And it happened after the death of Joshua, the children of Israel asked Jehovah, saying, Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?

And the sons of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it, and had struck it with the edge of the sword, and had set the city on fire.

And Caleb said, He who strikes Kirjath-sepher and takes it, I will give Achsah my daughter to him for a wife.

And Othniel, the son of Caleb's younger brother Kenaz, took it. And he gave him Achsah his daughter for a wife.

And it happened when she came, she moved him to ask for a field from her father. And she dismounted from the ass. And Caleb said to her, What do you desire?

And the sons of the Kenite, Moses' father-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 lived among the people.

And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they killed the Canaanites who lived in Zephath and destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah.

And Jehovah was with Judah. And he took possession of the mountain. But he could not drive out those who lived in the valley, because they had chariots of iron.

And the house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel. And the name of the city before was Luz.

And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said to him, Please show us the gate into the city, and we will show you mercy.

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.

And it happened, when Israel became strong, they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not completely expel them.

But the Amorites desired to stay in Mount Heres in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim. Yet the hand of the house of Joseph was heavy so that they became tributaries.

And the Angel of Jehovah came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you go up out of Egypt, and have brought you into the land which I swore to your fathers. And I said, I will never break My covenant with you.

And you shall make no treaty with those who live in this land. You shall throw down their altars. But you have not obeyed My voice. What is this that you have done?

And I also said, I will not drive them out from before you, but they shall be thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.

And it happened when the Angel of Jehovah spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept.

And they forsook Jehovah, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt. And they followed other gods of the gods of the people who were around them, and bowed themselves to them, and provoked Jehovah to anger.

Wherever they went out, the hand of Jehovah was against them for evil, as Jehovah had said, and as Jehovah had sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed.

But Jehovah raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who spoiled them.

And yet they would not listen to their judges, but they went lusting after other gods, and bowed themselves to them. They turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, for they had obeyed the commandments of Jehovah; these did not do so.

And when Jehovah raised judges up for them, then Jehovah was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For Jehovah took pity because of their groanings before their oppressors and their crushers.

And it happened when the judge was dead, they returned and made themselves more rotten than their fathers in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down to them. They did not cease from their own doings nor from their stubborn way.

so that by them I may test Israel, whether they are keeping the way of Jehovah, to go in it, as their fathers kept it, or not.

And Jehovah left those nations, without driving them out quickly. And He did not deliver them into the hand of Joshua.

only that the generations of the sons of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least those who before knew nothing of it:

And the anger of Jehovah was hot against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Chushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia. And the sons of Israel served Chushan-rishathaim eight years.

And the spirit of Jehovah came upon him, and he judged Israel and went out to war. And Jehovah delivered Chushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, into his hand. And his hand prevailed against Chushan-rishathaim.

But Ehud made himself a dagger which had two edges, a cubit long. And he tied it under his clothing upon his right thigh.

But he himself turned again from the graven images by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret message for you, O, king. And he said, Keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from him.

And Ehud came to him. And he was sitting in the cool roof room which he had for himself alone. And Ehud said, I have a message from God to you. And he rose out of his seat.

And Ehud put forth his left hand and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly.

And the haft also went in after the blade. And the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly. And the dung came out.

And when he had gone out, his servants came. And they looked, and, behold, the doors of the roof room were locked, they said, Surely he is covering his feet in his cool roof room.

And it happened, when he had come, he blew a ram's horn in the mountain of Ephraim, and the sons of Israel went down with him from the mountain, and he before them.

And they killed about ten thousand of the men of Moab at that time, all lusty, and all men of might. And there did not escape a man.

And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, judged Israel at that time.

And she sent and called for Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, Has not Jehovah, the God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun?

And I will draw Sisera to you, the captain of Jabin's army, at the river Kishon, together with his chariots and his multitude. And I will deliver him into your hands.

And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. And he went up with ten thousand men at his feet. And Deborah went up with him.

And Deborah said to Barak, Up! For this is the day in which Jehovah has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not Jehovah gone out before you? So Barak went down from Mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.

And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, Turn in my lord, turn in to me. Do not fear. When he had turned in to her into the tent, she covered him with a rug.

Again he said to her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be when any man comes asking of you, saying, Is there any man here? You shall say, No.

Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a peg of the tent and put a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him, and struck the peg into his temple, and beat it into the ground. For he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.

And behold, as Barak followed Sisera, Jael came out to meet him and said to him, Come and I will show you the man whom you seek. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the peg was in his temple.

Jehovah, when You went out of Seir, when You marched out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water.

Speak, you who ride on white asses, you who sit in judgment and walk by the way.

Out of Ephraim there was a root of them against Amalek; after you, Benjamin, with your peoples. Out of Machir came down commanders, and out of Zebulun came they who handle the pen of the writer.

Curse Meroz, said the Angel of Jehovah; curse the people of it bitterly, because they did not come to the help of Jehovah, to the help of Jehovah against the mighty.

The mother of Sisera looked out a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why do the wheels of his chariot wait?

And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the sons of the east, even they came up against them.

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

And it happened, when the sons of Israel cried to Jehovah because of the Midianites,

Jehovah sent a man, a prophet to the sons of Israel, who said to them, So says Jehovah, the God of Israel: I brought you up from Egypt and brought you forth out of the house of bondage.

And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out from before you and gave you their land.

And the Angel of Jehovah came and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. And his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.

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

Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You, and bring forth my food offering and set it before You. And He said, I will stay until you come again.

And Gideon went in and made ready a kid and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour. He put the flesh in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out to Him to the oak, and offered it.

And the Angel of God said to him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes and lay on this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.

Then the Angel of Jehovah put forth the end of the staff that was in His hand and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes. And there rose up fire out of the rock and burned up the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the Angel of Jehovah went away out of his sight.

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

And it happened on that night Jehovah said to him, Take your father's young bull, even the second bull of seven years, and throw down the altar of Baal which your father has, and cut down the pillar by it.

And build an altar to Jehovah your God upon the top of this rock, in an orderly manner, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which you shall cut down.

Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as Jehovah had said to him. And so it was, because he feared his father's household and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day. So he did it by night.

And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the pillar which was by it was cut down, and the second bull had been offered upon the altar that was built.

Then the men of the city said to Joash, Bring out your son so that he may die (because he had cast down the altar of Baal, and because he had cut down the pillar by it).

And it was so. For he rose up early in the morning and gathered the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.

And Gideon said to God, Let not Your anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once. I pray You, let me test but this once with the fleece. Let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.

And God did so that night. For it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.

And Jehovah said to Gideon, The people are still too many. Bring them down to the water, and I will separate them for you there. It shall be that of whom I say to you, This shall go with you, the same shall go with you. And of whomever I say to you, This shall not go with you, the same shall not go.

And it happened on that night, Jehovah said to him, Arise, go down to the army, for I have delivered it into your hand.

And you shall hear what they shall say. And afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down to the army. Then he went down with Phurah his servant to the edge of the ranks in the army.

And when Gideon had come, behold, a man told a dream to his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came to a tent, and struck it so that it fell, and overturned it, so that the tent lay along.

And it happened, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and the meaning of it, he worshiped. And he returned to the army of Israel, and said, Arise! For Jehovah has delivered the host of Midian into your hand.

And he said to them, Look on me, and do likewise. And, behold, when I come to the edge of the camp, it shall be, as I do, so you shall do.

And the men of Israel were called out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and ran after the Midianites.

Then they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb. And they killed Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and they killed Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. And they pursued Midian and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan.

And the men of Ephraim said to him, What is this thing you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight with the Midianites? And they rebuked him sharply.

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

God has delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. And what was I able to do in comparison to you? Then their spirits toward him went away when he had said that.

And Gideon came to Jordan, crossing over, he and the three hundred men with him, faint, yet pursuing them.

And Gideon went up by the way of those who lived in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and struck the army. For the army was at ease.

And they answered, We will gladly give. And they spread a cloth, and each man threw the earrings of his prey in it.

And the weight of the golden earrings which he asked for was seventeen hundred of gold, besides ornaments, and pendants, and purple clothing that was on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains around their camels' necks.

And Gideon made an ephod of it, and put it in his city, in Ophrah. And all Israel went there lusting after it, which thing became a snare to Gideon and to his house.

And it happened as soon as Gideon was dead, the sons of Israel turned again and went lusting after the Baals, and made Baal-berith their god.

And the sons of Israel did not remember Jehovah their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side.

And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith, with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless persons who followed him.

And he went to his father's house at Ophrah and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy persons, upon one stone. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, was still left; for he hid himself.

And the bramble-bush said to the trees, If you truly anoint me king over you, come put your trust in my shadow. And if not, let fire come out of the bramble and burn up the cedars of Lebanon.

And now, if you have done truly and sincerely in that you have made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done to him according to what his hands did,

in which my father fought for you and much endangered his life, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian.

But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and burn up the men of Shechem and the house of Millo. And let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and burn up Abimelech.

And the men of Shechem set men lying in wait for him in the top of the mountains, and they robbed all that passed by. And it was told to Abimelech.

And they went out into the fields and gathered their vineyards and trod the grapes, and made merry, and went into the house of their god, and ate and drank, and cursed Abimelech.

And I wish this people were under my hand! Then I would remove Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, Increase your army, and come out!

And now come up by night, you and the people with you, and lie in wait in the field.

And it shall be in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, it shall be that you shall rise early and set upon the city. And behold, when he and the people who are with him come out against you, you may do to them as you desire.

And Abimelech rose up by night, and all the people with him, and they lay in wait against Shechem in four companies.