Bible in 90 Days

²⁸ And he said to them, “Follow after me, ^(A)for the Lord has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him and seized ^(B)the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and did not allow anyone to pass over. ²⁹ And they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped. ³⁰ So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. ^(C)And the land had rest for eighty years.

Shamgar

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

Deborah and Barak

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Song of Deborah and Barak

5 ^(AF)Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day:

^(BU)And the land had rest for forty years.

Midian Oppresses Israel

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

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

The Call of Gideon

¹¹ Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash ^(CG)the Abiezrite, while his son ^(CH)Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. ¹² And ^(CI)the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, ^(CJ)“The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” ¹³ And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are ^(CK)all his wonderful deeds ^(CL)that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” ¹⁴ And the Lord^[f] turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; ^(CM)do not I send you?” ¹⁵ And he said to him, ^(CN)“Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, ^(CO)my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.” ¹⁶ And the Lord said to him, ^(CP)“But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” ¹⁷ And he said to him, ^(CQ)“If now I have found favor in your eyes, then ^(CR)show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. ¹⁸ Please ^(CS)do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.”

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

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

Gideon Destroys the Altar of Baal

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

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

The Sign of the Fleece

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

Gideon's Three Hundred Men

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

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

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

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

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

Gideon Defeats 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 the watch. And they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands. ²⁰ Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. ^(EB)And they cried out, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” ²¹ Every man stood in his place around the camp, ^(EC)and all the army ran. They cried out and fled. ^22 (ED)When they blew the 300 trumpets, ^(EE)the Lord set ^(EF)every man's sword against his comrade and against all the army. And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah,^[i] as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. ²³ And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian.

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

Gideon Defeats Zebah and Zalmunna

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

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

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

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

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

Gideon's Ephod

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

The Death of Gideon

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

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

Abimelech's Conspiracy

9 Now Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to ^(GC)his mother's relatives and said to them and to the whole clan of his mother's family, ² “Say in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you, that all ^(GD)seventy of the sons of Jerubbaal rule over you, or that one rule over you?’ Remember also that ^(GE)I am ^(GF)your bone and your flesh.”

³ And his mother's relatives spoke all these words on his behalf in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, ^(GG)“He is our brother.” ⁴ And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of ^(GH)Baal-berith with which Abimelech hired ^(GI)worthless and reckless fellows, who followed him. ⁵ And he went to his father's house at ^(GJ)Ophrah ^(GK)and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, for he hid himself. ⁶ And all the leaders of Shechem came together, and all ^(GL)Beth-millo, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar at Shechem.

⁷ When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood on top of ^(GM)Mount Gerizim and cried aloud and said to them, “Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem, that God may listen to you. ^8 (GN)The trees once went out to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ^(GO)‘Reign over us.’ ⁹ But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my abundance, by which gods and men are honored, and go hold sway over the trees?’ ¹⁰ And the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹¹ But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit and go hold sway over the trees?’ ¹² And the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹³ But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my wine that ^(GP)cheers God and men and go hold sway 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 in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and ^(GQ)take refuge in my shade, but if not, ^(GR)let fire come out of the bramble and devour ^(GS)the cedars of Lebanon.’

¹⁶ “Now therefore, if you acted in good faith and integrity when you made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with ^(GT)Jerubbaal and his house and have done to him ^(GU)as his deeds deserved— ¹⁷ for my father fought for you and risked his life and delivered you from the hand of Midian, ¹⁸ and you have risen up against my father's house this day ^(GV)and have killed his sons, seventy men on one stone, and have made ^(GW)Abimelech, the son of his female servant, king over the leaders of Shechem, ^(GX)because he is your relative— ¹⁹ if you then have acted in good faith and integrity with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then ^(GY)rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. ²⁰ But if not, ^(GZ)let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the leaders of Shechem and from Beth-millo and devour Abimelech.” ²¹ And Jotham ran away and fled and went to ^(HA)Beer and lived there, because of Abimelech his brother.

The Downfall of Abimelech

²² Abimelech ruled over Israel three years. ^23 (HB)And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem ^(HC)dealt treacherously with Abimelech, ^24 (HD)that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers. ²⁵ And the leaders of Shechem put men in ambush against him on the mountaintops, and they robbed all who passed by them along that way. And it was told to Abimelech.

²⁶ And Gaal the son of Ebed moved into Shechem with his relatives, and the leaders of Shechem put confidence in him. ²⁷ And they went out into the field and gathered the grapes from their vineyards and trod them and held a festival; and they went into ^(HE)the house of their god and ate and drank and reviled Abimelech. ²⁸ And Gaal the son of Ebed said, ^(HF)“Who is Abimelech, and who are we of Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is not Zebul his officer? Serve the men of ^(HG)Hamor the father of Shechem; but why should we serve him? ²⁹ Would that this people were under my hand! Then I would remove Abimelech. I would say^[m] to Abimelech, ‘Increase your army, and come out.’”

³⁰ When Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled. ³¹ And he sent messengers to Abimelech secretly,^[n] saying, “Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his relatives have come to Shechem, and they are stirring up^[o] the city against you. ³² Now therefore, go by night, you and the people who are with you, and set an ambush in the field. ³³ Then in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, rise early and rush upon the city. And when he and the people who are with him come out against you, you may do to them ^(HH)as your hand finds to do.”

³⁴ So Abimelech and all the men who were with him rose up by night and set an ambush against Shechem in four companies. ³⁵ And Gaal the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city, and Abimelech and the people who were with him rose from the ambush. ³⁶ And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, “Look, people are coming down from ^(HI)the mountaintops!” And Zebul said to him, “You mistake^[p] the shadow of the mountains for men.” ³⁷ Gaal spoke again and said, “Look, people are coming down from the center of the land, and one company is coming from the direction of the Diviners' Oak.” ³⁸ Then Zebul said to him, “Where is your mouth now, you who said, ^(HJ)‘Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?’ Are not these the people whom you despised? Go out now and fight with them.” ³⁹ And Gaal went out at the head of the leaders of Shechem and fought with Abimelech. ⁴⁰ And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him. And many fell wounded, up to the entrance of the gate. ⁴¹ And Abimelech lived at Arumah, and Zebul drove out Gaal and his relatives, so that they could not dwell at Shechem.

⁴² On the following day, the people went out into the field, and Abimelech was told. ⁴³ He took his people and divided them into three companies and set an ambush in the fields. And he looked and saw the people coming out of the city. So he rose against them and killed them. ⁴⁴ Abimelech and the company that was with him ^(HK)rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the gate of the city, while the two companies rushed upon all who were in the field and killed them. ⁴⁵ And Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He captured the city and killed the people who were in it, and ^(HL)he razed the city and ^(HM)sowed it with salt.

⁴⁶ When all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered ^(HN)the stronghold of the house of ^(HO)El-berith. ⁴⁷ Abimelech was told that all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem were gathered together. ⁴⁸ And Abimelech went up to Mount ^(HP)Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him. And Abimelech took an axe in his hand and cut down a bundle of brushwood and took it up and laid it on his shoulder. And he said to the men who were with him, “What you have seen me do, hurry and do as I have done.” ⁴⁹ So every one of the people cut down his bundle and following Abimelech put it against ^(HQ)the stronghold, and they set the stronghold on fire over them, so that all the people of the Tower of Shechem also died, about 1,000 men and women.

⁵⁰ Then Abimelech went to Thebez and encamped against Thebez and captured it. ⁵¹ But there was a strong tower within the city, and all the men and women and all the leaders of the city fled to it and shut themselves in, and they went up to the roof of the tower. ⁵² And Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it and drew near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire. ^53 (HR)And a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech's head and crushed his skull. ^54 (HS)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 killed him.’” And his young man thrust him through, and he died. ⁵⁵ And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, everyone departed to his home. ^56 (HT)Thus God returned the evil of Abimelech, which he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers. ⁵⁷ And God also made all the evil of the men of Shechem return on their heads, and upon them came ^(HU)the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

Tola and Jair

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

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

Further Disobedience and Oppression

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

¹⁰ And the people of Israel ^(IE)cried out to the Lord, saying, “We have sinned against you, because ^(IF)we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals.” ¹¹ And the Lord said to the people of Israel, “Did I not save you ^(IG)from the Egyptians and ^(IH)from the Amorites, ^(II)from the Ammonites and ^(IJ)from the Philistines? ¹² The Sidonians also, and ^(IK)the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and I ^(IL)saved you out of their hand. ¹³ Yet you have ^(IM)forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. ¹⁴ Go and cry out ^(IN)to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.” ¹⁵ And the people of Israel said to the Lord, “We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day.” ¹⁶ So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord, and ^(IO)he became impatient over the misery of Israel.

¹⁷ Then the Ammonites were called to arms, and they encamped in Gilead. And the people of Israel came together, and they encamped at ^(IP)Mizpah. ¹⁸ And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said one to another, “Who is the man who will begin to fight against the Ammonites? ^(IQ)He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

Jephthah Delivers Israel

11 Now ^(IR)Jephthah the Gileadite was ^(IS)a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was the father of Jephthah. ² And Gilead's wife also 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 Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of ^(IT)Tob, and ^(IU)worthless fellows collected around Jephthah and went out with him.

⁴ After a time the Ammonites made war against Israel. ⁵ And when the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of ^(IV)Tob. ⁶ And they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our leader, that we may fight against the Ammonites.” ⁷ But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and drive me out of my father's house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?” ⁸ And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is why we have turned to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the Ammonites and ^(IW)be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” ⁹ Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight against the Ammonites, and the Lord gives them over to me, I will be your head.” ¹⁰ And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, ^(IX)“The Lord will be witness between us, if we do not do as you say.” ¹¹ So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people ^(IY)made him head and leader over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words ^(IZ)before the Lord at ^(JA)Mizpah.

¹² Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said, “What do you have against me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?” ¹³ And the king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, ^(JB)“Because Israel on coming up from Egypt took away my land, from the ^(JC)Arnon to the ^(JD)Jabbok and to the Jordan; now therefore restore it peaceably.” ¹⁴ Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites ¹⁵ and said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: ^(JE)Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites, ¹⁶ but when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness ^(JF)to the Red Sea and ^(JG)came to Kadesh. ^17 (JH)Israel then sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,’ ^(JI)but the king of Edom would not listen. And they sent also to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel ^(JJ)remained at Kadesh.

¹⁸ “Then they journeyed through the wilderness and ^(JK)went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and ^(JL)arrived on the east side of the land of Moab and ^(JM)camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab. ^19 (JN)Israel then sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land to our country,’ ²⁰ but Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory, so Sihon gathered all his people together and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel. ²¹ And the Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country. ²² And they took possession of all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan. ²³ So then the Lord, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel; and are you to take possession of them? ²⁴ Will you not possess what ^(JO)Chemosh your god gives you to possess? ^(JP)And all that the Lord our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess. ²⁵ Now are you any better than ^(JQ)Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend against Israel, or did he ever go to war with them? ²⁶ While Israel lived ^(JR)in Heshbon and its villages, and ^(JS)in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, 300 years, why did you not deliver them within that time? ²⁷ I therefore have not sinned against you, and you do me wrong by making war on me. ^(JT)The Lord, the Judge, decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon.” ²⁸ But the king of the Ammonites did not listen to the words of Jephthah that he sent to him.

Jephthah's Tragic Vow

^29 (JU)Then the Spirit of the Lord was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. ³⁰ And Jephthah ^(JV)made a vow to the Lord and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, ³¹ then whatever^[q] comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites ^(JW)shall be the Lord's, and ^(JX)I will offer it^[r] up for a burnt offering.” ³² So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the Lord gave them into his hand. ³³ And he struck them from Aroer to the neighborhood of ^(JY)Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a great blow. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel.

³⁴ Then Jephthah came to his home at ^(JZ)Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him ^(KA)with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. ³⁵ And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the Lord, ^(KB)and I cannot take back my vow.” ³⁶ And she said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to the Lord; do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the Lord has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites.” ³⁷ So she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions.” ³⁸ So he said, “Go.” Then he sent her away for two months, and she departed, she and her companions, and wept for her virginity on the mountains. ³⁹ And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, ^(KC)who did with her according to his vow that he had made. She had never known a man, and it became a custom in Israel ⁴⁰ that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.

Jephthah's Conflict with Ephraim

12 ^(KD)The men of Ephraim were called to arms, and they crossed to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the Ammonites and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house over you with fire.” ² And Jephthah said to them, “I and my people had a great dispute with the Ammonites, and when I called you, you did not save me from their hand. ³ And when I saw that you would not save me, ^(KE)I took my life in my hand and crossed over against the Ammonites, and the Lord 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 with Ephraim. And the men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they said, ^(KF)“You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and Manasseh.” ⁵ And the Gileadites captured ^(KG)the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me go over,” the men of Gilead said to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” When he said, “No,” ⁶ they said to him, “Then say Shibboleth,” and he said, “Sibboleth,” for he could not pronounce it right. Then they seized him and slaughtered him at ^(KH)the fords of the Jordan. At that time 42,000 of the Ephraimites fell.

⁷ Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in his city in Gilead.^[s]

Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon

⁸ After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. ⁹ He had thirty sons, and thirty daughters he gave in marriage outside his clan, and thirty daughters he brought in from outside for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years. ¹⁰ Then Ibzan died and was buried at Bethlehem.

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

¹³ After him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel. ¹⁴ He had forty ^(KI)sons and thirty grandsons, who ^(KJ)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 And the people of Israel again ^(KK)did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them ^(KL)into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.

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

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

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

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

Samson's Marriage

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

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

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

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

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

And in three days they could not solve the riddle.

¹⁵ On the fourth^[u] day they said to Samson's wife, ^(LU)“Entice your husband to tell us what the riddle is, ^(LV)lest we burn you and your father's house with fire. Have you invited us here to impoverish us?” ¹⁶ And Samson's wife wept over him and said, ^(LW)“You only hate me; you do not love me. You have put a riddle to my people, and you have not told me what it is.” And he said to her, “Behold, I have not told my father nor my mother, and shall I tell you?” ¹⁷ She wept before him the seven days that their feast lasted, and on the seventh day he told her, because ^(LX)she pressed him hard. Then she told the riddle to her people. ¹⁸ And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down,

And he said to them,

^19 (LY)And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he went down to ^(LZ)Ashkelon and struck down thirty men of the town and took their spoil and gave the garments to those who had told the riddle. In hot anger he went back to his father's house. ²⁰ And Samson's wife was given to ^(MA)his companion, ^(MB)who had been his best man.

Samson Defeats the Philistines

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

⁹ Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah and ^(MH)made a raid on ^(MI)Lehi. ¹⁰ And the men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” They said, “We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he did to us.” 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 that ^(MJ)the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” And he said to them, “As they did to me, so have I done to them.” ¹² And they said to him, “We have come down to bind you, that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves.”