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

He caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and inquired of him: and he described for him the officials of Succoth, and its elders, seventy-seven men.

His concubine who was in Shechem, she also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.

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

They gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baal Berith, with which Abimelech hired vain and light fellows, who followed him.

"Now therefore, if you have dealt truly and righteously, 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 the deserving of his hands

If you then have dealt truly and righteously with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice you in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you:

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

And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brothers, and went over to Shechem; and the lords of Shechem put their trust in him.

Gaal the son of Ebed said, "Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Isn't he the son of Jerubbaal, and Zebul his officer? Serve 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, you shall rise early, and rush on the city. And behold, when he and the people who are with him come out against you, then do whatever you can to them."

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

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 ambush.

When Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, "Behold, there are people coming down from the tops of the mountains." Zebul said to him, "You see the shadow of the mountains as if they were men."

Then Zebul said to him, "Where is now your mouth, that you said, 'Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?' Is not this the people that you have despised? Please go out now and fight with them."

Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and there fell many wounded, even to the entrance of the gate.

Abimelech, and the companies that were with him, rushed forward, and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city: and the two companies rushed against all who were in the field, and struck them.

Abimelech got him 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 branch from the trees, and took it up, and laid it on his shoulder. And he said to the people who were with him, "What you have seen me do, do quickly, and do as I have done."

Then he called quickly to the young man his armor bearer, and said to him, "Draw your sword, and kill me, that men not say of me, 'A woman killed him.'" So the young man thrust him through, and he died.

After him arose Jair, the Gileadite; and he judged Israel twenty-two years.

The children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals, and the Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Sidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook the LORD, and did not serve him.

Gilead's wife bore him sons; and when his wife's sons grew up, they drove out Jephthah, and said to him, "You shall not inherit in our father's house; for you are the son of another woman."

Then Jephthah fled from his brothers, and lived in the land of Tob: and there were gathered vain fellows to Jephthah, and they went out with him.

Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words before the LORD in Mizpah.

and he said to him, "Thus says Jephthah: 'Israel did not take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon,

Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, "Please let us pass through your land to our land.'

However the king of the children of Ammon did not listen to the words of Jephthah which he sent him.

Jephthah came to Mizpah to his house; and behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances: and she was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter.

She said to him, "My father, since you have given your word to the LORD; do to me as you promised, because the LORD has taken vengeance for you on your enemies, even on the children of Ammon."

The Gileadites took the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. It was so, that when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, "Let me go over," the men of Gilead said to him, "Are you an Ephraimite?" If he said, "No";

then they said to him, "Now say 'Shibboleth;'" and he said "Sibboleth"; for he couldn't manage to pronounce it right: then they seized him, and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. There fell at that time of Ephraim forty-two thousand.

After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.

After him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years.

After him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel.

Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, "A man of God came to me, and his face was like the face of the angel of God, very awesome; and I didn't ask him where he was from, neither did he tell me his name,

The woman ran quickly, and told her husband, and said to him, "Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me."

Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said to him, "Are you the man who spoke to the woman?" He said, "I am."

And the angel of the LORD said to him, "Why do you ask for my name? It is incomprehensible."

But his wife said to him, "If the LORD meant to kill us, he wouldn't have received a burnt offering and a grain offering from us, neither would he have shown us all these things, nor would he have spoken to us now like this."

The woman bore a son, and named him Samson. And the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.

And the Spirit of the LORD began to direct him in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Then his father and his mother said to him, "Is there not a woman among the daughters of your brothers, or among all my people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?" And Samson said to his father, "Get her for me, for she is the right one for me."

Then Samson went down with his father and his mother to Timnah, and came to the vineyards of Timnah. And behold, a young lion roared against him.

And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and he tore him as he would have torn a young goat. And he had nothing in his hand, but he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.

It happened, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.

But if you can't explain it to me, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing." And they said to him, "Propose your riddle, we want to hear it."

Samson's wife wept before him, and said, "You just hate me, and do not love me. You have put forth a riddle to the children of my people, and haven't told it me." And he said to her, "Behold, I haven't told it to my father or my mother, and shall I tell you?"

She wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it happened on the seventh day, that he told her, because she pressed him hard; and she told the riddle to the children of her people.

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?" He said to them, "If you hadn't plowed with my heifer, you wouldn't have found out my riddle."

The Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and struck thirty men of them, and took their belongings, and gave their garments to those who explained the riddle. His anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house.

But after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a young goat; and he said, "I will go in to my wife into the room." But her father wouldn't allow him to go in.

The men of Judah said, "Why have you come up against us?" They said, "We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he has done to us."

They said to him, "We have come down to bind you, that we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines." Samson said to them, "Swear to me that you will not fall on me yourselves."

They spoke to him, saying, "No; but we will bind you fast, and deliver you into their hand; but surely we will not kill you." They bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock.

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

The Gazites were told, "Samson is here." They surrounded him, and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city, and were quiet all night, saying, "Wait until morning light, then we will kill him."

The lords of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her, "Entice him, and see in which his great strength lies, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver."

Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green cords which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.

Now she had an ambush waiting in the inner room. She said to him, "The Philistines are on you, Samson." He broke the cords, as a string of tow is broken when it touches the fire. So his strength was not known.

So Delilah took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said to him, "The Philistines are on you, Samson." The ambush was waiting in the inner room. He broke them off his arms like a thread.

She fastened it with the pin, and said to him, "The Philistines are on you, Samson." He awakened out of his sleep, and plucked away the pin of the beam, and the web.

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 have not told me where your great strength lies."

It happened, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, that his soul was troubled to death.

She made him sleep on her knees; and she called for a man, and shaved off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.

She said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson." He awoke out of his sleep, and said, "I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free." But he didn't know that the LORD had departed from him.

The Philistines seized him, and put out his eyes. And they brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with bronze shackles, and he ground at the mill in the prison.

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

It happened, when their hearts were merry, that they said, "Call for Samson, that he may entertain us." They called for Samson out of the prison; and he performed before them. They set him between the pillars;

and Samson said to the boy who held him by the hand, "Allow me to feel the pillars whereupon the house rests, that I may lean on them."

Then his brothers and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burial site of Manoah his father. He judged Israel twenty years.

Micah said to him, "Where did you come from?" He said to him, "I am a Levite of Bethlehem Judah, and I am looking for a place to live."

Micah said to him, Dwell with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver by the year, and a suit of clothing, and your food. So the Levite went in.

The Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was to him as one of his sons.

When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite; and they turned in that direction, and said to him, "Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? And what is your business here?"

They said to him, "Please ask counsel of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous."

They turned aside there, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even to the house of Micah, and asked him of his welfare.

They said to him, "Hold your peace, lay your hand on your mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?"

The children of Dan said to him, "Do not let your voice be heard among us, or angry men will attack you, and you lose your life, with the lives of your household."

The children of Dan went their way; and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house.

His concubine was unfaithful to him and went away from him to her father's house in Bethlehem of Judah, and was there about four months.

Her husband arose, and went after her, to speak kindly to her, to bring her again, having his servant with him, and a couple of donkeys. And she brought him into her father's house; and when the father of the young lady saw him, he rejoiced to meet him.

His father-in-law, the young lady's father, welcomed him; and he stayed with him three days. So they ate and drank and stayed there.

The man rose up to depart; but his father-in-law urged him, and he stayed there again.

When the man rose up with his concubine and his servant to leave, his father-in-law, the young lady's father, said to him, "Behold, now the day draws toward evening, please stay the night. Behold, the day grows to an end, stay here, and enjoy yourself; and tomorrow you can get up early for your journey so that you may go home."

But the man wouldn't stay that night, but he rose up and departed, and went toward Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). And there were with him a couple of saddled donkeys, and his concubine was also with him.

His master said to him, "We won't go into the city of a foreigner that is not of the children of Israel, but we will pass over to Gibeah."

He said to him, "We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the farther side of the hill country of Ephraim. I am from there, and I went to Bethlehem in Judah. I am going to the house of the LORD; and there is no man who will take me into his home.

So he brought him into his house, and fed the donkeys. And they washed their feet, and ate and drank.

As they were enjoying themselves, behold, the men of the city, some wicked men of the city surrounded the house, beating at the door. And they spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, "Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may have sex with him."

But the men wouldn't listen to him: so the man laid hold of his concubine, and brought her out to them. And they raped her and abused her all night until the morning, and when the day began to dawn they let her go.

The children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until evening; and they asked of the LORD, saying, "Shall I again draw near to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother?" The LORD said, "Go up against him."

and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days), "Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease?" The LORD said, "Go up; for tomorrow I will deliver him into your hand."

Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, "Let me now go to the field, and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor." She said to her, "Go, my daughter."

Behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, "The LORD be with you." They answered him, "The LORD bless you."

Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said to him, "Why have I found favor in your sight, that you should take knowledge of me, since I am a foreigner?"

Stay this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform for you the part of a redeemer, well; let him do the redeemer's part. But if he will not do the part of a redeemer for you, then I will do the part of a redeemer for you, as the LORD lives. Lie down until the morning."

So the near kinsman said to Boaz, "Buy it for yourself." And he took off his sandal and gave it to him.

He shall be to you a restorer of life, and sustain you in your old age, for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him."

Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and looked after him.

The women, her neighbors, gave him a name, saying, "There is a son born to Naomi." And they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.