While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and its towns, and in Aroer and its towns, and in all the cities that are along by the side of the Arnon, three hundred years; wherefore did ye not recover them within that time?

So I have not sinned against you, but you are doing me wrong by making war against me; may the Lord, the [righteous] Judge, judge this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites.’”

and he smiteth them from Aroer, and unto thy going in to Minnith, twenty cities, and unto the meadow of the vineyards -- a very great smiting; and the Bene-Ammon are humbled at the presence of the sons of Israel.

And when he saw her, he tore his clothes [in grief] and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me great disaster, and you are the cause of ruin to me; for I have made a vow to the Lord, and I cannot take it back.”

And the men of Ephraim are called together, and pass over northward, and say to Jephthah, 'Wherefore has thou passed over to fight against the Bene-Ammon, and on us hast not called to go with thee? thy house we burn over thee with fire.'

And when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the LORD delivered them into my hand: wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day, to fight against me?

Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites.

And the Gileadites took the fords of the Jordan against the E'phraimites. And when any of the fugitives of E'phraim said, "Let me go over," the men of Gilead said to him, "Are you an E'phraimite?" When he said, "No,"

And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, "Behold, you are barren and have no children; but you shall conceive and bear a son.

For you are with child and will give birth to a son; his hair is never to be cut, for the child is to be separate to God from his birth; and he will take up the work of freeing Israel from the hands of the Philistines.

But he said to me, You are with child and will give birth to a son; and now do not take any wine or strong drink or let anything unclean be your food; for the child will be separate to God from his birth to the day of his death.

Then Mano'ah entreated the LORD, and said, "O, LORD, I pray thee, let the man of God whom thou didst send come again to us, and teach us what we are to do with the boy that will be born."

And Mano'ah arose and went after his wife, and came to the man and said to him, "Are you the man who spoke to this woman?" And he said, "I am."

But the angel of the Lord said to him, Why are you questioning me about my name, seeing that it is a wonder?

And Manoah taketh the kid of the goats, and the present, and offereth on the rock to Jehovah, and He is doing wonderfully, and Manoah and his wife are looking on,

and it cometh to pass, in the going up of the flame from off the altar toward the heavens, that the messenger of Jehovah goeth up in the flame of the altar, and Manoah and his wife are looking on, and they fall on their faces to the earth,

Then his father and mother said to him, Is there no woman among the daughters of your relations or among all my people, that you have to go for your wife to the Philistines, who are without circumcision? But Samson said to his father, Get her for me, for she is pleasing to me.

And his father and his mother have not known that from Jehovah it is, that a meeting he is seeking of the Philistines; and at that time the Philistines are ruling over Israel.

and he turneth back after some days to take her, and turneth aside to see the carcase of the lion, and lo, a company of bees are in the body of the lion -- and honey.

and it cometh to pass when they see him, that they take thirty companions, and they are with him.

And Samson said, Now I have a hard question for you: if you are able to give me the answer before the seven days of the feast are over, I will give you thirty linen robes and thirty changes of clothing;

and if ye are not able to declare it to me, then ye have given to me thirty linen shirts, and thirty changes of garments.' And they say to him, 'Put forth thy riddle, and we hear it!'

Then the men of the city answered him just before sunset on the seventh day: "What is sweeter than honey? What are stronger than lions?" Samson responded, "If you hadn't plowed with my heifer, you wouldn't have solved my riddle."

And Samson said to them, "This time, as far as the Philistines are concerned, when I do something evil I am without blame."

And the Philistines go up, and encamp in Judah, and are spread out in Lehi,

And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done 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.

And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.

He hath come unto Lehi -- and the Philistines have shouted at meeting him -- and the Spirit of Jehovah prospereth over him, and the thick bands which are on his arms are as flax which they burn with fire, and his bands are wasted from off his hands,

After this, he was in great need of water, and crying out to the Lord, he said, You have given this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and now need of water will be my death; and I will be given into the hands of this people who are without circumcision.

and the princes of the Philistines come up unto her, and say to her, 'Entice him, and see wherein his great power is, and wherein we are able for him -- and we have bound him to afflict him, and we -- we give to thee, each one, eleven hundred silverlings.'

Samson said to her, "If you tie me up with seven fresh bowstrings that are not dried up, I will become weak like everyone else."

Now she had liers-in-wait abiding in the inner chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withes, as a string of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.

So Delilah took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And the liers-in-wait were abiding in the inner chamber. And he brake them off his arms like a thread.

Then Delilah said to Samson, Up to now you have made sport of me with false words; now say truly, how may you be put in bands? And he said to her, If you get the seven twists of my hair worked into the cloth you are making and fixed with the pin, I will become feeble and will be like any other man.

And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and plucked away the pin of the beam, and the web.

And she said to him, Why do you say you are my lover when your heart is not mine? Three times you have made sport of me, and have not made clear to me the secret of your great strength.

And she said, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free. But he knew not that Jehovah was departed from him.

And the house hath been full of men and of women, and thither are all the princes of the Philistines, and on the roof are about three thousand men and women, who are looking on the playing of Samson.

and Samson saith, 'Let me die with the Philistines,' and he inclineth himself powerfully, and the house falleth on the princes, and on all the people who are in it, and the dead whom he hath put to death in his death are more than those whom he put to death in his life.

And he said to his mother, "The eleven hundred [pieces] of silver that were taken from you, and about which you also pronounced a curse {in my hearing}, are with me; I took it." And his mother said, "Blessed be my son by Yahweh."

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?"

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."

The priest told them, “Go in peace. The Lord is watching over the journey you are going on.”

And the five men go, and come in to Laish, and see the people which is in its midst, dwelling confidently, according to the custom of Zidonians, quiet and confident; and there is none putting to shame in the land in any thing, possessing restraint, and they are far off from the Zidonians, and have no word with any man.

So they came unto their brethren, in Zorah and Eshtaol, - and their brethren said unto them - Why are ye minded to do nothing?

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.

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."

(and the six hundred men girded with their weapons of war, who are of the sons of Dan, are standing at the opening of the gate), --

yea, the five men, those going to traverse the land, go up -- they have come in thither -- they have taken the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image -- and the priest is standing at the opening of the gate, and the six hundred men who are girded with weapons of war --

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?"

They have been far off from the house of Micah -- and the men who are in the houses which are near the house of Micah have been called together, and overtake the sons of Dan,

And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away: and what have I more? and what is this that ye say unto me, What aileth thee?

and the sons of Dan go on their way, and Micah seeth that they are stronger than he, and turneth, and goeth back unto his house.

And the man hath not been willing to lodge all night, and he riseth, and goeth, and cometh in till over-against Jebus (It is Jerusalem), and with him are a couple of asses saddled; and his concubine is with him.

They are near Jebus, and the day hath gone greatly down, and the young man saith unto his lord, 'Come, I pray thee, and we turn aside unto this city of the Jebusite, and lodge in it.'

But his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into a city of foreigners who are not of the sons (descendants) of Israel. We will go on as far as Gibeah.”

And lo, a man, an aged one, hath come from his work from the field in the evening, and the man is of the hill-country of Ephraim, and he is a sojourner in Gibeah, and the men of the place are Benjamites.

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?"

And he said unto him, We are passing from Bethlehemjudah toward the side of mount Ephraim; from thence am I: and I went to Bethlehemjudah, but I am now going to the house of the LORD; and there is no man that receiveth me to house.

and both straw and provender are for our asses, and also bread and wine there are for me, and for thy handmaid, and for the young man with thy servants; there is no lack of anything.'

They are making their heart glad, and lo, men of the city, men -- sons of worthlessness -- have gone round about the house, beating on the door, and they speak unto the old man, the master of the house, saying, 'Bring out the man who hath come unto thine house, and we know him.'

So the man, the master of the house, went out to them, and said, No, my brothers, do not this evil thing; this man has come into my house, and you are not to do him this wrong.

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."

And her lord riseth in the morning, and openeth the doors of the house, and goeth out to go on his way, and lo, the woman, his concubine, is fallen at the opening of the house, and her hands are on the threshold,

And he gave orders to the men whom he sent, saying, This is what you are to say to all the men of Israel, Has ever an act like this been done from the day when the children of Israel came out of Egypt to this day? Give thought to it, turning it over in your minds, and give your opinion of it.

Behold, ye are all children of Israel; give here your advice and counsel.

Now therefore deliver us the men, the children of Belial, which are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel. But the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel:

and the sons of Benjamin are gathered out of the cities to Gibeah, to go out to battle with the sons of Israel.

And the sons of Benjamin number themselves on that day; out of the cities are twenty and six thousand men drawing sword, apart from the inhabitants of Gibeah, who numbered themselves, seven hundred chosen men;

among all this people are seven hundred chosen men, bound of their right hand, each of these slinging with a stone at the hair, and he doth not err.

and Benjamin cometh out to meet them from Gibeah on the second day, and destroy among the sons of Israel again eighteen thousand men -- to the earth; all these are drawing sword.

And the sons of Benjamin come out to meet the people; they have been drawn away out of the city, and begin to smite some of the people -- wounded as time by time, in the highways (of which one is going up to Beth-El, and the other to Gibeah in the field), are about thirty men of Israel.

And the children of Benjamin said, They are smitten down before us, as at the first. But the children of Israel said, Let us flee, and draw them from the city unto the highways.

And Jehovah smiteth Benjamin before Israel, and the sons of Israel destroy in Benjamin, on that day, twenty and five thousand, and a hundred men; all these are drawing sword.

And when the men of Israel retired in the battle, Benjamin began to smite and kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons: for they said, Surely they are smitten down before us, as in the first battle.

And the men of Israel have turned, and the men of Benjamin are troubled, for they have seen that the evil hath stricken against them --

and they turn before the men of Israel unto the way of the wilderness, and the battle hath followed them; and those who are from the city are destroying them in their midst;

And there fall of Benjamin eighteen thousand men -- the whole of these are men of valour;

And all those falling of Benjamin are twenty and five thousand men drawing sword, on that day -- the whole of these are men of valour;

And the men of Israel have turned back unto the sons of Benjamin, and smite them by the mouth of the sword out of the city, -- men unto cattle, unto all that is found; also all the cities which are found they have sent into fire.

And the children of Israel asked, "Who are they among all the tribes of Israel that came not with the congregation unto the LORD?" For they had made a great oath concerning them that came not up to the LORD to Mizpeh, saying that they should surely die.

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?"

Then they said, "What are they of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the LORD?" And behold there came none of the inhabiters of Jabeshgilead unto the congregation.

And this is what you are to do: every male, and every woman who has had sex relations with a man, you are to put to the curse, but you are to keep safe the virgins. And they did so.

And all the company send, and speak, unto the sons of Benjamin who are in the rock Rimmon, and proclaim to them peace;

Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?

And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that are escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not blotted out from Israel.

and we -- we are not able to give to them wives out of our daughters, for the sons of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed is he who is giving a wife to Benjamin.'

and it hath been, when their fathers or their brethren come in to plead unto us, that we have said unto them, Favour us by them, for we have not taken to each his wife in battle, for ye -- ye have not given to them at this time that ye are guilty.'

And the name of the man is Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites from Beth-Lehem-Judah; and they come into the fields of Moab, and are there.

And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?

But Ruth said, "Entreat me not to leave thee, and to return from after thee. For whither thou goest, I will go. And where thou dwellest, there I will dwell. Thy people are my people, and thy God is my God.

Wherever death comes to you, death will come to me, and there will be my last resting-place; the Lord do so to me and more if we are parted by anything but death.

thine eyes are on the field which they reap, and thou hast gone after them; have not I charged the young men not to touch thee? when thou art athirst then thou hast gone unto the vessels, and hast drunk from that which the young men draw.'

She bowed with her face to the ground and said to him, “Why are you so kind to notice me, although I am a foreigner?”

And Boaz answering said to her, I have had news of everything you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband; how you went away from your father and mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people who are strange to you.

She said, "You really are being kind to me, sir, for you have reassured and encouraged me, your servant, even though I am not one of your servants!"

And Ruth the Moabite said, "Also, he said to me, 'You shall stay close with the servants which are mine until they have finished all of the harvest which is mine.'"

Wash, put on perfumed oil, and wear your best clothes. Go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let the man know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking.