And he took the people, and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the field, and looked, and behold, the people had come out of the city; and he rose up against them, and smote them.

And all that day Abimelech was fighting against the town; and he took it, and put to death the people who were in it, and had the town pulled down and covered with salt.

When all the "lords" at the tower of Shechem heard what had happened, they retreated into the inner chamber of the temple of El-berith.

It was told to Abimelech that all the lords of the tower of Shechem had gathered.

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!"

In this way, God turned back on Abimelech the evil that he had done against his father, by killing his 70 brothers.

And God sent back on to the heads of the men of Shechem all the evil they had done, and the curse of Jotham, the son of Jerubbaal, came on them.

And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havothjair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead.

So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people appointed him head and military commander over them. Jephthah uttered everything he had to say with the solemnity of an oath in the LORD's presence at Mizpah.

But the king of the Ammonites wouldn't heed the message that Jephthah had sent to him.

And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.

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,

Then Jephthah said to them, “My people and I had a serious conflict with the Ammonites. So I called for you, but you didn’t deliver me from their power.

So when I saw that there was no help to be had from you, I put my life in my hand and went over against the children of Ammon, and the Lord gave them into my hands: why then have you come up to me this day to make war on me?

Then Jephthah gathered all of the men of Gilead. They fought and defeated Ephraim, because Ephraim had said, “You Gileadites are Ephraimite fugitives in the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh.”

And the Gileadites took the fords of Jordan before the Ephraimites. And it happened that when one of those Ephraimites who had escaped said, Let me go over, the men of Gilead said to him, Are you an Ephraimite? And he said, No.

And, when Jephthah had judged Israel six years, then Jephthah the Gileadite died, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.

And he had thirty sons, and thirty daughters, whom he sent abroad, and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years.

And when Ibozan had judged Israel seven years, he died and was buried at Bethlehem.

And he had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on threescore and ten ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years.

And when Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite had judged Israel eight years, he died and was buried in Pirathon, the land of Ephraim in the mount of the Amalekites.

There was a certain man from Zorah, from the family of Dan, whose name was Manoah; his wife was unable to conceive and had no children.

Then the woman went to tell her husband. She said, "A man of God appeared to me. He looked like what an angel of God would look like very frightening. I didn't ask him where he had come from and he didn't tell me his name.

But the messenger of Yahweh said unto Manoah - Though thou detain me, yet will I not eat of thy food, and, though thou make ready an ascending-sacrifice, unto Yahweh, must thou cause it to ascend. For Manoah had not discerned that, the angel of Yahweh, he was.

The angel of the LORD did not appear again to Manoah or to his wife, and then Manoah knew confidently that the visitor had been the angel of the LORD.

But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had intended to kill us, He wouldn’t have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from us, and He would not have shown us all these things or spoken to us now like this.”

But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.

So he went down and had talk with the woman; and she was pleasing to Samson.

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.

When the Philistines saw he had no attendants, they gave him thirty groomsmen who kept him company.

She wept the whole seven days of the feast, and at last, on the seventh day, he explained it to her, because she had nagged him so much. Then she explained it to her people.

And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.

The Spirit of the Lord took control of him, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed 30 of their men. He stripped them and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. In a rage, Samson returned to his father’s house,

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

And her father said, I verily thought that you had utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to your companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray you, instead of her.

And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives.

Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.

When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily, and the ropes on his arms were like flax (linen) that had been burned, and his bonds dropped off his hands.

And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi.

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.

Samson went down to Gaza; there he saw a prostitute and {had sex with her}.

Meanwhile, Samson had sex until midnight, then at midnight he got up, grabbed the doors, the two door posts, and the bars of the city gate, and uprooted them. He put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the mountain opposite Hebron.

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

Now she had an ambush waiting in the inner room. She said to him, "The Philistines are on you, Samson." He broke the cords, as a string of tow is broken when it touches the fire. So his strength was not known.

And Delilah took new ropes and bound him therewith, and said unto him, "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson." And there were layers of wait in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms, as they had been but a thread.

And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand.

She made him sleep upon her knees; and she called a man, and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him.

And she said to him, "[The] Philistines [are] upon you, Samson!" And he woke up from his sleep and said, "I will go out just like every other time and shake myself free," but he did not know that Yahweh had left him.

But the hair of his head began to grow back after it had been shaved off.

The rulers of [the] Philistines had gathered to sacrifice a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to rejoice. And they said, "Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand."

When they were drunk, they said, “Bring Samson here to entertain us.” So they brought Samson from prison, and he entertained them. They had him stand between the pillars.

Then Samson told the young man who had been leading him around by the hand, "Let me touch and feel the pillars on which this building rests, and I'll support myself against them."

Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” He pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the leaders and all the people in it. And the dead he killed at his death were more than those he had killed in his life.

Afterwards, his brothers and his father's household servants came down, took him, brought him back, and buried him in his father Manoah's tomb between Zorah and Eshtaol. He had governed Israel for 20 years.

And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee.

When he had returned the silver to his mother, his mother took 200 of the silver coins and handed them over to a silversmith. He crafted them into a carved image and into a cast image, and they were set up in Micah's house.

And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.

In those days Israel had no king. Each man did what he considered to be right.

There was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah. He was a Levite who had been temporarily residing among the tribe of Judah.

The man had left his city Bethlehem in Judah to live wherever he could. As he traveled along, he eventually arrived at Micah's house in the mountainous region of Ephraim, looking for work.

In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel.

He told them what Micah had done for him and that he had hired him as his 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.

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.”

Then the five men who had gone to scout out the land went in and took the carved image overlaid with silver, the ephod, and the household idols, while the priest was standing by the entrance of the gate with the 600 men armed with weapons of war.

But, when, these, had entered the house of Micah, and taken the graven image and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image, the priest said unto them, What are ye doing?

They had gone far away from the house of Micah, and the men in the houses near Micah's house had been called together and had overtaken the sons of Dan.

He said, "You took away my gods that I had made, and the priest, and then you go [away]. What [is] now left for me? How can you say to me, 'What is the matter?'"

The descendants of Dan answered him, "You had better not talk to us about this, or else these bad guys here will attack you. You will lose your life, along with the lives of your whole household."

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 Zidon, and they had no business with any man; and it was in the valley that lieth by Bethrehob. And they built a city, and dwelt therein.

They renamed the city Dan, after the name of their ancestor Dan, who had been born in Israel. The former name of the city was Laish.

So they set up for themselves the carved divine image that Micah had made, all the days that the house of God [was] in Shiloh.

In those days Israel had no king. There was a Levite living temporarily in the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. He acquired a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.

But his mistress was sexually unfaithful to him, and then she left him to live in her father's home in Bethlehem in the territory of Judah. She had been living there for a period of about four months

Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He had with him his servant and a couple of asses. And he came to her father's house; and when the girl's father saw him, he came with joy to meet him.

And his father-in-law, the girl's father, kept him there for three days; and they had food and drink and took their rest 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.

Then early on the morning of the fifth day he got up to go away; but the girl's father said, Keep up your strength; so the two of them had a meal, and the man and his woman and his servant did not go till after the middle of the day.

But the man was not willing to spend the night, and he got up and went; and he arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). [He had] with him a pair of saddled donkeys and his concubine.

After they entered the city, they had to sit down in the public square because no one would take them into their home for the night. Just then, an old man was coming out of the fields that evening from work. The man was from the mountainous region of Ephraim and had been staying in Gibeah, even though the men of that place were descendants of Benjamin.

And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a wayfaring man in the street of the city: and the old man said, Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou?

The Levite said to him, "We are traveling from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. That's where I'm from. I had business in Bethlehem in Judah, but now I'm heading home. But no one has invited me into their home.

So he took him into his home and fed the donkeys while they refreshed themselves and had dinner.

But the men were not willing to listen to him, and the man seized his concubine and brought [her] out to them; and they had intercourse with her, and they abused her all night until the morning; they let her go at the approach of dawn.

And her lord rose up in the morning and opened the doors of the house and went out to go his way. And behold, the woman, his concubine, had fallen down at the door of the house, and her hands were upon the threshold.

When he had come into his house, he took a knife, and took hold of his concubine and divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel.

Then all the children of Israel went out: and there gathered a congregation together as it had been but one man, even from Dan to Beersheba and out of the land of Gilead, unto the land to Mizpeh.

(The descendants of Benjamin heard that the {Israelites} had gone up [to] Mizpah.) And the {Israelites} said, "Tell us, how did this evil act occur?"

So I laid hold on my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel, - because they had wrought lewdness and impiety, in Israel.

Then all the people arose, as it had been one man, saying, "There shall not a man of us go to his tent, neither turn into his house.

And so all the men of Israel gathered together, unto Gibeah, knit together as it had been but one man.

The men of Israel (not counting Benjamin) had mustered four hundred thousand sword-wielding soldiers, every one an experienced warrior.

But the troops, the men of Israel, {encouraged themselves}, and again they arranged [their] battle [lines] in the place where they had arranged themselves the first day.

Now the sons of Israel had gone up, and wept before Yahweh, until the evening, and asked of Yahweh, saying, Shall I again draw near to battle against the sons of Benjamin, my brother? And Yahweh said, Go up against him.

The Israelis went out against the descendants of Benjamin on the third day, arraying themselves against Gibeah as they had done previously.

They attacked the army and were drawn away from the city as they began to inflict casualties on the soldiers along the roads to Bethel and Gibeah, just as they had done the other times. About 30 soldiers from Israel fell in battle there and in the fields.

For the children of Benjamin thought that the other had been beaten before them, as at the first time. But the children of Israel said, "Let us flee and pluck them away from the city, unto the highways."

So all the men of Israel got up and put themselves in fighting order at Baal-tamar: and those who had been waiting secretly to make a surprise attack came rushing out of their place on the west of Geba.