Judg.11

[1] Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a harlot. Gilead was the father of Jephthah.
[2] And Gilead's wife also bore him sons; and when his wife's sons grew up, they thrust Jephthah out, and said to him, "You shall not inherit in our father's house; for you are the son of another woman."
[3] Then Jephthah fled from his brothers, and dwelt in the land of Tob; and worthless fellows collected round Jephthah, and went raiding with him.
[4] After a time the Ammonites made war against Israel.
[5] And when the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob;
[6] and they said to Jephthah, "Come and be our leader, that we may fight with the Ammonites."
[7] But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "Did you not hate me, and drive me out of my father's house? Why have you come to me now when you are in trouble?"
[8] And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "That is why we have turned to you now, that you may go with us and fight with the Ammonites, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead."
[9] Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "If you bring me home again to fight with the Ammonites, and the LORD gives them over to me, I will be your head."
[10] And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "The LORD will be witness between us; we will surely do as you say."
[11] So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and leader over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before the LORD at Mizpah.
[12] Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said, "What have you against me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?"
[13] And the king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, "Because Israel on coming from Egypt took away my land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan; now therefore restore it peaceably."
[14] And Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the Ammonites
[15] and said to him, "Thus says Jephthah: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites,
[16] but when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh.
[17] Israel then sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, `Let us pass, we pray, through your land'; but the king of Edom would not listen. And they sent also to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained at Kadesh.
[18] Then they journeyed through the wilderness, and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and arrived on the east side of the land of Moab, and camped on the other side of the Arnon; but they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab.
[19] Israel then sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, `Let us pass, we pray, through your land to our country.'
[20] But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory; so Sihon gathered all his people together, and encamped at Jahaz, and fought with Israel.
[21] And the LORD, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them; so Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country.
[22] And they took possession of all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.
[23] So then the LORD, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel; and are you to take possession of them?
[24] Will you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? And all that the LORD our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess.
[25] Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever go to war with them?
[26] While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aro'er and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, three hundred years, why did you not recover them within that time?
[27] I therefore have not sinned against you, and you do me wrong by making war on me; the LORD, the Judge, decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon."
[28] But the king of the Ammonites did not heed the message of Jephthah which he sent to him.
[29] Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manas'seh, and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites.
[30] And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD, and said, "If thou wilt give the Ammonites into my hand,
[31] then whoever comes forth from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return victorious from the Ammonites, shall be the LORD's, and I will offer him up for a burnt offering."
[32] So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them; and the LORD gave them into his hand.
[33] And he smote them from Aro'er to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a very great slaughter. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel.
[34] Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah; and behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances; she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.
[35] And when he saw her, he rent his clothes, and said, "Alas, my daughter! you have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me; for I have opened my mouth to the LORD, and I cannot take back my vow."
[36] And she said to him, "My father, if you have opened your mouth to the LORD, do to me according to what has gone forth from your mouth, now that the LORD has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites."
[37] And she said to her father, "Let this thing be done for me; let me alone two months, that I may go and wander on the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my companions."
[38] 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.
[39] And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had made. She had never known a man. And it became a custom in Israel
[40] that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.

Judg.12

[1] The men of E'phraim were called to arms, and they crossed to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, "Why did you cross over to fight against the Ammonites, and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house over you with fire."
[2] And Jephthah said to them, "I and my people had a great feud with the Ammonites; and when I called you, you did not deliver me from their hand.
[3] And when I saw that you would not deliver me, I took my life in my hand, and crossed over against the Ammonites, and the LORD gave them into my hand; why then have you come up to me this day, to fight against me?"
[4] Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought with E'phraim; and the men of Gilead smote E'phraim, because they said, "You are fugitives of E'phraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of E'phraim and Manas'seh."
[5] And the Gileadites took the fords of the Jordan against the E'phraimites. And when any of the fugitives of E'phraim said, "Let me go over," the men of Gilead said to him, "Are you an E'phraimite?" When he said, "No,"
[6] they said to him, "Then say Shibboleth," and he said, "Sibboleth," for he could not pronounce it right; then they seized him and slew him at the fords of the Jordan. And there fell at that time forty-two thousand of the E'phraimites.
[7] Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died, and was buried in his city in Gilead.
[8] After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.
[9] He had thirty sons; and thirty daughters he gave in marriage outside his clan, and thirty daughters he brought in from outside for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years.
[10] Then Ibzan died, and was buried at Bethlehem.
[11] After him Elon the Zeb'ulunite judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years.
[12] Then Elon the Zeb'ulunite died, and was buried at Ai'jalon in the land of Zeb'ulun.
[13] After him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pira'thonite judged Israel.
[14] He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy asses; and he judged Israel eight years.
[15] Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pira'thonite died, and was buried at Pira'thon in the land of E'phraim, in the hill country of the Amal'ekites.

Judg.13

[1] And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.
[2] And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Mano'ah; and his wife was barren and had no children.
[3] And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, "Behold, you are barren and have no children; but you shall conceive and bear a son.
[4] Therefore beware, and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean,
[5] for lo, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from birth; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines."
[6] Then the woman came and told her husband, "A man of God came to me, and his countenance was like the countenance of the angel of God, very terrible; I did not ask him whence he was, and he did not tell me his name;
[7] but he said to me, `Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son; so then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from birth to the day of his death.'"
[8] Then Mano'ah entreated the LORD, and said, "O, LORD, I pray thee, let the man of God whom thou didst send come again to us, and teach us what we are to do with the boy that will be born."
[9] And God listened to the voice of Mano'ah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field; but Mano'ah her husband was not with her.
[10] And the woman ran in haste and told her husband, "Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me."
[11] And Mano'ah arose and went after his wife, and came to the man and said to him, "Are you the man who spoke to this woman?" And he said, "I am."
[12] And Mano'ah said, "Now when your words come true, what is to be the boy's manner of life, and what is he to do?"
[13] And the angel of the LORD said to Mano'ah, "Of all that I said to the woman let her beware.
[14] She may not eat of anything that comes from the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, or eat any unclean thing; all that I commanded her let her observe."
[15] Mano'ah said to the angel of the LORD, "Pray, let us detain you, and prepare a kid for you."
[16] And the angel of the LORD said to Mano'ah, "If you detain me, I will not eat of your food; but if you make ready a burnt offering, then offer it to the LORD." (For Mano'ah did not know that he was the angel of the LORD.)
[17] And Mano'ah said to the angel of the LORD, "What is your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?"
[18] And the angel of the LORD said to him, "Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?"
[19] So Mano'ah took the kid with the cereal offering, and offered it upon the rock to the LORD, to him who works wonders.
[20] And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar while Mano'ah and his wife looked on; and they fell on their faces to the ground.
[21] The angel of the LORD appeared no more to Mano'ah and to his wife. Then Mano'ah knew that he was the angel of the LORD.
[22] And Mano'ah said to his wife, "We shall surely die, for we have seen God."
[23] But his wife said to him, "If the LORD had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a cereal offering at our hands, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such things as these."
[24] And the woman bore a son, and called his name Samson; and the boy grew, and the LORD blessed him.
[25] And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him in Ma'haneh-dan, between Zorah and Esh'ta-ol.

Judg.14

[1] Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines.
[2] Then he came up, and told his father and mother, "I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah; now get her for me as my wife."
[3] But his father and mother said to him, "Is there not a woman among the daughters of your kinsmen, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?" But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me; for she pleases me well."
[4] His father and mother did not know that it was from the LORD; for he was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.
[5] Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah, and he came to the vineyards of Timnah. And behold, a young lion roared against him;
[6] and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion asunder as one tears a kid; and he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.
[7] Then he went down and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.
[8] And after a while he returned to take her; and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey.
[9] He scraped it out into his hands, and went on, eating as he went; and he came to his father and mother, and gave some to them, and they ate. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the carcass of the lion.
[10] And his father went down to the woman, and Samson made a feast there; for so the young men used to do.
[11] And when the people saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.
[12] And Samson said to them, "Let me now put a riddle to you; if you can tell me what it is, within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty festal garments;
[13] but if you cannot tell me what it is, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty festal garments." And they said to him, "Put your riddle, that we may hear it."
[14] And he said to them, "Out of the eater came something to eat.
Out of the strong came something sweet."
And they could not in three days tell what the riddle was.
[15] On the fourth day they said to Samson's wife, "Entice your husband to tell us what the riddle is, lest we burn you and your father's house with fire. Have you invited us here to impoverish us?"
[16] And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, "You only hate me, you do not love me; you have put a riddle to my countrymen, and you have not told me what it is." And he said to her, "Behold, I have not told my father nor my mother, and shall I tell you?"
[17] She wept before him the seven days that their feast lasted; and on the seventh day he told her, because she pressed him hard. Then she told the riddle to her countrymen.
[18] And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, "What is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?"
And he said to them, "If you had not plowed with my heifer,
you would not have found out my riddle."
[19] And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he went down to Ash'kelon and killed thirty men of the town, and took their spoil and gave the festal garments to those who had told the riddle. In hot anger he went back to his father's house.
[20] And Samson's wife was given to his companion, who had been his best man.

Judg.15

[1] After a while, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife with a kid; and he said, "I will go in to my wife in the chamber." But her father would not allow him to go in.
[2] And her father said, "I really thought that you utterly hated her; so I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister fairer than she? Pray take her instead."
[3] And Samson said to them, "This time I shall be blameless in regard to the Philistines, when I do them mischief."
[4] So Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches; and he turned them tail to tail, and put a torch between each pair of tails.
[5] And when he had set fire to the torches, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burned up the shocks and the standing grain, as well as the olive orchards.
[6] Then the Philistines said, "Who has done this?" And they said, "Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion." And the Philistines came up, and burned her and her father with fire.
[7] And Samson said to them, "If this is what you do, I swear I will be avenged upon you, and after that I will quit."
[8] And he smote them hip and thigh with great slaughter; and he went down and stayed in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
[9] Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah, and made a raid on Lehi.
[10] And the men of Judah said, "Why have you come up against us?" They said, "We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he did to us."
[11] Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, "Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?" And he said to them, "As they did to me, so have I done to them."
[12] And they said to him, "We have come down to bind you, that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines." And Samson said to them, "Swear to me that you will not fall upon me yourselves."
[13] They said to him, "No; we will only bind you and give you into their hands; we will not kill you." So they bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock.
[14] When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him; and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the ropes which were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands.
[15] And he found a fresh jawbone of an ass, and put out his hand and seized it, and with it he slew a thousand men.
[16] And Samson said, "With the jawbone of an ass,
heaps upon heaps,
with the jawbone of an ass
have I slain a thousand men."
[17] When he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand; and that place was called Ra'math-le'hi.
[18] And he was very thirsty, and he called on the LORD and said, "Thou hast granted this great deliverance by the hand of thy servant; and shall I now die of thirst, and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?"
[19] And God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and there came water from it; and when he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore the name of it was called En-hakkor'e; it is at Lehi to this day.
[20] And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

Judg.16

[1] Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a harlot, and he went in to her.
[2] The Gazites were told, "Samson has come here," and they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night, saying, "Let us wait till the light of the morning; then we will kill him."
[3] But Samson lay till midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that is before Hebron.
[4] After this he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Deli'lah.
[5] And the lords of the Philistines came to her and said to her, "Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to subdue him; and we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver."
[6] And Deli'lah said to Samson, "Please tell me wherein your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you."
[7] And Samson said to her, "If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings which have not been dried, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man."
[8] Then the lords of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.
[9] Now she had men lying in wait in an inner chamber. And she said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" But he snapped the bowstrings, as a string of tow snaps when it touches the fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.
[10] And Deli'lah said to Samson, "Behold, you have mocked me, and told me lies; please tell me how you might be bound."
[11] And he said to her, "If they bind me with new ropes that have not been used, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man."
[12] So Deli'lah took new ropes and bound him with them, and said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" And the men lying in wait were in an inner chamber. But he snapped the ropes off his arms like a thread.
[13] And Deli'lah said to Samson, "Until now you have mocked me, and told me lies; tell me how you might be bound." And he said to her, "If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web and make it tight with the pin, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man."
[14] So while he slept, Deli'lah took the seven locks of his head and wove them into the web. And she made them tight with the pin, and said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" But he awoke from his sleep, and pulled away the pin, the loom, and the web.
[15] And she said to him, "How can you say, `I love you,' when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me wherein your great strength lies."
[16] And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death.
[17] And he told her all his mind, and said to her, "A razor has never come upon my head; for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If I be shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man."
[18] When Deli'lah saw that he had told her all his mind, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, "Come up this once, for he has told me all his mind." Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought the money in their hands.
[19] She made him sleep upon her knees; and she called a man, and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him.
[20] And she said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" And he awoke from his sleep, and said, "I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free." And he did not know that the LORD had left him.
[21] And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with bronze fetters; and he ground at the mill in the prison.
[22] But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.
[23] Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice; for they said, "Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand."
[24] And when the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, "Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has slain many of us."
[25] And when their hearts were merry, they said, "Call Samson, that he may make sport for us." So they called Samson out of the prison, and he made sport before them. They made him stand between the pillars;
[26] and Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, "Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them."
[27] Now the house was full of men and women; all the lords of the Philistines were there, and on the roof there were about three thousand men and women, who looked on while Samson made sport.
[28] Then Samson called to the LORD and said, "O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be avenged upon the Philistines for one of my two eyes."
[29] And Samson grasped the two middle pillars upon which the house rested, and he leaned his weight upon them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other.
[30] And Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines." Then he bowed with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people that were in it. So the dead whom he slew at his death were more than those whom he had slain during his life.
[31] Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Esh'ta-ol in the tomb of Mano'ah his father. He had judged Israel twenty years.

Judg.17

[1] There was a man of the hill country of E'phraim, whose name was Micah.
[2] And he said to his mother, "The eleven hundred pieces of silver which were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it." And his mother said, "Blessed be my son by the LORD."
[3] And he restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother; and his mother said, "I consecrate the silver to the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image; now therefore I will restore it to you."
[4] So when he restored the money to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into a graven image and a molten image; and it was in the house of Micah.
[5] And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and teraphim, and installed one of his sons, who became his priest.
[6] In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.
[7] Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he sojourned there.
[8] And the man departed from the town of Bethlehem in Judah, to live where he could find a place; and as he journeyed, he came to the hill country of E'phraim to the house of Micah.
[9] And Micah said to him, "From where do you come?" And he said to him, "I am a Levite of Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to sojourn where I may find a place."
[10] And Micah said to him, "Stay with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, and a suit of apparel, and your living."
[11] And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man became to him like one of his sons.
[12] And Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.
[13] Then Micah said, "Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest."

Judg.18

[1] In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking for itself an inheritance to dwell in; for until then no inheritance among the tribes of Israel had fallen to them.
[2] So the Danites sent five able men from the whole number of their tribe, from Zorah and from Esh'ta-ol, to spy out the land and to explore it; and they said to them, "Go and explore the land." And they came to the hill country of E'phraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there.
[3] When they were by the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite; and they turned aside and said to him, "Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?"
[4] And he said to them, "Thus and thus has Micah dealt with me: he has hired me, and I have become his priest."
[5] And they said to him, "Inquire of God, we pray thee, that we may know whether the journey on which we are setting out will succeed."
[6] And the priest said to them, "Go in peace. The journey on which you go is under the eye of the LORD."
[7] Then the five men departed, and came to La'ish, and saw the people who were there, how they dwelt in security, after the manner of the Sido'nians, quiet and unsuspecting, lacking nothing that is in the earth, and possessing wealth, and how they were far from the Sido'nians and had no dealings with any one.
[8] And when they came to their brethren at Zorah and Esh'ta-ol, their brethren said to them, "What do you report?"
[9] They said, "Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very fertile. And will you do nothing? Do not be slow to go, and enter in and possess the land.
[10] When you go, you will come to an unsuspecting people. The land is broad; yea, God has given it into your hands, a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth."
[11] And six hundred men of the tribe of Dan, armed with weapons of war, set forth from Zorah and Esh'ta-ol,
[12] and went up and encamped at Kir'iath-je'arim in Judah. On this account that place is called Ma'haneh-dan to this day; behold, it is west of Kir'iath-je'arim.
[13] And they passed on from there to the hill country of E'phraim, and came to the house of Micah.
[14] Then the five men who had gone to spy out the country of La'ish said to their brethren, "Do you know that in these houses there are an ephod, teraphim, a graven image, and a molten image? Now therefore consider what you will do."
[15] And they turned aside thither, and came to the house of the young Levite, at the home of Micah, and asked him of his welfare.
[16] Now the six hundred men of the Danites, armed with their weapons of war, stood by the entrance of the gate;
[17] and the five men who had gone to spy out the land went up, and entered and took the graven image, the ephod, the teraphim, and the molten image, while the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war.
[18] And when these went into Micah's house and took the graven image, the ephod, the teraphim, and the molten image, the priest said to them, "What are you doing?"
[19] And they said to him, "Keep quiet, put your hand upon your mouth, and come with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and family in Israel?"
[20] And the priest's heart was glad; he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people.
[21] So they turned and departed, putting the little ones and the cattle and the goods in front of them.
[22] When they were a good way from the home of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah's house were called out, and they overtook the Danites.
[23] And they shouted to the Danites, who turned round and said to Micah, "What ails you that you come with such a company?"
[24] And he said, "You take my gods which I made, and the priest, and go away, and what have I left? How then do you ask me, `What ails you?'"
[25] And the Danites said to him, "Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall upon you, and you lose your life with the lives of your household."
[26] Then the Danites went their way; and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his home.
[27] And taking what Micah had made, and the priest who belonged to him, the Danites came to La'ish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting, and smote them with the edge of the sword, and burned the city with fire.
[28] And there was no deliverer because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with any one. It was in the valley which belongs to Beth-rehob. And they rebuilt the city, and dwelt in it.
[29] And they named the city Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor, who was born to Israel; but the name of the city was La'ish at the first.
[30] And the Danites set up the graven image for themselves; and Jonathan the son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land.
[31] So they set up Micah's graven image which he made, as long as the house of God was at Shiloh.

Judg.19

[1] In those days, when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was sojourning in the remote parts of the hill country of E'phraim, who took to himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
[2] And his concubine became angry with him, and she went away from him to her father's house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there some four months.
[3] Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He had with him his servant and a couple of asses. And he came to her father's house; and when the girl's father saw him, he came with joy to meet him.
[4] And his father-in-law, the girl's father, made him stay, and he remained with him three days; so they ate and drank, and lodged there.
[5] And on the fourth day they arose early in the morning, and he prepared to go; but the girl's father said to his son-in-law, "Strengthen your heart with a morsel of bread, and after that you may go."
[6] So the two men sat and ate and drank together; and the girl's father said to the man, "Be pleased to spend the night, and let your heart be merry."
[7] And when the man rose up to go, his father-in-law urged him, till he lodged there again.
[8] And on the fifth day he arose early in the morning to depart; and the girl's father said, "Strengthen your heart, and tarry until the day declines." So they ate, both of them.
[9] 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."
[10] But the man would not spend the night; he rose up and departed, and arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). He had with him a couple of saddled asses, and his concubine was with him.
[11] When they were near Jebus, the day was far spent, and the servant said to his master, "Come now, let us turn aside to this city of the Jeb'usites, and spend the night in it."
[12] And his master said to him, "We will not turn aside into the city of foreigners, who do not belong to the people of Israel; but we will pass on to Gib'e-ah."
[13] And he said to his servant, "Come and let us draw near to one of these places, and spend the night at Gib'e-ah or at Ramah."
[14] So they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down on them near Gib'e-ah, which belongs to Benjamin,
[15] and they turned aside there, to go in and spend the night at Gib'e-ah. And he went in and sat down in the open square of the city; for no man took them into his house to spend the night.
[16] And behold, an old man was coming from his work in the field at evening; the man was from the hill country of E'phraim, and he was sojourning in Gib'e-ah; the men of the place were Benjaminites.
[17] And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the wayfarer in the open square of the city; and the old man said, "Where are you going? and whence do you come?"
[18] And he said to him, "We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote parts of the hill country of E'phraim, from which I come. I went to Bethlehem in Judah; and I am going to my home; and nobody takes me into his house.
[19] We have straw and provender for our asses, with bread and wine for me and your maidservant and the young man with your servants; there is no lack of anything."
[20] And the old man said, "Peace be to you; I will care for all your wants; only, do not spend the night in the square."
[21] So he brought him into his house, and gave the asses provender; and they washed their feet, and ate and drank.
[22] As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, base fellows, beset the house round about, beating on the door; and they said to the old man, the master of the house, "Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him."
[23] And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, "No, my brethren, do not act so wickedly; seeing that this man has come into my house, do not do this vile thing.
[24] 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."
[25] But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine, and put her out to them; and they knew her, and abused her all night until the morning. And as the dawn began to break, they let her go.
[26] And as morning appeared, the woman came and fell down at the door of the man's house where her master was, till it was light.
[27] And her master rose up in the morning, and when he opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, behold, there was his concubine lying at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold.
[28] He said to her, "Get up, let us be going." But there was no answer. Then he put her upon the ass; and the man rose up and went away to his home.
[29] And when he entered his house, he took a knife, and laying hold of his concubine he divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel.
[30] And all who saw it said, "Such a thing has never happened or been seen from the day that the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day; consider it, take counsel, and speak."

Judg.20

[1] Then all the people of Israel came out, from Dan to Beer-sheba, including the land of Gilead, and the congregation assembled as one man to the LORD at Mizpah.
[2] And the chiefs of all the people, of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand men on foot that drew the sword.
[3] (Now the Benjaminites heard that the people of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the people of Israel said, "Tell us, how was this wickedness brought to pass?"
[4] And the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, "I came to Gib'e-ah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night.
[5] And the men of Gib'e-ah rose against me, and beset the house round about me by night; they meant to kill me, and they ravished my concubine, and she is dead.
[6] And I took my concubine and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel; for they have committed abomination and wantonness in Israel.
[7] Behold, you people of Israel, all of you, give your advice and counsel here."
[8] And all the people arose as one man, saying, "We will not any of us go to his tent, and none of us will return to his house.
[9] But now this is what we will do to Gib'e-ah: we will go up against it by lot,
[10] and we will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand of ten thousand, to bring provisions for the people, that when they come they may requite Gib'e-ah of Benjamin, for all the wanton crime which they have committed in Israel."
[11] So all the men of Israel gathered against the city, united as one man.
[12] And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, "What wickedness is this that has taken place among you?
[13] Now therefore give up the men, the base fellows in Gib'e-ah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel." But the Benjaminites would not listen to the voice of their brethren, the people of Israel.
[14] And the Benjaminites came together out of the cities to Gib'e-ah, to go out to battle against the people of Israel.
[15] And the Benjaminites mustered out of their cities on that day twenty-six thousand men that drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gib'e-ah, who mustered seven hundred picked men.
[16] Among all these were seven hundred picked men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair, and not miss.
[17] And the men of Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand men that drew sword; all these were men of war.
[18] The people of Israel arose and went up to Bethel, and inquired of God, "Which of us shall go up first to battle against the Benjaminites?" And the LORD said, "Judah shall go up first."
[19] Then the people of Israel rose in the morning, and encamped against Gib'e-ah.
[20] And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin; and the men of Israel drew up the battle line against them at Gib'e-ah.
[21] The Benjaminites came out of Gib'e-ah, and felled to the ground on that day twenty-two thousand men of the Israelites.
[22] But the people, the men of Israel, took courage, and again formed the battle line in the same place where they had formed it on the first day.
[23] And the people of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until the evening; and they inquired of the LORD, "Shall we again draw near to battle against our brethren the Benjaminites?" And the LORD said, "Go up against them."
[24] So the people of Israel came near against the Benjaminites the second day.
[25] And Benjamin went against them out of Gib'e-ah the second day, and felled to the ground eighteen thousand men of the people of Israel; all these were men who drew the sword.
[26] Then all the people of Israel, the whole army, went up and came to Bethel and wept; they sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until evening, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
[27] And the people of Israel inquired of the LORD (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,
[28] and Phin'ehas the son of Elea'zar, son of Aaron, ministered before it in those days), saying, "Shall we yet again go out to battle against our brethren the Benjaminites, or shall we cease?" And the LORD said, "Go up; for tomorrow I will give them into your hand."
[29] So Israel set men in ambush round about Gib'e-ah.
[30] And the people of Israel went up against the Benjaminites on the third day, and set themselves in array against Gib'e-ah, as at other times.
[31] And the Benjaminites went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and as at other times they began to smite and kill some of the people, in the highways, one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gib'e-ah, and in the open country, about thirty men of Israel.
[32] And the Benjaminites said, "They are routed before us, as at the first." But the men of Israel said, "Let us flee, and draw them away from the city to the highways."
[33] And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place, and set themselves in array at Ba'al-ta'mar; and the men of Israel who were in ambush rushed out of their place west of Geba.
[34] And there came against Gib'e-ah ten thousand picked men out of all Israel, and the battle was hard; but the Benjaminites did not know that disaster was close upon them.
[35] And the LORD defeated Benjamin before Israel; and the men of Israel destroyed twenty-five thousand one hundred men of Benjamin that day; all these were men who drew the sword.
[36] So the Benjaminites saw that they were defeated. The men of Israel gave ground to Benjamin, because they trusted to the men in ambush whom they had set against Gib'e-ah.
[37] And the men in ambush made haste and rushed upon Gib'e-ah; the men in ambush moved out and smote all the city with the edge of the sword.
[38] Now the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in ambush was that when they made a great cloud of smoke rise up out of the city
[39] the men of Israel should turn in battle. Now Benjamin had begun to smite and kill about thirty men of Israel; they said, "Surely they are smitten down before us, as in the first battle."
[40] But when the signal began to rise out of the city in a column of smoke, the Benjaminites looked behind them; and behold, the whole of the city went up in smoke to heaven.
[41] Then the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were dismayed, for they saw that disaster was close upon them.
[42] Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel in the direction of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them, and those who came out of the cities destroyed them in the midst of them.
[43] Cutting down the Benjaminites, they pursued them and trod them down from Nohah as far as opposite Gib'e-ah on the east.
[44] Eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell, all of them men of valor.
[45] And they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon; five thousand men of them were cut down in the highways, and they were pursued hard to Gidom, and two thousand men of them were slain.
[46] So all who fell that day of Benjamin were twenty-five thousand men that drew the sword, all of them men of valor.
[47] But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and abode at the rock of Rimmon four months.
[48] And the men of Israel turned back against the Benjaminites, and smote them with the edge of the sword, men and beasts and all that they found. And all the towns which they found they set on fire.

Judg.21