Judges 16-20

Contemporary English Version

Samson Carries Off the Gates of Gaza

16 One day while Samson was in Gaza, he saw a prostitute and went to her house to spend the night. ² The people who lived in Gaza found out he was there, and they decided to kill him at sunrise. So they went to the city gate and waited all night in the guardrooms on each side of the gate.^[a]

³ But Samson got up in the middle of the night and went to the town gate. He pulled the gate doors and doorposts out of the wall and put them on his shoulders. Then he carried them all the way to the top of the hill that overlooks Hebron,^[b] where he set the doors down, still closed and locked.

Delilah Tricks Samson

⁴ Some time later, Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in Sorek Valley. ⁵ The Philistine rulers^[c] went to Delilah and said, “Trick Samson into telling you what makes him so strong and what can make him weak. Then we can tie him up so he can't get away. If you find out his secret, we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.”^[d]

⁶ The next time Samson was at Delilah's house, she asked, “Samson, what makes you so strong? How can I tie you up so you can't get away? Come on, you can tell me.”

⁷ Samson answered, “If someone ties me up with seven new bowstrings that have never been dried,^[e] it will make me just as weak as anyone else.”

^8-9 The Philistine rulers gave seven new bowstrings to Delilah. They also told some of their soldiers to go to Delilah's house and hide in the room where Samson and Delilah were. If the bowstrings made Samson weak, they would be able to capture him.

Delilah tied up Samson with the bowstrings and shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are attacking!”

Samson snapped the bowstrings, as though they were pieces of scorched string. The Philistines had not found out why Samson was so strong.

¹⁰ “You lied and made me look like a fool,” Delilah said. “Now tell me. How can I really tie you up?”

¹¹ Samson answered, “Use some new ropes. If I'm tied up with ropes that have never been used, I'll be just as weak as anyone else.”

¹² Delilah got new ropes, and again some Philistines hid in the room. Then she tied up Samson's arms and shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are attacking!”

Samson snapped the ropes as if they were threads.

¹³ “You're still lying and making a fool of me,” Delilah said. “Tell me how I can tie you up!”

“My hair is in seven braids,” Samson replied. “If you weave my braids into the threads on a loom and nail the loom^[f] to a wall, then I will be as weak as anyone else.”

¹⁴ While Samson was asleep, Delilah wove his braids into the threads on a loom and nailed the loom to a wall.^[g] Then she shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are attacking!”

Samson woke up and pulled the loom free from its posts in the ground and from the nails in the wall. Then he pulled his hair free from the woven cloth.

¹⁵ “Samson,” Delilah said, “you claim to love me, but you don't mean it! You've made me look like a fool three times now, and you still haven't told me why you are so strong.” ¹⁶ Delilah started nagging and pestering him day after day, until he couldn't stand it any longer.

¹⁷ Finally, Samson told her the truth. “I have belonged to God^[h] ever since I was born, so my hair has never been cut. If it were ever cut off, my strength would leave me, and I would be as weak as anyone else.”

¹⁸ Delilah realized that he was telling the truth. So she sent someone to tell the Philistine rulers, “Come to my house one more time. Samson has finally told me the truth.”

The Philistine rulers went to Delilah's house, and they brought along the silver they had promised her. ¹⁹ Delilah had lulled Samson to sleep with his head resting in her lap. She signaled to one of the Philistine men as she began cutting off Samson's seven braids. And by the time she was finished, Samson's strength was gone. Delilah tied him up ²⁰ and shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are attacking!”

Samson woke up and thought, “I'll break loose and escape, just as I always do.” He did not realize that the Lord had stopped helping him.

²¹ The Philistines grabbed Samson and poked out his eyes. They took him to the prison in Gaza and chained him up. Then they put him to work, turning a millstone to grind grain. ²² But they didn't cut his hair any more, so it started growing back.

²³ The Philistine rulers threw a big party and sacrificed a lot of animals to their god Dagon. The rulers said:

^24-25 Everyone there was having a good time, and they shouted, “Bring out Samson—he's still good for a few more laughs!”

The rulers had Samson brought from the prison, and when the people saw him, this is how they praised their god:

They made fun of Samson for a while, then they told him to stand near the columns that supported the roof. ²⁶ A young man was leading Samson by the hand, and Samson said to him, “I need to lean against something. Take me over to the columns that hold up the roof.”

²⁷ The Philistine rulers were celebrating in a temple packed with people and with 3,000^[i] more on the flat roof. They had all been watching Samson and making fun of him.^[j]

²⁸ Samson prayed, “Please remember me, Lord God. The Philistines poked out my eyes, but make me strong one last time, so I can take revenge for at least one of my eyes!”^[k]

²⁹ Samson was standing between the two middle columns that held up the roof. He felt around and found one column with his right hand, and the other with his left hand. ³⁰ Then he shouted, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He pushed against the columns as hard as he could, and the temple collapsed with the Philistine rulers and everyone else still inside. Samson killed more Philistines when he died than he had killed during his entire life.

³¹ His brothers and the rest of his family went to Gaza and took his body back home. They buried him in his father's tomb,^[l] which was located between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Samson was a leader^[m] of Israel for 20 years.

Micah Makes Idols and Hires a Priest

17 Micah^[n] belonged to the Ephraim tribe and lived in the hill country. ² One day he told his mother, “Do you remember those 1,100 pieces of silver^[o] that were stolen from you? I was there when you put a curse on whoever stole them. Well, I'm the one who did it.”

His mother answered, “I pray that the Lord will bless^[p] you, my son.”

^3-4 Micah returned the silver to his mother, and she said, “I give this silver to the Lord, so my son can use it to make an idol.” Turning to her son, she said, “Micah, now the silver belongs to you.”

But Micah handed it back to his mother. She took 200 pieces^[q] of the silver and gave them to a silver worker, who made them into an idol.^[r] They kept the idol in Micah's house. ⁵ He had a shrine for worshiping God there at his home, and he had made some idols and a sacred priestly vest. Micah chose one of his own sons to be the priest for his shrine.

^6 (A) This was before kings ruled Israel, so all the Israelites did whatever they thought was right.

^7-8 One day a young Levite came to Micah's house in the hill country of Ephraim. He had been staying with one of the clans of Judah in Bethlehem, but he had left Bethlehem to find a new place to live^[s] where he could be a priest.^[t]

⁹ “Where are you from?” Micah asked.

“I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” the man answered, “and I'm on my way to find a new place to live.”

¹⁰ Micah said, “Why don't you stay here with me? You can be my priest and tell me what God wants me to do. Every year I'll give you ten pieces of silver and one complete set of clothes, and I'll provide all your food.”

The young man went for a walk, ^11-12 then he agreed to stay with Micah and be his priest. He lived in Micah's house, and Micah treated him like one of his own sons. ¹³ Micah said, “I have a Levite as my own priest. Now I know that the Lord will be kind to me.”

18 These things happened before kings ruled Israel.

The Tribe of Dan Takes Micah's Priest and Idols

About this time, the tribe of Dan was looking for a place to live. The other tribes had land, but the people of Dan did not really have any to call their own. ² The tribe chose five warriors to represent their clans and told them, “Go and find some land where we can live.”

The warriors left the area of Zorah and Eshtaol and went into the hill country of Ephraim. One night they stayed at Micah's house, ³ because they heard the young Levite talking, and they knew from his accent that he was from the south. They asked him, “What are you doing here? Who brought you here?”

⁴ The Levite replied, “Micah hired me as his priest.” Then he told them how well Micah had treated him.

⁵ “Please talk to God for us,” the men said. “Ask God if we will be successful in what we are trying to do.”

⁶ “Don't worry,” answered the priest. “The Lord is pleased with what you are doing.”

⁷ The five men left and went to the town of Laish, whose people were from Sidon,^[u] but Sidon was too far away to protect them. Even though their town had no walls, the people thought they were safe from attack. So they had not asked anyone else^[v] for protection, which meant that the tribe of Dan could easily take over Laish.^[w]

⁸ The five men went back to Zorah and Eshtaol, where their relatives asked, “Did you find any land?”

^9-10 “Let's go!” the five men said. “We saw some very good land with enough room for all of us, and it has everything we will ever need. What are you waiting for? Let's attack and take it. You'll find that the people think they're safe, but God is giving the land to us.”

¹¹ Six hundred men from the tribe of Dan strapped on their weapons and left Zorah and Eshtaol with their families.^{[x] 12} One night they camped near Kiriath-Jearim in the territory of Judah, and that's why the place just west of Kiriath-Jearim is still known as Dan's Camp.^{[y] 13} Then they went into the hill country of Ephraim.

When they came close to Micah's house, ¹⁴ the five men who had been spies asked the other warriors, “Did you know that someone in this village has several idols and a sacred priestly vest? What do you think we should do about it?”

^15-18 The 600 warriors left the road and went to the house on Micah's property where the young Levite priest lived. They stood at the gate and greeted the priest. Meanwhile, the five men who had been there before went into Micah's house and took the sacred priestly vest and the idols.

“Hey!” the priest shouted. “What do you think you're doing?”

¹⁹ “Quiet!” the men said. “Keep your mouth shut and listen. Why don't you come with us and be our priest, so you can tell us what God wants us to do? You could stay here and be a priest for one man's family, but wouldn't you rather be the priest for a clan or even a whole tribe of Israel?”

²⁰ The priest really liked that idea. So he took the vest and the idols and joined the others ²¹ from the tribe of Dan. Then they turned and left, after putting their children, their cattle, and the rest of their other possessions in front.

²² They had traveled for some time before Micah asked his neighbors to help him get his things back. He and his men caught up with the people of Dan ²³ and shouted for them to stop.

They turned to face him and asked, “What's wrong? Why did you bring all these men?”

²⁴ Micah answered, “You know what's wrong. You stole the gods^[z] I made, and you took my priest. I don't have anything left.”

²⁵ “We don't want to hear any more about it,” the people of Dan said. “And if you make us angry, you'll only get yourself and your family killed.” ²⁶ After saying this, they turned and left.

Micah realized there was no way he could win a fight with them, and so he went back home.

The Tribe of Dan Captures Laish

^27-28 The tribe of Dan took Micah's priest and the things Micah had made, and headed for Laish, which was located in a valley controlled by the town of Beth-Rehob. Laish was defenseless, because it had no walls and was too far from Sidon for the Sidonians to help defend it. The leaders of Laish had not even asked nearby towns to help them in case of an attack.

The warriors from Dan made a surprise attack on Laish, killing everyone and burning it down. Then they rebuilt the town and settled there themselves. ²⁹ But they named it Dan, after one of Israel's^[aa] sons, who was the ancestor of their tribe.

^30-31 Even though the place of worship^[ab] was in Shiloh, the people of Dan set up the idol Micah had made. They worshiped the idol, and the Levite was their priest. His name was Jonathan, and he was a descendant of Gershom the son of Moses.^[ac] His descendants served as priests for the tribe of Dan, until the people of Israel were taken away as prisoners by their enemies.

A Woman Is Murdered

19 Before kings ruled Israel, a Levite^[ad] was living deep in the hill country of the Ephraim tribe. He married^[ae] a woman from Bethlehem in Judah, ² but she was unfaithful and went back to live with her family in Bethlehem.

Four months later ³ her husband decided to try and talk her into coming back. So he went to Bethlehem, taking along a servant and two donkeys. He talked with his wife, and she invited him into her family's home. Her father was glad to see him ⁴ and did not want him to leave. So the man stayed three days, eating and drinking with his father-in-law.

⁵ When everyone got up on the fourth day, the Levite started getting ready to go home. But his father-in-law said, “Don't leave until you have a bite to eat. You'll need strength for your journey.”

⁶ The two men sat down together and ate a big meal. “Come on,” the man's father-in-law said. “Stay tonight and have a good time.”

⁷ The Levite tried to leave, but his father-in-law insisted, and he spent one more night there. ⁸ The fifth day, the man got up early to leave, but his wife's father said, “You need to keep up your strength! Why don't you leave right after lunch?” So the two of them started eating.

⁹ Finally, the Levite got up from the meal, so he and his wife and servant could leave. “Look,” his father-in-law said, “it's already late afternoon, and if you leave now, you won't get very far before dark. Stay with us one more night and enjoy yourself. Then you can get up early tomorrow morning and start home.”

¹⁰ But the Levite decided not to spend the night there again. He had the saddles put on his two donkeys, then he and his wife and servant traveled as far as Jebus, which is now called Jerusalem. ¹¹ It was beginning to get dark, and the man's servant said, “Let's stop and spend the night in this town where the Jebusites live.”

¹² “No,” the Levite answered. “They aren't Israelites, and I refuse to spend the night there. We'll stop for the night at Gibeah, ¹³ or maybe we can even reach Ramah^[af] before dark.”

¹⁴ They walked on and reached Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin just after sunset. ¹⁵ They left the road and went into Gibeah. But the Levite couldn't find a house where anyone would let them spend the night, and they sat down in the open area just inside the town gates.

¹⁶ Soon an old man came in through the gates on his way home from working in the fields. Most of the people who lived in Gibeah belonged to the tribe of Benjamin, but this man was originally from the hill country of Ephraim. ¹⁷ He noticed that the Levite was just in town to spend the night. “Where are you going?” the old man asked. “Where did you come from?”

¹⁸ “We've come from Bethlehem in Judah,” the Levite answered. “We went there on a visit. Now we're going to the place where the Lord is worshiped, and later we will return to our home in the hill country of Ephraim. But no one here will let us spend the night^[ag] in their home. ¹⁹ We brought food for our donkeys and bread and wine for ourselves, so we don't need anything except a place to sleep.”

²⁰ The old man said, “You are welcome to spend the night in my home and to be my guest, but don't stay out here!”

²¹ The old man brought them into his house and fed their donkeys. Then he and his guests washed their feet^[ah] and began eating and drinking. ^22 (B) They were having a good time, when some worthless men of that town surrounded the house and started banging on the door and shouting, “A man came to your house tonight. Send him out, so we can have sex with him!”

²³ The old man went outside and said, “My friends, please don't commit such a horrible crime against a man who is a guest in my house. ²⁴ Let me send out my daughter instead. She's a virgin. And I'll even send out the man's wife.^[ai] You can rape them or do whatever else you want, but please don't do such a horrible thing to this man.”

²⁵ The men refused to listen, so the Levite grabbed his wife and shoved her outside. The men raped her and abused her all night long. Finally, they let her go just before sunrise, ²⁶ and it was almost daybreak when she went back to the house where her husband^[aj] was staying. She collapsed at the door and lay there until sunrise.

²⁷ About that time, her husband woke up and got ready to leave. He opened the door and went outside, where he found his wife lying at the door with her hands on the doorstep. ²⁸ “Get up!” he said. “It's time to leave.”

But his wife didn't move.^[ak]

He lifted her body onto his donkey and left. ^29 (C) When he got home, he took a butcher knife and cut her body into twelve pieces. Then he told some messengers, “Take one piece to each tribe of Israel ³⁰ and ask everyone if anything like this has ever happened since Israel left Egypt. Tell them to think about it, talk it over, and tell us what should be done.”

Everyone who saw a piece of the body said, “This is horrible! Nothing like this has ever happened since the day Israel left Egypt.”^[al]

Israel Gets Ready for War

20 ^1-3 The Israelites called a meeting of the nation. And since they were God's people, the meeting was held at the place of worship in Mizpah. Men who could serve as soldiers came from everywhere in Israel—from Dan in the north, Beersheba in the south, and Gilead east of the Jordan River. Four hundred thousand of them came to Mizpah, and they each felt the same about what those men from the tribe of Benjamin had done.

News about the meeting at Mizpah reached the tribe of Benjamin.

As soon as the leaders of the tribes of Israel took their places, the Israelites said, “How could such a horrible thing happen?”

⁴ The husband of the murdered woman answered:

My wife^[am] and I went into the town of Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night. ⁵ Later that night, the men of Gibeah surrounded the house. They wanted to kill me, but instead they raped and killed my wife. ⁶ It was a terrible thing for Israelites to do! So I cut up her body and sent the pieces everywhere in Israel.

⁷ You are the people of Israel, and you must decide today what to do about the men of Gibeah.

⁸ The whole army was in agreement, and they said, “None of us will go home. ^9-10 We'll send one tenth of the men from each tribe to get food for the army. And we'll ask God^[an] who should attack Gibeah, because those men^[ao] deserve to be punished for committing such a horrible crime in Israel.”

¹¹ Everyone agreed that Gibeah had to be punished.

¹² The tribes of Israel sent messengers to every town and village in Benjamin. And wherever the messengers went, they said, “How could those worthless men in Gibeah do such a disgusting thing? ¹³ We can't allow such a terrible crime to go unpunished in Israel! Hand the men over to us, and we will put them to death.”

But the people of Benjamin refused to listen to the other Israelites. ¹⁴ Men from towns all over Benjamin's territory went to Gibeah and got ready to fight Israel. ¹⁵ The Benjamin tribe had 26,000 soldiers, not counting the 700 who were Gibeah's best warriors. ¹⁶ In this army there were 700 left-handed experts who could sling a rock^[ap] at a target the size of a hair and hit it every time.

¹⁷ The other Israelite tribes organized their army and found they had 400,000 experienced soldiers. ¹⁸ So they went to the place of worship at Bethel^[aq] and asked God, “Which tribe should be the first to attack the people of Benjamin?”

“Judah,” the Lord answered.

¹⁹ The next morning the Israelite army moved its camp to a place near Gibeah. ²⁰ Then they left their camp and got into position to attack the army of Benjamin.

The War Between Israel and Benjamin

²¹ Benjamin's soldiers came out of Gibeah and attacked, and when the day was over, 22,000 Israelite soldiers lay dead on the ground.

^22-24 The people of Israel went to the place of worship and cried until sunset. Then they asked the Lord, “Should we attack the people of Benjamin again, even though they are our relatives?”

“Yes,” the Lord replied, “attack them again!”

The Israelite soldiers encouraged each other to be brave and to fight hard. Then the next day they went back to Gibeah and took up the same positions as they had before.

²⁵ That same day, Benjamin's soldiers came out of Gibeah and attacked, leaving another 18,000 Israelite soldiers dead on the battlefield.

^26-28 The people of Israel went to the place of worship at Bethel,^[ar] where the sacred chest was being kept. They sat on the ground, crying and not eating for the rest of the day. Then about sunset, they offered sacrifices to please the Lord and to ask his blessing.^[as] Phinehas^[at] the priest then prayed, “Our Lord, the people of Benjamin are our relatives. Should we stop fighting or attack them again?”

“Attack!” the Lord answered. “Tomorrow I will let you defeat them.”

²⁹ The Israelites surrounded Gibeah, but stayed where they could not be seen. ³⁰ Then the next day, they took the same positions as twice before, ^31-41 but this time they had a different plan. They said, “When the men of Benjamin attack, we will run off and let them chase us away from the town and into the country roads.”

The soldiers of Benjamin attacked the Israelite army and started pushing it back from the town. They killed about 30 Israelites in the fields and along the road between Gibeah and Bethel. The men of Benjamin were thinking, “We're mowing them down like we did before.”

The Israelites were running away, but they headed for Baal-Tamar, where they regrouped. They had set an ambush, and they were sure it would work. Ten thousand of Israel's best soldiers had been hiding west of Gibeah,^[au] and as soon as the men of Benjamin chased the Israelites into the countryside, these 10,000 soldiers made a surprise attack on the town gates. They dashed in and captured Gibeah, killing everyone there. Then they set the town on fire, because the smoke would be the signal for the other Israelite soldiers to turn and attack the soldiers of Benjamin.

The fighting had been so heavy around the soldiers of Benjamin, that they did not know the trouble they were in. But then they looked back and saw clouds of smoke rising from the town. They looked in front and saw the soldiers of Israel turning to attack. This terrified them, because they realized that something horrible was happening. And it was horrible—over 25,000^[av] soldiers of Benjamin died that day, and those who were left alive knew that the Lord had given Israel the victory.

⁴² The men of Benjamin headed down the road toward the desert, trying to escape from the Israelites. But the Israelites stayed right behind them, keeping up their attack. Men even came out of the nearby towns to help kill the men of Benjamin, ⁴³ who were having to fight on all sides. The Israelite soldiers never let up their attack.^[aw] They chased and killed the warriors of Benjamin as far as a place directly east of Gibeah,^{[ax] 44} until 18,000 of these warriors lay dead.

⁴⁵ Some other warriors of Benjamin turned and ran down the road toward Rimmon Rock in the desert. The Israelites killed 5,000 of them on the road, then chased the rest until they had killed^[ay] 2,000 more. ⁴⁶ Twenty-five thousand soldiers of Benjamin died that day, all of them experienced warriors. ⁴⁷ Only 600 of them finally made it into the desert to Rimmon Rock, where they stayed for four months.

⁴⁸ The Israelites turned back and went to every town in Benjamin's territory, killing all the people and animals, and setting the towns on fire.