Judges


1:1   After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the LORD, "Who will be
the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?" 
1:2   The LORD answered, "Judah is to go; I have given the land into their
hands." 
1:3   Then the men of Judah said to the Simeonites their brothers, "Come up
with us into the territory allotted to us, to fight against the Canaanites.
We in turn will go with you into yours." So the Simeonites went with them. 
1:4   When Judah attacked, the LORD gave the Canaanites and Perizzites into
their hands and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek. 
1:5  It was there that they found Adoni-Bezek and fought against him,
putting to rout the Canaanites and Perizzites. 
1:6  Adoni-Bezek fled, but they chased him and caught him, and cut off his
thumbs and big toes. 
1:7   Then Adoni-Bezek said, "Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes
cut off have picked up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me back for
what I did to them." They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there. 
1:8   The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem also and took it. They put the
city to the sword and set it on fire. 
1:9   After that, the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites
living in the hill country, the Negev and the western foothills. 
1:10  They advanced against the Canaanites living in Hebron (formerly called
Kiriath Arba) and defeated Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai. 
1:11   From there they advanced against the people living in Debir (formerly
called Kiriath Sepher). 
1:12  And Caleb said, "I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to the man
who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher." 
1:13  Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it; so Caleb gave
his daughter Acsah to him in marriage. 
1:14   One day when she came to Othniel, she urged him {[14] Hebrew;
Septuagint and Vulgate <Othniel, he urged her>} to ask her father for a
field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, "What can I do for
you?" 
1:15   She replied, "Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in
the Negev, give me also springs of water." Then Caleb gave her the upper and
lower springs. 
1:16   The descendants of Moses' father-in-law, the Kenite, went up from the
City of Palms {[16] That is, Jericho} with the men of Judah to live among
the people of the Desert of Judah in the Negev near Arad. 
1:17   Then the men of Judah went with the Simeonites their brothers and
attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and they totally destroyed {[17]
The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons
to the LORD, often by totally destroying them.} the city. Therefore it was
called Hormah. {[17] <Hormah> means <destruction.>} 
1:18  The men of Judah also took {[18] Hebrew; Septuagint <Judah did not
take>} Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron--each city with its territory. 
1:19   The LORD was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill
country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because
they had iron chariots. 
1:20  As Moses had promised, Hebron was given to Caleb, who drove from it
the three sons of Anak. 
1:21  The Benjamites, however, failed to dislodge the Jebusites, who were
living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the
Benjamites. 
1:22   Now the house of Joseph attacked Bethel, and the LORD was with them. 
1:23  When they sent men to spy out Bethel (formerly called Luz), 
1:24  the spies saw a man coming out of the city and they said to him, "Show
us how to get into the city and we will see that you are treated well." 
1:25  So he showed them, and they put the city to the sword but spared the
man and his whole family. 
1:26  He then went to the land of the Hittites, where he built a city and
called it Luz, which is its name to this day. 
1:27   But Manasseh did not drive out the people of Beth Shan or Taanach or
Dor or Ibleam or Megiddo and their surrounding settlements, for the
Canaanites were determined to live in that land. 
1:28  When Israel became strong, they pressed the Canaanites into forced
labor but never drove them out completely. 
1:29  Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, but the
Canaanites continued to live there among them. 
1:30  Neither did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites living in Kitron or
Nahalol, who remained among them; but they did subject them to forced labor.

1:31  Nor did Asher drive out those living in Acco or Sidon or Ahlab or
Aczib or Helbah or Aphek or Rehob, 
1:32  and because of this the people of Asher lived among the Canaanite
inhabitants of the land. 
1:33  Neither did Naphtali drive out those living in Beth Shemesh or Beth
Anath; but the Naphtalites too lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the
land, and those living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath became forced laborers
for them. 
1:34  The Amorites confined the Danites to the hill country, not allowing
them to come down into the plain. 
1:35  And the Amorites were determined also to hold out in Mount Heres,
Aijalon and Shaalbim, but when the power of the house of Joseph increased,
they too were pressed into forced labor. 
1:36  The boundary of the Amorites was from Scorpion {[36] Hebrew
<Akrabbim>} Pass to Sela and beyond. 

2:1   The angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, "I
brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give
to your forefathers. I said, `I will never break my covenant with you, 
2:2  and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you
shall break down their altars.' Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done
this? 
2:3  Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you;
they will be [thorns] in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you." 
2:4   When the angel of the LORD had spoken these things to all the
Israelites, the people wept aloud, 
2:5  and they called that place Bokim. {[5] <Bokim> means <weepers.>} There
they offered sacrifices to the LORD. 
2:6   After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take
possession of the land, each to his own inheritance. 
2:7  The people served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the
elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the LORD had
done for Israel. 
2:8   Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of a
hundred and ten. 
2:9  And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres
{[9] Also known as <Timnath Serah> (see Joshua 19:50 and 24:30)} in the hill
country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. 
2:10   After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers,
another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done
for Israel. 
2:11  Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the
Baals. 
2:12  They forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them
out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around
them. They provoked the LORD to anger 
2:13  because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. 
2:14  In his anger against Israel the LORD handed them over to raiders who
plundered them. He sold them to their enemies all around, whom they were no
longer able to resist. 
2:15  Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the LORD was against
them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great
distress. 
2:16   Then the LORD raised up judges, {[16] Or <leaders>; similarly in
verses 17-19} who saved them out of the hands of these raiders. 
2:17  Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves
to other gods and worshiped them. Unlike their fathers, they quickly turned
from the way in which their fathers had walked, the way of obedience to the
LORD's commands. 
2:18  Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge
and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived;
for the LORD had compassion on them as they groaned under those who
oppressed and afflicted them. 
2:19  But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt
than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping
them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways. 
2:20   Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and said, "Because this
nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and
has not listened to me, 
2:21  I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left
when he died. 
2:22  I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way
of the LORD and walk in it as their forefathers did." 
2:23  The LORD had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them
out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua. 

3:1   These are the nations the LORD left to test all those Israelites who
had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan 
3:2  (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites
who had not had previous battle experience): 
3:3  the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians,
and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to
Lebo {[3] Or <to the entrance to>} Hamath. 
3:4  They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey
the LORD's commands, which he had given their forefathers through Moses. 
3:5   The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites,
Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 
3:6  They took their daughters in marriage and gave their own daughters to
their sons, and served their gods. 
3:7   The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD; they forgot the LORD
their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs. 
3:8  The anger of the LORD burned against Israel so that he sold them into
the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram Naharaim, {[8] That is,
Northwest Mesopotamia} to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years. 
3:9  But when they cried out to the LORD, he raised up for them a deliverer,
Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, who saved them. 
3:10  The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, so that he became Israel's judge
{[10] Or <leader>} and went to war. The LORD gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of
Aram into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him. 
3:11  So the land had peace for forty years, until Othniel son of Kenaz
died. 
3:12   Once again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and
because they did this evil the LORD gave Eglon king of Moab power over
Israel. 
3:13  Getting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join him, Eglon came and
attacked Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms. {[13] That
is, Jericho} 
3:14  The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years. 
3:15   Again the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and he gave them a
deliverer--Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The
Israelites sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab. 
3:16  Now Ehud had made a double-edged sword about a foot and a half {[16]
Hebrew <a cubit> (about 0.5 meter)} long, which he strapped to his right
thigh under his clothing. 
3:17  He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very fat
man. 
3:18  After Ehud had presented the tribute, he sent on their way the men who
had carried it. 
3:19  At the idols {[19] Or <the stone quarries>; also in verse 26} near
Gilgal he himself turned back and said, "I have a secret message for you, O
king."  The king said, "Quiet!" And all his attendants left him. 
3:20   Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room
of his summer palace {[20] The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is
uncertain.} and said, "I have a message from God for you." As the king rose
from his seat, 
3:21  Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh
and plunged it into the king's belly. 
3:22  Even the handle sank in after the blade, which came out his back. Ehud
did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it. 
3:23  Then Ehud went out to the porch {[23] The meaning of the Hebrew for
this word is uncertain.}; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and
locked them. 
3:24   After he had gone, the servants came and found the doors of the upper
room locked. They said, "He must be relieving himself in the inner room of
the house." 
3:25  They waited to the point of embarrassment, but when he did not open
the doors of the room, they took a key and unlocked them. There they saw
their lord fallen to the floor, dead. 
3:26   While they waited, Ehud got away. He passed by the idols and escaped
to Seirah. 
3:27  When he arrived there, he blew a trumpet in the hill country of
Ephraim, and the Israelites went down with him from the hills, with him
leading them. 
3:28   "Follow me," he ordered, "for the LORD has given Moab, your enemy,
into your hands." So they followed him down and, taking possession of the
fords of the Jordan that led to Moab, they allowed no one to cross over. 
3:29  At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all
vigorous and strong; not a man escaped. 
3:30  That day Moab was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace for
eighty years. 
3:31   After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred
Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel. 

4:1   After Ehud died, the Israelites once again did evil in the eyes of the
LORD. 
4:2  So the LORD sold them into the hands of Jabin, a king of Canaan, who
reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in
Harosheth Haggoyim. 
4:3  Because he had nine hundred iron chariots and had cruelly oppressed the
Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the LORD for help. 
4:4   Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading {[4]
Traditionally <judging>} Israel at that time. 
4:5  She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in
the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came to her to have their
disputes decided. 
4:6  She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to
him, "The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you: `Go, take with you ten
thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead the way to Mount Tabor. 
4:7  I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots
and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.'" 
4:8   Barak said to her, "If you go with me, I will go; but if you don't go
with me, I won't go." 
4:9   "Very well," Deborah said, "I will go with you. But because of the way
you are going about this, {[9] Or <But on the expedition you are
undertaking>} the honor will not be yours, for the LORD will hand Sisera
over to a woman." So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh, 
4:10  where he summoned Zebulun and Naphtali. Ten thousand men followed him,
and Deborah also went with him. 
4:11   Now Heber the Kenite had left the other Kenites, the descendants of
Hobab, Moses' brother-in-law, {[11] Or <father-in-law>} and pitched his tent
by the great tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh. 
4:12   When they told Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount
Tabor, 
4:13  Sisera gathered together his nine hundred iron chariots and all the
men with him, from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon River. 
4:14   Then Deborah said to Barak, "Go! This is the day the LORD has given
Sisera into your hands. Has not the LORD gone ahead of you?" So Barak went
down Mount Tabor, followed by ten thousand men. 
4:15  At Barak's advance, the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and
army by the sword, and Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot. 
4:16  But Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim.
All the troops of Sisera fell by the sword; not a man was left. 
4:17   Sisera, however, fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber
the Kenite, because there were friendly relations between Jabin king of
Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite. 
4:18   Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, "Come, my lord, come
right in. Don't be afraid." So he entered her tent, and she put a covering
over him. 
4:19   "I'm thirsty," he said. "Please give me some water." She opened a
skin of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him up. 
4:20   "Stand in the doorway of the tent," he told her. "If someone comes by
and asks you, `Is anyone here?' say `No.'" 
4:21   But Jael, Heber's wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went
quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg
through his temple into the ground, and he died. 
4:22   Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him.
"Come," she said, "I will show you the man you're looking for." So he went
in with her, and there lay Sisera with the tent peg through his
temple--dead. 
4:23   On that day God subdued Jabin, the Canaanite king, before the
Israelites. 
4:24  And the hand of the Israelites grew stronger and stronger against
Jabin, the Canaanite king, until they destroyed him.  

5:1   On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song: 
5:2       "When the princes in Israel take the lead, 
          when the people willingly offer themselves-- 
          praise the LORD!  
5:3       "Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers! 
          I will sing to {[3] Or <of>} the LORD, I will sing; 
          I will make music to {[3] Or 
           <with song I will praise>} the LORD, the God of Israel.  
5:4       "O LORD, when you went out from Seir, 
          when you marched from the land of Edom, 
          the earth shook, the heavens poured, 
          the clouds poured down water. 
5:5       The mountains quaked before the LORD, the One of Sinai, 
          before the LORD, the God of Israel.  
5:6       "In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, 
          in the days of Jael, the roads were abandoned; 
          travelers took to winding paths. 
5:7       Village life {[7] Or <Warriors>} in Israel ceased, 
          ceased until I, {[7] Or <you>} Deborah, arose, 
          arose a mother in Israel. 
5:8       When they chose new gods, 
          war came to the city gates, 
          and not a shield or spear was seen 
          among forty thousand in Israel. 
5:9       My heart is with Israel's princes, 
          with the willing volunteers among the people. 
          Praise the LORD!  
5:10      "You who ride on white donkeys, 
          sitting on your saddle blankets, 
          and you who walk along the road, consider 
5:11  the voice of the singers {[11] Or <archers>; the meaning of the Hebrew
for this word is uncertain.} at the watering places. 
          They recite the righteous acts of the LORD, 
          the righteous acts of his warriors {[11] Or <villagers>} in
Israel.  
          "Then the people of the LORD 
          went down to the city gates. 
5:12      `Wake up, wake up, Deborah! 
          Wake up, wake up, break out in song! 
          Arise, O Barak! 
          Take captive your captives, O son of Abinoam.'  
5:13      "Then the men who were left 
          came down to the nobles; 
          the people of the LORD 
          came to me with the mighty. 
5:14      Some came from Ephraim, whose roots were in Amalek; 
          Benjamin was with the people who followed you. 
          From Makir captains came down, 
          from Zebulun those who bear a commander's staff. 
5:15      The princes of Issachar were with Deborah; 
          yes, Issachar was with Barak, 
          rushing after him into the valley. 
          In the districts of Reuben 
          there was much searching of heart. 
5:16      Why did you stay among the campfires {[16] Or <saddlebags>} 
          to hear the whistling for the flocks? 
          In the districts of Reuben 
          there was much searching of heart. 
5:17      Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan. 
          And Dan, why did he linger by the ships? 
          Asher remained on the coast 
          and stayed in his coves. 
5:18      The people of Zebulun risked their very lives; 
          so did Naphtali on the heights of the field.  
5:19      "Kings came, they fought; 
          the kings of Canaan fought 
          at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, 
          but they carried off no silver, no plunder. 
5:20      From the heavens the stars fought, 
          from their courses they fought against Sisera. 
5:21      The river Kishon swept them away, 
          the age-old river, the river Kishon. 
          March on, my soul; be strong! 
5:22      Then thundered the horses' hoofs-- 
          galloping, galloping go his mighty steeds. 
5:23      `Curse Meroz,' said the angel of the LORD. 
          `Curse its people bitterly, 
          because they did not come to help the LORD, 
          to help the LORD against the mighty.'  
5:24      "Most blessed of women be Jael, 
          the wife of Heber the Kenite, 
          most blessed of tent-dwelling women. 
5:25      He asked for water, and she gave him milk; 
          in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk. 
5:26      Her hand reached for the tent peg, 
          her right hand for the workman's hammer. 
          She struck Sisera, she crushed his head, 
          she shattered and pierced his temple. 
5:27      At her feet he sank, 
          he fell; there he lay. 
          At her feet he sank, he fell; 
          where he sank, there he fell--dead.  
5:28      "Through the window peered Sisera's mother; 
          behind the lattice she cried out, 
          `Why is his chariot so long in coming? 
          Why is the clatter of his chariots delayed?' 
5:29      The wisest of her ladies answer her; 
          indeed, she keeps saying to herself, 
5:30      `Are they not finding and dividing the spoils: 
          a girl or two for each man, 
          colorful garments as plunder for Sisera, 
          colorful garments embroidered, 
          highly embroidered garments for my neck-- 
          all this as plunder?'  
5:31      "So may all your enemies perish, O LORD! 
          But may they who love you be like the sun 
          when it rises in its strength."  Then the land had peace forty
years.  

6:1   Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and for seven
years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. 
6:2  Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared
shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. 
6:3  Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites
and other eastern peoples invaded the country. 
6:4  They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and
did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor
donkeys. 
6:5  They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of
locusts. It was impossible to count the men and their camels; they invaded
the land to ravage it. 
6:6  Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the LORD
for help. 
6:7   When the Israelites cried to the LORD because of Midian, 
6:8  he sent them a prophet, 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. 
6:9  I snatched you from the power of Egypt and from the hand of all your
oppressors. I drove them from before you and gave you their land. 
6:10  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 listened to me." 
6:11   The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that
belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in
a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 
6:12  When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is
with you, mighty warrior." 
6:13   "But sir," Gideon replied, "if the LORD is with us, why has all this
happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about
when they said, `Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the
LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian." 
6:14   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?" 
6:15   "But Lord, {[15] Or <sir>}" Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My
clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family." 
6:16   The LORD answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all
the Midianites together." 
6:17   Gideon replied, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a
sign that it is really you talking to me. 
6:18  Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set
it before you."  And the LORD said, "I will wait until you return." 
6:19   Gideon went in, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah {[19] That
is, probably about 3/5 bushel (about 22 liters)} of flour he made bread
without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he
brought them out and offered them to him under the oak. 
6:20   The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened
bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth." And Gideon did so. 
6:21  With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angel of the LORD
touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock,
consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the LORD disappeared. 
6:22  When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he exclaimed,
"Ah, Sovereign LORD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!" 
6:23   But the LORD said to him, "Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going
to die." 
6:24   So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD is
Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. 
6:25   That same night the LORD said to him, "Take the second bull from your
father's herd, the one seven years old. {[25] Or <Take a full-grown, mature
bull from your father's herd>} Tear down your father's altar to Baal and cut
down the Asherah pole {[25] That is, a symbol of the goddess Asherah; here
and elsewhere in Judges} beside it. 
6:26  Then build a proper kind of {[26] Or <build with layers of stone an>}
altar to the LORD your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the
Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second {[26] Or <full-grown>; also
in verse 28} bull as a burnt offering." 
6:27   So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the LORD told him. But
because he was afraid of his family and the men of the town, he did it at
night rather than in the daytime. 
6:28   In the morning when the men of the town got up, there was Baal's
altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second
bull sacrificed on the newly built altar! 
6:29   They asked each other, "Who did this?"  When they carefully
investigated, they were told, "Gideon son of Joash did it." 
6:30   The men of the town demanded of Joash, "Bring out your son. He must
die, because he has broken down Baal's altar and cut down the Asherah pole
beside it." 
6:31   But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, "Are you going to
plead Baal's cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall
be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself
when someone breaks down his altar." 
6:32  So that day they called Gideon "Jerub-Baal, {[32] <Jerub-Baal> means
<let Baal contend.>}" saying, "Let Baal contend with him," because he broke
down Baal's altar. 
6:33   Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined
forces and crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. 
6:34  Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet,
summoning the Abiezrites to follow him. 
6:35  He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also
into Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet them. 
6:36   Gideon said to God, "If you will save Israel by my hand as you have
promised-- 
6:37  look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is
dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you
will save Israel by my hand, as you said." 
6:38  And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed
the fleece and wrung out the dew--a bowlful of water. 
6:39   Then Gideon said to God, "Do not be angry with me. Let me make just
one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make the
fleece dry and the ground covered with dew." 
6:40  That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was
covered with dew. 

7:1   Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men
camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the
valley near the hill of Moreh. 
7:2  The LORD said to Gideon, "You have too many men for me to deliver
Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that
her own strength has saved her, 
7:3  announce now to the people, `Anyone who trembles with fear may turn
back and leave Mount Gilead.'" So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten
thousand remained. 
7:4   But the LORD said to Gideon, "There are still too many men. Take them
down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say, `This one
shall go with you,' he shall go; but if I say, `This one shall not go with
you,' he shall not go." 
7:5   So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the LORD told him,
"Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those
who kneel down to drink." 
7:6  Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest
got down on their knees to drink. 
7:7   The LORD said to Gideon, "With the three hundred men that lapped I
will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men
go, each to his own place." 
7:8  So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents but kept the
three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others.  Now
the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley. 
7:9  During that night the LORD said to Gideon, "Get up, go down against the
camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. 
7:10  If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant
Purah 
7:11  and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged
to attack the camp." So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts
of the camp. 
7:12  The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had
settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be
counted than the sand on the seashore. 
7:13   Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. "I had a
dream," he was saying. "A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the
Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned
and collapsed." 
7:14   His friend responded, "This can be nothing other than the sword of
Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the
whole camp into his hands." 
7:15   When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped God.
He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, "Get up! The LORD has
given the Midianite camp into your hands." 
7:16  Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed
trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside. 
7:17   "Watch me," he told them. "Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of
the camp, do exactly as I do. 
7:18  When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around
the camp blow yours and shout, `For the LORD and for Gideon.'" 
7:19   Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at
the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard.
They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. 
7:20  The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping
the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the
trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, "A sword for the LORD and for
Gideon!" 
7:21  While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites
ran, crying out as they fled. 
7:22   When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the LORD caused the men
throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled
to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near
Tabbath. 
7:23  Israelites from Naphtali, Asher and all Manasseh were called out, and
they pursued the Midianites. 
7:24  Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying,
"Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead
of them as far as Beth Barah."  So all the men of Ephraim were called out
and they took the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth Barah. 
7:25  They also captured two of the Midianite leaders, Oreb and Zeeb. They
killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. They
pursued the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who
was by the Jordan. 

8:1   Now the Ephraimites asked Gideon, "Why have you treated us like this?
Why didn't you call us when you went to fight Midian?" And they criticized
him sharply. 
8:2   But he answered them, "What have I accomplished compared to you?
Aren't the gleanings of Ephraim's grapes better than the full grape harvest
of Abiezer? 
8:3  God gave Oreb and Zeeb, the Midianite leaders, into your hands. What
was I able to do compared to you?" At this, their resentment against him
subsided. 
8:4   Gideon and his three hundred men, exhausted yet keeping up the
pursuit, came to the Jordan and crossed it. 
8:5  He said to the men of Succoth, "Give my troops some bread; they are
worn out, and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian." 
8:6   But the officials of Succoth said, "Do you already have the hands of
Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your
troops?" 
8:7   Then Gideon replied, "Just for that, when the LORD has given Zebah and
Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and
briers." 
8:8   From there he went up to Peniel {[8] Hebrew <Penuel,> a variant of
<Peniel>; also in verses 9 and 17} and made the same request of them, but
they answered as the men of Succoth had. 
8:9  So he said to the men of Peniel, "When I return in triumph, I will tear
down this tower." 
8:10   Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with a force of about fifteen
thousand men, all that were left of the armies of the eastern peoples; a
hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had fallen. 
8:11  Gideon went up by the route of the nomads east of Nobah and Jogbehah
and fell upon the unsuspecting army. 
8:12  Zebah and Zalmunna, the two kings of Midian, fled, but he pursued them
and captured them, routing their entire army. 
8:13   Gideon son of Joash then returned from the battle by the Pass of
Heres. 
8:14  He caught a young man of Succoth and questioned him, and the young man
wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven officials of Succoth, the
elders of the town. 
8:15  Then Gideon came and said to the men of Succoth, "Here are Zebah and
Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me by saying, `Do you already have the
hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to
your exhausted men?'" 
8:16  He took the elders of the town and taught the men of Succoth a lesson
by punishing them with desert thorns and briers. 
8:17  He also pulled down the tower of Peniel and killed the men of the
town. 
8:18   Then he asked Zebah and Zalmunna, "What kind of men did you kill at
Tabor?"  "Men like you," they answered, "each one with the bearing of a
prince." 
8:19   Gideon replied, "Those were my brothers, the sons of my own mother.
As surely as the LORD lives, if you had spared their lives, I would not kill
you." 
8:20  Turning to Jether, his oldest son, he said, "Kill them!" But Jether
did not draw his sword, because he was only a boy and was afraid. 
8:21   Zebah and Zalmunna said, "Come, do it yourself. `As is the man, so is
his strength.'" So Gideon stepped forward and killed them, and took the
ornaments off their camels' necks. 
8:22   The Israelites said to Gideon, "Rule over us--you, your son and your
grandson--because you have saved us out of the hand of Midian." 
8:23   But Gideon told them, "I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule
over you. The LORD will rule over you." 
8:24  And he said, "I do have one request, that each of you give me an
earring from your share of the plunder." (It was the custom of the
Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings.) 
8:25   They answered, "We'll be glad to give them." So they spread out a
garment, and each man threw a ring from his plunder onto it. 
8:26  The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred
shekels, {[26] That is, about 43 pounds (about 19.5 kilograms)} not counting
the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of
Midian or the chains that were on their camels' necks. 
8:27  Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his
town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it
became a snare to Gideon and his family. 
8:28   Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its
head again. During Gideon's lifetime, the land enjoyed peace forty years. 
8:29   Jerub-Baal son of Joash went back home to live. 
8:30  He had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives. 
8:31  His concubine, who lived in Shechem, also bore him a son, whom he
named Abimelech. 
8:32  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. 
8:33   No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted
themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god and 
8:34  did not remember the LORD their God, who had rescued them from the
hands of all their enemies on every side. 
8:35  They also failed to show kindness to the family of Jerub-Baal (that
is, Gideon) for all the good things he had done for them. 

9:1   Abimelech son of Jerub-Baal went to his mother's brothers in Shechem
and said to them and to all his mother's clan, 
9:2  "Ask all the citizens of Shechem, `Which is better for you: to have all
seventy of Jerub-Baal's sons rule over you, or just one man?' Remember, I am
your flesh and blood." 
9:3   When the brothers repeated all this to the citizens of Shechem, they
were inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, "He is our brother." 
9:4  They gave him seventy shekels {[4] That is, about 1 3/4 pounds (about
0.8 kilogram)} of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, and Abimelech used
it to hire reckless adventurers, who became his followers. 
9:5  He went to his father's home in Ophrah and on one stone murdered his
seventy brothers, the sons of Jerub-Baal. But Jotham, the youngest son of
Jerub-Baal, escaped by hiding. 
9:6  Then all the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo gathered beside the
great tree at the pillar in Shechem to crown Abimelech king. 
9:7   When Jotham was told about this, he climbed up on the top of Mount
Gerizim and shouted to them, "Listen to me, citizens of Shechem, so that God
may listen to you. 
9:8  One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said
to the olive tree, `Be our king.' 
9:9   "But the olive tree answered, `Should I give up my oil, by which both
gods and men are honored, to hold sway over the trees?' 
9:10   "Next, the trees said to the fig tree, `Come and be our king.' 
9:11   "But the fig tree replied, `Should I give up my fruit, so good and
sweet, to hold sway over the trees?' 
9:12   "Then the trees said to the vine, `Come and be our king.' 
9:13   "But the vine answered, `Should I give up my wine, which cheers both
gods and men, to hold sway over the trees?' 
9:14   "Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, `Come and be our king.'

9:15   "The thornbush said to the trees, `If you really want to anoint me
king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, then let fire
come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!' 
9:16   "Now if you have acted honorably and in good faith when you made
Abimelech king, and if you have been fair to Jerub-Baal and his family, and
if you have treated him as he deserves-- 
9:17  and to think that my father fought for you, risked his life to rescue
you from the hand of Midian 
9:18  (but today you have revolted against my father's family, murdered his
seventy sons on a single stone, and made Abimelech, the son of his slave
girl, king over the citizens of Shechem because he is your brother)-- 
9:19  if then you have acted honorably and in good faith toward Jerub-Baal
and his family today, may Abimelech be your joy, and may you be his, too! 
9:20  But if you have not, let fire come out from Abimelech and consume you,
citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and let fire come out from you, citizens
of Shechem and Beth Millo, and consume Abimelech!" 
9:21   Then Jotham fled, escaping to Beer, and he lived there because he was
afraid of his brother Abimelech. 
9:22   After Abimelech had governed Israel three years, 
9:23  God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem,
who acted treacherously against Abimelech. 
9:24  God did this in order that the crime against Jerub-Baal's seventy
sons, the shedding of their blood, might be avenged on their brother
Abimelech and on the citizens of Shechem, who had helped him murder his
brothers. 
9:25  In opposition to him these citizens of Shechem set men on the hilltops
to ambush and rob everyone who passed by, and this was reported to
Abimelech. 
9:26   Now Gaal son of Ebed moved with his brothers into Shechem, and its
citizens put their confidence in him. 
9:27  After they had gone out into the fields and gathered the grapes and
trodden them, they held a festival in the temple of their god. While they
were eating and drinking, they cursed Abimelech. 
9:28  Then Gaal son of Ebed said, "Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem,
that we should be subject to him? Isn't he Jerub-Baal's son, and isn't Zebul
his deputy? Serve the men of Hamor, Shechem's father! Why should we serve
Abimelech? 
9:29  If only this people were under my command! Then I would get rid of
him. I would say to Abimelech, `Call out your whole army!'" {[29]
Septuagint; Hebrew <him." Then he said to Abimelech, "Call out your whole
army!">} 
9:30   When Zebul the governor of the city heard what Gaal son of Ebed said,
he was very angry. 
9:31  Under cover he sent messengers to Abimelech, saying, "Gaal son of Ebed
and his brothers have come to Shechem and are stirring up the city against
you. 
9:32  Now then, during the night you and your men should come and lie in
wait in the fields. 
9:33  In the morning at sunrise, advance against the city. When Gaal and his
men come out against you, do whatever your hand finds to do." 
9:34   So Abimelech and all his troops set out by night and took up
concealed positions near Shechem in four companies. 
9:35  Now Gaal son of Ebed had gone out and was standing at the entrance to
the city gate just as Abimelech and his soldiers came out from their hiding
place. 
9:36   When Gaal saw them, he said to Zebul, "Look, people are coming down
from the tops of the mountains!"  Zebul replied, "You mistake the shadows of
the mountains for men." 
9:37   But Gaal spoke up again: "Look, people are coming down from the
center of the land, and a company is coming from the direction of the
soothsayers' tree." 
9:38   Then Zebul said to him, "Where is your big talk now, you who said,
`Who is Abimelech that we should be subject to him?' Aren't these the men
you ridiculed? Go out and fight them!" 
9:39   So Gaal led out {[39] Or <Gaal went out in the sight of>} the
citizens of Shechem and fought Abimelech. 
9:40  Abimelech chased him, and many fell wounded in the flight--all the way
to the entrance to the gate. 
9:41  Abimelech stayed in Arumah, and Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out
of Shechem. 
9:42   The next day the people of Shechem went out to the fields, and this
was reported to Abimelech. 
9:43  So he took his men, divided them into three companies and set an
ambush in the fields. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he rose
to attack them. 
9:44  Abimelech and the companies with him rushed forward to a position at
the entrance to the city gate. Then two companies rushed upon those in the
fields and struck them down. 
9:45  All that day Abimelech pressed his attack against the city until he
had captured it and killed its people. Then he destroyed the city and
scattered salt over it. 
9:46   On hearing this, the citizens in the tower of Shechem went into the
stronghold of the temple of El-Berith. 
9:47  When Abimelech heard that they had assembled there, 
9:48  he and all his men went up Mount Zalmon. He took an ax and cut off
some branches, which he lifted to his shoulders. He ordered the men with
him, "Quick! Do what you have seen me do!" 
9:49  So all the men cut branches and followed Abimelech. They piled them
against the stronghold and set it on fire over the people inside. So all the
people in the tower of Shechem, about a thousand men and women, also died. 
9:50   Next Abimelech went to Thebez and besieged it and captured it. 
9:51  Inside the city, however, was a strong tower, to which all the men and
women--all the people of the city--fled. They locked themselves in and
climbed up on the tower roof. 
9:52  Abimelech went to the tower and stormed it. But as he approached the
entrance to the tower to set it on fire, 
9:53  a woman dropped an upper millstone on his head and cracked his skull. 
9:54   Hurriedly he called to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword and kill
me, so that they can't say, `A woman killed him.'" So his servant ran him
through, and he died. 
9:55  When the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they went home. 
9:56   Thus God repaid the wickedness that Abimelech had done to his father
by murdering his seventy brothers. 
9:57  God also made the men of Shechem pay for all their wickedness. The
curse of Jotham son of Jerub-Baal came on them. 

10:1   After the time of Abimelech a man of Issachar, Tola son of Puah, the
son of Dodo, rose to save Israel. He lived in Shamir, in the hill country of
Ephraim. 
10:2  He led {[2] Traditionally <judged>; also in verse 3} Israel
twenty-three years; then he died, and was buried in Shamir. 
10:3   He was followed by Jair of Gilead, who led Israel twenty-two years. 
10:4  He had thirty sons, who rode thirty donkeys. They controlled thirty
towns in Gilead, which to this day are called Havvoth Jair. {[4] Or <called
the settlements of Jair>} 
10:5  When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon. 
10:6   Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD. They served
the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the
gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites and the gods of the Philistines. And
because the Israelites forsook the LORD and no longer served him, 
10:7  he became angry with them. He sold them into the hands of the
Philistines and the Ammonites, 
10:8  who that year shattered and crushed them. For eighteen years they
oppressed all the Israelites on the east side of the Jordan in Gilead, the
land of the Amorites. 
10:9  The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin
and the house of Ephraim; and Israel was in great distress. 
10:10  Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, "We have sinned against
you, forsaking our God and serving the Baals." 
10:11   The LORD replied, "When the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites,
the Philistines, 
10:12  the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites {[12] Hebrew; some
Septuagint manuscripts <Midianites>} oppressed you and you cried to me for
help, did I not save you from their hands? 
10:13  But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer
save you. 
10:14  Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when
you are in trouble!" 
10:15   But the Israelites said to the LORD, "We have sinned. Do with us
whatever you think best, but please rescue us now." 
10:16  Then they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the LORD.
And he could bear Israel's misery no longer. 
10:17   When the Ammonites were called to arms and camped in Gilead, the
Israelites assembled and camped at Mizpah. 
10:18  The leaders of the people of Gilead said to each other, "Whoever will
launch the attack against the Ammonites will be the head of all those living
in Gilead." 

11:1   Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior. His father was Gilead;
his mother was a prostitute. 
11:2  Gilead's wife also bore him sons, and when they were grown up, they
drove Jephthah away. "You are not going to get any inheritance in our
family," they said, "because you are the son of another woman." 
11:3  So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob,
where a group of adventurers gathered around him and followed him. 
11:4   Some time later, when the Ammonites made war on Israel, 
11:5  the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. 
11:6  "Come," they said, "be our commander, so we can fight the Ammonites." 
11:7   Jephthah said to them, "Didn't you hate me and drive me from my
father's house? Why do you come to me now, when you're in trouble?" 
11:8   The elders of Gilead said to him, "Nevertheless, we are turning to
you now; come with us to fight the Ammonites, and you will be our head over
all who live in Gilead." 
11:9   Jephthah answered, "Suppose you take me back to fight the Ammonites
and the LORD gives them to me--will I really be your head?" 
11:10   The elders of Gilead replied, "The LORD is our witness; we will
certainly do as you say." 
11:11  So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him
head and commander over them. And he repeated all his words before the LORD
in Mizpah. 
11:12   Then Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king with the
question: "What do you have against us that you have attacked our country?" 
11:13   The king of the Ammonites answered Jephthah's messengers, "When
Israel came up out of Egypt, they took away my land from the Arnon to the
Jabbok, all the way to the Jordan. Now give it back peaceably." 
11:14   Jephthah sent back messengers to the Ammonite king, 
11:15  saying:  "This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take the land of
Moab or the land of the Ammonites. 
11:16  But when they came up out of Egypt, Israel went through the desert to
the Red Sea {[16] Hebrew <Yam Suph>; that is, Sea of Reeds} and on to
Kadesh. 
11:17  Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, `Give us
permission to go through your country,' but the king of Edom would not
listen. They sent also to the king of Moab, and he refused. So Israel stayed
at Kadesh. 
11:18   "Next they traveled through the desert, skirted the lands of Edom
and Moab, passed along the eastern side of the country of Moab, and camped
on the other side of the Arnon. They did not enter the territory of Moab,
for the Arnon was its border. 
11:19   "Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, who
ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, `Let us pass through your country to our
own place.' 
11:20  Sihon, however, did not trust Israel {[20] Or <however, would not
make an agreement for Israel>} to pass through his territory. He mustered
all his men and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel. 
11:21   "Then the LORD, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his men into
Israel's hands, and they defeated them. Israel took over all the land of the
Amorites who lived in that country, 
11:22  capturing all of it from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the desert
to the Jordan. 
11:23   "Now since the LORD, the God of Israel, has driven the Amorites out
before his people Israel, what right have you to take it over? 
11:24  Will you not take what your god Chemosh gives you? Likewise, whatever
the LORD our God has given us, we will possess. 
11:25  Are you better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever
quarrel with Israel or fight with them? 
11:26  For three hundred years Israel occupied Heshbon, Aroer, the
surrounding settlements and all the towns along the Arnon. Why didn't you
retake them during that time? 
11:27  I have not wronged you, but you are doing me wrong by waging war
against me. Let the LORD, the Judge, {[27] Or <Ruler>} decide the dispute
this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites."  
11:28  The king of Ammon, however, paid no attention to the message Jephthah
sent him. 
11:29   Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah. He crossed Gilead
and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced
against the Ammonites. 
11:30  And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD: "If you give the Ammonites into
my hands, 
11:31  whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return
in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD's, and I will sacrifice it as
a burnt offering." 
11:32   Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the LORD gave
them into his hands. 
11:33  He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as
far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon. 
11:34   When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to
meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of tambourines! She was an
only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. 
11:35  When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, "Oh! My daughter! You
have made me miserable and wretched, because I have made a vow to the LORD
that I cannot break." 
11:36   "My father," she replied, "you have given your word to the LORD. Do
to me just as you promised, now that the LORD has avenged you of your
enemies, the Ammonites. 
11:37  But grant me this one request," she said. "Give me two months to roam
the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry." 
11:38   "You may go," he said. And he let her go for two months. She and the
girls went into the hills and wept because she would never marry. 
11:39  After the two months, she returned to her father and he did to her as
he had vowed. And she was a virgin.  From this comes the Israelite custom 
11:40  that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to
commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite. 

12:1   The men of Ephraim called out their forces, crossed over to Zaphon
and said to Jephthah, "Why did you go to fight the Ammonites without calling
us to go with you? We're going to burn down your house over your head." 
12:2   Jephthah answered, "I and my people were engaged in a great struggle
with the Ammonites, and although I called, you didn't save me out of their
hands. 
12:3  When I saw that you wouldn't help, I took my life in my hands and
crossed over to fight the Ammonites, and the LORD gave me the victory over
them. Now why have you come up today to fight me?" 
12:4   Jephthah then called together the men of Gilead and fought against
Ephraim. The Gileadites struck them down because the Ephraimites had said,
"You Gileadites are renegades from Ephraim and Manasseh." 
12:5  The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim,
and whenever a survivor of Ephraim said, "Let me cross over," the men of
Gilead asked him, "Are you an Ephraimite?" If he replied, "No," 
12:6  they said, "All right, say `Shibboleth.'" If he said, "Sibboleth,"
because he could not pronounce the word correctly, they seized him and
killed him at the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand Ephraimites were
killed at that time. 
12:7   Jephthah led {[7] Traditionally <judged>; also in verses 8-14} Israel
six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died, and was buried in a town in
Gilead. 
12:8   After him, Ibzan of Bethlehem led Israel. 
12:9  He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He gave his daughters away in
marriage to those outside his clan, and for his sons he brought in thirty
young women as wives from outside his clan. Ibzan led Israel seven years. 
12:10  Then Ibzan died, and was buried in Bethlehem. 
12:11   After him, Elon the Zebulunite led Israel ten years. 
12:12  Then Elon died, and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun. 
12:13   After him, Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, led Israel. 
12:14  He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys.
He led Israel eight years. 
12:15  Then Abdon son of Hillel died, and was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim,
in the hill country of the Amalekites. 

13:1   Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, so the LORD
delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years. 
13:2   A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites,
had a wife who was sterile and remained childless. 
13:3  The angel of the LORD appeared to her and said, "You are sterile and
childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son. 
13:4  Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that
you do not eat anything unclean, 
13:5  because you will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor may be
used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from
birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the
Philistines." 
13:6   Then the woman went to her husband and told him, "A man of God came
to me. He looked like an angel of God, very awesome. I didn't ask him where
he came from, and he didn't tell me his name. 
13:7  But he said to me, `You will conceive and give birth to a son. Now
then, drink no wine or other fermented drink and do not eat anything
unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite of God from birth until the day
of his death.'" 
13:8   Then Manoah prayed to the LORD: "O Lord, I beg you, let the man of
God you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to
be born." 
13:9   God heard Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman while
she was out in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her. 
13:10  The woman hurried to tell her husband, "He's here! The man who
appeared to me the other day!" 
13:11   Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he
said, "Are you the one who talked to my wife?"  "I am," he said. 
13:12   So Manoah asked him, "When your words are fulfilled, what is to be
the rule for the boy's life and work?" 
13:13   The angel of the LORD answered, "Your wife must do all that I have
told her. 
13:14  She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, nor drink
any wine or other fermented drink nor eat anything unclean. She must do
everything I have commanded her." 
13:15   Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, "We would like you to stay
until we prepare a young goat for you." 
13:16   The angel of the LORD replied, "Even though you detain me, I will
not eat any of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to
the LORD." (Manoah did not realize that it was the angel of the LORD.) 
13:17   Then Manoah inquired of the angel of the LORD, "What is your name,
so that we may honor you when your word comes true?" 
13:18   He replied, "Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding.
{[18] Or <is wonderful>}" 
13:19  Then Manoah took a young goat, together with the grain offering, and
sacrificed it on a rock to the LORD. And the LORD did an amazing thing while
Manoah and his wife watched: 
13:20  As the flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the
LORD ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with their
faces to the ground. 
13:21  When the angel of the LORD did not show himself again to Manoah and
his wife, Manoah realized that it was the angel of the LORD. 
13:22   "We are doomed to die!" he said to his wife. "We have seen God!" 
13:23   But his wife answered, "If the LORD had meant to kill us, he would
not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor
shown us all these things or now told us this." 
13:24   The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the
LORD blessed him, 
13:25  and the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh
Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol. 

14:1   Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman. 
14:2  When he returned, he said to his father and mother, "I have seen a
Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife." 
14:3   His father and mother replied, "Isn't there an acceptable woman among
your relatives or among all our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised
Philistines to get a wife?"  But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me.
She's the right one for me." 
14:4  (His parents did not know that this was from the LORD, who was seeking
an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling
over Israel.) 
14:5  Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother. As
they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring
toward him. 
14:6  The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power so that he tore the lion
apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told
neither his father nor his mother what he had done. 
14:7  Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her. 
14:8   Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to
look at the lion's carcass. In it was a swarm of bees and some honey, 
14:9  which he scooped out with his hands and ate as he went along. When he
rejoined his parents, he gave them some, and they too ate it. But he did not
tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion's carcass. 
14:10   Now his father went down to see the woman. And Samson made a feast
there, as was customary for bridegrooms. 
14:11  When he appeared, he was given thirty companions. 
14:12   "Let me tell you a riddle," Samson said to them. "If you can give me
the answer within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen
garments and thirty sets of clothes. 
14:13  If you can't tell me the answer, you must give me thirty linen
garments and thirty sets of clothes."  "Tell us your riddle," they said.
"Let's hear it." 
14:14   He replied, 
          "Out of the eater, something to eat; 
          out of the strong, something sweet." For three days they could not
give the answer. 
14:15   On the fourth {[15] Some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac; Hebrew
<seventh>} day, they said to Samson's wife, "Coax your husband into
explaining the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your father's
household to death. Did you invite us here to rob us?" 
14:16   Then Samson's wife threw herself on him, sobbing, "You hate me! You
don't really love me. You've given my people a riddle, but you haven't told
me the answer."  "I haven't even explained it to my father or mother," he
replied, "so why should I explain it to you?" 
14:17  She cried the whole seven days of the feast. So on the seventh day he
finally told her, because she continued to press him. She in turn explained
the riddle to her people. 
14:18   Before sunset on the seventh day the men of the town said to him, 
          "What is sweeter than honey? 
          What is stronger than a lion?"  Samson said to them, 
          "If you had not plowed with my heifer, 
          you would not have solved my riddle." 
14:19   Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power. He went down to
Ashkelon, struck down thirty of their men, stripped them of their belongings
and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Burning with
anger, he went up to his father's house. 
14:20  And Samson's wife was given to the friend who had attended him at his
wedding. 

15:1   Later on, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat and
went to visit his wife. He said, "I'm going to my wife's room." But her
father would not let him go in. 
15:2   "I was so sure you thoroughly hated her," he said, "that I gave her
to your friend. Isn't her younger sister more attractive? Take her instead."

15:3   Samson said to them, "This time I have a right to get even with the
Philistines; I will really harm them." 
15:4  So he went out and caught three hundred foxes and tied them tail to
tail in pairs. He then fastened a torch to every pair of tails, 
15:5  lit the torches and let the foxes loose in the standing grain of the
Philistines. He burned up the shocks and standing grain, together with the
vineyards and olive groves. 
15:6   When the Philistines asked, "Who did this?" they were told, "Samson,
the Timnite's son-in-law, because his wife was given to his friend."  So the
Philistines went up and burned her and her father to death. 
15:7  Samson said to them, "Since you've acted like this, I won't stop until
I get my revenge on you." 
15:8  He attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them. Then he went
down and stayed in a cave in the rock of Etam. 
15:9   The Philistines went up and camped in Judah, spreading out near Lehi.

15:10  The men of Judah asked, "Why have you come to fight us?"  "We have
come to take Samson prisoner," they answered, "to do to him as he did to
us." 
15:11   Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cave in the rock
of Etam and said to Samson, "Don't you realize that the Philistines are
rulers over us? What have you done to us?"  He answered, "I merely did to
them what they did to me." 
15:12   They said to him, "We've come to tie you up and hand you over to the
Philistines."  Samson said, "Swear to me that you won't kill me yourselves."

15:13   "Agreed," they answered. "We will only tie you up and hand you over
to them. We will not kill you." So they bound him with two new ropes and led
him up from the rock. 
15:14  As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The
Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power. The ropes on his arms became like
charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands. 
15:15  Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a
thousand men. 
15:16   Then Samson said, 
          "With a donkey's jawbone 
          I have made donkeys of them. {[16] Or <made a heap or two>; the
Hebrew for <donkey> sounds like the Hebrew for <heap.>} 
          With a donkey's jawbone 
          I have killed a thousand men." 
15:17  When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place
was called Ramath Lehi. {[17] <Ramath Lehi> means <jawbone hill.>} 
15:18   Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the LORD, "You have
given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall
into the hands of the uncircumcised?" 
15:19  Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of
it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived. So the spring
was called En Hakkore, {[19] <En Hakkore> means <caller's spring.>} and it
is still there in Lehi. 
15:20   Samson led {[20] Traditionally <judged>} Israel for twenty years in
the days of the Philistines. 

16:1   One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to
spend the night with her. 
16:2  The people of Gaza were told, "Samson is here!" So they surrounded the
place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They made no move
during the night, saying, "At dawn we'll kill him." 
16:3   But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got
up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts,
and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and
carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron. 
16:4   Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek
whose name was Delilah. 
16:5  The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, "See if you can
lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can
overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give
you eleven hundred shekels {[5] That is, about 28 pounds (about 13
kilograms)} of silver." 
16:6   So Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me the secret of your great strength
and how you can be tied up and subdued." 
16:7   Samson answered her, "If anyone ties me with seven fresh thongs {[7]
Or <bowstrings>; also in verses 8 and 9} that have not been dried, I'll
become as weak as any other man." 
16:8   Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh thongs
that had not been dried, and she tied him with them. 
16:9  With men hidden in the room, she called to him, "Samson, the
Philistines are upon you!" But he snapped the thongs as easily as a piece of
string snaps when it comes close to a flame. So the secret of his strength
was not discovered. 
16:10   Then Delilah said to Samson, "You have made a fool of me; you lied
to me. Come now, tell me how you can be tied." 
16:11   He said, "If anyone ties me securely with new ropes that have never
been used, I'll become as weak as any other man." 
16:12   So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them. Then, with men
hidden in the room, she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon
you!" But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads. 
16:13   Delilah then said to Samson, "Until now, you have been making a fool
of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied."  He replied, "If you
weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric [on the loom] and tighten
it with the pin, I'll become as weak as any other man." So while he was
sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into the
fabric 
16:14  and {[13,14] Some Septuagint manuscripts; Hebrew <"[I can] if you
weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric [on the loom]." [14] So
she>} tightened it with the pin.  Again she called to him, "Samson, the
Philistines are upon you!" He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and
the loom, with the fabric. 
16:15   Then she said to him, "How can you say, `I love you,' when you won't
confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven't
told me the secret of your great strength." 
16:16  With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was tired to
death. 
16:17   So he told her everything. "No razor has ever been used on my head,"
he said, "because I have been a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If my
head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as
any other man." 
16:18   When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to
the rulers of the Philistines, "Come back once more; he has told me
everything." So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in
their hands. 
16:19  Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the
seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. {[19] Hebrew; some
Septuagint manuscripts <and he began to weaken>} And his strength left him. 
16:20   Then she called, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!"  He awoke
from his sleep and thought, "I'll go out as before and shake myself free."
But he did not know that the LORD had left him. 
16:21   Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him
down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in
the prison. 
16:22  But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been
shaved. 
16:23   Now the rulers of the Philistines assembled to offer a great
sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate, saying, "Our god has
delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands." 
16:24   When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying, 
          "Our god has delivered our enemy 
          into our hands, 
          the one who laid waste our land 
          and multiplied our slain." 
16:25   While they were in high spirits, they shouted, "Bring out Samson to
entertain us." So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for
them.  When they stood him among the pillars, 
16:26  Samson said to the servant who held his hand, "Put me where I can
feel the pillars that support the temple, so that I may lean against them." 
16:27  Now the temple was crowded with men and women; all the rulers of the
Philistines were there, and on the roof were about three thousand men and
women watching Samson perform. 
16:28  Then Samson prayed to the LORD, "O Sovereign LORD, remember me. O
God, please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get
revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes." 
16:29  Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the
temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and
his left hand on the other, 
16:30  Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" Then he pushed with
all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in
it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived. 
16:31   Then his brothers and his father's whole family went down to get
him. They brought him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the
tomb of Manoah his father. He had led {[31] Traditionally <judged>} Israel
twenty years. 
17:1   Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim 
17:2  said to his mother, "The eleven hundred shekels {[2] That is, about 28
pounds (about 13 kilograms)} of silver that were taken from you and about
which I heard you utter a curse--I have that silver with me; I took it." 
Then his mother said, "The LORD bless you, my son!" 
17:3   When he returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother,
she said, "I solemnly consecrate my silver to the LORD for my son to make a
carved image and a cast idol. I will give it back to you." 
17:4   So he returned the silver to his mother, and she took two hundred
shekels {[4] That is, about 5 pounds (about 2.3 kilograms)} of silver and
gave them to a silversmith, who made them into the image and the idol. And
they were put in Micah's house. 
17:5   Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some idols
and installed one of his sons as his priest. 
17:6  In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit. 
17:7   A young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who had been living within
the clan of Judah, 
17:8  left that town in search of some other place to stay. On his way {[8]
Or <To carry on his profession>} he came to Micah's house in the hill
country of Ephraim. 
17:9   Micah asked him, "Where are you from?"  "I'm a Levite from Bethlehem
in Judah," he said, "and I'm looking for a place to stay." 
17:10   Then Micah said to him, "Live with me and be my father and priest,
and I'll give you ten shekels {[10] That is, about 4 ounces (about 110
grams)} of silver a year, your clothes and your food." 
17:11  So the Levite agreed to live with him, and the young man was to him
like one of his sons. 
17:12  Then Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest
and lived in his house. 
17:13  And Micah said, "Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, since
this Levite has become my priest." 

18:1   In those days Israel had no king.  And in those days the tribe of the
Danites was seeking a place of their own where they might settle, because
they had not yet come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. 
18:2  So the Danites sent five warriors from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out
the land and explore it. These men represented all their clans. They told
them, "Go, explore the land."  The men entered the hill country of Ephraim
and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night. 
18:3  When they were near Micah's house, they recognized the voice of the
young Levite; so they turned in there and asked him, "Who brought you here?
What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?" 
18:4   He told them what Micah had done for him, and said, "He has hired me
and I am his priest." 
18:5   Then they said to him, "Please inquire of God to learn whether our
journey will be successful." 
18:6   The priest answered them, "Go in peace. Your journey has the LORD's
approval." 
18:7   So the five men left and came to Laish, where they saw that the
people were living in safety, like the Sidonians, unsuspecting and secure.
And since their land lacked nothing, they were prosperous. {[7] The meaning
of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.} Also, they lived a long way
from the Sidonians and had no relationship with anyone else. {[7] Hebrew;
some Septuagint manuscripts <with the Arameans>} 
18:8   When they returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers asked them,
"How did you find things?" 
18:9   They answered, "Come on, let's attack them! We have seen that the
land is very good. Aren't you going to do something? Don't hesitate to go
there and take it over. 
18:10  When you get there, you will find an unsuspecting people and a
spacious land that God has put into your hands, a land that lacks nothing
whatever." 
18:11   Then six hundred men from the clan of the Danites, armed for battle,
set out from Zorah and Eshtaol. 
18:12  On their way they set up camp near Kiriath Jearim in Judah. This is
why the place west of Kiriath Jearim is called Mahaneh Dan {[12] <Mahaneh
Dan> means <Dan's camp.>} to this day. 
18:13  From there they went on to the hill country of Ephraim and came to
Micah's house. 
18:14   Then the five men who had spied out the land of Laish said to their
brothers, "Do you know that one of these houses has an ephod, other
household gods, a carved image and a cast idol? Now you know what to do." 
18:15  So they turned in there and went to the house of the young Levite at
Micah's place and greeted him. 
18:16  The six hundred Danites, armed for battle, stood at the entrance to
the gate. 
18:17  The five men who had spied out the land went inside and took the
carved image, the ephod, the other household gods and the cast idol while
the priest and the six hundred armed men stood at the entrance to the gate. 
18:18   When these men went into Micah's house and took the carved image,
the ephod, the other household gods and the cast idol, the priest said to
them, "What are you doing?" 
18:19   They answered him, "Be quiet! Don't say a word. Come with us, and be
our father and priest. Isn't it better that you serve a tribe and clan in
Israel as priest rather than just one man's household?" 
18:20  Then the priest was glad. He took the ephod, the other household gods
and the carved image and went along with the people. 
18:21  Putting their little children, their livestock and their possessions
in front of them, they turned away and left. 
18:22   When they had gone some distance from Micah's house, the men who
lived near Micah were called together and overtook the Danites. 
18:23  As they shouted after them, the Danites turned and said to Micah,
"What's the matter with you that you called out your men to fight?" 
18:24   He replied, "You took the gods I made, and my priest, and went away.
What else do I have? How can you ask, `What's the matter with you?'" 
18:25   The Danites answered, "Don't argue with us, or some hot-tempered men
will attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives." 
18:26  So the Danites went their way, and Micah, seeing that they were too
strong for him, turned around and went back home. 
18:27   Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to
Laish, against a peaceful and unsuspecting people. They attacked them with
the sword and burned down their city. 
18:28  There was no one to rescue them because they lived a long way from
Sidon and had no relationship with anyone else. The city was in a valley
near Beth Rehob.  The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there. 
18:29  They named it Dan after their forefather Dan, who was born to
Israel--though the city used to be called Laish. 
18:30  There the Danites set up for themselves the idols, and Jonathan son
of Gershom, the son of Moses, {[30] An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition,
some Septuagint manuscripts and Vulgate; Masoretic Text <Manasseh>} and his
sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of
the land. 
18:31  They continued to use the idols Micah had made, all the time the
house of God was in Shiloh. 

19:1   In those days Israel had no king.  Now a Levite who lived in a remote
area in the hill country of Ephraim took a concubine from Bethlehem in
Judah. 
19:2  But she was unfaithful to him. She left him and went back to her
father's house in Bethlehem, Judah. After she had been there four months, 
19:3  her husband went to her to persuade her to return. He had with him his
servant and two donkeys. She took him into her father's house, and when her
father saw him, he gladly welcomed him. 
19:4  His father-in-law, the girl's father, prevailed upon him to stay; so
he remained with him three days, eating and drinking, and sleeping there. 
19:5   On the fourth day they got up early and he prepared to leave, but the
girl's father said to his son-in-law, "Refresh yourself with something to
eat; then you can go." 
19:6  So the two of them sat down to eat and drink together. Afterward the
girl's father said, "Please stay tonight and enjoy yourself." 
19:7  And when the man got up to go, his father-in-law persuaded him, so he
stayed there that night. 
19:8  On the morning of the fifth day, when he rose to go, the girl's father
said, "Refresh yourself. Wait till afternoon!" So the two of them ate
together. 
19:9   Then when the man, with his concubine and his servant, got up to
leave, his father-in-law, the girl's father, said, "Now look, it's almost
evening. Spend the night here; the day is nearly over. Stay and enjoy
yourself. Early tomorrow morning you can get up and be on your way home." 
19:10  But, unwilling to stay another night, the man left and went toward
Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), with his two saddled donkeys and his concubine. 
19:11   When they were near Jebus and the day was almost gone, the servant
said to his master, "Come, let's stop at this city of the Jebusites and
spend the night." 
19:12   His master replied, "No. We won't go into an alien city, whose
people are not Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah." 
19:13  He added, "Come, let's try to reach Gibeah or Ramah and spend the
night in one of those places." 
19:14  So they went on, and the sun set as they neared Gibeah in Benjamin. 
19:15  There they stopped to spend the night. They went and sat in the city
square, but no one took them into his home for the night. 
19:16   That evening an old man from the hill country of Ephraim, who was
living in Gibeah (the men of the place were Benjamites), came in from his
work in the fields. 
19:17  When he looked and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man
asked, "Where are you going? Where did you come from?" 
19:18   He answered, "We are on our way from Bethlehem in Judah to a remote
area in the hill country of Ephraim where I live. I have been to Bethlehem
in Judah and now I am going to the house of the LORD. No one has taken me
into his house. 
19:19  We have both straw and fodder for our donkeys and bread and wine for
ourselves your servants--me, your maidservant, and the young man with us. We
don't need anything." 
19:20   "You are welcome at my house," the old man said. "Let me supply
whatever you need. Only don't spend the night in the square." 
19:21  So he took him into his house and fed his donkeys. After they had
washed their feet, they had something to eat and drink. 
19:22   While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the
city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man
who owned the house, "Bring out the man who came to your house so we can
have sex with him." 
19:23   The owner of the house went outside and said to them, "No, my
friends, don't be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don't do this
disgraceful thing. 
19:24  Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring
them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish.
But to this man, don't do such a disgraceful thing." 
19:25   But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine
and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout
the night, and at dawn they let her go. 
19:26  At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was
staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight. 
19:27   When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the
house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine,
fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold. 
19:28  He said to her, "Get up; let's go." But there was no answer. Then the
man put her on his donkey and set out for home. 
19:29   When he reached home, he took a knife and cut up his concubine, limb
by limb, into twelve parts and sent them into all the areas of Israel. 
19:30  Everyone who saw it said, "Such a thing has never been seen or done,
not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Think about it!
Consider it! Tell us what to do!" 

20:1   Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of
Gilead came out as one man and assembled before the LORD in Mizpah. 
20:2  The leaders of all the people of the tribes of Israel took their
places in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand soldiers
armed with swords. 
20:3  (The Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) Then
the Israelites said, "Tell us how this awful thing happened." 
20:4   So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, said, "I and my
concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night. 
20:5  During the night the men of Gibeah came after me and surrounded the
house, intending to kill me. They raped my concubine, and she died. 
20:6  I took my concubine, cut her into pieces and sent one piece to each
region of Israel's inheritance, because they committed this lewd and
disgraceful act in Israel. 
20:7  Now, all you Israelites, speak up and give your verdict." 
20:8   All the people rose as one man, saying, "None of us will go home. No,
not one of us will return to his house. 
20:9  But now this is what we'll do to Gibeah: We'll go up against it as the
lot directs. 
20:10  We'll take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of
Israel, and a hundred from a thousand, and a thousand from ten thousand, to
get provisions for the army. Then, when the army arrives at Gibeah {[10] One
Hebrew manuscript; most Hebrew manuscripts <Geba,> a variant of <Gibeah>} in
Benjamin, it can give them what they deserve for all this vileness done in
Israel." 
20:11  So all the men of Israel got together and united as one man against
the city. 
20:12   The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin,
saying, "What about this awful crime that was committed among you? 
20:13  Now surrender those wicked men of Gibeah so that we may put them to
death and purge the evil from Israel."  But the Benjamites would not listen
to their fellow Israelites. 
20:14  From their towns they came together at Gibeah to fight against the
Israelites. 
20:15  At once the Benjamites mobilized twenty-six thousand swordsmen from
their towns, in addition to seven hundred chosen men from those living in
Gibeah. 
20:16  Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred chosen men who were
left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss. 
20:17   Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand
swordsmen, all of them fighting men. 
20:18   The Israelites went up to Bethel {[18] Or <to the house of God>;
also in verse 26} and inquired of God. They said, "Who of us shall go first
to fight against the Benjamites?"  The LORD replied, "Judah shall go first."

20:19   The next morning the Israelites got up and pitched camp near Gibeah.

20:20  The men of Israel went out to fight the Benjamites and took up battle
positions against them at Gibeah. 
20:21  The Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand
Israelites on the battlefield that day. 
20:22  But the men of Israel encouraged one another and again took up their
positions where they had stationed themselves the first day. 
20:23  The Israelites went up and wept before the LORD until evening, and
they inquired of the LORD. They said, "Shall we go up again to battle
against the Benjamites, our brothers?"  The LORD answered, "Go up against
them." 
20:24   Then the Israelites drew near to Benjamin the second day. 
20:25  This time, when the Benjamites came out from Gibeah to oppose them,
they cut down another eighteen thousand Israelites, all of them armed with
swords. 
20:26   Then the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, and there
they sat weeping before the LORD. They fasted that day until evening and
presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings {[26] Traditionally
<peace offerings>} to the LORD. 
20:27  And the Israelites inquired of the LORD. (In those days the ark of
the covenant of God was there, 
20:28  with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministering before
it.) They asked, "Shall we go up again to battle with Benjamin our brother,
or not?"  The LORD responded, "Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your
hands." 
20:29   Then Israel set an ambush around Gibeah. 
20:30  They went up against the Benjamites on the third day and took up
positions against Gibeah as they had done before. 
20:31  The Benjamites came out to meet them and were drawn away from the
city. They began to inflict casualties on the Israelites as before, so that
about thirty men fell in the open field and on the roads--the one leading to
Bethel and the other to Gibeah. 
20:32   While the Benjamites were saying, "We are defeating them as before,"
the Israelites were saying, "Let's retreat and draw them away from the city
to the roads." 
20:33   All the men of Israel moved from their places and took up positions
at Baal Tamar, and the Israelite ambush charged out of its place on the west
{[33] Some Septuagint manuscripts and Vulgate; the meaning of the Hebrew for
this word is uncertain.} of Gibeah. {[33] Hebrew <Geba,> a variant of
<Gibeah>} 
20:34  Then ten thousand of Israel's finest men made a frontal attack on
Gibeah. The fighting was so heavy that the Benjamites did not realize how
near disaster was. 
20:35  The LORD defeated Benjamin before Israel, and on that day the
Israelites struck down 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords. 
20:36  Then the Benjamites saw that they were beaten.  Now the men of Israel
had given way before Benjamin, because they relied on the ambush they had
set near Gibeah. 
20:37  The men who had been in ambush made a sudden dash into Gibeah, spread
out and put the whole city to the sword. 
20:38  The men of Israel had arranged with the ambush that they should send
up a great cloud of smoke from the city, 
20:39  and then the men of Israel would turn in the battle.  The Benjamites
had begun to inflict casualties on the men of Israel (about thirty), and
they said, "We are defeating them as in the first battle." 
20:40  But when the column of smoke began to rise from the city, the
Benjamites turned and saw the smoke of the whole city going up into the sky.

20:41  Then the men of Israel turned on them, and the men of Benjamin were
terrified, because they realized that disaster had come upon them. 
20:42  So they fled before the Israelites in the direction of the desert,
but they could not escape the battle. And the men of Israel who came out of
the towns cut them down there. 
20:43  They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them and easily {[43] The
meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.} overran them in the
vicinity of Gibeah on the east. 
20:44  Eighteen thousand Benjamites fell, all of them valiant fighters. 
20:45  As they turned and fled toward the desert to the rock of Rimmon, the
Israelites cut down five thousand men along the roads. They kept pressing
after the Benjamites as far as Gidom and struck down two thousand more. 
20:46   On that day twenty-five thousand Benjamite swordsmen fell, all of
them valiant fighters. 
20:47  But six hundred men turned and fled into the desert to the rock of
Rimmon, where they stayed four months. 
20:48  The men of Israel went back to Benjamin and put all the towns to the
sword, including the animals and everything else they found. All the towns
they came across they set on fire. 

21:1   The men of Israel had taken an oath at Mizpah: "Not one of us will
give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite." 
21:2   The people went to Bethel, {[2] Or <to the house of God>} where they
sat before God until evening, raising their voices and weeping bitterly. 
21:3  "O LORD, the God of Israel," they cried, "why has this happened to
Israel? Why should one tribe be missing from Israel today?" 
21:4   Early the next day the people built an altar and presented burnt
offerings and fellowship offerings. {[4] Traditionally <peace offerings>} 
21:5   Then the Israelites asked, "Who from all the tribes of Israel has
failed to assemble before the LORD?" For they had taken a solemn oath that
anyone who failed to assemble before the LORD at Mizpah should certainly be
put to death. 
21:6   Now the Israelites grieved for their brothers, the Benjamites. "Today
one tribe is cut off from Israel," they said. 
21:7  "How can we provide wives for those who are left, since we have taken
an oath by the LORD not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?" 
21:8  Then they asked, "Which one of the tribes of Israel failed to assemble
before the LORD at Mizpah?" They discovered that no one from Jabesh Gilead
had come to the camp for the assembly. 
21:9  For when they counted the people, they found that none of the people
of Jabesh Gilead were there. 
21:10   So the assembly sent twelve thousand fighting men with instructions
to go to Jabesh Gilead and put to the sword those living there, including
the women and children. 
21:11  "This is what you are to do," they said. "Kill every male and every
woman who is not a virgin." 
21:12  They found among the people living in Jabesh Gilead four hundred
young women who had never slept with a man, and they took them to the camp
at Shiloh in Canaan. 
21:13   Then the whole assembly sent an offer of peace to the Benjamites at
the rock of Rimmon. 
21:14  So the Benjamites returned at that time and were given the women of
Jabesh Gilead who had been spared. But there were not enough for all of
them. 
21:15   The people grieved for Benjamin, because the LORD had made a gap in
the tribes of Israel. 
21:16  And the elders of the assembly said, "With the women of Benjamin
destroyed, how shall we provide wives for the men who are left? 
21:17  The Benjamite survivors must have heirs," they said, "so that a tribe
of Israel will not be wiped out. 
21:18  We can't give them our daughters as wives, since we Israelites have
taken this oath: `Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to a Benjamite.' 
21:19  But look, there is the annual festival of the LORD in Shiloh, to the
north of Bethel, and east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem, and
to the south of Lebonah." 
21:20   So they instructed the Benjamites, saying, "Go and hide in the
vineyards 
21:21  and watch. When the girls of Shiloh come out to join in the dancing,
then rush from the vineyards and each of you seize a wife from the girls of
Shiloh and go to the land of Benjamin. 
21:22  When their fathers or brothers complain to us, we will say to them,
`Do us a kindness by helping them, because we did not get wives for them
during the war, and you are innocent, since you did not give your daughters
to them.'" 
21:23   So that is what the Benjamites did. While the girls were dancing,
each man caught one and carried her off to be his wife. Then they returned
to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and settled in them. 
21:24   At that time the Israelites left that place and went home to their
tribes and clans, each to his own inheritance. 
21:25   In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit. 
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