span class="label">25</span><span class="content">They also captured two of the Midianite leaders, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was by the Jordan.</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
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