And it came to pass after the death of Joshua, that the sons of Israel asked of LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us first against the Canaanites, to fight against them?

And Adoni-bezek said, Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered [scraps] under my table. As I have done, so God has requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

And the sons of the Kenite, Moses' brother-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the sons of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad, and they went and dwelt with the people.

And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had spoken, and he drove out the three sons of Anak from there.

And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said to him, Show us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will deal kindly with thee.

And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name of it Luz, which is the name of it to this day.

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.

Wherever they went out, the hand of LORD was against them for evil, as LORD had spoken, and as LORD had sworn to them. And they were exceedingly distressed.

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,

only that the generations of the sons of Israel might know, to teach them war, at least to such as formerly knew nothing of that):

Now when he was gone out, his servants came, and they saw, and, behold, the doors of the upper room were locked. And they said, Surely he is covering his feet in the upper chamber.

And LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan who reigned in Hazor, the captain of whose army was Sisera who dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles.

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.

And Deborah said to Barak, Up, for this is the day in which LORD has delivered Sisera into thy hand. Has not LORD gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.

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.

And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, Come, and I will show thee the man whom thou seek. And he came to her, and, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the tent-pin was in his temples.

My heart is toward the governors of Israel, who offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless ye LORD.

Out of Ephraim, those whose root is in Amalek, after thee, Benjamin, among thy peoples, out of Machir, came down governors, and out of Zebulun those who handle the marshal's staff.

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.

Through the window she looked forth, and cried--the mother of Sisera through the lattice--Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why do the wheels of his chariots delay?

Her wise ladies answered her, yea, she returned answer to herself,

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.

For they came up with their cattle and their tents. They came in as locusts for multitude. Both they and their camels were without number, and they came into the land to destroy it.

And I said to you, I am LORD your God. Ye shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell, but ye have not hearkened to my voice.

And the agent of LORD appeared to him, and said to him, LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valor.

And Gideon said to him, Oh, my lord, if LORD is with us, then why has all this befallen us? And where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not LORD bring us up from Egypt? But now LORD has cast us of

And he said to him, Oh, LORD, with what shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.

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

And he said to him, If now I have found favor in thy sight, then show me a sign that it is thou who talk with me.

And Gideon saw that he was the agent of LORD. And Gideon said, Alas, O lord LORD! Inasmuch as I have seen the agent of LORD face to face.

Then Gideon built an altar there to LORD, and called it LORD-shalom. To this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

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 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.

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.

Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return and depart from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty-two thousand, and there remained ten thousand.

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 the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the sons of the east lay along in the valley like locusts for multitude, and their camels were without number, as the sand which is upon the sea-shore for multitude.

And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else except the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel. Into his hand God has delivered Midian, and all the army.

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 sent messengers throughout all the hill-country of Ephraim, saying, Come down against Midian, and take before them the waters, as far as Beth-barah, even the Jordan. So all the men of Ephraim were gathered together, and

And the men of Ephraim said to him, Why have thou done thus to us, that thou did not call us when thou went to fight with Midian? And they chided with him sharply.

And he said to them, What have I now done in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?

And he went up from there to Penuel, and spoke to them in like manner, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered.

Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom ye killed at Tabor? And they answered, As thou are, so were they. Each one resembled the sons of a king.

And he said, They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As LORD lives, if ye had saved them alive, I would not kill you.

Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescents that were on their camels' necks.

Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also, for thou have saved us out of the hand of Midian.

And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the sons of Israel turned again, and played the harlot after the Baalim, and made Baal-berith their god.

neither did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, [who is] Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shown to Israel.

Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, Which is better for you, that all the sons of Jerubbaal, who are seventy men, rule over you, or that one rule over you? remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.

And his mother's brothers spoke of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words. And their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, He is our brother.

The trees went forth a time to anoint a king over them. And they said to the olive tree, Reign thou over us.

And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us.

And the trees said to the vine, Come thou, and reign over us.

Then all the trees said to the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us.

and ye have risen up against my father's house this day, and have slain his sons, seventy men, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maid-servant, king over the men of Shechem because he is your brother),

And Gaal the son of Ebed said, Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is not he the son of Jerubbaal, and Zebul his officer? Serve ye the men of Hamor the father of Shechem, but why should we serve him?

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 when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold, there comes people down from the tops of the mountains. And Zebul said to him, Thou see the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.

Then Zebul said to him, Where is now thy mouth, that thou said, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? Is not this the people that thou have despised? Go out now, I pray, and fight with them.

And they vexed and oppressed the sons of Israel that year. Eighteen years [they oppressed] all the sons of Israel who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.

And the sons of Israel said to LORD, We have sinned. Do thou to us whatever seems good to thee, only deliver us, we pray thee, this day.

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

And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon. And Israel said to him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land to my place.

Will thou not possess that which Chemosh thy god gives thee to possess? So whomever LORD our God has dispossessed from before us, them will we possess.

And she said to him, My father, thou have opened thy mouth to LORD. Do to me according to that which has proceeded out of thy mouth, inasmuch as LORD has taken vengeance for thee on thine enemies, even on the sons of Ammon.

And the men of Ephraim were gathered together, and passed northward. And they said to Jephthah, Why did thou pass over to fight against the sons of Ammon, and did not call us to go with thee? We will burn thy house upon thee with f

And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah, and his wife was barren, and did not bear.

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 God hearkened to the voice of Manoah, and the agent of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her.

And Manoah said to the agent of LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee, that we may make ready a kid for thee.

And Manoah said to the agent of LORD, What is thy name, that, when thy words come to pass, we may do thee honor?

And the agent of LORD said to him, Why do thou ask after my name, seeing it is wonderful?

But his wife said to him, If LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt-offering and a meal-offering at our hand, neither would he have shown us all these things, nor would at this time have told such things a

Then his father and his mother said to him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brothers, or among all my people, that thou go to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said to his father, Get her fo

And the Spirit of LORD came mightily upon him, and he tore him apart as he would have torn a kid, and he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.

And he took it into his hands, and went on, eating as he went. And he came to his father and mother, and gave to them, and they ate, but he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the body of the lion.

And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said to Samson's wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare to us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire. Have ye called us to impoverish us? Is it not [s

And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said to them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye would not have found out my

But Samson's wife was [given] to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.

And her father said, I truly thought that thou had utterly hated her, therefore I gave her to thy companion. Is not her younger sister fairer than she? Take her, I pray thee, instead of her.

And the men of Judah said, Why have ye come up against us? And they said, We come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he has done to us.

Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, Know thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that thou have done to us? And he said to them, As they did t

When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. And the Spirit of LORD came mightily upon him, and the ropes that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands dropped from off his hands.

But God split the hollow place that is in Lehi, and water came out there. And when he had drunk his spirit came again, and he revived. Therefore the name of it was called En-hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day.

And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

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.

Now she had an ambush abiding in the inner chamber. And she said to him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he broke the withes, as a string of tow is broken when it touches the fire. So his strength was not known.

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 she said to him, How can thou say, I love thee, when thy heart is not with me? Thou have mocked me these three times, and have not told me with what thy great strength lays.

And she said, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free, but he knew not that LORD was departed from him.

And when the people saw him, they praised their god, for they said, Our god has delivered into our hand our enemy, and the destroyer of our country who has slain many of us.

And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make sport to us. And they called for Samson out of the prison-house, and he made sport before them. And they set him between the pilla