Bible in 90 Days
Ehud: 28 Follow me, because the Eternal has given your enemies, the Moabites, into your hands.
So they followed him, and together they captured the crossings of the river Jordan into Moab, not allowing anyone to pass. 29 At that time, they killed an army of 10,000 Moabites, all of them strong and well-equipped warriors. No one escaped.
30 So Israel defeated Moab on that day, and this region experienced rest from war for 80 years. 31 When Ehud was gone, Shamgar, the son of Anath, was also a liberator of Israel, killing 600 Philistines with an ox goad.
God takes what is different about Ehud and makes it a strength. This is God’s habit throughout the Old Testament—making unlikely heroes into agents of His deliverance from the enemies of Israel. Earlier God used Moses, an infant marked for death, to liberate His people from Egypt. Soon God will use two women, marginalized in a patriarchal society, to save Israel from Sisera. And much later, God will choose David, a young boy, to save Israel from the mighty Philistines. Time and again, God proves He can use anyone to accomplish His goals.
4 After Ehud died, the people returned to doing what the Eternal said was evil. 2 So the Eternal made them subservient to Jabin, king of Canaan, who ruled from Hazor. Jabin’s general was a man named Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim.
3 The people of Israel cried out to the Eternal again for help. Since Sisera had 900 iron chariots, he prevailed against and oppressed the Israelites for 20 years.
These iron chariots are an especially potent assault vehicle against the Israelites on the plains, but not as much in mountainous regions.
4 At that time, Deborah the prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, served as judge over Israel. 5 She used to sit beneath the palm tree of Deborah, situated in the hill country of Ephraim between Ramah and Bethel, and the people would go up to her there to settle disputes. 6 She urgently sent for Barak, the son of Abinoam, out of Kedesh-naphtali.
Deborah: The Eternal God of Israel commands you: “Go and get into position near Mount Tabor. Take 10,000 soldiers from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun. 7 I will draw out Sisera, Jabin’s general, to meet you at the wadi Kishon with his chariots and his army, and I will deliver him to you.”
Barak (to Deborah): 8 I will do this if you will go with me; but if you won’t, then I won’t go either.
Deborah: 9 I will certainly go with you, but you should know from the beginning that this battle will not lead to your personal glory. The Eternal has decreed that the mighty Sisera will be defeated by a woman.
Then Deborah got up and accompanied Barak to Kedesh. 10 Barak summoned the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun, and they sent 10,000 men to follow him. With Deborah, they went to Kedesh.
11 Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from all the other Kenites (the descendants of Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses) and had camped far away, under the great tree at Zaanannim, near Kedesh.
12 When Sisera the general heard that Barak, the son of Abinoam, had gone up in force to Mount Tabor, 13 he called out all 900 of his iron chariots, and all the soldiers who were with him from Harosheth-hagoyim to the wadi Kishon.
Deborah (to Barak): 14 Get up! For this is the day that the Eternal has given you victory over Sisera. In fact, He has already gone out ahead of you.
So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 warriors following. 15 As Barak and his forces watched, the Eternal threw Sisera and all his chariots and his entire army into a panic before them; all Sisera’s army died by the sword. Sisera himself climbed down from his chariot and escaped on foot, 16 while Barak and his army pursued Sisera’s chariots and army all the way back to Harosheth-hagoyim. All of Sisera’s warriors perished by the sword; not one of them was left alive.
17 Sisera had fled to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, and he must have thought himself safe at last, since there was peace between Jabin, the king of Hazor, and Heber the Kenite.
18 Jael went out to meet Sisera.
Jael: Come in, my lord, come in with me. There is nothing to be afraid of here.
So he came inside the tent with her, and she covered him with a rug just in case some of Barak’s soldiers came looking for him.
Sisera: 19 May I have a little water to drink?
He was very thirsty, so she opened a skin filled with milk and gave him a little, then covered him again.
Sisera: 20 Stand and wait at the opening to the tent. If anybody comes and asks you, “Is anyone inside?” tell them “No.”
21 Sisera fell into a deep sleep, for he was weary. Jael, the wife of Heber, took a tent peg in one hand and a hammer in the other. She crept softly to his side. Then she drove the peg into his temple, down into the ground, and killed him.
22 When Barak came looking for Sisera, Jael went out to meet him.
Jael: Come inside, and I will show you the man you seek.
So he went into the tent with her, and there lay Sisera dead, with a tent peg driven through his head.
23 On that day, God vanquished Jabin, king of Canaan, before the people of Israel; 24 and the Israelites bore down harder and harder on him until at last Jabin, king of Canaan, was destroyed.
Known as the Song of Deborah, this victory song is one of the oldest passages in the Bible; it is beautiful and powerful, as well as filled with information. In addition to praising and chastising certain tribes for their role—or lack thereof—in battle, it also celebrates a victory God has given His people through the agency of two women: the judge Deborah and Jael, who, as Deborah prophesied (verse 9), brings final victory over the enemy general Sisera.
These cultures value masculine strength, aggression, and war-prowess; they don’t value female ingenuity and courage. So for the first hearers of this story, the last people they expect to bring military victory are women. But once again, God takes ordinary people with their gifts, strengths, and weaknesses—and brings military victory through the unexpectedly strong hands of women.
5 Then, that same day, Deborah and Barak, the son of Abinoam, sang a song in victory:
2 The leaders of Israel stood up,
and the people offered themselves willingly—
praise the Eternal One!
3 Listen, all you kings, and pay attention, you rulers:
I, I will sing to the Eternal,
I will sing praise to Him, the True God of Israel!
4 Eternal One, when You went out from Seir
and marched from the field of Edom,
The earth shook,
and the heavens poured;
yes, the clouds poured water.
5 The mountains flowed like water before the Eternal, the God of Sinai;
they melted into a flood before the Eternal One, the True God of Israel.
6 In the days of Shamgar, the son of Anath,
and in the days of Jael, the main roads were empty of caravans,
and the travelers kept to back roads.
7 But those from rural areas stayed away,
the destitute in Israel kept far off,[a]
Until I, Deborah, arose
to be a mother to Israel.
8 They had chosen new gods,
so war came to their gates.
Was there a spear or shield to be found then
among the 40,000 of Israel?
9 My heart is warmed by those in Israel called to command them,
who offered themselves willingly to the people.
Praise the Eternal One!
10 Sing this song, those of you who now ride white donkeys
and sit on rich carpets,
you who travel along the road.
11 All of you who now hear the sound of shepherds at the watering places,
proclaim the just victories of the Eternal,
the just triumphs of His destitute people in Israel,
As the people of the Eternal go down to the gates!
12 Wake up, wake up, Deborah!
Wake up, wake up, and sing!
Get up, Barak! Get up and carry off your captives,
O son of Abinoam!
13 Then down went a surviving people to those who were noble,
and the Eternal One marched to me with the mighty!
14 People with roots in Ephraim went down against the Amalekites after you, O Benjamin,
with your people.
From Machir marched those commanders,
and from Zebulun went those carrying the staff of a scribe.
15 The chiefs of Issachar came with Deborah;
Issachar was faithful to Barak,
And they rushed into the valley, close at his heels.
And the clans of Reuben wondered in their heart,
16 “Why did you remain idle and aloof in the sheepfolds?
To hear whistling for the flocks?”
And the clans of Reuben wondered in their heart,
17 “Why did those of Gilead remain beyond the Jordan?
Why did the people of Dan stay with their ships?
“Why did the people of Asher stay on the coast,
settling down where they landed?”
18 But Zebulun did not fear death,
and Naphtali, too, stared down death on the heights where the battle raged.
19 The kings came, they fought;
the kings of Canaan made war.
They fought at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo,
but they won no spoils of silver.
20 The stars themselves fought against them;
from the heavens, the stars fought against Sisera.
21 The raging waters of Kishon swept them away,
the rushing waters, the raging waters of Kishon.
March forward, my soul, march on with strength!
22 The hooves of the horses beat loudly;
the galloping of the horses echoed.
23 “A curse on Meroz!” said the messenger of the Eternal One;
“May its people be bitterly cursed,
Because they did not come to help the Eternal,
to stand with the Eternal against the mighty foes!”
24 But Jael,
the wife of Heber, the Kenite—most blessed of women is she,
favored above all women who dwell in tents!
25 Sisera asked for water, and she gave him milk;
she gave him curds in a dish fit for lords.
26 And then she took a tent peg in her left hand
and a worker’s hammer in her right,
And she struck Sisera.
She broke and battered his head;
she pierced his temple.
27 At her feet he bowed, he fell,
he dropped silent.
At her feet he fell, he dropped,
and where he dropped, there he lay dead.
28 The mother of Sisera waited for him,
watching through the lattice of the window.
“Why is his chariot so long in returning?” she wondered.
“Where are the hoofbeats of his horses?”
29 Her wisest ladies in waiting have answers—
in fact, she herself thinks she knows the reason.
30 “Aren’t they still dividing the spoils of a successful battle?
A girl or two given to every man;
Spoils of beautiful dyed cloth for Sisera,
spoils of dyed cloth, beautifully embroidered.
Indeed two pieces of beautiful embroidered cloth for my neck.”
31 So may all Your enemies perish, O Eternal One!
But may those who love You be like the sun,
rising and going forth with power!
After this victory, the people knew peace from war for 40 years.
6 When the people of Israel again did what the Eternal One considered evil, He made them serve the Midianites for seven years. 2 The power of Midian prevailed over Israel so that the Israelites built for themselves hiding places in the mountains, in caves, and in safe strongholds. 3 Whenever the Israelites planted seed, the soldiers of Midian, Amalek, and others from the east would rise up against them 4 and destroy their farms and fields as far as Gaza in the west, leaving them nothing to eat and no livestock. 5 They would come up with their tents and their livestock, as thick as a cloud of locusts. They and their camels were so numerous they could not be counted, and they left the land desolate behind them.
6 So the people of Israel were impoverished because of the Midianites, and they cried out to the Eternal One for help. 7 When the people of Israel cried to the Eternal for relief from the Midianites, 8 He sent a prophet to them.
Prophet: Here are the words of the Eternal God of Israel: “I brought you out from slavery in Egypt. 9 I delivered you from the Egyptians, from all who would have oppressed you. I drove the Canaanites out before you and delivered their land into your care. 10 But I said to you, ‘I am the Eternal One, your True God, and you must not worship the gods of the Amorites, those people in whose land you settle.’ And you have not listened to Me.”
This unnamed messenger brings a familiar message, one we find coming from both well-known and unknown prophets in the Scriptures: “I am the Eternal God, and I have done many things for you. You swore to be My people, but you have turned away from Me and turned toward other gods.”
God has brought the patriarch Abraham out of the east and initiated a relationship with him. Later the people of God make a covenant with Him, a sacred contract that both sides are expected to honor. When they are faithful to God and God’s laws, the people of Israel prosper. Whenever the Israelites fall away from true belief and true practice, God withdraws His blessing from them. This messenger is simply reminding them of what they already know—as prophets sometimes must.
11 Now in Ophrah, the Eternal’s messenger sat under an oak tree that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. Gideon, the son of Joash, was beating out wheat in the winepress so that the Midianites could not see what he was doing. 12 The Eternal’s messenger appeared to Gideon.
Times are so bad that even when processing the wheat, one has to be quiet about it so that the Midianites do not notice and seize the food.
Messenger of the Eternal One: The Eternal One is with you, mighty warrior.
Gideon: 13 Sir, if He is with us, then why has all this misfortune come on us? Where are all the miracles that our ancestors told us about? They said, “Didn’t the Eternal deliver us out of Egypt?” But now He has left us. He has made us servants of the Midianites.
14 The Eternal turned to Gideon and addressed him.
Eternal One (speaking through His messenger): Go out with your strength and rescue Israel from the oppression of Midian. Do you understand that I am the one sending you?
Gideon: 15 But, Lord, how am I supposed to deliver Israel? My family is the weakest in the tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least of my family.
Eternal One: 16 Go. I will be with you, and you will totally destroy the forces of Midian as one man.
Gideon: 17 If You do look on me with favor, then give me a sign that I’m really hearing from You. 18 Wait here until I return and bring out my offering and place it in front of You.
Eternal One: I will stay here until you return.
19 So Gideon went into his house, cooked a young goat, and made cakes of unleavened bread from half a bushel of flour. He then put the meat into a basket, poured the broth into a pot, and brought the food out to present it to Him under the oak.
Eternal One: 20 Put the meat and the unleavened bread on this rock, and pour out the broth.
Gideon did as he was told. 21 Then the Eternal’s messenger touched the meat and bread with the tip of the staff he carried. Fire raged out of the rock and consumed the food, and the Eternal’s messenger vanished from sight.
22 Then Gideon realized that he had been speaking to the Eternal’s messenger.
Gideon: Have mercy on me, my Lord, the Eternal, since I have seen Your messenger face-to-face!
Eternal One (speaking after the messenger had departed): 23 Don’t be afraid, Gideon. Be at peace. You will not die.
Gideon expects sure death after conversing and looking on a divine manifestation of the Lord.
24 Afterward Gideon built an altar to the Eternal there and called it “The Eternal One is Peace.” It still stands at Ophrah in the land of the Abiezrites.
25 That night, the Eternal spoke to Gideon.
Eternal One: Take your father’s bull, the second bull, seven years old, and pull down your father’s altar that has been consecrated to Baal. Then cut down the image of Asherah made of wood that is beside the altar. 26 Then build correctly an altar to the Eternal One, your True God, on the top of this stronghold. Build a fire using the wood from the image; then take your father’s bull and offer a burnt offering to Me.
27 So Gideon took 10 of his servants and did as the Eternal had told him; but since he was worried about what his family and the people of the town might think, he did it at night while they all slept. 28 Early the next morning, when the townspeople left their homes and saw the altar of Baal destroyed, the wooden image cut down, and the second bull offered on the new altar, 29 they asked each other, “Who did this?”
After the investigation, it became clear that it was Gideon, the son of Joash, 30 so they went to Joash’s home and called for him.
People: Send out your son Gideon. He has torn down the holy altar of Baal and the Asherah image beside it, and he must die!
31 Joash stood up as the angry crowd lined up against him.
Joash (to the crowd): Will you fight in place of Baal himself? Can you save him? Anyone daring to say such a thing will be put to death by morning! If Baal is indeed a god, then let him stand up for himself, because his is the altar that has been torn down.
32 From that time on, Gideon was also called “Jerubbaal” (“Let Baal fight against him”), because he pulled down Baal’s altar.
33 At that time, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east had come together, crossed the Jordan, and camped in the valley of Jezreel.
34 Then the Spirit of the Eternal touched Gideon; he sounded his trumpet, and the Abiezrites all gathered behind him. 35 Gideon sent messengers to the members of the tribe of Manasseh and called them also to follow him. He also sent messengers to the tribes of Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they, too, gathered at his call.
36 Then Gideon spoke to the True God.
Gideon: So that I can know if it’s true that You plan to use me to rescue Israel, 37 I am going to lay out a wool fleece on the threshing floor. Tomorrow morning, if it is wet with dew while the floor around it is dry, then I will know You are going to use me to deliver Israel, as You have told me.
38 So the next morning, that was what he found. In fact, Gideon wrung enough water out of the fleece to fill a bowl, while the floor around it remained dry. But Gideon still was not satisfied.
Gideon (to the True God): 39 Please don’t be angry with me, and I will ask this one thing more. Please let me use the fleece again to prove that You are with me. But this time, let me lay out the fleece, and let it remain dry while all the floor around it is wet with dew.
40 God did as he asked that night. The next morning, the fleece was completely dry, while all the floor around it was wet with dew. Gideon knew that God was calling him to deliver Israel.
7 So then Jerubbaal (Gideon) and all the troops with him rose early, and they camped beside the spring of Harod. The camp of the Midianites was to their north, in the valley below the hill of Moreh.
Eternal One (to Gideon): 2 You have too many warriors for Me to allow you to defeat the Midianites. As it is now, the people of Israel would just deny Me the credit and claim they had won the victory on their own. 3 So go out and tell your army, “Any of you who are afraid and trembling are free to leave Mount Gilead.”
After this announcement, 22,000 left, so Gideon reduced his army to 10,000.
Eternal One: 4 You still have too many warriors. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you. When I say, “This one will fight for you,” he will go with you; but when I say, “This one will not fight for you,” then he will not go.
5 So Gideon led his army down to the water.
Eternal One: All of those who lap water the way a dog drinks, put them to one side. All of those who go down on their knees to drink, put them on the other side.
6 Three hundred of the men lapped up water by raising a hand to their mouths, and all the rest went down on their knees to drink.
Eternal One: 7 I will use these 300 who lapped from their hands to deliver Israel and to give the Midianites into your hand. Send all the rest home.
8 He kept jars and trumpets from the army and sent them back to their tents, but distributed the jars and trumpets to the 300 who stayed with him. The camp of Midian was in the valley below him.
9 That very night, the Eternal spoke to Gideon.
Eternal One: Get up and attack the camp of the Midianites because I have given you victory over them. 10 But if you should have any fear, take your servant Purah; scout out the camp, 11 and listen to what they are saying, and afterward you will find you are strong enough to attack.
So Gideon and his servant Purah approached the outposts of the army’s encampment. 12 The Midianites and the Amalekites and other people of the east were as thick as locusts in the valley, and their camels were as numberless as the sands of the seashore.
13 When Gideon arrived he overheard a man telling his neighbor about a dream he had.
Man: In my dream, a barley cake rolled into our camp. It came to the tent and hit it so hard the tent fell over. It turned over and collapsed.
Neighbor: 14 That must symbolize the sword of Gideon, son of Joash the Israelite. Their God has given him victory over Midian and all its camp!
15 When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He went back to the camp of Israel and roused them.
Gideon: Get up! The Eternal has given you victory over the army of Midian! We strike now.
16 He divided the 300 men into three companies, and he gave them all trumpets and empty jars with torches placed inside of them.
Gideon: 17 Watch me. Do what I do. When we come to the outskirts of their camp, do what you see me doing. 18 When I and my company blow the trumpet, I want all of you to blow the trumpets all around the camp and to shout: “For the Eternal and for Gideon!”
19 So Gideon and the 100 men who were with him came to the outskirts of the Midianite camp just after the middle watch had been posted. There they blew their trumpets and smashed the jars they had brought. 20 All three companies of men blew their horns and shattered the jars at about the same time. They held the torches in their left hands, held the trumpets in their right, and together they shouted.
Men: A sword for the Eternal and for Gideon!
21 They encircled the entire camp and woke the Midianite force abruptly, so that the Midianites cried out and fled. 22 When the 300 trumpets sounded, the Eternal set the Midianites fighting against each other with their swords. The Midianites ran away in panic toward Beth-shittah, toward Zererah, to the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath. 23 The men of Israel were summoned out of Naphtali and Asher and from all Manasseh, and they joined in the chase after the Midianite army.
24 Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim.
Messengers: Come down now and fight against the Midianites, and seize the watering places from them as far as Beth-barah and to the Jordan River.
So the Ephraimites gathered, and they captured the watering places as far away as Beth-barah and the Jordan. 25 They also captured the two leaders of the Midianite army, Oreb and Zeeb; they executed Oreb at the place we know today as Oreb’s Rock, and they executed Zeeb at Zeeb’s Winepress as they chased after the army of Midian. They brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was now beyond the Jordan.
8 Ephraimites (arguing angrily with Gideon): Why did you treat us this way? Why didn’t you tell us you were going to battle against the Midianites so that we could join you?
Gideon: 2 Really now, what have I accomplished in comparison to you? Wouldn’t you say that the gleanings left from Ephraim’s grapes are better quality than the choicest of Abiezer’s? 3 God has given the Midianite captains Oreb and Zeeb into your hands, and you have taken care of them. What have I and my 300 soldiers done compared to that?
And they were calmed by this explanation.
4 Gideon came to the Jordan, he and his 300 men, all of them tired and hungry, but they crossed to continue the chase. 5 So he spoke to the people of Succoth.
Gideon: Please give some bread to my followers, for they are exhausted, and we are on the trail of the kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna.
Leaders of Succoth: 6 Have you already chopped off the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna that we should go to the trouble of feeding your army?
Gideon: 7 All right, then. When the Eternal has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hands, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and thistles.
8 From Succoth, Gideon went up to Penuel and had the same conversation with them, asking for bread and being answered by the men of Penuel just as by the men of Succoth.
Gideon: 9 When I return here victorious, I will tear down your tower!
10 Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with an army of about 15,000 men, all that was left from the armies of the east, for they had lost 120,000 soldiers. 11 Gideon approached them by the caravan trail east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he attacked them when they least expected it. 12 When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he followed and captured them, throwing their forces into complete disarray.
13 When Gideon, son of Joash, returned from fighting by way of the Heres Pass, 14 he captured and questioned a boy from Succoth and got from him the names of 77 leaders and elders of the town.
15 Then Gideon came to Succoth.
Gideon: Look, here are Zebah and Zalmunna. Remember when you taunted me about them, saying, “Have you already chopped off the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna that we should worry about feeding your exhausted soldiers?”
16 So he took the leaders of the city, and with the desert thorns and thistles, he flailed the flesh of the men of Succoth. 17 He also shattered the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the town.
18 Then Gideon approached the two kings, Zebah and Zalmunna.
Gideon: What can you tell me about the men you killed at Tabor?
Zebah and Zalmunna: They were just like you—like the sons of a king.
Gideon: 19 They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Eternal lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you now.
20 Gideon directed his firstborn son, Jether, to kill them, but Jether was afraid and couldn’t draw his sword since he was only a boy.
Zebah and Zalmunna: 21 Come and kill us yourself for a man is measured by his strength.
So Gideon executed them, and he took the crescents that had adorned the necks of their camels.
22 Then the people of Israel spoke to Gideon.
People: Rule over us—you, your son, and then your grandson, for you have rescued us from the oppression of Midian.
Gideon (refusing): 23 I will not rule over you, and neither will my son. The Eternal will reign over you.
24 But I have a request to make. Each of you, give me one of the earrings you have taken as plunder.
(The enemy they defeated had gold earrings, as was the fashion of the Ishmaelites.)
People: 25 We will certainly do that.
So they spread a cloak, and each of the men threw in an earring he had taken as spoils of battle; 26 and the weight of the gold earrings was over 42 pounds of gold, which does not include the crescents, the ornaments, and the purple garments they had taken from the kings of Midian, and the collars they had taken from the necks of their camels.
27 Gideon made it into a priestly vest, sometimes used in seeking oracles, and put it in his hometown of Ophrah. But the people of Israel made an idol of it, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family as well.
28 This is how Midian was subdued by the people of Israel, and Midian never lifted up its head to trouble them again. During the time of Gideon, the land had 40 years of peace. 29 Jerubbaal (Gideon), son of Joash, went to live in his own home. 30 Gideon had 70 sons who were his own children, for he had many wives and concubines, 31 and his concubine in Shechem bore him a son whom he named Abimelech.
32 Gideon, son of Joash, died after many years of life and was buried with his father Joash at Ophrah in the land of the Abiezrites.
Gideon is one of the most powerful judges of Israel: he attacks and overthrows kings; he plunders their royal treasures; and after his great success against the land of Midian, the people of God actually want to make him their king. This desire is logical. Other peoples have kings to lead them into battle and to rule over them. Why not them? But this is not God’s desire for His people, and Gideon knows that pain, destruction, and bloodshed follow when someone pursues the throne against God’s will. Gideon tells them he will not rule them—and neither will his sons—so they can get that idea out of their heads. But the thirst for power leads to intrigue, and one of Gideon’s sons plays on the people’s continual desire for order at the hand of a king.
33 As soon as Gideon died, the Israelites turned away from the Lord, and they began to prostitute themselves again to the Baals. They made Baal-berith their chief god. 34 The people of Israel did not remember the Eternal One, their True God, who had rescued them from the oppression of enemies on every side, 35 and they were not kind to the house of Jerubbaal (Gideon) despite all the good he had done for Israel.
9 Abimelech, the son of Jerubbaal, went to Shechem to the clan of his mother.
Abimelech (to his mother’s family): 2 Go, and say this so that all the leaders of Shechem can hear you: “Is it better that 70 sons of Jerubbaal should be your rulers, or only one of them?” And remember that I share your own bone and flesh.
3 So Abimelech’s mother’s kinsmen went out and repeated these words to the leaders of Shechem, and they were favorably disposed toward him because they said, “He is our brother.” 4 They gave Abimelech 70 pieces of silver out of the treasury of Baal-berith, and he used the money to hire some reckless and worthless men who followed him and did his dirty work.
5 He went to his father’s house in Ophrah and killed all 70 of his half-brothers, the sons of Jerubbaal, on one stone. (Only Jotham, the youngest, was left alive, because he hid.) 6 Then all the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo came together and crowned Abimelech king by the great oak tree at the pillar in Shechem.
7 When Jotham was told what had happened, he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim.
Jotham: Listen to me, all you who are the leaders in Shechem, so that God may listen to you.
8 The trees once decided to go out
and anoint a king to rule them all.
They said to the olive tree,
“Reign over us.”
9 But the olive tree refused, saying,
“Should I stop producing the rich oil used to honor both gods and mortals so I can stand and sway over the trees?”
10 Then the trees went to the fig tree, saying,
“You come and reign over us.”
11 But the fig tree refused, saying,
“Should I give up my sweetness and stop producing my delicious fruit so I can stand and sway over the trees?”
12 Then the trees said to the grapevine,
“You come and reign over us.”
13 But the vine refused, saying,
“Should I stop producing the wine that cheers both gods and mortals so I can stand and sway over the trees?”
14 At last the trees came to the worthless thornbush, saying,
“You come and reign over us.”
15 And the thornbush said to the trees,
“If in good faith you want to anoint me as your king,
then come and take refuge in my shade (of which there was precious little).
But if you haven’t come in good faith, then let fire come from my brambles
and burn down the cedars of Lebanon.”
16 Now if you have made this decision to crown Abimelech king in good faith, with sincerity, have acted honorably toward my father Jerubbaal and his family, and have treated him as his actions toward you deserve; 17 you know how my father fought for you, risked his life for you, rescued you from the hand of the Midianites. 18 But now here you are, rising up against my father’s house, killing all of his sons, 70 of them, on one stone; and you have made Abimelech, the son of my father’s slave woman, king over all the leaders of Shechem, simply because he is your kinsman. 19 Well, I say, if you have acted honorably toward Jerubbaal and his family, then now may you take joy in Abimelech, and may he take joy in you.
20 But if you have not acted honorably, then may fire come out of Abimelech and burn up the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo. May fire come from you and burn up Abimelech.
21 When he had said these words, Jotham fled for his life to Beer, where he stayed because he was afraid of his brother Abimelech.
22 Abimelech was king over Israel for three years. 23 Then the one True God sent an evil spirit to stir up dissension between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem. Consequently the leaders of Shechem acted with treachery against Abimelech; 24 and all of this happened so that the brutal murder of Jerubbaal’s 70 sons might be avenged and their bloodguilt laid upon their brother Abimelech, who had ordered their deaths, and on the leaders of Shechem who had lent their strength to his cause.
25 As a result of their new hatred for Abimelech, the leaders of Shechem began to ambush travelers along the mountain roads, robbing everyone who passed by, and these robberies were reported to Abimelech.
26 When Gaal, the son of Ebed, arrived in Shechem with his family, the leaders of Shechem trusted him. 27 After they had been in the fields, gathered the grapes, and trampled them for wine, they celebrated a festival in the temple of their god. While they ate and drank, they insulted Abimelech.
Gaal: 28 Who is this Abimelech, and who are we here in Shechem that we should serve him? Didn’t the son of Jerubbaal and his deputy, Zebul, serve the men of Hamor, Shechem’s father? Why then should we serve him? 29 I wish this people were under my command! I would get rid of Abimelech. I would tell him, “Go ahead. Call out your army!”
30 When Zebul, who governed the city, heard what Gaal, the son of Ebed, said, he was furious. 31 Secretly he sent messengers to Abimelech.
Zebul’s Message: Here’s what’s happening: Gaal, son of Ebed, and his family have come to Shechem, and they are igniting the city against you. 32 You should go by night with your troops and lie in wait in the fields. 33 Then in the morning, when the sun comes up, march on the city; and when Gaal and his forces come out to defend it, you can deal with them.
34 Abimelech and his troops prepared to do just as Zebul suggested. Four companies of men waited for morning. 35 When Gaal, the son of Ebed, went outside, stood in the gate of the city, and looked out, Abimelech and his troops rose from their hiding places to attack.
Gaal (seeing them): 36 Look, Zebul, people are coming down from the mountaintops!
Zebul: It’s just the shadows on the mountains. They must look like men to you.
Gaal: 37 No, look! One company is coming right down the center, and another company is coming from the direction of the fortune-teller’s tree!
Zebul: 38 Where are your big words now? Where is the loudmouth who said, “Who is this Abimelech, that we should serve him?” Aren’t these the men you insulted? Go on, fight them!
39 So Gaal gathered the leaders of Shechem, and they fought against Abimelech’s forces. 40 Abimelech overwhelmed Gaal and chased him and his men, many of whom were wounded and fell along the way as they retreated, all the way to the gate. 41 Abimelech remained in Arumah, and Zebul threw Gaal and his people out of Shechem.
42 The next day the people of Shechem went out to work the fields. After hearing this news, Abimelech 43 took his troops, divided them into three groups, and set an ambush in the fields.
When he saw the people emerge from Shechem, he ordered his troops to attack them. 44 Abimelech and his men captured a forward position at the city gate, cutting off any retreat. Then the other two companies of Abimelech’s men swept down on the people trapped in the fields and cut them down. 45 Abimelech continued his attack all day long, until he had captured Shechem and killed everyone in it. Then he demolished the city and scattered salt over the place where it had once stood.
Abimelech here carries out a devastating act in antiquity that ensures the death of an agricultural area, both food and water sources, for subsequent generations.
46 When those leaders inside the tower of Shechem heard this news, all of them entered into the stronghold of the temple of El-berith. 47 Abimelech learned that all the leaders were in the tower, and 48 he took his men up Mount Zalmon. There he took an ax, cut a bundle of firewood, and hoisted it atop his shoulders, ordering his men to quickly do the same. 49 When they had all cut and loaded their wood, they followed Abimelech back to the stronghold, where they piled the wood against the walls and set fire to it, killing about 1,000 men and women inside the tower of Shechem.
50 Next, Abimelech went on to Thebez. He laid siege to it, captured it, and 51 discovered that in the city was a strong tower where the leaders and men and women of the city had locked themselves in to escape and had climbed onto the roof. 52 So he stormed the tower, ready to burn this tower as he had the other. 53 But this time as he approached the entrance, a woman dropped an upper millstone upon him, crushing his skull.
Abimelech (to his armor-bearer): 54 Take your sword and kill me. I won’t have anyone say that I died like this—killed by a woman.
The young man killed Abimelech with the sword.
55 When the people of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they all went back home.
56 So God avenged the evil that Abimelech had committed against his father by murdering his 70 brothers, 57 and the evil of the leaders of Shechem God brought back on their heads; everything happened just as Jotham, son of Jerubbaal, had prophesied when he cursed them all.
10 After Abimelech died, Tola (the son of Puah, son of Dodo), who was of the tribe of Issachar and who lived at Shamir in the highlands of Ephraim, rose to deliver Israel. 2 He served as judge and defender of Israel for 23 years. When he died, he was buried at Shamir. 3 After Tola died, Jair the Gileadite served as judge of Israel for 22 years. 4 Jair had 30 sons who rode on 30 donkeys, and they had 30 towns, which are in the land of Gilead and are still called Havvoth-jair today. 5 When Jair died, he was buried at Kamon.
6 But again the people of Israel did what the Eternal considered to be evil right in front of Him. They worshiped the Baals and Ashtaroth, the gods of Aram and Sidon, of Moab and Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines. When they abandoned the Eternal and no longer worshiped Him, 7 He became furious with them and placed them in servitude to the Philistines and Ammonites 8 who crushed them and ruled over them for the next 18 years. They oppressed the Israelites east of the Jordan in Gilead, the land of the Amorites, 9 and the Ammonites crossed over the Jordan to attack the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim; therefore, Israel was desperate. 10 Then the Israelites cried out to the Eternal.
Israelites: We have sinned against You because we have abandoned our True God and worshiped the Baals.
Eternal One: 11 Haven’t I delivered you in the past from the armies of the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, and the Philistines? 12 Didn’t I come through in your struggle against the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites? When they swept down on you and over you, didn’t I hear your cries for help and rescue you? 13 Yet you have abandoned Me to worship these other gods. That is why I am finished coming to your rescue. 14 Why don’t you go and cry for help to the gods you have chosen instead of Me? See if they will save you now in your time of trouble!
Israelites: 15 We have sinned against You. Do to us as You think best, but please rescue us this one time more!
16 They put away the foreign gods they had worshiped and returned to the Eternal, and He could not bear to witness their suffering any longer.
17 The Ammonites had prepared for war and were camped in Gilead, so the people of Israel gathered troops and camped at Mizpah.
Gilead Commanders (among themselves): 18 Whoever will lead the attack against the Ammonites will be the leader of all the people of Gilead!
11 Now Jephthah of Gilead was the son of a prostitute but a mighty warrior. His father was Gilead, 2 but Gilead’s wife bore other sons who grew up and drove Jephthah away because they did not want the son of another woman other than Gilead’s wife to inherit anything from their father. 3 So he ran away to the land of Tob, where he became the leader of a gang of bandits who followed him.
4-6 When the Ammonites attacked Israel, the leaders of Gilead asked Jephthah to return from Tob to be their commander and lead them against the Ammonite invaders.
7 Jephthah replied.
Jephthah: Ha! Aren’t you the same people who hated me so much that you drove me from my father’s house? And you come to me now and ask me for help?
8 The leaders responded to Jephthah.
Leaders of Gilead: You’re right. All the same we need your help. Come lead us against the Ammonites, and we will make you leader over us and all who live in Gilead.
9 Jephthah asked the leaders of Gilead a question.
Jephthah: Let me make sure I understand this—if I come back with you to fight the Ammonites and the Eternal allows me to be victorious, you will really make me your leader?
Leaders of Gilead: 10 May the Eternal be our witness. We will do as you say.
11 So Jephthah returned with the leaders of Gilead; the people made him their leader and commander, and Jephthah repeated his words before the Eternal at Mizpah.
12 Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites.
Jephthah’s Message: What do you have against me? Why are you attacking my people in my land?
13 This king of the Ammonites answered Jephthah’s messengers.
King of the Ammonites: Israel, when it traveled out of Egypt, took away my land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok and from the Jabbok all the way to the Jordan. Give it back, and we will be at peace.
14 Jephthah once again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites.
Jephthah’s Message: 15 Here is my response to your claim: Israel did not take away the land of the Ammonites or the Moabites. 16 When my people came up out of Egypt, Israel passed through the desert to the Red Sea and on to Kadesh. 17 At that time, Israel sent a messenger to the king of Edom, asking for permission to travel through his country. But the king would not hear us. Israel also sent a request to the king of Moab, but he also refused. So Israel remained where they were, at Kadesh.
18 Then they traveled through the wilderness, passing around the lands of Edom and Moab; and on the eastern edge of Moab, they camped on the far bank of the Arnon, well outside the border of Moab. 19 Israel then sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, in Heshbon, asking, “Let us pass through your land to reach our own country.” 20 But Sihon, too, did not trust Israel. He gathered his armies at Jahaz and went to war with us. 21 Then the Eternal One, the True God of Israel, gave us victory over Sihon and all his people, and we defeated them utterly. That’s why Israel occupied the land of the Amorites, who had inhabited that territory, 22 all of the Amorite land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, from the wilderness to the Jordan. 23 The Eternal One, the True God of Israel, conquered the Amorites for the good of His people, Israel. Do you think you can replace them?
24 Are you unsatisfied with what your god, Chemosh, has given you? We will possess what the Eternal One, our True God has given us. 25 Are you a greater king than Balak, son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever have a conflict with Israel or go to war against us? 26 For 300 years we have occupied Heshbon and its surrounding villages, Aroer and its villages, and all the towns along the Arnon. Why haven’t you ever attempted to recover them until now?
27 I have not done any wrong to you, but you have wronged me by going to war against me and my people. So let the Eternal, the Judge over us all, decide today who will triumph in this conflict between Israel and Ammon.
28 The king of the Ammonites ignored the message Jephthah sent him.
29 Then the Spirit of the Eternal descended on Jephthah, and he traveled through Gilead and Manasseh, through Mizpah of Gilead to confront the Ammonite army.
30 Jephthah made a vow to the Eternal One.
Jephthah: If you will give me victory over the Ammonites, 31 then I will make a burnt offering of the first thing that comes out of my door to meet me when I return in victory.
32 Jephthah went to battle, and the Eternal gave him victory over the Ammonites. 33 His army conquered 20 towns, from Aroer to near Minnith all the way to Abel-keramim, and Israel defeated Ammon decisively.
34 But when Jephthah came home in triumph to Mizpah, who should rush out to meet him but his daughter, dancing and playing a tambourine? She was his only child; he had no other sons or daughters. 35 When Jephthah saw her, he tore his clothes in grief.
Jephthah: O, my daughter, no! You have just made me miserable; you have brought me to my knees! I have made a vow to the Eternal, and I cannot break it.
Daughter: 36 My father, the Eternal God has given you victory over your enemies the Ammonites. If you have made a vow to Him, then do what you have promised to do to me.
37 But please give me two months to go and weep in the highlands with my friends, since I will never love a man and raise a family.
Jephthah: 38 You may go.
She and her friends went away and wailed upon the mountains because she would never know the love of a man; 39 then when two months had passed, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. Since she had never slept with a man, a custom arose in Israel 40 that every year the young women in Israel would go out for four days to lament the fate of the daughter of Jephthah of Gilead.
The judges are often people of great faith or great strength or great power who lead and direct. But like all of us, they are imperfect and sometimes make grave mistakes. Jephthah’s name is now remembered mostly because of the foolish vow he makes to sacrifice the first thing he sees when he returns from his great victory. Although this vow comes out of his unfaithfulness—Jephthah does not trust God to give him victory—Jephthah shows immense faithfulness in keeping his word despite the tragic consequence of losing his only child.
12 Some time later, the men of the northern tribe of Ephraim mustered their forces, crossed over to Zaphon, and confronted Jephthah.
Ephraimites: What do you mean, going to war with the Ammonites without asking us to fight with you? You left us out of the battle just as Gideon did. We’ll burn your house down with you in it!
Jephthah: 2 My people and I were in the middle of a great struggle with the Ammonites, who had us in an iron grip. But when I called for help, you didn’t show up to deliver me out of their hand. 3 So when I saw you weren’t going to help, I took my fate in my own hands and crossed over to fight the Ammonites, and the Eternal gave me the victory. So why are you here now to fight against me?
4 Jephthah gathered the men of Gilead and went to war with Ephraim. The men of Gilead defeated them because the Ephraimites told them they were rabble, fugitives from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, renegades who had abandoned their tribes.
5 The men of Gilead captured the fords in the Jordan that led to Ephraim. Whenever a surviving Ephraimite asked to cross over, the men of Gilead would ask, “Are you from Ephraim?” If the man said no, 6 they told him, “All right. Say ‘Shibboleth.’” And if he said “Sibboleth,” they took him and killed him, for he could not pronounce it correctly, betraying that he was from Ephraim. So there at the fords of the Jordan 42,000 Ephraimites were killed in those days.
The dialect difference between the “sh” sound on the east side of the Jordan in Gilead and the “s” sound on the west side of the Jordan in Ephraim is noticeable to both tribes.
7 Jephthah led Israel as judge for 6 years, and when Jephthah of Gilead died, he was buried in a town in Gilead.
8 After Jephthah, Ibzan of Bethlehem rose as judge of Israel. 9 He had 30 sons and 30 daughters. To marry his sons, he brought in 30 young women from outside the clan, and he gave his 30 daughters in marriage to outsiders. Ibzan judged Israel 7 years; 10 and when he died, he was buried at Bethlehem.
11 After Ibzan, Elon the Zebulunite was judge of Israel for 10 years. 12 When Elon the Zebulunite died, he was buried at Aijalon, in the land of Zebulun.
13 After Elon, Abdon, the son of Hillel the Pirathonite, was judge of Israel. 14-15 He had 40 sons and 30 grandsons; they rode on 70 donkeys. Abdon, son of Hillel the Pirathonite, judged Israel 8 years; and when he died, he was buried at Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.
13 Once again, though, the Israelites did evil according to the Eternal God, and He gave the Philistines power over them for 40 years. 2 During that time, a man of Zorah named Manoah, from the tribe of Dan, was married to a wife who could bear him no children.
Messenger of the Eternal One (appearing to Manoah’s wife): 3 You are barren and have no children, but all of that is about to change. You will conceive and have a son. 4 Be careful that you don’t drink wine or any other spirits (strong drink), and don’t eat anything that is ritually impure, 5 for you are going to become pregnant and have a son. Don’t ever use a razor on his head, because you will raise this boy as a Nazirite, dedicated to the True God from his conception, and he will be the one to begin delivering Israel from the Philistines.
Manoah’s Wife (to her husband): 6 A man of the True God visited me. He looked like a messenger of God, awe-inspiring. I didn’t ask where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name, 7 but he told me that I was going to become pregnant and bear a son. He told me not to drink wine or other spirits or to eat anything ritually unclean because our boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart for God from the day he is conceived until the day he dies.
Manoah (to the Lord): 8 Eternal One, please let the man of God whom you sent visit us again and teach us what to do with the boy You are giving us.
9 The True God heard Manoah and sent His messenger to visit the woman one day while she was in the fields. Manoah was not with her, 10 so she ran to tell him.
Manoah’s Wife: Look, the man who spoke to me the other day is here again!
11 Manoah got up, followed his wife, and came to where the man was.
Manoah (to the messenger): Are you the one who spoke to my wife the other day?
Messenger of the Eternal One: I am.
Manoah: 12 When your words come true, what rules should we apply to the boy? What is his mission in life?
Messenger of the Eternal One: 13 Your wife should do as I told her on my first visit. 14 She must not eat or drink of the vine, she must not drink any other strong drink, and she must not eat foods that are ritually impure. She must do all that I have commanded.
Manoah: 15 If you will wait, we would like to prepare a young goat for you to eat.
Messenger of the Eternal One: 16 Even if you try to detain me, I will not eat your food. If you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the Eternal.
Manoah had not realized that he was speaking to the Eternal’s messenger. 17 That is why he asked the Eternal’s messenger a question.
Manoah: What is your name, so that we may honor you when your words become truth?
Messenger of the Eternal One: 18 Why do you ask my name? It is incomprehensible, beyond human understanding.
19 Manoah took the young goat, together with the offering of grain, and sacrificed it on a rock to the Eternal, to the wonder-working God. While Manoah and his wife watched 20 the flame going up toward heaven from the altar, the Eternal’s messenger rose up to heaven in the flames, and Manoah and his wife put their faces to the ground. 21 When he did not reappear, Manoah realized that they had seen the Eternal’s messenger.
Manoah (to his wife): 22 We are most certainly going to die, for we have seen the True God!
Manoah’s Wife: 23 If the Eternal had desired to kill us, then He would not have accepted the grain and burnt offerings from us or shown us these wonders or brought these announcements at this time.
24 In due time, the woman did bear a son, and she named him Samson. The boy grew, the Eternal God blessed him, 25 and the Spirit of the Eternal One began to move in him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
14 Samson went down from the hill country to the Philistine town of Timnah, on the coastal plain, and he saw a Philistine woman there. 2 When he came home, he told his parents,
Samson: I saw this woman in Timnah who captured my attention. She’s a Philistine, but I want her for a wife. I beg you, make the arrangements for her to be my wife.
Samson’s Parents: 3 What? Isn’t there a single woman among your tribe, among all of our people, the people of Israel? Do you have to take a wife from among the uncircumcised Philistines?
Samson (to his father): You have to get her for me. She is the one and is pleasing in my eyes.
The longer the Israelites are in Canaan, the more they find themselves drawn into the beliefs and practices of those around them. Samson, although he is a deliverer of his people and set aside by God, demonstrates the worst traits of his people. He actually takes a wife from among the other people who are trying to conquer Canaan, the Philistines.
But in all of this, we are told, God is working out a purpose; Samson has the Spirit of God. Not only does God use imperfect human beings for His own designs, but God can use human weakness to achieve His goals. Samson’s weakness, although it leads to his personal destruction, becomes God’s strength and leads to great victories for Israel.
4 Samson’s parents did not know that this passion was planned by the Eternal, who was working out a way to move against the Philistines who ruled over Israel.
5 Samson and his parents went down to the vineyards of Timnah. While they were traveling, a young lion roared at him. 6 The Spirit of the Eternal moved upon Samson in that instant, and with his bare hands, he tore the lion apart as one might rend a small goat; but since he was by himself when this happened, he did not tell his parents what he had done. 7 Afterward he continued on to Timnah and talked with the woman. Samson was quite taken with her for she was very attractive.
8 So Samson returned later to marry her, and on the journey, he turned aside to see again the carcass of the lion he had killed. A swarm of bees was in the carcass, where they had made their hive with some honey. 9 Although he had been set aside as a Nazirite, and was not supposed to touch a corpse, he scraped some honey out and went on, eating it from his hands. When he came to his parents, he gave some of it to them to eat, but he did not tell them where he had gotten it.
10 His father went ahead to the Philistine woman, and Samson made a wedding feast with food and drink, as was the custom for young men being married. 11 The Philistines of the bridal party invited 30 men to serve as companions for Samson at the feast, since he had not brought any of his friends.
Samson (to the 30 young men): 12 I have a riddle for you. If you can solve it during the seven days we eat and drink here, I will give each of you a set of linen garments and a change of clothes. 13 If you cannot solve it in the seven days, then you will have to give me 30 linen garments and 30 sets of clothes.
Thirty Men: Ask away. What is your riddle?
14 Samson: Out of the eater came something to eat,
and out of the strong came something sweet.
For three days the young men puzzled over Samson’s riddle. 15 On the fourth[b] day, they went to Samson’s wife and threatened her.
Thirty Men: Trick your husband, seduce him if necessary, whatever it takes to find out the answer to this riddle, or we will burn down your father’s house with you in it. Did you invite us to this party just to take away what is ours?
16 Samson’s wife went to him and wept in front of him.
Samson’s Wife: You say you love me, but you don’t. You asked my people a riddle, but you haven’t told me the answer.
Samson: I haven’t even told my parents the answer. Why should I tell you?
17 She went on crying until the seventh day of the feast; and, at last, because she continued to bother him, he told her the answer. Then she reported it to the young men, 18 so that before the sun went down on the last day of the feast, they knew the answer.
Thirty Men: What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?
Samson: If you hadn’t gone behind my back with my wife, you would never have found the answer to this riddle.
19 The Spirit of the Eternal came upon Samson, and he immediately received great strength. He went down to the Philistine town of Ashkelon where he killed 30 men, took their possessions, and gave their garments in payment to the young men who had answered his riddle. Then, furious, he left the feast and went back up to his father’s house, 20 and Samson’s wife was instead given to the companion who had been his best man.
15 Later, during the time of the wheat harvest, Samson tried to return to his wife, bringing with him a young goat.
Samson: I want to go in and be with my wife.
But his father-in-law refused.
Samson’s Father-in-law: 2 When you left us, I thought you didn’t want her anymore. So I gave her to your companion from the feast. Anyway her younger sister is much prettier than she is. Why don’t you take her instead?
Samson: 3 This time no one will blame me when I hurt the Philistines.
4 Samson went and caught 300 foxes. Tying them tail-to-tail, he put a torch between each pair of tails 5 so that when they were lit, the foxes ran into the fields of the Philistines and burned everything up. The grain standing in the fields burned, as well as the grain that had been gathered up along with the olive groves and the vineyards.
Philistines (seeing the disaster): 6 Who did this?
Other Philistines: Samson, the son-in-law of the man from Timnah, because he gave Samson’s wife away to his best man.
So the Philistines went and set their house afire, and Samson’s wife and her father were burned alive.
Samson: 7 Is this how it’s going to be? Then I won’t stop until I have taken great revenge on you.
8 So he fought them mercilessly and killed many of them. And then he went and hid out in a cave near the rock of Etam.
9 A company of Philistines went up then and camped in Judah, where they made a raid against Lehi.
Men of Judah (to the company of Philistines): 10 Why are you doing this?
Philistines: We’ve come up to capture Samson, to make him suffer the way he has made us suffer.
Then 3,000 men of Judah went to the rock of Etam to talk to Samson.
Men of Judah (to Samson): 11 Are you crazy? The Philistines are our masters! They have the upper hand. Don’t you know what you’re doing to us?
Samson: I’m only paying them back for what they have done to me.
Men of Judah: 12 We’ve come to capture you and take you to the Philistines.
Samson: Will you swear not to kill me yourselves?
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.