Judges 5-16

Tree of Life Version

Deborah’s Song

5 Then Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang on that day saying:

Then the land had peace for 40 years.

Midianite Oppression

6 Then Bnei-Yisrael did what was evil in Adonai’s eyes, so Adonai gave them into the hand of Midian for seven years. ² Midian maintained an upper hand over Israel, and because of Midian Bnei-Yisrael made themselves hideouts in the mountains—caves and strongholds. ³ Whenever Israel had done their sowing, the Midianites, Amalekites and people from the east would come up and raid them. ⁴ They would set up camp by them, destroy the produce of the land as far as Gaza, and leave nothing in Israel to live on—not a sheep, ox or donkey. ⁵ For they would come up with their cattle and their tents, invade like a multitude of locusts. Both they and their camels were innumerable, and they would come to the land to ruin it. ⁶ So Israel was brought very low because of Midian, and Bnei-Yisrael cried out to Adonai.

⁷ Now it came about when Bnei-Yisrael cried out to Adonai because of Midian, ⁸ that Adonai sent a prophet to Bnei-Yisrael, and he said to them, “Thus says Adonai, God of Israel, ‘It was I who brought you up from Egypt, and brought you out of the house of bondage. ⁹ Then I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all your oppressors, and drove them out from before you and gave you their land. ¹⁰ Then I said to you, “I am Adonai your God. You are not to fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are dwelling. But you have not obeyed My voice.’”

Calling of Gideon

¹¹ Then the angel of Adonai came and sat under the terebinth that was at Ophrah, that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress—in order to hide it from the Midianites. ¹² Then the angel of Adonai appeared to him and said to him, “Adonai is with you, O mighty man of valor.”

¹³ But Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if Adonai is with us, then why has all this befallen us? So where are all His wonders that our fathers told us about saying ‘Didn’t Adonai bring us up from Egypt?’ But now Adonai has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

¹⁴ Then Adonai turned toward him and said, “Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have not I sent you?”^[a]

¹⁵ Then he said to him, “Me, my Lord? With what would I deliver Israel? Look, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”

¹⁶ But Adonai said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you will strike down Midian as if it were one man.”

¹⁷ Then he said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your eyes, then please, show me a sign that it is really You talking with me. ¹⁸ Please, don’t leave from here, until I come to You and bring out my offering and lay it before You.”

So He said, “I will stay until you come back.”

¹⁹ Then Gideon went in and prepared a kid and matzot from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, and brought them out to Him under the terebinth and presented them. ²⁰ Then the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the matzah and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” So he did so. ²¹ Then the angel of Adonai put out the end of the staff that was in His hand and touched the meat and the matzah. Fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the matzah. Then the angel of Adonai vanished from his sight.

²² When Gideon realized that He was the angel of Adonai, Gideon said, “Alas, my Lord Adonai! For I have seen the angel of Adonai face to face!”

²³ But Adonai said to him, “Shalom to you. Fear not, you will not die.” ²⁴ So Gideon built an altar there to Adonai and called it “Adonai-shalom.” To this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

²⁵ Now it came to pass the same night that Adonai said to him, “Take the young bull that belongs to your father and a second bull of seven years old, pull down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, cut down the Asherah that is beside it, ²⁶ build an altar to Adonai your God on the top of this stronghold in an orderly manner, and take the second bull and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah pole that you will cut down.” ²⁷ So Gideon took ten of his male servants and did as Adonai had spoken to him. But since he was too afraid of his father’s household and the townspeople to do it by day, he did it at night.

²⁸ Now when the townspeople arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, the Asherah pole that was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered up on the altar that was built. ²⁹ So they said one to another, “Who did this thing?” And when they inquired and asked around, they said: “Gideon son of Joash did this thing.” ³⁰ Then the townspeople said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has broken down the altar of Baal, and even cut down the Asherah pole that was beside it.”

³¹ But Joash said to all who stood against him, “So you’re going to defend Baal? You’re going to rescue him? Whoever defends him will be put to death in the morning! If he is a god, let him defend himself—since someone has broken down his altar.” ³² So on that day he was called Jerubbaal saying, “Let Baal contend with him, since he broke down his altar.”

³³ Now all the Midianites, the Amalekites and the people of the east gathered together, crossed over and camped in the valley of Jezreel. ³⁴ But the Ruach Adonai clothed Gideon, and he blew the shofar, and Abiezer rallied behind him. ³⁵ Then he sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and they also rallied behind him. Then he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, and they came up to join them.

Signs of the Fleece

³⁶ Then Gideon said to God, “If You are going to deliver Israel by my hand, as You have spoken, ³⁷ see, I am putting a fleece of wool on the threshing-floor. If there is dew only on the fleece, and all the ground is dry, then I will know that You will deliver Israel by my hand, as You have spoken.” ³⁸ And it was so. When he rose up early next day, he squeezed the fleece and wrung dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water.

³⁹ Then Gideon said to God, “Let not Your anger burn against me if I speak once more. Let me please test once more with the fleece—let it now be dry only on the fleece, but let there be dew over all the ground.” ⁴⁰ God did so that night, since it was dry only on the fleece, and there was dew over all the ground.

7 Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him, rose up early and camped beside En-harod, while the camp of Midian was north of them, by Gibeath-moreh, in the valley.

² But Adonai said to Gideon, “Too many are the people who are with you, for Me to give the Midianites into their hand. Otherwise Israel would glorify itself against Me saying, ‘My own hand has delivered me.’ ^{[b] 3} So now, make proclamation in the ears of the people saying, ‘Whoever is afraid or anxious may turn back and leave from Mount Gilead.’” So 22,000 people turned back, while ten thousand remained.

⁴ But Adonai said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Bring them down to the water and I will test them for you there. Now it will be that he of whom I say to you, ‘This will go with you,’ he will go with you, but anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one will not go with you,’ he will not go.” ⁵ So he brought the troops down to the water, and Adonai said to Gideon, “You are to set apart everyone who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, and everyone who bows down on his knees to drink.” ⁶ Now the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people bowed down on their knees to drink water. ⁷ Then Adonai said to Gideon, “With the 300 men who lapped I will deliver you and give the Midianites into your hand. So let all the other people go, every man to his place.” ⁸ So the 300 took provisions and their shofarot in their hands. He sent all the other men of Israel each to his tent, but he kept the 300 men.

Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley. ⁹ It came to pass the same night that Adonai said to him, “Arise, get down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand. ¹⁰ But if you are afraid to go down, first go down to the camp with your attendant Purah. ¹¹ Then you will hear what they are saying, and after that your hands will be strengthened to attack the camp.” So he went down with his attendant Purah to an outpost of the army that was in camp.

¹² Now the Midianites, the Amalekites and all the people of the east were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were countless, as numerous as the sand on the seashore. ¹³ Yet when Gideon came, behold, there was a man relating a dream to his fellow, saying, “Listen, I just now had a dream: there was a loaf of barley bread that came tumbling into the camp of Midian, came up to a tent and struck it so it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.”

¹⁴ His companion answered and said, “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, a man of Israel—God has delivered Midian and all the camp into his hand!”

¹⁵ Now when Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. Then he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise! For Adonai has given into your hand the camp of Midian.” ¹⁶ Then he divided the 300 men into three columns, and he put into the hands of all of them shofarot and empty pitchers, with torches inside the pitchers. ¹⁷ Then he said to them, “Watch me and do likewise. So behold, when I come to the outskirts of the camp, do just as I do. ¹⁸ When I and all that are with me blow the shofar, then you also blow the shofarot all around the camp, and say, ‘For Adonai and for Gideon!’”

¹⁹ So Gideon and the 300 men who were with him came up to the outermost part of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just posted the watch. Then they blew the shofarot and smashed the pitchers that were in their hands. ²⁰ When the three columns blew the shofarot and broke the pitchers, they held the torches in their left hands and the shofarot in their right hands to blow, and they shouted, “A sword for Adonai and for Gideon!” ²¹ Each one stood in his place around the camp, and then the entire army ran, shouting as they fled. ²² Now when they blew the 300 shofarot, Adonai set every man’s sword against his fellow throughout the entire army. So the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath.

²³ Then men of Israel were summoned from Naphtali, Asher and all Manasseh, and they pursued Midian. ²⁴ Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim saying, “Come down against Midian and seize the waters down to Beth-barah, all along the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were summoned and took control of the waterside as far as Beth-barah by the Jordan. ²⁵ Then they captured the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; they slew Oreb at the Rock of Oreb and they slew Zeeb at the Winepress of Zeeb. They kept pursuing Midian, and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon from across the Jordan.

Gideon’s Victories, Ephod and Death

8 Now the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this thing you have done to us, not calling us when you went to fight against Midian?” So they criticized him sharply.

² But he said to them, “What have I now done compared to you? Is not the gleaning of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? ³ God has given into your hand the princes of Midian—Oreb and Zeeb—so what was I able to do compared to you?” Their anger with him subsided after he said this.

⁴ Then Gideon reached the Jordan and crossed over. He and the 300 men with him were exhausted, yet still pursuing. ⁵ He said to the men of Succoth, “Please, give loaves of bread to the people on foot with me, for they are exhausted, and I am chasing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”

⁶ But the officials of Succoth said, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand? So why we should give bread to your army?”

⁷ Gideon replied, “Therefore when Adonai delivers Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will thresh your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and briers.” ⁸ From there he went up to Penuel and spoke to them similarly, but the men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth had answered. ⁹ So he spoke also to the men of Penuel saying, “When I come back safely, I will tear down this tower.”

¹⁰ Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and with them their armies of about 15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of the people of the east—the fallen were 120,000 swordsmen. ¹¹ Now Gideon went up by the road of the tent dwellers on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and ambushed the camp when it was off guard. ¹² When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and routed the whole army.

¹³ Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the Ascent of Heres. ¹⁴ He captured a boy from the people of Succoth and questioned him, so he wrote down for him the officials of Succoth and its elders—77 men. ¹⁵ When he came to the men of Succoth, he said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna—about whom you mocked me saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand? Why should we give bread to your exhausted men?’” ¹⁶ Then he seized the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he punished the men of Succoth. ¹⁷ He also tore down the tower of Penuel and slew the men of the city.

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

“As you are, so they were,” they answered. “Each one looked like the children of a king.”

¹⁹ “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother,” he said. “As Adonai lives, if only you had let them live, I would not kill you.” ²⁰ Then he said to Jeter his first-born, “Arise, kill them!” But the boy could not draw his sword, for he was afraid, since he was still a youth.

²¹ Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise up yourself and fall on us—for as the man is, so is his strength.” So Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent ornaments that were on their camels’ necks.

²² Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you, your son, and your grandson as well. For you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.”

²³ But Gideon replied to them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. Adonai alone will rule over you.” ^{[c] 24} Yet Gideon said to them, “I would make a request of you, that you would give me every man an earring from his spoil.” (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)

²⁵ “We’ll certainly give them!” they replied. So they spread out a robe, and each one of them threw an earring from his spoil. ²⁶ So the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold—besides the crescent ornaments, the pendants and the purple robes that were on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were on their camels’ necks. ²⁷ Gideon made it into an ephod, and put it in his town Ophrah. But all Israel prostituted themselves after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.

²⁸ So Midian was subdued before Bnei-Yisrael, and they lifted up their heads no more. The land had tranquility for 40 years in the days of Gideon. ²⁹ Jerubbaal son of Joash went and lived in his own house. ³⁰ Now Gideon had 70 sons of his own issue, for he had many wives. ³¹ Also his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son—he called his name Abimelech.

³² Then Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. ³³ But it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that Bnei-Yisrael again prostituted themselves after the Baalim, and made Baal-berith their god. ³⁴ So Bnei-Yisrael did not remember Adonai their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side. ³⁵ Nor did they show kindness to the household of Jerubbaal, namely Gideon, in accord with all the goodness which he had done for Israel.

Bloodshed of Abimelech and Shechem

9 Now Abimelech son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem, to his mother’s brothers, and spoke to them and the whole clan of his mother’s father’s household saying, ² “Speak now, in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem: Which is better for you, that 70 men—all the sons of Jerubbaal—rule over you, or that a single man rules over you? Remember also that I am your flesh and bone.”

³ When his mother’s brothers discussed all these words of his in the ears of all Shechem’s leaders, their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is our brother.” ⁴ So they gave him 70 pieces of silver from the temple of Baal-berith^[d]. Abimelech then hired idle and reckless fellows, who followed him. ⁵ Then he went to his father’s house at Ophrah and slew his brothers, the sons of Jerubbaal, 70 men, on top of one stone. But Jotam, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, survived, for he hid himself. ⁶ Then all the leaders of Shechem and all Beth-millo assembled themselves together and went and made Abimelech king at the terebinth of the pillar that was in Shechem.

⁷ Now when they told Jotam, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, lifted up his voice, called out and said to them, “Listen to me, O lords of Shechem, that God may listen to you! ⁸ Once the trees set out to anoint a king over them. So they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’ ⁹ But the olive tree said to them, ‘Should I stop yielding my oil, that honors God and man, and go wave over the trees?’ ¹⁰ Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹¹ But the fig tree said to them, ‘Should I stop yielding my sweetness and my delicious fruit, and go wave over the trees?’ ¹² So the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹³ But the vine said to them, ‘Should I stop yielding my new wine, which cheers God and man, and go wave over the trees?’ ¹⁴ Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹⁵ And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If you truly are going to anoint me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shadow; but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’

¹⁶ “So now, if you have acted in truth and integrity by making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt kindly with Jerubbaal and his household, and have done for him as he deserved— ¹⁷ for my father fought for you, and risked his life and delivered you from the hand of Midian, ¹⁸ but you have risen up against my father’s household today and have slain his sons—70 men on one stone—and have made Abimelech, son of his maidservant, king over the lords of Shechem just because he is your brother— ¹⁹ if you then have dealt in truth and integrity with Jerubbaal and with his household today, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. ²⁰ But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the lords of Shechem and Beth-millo, and let fire come out from the lords of Shechem and from Beth-millo and devour Abimelech!”

²¹ Then Jotam ran away and fled, and went to Beer and remained there because of his brother Abimelech.

²² After Abimelech had ruled over Israel for three years, ²³ God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the lords of Shechem. So the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech— ²⁴ in order that the violence done to Jerubbaal’s 70 sons might come due, so their blood might be laid on their brother Abimelech who slew them, and on the lords of Shechem who strengthened his hands to slay his brothers.

²⁵ So the lords of Shechem set up ambushers on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed anyone who passed by them along that road. So it was reported to Abimelech. ²⁶ Now Gaal son of Ebed had come with his relatives and moved to Shechem, and the lords of Shechem put their trust in him. ²⁷ When they went out into the field, they gathered grapes of their vineyards, trod them and had a party. Then they went into the house of their god, ate and drank, and cursed Abimelech.

²⁸ Then Gaal son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Isn’t he the son of Jerubbaal? Isn’t Zebul his deputy? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem—but why should we serve him? ²⁹ Now, if this people were under my hand, then I would get rid of Abimelech.” So he said to Abimelech, “Muster your army and come out!”

³⁰ When Zebul the governor of the city heard the words of Gaal son of Ebed, his anger burned. ³¹ So he sent messengers to Abimelech in deceit saying, “Watch out, Gaal son of Ebed and his relatives have moved to Shechem, and look, they are inciting the city against you. ³² So now, arise by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field. ³³ So it will be in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, you will rise early and advance on the city; and behold, when he and the people who are with him come out against you, then you should do to them whatever your hand finds.”

³⁴ So Abimelech and all the people who were with him rose up by night and lay in wait against Shechem in four columns. ³⁵ Now Gaal son of Ebed went out and stood at the entrance of the city gate. Then Abimelech and the people who were with him emerged from the ambush. ³⁶ When Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, “Look, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains!”

But Zebul said to him, “You’re seeing the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.”

³⁷ Then Gaal spoke up again and said, “Look, people are coming down from the middle of the land, and one column is coming by the road of the Diviner’s Oak.”

³⁸ Then Zebul said to him, “Where is your mouth now? With it you said, ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Isn’t this the people that you have trashed? Now go out and fight him!” ³⁹ So Gaal went out ahead of the lords of Shechem and fought with Abimelech. ⁴⁰ But Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many fell wounded up to the entrance of the gate. ⁴¹ While Abimelech stayed in Arumah, Zebul drove Gaal and his relatives out so that they could not stay in Shechem.

⁴² Now it came to pass the next day that the people went out into the field, and it was reported to Abimelech. ⁴³ So he took his people, divided them into three columns, and lay in ambush in the field. When he looked and saw the people were coming out of the city, he pounced on them and struck them down. ⁴⁴ Then Abimelech and the column that was with him rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the city gate, and the other two columns rushed on all who were in the open field and struck them down. ⁴⁵ So Abimelech fought against the city all that day, captured the city and killed the people that were in it. Then he razed the city and sowed it with salt.

⁴⁶ Now when all the lords of Shechem’s Tower heard about it, they went into the vault of the temple of El-berith. ⁴⁷ When Abimelech was told that all the lords of Shechem’s Tower had gathered there, ⁴⁸ he and all the people with him went up to Mount Zalmon. Then Abimelech took an axe in his hand and cut down a branch from the trees and lifted it up and laid it on his shoulder. Then he said to the people who were with him, “What you’ve seen me do, hurry and do likewise.” ⁴⁹ So all the people likewise each cut down his branch and followed Abimelech. He laid them against the vault and set the vault on fire over them. So all the people of Shechem’s Tower also died—about a thousand men and women.

⁵⁰ Then Abimelech went to Thebez, camped against Thebez and captured it. ⁵¹ But there was a strong tower in the center of the city, and all the men and women with all the city leaders fled there and shut themselves in, and went up to the roof of the tower. ⁵² So Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it, and approached the door of the tower to burn it with fire. ⁵³ But a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull. ⁵⁴ Then he called quickly to the young man, his armor-bearer, and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, lest they say of me, ‘A woman slew him.’” So his young man thrust him through, and he died. ⁵⁵ So when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they each departed to his place. ⁵⁶ Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech—what he had done to his father by slaying his 70 brothers. ⁵⁷ Also all the wickedness of the men of Shechem God requited on their heads. Thus on them came the curse of Jotam son of Jerubbaal.

Troubles in Gilead

10 After Abimelech, Tola son of Puah son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, arose to deliver Israel. He dwelt in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. ² He judged Israel for 23 years, then died and was buried in Shamir. ³ After him Jair the Gileadite arose, and judged Israel for 23 years. ⁴ He had 30 sons who rode on 30 donkeys and had 30 towns in the land of Gilead, which are called Jair’s Villages to this day. ⁵ Then Jair died and was buried in Kamon. ⁶ Then Bnei-Yisrael again did what was evil in Adonai’s eyes. They worshipped the Baalim, the Ashtaroth, gods of Aram, gods of Zidon, gods of Moab, gods of the children of Ammon and gods of the Philistines. They abandoned Adonai and did not worship Him. ⁷ So Adonai’s anger burned against Israel, and He sold them over into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the children of Ammon. ⁸ They shattered and crushed Bnei-Yisrael that year—for 18 years all Bnei-Yisrael who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. ⁹ Then the children of Ammon also crossed over the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin and the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was greatly distressed.

¹⁰ Then Bnei-Yisrael cried out to Adonai saying, “We have sinned against You, for we have forsaken our God and have worshipped the Baalim.”

¹¹ So Adonai said to Bnei-Yisrael, “Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the children of Ammon, the Philistines, ¹² the Zidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites who oppressed you? When you cried out to Me, I delivered you from their hand. ¹³ Yet you have forsaken Me and worshipped other gods; therefore I will deliver you no more. ¹⁴ Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your distress.”

¹⁵ Then Bnei-Yisrael said to Adonai, “We have sinned. Do to us whatever seems good to You, but please, deliver us this day.” ¹⁶ Then they removed the foreign gods from among them, and worshipped Adonai. So His soul could not bear the misery of Israel.

¹⁷ Then the children of Ammon were summoned and camped in Gilead. Bnei-Yisrael gathered together and camped in Mizpah. ¹⁸ The people of the princes of Gilead said one to another, “Whoever begins to fight against the children of Ammon will be chief over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

Jephthah’s Valor and Vow

11 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor^[e], but he was son of a prostitute, while Gilead was Jephthah’s father. ² But Gilead’s wife bore him sons, and when the wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You won’t inherit in our father’s house, for you are a son of another woman.” ³ Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Some worthless fellows joined with Jephthah and went out with him.

⁴ Now it came about after a while that the children of Ammon fought with Israel. ⁵ When the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah from the land of Tob. ⁶ They said to Jephthah, “Come and be our chief, so we may fight the children of Ammon.”

⁷ Jephthah then said to the elders of Gilead, “Didn’t you hate me and drive me out of my father’s house? So why are you coming to me now that you’re in trouble?”

⁸ “Here is why we’re now turning to you,” the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah. “Come with us, fight the children of Ammon, and then you will become head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

⁹ So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you take me back home to fight the children of Ammon, and Adonai gives them over to me, I should become your head!”

¹⁰ The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “Let Adonai be witness between us if we don’t do as you say.” ¹¹ Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them, after Jephthah repeated all his terms before Adonai at Mizpah.

¹² Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon saying, “What have you to do with me, that you have come to me to make war on my land?”

¹³ The king of the children of Ammon answered the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel took away my land, when they came up from Egypt, from the Arnon to the Jabbok as far as the Jordan. Now therefore, return them peaceably.”

¹⁴ But Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the children of Ammon, ¹⁵ and said to him, “Thus says Jephthah, ‘Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the children of Ammon. ¹⁶ For upon departing from Egypt, Israel traveled through the wilderness to the Sea of Reeds and came to Kadesh, ¹⁷ then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom saying, “Please, let me pass through your land,” but the king of Edom would not consent. Similarly he sent word to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel, after staying at Kadesh, ¹⁸ traveled through the wilderness, around the land of Edom and the land of Moab, came to the east side of the land of Moab and they camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. ¹⁹ Then Israel sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, “Please, let us pass through your land to my place.” ²⁰ But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. So Sihon gathered all his troops, camped in Jahaz and fought against Israel. ²¹ But Adonai God of Israel gave Sihon and all his troops into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. ²² Thus they possessed all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok, and from the wilderness as far as the Jordan. ²³ So now Adonai God of Israel dispossessed the Amorites from before His people Israel. So should you possess their land? ²⁴ Don’t you possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? Likewise, whatever Adonai our God has dispossessed from before us, this we will possess. ²⁵ Besides, are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them? ²⁶ While Israel was living in Heshbon and its villages, in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities on both sides of the Arnon for 300 years, why didn’t you try to recover them all that time? ²⁷ So I myself have not transgressed against you, yet you are doing me harm by waging war against me. May Adonai, the Judge, judge today between Bnei-Yisrael and the children of Ammon.’”

²⁸ However, the king of the children of Ammon paid no attention to the words of Jephthah that he sent him. ²⁹ Then the Ruach Adonai came upon Jephthah, so he marched through Gilead and Manasseh, and passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he crossed over to the children of Ammon. ³⁰ Then Jephthah vowed a vow to Adonai and said, “If You will indeed give the children of Ammon into my hand, ³¹ then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from the children of Ammon, it will be Adonai’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”

³² So Jephthah crossed over to the children of Ammon to fight against them, and Adonai gave them into his hand. ³³ So he utterly defeated them from Aroer until you come to Minnith—20 towns—and as far as Abel-cheramim. So the children of Ammon were subdued before Bnei-Yisrael.

³⁴ Now when Jephthah arrived at his home in Mizpah, behold, his daughter was coming out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. Now she was his only child. Besides her he had no son or daughter. ³⁵ Upon seeing her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You made me bow down in grief—you’ve made me miserable! For I have opened my mouth to Adonai, and I cannot take it back.”^[f]

³⁶ “My father, you have opened your mouth to Adonai,” she said to him. “Do to me what proceeded from your mouth—since Adonai brought vengeance on your enemies, the children of Ammon.” ³⁷ She said further to her father, “Let this thing be done for me. Let me be alone two months, so that I may go on the mountains and mourn my virginity, I and my companions.”

³⁸ “Go!” he said. So he sent her away for two months. So she left, she and her companions, and mourned on the mountains because of her virginity. ³⁹ Then at the end of two months she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow he had made—so she was never intimate with a man. So it became a custom in Israel, ⁴⁰ that the daughters of Israel would go annually to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.

12 Then the men of Ephraim were summoned and crossed over to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the children of Ammon without calling us to go with you? We will burn your house over you with fire.” ² So Jephthah responded to them, “I and my people were in a bitter conflict with the children of Ammon, yet when I called you, you didn’t deliver me from their hand. ³ So when I saw that you weren’t going to deliver, I put my life in my hand and crossed over against the children of Ammon, and Adonai gave them into my hand. So why have you come up to me today, to fight me?”

⁴ Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought Ephraim. The men of Gilead defeated Ephraim, because they said, “You Gileadites are just fugitives of Ephraim in the midst of Ephraim and in the midst of Manasseh.” ⁵ The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan opposite Ephraim. So when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead would ask him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,” ⁶ then they would say to him, “Say now, ‘Shibboleth,’” and he said “Sibboleth” since he could not pronounce it right, then they would seize him and slay him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time 42,000 of Ephraim fell.

⁷ Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in one of the towns of Gilead. ⁸ After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. ⁹ Now he had 30 sons, and 30 daughters—he sent them outside and brought in 30 girls from outside for his sons. He judged Israel seven years, ¹⁰ then Ibzan died and was buried in Bethlehem.

¹¹ Then after him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel. He judged Israel ten years, ¹² then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun. ¹³ After him Abdon son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel. ¹⁴ He had 40 sons and 30 grandsons who rode on 70 donkeys, and he judged Israel eight years. ¹⁵ Then Abdon son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

Birth of Samson

13 Bnei-Yisrael again did what was evil in Adonai’s eyes, and Adonai gave them into the hand of the Philistines for 40 years. ² Now there was a certain man from Zorah, from a Danite clan, whose name was Manoah. His wife was barren and bore no children. ³ Then the angel of Adonai appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold now, you are barren and have not borne children, but you will conceive and bear a son. ^{[g] 4} Now therefore be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, or eat any unclean thing. ⁵ For behold, you will conceive and bear a son. Let no razor come upon his head, for the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the womb.^[h] He will begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”

⁶ Then the woman came and told her husband saying, “A man of God came to me and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome! But I did not ask him where he was from, nor did he tell me his name. ⁷ He said to me, ‘Behold, you will conceive and bear a son. So, drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the child will be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.”

⁸ Then Manoah entreated Adonai and said, “My Lord, please let the man of God whom You have sent come to us again and teach us what we will do for the boy to be born.”

⁹ God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field, but her husband Manoah was not with her. ¹⁰ So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, and said to him, “Look, the man that came to me the other day has appeared to me!”

¹¹ So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he asked him, “Are you the one who spoke to the woman?”

“I am,” he said.

¹² Then Manoah said, “Now may your words come about! What will be the child’s rule and his mission?”

¹³ The angel of Adonai said to Manoah, “Let the woman abstain from all that I mentioned to her. ¹⁴ She should not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, or drink wine or strong drink, or eat any unclean thing. She must observe all that I commanded her.”

¹⁵ Then Manoah said to the angel of Adonai, “Please, let us detain you so that we may prepare a young goat for you.”

¹⁶ But the angel of Adonai said to Manoah, “If you could detain me, I would not eat your food. But if you present a burnt offering, then offer it to Adonai.” For Manoah did not realize that he was the angel of Adonai.

¹⁷ Then Manoah asked the angel of Adonai, “What is your name, so that when your words come to pass we may honor you?” ¹⁸ But the angel of Adonai said to him, “Why do you ask for my name? It is wonderful.”

¹⁹ Manoah took the young goat with the meal offering and offered them on the rock to Adonai, and He did something wonderful as Manoah and his wife were watching. ²⁰ For it came about when the flame went up from off the altar toward heaven that the angel of Adonai ascended in the flame of the altar. Manoah and his wife were looking on, then they fell on their faces to the ground. ²¹ But the angel of Adonai appeared no more to Manoah or to his wife.

Then Manoah realized that he was the angel of Adonai. ²² Manoah said to his wife, “We will surely die, because we have seen God.” ²³ But his wife said to him, “If Adonai had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a meal offering from our hand, nor would He have shown us all these things or let us hear such things as these at this time.”

²⁴ Then the woman bore a son, and called his name Samson. So the boy grew up and Adonai blessed him. ²⁵ The Ruach Adonai began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Riddle of the Lion

14 Then Samson went down to Timnah and eyed in Timnah a woman, one of the daughters of the Philistines. ² So he came back and told his father and mother saying, “I have seen a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines. So now get her for me as a wife.”

³ Then his father and his mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your kinsmen, or among all our people, that you are going to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?”

But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she is the right one in my eyes.”

⁴ But his father and mother did not know that it was of Adonai, for He was seeking a pretext against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel. ⁵ While his father and mother went down to Timnah, Samson went to the vineyards of Timnah, and behold, a young lion came roaring at him. ⁶ Then the Ruach Adonai came mightily upon him, and he tore him apart as one would have split a young goat—yet he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.

⁷ So he went down and talked with the woman, and she looked right in Samson’s eyes. ⁸ After a while he returned to get her, but turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion; and behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion. ⁹ So he scraped it into his hands and went on, eating as he went. Now when he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them and they ate it, though he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from the carcass of the lion.

¹⁰ Then his father went down to the woman, and Samson made a banquet there, for so the young men used to do. ¹¹ Now it came to pass, when they saw him, they brought 30 companions to be with him. ¹² Then Samson said to them, “Let me now propose a riddle to you. If you can indeed solve it for me during the seven days of the banquet, and figure it out, then I will give you 30 linen garments and 30 changes of clothes; ¹³ but if you cannot solve it for me, then you must give me 30 linen garments and 30 changes of clothes.”

“Propose your riddle,” they said to him. “Let’s hear it!”

¹⁴ So he said to them,

But for three days they could not solve the riddle. ¹⁵ Now on the seventh day, they said to Samson’s wife, “Coax your husband so that he will explain the riddle to us—or else we will burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us to impoverish us?”

¹⁶ So Samson’s wife wept before him and said, “You only hate me! You don’t love me! You proposed a riddle to the sons of my people—yet you haven’t explained it to me!”

“Look,” he said, “I haven’t explained it to my father or my mother, so should I explain it to you?” ¹⁷ But she wept before him the seven days while their banquet lasted. So it was on the seventh day he told her, because she nagged him. Then she told the riddle to the sons of her people. ¹⁸ So the men of the city said to him on the seventh day, before the sun went down,

¹⁹ Then the Ruach Adonai came mightily upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed 30 of their men, took their spoil, and gave the changes of clothes to those who solved the riddle. Since his rage was burning, he went up to his father’s house. ²⁰ But Samson’s wife was given to his companion who had been his best man.

Victory with a Jawbone

15 But after a while, during the time of wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife with a young goat. “I am going to my wife in her room,” he said.

But her father would not let him enter. ² “I thought for sure you had utterly hated her,” her father said, “so I gave her to your best man. Her younger sister—isn’t she better than her? Please, let her be yours instead.”

³ Then Samson said to them, “This time I am blameless from the Philistines when I do harm to them.” ⁴ So Samson went and caught 300 foxes, and took torches, turned the foxes tail to tail and put one torch between every two tails. ⁵ Then he set fire to the torches and released them into the standing grain of the Philistines, Thus he burned up both the stacks and the standing grain, along with vineyards and olive trees.

⁶ Then the Philistines asked, “Who did this?” They were told, “Samson, son-in-law of the Timnite, because he took his wife and gave her to his best man.” So the Philistines came up and burnt her and her father with fire.

⁷ Then Samson said to them, “Since you have acted like this, surely I will take revenge on you—after that I will quit.” ⁸ So he struck them leg upon thigh with a great slaughter. Then he went down and stayed in the cleft of the rock of Etam.

⁹ Then the Philistines went up and camped in Judah and spread out in Lehi. ¹⁰ The men of Judah asked, “Why have you marched against us?”

They replied, “We have come to arrest Samson—to do to him as he did to us.”

¹¹ Then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Don’t you realize that the Philistines are ruling over us? So what is this that you have done to us?”

He said to them, “As they did to me, so I have done to them.”

¹² “We have come down to bind you,” they said to him, “so that we may hand you over to the Philistines.”

So Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you yourselves won’t kill me.”

¹³ “No, we won’t kill you,” they said to him, “but we will bind you fast and hand you over to them.” So they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock. ¹⁴ When he arrived at Lehi, the Philistines shouted upon meeting him. But the Ruach Adonai came mightily upon him so that the ropes that were on his arms became like flax burned with fire and his bonds melted off his wrists. ¹⁵ Then he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out and took it, and killed a thousand men with it. ¹⁶ Then Samson said,

¹⁷ As soon as he had finished speaking, he threw the jawbone from his hand. Then he named that place Ramat-lehi. ^{[i] 18} Then he became very thirsty, so he called to Adonai and said, “You have granted this great deliverance by the hand of Your servant. So now, will I die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?”

¹⁹ But God split the hollow place that is in Lehi, and water came out of it. When he drank, he regained his strength and revived. Therefore he called it En-hakkore^[j], which is in Lehi to this day. ²⁰ Then he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines for 20 years.

Delilah Betrays Samson

16 Once Samson went to Gaza and eyed a prostitute there, so he went to her. ² The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” So they surrounded him, lay in ambush for him all night at the gate of the city, and kept quiet all night saying, “When morning light comes, then we kill him.” ³ But Samson lay in bed till midnight, got up at midnight, grabbed the doors of the city gate along with the two gateposts and pulled them up bar and all. Then he put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of the mountain that is near Hebron.

⁴ It came about afterward that he fell in love with a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. ⁵ So the Philistine lords came up to her and said to her, “Coax him, see where his great strength comes from and by what we may overpower him, so we may bind him to subdue him—then we’ll each of us give you 1,100 pieces of silver.”

⁶ So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me please, where does your great strength come from? How could you be bound to subdue you?”

⁷ Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh cords that have never been dried, then I would be weak and be like any other man.” ⁸ So the Philistine lords brought up to her seven fresh cords that had never been dried, and she bound him with them, ⁹ while an ambush was waiting in an inner room.

“The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” she said to him. But he broke the cords just as a strand of straw snaps when it touches fire. So his strength remained unknown.

¹⁰ Delilah said to Samson, “Oh, you deceived me! You lied to me! Now tell me please, how you can be bound?”

¹¹ He told her, “If they only bind me with new ropes never used for work, then I will be weak and be like any other man.” ¹² So Delilah took new ropes, tied him up with them and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” Yet while the ambush was waiting in the inner room, he snapped them from his arms like a thread.

¹³ So Delilah said to Samson, “Up to now you’ve mocked me and told me lies! Tell me how you can be bound!”

He told her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web of a loom.” ¹⁴ So she pinned it with a pin and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep and pulled away the pin of the loom and the web.

¹⁵ “How can you say, ‘I love you,’” she said to him, “when your heart is not with me? This is three times you’ve deceived me and not told me where your great strength comes from.”

¹⁶ Now it came about when she nagged him daily with her speeches and kept bothering him, his soul was annoyed to death. ¹⁷ So he divulged to her all his heart and said to her, “No razor has ever been upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will go from me, and I will be weak and be like any other man.”

¹⁸ Now when Delilah realized that he had confided to her all his heart, she sent and called for the Philistine lords saying, “Come up this time, for he has told me all his heart.” So the Philistine lords came up to her and brought the silver in their hand. ¹⁹ Then she made him sleep upon her knees, and she called for a man and had the seven locks of his head shaved off. She even began to humiliate him while his strength departed from him. ²⁰ Then she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” When he awoke from his sleep, he thought, “I’ll go out as at other times, and shake myself off.” He did not comprehend that Adonai had departed from him.

²¹ Then the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze chains, and he became a grinder in the prison. ²² However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it was shaved off.

Samson Avenged

²³ Now the Philistine lords gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate, as they said, “Our god has given our enemy Samson into our hand.”

²⁴ When the people saw him, they praised their god, as they said, “Our god has given into our hand our enemy and the destroyer of our country, who has slain many of us.”

²⁵ Now it came about when their hearts were merry that they said, “Call for Samson, that he may amuse us.” So they called for Samson from the prison, and he did make them laugh, when they made him stand between the pillars.

²⁶ Then Samson said to the lad that held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars on which the temple rests, so I may lean on them.” ²⁷ Now the temple was full of men and women. All the Philistine lords were there and about 3,000 men and women on the roof looking on while Samson was amusing them.

²⁸ Then Samson called out to Adonai and said, “My Lord Adonai, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, so that I may this once take revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.” ²⁹ Then Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the temple rested and leaned on them, one with his right hand and the other with his left. ³⁰ Then Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He bent with all his might so that the temple fell on the lords and on all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed during his life.

³¹ Then his kinsmen and all his father’s household came down, lifted him, brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. For he had judged Israel 20 years.