⁷When the sons of Israel cried to the LORD on account of the Mid'ianites, ⁸the LORD sent a prophet to the sons of Israel; and he said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt, and brought you out of the house of bondage; ⁹and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you, and gave you their land; ¹⁰and I said to you, ‘I am the LORD your God; you shall not pay reverence to the gods of the Am'orites, in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not given heed to my voice.”

¹¹Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak at Oph'rah, which belonged to Jo'ash the Abiez'rite, as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Mid'ianites. ¹²And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor.” ¹³And Gideon said to him, “Please, sir, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this befallen us? And where are all his wonderful deeds which our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has cast us off, and given us into the hand of Mid'ian.” ¹⁴And the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Mid'ian; do not I send you?” ¹⁵And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manas'seh, and I am the least in my family.” ¹⁶And the LORD said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Mid'ianites as one man.” ¹⁷And he said to him, “If now I have found favor with you, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. ¹⁸Do not depart from here, I beg you, until I come to you, and bring out my present, and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.”

¹⁹So Gideon went into his house and prepared a kid, and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour; the meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the oak and presented them. ²⁰And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them.” And he did so. ²¹Then the angel of the LORD reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and there sprang up fire from the rock and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight. ²²Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the LORD; and Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face.” ²³But the LORD said to him, “Peace be to you; do not fear, you shall not die.” ²⁴Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it, The LORD is peace. To this day it still stands at Oph'rah, which belongs to the Abiez'rites.

²⁵That night the LORD said to him, “Take your father’s bull, the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Ba'al which your father has, and cut down the Ashe'rah that is beside it; ²⁶and build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order; then take the second bull, and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Ashe'rah which you shall cut down.” ²⁷So Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had told him; but because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night.

²⁸When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Ba'al was broken down, and the Ashe'rah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered upon the altar which had been built. ²⁹And they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And after they had made search and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Jo'ash has done this thing.” ³⁰Then the men of the town said to Jo'ash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has pulled down the altar of Ba'al and cut down the Ashe'rah beside it.” ³¹But Jo'ash said to all who were arrayed against him, “Will you contend for Ba'al? Or will you defend his cause? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been pulled down.” ³²Therefore on that day he was called Jerubba'al, that is to say, “Let Ba'al contend against him,” because he pulled down his altar.

³³Then all the Mid'ianites and the Amal'ekites and the people of the East came together, and crossing the Jordan they encamped in the Valley of Jezre'el. ³⁴But the Spirit of the LORD took possession of Gideon; and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiez'rites were called out to follow him. ³⁵And he sent messengers throughout all Manas'seh; and they too were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers to Asher, Zeb'ulun, and Naph'tali; and they went up to meet them.

³⁶Then Gideon said to God, “If you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said, ³⁷behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said.” ³⁸And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. ³⁹Then Gideon said to God, “Let not your anger burn against me, let me speak but this once; please, let me make trial only this once with the fleece; please, let it be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew.” ⁴⁰And God did so that night; for it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.

²The LORD said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Mid'ianites into their hand, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, ‘My own hand has delivered me.’ ³Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home.’” And Gideon tested them;ⁱ twenty-two thousand returned, and ten thousand remained.

⁴And the LORD said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; take them down to the water and I will test them for you there; and he of whom I say to you, ‘This man shall go with you,’ shall go with you; and any of whom I say to you, ‘This man shall not go with you,’ shall not go.” ⁵So he brought the people down to the water; and the LORD said to Gideon, “Every one that laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself; likewise every one that kneels down to drink.” ⁶And the number of those that lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. ⁷And the LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will deliver you and give the Mid'ianites into your hand; and let all the others go every man to his home.” ⁸So he took the jars of the people from their hands,^j and their trumpets; and he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the three hundred men; and the camp of Mid'ian was below him in the valley.

⁹That same night the LORD said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp; for I have given it into your hand. ¹⁰But if you fear to go down, go down to the camp with Pu'rah your servant; ¹¹and you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Pu'rah his servant to the outposts of the armed men that were in the camp. ¹²And the Mid'ianites and the Amal'ekites and all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand which is upon the seashore for multitude. ¹³When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade; and he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream; and a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Mid'ian, and came to the tent, and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.” ¹⁴And his comrade answered, “This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Jo'ash, a man of Israel; into his hand God has given Mid'ian and all the host.”

¹⁵When Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped; and he returned to the camp of Israel, and said, “Arise; for the LORD has given the host of Mid'ian into your hand.” ¹⁶And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with torches inside the jars. ¹⁷And he said to them, “Look at me, and do likewise; when I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. ¹⁸When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and shout, ‘For the LORD and for Gideon.’”

¹⁹So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch; and they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands. ²⁰And the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars, holding in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow; and they cried, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!” ²¹They stood every man in his place round about the camp, and all the army ran; they cried out and fled. ²²When they blew the three hundred trumpets, the LORD set every man’s sword against his fellow and against all the army; and the army fled as far as Beth-shit'tah toward Zer'erah,^k as far as the border of Abel-meho'lah, by Tabbath. ²³And the men of Israel were called out from Naph'tali and from Asher and from all Manas'seh, and they pursued after Mid'ian.

²⁴And Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of E'phraim, saying, “Come down against the Mid'ianites and seize the waters against them, as far as Beth-bar'ah, and also the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they seized the waters as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan. ²⁵And they took the two princes of Mid'ian, Or'eb and Ze'eb; they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the wine press of Zeeb, as they pursued Midian; and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan.

⁴And Gideon came to the Jordan and passed over, he and the three hundred men who were with him, faint yet pursuing. ⁵So he said to the men of Succoth, “Please, give loaves of bread to the people who follow me; for they are faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmun'na, the kings of Mid'ian.” ⁶And the officials of Succoth said, “Are Zebah and Zalmun'na already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?” ⁷And Gideon said, “Well then, when the LORD has given Zebah and Zalmun'na into my hand, I will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.” ⁸And from there he went up to Penu'el, and spoke to them in the same way; and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. ⁹And he said to the men of Penu'el, “When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.”

¹⁰Now Zebah and Zalmun'na were in Karkor with their army, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of all the army of the people of the East; for there had fallen a hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword. ¹¹And Gideon went up by the caravan route east of No'bah and Jog'behah, and attacked the army; for the army was off its guard. ¹²And Zebah and Zalmun'na fled; and he pursued them and took the two kings of Mid'ian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw all the army into a panic.

¹³Then Gideon the son of Jo'ash returned from the battle by the ascent of He'res. ¹⁴And he caught a young man of Succoth, and questioned him; and he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men. ¹⁵And he came to the men of Succoth, and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmun'na, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are faint?’” ¹⁶And he took the elders of the city and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth. ¹⁷And he broke down the tower of Penu'el, and slew the men of the city.

¹⁸Then he said to Zebah and Zalmun'na, “Where are the men whom you slew at Ta'bor?” They answered, “As you are, so were they, every one of them; they resembled the sons of a king.” ¹⁹And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother; as the LORD lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not slay you.” ²⁰And he said to Je'ther his first-born, “Rise, and slay them.” But the youth did not draw his sword; for he was afraid, because he was still a youth. ²¹Then Zebah and Zalmun'na said, “Rise yourself, and fall upon us; for as the man is, so is his strength.” And Gideon arose and slew Zebah and Zalmunna; and he took the crescents that were on the necks of their camels.

²²Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also; for you have delivered us out of the hand of Mid'ian.” ²³Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the LORD will rule over you.”* ²⁴And 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.) ²⁵And they answered, “We will willingly give them.” And they spread a garment, and every man cast in it the earrings of his spoil. ²⁶And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold; besides the crescents and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Mid'ian, and besides the collars that were about the necks of their camels. ²⁷And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Oph'rah; and all Israel played the harlot after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family. ²⁸So Mid'ian was subdued before the sons of Israel, and they lifted up their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.

²⁹Jerubba'al the son of Jo'ash went and dwelt in his own house. ³⁰Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives. ³¹And his concubine who was in She'chem also bore him a son, and he called his name Abim'elech. ³²And Gideon the son of Jo'ash died in a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Jo'ash his father, at Oph'rah of the Abiez'rites.

³³As soon as Gideon died, the sons of Israel turned again and played the harlot after the Ba'als, and made Ba'al-be'rith their god. ³⁴And the sons of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had rescued them from the hand of all their enemies on every side; ³⁵and they did not show kindness to the family of Jerubba'al (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.

⁷When it was told to Jo'tham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Ger'izim, and cried aloud and said to them, “Listen to me, you men of She'chem, that God may listen to you. ⁸The trees once went forth to anoint a king over them; and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’ ⁹But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my fatness, by which gods and men are honored, and go to sway over the trees?’ ¹⁰And the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come you, and reign over us.’ ¹¹But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to sway over the trees?’ ¹²And the trees said to the vine, ‘Come you, and reign over us.’ ¹³But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my wine which cheers gods and men, and go to sway over the trees?’ ¹⁴Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘Come you, and reign over us.’ ¹⁵And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’

¹⁶“Now therefore, if you acted in good faith and honor when you made Abim'elech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubba'al and his house, and have done to him as his deeds deserved—¹⁷for my father fought for you, and risked his life, and rescued you from the hand of Mid'ian; ¹⁸and you have risen up against my father’s house this day, and have slain his sons, seventy men on one stone, and have made Abim'elech, the son of his maidservant, king over the citizens of She'chem, because he is your kinsman—¹⁹if you then have acted in good faith and honor with Jerubba'al and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abim'elech, and let him also rejoice in you; ²⁰but if not, let fire come out from Abim'elech, and devour the citizens of She'chem, and Beth-mil'lo; and let fire come out from the citizens of Shechem, and from Beth-millo, and devour Abimelech.” ²¹And Jo'tham ran away and fled, and went to Be'er and dwelt there, for fear of Abim'elech his brother.

²²Abim'elech ruled over Israel three years. ²³And God sent an evil spirit between Abim'elech and the men of She'chem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech; ²⁴that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubba'al might come and their blood be laid upon Abim'elech their brother, who slew them, and upon the men of She'chem, who strengthened his hands to slay his brothers. ²⁵And the men of She'chem put men in ambush against him on the mountain tops, and they robbed all who passed by them along that way; and it was told Abim'elech.

²⁶And Ga'al the son of E'bed moved into She'chem with his kinsmen; and the men of Shechem put confidence in him. ²⁷And they went out into the field, and gathered the grapes from their vineyards and trod them, and held festival, and went into the house of their god, and ate and drank and reviled Abim'elech. ²⁸And Ga'al the son of E'bed said, “Who is Abim'elech, and who are we of She'chem, that we should serve him? Did not the son of Jerubba'al and Ze'bul his officer serve the men of Ha'mor the father of Shechem? Why then should we serve him? ²⁹Would that this people were under my hand! then I would remove Abim'elech. I would say^l to Abimelech, ‘Increase your army, and come out.’”

³⁰When Ze'bul the ruler of the city heard the words of Ga'al the son of E'bed, his anger was kindled. ³¹And he sent messengers to Abim'elech at Aru'mah,^m saying, “Behold, Ga'al the son of E'bed and his kinsmen have come to She'chem, and they are stirring upⁿ the city against you. ³²Now therefore, go by night, you and the men that are with you, and lie in wait in the fields. ³³Then in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, rise early and rush upon the city; and when he and the men that are with him come out against you, you may do to them as occasion offers.”

³⁴And Abim'elech and all the men that were with him rose up by night, and laid wait against She'chem in four companies. ³⁵And Ga'al the son of E'bed went out and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city; and Abim'elech and the men that were with him rose from the ambush. ³⁶And when Ga'al saw the men, he said to Ze'bul, “Look, men are coming down from the mountain tops!” And Zebul said to him, “You see the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.” ³⁷Ga'al spoke again and said, “Look, men are coming down from the center of the land, and one company is coming from the direction of the Diviners’ Oak.” ³⁸Then Ze'bul said to him, “Where is your mouth now, you who said, ‘Who is Abim'elech, that we should serve him?’ Are not these the men whom you despised? Go out now and fight with them.” ³⁹And Ga'al went out at the head of the men of She'chem, and fought with Abim'elech. ⁴⁰And Abim'elech chased him, and he fled before him; and many fell wounded, up to the entrance of the gate. ⁴¹And Abim'elech dwelt at Aru'mah; and Ze'bul drove out Ga'al and his kinsmen, so that they could not live on at She'chem.

⁴²On the following day the men went out into the fields. And Abim'elech was told. ⁴³He took his men and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the fields; and he looked and saw the men coming out of the city, and he rose against them and slew them. ⁴⁴Abim'elech and the company^o that was with him rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the gate of the city, while the two companies rushed upon all who were in the fields and slew them. ⁴⁵And Abim'elech fought against the city all that day; he took the city, and killed the people that were in it; and he razed the city and sowed it with salt.

⁴⁶When all the people of the Tower of She'chem heard of it, they entered the stronghold of the house of El-be'rith. ⁴⁷Abim'elech was told that all the people of the Tower of She'chem were gathered together. ⁴⁸And Abim'elech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the men that were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a bundle of brushwood, and took it up and laid it on his shoulder. And he said to the men that were with him, “What you have seen me do, make haste to do, as I have done.” ⁴⁹So every one of the people cut down his bundle and following Abim'elech put it against the stronghold, and they set the stronghold on fire over them, so that all the people of the Tower of She'chem also died, about a thousand men and women.

⁵⁰Then Abim'elech went to The'bez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it. ⁵¹But there was a strong tower within the city, and all the people of the city fled to it, all the men and women, and shut themselves in; and they went to the roof of the tower. ⁵²And Abim'elech came to the tower, and fought against it, and drew near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire. ⁵³And a certain woman threw an upper millstone upon Abim'elech’s head, and crushed his skull. ⁵⁴Then he called hastily to the young man his armor-bearer, and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, lest men say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’” And his young man thrust him through, and he died. ⁵⁵And when the men of Israel saw that Abim'elech was dead, they departed every man to his home. ⁵⁶Thus God repaid the crime of Abim'elech, which he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers; ⁵⁷and God also made all the wickedness of the men of She'chem fall back upon their heads, and upon them came the curse of Jo'tham the son of Jerubba'al.

³After him arose Ja'ir the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years. ⁴And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys; and they had thirty cities, called Hav'voth-ja'ir to this day, which are in the land of Gilead. ⁵And Ja'ir died, and was buried in Kamon.

⁶And the sons of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Ba'als and the Ash'taroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Am'monites, and the gods of the Philis'tines; and they forsook the LORD, and did not serve him. ⁷And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philis'tines and into the hand of the Am'monites, ⁸and they crushed and oppressed the children of Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the sons of Israel that were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Am'orites, which is in Gilead. ⁹And the Am'monites crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of E'phraim; so that Israel was sorely distressed.

¹⁰And the sons of Israel cried to the LORD, saying, “We have sinned against you, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Ba'als.” ¹¹And the LORD said to the sons of Israel, “Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians and from the Am'orites, from the Am'monites and from the Philis'tines? ¹²The Sido'nians also, and the Amal'ekites, and the Ma'onites, oppressed you; and you cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand. ¹³Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will deliver you no more. ¹⁴Go and cry to the gods whom you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your distress.” ¹⁵And the sons of Israel said to the LORD, “We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you; only deliver us, we beg you, this day.” ¹⁶So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD; and he became indignant over the misery of Israel.

¹⁷Then the Am'monites were called to arms, and they encamped in Gilead; and the sons of Israel came together, and they encamped at Mizpah. ¹⁸And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said one to another, “Who is the man that will begin to fight against the Am'monites? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

⁴After a time the Am'monites made war against Israel. ⁵And when the Am'monites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob; ⁶and they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our leader, that we may fight with the Am'monites.” ⁷But 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?” ⁸And 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 Am'monites, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” ⁹Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight with the Am'monites, and the LORD gives them over to me, I will be your head.” ¹⁰And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD will be witness between us; we will surely do as you say.” ¹¹So 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.

¹²Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Am'monites and said, “What have you against me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?” ¹³And the king of the Am'monites 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.” ¹⁴And Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the Am'monites ¹⁵and said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Am'monites, ¹⁶but when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Ka'desh. ¹⁷Israel then sent messengers to the king of E'dom, saying, ‘Let us pass, we beg, 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 Ka'desh. ¹⁸Then they journeyed through the wilderness, and went around the land of E'dom 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. ¹⁹Israel then sent messengers to Si'hon king of the Am'orites, king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, ‘Let us pass, we beg, through your land to our country.’ ²⁰But Si'hon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory; so Sihon gathered all his people together, and encamped at Ja'haz, and fought with Israel. ²¹And the LORD, the God of Israel, gave Si'hon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them; so Israel took possession of all the land of the Am'orites, who inhabited that country. ²²And they took possession of all the territory of the Am'orites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan. ²³So then the LORD, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Am'orites from before his people Israel; and are you to take possession of them? ²⁴Will you not possess what Che'mosh your god gives you to possess? And all that the LORD our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess. ²⁵Now 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? ²⁶While 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? ²⁷I 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 sons of Israel and the people of Ammon.” ²⁸But the king of the Am'monites did not heed the message of Jephthah which he sent to him.

²⁹Then 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 Am'monites. ³⁰And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD, and said, “If you will give the Am'monites into my hand, ³¹then whoever comes forth from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return victorious from the Am'monites, shall be the LORD’s, and I will offer him up for a burnt offering.” ³²So Jephthah crossed over to the Am'monites to fight against them; and the LORD gave them into his hand. ³³And he struck them from Aro'er to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as A'bel-ker'amim, with a very great slaughter. So the Am'monites were subdued before the sons of Israel.

³⁴Then 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. ³⁵And when he saw her, he tore 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.” ³⁶And 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 Am'monites.” ³⁷And she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me; let me alone two months, that I may go and wander^p on the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my companions.” ³⁸And 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. ³⁹And 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 ⁴⁰that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.

⁷Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died, and was buried in his city in Gilead.^q

⁸After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. ⁹He 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. ¹⁰Then Ibzan died, and was buried at Bethlehem.

¹¹After him E'lon the Zeb'ulunite judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years. ¹²Then E'lon the Zeb'ulunite died, and was buried at Ai'jalon in the land of Zeb'ulun.

¹³After him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pir'athonite judged Israel. ¹⁴He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys; and he judged Israel eight years. ¹⁵Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pir'athonite died, and was buried at Pir'athon in the land of E'phraim, in the hill country of the Amal'ekites.

⁸Then Mano'ah entreated the LORD, and said, “O, LORD, I beg you, let the man of God whom you sent come again to us, and teach us what we are to do with the boy that will be born.” ⁹And 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 Manoah her husband was not with her. ¹⁰And the woman ran in haste and told her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me.” ¹¹And 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.” ¹²And 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?” ¹³And the angel of the LORD said to Mano'ah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her beware. ¹⁴She 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.”

¹⁵Mano'ah said to the angel of the LORD, “Please, let us detain you, and prepare a kid for you.” ¹⁶And 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 Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the LORD.) ¹⁷And Mano'ah said to the angel of the LORD, “What is your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?” ¹⁸And the angel of the LORD said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?” ¹⁹So Mano'ah took the kid with the cereal offering, and offered it upon the rock to the LORD, to him who works^r wonders.^{s 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.

²¹The angel of the LORD appeared no more to Mano'ah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the LORD. ²²And Mano'ah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.” ²³But 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.” ²⁴And the woman bore a son, and called his name Samson; and the boy grew, and the LORD blessed him. ²⁵And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him in Ma'haneh-dan, between Zorah and Esh'ta-ol.

⁴His father and mother did not know that it was from the LORD; for he was seeking an occasion against the Philis'tines. At that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

⁵Then 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; ⁶and 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. ⁷Then he went down and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well. ⁸And 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. ⁹He 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.

¹⁰And his father went down to the woman, and Samson made a feast there; for so the young men used to do. ¹¹And when the people saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him. ¹²And 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; ¹³but 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.” ¹⁴And he said to them,

¹⁵On the fourth^t 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?” ¹⁶And 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?” ¹⁷She 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. ¹⁸And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down,

⁹Then the Philis'tines came up and encamped in Judah, and made a raid on Lehi. ¹⁰And 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.” ¹¹Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of E'tam, and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philis'tines 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.” ¹²And they said to him, “We have come down to bind you, that we may give you into the hands of the Philis'tines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not fall upon me yourselves.” ¹³They 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.

¹⁴When he came to Lehi, the Philis'tines 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. ¹⁵And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and seized it, and with it he slew a thousand men. ¹⁶And Samson said,

¹⁸And he was very thirsty, and he called on the LORD and said, “You have granted this great deliverance by the hand of your servant; and shall I now die of thirst, and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” ¹⁹And 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;^v it is at Lehi to this day. ²⁰And he judged Israel in the days of the Philis'tines twenty years.

⁴After this he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Deli'lah. ⁵And the lords of the Philis'tines 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.” ⁶And Deli'lah said to Samson, “Please tell me wherein your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you.” ⁷And 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.” ⁸Then the lords of the Philis'tines brought her seven fresh bowstrings which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. ⁹Now she had men lying in wait in an inner chamber. And she said to him, “The Philis'tines are upon you, Samson!” But he snapped the bowstrings, as a tow line snaps when it touches the fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.

¹⁰And Deli'lah said to Samson, “Behold, you have mocked me, and told me lies; please tell me how you might be bound.” ¹¹And 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.” ¹²So Deli'lah took new ropes and bound him with them, and said to him, “The Philis'tines 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.

¹³And 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.” ¹⁴So while he slept, Deli'lah took the seven locks of his head and wove them into the web.^w And she made them tight with the pin, and said to him, “The Philis'tines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep, and pulled away the pin, the loom, and the web.

¹⁵And 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.” ¹⁶And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death. ¹⁷And he told her all his mind, and said to her, “A razor has never come upon my head; for I have been a Naz'irite 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.”

¹⁸When Deli'lah saw that he had told her all his mind, she sent and called the lords of the Philis'tines, 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. ¹⁹She 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. ²⁰And she said, “The Philis'tines 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. ²¹And the Philis'tines 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. ²²But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

²³Now the lords of the Philis'tines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Da'gon their god, and to rejoice; for they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.” ²⁴And 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.” ²⁵And 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; ²⁶and 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.” ²⁷Now the house was full of men and women; all the lords of the Philis'tines were there, and on the roof there were about three thousand men and women, who looked on while Samson made sport.

²⁸Then Samson called to the LORD and said, “O Lord GOD, remember me, I beg you, and strengthen me, I beg you, only this once, O God, that I may be avenged upon the Philis'tines for one of my two eyes.” ²⁹And 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. ³⁰And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philis'tines.” 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. ³¹Then 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.

⁷Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he sojourned there. ⁸And 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. ⁹And 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.” ¹⁰And 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.”^w2 ¹¹And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man became to him like one of his sons. ¹²And Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. ¹³Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest.”

⁷Then 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^x nothing that is in the earth, and possessing wealth, and how they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with any one. ⁸And when they came to their brethren at Zorah and Esh'ta-ol, their brethren said to them, “What do you report?” ⁹They 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. ¹⁰When you go, you will come to an unsuspecting people. The land is broad; yes, God has given it into your hands, a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.”

¹¹And six hundred men of the tribe of Dan, armed with weapons of war, set forth from Zorah and Esh'ta-ol, ¹²and went up and encamped at Kir'iath-je'arim in Judah. On this account that place is called Ma'haneh-dan^y to this day; behold, it is west of Kiriath-jearim. ¹³And they passed on from there to the hill country of E'phraim, and came to the house of Micah.

¹⁴Then 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.” ¹⁵And they turned aside there, and came to the house of the young Levite, at the home of Micah, and asked him of his welfare. ¹⁶Now the six hundred men of the Da'nites, armed with their weapons of war, stood by the entrance of the gate; ¹⁷and 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. ¹⁸And 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?” ¹⁹And 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?” ²⁰And 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.

²¹So they turned and departed, putting the little ones and the cattle and the goods in front of them. ²²When 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 Da'nites. ²³And they shouted to the Da'nites, who turned round and said to Micah, “What ails you that you come with such a company?” ²⁴And 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?’” ²⁵And the Da'nites 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.” ²⁶Then the Da'nites went their way; and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his home.

²⁷And taking what Micah had made, and the priest who belonged to him, the Da'nites came to La'ish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting, and struck them with the edge of the sword, and burned the city with fire. ²⁸And there was no deliverer because it was far from Si'don, and they had no dealings with any one. It was in the valley which belongs to Beth-re'hob. And they rebuilt the city, and dwelt in it. ²⁹And 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. ³⁰And the Da'nites set up the graven image for themselves; and Jonathan the son of Gershom, son of Moses,^z and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Da'nites until the day of the captivity of the land. ³¹So they set up Micah’s graven image which he made, as long as the house of God was at Shiloh.

¹⁰But the man would not spend the night; he rose up and departed, and arrived opposite Je'bus (that is, Jerusalem). He had with him a couple of saddled donkeys, and his concubine was with him. ¹¹When they were near Je'bus, 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.” ¹²And his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into the city of foreigners, who do not belong to the sons of Israel; but we will pass on to Gib'e-ah.” ¹³And 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 Ra'mah.” ¹⁴So they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down on them near Gib'e-ah, which belongs to Benjamin, ¹⁵and 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.

¹⁶And 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. ¹⁷And 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 from where do you come?” ¹⁸And 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;^c and nobody takes me into his house. ¹⁹We have straw and food for our donkeys, with bread and wine for me and your maidservant and the young man with your servants; there is no lack of anything.” ²⁰And the old man said, “Peace be to you; I will care for all your wants; only, do not spend the night in the square.” ²¹So he brought him into his house, and fed the donkeys; and they washed their feet, and ate and drank.

²²As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, base fellows, surrounded the house, 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.” ²³And 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. ²⁴Behold, 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.” ²⁵But 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. ²⁶And 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.

²⁷And 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. ²⁸He said to her, “Get up, let us be going.” But there was no answer. Then he put her upon the donkey; and the man rose up and went away to his home. ²⁹And 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. ³⁰And all who saw it said, “Such a thing has never happened or been seen from the day that the sons of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day; consider it, take counsel, and speak.”

⁸And all the people arose as one man, saying, “None of us will go to his tent, and none of us will return to his house. ⁹But now this is what we will do to Gib'e-ah: we will go up against it by lot, ¹⁰and 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 repay Gib'e-ah of Benjamin, for all the wanton crime which they have committed in Israel.” ¹¹So all the men of Israel gathered against the city, united as one man.

¹²And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What wickedness is this that has taken place among you? ¹³Now 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 sons of Israel. ¹⁴And the Benjaminites came together out of the cities to Gib'e-ah, to go out to battle against the sons of Israel. ¹⁵And 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. ¹⁶Among all these were seven hundred picked men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair, and not miss. ¹⁷And the men of Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand men that drew sword; all these were men of war.

¹⁸The sons 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.”

¹⁹Then the sons of Israel rose in the morning, and encamped against Gib'e-ah. ²⁰And 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. ²¹The Benjaminites came out of Gib'e-ah, and struck down on that day twenty-two thousand men of the Israelites. ²²But 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. ²³And the sons 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.”

²⁴So the sons of Israel came near against the Benjaminites the second day. ²⁵And Benjamin went against them out of Gib'e-ah the second day, and struck down eighteen thousand men of the sons of Israel; all these were men who drew the sword. ²⁶Then all the sons 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. ²⁷And the sons of Israel inquired of the LORD (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, ²⁸and 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.”

²⁹So Israel set men in ambush round about Gib'e-ah. ³⁰And the sons of Israel went up against the Benjaminites on the third day, and set themselves in array against Gib'e-ah, as at other times. ³¹And the Benjaminites went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and as at other times they began to strike 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. ³²And 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.” ³³And 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^d of Ge'ba. ³⁴And 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. ³⁵And 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. ³⁶So 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. ³⁷And the men in ambush made haste and rushed upon Gib'e-ah; the men in ambush moved out and struck the whole city with the edge of the sword. ³⁸Now 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 ³⁹the men of Israel should turn in battle. Now Benjamin had begun to strike and kill about thirty men of Israel; they said, “Surely they are struck down before us, as in the first battle.” ⁴⁰But when the signal began to rise out of the city in a column of smoke, the Benjaminites looked behind them; and behold, the whole city went up in smoke to heaven. ⁴¹Then the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were dismayed, for they saw that disaster was close upon them. ⁴²Therefore 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. ⁴³Cutting down^e the Benjaminites, they pursued them and trod them down from No'hah^f as far as opposite Gib'e-ah on the east. ⁴⁴Eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell, all of them men of valor. ⁴⁵And 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 Gi'dom, and two thousand men of them were slain. ⁴⁶So all who fell that day of Benjamin were twenty-five thousand men that drew the sword, all of them men of valor. ⁴⁷But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and abode at the rock of Rimmon four months. ⁴⁸And the men of Israel turned back against the Benjaminites, and struck 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.

⁸And they said, “What one is there of the tribes of Israel that did not come up to the LORD to Mizpah?” And behold, no one had come to the camp from Ja'besh-gil'ead, to the assembly. ⁹For when the people were mustered, behold, not one of the inhabitants of Ja'besh-gil'ead was there. ¹⁰So the congregation sent twelve thousand of their bravest men there, and commanded them, “Go and strike the inhabitants of Ja'besh-gil'ead with the edge of the sword; also the women and the little ones. ¹¹This is what you shall do; every male and every woman that has lain with a male you shall utterly destroy.” ¹²And they found among the inhabitants of Ja'besh-gil'ead four hundred young virgins who had not known man by lying with him; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

¹³Then the whole congregation sent word to the Benjaminites who were at the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace to them. ¹⁴And Benjamin returned at that time; and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Ja'besh-gil'ead; but they did not suffice for them. ¹⁵And the people had compassion on Benjamin because the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.

¹⁶Then the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?” ¹⁷And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe be not blotted out from Israel. ¹⁸Yet we cannot give them wives of our daughters.” For the sons of Israel had sworn, “Cursed be he who gives a wife to Benjamin.” ¹⁹So they said, “Behold, there is the yearly feast of the LORD at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to She'chem, and south of Lebo'nah.” ²⁰And they commanded the Benjaminites, saying, “Go and lie in wait in the vineyards, ²¹and watch; if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards and seize each man his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. ²²And when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Grant them graciously to us; because we did not take for each man of them his wife in battle, neither did you give them to them, else you would now be guilty.’” ²³And the Benjaminites did so, and took their wives, according to their number, from the dancers whom they carried off; then they went and returned to their inheritance, and rebuilt the towns, and dwelt in them. ²⁴And the sons of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and they went out from there every man to his inheritance.

²⁵In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.