And they said, Arise, so that we may go up against them. For we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good. And will you sit quietly? Do not be too lazy to go; enter to possess the land.

And they went up and pitched in Kirjath-jearim, in Judah. Therefore, they called that place A Camp of Dan to this day. Behold, it is behind Kirjath-jearim.

And they passed from there to Mount Ephraim and came to the house of Micah.

And they turned in that way, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, to the house of Micah, and greeted him.

And they said to him, Be quiet, 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 a priest to the house of one man, or that you be a priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?

And they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the valuables before them.

They had gone far away from the house of Micah, and the men in the houses near Micah's house had been called together and had overtaken the sons of Dan.

And they cried to the sons of Dan. And they turned their faces and said to Micah, What ails you, that you have been called together?

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

And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest whom he had, and came to Laish, to a people quiet and feeling safe. And they struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire.

And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon, and they had no business with any man. And it was in the valley that lies by Beth-rehob. And they built a city and lived in it.

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 the first.

And they set up Micah's engraved image for themselves, the image which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

And his father-in-law, the girl's father, kept him. And he stayed with him three days. So they ate and drank and stayed there.

And it happened on the fourth day when they arose early in the morning, he rose up to leave. And the girl's father said to his son-in-law, Comfort your heart with a piece of bread, and afterward go your way.

And they sat down and ate and drank, both of them together, for the girl's father had said to the man, Please be content, and stay all night, and let your heart be merry.

And he rose early in the morning on the fifth day to leave. And the girl's father said, Please comfort your heart. And they stayed till afternoon, and both of them ate.

They were beside Jebus, and the day was far gone. And the servant said to his master, Please come, and let us turn in to this city of the Jebusites and stay in it.

And they passed on and went their way. And the sun went down on them beside Gibeah, which is of Benjamin.

And they turned aside there, to go in and to lodge in Gibeah. And he went in and sat down in a street of the city. For no man took them into his house to stay the night.

And he brought him into his house and mixed fodder for the asses. And they washed their feet, and ate and drank.

They were making their hearts merry. And, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, set upon the house all around and beat at the door and spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring out the man that came to your house so that we may know him.

But the men would not listen to him. And the man took his concubine and brought her out to them. And they knew her and rolled themselves on her all night until the morning. And they sent her away at the dawning of the day.

And the men of Gibeah rose against me and set upon the house all around me at night. They intended to kill me. And they raped my concubine, and she is dead.

And I took my concubine and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the land of the inheritance of Israel. For they have committed evil and folly in Israel.

and we will take ten men of a hundred of all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to bring food for the people, so that when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, they may do according to all the folly which they have done in Israel.

And the people, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves and set their battle in order again in the place where they put themselves in order the first day.

And the sons of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city. And they began to strike some of the people and to kill, as at other times, in the highways, one of which goes up to the house of God, and the other to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel.

And the sons of Benjamin said, They are beaten before us as at the first. But the sons of Israel said, Let us flee and draw them from the city to the highways.

And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was heavy. But they did not know that evil was near them.

So the sons of Benjamin saw that they were beaten. For the men of Israel gave place to Benjamin because they trusted to the ambush which they had set against Gibeah.

And when the men of Israel retired in the battle, Benjamin began to strike and kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons. For they said, Surely they are stricken down before us as in the first battle.

And the men of Israel turned again, and the men of Benjamin were amazed. For they saw that evil had touched them.

And they turned before the men of Israel, to the way of the wilderness. But the battle overtook them. And those who came out of the cities they destroyed in the midst of them.

They encircled Benjamin and they chased them without rest, and trod them down until they were against Gibeah toward the sunrise.

And they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon. And they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men, and pursued hard after them to Gidom and killed two thousand men of them.

But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness, to the rock Rimmon, and they stayed in the rock Rimmon four months.

And the sons of Israel turned again to the sons of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, from the entire city to livestock, to all that was found. Also they set on fire all the cities that they came to.

And the sons of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that did not come up with the congregation to Jehovah? For they had made a great oath concerning him who did not come up to Jehovah to Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely be put to death.

And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that did not come up to Mizpeh to Jehovah? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly.

And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins who had known no man by lying with any male. And they brought them to the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

And Benjamin came again at that time. And they gave them wives whom they had saved alive, of the women of Jabesh-gilead. And yet so they were not enough for them.

And they said, There must be an inheritance for those of Benjamin who have escaped, so that a tribe may not be destroyed out of Israel.

Then they said, Behold, there is a feast of Jehovah in Shiloh yearly on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.

And they commanded the sons of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards,

And the sons of Benjamin did so, and took wives according to their number, from those that danced, whom they caught. And they went and returned to their inheritance, and repaired the cities and lived in them.

And the sons of Israel departed from there at that time, each man to his tribe and to his family. And they went out from there every man to his inheritance.

And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem-judah. And they came to the fields of Moab and stayed there.

And they took wives for themselves from the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they lived there about ten years.

And she went out of the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.

May Jehovah grant you that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voice and wept.

And they said to her, Surely we will return with you to your people.

And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters. Why will you go with me? Are there yet sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?

would you wait for them until they were grown? Will you shut yourselves up, not to have a husband? No, my daughters, for it makes me very sad for your sakes that the hand of Jehovah has gone out against me.

And they lifted up their voice and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law. But Ruth clung to her.

And both of them went until they came to Bethlehem. And it happened when they had come to Bethlehem, all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?

And Naomi returned; and Ruth, who was of Moab, her daughter-in-law, was with her, returning out of the fields of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.

And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, Jehovah be with you. And they answered him, Jehovah bless you.

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

And Ruth of Moab said, He said to me also, You shall keep close by my young men whom I have until they have ended all my harvest.

And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, Good, my daughter. You go out with his maidens so that they do not fall upon you in any other field.

And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, Come sit down here. And they sat down.

And the women, her neighbors, gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi. And they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

And Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh and after they had drunk. And Eli the priest sat on the seat by the side post of the temple of Jehovah.

And they rose up in the morning early, and worshiped before Jehovah, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and Jehovah remembered her.

And they killed a bull, and brought the child to Eli.

The bows of the mighty are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.

They that were full have hired themselves out for bread, and they that were hungry ceased; yea, while the barren has borne seven, and she who had many sons has languished.

And the sons of Eli were sons of Belial. They did not know Jehovah.

And he stuck it into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot. All that the flesh-hook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites that came there.

Yea, before they burned the fat, the priest's servant came and said to the man who sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest. For he will not have boiled flesh from you, but raw!

And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, May Jehovah give you seed of this woman for the loan which is loaned to Jehovah. And they went to their own home.

And Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who gathered at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

If one man sins against another, the judge shall judge him. But if a man sins against Jehovah, who shall plead for him? But they did not listen to the voice of their father, because Jehovah desired to kill them.

And there came a man of God to Eli, and said to him, So says Jehovah: Did I plainly appear to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house?

And it shall be that everyone who is left in your house shall come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a piece of bread. And they shall say, Please put me into one of the priests' offices so that I may eat a piece of bread.

And the Philistines put themselves in order against Israel. And the battle was joined. And Israel was beaten before the Philistines. And they killed about four thousand men of the army in the field.

And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What is the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they saw that the ark of Jehovah had come into the camp.

And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God has come into the camp, And they said, Woe to us! For there has not been a thing like this before.

Be strong and fight like men, O, Philistines, so that you may not be servants to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be men and fight!

And when those of Ashdod arose early on the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of Jehovah. And they took Dagon and set him in his place again.

And when they arose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the earth before the ark of Jehovah. And the head of Dagon, and both the palms of his hands, were cut off upon the threshold. Only the stump of Dagon was left to him.

And the men of Ashdod saw that it was so. And they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not stay with us. For His hand is sore upon us and upon Dagon our god.

And they sent and gathered all the lords of the Philistines to them. And they said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried around to Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel around.

And it happened after they had carried it around, the hand of Jehovah was against the city with a very great destruction. And He struck the men of the city, both small and great, and hemorrhoids broke forth in them.

And it happened that they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it happened as the ark of God came to Ekron, the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought around the ark of the God of Israel to us in order to kill us and our people.

And they sent and gathered all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to its own place, so that it does not kill us and our people. For there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city. The hand of God was very heavy there.

And they said, If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty. For you shall certainly send a guilt offering to him. Then you shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why His hand is not removed from you.

And they said, What shall be the guilt offering which we shall return to Him? And they answered, Five golden hemorrhoids, and five golden mice, for the number of the lords of the Philistines. For one plague was on you all, and on your lords.

And why do you harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had worked wonderfully among them, did they not let the people go, and did they not depart?

And the men did so. And they took two milk cows and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home.

And they laid the ark of Jehovah on the cart, and the box with the mice of gold and the images of their hemorrhoids.

And the cows took the straight way to the way of Beth-shemesh, going along the highway, lowing as they went. And they did not turn aside to the right or to the left. And the lords of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth-shemesh.

And the people of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley. And they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it.

And the cart came into the field of Joshua, a Bethshemite, and stood there and there was a great stone. And they cut the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to Jehovah.

And when the five lords of the Philistines had seen, they returned to Ekron on that day.

And the golden mice were according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines for the five lords, of fortified cities and of country villages, even to the great meadow on which they set down the ark of Jehovah to this day, in the field of Joshua the Bethshemite.

And He struck the men of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the ark of Jehovah. He even struck seventy among the people, including fifty chief men. And the people lamented because Jehovah had struck the people with a great slaughter.

And they sent messengers to the people of Kirjath-jearim, saying, The Philistines have brought again the ark of Jehovah. Come down and bring it up to yourselves.

And the men of Kirjath-jearim came and brought up the ark of Jehovah, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill. And they sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of Jehovah.