Judges 7; Judges 8; Judges 9; Judges 10; Judges 11; Judges 12; Judges 13; Judges 14; Judges 15; Judges 16; Judges 17; Judges 18

Judges 7

1 Then Jerub-Baal (that [is], Gideon) rose early, and all the army that [was] with him. They were camped beside the spring of Harod; the camp of Midian was north of the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

2 And Yahweh said to Gideon, "The troops that [are] with you [are] too many for me to give Midian into their hands; Israel will boast, saying, 'My hand has delivered me.'

3 So then, please proclaim in the {hearing} of the troops, saying, 'Whoever [is] fearful and trembling, let him return and depart from the Mount of Gilead.'" About twenty-two thousand troops returned, and ten thousand remained.

4 And Yahweh said to Gideon, "There [are] still too many troops; bring them down to the water, and I will sift through them for you there. For whomever I say to you, 'This [one] will go with you,' he will go with you; and for all whom I say to you, 'This [one] will not go with you,' he will not go."

5 So he brought down the troops to the water, and Yahweh said to Gideon, "You must separate everyone who laps up the water to drink with his tongue like a dog from those {who kneel}."

6 The number of those lapping up [the water] with their hand to their mouth was three hundred men; all the rest of the troops kneeled to drink the water.

7 And Yahweh said to Gideon, "I will deliver you with the three hundred men lapping up [the water]; I will give Midian into your hand, so let the [other] troops go, each to his own place.

8 So they took their provisions and their trumpets into their hand, and he sent all the men of Israel, each one, to his tent; but three hundred of the men he kept; the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

9 And that night Yahweh said to him, "Get up; go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand.

10 But if you [are] afraid, go down to the camp with Purah your servant,

11 and you will hear what they say; and afterward {you will have courage}, and you will go down against the camp." Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outpost of the armed men that [were] in the camp.

12 Now [the] Midianites, Amalekites, and all the people of [the] east [were] lying in the valley, like a great multitude of locusts; their camels were without number, as numerous as the sand that [is] on the shore of the sea.

13 When Gideon came, a man [was] recounting a dream to his friend, and he said, "Behold, {I had a dream}; a round loaf of barley bread [was] tumbling into the camp of Midian, and it came up to the tent, it struck it, and it fell and turned it upside down so that the tent fell."

14 His friend answered him and said, "This cannot be anything except the sword of Gideon son of Jehoash, a man of Israel; God has given Midian and the entire camp into his hand."

15 When Gideon heard the recounting of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and returned to the camp of Israel; and he said, "Get up, for Yahweh has given the camp of Midian into your hand."

16 He divided the three hundred men [into] three companies, and he put trumpets and empty jars in everyone's hand, with torches inside the jars.

17 And he said to them, "Watch me and do the same. When I come to the edge of the camp, {do just as I do}.

18 When I and all who [are] with me blow on the trumpet, you must also blow on the trumpets and surround the camp, and you must say, 'To Yahweh and to Gideon!'"

19 So Gideon and the hundred men who [were] with him came to the edge of the camp [at] the beginning of the middle night-watch, when they had just finished setting up the guards, and they blew on the trumpets and smashed the jars that [were] in their hands.

20 When three companies blew on the trumpets and broke the jars, they held in their left hand the torches and in their right hand the trumpets for blowing, and they cried, "A sword for Yahweh and for Gideon!"

21 And each stood {in his place} all around the camp, and all the camp ran, and they cried out as they fled.

22 When they blew the three hundred trumpets, Yahweh set [the] sword of each one against his neighbor throughout the whole camp, and the camp fled as far as Beth Shittah toward Zererah, up to Abel Meholah, the border by Tabbath.

23 And the men of Israel were called from Naphtali, from Asher, and from all of Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian.

24 And Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, "Come down to oppose Midian, and capture from them the waters up to Beth Barah and the Jordan." He called out all the men of Ephraim, and they captured the waters up to Beth Barah and the Jordan.

25 And they captured the two commanders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and they killed Zeeb at the wine press of Zeeb, while they chased Midian; and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon from beyond the Jordan.

Judges 8

1 The men of Ephraim said to him, "What [is] this thing you have done to us, not calling us when you went to fight against the Midianites?" And they quarreled with him severely.

2 And he said to them, "What I have done now in comparison with you? Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer?

3 God has given into your hand the commanders of Midian, Oreb, and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?" And their {anger} against him subsided when {he said that}.

4 Then Gideon came to the Jordan, crossing it with the three hundred men who [were] with him, weary and pursuing.

5 He said to the men of Succoth, "Please give loaves of bread to the people who [are] {following me}, for they [are] weary, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian."

6 The officials of Succoth said, "Is the hand of Zebah and Zalmunna in your hand now, that we should give bread to your army?"

7 Gideon said, "Well then, when Yahweh gives Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will trample your flesh with the thorns and briers of the wilderness."

8 He went from there [to] Penuel, and he spoke similarly to them; and the men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth answered.

9 And he said also to the men of Penuel, saying, "When I return {safely}, I will tear down this tower."

10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna [were] in Karkor, and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand men remained from the entire army of the people of [the] east; those that fell [in battle were] one hundred and twenty thousand {swordsmen}.

11 And Gideon went up the route of those who dwell in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he attacked the army when it was off its guard.

12 And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he routed the entire army.

13 Then Gideon son of Jehoash returned from the battle {by way of} the ascent of Heres.

14 He captured a young man {from Succoth} and questioned him. [The young man] listed for him the commanders of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men.

15 He came to the men of Succoth, and he said, "Here [is] Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, '[Is] the palm of Zebah and Zalmunna in your hand now, that we should give food to your weary men?'"

16 He took the elders of the city and [the] thorn bushes and briers of the wilderness, and {he trampled} the men of Succoth with them.

17 He broke down the tower of Penuel, and he killed the men of the city.

18 And he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, "What type [were] the men whom you killed at Tabor?" And they said, "{They were like you}; each [one of them] had the appearance of the sons of the king."

19 He said, "They [were] my brothers, the sons of my mother. As Yahweh lives, if you had kept them alive I would not kill you."

20 And he said to Jether, his firstborn, "Get up, kill them." But the boy did not draw his sword, for he was afraid because he [was] still a boy.

21 Zebah and Zalmunna said, "Get up yourself, and strike us, for as [is] the man, so [is] his power." So Gideon got up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.

22 The men of Israel said to Gideon, "Rule over us, both you and your sons, and your sons' son, for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.

23 But Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; Yahweh will rule over you."

24 And Gideon said to them, "{Let me make a request of you}, that each of you give to me an ornamental ring from his plunder." (They [had] ornamental rings of gold, because they [were] Ishmaelites.)

25 They said, "We will gladly give [them]," and they spread out a garment, and everyone threw there an ornamental ring of his plunder.

26 The weight of the ornamental rings of gold that he requested [was] one thousand seven hundred [shekels of] gold, apart from the crescents, pendants, and purple garments that [were] on the kings of Midian, and apart from the pendants that [were] on the necks of their camels.

27 Gideon made an ephod [out of] it, and he put it in his town in Ophrah, and all Israel prostituted [themselves] to it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.

28 And Midian was subdued before the {Israelites}, and they did not again lift up their head, and the land rested for forty years in the days of Gideon.

29 Jerub-Baal son of Joash lived in his own house.

30 Now Gideon had seventy sons, {his own offspring}, for he had many wives.

31 His concubine who [was] in Shechem also bore for him a son, and {he named him} Abimelech.

32 And Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age, and he was buried in the tomb of Jehoash his father, in Ophrah [of] the Abiezrites.

33 And it happened, as soon as Gideon died, the {Israelites} returned and prostituted [themselves] after the Baals, and they made for themselves Baal-Berith as god.

34 The {Israelites} did not remember Yahweh their God, who had delivered them from the hand of their enemies from all around,

35 nor did they show favor to the house of Jerub-Baal ([that is], Gideon) in accordance with all the good that he did for Israel.

Judges 9

1 And Abimelech son of Jerub-Baal went to Shechem, to the relatives of his mother, and he said to them and to the house of his mother's father,

2 "{Speak to} the lords of Shechem, 'What [is] better for you, that seventy men all from the sons of Jerub-Baal rule over you, or that one man rules over you?' Remember that I [am] your bone and your flesh."

3 And his mother's relatives spoke all these words concerning him {to} all the lords of Shechem; and {they supported Abimelech}, for they said, "He is our relative."

4 And they gave to him seventy [pieces of] silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, and Abimelech hired with them worthless and reckless men, and {they followed him}.

5 And he went to his father's house at Ophrah, and he killed his brothers, the sons of Jerub-Baal, seventy men, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerub-Baal survived, because he hid himself.

6 All the lords of Shechem and Beth-Millo gathered, and they went and made Abimelech as king, near [the] oak of [the] pillar that [is] at Shechem.

7 And they told Jotham, and he went up and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and {he cried out loud} and said to them, "Listen to me, lords of Shechem, so that God may listen to you.

8 "The trees went certainly, to anoint a king over themselves. And they said to the olive tree, 'Rule over us.'

9 And the olive tree replied, 'Should I stop [producing] my oil, which by me gods and men are honored, to go sway over the trees?'

10 Then the trees said to the fig tree, 'You, come rule over us.'

11 But the fig tree said to them, 'Should I stop [producing] my sweetness, and my good crop, to go sway over the trees?'

12 And the trees said to the vine, 'You, come rule over us.'

13 But the vine said to them, 'Should I stop [producing] my wine that makes the gods and men happy, to go sway over the trees?'

14 So all the trees said to the thornbush, 'You, come rule over us.'

15 And the thornbush said to the trees, 'If in good faith you [are] anointing me as king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; if not, may fire go out from the thornbush and devour the cedars of Lebanon.'

16 "So then, if you have acted in good faith and sincerity in making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerub-Baal and his house, and have dealt with him {according to his accomplishments}--

17 for my father fought and {risked his life} for you and delivered you from the hand of Midian;

18 but today you have risen against the house of my father and killed his sons, seventy men on one stone, and you have made Abimelech, the son of his slave woman, a king over the lords of Shechem, because he is your relative--

19 if you have acted in good faith and sincerity with Jerub-Baal and his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you.

20 But if not, let a fire come out from Abimelech and let it devour the lords of Shechem and Beth-Millo; and let a fire come out from the lords of Shechem, and from Beth-Millo, and let it devour Abimelech."

21 And Jotham escaped and fled, and went to Beer; he remained there because of Abimelech his brother.

22 Abimelech ruled over Israel three years.

23 And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the lords of Shechem, and the lords of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech,

24 so that the violence done to the seventy brothers of Abimelech would be avenged and their blood be placed on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the lords of Shechem, {who helped} to kill his brothers.

25 And the lords of Shechem set for him ambushes on the top of the mountains, and they robbed all who passed by them along the road; and it was reported to Abimelech.

26 And Gaal son of Ebel and his relatives came, and they crossed over into Shechem, and the lords of Shechem {gave him confidence}.

27 They went out [into] the field and harvested their vineyards and trod [them], and they {held a festival}. And they went [into] the temple of their god, and they ate and drank and cursed Abimelech.

28 Then Gaal son of Ebed said, "Who [is] Abimelech, and who [are we of] Shechem that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerub-Baal, and [is not] Zebul his chief officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem. Why should we serve him?

29 If only this people {were in my command}! Then I would remove Abimelech, and I would have said, 'Increase your army and come out!'"

30 When Zebul the commander of the city heard the words of Gaal son of Ebed, {he became angry},

31 and he sent messengers to Abimelech in Tormah, saying, "Look, Gaal son of Ebed and his relatives [are] coming to Shechem, and they [are] stirring up the city against you.

32 So then, get up [by] night, you and the army that [is] with you, and lie in ambush in the field.

33 And in the morning at sunrise, get up and rush the city; and look, when he and the troops who [are] with him come out to you, {you must act according to whatever opportunity offers itself}.

34 So Abimelech and all the army that [was] with him got up [by] night, and they lay in ambush against Shechem [in] four divisions.

35 Gaal son of Ebed went out and stood [at] the entrance of the city gate, and Abimelech and the army that [was] with him got up from the ambush.

36 When Gaal saw the army, he said to Zebul, "Look, people [are] coming down from the top of the mountains!" And Zebul said to him, "{The shadows of the mountains look like people to you}."

37 {And Gaal spoke again} and said, "Look, people [are] coming down from Tabbur-erez, and one division [is] coming from the direction of Elon-meonenim."

38 And Zebul said to him, "Where then {is your boast}, [you] who said, 'Who [is] Abimelech that we should serve him?' [Is] this not the army that you rejected? Please, go out now and fight against them."

39 So Gaal went out before the lords of Shechem and fought against Abimelech.

40 And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him; many fell slain up to the entrance of the gate.

41 So Abimelech resided at Arumah, and Zebul drove out Gaal and his relatives from living in Shechem.

42 On the next day the people went out [to] the field; and it was reported to Abimelech,

43 so he took the army and divided them into three divisions, and he laid an ambush in the field. And he saw the people [were] coming out from the city, and he arose against them and killed them.

44 Then Abimelech and the divisions that [were] with him dashed out and stood [at] the entrance of the city gate, and the two divisions dashed out against all who [were] in the field, and they killed them.

45 Abimelech fought against the city all that day, and he captured the city and killed the people that [were] in it; then he broke down the city and sowed it [with] salt.

46 When all the lords of the tower of Shechem heard, they went to the vault of the temple of El-Berith.

47 It was told to Abimelech that all the lords of the tower of Shechem had gathered.

48 So Abimelech went up Mount Zalmon, he and all his army that [were] with him, and Abimelech took the ax in his hand and cut down a bundle of brushwood, and he lifted it and put [it] on his shoulder. And he said to the army that [was] with him, "What you have seen me do, quickly do also."

49 So the whole army cut down each one branch for himself and followed Abimelech, and they put [them] against the vault and set the vault ablaze with fire on those [inside], so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died, about a thousand men and women.

50 Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and he encamped against Thebez and captured it.

51 But there was a strong tower in the middle of the city, and all the men, women, and lords of the city fled there and shut themselves in; and they went up to the roof of the tower.

52 Abimelech came up to the tower and fought against it, and he came near the entrance of the tower to burn it with fire.

53 But a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech's head and cracked open his skull.

54 He called quickly to the young man carrying his weapons, and he said to him, "Draw your sword and kill me, so that they will not say of me, 'A woman killed him.'" So the young man stabbed him, and he died.

55 When the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, each one went to his home.

56 So God repaid the wickedness that Abimelech committed against his father by killing his seventy brothers.

57 And God also repaid all the wickedness of the men of Shechem on their heads, and the curse of Jotham son of Jerub-Baal fell on them.

Judges 10

1 After Abimelech, Tola son of Puah son of Dod, a man of Issachar, rose up to deliver Israel; and he [was] living at Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim.

2 And he judged Israel twenty-three years. And he died and was buried in Shamir.

3 After him Jair the Gileadite rose up, and he judged Israel twenty-two years.

4 And he had thirty sons who would ride on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty towns that [are] in the land of Gilead that they called Havvoth Jair until this day.

5 And Jair died and was buried in Kamon.

6 And again, the {Israelites} did evil in the eyes of Yahweh. They served the Baals, the Ashtaroth, the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, and the gods of the {Ammonites} and Philistines; they abandoned Yahweh and did not serve him.

7 And {the anger of Yahweh burned} against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of [the] Philistines and the {Ammonites}.

8 They crushed and oppressed the {Israelites} in that year; for eighteen years they [crushed] all the {Israelites} who [were] beyond the Jordan, in the land of the Amorites, which [is] in Gilead.

9 The {Ammonites} crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim; and Israel was very distressed.

10 Then the {Israelites} cried out to Yahweh, saying, "We have sinned against you; we have abandoned our God and served the Baals."

11 And Yahweh said to the {Israelites}, "[Did I] not [deliver you] from [the] Egyptians, the Amorites, from the {Ammonites}, and from the Philistines?

12 And when [the] Sidonians, [the] Amalekites, and [the] Maonites oppressed you, you cried out to me, and I delivered you from their hand.

13 Yet you have abandoned me and served other gods. Therefore I will no longer deliver you.

14 Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your trouble."

15 And the {Israelites} said to Yahweh, "We have sinned; {do to us accordingly as you see fit}; only please deliver us this day."

16 So they removed the foreign gods from their midst and served Yahweh; and {he could no longer bear} the misery of Israel.

17 And the {Ammonites} were summoned, and they camped in Gilead. And the {Israelites} gathered and camped at Mizpah.

18 The people, the ones commanding Gilead, {said to each other}, "Who [is] the man that will begin to fight against the {Ammonites}? He will be as head over all the inhabitants of Gilead."

Judges 11

1 Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior; he was the son of a prostitute, and {Gilead was his father}.

2 Gilead's wife also bore for him sons; and the sons of [his] wife grew up and drove Jephthah away, and they said to him, "You will not inherit the house of our father because you [are] the son of another woman."

3 So Jephthah fled from the presence of his brothers, and he lived in the land of Tob. And {outlaws} gathered around Jephthah and went with him.

4 After a time the {Ammonites} made war with Israel.

5 When the {Ammonites} made war with Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob.

6 And they said to Jephthah, "Come and be our commander, so that we may make war against the {Ammonites}."

7 Jephthah said to the elders, "Did you not shun me and drive me out from the house of my father? Why do you come to me now when you have trouble?"

8 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "That being so, we have now returned to you, that you may go with us {to fight} against the {Ammonites} and become for us as head of all the inhabitants of Gilead."

9 So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "If you bring me back {to fight} against the {Ammonites}, and Yahweh gives them {over to me}, will I be your head?"

10 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "Yahweh will be a {witness} between us; we will act according to your word."

11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words before Yahweh at Mizpah.

12 And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the {Ammonites}, saying, "What [is between] you and me that you have come to me to make war against my land?"

13 And the king of the {Ammonites} said to Jephthah's messengers, "Because Israel took my land from [the] Arnon up to the Jabbok and the Jordan when they came up from Egypt; so then, restore it peacefully."

14 Once again Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the {Ammonites},

15 and he said to him, "Thus says Jephthah, 'Israel did not take the land of Moab or the land of the {Ammonites},

16 because when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the {Red Sea} and went to Kadesh.

17 Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, "Please let us cross through your land," but the king of Edom would not listen. And they also sent [messengers] to the king of Moab, but he was not willing. So Israel stayed in Kadesh.

18 Then they traveled through the wilderness, went around the land of Edom and Moab, and came to {the east} side of the land of Moab, and they encamped beyond [the] Arnon; and they did not go into the territory of Moab because [the] Arnon [was] the border of Moab.

19 Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, 'Please let us cross through your land {to our country}.'

20 But Sihon did not trust Israel to cross through his territory, so Sihon gathered all his people and then encamped at Jahaz; and he made war with Israel.

21 And Yahweh, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them; and Israel occupied all the land of the Amorites inhabiting that land.

22 They occupied all the territory of the Amorites from [the] Arnon up to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness up to the Jordan.

23 So then Yahweh, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from before his people Israel, and you want to possess it?

24 Do you not possess what Chemosh your god gave you to possess? Whoever Yahweh our God has driven out before us, we will possess it.

25 So then, [are] you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel with Israel, or did he ever make war against them?

26 When Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the towns that [are] {along the Arnon}, for three hundred years, why did you not recover [them] at that time?

27 I have not sinned against you; but you [are] the one who is doing wrong by making war against me. {Let Yahweh judge} today between the {Israelites} and the {Ammonites}."

28 But the king of the {Ammonites} did not listen to the message that Jephthah sent to him.

29 And the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh. He passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed through [to] the {Ammonites}.

30 And Jephthah made a vow to Yahweh, and he said, "If indeed you will give the {Ammonites} into my hand,

31 whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from the {Ammonites} will be Yahweh's, and I will offer it [as] a burnt offering."

32 And Jephthah crossed [over] to the {Ammonites} to make war against them; and Yahweh gave them into his hand.

33 And he defeated them [with] a very great blow, from Aroer as far as Minnith, twenty towns, up to Abel Keramim. And the {Ammonites} were subdued before the {Israelites}.

34 Jephthah came to Mizpah, to his house, and behold his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and dancing. She [was] his only child; he did not have a son or daughter except her.

35 And the moment he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, "Ah! My daughter, you have caused me to bow down, and you have become my trouble. {I made an oath} to Yahweh, and I cannot take [it] back."

36 She said to him, "My father, {you made an oath} to Yahweh. Do to me according to what has gone out from your mouth, since Yahweh gave vengeance to you against your enemies, the {Ammonites}."

37 And she said to her father, "Let this thing be done for me: grant me two months so that I may go wander on the mountains and lament over my virginity, I and my companions.

38 And he said, "Go." He sent her away [for] two months, and she went with her friends, and she lamented over her virginity on the mountains.

39 At the end of the two months she returned to her father, and he did to her [according to] his vow; and {she did not sleep with a man}. And it became an annual custom in Israel

40 for the daughters of Israel to go and lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for forty days of the year.

Judges 12

1 The men of Ephraim were called to arms, and they crossed [over] to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, "Why did you cross [over] and make war against the {Ammonites}, and why did you not call us to go with you? We will burn down your house over you with fire."

2 And Jephthah said to them, "I and my people were engaged in great conflict with the {Ammonites}; I called you, but you did not deliver me from their hand.

3 I saw that you would not deliver [us]; {I risked my own life}, and I crossed [over] to the {Ammonites}, and Yahweh gave them into my hand. Why have you come up to me this day to fight against me?"

4 Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead, and he made war with Ephraim; and the men of Gilead defeated Ephraim because they said, "You [are] fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and Manasseh."

5 Then Gilead captured the fords of the Jordan from Ephraim, and whenever a fugitive of Ephraim said, "Let me cross [over]," the men of Gilead said to him, "[Are] you an Ephraimite?" [When] he said, "No,"

6 they said to him, "Please say Shibboleth," and [if] he said, "Sibboleth"--because he could not {pronounce it} correctly--they grabbed him and executed him at the fords of Jordan. At that time forty-two thousand from Ephraim fell.

7 Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died, and he was buried in [one of] the cities of Gilead.

8 After him Ibzan from Bethlehem judged Israel.

9 He had thirty sons. He gave his thirty daughters away in marriage outside [his clan] and brought in from outside thirty young women for his sons. He judged Israel for seven years.

10 Then Ibzan died and was buried in Bethlehem.

11 After him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel, and he judged Israel ten years.

12 Then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.

13 After him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel.

14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons that rode on seventy male donkeys. He judged Israel for eight years.

15 Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried in Pirathon, in the land of Ephraim in the hill country of the Amalekites.

Judges 13

1 And again, the {Israelites} did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and Yahweh gave them into the hand of [the] Philistines forty years.

2 There was a certain man from Zorah, from the tribe of the Danites, and his name [was] Manoah; his wife [was] infertile and did not bear children.

3 And an angel of Yahweh appeared to the woman, and he said to her, "Behold, you [are] infertile and have not borne [children], but you will conceive and bear a son.

4 So then, be careful and do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean,

5 because you [will] conceive and bear a son. No razor {will touch} his head, because the boy will be a {Nazirite of God} {from birth}. And it is he who will begin to deliver Israel from [the] hand of [the] Philistines."

6 And the woman came and told her husband, saying, "A man of God came to me, and his appearance [was] like the appearance of an angel of God, very awesome. I did not ask him from where he [came], and he did not tell me his name.

7 And he said to me, 'Look, you [will] conceive and bear a son, so then, do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean, for the boy will be a Nazirite of God from birth until the day of his death.'"

8 Then Manoah prayed to Yahweh and said, "Excuse me, my Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent again come to us and teach us what we should do concerning the boy who will be born."

9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and an angel of God came again to the woman; she [was] sitting in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her.

10 The woman quickly ran and told her husband, and she said to him, "Look! The man who came to me the [other] day appeared to me."

11 So Manoah got up and went after his wife, and he came to the man and said to him, "[Are] you the man that spoke to the woman?" And he said, "I [am]."

12 And Manoah said to him, "Now {when your words come true}, what will be the boy's {manner of life} and work?"

13 And the angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, "Let the woman be attentive to all that I said.

14 She should not eat of anything that comes from the vine, or drink wine or strong drink, or eat anything unclean; she should keep all that I commanded."

15 And Manoah said to the angel of Yahweh, "{Please stay}, and let us prepare a {young goat} for you."

16 The angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, "If you keep me, I will not eat your food, but if you prepare a burnt offering for Yahweh, you can offer it (for Manoah did not know that he [was] an angel of Yahweh)."

17 And Manoah said to the angel of Yahweh, "What [is] your name so that when your words come [true] we may honor you?"

18 But the angel of Yahweh said to him, "Why do you ask my name? It [is too] wonderful."

19 And Manoah took the {young goat} and the grain offering, and he offered [it] to Yahweh on the rock, to the one who performs miracles. And Manoah and his wife [were] watching.

20 And when the flame went up toward the heaven from the altar, the angel of Yahweh went up in the flame of the altar to heaven while Manoah and his wife [were] watching. And they fell on their faces to the ground.

21 The angel of Yahweh did not appear again to Manoah and his wife, and then Manoah knew that he [was] a messenger of Yahweh.

22 And Manoah said to his wife, "We will certainly die because we have seen God."

23 But his wife said to him, "If Yahweh wanted to kill us he would not have taken from our hand the burnt offering and the grain offering, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us things such as these."

24 The woman bore a son, and she called him Samson; the boy grew big, and Yahweh blessed him.

25 And the Spirit of Yahweh began to stir him in the camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Judges 14

1 And Samson went down to Timnah, and he saw a woman in Timnah from the daughters of the Philistines.

2 He went up and told his father and mother, and he said, "I saw a woman in Timnah from the daughters of [the] Philistines; so then, take her for me as a wife."

3 But his father and mother said to him, "Is there not a wife among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must take a wife from [the] uncircumcised Philistines?" But Samson said to his father, "Take her for me because {she pleases me}."

4 His father and mother did not know that this [was] from Yahweh; he was seeking for an occasion against [the] Philistines. Now at that time [the] Philistines [were] ruling in Israel.

5 And Samson and his father and mother went down to Timnah, and they came to the vineyards of Timnah, and suddenly a young lion [came] roaring to meet him.

6 And the Spirit of Yahweh rushed upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one might tear apart a male kid goat ({he was bare-handed}). But he did not tell his father and mother what he had done.

7 Then he went down and talked to the woman, and {she pleased Samson}.

8 And he returned after awhile {to marry her}, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and there [was] a swarm of wild honey bees in the body of the lion, and honey.

9 He scraped it out into his hands, and he went on, eating [it] as he went. And he went to his father and mother and gave [some] to them, and they ate it. But he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from the body of the lion.

10 His father went down to the woman, and Samson prepared there a feast, as young men were accustomed to doing this.

11 When they saw him, they took thirty companions, and they were with him.

12 And Samson said to them, "Let me tell you a riddle. If you can fully explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, and find [it out], I will give to you thirty linen garments and thirty festal garments.

13 But if you are unable to explain it to me, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty festal garments." So they said to him, "Tell your riddle; let us hear it."

14 He said to them, "From the eater came out food, From [the] strong came out sweet." But they were unable to explain the riddle for three days.

15 When it was the fourth day, they said to Samson's wife, "Entice your husband and tell us the riddle, or we will burn you and your father's house with fire. Have you invited us to rob us?"

16 And Samson's wife wept before him, and she said, "You must hate me; you do not love me. You told the riddle to {my people}, but you have not explained [it] to me." He said to her, "I have not explained [it] to my father and mother. [Why] should I explain it to you?"

17 She wept before him the seven days of their feast; and it happened, because she nagged him, on the seventh day he explained [it] to her, and she told the riddle to {her people}.

18 The men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went [down], "What [is] sweeter than honey? What [is] stronger than a lion?" And he said to them, "If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle."

19 And the Spirit of Yahweh rushed on him, and he went down to Ashkelon. He killed thirty men from them, and he took their belongings, and he gave festal garments to the ones that explained the riddle. {He was angry}, and he went up to his father's house.

20 And Samson's wife was [given] to his companion who [was] his best man.

Judges 15

1 After a while, at the time of the wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife with a {young goat}. He said, "I want to go to my wife's private room." But her father would not allow him to enter.

2 Her father said, "I really thought that you hated her, so I gave her to your companion. [Is] not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please, {take her instead}."

3 And Samson said to them, "This time, as far as the Philistines are concerned, when I do something evil I am without blame."

4 And Samson went and captured three hundred foxes, and he took torches. He turned [them] tail to tail, and he put one torch between two tails.

5 He set fire to the torches and let [the foxes] go into the standing grain of [the] Philistines, and he burned both the stacks of sheaves and the standing grain, up to the vineyards of olive groves.

6 And [the] Philistines said, "Who has done this?" And they said, "Samson the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he took his wife and gave her to his companion." And [the] Philistines went up and burned her and her father with fire.

7 Samson said to them, "If you want to behave like this, [I swear] I will not rest unless I have taken revenge on you."

8 And {he gave them a thorough beating}, and he went down and stayed in the cleft of the rock of Etam.

9 Then [the] Philistines came up and encamped in Judah, and they overran Lehi.

10 And the men of Judah said, "Why have you come up against us?" And they said, "To bind Samson; to do to him just as he did to us."

11 Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and they said to Samson, "Do you not know that the Philistines [are] ruling over us? What [is] this [that] you have done to us?" And he said to them, "Just as they did to me, so I have done to them."

12 They said to him, "We have come down to bind you and give you over into the hand of [the] Philistines." And Samson said to them, "Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves."

13 They said to him, "No, we will only bind you and give you into their hand; we will certainly not kill you." So they bound him with two new ropes, and they brought him up from the rock.

14 As he came up to Lehi, [the] Philistines came shouting to meet him; and the Spirit of Yahweh rushed on him, and the ropes that [were] on his arms became like flax that has burned with fire, and his bindings melted from his hands.

15 And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey; he reached down and took it and killed one thousand men with it.

16 And Samson said, "With the jawbone of the donkey, heap upon heap; with the jawbone of the donkey, I struck dead one thousand men."

17 And it happened, when he finished speaking he threw the jawbone from his hand; and he called that place Ramath Lehi.

18 And he was very thirsty, and he called to Yahweh and said, "You gave this great victory into the hand of your servant, but now I must die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?"

19 So God split the hollow place that [is] at Lehi, and water came out from it; and he drank, and his spirit returned, and he was revived. Thus he called its name {The Spring of Ha-Qore}, which [is] at Lehi to this day.

20 And he judged Israel in the days of [the] Philistines twenty years.

Judges 16

1 Samson went down to Gaza; there he saw a prostitute and {had sex with her}.

2 The Gazites [were told], "Samson has come here," so they surrounded [the place] and lay in ambush for him all night at the city gate. They kept silent all night, saying, "[We will wait] until the morning light, and then we will kill him."

3 But Samson lay until the middle of the night; he got up in the middle of the night and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two door posts, tore them loose with the bar, put them on his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the hill that is {in front of} Hebron.

4 After this he fell in love [with] a woman in the wadi of Sorek, and her name [was] Delilah.

5 And the rulers of [the] Philistines came up to her and said, "Entice him and find out what makes his strength so great, and how we can overpower him, so that we may bind him up in order to subdue him; each of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.

6 So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me what makes your strength so great, and with what can you be tied up to subdue you?"

7 Samson said to her, "If you tie me up with seven fresh bowstrings that are not dried up, I will become weak like everyone else."

8 So the rulers of [the] Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings that were not dried up, and she tied him up with them.

9 The ambush [was] sitting [in wait] for her in an inner room. And she said to him, "[The] Philistines [are] upon you Samson!" And he snapped the bowstrings just as flax fiber snaps when it comes close to fire. And [the secret of] his strength remained unknown.

10 Delilah said to Samson, "Look, you have mocked me and told me lies. Please tell me how you can be bound."

11 He said to her, "If they tie me tightly with new ropes that have not been used, I will become weak and be like everyone else."

12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him up with them, and she said to him, "[The] Philistines [are] upon you, Samson!" (The ambush [was] sitting in an inner room.) But he snapped them from his arms like thread.

13 And Delilah said to Samson, "Until now you have mocked me and told lies to me. Tell me how you can be bound." And he said to her, "If you weave seven locks of my head with warp-threads."

14 She fastened [it] with the pin and said to him, "[The] Philistines [are] upon you, Samson!" And Samson woke up from his sleep and tore loose the loom pin of the web and the warp-threads.

15 And she 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 you have not told me how your strength is [so] great."

16 And because she nagged him day after day with her words, and pestered him, {his soul grew impatient to the point of death}.

17 So {he confided everything to her}, and he said to her, "A razor {has never touched} my head, for I [am] a {Nazirite of God} {from birth}. If I am shaved my strength will leave me, and I will become weak, like everyone else.

18 Delilah realized that {he had confided in her}, so she sent and called the rulers of [the] Philistines, saying, "Come up one more time, for {he has confided in me}." And the rulers of [the] Philistines came up, and they brought the money {with them}.

19 And she put him to sleep on her lap; then she called the men and shaved off seven locks of his head. Then she began to subdue him, and his strength went away from him.

20 And she said to him, "[The] Philistines [are] upon you, Samson!" And he woke up from his sleep and said, "I will go out just like every other time and shake myself free," but he did not know that Yahweh had left him.

21 And [the] Philistines seized him, gouged his eyes, and brought him to Gaza. They tied him up with bronze shackles, and he became a grinder {in the prison}.

22 But the hair of his head began to grow back after it had been shaved off.

23 The rulers of [the] Philistines had gathered to sacrifice a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to rejoice. And they said, "Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand."

24 And the people saw him, and they praised their god, for they said, "Our god has given into our hand those who hate us, devastate our land, and have {killed many of us}."

25 After awhile, when their hearts were merry, they said, "Call Samson and let him entertain us." And they called Samson {from the prison}, and {he entertained them}. And they made him stand between the pillars.

26 Then Samson said to the servant who was holding him by his hand, "Position me so that I can touch the pillars on which the house rests, so I can lean on them."

27 And the house was full of men and women, and all of the rulers of [the] Philistines [were] there--about three thousand men and women were on the roof watching the performance of Samson.

28 And Samson called to Yahweh and said, "My Lord Yahweh, remember me! Please give me strength this one time, O God, so that I can repay [with] one act of revenge to [the] Philistines for my eyes."

29 And Samson reached out and held two of the middle pillars on which the house [was] resting, and he leaned on them, one on his right and one on his left.

30 And Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines." And he pushed with [all his] strength, and the house fell on the rulers and all of the people who [were] with him. And the dead whom he killed in his death were more than those he killed in his life.

31 His brothers and {his whole family} came down and picked him up; and they brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father; he judged Israel twenty years.

Judges 17

1 There was a man from the hill country of Ephraim; his name [was] Micah.

2 And he said to his mother, "The eleven hundred [pieces] of silver that were taken from you, and about which you also pronounced a curse {in my hearing}, are with me; I took it." And his mother said, "Blessed be my son by Yahweh."

3 He returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother thought, "I will certainly consecrate to Yahweh the pieces of silver from my hand for my son to make an idol of cast metal; now then, I will return them to you."

4 When he returned the pieces of silver to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and she gave it to the smith, and he made it [into] an idol of cast metal; and it was in the house of Micah.

5 The man Micah had for himself {a shrine}, and he made an ephod and teraphim, and {he appointed one of his sons} who became a priest for him.

6 In those days there was no king in Israel, and each one did what was right in his own eyes.

7 There was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, from the clan of Judah; he [was] a Levite and [was] dwelling as a foreigner there.

8 And the man went from the town of Bethlehem in Judah to live as a foreigner wherever he could find [a place]. And he came [to] the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, to continue his journey.

9 And Micah said to him, "From where do you come?" And he said to him, "I [am] a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah; I [am] going to dwell as a foreigner wherever I can find [a place]."

10 And Micah said to him, "Stay with me and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give to you ten pieces of silver a year, a set of clothes, and your food." So the Levite went [with him].

11 The Levite agreed to stay with the man; and the young man became as one of his sons.

12 So Micah {appointed the Levite}, and the young man became a priest for him; and he was in the house of Micah.

13 And Micah said, "Now I know Yahweh will make me prosperous, because the Levite has become my priest."

Judges 18

1 In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the Danites [was] seeking territory for itself to live in, because until that day it had not been allotted territory among the tribes of Israel.

2 The descendants of Dan sent from the whole number of their clan five {capable men} from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out the land and to explore it. And they said to them, "Go, explore the land." And they went to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and they spent the night there.

3 While they [were] with the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite, and they turned aside there and said to him, "Who brought you here? What [are] you doing in this place, and {what is your business here}?"

4 And he said to them, "Micah did such and such for me and hired me, and I became his priest."

5 And they said to him, "Please inquire of God that we may know whether our journey that we [are] going on will be successful."

6 And the priest said to them, "Go in peace. Yahweh [is] in front of you on the journey you want to go on."

7 And the five men went and came to Laish, and they observed the people who [were] living according to the customs of [the] Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting, and lacking nothing in the land, and possessing restraint. And they [were] far from [the] Sidonians and had no word with anyone.

8 They came to their relatives [at] Zorah and Eshtaol, and their relatives said to them, "What [do] you [report]?"

9 And they said to them, "Come, let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and [it is] very good. Will you do nothing? Do not hesitate to go, to enter, to possess the land.

10 When you go you will come to an unsuspecting people, and the land {is spread out on all sides}; God has given a place into your hands where there is no lack of anything that [is] on the earth."

11 Six hundred men from the clan of the Danites from Zorah and Eshtaol, armed [with] weapons of war, set out from there.

12 They went up and encamped at Kiriath Jearim in Judah. Therefore they called this place Camp of Dan to this day; it is west of Kiriath Jearim.

13 From there they crossed [over to] the hill country of Ephraim, and they came to the house of Micah.

14 And the five men that went out to spy out the land ([that is], Laish) responded and said to their relatives, "Do you know that there are in these houses an ephod, teraphim, and an idol of cast metal? So then, consider what you must do."

15 So they turned to that direction, and they came to the house of the young Levite, the house of Micah, and {they greeted him}.

16 And six hundred men from the descendants of Dan, armed [with] their weapons of war, [were] standing [at] the entrance of the gate.

17 And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and they entered there [and] took the carved divine image, ephod, teraphim, and the molten image. The priest [was] standing [at] the entrance of the gate [with] the six hundred men armed [with] the weapons of war.

18 When these went to Micah's house, they took the divine carved image, ephod, the teraphim, and the molten image, and the priest asked them, "What [are] you doing?"

19 And they said to him, "Keep quiet! Put your hand on your mouth and come with us and be for us a father and a priest. Is it better being a priest for a house of one man or being a priest for a tribe and clan in Israel?"

20 {The priest accepted the offer}, and he took the ephod, teraphim, and molten image and went along with the people.

21 And they turned and went and put the little children, the livestock, and the valuable property in front of them.

22 When they were at a distance from the house, Micah and the men who [were] in the houses that [were] near the house of Micah cried out, and they overtook the descendants of Dan.

23 And they called to the descendants of Dan, who turned around to face them, and they said to Micah, "What is the matter with you that you assembled together?"

24 He said, "You took away my gods that I had made, and the priest, and then you go [away]. What [is] now left for me? How can you say to me, 'What is the matter?'"

25 And the descendants of Dan said to him, "You should not let your voice be heard among us, so that {ill-tempered men} {will not attack you}, {and take your life} and the lives of your household."

26 And the descendants of Dan went their way. When Micah saw that they [were] stronger than him, he turned to return to his house.

27 And they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and they came to Laish, to a quiet and unsuspecting people, and {they put them to the sword} and burned the city with fire.

28 There was no deliverer, because it [was] far from Sidon, and {they had had no dealings with anyone}. It [was] in the valley that belonged to Beth-rehob, and they rebuilt the city and lived in it.

29 And they called the name of the city Dan, after Dan their ancestor, who was born to Israel; but the former name of the city [was] Laish.

30 And the descendants of Dan set up for themselves the carved divine image, and Jonathan son of Gershom, son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests for the tribe of the Danites until the time of the captivity of the land.

31 So they set up for themselves the carved divine image that Micah had made, all the days that the house of God [was] in Shiloh.