And the rulers of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand that we should give bread to thine army?

And Gideon said, Therefore when LORD has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.

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 he said, They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As LORD lives, if ye had saved them alive, I would not kill you.

And he said to Jether his first-born, Up, and kill them. But the youth did not draw his sword, for he feared because he was yet a youth.

Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescents that were on their camels' necks.

Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also, for thou have saved us out of the hand of Midian.

And Gideon said to them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you. LORD shall rule over you.

And Gideon said to them, I would make a request of you, that ye would give me every man the earrings of his spoil. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)

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

And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried out, and said to them, Hearken to me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken to you.

The trees went forth a time to anoint a king over them. And they said to the olive tree, Reign thou over us.

But the olive tree said to them, Should I leave my fatness with which by me they honor God and man, and go to wave to and fro over the trees?

And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us.

But the fig tree said to them, Should I leave my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to wave to and fro over the trees?

And the trees said to the vine, Come thou, and reign over us.

And the vine said to them, Should I leave my new wine, which cheers God and man, and go to wave to and fro over the trees?

Then all the trees said to the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us.

And the bramble said to the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade, and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.

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?

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

And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold, there comes people down from the tops of the mountains. And Zebul said to him, Thou see the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.

And Gaal spoke again and said, See, there comes people down by the middle of the land, and one company comes by the way of the oak of Meonenim.

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 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

Then he called hastily to the young man his armor bearer, and said to him, Draw thy sword, and kill me, that men not say of me, A woman killed him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died.

And LORD said to the sons of Israel, [Did] not [I save you] from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the sons of Ammon, and from the Philistines?

And the sons of Israel said to LORD, We have sinned. Do thou to us whatever seems good to thee, only deliver us, we pray thee, this day.

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

And they said to Jephthah, Come and be our chief, that we may fight with the sons of Ammon.

And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, Did ye not hate me, and drive me out of my father's house? And why have ye come to me now when ye are in distress?

And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, For that reason we turned again to thee now, that thou may go with us, and fight with the sons of Ammon. And thou shall be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.

And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to fight with the sons of Ammon, and LORD delivers them before me, shall I be your head?

And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, LORD shall be witness between us. Surely according to thy word so will we do.

And he said to him, Thus says Jephthah: Israel did not take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the sons of Ammon,

And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon. And Israel said to him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land to my place.

And Jephthah vowed a vow to LORD, and said, If thou will indeed deliver the sons of Ammon into my hand,

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 she said to him, My father, thou have opened thy mouth to LORD. Do to me according to that which has proceeded out of thy mouth, inasmuch as LORD has taken vengeance for thee on thine enemies, even on the sons of Ammon.

And she said to her father, Let this thing be done for me: Let me alone two months, that I may depart and go down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my companions.

And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months. And she departed, she and her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains.

And the men of Ephraim were gathered together, and passed northward. And they said to Jephthah, Why did thou pass over to fight against the sons of Ammon, and did not call us to go with thee? We will burn thy house upon thee with f

And Jephthah said to them, I and my people were at great strife with the sons of Ammon, and when I called you, ye did not save me out of their hand.

Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim. And the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye are fugitives of Ephraim, ye Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim, [and] in the midst of Mana

And the Gileadites took the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And it was so, that, when [any of] the fugitives of Ephraim said, Let me go over, the men of Gilead said to him, Are thou an Ephraimite? If he said, No,

then they said to him, Say now Shibboleth, and he said Sibboleth, for he could not frame to pronounce it right, then they laid hold on him, and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. And there fell at that time of Ephraim forty-two

And the agent of LORD appeared to the woman, and said to her, Behold now, thou are barren, and do not bear, but thou shall conceive, and bear a son.

but he said to me, Behold, thou shall conceive, and bear a son. And now drink no wine nor strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.

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 Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. What shall be the ordering of the child, and [what] shall we do to him?

And the agent of LORD said to Manoah, Of all that I said to the woman let her beware.

And Manoah said to the agent of LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee, that we may make ready a kid for thee.

And the agent of LORD said to Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread, and if thou will make ready a burnt-offering, thou must offer it to LORD. For Manoah did not know that he was the agent of LORD.

And Manoah said to the agent of LORD, What is thy name, that, when thy words come to pass, we may do thee honor?

And the agent of LORD said to him, Why do thou ask after my name, seeing it is wonderful?

And Manoah said to his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.

But his wife said to him, If LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt-offering and a meal-offering at our hand, neither would he have shown us all these things, nor would at this time have told such things a

And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. Now therefore get her for me to wife.

Then his father and his mother said to him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brothers, or among all my people, that thou go to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said to his father, Get her fo

And Samson said to them, Let me now put forth a riddle to you. If ye can declare it to me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of raiment,

but if ye cannot declare it to me, then ye shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of raiment. And they said to him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it.

And he said to them, Out of the eater came forth food, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days declare the riddle.

And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said to Samson's wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare to us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire. Have ye called us to impoverish us? Is it not [s

And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, Thou do but hate me, and not love me. Thou have put forth a riddle to the sons of my people, and have not told it to me. And he said to her, Behold, I have not told it to my father nor m

And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said to them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye would not have found out my

But it came to pass after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid. And he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber, but her father would not allow him to go in.

And her father said, I truly thought that thou had utterly hated her, therefore I gave her to thy companion. Is not her younger sister fairer than she? Take her, I pray thee, instead of her.

And Samson said to them, This time I shall be blameless in regard of the Philistines when I do them a mischief.

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 Samson said to them, If ye do after this manner, surely I will be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.

And the men of Judah said, Why have ye come up against us? And they said, We come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he has done to us.

Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, Know thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that thou have done to us? And he said to them, As they did t

And they said to him, We have come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said to them, Swear to me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.

And Samson said, With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of a donkey I have smitten a thousand men.

And he was very thirsty, and called on LORD, and said, Thou have given this great deliverance by the hand of thy servant, and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised.

And the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her, Entice him, and see in what his great strength lays, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him. And we will give thee every o

And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, in what thy great strength lays, and with what thou might be bound to afflict thee.

And Samson said to her, If they bind me with seven green withes that were never dried, then I shall become weak, and be as another man.

Now she had an ambush abiding in the inner chamber. And she said to him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he broke the withes, as a string of tow is broken when it touches the fire. So his strength was not known.

And Delilah said to Samson, Behold, thou have mocked me, and told me lies. Now tell me, I pray thee, with what thou might be bound.

And he said to her, If they only bind me with new ropes with which no work has been done, then I shall become weak, and be as another man.

So Delilah took new ropes, and bound him with it, and said to him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And the ambushment was abiding in the inner chamber. And he broke them off his arms like a thread.

And Delilah said to Samson, Until now thou have mocked me, and told me lies. Tell me with what thou might be bound. And he said to her, If thou weave the seven locks of my head with the web.

And she fastened it with the pin, and said to him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and plucked away the pin of the beam, and the web.

And she said to him, How can thou say, I love thee, when thy heart is not with me? Thou have mocked me these three times, and have not told me with what thy great strength lays.

And he told her all his heart, and said to her, There has not come a razor upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be lik

And she said, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free, but he knew not that LORD was departed from him.

And the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice, for they said, Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.

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 it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make sport to us. And they called for Samson out of the prison-house, and he made sport before them. And they set him between the pilla

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.

And Samson called to LORD, and said, O lord LORD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.

And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might, and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than those tha

And he said to his mother, The eleven hundred [pieces] of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me. I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be m

And he restored the eleven hundred [pieces] of silver to his mother. And his mother said, I verily dedicate the silver to LORD from my hand for my son to make a graven image and a molten image. Now therefore I will restore it to th

And Micah said to him, From where come thou? And he said to him, I am a Levite of Bethlehem-judah, and I go to sojourn where I may find [a place].