Monday in Season after Pentecost

23Verse 23. And a garrison of the Philistines had gone out to the pass at Michmash. 1Verse 1. One day Jonathan son of Saul said to the young man bearing his armor, “Come, let us cross over to the Philistine outpost on the other side.” But Jonathan did not tell his father. 2Verse 2. Meanwhile, Saul was staying under the pomegranate tree in Migron on the outskirts of Gibeah. And the troops who were with him numbered about six hundred men, 3Verse 3. including Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. He was the son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli the priest of the LORD in Shiloh. But the troops did not know that Jonathan had left. 4Verse 4. Now there were cliffs on both sides of the pass that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine outpost. One was named Bozez and the other Seneh. 5Verse 5. One cliff stood to the north toward Michmash, and the other to the south toward Geba. 6Verse 6. Jonathan said to the young man bearing his armor, “Come, let us cross over to the outpost of these uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will work on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.” 7Verse 7. His armor-bearer replied, “Do all that is in your heart. Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.” 8Verse 8. “Very well,” said Jonathan, “we will cross over toward these men and show ourselves to them. 9Verse 9. If they say, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stay where we are and will not go up to them. 10Verse 10. But if they say, ‘Come on up,’ then we will go up, because this will be our sign that the LORD has delivered them into our hands.” 11Verse 11. So the two of them showed themselves to the outpost of the Philistines, who exclaimed, “Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes in which they were hiding!” 12Verse 12. So the men of the outpost called out to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, “Come on up, and we will teach you a lesson!” “Follow me,” Jonathan told his armor-bearer, “for the LORD has delivered them into the hand of Israel.” 13Verse 13. So Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer behind him. And the Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and finished them off. 14Verse 14. In that first assault, Jonathan and his armor-bearer struck down about twenty men in about half an acre of land. 15Verse 15. Then panic struck the Philistines in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. Even those in the outposts and raiding parties trembled. Indeed, the earth quaked, and panic spread from God. 16Verse 16. Now when Saul’s watchmen at Gibeah in Benjamin looked and saw the troops melting away and scattering in every direction, 17Verse 17. Saul said to the troops who were with him, “Call the roll and see who has left us.” And when they had called the roll, they saw that Jonathan and his armor-bearer were not there. 18Verse 18. Then Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God.” (For at that time it was with the Israelites.) 19Verse 19. While Saul was talking to the priest, the commotion in the Philistine camp continued to increase. So Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.” 20Verse 20. Then Saul and all his troops assembled and marched to the battle, and they found the Philistines in total confusion, with each man wielding the sword against his neighbor. 21Verse 21. And the Hebrews who had previously gone up into the surrounding camps to join the Philistines now went over to the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. 22Verse 22. When all the Israelites who had been hiding in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they also joined the battle in close pursuit. 23Verse 23. So the LORD saved Israel that day, and the battle moved on beyond Beth-aven.

1Verse 1. In the eleventh year, on the first day of the third month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2Verse 2. “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude: ‘Who can be compared to your greatness? 3Verse 3. Look at Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches that shaded the forest. It towered on high; its top was among the clouds. 4Verse 4. The waters made it grow; the deep springs made it tall, directing their streams all around its base and sending their channels to all the trees of the field. 5Verse 5. Therefore it towered higher than all the trees of the field. Its branches multiplied, and its boughs grew long as it spread them out because of the abundant waters. 6Verse 6. All the birds of the air nested in its branches, and all the beasts of the field gave birth beneath its boughs; all the great nations lived in its shade. 7Verse 7. It was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its limbs, for its roots extended to abundant waters. 8Verse 8. The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it; the cypresses could not compare with its branches, nor the plane trees match its boughs. No tree in the garden of God could compare with its beauty. 9Verse 9. I made it beautiful with its many branches, the envy of all the trees of Eden, which were in the garden of God.’ 10Verse 10. Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Since it became great in height and set its top among the clouds, and it grew proud on account of its height, 11Verse 11. I delivered it into the hand of the ruler of the nations, for him to deal with it according to its wickedness. I have banished it. 12Verse 12. Foreigners, the most ruthless of the nations, cut it down and left it. Its branches have fallen on the mountains and in every valley; its boughs lay broken in all the earth’s ravines. And all the peoples of the earth left its shade and abandoned it.