^23:1After many days, when Yahweh had given rest to Israel from their enemies all around, and Joshua was old and well advanced in years, ^23:2Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders and for their heads, and for their judges and for their officers, and said to them, “I am old and well advanced in years. ^23:3You have seen all that Yahweh your God has done to all these nations because of you; for it is Yahweh your God who has fought for you. ^23:4Behold, I have allotted to you these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even to the great sea toward the going down of the sun. ^23:5Yahweh your God will thrust them out from before you, and drive them from out of your sight. You shall possess their land, as Yahweh your God spoke to you. ^23:6“Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that you not turn away from it to the right hand or to the left; ^23:7that you not come among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow down yourselves to them; ^23:8but hold fast to Yahweh your God, as you have done to this day. ^23:9“For Yahweh has driven great and strong nations out from before you. But as for you, no man has stood before you to this day. ^23:10One man of you shall chase a thousand; for it is Yahweh your God who fights for you, as he spoke to you. ^23:11Take good heed therefore to yourselves, that you love Yahweh your God. ^23:12“But if you do at all go back, and hold fast to the remnant of these nations, even these who remain among you, and make marriages with them, and go in to them, and they to you; ^23:13know for a certainty that Yahweh your God will no longer drive these nations from out of your sight; but they shall be a snare and a trap to you, a scourge in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which Yahweh your God has given you. ^23:14“Behold, today I am going the way of all the earth. You know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which Yahweh your God spoke concerning you. All have happened to you. Not one thing has failed of it. ^23:15It shall happen that as all the good things have come on you of which Yahweh your God spoke to you, so Yahweh will bring on you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land which Yahweh your God has given you, ^23:16when you disobey the covenant of Yahweh your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods, and bow down yourselves to them. Then Yahweh’s anger will be kindled against you, and you will perish quickly from off the good land which he has given to you.”

^24:1Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God. ^24:2Joshua said to all the people, “Yahweh says, the God of Israel, ‘Your fathers lived of old time beyond the River, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor: and they served other gods. ^24:3I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his offspring, and gave him Isaac. ^24:4I gave to Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave to Esau Mount Seir, to possess it. Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. ^24:5“‘I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out. ^24:6I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and you came to the sea. The Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and with horsemen to the Red Sea. ^24:7When they cried out to Yahweh, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea on them, and covered them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. You lived in the wilderness many days. ^24:8“‘I brought you into the land of the Amorites, that lived beyond the Jordan. They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand. You possessed their land, and I destroyed them from before you. ^24:9Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. He sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you, ^24:10but I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you still. So I delivered you out of his hand. ^24:11“‘You went over the Jordan, and came to Jericho. The men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I delivered them into your hand. ^24:12I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; not with your sword, nor with your bow. ^24:13I gave you a land whereon you had not labored, and cities which you didn’t build, and you live in them. You eat of vineyards and olive groves which you didn’t plant.’ ^24:14“Now therefore fear Yahweh, and serve him in sincerity and in truth. Put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, in Egypt; and serve Yahweh. ^24:15If it seems evil to you to serve Yahweh, choose today whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh.” ^24:16The people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake Yahweh, to serve other gods; ^24:17for it is Yahweh our God who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way in which we went, and among all the peoples through the middle of whom we passed. ^24:18Yahweh drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve Yahweh; for he is our God.” ^24:19Joshua said to the people, “You can’t serve Yahweh, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your disobedience nor your sins. ^24:20If you forsake Yahweh, and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you evil, and consume you, after he has done you good.” ^24:21The people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve Yahweh.” ^24:22Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen Yahweh yourselves, to serve him.” They said, “We are witnesses.” ^24:23“Now therefore put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to Yahweh, the God of Israel.” ^24:24The people said to Joshua, “We will serve Yahweh our God, and we will listen to his voice.” ^24:25So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. ^24:26Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a great stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of Yahweh. ^24:27Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all Yahweh’s words which he spoke to us. It shall be therefore a witness against you, lest you deny your God.” ^24:28So Joshua sent the people away, each to his own inheritance. ^24:29After these things, Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died, being one hundred ten years old. ^24:30They buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathserah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash. ^24:31Israel served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, and had known all the work of Yahweh, that he had worked for Israel. ^24:32They buried the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, in Shechem, in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of silver. They became the inheritance of the children of Joseph. ^24:33Eleazar the son of Aaron died. They buried him in the hill of Phinehas his son, which was given him in the hill country of Ephraim.

Judges

^1:1After the death of Joshua, the children of Israel asked of Yahweh, saying, “Who should go up for us first against the Canaanites, to fight against them?” ^1:2Yahweh said, “Judah shall go up. Behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.” ^1:3Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with you into your lot.” So Simeon went with him. ^1:4Judah went up, and Yahweh delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand. They struck ten thousand men in Bezek. ^1:5They found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and they fought against him. They struck the Canaanites and the Perizzites. ^1:6But Adoni-Bezek fled. They pursued him, caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his big toes. ^1:7Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their big toes cut off, scavenged under my table. As I have done, so God has done to me.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there. ^1:8The children of Judah fought against Jerusalem, took it, struck it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire. ^1:9After that, the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, and in the South, and in the lowland. ^1:10Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron. (The name of Hebron before that was Kiriath Arba.) They struck Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. ^1:11From there he went against the inhabitants of Debir. (The name of Debir before that was Kiriath Sepher.) ^1:12Caleb said, “I will give Achsah my daughter as wife to the man who strikes Kiriath Sepher, and takes it.” ^1:13Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it, so he gave him Achsah his daughter as his wife. ^1:14When she came, she got him to ask her father for a field. She got off her donkey; and Caleb said to her, “What would you like?” ^1:15She said to him, “Give me a blessing; because you have set me in the land of the South, give me also springs of water.” Then Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. ^1:16The children of the Kenite, Moses’ brother-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad; and they went and lived with the people. ^1:17Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they struck the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. The name of the city was called Hormah. ^1:18Also Judah took Gaza with its border, and Ashkelon with its border, and Ekron with its border. ^1:19Yahweh was with Judah; and drove out the inhabitants of the hill country; for he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron. ^1:20They gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said, and he drove the three sons of Anak out of there. ^1:21The children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem, but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day. ^1:22The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and Yahweh was with them. ^1:23The house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel. (The name of the city before that was Luz.) ^1:24The watchers saw a man come out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the entrance into the city, and we will deal kindly with you.” ^1:25He showed them the entrance into the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man and all his family go. ^1:26The man went into the land of the Hittites, built a city, and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day. ^1:27Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its towns, nor Taanach and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. ^1:28When Israel had grown strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, and did not utterly drive them out. ^1:29Ephraim didn’t drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, but the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them. ^1:30Zebulun didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites lived among them, and became subject to forced labor. ^1:31Asher didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Acco, nor the inhabitants of Sidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob; ^1:32but the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out. ^1:33Naphtali didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beth Anath; but he lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and of Beth Anath became subject to forced labor. ^1:34The Amorites forced the children of Dan into the hill country, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley; ^1:35but the Amorites would dwell in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim. Yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became subject to forced labor. ^1:36The border of the Amorites was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.

^2:1Yahweh’s angel came up from Gilgal to Bochim. He said, “I brought you out of Egypt, and have brought you to the land which I swore to give your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you. ^2:2You shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land. You shall break down their altars.’ But you have not listened to my voice. Why have you done this? ^2:3Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be in your sides, and their gods will be a snare to you.’” ^2:4When Yahweh’s angel spoke these words to all the children of Israel, the people lifted up their voice, and wept. ^2:5They called the name of that place Bochim, and they sacrificed there to Yahweh. ^2:6Now when Joshua had sent the people away, the children of Israel each went to his inheritance to possess the land. ^2:7The people served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of Yahweh that he had worked for Israel. ^2:8Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died, being one hundred ten years old. ^2:9They buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath Heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash. ^2:10After all that generation were gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them, who didn’t know Yahweh, nor the work which he had done for Israel. ^2:11The children of Israel did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and served the Baals. ^2:12They abandoned Yahweh, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them; and they provoked Yahweh to anger. ^2:13They abandoned Yahweh, and served Baal and the Ashtaroth. ^2:14Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. ^2:15Wherever they went out, Yahweh’s hand was against them for evil, as Yahweh had spoken, and as Yahweh had sworn to them; and they were very distressed. ^2:16Yahweh raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. ^2:17Yet they didn’t listen to their judges; for they prostituted themselves to other gods, and bowed themselves down to them. They quickly turned away from the way in which their fathers walked, obeying Yahweh’s commandments. They didn’t do so. ^2:18When Yahweh raised up judges for them, then Yahweh was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for it grieved Yahweh because of their groaning by reason of those who oppressed them and troubled them. ^2:19But when the judge was dead, they turned back, and dealt more corruptly than their fathers in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down to them. They didn’t cease what they were doing, or give up their stubborn ways. ^2:20Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel; and he said, “Because this nation transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not listened to my voice, ^2:21I also will no longer drive out any of the nations that Joshua left when he died from before them; ^2:22that by them I may test Israel, to see if they will keep Yahweh’s way to walk therein, as their fathers kept it, or not.” ^2:23So Yahweh left those nations, without driving them out hastily. He didn’t deliver them into Joshua’s hand.

^3:1Now these are the nations which Yahweh left, to test Israel by them, even as many as had not known all the wars of Canaan; ^3:2only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at least those who knew nothing of it before: ^3:3the five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to the entrance of Hamath. ^3:4They were left to test Israel by them, to know whether they would listen to Yahweh’s commandments, which he commanded their fathers by Moses. ^3:5The children of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ^3:6They took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons and served their gods. ^3:7The children of Israel did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and forgot Yahweh their God, and served the Baals and the Asheroth. ^3:8Therefore Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served Cushan Rishathaim eight years. ^3:9When the children of Israel cried to Yahweh, Yahweh raised up a savior to the children of Israel, who saved them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. ^3:10Yahweh’s Spirit came on him, and he judged Israel; and he went out to war, and Yahweh delivered Cushan Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. His hand prevailed against Cushan Rishathaim. ^3:11The land had rest forty years, then Othniel the son of Kenaz died. ^3:12The children of Israel again did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and Yahweh strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight. ^3:13He gathered the children of Ammon and Amalek to himself; and he went and struck Israel, and they possessed the city of palm trees. ^3:14The children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. ^3:15But when the children of Israel cried to Yahweh, Yahweh raised up a savior for them, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man. The children of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. ^3:16Ehud made himself a sword which had two edges, a cubit in length; and he wore it under his clothing on his right thigh. ^3:17He offered the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. ^3:18When he had finished offering the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute. ^3:19But he himself turned back from the stone idols that were by Gilgal, and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” The king said, “Keep silence!” All who stood by him left him. ^3:20Ehud came to him; and he was sitting by himself alone in the cool upper room. Ehud said, “I have a message from God to you.” He arose out of his seat. ^3:21Ehud put out his left hand, and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his body: ^3:22and the handle also went in after the blade; and the fat closed on the blade, for he didn’t draw the sword out of his body; and it came out behind. ^3:23Then Ehud went out onto the porch, and shut the doors of the upper room on him, and locked them. ^3:24After he had gone, his servants came and saw that the doors of the upper room were locked. They said, “Surely he is covering his feet in the upper room.” ^3:25They waited until they were ashamed; and behold, he didn’t open the doors of the upper room. Therefore they took the key and opened them, and behold, their lord had fallen down dead on the floor. ^3:26Ehud escaped while they waited, passed beyond the stone idols, and escaped to Seirah. ^3:27When he had come, he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim; and the children of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he led them. ^3:28He said to them, “Follow me; for Yahweh has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” They followed him, and took the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites, and didn’t allow any man to pass over. ^3:29They struck at that time about ten thousand men of Moab, every strong man, and every man of valor. No man escaped. ^3:30So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. Then the land had rest eighty years. ^3:31After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who struck six hundred men of the Philistines with an ox goad. He also saved Israel.

^4:1The children of Israel again did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, when Ehud was dead. ^4:2Yahweh sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth of the Gentiles. ^4:3The children of Israel cried to Yahweh, for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and he mightily oppressed the children of Israel for twenty years. ^4:4Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, judged Israel at that time. ^4:5She lived under Deborah’s palm tree between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. ^4:6She sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh Naphtali, and said to him, “Hasn’t Yahweh, the God of Israel, commanded, ‘Go and lead the way to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? ^4:7I will draw to you, to the river Kishon, Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into your hand.’” ^4:8Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” ^4:9She said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the journey that you take won’t be for your honor; for Yahweh will sell Sisera into a woman’s hand.” Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh. ^4:10Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh; and ten thousand men followed him; and Deborah went up with him. ^4:11Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, even from the children of Hobab, Moses’ brother-in-law, and had pitched his tent as far as the oak in Zaanannim, which is by Kedesh. ^4:12They told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to Mount Tabor. ^4:13Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles, to the river Kishon. ^4:14Deborah said to Barak, “Go; for this is the day in which Yahweh has delivered Sisera into your hand. Hasn’t Yahweh gone out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him. ^4:15Yahweh confused Sisera, all his chariots, and all his army, with the edge of the sword before Barak. Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled away on his feet. ^4:16But Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth of the Gentiles; and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword. There was not a man left. ^4:17However Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. ^4:18Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; don’t be afraid.” He came in to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. ^4:19He said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty.” She opened a bottle of milk, and gave him a drink, and covered him. ^4:20He said to her, “Stand in the door of the tent, and if any man comes and inquires of you, and says, ‘Is there any man here?’ you shall say, ‘No.’” ^4:21Then Jael Heber’s wife took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him, and struck the pin into his temples, and it pierced through into the ground; for he was in a deep sleep; so he fainted and died. ^4:22Behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you seek.” He came to her; and behold, Sisera lay dead, and the tent peg was in his temples. ^4:23So God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel on that day. ^4:24The hand of the children of Israel prevailed more and more against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.

^5:1Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying, ^5:2“Because the leaders took the lead in Israel, because the people offered themselves willingly, be blessed, Yahweh! ^5:3“Hear, you kings! Give ear, you princes! I, even I, will sing to Yahweh. I will sing praise to Yahweh, the God of Israel. ^5:4“Yahweh, when you went out of Seir, when you marched out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the sky also dropped. Yes, the clouds dropped water. ^5:5The mountains quaked Yahweh’s presence, even Sinai at the presence of Yahweh, the God of Israel. ^5:6“In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied. The travelers walked through byways. ^5:7The rulers ceased in Israel. They ceased until I, Deborah, arose; Until I arose a mother in Israel. ^5:8They chose new gods. Then war was in the gates. Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel? ^5:9My heart is toward the governors of Israel, who offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless Yahweh! ^5:10“Speak, you who ride on white donkeys, you who sit on rich carpets, and you who walk by the way. ^5:11Far from the noise of archers, in the places of drawing water, there they will rehearse Yahweh’s righteous acts, the righteous acts of his rule in Israel. “Then Yahweh’s people went down to the gates. ^5:12‘Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, utter a song! Arise, Barak, and lead away your captives, you son of Abinoam.’ ^5:13“Then a remnant of the nobles and the people came down. Yahweh came down for me against the mighty. ^5:14Those whose root is in Amalek came out of Ephraim, after you, Benjamin, among your peoples. Governors come down out of Machir. Those who handle the marshal’s staff came out of Zebulun. ^5:15The princes of Issachar were with Deborah. As was Issachar, so was Barak. They rushed into the valley at his feet. By the watercourses of Reuben, there were great resolves of heart. ^5:16Why did you sit among the sheepfolds? To hear the whistling for the flocks? At the watercourses of Reuben, there were great searchings of heart. ^5:17Gilead lived beyond the Jordan. Why did Dan remain in ships? Asher sat still at the haven of the sea, and lived by his creeks. ^5:18Zebulun was a people that jeopardized their lives to the death; Naphtali also, on the high places of the field. ^5:19“The kings came and fought, then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo. They took no plunder of silver. ^5:20From the sky the stars fought. From their courses, they fought against Sisera. ^5:21The river Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. My soul, march on with strength. ^5:22Then the horse hoofs stamped because of the prancing, the prancing of their strong ones. ^5:23‘Curse Meroz,’ said Yahweh’s angel. ‘Curse bitterly its inhabitants, because they didn’t come to help Yahweh, to help Yahweh against the mighty.’ ^5:24“Jael shall be blessed above women, the wife of Heber the Kenite; blessed shall she be above women in the tent. ^5:25He asked for water. She gave him milk. She brought him butter in a lordly dish. ^5:26She put her hand to the tent peg, and her right hand to the workmen’s hammer. With the hammer she struck Sisera. She struck through his head. Yes, she pierced and struck through his temples. ^5:27At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay. At her feet he bowed, he fell. Where he bowed, there he fell down dead. ^5:28“Through the window she looked out, and cried: Sisera’s mother looked through the lattice. ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why do the wheels of his chariots wait?’ ^5:29Her wise ladies answered her, Yes, she returned answer to herself, ^5:30‘Have they not found, have they not divided the plunder? A lady, two ladies to every man; to Sisera a plunder of dyed garments, a plunder of dyed garments embroidered, of dyed garments embroidered on both sides, on the necks of the plunder?’ ^5:31“So let all your enemies perish, Yahweh, but let those who love him be as the sun when it rises in its strength.” Then the land had rest forty years.

^6:1The children of Israel did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight: and Yahweh delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. ^6:2The hand of Midian prevailed against Israel; and because of Midian the children of Israel made themselves the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds. ^6:3So it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the children of the east came up against them. ^6:4They encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, until you come to Gaza. They left no sustenance in Israel, and no sheep, ox, or donkey. ^6:5For they came up with their livestock and their tents. They came in as locusts for multitude. Both they and their camels were without number; and they came into the land to destroy it. ^6:6Israel was brought very low because of Midian; and the children of Israel cried to Yahweh. ^6:7When the children of Israel cried to Yahweh because of Midian, ^6:8Yahweh sent a prophet to the children of Israel; and he said to them, “Yahweh says, the God of Israel, ‘I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you out of the house of bondage. ^6:9I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out from before you, and gave you their land. ^6:10I said to you, “I am Yahweh your God. You shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.” But you have not listened to my voice.’” ^6:11Yahweh’s angel came, and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Midianites. ^6:12Yahweh’s angel appeared to him, and said to him, “Yahweh is with you, you mighty man of valor!” ^6:13Gideon said to him, “Oh, my lord, if Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? Where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, ‘Didn’t Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?’ But now Yahweh has cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian.” ^6:14Yahweh looked at him, and said, “Go in this your might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Haven’t I sent you?” ^6:15He said to him, “O Lord, how shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” ^6:16Yahweh said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” ^6:17He said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, then show me a sign that it is you who talk with me. ^6:18Please don’t go away, until I come to you, and bring out my present, and lay it before you.” He said, “I will wait until you come back.” ^6:19Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes of an ephah of meal. He put the meat in a basket and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out to him under the oak, and presented it. ^6:20The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” He did so. ^6:21Then Yahweh’s angel stretched out the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and fire went up out of the rock, and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. Then Yahweh’s angel departed out of his sight. ^6:22Gideon saw that he was Yahweh’s angel; and Gideon said, “Alas, Lord Yahweh! Because I have seen Yahweh’s angel face to face!” ^6:23Yahweh said to him, “Peace be to you! Don’t be afraid. You shall not die.” ^6:24Then Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh, and called it “Yahweh is Peace.” To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. ^6:25That same night, Yahweh said to him, “Take your father’s bull, even the second bull seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is by it. ^6:26Then build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold, in an orderly way, and take the second bull, and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.” ^6:27Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as Yahweh had spoken to him. Because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city, he could not do it by day, but he did it by night. ^6:28When the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah was cut down that was by it, and the second bull was offered on the altar that was built. ^6:29They said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” When they inquired and asked, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.” ^6:30Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has broken down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the Asherah that was by it.” ^6:31Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? He who will contend for him, let him be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because someone has broken down his altar!” ^6:32Therefore on that day he named him Jerub-Baal, saying, “Let Baal contend against him, because he has broken down his altar.” ^6:33Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east assembled themselves together; and they passed over, and encamped in the valley of Jezreel. ^6:34But Yahweh’s Spirit came on Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered together to follow him. ^6:35He sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; and they also were gathered together to follow him. He sent messengers to Asher, and to Zebulun, and to Naphtali; and they came up to meet them. ^6:36Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken, ^6:37behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then shall I know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken.” ^6:38It was so; for he rose up early on the next day, and pressed the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. ^6:39Gideon said to God, “Don’t let your anger be kindled against me, and I will speak but this once. Please let me make a trial just this once with the fleece. Let it now be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew.” ^6:40God did so that night; for it was dry on the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.

^7:1Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people who were with him, rose up early, and encamped beside the spring of Harod. Midian’s camp was on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. ^7:2Yahweh said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel brag against me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ ^7:3Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained. ^7:4Yahweh said to Gideon, “There are still too many people. Bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. It shall be, that those whom I tell you, ‘This shall go with you,’ the same shall go with you; and whoever I tell you, ‘This shall not go with you,’ the same shall not go.” ^7:5So he brought down the people to the water; and Yahweh said to Gideon, “Everyone who laps of the water with his tongue, like a dog laps, you shall set him by himself; likewise everyone who bows down on his knees to drink.” ^7:6The number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people bowed down on their knees to drink water. ^7:7Yahweh said to Gideon, “By the three hundred men who lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, each to his own place.” ^7:8So the people took food in their hand, and their trumpets; and he sent all the men of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the three hundred men; and the camp of Midian was beneath him in the valley. ^7:9That same night, Yahweh said to him, “Arise, go down into the camp; for I have delivered it into your hand. ^7:10But if you are afraid to go down, go with Purah your servant down to the camp. ^7:11You will hear what they say; and afterward your hands will be strengthened to go down into the camp.” Then went he down with Purah his servant to the outermost part of the armed men who were in the camp. ^7:12The Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like locusts for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand which is on the seashore for multitude. ^7:13When Gideon had come, behold, there was a man telling a dream to his fellow. He said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream; and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, and came to the tent, and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.” ^7:14His fellow answered, “This is nothing other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel. God has delivered Midian into his hand, with all the army.” ^7:15It was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and its interpretation, that he worshiped. Then he returned into the camp of Israel, and said, “Arise; for Yahweh has delivered the army of Midian into your hand!” ^7:16He divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put into the hands of all them trumpets, and empty pitchers, with torches within the pitchers. ^7:17He said to them, “Watch me, and do likewise. Behold, when I come to the outermost part of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so you shall do. ^7:18When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and shout, ‘For Yahweh and for Gideon!’” ^7:19So Gideon, and the hundred men who were with him, came to the outermost part of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch, when they had but newly set the watch. Then they blew the trumpets, and broke in pieces the pitchers that were in their hands. ^7:20The three companies blew the trumpets, broke the pitchers, and held the torches in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands with which to blow; and they shouted, “The sword of Yahweh and of Gideon!” ^7:21They each stood in his place around the camp; and all the army ran; and they shouted, and put them to flight. ^7:22They blew the three hundred trumpets, and Yahweh set every man’s sword against his fellow, and against all the army; and the army fled as far as Beth Shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel Meholah, by Tabbath. ^7:23The men of Israel were gathered together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued Midian. ^7:24Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against Midian, and take before them the waters, as far as Beth Barah, even the Jordan!” So all the men of Ephraim were gathered together, and took the waters as far as Beth Barah, even the Jordan. ^7:25They took the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at Oreb’s rock, and Zeeb they killed at Zeeb’s wine press; and pursued Midian. Then they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan.

^8:1The men of Ephraim said to him, “Why have you treated us this way, that you didn’t call us when you went to fight with Midian?” They rebuked him sharply. ^8:2He said to them, “What have I now done in comparison with you? Isn’t the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? ^8:3God has delivered into your hand the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb! What was I able to do in comparison with you?” Then their anger was abated toward him, when he had said that. ^8:4Gideon came to the Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men who were with him, faint, yet pursuing. ^8:5He said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me; for they are faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” ^8:6The princes of Succoth said, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?” ^8:7Gideon said, “Therefore when Yahweh has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.” ^8:8He went up there to Penuel, and spoke to them in the same way; and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. ^8:9He spoke also to the men of Penuel, saying, “When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.” ^8:10Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of all the army of the children of the east; for there fell one hundred twenty thousand men who drew sword. ^8:11Gideon went up by the way of those who lived in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and struck the army; for the army was secure. ^8:12Zebah and Zalmunna fled; and he pursued them. He took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and confused all the army. ^8:13Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle from the ascent of Heres. ^8:14He caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and inquired of him: and he described for him the princes of Succoth, and its elders, seventy-seven men. ^8:15He came to the men of Succoth, and said, “See Zebah and Zalmunna, concerning whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are weary?’” ^8:16He took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth. ^8:17He broke down the tower of Penuel, and killed the men of the city. ^8:18Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men were they whom you killed at Tabor?” They answered, “They were like you. Each one resembled the children of a king.” ^8:19He said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As Yahweh lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you.” ^8:20He said to Jether his firstborn, “Get up, and kill them!” But the youth didn’t draw his sword; for he was afraid, because he was yet a youth. ^8:21Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise and fall on us; for as the man is, so is his strength.” Gideon arose, and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescents that were on their camels’ necks. ^8:22Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, both you, and your son, and your son’s son also; for you have saved us out of the hand of Midian.” ^8:23Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you. Yahweh shall rule over you.” ^8:24Gideon said to them, “I do have a request, that you would each give me the earrings of his plunder.” (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) ^8:25They answered, “We will willingly give them.” They spread a garment, and every man threw the earrings of his plunder into it. ^8:26The weight of the golden earrings that he requested was one thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold, besides the crescents, and the pendants, and the purple clothing that was on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were about their camels’ necks. ^8:27Gideon made an ephod out of it, and put it in Ophrah, his city. Then all Israel played the prostitute with it there; and it became a snare to Gideon, and to his house. ^8:28So Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, and they lifted up their heads no more. The land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon. ^8:29Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house. ^8:30Gideon had seventy sons conceived from his body, for he had many wives. ^8:31His concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech. ^8:32Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. ^8:33As soon as Gideon was dead, the children of Israel turned again, and played the prostitute following the Baals, and made Baal Berith their god. ^8:34The children of Israel didn’t remember Yahweh their God, who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side; ^8:35neither did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, that is, Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shown to Israel.

^9:1Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his mother’s brothers, and spoke with them, and with all the family of the house of his mother’s father, saying, ^9:2“Please speak in the ears of all the men of Shechem, ‘Is it better for you that all the sons of Jerubbaal, who are seventy persons, rule over you, or that one rule over you?’ Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.” ^9:3His mother’s brothers spoke of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words. Their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, “He is our brother.” ^9:4They gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baal Berith, with which Abimelech hired vain and light fellows, who followed him. ^9:5He went to his father’s house at Ophrah, and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, being seventy persons, on one stone: but Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left; for he hid himself. ^9:6All the men of Shechem assembled themselves together, and all the house of Millo, and went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar that was in Shechem. ^9:7When they told it to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, cried out, and said to them, “Listen to me, you men of Shechem, that God may listen to you. ^9:8The trees set out to anoint a king over themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’ ^9:9“But the olive tree said to them, ‘Should I stop producing my oil, with which they honor God and man by me, and go to wave back and forth over the trees?’ ^9:10“The trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and reign over us.’ ^9:11“But the fig tree said to them, ‘Should I leave my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to wave back and forth over the trees?’ ^9:12“The trees said to the vine, ‘Come and reign over us.’ ^9:13“The vine said to them, ‘Should I leave my new wine, which cheers God and man, and go to wave back and forth over the trees?’ ^9:14“Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘Come and reign over us.’ ^9:15“The bramble said to the trees, ‘If in truth you anoint me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’ ^9:16“Now therefore, if you have dealt truly and righteously, in that you have made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done to him according to the deserving of his hands ^9:17(for my father fought for you, and risked his life, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian; ^9:18and you have risen up against my father’s house today, and have slain his sons, seventy persons, on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his female servant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother); ^9:19if you then have dealt truly and righteously with Jerubbaal and with his house today, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you; ^9:20but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.” ^9:21Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and lived there, for fear of Abimelech his brother. ^9:22Abimelech was prince over Israel three years. ^9:23Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, ^9:24that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and that their blood might be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers. ^9:25The men of Shechem set an ambush for him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all who came along that way by them, and Abimelech was told about it. ^9:26Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brothers, and went over to Shechem; and the men of Shechem put their trust in him. ^9:27They went out into the field, harvested their vineyards, trod the grapes, held festival, and went into the house of their god, and ate and drank, and cursed Abimelech. ^9:28Gaal the son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Isn’t he the son of Jerubbaal? Isn’t Zebul his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem, but why should we serve him? ^9:29I wish that this people were under my hand! Then I would remove Abimelech.” He said to Abimelech, “Increase your army, and come out!” ^9:30When Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger burned. ^9:31He sent messengers to Abimelech craftily, saying, “Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem; and behold, they incite the city against you. ^9:32Now therefore, go up by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field. ^9:33It shall be that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, you shall rise early, and rush on the city. Behold, when he and the people who are with him come out against you, then may you do to them as you shall find occasion.” ^9:34Abimelech rose up, and all the people who were with him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies. ^9:35Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city. Abimelech rose up, and the people who were with him, from the ambush. ^9:36When Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, “Behold, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains.” Zebul said to him, “You see the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.” ^9:37Gaal spoke again and said, “Behold, people are coming down by the middle of the land, and one company comes by the way of the oak of Meonenim.” ^9:38Then Zebul said to him, “Now where is your mouth, that you said, ‘Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?’ Isn’t this the people that you have despised? Please go out now and fight with them.” ^9:39Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech. ^9:40Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many fell wounded, even to the entrance of the gate. ^9:41Abimelech lived at Arumah; and Zebul drove out Gaal and his brothers, that they should not dwell in Shechem. ^9:42On the next day, the people went out into the field; and they told Abimelech. ^9:43He took the people, and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the field; and he looked, and behold, the people came out of the city. So, he rose up against them, and struck them. ^9:44Abimelech and the companies that were with him rushed forward, and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city; and the two companies rushed on all who were in the field, and struck them. ^9:45Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and killed the people in it. He beat down the city, and sowed it with salt. ^9:46When all the men of the tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered into the stronghold of the house of Elberith. ^9:47Abimelech was told that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. ^9:48Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him; and Abimelech took an ax in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it up, and laid it on his shoulder. Then he said to the people who were with him, “What you have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done!” ^9:49All the people likewise each cut down his bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them at the base of the stronghold, and set the stronghold on fire on them; so that all the people of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women. ^9:50Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it. ^9:51But there was a strong tower within the city, and all the men and women of the city fled there, and shut themselves in, and went up to the roof of the tower. ^9:52Abimelech came to the tower, and fought against it, and came near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire. ^9:53A certain woman cast an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head, and broke his skull. ^9:54Then he called hastily to the young man his armor bearer, and said to him, “Draw your sword, and kill me, that men not say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’ His young man thrust him through, and he died.” ^9:55When the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they each departed to his place. ^9:56Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did to his father, in killing his seventy brothers; ^9:57and God repaid all the wickedness of the men of Shechem on their heads; and the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal came on them.

^10:1After Abimelech, Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, arose to save Israel. He lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. ^10:2He judged Israel twenty-three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir. ^10:3After him Jair, the Gileadite arose, and he judged Israel twenty-two years. ^10:4He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkey colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havvoth Jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead. ^10:5Jair died, and was buried in Kamon. ^10:6The children of Israel again did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and served the Baals, the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines. They abandoned Yahweh, and didn’t serve him. ^10:7Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the children of Ammon. ^10:8They troubled and oppressed the children of Israel that year. For eighteen years, they oppressed all the children of Israel that were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. ^10:9The children of Ammon passed over the Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was very distressed. ^10:10The children of Israel cried to Yahweh, saying, “We have sinned against you, even because we have forsaken our God, and have served the Baals.” ^10:11Yahweh said to the children of Israel, “Didn’t I save you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines? ^10:12The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, oppressed you; and you cried to me, and I saved you out of their hand. ^10:13Yet you have forsaken me, and served other gods. Therefore I will save you no more. ^10:14Go and cry to the gods which you have chosen. Let them save you in the time of your distress!” ^10:15The children of Israel said to Yahweh, “We have sinned! Do you to us whatever seems good to you; only deliver us, please, today.” ^10:16They put away the foreign gods from among them, and served Yahweh; and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel. ^10:17Then the children of Ammon were gathered together and encamped in Gilead. The children of Israel assembled themselves together and encamped in Mizpah. ^10:18The people, the princes of Gilead, said to one another, “Who is the man who will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

^11:1Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead became the father of Jephthah. ^11:2Gilead’s wife bore him sons. When his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out, and said to him, “You will not inherit in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.” ^11:3Then Jephthah fled from his brothers, and lived in the land of Tob. Outlaws joined up with Jephthah, and they went out with him. ^11:4After a while, the children of Ammon made war against Israel. ^11:5When the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah out of the land of Tob. ^11:6They said to Jephthah, “Come and be our chief, that we may fight with the children of Ammon.” ^11:7Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Didn’t you hate me, and drive me out of my father’s house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?” ^11:8The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “Therefore we have turned again to you now, that you may go with us, and fight with the children of Ammon. You will be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” ^11:9Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight with the children of Ammon, and Yahweh delivers them before me, will I be your head?” ^11:10The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “Yahweh will be witness between us. Surely we will do what you say.” ^11:11Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them. Jephthah spoke all his words before Yahweh in Mizpah. ^11:12Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, “What have you to do with me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?” ^11:13The king of the children of Ammon answered to the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel took away my land, when he came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon even to the Jabbok, and to the Jordan. Now therefore restore that territory again peaceably.” ^11:14Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the children of Ammon; ^11:15and he said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: Israel didn’t take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon, ^11:16but when they came up from Egypt, and Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea, and came to Kadesh; ^11:17then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let me pass through your land;’ but the king of Edom didn’t listen. In the same way, he sent to the king of Moab; but he would not: and Israel stayed in Kadesh. ^11:18Then they went through the wilderness, and went around the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and they encamped on the other side of the Arnon; but they didn’t come within the border of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. ^11:19Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land to my place.’ ^11:20But Sihon didn’t trust Israel to pass through his border; but Sihon gathered all his people together, and encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel. ^11:21Yahweh, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they struck them. So Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. ^11:22They possessed all the border of the Amorites, from the Arnon even to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness even to the Jordan. ^11:23So now Yahweh, the God of Israel, has dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and should you possess them? ^11:24Won’t you possess that which Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whoever Yahweh our God has dispossessed from before us, them will we possess. ^11:25Now are you anything better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them? ^11:26While Israel lived in Heshbon and its towns, and in Aroer and its towns, and in all the cities that are along by the side of the Arnon, three hundred years; why didn’t you recover them within that time? ^11:27I therefore have not sinned against you, but you do me wrong to war against me. May Yahweh the Judge be judge today between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.” ^11:28However the king of the children of Ammon didn’t listen to the words of Jephthah which he sent him. ^11:29Then Yahweh’s Spirit came on Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed over to the children of Ammon. ^11:30Jephthah vowed a vow to Yahweh, and said, “If you will indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand, ^11:31then it shall be, that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be Yahweh’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.” ^11:32So Jephthah passed over to the children of Ammon to fight against them; and Yahweh delivered them into his hand. ^11:33He struck them from Aroer until you come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and to Abelcheramim, with a very great slaughter. So the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel. ^11:34Jephthah came to Mizpah to his house; and behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter. ^11:35When he saw her, he tore his clothes, and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are one of those who trouble me; for I have opened my mouth to Yahweh, and I can’t go back.” ^11:36She said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to Yahweh; do to me according to that which has proceeded out of your mouth, because Yahweh has taken vengeance for you on your enemies, even on the children of Ammon.” ^11:37She said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me. Leave me alone two months, that I may depart and go down on the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my companions.” ^11:38He said, “Go.” He sent her away for two months: and she departed, she and her companions, and mourned her virginity on the mountains. ^11:39At the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed. She was a virgin. It was a custom in Israel ^11:40that the daughters of Israel went yearly to celebrate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.

^12:1The men of Ephraim were gathered together, and passed northward; and they said to Jephthah, “Why did you pass over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didn’t call us to go with you? We will burn your house around you with fire!” ^12:2Jephthah said to them, “I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, you didn’t save me out of their hand. ^12:3When I saw that you didn’t save me, I put my life in my hand, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and Yahweh delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me today, to fight against me?” ^12:4Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim. The men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they said, “You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the middle of Ephraim, and in the middle of Manasseh.” ^12:5The Gileadites took the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. When the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me go over,” the men of Gilead said to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No”; ^12:6then they said to him, “Now say ‘Shibboleth;’” and he said “Sibboleth”; for he couldn’t manage to pronounce it right: then they seized him, and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time, forty-two thousand of Ephraim fell. ^12:7Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died, and was buried in the cities of Gilead. ^12:8After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. ^12:9He had thirty sons; and thirty daughters he sent outside his clan, and thirty daughters he brought in from outside his clan for his sons. He judged Israel seven years. ^12:10Ibzan died, and was buried at Bethlehem. ^12:11After him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years. ^12:12Elon the Zebulunite died, and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun. ^12:13After him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel. ^12:14He had forty sons and thirty sons’ sons, who rode on seventy donkey colts. He judged Israel eight years. ^12:15Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

^13:1The children of Israel again did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight; and Yahweh delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years. ^13:2There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and childless. ^13:3Yahweh’s angel appeared to the woman, and said to her, “See now, you are barren and childless; but you shall conceive, and bear a son. ^13:4Now therefore please beware and drink no wine nor strong drink, and don’t eat any unclean thing: ^13:5for, behold, you shall conceive, and give birth to a son. No razor shall come on his head; for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb. He shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.” ^13:6Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “A man of God came to me, and his face was like the face of the angel of God, very awesome. I didn’t ask him where he was from, neither did he tell me his name; ^13:7but he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink. Don’t eat any unclean thing; for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’” ^13:8Then Manoah entreated Yahweh, and said, “Oh, Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us, and teach us what we should do to the child who shall be born.” ^13:9God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field, but Manoah, her husband, wasn’t with her. ^13:10The woman hurried and ran, and told her husband, and said to him, “Behold, the man who came to me that day has appeared to me,” ^13:11Manoah arose, and followed his wife, and came to the man, and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?” He said, “I am.” ^13:12Manoah said, “Now let your words happen. What shall the child’s way of life and mission be?” ^13:13Yahweh’s angel said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her beware. ^13:14She may not eat of anything that comes of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. Let her observe all that I commanded her.” ^13:15Manoah said to Yahweh’s angel, “Please stay with us, that we may make a young goat ready for you.” ^13:16Yahweh’s angel said to Manoah, “Though you detain me, I won’t eat your bread. If you will prepare a burnt offering, you must offer it to Yahweh.” For Manoah didn’t know that he was Yahweh’s angel. ^13:17Manoah said to Yahweh’s angel, “What is your name, that when your words happen, we may honor you?” ^13:18Yahweh’s angel said to him, “Why do you ask about my name, since it is incomprehensible?” ^13:19So Manoah took the young goat with the meal offering, and offered it on the rock to Yahweh. Then the angel did an amazing thing as Manoah and his wife watched. ^13:20For when the flame went up toward the sky from off the altar, Yahweh’s angel ascended in the flame of the altar. Manoah and his wife watched; and they fell on their faces to the ground. ^13:21But Yahweh’s angel didn’t appear to Manoah or to his wife any more. Then Manoah knew that he was Yahweh’s angel. ^13:22Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God.” ^13:23But his wife said to him, “If Yahweh were pleased to kill us, he wouldn’t have received a burnt offering and a meal offering at our hand, and he wouldn’t have shown us all these things, nor would he have told us such things as these at this time.” ^13:24The woman bore a son, and named him Samson. The child grew, and Yahweh blessed him. ^13:25Yahweh’s Spirit began to move him in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

^14:1Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. ^14:2He came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, “I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. Now therefore get her for me as my wife.” ^14:3Then his father and his mother said to him, “Isn’t there a woman among your brothers’ daughters, or among all my people, that you go to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines?” Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she pleases me well.” ^14:4But his father and his mother didn’t know that it was of Yahweh; for he sought an occasion against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines ruled over Israel. ^14:5Then went Samson down with his father and his mother to Timnah, and came to the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young lion roared against him. ^14:6Yahweh’s Spirit came mightily on him, and he tore him as he would have torn a young goat; and he had nothing in his hand, but he didn’t tell his father or his mother what he had done. ^14:7He went down, and talked with the woman, and she pleased Samson well. ^14:8After a while he returned to take her; and he went over to see the carcass of the lion; and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey. ^14:9He took it into his hands, and went on, eating as he went. He came to his father and mother, and gave to them, and they ate, but he didn’t tell them that he had taken the honey out of the lion’s body. ^14:10His father went down to the woman; and Samson made a feast there, for the young men used to do so. ^14:11When they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him. ^14:12Samson said to them, “Let me tell you a riddle now. If you can declare it to me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing; ^14:13but if you can’t declare it to me, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing.” They said to him, “Tell us your riddle, that we may hear it.” ^14:14He said to them, “Out of the eater came out food. Out of the strong came out sweetness.” They couldn’t in three days declare the riddle. ^14:15On the seventh day, they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband, that he may declare to us the riddle, lest we burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you called us to impoverish us? Isn’t that so?” ^14:16Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, “You just hate me, and don’t love me. You’ve told a riddle to the children of my people, and haven’t told it to me.” He said to her, “Behold, I haven’t told my father or my mother, so why should I tell you?” ^14:17She wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted; and on the seventh day, he told her, because she pressed him severely; and she told the riddle to the children of her people. ^14:18The men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, “What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?” He said to them, “If you hadn’t plowed with my heifer, you wouldn’t have found out my riddle.” ^14:19Yahweh’s Spirit came mightily on him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and struck thirty men of them, and took their plunder, then gave the changes of clothing to those who declared the riddle. His anger burned, and he went up to his father’s house. ^14:20But Samson’s wife was given to his companion who had been his friend.

^15:1But after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife with a young goat. He said, “I will go in to my wife’s room.” But her father wouldn’t allow him to go in. ^15:2Her father said, “I most certainly thought that you utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to your companion. Isn’t her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her, instead.” ^15:3Samson said to them, “This time I will be blameless in the case of the Philistines, when I harm them.” ^15:4Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put a torch in the middle between every two tails. ^15:5When he had set the torches on fire, he let them go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burned up both the shocks and the standing grain, and also the olive groves. ^15:6Then the Philistines said, “Who has done this?” They said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife, and given her to his companion.” The Philistines came up, and burned her and her father with fire. ^15:7Samson said to them, “If you behave like this, surely I will take revenge on you, and after that I will cease.” ^15:8He struck them hip and thigh with a great slaughter; and he went down and lived in the cave in Etam’s rock. ^15:9Then the Philistines went up, encamped in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi. ^15:10The men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” They said, “We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he has done to us.” ^15:11Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cave in Etam’s rock, and said to Samson, “Don’t you know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” He said to them, “As they did to me, so I have done to them.” ^15:12They said to him, “We have come down to bind you, that we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines.” Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves.” ^15:13They spoke to him, saying, “No; but we will bind you securely, and deliver you into their hands; but surely we will not kill you.” They bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock. ^15:14When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. Then Yahweh’s Spirit came mightily on him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that was burned with fire, and his bands dropped from off his hands. ^15:15He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, put out his hand, took it, and struck a thousand men with it. ^15:16Samson said, “With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps on heaps; with the jawbone of a donkey I have struck a thousand men.” ^15:17When he had finished speaking, he threw the jawbone out of his hand; and that place was called Ramath Lehi. ^15:18He was very thirsty, and called on Yahweh, and said, “You have given this great deliverance by the hand of your servant; and now shall I die of thirst, and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” ^15:19But God split the hollow place that is in Lehi, and water came out of it. When he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived. Therefore its name was called En Hakkore, which is in Lehi, to this day. ^15:20He judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

^16:1Samson went to Gaza, and saw there a prostitute, and went in to her. ^16:2The Gazites were told, “Samson is here!” They surrounded him, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, “Wait until morning light, then we will kill him.” ^16:3Samson lay until midnight, and arose at midnight, and laid hold of the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and plucked them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the mountain that is before Hebron. ^16:4It came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. ^16:5The lords of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her, “Entice him, and see in which his great strength lies, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.” ^16:6Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and what you might be bound to afflict you.” ^16:7Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven green cords that were never dried, then shall I become weak, and be as another man.” ^16:8Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green cords which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. ^16:9Now she had an ambush waiting in the inner room. She said to him, “The Philistines are on you, Samson!” He broke the cords, as a string of tow is broken when it touches the fire. So his strength was not known. ^16:10Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have mocked me, and told me lies: now please tell me with which you might be bound.” ^16:11He said to her, “If they only bind me with new ropes with which no work has been done, then shall I become weak, and be as another man.” ^16:12So Delilah took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said to him, “The Philistines are on you, Samson!” The ambush was waiting in the inner room. He broke them off his arms like a thread. ^16:13Delilah said to Samson, “Until now, you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me with what you might be bound.” He said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web.” ^16:14She fastened it with the pin, and said to him, “The Philistines are on you, Samson!” He awakened out of his sleep, and plucked away the pin of the beam, and the web. ^16:15She said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies.” ^16:16When she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, his soul was troubled to death. ^16:17He told her all his heart, and said to her, “No razor has ever come on my head; for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will go from me, and I will become weak, and be like any other man.” ^16:18When 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 has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought the money in their hand. ^16:19She made him sleep on her knees; and she called for a man, and shaved off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. ^16:20She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” He awoke out of his sleep, and said, “I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free.” But he didn’t know that Yahweh had departed from him. ^16:21The Philistines laid hold on him, and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he ground at the mill in the prison. ^16:22However the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaved. ^16:23The lords of the Philistines gathered them together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice; for they said, “Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.” ^16:24When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, “Our god has delivered our enemy and the destroyer of our country, who has slain many of us, into our hand.” ^16:25When their hearts were merry, they said, “Call for Samson, that he may entertain us.” They called for Samson out of the prison; and he performed before them. They set him between the pillars; ^16:26and Samson said to the boy who held him by the hand, “Allow me to feel the pillars whereupon the house rests, that I may lean on them.” ^16:27Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were on the roof about three thousand men and women, who saw while Samson performed. ^16:28Samson called to Yahweh, and said, “Lord Yahweh, remember me, please, and strengthen me, please, only this once, God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.” ^16:29Samson took hold of the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and leaned on them, the one with his right hand, and the other with his left. ^16:30Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell on the lords, and on all the people who were therein. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than those who he killed in his life. ^16:31Then his brothers 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 burial site of Manoah his father. He judged Israel twenty years.

^17:1There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. ^17:2He said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me. I took it.” His mother said, “May Yahweh bless my son!” ^17:3He restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, then his mother said, “I most certainly dedicate the silver to Yahweh from my hand for my son, to make a carved image and a molten image. Now therefore I will restore it to you.” ^17:4When he restored the money to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave them to a silversmith, who made a carved image and a molten image out of it. It was in the house of Micah. ^17:5The man Micah had a house of gods, and he made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. ^17:6In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did that which was right in his own eyes. ^17:7There was a young man out of Bethlehem Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he lived there. ^17:8The man departed out of the city, out of Bethlehem Judah, to live where he could find a place, and he came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, as he traveled. ^17:9Micah said to him, “Where did you come from?” He said to him, “I am a Levite of Bethlehem Judah, and I am looking for a place to live.” ^17:10Micah said to him, “Dwell with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver per year, a suit of clothing, and your food.” So the Levite went in. ^17:11The Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was to him as one of his sons. ^17:12Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. ^17:13Then Micah said, “Now know I that Yahweh will do good to me, since I have a Levite as my priest.”