Judges 2-4

English Standard Version

Israel's Disobedience

2 Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to ^(A)Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ^(B)‘I will never break my covenant with you, ²^(C)and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; ^(D)you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? ³So now I say, ^(E)I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become ^(F)thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.” ⁴As soon as the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. ⁵And they called the name of that place Bochim.^[a] And they sacrificed there to the Lord.

The Death of Joshua

⁶When Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land. ⁷^(G)And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel. ⁸And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110 years. ⁹And they buried him within the boundaries of ^(H)his inheritance in Timnath-heres, ^(I)in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. ¹⁰And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.

Israel's Unfaithfulness

¹¹^(J)And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. ¹²^(K)And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. ^(L)They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and ^(M)bowed down to them. ^(N)And they provoked the Lord to anger. ¹³They abandoned the Lord ^(O)and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. ¹⁴^(P)So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he ^(Q)gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. ^(R)And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, ^(S)so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. ¹⁵Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, ^(T)and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.

The Lord Raises Up Judges

¹⁶^(U)Then the Lord raised up judges, ^(V)who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. ¹⁷Yet they did not listen to their judges, for ^(W)they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. ^(X)They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not do so. ¹⁸Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, ^(Y)the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. ^(Z)For the Lord was moved to pity by ^(AA)their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. ¹⁹But ^(AB)whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. ²⁰^(AC)So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this people ^(AD)have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, ²¹^(AE)I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, ²²in order ^(AF)to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the Lord as their fathers did, or not.” ²³So the Lord left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua.

3 ^(AG)Now these are the nations that the Lord left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. ²It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. ³These are the nations: ^(AH)the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. ⁴They were for ^(AI)the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. ⁵So the people of Israel lived ^(AJ)among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ⁶^(AK)And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods.

Othniel

⁷^(AL)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 ^(AM)the Asheroth. ⁸Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, ^(AN)and he sold them into the hand of ^(AO)Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. ⁹But when the people of Israel ^(AP)cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a ^(AQ)deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, ^(AR)Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. ¹⁰^(AS)The Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. ¹¹^(AT)So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

Ehud

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

¹⁵Then the people of Israel ^(AY)cried out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up for them ^(AZ)a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, ^(BA)a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. ¹⁶And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit^[b] in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes. ¹⁷And he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. ¹⁸And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute. ¹⁹But he himself turned back ^(BB)at the idols near Gilgal and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And he commanded, “Silence.” And all his attendants went out from his presence. ²⁰And Ehud came to him as he was sitting alone in his ^(BC)cool roof chamber. ^(BD)And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he arose from his seat. ²¹And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. ²²And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and the dung came out. ²³Then Ehud went out into the porch^[c] and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him ^(BE)and locked them.

²⁴When he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, ^(BF)“Surely he is relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber.” ²⁵And they waited till they were embarrassed. But when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their lord dead on the floor.

²⁶Ehud escaped while they delayed, and he passed beyond ^(BG)the idols and escaped to Seirah. ²⁷When he arrived, ^(BH)he sounded the trumpet in ^(BI)the hill country of Ephraim. Then the people of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was their leader. ²⁸And he said to them, “Follow after me, ^(BJ)for the Lord has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him and seized ^(BK)the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and did not allow anyone to pass over. ²⁹And they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped. ³⁰So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. ^(BL)And the land had rest for eighty years.

Shamgar

³¹After him was ^(BM)Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines ^(BN)with an oxgoad, and he also ^(BO)saved Israel.

Deborah and Barak

4 ^(BP)And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud died. ²And the Lord ^(BQ)sold them into the hand of ^(BR)Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in ^(BS)Hazor. The commander of his army was ^(BT)Sisera, who lived in ^(BU)Harosheth-hagoyim. ³Then the people of Israel ^(BV)cried out to the Lord for help, for he had ^(BW)900 chariots of iron and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years.

⁴Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. ⁵She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in ^(BX)the hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment. ⁶She sent and summoned ^(BY)Barak the son of Abinoam from ^(BZ)Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount ^(CA)Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun. ⁷And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin's army, to meet you by ^(CB)the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, ^(CC)and I will give him into your hand’?” ⁸Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” ⁹And she said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will ^(CD)sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. ¹⁰And Barak called out ^(CE)Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. And 10,000 men went up at his heels, and Deborah went up with him.

¹¹Now Heber ^(CF)the Kenite had separated from the Kenites, the descendants of ^(CG)Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in ^(CH)Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh.

¹²When Sisera was told that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, ¹³Sisera called out all his chariots, ^(CI)900 chariots of iron, and all the men who were with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon. ¹⁴And Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which ^(CJ)the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. ^(CK)Does not the Lord go out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. ¹⁵^(CL)And the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak by the edge of the sword. And Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot. ¹⁶And Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left.

¹⁷But Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. ¹⁸And Jael came out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord; turn aside to me; do not be afraid.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. ¹⁹And he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened ^(CM)a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. ²⁰And he said to her, “Stand at the opening of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’” ²¹But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died. ²²And behold, as Barak was pursuing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went in to her tent, and there lay Sisera dead, with the tent peg in his temple.

²³^(CN)So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel. ²⁴And the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.

Footnotes

Judges 2:5 Bochim means weepers
Judges 3:16 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
Judges 3:23 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain

Judges 2-4

New International Version

The Angel of the Lord at Bokim

2 The angel of the Lord^(A) went up from Gilgal^(B) to Bokim^(C) and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt^(D) and led you into the land I swore to give to your ancestors.^(E) I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you,^(F) ²and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land,^(G) but you shall break down their altars.^(H)’ Yet you have disobeyed^(I) me. Why have you done this? ³And I have also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you;^(J) they will become traps^(K) for you, and their gods will become snares^(L) to you.’”

⁴When the angel of the Lord had spoken these things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud,^(M) ⁵and they called that place Bokim.^[a]^(N) There they offered sacrifices to the Lord.

Disobedience and Defeat^(O)

⁶After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to their own inheritance. ⁷The 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.^(P)

⁸Joshua son of Nun,^(Q) the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten. ⁹And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres^[b]^(R) in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

¹⁰After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.^(S) ¹¹Then the Israelites did evil^(T) in the eyes of the Lord^(U) and served the Baals.^(V) ¹²They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods^(W) of the peoples around them.^(X) They aroused^(Y) the Lord’s anger^(Z) ¹³because they forsook^(AA) him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.^(AB) ¹⁴In his anger^(AC) against Israel the Lord gave them into the hands^(AD) of raiders who plundered^(AE) them. He sold them^(AF) into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.^(AG) ¹⁵Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them^(AH) to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.^(AI)

¹⁶Then the Lord raised up judges,^[c]^(AJ) who saved^(AK) them out of the hands of these raiders. ¹⁷Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted^(AL) themselves to other gods^(AM) and worshiped them.^(AN) They quickly turned^(AO) from the ways of their ancestors, who had been obedient to the Lord’s commands.^(AP) ¹⁸Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved^(AQ) them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord relented^(AR) because of their groaning^(AS) under those who oppressed and afflicted^(AT) them. ¹⁹But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt^(AU) than those of their ancestors,^(AV) following other gods and serving and worshiping them.^(AW) They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn^(AX) ways.

²⁰Therefore the Lord was very angry^(AY) with Israel and said, “Because this nation has violated the covenant^(AZ) I ordained for their ancestors and has not listened to me, ²¹I will no longer drive out^(BA) before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. ²²I will use them to test^(BB) Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their ancestors did.” ²³The Lord had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua.^(BC)

3 These are the nations the Lord left to test^(BD) all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan ²(he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience): ³the five^(BE) rulers of the Philistines,^(BF) all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites^(BG) living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon^(BH) to Lebo Hamath.^(BI) ⁴They were left to test^(BJ) the Israelites to see whether they would obey the Lord’s commands, which he had given their ancestors through Moses.

⁵The Israelites lived^(BK) among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites,^(BL) Hivites and Jebusites.^(BM) ⁶They took their daughters^(BN) in marriage and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.^(BO)

Othniel

⁷The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord^(BP) their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.^(BQ) ⁸The anger of the Lord burned against Israel so that he sold^(BR) them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim^(BS) king of Aram Naharaim,^[d]^(BT) to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years. ⁹But when they cried out^(BU) to the Lord, he raised up for them a deliverer,^(BV) Othniel^(BW) son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, who saved them. ¹⁰The Spirit of the Lord came on him,^(BX) so that he became Israel’s judge^[e] and went to war. The Lord gave Cushan-Rishathaim^(BY) king of Aram^(BZ) into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him. ¹¹So the land had peace^(CA) for forty years,^(CB) until Othniel son of Kenaz^(CC) died.

Ehud

¹²Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord,^(CD) and because they did this evil the Lord gave Eglon king of Moab^(CE) power over Israel. ¹³Getting the Ammonites^(CF) and Amalekites^(CG) to join him, Eglon came and attacked Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms.^[f]^(CH) ¹⁴The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab^(CI) for eighteen years.

¹⁵Again the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and he gave them a deliverer^(CJ)—Ehud^(CK), a left-handed^(CL) man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The Israelites sent him with tribute^(CM) to Eglon king of Moab. ¹⁶Now Ehud^(CN) had made a double-edged sword about a cubit^[g] long, which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing. ¹⁷He presented the tribute^(CO) to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very fat man.^(CP) ¹⁸After Ehud had presented the tribute, he sent on their way those who had carried it. ¹⁹But on reaching the stone images near Gilgal he himself went back to Eglon and said, “Your Majesty, I have a secret message for you.”

The king said to his attendants, “Leave us!” And they all left.

²⁰Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his palace^[h]^(CQ) and said, “I have a message from God for you.” As the king rose^(CR) from his seat, ²¹Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword^(CS) from his right thigh and plunged it into the king’s belly. ²²Even the handle sank in after the blade, and his bowels discharged. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it. ²³Then Ehud went out to the porch^[i]; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.

²⁴After he had gone, the servants came and found the doors of the upper room locked. They said, “He must be relieving himself^(CT) in the inner room of the palace.” ²⁵They waited to the point of embarrassment,^(CU) but when he did not open the doors of the room, they took a key and unlocked them. There they saw their lord fallen to the floor, dead.

²⁶While they waited, Ehud got away. He passed by the stone images and escaped to Seirah. ²⁷When he arrived there, he blew a trumpet^(CV) in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down with him from the hills, with him leading them.

²⁸“Follow me,” he ordered, “for the Lord has given Moab,^(CW) your enemy, into your hands.^(CX)” So they followed him down and took possession of the fords of the Jordan^(CY) that led to Moab; they allowed no one to cross over. ²⁹At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all vigorous and strong; not one escaped. ³⁰That day Moab^(CZ) was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace^(DA) for eighty years.

Shamgar

³¹After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath,^(DB) who struck down six hundred^(DC) Philistines^(DD) with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.

Deborah

4 Again the Israelites did evil^(DE) in the eyes of the Lord,^(DF) now that Ehud^(DG) was dead. ²So the Lord sold them^(DH) into the hands of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor.^(DI) Sisera,^(DJ) the commander of his army, was based in Harosheth Haggoyim. ³Because he had nine hundred chariots fitted with iron^(DK) and had cruelly oppressed^(DL) the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the Lord for help.

⁴Now Deborah,^(DM) a prophet,^(DN) the wife of Lappidoth, was leading^[j] Israel at that time. ⁵She held court^(DO) under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah^(DP) and Bethel^(DQ) in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided. ⁶She sent for Barak son of Abinoam^(DR) from Kedesh^(DS) in Naphtali and said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali^(DT) and Zebulun^(DU) and lead them up to Mount Tabor.^(DV) ⁷I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s^(DW) army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River^(DX) and give him into your hands.^(DY)’”

⁸Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.”

⁹“Certainly I will go with you,” said Deborah. “But because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh.^(DZ) ¹⁰There Barak summoned^(EA) Zebulun and Naphtali, and ten thousand men went up under his command. Deborah also went up with him.

¹¹Now Heber the Kenite had left the other Kenites,^(EB) the descendants of Hobab,^(EC) Moses’ brother-in-law,^[k] and pitched his tent by the great tree^(ED) in Zaanannim^(EE) near Kedesh.

¹²When they told Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor,^(EF) ¹³Sisera summoned from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon River^(EG) all his men and his nine hundred chariots fitted with iron.^(EH)

¹⁴Then Deborah said to Barak, “Go! This is the day the Lord has given Sisera into your hands.^(EI) Has not the Lord gone ahead^(EJ) of you?” So Barak went down Mount Tabor, with ten thousand men following him. ¹⁵At Barak’s advance, the Lord routed^(EK) Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera got down from his chariot and fled on foot.

¹⁶Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim, and all Sisera’s troops fell by the sword; not a man was left.^(EL) ¹⁷Sisera, meanwhile, fled on foot to the tent of Jael,^(EM) the wife of Heber the Kenite,^(EN) because there was an alliance between Jabin king of Hazor^(EO) and the family of Heber the Kenite.

¹⁸Jael^(EP) went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Come, my lord, come right in. Don’t be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.

¹⁹“I’m thirsty,” he said. “Please give me some water.” She opened a skin of milk,^(EQ) gave him a drink, and covered him up.

²⁰“Stand in the doorway of the tent,” he told her. “If someone comes by and asks you, ‘Is anyone in there?’ say ‘No.’”

²¹But Jael,^(ER) Heber’s wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep,^(ES) exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.^(ET)

²²Just then Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera, and Jael^(EU) went out to meet him. “Come,” she said, “I will show you the man you’re looking for.” So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera with the tent peg through his temple—dead.^(EV)

²³On that day God subdued^(EW) Jabin^(EX) king of Canaan before the Israelites. ²⁴And the hand of the Israelites pressed harder and harder against Jabin king of Canaan until they destroyed him.^(EY)

Footnotes

Judges 2:5 Bokim means weepers.
Judges 2:9 Also known as Timnath Serah (see Joshua 19:50 and 24:30)
Judges 2:16 Or leaders; similarly in verses 17-19
Judges 3:8 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia
Judges 3:10 Or leader
Judges 3:13 That is, Jericho
Judges 3:16 That is, about 18 inches or about 45 centimeters
Judges 3:20 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain; also in verse 24.
Judges 3:23 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
Judges 4:4 Traditionally judging
Judges 4:11 Or father-in-law

Judges 6-8

English Standard Version

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. ²And 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. ³For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and ^(D)the Amalekites and ^(E)the people of the East would come up against them. ⁴They 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. ⁵For 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. ⁶And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel ^(H)cried out for help to the Lord.

⁷When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites, ⁸the 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. ⁹And 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. ¹⁰And 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

¹¹Now 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. ¹²And ^(N)the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, ^(O)“The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” ¹³And 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.” ¹⁴And 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?” ¹⁵And he said to him, ^(S)“Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, ^(T)my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.” ¹⁶And the Lord said to him, ^(U)“But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” ¹⁷And he said to him, ^(V)“If now I have found favor in your eyes, then ^(W)show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. ¹⁸Please ^(X)do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.”

¹⁹So Gideon went into his house ^(Y)and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah^[b] of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the terebinth and presented them. ²⁰And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them ^(Z)on this rock, and ^(AA)pour the broth over them.” And he did so. ²¹Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. ^(AB)And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight. ²²Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. And Gideon said, ^(AC)“Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” ²³But the Lord said to him, ^(AD)“Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” ²⁴Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, ^(AE)The Lord Is Peace. To this day it still stands at ^(AF)Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.

²⁵That night the Lord said to him, “Take your father's bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down ^(AG)the Asherah that is beside it ²⁶and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of the ^(AH)stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down.” ²⁷So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the Lord had told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night.

Gideon Destroys the Altar of Baal

²⁸When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. ²⁹And they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And after they had searched and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.” ³⁰Then the men of the town said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it.” ³¹But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down.” ³²Therefore on that day Gideon^[c] was called ^(AI)Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he broke down his altar.

³³Now ^(AJ)all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East came together, and they crossed the Jordan and encamped in ^(AK)the Valley of Jezreel. ³⁴But ^(AL)the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon, ^(AM)and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. ³⁵^(AN)And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. ^(AO)And he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.

The Sign of the Fleece

³⁶^(AP)Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, ³⁷behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.” ³⁸And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. ³⁹Then Gideon said to God, ^(AQ)“Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.” ⁴⁰And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.

Gideon's Three Hundred Men

7 Then ^(AR)Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside ^(AS)the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them, ^(AT)by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

²The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, ^(AU)lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ ³Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ^(AV)‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained.

⁴And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ shall not go.” ⁵So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.” ⁶And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. ⁷And the Lord said to Gideon, ^(AW)“With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.” ⁸So the people took provisions in their hands, and their trumpets. And he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the 300 men. And the camp of Midian was below him ^(AX)in the valley.

⁹That same ^(AY)night the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, ^(AZ)for I have given it into your hand. ¹⁰But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant. ¹¹^(BA)And you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” ^(BB)Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the armed men who were in the camp. ¹²And the Midianites and the Amalekites and ^(BC)all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number, ^(BD)as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance. ¹³When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade. And he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.” ¹⁴And his comrade answered, “This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp.”

¹⁵As soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped. And he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the Lord has given the host of Midian into your hand.” ¹⁶And he divided the 300 men into three companies and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with ^(BE)torches inside the jars. ¹⁷And he said to them, “Look at me, and do likewise. When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. ¹⁸When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and shout, ^(BF)‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’”

Gideon Defeats Midian

¹⁹So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch. And they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands. ²⁰Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. ^(BG)And they cried out, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” ²¹Every man stood in his place around the camp, ^(BH)and all the army ran. They cried out and fled. ²²^(BI)When they blew the 300 trumpets, ^(BJ)the Lord set ^(BK)every man's sword against his comrade and against all the army. And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah,^[d] as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. ²³And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian.

²⁴^(BL)Gideon sent messengers throughout ^(BM)all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and capture the waters against them, as far as ^(BN)Beth-barah, and also the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they captured the waters as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan. ²⁵And they captured ^(BO)the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb ^(BP)at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. Then they pursued Midian, and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon ^(BQ)across the Jordan.

Gideon Defeats Zebah and Zalmunna

8 ^(BR)Then the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they accused him fiercely. ²And he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not ^(BS)the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? ³^(BT)God has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?” ^(BU)Then their anger^[e] against him subsided when he said this.

⁴And Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and ^(BV)the 300 men who were with him, exhausted yet pursuing. ⁵So he said to the men of ^(BW)Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” ⁶And the officials of Succoth said, ^(BX)“Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, ^(BY)that we should give bread to your army?” ⁷So Gideon said, “Well then, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, ^(BZ)I will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.” ⁸And from there he went up to ^(CA)Penuel, and spoke to them in the same way, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. ⁹And he said to the men of Penuel, ^(CB)“When I come again in peace, ^(CC)I will break down this tower.”

¹⁰Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about 15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of ^(CD)the people of the East, for there had fallen 120,000 men ^(CE)who drew the sword. ¹¹And Gideon went up by the way of the tent dwellers east of ^(CF)Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the army, for the army felt ^(CG)secure. ¹²And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them ^(CH)and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw all the army into a panic.

¹³Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres. ¹⁴And he captured a young man of Succoth and questioned him. And he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men. ¹⁵And he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ^(CI)‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are exhausted?’” ¹⁶And he took the elders of the city, and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth a lesson. ¹⁷^(CJ)And he broke down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

¹⁸Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where are the men whom you killed at ^(CK)Tabor?” They answered, “As you are, so were they. Every one of them resembled the son of a king.” ¹⁹And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. ^(CL)As the Lord lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you.” ²⁰So he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise and kill them!” But the young man did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a young man. ²¹Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength.” And Gideon arose and ^(CM)killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took ^(CN)the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.

Gideon's Ephod

²²Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” ²³Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; ^(CO)the Lord will rule over you.” ²⁴And Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you: every one of you give me the earrings from his spoil.” (For they had golden earrings, ^(CP)because they were Ishmaelites.) ²⁵And they answered, “We will willingly give them.” And they spread a cloak, and every man threw in it the earrings of his spoil. ²⁶And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels^[f] of gold, besides ^(CQ)the crescent ornaments and ^(CR)the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the collars that were around the necks of their camels. ²⁷And Gideon ^(CS)made an ephod of it and put it in his city, ^(CT)in Ophrah. And all Israel ^(CU)whored after it there, and it became a ^(CV)snare to Gideon and to his family. ²⁸So Midian was subdued before the people of Israel, and they raised their heads no more. ^(CW)And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.

The Death of Gideon

²⁹^(CX)Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house. ³⁰Now Gideon had ^(CY)seventy sons, his own offspring,^[g] for he had many wives. ³¹And his concubine ^(CZ)who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech. ³²And Gideon the son of Joash died ^(DA)in a good old age and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, ^(DB)at Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

³³^(DC)As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and ^(DD)whored after the Baals and made ^(DE)Baal-berith their god. ³⁴And the people of Israel ^(DF)did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side, ³⁵^(DG)and they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.

Footnotes

Judges 6:14 Septuagint the angel of the Lord; also verse 16
Judges 6:19 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters
Judges 6:32 Hebrew he
Judges 7:22 Some Hebrew manuscripts Zeredah
Judges 8:3 Hebrew their spirit
Judges 8:26 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
Judges 8:30 Hebrew who came from his own loins

Judges 6-8

New International Version

Gideon

6 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord,^(A) and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites.^(B) ²Because the power of Midian was so oppressive,^(C) the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves^(D) and strongholds.^(E) ³Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites^(F) and other eastern peoples^(G) invaded the country. ⁴They camped on the land and ruined the crops^(H) all the way to Gaza^(I) and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. ⁵They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts.^(J) It was impossible to count them or their camels;^(K) they invaded the land to ravage it. ⁶Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out^(L) to the Lord for help.

⁷When the Israelites cried out^(M) to the Lord because of Midian, ⁸he sent them a prophet,^(N) who said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt,^(O) out of the land of slavery.^(P) ⁹I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians. And I delivered you from the hand of all your oppressors;^(Q) I drove them out before you and gave you their land.^(R) ¹⁰I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; do not worship^(S) the gods of the Amorites,^(T) in whose land you live.’ But you have not listened to me.”

¹¹The angel of the Lord^(U) came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah^(V) that belonged to Joash^(W) the Abiezrite,^(X) where his son Gideon^(Y) was threshing^(Z) wheat in a winepress^(AA) to keep it from the Midianites. ¹²When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you,^(AB) mighty warrior.^(AC)”

¹³“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders^(AD) that our ancestors told^(AE) us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned^(AF) us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

¹⁴The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have^(AG) and save^(AH) Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

¹⁵“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan^(AI) is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.^(AJ)”

¹⁶The Lord answered, “I will be with you^(AK), and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”

¹⁷Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign^(AL) that it is really you talking to me. ¹⁸Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.”

And the Lord said, “I will wait until you return.”

¹⁹Gideon went inside, prepared a young goat,^(AM) and from an ephah^[a]^(AN) of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.^(AO)

²⁰The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock,^(AP) and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so. ²¹Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread^(AQ) with the tip of the staff^(AR) that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared. ²²When Gideon realized^(AS) that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”^(AT)

²³But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid.^(AU) You are not going to die.”^(AV)

²⁴So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called^(AW) it The Lord Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah^(AX) of the Abiezrites.

²⁵That same night the Lord said to him, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one seven years old.^[b] Tear down your father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole^[c]^(AY) beside it. ²⁶Then build a proper kind of^[d] altar to the Lord your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second^[e] bull as a burnt offering.^(AZ)”

²⁷So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the townspeople, he did it at night rather than in the daytime.

²⁸In the morning when the people of the town got up, there was Baal’s altar,^(BA) demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar!

²⁹They asked each other, “Who did this?”

When they carefully investigated, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash^(BB) did it.”

³⁰The people of the town demanded of Joash, “Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal’s altar^(BC) and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”

³¹But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, “Are you going to plead Baal’s cause?^(BD) Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar.” ³²So because Gideon broke down Baal’s altar, they gave him the name Jerub-Baal^[f]^(BE) that day, saying, “Let Baal contend with him.”

³³Now all the Midianites, Amalekites^(BF) and other eastern peoples^(BG) joined forces and crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.^(BH) ³⁴Then the Spirit of the Lord came on^(BI) Gideon, and he blew a trumpet,^(BJ) summoning the Abiezrites^(BK) to follow him. ³⁵He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher,^(BL) Zebulun and Naphtali,^(BM) so that they too went up to meet them.^(BN)

³⁶Gideon said to God, “If you will save^(BO) Israel by my hand as you have promised— ³⁷look, I will place a wool fleece^(BP) on the threshing floor.^(BQ) If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know^(BR) that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.” ³⁸And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water.

³⁹Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request.^(BS) Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.” ⁴⁰That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.^(BT)

Gideon Defeats the Midianites

7 Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal^(BU) (that is, Gideon^(BV)) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod.^(BW) The camp of Midian^(BX) was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh.^(BY) ²The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength^(BZ) has saved me.’ ³Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.^(CA)’” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.

⁴But the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many^(CB) men. Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”

⁵So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.” ⁶Three hundred of them^(CC) drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.

⁷The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands.^(CD) Let all the others go home.”^(CE) ⁸So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites home but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others.

Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley. ⁹During that night the Lord said to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands.^(CF) ¹⁰If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah ¹¹and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp. ¹²The Midianites, the Amalekites^(CG) and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts.^(CH) Their camels^(CI) could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.^(CJ)

¹³Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. “I had a dream,” he was saying. “A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.”

¹⁴His friend responded, “This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash,^(CK) the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.”

¹⁵When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshiped.^(CL) He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, “Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands.”^(CM) ¹⁶Dividing the three hundred men^(CN) into three companies,^(CO) he placed trumpets^(CP) and empty jars^(CQ) in the hands of all of them, with torches^(CR) inside.

¹⁷“Watch me,” he told them. “Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. ¹⁸When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets,^(CS) then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’”

¹⁹Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars^(CT) that were in their hands. ²⁰The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches^(CU) in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A sword^(CV) for the Lord and for Gideon!” ²¹While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled.^(CW)

²²When the three hundred trumpets sounded,^(CX) the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other^(CY) with their swords.^(CZ) The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah^(DA) near Tabbath. ²³Israelites from Naphtali, Asher^(DB) and all Manasseh were called out,^(DC) and they pursued the Midianites.^(DD) ²⁴Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan^(DE) ahead of them as far as Beth Barah.”

So all the men of Ephraim were called out and they seized the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth Barah. ²⁵They also captured two of the Midianite leaders, Oreb and Zeeb^(DF). They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb,^(DG) and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued the Midianites^(DH) and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was by the Jordan.^(DI)

Zebah and Zalmunna

8 Now the Ephraimites asked Gideon,^(DJ) “Why have you treated us like this? Why didn’t you call us when you went to fight Midian?^(DK)”^(DL) And they challenged him vigorously.^(DM)

²But he answered them, “What have I accomplished compared to you? Aren’t the gleanings of Ephraim’s grapes better than the full grape harvest of Abiezer?^(DN) ³God gave Oreb and Zeeb,^(DO) the Midianite leaders, into your hands. What was I able to do compared to you?” At this, their resentment against him subsided.

⁴Gideon and his three hundred men, exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit, came to the Jordan^(DP) and crossed it. ⁵He said to the men of Sukkoth,^(DQ) “Give my troops some bread; they are worn out,^(DR) and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna,^(DS) the kings of Midian.”

⁶But the officials of Sukkoth^(DT) said, “Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread^(DU) to your troops?”^(DV)

⁷Then Gideon replied, “Just for that, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna^(DW) into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and briers.”

⁸From there he went up to Peniel^[g]^(DX) and made the same request of them, but they answered as the men of Sukkoth had. ⁹So he said to the men of Peniel, “When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower.”^(DY)

¹⁰Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with a force of about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of the armies of the eastern peoples; a hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had fallen.^(DZ) ¹¹Gideon went up by the route of the nomads east of Nobah^(EA) and Jogbehah^(EB) and attacked the unsuspecting army. ¹²Zebah and Zalmunna, the two kings of Midian, fled, but he pursued them and captured them, routing their entire army.

¹³Gideon son of Joash^(EC) then returned from the battle by the Pass of Heres.^(ED) ¹⁴He caught a young man of Sukkoth and questioned him, and the young man wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven officials of Sukkoth,^(EE) the elders^(EF) of the town. ¹⁵Then Gideon came and said to the men of Sukkoth, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me by saying, ‘Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your exhausted men?^(EG)’” ¹⁶He took the elders of the town and taught the men of Sukkoth a lesson^(EH) by punishing them with desert thorns and briers. ¹⁷He also pulled down the tower of Peniel^(EI) and killed the men of the town.^(EJ)

¹⁸Then he asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?^(EK)”

“Men like you,” they answered, “each one with the bearing of a prince.”

¹⁹Gideon replied, “Those were my brothers, the sons of my own mother. As surely as the Lord lives,^(EL) if you had spared their lives, I would not kill you.” ²⁰Turning to Jether, his oldest son, he said, “Kill them!” But Jether did not draw his sword, because he was only a boy and was afraid.

²¹Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Come, do it yourself. ‘As is the man, so is his strength.’” So Gideon stepped forward and killed them, and took the ornaments^(EM) off their camels’ necks.

Gideon’s Ephod

²²The Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”

²³But Gideon told them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule^(EN) over you.” ²⁴And he said, “I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring^(EO) from your share of the plunder.^(EP)” (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites^(EQ) to wear gold earrings.)

²⁵They answered, “We’ll be glad to give them.” So they spread out a garment, and each of them threw a ring from his plunder onto it. ²⁶The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred shekels,^[h] not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains^(ER) that were on their camels’ necks. ²⁷Gideon made the gold into an ephod,^(ES) which he placed in Ophrah,^(ET) his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare^(EU) to Gideon and his family.^(EV)

Gideon’s Death

²⁸Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head^(EW) again. During Gideon’s lifetime, the land had peace^(EX) forty years.

²⁹Jerub-Baal^(EY) son of Joash^(EZ) went back home to live. ³⁰He had seventy sons^(FA) of his own, for he had many wives. ³¹His concubine,^(FB) who lived in Shechem, also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelek.^(FC) ³²Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age^(FD) and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

³³No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals.^(FE) They set up Baal-Berith^(FF) as their god^(FG) ³⁴and did not remember^(FH) the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. ³⁵They also failed to show any loyalty to the family of Jerub-Baal^(FI) (that is, Gideon) in spite of all the good things he had done for them.^(FJ)

Footnotes

Judges 6:19 That is, probably about 36 pounds or about 16 kilograms
Judges 6:25 Or Take a full-grown, mature bull from your father’s herd
Judges 6:25 That is, a wooden symbol of the goddess Asherah; also in verses 26, 28 and 30
Judges 6:26 Or build with layers of stone an
Judges 6:26 Or full-grown; also in verse 28
Judges 6:32 Jerub-Baal probably means let Baal contend.
Judges 8:8 Hebrew Penuel, a variant of Peniel; also in verses 9 and 17
Judges 8:26 That is, about 43 pounds or about 20 kilograms

Judges 13-16

English Standard Version

The Birth of Samson

13 And the people of Israel again ^(A)did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them ^(B)into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.

²There was a certain man of ^(C)Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. ^(D)And his wife was barren and had no children. ³^(E)And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. ⁴Therefore be careful ^(F)and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, ⁵for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. ^(G)No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be ^(H)a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall ^(I)begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁶Then the woman came and told her husband, ^(J)“A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. ^(K)I did not ask him where he was from, and he did not tell me his name, ⁷but he said to me, ^(L)‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’”

⁸Then Manoah prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us and teach us what we are to do with the child who will be born.” ⁹And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field. But Manoah her husband was not with her. ¹⁰So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me.” ¹¹And Manoah arose and went after his wife and came to the man and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to this woman?” And he said, “I am.” ¹²And Manoah said, “Now when your words come true, ^(M)what is to be the child's manner of life, and what is his mission?” ¹³And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful. ¹⁴She may not eat of anything that comes from the vine, ^(N)neither let her drink wine or strong drink, or eat any unclean thing. All that I commanded her let her observe.”

¹⁵Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain you and ^(O)prepare a young goat for you.” ¹⁶And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “If you detain me, I will not eat of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the Lord.” (For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord.) ¹⁷And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, ^(P)“What is your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?” ¹⁸And the angel of the Lord said to him, ^(Q)“Why do you ask my name, seeing ^(R)it is wonderful?” ¹⁹So ^(S)Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the Lord, to the one who works^[a] wonders, and Manoah and his wife were watching. ²⁰And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the Lord went up in the flame of the altar. Now Manoah and his wife were watching, ^(T)and they fell on their faces to the ground.

²¹The angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife. ^(U)Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord. ²²And Manoah said to his wife, ^(V)“We shall surely die, for we have seen God.” ²³But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering at our hands, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such things as these.” ²⁴And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. ^(W)And the young man grew, and the Lord blessed him. ²⁵^(X)And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between ^(Y)Zorah and Eshtaol.

Samson's Marriage

14 ^(Z)Samson went down to ^(AA)Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. ²Then he came up and told his father and mother, “I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. ^(AB)Now get her for me as my wife.” ³But his father and mother said to him, “Is there not a woman among the daughters ^(AC)of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the ^(AD)uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.”

⁴His father and mother did not know that it was ^(AE)from the Lord, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. ^(AF)At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel.

⁵Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah, and they came to the vineyards of Timnah. And behold, a young lion came toward him roaring. ⁶^(AG)Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done. ⁷Then he went down and talked with the woman, and she was right in Samson's eyes.

⁸After some days he returned to take her. And he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey. ⁹He scraped it out into his hands and went on, eating as he went. And he came to his father and mother and gave some to them, and they ate. But he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from the carcass of the lion.

¹⁰His father went down to the woman, and Samson prepared a feast there, for so the young men used to do. ¹¹As soon as the people saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him. ¹²And Samson said to them, ^(AH)“Let me now put a riddle to you. If you can tell me what it is, within ^(AI)the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty ^(AJ)changes of clothes, ¹³but if you cannot tell me what it is, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes.” And they said to him, “Put your riddle, that we may hear it.” ¹⁴And he said to them,

“Out of the eater came something to eat.
Out of the strong came something sweet.”

And in three days they could not solve the riddle.

¹⁵On the fourth^[b] day they said to Samson's wife, ^(AK)“Entice your husband to tell us what the riddle is, ^(AL)lest we burn you and your father's house with fire. Have you invited us here to impoverish us?” ¹⁶And Samson's wife wept over him and said, ^(AM)“You only hate me; you do not love me. You have put a riddle to my people, and you have not told me what it is.” And he said to her, “Behold, I have not told my father nor my mother, and shall I tell you?” ¹⁷She wept before him the seven days that their feast lasted, and on the seventh day he told her, because ^(AN)she pressed him hard. Then she told the riddle to her people. ¹⁸And 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^(AO)And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he went down to ^(AP)Ashkelon and struck down thirty men of the town and took their spoil and gave the garments to those who had told the riddle. In hot anger he went back to his father's house. ²⁰And Samson's wife was given to ^(AQ)his companion, ^(AR)who had been his best man.

Samson Defeats the Philistines

15 After some days, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife with ^(AS)a young goat. And he said, “I will go in to my wife in the chamber.” But her father would not allow him to go in. ²And her father said, “I really thought that you utterly hated her, ^(AT)so I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her instead.” ³And Samson said to them, “This time I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines, when I do them harm.” ⁴So Samson went and caught 300 foxes and took torches. And he turned them tail to tail and put a torch between each pair of tails. ⁵And when he had set fire to the torches, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines and set fire to the stacked grain and the standing grain, as well as the olive orchards. ⁶Then the Philistines said, “Who has done this?” And they said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife ^(AU)and given her to his companion.” And the Philistines came up and ^(AV)burned her and her father with fire. ⁷And Samson said to them, “If this is what you do, I swear I will be avenged on you, and after that I will quit.” ⁸And he struck them hip and thigh with a great blow, and he went down and stayed in the ^(AW)cleft of the rock of Etam.

⁹Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah and ^(AX)made a raid on ^(AY)Lehi. ¹⁰And the men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” They said, “We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he did to us.” ¹¹Then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, “Do you not know that ^(AZ)the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” And he said to them, “As they did to me, so have I done to them.” ¹²And they said to him, “We have come down to bind you, that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves.” ¹³They said to him, “No; we will only bind you and give you into their hands. We will surely not kill you.” So they bound him with two ^(BA)new ropes and brought him up from the rock.

¹⁴When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. ^(BB)Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands. ¹⁵And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, ^(BC)and with it he struck 1,000 men. ¹⁶And Samson said,

“With the jawbone of a donkey,
heaps upon heaps,
with the jawbone of a donkey
have I struck down a thousand men.”

¹⁷As soon as he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand. And that place ^(BD)was called Ramath-lehi.^[c]

¹⁸And he was very thirsty, and he called upon the Lord and said, ^(BE)“You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and shall I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” ¹⁹And God split open the hollow place that is ^(BF)at Lehi, and water came out from it. And when he drank, ^(BG)his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore the name of it was called En-hakkore;^[d] it is at Lehi to this day. ²⁰And he judged Israel ^(BH)in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

Samson and Delilah

16 Samson went to ^(BI)Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute, and he went in to her. ²The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” And they ^(BJ)surrounded the place and set an ambush for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night, saying, “Let us wait till the light of the morning; then we will kill him.” ³But Samson lay till midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron.

⁴After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. ⁵And ^(BK)the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, ^(BL)“Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to ^(BM)humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.” ⁶So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could ^(BN)subdue you.”

⁷Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, ^(BO)then I shall become weak and be like any other man.”

Footnotes

Judges 13:19 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew Lord, and working
Judges 14:15 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew seventh
Judges 15:17 Ramath-lehi means the hill of the jawbone
Judges 15:19 En-hakkore means the spring of him who called

Judges 13-16

New International Version

The Birth of Samson

13 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines^(A) for forty years.^(B)

²A certain man of Zorah,^(C) named Manoah,^(D) from the clan of the Danites,^(E) had a wife who was childless,^(F) unable to give birth. ³The angel of the Lord^(G) appeared to her^(H) and said, “You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son.^(I) ⁴Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink^(J) and that you do not eat anything unclean.^(K) ⁵You will become pregnant and have a son^(L) whose head is never to be touched by a razor^(M) because the boy is to be a Nazirite,^(N) dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead^(O) in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

⁶Then the woman went to her husband and told him, “A man of God^(P) came to me. He looked like an angel of God,^(Q) very awesome.^(R) I didn’t ask him where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name. ⁷But he said to me, ‘You will become pregnant and have a son. Now then, drink no wine^(S) or other fermented drink^(T) and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite of God from the womb until the day of his death.^(U)’”

⁸Then Manoah^(V) prayed to the Lord: “Pardon your servant, Lord. I beg you to let the man of God^(W) you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born.”

⁹God heard Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman while she was out in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her. ¹⁰The woman hurried to tell her husband, “He’s here! The man who appeared to me^(X) the other day!”

¹¹Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he said, “Are you the man who talked to my wife?”

“I am,” he said.

¹²So Manoah asked him, “When your words are fulfilled, what is to be the rule that governs the boy’s life and work?”

¹³The angel of the Lord answered, “Your wife must do all that I have told her. ¹⁴She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, nor drink any wine or other fermented drink^(Y) nor eat anything unclean.^(Z) She must do everything I have commanded her.”

¹⁵Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “We would like you to stay until we prepare a young goat^(AA) for you.”

¹⁶The angel of the Lord replied, “Even though you detain me, I will not eat any of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering,^(AB) offer it to the Lord.” (Manoah did not realize^(AC) that it was the angel of the Lord.)

¹⁷Then Manoah inquired of the angel of the Lord, “What is your name,^(AD) so that we may honor you when your word comes true?”

¹⁸He replied, “Why do you ask my name?^(AE) It is beyond understanding.^[a]” ¹⁹Then Manoah took a young goat, together with the grain offering, and sacrificed it on a rock^(AF) to the Lord. And the Lord did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched: ²⁰As the flame^(AG) 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.^(AH) ²¹When the angel of the Lord did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized^(AI) that it was the angel of the Lord.

²²“We are doomed^(AJ) to die!” he said to his wife. “We have seen^(AK) God!”

²³But his wife answered, “If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things or now told us this.”^(AL)

²⁴The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson.^(AM) He grew^(AN) and the Lord blessed him,^(AO) ²⁵and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir^(AP) him while he was in Mahaneh Dan,^(AQ) between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Samson’s Marriage

14 Samson^(AR) went down to Timnah^(AS) and saw there a young Philistine woman. ²When 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.”^(AT)

³His father and mother replied, “Isn’t there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people?^(AU) Must you go to the uncircumcised^(AV) Philistines to get a wife?^(AW)”

But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.” ⁴(His parents did not know that this was from the Lord,^(AX) who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines;^(AY) for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)^(AZ)

⁵Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother. As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. ⁶The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him^(BA) so that he tore the lion apart^(BB) with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done. ⁷Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her.

⁸Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion’s carcass, and in it he saw a swarm of bees and some honey. ⁹He scooped out the honey with his hands and ate as he went along. When he rejoined his parents, he gave them some, and they too ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion’s carcass.

¹⁰Now his father went down to see the woman. And there Samson held a feast,^(BC) as was customary for young men. ¹¹When the people saw him, they chose thirty men to be his companions.

¹²“Let me tell you a riddle,^(BD)” Samson said to them. “If you can give me the answer within the seven days of the feast,^(BE) I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.^(BF) ¹³If you can’t tell me the answer, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.”

“Tell us your riddle,” they said. “Let’s hear it.”

¹⁴He replied,

“Out of the eater, something to eat;
out of the strong, something sweet.”^(BG)

For three days they could not give the answer.

¹⁵On the fourth^[b] day, they said to Samson’s wife, “Coax^(BH) your husband into explaining the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your father’s household to death.^(BI) Did you invite us here to steal our property?”

¹⁶Then Samson’s wife threw herself on him, sobbing, “You hate me! You don’t really love me.^(BJ) You’ve given my people a riddle, but you haven’t told me the answer.”

“I haven’t even explained it to my father or mother,” he replied, “so why should I explain it to you?” ¹⁷She cried the whole seven days^(BK) of the feast. So on the seventh day he finally told her, because she continued to press him. She in turn explained the riddle to her people.

¹⁸Before sunset on the seventh day the men of the town said to him,

“What is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?”^(BL)

Samson said to them,

“If you had not plowed with my heifer,
you would not have solved my riddle.”

¹⁹Then the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him.^(BM) He went down to Ashkelon,^(BN) struck down thirty of their men, stripped them of everything and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Burning with anger,^(BO) he returned to his father’s home. ²⁰And Samson’s wife was given to one of his companions^(BP) who had attended him at the feast.

Samson’s Vengeance on the Philistines

15 Later on, at the time of wheat harvest,^(BQ) Samson^(BR) took a young goat^(BS) and went to visit his wife. He said, “I’m going to my wife’s room.”^(BT) But her father would not let him go in.

²“I was so sure you hated her,” he said, “that I gave her to your companion.^(BU) Isn’t her younger sister more attractive? Take her instead.”

³Samson said to them, “This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines; I will really harm them.” ⁴So he went out and caught three hundred foxes^(BV) and tied them tail to tail in pairs. He then fastened a torch^(BW) to every pair of tails, ⁵lit the torches^(BX) and let the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines. He burned up the shocks^(BY) and standing grain, together with the vineyards and olive groves.

⁶When the Philistines asked, “Who did this?” they were told, “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because his wife was given to his companion.^(BZ)”

So the Philistines went up and burned her^(CA) and her father to death.^(CB) ⁷Samson said to them, “Since you’ve acted like this, I swear that I won’t stop until I get my revenge on you.” ⁸He attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave in the rock^(CC) of Etam.^(CD)

⁹The Philistines went up and camped in Judah, spreading out near Lehi.^(CE) ¹⁰The people of Judah asked, “Why have you come to fight us?”

“We have come to take Samson prisoner,” they answered, “to do to him as he did to us.”

¹¹Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cave in the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Don’t you realize that the Philistines are rulers over us?^(CF) What have you done to us?”

He answered, “I merely did to them what they did to me.”

¹²They said to him, “We’ve come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines.”

Samson said, “Swear to me^(CG) that you won’t kill me yourselves.”

¹³“Agreed,” they answered. “We will only tie you up and hand you over to them. We will not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes^(CH) and led him up from the rock. ¹⁴As he approached Lehi,^(CI) the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him.^(CJ) The ropes on his arms became like charred flax,^(CK) and the bindings dropped from his hands. ¹⁵Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.^(CL)

¹⁶Then Samson said,

“With a donkey’s jawbone
I have made donkeys of them.^[c]^(CM)
With a donkey’s jawbone
I have killed a thousand men.”

¹⁷When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi.^[d]^(CN)

¹⁸Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord,^(CO) “You have given your servant this great victory.^(CP) Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” ¹⁹Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived.^(CQ) So the spring^(CR) was called En Hakkore,^[e] and it is still there in Lehi.

²⁰Samson led^[f] Israel for twenty years^(CS) in the days of the Philistines.

Samson and Delilah

16 One day Samson^(CT) went to Gaza,^(CU) where he saw a prostitute.^(CV) He went in to spend the night with her. ²The people of Gaza were told, “Samson is here!” So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate.^(CW) They made no move during the night, saying, “At dawn^(CX) we’ll kill him.”

³But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.^(CY)

⁴Some time later, he fell in love^(CZ) with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah.^(DA) ⁵The rulers of the Philistines^(DB) went to her and said, “See if you can lure^(DC) him into showing you the secret of his great strength^(DD) 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^[g] of silver.”^(DE)

⁶So Delilah^(DF) said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”

⁷Samson answered her, “If anyone ties me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”

Footnotes

Judges 13:18 Or is wonderful
Judges 14:15 Some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac; Hebrew seventh
Judges 15:16 Or made a heap or two; the Hebrew for donkey sounds like the Hebrew for heap.
Judges 15:17 Ramath Lehi means jawbone hill.
Judges 15:19 En Hakkore means caller’s spring.
Judges 15:20 Traditionally judged
Judges 16:5 That is, about 28 pounds or about 13 kilograms

Judges 2-4 English Standard Version

Israel's Disobedience

The Death of Joshua

Israel's Unfaithfulness

The Lord Raises Up Judges

Othniel

Ehud

Shamgar

Deborah and Barak

Footnotes

Cross references

Judges 2-4 New International Version

The Angel of the Lord at Bokim

Disobedience and Defeat(O)

Othniel

Ehud

Shamgar

Deborah

Footnotes

Cross references

Judges 6-8 English Standard Version

Midian Oppresses Israel

The Call of Gideon

Gideon Destroys the Altar of Baal

The Sign of the Fleece

Gideon's Three Hundred Men

Gideon Defeats Midian

Gideon Defeats Zebah and Zalmunna

Gideon's Ephod

The Death of Gideon

Footnotes

Cross references

Judges 6-8 New International Version

Gideon

Gideon Defeats the Midianites

Zebah and Zalmunna

Gideon’s Ephod

Gideon’s Death

Footnotes

Cross references

Judges 13-16 English Standard Version

The Birth of Samson

Samson's Marriage

Samson Defeats the Philistines

Samson and Delilah

Footnotes

Cross references

Judges 13-16 New International Version

The Birth of Samson

Samson’s Marriage

Samson’s Vengeance on the Philistines

Samson and Delilah

Footnotes

Cross references

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Judges 13-16

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