Gideon’s Three Hundred Chosen Men

7 Then ^(A)Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him got up early, and camped beside ^[a]the spring of Harod; and the camp of Midian was on the north side of ^[b]them by the hill of ^(B)Moreh in the valley.

² And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to hand Midian over to them, ^(C)otherwise Israel would ^[c]become boastful, saying, ‘My own ^[d]power has saved me.’ ³ Now therefore come, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘^(D)Whoever is afraid and worried, is to return and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand from the people returned, but ten thousand remained.

^4 (E)Then the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water and I will test them for you there. So it shall be that he of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you; but everyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” ⁵ So he brought the people down to the water. Then the Lord said to Gideon, “You shall put everyone who laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps ^[e]in one group, and everyone who kneels down to drink in another.” ⁶ Now the number of those who lapped, ^[f]putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people kneeled down to drink water. ⁷ And the Lord said to Gideon, “I will save you ^(F)with the three hundred men who lapped, and will hand the Midianites over to you; so have all the other people go, each man to his ^[g]home.”

The Narrow and Wide Gates

¹³ “^(A)Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. ¹⁴ For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

A Tree and Its Fruit

¹⁵ “Beware of the ^(B)false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ^(C)ravenous wolves.

² that you not be quickly shaken from your ^[a]composure or be disturbed either by a ^(A)spirit, or a ^[b](B)message, or a ^(C)letter as if from us, to the effect that ^(D)the day of the Lord ^(E)has come. ^3 (F)No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the ^[c](G)apostasy comes first, and the ^(H)man of lawlessness is revealed, the ^(I)son of destruction, ⁴ who opposes and exalts himself above ^[d](J)every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, ^(K)displaying himself as being God.

²³ to the general assembly and ^(A)church of the firstborn who ^(B)are enrolled in heaven, and to God, ^(C)the Judge of all, and to the ^(D)spirits of the righteous made perfect, ²⁴ and to Jesus, the ^(E)mediator of a new covenant, and to the ^(F)sprinkled blood, which speaks better than ^(G)the blood of Abel.

The Unshaken Kingdom

^25 (H)See to it that you do not refuse Him who is ^(I)speaking. For ^(J)if those did not escape when they ^(K)refused him who ^(L)warned them on earth, ^[a]much less will we escape who turn away from Him who ^(M)warns us from heaven. ²⁶ And ^(N)His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “^(O)Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.” ²⁷ This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes ^(P)the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸ Therefore, since we receive a ^(Q)kingdom which cannot be shaken, let’s ^[b]show gratitude, by which we may ^(R)offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; ²⁹ for ^(S)our God is a consuming fire.

²⁴ namely us, whom He also ^(A)called, ^(B)not only from among Jews, but also from among Gentiles, ²⁵ as He also says in Hosea:

²⁷ Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “^(F)Though the number of the sons of Israel may be ^(G)like the sand of the sea, only ^(H)the remnant will be saved; ^28 (I)for the Lord will execute His word on the earth, ^[a]thoroughly and ^[b]quickly.” ²⁹ And just as Isaiah foretold: