Bible in 90 Days

²⁸ Then he said unto them, Follow after me, for the LORD has delivered your enemies, the Moabites, into your hands. And they went down after him and took the fords of the Jordan towards Moab and did not let anyone pass.

²⁹ And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all fat, and all men of war, and there escaped not a man.

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

³¹ ¶ And after him was Shamgar, the son of Anath, who slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad, and he also saved Israel.

4 ¶ But the sons of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD when Ehud was dead.

² And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor, the captain of whose host was Sisera, and he dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles.

³ And the sons of Israel cried unto the LORD, for he had nine hundred chariots of iron, and he had mightily oppressed the sons of Israel for twenty years.

⁴ ¶ And a woman judged Israel at that time, Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth.

⁵ This Deborah dwelt under a palm tree between Ramah and Bethel in Mount Ephraim, and the sons of Israel came up to her for judgment.

⁶ And she sent and called Barak, the son of Abinoam, out of Kedesh of Naphtali and said unto him, Has not the LORD God of Israel commanded thee, saying, Go and draw toward Mount Tabor and take with thee ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun?

⁷ And I will draw Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army, unto thee to the river Kishon, with his chariots and his multitude, and I will deliver him into thy hands.

⁸ And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go; but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go.

⁹ And she said, I will surely go with thee, but thy honour shall not be in the way that thou goest; for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.

¹⁰ ¶ And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh, and he went up with ten thousand men on foot, and Deborah went up with him.

¹¹ Now Heber, the Kenite, of the sons of Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites and pitched his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh.

¹² And the news came unto Sisera that Barak, the son of Abinoam, was gone up to Mount Tabor.

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

¹⁴ Then Deborah said unto Barak, Rise up, for this is the day in which the LORD has delivered Sisera into thy hands. Is not the LORD gone out before thee? So Barak went down from Mount Tabor and ten thousand men after him.

¹⁵ And the LORD broke Sisera and all his chariots and all his host with the edge of the sword before Barak so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot and fled away on foot.

¹⁶ But Barak pursued after the chariots and after the host unto Harosheth of the Gentiles, and all the camp of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword, and there was not a man left.

¹⁷ ¶ And Sisera fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin, the king of Hazor, and the house of Heber the Kenite.

¹⁸ And Jael went out to meet Sisera and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a thick coverlet.

¹⁹ And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink, for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk and gave him to drink and covered him again.

²⁰ Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and if anyone should come and enquire of thee and say, Is there anyone here? Thou shalt say, No.

²¹ Then Jael, Heber’s wife, took the tent stake, and putting a hammer in her hand, went softly unto him and smote the stake into his temples and fastened it into the ground, for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.

²² And as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him and said unto him, Come, and I will show thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he entered into where she was, behold, Sisera lay dead with the stake through his temples.

²³ So God subjected on that day Jabin, the king of Canaan, before the sons of Israel.

²⁴ And the hand of the sons of Israel began to prosper and to prevail against Jabin, the king of Canaan until they had destroyed him.

5 ¶ Then sang Deborah with Barak, the son of Abinoam, on that day, saying,

² Praise ye the LORD for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves.

³ Hear, O ye kings. Give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto the LORD; I will praise the LORD God of Israel.

⁴ LORD, when thou didst go out of Seir, when thou didst march out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped; the clouds also dropped water.

⁵ The mountains melted from before the LORD, even that Sinai from before the LORD God of Israel.

⁶ ¶ In the days of Shamgar, the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways ceased, and those that walked went astray through crooked paths.

⁷ The inhabitants of the villages ceased; they had ceased in Israel until I Deborah arose, I arose a mother in Israel.

⁸ When they chose new gods, the war was at the gates. Was there a shield or spear to be seen among forty thousand in Israel?

⁹ My heart is toward the princes of Israel, those that offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless ye the LORD.

¹⁰ Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that preside in judgment, and walk by the way.

¹¹ Because of the noise of archers, taken from among those that draw water, there they shall retell the righteousnesses of the LORD, even the righteousnesses of his villages in Israel. Now shall the people of the LORD go down to the gates.

¹² ¶ Rise up, rise up, Deborah; rise up, rise up, sing a song. Stand up, Barak and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam.

¹³ Now he has made the remnant of the people to have dominion over the magnificent; the LORD made me have dominion over the mighty.

¹⁴ Out of Ephraim came his root against Amalek; after thee, came Benjamin, against thy peoples; out of Machir came down princes; and from Zebulun, those that handle the pen of the writer.

¹⁵ Also princes of Issachar were with Deborah; and Issachar, like Barak, went on foot into the valley. From the divisions of Reuben, great are the thoughts of the heart.

¹⁶ Why didst thou abide among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? From the divisions of Reuben great are the searchings of the heart.

¹⁷ Gilead remained on the other side of the Jordan, and why did Dan remain next to the ships? Asher continued on the sea shore and remained in his breaches.

¹⁸ Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field.

¹⁹ The kings came and fought; then the kings of Canaan fought in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money.

²⁰ They fought from the heavens; the stars from their ways fought against Sisera.

²¹ The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. Tread down, O my soul, with strength.

²² Then were the hoofs of the horses broken by the means of the pransings, the pransings of their mighty ones.

²³ Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof because they did not come to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.

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

²⁵ He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth cream in a lordly dish.

²⁶ She put her hand to the stake, and her right hand to the workmen’s hammer, and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head when she had pierced and stricken through his temples.

²⁷ At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down; at her feet he bowed, he fell; where he bowed, there he fell down dead.

²⁸ The mother of Sisera looked out the window and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why do the wheels of his chariots tarry?

²⁹ Her wise princesses answered her; and she even answered to herself,

³⁰ Have they not found spoil and are dividing it? To each man a damsel or two; to Sisera a spoil of different colours, a spoil of different colours of needlework, of different colours of needlework on both sides, meet for the necks of those that take the spoil?

³¹ So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD, but let those that love thee be as the sun when he rises in all his might. And the land had rest forty years.

6 ¶ And the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD delivered them into the hands of Midian for seven years.

² And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel, and because of the Midianites the sons of Israel made dens in the mountains and caves and strongholds.

³ For when those of Israel had sown, the Midianites would come up and the Amalekites and the sons of the east. They would come up against them

⁴ and encamp against them and destroy the fruits of the earth as far as Gaza, and they would leave nothing to eat in Israel neither sheep nor ox nor ass.

⁵ For they would come up with their livestock and their tents in a great multitude like locusts, for there was no number in them nor in their camels, and they would enter into the land destroying it.

⁶ And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the sons of Israel cried unto the LORD.

⁷ ¶ And when the sons of Israel cried unto the LORD because of the Midianites,

⁸ the LORD sent a prophet unto the sons of Israel who said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt and brought you forth out of the house of slavery;

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

¹⁰ and I said unto you, I am the LORD your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell, but ye have not heard my voice.

¹¹ ¶ And the angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah that pertained unto Joash, the Abiezrite, and his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.

¹² And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.

¹³ And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this befallen us? And where are all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.

¹⁴ And the LORD looked upon him and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Do I not send thee?

¹⁵ Then he replied unto him, Oh my Lord, with what shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.

¹⁶ And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.

¹⁷ And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then show me a sign that thou hast spoken with me.

¹⁸ Do not depart from here, I pray thee, until I come unto thee and bring forth my present and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again.

¹⁹ And Gideon went in and made ready a kid and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour; the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot and brought it out unto him under the oak and presented it.

²⁰ And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes and lay them upon this rock and pour out the broth. And he did so.

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

²² And when Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord GOD! for I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face.

²³ And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; do not fear, thou shalt not die.

²⁴ Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD and called it The LORD is the Peace, {YHWH-shalom} unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

²⁵ ¶ And it came to pass the same night that the LORD said unto him, Take a bullock of thy father’s house and a second bullock seven years old and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father has and cut down the grove that is by it

²⁶ and build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, according to due order, and take the second bullock and offer a burnt sacrifice upon the wood of the grove which thou shall have cut down.

²⁷ Then Gideon took ten men of his slaves and did as the LORD had said unto him. But he feared to do it by day because of his father’s family and the men of the city, so he did it by night.

²⁸ And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built.

²⁹ And they said one to another, Who has done this thing? And when they enquired and asked, they said, Gideon, the son of Joash, has done this thing.

³⁰ Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son that he may die because he has cast down the altar of Baal and because he has cut down the grove that was by it.

³¹ And Joash replied unto all that stood against him, Will ye contend for Baal? Will ye save him? Whoever will contend for him, let him be put to death while it is yet morning; if he is God, let him contend for himself with the one who has cast down his altar.

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

³³ ¶ Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the sons of the east gathered themselves together as one and went over and pitched camp in the valley of Jezreel.

³⁴ And the Spirit of the LORD clothed himself in Gideon, who when he had blown the shofar, Abiezer joined with him.

³⁵ And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh who also joined with him; likewise he sent messengers unto Asher and unto Zebulun and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

³⁶ And Gideon said unto God, Wilt thou save Israel by my hand as thou hast said?

³⁷ Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the threshing floor; and if the dew is on the fleece only and it is dry upon all the earth beside it, then I shall know that thou wilt save Israel by my hand as thou hast said.

³⁸ And it was so, for he rose up early in the morning, and wringing the fleece, he took the dew out of it, a bowl full of water.

³⁹ But Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me if I speak again on this occasion; only let me prove again now with the fleece. I pray thee, let it be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.

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

7 ¶ Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him rose up early and pitched camp beside the well of Harod so that the camp of the Midianites was on the north, on the other side of the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

² And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, My own hand has saved me.

³ Now, therefore, cause it to be proclaimed in the ears of the people, saying, Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return and depart early from Mount Gilead. And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained.

⁴ And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there; and it shall be that of whom I say unto thee, This one shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whoever I say unto thee, This one shall not go with thee, the same shall not go.

⁵ So he brought the people down unto the water, and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that laps of the water with his tongue as a dog laps, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that bows down upon his knees to drink.

⁶ And the number of those that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men; but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink the water.

⁷ Then the LORD said unto Gideon, With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and deliver the Midianites into thy hand; and let all the other people go each one to his place.

⁸ And having taken provision for the people in his hands with their shofarot; he sent all the other Israelites each one to his tent and retained those three hundred men, and the camp of Midian was beneath him in the valley.

⁹ ¶ And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Arise and descend to the camp, for I have delivered it in thy hands.

¹⁰ But if thou art afraid to go down, go with Phurah thy servant down to the camp,

¹¹ and thou shalt hear what they say; and then thy hands shall be strengthened, and thou shalt go down to the camp. Then he went down with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the armed men that were in the camp.

¹² And Midian and Amalek and all the sons of the east lay along in the valley like locusts in multitude, and their camels were not numbered as the sand by the sea side for multitude.

¹³ And when Gideon arrived, behold, a man was telling a dream to his fellow, saying, Behold, I dreamed a dream that I saw a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and come unto the tents, and it smote them so that they fell and overturned them, and the tents fell.

¹⁴ And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, a man of Israel, for God has delivered the Midianites with all the camp into his hand.

¹⁵ And when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshipped; and when he had returned into the camp of Israel, he said, Arise, for the LORD has delivered the camp of Midian into your hands.

¹⁶ ¶ And dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he put a shofar in each man’s hand with empty pitchers and torches burning within the pitchers.

¹⁷ And he said unto them, Look at me and do as I do; and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, as I do, so shall ye do.

¹⁸ I shall blow the shofar, I and all that are with me, then ye shall blow the shofarot on every side of all the camp, and say, I AM The Hewer! {YHWH-Gideon}

¹⁹ So Gideon and the hundred men that were with him came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch when only the guards were awake, and they blew the shofarot and broke the pitchers that were in their hands.

²⁰ And the three companies blew the shofarot; and breaking the pitchers, they held the torches in their left hands and the shofarot in their right hands to blow with; and they cried, The sword of I AM The Hewer! {YHWH-Gideon}

²¹ And they stood in their places round about the camp; and all the camp was routed, and they fled crying out.

²² But the three hundred blew the shofarot, and the LORD set each man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the camp; and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath and to the border of Abelmeholah unto Tabbath.

²³ ¶ And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali and out of Asher and out of all Manasseh and pursued after the Midianites.

²⁴ Gideon also sent messengers throughout all Mount Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites and take before them the waters unto Bethbarah and the Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together and took the waters unto Bethbarah and the Jordan.

²⁵ And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb; and after they pursued Midian, they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan.

8 ¶ And the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why hast thou served us thus that thou didst not call us when thou didst go to fight against Midian? And they chided with him sharply.

² And he replied unto them, What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?

³ God has delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, and what was I able to do in comparison with you? Then their anger was abated toward him when he spoke that word.

⁴ ¶ And Gideon came to pass the Jordan, he and the three hundred men that were with him, faint from the pursuit.

⁵ And he said unto those of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people that follow me; for they are faint that I may pursue after Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.

⁶ And the principals of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand that we should give bread unto thy army?

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

⁸ And he went up from there to Penuel and spoke unto them likewise; and those of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered him.

⁹ And he spoke also unto the men of Penuel, saying, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.

¹⁰ Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of all the hosts of the sons of the east, for one hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword had been slain.

¹¹ And Gideon went up by the way of those that dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah and smote the camp, for the camp was secure.

¹² And as Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued after them and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna and terrified all the host.

¹³ And Gideon, the son of Joash, returned from the battle before the sun was up

¹⁴ and caught a young man of the men of Succoth and enquired of him; and he described unto him the principals of Succoth and the elders thereof, seventy-seven men.

¹⁵ And he came unto the men of Succoth and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, with whom ye did upbraid me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand, that we should give bread unto thy men that are weary?

¹⁶ And he took the elders of the city and thorns and briars of the wilderness, and with them he taught the men of Succoth.

¹⁷ Likewise he beat down the tower of Penuel and slew the men of the city.

¹⁸ ¶ Then he said unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were those whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the sons of a king.

¹⁹ And he said, They were my brethren, the sons of my mother; as the LORD lives, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you.

²⁰ And he said unto Jether his firstborn, Rise up and slay them. But the youth did not draw his sword, for he feared because he was yet a youth.

²¹ Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna and took away the ornaments that were on their camels’ necks.

²² ¶ Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou and thy son and thy son’s son also, for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian.

²³ But Gideon replied, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you; the LORD shall rule over you.

²⁴ And Gideon said unto them, I desire to make a request of you that ye each one would give me the earrings of his prey. (For they had golden earrings because they were Ishmaelites.)

²⁵ And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and each one cast therein the earrings of his prey.

²⁶ And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand seven hundred shekels of gold, without the ornaments and collars and purple clothing that was on the kings of Midian and without the chains that were about their camels’ necks.

²⁷ And Gideon made an ephod of them and kept it in his city of Ophrah, and all Israel fornicated after it in that place, and it became a snare unto Gideon and to his house.

²⁸ Thus Midian was broken before the sons of Israel so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the land rested forty years in the days of Gideon.

²⁹ ¶ And Jerubbaal, the son of Joash, went and dwelt in his own house.

³⁰ And Gideon had seventy sons that came out of his loins, for he had many wives.

³¹ And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bore him a son, whose name he called Abimelech.

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

³³ And it came to pass as soon as Gideon was dead that the sons of Israel turned again and fornicated after the Baalim and made Baalberith their god.

³⁴ And the sons of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side,

³⁵ neither were they merciful with the house of Jerubbaal, namely, Gideon, according to all the good which he had done unto Israel.

9 ¶ And Abimelech, the son of Jerubbaal, went to Shechem unto his mother’s brethren and spoke with them and with all the family of the house of his mother’s father, saying,

² Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, What would seem better unto you, that seventy persons reign over you, all the sons of Jerubbaal; or that one reign over you? Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.

³ And his mother’s brethren spoke for him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words, and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, He is our brother.

⁴ And they gave him seventy shekels of silver out of the house of Baalberith, with which Abimelech hired vain and light men who followed him.

⁵ And coming unto his father’s house at Ophrah, he slew his brethren, the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy persons, upon a stone; yet Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, was left, for he hid himself.

⁶ And all the men of Shechem gathered together with all the house of Millo {Heb. the congregation} and went and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem.

⁷ ¶ And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of Mount Gerizim and lifted up his voice and cried and said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you.

⁸ The trees went forth to anoint a king over them, and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us.

⁹ But the olive tree replied, Should I leave my fatness, which because of me, God and man are honoured, to go and sway over the trees?

¹⁰ And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou and reign over us.

¹¹ But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness and my good fruit to go and sway over the trees?

¹² Then the trees said unto the vine, Come thou and reign over us.

¹³ And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheers God and man, to go and sway over the trees?

¹⁴ Then all the trees said unto the bramble, Come thou and reign over us.

¹⁵ And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and confide under my shadow; and if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.

¹⁶ Now therefore, if ye have proceeded with truth and integrity in making Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house and have recompensed him according to the work of his hands

¹⁷ (For my father fought for you and cast his life far from him to deliver you out of the hand of Midian;

¹⁸ and ye are risen up against my father’s house this day and have slain his sons, seventy men, upon a stone and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the men of Shechem because he is your brother;)

¹⁹ if ye then have dealt in truth and integrity with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you.

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

²¹ And Jotham ran away and fled and went to Beer and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.

²² ¶ When Abimelech had dominated over Israel three years,

²³ then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem, and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech

²⁴ that the cruelty done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal and their blood might come to be laid upon Abimelech their brother who slew them and upon the men of Shechem, who aided him in the killing of his brethren.

²⁵ And the men of Shechem set ambushers for him in the top of the mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them; and it was told Abimelech.

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

²⁷ And they went out into the fields and gathered their vineyards and trod the grapes and made merry and went into the house of their gods and ate and drank and cursed Abimelech.

²⁸ And Gaal, the son of Ebed, said, Who is Abimelech and who is Shechem that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal? And is not Zebul his deputy? Serve the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem. For why should we serve him?

²⁹ If these people were under my hand, then I would remove Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, Increase thine army and come out.

³⁰ And when Zebul, the prince of the city, heard the words of Gaal, the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled.

³¹ And he sent messengers unto Abimelech astutely, saying, Behold, Gaal, the son of Ebed, and his brethren have come to Shechem; and, behold, they have fortified the city against thee.

³² Now, therefore, rise up by night, thou and the people that are with thee, and put an ambush in the field.

³³ And in the morning as soon as the sun is up, thou shalt rise early and set upon the city; and, behold, when he and the people that are with him come out against thee, then thou may do to them as thou shalt find occasion.

³⁴ And Abimelech rose up and all the people that were with him, by night, and they put an ambush against Shechem in four companies.

³⁵ And Gaal, the son of Ebed, went out and stood in the entering of the gate of the city; and Abimelech and all the people that were with him rose up from the ambush.

³⁶ And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold people that come down from the tops of the mountains. And Zebul said unto him, Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.

³⁷ And Gaal spoke again and said, See there come people who descend through the middle of the land, and another company comes along by the plain of Meonenim.

³⁸ Then Zebul said unto him, Where is now thy mouth, with which thou didst say, Who is Abimelech that we should serve him? Is not this the people that thou hast despised? Go out now and fight with them.

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

⁴⁰ And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many were overthrown and wounded, even unto the entering of the gate.

⁴¹ And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah; and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his brethren that they should not dwell in Shechem.

⁴² And it came to pass on the next day that the people went out into the field, and they told Abimelech.

⁴³ And he took the people and divided them into three companies and set ambushes in the field and looked, and, behold, the people were come forth out of the city; and he rose up against them and smote them.

⁴⁴ And Abimelech and the company that was with him rushed forward and stood in the entering of the gate of the city, and the two other companies ran upon all the people that were in the fields and slew them.

⁴⁵ And Abimelech fought against the city all that day, and he took the city and slew the people that were therein and beat down the city and sowed it with salt.

⁴⁶ And when those of the tower of Shechem heard that, they entered into the stronghold of the temple of the god Berith.

⁴⁷ And it was told Abimelech how all those of the tower of Shechem were gathered together.

⁴⁸ Then Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people that were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand and cut down a bough from the trees and took it and laid it on his shoulder and said unto the people that were with him, What ye have seen me do, make haste and do as I have done.

⁴⁹ And all the people likewise cut down each one his bough and followed Abimelech and put them next to the stronghold and set the stronghold on fire upon them; so that all those of the tower of Shechem died, about a thousand men and women.

⁵⁰ ¶ Then Abimelech went to Thebez and laid siege against Thebez and took it.

⁵¹ But in the midst of the city there was a strong tower, and all the men and women fled there, and all those of the city, and shutting the doors behind them, they climbed up to the top of the tower.

⁵² And Abimelech came to the tower, and fighting against it, he came to the door of the tower to burn it with fire.

⁵³ But a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull.

⁵⁴ Then he called hastily unto the young man, his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword and slay me that it not be said of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died.

⁵⁵ And when the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed each one unto his place.

⁵⁶ Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did against his father in slaying his seventy brethren.

⁵⁷ And all the evil of the men of Shechem God rendered upon their heads, and upon them came the curse of Jotham, the son of Jerubbaal.

10 ¶ And after Abimelech there arose to save Israel, Tola, the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in Mount Ephraim.

² And he judged Israel twenty-three years and died and was buried in Shamir.

³ And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years.

⁴ And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called the cities of Jair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead.

⁵ And Jair died and was buried in Camon.

⁶ ¶ And the sons of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD and served the Baalim and Ashtaroth and the gods of Syria and the gods of Zidon and the gods of Moab and the gods of the sons of Ammon and the gods of the Philistines and forsook the LORD and did not serve him.

⁷ And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the sons of Ammon,

⁸ who dashed in pieces and crushed the sons of Israel for eighteen years, all the sons of Israel that were on the other side of the Jordan in the land of the Amorite, which is in Gilead.

⁹ Moreover the sons of Ammon passed over the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim so that Israel was sore distressed.

¹⁰ ¶ And the sons of Israel cried unto the LORD, saying, We have sinned against thee because we have forsaken our God and served the Baalim.

¹¹ And the LORD replied unto the sons of Israel, Were you not oppressed by Egypt, by the Amorites, by the sons of Ammon, by the Philistines,

¹² by those of Zidon, by Amalek, and by Maon, and ye cried to me and I delivered you out of their hands?

¹³ Yet ye have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore, I will deliver you no more.

¹⁴ Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your affliction.

¹⁵ And the sons of Israel said unto the LORD, We have sinned; do thou unto us whatever seems good unto thee; only deliver us now, we pray thee, this day.

¹⁶ And they put away the strange gods from among them and served the LORD; and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.

¹⁷ Then the sons of Ammon were gathered together and encamped in Gilead. And likewise the sons of Israel assembled themselves together and encamped in Mizpeh.

¹⁸ And the people and princes of Gilead said one to another, Who shall it be that will begin the battle against the sons of Ammon? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.

11 ¶ Now Jephthah existed then, a Gileadite, a mighty man of valour, the son of a harlot unto whom Gilead had begat a son.

² And Gilead’s wife bore him sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they threw Jephthah out and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father’s house, for thou art the son of a strange woman.

³ Then Jephthah fled from his brethren and dwelt in the land of Tob; and vain men joined themselves to Jephthah and went out with him.

⁴ ¶ And it came to pass after some days that the sons of Ammon made war against Israel.

⁵ And when the sons of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob;

⁶ and they said unto Jephthah, Come, and thou shalt be our captain that we may fight with the sons of Ammon.

⁷ And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me and expel me out of my father’s house? Why, therefore, are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress?

⁸ And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, For this same reason we turn again to thee now that thou may go with us and fight against the sons of Ammon and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.

⁹ Then Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to fight against the sons of Ammon and the LORD delivers them before me, shall I be your head?

¹⁰ And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Let the LORD hear between us, if we do not comply with thy words.

¹¹ Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and prince over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before the LORD in Mizpeh.

¹² ¶ And Jephthah sent ambassadors unto the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me that thou art come against me to fight in my land?

¹³ And the king of the sons of Ammon replied unto the ambassadors of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok and unto the Jordan; now, therefore, restore those lands again peaceably.

¹⁴ Then Jephthah sent ambassadors again unto the king of the sons of Ammon,

¹⁵ saying unto him, Thus hath Jephthah said, Israel did not take land from Moab, nor land from the sons of Ammon,

¹⁶ but Israel came up from Egypt and walked through the wilderness unto the Red Sea and came to Kadesh.

¹⁷ Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land. But the king of Edom would not hear them. And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab, but he would not consent either; therefore Israel abode in Kadesh.

¹⁸ Then they went along through the wilderness and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and came by the side of the rising of the sun to the land of Moab; they pitched their camp on the other side of Arnon and did not enter within the border of Moab, for Arnon was the border of Moab.

¹⁹ And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon, king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my place.

²⁰ But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his border; but Sihon gathered all his people together and pitched camp in Jahaz and fought against Israel.

²¹ But the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them; so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorite that inhabited that land.

²² And they possessed all the border of the Amorites from Arnon even unto Jabbok and from the wilderness even unto the Jordan.

²³ So now the LORD God of Israel has expelled the Amorites from before his people Israel and should thou possess it?

²⁴ If Chemosh thy god should expel anyone for you, would thou not possess it? So whoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess.

²⁵ Art thou better now in any thing than Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Peradventure did he ever strive against Israel? Peradventure did he ever fight against them?

²⁶ Furthermore, Israel has dwelt in Heshbon and her towns and in Aroer and her towns and in all the cities that are along by the coasts of Arnon, for three hundred years. Why, therefore, did ye not recover them within that time?

²⁷ Therefore, I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me; let the LORD, who is the Judge, judge this day between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.

²⁸ But the king of the sons of Ammon did not hear the reasons of Jephthah which he sent him.

²⁹ ¶ Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed through Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he went unto the sons of Ammon.

³⁰ And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the sons of Ammon into my hands,

³¹ whoever comes forth of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon shall surely be the LORD’s, and I will offer them up for a burnt offering.

³² So Jephthah went over unto the sons of Ammon to fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his hands.

³³ And he smote them from Aroer, even unto Minnith twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the sons of Ammon were subdued before the sons of Israel.

³⁴ And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances; and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.

³⁵ And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of those that trouble me, for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back.

³⁶ And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the LORD, do to me according to that which has proceeded out of thy mouth, forasmuch as the LORD has taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the sons of Ammon.

³⁷ And she said again unto her father, Let this thing be done for me; let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains and bewail my virginity, I and my companions.

³⁸ And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months, and she went with her companions and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains.

³⁹ And it came to pass at the end of two months that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed. And she had never known a man. From here came the custom in Israel

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

12 ¶ And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together towards the Aquilon and said unto Jephthah, Why didst thou go over to fight against the sons of Ammon and didst not call us to go with thee? We will burn thy house upon thee with fire.

² And Jephthah replied unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the sons of Ammon, and when I called you, ye did not defend me from their hands.

³ Seeing, therefore, that ye did not defend me, I put my life in my hands and went over against the sons of Ammon, and the LORD delivered them into my hand. Why then have ye come up against me this day to fight with me?

⁴ Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead and fought with Ephraim; and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim because they had said, Ye are fugitives of Ephraim; ye are Gileadites among Ephraim and Manasseh.

⁵ And the Gileadites took the passages of the Jordan from Ephraim; and it was such that when any of those of Ephraim who had escaped would say, May I pass? The men of Gilead would ask them, Art thou an Ephrathite? If he said, No;

⁶ then they would say unto him, Now say Shibboleth. {Heb. a flowing stream} And he would say Sibboleth; {Heb. an ear of wheat} for he could not pronounce it the same. Then they would take him and slay him at the passages of the Jordan. And at that time forty-two thousand of those of Ephraim fell.

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

⁸ ¶ After him Ibzan, of Bethlehem, judged Israel,

⁹ who had thirty sons and thirty daughters, whom he married abroad and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years.

¹⁰ Then Ibzan died and was buried at Bethlehem.

¹¹ And after him Elon, a Zebulonite, judged Israel, and he judged Israel ten years.

¹² And Elon, the Zebulonite, died and was buried in Aijalon in the country of Zebulun.

¹³ And after him Abdon, the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite, judged Israel.

¹⁴ And he had forty sons and thirty grandsons that rode on seventy he asses, and he judged Israel eight years.

¹⁵ And Abdon, the son of Hillel the Pirathonite, died and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim in the mount of Amalek.

13 ¶ And the sons of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.

² And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of Dan, whose name was Manoah, and his wife was barren, (she had never born children).

³ And the angel of the LORD appeared unto this woman and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren and hast had no children, but thou shalt conceive and bear a son.

⁴ Now keep thyself and drink no wine nor strong drink and eat no unclean thing.

⁵ For thou shalt conceive and bear a son, and no razor shall come on his head, for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb; and he shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

⁶ Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible; but I did not ask him where he was from, neither did he tell me his name;

⁷ but he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a son, and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing; for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.

⁸ ¶ Then Manoah prayed unto the LORD and said, O my Lord, let the man of God whom thou didst send come again unto us and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.

⁹ And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her.

¹⁰ And the woman made haste and ran and told her husband and said unto him, Behold, the man that came unto me has appeared unto me today.

¹¹ And Manoah arose and went after his wife and came to the man and said unto him, Art thou the man that spoke unto this woman? And he said, I am.

¹² Then Manoah said, Now let thy word come to pass. How shall we order the child, and what shall he do?

¹³ And the angel of the LORD replied unto Manoah, Let the woman keep herself from all that I said.

¹⁴ She may not eat of any thing that comes of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; all that I commanded her let her keep.

¹⁵ ¶ And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.

¹⁶ And the angel of the LORD replied unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread, but if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, sacrifice it unto the LORD. For Manoah did not know that this was the angel of the LORD.

¹⁷ And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name that when thy words come to pass we may honour thee?

¹⁸ And the angel of the LORD replied, Why dost thou ask for my name? It is wonderful.

¹⁹ So Manoah took a kid with a present and sacrificed it upon a rock unto the LORD, and the angel did wondrously, and Manoah and his wife looked on.

²⁰ For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar as Manoah and his wife looked on, and they prostrated themselves on the ground on their faces.

²¹ But the angel of the LORD did not appear any more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the LORD.

²² And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die because we have seen God.

²³ But his wife said unto him, If the LORD had desired to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and the present from our hands, neither would he have showed us all these things, nor would he have announced this according to the time.

²⁴ ¶ And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.

²⁵ And the Spirit of the LORD began to manifest himself at times in him in the camps of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

14 ¶ And as Samson went down to Timnath, he saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.

² And he came up and told his father and his mother, saying, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore get her for me to wife.

³ Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren or among all my people that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleases me well.

⁴ But his father and his mother did not know that it was of the LORD that he sought an occasion against the Philistines, for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

⁵ Then Samson went down with his father and his mother to Timnath, and when they came to the vineyards of Timnath, behold, a young lion came roaring against him.

⁶ And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand, but he did not make known unto his father or his mother what he had done.

⁷ And he went down and talked with the woman, and she pleased Samson well.

⁸ And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside from the way to see the carcase of the lion; and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion.

⁹ And he took of it in his hands and went along the way eating, and when he came to his father and mother, he also gave them some to eat, but he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion.

¹⁰ ¶ So his father went down unto the woman; and Samson made a banquet there, for the young men used to do so.

¹¹ And when they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him,

¹² unto whom Samson said, I will now put forth an enigma unto you, which if ye can declare it and discover it to me within the seven days of the banquet, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty changes of garments.

¹³ But if ye cannot declare it to me, then ye shall give me thirty sheets and thirty changes of garments. And they said unto him, Put forth thy enigma that we may hear it.

¹⁴ And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth food, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not declare the enigma in three days.

¹⁵ And it came to pass on the seventh day that they said unto Samson’s wife, Entice thy husband that he may declare unto us this enigma lest we burn thee and thy father’s house with fire. Have ye called us here to impoverish us?

¹⁶ And Samson’s wife wept before him and said, Thou dost only hate me and dost not love me, for thou hast not declared unto me the enigma that thou hast put forth unto the sons of my people. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it to my father nor my mother, and must I tell it to thee?

¹⁷ And she wept before him the seven days while their banquet lasted, but on the seventh day, he told her, because she lay sore upon him, and she declared the enigma to the sons of her people.

¹⁸ And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye would have never discovered my enigma.

¹⁹ And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and slew thirty men of them and taking their spoil, he gave the changes of garments to those who had explained the enigma. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father’s house.

²⁰ But Samson’s wife was given to his companion, who had fed him before.

15 ¶ But it came to pass within some days in the time of wheat harvest that Samson visited his wife with a kid, and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not allow him to go in.

² And her father said, I was persuaded that thou didst utterly hate her; therefore, I gave her to thy companion. Is not her younger sister fairer than she? Take her, I pray thee, instead of her.

³ And Samson replied unto them, Now I shall be blameless before the Philistines if I do them injury.

⁴ And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turning them tail to tail, he put a torch between every two tails.

⁵ Then, setting the torches on fire, he let them go into the standing grain of the Philistines and burnt up both the shocks and also the standing grain with the vineyards and oliveyards.

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

⁷ And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet I will be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.

⁸ And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter, and he went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock Etam.

⁹ ¶ Then the Philistines went up and pitched camp in Judah and spread themselves in Lehi.

¹⁰ And the men of Judah said, Why have ye come up against us? And they answered, We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he has done to us.

¹¹ Then three thousand men of Judah went to the cleft of the rock Etam and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? What is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them.

¹² And they said unto him, We have come to bind thee that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.