Day 17 of 90

¹Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines.

²He came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, "I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. Now therefore get her for me as wife."

³Then his father and his mother said to him, "Is there not a woman among the daughters of your brothers, or among all my people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?" And Samson said to his father, "Get her for me, for she is the right one for me."

⁴But his father and his mother did not know that it was of the Lord, for he sought for an opportunity against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines had rule over Israel.

⁵Then Samson went down with his father and his mother to Timnah, and came to the vineyards of Timnah. And behold, a young lion roared against him.

⁶And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he tore him as he would have torn a young goat. And he had nothing in his hand, but he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.

⁷He went down and talked with the woman, and she pleased Samson.

⁸After a while he returned to take her; and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey.

⁹He took it into his hands, and went on, eating as he went. And he came to his father and mother, and gave to them, and they ate. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the body of the lion.

¹⁰His father went down to the woman, and Samson made a feast there, since young men used to do so.

¹¹It happened, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.

¹²Samson said to them, "Let me now put forth a riddle to you. If you can explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, and figure it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing.

¹³But if you can't explain it to me, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing." And they said to him, "Propose your riddle, we want to hear it."

¹⁴He said to them, "Out of the eater came forth food. Out of the strong came forth sweetness." They couldn't in three days declare the riddle.

¹⁵And it happened on the seventh day, that they said to Samson's wife, "Entice your husband, that he may tell us the riddle, lest we burn you and your father's house with fire. Have you called us to impoverish us? Is it not so?"

¹⁶Samson's wife wept before him, and said, "You just hate me, and do not love me. You have put forth a riddle to the children of my people, and haven't told it me." And he said to her, "Behold, I haven't told it to my father or my mother, and shall I tell you?"

¹⁷She wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it happened on the seventh day, that he told her, because she pressed him sore; and she told the riddle to the children of her people.

¹⁸The men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, "What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?" He said to them, "If you hadn't plowed with my heifer, you wouldn't have found out my riddle."

¹⁹The Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and struck thirty men of them, and took their belongings, and gave their garments to those who explained the riddle. His anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house.

²⁰But Samson's wife was given to his companion, who had been his friend.

¹But after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a young goat; and he said, "I will go in to my wife into the room." But her father wouldn't allow him to go in.

²Her father said, "I most certainly thought that you had utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to your companion. Isn't her younger sister more beautiful than she is? Please take her, instead."

³Samson said to them, "This time I will be blameless in regard of the Philistines, when I harm them."

⁴Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put a torch in the midst between every two tails.

⁵When he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks and the standing grain, and also the olive groves.

⁶Then the Philistines said, "Who has done this?" They said, "Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife, and given her to his companion." The Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.

⁷Samson said to them, "If you behave like this, surely I will be avenged of you, and after that I will cease."

⁸He struck them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and lived in the cleft of the rock of Etam.

⁹Then the Philistines went up, and encamped in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.

¹⁰The men of Judah said, "Why have you come up against us?" They said, "We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he has done to us."

¹¹Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, "Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?" He said to them, "As they did to me, so have I done to them."

¹²They said to him, "We have come down to bind you, that we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines." Samson said to them, "Swear to me that you will not fall on me yourselves."

¹³They spoke to him, saying, "No; but we will bind you fast, and deliver you into their hand; but surely we will not kill you." They bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock.

¹⁴When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him: and the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands dropped from off his hands.

¹⁵And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and reached down and took it, and struck a thousand men with it.

¹⁶Samson said, "With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps on heaps; with the jawbone of a donkey I have struck a thousand men."

¹⁷It happened, when he had finished speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand; and that place was called Ramath Lehi.

¹⁸He was very thirsty, and called on the Lord, and said, "You have given this great deliverance by the hand of your servant; and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?"

¹⁹And God split the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came out of it. When he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: therefore its name was called En Hakore, which is in Lehi, to this day.

²⁰He judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

¹Samson went to Gaza, and saw a prostitute there, and went in to her.

²The Gazites were told, "Samson is here!" They surrounded him, and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city, and were quiet all night, saying, "Wait until morning light, then we will kill him."

³Samson stayed in bed until midnight, and arose at midnight, and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and plucked them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the mountain that is overlooking Hebron.

⁴It came to pass afterward, that he fell in love with a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

⁵The lords of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her, "Entice him, and see in which his great strength lies, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver."

⁶Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you can be bound and subdued."

⁷Samson said to her, "If they bind me with seven green cords that were never dried, then shall I become weak, and be as another man."

⁸Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green cords which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.

⁹Now she had an ambush waiting in the inner room. She said to him, "The Philistines are on you, Samson!" He broke the cords, as a string of tow is broken when it touches the fire. So his strength was not known.

¹⁰Delilah said to Samson, "Behold, you have mocked me, and told me lies: now please tell me with which you might be bound."

¹¹He said to her, "If they only bind me with new ropes with which no work has been done, then shall I become weak, and be as another man."

¹²So Delilah took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said to him, "The Philistines are on you, Samson!" The ambush was waiting in the inner room. He broke them off his arms like a thread.

¹³Delilah said to Samson, "Until now, you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me with what you might be bound." He said to her, "If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web."

¹⁴She fastened it with the pin, and said to him, "The Philistines are on you, Samson!" He awakened out of his sleep, and plucked away the pin of the beam, and the web.

¹⁵She said to him, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies."

¹⁶It happened, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, that his soul was troubled to death.

¹⁷He told her all his heart, and said to her, "No razor has ever come on my head; for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will go from me, and I will become weak, and be like any other man."

¹⁸When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, "Come up this once, for he has told me all his heart." Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought the money in their hand.

¹⁹She made him sleep on her knees; and she called for a man, and shaved off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.

²⁰She said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" He awoke out of his sleep, and said, "I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free." But he didn't know that the Lord had departed from him.

²¹The Philistines seized him, and put out his eyes. And they brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with bronze shackles, and he ground at the mill in the prison.

²²However the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaved.

²³The lords of the Philistines gathered them together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to celebrate; for they said, "Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hand."

²⁴When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, "Our god has delivered our enemy and the destroyer of our country, who has slain many of us, into our hand."

²⁵It happened, when their hearts were merry, that they said, "Call for Samson, that he may entertain us." They called for Samson out of the prison; and he performed before them. They set him between the pillars;

²⁶and Samson said to the boy who held him by the hand, "Allow me to feel the pillars whereupon the house rests, that I may lean on them."

²⁷Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were on the roof about three thousand men and women, who saw while Samson made sport.

²⁸Samson called to the Lord, and said, "Lord God, please remember me, and please strengthen me only this once, God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes."

²⁹Samson took hold of the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and leaned on them, the one with his right hand, and the other with his left.

³⁰Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" He bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell on the lords, and on all the people who were therein. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than those who he killed in his life.

³¹Then his brothers and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burial site of Manoah his father. He judged Israel twenty years.

¹There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. .

²He said to his mother, "The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it." His mother said, "Blessed be my son of the Lord."

³He restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother; and his mother said, "I most certainly dedicate the silver to the Lord from my hand for my son, to make an engraved image and a molten image. Now therefore I will restore it to you."

⁴When he restored the money to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made of it an engraved image and a molten image: and it was in the house of Micah.

⁵The man Micah had a house of gods, and he made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.

⁶In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

⁷There was a young man out of Bethlehem Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he lived there.

⁸The man departed out of the city, out of Bethlehem Judah, to live where he could find a place, and he came to the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he traveled.

⁹Micah said to him, "Where did you come from?" He said to him, "I am a Levite of Bethlehem Judah, and I am looking for a place to live."

¹⁰Micah said to him, Dwell with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver by the year, and a suit of clothing, and your food. So the Levite went in.

¹¹The Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was to him as one of his sons.

¹²Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.

¹³Then Micah said, "Now I know that the Lord will do good to me, seeing I have a Levite as my priest."

¹In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the Danites was looking for an inheritance to dwell in; for to that day, their inheritance had not fallen to them among the tribes of Israel.

²The children of Dan sent of their family five men from their whole number, men of valor, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said to them, "Go, explore the land!" They came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and stayed there.

³When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite; and they turned in that direction, and said to him, "Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? And what is your business here?"

⁴He said to them, "Thus and so has Micah dealt with me, and he has hired me, and I have become his priest."

⁵They said to him, "Please ask counsel of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous."

⁶The priest said to them, "Go in peace. The Lord will watch over you on your journey."

⁷Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people who were there, and how they lived in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; for there was no one in the land possessing authority that might trouble them in anyway, and they were far from the Sidonians, and had no dealings with anyone.

⁸They came to their brothers to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brothers said to them, "What do you say?"

⁹They said, "Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. Will you do nothing? Do not hesitate to go and to enter in to possess the land.

¹⁰When you go, you shall come to a secure people, and the land is large; for God has given it into your hand, a place where there is no want of anything that is on the earth."

¹¹Then the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men armed with weapons of war, set forth from there.

¹²They went up, and encamped in Kiriath Jearim, in Judah. Therefore they called that place Mahaneh Dan to this day; behold, it is behind Kiriath Jearim.

¹³They passed there to the hill country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.

¹⁴Then the five men who went to spy out the country of Laish answered, and said to their brothers, "Do you know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and an engraved image, and a molten image? Now therefore consider what you have to do."

¹⁵They turned aside there, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even to the house of Micah, and asked him of his welfare.

¹⁶The six hundred men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate.

¹⁷The five men who went to spy out the land went up, and came in there, and took the engraved image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war.

¹⁸When these went into Micah's house, and took the engraved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image, the priest said to them, "What are you doing?"

¹⁹They said to him, "Hold your peace, lay your hand on your mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?"

²⁰The priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the engraved image, and went in the midst of the people.

²¹So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the livestock and the goods before them.

²²When they were some distance from the house of Micah, the men who were in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan.

²³They cried to the children of Dan. They turned their faces, and said to Micah, "What's wrong with you, that you come with such a company?"

²⁴He said, "You have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and have gone away, and what more do I have? How then do you say to me, 'What's wrong with you?'"

²⁵The children of Dan said to him, "Do not let your voice be heard among us, or angry men will attack you, and you lose your life, with the lives of your household."

²⁶The children of Dan went their way; and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house.

²⁷They took that which Micah had made, and the priest whom he had, and came to Laish, to a people quiet and secure, and struck them with the edge of the sword; and they burnt the city with fire.

²⁸There was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with anyone, and it was in the valley that lies by Beth Rehob. They built the city, and lived there.

²⁹They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel. However the name of the city was originally Laish.

³⁰The children of Dan set up for themselves the engraved image. And Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the exile from the land.

³¹So they set up for themselves Micah's engraved image which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

¹It happened in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the farther side of the hill country of Ephraim, who took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem Judah.

²His concubine was unfaithful to him and went away from him to her father's house in Bethlehem of Judah, and was there about four months.

³Her husband arose, and went after her, to speak kindly to her, to bring her again, having his servant with him, and a couple of donkeys. And she brought him into her father's house; and when the father of the young lady saw him, he rejoiced to meet him.

⁴His father-in-law, the young lady's father, welcomed him; and he stayed with him three days. So they ate and drank and stayed there.

⁵It happened on the fourth day, that they arose early in the morning, and he rose up to depart: and the young lady's father said to his son-in-law, "Refresh yourself with a piece of bread, and after that you may go."

⁶So they sat down, ate, and drank, both of them together. Then the young lady's father said to the man, "Please agree to stay the night, and enjoy yourself."

⁷The man rose up to depart; but his father-in-law urged him, and he stayed there again.

⁸He arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart; and the young lady's father said, "Please refresh yourself and stay until the day declines." And they both ate.

⁹When the man rose up with his concubine and his servant to leave, his father-in-law, the young lady's father, said to him, "Behold, now the day draws toward evening, please stay the night. Behold, the day grows to an end, stay here, and enjoy yourself; and tomorrow you can get up early for your journey so that you may go home."

¹⁰But the man wouldn't stay that night, but he rose up and departed, and went toward Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). And there were with him a couple of saddled donkeys, and his concubine was also with him.

¹¹When they were by Jebus, the day was almost gone, and the servant said to his master, "Please come and let us stop at this city of the Jebusites, and spend the night in it."

¹²His master said to him, "We won't go into the city of a foreigner that is not of the children of Israel, but we will pass over to Gibeah."

¹³He said to his servant, "Come and let us try to reach one of those places and we will spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah."

¹⁴So they passed on and went their way; and the sun set on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin.

¹⁵They turned that way to go in to spend the night in Gibeah. And he went in and they sat down in the street of the city; for there was no one who would take them into their house to spend the night.

¹⁶Behold, there came an old man from his work out in the field at evening. Now the man was of the hill country of Ephraim, and he was residing in Gibeah; but the men of the place were Benjamites.

¹⁷He lifted up his eyes, and saw the wayfaring man in the street of the city; and the old man said, "Where are you going? Where did you come from?"

¹⁸He said to him, "We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the farther side of the hill country of Ephraim. I am from there, and I went to Bethlehem in Judah. I am going to the house of the Lord; and there is no man who will take me into his home.

¹⁹Yet there is both straw and feed for our donkeys, and there is bread and wine also for me, and for your female servant, and for the young man who is with your servants. There is no lack of anything."

²⁰And the old man said, "Peace be to you. I will take care of all your needs; however, do not spend the night in the square."

²¹So he brought him into his house, and fed the donkeys. And they washed their feet, and ate and drank.

²²As they were enjoying themselves, behold, the men of the city, some wicked men of the city surrounded the house, beating at the door. And they spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, "Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may have sex with him!"

²³The man, the master of the house, went out to them, and said to them, "No, my brothers, please do not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house. Do not do this folly.

²⁴Behold, here is my virgin daughter and his concubine. I will bring them out now. Ravish them and do with them what seems good to you; but do not do any such a disgraceful thing to this man."

²⁵But the men wouldn't listen to him: so the man laid hold of his concubine, and brought her out to them. And they raped her and abused her all night until the morning, and when the day began to dawn they let her go.

²⁶Then at daybreak the woman arrived and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was, until daylight.

²⁷Her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way; and behold, the woman his concubine was fallen down at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold.

²⁸He said to her, "Get up, and let us go!" But no one answered. Then he took her up on the donkey; and the man rose up, and went to his place.

²⁹When he had come into his house, he took a knife, and took hold of his concubine and divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel.

³⁰It was so, that all who saw it said, "There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt to this day! Consider it, take counsel, and speak."

¹Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was assembled as one man, from Dan even to Beersheba, with the land of Gilead, to the Lord at Mizpah.

²The leaders of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen who drew sword.

³(Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) The children of Israel said, "Tell us, how did this wickedness happen?"

⁴The Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered, "I came into Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night.

⁵The men of Gibeah rose against me, and surrounded the house at night. They intended to kill me, and they raped my concubine, and she is dead.

⁶I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of the inheritance of Israel; for they have committed wickedness and disgrace in Israel.

⁷Behold, you children of Israel, all of you, give your advice and counsel here."

⁸All the people arose as one man, saying, "None of us will go to his tent, neither will any of us return to his house.

⁹But now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah: we will go up against it by lot;

¹⁰and we will take ten men of one hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and one hundred of one thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to get food for the people, that when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, they may do to it according to all the disgrace that they have committed in Israel."

¹¹So all the men of Israel gathered against the city, united as one man.

¹²The tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, "What wickedness is this that has happened among you?

¹³Now therefore deliver up the men, the wicked men who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel." But Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the children of Israel.

¹⁴The children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities to Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel.

¹⁵The children of Benjamin were numbered on that day out of the cities twenty-six thousand men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who were numbered seven hundred chosen men.

¹⁶Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men left-handed; everyone could sling stones at a hair and not miss.

¹⁷The men of Israel, besides Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men who drew sword: all these were men of war.

¹⁸The children of Israel arose, and went up to Bethel, and asked counsel of God; and they said, "Who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Benjamin?" The Lord said, "Judah first."

¹⁹The children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped against Gibeah.

²⁰The men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin; and the men of Israel set the battle in array against them at Gibeah.

²¹The children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites on that day Twenty-two thousand men.

²²The people, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves, and set the battle again in array in the place where they set themselves in array the first day.

²³The children of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until evening; and they asked of the Lord, saying, "Shall I again draw near to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother?" The Lord said, "Go up against him."

²⁴The children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day.

²⁵Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men; all these drew the sword.

²⁶Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came to Bethel, and wept, and sat there before the Lord, and fasted that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.

²⁷The children of Israel asked of the Lord (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,

²⁸and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days), "Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease?" The Lord said, "Go up; for tomorrow I will deliver him into your hand."

²⁹Israel set ambushes all around Gibeah.

³⁰The children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and set themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times.

³¹The children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to strike and kill some of the people, as at other times, on the highways, of which one goes up to Bethel, and the other to Gibeah, in the field, about thirty men of Israel.

³²The children of Benjamin said, "They are defeated before us, as previously." But the children of Israel said, "Let us flee, and draw them away from the city to the highways."

³³All the men of Israel rose up out of their place, and set themselves in array at Baal Tamar. And the men of Israel in ambush rushed out of their place, even out of Maareh Geba.

³⁴There came over against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was severe; but they didn't know that disaster was close upon them.

³⁵The Lord struck Benjamin before Israel; and the children of Israel destroyed of Benjamin that day twenty-five thousand one hundred men: all armed with swords.

³⁶So the children of Benjamin saw that they were defeated; for the men of Israel gave ground to Benjamin, because they trusted the ambushers whom they had set against Gibeah.

³⁷The ambushers hurried, and rushed on Gibeah; and the ambushers drew themselves along, and struck all the city with the edge of the sword.

³⁸Now the appointed sign between the men of Israel and the ambushers was that they should make a great cloud of smoke rise up out of the city.

³⁹The men of Israel turned in the battle, and Benjamin began to strike and kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons; for they said, "Surely they are defeated before us, as in the first battle."

⁴⁰But when the cloud began to arise up out of the city in a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them; and behold, the whole city went up in smoke into the sky.

⁴¹The men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were terrified; for they saw that disaster had come on them.

⁴²Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel to the way of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them; and those who came out of the cities destroyed them in its midst.

⁴³They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them, and overtook them opposite Gibeah toward the east.

⁴⁴There fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these were men of valor.

⁴⁵They turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon: and they killed on the highways five thousand men, and followed hard after them to Gidom, and struck down two thousand men.

⁴⁶So that all who fell that day of Benjamin were twenty-five thousand swordsmen; all these were valiant fighters.

⁴⁷But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and stayed in the rock of Rimmon four months.

⁴⁸The men of Israel turned again on the children of Benjamin, and struck them with the edge of the sword, both the entire city, and the livestock, and all that they found: moreover all the cities which they found they set on fire.

¹Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, "There shall not any of us give his daughter to Benjamin as wife."

²The people came to Bethel, and sat there until evening before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept severely.

³They said, "Lord God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that there should be today one tribe lacking in Israel?"

⁴It happened on the next day that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

⁵The children of Israel said, "Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up in the assembly to the Lord?" For they had made a great oath concerning anyone who did not come up to the Lord to Mizpah, saying, "He shall surely be put to death."

⁶The children of Israel grieved for Benjamin their brother, and said, "There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day.

⁷How shall we do for wives for those who remain, seeing we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?"

⁸They said, "What one is there of the tribes of Israel who did not come up to the Lord to Mizpah?" Behold, no one came to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly.

⁹For when the people were numbered, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead there.

¹⁰The congregation sent there twelve thousand men of the most valiant, and commanded them, saying, "Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the little ones.

¹¹This is the thing that you shall do: you shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has slept with a man."

¹²They found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young virgins who had never slept with a man; and they brought them to the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

¹³The whole congregation sent and spoke to the children of Benjamin who were in the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace to them.

¹⁴Benjamin returned at that time; and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh Gilead: and yet so they weren't enough for them.

¹⁵The people grieved for Benjamin, because the Lord had made a gap in the tribes of Israel.

¹⁶Then the elders of the congregation said, "How shall we provide wives for those who remain, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?"

¹⁷They said, "There must be an inheritance for those who are escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel.

¹⁸However we may not give them wives of our daughters, for the children of Israel had sworn, saying, 'Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin.'"

¹⁹They said, "Behold, there is a feast of the Lord from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah."

²⁰They commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, "Go and lie in wait in the vineyards,

²¹and watch. If the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards, and each man catch his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.

²²It shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, that we will say to them, 'Grant them graciously to us, because we didn't take wives for each man in battle, neither did you give them to them, otherwise you would now be guilty.'"

²³The children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of those who danced, whom they carried off. They went and returned to their inheritance, built the cities, and lived in them.

²⁴The children of Israel departed there at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from there every man to his inheritance.

²⁵In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

¹It happened in the days when the judges judged, that there was a famine in the land. A certain man of Bethlehem Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.

²The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem Judah. They came into the country of Moab, and continued there.

³Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons.

⁴And they took for themselves wives from the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they lived there about ten years.

⁵Mahlon and Chilion died both of them; and the woman was left of her two children and of her husband.

⁶Then she arose with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread.

⁷She went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.

⁸Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go, return each of you to her mother's house: the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead, and with me.

⁹The Lord grant you that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband." Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voice, and wept.

¹⁰They said to her, "No, but we will return with you to your people."

¹¹Naomi said, "Go back, my daughters. Why do you want to go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?

¹²Go back, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say, 'I have hope,' if I should even have a husband tonight, and should also bear sons;

¹³would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from having husbands? No, my daughters, for it grieves me much for your sakes, for the hand of the Lord has gone out against me."

¹⁴They lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth joined with her.

¹⁵She said, "Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people, and to her god. Follow your sister-in-law.

¹⁶Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you, and to return from following after you, for where you go, I will go; and where you stay, I will stay; your people shall be my people, and your God my God;

¹⁷where you die, will I die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death part you and me."

¹⁸When she saw that she was steadfastly minded to go with her, she left off speaking to her.

¹⁹So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. It happened, when they had come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they asked, "Is this Naomi?"

²⁰She said to them, "Do not call me Naomi. Call me Marah; for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.

²¹I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?"

²²So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

¹Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz.

²Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, "Let me now go to the field, and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor." She said to her, "Go, my daughter."

³She went, and came and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.

⁴Behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, "The Lord be with you." They answered him, "The Lord bless you."

⁵Then Boaz said to his servant who was set over the reapers, "Whose young lady is this?"

⁶The servant who was set over the reapers answered, "It is the Moabite lady who came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab.

⁷She said, 'Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.' So she came, and has continued even from the morning until now, except that she stayed a little in the house."

⁸Then Boaz said to Ruth, "Listen, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field, and do not go from here, but stay here close to my maidens.

⁹Let your eyes be on the field that they reap, and go after them. Haven't I commanded the young men not to touch you? When you are thirsty, go to the vessels, and drink from that which the young men have drawn."

¹⁰Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said to him, "Why have I found favor in your sight, that you should take knowledge of me, since I am a foreigner?"

¹¹Boaz answered her, "It has fully been shown to me, all that you have done to your mother-in-law since the death of your husband; and how you have left your father and your mother, and the land of your birth, and have come to a people that you didn't know before.

¹²May the Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given you from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge."

¹³Then she said, "Let me find favor in your sight, my lord, because you have comforted me, and because you have spoken kindly to your handmaid, though I am not as one of your handmaidens."

¹⁴At meal time Boaz said to her, "Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip your morsel in the vinegar." She sat beside the reapers, and they reached her parched grain, and she ate, and was satisfied, and left some of it.

¹⁵When she had risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, "Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her.

¹⁶Also pull out some for her from the bundles, and leave it, and let her glean, and do not rebuke her."

¹⁷So she gleaned in the field until evening; and she beat out that which she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.

¹⁸She took it up, and went into the city; and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought out and gave to her that which she had left after she was sufficed.

¹⁹Her mother-in-law said to her, "Where have you gleaned today? And where have you worked? Blessed be he who noticed you." She showed her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, "The man's name with whom I worked today is Boaz."

²⁰Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "Blessed be he of the Lord, who has not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead." Naomi said to her, "The man is a close relative to us, one of our near kinsmen."

²¹Ruth the Moabitess said, "Yes, he said to me, 'You shall stay close to my young men, until they have ended all my harvest.'"

²²Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, "It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his maidens, and that they not meet you in any other field."

²³So she stayed close to the maidens of Boaz, to glean to the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and she lived with her mother-in-law.

¹Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, "My daughter, shall I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you?

²Now isn't Boaz our kinsman, with whose maidens you were? Behold, he winnows barley tonight at the threshing floor.

³Therefore wash yourself, anoint yourself, get dressed, and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.

⁴It shall be, when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies, and you shall go in, and uncover his feet, and lie down; then he will tell you what you shall do."

⁵She said to her, "All that you say I will do."

⁶She went down to the threshing floor, and did according to all that her mother-in-law told her.

⁷When Boaz had eaten and drank, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. She came quietly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.

⁸It happened at midnight, that the man was startled and turned over; and behold, a woman lay at his feet.

⁹He said, "Who are you?" She answered, "I am Ruth your handmaid. Therefore spread the corner of your garment over your handmaid; for you are a redeeming kinsman."

¹⁰He said, "Blessed are you by the Lord, my daughter. You have shown more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as you didn't follow young men, whether poor or rich.

¹¹Now, my daughter, do not be afraid; I will do to you all that you say; for all the city of my people does know that you are a worthy woman.

¹²Now it is true that I am a redeeming kinsman; however there is a redeemer closer than I am.

¹³Stay this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform for you the part of a redeemer, well; let him do the redeemer's part. But if he will not do the part of a redeemer for you, then I will do the part of a redeemer for you, as the Lord lives. Lie down until the morning."

¹⁴She lay at his feet until the morning. She rose up before one could discern another. For he said, "Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor."

¹⁵He said, "Bring the mantle that is on you, and hold it." She held it; and he measured six measures of barley, and laid it on her; and he went into the city.

¹⁶When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, "How did it go, my daughter?" She told her all that the man had done to her.

¹⁷She said, "He gave me these six measures of barley; for he said, 'Do not go empty to your mother-in-law.'"

¹⁸Then she said, "Wait, my daughter, until you know how the matter will fall; for the man will not rest, until he has finished the thing this day."

¹Now Boaz went up to the gate, and sat down there. Behold, the near kinsman of whom Boaz spoke came by; to whom he said, "Come over here, friend, and sit down!" He turned aside, and sat down.

²He took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, "Sit down here." They sat down.

³He said to the near kinsman, "Naomi, who has come back out of the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech's.

⁴I thought to disclose it to you, saying, 'Buy it before those who sit here, and before the elders of my people.' If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know. For there is no one to redeem it besides you; and I am after you." He said, "I will redeem it."

⁵Then Boaz said, "On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must buy it also from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance."

⁶The near kinsman said, "I can't redeem it for myself, lest I mar my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption for yourself; for I can't redeem it."

⁷Now this was the custom in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning exchanging, to confirm all things: a man took off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbor; and this was the way of attestation in Israel.

⁸So the near kinsman said to Boaz, "Buy it for yourself." He took off his shoe.

⁹Boaz said to the elders, and to all the people, "You are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, from the hand of Naomi.

¹⁰Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers, and from the gate of his place. You are witnesses this day."

¹¹All the people who were in the gate, and the elders, said, "We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who has come into your house like Rachel and like Leah, which two built the house of Israel; and treat you worthily in Ephrathah, and be famous in Bethlehem.

¹²Let your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, of the seed which the Lord shall give you of this young woman."

¹³So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife; and he went in to her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son.

¹⁴The women said to Naomi, "Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer; and let his name be famous in Israel.

¹⁵He shall be to you a restorer of life, and sustain you in your old age, for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him."

¹⁶Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and looked after him.

¹⁷The women, her neighbors, gave him a name, saying, "There is a son born to Naomi." And they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

¹⁸Now this is the history of the generations of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron,

¹⁹and Hezron became the father of Ram, and Ram became the father of Amminadab,

²⁰and Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon became the father of Salmon,

²¹and Salmon became the father of Boaz, and Boaz became the father of Obed,

²²and Obed became the father of Jesse, and Jesse became the father of David.

¹Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite:

²and he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

³This man went up out of his city from year to year to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, priests to the Lord, were there.

⁴When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions:

⁵but to Hannah he gave a double portion; for he loved Hannah, but the Lord had shut up her womb.

⁶Her rival taunted her severely, to irritate her, because the Lord had shut up her womb.

⁷As he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, so she taunted her; therefore she wept, and did not eat.

⁸Elkanah her husband said to her, "Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?"

⁹So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drank. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his seat by the doorpost of the Lord's temple.

¹⁰She was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord, and wept bitterly.

¹¹She vowed a vow, and said, "Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your handmaid, and remember me, and not forget your handmaid, but will give to your handmaid a boy, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come on his head."

¹²It happened, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli saw her mouth.

¹³Now Hannah spoke in her heart. Only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk.

¹⁴Eli said to her, "How long will you make yourself drunk? Put away your wine from you."

¹⁵Hannah answered, "No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I poured out my soul before the Lord.

¹⁶Do not count your handmaid as a worthless woman; for I have been speaking out of the abundance of my distress and my anguish."

¹⁷Then Eli answered, "Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of him."

¹⁸She said, "Let your handmaid find favor in your sight." So the woman went her way, and ate; and her facial expression wasn't sad any more.

¹⁹They rose up in the morning early, and worshiped before the Lord, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the Lord remembered her.

²⁰It happened, when the time had come, that Hannah conceived, and bore a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, "Because I have asked him of the Lord."

²¹The man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice, and his vow.

²²But Hannah did not go up; for she said to her husband, "Not until the child is weaned; then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord, and stay there forever."

²³Elkanah her husband said to her, "Do what seems good to you. Wait until you have weaned him; only may the Lord establish his word." So the woman waited and nursed her son, until she weaned him.

²⁴When she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with a three year old bull, and one ephah of meal, and a bottle of wine, and brought him to the Lord's house in Shiloh. The child was young.

²⁵They killed the bull, and brought the child to Eli.

²⁶She said, "Oh, my lord, as your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to the Lord.

²⁷For this child I prayed; and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of him.

²⁸Therefore also I have granted him to the Lord. As long as he lives he is granted to the Lord." He worshiped the Lord there.

¹Hannah prayed, and said: "My heart exults in the Lord! My horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth is enlarged over my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation.

²There is no one as holy as the Lord, For there is no one besides you, nor is there any rock like our God.

³"Talk no more so exceeding proudly. Do not let arrogance come out of your mouth, For the Lord is a God of knowledge. By him actions are weighed.

⁴"The bows of the mighty men are broken. Those who stumbled are armed with strength.

⁵Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread. Those who were hungry are satisfied. Yes, the barren has borne seven. She who has many children languishes.

⁶"The Lord kills, and makes alive. He brings down to Sheol, and brings up.

⁷The Lord makes poor, and makes rich. He brings low, he also lifts up.

⁸He raises up the poor out of the dust. He lifts up the needy from the dunghill, To make them sit with princes, and inherit the throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's. He has set the world on them.

⁹He will keep the feet of his holy ones, but the wicked shall be put to silence in darkness; for no man shall prevail by strength.

¹⁰Those who strive with the Lord shall be broken to pieces. He will thunder against them in the sky. "The Lord will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed."

¹¹Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. The child served the Lord before Eli the priest.

¹²Now the sons of Eli were base men; they did not know the Lord.

¹³The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came, while the flesh was boiling, with a fork of three teeth in his hand;

¹⁴and he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fork brought up the priest took therewith. So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.

¹⁵Yes, before they burnt the fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man who sacrificed, "Give meat to roast for the priest; for he will not accept boiled meat from you, but raw."

¹⁶If the man said to him, "Let the fat be burned first, and then take as much as your soul desires"; then he would say, "No, but you shall give it to me now; and if not, I will take it by force."

¹⁷The sin of the young men was very great before the Lord; for they despised the offering of the Lord.

¹⁸But Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child, clothed with a linen ephod.

¹⁹Moreover his mother made him a little robe, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.

²⁰Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, "The Lord give you seed of this woman for the petition which was asked of the Lord." They went to their own home.

²¹The Lord visited Hannah, and she conceived, and bore three sons and two daughters. The child Samuel grew before the Lord.

²²Now Eli was very old; and he heard all that his sons did to all Israel, and how that they lay with the women who served at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

²³He said to them, "Why do you do such things? for I hear of your evil dealings from all this people.

²⁴No, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: you make the Lord's people disobey.

²⁵If one man sin against another, God shall judge him; but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him?" Notwithstanding, they did not listen to the voice of their father, because the Lord intended to kill them.

²⁶The child Samuel grew on, and increased in favor both with the Lord, and also with men.

²⁷A man of God came to Eli, and said to him, "Thus says the Lord, I plainly revealed myself to the house of your father, when they were slaves in Egypt to the house of Pharaoh.

²⁸And I chose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me. And I gave to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire.

²⁹Why do you kick at my sacrifice and at my offering, which I have commanded in my habitation, and honor your sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel my people?'

³⁰"Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, says, 'I said indeed that your house, and the house of your father, should walk before me forever.' But now the Lord says, 'Be it far from me; for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

³¹Behold, the days come, that I will cut off your arm, and the arm of your father's house, that there shall not be an old man in your house.

³²You shall see the affliction of my habitation, in all the wealth which I shall give Israel; and there shall not be an old man in your house forever.

³³The man of yours, whom I shall not cut off from my altar, shall consume your eyes, and grieve your heart; and all the increase of your house shall die in the flower of their age.

³⁴"'This shall be the sign to you, that shall come on your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall both die.

³⁵I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in my heart and in my mind. I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before my anointed forever.

³⁶It shall happen, that everyone who is left in your house shall come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread, and shall say, "Please put me into one of the priests' offices, that I may eat a morsel of bread."'"