Bible in 90 Days

²⁸ He said to them, ‘Follow me! The Lord will put your enemy, the Moabites, under your power!’ The Israelites followed him to the Jordan River, near the border of Moab. They would not let anyone go across the river. ²⁹ That day they killed about 10,000 Moabite soldiers. They were all strong, brave fighters, but none of them escaped. ³⁰ The Israelites won the fight against Moab that day. The land of Israel had peace for 80 years.

Shamgar

³¹ After this, Anath's son Shamgar became Israel's leader. One time, he used a stick with a sharp point to kill 600 Philistines.^[a] He rescued the Israelites from their enemies, as Ehud had done.

Deborah

4 After Ehud died, the Israelites again did things that the Lord saw were evil. ² So the Lord put them under the power of King Jabin. He was a Canaanite king who ruled in Hazor.^[b] The leader of Jabin's army was called Sisera. Sisera lived in Harosheth Haggoyim. ³ He had 900 iron chariots for his army. He used his power to be cruel to the Israelites for 20 years. So they called out to the Lord for help.

⁴ At that time, Lappidoth's wife Deborah was leading the Israelites. She was a prophetess. ⁵ She would sit under a palm tree between Ramah and Bethel to judge people's problems. That was in the hill country of Ephraim. The Israelites would come to her when they had arguments. She would decide who was right.

⁶ One day, Deborah told Abinoam's son Barak to come to her. He lived in Kedesh, a town in Naphtali. She said to Barak, ‘The Lord, Israel's God, has given you this command: “March to Mount Tabor with 10,000 men who belong to the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun.^{[c] 7} I will deceive Sisera, the leader of King Jabin's army. He will go to the Kishon river with his great army and all their chariots. I will put them all under your power.” ’

⁸ Barak said to Deborah, ‘I will go if you will come with me. But if you do not agree to go, I will not go either.’ ⁹ Deborah said, ‘Yes, I will go with you. But you will not receive honour for the battle. Instead, the Lord will put Sisera under the power of a woman.’

So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh. ¹⁰ Barak told the men from Zebulun and Naphtali to go with him to Kedesh. 10,000 men came to follow him. Deborah also went with him.

¹¹ A certain Kenite man called Heber, did not live with the other Kenites. They were descendants of Hobab, the father of Moses' wife. Heber was living in a tent beside the big tree in Zaanannim, near Kedesh.

¹² Sisera heard news that Abinoam's son Barak had gone up to Mount Tabor. ¹³ So he gave a command to all his soldiers. He told them to go with him from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon river. They had 900 iron chariots. ¹⁴ Then Deborah said to Barak, ‘Get ready! This is the day that the Lord will put Sisera under your power! The Lord will lead you into battle!’

So Barak led his 10,000 soldiers down from Mount Tabor. ¹⁵ When they started to attack, the Lord caused Sisera and all his army with their chariots to have great trouble. The Israelites chased them with their swords. Sisera jumped off his chariot and he ran away. ¹⁶ Barak and his soldiers chased after Sisera's army and their chariots. They chased them to Harosheth Haggoyim. They killed Sisera's whole army. Not one of their soldiers was still alive!

¹⁷ Sisera himself ran to hide in the tent of Heber's wife, Jael. He did that because King Jabin of Hazor had agreed to be friends with Heber's family. ¹⁸ Jael came out of her tent to say ‘hello’ to Sisera. She said to him, ‘Please come into my tent, sir. You can rest safely here. Do not be afraid.’ So Sisera went into her tent to rest. Jael put a cloth over him. ¹⁹ Sisera said to her, ‘I am thirsty. Please give me some water to drink.’ She gave him some milk from a leather bottle. Then she covered him again with the cloth. ²⁰ Sisera said to her, ‘Stand at the door of your tent and watch. If someone comes to ask if anyone is here, say, “No.” ’

²¹ But Heber's wife Jael got a tent peg and a hammer.^[d] Sisera was very tired and he was asleep. Jael used the hammer to hit the peg into the side of Sisera's head. The peg went through his head into the ground. Sisera died. ²² Barak had been chasing Sisera. Jael went out of her tent to say ‘hello’ to him. She said to Barak, ‘Come here! I will show you the man that you are looking for.’ Barak went with her into the tent. He saw Sisera there. He was lying on the ground and he was dead. Barak saw the peg that had gone through Sisera's head.

²³ On that day, God caused King Jabin of Canaan to be very ashamed because the Israelites had won against his army. ²⁴ From that time, the Israelite army became stronger, and King Jabin became weaker. Finally, the Israelites destroyed him.

Deborah's song

5 On that day Deborah sang this song, with Abinoam's son Barak:

After that, there was peace in Israel for 40 years.

The Midianites give Israel trouble

6 The Israelites did things that the Lord saw were evil. So the Lord put them under the power of the Midianites for seven years. ² They used their power to be cruel to the Israelites. The Israelites built huts in the hills to live in. They hid themselves in caves and other safe places. ³ When they planted seeds to grow food, their enemies would attack them. The Midianites, Amalekites and people from the east would come to rob them. ⁴ They made their camps on Israel's land. They took all their crops, as far south as Gaza. They left nothing for the Israelites to eat. They took away their sheep, cows and donkeys. ⁵ The groups of enemies came with their animals. They put up their tents all across the land. They came like a cloud of locusts. They were too many to count as they arrived on their camels. They took everything that grew on the land. ⁶ Because of the Midianites, the Israelites became poor and weak. So they called out to the Lord for help.

⁷ When the Israelites asked the Lord to rescue them from the Midianites, ⁸ he sent a prophet to them. The prophet said to them, ‘This is what the Lord, Israel's God, says: “I brought you out of Egypt, where you were slaves. ⁹ I saved you from the power of the Egyptians and all those who were cruel to you. I chased away your enemies and I gave their land to you. ¹⁰ I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God. You are now living in the land of the Amorites, but you must not worship their gods.’ But you have not obeyed me.” ’

The Lord chooses Gideon

¹¹ The Lord's angel came to sit under a big oak tree in Ophrah. It belonged to Joash, from Abiezer's clan. When the angel arrived, Joash's son Gideon was threshing wheat. He was doing it in a winepress because he wanted to hide his food from the Midianites. ¹² The Lord's angel appeared to Gideon. He said to him, ‘The Lord is with you, brave fighter.’^{[f] 13} Gideon replied, ‘But sir, if the Lord is with us, why has all this trouble happened to us? Our ancestors told us about all the great things that the Lord did for them. They told us how he brought them safely out of Egypt. But the Lord has not helped us like that. He has turned away from us. He has put us under the power of the Midianites.’

¹⁴ The Lord himself then said to Gideon, ‘Go now and use the strength that you have. Rescue Israel from the power of the Midianites. I myself am sending you to do this.’

¹⁵ Gideon said, ‘But sir, how can I rescue Israel? Look at me! My clan is the weakest in the tribe of Manasseh. And I am the youngest person in my family.’

¹⁶ The Lord answered him, ‘Understand that I will be with you! You will destroy the Midianites as if they were only one man.’

¹⁷ Gideon replied, ‘If you are pleased with me, please do something special. I want to know that you really are the Lord who is speaking to me. ¹⁸ Please stay here so that I can bring a gift for you.’ The Lord answered, ‘I will stay here until you come back.’

¹⁹ Gideon went home and he cooked a young goat. He also used an ephah of flour to make some flat bread. He put the meat in a basket and he put the soup in a pot. He took the food to the one who was sitting under the oak tree.

²⁰ God's angel said to him, ‘Put the meat and the bread on this rock. Pour the soup over them.’ Gideon did what the angel told him to do. ²¹ Then the Lord's angel touched the meat and the bread with the end of the stick that he held in his hand. Fire came from the rock and it burnt up the meat and the bread. Then the Lord's angel disappeared.

²² Gideon realized that he had been talking to the Lord's angel. He cried out, ‘Oh no! Almighty Lord, I have seen your angel, face to face.’

²³ But the Lord said to him, ‘Do not worry. Do not be afraid. You will not die because of this.’^[g]

²⁴ So Gideon built an altar there to give honour to the Lord. He called it ‘The Lord is Peace’. The altar is still there, in Ophrah, on the land of Abiezer's clan.

Gideon destroys Baal's altar

²⁵ On the same night, the Lord said to Gideon, ‘Take your father's bull from among his animals. Also take a second bull, one that is seven years old. Use them to pull down your father's altar to Baal. Also cut down the Asherah pole that is there. ²⁶ Then build an altar in their place to give honour to the Lord your God. Build it in the proper way, on top of that hill. Then use the wood from the Asherah pole to burn the second bull as a burnt offering to me.’

²⁷ So Gideon took ten of his servants, and he did what the Lord had said. He was afraid of the people in his father's family and the men of the town. So he did this at night, not in the day.

²⁸ Early the next morning, the men of the town saw that someone had destroyed Baal's altar. They saw that someone had cut down the Asherah pole. They saw that someone had burned the second bull as a sacrifice on a new altar.

²⁹ They asked each other, ‘Who has done this?’ They asked many people until someone told them, ‘Joash's son Gideon has done this.’

³⁰ Then the men of the town said to Joash, ‘Bring Gideon out of your house. We must punish him with death. He has destroyed Baal's altar, and he has cut down the Asherah pole that was beside it.’

³¹ Joash said to the angry men who were against him, ‘Are you trying to save Baal because he is in trouble? Why should you do that? Anyone who tries to help Baal will die before tomorrow arrives. If Baal really is a god, he should fight for himself. It is his altar that someone has pulled down!’

³² So after that, people called Gideon ‘Jerub-Baal’. That was because Joash had said, ‘Baal should fight for himself. He himself should punish the person who pulled down his altar.’

³³ At that time, the Midianites, Amalekites and people of the east made an agreement to fight together. They crossed the Jordan River and they made their camp in the Jezreel valley. ³⁴ Then the Lord's Spirit came to Gideon with power. Gideon made a loud noise with a trumpet. He called the men of Abiezer's clan to follow him. ³⁵ He sent men to take a message to Manasseh's tribe. He told them to send their men to join him. He also told the men of the tribes of Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali to come and join him too. They all came to meet with Gideon.

³⁶ Gideon said to God, ‘I want to know that you will do what you have promised to me. If you will really use me to rescue Israel, please show me that it is true. ³⁷ I will do this: I will put the wool of a sheep's skin out on the stone floor. During the night, please cause the dew to make it wet. If it is wet but the ground around it is dry, I will know that it is true. You will use me to rescue Israel, as you have promised.’

³⁸ That is what happened. When Gideon got up the next morning, the wool was wet. Gideon squeezed water out of it. It was enough to fill a bowl!

³⁹ Then Gideon said to God. ‘Please do not be angry with me. Let me ask you to do one more thing. I will put out the sheep's wool again to see what happens. This time please make the ground wet with dew, but keep only the wool dry.’ ⁴⁰ That night God did what Gideon had asked. The sheep's wool was dry, but the ground around it was wet with dew.

Gideon attacks the Midianites

7 Gideon and his army got up the next morning. They marched to the spring of water at Harod. They made their camp near there. The Midianite army made their camp in the valley near the hill of Moreh. They were north of the Israelite army. ² The Lord said to Gideon, ‘You have too many men in your army. When I put the Midianites under your power, your soldiers may boast about their own strength. They may say that they have won the battle themselves. ³ So say to the men, “If you are very afraid of the battle and you are shaking with fear, you may go.” ’ So 22,000 men left that place and they went home. But 10,000 soldiers remained with Gideon.

⁴ Then the Lord said to Gideon, ‘There are still too many men. Take them to the spring of water to drink. I will test them for you there. If I say, “This man should go with you,” then take him. But if I say, “This man should not go with you,” then do not take him.’ ⁵ So Gideon took the men to the spring of water. The Lord said to Gideon, ‘Put the men who use their tongues to drink like a dog in one group. Put the men who go down on their knees to drink in another group.’

⁶ 300 men used their tongues to drink the water. The other men all went down on their knees to drink. ⁷ The Lord said to Gideon, ‘I will use those 300 men to rescue you and put the Midianites under your power. Let all the other men return to their homes.’

⁸ Gideon kept the 300 men with him. He took the food and trumpets from the other men and he gave it to the 300 men. Then Gideon sent the other men home.

The camp of the Midianite army was in the valley below the Israelites. ⁹ That night the Lord said to Gideon, ‘Get up now. Go down and attack the camp of the Midianites. I have put them under your power. ¹⁰ But if you are afraid to attack them now, take your servant Purah down to their camp. ¹¹ Listen to what the Midianites are saying to each other. That will make you brave enough to attack them.’ So Gideon took Purah with him to the edge of the Midianite army's camp, where they had guards. ¹² The valley was full of Midianites, Amalekites and all the people from the east. They covered the ground like locusts. There were too many men to count. Their camels also were more than the sand on the shore of the sea.

¹³ When Gideon came nearer, he heard a Midianite soldier tell his friend about a dream. The soldier said, ‘In my dream, I saw a loaf of bread that was rolling into our camp. It hit one of our tents and it knocked the tent down to the ground!’

¹⁴ The other soldier replied, ‘This dream is telling us about Joash's son Gideon, the leader of the Israelites. It shows us that he has the power to kill us. God has put Midian and all our army under his power!’

¹⁵ When Gideon heard this news about the dream and its meaning, he praised God. He returned to the Israelites' camp. He shouted to his men, ‘Get up now! The Lord has put Midian's army under your power!’ ¹⁶ He divided his 300 men into three separate groups. He gave a trumpet and an empty pot to each soldier. Each man put a burning branch into his pot.

¹⁷ Gideon said to his men, ‘Watch me carefully. When we get near to the enemy's camp, you must do the same thing that I do. ¹⁸ You will be all around the camp. I and my group of men will make a noise with our trumpets. Then you must also make a noise with your trumpets. Then shout, “We are fighting for the Lord and for Gideon!” ’

¹⁹ Gideon took 100 men with him to the edge of the Midianites' camp. It was the middle of the night. A new group of Midianite guards had just started their work. Gideon's men made a loud noise with their trumpets. They also broke the pots that they were holding. ²⁰ Then all three groups of Israelite soldiers made a noise with their trumpets that they held in the right hands. They broke their pots and they held their burning branches in their left hands. Then they shouted, ‘Fight for the Lord and for Gideon!’ ²¹ They all stood in their places around the Midianites' camp. Then the whole Midianite army ran away! They were shouting as they ran as fast as they could run.

²² When Gideon's 300 men made a noise with their trumpets, it confused the Midianites everywhere in their camp. The Lord caused them to attack one another with their swords. Their army ran away to Beth Shittah, on the road towards Zererah. They ran as far as the border of Abel Meholah, near Tabbath. ²³ Then Gideon told men from the tribes of Naphtali, Asher and Manasseh to chase the Midianites.

²⁴ Then Gideon sent men to the hill country of Ephraim with this message: ‘Come down to the valleys and stop the Midianites from escaping. Put guards on all the places where people go across the streams and rivers. Do that on the Jordan River as far as Beth Barah.’ So all the men of Ephraim's tribe came together. They put guards on the Jordan River and the streams, as far as Beth Barah. ²⁵ They caught the two leaders of the Midianite army, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb. They killed Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. They continued to chase the Midianites. They took the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was now on the east side of the Jordan River.

8 The men of Ephraim's tribe asked Gideon, ‘Why have you insulted us? You should have called us to join with you to fight against the Midianites.’ They were very angry and they argued with Gideon. ² Gideon said to them, ‘What you did in the fight was more important than what I was able to do. My family started the battle, but your tribe finished the job! ³ God chose you to take power over the leaders of Midian's army. You killed Oreb and Zeeb! Nothing that I did was as great as that!’

When Gideon said that, the men of Ephraim stopped being angry.

Zebah and Zalmunna

⁴ Gideon and his 300 men were weak and tired. But they went across the Jordan and they continued to chase the Midianites. ⁵ Gideon said to the men of Succoth, ‘Please give my soldiers some food to eat. They are very tired. We are chasing the kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, to catch them.’ ⁶ The city leaders of Succoth said, ‘You have not yet caught Zebah and Zalmunna. We will not give you any food until you have done that.’ ⁷ Gideon replied, ‘Because you say that, I will return here. When the Lord has put Zebah and Zalmunna under my power, I will come back to punish you. I will beat you with thorn branches that will tear your skin to pieces!’

⁸ Gideon continued his journey to Peniel. He asked their people for food too. But they gave him the same answer as the men of Succoth. ⁹ Gideon also warned the men of Peniel, ‘When I have won the fight against my enemies, I will return. Then I will destroy your strong tower.’

¹⁰ Zebah and Zalmunna had 15,000 men with them in Karkor. They were the only men left of their great army from the east. 120,000 of their soldiers had died in the battle. ¹¹ Gideon went along a road near the desert. It was east of Nobah and Jogbehah. He attacked the enemy's army by surprise. ¹² The two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, ran away. Gideon chased after them and he caught them. The whole Midianite army ran away in fear.

¹³ Then Gideon left the place of the battle to return home. He went along the road across Heres hills. ¹⁴ He caught a young man who came from Succoth. He asked him about the leaders of Succoth. The young man wrote down the names of 77 leaders and officers of the city. ¹⁵ Gideon went to Succoth with Zebah and Zalmunna. He said to the leaders, ‘Now I have brought these kings to you! You insulted me! You said, “We will not give your tired men any food until you have caught Zebah and Zalmunna.” ’

¹⁶ Then Gideon took hold of Succoth's leaders. He beat them with thorn branches to punish them. ¹⁷ He also went to Peniel and he destroyed their tower. He killed the men of that city.

¹⁸ Then Gideon said to Zebah and Zalmunna, ‘Tell me about the men that you killed at Tabor. What kind of men were they?’ The kings answered, ‘They were like you. They looked like the sons of kings.’ ¹⁹ Gideon said, ‘Those were my brothers, my own mother's sons. If you had not killed my brothers, I would not kill you. I promise you that, as surely as the Lord lives.’

²⁰ Gideon said to his oldest son, Jether, ‘Kill them now!’ But Jether was only a boy. He was too afraid to do anything. ²¹ Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, ‘Kill us yourself! Let us see if you are brave enough to do that!’

So Gideon did kill them. He took away the silver images from the necks of their camels.

Gideon makes a gold ephod

²² After that, the Israelites said to Gideon, ‘Rule over us as our king! You, your son and your grandson should rule us. You have rescued us from Midian's power.’

²³ But Gideon said to them, ‘I will not agree to rule over you. Nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.’

²⁴ Gideon also said, ‘I will ask you only to do one thing for me. Each of you should give me one ear-ring from the things that you took from our enemies.’ (The Midianites wore gold ear-rings because they were descendants of Ishmael.)

²⁵ The people replied, ‘We are happy to give them to you.’

So they put a coat on the ground. Each man threw a ring onto it. ²⁶ The weight of all the rings was 20 kilograms. They also had valuable silver images and jewels. They had valuable clothes that the kings of Midian wore and necklaces from the camels. ²⁷ Gideon used the gold to make an image of an ephod. He put it in Ophrah, where he lived. All the Israelites came there and they worshipped the image.^[h] It caused them to turn away from the true God. It became like a trap that caught Gideon and his family.

Gideon dies

²⁸ The Israelites now had complete power over the Midianites. The Midianites were too ashamed to fight against them. While Gideon was alive, the land of Israel had peace for 40 years.

²⁹ Then Gideon went back home to live. ³⁰ He had many wives. They gave birth to 70 sons for him. ³¹ Gideon also had a slave wife who lived in Shechem. She gave birth to a son for him. Gideon called him Abimelech.

³² Joash's son Gideon died when he was very old. People buried him in the grave of his father, Joash. That was in Ophrah, on the land of Abiezer's clan.

³³ Soon after Gideon died, the Israelites stopped being faithful to the Lord. They started to worship the idols of Baal again. They chose Baal-Berith to be their new god. ³⁴ They no longer served the Lord their God. They forgot that he had saved them from all the enemies who lived around them. ³⁵ The Israelites did not remain faithful to Gideon's family either. They did not remember all the good things that he had done to help Israel.

Abimelech becomes king

9 Gideon's son Abimelech went to Shechem to speak to his mother's brothers. He said to them and to her family's clan, ² ‘Say this to the leaders of Shechem: “You should not agree to let all of Gideon's 70 sons rule over you. It would be better for you to have only one man rule over you. Remember that I belong to your own family.” ’

³ Abimelech's mother's family told the men of Shechem what Abimelech had said. They agreed that Abimelech would be a good ruler for them. They said, ‘He is our brother.’

⁴ So they gave him 70 pieces of silver from the temple of their god, Baal-Berith. Abimelech used this money to pay some wicked men to help him. ⁵ He went to his father's home in Ophrah. He killed his 70 brothers, the sons of Gideon. He killed them all on one rock. But Jotham, Gideon's youngest son, hid himself and he escaped.^[i]

⁶ Then the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo met together. They took Abimelech to the oak tree near the pillar of rock in Shechem. There they made Abimelech king.

⁷ When Jotham heard the news of what had happened, he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim. He stood there and he shouted to the people, ‘Leaders of Shechem, listen to me! Then perhaps God will listen to you.

⁸ One day, the trees decided to choose a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, “Be our king.” ⁹ But the olive tree replied, “My oil pleases men and even the gods. I will not stop making my oil so that I can rule over all you other trees!”

¹⁰ Then the trees said to the fig tree, “Come and be our king.” ¹¹ The fig tree replied, “I will not stop making my good, sweet figs so that I can rule over you.”

¹² Then the trees said to the vine, “Come and be our king.” ¹³ But the vine answered, “Wine from my grapes makes gods and people happy. I will not stop making wine so that I can rule over you.”

¹⁴ Finally, the trees said to the thorn bush, “Come and be our king.” ¹⁵ The thorn bush said to the trees, “If you really want to choose me as your king, come here. Hide under my branches to keep safe. If not, I will cause fire to come out from the thorn bush. It will burn up all the big cedar trees in Lebanon!”^[j]

¹⁶ When you chose Abimelech to be your king, you have not been faithful to Gideon and his family. You have not given Gideon the honour that he deserves. ¹⁷ My father Gideon fought to save you. He did not try to keep his own life safe. He rescued you from the power of the Midianites. ¹⁸ But you have turned against my father's family today. You killed his 70 sons on one rock. You have made Abimelech king because he belongs to your family. He is the son of my father's slave wife. ¹⁹ If you have really been faithful to Gideon and his family today, I pray that Abimelech will make you happy! I pray that you will make Abimelech happy, too! ²⁰ But if you have not been faithful, I pray that Abimelech will destroy you! I pray that his fire will completely burn up the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo. And I pray that fire from you leaders will completely destroy Abimelech!’

²¹ After he said that, Jotham ran away to Beer. He lived there because he was afraid of his brother, Abimelech.

Abimelech rules Israel

²² Abimelech ruled Israel for three years. ²³ Then God caused the leaders of Shechem to turn against Abimelech. They were no longer friends. ²⁴ God did this to punish Abimelech because he had killed his brothers, Gideon's 70 sons. The leaders of Shechem were also guilty for their murder, because they had helped Abimelech.

²⁵ The leaders of Shechem no longer obeyed Abimelech. They sent men to hide in the hills near Shechem. Those men robbed everyone who travelled on that road. But someone told Abimelech about this.

²⁶ Ebed's son Gaal went to live in Shechem with his brothers. The leaders of Shechem started to trust Gaal as their leader. ²⁷ They went out of the city to pick grapes in their fields. They squeezed the grapes to make wine. They went to the temple of their god and they had a party. They ate a lot of food and they drank a lot of wine. At their party, they cursed Abimelech.

²⁸ Gaal said, ‘Why does Abimelech think he is so great? There is no reason why the people of Shechem should serve him! He is a son of Gideon and he does not really belong here. Zebul only serves Abimelech as his officer. Instead we should be faithful to Hamor's descendants. He is the ancestor of Shechem's clan. ²⁹ If I were the leader of these people, I would remove Abimelech as king. I would say to him, “Make your army strong and try to fight against us!” ’

³⁰ Some people told Zebul, the town's officer, what Gaal had said. Zebul was very angry when he heard this. ³¹ He sent men secretly to Abimelech with a message. They told him, ‘Ebed's son Gaal and his brothers have come to live in Shechem. They are causing the people of the city to turn against you. ³² So you must come here in the night with your men. Hide in the fields outside the city. ³³ When the sun rises in the morning, quickly attack the city. When Gaal and his men come out to fight, you can do to them whatever you want.’

³⁴ So Abimelech and all his soldiers came out at night. They hid in four groups outside Shechem.

³⁵ The next morning, Gaal stood beside the city gate. Abimelech and his men came out from the places where they were hiding. ³⁶ Gaal saw them. He said to Zebul, ‘Look! There are men coming down from the tops of the hills.’ Zebul replied, ‘No, you are wrong. You can see shadows in the hills. They only look like men.’ ³⁷ Gaal said again, ‘Look! I can really see men who are coming down from the middle of the land. There is another group of men who are coming along the road from the Diviner's Oak Tree.’

³⁸ Then Zebul said to Gaal, ‘What has happened to your proud words now? You boasted when you said, “Abimelech is nobody! We should not serve him.” Here are the men that you insulted as useless! So now go out and fight them!’

³⁹ Gaal led the men of Shechem out of the city to fight against Abimelech. ⁴⁰ Abimelech chased after him. Gaal and his men ran back to the city. But Abimelech and his men caught and killed many of them before they reached the city gate. ⁴¹ Abimelech went back to live in Arumah. Zebul made Gaal and his brothers leave Shechem.

⁴² The next day, the people of Shechem went out into the fields around the city. Abimelech heard about this. ⁴³ He took his men with him. He made them hide in three groups in the fields. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he and his men attacked them. ⁴⁴ Abimelech and his group of soldiers ran to stand at the city gate. They stopped people going back into the city. The other two groups attacked the people in the fields and killed them.

⁴⁵ Abimelech attacked the city all that day. He took the city and he killed all the people who lived there. Then he destroyed the city. He put salt all over it as a curse.

⁴⁶ The city's leaders who lived in the tower of Shechem heard the news. They went to hide in the strong building of El-berith's temple. ⁴⁷ Somebody told Abimelech that all the leaders were there together in the temple. ⁴⁸ He took all his men up to Mount Zalmon. He used an axe to cut some branches off a tree. He put the branches on his shoulders. Then he said to his men, ‘Be quick! Do the same thing as you have seen me do!’ ⁴⁹ So all the men cut branches and they followed Abimelech. They put the branches around the strong building. Then they brought fire to burn down the building. There were about 1,000 men and women in the tower of Shechem. They all died in the fire.

⁵⁰ Then Abimelech and his men went to Thebez. They made their camp around the city to attack it. ⁵¹ There was a strong tower in the middle of the city. All the leaders of the city, as well as all the men and women, ran there to hide. They locked the door. They went up onto the roof of the tower. ⁵² Abimelech and his men came to attack the tower. Abimelech went near to the door of the tower, to put a fire there. ⁵³ A woman on the roof dropped a heavy rock down on his head. It broke Abimelech's skull. ⁵⁴ Abimelech quickly said to the young man who carried his weapons, ‘Take hold of your sword and kill me! I do not want people to say that a woman killed me!’ So the young man killed him with his sword. ⁵⁵ When the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they went home.

⁵⁶ That was how God punished Abimelech. He had done an evil thing against his father when he killed his 70 brothers. ⁵⁷ God was also punishing the people of Shechem for the evil things that they had done. When Gideon's son Jotham had cursed them, he said that these things would happen.

Tola and Jair

10 After Abimelech's death, another man became Israel's leader, to rescue them. He was Tola, the son of Puah and grandson of Dodo. He belonged to Issachar's tribe. He lived in Shamir, in the hill country of Ephraim.

² Tola led Israel for 23 years. Then he died and they buried him in Shamir.

³ After Tola, Jair of Gilead became Israel's leader. He led Israel for 22 years. ⁴ He had 30 sons. They rode on 30 donkeys and they ruled 30 towns in Gilead. These towns are still called Havvoth-Jair (Jair's villages). ⁵ Then Jair died and they buried him in Kamon.

The Ammonites fight against Israel

⁶ The Israelites again did things that the Lord saw were evil. They worshipped idols of Baal and Ashtoreth. They also worshipped the gods of Syria, Sidon and Moab, as well as the gods of the Ammonites and the Philistines.^[k] They turned away from the Lord and they did not serve him any more.

⁷ The Lord became angry with the Israelites. He put them under the power of the Ammonites and the Philistines. ⁸ That year they attacked the Israelites who lived in the Gilead region, on the east side of the Jordan River. That was the land where the Amorites lived. They were cruel to the Israelites for 18 years. ⁹ Then the Ammonites went across the Jordan River to fight against the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Ephraim. The Israelites were in a lot of trouble.

¹⁰ Then the Israelites called out to the Lord for help. They said, ‘We have turned against you. We have worshipped the idols of Baal instead of you.’

^11-12 The Lord replied, ‘I have saved you many times when you called to me for help. I saved you from the power of the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Midianites.^{[l] 13} But now you have turned away from me and you worship other gods instead. So I will not rescue you again. ¹⁴ Go and ask those other gods to help you! They are the gods that you have chosen, so let them rescue you from your trouble!’

¹⁵ But the Israelites said to the Lord, ‘We are guilty. Punish us in whatever way you think is right, but please rescue us now.’ ¹⁶ Then they threw away all the idols of foreign gods that they had been worshipping. They began to worship the Lord again. Finally, the Lord decided to help them, because he saw how upset they were.

¹⁷ The Ammonite army came to Gilead and they made their camp there. The Israelite army also came and they made their camp in Mizpah. ¹⁸ The leaders of the people of Gilead asked each other, ‘Who will lead us to attack the Ammonites? Any man who agrees to do that will become the leader of everyone who lives in Gilead.’

Jephthah

11 Jephthah of Gilead was a brave soldier. His father's name was Gilead, but his mother was a prostitute. ² Gilead's wife also gave birth to sons for him. When they were older, they sent Jephthah away from the family home. They said to him, ‘You will not receive any of our father's things when he dies. You are the son of a prostitute, not our mother.’

³ So Jephthah ran away from his brothers. He went to live in the land of Tob. Other men joined the group that Jephthah led. They did not obey any laws.

⁴ Some time later, the Ammonite soldiers came to fight against Israel. ⁵ When the Ammonites attacked, the leaders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob. ⁶ They said to him, ‘Come and lead our army to fight against the Ammonites.’

⁷ Jephthah said to them, ‘Before this, you hated me. You made me leave my father's house. So why do you come to me for help, now that you are in trouble?’

⁸ The leaders of Gilead replied, ‘But we really need you to help us. Please join us to fight against the Ammonites. Then we will make you the leader of everyone who lives in Gilead.’

⁹ Jephthah said to them, ‘So, you are saying that I should come back home to fight with you against the Ammonites. You are saying that if the Lord gives them to me, I will be your leader. Is that really true?’

¹⁰ The leaders of Gilead said, ‘We promise to do that. The Lord will judge between us if we do not do what you have said.’ ¹¹ So Jephthah went back with them to Gilead. The people made him their ruler and leader of their army. In Mizpah, Jephthah repeated his promise to the Lord.

Jephthah's message to the Ammonites

¹² Jephthah sent men with a message to the Ammonite king. He asked, ‘Why have you come to fight against our people? What have we done to make you angry?’

¹³ The Ammonite king answered Jephthah's men, ‘You Israelites came here from Egypt and you took our land on the east side of the Jordan River. You have taken for yourselves all our land from the Arnon river in the south to the Jabbok river in the north. You have taken it all, as far as the Jordan River in the west. Now give it back to us, so that we do not need to fight for it.’

¹⁴ Jephthah sent the men back to the Ammonite king. ¹⁵ They said to him, ‘This is what Jephthah says: “Israel did not take for themselves the land of Moab, or the land of the Ammonites. ¹⁶ When the Israelites left Egypt, they went through the desert as far as the Red Sea. Then they travelled to Kadesh. ¹⁷ Then they sent a message to the king of Edom. They asked him, ‘Please let us travel through your land.’ But the king of Edom refused to let them do that. The Israelites sent the same message to the king of Moab. He also refused to agree. So the Israelites stayed at Kadesh.

¹⁸ Next, the Israelites went through the desert, around the edge of Edom and Moab. They arrived on the east side of Moab's land. They put up their tents on the other side of the Arnon river, which was the border of Moab's land. They did not go into Moab.

¹⁹ Sihon was the Amorite king who ruled in Heshbon. The Israelites sent a message to him. They asked him, ‘Please let us travel through your land to our own place.’ ²⁰ But King Sihon did not trust the Israelites. He would not let them travel through his land. He brought his whole army to meet together at Jahaz. Then he fought against the Israelites.

²¹ The Lord, Israel's God, put Sihon and his whole army under the power of the Israelites. The Israelites won the fight against the Amorites. They took the Amorites' land for themselves. ²² The land went from the Arnon river in the south to the Jabbok river in the north. It went from the desert in the east to the Jordan River in the west.

²³ You should realize that the Lord, Israel's God, chased out the Amorites. He has done that so that his own people, the Israelites, can live there. So why do you think that you can take it from them? ²⁴ You may take the land that your god Chemosh gives to you. We will live in the land that the Lord our God has given to us. ²⁵ Do you think that you are better than Zippor's son Balak, king of Moab? He was not brave enough to argue with the Israelites or to fight against them. ²⁶ Israelites have been living here for 300 years! They have lived in Heshbon and Aroer and the villages around those towns. They have lived in all the towns along the Arnon river too. In all that time, you have not tried to take back those places for yourselves.

²⁷ I have not done anything to hurt you. You are the one who is doing something wrong if you attack us. The Lord himself is the judge! He will decide whether the Israelites or the Ammonites are doing what is right.” ’

²⁸ The Ammonite king refused to listen to the message that Jephthah had sent to him.

Jephthah's promise

²⁹ Then the Lord's Spirit took hold of Jephthah. Jephthah travelled through the land of Gilead and of Manasseh. He arrived at Mizpah in Gilead and he prepared to fight against the Ammonites. ³⁰ Jephthah promised the Lord, ‘Please let us win the battle against the Ammonites. ³¹ Then, when I return home safely, I will give you a burnt offering. Whatever is first to come out through the door of my house as I arrive, I will offer it to you as a sacrifice.’

³² Then Jephthah went to attack the Ammonites. The Lord put them under his power. ³³ Jephthah destroyed them all the way from Aroer to Minnith. He took 20 Ammonite cities, as far as Abel Karamim. He completely destroyed them! So the Israelites had complete power over the Ammonites.

³⁴ After that, Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah. As he arrived, his daughter came out to meet him. She was dancing and making music with a tambourine. She was Jephthah's only child. He had no other son or daughter. ³⁵ When Jephthah saw her, he was so upset that he tore his clothes. He said, ‘Oh no! My daughter! You have made me very sad. I made a serious promise to the Lord and I must do what I promised.’

³⁶ She said to her father, ‘You have made a promise to the Lord. You must do to me what you told him you would do. The Lord gave you the power to punish your enemies, the Ammonites. So you must do what you promised him. ³⁷ But please allow me to do this one thing. Let me walk in the hills with my friends for two months. I need time to be sad because I will die before I can marry a man.’

³⁸ Jephthah said, ‘You may go.’ He sent her away from home for two months. She and her friends walked in the hills. They wept together because she would never marry. ³⁹ After two months she returned to her father, Jephthah. He did what he had promised to the Lord. His daughter never married. ⁴⁰ Because of that, the young women of Israel now go into the hills for four days every year. They do that to remember the daughter of Jephthah, the man from Gilead.

Jephthah and Ephraim's tribe argue^[m]

12 The men of Ephraim's tribe joined together to make an army. They crossed over the Jordan River to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, ‘Why did you go to fight against the Ammonites without us? You should have asked us to go with you. Now we will burn down your house with you inside it!’

² Jephthah replied, ‘I did ask for your help! That was when my people and I first had a quarrel with the Ammonites. But you refused to rescue us. ³ When I realized that you would not come to help us, we attacked the Ammonites ourselves. I put my life in danger. But the Lord put the Ammonites under my power. So why have you come to attack me now?’

⁴ Jephthah brought together all the men of Gilead. They fought against the men of Ephraim's tribe. The men of Gilead won the fight. They were angry because the men of Ephraim had insulted them. They had said, ‘You people of Gilead have run away to live on the land of Ephraim and Manasseh.’

⁵ After that, Gilead's army put guards at the places where people could go across the Jordan River. They wanted to stop people from Ephraim going across the river. If one of Ephraim's soldiers was trying to escape, they would ask him, ‘Do you belong to Ephraim's tribe?’ The man would say, ‘No, I do not!’

⁶ Then they would tell him, ‘Say, “Shibboleth!” ’ People from Ephraim could not say that word properly. So if the man said, ‘Sibboleth,’ they would take hold of him and kill him. That day, they killed 42,000 soldiers of Ephraim at those places on the Jordan River.

⁷ Jephthah led Israel for six years. Then he died and they buried him in his own town in Gilead.

Ibzan, Elon and Abdon

⁸ After Jephthah died, Ibzan of Bethlehem led Israel. ⁹ He had 30 sons and 30 daughters. He let his daughters marry men from other clans. He also brought 30 young women from other clans to marry his sons. Ibzan led Israel for seven years. ¹⁰ Then he died and they buried him in Bethlehem.

¹¹ After he died, Elon from Zebulun led Israel for ten years. ¹² Then Elon died and they buried him in Aijalon, a town in the land of Zebulun's tribe.

¹³ After Elon, Hillel's son Abdon led Israel. He came from Pirathon. ¹⁴ He had 40 sons and 30 grandsons. They rode on 70 donkeys. Abdon led Israel for eight years. ¹⁵ Then he died. They buried him at Pirathon, a town in the land of Ephraim's tribe. That was in the hill country of the Amalekites.

Samson's birth

13 The Israelites again did things that the Lord saw were evil. So he put them under the power of the Philistines for 40 years.

² There was a man who belonged to Dan's tribe. His name was Manoah and he lived in Zorah. His wife had no children and she could not give birth. ³ The Lord's angel appeared to her. He said, ‘You have not been able to give birth to any children until now. But you will become pregnant and you will give birth to a son. ⁴ You must not drink any wine or any beer. You must not eat any food that is unclean. ⁵ Yes, you will give birth to a son. You must never cut the boy's hair. He is to be a Nazirite.^[n] He will belong to God from the time that he is born. He will begin to rescue the Israelites from the power of the Philistines.’

⁶ The woman went quickly to tell her husband. She said, ‘A man of God came to me. He looked like an angel that God had sent with a message. I was afraid of him. I did not ask where he came from. He did not tell me his name. ⁷ He said to me, “You will become pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You must not drink any wine or beer. You must not eat any food that is unclean. The boy will belong to me as a Nazirite from his birth until the day that he dies!” ’

⁸ Manoah prayed to the Lord, ‘Lord, please send the man of God to come to us again. Let him teach us how we should take care of this boy who will be born.’

⁹ God did what Manoah had asked. The angel came again to visit Manoah's wife. She was resting in the fields and her husband was not with her. ¹⁰ She ran to tell her husband, ‘Come quickly! The man who came to me the other day has appeared to me again!’

¹¹ Manoah got up and he followed his wife. When he met the man, he asked him, ‘Are you the man who talked to my wife?’ The man said, ‘Yes, I am.’

¹² Then Manoah asked him, ‘When what you promised happens, how should the boy live? What kind of work will he do?’

¹³ The Lord's angel answered, ‘Your wife must be careful to do everything that I told her. ¹⁴ She must not eat anything that comes from vines.^[o] She must not drink wine or beer. She must not eat any food that is unclean. She must obey everything that I have commanded her to do.’

¹⁵ Manoah said to the Lord's angel, ‘Please stay here with us. We would like to cook a young goat for you to eat.’

¹⁶ The angel replied, ‘Even if I stay with you, I will not eat your food. But you may prepare a burnt offering as a sacrifice to the Lord.’ The angel said that because Manoah had not realized that he was the Lord's angel.

¹⁷ Then Manoah asked the Lord's angel, ‘What is your name? When what you have promised happens, we will want to give you honour.’ ¹⁸ The angel replied, ‘You should not ask what my name is. It is too great for you to understand.’

¹⁹ Then Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering. He offered them on a rock as a sacrifice to the Lord. While Manoah and his wife watched, the Lord surprised them with a miracle. ²⁰ As the flames of fire rose up from the sacrifice to the sky, the Lord's angel went up in the flames. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell down with their faces towards the ground.

²¹ The Lord's angel did not appear to them again. Manoah then realized that their visitor was the Lord's own angel. ²² He said to his wife, ‘We are sure to die! We have seen God!’

²³ But his wife said to him, ‘The Lord accepted our burnt offering and our grain offering. He would not have done that if he wanted to kill us. He would not have shown us all these great things. He would not have told us about what will happen to us.’

²⁴ Manoah's wife gave birth to a son. She gave him the name ‘Samson’. The child grew to become a man, and the Lord blessed him. ²⁵ The Lord's Spirit began to give Samson strength when he was living in Mahaneh Dan. That place was between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Samson marries a Philistine woman

14 One day Samson went to Timnah. Samson saw a young Philistine woman. ² When he returned home, he said to his father and mother, ‘I have seen a young Philistine woman in Timnah and I want to marry her. Please get her for me as my wife.’

³ His parents replied, ‘You do not need to go to the Philistines to get a wife. They are not the Lord's people. There is surely someone among our own relatives or other Israelites that you would like to marry.’ But Samson said to his father, ‘You must get her for me. She is the right girl for me to marry.’

⁴ Samson's parents did not realize that the Lord was causing this to happen. The Lord wanted to prepare a way for the Israelites to attack the Philistines, because the Philistines were ruling over Israel at that time.

⁵ Samson went to Timnah, and his parents went too. When he reached some vineyards near Timnah, an angry young lion ran out to attack him. ⁶ The Lord's Spirit gave Samson great strength. He tore the lion into pieces with his hands. He made it seem very easy, as if he was killing a goat. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.

⁷ Then Samson continued on his journey to Timnah. He spoke with the young woman, and she pleased him very much.

⁸ Some time later, Samson returned to Timnah to marry the young woman. He turned off the path to look at the lion's body. Inside it, there was a crowd of bees and some honey. ⁹ He took the honey out with his hands. He ate it as he walked along. Then he went to his parents. He gave some of the honey to them and they ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken it from the body of the dead lion.

¹⁰ Then Samson's father went to Timnah for Samson's marriage. Samson prepared a party for the people there. All the young men did this when they married. ¹¹ When the Philistines saw what Samson was doing, they sent 30 young men to be his friends. ¹² Samson said to them, ‘Listen to this clever question. Try to give me an answer before my party finishes in seven days. If you answer the question, I will give you 30 linen shirts and 30 sets of clothes. ¹³ But if you cannot tell me the answer, you will give me 30 linen shirts and 30 sets of clothes.’ The young men said, ‘Tell us your question.’^[p]

¹⁴ Samson said to them:

After three days, the Philistine men could not find the answer.

¹⁵ On the fourth day they said to Samson's wife, ‘Find a way to make your husband tell you the answer. If you do not, we will use fire to destroy your father's house, with you inside it! Did you ask us to come to your marriage party to make us poor?’

¹⁶ Then Samson's wife went to him and she wept. She said to him, ‘It seems that you hate me. You do not really love me. You have asked my friends a clever question, but you have not told me the answer.’

Samson said to her, ‘I have not told the answer even to my father or mother. So why should I tell you?’

¹⁷ Samson's wife continued to weep like that all the days of the party. Finally, she gave him so much trouble that he told her the answer on the seventh day. Then she told the young men the answer to Samson's question.

¹⁸ Before sunset on the seventh day, the men of the town gave their answer to Samson:

Samson said to them, ‘You have used my young cow to do your work! Without her you would not have found the answer to my question.’

¹⁹ The Lord's Spirit took hold of Samson. He went to Ashkelon and he killed 30 Philistine men there. He took all their clothes and he gave them to the 30 men who had answered his question. He was still very angry as he went back to his family's home.

²⁰ Samson's wife became the wife of the man who had been his special friend at the party.

Samson fights against the Philistines

15 Later, Samson went to visit his wife at the time of the wheat harvest. He took a young goat with him as a gift. He said to her father, ‘I am going into my wife's room to sleep with her.’ But her father stopped him. ² He said, ‘I was sure that you hated my daughter. So I have given her to your special friend to be his wife. Look at her younger sister. She is more beautiful. Take her as your wife, instead.’

³ Samson said, ‘This time I will not be guilty when I punish the Philistines!’

⁴ So he went out and he caught 300 foxes. He tied the foxes in pairs by their tails. He tied some dry grass to each pair of tails. ⁵ Then he lit the grass with fire. He made the foxes run through the fields where the wheat was growing. The fire destroyed all the Philistines' crops, whether they had already cut it down or not. The fire also destroyed their vines and their olive trees.

⁶ The Philistines asked, ‘Who did this?’ People said to them, ‘It was Samson, the man who married the young woman in Timnah. He did it because her father gave her to Samson's special friend instead of Samson.’

So the Philistines went and burned the man and his daughter to death. ⁷ Samson said to them, ‘Because you have done this, I will punish you. I will not stop until your punishment is complete.’ ⁸ He attacked them with great strength. He killed many of them.

After that, Samson went to live in a cave in the rock of Etam.

⁹ The Philistine army went to attack Judah.^[q] They made their camp near Lehi and they prepared to fight. ¹⁰ The men of Judah asked them, ‘Why have you come to attack us?’ The Philistines replied, ‘We have come to catch Samson and take him as our prisoner. We need to punish him in the same way that he has punished us.’

¹¹ Then 3,000 men of Judah went to the cave where Samson was hiding. They said to him, ‘You know that the Philistines are our rulers. You are causing them to give us trouble.’

Samson said, ‘I have only done to them as they did to me.’

¹² The men of Judah said to him, ‘We have come to tie you up as our prisoner. We must let the Philistines take you away.’

Samson said, ‘Promise me that you will not kill me yourselves.’