And Gideon said to them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you. LORD shall rule over you.

And Gideon said to them, I would make a request of you, that ye would give me every man the earrings of his spoil. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)

And Gideon made an ephod of it, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah. And all Israel played the harlot after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon, and to his house.

And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the sons of Israel turned again, and played the harlot after the Baalim, and made Baal-berith their god.

neither did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, [who is] Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shown to Israel.

And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his mother's brothers, and spoke with them, and with all the family of the house of his mother's father, saying,

And his mother's brothers spoke of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words. And their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, He is our brother.

And he went to his father's house at Ophrah, and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, being seventy men, upon one stone, but Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, for he hid himself.

And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried out, and said to them, Hearken to me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken to you.

The trees went forth a time to anoint a king over them. And they said to the olive tree, Reign thou over us.

But the olive tree said to them, Should I leave my fatness with which by me they honor God and man, and go to wave to and fro over the trees?

And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us.

But the fig tree said to them, Should I leave my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to wave to and fro over the trees?

And the trees said to the vine, Come thou, and reign over us.

And the vine said to them, Should I leave my new wine, which cheers God and man, and go to wave to and fro over the trees?

Then all the trees said to the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us.

And the bramble said to the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade, and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.

Now therefore, if ye have dealt truly and uprightly, in that ye have made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done to him according to the deed of his hands

and ye have risen up against my father's house this day, and have slain his sons, seventy men, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maid-servant, king over the men of Shechem because he is your brother),

if ye then have dealt truly and uprightly with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you,

And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.

that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and that their blood might be laid upon Abimelech their brother who killed them, and upon the men of Shechem who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers.

And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brothers, and went over to Shechem, and the men of Shechem put their trust in him.

And would that this people were under my hand! Then I would remove Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, Increase thine army, and come out.

And he sent messengers to Abimelech privately, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem, and, behold, they are fortifying the city against thee.

And it shall be, that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, thou shall rise early, and rush upon the city, and, behold, when he and the people who are with him come out against thee, then thou may do to them as thou shall find

And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold, there comes people down from the tops of the mountains. And Zebul said to him, Thou see the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.

Then Zebul said to him, Where is now thy mouth, that thou said, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? Is not this the people that thou have despised? Go out now, I pray, and fight with them.

And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and there fell many wounded, even to the entrance of the gate.

And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people went out into the field, and they told Abimelech.

And Abimelech, and the companies who were with him, rushed forward, and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city, and the two companies rushed upon all who were in the field, and smote them.

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

And Abimelech got up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him. And Abimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it up, and laid it on his shoulder. And he said to the people who w

And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them to the stronghold, and set the stronghold on fire upon them, so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men

Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it.

But there was a strong tower inside the city. And all the men and women fled, and all those of the city, and shut themselves in, and got up to the roof of the tower.

And Abimelech came to the tower, and fought against it, and drew near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire.

Then he called hastily to the young man his armor bearer, and said to him, Draw thy sword, and kill me, that men not say of me, A woman killed him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died.

And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man to his place.

Thus God requited the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did to his father, in slaying his seventy brothers.

And after Abimelech there arose Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, to save Israel, and he dwelt in Shamir in the hill-country of Ephraim.

And after him arose Jair, the Gileadite, and he judged Israel twenty-two years.

And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkey colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havvoth-jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead.

And the sons of Ammon passed over the Jordan to also fight against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was exceedingly distressed.

And the sons of Israel cried to LORD, saying, We have sinned against thee, even because we have forsaken our God, and have served the Baalim.

And LORD said to the sons of Israel, [Did] not [I save you] from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the sons of Ammon, and from the Philistines?

The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, oppressed you. And ye cried to me, and I saved you out of their hand.

Go and cry to the gods which ye have chosen. Let them save you in the time of your distress.

And the sons of Israel said to LORD, We have sinned. Do thou to us whatever seems good to thee, only deliver us, we pray thee, this day.

And the people, the rulers of Gilead, said one to another, What man is he who will begin to fight against the sons of Ammon? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.

And Gilead's wife bore sons to him. And when his wife's sons grew up, they drove out Jephthah, and said to him, Thou shall not inherit in our father's house, for thou are the son of another woman.

Then Jephthah fled from his brothers, and dwelt in the land of Tob. And vain fellows were gathered to Jephthah, and they went out with him.

And it came to pass after a while, that the sons of Ammon made war against Israel.

And it was so, that, when the sons of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob.

And they said to Jephthah, Come and be our chief, that we may fight with the sons of Ammon.

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

And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, For that reason we turned again to thee now, that thou may go with us, and fight with the sons of Ammon. And thou shall be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.

And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to fight with the sons of Ammon, and LORD delivers them before me, shall I be your head?

And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, LORD shall be witness between us. Surely according to thy word so will we do.

And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, What have thou to do with me, that thou have come to me to fight against my land?

And the king of the sons of Ammon answered to the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land when he came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon even to the Jabbok, and to the Jordan. Now therefore restore those [lands] agai

And Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the sons of Ammon.

And he said to him, Thus says Jephthah: Israel did not take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the sons of Ammon,

but when they came up from Egypt, and Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea, and came to Kadesh,

then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land, but the king of Edom did not hearken. And in like manner he sent to the king of Moab, but he would not. And Israel abode in Kadesh

And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon. And Israel said to him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land to my place.

But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his border, but Sihon gathered all his people together, and encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.

And they possessed all the border of the Amorites, from the Arnon even to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness even to the Jordan.

Will thou not possess that which Chemosh thy god gives thee to possess? So whomever LORD our God has dispossessed from before us, them will we possess.

I therefore have not sinned against thee, but thou do me wrong to war against me. LORD, the Judge, be judge this day between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.

However the king of the sons of Ammon did not hearken to the words of Jephthah which he sent him.

Then the Spirit of LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over to the sons of Ammon.

And Jephthah vowed a vow to LORD, and said, If thou will indeed deliver the sons of Ammon into my hand,

then it shall be, that whatever comes forth from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be LORD's, and I will offer it up for a burnt-offering.

So Jephthah passed over to the sons of Ammon to fight against them, and LORD delivered them into his hand.

And he smote them from Aroer until thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and to Abelcheramim, with a very great slaughter. So the sons of Ammon were subdued before the sons of Israel.

And Jephthah came to Mizpah to his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances. And she was his only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter.

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

And she said to him, My father, thou have opened thy mouth to LORD. Do to me according to that which has proceeded out of thy mouth, inasmuch as LORD has taken vengeance for thee on thine enemies, even on the sons of Ammon.

And she said to her father, Let this thing be done for me: Let me alone two months, that I may depart and go down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my companions.

And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months. And she departed, she and her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains.

And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed, and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel,

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

And the men of Ephraim were gathered together, and passed northward. And they said to Jephthah, Why did thou pass over to fight against the sons of Ammon, and did not call us to go with thee? We will burn thy house upon thee with f

And Jephthah said to them, I and my people were at great strife with the sons of Ammon, and when I called you, ye did not save me out of their hand.

And when I saw that ye did not save me, I put my life in my hand, and passed opposite the sons of Ammon, and LORD delivered them into my hand. Why then have ye come up to me this day, to fight against me?

And the Gileadites took the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And it was so, that, when [any of] the fugitives of Ephraim said, Let me go over, the men of Gilead said to him, Are thou an Ephraimite? If he said, No,

then they said to him, Say now Shibboleth, and he said Sibboleth, for he could not frame to pronounce it right, then they laid hold on him, and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. And there fell at that time of Ephraim forty-two

And the agent of LORD appeared to the woman, and said to her, Behold now, thou are barren, and do not bear, but thou shall conceive, and bear a son.

Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink no wine nor strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing,

for, lo, thou shall conceive, and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb. And he shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came to me, and his countenance was like the countenance of the agent of God, very awesome. And I did not ask him from where he was, neither did he tell me his name,

but he said to me, Behold, thou shall conceive, and bear a son. And now drink no wine nor strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.

Then Manoah entreated LORD, and said, Oh, LORD, I pray thee, let the man of God whom thou sent come again to us, and teach us what we shall do to the child that shall be born.

And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah, and the agent of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her.

And the woman made haste, and ran, and told her husband, and said to him, Behold, the man has appeared to me, who came to me the [other] day.

And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said to him, Are thou the man who spoke to the woman? And he said, I am.

And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. What shall be the ordering of the child, and [what] shall we do to him?

And the agent of LORD said to Manoah, Of all that I said to the woman let her beware.

And Manoah said to the agent of LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee, that we may make ready a kid for thee.