And the children of Israel remembered not the LORD their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side:

And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth you anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.

But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour 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 devour 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 the men of Hamor the father of Shechem: for why should we serve him?

Now therefore come up by night, you and the people that are with you, and lie in wait in the field:

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

Then said Zebul unto him, Where is now your mouth, with which you said, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? is not this the people that you have despised? go out, I pray now, and fight with them.

And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah: and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his brethren, that they should not dwell in Shechem.

Then he called hastily unto the young man his armorbearer, and said unto him, Draw your sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died.

And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the LORD, and served not him.

And the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines?

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

And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not you hate me, and expel me out of my father's house? and why are you come unto me now when you are in distress?

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

And said unto him, Thus says Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon:

Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray you, pass through your land: but the king of Edom would not listen. And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab: but he would not consent: and Israel abode in Kadesh.

Then they went along through the wilderness, and went around the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and encamped on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab.

But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his territory: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.

Will you not possess that which Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess.

While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are along by the borders of Arnon, three hundred years? why therefore did you not recover them within that time?

Therefore I have not sinned against you, but you do me wrong to war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.

However the king of the children of Ammon heeded not unto the words of Jephthah which he sent him.

And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Why passed you over to fight against the children of Ammon, and did not call us to go with you? we will burn your house upon you with fire.

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

And when I saw that you delivered me not, I put my life in my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the LORD delivered them into my hand: why then are you come up unto me this day, to fight against me?

Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the fords of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.

And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.

And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, {} Behold now, you are barren, and bear not: but you shall conceive, and bear a son.

Now therefore beware, I pray you, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:

Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very awesome: but I asked him not from where he was, neither told he me his name:

And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her.

She may not eat of any thing that comes of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe.

And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though you detain me, I will not eat of your food: and if you will offer a burnt offering, you must offer it unto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD.

But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a grain offering at our hands, neither would he have showed us all these things, nor would at this time have told us such things as these.

But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he tore him as he would have torn a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.

And he took some of it in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told them not that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion.

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

And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson's wife, Entice your husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn you and your father's house with fire: have you called us to take what we have? is it not so?

And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, You do but hate me, and love me not: you have put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and have not told it to me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it to my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it to you?

And the men of the city said unto 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 unto them, If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle.

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 verily thought that you had utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to your companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray you, instead of her.

Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, Know you not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that you have done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them.

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

And they spoke unto him, saying, No; but we will bind you securely, and deliver you into their hand: but surely we will not kill you. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock.

And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson has come here. And they surrounded the place, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.

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 there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon you, Samson. And he broke the cords, as a thread of yarn is broken when it touches the fire. So his strength was not known.

And she said unto 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.

That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There has not come a razor upon my head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.

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

In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought themselves an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel.

And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are you still here? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land.

And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows run upon you, and you lose your life, with the lives of your household.

And they sat down, and did eat and drink both of them together: for the young woman's father had said unto the man, Be content, I pray you, and tarry all night, and let your heart be merry.

And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father-in-law, the young woman's father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draws toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day grows to an end, lodge here, that your heart may be merry; and tomorrow get you early on your way, that you may go home.

But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed, and came over opposite Jebus, which is Jerusalem; and there were with him two donkeys saddled, his concubine also was with him.

And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside here into the city of strangers, that is not of the children of Israel; we will pass over to Gibeah.

And he said unto his servant, Come, and let us draw near to one of these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah.

And the old man said, Peace be with you; however let all your needs lie upon me; only lodge not in the street.

And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them, and said unto them, Nay, my brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly; seeing that this man is come into my house, do not this folly.

Behold, here is my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble you them, and do with them what seems good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing.

But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to dawn, they let her go.

And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round about me by night, and thought to have slain me: and my concubine have they so ravished, that she is dead.

And all the people arose as one man, saying, We will not any of us go to his tent, neither will we any of us turn into his house.

Now therefore deliver us the men, the children of Belial, who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel. But the children of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel:

Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men, left-handed; every one could sling stones at a hair's breadth, and not miss.

And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was fierce: but Benjamin knew not that evil was near them.

Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin as wife.

And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation unto the LORD? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to the LORD to Mizpah, saying, He shall surely be put to death.

What shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them of our daughters as wives?

And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpah to the LORD? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabeshgilead to the assembly.

And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them wives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabeshgilead: and yet they did not suffice for them.

And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that are escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.

However we may not give them wives of our daughters: for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed be he that gives a wife to Benjamin.

And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come unto us to complain, that we will say unto them, Be favorable unto them for our sakes: because we reserved not to each man his wife in the war: for you did not give unto them at this time, that you should be guilty.

And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave you, or to return from following after you: for where you go, I will go; and where you lodge, I will lodge: your people shall be my people, and your God my God:

And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.

Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Will you not hear, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from here, but abide here close by my maidens:

Let your eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch you? and when you are thirsty, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn.

And Boaz answered and said unto her, It has fully been shown me, all that you have done unto your mother-in-law since the death of your husband: and how you have left your father and your mother, and the land of your birth, and are come unto a people which you knew not before.

Then she said, Let me find favor in your sight, my lord; for you have comforted me, and you have spoken kindly unto your handmaid, though I be not like unto one of your handmaidens.

And when she rose up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not:

And let fall also some of the handfuls on purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not.

And Naomi said unto her daughter-in-law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who has not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our closest kinsmen.

And Naomi said unto Ruth her daughter-in-law, It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his maidens, that they encounter you not in any other field.

Then Naomi her mother-in-law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you?

And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens you were? Behold, he winnows barley tonight in the threshingfloor.

Wash yourself therefore, and anoint yourself, and put your best clothes upon you, and get down to the floor: but make not yourself known unto the man, until he shall have finished eating and drinking.

And he said, Blessed be you of the LORD, my daughter: for you have showed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, in that you followed not young men, whether poor or rich.

And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to you all that you require: for all the city of my people does know that you are a virtuous woman.

Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform unto you the part of a kinsman, well; let him do the kinsman's part: but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to you, then will I do the part of a kinsman to you, as the LORD lives: lie down until the morning.

And she lay at his feet until the morning: and she rose up before one could recognize another. And he said, Let it not be known that a woman came into the floor.

And she said, These six measures of barley he gave me; for he said to me, Go not empty unto your mother-in-law.

Then said she, Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will fall: for the man will not rest, until he has finished the thing this day.

And I thought to advise you, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it: but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know: for there is none to redeem it besides you; and I am after you. And he said, I will redeem it.

Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead through his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of this place: you are witnesses this day.

And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel.

And as year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat.