Judges 6:29-32

29And they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And after they had searched and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.” 30Then the men of the town said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it.” 31But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down.” 32Therefore on that day Gideon ▼

▼Hebrew he

was called ^bJerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he broke down his altar.

Judges 16:23-30

The Death of Samson

23Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to ^cDagon their god and to rejoice, and they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.” 24And when the people saw him, ^dthey praised their god. For they said, “Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has killed many of us.” ▼

▼Or who has multiplied our slain

25And ^fwhen their hearts were merry, they said, “Call Samson, that he may entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he entertained them. They made him stand between the pillars. 26And Samson said to the young man who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them.” 27Now the house was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there, and ^gon the roof there were about 3,000 men and women, who looked on while Samson entertained.

28Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, ^hplease remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.” 29And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. 30And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life.

1 Kings 18:19-29

19Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount ⁱCarmel, and the ^j450 prophets of Baal and ^kthe 400 prophets of Asherah, ^lwho eat at Jezebel’s table.”

The Prophets of Baal Defeated

20So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. 21And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long ^mwill you go limping between two different opinions? ⁿIf the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word. 22Then Elijah said to the people, ^o“I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are ^p450 men. 23Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it. 24And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the Lord, and the God who ^qanswers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.” 25Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” 26And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. 27And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” 28And they cried aloud and ^rcut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. 29And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of ^sthe offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.

1 Kings 18:40

40And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to ^tthe brook Kishon and ^uslaughtered them there.

Isaiah 41:5-7

5 ^vThe coastlands have seen and are afraid;
the ends of the earth tremble;
they have drawn near and come.
6Everyone helps his neighbor
and says to his brother, “Be strong!”
7 ^wThe craftsman strengthens the goldsmith,
and he who smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil,
saying of the soldering, “It is good”;
and they strengthen it with nails ^xso that it cannot be moved.

Daniel 3:1-7

Nebuchadnezzar’s Golden Image

1King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits ▼

▼A  cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters

and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on ^zthe plain of Dura, in ^aathe province of Babylon. 2Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather ^abthe satraps, the prefects, and ^acthe governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 3Then ^adthe satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 4And the herald ^aeproclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O ^afpeoples, nations, and languages, 5that when you hear the ^agsound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you ^ahare to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately ^aibe cast into a burning fiery furnace.” 7Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all ^ajthe peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

Daniel 5:1-6

The Handwriting on the Wall

1 ^akKing Belshazzar ^almade a great feast for a thousand of his ^amlords and drank wine in front of the thousand.

2 ^anBelshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that ^aothe vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father ▼

▼Or predecessor; also verses 11, 13, 18

had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. 3Then they brought in ^aqthe golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. 4They drank wine and ^arpraised the ^asgods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

5 ^atImmediately ^authe fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw ^avthe hand as it wrote. 6 ^awThen the king’s color changed, ^axand his thoughts alarmed him; ^ayhis limbs gave way, and ^azhis knees knocked together.