And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that were therein, and beat down the city, and sowed it with salt.

And it was told Abimelech, that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together.

And Abimelech went up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people that were with him; and Abimelech took an ax in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it, and laid it on his shoulder, and said unto the people that were with him, What you have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done.

Then he called hastily unto the young man his armorbearer, and said unto him, Draw your sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died.

And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty donkey colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havothjair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead.

And that year they harassed and oppressed the children of Israel: eighteen years, all the children of Israel that were on the other side Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.

And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, saying, We have sinned against you, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim.

Go and cry unto the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your distress.

Then the children of Ammon were gathered together, and encamped in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled themselves together, and encamped in Mizpah.

And Gilead's wife bore him sons; and his wife's sons grew up, and they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him, you shall not inherit in our father's house; for you are the son of another woman.

Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were gathered worthless men to Jephthah, and went out with him.

And it came to pass in process of time, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel.

And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah out of the land of Tob:

And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may fight with the children of Ammon.

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

And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to you now, that you may go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.

And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If you bring me home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the LORD deliver them before me, shall I be your head?

And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, The LORD be witness between us, if we do not so according to your words.

And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What have you to do with me, that you are come against me to fight in my land?

Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray you, pass through your land: but the king of Edom would not listen. And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab: but he would not consent: and Israel abode in Kadesh.

And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray you, through your land into my place.

Will you not possess that which Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess.

And now are you anything better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them,

While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are along by the borders of Arnon, three hundred years? why therefore did you not recover them within that time?

Therefore I have not sinned against you, but you do me wrong to war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.

And he crushed them from Aroer, even till you come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.

And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he tore his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! you have brought me very low, and you are one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back.

And she said unto him, My father, if you have opened your mouth unto the LORD, do to me according to that which has proceeded out of your mouth; since the LORD has taken vengeance for you of your enemies, even of the children of Ammon.

That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.

And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Why passed you over to fight against the children of Ammon, and did not call us to go with you? we will burn your house upon you with fire.

And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, you delivered me not out of their hands.

And when I saw that you delivered me not, I put my life in my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the LORD delivered them into my hand: why then are you come up unto me this day, to fight against me?

Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead struck down Ephraim, because they said, You Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites.

And the Gileadites took the fords of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so that when those Ephraimites who were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, are you an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay;

And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, {} Behold now, you are barren, and bear not: but you shall conceive, and bear a son.

Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very awesome: but I asked him not from where he was, neither told he me his name:

And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, are you the man that spoke unto the woman? And he said, I am.

And Manoah said, Now let your words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?

She may not eat of any thing that comes of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe.

And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though you detain me, I will not eat of your food: and if you will offer a burnt offering, you must offer it unto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD.

And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is your name, that when your sayings come to pass we may do you honor?

But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a grain offering at our hands, neither would he have showed us all these things, nor would at this time have told us such things as these.

Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there no woman among the daughters of your brethren, or among all my people, that you go to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleases me well.

And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he tore him as he would have torn a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.

But if you cannot declare it to me, then shall you give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing. And they said unto him, Put forth your riddle, that we may hear it.

And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson's wife, Entice your husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn you and your father's house with fire: have you called us to take what we have? is it not so?

And her father said, I verily thought that you had utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to your companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray you, instead of her.

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

Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, Know you not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that you have done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them.

And they said unto him, We are come down to bind you, that we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that you will not fall upon me yourselves.

And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.

And he was very thirsty, and called on the LORD, and said, you have given this great deliverance into the hand of your servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?

And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson has come here. And they surrounded the place, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.

And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will all give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.

And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray you, where your great strength lies, and with what you might be bound to afflict you.

And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green cords that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.

Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon you, Samson. And he broke the cords, as a thread of yarn is broken when it touches the fire. So his strength was not known.

And he said unto her, If they bind me securely with new ropes that never were used, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.

Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him with them, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon you, Samson. And there were men lying in wait abiding in the chamber. And he broke them from off his arms like a thread.

And she said unto him, How can you say, I love you, when your heart is not with me? you have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies.

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

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

And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make sport for us. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made sport for them: and they set him between the pillars.

Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.

And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead whom he slew at his death were more than they whom he slew in his life.

And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you, about which you cursed, and spoke of also in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be you of the LORD, my son.

Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the silversmith, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house of Micah.

And the man departed out of the city from Bethlehemjudah to sojourn where he could find a place: and he came to mount Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed.

And Micah said unto him, From where come you? And he said unto him, I am a Levite of Bethlehemjudah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place.

And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten shekels of silver a year, and a suit of apparel, and your living. So the Levite went in.

When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite: and they turned in there, and said unto him, Who brought you here? and what are you doing in this place? and what do you have here?

And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray you, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.

And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: the LORD is before your way in which you go.

Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were there, how they dwelt safely, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land, that might shame them in anything; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any man.

And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are you still here? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land.

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

And there went from there of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men armed with weapons of war.

And the six hundred men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate.

And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in there, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the household gods, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men that were armed with weapons of war.

And these went into Micah's house, and took the carved image, the ephod, and the household gods, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them, What are you doing?

And they said unto him, Hold your peace, lay your hand upon 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 when they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men that were in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan.

And he said, you have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and you are gone away: and what have I more? and what is this that you say unto me, What ails you?

And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows run upon you, and you lose your life, with the lives of your household.

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

And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest that he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people that were quiet and secure: and they struck them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire.

And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.

And it came to pass on the fourth day, when they arose early in the morning, that he rose up to depart: and the young woman's father said unto his son-in-law, Refresh your heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way.

And they sat down, and did eat and drink both of them together: for the young woman's father had said unto the man, Be content, I pray you, and tarry all night, and let your heart be merry.

And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart: and the young woman's father said, Refresh your heart, I pray you. And they tarried until afternoon, and they did eat both of them.

And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father-in-law, the young woman's father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draws toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day grows to an end, lodge here, that your heart may be merry; and tomorrow get you early on your way, that you may go home.

But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed, and came over opposite Jebus, which is Jerusalem; and there were with him two donkeys saddled, his concubine also was with him.

And when they were near Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said unto his master, Come, I pray you, and let us turn in into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it.

And he said unto his servant, Come, and let us draw near to one of these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah.

And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when they were near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin.

And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at evening, who was also of mount Ephraim; and he sojourned in Gibeah: but the men of the place were Benjamites.

And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw the wayfaring man in the street of the city: and the old man said, where do you go? and from where do you come?

And he said unto him, We are passing from Bethlehemjudah toward the side of mount Ephraim; from there am I: and I went to Bethlehemjudah, but I am now going to the house of the LORD; and there is no man that receives me into his house.

Yet there is both straw and fodder for our donkeys; and there is bread and wine also for me, and for your handmaid, and for the young man who is with your servants: there is no lack of any thing.

And the old man said, Peace be with you; however let all your needs lie upon me; only lodge not in the street.