And the Angel of Jehovah came and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. And his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.

Then the Angel of Jehovah put forth the end of the staff that was in His hand and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes. And there rose up fire out of the rock and burned up the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the Angel of Jehovah went away out of his sight.

And when Gideon saw that He was the Angel of Jehovah, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord God! Because I have seen the Angel of Jehovah face to face.

Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as Jehovah had said to him. And so it was, because he feared his father's household and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day. So he did it by night.

And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the pillar which was by it was cut down, and the second bull had been offered upon the altar that was built.

And it was so. For he rose up early in the morning and gathered the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.

And God did so that night. For it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.

And Jerubbaal (he is Gideon) and all the people that were with him, rose up early and pitched beside the well of Harod, so that the army of the Midianites was on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

And the number of them who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men. But all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.

And the people took provisions in their hand, and their ram's horns. And he sent away all the rest of Israel, each man to his tent, and kept those three hundred men. And the army of Midian was below him in the valley.

God has delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. And what was I able to do in comparison to you? Then their spirits toward him went away when he had said that.

And Gideon went up by the way of those who lived in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and struck the army. For the army was at ease.

And he said to Jether his first-born, Up! Kill them! But the youth did not draw his sword, for he feared, because he was still a youth.

And the weight of the golden earrings which he asked for was seventeen hundred of gold, besides ornaments, and pendants, and purple clothing that was on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains around their camels' necks.

And Midian was subdued before the sons of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.

And his concubine, who was in Shechem, also bore him a son whose name he called Abimelech.

And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

And it happened as soon as Gideon was dead, the sons of Israel turned again and went lusting after the Baals, and made Baal-berith their god.

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

And the men of Shechem set men lying in wait for him in the top of the mountains, and they robbed all that passed by. And it was told to Abimelech.

And Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, and his anger was kindled.

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

But there was a strong tower in the middle of the city, and all the men and women, and all the leaders of the city, fled there, and shut it behind them, and got up to the top of the tower.

Then he called hastily to the young man who was his armor-bearer, and said to him, Draw your sword and kill me, so that men may 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, each one of them left to go to his place.

And he judged Israel twenty-three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir.

And Jair died and was buried in Kamon.

And the anger of Jehovah was hot against Israel, and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the sons of Ammon.

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

And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served Jehovah. And His soul was moved by the misery of Israel.

Now Jephthah, the Gileadite, was a mighty man of war. And he was the son of a harlot. And Gilead fathered Jephthah.

And they went along through the wilderness, and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but they did not come within the border of Moab; for Arnon was the border of Moab.

And Jephthah came to Mizpeh 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 Jephthah judged Israel six years. And Jephthah the Gileadite died, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.

Then Ibzan died, and was buried at Bethlehem.

And Elon the Zebulonite died, and was buried in Aijalon, the land of Zebulun.

And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the mount of the Amalekites.

And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and did not bear.

And the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came to me, and His face was like the face of an Angel of God, very terrifying. But I did not ask Him where He came from, neither did He tell me His name.

And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field. But Manoah her husband was not with her.

And the Angel of Jehovah said to Manoah, Though you keep Me, I will not eat of your bread. And if you will offer a burnt offering, you must offer it to Jehovah. For Manoah did not know that He was the Angel of Jehovah.

But the Angel of Jehovah did not appear any more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that He was an Angel of Jehovah.

But his father and his mother did not know that it was from Jehovah, that He was looking for an occasion against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines had the rule over Israel.

And the Spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon him, and he tore it as he would have torn a kid; and nothing was in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.

And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the dead body of the lion. And behold! A swarm of bees and honey was in the dead body of the lion.

And the Spirit of Jehovah came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave changes of garments to them who told what the riddle meant. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house.

But Samson's wife was given to his companion, who had served as his friend.

And he was very thirsty and called upon Jehovah and said, You have given this great deliverance into the hand of Your servant. And now shall I die with thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?

And it happened afterwards, he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

And the ambush was sitting for her in the inner room. And she said to him, The Philistines are upon you, Samson! And he broke the cords like a thread of tow when it smells fire. And his strength was not known.

And Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them, and said to him, The Philistines are upon you, Samson! And the ambush was sitting for her in the inner room. And he broke them from off his arms like a thread.

And it happened because she distressed him with her words daily, and urged him; and his soul was grieved to death.

Now the house was full of men and women. And all the lords of the Philistines were there. And on the roof were about three thousand men and women who watched while Samson made sport.

And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was held up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.

And there was a man of Mount Ephraim, and his name was Micah.

In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his eyes.

And there was a young man out of Bethlehem-judah of the family of Judah, and he was a Levite. And he stayed there.

And the Levite was content to live with the man, and the young man was to him as one of his sons.

And Micah consecrated the Levite. And the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.

In those days no king was in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the Danites looked for an inheritance for them to live in. For to that day it had not fallen to them by inheritance among the tribes of Israel.

And the five men departed and came to Laish, and saw the people in it, how they lived carelessly, as the Sidonians do, quiet and secure. And there was no judge in the land who might put them to shame in a thing. And they were far from the Sidonians, and had no business with any man.

And the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the household gods, and the carved image, and went in the midst of the people.

And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon, and they had no business with any man. And it was in the valley that lies by Beth-rehob. And they built a city and lived in it.

And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel. However the name of the city was Laish at the first.

And they set up Micah's engraved image for themselves, the image which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

And it happened in those days, no king being in Israel, there was a certain Levite residing on the far side of Mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Bethlehem-judah.

And his concubine played the harlot against him, and went away from him to her father's house to Bethlehem-judah, and was there four whole months.

But the man would not stay that night, but he rose up and left, and came over against Jebus, which is Jerusalem. And there were with him two saddled asses. His concubine also was with him.

They were beside Jebus, and the day was far gone. And the servant said to his master, Please come, and let us turn in to this city of the Jebusites and stay in it.

And behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at evening, who was also from Mount Ephraim. And he lived in Gibeah, but the men of the place were of Benjamin.

And the woman came, in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was, until it was light.

And he said to her, Up, and let us be going. But there was no answer. Then the man took her on an ass, and the man rose up and went to his place.

And it was so that all that saw it said, There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the sons of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt to this day. Think of it, take advice and speak.

Then all the sons of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, with the land of Gilead, to Jehovah in Mizpeh.

And the Levite, the husband of the woman who was slain, answered and said, I came into Gibeah of Benjamin to stay the night, my concubine and I.

And every man of Israel was gathered against the city, all together as one man.

And the sons of Israel inquired of Jehovah (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,

And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was heavy. But they did not know that evil was near them.

And a sign was set between the men of Israel and the ambush, to cause to go up a great smoke rising up from the city.

And the sons of Israel turned again to the sons of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, from the entire city to livestock, to all that was found. Also they set on fire all the cities that they came to.

In those days there was no king in Israel. Every man did the right in his own eyes.

And it happened in the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem-judah went to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.

And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem-judah. And they came to the fields of Moab and stayed there.

And Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died. And she was left, and her two sons.

And they took wives for themselves from the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they lived there about ten years.

And Mahlon and Chilion also died, both of them. And the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.

And she went out of the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.

When she saw that she was determined to go with her, then she quit speaking to her.

And both of them went until they came to Bethlehem. And it happened when they had come to Bethlehem, all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?

And Naomi returned; and Ruth, who was of Moab, her daughter-in-law, was with her, returning out of the fields of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.

And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech. And his name was Boaz.

And she went. And she came and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come upon a part of the field of Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.

And Boaz said to his servant who was set over the reapers, Whose girl is this?

And the servant who was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the girl from Moab who came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab.

And Boaz said to her, At mealtime come here and eat of the bread and dip your bit in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers. And he handed her roasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied, and left.

And she gleaned in the field until the evening, and beat out what she had gleaned. And it was about an ephah of barley.

And she took it up and went into the city. And her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. And she brought it forth, and gave to her what she had kept after she was satisfied.

Therefore wash yourself, and anoint yourself, and put your clothing upon you, and go down to the floor. Do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.

And when Boaz had eaten and had drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap. And she came softly and uncovered his feet, and lay down.

And he said to the kinsman, Naomi, who has come again out of the country of Moab, sells a parcel of land which was our brother Elimelech's.