Judges 9; Judges 10; Judges 11; Judges 12; Judges 13; Judges 14; Judges 15; Judges 16; Judges 17; Judges 18; Judges 19; Judges 20; Judges 21

Judges 9

1 Gideon's son Abimelech went to the town of Shechem, where all his mother's relatives lived, and told them

2 to ask the men of Shechem, "Which would you prefer? To have all seventy of Gideon's sons govern you or to have just one man? Remember that Abimelech is your own flesh and blood."

3 His mother's relatives talked to the men of Shechem about this for him, and the men of Shechem decided to follow Abimelech because he was their relative.

4 They gave him seventy pieces of silver from the temple of Baal-of-the-Covenant, and with this money he hired a bunch of worthless scoundrels to join him.

5 He went to his father's house at Ophrah, and there on top of a single stone he killed his seventy brothers, Gideon's sons. But Jotham, Gideon's youngest son, hid and was not killed.

6 Then all the men of Shechem and Bethmillo got together and went to the sacred oak tree at Shechem, where they made Abimelech king.

7 When Jotham heard about this, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim and shouted out to them, "Listen to me, you men of Shechem, and God may listen to you!

8 Once upon a time the trees went out to choose a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, "Be our king.'

9 The olive tree answered, "In order to govern you, I would have to stop producing my oil, which is used to honor gods and human beings.'

10 Then the trees said to the fig tree, "You come and be our king.'

11 But the fig tree answered, "In order to govern you, I would have to stop producing my good sweet fruit.'

12 So the trees then said to the grapevine, "You come and be our king.'

13 But the vine answered, "In order to govern you, I would have to stop producing my wine, that makes gods and human beings happy.'

14 So then all the trees said to the thorn bush, "You come and be our king.'

15 The thorn bush answered, "If you really want to make me your king, then come and take shelter in my shade. If you don't, fire will blaze out of my thorny branches and burn up the cedars of Lebanon.'

16 "Now then," Jotham continued, "were you really honest and sincere when you made Abimelech king? Did you respect Gideon's memory and treat his family properly, as his actions deserved?

17 Remember that my father fought for you. He risked his life to save you from the Midianites.

18 But today you turned against my father's family. You killed his sons - seventy men on a single stone - and just because Abimelech, his son by his servant woman, is your relative, you have made him king of Shechem.

19 Now then, if what you did today to Gideon and his family was sincere and honest, then be happy with Abimelech and let him be happy with you.

20 But if not, may fire blaze out from Abimelech and burn up the men of Shechem and Bethmillo. May fire blaze out from the men of Shechem and Bethmillo and burn Abimelech up."

21 Then because he was afraid of his brother Abimelech, Jotham ran away and went to live at Beer.

22 Abimelech ruled Israel for three years.

23 Then God made Abimelech and the men of Shechem hostile to each other, and they rebelled against Abimelech.

24 This happened so that Abimelech and the men of Shechem, who encouraged him to murder Gideon's seventy sons, would pay for their crime.

25 The men of Shechem put men in ambush against Abimelech on the mountaintops, and they robbed everyone who passed their way. Abimelech was told about this.

26 Then Gaal son of Ebed came to Shechem with his brothers, and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him.

27 They all went out into their vineyards and picked the grapes, made wine from them, and held a festival. They went into the temple of their god, where they ate and drank and made fun of Abimelech.

28 Gaal said, "What kind of men are we in Shechem? Why are we serving Abimelech? Who is he, anyway? The son of Gideon! And Zebul takes orders from him, but why should we serve him? Be loyal to your ancestor Hamor, who founded your clan!

29 I wish I were leading this people! I would get rid of Abimelech! I would tell him, "Reinforce your army, come on out and fight!' "

30 Zebul, the ruler of the city, became angry when he heard what Gaal had said.

31 He sent messengers to Abimelech at Arumah to say, "Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem, and they are not going to let you into the city.

32 Now then, you and your men should move by night and hide in the fields.

33 Get up tomorrow morning at sunrise and make a sudden attack on the city. Then when Gaal and his men come out against you, hit them with all you've got!"

34 So Abimelech and all his men made their move at night and hid outside Shechem in four groups.

35 When Abimelech and his men saw Gaal come out and stand at the city gate, they got up from their hiding places.

36 Gaal saw them and said to Zebul, "Look! There are men coming down from the mountaintops!" "Those are not men," Zebul answered. "They are just shadows on the mountains."

37 Gaal said again, "Look! There are men coming down the crest of the mountain and one group is coming along the road from the oak tree of the fortunetellers!"

38 Then Zebul said to him, "Where is all your big talk now? You were the one who asked why we should serve this man Abimelech. These are the men you were making fun of. Go on out now and fight them."

39 Gaal led the men of Shechem out and fought Abimelech.

40 Abimelech started after Gaal, and Gaal ran. Many were wounded, even at the city gate.

41 Abimelech lived in Arumah, and Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem, so that they could no longer live there.

42 The next day Abimelech found out that the people of Shechem were planning to go out into the fields,

43 so he took his men, divided them into three groups, and hid in the fields, waiting. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he came out of hiding to kill them.

44 While Abimelech and his group hurried forward to guard the city gate, the other two companies attacked the people in the fields and killed them all.

45 The fighting continued all day long. Abimelech captured the city, killed its people, tore it down, and covered the ground with salt.

46 When all the leading men in the fort at Shechem heard about this, they sought safety in the stronghold of the temple of Baal-of-the-Covenant.

47 Abimelech was told that they had gathered there,

48 so he went up to Mount Zalmon with his men. There he took an ax, cut a limb off a tree, and put it on his shoulder. He told his men to hurry and do the same thing.

49 So everyone cut off a tree limb; then they followed Abimelech and piled the wood up against the stronghold. They set it on fire, with the people inside, and all the people of the fort died - about a thousand men and women.

50 Then Abimelech went to Thebez, surrounded that city, and captured it.

51 There was a strong tower there, and every man and woman in the city, including the leaders, ran to it. They locked themselves in and went up to the roof.

52 When Abimelech came to attack the tower, he went up to the door to set the tower on fire.

53 But a woman threw a millstone down on his head and fractured his skull.

54 Then he quickly called the young man who was carrying his weapons and told him, "Draw your sword and kill me. I don't want it said that a woman killed me." So the young man ran him through, and he died.

55 When the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they all went home.

56 And so it was that God paid Abimelech back for the crime that he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers.

57 God also made the men of Shechem suffer for their wickedness, just as Jotham, Gideon's son, said they would when he cursed them.

Judges 10

1 After Abimelech's death Tola, the son of Puah and grandson of Dodo, came to free Israel. He was from the tribe of Issachar and lived at Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim.

2 He was Israel's leader for twenty-three years. Then he died and was buried at Shamir.

3 After Tola came Jair from Gilead. He led Israel for twenty-two years.

4 He had thirty sons who rode thirty donkeys. They had thirty cities in the land of Gilead, which are still called the villages of Jair.

5 Jair died and was buried at Kamon.

6 Once again the Israelites sinned against the Lord by worshiping the Baals and the Astartes, as well as the gods of Syria, of Sidon, of Moab, of Ammon, and of Philistia. They abandoned the Lord and stopped worshiping him.

7 So the Lord became angry with the Israelites, and let the Philistines and the Ammonites conquer them.

8 For eighteen years they oppressed and persecuted all the Israelites who lived in Amorite country east of the Jordan River in Gilead.

9 The Ammonites even crossed the Jordan to fight the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. Israel was in great distress.

10 Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord and said, "We have sinned against you, for we left you, our God, and worshiped the Baals."

11 The Lord gave them this answer: "The Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines,

12 the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites oppressed you in the past, and you cried out to me. Did I not save you from them?

13 But you still left me and worshiped other gods, so I am not going to rescue you again.

14 Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them rescue you when you get in trouble."

15 But the people of Israel said to the Lord, "We have sinned. Do whatever you like, but please, save us today."

16 So they got rid of their foreign gods and worshiped the Lord; and he became troubled over Israel's distress.

17 Then the Ammonite army prepared for battle and camped in Gilead. The people of Israel came together and camped at Mizpah in Gilead.

18 There the people and the leaders of the Israelite tribes asked one another, "Who will lead the fight against the Ammonites? Whoever does will be the leader of everyone in Gilead."

Judges 11

1 Jephthah, a brave soldier from Gilead, was the son of a prostitute. His father Gilead

2 had other sons by his wife, and when they grew up, they forced Jephthah to leave home. They told him, "You will not inherit anything from our father; you are the son of another woman."

3 Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. There he attracted a group of worthless men, and they went around with him.

4 It was some time later that the Ammonites went to war against Israel.

5 When this happened, the leaders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah back from the land of Tob.

6 They told him, "Come and lead us, so that we can fight the Ammonites."

7 But Jephthah answered, "You hated me so much that you forced me to leave my father's house. Why come to me now that you're in trouble?"

8 They said to Jephthah, "We are turning to you now because we want you to go with us and fight the Ammonites and lead all the people of Gilead."

9 Jephthah said to them, "If you take me back home to fight the Ammonites and the Lord gives me victory, I will be your ruler."

10 They replied, "We agree. The Lord is our witness."

11 So Jephthah went with the leaders of Gilead, and the people made him their ruler and leader. Jephthah stated his terms at Mizpah in the presence of the Lord.

12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of Ammon to say, "What is your quarrel with us? Why have you invaded our country?"

13 The king of Ammon answered Jephthah's messengers, "When the Israelites came out of Egypt, they took away my land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River and the Jordan River. Now you must give it back peacefully."

14 Jephthah sent messengers back to the king of Ammon

15 with this answer: "It is not true that Israel took away the land of Moab or the land of Ammon.

16 This is what happened: when the Israelites left Egypt, they went through the desert to the Gulf of Aqaba and came to Kadesh.

17 Then they sent messengers to the king of Edom to ask permission to go through his land. But the king of Edom would not let them. They also asked the king of Moab, but neither would he let them go through his land. So the Israelites stayed at Kadesh.

18 Then they went on through the desert, going around the land of Edom and the land of Moab until they came to the east side of Moab, on the other side of the Arnon River. They camped there, but they did not cross the Arnon because it was the boundary of Moab.

19 Then the Israelites sent messengers to Sihon, the Amorite king of Heshbon, and asked him for permission to go through his country to their own land.

20 But Sihon would not let Israel do it. He brought his whole army together, camped at Jahaz, and attacked Israel.

21 But the Lord, the God of Israel, gave the Israelites victory over Sihon and his army. So the Israelites took possession of all the territory of the Amorites who lived in that country.

22 They occupied all the Amorite territory from the Arnon in the south to the Jabbok in the north and from the desert on the east to the Jordan on the west.

23 So it was the Lord, the God of Israel, who drove out the Amorites for his people, the Israelites.

24 Are you going to try to take it back? You can keep whatever your god Chemosh has given you. But we are going to keep everything that the Lord, our God, has taken for us.

25 Do you think you are any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? He never challenged Israel, did he? Did he ever go to war against us?

26 For three hundred years Israel has occupied Heshbon and Aroer, and the towns around them, and all the cities on the banks of the Arnon River. Why haven't you taken them back in all this time?

27 No, I have not done you any wrong. You are doing wrong by making war on me. The Lord is the judge. He will decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites."

28 But the king of Ammon paid no attention to this message from Jephthah.

29 Then the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah. He went through Gilead and Manasseh and returned to Mizpah in Gilead and went on to Ammon.

30 Jephthah promised the Lord: "If you will give me victory over the Ammonites,

31 I will burn as an offering the first person that comes out of my house to meet me, when I come back from the victory. I will offer that person to you as a sacrifice."

32 So Jephthah crossed the river to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave him victory.

33 He struck at them from Aroer to the area around Minnith, twenty cities in all, and as far as Abel Keramim. There was a great slaughter, and the Ammonites were defeated by Israel.

34 When Jephthah went back home to Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to meet him, dancing and playing the tambourine. She was his only child.

35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes in sorrow and said, "Oh, my daughter! You are breaking my heart! Why must it be you that causes me pain? I have made a solemn promise to the Lord, and I cannot take it back!"

36 She told him, "If you have made a promise to the Lord, do what you said you would do to me, since the Lord has given you revenge on your enemies, the Ammonites."

37 But she asked her father, "Do this one thing for me. Leave me alone for two months, so that I can go with my friends to wander in the mountains and grieve that I must die a virgin."

38 He told her to go and sent her away for two months. She and her friends went up into the mountains and grieved because she was going to die unmarried and childless.

39 After two months she came back to her father. He did what he had promised the Lord, and she died still a virgin. This was the origin of the custom in Israel

40 that the Israelite women would go out for four days every year to grieve for the daughter of Jephthah of Gilead.

Judges 12

1 The men of Ephraim prepared for battle; they crossed the Jordan River to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, "Why did you cross the border to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go with you? We'll burn the house down over your head!"

2 But Jephthah told them, "My people and I had a serious quarrel with the Ammonites. I did call you, but you would not rescue me from them.

3 When I saw that you were not going to, I risked my life and crossed the border to fight them, and the Lord gave me victory over them. So why are you coming up to fight me now?"

4 Then Jephthah brought all the men of Gilead together, fought the men of Ephraim and defeated them. (The Ephraimites had said, "You Gileadites in Ephraim and Manasseh, you are deserters from Ephraim!")

5 In order to keep the Ephraimites from escaping, the Gileadites captured the places where the Jordan could be crossed. When any Ephraimite who was trying to escape would ask permission to cross, the men of Gilead would ask, "Are you an Ephraimite?" If he said, "No,"

6 they would tell him to say "Shibboleth." But he would say "Sibboleth," because he could not pronounce it correctly. Then they would grab him and kill him there at one of the Jordan River crossings. At that time forty-two thousand of the Ephraimites were killed.

7 Jephthah led Israel for six years. Then he died and was buried in his hometown in Gilead.

8 After Jephthah, Ibzan from Bethlehem led Israel.

9 He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He gave his daughters in marriage outside the clan and brought thirty young women from outside the clan for his sons to marry. Ibzan led Israel for seven years,

10 then he died and was buried at Bethlehem.

11 After Ibzan, Elon from Zebulun led Israel for ten years.

12 Then he died and was buried at Aijalon in the territory of Zebulun.

13 After Elon, Abdon son of Hillel from Pirathon led Israel.

14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. Abdon led Israel for eight years,

15 then he died and was buried at Pirathon in the territory of Ephraim in the hill country of the Amalekites.

Judges 13

1 The Israelites sinned against the Lord again, and he let the Philistines rule them for forty years.

2 At that time there was a man named Manoah from the town of Zorah. He was a member of the tribe of Dan. His wife had never been able to have children.

3 The Lord's angel appeared to her and said, "You have never been able to have children, but you will soon be pregnant and have a son.

4 Be sure not to drink any wine or beer, or eat any forbidden food;

5 and after your son is born, you must never cut his hair, because from the day of his birth he will be dedicated to God as a nazirite. He will begin the work of rescuing Israel from the Philistines."

6 Then the woman went and told her husband, "A man of God has come to me, and he looked as frightening as the angel of God. I didn't ask him where he came from, and he didn't tell me his name.

7 But he did tell me that I would become pregnant and have a son. He told me not to drink any wine or beer, or eat any forbidden food, because the boy is to be dedicated to God as a nazirite as long as he lives."

8 Then Manoah prayed to the Lord, "Please, Lord, let the man of God that you sent come back to us and tell us what we must do with the boy when he is born."

9 God did what Manoah asked, and his angel came back to the woman while she was sitting in the field. Her husband Manoah was not with her,

10 so she ran at once and told him, "Look! The man who came to me the other day has appeared to me again."

11 Manoah got up and followed his wife. He went to the man and asked, "Are you the man who talked to my wife?" "Yes," he answered.

12 Then Manoah said, "Now then, when your words come true, what must the boy do? What kind of a life must he lead?"

13 The Lord's angel answered, "Your wife must be sure to do everything that I have told her.

14 She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine; she must not drink any wine or beer, or eat any forbidden food. She must do everything that I have told her."

15 Not knowing that it was the Lord's angel, Manoah said to him, "Please do not go yet. Let us cook a young goat for you." But the angel said, "If I do stay, I will not eat your food. But if you want to prepare it, burn it as an offering to the Lord."

17 Manoah replied, "Tell us your name, so that we can honor you when your words come true."

18 The angel asked, "Why do you want to know my name? It is a name of wonder."

19 So Manoah took a young goat and some grain, and offered them on the rock altar to the Lord who works wonders.

20 While the flames were going up from the altar, Manoah and his wife saw the Lord's angel go up toward heaven in the flames. Manoah realized then that the man had been the Lord's angel, and he and his wife threw themselves face downward on the ground. They never saw the angel again.

22 Manoah said to his wife, "We are sure to die, because we have seen God!"

23 But his wife answered, "If the Lord had wanted to kill us, he would not have accepted our offerings; he would not have shown us all this or told us such things at this time."

24 The woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The child grew and the Lord blessed him.

25 And the Lord's power began to strengthen him while he was between Zorah and Eshtaol in the Camp of Dan.

Judges 14

1 One day Samson went down to Timnah, where he noticed a certain young Philistine woman.

2 He went back home and told his father and mother, "There is a Philistine woman down at Timnah who caught my attention. Get her for me; I want to marry her."

3 But his father and mother asked him, "Why do you have to go to those heathen Philistines to get a wife? Can't you find someone in our own clan, among all our people?" But Samson told his father, "She is the one I want you to get for me. I like her."

4 His parents did not know that it was the Lord who was leading Samson to do this, for the Lord was looking for a chance to fight the Philistines. At this time the Philistines were ruling Israel.

5 So Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother. As they were going through the vineyards there, he heard a young lion roaring.

6 Suddenly the power of the Lord made Samson strong, and he tore the lion apart with his bare hands, as if it were a young goat. But he did not tell his parents what he had done.

7 Then he went and talked to the young woman, and he liked her.

8 A few days later Samson went back to marry her. On the way he left the road to look at the lion he had killed, and he was surprised to find a swarm of bees and some honey inside the dead body.

9 He scraped the honey out into his hands and ate it as he walked along. Then he went to his father and mother and gave them some. They ate it, but Samson did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the dead body of a lion.

10 His father went to the woman's house, and Samson gave a banquet there. This was a custom among the young men.

11 When the Philistines saw him, they sent thirty young men to stay with him.

12 Samson said to them, "Let me tell you a riddle. I'll bet each one of you a piece of fine linen and a change of fine clothes that you can't tell me its meaning before the seven days of the wedding feast are over." "Tell us your riddle," they said. "Let's hear it."

14 He said, "Out of the eater came something to eat; Out of the strong came something sweet." Three days later they had still not figured out what the riddle meant.

15 On the fourth day they said to Samson's wife, "Trick your husband into telling us what the riddle means. If you don't, we'll set fire to your father's house and burn you with it. You two invited us so that you could rob us, didn't you?"

16 So Samson's wife went to him in tears and said, "You don't love me! You just hate me! You told my friends a riddle and didn't tell me what it means!" He said, "Look, I haven't even told my father and mother. Why should I tell you?"

17 She cried about it for the whole seven days of the feast. But on the seventh day he told her what the riddle meant, for she nagged him so about it. Then she told the Philistines.

18 So on the seventh day, before Samson went into the bedroom, the men of the city said to him, "What could be sweeter than honey? What could be stronger than a lion?" Samson replied, "If you hadn't been plowing with my cow, You wouldn't know the answer now."

19 Suddenly the power of the Lord made him strong, and he went down to Ashkelon, where he killed thirty men, stripped them, and gave their fine clothes to the men who had solved the riddle. After that, he went back home, furious about what had happened,

20 and his wife was given to the man that had been his best man at the wedding.

Judges 15

1 Some time later Samson went to visit his wife during the wheat harvest and took her a young goat. He told her father, "I want to go to my wife's room." But he wouldn't let him go in.

2 He told Samson, "I really thought that you hated her, so I gave her to your friend. But her younger sister is prettier, anyway. You can have her, instead."

3 Samson said, "This time I'm not going to be responsible for what I do to the Philistines!"

4 So he went and caught three hundred foxes. Two at a time, he tied their tails together and put torches in the knots.

5 Then he set fire to the torches and turned the foxes loose in the Philistine wheat fields. In this way he burned up not only the wheat that had been harvested but also the wheat that was still in the fields. The olive orchards were also burned.

6 When the Philistines asked who had done this, they learned that Samson had done it because his father-in-law, a man from Timnah, had given Samson's wife to a friend of Samson's. So the Philistines went and burned the woman to death and burned down her father's house.

7 Samson told them, "So this is how you act! I swear that I won't stop until I pay you back!"

8 He attacked them fiercely and killed many of them. Then he went and stayed in the cave in the cliff at Etam.

9 The Philistines came and camped in Judah, and attacked the town of Lehi.

10 The men of Judah asked them, "Why are you attacking us?" They answered, "We came to take Samson prisoner and to treat him as he treated us."

11 So these three thousand men of Judah went to the cave in the cliff at Etam and said to Samson, "Don't you know that the Philistines are our rulers? What have you done to us?" He answered, "I did to them just what they did to me."

12 They told him, "We have come here to tie you up, so we can hand you over to them." Samson said, "Give me your word that you won't kill me yourselves."

13 "All right," they said, "we are only going to tie you up and hand you over to them. We won't kill you." So they tied him up with two new ropes and brought him back from the cliff.

14 When he got to Lehi, the Philistines came running toward him, shouting at him. Suddenly the power of the Lord made him strong, and he broke the ropes around his arms and hands as if they were burnt thread.

15 Then he found a jawbone of a donkey that had recently died. He reached down and picked it up, and killed a thousand men with it.

16 So Samson sang, "With the jawbone of a donkey I killed a thousand men; With the jawbone of a donkey I piled them up in piles."

17 After that, he threw the jawbone away. The place where this happened was named Ramath Lehi.

18 Then Samson became very thirsty, so he called to the Lord and said, "You gave me this great victory; am I now going to die of thirst and be captured by these heathen Philistines?"

19 Then God opened a hollow place in the ground there at Lehi, and water came out of it. Samson drank it and began to feel much better. So the spring was named Hakkore; it is still there at Lehi.

20 Samson led Israel for twenty years while the Philistines ruled the land.

Judges 16

1 One day Samson went to the Philistine city of Gaza, where he met a prostitute and went to bed with her.

2 The people of Gaza found out that Samson was there, so they surrounded the place and waited for him all night long at the city gate. They were quiet all night, thinking to themselves, "We'll wait until daybreak, and then we'll kill him."

3 But Samson stayed in bed only until midnight. Then he got up and took hold of the city gate and pulled it up - doors, posts, lock, and all. He put them on his shoulders and carried them far off to the top of the hill overlooking Hebron.

4 After this, Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in Sorek Valley.

5 The five Philistine kings went to her and said, "Trick Samson into telling you why he is so strong and how we can overpower him, tie him up, and make him helpless. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver."

6 So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me what makes you so strong. If someone wanted to tie you up and make you helpless, how could he do it?"

7 Samson answered, "If they tie me up with seven new bowstrings that are not dried out, I'll be as weak as anybody else."

8 So the Philistine kings brought Delilah seven new bowstrings that were not dried out, and she tied Samson up.

9 She had some men waiting in another room, so she shouted, "Samson! The Philistines are coming!" But he snapped the bowstrings just as thread breaks when fire touches it. So they still did not know the secret of his strength.

10 Delilah told Samson, "Look, you've been making a fool of me and not telling me the truth. Please tell me how someone could tie you up."

11 He told her, "If they tie me with new ropes that have never been used, I'll be as weak as anybody else."

12 So Delilah got some new ropes and tied him up. Then she shouted, "Samson! The Philistines are coming!" The men were waiting in another room. But he snapped the ropes off his arms like thread.

13 Delilah said to Samson, "You're still making a fool of me and not telling me the truth. Tell me how someone could tie you up." He told her, "If you weave my seven locks of hair into a loom, and make it tight with a peg, I'll be as weak as anybody else."

14 Delilah then lulled him to sleep, took his seven locks of hair, and wove them into the loom. She made it tight with a peg and shouted, "Samson! The Philistines are coming!" But he woke up and pulled his hair loose from the loom.

15 So she said to him, "How can you say you love me, when you don't mean it? You've made a fool of me three times, and you still haven't told me what makes you so strong."

16 She kept on asking him, day after day. He got so sick and tired of her bothering him about it

17 that he finally told her the truth. "My hair has never been cut," he said. "I have been dedicated to God as a nazirite from the time I was born. If my hair were cut, I would lose my strength and be as weak as anybody else."

18 When Delilah realized that he had told her the truth, she sent a message to the Philistine kings and said, "Come back one more time. He has told me the truth." Then they came and brought the money with them.

19 Delilah lulled Samson to sleep in her lap and then called a man, who cut off Samson's seven locks of hair. Then she began to torment him, for he had lost his strength.

20 Then she shouted, "Samson! The Philistines are coming!" He woke up and thought, "I'll get loose and go free, as always." He did not know that the Lord had left him.

21 The Philistines captured him and put his eyes out. They took him to Gaza, chained him with bronze chains, and put him to work grinding at the mill in the prison.

22 But his hair started growing back.

23 The Philistine kings met together to celebrate and offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They sang, "Our god has given us victory over our enemy Samson!"

24 They were enjoying themselves, and so they said, "Call Samson, and let's make him entertain us!" When they brought Samson out of the prison, they made him entertain them and made him stand between the columns. When the people saw him, they sang praise to their god: "Our god has given us victory over our enemy, who devastated our land and killed so many of us!"

26 Samson said to the boy who was leading him by the hand, "Let me touch the columns that hold up the building. I want to lean on them."

27 The building was crowded with men and women. All five Philistine kings were there, and there were about three thousand men and women on the roof, watching Samson entertain them.

28 Then Samson prayed, "Sovereign Lord, please remember me; please, God, give me my strength just this one time more, so that with this one blow I can get even with the Philistines for putting out my two eyes."

29 So Samson took hold of the two middle columns holding up the building. Putting one hand on each column, he pushed against them

30 and shouted, "Let me die with the Philistines!" He pushed with all his might, and the building fell down on the five kings and everyone else. Samson killed more people at his death than he had killed during his life.

31 His brothers and the rest of his family came down to get his body. They took him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. He had been Israel's leader for twenty years.

Judges 17

1 There was once a man named Micah, who lived in the hill country of Ephraim.

2 He told his mother, "When someone stole those eleven hundred pieces of silver from you, you put a curse on the robber. I heard you do it. Look, I have the money. I am the one who took it." His mother said, "May the Lord bless you, my son!"

3 He gave the money back to his mother, and she said, "To keep the curse from falling on my son, I myself am solemnly dedicating the silver to the Lord. It will be used to make a wooden idol covered with silver. So now I will give the pieces of silver back to you."

4 Then he gave them back to his mother. She took two hundred of the pieces of silver and gave them to a metalworker, who made an idol, carving it from wood and covering it with the silver. It was placed in Micah's house.

5 This man Micah had his own place of worship. He made some idols and an ephod, and appointed one of his sons as his priest.

6 There was no king in Israel at that time; everyone did whatever they wanted.

7 At that same time there was a young Levite who had been living in the town of Bethlehem in Judah.

8 He left Bethlehem to find another place to live. While he was traveling, he came to Micah's house in the hill country of Ephraim.

9 Micah asked him, "Where do you come from?" He answered, "I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I am looking for a place to live."

10 Micah said, "Stay with me. Be my adviser and priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, some clothes, and your food."

11 The young Levite agreed to stay with Micah and became like a son to him.

12 Micah appointed him as his priest, and he lived in Micah's home.

13 Micah said, "Now that I have a Levite as my priest, I know that the Lord will make things go well for me."

Judges 18

1 There was no king in Israel at that time. In those days the tribe of Dan was looking for territory to claim and settle in because they had not yet received any land of their own among the tribes of Israel.

2 So the people of Dan chose five qualified men out of all the families in the tribe and sent them from the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol with instructions to explore the land and spy on it. When they arrived in the hill country of Ephraim, they stayed at Micah's house.

3 While they were there, they recognized the accent of the young Levite, so they went up to him and asked, "What are you doing here? Who brought you here?"

4 He answered, "I have an arrangement with Micah, who pays me to serve as his priest."

5 They said to him, "Please ask God if we are going to be successful on our trip."

6 The priest answered, "You have nothing to worry about. The Lord is taking care of you on this trip."

7 So the five men left and went to the town of Laish. They saw how the people there lived in security like the Sidonians. They were a peaceful, quiet people, with no argument with anyone; they had all they needed. They lived far away from the Sidonians and had no dealings with any other people.

8 When the five men returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, the people asked them what they had found out.

9 "Come on," they replied. "Let's attack Laish. We saw the land, and it's very good. Don't stay here doing nothing; hurry! Go on in and take it over!

10 When you get there, you will find that the people don't suspect a thing. It is a big country; it has everything a person could want, and God has given it to you."

11 So six hundred men from the tribe of Dan left Zorah and Eshtaol, ready for battle.

12 They went up and camped west of Kiriath Jearim in Judah. That is why the place is still called Camp of Dan.

13 They went on from there and came to Micah's house in the hill country of Ephraim.

14 Then the five men who had gone to spy on the country around Laish said to their companions, "Did you know that here in one of these houses there is a wooden idol covered with silver? There are also other idols and an ephod. What do you think we should do?"

15 So they went into Micah's house, where the young Levite lived, and asked the Levite how he was getting along.

16 Meanwhile the six hundred Danite soldiers, ready for battle, were standing at the gate.

17 The five spies went straight on into the house and took the wooden idol covered with silver, the other idols, and the ephod, while the priest stayed at the gate with the six hundred armed men.

18 When the men went into Micah's house and took the sacred objects, the priest asked them, "What are you doing?"

19 They told him, "Keep quiet. Don't say a word. Come with us and be our priest and adviser. Wouldn't you rather be a priest for a whole Israelite tribe than for the family of one man?"

20 This made the priest very happy, so he took the sacred objects and went along with them.

21 They turned around and started off, with their children, their livestock, and their belongings going ahead.

22 They had traveled a good distance from the house when Micah called his neighbors out for battle. They caught up with the Danites

23 and shouted at them. The Danites turned around and asked Micah, "What's the matter? Why all this mob?"

24 Micah answered, "What do you mean, "What's the matter?' You take my priest and the gods that I made, and walk off! What have I got left?"

25 The Danites told him, "You had better not say anything else unless you want these men to get angry and attack you. You and your whole family would die."

26 Then the Danites went on. Micah saw that they were too strong for him, so he turned and went back home.

27 After the Danites had taken the priest and the things that Micah had made, they went and attacked Laish, that town of peaceful, quiet people which was in the same valley as Bethrehob. They killed the inhabitants and burned the town. There was no one to save them, because Laish was a long way from Sidon, and they had no dealings with any other people. The Danites rebuilt the town and settled down there.

29 They changed its name from Laish to Dan, after their ancestor Dan, the son of Jacob.

30 The Danites set up the idol to be worshiped, and Jonathan, the son of Gershom and grandson of Moses, served as a priest for the Danites, and his descendants served as their priests until the people were taken away into exile.

31 Micah's idol remained there as long as the Tent where God was worshiped remained at Shiloh.

Judges 19

1 In those days before Israel had a king, there was a Levite living far back in the hill country of Ephraim. He took a young woman from Bethlehem in Judah to be his concubine.

2 But she became angry with him, went back to her father's house in Bethlehem, and stayed there four months.

3 Then the man decided to go after her and try to persuade her to return to him. He took his servant and two donkeys with him. The woman showed the Levite into the house, and when her father saw him, he gave him a hearty greeting.

4 The father insisted that he stay, and so he stayed for three days. The couple had their meals and spent the nights there.

5 On the morning of the fourth day they woke up early and got ready to go. But the woman's father said to the Levite, "Have something to eat first. You'll feel better. You can go later."

6 So the two men sat down and ate and drank together. Then the woman's father told him, "Please spend the night and enjoy yourself."

7 The Levite got up to go, but the father urged him to stay, so he spent another night there.

8 Early in the morning of the fifth day he started to leave, but the woman's father said, "Eat something, please. Wait until later in the day." So the two men ate together.

9 When the man, his concubine, and the servant once more started to leave, the father said, "Look, it's almost evening now; you might as well stay all night. It will be dark soon; stay here and have a good time. Tomorrow you can get up early for the trip and go home."

10 But the man did not want to spend another night there, so he and his concubine started on their way, with their servant and two donkeys with pack saddles. It was late in the day when they came near Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), so the servant said to his master, "Why don't we stop and spend the night here in this Jebusite city?"

12 But his master said, "We're not going to stop in a city where the people are not Israelites. We'll pass on by and go a little farther and spend the night at Gibeah or Ramah."

14 So they passed by Jebus and continued on their way. It was sunset when they came to Gibeah in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin.

15 They turned off the road to go and spend the night there. They went into town and sat down in the city square, but no one offered to take them home for the night.

16 While they were there, an old man came by at the end of a day's work on the farm. He was originally from the hill country of Ephraim, but he was now living in Gibeah. (The other people there were from the tribe of Benjamin.)

17 The old man noticed the traveler in the city square and asked him, "Where do you come from? Where are you going?"

18 The Levite answered, "We have been in Bethlehem in Judah, and now we are on our way home deep in the hill country of Ephraim. No one will put us up for the night,

19 even though we have fodder and straw for our donkeys, as well as bread and wine for my concubine and me and for my servant. We have everything we need."

20 The old man said, "You are welcome in my home! I'll take care of you; you don't have to spend the night in the square."

21 So he took them home with him and fed their donkeys. His guests washed their feet and had a meal.

22 They were enjoying themselves when all of a sudden some sexual perverts from the town surrounded the house and started beating on the door. They said to the old man, "Bring out that man that came home with you! We want to have sex with him!"

23 But the old man went outside and said to them, "No, my friends! Please! Don't do such an evil, immoral thing! This man is my guest.

24 Look! Here is his concubine and my own virgin daughter. I'll bring them out now, and you can have them. Do whatever you want to with them. But don't do such an awful thing to this man!"

25 But the men would not listen to him. So the Levite took his concubine and put her outside with them. They raped her and abused her all night long and didn't stop until morning.

26 At dawn the woman came and fell down at the door of the old man's house, where her husband was. She was still there when daylight came.

27 Her husband got up that morning, and when he opened the door to go on his way, he found his concubine lying in front of the house with her hands reaching for the door.

28 He said, "Get up. Let's go." But there was no answer. So he put her body across the donkey and started on his way home.

29 When he arrived, he went in the house and got a knife. He took his concubine's body, cut it into twelve pieces, and sent one piece to each of the twelve tribes of Israel.

30 Everyone who saw it said, "We have never heard of such a thing! Nothing like this has ever happened since the Israelites left Egypt! We have to do something about this! What will it be?"

Judges 20

1 All the people of Israel from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, as well as from the land of Gilead in the east, answered the call. They gathered in one body in the Lord's presence at Mizpah.

2 The leaders of all the tribes of Israel were present at this gathering of God's people, and there were 400,000 foot soldiers.

3 Meanwhile the people of Benjamin heard that all the other Israelites had gathered at Mizpah. The Israelites asked, "Tell us, how was this crime committed?"

4 The Levite whose concubine had been murdered answered, "My concubine and I went to Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin to spend the night.

5 The men of Gibeah came to get me and surrounded the house at night. They intended to kill me; instead they raped my concubine, and she died.

6 I took her body, cut it in pieces, and sent one piece to each of the twelve tribes of Israel. These people have committed an evil and immoral act among us.

7 All of you here are Israelites. What are we going to do about this?"

8 All the people stood up together and said, "None of us, whether he lives in a tent or in a house, will go home.

9 This is what we will do: we will draw lots and choose some men to attack Gibeah.

10 One tenth of the men in Israel will provide food for the army, and the others will go and punish Gibeah for this immoral act that they have committed in Israel."

11 So all the men in Israel assembled with one purpose - to attack the town.

12 The Israelite tribes sent messengers all through the territory of the tribe of Benjamin to say, "What is this crime that you have committed?

13 Now hand over those perverts in Gibeah, so that we can kill them and remove this evil from Israel." But the people of Benjamin paid no attention to the other Israelites.

14 From all the cities of Benjamin they came to Gibeah to fight the other people of Israel.

15 They called out twenty-six thousand soldiers from their cities that day. Besides these, the citizens of Gibeah gathered seven hundred specially chosen men who were left-handed. Every one of them could sling a stone at a strand of hair and never miss.

17 Not counting the tribe of Benjamin, the Israelites gathered 400,000 trained soldiers.

18 The Israelites went to the place of worship at Bethel, and there they asked God, "Which tribe should attack the Benjaminites first?" The Lord answered, "The tribe of Judah."

19 So the Israelites started out the next morning and camped near the city of Gibeah.

20 They went to attack the army of Benjamin, and placed the soldiers in position facing the city.

21 The army of Benjamin came out of the city, and before the day was over they had killed twenty-two thousand Israelite soldiers.

22 Then the Israelites went to the place of worship and mourned in the presence of the Lord until evening. They asked him, "Should we go again into battle against our brothers the Benjaminites?" The Lord answered, "Yes." So the Israelite army was encouraged, and they placed their soldiers in position again, where they had been the day before.

24 They marched against the army of Benjamin a second time.

25 And for the second time the Benjaminites came out of Gibeah, and this time they killed eighteen thousand trained Israelite soldiers.

26 Then all the people of Israel went up to Bethel and mourned. They sat there in the Lord's presence and did not eat until evening. They offered fellowship sacrifices and burned some sacrifices whole - all in the presence of the Lord.

27 God's Covenant Box was there at Bethel in those days, and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron, was in charge of it. The people asked the Lord, "Should we go out to fight our brothers the Benjaminites again, or should we give up?" The Lord answered, "Fight. Tomorrow I will give you victory over them."

29 So the Israelites put some soldiers in hiding around Gibeah.

30 Then for the third straight day they marched against the army of Benjamin and placed their soldiers in battle position facing Gibeah, as they had done before.

31 The Benjaminites came out to fight and were led away from the city. As they had before, they began killing some Israelites in the open country, on the road to Bethel and on the road to Gibeah. They killed about thirty Israelites.

32 The Benjaminites said, "We've beaten them just as before." But the Israelites had planned to retreat and lead them away from the city onto the roads.

33 So when the main army of the Israelites pulled back and regrouped at Baaltamar, the men surrounding Gibeah suddenly rushed out of their hiding places in the rocky country around the city.

34 Ten thousand men, specially chosen out of all Israel, attacked Gibeah, and the fighting was hard. The Benjaminites had not realized that they were about to be destroyed.

35 The Lord gave Israel victory over the army of Benjamin. The Israelites killed 25,100 of the enemy that day,

36 and the Benjaminites realized they were defeated. The main body of the Israelite army had retreated from the Benjaminites because they were relying on the men that they had put in hiding around Gibeah.

37 These men ran quickly toward Gibeah; they spread out in the city and killed everyone there.

38 The main Israelite army and the men in hiding had arranged a signal. When they saw a big cloud of smoke going up from the town,

39 the Israelites out on the battlefield were to turn around. By this time the Benjaminites had already killed the thirty Israelites. They told themselves, "Yes, we've beaten them just as before."

40 Then the signal appeared; a cloud of smoke began to go up from the town. The Benjaminites looked behind them and were amazed to see the whole city going up in flames.

41 Then the Israelites turned around, and the Benjaminites were thrown into panic because they realized that they were about to be destroyed.

42 They retreated from the Israelites and ran toward the open country, but they could not escape. They were caught between the main army and the men who were now coming out of the city, and they were destroyed.

43 The Israelites had the enemy trapped, and without stopping they pursued them as far as a point east of Gibeah, killing them as they went.

44 Eighteen thousand of the best Benjaminite soldiers were killed.

45 The others turned and ran toward the open country to Rimmon Rock. Five thousand of them were killed on the roads. The Israelites continued to pursue the rest to Gidom, killing two thousand.

46 In all, twenty-five thousand Benjaminites were killed that day - all of them brave soldiers.

47 But six hundred men were able to escape to the open country to Rimmon Rock, and they stayed there four months.

48 The Israelites turned back against the rest of the Benjaminites and killed them all - men, women, and children, and animals as well. They burned every town in the area.

Judges 21

1 When the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, they had made a solemn promise to the Lord: "None of us will allow a Benjaminite to marry a daughter of ours."

2 So now the people of Israel went to Bethel and sat there in the presence of God until evening. Loudly and bitterly they mourned:

3 "Lord God of Israel, why has this happened? Why is the tribe of Benjamin about to disappear from Israel?"

4 Early the next morning the people got up and built an altar there. They offered fellowship sacrifices and burned some sacrifices whole.

5 They asked, "Is there any group out of all the tribes of Israel that did not go to the gathering in the Lord's presence at Mizpah?" (They had taken a solemn oath that anyone who had not gone to Mizpah would be put to death.)

6 The people of Israel felt sorry for their brothers the Benjaminites and said, "Today Israel has lost one of its tribes.

7 What shall we do to provide wives for the men of Benjamin who are left? We have made a solemn promise to the Lord that we will not give them any of our daughters."

8 When they asked if there was some group out of the tribes of Israel that had not gone to the gathering at Mizpah, they found out that no one from Jabesh in Gilead had been there;

9 at the roll call of the army no one from Jabesh had responded.

10 So the assembly sent twelve thousand of their bravest men with the orders, "Go and kill everyone in Jabesh, including women and children.

11 Kill all the males, and also every woman who is not a virgin."

12 They found four hundred young virgins among the people in Jabesh, so they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

13 Then the whole assembly sent word to the Benjaminites who were at Rimmon Rock and offered to end the war.

14 The Benjaminites came back, and the other Israelites gave them the young women from Jabesh whom they had not killed. But there were not enough of them.

15 The people felt sorry for the Benjaminites because the Lord had broken the unity of the tribes of Israel.

16 So the leaders of the gathering said, "There are no more women in the tribe of Benjamin. What shall we do to provide wives for the men who are left?

17 Israel must not lose one of its twelve tribes. We must find a way for the tribe of Benjamin to survive,

18 but we cannot allow them to marry our daughters, because we have put a curse on anyone who allows a Benjaminite to marry one of our daughters."

19 Then they thought, "The yearly festival of the Lord at Shiloh is coming soon." (Shiloh is north of Bethel, south of Lebonah, and east of the road between Bethel and Shechem.)

20 They told the Benjaminites, "Go and hide in the vineyards

21 and watch. When the young women of Shiloh come out to dance during the festival, you come out of the vineyards. Each of you take a wife by force from among them and take her back to the territory of Benjamin with you.

22 If their fathers or brothers come to you and protest, you can tell them, "Please let us keep them, because we did not take them from you in battle to be our wives. And since you did not give them to us, you are not guilty of breaking your promise.' "

23 The Benjaminites did this; each of them chose a wife from the young women who were dancing at Shiloh and carried her away. Then they went back to their own territory, rebuilt their towns, and lived there.

24 At the same time the rest of the Israelites left, and every man went back to his own tribe and family and to his own property.

25 There was no king in Israel at that time. Everyone did whatever they pleased.