Tola and Jair

1 After Abimelech there arose to ^hsave Israel Tola the son of Puah, son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, and he lived at Shamir in ⁱthe hill country of Ephraim. 2 And he judged Israel twenty-three years. Then he died and was buried at Shamir.

3 After him arose Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years. 4 And he had thirty sons who ^jrode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities, called Havvoth-jair to this day, ^kwhich are in the land of Gilead. 5 And Jair died and was buried in Kamon.

Further Disobedience and Oppression

6 ^lThe people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord ^mand served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, ⁿthe gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they ^oforsook the Lord and did not serve him. 7 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and ^phe sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites, 8 and they crushed and oppressed the people of Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the people of Israel who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. 9 And the Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed.

10 And the people of Israel ^qcried out to the Lord, saying, “We have sinned against you, because ^rwe have forsaken our God and have served the Baals.” 11 And the Lord said to the people of Israel, “Did I not save you ^sfrom the Egyptians and ^tfrom the Amorites, ^ufrom the Ammonites and ^vfrom the Philistines? 12 The Sidonians also, and ^wthe Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and I ^xsaved you out of their hand. 13 Yet you have ^yforsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. 14 Go and cry out ^zto the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.” 15 And the people of Israel said to the Lord, “We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day.” 16 So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord, and ^ahe became impatient over the misery of Israel.

17 Then the Ammonites were called to arms, and they encamped in Gilead. And the people of Israel came together, and they encamped at ^bMizpah. 18 And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said one to another, “Who is the man who will begin to fight against the Ammonites? ^cHe shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

Jephthah Delivers Israel

1 Now ^dJephthah the Gileadite was ^ea mighty warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was the father of Jephthah. 2 And Gilead’s wife also bore him sons. And when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You shall not have an inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.” 3 Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of ^fTob, and ^gworthless fellows collected around Jephthah and went out with him.

4 After a time the Ammonites made war against Israel. 5 And when the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of ^fTob. 6 And they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our leader, that we may fight against the Ammonites.” 7 But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and drive me out of my father’s house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?” 8 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is why we have turned to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the Ammonites and ^hbe our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” 9 Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight against the Ammonites, and the Lord gives them over to me, I will be your head.” 10 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, ⁱ“The Lord will be witness between us, if we do not do as you say.” 11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people ^jmade him head and leader over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words ^kbefore the Lord at ^lMizpah.

12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said, “What do you have against me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?” 13 And the king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, ^m“Because Israel on coming up from Egypt took away my land, from the ⁿArnon to the ^oJabbok and to the Jordan; now therefore restore it peaceably.” 14 Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites 15 and said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: ^pIsrael did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites, 16 but when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness ^qto the Red Sea and ^rcame to Kadesh. 17 ^sIsrael then sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,’ ^tbut the king of Edom would not listen. And they sent also to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel ^uremained at Kadesh.

18 “Then they journeyed through the wilderness and ^vwent around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and ^warrived on the east side of the land of Moab and ^xcamped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab. 19 ^yIsrael then sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land to our country,’ 20 but Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory, so Sihon gathered all his people together and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel. 21 And the Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country. 22 And they took possession of all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan. 23 So then the Lord, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel; and are you to take possession of them? 24 Will you not possess what ^zChemosh your god gives you to possess? ^aAnd all that the Lord our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess. 25 Now are you any better than ^bBalak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend against Israel, or did he ever go to war with them? 26 While Israel lived ^cin Heshbon and its villages, and ^din Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, 300 years, why did you not deliver them within that time? 27 I therefore have not sinned against you, and you do me wrong by making war on me. ^eThe Lord, the Judge, decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon.” 28 But the king of the Ammonites did not listen to the words of Jephthah that he sent to him.

Released from the Law

1 Or do you not know, brothers¹—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? 2 For ^ea married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.² 3 Accordingly, ^fshe will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.

4 Likewise, my brothers, ^gyou also have died ^hto the law ⁱthrough the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, ^jin order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work ^kin our members ^lto bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the ^mnew way of ⁿthe Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.³

The Law and Sin

7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, ^oI would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if ^pthe law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, ^qseizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. ^rFor apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment ^sthat promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, ^tseizing an opportunity through the commandment, ^udeceived me and through it killed me. 12 So ^vthe law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, ^wsold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For ^xI do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with ^ythe law, that it is good. 17 So now ^zit is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells ^ain me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 ^bFor I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, ^cit is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For ^dI delight in the law of God, ^ein my inner being, 23 but I see in my members ^fanother law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from ^gthis body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Life in the Spirit

1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.⁴ 2 For the law of ^hthe Spirit of life ⁱhas set you⁵ free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For ^jGod has done what the law, ^kweakened by the flesh, ^lcould not do. ^mBy sending his own Son ⁿin the likeness of sinful flesh and ^ofor sin,⁶ he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that ^pthe righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, ^qwho walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For ^rthose who live according to the flesh set their minds on ^sthe things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on ^tthe things of the Spirit. 6 For to set ^uthe mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is ^vhostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; ^windeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact ^xthe Spirit of God dwells in you. ^yAnyone who does not have ^zthe Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of ^ahim who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus⁷ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies ^bthrough his Spirit who dwells in you.

Heirs with Christ

12 So then, brothers,⁸ we are debtors, ^cnot to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you ^dput to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are ^eled by the Spirit of God are ^fsons⁹ of God. 15 For ^gyou did not receive ^hthe spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of ⁱadoption as sons, by whom we cry, ^j“Abba! Father!” 16 ^kThe Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then ^lheirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, ^mprovided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Future Glory

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time ⁿare not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for ^othe revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation ^pwas subjected to futility, not willingly, but ^qbecause of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that ^rthe creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that ^sthe whole creation ^thas been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have ^uthe firstfruits of the Spirit, ^vgroan inwardly as ^wwe wait eagerly for adoption as sons, ^xthe redemption of our bodies. 24 For ^yin this hope we were saved. Now ^zhope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we ^await for it with patience.

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For ^bwe do not know what to pray for as we ought, but ^cthe Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And ^dhe who searches hearts knows what is ^ethe mind of the Spirit, because¹⁰ the Spirit ^fintercedes for the saints ^gaccording to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together ^hfor good,¹¹ for ⁱthose who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he ^jforeknew he also ^kpredestined ^lto be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be ^mthe firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also ⁿjustified, and those whom he justified he also ^oglorified.

God’s Everlasting Love

31 What then shall we say to these things? ^pIf God is for us, who can be¹² against us? 32 ^qHe who did not spare his own Son but ^rgave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? ^sIt is God who justifies. 34 ^tWho is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—^uwho is at the right hand of God, ^vwho indeed is interceding for us.¹³ 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,

37 No, in all these things we are more than ^yconquerors through ^zhim who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God’s Sovereign Choice

1 ^aI am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For ^bI could wish that I myself were ^caccursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers,¹⁴ my kinsmen ^daccording to the flesh. 4 They are ^eIsraelites, and to them belong ^fthe adoption, ^gthe glory, ^hthe covenants, ⁱthe giving of the law, ^jthe worship, and ^kthe promises. 5 To them belong ^lthe patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, ^mwho is God over all, ⁿblessed forever. Amen.

6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham ^obecause they are his offspring, but ^p“Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but ^qthe children of the promise are counted as offspring. 9 For this is what the promise said: ^r“About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” 10 And not only so, but ^salso when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of ^thim who calls— 12 she was told, ^u“The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, ^v“Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

14 What shall we say then? ^wIs there injustice on God’s part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, ^x“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion,¹⁵ but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ^y“For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For ^zwho can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, ^ato answer back to God? ^bWill what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 ^cHas the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump ^done vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience ^evessels of wrath ^fprepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known ^gthe riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he ^hhas prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us whom he ⁱhas called, ^jnot from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? 25 As indeed he says in Hosea,