Bible in 90 Days

¹³ “No,” they replied, “we will only bind you and hand you over to them. We will certainly not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the crag. ¹⁴ When he reached Lehi, and the Philistines came shouting to meet him,^(A) the spirit of the Lord rushed upon him: the ropes around his arms became like flax that is consumed by fire, and his bonds melted away from his hands. ¹⁵ Coming upon the fresh jawbone of an ass, he reached out, grasped it, and with it killed a thousand men.^{(B) 16} Then Samson said,

¹⁷ As he finished speaking he threw the jawbone from him; and so that place was named Ramath-lehi.^{[a] 18} Being very thirsty, he cried to the Lord and said, “You have put this great victory into the hand of your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” ¹⁹ Then God split the cavity in Lehi, and water issued from it, and Samson drank till his spirit returned and he revived. Hence it is called En-hakkore^[b] in Lehi to this day.

²⁰ Samson judged Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.^(C)

Chapter 16

¹ Once Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute and visited her. ² The people of Gaza were told, “Samson has come here,” and they surrounded him with an ambush at the city gate all night long. And all the night they waited, saying, “At morning light we will kill him.” ³ Samson lay there until midnight. Then he rose at midnight, seized the doors of the city gate and the two gateposts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He hoisted them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the ridge opposite Hebron.

Samson and Delilah. ⁴ After that he fell in love with a woman in the Wadi Sorek whose name was Delilah. ^5 (D)The lords of the Philistines came up to her and said, “Trick him and find out where he gets his great strength, and how we may overcome and bind him so as to make him helpless. Then for our part, we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.”

⁶ So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me where you get your great strength and how you may be bound so as to be made helpless.” ⁷ “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not dried,” Samson answered her, “I shall grow weaker and be like anyone else.” ⁸ So the lords of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not dried, and she bound him with them. ⁹ She had men lying in wait in the room, and she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he snapped the bowstrings as a thread of tow is snapped by a whiff of flame; and his strength remained unexplained.

¹⁰ Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me and told me lies. Now tell me how you may be bound.” ¹¹ “If they bind me tight with new ropes, with which no work has been done,” he answered her, “I shall grow weaker and be like anyone else.” ¹² So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them. Then she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” For there were men lying in wait in the room. But he snapped the ropes off his arms like thread.

¹³ Delilah said to Samson again, “Up to now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me how you may be bound.” He said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my hair into the web and fasten them with the pin, I shall grow weaker and be like anyone else.” ¹⁴ So when he went to bed, Delilah took the seven locks of his hair and wove them into the web, and fastened them with the pin. Then she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” Awakening from his sleep, he pulled out both the loom and the web.

^15 (E)Then she said to him, “How can you say ‘I love you’ when your heart is not mine? Three times already you have mocked me, and not told me where you get your great strength!” ^16 (F)She pressed him continually and pestered him till he was deathly weary of it. ¹⁷ So he told her all that was in his heart and said, “No razor has touched my head, for I have been a nazirite for God from my mother’s womb.^(G) If I am shaved, my strength will leave me, and I shall grow weaker and be like anyone else.” ¹⁸ When Delilah realized that he had told her all that was in his heart, she summoned the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up this time, for he has told me all that is in his heart.” So the lords of the Philistines came to her and brought the money with them.^{(H) 19} She put him to sleep on her lap, and called for a man who shaved off the seven locks of his hair. He immediately became helpless, for his strength had left him.^{[c] 20} When she said “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” he woke from his sleep and thought, “I will go out as I have done time and again and shake myself free.” He did not realize that the Lord had left him. ²¹ But the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. Then they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze fetters, and he was put to grinding grain in the prison. ²² But the hair of his head began to grow as soon as it was shaved.

The Death of Samson. ^23 (I)The lords of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon^[d] and to celebrate. They said, “Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our power.” ²⁴ When the people saw him, they praised their god. For they said,

²⁵ When their spirits were high, they said, “Call Samson that he may amuse us.” So they called Samson from the prison, and he provided amusement for them. They made him stand between the columns, ²⁶ and Samson said to the attendant who was holding his hand, “Put me where I may touch the columns that support the temple, so that I may lean against them.” ²⁷ The temple was full of men and women: all the lords of the Philistines were there, and from the roof about three thousand men and women looked on as Samson provided amusement. ²⁸ Samson cried out to the Lord and said, “Lord God, remember me! Strengthen me only this once that I may avenge myself on the Philistines at one blow for my two eyes.” ²⁹ Samson grasped the two middle columns on which the temple rested and braced himself against them, one at his right, the other at his left. ³⁰ Then saying, “Let me die with the Philistines!” Samson pushed hard, and the temple fell upon the lords and all the people who were in it. Those he killed by his dying were more than those he had killed during his lifetime.

³¹ His kinsmen and all his father’s house went down and bore him up for burial in the grave of Manoah his father between Zorah and Eshtaol. He had judged Israel for twenty years.^(J)

III. Further Stories of the Tribes of Dan and Benjamin

Chapter 17

Micah and the Levite. ¹ There was a man from the mountain region of Ephraim whose name was Micah. ^2 [e]He said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you pronounced a curse and even said it in my hearing—I have that silver. I took it. So now I will restore it to you.” Then his mother said, “May my son be blessed by the Lord!” ³ When he restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, she said, “I consecrate the silver to the Lord from my own hand on behalf of my son to make an idol overlaid with silver.”^{[f](K) 4} So when he restored the silver to his mother, she took two hundred pieces and gave them to the silversmith, who made of them an idol overlaid with silver. So it remained in the house of Micah. ⁵ The man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and teraphim,^[g](L) and installed one of his sons, who became his priest.^{(M) 6 [h]}In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in their own eyes.^(N)

⁷ There was a young man from Bethlehem of Judah, from the clan of Judah; he was a Levite residing there.^{(O) 8} The man set out from the city, Bethlehem of Judah, to take up residence wherever he could find a place. On his journey he came into the mountain region of Ephraim as far as the house of Micah. ⁹ “Where do you come from?” Micah asked him. He answered him, “I am a Levite, from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am on my way to take up residence wherever I can find a place.” ¹⁰ “Stay with me,” Micah said to him. “Be father and priest to me,^(P) and I will give you ten silver pieces a year, a set of garments, and your living.” He pressed the Levite, ¹¹ and he agreed to stay with the man. The young man became like one of his own sons. ^12 [i]Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest, remaining in the house of Micah. ¹³ Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, since I have the Levite as my priest.”

Chapter 18

Migration of the Danites. ¹ In those days there was no king in Israel.^(Q) In those days the tribe of the Danites were in search of a heritage to dwell in, for up to that time no heritage had been allotted^[j] to them among the tribes of Israel.^(R)

² So the Danites sent from their clans five powerful men of Zorah and Eshtaol, to reconnoiter the land and scout it. “Go, scout the land,” they were told. They went into the mountain region of Ephraim, and they spent the night there. ³ While they were near the house of Micah,^(S) they recognized the voice^[k] of the young Levite,^(T) so they turned aside. They asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing here? What is your interest here?” ⁴ “This is what Micah has done for me,” he replied to them. “He has hired me and I have become his priest.”^{(U) 5} They said to him, “Consult God, that we may know whether the journey we are making will lead to success.”^{(V) 6} The priest said to them, “Go in peace! The journey you are making is under the eye of the Lord.”

⁷ So the five men went on and came to Laish. They saw the people there living securely after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and trusting, with no lack of any natural resource. They were distant from the Sidonians and had no dealings with the Arameans.^{[l] 8} When the five returned to their kin in Zorah and Eshtaol, they were asked, “What do you have to report?” ⁹ They replied, “Come, let us attack them, for we have seen the land and it is very good. Are you going to hesitate? Do not be slow to go in and take possession of the land! ¹⁰ When you go you will come to a trusting people. The land stretches out in both directions, and God has indeed given it into your power—a place where no natural resource is lacking.”^(W)

¹¹ So six hundred of the clan of the Danites, men armed with weapons of war, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol. ¹² They marched up into Judah and encamped near Kiriath-jearim; for this reason the place is called Mahaneh-dan^[m] to this day (it lies west of Kiriath-jearim).^(X)

¹³ From there they passed on into the mountain region of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah. ¹⁴ Then the five men who had gone to reconnoiter the land spoke up and said to their kindred, “Do you know that in these houses there are an ephod, teraphim, and an idol overlaid with silver?^(Y) Now decide what you must do!” ¹⁵ So turning in that direction, they went to the house of the young Levite at the home of Micah and greeted him. ¹⁶ The six hundred Danites stationed themselves at the entrance of the gate armed with weapons of war. ¹⁷ The five men who had gone to reconnoiter the land went up ¹⁸ and entered the house of Micah with the priest standing there. They took the idol, the ephod, the teraphim and the metal image. When the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” ¹⁹ they said to him, “Be still! Put your hand over your mouth! Come with us and be our father and priest.^(Z) Is it better for you to be priest for the family of one man or to be priest for a tribe and a clan in Israel?” ²⁰ The priest, agreeing, took the ephod, the teraphim, and the idol, and went along with the troops. ²¹ As they turned to depart, they placed their little ones, their livestock, and their goods at the head of the column.

^22 (AA)When the Danites had gone some distance from the house of Micah, Micah and the men in the houses nearby mustered and overtook them. ²³ They called to the Danites, who turned and said to Micah, “What do you want that you have called this muster?” ²⁴ “You have taken my god, which I made for myself, and you have gone off with my priest as well,” he answered. “What is left for me? How, then, can you ask me, ‘What do you want?’” ²⁵ The Danites said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard near us, or aggravated men will attack you, and you will have forfeited your life and the lives of your family!” ²⁶ Then the Danites went on their way, and Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him, turned back and went home.

^27 (AB)Having taken what Micah had made and his priest, they marched against Laish, a quiet and trusting people; they put them to the sword and destroyed the city by fire. ²⁸ No one came to their aid, since the city was far from Sidon and they had no dealings with the Arameans; the city was in the valley that belongs to Beth-rehob. The Danites then rebuilt the city and occupied it. ²⁹ They named it Dan after their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel.^(AC) But Laish was the name of the city formerly. ^30 [n]The Danites set up the idol for themselves, and Jonathan, son of Gershom, son of Moses,^(AD) and his descendants were priests for the tribe of the Danites until the time the land went into captivity. ³¹ They maintained the idol Micah had made as long as the house of God was in Shiloh.^[o]

Chapter 19

The Levite from Ephraim. ¹ In those days, when there was no king in Israel,^[p](AE) there was a Levite residing in remote parts of the mountain region of Ephraim^(AF) who had taken for himself a concubine from Bethlehem of Judah. ² But his concubine spurned him and left him for her father’s house in Bethlehem of Judah, where she stayed for some four months. ³ Her husband then set out with his servant and a pair of donkeys, and went after her to soothe her and bring her back. He arrived at her father’s house, and when the young woman’s father saw him, he came out joyfully to meet him. ⁴ His father-in-law, the young woman’s father, urged him to stay, and so he spent three days eating and drinking and passing the night there. ⁵ On the fourth day they rose early in the morning and he prepared to go. But the young woman’s father said to his son-in-law, “Fortify yourself with a little food; you can go later on.” ⁶ So they stayed and the two men ate and drank together. Then the young woman’s father said to the husband, “Why not decide to spend the night here and enjoy yourself?” ⁷ The man made a move to go, but when his father-in-law pressed him he went back and spent the night there.

⁸ On the fifth morning he rose early to depart, but the young woman’s father said, “Fortify yourself!” He coaxed him, and he tarried until the afternoon, and the two of them ate. ⁹ Then when the husband was ready to go with his concubine and servant, the young woman’s father said to him, “See, the day is wearing on toward evening. Stay for the night. See, the day is coming to an end. Spend the night here and enjoy yourself. Early tomorrow you can start your journey home.” ¹⁰ The man, however, refused to stay another night; he and his concubine set out with a pair of saddled donkeys, and traveled until they came opposite Jebus, which is Jerusalem. ¹¹ Since they were near Jebus with the day far gone, the servant said to his master, “Come, let us turn off to this city of the Jebusites and spend the night in it.” ¹² But his master said to him, “We will not turn off to a foreigner’s city,^(AG) where there are no Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah. ¹³ Come,” he said to his servant, “let us make for some other place and spend the night in either Gibeah or Ramah.”^{(AH) 14} So they continued on their way until the sun set on them when they were opposite Gibeah of Benjamin.

^15 [q]There they turned off to enter Gibeah for the night.^(AI) The man went in and sat down in the town square, but no one took them inside to spend the night. ¹⁶ In the evening, however, an old man came from his work in the field; he was from the mountain region of Ephraim, though he was living in Gibeah where the local people were Benjaminites. ^17 (AJ)When he noticed the traveler in the town square, the old man asked, “Where are you going, and where have you come from?” ¹⁸ He said to him, “We are traveling from Bethlehem of Judah far up into the mountain region of Ephraim, where I am from. I have been to Bethlehem of Judah, and now I am going home; but no one has taken me into his house. ¹⁹ We have straw and fodder for our donkeys, and bread and wine for myself and for your maidservant and the young man who is with your servant; there is nothing else we need.” ²⁰ “Rest assured,” the old man said to him, “I will provide for all your needs, but do not spend the night in the public square.” ²¹ So he led them to his house and mixed fodder for the donkeys. Then they washed their feet, and ate and drank.^(AK)

The Outrage at Gibeah. ^22 [r](AL)While they were enjoying themselves, the men of the city, a bunch of scoundrels, surrounded the house and beat on the door. They said to the old man who was the owner of the house, “Bring out the man who has come into your house, so that we may get intimate with him.” ²³ The man who was the owner of the house went out to them and said, “No, my brothers; do not be so wicked. This man has come into my house; do not commit this terrible crime. ²⁴ Instead, let me bring out my virgin daughter and this man’s concubine. Humiliate them, or do whatever you want; but against him do not commit such a terrible crime.” ²⁵ But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and thrust her outside to them. They raped her and abused her all night until morning, and let her go as the sun was coming up. ²⁶ At the approach of morning the woman came and collapsed at the entrance of the house in which her husband was, and lay there until morning. ²⁷ When her husband rose in the morning and opened the door of the house to start out again on his journey, there was the woman, his concubine, collapsed at the entrance of the house with her hands on the threshold. ²⁸ “Come, let us go,” he said to her, but there was no answer. So the man placed her on a donkey and started out again for home.

^29 [s]On reaching home, he got a knife and took hold of the body of his concubine. He cut her up limb by limb into twelve pieces and sent them throughout the territory of Israel.^{(AM) 30} He instructed the men whom he sent, “Thus you shall say to all the men of Israel: ‘Has such a thing ever happened from the day the Israelites came up from the land of Egypt to this day?^[t](AN) Take note of it; form a plan and give orders.’”

Chapter 20

Assembly of Israelites. ¹ So all the Israelites came out as one, from Dan to Beer-sheba^[u](AO) including the land of Gilead, and the assembly gathered to the Lord at Mizpah. ² The leaders of all the people, all the staff-bearers of Israel,^[v] presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God—four hundred thousand foot soldiers who carried swords. ³ Meanwhile, the Benjaminites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah. The Israelites asked, “How did this evil thing happen?” ⁴ and the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, testified: “It was at Gibeah of Benjamin, which my concubine and I had entered for the night.^{(AP) 5 (AQ)}The lords of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded me in the house at night. I was the one they intended to kill, but they abused my concubine and she died. ^6 (AR)So I took my concubine and cut her up and sent her through every part of the territory of Israel, because of the terrible thing they had done in Israel. ⁷ So now, all you Israelites, give your judgment and counsel in this matter.”^{(AS) 8} All the people rose as one to say, “None of us will leave for our tents or return to our homes. ⁹ Now as for Gibeah, this is what we will do: We will go up against it by lot, ¹⁰ taking from all the tribes of Israel ten men for every hundred, a hundred for every thousand, a thousand for every ten thousand, and procuring supplies for the soldiers who will go to exact from Gibeah of Benjamin the full measure of the terrible thing it committed in Israel.”

¹¹ So all the men of Israel gathered against the city, united as one. ¹² The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin to say, “What is this evil that has occurred among you? ¹³ Now give up the men, the scoundrels who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and thus purge the evil from Israel.” But the Benjaminites refused to listen to their kindred, the Israelites. ¹⁴ Instead, the Benjaminites assembled from their cities at Gibeah, to march out to battle with the Israelites. ¹⁵ On that day the Benjaminites mustered from their cities twenty-six thousand swordsmen, in addition to the inhabitants of Gibeah, who mustered seven hundred picked men ^16 [w]who were left-handed, every one of them able to sling a stone at a hair without missing. ¹⁷ The men of Israel, without Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand swordsmen, all of them warriors. ¹⁸ They went up to Bethel and consulted God. When the Israelites asked, “Who shall go up first for us to do battle with the Benjaminites?” the Lord said: Judah first.^{[x](AT) 19 [y]}The Israelites rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah.

War with Benjamin. ²⁰ The men of Israel marched out to do battle with Benjamin and drew up in battle array against them at Gibeah. ²¹ The Benjaminites marched out of Gibeah that day and felled twenty-two thousand men of Israel. ^22 [z]But the army of the men of Israel took courage and again drew up for battle in the place where they had drawn up on the previous day. ²³ Then the Israelites went up and wept before the Lord until evening. “Shall I again engage my brother Benjamin in battle?” they asked the Lord; and the Lord answered: Attack! ²⁴ When the Israelites drew near to the Benjaminites on the second day, ²⁵ Benjamin marched out of Gibeah against them again and felled eighteen thousand Israelites, all of them swordsmen. ²⁶ So the entire Israelite army went up and entered Bethel, where they sat weeping before the Lord. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and communion offerings before the Lord. ²⁷ The Israelites consulted the Lord (for the ark of the covenant of the Lord was there in those days, ²⁸ and Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron,^[aa] was standing in his presence in those days), and asked, “Shall I again go out to battle with my brother Benjamin, or shall I stop?” The Lord said: Attack! For tomorrow I will deliver him into your power. ^29 [ab](AU)So Israel set men in ambush around Gibeah.

³⁰ When the Israelites went up against the Benjaminites on the third day, they drew up against Gibeah as on other occasions. ³¹ When the Benjaminites marched out to meet the army, they began, as on other occasions, to strike down some of the troops along the highways, one of which goes up to Bethel and one to Gibeah in the open country; about thirty Israelites were slain. ³² The Benjaminites thought, “They are routed before us as previously.” The Israelites, however, were thinking, “We will flee and draw them out from the city onto the highways.” ³³ And then all the men of Israel rose from their places, forming up at Baal-tamar, and the Israelites in ambush rushed from their place west of Gibeah ³⁴ and advanced against Gibeah with ten thousand picked men from all Israel. The fighting was severe, but no one knew that a disaster was closing in. ³⁵ The Lord defeated Benjamin before Israel; and on that day the Israelites killed twenty-five thousand one hundred men of Benjamin, all of them swordsmen.

³⁶ Then the Benjaminites saw that they were defeated. The men of Israel gave ground to Benjamin, trusting in the ambush they had set at Gibeah. ³⁷ Then the men in ambush, having made a sudden dash against Gibeah, marched in and put the whole city to the sword. ³⁸ The arrangement the men of Israel had with the men in ambush was that they would send up a smoke signal from the city, ³⁹ and the men of Israel would then wheel about in the battle. Benjamin, having begun by killing off some thirty of the men of Israel, thought, “Surely they are completely routed before us, as in the earlier fighting.” ⁴⁰ But when the signal, the column of smoke, began to rise up from the city, Benjamin looked back and there was the whole city going up in smoke toward heaven. ⁴¹ Then when the men of Israel wheeled about, the men of Benjamin were thrown into confusion, for they realized that disaster was closing in on them. ⁴² They retreated before the men of Israel in the direction of the wilderness, but the fighting kept pace with them, and those who had been in the city were spreading destruction in between. ⁴³ They surrounded the men of Benjamin, pursued them from Nohah and drove them along to a point east of Gibeah. ⁴⁴ Eighteen thousand from Benjamin fell, all of them warriors. ⁴⁵ They turned and fled into the wilderness to the crag of Rimmon. The Israelites picked off five thousand men on the highways and kept pace with them as far as Gidom, where they struck down another two thousand of them. ⁴⁶ The total of those from Benjamin who fell that day was twenty-five thousand swordsmen, all of them warriors. ⁴⁷ Six hundred men turned and fled into the wilderness to the crag of Rimmon, where they remained for four months.^(AV)

⁴⁸ Then the men of Israel turned back against the Benjaminites, putting them to the sword—the inhabitants of the cities, the livestock, and all they came upon.^(AW) Moreover they destroyed by fire all the cities they came upon.

Chapter 21

Ensuring a Future for Benjamin. ^1 [ac]The men of Israel took an oath at Mizpah: “None of us will give his daughter in marriage to anyone from Benjamin.” ² So the people went to Bethel and remained there before God until evening, raising their voices in bitter weeping.^{(AX) 3} They said, “Lord, God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel that today one tribe of Israel should be lacking?” ⁴ Early the next day the people built an altar there and offered burnt offerings and communion offerings. ⁵ Then the Israelites asked, “Are there any among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up to the Lord for the assembly?” For there was a solemn oath that anyone who did not go up to the Lord at Mizpah should be put to death.^(AY)

⁶ The Israelites were disconsolate over their brother Benjamin and said, “Today one tribe has been cut off from Israel. ⁷ What can we do about wives for the survivors, since we have sworn by the Lord not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?” ⁸ And when they asked, “Is there one among the tribes of Israel who did not come up to the Lord in Mizpah?” they found that none of the men of Jabesh-gilead had come to the encampment for the assembly. ⁹ A roll call of the people was taken, and none of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead^(AZ) was present. ¹⁰ So the assembly sent twelve thousand warriors there with orders, “Go put the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead to the sword. ¹¹ This is what you are to do: Every male and every woman who has had relations with a male you shall put under the ban.”^{[ad](BA) 12} Finding among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgin women, who had not had relations with a man, they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, in the land of Canaan.^{(BB) 13} Then the whole assembly sent word to the Benjaminites at the crag of Rimmon,^(BC) offering them peace. ^14 [ae]So Benjamin returned at that time, and they were given as wives the women of Jabesh-gilead who had been spared; but these proved to be not enough for them.

¹⁵ The people had regrets about Benjamin because the Lord had made a breach among the tribes of Israel.^{(BD) 16} The elders of the assembly said, “What shall we do for wives for the survivors? For the women of Benjamin have been annihilated.”^{(BE) 17} They said, “There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be wiped out from Israel. ¹⁸ Yet we cannot give them any of our daughters in marriage.” For the Israelites had taken an oath, “Cursed be he who gives a wife to Benjamin!” ¹⁹ Then they thought of the yearly feast of the Lord at Shiloh,^(BF) north of Bethel, east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah. ²⁰ And they instructed the Benjaminites, “Go and set an ambush in the vineyards. ²¹ When you see the women of Shiloh come out to join in the dances, come out of the vineyards and catch a wife for each of you from the women of Shiloh; then go on to the land of Benjamin. ²² When their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we shall say to them, ‘Release them to us as a kindness, since we did not take a woman for every man in battle. Nor did you yourselves give your daughters to them, thus incurring guilt.’”^[af]

²³ The Benjaminites did this; they carried off wives for each of them from the dancers they had seized, and they went back each to his own heritage, where they rebuilt the cities and settled them. ²⁴ At that time the Israelites dispersed from there for their own tribes and clans; they set out from there each to his own heritage.

^25 [ag]In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in their own sight.^(BG)

Chapter 1

Naomi in Moab. ¹ Once back in the time of the judges^[ah] there was a famine in the land; so a man from Bethlehem of Judah left home with his wife and two sons to reside on the plateau of Moab. ² The man was named Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and his sons Mahlon and Chilion; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem of Judah. Some time after their arrival on the plateau of Moab, ³ Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. ⁴ They married Moabite women, one named Orpah, the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years, ⁵ both Mahlon and Chilion died also, and the woman was left with neither her two boys^[ai] nor her husband.

⁶ She and her daughters-in-law then prepared to go back from the plateau of Moab because word had reached her there that the Lord had seen to his people’s needs^[aj] and given them food. ⁷ She and her two daughters-in-law left the place where they had been living. On the road back to the land of Judah, ⁸ Naomi said to her daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you to your mother’s house.^[ak] May the Lord show you the same kindness as you have shown to the deceased and to me. ^9 (BH)May the Lord guide each of you to find a husband and a home in which you will be at rest.” She kissed them good-bye, but they wept aloud, ¹⁰ crying, “No! We will go back with you, to your people.” ¹¹ Naomi replied, “Go back, my daughters. Why come with me? Have I other sons in my womb who could become your husbands?^{[al] 12} Go, my daughters, for I am too old to marry again. Even if I had any such hope, or if tonight I had a husband and were to bear sons, ¹³ would you wait for them and deprive yourselves of husbands until those sons grew up? No, my daughters, my lot is too bitter for you, because the Lord has extended his hand against me.” ¹⁴ Again they wept aloud; then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye, but Ruth clung to her.

¹⁵ “See now,” she said, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her god. Go back after your sister-in-law!” ^16 [am]But Ruth said, “Do not press me to go back and abandon you!

May the Lord do thus to me, and more, if even death separates me from you!” ¹⁸ Naomi then ceased to urge her, for she saw she was determined to go with her.

The Return to Bethlehem. ¹⁹ So they went on together until they reached Bethlehem. On their arrival there, the whole town was excited about them, and the women asked: “Can this be Naomi?” ^20 (BI)But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi [‘Sweet’]. Call me Mara [‘Bitter’], for the Almighty has made my life very bitter. ^21 [an](BJ)I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why should you call me ‘Sweet,’ since the Lord has brought me to trial, and the Almighty has pronounced evil sentence on me.” ²² Thus it was that Naomi came back with her Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth, who accompanied her back from the plateau of Moab. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.^[ao]

Chapter 2

The Meeting. ^1 [ap]Naomi had a powerful relative named Boaz,^(BK) through the clan of her husband Elimelech. ^2 [aq]Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “I would like to go and glean grain in the field of anyone who will allow me.” Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” ³ So she went. The field she entered to glean after the harvesters happened to be the section belonging to Boaz, of the clan of Elimelech. ^4 [ar]Soon, along came Boaz from Bethlehem and said to the harvesters, “The Lord be with you,” and they replied, “The Lord bless you.” ⁵ Boaz asked the young man overseeing his harvesters, “Whose young woman is this?” ⁶ The young man overseeing the harvesters answered, “She is the young Moabite who came back with Naomi from the plateau of Moab.^{(BL) 7 [as]}She said, ‘I would like to gather the gleanings into sheaves after the harvesters.’ Ever since she came this morning she has remained here until now, with scarcely a moment’s rest.”

⁸ Boaz then spoke to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Do not go to glean in anyone else’s field; you are not to leave here. Stay here with my young women. ⁹ Watch to see which field is to be harvested, and follow them. Have I not commanded the young men to do you no harm? When you are thirsty, go and drink from the vessels the young people have filled.” ¹⁰ Casting herself prostrate upon the ground, she said to him, “Why should I, a foreigner, be favored with your attention?” ^11 (BM)Boaz answered her: “I have had a complete account of what you have done for your mother-in-law after your husband’s death; you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom previously you did not know. ^12 (BN)May the Lord reward what you have done! May you receive a full reward from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.” ¹³ She said, “May I prove worthy of your favor, my lord. You have comforted me. You have spoken to the heart of your servant^[at]—and I am not even one of your servants!” ¹⁴ At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and have something to eat; dip your bread in the sauce.” Then as she sat near the harvesters, he handed her some roasted grain and she ate her fill and had some left over. ¹⁵ As she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young people: “Let her glean among the sheaves themselves without scolding her, ¹⁶ and even drop some handfuls and leave them for her to glean; do not rebuke her.”

¹⁷ She gleaned in the field until evening, and when she beat out what she had gleaned it came to about an ephah^[au] of barley, ¹⁸ which she took into the town and showed to her mother-in-law. Next she brought out what she had left over from the meal and gave it to her. ¹⁹ So her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you go to work? May the one who took notice of you be blessed!” Then she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked. “The man at whose place I worked today is named Boaz,” she said. ^20 (BO)“May he be blessed by the Lord, who never fails to show kindness to the living and to the dead,” Naomi exclaimed to her daughter-in-law. She continued, “This man is a near relative of ours, one of our redeemers.”^{[av] 21} “He even told me,” added Ruth the Moabite, “Stay with my young people until they complete my entire harvest.” ²² “You would do well, my daughter,” Naomi rejoined, “to work with his young women; in someone else’s field you might be insulted.” ²³ So she stayed gleaning with Boaz’s young women until the end of the barley and wheat harvests.

Chapter 3

Ruth Again Presents Herself. When Ruth was back with her mother-in-law, ¹ Naomi said to her, “My daughter, should I not be seeking a pleasing home for you?^{(BP) 2 [aw]}Now! Is not Boaz,^(BQ) whose young women you were working with, a relative of ours? This very night he will be winnowing barley at the threshing floor. ³ Now, go bathe and anoint yourself; then put on your best attire and go down to the threshing floor. Do not make yourself known to the man before he has finished eating and drinking. ⁴ But when he lies down, take note of the place where he lies; then go uncover a place at his feet^[ax] and you lie down. He will then tell you what to do.” ⁵ “I will do whatever you say,” Ruth replied. ⁶ She went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had instructed her.

⁷ Boaz ate and drank to his heart’s content, and went to lie down at the edge of the pile of grain. She crept up, uncovered a place at his feet, and lay down. ⁸ Midway through the night, the man gave a start and groped about, only to find a woman lying at his feet. ⁹ “Who are you?” he asked. She replied, “I am your servant Ruth. Spread the wing of your cloak^[ay] over your servant, for you are a redeemer.” ¹⁰ He said, “May the Lord bless you, my daughter! You have been even more loyal now than before in not going after the young men, whether poor or rich. ¹¹ Now rest assured, my daughter, I will do for you whatever you say; all my townspeople know you to be a worthy woman.^{[az] 12 (BR)}Now, I am in fact a redeemer, but there is another redeemer closer than I.^{[ba] 13} Stay where you are for tonight, and tomorrow, if he will act as redeemer for you, good. But if he will not, as the Lord lives, I will do it myself. Lie there until morning.”^{(BS) 14} So she lay at his feet until morning, but rose before anyone could recognize another, for Boaz had said, “Let it not be known that this woman came to the threshing floor.” ¹⁵ Then he said to her, “Take off the shawl you are wearing; hold it firmly.” When she did so, he poured out six measures of barley and helped her lift the bundle; then he himself left for the town.

¹⁶ She, meanwhile, went home to her mother-in-law, who asked, “How did things go, my daughter?” So she told her all the man had done for her, ¹⁷ and concluded, “He gave me these six measures of barley and said, ‘Do not go back to your mother-in-law empty.’”^{(BT) 18} Naomi then said, “Wait here, my daughter, until you learn what happens, for the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today.”

Chapter 4

Boaz Marries Ruth. ¹ Boaz went to the gate^[bb] and took a seat there. Along came the other redeemer^(BU) of whom he had spoken. Boaz called to him by name, “Come, sit here.” And he did so. ² Then Boaz picked out ten of the elders^[bc] of the town and asked them to sit nearby. When they had done this, ³ he said to the other redeemer: “Naomi, who has come back from the plateau of Moab, is putting up for sale the piece of land that belonged to our kinsman Elimelech. ^4 [bd]So I thought I would inform you. Before those here present, including the elders of my people, purchase the field; act as redeemer.^(BV) But if you do not want to do it, tell me so, that I may know, for no one has a right of redemption prior to yours, and mine is next.” He answered, “I will act as redeemer.”

^5 [be]Boaz continued, “When you acquire the field from Naomi, you also acquire responsibility for Ruth the Moabite,^(BW) the widow of the late heir, to raise up a family for the deceased on his estate.” ⁶ The redeemer replied, “I cannot exercise my right of redemption for that would endanger my own estate. You do it in my place, for I cannot.” ^7 (BX)Now it used to be the custom in Israel that, to make binding a contract of redemption or exchange, one party would take off a sandal^[bf] and give it to the other. This was the form of attestation in Israel. ⁸ So the other redeemer, in saying to Boaz, “Acquire it for yourself,” drew off his sandal. ⁹ Boaz then said to the elders and to all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have acquired from Naomi all the holdings of Elimelech, Chilion and Mahlon. ¹⁰ I also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, as my wife, in order to raise up a family for her late husband on his estate, so that the name of the deceased may not perish from his people and his place. Do you witness this today?” ^11 (BY)All those at the gate, including the elders, said, “We do. May the Lord make this woman come into your house like Rachel and Leah, who between them built up the house of Israel. Prosper in Ephrathah! Bestow a name in Bethlehem! ¹² With the offspring the Lord will give you from this young woman, may your house become like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.”^[bg]

¹³ Boaz took Ruth. When they came together as husband and wife, the Lord enabled her to conceive and she bore a son. ¹⁴ Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed is the Lord who has not failed to provide you today with a redeemer. May he become famous in Israel! ¹⁵ He will restore your life and be the support of your old age, for his mother is the daughter-in-law who loves you. She is worth more to you than seven sons!” ¹⁶ Naomi took the boy, cradled him^[bh] against her breast, and cared for him. ¹⁷ The neighbor women joined the celebration: “A son has been born to Naomi!”^(BZ) They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

^18 (CA)These are the descendants of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron,^{(CB) 19} Hezron was the father of Ram, Ram was the father of Amminadab, ^20 (CC)Amminadab was the father of Nahshon, Nahshon was the father of Salma, ²¹ Salma was the father of Boaz, Boaz was the father of Obed, ^22 (CD)Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse became the father of David.

I. The Last Judges, Eli and Samuel

Chapter 1

Elkanah and His Family at Shiloh. ¹ There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim. His name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.^{(CE) 2} He had two wives, one named Hannah, the other Peninnah; Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. ³ Each year this man went up from his city to worship and offer sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were ministering as priests of the Lord.^{(CF) 4} When the day came for Elkanah to offer sacrifice, he used to give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters, ⁵ but he would give a double portion to Hannah because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb.^{(CG) 6} Her rival,^[bi] to upset her, would torment her constantly, since the Lord had closed her womb.^{(CH) 7} Year after year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, Peninnah would provoke her, and Hannah would weep and refuse to eat.^{[bj] 8} Elkanah, her husband, would say to her: “Hannah, why are you weeping? Why are you not eating? Why are you so miserable? Am I not better for you than ten sons?”^(CI)

Hannah’s Prayer. ⁹ Hannah rose after one such meal at Shiloh, and presented herself before the Lord; at the time Eli the priest was sitting on a chair near the doorpost of the Lord’s temple. ¹⁰ In her bitterness she prayed to the Lord, weeping freely, ¹¹ and made this vow: “O Lord of hosts, if you look with pity on the hardship of your servant, if you remember me and do not forget me, if you give your handmaid a male child, I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life. No razor shall ever touch his head.”^{[bk](CJ) 12} As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli watched her mouth, ¹³ for Hannah was praying silently; though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli, thinking she was drunk, ¹⁴ said to her, “How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Sober up from your wine!” ¹⁵ “No, my lord!” Hannah answered. “I am an unhappy woman. I have had neither wine nor liquor; I was only pouring out my heart to the Lord. ¹⁶ Do not think your servant a worthless woman; my prayer has been prompted by my deep sorrow and misery.” ¹⁷ Eli said, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have requested.” ¹⁸ She replied, “Let your servant find favor in your eyes,” and left. She went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband, and no longer appeared downhearted. ¹⁹ Early the next morning they worshiped before the Lord, and then returned to their home in Ramah. When they returned Elkanah had intercourse with his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her.

Hannah Bears a Son. ²⁰ She conceived and, at the end of her pregnancy, bore a son whom she named Samuel.^[bl] “Because I asked the Lord for him.” ²¹ The next time her husband Elkanah was going up with the rest of his household to offer the customary sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vows, ²² Hannah did not go, explaining to her husband, “Once the child is weaned, I will take him to appear before the Lord and leave him there forever.”^{[bm] 23} Her husband Elkanah answered her: “Do what you think best; wait until you have weaned him. Only may the Lord fulfill his word!” And so she remained at home and nursed her son until she had weaned him.^(CK)

Hannah Presents Samuel to the Lord. ²⁴ Once he was weaned, she brought him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah^[bn] of flour, and a skin of wine, and presented him at the house of the Lord in Shiloh. ²⁵ After they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the child to Eli. ²⁶ Then Hannah spoke up: “Excuse me, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here near you, praying to the Lord. ²⁷ I prayed for this child, and the Lord granted my request. ²⁸ Now I, in turn, give him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the Lord.” Then they worshiped there before the Lord.

Chapter 2

¹ And Hannah prayed:^[bo]

¹¹ When Elkanah returned home to Ramah, the child remained in the service of the Lord under the priest Eli.

Wickedness of Eli’s Sons. ¹² Now the sons of Eli were wicked; they had respect neither for the Lord ¹³ nor for the priests’ duties toward the people. When someone offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fork, while the meat was still boiling,^{(CT) 14} and would thrust it into the basin, kettle, caldron, or pot. Whatever the fork brought up, the priest would take for himself. They treated all the Israelites who came to the sanctuary at Shiloh in this way. ¹⁵ In fact, even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the one offering the sacrifice, “Give me some meat to roast for the priest. He will not accept boiled meat from you, only raw meat.” ¹⁶ And if this one protested, “Let the fat be burned first, then take whatever you wish,” he would reply, “No, give it to me now, or else I will take it by force.”^{(CU) 17} Thus the young men sinned grievously in the presence of the Lord, treating the offerings to the Lord with disdain.

The Lord Rewards Hannah. ¹⁸ Meanwhile the boy Samuel, wearing a linen ephod,^[bq] was serving in the presence of the Lord. ¹⁹ His mother used to make a little garment for him, which she would bring him each time she went up with her husband to offer the customary sacrifice. ²⁰ And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, as they were leaving for home. He would say, “May the Lord repay you with children from this woman for the gift she has made to the Lord!” ²¹ The Lord favored Hannah so that she conceived and gave birth to three more sons and two daughters, while young Samuel grew up in the service of the Lord.^(CV)

Eli’s Futile Rebuke. ²² When Eli was very old, he kept hearing how his sons were treating all Israel, and that they were behaving promiscuously^[br] with the women serving at the entry of the meeting tent. ²³ So he said to them: “Why are you doing such things? I hear from everyone that your behavior is depraved. ²⁴ Stop this, my sons! The report that I hear the Lord’s people spreading is not good. ²⁵ If someone sins against another, anyone can intercede for the sinner with the Lord; but if anyone sins against the Lord, who can intercede^[bs] for the sinner?” But they disregarded their father’s warning, since the Lord wanted them dead. ²⁶ Meanwhile, young Samuel was growing in stature and in worth in the estimation of the Lord and the people.^(CW)

The Fate of Eli’s House.^{[bt] 27} A man of God came to Eli and said to him: “Thus says the Lord: I went so far as to reveal myself to your father’s house when they were in Egypt as slaves to the house of Pharaoh. ²⁸ I chose them out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priests, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to wear the ephod^[bu] in my presence; and I assigned all the fire offerings of the Israelites to your father’s house.^{(CX) 29} Why do you stare greedily at my sacrifices and at the offerings that I have prescribed? Why do you honor your sons more than you honor me, fattening yourselves with the choicest part of every offering of my people Israel?