Bible in 90 Days

¹³ They said to him, “No; we will only bind you and give you into their hands; we will not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock.

¹⁴ When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and the ropes which were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands. ¹⁵ And he found a fresh jawbone of an ass, and put out his hand and seized it, and with it he slew a thousand men. ¹⁶ And Samson said,

¹⁷ When he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand; and that place was called Ra′math-le′hi.^[a]

¹⁸ And he was very thirsty, and he called on the Lord and said, “Thou hast granted this great deliverance by the hand of thy servant; and shall I now die of thirst, and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” ¹⁹ And God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and there came water from it; and when he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore the name of it was called En-hakkor′e;^[b] it is at Lehi to this day. ²⁰ And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

Samson and Delilah

16 Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a harlot, and he went in to her. ² The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here,” and they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night, saying, “Let us wait till the light of the morning; then we will kill him.” ³ But Samson lay till midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that is before Hebron.

⁴ After this he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Deli′lah. ⁵ And the lords of the Philistines came to her and said to her, “Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to subdue him; and we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.” ⁶ And Deli′lah said to Samson, “Please tell me wherein your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you.” ⁷ And Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings which have not been dried, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man.” ⁸ Then the lords of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. ⁹ Now she had men lying in wait in an inner chamber. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he snapped the bowstrings, as a string of tow snaps when it touches the fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.

¹⁰ And Deli′lah said to Samson, “Behold, you have mocked me, and told me lies; please tell me how you might be bound.” ¹¹ And he said to her, “If they bind me with new ropes that have not been used, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man.” ¹² So Deli′lah took new ropes and bound him with them, and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And the men lying in wait were in an inner chamber. But he snapped the ropes off his arms like a thread.

¹³ And Deli′lah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me, and told me lies; tell me how you might be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web and make it tight with the pin, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man.” ¹⁴ So while he slept, Deli′lah took the seven locks of his head and wove them into the web.^[c] And she made them tight with the pin, and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep, and pulled away the pin, the loom, and the web.

¹⁵ And she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me wherein your great strength lies.” ¹⁶ And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death. ¹⁷ And he told her all his mind, and said to her, “A razor has never come upon my head; for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I be shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”

¹⁸ When Deli′lah saw that he had told her all his mind, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up this once, for he has told me all his mind.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought the money in their hands. ¹⁹ She made him sleep upon her knees; and she called a man, and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. ²⁰ And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free.” And he did not know that the Lord had left him. ²¹ And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with bronze fetters; and he ground at the mill in the prison. ²² But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

Samson’s Death

²³ Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice; for they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.” ²⁴ And when the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, “Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has slain many of us.” ²⁵ And when their hearts were merry, they said, “Call Samson, that he may make sport for us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he made sport before them. They made him stand between the pillars; ²⁶ and Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them.” ²⁷ Now the house was full of men and women; all the lords of the Philistines were there, and on the roof there were about three thousand men and women, who looked on while Samson made sport.

²⁸ Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be avenged upon the Philistines for one of my two eyes.” ²⁹ And Samson grasped the two middle pillars upon which the house rested, and he leaned his weight upon them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. ³⁰ And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he bowed with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people that were in it. So the dead whom he slew at his death were more than those whom he had slain during his life. ³¹ Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Esh′ta-ol in the tomb of Mano′ah his father. He had judged Israel twenty years.

Micah and the Levite

17 There was a man of the hill country of E′phraim, whose name was Micah. ² And he said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver which were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the Lord.” ³ And he restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother; and his mother said, “I consecrate the silver to the Lord from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image; now therefore I will restore it to you.” ⁴ So when he restored the money to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into a graven image and a molten image; and it was in the house of Micah. ⁵ And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and teraphim, and installed one of his sons, who became his priest. ⁶ In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.

⁷ Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he sojourned there. ⁸ And the man departed from the town of Bethlehem in Judah, to live where he could find a place; and as he journeyed, he came to the hill country of E′phraim to the house of Micah. ⁹ And Micah said to him, “From where do you come?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite of Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to sojourn where I may find a place.” ¹⁰ And Micah said to him, “Stay with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, and a suit of apparel, and your living.”^{[d] 11} And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man became to him like one of his sons. ¹² And Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. ¹³ Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest.”

The Migration of Dan

18 In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking for itself an inheritance to dwell in; for until then no inheritance among the tribes of Israel had fallen to them. ² So the Danites sent five able men from the whole number of their tribe, from Zorah and from Esh′ta-ol, to spy out the land and to explore it; and they said to them, “Go and explore the land.” And they came to the hill country of E′phraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there. ³ When they were by the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite; and they turned aside and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?” ⁴ And he said to them, “Thus and thus has Micah dealt with me: he has hired me, and I have become his priest.” ⁵ And they said to him, “Inquire of God, we pray thee, that we may know whether the journey on which we are setting out will succeed.” ⁶ And the priest said to them, “Go in peace. The journey on which you go is under the eye of the Lord.”

⁷ Then the five men departed, and came to La′ish, and saw the people who were there, how they dwelt in security, after the manner of the Sido′nians, quiet and unsuspecting, lacking^[e] nothing that is in the earth, and possessing wealth, and how they were far from the Sido′nians and had no dealings with any one. ⁸ And when they came to their brethren at Zorah and Esh′ta-ol, their brethren said to them, “What do you report?” ⁹ They said, “Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very fertile. And will you do nothing? Do not be slow to go, and enter in and possess the land. ¹⁰ When you go, you will come to an unsuspecting people. The land is broad; yea, God has given it into your hands, a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.”

¹¹ And six hundred men of the tribe of Dan, armed with weapons of war, set forth from Zorah and Esh′ta-ol, ¹² and went up and encamped at Kir′iath-je′arim in Judah. On this account that place is called Ma′haneh-dan^[f] to this day; behold, it is west of Kir′iath-je′arim. ¹³ And they passed on from there to the hill country of E′phraim, and came to the house of Micah.

¹⁴ Then the five men who had gone to spy out the country of La′ish said to their brethren, “Do you know that in these houses there are an ephod, teraphim, a graven image, and a molten image? Now therefore consider what you will do.” ¹⁵ And they turned aside thither, and came to the house of the young Levite, at the home of Micah, and asked him of his welfare. ¹⁶ Now the six hundred men of the Danites, armed with their weapons of war, stood by the entrance of the gate; ¹⁷ and the five men who had gone to spy out the land went up, and entered and took the graven image, the ephod, the teraphim, and the molten image, while the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war. ¹⁸ And when these went into Micah’s house and took the graven image, the ephod, the teraphim, and the molten image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” ¹⁹ And they said to him, “Keep quiet, put your hand upon your mouth, and come with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and family in Israel?” ²⁰ And the priest’s heart was glad; he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people.

²¹ So they turned and departed, putting the little ones and the cattle and the goods in front of them. ²² When they were a good way from the home of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house were called out, and they overtook the Danites. ²³ And they shouted to the Danites, who turned round and said to Micah, “What ails you that you come with such a company?” ²⁴ And he said, “You take my gods which I made, and the priest, and go away, and what have I left? How then do you ask me, ‘What ails you?’” ²⁵ And the Danites said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall upon you, and you lose your life with the lives of your household.” ²⁶ Then the Danites went their way; and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his home.

The Danites Settle in Laish

²⁷ And taking what Micah had made, and the priest who belonged to him, the Danites came to La′ish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting, and smote them with the edge of the sword, and burned the city with fire. ²⁸ And there was no deliverer because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with any one. It was in the valley which belongs to Beth-rehob. And they rebuilt the city, and dwelt in it. ²⁹ And they named the city Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor, who was born to Israel; but the name of the city was La′ish at the first. ³⁰ And the Danites set up the graven image for themselves; and Jonathan the son of Gershom, son of Moses,^[g] and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land. ³¹ So they set up Micah’s graven image which he made, as long as the house of God was at Shiloh.

The Levite’s Concubine

19 In those days, when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was sojourning in the remote parts of the hill country of E′phraim, who took to himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. ² And his concubine became angry with^[h] him, and she went away from him to her father’s house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there some four months. ³ Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He had with him his servant and a couple of asses. And he came^[i] to her father’s house; and when the girl’s father saw him, he came with joy to meet him. ⁴ And his father-in-law, the girl’s father, made him stay, and he remained with him three days; so they ate and drank, and lodged there. ⁵ And on the fourth day they arose early in the morning, and he prepared to go; but the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Strengthen your heart with a morsel of bread, and after that you may go.” ⁶ So the two men sat and ate and drank together; and the girl’s father said to the man, “Be pleased to spend the night, and let your heart be merry.” ⁷ And when the man rose up to go, his father-in-law urged him, till he lodged there again. ⁸ And on the fifth day he arose early in the morning to depart; and the girl’s father said, “Strengthen your heart, and tarry until the day declines.” So they ate, both of them. ⁹ And when the man and his concubine and his servant rose up to depart, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Behold, now the day has waned toward evening; pray tarry all night. Behold, the day draws to its close; lodge here and let your heart be merry; and tomorrow you shall arise early in the morning for your journey, and go home.”

¹⁰ But the man would not spend the night; he rose up and departed, and arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). He had with him a couple of saddled asses, and his concubine was with him. ¹¹ When they were near Jebus, the day was far spent, and the servant said to his master, “Come now, let us turn aside to this city of the Jeb′usites, and spend the night in it.” ¹² And his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into the city of foreigners, who do not belong to the people of Israel; but we will pass on to Gib′e-ah.” ¹³ And he said to his servant, “Come and let us draw near to one of these places, and spend the night at Gib′e-ah or at Ramah.” ¹⁴ So they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down on them near Gib′e-ah, which belongs to Benjamin, ¹⁵ and they turned aside there, to go in and spend the night at Gib′e-ah. And he went in and sat down in the open square of the city; for no man took them into his house to spend the night.

¹⁶ And behold, an old man was coming from his work in the field at evening; the man was from the hill country of E′phraim, and he was sojourning in Gib′e-ah; the men of the place were Benjaminites. ¹⁷ And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the wayfarer in the open square of the city; and the old man said, “Where are you going? and whence do you come?” ¹⁸ And he said to him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote parts of the hill country of E′phraim, from which I come. I went to Bethlehem in Judah; and I am going to my home;^[j] and nobody takes me into his house. ¹⁹ We have straw and provender for our asses, with bread and wine for me and your maidservant and the young man with your servants; there is no lack of anything.” ²⁰ And the old man said, “Peace be to you; I will care for all your wants; only, do not spend the night in the square.” ²¹ So he brought him into his house, and gave the asses provender; and they washed their feet, and ate and drank.

Gibeah’s Crime

²² As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, base fellows, beset the house round about, beating on the door; and they said to the old man, the master of the house, “Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him.” ²³ And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brethren, do not act so wickedly; seeing that this man has come into my house, do not do this vile thing. ²⁴ Behold, here are my virgin daughter and his concubine; let me bring them out now. Ravish them and do with them what seems good to you; but against this man do not do so vile a thing.” ²⁵ But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine, and put her out to them; and they knew her, and abused her all night until the morning. And as the dawn began to break, they let her go. ²⁶ And as morning appeared, the woman came and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her master was, till it was light.

²⁷ And her master rose up in the morning, and when he opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, behold, there was his concubine lying at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold. ²⁸ He said to her, “Get up, let us be going.” But there was no answer. Then he put her upon the ass; and the man rose up and went away to his home. ²⁹ And when he entered his house, he took a knife, and laying hold of his concubine he divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel. ³⁰ And all who saw it said, “Such a thing has never happened or been seen from the day that the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day; consider it, take counsel, and speak.”

The Other Tribes Attack Benjamin

20 Then all the people of Israel came out, from Dan to Beer-sheba, including the land of Gilead, and the congregation assembled as one man to the Lord at Mizpah. ² And the chiefs of all the people, of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand men on foot that drew the sword. ³ (Now the Benjaminites heard that the people of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the people of Israel said, “Tell us, how was this wickedness brought to pass?” ⁴ And the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, “I came to Gib′e-ah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night. ⁵ And the men of Gib′e-ah rose against me, and beset the house round about me by night; they meant to kill me, and they ravished my concubine, and she is dead. ⁶ And I took my concubine and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel; for they have committed abomination and wantonness in Israel. ⁷ Behold, you people of Israel, all of you, give your advice and counsel here.”

⁸ And all the people arose as one man, saying, “We will not any of us go to his tent, and none of us will return to his house. ⁹ But now this is what we will do to Gib′e-ah: we will go up against it by lot, ¹⁰ and we will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand of ten thousand, to bring provisions for the people, that when they come they may requite Gib′e-ah of Benjamin, for all the wanton crime which they have committed in Israel.” ¹¹ So all the men of Israel gathered against the city, united as one man.

¹² And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What wickedness is this that has taken place among you? ¹³ Now therefore give up the men, the base fellows in Gib′e-ah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel.” But the Benjaminites would not listen to the voice of their brethren, the people of Israel. ¹⁴ And the Benjaminites came together out of the cities to Gib′e-ah, to go out to battle against the people of Israel. ¹⁵ And the Benjaminites mustered out of their cities on that day twenty-six thousand men that drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gib′e-ah, who mustered seven hundred picked men. ¹⁶ Among all these were seven hundred picked men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair, and not miss. ¹⁷ And the men of Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand men that drew sword; all these were men of war.

¹⁸ The people of Israel arose and went up to Bethel, and inquired of God, “Which of us shall go up first to battle against the Benjaminites?” And the Lord said, “Judah shall go up first.”

¹⁹ Then the people of Israel rose in the morning, and encamped against Gib′e-ah. ²⁰ And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin; and the men of Israel drew up the battle line against them at Gib′e-ah. ²¹ The Benjaminites came out of Gib′e-ah, and felled to the ground on that day twenty-two thousand men of the Israelites. ²² But the people, the men of Israel, took courage, and again formed the battle line in the same place where they had formed it on the first day. ²³ And the people of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until the evening; and they inquired of the Lord, “Shall we again draw near to battle against our brethren the Benjaminites?” And the Lord said, “Go up against them.”

²⁴ So the people of Israel came near against the Benjamnites the second day. ²⁵ And Benjamin went against them out of Gib′e-ah the second day, and felled to the ground eighteen thousand men of the people of Israel; all these were men who drew the sword. ²⁶ Then all the people of Israel, the whole army, went up and came to Bethel and wept; they sat there before the Lord, and fasted that day until evening, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. ²⁷ And the people of Israel inquired of the Lord (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, ²⁸ and Phin′ehas the son of Elea′zar, son of Aaron, ministered before it in those days), saying, “Shall we yet again go out to battle against our brethren the Benjaminites, or shall we cease?” And the Lord said, “Go up; for tomorrow I will give them into your hand.”

²⁹ So Israel set men in ambush round about Gib′e-ah. ³⁰ And the people of Israel went up against the Benjaminites on the third day, and set themselves in array against Gib′e-ah, as at other times. ³¹ And the Benjaminites went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and as at other times they began to smite and kill some of the people, in the highways, one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gib′e-ah, and in the open country, about thirty men of Israel. ³² And the Benjaminites said, “They are routed before us, as at the first.” But the men of Israel said, “Let us flee, and draw them away from the city to the highways.” ³³ And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place, and set themselves in array at Ba′al-ta′mar; and the men of Israel who were in ambush rushed out of their place west^[k] of Geba. ³⁴ And there came against Gib′e-ah ten thousand picked men out of all Israel, and the battle was hard; but the Benjaminites did not know that disaster was close upon them. ³⁵ And the Lord defeated Benjamin before Israel; and the men of Israel destroyed twenty-five thousand one hundred men of Benjamin that day; all these were men who drew the sword. ³⁶ So the Benjaminites saw that they were defeated.

The men of Israel gave ground to Benjamin, because they trusted to the men in ambush whom they had set against Gib′e-ah. ³⁷ And the men in ambush made haste and rushed upon Gib′e-ah; the men in ambush moved out and smote all the city with the edge of the sword. ³⁸ Now the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in ambush was that when they made a great cloud of smoke rise up out of the city ³⁹ the men of Israel should turn in battle. Now Benjamin had begun to smite and kill about thirty men of Israel; they said, “Surely they are smitten down before us, as in the first battle.” ⁴⁰ But when the signal began to rise out of the city in a column of smoke, the Benjaminites looked behind them; and behold, the whole of the city went up in smoke to heaven. ⁴¹ Then the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were dismayed, for they saw that disaster was close upon them. ⁴² Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel in the direction of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them, and those who came out of the cities destroyed them in the midst of them. ⁴³ Cutting down^[l] the Benjaminites, they pursued them and trod them down from Nohah^[m] as far as opposite Gib′e-ah on the east. ⁴⁴ Eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell, all of them men of valor. ⁴⁵ And they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon; five thousand men of them were cut down in the highways, and they were pursued hard to Gidom, and two thousand men of them were slain. ⁴⁶ So all who fell that day of Benjamin were twenty-five thousand men that drew the sword, all of them men of valor. ⁴⁷ But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and abode at the rock of Rimmon four months. ⁴⁸ And the men of Israel turned back against the Benjaminites, and smote them with the edge of the sword, men and beasts and all that they found. And all the towns which they found they set on fire.

The Benjaminites Saved from Extinction

21 Now the men of Israel had sworn at Mizpah, “No one of us shall give his daughter in marriage to Benjamin.” ² And the people came to Bethel, and sat there till evening before God, and they lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. ³ And they said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, why has this come to pass in Israel, that there should be today one tribe lacking in Israel?” ⁴ And on the morrow the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. ⁵ And the people of Israel said, “Which of all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the Lord?” For they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the Lord to Mizpah, saying, “He shall be put to death.” ⁶ And the people of Israel had compassion for Benjamin their brother, and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel this day. ⁷ What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them any of our daughters for wives?”

⁸ And they said, “What one is there of the tribes of Israel that did not come up to the Lord to Mizpah?” And behold, no one had come to the camp from Ja′besh-gil′ead, to the assembly. ⁹ For when the people were mustered, behold, not one of the inhabitants of Ja′besh-gil′ead was there. ¹⁰ So the congregation sent thither twelve thousand of their bravest men, and commanded them, “Go and smite the inhabitants of Ja′besh-gil′ead with the edge of the sword; also the women and the little ones. ¹¹ This is what you shall do; every male and every woman that has lain with a male you shall utterly destroy.” ¹² And they found among the inhabitants of Ja′besh-gil′ead four hundred young virgins who had not known man by lying with him; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

¹³ Then the whole congregation sent word to the Benjaminites who were at the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace to them. ¹⁴ And Benjamin returned at that time; and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Ja′besh-gil′ead; but they did not suffice for them. ¹⁵ And the people had compassion on Benjamin because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.

¹⁶ Then the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?” ¹⁷ And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe be not blotted out from Israel. ¹⁸ Yet we cannot give them wives of our daughters.” For the people of Israel had sworn, “Cursed be he who gives a wife to Benjamin.” ¹⁹ So they said, “Behold, there is the yearly feast of the Lord at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebo′nah.” ²⁰ And they commanded the Benjaminites, saying, “Go and lie in wait in the vineyards, ²¹ and watch; if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards and seize each man his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. ²² And when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Grant them graciously to us; because we did not take for each man of them his wife in battle, neither did you give them to them, else you would now be guilty.’” ²³ And the Benjaminites did so, and took their wives, according to their number, from the dancers whom they carried off; then they went and returned to their inheritance, and rebuilt the towns, and dwelt in them. ²⁴ And the people of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and they went out from there every man to his inheritance.

²⁵ In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.

Elimelech’s Family Goes to Moab

1 In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. ² The name of the man was Elim′elech and the name of his wife Na′omi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chil′ion; they were Eph′rathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. ³ But Elim′elech, the husband of Na′omi, died, and she was left with her two sons. ⁴ These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years; ⁵ and both Mahlon and Chil′ion died, so that the woman was bereft of her two sons and her husband.

Naomi and Her Moabite Daughters-in-Law

⁶ Then she started with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. ⁷ So she set out from the place where she was, with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. ⁸ But Na′omi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. ⁹ The Lord grant that you may find a home, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. ¹⁰ And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” ¹¹ But Na′omi said, “Turn back, my daughters, why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? ¹² Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, ¹³ would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone forth against me.” ¹⁴ Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

¹⁵ And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” ¹⁶ But Ruth said, “Entreat me not to leave you or to return from following you; for where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God; ¹⁷ where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if even death parts me from you.” ¹⁸ And when Na′omi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.

¹⁹ So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them; and the women said, “Is this Na′omi?” ²⁰ She said to them, “Do not call me Na′omi,^[n] call me Mara,^[o] for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. ²¹ I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Na′omi, when the Lord has afflicted^[p] me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?”

²² So Na′omi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

Ruth Meets Boaz

2 Now Na′omi had a kinsman of her husband’s, a man of wealth, of the family of Elim′elech, whose name was Bo′az. ² And Ruth the Moabitess said to Na′omi, “Let me go to the field, and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” ³ So she set forth and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Bo′az, who was of the family of Elim′elech. ⁴ And behold, Bo′az came from Bethlehem; and he said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you!” And they answered, “The Lord bless you.” ⁵ Then Bo′az said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose maiden is this?” ⁶ And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “It is the Moabite maiden, who came back with Na′omi from the country of Moab. ⁷ She said, ‘Pray, let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.’ So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, without resting even for a moment.”^[q]

⁸ Then Bo′az said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my maidens. ⁹ Let your eyes be upon the field which they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to molest you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.” ¹⁰ Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, when I am a foreigner?” ¹¹ But Bo′az answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. ¹² The Lord recompense you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!” ¹³ Then she said, “You are most gracious to me, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not one of your maidservants.”

¹⁴ And at mealtime Bo′az said to her, “Come here, and eat some bread, and dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her parched grain; and she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over. ¹⁵ When she rose to glean, Bo′az instructed his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. ¹⁶ And also pull out some from the bundles for her, and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.”

¹⁷ So she gleaned in the field until evening; then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. ¹⁸ And she took it up and went into the city; she showed her mother-in-law what she had gleaned, and she also brought out and gave her what food she had left over after being satisfied. ¹⁹ And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Bo′az.” ²⁰ And Na′omi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Na′omi also said to her, “The man is a relative of ours, one of our nearest kin.” ²¹ And Ruth the Moabitess said, “Besides, he said to me, ‘You shall keep close by my servants, till they have finished all my harvest.’” ²² And Na′omi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is well, my daughter, that you go out with his maidens, lest in another field you be molested.” ²³ So she kept close to the maidens of Bo′az, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests; and she lived with her mother-in-law.

Ruth and Boaz at the Threshing Floor

3 Then Na′omi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek a home for you, that it may be well with you? ² Now is not Bo′az our kinsman, with whose maidens you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. ³ Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. ⁴ But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies; then, go and uncover his feet and lie down; and he will tell you what to do.” ⁵ And she replied, “All that you say I will do.”

⁶ So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had told her. ⁷ And when Bo′az had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came softly, and uncovered his feet, and lay down. ⁸ At midnight the man was startled, and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet! ⁹ He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your maidservant; spread your skirt over your maidservant, for you are next of kin.” ¹⁰ And he said, “May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter; you have made this last kindness greater than the first, in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. ¹¹ And now, my daughter, do not fear, I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a woman of worth. ¹² And now it is true that I am a near kinsman, yet there is a kinsman nearer than I. ¹³ Remain this night, and in the morning, if he will do the part of the next of kin for you, well; let him do it; but if he is not willing to do the part of the next of kin for you, then, as the Lord lives, I will do the part of the next of kin for you. Lie down until the morning.”

¹⁴ So she lay at his feet until the morning, but arose before one could recognize another; and he said, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” ¹⁵ And he said, “Bring the mantle you are wearing and hold it out.” So she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley, and laid it upon her; then she went into the city. ¹⁶ And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “How did you fare, my daughter?” Then she told her all that the man had done for her, ¹⁷ saying, “These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said, ‘You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’” ¹⁸ She replied, “Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today.”

The Marriage of Boaz and Ruth

4 And Bo′az went up to the gate and sat down there; and behold, the next of kin, of whom Bo′az had spoken, came by. So Bo′az said, “Turn aside, friend; sit down here”; and he turned aside and sat down. ² And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here”; so they sat down. ³ Then he said to the next of kin, “Na′omi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land which belonged to our kinsman Elim′elech. ⁴ So I thought I would tell you of it, and say, Buy it in the presence of those sitting here, and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you.” And he said, “I will redeem it.” ⁵ Then Bo′az said, “The day you buy the field from the hand of Na′omi, you are also buying Ruth^[r] the Moabitess, the widow of the dead, in order to restore the name of the dead to his inheritance.” ⁶ Then the next of kin said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”

⁷ Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one drew off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was the manner of attesting in Israel. ⁸ So when the next of kin said to Bo′az, “Buy it for yourself,” he drew off his sandal. ⁹ Then Bo′az said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Na′omi all that belonged to Elim′elech and all that belonged to Chil′ion and to Mahlon. ¹⁰ Also Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from the gate of his native place; you are witnesses this day.” ¹¹ Then all the people who were at the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you prosper in Eph′rathah and be renowned in Bethlehem; ¹² and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the children that the Lord will give you by this young woman.”

The Genealogy of David

¹³ So Bo′az took Ruth and she became his wife; and he went in to her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. ¹⁴ Then the women said to Na′omi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without next of kin; and may his name be renowned in Israel! ¹⁵ He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him.” ¹⁶ Then Na′omi took the child and laid him in her bosom, and became his nurse. ¹⁷ And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Na′omi.” They named him Obed; he was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

¹⁸ Now these are the descendants of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron, ¹⁹ Hezron of Ram, Ram of Ammin′adab, ²⁰ Ammin′adab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon, ²¹ Salmon of Bo′az, Bo′az of Obed, ²² Obed of Jesse, and Jesse of David.

Samuel’s Birth and Dedication

1 There was a certain man of Ramatha′im-zo′phim of the hill country of E′phraim, whose name was Elka′nah the son of Jero′ham, son of Eli′hu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an E′phraimite. ² He had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Penin′nah. And Penin′nah had children, but Hannah had no children.

³ Now this man used to go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phin′ehas, were priests of the Lord. ⁴ On the day when Elka′nah sacrificed, he would give portions to Penin′nah his wife and to all her sons and daughters; ⁵ and, although^[s] he loved Hannah, he would give Hannah only one portion, because the Lord had closed her womb. ⁶ And her rival used to provoke her sorely, to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. ⁷ So it went on year by year; as often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. ⁸ And Elka′nah, her husband, said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?”

⁹ After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. ¹⁰ She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord, and wept bitterly. ¹¹ And she vowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thy maidservant, and remember me, and not forget thy maidservant, but wilt give to thy maidservant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.”

¹² As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. ¹³ Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard; therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. ¹⁴ And Eli said to her, “How long will you be drunken? Put away your wine from you.” ¹⁵ But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman sorely troubled; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. ¹⁶ Do not regard your maidservant as a base woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.” ¹⁷ Then Eli answered, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you have made to him.” ¹⁸ And she said, “Let your maidservant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman went her way and ate, and her countenance was no longer sad.

¹⁹ They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at Ramah. And Elka′nah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her; ²⁰ and in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked him of the Lord.”

²¹ And the man Elka′nah and all his house went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice, and to pay his vow. ²² But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, that he may appear in the presence of the Lord, and abide there for ever.” ²³ Elka′nah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you, wait until you have weaned him; only, may the Lord establish his word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son, until she weaned him. ²⁴ And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull,^[t] an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine; and she brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh; and the child was young. ²⁵ Then they slew the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. ²⁶ And she said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. ²⁷ For this child I prayed; and the Lord has granted me my petition which I made to him. ²⁸ Therefore I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.”

And they^[u] worshiped the Lord there.

Hannah’s Prayer

2 Hannah also prayed and said,

Eli’s Wicked Sons

¹¹ Then Elka′nah went home to Ramah. And the boy ministered to the Lord, in the presence of Eli the priest.

¹² Now the sons of Eli were worthless men; they had no regard for the Lord. ¹³ The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, ¹⁴ and he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself.^[v] So they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. ¹⁵ Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast; for he will not accept boiled meat from you, but raw.” ¹⁶ And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now; and if not, I will take it by force.” ¹⁷ Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord; for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt.

The Child Samuel at Shiloh

¹⁸ Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy girded with a linen ephod. ¹⁹ And his mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year, when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. ²⁰ Then Eli would bless Elka′nah and his wife, and say, “The Lord give you children by this woman for the loan which she lent to^[w] the Lord”; so then they would return to their home.

²¹ And the Lord visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the Lord.

Prophecy against Eli’s Household

²² Now Eli was very old, and he heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ²³ And he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people. ²⁴ No, my sons; it is no good report that I hear the people of the Lord spreading abroad. ²⁵ If a man sins against a man, God will mediate for him; but if a man sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father; for it was the will of the Lord to slay them.

²⁶ Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and with men.

²⁷ And there came a man of God to Eli, and said to him, “Thus the Lord has said, ‘I revealed^[x] myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh. ²⁸ And I chose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me; and I gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel. ²⁹ Why then look with greedy eye at^[y] my sacrifices and my offerings which I commanded, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves upon the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?’