And the Spirit of Yahweh rushed on him, and he went down to Ashkelon. He killed thirty men from them, and he took their belongings, and he gave festal garments to the ones that explained the riddle. {He was angry}, and he went up to his father's house.

And Samson's wife was [given] to his companion who [was] his best man.

And he was very thirsty, and he called to Yahweh and said, "You gave this great victory into the hand of your servant, but now I must die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?"

So God split the hollow place that [is] at Lehi, and water came out from it; and he drank, and his spirit returned, and he was revived. Thus he called its name {The Spring of Ha-Qore}, which [is] at Lehi to this day.

After this he fell in love [with] a woman in the wadi of Sorek, and her name [was] Delilah.

The ambush [was] sitting [in wait] for her in an inner room. And she said to him, "[The] Philistines [are] upon you Samson!" And he snapped the bowstrings just as flax fiber snaps when it comes close to fire. And [the secret of] his strength remained unknown.

So Delilah took new ropes and tied him up with them, and she said to him, "[The] Philistines [are] upon you, Samson!" (The ambush [was] sitting in an inner room.) But he snapped them from his arms like thread.

Then Samson said to the servant who was holding him by his hand, "Position me so that I can touch the pillars on which the house rests, so I can lean on them."

And the house was full of men and women, and all of the rulers of [the] Philistines [were] there--about three thousand men and women were on the roof watching the performance of Samson.

And Samson reached out and held two of the middle pillars on which the house [was] resting, and he leaned on them, one on his right and one on his left.

There was a man from the hill country of Ephraim; his name [was] Micah.

When he returned the pieces of silver to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and she gave it to the smith, and he made it [into] an idol of cast metal; and it was in the house of Micah.

In those days there was no king in Israel, and each one did what was right in his own eyes.

There was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, from the clan of Judah; he [was] a Levite and [was] dwelling as a foreigner there.

So Micah {appointed the Levite}, and the young man became a priest for him; and he was in the house of Micah.

In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the Danites [was] seeking territory for itself to live in, because until that day it had not been allotted territory among the tribes of Israel.

And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and they entered there [and] took the carved divine image, ephod, teraphim, and the molten image. The priest [was] standing [at] the entrance of the gate [with] the six hundred men armed [with] the weapons of war.

There was no deliverer, because it [was] far from Sidon, and {they had had no dealings with anyone}. It [was] in the valley that belonged to Beth-rehob, and they rebuilt the city and lived in it.

And they called the name of the city Dan, after Dan their ancestor, who was born to Israel; but the former name of the city [was] Laish.

So they set up for themselves the carved divine image that Micah had made, all the days that the house of God [was] in Shiloh.

In those days there was no king in Israel; there was a man, a Levite, who dwelled as a foreigner in the remote areas of the hill country of Ephraim. And he took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.

But his concubine felt repugnance toward him, and she left him and went to her father's house, to Bethlehem in Judah; she was there some four months.

So her husband set out, and he went after her to speak {tenderly to her}, to bring her back. He took with him his servant and a pair of donkeys. And she brought him [to] her father's house, and the father of the young woman saw him and was glad to meet him.

But the man was not willing to spend the night, and he got up and went; and he arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). [He had] with him a pair of saddled donkeys and his concubine.

They [were] near Jebus, and {the day was far spent}, and the servant said to his master, "Please, come, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites, and let us spend the night in it."

Then behold, an old man [was] coming from his work from the field in the evening, and the man [was] from the hill country of Ephraim, and he [was] dwelling as a foreigner in Gibeah. (The people of the place [were] descendants of Benjamin.)

And the woman came as the morning appeared, and she fell [at] the entrance of the man's house where her master was, until daylight.

In the morning her master got up, and he opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his journey, and behold, his concubine [was] falling [at] the entrance of the house, with her hand on the threshold.

And he said to her, "Get up, let us go," but there was no answer. So he put her on the donkey, and the man got up and went to his place.

And the {Israelites} inquired of Yahweh (In those days the ark of the covenant of God [was] there,

and Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, [was] standing {before it} [to minister] in those days), saying, "Should we go out once more to battle against the descendants of Benjamin our relatives, or should we stop?" And Yahweh said, "Go up tomorrow; I will give them into your hand."

Then ten thousand well-trained men from all Israel came out against Gibeah, and the battle became fierce; they did not know that disaster [was about to] {close in} on them.

Now the appointed time for the men of Israel with the ambush was that they sent up for them a great amount of smoke from the city.

And the cloud of smoke began to go up from the city in a column of smoke, and Benjamin turned backward, and behold, the whole city was going up {in smoke}!

And the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were dismayed because they saw that disaster was {closing in} on them.

And the {Israelites} said, "Who in the assembly has not come up from all the tribes of Israel to Yahweh?" For a solemn oath was [taken] concerning whoever did not come up to Yahweh at Mizpah, saying, "He will certainly be put to death."

The people were counted, and no one was there from the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead.

In those days there was no king in Israel; each one did what was right in his own eyes.

And it happened in the days [when] {the judges ruled}, there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem [of] Judah went {to reside} in the countryside of Moab--he and his wife and his two sons.

And the name of the man [was] Elimelech, and the name of his wife [was] Naomi, and the name of his two sons [were] Mahlon and Kilion. [They were] Ephraimites from Bethlehem [in] Judah. And they went [to] the countryside of Moab and remained there.

But Elimelech the husband of Naomi died and she was left behind [with] {her two sons}.

And {they took} for themselves Moabite wives. The name of the one [was] Orpah and the name of the other [was] Ruth. And they lived there about ten years.

But {both} Mahlon and Kilion died, and the woman was left without her two sons and without her husband.

So she set out from 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 Naomi] saw that she was determined to go with her, {she said no more}.

[So] the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. {And when they came} to Bethlehem, all of the town was stirred because of them. And they said, "[Is] this Naomi?"

{Now} Naomi {had a relative of her husband}, {a prominent rich man} from the clan of Elimelech, [whose] name was Boaz.

So she went and came and gleaned in the field behind the reapers. And she happened [by] chance [upon] the tract of field {belonging to} Boaz, who [was] from the clan of Elimelech.

And Boaz answered and said to her, "All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband was fully told to me. [How] you left your father and mother and the land of your birth, and you went to a people that you did not know {before}.

And Boaz said to her {at mealtime}, "Come here and eat from the bread and dip your morsel in the wine vinegar." So she sat beside the gleaners, and he offered to her roasted grain. And she ate and was satisfied, and she had some left over.

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

Wash, anoint yourself, put your clothing on, and go down to the threshing floor. Do not make yourself known to the man until he finishes eating and drinking.

And Boaz ate and drank [until] his heart was {merry} [and then] he came to lie at the end of the grain heap. And she came in quietly and {uncovered} his feet and lay down.

And it happened in the middle of the night the man was startled and he reached out and behold, a woman [was] lying at his feet.

And Boaz had gone up [to] the [city] gate and sat there. And look, the redeemer of whom Boaz had spoken [was] passing by. And he said, "Come over here to sit, {friend}." And he came over and sat.

And he said to the redeemer, "Naomi, who returned from the countryside [of] Moab, is selling the tract of land which [was] for our brother Elimelech.

(Now this {was the custom in former times} in Israel concerning the kinsman-redemption and transfer of property: to confirm the matter, a man removed his sandal and gave [it] to his fellow countryman. This [was] the manner of attesting in Israel.)

And Boaz said to the elders and all of the people, "You [are] witnesses today that I have acquired all that [was] for Elimelech and that [was] for Kilion and Mahlon from the hand of Naomi.

And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, "A son has been born to Naomi." And they called his name Obed. He [was] the father of Jesse, the father of David.

There was a certain man from Ramathaim Zophim, from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.

He had two wives; the name of the first [was] Hannah, and the name of the second [was] Peninnah. Now Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

Then Hannah got up after eating and drinking at Shiloh. (Now Eli the priest [was] sitting on his chair by the doorpost of the temple of Yahweh.)

She [was] {deeply troubled}, so she prayed to Yahweh and wept bitterly.

{While} she continued to pray before Yahweh, Eli was observing her mouth.

Then she brought him up with her when she had weaned him, [along] with three bulls, one ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. She brought him to the house of Yahweh at Shiloh while the boy [was still] young.

Then Elkanah went to Ramah, to his house. Now the boy was serving Yahweh {in the presence of} Eli the priest.

And the custom of the priests with the people [was this]: When any man {brought a sacrifice}, as the meat was boiling, the servant of the priest would take a three-pronged meat fork in his hand

Also, before they {offered up} the fat as a burnt offering, the servant of the priest would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, "Give the priest meat for roasting, for he will not take boiled meat from you, but only {raw}."

So the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of Yahweh, because the men treated the offering of Yahweh with contempt.

Now Samuel [was] serving before Yahweh, as a boy wearing a linen ephod.

Now Eli was very old, and he heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel and that they [were] having sexual relations with the women who [were] serving [at] the entrance of [the] tent of assembly.

Now the boy Samuel was serving Yahweh {in the presence} of Eli. The word of Yahweh was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.

{And then} one day when Eli was lying in his place (now his eyes had begun [to grow] weak so that he was not able to see)

and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, Samuel was lying in the temple of Yahweh where the ark of God [was].

Again Yahweh called Samuel a third time, so he got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am, because you called me." Then Eli realized that Yahweh was calling the boy.

So Samuel lay down until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of Yahweh, but Samuel was afraid of telling the vision to Eli.

And Samuel grew up, and Yahweh was with him. {He did not allow any of his prophecies to go unfulfilled}.

All Israel from Dan to Beersheba realized that Samuel was faithful as a prophet to Yahweh.

[The] Philistines lined up for the battle to meet Israel, and the battle was prolonged until Israel was defeated before [the] Philistines, {who} killed about four thousand men {on the battlefield}.

So [the] Philistines fought and Israel was defeated and each man fled to his tent, for the slaughter was very great. Thirty thousand foot soldiers from Israel fell.

Furthermore, the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

A man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came [to] Shiloh that same day, and his clothes [were] torn and earth [was] on his head.

When he came, {there was} Eli sitting on his chair {by the side of the road} watching, because his heart was anxious about the ark of God. Now the man had come {to give his report} in the city, and all the city cried out.

Now Eli [was] {ninety-eight years old} and his eyes {stayed fixed ahead} and he was not able to see.

Just as he mentioned the ark of God, he fell from his chair backwards against the side of the gate. He broke his neck and died, because the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years.

Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, [was] pregnant and [about] to give birth. When she heard the news concerning the capture of the ark of God and that her father-in-law and her husband had died, she {went into labor} and gave birth, because her labor pains came upon her.

And she said, "The glory has departed from Israel, because the ark of God was captured."

When the Ashdodites got up early the next morning, {there was} Dagon fallen with his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh! So they took Dagon and returned him to his place.

When they got up early in the morning the next day, {there was} Dagon fallen [again] with his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh! The head of Dagon and the palms of his two hands were cut off, lying at the threshold; only [the body] of Dagon was left.

Now the hand of Yahweh was heavy against the Ashdodites and he destroyed them and struck them with tumors, both in Ashdod and its territories.

The men of Ashdod saw [that] it [was] so, and they said, "The ark of the God of Israel should not remain with us, because his hand [is] harsh on us and on Dagon our god!"

After they moved it, the hand of Yahweh was against the city, causing a very great confusion, and he struck the men of the city {from the youngest to the oldest}, causing tumors to break out on them.

So they sent and gathered all the rulers of [the] Philistines, and they said, "Send away the ark of the God of Israel and let it return to its place, so that it will not kill us and our people." For a {deadly confusion} was throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.

And they said, "What [is] the guilt offering that we should return to him?" They said, "The number of the rulers of [the] Philistines [is] five. Therefore send five gold tumors and five gold mice, because one plague [was] on all of you and all your rulers.

You must watch; if it goes up by the way of its territory to Beth Shemesh, he has caused this great disaster to [come on] us. But if not, then we will know his hand has not struck us; it [was by] chance [that] this happened to us.

The utility cart came to the field of Joshua [of] Beth Shemesh and stopped there where there [was] a large stone. They split the wood of the utility cart and sacrificed the cows [as] a burnt offering to Yahweh.

Then the Levites took down the ark of Yahweh and the container that was beside it, in which [were] the gold objects, and [they] set them on the large stone. Then the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings, and they {made} sacrifices to Yahweh on that day.

{While} Samuel [was] sacrificing the burnt offering, [the] Philistines drew near for the battle against Israel. But Yahweh thundered against [the] Philistines with a great noise on that day and threw them into confusion so that they were defeated before Israel.

So the Philistines were subdued and they did not come into the territory of Israel again, and the hand of Yahweh was against [the] Philistines all the days of Samuel.

The towns which [the] Philistines had taken from Israel [were] returned to Israel from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territories from the hand of [the] Philistines. Then there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.