But the tribe of Judah told the tribe of Simeon, the descendants of Judah's brother, "Come with us into our territory, and we'll both fight the Canaanites. In return, we'll go with you when you fight in your territory." So the army of the tribe of Simeon accompanied the army of the tribe of Judah.

Adoni-bezek ran off, but they pursued him, caught him, and amputated his thumbs and big toes.

The LORD was with the army of Judah, and they captured the hill country, but did not expel the inhabitants of the valley because they were equipped with iron chariots.

So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they attacked the city with swords, but they let the man and his entire family escape.

The army of the tribe of Zebulun did not expel the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them, but were subjected to conscripted labor.

As for you, you must not make any treaties with the inhabitants of this land. Instead, tear down their altars.' But you haven't obeyed me. What have you done?

But then Nun's son Joshua, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of 110 years.

But they didn't listen to their leaders, because they were committing spiritual immorality by following other gods and worshiping them. They quickly turned away from the road on which their ancestors had walked in obedience to the commands of the LORD. They didn't follow their example.

But when the Israelis cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up Gera's son Ehud, a left-handed descendant of Benjamin, as a deliverer for them. The Israelis paid tribute through him to king Eglon of Moab.

After he left, Eglon's attendants came to look, but the doors to the cool chamber were locked! So they said, "He must be relieving himself in the inner part of the cool chamber."

"If you'll go with me, I'll go," Barak replied. "But if you won't go with me, then I'm not going."

She responded, "I will surely go with you, but the road that you're about to take will not lead to honor for you. The LORD will sell Sisera into the hands of a woman." Then Deborah got up and went with Barak toward Kedesh.

But Heber's wife Jael grabbed a tent peg in one hand and a hammer in the other, crept up to him quietly, and drove the tent peg right through his temple into the ground below after he had fallen sound asleep from exhaustion. That's how he died.

New gods were chosen, then war came to the city gates, but there wasn't a shield or spear to be seen among 40,000 soldiers of Israel.

Then loud was the beat of the horses' hooves from the galloping, galloping war steeds!

"May all of your enemies perish like this, LORD! But may those who love him be like the ascending sun in its strength!" Then the land enjoyed quiet for 40 years.

I told you, "I am the LORD your God. You are not to fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you'll be living."' But you haven't obeyed what I said."

But Gideon replied, "Right" Sir, if the LORD is with us, then why has all of this happened to us? And where are all of his miraculous works that our ancestors recounted to us when they said, "The LORD brought us up from Egypt, didn't he?' But now the LORD has abandoned us and given us over to Midian!"

Then Gideon went and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket and poured the broth into a pot, and brought them to the angel right under the oak tree. Then he made his offering.

But Joash responded to everyone who was opposing him, "Do you really intend to fight on Baal's behalf? Do you really intend to rescue him by ordering that whoever fights him will be executed by morning? If Baal is a god, let him fight for himself. After all, it was his altar that was torn down."

Then Gideon told God, "Don't let yourself be angry with me! I want to ask you once again: please let me make a test with the fleece just once more. Cause it to be dry only on the fleece, but let there be dew all around on the ground."

And God did it just like that later that night. It was dry only on the fleece, but dew was all around on the ground.

"There are still too many soldiers," the LORD told Gideon. "Bring them down to the water and I'll refine them for you there. Therefore when I say to you, "This one will be going with you,' he'll go with you, but no one may go about whom I tell you, "This one won't be going with you.'"

The contingent of soldiers who lapped water with their hands to their mouths numbered 300 men, but everyone else kneeled to drink water.

So the soldiers took provisions with them, along with their trumpets, and Gideon sent all the rest of the soldiers of Israel back to their own tents, but he retained the 300 men. And the Midian encampment was below him in the valley.

But if you're afraid to go down there, you may take your servant Purah with you to their encampment,

Later on, the descendants of Ephraim spoke to Gideon. They argued vehemently, "What are you doing to us? You never called us! But you went out to fight Midian!"

Meanwhile, Gideon and the 300 soldiers with him came to the Jordan, exhausted but continuing their pursuit.

But the officials of Succoth replied, "Do you have Zebah and Zalmunna in custody already, so that we should give food to your army?"

So Gideon responded, "Okay then, but when the LORD has turned over Zebah and Zalmunna into my control, I'm going to whip you with thorns and briers from the desert!"

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.

Then he told his firstborn son Jether, "Get up and kill them!" But he was afraid, since he was still only a youngster.

But Gideon told them, "I won't rule over you and my son won't rule over you. The LORD will rule you."

But Gideon also added, "I would like to ask that each of you give me a ring from his war booty" because, as Ishmaelites, the Midianites had been wearing gold rings.

to his father's house in Ophrah. There he murdered his own brothers, Jerubbaal's sons all 70 of them in one place. But Jerubbaal's youngest son Jotham survived by hiding himself.

But the olive tree asked them, "Should I stop producing my rich oils by which both God and men are honored and go take dominion over trees?'

But the fig tree asked them, "Should I leave my sweet, good fruit and go take dominion over trees?'

But the grape vine asked them, "Should I leave my new wine, which cheers God and man, and go take dominion over trees?'

Then the bramble bush replied to the trees, "If you really are consecrating me to rule you, come and put your confidence in my shade; but if not, may fire spring out from the bramble bush and burn up the cedars of Lebanon"'

"But now as for you, you've rebelled against my father's house today. You've murdered his sons 70 men in one place, and you've installed Abimelech, the son of his mistress, as king to rule over the "lords" of Shechem, since he's related to you.

But if not, may fire spring out from Abimelech and consume the "lords" of Shechem and Beth-millo, and may fire spring out from the "lords" of Shechem and Beth-millo to consume Abimelech."

Meanwhile, Ebed's son Gaal arrived with his relatives and crossed over into Shechem. The "lords" of Shechem put their faith in him.

Then Ebed's son Gaal remarked, "Who is this Abimelech? And who is Shechem? Should we serve him? Isn't he Jerubbaal's son? Isn't Zebul his lieutenant? Serve the men of Hamor, Shechem's ancestor but why are we serving him?

When Gaal saw the army, he observed to Zebul, "Look there! People are coming down from the top of the mountains." But Zebul replied to him, "You're looking at morning shadows cast by the mountains. They just look like men to you."

Afterwards, Abimelech remained at Arumah, but Zebul expelled Gaal and his family so they couldn't remain in Shechem.

But there was a fortified tower in the center of the city, and all the men, women, and leaders of the city escaped to it, shut themselves in, and went up to the roof of the tower.

But a certain woman threw an upper millstone down on Abimelech's head, fracturing his skull.

But you have abandoned me and served other gods. Therefore I will no longer be delivering you.

When they put away their foreign gods and served the LORD, he brought Israel's misery to an end.

Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a valiant soldier, but he was also the son of a prostitute and Jephthah's father Gilead.

Gilead's wife bore two sons through him, but when his wife's sons grew up, they expelled Jephthah and declared to him, "You won't have an inheritance in this house, since you're the son of a different woman."

But Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead, "Weren't you the ones who hated me and drove me out of my father's house? And you come to me now that you're in trouble?"

But Jephthah sent additional messengers again to the king of the Ammonites

"But the king of Edom wouldn't listen. So they also sent word to the king of Moab, but he wouldn't consent, either. So Israel stayed at Kadesh. Then they went through the desert, circumventing the territory belonging to Edom and Moab. They encamped on the other side of the Arnon River, but never entered the territory of Moab because the Arnon River is the border of Moab.

But Sihon didn't trust Israel to pass through his territory, so he assembled his entire army, encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.

I haven't sinned against you, but you are acting wrongly against me by declaring war on me. May the LORD, the Judge, sit in judgment today between the Israelis and the Ammonites.'"

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

She told him, "My father, you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me according to what has come out of your own mouth, considering that the LORD has paid back your enemies, the Ammonites."

But Jephthah replied to them, "My army and I were engaged in a serious fight with the Ammonites. I called for you, but you didn't deliver me from their control.

He had 30 sons and 30 daughters, but he gave his daughters in marriage to outsiders and brought in 30 outsiders for his sons. He governed Israel for seven years,

because surprise! you're going to conceive and give birth to a son! Don't put a razor to his head, because the young man will be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from inside the womb. He will begin to deliver Israel from domination by the Philistines."

God listened to Manoah's request, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting out in the pasture. But her husband Manoah wasn't with her,

The angel of the LORD answered Manoah, "If you detain me, I won't be eating your food, but if you prepare a burnt offering, you'll be making a sacrifice to the LORD." The angel of the LORD said this because Manoah didn't know that he was the angel of the LORD.

But his wife replied to him, "If the LORD had intended to kill us, he wouldn't have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from us, he wouldn't have shown us all these things, and he wouldn't have permitted us to hear things like this, now would he?"

But Samson retorted to his father, "Get her for me, since she looks fine to me." Meanwhile, his father and mother did not know that she was from the LORD, because he had been seeking a favorable opportunity concerning the Philistines, since the Philistines were dominating Israel at that time.

The Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and he ripped the lion apart as one might dissect a young goat, even though he carried nothing in his hand. But he didn't tell his father and mother what he had done.

So he scraped some out into his hands and went on his way, eating all the while. When he met his father and mother, he gave some to them, and they ate it, too. But he didn't inform them that he had scraped the honey from the carcass of the lion.

But if you don't solve it, then you'll give me 30 linen garments and 30 formal garments." "Tell us your riddle and we'll solve it," they responded.

So Samson's wife cried in front of him and accused him, "You only hate me. You don't love me. You've told a riddle to my relatives, but you haven't told the solution to me." Samson responded, "Look, I haven't told my parents, either. Why should I tell you?"

A while later during the wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife, bringing along a young goat, and told his father-in-law, "I'm going into my wife's room." But her father wouldn't give permission for him to go.

So they said, "No, we won't. But we're going to tie you up securely and transfer you to their custody. But we won't kill you." Then they bound him with two ropes and brought him up from the caves.

Aferward, he became thirsty, called out to the LORD, and told him, "So, you provided this great deliverance at the hands of your servant, but now I'm to die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?"

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.

Meanwhile, some kidnappers were hiding inside an inner room, waiting for her signal. So she told him, "The Philistines are attacking you!" But he snapped the cords as one might break a burned candle wick. So his secret remained undiscovered.

So Delilah grabbed some new ropes and tied him up. Then she told him, "The Philistines are attacking you, Samson!" because some kidnappers were hiding inside an inner room. But he snapped the ropes from his arms like thread.

So Delilah took the seven locks on his head and wove them into the loom while he slept. She fastened his hair with a peg and then told him, "The Philistines are attacking you, Samson!" But he woke up from his nap and pulled the pin from the loom and the weaving.

When she cried out, "The Philistines are attacking you, Samson!" he woke from his sleep and told himself, "I'll go out like I did at other times like this and shake myself free." But he didn't know that the LORD had abandoned him.

But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved off.

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."

But the descendants of Dan took what Micah had made, along with the priest who had worked for him, and went to Laish, to a quiet and carefree people, and killed them with swords. Then they set fire to the city.

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

So both of them sat down for a bit, ate and drank together, and the young woman's father invited the man, "Please, enjoy yourself and spend another night."

The man got up, intending to leave, but his father-in-law urged him to spend the night there again.

On the fifth day, he got up early in the morning, but the young woman's father-in-law told him, "Please, fortify yourself," so they delayed until later that afternoon while both of them ate together.

But his master replied, "We're not going to turn aside into a city of foreigners who are not part of the Israelis. Instead, we'll go on to Gibeah."

He replied, "We're traveling from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote part of the mountainous region of Ephraim, because I'm from there, and I've been visiting Bethlehem in Judah. I'm going home now, but no one will take me into his home.

Instead, here's my virgin daughter and my visitor's mistress. Please let me bring them out to you. Occupy yourselves with them, and do to them whatever you would like. But don't commit such a stupid thing against this man."

But the men were unwilling to listen to him. So the descendant of Levi grabbed his mistress, took her out to them, and they raped and tortured her all night until morning. Then they released her as the first daylight was beginning to appear.

But there was no response. So he placed her on the donkey, mounted his own animal, and went home. When he arrived home, he grabbed a knife, took hold of his mistress, cut her apart limb by limb into twelve pieces, and sent her remains throughout the land of Israel.

But the officials of Gibeah attacked me and surrounded the house because of me. They intended to kill me, but instead they tortured my mistress to death.

But the descendants of Benjamin wouldn't obey the request of their own relatives, the Israelis, so the descendants of Benjamin assembled from the cities of Gibeah to fight the Israelis in battle.

But the Israeli army not counting the tribe of Benjamin numbered 400,000 expert swordsmen, all of them battle-hardened soldiers.

But the army the men of Israel encouraged themselves and arrayed for battle again the next day in the same place where they had gathered the day before.

But the army of Israel told themselves, "Let's draw them away by escaping to the highways from the city." So the entire army of Israel moved from their location and arrayed themselves at Baal-tamer while that part of their army moved from their ambush positions from Maareh-geba.

As 10,000 of Israel's best soldiers came to fight Gibeah, the battle became fierce, but the army of Benjamin didn't know that disaster was close at hand.

But then the smoke began to rise from the city in a column. The army of Benjamin observed behind them that the whole city was going up in flames straight into the sky!

So they turned tail and ran away from the army of Israel toward the wilderness, but they were overtaken in battle when soldiers came out from the cities to destroy them.

The rest of them turned and ran into the wilderness in the direction of the rock of Rimmon, but 5,000 of them were killed on the highways while 2,000 of them were overtaken and killed near Gidom.

But the Israelis were mourning for their relatives in the tribe of Benjamin. They announced, "One tribe has been eliminated from Israel today!

But we can't give them wives from our own daughters, since we've taken this vow: "May the LORD curse anyone who gives his daughter as a wife to the tribe of Benjamin!'"