The descendants of Gilead seized control of the Jordan River's fords along the border of Ephraim's territory. Later on, when any fugitive from Ephraim asked them, "Let me cross over," the men from Gilead would ask him, "Are you an Ephraimite?" If he said "No,"

There was one man from Zorah, from the family of the descendants of Dan, whose name was Manoah. Since his wife was infertile, she hadn't borne children.

because surprise! you're going to conceive and give birth to a son! Don't put a razor to his head, because the young man will be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from inside the womb. He will begin to deliver Israel from domination by the Philistines."

Then the woman went to tell her husband. She said, "A man of God appeared to me. He looked like what an angel of God would look like very frightening. I didn't ask him where he had come from and he didn't tell me his name.

He told me, "Surprise! you're going to conceive and give birth to a son!' and as for you, "Be sure that you don't drink wine or anything intoxicating, and don't eat anything unclean,' "because the young man will be a Nazirite dedicated to God from inside the womb' until the day he dies."

So Manoah prayed to the LORD, "Please, Lord, have the man of God whom you sent before come again so he can instruct us what to do on behalf of the child who is to be born."

God listened to Manoah's request, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting out in the pasture. But her husband Manoah wasn't with her,

so the woman ran quickly to tell her husband, "Look! The man who came the other day appeared to me!"

So Manoah got up quickly and followed his wife, and when he came to the man he told him, "Are you the man who spoke to my wife?" He replied, "I am."

Manoah asked, "Now, when what you've said occurs, what is to be the young man's way of life and work?"

The angel of the LORD replied to Manoah, "Just have your wife be careful to carry out everything that I told her.

Manoah responded to the angel of the LORD, "Please, let us detain you while we prepare a young goat for you."

The angel of the LORD answered Manoah, "If you detain me, I won't be eating your food, but if you prepare a burnt offering, you'll be making a sacrifice to the LORD." The angel of the LORD said this because Manoah didn't know that he was the angel of the LORD.

Manoah asked the angel of the LORD, "What's your name, because when what you've said happens, we'll glorify you?"

So Manoah prepared a young goat and a grain offering and offered it on a boulder to the LORD, who kept on performing miracles while Manoah and his wife watched continually.

When the burnt offering was engulfed in flames that sprang up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame that came from the altar. When Manoah and his wife observed this, they collapsed on their faces to the ground.

The angel of the LORD did not appear again to Manoah or to his wife, and then Manoah knew confidently that the visitor had been the angel of the LORD.

Then Manoah told his wife, "We're going to die for sure, because we've seen God!"

Later on, when his father went down to visit the woman, Samson threw a party there, since young men customarily did this.

Then the men of the city answered him just before sunset on the seventh day: "What is sweeter than honey? What are stronger than lions?" Samson responded, "If you hadn't plowed with my heifer, you wouldn't have solved my riddle."

Then the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, killed 30 men, took their belongings, and gave the garments to those who had told him the solution to the riddle. He remained furious, left for his father's house,

and Samson's wife went to the best man at his wedding.

Her father said, "Because I honestly thought that you hated her deeply, I gave her in marriage to your best man. Isn't her younger sister better than she? Please then, let her be yours instead."

Then the Philistines demanded, "Who did this?" Someone said, "Samson, son-in-law of the Timnite, because his father-in-law took Samson's wife and gave her to the best man at Samson's wedding." In retaliation, the Philistines came up and burned her and her father to death.

The leading men of Judah asked, "Why have you invaded us?" They replied, "We're here to arrest Samson. Then we're going to do to him what he did to us."

He happened upon a jawbone from a putrefying donkey, reached out to grab it, and killed 1,000 men with it.

Then Samson declared, "With a jawbone from the donkey here a heap, there a pair of heaps with the jawbone of the donkey I've killed 1,000 men."

When Delilah realized that he had disclosed everything to her, she sent for the Philistine officials and told them, "Hurry up and come here at once, because he has told me everything." So the Philistine officials went to her and brought their money with them.

So she enticed him to fall asleep on her lap, called for a man to shave off his seven locks of hair from his head, and so began to humiliate him. Then his strength abandoned him.

Then Samson told the young man who had been leading him around by the hand, "Let me touch and feel the pillars on which this building rests, and I'll support myself against them."

Now the building was full of men, women, and all the Philistine officials, with about 3,000 men and women on the roof watching Samson while he was entertaining them.

Afterwards, his brothers and his father's household servants came down, took him, brought him back, and buried him in his father Manoah's tomb between Zorah and Eshtaol. He had governed Israel for 20 years.

A man named Micah lived in the mountainous region of the territory of Ephraim.

This man Micah had his own shrine, had crafted his own ephod and some household idols, and had installed one of his sons as a priest.

The man had left his city Bethlehem in Judah to live wherever he could. As he traveled along, he eventually arrived at Micah's house in the mountainous region of Ephraim, looking for work.

The descendant of Levi agreed to live with the man, and the young man became like one of the family.

Micah set up the descendant of Levi in ministry, and the young man became his priest while he lived in Micah's house.

So the tribe of Dan sent from their families five valiant men of their number from Zorah and Eshtaol to scout the land and search through it. Following their orders, which were "Go and scout the land," they came to the mountainous region of Ephraim, arrived at Micah's home, and stayed there.

So the five men left and went to Laish, and observed the people who were living there carefree, as Sidonians tend to do, in peace and quiet. There was no ruler in the land oppressing them for any reason. They were living far away from the Sidonians, and had no dealings with anyone.

Then the five men who had gone to scout out the territory of Laish told their relatives, "Are you aware that in these houses there's an ephod, some household idols, a carved image, and a cast image? You know what you need to do."

the five men who had gone to scout out the land arrived, entered Micah's home and confiscated the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the cast image. Meanwhile, the priest stood outside by the entrance to the gate with the 600 men armed with military weapons.

They told him, "Shut up and keep quiet. Come with us and be our spiritual father and priest. It's better for you, isn't it, to be a priest to an entire tribe and family in Israel than to be priest to the home of one man?"

when her husband got up and went after her, intending to speak lovingly to her in order to win her back. He took with him his young man servant and a pair of donkeys. When she brought him into her father's house to see him, her father was happy to have met him.

So both of them sat down for a bit, ate and drank together, and the young woman's father invited the man, "Please, enjoy yourself and spend another night."

The man got up, intending to leave, but his father-in-law urged him to spend the night there again.

When the man got up to leave with his mistress and servant, his father-in-law, the young woman's father, told him, "Look now, evening is coming, so please spend another night. See how the daylight is fading, so spend the night here and enjoy yourself. Then tomorrow get up early and leave on your journey home."

Because the man was unwilling to spend the night, he got up, left, and arrived opposite Jebus (now known as Jerusalem). He had with him a pair of saddled donkeys, along with his mistress.

After they entered the city, they had to sit down in the public square because no one would take them into their home for the night. Just then, an old man was coming out of the fields that evening from work. The man was from the mountainous region of Ephraim and had been staying in Gibeah, even though the men of that place were descendants of Benjamin.

As the old man looked up and saw the traveling man in the public square of the city, he asked, "Now then, where are you headed? And where are you from?"

Meanwhile, we also have straw and fodder for our donkeys, and bread and wine for me, for this young woman servant, and for the young man who is with your servants. We don't need anything else."

The old man replied, "Don't be alarmed. I'll take care of all your needs. Just don't spend the night in the public square."

While they were enjoying themselves, all of a sudden certain ungodly men who lived in the city surrounded the house, pounded on the door, and ordered the old man who owned the home, "Bring out the man who came to visit your home so we can have sex with him."

The man who owned the house went out to talk to them and pleaded with them, "No, my brothers, please don't act so wickedly. This man is my guest! Don't try to do this stupid thing.

Instead, here's my virgin daughter and my visitor's mistress. Please let me bring them out to you. Occupy yourselves with them, and do to them whatever you would like. But don't commit such a stupid thing against this man."

But the men were unwilling to listen to him. So the descendant of Levi grabbed his mistress, took her out to them, and they raped and tortured her all night until morning. Then they released her as the first daylight was beginning to appear.

As dawn was breaking, the woman approached the door of the man's home where her master was and collapsed. Eventually, full daylight came.

We'll take ten men out of 100 from all of the tribes of Israel. We'll appoint 100 out of 1,000 and 1,000 out of 10,000 to supply provisions for the army. And when we reach Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin, we'll punish them for all of the stupid things that they've done in Israel."

The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the entire tribe of Benjamin to ask them, "What is this evil thing that has occurred among you?

Now then, hand over the men those ungodly men, and we'll execute them in order to remove this evil from Israel."

But the army the men of Israel encouraged themselves and arrayed for battle again the next day in the same place where they had gathered the day before.

That's how 18,000 men from the tribe of Benjamin fell in battle, all of whom were valiant soldiers.

To sum up, the soldiers from the tribe of Benjamin who died that day totaled 25,000 men, all of them expert swordsmen and valiant soldiers.

You're to completely destroy every man and every married woman."

They discovered among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young virgins who hadn't had sex with a man, and they brought them to the encampment at Shiloh in the territory of Canaan.

If their fathers or brothers come complaining to us, we'll tell them "Be generous! Give them to us voluntarily, because we didn't take anyone to be a wife for the men of the tribe of Benjamin as a result of the battle. And you haven't incurred guilt by giving your daughters to them.'"

The Israelis left there at that time, each man to his tribe and family, and each of them went down from there to his territorial allotment.

Now there came a time of famine while judges were ruling in the land of Israel. A man from Bethlehem of Judah, his wife, and his two sons left to live in the country of Moab.

The man's name was Elimelech, his wife's name was Naomi, and their two sons were named Mahlon and Chilion Ephrathites from Bethlehem of Judah. They journeyed to the country of Moab and lived there for some time.

Naomi had a close relative of her late husband, a man of considerable wealth from the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz.

Keep your eyes on the field where they are harvesting, and follow them. I've ordered my young men not to bother you, haven't I? And when you are thirsty, drink from the water vessels that the young men have filled."

Her mother-in-law noticed how much Ruth had gleaned and had brought back from what was left over from her lunch. So her mother-in-law quizzed her, "Where did you glean today? Where, precisely, did you work? May the one who took notice of you be blessed." So Ruth told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked. She said, "The man's name with whom I worked today is Boaz."

Naomi replied, "May the one who hasn't abandoned his gracious love to the living or to the dead be blessed by the LORD." Naomi added, "This man is closely related to us, our related redeemer, as a matter of fact!"

Then Ruth the Moabite woman added, "He also told me "Stay close to my young men until they have completed my entire harvest.'"

He replied, "May you be blessed by the LORD, my daughter. You've added to the gracious love you've already demonstrated by not pursuing younger men, whether rich or poor.

Then she related everything that the man had done for her. Ruth also said, "He gave me these six units of barley and told me, "Don't go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.'"

Naomi replied, "Be patient, my daughter, until you learn how this works out, because the man won't rest until he finishes everything today."

Meanwhile, Boaz approached the city gate and sat down there. Just then, the very same related redeemer whom Boaz had mentioned came by, so Boaz called out to him, "Come over and sit down here, my friend!" So the man came over and sat down.

So I thought to myself I ought to tell you that you must make a public purchase of this before the town residents and the elders of my people. So if you intend to act as the related redeemer, then do so. But if not, let me know, because except for you and I after you there is no one to fulfill the duties of a related redeemer." The man responded, "I will act as related redeemer."

During Israel's earlier history, all things concerning redeeming or changing inheritances were confirmed by a man taking off his sandal and giving it to the other party, thereby creating a public record in Israel.

A certain man lived in Ramathaim-zophim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim. He was Jeroham's son Elkanah, the grandson of Elihu and grandson of Tohu, who was the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.

That man would go up from his town each year to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of the Heavenly Armies at Shiloh, where Eli's two sons Hophni and Phineas served as priests of the LORD.

Now the sons of Eli were worthless men who did not know the LORD.

If the man told him, "They must surely burn up the fat first, and then take for yourself whatever you desire," the servant would say, "No, give it now, and if you don't, I'll take it by force!"

By doing this, the sin of the young men was very serious in the LORD's sight because the men despised the LORD's offering.

A man of God came to Eli, saying to him, "This is what the LORD says: "When they were in Egypt and slaves to the house of Pharaoh, did I not reveal to the family of your ancestor Aaron

The time is coming when I'll cut away at your family and your ancestor's family until there are no old men left in your family.

Distress will settle down to live in your household, and despite all the good that I do for Israel, there will never be an old man in your family forever, and you will never again have an old man in my house.

The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the battlefield.

Philistines, be strong and be men, or you will become slaves to the Hebrews just as they have been slaves to you! Be men and fight!"

That very same day, a man who was a descendant of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh, with his garments torn and dirt on his head.

When he arrived, Eli was sitting there on a seat beside the road, watching because his heart trembled for the Ark of God. The man went into the town to give the report, and the whole town cried out.

Eli heard the sound of the cry and asked, "What is the meaning of this commotion?" Then the man quickly came and told Eli.

The man told Eli, "I've just come from the battle line, and I escaped from the battle today." He asked, "What happened, my son?"

When the men of Ashdod saw how things were, they said, "Don't let the Ark of the God of Israel stay with us, because he is severely attacking us and our god Dagon."

After they moved it, the LORD moved against the town, causing a very great panic. He struck the men of the town, from young to old with tumors of the groin.

The men did this. They took two milk cows, hitched them to the cart, and penned up their calves in the house.

The descendants of Levi took down the Ark of the LORD, along with the box that was with it, containing the objects of gold, and they put them on the large stone. The men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the LORD that day.

God struck down the men of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the Ark of the LORD. He struck down 50,070 men among the people, and the people mourned because the LORD struck down the people with a great slaughter.

The men of Beth-shemesh asked themselves, "Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? And to whom will the Ark go from here?"

The men of Kiriath-jearim came and took the Ark of the LORD. They brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill, and they consecrated his son Eleazar to care for the Ark of the LORD.