Day 16 of 90

¹Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God.

²Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Your fathers lived of old time beyond the River, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor: and they served other gods.

³I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.

⁴I gave to Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave to Esau Mount Seir, to possess it. Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.

⁵I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did in its midst: and afterward I brought you out.

⁶I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and you came to the sea. The Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and with horsemen to the Red Sea.

⁷When they cried out to the Lord, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea on them, and covered them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt: and you lived in the wilderness many days.

⁸I brought you into the land of the Amorites, that lived beyond the Jordan: and they fought with you; and I gave them into your hand. You possessed their land; and I destroyed them from before you.

⁹Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. He sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you;

¹⁰but I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you still. So I delivered you out of his hand.

¹¹You went over the Jordan, and came to Jericho. The men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I delivered them into your hand.

¹²I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; not with your sword, nor with your bow.

¹³I gave you a land whereon you had not labored, and cities which you did not build, and you live in them. You eat of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.'

¹⁴Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth. Put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, in Egypt; and serve the Lord.

¹⁵If it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

¹⁶The people answered, "Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods;

¹⁷for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way in which we went, and among all the peoples through the midst of whom we passed.

¹⁸The Lord drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord; for he is our God."

¹⁹Joshua said to the people, "You can't serve the Lord; for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your disobedience nor your sins.

²⁰If you forsake the Lord, and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you evil, and consume you, after he has done you good."

²¹The people said to Joshua, "No; but we will serve the Lord."

²²Joshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen you the Lord, to serve him." They said, "We are witnesses."

²³"Now therefore put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord, the God of Israel."

²⁴The people said to Joshua, "We will serve the Lord our God, and we will listen to his voice."

²⁵So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.

²⁶Joshua wrote these words in the scroll of the Law of God; and he took a great stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord.

²⁷Joshua said to all the people, "Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us; for it has heard all the words of the Lord which he spoke to us. It shall be therefore a witness against you, lest you deny your God."

²⁸So Joshua sent the people away, every man to his inheritance.

²⁹It happened after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being one hundred ten years old.

³⁰They buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathserah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash.

³¹Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, and had known all the work of the Lord, that he had worked for Israel.

³²They buried the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, in Shechem, in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money. They became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.

³³Eleazar the son of Aaron died. They buried him in the hill of Phinehas his son, which was given him in the hill country of Ephraim.

¹It happened after the death of Joshua, the children of Israel asked of the Lord, saying, "Who should go up for us first against the Canaanites, to fight against them?"

²The Lord said, "Judah shall go up. Behold, I have delivered the land into his hand."

³Judah said to Simeon his brother, "Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with you into your lot." So Simeon went with him.

⁴Judah went up; and the Lord delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they struck of them in Bezek ten thousand men.

⁵They found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek; and they fought against him, and they struck the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

⁶But Adoni-Bezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.

⁷Adoni-Bezek said, "Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, scavenged under my table: as I have done, so God has requited me." They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

⁸The children of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and took it, and struck it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.

⁹Afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, and in the South, and in the lowland.

¹⁰Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (now the name of Hebron before was Kiriath Arba); and they struck Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai.

¹¹From there he went against the inhabitants of Debir. (Now the name of Debir before was Kiriath Sepher.)

¹²Caleb said, "He who strikes Kiriath Sepher, and takes it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter as wife."

¹³Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife.

¹⁴It happened, when she came to him, that she got him to ask her father for a field: and she got off from her donkey; and Caleb said to her, "What would you like?"

¹⁵She said to him, "Give me a blessing; since you have given me the land in the Negev, give me also springs of water." Then Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

¹⁶The children of the Kenite, Moses' brother-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad; and they went and lived with the people.

¹⁷Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they struck the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. The name of the city was called Hormah.

¹⁸Also Judah took Gaza with its territory, and Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory.

¹⁹The Lord was with Judah; and drove out the inhabitants of the hill country; for he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.

²⁰They gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had spoken: and he drove out there the three sons of Anak.

²¹The children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

²²The house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel; and the Lord was with them.

²³The house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.)

²⁴The watchers saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said to him, "Please show us the entrance into the city, and we will deal kindly with you."

²⁵He showed them the entrance into the city; and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man go and all his family.

²⁶The man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day.

²⁷Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its towns, nor Taanach and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.

²⁸It happened, when Israel had grown strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, and did not utterly drive them out.

²⁹Ephraim didn't drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer; but the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.

³⁰Zebulun didn't drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites lived among them, and became subject to forced labor.

³¹Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, nor the inhabitants of Sidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob;

³²but the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out.

³³Naphtali didn't drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beth Anath; but he lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and of Beth Anath became subject to forced labor.

³⁴The Amorites forced the children of Dan into the hill country; for they would not allow them to come down to the valley;

³⁵but the Amorites would dwell in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became subject to forced labor.

³⁶The border of the Amorites was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.

¹The angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim. He said, "I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you to the land which I swore to your fathers; and I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you:

²and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.' But you have not listened to my voice: why have you done this?

³Therefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you."

⁴It happened, when the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.

⁵They called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there to the Lord.

⁶Now when Joshua had sent the people away, the children of Israel went every man to his inheritance to possess the land.

⁷The people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of the Lord that he had worked for Israel.

⁸Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being one hundred ten years old.

⁹They buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath Heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash.

¹⁰Also all that generation were gathered to their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, who didn't know the Lord, nor yet the work which he had worked for Israel.

¹¹The children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals;

¹²and they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them: and they provoked the Lord to anger.

¹³They forsook the Lord, and served Baal and the Ashtaroth.

¹⁴The anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers who despoiled them; and he sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.

¹⁵Wherever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had spoken, and as the Lord had sworn to them: and they were sore distressed.

¹⁶The Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who despoiled them.

¹⁷Yet they did not listen to their judges; for they played the prostitute after other gods, and bowed themselves down to them: they turned aside quickly out of the way in which their fathers walked, obeying the commandments of the Lord; but they did not do so.

¹⁸When the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it grieved the Lord because of their groaning by reason of those who oppressed them and troubled them.

¹⁹But it happened, when the judge was dead, that they turned back, and dealt more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down to them; they did not cease from their doings, nor from their stubborn way.

²⁰The anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel; and he said, "Because this nation have transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not listened to my voice;

²¹I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations that Joshua left when he died;

²²that by them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk therein, as their fathers kept it, or not."

²³So the Lord left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.

¹Now these are the nations which the Lord left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan;

²only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing of it:

³namely, the five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to the entrance of Hamath.

⁴They were left, to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would listen to the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded their fathers by Moses.

⁵The children of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites:

⁶and they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons and served their gods.

⁷The children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgot the Lord their God, and served the Baals and the Asheroth.

⁸Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Cushan Rishathaim eight years.

⁹When the children of Israel cried to the Lord, the Lord raised up a savior to the children of Israel, who saved them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.

¹⁰The Spirit of the Lord came on him, and he judged Israel; and he went out to war, and the Lord delivered Cushan Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand: and his hand prevailed against Cushan Rishathaim.

¹¹The land had rest forty years. Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

¹²The children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.

¹³He gathered to him the children of Ammon and Amalek; and he went and struck Israel, and they possessed the city of palm trees.

¹⁴The children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.

¹⁵But when the children of Israel cried to the Lord, the Lord raised them up a savior, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a man left-handed. The children of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab.

¹⁶Ehud made him a sword which had two edges, a cubit in length; and he girded it under his clothing on his right thigh.

¹⁷He offered the tribute to Eglon king of Moab: now Eglon was a very fat man.

¹⁸When he had made an end of offering the tribute, he sent away the people who bore the tribute.

¹⁹But he himself turned back from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, "I have a secret message for you, king." The king said, "Keep silence!" All who stood by him went out from him.

²⁰Ehud came to him; and he was sitting by himself alone in the cool upper room. Ehud said, "I have a message from God to you." He arose out of his seat.

²¹Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his body:

²²and the handle also went in after the blade; and the fat closed on the blade, for he didn't draw the sword out of his body; and it came out behind.

²³Then Ehud went forth into the porch, and shut the doors of the upper room on him, and locked them.

²⁴Now when he was gone out, his servants came; and they saw, and behold, the doors of the upper room were locked; and they said, "Surely he is covering his feet in the upper room."

²⁵They waited until they were ashamed; and behold, he did not open the doors of the upper room: therefore they took the key, and opened them, and behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth.

²⁶Ehud escaped while they waited, and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped to Seirah.

²⁷It happened, when he had come, that he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim; and the children of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he before them.

²⁸He said to them, "Follow after me; for the Lord has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand." They went down after him, and took the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites, and did not allow a man to pass over.

²⁹They struck of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, every lusty man, and every man of valor; and there escaped not a man.

³⁰So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. The land had rest eighty years.

³¹After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who struck of the Philistines six hundred men with an oxgoad: and he also saved Israel.

¹The children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, when Ehud was dead.

²The Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth of the Gentiles.

³The children of Israel cried to the Lord: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.

⁴Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, she judged Israel at that time.

⁵She lived under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.

⁶She sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh Naphtali, and said to him, "Hasn't the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded, 'Go and draw to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?

⁷I will draw to you, to the river Kishon, Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into your hand.'"

⁸Barak said to her, "If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go."

⁹She said, "I will surely go with you: nevertheless, the journey that you take shall not be for your honor; for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman." Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.

¹⁰Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh; and there went up ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him.

¹¹Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, even from the children of Hobab the brother-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far as the oak in Zaanannim, which is by Kedesh.

¹²They told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to Mount Tabor.

¹³Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles, to the river Kishon.

¹⁴Deborah said to Barak, "Go; for this is the day in which the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand. Hasn't the Lord gone out before you?" So Barak went down from Mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.

¹⁵The Lord confused Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his army, with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera got off from his chariot, and fled away on his feet.

¹⁶But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the army, to Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; there was not a man left.

¹⁷However Sisera fled away on his feet 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.

¹⁸Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, "Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; do not be afraid." He came in to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug.

¹⁹He said to her, "Please give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty." She opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him.

²⁰He said to her, "Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man comes and inquires of you, and says, 'Is there any man here?' that you shall say, 'No.'"

²¹Then Jael Heber's wife took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him, and struck the pin into his temples, and it pierced through into the ground; for he was in a deep sleep; so he swooned and died.

²²Behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, "Come, and I will show you the man whom you seek." He came to her; and behold, Sisera lay dead, and the tent peg was in his temples.

²³So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel.

²⁴The hand of the children of Israel prevailed more and more against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.

¹Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying,

²"Because the leaders took the lead in Israel, because the people offered themselves willingly, be blessed, Lord!

³"Hear, you kings! Give ear, you princes! I, even I, will sing to the Lord. I will sing praise to the Lord, the God of Israel.

⁴"Lord, when you went forth out of Seir, when you marched out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the sky also dropped. Yes, the clouds dropped water.

⁵The mountains quaked at the presence of the Lord, even Sinai, at the presence of the Lord, the God of Israel.

⁶"In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied. The travelers walked through byways.

⁷The rulers ceased in Israel. They ceased until I, Deborah, arose; Until I arose a mother in Israel.

⁸They chose new gods. Then war was in the gates. Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?

⁹My heart is toward the leaders of Israel, who offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless the Lord!

¹⁰"Speak, you who ride on white donkeys, you who sit on rich carpets, and you who walk by the way.

¹¹Far from the noise of archers, in the places of drawing water, there they will rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord, the righteous acts of his rule in Israel. "Then the people of the Lord went down to the gates.

¹²'Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, utter a song! Arise, Barak, and lead away your captives, you son of Abinoam.'

¹³"Then a remnant of the nobles and the people came down. The Lord came down for me against the warriors.

¹⁴Those whose root is in Amalek came out of Ephraim, after you, Benjamin, among your peoples; out of Machir leaders came down, and out of Zebulun those that handle the staff of office.

¹⁵And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah. As was Issachar, so was Barak. They rushed into the valley at his feet. By the watercourses of Reuben, there were great resolves of heart.

¹⁶Why did you sit among the sheepfolds, to hear the whistling for the flocks? At the watercourses of Reuben There were great searchings of heart.

¹⁷Gilead lived beyond the Jordan. Why did Dan remain in ships? Asher sat still at the haven of the sea, and lived by his harbors.

¹⁸Zebulun was a people that risked their lives even to death; Naphtali also, on the high places of the field.

¹⁹The kings came and fought, then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo. They took no plunder of silver.

²⁰From the sky the stars fought. From their courses, they fought against Sisera.

²¹The river Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. My soul, march on with strength.

²²Then the horse hoofs stamped because of the prancings, the prancings of their strong ones.

²³Curse Meroz, said the angel of the Lord. Curse bitterly its inhabitants, because they did not come to help the Lord, to help the Lord against the mighty.

²⁴Jael shall be blessed above women, the wife of Heber the Kenite; blessed shall she be above women in the tent.

²⁵He asked for water. She gave him milk. She brought him butter in a princely bowl.

²⁶She put her hand to the tent peg, and her right hand to the workmen's hammer. With the hammer she struck Sisera. She struck through his head. Yes, she pierced and struck through his temple.

²⁷At her feet he collapsed, he fell, he lay. At her feet he collapsed, he fell. Where he collapsed, there he fell down dead.

²⁸Through the window she looked out, and cried: Sisera's mother looked through the lattice. Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why are the hoofbeats of his chariots delayed?

²⁹Her wise ladies answered her; indeed, she answers herself,

³⁰'Have they not found, have they not divided the spoil? A lady, two ladies to every man; to Sisera a spoil of dyed garments, A spoil of dyed garments embroidered, Of dyed garments embroidered on both sides, for the neck of the plunderer?'

³¹"So let all your enemies perish, Lord, but let those who love him be as the sun when it rises forth in its strength." And the land had rest forty years.

¹And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.

²And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel; and because of Midian the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds.

³And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east; they came up against them.

⁴And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, as far as Gaza, and left no sustenance in Israel, as well as sheep, or ox, or donkey.

⁵For they came up with their livestock and their tents; they would come in like locusts in number; both they and their camels were without number, and they came into the land to ravage it.

⁶Israel was brought very low because of Midian; and the children of Israel cried to the Lord.

⁷It happened, when the children of Israel cried to the Lord because of Midian,

⁸that the Lord sent a prophet to the children of Israel, and he said to them, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage;

⁹and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out from before you, and gave you their land;

¹⁰and I said to you, "I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell." But you have not listened to my voice.'"

¹¹The angel of the Lord came, and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained to Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.

¹²The angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, "The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!"

¹³Gideon said to him, "Oh, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? Where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, 'Didn't the Lord bring us up from Egypt?' But now the Lord has cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian."

¹⁴The Lord looked at him, and said, "Go in this your might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Haven't I sent you?"

¹⁵He said to him, "O Lord, how shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house."

¹⁶The Lord said to him, "Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man."

¹⁷He said to him, "If now I have found favor in your sight, then show me a sign that it is you who talk with me.

¹⁸Please do not go away, until I come to you, and bring out my present, and lay it before you." He said, "I will wait until you come back."

¹⁹Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of meal: the meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out to him under the oak, and presented it.

²⁰The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth." And he did so.

²¹Then the angel of the Lord put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there went up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight.

²²Gideon saw that he was the angel of the Lord; and Gideon said, "Alas, Lord God! Because I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!"

²³The Lord said to him, "Peace be to you! Do not be afraid. You shall not die."

²⁴Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it "The Lord is Peace." To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

²⁵It happened the same night, that the Lord said to him, "Take your father's bull, even the second bull seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it;

²⁶and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of this stronghold, in the orderly manner, and take the second bull, and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down."

²⁷Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the Lord had spoken to him: and it came about, because he feared his father's household and the men of the city, so that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.

²⁸When the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah was cut down that was by it, and the second bull was offered on the altar that was built.

²⁹They said one to another, "Who has done this thing?" When they inquired and asked, they said, "Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing."

³⁰Then the men of the city said to Joash, "Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has broken down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the Asherah that was by it."

³¹Joash said to all who stood against him, "Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? He who will contend for him, let him be put to death while it is yet morning: if he is a god, let him contend for himself, because someone has broken down his altar."

³²Therefore on that day he named him Jerubbaal, saying, "Let Baal contend against him, because he has broken down his altar."

³³Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east assembled themselves together; and they crossed over, and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel.

³⁴But the Spirit of the Lord came on Gideon; and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered together after him.

³⁵He sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; and they also were gathered together after him: and he sent messengers to Asher, and to Zebulun, and to Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

³⁶Gideon said to God, "If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken,

³⁷behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then shall I know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken."

³⁸It was so; for he rose up early on the next day, and pressed the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.

³⁹Gideon said to God, "Do not let your anger be kindled against me, and I will speak but this once. Please let me make one more test with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew."

⁴⁰God did so that night, for it was dry on the fleece only, and there was dew all over the ground.

¹Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people who were with him, rose up early, and encamped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

²The Lord said to Gideon, "The people who are with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, 'My own hand has saved me.'

³Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, 'Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.' There returned of the people twenty-two thousand; but ten thousand remained.

⁴The Lord said to Gideon, "The people are yet too many; bring them down to the water, and I will try them for you there: and it shall be, that of whom I tell you, This shall go with you, the same shall go with you; and of whoever I tell you, This shall not go with you, the same shall not go.

⁵So he brought down the people to the water: and the Lord said to Gideon, "Everyone who laps of the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, him you shall set by himself; likewise everyone who kneels down on his knees to drink."

⁶The number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men: but all the rest of the people kneeled down on their knees to drink water.

⁷The Lord said to Gideon, "By the three hundred men who lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand; and let all the people go every man to his home."

⁸So the people took food in their hand, and their trumpets; and he sent all the men of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the three hundred men. And the camp of Midian was beneath him in the valley.

⁹It happened the same night, that the Lord said to him, "Arise, get down into the camp; for I have delivered it into your hand.

¹⁰But if you fear to go down, go with Purah your servant down to the camp:

¹¹and you shall hear what they say; and afterward will your hands be strengthened to go down into the camp." Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outermost part of the armed men who were in the camp.

¹²The Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as numerous as the sand which is on the seashore.

¹³When Gideon had come, behold, there was a man telling a dream to his friend; and he said, "Behold, I had 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 collapsed."

¹⁴His friend answered, "This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel. Into his hand God has delivered Midian, and all the army."

¹⁵It was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and its interpretation, that he worshiped, and he returned into the camp of Israel, and said, "Get up, for the Lord has delivered into your hand the army of Midian."

¹⁶He divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put into the hands of all of them trumpets, and empty pitchers, with torches within the pitchers.

¹⁷He said to them, "Look at me, and do likewise. And behold, when I come to the outermost part of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so you shall do.

¹⁸When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, "For the Lord and for Gideon."

¹⁹So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outermost part of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch, when they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and broke in pieces the pitchers that were in their hands.

²⁰The three companies blew the trumpets, and broke the pitchers, and held the torches in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands with which to blow; and they called out, "The sword of the Lord and of Gideon.'"

²¹They each stood in his place every man around the camp; and all the army ran; and they shouted, and put them to flight.

²²They blew the three hundred trumpets, and the Lord set every man's sword against his fellow, and against all the army; and the army fled as far as Beth Shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel Meholah, by Tabbath.

²³The men of Israel were gathered together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after Midian.

²⁴Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, "Come down against Midian, and capture the waters, as far as Beth Barah, even the Jordan." So all the men of Ephraim were gathered together, and seized the waters as far as Beth Barah, even the Jordan.

²⁵They took the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian: and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan.

¹The men of Ephraim said to him, "Why have you done such a thing to us, not calling us when you went to fight with Midian?" And they argued with him fiercely.

²He said to them, "What have I now done in comparison with you? Isn't the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?

³God has delivered into your hand the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and what was I able to do in comparison with you?" Then their anger subsided toward him, when he had said that.

⁴Gideon came to the Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men who were with him, exhausted, yet pursuing.

⁵He said to the men of 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. "

⁶The princes of Succoth said, "Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?"

⁷Gideon said, "Therefore when the Lord has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers."

⁸He went up there to Penuel, and spoke to them in like manner; and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered.

⁹He spoke also to the men of Penuel, saying, "When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower."

¹⁰Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of all the army of the children of the east; for there fell one hundred twenty thousand men who drew sword.

¹¹And Gideon went up by the way of those who lived in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and struck the army, when the army was unsuspecting.

¹²Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued after them, and he took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and routed the entire army.

¹³Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle from the ascent of Heres.

¹⁴He caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and inquired of him: and he described for him the princes of Succoth, and its elders, seventy-seven men.

¹⁵He came to the men of Succoth, and said, "Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, concerning whom you taunted me, saying, "Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are weary?"

¹⁶He took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he disciplined the men of Succoth.

¹⁷He broke down the tower of Penuel, and killed the men of the city.

¹⁸Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, "What kind of men were they whom you killed at Tabor?" They answered, "As you are, so were they; each one resembled the son of a king."

¹⁹He said, "They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you."

²⁰He said to Jether his firstborn, "Get up, and kill them." But the youth did not draw his sword; for he feared, because he was yet a youth.

²¹Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, "Rise up yourself, and kill us, for a man is judged by his strength." Gideon arose, and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent ornaments that were on their camels' necks.

²²Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, "Rule over us, both you, and your son, and your son's son also; for you have saved us out of the hand of Midian."

²³Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the Lord shall rule over you."

²⁴Gideon said to them, "I would make a request of you, that you would give me every man the earrings from his plunder." (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)

²⁵They answered, "We will willingly give them." They spread a garment, and every one of them threw an earring from his plunder.

²⁶The weight of the golden earrings that he requested was one thousand and seven hundred pieces of gold, besides the crescents, and the pendants, and the purple clothing that was on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were about their camels' necks.

²⁷Gideon made an ephod of it, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel prostituted themselves after it there; and it became a snare to Gideon, and to his house.

²⁸So Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, and did not become a threat again. The land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.

²⁹Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house.

³⁰Gideon had seventy sons conceived from his body; for he had many wives.

³¹His concubine who was in Shechem, she also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.

³²Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

³³It happened, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and played the prostitute after the Baals, and made Baal Berith their god.

³⁴The children of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side;

³⁵neither did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shown to Israel.

¹Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his mother's brothers, and spoke with them, and with all the family of the house of his mother's father, saying,

²"Please speak in the ears of all the men of Shechem, 'Is it better for you that all the sons of Jerubbaal, who are seventy persons, rule over you, or that one rule over you?' Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.'"

³His mother's brothers spoke of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, "He is our brother."

⁴They gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baal Berith, with which Abimelech hired vain and light fellows, who followed him.

⁵He went to his father's house at Ophrah, and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, being seventy persons, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left; for he hid himself.

⁶All the men of Shechem assembled themselves together, and all the house of Millo, and went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar that was in Shechem.

⁷When they told it to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said to them, "Listen to me, you men of Shechem, that God may listen to you.

⁸The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said to the olive tree, 'Reign you over us.'

⁹"But the olive tree said to them, 'Should I leave my fatness, with which by me they honor God and man, and go to wave back and forth over the trees?'

¹⁰"The trees said to the fig tree, 'Come, and reign over us.'

¹¹"But the fig tree said to them, 'Should I leave my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to wave back and forth over the trees?'

¹²"The trees said to the vine, 'Come, and reign over us.'

¹³"The vine said to them, 'Should I leave my new wine, which cheers God and man, and go to wave back and forth over the trees?'

¹⁴"Then all the trees said to the bramble, 'Come, and reign over us.'

¹⁵"The bramble said to the trees, 'If in truth you anoint me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.'

¹⁶"Now therefore, if you have dealt truly and righteously, in that you have made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done to him according to the deserving of his hands

¹⁷(for my father fought for you, and adventured his life, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian:

¹⁸and you are risen up against my father's house this day, and have slain his sons, seventy persons, on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his female servant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother).

¹⁹If you then have dealt truly and righteously with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice you in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you:

²⁰but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech."

²¹And Jotham escaped and fled and went to Beer and lived there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.

²²Abimelech was prince over Israel three years.

²³God sent a spirit of hostility between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech:

²⁴that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and that their blood might be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers.

²⁵The men of Shechem set an ambush for him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all who came along that way by them. And it was told to Abimelech.

²⁶Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brothers, and went over to Shechem; and the men of Shechem put their trust in him.

²⁷They went out into the field, and gathered their vineyards, and trod the grapes, and held festival, and went into the house of their god, and did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelech.

²⁸Gaal the son of Ebed said, "Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Isn't he the son of Jerubbaal, and Zebul his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem. But why should we serve him?

²⁹Would that this people were under my hand! Then would I remove Abimelech." He said to Abimelech, "Increase your army, and come out."

³⁰When Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled.

³¹He sent messengers to Abimelech craftily, saying, "Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brothers are come to Shechem; and behold, they constrain the city to take part against you.

³²Now therefore, rise up by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field.

³³And it shall be that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, you shall rise early, and rush on the city. And behold, when he and the people who are with him come out against you, then do whatever you can to them."

³⁴Abimelech rose up, and all the people who were with him, by night, and they lay in wait against Shechem in four companies.

³⁵Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city: and Abimelech rose up, and the people who were with him, from the ambush.

³⁶When Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, "Behold, there are people coming down from the tops of the mountains." Zebul said to him, "You see the shadow of the mountains as if they were men."

³⁷Gaal spoke again and said, "Behold, there are people coming down by the central part of the land, and one company comes by the way of the oak of Meonenim."

³⁸Then Zebul said to him, "Where is now your mouth, that you said, 'Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?' Is not this the people that you have despised? Please go out now and fight with them."

³⁹Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech.

⁴⁰Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and there fell many wounded, even to the entrance of the gate.

⁴¹Abimelech lived at Arumah: and Zebul drove out Gaal and his brothers, that they should not dwell in Shechem.

⁴²It happened on the next day, that the people went out into the field; and they told Abimelech.

⁴³He took the people, and divided them into three companies, and waited in ambush in the field; and he looked, and behold, the people came forth out of the city. He rose up against them, and struck them.

⁴⁴Abimelech, and the companies that were with him, rushed forward, and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city: and the two companies rushed against all who were in the field, and struck them.

⁴⁵Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and killed the people who were in it. And he destroyed the city, and sowed it with salt.

⁴⁶When all the men of the tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered into the stronghold of the house of El Berith.

⁴⁷It was told Abimelech that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together.

⁴⁸Abimelech got him up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a branch from the trees, and took it up, and laid it on his shoulder. And he said to the people who were with him, "What you have seen me do, do quickly, and do as I have done."

⁴⁹All the people likewise cut down his branch and followed Abimelech, and put them on the stronghold, and set the stronghold on fire on them; so that all the men of the Tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women.

⁵⁰Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it.

⁵¹But there was a strong tower within the city, and all the men and women fled, and all those of the city, and shut themselves in, and got them up to the roof of the tower.

⁵²Abimelech came to the tower, and fought against it, and drew near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire.

⁵³A certain woman threw down an upper millstone on Abimelech's head, and broke his skull.

⁵⁴Then he called quickly to the young man his armor bearer, and said to him, "Draw your sword, and kill me, that men not say of me, 'A woman killed him.'" So the young man thrust him through, and he died.

⁵⁵When the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man to his place.

⁵⁶Thus God requited the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did to his father, in killing his seventy brothers;

⁵⁷and all the wickedness of the men of Shechem did God return on their heads, and on them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

¹After Abimelech there arose to save Israel Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim.

²He judged Israel twenty-three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir.

³After him arose Jair, the Gileadite; and he judged Israel twenty-two years.

⁴He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkey colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havvoth Jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead.

⁵Jair died, and was buried in Kamon.

⁶The children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals, and the Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Sidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook the Lord, and did not serve him.

⁷The anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the children of Ammon.

⁸They troubled and oppressed the children of Israel that year. Eighteen years they oppressed all the children of Israel that were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.

⁹The children of Ammon passed over the Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim; so that Israel was very distressed.

¹⁰The children of Israel cried to the Lord, saying, "We have sinned against you, even because we have forsaken our God, and have served the Baals."

¹¹The Lord said to the children of Israel, "Did I not save you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines?

¹²The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and you cried to me, and I saved you out of their hand.

¹³Yet you have forsaken me, and served other gods. Therefore I will save you no more.

¹⁴Go and cry to the gods which you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress."

¹⁵The children of Israel said to the Lord, "We have sinned. Do to us whatever seems good to you; only deliver us, please, this day."

¹⁶They put away the foreign gods from among them, and served the Lord; and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.

¹⁷Then the children of Ammon were gathered together, and encamped in Gilead. The children of Israel assembled themselves together, and encamped at Mizpah.

¹⁸The people, the rulers of Gilead, said to each other, "What man is he who will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead."

¹Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of a prostitute. And Gilead became the father of Jephthah.

²Gilead's wife bore him sons; and when his wife's sons grew up, they drove out Jephthah, and said to him, "You shall not inherit in our father's house; for you are the son of another woman."

³Then Jephthah fled from his brothers, and lived in the land of Tob: and there were gathered vain fellows to Jephthah, and they went out with him.

⁴It happened after a while, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel.

⁵It was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah out of the land of Tob;

⁶and they said to Jephthah, "Come and be our chief, that we may fight with the children of Ammon."

⁷Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "Did you not hate me, and drive me out of my father's house? And why have you come to me now when you are in distress?"

⁸The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "Therefore we have turned again to you now, that you may go with us, and fight with the children of Ammon; and you shall be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead."

⁹Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "If you bring me home again to fight with the children of Ammon, and the Lord delivers them before me, shall I be your head?"

¹⁰The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "The Lord shall be witness between us; surely according to your word so will we do."

¹¹Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord in Mizpah.

¹²Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, "What have you to do with me, that you are come to me to fight against my land?"

¹³The king of the children of Ammon answered to the messengers of Jephthah, "Because Israel took away my land, when he came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon even to the Jabbok, and to the Jordan. Now therefore restore it peaceably."

¹⁴Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the children of Ammon;

¹⁵and he said to him, "Thus says Jephthah: 'Israel did not take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon,

¹⁶but when they came up from Egypt, and Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea, and came to Kadesh;

¹⁷then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, 'Please let me pass through your land.' But the king of Edom did not listen. In the same way, he sent to the king of Moab; but he would not. So Israel stayed in Kadesh.

¹⁸Then they went through the wilderness, and went around the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and they encamped on the other side of the Arnon; but they did not come within the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab.

¹⁹Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, "Please let us pass through your land to our land.'

²⁰But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory; but Sihon gathered all his people together, and encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.

²¹The Lord, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they struck them. So Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.

²²They possessed all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon even to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness even to the Jordan.

²³So now the Lord, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from before his people Israel, and should you possess them?

²⁴Won't you possess that which Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whoever the Lord our God has driven out from before us, we will possess.

²⁵And now are you anything better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend against Israel, or did he ever fight against them?

²⁶While Israel lived in Heshbon and its towns, and in Aroer and its towns, and in all the cities that are along by the side of the Arnon, three hundred years; why did you not recover them within that time?

²⁷I therefore have not sinned against you, but you do me wrong by making war against me. The Lord, the Judge, be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon."

²⁸However the king of the children of Ammon did not listen to the words of Jephthah which he sent him.

²⁹Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over to the children of Ammon.

³⁰Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, and said, "If you will indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand,

³¹then it shall be that whatever comes forth from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering."

³²So Jephthah passed over to the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord delivered them into his hand.

³³He struck them from Aroer until you come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and to Abelcheramim, with a very great slaughter. So the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.

³⁴Jephthah came to Mizpah to his house; and behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances: and she was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter.

³⁵It happened, when he saw her, that he tore his clothes, and said, "Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are one of those who trouble me; for I have given my word to the Lord, and I can't break it."

³⁶She said to him, "My father, since you have given your word to the Lord; do to me as you promised, because the Lord has taken vengeance for you on your enemies, even on the children of Ammon."

³⁷She said to her father, "Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may depart and go down on the mountains, and weep because of my virginity, I and my companions."

³⁸He said, "Go." He sent her away for two months: and she departed, she and her companions, and wept because of her virginity on the mountains.

³⁹It happened at the end of two months, that she returned to her father, who did with her according to what he had vowed. And she was a virgin. It became a custom in Israel,

⁴⁰that the daughters of Israel went yearly four days in a year to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

¹The men of Ephraim were gathered together, and passed northward; and they said to Jephthah, "Why did you pass over to fight against the children of Ammon, and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house on you with fire."

²Jephthah said to them, "I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, you did not save me out of their hand.

³When I saw that you did not save me, I put my life in my own hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the Lord delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day, to fight against me?"

⁴Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim; and the men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they said, "You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim, and in the midst of Manasseh."

⁵The Gileadites took the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. It was so, that when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, "Let me go over," the men of Gilead said to him, "Are you an Ephraimite?" If he said, "No";

⁶then they said to him, "Now say 'Shibboleth;'" and he said "Sibboleth"; for he couldn't manage to pronounce it right: then they seized him, and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. There fell at that time of Ephraim forty-two thousand.

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

⁸After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.

⁹He had thirty sons; and thirty daughters he sent abroad, and thirty daughters he brought in from abroad for his sons. He judged Israel seven years.

¹⁰Ibzan died, and was buried at Bethlehem.

¹¹After him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years.

¹²Elon the Zebulunite died, and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.

¹³After him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel.

¹⁴He had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy donkey colts. And he judged Israel eight years.

¹⁵Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

¹The children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.

²There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and did not bear. .

³The angel of the Lord appeared to the woman, and said to her, "See now, you are barren, and do not bear; but you shall conceive, and bear a son.

⁴Now therefore please be careful and drink no wine nor strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing.

⁵For behold, you shall conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head; for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb. And he shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines."

⁶Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, "A man of God came to me, and his face was like the face of the angel of God, very awesome; and I didn't ask him where he was from, neither did he tell me his name,

⁷but he said to me, 'Behold, you shall conceive, and bear a son. And now drink no wine nor strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing; for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb until the day of his death.'"

⁸Then Manoah entreated the Lord, and said, "Oh, Lord, please let the man of God whom you did send come again to us, and teach us what we shall do to the child who shall be born."

⁹God 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, wasn't with her.

¹⁰The woman ran quickly, and told her husband, and said to him, "Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me."

¹¹Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said to him, "Are you the man who spoke to the woman?" He said, "I am."

¹²Manoah said, "Now let your words happen. How shall the child be raised and what is he to do?"

¹³The angel of the Lord said to Manoah, "Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful.

¹⁴She may not eat of anything that comes of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. All that I have commanded her she is to observe."

¹⁵Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, "Please, stay a bit longer that we may prepare a young goat for you."

¹⁶The angel of the Lord said to Manoah, "Though you detain me, I won't eat of your bread. And if you prepare a burnt offering, you must offer it to the Lord." For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord.

¹⁷Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, "What is your name, that when your words come true we may honor you?"

¹⁸And the angel of the Lord said to him, "Why do you ask for my name? It is incomprehensible."

¹⁹So Manoah took the young goat and a grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the Lord, who works wonders. Then the angel did a wonderful thing as Manoah and his wife looked on.

²⁰For it happened, when the flame went up toward the sky from off the altar, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on, and they fell on their faces to the ground.

²¹But the angel of the Lord did not appear again to Manoah or to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord.

²²Manoah said to his wife, :We shall surely die, because we have seen God."

²³But his wife said to him, "If the Lord meant to kill us, he wouldn't have received a burnt offering and a grain offering from us, neither would he have shown us all these things, nor would he have spoken to us now like this."

²⁴The woman bore a son, and named him Samson. And the child grew, and the Lord blessed him.

²⁵And the Spirit of the Lord began to direct him in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.