1Now it came to pass after the death of Joshua that the sons of Israel inquired through the Lord saying, “Who will go up first for us against the Canaanites to make war against them?” 2 And the Lord said, “Judah will go up. Look, I have given the land into his hand.” 3 And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Go up with us to my lot and let us array ourselves against the Canaanites, and I in turn will proceed after you into your lot.” And Simeon went with him. 4 Now Judah went up, and the Lord delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and he struck them in Bezek up to ten thousand men. 5 They overtook Adoni-bezek in Bezek, and they arrayed against him; and they struck the Canaanites and Perizzites. 6 But Adoni-bezek fled, and they chased after him. Then they captured him and cut off the tips of his hands and the tips of his feet. 7 And Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings—with the tips of their hands and the tips of their feet cut off—would glean the scraps from under my table. Therefore just as I have done, thus God has repaid me.” And they led him up to Jerusalem, and he died there. 8 The sons of Judah made war with Jerusalem; they besieged it and struck it with the edge of a sword and burned the city with fire. 9 After this the sons of Judah went down to make war against the Canaanites dwelling in the hill country, in the south, and on the plain. 10 And Judah went against the Canaanites dwelling in Hebron, and Hebron came out from opposite. (The name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba.) And they struck Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the sons of Anak. 11 And they went up from there against the inhabitants of Debir. (The name of Debir was formerly Kiriath-sephar, “The City of Books.”) 12 Caleb said, “If someone strikes the City of the Books and occupies it, I will give him Aschah my daughter for a wife.” 13 And Othniel son of Kenaz, the younger brother of Caleb, occupied it. And Caleb gave him Aschah his daughter for a wife. 14 And it came to pass at her entrance that Othniel urged her to ask from her father a field. And she murmured and cried from atop the donkey: “To the land of the south you have delivered me!” And Caleb said to her, “What is to you?” 15 And Aschah said to him, “Give now to me a blessing, for you have delivered me to the land of the south; give to me also the ransoming of water.” And Caleb gave to her according to her heart the ransoming of the upper spring and the ransoming of the lower spring. 16 And the sons of Jethro the Kenite, the in-law of Moses, went up from the City of the Palms with the sons of Judah to the wilderness south of Judah, which is at the descent of Arad. They dwelt there with the people. 17 Now Judah went with Simeon his brother, and he struck the Canaanites dwelling in Zephath; they utterly destroyed them. And he called the name of the city “Accursed.” 18 And Judah did not receive an inheritance from Gaza or its borders, nor from Ashkelon or its borders, nor from Ekron or its borders, nor from Ashdod or its suburbs. 19 And the Lord was with Judah, and he inherited the mountainous region; they were not strong enough to utterly destroy the inhabitants of the valley because Rechab separated them. 20 And they gave Hebron to Caleb just as Moses said, and he inherited from there the three cities of the sons of Anak. 21 And the sons of Benjamin did not receive their share of inheritance from the Jebusites who were dwelling in Jerusalem. The Jebusites dwelt with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem up to this day. 22 And the sons of Joseph also went up, namely those to Bethel, and the Lord was with them. 23 And they encamped and spied out Bethel (the name of this city was formerly Luz). 24 The guards looked and look, a man was going out from the city. And they seized him and said to him, “Show us the entrance of the city, and we will deal with you mercifully.” 25 So he showed them the entrance of the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword. The man, however, and his family they released. 26 The man went to the land of Hittites, and he built there a city and called its name Luz. This is its name up to this day. 27 Now Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shan, which is the city of the Scythians, nor its daughters nor its territories, nor Taanach nor its daughters, nor those inhabitants of Dor nor its daughters, nor the inhabitants of Balak nor its territories nor its daughters, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo nor its territories nor its daughters, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam nor its territories nor its daughters. And the Canaanites began to dwell in this land. 28 And it came to pass when Israel was strong, he made the Canaanites pay tribute; but driving out, he did not drive them out. 29 Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites dwelling in Gezer. And the Canaanites dwelt in the midst of him, in Gezer, and they were subjected to pay tribute. 30 Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kidron nor the inhabitants of Nahalol, and the Canaanites dwelt in their midst, and they were subjected to pay tribute. 31 And Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, and they were subjected to pay tribute, nor the inhabitants of Dor nor the inhabitants of Sidon nor the inhabitants of Ahlab nor Achzib nor Helbah nor Aphik nor Rehob. 32 And Asher dwelt in the midst of the Canaanites, inhabiting the land because he was not strong enough to drive them out. 33 And Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh nor the inhabitants of Beth-anath, and Naphtali dwelt in the midst of the Canaanites inhabiting the land. The inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath, became tribute for them. 34 And the Amorites forced the sons of Dan into the mountainous region, because they did not permit him to go down into the valley. 35 And the Amorites began to dwell in the mountainous region that contained potsherds in which bears and in which foxes dwell, in Aijalon and in Shaalbim. And the hand of the house of Joseph was heavy on the Amorites, and they became tribute for them.
2And the boundary of the Amorites was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Petra and above. Israel Disobeys the Lord God 2 A messenger of the Lord went up from Gilgal to the Place of Weeping, to Bethel and to the house of Israel; and he said to them, “Thus says the Lord: ‘I brought you out of Egypt and led you to the land that I swore to your fathers, and I said, “I will not break my covenant that is with you for eternity. 2 And you shall not make a covenant with the one who dwells in this land, nor bow down to their gods; but their graven images you shall break in pieces, their altars you shall tear down.” But you hearkened not to my voice since you have done these things. 3 And I in turn said, “I shall not drive them out from before you, but they will be with you as afflictions, and their gods will be to you as a snare.” ’ ” 4 And it came to pass when the messenger of the Lord said these words against all the sons of Israel that the people lifted their voice and wept. 5 And they named the name of that place “Place of Weeping,” and they sacrificed there to the Lord. Joshua Dies 6 Now Joshua sent forth the people, and a man went to his inheritance to take possession of the land. 7 And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who lived many days with Joshua, who knew all the great works of the Lord, as many as he did in Israel. 8 And Joshua son Nun, servant of the Lord, died, a son of one hundred and ten years. 9 And they buried him inside the borders of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, from the north of the hill country of Gaash. 10 And indeed, that whole generation was added to their fathers; but another generation arose after them that did not know the Lord or also the work that he did before in Israel. Israel Worships the Baals 11 So the sons of Israel did evil before the face of the Lord and served the Baals. 12 And they left the Lord, the God of their fathers, the one who led them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods from the gods of the nations around them and worshipped them and provoked the Lord. 13 They also deserted him and served Baal and the Astartes. 14 So the Lord was angered with wrath on account of Israel; he delivered them into the hand of captors, and they were plundered; then he gave them up into the hand of their enemies from all around, and they were no longer strong enough to stand before the face of their enemies 15 among whomever they went. The hand of the Lord was against them for evil, just as the Lord said and just as the Lord swore to them, and he afflicted them very much. 16 Thus the Lord raised up judges, and the Lord delivered them from the hand of the ones who captured them. 17 Nonetheless, they did not obey the judges. For they prostituted themselves after other gods and bowed down to them. They turned away swiftly from the way that their fathers listened to the words of the Lord; they did not do likewise. 18 Now when the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he delivered them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the Lord was encouraged from their groaning from the face of those besieging them and afflicting them. 19 And it came to pass when the judge died at that time, they turned away and again corrupted themselves more than their fathers, going after other gods to serve them and to bow down to them. They did not abandon their practices and their stubborn ways. 20 And the Lord was angered with wrath on account of Israel, and he said, “Because this nation transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and they did not listen to my voice, 21 therefore I will not proceed to drive out a man from the face of them from the nations that Joshua son of Nun left behind in the land when he died, 22 to test Israel by them if they will keep the way of the Lord to walk in it the way their fathers kept it or not.” 23 And the Lord will permit these nations to remain, neither driving them out quickly nor delivering them into the hand of Joshua.
3And these are the nations that the Lord allowed to remain to test Israel with them (namely, all those that did not know the wars of Canaan, 2 to teach warfare to the generations of Israel, those that had not experienced them before). 3 The five satrapies of the foreigners and all the Canaanites, the Sidonians and the Hivites dwelling in Lebanon, from the hill country of Hermon up to Lebo Hemath. 4 And this occurred to test Israel by them and to learn whether they would obey the commands of the Lord that he commanded their ancestors by the hand of Moses. 5 The sons of Israel dwelt in the midst of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6 And they took their daughters for themselves as wives, and their daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods. Othniel 7 The sons of Israel did evil against the Lord and forgot the Lord their God, and they served the Baals and the sacred groves. 8 So the Lord was wrathfully angrya with Israel, and he gave them up into the hand of Cushan-Rishathaim, king of the Rivers of Syria, and the sons of Israel served CushanRishathaim eight years. 9 Then the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord; so the Lord raised up a deliverer to Israel and delivered them: Othniel, son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. 10 The Spirit of the Lord was upon him: He judged Israel and went into war against Cushan-Rishathaim. And the Lord delivered into his hand Cushan-Rishathaim, king of the Rivers of Syria, and his hand was strengthened against Cushan-Rishathaim. 11 Then the land was at rest forty years. And Othniel, son of Kenaz, died. Ehud 12 The sons of Israel continued to do evil before the Lord, and the Lord strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil before the Lord. 13 So he gathered to himself all the people of Ammon and the Amalekites; and they went and struck Israel and seized possession of the City of the Palms. 14 The sons of Israel served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years. 15 And the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord, so he raised up for them the deliverer Ehud, son of Gera son of a Benjamite, an ambidextrous man. The sons of Israel sent a gift by his hand to Eglon king of Moab. 16 Ehud also made for himself a two-edged sword of span in length, and he wore it under the cloak against his right thigh. 17 Then he went and brought up the gift to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very handsome man. 18 When Ehud finished presenting the gift, he sent away those carrying the gift. 19 And turning back from the carved images—those near Gilgal—Ehud said, “I have a message,b a secret one for you, O king.” And Eglon said to him, “Be silent.” Then he sent away from himself everyone attending to him. 20 And Ehud went in to him, for Eglon was sitting in his most private summer room upstairs. Then Ehud said, “I have a message from Godc for you, O king.” Eglon stood up from the throne, which was near Ehud. 21 And as Eglon was rising, Ehud stretched out his left hand, seized the sword from above his right thigh, and planted it in his belly. 22 And the hilt went in as well after the blade and the fat closed in upon the blade, for Ehud did not draw out the sword from the belly. 23 Then Ehud went out from the porch and passed by the appointed ones, closing the doors of the upstairs room after him and locking them. 24 And he departed. Then Eglon’s servants went up to look; but look, the door of the upstairs room was bolted. And they said, “What if he is emptying his feet in the summer room?” 25 Then they waited until they were ashamed, and look, he still did not open the doors of the upstairs room. So, they took the key and opened it: Look, their master was fallen to the earth dead! 26 Meanwhile, Ehud came through safely while they made uproar, and no one noticed him. He passed by the graven images and came through safely to Seirah. 27 It came to pass when Ehud came to the land of Israel, he signaled by horn in the hill country of Ephraim. The sons of Israel went down with him from the hill country with Ehud in front of them. 28 And he said to them, “Come down behind me, because the Lord God delivered our enemies, the land of Moab, into our hand.” So, they went down behind him and seized first the crossing of the Jordan at Moab: and he did not allow anyone to cross. 29 And they struck Moab in that day, about ten thousand men, all robust and each a man of might; no man came through safely. 30 Moab was humbled in that day under the hand of Israel, and the land was at rest eighty years. Ehud judged them until he died. Shamgar 31 After him there arose Shamgar son of Anath, and he struck the foreigners,a up to six hundred men, with a plowshare as would be pulled by oxen. He, too, delivered Israel.
4And the sons of Israel repeated doing evil before the face of the Lord, and Ehud had died. 2 Then the Lord gave up the sons of Israel into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who ruled in Hazor; and the ruler of his forces was Sisera. He dwelt in Harosheth-hagoyim. 3 Then the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord, because he had nine hundred chariots of iron. He oppressed Israel with power for twenty years. 4 Deborah, a woman and prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, judged Israel in that time. 5 And she would sit under the date palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim. The sons of Israel would go up to her for judgment. 6 Then Deborah sent and called Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh of Naphtali, and she said to him, “Has not the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded you? You shall depart to Mount Tabor and take with you ten thousand men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun. 7 And I will bring to you at the wadi of Kishon, Sisera, ruler of the forces of Jabin, even his chariots and his throng. Then I will deliver him into your hand.” 8 Barak said to her, “If you would go with me, I will proceed. But if you do not go, I will not proceed; for I do not know the day in which the Lord prospers the messenger with me.” [1] 9 And she said, “Going, I will go with you; only know that the victory shall not be yours on the way in which you go, because into the hand of a woman the Lord will deliver Sisera.” And Deborah arose and went with Barak from Kadesh. 10 And Barak cried out to Zebulun and Naphtali from Kedesh and ten thousand men went up at the feet of him; Deborah went up with him also. 11 Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the Kenites, from the sons of Hobab, father-inlaw of Moses, and he erected his tent as far away as the Oak of the Arrogant, which is near Kedesh. [2] 12 And it was reported to Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam went up to Mount Tabor. 13 So Sisera summoned all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the wadi of Kishon. 14 And Deborah said to Barak, “Rise up: this is the day in which the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand; for the Lord will go before you.” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men behind him. 15 And the Lord astonished Sisera, all his chariots and all his camp, by the edge of the sword in the presence of Barak. Sisera himself got down from upon his chariot and fled on foot. 16 And Barak pursued after the chariots and the host as far as Harosheth-hagoyim; all the camp of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword. Not even one person was left. 17 Now Sisera fled by foot to the tent of Jael, wife of Heber and comrade of the Kenite, because there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 18 And Jael went out to a meeting with Sisera and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me. Do not be frightened.” So, he turned aside to her into the tent, and she clothed him with a covering. 19 Then Sisera said to her, “Give me a little water to drink, I pray, for I thirst.” And she opened the wineskin of milk and gave him a drink; then she covered him. 20 And Sisera said to her, “Stand now at the door of the tent. If it should happen that a man comes to you and asks you, saying, “Is there a man here?” then say, “There is not.” 21 Then Jael wife of Heber took the peg of the tent and put the hammer in her hand and went in with him in secret. And she fixed the peg in his temple and it went through into the earth. And he, greatly astonished, was darkened and died. 22 Now Barak had been pursuing Sisera, so Jael went out to a meeting with him. She said to him, “Come here, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” And he went in with her, and look, Sisera was thrown dead with the peg in his temple. 23 In that day God put Jabin king of Canaan to flight before the sons of Israel. 24 Then the hand of the sons of Israel was going and getting harder against Jabin king of Canaan until the time when they utterly destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.
5Deborah and Barak, son of Abinoam, sang in that day, saying: 2 A revelation was uncovered in Israel when the people ignorantly sinned: praise the Lord! 3 Hear, O kings, and hearken, O satraps: I am to the Lord, I am I will sing, I will sing psalms to the Lord God of Israel. 4 O Lord, when you were going out to Seir and marching forth from the field of Edom, the earth shook, and heaven dropped dew, and the clouds poured water. 5 Mountains were shaken before the face of the Lord Eloi, this Sinai before the face of the Lord God of Israel. 6 In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the day of Jael, they quit the ways, and they went on byways they went on twisted ways. 7 The mighty ones quit in Israel, they quit until Deborah arose, until a mother arose in Israel. 8 They chose new gods when cities of rulers fought; a shield perhaps was seen and a spearhead among forty thousand in Israel. [3] 9 My heart is inclined to the commands given in Israel; those that are willing among the people: praise the Lord. 10 Those going upon a she-donkey at noon, those seated upon a judgment seat, and those going upon the roads of councilors along the way: 11 Tell fully from the noise of those playing music, between those drawing water: there they will ascribe righteous acts. O Lord, righteous acts will increase in Israel. Then the people of the Lord went down into the cities. 12 Awake, awake, O Deborah. Awake, awake to utter a song. Rise up, Barak, and take captive your captivity, son of Abinoam. 13 Then comprehension went down to the strong ones, the people of the Lord went down for him, among the mighty ones from me. 14 Ephraim rooted out those in Amalek, behind you was Benjamin among your people. Machir went down with me searching out, and from Zebulun those who draw with the scribe’s rod of record. 15 And the leaders in Issachar were with Deborah and Barak. Thus she sent Barak into the valley by foot. Into the portion of Reuben, great was the resolution of the heart. 16 Into what did they sit between the sheepfolds to hear the bleating of the messengers? Among the divisions of Reuben, great was examination of the heart. 17 Gilead pitched his tents on the other side of the Jordan. Why did Dan stay with the ships? Asher remained at the coast of the seas and at its ports he camped. 18 Zebulun, the people reproached his soul to death; and Naphtali to the heights of the field. 19 Their kings came, they arrayed themselves; then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach on the water of Megiddo; a gift of silver they did not take. 20 From heaven the stars arrayed themselves, from their tracks they arrayed themselves against Sisera. 21 The wadi of Kishon swept them away, that ancient brook the Kishon brook; my mighty soul will trample him. [4] 22 Then the heels of the horse were fettered; in haste his mighty ones hastened. 23 “Call down curses on Meroz,” said the angel of the Lord, “call down curses on all who dwell in it, for they did not come to the help of the Lord, to help among the mighty ones.” 24 Blessed be Jael among women, wife of Heber the Kenite, above the women in tents may she be blessed. 25 He asked for water, she gave milk; in a bowl of superiors she brought butter. 26 Her left hand to a peg she stretched out, and her right hand to a hammer of laborers. Then she hammered Sisera, she drove a nail through his head and struck him; she drove a nail through his forehead. 27 Between her feet he rolled, he fell, and he lay between her feet. Bowing he fell; where he bowed, there he fell, departing. 28 Through the window peered the mother of Sisera, out of the loophole, saying, “Why was his chariot put to shame? Why do his chariot’s feet tarry?” 29 Her clever princesses answered to her, and she turned back her words herself: 30 “Will not they find him distributing the spoils? He will have compassion to the head of a man. The spoils of dyed garments for Sisera, spoils of embroidery dyes, they are embroiderers’ dyes, spoils for his neck.” 31 Thus may all your enemies be destroyed, O Lord, and those loving him as the going out of the sun in his might. And the land was at rest forty years.
6Again the sons of Israel did what was evil before the Lord, so the Lord delivered them up into the hand of Midian for seven years. 2 Then the hand of Midian grew strong against Israel, and the sons of Israel made for themselves holes in the hills, caves, and hanging things away from the face of Midian. 3 And it came to pass, whenever the sons of Israel sowed, then Midian and Amalek went up, and the sons of the east would go up with them, to encamp against them. 4 Then they destroyed their fruit until coming to Gaza, and they did not leave behind a foundation for life in the land of Israel, not even a bull or a donkey among the flocks. 5 For they and their possessions would go up, and their tents would be coming along like locust in a throng; there was no number to them and their camels. They would go up into the land of Israel and utterly destroy it. 6 Israel was impoverished very much from the face of Midian. 7 So the sons of Israel called to the Lord from the face of the Midianites. 8 The Lord sent forth a man, a prophet, to the sons of Israel, and he said to them, “The Lord, the God of Israel says this: ‘I am he who led you up from the land of Egypt and led you up from the house of your slavery. 9 I rescued you from the hand of Egypt and from the hand of all the ones oppressing you; I drove them out from your face gave to you their land. 10 Then I said to you: “I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you shall settle.” But you hearkened not to my voice.’ ” The Angel of the Lord Calls Gideon 11 The angel of the Lord came, and he sat under the terebinth, which is in Ophrah, in the land of Joash father of Esdri. His son Gideon was beating out grain in a winepress to escape from the face of Midian. 12 And the angel of the Lord was seen by him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, mighty one of power.” 13 And Gideon said to him, “In me, my Lord! But if the Lord is with us, why have these troubles found us? And where are all his wonders that our fathers fully told us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord lead up us out of Egypt?’ And now he has cast us out, and he has given us into the hand of Midian.” 14 Then the angel of the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this strength of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Look, I have sent you.” [5] 15 And Gideon said to him, “In me, my Lord, by what shall I save Israel? Look, my thousand is weak in Manasseh, and I am the insignificant one in the house of my father.” 16 So the angel of the Lord said to him, “The Lord shall be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites like one man.” [6] 17 Gideon said to him, “If then I have found mercy in your eye, and you do for me today all that you have said to me, 18 do not depart from here until my coming to you. I will bring forth the sacrifice and put it before your face.” And he said, “I am I will sit until your return.” 19 Then Gideon went in and prepared a kid of the goats and an ephah of unleavened flour. He put the meat in the basket, and he placed the broth in the pot; then he carried them out to him under the terebinth, and he came near. 20 Then the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and put them against that rock and pour out the broth nearby.” And he did thus. 21 The angel of the Lord then stretched out the end of the rod that was in his hand and ignited the meat and the unleavened cakes. And fire went up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. So, the angel of the Lord went from his eyes. 22 Then Gideon saw that this was the angel of the Lord, and Gideon said, “Ah, ah, my Lord, O Lord! For I saw the angel of the Lord face to face.” 23 And the Lord said to him, “Peace to you, do not fear; you shall not die.” 24 Then Gideon built an altar there for the Lord and called it “Peace of the Lord,” its name until this day. It is still in Ophrah of the father of Esdri. 25 And it came to pass in that night that the Lord said to him, “Take the calf, the bull which is your father’s, and a second calf that is seven years old, and take down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father; also, the sacred grove by it you shall destroy. 26 And you shall build an altar to the Lord your God upon the top of this Maoueka in the arrangement; then take the second calf and offer it as a whole burnt offering with the wood of the sacred grove, which you shall utterly destroy.” 27 So Gideon took ten men from the slaves of himself, and he did it the way the Lord said to him. And it happened as he was afraid to do it by day, because of the house of his father and the men of the city, and he did it by night. Gideon Destroys the Altar of Baal 28 The men of the city rose early in the morning; and look, the altar of Baal had been taken down, and the sacred grove by it had been destroyed! They also saw the second calf that he had offered upon the altar that had been built. 29 And a man said to his neighbor, “Who did this thing?” So they sought and searched and learned that Gideon the son of Joash did this thing. 30 The men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son and let him be put to death, because he took down the altar of Baal and because he destroyed the sacred grove beside it.” 31 And Gideon son of Joash said to all the men who rose up against him, “Are you now pleading on behalf of Baal, or will you save him? Whoever would plead for him, let him be put to death this morning! If he is a god, let him plead for himself, because he took down his altar.” 32 And he called him on that day Jerubbaal saying, “Let Baal pass judgment on himself, for his altar was taken down.” 33 All Midian and Amalek and the sons of the east gathered together in the same place, and they encamped in the valley of Jezreel. 34 But the Spirit of the Lord strengthened Gideon; he signaled with a horn, and the Abiezrites were frightened behind him. 35 He also sent out messengers into all Manasseh, and into Asher, into Zebulun, and Naphtali. He then went up to their meeting. Gideon Tests the Lord with the Fleece 36 And Gideon said to God, “If you are saving Israel by my hand the way you have said, 37 look, I am setting a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If dew should come upon the fleece alone, and upon all the earth is dryness, I shall know that you shall save Israel by my hand, just as you have said.” 38 And it happened in that way. He rose early on the next day, squeezed out the fleece, and dew dropped from the fleece—a full pot of water. 39 So Gideon said to God, “I pray, do not let your soul be angry with me, and I will speak once further. I will also indeed make a trial with the fleece; once further. May there be dryness upon the fleece alone, and upon all the earth let there be dew.” 40 And God did thus in that night, and there was dryness upon the fleece alone, and dew was upon all the earth.
7And Jerubbaal (that is Gideon) rose early, and all the people with him. They encamped by the spring of Arad, and the camp of Midian was toward the north of it from Gibeath in the valley. 2 And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you is plentiful, such that I shall not give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel should boast against me, saying, ‘My hand saved me.’ 3 Now speak truly into the ear of the people, saying, ‘Who is frightened and fearful? Let him turn around and depart from Mount Gilead.’ ” So twenty-two thousand turned from the people, and ten thousand remained. 4 Then the Lord said to Gideon, “Still the people is plentiful. Bring them down to the water, and I will purge it for you there. It shall be that if I say to you, ‘This one will go with you,’ he will go with you. And all those of whom I say to you, ‘This one will not go with you,’ he will not go with you.” 5 So he brought the people down to the water, and the Lord said to Gideon, “Anyone who laps with his tongue from the water as the dog laps, you will put him in his station, and also anyone who bows upon his knee to drink.” 6 The number of those lapping with their hand to their mouth was three hundred men; all the remaining people bowed on their knees to drink water. 7 And the Lord said to Gideon, “I shall save you with the three hundred men who lap, and I will give Midian into your hand. And all the people will go each to his place.” 8 And they took the provision of the people in their hand, and their horns and every man of Israel he sent forth, each to his tent. But he strengthened the three hundred men. And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley. 9 It came to pass in that night that the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down into the camp, because I will give it over into your hand. 10 And if you are afraid to go down, you and your servant Purah should go down to the camp 11 and hear what they will say. After this your hands shall be strengthened, and you shall go down into the camp.” So, he and Purah his servant went down to the end of the fifty who were in the camp. 12 Midian and Amalek and all the sons of the east were thrown in the valley like locust in a throng, and their camels were innumerable, like the sand upon the shore of the sea in multitude. 13 And Gideon went, and look, there was a man relating to his neighbor a dream. He said, “Look! I dreamed a dream, and look, a loaf of barley bread spun into the camp of Midian and went up to the tent and struck it. It collapsed and turned upside down, and the tent fell completely.” 14 His neighbor answered and said, “This is nothing if not the sword of Gideon son of Joash, a man of Israel. God has delivered Midian and all the camp into his hand.” 15 And when Gideon heard the explanation of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed before the Lord and returned to the camp of Israel. Then he said, “Arise, for the Lord has delivered into our hand the camp of Midian.” 16 And he divided the three hundred men into three ends, and he put horns into the hands of all, as well as empty water-pots and torches in the water-pots. 17 Then he said to them, “You shall pay attention to me, and thus you shall do. Look, I will go to the front of the camp, and just as I might do, thus you shall do. 18 I and everyone with me will blow on the horn, and you will blow on the horns around the whole of the camp, and say: ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’ ” 19 So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him entered to the end of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch. Then rousing they roused the guards and blew on the horns and shook off the water-pots that were in their hands. 20 Also the three companies blew on the horns and broke the water-pots and held in their left hands the torches and in their right hands the horns for blowing, and they cried out, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon.” 21 And a man stood in his own place surrounding the camp, and the whole camp of Midian ran and sounded an alarm and fled. 22 But they blew on the three hundred horns, and the Lord set the sword of each man against his neighbor in all of the camp, and the camp fled as far as Beth-acacia toward Zererah, as far as the shore of Abel-meholah by Tabbath. 23 And they called each man of Israel from Naphtali, from Asher, and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after the Midianites. 24 Now Gideon sent messengers into all the hill country of Ephraim saying, “Come down for a meeting of Midianites, and take for yourselves the water as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.” And every man of Ephraim cried out and captured the water as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan. 25 And they collected the rulers of Midian and Oreb and Zeeb, and they slew Oreb in the Rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they slew in the Winepress of Zeeb. And they pursued the Midianites, and the head of Oreb, and Zeeb they carried to Gideon from the other side of the Jordan.
8And a man of Ephraim said to Gideon, “What is this thing you have done to us, not calling us when you advanced to array for battle with the Midianites?” And they argued against him intensely. 2 And he said to them, “What have I done now compared to you? Are the gleanings of Ephraim not better than the harvest of Abiezer? 3 The Lord has delivered into your hand the rulers of Midian, Oreb, and Zeeb; what, am I strong enough to do like you?” Then their spirit relaxed toward him as he said this message. 4 Then Gideon went to the Jordan and crossed, himself and the three hundred men with him, hungry and yet pursuing. 5 And he said to the men of Succoth, “Give, I pray, bread as provisions for this people, who are at my feet; for they are coming to an end. Look, I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.” 6 And the rulers of Succoth said, “Is the hand of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand that we should give bread to your forces?” 7 And Gideon said, “Because of this, when the Lord gives Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will thresh your flesh in the thorns of the wilderness and with the briers. 8 And he went up from there to Penuel and spoke to them in like manner. The men of Penuel answered him in the way the men of Succoth had answered. 9 And Gideon said to the men of Penuel, “When I return with peace, I will utterly destroy this tower.” 10 And Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their camp with them, about fifteen thousand, all those left behind from the whole camp of the foreigners. And the fallen were one hundred twenty thousand men who drew the sword. 11 Gideon went up in the way of those encamping in tents from eastward of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he struck the camp while the camp was in sure confidence. 12 So Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued after them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he astonished all the camp. 13 Then Gideon son of Joash returned from the place of battle from above the place of battle of Heres.a 14 He also captured a child from the men of Succoth and questioned him, and he wrote for him the names of the rulers of Succoth and their elders, seventy-seven men. 15 And Gideon came to the rulers of Succoth and said, “Look, Zebah and Zalmunna, in whom you reproached me, when you said, ‘Is the hand of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to the men who faint?’ ” 16 And he took the elders of the city into the thorns of the wilderness and the briers and in them threshed the men of the city. 17 Also the tower of Penuel he overturned and slew the men of that city. 18 Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where are the men whom you slew in Tabor?” And they said, “As you are, thus they were, in likeness of a son of a king.” 19 And Gideon said, “They were my brothers and sons of my mother. As the Lord lives, if you had kept them alive I would not have killed you.” 20 And to Jether his firstborn he said, “Arise, kill them.” But the child did not draw his sword, for he was frightened on account of being still young. 21 Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Arise, you, and fall upon us, because your might is like a man.” And Gideon arose and slew Zebah and Zalmunna; then he took the pendants that were on the necks of their camels. 22 Now the men of Israel said to Gideon, “O lord, rule us, both you and your son, because you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” 23 And Gideon said to them, “I will not rule, nor will my son rule over you; the Lord will rule you.” 24 Gideon also said, “I will ask of you a request, that each man give me an earring from his spoils.” For they had golden earrings since they were Ishmaelites. 25 And they said, “Giving, we will give them.” And he unfolded his cloak, and each man threw there an earring from his spoils. 26 And the measure of the golden earrings that he asked for was one thousand five hundred gold pieces, besides the pendants, chains, cloaks, and purple garments that were upon the kings of Midian, and also the collars that were on the necks of their camels. 27 Gideon made it into an ephod and set it in his city Ophrah, and all Israel committed fornication after it there. It was also a stumbling block to Gideon and his house. 28 And Midian was humiliated before the face of the sons of Israel and did not again lift up their head. And the land was at rest forty years in the days of Gideon. The Death of Gideon 29 Now Jerubbaal son of Joash went and sat in his house. 30 And Gideon had seventy sons, who had gone out of his thighs, because he had many wives. 31 His concubine was in Shechem, and she bore for him a son as well and designated his name Abimelech.a 32 And Gideon son of Joash died in his city, and was buried in the grave of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. 33 Now it happened that when Gideon died, the sons of Israel turned around and committed fornication after the Baals and made for themselves a covenant with Baal-berith so that he would be their god. 34 And the sons of Israel did not remember the Lord God that rescued them from the hand of all those oppressing them from all around. 35 And they did not show mercy with the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon), according to all the good that he did with Israel.
9Abimelech son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to the brothers of his mother and spoke to them and to all the family of the house of the father of his mother, saying, 2 “Speak now to the ears of all the men of Shechem: Which is good for you, that seventy men be master over you, all the sons of Jerubbaal, or one man be master over you? Remember that I am your bone and your flesh.” 3 And the brothers of his mother spoke all these words about him in the ears of all the men of Shechem. Their heart inclined after Abimelech because they said, “He is our brother.” 4 Then they gave him seventy pieces of silver from the house of Baal-berith. And Abimelech hired for himself worthless and cowardly men, and they went following him. 5 And he entered into the house of his father in Ophrah, and he killed his brothers, the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men upon one stone. Jotham the younger son of Jerubbaal was left because he hid. 6 And all the men of Shechem gathered together and all the house of Beth-millo, and they went and made Abimelech king near the oak tree, the one found at the post that is in Shechem. 7 This was reported to Jotham; so, he went and stood upon the top of Mount Gerizim and lifted his voice, wept, and said to them, “Listen to me, men of Shechem, and God will hear you. 8 The trees went forth to anoint over themselves a king. And they said to the olive tree, ‘Rule over us.’ 9 But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I abandon my oil, with which men glorify God, and go to sway over the trees?’ 10 Then the trees said to the fig-tree, ‘Come here; rule over us.’ 11 And the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I, abandoning my sweetness and my good fruits, proceed to sway over the trees?’ 12 And the trees said to the vine, ‘Come here, you rule over us.’ 13 And the vine said to them, ‘Shall I abandon my wine, which delights God and humans, will I proceed to sway over the trees?’ 14 And all the trees said to the bramble, ‘Come here, you rule over us.’ 15 And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in truth you are anointing me to rule over you, come hither, stand in my shade; and if not, may there come fire from me and may it devour the cedars of Lebanon.’ ” 16 “Now if in truth and integrity you have done this and appointed Abimelech king, and if you have done goodness with Jerubbaal and with his house, and if as repayment of his hand you have done it to him— 17 for my father set up an army on behalf of you and cast forth his soul from opposite and rescued you from the hand of Midian; 18 but you have risen up against the house of my father today, and you have slain his sons, seventy men upon one stone, and appointed as king Abimelech, son of his female slave, over the men of Shechem because he is your brother. 19 And if in truth and integrity you have done it with Jerubbaal and with his house in this day, may you be gladdened in Abimelech, and may he be gladdened as well over you. 20 But if not, let fire go out from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and the house of Beth-millo; and let fire go out from the men of Shechem and from the house of Beth-millo, and may it devour Abimelech. 21 And Jotham fled, and he escaped and went as far as Beer, and he dwelt there away from the face of Abimelech his brother. The Downfall of Shechem and Abimelech 22 Abimelech ruled over Israel three years. 23 And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem, and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with the house of Abimelech, 24 to bring up the injustice of the seventy sons of Jerubbaal and to place their blood upon Abimelech their brother who slew them, and upon the men of Shechem (for they strengthened his hand to kill the brothers). 25 And the men of Shechem placed some to lie in wait for him upon the tops of the hills. They plundered all who passed by them on the road, and it was reported to King Abimelech. 26 Now Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers went and passed by Shechem, and the men of Shechem placed hope in him. 27 They went out into a field and gathered their vines; and they trod them and made praises. Then they carried them into the house of their god; and they ate and spoke and called down curses upon Abimelech. 28 Then Gaal son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who is the son of Shechem that we will serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and Zebul, his overseer, a servant with the men of Hamor father of Shechem? Indeed, why should we serve him? 29 Who would give this people into my hand? Then I would remove Abimelech and say to him, ‘Increase your force and come out.’ ” 30 Zebul ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal son of Ebed, and he was wrathfully angry. 31 He dispatched messengers to Abimelech in secret, saying, “Look, Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem, and look, they have besieged the city against you. 32 So now arise at night, you and the people with you, and lie in wait in the field. 33 And it shall be early in the day, at the same time as the rising of the sun, you shall rise early and deploy against the city. And look, he and the people with him will go out against you, and you shall do to him as much as your hand finds.” 34 So Abimelech and all the people with him arose at night and lay in wait against Shechem in four companies. 35 And Gaal son of Ebed went out and stood by the door of the gates of the city, and Abimelech and the people with him arose from the ambush. 36 Gaal son of Ebed saw the people, and he said to Zebul, “Look, people are going down from the tops of the hills.” And Zebul said to him, “You are seeing the shadow of the hills as men.” 37 Gaal continued to speak and said, “Look, people are going down by the sea from the place next to the middle of the land, and another company coming by the road Elon-meonenim.” 38 Then Zebul said to him, “And where is your mouth as you said, ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him? Is not this the people that you scorned?’ Go out surely now and array against him.” 39 And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem and arrayed for battle against Abimelech. 40 And Abimelech pursued him, and he fled from his face, and many casualties fell as far as the door of the gate. 41 Then Abimelech entered into Arumah, and Zebul cast out Gaal and his brothers so they would not dwell in Shechem. 42 It came to pass the next day that the people went out into the field and reported to Abimelech. 43 And he took the people and divided them into three companies. Then he lay in wait in the field, looked, and look, the people went out from the city. So, he arose against them and struck them. 44 Then Abimelech and the leaders who were with him deployed and stood beside the door of the gate of the city. The two companies deployed against all those in the field and struck them. 45 And Abimelech was setting up the army against the city all that day, and he seized the city and the people; he killed those in it, destroyed the city, and sowed it with salt. 46 And all the men of the tower of Shechem heard, and they came to a meeting at El-berith. 47 And it was reported to Abimelech that all the men of the tower of Shechem gathered together. 48 And Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, and all the people who were with him. Then Abimelech took the axe in his hand and struck a branch of a tree; and he took and put it upon his shoulders. Then he said to the people with him, “That which you saw me doing, quickly do as I have done.” 49 So they cut down likewise a branch for each and every man, and they went behind Abimelech; they lay them at the place of meeting and burned over them the place of meeting with fire. They died, indeed all the men of the tower of Shechem, about a thousand men and women. 50 Then Abimelech went from El-berith; he encamped against Thebez and took it. 51 A strong tower was in the midst of the city, and all the men and the women of the city fled there. They shut them out, then went up on the roof of the tower. 52 And Abimelech went up to the tower, and they arrayed themselves against it. Abimelech then approached the door of the tower to burn it with fire. 53 But one woman threw a fragment of millstone at Abimelech’s head, and it broke his skull. 54 He cried out quickly to the servant who was carrying his armor, and he said to him, “Draw my sword and kill me, lest they should say, ‘A woman killed him.’ ” So his servant stabbed him, and he died. 55 Each person of Israel saw that Abimelech had died, and everyone went to their place. 56 So God returned the evil that Abimelech did to his father, in killing his seventy brothers. 57 All the evil of the men of Shechem God returned on their head, and the curse of Jotham son of Jerubbaal came upon them.
10And there arose after Abimelech to deliver Israel Tola son of Puah son of his uncle, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. 2 And he judged Israel twenty-three years and died and was buried in Shamir. 3 There arose after him Jair the Gileadite, and he judged Israel twenty-two years. 4 He had thirty-two sons going upon thirty-two foals, and they had thirty-two cities. And they called them “Dwellings of Jair” until this day in the land of Gilead. 5 And Jair died and was buried in Kamon. 6 The sons of Israel continued to do evil before the Lord, and they worshipped the Baals and the Astaroth, the gods of Arad and the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab and the gods of the sons of Ammon and the gods of the Philistines. They abandoned the Lord and did not serve him. 7 So the Lord was wrathfully angry with Israel, and he gave them up into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the sons of Ammon. 8 And they oppressed and crushed the sons of Israel in that time eighteen years, all the sons of Israel on the other side of the Jordan in the land of the Amorites in Gilead. 9 And the sons of Ammon crossed the Jordan to array for battle against Judah and Benjamin and against Ephraim, and Israel was oppressed very much. 10 And the sons of Israel called to the Lord saying, “We have sinned against you, seeing that we have forsaken God and served the Baals.” 11 And the Lord said to the sons of Israel, “Did I not deliver you from Egypt and from the Amorite and from the sons of Ammon and from the Philistines? 12 And Sidonians and Amalek and Midian, who oppressed you, and you called to me, and I delivered you from their hand. 13 And you deserted me and served other gods; on account of this I will no longer save you. 14 Go, and call to the gods whom you have chosen for yourselves, and let them save you in the time of your oppression. 15 And the sons of Israel said to the Lord, “We have sinned; do to us according to all that is good in your eyes. Only deliver us in this day.” 16 And they put away the foreign gods from their midst and served the Lord only. And his soul was diminished by the suffering of Israel. 17 And the sons of Ammon went up and encamped in Gilead; then the sons of Israel gathered together and encamped in Mizpah. 18 And the people who were rulers of Gilead said, a man to his neighbor, “Who is the man who might be first to array for battle against the sons of Ammon? And he shall be ruler to all who inhabit Gilead.”
11And Jephthah the Gileadite was exalted in strength (he was the son of a woman, a prostitute, who fathered Jephthah to Gilead). 2 The wife of Gilead bore children to him, and his wife’s children matured and drove out Jephthah. Then he said to him, “You shall not inherit with the house of our father, seeing that you are the son of a prostitute woman.” 3 So Jephthah fled from the face of his brothers. And he dwelt in the land of Tob, and worthless men gathered to Jephthah and went out with him. 4 Then it happened that the sons of Ammon prepared to fight with Israel. 5 And the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6 They said to Jephthah, “Come here, and be our leader. Let us array ourselves against the sons of Ammon.” 7 And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me, and drive me out from the house of my father, and send me away from you? And on what account did you come to me now when you are in need?” 8 Then the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “Because of this now we turn to you, that you should go with us and array yourself against the sons of Ammon, and be to us as ruler to all the inhabitants of Gilead.” 9 Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you return me to array for battle with the sons of Ammon and the Lord hands them over before me, then I will be to you as a ruler.” 10 So the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord will be listening between us, if we shall not do according to your word.” 11 And Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead and the people placed him over them as head and as leader, and Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord in Mizpah. 12 And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, “What is it with me and youa seeing that you have come against me to array for battle in my land?” 13 So the king of the sons of Ammon said to the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel took my land when he came up from Egypt, from Arnon and up to Jabbok, then up to the Jordan, so now return them in peace, and I will proceed.” 14 And Jephthah yet again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites. 15 He said to him, “Jephthah says this, ‘Israel did not take the land of Moab and the land of the sons of Ammon; 16 because when they came up from Egypt, Israel went in the wilderness up to the sea of Siph,b and went into Kadesh. 17 And Israel dispatched messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “I will pass now in your land.” And the king of Edom did not obey. To the king of Moab he sent word, but he did not consent. So Israel remained in Kadesh. 18 And he went in the wilderness and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab. He came from the east to the land of Moab, and they encamped on the other side of Arnon. He did not enter into the boundaries of Moab, because Arnon is the boundary of Moab. 19 “ ‘Israel sent a message and said to him, “Please, let me pass by in your land up to our place.” 20 Sihon also did not trust Israel to pass in his boundary; and Sihon assembled all his people, encamped in Jahaz, and arrayed for battle against Israel. 21 And the Lord the God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel. And he struck him, and Israel seized the whole land of the Amorites who inhabit that land, 22 from Arnon and up to Jabbok and from the wilderness up to the Jordan. 23 And now the Lord, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from the face of his people Israel: Will you take possession of it? 24 Will you not seize possession of that which you shall inherit of your god Chemosh? And all that the Lord our God has driven out from our face we shall inherit those. 25 And now are you any better among the good than Balak son of Zippor king of Moab? Did he indeed fight with Israel, or did he truly war with him? 26 When dwelling in Heshbon and in its boundaries, and in the land of Aroer and in its boundaries, and in all the cities beside the Jordan, three hundred years—on account of what did you not deliver them in that time? 27 And now I have not sinned against you, and you are doing wickedness to me, arraying for battle with me. May the Lord judge, deciding today between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.’ ” 28 And the king of the sons of Ammon did not hearken to the words of Jephthah that he sent to him. Jephthah Makes a Vow 29 The Spirit of the Lord was upon Jephthah, and he passed by Gilead and Manasseh, and passed by the watchtower of Gilead to the other side of the sons of Ammon. 30 And Jephthah prayed to the Lord and said, “If you should surely give the sons of Ammon into my hand, 31 then it shall be that whoever may come from the door of my house for meeting with me at my return in peace from the sons of Ammon, he shall be the Lord’s; I will offer him as a whole burnt offering.” 32 And Jephthah came against the sons of Ammon to array for battle against them, and the Lord delivered them into his hand. 33 And he struck them from Aroer as far as coming up to Minnith—twenty cities in number—and as far as Abelkaramim, a very great blow. The sons of Ammon were humbled before the face of the sons of Israel. 34 And Jephthah went to Mizpah to his house; and look, his daughter was going out to meet him with drums and dancing. She was his only fathered; he had no other son or daughter. 35 And it came to pass when he saw her, he ripped his garment and said, “Ah, ah, my daughter, you stirred up trouble for me. You were in my trouble, and I have opened my mouth against you to the Lord, and I am not able to turn back.” 36 She, however, said to him, “Father, you have opened your mouth to the Lord. Do to me in the way you have said, for the Lord has worked vengeance for you against your enemies from the sons of Ammon.” 37 She also said this to her father: “Do this, my father, please. Allow me two months, and I will go about and go down on the hills and lament concerning my maidenhood, I and my companions.” 38 So he said, “Go!” And he sent her for two months, and she went, she and her companions. And she wept concerning her maidenhood upon the hills. 39 And it happened at the completion of the two months that she returned to her father, and he did with her his prayer that he prayed. And she did not know a man; it was for an ordinance in Israel. 40 From days to days the daughters of Israel would go about to bewail the daughter of Jephthah Gilead for four days of the year.
12A man of Ephraim called out. Then they passed into the north and said to Jephthah, “Why did you pass by to array for battle with the sons of Ammon and not summon us to advance with you? We will burn your house over you with fire.” 2 And Jephthah said to them, “I was a fighting man, and my people and the sons of Ammon very much; and I called you and you did not save me from their hand. 3 I saw that you were not a deliverer, and I put my life in my hand and passed over to the sons of Ammon; and the Lord gave them into my hand. Why have you gone up against me in this day, to array for battle against me?” 4 So Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and arrayed for battle with Ephraim; and the men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because those escaping Ephraim said, “You are Gilead, in the midst of Ephraim and in the midst of Manasseh.” 5 And Gilead captured the fords of the Jordan of the Ephraimites, and the Ephraimites who escaped said to them, “Let us cross.” And the men of Gilead said to them, “Are you an Ephraimite?” And he said, “No.” 6 And they said to him, “Say now ‘Corn.’ ” And he did not say this properly. And they seized him and killed him by the fords of the Jordan; there fell in that time from Ephraim forty-two thousand. 7 And Jephthah judged Israel sixty years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died, and he was buried in his city in Gilead. Ibzan, Elon and Abdon 8 And after him, Ibzan from Bethlehem judged Israel. 9 And there were to him thirty sons and thirty daughters that he sent out; and he brought in thirty daughters for his sons from without. He judged Israel seven years. 10 Then Ibzan died, and he was buried in Bethlehem. 11 And after him, Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel for ten years. 12 Then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried in Elim in the land of Zebulun. 13 Abdon son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel after him. 14 And he had forty sons and thirty grandsonsa going upon seventy foals, and he judged Israel eight years. 15 And Abdon son of Hillel the Pirathonite died; and he was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim in the hill country of Amalek.
13And the sons of Israel continued to do evil before the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years. 2 And there was a certain man from Zorah from the region of the family of the Danites, and his name was Manoah. His wife was barren and bore no children. 3 An angel of the Lord was seen by the woman, and he said to her, “Look, you are barren and have not borne children, but you will conceive a son. 4 And now be careful indeed that you shall drink no wine or intoxicating drink, and you shall eat nothing unclean. 5 For look, you are pregnantb and shall bear a son, and a razor will not go upon his head. For the child shall be a Nazarite of God from the belly, and he will begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” 6 So the woman entered in and spoke to her husband saying, “A man of God came to me, and his form was like the form of an angel of God, very fearful; and I did not ask him from where he came, nor did he report his name to me. 7 Then he said to me, ‘Look, you are pregnant and shall bear a son, and now you shall not drink wine or intoxicating drink, and you shall not eat anything unclean, because the child shall be holy of God from the womb until the day of his death.’ ” 8 And Manoah prayed to the Lord and said, “I pray, O Lord Adonai, the man of God whom you sent, may he come to me yet again to us, and instruct us what to do about the young child that is to be born.” 9 And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came yet again to the woman; she was sitting in a field, and Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 And the woman hastened and ran and reported to her husband, and said to him, “Look, the man who came to me during the day has appeared to me.” 11 And Manoah arose and went after his wife and went to the man and said to him, “Might you be the man who was talking to the woman?” And the angel said, “I am.” 12 And Manoah said, “Now your message shall come. What shall be the judgment of the child and his work?” 13 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman, she shall observe. 14 All that comes from the vine of the wine she shall not drink; and she shall not drink wine and fermented liquor and intoxicating drink, and she shall not eat anything unclean; as much as all that I commanded him, she shall be careful.” 15 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Let us detain you here and let us prepare before your face a goat kid.” 16 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “If you detain me, I shall not eat from your loaves; and if you prepare a whole burnt offering to the Lord, you shall offer it.” For Manoah did not know that he was an angel of the Lord. 17 Then Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “What is your name because should your word come to pass, we will honor you.” 18 And the angel of the Lord said to him, “For what purpose do you ask this, my name? And it is wondrous.” 19 And Manoah took the goat kid and the sacrifice; he offered it upon the rock to the Lord, and the angel set apart the deed. And Manoah and his wife looked on. 20 It came to pass while the flame rose above the altar up to heaven that the angel of the Lord went up in the flame of the altar. Manoah and his wife saw this and fell upon their face to the land. 21 And the angel of the Lord was again no longer to be seen by Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah knew that this was an angel of the Lord. 22 And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall die by death, because we have seen God.” 23 And his wife said to him, “If the Lord wanted kill us, he would not have taken a whole burnt offering and a sacrifice from our hand. And he would not have shown us all these things, nor would have made us hear these things in time.” 24 The woman brought forth a son and called his name Samson, and the child matured, and the Lord blessed him. 25 Then the Spirit of the Lord began to go forth together with him in the camp of Mahaneh-dan and in the midst of Zorah and Eshtaol.
14And Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah from the daughters of the foreigners. 2 He went up and told his father and his mother and said, “I saw a woman in Timnah from the daughters of the Philistines; now get her for me for a wife.” 3 But his father and mother said to him, “Is there no daughter of your brothers and a woman from all of my people that you should go to take a woman from the uncircumcised foreigners?” And Samson said to his father, “Take her for me because she is right in my eyes.” 4 His father and his mother did not know that it was from the Lord, for he desired vengeance from the foreigners, and in that time the foreigners were masters in Israel. 5 So Samson and his father and mother went down to Timnah. And he went as far as the vineyards of Timnah, and look, a whelp of a lion came roaring to meet him. 6 And the Spirit of the Lord sprung upon him, and he crushed it as if he would crush a young goat, though nothing was in his hands. He did not tell his father and mother what he did. 7 And he went down and talked with the woman, and she was right in the eyes of Samson. 8 He returned after a day to get her and turned aside to see the corpse of the lion. Look, a swarm of bees was in the mouth of the lion, and also honey. 9 So he took it out into his hand and went on eating. And he went to his father and his mother and gave some to them, and they ate. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the mouth of the lion. 10 His father went down to the woman, and Samson held a banquet there for seven days, because thus the young men do. 11 And it came to pass when they saw him, they took thirty guests, and they were with him. 12 Then Samson said to them, “I will put forth a riddle to you: If when you explain, you can explain and discover it in the seven days of the drinking party, I will give to you thirty linen garments and thirty garments of outer raiment. 13 And if you are not able to explain to me, you yourselves will give to me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of outer garments.” So they said to him, “Put forth the riddle, and we will hear it.” 14 And he said to them, “Something eaten came out of what eats, and sweet from what is strong.” And they were not able to explain the riddle in three days. 15 It came to pass on the fourth day that they said to the wife of Samson, “Now trick your husband and have him explain to you the riddle, lest we burn you and your father’s house with fire. Or did you invite us to do violence to us?” 16 So the wife of Samson wept before him and said, “Surely you hate me and do not love me; for the riddle that you put before the sons of my people you did not explain to me.” And Samson said to her, “If I have not explained it to my father and mother, should I explain it to you?” 17 So she wept before him for the seven days that the banquet was for them. Then it came to pass on the seventh day that he explained the riddle to her because she had annoyed him. And she explained it to the sons of her people. 18 Then the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the rising of the sun, “What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?” And Samson said to them, “If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have learned my riddle.” 19 Then the Spirit of the Lord leapt upon him; he went down to Ashkelon and struck from them thirty men, and he took their garments and gave the clothes to the ones explaining the riddle. And Samson was angered with wrath and went up to the house of his father. 20 And the wife of Samson was given to one of his friends whom he befriended.
15It came to pass after a time, in the days of the wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife with a young goat and said, “I shall go in to my wife in the chamber.” But her father did not give him to enter. 2 And her father spoke, saying, “I said that hating, you hated her, and I gave her to one of your friends. Is not her younger sister better than she? Let her now be yours instead of her sister.” 3 And Samson said to them, “I am guiltless indeed this time with regard to the foreigners, in that I do evil against them.” 4 Then Samson went and captured three hundred foxes and took torches and turned them tail to tail. And he put one torch between two tails and bound it. 5 Then he set fire in the torches and sent them into the corn stalks of the foreigners. They burned from the threshing floor to the upright corn, and up to the vineyard and the olive tree. 6 And the foreigners said, “Who did these things?” And they said, “Samson, the bridegroom of a Timnite, because he took his wife and gave her to one of his friends.” And the foreigners went up, and they burned her and her father with fire. 7 And Samson said to them, “If you have done thus to this one in light of that, then surely I will avenge against you, and finally cease.” 8 And he struck them leg on thigh, a great blow; and he went down and dwelt in a cave of the rock in Etam. 9 Now the foreigners went up and encamped in Judah, and they spread themselves out in Lehi. 10 A man of Judah said, “Why have you gone up against us?” And the foreigners said, “We have gone up to bind Samson, and to do to him the way he did to us.” 11 So three thousand men went down from Judah to the hole of the rock in Etam, and they said to Samson, “Don’t you know that the foreigners will dominate us? What is this you have done to us?” And Samson said to them, “The way they have done to me, so have I done to them.” 12 And they said to him, “We have come to bind you, to give you into the hand of the foreigners.” And Samson said to them, “Swear to me, lest you fall on me yourselves.” 13 So they spoke to him, saying, “Surely not, rather with bonds we will bind you and give you into their hand. And we will not put you to death by death.” And they bound him with two fresh cords and took him from that rock. 14 And they came up to the Jaw, and the foreigners raised the war cry and ran to meet him. Then the Spirit of the Lord leapt upon him, and the cords upon his arms became like flax that is burnt in fire, and his bonds melted from his hands. 15 He then found the jawbone of a donkey cast away. So he stretched out his hand and took it, and he struck with it a thousand men. 16 And Samson said, “Destroying with a jawbone of a donkey, I destroyed them, because with the jawbone of the ass I struck a thousand men.” 17 And it came to pass when he stopped talking that he threw the jawbone from his hand and called that place “Jawbone Killing.”a 18 Now he was very thirsty and cried out to the Lord and said, “You were pleased to grant this great deliverance into the hand of your servant, but now I shall die by thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised.” 19 So God broke the reservoir at the Jawbone, and water went out from it, and Samson drank. Then his spirit returned, and he lived. Because of this its name was called “Spring of the Invoker,” which is at Jawbone up to this day. 20 And he judged Israel in the days of the foreigners twenty years.
16Samson went to Gaza, and he saw there a woman, a prostitute, and he entered in to her. 2 And it was reported to the Gazites, saying, “Samson is present here.” So they surrounded and lay in wait against him all night in the gate of the city and kept quiet all night, saying, “We will wait until the daybreak should dawn, then we will kill him.” 3 Samson slept until midnight and arose in the middle of the night. Then he seized the doors of the gate of the city with the two posts, lifted them with the bar, and put them upon his shoulders. Then he went upon the top of the mountain before the face of Hebron and put them there. 4 And it came to pass after this that he loved a woman in Sorek, and her name was Delilah. 5 The rulers of the foreigners came to her, and they said to her, “Trick him and see in what is his great strength and by what we will prevail over him. For we will bind him to humble him, and we will give to you each one thousand one hundred pieces of silver.” 6 And Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me now in what is your great strength and with what you may be bound to overthrow you.” 7 Samson said to her, “If they should bind me with seven moist cords, not desiccated, then I will be weak and will be like one of humankind.” 8 And the rulers of the foreigners brought to her seven moist cords, not desiccated, and she bound him with them. 9 And the ambush with her remained in the storehouse, and she said to him, “Foreigners are upon you, Samson.” And he tore asunder the cords as if one might break a thread of flax when it catches on fire; but his strength was not learned. 10 Then Delilah said to Samson, “Look, you deceived me, and you spoke to me falsely! Now therefore, tell me by what you can be bound.” 11 He said to her, “If in binding me they bind with new ropes with which there has been no work done, then I will be weak and will be like one of humankind.” 12 So Delilah took new, small ropes, and she bound him with them. The ambush came out from the chamber, and she said, “Foreigners are upon you, Samson.” And he tore the ropes from his arms like a string. 13 Then Delilah said to Samson, “Look, you deceived me, and you spoke to me falsely. Explain truly to me with what you may be bound.” And he said to her, “If you should weave seven locks of hair from my head with the warp and hammer them with a peg in the wall, then I will be like one of humankind, weak.” 14 It came to pass when he was sleeping that Delilah took the seven cords of hair from his head, and she wove with the warp, and she stuck the peg in the wall, and she said, “Foreigners are upon you, Samson.” He awakened from his sleep and removed the peg of the weaving from the wall. 15 And Delilah said to Samson, “How can you say ‘I love you,’ and your heart is not with me? This is thrice you deceived me, and you did not explain to me wherein lies your great strength.” 16 It came to pass when she pressed him with her words every day that she pressed him closely, and he was discouraged up to dying. 17 And he reported to her the whole of his heart and said to her, “Iron has not gone upon my head, because I am holy of God from the belly of my mother. If therefore I would be shaved, my strength will depart from me, and I will be weak and I will be like all humankind.” 18 And Delilah saw that he told to her all his heart, and she sent and summoned the rulers of the foreigners, saying, “Go up yet again this once, because he reported to me the whole of his heart.” And the rulers of the foreigners went up to her and brought the silver in their hands. 19 So Delilah put Samson to sleep upon her knee. Then she summoned a man, and he shaved the seven cords of his head. As she began to humble him, his strength departed from him. 20 And Delilah said, “Foreigners are upon you, Samson.” And he awakened from his sleep, and he said, “I will go out as once and once and I will shake myself free.” He did not know that the Lord had departed from him. 21 Then the foreigners captured him, gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with a fetter of bronze, and he ground at the mill of the prison. 22 But the hair of his head began to sprout as before he was shaven. 23 And the rulers of the foreigners gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon and to rejoice. And they said, “God has given Samson our enemy into our hand.” 24 And the people saw him, and they sang praisesa to their god: “For our god has delivered our enemy into our hand, the one that laid waste our land and who multiplied our casualties. 25 When their heart was cheered, then they said, “Call Samson from the prison house and let him sport before us.” And they summoned Samson from the prison house, and he sported before them, and they struck him. Then they stood him in the midst of the pillars. 26 And Samson said to the youth that held his hand, “Permit me and I will feel the pillars upon which the house stands, and I will lean upon them.” 27 The house was full of men and of women. There also were all the rulers of the foreigners, and upon the roof about seven hundred men and women, those watching on the tormenting of Samson. Samson’s Revenge 28 Samson cried out to the Lord, and he said, “Adonai, O Lord, remember me now, I pray, and strengthen me yet again this one time, O God: I will repay the foreigners one repayment for my two eyes.” 29 And Samson put his arms around the two pillars of the house upon which the house stood, and he leaned against them. He held one in his right hand and one in his left. 30 And Samson said, “Let my soul die with the foreigners.” And he lifted up with strength, and the house fell upon the rulers and upon all the people with him. The dead that Samson killed with his death were more than those he killed with his life. 31 His brothers and his father’s house went down, and they took him. Then they went up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the grave of Manoah his father. He had judged Israel twenty years.
17And there was a man from the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Micah. 2 He said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver that you took for yourself, about which you cursed me and said in my ear, ‘Look, the silver is with me’—I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the Lord.” 3 So he gave back the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother. And his mother said, “I had indeed dedicated the silver to the Lord from my hand to my son to make a graven and a cast image; now I will deliver it to you.” 4 He gave back the silver to his mother, and his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave it to a silversmith who made it a graven and a cast image. It was in the house of Micah. 5 And the house of Micah was to him the house of God. He also made an ephod and teraphin; and he ratifiedb one of his sons, and he became for him as a priest. 6 In those days there was no king in Israel; each man did what was righteous in his eyes. 7 Now there was a young man from Bethlehem of the region of Judah; he was a Levite, and he was sojourning there. 8 And the man went from Bethlehem of the city of Judah to sojourn wherever he might find a place. He came as far as Mount Ephraim and as far as the house of Micah, making his journey. 9 And Micah said to him, “From where have you come?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem of Judah, and I am going to sojourn wherever I might find a place.” 10 And Micah said to him, “Stay with me and be to me as a father and as a priest. I will give you ten pieces of silver by the day and a garment of clothes and whatever you need for your living.” 11 The Levite went and he began to sojourn with the man. And the young man became to him like one of his sons. 12 Micah ratified the Levite, and he became for him as a priest, and he was in the house of Micah. 13 And Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will do good for me, because the Levite has become to me as a priest.”
18In those days there was no king in Israel, and in those days the tribe of Dan was seeking for themselves an inheritance to inhabit; for an inheritance had not fallen to it up to that time in the midst of the tribes of Israel. 2 And the sons of Dan sent from their region five men, sons of might from Zorah and from Eshtaol to spy out the land and explore it. And they said to them, “Go and explore the land.” So, they came up to the hill country of Ephraim as far as the house of Micah, and they spent the night there 3 in the house of Micah. They recognized the voice of the youth, the Levite, and they turned aside there and said to him, “Who brought you here, and what are you doing in this place? What do you have here?” 4 And he said to them, “Thus and so Micah did for me; he hired me, and I have become a priest for him.” 5 And they said to him, “Inquire now by God and find out if our journey on which we go will be prosperous.” 6 And the priest said to them, “Go in peace; before the Lord is your journey in which you are going.” 7 And the five men went, and they came to Laish, and they saw the people in the midst of it dwelling in hope, keeping still with the judgment of the Sidonians. And there is no one perverting or disgracing a matter in the land, nor an heir extorting treasure; they are far away from the Sidonians and do not have a matter against a person. 8 Then the five men came to their brothers in Zorah and Eshtaol, and they said to their brothers, “How do you remain still?” 9 And they said, “Arise and go up against them; for we have seen the land and look, it is very good. But are you at rest? Do not hesitate to advance and enter to take possession of the land. 10 And when you go, you shall enter to a people in hope. The land is broad, for God has given it into your hand, a place where there is no lack of everything in the earth.” 11 And there marched forth from the district of Dan, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, six hundred men girded in armor of battle. 12 And they went up and encamped in Kiriath-jearim in Judah; on account of this it was called in that place “Camp of Mahaneh-dan” even up to this day. Look, it is behind Kiriathjearim. 13 And they passed over from there to Mount Ephraim and came up to the house of Micah. 14 Then the five men—those who had gone to spy out the land of Laish—answered and said to their brothers, “Do you know that there is in this house an ephod and teraphin and a graven image and a cast image? So now consider that which you shall do.” 15 And they turned aside there and entered into the house of the youth, the Levite, the house of Micah; and they inquired of him concerning peace. 16 And the six hundred men, the ones girded with the implements of their battle, stood at the door of the gate, the ones from the sons of Dan. 17 And the five men who had gone to spy out the land went up, 18 and they entered there into the house of Micah. The priest was standing, and they took the graven image and the ephod and teraphin and the cast image. Then the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” 19 And they said to him, “Be quiet, put your hand upon your mouth and come with us; be for us as a father and as a priest. Is it better for you to be a priest of the house of a single man, or for you to be priest of a tribe and of a house in a region of Israel?” 20 Then the heart of the priest was cheered, and he took the ephod and teraphin and the graven image and the cast image, and he went in the midst of the people. 21 They turned and departed and placed the children and the property and the burden in front of them. 22 They traveled far from the house of Micah, and look, Micah and the men, those in the houses that were with the house of Micah, shouted and overtook the sons of Dan. 23 So the sons of Dan turned their face, and they said to Micah, “What is the matter with you that you called?” 24 And Micah said, “Because you took my graven image that I made, and took also the priest, and you left. What do I still have? And what is this that you said to me? Why did you cry out?” 25 Then the sons of Dan said to him, “Let not your voice be heard with us, lest men bitter of spirit fall upon us. They will add the life and the life of your house.” 26 So the sons of Dan went on their journey. Micah saw that they were much stronger than he, and he returned to his house. 27 And the sons of Dan took what Micah made and the priest that he had, and they went against Laish—against a people quiet and trusting in hope—and they struck them with the edge of the sword, and they burned the city with fire. 28 And there was no deliverer, because it is far away from Sidon, and they have no communication with humanity. It is in the valley of Bethrehob. And they built the city and dwelt in it. 29 They called the name of the city Dan by the name of Dan, their father, who was born to Israel; and Laish was the name of the city formerly. 30 The sons of Dan set up for themselves the graven image; and Jonathan, son of Gershom son of Manasseh, and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. 31 And they set up for themselves the graven image that Micah made, all the days that the house of God was in Shiloh. And it happened in those days that there was no king in Israel.
19There was a man of the Levites dwelling in the flanks of the hill country of Ephraim. He took for himself a woman, a concubine, from Bethlehem of Judah. 2 And his concubine went away from him, departing from him to the house of her father in Bethlehem of Judah; and she was there a time of four months. 3 Her husband arose and went after her to speak to her heart for her to return to him. He had his young man with him and also a pair of donkeys, and this one brought him into her father’s house. The father of the young woman saw him, and he was gladdened in his meeting. 4 His father-in-law, the father of the young woman, detained him, and he remained with him for three days. They ate and drank, and they spent the night there. 5 And it came to pass on the fourth day that they rose in the morning; and as he arose to leave, the father of the young woman said to his bridegroom, “Strengthen your heart with a morsel of bread, and after this, you shall go.” 6 So he remained, and the two ate togethera and drank, and the father of the young woman said to the husband, “Come now, spend the night and your heart shall be cheered.” 7 But the man arose to leave, so his father-in-law pressed him, and he remained and spent the night there. 8 He rose in the morning on the fifth day to leave, and the father of the young woman said, “Now strengthen your heart, and do battle until the day declines.” And the two ate. 9 Then the man arose to leave, he and his concubine and his young man, and his father-in-law, the father of the young woman, said to him, “Look, now the day declines into the evening; spend the night here, and cheer your heart, and you will arise early tomorrow onto your journey, and you shall go to your dwelling place.” 10 But the man was not pleased to spend the night. He arose and departed and went as far as Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), and he had with him a pair of loaded donkeys and his concubine. 11 They went as far as Jebus, and very much of the day had passed. And the young man said to his master, “Come now and let us turn aside into this city of Jebusites and spend the night in it.” 12 And his master said to him, “We shall surely not turn aside into a foreign city, in which there is none of the sons of Israel; but we shall pass by up to Gibeah.” 13 And he said to his young man, “Come and let us approach to one of the places, and we will spend the night in Gibeah or in Ramah.” 14 So they passed over and went, and the sun set on them near Gibeah, which is in Benjamin. 15 They turned aside there in Gibeah to go in and spend the night. And they entered and sat in the square of the city, and there was no one to invite them into a house to spend the night. 16 Then look, a man, indeed an old man, was coming from his work from the field in the evening. The man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was sojourning in Gibeah (and the men of the place were sons of Benjamin). 17 He lifted up his eyes and saw the traveler, a man, in the square of the city; and the old man said, “Where are you going and from where have you come?” 18 And he said to him, “We are passing by from Bethlehem of Judah up to the flanksb of the hill country of Ephraim. I am from there, and I went up to Bethlehem of Judah. I am going to my house, and there is no one to invite me into the house. 19 At any rate there are husks and fodder for our donkeys, and there is bread and wine for me and for the maid and the young man with your servants; there is no lack of anything.” 20 And the old man said, “Peace to you; surely all of your needs are upon me; except you must not spend the night in the square.” 21 And he brought him into his house, and he prepared a place for the donkeys; they washed their feet and ate and drank. 22 While they were cheering their heart, look, men of the city, sons of lawlessness, surrounded the house to strike against the door. And they spoke to the man, the master of the house, the old man, saying, “Bring out the man who entered into your house in order that we know him.” 23 And the man, the master of the house, went out to them, and he said, “No, brothers, do not behave wickedly now; do not commit this folly after this man has entered into my house. 24 Look, my daughter, the virgin, and his concubine: I shall bring them out and humble them. Do to them what is good in your eyes; but to this man do not do the thing, this folly.” 25 And the men did not consent to listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and brought her to them outside; and they knew her and abused her all the night until morning, and they released her, as the morning was rising. 26 And the woman went at the daybreak and fell at the door of the house, where her husband was until it dawned. 27 Then her husband arose in the morning, opened the doors of the house, and went out to proceed on his journey. And look, the woman, his concubine, was fallen at the doors of the house, with her hands upon the threshold. 28 He said to her, “Arise and let us depart.” But she did not answer because she was dead. So he took her upon the donkey, and he went to his place. 29 And he took the sword and took hold of his concubine, and he dismembered her into twelve parts and sent them into every border of Israel. 30 And all who saw this would say, “There has not been nor has there been such as this from the day of the going up of the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt until this day; take this counsel upon yourselves, and speak.”
20Now all the sons of Israel went out, and the congregation convened as one man from Dan and as far as Beer-sheba and the land of Gilead, to the Lord in Mizpah. 2 And all the tribes of Israel stood before the face of the Lord in an assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand men on foot who draw the sword. 3 The sons of Benjamin heard that the sons of Israel went up to Mizpah. And coming, the sons of Israel said, “Speak, where did this evil occur?” 4 And the Levite man, who was husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, “To Gibeah of Benjamin I went, I and my concubine to spend the night. 5 And the men of Gibeah rose up against me, and they surrounded me, upon the house at night. They wanted to murder me, and they abused my concubine, and she died. 6 And I took hold of my concubine and dismembered her and sent the pieces into every border of the sons of Israel’s inheritance, for they have done lewdness and folly in Israel. 7 Look, all you sons of Israel, give to yourselves a word and counsel here.” 8 And all the people arose as one man saying, “A man shall not go back to his dwelling place, and we will return no one to his house. 9 Now this is the thing that shall be done to Gibeah: We shall go up against it by lot. 10 Moreso, we shall take ten men for each hundred in all the tribes of Israel, one hundred for each thousand, and a thousand for each ten thousand, to get provision for preparing themselves to go to Gibeah of Benjamin. They shall return to it according to all the folly that it did in Israel.” 11 And every man of Israel was gathered in the city as one man. 12 And the tribes of Israel sent men into the whole tribe of Benjamin saying, “What is this evil that has happened among you? 13 Now hand over the men, sons of lawlessness, that are in Gibeah, and we shall put them to death and cleanse the evil from Israel.” But the sons of Benjamin did not consent to hearken to the voice of their brothers, the sons of Israel. 14 And the sons of Benjamin gathered together from their cities to Gibeah to go out in battle array against the sons of Israel. 15 And the sons of Benjamin numbered in that day from the cities twenty-three thousand men drawing the sword besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who numbered seven hundred men, 16 and chosen from all the people who were ambidextrous—all these could sling stones at a hair and not miss. 17 And the men of Israel numbered (without Benjamin) four hundred thousand men drawing the sword, all these being men of battle. 18 They arose and went up to Bethel; and they inquired of God; and the sons of Israel said, “Who will go up for us at the front into battle against the sons of Benjamin?” And the Lord said, “Judah will go forward leading at the front.” 19 And the sons of Israel rose up in the morning, and they encamped against Gibeah. 20 And every man of the sons of Israel went out into battle against Benjamin, and they attacked them at Gibeah. 21 And the sons of Benjamin went out from Gibeah and destroyed in Israel that day two-twenty thousand men to the land. 22 Each man of Israel grew strong and again engaged in battle in the place where they attacked on the day before. 23 And the sons of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until evening and inquired of the Lord saying, “Shall we again draw near to battle against the sons of Benjamin, our brothers?” And the Lord said, “Go up against them.” 24 Then the sons of Israel went against the sons of Benjamin on the second day. 25 And the sons of Benjamin went out to meet them from Gibeah on the second day and destroyed among the sons of Israel even eighteen thousand men upon the earth. 26 All the sons of Israel and all the people went up, going to Bethel. They wept and sat there before the Lord and fasted in that day until evening. They brought burnt offerings and perfect offerings before the Lord; 27 for in that place was the ark of the covenant of the Lord God. 28 And Phinehas, son of Eleazar son of Aaron, stood before it in those days. And the sons of Israel inquired of the Lord saying, “Shall we again yet go out to battle against the sons of Benjamin, our brothers, or hold back?” And the Lord said, “Go up, because tomorrow I will give them into your hands.” 29 And the sons of Israel set up an ambush for Gibeah round about. 30 Then the sons of Israel went up against the sons of Benjamin on the third day, and they engaged with Gibeah as once and once. 31 And the sons of Benjamin went out to meet the people, and they were emptied out of the city and began to strike from the people casualties as once and once, on the road that is going up to Bethel and the one to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel. 32 And the sons of Benjamin said, “They have fallen before us as before.” And the sons of Israel said, “Let us flee and empty them out from the city into the roads.” And they did so. 33 Then every man arose from his place, and they engaged in Baal Tamar. The ambush of Israel was coming out from its place from Geba. 34 And there came out from opposite Gibeah ten thousand chosen men from all Israel, and the battle was fierce; they did not know that wickedness was coming upon them. 35 And the Lord struck Benjamin before the sons of Israel, and the sons of Israel destroyed from Benjamin in that day twenty-five thousand one hundred men. All these drew the sword. 36 And the sons of Benjamin saw that they were struck, and the men of the sons of Israel gave ground to Benjamin because they trusted in the ambush that he set up against Gibeah. 37 Then, as they retreated, the ambush rose up and deployed against Gibeah; and the ambush poured out, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword. 38 Now the sons of Israel had a sign of the battle with the ambush, which was to send up a signal of smoke from the city. 39 And the sons of Israel saw that the ambush had occupied Gibeah, and they stood in the battle line. Benjamin began to strike casualties among the men of Israel (about thirty men), because they said, “Again, falling in a fall before us, as in the first battle.” 40 And the signal was rising increasingly over the city like a pillar of smoke, and Benjamin looked behind him; and look, the destruction of the city was rising up to heaven. 41 The men of Israel turned about, and the men of Benjamin hastened because they saw that evil had fallen upon them. 42 And they looked before the sons of Israel to the road of the wilderness and fled. But the battle overtook them, and those from the cities were utterly destroying them in their midst. 43 They cut down Benjamin, and they pursued him from the Resting Place at their foot as far as before Gibeah, toward the east.a 44 And there fell from Benjamin eighteen thousand men, all of them men of might. 45 But the rest looked and fled into the wilderness toward the rock of Rimmon, and the sons of Israel gleaned from them five thousand men. Then the sons of Israel went down after them as far as Gidom and struck from them two thousand men. 46 And all those falling from Benjamin were twenty-five thousand men drawing the sword in that day, all of them men of might. 47 And the rest looked and fled into the wilderness toward the rock of Rimmon, six hundred men, and they remained at the rock of Rimmon four months. 48 And the sons of Israel turned against the sons of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword from the city Methla. And the livestock and all the ones found in all the cities, and the cities that were found, they burned with fire. 1 The sons of Israel made a vow in Mizpah, saying, “A man from us will not give his daughter to Benjamin for a wife.” 2 And the people went to Bethel and remained there until evening before the face of God. They raised up their voice and wept with a great weeping. 3 And they said, “Why, O Lord God of Israel, has this occurred, that today one tribe is numbered as missing from Israel?” 4 It came to pass on the morrow that the people rose early; and they built there an altar and brought burnt offerings and perfect sacrifices. 5 And the sons of Israel said, “Who, from all of the tribes of Israel, did not go up with the assembly before the Lord?” For there was a great oath against the ones not going up to the Lord in Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.” 6 And the sons of Israel relented toward Benjamin their brother, and they said, “Today one tribe is cut off from Israel. 7 What shall we do for them that remain, for the ones left, for wives? And we swore by the Lord not to give to them our daughters for wives.” 8 And they said, “What one person is there from the tribes of Israel who did not go up before the Lord in Mizpah?” And look, no man had come into the camp from Jabesh-gilead for the assembly. 9 The people were numbered, and there was no man there from the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead. 10 And the assembly sent there twelve thousand men from the sons of might, and they commanded them saying, “Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword. 11 And this you shall do: Every male and every woman who has known the marriage bed of a male you shall devote to destruction; the virgins, however, you shall spare.” And they did thus. 12 They found from the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred maidens, virgins who not had known a male in his marriage bed. And they bore them to the camp in Shiloh in the land of Canaan. 13 Now all the assembly sent and spoke to the sons of Benjamin in the rock of Rimmon, and they invited them for peace. 14 And Benjamin turned about to the sons of Israel in that time, and the sons of Israel gave to them the women that they had saved alive from the daughters of Jabesh-gilead; and it pleased them thus. 15 The people were comforted over Benjamin, because the Lord made a divide in the tribes of Israel. 16 And the elders of the assembly said, “What shall we do for the rest of the women? For the women have been destroyed from Benjamin.” 17 And they said, “An inheritance of the survivors to Benjamin, and a tribe from Israel shall not be destroyed. 18 We will not be able to give to them wives from our daughters, because we swore among the sons of Israel saying, ‘Accursed be the one giving a wife to Benjamin.’ ” 19 And they said, “Look, now there is a feast of the Lord from days to days in Shiloh, which is on the north of Bethel toward the east, upon the road going up from Bethel to Shechem, and from the south of Lebonah. 20 And they commanded the sons of Benjamin, saying, “Go lie in wait in the vineyard, 21 and you will look. And look, if the daughters of the inhabitants of Shiloh go out to dance in the dances, then you shall come out from the vineyard and snatch for yourselves, each man, a wife from the daughters of Shiloh and go to the land of Benjamin. 22 And it shall be when their fathers or their brothers should come to judge against you, you shall say to them, “Grant them mercifully to us, because we have not taken for himself anyone for a wife in the battle; since you did not give to them; trespass according to the allotment.” 23 And the sons of Benjamin did thus, and they took wives according to their number from the dancers that they snatched away. Then they went and returned to their inheritance, and they built cities and settled in them. 24 The sons of Israel walked from there in that time, each man to his tribe and to his family, and went out from there, each man to his inheritance. 25 In those days there was no king in Israel: A man did what was right before him.
21Now the children of Israel swore in Massephath, saying, No man of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin for a wife. 2 And the people came to Bæthel, and sat there until evening before God: and they lifted up their voice and wept with a great weeping; 3 and said, Wherefore, O Lord God of Israel, has this come to pass, that to-day one tribe should be counted as missing from Israel? 4 And it came to pass on the morrow that the people rose up early, and built there an altar, and offered up whole-burnt-offerings and peace-offerings. 5 And the children of Israel said, Who of all the tribes of Israel, went not up in the congregation to the Lord? for there was a great oath concerning those who went not up to the Lord to Massephath, saying, He shall surely be put to death. 6 And the children of Israel relented toward Benjamin their brother, and said, To-day one tribe is cut off from Israel. 7 What shall we do for wives for the rest that remain? whereas we have sworn by the Lord, not to give them of our daughters for wives. 8 And they said, What one man is there of the tribes of Israel, who went not up to the Lord to Massephath? and, behold, no man came to the camp from Jabis Galaad to the assembly. 9 And the people were numbered, and there was not there a man from the inhabitants of Jabis Galaad. 10 And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the strongest, and they charged them, saying, Go ye and smite the inhabitants of Jabis Galaad with the edge of the sword. 11 And this shall ye do: every male and every woman that has known the lying with man ye shall devote to destruction, but the virgins ye shall save alive: and they did so. 12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabis Galaad four hundred young virgins, who had not known man by lying with him; and they brought them to Selom in the land of Chanaan. 13 And all the congregation sent and spoke to the children of Benjamin in the rock Remmon, and invited them to make peace. 14 And Benjamin returned to the children of Israel at that time, and the children of Israel gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the daughters of Jabis Galaad; and they were content. 15 And the people relented for Benjamin, because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. 16 And the elders of the congregation said, What shall we do for wives for them that remain? for the women have been destroyed out of Benjamin. 17 And they said, There must be an inheritance of them that are escaped of Benjamin; and so a tribe shall not be destroyed out of Israel. 18 For we shall not be able to give them wives of our daughters, because we swore among the children of Israel, saying, Cursed is he that gives a wife to Benjamin. 19 And they said, Lo! now there is a feast of the Lord from year to year in Selom, which is on the north of Bæthel, eastward on the way that goes up from Bæthel to Sychem, and from the south of Lebona. 20 And they charged the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards; 21 and ye shall see; and lo! if there come out the daughters of the inhabitants of Selom to dance in dances, then shall ye go out of the vineyards and seize for yourselves every man a wife of the daughters of Selom, and go ye into the land of Benjamin. 22 And it shall come to pass, when their fathers or their brethren come to dispute with us, that we will say to them, Grant them freely to us, for we have not taken every man his wife in the battle: because ye did not give to them according to the occasion, ye transgressed. 23 And the children of Benjamin did so; and they took wives according to their number from the dancers whom they seized: and they went and returned to their inheritance, and built the cities, and dwelt in them. 24 And the children of Israel went thence at that time every man to his tribe and his kindred; and they went thence every man to his inheritance. 25 And in those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own sight.