And Judah said to Simeon his brother, "Go up with me into my allotment, and let us fight against the Canaanites; then I too will go with you into your allotment." And Simeon went with him.

Adoni-bezek said, "Seventy kings with {their thumbs and big toes} cut off used to pick up [scraps] under my table; just as I have done, so God has repaid to me. And they brought him [to] Jerusalem, and he died there.

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

And she said to him, "Give me {a gift}; you have given me the land of the Negev, and give me also a spring of water." And Caleb gave to her the upper and lower spring.

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.

And [as for] you, do not {make a covenant} with the inhabitants of this land; break down their altars.' But you did not listen to my voice. {Why would you do such a thing}?

{So the anger of Yahweh burned} against Israel, and he said, "Because this people transgressed my covenant that I commanded their ancestors, and have not obeyed my voice,

And he said to them, "Follow after me! Yahweh has given Moab your enemies into your hand." So they went down after him, and they captured the fords of the Jordan toward Moab; and they did not allow anyone to cross over.

Barak said to her, "If you go with me, I will go; but if you do not go with me, I will not go."

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, "Please, give me a drink of water, because I am thirsty." So she opened a skin vessel of milk and gave him a drink and covered him.

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

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

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.

And I said to you, 'I [am] Yahweh your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you [are] living.' But you have not listened to my voice."

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."

He said to him, "Excuse me, my lord. How will I deliver Israel? Look, my clan [is] the weakest in Manasseh, and I [am] the youngest in my father's house."

And he said to him, "Please, if I have found favor in your eyes, {show me a sign} that you [are] speaking with me.

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 realized that he [was] the angel of Yahweh; and Gideon said, "Oh, my lord Yahweh! For now I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face."

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."

Then Gideon said to God, "In order to see that you will deliver Israel by my hand, just as you have said,

I will place a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and all of the ground [is] dry, I will know that you will deliver Israel by my hand, just as you have said."

And Gideon said to God, "{Do not let your anger burn} against me; let me speak once more. Please let me test once more with the fleece; let the fleece be dry, and let there be dew on the ground."

And Yahweh said to Gideon, "The troops that [are] with you [are] too many for me to give Midian into their hands; Israel will boast, saying, 'My hand has delivered me.'

And he said to them, "Watch me and do the same. When I come to the edge of the camp, {do just as I do}.

When I and all who [are] with me blow on the trumpet, you must also blow on the trumpets and surround the camp, and you must say, 'To Yahweh and to Gideon!'"

He said to the men of Succoth, "Please give loaves of bread to the people who [are] {following me}, for they [are] weary, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian."

Gideon said, "Well then, when Yahweh gives Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will trample your flesh with the thorns and briers of the wilderness."

He came to the men of Succoth, and he said, "Here [is] Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, '[Is] the palm of Zebah and Zalmunna in your hand now, that we should give food to your weary men?'"

He said, "They [were] my brothers, the sons of my mother. As Yahweh lives, if you had kept them alive I would not kill you."

But Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; Yahweh will rule over you."

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.)

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 olive tree replied, 'Should I stop [producing] my oil, which by me gods and men are honored, to go sway over the trees?'

But the fig tree said to them, 'Should I stop [producing] my sweetness, and my good crop, to go sway over the trees?'

But the vine said to them, 'Should I stop [producing] my wine that makes the gods and men happy, to go sway over the trees?'

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 today you have risen against the house of my father and killed his sons, seventy men on one stone, and you have made Abimelech, the son of his slave woman, a king over the lords of Shechem, because he is your relative--

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

So Abimelech went up Mount Zalmon, he and all his army that [were] with him, and Abimelech took the ax in his hand and cut down a bundle of brushwood, and he lifted it and put [it] on his shoulder. And he said to the army that [was] with him, "What you have seen me do, quickly do also."

He called quickly to the young man carrying his weapons, and he said to him, "Draw your sword and kill me, so that they will not say of me, 'A woman killed him.'" So the young man stabbed him, and he died.

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

Yet you have abandoned me and served other gods. Therefore I will no longer deliver you.

And they said to Jephthah, "Come and be our commander, so that we may make war against the {Ammonites}."

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 elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "That being so, we have now returned to you, that you may go with us {to fight} against the {Ammonites} and become for us as head of all the inhabitants of Gilead."

So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "If you bring me back {to fight} against the {Ammonites}, and Yahweh gives them {over to me}, will I be your head?"

And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the {Ammonites}, saying, "What [is between] you and me that you have come to me to make war against my land?"

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."

I have not sinned against you; but you [are] the one who is doing wrong by making war against me. {Let Yahweh judge} today between the {Israelites} and the {Ammonites}."

And Jephthah made a vow to Yahweh, and he said, "If indeed you will give the {Ammonites} into my hand,

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 the moment he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, "Ah! My daughter, you have caused me to bow down, and you have become my trouble. {I made an oath} to Yahweh, and I cannot take [it] back."

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 she said to her father, "Let this thing be done for me: grant me two months so that I may go wander on the mountains and lament over my virginity, I and my companions.

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.

I saw that you would not deliver [us]; {I risked my own life}, and I crossed [over] to the {Ammonites}, and Yahweh gave them into my hand. Why have you come up to me this day to fight against me?"

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,"

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.'"

Then Manoah prayed to Yahweh and said, "Excuse me, my Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent again come to us and teach us what we should do concerning the boy who will be born."

The woman quickly ran and told her husband, and she said to him, "Look! The man who came to me the [other] day appeared to me."

The angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, "If you keep me, I will not eat your food, but if you prepare a burnt offering for Yahweh, you can offer it (for Manoah did not know that he [was] an angel of Yahweh)."

And Manoah said to the angel of Yahweh, "What [is] your name so that when your words come [true] we may honor you?"

But the angel of Yahweh said to him, "Why do you ask my name? It [is too] wonderful."

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}."

And Samson said to them, "Let me tell you a riddle. If you can fully explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, and find [it out], I will give to you thirty linen garments and thirty festal garments.

But if you are unable to explain it to me, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty festal garments." So they said to him, "Tell your riddle; let us hear it."

And Samson's wife wept before him, and she said, "You must hate me; you do not love me. You told the riddle to {my people}, but you have not explained [it] to me." He said to her, "I have not explained [it] to my father and mother. [Why] should I explain it to you?"

The men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went [down], "What [is] sweeter than honey? What [is] stronger than a lion?" And he said to them, "If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle."

After a while, at the time of the wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife with a {young goat}. He said, "I want to go to my wife's private room." But her father would not allow him to enter.

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, "We have come down to bind you and give you over into the hand of [the] Philistines." And Samson said to them, "Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves."

And the rulers of [the] Philistines came up to her and said, "Entice him and find out what makes his strength so great, and how we can overpower him, so that we may bind him up in order to subdue him; each of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.

So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me what makes your strength so great, and with what can you be tied up to subdue you?"

Samson said to her, "If you tie me up with seven fresh bowstrings that are not dried up, I will become weak like everyone else."

Delilah said to Samson, "Look, you have mocked me and told me lies. Please tell me how you can be bound."

He said to her, "If they tie me tightly with new ropes that have not been used, I will become weak and be like everyone else."

And Delilah said to Samson, "Until now you have mocked me and told lies to me. Tell me how you can be bound." And he said to her, "If you weave seven locks of my head with warp-threads."

And she said to him, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me how your strength is [so] great."

So {he confided everything to her}, and he said to her, "A razor {has never touched} my head, for I [am] a {Nazirite of God} {from birth}. If I am shaved my strength will leave me, and I will become weak, like everyone else.

Delilah realized that {he had confided in her}, so she sent and called the rulers of [the] Philistines, saying, "Come up one more time, for {he has confided in me}." And the rulers of [the] Philistines came up, and they brought the money {with them}.

Then Samson said to the servant who was holding him by his hand, "Position me so that I can touch the pillars on which the house rests, so I can lean on them."

And Samson called to Yahweh and said, "My Lord Yahweh, remember me! Please give me strength this one time, O God, so that I can repay [with] one act of revenge to [the] Philistines for my eyes."

And Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines." And he pushed with [all his] strength, and the house fell on the rulers and all of the people who [were] with him. And the dead whom he killed in his death were more than those he killed in his life.

And he said to his mother, "The eleven hundred [pieces] of silver that were taken from you, and about which you also pronounced a curse {in my hearing}, are with me; I took it." And his mother said, "Blessed be my son by Yahweh."

He returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother thought, "I will certainly consecrate to Yahweh the pieces of silver from my hand for my son to make an idol of cast metal; now then, I will return them to you."

And Micah said to him, "Stay with me and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give to you ten pieces of silver a year, a set of clothes, and your food." So the Levite went [with him].

And Micah said, "Now I know Yahweh will make me prosperous, because the Levite has become my priest."

And he said to them, "Micah did such and such for me and hired me, and I became his priest."

And they said to him, "Please inquire of God that we may know whether our journey that we [are] going on will be successful."

He said, "You took away my gods that I had made, and the priest, and then you go [away]. What [is] now left for me? How can you say to me, 'What is the matter?'"

On the fourth day, they rose early in the morning, and he prepared to go, but the father of the young woman said to his son-in-law, "{Refresh yourself} [with] a bit of food, and afterward you may go."

And he said to him, "We [are] crossing over from Bethlehem in Judah up to the remote areas of the hill country of Ephraim, where I [am] from. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, but [now] I am going to Yahweh's house, but no one {took me in to spend the night}.

There is both straw and fodder for our donkeys, and also bread and wine for me, for your servant, and for the young man who is with your servant; there is no lack of anything."

While {they were enjoying themselves}, behold, the men of the city, {the perverse lot}, surrounded the house, pounding on the door. And they said to the old man, the owner of the house, "Bring out the man who came to your house so that {we may have sex with him}."

So the man, the owner of the house, went out to them and said to them, "No, my brothers, do not act wickedly; since this man has come into my house, do not do this disgraceful thing.