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APRIL 18
south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. cannot be that a prophet should perish outside
30 And indeed there are last who will be first, of Jerusalem.
and there are first who will be last.” 34 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who
31
On that very day some Pharisees came, kills the prophets and stones those who are
saying to Him, “Get out and depart from here, sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your
for Herod wants to kill You.” children together, as a hen gathers her brood
And He said to them, “Go, tell that fox, ‘Be- under her wings, but you were not willing!
32
hold, I cast out demons and perform cures 35 See! Your house is left to you desolate; and as-
today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall suredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until
33
be perfected.’ Nevertheless I must journey the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He
today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it who comes in the name of the LORD!’ ”
DAY 17:Why would Jesus call Herod a “fox”in Luke 13:32?
Some have suggested that Jesus’use of this expression is hard to reconcile with Exodus 22:28;
Ecclesiastes 10:20; and Acts 23:5. However, those verses apply to everyday discourse. Prophets,
speaking as mouthpieces of God and with divine authority, were often commissioned to rebuke
leaders publicly (see Is.1:23;Ezek.22:27;Hos.7:3–7;Zeph.3:3).Since Jesus spoke with perfect divine
authority, He had every right to speak of Herod in such terms. Rabbinical writings often used “the
fox”to signify someone who was both crafty and worthless.The Pharisees,who trembled at Herod’s
power, must have been astonished at Christ’s boldness.
Jesus’ message to Herod was:“Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomor-
row, and the third day I shall be perfected”(v. 32).This expression signified only that Christ was on
His own divine timetable; it was not meant to lay out a literal 3-day schedule. Expressions like this
were common in Semitic usage and seldom were employed in a literal sense to specify precise inter-
vals of time.To “be perfected,”i.e., by death, in the finishing of His work. (See Heb. 2:10; John 17:4,5;
19:30.) Herod was threatening to kill Him,but no one could kill Christ before His time (John 10:17,18).
Jesus adds that “it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem”(v.33).Not all
prophets who were martyred died in Jerusalem, of course. This saying was probably a familiar
proverb.The statement is full of irony, noting that most of the Old Testament prophets were mar-
tyred at the hands of the Jewish people, not by foreign enemies. Luke’s inclusion of this saying
underscores his theme in this section of his Gospel—Jesus’ relentless journey to Jerusalem for the
purpose of dying.

Bezek fled, and they pursued him and caught
April 18 Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings with their
him and cut off his thumbs and big toes. And
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thumbs and big toes cut off used to gather
scraps under my table; as I have done, so God
Judges 1:1–2:23
has repaid me.” Then they brought him to Je-
Now after the death of Joshua it came to rusalem, and there he died.
1 pass that the children of Israel asked the 8 Now the children of Judah fought against
LORD, saying, “Who shall be first to go up for Jerusalem and took it; they struck it with the
us against the Canaanites to fight against edge of the sword and set the city on fire. And
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them?” afterward the children of Judah went down to
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And the LORD said, “Judah shall go up. fight against the Canaanites who dwelt in the
Indeed I have delivered the land into his hand.” mountains, in the South, and in the lowland.
3 10
So Judah said to Simeon his brother, Then Judah went against the Canaanites who
“Come up with me to my allotted territory, dwelt in Hebron. (Now the name of Hebron
that we may fight against the Canaanites; and was formerly Kirjath Arba.) And they killed
I will likewise go with you to your allotted ter- Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.
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ritory.” And Simeon went with him. Then Ju- 11 From there they went against the inhabi-
dah went up, and the LORD delivered the tants of Debir. (The name of Debir was for-
Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand; merly Kirjath Sepher.)
and they killed ten thousand men at Bezek. 12 Then Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kirjath
And they found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and Sepher and takes it, to him I will give my
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fought against him; and they defeated the daughter Achsah as wife.” And Othniel the
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Canaanites and the Perizzites. Then Adoni- son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it;
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