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40  How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness ♦︎
   and grieved him in the desert!
41  Again and again they tempted God ♦︎
   and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
42  They did not remember his power ♦︎
   in the day when he redeemed them from the enemy;
43  How he had wrought his signs in Egypt ♦︎
   and his wonders in the field of Zoan.
44  He turned their rivers into blood, ♦︎
   so that they could not drink of their streams.
45  He sent swarms of flies among them, which devoured them, ♦︎
   and frogs which brought them ruin.
46  He gave their produce to the caterpillar, ♦︎
   the fruit of their toil to the locust.
47  He destroyed their vines with hailstones ♦︎
   and their sycamore trees with the frost.
48  He delivered their cattle to hailstones ♦︎
   and their flocks to thunderbolts.
49  He set loose on them his blazing anger: ♦︎
   fury, displeasure and trouble,
      a troop of destroying angels.
50  He made a way for his anger
      and spared not their souls from death, ♦︎
   but gave their life over to the pestilence.
51  He smote the firstborn of Egypt, ♦︎
   the first fruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52  But he led out his people like sheep ♦︎
   and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53  He led them to safety and they were not afraid, ♦︎
   but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54  He brought them to his holy place, ♦︎
   the mountain which his right hand took in possession.
55  He drove out the nations before them
      and shared out to them their inheritance; ♦︎
   he settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
56  Yet still they tested God Most High
      and rebelled against him, ♦︎
   and would not keep his commandments.
57  They turned back and fell away like their forebears, ♦︎
   starting aside like an unstrung bow.
58  They grieved him with their hill altars ♦︎
   and provoked him to displeasure with their idols.
59  God heard and was greatly angered, ♦︎
   and utterly rejected Israel.
60  He forsook the tabernacle at Shiloh, ♦︎
   the tent of his presence on earth.
61  He gave the ark of his strength into captivity, ♦︎
   his splendour into the adversary’s hand.
62  He delivered his people to the sword ♦︎
   and raged against his inheritance.
63  The fire consumed their young men; ♦︎
   there was no one to lament their maidens.
64  Their priests fell by the sword, ♦︎
   and their widows made no lamentation.
65  Then the Lord woke as out of sleep, ♦︎
   like a warrior who had been overcome with wine.
66  He struck his enemies from behind ♦︎
   and put them to perpetual shame.
67  He rejected the tent of Joseph ♦︎
   and chose not the tribe of Ephraim,
68  But he chose the tribe of Judah ♦︎
   and the hill of Zion, which he loved.
69  And there he built his sanctuary like the heights of heaven, ♦︎
   like the earth which he founded for ever.
70  He chose David also, his servant, ♦︎
   and took him away from the sheepfolds.
71  From following the ewes with their lambs he took him, ♦︎
   that he might shepherd Jacob his people
      and Israel his inheritance.
72  So he shepherded them with a devoted heart ♦︎
   and with skilful hands he guided them.

Jephthah

11Now Jephthah the Gileadite, the son of a prostitute, was a mighty warrior. Gilead was the father of Jephthah. ²Gilead’s wife also bore him sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah away, saying to him, ‘You shall not inherit anything in our father’s house; for you are the son of another woman.’ ³Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Outlaws collected around Jephthah and went raiding with him.

4 After a time the Ammonites made war against Israel. ⁵And when the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob. ⁶They said to Jephthah, ‘Come and be our commander, so that we may fight with the Ammonites.’ ⁷But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, ‘Are you not the very ones who rejected me and drove me out of my father’s house? So why do you come to me now when you are in trouble?’ ⁸The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, ‘Nevertheless, we have now turned back to you, so that you may go with us and fight with the Ammonites, and become head over us, over all the inhabitants of Gilead.’ ⁹Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, ‘If you bring me home again to fight with the Ammonites, and the Lord gives them over to me, I will be your head.’ ¹⁰And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, ‘The Lord will be witness between us; we will surely do as you say.’ ¹¹So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord at Mizpah.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

19 ‘There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. ²⁰And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, ²¹who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. ²²The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham.^* The rich man also died and was buried. ²³In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side.^{* 24}He called out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.” ²⁵But Abraham said, “Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. ²⁶Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.” ²⁷He said, “Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house— ²⁸for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.” ²⁹Abraham replied, “They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.” ³⁰He said, “No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” ³¹He said to him, “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” ’