Therefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you, but they shall be [as thorns] in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.

But it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they turned back, and dealt more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down to them. They did not cease from their doings, nor from their

that by them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of LORD to walk in it, as their fathers kept it, or not.

Now these are the nations which LORD left to prove Israel by them, (even as many [of Israel] as had not known all the wars of Canaan,

And they were [left], to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken to the commandments of LORD, which he commanded their fathers by Moses.

And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons and served their gods.

But when the sons of Israel cried to LORD, LORD raised up for them a savior, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man. And the sons of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab.

But he himself turned back from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand to thee, O king. And he said, Keep silence. And all who stood by him went out from him.

And Ehud came to him. And he was sitting by himself alone in the cool upper room. And Ehud said, I have a message from God to thee. And he arose out of his seat.

And she said, I will surely go with thee. Notwithstanding, the journey that thou take shall not be for thine honor, for LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.

Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, even from the sons of Hobab the brother-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far as the oak in Zaanannim, which is by Kedesh.

But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the army, to Harosheth of the Gentiles. And all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword. There was not a man left.

And he said to her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man comes and inquires of thee, and says, Is there any man here? that thou shall say, No.

Tell, ye who ride on white donkeys, ye who sit on rich carpets, and ye who walk by the way.

And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah, as was Issachar, so was Barak, into the valley they rushed forth at his feet. By the watercourses of Reuben there were great resolves of heart.

Gilead abode beyond the Jordan. And Dan, why did he remain in ships? Asher sat still at the haven of the sea, and abode by his creeks.

The kings came and fought. Then the kings of Canaan fought in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo. They took no gain of money.

Then the horse hoofs stamped by reason of the prancings, the prancings of their strong ones.

Blessed above women shall Jael be, the wife of Heber the Kenite. Blessed shall she be above women in the tent.

So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD, but let those who love him be as the sun when he goes forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.

And LORD said to him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shall smite the Midianites as one man.

And LORD said to him, Peace be to thee. Fear not; thou shall not die.

And it came to pass the same night, that LORD said to him, Take thy father's bullock, even the second bullock seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father has, and cut down the Asherah that is by it.

Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as LORD had spoken to him. And it came to pass, because he feared his father's household and the men of the city, so that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.

And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built.

Then the men of the city said to Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die, because he has broken down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the Asherah that was by it.

And Joash said to all who stood against him, Will ye contend for Baal? Or will ye save him? He who will contend for him, let him be put to death while [it is] morning. If he be a god, let him contend for himself because he has brok

And Gideon said to God, If thou will save Israel by my hand, as thou have spoken,

behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing-floor. If there be dew on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the ground, then I shall know that thou will save Israel by my hand as thou have spoken.

And Gideon said to God, Let not thine anger be kindled against me, and I will speak but this once. Let me make trial, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece. Let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let t

Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people who were with him, rose up early, and encamped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

And LORD said to Gideon, The people are yet too many. Bring them down to the water, and I will try them for thee there. And it shall be, that of whom I say to thee, This man shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee, and of w

So he brought down the people to the water. And LORD said to Gideon, Everyone who laps of the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, him thou shall set by himself. Likewise everyone who bows down upon his knees to drink.

And LORD said to Gideon, By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into thy hand. And let all the people go every man to his place.

And thou shall hear what they say, and afterward thy hands shall be strengthened to go down into the camp. Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outermost part of the armed men who were in the camp.

And he said to them, Look on me, and do likewise, and, behold, when I come to the outermost part of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so ye shall do.

And they blew the three hundred trumpets, and LORD set every man's sword against his fellow, and against all the army. And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath.

And Gideon went up by the way of those who dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the army, for the army was confident.

And all the men of Shechem assembled themselves together, and all the house of Millo, and went and made Abimelech king by the oak of the pillar that was in Shechem.

But the olive tree said to them, Should I leave my fatness with which by me they honor God and man, and go to wave to and fro over the trees?

that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and that their blood might be laid upon Abimelech their brother who killed them, and upon the men of Shechem who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers.

And the men of Shechem set ambushes for him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all who came along that way by them, and it was told Abimelech.

Now therefore, up by night, thou and the people who are with thee, and lay in wait in the field.

And it shall be, that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, thou shall rise early, and rush upon the city, and, behold, when he and the people who are with him come out against thee, then thou may do to them as thou shall find

And Abimelech rose up, and all the people who were with him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies.

And Gaal spoke again and said, See, there comes people down by the middle of the land, and one company comes by the way of the oak of Meonenim.

And Abimelech got up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him. And Abimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it up, and laid it on his shoulder. And he said to the people who w

And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them to the stronghold, and set the stronghold on fire upon them, so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men

And after Abimelech there arose Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, to save Israel, and he dwelt in Shamir in the hill-country of Ephraim.

And the people, the rulers of Gilead, said one to another, What man is he who will begin to fight against the sons of Ammon? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.

And they said to Jephthah, Come and be our chief, that we may fight with the sons of Ammon.

And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, For that reason we turned again to thee now, that thou may go with us, and fight with the sons of Ammon. And thou shall be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.

And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to fight with the sons of Ammon, and LORD delivers them before me, shall I be your head?

And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, LORD shall be witness between us. Surely according to thy word so will we do.

Then they went through the wilderness, and went around the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab. And they encamped on the other side of the Arnon, but they did not come within the border

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, why did ye not recover them within that time?

I therefore have not sinned against thee, but thou do me wrong to war against me. LORD, the Judge, be judge this day between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.

then it shall be, that whatever comes forth from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be LORD's, and I will offer it up for a burnt-offering.

And she said to her father, Let this thing be done for me: Let me alone two months, that I may depart and go down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my companions.

for, lo, thou shall conceive, and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb. And he shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

but he said to me, Behold, thou shall conceive, and bear a son. And now drink no wine nor strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.

Then Manoah entreated LORD, and said, Oh, LORD, I pray thee, let the man of God whom thou sent come again to us, and teach us what we shall do to the child that shall be born.

And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. What shall be the ordering of the child, and [what] shall we do to him?

And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.

And Samson said to them, This time I shall be blameless in regard of the Philistines when I do them a mischief.

And Samson said to them, If ye do after this manner, surely I will be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.

And he was very thirsty, and called on LORD, and said, Thou have given this great deliverance by the hand of thy servant, and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised.

And the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her, Entice him, and see in what his great strength lays, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him. And we will give thee every o

And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, in what thy great strength lays, and with what thou might be bound to afflict thee.

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

And Delilah said to Samson, Behold, thou have mocked me, and told me lies. Now tell me, I pray thee, with what thou might be bound.

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

And Delilah said to Samson, Until now thou have mocked me, and told me lies. Tell me with what thou might be bound. And he said to her, If thou weave the seven locks of my head with the web.

And he told her all his heart, and said to her, There has not come a razor upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be lik

And Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, Allow me that I may feel the pillars upon which the house rests, that I may lean upon them.

And Samson called to LORD, and said, O lord LORD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.

And he said to his mother, The eleven hundred [pieces] of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me. I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be m

And Micah said to him, Dwell with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten [pieces] of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy food. So the Levite went in.

When they were by the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young man the Levite. And they turned aside there, and said to him, Who brought thee here? And what are thou doing in this place? And what have thou here?

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

And they said, Arise, and let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good, and are ye idle? Be not slothful to go and to enter in to possess the land.

And the six hundred men girded with their weapons of war, who were of the sons of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate.

And the five men who went to spy out the land went up, and came in there, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. And the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men g

And they said to him, Hold thy peace, lay thy hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for thee to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?

And the sons of Dan said to him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall upon you, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household.

And there was no deliverer because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with any man, and it was in the valley that lays by Beth-rehob. And they built the city, and dwelt in it.

So they sat down, and ate and drank, both of them together. And the damsel's father said to the man, Be pleased, I pray thee, to tarry all night, and let thy heart be merry.

When they were by Jebus, the day was far spent, and the servant said to his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn aside into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it.

And the old man said, Peace be to thee. However let all thy wants lay upon me, only do not lodge in the street.

And he said to her, Up, and let us be going, but there was no answering. Then he took her up upon the donkey, and the man rose up, and got to his place.

And when he came into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the borders of Israel.

And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round about me by night. They thought to have me slain, and they forced my concubine, and she is dead.

But now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah: [We will go up] against it by lot,

And they said, O LORD, the God of Israel, why has this come to pass in Israel, that there should be today one tribe lacking in Israel?

And the sons of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that did not come up in the assembly to LORD? For they had made a great oath concerning him who did not come up to LORD to Mizpah, saying, He shall surely be

What shall we do for wives for those who remain, since we have sworn by LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?

And this is the thing that ye shall do: Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that has lain by man.

And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins who had not known man by laying with him, and they brought them to the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

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

However we may not give them wives of our daughters, for the sons of Israel had sworn, saying, Cursed be he who gives a wife to Benjamin.