
The Book of Judges

   {1:1} And it came to pass after the death of Joshua, that the
children of Israel asked of Jehovah, saying, Who shall go up for us
first against the Canaanites, to fight against them? {1:2} And Jehovah
said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his
hand. {1:3} And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me
into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise
will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him. {1:4} And
Judah went up; and Jehovah delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites
into their hand: and they smote of them in Bezek ten thousand men.
{1:5} And they found Adoni-bezek in Bezek; and they fought against him,
and they smote the Canaanites and the Perizzites. {1:6} But Adoni-bezek
fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his
thumbs and his great toes. {1:7} And Adoni-bezek said, Threescore and
ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered
[their food] under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me.
And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

   {1:8} And the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and took
it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.
{1:9} And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against
the Canaanites that dwelt in the hill-country, and in the South, and in
the lowland. {1:10} And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in
Hebron (now the name of Hebron beforetime was Kiriath-arba); and they
smote Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai.

   {1:11} And from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir.
(Now the name of Debir beforetime was Kiriath-sepher.) {1:12} And Caleb
said, He that smiteth Kiriath-sepher, and taketh it, to him will I give
Achsah my daughter to wife. {1:13} And Othniel the son of Kenaz,
Caleb's younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter
to wife. {1:14} And it came to pass, when she came [unto him], that she
moved him to ask of her father a field: and she alighted from off her
ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wouldest thou? {1:15} And she said
unto him, Give me a blessing; for that thou hast set me in the land of
the South, give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper
springs and the nether springs.

   {1:16} And the children of the Kenite, Moses' brother-in-law, went
up out of the city of palm-trees with the children of Judah into the
wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad; and they went and
dwelt with the people. {1:17} And Judah went with Simeon his brother,
and they smote the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly
destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah. {1:18} Also
Judah took Gaza with the border thereof, and Ashkelon with the border
thereof, and Ekron with the border thereof. {1:19} And Jehovah was with
Judah; and drove out [the inhabitants of] the hill-country; for he
could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had
chariots of iron. {1:20} And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses had
spoken: and he drove out thence the three sons of Anak. {1:21} And the
children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited
Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in
Jerusalem unto this day.

   {1:22} And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Beth-el;
and Jehovah was with them. {1:23} And the house of Joseph sent to spy
out Beth-el. (Now the name of the city beforetime was Luz.) {1:24} And
the watchers saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto
him, Show us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will
deal kindly with thee. {1:25} And he showed them the entrance into the
city; and they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let
the man go and all his family. {1:26} And the man went into the land of
the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz, which
is the name thereof unto this day.

   {1:27} And Manasseh did not drive out [the inhabitants of]
Beth-shean and its towns, nor [of] Taanach and its towns, nor the
inhabitants of Dor and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and its
towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; but the Canaanites
would dwell in that land. {1:28} And it came to pass, when Israel was
waxed strong, that they put the Canaanites to taskwork, and did not
utterly drive them out.

   {1:29} And Ephraim drove not out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer;
but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.

   {1:30} Zebulun drove not out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the
inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became
subject to taskwork.

   {1:31} Asher drove not out the inhabitants of Acco, nor the
inhabitants of Sidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor
of Aphik, nor of Rehob; {1:32} but the Asherites dwelt among the
Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them
out.

   {1:33} Naphtali drove not out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, nor
the inhabitants of Beth-anath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the
inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh
and of Beth-anath became subject to taskwork.

   {1:34} And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the
hill-country; for they would not suffer them to come down to the
valley; {1:35} but the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres, in Aijalon,
and in Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that
they became subject to taskwork. {1:36} And the border of the Amorites
was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.



   {2:1} And the angel of Jehovah came up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he
said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the
land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my
covenant with you: {2:2} and ye shall make no covenant with the
inhabitants of this land; ye shall break down their altars. But ye have
not hearkened unto my voice: why have ye done this? {2:3} Wherefore I
also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be
[as thorns] in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.
{2:4} And it came to pass, when the angel of Jehovah spake these words
unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice,
and wept. {2:5} And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they
sacrificed there unto Jehovah.

   {2:6} Now when Joshua had sent the people away, the children of
Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land. {2:7}
And the people served Jehovah all the days of Joshua, and all the days
of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of
Jehovah that he had wrought for Israel. {2:8} And Joshua the son of
Nun, the servant of Jehovah, died, being a hundred and ten years old.
{2:9} And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in
Timnath-heres, in the hill-country of Ephraim, on the north of the
mountain of Gaash. {2:10} And also all that generation were gathered
unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, that
knew not Jehovah, nor yet the work which he had wrought for Israel.

   {2:11} And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the
sight of Jehovah, and served the Baalim; {2:12} and they forsook
Jehovah, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of
Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the peoples that were
round about them, and bowed themselves down unto them: and they
provoked Jehovah to anger. {2:13} And they forsook Jehovah, and served
Baal and the Ashtaroth. {2:14} And the anger of Jehovah was kindled
against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that
despoiled them; and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round
about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.
{2:15} Whithersoever they went out, the hand of Jehovah was against
them for evil, as Jehovah had spoken, and as Jehovah had sworn unto
them: and they were sore distressed.

   {2:16} And Jehovah raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand
of those that despoiled them. {2:17} And yet they hearkened not unto
their judges; for they played the harlot after other gods, and bowed
themselves down unto them: they turned aside quickly out of the way
wherein their fathers walked, obeying the commandments of Jehovah;
[but] they did not so. {2:18} And when Jehovah raised them up judges,
then Jehovah was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of
their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented Jehovah
because of their groaning by reason of them that oppressed them and
vexed them. {2:19} But it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that
they turned back, and dealt more corruptly than their fathers, in
following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they
ceased not from their doings, nor from their stubborn way. {2:20} And
the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel; and he said, Because
this nation have transgressed my covenant which I commanded their
fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice; {2:21} I also will not
henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations that Joshua
left when he died; {2:22} that by them I may prove Israel, whether they
will keep the way of Jehovah to walk therein, as their fathers did keep
it, or not. {2:23} So Jehovah left those nations, without driving them
out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.



   {3:1} Now these are the nations which Jehovah left, to prove Israel
by them, even as many [of Israel] as had not known all the wars of
Canaan; {3:2} only that the generations of the children of Israel might
know, to teach them war, at the least such as beforetime knew nothing
thereof: {3:3} [namely], the five lords of the Philistines, and all the
Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount
Lebanon, from mount Baal-hermon unto the entrance of Hamath. {3:4} And
they were [left], to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would
hearken unto the commandments of Jehovah, which he commanded their
fathers by Moses. {3:5} And the children of Israel dwelt among the
Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the
Hivites, and the Jebusites: {3:6} and they took their daughters to be
their wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons and served
their gods.

   {3:7} And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the
sight of Jehovah, and forgat Jehovah their God, and served the Baalim
and the Asheroth. {3:8} Therefore the anger of Jehovah was kindled
against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim
king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served
Cushan-rishathaim eight years. {3:9} And when the children of Israel
cried unto Jehovah, Jehovah raised up a saviour to the children of
Israel, who saved them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger
brother. {3:10} And the Spirit of Jehovah came upon him, and he judged
Israel; and he went out to war, and Jehovah delivered Cushan-rishathaim
king of Mesopotamia into his hand: and his hand prevailed against
Cushan-rishathaim. {3:11} And the land had rest forty years. And
Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

   {3:12} And the children of Israel again did that which was evil in
the sight of Jehovah: and Jehovah strengthened Eglon the king of Moab
against Israel, because they had done that which was evil in the sight
of Jehovah. {3:13} And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and
Amalek; and he went and smote Israel, and they possessed the city of
palm-trees. {3:14} And the children of Israel served Eglon the king of
Moab eighteen years.

   {3:15} But when the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah, Jehovah
raised them up a saviour, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a man
left-handed. And the children of Israel sent tribute by him unto Eglon
the king of Moab. {3:16} And Ehud made him a sword which had two edges,
a cubit in length; and he girded it under his raiment upon his right
thigh. {3:17} And he offered the tribute unto Eglon king of Moab: now
Eglon was a very fat man. {3:18} And when he had made an end of
offering the tribute, he sent away the people that bare the tribute.
{3:19} But he himself turned back from the quarries that were by
Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand unto thee, O king. And he
said, Keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from him. {3:20}
And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting by himself alone in the cool
upper room. And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee. And he
arose out of his seat. {3:21} And Ehud put forth his left hand, and
took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his body:
{3:22} and the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed
upon the blade, for he drew not the sword out of his body; and it came
out behind. {3:23} Then Ehud went forth into the porch, and shut the
doors of the upper room upon him, and locked them.

   {3:24} Now when he was gone out, his servants came; and they saw,
and, behold, the doors of the upper room were locked; and they said,
Surely he is covering his feet in the upper chamber. {3:25} And they
tarried till they were ashamed; and, behold, he opened not the doors of
the upper room: therefore they took the key, and opened [them], and,
behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth.

   {3:26} And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the
quarries, and escaped unto Seirah. {3:27} And it came to pass, when he
was come, that he blew a trumpet in the hill-country of Ephraim; and
the children of Israel went down with him from the hill-country, and he
before them. {3:28} And he said unto them, Follow after me; for Jehovah
hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went
down after him, and took the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites,
and suffered not a man to pass over. {3:29} And they smote of Moab at
that time about ten thousand men, every lusty man, and every man of
valor; and there escaped not a man. {3:30} So Moab was subdued that day
under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years.

   {3:31} And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who smote of the
Philistines six hundred men with an ox-goad: and he also saved Israel.





   {4:1} And the children of Israel again did that which was evil in
the sight of Jehovah, when Ehud was dead. {4:2} And Jehovah sold them
into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the
captain of whose host was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth of the
Gentiles. {4:3} And the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah: for he
had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily
oppressed the children of Israel.

   {4:4} Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, she judged
Israel at that time. {4:5} And she dwelt under the palm-tree of Deborah
between Ramah and Beth-el in the hill-country of Ephraim: and the
children of Israel came up to her for judgment. {4:6} And she sent and
called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh-naphtali, and said unto
him, Hath not Jehovah, the God of Israel, commanded, [saying], Go and
draw unto mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the
children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? {4:7} And I will
draw unto thee, to the river Kishon, Sisera, the captain of Jabin's
army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into
thy hand. {4:8} And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then
I will go; but if thou wilt not go with me, I will not go. {4:9} And
she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding, the journey that
thou takest shall not be for thine honor; for Jehovah will sell Sisera
into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to
Kedesh. {4:10} And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali together to
Kedesh; and there went up ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah
went up with him.

   {4:11} Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites,
even from the children of Hobab the brother-in-law of Moses, and had
pitched his tent as far as the oak in Zaanannim, which is by Kedesh.

   {4:12} And they told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone
up to mount Tabor. {4:13} And Sisera gathered together all his
chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that
were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles, unto the river Kishon.
{4:14} And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which
Jehovah hath delivered Sisera into thy hand; is not Jehovah gone out
before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men
after him. {4:15} And Jehovah discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots,
and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera
alighted from his chariot, and fled away on his feet. {4:16} But Barak
pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the
Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword;
there was not a man left.

   {4:17} Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the
wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between Jabin the king of
Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. {4:18} And Jael went out to
meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear
not. And he turned in unto her into the tent, and she covered him with
a rug. {4:19} And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little
water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and
gave him drink, and covered him. {4:20} And he said unto her, Stand in
the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and
inquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say,
No. {4:21} Then Jael Heber's wife took a tent-pin, and took a hammer in
her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the pin into his temples,
and it pierced through into the ground; for he was in a deep sleep; so
he swooned and died. {4:22} And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael
came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will show thee the
man whom thou seekest. And he came unto her; and, behold, Sisera lay
dead, and the tent-pin was in his temples.

   {4:23} So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before
the children of Israel. {4:24} And the hand of the children of Israel
prevailed more and more against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they
had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.





   {5:1} Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day,
saying,
{5:2} For that the leaders took the lead in Israel,
For that the people offered themselves willingly,
Bless ye Jehovah.
{5:3} Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes;
I, [even] I, will sing unto Jehovah;
I will sing praise to Jehovah, the God of Israel.
{5:4} Jehovah, when thou wentest forth out of Seir,
When thou marchedst out of the field of Edom,
The earth trembled, the heavens also dropped,
Yea, the clouds dropped water.
{5:5} The mountains quaked at the presence of Jehovah,
Even yon Sinai at the presence of Jehovah, the God of Israel.

{5:6} In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath,
In the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied,
And the travellers walked through byways.
{5:7} The rulers ceased in Israel, they ceased,
Until that I Deborah arose,
That I arose a mother in Israel.
{5:8} They chose new gods;
Then was war in the gates:
Was there a shield or spear seen
Among forty thousand in Israel?
{5:9} My heart is toward the governors of Israel,
That offered themselves willingly among the people:
Bless ye Jehovah.
{5:10} Tell [of it], ye that ride on white asses,
Ye that sit on rich carpets,
And ye that walk by the way.
{5:11} Far from the noise of archers, in the places of drawing water,
There shall they rehearse the righteous acts of Jehovah,
[Even] the righteous acts of his rule in Israel.
Then the people of Jehovah went down to the gates.

{5:12} Awake, awake, Deborah;
Awake, awake, utter a song:
Arise, Barak, and lead away thy captives, thou son of Abinoam.
{5:13} Then came down a remnant of the nobles [and] the people;
Jehovah came down for me against the mighty.
{5:14} Out of Ephraim [came down] they whose root is in Amalek;
After thee, Benjamin, among thy peoples;
Out of Machir came down governors,
And out of Zebulun they that handle the marshal's staff.
{5:15} And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah;
As was Issachar, so was Barak;
Into the valley they rushed forth at his feet.
By the watercourses of Reuben
There were great resolves of heart.
{5:16} Why sattest thou among the sheepfolds,
To hear the pipings for the flocks?
At the watercourses of Reuben
There were great searchings of heart.
{5:17} Gilead abode beyond the Jordan:
And Dan, why did he remain in ships?
Asher sat still at the haven of the sea,
And abode by his creeks.
{5:18} Zebulun was a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death,
And Naphtali, upon the high places of the field.

{5:19} The kings came and fought;
Then fought the kings of Canaan.
In Taanach by the waters of Megiddo:
They took no gain of money.
{5:20} From heaven fought the stars,
From their courses they fought against Sisera.
{5:21} The river Kishon swept them away,
That ancient river, the river Kishon.
O my soul, march on with strength.
{5:22} Then did the horsehoofs stamp
By reason of the prancings, the prancings of their strong ones.
{5:23} Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of Jehovah.
Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof,
Because they came not to the help of Jehovah,
To the help of Jehovah against the mighty.

{5:24} Blessed above women shall Jael be,
The wife of Heber the Kenite;
Blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
{5:25} He asked water, [and] she gave him milk;
She brought him butter in a lordly dish.
{5:26} She put her hand to the tent-pin,
And her right hand to the workmen's hammer;
And with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote through his head;
Yea, she pierced and struck through his temples.
{5:27} At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay;
At her feet he bowed, he fell;
Where he bowed, there he fell down dead.

{5:28} Through the window she looked forth, and cried,
The mother of Sisera [cried] through the lattice,
Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why tarry the wheels of his chariots?
{5:29} Her wise ladies answered her,
Yea, she returned answer to herself,
{5:30} Have they not found, have they not divided the spoil?
A damsel, two damsels to every man;
To Sisera a spoil of dyed garments,
A spoil of dyed garments embroidered,
Of dyed garments embroidered on both sides, on the necks of the spoil?
{5:31} So let all thine enemies perish, O Jehovah:
But let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his
      might.

   And the land had rest forty years.



   {6:1} And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the
sight of Jehovah: and Jehovah delivered them into the hand of Midian
seven years. {6:2} And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel; and
because of Midian the children of Israel made them the dens which are
in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds. {6:3} And so it
was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the
Amalekites, and the children of the east; they came up against them;
{6:4} and they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the
earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance in Israel,
neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. {6:5} For they came up with their
cattle and their tents; they came in as locusts for multitude; both
they and their camels were without number: and they came into the land
to destroy it. {6:6} And Israel was brought very low because of Midian;
and the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah.

   {6:7} And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto
Jehovah because of Midian, {6:8} that Jehovah sent a prophet unto the
children of Israel: and he said unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God
of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of
the house of bondage; {6:9} and I delivered you out of the hand of the
Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drove
them out from before you, and gave you their land; {6:10} and I said
unto you, I am Jehovah your God; ye shall not fear the gods of the
Amorites, in whose land ye dwell. But ye have not hearkened unto my
voice.

   {6:11} And the angel of Jehovah came, and sat under the oak which
was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son
Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the
Midianites. {6:12} And the angel of Jehovah appeared unto him, and said
unto him, Jehovah is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. {6:13} And
Gideon said unto him, Oh, my lord, if Jehovah is with us, why then is
all this befallen us? and where are all his wondrous works which our
fathers told us of, saying, Did not Jehovah bring us up from Egypt? but
now Jehovah hath cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian.
{6:14} And Jehovah looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and
save Israel from the hand of Midian: have not I sent thee? {6:15} And
he said unto him, Oh, Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my
family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's
house. {6:16} And Jehovah said unto him, Surely I will be with thee,
and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. {6:17} And he said unto
him, If now I have found favor in thy sight, then show me a sign that
it is thou that talkest with me. {6:18} Depart not hence, I pray thee,
until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and lay it before
thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again.

   {6:19} And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened
cakes of an ephah of meal: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the
broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and
presented it. {6:20} And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh
and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the
broth. And he did so. {6:21} Then the angel of Jehovah put forth the
end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the
unleavened cakes; and there went up fire out of the rock, and consumed
the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of Jehovah departed
out of his sight. {6:22} And Gideon saw that he was the angel of
Jehovah; and Gideon said, Alas, O Lord Jehovah! forasmuch as I have
seen the angel of Jehovah face to face. {6:23} And Jehovah said unto
him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. {6:24} Then
Gideon built an altar there unto Jehovah, and called it Jehovah-shalom:
unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

   {6:25} And it came to pass the same night, that Jehovah said unto
him, Take thy father's bullock, even the second bullock seven years
old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut
down the Asherah that is by it; {6:26} and build an altar unto Jehovah
thy God upon the top of this stronghold, in the orderly manner, and
take the second bullock, and offer a burnt-offering with the wood of
the Asherah which thou shalt cut down. {6:27} Then Gideon took ten men
of his servants, and did as Jehovah had spoken unto him: and it came to
pass, because he feared his father's household and the men of the city,
so that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.

   {6:28} And when the men of the city arose early in the morning,
behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah was cut down
that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that
was built. {6:29} And they said one to another, Who hath done this
thing? And when they inquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of
Joash hath done this thing. {6:30} Then the men of the city said unto
Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die, because he hath broken down
the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the Asherah that was by
it. {6:31} And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye
contend for Baal? Or will ye save him? he that will contend for him,
let him be put to death whilst [it is yet] morning: if he be a god, let
him contend for himself, because one hath broken down his altar. {6:32}
Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal contend
against him, because he hath broken down his altar.

   {6:33} Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children
of the east assembled themselves together; and they passed over, and
encamped in the valley of Jezreel. {6:34} But the Spirit of Jehovah
came upon Gideon; and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered
together after him. {6:35} And he sent messengers throughout all
Manasseh; and they also were gathered together after him: and he sent
messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they
came up to meet them.

   {6:36} And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by my
hand, as thou hast spoken, {6:37} behold, I will put a fleece of wool
on the threshing-floor; if there be dew on the fleece only, and it be
dry upon all the ground, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel
by my hand, as thou hast spoken. {6:38} And it was so; for he rose up
early on the morrow, and pressed the fleece together, and wrung the dew
out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. {6:39} And Gideon said unto God,
Let not thine anger be kindled against me, and I will speak but this
once: let me make trial, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece;
let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let
there be dew. {6:40} And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the
fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.



   {7:1} Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were
with him, rose up early, and encamped beside the spring of Harod: and
the camp of Midian was on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh,
in the valley.

   {7:2} And Jehovah said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee
are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel
vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. {7:3}
Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is
fearful and trembling, let him return and depart from mount Gilead. And
there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there
remained ten thousand.

   {7:4} And Jehovah said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many;
bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and
it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the
same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall
not go with thee, the same shall not go. {7:5} So he brought down the
people unto the water: and Jehovah said unto Gideon, Every one that
lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou
set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to
drink. {7:6} And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to
their mouth, was three hundred men: but all the rest of the people
bowed down upon their knees to drink water. {7:7} And Jehovah said unto
Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and
deliver the Midianites into thy hand; and let all the people go every
man unto his place. {7:8} So the people took victuals in their hand,
and their trumpets; and he sent all the men of Israel every man unto
his tent, but retained the three hundred men: and the camp of Midian
was beneath him in the valley.

   {7:9} And it came to pass the same night, that Jehovah said unto
him, Arise, get thee down into the camp; for I have delivered it into
thy hand. {7:10} But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Purah thy
servant down to the camp: {7:11} and thou shalt hear what they say; and
afterward shall thy hands be strengthened to go down into the camp.
Then went he down with Purah his servant unto the outermost part of the
armed men that were in the camp. {7:12} And the Midianites and the
Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley
like locusts for multitude; and their camels were without number, as
the sand which is upon the sea-shore for multitude. {7:13} And when
Gideon was come, behold, there was a man telling a dream unto his
fellow; and he said, Behold, I dreamed a dream; and, lo, a cake of
barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, and came unto the tent,
and smote it so that it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the
tent lay flat. {7:14} And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing
else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: into
his hand God hath delivered Midian, and all the host.

   {7:15} And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream,
and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped; and he returned
into the camp of Israel, and said, Arise; for Jehovah hath delivered
into your hand the host of Midian. {7:16} And he divided the three
hundred men into three companies, and he put into the hands of all of
them trumpets, and empty pitchers, with torches within the pitchers.
{7:17} And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold,
when I come to the outermost part of the camp, it shall be that, as I
do, so shall ye do. {7:18} When I blow the trumpet, I and all that are
with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp,
and say, For Jehovah and for Gideon.

   {7:19} So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto
the outermost part of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch,
when they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and
brake in pieces the pitchers that were in their hands. {7:20} And the
three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the
torches in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands
wherewith to blow; and they cried, The sword of Jehovah and of Gideon.
{7:21} And they stood every man in his place round about the camp; and
all the host ran; and they shouted, and put [them] to flight. {7:22}
And they blew the three hundred trumpets, and Jehovah set every man's
sword against his fellow, and against all the host; and the host fled
as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of
Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. {7:23} And the men of Israel were gathered
together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh,
and pursued after Midian.

   {7:24} And Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill-country of
Ephraim, saying, Come down against Midian, and take before them the
waters, as far as Beth-barah, even the Jordan. So all the men of
Ephraim were gathered together, and took the waters as far as
Beth-barah, even the Jordan. {7:25} And they took the two princes of
Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb
they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian: and they
brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan.



   {8:1} And the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why hast thou served us
thus, that thou calledst us not, when thou wentest to fight with
Midian? And they did chide with him sharply. {8:2} And he said unto
them, What have I now done in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning
of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? {8:3} God
hath delivered into your hand the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb: and
what was I able to do in comparison with you? Then their anger was
abated toward him, when he had said that.

   {8:4} And Gideon came to the Jordan, [and] passed over, he, and the
three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing. {8:5} And he
said unto the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto
the people that follow me; for they are faint, and I am pursuing after
Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian. {8:6} And the princes of
Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand, that
we should give bread unto thine army? {8:7} And Gideon said, Therefore
when Jehovah hath delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I
will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.
{8:8} And he went up thence to Penuel, and spake unto them in like
manner; and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had
answered. {8:9} And he spake also unto the men of Penuel, saying, When
I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.

   {8:10} Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their hosts with
them, about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of all the host of
the children of the east; for there fell a hundred and twenty thousand
men that drew sword. {8:11} And Gideon went up by the way of them that
dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the host;
for the host was secure. {8:12} And Zebah and Zalmunna fled; and he
pursued after them; and he took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and
Zalmunna, and discomfited all the host.

   {8:13} And Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle from the
ascent of Heres. {8:14} And he caught a young man of the men of
Succoth, and inquired of him: and he described for him the princes of
Succoth, and the elders thereof, seventy and seven men. {8:15} And he
came unto the men of Succoth, and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna,
concerning whom ye did taunt me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and
Zalmunna now in thy hand, that we should give bread unto thy men that
are weary? {8:16} And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the
wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth.
{8:17} And he brake down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the
city.

   {8:18} Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were
they whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou art, so were
they; each one resembled the children of a king. {8:19} And he said,
They were my brethren, the sons of my mother: as Jehovah liveth, if ye
had saved them alive, I would not slay you. {8:20} And he said unto
Jether his first-born, Up, and slay them. But the youth drew not his
sword; for he feared, because he was yet a youth. {8:21} Then Zebah and
Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us; for as the man is, so is
his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took
the crescents that were on their camels' necks.

   {8:22} Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us,
both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also; for thou hast saved us
out of the hand of Midian. {8:23} And Gideon said unto them, I will not
rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: Jehovah shall rule
over you. {8:24} And Gideon said unto them, I would make a request of
you, that ye would give me every man the ear-rings of his spoil. (For
they had golden ear-rings, because they were Ishmaelites.) {8:25} And
they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment,
and did cast therein every man the ear-rings of his spoil. {8:26} And
the weight of the golden ear-rings that he requested was a thousand and
seven hundred [shekels] of gold, besides the crescents, and the
pendants, and the purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and
besides the chains that were about their camels' necks. {8:27} And
Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah:
and all Israel played the harlot after it there; and it became a snare
unto Gideon, and to his house. {8:28} So Midian was subdued before the
children of Israel, and they lifted up their heads no more. And the
land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.

   {8:29} And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own
house. {8:30} And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body
begotten; for he had many wives. {8:31} And his concubine that was in
Shechem, she also bare him a son, and he called his name Abimelech.
{8:32} And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was
buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the
Abiezrites.

   {8:33} And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the
children of Israel turned again, and played the harlot after the
Baalim, and made Baal-berith their god. {8:34} And the children of
Israel remembered not Jehovah their God, who had delivered them out of
the hand of all their enemies on every side; {8:35} neither showed they
kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, [who is] Gideon, according to all
the goodness which he had showed unto Israel.



   {9:1} And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem unto his
mother's brethren, and spake with them, and with all the family of the
house of his mother's father, saying, {9:2} Speak, I pray you, in the
ears of all the men of Shechem, Whether is better for you, that all the
sons of Jerubbaal, who are threescore and ten persons, rule over you,
or that one rule over you? remember also that I am your bone and your
flesh. {9:3} And his mother's brethren spake of him in the ears of all
the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow
Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother. {9:4} And they gave him
threescore and ten [pieces] of silver out of the house of Baal-berith,
wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light fellows, who followed him.
{9:5} And he went unto his father's house at Ophrah, and slew his
brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, being threescore and ten persons, upon
one stone: but Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left; for he
hid himself. {9:6} And all the men of Shechem assembled themselves
together, and all the house of Millo, and went and made Abimelech king,
by the oak of the pillar that was in Shechem.

   {9:7} 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 unto
them, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto
you. {9:8} The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them;
and they said unto the olive-tree, Reign thou over us. {9:9} But the
olive-tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me
they honor God and man, and go to wave to and fro over the trees?
{9:10} And the trees said to the fig-tree, Come thou, and reign over
us. {9:11} But the fig-tree said unto them, Should I leave my
sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to wave to and fro over the trees?
{9:12} And the trees said unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us.
{9:13} And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my new wine, which
cheereth God and man, and go to wave to and fro over the trees? {9:14}
Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us.
{9:15} And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye 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. {9:16}
Now therefore, if ye have dealt truly and uprightly, in that ye have
made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his
house, and have done unto him according to the deserving of his hands
{9:17} (for my father fought for you, and adventured his life, and
delivered you out of the hand of Midian: {9:18} and ye are risen up
against my father's house this day, and have slain his sons, threescore
and ten persons, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of
his maid-servant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your
brother); {9:19} if ye then have dealt truly and uprightly with
Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech,
and let him also rejoice in you: {9:20} but if not, let fire come out
from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo;
and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of
Millo, and devour Abimelech. {9:21} And Jotham ran away, and fled, and
went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.

   {9:22} And Abimelech was prince over Israel three years. {9:23} And
God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and
the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech: {9:24} that the
violence done to the threescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal might come,
and that their blood might be laid upon Abimelech their brother, who
slew them, and upon the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to
slay his brethren. {9:25} And the men of Shechem set liers-in-wait for
him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all that came along
that way by them: and it was told Abimelech.

   {9:26} And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren, and went
over to Shechem; and the men of Shechem put their trust in him. {9:27}
And they went out into the field, and gathered their vineyards, and
trod [the grapes], and held festival, and went into the house of their
god, and did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelech. {9:28} And Gaal the
son of Ebed said, Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should
serve him? is not he the son of Jerubbaal? and Zebul his officer? serve
ye the men of Hamor the father of Shechem: but why should we serve him?
{9:29} And would that this people were under my hand! then would I
remove Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, Increase thine army, and
come out.

   {9:30} And when Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal
the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled. {9:31} And he sent messengers
unto Abimelech craftily, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his
brethren are come to Shechem; and, behold, they constrain the city [to
take part] against thee. {9:32} Now therefore, up by night, thou and
the people that are with thee, and lie in wait in the field: {9:33} and
it shall be, that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, thou shalt
rise early, and rush upon the city; and, behold, when he and the people
that are with him come out against thee, then mayest thou do to them as
thou shalt find occasion.

   {9:34} And Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him,
by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies. {9:35}
And Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entrance of the
gate of the city: and Abimelech rose up, and the people that were with
him, from the ambushment. {9:36} And when Gaal saw the people, he said
to Zebul, Behold, there come people down from the tops of the
mountains. And Zebul said unto him, Thou seest the shadow of the
mountains as if they were men. {9:37} And Gaal spake again and said,
See, there come people down by the middle of the land, and one company
cometh by the way of the oak of Meonenim. {9:38} Then said Zebul unto
him, Where is now thy mouth, that thou saidst, Who is Abimelech, that
we should serve him? is not this the people that thou hast despised? go
out now, I pray, and fight with them. {9:39} And Gaal went out before
the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech. {9:40} And Abimelech
chased him, and he fled before him, and there fell many wounded, even
unto the entrance of the gate.

   {9:41} And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah: and Zebul drove out Gaal and
his brethren, that they should not dwell in Shechem. {9:42} And it came
to pass on the morrow, that the people went out into the field; and
they told Abimelech. {9:43} And he took the people, and divided them
into three companies, and laid wait in the field; and he looked, and,
behold, the people came forth out of the city; And he rose up against
them, and smote them. {9:44} And Abimelech, and the companies that were
with him, rushed forward, and stood in the entrance of the gate of the
city: and the two companies rushed upon all that were in the field, and
smote them. {9:45} And Abimelech fought against the city all that day;
and he took the city, and slew the people that were therein: and he
beat down the city, and sowed it with salt.

   {9:46} And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard thereof,
they entered into the stronghold of the house of Elberith. {9:47} And
it was told Abimelech that all the men of the tower of Shechem were
gathered together. {9:48} And Abimelech gat him up to mount Zalmon, he
and all the people that were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his
hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it up, and laid it
on his shoulder: and he said unto the people that were with him, What
ye have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done. {9:49} And all
the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed
Abimelech, and put them to the stronghold, and set the stronghold on
fire upon them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also,
about a thousand men and women.

   {9:50} Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez,
and took it. {9:51} But there was a strong tower within the city, and
thither fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut
themselves in, and gat them up to the roof of the tower. {9:52} And
Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and drew near
unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire. {9:53} And a certain
woman cast an upper millstone upon Abimelech's head, and brake his
skull. {9:54} Then he called hastily unto the young man his
armorbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and kill me, that men
say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through,
and he died. {9:55} And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was
dead, they departed every man unto his place. {9:56} Thus God requited
the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying
his seventy brethren; {9:57} and all the wickedness of the men of
Shechem did God requite upon their heads: and upon them came the curse
of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.



   {10:1} And after Abimelech there arose to save Israel Tola the son
of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in
the hill-country of Ephraim. {10:2} And he judged Israel twenty and
three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir.

   {10:3} And after him arose Jair, the Gileadite; and he judged Israel
twenty and two years. {10:4} And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty
ass colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havvoth-jair
unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead. {10:5} And Jair died,
and was buried in Kamon.

   {10:6} And the children of Israel again did that which was evil in
the sight of Jehovah, and served the Baalim, and the Ashtaroth, and the
gods of Syria, and the gods of Sidon, and the gods of Moab, and the
gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and
they forsook Jehovah, and served him not. {10:7} And the anger of
Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of
the Philistines, and into the hand of the children of Ammon. {10:8} And
they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel that year: eighteen
years [oppressed they] all the children of Israel that were beyond the
Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. {10:9} And the
children of Ammon passed over the Jordan to fight also against Judah,
and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim; so that Israel
was sore distressed.

   {10:10} And the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah, saying, We
have sinned against thee, even because we have forsaken our God, and
have served the Baalim. {10:11} And Jehovah said unto the children of
Israel, [Did] not [I save you] from the Egyptians, and from the
Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines? {10:12}
The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress
you; and ye cried unto me, and I saved you out of their hand. {10:13}
Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will save
you no more. {10:14} Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let
them save you in the time of your distress. {10:15} And the children of
Israel said unto Jehovah, We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever
seemeth good unto thee; only deliver us, we pray thee, this day.
{10:16} And they put away the foreign gods from among them, and served
Jehovah; and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.

   {10:17} Then the children of Ammon were gathered together, and
encamped in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled themselves
together, and encamped in Mizpah. {10:18} And the people, the princes
of Gilead, said one to another, What man is he that will begin to fight
against the children of Ammon? he shall be head over all the
inhabitants of Gilead.



   {11:1} Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and he
was the son of a harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah. {11:2} And Gilead's
wife bare him sons; and when his wife's sons grew up, they drove out
Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father's
house; for thou art the son of another woman. {11:3} Then Jephthah fled
from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were
gathered vain fellows to Jephthah, and they went out with him.

   {11:4} And it came to pass after a while, that the children of Ammon
made war against Israel. {11:5} And it was so, that, when the children
of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch
Jephthah out of the land of Tob; {11:6} and they said unto Jephthah,
Come and be our chief, that we may fight with the children of Ammon.
{11:7} And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me,
and drive me out of my father's house? and why are ye come unto me now
when ye are in distress? {11:8} And the elders of Gilead said unto
Jephthah, Therefore are we turned again to thee now, that thou mayest
go with us, and fight with the children of Ammon; and thou shalt be our
head over all the inhabitants of Gilead. {11:9} And Jephthah said unto
the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to fight with the
children of Ammon, and Jehovah deliver them before me, shall I be your
head? {11:10} And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Jehovah
shall be witness between us; surely according to thy word so will we
do. {11:11} Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the
people made him head and chief over them: and Jephthah spake all his
words before Jehovah in Mizpah.

   {11:12} And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children
of Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come unto
me to fight against my land? {11:13} And the king of the children of
Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took
away my land, when he came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon even unto
the Jabbok, and unto the Jordan: now therefore restore those [lands]
again peaceably. {11:14} And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the
king of the children of Ammon; {11:15} and he said unto him, Thus saith
Jephthah: Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the
children of Ammon, {11:16} but when they came up from Egypt, and Israel
went through the wilderness unto the Red Sea, and came to Kadesh;
{11:17} then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let
me, I pray thee, pass through thy land; but the king of Edom hearkened
not. And in like manner he sent unto the king of Moab; but he would
not: and Israel abode in Kadesh. {11:18} Then they went through the
wilderness, and went around the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and
came by the east side of the land of Moab, and they encamped on the
other side of the Arnon; but they came not within the border of Moab,
for the Arnon was the border of Moab. {11:19} And Israel sent
messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and
Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land unto
my place. {11:20} But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his
border; but Sihon gathered all his people together, and encamped in
Jahaz, and fought against Israel. {11:21} And Jehovah, the God of
Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and
they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the
inhabitants of that country. {11:22} And they possessed all the border
of the Amorites, from the Arnon even unto the Jabbok, and from the
wilderness even unto the Jordan. {11:23} So now Jehovah, the God of
Israel, hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel,
and shouldest thou possess them? {11:24} Wilt not thou possess that
which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever Jehovah our
God hath dispossessed from before us, them will we possess. {11:25} And
now art thou anything better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of
Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against
them? {11:26} While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and its towns, and in Aroer
and its towns, and in all the cities that are along by the side of the
Arnon, three hundred years; wherefore did ye not recover them within
that time? {11:27} I therefore have not sinned against thee, but thou
doest me wrong to war against me: Jehovah, the Judge, be judge this day
between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon. {11:28}
Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words
of Jephthah which he sent him.

   {11:29} Then the Spirit of Jehovah came upon Jephthah, and he passed
over Gilead and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from
Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon. {11:30} And
Jephthah vowed a vow unto Jehovah, and said, If thou wilt indeed
deliver the children of Ammon into my hand, {11:31} then it shall be,
that whatsoever cometh forth from the doors of my house to meet me,
when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be
Jehovah's, and I will offer it up for a burnt-offering. {11:32} So
Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them;
and Jehovah delivered them into his hand. {11:33} And he smote them
from Aroer until thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto
Abelcheramim, with a very great slaughter. So the children of Ammon
were subdued before the children of Israel.

   {11:34} And Jephthah came to Mizpah unto his house; and, behold, his
daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she
was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter.
{11:35} And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes,
and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou
art one of them that trouble me; for I have opened my mouth unto
Jehovah, and I cannot go back. {11:36} And she said unto him, My
father, thou hast opened thy mouth unto Jehovah; do unto me according
to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth, forasmuch as Jehovah
hath taken vengeance for thee on thine enemies, even on the children of
Ammon. {11:37} And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for
me: let me alone two months, that I may depart and go down upon the
mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my companions. {11:38} And he
said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she departed, she
and her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains.
{11:39} And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned
unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had
vowed: and she knew not man. And it was a custom in Israel, {11:40}
that the daughters of Israel went yearly to celebrate the daughter of
Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.



   {12:1} And the men of Ephraim were gathered together, and passed
northward; and they said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to
fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with
thee? we will burn thy house upon thee with fire. {12:2} And Jephthah
said unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the children
of Ammon; and when I called you, ye saved me not out of their hand.
{12:3} And when I saw that ye saved me not, I put my life in my hand,
and passed over against the children of Ammon, and Jehovah delivered
them into my hand: wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day, to
fight against me? {12:4} Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of
Gilead, and fought with Ephraim; and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim,
because they said, Ye are fugitives of Ephraim, ye Gileadites, in the
midst of Ephraim, [and] in the midst of Manasseh. {12:5} And the
Gileadites took the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And it
was so, that, when [any of] the fugitives of Ephraim said, Let me go
over, the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he
said, Nay; {12:6} then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth; and he
said Sibboleth; for he could not frame to pronounce it right: then they
laid hold on him, and slew him at the fords of the Jordan. And there
fell at that time of Ephraim forty and two thousand.

   {12:7} And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the
Gileadite, and was buried in [one of] the cities of Gilead.

   {12:8} And after him Ibzan of Beth-lehem judged Israel. {12:9} And
he had thirty sons; and thirty daughters he sent abroad, and thirty
daughters he brought in from abroad for his sons. And he judged Israel
seven years. {12:10} And Ibzan died, and was buried at Beth-lehem.
{12:11} And after him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel; and he judged
Israel ten years. {12:12} And Elon the Zebulunite died, and was buried
in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.

   {12:13} And after him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged
Israel. {12:14} And he had forty sons and thirty sons' sons, that rode
on threescore and ten ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years.
{12:15} And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was
buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill-country of the
Amalekites.



   {13:1} And the children of Israel again did that which was evil in
the sight of Jehovah; and Jehovah delivered them into the hand of the
Philistines forty years.

   {13:2} And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the
Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.
{13:3} And the angel of Jehovah appeared unto the woman, and said unto
her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not; but thou shalt
conceive, and bear a son. {13:4} Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and
drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: {13:5}
for, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come
upon his head; for the child shall be a Nazirite unto God from the
womb: and he shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the
Philistines. {13:6} Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A
man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance
of the angel of God, very terrible; and I asked him not whence he was,
neither told he me his name: {13:7} but he said unto me, Behold, thou
shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink,
and eat not any unclean thing; for the child shall be a Nazirite unto
God from the womb to the day of his death.

   {13:8} Then Manoah entreated Jehovah, and said, Oh, Lord, I pray
thee, let the man of God whom thou didst send come again unto us, and
teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born. {13:9} And
God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again
unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not
with her. {13:10} And the woman made haste, and ran, and told her
husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that
came unto me the [other] day. {13:11} And Manoah arose, and went after
his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that
spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am. {13:12} And Manoah said, Now
let thy words come to pass: what shall be the ordering of the child,
and [how] shall we do unto him? {13:13} And the angel of Jehovah said
unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware. {13:14}
She may not eat of anything that cometh of the vine, neither let her
drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; all that I
commanded her let her observe.

   {13:15} And Manoah said unto the angel of Jehovah, I pray thee, let
us detain thee, that we may make ready a kid for thee. {13:16} And the
angel of Jehovah said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not
eat of thy bread; and if thou wilt make ready a burnt-offering, thou
must offer it unto Jehovah. For Manoah knew not that he was the angel
of Jehovah. {13:17} And Manoah said unto the angel of Jehovah, What is
thy name, that, when thy words come to pass, we may do thee honor?
{13:18} And the angel of Jehovah said unto him, Wherefore askest thou
after my name, seeing it is wonderful? {13:19} So Manoah took the kid
with the meal-offering, and offered it upon the rock unto Jehovah: and
[the angel] did wondrously, and Manoah and his wife looked on. {13:20}
For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the
altar, that the angel of Jehovah ascended in the flame of the altar:
and Manoah and his wife looked on; and they fell on their faces to the
ground.

   {13:21} But the angel of Jehovah did no more appear to Manoah or to
his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of Jehovah. {13:22}
And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have
seen God. {13:23} But his wife said unto him, If Jehovah were pleased
to kill us, he would not have received a burnt-offering and a
meal-offering at our hand, neither would he have showed us all these
things, nor would at this time have told such things as these. {13:24}
And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child
grew, and Jehovah blessed him. {13:25} And the Spirit of Jehovah began
to move him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.



   {14:1} And Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of
the daughters of the Philistines. {14:2} And he came up, and told his
father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnah of the
daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.
{14:3} Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a
woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that
thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson
said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well. {14:4}
But his father and his mother knew not that it was of Jehovah; for he
sought an occasion against the Philistines. Now at that time the
Philistines had rule over Israel.

   {14:5} Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to
Timnah, and came to the vineyards of Timnah: and, behold, a young lion
roared against him. {14:6} And the Spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon
him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid; and he had nothing in
his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.
{14:7} And he went down, and talked with the woman, and she pleased
Samson well. {14:8} And after a while 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 body of the lion, and honey. {14:9} And he took it
into his hands, and went on, eating as he went; and he came to his
father and mother, and gave unto them, and they did eat: but he told
them not that he had taken the honey out of the body of the lion.

   {14:10} And his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made
there a feast; for so used the young men to do. {14:11} And it came to
pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with
him. {14:12} And Samson said unto them, Let me now put forth a riddle
unto you: if ye can declare it unto me within the seven days of the
feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and
thirty changes of raiment; {14:13} but if ye cannot declare it unto me,
then shall ye give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of
raiment. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear
it. {14:14} And he said unto them,
Out of the eater came forth food,
And out of the strong came forth sweetness.

   And they could not in three days declare the riddle. {14:15} And it
came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson's wife,
Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we
burn thee and thy father's house with fire: have ye called us to
impoverish us? is it not [so]? {14:16} And Samson's wife wept before
him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put
forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me.
And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my
mother, and shall I tell thee? {14:17} And she wept before him the
seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the
seventh day, that he told her, because she pressed him sore; and she
told the riddle to the children of her people. {14:18} And the men of
the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down,
What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he
said unto them,
If ye had not plowed with my heifer,
Ye had not found out my riddle.

   {14:19} And the Spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon him, and he
went down to Ashkelon, and smote thirty men of them, and took their
spoil, and gave the changes [of raiment] unto them that declared the
riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's
house. {14:20} But Samson's wife was [given] to his companion, whom he
had used as his friend.



   {15:1} But it came to pass after a while, in the time of wheat
harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will
go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him
to go in. {15:2} And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst
utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her
younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her.
{15:3} And Samson said unto them, This time shall I be blameless in
regard of the Philistines, when I do them a mischief. {15:4} And Samson
went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned
tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between every two tails.
{15:5} And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the
standing grain of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks and the
standing grain, and also the oliveyards. {15:6} Then the Philistines
said, Who hath done this? And they said, Samson, the son-in-law of the
Timnite, because he hath taken his wife, and given her to his
companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father
with fire. {15:7} And Samson said unto them, If ye do after this
manner, surely I will be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.
{15:8} And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he
went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock of Etam.

   {15:9} Then the Philistines went up, and encamped in Judah, and
spread themselves in Lehi. {15:10} And the men of Judah said, Why are
ye come up against us? And they said, To bind Samson are we come up, to
do to him as he hath done to us. {15:11} Then three thousand men of
Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson,
Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what then is
this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did
unto me, so have I done unto them. {15:12} And they said unto him, We
are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of
the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will
not fall upon me yourselves. {15:13} And they spake unto him, saying,
No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but
surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new ropes,
and brought him up from the rock.

   {15:14} When he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met
him: and the Spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon him, and the ropes
that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and
his bands dropped from off his hands. {15:15} And he found a fresh
jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and smote a
thousand men therewith. {15:16} And Samson said,
With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps,
With the jawbone of an ass have I smitten a thousand men.

   {15:17} And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking,
that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand; and that place was
called Ramath-lehi. {15:18} And he was sore athirst, and called on
Jehovah, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance by the hand
of thy servant; and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand
of the uncircumcised. {15:19} But God clave the hollow place that is in
Lehi, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit
came again, and he revived: wherefore the name thereof was called
En-hakkore, which is in Lehi, unto this day. {15:20} And he judged
Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.



   {16:1} And Samson went to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went in
unto her. {16:2} [And it was told] the Gazites, saying, Samson is come
hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in
the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, [Let be]
till morning light, then we will kill him. {16:3} And Samson lay till
midnight, and arose at midnight, and laid hold of the doors of the gate
of the city, and the two posts, and plucked them up, bar and all, and
put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the
mountain that is before Hebron.

   {16:4} And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the
valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. {16:5} And the lords of the
Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see
wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail
against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee
every one of us eleven hundred [pieces] of silver. {16:6} And Delilah
said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth,
and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee. {16:7} And Samson
said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withes that were never
dried, then shall I become weak, and be as another man. {16:8} Then the
lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withes which had
not been dried, and she bound him with them. {16:9} Now she had
liers-in-wait abiding in the inner chamber. And she said unto him, The
Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withes, as a string
of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not
known.

   {16:10} And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me,
and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be
bound. {16:11} And he said unto her, If they only bind me with new
ropes wherewith no work hath been done, then shall I become weak, and
be as another man. {16:12} So Delilah took new ropes, and bound him
therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson.
And the liers-in-wait were abiding in the inner chamber. And he brake
them off his arms like a thread.

   {16:13} And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me,
and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said
unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.
{16:14} And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The
Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and
plucked away the pin of the beam, and the web.

   {16:15} And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when
thy heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and
hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth. {16:16} And it came
to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, that
his soul was vexed unto death. {16:17} And he told her all his heart,
and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon my head; for I have
been a Nazirite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my
strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any
other man. {16:18} 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 this once, for he hath told me all his heart. Then the lords of
the Philistines came up unto her, and brought the money in their hand.
{16:19} And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a
man, and shaved off the seven locks of his head; and she began to
afflict him, and his strength went from him. {16:20} And she said, The
Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and
said, I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free. But he
knew not that Jehovah was departed from him. {16:21} And the
Philistines laid hold on him, and put out his eyes; and they brought
him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind
in the prison-house. {16:22} Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow
again after he was shaven.

   {16:23} And the lords of the Philistines gathered them together to
offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice; for they
said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand. {16:24}
And when the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, Our
god hath delivered into our hand our enemy, and the destroyer of our
country, who hath slain many of us. {16:25} And it came to pass, when
their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may
make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison-house; and
he made sport before them. And they set him between the pillars:
{16:26} and Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer
me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house resteth, that I may
lean upon them. {16:27} 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, that beheld while Samson made
sport.

   {16:28} And Samson called unto Jehovah, and said, O Lord Jehovah,
remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this
once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my
two eyes. {16:29} And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon
which the house rested, and leaned upon them, the one with his right
hand, and the other with his left. {16:30} And Samson said, Let me die
with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the
house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein.
So the dead that he slew at his death were more than they that he slew
in his life. {16:31} Then his brethren and all the house of his father
came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between
Zorah and Eshtaol in the burying-place of Manoah his father. And he
judged Israel twenty years.



   {17:1} And there was a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, whose
name was Micah. {17:2} And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred
[pieces] of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou didst
utter a curse, and didst also speak it in mine ears, behold, the silver
is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be my son of
Jehovah. {17:3} And he restored the eleven hundred [pieces] of silver
to his mother; and his mother said, I verily dedicate the silver unto
Jehovah from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten
image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee. {17:4} And when he
restored the money unto his mother, his mother took two hundred
[pieces] of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a
graven image and a molten image: and it was in the house of Micah.
{17:5} And the man Micah had a house of gods, and he made an ephod, and
teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
{17:6} In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that
which was right in his own eyes.

   {17:7} And there was a young man out of Beth-lehem-judah, of the
family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he sojourned there. {17:8} And
the man departed out of the city, out of Beth-lehem-judah, to sojourn
where he could find [a place], and he came to the hill-country of
Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed. {17:9} And Micah said
unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto him, I am a Levite of
Beth-lehem-judah, and I go to sojourn where I may find [a place].
{17:10} And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father
and a priest, and I will give thee ten [pieces] of silver by the year,
and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in. {17:11}
And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was
unto him as one of his sons. {17:12} And Micah consecrated the Levite,
and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.
{17:13} Then said Micah, Now know I that Jehovah will do me good,
seeing I have a Levite to my priest.



   {18:1} In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days
the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for
unto that day [their] inheritance had not fallen unto them among the
tribes of Israel. {18:2} And the children of Dan sent of their family
five men from their whole number, men of valor, from Zorah, and from
Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto
them, Go, search the land. And they came to the hill-country of
Ephraim, unto the house of Micah, and lodged there. {18:3} When they
were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the
Levite; and they turned aside thither, and said unto him, Who brought
thee hither? and what doest thou in this place? and what hast thou
here? {18:4} And he said unto them, Thus and thus hath Micah dealt with
me, and he hath hired me, and I am become his priest. {18:5} And they
said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know
whether our way which we go shall be prosperous. {18:6} And the priest
said unto them, Go in peace: before Jehovah is your way wherein ye go.

   {18:7} Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the
people that were therein, how they dwelt in security, after the manner
of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; for there was none in the land,
possessing authority, that might put [them] to shame in anything, and
they were far from the Sidonians, and had no dealings with any man.
{18:8} And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and
their brethren said unto them, What [say] ye? {18:9} And they said,
Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and,
behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go and to
enter in to possess the land. {18:10} When ye go, ye shall come unto a
people secure, and the land is large; for God hath given it into your
hand, a place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth.

   {18:11} And there set forth from thence of the family of the
Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men girt with
weapons of war. {18:12} And they went up, and encamped in
Kiriath-jearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place Mahaneh-dan,
unto this day; behold, it is behind Kiriath-jearim. {18:13} And they
passed thence unto the hill-country of Ephraim, and came unto the house
of Micah.

   {18:14} Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country
of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in
these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten
image? now therefore consider what ye have to do. {18:15} And they
turned aside thither, and came to the house of the young man the
Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and asked him of his welfare.
{18:16} And the six hundred men girt with their weapons of war, who
were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate. {18:17}
And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in
thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim,
and the molten image: and the priest stood by the entrance of the gate
with the six hundred men girt with weapons of war. {18:18} And when
these went into Micah's house, and fetched the graven image, the ephod,
and the teraphim, and the molten image, the priest said unto them, What
do ye? {18:19} And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thy hand
upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is
it better for thee to be priest unto the house of one man, or to be
priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel? {18:20} And the priest's
heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven
image, and went in the midst of the people.

   {18:21} So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the
cattle and the goods before them. {18:22} When they were a good way
from the house of Micah, the men that were in the houses near to
Micah's house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan.
{18:23} And they cried unto the children of Dan. And they turned their
faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest with
such a company? {18:24} And he said, ye have taken away my gods which I
made, and the priest, and are gone away, and what have I more? and how
then say ye unto me, What aileth thee? {18:25} And the children of Dan
said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows
fall upon you, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household.
{18:26} And the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that
they were too strong for him, he turned and went back unto his house.

   {18:27} And they took that which Micah had made, and the priest whom
he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people quiet and secure, and smote
them with the edge of the sword; and they burnt the city with fire.
{18:28} And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon, and
they had no dealings with any man; and it was in the valley that lieth
by Beth-rehob. And they built the city, and dwelt therein. {18:29} And
they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their
father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was
Laish at the first. {18:30} And the children of Dan set up for
themselves the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son
of Moses, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites
until the day of the captivity of the land. {18:31} So they set them up
Micah's graven image which he 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, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the farther side
of the hill-country of Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of
Beth-lehem-judah. {19:2} And his concubine played the harlot against
him, and went away from him unto her father's house to
Beth-lehem-judah, and was there the space of four months. {19:3} And
her husband arose, and went after her, to speak kindly unto her, to
bring her again, having his servant with him, 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. {19:4} And his father-in-law,
the damsel's father, retained him; and he abode with him three days: so
they did eat and drink, and lodged there. {19:5} And it came to pass on
the fourth day, that they arose early in the morning, and he rose up to
depart: and the damsel's father said unto his son-in-law, Strengthen
thy heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward ye shall go your way.
{19:6} So they sat down, and did eat and drink, both of them together:
and the damsel's father said unto the man, Be pleased, I pray thee, to
tarry all night, and let thy heart be merry. {19:7} And the man rose up
to depart; but his father-in-law urged him, and he lodged there again.
{19:8} And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart;
and the damsel's father said, Strengthen thy heart, I pray thee, and
tarry ye until the day declineth; and they did eat, both of them.
{19:9} And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and
his servant, his father-in-law, the damsel's father, said unto him,
Behold, now the day draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night:
behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thy heart may be
merry; and to-morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go
home.

   {19:10} But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and
departed, and came over against Jebus (the same is Jerusalem): and
there were with him a couple of asses saddled; his concubine also was
with him. {19:11} When they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and
the servant said unto his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn
aside into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it. {19:12} And his
master said unto him, We will not turn aside into the city of a
foreigner, that is not of the children of Israel; but we will pass over
to Gibeah. {19:13} And he said unto his servant, Come and let us draw
near to one of these places; and we will lodge in Gibeah, or in Ramah.
{19:14} So they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down
upon them near to Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin. {19:15} And they
turned aside thither, to go in to lodge in Gibeah: and he went in, and
sat him down in the street of the city; for there was no man that took
them into his house to lodge.

   {19:16} And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the
field at even: now the man was of the hill-country of Ephraim, and he
sojourned in Gibeah; but the men of the place were Benjamites. {19:17}
And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the wayfaring man in the street of
the city; and the old man said, Whither goest thou? and whence comest
thou? {19:18} And he said unto him, We are passing from
Beth-lehem-judah unto the farther side of the hill-country of Ephraim;
from thence am I, and I went to Beth-lehem-judah: and I am [now] going
to the house of Jehovah; and there is no man that taketh me into his
house. {19:19} Yet there is both straw and provender for our asses; and
there is bread and wine also for me, and for thy handmaid, and for the
young man that is with thy servants: there is no want of anything.
{19:20} And the old man said, Peace be unto thee; howsoever let all thy
wants lie upon me; only lodge not in the street. {19:21} So he brought
him into his house, and gave the asses fodder; and they washed their
feet, and did eat and drink.

   {19:22} As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of
the city, certain base fellows, beset the house round about, beating at
the door; and they spake to the master of the house, the old man,
saying, Bring forth the man that came into thy house, that we may know
him. {19:23} And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them,
and said unto them, Nay, my brethren, I pray you, do not so wickedly;
seeing that this man is come into my house, do not this folly. {19:24}
Behold, here is my daughter a virgin, and his concubine; them I will
bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good
unto you: but unto this man do not any such folly. {19:25} But the men
would not hearken to him: so the man laid hold on his concubine, and
brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her all the
night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her
go. {19:26} Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell
down at the door of the man's house where her lord was, till it was
light.

   {19:27} And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of
the house, and went out to go his way; and, behold, the woman his
concubine was fallen down at the door of the house, with her hands upon
the threshold. {19:28} And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going;
but none answered: then he took her up upon the ass; and the man rose
up, and gat him unto his place. {19:29} And when he was come into his
house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided
her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the
borders of Israel. {19:30} And it was so, that all that saw it said,
There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of
Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day: consider it,
take counsel, and speak.



   {20:1} Then all the children of Israel went out, and the
congregation was assembled as one man, from Dan even to Beer-sheba,
with the land of Gilead, unto Jehovah at Mizpah. {20:2} And the chiefs
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 that drew sword. {20:3} (Now the children of Benjamin heard
that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpah.) And the children
of Israel said, Tell us, how was this wickedness brought to pass?
{20:4} And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was murdered,
answered and said, I came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and
my concubine, to lodge. {20:5} And the men of Gibeah rose against me,
and beset the house round about me by night; me they thought to have
slain, and my concubine they forced, and she is dead. {20:6} And I took
my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the
country of the inheritance of Israel; for they have committed lewdness
and folly in Israel. {20:7} Behold, ye children of Israel, all of you,
give here your advice and counsel.

   {20:8} And all the people arose as one man, saying, We will not any
of us go to his tent, neither will we any of us turn unto his house.
{20:9} But now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah: [we will
go up] against it by lot; {20:10} and 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 fetch victuals for the people, that
they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the
folly that they have wrought in Israel. {20:11} So all the men of
Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one man.

   {20:12} And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of
Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that is come to pass among
you? {20:13} Now therefore deliver up the men, the base fellows, that
are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from
Israel. But Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren
the children of Israel. {20:14} And the children of Benjamin gathered
themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah, to go out to battle
against the children of Israel. {20:15} And the children of Benjamin
were numbered on that day out of the cities twenty and six thousand men
that drew sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who were numbered
seven hundred chosen men. {20:16} Among all this people there were
seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every one could sling stones at a
hair-breadth, and not miss.

   {20:17} And the men of Israel, besides Benjamin, were numbered four
hundred thousand men that drew sword: all these were men of war.
{20:18} And the children of Israel arose, and went up to Beth-el, and
asked counsel of God; and they said, Who shall go up for us first to
battle against the children of Benjamin? And Jehovah said, Judah [shall
go up] first.

   {20:19} And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and
encamped against Gibeah. {20:20} And the men of Israel went out to
battle against Benjamin; and the men of Israel set the battle in array
against them at Gibeah. {20:21} And the children of Benjamin came forth
out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites on
that day twenty and two thousand men. {20:22} And the people, the men
of Israel, encouraged themselves, and set the battle again in array in
the place where they set themselves in array the first day. {20:23} And
the children of Israel went up and wept before Jehovah until even; and
they asked of Jehovah, saying, Shall I again draw nigh to battle
against the children of Benjamin my brother? And Jehovah said, Go up
against him.

   {20:24} And the children of Israel came near against the children of
Benjamin the second day. {20:25} And Benjamin went forth against them
out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the
children of Israel again eighteen thousand men; all these drew the
sword. {20:26} Then all the children of Israel, and all the people,
went up, and came unto Beth-el, and wept, and sat there before Jehovah,
and fasted that day until even; and they offered burnt-offerings and
peace-offerings before Jehovah. {20:27} And the children of Israel
asked of Jehovah (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those
days, {20:28} and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood
before it in those days), saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle
against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And
Jehovah said, Go up; for to-morrow I will deliver him into thy hand.

   {20:29} And Israel set liers-in-wait against Gibeah round about.
{20:30} And the children of Israel went up against the children of
Benjamin on the third day, and set themselves in array against Gibeah,
as at other times. {20:31} And the children of Benjamin went out
against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began
to smite and kill of the people, as at other times, in the highways, of
which one goeth up to Beth-el, and the other to Gibeah, in the field,
about thirty men of Israel. {20:32} And the children of Benjamin said,
They are smitten down before us, as at the first. But the children of
Israel said, Let us flee, and draw them away from the city unto the
highways. {20:33} And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place,
and set themselves in array at Baal-tamar: and the liers-in-wait of
Israel brake forth out of their place, even out of Maareh-geba. {20:34}
And there came over against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all
Israel, and the battle was sore; but they knew not that evil was close
upon them. {20:35} And Jehovah smote Benjamin before Israel; and the
children of Israel destroyed of Benjamin that day twenty and five
thousand and a hundred men: all these drew the sword.

   {20:36} So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten; for
the men of Israel gave place to Benjamin, because they trusted unto the
liers-in-wait whom they had set against Gibeah. {20:37} And the
liers-in-wait hasted, and rushed upon Gibeah; and the liers-in-wait
drew themselves along, and smote all the city with the edge of the
sword. {20:38} Now the appointed sign between the men of Israel and the
liers-in-wait was, that they should make a great cloud of smoke rise up
out of the city. {20:39} And the men of Israel turned in the battle,
and Benjamin began to smite and kill of the men of Israel about thirty
persons; for they said, Surely they are smitten down before us, as in
the first battle. {20:40} But when the cloud began to arise up out of
the city in a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them; and,
behold, the whole of the city went up [in smoke] to heaven. {20:41} And
the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were dismayed; for
they saw that evil was come upon them. {20:42} Therefore they turned
their backs before the men of Israel unto the way of the wilderness;
but the battle followed hard after them; and they that came out of the
cities destroyed them in the midst thereof. {20:43} They inclosed the
Benjamites round about, [and] chased them, [and] trod them down at
[their] resting-place, as far as over against Gibeah toward the
sunrising. {20:44} And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men;
all these [were] men of valor. {20:45} And they turned and fled toward
the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon: and they gleaned of them in the
highways five thousand men, and followed hard after them unto Gidom,
and smote of them two thousand men. {20:46} So that all who fell that
day of Benjamin were twenty and five thousand men that drew the sword;
all these [were] men of valor. {20:47} But six hundred men turned and
fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon, and abode in the
rock of Rimmon four months. {20:48} And the men of Israel turned again
upon the children of Benjamin, and smote them with the edge of the
sword, both the entire city, and the cattle, and all that they found:
moreover all the cities which they found they set on fire.



   {21:1} Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, There
shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife. {21:2} And
the people came to Beth-el, and sat there till even before God, and
lifted up their voices, and wept sore. {21:3} And they said, O Jehovah,
the God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there
should be to-day one tribe lacking in Israel? {21:4} And it came to
pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an
altar, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings. {21:5} And the
children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel
that came not up in the assembly unto Jehovah? For they had made a
great oath concerning him that came not up unto Jehovah to Mizpah,
saying, He shall surely be put to death. {21:6} And the children of
Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one
tribe cut off from Israel this day. {21:7} How shall we do for wives
for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by Jehovah that we will not
give them of our daughters to wives?

   {21:8} And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that
came not up unto Jehovah to Mizpah? And, behold, there came none to the
camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly. {21:9} For when the people
were numbered, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of
Jabesh-gilead there. {21:10} And the congregation sent thither twelve
thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and
smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with
the women and the little ones. {21:11} And this is the thing that ye
shall do: ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that
hath lain by man. {21:12} And they found among the inhabitants of
Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins, that had not known man by
lying with him; and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is
in the land of Canaan.

   {21:13} And the whole congregation sent and spake to the children of
Benjamin that were in the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace unto
them. {21:14} And Benjamin returned at that time; and they gave them
the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead: and
yet so they sufficed them not. {21:15} And the people repented them for
Benjamin, because that Jehovah had made a breach in the tribes of
Israel.

   {21:16} Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do
for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of
Benjamin? {21:17} And they said, There must be an inheritance for them
that are escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not blotted out from
Israel. {21:18} Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters,
for the children of Israel had sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth
a wife to Benjamin. {21:19} And they said, Behold, there is a feast of
Jehovah from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north of Beth-el,
on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Beth-el to Shechem,
and on the south of Lebonah. {21:20} And they commanded the children of
Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards, {21:21} and see,
and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the
dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his
wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
{21:22} And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come to
complain unto us, that we will say unto them, Grant them graciously
unto us, because we took not for each man [of them] his wife in battle,
neither did ye give them unto them, else would ye now be guilty.
{21:23} And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives,
according to their number, of them that danced, whom they carried off:
and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and built the
cities, and dwelt in them. {21:24} 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.

   {21:25} In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did
that which was right in his own eyes.




