Ch 7-9 minor edits/corrections

07-JDG.usfm

@@ -529,7 +529,7 @@
 \s5
 \p
 \v 31 But Joash replied to those who came against him, "Are you trying to defend Baal? Are you trying to argue his case? Anyone who tries to defend Baal should be executed by tomorrow morning! If Baal is truly a god, he ought to be able to defend himself when someone tears down his altar!"
-\v 32 From that time, people called Gideon 'Jerub Baal,' which means "Baal should defend himself," because he had torn down Baal's altar.
+\v 32 From that time, people called Gideon 'Jerub-Baal,' which means "Baal should defend himself," because he had torn down Baal's altar.
 
 \s5
 \p
@@ -555,7 +555,7 @@
 \s5
 \c 7
 \p
-\v 1 The next morning, Jerub Baal (his name is also Gideon) and his men got up early and went as far as the spring of Harod. The army of Midian was camped north of them, in the valley near the hill of Moreh.
+\v 1 The next morning, Jerub-Baal (his name is also Gideon) and his men got up early and went as far as the spring of Harod. The army of Midian was camped north of them, in the valley near the hill of Moreh.
 
 \s5
 \v 2 Yahweh said to Gideon, "You have too many soldiers with you. If I allow all of you to fight the army of Midian and your army defeats them, they will boast to me that they defeated their enemies by themselves, without my help.
@@ -567,7 +567,7 @@
 
 \s5
 \p
-\v 5 When Gideon took the men down to the spring, Yahweh told him, "When they drink, put into one group the ones who lap the water with their tongues, like dogs do. Put into another group the ones who kneel down to drink with their mouths in the water."
+\v 5 When Gideon took the men down to the spring, Yahweh told him, "When they drink, put into one group the ones who lap the water with their tongues, as dogs do. Put into another group the ones who kneel down to drink with their mouths in the water."
 \v 6 So when they drank, only three hundred men lapped the water with their tongues. All the others drank by kneeling down and putting their mouths into the water.
 
 \s5
@@ -592,7 +592,7 @@
 
 \s5
 \p
-\v 15 When Gideon heard the man tell about his dream and the meaning of that dream, he thanked God. Then he and Purah returned to the Israelite camp, and he shouted to the men, "Get up! Because God is enabling you to defeat the men from Midian!"
+\v 15 When Gideon heard the man tell about his dream and the meaning of that dream, he thanked God. Then he and Purah returned to the Israelite camp, and he shouted to the men, "Get up, because God is enabling you to defeat the men from Midian!"
 \v 16 He divided his men into three groups. He gave each man a ram's horn (as a trumpet) and an empty clay jar. He also gave each of them a torch to carry.
 
 \s5
@@ -602,15 +602,15 @@
 
 \s5
 \p
-\v 19 A while before midnight, at the "middle of the watch," just when a new group of guards took the places of the previous guards, Gideon and the hundred men with him arrived at the edge of the Midian camp. Suddenly he and his men blew their horns, and broke the jars that they were carrying.
+\v 19 A while before midnight, at the "middle of the watch," just when a new group of guards took the places of the previous guards, Gideon and the hundred men with him arrived at the edge of the Midian camp. Suddenly he and his men blew their horns and broke the jars that they were carrying.
 
 \s5
-\v 20 Then the men in all three groups blew their horns and smashed their jars. They held the torches high with their left hands, and held up the horns with their right hands and alternatively blew them and shouted, "We have swords to fight for Yahweh and for Gideon!"
-\v 21 Each of Gideon's men stood in his position around the enemy camp. As they watched, all the Midian men started running around and shouting in a panic.
+\v 20 Then the men in all three groups blew their horns and smashed their jars. They held the torches high with their left hands and held up the horns with their right hands and alternatively blew them and shouted, "We have swords to fight for Yahweh and for Gideon!"
+\v 21 Each of Gideon's men stood in his position around the enemy camp. As they watched, all the Midianite men started running around and shouting in a panic.
 
 \s5
 \p
-\v 22 While the three hundred Israelite men kept blowing their horns, Yahweh caused the Midianites to start fighting each other with their swords. Some of them killed each other. The rest fled. Some fled south to Beth Shittah. Some fled to the town of Zerarah, as far as the border of Abel Meholah, near Tabbath.
+\v 22 While the three hundred Israelite men kept blowing their horns, Yahweh caused the Midianites to start fighting each other with their swords. Some of them killed each other. The rest fled. Some fled south to Beth Shittah. Some fled to the town of Zererah, as far as the border of Abel Meholah, near Tabbath.
 \v 23 The men of Israel gathered together more men from the tribes of Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh and they went after the army of Midian.
 
 \s5
@@ -625,7 +625,7 @@
 
 \s5
 \p
-\v 2 But Gideon replied, "I have done very little compared with what you have done! The grapes you do not bother to pick in the land of Ephraim are much better than the whole harvest among the descendants of Abiezer!
+\v 2 But Gideon replied, "I have done very little compared to what you have done! The grapes you do not bother to pick in the land of Ephraim are much better than the whole harvest among the descendants of Abiezer!
 \v 3 God helped you defeat Oreb and Zeeb, the generals of the army from Midian. That is much more important than what I did!" After Gideon told them that, they no longer resented what he had done.
 
 \s5
@@ -646,7 +646,7 @@
 
 \s5
 \p
-\v 10 By that time, Zebah and Zalmunna had gone to Karkor town with fifteen thousand troops. They were all that were left of the armies that had come from the people of the East, and 120,000 of their men had already been killed.
+\v 10 By that time, Zebah and Zalmunna had gone to the town of Karkor with fifteen thousand troops. They were all that were left of the armies that had come from the people of the East, and 120,000 of their men had already been killed.
 
 \s5
 \v 11 Gideon and his men went east along the road on which caravans travel. They went past the villages of Nobah and Jogbehah and arrived at the enemy camp by surprise.
@@ -655,12 +655,12 @@
 \s5
 \p
 \v 13 After that, Gideon and his men took Zebah and Zalmunna with them and started to return, going through the pass of Heres.
-\v 14 There he met a young man from Succoth, and sought advice from him. He asked him to identify all the names of the leaders in the town. The young man told him the names of seventy-seven men.
+\v 14 There he met a young man from Succoth and sought advice from him. He asked him to identify all the names of the leaders in the town. The young man told him the names of seventy-seven men.
 
 \s5
-\v 15 Then Gideon and his men returned to Succoth and said to those leaders, "Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. When we were here before, you made fun of me and said 'You have not caught Zebah and Zalmunna yet! After you catch them, we will give your exhausted men some food.'"
+\v 15 Then Gideon and his men returned to Succoth and said to those leaders, "Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. When we were here before, you made fun of me and said, 'You have not caught Zebah and Zalmunna yet! After you catch them, we will give your exhausted men some food.'"
 \v 16 Then Gideon's men took the town leaders and whipped them with whips made from briers from the desert, to teach them that they deserved to be punished for doing things like that.
-\v 17 Then they went to Peniel and tore down the tower, and killed all the men in the town.
+\v 17 Then they went to Peniel and tore down the tower and killed all the men in the town.
 
 \s5
 \p
@@ -697,12 +697,12 @@
 \p
 \v 29 Gideon went back home to live there.
 \v 30 He had many wives, and they bore him seventy sons.
-\v 31 He also had a slave wife in the city of Shechem, who bore him a son whom he named Abimelech.
+\v 31 He also had a slave wife in the city of Shechem who bore him a son whom he named Abimelech.
 
 \s5
-\v 32 Gideon son of Joash died when he was very old. They buried his body in the grave where his father Joash was buried, at Ophrah, in the land of the Abietherites.
+\v 32 Gideon son of Joash died when he was very old. They buried his body in the grave where his father Joash was buried, at Ophrah, in the land of the Abiezrites.
 \p
-\v 33 But as soon as Gideon died, the Israelites left God and gave themselves to worship the images of the god Baal, like adultresses leave their husbands and go to other men. They made Baal-Berith the god they worshiped.
+\v 33 But as soon as Gideon died, the Israelites left God and gave themselves to worship the images of the god Baal, as adulteresses leave their husbands and go to other men. They made Baal-Berith the god they worshiped.
 
 \s5
 \v 34 They forgot about Yahweh, the one who had rescued them from all their enemies that surrounded them.
@@ -711,30 +711,30 @@
 \s5
 \c 9
 \p
-\v 1 Gideon's son Abimelech went to talk with his mother's brothers in the city of Shechem. Gideon was also called Jerub Baal. He said to them and to all his mother's relatives,
-\v 2 "Ask all the leaders of Shechem: 'Do you think it would be good for all seventy of Gideon's sons to rule over you? Or would it be better to have only one man, Abimelech, to rule over you?' And do not forget that I am a part of your family! "
+\v 1 Gideon's son Abimelech went to talk with his mother's brothers in the city of Shechem. Gideon was also called Jerub-Baal. He said to them and to all of his mother's relatives,
+\v 2 "Ask all the leaders of Shechem: 'Do you think it would be good for all seventy of Gideon's sons to rule over you? Or would it be better to have only one man, Abimelech, to rule over you?' And do not forget that I am a part of your family!"
 
 \s5
 \p
-\v 3 So Abimelech's mother's brothers spoke to all the leaders of Shechem about what Abimelech had said. They said to each other, "We should allow Abimelech to rule over us, because he is our relative."
-\v 4 So the leaders of Shechem took from the temple of their god Baal-Berith one kilo of silver and gave it to Abimelech. With that silver he paid some worthless troublemakers to help him, and they went with Abimelech wherever he went.
+\v 3 So Abimelech's mother's brothers spoke to all the leaders of Shechem about what Abimelech had said. They said to each other, "We should allow Abimelech to rule over us because he is our relative."
+\v 4 So the leaders of Shechem took from the temple of their god Baal-Berith one kilogram of silver and gave it to Abimelech. With that silver he paid some worthless troublemakers to help him, and they went with Abimelech wherever he went.
 
 \s5
 \v 5 Abimelech went to Ophrah, his father's town, and he murdered his seventy brothers, the sons of his father Gideon. They killed all those men on one huge rock. But Gideon's youngest son Jotham hid from Abimelech and his men, and he escaped.
-\v 6 Then all the leaders of the towns of Shechem and Bethmillo gathered under the big sacred tree at Shechem. There they appointed Abimelech to be their leader.
+\v 6 Then all the leaders of the towns of Shechem and Beth Millo gathered under the big sacred tree at Shechem. There they appointed Abimelech to be their leader.
 
 \s5
 \p
-\v 7 When Jotham heard about that, he climbed up Mount Gerizim. He stood at the top of the mountain and shouted to the people down below, "You leaders of Shechem, listen to me, in order that God will listen to you!
+\v 7 When Jotham heard about that, he climbed up Mount Gerizim. He stood at the top of the mountain and shouted to the people down below, "You leaders of Shechem, listen to me, so that God will listen to you!
 \v 8 One day the trees decided to appoint a king to rule over all of them. So they said to the olive tree, 'You be our king!'
 
 \s5
 \p
-\v 9 But the olive tree said, 'No! I will not be your king! Men and gods enjoy the oil from my fruit. I will not stop producing olives from which we make that oil, in order to rule over you other trees!'
+\v 9 But the olive tree said, 'No! I will not be your king! Men and gods enjoy the oil from my fruit. I will not stop producing olives from which we make that oil in order to rule over you other trees!'
 \p
 \v 10 Then the trees said to the fig tree, 'You come and be our king!'
 \p
-\v 11 But the fig tree replied, 'No! I do not want to stop producing my good sweet fruit, and go and rule over you other trees!'
+\v 11 But the fig tree replied, 'No! I do not want to stop producing my good sweet fruit and go and rule over you other trees!'
 
 \s5
 \p
@@ -748,10 +748,10 @@
 \p
 \v 15 The thornbush said to the trees, 'If you truly want to appoint me to be your king, come into the shade of my tiny branches. But if you do not want to do that, I hope that fire will come out from me and burn up all the cedar trees in Lebanon country!'"
 \p
-\v 16 After Jotham finished telling them this parable, he said, "So now I ask you, were you being completely honest and sincere when you appointed Abimelech to be your king? Have you rewarded Gideon (who is also called Jerub Baal) by honoring him as he deserved because of all the good things he did for you? No!
+\v 16 After Jotham finished telling them this parable, he said, "So now I ask you, were you being completely honest and sincere when you appointed Abimelech to be your king? Have you rewarded Gideon (who is also called Jerub-Baal) by honoring him as he deserved because of all the good things he did for you? No!
 
 \s5
-\v 17 Do not forget that my father fought a battle for you, and he was willing to die for you if that were necessary, to save you from the power of the Midian people.
+\v 17 Do not forget that my father fought a battle for you, and he was willing to die for you if that were necessary, to save you from the power of the Midianite people.
 \v 18 But now you have rebelled against my father's family, and you have murdered seventy of his sons on one huge rock. And you have appointed Abimelech—who is the son of my father's slave girl, not the son of his wife—to be the king who will rule you people of Shechem. You have done that only because he is one of your relatives!
 
 \s5
@@ -772,10 +772,10 @@
 \s5
 \p
 \v 26 There was a man named Gaal son of Ebed who moved into Shechem, along with his brothers. The leaders of Shechem grew to trust him.
-\v 27 They went out to their vineyards to pick some grapes. They pressed the grapes to make juice, and then they made wine. Then they had a feast in the house of their god, and they ate a lot of food and drank a lot of wine. Then they cursed Abimelech.
+\v 27 They went out to their vineyards to pick some grapes. They pressed the grapes to make juice, and then they made wine. Then they had a feast in the house of their god, and they ate much food and drank much wine. Then they cursed Abimelech.
 
 \s5
-\v 28 Gaal son of Ebed said, "Why should we allow Abimelech to rule over us? Is he not the son of Jerub Baal? And is Zebul not his officer? You should serve the men of Hamor, Shechem's father! Why should we serve Abimelech?
+\v 28 Gaal son of Ebed said, "Why should we allow Abimelech to rule over us? Is he not the son of Jerub-Baal? And is Zebul not his officer? You should serve the men of Hamor, Shechem's father! Why should we serve Abimelech?
 \v 29 If you would appoint me to be your leader, I would get rid of Abimelech. I would say to him, 'Get your army ready! Come and fight us!'"
 
 \s5
@@ -800,7 +800,7 @@
 
 \s5
 \p
-\v 38 Zebul said to Gaal, "Now what good is your bragging? You who said, 'Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?' Are these not the men you hated? Go out now and fight against them."
+\v 38 Zebul said to Gaal, "Now what good is your bragging—you who said, 'Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?' Are these not the men you hated? Go out now and fight against them."
 \p
 \v 39 So Gaal led the men of Shechem outside the city to fight the army of Abimelech.
 \v 40 Abimelech and his men pursued them, and they killed many of Gaal's men before they could return safely inside the city gate.
@@ -809,11 +809,11 @@
 \v 41 Abimelech then stayed at Arumah, about five miles away from Shechem, and Zebul's men forced Gaal and his brothers to leave Shechem.
 \p
 \v 42 The next day, the people of Shechem got ready to leave the city and work in their fields. When someone told Abimelech about that,
-\v 43 he divided his men into three groups, and told them to hide in the fields. So they did that. And when they saw the people coming out of the city, they jumped up and attacked them.
+\v 43 he divided his men into three groups and told them to hide in the fields. So they did that. And when they saw the people coming out of the city, they jumped up and attacked them.
 
 \s5
 \v 44 Abimelech and the men who were with him ran to the city gate. The other two groups ran out to the people in the fields and attacked them.
-\v 45 Abimelech and his men fought all day. They captured the city and killed all the people. They tore down all the buildings, and then they threw salt over the ruins to try to keep anything from growing there again.
+\v 45 Abimelech and his men fought all day. They captured the city and killed all the people. They tore down all the buildings and then they threw salt over the ruins to try to keep anything from growing there again.
 
 \s5
 \p
@@ -821,8 +821,8 @@
 \v 47 But someone told Abimelech that all the leaders had gathered there.
 
 \s5
-\v 48 So he and all the men who were with him went up Mount Zalmon, which is near Shechem. Abimelech cut some branches of trees with an axe, and put them on his shoulders. Then he said to all the men who were with him, "Quickly, do what I have just done!"
-\v 49 So his men all cut branches carried them down the mountain, following Abimelech. They went to the fortress and piled the branches against its walls. Then they kindled a fire, and the fire burned down the fortress and killed all the people who were inside. So all the people who were inside the fortress—about a thousand men and women—died.
+\v 48 So he and all the men who were with him went up Mount Zalmon, which is near Shechem. Abimelech cut some branches of trees with an axe and put them on his shoulders. Then he said to all the men who were with him, "Quickly, do what I have just done!"
+\v 49 So all of his men cut branches carried them down the mountain, following Abimelech. They went to the fortress and piled the branches against its walls. Then they kindled a fire, and the fire burned down the fortress and killed all the people who were inside. So all the people who were inside the fortress—about a thousand men and women—died.
 
 \s5
 \p