The next file is: JUDGES    
1:1 Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the
 children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for
 us against the Canaanites first to fight against them?
1:2 And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have
 delivered the land into his hand.
1:3 And Judah said to Simeon his brother, Come up with me into
 my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I
 likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with
 him.
1:4 And Judah went up, and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and
 the Perizzites into their hand: and they slew of them in Bezek
 ten thousand men.
1:5 And they found Adoni-bezek in Bezek: and they fought against
 him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites.
1:6 But Adoni-bezek fled; and they pursued him, and caught him,
 and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.
1:7 And Adoni-bezek said, seventy kings, having their thumbs and
 their great toes cut off, gathered [their food] under my table;
 as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him
 to Jerusalem, and there he died.
1:8 (Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and
 had taken it, and smitten it with the edge of the sword, and
 set the city on fire.)
1:9 And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight
 against the Canaanites that dwelt on the mountain, and in the
 south, and in the valley.
1:10 And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron:
 (now the name of Hebron before [was] Kirjath-arba:) and they
 slew Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai.
1:11 And from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir:
 and the name of Debir before [was] Kirjath-sepher:
1:12 And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjath-sepher, and taketh
 it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter for a wife.
1:13 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took
 it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter for a wife.
1:14 And it came to pass, when she came [to him], that she moved
 him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted from off
 [her] ass; and Caleb said to her, What wilt thou?
1:15 And she said to him, Give me a blessing: for thou hast
 given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb
 gave her the upper springs, and the nether springs.
1:16 And the children of the Kenite, Moses's father-in-law, went
 up out of the city of palm-trees with the children of Judah
 into the wilderness of Judah, which [lieth] in the south of
 Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.
1:17 And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the
 Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it.
 And the name of the city was called Hormah.
1:18 Also Judah took Gaza with its border, and Askelon with its
 border, and Ekron with its border.
1:19 And the LORD was with Judah; and he drove out [the
 inhabitants of] the mountain; but could not drive out the
 inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.
1:20 And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses said: and he
 expelled thence the three sons of Anak.
1:21 And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the
 Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell
 with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
1:22 And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Beth-el:
 and the LORD [was] with them.
1:23 And the house of Joseph sent to explore Beth-el. Now the
 name of the city before [was] Luz.
1:24 And the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they
 said to him, Show us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city,
 and we will show thee mercy.
1:25 And when he showed them the entrance into the city, they
 smote the city with the edge of the sword: but they let go the
 man and all his family.
1:26 And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a
 city, and called the name of it Luz: which [is] its name to
 this day.
1:27 Neither did Manasseh expel [the inhabitants of] Beth-shean
 and its towns, nor Tanach and its towns, nor the inhabitants of
 Dor and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns,
 nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; but the
 Canaanites would dwell in that land.
1:28 And it came to pass when Israel was strong, that they
 subjected the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly expel
 them.
1:29 Neither did Ephraim expel the Canaanites that dwelt in
 Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.
1:30 Neither did Zebulun expel the inhabitants of Kitron, nor
 the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among
 them, and became tributaries.
1:31 Neither did Asher expel the inhabitants of Accho, nor the
 inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of
 Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob:
1:32 But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the
 inhabitants of the land: for they did not expel them.
1:33 Neither did Naphtali expel the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh,
 nor the inhabitants of Beth-anath; but he dwelt among the
 Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless, the
 inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became
 tributaries to them.
1:34 And the Amorites forced the children of Dan to the
 mountain: for they would not suffer them to come down to the
 valley:
1:35 But the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres in Ajalon, and
 in Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so
 that they became tributaries.
1:36 And the border of the Amorites [was] from the ascent to
 Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.
2:1 And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and
 said, I made you to depart from Egypt, and have brought you to
 the land which I swore to your fathers; and I said, I will
 never break my covenant with you.
2:2 And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this
 land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed
 my voice: why have ye done this?
2:3 Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before
 you; but they shall be [as thorns] in your sides, and their
 gods shall be a snare to you.
2:4 And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spoke these
 words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up
 their voice, and wept.
2:5 And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they
 sacrificed there to the LORD.
2:6 And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of
 Israel went every man to his inheritance to possess the land.
2:7 And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and
 all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen
 all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel.
2:8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died,
 [being] a hundred and ten years old.
2:9 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in
 Timnath-heres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of
 the hill Gaash.
2:10 And also all that generation were gathered to their
 fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which
 knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for
 Israel.
2:11 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the
 LORD, and served Baalim:
2:12 And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who brought
 them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the
 gods of the people that [were] around them, and bowed
 themselves to them, and provoked the LORD to anger.
2:13 And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.
2:14 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he
 delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them,
 and he sold them into the hands of their enemies around, so
 that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.
2:15 Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the LORD was
 against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD
 had sworn to them: and they were greatly distressed.
2:16 Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, who delivered them
 out of the hand of those that spoiled them.
2:17 And yet they would not hearken to their judges, but they
 went astray after other gods, and bowed themselves to them:
 they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked
 in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; [but] they did not
 so.
2:18 And when the LORD raised up judges for them, then the LORD
 was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their
 enemies all the days of the judge: (for the LORD repented
 because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed
 them and burdened them.)
2:19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, [that] they
 returned, and corrupted [themselves] more than their fathers,
 in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down to them;
 they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn
 way.
2:20 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and he
 said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant
 which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened to my
 voice;
2:21 I also will not henceforth drive out from before them any
 of the nations which Joshua left when he died:
2:22 That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will
 keep the way of the LORD to walk in it, as their fathers kept
 [it], or not.
2:23 Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them
 out speedily, neither did he deliver them into the hand of
 Joshua.
3:1 Now these [are] the nations which the LORD left, to prove
 Israel by them, ([even] as many [of Israel] as had not known
 all the wars of Canaan;
3:2 Only that the generations of the children of Israel might
 know to teach them war, at the least such as before knew
 nothing of it;)
3:3 [Namely], five lords of the Philistines, and all the
 Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt on
 mount Lebanon, from mount Baal-hermon to the entrance of
 Hamath.
3:4 And they were to prove 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.
3:5 And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites,
 Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and
 Jebusites:
3:6 And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave
 their daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
3:7 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the
 LORD, and forgot the LORD their God, and served Baalim, and the
 groves.
3:8 Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and
 he sold them into the hand of Chushan-rishathaim king of
 Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served
 Chushan-rishathaim eight years.
3:9 And when the children of Israel cried to the LORD, the LORD
 raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered
 them, [even] Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.
3:10 And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged
 Israel, and went out to war: and the LORD delivered
 Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his
 hand prevailed against Chushan-rishathaim.
3:11 And the land had rest forty years: and Othniel the son of
 Kenaz died.
3:12 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of
 the LORD: and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab
 against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the
 LORD.
3:13 And he gathered to him the children of Ammon and Amalek,
 and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of
 palm-trees.
3:14 So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab
 eighteen years.
3:15 But when the children of Israel cried to the LORD, the LORD
 raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a
 Benjaminite, a man left-handed: and by him the children of
 Israel sent a present to Eglon king of Moab.
3:16 But Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit
 length; and he girded it under his raiment upon his right
 thigh.
3:17 And he brought the present to Eglon king of Moab: and Eglon
 [was] a very fat man.
3:18 And when he had made an end to offer the present, he sent
 away the people that bore the present.
3:19 But he himself turned again from the quarries that [were]
 by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand to thee, O king:
 who said, Keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from
 him.
3:20 And Ehud came to him; and he was sitting in a
 summer-parlor, which he had for himself alone: and Ehud said, I
 have a message from God to thee. And he arose from [his] seat.
3:21 And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from
 his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly:
3:22 And the haft also entered after the blade: and the fat
 closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out
 of his belly; and the dirt came out.
3:23 Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors
 of the parlor upon him, and locked them.
3:24 When he had gone out, his servants came; and when they saw
 that, behold, the doors of the parlor [were] locked, they said,
 Surely he covereth his feet in his summer-chamber.
3:25 And they tarried till they were ashamed: and behold, he
 opened not the doors of the parlor, therefore they took a key
 and opened [them]: and behold, their lord lay dead on the
 earth.
3:26 And Ehud escaped while they tarried; and passed beyond the
 quarries, and escaped to Seirath.
3:27 And it came to pass when he had come, that he blew a
 trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim, and the children of Israel
 went down with him from the mount, and he before them.
3:28 And he said to them, Follow me: for the LORD hath delivered
 your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down
 after him, and took the fords of Jordan towards Moab, and
 suffered not a man to pass over.
3:29 And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men,
 all lusty, and all men of valor: and there escaped not a man.
3:30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel: and
 the land had rest eighty years.
3:31 And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who slew of the
 Philistines six hundred men with an ox-goad; and he also
 delivered Israel.
4:1 And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of
 the LORD, after Ehud was dead.
4:2 And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan
 that reigned in Hazor, the captain of whose host [was] Sisera,
 who dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles.
4:3 And the children of Israel cried to the LORD; for he had
 nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily
 oppressed the children of Israel.
4:4 And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged
 Israel at that time.
4:5 And she dwelt under the palm-tree of Deborah, between Ramah
 and Beth-el in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came
 up to her for judgment.
4:6 And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam from
 Kedesh-naphtali, and said to him, Hath not the LORD God of
 Israel commanded, [saying], Go, and draw towards mount Tabor,
 and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of
 Naphtali, and of the children of Zebulun?
4:7 And I will draw to thee, to the river Kishon, Sisera the
 captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude;
 and I will deliver him into thy hand.
4:8 And Barak said to her, if thou wilt go with me, then I will
 go: but if thou wilt not go with me, [then] I will not go.
4:9 And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding
 the journey that thou takest shall not be for thy honor; for
 the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah
 arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.
4:10 And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he
 went up with ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up
 with him.
4:11 Now Heber the Kenite, [who was] of the children of Hobab
 the father-in-law of Moses, had severed himself from the
 Kenites, and pitched his tent to the plain of Zaanaim, which
 [is] by Kedesh.
4:12 And they showed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had
 gone up to mount Tabor.
4:13 And Sisera collected all his chariots, [even] nine hundred
 chariots of iron, and all the people that [were] with him, from
 Harosheth of the Gentiles to the river of Kishon.
4:14 And Deborah said to Barak, Arise, for this [is] the day in
 which the LORD hath delivered Sisera into thy hand: hath not
 the LORD gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount
 Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.
4:15 And the LORD discomfited Sisera, and all [his] chariots,
 and all [his] host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so
 that Sisera alighted from [his] chariot, and fled away on his
 feet.
4:16 But Barak pursued the chariots, and the host, to Harosheth
 of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge
 of the sword; [and] there was not a man left.
4:17 Howbeit, Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael
 the wife of Heber the Kenite: for [there was] peace between
 Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.
4:18 And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, Turn in,
 my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in to
 her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle.
4:19 And he said to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to
 drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and
 gave him drink, and covered him.
4:20 Again he said to her, stand in the door of the tent, and it
 shall be, when any man doth come and inquire of thee, and say,
 Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No.
4:21 Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a nail of the tent, and took
 a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him, and smote the
 nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he
 was fast asleep, and weary. So he died.
4:22 And behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet
 him, and said to him, Come, and I will show thee the man whom
 thou seekest. And when he came into her [tent], behold, Sisera
 lay dead, and the nail [was] in his temples.
4:23 So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before
 the children of Israel.
4:24 And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and
 prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had
 destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.
5:1 Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day,
 saying,
5:2 Praise ye the LORD for the avenging of Israel, when the
 people willingly offered themselves.
5:3 Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, [even] I, will
 sing to the LORD; I will sing [praise] to the LORD God of
 Israel.
5:4 LORD, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out
 of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens
 dropped, the clouds also dropped water.
5:5 The mountains melted from before the LORD, [even] that Sinai
 from before the LORD God of Israel.
5:6 In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of
 Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travelers walked
 through by-ways.
5:7 [The inhabitants of] the villages ceased, they ceased in
 Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in
 Israel.
5:8 They chose new gods; then [was] war in the gates: was there
 a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?
5:9 My heart [is] towards the governors of Israel that offered
 themselves willingly among the people: Bless ye the LORD.
5:10 Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in
 judgment, and walk by the way.
5:11 [They that are delivered] from the noise of archers in the
 places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the
 righteous acts of the LORD, [even] the righteous acts [towards
 the inhabitants] of his villages in Israel: then shall the
 people of the LORD go down to the gates.
5:12 Awake, awake, Deborah; awake, awake, utter a song: arise,
 Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam.
5:13 Then he made him that remaineth have dominion over the
 nobles among the people: the LORD made me have dominion over
 the mighty.
5:14 Out of Ephraim [was there] a root of them against Amalek;
 after thee, Benjamin, among thy people; out of Machir came down
 governors, and out of Zebulun they that handle the pen of the
 writer.
5:15 And the princes of Issachar [were] with Deborah: even
 Issachar, and also Barak: he was sent on foot into the valley.
 For the divisions of Reuben [there were] great thoughts of
 heart.
5:16 Why abodest thou among the sheep-folds, to hear the
 bleatings of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben [there
 were] great searchings of heart.
5:17 Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain in
 ships? Asher continued on the sea-shore, and abode in his
 breaches.
5:18 Zebulun and Naphtali [were] a people [that] jeoparded their
 lives to death in the high places of the field.
5:19 The kings came [and] fought, then fought the kings of
 Canaan in Tanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of
 money.
5:20 They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought
 against Sisera.
5:21 The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river,
 the river Kishon. O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.
5:22 Then were the horse's hoofs broken by the means of the
 prancings, the prancings of their mighty ones.
5:23 Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye
 bitterly its inhabitants; because they came not to the help of
 the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.
5:24 Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite
 be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
5:25 He asked water, [and] she gave [him] milk; she brought
 forth butter in a lordly dish.
5:26 She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the
 workmen's hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she
 smote off his head, when she had pierced and struck through his
 temples.
5:27 At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down: at her feet he
 bowed, he fell: where he bowed, there he fell down dead.
5:28 The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried
 through the lattice, Why is his chariot [so] long in coming?
 why tarry the wheels of his chariots?
5:29 Her wise ladies answered her, yes, she returned answer to
 herself.
5:30 Have they not found; have they [not] divided the prey; to
 every man a damsel [or] two; to Sisera a prey of divers colors,
 a prey of divers colors of needle-work, of divers colors of
 needle-work on both sides, [meet] for the necks of [them that
 take] the spoil?
5:31 So let all thy enemies perish, O LORD: but [let] them that
 love him [be] as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And
 the land had rest forty years.
6:1 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the
 LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven
 years.
6:2 And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: [and]
 because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the
 dens which [are] in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds.
6:3 And [so] it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites
 came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even
 they came up against them;
6:4 And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase
 of the earth, till thou comest to Gaza; and left no sustenance
 for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass.
6:5 For they came up with their cattle, and their tents, and
 they came as grasshoppers for multitude; [for] both they and
 their camels were without number: and they entered into the
 land to destroy it.
6:6 And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the
 Midianites; and the children of Israel cried to the LORD.
6:7 And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried to
 the LORD because of the Midianites,
6:8 That the LORD sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who
 said to them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you
 up from Egypt, and brought you forth from the house of bondage;
6:9 And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from
 the hand of all that oppressed you, and drove them out from
 before you, and gave you their land;
6:10 And I said to you, I [am] the LORD your God; fear not the
 gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not
 obeyed my voice.
6:11 And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak
 which [was] in Ophrah, that [pertained] to Joash the
 Abi-ezrite: and his son Gideon thrashed wheat by the
 wine-press, to hide [it] from the Midianites.
6:12 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him,
 The LORD [is] with thee, thou mighty man of valor.
6:13 And Gideon said to him, O my LORD, if the LORD is with us,
 why then hath all this befallen us? and where [are] all his
 miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD
 bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and
 delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.
6:14 And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy
 might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the
 Midianites: have not I sent thee?
6:15 And he said to him, O my LORD, by what means shall I save
 Israel? behold, my family [is] poor in Manasseh, and I [am] the
 least in my father's house.
6:16 And the LORD said to him, Surely I will be with thee, and
 thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.
6:17 And he said to him, If now I have found grace in thy sight,
 then show me a sign that thou talkest with me.
6:18 Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come to thee, and
 bring forth my present, and set [it] before thee. And he said,
 I will tarry until thou comest again.
6:19 And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened
 cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and
 he put the broth in a pot, and brought [it] out to him under
 the oak, and presented [it].
6:20 And the angel of God said to him, Take the flesh and the
 unleavened cakes, and lay [them] upon this rock, and pour out
 the broth. And he did so.
6:21 Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff
 that [was] in his hand, and touched the flesh and the
 unleavened cakes; and there rose fire out of the rock, and
 consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of
 the LORD departed from his sight.
6:22 And when Gideon perceived that he was [an] angel of the
 LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O LORD God! for because I have seen an
 angel of the LORD face to face.
6:23 And the LORD said to him, Peace [be] to thee; fear not:
 thou shalt not die.
6:24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it
 Jehovah-shalom: to this day it [is] yet in Ophrah of the
 Abi-ezrites.
6:25 And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said to
 him, Take thy father's young bullock, even the second bullock
 of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy
 father hath, and cut down the grove that [is] by it:
6:26 And build an altar to the LORD thy God upon the top of this
 rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and
 offer a burnt-sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou
 shalt cut down.
6:27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the
 LORD had said to him: and [so] it was, because he feared his
 father's household, and the men of the city, that he could not
 do [it] by day, that he did [it] by night.
6:28 And when the men of the city arose early in the morning,
 behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut
 down that [was] by it, and the second bullock was offered upon
 the altar [that was] built.
6:29 And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And
 when they inquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of
 Joash hath done this thing.
6:30 Then the men of the city said to Joash, Bring out thy son,
 that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal,
 and because he hath cut down the grove that [was] by it.
6:31 And Joash said to all that stood against him, Will ye plead
 for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him
 be put to death whilst [it is yet] morning: if he [is] a god,
 let him plead for himself, because [one] hath cast down his
 altar.
6:32 Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let
 Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.
6:33 Then all the Midianites, and the Amalekites, and the
 children of the east were assembled, and went over, and
 encamped in the valley of Jezreel.
6:34 But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a
 trumpet; and Abiezer was called after him.
6:35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also
 was called after him: and he sent messengers to Asher, and to
 Zebulun, and to Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.
6:36 And Gideon said to God, If thou wilt save Israel by my
 hand, as thou hast said,
6:37 Behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the floor; [and] if
 the dew shall be on the fleece only, and [it] shall [be] dry
 upon all the earth [besides], then shall I know that thou wilt
 save Israel by my hand, as thou hast said.
6:38 And it was so: for he rose early on the morrow, and pressed
 the fleece, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowl-full of
 water.
6:39 And Gideon said to God, Let not thy anger be hot against
 me, and I will speak but this once: Let me make trial, I pray
 thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only
 upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.
6:40 And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece
 only, and there was dew on all the ground.
7:1 Then Jerubbaal (who [is] Gideon) and all the people that
 [were] with him, rose early, and encamped beside the well of
 Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north
 side of them by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.
7:2 And the LORD said to Gideon, The people that [are] with thee
 [are] too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands,
 lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, My own hand
 hath saved me.
7:3 Now therefore, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying,
 Whoever [is] fearful and afraid, let him return and depart
 early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people
 twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.
7:4 And the LORD said to Gideon, The people [are] yet [too]
 many; bring them down to the water, and I will try them for
 thee there; and it shall be, [that] of whom I say to thee, This
 shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of
 whomsoever I say to thee, This shall not go with thee, the same
 shall not go.
7:5 So he brought down the people to the water: and the LORD
 said to Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his
 tongue as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself;
 likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.
7:6 And the number of them that lapped, [putting] their hand to
 their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the
 people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.
7:7 And the LORD said to Gideon, By the three hundred men that
 lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thy
 hand: and let all the [other] people go every man to his place.
7:8 So the people took victuals in their hand, and their
 trumpets: and he sent of all [the rest of] Israel every man to
 his tent, and retained those three hundred men. And the host of
 Midian was beneath him in the valley.
7:9 And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said to
 him, Arise, go down to the host; for I have delivered it into
 thy hand.
7:10 But if thou fearest to go down, go thou with Phurah thy
 servant down to the host:
7:11 And thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thy
 hands be strengthened to go down to the host. Then went he down
 with Phurah his servant to the outside of the armed men that
 [were] in the host.
7:12 And the Midianites, and the Amalekites, and all the
 children of the east, lay along in the valley like grasshoppers
 for multitude; and their camels [were] without number, as the
 sand by the sea side for multitude.
7:13 And when Gideon had come, behold, [there was] a man that
 told a dream to his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a
 dream, and lo, a cake of barley-bread rolled into the host of
 Midian, and came to a tent, and smote it that it fell, and
 overturned it that the tent lay along.
7:14 And his fellow answered, and said, This [is] nothing else
 save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel:
 [for] into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the
 host.
7:15 And it was [so], when Gideon heard the telling of the
 dream, and its interpretation, that he worshiped, and returned
 to the host of Israel, and said, Arise; for the LORD hath
 delivered into your hand the host of Midian.
7:16 And he divided the three hundred men [into] three
 companies, and he put a trumpet in every man's hand, with empty
 pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers.
7:17 And he said to them, Look on me, and do likewise: and
 behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be
 [that] as I do, so shall ye do.
7:18 When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that [are] with me,
 then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp,
 and say, [The sword] of the LORD, and of Gideon.
7:19 So Gideon, and the hundred men that [were] with him, came
 to the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle
 watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the
 trumpets, and broke the pitchers that [were] in their hands.
7:20 And the three companies blew the trumpets, and broke the
 pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the
 trumpets in their right hands to blow [with]: and they cried,
 The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.
7:21 And they stood every man in his place around the camp; and
 all the host ran, and cried, and fled.
7:22 And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set
 every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the
 host: and the host fled to Beth-shittah in Zereroth, [and] to
 the border of Abel-meholah, to Tabbath.
7:23 And the men of Israel assembled out of Naphtali, and out of
 Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued the Midianites.
7:24 And Gideon sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim,
 saying, Come down against the Midianites, and take before them
 the waters to Beth-barah and Jordan. Then all the men of
 Ephraim assembled, and took the waters to Beth-barah and
 Jordan.
7:25 And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb;
 and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at
 the wine-press of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the
 heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of Jordan.
8:1 And the men of Ephraim said to him, Why hast thou treated us
 thus, that thou calledst us not when thou wentest to fight with
 the Midianites? and they chid with him sharply.
8:2 And he said to them, What have I done now in comparison of
 you? [Is] not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than
 the vintage of Abiezer?
8:3 God hath delivered into your hands the princes of Midian,
 Oreb and Zeeb: and what was I able to do in comparison of you?
 Then, when he had said that, their anger towards him abated.
8:4 And Gideon came to Jordan, [and] passed over, he, and the
 three hundred men that [were] with him, faint, yet pursuing
 [them].
8:5 And he said to the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves
 of bread to the people that follow me: for they [are] faint,
 and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.
8:6 And the princes of Succoth said, [Are] the hands of Zebah
 and Zalmunna now in thy hand, that we should give bread to thy
 army?
8:7 And Gideon said, Therefore when the LORD hath delivered
 Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh
 with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.
8:8 And he went up thence to Penuel, and spoke to them likewise:
 and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had
 answered [him].
8:9 And he spoke also to the men of Penuel, saying, When I come
 again in peace, I will break down this tower.
8:10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna [were] in Karkor, and their hosts
 with them, about fifteen thousand [men], all that were left of
 all the hosts of the children of the east: for there fell a
 hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword.
8:11 And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents
 on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the host: for the
 host was secure.
8:12 And when Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued them, and took
 the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and discomfited
 all the host.
8:13 And Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle before the
 sun [had risen],
8:14 And caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and inquired
 of him: and he described to him the princes of Succoth, and its
 elders, [even] seventy seven men.
8:15 And he came to the men of Succoth, and said, Behold Zebah
 and Zalmunna, with whom ye upbraided me, saying, [Are] the
 hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand, that we should
 give bread to thy men [that are] weary?
8:16 And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the
 wilderness, and briers, and with them he taught the men of
 Succoth.
8:17 And he beat down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of
 the city.
8:18 Then said he to Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men
 [were they] whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou
 [art], so [were] they; each one resembled the children of a
 king.
8:19 And he said, They [were] my brethren, [even] the sons of my
 mother: [as] the LORD liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I
 would not slay you.
8:20 And he said to Jether his first-born, Arise, [and] slay
 them. But the youth drew not his sword: for he feared, because
 he [was] yet a youth.
8:21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us:
 for as the man [is], [so is] his strength. And Gideon arose,
 and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments that
 [were] on their camels' necks.
8:22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, Rule thou over us,
 both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also: for thou hast
 delivered us from the hand of Midian.
8:23 And Gideon said to them, I will not rule over you, neither
 shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you.
8:24 And Gideon said to them, I would desire a request of you,
 that you would give me every man the ear-rings of his prey.
 (For they had golden ear-rings, because they [were]
 Ishmaelites.)
8:25 And they answered, We will willingly give [them]. And they
 spread a garment, and cast into it every man the ear-rings of
 his prey.
8:26 And the weight of the golden ear-rings that he requested,
 was a thousand and seven hundred [shekels] of gold; besides
 ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that [was] on the
 kings of Midian, and besides the chains that [were] about their
 camels' necks.
8:27 And Gideon made of it an ephod, and put it in his city,
 [even] in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither astray after it:
 which thing became a snare to Gideon, and to his house.
8:28 Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so
 that they raised their heads no more. And the country was in
 quietness forty years in the days of Gideon.
8:29 And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own
 house.
8:30 And Gideon had seventy sons of his body begotten: for he
 had many wives.
8:31 And his concubine that [was] in Shechem, she also bore him
 a son, whose name he called Abimelech.
8:32 And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was
 buried in the sepulcher of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the
 Abi-ezrites.
8:33 And it came to pass as soon as Gideon was dead, that the
 children of Israel turned again, and went astray after Baalim,
 and made Baal-berith their god.
8:34 And the children of Israel remembered not the LORD their
 God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies
 on every side:
8:35 Neither showed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal,
 [namely] Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had
 shown to Israel.
9:1 And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his
 mother's brethren, and communed with them, and with all the
 family of the house of his mother's father, saying,
9:2 Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem,
 Which [is] better for you, either that all the sons of
 Jerubbaal, [which are] seventy persons, should reign over you,
 or that one should reign over you? remember also that I [am]
 your bone and your flesh.
9:3 And his mother's brethren spoke of him in the ears of all
 the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined
 to follow Abimelech; for they said, He [is] our brother.
9:4 And they gave him seventy [pieces] of silver out of the
 house of Baal-berith, with which Abimelech hired vain and light
 persons, who followed him.
9:5 And he went to his father's house at Ophrah, and slew his
 brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, [being] seventy persons, upon
 one stone; notwithstanding, yet Jotham the youngest son of
 Jerubbaal was left; for he hid himself.
9:6 And all the men of Shechem assembled, and all the house of
 Millo, and went and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the
 pillar that [was] in Shechem.
9:7 And when they told [it] to Jotham, he went and stood in the
 top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice and cried, and
 said to them, Hearken to me, ye men of Shechem, that God may
 hearken to you.
9:8 The trees went forth [on a time] to anoint a king over them;
 and they said to the olive-tree, Reign thou over us.
9:9 But the olive-tree said to them, Should I leave my fatness,
 with which by me they honor God and man, and go to be promoted
 over the trees?
9:10 And the trees said to the fig-tree, Come thou, [and] reign
 over us.
9:11 But the fig-tree said to them, Should I forsake my
 sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the
 trees?
9:12 Then said the trees to the vine, Come thou, [and] reign
 over us.
9:13 And the vine said to them, Should I leave my wine, which
 cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?
9:14 Then said all the trees to the bramble, Come thou, [and]
 reign over us.
9:15 And the bramble said to the trees, If in truth ye anoint me
 king over you, [then] come [and] put your trust in my shadow:
 and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the
 cedars of Lebanon.
9:16 Now therefore, if ye have done truly and sincerely, in that
 ye have made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with
 Jerubbaal and his house, and have done to him according to the
 deserving of his hands:
9:17 (For my father fought for you, and adventured his life far,
 and delivered you from the hand of Midian:
9:18 And ye have risen up against my father's house this day,
 and have slain his sons, seventy persons, upon one stone, and
 have made Abimelech, the son of his maid-servant, king over the
 men of Shechem, because he [is] your brother:)
9:19 If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubbaal
 and with his house this day, [then] rejoice ye in Abimelech,
 and let him also rejoice in you:
9:20 But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour
 the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come
 out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and
 devour Abimelech.
9:21 And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt
 there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.
9:22 When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel,
9:23 Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men
 of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with
 Abimelech:
9:24 That the cruelty [done] to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal
 might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their
 brother who slew them, and upon the men of Shechem who aided
 him in the killing of his brethren.
9:25 And the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him on the top
 of the mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way
 by them: and it was told Abimelech.
9:26 And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren, and went
 over to Shechem: and the men of Shechem put their confidence in
 him.
9:27 And they went out into the fields, and gathered their
 vineyards, and trod [the grapes], and made merry, and went into
 the house of their god, and ate and drank, and cursed
 Abimelech.
9:28 And Gaal the son of Ebed said, Who [is] Abimelech, and who
 [is] Shechem, that we should serve him; [is] not [he] the son
 of Jerubbaal? and Zebul his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the
 father of Shechem: for why should we serve him?
9:29 And would that this people were under my hand! then would I
 remove Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, Increase thy army,
 and come out.
9:30 And when Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of
 Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled.
9:31 And he sent messengers to Abimelech privately, saying,
 Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed, and his brethren, are come to
 Shechem; and behold, they fortify the city against thee.
9:32 Now therefore rise by night, thou, and the people that
 [are] with thee, and lie in wait in the field:
9:33 And it shall be, [that] in the morning, as soon as the sun
 hath risen, thou shalt rise early, and attack the city: and
 behold, [when] he and the people that [are] with him come out
 against thee, then mayest thou do to them as thou shalt find
 occasion.
9:34 And Abimelech rose, and all the people that [were] with
 him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four
 companies.
9:35 And Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the
 entrance of the gate of the city: and Abimelech rose, and the
 people that [were] with him, from lying in wait.
9:36 And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold,
 there come people down from the top of the mountains. And Zebul
 said to him, Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as [if they
 were] men.
9:37 And Gaal spoke again, and said, See, there come people down
 by the middle of the land, and another company come along by
 the plain of Meonenim.
9:38 Then said Zebul to him, Where [is] now thy mouth, with
 which thou saidst, Who [is] Abimelech, that we should serve
 him? [are] not these the people that thou hast despised? go
 out, I pray now, and fight with them.
9:39 And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought
 with Abimelech.
9:40 And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many
 were overthrown [and] wounded, [even] to the entrance of the
 gate.
9:41 And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah: and Zebul thrust out Gaal
 and his brethren, that they should not dwell in Shechem.
9:42 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people went out
 into the field; and they told Abimelech.
9:43 And he took the people, and divided them into three
 companies, and laid wait in the field, and looked, and behold,
 the people [had] come out of the city; and he rose up against
 them, and smote them.
9:44 And Abimelech, and the company that [was] with him, rushed
 forward, and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city: and
 the two [other] companies ran upon all [the people] that [were]
 in the fields, and slew them.
9:45 And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he
 took the city, and slew the people that [were] in it, and beat
 down the city, and sowed it with salt.
9:46 And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard [that],
 they entered into a hold of the house of the god Berith.
9:47 And it was told to Abimelech, that all the men of the tower
 of Shechem were assembled.
9:48 And Abimelech ascended mount Zalmon, he and all the people
 that [were] with him; and Abimelech took an ax in his hand, and
 cut down a bough from the trees, and took it, and laid [it] on
 his shoulder, and said to the people that [were] with him, What
 ye have seen me do, make haste, [and] do as I [have done].
9:49 And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough,
 and followed Abimelech, and put [them] to the hold, and set the
 hold on fire upon them: so that all the men of the tower of
 Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women.
9:50 Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez,
 and took it.
9:51 But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither
 fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut
 [it] after them, and ascended to the top of the tower.
9:52 And Abimelech came to the tower, and fought against it, and
 came near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire.
9:53 And a certain woman cast a piece of of a millstone upon
 Abimelech's head, and broke his skull.
9:54 Then he called hastily to the young man his armor-bearer,
 and said to him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not
 of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through,
 and he died.
9:55 And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead,
 they departed every man to his place.
9:56 Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did
 to his father, in slaying his seventy brethren:
9:57 And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon
 their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of
 Jerubbaal.
10:1 And after Abimelech there arose to defend Israel Tola the
 son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt
 in Shamir in mount Ephraim.
10:2 And he judged Israel twenty and three years, and died, and
 was buried in Shamir.
10:3 And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel
 twenty and two years.
10:4 And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and
 they had thirty cities, which are called Havoth-jair to this
 day, which [are] in the land of Gilead.
10:5 And Jair died, and was buried in Camon.
10:6 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of
 the LORD, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of
 Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the
 gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines,
 and forsook the LORD, and served not him.
10:7 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he
 sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands
 of the children of Ammon.
10:8 And that year they harassed and oppressed the children of
 Israel eighteen years, all the children of Israel that [were]
 on the other side of Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which
 [is] in Gilead.
10:9 Moreover, the children of Ammon passed over Jordan, to
 fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the
 house of Ephraim; so that Israel was greatly distressed.
10:10 And the children of Israel cried to the LORD, saying, We
 have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our
 God, and also served Baalim.
10:11 And the LORD said to the children of Israel, [Did] not [I
 deliver you] from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from
 the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines?
10:12 The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites
 oppressed you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of
 their hand.
10:13 Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore
 I will deliver you no more.
10:14 Go and cry to the gods which ye have chosen; let them
 deliver you in the time of your tribulation.
10:15 And the children of Israel said to the LORD, We have
 sinned: do thou to us whatever seemeth good to thee; deliver us
 only, we pray thee, this day.
10:16 And they put away the strange gods from among them, and
 served the LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of
 Israel.
10:17 Then the children of Ammon were assembled, and encamped in
 Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled themselves, and
 encamped in Mizpeh.
10:18 And the people [and] princes of Gilead said one to
 another, What man [is he] that will begin to fight against the
 children of Ammon? he shall be head over all the inhabitants of
 Gilead.
11:1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and
 he [was] the son of a harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.
11:2 And Gilead's wife bore him sons; and his wife's sons grew
 up, and they thrust out Jephthah, and said to him, Thou shalt
 not inherit in our father's house; for thou [art] the son of a
 strange woman.
11:3 Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land
 of Tob: and there were gathered vain men to Jephthah, and
 [they] went out with him.
11:4 And it came to pass in process of time, that the children
 of Ammon made war against Israel.
11:5 And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war
 against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah out
 of the land of Tob:
11:6 And they said to Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that
 we may fight with the children of Ammon.
11:7 And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, Did ye not hate
 me, and expel me from my father's house; and why have ye come
 to me now when ye are in distress?
11:8 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, Therefore we
 turn again to thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight
 against the children of Ammon, and be our head over all the
 inhabitants of Gilead.
11:9 And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me
 home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the LORD
 deliver them before me, shall I be your head?
11:10 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, The LORD be a
 witness between us, if we do not so according to thy words.
11:11 Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the
 people made him head and captain over them: and Jephthah
 uttered all his words before the LORD in Mizpeh.
11:12 And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the children
 of Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou hast
 come against me to fight in my land?
11:13 And the king of the children of Ammon answered to the
 messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when
 they came out of Egypt, from Arnon even to Jabbok, and to
 Jordan: now therefore restore those [lands] again peaceably.
11:14 And Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the
 children of Ammon:
11:15 And said to him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away
 the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon:
11:16 But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the
 wilderness to the Red sea, and came to Kadesh;
11:17 Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying,
 Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land: but the king of
 Edom would not hearken [to it]. And in like manner they sent to
 the king of Moab; but he would not [consent]. And Israel abode
 in Kadesh.
11:18 Then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed
 the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east
 side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of
 Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon [was]
 the border of Moab.
11:19 And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites,
 the king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, Let us pass, we
 pray thee, through thy land to my place.
11:20 But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his border:
 but Sihon collected all his people, and encamped in Jahaz, and
 fought against Israel.
11:21 And the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his
 people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel
 possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that
 country.
11:22 And they possessed all the borders of the Amorites, from
 Arnon even to Jabbok, and from the wilderness even to Jordan.
11:23 So now the LORD God of Israel hath dispossessed the
 Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldst thou
 possess it?
11:24 Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth
 thee to possess? So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out
 from before us, them will we possess.
11:25 And now [art] thou any thing better than Balak the son of
 Zippor king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did
 he ever fight against them,
11:26 While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer
 and her towns, and in all the cities that [are] along by the
 borders of Arnon, three hundred years? why therefore did ye not
 recover [them] within that time?
11:27 Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest
 me wrong to war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this
 day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.
11:28 But, the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not to
 the words of Jephthah which he sent him.
11:29 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he
 passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of
 Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over [to] the
 children of Ammon.
11:30 And Jephthah vowed a vow to the LORD, and said, If thou
 shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into my hands,
11:31 Then it shall be, that whatever cometh out of the doors of
 my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children
 of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD'S, and I will offer it for a
 burnt-offering.
11:32 So Jephthah passed over to the children of Ammon to fight
 against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands.
11:33 And he smote them from Aroer even till thou comest to
 Minnith, [even] twenty cities, and to the plain of the
 vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of
 Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.
11:34 And Jephthah came to Mizpeh to his house, and behold, his
 daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances:
 and she [was his] only child; beside her he had neither son nor
 daughter.
11:35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his
 clothes, and said Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very
 low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have
 opened my mouth to the LORD, and I cannot go back.
11:36 And she said to him, My father, [if] thou hast opened thy
 mouth to the LORD, do to me according to that which hath
 proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the LORD hath taken
 vengeance for thee of thy enemies, [even] of the children of
 Ammon.
11:37 And she said to her father, Let this thing be done for me:
 Let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the
 mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows.
11:38 And he said, Go. And he sent her away [for] two months:
 and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity
 upon the mountains.
11:39 And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she
 returned to her father, who did with her [according] to his vow
 which he had vowed: and she knew no man. And it was a custom in
 Israel,
11:40 [That] the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the
 daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.
12:1 And the men of Ephraim assembled, and went northward, and
 said to Jephthah, Why didst thou pass over to fight against the
 children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee; we
 will burn thy house upon thee with fire.
12:2 And Jephthah said to them, I and my people were at great
 strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, ye
 delivered me not out of their hands.
12:3 And when I saw that ye delivered [me] not, I put my life in
 my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and
 the LORD delivered them into my hand: why then have ye come up
 to me this day, to fight against me?
12:4 Then Jephthah collected all the men of Gilead, and fought
 with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they
 said, Ye Gileadites [are] fugitives of Ephraim among the
 Ephraimites, [and] among the Manassites.
12:5 And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the
 Ephraimites: and it was [so], that when those Ephraimites who
 had escaped, said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said
 to him, [Art] thou an Ephraimite? If he said, No;
12:6 Then said they to him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said
 Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce [it] right. Then
 they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan. And
 there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two
 thousand.
12:7 And Jephthah judged Israel six years: then died Jephthah
 the Gileadite, and was buried in [one of] the cities of Gilead.
12:8 And after him Ibzan of Beth-lehem judged Israel.
12:9 And he had thirty sons and thirty daughters [whom] he sent
 abroad, and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons:
 and he judged Israel seven years.
12:10 Then died Ibzan, and was buried at Beth-lehem.
12:11 And after him Elon, a Zebulonite, judged Israel, and he
 judged Israel ten years.
12:12 And Elon the Zebulonite died, and was buried in Ajalon in
 the country of Zebulun.
12:13 And after him Abdon the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite,
 judged Israel.
12:14 And he had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on
 seventy ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years.
12:15 And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was
 buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the mount of the
 Amalekites.
13:1 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of
 the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the
 Philistines forty years.
13:2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the
 Danites, whose name [was] Manoah; and his wife [was] barren,
 and bore not.
13:3 And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman, and said
 to her, Behold, now, thou [art] barren, and bearest not: but
 thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.
13:4 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine, nor
 strong drink, and eat not any unclean [thing]:
13:5 For lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor
 shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite to
 God from his birth: and he shall begin to deliver Israel from
 the hand of the Philistines.
13:6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of
 God came to me, and his countenance [was] like the countenance
 of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence
 he [was], neither did he tell me his name:
13:7 But he said to me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a
 son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any
 unclean [thing]: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from
 his birth to the day of his death.
13:8 Then Manoah entreated the LORD, and said, O my LORD, let
 the man of God, whom thou didst send come again to us, and
 teach us what we shall do to the child that shall be born.
13:9 And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of
 God came again to the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah
 her husband [was] not with her.
13:10 And the woman made haste, and ran, and showed her husband,
 and said to him, Behold, the man hath appeared to me, that came
 to me the [other] day.
13:11 And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the
 man, and said to him, [Art] thou the man that didst speak to
 the woman? And he said, I [am].
13:12 And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall
 we order the child, and [how] shall we do to him?
13:13 And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, Of all that I
 said to the woman, let her beware.
13:14 She may not eat of any [thing] that cometh of the vine,
 neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean
 [thing]; all that I commanded her let her observe.
13:15 And Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let
 us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.
13:16 And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, Though thou
 shouldst detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou
 wilt offer a burnt-offering, thou must offer it to the LORD.
 For Manoah knew not that he [was] an angel of the LORD.
13:17 And Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, What [is] thy
 name, that when thy sayings come to pass, we may do thee honor?
13:18 And the angel of the LORD said to him, why askest thou
 thus after my name, seeing it [is] secret?
13:19 So Manoah took a kid, with a meat-offering, and offered
 [it] upon a rock to the LORD; and [the angel] did wonderously,
 and Manoah and his wife looked on.
13:20 For it came to pass, when the flame ascended towards
 heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended
 in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on
 [it], and fell on their faces to the ground.
13:21 But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and
 to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he [was] an angel of the
 LORD.
13:22 And Manoah said to his wife, We shall surely die, because
 we have seen God.
13:23 But his wife said to him, If the LORD were pleased to kill
 us, he would not have received a burnt-offering and a
 meat-offering at our hands, neither would he have showed us all
 these [things], nor would, as at this time, have told us [such
 things] as these.
13:24 And the woman bore a son, and called his name Samson. And
 the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.
13:25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in
 the camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
14:1 And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath
 of the daughters of the Philistines.
14:2 And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and
 said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the
 Philistines: now therefore get her for me for a wife.
14:3 Then his father and his mother said to him, [Is there] not
 a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my
 people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised
 Philistines? And Samson said to his father, Get her for me; for
 she pleaseth me well.
14:4 But his father and his mother knew not that it [was] of the
 LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for
 at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.
14:5 Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to
 Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and behold, a
 young lion roared against him.
14:6 And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he
 rent him as he would have rent a kid, and [he had] nothing in
 his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had
 done.
14:7 And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she
 pleased Samson well.
14:8 And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned
 aside to see the carcass of the lion: and behold, [there was] a
 swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion.
14:9 And he took of it in his hands, and went on eating, and
 came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they ate:
 but he told them not that he had taken the honey out of the
 carcass of the lion.
14:10 So his father went down to the woman: and Samson made
 there a feast; for so used the young men to do.
14:11 And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought
 thirty companions to be with him.
14:12 And Samson said to them, I will now propose a riddle to
 you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of
 the feast, and find [it] out, then I will give you thirty
 sheets and thirty change of garments:
14:13 But if ye cannot declare [it] to me, then shall ye give me
 thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they said to
 him, propose thy riddle, that we may hear it.
14:14 And he said to them, Out of the eater came forth food, and
 out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in
 three days expound the riddle.
14:15 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said to
 Samson's wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare to us
 the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire:
 have ye called us to take what we possess? [is it] not [so]?
14:16 And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but
 hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast proposed a riddle to the
 children of my people, and hast not told [it] to me. And he
 said to her, Behold, I have not told [it] to my father nor to
 my mother, and shall I tell [it] to thee?
14:17 And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast
 lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told
 her, because she urged him: and she told the riddle to the
 children of her people.
14:18 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 he said to them, If ye had
 not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.
14:19 And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down
 to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil,
 and gave change of garments to them who expounded the riddle.
 And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's
 house.
14:20 But Samson's wife was given to his companion, whom he had
 used as his friend.
15:1 But it came to pass after a while, in the time of
 wheat-harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he
 said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father
 would not suffer him to go in.
15:2 And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst
 utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: [is]
 not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee,
 instead of her.
15:3 And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more
 blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.
15:4 And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took
 fire-brands, and turned tail to tail, and put a fire-brand in
 the midst between two tails.
15:5 And when he had set the brands on fire, he let [them] go
 into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both
 the shocks and also the standing corn, with the vineyards [and]
 olives.
15:6 Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they
 answered, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he had
 taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the
 Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.
15:7 And Samson said to them, Though ye have done this, yet will
 I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.
15:8 And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter. And
 he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.
15:9 Then the Philistines went up, and encamped in Judah, and
 spread themselves in Lehi.
15:10 And the men of Judah said, Why have ye come up against us?
 And they answered, We have come to bind Samson, to do to him as
 he hath done to us.
15:11 Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the
 rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the
 Philistines [are] rulers over us? what [is] this [that] thou
 hast done to us? And he said to them, As they did to me, so
 have I done to them.
15:12 And they said to him, We have come down to bind thee, that
 we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And
 Samson said to them, Swear to me, that ye will not fall upon me
 yourselves.
15:13 And they spoke to him, saying, No; but we will bind thee
 fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not
 kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought
 him up from the rock.
15:14 [And] when he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted
 against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him,
 and the cords that [were] upon his arms became as flax that was
 burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his the hands.
15:15 And he found a fresh jaw-bone of an ass, and put forth his
 hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men with it.
15:16 And Samson said, With the jaw-bone of an ass, heaps upon
 heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.
15:17 And it came to pass when he had made an end of speaking,
 that he cast away the jaw-bone out of his hand, and called that
 place Ramath-lehi.
15:18 And he was very thirsty, and called on the LORD, and said,
 Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy
 servant: and now shall I die by thirst, and fall into the hand
 of the uncircumcised?
15:19 But God cleaved a hollow place that was in the jaw, and
 there came water out of it; and when he had drank, his spirit
 came again, and he revived. Wherefore he called the name of it
 En-hakkore, which [is] in Lehi to this day.
15:20 And he judged Israel, in the days of the Philistines,
 twenty years.
16:1 Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went
 in to her.
16:2 [And it was told] the Gazites, saying, Samson is come
 hither. And they encompassed [him], and laid wait for him all
 night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night,
 saying, In the morning when it is day we shall kill him.
16:3 And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and
 took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and
 went away with them, bar and all, and put [them] upon his
 shoulders, and carried them up to the top of a hill that [is]
 before Hebron.
16:4 And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the
 valley of Sorek, whose name [was] Delilah.
16:5 And the lords of the Philistines came to her, and said to
 her, Entice him, and see in what his great strength [lieth],
 and by what [means] we may prevail against him, that we may
 bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us
 eleven hundred [pieces] of silver.
16:6 And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, in what
 thy great strength [lieth], and with what thou mayest be bound
 to afflict thee.
16:7 And Samson said to her, If they bind me with seven green
 withs, that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as
 another man.
16:8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought to her seven
 green withs, which had not been dried, and she bound him with
 them.
16:9 (Now [there were] men lying in wait, abiding with her in
 the chamber.) And she said to him, The Philistines [are] upon
 thee, Samson. And he broke the withs as a thread of tow is
 broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not
 known.
16:10 And Delilah said to Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me,
 and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, with what thou
 mayest be bound.
16:11 And he said to her, If they bind me fast with new ropes
 that never were used, then shall I be weak, and be as another
 man.
16:12 Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him with them,
 and said to him, The Philistines [are] upon thee, Samson. (And
 [there were] liers in wait abiding in the chamber.) And he
 broke them from off his arms like a thread.
16:13 And Delilah said to Samson, hitherto thou hast mocked me,
 and told me lies: tell me with what thou mayest be bound. And
 he said to her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with
 the web.
16:14 And she fastened [it] with the pin, and said to him, The
 Philistines [are] upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his
 sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the
 web.
16:15 And she said to him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when
 thy heart [is] not with me? Thou hast mocked me these three
 times, and hast not told me in what thy great strength [lieth].
16:16 And it came to pass when she pressed him daily with her
 words, and urged him, [so] that his soul was vexed to death;
16:17 That he told her all his heart, and said to her, There
 hath not come a razor upon my head; for I [have been] a
 Nazarite to God from my birth: if I be shaved, then my strength
 will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any
 [other] man.
16:18 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart,
 she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying,
 Come up this once, for he hath disclosed to me all his heart.
 Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought
 money in their hand.
16:19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for
 a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his
 head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from
 him.
16:20 And she said, the Philistines [are] upon thee, Samson. And
 he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other
 times before, and shake myself. And he knew not that the LORD
 had departed from him.
16:21 But the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and
 brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass;
 and he did grind in the prison-house.
16:22 However the hair of his head began to grow again after he
 was shaved.
16:23 Then the lords of the Philistines assembled to offer a
 great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they
 said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
16:24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for
 they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and
 the destroyer of our country; who slew many of us.
16:25 And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that
 they said, Call for Samson that he may make us sport. And they
 called for Samson out of the prison-house; and he made them
 sport: and they set him between the pillars.
16:26 And Samson said to the lad that held him by the hand,
 Suffer me that I may feel the pillars upon which the house
 standeth, that I may lean upon them.
16:27 Now the house was full of men and women: and all the lords
 of the Philistines [were] there: and [there were] upon the roof
 about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson
 made sport.
16:28 And Samson called to the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD,
 remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only
 this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the
 Philistines for my two eyes.
16:29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which
 the house stood, and on which it was supported, of the one with
 his right hand, and of the other with his left.
16:30 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he
 bowed himself with [all his] might; and the house fell upon the
 lords, and upon all the people that [were] in it. So the dead
 which he slew at his death were more than [they] which he slew
 in his life.
16:31 Then his brethren and all the house of his father came
 down, and took him, and brought [him] up, and buried him
 between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burying-place of Manoah his
 father. And he judged Israel twenty years.
17:1 And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name [was]
 Micah.
17:2 And he said to his mother, The eleven hundred [shekels] of
 silver that were taken from thee, about which thou didst curse,
 and speak of also in my ears, behold, the silver [is] with me;
 I took it. And his mother said, Blessed [be thou] of the LORD,
 my son.
17:3 And when he had restored the eleven hundred [shekels] of
 silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated
 the silver to the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a
 graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore
 it to thee.
17:4 Yet he restored the money to his mother; and his mother
 took two hundred [shekels] of silver, and gave them to the
 founder, who made of it a graven image and a molten image: and
 they were in the house of Micah.
17:5 And the man Micah had a house of gods, and made an ephod,
 and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his
 priest.
17:6 In those days [there was] no king in Israel, [but] every
 man did [that which was] right in his own eyes.
17:7 And there was a young man out of Beth-lehem-judah of the
 family of Judah, who [was] a Levite, and he sojourned there.
17:8 And the man departed out of the city from Beth-lehem-judah,
 to sojourn where he could find [a place]: and he came to mount
 Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed.
17:9 And Micah said to him, Whence comest thou? And he said to
 him, I [am] a Levite of Beth-lehem-judah, and I go to sojourn
 where I may find [a place].
17:10 And Micah said to him, Dwell with me, and be to me a
 father and a priest, and I will give thee ten [shekels] of
 silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So
 the Levite went in.
17:11 And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the
 young man was to him as one of his sons.
17:12 And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man became
 his priest, and was in the house of Micah.
17:13 Then said Micah, Now I know that the LORD will do me good,
 seeing I have a Levite for [my] priest.
18:1 In those days [there was] no king in Israel: and in those
 days the tribe of the Danites sought for themselves an
 inheritance to dwell in; for to that day [all their]
 inheritance had not fallen to them among the tribes of Israel.
18:2 And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from
 their borders, men of valor, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to
 explore the land, and to search it; and they said to them, Go,
 search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the
 house of Micah, they lodged there.
18:3 When they [were] by the house of Micah, they knew the voice
 of the young man the Levite: and they turned in thither, and
 said to him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in
 this [place]? and what hast thou here?
18:4 And he said to them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me,
 and hath hired me, and I am his priest.
18:5 And they said to him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God,
 that we may know whether our way which we go shall be
 prosperous.
18:6 And the priest said to them, Go in peace: before the LORD
 [is] your way in which ye go.
18:7 Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the
 people that [were] in it, how they dwelt careless, after the
 manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and [there was] no
 magistrate in the land, that might put [them] to shame in [any]
 thing; and they [were] far from the Zidonians, and had no
 business with [any] man.
18:8 And they came to their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and
 their brethren said to them, What [say] ye?
18:9 And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for
 we have seen the land, and behold, it [is] very good: and [are]
 ye still? be not slothful to go, [and] to enter to possess the
 land.
18:10 When ye go, ye shall come to a people secure, and to a
 large land: for God hath given it into your hands; a place
 where [there] is no want of any thing that [is] on the earth.
18:11 And there went from thence of the family of the Danites,
 out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with
 weapons of war.
18:12 And they went up, and encamped in Kirjath-jearim, in
 Judah: wherefore they called that place Mahaneh-dan to this
 day: behold, [it is] behind Kirjath-jearim.
18:13 And they passed thence to mount Ephraim, and came to the
 house of Micah.
18:14 Then answered the five men that went to explore the
 country of Laish, and said to their brethren, Do ye know that
 there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven
 image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have
 to do.
18:15 And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of the
 young man the Levite, [even] to the house of Micah, and saluted
 him.
18:16 And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of
 war, who [were] of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance
 of the gate.
18:17 And the five men that went to explore the land went up,
 [and] came in thither, [and] took the graven image, and the
 ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest
 stood in the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men
 [that were] appointed with weapons of war.
18:18 And these went into Micah's house, and brought the carved
 image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then
 said the priest to them, What do ye?
18:19 And they said to him, Hold thy peace, lay thy hand upon
 thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest:
 [Is it] better for thee to be a priest to the house of one man,
 or that thou shouldst be a priest to a tribe and a family in
 Israel?
18:20 And the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod,
 and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst
 of the people.
18:21 So they turned and departed, and put the little ones, and
 the cattle, and the furniture before them.
18:22 [And] when they were a good way from the house of Micah,
 the men that [were] in the houses near to Micah's house were
 collected, and overtook the children of Dan.
18:23 And they cried to the children of Dan. And they turned
 their faces, and said to Micah, What aileth thee, that thou
 comest with such a company?
18:24 And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and
 the priest, and ye have gone away: and what have I more? and
 what [is] this [that] ye say to me, What aileth thee?
18:25 And the children of Dan said to him, Let not thy voice be
 heard among us, lest angry fellows rush upon thee, and thou
 lose thy life, with the lives of thy household.
18:26 And the children of Dan departed: and when Micah saw that
 they [were] too strong for him, he turned and went back to his
 house.
18:27 And they took [the things] which Micah had made, and the
 priest which he had, and came to Laish, to a people [that were]
 at quiet and secure: and they smote them with the edge of the
 sword, and burnt the city with fire.
18:28 And [there was] no deliverer, because it [was] far from
 Zidon, and they had no business with [any] man; and it was in
 the valley that [lieth] by Beth-rehob. And they built a city
 and dwelt in it.
18:29 And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name
 of Dan their father, who was born to Israel: but the name of
 the city [was] Laish at the first.
18:30 And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and
 Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his
 sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the
 captivity of the land.
18:31 And they set up for themselves Micah's graven image which
 he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.
19:1 And it came to pass in those days, when [there was] no king
 in Israel, that there was a certain Levite dwelling on the side
 of mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of
 Beth-lehem-judah.
19:2 And his concubine played the harlot against him, and went
 away from him to her father's house to Beth-lehem-judah, and
 was there four whole months.
19:3 And her husband arose, and went after her, to speak kindly
 to her, [and] to bring her again, having his servant with him,
 and a couple of asses: and she brought him into her father's
 house: and when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced
 to meet him.
19:4 And his father-in-law, the damsel's father, retained him;
 and he abode with him three days: so they ate and drank, and
 lodged there.
19:5 And it came to pass on the fourth day, when they arose
 early in the morning, that he arose to depart: and the damsel's
 father said to his son-in-law, Comfort thy heart with a morsel
 of bread, and afterward depart.
19:6 And they sat down, and ate and drank both of them together:
 for the damsel's father had said to the man, Be content, I pray
 thee, and tarry all night, and let thy heart be merry.
19:7 And when the man rose to depart, his father-in-law urged
 him: therefore he lodged there again.
19:8 And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to
 depart: and the damsel's father said, Comfort thy heart, I pray
 thee. And they tarried until afternoon, and they ate both of
 them.
19:9 And when the man arose to depart, he, and his concubine,
 and his servant, his father-in-law, the damsel's father, said
 to him, Behold now the day draweth towards evening, I pray you
 tarry all night: behold, the day is coming to an end, lodge
 here, that thy heart may be merry; and to-morrow get you early
 on your way, that thou mayest go home.
19:10 But the man would not tarry that night, but he arose and
 departed, and came over against Jebus, which [is] Jerusalem;
 and [there were] with him two asses saddled, his concubine also
 [was] with him.
19:11 [And] when they [were] by Jebus, the day was far spent;
 and the servant said to his master, Come, I pray thee, and let
 us turn in to this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it.
19:12 And his master said to him, We will not turn aside hither
 into the city of a stranger, that [is] not of the children of
 Israel; we will pass over to Gibeah.
19:13 And he said to his servant, Come, and let us draw near to
 one of these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah.
19:14 And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went
 down upon them [when they were] by Gibeah, which [belongeth] to
 Benjamin.
19:15 And they turned aside thither, to go in [and] to lodge in
 Gibeah: and when he went in, he sat down in a street of the
 city: for [there was] no man that took them into his house to
 lodge.
19:16 And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of
 the field at evening, who [was] also of mount Ephraim; and he
 dwelt in Gibeah: but the men of the place [were] Benjaminites.
19:17 And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a way-faring
 man in the street of the city: and the old man said, Whither
 goest thou? and whence comest thou?
19:18 And he said to him, We [are] passing from Beth-lehem-Judah
 towards the side of mount Ephraim; from thence [am] I: and I
 went to Beth-lehem-judah, but I [am now] going to the house of
 the LORD; and there [is] no man that receiveth me into [his]
 house.
19:19 Yet there is both straw and provender for our asses; and
 there is bread and wine also for me, and for thy handmaid, and
 for the young man [which is] with thy servants: [there is] no
 want of any thing:
19:20 And the old man said, Peace [be] with thee; however, [let]
 all thy wants [lie] upon me; only lodge not in the street.
19:21 So he brought him into his house, and gave provender to
 the asses: and they washed their feet and ate and drank.
19:22 [Now] as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the
 men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house on all
 sides, [and] beat at the door, and spoke to the master of the
 house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into
 thy house, that we may know him.
19:23 And the man, the master of the house, went out to them,
 and said to them, Nay, my brethren, [nay], I pray you, do not
 [so] wickedly; seeing that this man is come into my house, do
 not this folly.
19:24 Behold, [here] is my daughter, a maiden, and his
 concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and
 do with them what seemeth good to you: but to this man do not
 so vile a thing.
19:25 But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his
 concubine, and brought her forth to them; and they knew her,
 and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the
 day began to spring, they let her go.
19:26 Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell
 down at the door of the man's house where her lord [was], till
 it was light.
19:27 And her lord rose in the morning, and opened the doors of
 the house, and went out to go his way: and behold, the woman
 his concubine had fallen down [at] the door of the house, and
 her hands [were] upon the threshhold.
19:28 And he said to her, Rise, and let us be going. But none
 answered. Then the man took her upon an ass, and the man rose,
 and went to his place.
19:29 And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and
 laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, with her bones,
 into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the borders of
 Israel.
19:30 And it was so, that all that saw it, said, There hath been
 no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of
 Israel came from the land of Egypt to this day: consider of it,
 take advice, and speak [your minds].
20:1 Then all the children of Israel went out, and the
 congregation was assembled as one man, from Dan even to
 Beer-sheba, with the land of Gilead, to the LORD in Mizpeh.
20:2 And the chief of all the people, [even] of all the tribes
 of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people
 of God, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword.
20:3 (Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of
 Israel were gone up to Mizpeh.) Then said the children of
 Israel, Tell [us], how was this wickedness?
20:4 And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain,
 answered and said, I came into Gibeah that [belongeth] to
 Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge.
20:5 And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and surrounded the
 house upon me by night, [and] thought to have slain me: and my
 concubine have they forced, that she is dead.
20:6 And I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent
 her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel:
 for they have committed lewdness and folly in Israel.
20:7 Behold, ye [are] all children of Israel; give here your
 advice and counsel.
20:8 And all the people arose as one man, saying, We will not
 any [of us] go to his tent, neither will we any [of us] turn
 into his house:
20:9 But now this [shall be] the thing which we will do to
 Gibeah: [we will go up] by lot against it;
20:10 And we will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the
 tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand
 out of ten thousand, to fetch provisions for the people, that
 they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to
 all the folly that they have wrought in Israel.
20:11 So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city,
 knit together as one man.
20:12 And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of
 Benjamin, saying, What wickedness [is] this that is done among
 you?
20:13 Now therefore deliver [us] the men, the children of
 Belial, who [are] in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and
 banish evil from Israel. But the children of Benjamin would not
 hearken to the voice of their brethren, the children of Israel:
20:14 But the children of Benjamin assembled out of the cities
 to Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel.
20:15 And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time
 out of the cities twenty and six thousand men that drew sword,
 besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who were numbered seven
 hundred chosen men.
20:16 Among all this people [there were] seven hundred chosen
 men left-handed; every one could sling stones to a
 hair-[breadth], and not miss.
20:17 And the men of Israel, besides Benjamin, were numbered
 four hundred thousand men that drew sword: all these [were] men
 of war.
20:18 And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house
 of God, and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall
 go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And
 the LORD said, Judah [shall go up] first.
20:19 And the children of Israel rose in the morning, and
 encamped against Gibeah.
20:20 And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin;
 and the men of Israel put themselves in array to fight against
 them at Gibeah.
20:21 And the children of Benjamin came forth from Gibeah, and
 destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty
 and two thousand men.
20:22 And the people the men of Israel encouraged themselves,
 and set their battle again in array in the place where they put
 themselves in array the first day.
20:23 (And the children of Israel went up and wept before the
 LORD until evening, and asked counsel of the LORD, saying,
 Shall I go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin
 my brother? And the LORD said, Go up against him.)
20:24 And the children of Israel came near against the children
 of Benjamin the second day.
20:25 And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the
 second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of
 Israel again eighteen thousand men; all these drew the sword.
20:26 Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went
 up, and came to the house of God, and wept, and sat there
 before the LORD, and fasted that day until evening, and offered
 burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before the LORD.
20:27 And the children of Israel inquired of the LORD, (for the
 ark of the covenant of God [was] there in those days,
20:28 And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood
 before it in those days,) saying, Shall I yet again go out to
 battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I
 cease? And the LORD said, Go up; for to-morrow I will deliver
 them into thy hand.
20:29 And Israel set liers in wait around Gibeah.
20:30 And the children of Israel went up against the children of
 Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in array against
 Gibeah, as at other times.
20:31 And the children of Benjamin went out against the people,
 [and] were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite of
 the people, [and] kill, as at other times, in the highways, of
 which one goeth up to the house of God, and the other to Gibeah
 in the field, about thirty men of Israel.
20:32 And the children of Benjamin said, They [are] smitten down
 before us, as at the first. But the children of Israel said,
 Let us flee, and draw them from the city to the highways.
20:33 And all the men of Israel rose out of their place, and put
 themselves in array at Baal-tamar: and the liers in wait of
 Israel came forth out of their places, [even] out of the
 meadows of Gibeah.
20:34 And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out
 of all Israel, and the battle was severe: but they knew not
 that evil [was] near them.
20:35 And the LORD smote Benjamin before Israel: and the
 children of Israel destroyed of the Benjaminites that day
 twenty and five thousand and a hundred men: all these drew the
 sword.
20:36 So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten:
 for the men of Israel gave place to the Benjaminites, because
 they trusted to the liers in wait which they had set beside
 Gibeah.
20:37 And the liers in wait hasted, and rushed upon Gibeah; and
 the liers in wait drew [themselves] along, and smote all the
 city with the edge of the sword.
20:38 Now there was an appointed sign between the men of Israel
 and the liers in wait, that they should make a great flame with
 smoke to rise from the city.
20:39 And when the men of Israel retired in the battle, Benjamin
 began to smite [and] kill of the men of Israel about thirty
 persons: for they said, Surely they are smitten down before us,
 as [in] the first battle.
20:40 But when the flame began to rise from the city with a
 pillar of smoke, the Benjaminites looked behind them, and
 behold, the flame of the city ascended to heaven.
20:41 And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of
 Benjamin were amazed: for they saw that evil had come upon
 them.
20:42 Therefore they turned [their backs] before the men of
 Israel to the way of the wilderness; but the battle overtook
 them; and them who [came] out of the cities they destroyed in
 the midst of them.
20:43 [Thus] they inclosed the Benjaminites on all sides, [and]
 chased them, [and] trod them down with ease over against Gibeah
 towards the sun-rising.
20:44 And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all
 these [were] men of valor.
20:45 And they turned and fled towards the wilderness to the
 rock of Rimmon: and they gleaned of them in the highways five
 thousand men; and pursued hard after them to Gidom, and slew
 two thousand men of them.
20:46 So that all who fell that day of Benjamin were twenty and
 five thousand men that drew the sword; all these [were] men of
 valor.
20:47 But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness to
 the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months.
20:48 And the men of Israel turned again upon the children of
 Benjamin, and smote them with the edge of the sword, as well
 the men of [every] city, as the beast, and all that came to
 hand: also they set on fire all the cities that they came to.
21:1 Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There
 shall not any of us give his daughter to Benjamin for a wife.
21:2 And the people came to the house of God, and abode there
 till evening before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept
 bitterly;
21:3 And said, O LORD God of Israel, why is this come to pass in
 Israel, that there should be to-day one tribe lacking in
 Israel?
21:4 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose
 early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt-offerings,
 and peace-offerings.
21:5 And the children of Israel said, Who [is there] among all
 the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation to
 the LORD? For they had made a great oath concerning him that
 came not up to the LORD to Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely be
 put to death.
21:6 And the children of Israel repented for Benjamin their
 brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this
 day.
21:7 How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we
 have sworn by the LORD, that we will not give them of our
 daughters for wives?
21:8 And they said, What one [is there] of the tribes of Israel
 that came not up to Mizpeh to the LORD? and behold, there came
 none to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly.
21:9 For the people were numbered, and behold, [there were] none
 of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there.
21:10 And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of
 the most valiant, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the
 inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with
 the women and the children.
21:11 And this [is] the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly
 destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man.
21:12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four
 hundred young virgins that had known no man by lying with any
 male: and they brought them to the camp to Shiloh, which [is]
 in the land of Canaan.
21:13 And the whole congregation sent [some] to speak to the
 children of Benjamin that [were] in the rock Rimmon, and to
 call peaceably to them.
21:14 And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them
 wives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead:
 and yet so they sufficed them not.
21:15 And the people repented for Benjamin, because the LORD had
 made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
21:16 Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do
 for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed
 out of Benjamin?
21:17 And they said, [There must be] an inheritance for them
 that have escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed
 out of Israel.
21:18 But, we may not give them wives of our daughters: for the
 children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed [be] he that
 giveth a wife to Benjamin.
21:19 Then they said, Behold, [there is] a feast of the LORD in
 Shiloh yearly [in a place] which [is] on the north side of
 Beth-el, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from
 Beth-el to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.
21:20 Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying,
 Go, and lie in wait in the vineyards;
21:21 And see, and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out
 to dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and
 catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go
 to the land of Benjamin.
21:22 And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come
 to us to complain, that we will say to them, Be favorable to
 them for our sakes: because we reserved not to each man his
 wife in the war: for ye did not give to them at this time,
 [that] ye should be guilty.
21:23 And the children of Benjamin did so, and took [them]
 wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom
 they caught: and they went and returned to their inheritance,
 and repaired the cities and dwelt in them.
21:24 And the children of Israel departed thence at that time,
 every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went from
 thence every man to his inheritance.
21:25 In those days [there was] no king in Israel: every man did
 [that which was] right in his own eyes.