15:1Now a short time after, at the time of the grain-cutting, Samson, taking with him a young goat, went to see his wife; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the bride's room. But her father would not let him go in. 15:2And her father said, It seemed to me that you had only hate for her; so I gave her to your friend: but is not her younger sister fairer than she? so please take her in place of the other. 15:3Then Samson said to them, This time I will give payment in full to the Philistines, for I am going to do them great evil. 15:4So Samson went and got three hundred foxes and some sticks of fire-wood; and he put the foxes tail to tail with a stick between every two tails; 15:5Then firing the sticks, he let the foxes loose among the uncut grain of the Philistines, and all the corded stems as well as the living grain and the vine-gardens and the olives went up in flames. 15:6Then the Philistines said, Who has done this? And they said, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he took his wife and gave her to his friend. So the Philistines came up and had her and her father's house burned. 15:7And Samson said to them, If you go on like this, truly I will take my full payment from you; and that will be the end of it. 15:8And he made an attack on them, driving them in uncontrolled flight, and causing great destruction; then he went away to his safe place in the crack of the rock at Etam. 15:9Then the Philistines went and put up their tents in Judah, all round Lehi. 15:10And the men of Judah said, Why have you come up against us? And they said, We have come up to take Samson, and to do to him as he has done to us. 15:11Then three thousand of the men of Judah went down to the crack of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, Is it not clear to you that the Philistines are our rulers? What is this you have done to us? And he said to them, I only did to them as they did to me. 15:12Then they said to him, We have come down to take you and give you up into the hands of the Philistines. And Samson said to them, Give me your oath that you will not make an attack on me yourselves. 15:13And they said, No; we will take you and give you up into their hands, but truly we will not put you to death. So knotting two new cords round him they took him up from the rock. 15:14And when he came to Lehi, the Philistines came out, meeting him with loud cries; then the spirit of the Lord came rushing on him, and the cords on his arms became like grass which has been burned with fire, and the bands came falling off his hands. 15:15And taking up the mouth-bone of an ass newly dead, which he saw by chance on the earth, he put to death a thousand men with it. 15:16And Samson said, With a red ass's mouth-bone I have made them red with blood, with a red ass's mouth-bone I have sent destruction on a thousand men. 15:17And having said these words, he let the mouth-bone go out of his hand; so that place was named Ramath-lehi. 15:18After this, he was in great need of water, and crying out to the Lord, he said, You have given this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and now need of water will be my death; and I will be given into the hands of this people who are without circumcision. 15:19Then God made a crack in the hollow rock in Lehi and water came out of it; and after drinking, his spirit came back to him and he was strong again; so that place was named En-hakkore; it is in Lehi to this day. 15:20And he was judge of Israel in the days of the Philistines for twenty years.
16:1Now Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a loose woman and went in to her. 16:2And it was said to the Gazites, Samson is here. So they went round, watching for him all day at the doorway of the town, but at night they kept quiet, saying, When daylight comes we will put him to death. 16:3And Samson was there till the middle of the night; then he got up, and took a grip on the doors of the town, pulling them up, together with their two supports and their locks, and put them on his back and took them up to the top of the hill in front of Hebron. 16:4Now after this, he was in love with a woman in the valley of Sorek, named Delilah. 16:5And the chiefs of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her, Make use of your power over him and see what is the secret of his great strength, and how we may get the better of him, and put bands on him, so that we may make him feeble; and every one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver. 16:6So Delilah said to Samson, Make clear to me now what is the secret of your great strength, and how you may be put in bands and made feeble. 16:7And Samson said to her, If seven new bow-cords which have never been made dry are knotted round me, I will become feeble and will be like any other man. 16:8So the chiefs of the Philistines gave her seven new bow-cords which had never been made dry, and she had them tightly knotted round him. 16:9Now she had men waiting secretly in the inner room; and she said to him, The Philistines are on you, Samson. And the cords were broken by him as a twist of thread is broken when touched by a flame. So the secret of his strength did not come to light. 16:10Then Delilah said to Samson, See, you have been making sport of me with false words; now, say truly how may you be put in bands? 16:11And he said to her, If they only put round me new thick cords which have never been used, then I will become feeble and will be like any other man. 16:12So Delilah took new thick cords, knotting them tightly round him, and said to him, The Philistines are on you, Samson. And men were waiting secretly in the inner room. And the cords were broken off his arms like threads. 16:13Then Delilah said to Samson, Up to now you have made sport of me with false words; now say truly, how may you be put in bands? And he said to her, If you get the seven twists of my hair worked into the cloth you are making and fixed with the pin, I will become feeble and will be like any other man. 16:14So while he was sleeping she got the seven twists of his hair worked into her cloth and fixed with the pin, and said to him, The Philistines are on you, Samson. Then awaking from his sleep, he got up quickly, pulling up cloth and machine together. 16:15And she said to him, Why do you say you are my lover when your heart is not mine? Three times you have made sport of me, and have not made clear to me the secret of your great strength. 16:16So day after day she gave him no peace, for ever questioning him till his soul was troubled to death. 16:17And opening all his heart to her, he said to her, My head has never been touched by a blade, for I have been separate to God from the day of my birth: if my hair is cut off, then my strength will go from me and I will become feeble, and will be like any other man. 16:18And when Delilah saw that he had let her see into his heart, she sent word to the chiefs of the Philistines saying, Come up this time, for he has let out all his heart to me. Then the chiefs of the Philistines came to her, with the money in their hands. 16:19And she made him go to sleep on her knees; and she sent for a man and had his seven twists of hair cut off; and while it was being done he became feeble and his strength went from him. 16:20Then she said, The Philistines are on you, Samson. And awaking from his sleep, he said, I will go out as at other times, shaking myself free. But he was not conscious that the Lord had gone from him. 16:21So the Philistines took him and put out his eyes; then they took him down to Gaza, and, chaining him with bands of brass, put him to work crushing grain in the prison-house. 16:22But the growth of his hair was starting again after it had been cut off. 16:23And the chiefs of the Philistines came together to make a great offering to Dagon their god, and to be glad; for they said, Our god has given into our hands Samson our hater. 16:24And when the people saw him, they gave praise to their god; for they said, Our god has given into our hands the one who was fighting against us, who made our country waste, and who put great numbers of us to death. 16:25Now when their hearts were full of joy, they said, Send for Samson to make sport for us. And they sent for Samson out of the prison-house, and he made sport before them; and they put him between the pillars. 16:26And Samson said to the boy who took him by the hand, Let me put my hand on the pillars supporting the house, so that I may put my back against them. 16:27Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and about three thousand men and women were on the roof, looking on while Samson made sport. 16:28And Samson, crying out to the Lord, said, O Lord God, do have me now in mind, and do make me strong only this once, O God, so that I may take one last payment from the Philistines for my two eyes. 16:29Then Samson put his arms round the two middle pillars supporting the house, putting his weight on them, on one with his right hand and on the other with his left. 16:30And Samson said, Let death overtake me with the Philistines. And he put out all his strength, and the house came down on the chiefs and on all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he sent to destruction by his death were more than all those on whom he had sent destruction in his life. 16:31Then his brothers and his father's people came down and took him up and put his body to rest in the earth between Zorah and Eshtaol in the resting-place of Manoah his father. And he had been judge of Israel for twenty years.
17:1Now there was a man of the hill-country of Ephraim named Micah. 17:2And he said to his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver which were taken from you, about which you took an oath and said in my hearing, I have given this silver to the Lord from my hand for myself, to make a pictured image and a metal image: see, I have the silver, for I took it: so now I will give it back to you. And his mother said, May the blessing of the Lord be on my son. 17:3And he gave back the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, and his mother said, I have made the silver holy to the Lord from me for my son, to make a pictured image and a metal image. 17:4So he gave the silver back to his mother. Then his mother took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a metal-worker who made a pictured image and a metal image from them: and it was in the house of Micah. 17:5And the man Micah had a house of gods; and he made an ephod and family gods and put one of his sons in the position of priest. 17:6In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did as seemed right to him. 17:7Now there was a young man living in Beth-lehem-judah, of the family of Judah and a Levite, who was not a townsman of the place. 17:8And he went away from the town of Beth-lehem-judah, looking for somewhere to make his living-place; and on his journey he came to the hill-country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah. 17:9And Micah said to him, Where do you come from? And he said to him, I am a Levite from Beth-lehem-judah, and I am looking for a living-place. 17:10Then Micah said to him, Make your living-place with me, and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten shekels of silver a year and your clothing and food. 17:11And the Levite said he would make his living-place with the man, and he became to him as one of his sons. 17:12And Micah gave the position to the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. 17:13Then Micah said, Now I am certain that the Lord will do me good, seeing that the Levite has become my priest.
18:1In those days there was no king in Israel, and in those days the Danites were looking for a heritage for themselves, to be their living-place; for up to that time no distribution of land had been made to them among the tribes of Israel. 18:2So the children of Dan sent five men from among their number, strong men, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, to take a look at the land and make a search through it; and they said to them, Go and make a search through the land; and they came to the hill-country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, where they made a stop for the night. 18:3When they were near the house of Micah, hearing a voice which was not strange to them, that of the young Levite, they went out of their road to his place, and said to him, How did you come here? and what are you doing in this place? and why are you here? 18:4And he said to them, This is what Micah did for me, and he gave me payment and I became his priest. 18:5Then they said, Do get directions from God for us, to see if the journey on which we are going will have a good outcome. 18:6And the priest said to them, Go in peace: your way is guided by the Lord. 18:7Then the five men went on their way and came to Laish and saw the people who were there, living without thought of danger, like the Zidonians, quiet and safe; for they had everything on earth for their needs, and they were far from the Zidonians and had no business with Aram. 18:8So they came back to their brothers in Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brothers said to them, What news have you? 18:9And they said, Up! and let us go against Laish; for we have seen the land, and it is very good: why are you doing nothing? Do not be slow to go in and take the land for your heritage. 18:10When you come there you will come to a people living without thought of danger; and the land is wide, and God has given it into your hands: a place where there is everything on earth for man's needs. 18:11So six hundred men of the Danites from Zorah and Eshtaol went out armed with instruments of war. 18:12And they went up and put up their tents in Kiriath-jearim in Judah: so that place is named Mahaneh-dan to this day. It is to the west of Kiriath-jearim. 18:13From there they went on to the hill-country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah. 18:14Then the five men who had gone to make a search through the country of Laish, said to their brothers, Have you knowledge that in these houses there is an ephod and family gods and a pictured image and a metal image? So now you see what to do. 18:15And turning from their road they came to the house of the young Levite, the house of Micah, and said to him, Is it well with you? 18:16And the six hundred armed men of the Danites took their places by the doorway. 18:17Then the five men who had gone to make a search through the land, went in and took the pictured image and the ephod and the family gods and the metal image; and the priest was by the doorway with the six hundred armed men. 18:18And when they went into Micah's house and took out the pictured image and the ephod and the family gods and the metal image, the priest said to them, What are you doing? 18:19And they said to him, Be quiet; say nothing, and come with us and be our father and priest; is it better for you to be priest to one man's house or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel? 18:20Then the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod and the family gods and the pictured image and went with the people. 18:21So they went on their way again, putting the little ones and the oxen and the goods in front of them. 18:22When they had gone some way from the house of Micah, the men from the houses near Micah's house came together and overtook the children of Dan, 18:23Crying out to them. And the Danites, turning round, said to Micah, What is your trouble, that you have taken up arms? 18:24And he said, You have taken my gods which I made, and my priest, and have gone away; what is there for me now? Why then do you say to me, What is your trouble? 18:25And the children of Dan said to him, Say no more, or men of bitter spirit may make an attack on you, causing loss of your life and the lives of your people. 18:26Then the children of Dan went on their way; and when Micah saw that they were stronger than he, he went back to his house. 18:27And they took that which Micah had made, and his priest, and came to Laish, to a people living quietly and without thought of danger, and they put them to the sword without mercy, burning down their town. 18:28And they had no saviour, because it was far from Zidon, and they had no business with Aram; and it was in the valley which is the property of Beth-rehob. And building up the town again they took it for their living-place. 18:29And they gave the town the name of Dan, after Dan their father, who was the son of Israel: though the town had been named Laish at first. 18:30(And the children of Dan put up the pictured image for themselves; and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of the Danites till the day when the ark was taken prisoner.) 18:31And they put up for themselves the image which Micah had made, and it was there all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.
19:1Now in those days, when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was living in the inmost parts of the hill-country of Ephraim, and he got for himself a servant-wife from Beth-lehem-judah. 19:2And his servant-wife was angry with him, and went away from him to her father's house at Beth-lehem-judah, and was there for four months. 19:3Then her husband got up and went after her, with the purpose of talking kindly to her, and taking her back with him; he had with him his young man and two asses: and she took him into her father's house, and her father, when he saw him, came forward to him with joy. 19:4And his father-in-law, the girl's father, kept him there for three days; and they had food and drink and took their rest there. 19:5Now on the fourth day they got up early in the morning and he made ready to go away; but the girl's father said to his son-in-law, Take a little food to keep up your strength, and then go on your way. 19:6So seating themselves they had food and drink, the two of them together; and the girl's father said to the man, If it is your pleasure, take your rest here tonight, and let your heart be glad. 19:7And the man got up to go away, but his father-in-law would not let him go, so he took his rest there again for the night. 19:8Then early on the morning of the fifth day he got up to go away; but the girl's father said, Keep up your strength; so the two of them had a meal, and the man and his woman and his servant did not go till after the middle of the day. 19:9And when they got up to go away, his father-in-law, the girl's father, said to him, Now evening is coming on, so do not go tonight; see, the day is almost gone; take your rest here and let your heart be glad, and tomorrow early, go on your way back to your house. 19:10But the man would not be kept there that night, and he got up and went away and came opposite to Jebus (which is Jerusalem); and he had with him the two asses, ready for travelling, and his woman. 19:11When they got near Jebus the day was far gone; and the servant said to his master, Now let us go from our road into this town of the Jebusites and take our night's rest there. 19:12But his master said to him, We will not go out of our way into a strange town, whose people are not of the children of Israel; but we will go on to Gibeah. 19:13And he said to his servant, Come, let us go on to one of these places, stopping for the night in Gibeah or Ramah. 19:14So they went on their way; and the sun went down when they were near Gibeah in the land of Benjamin. 19:15And they went off the road there with the purpose of stopping for the night in Gibeah: and he went in, seating himself in the street of the town, for no one took them into his house for the night. 19:16Now when it was evening they saw an old man coming back from his work in the fields; he was from the hill-country of Ephraim and was living in Gibeah: but the men of the place were Benjamites. 19:17And when he saw the traveller in the street of the town, the old man said, Where are you going? and where do you come from? 19:18And he said to him, We are on our way from Beth-lehem-judah to the inmost parts of the hill-country of Ephraim: I came from there and went to Beth-lehem-judah: now I am on my way back to my house, but no man will take me into his house. 19:19But we have dry grass and food for our asses, as well as bread and wine for me, and for the woman, and for the young man with us: we have no need of anything. 19:20And the old man said, Peace be with you; let all your needs be my care; only do not take your rest in the street. 19:21So he took them into his house and gave the asses food; and after washing their feet they took food and drink. 19:22While they were taking their pleasure at the meal, the good-for-nothing men of the town came round the house, giving blows on the door; and they said to the old man, the master of the house, Send out that man who came to your house, so that we may take our pleasure with him. 19:23So the man, the master of the house, went out to them, and said, No, my brothers, do not this evil thing; this man has come into my house, and you are not to do him this wrong. 19:24See, here is my daughter, a virgin, and his servant-wife: I will send them out for you to take them and do with them whatever you will. But do no such thing of shame to this man. 19:25But the men would not give ear to him: so the man took his woman and sent her out to them; and they took her by force, using her for their pleasure all night till the morning; and when dawn came they let her go. 19:26Then at the dawn of day the woman came, and, falling down at the door of the man's house where her master was, was stretched there till it was light. 19:27In the morning her master got up, and opening the door of the house went out to go on his way; and he saw his servant-wife stretched on the earth at the door of the house with her hands on the step. 19:28And he said to her, Get up and let us be going; but there was no answer; so he took her up and put her on the ass, and went on his way and came to his house. 19:29And when he had come to his house, he got his knife, and took the woman, cutting her up bone by bone into twelve parts, which he sent through all Israel. 19:30And he gave orders to the men whom he sent, saying, This is what you are to say to all the men of Israel, Has ever an act like this been done from the day when the children of Israel came out of Egypt to this day? Give thought to it, turning it over in your minds, and give your opinion of it.
20:1Then all the children of Israel took up arms, and the people came together like one man, from Dan to Beer-sheba, and the land of Gilead, before the Lord at Mizpah. 20:2And the chiefs of the people, out of all the tribes of Israel, took their places in the meeting of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen armed with swords. 20:3(Now the children of Benjamin had word that the children of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the children of Israel said, Make clear how this evil thing took place. 20:4Then the Levite, the husband of the dead woman, said in answer, I came to Gibeah in the land of Benjamin, I and my servant-wife, for the purpose of stopping there for the night. 20:5And the townsmen of Gibeah came together against me, going round the house on all sides by night; it was their purpose to put me to death, and my servant-wife was violently used by them and is dead. 20:6So I took her, cutting her into parts which I sent through all the country of the heritage of Israel: for they have done an act of shame in Israel. 20:7Here you all are, you children of Israel; give now your suggestions about what is to be done. 20:8Then all the people got up as one man and said, Not one of us will go to his tent or go back to his house: 20:9But this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will go up against it by the decision of the Lord; 20:10And we will take ten men out of every hundred, through all the tribes of Israel, a hundred out of every thousand, a thousand out of every ten thousand, to get food for the people, so that they may give to Gibeah of Benjamin the right punishment for the act of shame they have done in Israel. 20:11So all the men of Israel were banded together against the town, united like one man. 20:12And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin saying, What is this evil which has been done among you? 20:13Now give up those good-for-nothing persons in Gibeah so that we may put them to death, clearing away the evil from Israel. But the children of Benjamin would not give ear to the voice of their brothers, the children of Israel. 20:14And the children of Benjamin came together from all their towns to Gibeah, to go to war with the children of Israel. 20:15And the children of Benjamin who came that day from the towns were twenty-six thousand men armed with swords, in addition to the people of Gibeah, numbering seven hundred of the best fighting-men, 20:16Who were left-handed, able to send a stone at a hair without error. 20:17And the men of Israel, other than Benjamin, were four hundred thousand in number, all armed with swords; they were all men of war. 20:18And they got up and went up to Beth-el to get directions from God, and the children of Israel said, Who is to be the first to go up to the fight against the children of Benjamin? And the Lord said, Judah is to go up first. 20:19So the children of Israel got up in the morning and put themselves in position against Gibeah. 20:20And the men of Israel went out to war against Benjamin (and the men of Israel put their forces in fighting order against them at Gibeah). 20:21Then the children of Benjamin came out from Gibeah, cutting down twenty-two thousand of the Israelites that day. 20:22But the people, the men of Israel, taking heart again, put their forces in order and took up the same position as on the first day. 20:23Now the children of Israel went up, weeping before the Lord till evening, requesting the Lord and saying, Am I to go forward again to the fight against the children of Benjamin my brother? And the Lord said, Go up against him. 20:24So the children of Israel went forward against the children of Benjamin the second day. 20:25And the second day Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah, cutting down eighteen thousand men of the children of Israel, all swordsmen. 20:26Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up to Beth-el, weeping and waiting there before the Lord, going without food all day till evening, and offering burned offerings and peace-offerings before the Lord. 20:27And the children of Israel made request to the Lord, (for the ark of the agreement of the Lord was there in those days, 20:28And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, was in his place before it,) and said, Am I still to go on with the fight against the children of Benjamin my brother, or am I to give it up? And the Lord said, Go on; for tomorrow I will give him into your hands. 20:29So Israel put men secretly all round Gibeah to make a surprise attack on it. 20:30And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in fighting order against Gibeah as before. 20:31And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, moving away from the town; and as before, at their first attack, they put to death about thirty men of Israel on the highways, of which one goes up to Beth-el and the other to Gibeah, and in the open country. 20:32And the children of Benjamin said, They are giving way before us as at first. But the children of Israel said, Let us go in flight and get them away from the town, into the highways. 20:33So all the men of Israel got up and put themselves in fighting order at Baal-tamar: and those who had been waiting secretly to make a surprise attack came rushing out of their place on the west of Geba. 20:34And they came in front of Gibeah, ten thousand of the best men in all Israel, and the fighting became more violent; but the children of Benjamin were not conscious that evil was coming on them. 20:35Then the Lord sent sudden fear on Benjamin before Israel; and that day the children of Israel put to death twenty-five thousand, one hundred men of Benjamin, all of them swordsmen. 20:36So the children of Benjamin saw that they were overcome: and the men of Israel had given way before Benjamin, putting their faith in the watchers who were to make the surprise attack on Gibeah. 20:37And the watchers, rushing on Gibeah and overrunning it, put all the town to the sword without mercy. 20:38Now the sign fixed between the men of Israel and those making the surprise attack was that when they made a pillar of smoke go up from the town, 20:39The men of Israel were to make a turn about in the fight. And Benjamin had overcome and put to death about thirty of the men of Israel, and were saying, Certainly they are falling back before us as in the first fight. 20:40Then the sign went up out of the town in the pillar of smoke, and the Benjamites, turning back, saw all the town going up in smoke to heaven. 20:41And the men of Israel had made a turn about, and the men of Benjamin were overcome with fear, for they saw that evil had overtaken them. 20:42So turning their backs on the men of Israel, they went in the direction of the waste land; but the fight overtook them; and those who came out of the town were heading them off and putting them to the sword. 20:43And crushing Benjamin down, they went after them, driving them from Nohah as far as the east side of Gibeah. 20:44Eighteen thousand men of Benjamin came to their death, all strong men of war. 20:45And turning, they went in flight to the rock of Rimmon in the waste land: and on the highways five thousand of them were cut off by the men of Israel, who, pushing on hard after them to Geba, put to death two thousand more. 20:46So twenty-five thousand of the swordsmen of Benjamin came to their end that day, all strong men of war. 20:47But six hundred men, turning back, went in flight to the rock of Rimmon in the waste land, and were living on the rock of Rimmon for four months. 20:48And the men of Israel, turning again against the children of Benjamin, put to the sword without mercy all the towns and the cattle and everything there was, burning every town which came into their hands.
21:1Now the men of Israel had taken an oath in Mizpah, saying, Not one of us will give his daughter as a wife to Benjamin. 21:2And the people came to Beth-el, waiting there till evening before God, and gave themselves up to bitter weeping. 21:3And they said, O Lord, the God of Israel, why has this fate come on Israel, that today one tribe has been cut off from Israel? 21:4Then on the day after, the people got up early and made an altar there, offering burned offerings and peace-offerings. 21:5And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel, who did not come up to the Lord at the meeting of all Israel? For they had taken a great oath that whoever did not come up to Mizpah to the Lord was to be put to death. 21:6And the children of Israel were moved with pity for Benjamin their brother, saying, Today one tribe has been cut off from Israel. 21:7What are we to do about wives for those who are still living? For we have taken an oath by the Lord that we will not give them our daughters for wives. 21:8And they said, Which one of the tribes of Israel did not come up to Mizpah to the Lord? And it was seen that no one had come from Jabesh-gilead to the meeting. 21:9For when the people were numbered, not one man of the people of Jabesh-gilead was present. 21:10So they (the meeting) sent twelve thousand of the best fighting-men, and gave them orders, saying, Go and put the people of Jabesh-gilead to the sword without mercy, with their women and their little ones. 21:11And this is what you are to do: every male, and every woman who has had sex relations with a man, you are to put to the curse, but you are to keep safe the virgins. And they did so. 21:12Now there were among the people of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins who had never had sex relations with a man; these they took to their tents in Shiloh in the land of Canaan. 21:13And all the meeting sent to the men of Benjamin who were in the rock of Rimmon, offering them peace. 21:14Then Benjamin came back; and they gave them the women whom they had kept from death among the women of Jabesh-gilead: but still there were not enough for them. 21:15And the people were moved with pity for Benjamin, because the Lord had let his wrath loose on the tribes of Israel. 21:16Then the responsible men of the meeting said, What are we to do about wives for the rest of them, seeing that the women of Benjamin are dead? 21:17And they said, How is the rest of Benjamin to be given offspring so that one tribe of Israel may not be put out of existence, 21:18Seeing that we may not give them our daughters as wives? For the children of Israel had taken an oath, saying, Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin. 21:19And they said, See, every year there is a feast of the Lord in Shiloh, which is to the north of Beth-el, on the east side of the highway which goes up from Beth-el to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah. 21:20And they said to the men of Benjamin, Go into the vine-gardens, waiting there secretly, 21:21And watching; and if the daughters of Shiloh come out to take part in the dances, then come from the vine-gardens and take a wife for every one of you from among the daughters of Shiloh, and go back to the land of Benjamin. 21:22And when their fathers or their brothers come and make trouble, you are to say to them, Give them to us as an act of grace; for we did not take them as wives for ourselves in war; and if you yourselves had given them to us you would have been responsible for the broken oath. 21:23So the men of Benjamin did this, and got wives for themselves for every one of their number, taking them away by force from the dance; then they went back to their heritage, building up their towns and living in them. 21:24Then the children of Israel went away from there, every man to his tribe and his family, every man went back to his heritage. 21:25In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did what seemed right to him.
Ruth
1:1Now there came a time, in the days of the judges, when there was no food in the land. And a certain man went from Beth-lehem-judah, he and his wife and his two sons, to make a living-place in the country of Moab. 1:2And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Beth-lehem-judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and were there for some time. 1:3And Elimelech, Naomi's husband, came to his end; and only her two sons were with her. 1:4And they took two women of Moab as their wives: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth; and they went on living there for about ten years. 1:5And Mahlon and Chilion came to their end; and the woman was without her two sons and her husband. 1:6So she and her daughters-in-law got ready to go back from the country of Moab, for news had come to her in the country of Moab that the Lord, in mercy for his people, had given them food. 1:7And she went out of the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on their way to go back to the land of Judah. 1:8And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go back to your mothers' houses: may the Lord be good to you as you have been good to the dead and to me: 1:9May the Lord give you rest in the houses of your husbands. Then she gave them a kiss; and they were weeping bitterly. 1:10And they said to her, No, but we will go back with you to your people. 1:11But Naomi said, Go back, my daughters; why will you come with me? Have I more sons in my body, to become your husbands? 1:12Go back, my daughters, and go on your way; I am so old now that I may not have another husband. If I said, I have hopes, if I had a husband tonight, and might have sons, 1:13Would you keep yourselves till they were old enough? would you keep from having husbands for them? No, my daughters; but I am very sad for you that the hand of the Lord is against me. 1:14Then again they were weeping; and Orpah gave her mother-in-law a kiss, but Ruth would not be parted from her. 1:15And Naomi said, See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods: go back after your sister-in-law. 1:16But Ruth said, Give up requesting me to go away from you, or to go back without you: for where you go I will go; and where you take your rest I will take my rest; your people will be my people, and your God my God. 1:17Wherever death comes to you, death will come to me, and there will be my last resting-place; the Lord do so to me and more if we are parted by anything but death. 1:18And when she saw that Ruth was strong in her purpose to go with her she said no more. 1:19So the two of them went on till they came to Beth-lehem. And when they came to Beth-lehem all the town was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi? 1:20And she said to them, Do not let my name be Naomi, but Mara, for the Ruler of all has given me a bitter fate. 1:21I went out full, and the Lord has sent me back again with nothing; why do you give me the name Naomi, seeing that the Lord has given witness against me, and the Ruler of all has sent sorrow on me? 1:22So Naomi came back out of the country of Moab, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her; and they came to Beth-lehem in the first days of the grain-cutting.
2:1And Naomi had a relation of her husband, a man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz. 2:2And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, Now let me go into the field and take up the heads of grain after him in whose eyes I may have grace. And she said to her, Go, my daughter. 2:3And she went, and came and took up the heads of grain in the field after the cutters; and by chance she went into that part of the field which was the property of Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. 2:4And Boaz came from Beth-lehem, and said to the grain-cutters, The Lord be with you. And they made answer, The Lord give you his blessing. 2:5Then Boaz said to his servant who was in authority over the cutters, Whose girl is this? 2:6And the servant who was in authority over the cutters said, It is a Moabite girl who came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab; 2:7And she said to me, Let me come into the grain-field and take up the grain after the cutters. So she came, and has been here from morning till now, without resting even for a minute. 2:8Then said Boaz to Ruth, Give ear to me, my daughter: do not go to take up the grain in another field, or go away from here, but keep here by my young women: 2:9Keep your eyes on the field they are cutting, and go after them; have I not given orders to the young men not to put a hand on you? And when you are in need of drink go to the vessels and take of what the young men have put there. 2:10Then she went down on her face to the earth, and said to him, Why have I grace in your eyes, that you give attention to me, seeing I am from a strange people? 2:11And Boaz answering said to her, I have had news of everything you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband; how you went away from your father and mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people who are strange to you. 2:12The Lord give you a reward for what you have done, and may a full reward be given to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take cover. 2:13Then she said, May I have grace in your eyes, my lord, for you have given me comfort, and you have said kind words to your servant, though I am not like one of your servants. 2:14And at meal-time Boaz said to her, Come here, and take some of the bread, and put your bit into the wine. And she took her seat among the grain-cutters: and he gave her dry grain, and she took it, and there was more than enough for her meal. 2:15And when she got ready to take up the grain, Boaz gave his young men orders, saying, Let her take it even from among the cut grain, and say nothing to her. 2:16And let some heads of grain be pulled out of what has been corded up, and dropped for her to take, and let no sharp word be said to her. 2:17So she went on getting together the heads of grain till evening; and after crushing out the seed it came to about an ephah of grain. 2:18And she took it up and went into the town; and she let her mother-in-law see what she had got, and after taking enough for herself she gave her the rest. 2:19And her mother-in-law said to her, Where did you take up the grain today, and where were you working? May a blessing be on him who gave such attention to you. And she gave her mother-in-law an account of where she had been working, and said, The name of the man with whom I was working today is Boaz. 2:20And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, May the blessing of the Lord, who has at all times been kind to the living and to the dead, be on him. And Naomi said to her, The man is of our family, one of our near relations. 2:21And Ruth the Moabitess said, Truly, he said to me, Keep near my young men till all my grain is cut. 2:22And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, It is better, my daughter, for you to go out with his servant-girls, so that no danger may come to you in another field. 2:23So she kept near the servant-girls of Boaz to take up the grain till the cutting of the early grain and the cutting of the late grain were ended; and she went on living with her mother-in-law.
3:1And Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, My daughter, am I not to get you a resting-place where you may be in comfort? 3:2And now, is there not Boaz, our relation, with whose young women you were? See, tonight he is separating the grain from the waste in his grain-floor. 3:3So take a bath, and, after rubbing your body with sweet oil, put on your best robe, and go down to the grain-floor; but do not let him see you till he has come to the end of his meal. 3:4But see to it, when he goes to rest, that you take note of the place where he is sleeping, and go in there, and, uncovering his feet, take your place by him; and he will say what you are to do. 3:5And she said, I will do all you say. 3:6So she went down to the grain-floor and did all her mother-in-law had said to her. 3:7Now when Boaz had taken meat and drink, and his heart was glad, he went to take his rest at the end of the mass of grain; then she came softly and, uncovering his feet, went to rest. 3:8Now in the middle of the night, the man awaking from his sleep in fear, and lifting himself up, saw a woman stretched at his feet. 3:9And he said, Who are you? And she answering said, I am your servant Ruth: take your servant as wife, for you are a near relation. 3:10And he said, May the Lord give you his blessing, my daughter: even better than what you did at the first is this last kind act you have done, in not going after young men, with or without wealth. 3:11And now, my daughter, have no fear; I will do for you whatever you say: for it is clear to all my townspeople that you are a woman of virtue. 3:12Now it is true that I am a near relation: but there is a relation nearer than I. 3:13Take your rest here tonight; and in the morning, if he will do for you what it is right for a relation to do, very well, let him do so: but if he will not, then by the living Lord I myself will do so. 3:14And she took her rest at his feet till the morning: and she got up before it was light enough for one to see another. And he said, Let it not come to anyone's knowledge that the woman came to the grain-floor. 3:15And he said, Take your robe, stretching it out in your hands: and she did so, and he took six measures of grain and put them into it, and gave it her to take: and she went back to the town. 3:16And when she came back her mother-in-law said to her, How did it go with you, my daughter? And she gave her an account of all the man had done to her. 3:17And she said, He gave me these six measures of grain, saying, Do not go back to your mother-in-law with nothing in your hands. 3:18Then she said, Do nothing now, my daughter, till you see what will come of this; for the man will take no rest till he has put this thing through.
4:1And Boaz went up to the public place of the town, and took his seat there: and the near relation of whom he had been talking came by; and Boaz, crying out to him by name, said, Come and be seated here. And he came and was seated. 4:2Then he got ten of the responsible men of the town, and said, Be seated here. And they took their seats. 4:3Then he said to the near relation, Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is offering for a price that bit of land which was our brother Elimelech's: 4:4And it was in my mind to give you the chance of taking it, with the approval of those seated here and of the responsible men of my people. If you are ready to do what it is right for a relation to do, then do it: but if you will not do it, say so to me now; for there is no one who has the right to do it but you, and after you myself. And he said, I will do it. 4:5Then Boaz said, On the day when you take this field, you will have to take with it Ruth, the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, so that you may keep the name of the dead living in his heritage. 4:6And the near relation said, I am not able to do the relation's part, for fear of damaging the heritage I have: you may do it in my place, for I am not able to do it myself. 4:7Now, in earlier times this was the way in Israel when property was taken over by a near relation, or when there was a change of owner. To make the exchange certain one man took off his shoe and gave it to the other; and this was a witness in Israel. 4:8So the near relation said to Boaz, Take it for yourself. And he took off his shoe. 4:9Then Boaz said to the responsible men and to all the people, You are witnesses today that I have taken at a price from Naomi all the property which was Elimelech's, and everything which was Chilion's and Mahlon's. 4:10And, further, I have taken Ruth, the Moabitess, who was the wife of Mahlon, to be my wife, to keep the name of the dead man living in his heritage, so that his name may not be cut off from among his countrymen, and from the memory of his town: you are witnesses this day. 4:11And all the people who were in the public place, and the responsible men, said, We are witnesses. May the Lord make this woman, who is about to come into your house, like Rachel and Leah, which two were the builders of the house of Israel: and may you have wealth in Ephrathah, and be great in Beth-lehem; 4:12May your family be like the family of Perez, the son whom Tamar gave to Judah, from the offspring which the Lord may give you by this young woman. 4:13So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and he went in to her, and the Lord made her with child and she gave birth to a son. 4:14And the women said to Naomi, A blessing on the Lord, who has not let you be this day without a near relation, and may his name be great in Israel. 4:15He will be a giver of new life to you, and your comforter when you are old, for your daughter-in-law, who, in her love for you, is better than seven sons, has given birth to him. 4:16And Naomi took the child and put her arms round it, and she took care of it. 4:17And the women who were her neighbours gave it a name, saying, Naomi has a child; and they gave him the name of Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David. 4:18Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron; 4:19And Hezron became the father of Ram, and Ram became the father of Amminadab; 4:20And Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon became the father of Salmon; 4:21And Salmon became the father of Boaz, and Boaz became the father of Obed; 4:22And Obed became the father of Jesse, and Jesse became the father of David.
1 Samuel
1:1Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim, a Zuphite of the hill-country of Ephraim, named Elkanah; he was the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite: 1:2And he had two wives, one named Hannah and the other Peninnah: and Peninnah was the mother of children, but Hannah had no children. 1:3Now this man went up from his town every year to give worship and to make offerings to the Lord of armies in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there. 1:4And when the day came for Elkanah to make his offering, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and daughters, their part of the feast: 1:5But to Hannah he gave one part, though Hannah was very dear to him, but the Lord had not let her have children. 1:6And the other wife did everything possible to make her unhappy, because the Lord had not let her have children; 1:7And year by year, whenever she went up to the house of the Lord, she kept on attacking her, so that Hannah gave herself up to weeping and would take no food. 1:8Then her husband Elkanah said to her, Hannah, why are you weeping? and why are you taking no food? why is your heart troubled? am I not more to you than ten sons? 1:9So after they had taken food and wine in the guest room, Hannah got up. Now Eli the priest was seated by the pillars of the doorway of the Temple of the Lord. 1:10And with grief in her soul, weeping bitterly, she made her prayer to the Lord. 1:11And she made an oath, and said, O Lord of armies, if you will truly take note of the sorrow of your servant, not turning away from me but keeping me in mind, and will give me a man-child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut. 1:12Now while she was a long time in prayer before the Lord, Eli was watching her mouth. 1:13For Hannah's prayer came from her heart, and though her lips were moving she made no sound: so it seemed to Eli that she was overcome with wine. 1:14And Eli said to her, How long are you going to be the worse for drink? Put away the effects of your wine from you. 1:15And Hannah, answering him, said, No, my lord, I am a woman whose spirit is broken with sorrow: I have not taken wine or strong drink, but I have been opening my heart before the Lord. 1:16Do not take your servant to be a good-for-nothing woman: for my words have come from my stored-up sorrow and pain. 1:17Then Eli said to her, Go in peace: and may the God of Israel give you an answer to the prayer you have made to him. 1:18And she said, May your servant have grace in your eyes. So the woman went away, and took part in the feast, and her face was no longer sad. 1:19And early in the morning they got up, and after worshipping before the Lord they went back to Ramah, to their house: and Elkanah had connection with his wife; and the Lord kept her in mind. 1:20Now the time came when Hannah, being with child, gave birth to a son; and she gave him the name Samuel, Because, she said, I made a prayer to the Lord for him. 1:21And the man Elkanah with all his family went up to make the year's offering to the Lord, and to give effect to his oath. 1:22But Hannah did not go, for she said to her husband, I will not go till the child has been taken from the breast, and then I will take him with me and put him before the Lord, where he may be for ever. 1:23And her husband Elkanah said to her, Do whatever seems right to you, but not till you have taken him from the breast; only may the Lord do as he has said. So the woman, waiting there, gave her son milk till he was old enough to be taken from the breast. 1:24Then when she had done so, she took him with her, with a three-year old ox and an ephah of meal and a skin full of wine, and took him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh: now the child was still very young. 1:25And when they had made an offering of the ox, they took the child to Eli. 1:26And she said, O my lord, as your soul is living, my lord, I am that woman who was making a prayer to the Lord here by your side: 1:27My prayer was for this child; and the Lord has given him to me in answer to my request: 1:28So I have given him to the Lord; for all his life he is the Lord's. Then he gave the Lord worship there.
2:1And Hannah, in prayer before the Lord, said, My heart is glad in the Lord, my horn is lifted up in the Lord: my mouth is open wide over my haters; because my joy is in your salvation. 2:2No other is holy as the Lord, for there is no other God but you: there is no Rock like our God. 2:3Say no more words of pride; let not uncontrolled sayings come out of your mouths: for the Lord is a God of knowledge, by him acts are judged. 2:4The bows of the men of war are broken, and the feeble are clothed with strength. 2:5Those who were full are offering themselves as servants for bread; those who were in need are at rest; truly, she who had no children has become the mother of seven; and she who had a family is wasted with sorrow. 2:6The Lord is the giver of death and life: sending men down to the underworld and lifting them up. 2:7The Lord gives wealth and takes a man's goods from him: crushing men down and again lifting them up; 2:8Lifting the poor out of the dust, and him who is in need out of the lowest place, to give them their place among rulers, and for their heritage the seat of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's and he has made them the base of the world. 2:9He will keep the feet of his holy ones, but the evil-doers will come to their end in the dark night, for by strength no man will overcome. 2:10Those who make war against the Lord will be broken; against them he will send his thunder from heaven: the Lord will be judge of the ends of the earth, he will give strength to his king, lifting up the horn of him on whom the holy oil has been put. 2:11Then Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child became the servant of the Lord under the direction of Eli the priest. 2:12Now the sons of Eli were evil and good-for-nothing men, having no knowledge of the Lord. 2:13And the priests' way with the people was this: when any man made an offering, the priest's servant came while the flesh was being cooked, having in his hand a meat-hook with three teeth; 2:14This he put into the pot, and everything which came up on the hook the priest took for himself. This they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 2:15And more than this, before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was making the offering, Give me some of the flesh to be cooked for the priest; he has no taste for meat cooked in water, but would have you give it uncooked. 2:16And if the man said to him, First let the fat be burned, then take as much as you will; then the servant would say, No, you are to give it to me now, or I will take it by force. 2:17And the sin of these young men was very great before the Lord; for they gave no honour to the Lord's offerings. 2:18But Samuel did the work of the Lord's house, while he was a child, dressed in a linen ephod. 2:19And his mother made him a little robe and took it to him every year when she came with her husband for the year's offering. 2:20And every year Eli gave Elkanah and his wife a blessing, saying, May the Lord give you offspring by this woman in exchange for the child you have given to the Lord. And they went back to their house. 2:21And the Lord had mercy on Hannah and she gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And the young Samuel became older before the Lord. 2:22Now Eli was very old; and he had news from time to time of what his sons were doing to all Israel. 2:23And he said to them, Why are you doing such things? for from all this people I get accounts of your evil ways. 2:24No, my sons, the account which is given me, which the Lord's people are sending about, is not good. 2:25If one man does wrong to another, God will be his judge: but if a man's sin is against the Lord, who will take up his cause? But they gave no attention to the voice of their father, for it was the Lord's purpose to send destruction on them. 2:26And the young Samuel, becoming older, had the approval of the Lord and of men. 2:27And a man of God came to Eli and said to him, The Lord says, Did I let myself be seen by your father's people when they were in Egypt, servants in Pharaoh's house? 2:28Did I take him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest and to go up to my altar to make the smoke of the offerings go up and to take up the ephod? Did I give to your father's family all the offerings made by fire by the children of Israel? 2:29Why then are you looking with envy on my offerings of meat and of meal which were ordered by my word, honouring your sons before me, and making yourselves fat with all the best of the offerings of Israel, my people? 2:30For this reason the Lord God of Israel has said, Truly I did say that your family and your father's people would have their place before me for ever: but now the Lord says, Let it not be so; I will give honour to those by whom I am honoured, and those who have no respect for me will be of small value in my eyes. 2:31See, the days are coming when your arm and the arm of your father's people will be cut off; 2:32And never again will there be an old man in your family. 2:33But one man of your family will not be cut off by my hand, and his eyes will be made dark, and grief will be in his heart: and all the offspring of your family will come to their end by the sword of men. 2:34And this will be the sign to you, which will come on Hophni and Phinehas, your sons; death will overtake them on the same day. 2:35And I will make a true priest for myself, one who will do what is in my heart and in my mind: and I will make for him a family which will not come to an end; and his place will be before my holy one for ever. 2:36Then it will be that the rest of your family, anyone who has not been cut off, will go down on his knees to him for a bit of silver or a bit of bread, and say, Be pleased to put me into one of the priest's places so that I may have a little food.
3:1Now the young Samuel was the servant of the Lord before Eli. In those days the Lord kept his word secret from men; there was no open vision. 3:2And at that time, when Eli was resting in his place, (now his eyes were becoming clouded so that he was not able to see,) 3:3And the light of God was still burning, while Samuel was sleeping in the Temple of the Lord where the ark of God was, 3:4The voice of the Lord said Samuel's name; and he said, Here am I. 3:5And running to Eli he said, Here am I, for you said my name. And Eli said, I did not say your name; go to your rest again. So he went back to his bed. 3:6And again the Lord said, Samuel. And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, Here am I; for you certainly said my name. But he said in answer, I said nothing, my son; go to your rest again. 3:7Now at that time Samuel had no knowledge of the Lord, and the revelation of the word of the Lord had not come to him. 3:8And for the third time the Lord said Samuel's name. And he got up and went to Eli and said, Here am I; for you certainly said my name. Then it was clear to Eli that the voice which had said the child's name was the Lord's. 3:9So Eli said to Samuel, Go back: and if the voice comes again, let your answer be, Say on, Lord; for the ears of your servant are open. So Samuel went back to his bed. 3:10Then the Lord came and said as before, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel made answer, Say on, Lord; for the ears of your servant are open. 3:11And the Lord said to Samuel, See, I will do a thing in Israel at which the ears of everyone hearing of it will be burning. 3:12In that day I will do to Eli everything which I have said about his family, from first to last. 3:13And you are to say to him that I will send punishment on his family for ever, for the sin which he had knowledge of; because his sons have been cursing God and he had no control over them. 3:14So I have made an oath to the family of Eli that no offering of meat or of meal which they may make will ever take away the sin of his family. 3:15And Samuel kept where he was, not moving till the time came for opening the doors of the house of God in the morning. And fear kept him from giving Eli an account of his vision. 3:16Then Eli said, Samuel, my son. And Samuel answering said, Here am I. 3:17And he said, What did the Lord say to you? Do not keep it from me: may God's punishment be on you if you keep from me anything he said to you. 3:18Then Samuel gave him an account of everything, keeping nothing back. And he said, It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him. 3:19And Samuel became older, and the Lord was with him and let not one of his words be without effect. 3:20And it was clear to all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba that Samuel had been made a prophet of the Lord. 3:21And the Lord was seen again in Shiloh; for the Lord gave to Samuel in Shiloh the revelation of his word.
4:1Now at that time the Philistines came together to make war against Israel, and the men of Israel went out to war against the Philistines and took up their position at the side of Eben-ezer: and the Philistines put their forces in position in Aphek. 4:2And the Philistines put their forces in order against Israel, and the fighting was hard, and Israel was overcome by the Philistines, who put to the sword about four thousand of their army in the field. 4:3And when the people came back to their tents, the responsible men of Israel said, Why has the Lord let the Philistines overcome us today? Let us get the ark of the Lord's agreement here from Shiloh, so that it may be with us and give us salvation from the hands of those who are against us. 4:4So the people sent to Shiloh and got the ark of the agreement of the Lord of armies whose resting-place is between the winged ones; and Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were there with the ark of God's agreement. 4:5And when the ark of the Lord's agreement came into the tent-circle, all Israel gave a great cry, so that the earth was sounding with it. 4:6And the Philistines, hearing the noise of their cry, said, What is this great cry among the tents of the Hebrews? Then it became clear to them that the ark of the Lord had come to the tent-circle. 4:7And the Philistines, full of fear, said, God has come into their tents. And they said, Trouble is ours! for never before has such a thing been seen. 4:8Trouble is ours! Who will give us salvation from the hands of these great gods? These are the gods who sent all sorts of blows on the Egyptians in the waste land. 4:9Be strong, O Philistines, be men! Do not be servants to the Hebrews as they have been to you: go forward to the fight without fear. 4:10So the Philistines went to the fight, and Israel was overcome, and every man went in flight to his tent: and great was the destruction, for thirty thousand footmen of Israel were put to the sword. 4:11And the ark of God was taken; and Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli, were put to the sword. 4:12And a man of Benjamin went running from the fight and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothing out of order and earth on his head. 4:13And when he came, Eli was seated by the wayside watching: and in his heart was fear for the ark of God. And when the man came into the town and gave the news, there was a great outcry. 4:14And Eli, hearing the noise and the cries, said, What is the reason of this outcry? And the man came quickly and gave the news to Eli. 4:15Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were fixed so that he was not able to see. 4:16And the man said to Eli, I have come from the army and have come in flight today from the fight. And he said, How did it go, my son? 4:17And the man said, Israel went in flight from the Philistines, and there has been great destruction among the people, and your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been taken. 4:18And at these words about the ark of God, Eli, falling back off his seat by the side of the doorway into the town, came down on the earth so that his neck was broken and death overtook him, for he was an old man and of great weight. He had been judging Israel for forty years. 4:19And his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was with child and near the time when she would give birth; and when she had the news that the ark of God had been taken and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, her pains came on her suddenly and she gave birth. 4:20And when she was very near death the women who were with her said, Have no fear, for you have given birth to a son. But she made no answer and gave no attention to it. 4:21And she gave the child the name of Ichabod, saying, The glory has gone from Israel: because the ark of God was taken and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 4:22And she said, The glory is gone from Israel, for the ark of God has been taken.
5:1Now the Philistines, having taken the ark of God, took it with them from Eben-ezer to Ashdod. 5:2They took the ark of God into the house of Dagon and put it by the side of Dagon. 5:3And when the people of Ashdod got up early on the morning after, they saw that Dagon had come down to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon up and put him in his place again. 5:4And when they got up early on the morning after, Dagon had come down to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord; and his head and his hands were broken off on the doorstep; only the base was in its place. 5:5So to this day no priest of Dagon, or any who come into Dagon's house, will put his foot on the doorstep of the house of Dagon in Ashdod. 5:6But the hand of the Lord was hard on the people of Ashdod and he sent disease on them through all the country of Ashdod. 5:7And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, Let not the ark of the God of Israel be with us, for his hand is hard on us and on Dagon our god. 5:8So they sent for all the lords of the Philistines to come together there, and said, What are we to do with the ark of the God of Israel? And their answer was, Let the ark of the God of Israel be taken away to Gath. So they took the ark of the God of Israel away. 5:9But after they had taken it away, the hand of the Lord was stretched out against the town for its destruction: and the signs of disease came out on all the men of the town, small and great. 5:10So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And when the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of the town made an outcry, saying, They have sent the ark of the God of Israel to us for the destruction of us and of our people. 5:11So they sent and got together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go back to its place, so that it may not be the cause of death to us and to our people: for there was a great fear of death through all the town; the hand of God was very hard on them there. 5:12And those men who were not overtaken by death were cruelly diseased: and the cry of the town went up to heaven.
6:1Now the ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines for seven months. 6:2And the Philistines sent for the priests and those who were wise in secret arts, and said to them, What are we to do with the ark of the Lord? How are we to send it away to its place? 6:3And they said, If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it without an offering, but send him a sin-offering with it: then you will have peace again, and it will be clear to you why the weight of his hand has not been lifted from you. 6:4Then they said, What sin-offering are we to send to him? And they said, Five gold images of the growths caused by your disease and five gold mice, one for every lord of the Philistines: for the same disease came on you and on your lords. 6:5So make images of the growths caused by your disease and of the mice which are damaging your land; and give glory to the God of Israel: it may be that the weight of his hand will be lifted from you and from your gods and from your land. 6:6Why do you make your hearts hard, like the hearts of Pharaoh and the Egyptians? When he had made sport of them, did they not let the people go, and they went away? 6:7So now, take and make ready a new cart, and two cows which have never come under the yoke, and have the cows yoked to the cart, and take their young ones away from them: 6:8And put the ark of the Lord on the cart, and the gold images which you are sending as a sin-offering in a chest by its side; and send it away so that it may go. 6:9If it goes by the land of Israel to Beth-shemesh, then this great evil is his work; but if not, then we may be certain that the evil was not his doing, but was the working of chance. 6:10And the men did so; they took two cows, yoking them to the cart and shutting up their young ones in their living-place: 6:11And they put the ark of the Lord on the cart and the chest with the gold images. 6:12And the cows took the straight way, by the road to Beth-shemesh; they went by the highway, not turning to the right or to the left, and the sound of their voices was clear on the road; and the lords of the Philistines went after them as far as the edge of Beth-shemesh. 6:13And the people of Beth-shemesh were cutting their grain in the valley, and lifting up their eyes they saw the ark and were full of joy when they saw it. 6:14And the cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite, and came to a stop there by a great stone: and cutting up the wood of the cart they made a burned offering of the cows to the Lord. 6:15Then the Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the chest in which were the gold images, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Beth-shemesh made burned offerings and gave worship that day before the Lord. 6:16And the five lords of the Philistines, having seen it, went back to Ekron the same day. 6:17Now these are the gold images which the Philistines sent as a sin-offering to the Lord; one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron; 6:18And the gold mice, one for every town of the Philistines, the property of the five lords, walled towns as well as country places: and the great stone where they put the ark of the Lord is still in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite to this day. 6:19But the Lord sent destruction on seventy men of the people of Beth-shemesh for looking into the ark of the Lord; and great was the sorrow of the people for the destruction which the Lord had sent on them. 6:20And the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to keep his place before the Lord, this holy God? and to whom may he go from us? 6:21And they sent men to the people living in Kiriath-jearim, saying, The Philistines have sent back the ark of the Lord; come and take it up to your country.
7:1So the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took the ark of the Lord to the house of Abinadab in Gibeah, and they made his son Eleazar holy and put the ark in his care. 7:2And the ark was in Kiriath-jearim for a long time, as much as twenty years: and all Israel was searching after the Lord with weeping. 7:3Then Samuel said to all Israel, If with all your hearts you would come back to the Lord, then put away all the strange gods and the Astartes from among you, and let your hearts be turned to the Lord, and be servants to him only: and he will make you safe from the hands of the Philistines. 7:4So the children of Israel gave up the worship of Baal and Astarte, and became worshippers of the Lord only. 7:5Then Samuel said, Let all Israel come to Mizpah and I will make prayer to the Lord for you. 7:6So they came together to Mizpah, and got water, draining it out before the Lord, and they took no food that day, and they said, We have done evil against the Lord. And Samuel was judge of the children of Israel in Mizpah. 7:7Now when the Philistines had news that the children of Israel had come together at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And the children of Israel, hearing of it, were full of fear. 7:8And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Go on crying to the Lord our God for us to make us safe from the hands of the Philistines. 7:9And Samuel took a young lamb, offering all of it as a burned offering to the Lord; and Samuel made prayers to the Lord for Israel and the Lord gave him an answer. 7:10And while Samuel was offering the burned offering, the Philistines came near for the attack on Israel; but at the thunder of the Lord's voice that day the Philistines were overcome with fear, and they gave way before Israel. 7:11And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and went after the Philistines, attacking them till they came under Beth-car. 7:12Then Samuel took a stone and put it up between Mizpah and Jeshanah, naming it Eben-ezer, and saying, Up to now the Lord has been our help. 7:13So the Philistines were overcome, and did not come into the country of Israel again: and all the days of Samuel the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines. 7:14And the towns which the Philistines had taken were given back to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and all the country round them Israel made free from the power of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites. 7:15And Samuel was judge of Israel all the days of his life. 7:16From year to year he went in turn to Beth-el and Gilgal and Mizpah, judging Israel in all those places. 7:17And his base was at Ramah, where his house was; there he was judge of Israel and there he made an altar to the Lord.