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 afterward the sons of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who dwelt in the hill-country, and in the South, and in the lowland.

And Judah went against the Canaanites who dwelt in Hebron (now the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba), and they smote Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai.

And Caleb said, He who smites Kiriath-sepher, and takes it, I will give to him Achsah my daughter to wife.

And the sons of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem, but the Jebusites dwell with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer, but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.

And the people served LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of LORD that he had wrought for Israel.

And they forsook LORD, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the peoples that were round about them, and bowed themselves down to them. And they provoked LORD t

And LORD raised up judges who saved them out of the hand of those who despoiled them.

And when LORD raised up judges for them, then LORD was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For LORD regretted because of their groaning because of those who oppressed them and

And when the sons of Israel cried to LORD, LORD raised up a savior to the sons of Israel, who saved them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.

And when he had made an end of offering the tribute, he sent away the men who bore the tribute.

But he himself turned back from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand to thee, O king. And he said, Keep silence. And all who stood by him went out from him.

And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who smote six hundred men of the Philistines with an ox-goad, and he also saved Israel.

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.

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.

Tell, ye who ride on white donkeys, ye who sit on rich carpets, and ye who walk by the way.

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.

Zebulun was a people who jeopardized their lives to the death, and Naphtali, upon the high places of the field.

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.

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 they said one to another, Who has done this thing? And when they inquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.

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

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.

And LORD said to Gideon, The people who are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, My own hand has saved me.

And LORD said to Gideon, The people are yet too many. Bring them down to the water, and I will try them for thee there. And it shall be, that of whom I say to thee, This man shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee, and of w

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 number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men, but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.

And LORD said to Gideon, By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into thy hand. And let all the people go every man to his place.

And thou shall hear what they say, and afterward thy hands shall be strengthened to go down into the camp. Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outermost part of the armed men who were in the camp.

When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, For LORD and for Gideon.

So Gideon, and the hundred men who were with him, came to the outermost part of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch when they had but newly set the watch. And they blew the trumpets, and broke in pieces the pitchers that

And Gideon came to the Jordan, [and] passed over, he, and the three hundred men who were with him, faint, yet pursuing.

And he said to the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.

Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of all the army of the sons of the east, for there fell a hundred and twenty thousand men who drew a sword.

And Gideon went up by the way of those who dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the army, for the army was confident.

And he came to the men of Succoth, and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, concerning whom ye taunted me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand, that we should give bread to thy men who are weary?

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 his concubine who was in Shechem, she also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech.

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

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 they gave him seventy [pieces] of silver out of the house of Baal-berith, with which Abimelech hired vain and unstable fellows who followed him.

that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and that their blood might be laid upon Abimelech their brother who killed them, and upon the men of Shechem who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers.

And the men of Shechem set ambushes for him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all who came along that way by them, and it was told Abimelech.

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?

Now therefore, up by night, thou and the people who are with thee, and lay in wait in the field.

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

And Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city. And Abimelech rose up, and the people who were with him, from the ambushment.

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 Abimelech, and the companies who were with him, rushed forward, and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city, and the two companies rushed upon all who were in the field, and smote them.

And Abimelech got up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him. And Abimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it up, and laid it on his shoulder. And he said to the people who w

And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkey colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havvoth-jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead.

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 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 it came to pass, when he saw her, that he tore his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! Thou have brought me very low, and thou are one of those who trouble me, for I have opened my mouth to LORD, and I cannot go back.

And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed, and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel,

And he had forty sons and thirty sons' sons who rode on seventy donkey colts, and he judged Israel eight years.

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 the woman made haste, and ran, and told her husband, and said to him, Behold, the man has appeared to me, who came to me the [other] day.

And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said to him, Are thou the man who spoke to the woman? And he said, I am.

And the Spirit of LORD came mightily upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and smote thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave the changes [of raiment] to those who declared the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he

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

Then the Philistines said, Who has done this? And they said, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.

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 Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, Allow me that I may feel the pillars upon which the house rests, that I may lean upon them.

Now the house was full of men and women, and all the lords of the Philistines were there. And there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, who beheld while Samson made sport.

And when he restored the money to his mother, his mother took two hundred [pieces] of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made of it a graven image and a molten image. And it was in the house of Micah.

And the man Micah had a house of gods, and he made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.

And there was a young man out of Bethlehem-judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.

When they were by the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young man the Levite. And they turned aside there, and said to him, Who brought thee here? And what are thou doing in this place? And what have thou here?

Then the five men who went to spy out the country of Laish, answered and said to their brothers, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? Now therefore consider what y

And the six hundred men girded with their weapons of war, who were of the sons of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate.

And the five men who went to spy out the land went up, and came in there, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. And the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men g

When they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men who were in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together, and overtook the sons of Dan.

And they took that which Micah had made, and the priest whom he had, and came to Laish, to a people quiet and secure, and smote them with the edge of the sword, and they burnt the city with fire.

And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father who was born to Israel. However the name of the city was Laish at first.

And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the farther side of the hill-country of Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Bethlehem-judah.

Yet there is both straw and provender for our donkeys, and there is bread and wine also for me, and for thy handmaid, and for the young man who is with thy servants. There is no want of anything.

As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain base fellows, beset the house round about, beating at the door. And they spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man who ca

And it was so, that all who saw it said, There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the sons of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt to this day. Consider it, take counsel, and speak.

And the chiefs of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen who drew a sword.

And the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, I came into Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge.

Now therefore deliver up the men, the base fellows, who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel. But Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brothers the sons of Israel.

And the sons of Benjamin were numbered on that day out of the cities twenty-six thousand men who drew a sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who were numbered seven hundred chosen men.

And the men of Israel, besides Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men who drew a sword. All these were men of war.

And the sons of Israel arose, and went up to Bethel, and asked counsel of God. And they said, Who shall go up for us first to battle against the sons of Benjamin? And LORD said, Judah first.

So the sons of Benjamin saw that they were smitten, for the men of Israel gave place to Benjamin because they trusted to the ambushment whom they had set against Gibeah.

Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel to the way of the wilderness. But the battle followed hard after them, and those who came out of the cities destroyed them in the midst of it.

So that all who fell that day of Benjamin were twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword. All these [were] men of valor.

And the sons of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that did not come up in the assembly to LORD? For they had made a great oath concerning him who did not come up to LORD to Mizpah, saying, He shall surely be

What shall we do for wives for those who remain, since we have sworn by LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?

And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins who had not known man by laying with him, and they brought them to the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

And the whole congregation sent and spoke to the sons of Benjamin who were in the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace to them.

And Benjamin returned at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead. And even so they were not sufficient for them.

Then the elders of the congregation said, What shall we do for wives for those who remain, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?

And they said, There must be an inheritance for those who are escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not blotted out from Israel.

However we may not give them wives of our daughters, for the sons of Israel had sworn, saying, Cursed be he who gives a wife to Benjamin.