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.

And they said to him, "Keep quiet! Put your hand on your mouth and come with us and be for us a father and a priest. Is it better being a priest for a house of one man or being a priest for a tribe and clan in Israel?"

He said, "You took away my gods that I had made, and the priest, and then you go [away]. What [is] now left for me? How can you say to me, 'What is the matter?'"

And they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and they came to Laish, to a quiet and unsuspecting people, and {they put them to the sword} and burned the city with fire.

There was no deliverer, because it [was] far from Sidon, and {they had had no dealings with anyone}. It [was] in the valley that belonged to Beth-rehob, and they rebuilt the city and lived in it.

And the descendants of Dan set up for themselves the carved divine image, and Jonathan son of Gershom, son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests for the tribe of the Danites until the time of the captivity of the land.

So they set up for themselves the carved divine image that Micah had made, all the days that the house of God [was] in Shiloh.

In those days there was no king in Israel; there was a man, a Levite, who dwelled as a foreigner in the remote areas of the hill country of Ephraim. And he took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.

But his concubine felt repugnance toward him, and she left him and went to her father's house, to Bethlehem in Judah; she was there some four months.

And the man got up to go--he, his concubine, and his servant--but his father-in-law, the father of the young woman, said to him, "Please, the day has worn on to evening; please, spend the night, the day has drawn to a close. Spend the night here and {enjoy yourself}. You can rise early tomorrow for your journey and {go to your home}."

They [were] near Jebus, and {the day was far spent}, and the servant said to his master, "Please, come, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites, and let us spend the night in it."

There is both straw and fodder for our donkeys, and also bread and wine for me, for your servant, and for the young man who is with your servant; there is no lack of anything."

And the leaders of all the people, all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand sword-bearing infantry.

Then I grabbed my concubine and cut her into pieces, and I sent her throughout all the territory of Israel's inheritance; for they committed a shameful and disgraceful thing in Israel.

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."

And the descendants of Benjamin were gathered from the cities to Gibeah to go out for battle against the {Israelites}.

And the men of Israel besides Benjamin were counted four hundred thousand {sword-wielding men}; {all were warriors}.

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."

Then the men of Israel marched out for the battle against Benjamin, and the men of Israel took up positions against them [for] battle at Gibeah.

Now the appointed time for the men of Israel with the ambush was that they sent up for them a great amount of smoke from the city.

But six hundred turned and fled toward the wilderness, to the rock of Rimmon, and they remained at the rock of Rimmon [for] four months.

And the men of Israel returned to the descendants of Benjamin, and they put them to {the edge of the sword}, both the inhabitants of city and [the] animals that were found; they also set on fire all the cities that they found.

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."

But the {Israelites} had compassion for Benjamin, their relatives, and they said, "Today one tribe is cut off from Israel.

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."

And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins who had not {had sex with a man}, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which [is] in the land of Canaan.

And Benjamin returned at that time, and they gave to them the women whom they kept alive from Jabesh-gilead; but they were not enough for them.

And the people felt sorry for Benjamin because {Yahweh weakened the tribes of Israel}.

So the elders of the congregation said, "What should we do for the remaining [ones] for wives, since the women from Benjamin have been destroyed?"

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

But we cannot give them wives from our daughters." (For the {Israelites} swore, saying, "Cursed be [anyone] who gives a wife to Benjamin.")

and watch and look; when the daughters of Shiloh dance in the dances, come out from the vineyards and seize for yourselves a wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.

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.'"

The descendants of Benjamin did likewise, and they took wives for each of them from the dancers whom they seized, and they went and returned to their territory, and they rebuilt the cities and they lived in them.

And {they took} for themselves Moabite wives. The name of the one [was] Orpah and the name of the other [was] Ruth. And they lived there about ten years.

And Naomi said, "Return, my daughters. {Why do you still want to go with me}? [Are there] sons {in my womb} that may be husbands for you?

Turn back, my daughters! Go, for {I am too old to have a husband}. If I should think there is hope for me, even if I should have a husband [this] night, and even if I should bear sons,

would you therefore wait until they were grown? Would you therefore {refrain from marrying}? No, my daughters, for it is far more bitter to me than [to] you. For the hand of Yahweh has gone out against me."

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.

And she said to them, "You should not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for Shaddai has {caused me to be very bitter}.

And she said, 'Please let me glean and let me gather among the sheaves behind the reapers.' So she came and remained from the morning up to now. {She is sitting for a little while in the house}."

And she fell on her face and bowed down to the ground and said to him, "Why have I found favor in your eyes by recognizing me--for I [am] a foreigner?"

And Boaz answered and said to her, "All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband was fully told to me. [How] you left your father and mother and the land of your birth, and you went to a people that you did not know {before}.

And she said, "May I find favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and have spoken {kindly to your servant}, and I am not one of your servants."

And also pull out for her from your bundles and leave [it] so that she may glean--and do not rebuke her."

And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "[May] he be blessed by Yahweh, whose loyal love has not forsaken the living or the dead." And Naomi said to her, "The man is a close relative for us, he [is] one of our redeemers."

Now Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, "My daughter, should I not seek for you security that [things] may be good for you?

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.

And she came to her mother-in-law, and she said, "{How did it go for you,} my daughter?" And she told her all that the man did for her.

And she said, "These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said, 'You shall not go empty-handed to your mother-in-law.'"

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 he said to the redeemer, "Naomi, who returned from the countryside [of] Moab, is selling the tract of land which [was] for our brother Elimelech.

And I thought {I would tell you} and say, '{Buy it in the presence of} those sitting and before the elders of my people,' if you want to redeem [it], redeem [it]. But if you do not want to redeem, tell me so that I may know, for there is no one except you to redeem [it], and I [am] after you." And he said, "I want to redeem [it]."

And Boaz said, "On the day of your acquiring the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the wife of the dead [man], [in order] to raise up [for] the name of the dead his inheritance."

And the redeemer said, "I am not able to redeem for myself, lest I ruin my inheritance. You redeem for yourself my kinsman-redemption, for I am not able to redeem [it]."

So the redeemer said to Boaz, "Acquire [it] for yourself," and he removed his sandal.

And Boaz said to the elders and all of the people, "You [are] witnesses today that I have acquired all that [was] for Elimelech and that [was] for Kilion and Mahlon from the hand of Naomi.

He shall be for you a restorer of life and a sustainer in your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who [is] better for you than seven sons, has borne him."

{In due time}, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She called his name Samuel, for [she said], "I requested him from Yahweh."

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."

I prayed for this boy, and Yahweh has given me my request that I asked from him.

Then Hannah prayed and said, "My heart exults in Yahweh, my strength [is] exalted in Yahweh; {I grin} over my enemies, for I rejoice over your salvation.

There is no one holy like Yahweh, for there is no one besides you, and there is no rock like our God.

Do not increase speaking {very proud} words! Let no arrogance go forth from your mouth, for Yahweh is a God of knowledge [whose] deeds are not weighed.

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 raises up the poor from [the] dust. From [the] ash heap he lifts up the needy, to cause them to sit with noble people and to cause them to inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth belong to Yahweh and he has set the inhabited world on them.

and would thrust it into the pan or into the kettle or into the cauldron or into the cooking pot. All that the meat fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This [is] what they used to do to all of the Israelites who came there at Shiloh.

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!"

His mother used to make for him a small robe and take it to him {year by year} whenever she came up with her husband to offer the {annual sacrifice}.

If a man sins against a man, then God can intercede for him. But if a man sins against Yahweh, who can intercede for him?" But they did not {obey} their father, because Yahweh wanted to kill them.

Now a man of God came to Eli and said to him: "Thus says Yahweh: 'Did I not clearly reveal myself to the house of your ancestor when they were in Egypt under the house of Pharaoh?

And I chose him from all the tribes of Israel to be a priest to me, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to bear an ephod before me. I gave to the house of your ancestor all the offerings made by fire by the {Israelites}.

Why do you despise my sacrifice and my offering which I commanded [for my] dwelling place, while you honored your sons more than me by making yourselves fat from the best of all the offerings of my people Israel?

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!

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}!

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." '"

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.

Therefore I swore to the house of Eli [that] the iniquity of the house of Eli would not be atoned for by sacrifice or by offering forever."

And Yahweh appeared again in Shiloh, for Yahweh revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh through the word of Yahweh.

And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to meet [the] Philistines for battle, and they encamped at Ebenezer, and [the] Philistines encamped at Aphek.

[The] Philistines lined up for the battle to meet Israel, and the battle was prolonged until Israel was defeated before [the] Philistines, {who} killed about four thousand men {on the battlefield}.

So [the] Philistines were afraid, for they said, "God has come to the camp." And they said, "Woe to us, {for this has never happened before!}

So [the] Philistines fought and Israel was defeated and each man fled to his tent, for the slaughter was very great. Thirty thousand foot soldiers from Israel fell.

Just before the time of her death, those {attending her} said, "Do not fear, for you have given birth to a son." But she did not answer, or {pay any attention}.

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.

The men who did not die were struck with [the] tumors, so that the cry of the city for help went up [to] heaven.

Now the ark of Yahweh had been in the territory of [the] Philistines [for] seven months,

Why should you harden your hearts like [the] Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their heart? Is it not just like when he dealt with them wantonly so that they sent them away and they left?

Now these [are] the gold tumors which [the] Philistines returned [as] a guilt offering to Yahweh: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron.

And the gold mice [according to] the number of all the cities of [the] Philistines, for their five rulers, from [the] fortified city to the unwalled village of the open country as far as the great stone, {where they set} the ark of Yahweh until this day in the field of Joshua [of] Beth Shemesh.

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

{While} Samuel [was] sacrificing the burnt offering, [the] Philistines drew near for the battle against Israel. But Yahweh thundered against [the] Philistines with a great noise on that day and threw them into confusion so that they were defeated before Israel.

Then the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued [the] Philistines and they struck them down as far as below Beth Car.

They said to him, "Look, you are old and your sons do not follow in your ways. So then appoint a king for us to judge us, like all the nations.

Then Yahweh said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people concerning all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.

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