Add to Favorites

Set as Homepage

Home

Aramaic Peshitta Bible Repository

Lamsa OT - Judges

"1 ¶ NOW after the death of Joshua, the servant of the LORD, the children of Israel inquired of the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them? 2 And the LORD said, Judah shall go up; behold, I have delivered the land into his hands. 3 And Judah said to Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my inheritance, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go up with you into your inheritance. So Simeon went with him. 4 And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hands; and they slew ten thousand of them in Bezek. 5 And they found the lord of Bezek in Bezek; and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites. 6 But the lord of Bezek fled; and they pursued him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. 7 And the lord of Bezek said, Seventy kings, with their thumbs and great toes cut off, used to pick up bread under my table; as I have done, so God has requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died. 8 And the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and took it and smote it with the edge of the sword and set the villages thereof on fire."

"9 ¶ And afterwards the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites, who dwelt in the mountain and in the south and in the plain. 10 And Judah went against the Canaanites who dwelt in Hebron (now the name of Hebron before was Koriath-arba); and they slew Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai, the sons of the giants. 11 And from thence they went against the inhabitants of Debir; and the name of Debir before was Koriath-sephra; 12 And Caleb said, He who takes Koriath-sephra, and destroys it, I will give him Achsah my daughter to wife. 13 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it; and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife. 14 And it came to pass, when she entered the city, she desired to ask of her father a field; and she alighted from her ass; and Caleb said to her, What troubles you, my daughter? 15 And she said to him, Give me a blessing; for you have given me a south land; give me also pools of water; and Caleb gave her the upper pools and the lower pools. 16 And the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up from the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the south of Adar; and they went and dwelt among the people. 17 And Simeon went with Judah his brother, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. And they called the name of the city Khirma. 18 Judah also took Gaza with its territory, and Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory. 19 And the LORD was with Judah; and they possessed the mountain; but they could not destroy the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron. 20 And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said; and he destroyed from thence the three sons of giants."

"21 ¶ But the children of Benjamin did not destroy the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day. 22 The house of Joseph also went out against Beth-el; and the LORD was with them. 23 And the house of Joseph spied on Beth-el. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.) 24 And the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, Show us the entrance into the city, and we will have mercy on you. 25 And when he had shown them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they spared the man and all his family. 26 And the man went to the land of the Hittites, and built a village and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day. 27 Neither did Manasseh destroy the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its villages, nor Taanach and its villages, nor the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, nor the inhabitants of Abi-naam and its villages, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; but the Canaanites that inhabited the land could not be subdued. 28 And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, they made the Canaanites pay tribute but did not utterly destroy them. 29 Neither did Ephraim destroy the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them. 30 Neither did Zebulun destroy the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Jahlel; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and paid tribute. 31 Neither did Asher destroy the inhabitants of Accho nor the inhabitants of Zidon nor of Lahbel nor of Jezebel nor of Helbah nor of Aphik nor of Rehob; 32 But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not destroy them. 33 Neither did Naphtali destroy the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh nor the inhabitants of Beth-anoth; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anoth paid tribute to them. 34 And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain; for they would not let them come down to the valley; 35 The Amorites sought refuge in the land of Hedas in the mountain and in Aijalon and in Shaalbim; but the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed against them, and they paid tribute. 36 And the border of the Amorites was from the ascent of Ekron, from the rock and upward."

"2:1 ¶ AND the angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bikhian, and said to the children of Israel, Thus says the LORD, I have brought you up from the land of Egypt, and have brought you into the land which I swore to your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. 2 And you shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; you shall destroy their altars; but you have not obeyed my voice. Why have you done this? 3 Wherefore I also said, I will not destroy them from before you; but they shall become vanity, and their gods shall be a stumbling block to you. 4 And when the angel of the LORD spoke these words to the children of Israel, all the people lifted up their voices and wept. 5 And the people called the name of that place Bikhian; and they sacrificed there to the LORD."

"6 ¶ And when Joshua had dismissed the people, the children of Israel went away every man to his inheritance to possess the land. 7 And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the works of the LORD and the great things which he had done for Israel. 8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of one hundred and ten years. 9 And they buried him in the land of his inheritance at Timnath-serah on the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of mount Gaash. 10 And all that generation were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them, who did not know the LORD nor the works which he had done for Israel. 11 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baal; 12 And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, gods of the peoples who were round about them, and they worshipped them, and provoked the LORD to anger. 13 So they forsook the LORD and served Baal and Ashtaroth. 14 land the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers, and they plundered them, and he delivered them into the hands of their enemies round about them, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. 15 Wherever they went, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn to them; and they were greatly distressed. 16 Then the LORD raised up judges among the Israelites, and they delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17 And yet they would not hearken to their judges, because they had gone astray after other gods and worshipped them; they turned aside quickly from the way in which their fathers walked, who had listened to the commandments of the LORD, but they did not do so. 18 And when the LORD raised up judges for them, then the LORD was with the judges, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judges; the LORD would hear their groaning because of their oppressors and those that drove them away. 19 And it came to pass, when the judges were dead, they returned and became more corrupt than their fathers, in following other gods to serve and to worship them; they did not cease from their wickedness, nor from their evil ways. 20 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel; and he said, Because this people have transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened to my voice; 21 I also will no longer destroy any man from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died; 22 That through them I may prove Israel whether they will keep the way of the LORD, and whether they will walk in it, as their fathers did keep it, or not. 23 Therefore the LORD left these nations, and did not destroy them hastily; neither had he delivered them into the hand of Joshua."

"3:1 ¶ NOW these are the nations which the LORD left, to test Israel by them, even the Israelites who had not experienced all the wars of Canaan. 2 Only that the generations of the children of Israel might learn warfare, at least such as had not experienced it before; 3 Namely, the five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites who dwelt on mount Lebanon, from the mount of the people of mount Hermon as far as the entrance to Hamath. 4 And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would obey the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. 5 So the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hivites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hittites, and Jebusites; 6 And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods. 7 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgot the LORD their God, and served Baal and Ashtaroth."

"8 ¶ Therefore the anger of the LORD kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Cushan the Wicked, king of Aram-nahrin (Mesopotamia); and the children of Israel served Cushan the Wicked eight years. 9 And when the children of Israel cried to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the children of Israel, and they were delivered by Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. 10 And the hand of the LORD was with him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war; and the LORD delivered Cushan the Wicked, king of Aram-nahrin, into his hands; and his hand prevailed against Cushan the Wicked. 11 And the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died."

"12 ¶ And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD. 13 And he mobilized the children of Ammon and Amalek against them, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees. 14 So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. 15 But when the children of Israel cried to the LORD, the LORD raised up for them a deliverer, Ehur the son of Gera, of the tribe of Benjamin, a man whose right hand was crippled, and the children of Israel sent a present by him to Eglon the king of Moab. 16 So Ehur made for himself a two edged dagger, and he made it short; and he girded it under his garment on his right thigh. 17 And he brought the present to Eglon king of Moab; and King Eglon was a simple-minded man. 18 And when Ehur had finished offering the present, he sent away the people that bore the present. 19 But he himself turned back from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret message to impart to you, O king; and the king said to those who were present, Get away from here. And all that stood by him went out. 20 And Ehur came to him; and he was sitting alone in the upper room which was made for him. And Ehur said to him, I have a message from God to impart to you. So Eglon arose from his seat. 21 And Ehur put forth his left hand, and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly; 22 And the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, because he did not draw the sword out of his belly; and he went out hastily. 23 Then Ehur went out into the porch, and shut the doors of the upper room upon him, locked them, and left. 24 When he had gone out, the king’s servants came in; and when they saw that the doors of the upper chamber were locked, they said, Perhaps he has gone to the toilet in the closet of the upper chamber. 25 And they waited for a long time; and seeing that he did not open the doors of the upper chamber, they took keys and opened them; and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the floor. 26 And while they were in confusion, Ehur passed beyond the quarries, and escaped to Seirath. 27 And it came to pass, when he had returned, he sounded the trumpet on the mountain of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mountain, and he went before them. 28 And he said to them, Follow after me; for the LORD has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hands. And they went down after him, and seized the fords of the Jordan on the side of Moab, and allowed not a man to pass over. 29 And they slew of the Moabites at that time about ten thousand men, all great and valiant men; and there escaped not a man. 30 So the Moabites were subdued at that time under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years."

"31 ¶ And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who slew six hundred of the Philistines with an ox goad; and he also delivered Israel."

"4:1 ¶ AND the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, after Ehur was dead. 2 And the LORD delivered them into the hand of Nabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the general of whose army was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. 3 And the children of Israel cried to the LORD; for he had nine hundred chariots of iron, and oppressed the children of Israel for twenty years."

"4 ¶ And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapithor, judged Israel at that time. 5 And Deborah dwelt under the palm tree between Ramtha and Beth-el on mount Ephraim; and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. 6 And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam from Rakim of Naphtali, and said to him, Has not the LORD God of Israel commanded you, saying, Go and dwell on mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men from the children of Naphtali and from the children of Zebulun? 7 And let them come with you to the river Kishon against Sisera, the general of Nabin’s army, and against his chariots, and against his forces; and I will deliver him into your hands. 8 And Barak said to her, If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, then I will not go. 9 And she said, I will surely go with you; nevertheless you shall not glory on account of the journey which you are taking; for the LORD shall deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman. And Deborah arose and went with Barak to Rakim."

"10 ¶ And Barak mobilized Zebulun and Naphtali to Rakim; and ten thousand men went up with him; and Deborah also went up with him. 11 Now Heber the Kenite had left the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far as the oak which is in Zaanaim, which is by Rakim. 12 And they told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to mount Tabor. 13 And Sisera gathered together all of his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles as far as the river of Kishon. 14 And Deborah said to Barak, Arise, for this is the day in which the LORD has delivered Sisera into your hands; behold, the LORD is going out before you. So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men with him. 15 And the LORD defeated Sisera and all his chariots and all his army, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled on foot. 16 But Barak pursued his chariots and his army as far as Harosheth of the Gentiles; and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; and not a man escaped."

"17 ¶ However, Sisera fled on foot, and entered the tent of Anael the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was peace between Nabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 18 And Anael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And he went in to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. 19 And he said to her, Give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she untied the milkskin and gave him a drink and covered him. 20 Again he said to her, Stand at the door of the tent, and if any man does come and ask you, and say, Is there any man here? You shall say to him, No. 21 Then Anael, Heber’s wife, got a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand and went to him as he was sleeping, and drove the peg into his temples, and pounded it into the ground while he was fast asleep, and he shivered and died. 22 And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Anael went out to meet him and said to him, Come, and I will show you the man whom you seek. And he went into her tent, and, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the peg was through his temples. 23 So on that day God defeated Nabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel. 24 And the hand of the children of Israel prospered and prevailed against Nabin the king of Canaan until they slew Nabin king of Canaan."

"5:1 ¶ THEN sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying, 2 With requital has Israel been avenged; praise the LORD with a song for avenging Israel. 3 Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes; I will sing to the LORD; I will sing praise to the LORD God of Israel. 4 LORD, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst in the fields of Edom, the earth trembled and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water. 5 The mountains melted from before the LORD, even this Sinai from the presence of the LORD the Holy One of Israel."

"6 ¶ In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Anael, the highways were cut off, and the travellers who once walked on main roads, had to go through the crooked byways. 7 The little villages ceased in Israel; they ceased, until I Deborah arose, I arose as a mother in Israel. 8 The LORD will choose new things; then the barley bread, and a sword or a spear shall not be seen among forty thousand in Israel. 9 My heart said to the lawgiver of Israel, They that are chosen among the people bless the LORD. 10 O you who ride on white asses, you who dwell in houses, and you who travel on the highways, 11 Meditate on the words of the inquirers, who are among the teachers; they shall execute the righteousness of the LORD, even his righteousness which he has multiplied in Israel; then shall the people of the LORD march to the gates."

"12 ¶ Awake, awake, Deborah; awake, utter a song; arise, Barak, and lead away your captives, O son of Abinoam. 13 Then the deliverer went down to sing praise before the LORD; thou hast given me victory by the hand of a man out of Ephraim. 14 And Barak’s works are known in Amalek; after you marched Benjamin with affection for you; out of Machir came forth a seer, and out of Zebulun those who write with the pen of a scribe. 15 And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; even Issachar is like Barak among the peoples; he was sent on foot to a portion of Reuben; great are those who give oracles to comfort the heart. 16 Why abodest thou on the highways to hear the bleatings of the wild asses? For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart. 17 Gad abode beyond the Jordan; and Dan brought ships to the harbor; Asher dwelt on the sea shore, and remained in its harbors. 18 Zebulun and Naphtali were peoples who jeopardized their lives on the high places of his field. 19 The kings came and fought; then fought the kings of Canaan; they fought in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no goods nor money. 20 The stars fought from their courses; they fought from heaven against Sisera by the river Kishon. 21 The river Kishon and the river Karmin swept them away. O my soul, you have defeated an army! 22 Then the hoofs of his horses fell down, were broken because of the prancing of his mighty ones. 23 Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse it, and curse the inhabitants thereof, because they came not with men to the help of the LORD."

"24 ¶ Blessed above women shall Anael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent. 25 He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a giant bowl. 26 She put her hand to the peg and her right hand to the carpenter’s hammer, and with the hammer she struck Sisera and crushed his head, when she had struck and pierced his temples. 27 At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down; at the place where he bowed, there he fell down dead, the plunderer. 28 The mother of Sisera looked out of the window and cried through the lattice, Why are the chariots of my son so long in coming? Why tarries the clatter of his chariots? 29 Her wise ladies answered her, saying, 30 Perhaps he went and found great spoil, dividing the prey, giving to every man a mule and great booty, and to Sisera a prey of diverse colors of needlework and divers colors of embroidered work, meet for the necks of them that take the spoil. 31 So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD; but let them that love thee be like the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest for forty years."

"6:1 ¶ AND the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Midianites seven years. 2 And the hand of the Midianites prevailed against Israel, in that they fled from before the Midianites; and the children of Israel made for themselves dens in the mountains, and caves, and sheepfolds. 3 And whenever Israel had sown, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the Rakimites came up and encamped against them; 4 And they destroyed the produce of the whole land as far as the entrance of Gaza, and left no food for Israel to raise either oxen or sheep or asses. 5 For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came like locusts in multitude; for both they and their camels were without number; and they entered into the land to destroy it. 6 And Israel trembled exceedingly from before the Midianites;"

"7 ¶ And the children of Israel cried to the LORD because of the Midianites, 8 And the LORD sent a prophet to the children of Israel, and he said to them, Thus says the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage; 9 And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all your oppressors, and destroyed them from before you and gave you their land; 10 And I said to you, I am the LORD your God; you shall not worship the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell; but you have not obeyed my voice."

"11 ¶ And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was at Ophrah, the town of Joash the father of Azri; and his son Gideon was beating out wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the angel of the LORD appeared and said to him, The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor. 13 And Gideon said to him, I beseech you, O my lord, if the LORD be with us, why then have all these misfortunes befallen us? And where are all his wonders of which our fathers have told us, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hand of the Midianites. 14 And the LORD turned to him, and said, Go with this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites; behold, I have sent you. 15 And he said to him, I beseech thee, O my LORD, with what shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s family. 16 And the LORD said to him, I will be with you, and you shall smite the Midianites as one man. 17 And he said to him, If now I have found mercy in thy sight, then show me a sign that I may know that thou speakest with me. 18 Do not depart from here until I come to thee and bring out my meal and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until you come again. 19 So Gideon went in and prepared a kid and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour; the meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out to him under the oak and presented it. 20 And the angel of the LORD said to him, Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and lay them on the rock, and pour out the broth over it. And he did so. 21 Then the angel of the LORD .put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight. 22 And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O LORD God! for I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face. 23 And the LORD said to him, Peace be unto you; fear not; you shall not die. 24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it Mariah-shalama; and to this day it still stands in Ophrah, the town of the father of Azri."

"25 ¶ And it came to pass on that day, the LORD said to him, Take your father’s bullock, and the second bullock seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal, the idol of your father, and cut down the grove that is by it; 26 And build an altar to the LORD your God upon the top of this rock, in an orderly manner, and take the second bullock, and offer it upon it as a burnt offering with the wood of the grove which you shall cut down. 27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said to him; and because he was afraid of doing it by day, because of his father’s household and the men of the town, he did it by night. 28 And when the men of the town arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was pulled down and the grove which was beside it was destroyed and the second bullock was offered upon another altar which had been built. 29 And they said one to another, Who has done this thing? And when they had asked and enquired, they said, Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing. 30 Then the men of the town said to Joash, Bring out your son, that he may die; because he has pulled down the altar of Baal and has cut down the grove that was by it. 31 And Joash said to all who stood against him, Will you plead for Baal? Or will you try to save him? Whosoever pleads for him shall be put to death while it is yet morning; if he is a god, let him plead for himself, because his altar has been thrown down. 32 Therefore on that day he called Gideon Nedo-baal, saying, Let Baal judge him, because he has thrown down his altar."

"33 ¶ Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the Rakimites were gathered together, and went over and encamped in the valley of Jezreel. 34 But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Jezreel shouted his approval. 35 And he sent his messengers throughout all Manasseh; and they also blew trumpets and followed him; and he sent his messengers to Asher and to Zebulun and to Naphtali; and they came up to meet them. 36 And Gideon said to God, If thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast said, 37 Behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; and if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast said. 38 And it was so; and he rose early the next day and pressed the fleece and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. 39 And Gideon said to God, Let not thy anger kindle against me, and I will speak but this once; let me prove thee again but this once with the fleece; let now only the fleece be dry, and upon all the ground let there be dew. 40 And God did so that night; for only the fleece was dry, and there was dew on all the ground."

"7:1 ¶ THEN Nedo-baal, who is Gideon, and all the people who were with him, rose up early, and encamped beside the spring of Hadar; and the camp of Midian was north of the hill of Gibath, in the valley. 2 And the LORD said to Gideon, The people that are with you are too many for me to deliver the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel should glory in themselves, saying, My own hand has made me victorious. 3 Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him stay behind and return from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty-two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. 4 And the LORD said to Gideon, The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will try them for you there; and it shall be that he of whom I say to you, This one shall go with you, the same shall go with you; and of whomsoever I say to you, This one shall not go with you, the same shall not go. 5 So he brought down the people to the water; and the LORD said to Gideon, All who lap of the water with their tongues, as a dog laps, you shall make them stand together; likewise all who kneel down upon their knees to drink, you shall make them stand together. 6 And the number of those that lapped, putting the hand to the mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people knelt down upon their knees to drink water. 7 And the LORD said to Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and deliver the Midianites into your hands; and let all the other people go, every man to his place. 8 So the people took their provisions in their hands and their trumpets; and he dismissed all the children of Israel every man to his possession and to his tent, and he relied upon those three hundred men; and the camp of Midian was beneath him in the valley."

"9 ¶ And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said to him, Arise, go down to the camp, for I have delivered it into your hands. 10 But if you fear to go down, go down with Pera your servant to the army camp; 11 And you shall hear what they say; and afterwards your hands shall be strengthened. So he went down with Pera his servant to a detachment of the armed men that were in the army camp. 12 And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the Rakimites lay along the valley like locusts in multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude. 13 And when Gideon was come, behold, a man was relating a dream to his fellow, and he said to him, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, and came as far as a tent, and struck it on the top, and the tent fell down. 14 And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, the mighty man of Israel; for into his hand has God delivered the camp of Midian. 15 Now when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshipped and returned to the camp of Israel, and said, Arise, for the LORD has delivered the camp of Midian into your hands."

"16 ¶ And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers. 17 And he said to them, Watch me and do as I do; and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, as I do, so shall you do. 18 When I blow a trumpet, I and all the people who are with me, then you blow with trumpets also on every side of the camp, and say, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon. 19 So Gideon and the hundred men that were with him, came to the outside of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch; and they blew the trumpets, and broke the pitchers. 20 And the three companies blew their trumpets, and broke the pitchers, and held the torches in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands; and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon. 21 And they stood every man in his place round about the camp; and all the host ran, and they blew a trumpet, and fled. 22 And when the three hundred blew the trumpets, the LORD set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the army; and the whole army fled as far as Beth-shabtey and Zeddath, and as far as the border of Abel-meholah, which is by Jatbath."

"23 ¶ And the men of Israel gathered themselves together from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and pursued the Midianites. 24 And Gideon sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters as far as Beth-barah, which is by the Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together and seized the waters as far as Beth-barah by the Jordan. 25 And they captured two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb at Tyre, and Zeeb they slew at Beth-kabrab; and they pursued Midian, and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan."

"8:1 ¶ THEN the men of Ephraim said to him, Why have you done thus, that you never called us when you went to fight with the Midianites? And they quarreled with him violently. 2 And he said to them, What have I done now in comparison to you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Jezreel? 3 For in Jezreel God has delivered into your hands the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and what was I able to do in comparison to you? Then their anger was abated toward him, when he had said that."

"4 ¶ And Gideon came to the Jordan and passed over, he and the three hundred men who were with him, pursuing, yet faint from hunger. 5 And he said to the men of Succoth, Give a few loaves of bread to the people who are with me; for they are faint from hunger, and, behold, I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian. 6 And the princes of Succoth said to him, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hands, that we should give bread to your army? 7 And Gideon said to them, Therefore when the LORD has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hands, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers. 8 And he went up from there to Penuel, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered him. 9 And he said also to the men of Penuel, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower. 10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were staying at Karkab, and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of all the armies of the people of the east; for there fell a hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword. 11 And Gideon went up by the way of them who dwell in tents on the east of Necah and Jogbehah, and attacked the army camp; for the army was not on guard. 12 And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them, and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and threw the whole army into confusion. 13 And Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle at the slope of Hadas. 14 And he captured a young man of the men of Succoth, and questioned him; and he wrote down for him a description of the princes of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men. 15 And he came to the men of Succoth and said to them, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you upbraided me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hands, that we should give bread to your servants who are faint from hunger? 16 And he dragged the elders of the city over the briers and thorns of the wilderness, and thus inflicted tortures on the men of Succoth. 17 And he broke clown the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city."

"18 ¶ Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom you slew at Tabor? They said to him, They were like yourself, they resembled the sons of kings. 19 And he said, They were my brothers, the sons of my mother; as the LORD lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not slay you. 20 And he said to Jether his firstborn, Arise and slay them. But the youth did not draw his sword; for he was afraid, because he was still a youth. 21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise yourself, and fall upon us; for as the man is, so is his might. And Gideon arose and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments that were on their camels’ necks."

"22 ¶ Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, Rule over us, both you and your son and your son’s son also; for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian. 23 And Gideon said to them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you; the LORD shall rule over you. 24 And Gideon said to them, I would like to make a request of you: give me every man of you an earring of his spoil. (For they had golden earrings, since the enemies were Arabians.) 25 And they said to him, We will gladly give it. And they spread a mantle, and every man threw onto it one earring from his spoil. 26 And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold; besides ornaments, neck chains, and purple raiment that were worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were about their camels’ necks. 27 And Gideon took some of them and made a little idol, and set it up in his town, Ophrah; and all Israel went astray after it there; and it became a stumbling block to Gideon and to all his household, 28 Thus the Midianites were defeated before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the land was tranquil forty years in the days of Gideon."

"29 ¶ Then Nedo-baal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house. 30 And Gideon had seventy sons who were begotten by him; for he had many wives. 31 And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, whose name he called Abimeleck. 32 And Gideon the son of Joash died at a good old age, and was buried in the town of his father Joash, in Ophrah of the father of Azri. 33 And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, the children of Israel turned again and went astray after Baal, and made Baal-kiama their god. 34 And the children of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side; 35 Neither did they show kindness to the house of Nedo-baal, that is, Gideon, according to all the goodness that he had done to Israel."

"9:1 ¶ AND Abimeleck the son of Nedo-baal went to Shechem to his mother’s brothers, and spoke to them and to all the family of the house of his mother’s father, saying, 2 Speak, before all the lords of Shechem, Which is better for you, that all the seventy men, the sons of Nedo-baal, rule over you, or that one man rule over you? Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh. 3 And his mother’s brothers spoke of him before all the lords of Shechem all these words; and their hearts inclined to follow Abimeleck; for they said, He is our brother. 4 And they gave him seventy pieces of silver from the house of Baal-kiama, with which Abimeleck hired vain and wanton persons, who followed him. 5 And he went to his father’s house at Ophrah, and slew his brothers, the sons of Nedo-baal, seventy men, upon one stone; but Jotham the youngest son of Nedo-baal was left; for he hid himself. 6 And all the lords of Shechem gathered together, and all the people of Beth-millo, and went and made Abimeleck king over them, by the oak of Mazpiah which is in Shechem."

"7 ¶ And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice and cried, and said to them, Hearken to me, O lords of Shechem, that God may hearken to you. 8 Once upon a time the trees went forth to anoint a king over them; and they said to the olive tree, Reign over us. 9 But the olive tree said to them, Should I leave my fertility, by which gods and men are honored, to be abominated for reigning over the trees? 10 And the trees said to the fig tree, Come you, and reign over us. 11 But the fig tree said to them, I am not going to leave my sweetness and my good fruit, to be abominated for reigning over the trees. 12 Then the trees said to the vine, Come you, and reign over us. 13 But the vine said to them, I am not going to leave my wine which cheers the hearts of gods and men, to be abominated for reigning over the trees. 14 Then all the trees said to the bramble, Come you, and reign over us. 15 And the bramble said to the trees, If in truth you anoint me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; and if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon. 16 Now therefore, if you have done truly and sincerely, in that you have made Abimeleck king, and if you have dealt well with Nedo-baal and his household, and have rewarded him according to the deeds of his hands; 17 (For my father fought for you, and ventured his life afar, and delivered you from the hand of Midian; 18 And you have risen up against my father’s house this day, and have slain his sons, seventy men, upon one stone, and have made Abimeleck, the son of his maidservant, king over the lords of Shechem, because he is your brother;) 19 If you then have dealt truly and sincerely with Nedo-baal and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abimeleck, and let him also rejoice in you; 20 But if not, let fire come out from Abimeleck, and devour the lords of Shechem and the lords of Millo; and let fire come out from the lords of Shechem and from the lords of Millo, and devour Abimeleck. 21 And Jotham ran away and escaped, and went to Debir, and dwelt there, the place where Abimeleck had lived before."

"22 ¶ When Abimeleck had reigned over Israel three years, 23 Then God sent an evil spirit upon Abimeleck and upon the lords of Shechem; and the lords of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimeleck, 24 That the cruelty done to the seventy sons of Nedo-baal might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimeleck their brother, who slew them; and upon the lords of Shechem, who strengthened his hands in the killing of his brothers. 25 And the men of Shechem laid an ambush against him on the top of the mountain, and they robbed all who passed by them along that way; and it was told Abimeleck. 26 And Gaal the son of Epar came with his brothers, and went over to Shechem; and the lords of Shechem put their confidence in him. 27 And they went out into the fields, and gathered their vineyards and trod the grapes, and they made a banquet and went into the house of their gods and did eat and drink, and reviled Abimeleck. 28 And Gaal the son of Epar said, Who is Abimeleck and who is Shechem that we would serve him? Is he not the son of Nedo-baal? And Zebul because he changed his allegiance served the men of Hamor the father of Shechem; why then should we serve him? 29 And would to God this people were under my command! Then I would remove Abimeleck. And he said to Abimeleck, Increase your army, and come out. 30 And when Zebul the governor of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Epar, his anger was kindled. 31 And he sent messengers to Abimeleck deceitfully, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Epar and his brothers have come to Shechem; and, behold, they fortify the city against you. 32 Now therefore arise by night, you and the people that are with you, and lie in wait in the field; 33 And in the morning as soon as the sun is up, you must rise early, and march upon the city; and, behold, when he and the people that are with him come out against you, you may do to them as you are able to do. 34 And Abimeleck and all the people that were with him rose up by night, and they laid in ambush against Shechem in four companies. 35 And Gaal the son of Epar went out and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city; and Abimeleck and the people that were with him rose up from ambush. 36 And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold, there are people coming down from the top of the mountains. And Zebul said to him, You see the shadows of the mountains that look like men. 37 And Gaal spoke again and said, Behold, there are people coming down from the center of the land, and one company is coming along from the way of the house of the oak of Meaonin. 38 Then Zebul said to him, Where is now your mouth with which you said, Who is Abimeleck that we should serve him? Are not these the people whom you have despised? Go out now and fight with them. 39 And Gaal went out before the lords of Shechem and fought with Abimeleck. 40 And Abimeleck chased him, and he fled before him, and many people fell slain, even to the entrance of the gate. 41 And Abimeleck dwelt at Adomah; and Zebul expelled Gaal and his brethren, that they should not dwell in Shechem. 42 And it came to pass on the next day, that the people went out into the fields, and they told Abimeleck. 43 And he took the people and divided them into three companies, and lay in wait in the fields, and he looked, and, behold, the people were coming forth out of the city; and he rose up against them and slew them. 44 And Abimeleck and the company that was with him rushed forward, and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city; and the two other companies rushed against all the people who were in the fields, and slew them. 45 And Abimeleck fought in the city all that day; and he took the city, and he slew all the people that were in it, and he destroyed the city, and sowed it with salt. 46 And when all the lords of the tower of Shechem heard of it, they came to take refuge in the house of the god of the covenant. 47 And it was told Abimeleck that all the lords of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. 48 And Abimeleck went up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people that were with him; and Abimeleck took an axe in his hand and cut down a branch from the trees, and took it and laid it on his shoulder, and said to the people that were with him, What you have seen me do, make haste and do as I have done. 49 So every man cut down his branch and followed Abimeleck, and they piled them up, and then set the city on fire, so that all the men that were in the tower of Shechem died in fire, about a thousand men and women."

"50 ¶ Then Abimeleck went to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez and took it. 51 But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and women and all the lords of the city, and shut it behind themselves, and went to the top of the tower. 52 And Abimeleck advanced as far as the tower, and fought against it, and drew near to the door of the tower to set it on fire. 53 And a certain woman threw a piece of an upper millstone upon Abimeleck’s head and broke his skull. 54 Then he called hastily to his young armorbearer, and said to him, Draw your sword and slay me with it, that men may not say of me, A woman slew him. So the young man thrust him through, and he died. 55 And when the men of Israel saw that Abimeleck was dead, they departed every man to his place. 56 Thus God requited the wickedness of Abimeleck, which he did to his father, in slaying his seventy brothers; 57 And all the wickedness of the men of Shechem did God bring upon their heads; and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Nedo-baal."

"10:1 ¶ AFTER Abimeleck there arose to save Israel Tola the son of Puah, the son of his uncle, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir on mount Ephraim. 2 And he judged Israel twenty-three years, and he died and was buried in Shamir. 3 And after him arose Jair, the Gileadite, and he judged Israel for twenty-two years. 4 And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty towns, which are called villages of Jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead. 5 And Jair died and was buried in Camon."

"6 ¶ And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth and the gods of Edom, the gods of Zidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the children of Ammon, the gods of the Philistines, and the gods of the rest of the nations, and they forsook the LORD and did not serve him. 7 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the children of Ammon. 8 And from that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel, eighteen years, all the children of Israel who were on the other side of the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. 9 Moreover the children of Ammon crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah and also against the house of Ephraim and against Benjamin; so that Israel was exceedingly distressed."

"10 ¶ And the children of Israel cried to the LORD, saying, We have sinned against thee, because we have forsaken our God and have served Baal. 11 And the LORD said to the children of Israel, Did not the Egyptians, the Moabites, the children of Ammon, the Philistines, 12 The Zidonians, the Amalekites, and the Amorites oppress you; and you cried to me, and I delivered you from their hands? 13 Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. 14 Go and pray to the gods with whom you are pleased; let them become your saviors in the time of your distress. 15 And the children of Israel said to the LORD, We have sinned; do thou to us whatever seems good to thee; only deliver us this day. 16 And the children of Israel put away the strange gods from among them and served the LORD; for the soul of Israel was grieved. 17 Then the children of Ammon were gathered together and encamped in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled themselves together and encamped in Mizpeh. 18 And the people and princes of Gilead said one to another, Whosoever shall first start to fight against the children of Ammon, he shall be prince over all the inhabitants of Gilead."

"11:1 ¶ NOW Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a harlot; and Gilead begat Jephthah. 2 And Gilead’s wife bore him sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they expelled Jephthah, saying, He shall not inherit in our father’s house, because he is the son of another woman. 3 Then Jephthah fled from his brothers, and dwelt in the land of Tobtha; and there were gathered worthless men to Jephthah, and they went raiding with him."

"4 ¶ And it came to pass after a time, the children of Ammon made war against Israel. 5 And when the children of Ammon made war against the children of Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tobtha; 6 And they said to Jephthah, Come and be our leader, that we may fight with the children of Ammon. 7 And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, Did you not hate me and expel me from my father’s house? And why have you come to me now when you are in distress? 8 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, That is why we have come to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the children of Ammon and be the leader over all the inhabitants of Gilead. 9 And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, If you bring me back to fight against the children of Ammon, and the LORD deliver them before me, shall I be your chief? 10 And the elders of Gilead said to him, The LORD shall be witness between us, if we do not so according to your words. 11 Then Jephthah went with the eiders of Gilead, and the people made him chief and ruler over them; and Jephthah uttered all his words before the LORD in Mizpeh."

"12 ¶ And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What have we against each other, that you have come against me to fight in my land? 13 And the king of the children of Ammon said to the messengers of Jephthah, Because the children of Israel took away my land when they came up out of the land of Egypt from Arnon even to Jabbok and to the Jordan, now therefore restore these lands to me peaceably. 14 And Jephthah sent letters and messengers again to the king of the children of Ammon; 15 And said to him, Thus says Jephthah, Israel did not take away the land of Moab nor the land of the children of Ammon; 16 Because when the children of Israel came up from Egypt, Israel journeyed through the wilderness as far as the Red Sea, and came to Rakim; 17 Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, Let me pass through your land; but the king of Edom would not listen. And they sent also to the king of Moab; but he would not consent; so Israel stayed in Rakim. 18 Then they journeyed through the wilderness, and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and they encamped on the other side of Arnon, but they did not enter the territory of Moab; for Arnon was the border of Moab. 19 And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, Let us pass through your land until we come to our land. 20 But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory; so Sihon gathered all his people together and encamped at Jahaz and fought against Israel. 21 And the LORD our God delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and Israel destroyed the land of the Amorites. 22 And they possessed all their territory, from Arnon as far as Jabbok, and from the wilderness even to the Jordan. 23 So now after the LORD God of Israel has destroyed the Amorites from before his people Israel, are you to possess their land? 24 Will you not possess that which Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whomever the LORD our God has destroyed from before us, their land will we possess. 25 And now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab. Did he ever strive against Israel? Or did he ever fight against them? 26 While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and its villages, and in Adoer and its villages, and in all the cities that are along the banks of Arnon, three hundred years? Why did you not recover them within that time? 27 Now therefore I have not sinned against you, but you do me wrong to make war against me; let the LORD judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon. 28 But the king of the children of Ammon did not listen to the words of Jephthah which he sent him."

"29 ¶ Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead; and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over to the children of Ammon. 30 And Jephthah vowed a vow to the LORD, and said, If thou wilt surely deliver the children of Ammon into my hands, 31 Then whosoever comes forth of the door of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the children of Ammon shall be the LORD’S, and I will offer him up for a burnt offering. 32 So Jephthah passed over to the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands. 33 And he smote them from Adoer, as far as the entrance of Machir, twenty cities, and as far as Abel Karmin, the plain of vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were defeated before the children of Israel. 34 Then Jephthah came to Mizpeh to his house, and, behold, his daughter carne out to meet him with timbrels and with dances; and she was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 And when he saw her, he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become today one of those that ruin me; for I have made a promise to God, and I cannot go back on it. 36 And his daughter said to him, My father, if you have made a promise to God, do to me according to that which has proceeded out of your mouth; since the LORD has taken vengeance for you on your enemies, even of the children of Ammon. 37 And she said to her father, Grant me this thing only: let me alone two months that I may go and wander on the mountains and bewail my virginity, I and my companions. 38 And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity on the mountains. 39 And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow; and she knew no man. And it became a custom among the children of Israel, 40 That the daughters of Israel went yearly to weep and lament over the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year."

"12:1 ¶ THEN the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said to Jephthah, Why did you cross over to fight against the children of Ammon, and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house over you with fire. 2 And Jephthah said to them, O men! I and my people had strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, you did not deliver me from their hands. 3 And when I saw that there was no one to deliver me, I risked my life, and crossed over against the children of Ammon, and the LORD delivered them into my hands; now why have you come up against me this day, to fight with me? 4 Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead and fought with Ephraim; and the men of Gilead smote the men of Ephraim, because they said, The Ephraimites dominate Ephraim and Manasseh. 5 And the Gileadites took the fords of the Jordan which belonged to Ephraim; and when any of the fugitives of Ephraim tried to cross over the passage, the men of Gilead said to him, Are you an Ephraimite? If he said, No; 6 Then they said to him, Say now Shibboleth; and he said Sibboleth; for he could not pronounce it so. Then they took him and slew him at the fords of the Jordan; and there fell at that time forty-two thousand of the Ephraimites. 7 And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in his city in Gilead."

"8 ¶ And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. 9 And he had thirty sons, and thirty daughters, and his thirty daughters he gave in marriage outside of his tribe, and brought in thirty daughters-in-law from outside. And he judged Israel seven years. 10 Then Ibzan died and was buried in Beth-lehem. 11 And after him Elon, a Zebulunite, judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years. 12 And Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun. 13 And after him Acran the son of Hillian, the Aprathonite, judged Israel. 14 And he had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy ass colts; and he judged Israel eight years. 15 Then Acran the son of Hillian, the Aprathonite died, and was buried in Aprathon in the land of Ephraim on the mount of the Amalekites."

"13:1 ¶ AND the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. 2 And there was a certain man of Zedah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and never had children. 3 And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, Behold, you are barren, and have borne no children; but now you shall conceive, and bear a son. 4 Now therefore beware, lest you drink wine or strong drink; and you shall not eat anything unclean. 5 For lo, you have conceived and will bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head; for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb; and he will begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. 6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came to me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, and I trembled exceedingly, and I did not ask him whence he was, nor did he tell me his name; 7 But he said to me, Behold, you have conceived, and you will bear a son; and from henceforth drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing; for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death."

"8 ¶ Then Manoah entreated the LORD and said, I beseech thee, O LORD, let the man of God whom thou didst send come again to us and teach us what we shall do to the child that shall be born. 9 And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of the LORD came again to the woman as she sat in the field; but Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 And the woman made haste and ran, and told her husband and said to him, Behold, the man has appeared to me, who came to me the other day. 11 And Manoah arose and went with his wife, and came to the man and said to him, Are you the man who spoke to this woman? And he said, I am. 12 And Manoah said, Now let your words come to pass. But tell me, what is the manner by which the child is to be brought up, and what shall we do to him? 13 And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, Of all that I said to the woman let her beware. 14 She must not eat of anything that comes of the vine, neither shall she drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; all that I have commanded her let her observe."

"15 ¶ Then Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, Let us detain you, and make ready a kid for you. 16 And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, Though you detain me, I will not eat of your food; and if you will offer a burnt offering, you must offer it to the LORD. For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the LORD. 17 And Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, What is your name, that when your sayings come to pass we may invoke your name? 18 And the angel of the LORD said to him, Why do you ask my name, seeing it is Glorious? 19 So Manoah took a kid with the meal offering, and offered it upon a rock to the LORD; and the angel praised the LORD; and Manoah and his wife looked on. 20 And when a flame went up toward heaven from off the rock, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground and worshipped. 21 The angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah and his wife knew that he was an angel of the LORD. 22 And Manoah said to his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. 23 But his wife said to him, If God were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meal offering from us, neither would he have showed us all these things at this time, nor would he have told such things as these."

"24 ¶ And the woman bore a son, and called his name Samson; and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him. 25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to make Samson to travel with the host of Dan between Zedah and Eshtoal."

"14:1 ¶ AND Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. 2 And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore get her for me to wife. 3 Then his father and mother said to him, Is there not a woman here among the daughters of the kinsmen of your father, or among all your people, that you are going to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said to his father, Get her for me; for she pleased me well. 4 But his father and his mother did not know that it was of the LORD, that he might seek vengeance against the Philistines; for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel. 5 Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnath, and they came to the vineyards of Timnath; and, behold, a young lion roared at him. 6 And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion as one tears a kid, and he had nothing in his hand; but he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done. 7 And they went down and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well. 8 And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion; and, behold, there was a swarm of bees in the carcass of the lion, and the honey ran out on his hands as he walked. 9 And he went to his father and mother, and gave some honey to them, and they did eat; but he did not tell them that the honey came from the carcass of the lion."

"10 ¶ So his father went down to the woman; and Samson made there a wedding feast for seven days; for so the young men used to do. 11 And when they saw him, there came thirty men and became his groomsmen. 12 And Samson said to them, I will now put forth a riddle to you; if you can interpret it to me within the seven days of the feast and find it out, then I will give you thirty overcoats made of felt and thirty changes of garments; 13 But if you cannot interpret it to me, then you shall give me thirty overcoats made of felt and thirty changes of garments. And they said to him, Put forth your riddle, that we may hear it. 14 And he said to them, Out of the eater came forth something to eat, and out of the bitter came forth something sweet. And for three days they could not interpret the riddle. 15 But on the fourth day, they said to Samson’s wife, Entice your husband, that he may declare to us his riddle, lest we burn you and your father’s house with fire and take over his possessions. 16 And Samson’s wife wept and said to him, You truly hate me and do not love me; you have put forth a riddle to my countrymen, and you have never told it to me. And he said to her, I have not told it to my father nor to my mother, and shall I tell it to you? 17 And she wept the seven days, while the feast lasted; and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she distressed him; and she told the riddle to her countrymen. 18 And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the banquet, What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion? And Samson said to them, If you had not enticed my heifer, you would not have interpreted my riddle. 19 And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and he seized thirty of their men, and he slew them and took their garments and gave them to those who had interpreted his riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father’s house. 20 And Samson’s wife, whom he loved, was given to one of his groomsmen."

"15:1 ¶ BUT it came to pass after a while, in the time of the wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife with a kid as a present; and he said, I will go in to my wife in the chamber. But her father would not let him go in. 2 And her father said, I surely thought that you had utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to your groomsman; behold, her younger sister, who is fairer than she, take her to wife instead. 3 And Samson said to them, Now I shall be more blameless than the Philistines, although I am going to do them mischief. 4 So Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches and tied tail to tail, two foxes together; and he tied a torch between each pair of foxes, between two tails. 5 And when he had set the torches on fire, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burned up both the shocks and the standing grain, and also the vineyards and olives. 6 Then the Philistines said, Who has done this? And they said, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife and given her to his groomsman. And the Philistines came up and burned her and her father’s family with fire. 7 And Samson said to them, Because you have done this, I will be avenged of you, and after that I will cease. 8 And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter; and he went down and dwelt in a cave of the rock of Atmin."

"9 ¶ Then the Philistines went up and encamped in Judah. 10 And the men of Judah said, Why have you come up against us? And they answered, We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he has done to us. 11 Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cave of the rock of Attain, and said to Samson, Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What is this you have done to us? And he said to them, As they did to me, so have I done to them. 12 And they said to him, We have come down to bind you, that we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said to them, Swear to me that you will not harm me yourselves. 13 And they said to him, No; but we will bind you and deliver you into their hands; but surely we will not kill you. So they bound him with two new chains and brought him up from the rock. 14 And when he came to Lehi, the Philistines rose up to kill him; and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the chains that were on his arms became like flax that has caught fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands. 15 And he found a hard jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand and took it, and slew a thousand men with it. 16 And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass I have made heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of an ass I have slain a thousand men. 17 And it came to pass, when he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand, and called the name of that place, the Bloody Jawbone."

"18 ¶ And he was very thirsty, so he called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great victory into the hand of thy servant; and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised? 19 And the LORD God opened the hollow place that was in the jawbone of the ass, and there came water from it; and when he had drunk, his spirit returned and he revived; therefore he called the name of that place En-karna di paka di khmara, to this day. 20 And he judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines."

"16:1 ¶ THEN Samson went to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and he went in unto her. 2 And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson has come here. And they lay in wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were whispering all night, saying, When the morning dawns, we shall kill him. 3 But Samson slept till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the two door-posts of the gate of the city, and lifted them up, together with the bars thereof, and put them on his shoulder and carried them to the mountain that is before Hebron."

"4 ¶ And it came to pass after this, he loved a woman in the valley of Sarok, whose name was Delilah. 5 And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lies, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to disgrace him; and we will give you every one of us thirteen hundred pieces of silver. 6 And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me wherein your great strength lies, and with what you might be bound, and how that you may become weak. 7 And Samson said to her, If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that were never dried, then I shall become weak and be like any other man. 8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings that had never been dried, and she bound him with them. 9 Now there were men lying in wait in her inner chamber. And she said to him, The Philistines have come upon you, Samson. And he broke the bowstrings as a thread of tow is broken when it touches the fire. So his strength was not disturbed. 10 And Delilah said to Samson, Behold, you have deceived me and told me lies; now tell me with what you might be bound. 11 And he said to her, If they bind me fast with new chains that never were used, then shall I be weak and be like any other man. 12 So Delilah took new chains and bound him with them, and said to him, The Philistines have come upon you, Samson. And the men were lying in wait in the inner chamber. And he broke them from off his arms like a thread. 13 And Delilah said to Samson, Behold you have deceived me and told me lies; tell me with what you might be bound. And he said to her, If you weave the seven locks of my head into a web. 14 And she wove it with the weaver’s web, and said, The Philistines have come upon you, Samson. And he awoke from his sleep, and pulled away both the weaver’s loom and the web. 15 And she said to him, How can you say to me. I love you, when your heart is not with me? For behold, you have deceived me these three times, and you have not told me wherein your great strength lies. 16 And it came to pass, when she had pressed him daily with her words and urged him, his soul was vexed to death; 17 So he told her all his heart, and said to her, There has never come a razor upon my head; for I have been a Nazarite to God from my mother’s womb; if I be shaven, then my strength will depart from me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man."

"18 ¶ And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up now, for he has told me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought the money with them. 19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for the barber, and had him shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to overpower him, and his strength had departed from him. 20 And she said to him, The Philistines have come upon you, Samson. And he awoke from his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and I will torment them. And he did not know that the LORD had departed from him. 21 And the Philistines seized him, and put out his eyes and bound him with fetters and brought him down to Gaza, and he did grind wheat in the prison house."

"22 ¶ But the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven. 23 Then the lords of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice; for they said, Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hand. 24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy and the destroyer of our country, who slew many of us. 25 And it came to pass when their hearts were merry, they said, Call for Samson that he may make sport before us. And they called Samson out of the prison house; and he made sport before them; and they set him between the pillars. 26 And Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, Let me feel the pillars on which the house stands, that I may lean against them. 27 Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, looking on while Samson made sport. 28 Then Samson called to the LORD, and said, O LORD God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. 29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and he leaned against them, grasping one with his right hand and the other with his left. 30 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. Then he pulled with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead whom Samson slew at his death were more than those whom he slew during his life. 31 Then his brothers and all the house of his father came down and took him, and brought him up and buried him between Zedah and Eshtaol in the burying place of Menoah his father. And he had judged Israel twenty years."

"17:1 ¶ AND there was a man from mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah. 2 And he said to his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver which were taken from you, which you swore about, and spoke of also in my ears, behold, it was I who took the silver. And his mother said, Blessed of the LORD is my son. 3 And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I have wholly consecrated the silver to the LORD from the hands of my son, to make a graven image and a molten image; now therefore restore it to me. 4 So he restored the money to his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into a graven image and a molten image; and they were kept in the house of Micah. 5 And the man Micah had a house of gods, and he made an ephod and a teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. 6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes."

"7 ¶ Now there was a young man from Bethlehem of Judah, whose name was Levi, and he sojourned there. 8 And the man had left the city of Beth-lehem of Judah to dwell wherever he could find a place; and he came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, to obtain provisions for his journey. 9 And Micah said to him, Whence do you come? And he replied, I am a Levite of Beth-lehem of Judah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place. 10 And Micah said to him, Dwell with me, and be to me as a father and a priest, and I will give you ten shekels of silver yearly, and your clothes and your food. So the Levite went in. 11 And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was to him as one of his sons. 12 And Micah consecrated the Levite; and he became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. 13 Then said Micah, Now I know that the LORD will do me good, seeing that the Levite has become my priest."

"18:1 ¶ IN those days there was no king in Israel; and in those days the tribe of Dan sought for itself an inheritance to dwell in; for until that day no inheritance had fallen to them among the tribes of Israel. 2 And the Danites sent of their families five men from Zedah and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to explore it; and they said to them, Go and explore the land. And they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and they lodged there. 3 When they were at the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young man, the Levite, and they turned aside there and said to him, Why did you come here? And what are you doing here? 4 And he said to them, Thus and thus has Micah dealt with me, and has hired me, and I have become his priest. 5 And they said to him, Inquire for us of God, that we may know whether the errand for which we go shall prosper. 6 And the priest said to them, Go in peace; and may the LORD prosper the errand on which you go."

"7 ¶ Then the five men departed and came to Laish, and saw the people who were in it, how they dwelt in tranquillity after the manner of the Zidonians, peaceful and quiet; and there was no one to do harm in the land, neither was there anyone to harass and to oppress; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any man. 8 And they came back to their brethren at Zedah and Eshtaol; and their brethren said to them, Whence did you come? 9 They said to them, Even from Laish. Now arise, let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good; and do not hesitate, nor tarry to go and to take possession of the land. 10 When you go, you shall come against a rich people, and an extensive and arable land is before you; for the LORD has delivered it into your hands, a place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth. 11 And there went from thence of the family of the Danites, from Zedah and from Eshtaol, six hundred men armed with weapons of war. 12 And they went up and encamped at Koriath-narin, in Judah; wherefore they called that place the Camp of Dan to this day; behold, it is behind Koriath-narin. 13 And they passed on from there to mount Ephraim, and went to the house of Micah."

"14 ¶ Then answered the five men who had gone to spy out the land of Laish, and said to their brethren, Do you know that there is on these hills an ephod and teraphim and a graven image and a molten image? Now therefore you must consider what you have to do. 15 So they turned aside, and came to the house of the young man, Levi, even to the house of Micah, and saluted him. 16 And the six hundred men armed with weapons of war, who were Danites, stood by the entrance of the gate. 17 And the five men who had gone to spy out the land went up and entered there, and took the graven image and the ephod and the teraphim and the molten image, while the priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war. 18 And they entered into Micah’s house, and took the image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then the priest said to them, What are you doing? 19 And they said to him, Hold your peace, stop talking, and come with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Which is better for you, to be a priest for one man’s household, or to be a priest to a family and a tribe of Israel? 20 And the priest’s heart was glad, and he took the graven image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and went with the people. 21 So they turned and departed, and put the sheep and the goods and the cattle in front of them. 22 And when they were at a distance from the house of Micah, a man who was in the house beside Micah’s house cried out and pursued the Danites. 23 And he shouted to the Danites, and they turned and said to Micah, What ails you, that you shout? 24 And he said to them, You have taken away the god which I made, and also the priest, and you have gone away; and what have I left? And what is this that you say to me, What ails you? 25 And the Danites said to him, Let not your voice be heard among us, lest some angry fellows attack you, and you lose your life and the lives of your sons. 26 Then the Danites went their way; and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house."

"27 ¶ And they took the things which Micah had made and the priest that he had, and came to Laish against the people who were rich and quiet; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burned the city with fire. 28 And there was no one to rescue them, because it was far from Zidon, and they had no business with any man; and the city was situated in the valley of Beth-rehob. And they rebuilt the city and dwelt in it. 29 And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel; but the name of the city was Laish at first. 30 And the Danites set up the graven image; and Jonathan, the son of Gershon, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. 31 And they set up for themselves Micah’s graven image, which he had made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh."

"19:1 ¶ AND it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to himself a concubine from Beth-lehem of Judah. 2 And his concubine played the whore against him, and then arose and went away from him to her father’s house to Beth-lehem of Judah, and remained there four whole months. 3 And her husband arose and went after her to speak lovingly to her and to bring her back, taking with him his servant and a couple of asses; and she brought him into her father’s house; and when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet him. 4 And his father-in-law, the damsel’s father, detained him; and he stayed with him three days; so they did eat and drink and lodged there. 5 And on the fourth day, they rose early in the morning to depart; and the damsel’s father said to his son-in-law, Strengthen yourself with a piece of bread; and after that rise and go. 6 So they sat down and did eat and drink, both of them together; and the damsel’s father said to his son-in-law, If you wish you may spend the night and it will do you good. 7 And when the man rose up to depart, his father-in-law urged him to stay; and he spent the night there again. 8 And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart; and the damsel’s father said to him, Strengthen your heart, refresh yourself, and tarry until afternoon. And they did eat and drink both of them. 9 And when the man rose up to depart, he and his concubine and his servant, his father-in-law, the damsel’s father, said to him, Behold, now the day is spent, tarry all night here; and it will do you good; and tomorrow, rise up early and go to your home. 10 But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed, and came opposite Jebus, which is Jerusalem; and there were with him two asses with burdens, and his concubine also was with him. 11 And when they were near Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said to his master, Come, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites and spend the night in it. 12 And his master said to him, We will not turn aside into a strange city that does not belong to the house of Israel; but we will pass on to Gibeah. 13 And he said to his servant, Come, let us draw near to one of these places to lodge the night in Gibeah, or in Ramtha. 14 So they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when they were near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin. 15 And they turned aside there to spend the night; and they went to Gibeah, and sat down in a street of the city.; for there was no man to take them into his house to spend the night."

"16 ¶ And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at evening, and the man was also of mount Ephraim; and he sojourned in Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, but the men of the place were Benjamites whose deeds were exceedingly bad. 17 And the old man lifted up his eyes and saw the wayfarer in the street of the city; and the old man said to him, Where are you going? And whence do you come? 18 And he said to him, We are travelling from Beth-lehem of Judah toward the side of mount Ephraim; from thence am I; and I went as far as Beth-lehem of Judah, but now I am going to the house of the LORD, but there is no man to take us into his house. 19 And yet there is both straw and fodder for our asses; and there is bread and wine also for me and for your maidservant and for the young man, your servant; there is no lack of anything. 20 And the old man said to him, Peace be with you; anything that you may lack I will provide for you; only do not spend the night in the street. 21 So he brought him into his house, and gave fodder to his asses; and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink."

"22 ¶ Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain wicked men, beset the house round about, and they beat at the door and spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him. 23 And the old man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, No, my brethren, no, do not be so wicked; seeing that this man has come into my house, do not commit this shameful act. 24 Behold, here is my daughter, a virgin, and his concubine; I will bring them out for you, and you may humble them, and do with them what seems good to you; but to this man you shall not do any shameful thing. 25 But the men would not listen to him; so the man took his concubine and brought her outside to them: and they raped her and abused her all the night until the morning; and when dawn began to break, they let her go. 26 Then as the day was dawning, the woman came and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her master was, till it was light. 27 And her master rose up in the morning and opened the door of the house and went out to go his way: and he saw his concubine lying at the door of the house, with her hands upon the threshold. 28 And he said to her, Get up, let us go. But she did not answer. Then he put her upon the ass, and the man rose up and went on to his own home. 29 And when he had come to his house, he took a knife and cut his concubine in pieces, and divided her into twelve portions, and distributed them throughout all the tribes of Israel. 30 And all who saw it said, There has never been, nor seen, such a deed from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day. So they considered it, and took counsel, and spoke out."

"20:1 ¶ THEN all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation gathered together as one man from Dan to Beer-sheba, to the land of Gilead, to the LORD in Mizpeh. 2 And the chiefs of all the families of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen who could draw sword. 3 (Now the Benjamites heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpeh.) Then said the children of Israel, Tell us, how did this wickedness happen? 4 And the Levite, the husband of the woman who was killed, answered and said to them, I came into Gibeah, that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night. 5 And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset me in the house during the night, and they sought to kill me; and they raped my concubine, and she died. 6 And I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent them throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel; for they had committed sin and wickedness in Israel. 7 Behold, you are all here, O children of Israel, give an answer and counsel concerning this crime. 8 And all the people arose as one man, saying, We will not any of us go to our tents, neither shall any one of us turn aside to go to his house. 9 But now this will be the thing which we shall do to Gibeah; we will draw lots against it; 10 We will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to take provisions for the people, who cross over against Gibeah of Benjamin, to do to it according to all the wickedness which they have committed in Israel. 11 So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, agreeing together as one man."

"12 ¶ And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that has been done among you? 13 Now therefore deliver up the wicked men, who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel. But the Benjamites would not listen to the voice of their brethren, the children of Israel; 14 But all the Benjamites gathered themselves together in Gibeah from their cities, to go out to battle against the children of Israel. 15 And the Benjamites were numbered in that day out of the cities twenty-six thousand men that drew sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who were numbered seven hundred chosen men. 16 Among all these people there were seven hundred chosen men who were lefthanded; every one of them could sling stones at an hairbreadth, and not miss. 17 And the men of Israel, as compared with the Benjamites, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword; all these were men of war."

"18 ¶ And the children of Israel arose and went up to Beth-el, and inquired of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to battle against the Benjamites? And the LORD said, Judah shall go first. 19 And the children of Israel rose up in the morning and encamped against Gibeah. 20 And the Benjamites went out of Gibeah to battle against Israel, and arrayed themselves against Israel; and the men of Israel put themselves in array to fight against them at Gibeah. 21 And the Benjamites came forth out of Gibeah, and put themselves in array against Israel, and left dead on the ground that day twenty-two thousand men of the children of Israel. 22 But the children of Israel rallied themselves, and once more set themselves in array in the same place where they had put themselves in array the first day. 23 And the children of Israel went up to Beth-el, and wept before the LORD until evening, and they asked counsel of the LORD, saying, Shall we go up again to battle against our brethren the Benjamites? And the LORD said, Go up against them. 24 And the children of Israel drew near to battle against the Benjamites on the second day. 25 And the Benjamites went out against them from Gibeah the second day, and left dead on the ground eighteen thousand men of the children of Israel; all of these men who drew the sword."

"26 ¶ Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up and came to Beth-el, and wept and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until evening, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. 27 And the children of Israel inquired of the LORD (for the ark of the covenant of the LORD was there in those days; 28 And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, ministered before it in those days), saying, Shall we yet again go out to battle against our brethren the Benjamites, or shall we cease? And the LORD said, Go up; for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hands. 29 So Israel set ambushes round about Gibeah. 30 Then the children of Israel went up against the Benjamites on the third day., and put themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times. 31 And the Benjamites went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city: and they began to smite the people, and kill, as at other times, in the highways, one of which goes up to Gibeah, and the other to Beth-el through the field, about thirty men of Israel. 32 And the Benjamites said, They are defeated before us, as at first. But the children of Israel said, Let us flee, and draw them away from the city to the highways. 33 And all the men of Israel rose up out of their places, and put themselves in array at Baal-tamar; and those Israelites in ambush came forth out of their places from the cave which is in Gibeah. 34 And there came toward Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was hard fought; but they did not know that disaster was near them. 35 And the LORD defeated Benjamin before Israel; and the children of Israel destroyed of the Benjamites that day twenty-five thousand, one hundred men; all of those who drew the sword. 36 So the Benjamites saw that they were defeated; and the children of Israel gave ground to the Benjamites, because they trusted in the ambushes that they had set against Gibeah. 37 And the men who were in ambush quietly made an attack against Gibeah; then the men in ambush moved forward and smote all the city with the edge of the sword. 38 Now there was an appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in ambush, which was that they should make a great flame with smoke rise up out of the city. 39 And when the men of Israel retreated in the battle, the Benjamites killed of the men of Israel about thirty men; for they said. Surely they are defeated before us, as in the first battle. 40 But when the smoke began to rise out of the city like a pillar, the Benjamites looked behind them, and. behold, the flames of the city ascended up to heaven. 41 And when the men of Israel turned against them, the Benjamites were terrified; for they saw that disaster was upon them. 42 Therefore they fled before the men of Israel on their way to the wilderness; but the battle overtook them; and those who came out of the city first were trapped in the midst of them. 43 Thus they pursued the Benjamites and drove them away, and smote them with ease, to the east beyond Gibeah. 44 And there fell of the Benjamites eighteen thousand men; all these were men of valor. 45 And they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon; and five thousand of them fell in the highway; all men that drew the sword; and they pursued hard after them as far as Gibeon, and slew two thousand men of them. 46 So all who fell that day of Benjamin were twenty-five thousand men that drew the sword; all these were men of valor. 47 But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and abode in the rock of Rimmon four months. 48 And the men of Israel turned again upon the Benjamites, and smote them with the edge of the sword, and consumed them out of the cities, both men and beasts and all that they found; also they set on fire all the cities which they found."

"21:1 ¶ NOW the men of Israel had sworn at Mizpeh, saying, None of us shall give his daughter in marriage to the Benjamites. 2 And the people came to Beth-el, and abode there till evening before God, and lifted up their voices and wept bitterly; 3 And said, O LORD God of Israel, why has this disaster come to pass in Israel, that there should be today one tribe missing from Israel? 4 And on the morrow the people rose early and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. 5 And the children of Israel said. Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that did not come up in the assembly before the LORD? For they had made a great oath concerning him who did not come up to Mizpeh before the LORD, saying, He shall surely be put to death. 6 Then the children of Israel were sorry for the Benjamites their brethren, and said, One tribe has disappeared from Israel this day. 7 And they said, What shall we do for those who are left without wives, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them our daughters to wife? 8 And they said, Which one is there of the tribes of Israel that did not come up to Mizpeh before the LORD? And, behold, there had come none to the camp from the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead to the assembly. 9 For the people were numbered there, and behold, not one man of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead was found there. 10 And the people sent thither twelve thousand of the bravest men, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, including the women and the children. 11 And this is the thing that you must do, You must utterly destroy every male and every woman that has lain with a man. 12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins that had known no man by lying with him; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan. 13 Then the whole congregation sent messengers to speak to the Benjamites that were in the rock of Rimmon, and to proclaim peace to them. 14 And Benjamin came back at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead; but there were not enough for them. 15 And the people were sorry for Benjamin, because the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel."

"16 ¶ Then the elders of the people said. What shall we do for wives for those that remain, for all the Benjamite women have perished? 17 And they said, The remnant of Benjamin must be spared, that a tribe may not be missing from Israel. 18 Howbeit we cannot give them wives of our daughters; for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed be he who gives a wife to Benjamin. 19 Then they said. Behold, there is a feast of the LORD in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the north side of Beth-el, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Beth-el to Shechem, south of Lebonah. 20 So they commanded the Benjamites, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards; 21 And when you shall see the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance with tambourines, then come out of the vineyards and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. 22 And if their parents or their brothers should come to complain before us, we will say to them, Have compassion upon them, because they did not take each man his wife with him in the war; and it is not you who gave them to them, that you should be guilty. 23 And the Benjamites did so, and they took them wives from all of those who played tambourines, whom they caught; and they returned and went to their inheritance, and rebuilt the towns, and dwelt in them. 24 And the children of Israel departed thence at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from thence every man to his inheritance. 25 In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which seemed right in his own eyes."