Now the archers did cry, where men draw water; there shall they tell of the justice of the LORD, and of the justice of his uplandish folk in Israel. And then the people of the LORD went down unto the gates.

Why did you tarry among the sheepfolds, to hear the piping for the flocks? Among the clans of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.

Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches.

“But Zebulun was a people who risked their lives to the [point of] death;
Naphtali also, on the heights of the field.

“The kings came and fought;
Then the kings of Canaan fought
At Taanach by the waters of Megiddo.
Spoils of silver they did not obtain.

Then did the horsehoofs stamp By reason of the prancings, the prancings of their strong ones.

'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.'

Through the window she looked forth and cried out, The mother of Sisera, through the lattice Why did his chariot delay to come? Why lingered the paces of his chariots?

Lord, may all your enemies perish as Sisera did.
But may those who love Him
be like the rising of the sun in its strength.

And the land was peaceful 40 years.

And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.

and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel, - because of Midian, did the sons of Israel prepare for themselves the hollows which were in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds.

I said to you: I am Yahweh your God. Do not fear the gods of the Amorites whose land you live in. But you did not obey Me.’”

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

And Yahweh turned to him and said, "Go in this your strength, and you will deliver Israel from the palm of Midian. Did I not send you?"

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

Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father's household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.

{And they said to one another}, "Who did this thing?" So they searched and inquired, and they said, "Gideon son of Jehoash did this thing."

The Lord did as he asked. When he got up the next morning, he squeezed the fleece, and enough dew dripped from it to fill a bowl.

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

The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many people for Me to hand the Midianites over to you, or else Israel might brag: ‘I did it myself.’

And, messengers, did Gideon send through all the hill country of Ephraim, saying - Go down to meet Midian, and capture, before them, the waters, as far as Beth-barah, and the Jordan. So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and captured the waters, as far as Beth-barah, and the Jordan.

And the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why hast thou served us thus, that thou calledst us not, when thou wentest to fight with the Midianites? And they did chide with him sharply.

And he will say to them, What now did I according to you? are not the gleanings of Ephraim good above the vintage of Abi-Ezer?

It was to you that God handed over the Midianite generals, Oreb and Zeeb! What did I accomplish to rival that?" When he said this, they calmed down.

Then he left there to go to Penuel and asked the same thing from them, but the men of Penuel responded the same way the men of Succoth did.

And Gideon went through them that dwell in tabernacles on the east side of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the host: for the host did cast no perils.

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

He asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?”

“They were like you,” they said. “Each resembled the son of a king.”

And he said to Jether his first-born, "Rise, and slay them." But the youth did not draw his sword; for he was afraid, because he was still a youth.

And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey.

And Midian was subdued before the {Israelites}, and they did not again lift up their head, and the land rested for forty years in the days of Gideon.

And the people of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had rescued them from the hand of all their enemies on every side;

and they did not show kindness to the family of Jerubba'al (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.

“Now if you have acted faithfully and honestly in making Abimelech king, if you have done well by Jerubbaal and his family, and if you have rewarded him appropriately for what he did—

And if in sincerity and uprightness ye did with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, rejoice ye in Abimelech, and he shall rejoice also in you.

He did this so the violent deaths of Jerub-Baal's seventy sons might be avenged and Abimelech, their half-brother who murdered them, might have to pay for their spilled blood, along with the leaders of Shechem who helped him murder them.

And they went out into the fields, and gathered their vineyards, and trode the grapes, and made merry, and went into the house of their god, and did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelech.

And Ga'al the son of Ebed said, "Who is Abim'elech, and who are we of Shechem, that we should serve him? Did not the son of Jerubba'al and Zebul his officer serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem? Why then should we serve him?

Then did Gaal yet further speak, and say - Lo! people coming down from the highest part of the land, - and one company, coming in by way of the Conjurers' Terebinth.

So he went up to Mount Zalmon, accompanied by his entire army. Abimelech had an axe in his hand, so he cut down a branch from a tree, lifted it up, and laid it on his shoulder. Then he told the army that had accompanied him, "You've seen what I just did. Hurry up! Do the same thing!"

Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren:

And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

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

They shattered and crushed the Israelites that year, and for 18 years they did the same to all the Israelites who were on the other side of the Jordan in the land of the Amorites in Gilead.

Then did the sons of Israel make outcry unto Yahweh, saying, - We have sinned against thee, because we have forsaken our God, and have served the Baals.

And the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines?

The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand.

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

And the old men of Gilead will say to Jephthah, Jehovah shall be hearing between us, if we did not thus to thee according to thy word.

and said to him, "Thus says Jephthah: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites,

"Israel didn't seize the land of Moab nor the land of the Ammonites. Here's what happened: When Israel came up from Egypt, passed through the desert to the Red Sea, and arrived at Kadesh,

then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, 'Please let me pass through your land;' but the king of Edom didn't listen. In the same way, he sent to the king of Moab; but he would not: and Israel stayed in Kadesh.

Then they journeyed through the wilderness, and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and arrived on the east side of the land of Moab, and camped on the other side of the Arnon; but they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab.

Then did Israel send messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon, - and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land as far as my own place.

But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory; so Sihon gathered all his people together, and encamped at Jahaz, and fought with Israel.

Then did Yahweh, God of Israel, deliver up Sihon, and all his people, into the hand of Israel, and they smote them, - so Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that land.

And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them,

While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred years? why therefore did ye not recover them within that time?

But the king of the Ammonites did not heed the message of Jephthah which he sent to him.

Jephthah came to Mizpah, to his house, and behold his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and dancing. She [was] his only child; he did not have a son or daughter except her.

And she will say to him, My father, opening thy mouth to Jehovah, do to me acording to what came forth from thy mouth, after that Jehovah did for thee vengeance of thine enemies, of the sons of Ammon.

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,

The men of E'phraim were called to arms, and they crossed to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, "Why did you cross over to fight against the Ammonites, and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house over you with fire."

And Jephthah said to them, "I and my people had a great feud with the Ammonites; and when I called you, you did not deliver me from their hand.

When I saw that you didn't save me, I put my life in my hand, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and Yahweh delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day, to fight against me?"

And, after him, did Elon the Zebulunite judge Israel, - and he judged Israel, ten years.

And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.

There was a certain man from Zorah, from the tribe of the Danites, and his name [was] Manoah; his wife [was] infertile and did not bear children.

Then the woman came and told her husband, "A man of God came to me, and his countenance was like the countenance of the angel of God, very terrible; I did not ask him whence he was, and he did not tell me his name;

Then Manoah entreated Yahweh, and said, "Oh, Lord, please let the man of God whom you did send come again to us, and teach us what we shall do to the child who shall be born."

And the angel of the LORD said to Mano'ah, "If you detain me, I will not eat of your food; but if you make ready a burnt offering, then offer it to the LORD." (For Mano'ah did not know that he was the angel of the LORD.)

So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on.

But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD.

His father and mother did not know that it was from the LORD; for he was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion asunder as one tears a kid; and he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.

And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion.

Later on, when his father went down to visit the woman, Samson threw a party there, since young men customarily did this.

On the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife, “Persuade your husband to explain the riddle to us, or we will burn you and your father’s household to death. Did you invite us here to rob us?”

But after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife with a young goat, and said, “I will go in to my wife in her room.” But her father did not let him enter.

Then the Philistines asked, “Who did this?”

They were told, “It was Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because he has taken Samson’s wife and given her to another man.” So the Philistines went to her and her father and burned them to death.

Then Samson told them, “Because you did this, I swear that I won’t rest until I have taken vengeance on you.”

And the men of Judah said, "Why have you come up against us?" They said, "We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he did to us."

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

Now she had men waiting secretly in the inner room; and she said to him, The Philistines are on you, Samson. And the cords were broken by him as a twist of thread is broken when touched by a flame. So the secret of his strength did not come to light.

So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks (braids) of his hair and wove them into the web]. And she fastened it with the pin [of the loom] and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and pulled out the pin of the [weaver’s] loom and the web.

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.

But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.

Then did Samson grasp the two middle pillars, whereon the house rested, and whereon it was upheld, and he braced himself against them, - the one with his right hand, and the other with his left.

In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

Micah said to him, "Where did you come from?" He said to him, "I am a Levite of Bethlehem Judah, and I am looking for a place to live."

Back in those days, Israel didn't have a king yet, and during that time the tribe of Dan had been seeking a territorial inheritance to live in, because up until that time no territory had been allotted to them as a possession among the tribes of Israel.

When they were near the house of Micah, hearing a voice which was not strange to them, that of the young Levite, they went out of their road to his place, and said to him, How did you come here? and what are you doing in this place? and why are you here?

And he said to them, "Micah did such and such for me and hired me, and I became his priest."

When the men went back to their clans at Zorah and Eshtaol, their people asked them, “What did you find out?”

The five men who had gone to scout out the land of Laish told their brothers, “Did you know that there are an ephod, household gods, and a carved image overlaid with silver in these houses? Now think about what you should do.”

And his father in law, the damsel's father, retained him; and he abode with him three days: so they did eat and drink, and lodged there.

And they sat down, and did eat and drink both of them together: for the damsel's father had said unto the man, Be content, I pray thee, and tarry all night, and let thine heart be merry.

And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart: and the damsel's father said, Comfort thine heart, I pray thee. And they tarried until afternoon, and they did eat both of them.

But the man did not want to stay another night. He left and traveled as far as Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). He had with him a pair of saddled donkeys and his concubine.

When he looked up, he saw the traveler [and his companions] in the city square; and the old man said, “Where are you going, and where do you come from?”