Bible in 90 Days

¹³ So they said to him, “No, we will [only] bind you securely and place you into their hands; but we certainly will not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock [of Etam].

¹⁴ When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily, and the ropes on his arms were like flax (linen) that had been burned, and his bonds ^[a]dropped off his hands. ¹⁵ He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, so he reached out his hand and took it and killed a thousand men with it. ¹⁶ Then Samson said,

¹⁷ When he finished speaking, he threw the jawbone from his hand; and he named that place Ramath-lehi (hill of the jawbone). ¹⁸ Then Samson was very thirsty, and he called out to the Lord and said, “You have given this great victory through the hand of Your servant, and now am I to die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised (pagans)?” ¹⁹ So God split open the hollow place that was at Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his spirit (strength) returned and he was revived. Therefore he named it En-hakkore (spring which is calling), which is at Lehi to this day. ²⁰ And Samson judged Israel in the days of [occupation by] the Philistines for twenty years.^(A)

Samson’s Weakness

16 Then Samson went to Gaza and saw a prostitute there, and went in to her. ² The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” So they surrounded the place and waited all night at the gate of the city to ambush him. They kept quiet all night, saying, “In the morning, when it is light, we will kill him.” ³ But Samson lay [resting] until midnight, then at midnight he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two door-posts, and pulled them up, [security] bar and all, and he put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of the hill which is opposite Hebron.

⁴ After this he fell in love with a [Philistine] woman [living] in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. ⁵ So the [five] lords (governors) of the Philistines came to her and said to her, “Persuade him, and see where his great strength lies and [find out] how we may overpower him so that we may bind him to subdue him. And each of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.” ⁶ So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies and with what you may be bound and subdued.” ⁷ Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh cords (^[b]tendons) that have not been dried, then I will be weak and be like any [other] man.” ⁸ Then the Philistine lords brought her seven fresh cords that had not been dried, and she bound him with them. ⁹ Now she had men lying in ambush in an inner room. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he broke the cords as a ^[c]string of tow breaks when it touches fire. So [the secret of] his strength was not discovered.

¹⁰ Then Delilah said to Samson, “See now, you have mocked me and told me lies; now please tell me [truthfully] how you may be bound.” ¹¹ He said to her, “If they bind me tightly with new ropes that have not been used, then I will become weak and be like any [other] man.” ¹² So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And the men lying in ambush were in the inner room. But he snapped the ropes off his arms like [sewing] thread.

¹³ Then Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me and told me lies; tell me [truthfully] with what you may be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven braids of my hair with the web ^[d][and fasten it with a pin, then I will become weak and be like any other man.” ¹⁴ So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks (braids) of his hair and wove them into the web]. And she fastened it with the pin [of the loom] and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and pulled out the pin of the [weaver’s] loom and the web.

Delilah Extracts His Secret

¹⁵ Then 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 have not told me where your great strength lies.” ¹⁶ When she pressured him day after day with her words and pleaded with him, he was annoyed to death. ¹⁷ Then [finally] he told her everything that was in his heart and said to her, “A razor has never been used on my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I will become weak and be like any [other] man.”

¹⁸ Then Delilah realized that he had told her everything in his heart, so she sent and called for the Philistine lords, saying, “Come up this once, because he has told me everything in his heart.” Then the Philistine lords came up to her and brought the money [they had promised] in their hands. ¹⁹ She made Samson sleep on her knees, and she called a man and had him shave off the seven braids of his head. Then she began to abuse Samson, and his strength left him. ²⁰ She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as I have time after time and shake myself free.” For Samson did not know that the Lord had departed from him. ²¹ Then the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with [two] bronze chains; and he was forced to be a grinder [of grain into flour at the mill] in the prison. ²² But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved off.

²³ Now the Philistine lords gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to celebrate, for they said,

²⁴ When the people saw Samson, they praised their god, for they said,

²⁵ Now when they were in high spirits, they said, “Call for Samson, so that he may amuse us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he entertained them. They made him stand between the pillars. ²⁶ Then Samson said to the boy who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars on which the [roof of the] house rests, so that I may lean against them.” ²⁷ Now the house was full of men and women; all the Philistine lords were there, and on the flat roof were about three thousand men and women who looked on while Samson was entertaining them.

Samson Is Avenged

²⁸ Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me just this one time, O God, and let me take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes.” ²⁹ Samson took hold of the two middle [support] pillars on which the house rested, and braced himself against them, one with his right hand and the other with his left. ³⁰ And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he stretched out with all his might [collapsing the support pillars], and the house fell on the lords and on all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life. ³¹ Then his brothers and his father’s entire [tribal] household came down, took him, and brought him up; and they buried him in the tomb of Manoah his father, [which was] between Zorah and Eshtaol. So Samson had judged Israel for twenty years.^(B)

Micah’s Idolatry

17 There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah. ² And he said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver which were taken from you, about which you cursed [the thief] and also spoke about in my hearing, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son before the Lord.” ³ He returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, and she said, “I had truly dedicated the silver from my hand to the Lord for my son (in his name) to make an image [carved from wood and plated with silver] and a cast image [of solid silver]; so now, I will return it to you.” ⁴ So when he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith who made of it an image [of silver-plated wood] and a cast image [of solid silver]; and they were in the house of Micah. ⁵ Now the man Micah had a house of gods (shrine), and he made an ephod and teraphim and dedicated and installed one of his sons, who became his [personal] priest. ⁶ In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.

⁷ Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, from the family [of the tribe] of Judah, who was a ^[e]Levite; and he was staying there [temporarily]. ⁸ Then the man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah, to stay wherever he could find a place; and as he journeyed, he came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah. ⁹ Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to stay wherever I can find a place.” ¹⁰ And Micah said to him, “Live here with me and be a father and a [personal] priest to me, and I will give you ten pieces of silver each year, a supply of clothing, and your sustenance (room and board).” So the Levite went in. ¹¹ The Levite agreed to live with the man, and the young man became to Micah like one of his sons. ¹² So Micah dedicated (installed) the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in the house of Micah. ¹³ Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will favor me and make me prosper because I have a Levite as my priest.”

Danites Seek Territory

18 In those days there was no king in Israel; and in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance [of land] for themselves to live in, for until then an ^[f]inheritance had not been allotted to them as a possession among the tribes of Israel. ² So the sons of Dan sent from the total number of their [extended] family five brave men from Zorah and Eshtaol, to scout the land and to explore it; and they said to them, “Go, explore the land.” They came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there. ³ When they passed near Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young man, the Levite, and they turned aside there and said to him, “Who brought you here? And what are you doing in this place? And what do you have here?” ⁴ And he said to them, “Micah has done this and that for me, and he has hired me and I have become his priest.” ⁵ And they said to him, “Please ask of God, so that we may know whether our journey on which we are going will be successful.” ⁶ The priest said to them, “Go in peace; the journey on which you are going is acceptable to the Lord.”

⁷ Then the five men went on and came to Laish and saw the people who were there, [how they were] living securely in the style of the Sidonians, quiet and peaceful; and there was no oppressive magistrate in the land humiliating them in anything, and they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. ⁸ The five men came back [home] to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brothers said to them, “What do you have to report?” ⁹ They said, “Arise, let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good (fertile). Will you sit still and do nothing? Do not hesitate to go, to enter, to take possession of the land. ¹⁰ When you enter, you will come to people [feeling] safe and secure with a spacious land [widely extended on all sides]; for God has given it into your hands—a place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth.”

¹¹ Then from the [tribal] family of the Danites, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, six hundred men armed with weapons of war set out. ¹² They went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. Therefore they have called that place ^[g]Mahaneh-dan to this day; it is west of Kiriath-jearim. ¹³ They went on from there to the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah’s house.

Danites Take Micah’s Idols

¹⁴ Then the five men who had gone to scout the country of Laish said to their relatives, “Do you know that there are in these houses an ephod, teraphim, an image [of silver-plated wood], and a cast image [of solid silver]? Now therefore, consider what you should do.” ¹⁵ So they turned in that direction and came to the house of the young Levite, at the home of Micah, and asked him how he was doing. ¹⁶ Now the six hundred men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the sons of Dan, stood at the entrance of the gate. ¹⁷ Now the five men who had gone to scout the land went up and entered the house and took the image [of silver-plated wood], the ephod, the teraphim, and the cast image [of solid silver], while the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war. ¹⁸ When these [five men] went into Micah’s house and took the [plated] image, the ephod, the teraphim, and the cast image, the priest asked them, “What are you doing?” ¹⁹ They said to him, “Keep quiet, put your hand over your mouth and come with us, and be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest to the house of one man, or to be a priest to a tribe and family in Israel?” ²⁰ The priest’s heart was glad [to hear that], and he took the ephod, the teraphim, and the image, and went among the people.

²¹ So they turned and left, and they put the children, the livestock, and the valuables and supplies in front of them. ²² When they had gone some distance from the house of Micah, the men who were [living] in the houses near Micah’s house assembled [as a militia] and overtook the sons of Dan. ²³ They shouted to the Danites, who turned and said to Micah, “What is your reason for assembling [against us]?” ²⁴ He said, “You have taken away my gods which I have made, and the priest, and have gone away; what else do I have left? How can you say to me, ‘What is your reason?’” ²⁵ The sons of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice [of complaint] be heard among us, or else angry men will assault you and you will lose your life, along with the lives of [everyone in] your household.” ²⁶ Then the Danites went on their way; and Micah saw that they were too strong for him, so he turned and went back to his house.

²⁷ They took the [idolatrous] things that Micah had made, and his priest, and they came to Laish, to a people who were quiet and secure; and they struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire. ²⁸ And there was no one to rescue them because it was far from Sidon and they had no dealings with anyone. It was in the valley which belongs to Beth-rehob. And they rebuilt the city and lived in it. ²⁹ They named the city Dan, after Dan their forefather who was born to Israel (Jacob); however, the original name of the city was Laish. ³⁰ The [tribe of] the sons of Dan set up the image [of silver-plated wood] for themselves; and Jonathan the son of Gershom, the son of ^[h]Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity and exile from the land. ³¹ So they set up for themselves Micah’s [silver-plated wooden] image which he had made, and kept it throughout the time that the house (tabernacle) of God was at Shiloh.

A Levite’s Concubine Degraded

19 Now it happened in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that a certain Levite living [as an alien] in the most remote part of the hill country of Ephraim, who took a ^[i]concubine for himself from Bethlehem in Judah. ² But his concubine was unfaithful to him, and left him and went to her father’s house in Bethlehem of Judah, and stayed there for a period of four months. ³ Then her husband arose and went after her to speak kindly and tenderly to her in order to bring her back, taking with him his servant and a pair of donkeys. So she brought him into her father’s house, and when the father of the girl saw him, he was happy to meet him. ⁴ So his father-in-law, the girl’s father, detained him; and he stayed there with him for three days. So they ate and drank, and he lodged there. ⁵ On the fourth day they got up early in the morning, and the Levite prepared to leave; but the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Strengthen yourself with a piece of bread, and afterward go your way.” ⁶ So both men sat down and ate and drank together; and the girl’s father said to the man, “Please be willing to spend the night and enjoy yourself.” ⁷ Then the man got up to leave, but his father-in-law urged him [strongly to remain]; so he spent the night there again. ⁸ On the fifth day he got up early in the morning to leave, but the girl’s father said, “Please strengthen yourself, and wait until the end of the day.” So both of them ate. ⁹ When the man and his concubine and his servant got up to leave, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Behold, now the day has drawn to a close; please spend the night. Look, now the day comes to an end; spend the night here and celebrate, enjoy yourself. Then tomorrow you may get up early for your journey and go ^[j]home.”

¹⁰ But the man was not willing to stay the night; so he got up and left and came to a place opposite Jebus (that is Jerusalem). With him were two saddled donkeys [and his servant] and his concubine. ¹¹ When they were near Jebus, the day was almost gone, and the servant said to his master, “Please come and let us turn aside into this Jebusite city and spend the night in it.” ¹² But his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into a city of foreigners who are not of the sons (descendants) of Israel. We will go on as far as Gibeah.” ¹³ And he said to his servant, “Come and let us approach one of these places: and we will spend the night in Gibeah or in Ramah.” ¹⁴ So they passed by and went on their way, and the sun set on them near Gibeah, which belongs to [the tribe of] Benjamin, ¹⁵ and they turned aside there to go in and spend the night in Gibeah. And the Levite went in and sat down in the open square of the city, because no man invited them into his house to spend the night.

¹⁶ Then behold, there was an old man who was coming out of the field from his work at evening. He was from the hill country of Ephraim but was staying in Gibeah, and the men of the place were sons (descendants) of Benjamin. ¹⁷ When he looked up, he saw the traveler [and his companions] in the city square; and the old man said, “Where are you going, and where do you come from?” ¹⁸ The Levite replied, “We are passing through from Bethlehem [in the territory] of Judah to the most remote part of the hill country of Ephraim; I am from there. I went to Bethlehem of Judah, but I am now going [home] to my house, and there is no man [in the city] who will take me into his house [for the night]. ¹⁹ Yet we have both straw and feed for our donkeys, and also bread and wine for me, and for ^[k]your handmaid, and for the young man who is with your servant; there is no lack of anything.” ²⁰ Then the old man said, “Peace be to you. Only leave all your needs to me; and do not spend the night in the open square.” ²¹ So he brought him into his house and fed the donkeys; and they washed their feet and ate and drank.

²² While they were ^[l]celebrating, behold, men of the city, certain worthless and evil men, surrounded the house, pounding on the door; and they spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, “Bring out the man who came to your house so that we may have relations with him.” ²³ Then the man, the master of the house, went out and said to them, “No, my fellow citizens, please do not act so wickedly. Since this man has come to my house [as my guest], do not commit this sacrilege. ²⁴ Here is my virgin daughter and this man’s concubine. I will bring them out now; abuse and humiliate them and do to them ^[m]whatever you want, but do not commit this act of ^[n]sacrilege against this man.” ²⁵ But the men would not listen to him. So the man took the Levite’s concubine and brought her outside to them; and they had relations with her and abused her all night until morning; and when daybreak came, they let her go. ^26 [o]At daybreak the woman came and collapsed at the door of the man’s house where her master was, until it was [fully] light.

²⁷ When her master got up in the morning and opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, he saw his concubine lying at the door of the house, and her hands were on the threshold. ²⁸ He said to her, “Get up, and let us go.” But there was no answer [for she had died]. Then he put her [body] on the donkey; and the man left and went home. ²⁹ When he arrived at his house, he took a knife, and taking hold of his [dead] concubine, he cut her [corpse] limb by limb into twelve pieces, and sent her [body parts] throughout all the territory of Israel. ³⁰ All who saw the dismembered parts said, “Nothing like this has ever happened or been seen from the day that the sons of Israel came up from the land of Egypt to this day. Consider it, take counsel, and speak [your minds]!”

Resolve to Punish the Guilty

20 Then all the sons of Israel from Dan [in the north] to Beersheba [in the south], including the land of Gilead came out, and the congregation assembled as one man to the Lord at Mizpah. ² The chiefs of all the people of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand men on foot who drew the sword. ³ (Now the Benjamites [in whose territory the crime was committed] heard that the [other tribes of the] sons of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the sons of Israel said, “How did this evil thing happen?” ⁴ So the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, replied, “I had come with my concubine to spend the night in Gibeah, [a town] which belongs to [the tribe of] Benjamin. ⁵ But the men of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house at night because of me. They intended to kill me, but instead they raped my concubine [so brutally] that she died. ⁶ So I took my concubine and cut her [corpse] in pieces and sent her [body parts] throughout the land of the inheritance of Israel; for the men of Gibeah have committed a lewd and disgraceful act in Israel. ⁷ Now then, all you sons of Israel, all of you, give your advice and counsel here [regarding what should be done].”

⁸ Then all the people stood [unified] as one man, saying, “None of us will go to his tent, and none of us will return to his home [until this is settled]. ⁹ But now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up by lot against it, ¹⁰ and we will take ten men out of a hundred throughout the tribes of Israel, and a hundred out of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand to bring provisions for the men, so that when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, they may punish them for all the despicable acts which they have committed in Israel.” ¹¹ So all the men of Israel assembled against the city, united as one man.

¹² Then the tribes of Israel sent men through the entire tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this evil thing that has been done among you? ¹³ Now therefore, turn over the men [involved], the ^[p]worthless and wicked men in Gibeah, so that we may put them to death and remove this wickedness from Israel.” But the Benjamites would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the sons of Israel. ¹⁴ Then the [tribe of the] sons of Benjamin gathered from the cities to Gibeah, to go out to battle against the [other] sons of Israel. ¹⁵ And the Benjamites assembled out of their cities at that time twenty-six thousand men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who assembled seven hundred chosen men. ¹⁶ Out of all these people were seven hundred choice ^[q]left-handed men; each one could sling stones at [a target no wider than] a hair and not ^[r]miss.

¹⁷ Then the men of Israel, other than Benjamin, assembled four hundred thousand men who drew the sword; all of these were men of war.

Civil War, Benjamin Defeated

¹⁸ The men of Israel arose and went up to ^[s]Bethel and asked of God and said, “Which of us shall take the lead to battle against the sons [tribe] of Benjamin?” And the Lord said, “Judah [shall go up] first.”

¹⁹ Then the [fighting men of the] sons of Israel arose in the morning and camped against Gibeah. ²⁰ The men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin, and assembled in battle formation against them at Gibeah. ²¹ The sons of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and struck to the ground on that day twenty-two thousand [fighting] men of Israel. ²² But the people, the [fighting] men of Israel, took courage and strengthened themselves and again set their battle line in the same place where they formed it the first day. ²³ The sons of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until evening, and asked of the Lord, “Shall we advance again to battle against the sons of our brother Benjamin?” And the Lord said, “Go up against them.”

²⁴ So the sons of Israel came against the sons of Benjamin the second day. ²⁵ And [the fighting men from the tribe of] Benjamin went out of Gibeah against them the second day and again struck to the ground the sons of Israel, eighteen thousand men, all of whom were swordsmen. ²⁶ Then all the sons of Israel and all the people went up and came to Bethel and wept; and they sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. ²⁷ And the sons of Israel inquired of the Lord (for the ark of the covenant of God was there [at Bethel] in those days, ²⁸ and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministered before it in those days), saying, “Shall I yet again go out to battle against the sons of my brother Benjamin, or shall I quit?” And the Lord said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will hand them over to you.”

²⁹ So Israel set men in ambush around Gibeah. ³⁰ The [fighting men of the] sons of Israel went up against the sons of Benjamin on the third day and placed themselves in battle formation against Gibeah as at other times. ³¹ The Benjamites went out against ^[t]their army and were lured away from the city, and they began to strike and kill some of the people as at other times, on the highways, one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah, and in the open country, about thirty men of Israel. ³² And the Benjamites said, “They are defeated before us, as at the first.” But the sons of Israel said, “Let us flee and lure them away from the city to the highways.” ³³ Then all the men of Israel got up from their places and placed themselves in battle formation at Baal-tamar; and the men of Israel [who were] in ambush rushed from their place in the plain of Maareh-geba. ³⁴ When the ten thousand choice [fighting] men from all Israel came against Gibeah, the battle was hard and fierce; but the Benjamites did not realize that disaster was about to strike them. ³⁵ And the Lord struck down [the tribe of] Benjamin before Israel, so that the sons of Israel destroyed twenty-five thousand one hundred men of Benjamin that day, all of whom were swordsmen.

³⁶ So the Benjamites realized that they were defeated. Then men of Israel gave ground to the Benjamites, because they relied on the men in ambush whom they had placed against Gibeah. ³⁷ Then the men in ambush quickly rushed and attacked Gibeah; and the men in ambush also deployed and struck the entire city with the edge of the sword. ³⁸ Now the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in ambush was that they would make a great cloud of smoke rise from the city. ³⁹ So the men of Israel turned in the battle, and Benjamin began to strike and kill about thirty men of Israel, for they said, “Certainly they are defeated before us as in the first battle!” ⁴⁰ But when the [signal] cloud began to rise out of the city in a column of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them; and behold, the entire city went up in smoke to heaven. ⁴¹ When the men of Israel turned back again, the men of Benjamin were terrified, for they saw that disaster had fallen upon them. ⁴² Therefore, they turned their backs before the men of Israel [and fled] toward the direction of the wilderness, but the battle followed and overtook them. As the [fighting men of the] sons of Benjamin ran among them, the Israelites of the cities came out and destroyed them. ⁴³ They surrounded [the men of] Benjamin, pursued them relentlessly, and overtook them opposite Gibeah toward the east. ⁴⁴ Thus eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell, all of these brave and able warriors. ⁴⁵ The survivors [of Benjamin] turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and Israel caught five thousand of them on the roads and overtook them at Gidom and killed two thousand of them. ⁴⁶ So all of Benjamin who fell that day were twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword, all of them brave and able warriors. ⁴⁷ But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon and stayed at the rock of Rimmon for four months. ⁴⁸ The men of Israel turned back against [the tribe of] the sons of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, both the entire city [of Gibeah] and the livestock and all that they found. They also set on fire all the [surrounding] towns which they found.

Mourning the Lost Tribe

21 Now the men of Israel had sworn [an oath] at Mizpah, “None of us shall give his daughter in marriage to [a man of] Benjamin.” ² So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, and lifted up their voices and wept bitterly.^{(C) 3} They said, “O Lord, God of Israel, why has this come about in Israel, that there should be today one tribe missing from Israel?” ⁴ And the next day the people got up early and built an altar there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

⁵ Then the sons of Israel said, “Which one from all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the Lord?” For they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the Lord at Mizpah, saying, “He shall certainly be put to death.” ⁶ And the sons of Israel felt sorry [and had compassion] for their brother Benjamin and said, “One tribe has been cut off from Israel today. ⁷ What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn [an oath] by the Lord that we will not give them any of our daughters as wives?”

Provision for Their Survival

⁸ And they said, “Which one is there of the tribes from Israel that did not come up to Mizpah to the Lord?” And behold, [it was discovered that] no one had come to the camp from Jabesh-gilead, to the assembly. ⁹ For when the people were assembled, behold, there was not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there. ¹⁰ And the congregation sent twelve thousand of the most courageous men there, and commanded them saying, “Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the sword, including the women and the children. ¹¹ And this is the thing that you shall do; you shall utterly destroy every male and every woman who ^[u]is not a virgin.” ¹² And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins who had not known a man intimately; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

¹³ Then the whole congregation sent word to the [surviving] sons of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace to them. ¹⁴ So [the survivors of] Benjamin returned at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had kept alive from the women of Jabesh-gilead; but there were not enough [to provide wives] for them. ¹⁵ And the people were sorry [and had compassion] for [the survivors of the tribe of] Benjamin because the Lord had made a gap in the tribes of Israel.

¹⁶ Then the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for wives for those [men] who are left, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?” ¹⁷ They said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be wiped out from Israel. ¹⁸ But we cannot give them wives from our daughters.” For the sons of Israel had sworn [an oath], “Cursed is he who gives a wife to [a man from the tribe of] Benjamin.”

¹⁹ So they said, “Listen, there is the yearly feast of the Lord at Shiloh, which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south side of Lebonah.” ²⁰ So they instructed the sons of Benjamin, saying, “Go, set an ambush in the vineyards, ²¹ and watch; if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then you shall come out of the vineyards and each of you shall catch his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of [the tribe of] Benjamin. ²² When their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we shall say to them, ‘Give them to us voluntarily, because we did not take a wife for each man of Benjamin in battle, nor did you give wives to them, for that would have made you guilty [of breaking your oath].’” ²³ So the sons of [the tribe of] Benjamin did as instructed and took wives according to their number, from the dancers whom they carried away. Then they went and returned to their inheritance, and rebuilt the towns and lived in them. ²⁴ The sons of Israel departed from there at that time, each man to his tribe and family, and each man went from there to his inheritance.

²⁵ In those days [when the judges governed] there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.

Naomi Widowed

1 In the days when the judges governed [Israel], there was a famine in the land [of Canaan]. And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live temporarily in the ^[v]country of Moab with his wife and his two sons. ² The man’s name was Elimelech and his wife’s name was Naomi and his two sons were named Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went to the country of Moab and stayed there. ³ Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left [a widow] with her two sons. ⁴ They took wives from the Moabite women; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other was Ruth. They lived there about ten years; ⁵ and then both Mahlon and Chilion also died, so the woman [Naomi] was left without her two sons and her husband.

⁶ Then she set out with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in Moab how the Lord had taken care of His people [of Judah] in giving them food. ⁷ So she left the place where she was living, her two daughters-in-law with her, and they started on the way back to the land of Judah. ⁸ But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you return to your mother’s house. May the Lord show kindness to you as you have shown kindness to the dead and to me. ⁹ May the Lord grant that you find rest, each one in the home of her husband.” Then she kissed them [goodbye], and they wept aloud. ¹⁰ And they said to her, “No, we will go with you to your people [in Judah].” ¹¹ But Naomi said, “Go back, my daughters, why should you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb that may become your husbands? ¹² Go back, my daughters, go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I said I have hope, and if I actually had a husband tonight and even gave birth to sons, ¹³ would you wait until they were grown? Would you go without marrying? No, my daughters; for it is much more ^[w]difficult for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has gone against me.”

Ruth’s Loyalty

¹⁴ Then they wept aloud again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law [goodbye], but Ruth clung to her.

¹⁵ Then Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; turn back and follow your sister-in-law.” ¹⁶ But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people will be my people, and your God, my God. ¹⁷ Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord do the same to me [as He has done to you], and more also, if anything but death separates me from you.” ¹⁸ When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more.

¹⁹ So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole city was ^[x]stirred because of them, and the women asked, “Is this Naomi?” ²⁰ She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi (sweetness); call me Mara (bitter), for the Almighty has caused me great grief and bitterness. ²¹ I left full [with a husband and two sons], but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?”

²² So Naomi returned from the country of Moab, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law. And they arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

Ruth Gleans in Boaz’ Field

2 Now Naomi had a relative of her husband, a man of great wealth and influence, from the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. ² And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field and ^[y]glean among the ears of grain after one [of the reapers] in whose sight I may find favor.” Naomi said to her, “Go, my daughter.” ³ So Ruth went and picked up the leftover grain in a field after the reapers; and she happened to stop at the plot of land belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. ⁴ It was then that Boaz came back from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you!” And they answered him, “The Lord bless you!” ⁵ Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” ⁶ The servant in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. ⁷ And she said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the ^[z]sheaves.’ So she came and has continued [gathering grain] from early morning until now, except when she sat [resting] for a little while in the [field] house.”

⁸ Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen carefully, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but stay here close by my maids. ⁹ Watch which field they reap, and follow behind them. I have commanded the servants not to touch you. And when you are thirsty, go to the [water] jars and drink from what the servants draw.” ¹⁰ Then she kneeled face downward, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes that you should notice me, when I am a foreigner?” ¹¹ Boaz answered her, “I have been made fully aware of everything that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people that you did not know before. ¹² May the Lord repay you for your kindness, and may your reward be full from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” ¹³ Then she said, “Let me find favor in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me and have spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not as one of your maidservants.”

¹⁴ At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here and eat some bread and dip your bread in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers; and he served her roasted grain, and she ate until she was satisfied and she had some left [for Naomi]. ¹⁵ When she got up to glean, Boaz ordered his servants, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not insult her. ¹⁶ Also you shall purposely pull out for her some stalks [of grain] from the sheaves and leave them so that she may collect them, and do not rebuke her.”

¹⁷ So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ^[aa]ephah of barley. ¹⁸ She picked it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. Ruth also took out and gave to Naomi what she had saved after she [had eaten and] was satisfied. ¹⁹ Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.” ²⁰ Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed of the Lord who has not ceased His kindness to the living and to the dead.” Again Naomi said to her, “The man is one of our closest relatives, one who has the right to ^[ab]redeem us.”^{(D) 21} Then Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also said to me, ‘Stay close to my servants until they have harvested my entire crop.’” ²² Naomi said to Ruth, “It is good, my daughter, for you to go out [to work] with his maids, so that others do not assault you in another field.” ²³ So she stayed close to the maids of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

Boaz Will Redeem Ruth

3 Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to Ruth, “My daughter, shall I not look for ^[ac]security and a home for you, so that it may be well with you? ² Now Boaz, with whose maids you were [working], is he not our relative? See now, he is winnowing barley at the threshing floor tonight. ³ So wash and anoint yourself [with olive oil], then put on your [^[ad]best] clothes, and go down to the threshing floor; ^[ae]but stay out of the man’s sight until he has finished eating and drinking. ⁴ When he lies down, notice the place where he is lying, and ^[af]go and uncover his feet and lie down. Then he will tell you what to do.” ⁵ Ruth answered her, “I will do everything that you say.”

⁶ So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had told her. ⁷ When Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was happy, he went to lie down at the end of the stack of grain. Then Ruth came secretly, and uncovered his feet and lay down. ⁸ In the middle of the night the man was startled and he turned over, and found a woman lying at his feet. ⁹ So he said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth your maid. Spread the hem of your garment over me, for you are a close relative and redeemer.” ¹⁰ Then he said, “May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. You have made your last kindness better than the first; for you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. ¹¹ Now, my daughter, do not be afraid. I will do for you whatever you ask, since all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence. ¹² It is true that I am your close relative and redeemer; however, there is a relative closer [to you] than I. ¹³ Spend the night [here], and in the morning if he will redeem you, fine; let him do it. But if he does not wish to redeem you, then, as the Lord lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning.”

¹⁴ So she lay at his feet until the morning, but got up before anyone could recognize another; Boaz said, “^[ag]Do not let it be known that the woman came to the threshing floor [last night].” ¹⁵ He also said, “Give me the shawl you are wearing and hold it out.” So Ruth held it and he measured out six measures of barley [into it] and placed it on her. And she went into the city. ¹⁶ When she came home, her mother-in-law said, “How did it go, my daughter?” And Ruth told her everything that the man had done for her. ¹⁷ She said, “He gave me these six measures of barley, and he said to me, ‘Do not go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’” ¹⁸ Then Naomi said, “Sit and wait, my daughter, until you learn how this matter turns out; for the man will not rest until he has settled it today.”

The Marriage of Ruth

4 Then Boaz went up to the city gate [where business and legal matters were settled] and sat down, and then the close relative (redeemer) of whom Boaz had spoken came by. He said to him, “Come over here, ^[ah]friend, and sit down.” So he came and sat down. ² Then Boaz took ten men from the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” And they sat down. ³ He said to the closest relative (redeemer), “Naomi, who has returned from the country of Moab, must sell the plot of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech. ⁴ So I thought to let you hear of it, saying, ‘Buy it in the presence of those sitting here, and before the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if not, then tell me, so that I may know; for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I am [next of kin] after you.’” And he said, “I will redeem it.” ⁵ Then Boaz said, “The day that you buy the field from Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of the deceased, to restore the name of the deceased to his inheritance.” ⁶ The closest relative (redeemer) said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, because [by marrying a Moabitess] I would ^[ai]jeopardize my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption (purchase) yourself, because I cannot redeem it.”^(E)

⁷ Now formerly in Israel this was the custom concerning redeeming and exchanging property. To confirm a transaction, a man pulled off his sandal and gave it to the other. This was the way of confirming and attesting in Israel. ⁸ So, when the closest relative (redeemer) said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” he pulled off his sandal [and gave it to Boaz to confirm the agreement]. ⁹ Then Boaz said to the elders and to all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought everything that was Elimelech’s and everything that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s from the hand of Naomi. ¹⁰ I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, to be my wife to restore the name of the deceased to his inheritance, so that the name of the deceased will not be cut off from his brothers or from the gate of his birthplace. You are witnesses today.” ¹¹ All the people at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the household of Israel. May you achieve wealth and power in Ephrathah and become famous in Bethlehem. ¹² Further, may your house be like the house of Perez whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring which the Lord will give you by this young woman.”

¹³ So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. ¹⁴ Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed is the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer (grandson, as heir) today, and may his name become famous in Israel. ¹⁵ May he also be to you one who restores life and sustains your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”

The Line of David Began Here

¹⁶ Then Naomi took the child and placed him in her lap, and she became his nurse. ¹⁷ The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son (grandson) has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed (worshiper). He is the father of Jesse, the father of David [the ancestor of Jesus Christ].

¹⁸ Now these are the descendants of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron, ¹⁹ Hezron was the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab, ²⁰ Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, ²¹ Salmon the father of Boaz, Boaz the father of Obed, ²² Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David [the king of Israel and the ancestor of Jesus Christ].

Elkanah and His Wives

1 There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of the ^[aj]hill country of Ephraim, named Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an ^[ak]Ephraimite. ² He had two wives, one named Hannah and the other named Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.

³ This man went up from his city ^[al]each year to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh. Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests to the Lord there. ⁴ When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions [of the sacrificial meat] to Peninnah his wife and all her sons and daughters. ⁵ But to Hannah he would give a double portion, because he loved Hannah, but the Lord had ^[am]given her no children. ⁶ Hannah’s rival provoked her bitterly, to irritate and embarrass her, because the Lord had ^[an]left her childless. ⁷ So it happened year after year, whenever she went up to the house of the Lord, Peninnah provoked her; so she wept and would not eat. ⁸ Then Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you cry and why do you not eat? Why are you so sad and discontent? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

⁹ So Hannah got up after eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his seat beside the doorpost of the temple (tabernacle) of the Lord. ¹⁰ Hannah was ^[ao]greatly distressed, and she prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish. ¹¹ She made a vow, saying, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction (suffering) of Your maidservant and remember, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life; a ^[ap]razor shall never touch his head.”

¹² Now it happened as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli was watching her mouth. ¹³ Hannah was speaking in her heart (mind); only her lips were moving, and her voice was not heard, so Eli ^[aq]thought she was drunk. ¹⁴ Eli said to her, “How long will you make yourself drunk? Get rid of your wine.” ¹⁵ But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman with a despairing spirit. I have not been drinking wine or any intoxicating drink, but I have poured out my soul before the Lord.^{(F) 16} Do not regard your maidservant as a wicked and worthless woman, for I have spoken until now out of my great concern and [bitter] provocation.” ¹⁷ Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of Him.” ¹⁸ Hannah said, “Let your maidservant find grace and favor in your sight.” So the woman went on her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

Samuel Is Born to Hannah

¹⁹ The family got up early the next morning, worshiped before the Lord, and returned to their home in Ramah. Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her [prayer]. ²⁰ It came about in due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; she named him ^[ar]Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the Lord.”

²¹ Then the man Elkanah and all his household went up to offer to the Lord the ^[as]yearly sacrifice and pay his vow. ²² But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “I will not go up until the child is ^[at]weaned; and then I will bring him, so that he may appear before the Lord and remain there as long as he lives.” ²³ Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you. Wait until you have weaned him; only may the Lord establish and confirm His word.” So the woman remained [behind] and nursed her son until she weaned him. ²⁴ Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a ^[au]leather bottle of wine [to pour over the burnt offering for a sweet fragrance], and she brought Samuel to the Lord’s house in Shiloh, although the child was young. ²⁵ Then they slaughtered the bull, and brought the child to Eli. ²⁶ Hannah said, “Oh, my lord! As [surely as] your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood beside you here, praying to the Lord. ²⁷ For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my request which I asked of Him. ²⁸ Therefore I have also dedicated him to the Lord; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the Lord.” And they worshiped the Lord there.

Hannah’s Song of Thanksgiving

2 Hannah prayed and said,

¹¹ Elkanah [and his wife Hannah] returned to Ramah to his house. But the child [Samuel] served the Lord ^[ax]under the guidance of Eli the priest.

The Sin of Eli’s Sons

¹² The sons of Eli [Hophni and Phinehas] were ^[ay]worthless (dishonorable, unprincipled) men; they did not know [nor respect] the Lord ¹³ and the custom of the priests with [the sacrifices of] the people. When any man was offering a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged [meat] fork in his hand; ¹⁴ then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; everything that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did in Shiloh to all [the sacrifices of] the ^[az]Israelites who came there. ¹⁵ Also, before they burned (offered) the fat, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest meat to roast, since he will not accept boiled meat from you, only raw.” ¹⁶ If the man said to him, “^[ba]Certainly they are to burn (offer) the fat first, and then you may take as much as ^[bb]you want,” then the priest’s servant would say, “No! You shall give it to me now or I will take it by force.” ¹⁷ So the sin of the [two] young men [Hophni and Phinehas] was very great before the Lord, for the men treated the offering of the Lord disrespectfully.

Samuel before the Lord as a Boy

¹⁸ Now Samuel was ministering before the Lord, as a child dressed in a linen ephod [a sacred item of priestly clothing]. ¹⁹ Moreover, his mother would make him a little robe and would bring it up to him each year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. ²⁰ Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, “May the Lord give you children by this woman in place of the one she asked for which was dedicated to the Lord.” Then they would return to their own home.

²¹ And [the time came when] the Lord visited Hannah, so that she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew before the Lord.

Eli Rebukes His Sons

²² Now Eli was very old; and he heard about everything that his sons were doing to all [the people of] Israel, and how they were lying with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle). ²³ Eli said to them, “Why do you do such things, the evil things that I hear from all these people? ²⁴ No, my sons; for the report that I keep hearing from the passers-by among the Lord’s people is not good. ²⁵ If one man does wrong and sins against another, God will intercede (arbitrate) for him; but if a man does wrong to the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to their father, ^[bc]for it was the Lord’s will to put them to death.

²⁶ But the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor both with the Lord and with men.

²⁷ Then a man of God (prophet) came to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Did I not plainly reveal Myself to the house of your father (ancestor) when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh’s house? ²⁸ Moreover, ^[bd]I selected him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to go up to My altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before Me. And [from then on] I gave to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel. ²⁹ Why then do you kick at (despise) My sacrifice and My offering which I commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, by fattening yourselves with the choicest part of every offering of My people Israel?’