And Judah went up, and Yahweh gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they defeated ten thousand men at Bezek.

At Bezek they came upon Adoni-bezek, and they fought against him and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

The descendants of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and they captured it, {put it to the sword}, and {set the city on fire}.

And Caleb said, "Whoever attacks Kiriath Sepher and captures it, I will give to him Acsah my daughter as a wife."

Othniel son of Kenaz, the younger brother of Caleb, captured it, and he gave to him Acsah his daughter as a wife.

When she came [to him], she urged him to ask her father for a field. As she dismounted from the donkey, Caleb said to her, "{What do you want}?"

And Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they defeated the Canaanites inhabiting Zephath; they utterly destroyed it, so he called the name of the city Hormah.

And Yahweh was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they [had] chariots of iron.

They gave Hebron to Caleb just as Moses said, and he drove out the three sons of Anak from there.

But the descendants of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived among the descendants of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

And the house of Joseph spied out Bethel (the former name of the city was Luz).

And the man went [to] the land of the Hittites, and he built a city and named it Luz; this [is] its name to this day.

Manasseh did not drive out Beth-Sean and its towns, or Taanach and its towns, or the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; the Canaanites [were] determined to live in this land.

And it happened, when Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they never totally drove them out.

Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived in their midst in Gezer.

Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived in their midst and became [subjected] to forced labor.

Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Aczib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob,

so the Asherites lived in the midst of the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out.

Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh or Beth-anath, but lived in the midst of the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and Beth-anath became forced labor for them.

Now I say, I will not drive them out from before you; they will {become as thorns} for you, and their gods will be a trap for you."

And Joshua son of Nun, servant of Yahweh, died {at the age of one hundred and ten years}.

They abandoned Yahweh the God of their ancestors, who brought them out from the land of Egypt. They {followed} other gods from the gods of the people who [were] around them; and they bowed down to them, and they provoked the anger of Yahweh.

{Whenever} they went out, the hand of Yahweh was against them to harm [them], just as Yahweh warned, and just as Yahweh had sworn to them. And {they were very distressed}.

I will not again drive out anyone from before them from the nations that Joshua left when he died,

in order to test Israel whether or not they would observe the way of Yahweh, to walk in it just as their ancestors did."

So Yahweh left those nations; he did not drive them out at once, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua.

in order that the generations of Israel would know war, to teach those {who had not experienced it} before):

And {the anger of Yahweh was kindled} against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-Rishathaim, the king of Aram Naharaim; and the {Israelites} served Cushan-Rishathaim eight years.

The {Israelites} cried out to Yahweh, and Yahweh raised up a deliverer for the {Israelites} who delivered them, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.

And the spirit of Yahweh came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and Yahweh gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into his hand, and {he prevailed over} Cushan-Rishathaim.

And the {Israelites} cried out to Yahweh, and Yahweh raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud son of Gera, a Benjaminite and {a left-handed man}. And the {Israelites} sent a tribute to Eglon king of Moab {through him}.

Ehud made for himself a short, {two-edged} sword (a cubit in length), and he fastened it under his clothes on his right thigh.

But he turned back from the sculptured stones that [were] near Gilgal, and he said, "I have {a secret message} for you, O king." And he said, "Silence!" So all those standing in his presence went out,

Then Ehud reached with his left hand for the sword on his right thigh, and he thrust it into his stomach.

And the handle also went [in] after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade because he did not draw back the sword from his stomach; and it went protruding out the back.

And Ehud went out the vestibule, and he closed the doors of the upper room and locked [them] behind him.

And they struck Moab at that time, about ten thousand men, {all strong and able men}; no one escaped.

Now at that time Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, [was] judging Israel.

{I will draw out} Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and troops, to the wadi of Kishon, and I will give him into your hand.'"

And Heber the Kenite [was] separated from [the other] Kenites, [that is], from the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses. And {he was encamped} at Elon-bezaanannim, which [is] near Kedesh.

Sisera summoned all his chariots--all nine hundred chariots of iron--and the entire army that [was] with him from Harosheth Haggoyim to the wadi of Kishon.

And Deborah said to Barak, "Get up! This [is] the day that Yahweh has given Sisera into your hand. Has Yahweh not gone out before you?" So Barak went out from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.

And Jael came out to meet Sisera, and she said to him, "Turn aside, my lord; turn aside to me and do not be afraid." So he turned aside into her tent, and she covered him {with a blanket}.

And he said to her, "Stand [at] the doorway of the tent, and if anyone comes and asks you, and says, 'Is there anyone here?' You must answer, 'No.'"

But Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, took in her hand a tent peg and a hammer, and she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went through into the ground; he [was] fast asleep since he was exhausted, and he died.

And behold, Barak [was] pursuing Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him, and she said to him, "Come, and I will show you the man whom you [are] seeking." And he came with her and saw that Sisera was lying dead with the peg in his temple.

The mountains trembled before Yahweh, this Sinai, at the presence of Yahweh, the God of Israel.

God chose new [leaders], then war [was at the] gates; a small shield or a spear was not seen among forty thousand in Israel.

My heart [goes out] to the commanders of Israel, those offering themselves willingly among the people; bless Yahweh!

The riders of white female donkeys, [those] sitting on saddle blankets, and [those] going on [the] way, talk about it!

At the sound of [those] dividing [the sheep] among the watering places, there they will recount the righteous deeds of Yahweh, the righteous deeds for his warriors in Israel. Then the people of Yahweh went down to the gates.

Gilead has remained beyond the Jordan. Why did Dan dwell as a foreigner [with] ships? Asher sat at [the] coast of [the] waters, and by his coves he has been settling down.

"The kings came, they fought; then the kings of Canaan fought; at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, they got no plunder in silver.

The wadi torrent of Kishon swept them away, the raging wadi torrent, the wadi torrent of Kishon. March on, my soul, [with] strength!

She reached out her hand to the peg, and her right hand for the workman's hammer; and she struck Sisera, crushed his head, and she shattered and pierced his temple.

"Through the window she looked down; the mother of Sisera cried out through the lattice, 'Why is his chariot delayed in coming? Why do the hoof beats of his chariot tarry?'

So may all your enemies perish, O Yahweh, but those who love him are like the rising sun at its brightest." And the land had rest for forty years.

For they, their livestock, and their tents would come up like a great number of locusts; they and their camels could not be counted; they came into the land and devoured it.

Israel was very poor because of the presence of the Midianites, and the {Israelites} cried out to Yahweh.

When the {Israelites} cried out to Yahweh on account of the Midianites,

I delivered you from the hand of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors, and drove them out from {before you}; and I gave you their land.

The angel of Yahweh came and sat under the oak that [was] at Ophrah that belonged to Jehoash [the] Abiezrite; and Gideon his son [was] threshing wheat in the winepress to hide [it] from the Midianites.

Please, do not depart from here until I come [back] to you and bring out my gift and set it out before you." And he said, "I will stay until you return."

The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened cakes and put [them] on this rock; pour the broth [over it]." And he did so.

Then the angel of Yahweh reached out the tip of the staff that [was] in his hand, and he touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and fire went up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of Yahweh went {from his sight}.

And Gideon built there an altar to Yahweh, and he called it "Yahweh [is] peace." To this day it is still in Ophrah [of the] Abiezrites.

Now on that same night Yahweh said to him, "Take the bull of the cattle that belongs to your father, and a second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it;

and build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold in the proper arrangement, and take a second bull and offer [it as] a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you will cut down.

Gideon took ten men from his servants, and he did just as Yahweh told him; and because he was too afraid of his {father's family} and the men of the city to do [it during] the day, he did [it during] night.

When the men of the city got up early in the morning, look, the altar of Baal and the Asherah that [was] beside it [were] cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built.

And the men of the city said to Jehoash, "Bring out your son so that he may die, for he has pulled down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah that [was] beside it."

And it was so. He arose early the next day and squeezed the fleece, and he wrung out dew from the fleece, a full drinking bowl of water.

And that night Yahweh said to him, "Get up; go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand.

and you will hear what they say; and afterward {you will have courage}, and you will go down against the camp." Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outpost of the armed men that [were] in the camp.

When Gideon came, a man [was] recounting a dream to his friend, and he said, "Behold, {I had a dream}; a round loaf of barley bread [was] tumbling into the camp of Midian, and it came up to the tent, it struck it, and it fell and turned it upside down so that the tent fell."

So Gideon and the hundred men who [were] with him came to the edge of the camp [at] the beginning of the middle night-watch, when they had just finished setting up the guards, and they blew on the trumpets and smashed the jars that [were] in their hands.

And each stood {in his place} all around the camp, and all the camp ran, and they cried out as they fled.

And Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, "Come down to oppose Midian, and capture from them the waters up to Beth Barah and the Jordan." He called out all the men of Ephraim, and they captured the waters up to Beth Barah and the Jordan.

And they captured the two commanders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and they killed Zeeb at the wine press of Zeeb, while they chased Midian; and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon from beyond the Jordan.

The men of Ephraim said to him, "What [is] this thing you have done to us, not calling us when you went to fight against the Midianites?" And they quarreled with him severely.

And he said to them, "What I have done now in comparison with you? Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer?

God has given into your hand the commanders of Midian, Oreb, and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?" And their {anger} against him subsided when {he said that}.

Then Gideon came to the Jordan, crossing it with the three hundred men who [were] with him, weary and pursuing.

And Gideon went up the route of those who dwell in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he attacked the army when it was off its guard.

And he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, "What type [were] the men whom you killed at Tabor?" And they said, "{They were like you}; each [one of them] had the appearance of the sons of the king."

They said, "We will gladly give [them]," and they spread out a garment, and everyone threw there an ornamental ring of his plunder.

The weight of the ornamental rings of gold that he requested [was] one thousand seven hundred [shekels of] gold, apart from the crescents, pendants, and purple garments that [were] on the kings of Midian, and apart from the pendants that [were] on the necks of their camels.

Gideon made an ephod [out of] it, and he put it in his town in Ophrah, and all Israel prostituted [themselves] to it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.

And Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age, and he was buried in the tomb of Jehoash his father, in Ophrah [of] the Abiezrites.

And it happened, as soon as Gideon died, the {Israelites} returned and prostituted [themselves] after the Baals, and they made for themselves Baal-Berith as god.

"{Speak to} the lords of Shechem, 'What [is] better for you, that seventy men all from the sons of Jerub-Baal rule over you, or that one man rules over you?' Remember that I [am] your bone and your flesh."

And he went to his father's house at Ophrah, and he killed his brothers, the sons of Jerub-Baal, seventy men, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerub-Baal survived, because he hid himself.

All the lords of Shechem and Beth-Millo gathered, and they went and made Abimelech as king, near [the] oak of [the] pillar that [is] at Shechem.

And they told Jotham, and he went up and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and {he cried out loud} and said to them, "Listen to me, lords of Shechem, so that God may listen to you.

And the thornbush said to the trees, 'If in good faith you [are] anointing me as king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; if not, may fire go out from the thornbush and devour the cedars of Lebanon.'

But if not, let a fire come out from Abimelech and let it devour the lords of Shechem and Beth-Millo; and let a fire come out from the lords of Shechem, and from Beth-Millo, and let it devour Abimelech."

And the lords of Shechem set for him ambushes on the top of the mountains, and they robbed all who passed by them along the road; and it was reported to Abimelech.

They went out [into] the field and harvested their vineyards and trod [them], and they {held a festival}. And they went [into] the temple of their god, and they ate and drank and cursed Abimelech.

If only this people {were in my command}! Then I would remove Abimelech, and I would have said, 'Increase your army and come out!'"

And in the morning at sunrise, get up and rush the city; and look, when he and the troops who [are] with him come out to you, {you must act according to whatever opportunity offers itself}.