the spies saw a man coming out of the city and they said to him, “Show us how to get into the city and we will see that you are treated well.”

The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.

I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their ancestors did.”

They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the Lord’s commands, which he had given their ancestors through Moses.

God chose new leaders when war came to the city gates, but not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel.

When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”

he and all his men went up Mount Zalmon. He took an ax and cut off some branches, which he lifted to his shoulders. He ordered the men with him, “Quick! Do what you have seen me do!”

Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean.

As the flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with their faces to the ground.

“We are doomed to die!” he said to his wife. “We have seen God!”

When he returned, he said to his father and mother, “I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife.”

(His parents did not know that this was from the Lord, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)

Now his father went down to see the woman. And there Samson held a feast, as was customary for young men.

The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.”

The Danites Settle in Laish

In those days Israel had no king. And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking a place of their own where they might settle, because they had not yet come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.

They answered, “Come on, let’s attack them! We have seen the land, and it is very good. Aren’t you going to do something? Don’t hesitate to go there and take it over.

So the Danites went their way, and Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him, turned around and went back home.

Everyone who saw it was saying to one another, “Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Just imagine! We must do something! So speak up!”