And the Lord said, “Judah shall go up [first]; behold, I have given the land into his hand.”

And Judah saith to Simeon his brother, 'Go up with me into my lot, and we fight against the Canaanite -- and I have gone, even I, with thee into thy lot;' and Simeon goeth with him.

Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to gather up scraps of food under my table; as I have done [to others], so God has repaid me.” So they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

And the sons of Judah fight against Jerusalem, and capture it, and smite it by the mouth of the sword, and the city they have sent into fire;

and afterwards have the sons of Judah gone down to fight against the Canaanite, inhabiting the hill-country, and the south, and the low country;

and Caleb saith, 'He who smiteth Kirjath-Sepher -- and hath captured it -- then I have given to him Achsah my daughter for a wife.'

She answered, "Please give me a special present. Since you have given me land in the Negev, now give me springs of water." So Caleb gave her both the upper and lower springs.

And the sons of the Kenite, father-in-law of Moses, have gone up out of the city of palms with the sons of Judah to the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad, and they go and dwell with the people.

and Jehovah is with Judah, and he occupieth the hill-country, but not to dispossess the inhabitants of the valley, for they have chariots of iron.

At the same time the Benjaminites did not drive out the Jebusites who were living in Jerusalem. The Jebusites have lived among the Benjaminites in Jerusalem to this day.

and the watchers see a man coming out from the city, and say to him, 'Shew us, we pray thee, the entrance of the city, and we have done with thee kindness.'

And he sheweth them the entrance of the city, and they smite the city by the mouth of the sword, and the man and all his family they have sent away;

At that time Ephraim failed to drive out the Canaanites who were living in Gezer, so the Canaanites have lived among them in Gezer.

Naphtali hath not dispossessed the inhabitants of Beth-Shemesh, and the inhabitants of Beth-Anath, and he dwelleth in the midst of the Canaanite, the inhabitants of the land; and the inhabitants of Beth-Shemesh and of Beth-Anath have become tributary to them.

And the Amorites press the sons of Dan to the mountain, for they have not suffered them to go down to the valley;

Now the Angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and led you to the land which I swore [to give] to your fathers; and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you,

but you must not make an agreement with the people who live in this land. You should tear down the altars where they worship.' But you have disobeyed me. Why would you do such a thing?

And so I have said, I will not send them out from before you; but they will be a danger to you, and their gods will be a cause of falling to you.

and also all that generation have been gathered unto their fathers, and another generation riseth after them who have not known Jehovah, and even the work which He hath done to Israel.

And the anger of Jehovah burneth against Israel, and He giveth them into the hand of spoilers, and they spoil them, and He selleth them into the hand of their enemies round about, and they have not been able any more to stand before their enemies;

in every place where they have gone out, the hand of Jehovah hath been against them for evil, as Jehovah hath spoken, and as Jehovah hath sworn to them, and they are distressed -- greatly.

and also unto their judges they have not hearkened, but have gone a-whoring after other gods, and bow themselves to them; they have turned aside with haste out of the way in which their fathers walked to obey the commands of Jehovah -- they have not done so.

And it hath come to pass, at the death of the judge -- they turn back and have done corruptly above their fathers, to go after other gods, to serve them, and to bow themselves to them; they have not fallen from their doings, and from their stiff way.

So the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He said, “Because this nation has transgressed (violated) My covenant (binding agreement) which I commanded their fathers, and has not listened to My voice,

And these are the nations which Jehovah left, to try Israel by them, all who have not known all the wars of Canaan;

(only for the sake of the generations of the sons of Israel's knowing, to teach them war, only those who formerly have not known them) --

And the sons of Israel have dwelt in the midst of the Canaanite, the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite,

and take their daughters to them for wives, and their daughters have given to their sons, and they serve their gods;

and the sons of Israel add to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah; and Jehovah strengtheneth Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because that they have done the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah;

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,

and he hath gone out, and his servants have come in, and look, and lo, the doors of the upper chamber are bolted, and they say, 'He is only covering his feet in the inner chamber of the wall.'

and he saith unto them, 'Pursue after me, for Jehovah hath given your enemies, the Moabites, into your hand;' and they go down after him, and capture the passages of the Jordan towards Moab, and have not permitted a man to pass over.

She would sit under the Date Palm Tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the Ephraimite hill country. The Israelites would come up to her to have their disputes settled.

and I have drawn unto thee, unto the brook Kishon, Sisera, head of the host of Jabin, and his chariot, and his multitude, and have given him into thy hand.'

And Barak saith unto her, 'If thou dost go with me, then I have gone; and if thou dost not go with me, I do not go;'

Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me! Have no fear.” So he turned aside to her [and went] into the tent, and she covered him with a rug.

Then he said to her, Give me now a little water, for I have need of a drink. And opening a skin of milk, she gave him drink, and put the cover over him again.

and the hand of the sons of Israel goeth, going on and becoming hard on Jabin king of Canaan, till that they have cut off Jabin king of Canaan.

In the days of Shamgar son of Anath -- In the days of Jael -- The ways have ceased, And those going in the paths go in crooked ways.

By the voice of shouters Between the places of drawing water, There they give out righteous acts of Jehovah, Righteous acts of His villages in Israel, Then ruled in the gates have the people of Jehovah.

Then he made him that remaineth have dominion over the nobles among the people: the LORD made me have dominion over the mighty.

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 river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, you have trodden down strength.

Through the window she hath looked out -- Yea, she crieth out -- the mother of Sisera, Through the lattice: Wherefore is his chariot delaying to come? Wherefore tarried have the steps of his chariot?

Have they not sped? have they not divided the prey; to every man a damsel or two; to Sisera a prey of divers colours, a prey of divers colours of needlework, of divers colours of needlework on both sides, meet for the necks of them that take the spoil?

and the hand of Midian is strong against Israel, from the presence of Midian have the sons of Israel made for themselves the flowings which are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds.

And it hath been, if Israel hath sowed, that Midian hath come up, and Amalek, and the sons of the east, yea, they have come up against him,

And it cometh to pass when the sons of Israel have cried unto Jehovah, concerning Midian,

that Jehovah sendeth a man, a prophet, unto the sons of Israel, and he saith to them, 'Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, I -- I have brought you up out of Egypt, and I bring you out from a house of servants,

I said to you, "I am the Lord your God! Do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are now living!" But you have disobeyed me.'"

And Gideon said unto him - Pardon, my lord! if Yahweh be with us, then wherefore hath all this befallen us? and where are all his wonders, which our fathers have recounted to us - saying, Was it not, out of Egypt, that Yahweh brought us up? But, now, hath Yahweh abandoned us, and delivered us into the hand of Midian.

Then the Lord himself turned to him and said, "You have the strength. Deliver Israel from the power of the Midianites! Have I not sent you?"

And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me.

Move not, I pray Thee, from this, till my coming in unto Thee, and I have brought out my present, and put it before Thee;' and he saith, 'I -- I do abide till thy return.'

When Gideon realized that it was the Lord's messenger, he said, "Oh no! Master, Lord! I have seen the Lord's messenger face to face!"

But the Lord said to him, Peace be with you; have no fear: you are in no danger of death.

and make an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock and furnish it. And take the second ox and offer burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove, which thou shalt have cut down."

And Joash saith to all who have stood against him, 'Ye, do ye plead for Baal? ye -- do ye save him? he who pleadeth for him is put to death during the morning; if he is a god he himself doth plead against him, because he hath broken down his altar.'

And all Midian and Amalek and the sons of the east have been gathered together, and pass over, and encamp in the valley of Jezreel,

Then Gideon said to God, “If You are going to rescue Israel through me, as You have spoken,

behold, I will put a fleece of [freshly sheared] wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece, and it is dry on all the ground [around it], then I will know that You will rescue Israel through me, as You have said.”

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.'

and now, call, I pray thee, in the ears of the people, saying, Whoso is afraid and trembling, let him turn back and go early from mount Gilead;' and there turn back of the people twenty and two thousand, and ten thousand have been left.

And the number of those lapping with their hand unto their mouth is three hundred men, and all the rest of the people have bowed down on their knees to drink water.

And Jehovah saith unto Gideon, 'By the three hundred men who are lapping I save you, and have given Midian into thy hand, and all the people go, each to his place.'

And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand.

But if you have fear of going down, take your servant Purah with you and go down to the tents;

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.

And Gideon came in, and lo! a man relating to his neighbour a dream, - and he said - Lo! a dream, have I dreamt, and lo! a round cake of barley bread tumbling into the camp of Midian, and it came as far as the tent - and smote it that it fell, and turned it upside down, and the tent lay along.

Then his friend replied, "Can this be anything else than the sword of Joash's son Gideon, that man from Israel? God must have given Midian and the entire encampment into his control!"

and I have blown with a trumpet -- I and all who are with me, and ye have blown with trumpets, even ye, round about all the camp, and have said, For Jehovah and for Gideon.'

and they capture two of the heads of Midian, Oreb, and Zeeb, and slay Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they have slain at the wine-vat of Zeeb, and they pursue unto Midian; and the heads of Oreb and Zeeb they have brought in unto Gideon beyond the Jordan.

The Ephraimites said to him, "Why have you done such a thing to us? You did not summon us when you went to fight the Midianites!" They argued vehemently with him.

He said to them, "Now what have I accomplished compared to you? Even Ephraim's leftover grapes are better quality than Abiezer's harvest!

God has given into your hands the princes of Mid'ian, Oreb and Zeeb; what have I been able to do in comparison with you?" Then their anger against him was abated, when he had said this.

The officials of Succoth said, "You have not yet overpowered Zebah and Zalmunna. So why should we give bread to your army?"

Then Gideon said, Because of this, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hands, I will have you stretched on a bed of thorns of the waste land and on sharp stems, and have you crushed as grain is crushed on a grain-floor.

So he said to the men of Penuel, When I come back in peace, I will have this tower broken down.

He approached the men of Succoth and said, "Look what I have! Zebah and Zalmunna! You insulted me, saying, 'You have not yet overpowered Zebah and Zalmunna. So why should we give bread to your exhausted men?'"

And he said: My brethren, sons of my mother, they were! As Yahweh liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not have slain you.

Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Up! Put an end to us yourself: for you have a man's strength. Then Gideon got up and put Zebah and Zalmunna to death and took the ornaments which were on their camels' necks.

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."

Gideon continued, "I would like to make one request. Each of you give me an earring from the plunder you have taken." (The Midianites had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.)

And Midian is humbled before the sons of Israel, and have not added to lift up their head; and the land resteth forty years in the days of Gideon.

and to Gideon there have been seventy sons, coming out of his loin, for he had many wives;

and the sons of Israel have not remembered Jehovah their God, who is delivering them out of the hand of all their enemies round about,

neither have they done kindness with the house of Jerubbaal -- Gideon -- according to all the good which he did with Israel.

"Tell all the leaders of Shechem this: 'Why would you want to have seventy men, all Jerub-Baal's sons, ruling over you, when you can have just one ruler? Recall that I am your own flesh and blood.'"

'The trees have diligently gone to anoint over them a king, and they say to the olive, Reign thou over us.

And the olive saith to them, Have I ceased from my fatness, by which they honour gods and men, that I have gone to stagger over the trees?

And the fig saith to them, Have I ceased from my sweetness, and my good increase, that I have gone to stagger over the trees?

And the vine saith to them, Have I ceased from my new wine, which is rejoicing gods and men, that I have gone to stagger over the trees?

"Now, if you have shown loyalty and integrity when you made Abimelech king, if you have done right to Jerub-Baal and his family, if you have properly repaid him --

But you have attacked my father's family today. You murdered his seventy legitimate sons on one stone and made Abimelech, the son of his female slave, king over the leaders of Shechem, just because he is your close relative.

So if you have shown loyalty and integrity to Jerub-Baal and his family today, then may Abimelech bring you happiness and may you bring him happiness!

But, if ye have not dealt truly, then I pray God a fire may come out of Abimelech and consume the citizens of Shechem and the house of Mello. And that there come a fire out of the citizens of Shechem, and out of the house of Mello and consume Abimelech."

And Abimelech will have dominion over Israel 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 this people {were in my command}! Then I would remove Abimelech, and I would have said, 'Increase your army and come out!'"