1:1It happened after the death of Yehoshua, the children of Yisra'el asked of the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us first against the Kana`anim, to fight against them? 1:2The LORD said, Yehudah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand. 1:3Yehudah said to Shim`on his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Kana`anim; and I likewise will go with you into your lot. So Shim`on went with him. 1:4Yehudah went up; and the LORD delivered the Kana`anim and the Perizzi into their hand: and they struck of them in Bezek ten thousand men. 1:5They found Adoni-bezek in Bezek; and they fought against him, and they struck the Kana`anim and the Perizzi. 1:6But Adoni-bezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. 1:7Adoni-bezek said, "Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their food under my table: as I have done, so God has requited me." They brought him to Yerushalayim, and he died there. 1:8The children of Yehudah fought against Yerushalayim, and took it, and struck it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire. 1:9Afterward the children of Yehudah went down to fight against the Kana`anim who lived in the hill-country, and in the South, and in the lowland. 1:10Yehudah went against the Kana`anim who lived in Chevron (now the name of Chevron before was Kiryat-Arba); and they struck Sheshai, and Achiman, and Talmai. 1:11From there he went against the inhabitants of Devir. (Now the name of Devir before was Kiryat Sepher.) 1:12Kalev said, He who strikes Kiryat Sepher, and takes it, to him will I give `Akhsah my daughter as wife. 1:13`Otni'el the son of Kenaz, Kalev's younger brother, took it: and he gave him `Akhsah his daughter as wife. 1:14It happened, when she came to him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she alighted from off her donkey; and Kalev said to her, What would you? 1:15She said to him, Give me a blessing; for that you have set me in the land of the South, give me also springs of water. Kalev gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. 1:16The children of the Keni, Moshe' brother-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Yehudah into the wilderness of Yehudah, which is in the south of `Arad; and they went and lived with the people. 1:17Yehudah went with Shim`on his brother, and they struck the Kana`anim who inhabited Tzefat, and utterly destroyed it. The name of the city was called Chormah. 1:18Also Yehudah took `Aza with the border of it, and Ashkelon with the border of it, and `Ekron with the border of it. 1:19The LORD was with Yehudah; 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 Chevron to Kalev, as Moshe had spoken: and he drove out there the three sons of `Anak. 1:21The children of Binyamin did not drive out the Yevusi who inhabited Yerushalayim; but the Yevusi dwell with the children of Binyamin in Yerushalayim to this day. 1:22The house of Yosef, they also went up against Beit-El; and the LORD was with them. 1:23The house of Yosef sent to spy out Beit-El. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.) 1:24The watchers saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said to him, Show us, we pray you, the entrance into the city, and we will deal kindly with you. 1:25He shown them the entrance into the city; and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man go and all his family. 1:26The man went into the land of the Chitti, and built a city, and called the name of it Luz, which is the name of it to this day. 1:27Menasheh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its towns, nor of Ta`nakh and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Yivle`am and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; but the Kana`anim would dwell in that land. 1:28It happened, when Yisra'el had grown strong, that they put the Kana`anim to forced labor, and did not utterly drive them out. 1:29Efrayim didn't drive out the Kana`anim who lived in Gezer; but the Kana`anim lived in Gezer among them. 1:30Zevulun didn't drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Kana`anim lived among them, and became subject to forced labor. 1:31Asher didn't drive out the inhabitants of `Akko, nor the inhabitants of Tzidon, nor of Achlav, nor of Akhziv, nor of Chelbah, nor of Afik, nor of Rechov; 1:32but the Asheri lived among the Kana`anim, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out. 1:33Naftali didn't drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beit-`Anat; but he lived among the Kana`anim, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beit-`Anat became subject to forced labor. 1:34The Amori forced the children of Dan into the hill-country; for they would not allow them to come down to the valley; 1:35but the Amori would dwell in Mount Cheres, in Ayalon, and in Sha`alvim: yet the hand of the house of Yosef prevailed, so that they became subject to forced labor. 1:36The border of the Amori was from the ascent of `Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.
2:1The angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bokhim. He said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you to the land which I swore to your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you: 2:2and you 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 as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you. 2:4It happened, when the angel of the LORD spoke these words to all the children of Yisra'el, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept. 2:5They called the name of that place Bokhim: and they sacrificed there to the LORD. 2:6Now when Yehoshua had sent the people away, the children of Yisra'el went every man to his inheritance to possess the land. 2:7The people served the LORD all the days of Yehoshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Yehoshua, who had seen all the great work of the LORD that he had worked for Yisra'el. 2:8Yehoshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being one hundred ten years old. 2:9They buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnat-Cheres, in the hill country of Efrayim, on the north of the mountain of Ga`ash. 2:10Also all that generation were gathered to their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, who didn't know the LORD, nor yet the work which he had worked for Yisra'el. 2:11The children of Yisra'el did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Ba`alim; 2:12and they forsook the LORD, 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 round about them, and bowed themselves down to them: and they provoked the LORD to anger. 2:13They forsook the LORD, and served Ba`al and the `Ashtarot. 2:14The anger of the LORD was kindled against Yisra'el, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers who despoiled them; and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. 2:15Wherever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had spoken, and as the LORD had sworn to them: and they were sore distressed. 2:16The LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who despoiled them. 2:17Yet they didn't listen to their judges; for they played the prostitute after other gods, and bowed themselves down to them: they turned aside quickly out of the way in which their fathers walked, obeying the mitzvot of the LORD; but they didn't do so. 2:18When the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groaning by reason of those who oppressed them and vexed them. 2:19But it happened, when the judge was dead, that 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 from their doings, nor from their stubborn way. 2:20The anger of the LORD was kindled against Yisra'el; and he said, Because this nation have transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not listened to my voice; 2:21I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations that Yehoshua left when he died; 2:22that by them I may prove Yisra'el, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not. 2:23So the LORD left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Yehoshua.
3:1Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to prove Yisra'el by them, even as many of Yisra'el as had not known all the wars of Kana`an; 3:2only that the generations of the children of Yisra'el might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing of it: 3:3namely, the five lords of the Pelishtim, and all the Kana`anim, and the Tzidonim, and the Chivvi who lived on Mount Levanon, from Mount Ba`al-Chermon to the entrance of Chamat. 3:4They were left, to prove Yisra'el by them, to know whether they would listen to the mitzvot of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by Moshe. 3:5The children of Yisra'el lived among the Kana`anim, the Chitti, and the Amori, and the Perizzi, and the Chivvi, and the Yevusi: 3:6and they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons and served their gods. 3:7The children of Yisra'el did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgot the LORD their God, and served the Ba`alim and the Asherot. 3:8Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Yisra'el, and he sold them into the hand of Kushan-Rish`atayim king of Aram-Naharayim: and the children of Yisra'el served Kushan-Rish`atayim eight years. 3:9When the children of Yisra'el cried to the LORD, the LORD raised up a savior to the children of Yisra'el, who saved them, even `Otni'el the son of Kenaz, Kalev's younger brother. 3:10The Spirit of the LORD came on him, and he judged Yisra'el; and he went out to war, and the LORD delivered Kushan-Rish`atayim king of Aram-Naharayim into his hand: and his hand prevailed against Kushan-Rish`atayim. 3:11The land had rest forty years. `Otni'el the son of Kenaz died. 3:12The children of Yisra'el again did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD strengthened `Eglon the king of Mo'av against Yisra'el, because they had done that which was evil in the sight of the LORD. 3:13He gathered to him the children of `Ammon and `Amalek; and he went and struck Yisra'el, and they possessed the city of palm trees. 3:14The children of Yisra'el served `Eglon the king of Mo'av eighteen years. 3:15But when the children of Yisra'el cried to the LORD, the LORD raised them up a savior, Ehud the son of Gera, the Binyamini, a man left-handed. The children of Yisra'el sent tribute by him to `Eglon the king of Mo'av. 3:16Ehud made him a sword which had two edges, a cubit in length; and he girded it under his clothing on his right thigh. 3:17He offered the tribute to `Eglon king of Mo'av: now `Eglon was a very fat man. 3:18When he had made an end of offering the tribute, he sent away the people who bore the tribute. 3:19But he himself turned back from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand to you, king. He said, Keep silence. All who stood by him went out from 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 forth his left hand, and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his body: 3:22and the haft 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 forth into the porch, and shut the doors of the upper room on him, and locked them. 3:24Now when he was gone out, his servants came; and they saw, and, behold, the doors of the upper room were locked; and they said, Surely he is covering his feet in the upper chamber. 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 was fallen down dead on the earth. 3:26Ehud escaped while they waited, and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped to Seirah. 3:27It happened, when he had come, that he blew a shofar in the hill-country of Efrayim; and the children of Yisra'el went down with him from the hill-country, and he before them. 3:28He said to them, Follow after me; for the LORD has delivered your enemies the Mo`avim into your hand. They went down after him, and took the fords of the Yarden against the Mo`avim, and didn't allow a man to pass over. 3:29They struck of Mo'av at that time about ten thousand men, every lusty man, and every man of valor; and there escaped not a man. 3:30So Mo'av was subdued that day under the hand of Yisra'el. The land had rest eighty years. 3:31After him was Shamgar the son of `Anat, who struck of the Pelishtim six hundred men with an ox-goad: and he also saved Yisra'el.
4:1The children of Yisra'el again did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead. 4:2The LORD sold them into the hand of Yavin king of Kana`an, who reigned in Chatzor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, who lived in Charoshet of the Goyim. 4:3The children of Yisra'el cried to the LORD: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Yisra'el. 4:4Now Devorah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidot, she judged Yisra'el at that time. 4:5She lived under the palm tree of Devorah between Ramah and Beit-El in the hill-country of Efrayim: and the children of Yisra'el came up to her for judgment. 4:6She sent and called Barak the son of Avino`am out of Kedesh-Naftali, and said to him, Hasn't the LORD, the God of Yisra'el, commanded, saying, Go and draw to Mount Tavor, and take with you ten thousand men of the children of Naftali and of the children of Zevulun? 4:7I will draw to you, to the river Kishon, Sisera, the captain of Yavin'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: notwithstanding, the journey that you take shall not be for your honor; for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. Devorah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh. 4:10Barak called Zevulun and Naftali together to Kedesh; and there went up ten thousand men at his feet: and Devorah went up with him. 4:11Now Chever the Keni had separated himself from the Kinim, even from the children of Chovav the brother-in-law of Moshe, and had pitched his tent as far as the oak in Tza`anannim, which is by Kedesh. 4:12They told Sisera that Barak the son of Avino`am was gone up to Mount Tavor. 4:13Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Charoshet of the Goyim, to the river Kishon. 4:14Devorah said to Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the LORD has delivered Sisera into your hand; hasn't the LORD gone out before you? So Barak went down from Mount Tavor, and ten thousand men after him. 4:15The LORD confused Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot, and fled away on his feet. 4:16But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, to Charoshet of the Goyim: and all the host 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 Ya`el the wife of Chever the Keni; for there was shalom between Yavin the king of Chatzor and the house of Chever the Keni. 4:18Ya`el 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 drink, and covered him. 4:20He said to her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man does come and inquire of you, and say, Is there any man here? that you shall say, No. 4:21Then Ya`el Chever's wife took a tent-pin, 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 swooned and died. 4:22Behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Ya`el 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-pin was in his temples. 4:23So God subdued on that day Yavin the king of Kana`an before the children of Yisra'el. 4:24The hand of the children of Yisra'el prevailed more and more against Yavin the king of Kana`an, until they had destroyed Yavin king of Kana`an.
5:1Then sang Devorah and Barak the son of Avino`am on that day, saying,
5:2For that the leaders took the lead in Yisra'el,
For that the people offered themselves willingly,
Bless you the LORD.
5:3Hear, you kings; give ear, you princes;
I, even I, will sing to the LORD;
I will sing praise to the LORD, the God of Yisra'el.
5:4LORD, when you went forth out of Se`ir,
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 at the presence of the LORD,
Even Sinai at the presence of the LORD, the God of Yisra'el.
5:6In the days of Shamgar the son of `Anat,
In the days of Ya`el, the highways were unoccupied,
The travelers walked through byways.
5:7The rulers ceased in Yisra'el, they ceased,
Until that I Devorah arose,
That I arose a mother in Yisra'el.
5:8They chose new gods;
Then was war in the gates:
Was there a shield or spear seen
Among forty thousand in Yisra'el?
5:9My heart is toward the governors of Yisra'el,
Who offered themselves willingly among the people:
Bless you the LORD.
5:10Tell of it, you who ride on white donkeys,
You who sit on rich carpets,
You who walk by the way.
5:11Far from the noise of archers, in the places of drawing water,
There shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the LORD,
Even the righteous acts of his rule in Yisra'el.
Then the people of the LORD went down to the gates.
5:12Awake, awake, Devorah;
Awake, awake, utter a song:
Arise, Barak, and lead away your captives, you son of Avino`am.
5:13Then came down a remnant of the nobles and the people;
The LORD came down for me against the mighty.
5:14Out of Efrayim came down they whose root is in `Amalek;
After you, Binyamin, among your peoples;
Out of Makhir came down governors,
Out of Zevulun those who handle the marshal's staff.
5:15The princes of Yissakhar were with Devorah;
As was Yissakhar, so was Barak;
Into the valley they rushed forth at his feet.
By the watercourses of Re'uven
There were great resolves of heart.
5:16Why sat you among the sheepfolds,
To hear the whistling for the flocks?
At the watercourses of Re'uven
There were great searchings of heart.
5:17Gil`ad abode beyond the Yarden:
Dan, why did he remain in ships?
Asher sat still at the haven of the sea,
Abode by his creeks.
5:18Zevulun was a people that jeopardized their lives to the death,
Naftali, on the high places of the field.
5:19The kings came and fought;
Then fought the kings of Kana`an.
In Ta`nakh by the waters of Megiddo:
They took no gain of money.
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 did the horse hoofs stamp
By reason of the prancings, the prancings of their strong ones.
5:23Curse you Meroz, said the angel of the LORD.
Curse you bitterly the inhabitants of it,
Because they didn't come to the help of the LORD,
To the help of the LORD against the mighty.
5:24Blessed above women shall Ya`el be,
The wife of Chever the Keni;
Blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
5:25He asked water, and she gave him milk;
She brought him butter in a lordly dish.
5:26She put her hand to the tent-pin,
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.
5:28Through the window she looked forth, and cried,
The mother of Sisera cried 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,
5:30Have they not found, have they not divided the spoil?
A lady, two ladies to every man;
To Sisera a spoil of dyed garments,
A spoil of dyed garments embroidered,
Of dyed garments embroidered on both sides, on the necks of the spoil?
5:31So let all your enemies perish, LORD:
But let those who love him be as the sun when he goes forth in his might.
The land had rest forty years.
6:1The children of Yisra'el did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midyan seven years. 6:2The hand of Midyan prevailed against Yisra'el; and because of Midyan the children of Yisra'el made them the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds. 6:3So it was, when Yisra'el had sown, that the Midyanim came up, and the `Amaleki, and the children of the east; they came up against them; 6:4and they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, until you come to `Aza, and left no sustenance in Yisra'el, neither sheep, nor ox, nor donkey. 6:5For they came up with their cattle 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. 6:6Yisra'el was brought very low because of Midyan; and the children of Yisra'el cried to the LORD. 6:7It happened, when the children of Yisra'el cried to the LORD because of Midyan, 6:8that the LORD sent a prophet to the children of Yisra'el: and he said to them, Thus says the LORD, the God of Yisra'el, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage; 6:9and I 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; 6:10and I said to you, I am the LORD your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amori, in whose land you dwell. But you have not listened to my voice. 6:11The angel of the LORD came, and sat under the oak which was in Ofrat, that pertained to Yo'ash the Avi-Ezri: and his son Gid`on was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midyanim. 6:12The angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, the LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor. 6:13Gid`on said to him, Oh, my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? and where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD has cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midyan. 6:14The LORD looked at him, and said, Go in this your might, and save Yisra'el from the hand of Midyan: have not I sent you? 6:15He said to him, Oh, Lord, with which shall I save Yisra'el? behold, my family is the poorest in Menasheh, and I am the least in my father's house. 6:16The LORD said to him, Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midyanim 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 again. 6:19Gid`on went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an efah of meal: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out to him under the oak, and presented it. 6:20The angel of God said to him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth. He did so. 6:21Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there went up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight. 6:22Gid`on saw that he was the angel of the LORD; and Gid`on said, Alas, Lord GOD! because I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face. 6:23The LORD said to him, Shalom be to you; don't be afraid: you shall not die. 6:24Then Gid`on built an altar there to the LORD, and called it Yahweh-shalom: to this day it is yet in Ofrat of the Abiezrites. 6:25It happened the same night, that the LORD said to him, Take your father's bull, even the second bull seven years old, and throw down the altar of Ba`al that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is by it; 6:26and build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of this stronghold, in the orderly manner, and take the second bull, and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down. 6:27Then Gid`on took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had spoken to him: and it happened, because he feared his father's household and the men of the city, so that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night. 6:28When the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Ba`al 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 one to another, Who has done this thing? When they inquired and asked, they said, Gid`on the son of Yo'ash has done this thing. 6:30Then the men of the city said to Yo'ash, Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has broken down the altar of Ba`al, and because he has cut down the Asherah that was by it. 6:31Yo'ash said to all who stood against him, Will you contend for Ba`al? Or will you save him? he who will contend for him, let him be put to death while it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him contend for himself, because one has broken down his altar. 6:32Therefore on that day he named him Yerubba`al, saying, Let Ba`al contend against him, because he has broken down his altar. 6:33Then all the Midyanim and the `Amaleki and the children of the east assembled themselves together; and they passed over, and encamped in the valley of Yizre`el. 6:34But the Spirit of the LORD came on Gid`on; and he blew a shofar; and Avi-Ezer was gathered together after him. 6:35He sent messengers throughout all Menasheh; and they also were gathered together after him: and he sent messengers to Asher, and to Zevulun, and to Naftali; and they came up to meet them. 6:36Gid`on said to God, If you will save Yisra'el by my hand, as you have spoken, 6:37behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there be dew on the fleece only, and it be dry on all the ground, then shall I know that you will save Yisra'el 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. 6:39Gid`on 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 Yerubba`al, who is Gid`on, and all the people who were with him, rose up early, and encamped beside the spring of Charod: and the camp of Midyan was on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. 7:2The LORD said to Gid`on, The people who are with you are too many for me to give the Midyanim into their hand, lest Yisra'el vaunt themselves 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 Gil`ad. There returned of the people twenty-two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. 7:4The LORD said to Gid`on, The people are yet too many; bring them down to the water, and I will try them for you there: and it shall be, that of whom I tell you, This shall go with you, the same shall go with you; and of 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 the LORD said to Gid`on, Everyone who laps of the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, him shall you set 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. 7:7The LORD said to Gid`on, By the three hundred men who lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midyanim into your hand; and let all the people go every man to his place. 7:8So the people took food in their hand, and their trumpets; and he sent all the men of Yisra'el every man to his tent, but retained the three hundred men: and the camp of Midyan was beneath him in the valley. 7:9It happened the same night, that the LORD said to him, Arise, get you down into the camp; for I have delivered it into your hand. 7:10But if you fear to go down, go you with Purah your servant down to the camp: 7:11and you shall hear what they say; and afterward shall your hands 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 Midyanim and the `Amaleki 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 sea-shore for multitude. 7:13When Gid`on had come, behold, there was a man telling a dream to his fellow; and he said, Behold, I dreamed a dream; and, behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midyan, 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 else save the sword of Gid`on the son of Yo'ash, a man of Yisra'el: into his hand God has delivered Midyan, and all the host. 7:15It was so, when Gid`on heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation of it, that he worshiped; and he returned into the camp of Yisra'el, and said, Arise; for the LORD has delivered into your hand the host of Midyan. 7:16He divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put into the hands of all of them trumpets, and empty pitchers, with torches within the pitchers. 7:17He said to them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outermost part of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall you do. 7:18When I blow the shofar, I and all who are with me, then blow you the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, For the LORD and for Gid`on. 7:19So Gid`on, 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: and they blew the trumpets, and broke in pieces the pitchers that were in their hands. 7:20The three companies blew the trumpets, and broke the pitchers, and held the torches in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands with which to blow; and they cried, The sword of the LORD and of Gid`on. 7:21They stood every man in his place round about the camp; and all the host ran; and they shouted, and put them to flight. 7:22They blew the three hundred trumpets, and the LORD set every man's sword against his fellow, and against all the host; and the host fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Tzererah, as far as the border of Avel-Mecholah, by Tabbat. 7:23The men of Yisra'el were gathered together out of Naftali, and out of Asher, and out of all Menasheh, and pursued after Midyan. 7:24Gid`on sent messengers throughout all the hill-country of Efrayim, saying, Come down against Midyan, and take before them the waters, as far as Beit-Barah, even the Yarden. So all the men of Efrayim were gathered together, and took the waters as far as Beit-Barah, even the Yarden. 7:25They took the two princes of Midyan, `Orev and Ze'ev; and they killed `Orev at the rock of `Orev, and Ze'ev they killed at the winepress of Ze'ev, and pursued Midyan: and they brought the heads of `Orev and Ze'ev to Gid`on beyond the Yarden.
8:1The men of Efrayim said to him, Why have you served us thus, that you didn't call us, when you went to fight with Midyan? They did chide with him sharply. 8:2He said to them, What have I now done in comparison with you? Isn't the gleaning of the grapes of Efrayim better than the vintage of Avi-Ezer? 8:3God has delivered into your hand the princes of Midyan, `Orev and Ze'ev: and what was I able to do in comparison with you? Then their anger was abated toward him, when he had said that. 8:4Gid`on came to the Yarden, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men who were with him, faint, yet pursuing. 8:5He said to the men of Sukkot, Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me; for they are faint, and I am pursuing after Zevach and Tzalmunnah, the kings of Midyan. 8:6The princes of Sukkot said, Are the hands of Zevach and Tzalmunnah now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army? 8:7Gid`on said, Therefore when the LORD has delivered Zevach and Tzalmunnah into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers. 8:8He went up there to Penu'el, and spoke to them in like manner; and the men of Penu'el answered him as the men of Sukkot had answered. 8:9He spoke also to the men of Penu'el, saying, When I come again in shalom, I will break down this tower. 8:10Now Zevach and Tzalmunnah were in Karkor, and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of all the host of the children of the east; for there fell one hundred twenty thousand men who drew sword. 8:11Gid`on went up by the way of those who lived in tents on the east of Novach and Yogbehah, and struck the host; for the host was secure. 8:12Zevach and Tzalmunnah fled; and he pursued after them; and he took the two kings of Midyan, Zevach and Tzalmunnah, and confused all the host. 8:13Gid`on the son of Yo'ash returned from the battle from the ascent of Cheres. 8:14He caught a young man of the men of Sukkot, and inquired of him: and he described for him the princes of Sukkot, and the elders of it, seventy-seven men. 8:15He came to the men of Sukkot, and said, See Zevach and Tzalmunnah, concerning whom you did taunt me, saying, Are the hands of Zevach and Tzalmunnah 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 Sukkot. 8:17He broke down the tower of Penu'el, and killed the men of the city. 8:18Then said he to Zevach and Tzalmunnah, What manner of men were they whom you killed at Tavor? They answered, As you are, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king. 8:19He said, They were my brothers, the sons of my mother: as the LORD lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you. 8:20He said to Yeter his firstborn, Up, and kill them. But the youth didn't draw his sword; for he feared, because he was yet a youth. 8:21Then Zevach and Tzalmunnah said, Rise you, and fall on us; for as the man is, so is his strength. Gid`on arose, and killed Zevach and Tzalmunnah, and took the crescents that were on their camels' necks. 8:22Then the men of Yisra'el said to Gid`on, Rule you over us, both you, and your son, and your son's son also; for you have saved us out of the hand of Midyan. 8:23Gid`on said to them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you. 8:24Gid`on said to them, I would make a request of you, that you would give me every man the ear-rings of his spoil. (For they had golden ear-rings, because they were Yishme`elim.) 8:25They answered, We will willingly give them. They spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the ear-rings of his spoil. 8:26The weight of the golden ear-rings 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 Midyan, and besides the chains that were about their camels' necks. 8:27Gid`on made an efod of it, and put it in his city, even in Ofrat: and all Yisra'el played the prostitute after it there; and it became a snare to Gid`on, and to his house. 8:28So Midyan was subdued before the children of Yisra'el, and they lifted up their heads no more. The land had rest forty years in the days of Gid`on. 8:29Yerubba`al the son of Yo'ash went and lived in his own house. 8:30Gid`on had seventy sons conceived from his body; for he had many wives. 8:31His concubine who was in Shekhem, she also bore him a son, and he named him Avimelekh. 8:32Gid`on the son of Yo'ash died in a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Yo'ash his father, in Ofrat of the Abiezrites. 8:33It happened, as soon as Gid`on was dead, that the children of Yisra'el turned again, and played the prostitute after the Ba`alim, and made Ba`al-Berit their god. 8:34The children of Yisra'el didn't remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side; 8:35neither shown they kindness to the house of Yerubba`al, who is Gid`on, according to all the goodness which he had shown to Yisra'el.
9:1Avimelekh the son of Yerubba`al went to Shekhem to his mother's brothers, and spoke with them, and with all the family of the house of his mother's father, saying, 9:2Please speak in the ears of all the men of Shekhem, Whether is better for you, that all the sons of Yerubba`al, 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 Shekhem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Avimelekh; for they said, He is our brother. 9:4They gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Ba`al-Berit, with which Avimelekh hired vain and light fellows, who followed him. 9:5He went to his father's house at Ofrat, and killed his brothers the sons of Yerubba`al, being seventy persons, on one stone: but Yotam the youngest son of Yerubba`al was left; for he hid himself. 9:6All the men of Shekhem assembled themselves together, and all the house of Millo, and went and made Avimelekh king, by the oak of the pillar that was in Shekhem. 9:7When they told it to Yotam, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said to them, Listen to me, you men of Shekhem, that God may listen to you. 9:8The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said to the olive tree, Reign you over us. 9:9But the olive tree said to them, Should I leave my fatness, with which by me they honor God and man, and go to wave back and forth over the trees? 9:10The trees said to the fig tree, Come, and reign over us. 9:11But 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? 9:12The trees said to the vine, Come, and reign over us. 9:13The 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? 9:14Then said all the trees to the bramble, Come, and reign over us. 9:15The 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 Levanon. 9:16Now therefore, if you have dealt truly and righteously, in that you have made Avimelekh king, and if you have dealt well with Yerubba`al and his house, and have done to him according to the deserving of his hands 9:17(for my father fought for you, and adventured his life, and delivered you out of the hand of Midyan: 9:18and you are risen up against my father's house this day, and have slain his sons, seventy persons, on one stone, and have made Avimelekh, the son of his maid-servant, king over the men of Shekhem, because he is your brother); 9:19if you then have dealt truly and righteously with Yerubba`al and with his house this day, then rejoice you in Avimelekh, and let him also rejoice in you: 9:20but if not, let fire come out from Avimelekh, and devour the men of Shekhem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shekhem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Avimelekh. 9:21Yotam ran away, and fled, and went to Be'er, and lived there, for fear of Avimelekh his brother. 9:22Avimelekh was prince over Yisra'el three years. 9:23God sent an evil spirit between Avimelekh and the men of Shekhem; and the men of Shekhem dealt treacherously with Avimelekh: 9:24that the violence done to the seventy sons of Yerubba`al might come, and that their blood might be laid on Avimelekh their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shekhem, who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers. 9:25The men of Shekhem set liers-in-wait for him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all who came along that way by them: and it was told Avimelekh. 9:26Ga`al the son of `Eved came with his brothers, and went over to Shekhem; and the men of Shekhem put their trust in him. 9:27They went out into the field, and gathered their vineyards, and trod the grapes, and held festival, and went into the house of their god, and did eat and drink, and cursed Avimelekh. 9:28Ga`al the son of `Eved said, Who is Avimelekh, and who is Shekhem, that we should serve him? Isn't he the son of Yerubba`al? and Zevul his officer? serve you the men of Chamor the father of Shekhem: but why should we serve him? 9:29Would that this people were under my hand! then would I remove Avimelekh. He said to Avimelekh, Increase your army, and come out. 9:30When Zevul the ruler of the city heard the words of Ga`al the son of `Eved, his anger was kindled. 9:31He sent messengers to Avimelekh craftily, saying, Behold, Ga`al the son of `Eved and his brothers are come to Shekhem; and, behold, they constrain the city to take part against you. 9:32Now therefore, up by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field: 9:33and it shall be, that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, you shall rise early, and rush on the city; and, 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. 9:34Avimelekh rose up, and all the people who were with him, by night, and they laid wait against Shekhem in four companies. 9:35Ga`al the son of `Eved went out, and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city: and Avimelekh rose up, and the people who were with him, from the ambush. 9:36When Ga`al saw the people, he said to Zevul, Behold, there come people down from the tops of the mountains. Zevul said to him, You see the shadow of the mountains as if they were men. 9:37Ga`al spoke again and said, Behold, there come people down by the middle of the land, and one company comes by the way of the oak of Me`onenim. 9:38Then said Zevul to him, Where is now your mouth, that you said, Who is Avimelekh, that we should serve him? is not this the people that you have despised? go out now, I pray, and fight with them. 9:39Ga`al went out before the men of Shekhem, and fought with Avimelekh. 9:40Avimelekh chased him, and he fled before him, and there fell many wounded, even to the entrance of the gate. 9:41Avimelekh lived at Arumah: and Zevul drove out Ga`al and his brothers, that they should not dwell in Shekhem. 9:42It happened on the next day, that the people went out into the field; and they told Avimelekh. 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 forth out of the city; He rose up against them, and struck them. 9:44Avimelekh, 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. 9:45Avimelekh fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and killed the people who were therein: and he beat down the city, and sowed it with salt. 9:46When all the men of the tower of Shekhem heard of it, they entered into the stronghold of the Beit-El-Berit. 9:47It was told Avimelekh that all the men of the tower of Shekhem were gathered together. 9:48Avimelekh got him up to Mount Tzalmon, he and all the people who were with him; and Avimelekh took an axe in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it up, and laid it on his shoulder: and 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 cut down every man his bough, and followed Avimelekh, and put them to the stronghold, and set the stronghold on fire on them; so that all the men of the tower of Shekhem died also, about a thousand men and women. 9:50Then went Avimelekh to Tevetz, and encamped against Tevetz, and took it. 9:51But there was a strong tower within the city, and there fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut themselves in, and got them up to the roof of the tower. 9:52Avimelekh came to the tower, and fought against it, and drew near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire. 9:53A certain woman cast an upper millstone on Avimelekh'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 Yisra'el saw that Avimelekh was dead, they departed every man to his place. 9:56Thus God requited the wickedness of Avimelekh, which he did to his father, in killing his seventy brothers; 9:57and all the wickedness of the men of Shekhem did God requite on their heads: and on them came the curse of Yotam the son of Yerubba`al.
10:1After Avimelekh there arose to save Yisra'el Tola the son of Pu`ah, the son of Dodo, a man of Yissakhar; and he lived in Shamir in the hill-country of Efrayim. 10:2He judged Yisra'el twenty-three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir. 10:3After him arose Ya'ir, the Gil`adite; and he judged Yisra'el twenty-two years. 10:4He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkey colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Chavvot-Ya'ir to this day, which are in the land of Gil`ad. 10:5Ya'ir died, and was buried in Kamon. 10:6The children of Yisra'el again did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Ba`alim, and the `Ashtarot, and the gods of Aram, and the gods of Tzidon, and the gods of Mo'av, and the gods of the children of `Ammon, and the gods of the Pelishtim; and they forsook the LORD, and didn't serve him. 10:7The anger of the LORD was kindled against Yisra'el, and he sold them into the hand of the Pelishtim, and into the hand of the children of `Ammon. 10:8They vexed and oppressed the children of Yisra'el that year: eighteen years oppressed they all the children of Yisra'el that were beyond the Yarden in the land of the Amori, which is in Gil`ad. 10:9The children of `Ammon passed over the Yarden to fight also against Yehudah, and against Binyamin, and against the house of Efrayim; so that Yisra'el was sore distressed. 10:10The children of Yisra'el cried to the LORD, saying, We have sinned against you, even because we have forsaken our God, and have served the Ba`alim. 10:11The LORD said to the children of Yisra'el, Didn't I save you from the Egyptians, and from the Amori, from the children of `Ammon, and from the Pelishtim? 10:12The Tzidonim also, and the `Amaleki, and the Ma`on, did oppress 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 Yisra'el said to the LORD, We have sinned: do you to us whatever seems good to you; only deliver us, we pray you, this day. 10:16They put away the foreign gods from among them, and served the LORD; and his soul was grieved for the misery of Yisra'el. 10:17Then the children of `Ammon were gathered together, and encamped in Gil`ad. The children of Yisra'el assembled themselves together, and encamped in Mitzpah. 10:18The people, the princes of Gil`ad, said one to another, What man is he who will begin to fight against the children of `Ammon? he shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gil`ad.
11:1Now Yiftach the Gil`adite was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of a prostitute: and Gil`ad became the father of Yiftach. 11:2Gil`ad's wife bore him sons; and when his wife's sons grew up, they drove out Yiftach, and said to him, You shall not inherit in our father's house; for you are the son of another woman. 11:3Then Yiftach fled from his brothers, and lived in the land of Tov: and there were gathered vain fellows to Yiftach, and they went out with him. 11:4It happened after a while, that the children of `Ammon made war against Yisra'el. 11:5It was so, that when the children of `Ammon made war against Yisra'el, the elders of Gil`ad went to get Yiftach out of the land of Tov; 11:6and they said to Yiftach, Come and be our chief, that we may fight with the children of `Ammon. 11:7Yiftach said to the elders of Gil`ad, Didn't you hate me, and drive me out of my father's house? and why are you come to me now when you are in distress? 11:8The elders of Gil`ad said to Yiftach, Therefore are we turned again to you now, that you may go with us, and fight with the children of `Ammon; and you shall be our head over all the inhabitants of Gil`ad. 11:9Yiftach said to the elders of Gil`ad, If you bring me home again to fight with the children of `Ammon, and the LORD deliver them before me, shall I be your head? 11:10The elders of Gil`ad said to Yiftach, the LORD shall be witness between us; surely according to your word so will we do. 11:11Then Yiftach went with the elders of Gil`ad, and the people made him head and chief over them: and Yiftach spoke all his words before the LORD in Mitzpah. 11:12Yiftach sent messengers to the king of the children of `Ammon, saying, What have you to do with me, that you are come to me to fight against my land? 11:13The king of the children of `Ammon answered to the messengers of Yiftach, Because Yisra'el took away my land, when he came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon even to the Yabbok, and to the Yarden: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably. 11:14Yiftach sent messengers again to the king of the children of `Ammon; 11:15and he said to him, Thus says Yiftach: Yisra'el didn't take away the land of Mo'av, nor the land of the children of `Ammon, 11:16but when they came up from Egypt, and Yisra'el went through the wilderness to the Sea of Suf, and came to Kadesh; 11:17then Yisra'el 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 Mo'av; but he would not: and Yisra'el abode in Kadesh. 11:18Then they went through the wilderness, and went around the land of Edom, and the land of Mo'av, and came by the east side of the land of Mo'av, and they encamped on the other side of the Arnon; but they didn't come within the border of Mo'av, for the Arnon was the border of Mo'av. 11:19Yisra'el sent messengers to Sichon king of the Amori, the king of Cheshbon; and Yisra'el said to him, Let us pass, we pray you, through your land to my place. 11:20But Sichon didn't trust Yisra'el to pass through his border; but Sichon gathered all his people together, and encamped in Yahatz, and fought against Yisra'el. 11:21The LORD, the God of Yisra'el, delivered Sichon and all his people into the hand of Yisra'el, and they struck them: so Yisra'el possessed all the land of the Amori, the inhabitants of that country. 11:22They possessed all the border of the Amori, from the Arnon even to the Yabbok, and from the wilderness even to the Yarden. 11:23So now the LORD, the God of Yisra'el, has dispossessed the Amori from before his people Yisra'el, and should you possess them? 11:24Won't you possess that which Kemosh your god gives you to possess? So whoever the LORD our God has dispossessed from before us, them will we possess. 11:25Now are you anything better than Balak the son of Tzippor, king of Mo'av? did he ever strive against Yisra'el, or did he ever fight against them? 11:26While Yisra'el lived in Cheshbon and its towns, and in `Aro`er 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: the LORD, the Judge, be judge this day between the children of Yisra'el and the children of `Ammon. 11:28However the king of the children of `Ammon didn't listen to the words of Yiftach which he sent him. 11:29Then the Spirit of the LORD came on Yiftach, and he passed over Gil`ad and Menasheh, and passed over Mitzpeh of Gil`ad, and from Mitzpeh of Gil`ad he passed over to the children of `Ammon. 11:30Yiftach vowed a vow to the LORD, and said, If you will indeed deliver the children of `Ammon into my hand, 11:31then it shall be, that whatever comes forth from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in shalom from the children of `Ammon, it shall be the LORD's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. 11:32So Yiftach passed over to the children of `Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hand. 11:33He struck them from `Aro`er until you come to Minnit, even twenty cities, and to Avel-Keramim, with a very great slaughter. So the children of `Ammon were subdued before the children of Yisra'el. 11:34Yiftach came to Mitzpah to his house; and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 11:35It happened, when he saw her, that 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 the LORD, and I can't go back. 11:36She said to him, My father, you have opened your mouth to the LORD; do to me according to that which has proceeded out of your mouth, because the LORD 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: let 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. 11:39It happened at the end of two months, that she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she was a virgin. It was a custom in Yisra'el, 11:40that the daughters of Yisra'el went yearly to celebrate the daughter of Yiftach the Gil`adite four days in a year.
12:1The men of Efrayim were gathered together, and crossed Tzafon; and they said to Yiftach, 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 on you with fire. 12:2Yiftach 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 the LORD delivered them into my hand: why then are you come up to me this day, to fight against me? 12:4Then Yiftach gathered together all the men of Gil`ad, and fought with Efrayim; and the men of Gil`ad struck Efrayim, because they said, You are fugitives of Efrayim, you Gil`adi, in the midst of Efrayim, and in the midst of Menasheh. 12:5The Gil`adi took the fords of the Yarden against the Efrayim. It was so, that when any of the fugitives of Efrayim said, Let me go over, the men of Gil`ad said to him, Are you an Efratite? If he said, No; 12:6then said they to him, Say now Shibbolet; and he said Sibboleth; for he couldn't manage to pronounce it right: then they laid hold on him, and killed him at the fords of the Yarden. There fell at that time of Efrayim forty-two thousand. 12:7Yiftach judged Yisra'el six years. Then died Yiftach the Gil`adite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gil`ad. 12:8After him 'Ivtzan of Beit-Lechem judged Yisra'el. 12:9He had thirty sons; and thirty daughters he sent abroad, and thirty daughters he brought in from abroad for his sons. He judged Yisra'el seven years. 12:10'Ivtzan died, and was buried at Beit-Lechem. 12:11After him Elon the Zevulonite judged Yisra'el; and he judged Yisra'el ten years. 12:12Elon the Zevulonite died, and was buried in Ayalon in the land of Zevulun. 12:13After him `Avdon the son of Hillel the Pir`atonite judged Yisra'el. 12:14He had forty sons and thirty sons' sons, who rode on seventy donkey colts: and he judged Yisra'el eight years. 12:15`Avdon the son of Hillel the Pir`atonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Efrayim, in the hill-country of the `Amaleki.
13:1The children of Yisra'el again did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Pelishtim forty years. 13:2There was a certain man of Tzor`ah, of the family of the Dani, whose name was Manoach; and his wife was barren, and didn't bear. 13:3The angel of the LORD appeared to the woman, and said to her, See now, you are barren, and don't bear; 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 bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head; for the child shall be a Nazir to God from the womb: and he shall begin to save Yisra'el out of the hand of the Pelishtim. 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; and I didn't ask him whence he was, 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, and eat not any unclean thing; for the child shall be a Nazir to God from the womb to the day of his death. 13:8Then Manoach entreated the LORD, and said, Oh, Lord, please let the man of God whom you did send come again to us, and teach us what we shall do to the child who shall be born. 13:9God listened to the voice of Manoach; and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoach, her husband, wasn't with her. 13:10The woman made haste, and ran, and told her husband, and said to him, Behold, the man has appeared to me, who came to me the other day. 13:11Manoach arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said to him, Are you the man who spoke to the woman? He said, I am. 13:12Manoach said, Now let your words happen: what shall be the ordering of the child, and how shall we do to him? 13:13The angel of the LORD said to Manoach, 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; all that I commanded her let her observe. 13:15Manoach said to the angel of the LORD, I pray you, let us detain you, that we may make ready a kid for you. 13:16The angel of the LORD said to Manoach, Though you detain me, I won't eat of your bread; and if you will make ready a burnt offering, you must offer it to the LORD. For Manoach didn't know that he was the angel of the LORD. 13:17Manoach said to the angel of the LORD, What is your name, that when your words happen, we may honor you? 13:18The angel of the LORD said to him, Why do you ask after my name, seeing it is wonderful? 13:19So Manoach took the kid with the meal-offering, and offered it on the rock to the LORD: and the angel did wondrously, and Manoach and his wife looked on. 13:20For it happened, when the flame went up toward the sky from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar: and Manoach and his wife looked on; and they fell on their faces to the ground. 13:21But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoach or to his wife. Then Manoach knew that he was the angel of the LORD. 13:22Manoach said to his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. 13:23But his wife said to him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he wouldn't have received a burnt offering and a meal-offering at our hand, neither would he have shown us all these things, nor would at this time have told such things as these. 13:24The woman bore a son, and named him Shimshon: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him. 13:25The Spirit of the LORD began to move him in Machane-Dan, between Tzor`ah and Eshta'ol.
14:1Shimshon went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Pelishtim. 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 Pelishtim: now therefore get her for me as wife. 14:3Then his father and his mother said to him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of your brothers, or among all my people, that you go to take a wife of the uncircumcised Pelishtim? Shimshon 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 the LORD; for he sought an occasion against the Pelishtim. Now at that time the Pelishtim had rule over Yisra'el. 14:5Then went Shimshon down, and his father and his mother, to Timnah, and came to the vineyards of Timnah: and, behold, a young lion roared against him. 14:6The Spirit of the LORD came mightily on him, and he tore him as he would have torn a kid; 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 Shimshon well. 14:8After a while he returned to take her; and he turned aside 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; and 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 body of the lion. 14:10His father went down to the woman: and Shimshon made there a feast; for so used the young men to do. 14:11It happened, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him. 14:12Shimshon said to them, Let me now put forth a riddle to you: 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 shall you give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing. They said to him, Put forth your riddle, that we may hear it. 14:14He said to them,
Out of the eater came forth food,
Out of the strong came forth sweetness.
They couldn't in three days declare the riddle. 14:15It happened on the seventh day, that they said to Shimshon'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? is it not so? 14:16Shimshon's wife wept before him, and said, You do but hate me, and don't love me: you have put forth a riddle to the children of my people, and haven't told it me. He said to her, Behold, I haven't told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell you? 14:17She wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it happened on the seventh day, that he told her, because she pressed him sore; 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? and 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.
14:19The Spirit of the LORD came mightily on him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and struck thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave the changes of clothing to those who declared the riddle. His anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house. 14:20But Shimshon's wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.
15:1But it happened after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, that Shimshon visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father wouldn't allow him to go in. 15:2Her father said, I most assuredly thought that you had utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to your companion: isn't her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her, instead. 15:3Shimshon said to them, This time shall I be blameless in regard of the Pelishtim, when I do them a mischief. 15:4Shimshon went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between every two tails. 15:5When he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing grain of the Pelishtim, and burnt up both the shocks and the standing grain, and also the olive groves. 15:6Then the Pelishtim said, Who has done this? They said, Shimshon, the son-in-law of the Timni, because he has taken his wife, and given her to his companion. The Pelishtim came up, and burnt her and her father with fire. 15:7Shimshon said to them, If you do after this manner, surely I will be avenged of 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 cleft of the rock of `Etam. 15:9Then the Pelishtim went up, and encamped in Yehudah, and spread themselves in Lechi. 15:10The men of Yehudah said, Why are you come up against us? They said, To bind Shimshon are we come up, to do to him as he has done to us. 15:11Then three thousand men of Yehudah went down to the cleft of the rock of `Etam, and said to Shimshon, "Don't you know that the Pelishtim are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?" He said to them, As they did to me, so have I 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 Pelishtim. Shimshon said to them, Swear to me that you will not fall on me yourselves. 15:13They spoke to him, saying, No; but we will bind you fast, and deliver you into their hand: 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 Lechi, the Pelishtim shouted as they met him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily on him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands dropped from off his hands. 15:15He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put forth his hand, and took it, and struck a thousand men therewith. 15:16Shimshon said, With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps on heaps, With the jawbone of a donkey I have struck a thousand men. 15:17It happened, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand; and that place was called Ramat-Lechi. 15:18He was very thirsty, and called on the LORD, and said, You have given this great deliverance by the hand of your servant; and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised. 15:19But God split the hollow place that is in Lechi, and water came out of it. When he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: therefore the name of it was called En Hakkore, which is in Lechi, to this day. 15:20He judged Yisra'el in the days of the Pelishtim twenty years.
16:1Shimshon went to `Aza, and saw there a prostitute, and went in to her. 16:2It was told the `Azati, saying, Shimshon is come here. They compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, Let be until morning light, then we will kill him. 16:3Shimshon 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 Chevron. 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 Pelishtim 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 of us eleven hundred pieces of silver. 16:6Delilah said to Shimshon, Tell me, Please, in which your great strength lies, and with which you might be bound to afflict you. 16:7Shimshon 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 Pelishtim brought up to her seven green cords which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. 16:9Now she had liers-in-wait abiding in the inner chamber. She said to him, The Pelishtim are on you, Shimshon. 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 Shimshon, Behold, you have mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, Please, 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 Pelishtim are on you, Shimshon. The liers-in-wait were abiding in the inner chamber. He broke them off his arms like a thread. 16:13Delilah said to Shimshon, Hitherto you have mocked me, and told me lies: tell me with which 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 Pelishtim are on you, Shimshon. 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 in which your great strength lies. 16:16It happened, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, that his soul was vexed 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 Nazir 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 Pelishtim, saying, Come up this once, for he has told me all his heart. Then the lords of the Pelishtim 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 Pelishtim are on you, Shimshon. 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 the LORD had departed from him. 16:21The Pelishtim laid hold on him, and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to `Aza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison-house. 16:22However the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaved. 16:23The lords of the Pelishtim gathered them together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice; for they said, Our god has delivered Shimshon our enemy into our hand. 16:24When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, Our god has delivered into our hand our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, who has slain many of us. 16:25It happened, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Shimshon, that he may make us sport. They called for Shimshon out of the prison-house; and he made sport before them. They set him between the pillars: 16:26and Shimshon said to the boy who held him by the hand, Allow me that I may 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 Pelishtim were there; and there were on the roof about three thousand men and women, who saw while Shimshon made sport. 16:28Shimshon called to the LORD, and said, Lord GOD, remember me, Please, and strengthen me, Please, only this once, God, that I may be at once avenged of the Pelishtim for my two eyes. 16:29Shimshon 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. 16:30Shimshon said, Let me die with the Pelishtim. 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 Tzor`ah and Eshta'ol in the burying-place of Manoach his father. He judged Yisra'el twenty years.
17:1There was a man of the hill-country of Efrayim, whose name was Mikhah. 17:2He said to his mother, The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you did utter a curse, and did also speak it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. His mother said, Blessed be my son of the LORD. 17:3He restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother; and his mother said, I most assuredly dedicate the silver to the LORD from my hand for my son, to make an engraved 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 the founder, who made of it an engraved image and a molten image: and it was in the house of Mikhah. 17:5The man Mikhah had a house of gods, and he made an efod, and terafim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his kohen. 17:6In those days there was no king in Yisra'el: every man did that which was right in his own eyes. 17:7There was a young man out of Beit-Lechem-Yehudah, of the family of Yehudah, who was a Levite; and he sojourned there. 17:8The man departed out of the city, out of Beit-Lechem-Yehudah, to sojourn where he could find a place, and he came to the hill-country of Efrayim to the house of Mikhah, as he traveled. 17:9Mikhah said to him, Whence come you? He said to him, I am a Levite of Beit-Lechem-Yehudah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place. 17:10Mikhah said to him, Dwell with me, and be to me a father and a kohen, and I will give you ten pieces of silver by the year, and 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. 17:12Mikhah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his kohen, and was in the house of Mikhah. 17:13Then said Mikhah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my kohen.
18:1In those days there was no king in Yisra'el: and in those days the tribe of the Dani sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for to that day their inheritance had not fallen to them among the tribes of Yisra'el. 18:2The children of Dan sent of their family five men from their whole number, men of valor, from Tzor`ah, and from Eshta'ol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said to them, Go, search the land. They came to the hill-country of Efrayim, to the house of Mikhah, and lodged there. 18:3When they were by the house of Mikhah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite; and they turned aside there, and said to him, Who brought you here? and what do you in this place? and what have you here? 18:4He said to them, Thus and thus has Mikhah dealt with me, and he has hired me, and I am become his kohen. 18:5They said to him, Ask counsel, we pray you, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous. 18:6The kohen said to them, Go in peace: before the LORD is your way wherein you go. 18:7Then the five men departed, and came to Layish, and saw the people who were therein, how they lived in security, after the manner of the Tzidonim, quiet and secure; for there was none in the land, possessing authority, that might put them to shame in anything, and they were far from the Tzidonim, and had no dealings with any man. 18:8They came to their brothers to Tzor`ah and Eshta'ol: and their brothers said to them, What say you? 18:9They said, Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are you still? don't be slothful to go and to enter in to possess the land. 18:10When you go, you shall come to a people secure, and the land is large; for God has given it into your hand, a place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth. 18:11There set forth from there of the family of the Dani, out of Tzor`ah and out of Eshta'ol, six hundred men girt with weapons of war. 18:12They went up, and encamped in Kiryat-Ye`arim, in Yehudah: therefore they called that place Machane-Dan, to this day; behold, it is behind Kiryat-Ye`arim. 18:13They passed there to the hill-country of Efrayim, and came to the house of Mikhah. 18:14Then the five men who went to spy out the country of Layish answered, and said to their brothers, Do you know that there is in these houses an efod, and terafim, and an engraved image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what you have to do. 18:15They turned aside there, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even to the house of Mikhah, and asked him of his welfare. 18:16The six hundred men girt with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate. 18:17The five men who went to spy out the land went up, and came in there, and took the engraved image, and the efod, and the terafim, and the molten image: and the kohen stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men girt with weapons of war. 18:18When these went into Mikhah's house, and fetched the engraved image, the efod, and the terafim, and the molten image, the kohen said to them, What do you? 18:19They said to him, Hold your shalom, lay your hand on your mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a kohen: is it better for you to be kohen to the house of one man, or to be kohen to a tribe and a family in Yisra'el? 18:20The kohen's heart was glad, and he took the efod, and the terafim, and the engraved image, and went in the midst of the people. 18:21So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the goods before them. 18:22When they were a good way from the house of Mikhah, the men who were in the houses near to Mikhah's house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan. 18:23They cried to the children of Dan. They turned their faces, and said to Mikhah, What ails you, that you come with such a company? 18:24He said, you have taken away my gods which I made, and the kohen, and are gone away, and what have I more? and how then say you to me, What ails you? 18:25The children of Dan said to him, "Don't let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall on you, and you lose your life, with the lives of your household." 18:26The children of Dan went their way: and when Mikhah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house. 18:27They took that which Mikhah had made, and the kohen whom he had, and came to Layish, to a people quiet and secure, and struck them with the edge of the sword; and they burnt the city with fire. 18:28There was no deliverer, because it was far from Tzidon, and they had no dealings with any man; and it was in the valley that lies by Beit-Rechov. They built the city, and lived therein. 18:29They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Yisra'el: however the name of the city was Layish at the first. 18:30The children of Dan set up for themselves the engraved image: and Yonatan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moshe, he and his sons were kohanim to the tribe of the Dani until the day of the captivity of the land. 18:31So they set them up Mikhah's engraved image which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.
19:1It happened in those days, when there was no king in Yisra'el, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the farther side of the hill-country of Efrayim, who took to him a concubine out of Beit-Lechem-Yehudah. 19:2His concubine played the prostitute against him, and went away from him to her father's house to Beit-Lechem-Yehudah, and was there the space of four months. 19:3Her husband arose, and went after her, to speak kindly to her, to bring her again, having his servant with him, and a couple of donkeys: and she brought him into her father's house; and when the father of the young lady saw him, he rejoiced to meet him. 19:4His father-in-law, the young lady's father, retained him; and he abode with him three days: so they ate and drink, and lodged there. 19:5It happened on the fourth day, that they arose early in the morning, and he rose up to depart: and the young lady's father said to his son-in-law, Strengthen your heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward you shall go your way. 19:6So they sat down, and ate and drink, both of them together: and the young lady's father said to the man, Please be pleased to stay all night, and let your heart be merry. 19:7The man rose up to depart; but his father-in-law urged him, and he lodged there again. 19:8He arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart; and the young lady's father said, Please strengthen your heart and stay until the day declines; and they ate, both of them. 19:9When the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father-in-law, the young lady's father, said to him, Behold, now the day draws toward evening, please stay all night: behold, the day grows to an end, lodge here, that your heart may be merry; and tomorrow get you early on your way, that you may go home. 19:10But the man wouldn't stay that night, but he rose up and departed, and came over against Yevus (the same is Yerushalayim): and there were with him a couple of donkeys saddled; his concubine also was with him. 19:11When they were by Yevus, the day was far spent; and the servant said to his master, Please come and let us turn aside into this city of the Yevusi, and lodge in it. 19:12His master said to him, We won't turn aside into the city of a foreigner, that is not of the children of Yisra'el; but we will pass over to Gevah. 19:13He said to his servant, Come and let us draw near to one of these places; and we will lodge in Gevah, or in Ramah. 19:14So they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down on them near to Gevah, which belongs to Binyamin. 19:15They turned aside there, to go in to lodge in Gevah: and he went in, and sat him down in the street of the city; for there was no man who took them into his house to lodge. 19:16Behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at even: now the man was of the hill-country of Efrayim, and he sojourned in Gevah; but the men of the place were Binyamini. 19:17He lifted up his eyes, and saw the wayfaring man in the street of the city; and the old man said, Where go you? and whence come you? 19:18He said to him, We are passing from Beit-Lechem-Yehudah to the farther side of the hill-country of Efrayim; from there am I, and I went to Beit-Lechem-Yehudah: and I am now going to the house of the LORD; and there is no man who takes me into his house. 19:19Yet there is both straw and provender for our donkeys; and there is bread and wine also for me, and for your handmaid, and for the young man who is with your servants: there is no want of anything. 19:20The old man said, Shalom be to you; howsoever let all your wants lie on me; only don't lodge in the street. 19:21So he brought him into his house, and gave the donkeys fodder; and they washed their feet, and ate and drink. 19:22As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain base fellows, beset the house round about, beating at the door; and they spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man who came into your house, that we may know him. 19:23The man, the master of the house, went out to them, and said to them, No, my brothers, please don't act so wickedly; seeing that this man is come into my house, don't do this folly. 19:24Behold, here is my daughter a virgin, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble you them, and do with them what seems good to you: but to this man don't do any such folly. 19:25But the men wouldn't listen to him: so the man laid hold on his concubine, and brought her forth to them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go. 19:26Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was, until it was light. 19:27Her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way; and, behold, the woman his concubine was fallen down at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold. 19:28He said to her, Up, and let us be going; but none answered: then he took her up on the donkey; and the man rose up, and got him to his place. 19:29When he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the borders of Yisra'el. 19:30It was so, that all who saw it said, There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Yisra'el came up out of the land of Egypt to this day: consider it, take counsel, and speak.
20:1Then all the children of Yisra'el went out, and the congregation was assembled as one man, from Dan even to Be'er-Sheva, with the land of Gil`ad, to the LORD at Mitzpah. 20:2The chiefs of all the people, even of all the tribes of Yisra'el, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen who drew sword. 20:3(Now the children of Binyamin heard that the children of Yisra'el had gone up to Mitzpah.) The children of Yisra'el said, Tell us, how was this wickedness brought to pass? 20:4The Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered, I came into Gevah that belongs to Binyamin, I and my concubine, to lodge. 20:5The men of Gevah rose against me, and beset the house round about me by night; me they thought to have slain, and my concubine they forced, and she is dead. 20:6I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Yisra'el; for they have committed lewdness and folly in Yisra'el. 20:7Behold, you children of Yisra'el, all of you, give here your advice and counsel. 20:8All the people arose as one man, saying, We will not any of us go to his tent, neither will we any of us turn to his house. 20:9But now this is the thing which we will do to Gevah: we will go up against it by lot; 20:10and we will take ten men of one hundred throughout all the tribes of Yisra'el, and one hundred of one thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to get food for the people, that they may do, when they come to Gevah of Binyamin, according to all the folly that they have worked in Yisra'el. 20:11So all the men of Yisra'el were gathered against the city, knit together as one man. 20:12The tribes of Yisra'el sent men through all the tribe of Binyamin, saying, What wickedness is this that is happen among you? 20:13Now therefore deliver up the men, the base fellows, who are in Gevah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Yisra'el. But Binyamin would not listen to the voice of their brothers the children of Yisra'el. 20:14The children of Binyamin gathered themselves together out of the cities to Gevah, to go out to battle against the children of Yisra'el. 20:15The children of Binyamin were numbered on that day out of the cities twenty-six thousand men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gevah, who were numbered seven hundred chosen men. 20:16Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men left-handed; everyone could sling stones at a hair-breadth, and not miss. 20:17The men of Yisra'el, besides Binyamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men who drew sword: all these were men of war. 20:18The children of Yisra'el arose, and went up to Beit-El, and asked counsel of God; and they said, Who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Binyamin? the LORD said, Yehudah shall go up first. 20:19The children of Yisra'el rose up in the morning, and encamped against Gevah. 20:20The men of Yisra'el went out to battle against Binyamin; and the men of Yisra'el set the battle in array against them at Gevah. 20:21The children of Binyamin came forth out of Gevah, and destroyed down to the ground of the Yisra'elim on that day Twenty-two thousand men. 20:22The people, the men of Yisra'el, encouraged themselves, and set the battle again in array in the place where they set themselves in array the first day. 20:23The children of Yisra'el went up and wept before the LORD until even; and they asked of the LORD, saying, Shall I again draw near to battle against the children of Binyamin my brother? the LORD said, Go up against him. 20:24The children of Yisra'el came near against the children of Binyamin the second day. 20:25Binyamin went forth against them out of Gevah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Yisra'el again eighteen thousand men; all these drew the sword. 20:26Then all the children of Yisra'el, and all the people, went up, and came to Beit-El, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until even; and they offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before the LORD. 20:27The children of Yisra'el asked of the LORD (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, 20:28and Pinechas, the son of El`azar, the son of Aharon, stood before it in those days), saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Binyamin my brother, or shall I cease? the LORD said, Go up; for tomorrow I will deliver him into your hand. 20:29Yisra'el set liers-in-wait against Gevah round about. 20:30The children of Yisra'el went up against the children of Binyamin on the third day, and set themselves in array against Gevah, as at other times. 20:31The children of Binyamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to strike and kill of the people, as at other times, in the highways, of which one goes up to Beit-El, and the other to Gevah, in the field, about thirty men of Yisra'el. 20:32The children of Binyamin said, They are struck down before us, as at the first. But the children of Yisra'el said, Let us flee, and draw them away from the city to the highways. 20:33All the men of Yisra'el rose up out of their place, and set themselves in array at Ba`al-Tamar: and the liers-in-wait of Yisra'el broke forth out of their place, even out of Ma`areh-Geva. 20:34There came over against Gevah ten thousand chosen men out of all Yisra'el, and the battle was sore; but they didn't know that evil was close on them. 20:35The LORD struck Binyamin before Yisra'el; and the children of Yisra'el destroyed of Binyamin that day twenty-five thousand one hundred men: all these drew the sword. 20:36So the children of Binyamin saw that they were struck; for the men of Yisra'el gave place to Binyamin, because they trusted to the liers-in-wait whom they had set against Gevah. 20:37The liers-in-wait hurried, and rushed on Gevah; and the liers-in-wait drew themselves along, and struck all the city with the edge of the sword. 20:38Now the appointed sign between the men of Yisra'el and the liers-in-wait was that they should make a great cloud of smoke rise up out of the city. 20:39The men of Yisra'el turned in the battle, and Binyamin began to strike and kill of the men of Yisra'el about thirty persons; for they said, Surely they are struck down before us, as in the first battle. 20:40But when the cloud began to arise up out of the city in a pillar of smoke, the Binyamini looked behind them; and, behold, the whole of the city went up in smoke to the sky. 20:41The men of Yisra'el turned, and the men of Binyamin were dismayed; for they saw that evil had come on them. 20:42Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Yisra'el to the way of the wilderness; but the battle followed hard after them; and those who came out of the cities destroyed them in the midst of it. 20:43They enclosed the Binyamini round about, and chased them, and trod them down at their resting-place, as far as over against Gevah toward the sunrise. 20:44There fell of Binyamin eighteen thousand men; all these were men of valor. 20:45They turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon: and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men, and followed hard after them to Gid`om, and struck of them two thousand men. 20:46So that all who fell that day of Binyamin were twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword; all these were men of valor. 20:47But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and abode in the rock of Rimmon four months. 20:48The men of Yisra'el turned again on the children of Binyamin, and struck them with the edge of the sword, both the entire city, and the cattle, and all that they found: moreover all the cities which they found they set on fire.
21:1Now the men of Yisra'el had sworn in Mitzpah, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter to Binyamin as wife. 21:2The people came to Beit-El, and sat there until evening before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore. 21:3They said, the LORD, the God of Yisra'el, why has this happened in Yisra'el, that there should be today one tribe lacking in Yisra'el? 21:4It happened on the next day that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace-offerings. 21:5The children of Yisra'el said, Who is there among all the tribes of Yisra'el who didn't come up in the assembly to the LORD? For they had made a great oath concerning him who didn't come up to the LORD to Mitzpah, saying, He shall surely be put to death. 21:6The children of Yisra'el repented them for Binyamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Yisra'el this day. 21:7How shall we do for wives for those who remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives? 21:8They said, What one is there of the tribes of Yisra'el who didn't come up to the LORD to Mitzpah? Behold, there came none to the camp from Yavesh-Gil`ad to the assembly. 21:9For when the people were numbered, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Yavesh-Gil`ad there. 21:10The congregation sent there twelve thousand men of the most valiant, and commanded them, saying, Go and strike the inhabitants of Yavesh-Gil`ad with the edge of the sword, with the women and the little ones. 21:11This is the thing that you shall do: you shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has lain by man. 21:12They found among the inhabitants of Yavesh-Gil`ad four hundred young virgins, who had not known man by lying with him; and they brought them to the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Kana`an. 21:13The whole congregation sent and spoke to the children of Binyamin who were in the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed shalom to them. 21:14Binyamin returned at that time; and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Yavesh-Gil`ad: and yet so they weren't enough for them. 21:15The people repented them for Binyamin, because that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Yisra'el. 21:16Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for those who remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Binyamin? 21:17They said, There must be an inheritance for those who are escaped of Binyamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Yisra'el. 21:18However we may not give them wives of our daughters, for the children of Yisra'el had sworn, saying, Cursed be he who gives a wife to Binyamin. 21:19They said, Behold, there is a feast of the LORD from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north of Beit-El, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Beit-El to Shekhem, and on the south of Levonah. 21:20They commanded the children of Binyamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards, 21:21and see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come you out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Binyamin. 21:22It shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, that we will say to them, Grant them graciously to us, because we didn't take for each man his wife in battle, neither did you give them to them, else would you now be guilty. 21:23The children of Binyamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of those who danced, whom they carried off: and they went and returned to their inheritance, and built the cities, and lived in them. 21:24The children of Yisra'el departed there at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from there every man to his inheritance. 21:25In those days there was no king in Yisra'el: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
Notes:
[1] back to 2:17 commandments
[2] back to 3:4 commandments
[3] back to 3:27 trumpet
[4] back to 6:34 trumpet
[5] back to 7:18 trumpet
[6] back to 12:1 northward
[7] back to 17:5 priest
[8] back to 17:10 priest
[9] back to 17:12 priest
[10] back to 17:13 priest
[11] back to 18:4 priest
[12] back to 18:6 priest
[13] back to 18:17 priest
[14] back to 18:18 priest
[15] back to 18:19 priest
[16] back to 18:19 priest
[17] back to 18:19 priest
[18] back to 18:20 priest
[19] back to 18:24 priest
[20] back to 18:27 priest
[21] back to 18:30 priests