JUDGES

1 AND it came to pass after the death of Joshua, that the children of Israel enquired of the Lord, saying, Who shall go up for us first against the Chananites, to fight against them? 2 And the Lord said, Judas shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand. 3 And Judas said to his brother Symeon, Come up with me into my lot, and let us array ourselves against the Chananites, and I also will go with thee into thy lot: and Symeon went with him. 4 And Judas went up; and the Lord delivered the Chananite and the Pherezite into their hands, and they smote them in Bezek to the number of ten thousand men. 5 And they overtook Adonibezek in Bezek, and fought against him; and they smote the Chananite and the Pherezite. 6 And Adonibezek fled, and they pursued after him, and took him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. 7 And Adonibezek said, Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their food under my table: as I therefore have done, so God has recompensed me: and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

8 And the children of Judas fought against Jerusalem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and they burnt the city with fire. 9 And afterwards the children of Judas went down to fight with the Chananite dwelling in the hill country, and the south, and the plain country. 10 And Judas went to the Chananite who dwelt in Chebron; and Chebron came out against him; [and the name of Chebron before was Cariatharbocsepher:] and they smote Sessi, and Achiman, and Tholmi, children of Enac. 11 And they went up thence to the inhabitants of Dabir; but the name of Dabir was before Cariathsepher, the city of Letters.

12 And Chaleb said, Whosoever shall smite the city of Letters, and shall first take it, I will give to him Ascha my daughter to wife. 13 And Gothoniel the younger son of Kenez the brother of Chaleb took it; and Chaleb gave him his daughter Ascha to wife. 14 And it came to pass as she went in, that Gothoniel urged her to ask a field of her father; and she murmured and cried from off her ass, Thou hast sent me forth into a south land: and Chaleb said to her, What is thy request? 15 And Ascha said to him, Give me, I pray thee, a blessing, for thou hast sent me forth into a south land, and thou shalt give me the ransom of water: and Chaleb gave her according to her heart the ransom of the upper springs and the ransom of the low springs.

16 And the children of Jothor the Kenite the father-in-law of Moses went up from the city of palm-trees with the children of Judas, to the wilderness that is in the south of Juda, which is at the descent of Arad, and they dwelt with the people.

17 And Judas went with Symeon his brother, and smote the Chananite that inhabited Sepheth, and they utterly destroyed them; and they called the name of the city Anathema. 18 But Judas did not inherit Gaza nor her coasts, nor Ascalon nor her coasts, nor Accaron nor her coasts, nor Azotus nor the lands around it. 19 And the Lord was with Judas, and he inherited the mountain; for they were not able to destroy the inhabitants of the valley, for Rechab prevented them. 20 And they gave Chebron to Chaleb, as Moses said; and thence he inherited the three cities of the children of Enac.

21 But the children of Benjamin did not take the inheritance of the Jebusite who dwelt in Jerusalem; and the Jebusite dwelt with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem until this day.

22 And the sons of Joseph, they also went up to Bæthel; and the Lord was with them. 23 And they encamped and surveyed Bæthel: and the name of the city before was Luza.

24 And the spies looked, and behold, a man went out of the city, and they took him; and they said to him, Show us the way into the city, and we will deal mercifully with thee. 25 And he shewed them the way into the city; and they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and his family. 26 And the man went into the land of Chettin, and built there a city, and called the name of it Luza; this is its name until this day.

27 And Manasse did not drive out the inhabitants of Bæthsan, which is a city of Scythians, nor her towns, nor her suburbs, nor Thanac, nor her towns; nor the inhabitants of Dor, nor her towns; nor the inhabitant of Balac, nor her suburbs, nor her towns; nor the inhabitants of Magedo, nor her suburbs, nor her towns; nor the inhabitants of Jeblaam, nor her suburbs, nor her towns; and the Chananite began to dwell in this land. 28 And it came to pass when Israel was strong, that he made the Chananite tributary, but did not utterly drive them out. 29 And Ephraim did not drive out the Chananite that dwelt in Gazer; and the Chananite dwelt in the midst of him in Gazer, and became tributary. 30 And Zabulon did not drive out the inhabitants of Kedron, nor the inhabitants of Domana: and the Chananite dwelt in the midst of them, and became tributary to them. 31 And Aser did not drive out the inhabitants of Accho, and that people became tributary to him, nor the inhabitants of Dor, nor the inhabitants of Sidon, nor the inhabitants of Dalaph, nor Aschazi, nor Chebda, nor Nai, nor Ereo. 32 And Aser dwelt in the midst of the Chananite who inhabited the land, for he could not drive him out. 33 And Nephthali did not drive out the inhabitants of Bæthsamys, nor the inhabitants of Bæthanach; and Nephthali dwelt in the midst of the Chananite who inhabited the land: but the inhabitants of Bethsamys and of Bætheneth became tributary to them.

34 And the Amorite drove out the children of Dan into the mountain, for they did not suffer them to come down into the valley. 35 And the Amorite began to dwell in the mountain of shells, in which are bears, and foxes, in Myrsinon, and in Thalabin; and the hand of the house of Joseph was heavy upon the Amorite, and he became tributary to them. 36 And the border of the Amorite was from the going up of Acrabin, from the rock and upwards.

2 And an angel of the Lord went up from Galgal to the place of weeping, and to Bæthel, and to the house of Israel, and said to them, Thus says the Lord, I brought you up out of Egypt, and I brought you into the land which I sware to your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant that I have made with you. 2 And ye shall make no covenant with them that dwell in this land, neither shall ye worship their gods; but ye shall destroy their graven images, ye shall pull down their altars: but ye hearkened not to my voice, for ye did these things. 3 And I said, I will not drive them out from before you, but they shall be for a distress to you, and their gods shall be to you for an offence. 4 And it came to pass when the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept. 5 And they named the name of that place Weepings; and they sacrificed there to the Lord.

6 And Joshua dismissed the people, and they went every man to his inheritance, to inherit the land. 7 And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that lived many days with Joshua, as many as knew all the great work of the Lord, what things he had wrought in Israel.

8 And Joshua the son of Naue, the servant of the Lord, died, a hundred and ten years old. 9 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance, in Thamnathares, in mount Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaas. 10 And all that generation were laid to their fathers: and another generation rose up after them, who knew not the Lord, nor yet the work which he wrought in Israel. 11 And the children of Israel wrought evil before the Lord, and served Baalim. 12 And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and walked after other gods, of the gods of the nations round about them; and they worshipped them. 13 And they provoked the Lord, and forsook him, and served Baal and the Astartes.

14 And the Lord was very angry with Israel; and he gave them into the hands of the spoilers and they spoiled them; and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, and they could not any longer resist their enemies, 15 among whomsoever they went; and the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord spoke, and as the Lord swore to them, and he greatly afflicted them.

16 And the Lord raised up judges, and the Lord saved them out of the hands of them that spoiled them: and yet they hearkened not to the judges, 17 for they went a whoring after other gods, and worshipped them; and they turned quickly out of the way in which their fathers walked to hearken to the words of the Lord; they did not so. 18 And because the Lord raised them up judges, so the Lord was with the judge; and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge, for the Lord was moved at their groaning by reason of them that besieged them and afflicted them. 19 And it came to pass when the judge died, that they went back, and again corrupted themselves worse than their fathers to go after other gods to serve them and to worship them: they abandoned not their devices nor their stubborn ways.

20 And the Lord was very angry with Israel, and said, Forasmuch as this nation has forsaken my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not hearkened to my voice, 21 therefore I will not any more cast out a man of the nations from before their face, which Joshua the son of Naue left in the land. And the Lord left them, 22 to prove Israel with them, whether they would keep the way of the Lord, to walk in it, as their fathers kept it, or no. 23 So the Lord will leave these nations, so as not to cast them out suddenly; and he delivered them not into the hand of Joshua.

3 And these are the nations which the Lord left to prove Israel with them, all that had not known the wars of Chanaan. 2 Only for the sake of the generations of Israel, to teach them war, only the men before them knew them not. 3 The five lordships of the Phylistines, and every Chananite, and the Sidonian, and the Evite who dwelt in Libanus from the mount of Aermon to Laboemath. 4 And this was done in order to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would obey the commands of the Lord, which he charged their fathers by the hand of Moses.

5 And the children of Israel dwelt in the midst of the Chananite, and the Chettite, and the Amorite, and the Pherezite, and the Evite, and the Jebusite. 6 And they took their daughters for wives to themselves, and they gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods. 7 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgot the Lord their God, and served Baalim and the groves. 8 And the Lord was very angry with Israel, and sold them into the hand of Chusarsathaim king of Syria of the rivers: and the children of Israel served Chusarsathaim eight years.

9 And the children of Israel cried to the Lord; and the Lord raised up a saviour to Israel, and he saved them, Gothoniel the son of Kenez, the brother of Chaleb younger than himself. 10 And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel; and he went out to war against Chusarsathaim: and the Lord delivered into his hand Chusarsathaim king of Syria of the rivers, and his hand prevailed against Chusarsathaim. 11 And the land was quiet forty years; and Gothoniel the son of Kenez died.

12 And the children of Israel continued to do evil before the Lord; and the Lord strengthened Eglom king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil before the Lord. 13 And he gathered to himself all the children of Ammon and Amalec, and went and smote Israel, and took possession of the city of Palm-trees. 14 And the children of Israel served Eglom the king of Moab eighteen years.

15 And the children of Israel cried to the Lord; and he raised up to them a saviour, Aod the son of Gera a son of Jemeni, a man who used both hands alike: and the children of Israel sent gifts by his hand to Eglom king of Moab. 16 And Aod made himself a dagger of two edges, of a span long, and he girded it under his cloak upon his right thigh. 17 And he went, and brought the presents to Eglom king of Moab, and Eglom was a very handsome man.

18 And it came to pass when Aod had made an end of offering his gifts, that he dismissed those that brought the gifts. 19 And he himself returned from the quarries that are by Galgal; and Aod said, I have a secret errand to thee, O king! and Eglom said to him, Be silent; and he sent away from his presence all who waited upon him. 20 And Aod went in to him; and he sat in his own upper summer chamber quite alone; and Aod said, I have a message from God to thee, O king: and Eglom rose up from his throne near him. 21 And it came to pass as he arose, that Aod stretched forth his left hand, and took the dagger off his right thigh, and plunged it into his belly; 22 and drove in also the haft after the blade, and the fat closed in upon the blade, for he drew not out the dagger from his belly.

23 And Aod went out to the porch, and passed out by the appointed guards, and shut the doors of the chamber upon him, and locked them. 24 And he went out: and Eglom’s servants came, and saw, and behold, the doors of the upper chamber were locked; and they said, Does he not uncover his feet in his summer-chamber? 25 And they waited till they were ashamed, and, behold, there was no one that opened the doors of the upper chamber; and they took the key, and opened them; and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead upon the earth.

26 And Aod escaped while they were in a tumult, and no one paid attention to him; and he passed the quarries, and escaped to Setirotha.

27 And it came to pass when Aod came into the land of Israel, that he blew the horn in mount Ephraim, and the children of Israel came down with him from the mountain, and he was before them. 28 And he said to them, Come down after me, for the Lord God has delivered our enemies, even Moab, into our hand; and they went down after him, and seized on the fords of Jordan before Moab, and he did not suffer a man to pass over. 29 And they smote Moab on that day about ten thousand men, every lusty person and every mighty man; and not a man escaped. 30 So Moab was humbled in that day under the hand of Israel, and the land had rest eighty years; and Aod judged them till he died.

31 And after him rose up Samegar the son of Dinach, and smote the Phylistines to the number of six hundred men with a ploughshare such as is drawn by oxen; and he too delivered Israel.

4 And the children of Israel continued to do evil against the Lord; and Aod was dead. 2 And the Lord sold the children of Israel into the hand of Jabin king of Chanaan, who ruled in Asor; and the chief of his host was Sisara, and he dwelt in Arisoth of the Gentiles. 3 And the children of Israel cried to the Lord, because he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and he mightily oppressed Israel twenty years.

4 And Debbora, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth,—she judged Israel at that time.

5 And she sat under the palm-tree of Debbora between Rama and Bæthel in mount Ephraim; and the children of Israel went up to her for judgment.

6 And Debbora sent and called Barac the son of Abineem out of Cades Nephthali, and she said to him, Has not the Lord God of Israel commanded thee? and thou shalt depart to mount Thabor, and shalt take with thyself ten thousand men of the sons of Nephthali and of the sons of Zabulon.

7 And I will bring to thee to the torrent of Kison Sisara the captain of the host of Jabin, and his chariots, and his multitude, and I will deliver them into thine hands.

8 And Barac said to her, If thou wilt go with me, I will go, and if thou wilt not go, I will not go; for I know not the day on which the Lord prospers his messenger with me. 9 And she said, I will surely go with thee; but know that thy honour shall not attend on the expedition on which thou goest, for the Lord shall sell Sisara into the hands of a woman: and Debbora arose, and went with Barac out of Cades. 10 And Barak called Zebulon and Nephthali out of Cades, and there went up at his feet ten thousand men, and Debbora went up with him.

11 And Chaber the Kenite had removed from Caina, from the sons of Jobab the father-in-law of Moses, and pitched his tent by the oak of the covetous ones, which is near Kedes.

12 And it was told Sisara that Barac the son of Abineem was gone up to mount Thabor. 13 And Sisara summoned all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron and all the people with him, from Arisoth of the Gentiles to the brook of Kison.

14 And Debbora said to Barac, Rise up, for this is the day on which the Lord has delivered Sisara into thy hand, for the Lord shall go forth before thee: and Barac went down from mount Thabor, and ten thousand men after him. 15 And the Lord discomfited Sisara, and all his chariots, and all his army, with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisara descended from off his chariot, and fled on his feet. 16 And Barac pursued after the chariots and after the army, into Arisoth of the Gentiles; and the whole army of Sisara fell by the edge of the sword, there was not one left. 17 And Sisara fled on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Chaber the Kenite his friend; for there was peace between Jabin king of Asor and the house of Chaber the Kenite. 18 And Jael went out to meet Sisara, and said to him, Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me, fear not: and he turned aside to her into the tent; and she covered him with a mantle.

19 And Sisara said to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink, for I am thirsty: and she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him to drink, and covered him. 20 And Sisara said to her, Stand now by the door of the tent, and it shall come to pass if any man come to thee, and ask of thee, and say, Is there any man here? then thou shalt say, There is not. 21 And Jael the wife of Chaber took a pin of the tent, and took a hammer in her hand, and went secretly to him, and fastened the pin in his temple, and it went through to the earth, and he fainted away, and darkness fell upon him and he died. 22 And, behold, Barac was pursuing Sisara: and Jael went out to meet him, and he said to him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest: and he went in to her; and, behold, Sisara was fallen dead, and the pin was in his temple. 23 So God routed Jabin king of Chanaan in that day before the children of Israel.

24 And the hand of the children of Israel prevailed more and more against Jabin king of Chanaan, until they utterly destroyed Jabin king of Chanaan.

5 And Debbora and Barac son of Abineem sang in that day, saying,

2 A revelation was made in Israel when the people were made willing: Praise ye the Lord. 3 Hear, ye kings, and hearken, rulers: I will sing, it is I who will sing to the Lord, it is I, I will sing a psalm to the Lord the God of Israel. 4 O Lord, in thy going forth on Seir, when thou wentest forth out of the land of Edom, the earth quaked and the heaven dropped dews, and the clouds dropped water. 5 The mountains were shaken before the face of the Lord Eloi, this Sina before the face of the Lord God of Israel. 6 In the days of Samegar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, they deserted the ways, and went in by-ways; they went in crooked paths. 7 The mighty men in Israel failed, they failed until Debbora arose, until she arose a mother in Israel. 8 They chose new gods; then the cities of rulers fought; there was not a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel.

9 My heart inclines to the orders given in Israel; ye that are willing among the people, bless the Lord. 10 Ye that mount a she-ass at noon-day, ye that sit on the judgment-seat, and walk by the roads of them that sit in judgment by the way; declare 11 ye that are delivered from the noise of disturbers among the drawers of water; there shall they relate righteous acts: O Lord, increase righteous acts in Israel: then the people of the Lord went down to the cities. 12 Awake, awake, Debbora; awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barac, and lead thy captivity captive, son of Abineem. 13 Then went down the remnant to the strong, the people of the Lord went down for him among the mighty ones from me.

14 Ephraim rooted them out in Amalec, behind thee was Benjamin among thy people: the inhabitants of Machir came down with me searching out the enemy, and from Zabulon came they that draw with the scribe’s pen of record. 15 And princes in Issachar were with Debbora and Barac, thus she sent Barac on his feet in the valleys into the portions of Ruben; great pangs reached to the heart. 16 Why did they sit between the sheep-folds to hear the bleating of flocks for the divisions of Ruben? there were great searchings of heart. 17 Galaad is on the other side of Jordan where he pitched his tents; and why does Dan remain in ships? Aser sat down on the sea-coasts, and he will tabernacle at his ports. 18 The people Zabulon exposed their soul unto death, and Nephthali came to the high places of their land.

19 Kings set themselves in array, then the kings of Chanaan fought in Thanaach at the water of Mageddo; they took no gift of money. 20 The stars from heaven set themselves in array, they set themselves to fight with Sisara out of their paths. 21 The brook of Kison swept them away, the ancient brook, the brook Kison: my mighty soul will trample him down. 22 When the hoofs of the horse were entangled, his mighty ones earnestly hasted 23 to curse Meroz: Curse ye it, said the angel of the Lord; cursed is every one that dwells in it, because they came not to the help of the Lord, to his help among the mighty.

24 Blessed among women be Jael wife of Chaber the Kenite; let her be blessed above women in tents. 25 He asked for water, she gave him milk in a dish; she brought butter of princes. 26 She stretched forth her left hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workman’s hammer, and she smote Sisara with it, she nailed through his head and smote him; she nailed through his temples. 27 He rolled down between her feet; he fell: and lay between her feet; he bowed and fell, where he bowed, there he fell dead.

28 The mother of Sisara looked down through the window out of the loophole, saying, Why was his chariot ashamed? why did the wheels of his chariots tarry? 29 Her wise ladies answered her, and she returned answers to herself, saying, 30 Will they not find him dividing the spoil? he will surely be gracious to every man: there are spoils of dyed garments for Sisara, spoils of various dyed garments, dyed embroidered garments, they are the spoils for his neck. 31 Thus let all thine enemies perish, O Lord: and they that love him shall be as the going forth of the sun in his strength.

32 And the land had rest forty years.

6 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Madiam seven years.

2 And the hand of Madiam prevailed against Israel: and the children of Israel made for themselves because of Madiam the caves in the mountains, and the dens, and the holes in the rocks. 3 And it came to pass when the children of Israel sowed, that Madiam and Amalek went up, and the children of the east went up together with them. 4 And they encamped against them, and destroyed their fruits until they came to Gaza; and they left not the support of life in the land of Israel, not even ox or ass among the herds. 5 For they and their stock came up, and their tents were with them, as the locust in multitude, and there was no number to them and their camels; and they came to the land of Israel, and laid it waste. 6 And Israel was greatly impoverished because of Madiam. 7 And the children of Israel cried to the Lord because of Madiam.

8 And the Lord sent a prophet to the children of Israel; and he said to them, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, I am he that brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and I brought you up out of the house of your bondage. 9 And I delivered you out of the hand of Egypt, and out of the hand of all that afflicted you, and I cast them out before you; and I gave you their land. 10 And I said to you, I am the Lord your God: ye shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; but ye hearkened not to my voice.

11 And an angel of the Lord came, and sat down under the fir tree, which was in Ephratha in the land of Joas father of Esdri; and Gedeon his son was threshing wheat in a wine-press in order to escape from the face of Madiam. 12 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty in strength. 13 And Gedeon said to him, Be gracious with me, my Lord: but if the Lord is with us, why have these evils found us? and where are all his miracles, which our fathers have related to us, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt? and now he has cast us out, and given us into the hand of Madiam. 14 And the angel of the Lord turned to him, and said, Go in this thy strength, and thou shalt save Israel out of the hand of Madiam: behold, I have sent thee. 15 And Gedeon said to him, Be gracious with me, my Lord: whereby shall I save Israel? behold, my thousand is weakened in Manasse, and I am the least in my father’s house. 16 And the angel of the Lord said to him, The Lord shall be with thee, and thou shalt smite Madiam as one man. 17 And Gedeon said to him, If now I have found mercy in thine eyes, and thou wilt do this day for me all that thou hast spoken of with me, 18 depart not hence until I come to thee, and I will bring forth an offering and offer it before thee: and he said, I will remain until thou return.

19 And Gedeon went in, and prepared a kid of the goats, and an ephah of fine flour unleavened; and he put the flesh in the basket, and poured the broth into the pot, and brought them forth to him under the turpentine tree, and drew nigh. 20 And the angel of God said to him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and put them on that rock, and pour out the broth close by: and he did so. 21 And the angel of the Lord stretched out the end of the rod that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened bread; and fire came up out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened bread, and the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.

22 And Gedeon saw that he was an angel of the Lord; and Gedeon said, Ah, ah, Lord my God! for I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face. 23 And the Lord said to him, Peace be to thee, fear not, thou shalt not die.

24 And Gedeon built there an altar to the Lord, and called it The peace of the Lord, until this day, as it is still in Ephratha of the father of Esdri. 25 And it came to pass in that night, that the Lord said to him, Take the young bullock which thy father has, even the second bullock of seven years old, and thou shalt destroy the altar of Baal which thy father has, and the grove which is by it thou shalt destroy. 26 And thou shalt build an altar to the Lord thy God on the top of this Maozi in the ordering it, and thou shalt take the second bullock, and shalt offer up whole-burnt-offerings with the wood of the grove, which thou shalt destroy. 27 And Gedeon took ten men of his servants, and did as the Lord spoke to him: and it came to pass, as he feared the house of his father and the men of the city if he should do it by day, that he did it by night.

28 And the men of the city rose up early in the morning; and behold, the altar of Baal had been demolished, and the grove by it had been destroyed; and they saw the second bullock, which Gedeon offered on the altar that had been built. 29 And a man said to his neighbour, Who has done this thing? and they enquired and searched, and learnt that Gedeon the son of Joas had done this thing. 30 And the men of the city said to Joas, Bring out thy son, and let him die, because he has destroyed the altar of Baal, and because he has destroyed the grove that is by it. 31 And Gedeon the son of Joas said to all the men who rose up against him, Do ye now plead for Baal, or will ye save him? whoever will plead for him, let him be slain this morning: if he be a god let him plead for himself, because one has thrown down his altar. 32 And he called it in that day Jerobaal, saying, let Baal plead thereby, because his altar has been thrown down.

33 And all Madiam, and Amalek, and the sons of the east gathered themselves together, and encamped in the valley of Jezrael. 34 And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gedeon, and he blew with the horn, and Abiezer came to help after him. 35 And Gedeon sent messengers into all Manasse, and into Aser, and into Zabulon, and into Nephthali; and he went up to meet them.

36 And Gedeon said to God, If thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast said, 37 behold, I put the fleece of wool in the threshing-floor: if there be dew on the fleece only, and drought on all the ground, I shall know that thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast said. 38 And it was so: and he rose up early in the morning, and wrung the fleece, and dew dropped from the fleece, a bowl full of water. 39 And Gedeon said to God, Let not, I pray thee, thine anger be kindled with me, and I will speak yet once; I will even yet make one trial more with the fleece: let now the drought be upon the fleece only, and let there be dew on all the ground. 40 And God did so in that night; and there was drought on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.

7 And Jerobaal rose early, the same is Gedeon, and all the people with him, and encamped at the fountain of Arad; and the camp of Madiam was to the north of him, reaching from Gabaathamorai, in the valley.

2 And the Lord said to Gedeon, The people with thee are many, so that I may not deliver Madiam into their hand, lest at any time Israel boast against me, saying, My hand has saved me. 3 And now speak in the ears of the people, saying, Who is afraid and fearful? let him turn and depart from Mount Galaad: and there returned of the people twenty-two thousand, and ten thousand were left. 4 And the Lord said to Gedeon, The people is yet numerous; bring them down to the water, and I will purge them there for thee: and it shall come to pass that of whomsoever I shall say to thee, This one shall go with thee, even he shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I shall say to thee, This one shall not go with thee, even he shall not go with thee. 5 And he brought the people down to the water; and the Lord said to Gedeon, Whosoever shall lap of the water with his tongue as if a dog should lap, thou shalt set him apart, and also whosoever shall bow down upon his knees to drink. 6 And the number of those that lapped with their hand to their mouth was three hundred men; and all the rest of the people bowed upon their knees to drink water. 7 And the Lord said to Gedeon, I will save you by the three hundred men that lapped, and I will give Madiam into thy hand; and all the rest of the people shall go every one to his place. 8 And they took the provision of the people in their hand, and their horns; and he sent away every man of Israel each to his tent, and he strengthened the three hundred; and the army of Madiam were beneath him in the valley.

9 And it came to pass in that night that the Lord said to him, Arise, go down into the camp, for I have delivered it into thy hand. 10 And if thou art afraid to go down, go down thou and thy servant Phara into the camp. 11 And thou shalt hear what they shall say, and afterwards thy hands shall be strong, and thou shalt go down into the camp: and he went down and Phara his servant to the extremity of the companies of fifty, which were in the camp. 12 And Madiam and Amalec and all the children of the east were scattered in the valley, as the locust for multitude; and there was no number to their camels, but they were as the sand on the seashore for multitude.

13 And Gedeon came, and behold a man was relating to his neighbour a dream, and he said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread rolling into the camp of Madiam, and it came as far as a tent, and smote it, and it fell, and it turned it up, and the tent fell. 14 And his neighbour answered and said, This is none other than the sword of Gedeon, son of Joas, a man of Israel: God has delivered Madiam and all the host into his hand.

15 And it came to pass when Gedeon heard the account of the dream and the interpretation of it, that he worshipped the Lord, and returned to the camp of Israel, and said, Rise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Madiam into our hand. 16 And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and put horns in the hands of all, and empty pitchers, and torches in the pitchers. 17 and he said to them, Ye shall look at me, and so shall ye do; and behold, I will go into the beginning of the host, and it shall come to pass that as I do, so shall ye do. 18 And I will sound with the horn, and all ye with me shall sound with the horn round about the whole camp, and ye shall say, For the Lord and Gedeon.

19 And Gedeon and the hundred men that were with him came to the extremity of the army in the beginning of the middle watch; and they completely roused the guards, and sounded with the horns, and they broke the pitchers that were in their hands, 20 and the three companies sounded with the horns, and broke the pitchers, and held the torches in their left hands, and in their right hands their horns to sound with, and they cried out, A sword for the Lord and for Gedeon. 21 And every man stood in his place round about the host; and all the host ran, and sounded an alarm, and fled. 22 And they sounded with the three hundred horns; and the Lord set every man’s sword in all the host against his neighbour. 23 And the host fled as far as Bethseed Tagaragatha Abel-meula to Tabath; and the men of Israel from Nephthali, and from Aser, and from all Manasse, came to help, and followed after Madiam.

24 And Gedeon sent messengers into all Mount Ephraim, saying, Come down to meet Madiam, and take to yourselves the water as far as Bæthera and Jordan: and every man of Ephraim cried out, and they took the water before hand unto Bæthera and Jordan. 25 And they took the princes of Madiam, even Oreb and Zeb; and they slew Oreb in Sur Oreb, and they slew Zeb in Jakephzeph; and they pursued Madiam, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeb to Gedeon from beyond Jordan.

8 And the men of Ephraim said to Gedeon, What is this that thou hast done to us, in that thou didst not call us when thou wentest to fight with Madiam? and they chode with him sharply. 2 And he said to them, What have I now done in comparison of you? is not the gleaning of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? 3 The Lord has delivered into your hand the princes of Madiam, Oreb and Zeb; and what could I do in comparison of you? Then was their spirit calmed toward him, when he spoke this word.

4 And Gedeon came to Jordan, and went over, himself and the three hundred with him, hungry, yet pursuing. 5 And he said to the men of Socchoth, Give I pray you, bread to feed this people that follow me, because they are faint, and behold, I am following after Zebee and Salmana, kings of Madiam. 6 And the princes of Socchoth said, Are the hands of Zebee and Salmana now in thy hand, that we should give bread to thy host? 7 And Gedeon said, Therefore when the Lord gives Zebee and Salmana into my hand, then will I tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness, and the Barkenim. 8 And he went up thence to Phanuel, and spoke to them likewise: and the men of Phanuel answered him as the men of Socchoth had answered him. 9 And Gedeon said to the men of Phanuel, When I return in peace, I will break down this tower.

10 And Zebee and Salmana were in Carcar, and their host was with them, about fifteen thousand, all that were left of all the host of the aliens; and they that fell were a hundred and twenty thousand men that drew the sword. 11 And Gedeon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents, eastward of Nabai and Jegebal; and he smote the host, and the host was secure. 12 And Zebee and Salmana fled; and he pursued after them, and took the two kings of Madiam, Zebee and Salmana, and discomfited all the army.

13 And Gedeon the son of Joas returned from the battle, down from the battle of Ares. 14 And he took prisoner a young lad of the men of Socchoth, and questioned him; and he wrote to him the names of the princes of Socchoth and of their elders, seventy-seven men. 15 And Gedeon came to the princes of Socchoth, and said, Behold Zebee and Salmana, about whom ye reproached me, saying, Are the hands of Zebee and Salmana now in thy hand, that we should give bread to thy men that are faint? 16 And he took the elders of the city with the thorns of the wilderness and the Barkenim, and with them he tore the men of the city. 17 And he overthrew the tower of Phanuel, and slew the men of the city.

18 And he said to Zebee and Salmana, Where are the men whom ye slew in Thabor? and they said, As thou, so were they, according to the likeness of the son of a king. 19 And Gedeon said, They were my brethren and the sons of my mother: as the Lord lives, if ye had preserved them alive, I would not have slain you. 20 And he said to Jether his first-born, Rise and slay them; but the lad drew not his sword, for he was afraid, for he was yet very young. 21 And Zebee and Salmana said, Rise thou and fall upon us, for thy power is as that of a man; and Gedeon arose, and slew Zebee and Salmana; and he took the round ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.

22 And the men of Israel said to Gedeon, Rule, my lord, over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son; for thou hast saved us out of the hand of Madiam. 23 And Gedeon said to them, I will not rule, and my son shall not rule among you; the Lord shall rule over you. 24 And Gedeon said to them, I will make a request of you, and do ye give me every man an earring out of his spoils: for they had golden earrings, for they were Ismaelites. 25 And they said, We will certainly give them: and he opened his garment, and each man cast therein an earring of his spoils. 26 And the weight of the golden earrings which he asked, was a thousand and seven hundred pieces of gold, besides the crescents, and the chains, and the garments, and the purple cloths that were on the kings of Madiam, and besides the chains that were on the necks of their camels. 27 And Gedeon made an ephod of it, and set it in his city in Ephratha; and all Israel went thither a whoring after it, and it became a stumbling-block to Gedeon and his house.

28 And Madiam was straitened before the children of Israel, and they did not lift up their head any more; and the land had rest forty years in the days of Gedeon. 29 And Jerobaal the son of Joas went and sat in his house. 30 And Gedeon had seventy sons begotten of his body, for he had many wives. 31 And his concubine was in Sychem, and she also bore him a son, and gave him the name Abimelech. 32 And Gedeon son of Joas died in his city, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joas his father in Ephratha of Abi-Esdri.

33 And it came to pass when Gedeon was dead, that the children of Israel turned, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made for themselves a covenant with Baal that he should be their god. 34 And the children of Israel remembered not the Lord their God who had delivered them out of the hand of all that afflicted them round about. 35 And they did not deal mercifully with the house of Jerobaal, (the same is Gedeon) according to all the good which he did to Israel.

9 And Abimelech son of Jerobaal went to Sychem to his mother’s brethren; and he spoke to them and to all the kindred of the house of his mother’s father, saying, 2 Speak I pray you in the ears of all the men of Sychem, saying, Which is better for you, that seventy men, even all the sons of Jerobaal should reign over you, or that one man should reign over you? and remember that I am your bone and your flesh. 3 And his mother’s brethren spoke concerning him in the ears of all the men of Sychem all these words; and their heart turned after Abimelech, for they said, He is our brother. 4 And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baalberith; and Abimelech hired for himself vain and cowardly men, and they went after him. 5 And he went to the house of his father to Ephratha, and slew his brethren the sons of Jerobaal, seventy men upon one stone; but Joatham the youngest son of Jerobaal was left, for he hid himself.

6 And all the men of Sicima, and all the house of Bethmaalo, were gathered together, and they went and made Abimelech king by the oak of Sedition, which was at Sicima.

7 And it was reported to Joatham, and he went and stood on the top of Mount Garizin, and lifted up his voice, and wept, and said to them, Hear me, ye men of Sicima, and God shall hear you.

8 The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said to the olive, Reign over us. 9 But the olive said to them, Shall I leave my fatness, with which men shall glorify God, and go to be promoted over the trees? 10 And the trees said to the fig-tree, Come, reign over us. 11 But the fig-tree said to them, Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruits, and go to be promoted over the trees? 12 And the trees said to the vine, Come, reign over us. 13 And the vine said to them, Shall I leave my wine that cheers God and men, and go to be promoted over the trees? 14 Then all the trees said to the bramble, Come thou and reign over us. 15 And the bramble said to the trees, If ye in truth anoint me to reign over you, Come, stand under my shadow; and if not, let fire come out from me and devour the cedars of Libanus.

16 And now, if ye have done it in truth and integrity, and have made Abimelech king, and if ye have wrought well with Jerobaal, and with his house, and if ye have done to him according to the reward of his hand, 17 as my father fought for you, and put his life in jeopardy, and delivered you out of the hand of Madiam; 18 and ye are risen up this day against the house of my father, and have slain his sons, being seventy men, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech the son of his bondwoman king over the men of Sicima, because he is your brother: 19 if then ye have done truly and faithfully with Jerobaal, and with his house this day, rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice over you: 20 but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Sicima, and the house of Beth-maalo; and let fire come out from the men of Sicima and from the house of Beth-maalo, and devour Abimelech.

21 And Joatham fled, and ran away, and went as far as Bæer, and dwelt there out of the way of his brother Abimelech.

22 And Abimelech reigned over Israel three years. 23 And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Sicima; and the men of Sicima dealt treacherously with the house of Abimelech: 24 to bring the injury done to the seventy sons of Jerobaal, and to lay their blood upon their brother Abimelech, who slew them, and upon the men of Sicima, because they strengthened his hands to slay his brethren. 25 And the men of Sicima set liers in wait against him on the top of the mountains, and robbed every one who passed by them on the way; and it was reported to the king Abimelech.

26 And Gaal son of Jobel came, and his brethren, and passed by Sicima, and the men of Sicima trusted in him. 27 And they went out into the field, and gathered their grapes, and trod them, and made merry; and they brought the grapes into the house of their god, and ate and drank, and cursed Abimelech. 28 And Gaal the son of Jobel said, Who is Abimelech, and who is the son of Sychem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerobaal, and is not Zebul his steward, his servant with the son of Emmor the father of Sychem? and why should we serve him? 29 And would that this people were under my hand then would I remove Abimelech, and I would say to him, Multiply thy host, and come out.

30 And Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Jobel, and he was very angry. 31 And he sent messengers to Abimelech secretly, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Jobel and his brethren are come to Sychem; and behold they have besieged the city against thee. 32 And now rise up by night, thou and the people with thee, and lay wait in the field. 33 And it shall come to pass in the morning at sunrising, thou shalt rise up early and draw toward the city; and behold, he and the people with him will come forth against thee, and thou shalt do to him according to thy power.

34 And Abimelech and all the people with him rose up by night, and formed an ambuscade against Sychem in four companies. 35 And Gaal the son of Jobel went forth, and stood by the door of the gate of the city: and Abimelech and the people with him rose up from the ambuscade. 36 And Gaal the son of Jobel saw the people, and said to Zebul, Behold, a people comes down from the top of the mountains: and Zebul said to him, Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as men. 37 And Gaal continued to speak and said, Behold, a people comes down westward from the part bordering on the middle of the land, and another company comes by the way of Helon Maonenim. 38 And Zebul said to him, And where is thy mouth as thou spokest, who is Abimelech that we should serve him? Is not this the people whom thou despisedst? go forth now, and set the battle in array against him. 39 And Gaal went forth before the men of Sychem, and set the battle in array against Abimelech. 40 And Abimelech pursued him, and he fled from before him; and many fell down slain as far as the door of the gate.

41 And Abimelech entered into Arema, and Zebul cast out Gaal and his brethren, so that they should not dwell in Sychem.

42 And it came to pass on the second day that the people went out into the field, and one brought word to Abimelech. 43 And he took the people, and divided them into three companies, and formed an ambush in the field; and he looked, and, behold, the people went forth out of the city, and he rose up against them, and smote them. 44 And Abimelech and the chiefs of companies that were with him rushed forward, and stood by the door of the gate of the city; and the two other companies rushed forward upon all that were in the field, and smote them. 45 And Abimelech fought against the city all that day, and took the city, and slew the people that were in it, and destroyed the city, and sowed it with salt.

46 And all the men of the tower of Sychem heard, and came to the gathering of Bæthel-berith. 47 And it was reported to Abimelech, that all the men of the tower of Sychem were gathered together. 48 And Abimelech went up to the mount of Selmon, and all the people that were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a branch of a tree, and took it, and laid it on his shoulders; and said to the people that were with him, What ye see me doing, do quickly as I. 49 And they cut down likewise even every man a branch, and went after Abimelech, and laid them against the place of gathering, and burnt the place of gathering over them with fire; and they died, even all the men of the tower of Sicima, about a thousand men and women.

50 And Abimelech went out of Bæthel-berith, and encamped against Thebes, and took it. 51 And there was a strong tower in the midst of the city; and thither all the men and the women of the city fled, and shut the door without them, and went up on the roof of the tower. 52 And Abimelech drew near to the tower, and they besieged it; and Abimelech drew near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire. 53 And a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon the head of Abimelech, and broke his skull. 54 And he cried out quickly to the young man his armour-bearer, and said to him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, lest at any time they should say, A woman slew him: and his young man thrust him through and he died. 55 And the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead; and they went each to his place.

56 So God requited the wickedness of Abimelech, which he wrought against his father, in slaying his seventy brethren. 57 And all the wickedness of the men of Sychem God requited upon their head; and the curse of Joatham the son of Jerobaal came upon them.

10 And after Abimelech Thola the son of Phua rose up to save Israel, being the son of his father’s brother, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Samir in Mount Ephraim. 2 And he judged Israel twenty-three years, and died, and was buried in Samir.

3 And after him arose Jair of Galaad, and he judged Israel twenty-two years. 4 And he had thirty-two sons riding on thirty-two colts, and they had thirty-two cities; aud they called them Jair’s Towns until this day in the land of Galaad. 5 And Jair died and was buried in Rhamnon.

6 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim, and Astaroth, and the gods of Aram, and the gods of Sidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Phylistines; and they forsook the Lord, and did not serve him. 7 And the Lord was very angry with Israel, and sold them into the hand of the Phylistines, and into the hand of the children of Ammon. 8 And they afflicted and bruised the children of Israel at that time eighteen years, all the children of Israel beyond Jordan in the land of the Amorite in Galaad. 9 And the children of Ammon went over Jordan to fight with Juda, and Benjamin, and with Ephraim; and the children of Israel were greatly afflicted.

10 And the children of Israel cried to the Lord, saying, We have sinned against thee, because we have forsaken God, and served Baalim. 11 And the Lord said to the children of Israel, Did I not save you from Egypt and from the Amorite, and from the children of Ammon, and from the Phylistines, 12 and from the Sidonians, and Amalec, and Madiam, who afflicted you? and ye cried to me, and I saved you out of their hand? 13 Yet ye forsook me and served other gods; therefore I will not save you any more. 14 Go, and cry to the gods whom ye have chosen to yourselves, and let them save you in the time of your affliction. 15 And the children of Israel said to the Lord, We have sinned: do thou to us according to all that is good in thine eyes; only deliver us this day. 16 And they put away the strange gods from the midst of them, and served the Lord only, and his soul was pained for the trouble of Israel.

17 And the children of Ammon went up, and encamped in Galaad; and the children of Israel were gathered together and encamped on the hill. 18 And the people the princes of Galaad said every man to his neighbour, Who is he that shall begin to fight against the children of Ammon? he shall even be head over all that dwell in Galaad.

11 And Jephthae the Galaadite was a mighty man, and he was the son of a harlot, who bore Jephthae to Galaad. 2 And the wife of Galaad bore him sons; and the sons of his wife grew up, and they cast out Jephthae, and said to him, Thou shalt not inherit in the house of our father, for thou art the son of a concubine.

3 And Jephthae fled from the face of his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob; and vain men gathered to Jephthae, and went out with him.

4 And it came to pass when the children of Ammon prepared to fight with Israel, 5 that the elders of Galaad went to fetch Jephthae from the land of Tob. 6 And they said to Jephthae, Come, and be our head, and we will fight with the sons of Ammon. 7 And Jephthae said to the elders of Galaad, Did ye not hate me, and cast me out of my father’s house, and banish me from you? and wherefore are ye come to me now when ye want me? 8 And the elders of Galaad said to Jephthae, Therefore have we now turned to thee, that thou shouldest go with us, and fight against the sons of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Galaad. 9 And Jephthae said to the elders of Galaad, If ye turn me back to fight with the children of Ammon, and the Lord should deliver them before me, then will I be your head. 10 And the elders of Galaad said to Jephthae, the Lord be witness between us, if we shall not do according to thy word.

11 And Jephthae went with the elders of Galaad, and the people made him head and ruler over them: and Jephthae spoke all his words before the Lord in Massepha.

12 And Jephthae sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What have I to do with thee, that thou hast come against me to fight in my land? 13 And the king of the children of Ammon said to the messengers of Jephthae, Because Israel took my land when he went up out of Egypt, from Arnon unto Jaboc, and to Jordan: now then return them peaceably and I will depart.

14 And Jephthae again sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon. 15 and said to him, Thus says Jephthae, Israel took not the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon. 16 for in their going up out of Egypt Israel went in the wilderness as far as the sea of Siph, and came unto Cades. 17 And Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, I will pass, if it please thee, by thy land: and the king of Edom complied not: and Israel also sent to the king of Moab, and he did not consent; and Israel sojourned in Cades. 18 And they journeyed in the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab: and they came by the east of the land of Moab, and encamped in the country beyond Arnon, and came not within the borders of Moab, for Arnon is the border of Moab. 19 And Israel sent messengers to Seon king of the Amorite, king of Esebon, and Israel said to him, Let us pass, we pray thee, by thy land to our place. 20 And Seon did not trust Israel to pass by his coast; and Seon gathered all his people, and they encamped at Jasa; and he set the battle in array against Israel. 21 And the Lord God of Israel delivered Seon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote him; and Israel inherited all the land of the Amorite who dwelt in that land, 22 from Arnon and unto Jabok, and from the wilderness to Jordan. 23 And now the Lord God of Israel has removed the Amorite from before his people Israel, and shalt thou inherit his land? 24 Wilt thou not inherit those possessions which Chamos thy god shall cause thee to inherit; and shall not we inherit the land of all those whom the Lord our God has removed from before you? 25 And now art thou any better than Balak son of Sepphor, king of Moab? Did he indeed fight with Israel, or indeed make war with him, 26 when Israel dwelt in Esebon and in its coasts, and in the land of Aroer and in its coasts, and in all the cities by Jordan, three hundred years? and wherefore didst thou not recover them in that time? 27 And now I have not sinned against thee, but thou wrongest me in preparing war against me: may the Lord the Judge judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.

28 But the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not to the words of Jephthae, which he sent to him. 29 And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthae, and he passed over Galaad, and Manasse, and passed by the watch-tower of Galaad to the other side of the children of Ammon.

30 And Jephthae vowed a vow to the Lord, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand: 31 then it shall come to pass that whosoever shall first come out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, he shall be the Lord’s: I will offer him up for a whole-burnt-offering.

32 And Jephthae advanced to meet the sons of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord delivered them into his hand. 33 And he smote them from Aroer till one comes to Arnon, in number twenty cities, and as far as Ebelcharmim, with a very great destruction: and the children of Ammon were straitened before the children of Israel.

34 And Jephthae came to Massepha to his house; and behold his daughter came forth to meet him with timbrels and dances; and she was his only child, he had not another son or daughter. 35 And it came to pass when he saw her, that he rent his garments, and said, Ah, ah, my daughter, thou hast indeed troubled me, and thou wast the cause of my trouble, and I have opened my mouth against thee to the Lord, and I shall not be able to return from it. 36 And she said to him, Father, hast thou opened thy mouth to the Lord? Do to me accordingly as the word went out of thy mouth, in that the Lord has wrought vengeance for thee on thine enemies of the children of Ammon. 37 And she said to her father, Let my father now do this thing: let me alone for two months, and I will go up and down on the mountains, and I will bewail my virginity, I and my companions. 38 And he said, Go: and he sent her away for two months; and she went, and her companions, and she bewailed her virginity on the mountains.

39 And it came to pass at the end of the two months that she returned to her father; and he performed upon her his vow which he vowed; and she knew no man: 40 and it was an ordinance in Israel, That the daughters of Israel went from year to year to bewail the daughter of Jephthae the Galaadite for four days in a year.

12 And the men of Ephraim assembled themselves, and passed on to the north, and said to Jephthae, Wherefore didst thou go over to fight with the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? We will burn thy house over thee with fire. 2 And Jephthae said to them, I and my people and the children of Ammon were very much engaged in war; and I called for you, and ye did not save me out of their hand. 3 And I saw that thou wert no helper, and I put my life in my hand, and passed on to the sons of Ammon; and the Lord delivered them into my hand: and wherefore are ye come up against me this day to fight with me?

4 And Jephthae gathered all the men of Galaad, and fought with Ephraim; and the men of Galaad smote Ephraim, because they that were escaped of Ephraim said, Ye are of Galaad in the midst of Ephraim and in the midst of Manasse. 5 And Galaad took the fords of Jordan before Ephraim; and they that escaped of Ephraim said to them, Let us go over: and the men of Galaad said, Art thou an Ephrathite? and he said, No. 6 Then they said to him, Say now Stachys; and he did not rightly pronounce it so: and they took him, and slew him at the fords of Jordan; and there fell at that time of Ephraim two and forty thousand.

7 And Jephthae judged Israel six years; and Jephthae the Galaadite died, and was buried in his city Galaad.

8 And after him Abaissan of Bethleem judged Israel. 9 And he had thirty sons, and thirty daughters, whom he sent forth; and he brought in thirty daughters for his sons from without; and he judged Israel seven years. 10 And Abaissan died, and was buried in Bethleem.

11 And after him Ælom of Zabulon judged Israel ten years. 12 And Ælom of Zabulon died, and was buried in Ælom in the land of Zabulon.

13 And after him Abdon the son of Ellel, the Pharathonite, judged Israel. 14 And he had forty sons, and thirty grandsons, that rode upon seventy colts: and he judged Israel eight years. 15 And Abdon the son of Ellel, the Pharathonite, died, and was buried in Pharathon in the land of Ephraim in the mount of Amalec.

13 And the children of Israel yet again committed iniquity before the Lord; and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Phylistines forty years.

2 And there was a man of Saraa, of the family of the kindred of Dan, and his name was Manoë, and his wife was barren, and bore not. 3 And an angel of the Lord appeared to the woman, and said to her, Behold, thou art barren and hast not borne; yet thou shalt conceive a son. 4 And now be very cautious, and drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat no unclean thing; 5 for behold, thou art with child, and shalt bring forth a son; and there shall come no razor upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Phylistines.

6 And the woman went in, and spoke to her husband, saying, A man of God came to me, and his appearance was as of an angel of God, very dreadful, and I did not ask him whence he was, and he did not tell me his name. 7 And he said to me, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bring forth a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat no unclean thing; for the child shall be holy to God from the womb until the day of his death.

8 And Manoë prayed to the Lord and said, I pray thee, O Lord my Lord, concerning the man of God whom thou sentest; let him now come to us once more, and teach us what we shall do to the child about to be born.

9 And the Lord heard the voice of Manoë, and the angel of God came yet again to the woman; and she sat in the field, and Manoë her husband was not with her. 10 And the woman hasted, and ran, and brought word to her husband, and said to him, Behold the man who came the other day to me has appeared to me.

11 And Manoë arose and followed his wife, and came to the man, and said to him, Art thou the man that spoke to the woman? and the angel said, I am. 12 And Manoë said, Now shall thy word come to pass: what shall be the ordering of the child, and our dealings with him? 13 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoë, Of all things concerning which I spoke to the woman, she shall beware. 14 She shall eat of nothing that comes of the vine yielding wine, and let her not drink wine or strong liquor, and let her not eat anything unclean: all things that I have charged her she shall observe.

15 And Manoë said to the angel of the Lord, Let us detain thee here, and prepare before thee a kid of the goats. 16 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoë, If thou shouldest detain me, I will not eat of thy bread; and if thou wouldest offer a whole-burnt-offering, to the Lord thou shalt offer it: for Manoë knew not that he was an angel of the Lord. 17 And Manoë said to the angel of the Lord, What is thy name that when thy word shall come to pass, we may glorify thee? 18 And the angel of the Lord said to him, Why dost thou thus ask after my name; whereas it is wonderful? 19 And Manoë took a kid of the goats and its meat-offering, and offered it on the rock to the Lord: and the angel wrought a distinct work, and Manoë and his wife were looking on. 20 And it came to pass when the flame went up above the altar toward heaven, that the angel of the Lord went up in the flame; and Manoë and his wife were looking, and they fell upon their face to the earth. 21 And the angel appeared no more to Manoë and to his wife: then Manoë knew that this was an angel of the Lord. 22 And Manoë said to his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. 23 But his wife said to him, If the Lord were pleased to slay us, he would not have received of our hand a whole-burnt-offering and a meat-offering, and he would not have shown us all these things, neither would he have caused us to hear all these things as at this time.

24 And the woman brought forth a son, and she called his name Sampson; and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him. 25 And the Spirit of the Lord began to go out with him in the camp of Dan, and between Saraa and Esthaol.

14 And Sampson went down to Thamnatha, and saw a woman in Thamnatha of the daughters of the Philistines. 2 And he went up and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Thamnatha of the daughters of the Phylistines; and now take her to me for a wife. 3 And his father and his mother said to him, Are there no daughters of thy brethren, and is there not a woman of all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines?

And Sampson said to his father, Take her for me, for she is right in my eyes. 4 And his father and his mother knew not that it was of the Lord, that he sought to be revenged on the Philistines: and at that time the Philistines lorded it over Israel. 5 And Sampson and his father and his mother went down to Thamnatha; and he came to the vineyard of Thamnatha, and behold, a young lion roared in meeting him. 6 And the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him, and he crushed him as he would have crushed a kid of the goats, and there was nothing in his hands: and he told not his father and his mother what he had done. 7 And they went down and spoke to the woman, and she was pleasing in the eyes of Sampson.

8 And after some time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees, and honey were in the mouth of the lion. 9 And he took it into his hands, and went on eating, and he went to his father and his mother, and gave to them, and they did eat; but he told them not that he took the honey out of the mouth of the lion.

10 And his father went down to the woman, and Sampson made there a banquet for seven days, for so the young men are used to do. 11 And it came to pass when they saw him, that they took thirty guests, and they were with him.

12 And Sampson said to them, I propound you a riddle, if ye will indeed tell it me, and discover it within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty sheets and thirty changes of raiment. 13 And if ye cannot tell it me, ye shall give me thirty napkins and thirty changes of apparel: and they said to him, Propound thy riddle, and we will hear it. 14 And he said to them, Meat came forth of the eater, and sweetness out of the strong: and they could not tell the riddle for three days.

15 And it came to pass on the fourth day, that they said to the wife of Sampson, Deceive now thy husband, and let him tell thee the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father’s house with fire: did ye invite us to do us violence? 16 And Sampson’s wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not; for the riddle which thou hast propounded to the children of my people, thou hast not told me: and Sampson said to her, If I have not told it to my father and my mother, shall I tell it to thee? 17 And she wept before him the seven days, during which their banquet lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she troubled him; and she told it to the children of her people. 18 And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day, before sunrise, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? and Sampson said to them, If ye had not ploughed with my heifer, ye would not have known my riddle. 19 And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him powerfully, and he went down to Ascalon, and destroyed of the inhabitants thirty men, and took their garments, and gave the changes of raiment to them that told the riddle; and Sampson was very angry, and went up to the house of his father. 20 And the wife of Sampson was given to one of his friends, with whom he was on terms of friendship.

15 And it came to pass after a time, in the days of wheat harvest, that Sampson visited his wife with a kid, and said, I will go in to my wife even into the chamber: but her father did not suffer him to go in. 2 And her father spoke, saying, I said that thou didst surely hate her, and I gave her to one of thy friends: is not her younger sister better than she? let her be to thee instead of her.

3 And Sampson said to them, Even for once am I guiltless with regard to the Philistines, in that I do mischief among them. 4 And Sampson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put a torch between two tails, and fastened it. 5 And he set fire to the torches, and sent the foxes into the corn of the Philistines; and every thing was burnt from the threshing floor to the standing corn, and even to the vineyard and olives. 6 And the Philistines said, Who has done these things? and they said Sampson the son-in-law of the Thamnite, because he has taken his wife, and given her to one of his friends; and the Philistines went up, and burnt her and her father’s house with fire.

7 And Sampson said to them, Though ye may have dealt thus with her, verily I will be avenged of you, and afterwards I will cease. 8 And he smote them leg on thigh with a great overthrow; and went down and dwelt in a cave of the rock Etam.

9 And the Philistines went up, and encamped in Juda, and spread themselves abroad in Lechi. 10 And the men of Juda said, Why are ye come up against us? and the Philistines said, We are come up to bind Sampson, and to do to him as he has done to us. 11 And the three thousand men of Juda went down to the hole of the rock Etam, and they said to Sampson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines rule over us? and what is this that thou hast done to us? and Sampson said to them, As they did to me, so have I done to them. 12 And they said to him, We are come down to bind thee to deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines: and Sampson said to them, Swear to me that ye will not fall upon me yourselves. 13 And they spoke to him saying Nay, but we will only bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand, and will by no means slay thee: and they bound him with two new ropes, and brought him from that rock.

14 And they came to Lechi; and the Philistines shouted, and ran to meet him: and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and the ropes that were upon his arms became as tow which is burnt with fire; and his bonds were consumed from off his hands. 15 And he found the jaw-bone of an ass that had been cast away, and he put forth his hand and took it, and smote with it a thousand men. 16 And Sampson said, With the jaw-bone of an ass I have utterly destroyed them, for with the jaw-bone of an ass I have smitten a thousand men. 17 And it came to pass when he ceased speaking, that he cast the jaw-bone out of his hand; and he called that place the Lifting of the jaw-bone.

18 And he was very thirsty, and wept before the Lord, and said, Thou hast been well pleased to grant this great deliverance by the hand of thy servant, and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised? 19 And God broke open a hollow place in the jaw, and there came thence water, and he drank; and his spirit returned and he revived: therefore the name of the fountain was called ‘The well of the invoker,’ which is in Lechi, until this day.

20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

16 And Sampson went to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went in to her. 2 And it was reported to the Gazites, saying, Sampson is come hither: and they compassed him and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and they were quiet all the night, saying, Let us wait till the dawn appear, and we will slay him. 3 And Sampson slept till midnight, and rose up at midnight, and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city with the two posts, and lifted them up with the bar, and laid them on his shoulders, and he went up to the top of the mountain that is before Chebron, and laid them there.

4 And it came to pass after this that he loved a woman in Alsorech, and her name was Dalida. 5 And the princes of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her, Beguile him, and see wherein his great strength is, and wherewith we shall prevail against him, and bind him to humble him; and we will give thee each eleven hundred pieces of silver.

6 And Dalida said to Sampson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein is thy great strength, and wherewith thou shalt be bound that thou mayest be humbled. 7 And Sampson said to her, If they bind me with seven moist cords that have not been spoiled, then shall I be weak and be as one of ordinary men. 8 And the princes of the Philistines brought to her seven moist cords that had not been spoiled, and she bound him with them. 9 And the liers in wait remained with her in the chamber; and she said to him, The Philistines are upon thee, Sampson: and he broke the cords as if any one should break a thread of tow when it has touched the fire, and his strength was not known.

10 And Dalida said to Sampson, Behold, thou hast cheated me, and told me lies; now then tell me wherewith thou shalt be bound. 11 And he said to her, If they should bind me fast with new ropes with which work has not been done, then shall I be weak, and shall be as another man. 12 And Dalida took new ropes, and bound him with them, and the liers in wait came out of the chamber, and she said, The Philistines are upon thee, Sampson: and he broke them off his arms like a thread.

13 And Dalida said to Sampson, Behold, thou hast deceived me, and told me lies; tell me, I intreat thee, wherewith thou mayest be bound: and he said to her, If thou shouldest weave the seven locks of my head with the web, and shouldest fasten them with the pin into the wall, then shall I be weak as another man. 14 And it came to pass when he was asleep, that Dalida took the seven locks of his head, and wove them with the web, and fastened them with the pin into the wall, and she said, The Philistines are upon thee, Sampson: and he awoke out of his sleep, and carried away the pin of the web out of the wall.

15 And Dalida said to Sampson, How sayest thou, I love thee, when thy heart is not with me? this third time thou hast deceived me, and hast not told me wherein is thy great strength. 16 And it came to pass as she pressed him sore with her words continually, and straitened him, that his spirit failed almost to death. 17 Then he told her all his heart, and said to her, A razor has not come upon my head, because I have been a holy one of God from my mother’s womb; if then I should be shaven, my strength will depart from me, and I shall be weak, and I shall be as all other men.

18 And Dalida saw that he told her all his heart, and she sent and called the princes of the Philistines, saying, Come up yet this once for he has told me all his heart. And the chiefs of the Philistines went up to her, and brought the money in their hands. 19 And Dalida made Sampson sleep upon her knees; and she called a man, and he shaved the seven locks of his head, and she began to humble him, and his strength departed from him. 20 And Dalida said, The Philistines are upon thee, Sampson: and he awoke out of his sleep and said, I will go out as at former times, and shake myself; and he knew not that the Lord was departed from him. 21 And the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he ground in the prison-house. 22 And the hair of his head began to grow as before he was shaven.

23 And the chiefs of the Philistines met to offer a great sacrifice to their god; Dagon, and to make merry; and they said, God has given into our hand our enemy Sampson. 24 And the people saw him, and sang praises to their god; for our god said they, has delivered into our hand our enemy, who wasted our land, and who multiplied our slain. 25 And when their heart was merry, then they said, Call Sampson out of the prison-house, and let him play before us: and they called Sampson out of the prison-house and he played before them, and they smote him with the palms of their hands, and set him between the pillars. 26 And Sampson said to the young man that held his hand, Suffer me to feel the pillars on which the house rests, and I will stay myself upon them. 27 And the house was full of men and women, and there were all the chiefs of the Philistines, and on the roof were about three thousand men and women looking at the sports of Sampson.

28 And Sampson wept before the Lord, and said, O Lord, my Lord, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, O God, yet this once, and I will requite one recompense to the Philistines for my two eyes. 29 And Sampson took hold of the two pillars of the house on which the house stood, and leaned on them, and laid hold of one with his right hand, and the other with his left. 30 And Sampson said, Let my life perish with the Philistines: and he bowed himself mightily; and the house fell upon princes, and upon all the people that were in it: and the dead whom Sampson slew in his death were more than those whom he slew in his life.

31 And his brethren and his father’s house went down, and they took him; and they went up and buried him between Saraa and Esthaol in the sepulchre of his father Manoë; and he judged Israel twenty years.

17 And there was a man of Mount Ephraim, and his name was Michaias. 2 And he said to his mother, The eleven hundred pieces of silver which thou tookest to thyself, and about which thou cursedst me, and spokest in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it: and his mother said, Blessed be my son of the Lord. 3 And he restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother; and his mother said, I had wholly consecrated the money to the Lord out of my hand for my son, to make a graven and a molten image, and now I will restore it to thee. 4 But he returned the silver to his mother, and his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave them to a silversmith, and he made it a graven and a molten image; and it was in the house of Michaias. 5 And the house of Michaias was to him the house of God, and he made an ephod and theraphin, and he consecrated one of his sons, and he became to him a priest.

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

7 And there was a young man in Bethleem of the tribe of Juda, and he was a Levite, and he was sojourning there. 8 And the man departed from Bethleem the city of Juda to sojourn in whatever place he might find; and he came as far as Mount Ephraim, and to the house of Michaias to accomplish his journey. 9 And Michaias said to him, Whence comest thou? and he said to him, I am a Levite of Bethleem Juda, and I go to sojourn in any place I may find. 10 And Michaias said to him, Dwell with me, and be to me a father and a priest; and I will give thee ten pieces of silver by the year, and a change of raiment, and thy living. 11 And the Levite went and began to dwell with the man; and the young man was to him as one of his sons. 12 And Michaias consecrated the Levite, and he became to him a priest, and he was in the house of Michaias. 13 And Michaias said, Now I know that the Lord will do me good, because a Levite has become my priest.

18 In those days there was no king in Israel; and in those days the tribe of Dan sought for itself an inheritance to inhabit, because no inheritance had fallen to it until that day in the midst of the tribes of the children of Israel. 2 And the sons of Dan sent from their families five men of valour, from Saraa and from Esthaol, to spy out the land and to search it; and they said to them, Go and search out the land. And they came as far as the mount of Ephraim to the house of Michaias and they lodged there, 3 in the house of Michaias, and they recognised the voice of the young man the Levite, and turned in thither; and said to him, Who brought thee in hither? and what doest thou in this place? and what hast thou here? 4 And he said to them, Thus and thus did Michaias to me, and he hired me, and I became his priest. 5 And they said to him, Enquire now of God, and we shall know whether our way will prosper, on which we are going. 6 And the priest said to them, Go in peace; your way in which ye go, is before the Lord.

7 And the five men went on, and came to Laisa; and they saw the people in the midst of it dwelling securely, at ease as is the manner of the Sidonians, and there is no one perverting or shaming a matter in the land, no heir extorting treasures, and they are far from the Sidonians, and they have no intercourse; with any one. 8 And the five men came to their brethren to Saraa and Esthaol, and said to their brethren, Why sit ye here idle? 9 And they said, Arise, and let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good, yet ye are still: delay not to go, and to enter in to possess the land. 10 And whensoever ye shall go, ye shall come in upon a people secure, and the land is extensive, for God has given it into your hand; a place where there is no want of that anything the earth affords.

11 And there departed thence of the families of Dan, from Saraa and from Esthaol, six hundred men, girded with weapons of war. 12 And they went up, and encamped in Cariathiarim in Juda; therefore it was called in that place the camp of Dan, until this day: behold, it is behind Cariathiarim.

13 And they went on thence to the mount of Ephraim, and came to the house of Michaias. 14 And the five men who went to spy out the land of Laisa answered, and said to their brethren, Ye know that there is in this place an ephod, and theraphin, and a graven and a molten image; and now consider what ye shall do. 15 And they turned aside there, and went into the house of the young man, the Levite, even into the house of Michaias, and asked him how he was. 16 And the six hundred men of the sons of Dan who were girded with their weapons of war stood by the door of the gate. 17 And the five men who went to spy out the land went up, and entered into the house of Michaias, and the priest stood. 18 And they took the graven image, and the ephod, and the theraphin, and the molten image; and the priest said to them, What are ye doing? 19 And they said to him, Be silent, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and come with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be the priest of the house of one man, or to be the priest of a tribe and house for a family of Israel? 20 And the heart of the priest was glad, and he took the ephod, and the theraphin, and the graven image, and the molten image, and went in the midst of the people.

21 So they turned and departed, and put their children and their property and their baggage before them.

22 They went some distance from the house of Michaias, and, behold, Michaias and the men in the houses near Michaias’ house, cried out, and overtook the children of Dan. 23 And the children of Dan turned their face, and said to Michaias, What is the matter with thee that thou hast cried out? 24 And Michaias said, Because ye have taken my graven image which I made, and my priest, and are gone; and what have I remaining? and what is this that ye say to me, Why criest thou? 25 And the children of Dan said to him, Let not thy voice be heard with us, lest angry men run upon thee, and take away thy life, and the lives of thy house. 26 And the children of Dan went their way; and Michaias saw that they were stronger than himself, and he returned to his house.

27 And the children of Dan took what Michaias had made, and the priest that he had, and they came to Laisa, to a people quiet and secure; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire. 28 And there was no deliverer, because the city is far from the Sidonians, and they have no intercourse with men, and it is in the valley of the house of Raab; and they built the city, and dwelt in it. 29 And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel, and the name of the city was Ulamais before.

30 And the children of Dan set up the graven image for themselves; and Jonathan son of Gerson son of Manasse, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan till the time of the carrying away of the nation. 31 And they set up for themselves the graven image which Michaias made, all the days that the house of God was in Selom; and it was so in those days that there was no king in Israel.

19 And there was a Levite sojourning in the sides of mount Ephraim, and he took to himself a concubine from Bethleem Juda. 2 And his concubine departed from him, and went away from him to the house of her father to Bethleem Juda, and she was there four months.

3 And her husband rose up, and went after her to speak kindly to her, to recover her to himself; and he had his young man with him, and a pair of asses; and she brought him into the house of her father; and the father of the damsel saw him, and was well pleased to meet him. 4 And his father-in-law, the father of the damsel, constrained him, and he staid with him for three days; and they ate and drank, and lodged there. 5 And it came to pass on the fourth day that they rose early, and he stood up to depart; and the father of the damsel said to his son-in-law, Strengthen thy heart with a morsel of bread, and afterwards ye shall go. 6 So they two sat down together and ate and drank: and the father of the damsel said to her husband, Tarry now the night, and let thy heart be merry. 7 And the man rose up to depart; but his father-in-law constrained him, and he staid and lodged there.

8 And he rose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart; and the father of the damsel said, Strengthen now thine heart, and quit thyself as a soldier till the day decline; and the two ate. 9 And the man rose up to depart, he and his concubine, and his young man; but his father-in-law the father of the damsel said to him, Behold now, the day has declined toward evening; lodge here, and let thy heart rejoice; and ye shall rise early to-morrow for your journey, and thou shalt go to thy habitation. 10 But the man would not lodge there, but he arose and departed, and came to the part opposite Jebus, (this is Jerusalem,) and there was with him a pair of asses saddled, and his concubine was with him.

11 And they came as far as Jebus: and the day had far advanced, and the young man said to his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites, and let us lodge in it. 12 And his master said to him, We will not turn aside to a strange city, where there is not one of the children of Israel, but we will pass on as far as Gabaa. 13 And he said to his young man, Come, and let us draw nigh to one of the places, and we will lodge in Gabaa or in Rama. 14 And they passed by and went on, and the sun went down upon them near to Gabaa, which is in Benjamin. 15 And they turned aside thence to go in to lodge in Gabaa; and they went in, and sat down in the street of the city, and there was no one who conducted them into a house to lodge.

16 And behold, an old man came out of the field from his work in the evening; and the man was of mount Ephraim, and he sojourned in Gabaa, and the men of the place were sons of Benjamin. 17 And he lifted up his eyes, and saw a traveller in the street of the city; and the old man said to him, Whither goest thou, and whence comest thou? 18 And he said to him, We are passing by from Bethleem Juda to the sides of mount Ephraim: I am from thence, and I went as far as Bethleem Juda, and I am going home, and there is no man to take me into his house. 19 Yet is there straw and food for our asses, and bread and wine for me and my handmaid and the young man with thy servants; there is no want of anything. 20 And the old man said, Peace be to thee; only be every want of thine upon me, only do thou by no means lodge in the street. 21 And he brought him into his house, and made room for his asses; and they washed their feet, and ate and drank.

22 And they were comforting their heart, when, behold, the men of the city, sons of transgressors, compassed the house, knocking at the door: and they spoke to the old man the owner of the house, saying, Bring out the man who came into thy house, that we may know him. 23 And the master of the house came out to them, and said, Nay, brethren, do not ye wrong, I pray you, after this man has come into my house; do not ye this folly. 24 Behold my daughter a virgin, and the man’s concubine: I will bring them out, and humble ye them, and do to them that which is good in your eyes; but to this man do not this folly. 25 But the men would not consent to hearken to him; so the man laid hold of his concubine, and brought her out to them; and they knew her, and abused her all night till the morning, and let her go when the morning dawned.

26 And the woman came toward morning, and fell down at the door of the house where her husband was, until it was light. 27 And her husband rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went forth to go on his journey; and, behold, the woman his concubine had fallen down by the doors of the house, and her hands were on the threshold. 28 And he said to her, Rise, and let us go; and she answered not, for she was dead: and he took her upon his ass, and went to his place.

29 And he took his sword, and laid hold of his concubine, and divided her into twelve parts, and sent them to every coast of Israel. 30 And it was so, that every one who saw it said, Such a day as this has not happened nor has been seen from the day of the going up of the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt until this day: take ye counsel concerning it, and speak.

20 And all the children of Israel went out, and all the congregation was gathered as one man, from Dan even to Bersabee, and in the land of Galaad, to the Lord at Massepha. 2 And all the tribes of Israel stood before the Lord in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword. 3 And the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Massepha: and the children of Israel came and said, Tell us, where did this wickedness take place? 4 And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said, I and my concubine went to Gabaa of Benjamin to lodge. 5 And the men of Gabaa rose up against me; and compassed the house by night against me, they wished to slay me, and they have humbled my concubine, and she is dead. 6 And I laid hold of my concubine, and divided her in pieces, and sent the parts into every coast of the inheritance of the children of Israel; for they have wrought lewdness and abomination in Israel. 7 Behold, all ye are children of Israel; and consider and take counsel here among yourselves.

8 And all the people rose up as one man, saying, No one of us shall return to his tent, and no one of us shall return to his house. 9 And now this is the thing which shall be done in Gabaa; we will go up against it by lot. 10 Moreover we will take ten men for a hundred for all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred for a thousand, and a thousand for ten thousand, to take provision, to cause them to come to Gabaa of Benjamin, to do to it according to all the abomination, which they wrought in Israel. 11 And all the men of Israel were gathered to the city as one man.

12 And the tribes of Israel sent men through the whole tribe of Benjamin, saying, What is this wickedness that has been wrought among you? 13 Now then give up the men the sons of transgressors that are in Gabaa, and we will put them to death, and purge out wickedness from Israel: but the children of Benjamin consented not to hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel. 14 And the children of Benjamin were gathered from their cities to Gabaa, to go forth to fight with the children of Israel. 15 And the children of Benjamin from their cities were numbered in that day, twenty-three thousand, every man drawing a sword, besides the inhabitants of Gabaa, who were numbered seven hundred chosen men of all the people, able to use both hands alike; 16 all these could sling with stones at a hair, and not miss. 17 And the men of Israel, exclusive of Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword; all these were men of war.

18 And they arose and went up to Bæthel, and enquired of God: and the children of Israel said, Who shall go up for us first to fight with the children of Benjamin? And the Lord said, Juda shall go up first as leader. 19 And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped against Gabaa.

20 And they went out, all the men of Israel, to fight with Benjamin, and engaged with them at Gabaa. 21 And the sons of Benjamin went forth from Gabaa, and they destroyed in Israel on that day two and twenty thousand men down to the ground.

22 And the men of Israel strengthened themselves, and again engaged in battle in the place where they had engaged on the first day. 23 And the children of Israel went up, and wept before the Lord till evening, and enquired of the Lord, saying, Shall we again draw nigh to battle with our brethren the children of Benjamin? and the Lord said, Go up against them. 24 And the children of Israel advanced against the children of Benjamin on the second day. 25 And the children of Benjamin went forth to meet them from Gabaa on the second day, and destroyed of the children of Israel yet further eighteen thousand men down to the ground: all these drew sword.

26 And the children of Israel and all the people went up, and came to Bæthel; and they wept, and sat there before the Lord; and they fasted on that day until evening, and offered whole-burnt-offerings and perfect sacrifices, before the Lord, 27 for the ark of the Lord God was there in those days, 28 and Phinees the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron stood before it in those days; and the children of Israel enquired of the Lord, saying, Shall we yet again go forth to fight with our brethren the sons of Benjamin? and the Lord said, Go up, to-morrow I will give them into your hands. 29 And the children of Israel set an ambush against Gabaa round about it.

30 And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and arrayed themselves against Gabaa as before. 31 And the children of Benjamin went out to meet the people, and were all drawn out of the city, and began to smite and slay the people as before in the roads, whereof one goes up to Bæthel, and one to Gabaa in the field, about thirty men of Israel. 32 And the children of Benjamin said, They fall before us as at the first: but the children of Israel said, Let us flee, and draw them out from the city into the roads; and they did so.

33 And all the men rose up out of their places, and engaged in Baal Thamar; and the liers in wait of Israel advanced from their place from Maraagabe. 34 And there came over against Gabaa ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel; and the fight was severe; and they knew not that evil was coming upon them. 35 And the Lord smote Benjamin before the children of Israel; and the children of Israel destroyed of Benjamin in that day a hundred and twenty-five thousand men: all these drew sword. 36 And the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten; and the men of Israel gave place to Benjamin, because they trusted in the ambuscade which they had prepared against Gabaa.

37 And when they retreated, then the liers in wait rose up, and they moved on toward Gabaa, and the whole ambush came forth, and they smote the city with the edge of the sword.

38 And the children of Israel had a signal of battle with the liers in wait, that they should send up a signal of smoke from the city. 39 And the children of Israel saw that the liers in wait had seized Gabaa, and they stood in line of battle; and Benjamin began to smite down wounded ones among the men of Israel about thirty men; for they said, Surely they fall again before us, as in the first battle.

40 And the signal went up increasingly over the city as a pillar of smoke; and Benjamin looked behind him, and behold the destruction of the city went up to heaven.

41 And the men of Israel turned back, and the men of Benjamin hasted, because they saw that evil had come upon them. 42 And they turned to the way of the wilderness from before the children of Israel, and fled: but the battle overtook them, and they from the cities destroyed them in the midst of them.

43 And they cut down Benjamin, and pursued him from Nua closely till they came opposite Gabaa on the east. 44 And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men: all these were men of might.

45 And the rest turned, and fled to the wilderness to the rock of Remmon; and the children of Israel picked off of them five thousand men; and the children of Israel went down after them as far as Gedan, and they smote of them two thousand men. 46 And all that fell of Benjamin were twenty-five thousand men that drew sword in that day: all these were men of might. 47 And the rest turned, and fled to the wilderness to the rock of Remmon, even six hundred men; and they sojourned four months in the rock of Remmon.

48 And the children of Israel returned to the children of Benjamin, and smote them with the edge of the sword from the city of Mettha, even to the cattle, and every thing that was found in all the cities: and they burnt with fire the cities they found.

21 Now the children of Israel swore in Massephath, saying, No man of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin for a wife. 2 And the people came to Bæthel, and sat there until evening before God: and they lifted up their voice and wept with a great weeping; 3 and said, Wherefore, O Lord God of Israel, has this come to pass, that to-day one tribe should be counted as missing from Israel? 4 And it came to pass on the morrow that the people rose up early, and built there an altar, and offered up whole-burnt-offerings and peace-offerings.

5 And the children of Israel said, Who of all the tribes of Israel, went not up in the congregation to the Lord? for there was a great oath concerning those who went not up to the Lord to Massephath, saying, He shall surely be put to death.

6 And the children of Israel relented toward Benjamin their brother, and said, To-day one tribe is cut off from Israel. 7 What shall we do for wives for the rest that remain? whereas we have sworn by the Lord, not to give them of our daughters for wives. 8 And they said, What one man is there of the tribes of Israel, who went not up to the Lord to Massephath? and, behold, no man came to the camp from Jabis Galaad to the assembly. 9 And the people were numbered, and there was not there a man from the inhabitants of Jabis Galaad.

10 And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the strongest, and they charged them, saying, Go ye and smite the inhabitants of Jabis Galaad with the edge of the sword. 11 And this shall ye do: every male and every woman that has known the lying with man ye shall devote to destruction, but the virgins ye shall save alive: and they did so.

12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabis Galaad four hundred young virgins, who had not known man by lying with him; and they brought them to Selom in the land of Chanaan.

13 And all the congregation sent and spoke to the children of Benjamin in the rock Remmon, and invited them to make peace. 14 And Benjamin returned to the children of Israel at that time, and the children of Israel gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the daughters of Jabis Galaad; and they were content.

15 And the people relented for Benjamin, because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.

16 And the elders of the congregation said, What shall we do for wives for them that remain? for the women have been destroyed out of Benjamin. 17 And they said, thereThere xmust be an inheritance of them that are escaped of Benjamin; and so a tribe shall not be destroyed out of Israel. 18 For we shall not be able to give them wives of our daughters, because we swore among the children of Israel, saying, Cursed is he that gives a wife to Benjamin.

19 And they said, Lo! now there is a feast of the Lord from year to year in Selom, which is on the north of Bæthel, eastward on the way that goes up from Bæthel to Sychem, and from the south of Lebona. 20 And they charged the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards; 21 and ye shall see; and lo! if there come out the daughters of the inhabitants of Selom to dance in dances, then shall ye go out of the vineyards and seize for yourselves every man a wife of the daughters of Selom, and go ye into the land of Benjamin. 22 And it shall come to pass, when their fathers or their brethren come to dispute with us, that we will say to them, Grant them freely to us, for we have not taken every man his wife in the battle: because ye did not give to them according to the occasion, ye transgressed.

23 And the children of Benjamin did so; and they took wives according to their number from the dancers whom they seized: and they went and returned to their inheritance, and built the cities, and dwelt in them. 24 And the children of Israel went thence at that time every man to his tribe and his kindred; and they went thence every man to his inheritance. 25 And in those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own sight.