[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?
[2] And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the
land into his hand.
[3] And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot,
that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into
thy lot. So Simeon went with him.
[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.
[5] And they found Adoni-bezek in Bezek: and they fought against him,
and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites.
[6] But Adoni-bezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him,
and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.
[7] And Adoni-bezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs
and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table: as I have
done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he
died.
[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.
[9] And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the
Canaanites, that dwelt in the mountain, and in the south, and in the valley.
[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.
[11] And from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir: and the
name of Debir before was Kirjath-sepher:
[12] And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjath-sepher, and taketh it, to
him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.
[13] And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it: and
he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife.
[14] And it came to pass, when she came to him, that she moved him to
ask of her father a field: and she lighted from off her ass; and Caleb said
unto her, What wilt thou?
[15] And she said unto 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.
[16] And the children of the Kenite, Moses' 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.
[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.
[18] Also Judah took Gaza with the coast thereof, and Askelon with the
coast thereof, and Ekron with the coast thereof.
[19] And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of
the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because
they had chariots of iron.
[20] And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said: and he expelled
thence the three sons of Anak.
[21] And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that
inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in
Jerusalem unto this day.
[22] And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel: and the
LORD was with them.
[23] And the house of Joseph sent to descry Bethel. (Now the name of the
city before was Luz.)
[24] And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said
unto him, Shew us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will shew
thee mercy.
[25] And when he shewed 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.
[26] And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city,
and called the name thereof Luz: which is the name thereof unto this day.
[27] Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and
her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns,
nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and
her towns: but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.
[28] And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the
Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out.
[29] Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but
the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.
[30] Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the
inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became
tributaries.
[31] Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho, nor the
inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik,
nor of Rehob:
[32] But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of
the land: for they did not drive them out.
[33] Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, nor
the inhabitants of Beth-anath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the
inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of
Beth-anath became tributaries unto them.
[34] And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain: for
they would not suffer them to come down to the valley:
[35] But the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres in Aijalon, and in
Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became
tributaries.
[36] And the coast of the Amorites was from the going up to Akrabbim,
from the rock, and upward.
[1] And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to
Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto
the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my
covenant with you.
[2] 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?
[3] Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you;
but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto
you.
[4] And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words
unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and
wept.
[5] And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed
there unto the LORD.
[6] And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went
every man unto his inheritance to possess the land.
[7] And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the
days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of
the LORD, that he did for Israel.
[8] And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an
hundred and ten years old.
[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.
[10] And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and
there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the
works which he had done for Israel.
[11] And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and
served Baalim:
[12] And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them
out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people
that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the
LORD to anger.
[13] And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.
[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 round about, so that they could not any longer stand
before their enemies.
[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 unto them: and they
were greatly distressed.
[16] Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of
the hand of those that spoiled them.
[17] And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a
whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly
out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the
LORD; but they did not so.
[18] And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the
judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the
judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by reason of them
that oppressed them and vexed them.
[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 unto them; they ceased not from their own doings,
nor from their stubborn way.
[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 unto my voice;
[21] I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the
nations which Joshua left when he died:
[22] That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the
way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.
[23] Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out
hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.
[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;
[2] Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to
teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof;
[3] Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and
the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount
Baal-hermon unto the entering in of Hamath.
[4] And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would
hearken unto the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by
the hand of Moses.
[5] And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and
Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites:
[6] And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their
daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
[7] And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and
forgat the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the groves.
[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.
[9] And when the children of Israel cried unto 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.
[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.
[11] And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz
died.
[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.
[13] And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went
and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees.
[14] So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen
years.
[15] But when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD
raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man
lefthanded: and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the
king of Moab.
[16] But Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit length;
and he did gird it under his raiment upon his right thigh.
[17] And he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab: and Eglon was a
very fat man.
[18] And when he had made an end to offer the present, he sent away the
people that bare the present.
[19] But he himself turned again from the quarries that were by Gilgal,
and said, I have a secret errand unto thee, O king: who said, Keep silence. And
all that stood by him went out from him.
[20] And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting in a summer parlour,
which he had for himself alone. And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto
thee. And he arose out of his seat.
[21] And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his
right thigh, and thrust it into his belly:
[22] And the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon
the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly; and the dirt
came out.
[23] Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the
parlour upon him, and locked them.
[24] When he was gone out, his servants came; and when they saw that,
behold, the doors of the parlour were locked, they said, Surely he covereth his
feet in his summer chamber.
[25] And they tarried till they were ashamed: and, behold, he opened not
the doors of the parlour; therefore they took a key, and opened them: and,
behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth.
[26] And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the
quarries, and escaped unto Seirath.
[27] And it came to pass, when he was 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.
[28] And he said unto them, Follow after 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 toward Moab, and suffered not a man to pass over.
[29] And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all
lusty, and all men of valour; and there escaped not a man.
[30] So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land
had rest fourscore years.
[31] And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the
Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel.
[1] And the children of Israel again did evil in the
sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead.
[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, which dwelt in
Harosheth of the Gentiles.
[3] And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD: for he had nine
hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children
of Israel.
[4] And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel
at that time.
[5] And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and
Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for
judgment.
[6] And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of
Kedesh-naphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded,
saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of
the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?
[7] And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of
Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into
thine hand.
[8] And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go:
but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go.
[9] And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the
journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the LORD shall sell
Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to
Kedesh.
[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.
[11] Now Heber the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab the father
in law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent
unto the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh.
[12] And they shewed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to
mount Tabor.
[13] And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred
chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the
Gentiles unto the river of Kishon.
[14] And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the
LORD hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the LORD gone out before
thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.
[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 lighted down off
his chariot, and fled away on his feet.
[16] But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto
Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the
sword; and there was not a man left.
[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.
[18] And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my
lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the
tent, she covered him with a mantle.
[19] And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to
drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink,
and covered him.
[20] Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall
be, when any man doth come and inquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here?
that thou shalt say, No.
[21] Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer
in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and
fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.
[22] And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him,
and said unto him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And
when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his
temples.
[23] So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the
children of Israel.
[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.
[1] Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on
that day, saying,
[2] Praise ye the LORD for the avenging of Israel, when the people
willingly offered themselves.
[3] Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto
the LORD; I will sing praise to the LORD God of Israel.
[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] The mountains melted from before the LORD, even that Sinai from
before the LORD God of Israel.
[6] In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the
highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through byways.
[7] The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until
that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.
[8] They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield
or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?
[9] My heart is toward the governors of Israel, that offered themselves
willingly among the people. Bless ye the LORD.
[10] Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment, and
walk by the way.
[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 toward the inhabitants of his villages in Israel: then shall
the people of the LORD go down to the gates.
[12] Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barak,
and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam.
[13] Then he made him that remaineth have dominion over the nobles among
the people: the LORD made me have dominion over the mighty.
[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.
[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.
[16] Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the
flocks? For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.
[17] Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain in ships? Asher
continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches.
[18] Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto
the death in the high places of the field.
[19] The kings came and fought, then fought the kings of Canaan in
Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money.
[20] They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against
Sisera.
[21] The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river
Kishon. O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.
[22] Then were the horsehoofs broken by the means of the pransings, the
pransings of their mighty ones.
[23] Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly the
inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help
of the LORD against the mighty.
[24] Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be,
blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
[25] He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in
a lordly dish.
[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 stricken through his temples.
[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.
[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?
[29] Her wise ladies answered her, yea, she returned answer to herself,
[30] Have they not sped? have they not divided the prey; to every man a
damsel or two; to Sisera a prey of divers colours, a prey of divers colours of
needlework, of divers colours of needlework on both sides, meet for the necks
of them that take the spoil?
[31] So let all thine 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.
[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.
[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.
[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;
[4] And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the
earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither
sheep, nor ox, nor ass.
[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] And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and
the children of Israel cried unto the LORD.
[7] And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD
because of the Midianites,
[8] That the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said
unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and
brought you forth out of the house of bondage;
[9] And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the
hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave
you their land;
[10] And I said unto 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.
[11] And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was
in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abi-ezrite: and his son Gideon
threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.
[12] And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The
LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.
[13] And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why
then is all this befallen us? and where be 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.
[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?
[15] And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel?
behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.
[16] And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou
shalt smite the Midianites as one man.
[17] And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then
shew me a sign that thou talkest with me.
[18] Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring
forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou
come again.
[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 unto him under the oak, and presented it.
[20] And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened
cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.
[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 up
fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the
angel of the LORD departed out of his sight.
[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.
[23] And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou
shalt not die.
[24] Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it
Jehovah-shalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites.
[25] And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto 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:
[26] And build an altar unto 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.
[27] Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had
said unto 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.
[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.
[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.
[30] Then the men of the city said unto 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.
[31] And Joash said unto 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 be a god, let him plead for himself, because
one hath cast down his altar.
[32] Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal
plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.
[33] Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the
east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of
Jezreel.
[34] But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet;
and Abi-ezer was gathered after him.
[35] And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was
gathered after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and
unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.
[36] And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as
thou hast said,
[37] Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be
on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know
that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said.
[38] And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the
fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.
[39] And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me,
and I will speak but this once: let me prove, 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.
[40] And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and
there was dew on all the ground.
[1] Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people
that were with him, rose up early, and pitched 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.
[2] And the LORD said unto 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, Mine own hand hath saved me.
[3] Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying,
Whosoever 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.
[4] And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring
them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be,
that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with
thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same
shall not go.
[5] So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto
Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth,
him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his
knees to drink.
[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] And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped
will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the
other people go every man unto his place.
[8] So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: and
he sent all the rest of Israel every man unto his tent, and retained those
three hundred men: and the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley.
[9] And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him,
Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand.
[10] But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to
the host:
[11] And thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands
be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his
servant unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host.
[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.
[13] And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream
unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley
bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that
it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along.
[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.
[15] And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the
interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned into the host of
Israel, and said, Arise; for the LORD hath delivered into your hand the host of
Midian.
[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.
[17] And he said unto 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.
[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.
[19] So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto 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 brake the pitchers that
were in their hands.
[20] And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers,
and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands
to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.
[21] And they stood every man in his place round about the camp: and all
the host ran, and cried, and fled.
[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 Zererath, and to the border of Abel-meholah, unto Tabbath.
[23] And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali,
and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites.
[24] And Gideon sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim, saying,
Come down against the Midianites, and take before them the waters unto
Beth-barah and Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves
together, and took the waters unto Beth-barah and Jordan.
[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 winepress of Zeeb,
and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the
other side Jordan.
[1] And the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why hast
thou served us thus, that thou calledst us not, when thou wentest to fight with
the Midianites? And they did chide with him sharply.
[2] And he said unto them, What have I done now in comparison of you? Is
not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abi-ezer?
[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 their anger was
abated toward him, when he had said that.
[4] And Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three
hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing them.
[5] And he said unto the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of
bread unto the people that follow me; for they be faint, and I am pursuing
after Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.
[6] And the princes of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna
now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thine army?
[7] And Gideon said, Therefore when the LORD hath delivered Zebah and
Zalmunna into mine hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the
wilderness and with briers.
[8] And he went up thence to Penuel, and spake unto them likewise: and
the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered him.
[9] And he spake also unto the men of Penuel, saying, When I come again
in peace, I will break down this tower.
[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 an hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword.
[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.
[12] And when Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued after them, and took
the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and discomfited all the host.
[13] And Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle before the sun was
up,
[14] And caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and inquired of him:
and he described unto him the princes of Succoth, and the elders thereof, even
threescore and seventeen men.
[15] And he came unto the men of Succoth, and said, Behold Zebah and
Zalmunna, with whom ye did upbraid me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and
Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thy men that are
weary?
[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.
[17] And he beat down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city.
[18] Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they
whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou art, so were they; each one
resembled the children of a king.
[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.
[20] And he said unto Jether his firstborn, Up, and slay them. But the
youth drew not his sword: for he feared, because he was yet a youth.
[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.
[22] Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both
thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also: for thou hast delivered us from the
hand of Midian.
[23] And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall
my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you.
[24] And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you, that ye
would give me every man the earrings of his prey. (For they had golden
earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)
[25] And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a
garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey.
[26] And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a
thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and
purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were
about their camels' necks.
[27] And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in
Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a
snare unto Gideon, and to his house.
[28] Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they
lifted up their heads no more. And the country was in quietness forty years in
the days of Gideon.
[29] And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.
[30] And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he
had many wives.
[31] And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son,
whose name he called Abimelech.
[32] And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried
in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites.
[33] And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children
of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made Baal-berith
their god.
[34] And the children of Israel remembered not the LORD their God, who
had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side:
[35] Neither shewed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, namely,
Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shewed unto Israel.
[1] And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to
Shechem unto his mother's brethren, and communed with them, and with all the
family of the house of his mother's father, saying,
[2] Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, Whether is
better for you, either that all the sons of Jerubbaal, which are threescore and
ten persons, reign over you, or that one reign over you? remember also that I
am your bone and your flesh.
[3] And his mother's brethren spake of him in the ears of all the men of
Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for
they said, He is our brother.
[4] And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the
house of Baal-berith, wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light persons, which
followed him.
[5] And he went unto his father's house at Ophrah, and slew his brethren
the sons of Jerubbaal, being threescore and ten persons, upon one stone:
notwithstanding yet Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left; for he hid
himself.
[6] And all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of
Millo, and went, and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar that was
in Shechem.
[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 unto them, Hearken
unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you.
[8] The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they
said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us.
[9] But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness,
wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?
[10] And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us.
[11] But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and
my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees?
[12] Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us.
[13] And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth
God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?
[14] Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over
us.
[15] And the bramble said unto 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.
[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 unto him according to the deserving of his hands;
[17] (For my father fought for you, and adventured his life far, and
delivered you out of the hand of Midian:
[18] And ye are risen up against my father's house this day, and have
slain his sons, threescore and ten persons, upon one stone, and have made
Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the men of Shechem, because he
is your brother;)
[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:
[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.
[21] And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there,
for fear of Abimelech his brother.
[22] When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel,
[23] Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of
Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech:
[24] That the cruelty done to the threescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal
might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother, which slew
them; and upon the men of Shechem, which aided him in the killing of his
brethren.
[25] And the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him in the top of the
mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them: and it was
told Abimelech.
[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.
[27] And they went out into the fields, and gathered their vineyards,
and trode the grapes, and made merry, and went into the house of their god, and
did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelech.
[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?
[29] And would to God this people were under my hand! then would I
remove Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, Increase thine army, and come out.
[30] And when Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the
son of Ebed, his anger was kindled.
[31] And he sent messengers unto Abimelech privily, saying, Behold, Gaal
the son of Ebed and his brethren be come to Shechem; and, behold, they fortify
the city against thee.
[32] Now therefore up by night, thou and the people that is with thee,
and lie in wait in the field:
[33] And it shall be, that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up,
thou shalt rise early, and set upon the city: and, behold, when he and the
people that is with him come out against thee, then mayest thou do to them as
thou shalt find occasion.
[34] And Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by
night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies.
[35] And Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entering of the
gate of the city: and Abimelech rose up, and the people that were with him,
from lying in wait.
[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 unto him, Thou seest
the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.
[37] And Gaal spake again and said, See there come people down by the
middle of the land, and another company come along by the plain of Meonenim.
[38] Then said Zebul unto him, Where is now thy mouth, wherewith thou
saidst, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? is not this the people that
thou hast despised? go out, I pray now, and fight with them.
[39] And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought with
Abimelech.
[40] And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many were
overthrown and wounded, even unto the entering of the gate.
[41] And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah: and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his
brethren, that they should not dwell in Shechem.
[42] And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people went out into
the field; and they told Abimelech.
[43] And he took the people, and divided them into three companies, and
laid wait in the field, and looked, and, behold, the people were come forth out
of the city; and he rose up against them, and smote them.
[44] And Abimelech, and the company that was with him, rushed forward,
and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and the two other companies
ran upon all the people that were in the fields, and slew them.
[45] And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the
city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat down the city, and sowed
it with salt.
[46] And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that, they
entered into an hold of the house of the god Berith.
[47] And it was told Abimelech, that all the men of the tower of Shechem
were gathered together.
[48] And Abimelech gat him up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people
that were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a bough
from the trees, and took it, and laid it on his shoulder, and said unto the
people that were with him, What ye have seen me do, make haste, and do as I
have done.
[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.
[50] Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and
took it.
[51] But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all
the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut it to them, and gat them
up to the top of the tower.
[52] And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went
hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire.
[53] And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's
head, and all to brake his skull.
[54] Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer, and
said unto 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.
[55] And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they
departed every man unto his place.
[56] Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto
his father, in slaying his seventy brethren:
[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.
[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.
[2] And he judged Israel twenty and three years, and died, and was
buried in Shamir.
[3] And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty and
two years.
[4] And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had
thirty cities, which are called Havoth-jair unto this day, which are in the
land of Gilead.
[5] And Jair died, and was buried in Camon.
[6] And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD,
and served 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.
[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.
[8] And that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel:
eighteen years, all the children of Israel that were on the other side Jordan
in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.
[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 sore distressed.
[10] And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, saying, We have
sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served
Baalim.
[11] And the LORD said unto 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?
[12] The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did
oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand.
[13] Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will
deliver you no more.
[14] Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you
in the time of your tribulation.
[15] And the children of Israel said unto the LORD, We have sinned: do
thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; deliver us only, we pray thee,
this day.
[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.
[17] Then the children of Ammon were gathered together, and encamped in
Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled themselves together, and encamped
in Mizpeh.
[18] And the people and princes of Gilead said one to another, What man
is he that will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? he shall be head
over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
[1] Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of
valour, and he was the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.
[2] And Gilead's wife bare him sons; and his wife's sons grew up, and
they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our
father's house; for thou art the son of a strange woman.
[3] Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob:
and there were gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him.
[4] And it came to pass in process of time, that the children of Ammon
made war against Israel.
[5] And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against
Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob:
[6] And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may
fight with the children of Ammon.
[7] And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me, and
expel me out of my father's house? and why are ye come unto me now when ye are
in distress?
[8] And the elders of Gilead said unto 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.
[9] And Jephthah said unto 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?
[10] And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, The LORD be witness
between us, if we do not so according to thy words.
[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.
[12] And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of
Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against me to
fight in my land?
[13] And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers
of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt,
from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands
again peaceably.
[14] And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of
Ammon:
[15] And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away the
land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon:
[16] But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the
wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh;
[17] Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me,
I pray thee, pass through thy land: but the king of Edom would not hearken
thereto. And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab: but he would not
consent: and Israel abode in Kadesh.
[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.
[19] And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the
king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through
thy land into my place.
[20] But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast: but Sihon
gathered all his people together, and pitched in Jahaz, and fought against
Israel.
[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.
[22] And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even
unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan.
[23] So now the LORD God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from
before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it?
[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.
[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,
[26] While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her
towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three
hundred years? why therefore did ye not recover them within that time?
[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.
[28] Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the
words of Jephthah which he sent him.
[29] Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed over
Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of
Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon.
[30] And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt
without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,
[31] Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth 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 up for a burnt offering.
[32] So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against
them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands.
[33] And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even
twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter.
Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.
[34] And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto 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.
[35] And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and
said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of
them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go
back.
[36] And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth
unto 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 thine enemies,
even of the children of Ammon.
[37] And she said unto 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.
[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.
[39] And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned
unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and
she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel,
[40] That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of
Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.
[1] And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves
together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou
over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with
thee? we will burn thine house upon thee with fire.
[2] And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great strife
with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, ye delivered me not out of
their hands.
[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: wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day, to fight against me?
[4] Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought
with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye
Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the
Manassites.
[5] And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the
Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped
said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an
Ephraimite? If he said, Nay;
[6] Then said they unto 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.
[7] And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the
Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.
[8] And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.
[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.
[10] Then died Ibzan, and was buried at Bethlehem.
[11] And after him Elon, a Zebulonite, judged Israel; and he judged
Israel ten years.
[12] And Elon the Zebulonite died, and was buried in Aijalon in the
country of Zebulun.
[13] And after him Abdon the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite, judged
Israel.
[14] And he had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on threescore
and ten ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years.
[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.
[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.
[2] And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites,
whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.
[3] And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto
her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and
bear a son.
[4] Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong
drink, and eat not any unclean thing:
[5] For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no rasor shall
come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and
he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
[6] Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came
unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very
terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name:
[7] But he said unto 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 the womb to the day of his death.
[8] Then Manoah intreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of
God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do
unto the child that shall be born.
[9] And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came
again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not
with her.
[10] And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said
unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other
day.
[11] And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and
said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am.
[12] And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order
the child, and how shall we do unto him?
[13] And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto
the woman let her beware.
[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.
[15] And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us
detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.
[16] And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me,
I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must
offer it unto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD.
[17] And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that
when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour?
[18] And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after
my name, seeing it is secret?
[19] So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a
rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked
on.
[20] For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward 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.
[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.
[22] And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have
seen God.
[23] But his wife said unto 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 shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time
have told us such things as these.
[24] And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child
grew, and the LORD blessed him.
[25] And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp
of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.
[1] And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman
in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.
[2] And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have
seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get
her for me to wife.
[3] Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman
among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to
take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father,
Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.
[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.
[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.
[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.
[7] And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson
well.
[8] And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see
the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in
the carcase of the lion.
[9] And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to
his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them
that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion.
[10] So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a
feast; for so used the young men to do.
[11] And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty
companions to be with him.
[12] And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto 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:
[13] But if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets
and thirty change of garments. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle,
that we may hear it.
[14] And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of
the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the
riddle.
[15] And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto
Samson's wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest
we burn thee and thy father's house with fire: have ye called us to take that
we have? is it not so?
[16] And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me,
and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people,
and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my
father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee?
[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 lay sore
upon him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people.
[18] And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the
sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion?
And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found
out my riddle.
[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 unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and
he went up to his father's house.
[20] But Samson's wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as
his friend.
[1] But it came to pass within a while after, 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.
[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.
[3] And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than
the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.
[4] And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands,
and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails.
[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.
[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.
[7] And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be
avenged of you, and after that I will cease.
[8] And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went
down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.
[9] Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread
themselves in Lehi.
[10] And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they
answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.
[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 unto us? And he said unto them, As they did
unto me, so have I done unto them.
[12] And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may
deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear
unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.
[13] And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast,
and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they
bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock.
[14] And when he came unto 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 hands.
[15] And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and
took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.
[16] And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with
the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.
[17] And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he
cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramath-lehi.
[18] And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou
hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I
die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?
[19] But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came
water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived:
wherefore he called the name thereof En-hakkore, which is in Lehi unto this
day.
[20] And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
[1] Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an
harlot, and went in unto her.
[2] And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they
compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and
were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill
him.
[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 an
hill that is before Hebron.
[4] And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley
of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
[5] And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto
her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we
may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give
thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.
[6] And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great
strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.
[7] And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs
that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.
[8] Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green
withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.
[9] Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber.
And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the
withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength
was not known.
[10] And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told
me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound.
[11] And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that
never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.
[12] Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said
unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait
abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread.
[13] And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and
told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her,
If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.
[14] And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The
Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away
with the pin of the beam, and with the web.
[15] And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine
heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told
me wherein thy great strength lieth.
[16] And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and
urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death;
[17] That he told her all his heart, and said unto her. There hath not
come a rasor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my
mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall
become weak, and be like any other man.
[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 shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto
her, and brought money in their hand.
[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.
[20] And she said, The Philistines be 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 wist not that the LORD was departed from him.
[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.
[22] Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was
shaven.
[23] Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to
offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said,
Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
[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, which slew many of us.
[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.
[26] And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me
that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon
them.
[27] Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the
Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men
and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.
[28] And Samson called unto 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.
[29] And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house
stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the
other with his left.
[30] And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed
himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the
people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than
they which he slew in his life.
[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.
[1] And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name
was Micah.
[2] And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver
that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in
mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said,
Blessed be thou of the LORD, my son.
[3] And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his
mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the LORD from
my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I
will restore it unto thee.
[4] Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two
hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a
graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house of Micah.
[5] And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and
teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
[6] In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that
which was right in his own eyes.
[7] And there was a young man out of Bethlehemjudah of the family of
Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.
[8] And the man departed out of the city from Bethlehemjudah to sojourn
where he could find a place: and he came to mount Ephraim to the house of
Micah, as he journeyed.
[9] And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto him, I
am a Levite of Bethlehemjudah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place.
[10] And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto 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.
[11] And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man
was unto him as one of his sons.
[12] And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man became his
priest, and was in the house of Micah.
[13] Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I
have a Levite to my priest.
[1] In those days there was no king in Israel: and in
those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for
unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes
of Israel.
[2] And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their
coasts, men of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and
to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came
to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there.
[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 unto him, Who
brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this place? and what hast thou
here?
[4] And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath
hired me, and I am his priest.
[5] And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we
may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.
[6] And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before the LORD is your
way wherein ye go.
[7] Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people
that were therein, 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.
[8] And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their
brethren said unto them, What say ye?
[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.
[10] When ye go, ye shall come unto 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 in the earth.
[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.
[12] And they went up, and pitched in Kirjath-jearim, in Judah:
wherefore they called that place Mahaneh-dan unto this day: behold, it is
behind Kirjath-jearim.
[13] And they passed thence unto mount Ephraim, and came unto the house
of Micah.
[14] Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of
Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses
an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore
consider what ye have to do.
[15] And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of the young man
the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and saluted him.
[16] And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, which
were of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate.
[17] And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in
thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the
molten image: and the priest stood in the entering of the gate with the six
hundred men that were appointed with weapons of war.
[18] And these went into Micah's house, and fetched the carved image,
the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto
them, What do ye?
[19] And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine 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 unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a
tribe and a family in Israel?
[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.
[21] So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle
and the carriage before them.
[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 gathered together, and overtook
the children of Dan.
[23] And they cried unto the children of Dan. And they turned their
faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a
company?
[24] And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the
priest, and ye are gone away: and what have I more? and what is this that ye
say unto me, What aileth thee?
[25] And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard
among us, lest angry fellows run upon thee, and thou lose thy life, with the
lives of thy household.
[26] And the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that
they were too strong for him, he turned and went back unto his house.
[27] And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which
he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people that were at quiet and secure: and
they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire.
[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 therein.
[29] And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan
their father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish
at the first.
[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.
[31] And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made, all the
time that the house of God was in Shiloh.
[1] And it came to pass in those days, when there was
no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of
mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Bethlehemjudah.
[2] And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from
him unto her father's house to Bethlehemjudah, and was there four whole months.
[3] And her husband arose, and went after her, to speak friendly unto
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.
[4] And his father in law, the damsel's father, retained him; and he
abode with him three days: so they did eat and drink, and lodged there.
[5] And it came to pass on the fourth day, when they arose early in the
morning, that he rose up to depart: and the damsel's father said unto his son
in law, Comfort thine heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way.
[6] And they sat down, and did eat and drink both of them together: for
the damsel's father had said unto the man, Be content, I pray thee, and tarry
all night, and let thine heart be merry.
[7] And when the man rose up to depart, his father in law urged him:
therefore he lodged there again.
[8] And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart: and
the damsel's father said, Comfort thine heart, I pray thee. And they tarried
until afternoon, and they did eat both of them.
[9] And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his
servant, his father in law, the damsel's father, said unto him, Behold, now the
day draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day groweth
to an end, lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and to morrow get you
early on your way, that thou mayest go home.
[10] But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and
departed, and came over against Jebus, which is Jerusalem; and there were with
him two asses saddled, his concubine also was with him.
[11] And when they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant
said unto his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn in into this city of
the Jebusites, and lodge in it.
[12] And his master said unto 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.
[13] And he said unto his servant, Come, and let us draw near to one of
these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah.
[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.
[15] And they turned aside thither, to go in and to lodge in Gibeah: and
when he went in, he sat him down in a street of the city: for there was no man
that took them into his house to lodging.
[16] And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field
at even, which was also of mount Ephraim; and he sojourned in Gibeah: but the
men of the place were Benjamites.
[17] And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a wayfaring man in the
street of the city: and the old man said, Whither goest thou? and whence comest
thou?
[18] And he said unto him, We are passing from Bethlehemjudah toward the
side of mount Ephraim; from thence am I: and I went to Bethlehemjudah, but I am
now going to the house of the LORD; and there is no man that receiveth me to
house.
[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.
[20] And the old man said, Peace be with thee; howsoever let all thy
wants lie upon me; only lodge not in the street.
[21] So he brought him into his house, and gave provender unto the
asses: and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink.
[22] Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the
city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the
door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth
the man that came into thine house, that we may know him.
[23] And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them, Nay, my
brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly; seeing that this man is come
into mine house, do not this folly.
[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 unto
you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing.
[25] But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his
concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her
all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her
go.
[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.
[27] And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the
house, and went out to go his way: and, behold, the woman his concubine was
fallen down at the door of the house, and her hands were upon the threshold.
[28] And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But none answered.
Then the man took her up upon an ass, and the man rose up, and gat him unto his
place.
[29] And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold
on his concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve pieces,
and sent her into all the coasts of Israel.
[30] And it was so, that all that saw it said, There was no such deed
done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land
of Egypt unto this day: consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds.
[1] Then all the children of Israel went out, and the
congregation was gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beer-sheba,
with the land of Gilead, unto the LORD in Mizpeh.
[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.
[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?
[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.
[5] And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round
about upon me by night, and thought to have slain me: and my concubine have
they forced, that she is dead.
[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.
[7] Behold, ye are all children of Israel; give here your advice and
counsel.
[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.
[9] But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will
go up by lot against it;
[10] And we will take ten men of an hundred throughout all the tribes of
Israel, and an hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to
fetch victual 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.
[11] So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit
together as one man.
[12] And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of
Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that is done among you?
[13] Now therefore deliver us the men, the children of Belial, which are
in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel. But
the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the
children of Israel:
[14] But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of
the cities unto Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel.
[15] And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the
cities twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, beside the inhabitants of
Gibeah, which were numbered seven hundred chosen men.
[16] Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men
lefthanded; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss.
[17] And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin, were numbered four hundred
thousand men that drew sword: all these were men of war.
[18] And the children of Israel arose, and went up to 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.
[19] And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped
against Gibeah.
[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.
[21] And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and
destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand
men.
[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.
[23] (And the children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until
even, 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.)
[24] And the children of Israel came near against the children of
Benjamin the second day.
[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.
[26] Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and
came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted
that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the
LORD.
[27] And the children of Israel inquired of the LORD, (for the ark of
the covenant of God was there in those days,
[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 thine hand.
[29] And Israel set liers in wait round about Gibeah.
[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.
[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.
[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 unto the highways.
[33] And all the men of Israel rose up 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.
[34] And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all
Israel, and the battle was sore: but they knew not that evil was near them.
[35] And the LORD smote Benjamin before Israel: and the children of
Israel destroyed of the Benjamites that day twenty and five thousand and an
hundred men: all these drew the sword.
[36] So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten: for the men
of Israel gave place to the Benjamites, because they trusted unto the liers in
wait which they had set beside Gibeah.
[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.
[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 rise up out of
the city.
[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.
[40] But when the flame began to arise up out of the city with a pillar
of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and, behold, the flame of the city
ascended up to heaven.
[41] And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of Benjamin were
amazed: for they saw that evil was come upon them.
[42] Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel unto the
way of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them; and them which came out of
the cities they destroyed in the midst of them.
[43] Thus they inclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and
trode them down with ease over against Gibeah toward the sunrising.
[44] And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these were
men of valour.
[45] And they turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of
Rimmon: and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men; and pursued
hard after them unto Gidom, and slew two thousand men of them.
[46] So that all which fell that day of Benjamin were twenty and five
thousand men that drew the sword; all these were men of valour.
[47] But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock
Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months.
[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.
[1] Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh,
saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.
[2] And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even
before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore;
[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?
[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.
[5] And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes
of Israel that came not up with the congregation unto 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.
[6] And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother,
and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day.
[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 to wives?
[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.
[9] For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the
inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there.
[10] And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the
valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of
Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children.
[11] And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy
every male, and every woman that hath lain by man.
[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 unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.
[13] And the whole congregation sent some to speak to the children of
Benjamin that were in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably unto them.
[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.
[15] And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the LORD
had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
[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?
[17] And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that be
escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.
[18] Howbeit 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.
[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 Bethel, on the east side of the
highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.
[20] Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and
lie in wait in the vineyards;
[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.
[22] And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come unto us
to complain, that we will say unto them, Be favourable unto them for our sakes:
because we reserved not to each man his wife in the war: for ye did not give
unto them at this time, that ye should be guilty.
[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 unto their inheritance, and repaired the cities, and dwelt in them.
[24] And the children of Israel departed thence at that time, every man
to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from thence every man to his
inheritance.
[25] In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which
was right in his own eyes.