Then Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house. And see, his daughter came out against him, with timbrels and dances, which was his only child: so that beside her he had neither son nor daughter.

And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the LORD, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the LORD hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children 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,

And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay;

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

Then Manoah intreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.

of anything which cometh out from the wine-vine she doth not eat, and wine and strong drink she doth not drink, and any unclean thing she doth not eat; all that I have commanded her she doth observe.'

But his father and mother wist not that it was the LORD's doing, and that he sought an occasion of the Philistines, which at that time reigned over Israel.

and the Spirit of Jehovah prospereth over him, and he rendeth it as the rending of a kid, and there is nothing in his hand, and he hath not declared to his father and to his mother that which he hath done.

And he went down and talked with the woman, which seemed well favoured in the sight of Samson.

which he took into his hands, and went on - eating as he went, and came unto his father and unto his mother, and gave unto them, and they did eat, - but he told them not that, out of the carcass of the lion, he had taken the honey.

And she weepeth for it the seven days in which their banquet hath been, and it cometh to pass on the seventh day that he declareth it to her, for she hath distressed him; and she declareth the riddle to the sons of her people.

And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house.

When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him; and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the ropes which were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands.

And taking up the mouth-bone of an ass newly dead, which he saw by chance on the earth, he put to death a thousand men with it.

But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.

And Samson lieth down till the middle of the night, and riseth in the middle of the night, and layeth hold on the doors of the gate of the city, and on the two side posts, and removeth them with the bar, and putteth on his shoulders, and taketh them up unto the top of the hill, which is on the front of Hebron.

The lords of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her, "Entice him, and see in which his great strength lies, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver."

And Samson said to her, "If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings which have not been dried, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man."

Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.

Delilah said to Samson, "Behold, you have mocked me, and told me lies: now please tell me with which you might be bound."

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."

And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us.

Then Samson said to the servant who was holding him by his hand, "Position me so that I can touch the pillars on which the house rests, so I can lean on them."

And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.

And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.

And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my son.

And he restored the money again unto his mother. Then his mother took two hundred silverlings and put them to a goldsmith, to make thereof a graven image and a image of metal, which remained in the house of Micah.

And the man Micah had a chapel of gods, and made an ephod and images, and filled the hand of one of his sons which became his priest.

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

And there was a young man out of Bethlehem Judah, and out of the kindreds of Judah: which young man was a Levite and sojourned there.

So the tribe of Dan sent from their families five valiant men of their number from Zorah and Eshtaol to scout the land and search through it. Following their orders, which were "Go and scout the land," they came to the mountainous region of Ephraim, arrived at Micah's home, and stayed there.

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 they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.

And the priest said to them, Go in peace. Your way in which you go is before Jehovah.

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.

When ye go, ye come in unto a people confident, and the land is large on both hands, for God hath given it into your hand, a place where there is no lack of anything which is in the land.'

And they went and pitched in Kiriathjearim in Judah. Wherefore the place is called Mahanahdan unto this day, which is on the back side of Kiriathjearim.

They stopped there, went inside the young Levite's house (which belonged to Micah), and asked him how he was doing.

And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, which were of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate.

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 they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people that were at quiet and secure: and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire.

And there was no deliverer because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with any one. It was in the valley which belongs to Beth-rehob. And they rebuilt the city, and dwelt in it.

And called it Dan, after the name of Dan their father which was born unto Israel. Howbeit in very deed the name of the city was Laish at the beginning.

And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

which concubine played the whore in his house, and went away from him, unto her father's house to Bethlehem Judah, and there continued four months.

But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed, and came over against Jebus, which is Jerusalem; and there were with him two asses saddled, his concubine also was with him.

And his lord will say to him, We will not turn into a strange city which is not of the sons of Israel here; and we passed over even to Gibeah.

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, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at even, which was also of mount Ephraim; and he sojourned in Gibeah: but the men of the place were Benjamites.

And he said to him, "We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote parts of the hill country of E'phraim, from which I come. I went to Bethlehem in Judah; and I am going to my home; and nobody takes me into his house.

Yet there is both straw and provender for our asses; and there is bread and wine also for me, and for thy handmaid, and for the young man which is with thy servants: there is no want of any thing.

They doing good to their heart, and behold, the men of the city, men of the sons of Belial, encompassed the house, knocking upon the door; and they will say to the man, the lord of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man which came into thy house, and we will know him.

lo, my daughter, the virgin, and his concubine, let me bring them out, I pray you, and humble ye them, and do to them that which is good in your eyes, and to this man do not this foolish thing.'

And when he had come to his house, he got his knife, and took the woman, cutting her up bone by bone into twelve parts, which he sent through all Israel.

The leaders of all the people from all the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of God's people, which numbered four hundred thousand sword-wielding foot soldiers.

The Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered and said, "I came to Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night.

So I took her, cutting her into parts which I sent through all the country of the heritage of Israel: for they have done an act of shame in Israel.

But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up by lot against it;

and we will take ten men of a hundred of all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to bring food for the people, so that when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, they may do according to all the folly which they have done in Israel.

And the tribes of Israel send men among all the tribes of Benjamin, saying, 'What is this evil which hath been among you?

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 children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, beside the inhabitants of Gibeah, which were numbered seven hundred chosen men.

And among all these folk were seven hundred left handed men, which every one could sling stones at a hair breadth, and not miss.

And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up first.

And the people, the men of Israel, will strengthen themselves, and they will add to prepare war in the place which they set in array in the first day.

And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite of the people, and kill, as at other times, in the highways, of which one goeth up to the house of God, and the other to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel.

So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten: for the men of Israel gave place to the Benjamites, because they trusted unto the liers in wait which they had set beside Gibeah.

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

So that all which fell that day of Benjamin were twenty and five thousand men that drew the sword; all these were men of valour.

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.

And the people of Israel said, "Which of all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the LORD?" For they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the LORD to Mizpah, saying, "He shall be put to death."

They asked, "Which one is there from the tribes of Israel who did not come up to Yahweh at Mizpah?" And behold, no one came from Jabesh-gilead to the camp, to the assembly.

And this is the thing which ye do; every male, and every woman knowing the lying of a male, ye devote.'

And they found among the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead four hundred young virgins, that had known no man by lying with any male: and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them wives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabeshgilead: and yet so they sufficed them not.

Then they said, Behold, there is a feast of the LORD in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.

And the children of Benjamin did even so: and took them wives according to the number of them of the dancers which they caught. And then they went and returned unto their inheritance, and built their cities and dwelt in them.

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