Judges

 

Chapter 1

 

1 And it came to pass after the death of Joshua that the sons of Israel inquired of the Lord, saying, "Who shall go up for us against the Canaanite, leading the way to make war against him?"

 

2 And the Lord said, "Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand."

 

3 And Judah said to Simeon his brother, "Come up with me into my allotment, and let us make war against the Canaanite, and I too will go with you into your allotment." And Simeon went with him.

 

4 And Judah went up, and the Lord gave the Canaanite and the Perizzite into his hand, and he struck them in Bezek, ten thousand men.

 

5 And they found Adonibezek in Bezek and fought against him, and they struck the Canaanite and the Perizzite.

 

6 And Adonibezek fled, and they pursued after him and took him and cut off the extremities of his hands and of his feet.

 

7 And Adonibezek said, "Seventy kings, with the extremities of their hands and their feet cut off, were gathering what was under my table; as I have done, therefore, so God has repaid me." And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

 

8 And the sons of Judah made war against Jerusalem and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword, and they burned the city with fire.

 

9 And after these things the sons of Judah went down to make war against the Canaanite dwelling in the hill country and the south and the lowland.

 

10 And Judah went against the Canaanite dwelling in Hebron, and Hebron came out against them; now the name of Hebron before was Kiriatharboksepher. And he struck Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai, offspring of Anak.

 

11 And they went from there against the inhabitants of Debir; and the name of Debir before was City of Letters.

 

12 And Caleb said, "Whoever strikes the City of Letters and captures it first, I will give him Achsah my daughter as wife."

 

13 And Othniel son of Kenaz, the younger brother of Caleb, captured it first, and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife.

 

14 And it came to pass as she was coming in, he urged her to ask the field from her father, and she murmured upon the beast of burden and cried out from the beast, "You have given me away into a land of the south." And Caleb said to her, "What is it with you?"

 

15 And Achsah said to him, "Give me a blessing, for you have given me away into a land of the south, and you shall give me a redemption of water." And Caleb gave her, according to her heart, the redemption of the upper springs and the redemption of the lower ones.

 

16 And the sons of Jobab the Kenite, the father-in-law of Moses, went up from the city of palms to the sons of Judah into the wilderness that is in the south at the descent of Arad, and he went and dwelt with the people.

 

17 And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they struck the Canaanite dwelling in Zephath, and they devoted it to destruction and utterly destroyed it, and they called the name of the city Destruction.

 

18 And Judah did not inherit Gaza and its border, nor Ascalon and its border, nor Ekron and its border, nor Azotus and its surrounding lands.

 

19 And the Lord was with Judah, and he inherited the mountain; for he could not dispossess the inhabitants of the valley, because Rechab had set it apart.

 

20 And he gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had spoken; and he inherited from there the three cities and removed from there the three sons of Anak.

 

21 And the sons of Benjamin did not remove the Jebusite dwelling in Jerusalem, and the Jebusite has dwelt with the sons of Benjamin to this day.

 

22 And the sons of Joseph, they too, went up to Bethel, and Judah with them.

 

23 And the house of Israel encamped against Bethel; and the name of the city before was Luz.

 

24 And those keeping watch saw a man coming out of the city, and they took him and said to him, "Show us the entrance of the city, and we will deal mercifully with you."

 

25 And he showed them the entrance of the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but they sent away the man and his kindred.

 

26 And the man went away into the land of the Hittites and built a city there and called its name Luz; this is its name to this day.

 

27 And Manasseh did not inherit Beth-shean, which is the city of the Scythians, nor its daughters nor its surrounding lands, nor Ekthanaad and its daughters, nor the inhabitants of Dor and its daughters, and the inhabitants of Balaam and its daughters, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its daughters, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam nor its daughters; and the Canaanite began to dwell in this land.

 

28 And it came to pass, when Israel grew strong, that he put the Canaanite under tribute, but did not utterly remove him.

 

29 And Ephraim did not remove the Canaanite dwelling in Gezer; and the Canaanite dwelt in his midst in Gezer and became subject to tribute.

 

30 And Zebulun did not remove the inhabitants of Kedron and the inhabitants of Enaala; and the Canaanite dwelt in his midst and became subject to tribute.

 

31 And Asher did not remove the inhabitants of Acco, and it became tributary to him, nor the inhabitants of Dor, nor the inhabitants of Sidon, nor the inhabitants of Aalaph, nor Achzib, nor Helbah, nor Aphek, nor Rehob.

 

32 And Asher dwelt in the midst of the Canaanite dwelling in the land, because he was not able to remove him.

 

33 And Naphtali did not remove the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh nor the inhabitants of Beth-anath, and Israel dwelt in the midst of the Canaanite dwelling in the land; and the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath became subject to them for tribute.

 

34 And the Amorite pressed the sons of Dan into the mountain, for he did not allow them to come down into the valley.

 

35 And the Amorite began to dwell in the mountain of the Myrtle-grove, where the bears and the foxes are; and the hand of the house of Joseph became heavy upon the Amorite, and he became subject to tribute.

 

36 And the border of the Amorite was the Idumean, above Akrabbin, at the Rock and upward. 

  

Chapter 2

 

1 And the angel of the Lord went up from Galgal to the Place of Weeping, and to Baithel, and to the house of Israel, and said to them: The Lord, the Lord brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land which he swore to your fathers to give you, and he said to you, I will not break my covenant with you forever;

 

2 and you shall not make a covenant with those who dwell in this land, neither shall you worship their gods, but you shall shatter their carved images and tear down their altars. But you did not listen to my voice, when you did these things.

 

3 And I said, I will not again remove the people whom I said I would destroy from before you; and they shall be to you for distresses, and their gods shall be to you a stumbling block.

 

4 And it came to pass, when the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all Israel, that the people lifted up their voice and wept.

 

5 Therefore the name of that place was called the Place of Weeping; and they sacrificed there to the Lord.

 

6 And Jesus sent the people away, and the sons of Israel went each to his house and to his inheritance, to take possession of the land.

 

7 And the people served the Lord all the days of Jesus, and all the days of the elders who lived long after Jesus, all who knew all the great work of the Lord which he did for Israel.

 

8 And Jesus the son of Naue, the servant of the Lord, died, being one hundred and ten years old.

 

9 And they buried him within the border of his inheritance, in Thamnathares, in mount Ephraim, north of mount Gaas.

 

10 And all that generation were gathered to their fathers, and another generation arose after them, who did not know the Lord nor the work which he did for Israel.

 

11 And the sons of Israel did evil before the Lord, and served the Baalim.

 

12 And they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and went after other gods, from the gods of the peoples round about them, and worshipped them, and provoked the Lord to anger;

 

13 and they forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Astartes.

 

14 And the Lord was angered with wrath against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of plunderers, and they plundered them; and he sold them into the hand of their enemies round about, and they were not able to stand before their enemies.

 

15 In all things wherein they went whoring, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had spoken and as the Lord had sworn; and he afflicted them exceedingly.

 

16 And the Lord raised up judges for them, and saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them.

 

17 Yet even their judges they did not heed, for they went whoring after other gods and worshipped them, and provoked the Lord to anger; and they turned aside quickly from the way in which their fathers had walked, hearkening to the commandments of the Lord: they did not do so.

 

18 And because the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord was moved by their groaning because of those who besieged them and afflicted them.

 

19 And it came to pass, when the judge died, that they turned back and again corrupted themselves more than their fathers, going after other gods to serve them and to worship them; they did not cast away their practices, nor did they depart from their hard way.

 

20 And the Lord was angered with wrath against Israel, and said: Because this nation has forsaken my covenant, which I commanded their fathers, and has not obeyed my voice,

 

21 I also will no longer remove a man from before them, from the nations which Jesus left behind and let remain,

 

22 to test Israel by them, whether they will keep the way of the Lord, to walk in it, as their fathers kept it, or not.

 

23 And the Lord let these nations remain, so as not to remove them speedily, and he did not deliver them into the hand of Jesus. 

  

Chapter 3

 

 

1 And these are the nations which Joshua left, so as to test Israel by them, all who had not known all the wars of Canaan,

 

2 only for the sake of the generations of the sons of Israel, to teach them war, only those before them had not known them:

 

3 the five satrapies of the Philistines, and every Canaanite, and the Sidonian, and the Hivite who dwelt in Lebanon, from the mountain of Baal-hermon to Lebo-hamath.

 

4 And it came to pass so as to test Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken to the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.

 

5 And the sons of Israel dwelt in the midst of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite;

 

6 and they took their daughters to themselves for wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.

 

7 And the sons of Israel did evil before the Lord, and forgot the Lord their God, and served the Baalim and the groves.

 

8 And the Lord was angered with wrath against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of Chushan-rishathaim king of Syria of the rivers, and they served him eight years.

 

9 And the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord; and the Lord raised up a savior for Israel, and he saved them, Othniel son of Kenaz, the younger brother of Caleb—and he hearkened to him.

 

10 And the spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war; and the Lord delivered into his hand Chushan-rishathaim king of Syria, and his hand prevailed over Chushan-rishathaim.

 

11 And the land had rest fifty years; and Othniel son of Kenaz died.

 

12 And the sons of Israel again did evil before the Lord. And the Lord strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil before the Lord.

 

13 And he brought to himself all the sons of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and took possession of the city of palms.

 

14 And the sons of Israel served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.

 

15 And the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord; and the Lord raised up for them a savior, Ehud son of Gera, son of the Benjaminite, an ambidextrous man. And the sons of Israel sent gifts by his hand to Eglon king of Moab.

 

16 And Ehud made himself a two-edged dagger, a span in length, and girded it under his cloak upon his right thigh.

 

17 And he brought the gifts to Eglon king of Moab; and Eglon was a very handsome man.

 

18 And it came to pass, when Ehud had finished offering the gifts, that he sent away those who carried the gifts.

 

19 And Eglon turned back from the carved images near Gilgal, and Ehud said, "I have a secret word for you, O king." And Eglon said to all, "Away!" and all who stood by him went out from him.

 

20 And Ehud came in to him, and he was sitting in his summer upper chamber all alone. And Ehud said, "I have a word of God for you, O king"; and Eglon rose up from the throne near him.

 

21 And it came to pass, as he rose, that Ehud stretched out his left hand and took the dagger from his right thigh and plunged it into Eglon's belly,

 

22 and drove in even the hilt after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the dagger out of his belly.

 

23 And Ehud went out to the porch and shut the doors of the upper chamber upon him and bolted them;

 

24 and he himself went out. And his servants came in and looked, and behold, the doors of the upper chamber were locked, and they said, "Perhaps he is sitting on the seat in the retiring-place of the chamber."

 

25 And they waited until they were ashamed, and behold, there was no one opening the doors of the upper chamber; and they took the key and opened them, and behold, their lord had fallen on the ground, dead.

 

26 And Ehud escaped while they were in confusion, and no one paid attention to him; and he passed by the carved images and escaped to Seirah.

 

27 And it came to pass, when he arrived, that he blew the horn in mount Ephraim; and the sons of Israel came down with him, and he was before them.

 

28 And he said to them, "Come down after me, for the Lord God has delivered your enemies, Moab, into your hand." And they came down after him, and seized beforehand the fords of the Jordan toward Moab, and did not allow a man to cross.

 

29 And they smote Moab at that time, about ten thousand men, all the warriors among them and every man of might, and not a man escaped.

 

30 And Moab was humbled on that day under the hand of Israel, and the land had rest eighty years; and Ehud judged them until he died.

 

31 And after him arose Shamgar son of Anath, and he smote the Philistines, some six hundred men, apart from the calves of the oxen; and he too saved Israel. 

  

Chapter 4

 

1 And the sons of Israel again did evil before the Lord.

 

2 And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; and the commander of his army was Sisera, and he dwelt in Harosheth of the nations.

 

3 And the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord, for he had nine hundred iron chariots, and he oppressed Israel mightily for twenty years.

 

4 And Deborah, a woman prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, judged Israel at that time.

 

5 And she, Deborah, sat under a palm tree between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the sons of Israel went up to her there for judgment.

 

6 And Deborah sent and called Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh of Naphtali, and said to him, Has not the Lord God of Israel commanded you? And you shall go to Mount Tabor and take with you ten thousand men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun.

 

7 And I will draw out to you, to the brook Kishon, Sisera the commander of Jabin's army, and his chariots and his multitude, and I will deliver him into your hand.

 

8 And Barak said to her, If you will go with me, I will go, and if you will not go with me, I will not go; for I do not know the day on which the Lord prospers his angel with me.

 

9 And Deborah said to him, I will surely go with you; only know that the honor shall not be yours on the way that you are going, for into the hand of a woman shall the Lord sell Sisera. And Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.

 

10 And Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh, and ten thousand men went up at his heels; and Deborah went up with him.

 

11 And the neighbors of the Kenite separated from the sons of Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses, and he pitched his tent by the oak of those resting, which is near Kedesh.

 

12 And they told Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor.

 

13 And Sisera called together all his chariots and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the nations to the brook Kishon.

 

14 And Deborah said to Barak, Arise, for this is the day on which the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand; behold, does not the Lord go out before you? And Barak went down from Mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.

 

15 And the Lord threw Sisera into confusion, and all his chariots and all his camp, by the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera came down from his chariot and fled on foot.

 

16 And Barak pursued after the chariots and after the camp as far as the forest of the nations; and all the camp of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not even one was left.

 

17 And Sisera fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.

 

18 And Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; do not fear. And he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with her rug.

 

19 And Sisera said to her, Give me, please, a little water to drink, for I am thirsty. And she opened the skin of milk and gave him to drink, and covered his face.

 

20 And he said to her, Stand at the door of the tent, and it shall be, if anyone comes to you and asks you and says to you, Is there a man here? then you shall say, There is not. And she covered him with her rug.

 

21 And Jael the wife of Heber took the tent peg and put the hammer in her hand, and went in to him quietly, and drove the peg into his temple, and it went through into the ground; and he convulsed between her knees, and breathed his last and died.

 

22 And behold, Barak was pursuing Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him and said to him, Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking. And he went in to her, and behold, Sisera lay fallen, dead, with the peg in his temple.

 

23 And the Lord God humbled Jabin king of Canaan on that day before the sons of Israel.

 

24 And the hand of the sons of Israel went on, prevailing more and more against Jabin king of Canaan, until they utterly destroyed him. 

  

Chapter 5

 

1 And Deborah and Barak the son of Abineem sang on that day, and she said:

 

2 When leaders took the lead in Israel, in the willing offering of the people, bless the Lord.

 

3 Hear, O kings; give ear, O mighty satraps: I will sing to the Lord, I will sing praise to the God of Israel.

 

4 O Lord, at your going out from Seir, when you set out from the field of Edom, the earth was shaken, and the heaven was troubled, and the clouds dropped water;

 

5 the mountains quaked before the face of the Lord—this Sinai—before the face of the Lord, the God of Israel.

 

6 In the days of Samegar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, kings failed, and they went by paths; they went by crooked ways.

 

7 The mighty failed in Israel; they failed, until Deborah arose, because a mother arose in Israel.

 

8 They chose new gods like barley bread; should I see a shield of spearmen among forty thousand?

 

9 My heart is upon the things ordained for Israel; you rulers of the people, bless the Lord.

 

10 You who ride upon beasts of burden, sitting upon covered chariots,

 

11 utter a voice of those striking up music in the midst of those who rejoice; there they shall render righteousness to the Lord. The righteous grew strong in Israel; then the people of the Lord went down to his cities.

 

12 Awake, awake, Deborah; awaken myriads with the people; awake, awake, speak with a song; arise in strength, Barak, and strengthen Barak, O Deborah; lead your captivity captive, son of Abineem.

 

13 When was his strength magnified? Lord, humble for me those who are stronger than I.

 

14 The people of Ephraim punished them in the valley of your brother Benjamin, among your peoples. From me Machir went down, searching out, and from Zebulun the Lord fought for me among the mighty, from there, with the scepter of one strengthening in leadership.

 

15 In Issachar, with Deborah, he sent out his foot soldiers into the valley. Why do you dwell in the midst of the lips? He stretched out with his feet. In the divisions of Reuben were great searchings of heart.

 

16 Why do you sit for me among the sheepfolds, to listen to the whistlings of those who rouse the flocks? For passing over into the parts of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.

 

17 Gilead encamped beyond the Jordan; and Dan, why does he sojourn in ships? Asher sojourned by the seashore of the seas, and encamped by his inlets.

 

18 Zebulun was a people that exposed its soul to death, and Naphtali upon the heights of the field.

 

19 Kings came and set themselves in array; then the kings of Canaan fought at Thennach by the water of Megiddo; they took no gain of silver.

 

20 From heaven the stars fought; from their courses they fought with Sisera.

 

21 The torrent Kishon swept them away, the torrent Kademim, the torrent Kishon; my mighty soul shall trample them down.

 

22 Then were the horses' hooves cut off, the amadaroth of his mighty ones.

 

23 Curse Maroz, said the angel of the Lord; with a curse curse its inhabitants, because they came not to the help of the Lord; the Lord is our helper, mighty among warriors.

 

24 Blessed among women be Jael, wife of Chaber the Kenite; among women in the tent may she be blessed.

 

25 He asked her for water, and she gave him milk; in a dish of the mighty she brought butter near.

 

26 She stretched out her left hand to the tent-peg, her right hand to the hammer of the laborers; and she struck Sisera, she crushed his head and shattered and pierced through his jaw.

 

27 Between her feet he bowed and fell; he lay between her feet; where he bowed, there he fell, wretched.

 

28 Through the window the mother of Sisera peered, looking through the lattice at those returning with Sisera: Why has his chariot delayed to come? Why have the tracks of his chariots lingered?

 

29 The wise ones among her princesses answered her, and she herself gave answer in her own words:

 

30 Will they not find him dividing spoils? Being friendly to friends—to the head of a mighty man; spoils of dyed garments for Sisera, spoils of dyed embroidered garments, dyed embroidered work about his neck as spoil.

 

31 Thus may all your enemies perish, O Lord; and let those who love him be as the rising of the sun in its might. And the land was at rest forty years. 

 

Chapter 6

 

1 And the sons of Israel did evil before the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years.

 

2 And the hand of Midian prevailed over Israel; and the sons of Israel made for themselves, because of Midian, dens in the mountains and in the caves and in the strongholds.

 

3 And it came to pass, whenever a man of Israel sowed, that Midian and Amalek and the sons of the east would come up, and they came up against him;

 

4 and they encamped against them and destroyed the produce of the land as far as the entrance to Gaza, and they left no sustenance of life in Israel, neither flock nor calf nor donkey.

 

5 For they and their cattle came up, and they brought their tents, and they came like locusts in multitude; and of them and of their camels there was no number, and they came into the land of Israel to destroy it.

 

6 And Israel was greatly impoverished because of Midian, and the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord.

 

7 And it came to pass, when the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord because of Midian,

 

8 that the Lord sent forth a man, a prophet, to the sons of Israel; and he said to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I am he who brought you up out of Egypt, and I led you out of the house of bondage,

 

9 and I delivered you out of the hand of Egypt and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and I cast them out from before you and gave you their land.

 

10 And I said to you, I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorite, in whose land you dwell. But you did not listen to my voice.

 

11 And an angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak that was in Ephratha, which belonged to Joas the father of Abiezri; and Gideon his son was threshing wheat in a winepress, to escape from the face of Midian.

 

12 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, The Lord is with you, mighty in strength.

 

13 And Gideon said to him, I pray, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then have all these evils found us? And where are all his wonders, which our fathers recounted to us, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt? And now he has cast us off and delivered us into the hand of Midian.

 

14 And the angel of the Lord looked upon him and said to him, Go in this your strength, and you shall save Israel; behold, I have sent you.

 

15 And Gideon said to him, I pray, my lord, by what means shall I save Israel? Behold, my thousand is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.

 

16 And the angel of the Lord said to him, The Lord will be with you, and you shall smite Midian as one man.

 

17 And Gideon said to him, If now I have found favor in your eyes, then do for me a sign that it is you who speak with me:

 

18 do not depart from here until I come to you, and I will bring my offering and set it before you. And he said, I will remain until you return.

 

19 And Gideon went in and prepared a kid of the goats and an ephah of flour, unleavened; and he put the meat in the basket, and poured the broth into a pot, and brought it out to him under the oak, and did obeisance.

 

20 And the angel of the Lord said to him, Take the meat and the unleavened bread and set them on that rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.

 

21 And the angel of the Lord stretched out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire was kindled out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread; and the angel of the Lord departed from his eyes.

 

22 And Gideon saw that he was an angel of the Lord, and Gideon said, Ah, ah, Lord, Lord! For I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.

 

23 And the Lord said to him, Peace be to you; do not fear, you shall not die.

 

24 And Gideon built there an altar to the Lord and called it Peace of the Lord, to this day, it being still in Ephratha of the father of Ezri.

 

25 And it came to pass on that night that the Lord said to him, Take your father's fattened calf, the calf of seven years, and you shall tear down the altar of Baal, which is your father's, and cut down the grove that is beside it;

 

26 and you shall build an altar to the Lord your God, who appeared to you, on the top of this mount Maoz, in the ordered place; and you shall take the calf and offer a whole burnt offering with the wood of the grove which you shall cut down.

 

27 And Gideon took thirteen men from his servants and did as the Lord had spoken to him; and it came to pass, because he feared his father's household and the men of the city, that he did not do it by day, but did it by night.

 

28 And the men of the city rose early in the morning, and behold, the altar of Baal was torn down, and the grove beside it was cut down, and the fattened calf had been offered as a whole burnt offering on the altar that had been built.

 

29 And a man said to his neighbor, Who has done this thing? And they inquired and searched, and they said, Gideon the son of Joas has done this thing.

 

30 And the men of the city said to Joas, Bring out your son, and let him die, because he has torn down the altar of Baal and because he has cut down the grove beside it.

 

31 And Joas said to the men who stood against him, Will you now plead the cause of Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever pleads against him shall die by morning. If he is a god, let him avenge himself, because his altar has been torn down.

 

32 And he called it on that day Tribunal of Baal, because he tore down his altar.

 

33 And all Midian and Amalek and the sons of the east gathered together, and crossed over and encamped in the valley of Jezreel.

 

34 And the Spirit of God clothed Gideon, and he blew the horn, and Abiezer cried out after him.

 

35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and it too cried out after him; and he sent messengers into Aser and into Zabulon and into Nephthali, and they went up to meet him.

 

36 And Gideon said to God, If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken,

 

37 behold, I lay the fleece of wool on the threshing floor; and if there be dew on the fleece alone, and dryness on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken.

 

38 And it was so; and Gideon rose early the next day and wrung out the fleece, and the dew flowed out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.

 

39 And Gideon said to God, Let not your anger be kindled against me, and I will speak but once more; let me test once more with the fleece: let there now be dryness on the fleece alone, and on all the ground let there be dew.

 

40 And God did so that night, and there was dryness on the fleece alone, and on all the ground there was dew. 

 

Chapter 7

 

1 And Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) rose early, and all the people who were with him, and encamped at the land of Aroed, and the camp of Midian and Amalek was to the north of him, by the hill of Abor in the valley.

 

2 And the Lord said to Gideon, "The people with you are too many for me to deliver Midian into their hand, lest Israel boast against me, saying, 'My own hand has saved me.'

 

3 And the Lord said to him, "Speak now in the ears of the people, saying, 'Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn back.'" And they hastened away from Mount Gilead, and twenty-two thousand of the people turned back, and ten thousand were left.

 

4 And the Lord said to Gideon, "The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. And it shall be that of whomever I say to you, 'This one shall go with you,' he shall go with you; and of whomever I say to you, 'He shall not go with you,' he shall not go with you."

 

5 And he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, "Everyone who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set apart by himself; and everyone who bends down on his knees to drink, you shall remove by himself."

 

6 And the whole number of those who lapped with their tongue was three hundred men, and all the rest of the people bent down on their knees to drink water.

 

7 And the Lord said to Gideon, "By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you and deliver Midian into your hand; and let all the rest of the people go, each man to his own place."

 

8 And they took the provisions of the people in their hand, and their trumpets; and he sent every man of Israel away, each to his tent, but he kept the three hundred men. And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

 

9 And it came to pass in that night that the Lord said to him, "Arise, go down quickly from here to the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand.

 

10 But if you are afraid to go down, go down, you and Purah your servant, to the camp,

 

11 and you shall hear what they say; and afterward your hands will be strengthened, and you shall go down against the camp." And he went down, he and Purah his servant, to the edge of the fifty who were in the camp.

 

12 And Midian and Amalek and all the sons of the east had encamped in the valley, like locusts in multitude, and their camels were without number, but were like the sand on the shore of the sea in multitude.

 

13 And Gideon came, and behold, a man was recounting a dream to his neighbor, and said, "Behold, the dream that I dreamed: behold, a cake of barley bread rolling into the camp of Midian, and it came as far as the tent of Midian and struck it and overturned it, and the tent fell."

 

14 And his neighbor answered and said, "This is nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, a man of Israel; the Lord has delivered Midian and the whole camp into his hand."

 

15 And it came to pass, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshiped the Lord and returned to the camp of Israel and said, "Arise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into your hands."

 

16 And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and put trumpets in the hands of all of them, and empty jars, with torches inside the jars,

 

17 and said to them, "Watch me, and do likewise; and behold, I am going into the midst of the camp, and it shall be that as I do, so shall you do.

 

18 And I will blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, and you also shall blow the trumpets all around the camp and shall say, 'For the Lord and for Gideon!'"

 

19 And Gideon and the hundred men with him came to the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch; and they had just posted the sentries; and they blew the trumpets and dashed the jars that were in their hands.

 

20 And the three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars, and they took hold of the torches in their left hand, and in their right hand were the trumpets to blow, and they cried out, "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!"

 

21 And they stood, each in his place, all around the camp; and all the camp ran, and they gave the alarm and fled.

 

22 And the three hundred trumpets sounded, and the Lord set the sword of every man against his neighbor and throughout the whole camp; and the camp fled as far as Beth-shittah, gathering as far as the border of Abel-meholah and toward Tabbath.

 

23 And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian.

 

24 And Gideon sent messengers throughout all the territory of Ephraim, saying, "Come down against Midian and seize for yourselves the waters as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan." And every man of Ephraim was called out, and they seized in advance the waters as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.

 

25 And they captured the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and they killed Oreb at Surin, and Zeeb they killed at Jakephzeb, and they pursued Midian; and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon from beyond the Jordan. 

 

Chapter 8

 

1 And the men of Ephraim said to him, "What is this thing you have done to us, not calling us when you went out to fight against Midian?" And they contended with him fiercely.

 

2 And he said to them, "What have I done now compared with you? Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?

 

3 Into your hand the Lord delivered the rulers of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and what was I able to do compared with you?" And they ceased. Then their spirit relaxed from him when he spoke this word.

 

4 And Gideon came to the Jordan, and he crossed over, he and the three hundred men with him, faint and hungry.

 

5 And he said to the men of Succoth, "Give, I pray, loaves of bread to the people who are with me, for they are hungry, and I am pursuing after Zebee and Salmana, the kings of Midian."

 

6 And the rulers of Succoth said, "Is the hand of Zebee and Salmana now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?"

 

7 And Gideon said, "Not so; when the Lord gives Zebee and Salmana into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with the barkonnim."

 

8 And he went up from there to Phanuel and spoke to them in the same way, and the men of Phanuel answered him just as the men of Succoth had answered him.

 

9 And he said to the men of Phanuel, saying, "When I return in peace, I will tear down this tower."

 

10 And Zebee and Salmana were in Karkar, and their camp with them, about fifteen thousand, all who were left of the whole camp of the sons of the east; and those who had fallen were one hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword.

 

11 And Gideon went up by the way of those dwelling in tents east of Nabeth, opposite Zebee; and he struck the camp, and the camp was feeling secure.

 

12 And Zebee and Salmana fled, and he pursued after them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebee and Salmana, and destroyed all their camp.

 

13 And Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle from the ascent of Ares.

 

14 And they caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and he questioned him, and he wrote down for him the rulers of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men.

 

15 And Gideon came to the rulers of Succoth and said to them, "Behold Zebee and Salmana, on account of whom you reproached me, saying, 'Is the hand of Zebee and Salmana now in your hand, that we should give bread to your exhausted men?'"

 

16 And he took the rulers and the elders of the city and tore them with the thorns of the wilderness and the barakenim, and with them he tore the men of Succoth.

 

17 And he tore down the tower of Phanuel and killed the men of the city.

 

18 And he said to Zebee and Salmana, "Where are the men whom you killed at Tabor?" And they said, "Like you, like you was each of them; in appearance and form like the sons of kings."

 

19 And Gideon said, "They were my brothers, the sons of my mother." And he swore to them, "As the Lord lives, if you had kept them alive, I would not kill you."

 

20 And he said to Jether his firstborn, "Rise up, kill them." But the young man did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still young.

 

21 And Zebee and Salmana said, "Rise up yourself and fall upon us, for as a man is, so is his strength." And Gideon rose up and slew Zebee and Salmana, and he took the crescents that were on the necks of their camels.

 

22 And the men of Israel said to Gideon, "Rule over us, you and your sons, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian."

 

23 And Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you."

 

24 And Gideon said to them, "I will make a request of you: let each man give me an earring from his spoil." For they had many gold earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.

 

25 And they said, "We will surely give them." And he spread out his garment, and each man threw there a gold earring from his spoil.

 

26 And the weight of the gold earrings which he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold, besides the crescents and the necklaces (enphoth) and the purple garments that were on the kings of Midian, and besides the gold collars that were on the necks of their camels.

 

27 And Gideon made it into an ephod and set it up in his city, in Ephratha; and all Israel went whoring after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his house.

 

28 And Midian was humbled before the sons of Israel, and they did not lift their head again. And the land was at rest forty years in the days of Gideon.

 

29 And Jerobaal son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.

 

30 And Gideon had seventy sons who came from his loins, for he had many wives.

 

31 And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he gave him the name Abimelech.

 

32 And Gideon son of Joash died in a good old age and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father in Ephratha of the father of Abiezri.

 

33 And it came to pass, when Gideon died, that the sons of Israel turned away and went whoring after the Baalim, and they made Baalberith a covenant for themselves, that he should be their god.

 

34 And the sons of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies round about.

 

35 And they did not show kindness to the house of Jerobaal; that is, Gideon, according to all the goodness that he had done for Israel. 

 

Chapter 9

 

1 And Abimelech the son of Jerobaal went to Shechem to his mother's brothers, and spoke to them and to all the kindred of his mother's house, saying,

 

2 "Speak now in the ears of the men of Shechem: Which is better, that seventy men, all sons of Jerobaal, rule over you, or that one man be lord over you? And remember that I am your flesh and your bone."

 

3 And his mother's brothers spoke concerning him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words, and their heart inclined after Abimelech, for they said, "He is our brother."

 

4 And they gave him seventy pieces of silver from the house of Baal of the covenant, and with them Abimelech hired vain and reckless men, and they went after him.

 

5 And he went into his father's house at Ephrathah and killed his brothers, the sons of Jerobaal, seventy men, upon one stone; and Jotham the youngest son of Jerobaal was left, for he had hidden himself.

 

6 And all the men of Shechem and all the house of Maallon gathered together, and went and made Abimelech king at the oak of the pillar in Shechem.

 

7 And they told Jotham, and he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice and called and said to them, "Hear me, men of Shechem, and may God hear you.

 

8 The trees went forth to anoint a king over themselves, and they said to the olive tree, 'Reign over us.'

 

9 And the olive tree said to them, 'Shall I leave my fatness, by which God and men honor me, and go to rule over the trees?'

 

10 And the trees said to the fig tree, 'Come, reign over us.'

 

11 And the fig tree said to them, 'Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to rule over trees?'

 

12 And the trees said to the vine, 'Come, reign over us.'

 

13 And the vine said to them, 'Shall I leave my wine, the gladness that comes from God to men, and go to rule over trees?'

 

14 And the trees said to the bramble, 'Come, you reign over us.'

 

15 And the bramble said to the trees, 'If in truth you anoint me king over you, come, take refuge in my shade; and if not, may fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.'

 

16 And now, if in truth and in integrity you have acted in making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerobaal and with his house, and if you have done to him according to the recompense of his hand

 

17 how my father fought for you, and cast his life before the enemy, and delivered you from the hand of Midian;

 

18 and you have risen up against my father's house this day and killed his sons, seventy men, upon one stone, and made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother

 

19 if then in truth and integrity you have dealt with Jerobaal and his house this day, may you be blessed and rejoice in Abimelech, and may he also rejoice in you.

 

20 But if not, may fire come out from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and the house of Maallon; and if not, may fire come out from the men of Shechem and from the house of Maallon and devour Abimelech."

 

21 And Jotham ran away and went on his way and fled to Rara, and dwelt there away from the face of Abimelech his brother.

 

22 And Abimelech ruled over Israel three years.

 

23 And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem, and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with the house of Abimelech,

 

24 so that the wrong done to the seventy sons of Jerobaal might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother who killed them, and upon the men of Shechem who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers.

 

25 And the men of Shechem set ambushes against him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all who passed by them on the road; and it was reported to Abimelech.

 

26 And Gaal the son of Abed came with his brothers to Shechem, and the men of Shechem put their trust in him.

 

27 And they went out into the field and gathered the grapes of their vineyards and trod them and made merry, and went into the house of their god and ate and drank and cursed Abimelech.

 

28 And Gaal the son of Abed said, "Who is Abimelech, and who is the son of Shechem, that we should serve him? Is not this the son of Jerobaal, and Zebul his officer his servant, together with the men of Hamor the father of Shechem? And why should we serve him?

 

29 And who would give this people into my hand? Then I would remove Abimelech, and I would say to Abimelech, 'Increase your army and come out.'"

 

30 And Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Abed, and he was inflamed with anger.

 

31 And he sent messengers to Abimelech with gifts, saying, "Behold, Gaal the son of Abed and his brothers have come to Shechem, and behold, they are besieging the city against you.

 

32 And now arise by night, you and the people with you, and lie in wait in the field;

 

33 and it shall be in the morning, as soon as the sun rises, you shall rise early and advance against the city; and behold, when he and the people with him come out against you, then you shall do to him whatever your hand finds."

 

34 And Abimelech and all the people with him arose by night and set an ambush against Shechem in four companies.

 

35 And it came to pass in the morning that Gaal the son of Abed went out and stood at the entrance of the gate of the city; and Abimelech and the people with him arose from the ambush.

 

36 And Gaal the son of Abed saw the people and said to Zebul, "Behold, people coming down from the tops of the mountains." And Zebul said to him, "You see the shadow of the mountains as men."

 

37 And Gaal spoke yet again and said, "Behold, people coming down toward the sea from the region beside the navel of the earth, and one company is coming by the way of the oak of the seers."

 

38 And Zebul said to him, "Where now is your mouth that said, 'Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?' Is not this the people whom you despised? Go out now and fight against him."

 

39 And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem and fought against Abimelech.

 

40 And Abimelech pursued him, and he fled from before him; and many fell wounded as far as the doors of the city.

 

41 And Abimelech remained at Arimah; and Zebul drove out Gaal and his brothers, so that they could not dwell in Shechem.

 

42 And it came to pass on the next day that the people went out into the field, and it was reported to Abimelech.

 

43 And he took the people and divided them into three companies and lay in wait with them; and he looked, and behold, people were coming out of the city, and he rose up against them and struck them down.

 

44 And Abimelech and the companies with him advanced and stood at the gate of the city, and the two companies poured out upon all who were in the field, and he struck them down.

 

45 And Abimelech fought against the city all that day, and they captured the city, and he slew the people that were in it, and he tore down the city and sowed it with salt.

 

46 And all the men of the tower of Shechem heard, and they entered the stronghold of the house of Baal of the covenant.

 

47 And it was reported to Abimelech that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together.

 

48 And Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people with him, and Abimelech took an axe in his hand and cut a load of wood, and took it and put it on his shoulders, and said to the people with him, "What you have seen me doing, quickly do as I also have done."

 

49 And they too each cut a load, and lifted them and went after Abimelech, and laid them against the stronghold, and set the stronghold on fire over them; and all the men of the tower of Shechem died, about a thousand men and women.

 

50 And Abimelech went to Thebez and encamped against it and took it.

 

51 And there was a strong tower in the midst of the city, and all the men and the women and all the leaders of the city fled there, and shut themselves in, and went up onto the roof of the tower.

 

52 And Abimelech came up to the tower, and they fought against him; and Abimelech drew near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire.

 

53 And a certain woman threw a piece of a millstone upon the head of Abimelech and crushed his skull.

 

54 And he cried out quickly to the young man who carried his weapons and said to him, "Draw your sword and kill me, lest they say, 'A woman killed him.'" And his young man pierced him through, and Abimelech died.

 

55 And the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, and they departed, each man to his own place.

 

56 And God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did to his father in killing his seventy brothers.

 

57 And all the wickedness of the men of Shechem God turned back upon their head, and there came upon them the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal. 

 

Chapter 10

 

1 And after Abimelech there arose to save Israel Thola son of Phua, the son of his father's brother, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Samaria in mount Ephraim.

 

2 And he judged Israel twenty-three years, and he died and was buried in Samaria.

 

3 And after him arose Jair the Gileadite, and he judged Israel twenty-two years.

 

4 And he had thirty-two sons riding on thirty-two colts; and they had thirty-two cities, and he called them the Villages of Jair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead.

 

5 And Jair died and was buried in Rammo.

 

6 And the children of Israel did evil again before the Lord, and served the Baalim and the Ashtaroth 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 the Lord and did not serve him.

 

7 And the Lord was enraged with anger against Israel, and sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the children of Ammon.

 

8 And they wore down and crushed the children of Israel in that year, eighteen years, all the children of Israel beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorite, in Gilead.

 

9 And the children of Ammon crossed the Jordan to make war also against Judah and Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim, and the children of Israel were greatly distressed.

 

10 And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, We have sinned against you, because we forsook our God and served the Baalim.

 

11 And the Lord said to the children of Israel, Did not the Egyptians and the Amorites and the children of Ammon and Moab and the Philistines

 

12 and the Sidonians and Midian and Amalek oppress you? And you cried out to me, and I saved you from their hand.

 

13 Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more.

 

14 Go and cry to the gods whom you have chosen for yourselves, and let them save you in the time of your distress.

 

15 And the children of Israel said to the Lord, We have sinned; do to us according to all that is pleasing in your sight; only, Lord, deliver us this day.

 

16 And they put away the foreign gods from their midst and served the Lord; and he was not pleased with the people, and his soul grew weary over the trouble of Israel.

 

17 And the children of Ammon went up and encamped in Gilead, and the children of Israel came out and encamped at Mizpah.

 

18 And the rulers of the people of Gilead said each man to his neighbor, What man is there who will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead. 

 

Chapter 11

 

1 And Jephthah the Gileadite was mighty in strength; and he was the son of a harlot woman, and she bore Jephthah to Gilead.

 

2 And the wife of Gilead bore him sons; and the sons of the wife grew up and cast out Jephthah and said to him, "You shall not inherit in the house of our father, for you are the son of a courtesan woman."

 

3 And Jephthah fled from the presence of his brothers and dwelt in the land of Tob, and worthless men gathered to Jephthah and went out with him.

 

4 And it came to pass after some days that the sons of Ammon made war with Israel.

 

5 And it came to pass, when the sons of Ammon made war with Israel, that the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah in the land of Tob,

 

6 and they said to Jephthah, "Come, and you shall be a leader for us, and let us fight against the sons of Ammon."

 

7 And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "Did you not hate me and cast me out of the house of my father and send me away from you? And why is it that you have come to me now, when you are in distress?"

 

8 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "Not so; now we have come to you, and you shall go with us, and we shall fight against the sons of Ammon; and you shall be a head for us, over all the inhabitants of Gilead."

 

9 And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "If you bring me back to fight against the sons of Ammon, and the Lord delivers them up before me, then I shall be a head for you."

 

10 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "The Lord shall be witness between us, if we do not do thus according to your word."

 

11 And Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and they appointed him over them as head and as leader. And Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord in Mizpah.

 

12 And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, "What have I to do with you, that you have come to me to fight against me in my land?"

 

13 And the king of the sons of Ammon said to the messengers of Jephthah, "Because Israel took my land in his going up out of Egypt, from Arnon as far as Jabbok and as far as the Jordan; and now restore them in peace."

 

14 And the messengers returned to Jephthah. And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon,

 

15 saying, "Thus says Jephthah: Israel did not take the land of Moab and the land of the sons of Ammon

 

16 in their going up out of Egypt, but Israel went in the wilderness as far as the Red Sea and came to Kadesh.

 

17 And Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, 'Let me pass through your land'; and the king of Edom did not listen. And also he sent to the king of Moab, and he was not willing. And Israel abode in Kadesh.

 

18 And he went through the wilderness and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and came to the east of the land of Moab, and they encamped on the other side of Arnon and did not enter the border of Moab, for Arnon was the border of Moab.

 

19 And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of Heshbon, the Amorite, and Israel said to him, 'Let me pass through your land to my place.'

 

20 And Sihon was not willing for Israel to pass through his borders; and Sihon gathered all his people and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel.

 

21 And the Lord God of Israel delivered up Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and he smote them; and Israel inherited all the land of the Amorite who dwelt in that land.

 

22 And he inherited all the border of the Amorite, from Arnon even to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness even to the Jordan.

 

23 And now the Lord God of Israel has removed the Amorite from before his people Israel, and will you inherit it for yourself?

 

24 Will you not inherit whatever Chemosh your god has given you to possess? And all that the Lord our God has given into our possession from before us, that we shall inherit.

 

25 And now, are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend with Israel, or did he ever make war against them?

 

26 While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and in her daughter towns, and in Jazer and in her daughter towns, and in all the cities beside the Jordan for three hundred years, why is it that they did not rescue them in that time?

 

27 And I have not sinned against you, yet you do me wrong by making war against me; may the Lord, the Judge, judge this day between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon."

 

28 And the king of the sons of Ammon did not listen, nor did he heed the words of Jephthah which he sent to him.

 

29 And the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed through the land of Gilead and Manasseh, and he passed the watchtower of Gilead, and from the watchtower of Gilead over against the sons of Ammon.

 

30 And Jephthah vowed a vow to the Lord and said, "If you will surely deliver the sons of Ammon into my hand,

 

31 then it shall be that whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon shall be the Lord's, and I will offer him up as a whole burnt offering."

 

32 And Jephthah crossed over to the sons of Ammon to fight against them, and the Lord delivered them into his hand.

 

33 And he smote them from Aroer even until one comes to Minnith, twenty cities, as far as Abel of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter; and the sons of Ammon were subdued before the sons of Israel.

 

34 And Jephthah came to Mizpah to his house, and behold, his daughter was coming out to meet him with timbrels and dances; and she was his only beloved child, and he had no son or daughter besides her.

 

35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he tore his garments and said, "Alas, my daughter, you have utterly ensnared me; you have become a stumbling block in my eyes, for I have opened my mouth concerning you to the Lord and I cannot turn back."

 

36 And she said to him, "My father, if you have opened your mouth to the Lord concerning me, do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, since the Lord has wrought for you vengeance upon your enemies, upon the sons of Ammon."

 

37 And she said to her father, "And do this thing for me: let me alone two months, and I will go and go down upon the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions."

 

38 And he said, "Go"; and he sent her away for two months. And she went, she and her companions, and she wept for her virginity upon the mountains.

 

39 And it came to pass at the end of two months that she returned to her father, and Jephthah fulfilled his vow which he had vowed; and she knew no man. And it became an ordinance in Israel:

 

40 from year to year the daughters of Israel went together to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year. 

 

Chapter 12

 

1 And the sons of Ephraim gathered together and came to Sephina, and they said to Jephthah, "Why did you go to fight against the sons of Ammon and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house down with fire."

 

2 And Jephthah said to them, "I and my people were a man in dispute, and the sons of Ammon were humbling me greatly; and I cried out to you, and you did not save me from their hand.

 

3 And I saw that there was no one to save, and I put my life in my hand and crossed over against the sons of Ammon, and the Lord delivered them into my hand. So why have you come up against me this day to fight against me?"

 

4 And Jephthah assembled all the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim, and the men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they said, "You are the fugitives of Ephraim, Gilead is in the midst of Ephraim and in the midst of Manasseh."

 

5 And the men of Gilead seized beforehand the fords of the Jordan belonging to Ephraim, and it came to pass that when the fugitives of Ephraim said, "Let us cross over," the men of Gilead said to them, "Are you from Ephraim?" And they said, "We are not."

 

6 And they said to them, "Say now 'Password.'" And they did not manage to speak it correctly. And they laid hold of them and slaughtered them at the fords of the Jordan; and there fell from Ephraim at that time forty-two thousand.

 

7 And Jephthah judged Israel six years. And Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in his city, Gilead.

 

8 And after him Esebon from Bethlehem judged Israel.

 

9 And he had thirty sons and thirty daughters sent out abroad, and he brought in thirty wives for his sons from outside. And he judged Israel seven years.

 

10 And Esebon died and was buried in Bethlehem.

 

11 And after him Ailon the Zebulunite judged Israel. And he judged Israel ten years.

 

12 And Ailon the Zebulunite died in Ailim, and they buried him in the land of Zebulun.

 

13 And after him Labdon son of Sellem the Phraathonite judged Israel.

 

14 And he had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy colts. And he judged Israel eight years.

 

15 And Labdon son of Sellem the Phraathonite died and was buried in Phraathon in the land of Ephraim, on Mount Lanak. 

 

Chapter 13

 

1 And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.

 

2 And there was a man of Zorah, of the tribe of Dan, and his name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and did not bear children.

 

3 And an angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, "Behold now, you are barren and have not borne; but you shall conceive and bear a son.

 

4 And now take heed, and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean;

 

5 for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite consecrated to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines."

 

6 And the woman came and told her husband, saying, "A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of an angel of God, very awesome; and I asked him where he was from, but he did not tell me his name.

 

7 And he said to me, 'Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son; and now drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite of God from the womb until the day of his death.'"

 

8 And Manoah entreated the Lord and said, "I pray, Lord, let the man of God whom you sent to us come again to us and enlighten us as to what we should do for the child that is to be born."

 

9 And God heard the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field, and Manoah her husband was not with her.

 

10 And the woman hurried and ran and told her husband, and said to him, "Behold, the man who came to me that day has appeared to me."

 

11 And Manoah arose and went after his wife to the man and said to him, "Are you the man who spoke to the woman?" And the angel said, "I am."

 

12 And Manoah said, "Now then, when your word comes to pass, what shall be the rule for the child and his works?"

 

13 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, "Of all that I said to the woman, let her take heed.

 

14 Of all that comes from the vine she shall not eat, and let her drink no wine or strong drink, and let her eat nothing unclean; all that I have commanded her, let her observe."

 

15 And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, "Let us detain you now, and prepare a kid of the goats before you."

 

16 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, "Even if you detain me, I will not eat of your bread; and if you make a burnt offering, you shall offer it to the Lord." For Manoah did not know that he was an angel of the Lord.

 

17 And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, "What is your name, so that when your word comes to pass we may honor you?"

 

18 And the angel of the Lord said to him, "Why do you ask this, my name? It is indeed wonderful."

 

19 And Manoah took the kid of the goats and the sacrifice and offered them upon the rock to the Lord, the Lord who works wonders; and Manoah and his wife looked on.

 

20 And it came to pass, as the flame went up from the altar toward heaven, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame; and Manoah and his wife looked on, and they fell on their faces to the ground.

 

21 And the angel of the Lord did not appear again to Manoah and to his wife; then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the Lord.

 

22 And Manoah said to his wife, "We shall surely die, for we have seen God."

 

23 And his wife said to him, "If the Lord had wished to put us to death, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a sacrifice from our hands, nor would he have shown us all these things, nor would he have made these things heard by us."

 

24 And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson; and the Lord blessed him, and the child grew.

 

25 And the Spirit of the Lord began to go with him in the camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol. 

 

Chapter 14

 

1 And Samson went down to Timnah, and he saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines, and she was pleasing in his sight.

 

2 And he went 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 as a wife."

 

3 And his father and his mother said to him, "Is there no woman among the daughters of your kinsmen and among all my people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?" And Samson said to his father, "Get this one for me, for she is pleasing in my eyes."

 

4 And his father and his mother did not know that it was from the Lord, that he was seeking a retribution from the Philistines; and at that time the Philistines ruled over the sons of Israel.

 

5 And Samson and his father and his mother went down to Timnah. And he turned aside into a vineyard of Timnah, and behold, a young lion came roaring to meet him.

 

6 And the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he tore it apart as one would tear apart a kid of goats, and there was nothing in his hand. And he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.

 

7 And they went down and spoke to the woman, and she was pleasing in the sight of Samson.

 

8 And he returned after some days to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the mouth of the lion, and honey.

 

9 And he took it out into his mouth and went on, walking and eating; and he went to his father and to his mother and gave to them, and they ate; and he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the body of the lion.

 

10 And his father went down to the woman; and Samson made a feast there for seven days, for so the young men used to do.

 

11 And it came to pass, because they feared him, that they appointed thirty companions for him, and they were with him.

 

12 And Samson said to them, "I will put forth a riddle to you, and if you declare the riddle to me within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty robes;

 

13 but if you cannot declare it to me, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty robes of clothing." And they said to him, "Put forth your riddle, and we will hear it."

 

14 And he said to them, "Out of the eater came forth food, and out of the strong came forth sweetness." And they could not declare the riddle for three days.

 

15 And it came to pass on the fourth day that they said to Samson's wife, "Deceive your husband, and let him declare the riddle to you, lest we burn you and your father's house with fire. Did you invite us to impoverish us?"

 

16 And Samson's wife wept before him and said to him, "You hate me and do not love me, for the riddle which you put forth to the sons of my people you have not declared even to me." And Samson said to her, "Behold, I have not declared it to my father or my mother, and shall I declare it to you?"

 

17 And she wept before him for the seven days during which the feast lasted; and it came to pass on the seventh day that he declared it to her, because she pressed him hard; and she declared it to the sons of her people.

 

18 And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day, before the sun went down, "What is sweeter than honey, and what is stronger than a lion?" And Samson said to them, "If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle."

 

19 And the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty men there, and took their robes and gave them to those who had declared the riddle. And Samson was enraged with anger and went up to his father's house.

 

20 And Samson's wife was married to his groomsman, who had been his companion. 

 

Chapter 15

 

1 And it came to pass after some days, in the days of the wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife, bringing a kid of the goats, and he said, "I will go in to my wife into the chamber." But her father did not allow him to go in to her.

 

2 And her father said, "I said surely that you utterly hated her, and I gave her to your companion. Behold, is not her younger sister better than she? Let her be yours instead of her."

 

3 And Samson said to him, "This once I am blameless with regard to the Philistines, when I do them harm."

 

4 And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and tied tail to tail, and put one torch between the two tails in the middle.

 

5 And he set fire to the torches and sent them out into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burned up the ears of grain and what had already been harvested, from stubble even to standing grain, and to vineyard and olive grove.

 

6 And the Philistines said, "Who has done these things?" And they said, "Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he took his wife and gave her to his companion." And the Philistines went up and burned her father's house, and her and her father, with fire.

 

7 And Samson said to them, "If you act in this way, I will not be satisfied, but I will take my vengeance on each and every one of you."

 

8 And he struck them hip and thigh with a great slaughter; and he went down and dwelt by the brook in the cave of Etam.

 

9 And the Philistines went up and encamped against Judah, and spread out in Lehi.

 

10 And every man of Judah said to them, "Why have you come up against us?" And the Philistines said, "To bind Samson, and to do to him as he has done to us."

 

11 And three thousand men from Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam and said to Samson, "Do you not know that the Philistines rule over us? Why then have you done this to us?" And Samson said to them, "As they did to us, so I did to them."

 

12 And they said to him, "We have come down to bind you and to deliver you into the hands of the Philistines." And Samson said to them, "Swear to me that you yourselves will not kill me, and deliver me to them, lest you fall upon me yourselves."

 

13 And they swore to him, saying, "No, but we will bind you with a bond and deliver you into their hands, but we will surely not put you to death." And they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock.

 

14 And he came as far as Jawbone; and the Philistines shouted at meeting him and ran to meet him. And the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and the ropes on his arms became like tow when it smells fire, and the bonds were loosed from his arms.

 

15 And he found the jawbone of a donkey cast away on the road, and he stretched out his hand and took it, and with it struck a thousand men.

 

16 And Samson said, "With the jawbone of a donkey I have utterly wiped them out, for with the jawbone of a donkey I struck a thousand men."

 

17 And it came to pass, when he finished speaking, that he threw the jawbone from his hand; and he called that place the Slaying of the Jawbone.

 

18 And he was very thirsty, and he cried out to the Lord and said, "You have given this great deliverance by the hand of your servant, and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?"

 

19 And God opened the hollow of the jawbone, and waters came out of it, and he drank, and his spirit returned within him, and he revived. Therefore its name was called the Spring Called upon of the Jawbone, to this day.

 

20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines for twenty years. 

 

Chapter 16

 

1 And Samson went from there to Gaza; and he saw there a harlot woman and went in to her.

 

2 And it was reported to the Gazites, saying, "Samson has come here." And they surrounded him and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city, and they kept quiet all night, saying, "Let us wait until the light of morning, and let us kill him."

 

3 And Samson slept until midnight; and he arose about midnight and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and lifted them up together with the bar and put them on his shoulder, and carried them up to the top of the mountain that faces Hebron, and set them there.

 

4 And it came to pass after this that he loved a woman by the brook Sorek, and her name was Delilah.

 

5 And the satraps of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, "Deceive him and see wherein his great strength lies, and by what means we may prevail against him, and we shall bind him so as to humble him; and we will give you, each man, one thousand one hundred pieces of silver."

 

6 And Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me, wherein is your great strength, and with what could you be bound so as to be humbled?"

 

7 And Samson said to her, "If they bind me with seven fresh cords that have not been dried, then I shall be weak and shall be like any other man."

 

8 And the satraps of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh cords that had not been dried, and she bound him with them.

 

9 And the ambush was sitting in the inner chamber; and she said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" And he broke the cords, as a strand of tow is torn apart when it smells fire; and his strength was not known.

 

10 And Delilah said to Samson, "Behold, you have deceived me and told me lies; now then, tell me, please, with what you can be bound."

 

11 And he said to her, "If they bind me tightly with seven new ropes with which no work has been done, then I shall be weak and shall be like any other man."

 

12 And Delilah took new ropes for him and bound him with them and said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!"—and the ambush was sitting in the inner chamber—and he tore them off his arms like thread.

 

13 And Delilah said to Samson, "Until now you have deceived me and told me lies; tell me, please, with what you can be bound." And he said to her, "If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web and fasten them with the pin into the wall, then I shall be weak like any other man."

 

14 And Delilah put him to sleep and wove the seven locks of his head with the web and fastened them with the pins into the wall, and said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" And he awoke from his sleep and pulled out the pins with the woven fabric from the wall, and the web; and his strength was not known.

 

15 And Delilah said to him, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when your heart is not with me? This is the third time you have deceived me and have not told me wherein your great strength lies."

 

16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him with her words all night and troubled him, that his soul was vexed to death.

 

17 And he told her all that was in his heart, and said to her, "A razor has not come upon my head, for I am a Nazirite of God from my mother's womb; and if I am shaved, my strength will depart from me, and I shall be weak and shall be like all other men."

 

18 And Delilah saw that he had told her all that was in his heart, and she sent and called all the satraps of the Philistines, saying, "Come up this once, for he has told me all his heart." And all the satrapies of the Philistines came up to her and brought the silver in their hands.

 

19 And she put him to sleep between her knees; and she called the barber, and he shaved the seven locks of his head; and he began to be humbled, and his strength departed from him.

 

20 And Delilah said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" And he awoke from his sleep and said, "I will go out and do as at other times and shake myself free." But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.

 

21 And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze fetters, and he was grinding in the prison house.

 

22 And the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

 

23 And the satraps of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to make merry, and they said, "Our god has delivered into our hand Samson our enemy."

 

24 And the people saw him and praised their gods and said, "Our god has delivered into our hand our enemy, even him who laid waste our land, who multiplied our slain."

 

25 And it came to pass, when their heart was merry, that they said, "Call Samson from the prison house, and let him perform before us." And they called Samson from the prison house and mocked him, and they set him between the two pillars.

 

26 And Samson said to the lad who was leading him by the hand, "Let me rest, please, and let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, and I will lean upon them." And the boy did so.

 

27 Now the house was full of men and women, and all the satraps of the Philistines were there, and on the roof were about three thousand men and women watching Samson being mocked.

 

28 And Samson cried out to the Lord and said, "Lord, Lord, remember me and strengthen me, I pray, only this once more, and I will take one vengeance upon the Philistines for my two eyes."

 

29 And Samson embraced the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned upon them, one with his right hand and one with his left.

 

30 And Samson said, "Let my soul die with the Philistines"; and he bowed with strength, and the house fell upon the satraps and upon all the people who were in it; and the dead whom Samson killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed in his life.

 

31 And his brothers and all the house of his father came down and took him, and went up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years. 

 

Chapter 17

 

1 And there was a man from the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Micah.

 

2 And he said to his mother, "The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse and spoke in my ears—behold, the silver is with me; I took it." And his mother said, "Blessed be my son by the Lord."

 

3 And he returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, "I have wholly consecrated the silver to the Lord from my hand, for my son alone, to make a carved and a molten image; and now I will return it to you and give it back to you."

 

4 And he returned the silver to his mother; and his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave it to the smith, and he made of it a carved and a molten image, and it was in the house of Micah.

 

5 And the man Micah had a house of god; and he made an ephod and teraphim, and he filled the hand of one of his sons, and he became his priest.

 

6 In those days there was no king in Israel; each man did what was good in his own eyes.

 

7 And there was a young man from Bethlehem of the tribe of Judah, of the family of Judah, and he was a Levite, and he sojourned there.

 

8 And the man went from the city of Judah, from Bethlehem, to sojourn wherever he might find a place, and he came to the hill country of Ephraim, as far as the house of Micah, as he made his journey.

 

9 And Micah said to him, "Where do you come from?" And he said to him, "I am a Levite from Bethlehem of Judah, and I am going to sojourn wherever I may find a place."

 

10 And Micah said to him, "Stay with me and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver per year, and a pair of garments, and your living." And the Levite went,

 

11 and he began to sojourn with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons.

 

12 And Micah filled the hand of the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and he was in the house of Micah.

 

13 And Micah said, "Now I know that the Lord has done me good, because the Levite has become my priest." 

 

Chapter 18

 

1 In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of Dan was seeking for itself an inheritance in which to dwell, because until those days no inheritance had fallen to it in the midst of the tribes of Israel.

 

2 And the sons of Dan sent from their families five men from their number, sons of valor, from Zaraa and Esthaol, to spy out the land and to search it thoroughly, and they said to them, "Go and search out the land." And they came to Mount Ephraim, as far as the house of Micah, and rested there.

 

3 While they were near the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young man, the Levite, and they turned aside there and said to him, "Who brought you here, and what are you doing in this place, and what do you have here?"

 

4 And he said to them, "Thus and so has Micah done for me, and he hired me, and I became his priest."

 

5 And they said to him, "Inquire now of God, and we shall know whether our way, on which we are traveling, will prosper."

 

6 And the priest said to them, "Go in peace; your way, on which you are going, is before the Lord."

 

7 And the five men went and came to Laisa; and they saw the people who dwelt in it sitting in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, being at ease in security and unable to speak a word, because they were far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with Syria.

 

8 And the five men came to their brothers at Zaraa and Esthaol, and their brothers said to them, "Why do you sit still?"

 

9 And they said, "Arise, and let us go up against them; for we entered and walked about in the land as far as Laisa, and we saw the people dwelling in it in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, dwelling far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with Syria. But arise, and let us go up against them, for we have found the land, and behold, it is very good. And will you keep silent? Do not delay to go, to enter and take possession of the land.

 

10 Whenever you enter, you will come to a people that is confident, and the land is spacious, for God has delivered it into your hand—a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth."

 

11 And there set out from the family of Dan, from Zaraa and Esthaol, six hundred men girded with weapons of war.

 

12 And they went up and encamped at Kariathiarim in Judah; therefore that place was called the Camp of Dan to this day—behold, it is behind Kariathiarim.

 

13 They passed on from there and came to Mount Ephraim and came to the house of Micah.

 

14 And the five men who had gone to spy out the land answered and said to their brothers, "Do you know that in these houses there are an ephod and teraphim and a carved image and a molten image? Now, then, consider what you will do."

 

15 And they turned aside there and entered the house of the young man, the Levite, into the house of Micah, and greeted him.

 

16 And the six hundred men girded with weapons of war stood posted by the door of the gateway, those from the sons of Dan.

 

17 And the five men who had gone to spy out the land went up; coming in there, they took the carved image and the ephod and the teraphim and the molten image, while the priest stood by the door of the gateway with the six hundred men girded with weapons of war.

 

18 And these entered the house of Micah and took the carved image and the ephod and the teraphim and the molten image. And the priest said to them, "What are you doing?"

 

19 And they said to him, "Be silent; put your hand over your mouth and come with us, and you shall be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest of the house of one man, or to be priest of a tribe and family in Israel?"

 

20 And the heart of the priest was glad, and he took the ephod and the teraphim and the carved image and the molten image and went in among the people.

 

21 And they turned and departed; and they set the household and his valuable possessions in front of them.

 

22 When they had gone far from the house of Micah, behold, Micah and the men who were with the household of Micah were crying out after the sons of Dan.

 

23 And the sons of Dan turned their faces and said to Micah, "What is the matter with you, that you cry out?"

 

24 And Micah said, "Because you have taken my carved image, which I made for myself, and the priest, and gone away—and what do I have left? And how can you say to me, 'Why do you cry out?'"

 

25 And the sons of Dan said to him, "Let not your voice be heard among us, lest men embittered in soul fall upon you, and you forfeit your life and the life of your household."

 

26 And the sons of Dan went on their way; and Micah saw that they were stronger than he, and he turned aside and returned to his house.

 

27 And they took what Micah had made, and the priest who was his, and came to Laisa, against a people at ease and confident, and struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city.

 

28 And there was no one to deliver, because it was far from the Sidonians, and they had no dealings with any people, and it lay in the valley which belongs to the house of Rohob. And they rebuilt the city and dwelt in it,

 

29 and they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of their father, who was born to Israel; and Lais was the name of the city formerly.

 

30 And the sons of Dan set up for themselves the carved image of Micah; and Jonathan, son of Gersom, son of Moses, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the deportation from the land.

 

31 And they set up for themselves the carved image of Micah, which he had made, all the days that the house of God was in Selo. 

  

Chapter 19

 

1 And it came to pass in those days that there was no king in Israel. And there was a Levite man sojourning in the recesses of the hill country of Ephraim, and the man took for himself a concubine wife from Bethlehem of Judah.

 

2 And his concubine became angry with him and went away from him to her father's house at Bethlehem of Judah, and she was there for a period of four months.

 

3 And her husband arose and went after her, to speak to her heart, to reconcile her to himself and to bring her back again to him; and his servant boy was with him, and a pair of asses. And he went as far as her father's house, and the father of the young woman saw him and came to meet him.

 

4 And his father-in-law, the father of the young woman, brought him in, and he stayed with him three days, and they ate and drank and slept there.

 

5 And it came to pass on the fourth day that they rose early in the morning, and he arose to depart; and the father of the young woman said to his son-in-law, "Strengthen your heart with a morsel of bread, and after that you may go."

 

6 And they sat down and both ate together and drank; and the father of the young woman said to the man, "Begin, pray, to stay the night, and let your heart be glad."

 

7 And the man arose to depart; but his father-in-law pressed him, and he lodged there again.

 

8 And he rose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart; and the father of the young woman said, "Strengthen your heart with bread, and linger until the day declines." And they both ate and drank.

 

9 And the man arose to depart, he and his concubine and his servant boy; and his father-in-law, the father of the young woman, said to him, "Behold now, the day has declined toward evening; lodge here still today, and let your heart be glad, and tomorrow you shall rise early for your journey, and you shall go to your dwelling."

 

10 But the man was not willing to lodge, and he arose and departed, and they came as far as opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), and with him was a pair of saddled asses, and his concubine was with him.

 

11 While they were still near Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant boy said to his master, "Come now, and let us turn aside into this city of the Jebusites and lodge in it."

 

12 And his master said to him, "I will by no means turn aside into a city of a foreigner, which is not of the sons of Israel; we will pass on as far as Gibeah."

 

13 And he said to his servant boy, "Come, and let us go into one of the places, and let us lodge in Gibeah or in Ramah."

 

14 And they passed by and went on; for the sun set near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin.

 

15 And they turned aside there to go in and lodge in Gibeah; and they went in and sat down in the open square of the city, and there was no man to take them into his house to lodge.

 

16 And behold, an old man came in from his work from the field at evening; and the man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was sojourning in Gibeah, and the men of the place were sons of Benjamin.

 

17 And lifting up his eyes he saw the wayfaring man in the open square of the city; and the old man said, "Where are you going, and where have you come from?"

 

18 And he said to him, "We are passing from Bethlehem of Judah to the recesses of the hill country of Ephraim; I am from there, and I went to Bethlehem of Judah, and I am returning to my house, and there is no man to take me into his house.

 

19 And yet there is both straw and fodder for our asses, and there is bread and wine for me and for your maidservant and for the servant boy with your servants; there is no lack of anything."

 

20 And the old man said, "Peace be with you; only let all your needs rest upon me; only do not lodge in the open square."

 

21 And he brought him into his house and gave provender to his asses, and they washed their feet and ate and drank.

 

22 And while they were making their hearts glad, behold, the men of the city, sons of lawless men, surrounded the house and beat on the door, and they spoke to the man, the master of the house, the old man, saying, "Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him."

 

23 And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, "By no means, brothers, do not act wickedly, I pray; since this man has come into my house, do not commit this folly.

 

24 Behold, my daughter, a virgin, and his concubine—I will bring them out now; humble them and do to them what is good in your eyes; but to this man do not do this thing of folly."

 

25 But the men were not willing to listen to him. And the man took hold of his concubine and brought her out to them outside, and they knew her and abused her all night until the morning; and they sent her away as the dawn was rising.

 

26 And the woman came toward morning and fell down at the door of the gateway of the house of the man where her master was, until it became light.

 

27 And her master rose in the morning and opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, and behold, the woman his concubine had fallen at the door, with her hands upon the threshold.

 

28 And he said to her, "Rise up, and let us go"; but she did not answer him, for she was dead. And he took her up upon the ass, and the man arose and went to his place.

 

29 And he went into his house and took the knife, and took hold of his concubine and divided her, limb by limb according to her bones, into twelve pieces, and sent them into all the tribes of Israel.

 

30 And it came to pass that everyone who saw it said, "Nothing like this has happened or been seen from the day the sons of Israel came up out of Egypt until this day." And he commanded the men whom he sent out, saying, "Thus shall you say to every man of Israel: Has anything happened like this thing from the day the sons of Israel came up out of Egypt until this day? Take counsel now for yourselves concerning it, and speak." 

 

Chapter 20

 

1 And all the sons of Israel went out, and the whole congregation was assembled as one man, from Dan even to Beersheba, and the land of Gilead, to the Lord at Mizpah.

 

2 And the chief part of all the people stood, all the tribes of Israel, in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand foot soldiers who drew the sword.

 

3 And the sons of Benjamin heard that the sons of Israel had gone up to the Lord at Mizpah. And the sons of Israel said, "Speak: where did this wickedness take place?"

 

4 And the man, the Levite, the husband of the woman who had been murdered, answered and said, "I came with my concubine to Gibeah of Benjamin to lodge.

 

5 And the men from Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house against me by night, and they wished to kill me, and they humiliated my concubine and abused her, and she died.

 

6 And I took hold of my concubine and cut her in pieces and sent her throughout every border of the inheritance of Israel, because they committed folly in Israel.

 

7 Behold, all of you, sons of Israel, give yourselves word and counsel."

 

8 And all the people rose up as one man, saying, "Not a man of us will go to his tent, and not a man of us will turn aside to his house.

 

9 And now this is the thing we will do to Gibeah: we will go up against it by lot,

 

10 and we will take ten men of a hundred, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand of ten thousand, to take provisions for the people, for those going in to deal with Gibeah of Benjamin according to all the folly which they committed in Israel."

 

11 And every man of Israel was gathered out of the cities, coming as one man.

 

12 And the tribes of Israel sent men through the whole tribe of Benjamin, saying, "What is this wickedness that has taken place among you?

 

13 Now therefore give up the impious men, the sons of Belial that are in Gibeah, and we will put them to death and remove wickedness from Israel." But the sons of Benjamin refused to listen to the voice of their brothers, the sons of Israel.

 

14 And the sons of Benjamin were gathered out of their cities to Gibeah, to go out to fight against the sons of Israel.

 

15 And the sons of Benjamin were numbered on that day from the cities: twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword, apart from the inhabitants of Gibeah; these were numbered seven hundred chosen young men,

 

16 ambidextrous; all these were slingers, hurling stones at a hair and not missing.

 

17 And every man of Israel was numbered, apart from the sons of Benjamin: four hundred thousand men who drew the sword; all these were men of war.

 

18 And they arose and went up to Bethel and inquired of God, and the sons of Israel said, "Who shall go up for us as leader to fight against Benjamin?" And the Lord said, "Judah shall go up as leader."

 

19 And the sons of Israel arose and encamped against Gibeah.

 

20 And every man of Israel went out to war with Benjamin, and the men of Israel drew up in battle array against them at Gibeah.

 

21 And the sons of Benjamin came out from the city and destroyed of Israel on that day twenty-two thousand men, laid on the ground.

 

22 And the men of Israel strengthened themselves and again drew up for battle in the place where they had drawn up there on the first day.

 

23 And the sons of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until evening, and inquired of the Lord, saying, "Shall I again draw near to battle against Benjamin my brother?" And the Lord said, "Go up against him."

 

24 And the sons of Israel advanced against Benjamin on the second day.

 

25 And Benjamin came out from Gibeah to meet them on the second day, and destroyed of the people eighteen thousand men, laid on the ground; all these drew the sword.

 

26 And all the sons of Israel and all the people went up and came to Bethel and wept before the Lord and fasted on that day, and offered whole burnt offerings of peace before the Lord.

 

27 And the sons of Israel inquired of the Lord—and there was the ark of the covenant of the Lord in those days,

 

28 and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, stood before it in those days—saying, "Shall I yet again go out to battle against the sons of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease?" And the Lord said, "Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver him into your hand."

 

29 And the sons of Israel set an ambush around Gibeah.

 

30 And Israel arrayed itself against Benjamin on the third day, and they drew up against Gibeah as at other times.

 

31And the sons of Benjamin came out to meet the people and were drawn away from the city, and they began to strike down some of the people, as at other times, on the roads, of which one goes up to Bethel and one goes up to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel.

 

32 And the sons of Benjamin said, "They are falling before us as before." But the sons of Israel said, "Let us flee and draw them away from the city onto the roads."

 

33 And every man of Israel rose up from his place, and they drew up at Baal-tamar, and the ambush of Israel struggled forth from its place, from the west of Gibeah.

 

34 And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle grew heavy; and they did not know that disaster was touching them.

 

35 And the Lord routed Benjamin before Israel, and the sons of Israel destroyed of Benjamin on that day twenty-five thousand one hundred men; all these drew the sword.

 

36 And Benjamin saw that it was routed. And the men of Israel gave ground to Benjamin, because they trusted in the ambush which they had set against Gibeah.

 

37 And the ambush rushed forth and poured out toward Gibeah, and the ambush advanced and struck the whole city with the edge of the sword.

 

38 Now the signal appointed between the men of Israel and the ambush was that they should send up a beacon of smoke from the city.

 

39 And the men of Israel turned back in the battle; and Benjamin had begun to strike down the wounded among the men of Israel, about thirty men, for they said, "Surely they are routed before us as in the former battle."

 

40 And the beacon began to go up from the city, a pillar of smoke; and Benjamin looked behind him, and behold, the destruction of the city went up to heaven.

 

41 And the men of Israel turned back, and the men of Benjamin hastened, and he saw that disaster had touched him.

 

42 And they turned before the men of Israel toward the way of the wilderness, but the battle overtook him, and those from the cities destroyed him in the midst of them.

 

43 And they cut down Benjamin, bringing him to a complete halt, and they trampled him down as far as opposite Gibeah, toward the rising of the sun.

 

44 And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these were mighty men.

 

45 And they turned aside and fled into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and they gleaned of them on the roads five thousand men; and they pressed hard after him as far as Gidom and struck down of them two thousand men.

 

46 And all who fell of Benjamin were twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword on that day; all these were mighty men.

 

47 And six hundred men turned aside and fled into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and they dwelt at the rock of Rimmon four months.

 

48 And the men of Israel shut in the sons of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, from city after city to beast, even to everything that was found in all the cities; and the cities that were found they set on fire. 

 

Chapter 21

 

1 And the men of Israel had sworn at Mizpah, saying, "No man of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife."

 

2 And all the people came to Mizpah and Bethel and sat there until evening before God, and they lifted up their voice and wept with a great weeping.

 

3 And they said, "Why, O Lord God of Israel, has this come to pass in Israel, that one tribe should be missing today from Israel?"

 

4 And it came to pass on the next day that the people rose early and built an altar there and offered up whole burnt offerings of peace.

 

5 And the sons of Israel said, "Who is he who did not come up in the assembly from all the tribes of Israel to the Lord?" For there was a great oath against whoever did not come up to the Lord at Mizpah, saying, "He shall surely die."

 

6 And the sons of Israel were grieved concerning Benjamin their brother, and they said, "Today one tribe has been cut off from Israel.

 

7 What shall we do for those who remain, regarding wives? For we have sworn by the Lord not to give them any of our daughters as wives."

 

8 And they said, "Which one of the tribes of Israel is it that did not come up to the Lord at Mizpah?" And behold, no man had come to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly.

 

9 And the people were numbered, and behold, there was no man there from the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead.

 

10 And the congregation sent there twelve thousand men of the sons of valor and commanded them, saying, "Go and strike all the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, both the women and the people.

 

11 And this is the thing that you shall do: every male and every woman who has known the bed of a male you shall devote to destruction."

 

12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins who had not known a man by the bed of a male, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

 

13 And all the congregation sent and spoke to Benjamin who was at the rock of Rimmon, and they called them to peace.

 

14 And Benjamin returned to the sons of Israel at that time, and they gave them the women who were of the women of Jabesh-gilead; and it pleased them so.

 

15 And the people grieved for Benjamin, because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.

 

16 And the elders of the congregation said, "What shall we do for those who remain, regarding wives? For womankind has been destroyed out of Benjamin."

 

17 And they said, "There must be an inheritance preserved for Benjamin, and a tribe shall not be blotted out from Israel.

 

18 Yet we cannot give them wives from our daughters, for we the sons of Israel have sworn, saying, 'Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin.'"

 

19 And they said, "Behold, there is a feast to the Lord at Shiloh from year to year, which is north of Bethel, toward the rising of the sun, on the road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah."

 

20 And they commanded the sons of Benjamin, saying, "Go and lie in wait in the vineyards;

 

21 and you shall watch, and behold, when the daughters of the inhabitants of Shiloh come out at Shiloh to dance in the dances, then you shall come out from the vineyards, and each man shall seize for himself a wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and you shall go away to the land of Benjamin.

 

22 And it shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to you, that we will say to them, 'Have mercy on them, for each man did not take his wife in the war; for you did not give them to them; at that time you would have been guilty.'"

 

23 And the sons of Benjamin did so, and took wives according to their number from the dancers whom they carried off; and they went away and returned to their inheritance, and built cities for themselves and dwelt in them.

 

24 And the sons of Israel departed from there at that time, each man to his tribe and to his family, and they went away from there, each man to his inheritance.

 

25 In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.