And they said, "We will do it." And they spread a mantle and did cast thereinto every man the earrings of his prey.

And his mother's brethren rehearsed of him in the audience of all the citizens of Shechem, all these words, and moved their hearts to follow Abimelech, in that they said how he was their brother.

And when it was told Jotham, he went and stood in the top of mount Gerizim, and lift up his voice and called, and said unto them, "Hearken unto me you citizens of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you.

The trees went to anoint a king over them, and said unto the olive tree, 'Reign over us.'

But the olive tree said unto them, 'Should I leave my fatness which both God and man praiseth in me, and go to be promoted over the trees?'

Then said the trees to the fig tree, 'Come thou and be king over us.'

Then said the trees unto the vine, 'Come thou and be king over us.'

Then said all the trees unto the furze-bush, 'Come thou and reign over us.'

And the furze bush said unto the trees, "If it will be true that ye will anoint me king over you, then come and rest under my shadow, and ye shall see that a fire shall come out of the furze-bush and waste the cypress trees of Lebanon!'

And Gaal the son of Ebed said, "What is Abimelech, and what is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and Zebul is his officer? Serve such as come of Hamor the father of Shechem. For what reason is it that we should serve him?

Would God this people were under my hand, then I would take Abimelech out of the way." And one said unto Abimelech, "Make thine host greater and go out."

And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, "Behold, there come people down from the top of the mountains." And Zebul said unto him, "The shadow of the hills seem men unto thee."

And Gaal answered again and said, "See, there come folk down by the middle of the land and another company come along by the charmer's oak."

Then said Zebul unto him, "Where is now thy mouth that said, 'What fellow is Abimelech, that we should serve him?' These are the people that thou so despisest. Go out now a fellowship and fight with them."

he gat him to mount Zalmon, both he and all that were with him, and took axes with him and cut down an arm of a tree, and took it up, and put it on his shoulder, and said unto the folk that were with him, "Whatsoever ye see me do: speed yourselves and do likewise."

Then Abimelech called hastily unto the young man that bare his harness, and said unto him, "Draw thy sword and slay me, that men say not of me, 'A woman slew him.'" And his lad thrust him through and he died.

And the LORD said unto the children of Israel, "Did not the Egyptians, the Amorites, the children of Ammon, the Philistines,

But the children of Israel said unto the LORD, "We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever please thee, and deliver us only at this time."

And the company of the lords of Gilead said each to other, "Whosoever will begin the battle against the children of Ammon, the same shall be head over all the inhabiters of Gilead."

But Gilead's wife bare him sons, which when they were come to age, thrust out of Jephthah, and said unto him, "Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house, for thou art the son of a strange woman."

and said unto him, "Come and be our captain, and let us fight with the children of Ammon."

And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, "Did not ye hate me and expel me out of my father's house? How happeneth it then that you come unto me now in time of your tribulation?"

And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, "If ye bring me home again, to fight with the children of Ammon, then if the LORD deliver them before me, I shall be your head."

And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "The LORD be witness between us if we do not according to thy words."

and said unto him, "Thus sayeth Jephthah: Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon.

And then Israel sent messengers unto Sihon, king of the Amorites, and king of Heshbon, and said unto him, 'Let us pass through thy land unto our own country.'

But the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his folk into the hands of Israel. And so Israel smote them and conquered all the land of the Amorites, the inhabiters of the said country.

And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD and said, "If thou shalt deliver the children of Ammon into my hands,

And when he saw her, he rent his clothes and said, "Alas, my daughter, thou hast made me stoop, and art one of them that trouble me. For I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and cannot go back."

And she said unto him, "My father, if thou have opened thy mouth unto the LORD, then do with me according to that proceeded out of thy mouth, forasmuch as the LORD hath avenged thee of thine enemies the children of Ammon."

And she said unto her father, "Do this much for me: let me alone two months that I may go down to the mountains and bewail my virginity with my fellows."

And he said, "Go." And so he sent her away two months. And she went with her companions and lamented her maidenhead upon the mountains.

And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, "Wherefore wentest thou to fight with the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? We will therefore burn thine house upon thee with fire."

And Jephthah said unto them, "I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon. And I called you. But ye delivered me not out of their hands.

And Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with the Ephraimites. And the men of Gilead smote the Ephraimites, because they said, "Ye Gileadites are but renegades of Ephraim among the Ephraimites and the Manassites!"

Moreover, the men of Gilead took the passages of Jordan from the Ephraimites. And when those Ephraimites that were escaped said, "Let us go over," then the men of Gilead said unto them, "Ye are Ephraimites." And they said, "Nay."

Then the other answered, "Then say, 'Shibboleth.'" And they said, "Syboleth" - and could not so pronounce. Whereupon the others took them and slew them at the passages of Jordan. And there were overthrown at that time, of the Ephraimites, forty two thousand.

And the Angel of the LORD appeared unto his wife and said unto her, "Behold, thou art barren and bearest not: But thou shalt conceive and bear a son.

And he said unto me, 'Behold, thou shalt be with child and bear a son, and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the lad shall be an abstainer to God even from his birth to the day of his death.'"

Then Manoah made intercession to the LORD, and said, "I pray thee, my LORD, let the man of God which thou sentest come once more unto us and teach us what we shall do unto the lad when he is born."

Then the wife made haste and ran and showed her husband and said to him, "Behold, the man appeared unto me that came the other day unto me."

And Manoah arose and went after his wife and came to the man and said unto him, "Art thou the man that spakest unto my wife?" And he said, "Yea."

Then Manoah said, "Now when thy saying is come to pass: what shall be the manner of the child, and what shall he do?"

And the Angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, "Thy wife must abstain from all that I said unto her:

Then said Manoah unto the Angel of the LORD, "Grant us to tarry until we have made ready a kid and have set it before thee."

And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, "Though thou make me abide, I will not eat of thy meat. And moreover, if thou wilt prepare a burnt offering, that thou must offer unto the LORD." For Manoah wist not that it was an angel of the LORD.

And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, "What is thy name, that when thy saying is come to pass, we may do thee some worship?"

And the angel of the LORD said unto him, "Why askest thou after my name, when it is wonderful?"

and said unto his wife, "We shall surely die, because we have seen God!"

But his wife said unto him, "If the LORD would kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering of our hands; neither would he have showed us all these things, nor would have told us as he hath of things to come."

and came up and told his father and his mother, and said, "I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. And now give her me to wife."

Then his father and mother said unto him, "Is there never a woman of the daughters of thy brethren, among all my people: but that thou must go and fetch a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines?" And Samson said unto his father, "Give me this woman for she pleaseth me well."

And Samson said unto them, "I will put forth a riddle unto you. And if you can declare it within seven days of the feast and find it out, I will give you thirty shirts and thirty changes of garments:

And he said unto them, "Out of the eater came meat: and out of the strong came sweetness." And they could not in three days expound the riddle.

And when the seventh day was come, they said unto Samson's wife, "Flatter with thine husband, that he may declare us thy riddle, or else we will burn thee and thy father's house with fire: have ye called us to make us beggars? Or not?"

Then Samson's wife wept unto him and said, "It cannot be but that thou hatest me and lovest me not: for thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my folk and wilt not tell me what it meaneth." And he said, "Behold, I have not told it my father, nor my mother, and should I tell it thee?"

And the men of the city said unto him the seventh day before the sun went down, "What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a Lion?" Then said he unto them, "If ye had not ploughed with my calf, ye had not found out my riddle."

but said, "I thought that thou hadst hated her, and therefore gave I her unto one of thy companions. Howbeit her younger sister is fairer than she. Take her instead of the other."

Then said Samson unto them, "Now I am blameless concerning the Philistines, though I do them evil."

And Samson said unto them, "Should ye do so? For I will surely be avenged of you; and then I will cease."

And the men of Judah said, "Why are ye come against us?" And they answered, "To bind Samson are we come, even to do him as he hath done to us."

Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cave of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, "Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? Wherefore then hast thou served us thus?" And he answered them, "As they served me, so have I served them."

And they said unto him, "We are come to bind thee and to deliver thee into the hands of the Philistines." And Samson said unto them, "Sware unto me, that ye shall not hurt me yourselves."

And they said, "We will not hurt thee, save only bind thee and deliver thee unto their hands: But we will not kill thee." And so they bound him with two new cords and brought him up from the rock.

And Samson said, "With the jaw of an ass, have I made heaps: with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men!"

And he was sore a thirst, and called on the LORD and said, "Thou LORD hath given this great victory, through the hand of thy servant. And now I must die for thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised."

- unto whom came the lords of the Philistines, and said unto her, "Flatter with him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may have power over him, that we may bind him, to bring him under, and we will give every man eleven hundred silverlings."

And Delilah said to Samson, "Oh, tell me where thy great strength lieth, and if thou were bound wherewith men might constrain thee."

And Samson said unto her, "If men bound me with seven ropes of fresh sinews that were never dried, I should be weak and as another man."

Notwithstanding, she had men lying in wait with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson." And he brake the cords as a string of tow breaketh, when it feeleth fire. And so his strength was not known.

Then said Delilah to Samson, "See: thou hast mocked me and told me lies. Now yet tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound."

And he said, "If I were bound with new ropes that never were occupied, then should I be weak, and as another man."

And Delilah took new ropes and bound him therewith, and said unto him, "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson." And there were layers of wait in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms, as they had been but a thread.

And Delilah said unto Samson, "Hitherto, thou hast beguiled me and told me lies: I pray thee yet, tell me wherewith men may bind thee." And he said unto her, "If thou plaitedest the seven locks of my head with a hair lace and fastenedest them with a nail."

And she said unto him, "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson." And he awaked out of his sleep, and plucked and went away with the nail that was in the plaiting and with the hair lace.

Then she said unto him, "How canst thou say that thou lovest me, when thine heart is not with me? For thou hast mocked me this three times, and hast not told wherein thy great strength lieth."

And he told her all his heart, and said unto her, "There never came razor nor shears upon mine head, for I have been an abstainer to God even from my mother's womb. If mine hair were cut off, my strength would go from me, and I should wax and be like all other men."

And she said, "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson." And he awoke out of his sleep and thought to go out as at other times before and shake himself, and knew not that the LORD was departed from him.

Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together, for to offer a solemn offering unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, "Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hands."

And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, "Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, that destroyed our country and slew many of us."

And when their hearts were merry, they said, "Send for Samson and let him play before us." And they fetched Samson out of the prison house, and he played before them, and they set him between the pillars.

And Samson said unto the lad that led him by the hand, "Set me that I may touch the pillars that the house stands upon, and that I may lean to them."

And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, "My Lord Jehovah think upon me, and strengthen me at this time only, O God, that I may be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes."

and said, "My soul die with the Philistines," and bowed them with might. And the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people that were therein. And so the dead which he slew at his death, were more than they which he slew in his life.

which said unto his mother, "The eleven hundred silverlings that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst and saidst in mine ears: Behold, the silver is with me for I took it away." Then said his mother, "Blessed be thou my son, in the LORD."

And so he restored the eleven hundred silverlings to his mother again. And his mother said, "I vowed the silver unto the LORD of mine hand for my son: to make a graven image and an image of metal. Now therefore I give it thee again."

And Micah said unto him, "Whence comest thou?" And the Levite answered him, "I am of Bethlehem Judah, and go to dwell where I may find a place."

And Micah said unto him, "Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest. And I will give thee ten silverlings by year and raiment of all sorts, and thy meat and drink."

Then said Micah, "Now I am sure that the LORD will be good unto me, seeing I have a Levite to my priest."

And the children of Dan sent of their kindreds five men of activity, out of their coasts, even out of Zorah and Eshtaol, to view the land and search it out, and said unto them, "Go and search out the land." And they came to mount Ephraim, even to the house of Micah and lodged there.

And when they were come unto the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite, and turned in thither, and said unto him, "Who brought thee hither? And what makest thou in this place? And what hast thou here?"

And he said unto them, "Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me and hath hired me to be his priest."

And they said unto him, "Ask of God, I pray thee, that we may know whether the way which we go, shall be prosperous or no."

And the priest said unto them, "Go in peace, for the way which ye go is before the LORD."

And they came unto their brethren, to Zorah, and Eshtaol. And their brethren said unto them, "What tidings bring you?"

And they said, "Up, and let us go unto them, for we have seen the land, that it is very good. Haste therefore and be not slothful to depart and go and conquer the land.

Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, "Know ye not that there is in these houses an ephod and images; and a graven image and an image of metal? Now therefore consider what ye have to do."

while the other went to Micah's house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, the graven image and the image of metal. Then said the priest unto them, "What do ye?"

And they turned their faces, and said unto Micah, "What aileth thee, that thou makest an outcry?"

And he said, "Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and also the priest, and go your ways with them! And what have I more? How then say ye unto me, 'What aileth thee?'"