Bible in 90 Days

²⁸ Then he said to them, “Pursue them, for Yahweh has given your enemies the Moabites into your hands.” So they went down after him and captured ^(A)the fords of the Jordan opposite Moab and did not allow anyone to cross. ²⁹ And they struck down at that time about 10,000 Moabites, all robust and valiant men; and no one escaped. ³⁰ So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land was quiet for eighty years.

³¹ Now after him was ^(B)Shamgar the son of Anath. And he struck down 600 Philistines with an oxgoad; and he also saved Israel.

Yahweh Raises Up Deborah and Barak

4 Then ^(C)the sons of Israel again did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh. Now Ehud had died. ² And Yahweh sold them into the hand of ^(D)Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; and the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in ^(E)Harosheth-hagoyim. ³ Then the sons of Israel cried to Yahweh; for he had 900 ^(F)iron chariots, and he oppressed the sons of Israel severely for twenty years.

⁴ Now Deborah, a ^[a]prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. ⁵ And she used to ^[b]sit under the ^(G)palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel came up to her for judgment. ⁶ Then she sent and summoned ^(H)Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not Yahweh, the God of Israel, commanded, ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, and take with you 10,000 men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun? ⁷ And I will draw out to you Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his ^[c]many troops to the river Kishon, and ^(I)I will give him into your hand.’” ⁸ Then Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” ⁹ So she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the honor shall not be yours on the journey that you are about to take, ^(J)for Yahweh will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. ¹⁰ Then Barak called ^(K)Zebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh, and 10,000 men went up ^[d](L)with him; Deborah also went up with him.

¹¹ Now Heber ^(M)the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, from the sons of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the ^[e]oak in ^(N)Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh.

¹² Then they told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor. ¹³ So Sisera called together all his chariots, ^(O)900 iron chariots, and all the people who were with him, from ^(P)Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon. ¹⁴ And Deborah said to Barak, “Arise! For this is the day in which Yahweh has given Sisera into your hand; has not ^(Q)Yahweh gone out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. ^15 (R)And Yahweh threw Sisera and all his chariots and all his camp into confusion with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera came down from his chariot and fled away on foot. ¹⁶ But Barak pursued the chariots and all those in the camp as far as Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the camp of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; ^(S)not even one remained.

¹⁷ Now 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. ¹⁸ And Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Turn aside, my master, turn aside to me! Do not be afraid.” And he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a ^[f]rug. ^19 (T)Then he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a ^[g]bottle of milk and gave him a drink; then she covered him. ²⁰ And he said to her, “Stand in the doorway of the tent, and it shall be if anyone comes and asks of you and says, ‘Is there a man here?’ that you shall say, ‘No.’” ²¹ Then Jael, Heber’s wife, ^(U)took a tent peg and placed a hammer in her hand and went secretly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went through into the ground; for he was sound asleep and exhausted. So he died. ²² Now behold, Barak was pursuing Sisera, and Jael came out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” And he entered ^[h]with her, and behold, Sisera was lying dead with the tent peg in his temple.

²³ So ^(V)God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the sons of Israel. ²⁴ And the hand of the sons of Israel went forth heavier and heavier against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had cut off Jabin the king of Canaan.

The Song of Deborah and Barak

5 ^(W)Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying,

And the land was quiet for forty years.

Midian Prevails Against Israel

6 Then the sons of Israel ^(BE)did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh; and Yahweh gave them into the hands of ^(BF)Midian seven years. ² And the ^[y]power of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of Midian the sons of Israel made for themselves ^(BG)the dens which were in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. ³ And it was when Israel had sown, that the Midianites would go up with the Amalekites and the sons of the east and go up against them. ⁴ So they would camp against them and ^(BH)ruin the produce of the earth ^[z]as far as Gaza and ^(BI)leave no sustenance in Israel as well as no sheep, ox, or donkey. ⁵ For they would go up with their livestock and their tents; they would come in ^(BJ)like locusts for number, both they and their camels were innumerable; and they came into the land to make it a ruin. ⁶ So Israel was brought ^(BK)very low because of Midian, and the sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh.

⁷ Now it happened when the sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh on account of Midian, ⁸ that Yahweh sent a prophet to the sons of Israel, and ^(BL)he said to them, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘It was I who brought you up from Egypt and brought you out from the house of slavery. ⁹ I delivered you from the hands of the Egyptians and from the hands of all your oppressors and drove them out before you and gave you their land, ¹⁰ and I said to you, “I am Yahweh your God; you ^(BM)shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But you have not listened to My voice.”’”

Yahweh Sends Gideon to Save Israel

¹¹ Then ^(BN)the angel of Yahweh came and sat under the ^[aa]oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the ^(BO)Abiezrite as his son ^(BP)Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to ^[ab]preserve it from the Midianites. ¹² And the angel of Yahweh appeared to him and said to him, “Yahweh is with you, O mighty man of valor.” ¹³ Then Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His wondrous deeds which our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?’ But ^(BQ)now Yahweh has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” ¹⁴ Then Yahweh turned to him and said, “^(BR)Go in this strength of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?” ^15 (BS)But he said to Him, “O Lord, with what shall I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the least in ^(BT)Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.” ^16 (BU)But Yahweh said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike down Midian as one man.” ¹⁷ So ^[ac]Gideon said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your eyes, then do ^(BV)a sign for me that it is You who speak with me. ¹⁸ Please do not depart from here until I come back to You, and I bring out my offering and lay it before You.” And He said, “I will remain until you return.”

¹⁹ So Gideon went in and ^(BW)prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ^[ad]ephah of flour; he put the meat in a basket ^[ae]and the broth in a pot and brought them out to him under the ^[af]oak and presented them. ²⁰ And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock and pour out the broth.” And he did so. ²¹ Then the angel of Yahweh put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and ^(BX)fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of Yahweh went away from before his eyes. ^22 (BY)And Gideon saw that he was the angel of Yahweh, so ^[ag]he said, “Alas, O Lord Yahweh! For now I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face.” ²³ And Yahweh said to him, “Peace to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” ²⁴ So Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh and named it ^[ah]Yahweh is Peace. To this day it is still ^(BZ)in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

²⁵ Now it happened on the same night that Yahweh said to him, “Take your father’s bull ^[ai]and a second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the ^[aj](CA)Asherah that is beside it, ²⁶ and build an altar to Yahweh 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 which you shall cut down.” ²⁷ So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as Yahweh had spoken to him; and now it happened that because he was too afraid of his father’s household and the men of the city to do it by day, he did it by night.

Gideon Tears Down the Altar of Baal

²⁸ Then the men of the city arose early in the morning, and behold, the altar of Baal was torn down, and the Asherah which was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar which had been built. ²⁹ And they said to one another, “Who did this thing?” And when they searched about and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash did this thing.” ³⁰ Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has torn down the altar of Baal, and indeed, he has cut down the Asherah which was beside it.” ³¹ But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal, or will you save him? Whoever will contend for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because someone has torn down his altar.” ³² Therefore on that day he named him ^(CB)Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he had torn down his altar.

³³ Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the sons of the east assembled themselves; and they crossed over and camped in ^(CC)the valley of Jezreel. ³⁴ But ^(CD)the Spirit of Yahweh clothed Gideon; and he ^(CE)blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him. ³⁵ And he sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and they also were called together to follow him; and he sent messengers to Asher, ^(CF)Zebulun, and Naphtali, and ^(CG)they came up to meet them.

The Test of the Fleece

³⁶ Then Gideon said to God, “^(CH)If You will save Israel by my hand, as You have spoken, ³⁷ behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have spoken.” ³⁸ And it was so. Indeed he arose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece. And he drained the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water. ³⁹ Then Gideon said to God, “^(CI)Do not let Your anger burn against me that I may speak once more; please let me make a test once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the ground.” ⁴⁰ And God did so that night. So it was dry only on the fleece, but dew was on all the ground.

Gideon’s 300 Men

7 Then ^(CJ)Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and camped beside ^[ak]the spring of Harod; and the camp of Midian was on the north side of ^[al]them by the hill of ^(CK)Moreh in the valley.

² And Yahweh said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, ^(CL)lest Israel honor themselves, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ ³ So now, ^[am]come, call out in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘^(CM)Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.’” So 22,000 people returned, but 10,000 remained.

^4 (CN)Then Yahweh said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. And it will be that he of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you; but everyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” ⁵ So he brought the people down to the water. And Yahweh said to Gideon, “Everyone who laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps, you shall set him aside by himself, and so also everyone who kneels 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 kneeled to drink water. ⁷ And Yahweh said to Gideon, “I will save you ^(CO)with the 300 men who lapped and will give the Midianites into your hands; so let all the other people go, each man to his place.” ⁸ So ^[an]the 300 men took the people’s provisions and their trumpets into their hands. And ^[ao]Gideon sent all the other men of Israel, each to his tent, but retained the 300 men; and the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

⁹ Now it happened the same night that Yahweh said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, ^(CP)for I have given it into your hands. ¹⁰ But if you are afraid to go down, then both you and Purah your young man, go down to the camp, ¹¹ and you will hear what they say; and ^(CQ)afterward your hands will be strengthened, that you may go down against the camp.” So he went with Purah his young man down to the ^[ap]outskirts of the armed men that were in the camp. ¹² Now the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the sons of the east were lying in the valley ^(CR)as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, ^(CS)as numerous as the sand on the seashore. ¹³ Then Gideon came, and behold, a man was recounting a dream to his friend. And he said, “Behold, I ^[aq]had a dream; ^[ar]a loaf of barley bread was tumbling into the camp of Midian, and it came to the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it ^[as]upside down so that the tent lay flat.” ¹⁴ And his friend answered and said, “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given Midian and all the camp ^(CT)into his hand.”

¹⁵ Now it happened that 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 Yahweh has given the camp of Midian into your hands.” ¹⁶ And he divided the 300 men into three ^[at]companies, and he put trumpets and empty pitchers into the hands of all of them, with torches inside the pitchers. ¹⁷ Then he said to them, “Look at me and do likewise. And behold, I will come to the outskirts of the camp, and it will be that just as I do so you do likewise. ¹⁸ And I and all who are with me will blow the trumpet. Then you also shall blow the trumpets all around the camp and say, ‘For Yahweh and for Gideon.’”

Gideon Kills the Princes of Midian

¹⁹ So 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 up the watch; and they blew the trumpets and smashed the pitchers that were in their hands. ²⁰ Then the three ^[au]companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers, and they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing and called out, “A sword for Yahweh and for Gideon!” ²¹ And each stood in his place around the camp. Then ^(CU)all of the camp ran, and they made a loud shout and fled. ²² So they blew 300 trumpets. And ^(CV)Yahweh set the sword of one against another even throughout the whole camp. And the camp fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the edge of ^(CW)Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. ²³ And the men of Israel were summoned from ^(CX)Naphtali and Asher and all Manasseh, and they pursued Midian.

²⁴ Now Gideon had sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down to meet Midian and ^(CY)capture the waters before them, as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were summoned, and they captured the waters as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan. ²⁵ Then they captured the two princes of Midian, ^(CZ)Oreb and Zeeb, and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and they killed Zeeb at the wine press of Zeeb. Then they pursued Midian and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon ^(DA)from across the Jordan.

Gideon Pursues Zebah and Zalmunna

8 Then the men of Ephraim said to him, “^(DB)What is this thing you have done to us, not calling us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they strongly contended with him. ² But he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? ³ God has given the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, into your hands; and what was I able to do in comparison with you?” Then their ^[av]anger toward him subsided when he spoke this word.

⁴ Then Gideon and the 300 men who were with him came ^(DC)to the Jordan and crossed over, weary yet pursuing. ⁵ And he said to the men of ^(DD)Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who are following me, for they are weary, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” ⁶ But the princes of Succoth said, “^[aw](DE)Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hands, that we should give bread to your army?” ⁷ And Gideon said, “Thus, ^(DF)when Yahweh has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will ^[ax]thrash your ^[ay]bodies with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.” ⁸ So he went up from there to ^[az](DG)Penuel and spoke similarly to them; and 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 return safely, ^(DH)I will tear down this tower.”

¹⁰ Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their camps with them, about 15,000 men, all who were left of the entire camp of the sons of the east; ^(DI)for the fallen were 120,000 men who drew the sword. ¹¹ And Gideon went up by the way of those who dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah and struck the camp when the camp was ^[ba]unsuspecting. ¹² Then Zebah and Zalmunna fled. And he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw the whole camp into utter fright.

¹³ Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle ^[bb]by the ascent of Heres. ¹⁴ And he captured a youth from the men of Succoth and questioned him. So the youth wrote down for him the princes of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men. ¹⁵ Then he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you reproached me, saying, ‘^[bc](DJ)Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are weary?’” ¹⁶ Then he took the elders of the city as well as thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he ^[bd]taught the men of Succoth a lesson. ^17 (DK)And he tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

¹⁸ Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men were they whom you killed at Tabor?” And they said, “They were like you, each one ^[be]resembling the son of a king.” ¹⁹ And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As Yahweh lives, if only you had let them live, I would not kill you.” ²⁰ So he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise, kill them.” But the youth did not draw his sword, for he was afraid because he was still a youth. ²¹ Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise up yourself, and smite us; for as the man, so is his might.” ^(DL)So Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna and ^(DM)took the crescent ornaments which were on their camels’ necks.

Gideon Makes an Ephod

²² Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, both you and your son, also your son’s son, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” ²³ But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; ^(DN)Yahweh shall rule over you.” ²⁴ Yet Gideon said to them, “I would ^[bf]make one request of you, that each of you give me ^[bg]an earring from his spoil.” (For they had gold earrings because they were ^(DO)Ishmaelites.) ²⁵ And they said, “We will surely give them.” So they spread out a garment, and every one of them threw an earring there from his spoil. ²⁶ And the weight of the gold earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments and the pendants and the purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and besides the neck bands that were on their camels’ necks. ²⁷ Then Gideon made it into ^(DP)an ephod and placed it in his city, Ophrah, and all Israel played the harlot with it there, so that it became a snare to Gideon and his household. ²⁸ So Midian was subdued before the sons of Israel, and they did not lift up their heads anymore. And the land was quiet for forty years in the days of Gideon.

The Death and Burial of Gideon

²⁹ Then ^(DQ)Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house. ³⁰ Now Gideon had ^(DR)seventy sons who ^[bh]were his direct descendants, for he had many wives. ³¹ And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he ^[bi]named him Abimelech. ³² Then Gideon the son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

³³ Then it happened, as soon as Gideon was dead, ^(DS)that the sons of Israel turned back and played the harlot with the Baals and made ^(DT)Baal-berith their god. ³⁴ Thus the sons of Israel ^(DU)did not remember Yahweh their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side; ^35 (DV)nor did they show lovingkindness to the household of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in accord with all the good that he had done to Israel.

Abimelech Kills His Brothers

9 And ^(DW)Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his mother’s ^[bj]relatives and spoke to them and to the whole family of the household of his mother’s father, saying, ² “Speak, now, in the hearing of all the lords of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you, that ^(DX)seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you, or that one man rule over you?’ Also, remember that I am ^(DY)your bone and your flesh.” ³ And his mother’s ^[bk]relatives spoke all these words on his behalf in the hearing of all the lords of Shechem; and ^[bl]they were inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is ^(DZ)our ^[bm]relative.” ⁴ So they gave him seventy pieces of silver from the house of ^(EA)Baal-berith with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows, and they followed him. ⁵ Then he came to his father’s house at Ophrah and ^(EB)killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, ^(EC)seventy men, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, for he hid himself. ⁶ Then all the lords of Shechem and all ^[bn]Beth-millo assembled together, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the ^[bo]oak of the pillar which was in Shechem.

⁷ Then they told Jotham, so he went and stood on the top of ^(ED)Mount Gerizim and lifted his voice and called out. Thus he said to them, “Listen to me, O lords of Shechem, that God may listen to you. ⁸ The trees surely went forth to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us!’ ⁹ But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my fatness, with ^[bp]which God and men are honored, and go to wave over the trees?’ ¹⁰ Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come, reign over us!’ ¹¹ But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good produce and go to wave over the trees?’ ¹² Then the trees said to the vine, ‘You come, reign over us!’ ¹³ But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my new wine, which makes God and men glad, and go to wave over the trees?’ ¹⁴ Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come, reign over us!’ ¹⁵ And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in ^[bq]truth you are anointing me as king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, may fire come out from the bramble and consume the cedars of Lebanon.’

¹⁶ “So now, if you have dealt in ^[br]truth and integrity and made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with ^(EE)Jerubbaal and his house and ^[bs]have dealt with him according to the bountiful works of his hands— ¹⁷ for my father fought for you and ^[bt]risked his life and delivered you from the hand of Midian; ¹⁸ but you have risen against my father’s house today and have killed ^(EF)his sons, seventy men, on one stone, and have made Abimelech, ^(EG)the son of his maidservant, king over the lords of Shechem, because he is your ^[bu]relative— ¹⁹ if then you have dealt in ^[bv]truth and integrity with Jerubbaal and his house this day, be glad in Abimelech, and let him also be glad in you. ²⁰ But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and consume the lords of Shechem and ^[bw]Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the lords of Shechem and from ^[bx]Beth-millo and consume Abimelech.” ²¹ Then Jotham escaped and fled and went to Beer and remained there because of Abimelech his brother.

Zebul Deceives Abimelech

²² And Abimelech governed over Israel three years. ^23 (EH)Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the lords of Shechem; and the lords of Shechem ^(EI)dealt treacherously with Abimelech, ^24 (EJ)so that the violence ^[by]done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and ^(EK)their blood might be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the lords of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers. ²⁵ And the lords of Shechem set ^[bz]men in ambush against him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all who might pass by them along the road; and it was told to Abimelech.

²⁶ Then Gaal the son of Ebed came with his ^[ca]relatives, and they crossed over into Shechem; and the lords of Shechem put their trust in him. ²⁷ And they went out into the field and gathered the grapes of their vineyards and trod them and celebrated a ^[cb]festival; and they came into the house of ^(EL)their god and ate and drank and cursed Abimelech. ²⁸ Then Gaal the son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is Zebul not his ^[cc]officer? Serve the men of ^(EM)Hamor the father of Shechem; but why should we serve him? ^29 [cd](EN)Would, therefore, that this people were under my hand! Then I would remove Abimelech.” And he said to Abimelech, “Increase your army and come out.”

³⁰ Then Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, and his anger burned. ³¹ And he sent messengers to Abimelech ^[ce]deceitfully, saying, “Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his ^[cf]relatives have come to Shechem; and behold, they are ^[cg]stirring up 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 And it will be in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, that you shall rise early and rush upon the city; and behold, he and the people who are with him will come out against you, and you shall ^(EO)do to them ^[ch]whatever your hand finds pleasing.”

³⁴ So Abimelech and all the people who were with him arose by night and lay in wait against Shechem in four ^[ci]companies. ³⁵ And Gaal the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entrance of the city gate; and Abimelech and the people who were with him arose from the ambush. ³⁶ Then Gaal saw the people and said to Zebul, “Behold, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains.” But Zebul said to him, “You are seeing the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.” ³⁷ Yet Gaal spoke again and said, “Behold, people are coming down from ^(EP)the ^[cj]highest part of the land, and one ^[ck]company comes by the way of ^[cl]the soothsayers’ ^[cm]oak.” ³⁸ Then Zebul said to him, “Where is your ^[cn]boasting now with which you said, ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Is this not the people whom you rejected? Go out now and fight with them!” ³⁹ So Gaal went out before the lords of Shechem and fought with Abimelech. ⁴⁰ And Abimelech pursued him, and he fled before him; and many fell slain up to the entrance of the gate. ⁴¹ Then Abimelech remained at Arumah, but Zebul drove out Gaal and his ^[co]relatives so that they could not remain in Shechem.

⁴² Now it happened the next day, that the people went out to the field, and it was told to Abimelech. ⁴³ So he took ^[cp]his people and divided them into three ^[cq]companies and lay in wait in the field; then he looked, and behold, the people were coming out from the city. So he arose against them and struck them down. ⁴⁴ Then Abimelech and the ^[cr]company who was with him rushed forward and stood in the entrance of the city gate; but the other two ^[cs]companies rushed upon all who were in the field and struck them down. ⁴⁵ So Abimelech fought against the city all that day, and he captured the city and killed the people who were in it; then he ^(EQ)tore the city down and sowed it with salt.

⁴⁶ Then all the lords of the tower of Shechem heard of it, and they entered the inner chamber of the ^[ct]temple of ^(ER)El-berith. ⁴⁷ And it was told to Abimelech that all the lords of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. ⁴⁸ So Abimelech went up to Mount ^(ES)Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him; and Abimelech took ^[cu]an axe in his hand and cut down a branch from the trees and lifted it and laid it on his shoulder. Then he said to the people who were with him, “What you have seen me do, hurry and do ^[cv]likewise.” ⁴⁹ And all the people also cut down each one his branch and followed Abimelech and put them on the inner chamber and set the inner chamber on fire over those inside, so that all the men of the tower of Shechem also died, about one thousand men and women.

⁵⁰ Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and he 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 lords of the city fled there and shut themselves in; and they went up on the roof of the tower. ⁵² So Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it and approached the entrance of the tower to burn it with fire. ⁵³ But ^(ET)a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head, and she smashed his skull. ⁵⁴ Then ^(EU)he called quickly to the young man, his armor bearer, and said to him, “Draw your sword and put me to death, lest they say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’” So ^[cw]the young man pierced him through, and he died. ⁵⁵ Then the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, so each went away to his ^[cx]home. ⁵⁶ Thus ^(EV)God returned the evil of Abimelech, which he had done to his father in killing his seventy brothers. ⁵⁷ God also returned all the evil of the men of Shechem on their own heads, and the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal came ^[cy]upon them.

Tola and Jair Judge Israel

10 Then after Abimelech died, Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, ^(EW)arose to save Israel; and he lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. ² And he judged Israel twenty-three years. Then he died and was buried in Shamir.

³ After him, Jair the Gileadite arose and judged Israel twenty-two years. ⁴ And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities ^[cz]in the land of Gilead ^(EX)that are called ^[da]Havvoth-jair to this day. ⁵ And Jair died and was buried in Kamon.

Israel Forsakes Yahweh Again

⁶ Then the sons of Israel again did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh and ^(EY)served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, ^(EZ)the gods of the sons of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; thus ^(FA)they forsook Yahweh and did not serve Him. ⁷ So the anger of Yahweh burned against Israel, and He ^(FB)sold them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the sons of Ammon. ⁸ And they shattered and smashed the sons of Israel ^[db]that year; for eighteen years they did this to all the sons of Israel who were beyond the Jordan ^[dc]in Gilead in the land of the Amorites. ⁹ Then the sons of Ammon crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was greatly distressed.

Israel Cries Out to Yahweh

¹⁰ And the ^(FC)sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh, saying, “We have sinned against You, for indeed, we have forsaken our God and served the Baals.” ¹¹ Then Yahweh said to the sons of Israel, “Did I not save you ^(FD)from the Egyptians, ^(FE)the Amorites, ^(FF)the sons of Ammon, and the Philistines? ¹² Also the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites ^(FG)oppressed you. And you cried out to Me, and I saved you from their hand. ¹³ Yet ^(FH)you have forsaken Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer save you. ^14 (FI)Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.” ¹⁵ Then the sons of Israel said to Yahweh, “We have sinned, so You, ^(FJ)do to us whatever seems good in Your eyes; only please deliver us this day.” ^16 (FK)So they removed the foreign gods from among them and served Yahweh; and ^[dd](FL)He could bear the trouble of Israel no longer.

¹⁷ Then the sons of Ammon were summoned, and they camped in Gilead. And the sons of Israel gathered together and camped in ^(FM)Mizpah. ¹⁸ And the people, the princes of Gilead, said to one another, “Who is the man who will begin to fight against the sons of Ammon? He shall become head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

Jephthah Delivers Israel

11 Now ^(FN)Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a harlot. And Gilead ^[de]became the father of Jephthah. ² And Gilead’s wife bore him sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You shall not have an inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.” ³ So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of ^(FO)Tob; and worthless fellows gathered themselves ^[df]about Jephthah, and they went out with him.

⁴ Now it happened after a while that ^(FP)the sons of Ammon fought against Israel. ⁵ So it happened that as the sons of Ammon fought against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob; ⁶ and they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our chief that we may fight against the sons of Ammon.” ⁷ Then Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “^(FQ)Did you not hate me and drive me from my father’s house? So why have you come to me now when you are in distress?” ⁸ And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “For this reason we have now returned to you, that you may go with us and fight with the sons of Ammon and ^(FR)become head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” ⁹ So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you take me back to fight against the sons of Ammon and Yahweh gives them up ^[dg]to me, will I become your head?” ¹⁰ And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “^(FS)Yahweh is ^[dh]witness between us; surely we will do ^[di]as you have said.” ¹¹ Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before Yahweh at ^(FT)Mizpah.

¹² And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, “What is between you and me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?” ¹³ Then the king of the sons of Ammon said to the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel ^(FU)took away my land when they came up from Egypt, from the Arnon as far as the ^(FV)Jabbok and the Jordan; so now, return them peaceably.” ¹⁴ But Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the sons of Ammon, ¹⁵ and they said to him, “Thus says Jephthah, ‘Israel did not take away the land of Moab nor the land of the sons of Ammon. ¹⁶ For when they came up from Egypt, and Israel ^(FW)went through the wilderness to the ^[dj]Red Sea and ^(FX)came to Kadesh, ¹⁷ then Israel ^(FY)sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please let us pass through your land,” but the king of Edom would not listen. ^(FZ)And they also sent to the king of Moab, but he was not willing. So Israel remained at Kadesh. ¹⁸ Then they went through the wilderness and ^(GA)around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and came to the east toward the sunrise of the land of Moab, and they camped beyond the Arnon; but they ^(GB)did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. ¹⁹ And Israel sent ^(GC)messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, “Please let us pass through your land to our place.” ²⁰ But Sihon did not believe Israel to allow them to pass through his territory; so Sihon gathered all his people and camped in Jahaz and fought with Israel. ²¹ Then Yahweh, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they ^(GD)struck them down; so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. ^22 (GE)So 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 Yahweh, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites from before His people Israel. Are you then to possess it? ²⁴ Do you not possess what ^(GF)Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whatever Yahweh our God has taken possession of before us, we will possess it. ²⁵ So now are you any better than ^(GG)Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive with Israel, or did he ever fight against them? ^26 (GH)While Israel lived in Heshbon and its towns and in Aroer and its towns and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, 300 years, why did you not deliver them for yourself within that time? ²⁷ I therefore have not sinned against you, but you are doing me evil by making war against me; ^(GI)may Yahweh, the Judge, judge today between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.’” ²⁸ But the king of the sons of Ammon did not listen to the words which Jephthah sent him.

Jephthah Vows a Burnt Offering

²⁹ Now ^(GJ)the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Jephthah, so that he passed through Gilead and Manasseh; then he passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he went on to the sons of Ammon. ³⁰ Then Jephthah made a vow to Yahweh and said, “If You will indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand, ³¹ then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be Yahweh’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.” ³² So Jephthah crossed over to the sons of Ammon to fight against them; and Yahweh gave them into his hand. ³³ And he struck them with a very great slaughter from Aroer ^[dk]to the entrance of ^(GK)Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim. So the sons of Ammon were subdued before the sons of Israel.

³⁴ Then Jephthah came to his house at ^(GL)Mizpah. And behold, his daughter was coming out to meet him ^(GM)with tambourines and with dancing. Now she was his one and only child; besides her he had no son or daughter. ³⁵ So it happened that when he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are among those who trouble me. But I have opened my mouth to vow to Yahweh, and ^(GN)I cannot take it back.” ³⁶ So she said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to vow to Yahweh; ^(GO)do to me according to what has gone out from your mouth, since Yahweh has avenged you of your enemies, the sons of Ammon.” ³⁷ Then she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me; let me alone two months, that I may ^[dl]go to the mountains and weep because of ^(GP)my virginity, I and my companions.” ³⁸ Then he said, “Go.” So he sent her away for two months; and she went with her companions and wept on the mountains because of her virginity. ³⁹ And it happened at the end of two months that she returned to her father, and he did to her according to the vow which he had made; and she did not know a man. Thus it became a ^[dm]custom in Israel, ⁴⁰ that the daughters of Israel went yearly to ^[dn]commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.

Jephthah Fights Ephraim

12 Then the men of Ephraim were summoned, and they crossed ^[do]to Zaphon and ^(GQ)said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the sons of Ammon, but did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house down on you.” ² Then Jephthah said to them, “I and my people were at great strife with the sons of Ammon. And I cried out to you, but you did not save me from their hand. ³ And I saw that you would not save me, so I ^[dp](GR)took my life in my hands and crossed over against the sons of Ammon, and Yahweh gave them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?” ⁴ Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought Ephraim; and the men of Gilead struck Ephraim down because they said, “You are fugitives of Ephraim, O Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and in the midst of Manasseh.” ⁵ And the Gileadites ^(GS)captured the fords of the Jordan opposite Ephraim. And it happened when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead would say to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,” ⁶ then they would say to him, “Say now, ‘Shibboleth.’” But he said, “Sibboleth,” for he could not ^[dq]pronounce it correctly. Then they seized him and slaughtered him at the fords of the Jordan. Thus there fell at that time 42,000 of Ephraim.

⁷ And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.

Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon Judge Israel

⁸ Then Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel after him. ⁹ And he had thirty sons, and thirty daughters whom he ^[dr]gave in marriage outside the family, and he brought in thirty daughters from outside for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years. ¹⁰ Then Ibzan died and was buried in Bethlehem.

¹¹ Then Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel after him; and he judged Israel ten years. ¹² And Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried at Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.

¹³ Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel after him. ¹⁴ And he had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy donkeys; and he judged Israel eight years. ¹⁵ Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried at Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

The Birth of Samson

13 Then the sons of Israel ^(GT)again did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh, so that Yahweh gave them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.

² And there was a certain man of ^(GU)Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had borne no children. ^3 (GV)Then the angel of Yahweh appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you ^[ds]shall be with child and give birth to a son. ⁴ So now, be careful ^(GW)not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. ^5 (GX)For behold, you ^[dt]shall be with child and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a ^(GY)Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁶ Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “^(GZ)A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. And I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name. ⁷ And he said to me, ‘Behold, you ^[du]shall be with child and give birth to a son, so now you shall not drink wine or strong drink, and you shall not eat any unclean thing, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’”

⁸ Then Manoah entreated Yahweh and said, “O Lord, please let ^(HA)the man of God whom You have sent come to us again that he may instruct us what to do for the boy who is to be born.” ⁹ And God listened to the voice of Manoah; and ^(HB)the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her. ¹⁰ So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, and she said to him, “Behold, ^(HC)the man who came the other day to me has appeared to me.” ¹¹ Then Manoah arose and followed his wife, and when he came to the man he said to him, “Are you ^(HD)the man who spoke to the woman?” And he said, “I am.” ¹² So Manoah said, “Now your words will come to pass. What shall be the judgment governing the boy and his work?” ¹³ So ^(HE)the angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, “^(HF)Let the woman be careful in all that I said. ¹⁴ She should not eat anything that comes from the ^(HG)vine, nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; let her keep all that I commanded.”

¹⁵ Then Manoah said to ^(HH)the angel of Yahweh, “Please let us delay you so that we may prepare a young goat for you.” ¹⁶ And the angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, “Though you delay me, ^(HI)I will not eat your ^[dv]food, but if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to Yahweh.” For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of Yahweh. ¹⁷ Then Manoah said to the angel of Yahweh, “^(HJ)What is your name, so that when your words come to pass, we may honor you?” ¹⁸ But the angel of Yahweh said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is ^[dw](HK)wonderful?” ¹⁹ So ^(HL)Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to Yahweh, and He did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on. ²⁰ Indeed, it happened when the flame went up from the altar toward heaven, that the angel of Yahweh went up in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife saw this, so they ^(HM)fell on their faces to the ground.

²¹ Now the angel of Yahweh did not appear to Manoah or his wife again. ^(HN)Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of Yahweh. ²² So Manoah said to his wife, “^(HO)We will surely die, for we have seen God.” ²³ But his wife said to him, “If Yahweh had desired to put us to death, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have ^(HP)shown us all these things, nor would He have let us hear things like this at this time.”

²⁴ Then the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson; and the ^(HQ)child grew up, and Yahweh blessed him. ²⁵ And ^(HR)the Spirit of Yahweh began to stir him in ^[dx](HS)Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Samson Takes a Philistine as His Wife

14 Then Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines. ² So he came back up and told his father and ^[dy]mother, “I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines; so now, take her for me as a wife.” ³ But his father and his mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your ^[dz](HT)relatives, or among all ^[ea]our people, that you go to ^(HU)take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Take her for me, for she is right in my eyes.” ⁴ However, his father and mother did not know that ^(HV)it was of Yahweh, for He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.

⁵ Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and they came as far as the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young lion came roaring toward him. ^6 (HW)And the Spirit of Yahweh ^[eb]came upon him mightily, so that ^(HX)he tore it as one tears a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done. ⁷ So he went down and spoke to the woman; and she was right in the eyes of Samson. ⁸ Then he returned later to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of the lion. ⁹ So he scraped ^[ec]the honey into his ^[ed]hands and went on, eating as he went. Then he went to his father and mother, and he gave some to them, and they ate it; but he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey out of the body of the lion.

¹⁰ Then his father went down to the woman; and Samson made a feast there, for the young men customarily did this. ¹¹ Now it happened that when they saw him, they took thirty companions to be with him. ¹² Then Samson said to them, “Let me now ^(HY)propound a riddle to you; if you will indeed tell it to me within the seven days of the feast and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen wraps and thirty ^(HZ)changes of clothes. ¹³ But if you are unable to tell me, then you shall give me thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes.” And they said to him, “Propound your riddle, that we may hear it.” ¹⁴ So he said to them,

But they could not tell the riddle in three days.

¹⁵ Then it happened on the ^[ee]fourth day that they said to Samson’s wife, “^(IA)Entice your husband, so that he will tell us the riddle, ^(IB)or we will burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us to impoverish us? Is this not so?” ¹⁶ So Samson’s wife wept before him and said, “^(IC)You only hate me, and you do not love me; you have propounded a riddle to the sons of my people and have not told it to me.” And he said to her, “Behold, I have not told it to my father or mother; so should I tell you?” ¹⁷ However she wept before him seven days while their feast lasted. And on the seventh day he told her because she pressed him so hard. She then 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,

And he said to them,

¹⁹ Then ^(ID)the Spirit of Yahweh ^[ef]came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty of them and took their spoil and gave the changes of clothes to those who told the riddle. And his anger burned, and he went up to his father’s house. ²⁰ But Samson’s wife was ^(IE)given to his companion who had been his ^[eg]friend.

Samson Strikes Down the Philistines

15 Now it happened that after a while, in the time of the wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife ^(IF)with a young goat and said, “I will go in to my wife in her room.” But her father did not let him enter. ² And her father said, “I really thought that you hated her intensely; so I ^(IG)gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister better than she? Please let her be yours ^[eh]instead.” ³ Samson then said to them, “This time I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines when I do them harm.” ⁴ So Samson went and caught 300 foxes and took torches and turned the foxes tail to tail and put one torch in the middle between two tails. ⁵ Then he set fire to the torches and sent ^[ei]the foxes into the standing grain of the Philistines. So he caused both the shocks and the standing grain, along with the vineyards and groves, to burn. ⁶ Then the Philistines said, “Who did this?” And they said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because ^[ej]he took his wife and gave her to his companion.” So the Philistines came up and ^(IH)burned her and her father with fire. ⁷ Then Samson said to them, “If you act like this, then I will surely take revenge on you, but after that I will cease.” ⁸ And he struck them ^[ek]ruthlessly with a great slaughter; and he went down and lived in the cleft of the rock of Etam.

⁹ Then the Philistines went up and camped in Judah and spread out in Lehi. ¹⁰ So the men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” And they said, “We have come up to bind Samson in order 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, “Do you not know ^(II)that 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 I have done to them.” ¹² And they said to him, “We have come down to bind you so that we may give you into the hand of the Philistines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you yourselves will not ^[el]kill me.”