Judges

Old Testament · 21 chapters · 618 verses.

Chapter 1

1:1And it came to pass after the death of Joshua that the sons of Israel asked of the LORD, saying, “Who shall go up for us first against the Canaanites, to fight against them?”
1:2And the LORD said, “Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.”
1:3And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Go up with me into my allotted territory, and let us fight against the Canaanites; and I also will go with you into your allotted territory.” And Simeon went with him.
1:4Then Judah went up, and the LORD gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand; and they struck ten thousand men at Bezek.
1:5And they found Adoni-bezek at Bezek, fought against him, and struck the Canaanites and the Perizzites.
1:6Then Adoni-bezek fled, and they pursued him and seized him, and cut off his thumbs and great toes.
1:7And Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings, with their thumbs and great toes cut off, used to gather scraps under my table; as I have done, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.
1:8And the sons of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it; they struck it by the edge of the sword and set the city on fire.
1:9And afterward the sons of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites dwelling in the hill-country, in the Negev, and in the lowland.
1:10And Judah went against the Canaanites who dwelt in Hebron—and the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba—and they struck Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.
1:11And from there he went against the inhabitants of Debir—and the name of Debir was formerly Kiriath-sepher.
1:12And Caleb said, “He who strikes Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give him my daughter Achsah as a wife.”
1:13And Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, captured it; and he gave him his daughter Achsah as a wife.
1:14And when she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field; and she dismounted from the donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you want?”
1:15And she said to him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water.” And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
1:16And the descendants of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up from the city of palms with the sons of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the Negev near Arad; and they went and dwelt with the people.
1:17Then Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they struck the Canaanites dwelling in Zephath and devoted the city to destruction; and they called the name of the city Hormah.
1:18And Judah captured Gaza with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory.
1:19And the LORD was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill-country; but they could not dispossess the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.
1:20And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had spoken; and he dispossessed the three sons of Anak from there.
1:21But the sons of Benjamin did not dispossess the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; so the Jebusites dwell with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
1:22Then the house of Joseph also went up against Bethel; and the LORD was with them.
1:23And the house of Joseph sent men to spy out Bethel—and the name of the city was formerly Luz.
1:24And the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and said to him, “Please show us the entrance to the city, and we will show kindness to you.”
1:25And he showed them the entrance to the city; and they struck the city by the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go.
1:26Then the man went to the land of the Hittites, built a city, and called its name Luz; that is its name to this day.
1:27And Manasseh did not dispossess the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its towns, Taanach and its towns, Dor and its towns, Ibleam and its towns, or Megiddo and its towns; and the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land.
1:28And when Israel grew strong, they subjected the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not dispossess them completely.
1:29And Ephraim did not dispossess the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; so the Canaanites dwelt among them in Gezer.
1:30Zebulun did not dispossess the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalal; so the Canaanites dwelt among them, and they became forced labor.
1:31Asher did not dispossess the inhabitants of Acco, the inhabitants of Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob.
1:32So the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not dispossess them.
1:33Naphtali did not dispossess the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh or the inhabitants of Beth-anath; so they dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. And the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath became forced labor for them.
1:34And the Amorites pressed the sons of Dan into the hill-country, for they did not permit them to come down to the valley.
1:35And the Amorites persisted in dwelling in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim; but the hand of the house of Joseph grew heavy upon them, and they became forced labor.
1:36And the border of the Amorites was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upward.

Chapter 2

2:1Then the Angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim.
2:2And He said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and brought you into the land which I had sworn to your fathers; and I said, I will never break My covenant with you. And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars. But you have not listened to My voice. What is this you have done?
2:3Therefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.”
2:4And when the Angel of the LORD spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people lifted up their voice and wept.
2:5And they called the name of that place Bochim, and sacrificed there to the LORD.
2:6And Joshua sent the people away; and the sons of Israel went, each to his inheritance, to possess the land.
2:7And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of the LORD which He had done for Israel.
2:8And Joshua son of Nun, servant of the LORD, died, one hundred and ten years old.
2:9And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath-Heres, in the hill-country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
2:10And all that generation also was gathered to their fathers; and another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD or the work which He had done for Israel.
2:11Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals.
2:12And they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and went after other gods from among the gods of the peoples around them; and they bowed themselves to them and provoked the LORD.
2:13And they forsook the LORD and served Baal and Ashtoreths.
2:14Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He gave them into the hand of plunderers who plundered them; and He sold them into the hand of their enemies around them, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies.
2:15Wherever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for harm, as the LORD had spoken and as the LORD had sworn to them; and they were greatly distressed.
2:16And the LORD raised up judges, and they saved them from the hand of those who plundered them.
2:17Yet they did not listen even to their judges, but went whoring after other gods and bowed themselves to them. They turned aside quickly from the way in which their fathers had walked, obeying the commandments of the LORD; they did not do so.
2:18And whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge and saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the LORD was moved to compassion by their groaning because of those who oppressed and crushed them.
2:19And when the judge died, they turned back and acted more corruptly than their fathers, going after other gods to serve them and bow themselves to them. They did not abandon their practices or their stubborn way.
2:20Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He said, “Because this nation has violated My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not listened to My voice,
2:21I also will no longer dispossess from before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died,
2:22in order to test Israel by them, whether they will keep the way of the LORD, to walk in it as their fathers kept it, or not.”
2:23And the LORD left these nations, without dispossessing them quickly, and He did not give them into the hand of Joshua.

Chapter 3

3:1Now these are the nations which the LORD left to test Israel by them, all who had not experienced any of the wars of Canaan—
3:2only so that the generations of the sons of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before:
3:3the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites dwelling in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Ba‘al-Hermon to Lebo-hamath.
3:4And they were for testing Israel by them, to know whether they would obey the commandments of the LORD which He had commanded their fathers by Moses.
3:5And the sons of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
3:6And they took their daughters as wives for themselves, gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
3:7And the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, forgot the LORD their God, and served the Baals and the Asheroth.
3:8Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram-Naharaim; and the sons of Israel served Cushan-Rishathaim eight years.
3:9And the sons of Israel cried to the LORD, and the LORD raised up a deliverer for the sons of Israel who delivered them: Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.
3:10And the Spirit of the LORD was upon him, and he judged Israel and went out to war; and the LORD gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into his hand, and his hand prevailed over Cushan-Rishathaim.
3:11And the land rested forty years. And Othniel son of Kenaz died.
3:12And the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD.
3:13And he gathered to himself the Ammonites and the Amalekites, and went and struck Israel; and they possessed the city of palms.
3:14And the sons of Israel served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.
3:15And the sons of Israel cried to the LORD, and the LORD raised up a deliverer for them: Ehud son of Gera, a Benjamite, a left-handed man. And the sons of Israel sent tribute by his hand to Eglon king of Moab.
3:16And Ehud made for himself a two-edged sword, a cubit long; and he bound it under his robe on his right thigh.
3:17And he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man.
3:18And when he had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who had carried it.
3:19But he himself returned from the carved images which were at Gilgal, and said, “I have a secret word for you, O king.” And he said, “Silence!” And all those standing by him went out from him.
3:20And Ehud came to him while he was sitting alone in the cool upper chamber which he had for himself. And Ehud said, “I have a word from God for you.” And he rose from the throne.
3:21Then Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly.
3:22And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the sword out of his belly; and the dung came out.
3:23Then Ehud went out by the porch, shut the doors of the upper chamber behind him, and bolted them.
3:24And after he had gone out, his servants came and saw that the doors of the upper chamber were bolted. And they said, “Surely he is relieving himself in the cool inner chamber.”
3:25And they waited until they were at a loss; and behold, he did not open the doors of the upper chamber. So they took the key and opened them; and behold, their lord had fallen to the ground, dead.
3:26And Ehud escaped while they lingered, passed beyond the carved images, and escaped to Seirah.
3:27And when he arrived, he blew the horn in the hill-country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel went down with him from the hill-country, with him before them.
3:28And he said to them, “Follow me, for the LORD has given your enemies, the Moabites, into your hand.” And they went down after him, seized the fords of the Jordan toward Moab, and did not permit anyone to cross.
3:29And they struck about ten thousand men of Moab at that time, all robust and valiant; and not one escaped.
3:30And Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel; and the land rested eighty years.
3:31And after him came Shamgar son of Anath, and he struck six hundred Philistines with an ox-goad; and he also saved Israel.

Chapter 4

4:1And the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD after Ehud died.
4:2And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; and Sisera was commander of his army, and he dwelt in Harosheth of the nations.
4:3And the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD, for he had nine hundred iron chariots and had harshly oppressed the sons of Israel for twenty years.
4:4Now Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time.
4:5And she dwelt under the palm of Deborah, between Ramah and Bethel, in the hill-country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel went up to her for judgment.
4:6And she sent and called Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh-Naphtali, and said to him, “Has not the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded you? Go and march toward Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men from the sons of Naphtali and the sons of Zebulun.
4:7And I will draw Sisera, commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude, to you at the Brook of Kishon; and I will give him into your hand.”
4:8And Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you do not go with me, I will not go.”
4:9And she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the honor will not be yours on the journey you are taking, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” And Deborah rose and went with Barak to Kedesh.
4:10And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali together at Kedesh; and ten thousand men went up behind him, and Deborah went up with him.
4:11Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, from the sons of Hobab, father-in-law of Moses; and he pitched his tent as far as the oak in Zaanaim, which was by Kedesh.
4:12And it was told Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor.
4:13And Sisera summoned all his chariots, nine hundred iron chariots, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth of the nations to the Brook of Kishon.
4:14Then Deborah said to Barak, “Rise, for this is the day in which the LORD has given Sisera into your hand. Has not the LORD gone out before you?” And Barak went down from Mount Tabor, with ten thousand men behind him.
4:15And the LORD threw Sisera, all his chariots, and all his army into confusion before Barak by the edge of the sword; and Sisera came down from his chariot and fled on foot.
4:16And Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth of the nations; and all Sisera’s army fell by the edge of the sword. Not even one remained.
4:17But Sisera fled on foot to the tent of Jael wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.
4:18And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord; turn aside to me. Do not fear.” And he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a mantle.
4:19And he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” And she opened a waterskin of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him.
4:20And he said to her, “Stand at the doorway of the tent; and if anyone comes and asks you, Is there a man here? you shall say, No.”
4:21Then Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg and a hammer in her hand, went softly to him, and drove the peg through his temple into the ground. He was fast asleep and exhausted; and he died.
4:22And behold, Barak was pursuing Sisera; and Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” And he came to her; and behold, Sisera lay dead, with the peg through his temple.
4:23And God humbled Jabin king of Canaan before the sons of Israel on that day.
4:24And the hand of the sons of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin king of Canaan, until they cut off Jabin king of Canaan.

Chapter 5

5:1Then Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying,
5:2“When leaders led in Israel,when the people offered themselves willingly,bless the LORD.
5:3Hear, you kings; give ear, you princes.I, I will sing to the LORD;I will sing praise to the LORD, the God of Israel.
5:4LORD, when You went forth from Seir, when You marched from the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens poured; yes, the clouds poured water.
5:5The mountains flowed before the LORD, even Sinai before the LORD, the God of Israel.
5:6In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,in the days of Jael,the highways were deserted;and travelers on the pathswent by winding ways.
5:7Village life ceased in Israel;it ceased,until I arose, Deborah,until I arose, a mother in Israel.
5:8They chose new gods;then war was at the gates.Was a shield seen, or a spear,among forty thousand in Israel?
5:9My heart is with the rulers of Israel,who offered themselves willingly among the people.Bless the LORD.
5:10You who ride on white donkeys,you who sit on rich carpets,and you who walk along the way—consider it.
5:11At the voices of those who divide the flocksby the watering places,there they recount the righteous acts of the LORD,the righteous acts done for His villages in Israel.Then the people of the LORD went down to the gates.
5:12Awake, awake, Deborah;awake, awake, utter a song.Rise, Barak,and lead your captives away,son of Abinoam.
5:13Then the remnant of the nobles came down;the people of the LORD came down to meamong the mighty.
5:14From Ephraim came those rooted in Amalek;after you, Benjamin, among your peoples.From Machir rulers came down,and from Zebulun those who bear the writer’s staff.
5:15And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah;as was Issachar, so was Barak;into the valley they rushed at his feet.Among the divisions of Reuben,there were great resolves of heart.
5:16Why did you sit among the sheepfolds, listening to the piping for the flocks? Among the divisions of Reuben were great searchings of heart.
5:17Gilead dwelt beyond the Jordan;and Dan—why did he remain with the ships?Asher sat by the seashore,and dwelt by his landings.
5:18Zebulun is a people who risked their lives even to death;Naphtali also,on the heights of the field.
5:19Kings came; they fought.Then the kings of Canaan foughtat Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo.They took no spoil of silver.
5:20From the heavens the stars fought;from their coursesthey fought against Sisera.
5:21The Torrent of Kishon swept them away, the ancient torrent, the Torrent of Kishon. March on in strength, O my soul.
5:22Then the horses’ hooves poundedfrom the galloping,the galloping of his stallions.
5:23Curse Meroz, said the Angel of the LORD;utterly curse its inhabitants,for they did not come to the help of the LORD,to the help of the LORD among the mighty.
5:24Blessed above women is Jael,wife of Heber the Kenite;blessed above women in the tent.
5:25He asked for water; she gave milk. She brought curds in a nobleman’s bowl.
5:26She reached out her hand to the peg, and her right hand to the workman’s hammer; and she struck Sisera, crushed his head, shattered and pierced his temple.
5:27At her feet he sank; he fell; he lay down.At her feet he sank; he fell.Where he sank, there he fell, dead.
5:28Through the window she looked out;indeed, the mother of Sisera cried out,through the lattice:Why is his chariot so long in coming?Why do the wheels of his chariots linger?
5:29The wisest of her princesses answered her;indeed, she answered herself:
5:30Are they not finding and dividing spoil? A woman, two women for each man; dyed cloth as spoil for Sisera, embroidered dyed cloth as spoil, two pieces of embroidered cloth for the neck as spoil.
5:31So let all Your enemies perish, O LORD;but those who love Him are as the sun going forth in its might.”And the land rested forty years.

Chapter 6

6:1Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD gave them into the hand of Midian for seven years.
6:2And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel; and because of Midian the sons of Israel made for themselves dens in the mountains, caves, and strongholds.
6:3And whenever Israel had sown, the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the sons of the east came up against them.
6:4And they encamped against them and destroyed the produce of the land as far as Gaza; and they left no sustenance in Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor donkey.
6:5For they came up with their livestock and their tents; they came like locusts in multitude. They and their livestock were without number, and they entered the land to destroy it.
6:6And Israel was brought very low because of Midian; and the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD.
6:7And when the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD because of Midian,
6:8the LORD sent a man, a prophet, to the sons of Israel; and he said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I brought you up out of Egypt, and brought you out of the house of slavery.
6:9And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all your oppressors; and I drove them out before you, and gave you their land.
6:10And I said to you, I am the LORD your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But you have not listened to My voice.”
6:11Then the Angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite; and Gideon his son was threshing wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.
6:12And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him and said, “The LORD is with you, mighty man of valor.”
6:13And Gideon said to Him, “Please, my Lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His wonders which our fathers recounted to us, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt? But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
6:14And the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this strength of yours, and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?”
6:15And he said to Him, “Please, my Lord, with what shall I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
6:16And the LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”
6:17And he said to Him, “Now if I have found favor in Your sight, then perform a sign for me that it is You who are speaking with me.
6:18Please do not depart from here until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before You.” And He said, “I will remain until you return.”
6:19And Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread from an ephah of fine flour. He put the flesh in a basket and the broth in a pot, brought them out to Him under the oak, and presented them.
6:20And the Angel of God said to him, “Take the flesh and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so.
6:21Then the Angel of the LORD reached out the end of the staff that was in His hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened bread; and fire rose from the rock and consumed the flesh and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of the LORD vanished from his sight.
6:22And Gideon saw that He was the Angel of the LORD; and Gideon said, “Alas, Lord LORD! For I have seen the Angel of the LORD face to face.”
6:23And the LORD said to him, “Peace to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.”
6:24Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it The LORD Is Peace. It remains in Ophrah of the Abiezrites to this day.
6:25And on that night the LORD said to him, “Take your father’s bull, and the second bull, seven years old; and tear down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the sacred pole beside it.
6:26And build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of this stronghold, in proper order; and take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the sacred pole which you cut down.”
6:27Then Gideon took ten men from among his servants and did as the LORD had spoken to him. And because he was afraid of his father’s household and the men of the city, he did not do it by day, but did it by night.
6:28And the men of the city rose early in the morning; and behold, the altar of Baal had been torn down, the sacred pole beside it had been cut down, and the second bull had been offered on the altar that was built.
6:29And they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And when they inquired and searched, they said, “Gideon son of Joash has done this thing.”
6:30Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has torn down the altar of Baal and cut down the sacred pole beside it.”
6:31And Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? 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 someone has torn down his altar.”
6:32And on that day he called him Jerubba‘al, saying, “Let Baal contend against him, because he has torn down his altar.”
6:33And all the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the sons of the east gathered together; and they crossed over and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel.
6:34And the Spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon; and he blew the horn, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him.
6:35And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him; and he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.
6:36Then Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand, as You have spoken,
6:37behold, I am placing a fleece of wool on the threshing-floor: if there is dew on the fleece only, and all the ground is dry, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have spoken.”
6:38And it was so. And he rose early the next day, pressed the fleece, and wrung dew out of the fleece—a bowlful of water.
6:39And Gideon said to God, “Do not let Your anger burn against me, and I will speak only this once. Please let me test only once more with the fleece: let the fleece alone be dry, and let there be dew on all the ground.”
6:40And God did so that night; and the fleece alone was dry, and there was dew on all the ground.

Chapter 7

7:1And Jerubba‘al—that is, Gideon—rose early, and all the people who were with him; and they encamped by the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of him, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.
7:2And the LORD said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hand, lest Israel boast against Me, saying, My own hand has saved me.
7:3And now, please proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him turn back and depart from Mount Gilead.” And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained.
7:4And 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. And it shall be that he of whom I say to you, This one shall go with you, shall go with you; but any of whom I say to you, This one shall not go with you, shall not go.”
7:5And he brought the people down to the water. And the LORD said to Gideon, “Everyone who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set apart; likewise everyone who kneels down to drink.”
7:6And the number of those who lapped, bringing their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; and all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water.
7:7And the LORD said to Gideon, “By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and give Midian into your hand. Let all the other people go, each to his place.”
7:8And the people took provisions in their hands, along with their horns; and Gideon sent every man of Israel away, each to his tent, but retained the three hundred men. And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.
7:9And on that night the LORD said to him, “Rise; go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand.
7:10But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant;
7:11and you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” And he went down with Purah his servant to the edge of the men drawn up in battle array in the camp.
7:12And the Midianites, the Amalekites, and all the sons of the east lay in the valley like locusts in multitude; and their camels were without number, like the sand on the seashore in multitude.
7:13And Gideon came, and behold, a man was recounting a dream to his companion. And he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream; and behold, a round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the camp of Midian. It came to the tent and struck it, so that it fell; it turned it upside down, and the tent collapsed.”
7:14And his companion answered and said, “This is nothing but the sword of Gideon son of Joash, a man of Israel. God has given Midian and all the camp into his hand.”
7:15And when Gideon heard the recounting of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship; and he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Rise, for the LORD has given the camp of Midian into your hand.”
7:16And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and put horns into the hands of all of them, with empty jars and torches inside the jars.
7:17And he said to them, “Watch me, and do likewise. And behold, when I come to the edge of the camp, as I do, so you shall do.
7:18When I blow the horn, I and all who are with me, then you also shall blow the horns around all the camp, and say, For the LORD and for Gideon!”
7:19And Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just posted the guards. And they blew the horns and shattered the jars that were in their hands.
7:20And the three companies blew the horns and broke the jars, and held the torches in their left hands and the horns in their right hands to blow; and they cried, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!”
7:21And each man stood in his place around the camp; and all the army ran, crying out as they fled.
7:22And the three hundred blew the horns, and the LORD set every man’s sword against his companion throughout all the camp; and the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath.
7:23And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali, Asher, and all Manasseh; and they pursued the Midianites.
7:24And Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill-country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against Midian, and seize the waters ahead of them as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.” And all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they seized the waters as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.
7:25And they captured the two leaders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb. And they pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan.

Chapter 8

8:1Then the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this thing you have done to us, not calling us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they contended sharply with him.
8:2And he said to them, “What have I done now compared with you? Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer?
8:3God has given the leaders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, into your hand; and what have I been able to do compared with you?” Then their anger against him subsided when he spoke this word.
8:4And Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the three hundred men who were with him—weary, yet pursuing.
8:5And he said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are weary, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.”
8:6And the leaders of Succoth said, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?”
8:7And Gideon said, “Therefore, when the LORD gives Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will thresh your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.”
8:8And he went up from there to Penuel, and spoke to them in the same way; and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered.
8:9And he spoke also to the men of Penuel, saying, “When I return in peace, I will tear down this tower.”
8:10Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their camp with them, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of all the camp of the sons of the east; and those who had fallen were one hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword.
8:11And Gideon went up by the way of the tent dwellers, east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and struck the camp while the camp was secure.
8:12And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna; and he threw all the camp into panic.
8:13And Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres.
8:14And he captured a young man of the men of Succoth and questioned him; and he wrote down for him the leaders of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men.
8:15And he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, concerning whom you taunted me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your weary men?”
8:16And he took the elders of the city, and with thorns of the wilderness and briers he disciplined the men of Succoth.
8:17And he tore down the Tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city.
8:18Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men were those whom you slew at Tabor?” And they said, “They were like you; each had the appearance of a king’s son.”
8:19And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the LORD lives, if you had kept them alive, I would not slay you.”
8:20And he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise; slay them.” But the young man did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still young.
8:21Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself, and fall upon us; for as a man is, so is his strength.” And Gideon rose and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.
8:22Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you, and your son, and your son’s son—for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”
8:23And Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the LORD shall rule over you.”
8:24And Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you: let each man give me an earring from his spoil.” For they had gold earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.
8:25And they said, “We will surely give them.” And they spread out a garment, and each man cast an earring from his spoil upon it.
8:26And the weight of the gold earrings which he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold, apart from the crescent ornaments, the pendants, and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and apart from the chains that were on the necks of their camels.
8:27And Gideon made it into a priestly vest, and set it up in his city, in Ophrah; and all Israel went whoring after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his house.
8:28And Midian was humbled before the sons of Israel, and they did not lift up their heads again. And the land rested forty years in the days of Gideon.
8:29And Jerubba‘al son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.
8:30And Gideon had seventy sons born from his own body, for he had many wives.
8:31And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.
8:32And Gideon son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
8:33And when Gideon died, the sons of Israel turned again and went whoring after the Baals, and made Ba‘al-Berith their god.
8:34And the sons of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies around them.
8:35And they did not show kindness to the house of Jerubba‘al—Gideon—in return for all the good he had done for Israel.

Chapter 9

9:1Then Abimelech son of Jerubba‘al went to Shechem, to his mother’s brothers, and spoke to them and to all the family of his mother’s father, saying,
9:2“Please speak in the hearing of all the leaders of Shechem: Which is better for you, that seventy men—all the sons of Jerubba‘al—rule over you, or that one man rule over you? And remember that I am your bone and your flesh.”
9:3And his mother’s brothers spoke all these words concerning him in the hearing of all the leaders of Shechem; and their heart inclined toward Abimelech, for they said, “He is our brother.”
9:4And they gave him seventy pieces of silver from the house of Ba‘al-Berith; and with them Abimelech hired worthless and reckless men, and they followed him.
9:5And he went to his father’s house at Ophrah, and slew his brothers, the sons of Jerubba‘al, seventy men, upon one stone. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubba‘al, was left, for he had hidden himself.
9:6And all the leaders of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo; and they came and made Abimelech king by the oak of the pillar that was in Shechem.
9:7And it was told Jotham; and he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, lifted up his voice, and called out, saying to them, “Listen to me, O leaders of Shechem, and may God listen to you.
9:8The trees once went out to anoint a king over them; and they said to the olive tree, Reign over us.
9:9But the olive tree said to them, Should I cease from my oil, by which gods and men are honored, and go to sway over the trees?
9:10And the trees said to the fig tree, Come, reign over us.
9:11But the fig tree said to them, Should I cease from my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to sway over the trees?
9:12And the trees said to the vine, Come, reign over us.
9:13But the vine said to them, Should I cease from my new wine, which gladdens gods and men, and go to sway over the trees?
9:14Then all the trees said to the bramble, Come, reign over us.
9:15And the bramble said to the trees, If in truth you are anointing me as king over you, come, take refuge in my shadow; but if not, let fire come out from the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.
9:16And now, if you have acted faithfully and sincerely in making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubba‘al and with his house, and have done to him according to the deed of his hands—
9:17for my father fought for you, risked his life, and delivered you from the hand of Midian;
9:18but you have risen today against my father’s house and slain his sons, seventy men, on one stone, and have made Abimelech, son of his maidservant, king over the leaders of Shechem, because he is your brother—
9:19if, then, you have acted faithfully and sincerely with Jerubba‘al and with his house this day, rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you.
9:20But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the leaders of Shechem and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the leaders of Shechem and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.”
9:21Then Jotham fled and escaped, and went to Beer, and dwelt there because of Abimelech his brother.
9:22And Abimelech ruled over Israel three years.
9:23Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem; and the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech,
9:24so that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubba‘al might be avenged, and their blood laid upon Abimelech their brother, who slew them, and upon the leaders of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to slay his brothers.
9:25And the leaders of Shechem set ambushes for him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed everyone who passed by them on the way; and it was told Abimelech.
9:26Then Gaal son of Ebed came with his brothers, and they crossed over into Shechem; and the leaders of Shechem put their trust in him.
9:27And they went out into the field, gathered the grapes of their vineyards, trod them, and held a festival; and they went into the house of their god, ate and drank, and cursed Abimelech.
9:28And Gaal son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubba‘al, and is not Zebul his officer? Serve the men of Hamor, father of Shechem. But why should we serve him?
9:29Oh, that this people were in my hand! Then I would remove Abimelech.” And he said to Abimelech, “Muster your army, and come out.”
9:30And Zebul, ruler of the city, heard the words of Gaal son of Ebed, and his anger burned.
9:31And he sent messengers to Abimelech secretly, saying, “Behold, Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem; and behold, they are stirring up the city against you.
9:32And now, rise by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field.
9:33And in the morning, as soon as the sun rises, rise early and rush upon the city; and behold, he and the people who are with him will come out against you. Then do to him as your hand finds opportunity.”
9:34And Abimelech rose by night, and all the people who were with him; and they lay in wait against Shechem in four companies.
9:35And Gaal son of Ebed went out and stood at the entrance of the city gate; and Abimelech and the people who were with him rose from the ambush.
9:36And Gaal saw the people and said to Zebul, “Behold, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains.” And Zebul said to him, “You see the shadows of the mountains as men.”
9:37And Gaal spoke again and said, “Behold, people are coming down from the center of the land, and another company is coming by way of the Diviners’ Oak.”
9:38Then Zebul said to him, “Where now is your mouth, with which you said, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? Are these not the people whom you despised? Go out now, please, and fight against them.”
9:39And Gaal went out before the leaders of Shechem, and fought against Abimelech.
9:40And Abimelech pursued him, and he fled before him; and many fell wounded, as far as the entrance of the gate.
9:41And Abimelech remained at Arumah; and Zebul drove out Gaal and his brothers, so that they could not dwell in Shechem.
9:42And on the next day, the people went out into the field, and it was told Abimelech.
9:43And he took the people, divided them into three companies, and lay in wait in the field. And he looked, and behold, the people were coming out from the city; and he rose against them and struck them.
9:44And Abimelech and the company who were with him rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the city gate; and the two companies rushed against all who were in the field, and struck them.
9:45And Abimelech fought against the city all that day, and captured the city and slew the people who were in it; and he tore down the city and sowed it with salt.
9:46And when all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem heard, they went into the stronghold of the temple of El-Berith.
9:47And it was told Abimelech that all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem had gathered together.
9:48And Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him. And Abimelech took an axe in his hand, cut off a branch from the trees, lifted it up, and set it on his shoulder; and he said to the people who were with him, “What you have seen me do, hurry and do as I have done.”
9:49And every man of the people cut down his branch and followed Abimelech; and they set them against the stronghold and burned the stronghold over them with fire. And all the people of the Tower of Shechem also died, about one thousand men and women.
9:50Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and captured it.
9:51And there was a strong tower within the city; and all the men and women fled there, along with all the leaders of the city. And they shut themselves in and went up to the roof of the tower.
9:52And Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it, and drew near to the entrance of the tower to burn it with fire.
9:53And a certain woman cast a piece of an upper millstone upon Abimelech’s head, and crushed his skull.
9:54Then he called quickly to the young man who bore his weapons, and said to him, “Draw your sword and put me to death, lest they say of me, A woman slew him.” And his young man pierced him through, and he died.
9:55And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, each man went to his place.
9:56And God repaid the evil of Abimelech, which he had done to his father by killing his seventy brothers.
9:57And God repaid all the evil of the men of Shechem upon their own heads; and the curse of Jotham son of Jerubba‘al came upon them.

Chapter 10

10:1And after Abimelech, Tola son of Puah, son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, arose to deliver Israel; and he dwelt in Shamir, in the hill-country of Ephraim.
10:2And he judged Israel twenty-three years; then he died and was buried in Shamir.
10:3And after him arose Jair the Gileadite; and he judged Israel twenty-two years.
10:4And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkey colts; and they had thirty cities, which are called the Villages of Jair to this day, in the land of Gilead.
10:5And Jair died and was buried in Kamon.
10:6And the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook the LORD and did not serve Him.
10:7And the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites.
10:8And they crushed and oppressed the sons of Israel that year; and for eighteen years they oppressed all the sons of Israel who were beyond the Jordan, in the land of the Amorites, which was in Gilead.
10:9And the Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim; and Israel was in great distress.
10:10Then the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD, saying, “We have sinned against You, because we have forsaken our God and served the Baals.”
10:11And the LORD said to the sons of Israel, “Did I not save you from Egypt, from the Amorites, from the Ammonites, and from the Philistines?
10:12The Sidonians, Amalek, and Maon also oppressed you; and you cried out to Me, and I saved you out of their hand.
10:13Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer save you.
10:14Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.”
10:15And the sons of Israel said to the LORD, “We have sinned. Do to us according to all that is good in Your sight; only please deliver us this day.”
10:16And they put away the foreign gods from their midst and served the LORD; and He could bear the misery of Israel no longer.
10:17And the Ammonites were called together and encamped in Gilead; and the sons of Israel gathered together and encamped in Mizpah.
10:18And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said to one another, “Who is the man who will begin to fight against the Ammonites? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

Chapter 11

11:1Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of a prostitute. And Gilead begot Jephthah.
11:2And Gilead’s wife bore him sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they cast Jephthah out and said to him, “You shall not inherit in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.”
11:3Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and dwelt in the land of Tob; and worthless men gathered themselves to Jephthah and went out with him.
11:4And after some time, the Ammonites fought against Israel.
11:5And when the Ammonites fought against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob.
11:6And they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our commander, that we may fight against the Ammonites.”
11:7And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and cast me out of my father’s house? Why, then, have you come to me now, when you are in distress?”
11:8And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “For this reason we have now returned to you: that you may go with us, fight against the Ammonites, and be head over us—over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”
11:9And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me back to fight against the Ammonites, and the LORD gives them before me, shall I be your head?”
11:10And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD be witness between us if we do not act according to your word.”
11:11Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead; and the people set him over them as head and commander. And Jephthah spoke all his words before the LORD in Mizpah.
11:12And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, saying, “What is there between me and you, that you have come against me to fight in my land?”
11:13And the king of the Ammonites said to Jephthah’s messengers, “Because Israel took my land when he came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok and the Jordan. Now, therefore, restore it in peace.”
11:14And Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites,
11:15and said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: Israel did not take the land of Moab or the land of Ammon.
11:16For when they came up out of Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Sea of Reeds and came to Kadesh.
11:17Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, Please let me pass through your land. But the king of Edom did not listen. And he also sent to the king of Moab, but he was not willing; so Israel remained in Kadesh.
11:18Then he went through the wilderness, went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and came to the east side of the land of Moab; and they encamped beyond the Arnon and did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon is the border of Moab.
11:19Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, Please let us pass through your land to my place.
11:20But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory; and Sihon gathered all his people, and they encamped at Jahaz and fought against Israel.
11:21And the LORD, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they struck them; and Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites who inhabited that land.
11:22And they possessed all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok, and from the wilderness as far as the Jordan.
11:23And now the LORD, the God of Israel, has dispossessed the Amorites from before His people Israel, and would you possess their land?
11:24Do you not possess whatever Chemosh your god causes you to possess? And we possess whatever the LORD our God has dispossessed from before us.
11:25And now, are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive with Israel? Did he ever fight against them?
11:26While Israel dwelt three hundred years in Heshbon and its towns, in Aroer and its towns, and in all the cities along the sides of the Arnon, why did you not recover them during that time?
11:27And I have not sinned against you, but you are doing me wrong by fighting against me. May the LORD, the Judge, judge this day between the sons of Israel and the Ammonites.”
11:28But the king of the Ammonites did not listen to the words Jephthah sent to him.
11:29Then the Spirit of the LORD was upon Jephthah; and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed over to the Ammonites.
11:30And Jephthah vowed a vow to the LORD and said, “If You indeed give the Ammonites into my hand,
11:31then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall belong to the LORD, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”
11:32Then Jephthah passed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD gave them into his hand.
11:33And he struck them from Aroer as far as the entrance of Minnith—twenty cities—and as far as the Meadow of Vineyards, with a very great slaughter. And the Ammonites were humbled before the sons of Israel.
11:34Then Jephthah came to Mizpah, to his house; and behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter.
11:35And when he saw her, he tore his garments and said, “Ah, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become one of those who trouble me. For I have opened my mouth to the LORD, and I cannot turn back.”
11:36And she said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to the LORD; do to me according to what has gone out from your mouth, since the LORD has avenged you on your enemies, the Ammonites.”
11:37And she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone for two months, that I may go and wander upon the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions.”
11:38And he said, “Go.” And he sent her away for two months; and she went, she and her companions, and wept for her virginity upon the mountains.
11:39And at the end of two months, she returned to her father; and he did to her according to his vow which he had vowed. And she had not known a man. And it became a statute in Israel:
11:40from year to year the daughters of Israel go to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite, four days in the year.

Chapter 12

12:1And the men of Ephraim were called together and crossed over northward; and they said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the Ammonites and not call us to go with you? We will burn your house over you with fire.”
12:2And Jephthah said to them, “I and my people were in great conflict with the Ammonites; and I called you, but you did not save me out of their hand.
12:3And when I saw that you were no deliverer, I risked my life and crossed over against the Ammonites; and the LORD gave them into my hand. Why, then, have you come up against me this day, to fight against me?”
12:4Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim; and the men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they had said, “You Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim, in the midst of Ephraim and Manasseh.”
12:5And Gilead captured the fords of the Jordan against Ephraim. And whenever one of the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead said to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” And he said, “No.”
12:6Then they said to him, “Now say, Shibboleth.” And he said, “Sibboleth,” for he could not pronounce it correctly. Then they seized him and slaughtered him at the fords of the Jordan. And forty-two thousand of Ephraim fell at that time.
12:7And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.
12:8And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.
12:9And he had thirty sons; and he gave thirty daughters away in marriage and brought in thirty daughters from outside for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years.
12:10And Ibzan died and was buried in Bethlehem.
12:11And after him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years.
12:12And Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried in Aijalon, in the land of Zebulun.
12:13And after him Abdon son of Hillel, the Pirathonite, judged Israel.
12:14And he had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy donkey colts; and he judged Israel eight years.
12:15And Abdon son of Hillel, the Pirathonite, died and was buried in Pirathon, in the land of Ephraim, in the hill-country of the Amalekites.

Chapter 13

13:1And the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.
13:2And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the clan of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had borne no children.
13:3And the Angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children; but you shall conceive and bear a son.
13:4And now, please take heed: do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing.
13:5For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son; and a razor shall not come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb. And he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”
13:6Then the woman came and spoke to her husband, saying, “A Man of God came to me, and His appearance was like the appearance of the Angel of God, exceedingly awe-inspiring. And I did not ask Him where He was from, and He did not tell me His Name.
13:7And He said to me, Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son; and now do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb until the day of his death.”
13:8Then Manoah pleaded with the LORD and said, “O Lord, please let the Man of God whom You sent come again to us and teach us what we should do for the child who will be born.”
13:9And God listened to the voice of Manoah; and the Angel of God came again to the woman while she was sitting in the field, and Manoah her husband was not with her.
13:10And the woman hurried and ran and told her husband; and she said to him, “Behold, the Man who came to me that day has appeared to me.”
13:11And Manoah arose and followed his wife, and came to the Man and said to Him, “Are You the Man who spoke to the woman?” And He said, “I am.”
13:12And Manoah said, “Now let Your words come to pass. What shall be the rule for the child, and what shall he do?”
13:13And the Angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “Let her take heed to all that I said to the woman.
13:14She shall not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. She shall do all that I commanded her.”
13:15Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, “Please let us detain You, and we will prepare a young goat for You.”
13:16And the Angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “If you detain Me, I will not eat your food; but if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the LORD.” For Manoah did not know that He was the Angel of the LORD.
13:17And Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, “What is Your Name, that when Your words come to pass, we may honor You?”
13:18And the Angel of the LORD said to him, “Why do you ask My Name, since it is wonderful?”
13:19Then Manoah took the young goat and the grain offering and offered them on the rock to the LORD; and He did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on.
13:20And when the flame went up from the altar toward the heavens, the Angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on, and they fell on their faces to the earth.
13:21And the Angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah knew that He was the Angel of the LORD.
13:22And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall certainly die, for we have seen God.”
13:23But his wife said to him, “If the LORD had desired to put us to death, He would not have accepted the burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things, nor made us hear such things as these at this time.”
13:24And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.
13:25And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him in the camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Chapter 14

14:1Then Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah among the daughters of the Philistines.
14:2And he came up and told his father and mother, saying, “I have seen a woman in Timnah among the daughters of the Philistines; and now take her for me as a wife.”
14:3And his father and mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your kinsmen or among all my people, that you are going to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” And Samson said to his father, “Take her for me, for she is right in my sight.”
14:4But his father and mother did not know that it was from the LORD, for He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. And at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.
14:5Then Samson went down to Timnah, and his father and mother also. And they came to the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young lion came roaring toward him.
14:6And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and he tore it apart as one tears a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.
14:7And he went down and spoke to the woman; and she was right in Samson’s sight.
14:8And after some days he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion. And behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the carcass of the lion.
14:9And he scraped the honey into his hands and went on, eating as he went; and he came to his father and mother and gave some to them, and they ate. But he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from the carcass of the lion.
14:10Then his father went down to the woman; and Samson made a feast there, for so the young men customarily did.
14:11And when they saw him, they took thirty companions to be with him.
14:12And Samson said to them, “Now let me put a riddle before you. If you can surely tell me its answer within the seven days of the feast and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing.
14:13But if you are unable to tell me, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing.” And they said to him, “Put forth your riddle, that we may hear it.”
14:14And he said to them, “Out of the eater came something to eat; and out of the strong came something sweet.” And they could not tell the riddle in three days.
14:15And on the seventh day they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband to tell us the riddle, lest we burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you called us here to impoverish us?”
14:16And Samson’s wife wept before him and said, “You hate me and do not love me. You have put forth a riddle to the sons of my people, but you have not told it to me.” And he said to her, “Behold, I have not told it to my father or mother; and shall I tell it to you?”
14:17And she wept before him during the seven days of their feast; and on the seventh day he told it to her, because she pressed him. And she told the riddle to the sons of her people.
14:18And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day, before the sun set,“What is sweeter than honey?And what is stronger than a lion?”And he said to them,“Unless you had plowed with my heifer,you would not have found out my riddle.”
14:19And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him; and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty of their men, took their spoil, and gave the changes of clothing to those who had told the riddle. And his anger burned, and he went up to his father’s house.
14:20And Samson’s wife was given to his companion, who had attended him.

Chapter 15

15:1And after some days, in the days of wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife with a young goat; and he said, “I will go in to my wife, into the inner chamber.” But her father did not permit him to enter.
15:2And her father said, “I truly thought you hated her, so I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister better than she? Please let her be yours instead of her.”
15:3And Samson said concerning them, “This time I shall be blameless concerning the Philistines when I do them harm.”
15:4And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, took torches, turned the foxes tail to tail, and put one torch between each pair of tails.
15:5And he kindled the torches and sent the foxes into the standing grain of the Philistines; and he burned both the shocks and the standing grain, along with the vineyards and olive groves.
15:6And the Philistines said, “Who has done this?” And they said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he took Samson’s wife and gave her to his companion.” And the Philistines went up and burned her and her father with fire.
15:7And Samson said to them, “Since you have done this, I will surely avenge myself on you, and afterward I will cease.”
15:8And he struck them hip and thigh with a great slaughter; then he went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
15:9Then the Philistines went up and encamped in Judah, and deployed themselves in Lehi.
15:10And the men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” And they said, “We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he has done to us.”
15:11Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines rule over us? What, then, is this you have done to us?” And he said to them, “As they did to me, so I have done to them.”
15:12And they said to him, “We have come down to bind you and give you into the hand of the Philistines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you yourselves will not attack me.”
15:13And they spoke to him, saying, “No, but we will certainly bind you and give you into their hand; we will certainly not put you to death.” And they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock.
15:14When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they came to meet him. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and the ropes on his arms became like flax burned with fire; and his bonds melted from his hands.
15:15And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and struck down one thousand men with it.
15:16And Samson said,“With the jawbone of a donkey,heap upon heaps;with the jawbone of a donkeyI have struck down one thousand men.”
15:17And when he had finished speaking, he cast the jawbone from his hand and called that place Jawbone Hill.
15:18And he became exceedingly thirsty, and called to the LORD and said, “You have given this great deliverance by the hand of Your servant; and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?”
15:19Then God split open the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it; and he drank, and his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore he called its name Spring of the Caller, which is in Lehi to this day.
15:20And he judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

Chapter 16

16:1Then Samson went to Gaza, and saw there a woman, a prostitute, and went in to her.
16:2And it was told to the Gazites, “Samson has come here.” And they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. And they kept quiet all night, saying, “At the morning light, we shall kill him.”
16:3And Samson lay until the middle of the night; then he arose in the middle of the night, took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two gateposts, and pulled them up with the bar. And he put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.
16:4And afterward he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
16:5And the rulers of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him and subdue him. And each one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.”
16:6And Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and with what you may be bound and subdued.”
16:7And Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.”
16:8And the rulers of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she bound him with them.
16:9And men were lying in wait with her in an inner room. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he broke the bowstrings as a strand of flax breaks when it touches fire. So his strength was not discovered.
16:10Then Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have mocked me and told me lies. Now please tell me with what you may be bound.”
16:11And he said to her, “If they bind me securely with new ropes that have never been used, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.”
16:12And Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them, and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And men were lying in wait in an inner room. But he broke the ropes from his arms like a thread.
16:13Then Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me with what you may be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head into the web.”
16:14And she fastened it with the pin and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and pulled out the loom pin with the web.
16:15And she said to him, “How can you say, I love you, when your heart is not with me? These three times you have mocked me and have not told me where your great strength lies.”
16:16And as she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, he was wearied to death.
16:17And he told her all his heart and said to her, “A razor has never come upon my head, for I am a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.”
16:18And Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart; and she sent and called for the rulers of the Philistines, saying, “Come up this time, for he has told me all his heart.” And the rulers of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands.
16:19And she made him sleep on her knees, called for a man, and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. And she began to subdue him, and his strength left him.
16:20And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him.
16:21And the Philistines seized him, put out his eyes, brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with two bronze fetters; and he ground grain in the prison-house.
16:22And the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.
16:23And the rulers of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to rejoice; and they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.”
16:24And when the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, “Our god has given our enemy into our hand—the one who laid waste our land and slew many of us.”
16:25And when their hearts were merry, they said, “Call for Samson, that he may amuse us.” And they called Samson out of the prison-house, and he amused them; and they set him between the pillars.
16:26Then Samson said to the young man who held his hand, “Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them.”
16:27And the house was full of men and women, and all the rulers of the Philistines were there. And about three thousand men and women were on the roof, watching Samson amuse them.
16:28Then Samson called to the LORD and said, “Lord, the LORD, please remember me, and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may take vengeance on the Philistines in one act for my two eyes.”
16:29And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars on which the house rested and leaned against them, one with his right hand and one with his left.
16:30And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” And he bowed himself with all his strength, and the house fell upon the rulers and upon all the people who were in it. And those he killed at his death were more than those he had killed in his life.
16:31Then his brothers and all his father’s house came down, took him, brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. And he had judged Israel twenty years.

Chapter 17

17:1And there was a man of the hill-country of Ephraim whose name was Micah.
17:2And he said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse and spoke it in my hearing—behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the LORD.”
17:3And he returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother; and his mother said, “I have solemnly dedicated the silver from my hand to the LORD for my son, to make a carved image and a cast-metal image. Now, therefore, I give it back to you.”
17:4And he returned the silver to his mother; and his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who made it into a carved image and a cast-metal image. And it was in the house of Micah.
17:5And the man Micah had a house of gods; and he made a priestly vest and household idols, and ordained one of his sons, who became his priest.
17:6In those days there was no king in Israel; each man did what was right in his own eyes.
17:7And there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah; and he was a Levite, and he was sojourning there.
17:8And the man departed from the city, from Bethlehem in Judah, to sojourn wherever he might find a place; and in the course of his journey he came to the hill-country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah.
17:9And Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to sojourn wherever I may find a place.”
17:10And Micah said to him, “Dwell with me, and be to me as a father and a priest; and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, a set of garments, and your sustenance.” And the Levite went in.
17:11And the Levite was willing to dwell with the man; and the young man became to him as one of his sons.
17:12And Micah ordained the Levite; and the young man became his priest and was in the house of Micah.
17:13Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will do good to me, because the Levite has become my priest.”

Chapter 18

18:1In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of Dan was seeking an inheritance in which to dwell, for until that day no inheritance had fallen to it among the tribes of Israel.
18:2And the sons of Dan sent from their family five men from their whole number, men of valor, from Zorah and Eshtaol, to explore the land and search it out. And they said to them, “Go, search the land.” And they came to the hill-country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there.
18:3When they were near the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young man, the Levite; and they turned aside there and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? And what do you have here?”
18:4And he said to them, “This is what Micah has done for me: he hired me, and I became his priest.”
18:5And they said to him, “Please inquire of God, that we may know whether the way on which we are going will prosper.”
18:6And the priest said to them, “Go in peace; the way on which you are going is before the LORD.”
18:7Then the five men went and came to Laish; and they saw the people who were in its midst dwelling securely, according to the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting. There was no ruler in the land to put them to shame in anything; and they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone.
18:8And they came to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol; and their brothers said to them, “What have you to say?”
18:9And they said, “Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. And you are keeping silent. Do not be slow to go, to enter and possess the land.
18:10When you go, you will come to an unsuspecting people, and the land is spacious; for God has given it into your hand, a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the land.”
18:11And from there, from the clan of the Danites, from Zorah and Eshtaol, six hundred men set out, armed for war.
18:12And they went up and encamped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. Therefore they have called that place the Camp of Dan to this day; behold, it is behind Kiriath-jearim.
18:13And they passed from there to the hill-country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah.
18:14Then the five men who had gone to explore the land of Laish answered and said to their brothers, “Do you know that in these houses there are a priestly vest, household idols, a carved image, and a cast-metal image? Now, therefore, consider what you will do.”
18:15And they turned aside there and came to the house of the young man, the Levite—to the house of Micah—and greeted him.
18:16And the six hundred men from the sons of Dan, armed with their weapons of war, stood at the entrance of the gate.
18:17Then the five men who had gone to explore the land went up and entered there; and they took the carved image, the priestly vest, the household idols, and the cast-metal image. And the priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men armed for war.
18:18And when these men entered Micah’s house and took the carved image, the priestly vest, the household idols, and the cast-metal image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”
18:19And they said to him, “Keep silent; lay your hand on your mouth, and go with us, and be to us as a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and a clan in Israel?”
18:20And the priest’s heart was glad; and he took the priestly vest, the household idols, and the carved image, and went into the midst of the people.
18:21Then they turned and went, and put the children, the livestock, and the baggage before them.
18:22When they had gone far from Micah’s house, the men in the houses near Micah’s house gathered together and overtook the sons of Dan.
18:23And they called out to the sons of Dan; and they turned their faces and said to Micah, “What is the matter, that you have gathered together?”
18:24And he said, “You have taken my gods that I made, and the priest, and gone away; and what do I have left? How, then, can you say to me, What is the matter?”
18:25And the sons of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest men bitter in spirit fall upon you, and you lose your life and the lives of your household.”
18:26And the sons of Dan went on their way. And Micah saw that they were stronger than he, so he turned and went back to his house.
18:27And they took what Micah had made and the priest who had been his, and came against Laish, against a people quiet and unsuspecting; and they struck them by the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire.
18:28And there was no deliverer, for it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with anyone. And it was in the valley near Beth-rehob. And they built the city and dwelt in it.
18:29And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel; but Laish was formerly the name of the city.
18:30And the sons of Dan set up the carved image for themselves; and Jonathan son of Gershom, son of Manasseh, he and his sons, were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.
18:31And they set up for themselves Micah’s carved image, which he had made, all the days that the house of God was in Shiloh.

Chapter 19

19:1Now it happened in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that a Levite was sojourning in the remote parts of the hill-country of Ephraim. He took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
19:2But his concubine was unfaithful to him, and she went away from him to her father’s house at Bethlehem in Judah, and remained there four months.
19:3Then her husband rose and went after her, to speak tenderly to her and bring her back. His servant was with him, and a pair of donkeys. She brought him into her father’s house; and when the young woman’s father saw him, he rejoiced to meet him.
19:4His father-in-law, the young woman’s father, prevailed upon him, and he remained with him three days. They ate and drank and spent the night there.
19:5On the fourth day they rose early in the morning, and he rose to go. But the young woman’s father said to his son-in-law, “Strengthen your heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward you may go.”
19:6And both of them sat down, and ate and drank together. And the father of the young woman said to the man, “Please be willing, and spend the night, and let your heart be glad.”
19:7And the man rose to go; but his father-in-law pressed him, and he returned and spent the night there.
19:8He rose early in the morning on the fifth day to go; but the young woman’s father said, “Please strengthen your heart.” And they waited until the day declined, and both of them ate.
19:9Then the man rose to go, he and his concubine and his young man; but his father-in-law, the father of the young woman, said to him, “Now behold, the day is drawing toward evening. Please spend the night; behold, the day is nearly over. Lodge here, and let your heart be glad. And you shall rise early tomorrow for your journey, and go to your tent.”
19:10But the man was not willing to spend the night; so he rose and departed, and came opposite Jebus—that is, Jerusalem. A pair of saddled donkeys were with him, and his concubine was with him.
19:11When they were near Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said to his master, “Please come, and let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites and spend the night in it.”
19:12But his lord said to him, “We shall not turn aside to the city of a foreigner, which is not of the sons of Israel; but we shall pass over to Gibeah.”
19:13And he said to his young man, “Come, and let us draw near to one of the places, and lodge in Gibeah or in Ramah.”
19:14So they passed on and went their way, and the sun set on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin.
19:15They turned aside there to enter and spend the night in Gibeah. And he entered and sat in the city square, but no one took them into his house to spend the night.
19:16And behold, an old man came from his work, from the field, in the evening. And the man was of the hill-country of Ephraim, and he was a sojourner in Gibeah; but the men of the place were Benjamites.
19:17And he raised his eyes, and saw the man, the traveler, in the city square of the city. And the old man said, “Where are you going? And where do you come from?”
19:18He said to him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote parts of the hill-country of Ephraim. I am from there; I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and I am now going to the house of the LORD. But no one has taken me into his house.
19:19Yet there is both straw and fodder for our donkeys, and there is also bread and wine for me, and for your servant, and for the young man with your servants. There is no lack of anything.”
19:20The old man said, “Peace be with you. Let all your needs be upon me; only do not spend the night in the city square.”
19:21So he brought him into his house and gave fodder to the donkeys. Then they washed their feet and ate and drank.
19:22As they were making their hearts glad, behold, the men of the city, worthless men, surrounded the house and beat on the door. They spoke to the old man, the master of the house, saying, “Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him.”
19:23And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, please do not do evil, after this man has come into my house. Do not do this folly.
19:24Behold, here are my virgin daughter and his concubine. Please let me bring them out; humble them, and do to them what is right in your eyes. But do not commit this disgraceful thing against this man.”
19:25But the men were not willing to listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and brought her out to them. They knew her and abused her all night until morning; and they sent her away at daybreak.
19:26And the woman came at dawn, and fell at the doorway of the man’s house where her lord was, until daylight.
19:27And her lord rose in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go on his way; and behold, the woman, his concubine, had fallen at the doorway of the house, and her hands were on the threshold.
19:28And he said to her, “Rise, and let us go.” But there was no answer. And he took her upon the donkey, and the man rose and went to his place.
19:29When he came into his house, he took a knife, seized his concubine, and cut her limb by limb into twelve pieces; and he sent her throughout all the territory of Israel.
19:30And everyone who saw it said, “Nothing like this has happened or been seen from the day the sons of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day. Set your heart upon it, take counsel, and speak.”

Chapter 20

20:1Then all the sons of Israel went out, and the congregation assembled as one man, from Dan even to Beersheba, and the land of Gilead, to the LORD at Mizpah.
20:2The chiefs of all the people, of all the tribes of Israel, took their stand in the assembly of the people of God: four hundred thousand footmen bearing the sword.
20:3And the sons of Benjamin heard that the sons of Israel had went up to Mizpah. And the sons of Israel said, “Speak. How did this evil come to pass?”
20:4Then the man, the Levite, husband of the woman who had been murdered, answered and said, “I came into Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge.
20:5The leaders of Gibeah rose against me and surrounded the house at night. They intended to kill me, and they violated my concubine, and she died.
20:6Then I laid hold of my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her into all the country of the inheritance of Israel, for they have done wickedness and folly in Israel.
20:7Behold, you are all sons of Israel; give your counsel and advice here.”
20:8And all the people rose as one man, saying, “None of us shall go to his tent, and none of us shall turn aside to his house.
20:9And now, this is the thing which we shall do to Gibeah: we shall go up against it by lot.
20:10We shall take ten men out of a hundred from all the tribes of Israel, a hundred out of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to obtain provisions for the people, so that when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin they may repay it according to all the disgrace it has committed in Israel.”
20:11Thus every man of Israel was gathered against the city as one man, united together.
20:12Then the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribes of Benjamin, saying, “What is this evil which has been among you?
20:13And now, give up the men, the worthless men, who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel.” But the sons of Benjamin were not willing to listen to the voice of their brothers, the sons of Israel.
20:14And the sons of Benjamin gathered themselves out of the cities to Gibeah, to go out to battle with the sons of Israel.
20:15And the sons of Benjamin were numbered on that day: out of the cities, twenty-six thousand men bearing the sword, apart from the inhabitants of Gibeah, who numbered seven hundred chosen men.
20:16Among all this people were seven hundred chosen men who were left-handed; each could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.
20:17And the men of Israel were numbered, apart from Benjamin: four hundred thousand men bearing the sword, each one a man of war.
20:18Then they rose and went up to Bethel and inquired of God. The sons of Israel said, “Who shall go up first for us to battle against the sons of Benjamin?” And the LORD said, “Judah shall go first.”
20:19And the sons of Israel rose in the morning, and encamped against Gibeah.
20:20And the men of Israel went out to battle with Benjamin; and the men of Israel arrayed themselves for battle against them, against Gibeah.
20:21Then the sons of Benjamin came out from Gibeah and struck down twenty-two thousand men of Israel that day.
20:22And the people, the men of Israel, strengthened themselves, and added again to arrayed themselves for battle in the place where they had arranged themselves on the first day.
20:23The sons of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until evening, and they inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I again draw near to battle against the sons of Benjamin, my brother?” And the LORD said, “Go up against him.”
20:24And the sons of Israel drew near to the sons of Benjamin on the second day.
20:25Benjamin came out from Gibeah to meet them on the second day and again struck down eighteen thousand men among the sons of Israel; all these bore the sword.
20:26Then all the sons of Israel went up, even all the people, and came to Bethel, and wept, and sat there before the LORD; and they fasted on that day until the evening, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
20:27And the sons of Israel asked of the LORD, for the Ark of the Covenant of God was there in those days;
20:28and Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, was standing before it in those days. They said, “Shall I add again to go out to battle with the sons of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease?” And the LORD said, “Ascend, for tomorrow I will give him into your hand.”
20:29And Israel set men lying in wait against Gibeah all around.
20:30And the sons of Israel went up against the sons of Benjamin on the third day, and arrayed themselves against Gibeah, as one after another.
20:31The sons of Benjamin came out to meet the people and were drawn away from the city. They began to strike and kill some of the people on the highways, as before—one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah in the field—about thirty men of Israel.
20:32And the sons of Benjamin said, “They are struck before us as at the beginning.” But the sons of Israel said, “Let us flee, and draw them away from the city to the highways.”
20:33Then all the men of Israel rose from their place and arrayed themselves at Baal-tamar; and the men of Israel in ambush burst out from their place, from the meadow of Gibeah.
20:34Then they came in from the front against Gibeah—ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel—and the battle was grievous; and they did not know that calamity was reaching toward them.
20:35Then the LORD struck Benjamin before Israel, and the sons of Israel destroyed in Benjamin that day twenty-five thousand and one hundred men; all these were drawing the sword.
20:36Then the sons of Benjamin saw that they had been struck. And the men of Israel gave place to Benjamin, for they trusted in the ambush which they had set against Gibeah.
20:37And the ambush hurried, and rushed against Gibeah; and the ambush drew itself out, and struck the whole city by the edge of the sword.
20:38And the appointed sign between the men of Israel and the ambush was this: that they should cause a great volume of smoke to go up from the city.
20:39Then the men of Israel turned in the battle. And Benjamin began to strike and kill about thirty men of Israel, for they said, “Surely they are struck down before us, as in the first battle.”
20:40But the volume began to go up from the city—a pillar of smoke—and Benjamin turned behind them, and behold, the perfection of the city had went up toward the heavens.
20:41And the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were troubled, for they saw that calamity had struck against them.
20:42Then they turned before the men of Israel toward the way of the wilderness, and the battle followed them; and those who were from the cities were destroying them in their midst.
20:43They surrounded the Benjamites; they pursued them; they trod them down with ease as far as the front of Gibeah, toward the east.
20:44Then eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell; all these were men of valor.
20:45Then they turned and fled toward the wilderness, to the rock of Rimmon; and they gleaned five thousand of their men in the highways, and followed hard after them to Gidom, and struck two thousand more of their men.
20:46Then all those falling of Benjamin that day were twenty-five thousand men drawing the sword; all these were men of valor.
20:47But six hundred men turned and fled into the wilderness, to the rock of Rimmon; and they dwelt in the rock of Rimmon four months.
20:48Then the men of Israel turned back against the sons of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword—the city, the men, the beasts, and all that was found. They also set every city they found on fire.

Chapter 21

21:1And the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, “None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin for a wife.”
21:2Then the people came to Bethel and remained there before God until evening; and they raised their voices and wept bitterly.
21:3And they said, “Why, O LORD, God of Israel, has this been in Israel—that one tribe should be lacking from Israel today?”
21:4Then it happened on the next day, that the people rose early, and built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
21:5Then the sons of Israel said, “Who is he who has not went up in the assembly to the LORD, out of all the tribes of Israel?” For the great oath had been concerning him who had not went up to the LORD at Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.”
21:6And the sons of Israel sighed concerning Benjamin their brother, and said, “Today one tribe has been cut off from Israel.
21:7What shall we do for them—for those who are left—for wives, since we have sworn by the LORD not to give them our daughters for wives?”
21:8Then they said, “Who is the one out of the tribes of Israel who has not went up to the LORD at Mizpah?” And behold, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh-Gilead—to the assembly.
21:9And the people were numbered, and behold, there was no man from the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead.
21:10So the congregation sent twelve thousand of the most valiant men there and commanded them, saying, “Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, including the women and the children.
21:11And this is the word which you shall do: every male, and every woman knowing the lying of a male, you shall devote.”
21:12Then they found four hundred young women, virgins, among the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead, who had not known man by the lying of a male; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which was in the land of Canaan.
21:13Then all the congregation sent word and spoke to the sons of Benjamin who were in the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace to them.
21:14Then Benjamin returned at that time, and they gave to them the women whom they had kept alive from the women of Jabesh-Gilead; but they did not find enough for them.
21:15And the people had compassion on Benjamin, because the LORD had made a breach among the tribes of Israel.
21:16Then the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for the remnant, for wives—for the women have been destroyed out of Benjamin?”
21:17Then they said, “There must be a possession for the escaped remnant of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel.
21:18And we are not able to give them wives from our daughters, for the sons of Israel have sworn, saying, ‘Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin.’”
21:19Then they said, “Behold, there is a feast of the LORD from year to year in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.”
21:20And they commanded the sons of Benjamin, saying, “Go, and lie in wait in the vineyards.
21:21And watch; and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then you shall come out from the vineyards, and each man shall catch his wife from the daughters of Shiloh for yourselves, and go to the land of Benjamin.
21:22And it shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to plead with us, that we shall say to them, ‘Favor us in this matter, for we did not take for each man his wife in battle; and you did not give wives to them at this time, so you are not guilty.’”
21:23The sons of Benjamin did so, and took wives according to their number from the women who danced, whom they carried away. Then they returned to their inheritance, rebuilt the cities, and dwelt in them.
21:24And the sons of Israel went from there at that time, each to his tribe and to his family; and each went out from there to his inheritance.
21:25In those days there was no king in Israel; each man did that which was right in his own eyes.