And from there they went to the inhabitants of Debir (the former name of Debir [was] Kiriath Sepher).

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}?"

The descendants of Hobab [the] Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up with the descendants of Judah from the city of palms [into] the wilderness of Judah, which [is] in [the] Negev [near] Arad. And they went and settled with the people.

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

The border of the Amorites [ran] from the ascent of Akrabbim from Sela and upward.

And the angel of Yahweh went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, "I brought you up from Egypt, and I brought you to the land that I had promised to your ancestors. I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you.

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."

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.

So {the anger of Yahweh was kindled} against Israel, and he gave them into the hand of plunderers; and they plundered them, and he sold them into the hand of their enemies from all sides. They were unable to withstand their enemies any longer.

Then Yahweh raised up leaders, and they delivered them from the hand of their plunderers.

But they did not listen to their leaders, but lusted after other gods and bowed down to them. They turned away quickly from the way that their ancestors went, who had obeyed the commandment of Yahweh; they did not do [as their ancestors].

And when Yahweh raised leaders for them, Yahweh was with the leader, and he delivered them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the leader, for Yahweh was moved by their groaning because of their persecutors and oppressors.

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

the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon up to Lebo-Hamath.

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,

and Ehud came to him [while] he [was] sitting alone in his cool upper room. And Ehud said, "I have a {message from God} for you." So he got up from his seat.

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 when he arrived he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the {Israelites} went down from the hill country with him leading them.

She sent and called for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh Naphtali and said to him, "Has not Yahweh the God of Israel commanded you? 'Go, {march to} Mount Tabor, and take ten thousand men from the descendants of Naphtali and Zebulun.

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 Yahweh threw Sisera and all his chariots and army into confusion before {the edge of Barak's sword}; and Sisera dismounted from [his] chariot and fled on foot.

Yahweh, when you went down from Seir, when you marched from the region of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens poured down, the clouds poured down water.

From Ephraim [is] their root into Amalek, after you, Benjamin, with your family; from Makir [the] commanders went down, and from Zebulun [those] carrying [the] scepter of [the] military commander.

And the chiefs in Issachar [were] with Deborah; and Issachar likewise [was with] Barak; into the valley {he was sent to get him from behind}. Among the clans of Reuben [were] great {decisions of the heart}.

The stars fought from heaven; from their courses they fought against Sisera.

Yahweh sent a prophet to the {Israelites}, and he said to them, "Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: 'I brought you up from Egypt; I brought you from the house of slavery.

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.

Gideon said to him, "Excuse me, my lord. [If] Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonderful deeds that our ancestors recounted to us, saying, 'Did not Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?' But now Yahweh has forsaken us; he has given us into the palm of Midian."

And Yahweh turned to him and said, "Go in this your strength, and you will deliver Israel from the palm of Midian. Did I not send you?"

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."

And Gideon went and prepared {a young goat} and unleavened cakes [from] an ephah of flour; he put meat in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and he brought [them] to him under the oak and presented [them].

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}.

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.

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.

So then, please proclaim in the {hearing} of the troops, saying, 'Whoever [is] fearful and trembling, let him return and depart from the Mount of Gilead.'" About twenty-two thousand troops returned, and ten thousand remained.

So he brought down the troops to the water, and Yahweh said to Gideon, "You must separate everyone who laps up the water to drink with his tongue like a dog from those {who kneel}."

And the men of Israel were called from Naphtali, from Asher, and from all of Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian.

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.

He went from there [to] Penuel, and he spoke similarly to them; and the men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth answered.

Now Zebah and Zalmunna [were] in Karkor, and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand men remained from the entire army of the people of [the] east; those that fell [in battle were] one hundred and twenty thousand {swordsmen}.

Then Gideon son of Jehoash returned from the battle {by way of} the ascent of Heres.

He captured a young man {from Succoth} and questioned him. [The young man] listed for him the commanders of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men.

The men of Israel said to Gideon, "Rule over us, both you and your sons, and your sons' son, for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.

And Gideon said to them, "{Let me make a request of you}, that each of you give to me an ornamental ring from his plunder." (They [had] ornamental rings of gold, because they [were] Ishmaelites.)

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.

The {Israelites} did not remember Yahweh their God, who had delivered them from the hand of their enemies from all around,

"{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 they gave to him seventy [pieces of] silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, and Abimelech hired with them worthless and reckless men, and {they followed him}.

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.'

for my father fought and {risked his life} for you and delivered you from the hand of Midian;

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."

Gaal son of Ebed went out and stood [at] the entrance of the city gate, and Abimelech and the army that [was] with him got up from the ambush.

When Gaal saw the army, he said to Zebul, "Look, people [are] coming down from the top of the mountains!" And Zebul said to him, "{The shadows of the mountains look like people to you}."

{And Gaal spoke again} and said, "Look, people [are] coming down from Tabbur-erez, and one division [is] coming from the direction of Elon-meonenim."

So Abimelech resided at Arumah, and Zebul drove out Gaal and his relatives from living in Shechem.

so he took the army and divided them into three divisions, and he laid an ambush in the field. And he saw the people [were] coming out from the city, and he arose against them and killed them.

And Yahweh said to the {Israelites}, "[Did I] not [deliver you] from [the] Egyptians, the Amorites, from the {Ammonites}, and from the Philistines?

And when [the] Sidonians, [the] Amalekites, and [the] Maonites oppressed you, you cried out to me, and I delivered you from their hand.

So they removed the foreign gods from their midst and served Yahweh; and {he could no longer bear} the misery of Israel.

So Jephthah fled from the presence of his brothers, and he lived in the land of Tob. And {outlaws} gathered around Jephthah and went with him.

When the {Ammonites} made war with Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob.

Jephthah said to the elders, "Did you not shun me and drive me out from the house of my father? Why do you come to me now when you have trouble?"

And the king of the {Ammonites} said to Jephthah's messengers, "Because Israel took my land from [the] Arnon up to the Jabbok and the Jordan when they came up from Egypt; so then, restore it peacefully."

because when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the {Red Sea} and went to Kadesh.

They occupied all the territory of the Amorites from [the] Arnon up to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness up to the Jordan.

So then Yahweh, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from before his people Israel, and you want to possess it?

And the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh. He passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed through [to] the {Ammonites}.

whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from the {Ammonites} will be Yahweh's, and I will offer it [as] a burnt offering."

And he defeated them [with] a very great blow, from Aroer as far as Minnith, twenty towns, up to Abel Keramim. And the {Ammonites} were subdued before the {Israelites}.

She said to him, "My father, {you made an oath} to Yahweh. Do to me according to what has gone out from your mouth, since Yahweh gave vengeance to you against your enemies, the {Ammonites}."

And Jephthah said to them, "I and my people were engaged in great conflict with the {Ammonites}; I called you, but you did not deliver me from their hand.

Then Gilead captured the fords of the Jordan from Ephraim, and whenever a fugitive of Ephraim said, "Let me cross [over]," the men of Gilead said to him, "[Are] you an Ephraimite?" [When] he said, "No,"

they said to him, "Please say Shibboleth," and [if] he said, "Sibboleth"--because he could not {pronounce it} correctly--they grabbed him and executed him at the fords of Jordan. At that time forty-two thousand from Ephraim fell.

After him Ibzan from Bethlehem judged Israel.

He had thirty sons. He gave his thirty daughters away in marriage outside [his clan] and brought in from outside thirty young women for his sons. He judged Israel for seven years.

There was a certain man from Zorah, from the tribe of the Danites, and his name [was] Manoah; his wife [was] infertile and did not bear children.

because you [will] conceive and bear a son. No razor {will touch} his head, because the boy will be a {Nazirite of God} {from birth}. And it is he who will begin to deliver Israel from [the] hand of [the] Philistines."

And the woman came and told her husband, saying, "A man of God came to me, and his appearance [was] like the appearance of an angel of God, very awesome. I did not ask him from where he [came], and he did not tell me his name.

And he said to me, 'Look, you [will] conceive and bear a son, so then, do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean, for the boy will be a Nazirite of God from birth until the day of his death.'"

She should not eat of anything that comes from the vine, or drink wine or strong drink, or eat anything unclean; she should keep all that I commanded."

And when the flame went up toward the heaven from the altar, the angel of Yahweh went up in the flame of the altar to heaven while Manoah and his wife [were] watching. And they fell on their faces to the ground.

But his wife said to him, "If Yahweh wanted to kill us he would not have taken from our hand the burnt offering and the grain offering, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us things such as these."

And Samson went down to Timnah, and he saw a woman in Timnah from the daughters of the Philistines.

He went up and told his father and mother, and he said, "I saw a woman in Timnah from the daughters of [the] Philistines; so then, take her for me as a wife."

But his father and mother said to him, "Is there not a wife among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must take a wife from [the] uncircumcised Philistines?" But Samson said to his father, "Take her for me because {she pleases me}."

His father and mother did not know that this [was] from Yahweh; he was seeking for an occasion against [the] Philistines. Now at that time [the] Philistines [were] ruling in Israel.

He scraped it out into his hands, and he went on, eating [it] as he went. And he went to his father and mother and gave [some] to them, and they ate it. But he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from the body of the lion.

He said to them, "From the eater came out food, From [the] strong came out sweet." But they were unable to explain the riddle for three days.

And the Spirit of Yahweh rushed on him, and he went down to Ashkelon. He killed thirty men from them, and he took their belongings, and he gave festal garments to the ones that explained the riddle. {He was angry}, and he went up to his father's house.

Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and they said to Samson, "Do you not know that the Philistines [are] ruling over us? What [is] this [that] you have done to us?" And he said to them, "Just as they did to me, so I have done to them."

They said to him, "No, we will only bind you and give you into their hand; we will certainly not kill you." So they bound him with two new ropes, and they brought him up from the rock.

As he came up to Lehi, [the] Philistines came shouting to meet him; and the Spirit of Yahweh rushed on him, and the ropes that [were] on his arms became like flax that has burned with fire, and his bindings melted from his hands.

And it happened, when he finished speaking he threw the jawbone from his hand; and he called that place Ramath Lehi.

So God split the hollow place that [is] at Lehi, and water came out from it; and he drank, and his spirit returned, and he was revived. Thus he called its name {The Spring of Ha-Qore}, which [is] at Lehi to this day.

So Delilah took new ropes and tied him up with them, and she said to him, "[The] Philistines [are] upon you, Samson!" (The ambush [was] sitting in an inner room.) But he snapped them from his arms like thread.

She fastened [it] with the pin and said to him, "[The] Philistines [are] upon you, Samson!" And Samson woke up from his sleep and tore loose the loom pin of the web and the warp-threads.