Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, "Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?" He said to them, "As they did to me, so have I done to them."

They said to him, "We have come down to bind you, that we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines." Samson said to them, "Swear to me that you will not fall on me yourselves."

They spoke to him, saying, "No; but we will bind you fast, and deliver you into their hand; but surely we will not kill you." They bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock.

When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him: and the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands dropped from off his hands.

The Gazites were told, "Samson is here." They surrounded him, and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city, and were quiet all night, saying, "Wait until morning light, then we will kill him."

Samson said to her, "If they bind me with seven green cords that were never dried, then shall I become weak, and be as another man."

He said to her, "If they only bind me with new ropes with which no work has been done, then shall I become weak, and be as another man."

The Philistines seized him, and put out his eyes. And they brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with bronze shackles, and he ground at the mill in the prison.

The lords of the Philistines gathered them together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to celebrate; for they said, "Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hand."

When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, "Our god has delivered our enemy and the destroyer of our country, who has slain many of us, into our hand."

It happened, when their hearts were merry, that they said, "Call for Samson, that he may entertain us." They called for Samson out of the prison; and he performed before them. They set him between the pillars;

The children of Dan sent of their family five men from their whole number, men of valor, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said to them, "Go, explore the land." They came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and stayed there.

When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite; and they turned in that direction, and said to him, "Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? And what is your business here?"

They said to him, "Please ask counsel of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous."

Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people who were there, and how they lived in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; for there was no one in the land possessing authority that might trouble them in anyway, and they were far from the Sidonians, and had no dealings with anyone.

They came to their brothers to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brothers said to them, "What do you say?"

They said, "Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. Will you do nothing? Do not hesitate to go and to enter in to possess the land.

They went up, and encamped in Kiriath Jearim, in Judah. Therefore they called that place Mahaneh Dan to this day; behold, it is behind Kiriath Jearim.

They passed there to the hill country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.

They turned aside there, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even to the house of Micah, and asked him of his welfare.

They said to him, "Hold your peace, lay your hand on your mouth, and go 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 a family in Israel?"

So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the livestock and the goods before them.

When they were some distance from the house of Micah, the men who were in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan.

They cried to the children of Dan. They turned their faces, and said to Micah, "What's wrong with you, that you come with such a company?"

The children of Dan went their way; and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house.

They took that which Micah had made, and the priest whom he had, and came to Laish, to a people quiet and secure, and struck them with the edge of the sword; and they burnt the city with fire.

There was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with anyone, and it was in the valley that lies by Beth Rehob. They built the city, and lived there.

They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor, who was born to Israel. However the name of the city was originally Laish.

So they set up for themselves Micah's engraved image which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

His father-in-law, the young lady's father, welcomed him; and he stayed with him three days. So they ate and drank and stayed there.

It happened on the fourth day, that they arose early in the morning, and he rose up to depart: and the young lady's father said to his son-in-law, "Refresh yourself with a piece of bread, and after that you may go."

So they sat down, ate, and drank, both of them together. Then the young lady's father said to the man, "Please agree to stay the night, and enjoy yourself."

He arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart; and the young lady's father said, "Please refresh yourself and stay until the day declines." And they both ate.

When they were by Jebus, the day was almost gone, and the servant said to his master, "Please come and let us stop at this city of the Jebusites, and spend the night in it."

So they passed on and went their way; and the sun set on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin.

They turned that way to go in to spend the night in Gibeah. And he went in and they sat down in the street of the city; for there was no one who would take them into their house to spend the night.

So he brought him into his house, and fed the donkeys. And they washed their feet, and ate and drank.

As they were enjoying themselves, behold, the men of the city, some wicked men of the city surrounded the house, beating at the door. And they spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, "Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may have sex with him."

But the men wouldn't listen to him: so the man laid hold of his concubine, and brought her out to them. And they raped her and abused her all night until the morning, and when the day began to dawn they let her go.

And the leaders of Gibeah rose against me, and surrounded the house at night. They intended to kill me, and they raped my concubine, and she is dead.

I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of the inheritance of Israel; for they have committed wickedness and disgrace in Israel.

and we will take ten men of one hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and one hundred of one thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to get food for the people, that when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, they may do to it according to all the disgrace that they have committed in Israel."

The children of Israel arose, and went up to Bethel, and asked counsel of God; and they said, "Who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Benjamin?" The LORD said, "Judah first."

The people, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves, and set the battle again in array in the place where they set themselves in array the first day.

The children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until evening; and they asked of the LORD, saying, "Shall I again draw near to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother?" The LORD said, "Go up against him."

Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came to Bethel, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.

The children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to strike and kill some of the people, as at other times, on the highways, of which one goes up to Bethel, and the other to Gibeah, in the field, about thirty men of Israel.

The children of Benjamin said, "They are defeated before us, as previously." But the children of Israel said, "Let us flee, and draw them away from the city to the highways."

There came over against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was severe; but they didn't know that disaster was close upon them.

So the children of Benjamin saw that they were defeated; for the men of Israel gave ground to Benjamin, because they trusted the ambushers whom they had set against Gibeah.

Now the appointed sign between the men of Israel and the ambushers was that they should make a great cloud of smoke rise up out of the city.

The men of Israel turned in the battle, and Benjamin began to strike and kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons; for they said, "Surely they are defeated before us, as in the first battle."

The men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were terrified; for they saw that disaster had come on them.

Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel to the way of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them; and those who came out of the cities destroyed them in its midst.

They surrounded Benjamin, and they pursued them at their resting place, and they trampled them down until opposite Gibeah toward the sunrise.

They turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon: and they killed on the highways five thousand men, and followed hard after them to Gidom, and struck down two thousand men.

The men of Israel turned again on the children of Benjamin, and struck them with the edge of the sword, both the entire city, and the livestock, and all that they found: moreover all the cities which they found they set on fire.

They said, "LORD God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that there should be today one tribe lacking in Israel?"

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

They said, "What one is there of the tribes of Israel who did not come up to the LORD to Mizpah?" Behold, no one came to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly.

They found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young virgins who had never slept with a man; and they brought them to the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

Benjamin returned at that time; and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh Gilead: and yet so they weren't enough for them.

They said, "There must be an inheritance for those who are escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel.

They said, "Behold, there is a feast of the LORD from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah."

They commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, "Go and lie in wait in the vineyards,

The children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of those who danced, whom they carried off. They went and returned to their inheritance, built the cities, and lived in them.

The children of Israel departed there at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from there every man to his inheritance.