Adoni-Bezek said, "Seventy kings, with thumbs and big toes cut off, used to lick up food scraps under my table. God has repaid me for what I did to them." They brought him to Jerusalem, where he died.

The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem and captured it. They put the sword to it and set the city on fire.

One time Acsah came and charmed her father so she could ask him for some land. When she got down from her donkey, Caleb said to her, "What would you like?"

The men of Naphtali did not conquer the people living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath. They live among the Canaanites residing in the land. The Canaanites living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were forced to do hard labor for them.

The people worshiped the Lord throughout Joshua's lifetime and as long as the elderly men who outlived him remained alive. These men had witnessed all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.

That entire generation passed away; a new generation grew up that had not personally experienced the Lord's presence or seen what he had done for Israel.

When the Lord raised up leaders for them, the Lord was with each leader and delivered the people from their enemies while the leader remained alive. The Lord felt sorry for them when they cried out in agony because of what their harsh oppressors did to them.

The Lord was furious with Israel and turned them over to King Cushan-Rishathaim of Aram-Naharaim. They were Cushan-Rishathaim's subjects for eight years.

When the Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, he raised up a deliverer for the Israelites who rescued them. His name was Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.

The land had rest for forty years; then Othniel son of Kenaz died.

The Israelites were subject to King Eglon of Moab for eighteen years.

When the Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, he raised up a deliverer for them. His name was Ehud son of Gera the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The Israelites sent him to King Eglon of Moab with their tribute payment.

But he went back once he reached the carved images at Gilgal. He said to Eglon, "I have a secret message for you, O king." Eglon said, "Be quiet!" All his attendants left.

When Ehud approached him, he was sitting in his well-ventilated upper room all by himself. Ehud said, "I have a message from God for you." When Eglon rose up from his seat,

The handle went in after the blade, and the fat closed around the blade, for Ehud did not pull the sword out of his belly.

He said to them, "Follow me, for the Lord is about to defeat your enemies, the Moabites!" They followed him, captured the fords of the Jordan River opposite Moab, and did not let anyone cross.

Israel humiliated Moab that day, and the land had rest for eighty years.

The Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, because Sisera had nine hundred chariots with iron-rimmed wheels, and he cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.

She said, "I will indeed go with you. But you will not gain fame on the expedition you are undertaking, for the Lord will turn Sisera over to a woman." Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh.

Deborah said to Barak, "Spring into action, for this is the day the Lord is handing Sisera over to you! Has the Lord not taken the lead?" Barak quickly went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.

Now Sisera ran away on foot to the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, for King Jabin of Hazor and the family of Heber the Kenite had made a peace treaty.

Now Barak was chasing Sisera. Jael went out to welcome him. She said to him, "Come here and I will show you the man you are searching for." He went with her into the tent, and there he saw Sisera sprawled out dead with the tent peg in his temple.

Why do you remain among the sheepfolds, listening to the shepherds playing their pipes for their flocks? As for the clans of Reuben -- there was intense searching of heart.

Gilead stayed put beyond the Jordan River. As for Dan -- why did he seek temporary employment in the shipyards? Asher remained on the seacoast, he stayed by his harbors.

He asked for water, and she gave him milk; in a bowl fit for a king, she served him curds.

Her left hand reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workmen's hammer. She "hammered" Sisera, she shattered his skull, she smashed his head, she drove the tent peg through his temple.

No doubt they are gathering and dividing the plunder -- a girl or two for each man to rape! Sisera is grabbing up colorful cloth, he is grabbing up colorful embroidered cloth, two pieces of colorful embroidered cloth, for the neck of the plunderer!'

May all your enemies perish like this, O Lord! But may those who love you shine like the rising sun at its brightest!" And the land had rest for forty years.

The Israelites did evil in the Lord's sight, so the Lord turned them over to Midian for seven years.

The Midianites overwhelmed Israel. Because of Midian the Israelites made shelters for themselves in the hills, as well as caves and strongholds.

They invaded the land and devoured its crops all the way to Gaza. They left nothing for the Israelites to eat, and they took away the sheep, oxen, and donkeys.

Israel was so severely weakened by Midian that the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.

When the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help because of Midian,

The Lord's messenger touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of his staff. Fire flared up from the rock and consumed the meat and unleavened bread. The Lord's messenger then disappeared.

Gideon built an altar for the Lord there, and named it "The Lord is on friendly terms with me." To this day it is still there in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

Then build an altar for the Lord your God on the top of this stronghold according to the proper pattern. Take the second bull and offer it as a burnt sacrifice on the wood from the Asherah pole that you cut down."

That very day Gideon's father named him Jerub-Baal, because he had said, "Let Baal fight with him, for it was his altar that was pulled down."

Gideon said to God, "Please do not get angry at me, when I ask for just one more sign. Please allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make only the fleece dry, while the ground around it is covered with dew."

The Lord said to Gideon, "You have too many men for me to hand Midian over to you. Israel might brag, 'Our own strength has delivered us.'

Now, announce to the men, 'Whoever is shaking with fear may turn around and leave Mount Gilead.'" Twenty-two thousand men went home; ten thousand remained.

That night the Lord said to Gideon, "Get up! Attack the camp, for I am handing it over to you.

When Gideon heard the report of the dream and its interpretation, he praised God. Then he went back to the Israelite camp and said, "Get up, for the Lord is handing the Midianite army over to you!"

When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, you also blow your trumpets all around the camp. Then say, 'For the Lord and for Gideon!'"

All three units blew their trumpets and broke their jars. They held the torches in their left hand and the trumpets in their right. Then they yelled, "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!"

He captured a young man from Succoth and interrogated him. The young man wrote down for him the names of Succoth's officials and city leaders -- seventy-seven men in all.

He said to Zebah and Zalmunna, "Describe for me the men you killed at Tabor." They said, "They were like you. Each one looked like a king's son."

Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, "Come on, you strike us, for a man is judged by his strength." So Gideon killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent-shaped ornaments which were on the necks of their camels.

The men of Israel said to Gideon, "Rule over us -- you, your son, and your grandson. For you have delivered us from Midian's power."

The Israelites humiliated Midian; the Midianites' fighting spirit was broken. The land had rest for forty years during Gideon's time.

They did not treat the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) fairly in return for all the good he had done for Israel.

"The trees were determined to go out and choose a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, 'Be our king!'

The thornbush said to the trees, 'If you really want to choose me as your king, then come along, find safety under my branches! Otherwise may fire blaze from the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!'

my father fought for you; he risked his life and delivered you from Midian's power.

But if not, may fire blaze from Abimelech and consume the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo! May fire also blaze from the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo and consume Abimelech!"

Abimelech commanded Israel for three years.

He did this so the violent deaths of Jerub-Baal's seventy sons might be avenged and Abimelech, their half-brother who murdered them, might have to pay for their spilled blood, along with the leaders of Shechem who helped him murder them.

If only these men were under my command, I would get rid of Abimelech!" He challenged Abimelech, "Muster your army and come out for battle!"

So Abimelech and all his men came up at night and set an ambush outside Shechem -- they divided into four units.

So each of his men also cut off a branch and followed Abimelech. They put the branches against the stronghold and set fire to it. All the people of the Tower of Shechem died -- about a thousand men and women.

Abimelech came and attacked the tower. When he approached the entrance of the tower to set it on fire,

God repaid Abimelech for the evil he did to his father by murdering his seventy half-brothers.

God also repaid the men of Shechem for their evil deeds. The curse spoken by Jotham son of Jerub-Baal fell on them.

He led Israel for twenty-three years, then died and was buried in Shamir.

Jair the Gileadite rose up after him; he led Israel for twenty-two years.

The Israelites cried out for help to the Lord: "We have sinned against you. We abandoned our God and worshiped the Baals."

the Sidonians, Amalek, and Midian when they oppressed you? You cried out for help to me, and I delivered you from their power.

Go and cry for help to the gods you have chosen! Let them deliver you from trouble!"

The Ammonite king said to Jephthah's messengers, "Because Israel stole my land when they came up from Egypt -- from the Arnon River in the south to the Jabbok River in the north, and as far west as the Jordan. Now return it peaceably!"

When they left Egypt, Israel traveled through the desert as far as the Red Sea and then came to Kadesh.

Israel has been living in Heshbon and its nearby towns, in Aroer and its nearby towns, and in all the cities along the Arnon for three hundred years! Why did you not reclaim them during that time?

He defeated them from Aroer all the way to Minnith -- twenty cities in all, even as far as Abel Keramim! He wiped them out! The Israelites humiliated the Ammonites.

When Jephthah came home to Mizpah, there was his daughter hurrying out to meet him, dancing to the rhythm of tambourines. She was his only child; except for her he had no son or daughter.

She then said to her father, "Please grant me this one wish. For two months allow me to walk through the hills with my friends and mourn my virginity."

He said, "You may go." He permitted her to leave for two months. She went with her friends and mourned her virginity as she walked through the hills.

Every year Israelite women commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for four days.

Jephthah said to them, "My people and I were entangled in controversy with the Ammonites. I asked for your help, but you did not deliver me from their power.

Jephthah led Israel for six years; then he died and was buried in his city in Gilead.

He had thirty sons. He arranged for thirty of his daughters to be married outside his extended family, and he arranged for thirty young women to be brought from outside as wives for his sons. Ibzan led Israel for seven years;

After him Elon the Zebulunite led Israel for ten years.

He had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy donkeys. He led Israel for eight years.

The Israelites again did evil in the Lord's sight, so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines for forty years.

Look, you will conceive and have a son. You must never cut his hair, for the child will be dedicated to God from birth. He will begin to deliver Israel from the power of the Philistines."

He said to me, 'Look, you will conceive and have a son. So now, do not drink wine or beer and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. For the child will be dedicated to God from birth till the day he dies.'"

Manoah said to the Lord's messenger, "Please stay here awhile, so we can prepare a young goat for you to eat."

When he got home, he told his father and mother, "A Philistine girl in Timnah has caught my eye. Now get her for my wife."

But his father and mother said to him, "Certainly you can find a wife among your relatives or among all our people! You should not have to go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines." But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me, because she is the right one for me."

Now his father and mother did not realize this was the Lord's doing, because he was looking for an opportunity to stir up trouble with the Philistines (for at that time the Philistines were ruling Israel).

Then Samson's father accompanied him to Timnah for the marriage. Samson hosted a party there, for this was customary for bridegrooms to do.

He said to them, "Out of the one who eats came something to eat; out of the strong one came something sweet." They could not solve the riddle for three days.

He struck them down and defeated them. Then he went down and lived for a time in the cave in the cliff of Etam.

The Philistines went up and invaded Judah. They arrayed themselves for battle in Lehi.

When he arrived in Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they approached him. But the Lord's spirit empowered him. The ropes around his arms were like flax dissolving in fire, and they melted away from his hands.

So God split open the basin at Lehi and water flowed out from it. When he took a drink, his strength was restored and he revived. For this reason he named the spring En Hakkore. It remains in Lehi to this very day.

Samson led Israel for twenty years during the days of Philistine prominence.

The Gazites were told, "Samson has come here!" So they surrounded the town and hid all night at the city gate, waiting for him to leave. They relaxed all night, thinking, "He will not leave until morning comes; then we will kill him!"

They hid in the bedroom and then she said to him, "The Philistines are here, Samson!" He snapped the bowstrings as easily as a thread of yarn snaps when it is put close to fire. The secret of his strength was not discovered.

Finally he told her his secret. He said to her, "My hair has never been cut, for I have been dedicated to God from the time I was conceived. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would become weak, and be just like all other men."

When Delilah saw that he had told her his secret, she sent for the rulers of the Philistines, saying, "Come up here again, for he has told me his secret." So the rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her, bringing the silver in their hands.

She said, "The Philistines are here, Samson!" He woke up and thought, "I will do as I did before and shake myself free." But he did not realize that the Lord had left him.

When they really started celebrating, they said, "Call for Samson so he can entertain us!" So they summoned Samson from the prison and he entertained them. They made him stand between two pillars.