Bible (Literal Standard Version)/Judges

For other versions of this work, see Judges (Bible).

Chapter 1

¹ And it comes to pass after the death of Joshua, that the sons of Israel ask of YHWH, saying, "Who goes up for us to the Canaanite, at the commencement, to fight against it?" ² And YHWH says, "Judah goes up; behold, I have given the land into his hand." ³ And Judah says to his brother Simeon, "Go up with me into my lot, and we fight against the Canaanite—and I have gone, even I, with you into your lot"; and Simeon goes with him. ⁴ And Judah goes up, and YHWH gives the Canaanite and the Perizzite into their hand, and they strike them in Bezek—ten thousand men; ⁵ and they find Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and fight against him, and strike the Canaanite and the Perizzite. ⁶ And Adoni-Bezek flees, and they pursue after him, and seize him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes, ⁷ and Adoni-Bezek says, "Seventy kings—their thumbs and their great toes cut off—have been gathering under my table; as I have done so God has repaid to me"; and they bring him to Jerusalem, and he dies there. ⁸ And the sons of Judah fight against Jerusalem, and capture it, and strike it by the mouth of the sword, and they have sent the city into fire; ⁹ and afterward the sons of Judah have gone down to fight against the Canaanite inhabiting the hill-country, and the south, and the low country; ¹⁰ and Judah goes to the Canaanite who is dwelling in Hebron (and the name of Hebron [was] formerly Kirjath-Arba), and they strike Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai. ¹¹ And he goes there to the inhabitants of Debir (and the name of Debir [was] formerly Kirjath-Sepher), ¹² and Caleb says, "He who strikes Kirjath-Sepher and has captured it—then I have given my daughter Achsah to him for a wife." ¹³ And Othniel son of Kenaz, younger brother of Caleb, captures it, and he gives his daughter Achsah to him for a wife. ¹⁴ And it comes to pass in her coming in, that she persuades him to ask from her father the field, and she comes down off the donkey, and Caleb says to her, "What do you [want]?" ¹⁵ And she says to him, "Give a blessing to me; when you have given me the south land—then you have given springs of water to me"; and Caleb gives the upper springs and the lower springs to her. ¹⁶ And the sons of the Kenite, father-in-law of Moses, have gone up out of the city of palms with the sons of Judah [to] the wilderness of Judah, which [is] in the south of Arad, and they go and dwell with the people. ¹⁷ And Judah goes with his brother Simeon, and they strike the Canaanite inhabiting Zephath, and devote it; and [one] calls the name of the city Hormah. ¹⁸ And Judah captures Gaza and its border, and Askelon and its border, and Ekron and its border; ¹⁹ and YHWH is with Judah, and he occupies the hill-country, but not to dispossess the inhabitants of the valley, for they have chariots of iron. ²⁰ And they give Hebron to Caleb, as Moses has spoken, and he dispossesses the three sons of Anak there. ²¹ And the sons of Benjamin have not dispossessed the Jebusite inhabiting Jerusalem; and the Jebusite dwells with the sons of Benjamin, in Jerusalem, until this day. ²² And the house of Joseph goes up—even they—to Beth-El, and YHWH [is] with them; ²³ and the house of Joseph causes [men] to spy out Beth-El (and the name of the city [was] formerly Luz), ²⁴ and the watchers see a man coming out from the city, and say to him, "Please show us the entrance of the city, and we have done kindness with you." ²⁵ And he shows them the entrance of the city, and they strike the city by the mouth of the sword, and they have sent the man and all his family away; ²⁶ and the man goes to the land of the Hittites, and builds a city, and calls its name Luz—it [is] its name to this day. ²⁷ And Manasseh has not occupied Beth-Shean and its towns, and Taanach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Iblaim and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns, and the Canaanite is desirous to dwell in that land; ²⁸ and it comes to pass, when Israel has been strong, that he sets the Canaanite to forced labor, and has not utterly dispossessed it. ²⁹ And Ephraim has not dispossessed the Canaanite who is dwelling in Gezer, and the Canaanite dwells in its midst, in Gezer. ³⁰ Zebulun has not dispossessed the inhabitants of Kitron, and the inhabitants of Nahalol, and the Canaanite dwells in its midst, and they become forced labor. ³¹ Asher has not dispossessed the inhabitants of Accho, and the inhabitants of Sidon, and Ahlab, and Achzib, and Helbah, and Aphik, and Rehob; ³² and the Asherite dwells in the midst of the Canaanite, the inhabitants of the land, for it has not dispossessed them. ³³ Naphtali has not dispossessed the inhabitants of Beth-Shemesh, and the inhabitants of Beth-Anath, and he dwells in the midst of the Canaanite, the inhabitants of the land; and the inhabitants of Beth-Shemesh and of Beth-Anath were for forced labor for them. ³⁴ And the Amorites press the sons of Dan to the mountain, for they have not permitted them to go down to the valley; ³⁵ and the Amorite is desirous to dwell in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, and the hand of the house of Joseph is heavy, and they are for forced labor; ³⁶ and the border of the Amorite [is] from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock and upward.

Chapter 2

¹ And the Messenger of YHWH goes up from Gilgal to Bochim, ² and says, "I cause you to come up out of Egypt, and bring you into the land which I have sworn to your fathers, and say, I do not break My covenant with you for all time; and you make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land—you break down their altars; and you have not listened to My voice—what [is] this you have done? ³ And I have also said, I do not cast them out from your presence, and they have been for adversaries to you, and their gods are for a snare to you." ⁴ And it comes to pass, when the Messenger of YHWH speaks these words to all the sons of Israel, that the people lift up their voice and weep, ⁵ and they call the name of that place Bochim, and sacrifice to YHWH there. ⁶ And Joshua sends the people away, and the sons of Israel go, each to his inheritance, to possess the land; ⁷ and the people serve YHWH all [the] days of Joshua, and all [the] days of [the] elderly who prolonged days after Joshua, who saw all the great work of YHWH which He did to Israel. ⁸ And Joshua son of Nun, servant of YHWH, dies, a son of one hundred and ten years, ⁹ and they bury him in the border of his inheritance, in Timnath-Heres, in the hill-country of Ephraim, on the north of Mount Gaash; ¹⁰ and all that generation have also been gathered to their fathers, and another generation rises after them who have not known YHWH, and even the work which He has done to Israel. ¹¹ And the sons of Israel do evil in the eyes of YHWH, and serve the Ba'alim, ¹² and forsake YHWH, God of their fathers, who brings them out from the land of Egypt, and go after other gods (of the gods of the peoples who [are] around them), and bow themselves to them, and provoke YHWH, ¹³ indeed, they forsake YHWH, and do service to Ba'al and to Ashtaroth. ¹⁴ And the anger of YHWH burns against Israel, and He gives them into the hand of spoilers, and they spoil them, and He sells them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, and they have not been able to stand before their enemies anymore; ¹⁵ in every [place] where they have gone out, the hand of YHWH has been against them for calamity, as YHWH has spoken, and as YHWH has sworn to them, and they are greatly distressed. ¹⁶ And YHWH raises up judges, and they save them from the hand of their spoilers; ¹⁷ and they have also not listened to their judges, but have gone whoring after other gods, and bow themselves to them; they have turned aside [with] haste out of the way [in] which their fathers walked to obey the commands of YHWH—they have not done so. ¹⁸ And when YHWH raised up judges for them—then YHWH was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all [the] days of the judge; for YHWH sighs, because of their groaning from the presence of their oppressors, and of those thrusting them away. ¹⁹ And it has come to pass, when the judge dies—they turn back and have done corruptly above their fathers, to go after other gods, to serve them, and to bow themselves to them; they have not fallen from their doings, and from their stiff way. ²⁰ And the anger of YHWH burns against Israel, and He says, "Because that this nation has transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not listened to My voice— ²¹ I also do not continue to dispossess any from before them of the nations which Joshua has left when he dies, ²² in order to try Israel by them, whether they are keeping the way of YHWH, to go in it, as their fathers kept [it], or not." ²³ And YHWH leaves these nations, so as not to dispossess them quickly, and did not give them into the hand of Joshua.

Chapter 3

¹ And these [are] the nations which YHWH left, to try Israel by them, all who have not known all the wars of Canaan; ² (only for the sake of the generations of the sons of Israel knowing, to teach them war, only those who formerly have not known them)— ³ five princes of the Philistines, and all the Canaanite, and the Zidonian, and the Hivite inhabiting Mount Lebanon, from Mount Ba'al-Hermon to the entering in of Hamath; ⁴ and they are to prove Israel by them, to know whether they obey the commands of YHWH that He commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. ⁵ And the sons of Israel have dwelt in the midst of the Canaanite, the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, ⁶ and take their daughters to them for wives, and have given their daughters to their sons, and they serve their gods; ⁷ and the sons of Israel do evil in the eyes of YHWH, and forget their God YHWH, and serve the Ba'alim and the Asheroth. ⁸ And the anger of YHWH burns against Israel, and He sells them into the hand of Chushan-Rishathaim king of Aram-Naharaim, and the sons of Israel serve Chushan-Rishathaim eight years; ⁹ and the sons of Israel cry to YHWH, and YHWH raises a savior to the sons of Israel, and he saves them—Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother; ¹⁰ and the Spirit of YHWH is on him, and he judges Israel, and goes out to battle, and YHWH gives Chushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into his hand, and his hand is strong against Chushan-Rishathaim; ¹¹ and the land rests forty years. And Othniel son of Kenaz dies, ¹² and the sons of Israel add to do evil in the eyes of YHWH; and YHWH strengthens Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because that they have done evil in the eyes of YHWH; ¹³ and he gathers the sons of Ammon and Amalek to himself, and goes and strikes Israel, and they possess the city of palms; ¹⁴ and the sons of Israel serve Eglon king of Moab eighteen years. ¹⁵ And the sons of Israel cry to YHWH, and YHWH raises a savior to them, Ehud son of Gera, a Benjamite (a man [with] his right hand bound), and the sons of Israel send a present by his hand to Eglon king of Moab; ¹⁶ and Ehud makes a sword for himself, and it has two mouths (its length [is] a cubit), and he girds it under his long robe on his right thigh; ¹⁷ and he brings the present near to Eglon king of Moab, and Eglon [is] a very fat man. ¹⁸ And it comes to pass, when he has finished to bring the present near, that he sends the people carrying the present away, ¹⁹ and he himself has turned back from the carved images which [are] at Gilgal and says, "I have a secret word for you, O king"; and he says, "Hush!" And all those standing by him go out from him. ²⁰ And Ehud has come to him, and he is sitting in the cool upper chamber which he has for himself, and Ehud says, "I have a word of God for you"; and he rises from off the throne; ²¹ and Ehud puts forth his left hand, and takes the sword from off his right thigh, and thrusts it into his belly; ²² and the hilt also goes in after the blade, and the fat shuts on the blade, that he has not drawn the sword out of his belly, and he goes out [through] the antechamber [[or and the dung came out]]. ²³ And Ehud goes out at the porch, and shuts the doors of the upper chamber on him, and has bolted [it]; ²⁴ and he has gone out, and his servants have come in, and look, and behold, the doors of the upper chamber are bolted, and they say, "He is surely covering his feet, [relieving himself,] in the cool inner chamber." ²⁵ And they stay until confounded, and behold, he is not opening the doors of the upper chamber, and they take the key, and open, and behold, their lord is fallen to the earth—dead. ²⁶ And Ehud escaped during their lingering, and has passed by the images, and escapes to Seirath. ²⁷ And it comes to pass, in his coming in, that he blows with a horn in the hill-country of Ephraim, and the sons of Israel go down with him from the hill-country, and he before them; ²⁸ and he says to them, "Pursue after me, for YHWH has given your enemies, the Moabites, into your hand"; and they go down after him, and capture the passages of the Jordan toward Moab, and have not permitted a man to pass over. ²⁹ And they strike Moab at that time, about ten thousand men, all robust, and everyone a man of valor, and no man has escaped, ³⁰ and Moab is humbled in that day under the hand of Israel; and the land rests [for] eighty years. ³¹ And after him has been Shamgar son of Anath, and he strikes the Philistines—six hundred men—with an ox-goad, and he also saves Israel.

Chapter 4

¹ And the sons of Israel add to do evil in the eyes of YHWH when Ehud is dead, ² and YHWH sells them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who has reigned in Hazor, and Sisera [is] the head of his host, and he is dwelling in Harosheth of the nations; ³ and the sons of Israel cry to YHWH, for he has nine hundred chariots of iron, and he has oppressed the sons of Israel mightily [for] twenty years. ⁴ And Deborah, a woman, a prophetess, wife of Lapidoth, she is judging Israel at that time, ⁵ and she is dwelling under the palm-tree of Deborah, between Ramah and Beth-El, in the hill-country of Ephraim, and the sons of Israel go up to her for judgment. ⁶ And she sends and calls for Barak son of Abinoam, out of Kedesh-Naphtali, and says to him, "Has YHWH, God of Israel, not commanded? Go, and you have drawn toward Mount Tabor, and have taken with you ten thousand men, out of the sons of Naphtali, and out of the sons of Zebulun, ⁷ and I have drawn to you, to the Brook of Kishon, Sisera, head of the host of Jabin, and his chariot, and his multitude, and have given him into your hand." ⁸ And Barak says to her, "If you go with me, then I have gone; and if you do not go with me, I do not go"; ⁹ and she says, "I certainly go with you; only, surely your glory is not on the way which you are going, for YHWH sells Sisera into the hand of a woman"; and Deborah rises and goes with Barak to Kedesh. ¹⁰ And Barak calls Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh, and he goes up—ten thousand men [are] at his feet—and Deborah goes up with him. ¹¹ And Heber the Kenite has been separated from the Kenite, from the sons of Hobab father-in-law of Moses, and he stretches out his tent to the oak in Zaanaim, which [is] by Kedesh. ¹² And they declare to Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam has gone up to Mount Tabor, ¹³ and Sisera calls all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who [are] with him, from Harosheth of the nations, to the Brook of Kishon. ¹⁴ And Deborah says to Barak, "Rise, for this [is] the day in which YHWH has given Sisera into your hand; has YHWH not gone out before you?" And Barak goes down from Mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him. ¹⁵ And YHWH destroys Sisera, and all the chariots, and all the camp, by the mouth of the sword, before Barak, and Sisera comes down from off the chariot, and flees on his feet. ¹⁶ And Barak has pursued after the chariots and after the camp, to Harosheth of the nations, and all the camp of Sisera falls by the mouth of the sword—there has not been left even one. ¹⁷ And Sisera has fled on his feet to the tent of Jael wife of Heber the Kenite, for [there is] peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite; ¹⁸ and Jael goes out to meet Sisera and says to him, "Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me, do not fear"; and he turns aside to her, into the tent, and she covers him with a mantle. ¹⁹ And he says to her, "Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty"; and she opens the bottle of milk, and gives him to drink, and covers him. ²⁰ And he says to her, "Stand at the opening of the tent, and it has been, if any comes in, and has asked you and said, Is there a man here? That you have said, There is not." ²¹ And Jael wife of Heber takes the pin of the tent, and takes the hammer in her hand, and goes to him gently, and strikes the pin into his temples, and it fastens in the earth—and he has been fast asleep, and is weary—and he dies. ²² And behold, Barak is pursuing Sisera, and Jael comes out to meet him, and says to him, "Come, and I show you the man whom you are seeking"; and he comes to her, and behold, Sisera is fallen—dead, and the pin [is] in his temples. ²³ And God humbles Jabin king of Canaan before the sons of Israel on that day, ²⁴ and the hand of the sons of Israel goes, going on and becoming hard on Jabin king of Canaan, until they have cut off Jabin king of Canaan.

Chapter 5

¹ And Deborah sings—also Barak son of Abinoam—on that day, saying, ² "For freeing leaders in Israel, || For a people willingly offering themselves, || Bless YHWH. ³ Hear, you kings; give ear, you princes, || I sing to YHWH, || I sing praise to YHWH, God of Israel. ⁴ YHWH, in Your going forth out of Seir, || In Your stepping out of the field of Edom, || The earth trembled and the heavens dropped, || And thick clouds dropped water. ⁵ Hills flowed from the face of YHWH, || This one—Sinai—From the face of YHWH, God of Israel. ⁶ In the days of Shamgar son of Anath—In the days of Jael—The ways have ceased, || And those going in the paths go [in] crooked ways. ⁷ Villages ceased in Israel—they ceased, || Until I arose—Deborah, || That I arose, a mother in Israel. ⁸ He chooses new gods, || Then war [is] at the gates! A shield is not seen—and a spear || Among forty thousand in Israel. ⁹ My heart [is] to the lawgivers of Israel, || Who are offering themselves willingly among the people, || Bless YHWH! ¹⁰ Riders on white donkeys—Sitters on a long robe—And walkers by the way—meditate! ¹¹ By the voice of shouters || Between the places of drawing water, || There they give out righteous acts of YHWH, || Righteous acts of His villages in Israel, || Then the people of YHWH have gone down to the gates. ¹² Awake, awake, Deborah; Awake, awake, utter a song; Rise, Barak, and take your captivity captive, || Son of Abinoam. ¹³ Then him who is left of the majestic ones He caused to rule the people of YHWH, || He caused me to rule among the mighty. ¹⁴ From Ephraim [are] those whose root [is] in Amalek, || After you, Benjamin, among your peoples, || From Machir lawgivers came down, || And from Zebulun those drawing with the reed of a writer. ¹⁵ And princes in Issachar [are] with Deborah, || Indeed, Issachar [is] right with Barak, || Into the valley he was sent on his feet. In the divisions of Reuben, || The decrees of heart [are] great! ¹⁶ Why have you abided between the boundaries, || To hear lowings of herds? For the divisions of Reuben, || The searchings of heart [are] great! ¹⁷ Gilead dwelt beyond the Jordan, || And why does Dan sojourn [in] ships? Asher has abided at the haven of the seas, || And dwells by his creeks. ¹⁸ Zebulun [is] a people who exposed its soul to death, || Naphtali also—on high places of the field. ¹⁹ Kings came—they fought; Then kings of Canaan fought, || In Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo; They did not take gain of money! ²⁰ They fought from the heavens: The stars fought with Sisera from their highways. ²¹ The Brook of Kishon swept them away, || The most ancient brook—the Brook of Kishon. You tread down strength, O my soul! ²² Then the horse-heels were broken, || By gallopings—gallopings of its mighty ones. ²³ Curse Meroz, said a messenger of YHWH, || Cursing, curse its inhabitants! For they did not come to the help of YHWH, || To the help of YHWH among the mighty! ²⁴ Above women is Jael, || The wife of Heber the Kenite, || She is blessed above women in the tent. ²⁵ He asked for water—she gave milk; She brought butter near in a lordly dish. ²⁶ She sends forth her hand to the pin, || And her right hand to the laborers' hammer, || And she hammered Sisera—she struck his head, || Indeed, she struck, and it passed through his temple. ²⁷ He bowed between her feet—He fell, he lay down; He bowed between her feet, he fell; Where he bowed, there he fell—destroyed. ²⁸ She has looked out through the window—Indeed, she cries out—the mother of Sisera, || Through the lattice: Why is his chariot delaying to come? Why have the steps of his chariot tarried? ²⁹ The wise ones, her princesses, answer her, || Indeed, she returns her sayings to herself: ³⁰ Do they not find? They apportion spoil, || A female—two females—for every head, || Spoil of finger-work for Sisera, || Spoil of embroidered finger-work, || Finger-work—a pair of embroidered things, || For the necks of the spoil! ³¹ So do all Your enemies perish, O YHWH, || And those loving Him [are] || As the going out of the sun in its might!" And the land rests [for] forty years.

Chapter 6

¹ And the sons of Israel do evil in the eyes of YHWH, and YHWH gives them into the hand of Midian [for] seven years, ² and the hand of Midian is strong against Israel, [so] the sons of Israel have made for themselves the nooks which [are] in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds [to hide] from the presence of Midian. ³ And it has been, if Israel has sowed, that Midian has come up, and Amalek, and the sons of the east, indeed, they have come up against him, ⁴ and encamp against them, and destroy the increase of the land until your entering Gaza; and they leave no sustenance in Israel, either sheep, or ox, or donkey; ⁵ for they and their livestock come up, with their tents; they come in as the fullness of the locust for multitude, and of them and of their livestock there is no number, and they come into the land to destroy it. ⁶ And Israel is very weak from the presence of Midian, and the sons of Israel cry to YHWH. ⁷ And it comes to pass, when the sons of Israel have cried to YHWH concerning Midian, ⁸ that YHWH sends a man, a prophet, to the sons of Israel, and he says to them, "Thus said YHWH, God of Israel: I have brought you up out of Egypt, and I bring you out from a house of servants, ⁹ and I deliver you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all your oppressors, and I cast them out from your presence, and I give their land to you, ¹⁰ and I say to you, I [am] your God YHWH, you do not fear the gods of the Amorite in whose land you are dwelling—and you have not listened to My voice." ¹¹ And the Messenger of YHWH comes and sits under the oak which [is] in Ophrah, which [is] to Joash the Abi-Ezrite, and his son Gideon is beating out wheat in the winepress, to remove [it] from the presence of the Midianites; ¹² and the Messenger of YHWH appears to him and says to him, "YHWH [is] with you, O mighty man of valor." ¹³ And Gideon says to Him, "O my Lord, [if] YHWH is indeed with us, then why has all this found us? And where [are] all His wonders which our fathers recounted to us, saying, Has YHWH not brought us up out of Egypt? And now YHWH has left us, and gives us into the hand of Midian." ¹⁴ And YHWH turns to him and says, "Go in this—your power; and you have saved Israel out of the hand of Midian—have I not sent you?" ¹⁵ And he says to Him, "O my Lord, with what do I save Israel? Behold, my chief [is] weak in Manasseh, and I [am] the least in the house of my father." ¹⁶ And YHWH says to him, "Because I am with you—you have struck the Midianites as one man." ¹⁷ And he says to Him, "Now if I have found grace in Your eyes, then You have done a sign for me that You are speaking with me. ¹⁸ Please do not move from here until my coming to You, and I have brought out my present, and put it before You"; and He says, "I abide until your return." ¹⁹ And Gideon has gone in, and prepares a kid of the goats, and an ephah of flour [worth] of unleavened things; he has put the flesh in a basket, and he has put the broth in a pot, and he brings [them] out to Him, to the place of the oak, and brings [them] near. ²⁰ And the Messenger of God says to him, "Take the flesh and the unleavened things, and place [them] on this rock—and pour out the broth"; and he does so. ²¹ And the Messenger of YHWH puts forth the end of the staff which [is] in His hand, and comes against the flesh, and against the unleavened things, and the fire goes up out of the rock and consumes the flesh and the unleavened things—and the Messenger of YHWH has gone from his eyes. ²² And Gideon sees that He [is] the Messenger of YHWH, and Gideon says, "Aah, Lord YHWH! For so I have looked on the Messenger of YHWH face to face!" ²³ And YHWH says to him, "Peace to you; do not fear; you do not die." ²⁴ And Gideon builds an altar to YHWH there, and calls it YHWH-Shalom, it [is] yet in Ophrah of the Abi-Ezrites to this day. ²⁵ And it comes to pass, on that night, that YHWH says to him, "Take the young ox which your father has, and the second bullock of seven years, and you have thrown down the altar of Ba'al which your father has, and cut down the Asherah which [is] by it, ²⁶ and you have built an altar to your God YHWH on the top of this stronghold, by the arrangement, and have taken the second bullock, and caused a burnt-offering to ascend with the wood of the Asherah which you cut down." ²⁷ And Gideon takes ten men of his servants, and does as YHWH has spoken to him, and it comes to pass, because he has been afraid of the house of his father, and the men of the city, to do [it] by day, that he does [it] by night. ²⁸ And the men of the city rise early in the morning, and behold, the altar of Ba'al has been broken down, and the Asherah which is by it has been cut down, and the second bullock has been offered on the altar which is built. ²⁹ And they say to one another, "Who has done this thing?" And they inquire and seek, and they say, "Gideon son of Joash has done this thing." ³⁰ And the men of the city say to Joash, "Bring out your son, and he dies, because he has broken down the altar of Ba'al, and because he has cut down the Asherah which [is] by it." ³¹ And Joash says to all who have stood against him, "You, do you plead for Ba'al? You—do you save him? He who pleads for him is put to death during the morning; if he [is] a god he pleads against him himself, because he has broken down his altar." ³² And he calls him, on that day, Jerubba'al, saying, "The Ba'al pleads against him, because he has broken down his altar." ³³ And all Midian and Amalek and the sons of the east have been gathered together, and pass over, and encamp in the Valley of Jezreel, ³⁴ and the Spirit of YHWH has clothed Gideon, and he blows with a horn, and Abi-Ezer is called after him; ³⁵ and he has sent messengers into all Manasseh, and it is also called after him; and he has sent messengers into Asher, and into Zebulun, and into Naphtali, and they come up to meet them. ³⁶ And Gideon says to God, "If You are Savior of Israel by my hand, as You have spoken, ³⁷ behold, I am placing the fleece of wool in the threshing-floor: if dew is only on the fleece, and dryness on all the earth—then I have known that You save Israel by my hand, as You have spoken"; ³⁸ and it is so, and he rises early on the next day, and presses the fleece, and wrings dew out of the fleece—the fullness of the bowl of waters. ³⁹ And Gideon says to God, "Do not let Your anger burn against me, and I only speak this time; please let me try only this time with the fleece—please let there be only dryness on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the earth." ⁴⁰ And God does so on that night, and there is only dryness on the fleece, and there has been dew on all the earth.

Chapter 7

¹ And Jerubba'al (he [is] Gideon) rises early, and all the people who [are] with him, and they encamp by the well of Harod, and the camp of Midian has been on the south of him, on the height of Moreh, in the valley. ² And YHWH says to Gideon, "The people who [are] with you [are] too many for My giving Midian into their hand, lest Israel beautify itself against Me, saying, My hand has given salvation to me; ³ and now, please call in the ears of the people, saying, Whoever [is] afraid and trembling, let him turn back and go early from Mount Gilead"; and there return twenty-two thousand of the people, and ten thousand have been left. ⁴ And YHWH says to Gideon, "The people [are] yet too many; bring them down to the water, and I refine him for you there; and it has been, he of whom I say to you, This goes with you—he goes with you; and any of whom I say to you, This does not go with you—he does not go." ⁵ And he brings the people down to the water, and YHWH says to Gideon, "Everyone who laps of the water with his tongue as the dog laps—you set him apart; also everyone who bows on his knees to drink." ⁶ And the number of those lapping with their hand to their mouth is three hundred men, and all the rest of the people have bowed down on their knees to drink water. ⁷ And YHWH says to Gideon, "I save you by the three hundred men who are lapping, and have given Midian into your hand, and all the people go, each to his place." ⁸ And the people take the provision in their hand, and their horns, and he has sent every man of Israel away, each to his tents; and he has kept hold on the three hundred men, and the camp of Midian has been by him at the lower part of the valley. ⁹ And it comes to pass, on that night, that YHWH says to him, "Rise, go down into the camp, for I have given it into your hand; ¹⁰ and if you are afraid to go down—go down, you and your young man Phurah, to the camp, ¹¹ and you have heard what they speak, and afterward your hands are strengthened, and you have gone down against the camp." And he goes down, he and his young man Phurah, to the extremity of the fifties who [are] in the camp; ¹² and Midian, and Amalek, and all the sons of the east are lying in the valley, as the locust for multitude, and of their camels there is no number, as sand which [is] on the seashore for multitude. ¹³ And Gideon comes in, and behold, a man is recounting a dream to his companion, and says, "Behold, I have dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley-bread is turning itself over into the camp of Midian, and it comes to the tent, and strikes it, and it falls, and turns it upwards, and the tent has fallen." ¹⁴ And his companion answers and says, "This is nothing except the sword of Gideon son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given Midian and all the camp into his hand." ¹⁵ And it comes to pass, when Gideon hears the narration of the dream and its interpretation, that he bows himself, and turns back to the camp of Israel, and says, "Rise, for YHWH has given the camp of Midian into your hand." ¹⁶ And he divides the three hundred men [into] three detachments, and puts horns into the hand of all of them, and empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers. ¹⁷ And he says to them, "Look at me, and thus do; and behold, I am coming into the extremity of the camp—and it has been—as I do so you do; ¹⁸ and I have blown with a horn—I and all who [are] with me, and you have blown with horns, even you, around all the camp, and have said, For YHWH and for Gideon!" ¹⁹ And Gideon comes—and the hundred men who [are] with him—into the extremity of the camp, [at] the beginning of the middle watch (they had just posted watchmen), and they blow with horns—also dashing in pieces the pitchers which [are] in their hand; ²⁰ and the three detachments blow with horns, and break the pitchers, and keep hold with their left hand on the lamps, and with their right hand on the horns to blow, and they cry, "The sword of YHWH and of Gideon!" ²¹ And they each stand in his place, around the camp, and all the camp runs, and they shout, and flee; ²² and the three hundred blow the horns, and YHWH sets the sword of each against his companion, even through all the camp; and the camp flees to Beth-Shittah, at Zererath, to the border of Abel-Meholah, by Tabbath. ²³ And the men of Israel are called from Naphtali, and from Asher, and from all Manasseh, and pursue after Midian. ²⁴ And Gideon has sent messengers into all the hill-country of Ephraim, saying, "Come down to meet Midian, and capture the waters from them as far as Beth-Barah, and the Jordan"; and every man of Ephraim is called, and they capture the waters as far as Beth-Barah, and the Jordan, ²⁵ and they capture two of the heads of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, and slay Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and they have slain Zeeb at the wine-vat of Zeeb, and they pursue into Midian; and they have brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan.

Chapter 8

¹ And the men of Ephraim say to him, "What [is] this thing you have done to us—not to call for us when you went to fight with Midian?" And they strive with him severely; ² and he says to them, "What have I now done like you? Are the gleanings of Ephraim not better than the harvest of Abi-Ezer? ³ God has given the heads of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, into your hand; and what have I been able to do like you?" Then their temper desisted from off him in his speaking this thing. ⁴ And Gideon comes to the Jordan, passing over, he and the three hundred men who [are] with him—wearied, yet pursuing— ⁵ and he says to the men of Succoth, "Please give cakes of bread to the people who [are] at my feet, for they [are] wearied, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian." ⁶ And the heads of Succoth say, "Is the hand of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we give bread to your host?" ⁷ And Gideon says, "Therefore—in YHWH's giving Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand—I have threshed your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness, and with the threshing instruments." ⁸ And he goes up there [to] Penuel, and speaks to them thus; and the men of Penuel answer him as the men of Succoth answered. ⁹ And he also speaks to the men of Penuel, saying, "In my turning back in peace, I break down this tower." ¹⁰ And Zebah and Zalmunna [are] in Karkor, and their camps with them, about fifteen thousand, all who are left of all the camp of the sons of the east; and those falling [are] one hundred and twenty thousand men, drawing sword. ¹¹ And Gideon goes up the way of those who dwell in tents, on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and strikes the camp, and the camp was confident; ¹² and Zebab and Zalmunna flee, and he pursues after them, and captures the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he has caused all the camp to tremble. ¹³ And Gideon son of Joash turns back from the battle, at the going up of the sun, ¹⁴ and captures a young man of the men of Succoth, and asks him, and he describes to him the heads of Succoth, and its elderly—seventy-seven men. ¹⁵ And he comes to the men of Succoth and says, "Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, with whom you reproached me, saying, Is the hand of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand that we give bread to your men who [are] wearied?" ¹⁶ And he takes the elderly of the city, and [the] thorns of the wilderness, and the threshing instruments, and teaches the men of Succoth by them, ¹⁷ and he has broken down the Tower of Penuel, and slays the men of the city. ¹⁸ And he says to Zebah and to Zalmunna, "What manner of men [were they] whom you slew in Tabor?" And they say, "As you—so they, [each] one as the form of the king's sons." ¹⁹ And he says, "They [were] my brothers—sons of my mother; YHWH lives, if you had kept them alive—I would not kill you." ²⁰ And he says to his firstborn Jether, "Rise, slay them"; and the young man has not drawn his sword, for he has been afraid, for he [is] yet a youth. ²¹ And Zebah and Zalmunna say, "Rise and fall on us; for as the man—his might"; and Gideon rises, and slays Zebah and Zalmunna, and takes the crescents which [are] on the necks of their camels. ²² And the men of Israel say to Gideon, "Rule over us, both you, and your son, and your son's son, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian." ²³ And Gideon says to them, "I do not rule over you, nor does my son rule over you; YHWH rules over you." ²⁴ And Gideon says to them, "Let me ask a petition of you, and each give to me the ring of his prey, for they have rings of gold, for they [are] Ishmaelites." ²⁵ And they say, "We certainly give"; and they spread out the garment, and each casts the ring of his prey there; ²⁶ and the weight of the rings of gold which he asked for is one thousand and seven hundred [shekels] of gold, apart from the crescents, and the pendants, and the purple garments, which [are] on the kings of Midian, and apart from the chains which [are] on the necks of their camels, ²⁷ and Gideon makes it into an ephod, and sets it up in his city, in Ophrah, and all Israel go whoring after it there, and it is for a snare to Gideon and to his house. ²⁸ And Midian is humbled before the sons of Israel, and have not added to lift up their head; and the land rests [for] forty years in the days of Gideon. ²⁹ And Jerubba'al son of Joash goes and dwells in his own house, ³⁰ and there have been seventy sons of Gideon, coming out of his loin, for he had many wives; ³¹ and his concubine, who [is] in Shechem, has borne to him—even she—a son, and he appoints his name Abimelech. ³² And Gideon son of Joash dies, in a good old age, and is buried in the burying-place of his father Joash, in Ophrah of the Abi-Ezrite. ³³ And it comes to pass, when Gideon [is] dead, that the sons of Israel turn back and go whoring after the Ba'alim, and set Ba'al-Berith over them for a god; ³⁴ and the sons of Israel have not remembered their God YHWH, who is delivering them out of the hand of all their surrounding enemies, ³⁵ neither have they done kindness with the house of Jerubba'al—Gideon—according to all the good which he did with Israel.

Chapter 9

¹ And Abimelech son of Jerubba'al goes to Shechem, to his mother's brothers, and speaks to them, and to all the family of the house of his mother's father, saying, ² "Now speak in the ears of all the masters of Shechem, Which [is] good for you—seventy men ruling over you (all the sons of Jerubba'al), or one man ruling over you? And you have remembered that I [am] your bone and your flesh." ³ And his mother's brothers speak concerning him, in the ears of all the masters of Shechem, all these words, and their heart inclines after Abimelech, for they said, "He [is] our brother"; ⁴ and they give seventy [pieces] of silver out of the house of Ba'al-Berith to him, and Abimelech hires vain and unstable men with them, and they go after him; ⁵ and he goes into the house of his father at Ophrah, and slays his brothers, sons of Jerubba'al, seventy men, on one stone; and Jotham, youngest son of Jerubba'al, is left, for he was hidden. ⁶ And all the masters of Shechem are gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and come and cause Abimelech to reign for king at the oak of the camp which [is] in Shechem; ⁷ and they declare [it] to Jotham, and he goes and stands on the top of Mount Gerizim, and lifts up his voice, and calls, and says to them, "Listen to me, O masters of Shechem, and God listens to you: ⁸ The trees have diligently gone to anoint a king over them, and they say to the olive, Reign over us. ⁹ And the olive says to them, Have I ceased from my fatness, by which they honor gods and men, that I have gone to stagger over the trees? ¹⁰ And the trees say to the fig, Come, reign over us. ¹¹ And the fig says to them, Have I ceased from my sweetness, and my good increase, that I have gone to stagger over the trees? ¹² And the trees say to the vine, Come, reign over us. ¹³ And the vine says to them, Have I ceased from my new wine, which is making gods and men glad, that I have gone to stagger over the trees? ¹⁴ And all the trees say to the bramble, Come, reign over us. ¹⁵ And the bramble says to the trees, If in truth you are anointing me for king over you, come, take refuge in my shadow; and if not—fire comes out from the bramble, and devours the cedars of Lebanon. ¹⁶ And now, if you have acted in truth and in sincerity when you make Abimelech king; and if you have done good with Jerubba'al, and with his house; and if you have done to him according to the deed of his hands— ¹⁷ because my father has fought for you, and casts his life away from [him], and delivers you from the hand of Midian; ¹⁸ and you have risen against the house of my father today, and slay his sons, seventy men, on one stone, and cause Abimelech son of his handmaid to reign over the masters of Shechem, because he [is] your brother— ¹⁹ indeed, if in truth and in sincerity you have acted with Jerubba'al and with his house this day, rejoice in Abimelech, and he rejoices—even he—in you; ²⁰ and if not—fire comes out from Abimelech and devours the masters of Shechem and the house of Millo, and fire comes out from the masters of Shechem and from the house of Millo, and devours Abimelech." ²¹ And Jotham hurries, and flees, and goes to Beer, and dwells there, from the face of his brother Abimelech. ²² And Abimelech is prince over Israel [for] three years, ²³ and God sends an evil spirit between Abimelech and the masters of Shechem, and the masters of Shechem deal treacherously with Abimelech, ²⁴ for [the] coming in of [the] violence [against] seventy sons of Jerubba'al, and to place their blood on their brother Abimelech, who slew them, and on the masters of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to slay his brothers. ²⁵ And the masters of Shechem set ambushes for him on the top of the hills, and rob everyone who passes over by them in the way, and it is declared to Abimelech. ²⁶ And Gaal son of Ebed comes—also his brothers—and they pass over into Shechem, and the masters of Shechem trust in him, ²⁷ and go out into the field, and gather their vineyards, and tread, and make praises, and go into the house of their god, and eat and drink, and revile Abimelech. ²⁸ And Gaal son of Ebed says, "Who [is] Abimelech, and who [is] Shechem, that we serve him? Is [he] not son of Jerubba'al? And his commander Zebul? The men of Hamor father of Shechem serve you, and why do we serve him—we? ²⁹ And oh that this people were in my hand—then I turn Abimelech aside"; and he says to Abimelech, "Increase your host, and come out." ³⁰ And Zebul, prince of the city, hears the words of Gaal son of Ebed, and his anger burns, ³¹ and he sends messengers to Abimelech deceitfully, saying, "Behold, Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers are coming into Shechem, and behold, they are fortifying the city against you; ³² and now, rise by night, you and the people who [are] with you, and lay wait in the field, ³³ and it has been, in the morning, about the rising of the sun, you rise early, and have pushed against the city; and behold, he and the people who [are] with him are going out to you—and you have done to him as your hand finds." ³⁴ And Abimelech rises, and all the people who [are] with him, by night, and they lay wait against Shechem—four detachments; ³⁵ and Gaal son of Ebed goes out, and stands at the opening of the gate of the city, and Abimelech rises—also the people who [are] with him—from the ambush, ³⁶ and Gaal sees the people and says to Zebul, "Behold, people are coming down from the top of the hills"; and Zebul says to him, "You are seeing the shadow of the hills like men." ³⁷ And Gaal adds yet to speak and says, "Behold, people are coming down from the high part of the land, and another detachment is coming by the way of the oak of Meonenim." ³⁸ And Zebul says to him, "Where [is] your mouth now, in that you say, Who [is] Abimelech that we serve him? Is this not the people against which you have kicked? Please go out now and fight against it." ³⁹ And Gaal goes out before the masters of Shechem, and fights against Abimelech, ⁴⁰ and Abimelech pursues him, and he flees from his presence, and many fall wounded—to the opening of the gate. ⁴¹ And Abimelech abides in Arumah, and Zebul casts out Gaal and his brothers from dwelling in Shechem. ⁴² And it comes to pass, on the next day, that the people go out to the field, and they declare [it] to Abimelech, ⁴³ and he takes the people, and divides them into three detachments, and lays wait in a field, and looks, and behold, the people are coming out from the city, and he rises against them, and strikes them. ⁴⁴ And Abimelech and the detachments who [are] with him have pushed on, and stand at the opening of the gate of the city, and the two detachments have pushed against all who are in the field, and strike them, ⁴⁵ and Abimelech has fought against the city all that day, and captures the city, and has slain the people who [are] in it, and he breaks down the city, and sows it [with] salt. ⁴⁶ And all the masters of the Tower of Shechem hear, and go into the high place of the house of the god Berith, ⁴⁷ and it is declared to Abimelech that all the masters of the Tower of Shechem have gathered themselves together, ⁴⁸ and Abimelech goes up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who [are] with him, and Abimelech takes the great axe in his hand, and cuts off a bough of the trees, and lifts it up, and sets [it] on his shoulder, and says to the people who [are] with him, "What you have seen me do—hurry, do as I [have done]." ⁴⁹ And every one of the people cuts down his bough and goes after Abimelech, and sets [them] at the high place, and burns the high place with fire by these, and also all the men of the Tower of Shechem die—about one thousand men and women. ⁵⁰ And Abimelech goes to Thebez, and encamps against Thebez, and captures it, ⁵¹ and a strong tower has been in the midst of the city, and all the men and the women flee there, and all the masters of the city, and they shut [it] behind them, and go up on the roof of the tower. ⁵² And Abimelech comes to the tower, and fights against it, and draws near to the opening of the tower to burn it with fire, ⁵³ and a certain woman casts a piece of a millstone on the head of Abimelech, and breaks his skull, ⁵⁴ and he calls quickly to the young man carrying his weapons and says to him, "Draw your sword, and you have put me to death, lest they say of me—A woman slew him"; and his young man pierced him through, and he dies. ⁵⁵ And the men of Israel see that Abimelech [is] dead, and each one goes to his place; ⁵⁶ and God turns back the evil of Abimelech which he did to his father to slay his seventy brothers; ⁵⁷ and God has returned all the evil of the men of Shechem on their [own] head, and the cursing of Jotham son of Jerubba'al comes to them.

Chapter 10

¹ And there rises after Abimelech, to save Israel, Tola son of Puah, son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, and he is dwelling in Shamir, in the hill-country of Ephraim, ² and he judges Israel [for] twenty-three years, and he dies, and is buried in Shamir. ³ And there rises Jair the Gileadite after him, and he judges Israel [for] twenty-two years, ⁴ and he has thirty sons riding on thirty donkey-colts, and they have thirty cities (they call them Havoth-Jair to this day), which [are] in the land of Gilead; ⁵ and Jair dies, and is buried in Kamon. ⁶ And the sons of Israel add to do evil in the eyes of YHWH, and serve the Ba'alim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Aram, and the gods of Sidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the sons of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsake YHWH, and have not served Him; ⁷ and the anger of YHWH burns against Israel, and He sells them into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the sons of Ammon, ⁸ and they crush and oppress the sons of Israel in that year; [and for] eighteen years—all the sons of Israel [who] are beyond the Jordan, in the land of the Amorite, which [is] in Gilead. ⁹ And the sons of Ammon pass over the Jordan to also fight against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim, and Israel has great distress. ¹⁰ And the sons of Israel cry to YHWH, saying, "We have sinned against You, because we have even forsaken our God, and serve the Ba'alim." ¹¹ And YHWH says to the sons of Israel, "[Have I] not [saved you] from the Egyptians, and from the Amorite, from the sons of Ammon, and from the Philistines? ¹² And the Zidonians, and Amalek, and Maon have oppressed you, and you cry to Me, and I save you out of their hand; ¹³ and you have forsaken Me, and serve other gods, therefore I do not add to save you. ¹⁴ Go and cry to the gods on which you have fixed; they save you in the time of your tribulation." ¹⁵ And the sons of Israel say to YHWH, "We have sinned, do to us according to all that is good in Your eyes; only please deliver us this day." ¹⁶ And they turn aside the gods of the stranger out of their midst, and serve YHWH, and His soul is grieved with the misery of Israel. ¹⁷ And the sons of Ammon are called together, and encamp in Gilead, and the sons of Israel are gathered together, and encamp in Mizpah. ¹⁸ And the people—heads of Gilead—say to one another, "Who [is] the man that begins to fight against the sons of Ammon? He is for head to all inhabitants of Gilead."

Chapter 11

¹ And Jephthah the Gileadite has been a mighty man of valor, and he [is the] son of a harlot woman; and Gilead begets Jephthah, ² and the wife of Gilead bears sons to him, and the wife's sons grow up and cast Jephthah out, and say to him, "You do not inherit in the house of our father; for you [are the] son of another woman." ³ And Jephthah flees from the face of his brothers, and dwells in the land of Tob; and vain men gather themselves together to Jephthah, and they go out with him. ⁴ And it comes to pass, after a time, that the sons of Ammon fight with Israel, ⁵ and it comes to pass, when the sons of Ammon have fought with Israel, that [the] elderly of Gilead go to take Jephthah from the land of Tob; ⁶ and they say to Jephthah, "Come, and you have been for a captain to us, and we fight against the sons of Ammon." ⁷ And Jephthah says to [the] elderly of Gilead, "Have you not hated me? And you cast me out from the house of my father, and why have you come to me now when you are in distress?" ⁸ And [the] elderly of Gilead say to Jephthah, "Therefore, now, we have turned back to you; and you have gone with us, and have fought against the sons of Ammon, and you have been for head to us—to all the inhabitants of Gilead." ⁹ And Jephthah says to [the] elderly of Gilead, "If you are taking me back to fight against the sons of Ammon, and YHWH has given them before me—am I for a head to you?" ¹⁰ And [the] elderly of Gilead say to Jephthah, "YHWH is listening between us—if we do not do so according to your word." ¹¹ And Jephthah goes with [the] elderly of Gilead, and the people set him over them for head and for captain, and Jephthah speaks all his words before YHWH in Mizpeh. ¹² And Jephthah sends messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, "What [is this] to me and to you, that you have come to me, to fight in my land?" ¹³ And the king of the sons of Ammon says to the messengers of Jephthah, "Because Israel took my land in his coming up out of Egypt, from Arnon, and to the Jabbok, and to the Jordan; and now, restore them in peace." ¹⁴ And Jephthah adds yet and sends messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon, ¹⁵ and says to him, "Thus said Jephthah: Israel did not take the land of Moab, and the land of the sons of Ammon, ¹⁶ for in their coming up out of Egypt, Israel goes in the wilderness to the Red Sea, and comes to Kadesh, ¹⁷ and Israel sends messengers to the king of Edom, saying, Please let me pass over through your land, and the king of Edom did not listen; and [Israel] has also sent to the king of Moab, and he has not been willing; and Israel abides in Kadesh, ¹⁸ and he goes through the wilderness, and goes around the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and comes in at the rising of the sun of the land of Moab, and they encamp beyond Arnon, and have not come into the border of Moab, for Arnon [is] the border of Moab. ¹⁹ And Israel sends messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and Israel says to him, Please let us pass over through your land, to my place, ²⁰ and Sihon has not trusted Israel to pass over through his border, and Sihon gathers all his people, and they encamp in Jahaz, and fight with Israel; ²¹ and YHWH, God of Israel, gives Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they strike them, and Israel possesses all the land of the Amorite, the inhabitant of that land, ²² and they possess all the border of the Amorite from Arnon, and to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness, and to the Jordan. ²³ And now, YHWH, God of Israel, has dispossessed the Amorite from the presence of His people Israel, and you would possess it! ²⁴ That which your god Chemosh causes you to possess—do you not possess it? And all that which our God YHWH has dispossessed from our presence—we possess it. ²⁵ And now, [are] you at all better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he strive with Israel at all? Did he fight against them at all? ²⁶ In Israel's dwelling in Heshbon and in its towns, and in Aroer and in its towns, and in all the cities which [are] by the sides of Arnon [for] three hundred years—and why have you not delivered them in that time? ²⁷ And I have not sinned against you, and you are doing evil with me—to fight against me. YHWH, the Judge, judges between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon today." ²⁸ And the king of the sons of Ammon has not listened to the words of Jephthah which he sent to him, ²⁹ and the Spirit of YHWH is on Jephthah, and he passes over Gilead and Manasseh, and passes over Mizpeh of Gilead, and he has passed over from Mizpeh of Gilead to the sons of Ammon. ³⁰ And Jephthah vows a vow to YHWH and says, "If You give the sons of Ammon into my hand at all— ³¹ then it has been, that which comes out from the doors of my house at all to meet me in my turning back in peace from the sons of Ammon—it has been for YHWH, or I have offered up a burnt-offering for it." ³² And Jephthah passes over to the sons of Ammon to fight against them, and YHWH gives them into his hand, ³³ and he strikes them from Aroer, and to [where] you are going in to Minnith—twenty cities—and to the meadow of the vineyards, [with] a very great striking; and the sons of Ammon are humbled at the presence of the sons of Israel. ³⁴ And Jephthah comes into Mizpeh, to his house, and behold, his daughter is coming out to meet him with timbrels, and with choruses, and except her alone, he has no son or daughter. ³⁵ And it comes to pass, when he sees her, that he tears his garments and says, "Aah! My daughter, you have caused me to bend greatly, and you have been among those troubling me; and I have opened my mouth to YHWH, and I am not able to turn back." ³⁶ And she says to him, "My father, you have opened your mouth to YHWH, do to me as it has gone out from your mouth, after that YHWH has done vengeance for you on your enemies, on the sons of Ammon." ³⁷ And she says to her father, "Let this thing be done to me; desist from me [for] two months, and I go on, and have gone down on the hills, and I weep for my virginity—I and my friends." ³⁸ And he says, "Go"; and he sends her away [for] two months, and she goes, she and her friends, and she weeps for her virginity on the hills; ³⁹ and it comes to pass at the end of two months that she turns back to her father, and he does to her his vow which he has vowed, and she did not know a man; and it is a statute in Israel: ⁴⁰ from time to time the daughters of Israel go to talk to the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite, four days in a year.

Chapter 12

¹ And the men of Ephraim are called together, and pass over northward, and say to Jephthah, "Why have you passed over to fight against the sons of Ammon, and have not called on us to go with you? We burn your house with fire over you." ² And Jephthah says to them, "I have been a man of great strife (I and my people) with the sons of Ammon, and I call you, and you have not saved me out of their hand, ³ and I see that you are not a savior, and I put my life in my hand, and pass over to the sons of Ammon, and YHWH gives them into my hand—and why have you come up to me this day to fight against me?" ⁴ And Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead, and fights with Ephraim, and the men of Gilead strike Ephraim, because they said, "You Gileadites [are] fugitives of Ephraim, in the midst of Ephraim—in the midst of Manasseh." ⁵ And Gilead captures the passages of the Jordan to Ephraim, and it has been, when [any of] the fugitives of Ephraim say, "Let me pass over," and the men of Gilead say to him, "[Are] you an Ephraimite?" And he says, "No"; ⁶ that they say to him, "Now say, Shibboleth"; and he says, "Sibboleth," and is not prepared to speak right—and they seize him, and slaughter him at the passages of the Jordan, and there fall at that time, of Ephraim, forty-two chiefs. ⁷ And Jephthah judged Israel [for] six years, and Jephthah the Gileadite dies, and is buried in [one of] the cities of Gilead. ⁸ And after him Ibzan of Beth-Lehem judges Israel, ⁹ and he has thirty sons, and thirty daughters he gave away [in marriage], and thirty daughters he brought in from outside for his sons; and he judges Israel [for] seven years. ¹⁰ And Ibzan dies, and is buried in Beth-Lehem. ¹¹ And after him Elon the Zebulunite judges Israel, and he judges Israel [for] ten years, ¹² and Elon the Zebulunite dies, and is buried in Aijalon, in the land of Zebulun. ¹³ And after him, Abdon son of Hillel, the Pirathonite, judges Israel, ¹⁴ and he has forty sons, and thirty grandsons, riding on seventy donkey-colts, and he judges Israel [for] eight years. ¹⁵ And Abdon son of Hillel, the Pirathonite, dies, and is buried in Pirathon, in the land of Ephraim, in the hill-country of the Amalekite.

Chapter 13

¹ And the sons of Israel add to do evil in the eyes of YHWH, and YHWH gives them into the hand of the Philistines [for] forty years. ² And there is a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danite, and his name [is] Manoah, his wife [is] barren, and has not borne; ³ and the Messenger of YHWH appears to the woman and says to her, "Now behold, you [are] barren and have not borne; when you have conceived, then you have borne a son. ⁴ And now, please take heed and do not drink wine and strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing, ⁵ for behold, you are conceiving and bearing a son, and a razor does not go up on his head, for the youth is a Nazarite to God from the womb, and he begins to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines." ⁶ And the woman comes and speaks to her husband, saying, "A Man of God has come to me, and His appearance [is] as the appearance of the Messenger of God, very fearful, and I have not asked Him where He [is] from, and he has not declared His Name to me; ⁷ and He says to me, Behold, you are pregnant, and bearing a son, and now do not drink wine and strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing, for the youth is a Nazarite to God from the womb until the day of his death." ⁸ And Manoah makes plea to YHWH and says, "O my Lord, the Man of God whom You sent, please let Him come in again to us, and direct us what we do to the youth who is born." ⁹ And God listens to the voice of Manoah, and the Messenger of God comes again to the woman, and she [is] sitting in a field, and her husband Manoah is not with her, ¹⁰ and the woman hurries, and runs, and declares [it] to her husband, and says to him, "Behold, He has appeared to me—the Man who came on [that] day to me." ¹¹ And Manoah rises, and goes after his wife, and comes to the Man, and says to Him, "Are you the Man who spoke to the woman?" And He says, "I [am]." ¹² And Manoah says, "Now let Your words come to pass; what is the custom of the youth—and his work?" ¹³ And the Messenger of YHWH says to Manoah, "Of all that I said to the woman let her take heed; ¹⁴ she does not eat of anything which comes out from the wine-vine, and she does not drink wine and strong drink, and she does not eat any unclean thing; she observes all that I have commanded her." ¹⁵ And Manoah says to the Messenger of YHWH, "Please let us detain You, and we prepare a kid of the goats before You." ¹⁶ And the Messenger of YHWH says to Manoah, "If you detain Me—I do not eat of your bread; and if you prepare a burnt-offering—offer it to YHWH"; for Manoah has not known that He [is] the Messenger of YHWH. ¹⁷ And Manoah says to the Messenger of YHWH, "What [is] Your Name? When Your words come to pass, then we have honored You." ¹⁸ And the Messenger of YHWH says to him, "Why do you ask this, My Name, since it [is] incomprehensible?" ¹⁹ And Manoah takes the kid of the goats, and the present, and offers on the rock to YHWH, and He is doing wonderfully, and Manoah and his wife are looking on, ²⁰ and it comes to pass, in the going up of the flame from off the altar toward the heavens, that the Messenger of YHWH goes up in the flame of the altar, and Manoah and his wife are looking on, and they fall on their faces to the earth, ²¹ and the Messenger of YHWH has not added again to appear to Manoah, and to his wife, then Manoah has known that He [is] the Messenger of YHWH. ²² And Manoah says to his wife, "We certainly die, for we have seen God." ²³ And his wife says to him, "If YHWH were desirous to put us to death, He had not received burnt-offering and present from our hands, nor showed us all these things, nor caused us to hear [anything] like this as [at this] time." ²⁴ And the woman bears a son, and calls his name Samson, and the youth grows, and YHWH blesses him, ²⁵ and the Spirit of YHWH begins to move him in the camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Chapter 14

¹ And Samson goes down to Timnath, and sees a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines, ² and comes up and declares [it] to his father and to his mother, and says, "I have seen a woman in Timnath, of the daughters of the Philistines; and now, take her for me for a wife." ³ And his father says to him—also his mother, "Is there no woman among the daughters of your brothers, and among all my people, that you are going to take a woman from the uncircumcised Philistines?" And Samson says to his father, "Take her for me, for she is right in my eyes." ⁴ And his father and his mother have not known that it [is] from YHWH, that He is seeking a meeting of the Philistines; and the Philistines are ruling over Israel at that time. ⁵ And Samson goes down—also his father and his mother, to Timnath, and they come to the vineyards of Timnath, and behold, a lion's whelp roars at meeting him, ⁶ and the Spirit of YHWH prospers over him, and he tears it as the tearing of a kid, and there is nothing in his hand, and he has not declared to his father and to his mother that which he has done. ⁷ And he goes down and speaks to the woman, and she is right in the eyes of Samson; ⁸ and he turns back after [some] days to take her, and turns aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold, a swarm of bees [are] in the body of the lion—and honey. ⁹ And he takes it down on to his hands, and goes on, going and eating; and he goes to his father, and to his mother, and gives to them, and they eat, and he has not declared to them that he took down the honey from the body of the lion. ¹⁰ And his father goes down to the woman, and Samson makes a banquet there, for so the young men does; ¹¹ and it comes to pass, when they see him, that they take thirty companions, and they are with him. ¹² And Samson says to them, "Now let me put forth a riddle to you; if you certainly declare it to me [in] the seven days of the banquet, and have found [it] out, then I have given thirty linen shirts and thirty changes of garments to you; ¹³ and if you are not able to declare [it] to me, then you have given thirty linen shirts and thirty changes of garments to me." And they say to him, "Put forth your riddle, and we hear it!" ¹⁴ And he says to them: "Out of the eater came forth something to eat, || And out of the strong came forth [something] sweet"; and they were not able to declare the riddle [in] three days. ¹⁵ And it comes to pass, on the seventh day, that they say to Samson's wife, "Entice your husband, that he declare the riddle to us, lest we burn you and the house of your father with fire; have you not called for us [here] to rob us?" ¹⁶ And Samson's wife weeps for it and says, "You have only hated me, and have not loved me; you have put forth the riddle to the sons of my people, but have not declared it to me"; and he says to her, "Behold, I have not declared [it] to my father and to my mother—and I declare [it] to you?" ¹⁷ And she weeps for it the seven days [in] which their banquet has been, and it comes to pass on the seventh day that he declares [it] to her, for she has distressed him; and she declares the riddle to the sons of her people. ¹⁸ And the men of the city say to him on the seventh day, before the sun goes in: "What [is] sweeter than honey? And what [is] stronger than a lion?" And he says to them: "Unless you had plowed with my heifer, || You had not found out my riddle." ¹⁹ And the Spirit of YHWH prospers over him, and he goes down to Ashkelon, and strikes down thirty of their men, and takes their armor, and gives the changes to those declaring the riddle; and his anger burns, and he goes up to the house of his father; ²⁰ and Samson's wife becomes his companion's, who had attended to him.

Chapter 15

¹ And it comes to pass after [some] days, in the days of wheat-harvest, that Samson looks after his wife, with a kid of the goats, and says, "I go in to my wife, to the inner chamber"; and her father has not permitted him to go in, ² and her father says, "I certainly said that you surely hated her, and I give her to your companion; is her younger sister not better than she? Please let her be to you instead of her." ³ And Samson says of them, "I am more innocent this time than the Philistines, though I am doing evil with them." ⁴ And Samson goes and catches three hundred foxes, and takes torches, and turns tail to tail, and puts a torch between the two tails, in the midst, ⁵ and kindles fire in the torches, and sends [them] out into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burns [it] from heap even to standing grain, even to vineyard [and] olive-yard. ⁶ And the Philistines say, "Who has done this?" And they say, "Samson, son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken away his wife, and gives her to his companion"; and the Philistines go up, and burn her and her father with fire. ⁷ And Samson says to them, "Though you do thus, nevertheless I am avenged on you, and afterward I cease!" ⁸ And he strikes them hip and thigh [with] a great striking, and goes down and dwells in the cleft of the rock of Etam. ⁹ And the Philistines go up, and encamp in Judah, and are spread out in Lehi, ¹⁰ and the men of Judah say, "Why have you come up against us?" And they say, "We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he has done to us." ¹¹ And three thousand men of Judah go down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and say to Samson, "Have you now known that the Philistines are rulers over us? And what [is] this you have done to us?" And he says to them, "As they did to me, so I did to them." ¹² And they say to him, "We have come down to bind you—to give you into the hand of the Philistines." And Samson says to them, "Swear to me, lest you fall on me yourselves." ¹³ And they speak to him, saying, "No, but we certainly bind you, and have given you into their hand, and we certainly do not put you to death"; and they bind him with two thick bands, new ones, and bring him up from the rock. ¹⁴ He has come to Lehi—and the Philistines have shouted at meeting him—and the Spirit of YHWH prospers over him, and the thick bands which [are] on his arms are as flax which they burn with fire, and his bands are melted from off his hands, ¹⁵ and he finds a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and puts forth his hand and takes it, and strikes down one thousand men with it. ¹⁶ And Samson says, "With the jawbone of a donkey, heap on heaps—I have struck down one thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey!" ¹⁷ And it comes to pass, when he finishes speaking, that he casts away the jawbone out of his hand, and calls that place Ramath-Lehi; ¹⁸ and he thirsts exceedingly, and calls to YHWH, and says, "You have given this great salvation by the hand of Your servant; and now, I die with thirst, and have fallen into the hand of the uncircumcised." ¹⁹ And God cleaves the hollow place which [is] in Lehi, and waters come out of it, and he drinks, and his spirit comes back, and he revives; therefore [one] has called its name "The fountain of him who is calling," which [is] in Lehi to this day. ²⁰ And he judges Israel in the days of the Philistines [for] twenty years.

Chapter 16

¹ And Samson goes to Gaza, and sees a woman there, a harlot, and goes in to her; ² [it is told] to the Gazathites, saying, "Samson has come in here"; and they go around and lay wait for him all the night at the gate of the city, and keep themselves silent all the night, saying, "Until the morning light—then we have slain him." ³ And Samson lies down until the middle of the night, and rises in the middle of the night, and lays hold on the doors of the gate of the city, and on the two side-posts, and removes them with the bar, and puts [them] on his shoulders, and takes them up to the top of the hill, which [is] on the front of Hebron. ⁴ And it comes to pass afterward that he loves a woman in the Valley of Sorek, and her name [is] Delilah, ⁵ and the princes of the Philistines come up to her, and say to her, "Entice him, and see wherein his great power [is], and wherein we are able for him—and we have bound him to afflict him, and each one of us gives eleven hundred pieces of silver to you." ⁶ And Delilah says to Samson, "Please declare to me wherein your great power [is], and with what you are bound, to afflict you." ⁷ And Samson says to her, "If they bind me with seven green cords which have not been dried, then I have been weak, and have been as one of mankind." ⁸ And the princes of the Philistines bring up to her seven green cords which have not been dried, and she binds him with them. ⁹ And the ambush is abiding with her in an inner chamber, and she says to him, "Philistines [are] on you, Samson!" And he breaks the cords as a thread of tow is broken in its touching fire, and his power has not been known. ¹⁰ And Delilah says to Samson, "Behold, you have played on me, and speak lies to me; now, please declare to me with what you are bound." ¹¹ And he says to her, "If they certainly bind me with thick bands, new ones, by which work has not been done, then I have been weak, and have been as one of mankind." ¹² And Delilah takes thick bands, new ones, and binds him with them, and says to him, "Philistines [are] on you, Samson!" And the ambush is abiding in an inner chamber, and he breaks them from off his arms as a thread. ¹³ And Delilah says to Samson, "Until now you have played on me, and speak lies to me; declare to me with what you are bound." And he says to her, "If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web." ¹⁴ And she fixes [it] with the pin and says to him, "Philistines [are] on you, Samson!" And he awakens out of his sleep, and pulls out the pin of the loom, and with the web. ¹⁵ And she says to him, "How do you say, I have loved you, and your heart is not with me? These three times you have played on me, and have not declared to me wherein your great power [is]." ¹⁶ And it comes to pass, because she distressed him with her words all the days, and urges him, and his soul is grieved to death, ¹⁷ that he declares all his heart to her, and says to her, "A razor has not gone up on my head, for I [am] a Nazarite to God from the womb of my mother; if I have been shaven, then my power has turned aside from me, and I have been weak, and have been as all of mankind." ¹⁸ And Delilah sees that he has declared all his heart to her, and she sends and calls for the princes of the Philistines, saying, "Come up this time, for he has declared all his heart to me"; and the princes of the Philistines have come up to her, and bring up the money in their hand. ¹⁹ And she makes him sleep on her knees, and calls for a man, and shaves the seven locks of his head, and begins to afflict him, and his power turns aside from off him; ²⁰ and she says, "Philistines [are] on you, Samson!" And he awakens out of his sleep and says, "I go out as time by time, and shake free"; but he has not known that YHWH has turned aside from off him. ²¹ And the Philistines seize him, and pick out his eyes, and bring him down to Gaza, and bind him with two bronze chains; and he is grinding in the prison-house. ²² And the hair of his head begins to shoot up when he has been shaven, ²³ and the princes of the Philistines have been gathered together to sacrifice a great sacrifice to their god Dagon, and to rejoice; and they say, "Our god has given our enemy Samson into our hand." ²⁴ And the people see him, and praise their god, for they said, "Our god has given into our hand our enemy, and he who is laying waste to our land, and who multiplied our wounded." ²⁵ And it comes to pass, when their heart [is] glad, that they say, "Call for Samson, and he entertains for us"; and they call for Samson out of the prison-house, and he entertains their faces, and they cause him to stand between the pillars. ²⁶ And Samson says to the young man who is keeping hold on his hand, "Let me also feel the pillars on which the house is established, and I lean on them." ²⁷ And the house has been full of the men and the women, and all the princes of the Philistines [are] there, and about three thousand men and women [are] on the roof, who are watching Samson entertain. ²⁸ And Samson calls to YHWH and says, "Lord YHWH, please remember me and please strengthen me only this time, O God; and I am avenged—vengeance at once—because of my two eyes, on the Philistines." ²⁹ And Samson turns aside [to] the two middle pillars, on which the house is established, and on which it is supported, [to] one with his right hand and one with his left; ³⁰ and Samson says, "Let me die with the Philistines," and he inclines himself powerfully, and the house falls on the princes, and on all the people who [are] in it, and the dead whom he has put to death in his death are more than those whom he put to death in his life. ³¹ And his brothers come down, and all the house of his father, and lift him up, and bring him up, and bury him between Zorah and Eshtaol, in the burying-place of his father Manoah; and he has judged Israel [for] twenty years.

Chapter 17

¹ And there is a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, and his name [is] Micah, ² and he says to his mother, "The eleven hundred pieces of silver which have been taken of yours, and [of which] you have sworn, and also spoken in my ears; behold, the silver [is] with me, I have taken it"; and his mother says, "Blessed [is] my son of YHWH." ³ And he gives back the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother says, "I had certainly sanctified the silver to YHWH, from my hand, for my son, to make a carved image, and a molten image; and now, I give it back to you." ⁴ And he gives back the money to his mother, and his mother takes two hundred pieces of silver, and gives them to a refiner, and he makes them a carved image, and a molten image, and it is in the house of Micah. ⁵ As for the man Micah, he has a house of gods, and he makes an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrates the hand of one of his sons, and he is for a priest to him; ⁶ in those days there is no king in Israel, each does that which is right in his own eyes. ⁷ And there is a young man of Beth-Lehem-Judah, of the family of Judah, and he [is] a Levite, and he [is] a sojourner there. ⁸ And the man goes out of the city, out of Beth-Lehem-Judah, to sojourn where he finds, and comes to the hill-country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, to work his way. ⁹ And Micah says to him, "Where do you come from?" And he says to him, "I [am] a Levite of Beth-Lehem-Judah, and I am going to sojourn where I find." ¹⁰ And Micah says to him, "Dwell with me, and be for a father and for a priest to me, and I give ten pieces of silver to you for the days, and a suit of garments, and your sustenance"; and the Levite goes [in]. ¹¹ And the Levite is willing to dwell with the man, and the young man is to him as one of his sons. ¹² And Micah consecrates the hand of the Levite, and the young man is for a priest to him, and he is in the house of Micah, ¹³ and Micah says, "Now I have known that YHWH does good to me, for the Levite has been for a priest to me."

Chapter 18

¹ In those days there is no king in Israel, and in those days the tribe of the Danite is seeking an inheritance to inhabit for itself, for [that] has not fallen to it to that day in the midst of the tribes of Israel by inheritance. ² And the sons of Dan send, out of their family, five of their men—men, sons of valor—from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to traverse the land, and to search it, and they say to them, "Go, search the land"; and they come into the hill-country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodge there. ³ They [are] with the household of Micah, and they have discerned the voice of the young man, the Levite, and turn aside there, and say to him, "Who has brought you here? And what are you doing in this [place]? And why are you here?" ⁴ And he says to them, "Thus and thus has Micah done to me; and he hires me, and I am for a priest to him." ⁵ And they say to him, "Please ask of God, and we know whether our way on which we are going is prosperous." ⁶ And the priest says to them, "Go in peace; before YHWH [is] your way in which you go." ⁷ And the five men go, and come to Laish, and see the people which [is] in its midst, dwelling confidently, according to the custom of Zidonians, quiet and confident; and there is none putting to shame in the land in [any] thing, possessing restraint, and they [are] far off from the Zidonians, and have no word with [any] man. ⁸ And they come to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brothers say to them, "What [did] you [find]?" ⁹ And they say, "Rise, and we go up against them, for we have seen the land, and behold—very good; and you are keeping silent! Do not be slothful to go—to enter to possess the land. ¹⁰ When you go, you come to a confident people, and the land [is] large on both hands, for God has given it into your hand, a place where there is no lack of anything which [is] in the land." ¹¹ And there journey there, of the family of the Danite, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, six hundred men girded with weapons of war. ¹² And they go up and encamp in Kirjath-Jearim, in Judah, therefore they have called that place, "Camp of Dan," until this day; behold, behind Kirjath-Jearim. ¹³ And they pass over there [to] the hill-country of Ephraim, and come to the house of Micah. ¹⁴ And the five men, those going to traverse the land of Laish, answer and say to their brothers, "Have you known that in these houses there is an ephod, and teraphim, and carved image, and molten image? And now, know what you do." ¹⁵ And they turn aside there, and come to the house of the young man, the Levite, the house of Micah, and ask of him of welfare— ¹⁶ (and the six hundred men girded with their weapons of war, who [are] of the sons of Dan, are standing at the opening of the gate)— ¹⁷ indeed, the five men, those going to traverse the land, go up—they have come in there—they have taken the carved image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image—and the priest is standing at the opening of the gate, and the six hundred men who are girded with weapons of war— ¹⁸ indeed, these have entered the house of Micah, and take the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image; and the priest says to them, "What are you doing?" ¹⁹ And they say to him, "Keep silent, lay your hand on your mouth, and go with us, and be for a father and for a priest to us: is it better your being a priest for the house of one man, or your being priest for a tribe and for a family in Israel?" ²⁰ And the heart of the priest is glad, and he takes the ephod, and the teraphim, and the carved image, and goes into the midst of the people, ²¹ and they turn and go, and put the infants, and the livestock, and the baggage, before them. ²² They have been far off from the house of Micah—and the men who [are] in the houses which [are] near the house of Micah have been called together, and overtake the sons of Dan, ²³ and call to the sons of Dan, and they turn their faces around, and say to Micah, "What [is this] to you that you have been called together?" ²⁴ And he says, "You have taken my gods which I made, and the priest, and you go; and what more do I [have]? And what [is] this you say to me, What [is this] to you?" ²⁵ And the sons of Dan say to him, "Do not let your voice be heard with us, lest men bitter in soul fall on you, and you have gathered your life, and the life of your household"; ²⁶ and the sons of Dan go on their way, and Micah sees that they are stronger than he, and turns, and goes back to his house. ²⁷ And they have taken that which Micah had made, and the priest whom he had, and come in against Laish, against a people quiet and confident, and strike them by the mouth of the sword, and have burned the city with fire, ²⁸ and there is no deliverer, for it [is] far off from Sidon, and they have no word with [any] man, and it [is] in the valley which [is] by Beth-Rehob; and they build the city, and dwell in it, ²⁹ and call the name of the city Dan, by the name of their father Dan, who was born to Israel; and yet Laish [is] the name of the city at the first. ³⁰ And the sons of Dan raise up the carved image for themselves, and Jonathan son of Gershom, son of Manasseh, he and his sons have been priests for the tribe of the Danite, until the day of the expulsion of [the people] of the land. ³¹ And they appoint for themselves the carved image of Micah, which he had made, all the days of the house of God being in Shiloh.

Chapter 19

¹ And it comes to pass in those days, when there is no king in Israel, that there is a man, a Levite, a sojourner in the sides of the hill-country of Ephraim, and he takes a wife for himself, a concubine, out of Beth-Lehem-Judah; ² and his concubine commits whoredom against him, and she goes from him to the house of her father, to Beth-Lehem-Judah, and is there four months of days. ³ And her husband rises and goes after her, to speak to her heart, to bring her back, and his young man [is] with him, and a couple of donkeys; and she brings him into the house of her father, and the father of the young woman sees him, and rejoices to meet him. ⁴ And his father-in-law keeps hold on him, father of the young woman, and he abides with him three days, and they eat and drink, and lodge there. ⁵ And it comes to pass, on the fourth day, that they rise early in the morning, and he rises to go, and the father of the young woman says to his son-in-law, "Support your heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward you go on." ⁶ And both of them sit, and eat and drink together, and the father of the young woman says to the man, "Please be willing and lodge all night, and let your heart be glad." ⁷ And the man rises to go, and his father-in-law presses on him, and he turns back and lodges there. ⁸ And he rises early in the morning, on the fifth day, to go, and the father of the young woman says, "Please support your heart"; and they have tarried until the turning of the day, and both of them eat. ⁹ And the man rises to go, he, and his concubine, and his young man, but his father-in-law, father of the young woman, says to him, "Now behold, the day has fallen toward evening, please lodge all night; behold, the declining of the day! Lodge here and let your heart be glad—and you have risen early tomorrow for your journey, and you have gone to your tent." ¹⁰ And the man has not been willing to lodge all night, and he rises, and goes, and comes in until [he is] opposite Jebus (it [is] Jerusalem), and a couple of saddled donkeys [are] with him; and his concubine [is] with him. ¹¹ They [are] near Jebus, and the day has greatly gone down, and the young man says to his lord, "Please come, and we turn aside to this city of the Jebusite and lodge in it." ¹² And his lord says to him, "Let us not turn aside to the city of a stranger, that is not of the sons of Israel there, but we have passed over to Gibeah." ¹³ And he says to his young man, "Come, and we draw near to one of the places, and have lodged in Gibeah, or in Ramah." ¹⁴ And they pass over, and go on, and the sun goes in on them near Gibeah, which is of Benjamin; ¹⁵ and they turn aside there to go in to lodge in Gibeah, and he goes in and sits in a broad place of the city, and there is no man gathering them into the house to lodge. ¹⁶ And behold, an old man has come from his work from the field in the evening, and the man [is] of the hill-country of Ephraim, and he [is] a sojourner in Gibeah, and the men of the place [are] Benjamites. ¹⁷ And he lifts up his eyes, and sees the man, the traveler, in a broad place of the city, and the old man says, "To where do you go? And where do you come from?" ¹⁸ And he says to him, "We are passing over from Beth-Lehem-Judah to the sides of the hill-country of Ephraim—I [am] from there, and I go to Beth-Lehem-Judah; and I am going to the house of YHWH, and there is no man gathering me into the house, ¹⁹ and there is both straw and provender for our donkeys, and there is also bread and wine for me, and for your handmaid, and for the young man with your servants; there is no lack of anything." ²⁰ And the old man says, "Peace to you; only, all your lack [is] on me, but do not lodge in the broad place." ²¹ And he brings him into his house, and mixes [food] for the donkeys, and they wash their feet, and eat and drink. ²² They are making their heart glad, and behold, men of the city, men—sons of worthlessness—have gone around the house, beating on the door, and they speak to the old man, the master of the house, saying, "Bring out the man who has come into your house, and we know him." ²³ And the man, the master of the house, goes out to them and says to them, "No, my brothers, please do not do evil after that this man has come into my house; do not do this folly; ²⁴ behold, my daughter, the virgin, and his concubine, please let me bring them out and you humble them, and do that which is good in your eyes to them, and do not do this foolish thing to this man." ²⁵ And the men have not been willing to listen to him, and the man takes hold on his concubine and brings [her] out to them outside, and they know her and roll themselves on her all the night until the morning, and they send her away in the ascending of the dawn; ²⁶ and the woman comes in at the turning of the morning, and falls at the opening of the man's house where her lord [is], until the light. ²⁷ And her lord rises in the morning, and opens the doors of the house, and goes out to go on his way, and behold, the woman, his concubine, is fallen at the opening of the house, and her hands [are] on the threshold, ²⁸ and he says to her, "Rise, and we go"; but there is no answering, and he takes her on the donkey, and the man rises and goes to his place, ²⁹ and comes into his house, and takes the knife, and lays hold on his concubine, and cuts her in pieces to her bones—into twelve pieces, and sends her into all the border of Israel. ³⁰ And it has come to pass, everyone who sees has said, "There has not been—indeed, there has not been seen [anything] like this, from the day of the coming up of the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt until this day; set your [heart] on it, take counsel, and speak."

Chapter 20

¹ And all the sons of Israel go out, and the congregation is assembled as one man, from Dan even to Beer-Sheba, and the land of Gilead, to YHWH, at Mizpeh. ² And the chiefs of all the people, of all the tribes of Israel, station themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen drawing sword. ³ And the sons of Benjamin hear that the sons of Israel have gone up to Mizpeh. And the sons of Israel say, "Speak! How has this evil been?" ⁴ And the man, the Levite, husband of the woman who has been murdered, answers and says, "My concubine and I went into Gibeah, which [is] of Benjamin, to lodge; ⁵ and the masters of Gibeah rise against me—and they go around the house against me by night—they thought to slay me, and they have humbled my concubine, and she dies; ⁶ and I lay hold on my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and send her into all the country of the inheritance of Israel; for they have done wickedness and folly in Israel; ⁷ behold, you [are] all sons of Israel; give for yourselves a word and counsel here." ⁸ And all the people rise as one man, saying, "None of us goes to his tent, and none of us turns aside to his house; ⁹ and now, this [is] the thing which we do to Gibeah: [we go up] against it by lot! ¹⁰ And we have taken ten men of one hundred, of all the tribes of Israel, and one hundred of a thousand, and a thousand of a myriad, to receive provision for the people, to do, at their coming to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the folly which it has done in Israel." ¹¹ And every man of Israel is gathered to the city, as one man—companions. ¹² And the tribes of Israel send men among all the tribes of Benjamin, saying, "What [is] this evil which has been among you? ¹³ And now, give up the men—sons of worthlessness—which [are] in Gibeah, and we put them to death, and we put away evil from Israel." And [the sons of] Benjamin have not been willing to listen to the voice of their brothers, the sons of Israel; ¹⁴ and the sons of Benjamin are gathered out of the cities to Gibeah, to go out to battle with the sons of Israel. ¹⁵ And the sons of Benjamin number themselves on that day; out of the cities [are] twenty-six thousand men drawing sword, apart from the inhabitants of Gibeah, [who] numbered themselves, seven hundred chosen men; ¹⁶ among all this people [are] seven hundred chosen men, their right hand bound, each of these slinging with a stone at the hair, and he does not err. ¹⁷ And the men of Israel numbered themselves, apart from Benjamin, four hundred thousand men, drawing sword, each of these a man of war. ¹⁸ And they rise and go up to Beth-El, and ask of God, and the sons of Israel say, "Who goes up for us at the commencement to battle with the sons of Benjamin?" And YHWH says, "Judah—at the commencement." ¹⁹ And the sons of Israel rise in the morning, and encamp against Gibeah, ²⁰ and the men of Israel go out to battle with Benjamin, and the men of Israel set themselves in array [for] battle with them, against Gibeah, ²¹ and the sons of Benjamin come out from Gibeah, and destroy twenty-two thousand men in Israel on that day—to the earth. ²² And the people, the men of Israel, strengthen themselves, and add to set in array [for] battle in the place where they arranged themselves on the first day. ²³ And the sons of Israel go up and weep before YHWH until the evening, and ask of YHWH, saying, "Do I add to draw near to battle with the sons of my brother Benjamin?" And YHWH says, "Go up against him." ²⁴ And the sons of Israel draw near to the sons of Benjamin on the second day, ²⁵ and Benjamin comes out to meet them from Gibeah on the second day, and destroy eighteen thousand men among the sons of Israel again—to the earth; all these are drawing sword. ²⁶ And all the sons of Israel go up, even all the people, and come to Beth-El, and weep, and sit there before YHWH, and fast on that day until the evening, and cause burnt-offerings and peace-offerings to ascend before YHWH. ²⁷ And the sons of Israel ask of YHWH—and the Ark of the Covenant of God [is] there in those days, ²⁸ and Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, is standing before it in those days, saying, "Do I add to go out to battle again with the sons of my brother Benjamin, or do I cease?" And YHWH says, "Go up, for tomorrow I give him into your hand." ²⁹ And Israel sets ones lying in wait against Gibeah, all around, ³⁰ and the sons of Israel go up against the sons of Benjamin on the third day, and arrange themselves against Gibeah, as time by time. ³¹ And the sons of Benjamin come out to meet the people; they have been drawn away out of the city, and begin to strike [some] of the people—wounded as time by time—in the highways (of which one is going up to Beth-El, and the other to Gibeah in the field), [are] about thirty men of Israel. ³² And the sons of Benjamin say, "They are struck before us as at the beginning"; but the sons of Israel said, "Let us flee, and draw them away out of the city, to the highways." ³³ And all the men of Israel have risen from their place, and arrange themselves at Ba'al-Tamar, and the ambush of Israel is coming forth out of its place, out of the meadow of Gibeah. ³⁴ And they come in from the front against Gibeah—ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel—and the battle [is] grievous, and they have not known that the calamity is reaching toward them. ³⁵ And YHWH strikes Benjamin before Israel, and the sons of Israel destroy in Benjamin, on that day, twenty-five thousand and one hundred men; all these [are] drawing sword. ³⁶ And the sons of Benjamin see that they have been struck—and the men of Israel give place to Benjamin, for they have trusted in the ambush which they had set against Gibeah, ³⁷ and the ambush has hurried, and pushes against Gibeah, and the ambush draws itself out, and strikes the whole of the city by the mouth of the sword. ³⁸ And the appointed sign of the men of Israel with the ambush was their causing a great volume of smoke to go up from the city. ³⁹ And the men of Israel turn in battle, and Benjamin has begun to strike the wounded among the men of Israel, about thirty men, for they said, "Surely they are utterly struck before us, as [at] the first battle"; ⁴⁰ but the volume has begun to go up from the city—a pillar of smoke—and Benjamin turns behind, and behold, the perfection of the city has gone up toward the heavens. ⁴¹ And the men of Israel have turned, and the men of Benjamin are troubled, for they have seen that the calamity has struck against them— ⁴² and they turn before the men of Israel to the way of the wilderness, and the battle has followed them; and those who [are] from the cities are destroying them in their midst; ⁴³ they have surrounded the Benjamites—they have pursued them—they have trodden them down with ease as far as the front of Gibeah, at the sun-rising. ⁴⁴ And eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fall—all these [were] men of valor; ⁴⁵ and they turn and flee toward the wilderness, to the rock of Rimmon; and they glean five thousand of their men in the highways, and follow after them to Gidom, and strike two thousand [more] of their men. ⁴⁶ And all those falling of Benjamin are twenty-five thousand men drawing sword, on that day—all these [were] men of valor; ⁴⁷ but six hundred men turn and flee into the wilderness, to the rock of Rimmon, and they dwell in the rock of Rimmon four months. ⁴⁸ And the men of Israel have turned back to the sons of Benjamin, and strike them by the mouth of the sword out of the city—men even to livestock, even to all that is found; they have also sent all the cities which are found into the fire.

Chapter 21

¹ And the men of Israel have sworn in Mizpeh, saying, "None of us gives his daughter to Benjamin for a wife." ² And the people come to Beth-El, and sit there until the evening before God, and lift up their voice, and weep [with] a great weeping, ³ and say, "Why, O YHWH, God of Israel, has this been in Israel—to be lacking one tribe from Israel today?" ⁴ And it comes to pass on the next day, that the people rise early, and build an altar there, and cause burnt-offerings and peace-offerings to ascend. ⁵ And the sons of Israel say, "Who [is] he that has not come up in the assembly to YHWH out of all the tribes of Israel?" For the great oath has been concerning him who has not come up to YHWH to Mizpeh, saying, "He is surely put to death." ⁶ And the sons of Israel sigh concerning their brother Benjamin, and say, "Today there has been one tribe cut off from Israel, ⁷ what do we do for them—for those who are left—for wives, since we have sworn by YHWH not to give to them from our daughters for wives?" ⁸ And they say, "Who is [that] one out of the tribes of Israel who has not come up to YHWH to Mizpeh?" And behold, none has come to the camp from Jabesh-Gilead—to the assembly. ⁹ And the people numbered themselves, and behold, there is no man from the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead. ¹⁰ And the congregation sends twelve thousand men of the sons of valor there, and commands them, saying, "Go—and you have struck the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead by the mouth of the sword, even the women and the infants. ¹¹ And this [is] the thing which you do; every male, and every woman knowing the lying of a male, you devote." ¹² And they find four hundred young women, virgins, out of the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead, who have not known man by the lying of a male, and they bring them to the camp at Shiloh, which [is] in the land of Canaan. ¹³ And all the congregation sends [word] and speaks to the sons of Benjamin who [are] in the rock of Rimmon, and proclaims peace to them; ¹⁴ and Benjamin turns back at that time, and they give to them the women whom they have kept alive of the women of Jabesh-Gilead, and they have not found for [all of] them so. ¹⁵ And the people sighed concerning Benjamin, for YHWH had made a breach among the tribes of Israel. ¹⁶ And [the] elderly of the congregation say, "What do we do to the remnant for wives—for the women have been destroyed out of Benjamin?" ¹⁷ And they say, "A possession of an escaped party [is] to Benjamin, and a tribe is not blotted out from Israel; ¹⁸ and we are not able to give wives to them out of our daughters, for the sons of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed [is] he who is giving a wife to Benjamin." ¹⁹ And they say, "Behold, a festival of YHWH [is] in Shiloh, from time to time, which [is] on the north of Beth-El, at the rising of the sun, by the highway which is going up from Beth-El to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah." ²⁰ And they command the sons of Benjamin, saying, "Go—and you have laid wait in the vineyards, ²¹ and have seen, and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances—then you have gone out from the vineyards, and each caught his wife out of the daughters of Shiloh for yourselves, and have gone to the land of Benjamin; ²² and it has been, when their fathers or their brothers come in to plead to us, that we have said to them, Favor us [by] them, for we have not each taken his wife in battle, for you have not given [wives] to them at this time, [so] you are [not] guilty." ²³ And the sons of Benjamin do so, and take women according to their number, out of the dancers whom they have seized; and they go, and return to their inheritance, and build the cities, and dwell in them. ²⁴ And the sons of Israel go up and down there at that time, each to his tribe, and to his family; and they each go out there to his inheritance. ²⁵ In those days there is no king in Israel; each does that which is right in his own eyes.

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