that we have built for ourselves an altar to turn from following Jehovah, and if it is to offer up burnt-offering and oblation on it, and if to offer peace-offerings thereon, let Jehovah himself require it from us;

but to be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we might do service to Jehovah before him with our burnt-offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace-offerings; that your children may not say to our children in future, Ye have no portion in Jehovah.

And we said, If it shall be that in future they so say to us and to our generations, we will say, Behold the pattern of the altar of Jehovah which our fathers made, not for burnt-offering, nor for sacrifice, but as a witness between us and you.

Far be it from us that we should rebel against Jehovah, and turn this day from following Jehovah, in building an altar for burnt-offering, for oblation, and for sacrifice, besides the altar of Jehovah our God that is before his tabernacle.

And when Phinehas the priest and the princes of the assembly and the heads of the thousands of Israel that were with him heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spoke, it was good in their sight.

And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the children of Manasseh, This day we perceive that Jehovah is among us, because ye have not committed this trespass against Jehovah: now have ye delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of Jehovah.

And the thing was good in the sight of the children of Israel, and the children of Israel blessed God, and no more said that they would go up in warfare against them, to destroy the land in which the children of Reuben and the children of Gad dwelt.

And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad gave a name to the altar; for it is a witness between us that Jehovah is God.

And it came to pass a long time after that Jehovah had given rest to Israel from all their enemies round about, and Joshua had become old, advanced in age,

that Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and said unto them, I am become old, advanced in age;

and ye have seen all that Jehovah your God hath done to all these nations because of you. For Jehovah your God is he that hath fought for you.

Behold, I have divided unto you by lot for an inheritance, according to your tribes, these nations that remain, from the Jordan, as well as all the nations that I have cut off, as far as the great sea toward the sun-setting.

And be ye very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left;

that ye enter not among these nations, these that remain among you; and ye shall make no mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them;

One man of you chaseth a thousand; for Jehovah your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath said unto you.

Take great heed therefore unto your souls, that ye love Jehovah your God.

For if ye in any wise go back, and cleave unto the residue of these nations, these that remain among you, and make marriages with them, and come in unto them and they unto you:

know for a certainty that Jehovah your God will no more dispossess these nations from before you, and they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which Jehovah your God hath given you.

And behold, I am going this day the way of all the earth; and ye know in all your heart, and in all your soul, that not one thing hath failed of all the good words that Jehovah your God hath spoken concerning you: all are come to pass unto you not one thing hath failed thereof.

But it shall come to pass, that as every good word hath been fulfilled to you, that Jehovah your God spoke to you, so will Jehovah bring upon you every evil word, until he have destroyed you from off this good land which Jehovah your God hath given you;

when ye transgress the covenant of Jehovah your God which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods, and bow yourselves unto them, so that the anger of Jehovah shall be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you.

And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them; and afterwards I brought you out.

And if it seem evil unto you to serve Jehovah, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods whom your fathers that were on the other side of the river served, or the gods of the Amorite, in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah.

And the people answered and said, Far be it from us that we should forsake Jehovah, to serve other gods;

for Jehovah our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did those great signs before our eyes, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed!

If ye forsake Jehovah, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.

And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you Jehovah, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses.

Now therefore put away the strange gods that are among you, and incline your heart unto Jehovah the God of Israel.

So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.

And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of Jehovah.

And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Jehovah, died, a hundred and ten years old.

And Judah said to Simeon his brother, "Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with you into the territory allotted to you." So Simeon went with him.

And the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city, and called its name Luz; that is its name to this day.

Manas'seh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-she'an and its villages, or Ta'a-nach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megid'do and its villages; but the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land.

And they called the name of that place Bochim; and they sacrificed there to the LORD.

And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them, who did not know the LORD or the work which he had done for Israel.

So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them; and he sold them into the power of their enemies round about, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies.

I will not henceforth drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died,

that by them I may test Israel, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the LORD as their fathers did, or not."

Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had no experience of any war in Canaan;

it was only that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, that he might teach war to such at least as had not known it before.

And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people that carried the tribute.

When he had gone, the servants came; and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, "He is only relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber."

And they killed at that time about ten thousand of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped.

So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years.

Now Deb'orah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapp'idoth, was judging Israel at that time.

When Sis'era was told that Barak the son of Abin'o-am had gone up to Mount Tabor,

So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel.

Then sang Deb'orah and Barak the son of Abin'o-am on that day:

"That the leaders took the lead in Israel, that the people offered themselves willingly, bless the LORD!

Zeb'ulun is a people that jeoparded their lives to the death; Naph'tali too, on the heights of the field.

For they would come up with their cattle and their tents, coming like locusts for number; both they and their camels could not be counted; so that they wasted the land as they came in.

And he said to him, "If now I have found favor with thee, then show me a sign that it is thou who speakest with me.

Then the angel of the LORD reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and there sprang up fire from the rock and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight.

Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the LORD; and Gideon said, "Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face."

That night the LORD said to him, "Take your father's bull, the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Ba'al which your father has, and cut down the Ashe'rah that is beside it;

Then the men of the town said to Jo'ash, "Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has pulled down the altar of Ba'al and cut down the Ashe'rah beside it."

Therefore on that day he was called Jerubba'al, that is to say, "Let Ba'al contend against him," because he pulled down his altar.

behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that thou wilt deliver Israel by my hand, as thou hast said."

And God did so that night; for it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.

Then Jerubba'al (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod; and the camp of Mid'ian was north of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

So he brought the people down to the water; and the LORD said to Gideon, "Every one that laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself; likewise every one that kneels down to drink."

And the number of those that lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water.

And the LORD said to Gideon, "With the three hundred men that lapped I will deliver you, and give the Mid'ianites into your hand; and let all the others go every man to his home."

That same night the LORD said to him, "Arise, go down against the camp; for I have given it into your hand.

and you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp." Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the armed men that were in the camp.

When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade; and he said, "Behold, I dreamed a dream; and lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Mid'ian, and came to the tent, and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat."

So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch; and they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands.

And the men of E'phraim said to him, "What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight with Mid'ian?" And they upbraided him violently.

And the officials of Succoth said, "Are Zebah and Zalmun'na already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?"

And he came to the men of Succoth, and said, "Behold Zebah and Zalmun'na, about whom you taunted me, saying, 'Are Zebah and Zalmun'na already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are faint?'"

Then Zebah and Zalmun'na said, "Rise yourself, and fall upon us; for as the man is, so is his strength." And Gideon arose and slew Zebah and Zalmun'na; and he took the crescents that were on the necks of their camels.

And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold; besides the crescents and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Mid'ian, and besides the collars that were about the necks of their camels.

and they did not show kindness to the family of Jerubba'al (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.

"Say in the ears of all the citizens of Shechem, 'Which is better for you, that all seventy of the sons of Jerubba'al rule over you, or that one rule over you?' Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh."

When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Ger'izim, and cried aloud and said to them, "Listen to me, you men of Shechem, that God may listen to you.

that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubba'al might come and their blood be laid upon Abim'elech their brother, who slew them, and upon the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to slay his brothers.

And the men of Shechem put men in ambush against him on the mountain tops, and they robbed all who passed by them along that way; and it was told Abim'elech.

And Ga'al the son of Ebed said, "Who is Abim'elech, and who are we of Shechem, that we should serve him? Did not the son of Jerubba'al and Zebul his officer serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem? Why then should we serve him?

Would that this people were under my hand! then I would remove Abim'elech. I would say to Abim'elech, 'Increase your army, and come out.'"

Now therefore, go by night, you and the men that are with you, and lie in wait in the fields.

Then in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, rise early and rush upon the city; and when he and the men that are with him come out against you, you may do to them as occasion offers."

And Abim'elech and all the men that were with him rose up by night, and laid wait against Shechem in four companies.

And Ga'al the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city; and Abim'elech and the men that were with him rose from the ambush.

Then Zebul said to him, "Where is your mouth now, you who said, 'Who is Abim'elech, that we should serve him?' Are not these the men whom you despised? Go out now and fight with them."

And Abim'elech dwelt at Aru'mah; and Zebul drove out Ga'al and his kinsmen, so that they could not live on at Shechem.

Abim'elech and the company that was with him rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the gate of the city, while the two companies rushed upon all who were in the fields and slew them.

And Abim'elech fought against the city all that day; he took the city, and killed the people that were in it; and he razed the city and sowed it with salt.

Abim'elech was told that all the people of the Tower of Shechem were gathered together.

And Abim'elech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the men that were with him; and Abim'elech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a bundle of brushwood, and took it up and laid it on his shoulder. And he said to the men that were with him, "What you have seen me do, make haste to do, as I have done."

So every one of the people cut down his bundle and following Abim'elech put it against the stronghold, and they set the stronghold on fire over them, so that all the people of the Tower of Shechem also died, about a thousand men and women.

And when the men of Israel saw that Abim'elech was dead, they departed every man to his home.

and they crushed and oppressed the children of Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the people of Israel that were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.

And the Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of E'phraim; so that Israel was sorely distressed.

And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said one to another, "Who is the man that will begin to fight against the Ammonites? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead."

and they said to Jephthah, "Come and be our leader, that we may fight with the Ammonites."

And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "That is why we have turned to you now, that you may go with us and fight with the Ammonites, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead."

Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said, "What have you against me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?"

And the LORD, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them; so Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country.

Will you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? And all that the LORD our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess.