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

'Curse Meroz,' says the angel of Yahweh; 'curse bitterly its inhabitants, because they did not come to the help of Yahweh, to the help of Yahweh against the mighty.'

They invaded the land and devoured its crops all the way to Gaza. They left nothing for the Israelites to eat, and they took away the sheep, oxen, and donkeys.

But if you're afraid to go down there, you may take your servant Purah with you to their encampment,

And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath.

Now Gideon sent messengers throughout the Ephraimite hill country who announced, "Go down and head off the Midianites. Take control of the fords of the streams all the way to Beth Barah and the Jordan River." When all the Ephraimites had assembled, they took control of the fords all the way to Beth Barah and the Jordan River.

So he responded the same way to the men of Penuel, "When I come back safely, I'm going to tear down this tower."

And he said, They were my brothers, my mother's sons: by the life of the Lord, if you had kept them safe, I would not put you to death.

And Gideon saith unto them, 'Let me ask of you a petition, and give ye to me each the ring of his prey, for they have rings of gold, for they are Ishmaelites.'

Say now in the ears of all the townsmen of Shechem, Is it better for you to be ruled by all the seventy sons of Jerubbaal or by one man only? And keep in mind that I am your bone and your flesh.

Then he went to his father's house at Ophrah, and put his brothers, the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, to death on the same stone; however, Jotham, the youngest, kept himself safe by going away to a secret place.

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

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

But the olive-tree said to them, Am I to give up my wealth of oil, by which men give honour to God, and go waving over the trees?

But the fig-tree said to them, Am I to give up my sweet taste and my good fruit and go waving over the trees?

But the vine said to them, Am I to give up my wine, which makes glad God and men, to go waving over the trees?

Then Jotham ran away to Beer and lived there to escape from Abimelech his half-brother.

That the cruelty done to the threescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother, which slew them; and upon the men of Shechem, which aided him in the killing of his brethren.

And Gaal, the son of Ebed, said, Who is Abimelech and who is Shechem, that we are to be his servants? Is it not right for the son of Jerubbaal and Zebul his captain to be servants to the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem? But why are we to be his servants?

And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them to the hold, and set the hold on fire upon them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women.

But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut it to them, and gat them up to the top of the tower.

The children of Israel said to Yahweh, "We have sinned: do you to us whatever seems good to you; only deliver us, please, this day."

And Jephthah will say to the old men of Gilead, Did ye not hate me, and ye will drive me out from my father's house? and why came ye to me now when there is distress to you?

And Jephthah saith unto the elders of Gilead, 'If ye are taking me back to fight against the Bene-Ammon, and Jehovah hath given them before me -- I, am I to you for a head?'

Now Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, saying, “What is [the problem] between you and me, that you have come against me to fight in my land?”

So then the LORD, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel; and are you to take possession of them?

Will you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? And all that the LORD our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess.

He defeated 20 of their cities with a great slaughter from Aroer all the way to the entrance of Minnith and to Abel-keramim. So the Ammonites were subdued before the Israelites.

And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel,

Manoah said to the Lord's messenger, "Please stay here awhile, so we can prepare a young goat for you to eat."

And his father and his mother said to him - Is there not, among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, a woman, that thou art going away to take a woman from among the uncircumcised Philistines? But Samson said unto his father - Take, her, for me, for, she, is pleasant in mine eyes.

And within a short space after, as he went thither again to take her to wife, he turned out of the way, to see the carcass of the Lion. And behold, there was a swarm of bees in the carcass of the Lion and honey.

Then Samson's wife, weeping over him, said, Truly you have no love for me but only hate; you have put a hard question to the children of my people and have not given me the answer. And he said to her, See, I have not given the answer even to my father or my mother; am I to give it to you?

But Samson's wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.

And he made an attack on them, driving them in uncontrolled flight, and causing great destruction; then he went away to his safe place in the crack of the rock at Etam.

And three thousand men of Judah will go down to the cleft of the rock Etam, and they will say to Samson, Knewest thou not that Philisteim is ruling over us? and what this thou didst to us? and he will say to them, As they did to me, so did I to them.

They responded, "We've come here to arrest you and transfer you to the custody of the Philistines." Samson told them, "Promise me that you won't kill me."

And they said, No; we will take you and give you up into their hands, but truly we will not put you to death. So knotting two new cords round him they took him up from the rock.

This man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah to find another place to live. He came to the Ephraimite hill country and made his way to Micah's house.

And he will say to them, according to this, and according to this, Micah did to me, and he will hire me, and I to him for priest

Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land, that might put them to shame in any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any man.

And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land.

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?"

And her husband arose, and went after her, to speak friendly unto her, and to bring her again, having his servant with him, and a couple of asses: and she brought him into her father's house: and when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet him.

And, when the man rose up to go - he and his concubine and his young man, - his father-in-law, the father of the damsel, said to him, Come now, see! the day hath sunk down towards evening, come now! tarry the night; lo! the day goeth down, tarry the night here, and let thy heart be glad, so shall ye rise early to-morrow for your journey, and thou shalt go thy way to thine own home.

And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin.

And they turned aside thither, to go in and to lodge in Gibeah: and when he went in, he sat him down in a street of the city: for there was no man that took them into his house to lodging.

See, here is my daughter, a virgin, and his servant-wife: I will send them out for you to take them and do with them whatever you will. But do no such thing of shame to this man.

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.

And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said, I came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge.

And the Benjaminites came together out of the cities to Gib'e-ah, to go out to battle against the people of Israel.

Now the children of Israel went up, weeping before the Lord till evening, requesting the Lord and saying, Am I to go forward again to the fight against the children of Benjamin my brother? And the Lord said, Go up against him.

And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, was in his place before it,) and said, Am I still to go on with the fight against the children of Benjamin my brother, or am I to give it up? And the Lord said, Go on; for tomorrow I will give him into your hands.

They surrounded the Benjaminites, chased them from Nohah, and annihilated them all the way to a spot east of Geba.

The rest turned and ran toward the wilderness, heading toward the cliff of Rimmon. But the Israelites caught five thousand of them on the main roads. They stayed right on their heels all the way to Gidom and struck down two thousand more.

Six hundred survivors turned and ran away to the wilderness, to the cliff of Rimmon. They stayed there four months.

The children of Israel said, "Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who didn't come up in the assembly to Yahweh?" For they had made a great oath concerning him who didn't come up to Yahweh to Mizpah, saying, "He shall surely be put to death."

What are we to do about wives for those who are still living? For we have taken an oath by the Lord that we will not give them our daughters for wives.

They said, "What one is there of the tribes of Israel who didn't come up to Yahweh to Mizpah?" Behold, there came none to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly.

And the whole congregation sent some to speak to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably unto them.

Then the responsible men of the meeting said, What are we to do about wives for the rest of them, seeing that the women of Benjamin are dead?

and look, and lo! if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then shall ye come forth out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife, of the daughters of Shiloh, - and go your way to the land of Benjamin.

Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah.

And Naomi said unto her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each of you to her mother's house: Jehovah deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me.

May the Lord enable each of you to find security in the house of your new husband.” She kissed them, and they wept loudly.

And they said to her, “No, we will go with you to your people [in Judah].”

But Naomi replied, "Go back home, my daughters! There is no reason for you to return to Judah with me! I am no longer capable of giving birth to sons who might become your husbands!

would you be willing to wait for them to grow up? Would you restrain yourselves from remarrying? No, my daughters, my life is much too bitter for you to share, because the Lord’s hand has turned against me.”

And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:

Naomi said to Ruth, “It is good, my daughter, for you to go out [to work] with his maids, so that others do not assault you in another field.”

So I thought to let you hear of it, saying, ‘Buy it in the presence of those sitting here, and before the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if not, then tell me, so that I may know; for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I am [next of kin] after you.’” And he said, “I will redeem it.”

Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour: and this was a testimony in Israel.

And Boaz saith to the elders, and to all the people, 'Witnesses are ye to-day that I have bought all that is to Elimelech, and all that is to Chilion and Mahlon, from the hand of Naomi;

Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, wife of Mahlon, have I taken over, to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off - from among his brethren, and from the gate of his dwelling- place, - Witnesses, are ye to-day!

Moreover his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.

And Eli used to bless Elkanah and his wife, and to say - Yahweh give thee seed of this woman, instead of the loan that hath been lent unto Yahweh. So they went their way to his own place.

And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel?

And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart: and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age.

And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep;

And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD.

When the army came [back] to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, "Why has Yahweh defeated us today before [the] Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to us from Shiloh so that it may come into our midst and deliver us from the hand of our enemies."

And the Philistines are afraid, for they said, 'God hath come in unto the camp;' and they say, 'Woe to us, for there hath not been like this heretofore.

Woe to us, who doth deliver us out of the hand of these honourable gods? these are the gods who are smiting the Egyptians with every plague in the wilderness.

And his daughter in law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, near to be delivered: and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father in law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed; for her pains came upon her.

So they sent for all the lords of the Philistines to come together there, and said, What are we to do with the ark of the God of Israel? And their answer was, Let the ark of the God of Israel be taken away to Gath. So they took the ark of the God of Israel away.

And the Philistines sent for the priests and those who were wise in secret arts, and said to them, What are we to do with the ark of the Lord? How are we to send it away to its place?

Then they said, What sin-offering are we to send to him? And they said, Five gold images of the growths caused by your disease and five gold mice, one for every lord of the Philistines: for the same disease came on you and on your lords.

And the kine took the straight way to the way of Bethshemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border of Bethshemesh.

And the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fenced cities, and of country villages, even unto the great stone of Abel, whereon they set down the ark of the LORD: which stone remaineth unto this day in the field of Joshua, the Bethshemite.

Samuel said, "Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray for you to Yahweh."

Then the men of Israel charged out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines striking them down all the way to a place below Beth-car.

And his return was to Ramah; for there was his house; and there he judged Israel; and there he built an altar unto the LORD.

As they have done from the first, from the day when I took them out of Egypt till this day, turning away from me and worshipping other gods, so now they are acting in the same way to you.

So Samuel spoke all the words of Yahweh to the people who [were] requesting a king from him.

And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.

And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.

And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.

And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.

And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.

And he said to him, Behold now, in this city is a man of God, and an honorable man. All that he says surely comes to pass. Now let us go there. Perhaps he can declare our way to us, how to go.