Then they made a line round the tents, every man in his place; and all the army, awaking from sleep, came running out, and with loud cries went in flight.

And the three hundred gave a loud note on their horns, and every man's sword was turned by the Lord against his brother all through the army; and the army went in flight as far as Beth-shittah in the direction of Zeredah, to the edge of Abel-meholah by Tabbath.

And Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle, the sun being yet up, and caught a lad of the men of Succoth, and enquired of him.

So he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother! As the Lord lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.”

So [to humiliate them] Gideon said to Jether his firstborn, “Stand up, and kill them!” But the youth did not draw his sword, because he was afraid, for he was still [just] a boy.

And Gideon said to them, "Let me make a request of you; give me every man of you the earrings of his spoil." (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ish'maelites.)

They responded, "We'll be happy to give them." So they laid out a garment, and each of them contributed a ring from his war booty.

And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baalberith, wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light persons, which followed him.

And they told Jotham, and he went up and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and {he cried out loud} and said to them, "Listen to me, lords of Shechem, so that God may listen to you.

And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.

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

But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.

Then God let go a spirit of mischief between Abimelech and the owners of Shechem, - and the owners of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech:

That the cruelty done to the threescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother, which slew them; and upon the men of Shechem, which aided him in the killing of his brethren.

And Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies.

Then Zebul said to him, Now where is your loud talk when you said, Who is Abimelech that we are to be his servants? Is this not the people whom you were rating so low? Go out now, and make war on them.

So Gaal led the leaders of Shechem out and fought Abimelech.

Then Abimelech went back to Arumah; and Zebul sent Gaal and his brothers away and would not let them go on living in Shechem.

And he took the people, and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the field, and looked, and, behold, the people were come forth out of the city; and he rose up against them, and smote them.

And Abimelech gat him up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people that were with him; and Abimelech took an axe 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 ye have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done.

So, even all the people cut down every man his bough, and followed Abimelech, and laid them over the basement, and set it on fire over them who were therein, - even all the men of the tower of Shechem died about a thousand men and women.

Then Abimelech called hastily unto the young man that bare his harness, and said unto him, "Draw thy sword and slay me, that men say not of me, 'A woman slew him.'" And his lad thrust him through and he died.

He led Israel for twenty-three years, then died and was buried in Shamir.

Jair the Gileadite rose up after him; he led Israel for twenty-two years.

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

The rulers of Gilead said to one another, “Which man will lead the fight against the Ammonites? He will be the leader of all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

They said to him, “Come, be our commander, and let’s fight against the Ammonites.”

Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land: but the king of Edom would not hearken thereto. 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 thee, through thy land into my place.

But Sihon would not give way and let Israel go through his land; and Sihon got together all his people, and put his army in position in Jahaz, and made war on Israel.

I have not sinned against you; but you [are] the one who is doing wrong by making war against me. {Let Yahweh judge} today between the {Israelites} and the {Ammonites}."

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

And he said - Depart. So he let her go, for two months, - and she departed, she and her companions, and bewailed her virginity, upon the mountains.

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

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

Jephthah led Israel for six years; then he died and was buried in his city in Gilead.

After him Ibzan of Bethlehem led Israel.

He had thirty sons. He arranged for thirty of his daughters to be married outside his extended family, and he arranged for thirty young women to be brought from outside as wives for his sons. Ibzan led Israel for seven years;

After him Elon the Zebulunite led Israel for ten years.

After him Abdon son of Hillel the Pirathonite led Israel.

He had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy donkeys. He led Israel for eight years.

For see, thou shalt conceive and bear a son. And there may no razor or shearers come on his head: for the lad shall be an abstainer unto God, even from the time of his birth. And he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hands of the Philistines."

But he said to me, You are with child and will give birth to a son; and now do not take any wine or strong drink or let anything unclean be your food; for the child will be separate to God from his birth to the day of his death.

Then Manoah intreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.

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

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

She may not eat of any thing that cometh 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 Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.

And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, Though you keep me I will not take of your food; but if you will make a burned offering, let it be offered to the Lord. For it had not come into Manoah's mind that he was the angel of the Lord.

But his wife said unto him, If Yahweh had been pleased to put us to death, he would not have received at our hand, an ascending-sacrifice and a meal-offering, nor would he have shewed us all these things, - and, at such a time, have let us hear the like of this!

And the wife bare a son, and called his name Samson. And the lad grew, and the LORD blessed him.

And Samson said unto them, Let me now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can declare it unto me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of raiment;

But if you are unable to explain it to me, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty festal garments." So they said to him, "Tell your riddle; let us hear it."

Later on, during the wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat as a gift and visited his wife. “I want to go to my wife in her room,” he said. But her father would not let him enter.

and her father saith, I certainly said, that thou didst certainly hate her, and I give her to thy companion; is not her sister -- the young one -- better than she? Let her be, I pray thee, to thee, instead of her.'

And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives.

“No,” they said, “we won’t kill you, but we will tie you up securely and hand you over to them.” So they tied him up with two new ropes and led him away from the rock.

And when he came to Lehi, the Philistines came out, meeting him with loud cries; then the spirit of the Lord came rushing on him, and the cords on his arms became like grass which has been burned with fire, and the bands came falling off his hands.

And having said these words, he let the mouth-bone go out of his hand; so that place was named Ramath-lehi.

Samson led Israel for twenty years during the days of Philistine prominence.

And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, 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 Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and laid hold of the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and plucked them up, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the mountain that is before Hebron.

Now she had men waiting secretly in the inner room; and she said to him, The Philistines are on you, Samson. And the cords were broken by him as a twist of thread is broken when touched by a flame. So the secret of his strength did not come to light.

And when Delilah saw that he had let her see into his heart, she sent word to the chiefs of the Philistines saying, Come up this time, for he has let out all his heart to me. Then the chiefs of the Philistines came to her, with the money in their hands.

Then she let him fall asleep on her lap and called a man to shave off the seven braids on his head. In this way, she made him helpless, and his strength left him.

And the Philistines laid hold on him, and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison-house.

And, when the people saw him, they praised their god, - for they said - Our god hath delivered into our hand our enemy, even him who laid waste our land, and who multiplied our slain.

After awhile, when their hearts were merry, they said, "Call Samson and let him entertain us." And they called Samson {from the prison}, and {he entertained them}. And they made him stand between the pillars.

And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them.

Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me just this one time, O God, and let me take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes.”

Samson took hold of the two middle [support] pillars on which the house rested, and braced himself against them, one with his right hand and the other with his left.

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 which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.

His brothers and all his family went down and brought him back. They buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had led Israel for twenty years.

And they said, Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go and to enter in to possess the land.

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

So they set up for themselves the graven image of Micah, which he had made, - and let it remain all the days that the house of God was in Shiloh.

And her husband arose and went after her, to speak friendly unto her, and to bring her home again; and his lad with him and a couple of asses. And she brought him unto her father's house, and when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced of his coming.

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

And the man got up to go away, but his father-in-law would not let him go, so he took his rest there again for the night.

He got up early in the morning of the fifth day to leave, but the girl’s father said to him, “Please keep up your strength.” So they waited until late afternoon and the two of them ate.

And when the man and his concubine and his servant rose up to depart, his father-in-law, the girl's father, said to him, "Behold, now the day has waned toward evening; pray tarry all night. Behold, the day draws to its close; lodge here and let your heart be merry; and tomorrow you shall arise early in the morning for your journey, and go home."

Neverthelater, the man would not tarry, but arose and departed and came as far as Jebus, which is Jerusalem, and his two asses laden, and his concubine, and his lad with him.

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

And his lord saith unto him, 'Let us not turn aside unto the city of a stranger, that is not of the sons of Israel, thither, but we have passed over unto Gibeah.'

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 yet I have straw and provender for our asses, and bread and wine for me and thy handmaid, and thy lad that are with thy servant, and lack nothing."

And the old man said, Peace be with thee; howsoever let all thy wants lie upon me; only lodge not in the street.

While {they were enjoying themselves}, behold, the men of the city, {the perverse lot}, surrounded the house, pounding on the door. And they said to the old man, the owner of the house, "Bring out the man who came to your house so that {we may have sex with him}."

Behold, here are my virgin daughter and his concubine; let me bring them out now. Ravish them and do with them what seems good to you; but against this man do not do so vile a thing."

But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go.

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

And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But none answered. Then the man took her up upon an ass, and the man rose up, and gat him unto his place.

And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the coasts of Israel.

So I laid hold on my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel, - because they had wrought lewdness and impiety, in Israel.

And all people rose as one man, saying, Let no man go to his tent, and do not let any of us turn to his house.

But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up by lot against it;

So then, hand over the men, {the perverse lot}, who [are] in Gibeah, so that we may kill them and purge [this] wickedness from Israel." But the descendants of Benjamin were not willing to listen to the voice of their relatives, the {Israelites}.

The men of Israel arose and went up to Bethel and asked of God and said, “Which of us shall take the lead to battle against the sons [tribe] of Benjamin?” And the Lord said, “Judah [shall go up] first.”

Then came forth the sons of Benjamin out of Gibeah, - and laid low of Israel, on that day, twenty-two thousand men, to the ground.

And Benjamin came forth to meet them out of Gibeah, on the second day, and laid low, of the sons of Israel, yet eighteen thousand men, to the ground, - all these, drew the sword.