Othniel

^7 (A)And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and ^(B)the Asheroth. ⁸ Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, ^(C)and he sold them into the hand of ^(D)Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. ⁹ But when the people of Israel ^(E)cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a ^(F)deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, ^(G)Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.

Ehud

^12 (A)And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord strengthened Eglon ^(B)the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord. ¹³ He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the ^(C)Amalekites, and went and defeated Israel. And they took possession of ^(D)the city of palms. ¹⁴ And the people of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.

¹⁵ Then the people of Israel ^(E)cried out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up for them ^(F)a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, ^(G)a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab.

Deborah and Barak

4 ^(A)And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud died. ² And the Lord ^(B)sold them into the hand of ^(C)Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in ^(D)Hazor. The commander of his army was ^(E)Sisera, who lived in ^(F)Harosheth-hagoyim. ³ Then the people of Israel ^(G)cried out to the Lord for help, for he had ^(H)900 chariots of iron and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years.

Midian Oppresses Israel

6 ^(A)The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of ^(B)Midian seven years. ² And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and ^(C)the caves and the strongholds. ³ For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and ^(D)the Amalekites and ^(E)the people of the East would come up against them. ⁴ They would encamp against them ^(F)and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey. ⁵ For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come ^(G)like locusts in number—both they and their camels could not be counted—so that they laid waste the land as they came in. ⁶ And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel ^(H)cried out for help to the Lord.

⁷ When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites, ⁸ the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ^(I)I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. ⁹ And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and ^(J)drove them out before you and gave you their land. ¹⁰ And I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; ^(K)you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice.”

The Call of Gideon

¹¹ Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash ^(L)the Abiezrite, while his son ^(M)Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. ¹² And ^(N)the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, ^(O)“The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” ¹³ And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are ^(P)all his wonderful deeds ^(Q)that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” ¹⁴ And the Lord^[a] turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; ^(R)do not I send you?”

Further Disobedience and Oppression

^6 (A)The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord ^(B)and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, ^(C)the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they ^(D)forsook the Lord and did not serve him. ⁷ So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and ^(E)he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites, ⁸ and they crushed and oppressed the people of Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the people of Israel who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. ⁹ And the Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed.

¹⁰ And the people of Israel ^(F)cried out to the Lord, saying, “We have sinned against you, because ^(G)we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals.” ¹¹ And the Lord said to the people of Israel, “Did I not save you ^(H)from the Egyptians and ^(I)from the Amorites, ^(J)from the Ammonites and ^(K)from the Philistines? ¹² The Sidonians also, and ^(L)the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and I ^(M)saved you out of their hand.