and his concubine, who is in Shechem, hath born to him -- even she -- a son, and he appointeth his name Abimelech.

because my father hath fought for you, and doth cast away his life from him, and deliver you from the hand of Midian;

God sent a hate between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem. And the citizens of Shechem railed upon Abimelech,

And it shall be, that in the morning, as soon as the sun hath risen, thou shalt rise early, and attack the city: and behold, when he and the people that are with him come out against thee, then mayest thou do to them as thou shalt find occasion.

and Abimelech hath fought against the city all that day, and captureth the city, and the people who are in it he hath slain, and he breaketh down the city, and soweth it with salt.

and a strong tower hath been in the midst of the city, and thither flee do all the men and the women, and all the masters of the city, and they shut it behind them, and go up on the roof of the tower.

and all the evil of the men of Shechem hath God turned back on their head, and come unto them doth the cursing of Jotham son of Jerubbaal.

and he hath thirty sons riding on thirty ass-colts, and they have thirty cities, (they call them Havoth-Jair unto this day), which are in the land of Gilead;

And the Bene-Ammon pass over the Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim, and Israel hath great distress.

And Jephthah the Gileadite hath been a mighty man of valour, and he is son of a woman, a harlot; and Gilead begetteth Jephthah,

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

And Jephthah saith unto the elders of Gilead, 'If ye are taking me back to fight against the Bene-Ammon, and Jehovah hath given them before me -- I, am I to you for a head?'

and Israel sendeth messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me pass over, I pray thee, through thy land, and the king of Edom hearkened not; and also unto the king of Moab hath Israel sent, and he hath not been willing; and Israel abideth in Kadesh,

and Sihon hath not trusted Israel to pass over through his border, and Sihon gathereth all his people, and they encamp in Jahaz, and fight with Israel;

So now the LORD God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it?

What Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess, that, wilt thou not possess? and, whatsoever Yahweh our God hath set before us to possess, that, shall we not possess?

Now, therefore, art thou, really better, than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Hath there been any, striving at all, with Israel, or any, fighting at all, with them,

all the time that Israel hath been dwelling in Heshbon and in her towns, and in Aroer and in her towns, and in all the cities that are on the banks of Arnon, - for three hundred years? Wherefore, then, have ye not made a rescue within that time?

And the king of the Bene-Ammon hath not hearkened unto the words of Jephthah which he sent unto him,

and the Spirit of Jehovah is on Jephthah, and he passeth over Gilead and Manasseh, and passeth over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he hath passed over to the Bene-Ammon.

then it hath been, that which at all cometh out from the doors of my house to meet me in my turning back in peace from the Bene-Ammon -- it hath been to Jehovah, or I have offered up for it -- a burnt-offering.'

And Jephthah cometh into Mizpeh, unto his house, and lo, his daughter is coming out to meet him with timbrels, and with choruses, and save her alone, he hath none, son or daughter.

And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the LORD, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the LORD hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon.

and it cometh to pass at the end of two months that she turneth back unto her father, and he doth to her his vow which he hath vowed, and she knew not a man; and it is a statute in Israel:

And Gilead captureth the passages of the Jordan to Ephraim, and it hath been, when any of the fugitives of Ephraim say, 'Let me pass over,' and the men of Gilead say to him, 'An Ephramite thou?' and he saith, 'No;'

and he hath thirty sons and thirty daughters, he hath sent without and thirty daughters hath brought in to his sons from without; and he judgeth Israel seven years.

and he hath forty sons, and thirty grandsons, riding on seventy ass-colts, and he judgeth Israel eight years.

And there is a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danite, and his name is Manoah, his wife is barren, and hath not borne;

And the woman cometh and speaketh to her husband, saying, 'A man of God hath come unto me, and his appearance is as the appearance of a messenger of God, very fearful, and I have not asked him whence he is, and his name he hath not declared to me;

And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day.

And the messenger of Jehovah saith unto Manoah, 'If thou detain me -- I do not eat of thy bread; and if thou prepare a burnt-offering -- to Jehovah thou dost offer it;' for Manoah hath not known that He is a messenger of Jehovah.

and the messenger of Jehovah hath not added again to appear unto Manoah, and unto his wife, then hath Manoah known that He is a messenger of Jehovah.

But his wife said unto him, "If the LORD would kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering of our hands; neither would he have showed us all these things, nor would have told us as he hath of things to come."

and the Spirit of Jehovah prospereth over him, and he rendeth it as the rending of a kid, and there is nothing in his hand, and he hath not declared to his father and to his mother that which he hath done.

And he taketh it down on to his hands, and goeth on, going and eating; and he goeth unto his father, and unto his mother, and giveth to them, and they eat, and he hath not declared to them that from the body of the lion he took down the honey.

And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee?

And she weepeth for it the seven days in which their banquet hath been, and it cometh to pass on the seventh day that he declareth it to her, for she hath distressed him; and she declareth the riddle to the sons of her people.

And it cometh to pass, after some days, in the days of wheat-harvest, that Samson looketh after his wife, with a kid of the goats, and saith, 'I go in unto my wife, to the inner chamber;' and her father hath not permitted him to go in,

And her father said - I, thought, that thou didst, hate, her, so I gave her to thy companion, - Is not, her younger sister, fairer than she? Pray let her be thine, in her stead.

Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.

And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.

He hath come unto Lehi -- and the Philistines have shouted at meeting him -- and the Spirit of Jehovah prospereth over him, and the thick bands which are on his arms are as flax which they burn with fire, and his bands are wasted from off his hands,

And he was sore a thirst, and called on the LORD and said, "Thou LORD hath given this great victory, through the hand of thy servant. And now I must die for thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised."

And God cleaveth the hollow place which is in Lehi, and waters come out of it, and he drinketh, and his spirit cometh back, and he reviveth; therefore hath one called its name 'The fountain of him who is calling,' which is in Lehi unto this day.

And it was told the Gazites, saying - Samson hath come in hither. So they came round, and lay in wait for him, all the night, in the gate of the city, - but kept themselves quiet all the night, saying, Until the light of the morning, then will we slay him.

And the ambush is abiding with her in an inner chamber, and she saith unto him, 'Philistines are upon thee, Samson;' and he breaketh the withs as a thread of tow is broken in its smelling fire, and his power hath not been known.

And he saith unto her, 'If they certainly bind me with thick bands, new ones, by which work hath not been done, then I have been weak, and have been as one of the human race.'

That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a rasor upon mine 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 when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand.

and she saith, 'Philistines are upon thee, Samson;' and he awaketh out of his sleep, and saith, 'I go out as time by time, and shake myself;' and he hath not known that Jehovah hath turned aside from off him.

And the hair of his head beginneth to shoot up, when he hath been shaven,

Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.

And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us.

And the house hath been full of men and of women, and thither are all the princes of the Philistines, and on the roof are about three thousand men and women, who are looking on the playing of Samson.

and Samson saith, 'Let me die with the Philistines,' and he inclineth himself powerfully, and the house falleth on the princes, and on all the people who are in it, and the dead whom he hath put to death in his death are more than those whom he put to death in his life.

And his brethren come down, and all the house of his father, and lift him up, and bring him up, and bury him between Zorah and Eshtaol, in the burying-place of Manoah his father; and he hath judged Israel twenty years.

As to the man Micah, he hath a house of gods, and he maketh an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrateth the hand of one of his sons, and he is to him for a priest;

and Micah saith, 'Now I have known that Jehovah doth good to me, for the Levite hath been to me for a priest.'

In those days there is no king in Israel, and in those days the tribe of the Danite is seeking for itself an inheritance to inhabit, for that hath not fallen to it unto that day in the midst of the tribes of Israel by inheritance.

They are with the household of Micah, and they have discerned the voice of the young man, the Levite, and turn aside there, and say to him, 'Who hath brought thee hither? and what art thou doing in this place? and what to thee here?'

And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath hired me, and I am his priest.

When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and to a large land: for God hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth.

And, when the man rose up to go - he and his concubine and his young man, - his father-in-law, the father of the damsel, said to him, Come now, see! the day hath sunk down towards evening, come now! tarry the night; lo! the day goeth down, tarry the night here, and let thy heart be glad, so shall ye rise early to-morrow for your journey, and thou shalt go thy way to thine own home.

And the man hath not been willing to lodge all night, and he riseth, and goeth, and cometh in till over-against Jebus (It is Jerusalem), and with him are a couple of asses saddled; and his concubine is with him.

They are near Jebus, and the day hath gone greatly down, and the young man saith unto his lord, 'Come, I pray thee, and we turn aside unto this city of the Jebusite, and lodge in it.'

And lo, a man, an aged one, hath come from his work from the field in the evening, and the man is of the hill-country of Ephraim, and he is a sojourner in Gibeah, and the men of the place are Benjamites.

They, were gladdening their heart, when lo! men of the city, men of the sons of the Abandoned One, beset the house round about, beating violently against the door, - and they spake unto the old man the owner of the house, saying, Bring forth the man that hath entered into thy house, that we may know him.

And the man, the owner of the house, went forth unto them, and said unto them, Do not, my brethren, do not act vilely, I pray you, - after this man hath entered into my house, do not commit this impiety.

And it was so, that all that saw it, said, There hath been no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came from the land of Egypt to this day: consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds.

And the sons of Benjamin hear that the sons of Israel have gone up to Mizpeh. And the sons of Israel say, 'Speak ye, how hath this evil been?'

And the man, the Levite, husband of the woman who hath been murdered, answereth and saith, 'Into Gibeah (which is to Benjamin) I have come, I and my concubine, to lodge;

and we will take ten men of a hundred, of all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand of ten thousand, to fetch provisions for the people, - that they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the impiety that it hath wrought in Israel.

And the tribes of Israel sent men throughout all the divisions of Benjamin, saying, - What is this vile thing that hath been brought to pass, among you?

And the men of Israel turn in battle, and Benjamin hath begun to smite the wounded among the men of Israel, about thirty men, for they said, 'Surely they are utterly smitten before us, as at the first battle;

and the volume hath begun to go up from the city -- a pillar of smoke -- and Benjamin turneth behind, and lo, gone up hath the perfection of the city toward the heavens.

And the men of Israel have turned, and the men of Benjamin are troubled, for they have seen that the evil hath stricken against them --

and they turn before the men of Israel unto the way of the wilderness, and the battle hath followed them; and those who are from the city are destroying them in their midst;

and said, Wherefore, O Yahweh, God of Israel, hath this come about in Israel, - that there should be lacking, to-day, out of Israel, one tribe?

And the sons of Israel say, 'Who is he that hath not come up in the assembly out of all the tribes of Israel unto Jehovah?' for the great oath hath been concerning him who hath not come up unto Jehovah to Mizpeh, saying, 'He is surely put to death.'

And the sons of Israel repent concerning Benjamin their brother, and say, 'There hath been to-day cut off one tribe from Israel,

So they said, What one of the tribes of Israel is there, that hath not come up unto Yahweh at Mizpah? And lo! no man had come into the camp, out of Jabesh-gilead, unto the convocation:

And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man.

So then, the elders of the assembly said, What are we to do for them who remain, for wives, - for womankind, hath been destroyed out of Benjamin?

and it hath been, when their fathers or their brethren come in to plead unto us, that we have said unto them, Favour us by them, for we have not taken to each his wife in battle, for ye -- ye have not given to them at this time that ye are guilty.'

Then she stood up with her daughters-in-law and returned from the country of Moab: for she had heard say, being in the country of Moab, how that the LORD hath visited his people and given them food.

And she goeth out from the place where she hath been, and her two daughters-in-law with her, and they go in the way to turn back unto the land of Judah.

would ye, therefore, tarry until they were grown? would ye, therefore, shut yourselves up from having husbands? Nay! my daughters, for it is far more bitter for me than for you, that forth hath gone against me, the hand of Yahweh.

And they lift up their voice, and weep again, and Orpah kisseth her mother-in-law, and Ruth hath cleaved to her.

And she said, Behold, thy sister-in-law hath gone back to her people, and to her gods: return thou after thy sister-in-law.

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

I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?

And Naomi turneth back, and Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, who hath turned back from the fields of Moab, and they have come in to Beth-Lehem at the commencement of barley-harvest.

And Naomi hath an acquaintance of her husband's, a man mighty in wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name is Boaz.

And lo, Boaz hath come from Beth-Lehem, and saith to the reapers, 'Jehovah is with you;' and they say to him, 'Jehovah doth bless thee.'

And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house.

And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore.

and also ye do surely cast to her of the handfuls -- and have left, and she hath gleaned, and ye do not push against her.'

And she gleaneth in the field till the evening, and beateth out that which she hath gleaned, and it is about an ephah of barley;

and she taketh it up, and goeth into the city, and her mother-in-law seeth that which she hath gleaned, and she bringeth out and giveth to her that which she left from her satiety.

And her mother-in-law saith to her, 'Where hast thou gleaned to-day? and where hast thou wrought? may he who is discerning thee be blessed.' And she declareth to her mother-in-law with whom she hath wrought, and saith, 'The name of the man with whom I have wrought to-day is Boaz.'