Book of Judges

Judges 1 1 And it came to pass after the death of Joshua, and the children of Israel asked of the Lord, saying, “Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites, the king who will fight them for us?” And the Lord said to them, “Judah shall go up, and behold, I have given the land into his hand.” And Judah said to Simeon, his brother, “Go up with me into my portion, and we will fight the Canaanites, and I will also go with you into your portion.” And Simeon went with him. And Judah went up, and the Lord delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into his hand, and he killed them at Bezek, ten thousand men. And they found Adoni-bezek, and they fought him, and they killed the Canaanites and the Perizzites. And Adoni-bezek fled, and they pursued him, and they captured him, and they seized him, and they cut off the thumbs of his hands and his feet.

And he said to them, Adonibezek: “Seventy kings, the thumbs of their hands and their great toes, were cut off; they gathered under my table. And as I have done, so has the Lord requited me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there. And the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it and killed it with the edge of the sword, and they set its land on fire. And after that, the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who dwell in the mountains. And Judah went against the Canaanites who dwell in Hebron, and the men of Hebron came out to receive them; and the name of Hebron was formerly Kiryath-Arbaq-Sepher. And they killed Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, the descendants of Anaq. And they went from there to those who dwell in Debir, and the name of Debir was formerly the City of the Book. And Caleb said, “He who kills and captures the City of the Book, I will give him my daughter as a wife.

And Othniel, son of Kenaz, the younger brother of Caleb, gathered together, and he gave him Aksa, his daughter, as his wife. And when they went to the land of the south, Othniel asked her father to give him a field of springs; and she dismounted from the donkey and cried out from upon the donkey, and she said, “In the land of the south you sent me.” And Caleb said to her, “What has happened to you?” And she said to him, “Aksa, give me a blessing, for you sent me to the land of the south; give me a place of water.” And Caleb gave her, as her heart desired, a place of hot water and a place of cold water. And the sons of Jobab the Kenite, the father-in-law of Moses, went up from the city of Pincon to the sons of Judah in the field of Judah on the side of the south, in the desert of Arad; and they went and dwelt with the people. And Judah went with Simeon, his brother, and they killed the Canaanites who dwelt in Sepher; and they destroyed it and annihilated it.

And he gave as an inheritance to Judah: Gaza, and its villages, and Ashkelon, and its villages, and Azotus, and its villages, and its territories. And the Lord was with Judah, and he inherited the mountain and the plain, and he gave them as an inheritance to those who dwell in the lowlands, because of the river Rekeb. And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses said, and he inherited from there the cities, and he assigned from there to the three sons of Enak. And for the Jebusites, who dwell in Jerusalem, he assigned to them the sons of Benjamin, and the Jebusites dwelt with the sons of Benjamin until this day. And the sons of Joseph also went up into Bethel. And the name of that city was Luz. And they saw a man of the cave coming out of the city, and they seized him and said to him, “Show us the entrance to the city, and we will do mercy with you.

And he showed them where the city would be entered, and he destroyed that city with the mouth of a sword, and he subjugated the man of Zekṭus and his relatives. And that man came into the land of Ketteyon, and he built a city there, and he named it Luza, and that name remains until today. And Manasseh did not inherit Beth-Shean, which is the city of Soqiton, nor its villages, nor its fortresses, nor En-Gannim, nor its villages, nor those who dwell in Dor, nor its villages, nor those who dwell in Balaam, nor its villages, nor those who dwell in Megiddo, nor its villages, nor those who dwell in Yibleam, nor its villages; and the Canaanites took possession and dwelt in that land. Then, when the Israelites grew strong, they gave tribute to the Canaanites, and they destroyed them, but they did not utterly destroy them.

And Ephraim also destroyed the Canaanites who dwelt in Gazer, and the Canaanites dwelt among them in Gazer, and they made them tributaries. And Zebulun also destroyed those who dwelt in Qedron and those who dwelt in ʿAman, and the Canaanites dwelt among them, and they made them tributaries. And Asher also destroyed those who dwelt in Ako, and they made them tributaries; and those who dwelt in Dor, and those who dwelt in Sidona, and those who dwelt in Dalaf, and Asqod, and Kedya, and Afeq, and Roʿob. And Asher dwelt among the Canaanites who dwelt in that land, for they did not destroy them. And Naphtali also destroyed those who dwelt in Bet Samis and those who dwelt in Betenet, and Israel dwelt among the Canaanites who were in that land, and they made tributaries those who dwelt in Bet Samis and in Betenek.

And they drove out the Amorites from the children of Dan in the mountain, because they had oppressed them, descending into the plain. And the Amorites took hold and dwelt in the mountain of Mersinonos, which had in it a bear and a leopard, and the strength of the hand of the house of Joseph was against the Amorites, and they made them tributaries. And the mountain of the Amorites (was) for the Edomites above, who were near, those who were in [above] the summit. Judges 2 2 And the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to above Kelwetmona and above Bethel and above the house of Israel, and he said to them, "The Lord has brought you out from Egypt and has brought you into the land which I promised to your fathers, as I gave to you, and I said to you, 'I will not break my covenant with you forever.'" "And you also, do not make a covenant with those who dwell in this land, and do not worship their gods, and do not bow down to them, and break down their altars, and destroy their high places. And if you do not hear my voice when I have done this.

And I say, I will not repeat again, for I have already made them descend for the people, as I say, just as I drove them out from before you. And they will be for you a cause of sorrow, and their gods will be for you a cause of stumbling. And then, when the Angel of the Lord said to all Israel this word of lamentation, all the people wept. And because of this, the name of that place was called "Weeping," and they fasted there to the Lord. And he sent for the people, and all the children of Israel came into their houses and into their inheritance, so that they might inherit the land. And the people were zealous for the Lord throughout all the days of Joshua, and throughout all the days of the elders, all those who prolonged their days after Joshua, all those who knew all the works of the Lord, the great things that he did for Israel.

And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being one hundred and ten years old. And they buried him in his own land, in Timnath-heres, in the mountain of Ephraim, on the north side of the mountain of Gaash. And that whole generation passed away to their fathers, and a second generation arose after them, all of whom did not know the Lord and the work that he had done for Israel. And the children of Israel did evil before the Lord, and they worshipped Baal. And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they turned aside after the gods of the peoples who surrounded them, and they bowed down to them, and they angered the Lord. And they abandoned the Lord, and they worshipped Baal and Astarte. And the wrath of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of those who oppressed them, and they oppressed them, and they delivered them into the land of their enemies who surrounded them, and they were unable to resist before their enemies in all that they did to them.

And the hand of the Lord was upon them in evil, as the Lord said, and as the Lord swore, and He oppressed them greatly. And the Lord appointed judges, and the Lord saved them from the hand of those who persecuted them. And as for their judges, they did not listen to them, because they sinned and followed foreign gods, and worshipped them, and angered the Lord, and quickly abandoned the path by which their fathers had gone, so that they might hear the word of the Lord, and they did not do likewise. And when the Lord appointed judges for them, and the Lord was with that judge, and He saved them from the hand of their enemies throughout all the days of that judge, because the Lord had mercy on them from their affliction which they had before those who would slay them. And then, when that judge died, they would sin again and do worse than their fathers, and they would turn and follow foreign gods, and serve them, and worship them, and they would not abandon their evil, and they would not turn from their path of evil.

The anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He said, “Because this people of mine have abandoned my covenant, which I commanded their fathers, and they did not hearken to my voice. And I will not again send a man from before them from among the peoples whom Joshua left. And He left them, that they might test them, whether Israel would keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their fathers kept it, or not. And the Lord left these peoples and did not send a swift one to bring them under the hand of Joshua.” Judges 3 3 And the Lord left these peoples to test them, whether Israel, all those who did not know all their battles against Canaan, would be tested. They were ignorant concerning the generations of the children of Israel, that they might teach them to kill, and only those who were before them did not know them.

To these five peoples, the Philistines, and all Canaan, and Sidon, and the Hivites, who dwell in the land from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebemath. And they remained to test them, to see for Israel whether they would hearken to the commandment of the Lord, which He commanded their fathers through the hand of Moses. And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And they took their daughters as wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons, and worshipped their gods. And the children of Israel did evil before the Lord, and they rejected the Lord their God, and worshipped Baal and his images. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He delivered them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim, king of Syria of Mesopotamia, the River; and the children of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim for eight years.

And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, and the Lord established for them a deliverer for Israel. And Othniel, son of Kenaz, the younger brother of Caleb, delivered them, and they submitted to him. And the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he judged Israel. And he went out to war, and the Lord delivered Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, into his hand. And the land rested for fifty years, and Othniel, son of Kenaz, died. And the children of Israel again did evil before the Lord, and the Lord strengthened Eglon, king of Moab, over Israel, because they had done evil before the Lord. And he gathered against them all the children of Ammon and Amalek, and he went and killed the Israelites, and he seized the land of Phoenicia. And the children of Israel submitted to Eglon, king of Moab, for eighteen years.

And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, and the Lord established for them a deliverer, Naod, son of Gera, son of Uyameni, a man with two hands, his right hand, and the children of Israel sent him with his tribute to Eglom, king of Moab. And Naod made for himself a sword with two edges, with a span of a cubit, and he girded it beneath his garment on the side of his right hand. And he brought his tribute to Eglom, king of Moab, and Eglom was a very fat man. And then, when Naod had finished bringing his tribute to him, he sent away those who had brought his tribute. And Eglom came from the house of idols with Gilgal, and Naod said to him, “I have a secret word for you, O king, which is for you alone.” And Eglom commanded that everyone depart from him, and all those who stood before him went out.

And Naod went to him, and he was sitting alone in his summer house, and he was a fat man. And Naod said to him, "I have a secret to tell you, O king." And Eglom rose from his seat and approached. And when he rose, Naod raised his hand, the left one, and drew his sword from his right side, and thrust it into Eglom's belly. And he drove it in until the hilt, and it came out through his back. And he drew his sword from his belly. And Naod went out, closed the door of the summer house behind him, and killed. And he went out, and his servants came and saw, and they found the door of the summer house locked. And they said, "Perhaps he is sitting alone, relieving himself in the inner chamber of his summer house." And they waited because they were ashamed, and there was no one to open the door of the summer house for them. And they took the key and opened it, and they found their lord fallen on the ground, dead.

And Naod drew his sword from his side, and he struck him, and he killed him. And he went out and closed the door behind him. And the servants of the king saw him and said, "The king is dead." And they pursued Naod, but he fled and went to the land of Israel. And he blew the trumpet on Mount Ephraim, and the children of Israel came down from the mountain with him, and he was before them. And he said to them, "Follow me, for the Lord has delivered our enemy into our hands, the Moabites." And they came down and followed him, and they reached the fords of the Jordan of Moab, and they did not let any man cross. And they killed the Moabites in those days, about ten thousand men, all the warriors and all the mighty men of their strength, and there was none who escaped from among them, not even one man. And the Moabites submitted in those days into the hands of Israel, and the land rested for eighty years. And Naod judged them until he died.

After this, Shemegger, son of Hanat, arose and killed six hundred men of the Philistines with a plowshare. And he also delivered Israel. Judges 4 And the children of Israel did evil before the Lord, and Naod died. And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Yamin, king of Canaan, who reigned in Asor, and the commander of his army, Sisera, and he dwelt in Asirot of the Gentiles. And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, for nine hundred chariots of iron were against them, and he oppressed Israel, mocking them, for twenty (and five) years. And Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel in those days. And Deborah dwelt near Fenica, between Yama and Bethel, on Mount Ephraim, and the children of Israel went up to her to be judged.

And Deborah sent and summoned Barak, son of Abinoam, from Qedesh of Naphtali, and said to him, “Is it not that the Lord God of Israel has commanded you to go to Mount Tabor and take with you ten thousand men from the tribe of Naphtali and from the tribe of Zebulun? And I will lead you to the River Qishon against Sisera, the commander of his army of the Canaanites, and his chariots, and his multitude, and I will deliver him into your hand.” And Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you do not go with me, I will not go, for I do not know the day on which the Lord will send his angel with me.” And Deborah said to him, “I will go with you; only know that it will not be as your word previously on the road which you went, for into the hand of a woman the Lord will deliver Sisera.” And Deborah arose and went with Barak from Qedesh.

And Barak commanded the men of Zebulun and Naphtali at Qedesh, and they went up with him, a thousand men; and Deborah also went up with him. And those who had approached the Kenites separated from the sons of Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses, and his sign remained by the tree of the house, near Qedesh. And they reported to Sisera that Barak, son of Abinoam, had gone up onto Mount Tabor. And Sisera brought all his chariots, for he had nine hundred iron chariots, and all his troops from the cities of the peoples, to the river Qishon. And Deborah said to Barak, “Arise, for this is the day on which the Lord will deliver Sisera into your hand; and behold, the Lord goes before you.” And Barak came down from Mount Tabor, and a thousand men followed him.

And the Lord threw Sisera and all his chariots and all his army into confusion, casting them down before Barak by the edge of the sword. And Sisera descended from his chariot and fled on foot. And Barak pursued, and his chariots were scattered, and his army was pursued as far as the plain of the peoples, and all the army of Sisera died by the edge of the sword, and none remained, not even one. But Sisera fled on foot into the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between him and the sons of Jabin, king of Hazor, and between the house of Heber the Kenite. And Jael went out and received Sisera, and she said to him, "Enter, my lord, enter to me, and do not fear." And he entered to her into the tent, and she covered him with a cloak. And Sisera said to her, "Give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty." And she opened a skin of milk and gave him to drink, and she covered his face.

And she said, "Stand at the entrance of the tent of Deborah, and when he who came to you says to you, 'Is there any man here?' say, 'There is none,' and she hid him under a rug." And Jael, the wife of Heber, took the peg of Deborah's tent and a stone in her other hand, and she went to him, and she approached him, and she placed that peg into his temple, and she struck him until she fixed him to the ground, and he writhed between her feet, and he was stretched out and died. And Barak arrived while pursuing Sisera, and Jael went out and received Barak, and she said to him, "Come, and I will show you the man you seek." And he went to her, and he found Sisera fallen dead, with a peg in his temple. And the Lord humiliated Jabin, king of Canaan, on that day before the children of Israel. And the hand of the Lord went with the children of Israel, and it went and prevailed over Jabin, king of Canaan, until it destroyed him.

Judges 5 5 And Deborah and Barak sang on that day, and she spoke while she sang. When the leaders of Israel took counsel, the people blessed the Lord. Hear, O kings, and listen, O mighty princes; I sing to the Lord, the God of Israel. O Lord, when you went out from Seir, when you arose from the field of Edom, the earth trembled and the sky shook, and the clouds dripped water. And the mountains were shaken before the Lord; this is Sinai before the Lord, the God of Israel. In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, and in the days of Jael, the kings perished, and they went the way of the entrance of the way of the mighty. And the fortresses of Israel perished, until Deborah arose, until she stood as a mother for Israel.

And they worshipped false gods as if they were loaves of bread when they hid them; see the four thousand cubits, the cubits. But my heart is in the command of Israel; their strong ones blessed the Lord for Israel. Those who cry out over the mountains [their cry] and dwell in the light, speak your word. And they placed a snare among the joyful, and there they will give justice to the Lord and justice [to] the people in Israel; and this she said, and she descended into the cities of the people of the Lord. Deborah arose and raised up thousands with the people; she arose, she arose with the song, and with strength arose Barak; and Deborah strengthened Barak, and they went, the strength of Barak, son of Abinoam, as when his power was great. O Lord, deliver me from those who oppress me.

The people of Ephraim, and he scattered them in the valleys. Your brother Benjamin is among your people. From me, Makir, they descended to test, and from Zebulun, the Lord will fight for me. And from the strong ones, from there, [in] the house of strength of the word. And from within Issachar, with Deborah, he sent his messengers into the valleys, so that you might dwell in the midst of the lips, and he spread out with his feet, the remnant of Reuben. Great is the folly of his heart. Why do you dwell for me in the midst of Mesopotamia, as if to thirst, so that those who rise up may be reconciled, as they pass through into Reuben? Great is the binding of his heart for Gilead; he dwelt in the fords of the Jordan. And Dan, why does he dwell in the wilderness? And Asher also dwelt in the bay of the sea, and he dwelt in the region. Zebulun is a people who sold his soul to death, and Naphtali is in the heights of the field.

And the kings came and fought, and that Amira fought the kings of Canaan in the valley at the waters of Megiddo. And they rose up in rebellion with pure silver. And in the sky the stars were scattered from their slaughter, and they fought with Sisera. And the river Kishon swept them away, and the river Qademin, and the river Kishon killed them. My soul, be strong! And that Amira was shaken, the hooves of their horses for the chariots. And his strong ones curse the turning, and the angel of the Lord said, "Curse with a curse those who are within her houses, for they have come into the help of the Lord from among the strong warriors." Blessed among women is Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, blessed among women in the tent. She asked for water and milk, and she gave it to him, and with a great peg she brought a hammer to him.

And in her left hand, the one with the sword, she grasped the peg, and in her right hand the hammer, and she struck Sisera, and she crushed his head, and she pierced his temple. And he fell between her legs, and where he fell, there he perished. And the mother of Sisera looked out through the window, the one who peers through the lattice, saying, "Where is the one who came from Sisera? And why is his chariot delayed? Why has the wheel of Sisera's chariot arrived late? And why are the feet of his chariots stumbling?" The angel of the Lord answered her, and who answered her with a voice? Did he not find you while he was dividing your share, and his companions were lying down upon the heads of the mighty? A barbarian band is Sisera, a barbarian band, and his adornment is the ornament of his band, and a chain upon his neck, which is barbaric. Likewise, may all your enemies be destroyed, O Lord, and those who love you, like the rising of the sun in its strength. And the land rested for forty years.

And the children of Israel did evil before the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years. And the hand of Midian grew strong over Israel, and the children of Israel did evil before Midian, with tributes and offerings in the mountains and in the caves. And then, when the men of Israel sowed, the Midianites and Amalekites would come up, and at dawn they would come up against them. And they would oppress them and take from them the fruit of their labor until they reached Gaza, and they left them nothing by which the Israelites might live, neither their cattle, nor their sheep, nor their donkeys. For they would come up against them, they and their animals and their beasts, and they would come like locusts in their multitude, and there was no number of them, nor of their camels, and they would come into the land of Israel to lay it waste.

And the children of Israel did greatly evil before Midian, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. And when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord because of Midian, the Lord sent them a man, a prophet, to the children of Israel, and he said to them thus: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I am he who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. And I saved you from the hands of the Egyptians and from all who would mock you, and I brought them out from before your face and gave you their land. And I say to you: I am the Lord and your God, and do not fear the gods of the Amorites, those who dwell in their land where you are, and do not heed my word. And the angel of the Lord came and sat under the tree of Ephratah, which belonged to Joash, the father of Gideon; and Gideon, his son, was threshing wheat in his threshing-floor, so as to hide it from the face of the Midianites.

And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, The Lord is with you, a strong power. And Gideon said to him, O my Lord, my Lord, and if the Lord is with us, why has all this evil befallen us? And where is all his glory, all that our fathers told us and said to us, The Lord brought our fathers out of Egypt? And now the Lord has abandoned us and delivered us into the hand of Midian. And the angel of the Lord looked at him and said to him, Go with your power, and you will save Israel from the hand of Midian. Behold, I have sent you. And Gideon said to him, O my Lord, how shall I save Israel? Behold, my thousands are few in the tribe of Manasseh, and I am young in my father’s house. And the angel of the Lord said to him, Because the Lord is with you, and you will kill the Midianites as one man.

And Gideon said to him, If I have found favor before your eyes, perform a sign for me, that you are the one who speaks with me. Wait for me here until I go to you and bring my offering and sacrifice before you. And he said to him, I am the one, and I will wait for you until you come. And Gideon went and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread, and placed that flesh in a basket and poured its juice into a cup, and brought it to the tree and worshipped it. And the angel of the Lord said to him, Lift up the flesh and the unleavened bread and place them upon the rock, and pour the juice. And he did likewise. And the angel of the Lord raised his staff and uncovered that flesh and that unleavened bread, and fire came forth from that rock and consumed that flesh and that unleavened bread. And the angel of the Lord departed from before his eyes.

And Gideon knew that he was the angel of the Lord. And Gideon said, O my Lord, for I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face. And the Lord said to him, Peace be with you; do not fear, you will not die. And Gideon built there an altar to the Lord and called it the Peace of the Lord, until this day, while his father was still in Ephrata, the father of Ezra. And then, on that same night, the Lord said to him, Take the flesh of the bullock of your father, and another flesh of seven years, and take the altar of Baal of your father, and break it together with its grove. And build there an altar to the Lord, your God, who appeared to you on Mount Maok, in this place; and take that other flesh and make a sacrifice on that wood which you broke.

And Gideon took thirteen of his servants and did as the Lord had told him. And then, when the house of his father and the people of his city feared, they entered by day and by night. And in the morning the people of the city came and found the altar of Baal overturned, and the image beside it broken, and a fattened bullock, a great offering, placed upon the altar that had been cast down. And they said among themselves, Who did this deed? And they searched and investigated, and they said, Gideon, son of Joash, did this deed. And the people of the city said to Joash, Bring your son, that they may kill him, for he overturned the altar of Baal and broke the image beside it. And Joash said to the people who stood against him, Are you now avenging Baal, or are you saving him so that you may kill the one who insulted him? For if he is a god, let him wait until morning to kill the one who insulted him, and avenge himself upon the one who overturned his altar.

And he named that day the Feast of the Lord, because he had taken the sacrifice. And all the Midianites and Amalekites and the sons of the east gathered against him, and they attacked and encamped in the valley of Qiyazraʾel. And the Spirit of the Lord strengthened Gideon, and he blew the horn, and Abiezer shouted behind him. And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and he himself shouted behind them, and he sent messengers into Asher and into Zebulun and Naphtali, and they went up and received them. And Gideon said to the Lord, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have said, behold, I will spread out a fleece of wool in the threshing-floor; and if the dew falls on the fleece alone, and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand as you have said.

And it happened thus: Gideon went in the morning and cut down that vine, and water came out from that vine and filled the skins. And Gideon said to the Lord, “Be not angry with me in your wrath, and I will show you another sign: let the vine be dry alone, and let dew fall upon all the land.” And the Lord did thus on that night, and the vine became dry alone, and dew fell upon all the land. Judges 7 7 And Rehoboam (that is, Gideon) advanced with all the people who were with him, and they encamped in the land of Aroer, and they saw the Midianites and the Amalekites from the direction of the south, from the camp of the lion in the valley. And the Lord said to Gideon, “The many people who are with you, as if you were to deliver them into the hands of the Midianites, so that Israel may not sin against me and say, ‘My hand saved me.’

And the Lord said to him, “Tell the people, and say to them, ‘Whoever is afraid of me, let him return from among the people.’” And they departed from Mount Gilead, and they went from among the people, two thousand and twenty hundred, and a thousand remained. And the Lord said to Gideon again, “Bring down many people to the water, and make them drink for you there, and those whom I tell you, they shall go with you.” And he brought the people down to the water, and the Lord said to Gideon, “All who drink with their tongue from the water, as a dog drinks, set them apart by themselves; and all who kneel on their knees, as one drinks, set them apart by themselves.” And the count of those who drank with their tongues was three hundred men; and the rest of the people knelt on their knees to drink water.

And the Lord said to Gideon, “With these three hundred men who drank as you did, I have saved you, and I have delivered Midian into your hand, and all the people will go to their houses.” And they took with them the spoils of the people and their trumpets, and they sent all the men of Israel to their houses to go; and for those three hundred men, he set up an ambush and the camp of Midian below them in the valley. And then, on that night, the Lord said to him, “Arise and go down quickly from here into the camp, for I have brought it into your hand. And if you are afraid to go down alone, take your servant and dip your pitcher into the camp.” And he commanded them to be silent, and then, “Now stretch out your hands and go down into the camp.” And he went down, he himself, and dipped his pitcher into one of the fifty parts of the camp.

And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the sons of the East were numerous in the valleys like locusts, their camels without number, like the sand on the seashore they were numerous. And Gideon entered, and behold, one man was telling his dream to another, and he said to him, “I dreamed a dream, and I saw a cake of barley bread rolling into the camp of Midian, and it struck it, and it fell, and it overturned it from above, and the camp fell.” And the other answered and said to him, “This is nothing other than the strength of Gideon, son of Joash, the man of Israel. The Lord has delivered them into his hand, the Midianites and all their camp.” And then, when Gideon heard the interpretation of the dream and how he had told his dream, he bowed down to the Lord and entered into the camp of Israel and said to them, “Arise, for the Lord has delivered into our hand the camp of Midian.

And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he gave a horn to all of them in their hands, and a new lamp and a torch in the midst of that lamp. And he said to them, "From me, see, and do likewise. And behold, I will enter into the midst of the camp, and as I have done, do." "And I will blow the horn, I and all who are with me, and we will blow the horn; you also, in the circuit of the camp, say, 'For the Lord and for Gideon.'" And Gideon entered, and a hundred men with him, into one part of the camp at the first hour of midnight, without the watchmen moving, and they blew the horn and lit the lamps that were in their hands. And those three companies blew the horn and lit their lamps and raised their torches that were in their left hands, and in their right hands the horn which they blew, and they shouted and said, "The sword of the Lord and of Gideon.

And all of them stood in their places in the midst of the camp, and each camp went forth, and they surrounded them. And they blew the three hundred horns, and the Lord brought a sword of a man upon the other in the midst of every camp, and they destroyed their camps as far as Seṭa, and they assembled as many as ten hundred in Abelmeḥula and in Gebaot. And the men of Israel gathered from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued the Midianites. And Gideon sent messengers into all the district of Ephraim, saying, "Receive the Midianites and intercept them at the waters as far as Beth-tera and the Jordan." And all the men of Ephraim gathered and anticipated them at the water as far as Beth-tera and the Jordan. And the two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb, seized them, and they killed Oreb at Surin, and Zeeb they killed at Aiafeq, and they pursued the Midianites, and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon from the fords of the Jordan.

And the men of Ephraim said to him, "What is this thing that you have done to us, that you did not summon us when you went to fight against the Midianites, and they were reconciled with him in great reconciliation?" And he said to them, "What have I done now, that you reproach me? The flower of Ephraim fell from the stem of Abiezer." "Were they not in your hands? The Lord delivered the angels of Midian to the sword and the wolf, and what could I do like you?" And then they left him, and their souls rested from him when he spoke this word to them. And Gideon came to the Jordan, and he and the two hundred men who were with him crossed over, and they were hungry because they were afraid. And he said to the men of Succoth, "Give grain to the people who are with me, for they are hungry, and I will pursue Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.

And the messengers of Succoth said to him, "Where are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now, that you have them in your hand, as you said to us, 'I will give bread to your army'?" And Gideon said to them, "Not so; because the Lord has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the desert and with the two threshing-sledges." And he went up from there to Penuel [and said to them likewise, and they answered him] as the men of Succoth had answered him. And he said to the men of Penuel, "When I return in peace, I will destroy this tower." Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in the camp, and their army with them, and they could eat one thousand five hundred, all of them, who remained from all the army of the sons of the morning; and those who had fallen were ten thousand and twenty hundred men who bore arms.

And Gideon went up to those who dwelt in the thickets of the east, who were on the side of Nabat, above Zebah, and he killed their princes while they were trusting. And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them, overtook them, and captured them, both of them, the kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and all their princes, Gideon slaughtered them. And Gideon, son of Joash, returned from the war, from the fortress of Ares. And he seized one of the men of Succoth, and he interrogated him, and he made him write down for the messengers of Succoth and its elders seventy-seven men. And he arrived to the messengers of Succoth and said to them, "Behold, here are Zebah and Zalmunna. Did I not say to you, 'You will see them'? And you said to me, 'Where are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now, that you have them in your hand, as you said to us, "I will give bread to your army"?'

And he took the men of Sukkot, their elders and their messengers, and he hanged them in the thickets of the desert and in the thorns, and he hanged them with the men of Sukkot. And he went to Penuel and killed the men of Penuel and their city. And he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where are the men whom you killed at Tabor?” And they said to him, “Like you, they are; they resemble you, and like the appearance of the face of a king’s son.” And Gideon said to them, “They are my brothers and the sons of my mother.” And he swore to them and said, “By the life of the Lord, if I had spared them, I would not have killed you.” And he said to Jothar, his firstborn, “Rise up, kill them.” But he did not draw his sword, for he was a child, for he was young, and he was afraid. And Zebah and Zalmunna said to him, “Rise up yourself and kill us, for you are a man; your strength is like that of a man.” And Gideon rose up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the ornaments from the necks of their camels.

And the men of Israel said to Gideon, "Be king for us, you and your sons, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian." And Gideon said to them, "I will not be king for you, and my sons will not be king for you; the Lord will be king for you." And Gideon said to them, "I ask of you a request, and give me, each man, an earring of gold which he has taken, for many earrings are with them, for they are Ishmaelites." And they said, "We will give," and they spread out their garments, and each man threw down an earring which he had taken. And the weight of the gold of the earrings which he asked of them was one thousand nine hundred by the weight of gold, besides the chains and bracelets of the hands and the anklets of the feet of the kings of Midian, and besides the gold chains which were on the necks of their camels.

And Gideon did for him with his donkey and placed it in his city, in the land of Ephraim; and all Israel mourned him, and they buried him there. And it became a stumbling block for Gideon and his house. And Midian was humbled before Israel, and they did not again raise their heads, and the land rested for forty years in the days of Gideon. And Jerubbaal, son of Joash, went and dwelt in his house. And Gideon had seventy sons who walked at his side, for he had many wives. And his concubine in Shechem bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech. And Gideon, son of Joash, died in the city of Senet, and he was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ephratah of Abiezer. And after that, when Gideon died, the sons of Israel turned away and followed Baal, and they worshipped him, and they made a covenant with Baal that he might be their god.

And the children of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had saved them from the hand of all their enemies who had surrounded them. And they did not show mercy to the house of Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, for all the good things that he had done for Israel. Judges 9 And Abimelech, the son of Jerubbaal, went into Shechem to his mother’s brothers, and he spoke to all the relatives of his mother’s house. And he said to them, “Speak for me to the men of Shechem, and tell them, ‘Which is better for you: that all the sons of Jerubbaal rule over you, or that one man rule over you? And remember that your flesh and your bones are mine.’” And his mother’s brothers spoke to him, and with all the men of Shechem they spoke all this matter, and they inclined their hearts toward Abimelech, and they said, “He is our brother.

And they gave him seventy burur from the house of Baal, and Abimelech rejoiced in that, and he became hostile to the farmers and the gardeners. And they went and stoned him. And he entered into his father’s house, into Ephraim, and he killed his brothers, the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men with a single stone. And [Jo]atham, the son of Jerubbaal, who was younger, escaped because he hid. And all the men of Shechem and all the house of Millo assembled, and they went and made Abimelech king over them, by the oak tree that is in Shechem. And they informed [Jo]atham, and he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and he cried out and wept, and he said to them, “Hear me, men of Shechem, and may the Lord hear you.” “The trees went to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’” And the olive tree said to them, “Shall I abandon my oil, which the Lord has praised over me, and go and be a king over the trees?

And all the trees said to the balsam, “Come, reign for us.” And the balsam said to them, “Shall I leave my fragrance and my blessed fruit, and go to reign for the trees?” And all the trees said to the vine, “Come, reign for us.” And the vine said to them, “Shall I leave my wine and my joy, which are before the Lord and before the children of men, and go to reign for the trees?” And the trees said to the pomegranate tree, “Come, you, reign for us.” And the pomegranate tree said to them, “If truly you will crown me in righteousness over you, come, take shelter under my shade. If fire comes out of the pomegranate, it will consume the cedar of Lebanon.” And now, if truly in righteousness you have done and crowned Abimelech, as you did with Jeroboam and with his house, and if you have done to him according to the worth of his hand.

As my father was killed for you and sacrificed himself before you and saved you from the hand of the Midianites, you rose up against my father's house and killed seventy of his sons with one stone, and you made Abimelech, the son of his concubine, king over the men of Shechem, for he is your brother. And if you have acted justly and rightly with Jerubbaal and his house on this day, you are blessed and rejoice in Abimelech, and he also rejoices in you. But if not, fire will come from Abimelech and consume the men of Shechem and the house of Millo, and fire will come from the men of Shechem and from the house of Millo and consume Abimelech. And Jotham fled and ran into the road and hid in the forest and remained there from the face of Abimelech, his brother.

And Abimelech ruled over the house of Israel for three years. And the Lord sent an evil spirit among Abimelech and among the men of Shechem, and the men of Shechem deceived the house of Abimelech. So that his sin might come upon him, the sin of the seventy sons of Jerubbaal and their blood, and that it might be avenged upon Abimelech, their brother who had killed them, and upon the men of Shechem who had strengthened his hand to kill his brothers. And the men of Shechem set an ambush for him on the top of the mountains, and they watched all who passed by the road that was above them, and they informed Abimelech. And Gaal, son of Ebed, and his brothers came into Shechem, and the men of Shechem joined with him. And they went out to the field and cut down the vineyards and the olive trees, and they plundered and made a feast, and they entered the house of their god and ate and drank, and they cursed Abimelech.

And Gaal the son of Ebed said, “Who is this Abimelech, and who is the son of Shechem, that we should fear him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal? And Zebul, his governor, and the Amorites, his father for Shechem—why should we fear him?” And who brought this people into my hand and delivered them to Abimelech? And I said to Abimelech, “Increase your strength and go out.” And Zebul, the governor of the city, heard what Gaal the son of Ebed said, and he became angry with wrath. And he sent messengers to Abimelech with gifts, saying, “Now Gaal the son of Ebed and his brothers have come into Shechem, and now they are fighting against the city for your sake. And now arise by night, you and the people with you, and hide in the field.

And at dawn, at the time when the sun steals forth, he went out and surrounded her city. And he himself and the people with him came by night and besieged Shechem with four armies. And when it dawned, Gaal the son of Ebed went out and stood at the gate of the city’s entrance, and Abimelech and the people with him arose from where they were besieging. And Gaal the son of Ebed saw the people and said to Zebul, “Behold, people are descending from the top of the mountain.” And Zebul said to him, “The shadows of the mountains deceive you, for you are like a man.” And again Gaal insisted, saying to him, “Behold, people are descending toward the sea from the direction of the navel of the land, and one army is coming from the road of the city’s gate.” And Zebul said to him, “Where is he now? This is your mouth that says, ‘Who is this Abimelech, that we should fear him?’ Is this not the people you boasted about? Now go out and fight them.

And Gaal went out from before the men of Shechem and fought against Abimelech. And Abimelech pursued him and struck him in the face, and many fell and were killed as far as the gate of the city. And Abimelech remained in the tower, and Zebul brought out Gaal and his brothers and all of them, and they dwelt in Shechem. And then, on the third day, a people went out into the plain and informed Abimelech. And he took his people and divided them into three armies and hid them. And when he watched, behold, a people came out from the city, and he rose up against them and killed them. And Abimelech and the army that was with him stood at the gate of the city, and the other two armies were scattered throughout the plain and killed them. And Abimelech fought with the whole city that day and subdued the city, and he killed the people who were within it and sowed salt within it.

And all the men of the council of Shechem heard and entered into the shade of the house of Baal. And they informed Abimelech that all the men of the council of Shechem had assembled. And Abimelech went up into Mount Hermon, he and the people with him, and Abimelech took a branch in his hand and cut a bundle of wood, and took it and placed it on his shoulder, and said to the people who were with him, “As you have seen me do, do you also quickly as I have done.” And they also all cut their bundles of wood and took them and gave them to Abimelech, and they placed them by the shade and set fire to their shade over them, and all the men of Shechem of the council died, about one thousand and ten men and women. And Abimelech went to Thebez and besieged it and assembled against it.

And that tower was in the midst of the city, and all of them armed themselves there, their men and their women, and all the great men of the city, and they closed it upon themselves, and they went up into the bronze tower. And Abimelech went to the tower, and they fought with him, and Abimelech approached the door of the tower to set it on fire. And one woman cast a piece of millstone upon the head of Abimelech and crushed his skull. And he called quickly to his servant who bore his arms and said to him, "Draw my sword and kill me, lest they say of me, 'A woman killed him.'" And his servant struck him, and Abimelech died. And the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, and they all returned to their homes. And the Lord God requited Abimelech for the evil that he had done against his father, whose seventy brothers he had killed.

And all of them, the men of Shechem, God delivered them into the hands of their heads, and the curse of Yotham, son of Roboam, reached them. Judges 10 10 And after Abimelech, there arose one who judged Israel, Tola, son of Phua, son of his father's brother, a man from among Issachar, and he dwelt in Samaria, in Mount Ephraim. And he judged Israel for twenty-three years, and he died and was buried in Samaria. And after him arose Yair the Gileadite, and he judged Israel for twenty-two years. And he had thirty-two sons, and they rode upon thirty-two asses, and they had thirty-two cities, and they called them the towns of Yair, until this day, and they were in Gilead. And Yair died and was buried in Ramoth.

And the children of Israel did evil before God, and they worshipped Baal, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Sidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and they abandoned God and did not bow down to him. And the wrath of God was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the children of Ammon. And they oppressed and plundered the children of Israel on the plains of Jordan, in the land of the Amorites, in Gilead. And the children of Ammon crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, and Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim, and the children of Israel were greatly oppressed. And the children of Israel cried out to God, and they said, "We have sinned against you, for we have abandoned you, our God, and we have worshipped Baal.

And the Lord said to the children of Israel, "Were not Egypt, and the Amorites, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and the Philistines, and Sidon, and Midian, and Amalek, who pursued you and oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and I saved you from their hands? But you have abandoned me and worshipped other gods. In the midst of this, how can I save you? Go, cry out to the gods whom you have chosen for yourselves, and let them save you in the time of your distress." And the children of Israel said to the Lord, "We have sinned; forgive us, as you will before you, and only you, O Lord, save us on this day." And they removed the foreign gods from among them, and they worshipped the Lord, and they praised him, and they were delivered from the suffering of Israel. And the children of Ammon went up and dwelt in Gilead, and the children of Israel went out and dwelt in the land of Mizpah.

And the people of Gilead said among themselves, "Who is the man who will fight for us against the children of Ammon and be the head of all who dwell in Gilead?" Judges 11 11 And Jephthah the Gileadite was strong and mighty, and he was the son of a harlot, and she bore Jephthah to Gilead. And she bore to Gilead children, [his wife, the legitimate one], and the children of that woman grew up, and they drove out Jephthah, and they said to him, "You shall not inherit in the house of our father, for you are the son of another woman." And Jephthah went away from the presence of his brothers, and he dwelt in the land of Tob, and needy men gathered to Jephthah, and they went about with him. And after a time, the children of Ammon fought against Israel. And the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah from the land of Tob.

And they said to Jephthah, "Come, and be our judge, and we will fight against the children of Ammon." And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "Is it not you who hated me and drove me out from my father's house? And you drove me out from your presence; why then have you come to me now when you are distressed?" And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "It is not so; we have come to you so that you may go with us and fight for us against the children of Ammon, and be head over all who dwell in Gilead." And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "If you bring me back so that I may fight against the children of Ammon, and if the Lord brings them before me, I will be your head." And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "The Lord hears between us that as you say, so we will do.

And Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people appointed him for themselves as head, that he might be their judge. And Jephthah recounted all his words before the Lord in Mizpah. And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, "What is this that you have against me, that you come to fight with me in my land?" And the king of the children of Ammon said to those who came to Jephthah, "Because Israel took my land when they came up from Egypt, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok and as far as the Jordan; and now return it to me in peace." And those who came to Jephthah returned to him. And Jephthah again sent envoys to the king of the children of Ammon. And Jephthah said to him thus: "Jephthah says, 'Did Israel take your land of Moab and the land of the children of Ammon when they came up from Egypt?'

Israel went into the wilderness as far as the Red Sea, and they arrived as far as Kadesh. And Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Let me pass through your land.” But the king of Edom refused. And they went to the king of Moab, but he also refused. And Israel remained in Kadesh. And they passed through the wilderness, and they traversed the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and they arrived at the eastern border of the land of Moab, and they encamped at the ford of the Arnon. And they crossed into the territory of Moab, for the Arnon is their border. And Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of Heshbon, the Amorite, and Israel said to him, “Let me pass through your land until my country.” But Sihon refused to let Israel pass through his territory, and Sihon gathered his people and encamped at Jaazer, and he fought against Israel.

And the Lord God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hands of Israel. And Israel killed them and dispossessed them. Israel took all the land of the Amorites who dwelt in that land. And they took all the cities of the Amorites from Arnon as far as Jabbok, and from the wilderness as far as the Jordan. And now the Lord God of Israel has delivered the Amorites before the face of Israel. And you, would you be dispossessed by your own will? Is it not that your God has dispossessed him for you? Likewise, you are dispossessed. And all that the Lord our God has dispossessed before us, we are dispossessed of it. And now, what are you, that you reproach Balak son of Sippor, king of Moab? Has he done evil, or has evil been done to him with Israel? Or has he made war, or has war been made against him by the house of Israel?

of Heshbon and its villages, and of Jazer and its villages, and of all the cities that were by the Jordan, three hundred years. Why have you delivered them in these days? And I have wronged you, and you do evil to me, as if you would kill me. But the Lord God will judge, who is the one who will judge between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon. And their father, the king of the children of Ammon, heard the voice of Jephthah, which he spoke to him. And the Spirit of the Lord God came upon Jephthah, and he passed from the land of Gilead and Manasseh, and he passed from the border of Gilead, and from the border of Gilead into the midst of the children of Ammon. And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord God, and said, If I bring the children of Ammon into my hand, whoever comes out from the door of my house and meets me when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, I will sacrifice to the Lord God.

And Jephthah returned to the children of Ammon to fight them, and the Lord delivered them into his hand. And he killed them from Aroer until he reached the land of the Ammonites, twenty cities, as far as Abel of the Vineyards. It was a very great slaughter, and the children of Ammon were afraid before the children of Israel. And Jephthah came to Mizpah, to his house, and behold, his daughter came out and received him with drum and lyre. And she was his only one, whom he loved, and he had no other children besides her, neither son nor daughter. And when he saw her, he tore his garments and said, “Alas for me and my daughter! You have afflicted me and become a sorrow in my eyes, and I opened my mouth to the Lord concerning you, and I cannot undo it.” And she said to him, “Father, if you opened your mouth to the Lord concerning me, accept me as it came out of your mouth, for the Lord has done for you vengeance from your enemy, from the children of Ammon.

And he said to her, "My father, let me go, for this word has saved me. Two months I will go and wander in the mountains, and I will weep over my virginity with my companions." And he said to her, "Go," and he sent her away for two months. And she went, she and her companions, and she wept over her virginity with her companions in the mountains. And after the two months were completed, she returned to her father, and Jephthah fulfilled his vow which he had vowed. And she, the woman, knew the man, and it became a custom in Israel. At each season of the year, the children of Israel go and weep for the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite, four days each year. Judges 12 12 And the children of Ephraim gathered and came to Sepina, and they said to Jephthah, "Why did you go to fight the children of Ammon and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house over you with fire.

And he said to them, "I am a strong man, Jephthah, and my people and the children of Ammon have oppressed us greatly, and I have cried out to you, and you have not saved me from their hands." And when I saw that there was no one who would save me, I entrusted my soul into my own hands and I went to the children of Ammon, and the Lord brought them before me, and why have you come to me today to fight me? And Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead, and they fought against Ephraim, and the men of Gilead killed the men of Ephraim, because they said to them, "Say, 'Shibboleth,' Ephraim." And the men of Gilead overtook them in the midst of Manasseh, at the fords of the Jordan of Ephraim, and then when they said, "Say, 'Shibboleth,' Ephraim," the men of Gilead said to them, "Are you not from Ephraim?" And they said, "No." And they said to them, "Say, 'Shibboleth,'" and they refused to say it, and they seized them and killed them at the fords of the Jordan, and from Ephraim fell that number: four thousand and twenty hundred.

And he judged Israel, Jephthah, six years. And Jephthah the Gileadite died, and was buried in his city, Gilead. And after him, Heshbon, who was from Bethlehem, judged Israel. And he begot thirty sons and thirty daughters, whom he gave in marriage to the daughters of the land, and he took thirty women for his sons from the land. And he judged Israel seven years. And Heshbon died, and was buried in Bethlehem. And after him, Elon the Zebulonite judged Israel. And Elon judged Israel ten years. And Elon the Zebulonite died in Elon, and they buried him in the land of Zebulon. And after him, Abdon the Pirathonite judged Israel. And forty sons were born to him, and thirty sons of sons, and they rode upon seventy asses. And he judged Israel eight years. And Abdon, son of Elon the Pirathonite, died, and they buried him in Pirathon, in the land of Ephraim, on Mount Leneq.

And the children of Israel did evil before the Lord, and He delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. And there was a man from Sorek, from the tribe of Dan, and his name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and she did not bear children. And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman, and said to her, "Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you will conceive and bear a son. And now, beware, and do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing. For behold, you will conceive and bear a son, and no razor shall touch his head, for he is holy, a Nazirite to the Lord; he is a child from his mother's womb, and he will take and deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines." And the woman went and told her husband, and said to him, "My lord, the Lord came to me, and I saw him as the appearance of the angel of the Lord, and he was very great; and I asked him whence he was, but he did not tell me his name.

And he said to me, "Now you will conceive and bear a son. And now, do not drink wine or mead, and do not eat any unclean thing, for the child is a Nazirite of the Lord from his mother's womb until the day he dies." And Manoah asked of the Lord, and he said, "O Lord, my Lord, the man whom you sent to us, let him come to us and teach us what we should do for that child who will be born." And the Lord heard the voice of Manoah, and the angel of the Lord came to his wife again a second time while she was sitting in the field, and Manoah was not there with her. And his wife ran and hastened and told her husband, and she said to him, "Now that man who came to me before has appeared to me." And Manoah arose and went and followed his wife to where that man was, and he said to him, "Are you that man who spoke with my wife?" And he said to him, "I am that angel.

And he said to him, "Manoah, now that your word has come to pass, what is the matter of that child and his deed?" And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, "From everything that I said to your wife, beware." "From everything that comes from wine, do not eat; and wine and mead, do not drink; and every unclean thing, do not eat. And everything that I commanded her, beware." And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, "Let us prepare for you and make for you a kid goat before you." And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, "If you prepare for me, I will not eat your food; and if you prepare a sacrifice for the Lord, make it for him." And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, "What is your name, so that when your word comes to pass, we may praise you?" And the angel of the Lord said to him, "Why do you ask this? My name is wonderful.

And Manoah brought a sacrifice of flour and an offering, and he placed it upon the fire for the Lord, who makes the offering. And Manoah and his wife saw him when the flame of the offering ascended from the altar into the sky. And the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the offering into the sky, and Manoah and his wife saw him, and they fell upon their faces to the ground. And then the angel of the Lord revealed himself to Manoah and his wife, and at that time Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord. And Manoah said to his wife, "We will die, for we have seen the Lord." And his wife said to him, "If the Lord wished to kill us, would he have accepted our sacrifice and our offering from our hands, and would he have caused us to hear this?

And she gave birth to a son, that woman, and she named him Samson, and the Lord blessed him, and the child grew. And the Spirit of the Lord took hold of him, and he went with it into the land of Dan, between Sarah and between Estael. Judges 14 14 And Samson went down to Timnah, and he saw a woman in Timnah from among the daughters of the Philistines, and she pleased him. And he returned and told his father and his mother, and he said to them, "I have seen a woman in Timnah from among the daughters of the Philistines, and now let us take her for me as a wife." And his father and his mother said to him, "Is there none from among the daughters of your brothers and from among all my people, a woman, that you should go and take a wife from among the daughters of the Philistines, the uncircumcised?" And Samson said to his father, "Take her for me, for she has pleased me in my eyes.

And his father and mother did not know that it was from the Lord, for he desired it from the Philistines, and in those days the Philistines oppressed Israel. And Samson went down with his father and mother into Timnah, and he entered a vineyard of Timnah, and behold, a lion met him while it was roaring. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and tore it apart as one tears a kid goat, and as if it were nothing, it was in his hand, and he did not tell his father and mother what he had done. And they went up and spoke [concerning the woman], and they betrothed her before Samson. And after some days, he went out and entered to see the carcass of that lion, and behold, a swarm of bees was in its mouth, and honey was in it.

And he took it and ate it, and he went while eating, and he arrived where his father and mother were, and he gave it to them, and they ate, and they did not know that he had brought out that honey from the mouth of a lion. And his father went down to that woman, and Samson stayed there for seven days, for they were accustomed to stay thus, and they were pleased. Then, when they feared him, they set over him another thirty men, and they stayed with him. And Samson said to them, "I will tell you a riddle, and if you do not know my riddle within these seven days of the wedding feast, and you find it, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty garments. But if you ask, and you do not know it, you will give me thirty linen garments and thirty garments." And they said to him, "Tell your riddle, and we will hear." And he said to them, "From the eater came forth food, and from the hard came forth sweet." And they asked, and they did not know his riddle until three days.

And after that, on the fourth day, they said to Samson's wife, "Hasten, for the pot is ready, and tell us the riddle, as you have promised, lest I burn you and your father's house, or lest you deliver him up as you have sworn." And his wife wept over him and said to him, "You have hated me, and you do not love me, for the riddle that you told to the children of my people you did not tell me." And Samson said to her, "Behold, I have told it to my father and to my mother; now then, I will tell it to you." And she wept over him for seven days of the feast, and after that, on the seventh day, she told it when he had made her swear, and she revealed it to the children of her people. And they said to him, the enemies, on the seventh day, before sunset, "What is sweeter than honey, and what is stronger than a lion?" And Samson said to them, "When I have yoked my heifers, you will find my riddle.

And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he went down into Ashkelon and killed thirty men, and stripped them of their garments and gave them to those who knew his likeness. And Samson’s anger was kindled, and he returned to his father’s house. And Samson’s wife remained with her bridesmaids a second time. Judges 15 15 And after some days, at the time of the wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife and brought her a kid goat, and he said, “I will go to my wife in the chamber,” but her father prevented him, having entered to her. And her father said to him, “Because you have hated her and given her to another, and only her younger sister, who is small and weak, remains for you.” And Samson said, “I am pure from the fault of the calf, for I do evil with you.

And Samson went and took three hundred foxes, and took torches and tied them to their tails. And he placed one torch between each pair of their tails. And he set fire to those torches and sent them into the fields of the Philistines, and they burned the harvest, the standing grain, the cut grain, the vineyards, the wine, and the oil. And the Philistines said, “Who has done this?” And Samson said to them, “I, the husband of the Timnite, because they took my wife and gave her to another.” And the Philistines went up and burned the house of her father and her and her father with fire. And Samson said to them, “If you have done this, I will not cease; I will take vengeance from each one of you, and I will destroy all of you.” And Samson attacked them at the joints of their legs, and there was a great slaughter. And Samson went down and dwelt in the river, in the cave of Etam.

And the Philistines went up and encamped over Judah, and they were troubled over Lehi. And all the people of Judah said to them, "Why have you come up against us?" And the Philistines said, "In order that we may bind Samson, we have come up, and we will do to him as he did to us." And three thousand men from Judah went down to where the cave of Etam was, and they said to Samson, "Do you not know that the Philistines are oppressing us? Why have you done thus against us?" And Samson said to them, "As they did to you, so I have done to them." And they said to him, "We have come to bind you and to hand you over into the hands of the Philistines." And Samson said to them, "Swear to me that you yourselves will not kill me, but will hand me over to them, and that you yourselves will not be gathered together with me." And they swore to him, and they said to him, "There is no deceit; we will bind you in fetters and hand you over into their hands, but we will not kill you." And they bound him with two new ropes and brought him out from that cave.

And he came as far as the jawbone of an ass, and they smote the Philistines and received him, and they ran against him, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and those stalks that were in his harvest became as when they burn fire of grass, and his threshing-floor was opened from his harvest. And he found the jawbone of an ass that a donkey had cast away on the road, and he stretched out his hand and took it, and he killed with it a thousand men. And Samson said, "With the jawbone of an ass I have destroyed them, for with the jawbone of an ass I killed a thousand men." And then, when he had finished speaking, he cast that jawbone from his hand, and he named that place "Killing of the Jawbone." And he thirsted greatly, and he cried out to the Lord, and he said, "You have brought into the hand of your servant this great life, and now I die of thirst, and I fall into the hands of the Philistines.

And the Lord caused water to flow from that jawbone of an ass, and water came out of it, and he drank, and his soul was refreshed, and he rested; and because of this, that place was called by the name "Fountain of the Jawbone of an Ass" until this day. And he judged Israel in the time of the Philistines for twenty years. Judges 16 16 And Samson went into Gaza, and he saw there a woman of the same, and he entered unto her. And they told the men of Gaza, and they said to them, "Samson has come here," and they surrounded him and shut him in the whole night within the gate of the city, and they watched the whole night, and they said, "Let us watch him until dawn, and we will kill him." And Samson slept until midnight, and he arose at midnight, and he took hold of the doors of the city, which were at the gate, by their two posts, and he pulled them out with all the men, and he placed them upon his shoulders, and he carried them up to the top of the mountain which is before Hebron, and he set them there.

And after this, he loved a woman by the river Sorek, and her name was Delilah. And the princes of the Philistines went up to her and said to her, "Find out and know by what his great strength is, and by what trick we may bind him and capture him, and we will give you, we, eleven hundred men and one hundred pieces of silver." And Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me what your great strength is, and if they bind you, how you prevail." And Samson said to her, "If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that have no knots, then I will prevail and become like one of the sons of men." And the princes of the Philistines brought to her seven fresh bowstrings that had no knots, and she bound him with them. And those who were watching him were dwelling in the chamber, and she said to him, "The Philistines have come to you, Samson," and he broke his bowstrings like a thread is broken when fire touches it, and his strength was not known.

And Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have deceived me and spoken falsely to me; and now, let me know by what you are bound.” And he said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings, which have not been used for work, then I will be like one of the sons of men.” And Delilah took fresh bowstrings and bound him with them, and said to him, “The Philistines have come to you, Samson, and those who lie in wait for you are dwelling in the chamber; and by their cunning, from his hair, like a thread.” And Delilah said to Samson, “And now, you have deceived me and spoken falsely to me; and let me know by what you are bound.” And he said to her, “If you plait my seven locks of my head and weave them into the warp, then I will be like one of the sons of men.” And Delilah made him sleep, and she plaited his seven locks of his head with force, and wove them into the warp, and said to him, “The Philistines have come to you, Samson.” And he awoke from his sleep and pulled that weaving from the warp together with his locks, and his strength was not known.

And Delilah said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ and your heart is with me? Now this is the third time you have deceived me, and you have not let me know by what your great strength is.” And then, when she had bound him with a rope all night and had shaved him until he was cut to death, He revealed everything that was in his heart and said to her, “The razor has shaved my head, for I am a Nazirite of the Lord from my mother’s womb; and when I am shaved, my strength will leave me, and I will become weak and be like every son of man.” And Delilah knew that he had revealed everything that was in his heart, and she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come, one of you, go up to her, for she has revealed to her everything that was in her heart.” And all the lords of the Philistines went up to her, and they brought silver with them.

And she put him between her thighs, and she called a barber, and he shaved the seven locks of his head, and he began to grow weak, and his strength left him. And Delilah said to him, “Come, O Philistine, Samson, and let us sleep from our sleep.” And he said, “I will go out and I will do as before, and I will destroy them.” But he did not know that his strength had left him, the Lord having abandoned him. And the Philistines seized him and put out his eyes, and they brought him down into Gaza, and they bound him with bronze fetters, and they placed him in the prison house to grind. And his hair began to grow from when they had shaved him. And the lords of the Philistines assembled to sacrifice to their god and to rejoice, and they said, “Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands.” And when the people saw him, they praised their god and said, “Our god has delivered our enemy into our hands, who had oppressed our land, who had multiplied our destructions.

And then, when they were rejoicing, they said, "Summon Samson from the house of the mill, and let him play before us, and summon Samson from the house of the mill." And they mocked him and placed him between two pillars. And Samson said to the boy who was leading him, "Let me rest and let me touch the pillars upon which this house stands, and set me upon them." And the boy did for him accordingly. And the house was full of men and women, and all the princes of the Philistines were there, within the temple, eating. Thirty thousand men and women were watching Samson as he played. And Samson cried out to the Lord and said, "O Lord, O Lord, remember me and strengthen me just once, and I will take vengeance just once in place of my two eyes from the Philistines.

And they seized Samson, and they placed him between the two pillars which were in the middle, upon which the house itself stood. And he grasped one with his right hand and one with his left. And Samson said, "Let my soul die with the Philistines." And he strained with his strength, and the house fell upon the princes and upon all the people who were within it. And those whom Samson killed in his death were more numerous than those whom he killed in his life. And his brothers and all his father's household came down, and they took him, and they carried him up, and they buried him between Sorah and Estaol, in the tomb of his father Manoah. And he judged Israel for twenty years. Judges 17 17 And there was a man from Mount Ephraim, and his name was Micah. And he said to his mother, "The silver which you said to me, 'It was stolen from me,' behold, the silver is with me, for I took it." And his mother said, "Blessed is my son to the Lord.

And he gave that gold to his mother, one hundred and eleven [pieces]. And his mother said, "I consecrated, I have consecrated this gold to the Lord from my own hand alone, that it might be made into an image and a covering." And now I have given it to you, and I give it to you. And he gave that gold to his mother, and his mother took that gold, and she gave from it two hundred pieces of silver to the one who would cover and make the image. And he covered and set it up in the house of Micah. And that man Micah prepared for himself a house of the Lord, and he made it with teraphim, and he filled the hand of one of his sons, and he became a priest. And in those days the children of Israel had no king; each man did what was right in his own eyes. And there was a youth from Bethlehem, from the tribe of Judah, and from the lineage of Judah, and he was a Levite, and he dwelt there.

And that man went from the city of Judah and from Bethlehem to dwell where he found [a place]. And he arrived in Mount Ephraim at the house of Micah to lodge. And Micah said to him, "From where have you come?" And the Levite said to him, "I am from Bethlehem of Judah, and I go wherever I find [a place]." And Micah said to him, "Dwell with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten loaves of bread each day, and a garment of the season, and your sustenance." And that Levite went. And he began to dwell with that man, and he became to him like a son, as one of his children. And Micah filled the hand of that Levite, and he became to him a son and a priest, and he dwelt in the house of Micah. And Micah said, "Now I know that the Lord has done good to me, because a Levite has become a priest to me.

Judges 18 18 And in those days there was no king for Israel, and in those days the people of Dan were seeking an inheritance where they might dwell, because they had been delayed until that time, an inheritance in the midst of the people of Israel. And the sons of Dan sent five of their mighty men from among their divisions, sons of strength from among the thousand and the six hundred, to see the land and to know it, and they said to them, "Go, see for us the land." And they arrived in Mount Ephraim at the house of Micah, and they lodged there at the house of Micah. And they recognized the voice of that Levite youth, and they entered there and said to him, "Who brought you here? And what do you do here? And what is with you here?" And he said to them, "Thus and thus Micah hired me and took me, and I became his priest.

And they said to him, “Ask of the Lord whether He will show us the way to the place where we may dwell.” And the priest said to them, “Go in peace; that is your path before the Lord, the way by which you will dwell.” And those five men went and arrived in the land of Lasha, and they saw the people who dwelt there, trusting them. They dwelt according to the law of Sidon, peaceful and prosperous, while they trusted, and they could not speak a word in the land of the inheritance of treasure, for they were far from Sidon, and they had no alliance with Syria. And those five men returned to their brothers in Sorah and Eshtaol, and they said to them, “What sustains you? Arise, and let us dwell upon it, for we have seen its goodness, and we have measured that land to its borders, and we have seen the people who dwell there according to the law of Sidon, and they are far from Sidon, and they have no alliance with Syria. Only arise, and let us go up against them, for we have seen that land, very good, and you, be silent and do not delay, but go and enter so that you may inherit that land.

And when you reach the people who trusted them, they dwell, and the land is famine, for the Lord brought into your region a land where there is no one who errs from any word that was created in the land. And they arose from there, trusting in the region of Dan, from Serah and Estahol, six hundred men whose possessions they guarded, their property and their fields. And they went up and camped in Kiriath-Jearim, in Judah, and because of this that place was called the sight of Dan until this day, behind Kiriath-Jearim. And passing from there, they reached Mount Ephraim and came to the house of Micah. And those five men who went to see that land of Lesha said to them, and they said to their brothers, “When you see that they are in these houses with the teraphim and the graven image and the woven image, then know what you will do.

They went there and entered the house of that son of a Levite, into the house of Micah. And those six hundred men trusted him while they were guarding the implements of their fields and their possessions, and they gathered at the entrance of the pass of those from the sons of Dan. And those five men who had gone ahead to spy out the land went up, and they entered there and took the graven image, the ephod, the teraphim, and the vestment. And that priest stood at the entrance of the pass, and those seven hundred men were guarding the implements of their fields and their possessions. And those men entered the house of Micah and took the graven image, the ephod, the teraphim, and the vestment. And that priest said to them, "What are you doing?" And they said to him, "Be silent, and put your hand in your mouth, and come with us, and you will be our father and priest. For it is better for you to be priest for one man than to be priest for a tribe and for the people of Israel.

And his heart rejoiced, that priest, and he took that (idol) with the teraphim, and his cloak, and his mantle, and he entered among the people. And they gathered and went and took all his house and his treasure which he had buried, and they drove (it) before them. And before they had gone far from the house, Micah came, and the people who were near his house cried out, and they shouted after them, after the sons of Dan, and they called out to the sons of Dan. And the sons of Dan turned their faces and said to Micah, "What is it that you have become, that you shout?" And Micah said to them, "My cloak which I made, you have taken from me, and my priest, and you have gone. And what have you left for me, that you say, 'What do you shout?'" And the sons of Dan said to him, "Be silent, let your voice be with us. And if, moreover, evil men of harsh spirit gather against you, you will be troubled again, you and the soul of your house.

And the sons of Dan went on their way, and [Micah] saw how they were oppressing him, and he was troubled, and he entered his house. And they took everything that Micah had made, and the priest, and everything that was his, and they went as far as Laish, above the people. A great multitude that had trusted in him was dwelling there, and they killed them by the edge of the sword, and they burned their cities. And there was none who escaped, for they were far from Sidon, and they had no alliance with any other people. And that place was in the valley of the house of Tob, and they built that city and dwelt in it. And they gave a name to that city, Dan, after the name of their father Dan, who was born to Israel; and the former name of that city was [Laish]. And the sons of Dan set up for themselves the graven image of Micah, and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests for the people of Dan until the day their land was taken captive.

And they took for themselves the graven image of Micah, which he had made, in all the days that the house of God was in Shiloh. Judges 19 19 And in those days there was no king of Israel, and there was a Levite man, and he dwelt in one part of Mount Ephraim, and he took for himself a woman, a concubine, from Bethlehem of Judah. And his concubine was angry with him, and she left him, and she went to her father’s house in Bethlehem of Judah, and she dwelt there for a period of four months. And her husband arose and went and followed her, that he might reconcile with her and bring her back to him, and his son with him, and both of the donkeys, and he went to her father’s house, and her father saw that daughter, and he went and received him. And her father brought him into his house, and he dwelt with him for three days, and they ate and drank, and there was a house there.

And after that, on the fourth day, he rose in the morning and set out to go, and her father said to that girl, to her father-in-law, “Strengthen your heart and eat a piece of bread, and after that you may go.” And they sat and ate together, both of them, and drank, and her father said to that girl, to that man, “Stay here today, and let your heart rejoice.” And that man rose to go, and his father-in-law detained him, and he remained in the house there. And he rose in the morning on the fifth day to go, and her father said to that girl, “Eat food, and after that you may go until sunset.” And they ate and drank, both of them. And that man rose to go, he and his concubine and his servant, and his father-in-law, her father, said to that girl, “Behold, it is evening, and the sun has turned; stay here today, and let your heart rejoice, and you will set out on your journey in the morning and go to your house.

And her father was a man of the house, and he rose and went, and they arrived as far as before Jebus, which is Jerusalem, and with him were two strong servants, and she also was with him. And while they were still on the way, they were opposite Jebus, and the sun had turned very much, and his son said to his master, “Come, let us enter into the city of the Jebusites, this one, and spend the night in it.” And his master said, “I will not enter into a foreign city, which was not for the children of Israel; let us pass on until Gibeah.” And he said to his son, “Come, let us enter into one place and spend the night in Gibeah, which is of Ramah.” And they passed on and went until sunset, and they arrived at Gibeah of Benjamin. And they entered there to eat and to spend the night in Gibeah, and they ate and dwelt in the street of the city, and there was no one who would give them a house or lodge them.

And a certain man, a Levite, came from his work, and that man was from Mount Ephraim, and his dwelling was in Gibeah. And the people of the land were sons of Benjamin. And he looked with his eyes and saw that man, a traveler, in the marketplace of the city, and he said to him, "That Levite, where are you going, and from where have you come?" And he said to him, "We are passersby from Bethlehem of Judah until we reach Mount Ephraim, for from there I am, and I went as far as Bethlehem of Judah, to my house, and there is no one who has lodged me in his house. And he has withheld and denied me bread for my donkeys, and bread for me, and wine for me, and for my maidservant, and for the mules, and for your servants. There is no one who has sinned against all our provisions." And that man, the Levite, said to him, "Peace to you, and everything you lack is upon me, and only in the marketplace will you lodge.

And he brought her into his house, and he gave fodder to his donkeys, and he washed their feet, and they ate and drank. And then, when their hearts were gladdened, behold, the wicked sons of the men of the land surrounded that house, and they broke down the door, and they said to that old man, the master of the house, "Bring out that man who entered into your house, so that we may kill him." And that man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, "No, my brothers, do not do evil. Since the man entered into my house, do not do this evil deed." "Behold, my daughter is a virgin, and the concubine—bring her out and dishonor her, and do to her what seems fit in your eyes, but do not do this evil thing to that man." But those men did not consent to listen to him. And that man took the concubine and brought her out to them, and he dishonored her, and they abused her all night until dawn, and they sent her away when the morning rose.