Yet you have abandoned me and served other gods. Therefore I will no longer deliver you.

The people, the ones commanding Gilead, {said to each other}, "Who [is] the man that will begin to fight against the {Ammonites}? He will be as head over all the inhabitants of Gilead."

Gilead's wife also bore for him sons; and the sons of [his] wife grew up and drove Jephthah away, and they said to him, "You will not inherit the house of our father because you [are] the son of another woman."

So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "If you bring me back {to fight} against the {Ammonites}, and Yahweh gives them {over to me}, will I be your head?"

And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "Yahweh will be a {witness} between us; we will act according to your word."

Do you not possess what Chemosh your god gave you to possess? Whoever Yahweh our God has driven out before us, we will possess it.

And Jephthah made a vow to Yahweh, and he said, "If indeed you will give the {Ammonites} into my hand,

whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from the {Ammonites} will be Yahweh's, and I will offer it [as] a burnt offering."

The men of Ephraim were called to arms, and they crossed [over] to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, "Why did you cross [over] and make war against the {Ammonites}, and why did you not call us to go with you? We will burn down your house over you with fire."

And an angel of Yahweh appeared to the woman, and he said to her, "Behold, you [are] infertile and have not borne [children], but you will conceive and bear a son.

because you [will] conceive and bear a son. No razor {will touch} his head, because the boy will be a {Nazirite of God} {from birth}. And it is he who will begin to deliver Israel from [the] hand of [the] Philistines."

And he said to me, 'Look, you [will] conceive and bear a son, so then, do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean, for the boy will be a Nazirite of God from birth until the day of his death.'"

Then Manoah prayed to Yahweh and said, "Excuse me, my Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent again come to us and teach us what we should do concerning the boy who will be born."

And Manoah said to him, "Now {when your words come true}, what will be the boy's {manner of life} and work?"

The angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, "If you keep me, I will not eat your food, but if you prepare a burnt offering for Yahweh, you can offer it (for Manoah did not know that he [was] an angel of Yahweh)."

And Manoah said to his wife, "We will certainly die because we have seen God."

And he returned after awhile {to marry her}, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and there [was] a swarm of wild honey bees in the body of the lion, and honey.

And Samson said to them, "Let me tell you a riddle. If you can fully explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, and find [it out], I will give to you thirty linen garments and thirty festal garments.

When it was the fourth day, they said to Samson's wife, "Entice your husband and tell us the riddle, or we will burn you and your father's house with fire. Have you invited us to rob us?"

Samson said to them, "If you want to behave like this, [I swear] I will not rest unless I have taken revenge on you."

They said to him, "We have come down to bind you and give you over into the hand of [the] Philistines." And Samson said to them, "Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves."

They said to him, "No, we will only bind you and give you into their hand; we will certainly not kill you." So they bound him with two new ropes, and they brought him up from the rock.

The Gazites [were told], "Samson has come here," so they surrounded [the place] and lay in ambush for him all night at the city gate. They kept silent all night, saying, "[We will wait] until the morning light, and then we will kill him."

And the rulers of [the] Philistines came up to her and said, "Entice him and find out what makes his strength so great, and how we can overpower him, so that we may bind him up in order to subdue him; each of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.

Samson said to her, "If you tie me up with seven fresh bowstrings that are not dried up, I will become weak like everyone else."

He said to her, "If they tie me tightly with new ropes that have not been used, I will become weak and be like everyone else."

So {he confided everything to her}, and he said to her, "A razor {has never touched} my head, for I [am] a {Nazirite of God} {from birth}. If I am shaved my strength will leave me, and I will become weak, like everyone else.

And she said to him, "[The] Philistines [are] upon you, Samson!" And he woke up from his sleep and said, "I will go out just like every other time and shake myself free," but he did not know that Yahweh had left him.

He returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother thought, "I will certainly consecrate to Yahweh the pieces of silver from my hand for my son to make an idol of cast metal; now then, I will return them to you."

And Micah said to him, "Stay with me and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give to you ten pieces of silver a year, a set of clothes, and your food." So the Levite went [with him].

And Micah said, "Now I know Yahweh will make me prosperous, because the Levite has become my priest."

And they said to him, "Please inquire of God that we may know whether our journey that we [are] going on will be successful."

And they said to them, "Come, let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and [it is] very good. Will you do nothing? Do not hesitate to go, to enter, to possess the land.

When you go you will come to an unsuspecting people, and the land {is spread out on all sides}; God has given a place into your hands where there is no lack of anything that [is] on the earth."

And the descendants of Dan said to him, "You should not let your voice be heard among us, so that {ill-tempered men} {will not attack you}, {and take your life} and the lives of your household."

But his master said to him, "We will not turn aside to the city of foreigners, who [are] not from the {Israelites}; we will cross over up to Gibeah."

And he said to his servant, "Come, let us approach one of these places; we will spend the night in Gibeah or in Ramah."

And the old man said, "Peace to you. I will take care of your needs; however, you must not spend the night in the open square."

All the people got up as one body, saying, "Not one of us will go to his tent, or will any of us return to his house.

So then, this is what we will do to Gibeah: [we will go up] against her by lot.

We will take ten men of one hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and one hundred of one thousand, and one thousand of ten thousand, to bring provisions to the troops, to repay [them] when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin for all the disgraceful things they did in Israel."

Then the {Israelites} got up and went up [to] Bethel, and they inquired of God, saying, "Who will go up first for the battle against the descendants of Benjamin?" And Yahweh said, "Judah [will go] first."

and Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, [was] standing {before it} [to minister] in those days), saying, "Should we go out once more to battle against the descendants of Benjamin our relatives, or should we stop?" And Yahweh said, "Go up tomorrow; I will give them into your hand."

And the men of Israel turned in the battle, and Benjamin began to inflict casualties on about thirty men of Israel because they thought, "They will be completely defeated before us as in the first battle."

The men of Israel had sworn at Mizpah, saying, "None of us will give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife."

And the {Israelites} said, "Who in the assembly has not come up from all the tribes of Israel to Yahweh?" For a solemn oath was [taken] concerning whoever did not come up to Yahweh at Mizpah, saying, "He will certainly be put to death."

What will we do for them--for the [ones] being left over--for wives? For we have sworn by Yahweh not to give to them our daughters as wives."

This is the thing you will do: {you will destroy} every man and {every woman who had sex with a man}."

And they said, "[There must be] a remnant for Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be blotted out from Israel.

And if their fathers or their brothers complain to us, we will say to them, 'Allow us to have them, because we did not capture a wife for each man in the battle, and because you did not give [them] to them, {or else} you would have been guilty.'"

But Ruth said, "{Do not urge} me to leave you [or] to return from {following you}! For where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people [will be] my people and your God [will be] my God.

Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. So may Yahweh do to me, {and even more, unless} death {separates you and me}!"

And Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, "[It is] good, my daughter, that you go out with his maidservants so that you will not {be bothered} in another field."

And she said to her, "I will do all that you say."

And so then my daughter, do not be afraid. All that you ask I will do for you, for the entire assembly of my people knows that you [are] a worthy woman.

{Stay tonight,} and in the morning, if he wants to redeem you, good; but if he is not willing to redeem, {then as Yahweh lives,} I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning."

And she said, "Wait, my daughter, until you know how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today."

And may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah from the offspring that Yahweh will give to you from this young woman."

She {made a vow} and said: "O Yahweh of hosts, if you will look with compassion on the misery of your female servant, and will remember me, and not forget your female servant, and will give to your female servant {a male child} then I will give him to Yahweh all the days of his life, and a razor will never pass over his head."

Then Eli said to her, "How long will you behave like someone [who is] drunk? Put away your wine!"

But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, "Once the boy [is] weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear before Yahweh; and he will remain there forever."

Those who were full must hire themselves out for bread, but those who are hungry will become fat. As for the infertile, she will bear seven, but [she who has] many sons withers away.

He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked will be destroyed in the darkness, because a man will not prevail by [his] might.

Yahweh will shatter his adversaries; he will thunder against them in the heavens. Yahweh will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to his king and will exalt the might of his anointed one.

Also, before they {offered up} the fat as a burnt offering, the servant of the priest would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, "Give the priest meat for roasting, for he will not take boiled meat from you, but only {raw}."

And [if] the man said to him, "Let them burn the fat completely {first}, then take for yourself as {you} desire," then he would say to him, "No! Give it now! If not, I will take it by force!"

Therefore,' {declares} Yahweh the God of Israel, 'though I solemnly said that your house and the house of your ancestor would walk before me forever, but now,' {declares} Yahweh, 'far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me, I will treat with contempt!

Look, days [are] coming when I will cut off your {strength} and the {strength} of the house of your ancestor {so that no one in your house will live to old age}.

You will look at the distress of my dwelling place, [despite] all the good caused for Israel, but there will never be an old [man] in your household {forever}!

The only one I will not cut off from my altar [is you]. [Rather], to cause your eyes to fail and to cause your soul to grieve, {all the members of your household} will die [as] men.

This [is] the sign for you that will come regarding your two sons Hophni and Phinehas: they will both die on the same day!

But I will raise up for myself a reliable priest; he will do just according to what [is] in my heart and in my soul. I will build for him a lasting house and he will walk continually before my anointed one {forever}.

All the remainder of your household will come to bow down {before} him for a bit of silver or a loaf of bread and will say, "Please assign me to one of the {priestly offices} so that I can eat a morsel of bread." '"

So Yahweh said to Samuel, "Look, I am doing something in Israel {which will cause} the two ears of everyone who hears it to tingle.

On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken against his household, {from beginning to end}.

I will make him know that I am about to judge his household forever because of the iniquity that he knew, for his sons [were] bringing curses on themselves, but he did not rebuke them.

So Samuel told him all the words and did not conceal [anything] from him. And he said, "He [is] Yahweh, he will do {what is} good in his {sight}."

So they sent and gathered all the rulers of [the] Philistines, and they said, "Send away the ark of the God of Israel and let it return to its place, so that it will not kill us and our people." For a {deadly confusion} was throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.

They said, "If you [are] sending the ark of the God of Israel away, you must not send it away empty, but by all means return it with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed and it will become known to you why his hand [is] not turned aside from you."

You must make images of your tumors and images of your mice that [are] ravaging the land, and you must give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will lighten his hand on you and on your gods and on your land.

You must watch; if it goes up by the way of its territory to Beth Shemesh, he has caused this great disaster to [come on] us. But if not, then we will know his hand has not struck us; it [was by] chance [that] this happened to us.

And Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, "If with all your heart you [are] turning to Yahweh, remove the foreign gods and Ashtoreths from your midst. Commit your hearts to Yahweh and serve him alone. Then he will deliver you from the hand of [the] Philistines."

Then Samuel said, "Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to Yahweh for you."

Then the {Israelites} said to Samuel, "{You must not cease} from crying out to Yahweh our God, so that he will deliver us from the hand of [the] Philistines."

And so then, listen to their voice. However, you must earnestly warn them; you must explain to them the custom of the king who will rule over them."

He said, "This will be the custom of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and his horsemen, and they will run before his chariots.

He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and [those] {to do his plowing} and to reap his harvest, and [those] to make weapons of war and the equipment for his chariots.

He will take your daughters as [his] perfume makers and as cooks and as bakers.

He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive trees and will give [them] to his servants.

He will take a tenth of your seed and your vineyards and give [it] to his high officials and to his servants.

He will take your male slaves and your female slaves and the best of your young men and your donkeys and {will use them for his projects}.

He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you [yourselves] will become his servants.

So you will cry out on that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but Yahweh will not answer you on that day!"

But he said to him, "Look, a man of God [is] in this town, and the man [is] honored. All that he says certainly comes true. So then let us go there; perhaps he will tell us about our journey on which we have gone."

The servant again answered Saul and said, "Look, {I have} in my hand a quarter shekel of silver! I will give it to the man of God so that he will tell us our way."

As soon as you enter the town, you will find him, before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice. Then afterward the invited [guests] will eat. So then, go up, because you will find him today!"

"This time tomorrow I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you must anoint him as leader over my people Israel. He will deliver my people from the hand of [the] Philistines. For I have seen [the suffering of] my people, because their cry [of distress] has come to me."

When Samuel saw Saul, Yahweh answered him, "Here [is] the man about whom I told you! This [is the] one [who] will govern my people."

Samuel answered Saul and said, "I [am] the seer. Go up {ahead of me} to the high place, and you will eat with me today; then I will send you away in the morning. I will tell you all that [is] {on your mind}.

As you go from with me {today}, you will find two men near the burial site of Rachel in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah. They will say to you, 'The female donkeys that you went to search for have been found.' Now look, your father {is no longer concerned about} the female donkeys and has begun worrying about you, saying, 'What should I do about my son?'