Judges Chapter 1
Judah and Simeon capture Adoni- bezek
1 After the death of Joshua, the Israelites inquired of the Lord, “Who among us will go up first to fight against the Canaanites?”
2 The Lord answered, “Judah will go up; I have given the land into their hands.”
3 So Judah said to his brother Simeon, “Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, so we can fight against the Canaanites. I will go with you into your territory.” So Simeon went with him.
4 Judah went up, and the Lord delivered the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands. They struck down ten thousand of them at Bezek.
5 They found Adoni-bezek at Bezek and fought against him, defeating the Canaanites and Perizzites.
6 But Adoni-bezek fled. They pursued him, captured him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.
7 Then Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to pick up scraps under my table. God has repaid me as I have done.” So they brought him to Jerusalem, where he died.
Judah conquers Jerusalem and Hebron
8 The people of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it, putting its inhabitants to the sword and burning the city.
9 Then the people of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the mountains, in the Negev, and in the foothills.
10 Judah marched against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (formerly called Kiriath-arba), and they defeated Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.
Othniel conquers Debir and receives Acsah.
11 From there he went to the inhabitants of Debir, which was formerly called Kiriath-sepher.
12 And Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give him my daughter Achsah as a wife.”
13 So Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, captured it, and Caleb gave him his daughter Achsah as a wife.
14 As she was going with him, he persuaded her to ask her father for a field. So she got off her donkey, and Caleb asked her, “What do you want?”
15 She replied, “Give me a gift. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water.” So Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
Extent of the conquests of Judah and Benjamin
16 The descendants of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up from the City of Palm Trees with the people of Judah to the Wilderness of Judah, which is in the Negev near Arad; and they went and settled among the people.
17 Judah and Simeon his brother went up and defeated the Canaanites who lived in Zephath and utterly destroyed it. They called the city Hormah.
18 Judah also took Gaza with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory.
19 The Lord was with Judah, and they drove out the people of the hill country, but they could not drive out the people of the plain, who had iron chariots.
20 They gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said; and he drove out the three sons of Anak from there.
21 But the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem were not driven out by the Benjamites, and the Jebusites lived with the Benjamites in Jerusalem to this day.
Joseph conquers Bethel
22 The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them.
23 The house of Joseph sent spies to Bethel, a city formerly called Luz.
24 The spies saw a man coming out of the city and said to him, “Show us the entrance to the city, and we will show you kindness.”
25 He showed them the entrance, and they struck him with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his household go free.
26 The man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city, which he called Luz; and that is its name to this day.
Extent of the conquests of Manasseh and Ephraim
27 Manasseh did not drive out the people of Beth-shean or its villages, nor the people of Taanach and its villages, nor the people of Dor and its villages, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, nor those who lived in Megiddo and its villages; so the Canaanites continued to live in the land.
28 But when Israel grew strong, they made the Canaanites subject to forced labor, but they did not drive them out.
29 Ephraim also did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, but the Canaanites lived among them in Gezer.
Extension of the conquests of the other tribes
30 Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or Nahalal, but the Canaanites lived among him and paid him tribute.
31 Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphek, or Rehob.
32 Asher lived among the Canaanites who were living in the land; he did not drive them out.
33 Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh or Beth-anath, but lived among the Canaanites who were living in the land; however, the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath paid him tribute.
34 The Amorites pursued the Danites as far as the hill country and did not allow them to go down to the plains.
35 The Amorites continued to live in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim; but when the house of Joseph grew strong, they made them subject to forced labor.
36 The border of the Amorites extended from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela upward.
Jueces Capítulo 2
The angel of Jehovah in Boquim
1 The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land I swore to give your ancestors, saying, ‘I will never break my covenant with you,
2 provided you do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land, whose altars you must tear down.’ But you have not listened to me. Why have you done this?
3 Therefore I say: I will not drive them out before you, but they will be scourges on your sides, and their gods will be a snare to you.”
4 When the angel of the Lord had spoken these words to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud.
5 So they called the place Bochim, and there they offered sacrifices to the Lord.
Death of Joshua
6 For Joshua had dismissed the people, and the Israelites had gone each to his own inheritance to possess it.
7 The people had served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works the Lord had done for Israel.
8 Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110.
9 They buried him in his inheritance at Timnath-serah, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
10 All that generation was also gathered to their ancestors. After them, another generation arose who did not know the Lord or the work he had done for Israel.
Israel's apostasy, and the work of the judges
11 Then the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals.
12 They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt, and followed and worshiped other gods, the gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the Lord to anger.
13 They forsook the Lord and worshiped Baal and Ashtoreth.
14 So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and he handed them over to robbers who plundered them and sold them into the hands of their enemies all around. They could no longer stand against their enemies.
15 Wherever they went, the Lord’s hand was against them for harm, just as the Lord had said and as the Lord had sworn to them. They suffered greatly.
16 And the Lord raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them;
17 But they did not listen to their judges either, but went after other gods and worshiped them; they quickly turned away from the way in which their fathers walked, obeying the commandments of the LORD; they did not do so.
18 Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge and delivered them from the hand of their enemies all the days of that judge, for the Lord was moved to compassion by their groaning because of those who oppressed and afflicted them.
19 But it came to pass, when the judge died, that they turned backward and acted more corruptly than their fathers, following other gods to serve them and bowing down to them; they did not turn from their practices or their stubborn way.
20 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this people has transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and has not obeyed my voice,
21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died,
22 to test Israel by them, whether they would take care to follow the way of the Lord, to walk in it as their fathers did.”
23 Therefore the Lord left those nations, without driving them out at once, and did not deliver them into the hand of Joshua.
Judges Chapter 3
Nations that were left to test Israel
1 These are the nations the Lord left to test Israel by them, all those who had not experienced all the wars of Canaan,
2 so that the descendants of Israel might learn warfare and teach it to those who had not known it before:
3 the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Hamath.
4 They went to test Israel by them, to find out whether they would obey the commands the Lord had given their ancestors through Moses.
5 So the Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
6 They took some of their daughters as wives and gave their daughters to their sons, and they served their gods.
Othniel delivers Israel from Cushan-risataim
7 So the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord, forgot the Lord their God, and served the Baals and the Asherah poles.
8 The Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. The Israelites served Cushan-rishathaim for eight years.
9 Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up a deliverer for them, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.
10 The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to battle, and the Lord delivered Cushan-rishathaim king of Syria into his hand, and his hand prevailed against Cushan-rishathaim.
11 The land had rest for forty years, and Othniel son of Kenaz died.
Ehud frees Israel from Moab
12 The Israelites again did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and the Lord strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the eyes of the Lord.
13 He gathered the Ammonites and Amalekites to himself, and came and attacked Israel, and captured the City of Palm Trees.
14 The Israelites served Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years.
15 Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud son of Gera, a Benjamite, who was left-handed. The Israelites sent a present with him to Eglon king of Moab.
16 Now Ehud had made himself a double-edged sword, a cubit long, and he fastened it under his clothes on his right side.
17 He presented the present to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man.
18 After he had delivered the present, he dismissed the people who had brought it.
19 But he turned back from the idols at Gilgal and said, “The king, I have a secret message for you.” The king said, “Be quiet.” And all who were with him left his presence.
20 Ehud approached him as he sat alone in his summer room. And Ehud said, “I have a word from God for you.” So he rose from his chair.
21 Then Ehud reached out his left hand and took the dagger from his right side and thrust it into his belly,
22 so that the hilt went in after the blade, and the fat covered the blade, for he did not draw the dagger out of his belly; and the dung came out.
23 Then Ehud went out into the corridor and shut the doors of the room behind him and secured them with the bolt.
24 When he had gone out, the king’s servants came, and seeing the doors of the upper room shut, they said, “Surely he is resting his feet in the summer room.”
25 And after waiting until they were confused, because he did not open the doors of the upper room, they took the key and opened it; and behold, their master had fallen to the ground, dead.
26 But while they were waiting, Ehud escaped, and passing over the idols, he reached Seirath safely.
27 And when he had entered, he blew the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the children of Israel came down with him from the hill country, and he went before them.
28 Then he said to them, “Follow me, for the Lord has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hands.” So they went down after him and took the fords of the Jordan to Moab, and let no one cross.
29 And at that time they killed about ten thousand Moabites, all mighty men, all fighting men; Not one escaped.
30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel; and the land had rest for eighty years.
Shamgar frees Israel from the Philistines
31 After him was Shamgar son of Anath, who killed six hundred Philistines with an ox goad; and he also saved Israel.
Judges Chapter 4
Deborah and Barak defeat Sisera
1 After the death of Ehud, the Israelites again did evil in the sight of the Lord.
2 So the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim.
3 Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord, because Jabin had 900 iron chariots and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for 20 years.
4 Now Deborah, a prophetess and the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time.
5 She used to sit under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites would come to her for judgment.
6 So she sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “Has not the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking with you ten thousand men from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun,
7 and I will lure Sisera, commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his army, to the Kishon Valley, and I will deliver him into your hands’?”
8 Barak replied, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you do not go with me, I will not go.”
9 She said, “I will go with you; however, the glory of the campaign you are undertaking will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.” So Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.
10 Barak gathered Zebulun and Naphtali together at Kedesh and went up with ten thousand men under his command; and Deborah went up with him.
11 Now Heber the Kenite, one of the descendants of Hobab, Moses’ father-in-law, had separated himself from the Kenites and pitched his tents in the Valley of Zaanaim, which is near Kedesh.
12 When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor,
13 he gathered together all his chariots, nine hundred iron chariots, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the Brook Kishon.
14 Then Deborah said to Barak, “Get up, for this is the day the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hands. Has not the Lord gone out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men after him.
15 The Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before Barak, and Sisera got down from his chariot and fled on foot.
16 But Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth-hagoyim, and all Sisera’s army fell by the edge of the sword; not one was left.
17 Sisera fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.
18 Then Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Come in, my lord, come in to me; do not be afraid.” So he came to her in the tent, and she covered him with a blanket.
19 He said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink, and covered him again.
20 He told her, “Stand at the entrance of the tent, and if anyone comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ you shall say no.”
21 But Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg, put a hammer in her hand, and went quietly to him and drove the peg through his temple and into the ground, for he was fast asleep and exhausted; and so he died.
22 Barak pursued Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him and said, “Come, and I will show you the man you are looking for.” So he went in to her, and there lay Sisera, dead, with the peg through his temple.
23 So God defeated Jabin, king of Canaan, that day before the Israelites.
24 And the hand of the children of Israel grew stronger and stronger against Jabin king of Canaan, until they destroyed him.
Judges Chapter 5
The Song of Deborah and Barak
1 On that day Deborah sang with Barak son of Abinoam, saying:
2 “Because the leaders in Israel took the lead, because the people offered themselves willingly, praise the Lord!
3 Hear, you kings; listen, you princes! I will sing to the Lord, I will sing praise to the Lord, the God of Israel.
4 When you went out from Seir, O Lord, when you marched from the land of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens poured down rain, and the clouds poured down water.
5 The mountains quaked before the Lord, even Sinai, before the Lord, the God of Israel.
6 In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were deserted, and those who walked in the paths turned aside to crooked ways.
7 The villages in Israel lay deserted; they were deserted, until I, Deborah, arose, I arose as a mother in Israel.
8 When they chose new gods, war was at the gates; was there a shield or spear among forty thousand in Israel?
9 My heart is with you, leaders of Israel, who willingly offered yourselves among the people. Praise the Lord!
10 You who ride on white donkeys, you who preside in judgment, you who travel, speak!
11 Far from the noise of the archers, at the watering places, there they will recount the triumphs of the Lord, the triumphs of his cities in Israel; then the people of the Lord will march to the gates.
12 Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, sing a song! Arise, Barak, lead your captives away, son of Abinoam!
13 Then the remnant of the nobles marched; the people of the Lord marched for him against the mighty.
14 From Ephraim came those rooted in Amalek, following you, Benjamin, among your peoples; from Machir came princes, and from Zebulun those who wielded the staff of command.
15 Leaders also from Issachar went with Deborah; and like Barak, Issachar also rushed on foot into the valley. Among the clans of Reuben there were great resolutions of the heart.
16 Why did you linger among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleating of the flocks? Among the clans of Reuben there were great purposes of the heart.
17 Gilead remained beyond the Jordan; and Dan, why did he linger by the ships? Asher remained by the seashore, and stayed in his harbors.
18 The people of Zebulun risked their lives to death, and Naphtali on the heights of the field.
19 Kings came and fought; Then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, but they gained nothing of money.
20From the heavens the stars fought; from their orbits they fought against Sisera.
21 The torrent of Kishon swept them away, the ancient torrent, the torrent of Kishon. March on, O my soul, with strength.
22 Then the horses’ hooves thundered, the galloping, the galloping of his mighty warriors.
23 “Curse Meroz,” said the angel of the Lord, “curse its inhabitants severely, because they did not come to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.”
24 Blessed among women is Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite; blessed above women in the tent!
25 He asked for water, and she gave him milk; in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him cream.
26 He reached for the tent peg, and his right hand for the workman’s hammer; he struck Sisera, he crushed his head, he pierced his temple.
27 He fell crouched at his feet, he lay prostrate; at his feet he fell crouched; where he crouched, there he lay dead.
28 Sisera’s mother looked out of the window, and through the lattice she cried, “Why is his chariot taking so long to come?” Why do the wheels of their chariots stop?
29 The wisest of her ladies answered her, and she also answered herself:
30 “Have they not found plunder and are they dividing it? To each one a maiden or two; the garments of many colors for Sisera, the garments embroidered with many colors, the garments embroidered on both sides, for the leaders of those who took the plunder.
31 So may all your enemies perish, O Lord! But may those who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength.” And the land had rest for forty years.
Judges Chapter 6
Gideon's Call
1 The Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord, and for seven years the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian.
2 The power of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the Israelites made for themselves dens in the mountains, caves, and strongholds.
3 Whenever Israel planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other eastern peoples would come up against them and attack them.
4 They would encamp against them and destroy the crops of the land as far as Gaza, leaving nothing for Israel to eat—not sheep, cattle, or donkeys.
5 They and their livestock would come up with their tents; they were like locusts, and their camels were without number. They came into the land to devastate it.
6 So Israel became very poor because of Midian, and the Israelites cried out to the Lord.
7 When the Israelites cried out to the Lord because of the Midianites,
8 the Lord sent a prophet to them, who said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
9 I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all your oppressors. I drove them out before you and gave you their land.
10 I said to you, “I am the Lord your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.” But you have not obeyed me.’”
11 The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak tree in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites.
12 The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”
13 Gideon replied, “Pardon me, my lord, but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hands of the Midianites.”
14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
15 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.”
17 Gideon replied, “If I have found favor in your eyes, show me a sign that it is really you talking to me.”
18I beg you not to leave here until I return to you and bring out my offering and set it before you. And he answered, “I will wait until you return.”
19 So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, and brought it out and set it before him under the oak tree.
20 Then the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and put them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so.
21 Then the angel of the Lord stretched out the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread with its tip, and fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.
22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”
23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace be with you; do not be afraid, you will not die.”
24 So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it The Lord Is Peace; it remains to this day in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
25That same night the Lord said to him, “Take one of your father’s seven-year-old bulls from his herd, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah pole that is beside it.
26Then build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of this rock in a suitable place. Take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down.”
27So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord had told him. But because he was afraid to do it during the day, due to his father’s family and the men of the city, he did it at night.
28Then the men of the city got up in the morning and saw that the altar of Baal had been torn down, the Asherah pole beside it had been cut down, and the second bull had been offered as a burnt offering on the altar that had been built.
29And they said to one another, “Who has done this?” And after searching and inquiring, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash has done it.” Then the men of the city said to Joash,
30“Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has torn down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah pole that was beside it.”
31But Joash answered all who stood before him, “Will you contend for Baal? Will you defend his cause? Whoever contends for him, let him die this morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself with him who tore down his altar.”
32That day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is, “Let Baal contend with him,” because he tore down his altar.
33But all the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people of the east joined together, and crossed over and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.
34Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and when he blew the trumpet, the Abiezrites rallied to him.
35He sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they also rallied to him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they came out to meet them.
36Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said,
37I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.”
38 Early the next morning Gideon wrung out the fleece and squeezed out a bowlful of water from it.
39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, but let me try just once more with the fleece. Let only the fleece be dry, and let there be dew on the ground.”
40 That night God did so; only the fleece was dry, and all the ground was covered with dew.
Judges Chapter 7
Gideon defeats the Midianites
1 So Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people with him rose early in the morning and camped by the spring of Harod. The Midianite camp was north of them, beyond the hill of Moreh, in the valley.
2 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many people for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel boast against me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’
3 Now therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home from Mount Gilead.’” So 22,000 of the people returned home, and 10,000 remained.
4 The Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. Whoever I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ shall go with you; but whoever I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ shall not go.”
5 So he led 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 by himself, and also everyone who kneels down to drink.”
6 The number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men; but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink.
7 Then the Lord said to Gideon, “With these 300 men who lapped the water I will save you and deliver the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other people go, each to his own place.”
8 So he took provisions for the people and his trumpets and sent all the Israelites away, each to his own tent, but he kept the 300 men. The camp of Midian was below him in the valley.
9 That night the Lord said to him, “Get up and go down to the camp, for I have delivered it into your hands.”
10 But if you are afraid to go down, go down with Purah your servant to the camp,
11 and you will hear what they are saying; then your hands will be strengthened, and you will go down to the camp. So he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the armed men who were in the camp.
12 Now the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the people of the East were lying in the valley like locusts in multitude, and their camels were without number, as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude.
13 When Gideon arrived, behold, a man was telling his companion a dream, saying, “Behold, I had a dream: I saw a loaf of barley bread rolling into the camp of Midian, and it came to the tent and struck it so that it fell over, turning it upside down, and the tent fell down.”
14And his companion answered and said, “This is none other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, a man of Israel. God has delivered the Midianites and the entire camp into his hands.”
15 When Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped. Then he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Get up, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into your hands.”
16 He divided the three hundred men into three companies and gave each of them a trumpet and empty jars with burning torches inside.
17 He said to them, “Watch me and do as I do. When I reach the edge of the camp, you must do as I do.
18 I and all who are with me will blow the trumpet, and you must blow your trumpets all around the camp and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”
19 So Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the midnight watch, just after the watch had been changed. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars they were carrying.
20 The three companies blew their trumpets and broke the jars. Holding torches in their left hands and trumpets in their right hands, they shouted, “For the sword of the Lord and of Gideon!”
21 Each man stood in his place all around the camp. Then the whole army ran, shouting and fleeing.
22 And the three hundred blew the trumpets; and the Lord set every man’s sword against his neighbor throughout the whole camp. And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah, toward Zererah, and as far as the border of Abel-meholah in Tabbath.
23 And the men of Israel, from Naphtali, Asher, and all Manasseh, gathered together and pursued the Midianites.
24 Gideon also sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Go down to meet the Midianites, and seize the fords of Beth-barah and of the Jordan before they come.” So all the men of Ephraim gathered together and seized the fords of Beth-barah and of the Jordan.
25 And they captured two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. And after they had pursued the Midianites, they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan.
Judges Chapter 8
Gideon captures the kings of Midian
1 But the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this you have done to us, not calling us when you went to war against Midian?” And they rebuked him sharply.
2 To them he replied, “What have I done now compared to you? Is not the gleaning of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?
3 God has delivered Oreb and Zeeb, the princes of Midian, into your hands; and what could I have done compared to you?” Then their anger against him subsided when he spoke this word.
4 And Gideon came to the Jordan, and he and the three hundred men who were with him crossed over, weary but still pursuing.
5 And he said to the men of Succoth, “Please give the people who are pursuing me some morsels of bread, for they are weary, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”
6 The leaders of Succoth answered, “Are Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hands, that we should provide bread for your army?”
7 Gideon replied, “When the Lord has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hands, I will thresh your flesh with thorns and briers from the wilderness.”
8 From there he went up to Peniel and spoke the same words to them. The people of Peniel answered him as the people of Succoth had answered.
9 He also spoke to the people of Peniel, saying, “When I return in peace, I will tear down this tower.”
10 Zebah and Zalmunna were at Karkor, with their army of about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of the entire army of the people of the East; for one hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword had fallen.
11 So Gideon went up by way of those who lived in tents east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the camp, for the army was not on guard.
12 Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them. He captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and threw the whole army into confusion.
13 Then Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle before sunrise.
14 He took a young man from the men of Succoth and questioned him. The young man wrote down for him the names of the leaders and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men.
15 When he went to the men of Succoth, he said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you mocked me, saying, ‘Are Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hands, that we should give bread to your weary men?’”
16 So he took the elders of the city, and thorns and briers from the wilderness, and with them he punished the men of Succoth.
17 He also tore down the tower of Peniel and killed the people of the city.
18Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What did those men look like whom you killed at Tabor?” They answered, “They looked just like you; each one looked like a king’s son.”
19 He said, “They were my brothers, my mother’s sons. As surely as the Lord lives, if you had spared their lives, I would not have killed you.”
20 Then he said to Jether, his firstborn, “Get up and kill them.” But the young man did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a youth.
21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “You get up and kill us; for as the man is, so is his strength.” So Gideon got up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.
22 The Israelites said to Gideon, “You, your son, and your grandson shall be our lord, for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.”
23 But Gideon replied, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.”
24 Then Gideon said to them, “I would like to make a request of you: each of you must give me the earrings from your plunder.” (They had gold earrings, for they were Ishmaelites.)
25 They answered, “We will gladly give them to you.” So he spread out a cloak and each man threw his earrings onto it.
26 The weight of the gold earrings he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, besides the plates, jewels, purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and the necklaces on their camels’ necks.
27 Gideon made an ephod from them and stored it in his city of Ophrah. All Israel prostituted themselves to it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.
28 So Midian was subdued before the Israelites and never again raised its head. The land had rest forty years in Gideon’s days.
29 Then Jerubbaal son of Joash went and lived in his house.
30 Gideon had seventy sons, his descendants, for he had many wives.
31 His concubine in Shechem also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.
32 Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
33 But it came to pass, when Gideon died, that the children of Israel again prostituted themselves after the Baals, and chose Baal-berith as their god.
34 And the children of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from all their enemies round about;
35 nor did they show thanks to the house of Jerubbaal, that is, Gideon, according to all the good that he had done for Israel.
Judges Chapter 9
Reign of Abimelech
1 Abimelech son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his mother’s brothers and spoke to them and to all the family of his mother’s father, saying,
2 “ I beg you to say in the hearing of all the people of Shechem, ‘Which seems better to you: that seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, should rule over you, or that one man should rule over you? Remember that I am your own flesh and blood.’”
3 So his mother’s brothers spoke all these words through him in the hearing of all the people of Shechem, and their hearts inclined toward Abimelech, for they said, “He is our brother.”
4 And they gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-berith, with which Abimelech hired worthless and vagrant men, who followed him.
5 Then he went to his father’s house in Ophrah and killed his brothers, the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone. But Jotham, Jerubbaal’s youngest son, remained and hid himself.
6 Then all the men of Shechem and all the house of Millo gathered together and went and anointed Abimelech king by the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem.
7 When they told Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and lifting up his voice, he cried out to them, “Listen to me, men of Shechem, so that God may listen to you!”
8 The trees once went to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, “Reign over us. ”
9 But the olive tree answered, “Should I leave my oil, by which God and man are honored, to go and be great above the trees?”
10 Then the trees said to the fig tree, “You come and reign over us.”
11 Then the fig tree answered, “Should I give up my sweetness and my good fruit to become greater than the trees?”
12 The trees then said to the vine, “Come, reign over us.”
13 But the vine answered them, “Should I give up my wine, which gladdens God and man, to become greater than the trees?”
14 Then all the trees said to the bramble, “Come, reign over us.”
15 The bramble said to the trees, “If you truly choose me to be your king, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.”
16 Now therefore, if you have acted truthfully and uprightly in making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and if you have repaid him according to the work of his hands
17 (for my father fought for you and risked his life to deliver you from the hand of Midian,
18And you have risen up today against my father’s house, and have killed his sons, seventy men on one stone; and you have made Abimelech, the son of his servant girl, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother.
19 If you have acted truthfully and uprightly today toward Jerubbaal and his house, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him rejoice in you.
20 But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and consume the men of Shechem and the house of Millo; let fire come out from the men of Shechem and the house of Millo and consume Abimelech.
21 So Jotham escaped and fled, and went to Beer, and stayed there for fear of Abimelech his brother.
22 After Abimelech had ruled over Israel for three years,
23 God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem, and the men of Shechem rose up against Abimelech;
24 so that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, and their blood, might be on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers.
25 And the men of Shechem set ambush men on the tops of the hills, who robbed all who passed by them on the road; and Abimelech was told of this.
26 Then Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brothers and they crossed over to Shechem, and the men of Shechem put their trust in him.
27 And they went out into the fields and gathered the grapes of their vineyards, and they trod the grapes and made a feast; And they entered the temple of their gods, and ate and drank, and cursed Abimelech.
28 And Gaal the son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and what is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is not Zebul his assistant? Serve the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem; but why should we serve him?
29 If only this people were under my control, then I would drive Abimelech out at once, and say to Abimelech, ‘Increase your forces, and go out!’”
30 When Zebul the governor of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, he was filled with anger,
31 He secretly sent messengers to Abimelech, saying, “Look, Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem, and they are stirring up the city against you.
32 Now then, you and the people with you, get up by night and lie in ambush in the field.
33 Early in the morning, when the sun rises, attack the city. When he and the people with him come out against you, deal with them as the opportunity arises.”
34 Abimelech and all the people who were with him rose up by night and set an ambush against Shechem with four companies.
35 Gaal son of Ebed went out and stood at the entrance of the city gate, while Abimelech and all the people with him rose from their ambush.
36 When Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, “Look, a people is coming down from the tops of the mountains!” Zebul replied, “You see the shadows of the mountains as if they were men.”
37 Gaal spoke again and said, “Look, a people is coming down from the middle of the land, and a troop is coming by way of the oak of the diviners.”
38 Zebul answered him, “Where is your mouth now, saying, ‘Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?’ Isn’t this the people you despised? Go out now and fight them!”
39 So Gaal went out before the men of Shechem and fought against Abimelech.
40 But Abimelech pursued him, and Gaal fled before him. And many fell wounded as far as the entrance of the gate.
41 Abimelech remained in Aruma, and Zebul drove out Gaal and his brothers, so that they would not live in Shechem.
42 The next day the people went out into the field, and Abimelech was told,
43 so he took men and divided them into three companies and set ambushes in the field. When he looked, there were the people coming out of the city, and he rose up against them and attacked them.
44 For Abimelech and the company with him rushed forward with all their might and stood at the entrance of the city gate, while the other two companies attacked all those who were in the field and killed them.
45 So Abimelech fought against the city all that day, and he captured the city and killed the people who were in it. He razed the city and sowed it with salt.
46 When all those in the tower of Shechem heard this, they went into the stronghold of the temple of God Berith.
47 Abimelech was told that all the men of the tower of Shechem had gathered.
48 So Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him. Abimelech took an ax in his hand, cut a branch from the trees, lifted it up, and placed it on his shoulder. He said to the people who were with him, “What you have seen me do, hurry and do as I have done.”
49 So all the people also cut off their branches, and they followed Abimelech and placed them against the stronghold and set the stronghold on fire with them, so that all those in the tower of Shechem died, about a thousand men and women.
50 After that, Abimelech went to Thebez, besieged Thebez, and captured it.
51In the middle of that city was a fortified tower, to which all the men and women and all the leaders of the city withdrew; and shutting the doors behind them, they climbed onto the roof of the tower.
52 Then Abimelech came to the tower and, fighting against it, reached the entrance of the tower to set it on fire.
53 But a woman dropped a piece of a millstone on Abimelech’s head, and it crushed his skull.
54 Then he quickly called to his armor-bearer and said, “Draw your sword and kill me, so that it will not be said of me, ‘A woman killed him.’” So his armor-bearer thrust him through, and he died.
55 When the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they each went to his home.
56 Thus God repaid Abimelech for the evil he had done to his father by killing his seventy brothers.
57 And God brought all the evil of the men of Shechem back upon their own heads, and the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal came upon them.
Judges Chapter 10
Tola and Jair judge Israel
1 After Abimelech, Tola son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, arose to deliver Israel. He lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim.
2 He judged Israel for 23 years, then died and was buried in Shamir.
3 After him, Jair the Gileadite arose, who judged Israel for 22 years.
4 He had 30 sons who rode on 30 donkeys, and they had 30 cities, which are called the Cities of Jair to this day, in the land of Gilead.
5 Jair died and was buried in Kamon.
Jephthah frees Israel from the Ammonites
6 But the Israelites again did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, 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.
7 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He gave them into the hand of the Philistines and the Ammonites,
8 who oppressed and crushed the Israelites for eighteen years at that time, all the Israelites who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.
9 And the Ammonites crossed the Jordan to make war also against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim, and Israel was greatly afflicted.
10 Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord, saying, “We have sinned against You; because we have forsaken our God and served the Baals.
11 And the Lord answered the children of Israel, “Have you not been oppressed by Egypt, by the Amorites, by the Ammonites, by the Philistines,
12 by the Sidonians, by the Amalekites, and by Maon, and cried out to me, yet I did not deliver you from their hands?
13 But you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will deliver you no longer.”
14 Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your trouble.
15 The Israelites answered the Lord, “We have sinned. Do to us as you see fit; only deliver us this day.”
16 So they put away the foreign gods and served the Lord, and he was grieved because of the trouble of Israel.
17 Then the Ammonites assembled and camped in Gilead, and the Israelites also assembled and camped at Mizpah.
18 The leaders and the people of Gilead said to one another, “Who will begin the battle against the Ammonites? He will be commander over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”
Judges Chapter 11
1 Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior, the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father.
2 Gilead’s wife bore him sons, who, when they grew up, drove Jephthah out, saying to him, “You shall not inherit in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.”
3 So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Idle men gathered around him and went out with him.
4 In the course of time, the Ammonites made war against Israel.
5 When the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob.
6 They said to Jephthah, “Come, be our commander, so that we may fight against the Ammonites.”
7 Jephthah answered the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and drive me from my father’s house?” Why then have you come to me now, when you are in distress?
8 The elders of Gilead answered Jephthah, “For this very reason we are returning to you, so that you may go with us and fight against the Ammonites and be our leader over all who live in Gilead.”
9 Jephthah then said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me back to fight against the Ammonites, and the Lord delivers them into my hands, will I then be your leader?”
10 The elders of Gilead answered Jephthah, “The Lord be our witness, we will not do as you say.”
11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him their leader and commander. Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord at Mizpah.
12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, saying, “What have you to do with me, that you have come to me to wage war against my land?”
13 The king of the Ammonites answered Jephthah’s messengers, “Because Israel took my land when they came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and the Jordan; now therefore, return it in peace.”
14 So Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the Ammonites,
15 saying, “Thus says Jephthah: ‘Israel did not take land from Moab or land from the Ammonites.’
16 For when Israel came up out of Egypt, they traveled through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh.
17 Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,’ but the king of Edom would not listen to them. They also sent messengers to the king of Moab, but he would not let them; so Israel remained at Kadesh.
18Then, going through the wilderness, they circled the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and coming along the eastern side of the land of Moab, they camped on the other side of the Arnon, but did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon is Moabite territory.
19 And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon, saying, “Please let me pass through your land to my place.”
20 But Sihon did not trust Israel enough to let them pass through his territory. Instead, Sihon gathered all his army and camped at Jahaz and fought against Israel.
21 But the Lord, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them. And Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites who lived in that country.
22 They also took possession of all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness to the Jordan.
23 So what the Lord God of Israel dispossessed the Amorites of before his people Israel, do you intend to seize it?
24 What Chemosh your god gives you, will you not possess it? So, everything the Lord our God dispossessed before us, we will possess.
25 Are you now any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend with Israel or wage war against them?
26 For three hundred years Israel has lived in Heshbon and its villages, Aroer and its villages, and all the towns along the Arnon. Why have you not recaptured them in all that time?
27 So I have done nothing wrong against you, but you have wronged me by fighting against me. Let the Lord, who is Judge, judge today between the Israelites and the Ammonites.
28 But the king of the Ammonites would not listen to the words Jephthah sent him.
29 Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and from there he went to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he went to the Ammonites.
30 And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, saying, “If you will indeed deliver the Ammonites into my hand,
31 then whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer him up as a burnt offering.”
32 So Jephthah went out to fight against the Ammonites, and the Lord delivered them into his hand.
33 From Aroer to Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as the plain of the vineyards, he defeated them with a very great slaughter. So the Ammonites were subdued by the children of Israel.
34 Then Jephthah returned to Mizpah to his house; and behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and dancing. She was his only child; he had no son or daughter besides her.
35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Oh, my daughter! You have brought me to my knees and have become the cause of my grief, for I have made a vow to the Lord, and I cannot break it.”
36 She said to him, “My father, since you have made a vow to the Lord, do to me according to what you have vowed, for the Lord has avenged you on your enemies, the Ammonites.”
37 Then she said to her father, “Grant me this one request: Let me go for two months, that I may go down into the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions.”
38 He said, “Go.” So he let her go for two months. And she went with her companions and wept for her virginity in the mountains.
39 At the end of the two months she returned to her father, who did for her according to the vow he had made. And she had never known a man.
40 And it became a custom in Israel that the young women of Israel went year by year to mourn for the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for four days each year.
Judges Chapter 12
1 Then the men of Ephraim gathered together and crossed over to the north, and said to Jephthah, “Why did you go to make war against the Ammonites, and you did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house down with you!”
2 Jephthah answered them, “My people and I were engaged in a great conflict with the Ammonites, and I called you, but you did not defend me from their hand.
3 When I saw that you did not defend me, I risked my life and crossed over against the Ammonites, and the Lord delivered them into my hands. Why then have you come up against me today to fight with me?”
4 So Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim; and the Gilead defeated Ephraim, for they had said, “You Gileadites are fugitives from Ephraim, living in the midst of Ephraim and Manasseh.”
5 The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan from the Ephraimites. And it happened that when the Ephraimite fugitives said, “I want to cross over,” the Gileadites asked them, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he answered, “No, ”
6 then they said to him, “Now then, say Shibboleth.” And he said Shibboleth, for he could not pronounce it correctly. Then they seized him and slaughtered him at the fords of the Jordan. So 42,000 Ephraimites died at that time.
7 Jephthah judged Israel for six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.
Ibzan, Elon and Abdon, judges of Israel
8 After him, Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.
9 He had thirty sons and thirty daughters, whom he married abroad, and he took thirty daughters from abroad for his sons. He judged Israel for seven years.
10 Then Ibzan died and was buried in Bethlehem.
11 After him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel, and he judged Israel for ten years.
12 Then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.
13 After him, Abdon son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel.
14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys; and he judged Israel eight years.
15 Then Abdon son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of Amalek.
Judges Chapter 13
Birth of Samson
1 The Israelites again did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for forty years the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines.
2 Now there was a man from Zorah, of the tribe of Dan, whose name was Manoah. His wife was barren and had no children.
3 The angel of the Lord appeared to this woman and said to her, “You are barren and have no children, but you will conceive and give birth to a son.
4 Now therefore, drink no wine or strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean.
5 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall touch his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from birth, and he will begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”
6 The woman went and told her husband, saying, “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of an angel of God, very awesome; And I did not ask him where he was from or who he was, nor did he tell me his name.
7 Then he said to me, “Behold, you will conceive and bear a son; therefore, now drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for this child shall be a Nazirite to God from his birth until the day of his death.”
8 Then Manoah prayed to the Lord, and said, “O Lord, I pray that the man of God whom you sent may come to us again and teach us what we should do for the child who will be born.”
9 And God heard the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again to the woman, while she was in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her.
10 And the woman ran quickly to tell her husband, saying to him, “Look, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me again.”
11 So Manoah arose and followed his wife; And he came to the man and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to the woman?” And he said, “I am.”
12 Then Manoah said, “When your words come to pass, what shall be the manner of life of the child, and what shall we do for him?”
13 And the angel of the Lord answered Manoah, “The woman shall be careful to do all that I have told her.”
14 He shall take nothing that comes from the vine; he shall not drink wine or cider, and he shall not eat anything unclean; he shall keep all that I have commanded him.
15 Then Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain you, and we will prepare a young goat for you.”
16 But the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Even if you detain me, I will not eat your food; but if you wish to make a burnt offering, offer it to the Lord.” (Manoah did not know that the man was the angel of the Lord.)
17 Then Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so that when your word comes true we may honor you?”
18 And the angel of the Lord answered, “Why do you ask my name, which is wonderful?”
19 Then Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the Lord. And the angel performed a miracle before the eyes of Manoah and his wife.
20 For as the flame went up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar before the eyes of Manoah and his wife, and they fell prostrate on the ground.
21 And the angel of the Lord did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah knew that it was the angel of the Lord.
22 And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.”
23 But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from our hands, nor would he have shown us all these things, nor would he have told us this now.”
24 And the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. And the child grew, and the Lord blessed him.
25 And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in the camps of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
Judges Chapter 14
Samson and the Philistine woman of Timnah
1 Samson went down to Timnah, and there he saw a woman of the daughters of the Philistines.
2 So he went up and told his father and mother, “I have seen a woman of the daughters of the Philistines in Timnah; please get her for me as my wife.”
3 But his father and mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” Samson said to his father, “Get her for me as my wife, for she pleases me.”
4 But his father and mother did not know that this was from the Lord, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines; for at that time the Philistines ruled over Israel.
5 So Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah. And when they came to the vineyards of Timnah, behold, a young lion came roaring toward him.
6 Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson, and he tore the lion apart as one tears apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand; and he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.
7 So he went down and spoke to the woman, and she pleased him.
8 After some days he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion; and behold, on the carcass of the lion were a swarm of bees and a honeycomb.
9 So he took it in his hands and ate it as he went along the road; and when he came to his father and his mother, he gave them some also to eat; but he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the carcass of the lion.
10 So his father came to where the woman was, and Samson made a feast there, for that was the custom of young men.
11 And it happened that when they saw him, they took thirty companions to be with him.
12 Samson said to them, “I will now pose a riddle to you. If you can tell me and solve it within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty festive garments.
13 But if you cannot tell me, then you shall give me the thirty linen garments and the festive garments.” They replied, “Give us your riddle, and we will hear it.”
14 He said to them, “Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet.” And they could not solve the riddle for three days.
15 On the seventh day they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband to tell us this riddle, or we will burn you and your father’s house down. Have you invited us here to plunder us?”
16 Then Samson’s wife wept before him and said, “You only hate me and do not love me, for you have not told me the riddle you posed to my people.” He replied, “I have not told it to my father or mother, so why should I tell it to you?”
17 And she wept before him for the seven days of their feasting. But on the seventh day he told her the riddle, for she kept pressing him, and she told it to the people of her town.
18 On the seventh day, before the sun went down, the men of the city said to him, “What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?” He answered them, “If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle.”
19 Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of their men. He took their plunder and gave the changes of garments to those who had explained the riddle. Then he returned to his father’s house in a rage.
20 Samson’s wife was given to his companion, whom he had treated as his friend.
Judges Chapter 15
1 Some time later, during the wheat harvest, Samson went to his wife with a young goat, saying, “Let me go up to my wife in the bedroom.” But her father would not let him in.
2 Her father said, “I was convinced that you hated her, so I gave her to your companion. But isn’t her younger sister more beautiful than she? Take her instead.”
3 Samson said to him, “I will be innocent this time of the Philistines, if I do them harm.”
4 So Samson went and caught three hundred foxes. He took torches, tied tail to tail, and put a torch between each pair of tails.
5 Then he lit the torches and released the foxes into the Philistine fields, burning up the standing grain, the vineyards, and the olive groves.
6 The Philistines said, “Who did this?” And they answered, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnatete, because he took his wife and gave her to his companion.” So the Philistines came and burned her and her father to death.
7 Then Samson said to them, “Since you have done this, I swear that I will take vengeance on you, and after that I will cease. ”
8 And he struck them hip and thigh with a great slaughter; and he went down and dwelt in the cave of the rock of Etam.
Samson defeats the Philistines at Lehi
9 Then the Philistines went up and camped in Judah, and spread out across Lehi.
10 The men of Judah said to them, “Why have you come up against us?” They answered, “We have come up to capture Samson, to do to him as he has done to us.”
11 Three thousand men of Judah came to the cave in the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Don’t you know that the Philistines rule over us? Why have you done this to us?” He answered them, “I have done to them as they did to me.”
12 They said to him, “We have come to capture you and hand you over to the Philistines.” Samson answered them, “Swear to me that you will not kill me.”
13 They answered him, “No, we will only capture you and hand you over to them; we will not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock.
14 And when he came to Lehi, the Philistines came out shouting to meet him; but the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and the cords that were on his arms became like flax burned with fire, and the bonds fell off his hands.
15 Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he reached out and took it, and with it he killed a thousand men.
16 Then Samson said, “With the jawbone of a donkey, one heap, two heaps; with the jawbone of a donkey I have killed a thousand men.”
17 When he had finished speaking, he threw the jawbone out of his hand and called that place Ramath-lehi.
18 Then he became very thirsty and cried out to the Lord, “You have given this great deliverance by the hand of your servant; and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”
19 Then God opened up the basin that is in Lehi, and water came out of it. He drank, and his spirit revived, and he was refreshed. Therefore he called the name of that place En-hakore, which is in Lehi to this day.
20 He judged Israel in the days of the Philistines for twenty years.
Judges Chapter 16
Samson in Gaza
1 Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute, and he went in to her.
2 And it was told the men of Gaza, “Samson has come here.” So they surrounded him and lay in wait all that night at the gate of the city; and they were silent all that night, saying, “Until morning light; then we will kill him.”
3 But Samson slept until midnight; and at midnight he got up, and took hold of the city gates with their two posts and their bar, and put them on his shoulders, and went and carried them to the top of the hill that is east of Hebron.
Samson and Delilah
4 After this, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
5 The rulers of the Philistines came to her and said, “Entice him and find out the secret of his great strength, and how we can overpower him so we can tie him up and subdue him. Each of us will give you 1,100 shekels of silver.”
6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me the secret of your great strength, and how you can be tied up and subdued.”
7 Samson replied, “If I am tied up with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I will become weak and be like any other man.”
8 So the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him up with them.
9 She had men lying in wait in the inner room. Then she said to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” And he broke the ropes as a cord of tow breaks when it touches fire; and the secret of his strength was not discovered.
10 Then Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have deceived me and told me lies; tell me now, I beg you, how you can be bound.”
11 And he said to her, “If they bind me tightly with new ropes that have never been used, I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”
12 So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them, and said to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” And the spies were in the upper room. But he broke them off his arms as easily as a thread.
13 Then Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have deceived me and dealt with me with lies. Tell me now, I beg you, how you can be bound.” Then he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my hair with the loom and fasten them with the pin.”
14 So she fastened them with the pin and said to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” But he awoke from his sleep and pulled the pin from the loom with the loom still in it.
15 Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have deceived me these three times, and you have not yet told me the secret of your great strength.”
16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, that his soul was vexed to death.
17 So he told her all his heart and said, “No razor has ever been upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become weak and be like any other man.”
18 When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the Philistine rulers, saying, “Come down this time, for he has told me everything.” So the Philistine rulers came to her, bringing the money with them.
19 And she made him sleep on her knees, and called a man, who shaved off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, for his strength departed from him.
20 And he said to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” And when he awoke from his sleep, he 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.
21 But the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with chains, and made him grind grain in the prison.
22 And the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.
Death of Samson
23 Then the rulers of the Philistines gathered together to offer a sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate. They said, “Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands.”
24 When the people saw this, they praised their god, saying, “Our god has delivered our enemy into our hands, the destroyer of our land, who killed many of us.”
25 When they were in a state of joy, they said, “Bring Samson to entertain us.” So they called Samson from the prison, and he entertained them. They set him between the pillars.
26 Then Samson said to the young man who led him by the hand, “Help me to the pillars on which the temple rests, so that I may lean against them.”
27 The temple was full of men and women, and all the rulers of the Philistines were there. And in the upper room there were about three thousand men and women, watching Samson being mocked.
28 Then Samson cried out to the Lord, and said, “O Lord God, remember me, and strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes.”
29 Then Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house stood, and put all his weight on them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other.
30 And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he bent down with all his might, and the house fell on the rulers and on all the people who were in it. So those he killed when he died were more than those he had killed during his life.
31 Then his brothers and all his father’s house went down and took him and carried him out and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. And he judged Israel for twenty years.
Judges Chapter 17
The images and the priest of Micah
1 There was a man from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah.
2 He said to his mother, “The 1,100 shekels of silver that were stolen from you, about which you cursed and which you told me about—here is the money with me; I took it.” Then his mother said, “Blessed are you of the Lord, my son.”
3 So he returned the 1,100 shekels of silver to his mother. His mother said, “I have indeed dedicated the money to the Lord for my son, to make a carved image and a cast image; now I am returning it to you.”
4 But he returned the money to his mother, and his mother took 200 shekels of silver and gave them to the silversmith, who made from them a carved image and a cast image, which were placed in Micah’s house.
5 This man Micah had a temple, and he made an ephod and household idols, and he consecrated one of his sons to be his priest.
6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in their own eyes.
7 Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the tribe of Judah, a Levite, who was living there as a foreigner.
8 He left Bethlehem in Judah to go and live wherever he could find a place. As he traveled, he came to the hill country of Ephraim and visited Micah.
9 Micah asked him, “Where are you from?” The Levite replied, “I am from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to live wherever I can find a place.”
10 Micah said to him, “Stay with me, and you will be my father and priest. I will give you ten shekels of silver a year, clothing, and food.” So the Levite stayed.
11 So the Levite was pleased to live with the man, and he became like one of his sons to him.
12 So Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man served as his priest, and he remained in Micah’s house.
13 And Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because I have a Levite as my priest.”
Judges Chapter 18
Micah and the Men of Dan
1 In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of Dan was seeking a possession for themselves, a place to live, for until then they had not possessed any of the tribes of Israel.
2 So the Danites sent five valiant men from their tribe, from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out and explore the land. They told them, “Go and explore the land.” So they came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and stayed there.
3 When they were near the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite. And when they came to him, they said, “Who brought you here? And what are you doing here? And what do you have here?”
4 He answered them, “This is what Micah did for me, and he took me to be his priest.”
5 And they said to him, “Now therefore, inquire of God, that we may know whether this journey of ours will be successful.”
6 And the priest answered them, “Go in peace; Your way in which you walk is before the Lord.
7 So the five men left and came to Laish. They saw that the people who lived there were at ease, idle, and unconcerned, like the people of Sidon. No one in that region was disturbing them in any way, nor was there anyone who possessed the kingdom. They were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone.
8 So they returned to their brothers in Zorah and Eshtaol. Their brothers asked them, “What is it?” They replied,
9 “Come up, let us go up against them. We have explored the land and have seen that it is very good. Will you do nothing? Do not be lazy; go up and take possession of the land.
10 When you go, you will come to a people who are at ease and to a very spacious land, for God has given it into your hands, a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the land.”
11 Then six hundred men from the family of Dan, armed with weapons of war, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol.
12 They went and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah, so that place was called the Camp of Dan to this day; it is west of Kiriath-jearim.
13 From there they went on to the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah.
14 Now the five men who had gone to spy out the land of Laish said to their brothers, “Do you not know that in these houses there are an ephod and household idols, a carved image and a cast image? Now therefore, consider what you must do.”
15 When they arrived there, they went to the house of the young Levite, to the house of Micah, and asked him how he was.
16And the six hundred men, who were of the sons of Dan, were armed with their weapons of war at the entrance of the gate.
17 And the five men who had gone to spy out the land went up and entered there and took the carved image, the ephod, the teraphim, and the cast image, while the priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war.
18 So they entered the house of Micah and took the carved image, the ephod, the teraphim, and the cast image. And the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”
19 And they answered him, “Be quiet, put your hand over your mouth, and come with us, so that you may be our father and priest. Is it better for you to be a priest in the house of one man than in the house of a tribe and clan of Israel?”
20 And the heart of the priest rejoiced, and he took the ephod and the teraphim and the image, and went out in the midst of the people.
21 So they turned and set out, putting the children, the livestock, and the baggage ahead of them.
22 When they had gone far from Micah’s house, the men who lived in the houses near Micah’s house gathered together and pursued the Danites.
23 They called out to the Danites, and the Danites turned around and said to Micah, “What is it that you have gathered a force?”
24 He answered, “You have taken my gods that I made and the priest, and you are going away. What do I have left? Why then do you ask me, ‘What is it?’”
25 The Danites said to him, “Do not shout after us, or the angry men will attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.”
26 So the Danites continued on their way, and Micah, seeing that they were stronger than he, turned back and returned to his house.
27 So they, carrying the things Micah had made, along with the priest he had, came to Laish, to a people who were at ease and unsuspecting; and they struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city.
28 There was no one to defend them, because they were far from Sidon and had no dealings with anyone. The city was in the valley near Beth-rehob. Then they rebuilt the city and lived in it.
29 They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, the son of Israel, though formerly the city was called Laish.
30 The Danites set up for themselves the carved image; and Jonathan son of Gershon, the son of Moses, he and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.
31 So they kept among them the carved image that Micah had made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.
Judges Chapter 19
Judges Chapter 19
1 In those days, when there was no king in Israel, there was a Levite living as a foreigner in the remotest part of the hill country of Ephraim. He had taken a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
2 But his concubine was unfaithful to him and went away from him to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah, where she stayed for four months.
3 Then her husband got up and went after her, to speak kindly to her and entice her back. He took with him a servant and a pair of donkeys, and she brought him into her father’s house.
4 When the young woman’s father saw him, he went out to meet him joyfully. But her father-in-law, the young woman’s father, detained him, and he stayed in his house for three days, eating and drinking and lodging there.
5 On the fourth day, when they got up early in the morning, the Levite also got up to leave. 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.”
6 So the two of them sat down together and ate and drank. Then the young woman’s father said to the man, “Please stay here tonight, and your heart will be glad.”
7 So the man got up to leave, but his father-in-law urged him, and he stayed there again for the night.
8 On the fifth day, when he got up early to leave, the young woman’s father said to him, “Be strong and wait until the day is over.” So they both ate together.
9 Then the man got up to leave, he and his concubine and his servant. But his father-in-law, the young woman’s father, said to him, “Look, the day is almost over. Please stay here tonight. The day is nearly over; sleep here, and your heart will be glad. Tomorrow you can get up early and go home.”
10 But the man did not want to spend the night there, so he got up and left, and went as far as Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), with his two saddled donkeys and his concubine.
11 When they were near Jebus, the day was late in the day, and the servant said to his master, “Come now, let us go to this city of the Jebusites and spend the night there.”
12 But his master replied, “We will not go to any foreign city, except one of the Israelites; we will go on to Gibeah.”
13 Then he said to his servant, “Come, let us go on to one of those places and spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.”
14 So they went on, and the sun set over them near Gibeah, which belonged to Benjamin.
15 They turned aside to go into Gibeah and spend the night there. And going in, they sat down in the town square, because there was no one who welcomed them into their homes for the night.
16And behold, an old man was coming from his work in the field in the evening, who was from the hill country of Ephraim, and was living as a stranger in Gibeah; but the inhabitants of that place were children of Benjamin.
17 And the old man lifted up his eyes and saw the traveler in the town square, and said to him, “Where are you going, and where have you come from?”
18 And he answered, “We passed from Bethlehem of Judah to the remotest part of the hill country of Ephraim, where I am from; and I had gone to Bethlehem of Judah, but now I am going to the house of the Lord, and there is no one to receive me into their house.
19 We have straw and fodder for our donkeys, and we also have bread and wine for myself and for your servant, and for the man who is with your servant; we lack nothing.
20 And the old man said, “Peace be with you; let all your needs be my responsibility, provided you do not spend the night in the open square.”
21 So he brought them into his house and gave food to their donkeys; and they washed their feet, and ate and drank.
22 But while they were enjoying themselves, behold, the men of that city, wicked men, surrounded the house, pounding on the door; and they spoke to the old man, the owner of the house, saying, “Bring out the man who has come into your house, that we may know him.”
23 And the owner of the house went out to them and said, “No, my brothers, I beg you, do not do this wicked thing; since this man has come into my house, do not do this evil thing.
24 Behold, my virgin daughter, and his concubine; I will bring them out to you now; Humiliate them and do to them as you please, but do not do such a vile thing to this man.
25 But those men would not listen to him; so the man took his concubine and brought her out; and they went in to her and abused her all night until morning, and left her at daybreak.
26 And when daybreak came, the woman came and lay down before the door of the man’s house where her master was, until it was day.
27 And when morning came, her master rose and opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way; and behold, his concubine was lying before the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold.
28 He said to her, “Rise, and let us go”; but she did not answer. Then the man lifted her up, and putting her on his donkey, he arose and went to his place.
29 When he got home, he took a knife, seized his concubine, cut her into twelve pieces, and sent them throughout the territory of Israel.
30 Everyone who saw it said, “Nothing like this has ever been done or seen, not since the Israelites came up out of Egypt until this day. Consider this, think it over, and speak out.”
Judges Chapter 20
The war against Benjamin
1 Then all the Israelites came out, and the congregation assembled as one, from Dan to Beersheba and the land of Gilead, to the Lord at Mizpah.
2 The leaders of all the people, from all the tribes of Israel, were present at the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand foot soldiers who drew swords.
3 Now the Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah. So the Israelites said, “Tell us how this wicked thing happened.”
4 The Levite, the husband of the dead woman, answered and said, “I went to Gibeah of Benjamin with my concubine to spend the night there.
5 But the men of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded my house at night, intending to kill me. They also abused my concubine so much that she died.”
6 So I took my concubine, cut her into pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel’s possession, because they have committed wickedness and crime in Israel.
7 Now, all of you are Israelites; give your opinion and counsel here.
8 Then all the people rose up as one man and said, “None of us will go to his tent, nor will any of us return to his house.
9 But this is what we will do to Gibeah: We will go up against it by lot.
10 We will take ten men from every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and one hundred from every thousand, and one thousand from every ten thousand, to carry provisions for the people, so that when they go to Gibeah of Benjamin, they may do to it according to all the abominations it has committed in Israel.”
11 So all the men of Israel gathered together against the city, united as one man.
12 The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What evil is this that has been done among you?
13 Now therefore, hand over the wicked men who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and remove the evil from Israel.” But the Benjamites would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the children of Israel.
14 Instead, the Benjamites gathered from the cities of Gibeah to go out to fight against the children of Israel.
15 At that time the Benjamites from the cities were numbered 26,000 men who drew the sword, besides those who lived in Gibeah, who numbered 700 chosen men.
16 Of all these people, 700 chosen men were left-handed; every one of them could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.
17 And the men of Israel, apart from Benjamin, were numbered: four hundred thousand men who drew the sword, all these men of war.
18Then the Israelites arose and went up to the house of God and inquired of God, saying, “Who among us shall go up first to fight against the Benjamites?” And the Lord answered, “Judah shall go up first.”
19 So the Israelites arose early in the morning against Gibeah.
20 And the Israelites went out to fight against Benjamin, and the men of Israel drew up their battle lines against them at Gibeah.
21 And the Benjamites came out of Gibeah and struck down twenty-two thousand men of the Israelites that day.
22 But the people rallied, and the men of Israel drew up their battle lines again in the place where they had drawn up their lines the first day.
23 For the Israelites went up and wept before the Lord until evening, and inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall we again fight against the Benjamites, our brothers?” And the Lord answered them, “Go up against them.”
24 Therefore the children of Israel approached against the children of Benjamin on the second day.
25 On the second day, Benjamin went out from Gibeah against them and struck down another eighteen thousand Israelites, all of whom were armed with swords.
26 Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went up to the house of God. They wept and sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening, offering burnt offerings and peace offerings before him.
27 The Israelites inquired of the Lord (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,
28 and Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministered before it in those days), “Shall we again go out against our brothers, the Benjamites, to fight, or shall we refrain?” The Lord said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them up to you.”
29 So Israel set ambushes all around Gibeah.
30 On the third day, the Israelites went up against the Benjamites and drew up their battle lines before Gibeah, as they had done before.
31 The Benjamites marched out from the city to meet the people and began to strike down some of them, killing them as they had done before along the roads, one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah in the open country. They killed about thirty men of Israel.
32 The Benjamites said, “They are defeated before us, as before.” But the Israelites said, “We will flee and draw them away from the city to the roads.”
33 Then all the Israelites arose from their places and drew up their battle lines at Baal-tamar, and the Israelite ambushes also came out from their place in the plain of Gibeah.
34 Ten thousand chosen men from all Israel came against Gibeah, and the battle raged fiercely. But they did not know that disaster was already approaching them.
35 And the Lord defeated Benjamin before Israel; and the children of Israel killed twenty-five thousand one hundred men of Benjamin that day, all of whom drew the sword.
36 And the children of Benjamin saw that they were defeated; and the children of Israel gave way to Benjamin, for they trusted in the ambushes they had set behind Gibeah.
37 And the men of the ambushes quickly attacked Gibeah, and advanced and struck down all the city with the edge of the sword.
38 Now the agreed signal between the men of Israel and the ambushes was that they should make a great cloud of smoke rise from the city.
39 So when the men of Israel had withdrawn from the battle, the men of Benjamin began to strike down and kill the men of Israel, about thirty men, and they said, “Surely they have fallen before us, as in the first battle.”
40 But when the column of smoke began to rise from the city, the Benjamites looked back; and behold, the smoke of the city rose to heaven.
41 Then the men of Israel turned back, and the Benjamites were filled with fear, for they saw that disaster had come upon them.
42 So they turned their backs on Israel toward the way of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them, and those who came out of the cities destroyed them in their midst.
43 Thus they surrounded the Benjamites, and harassed and trampled them from Menuha as far as opposite Gibeah toward the sunrise.
44 And eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell, all of them fighting men.
45Then they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and five thousand of them were killed on the roads. They pursued them as far as Gidom and killed two thousand of them.
46 All the Benjamites who died that day were twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword, all of them fighting men.
47 But six hundred men turned and fled into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, where they remained for four months.
48 Then the men of Israel returned against the Benjamites and struck them down with the edge of the sword, both the men of every city and the livestock and everything else they found. They also set fire to all the cities they found.
Judges Chapter 21
Women for the Benjaminites
1 The men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah, saying, “None of us will give his daughter to the Benjamites as a wife.”
2 So the people came to the house of God and remained there until evening before God. They lifted up their voices and wept bitterly, saying,
3 “O Lord, God of Israel, why has this happened to Israel, that a tribe is missing from Israel today?”
4 The next day the people rose early and built an altar there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
5 Then the Israelites said, “Who among all the tribes of Israel did not come up to the assembly before the Lord?” For a solemn oath had been sworn against anyone who did not come up to the Lord at Mizpah, saying, “He shall be put to death.”
6 The Israelites repented because of their brother Benjamin and said, “A tribe is cut off from Israel today.
7 What shall we do about wives for those who are left?” We have sworn by the Lord that we will not give our daughters to them as wives.
8 And they said, “Is there anyone from the tribes of Israel who has not come up to the Lord at Mizpah?” And they found that no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp, to the assembly.
9 For the people were counted, and there was not a single man there from the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead.
10 So the congregation sent twelve thousand of their mighty warriors there, and they commanded them, saying, “Go and strike down the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, both the women and the children.
11 But you shall do this: You shall kill every male and every woman who has had sexual relations with a man.”
12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young women who had not had sexual relations with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.
13 Then the whole congregation sent word to the Benjamites at the rock of Rimmon and called them in peace.
14 So the Benjamites returned, and they were given wives by the women they had spared from Jabesh-gilead, but these were not enough for them.
15 The people felt compassion for Benjamin, because the Lord had made a breach among the tribes of Israel.
16 Then the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do about wives for those who are left, since the women of Benjamin are dead?”
17 And they said, “Let Benjamin have an inheritance among those who have escaped, so that no tribe of Israel shall be destroyed.”
18 But we cannot give them wives from our daughters, because the Israelites have sworn, saying, “Cursed is anyone who gives a wife to the Benjamites.”
19 Now they said, “Look, every year there is a solemn feast of the Lord at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, east of the road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.”
20 So they commanded the Benjamites, saying, “Go and lie in wait in the vineyards,
21 and watch. When you see the daughters of Shiloh coming out to dance in the circles, come out of the vineyards and each of you take a wife for yourself from among the daughters of Shiloh and go to the land of Benjamin.
22 And if their fathers or their brothers come to us to demand them, we will say to them, ‘Please grant us your wives, for we did not take enough wives for all of us in the war; Besides, you were not the ones who gave them the women, so that you should now be blamed.
23 And the Benjamites did so; they took wives according to their number, stealing them from among the dancers; and they went and returned to their inheritance, and rebuilt the cities, and lived in them.
24 Then the Israelites also departed from there, each to his tribe and his family, each going to his own inheritance.
25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in their own eyes.