Judges New Century

Judges 1 - New Century

 ¹ After Joshua died, the Israelites asked the Lord, "Who will be first to go and fight for us against the Canaanites?" ² The Lord said to them, "The tribe of Judah will go. I have handed the land over to them." ³ The men of Judah said to the men of Simeon, their relatives, "Come and help us fight the Canaanites for our land. If you do, we will go and help you fight for your land." So the men of Simeon went with them. ⁴ When Judah attacked, the Lord handed over the Canaanites and the Perizzites to them, and they defeated ten thousand men at the city of Bezek.⁵ There they found Adoni-Bezek, the ruler of the city, and fought him. The men of Judah defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites,⁶ but Adoni-Bezek ran away. The men of Judah chased him, and when they caught him, they cut off his thumbs and big toes. ⁷ Adoni-Bezek said, "Seventy kings whose thumbs and big toes had been cut off used to eat scraps that fell from my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them." The men of Judah took Adoni-Bezek to Jerusalem, and he died there. ⁸ Then the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it. They attacked with their swords and burned the city. ⁹ Later, they went down to fight the Canaanites who lived in the mountains, in the dry country to the south, and in the western hills.¹⁰ The men of Judah went to fight against the Canaanites in the city of Hebron (which used to be called Kiriath Arba). And they defeated Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. ¹¹ Then they left there and went to fight against the people living in Debir. (In the past Debir had been called Kiriath Sepher.)¹² Before attacking the city, Caleb said, "I will give Acsah, my daughter, as a wife to the man who attacks and captures the city of Kiriath Sepher."¹³ Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, captured the city, so Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to Othniel to be his wife.¹⁴ When Acsah came to Othniel, she told him to ask her father for a field. When she got down from her donkey, Caleb asked her, "What do you want?" ¹⁵ Acsah answered him, "Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in southern Canaan, also give me springs of water." So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs. ¹⁶ The Kenite people, who were from the family of Moses' father-in-law, left Jericho, the city of palm trees. They went with the men of Judah to the Desert of Judah to live with them there in southern Judah near the city of Arad. ¹⁷ The men of Judah and the men of Simeon, their relatives, defeated the Canaanites who lived in Zephath. They completely destroyed the city, so they called it Hormah.¹⁸ The men of Judah captured Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron, and the lands around them. ¹⁹ The Lord was with the men of Judah. They took the land in the mountains, but they could not force out the people living on the plain, because they had iron chariots.²⁰ As Moses had promised, Hebron was given to Caleb, and Caleb forced out the three sons of Anak.²¹ But the people of Benjamin could not make the Jebusite people leave Jerusalem. Since that time the Jebusites have lived with the Benjaminites in Jerusalem. ²² The men of Joseph went to fight against the city of Bethel, and the Lord was with them.²³ They sent some spies to Bethel (which used to be called Luz).²⁴ The spies saw a man coming out of the city and said to him, "Show us a way into the city, and we will be kind to you."²⁵ So the man showed them the way into the city. The men of Joseph attacked with swords the people in Bethel, but they let the man and his family go free.²⁶ He went to the land where the Hittites lived and built a city. He named it Luz, which it is called even today. ²⁷ There were Canaanites living in the cities of Beth Shan, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and the small towns around them. The people of Manasseh did not force those people out of their towns, because the Canaanites were determined to stay there.²⁸ Later, the Israelites grew strong and forced the Canaanites to work as slaves, but they did not make all the Canaanites leave their land.²⁹ The people of Ephraim did not force out all of the Canaanites living in Gezer. So the Canaanites continued to live in Gezer with the people of Ephraim.³⁰ The people of Zebulun did not force out the Canaanites living in the cities of Kitron and Nahalol. They stayed and lived with the people of Zebulun, but Zebulun made them work as slaves.

Judges 2 - New Century

 ¹ The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, "I brought you up from Egypt and led you to the land I promised to give your ancestors. I said, 'I will never break my agreement with you.² But you must not make an agreement with the people who live in this land. You must destroy their altars.' But you did not obey me. How could you do this?³ Now I tell you, 'I will not force out the people in this land. They will be your enemies, and their gods will be a trap for you.' " ⁴ After the angel gave Israel this message from the Lord, they cried loudly.⁵ So they named the place Bokim. There they offered sacrifices to the Lord. ⁶ Then Joshua sent the people back to their land.⁷ The people served the Lord during the lifetime of Joshua and during the lifetimes of the elders who lived after Joshua and who had seen what great things the Lord had done for Israel.⁸ Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of one hundred ten.⁹ They buried him in his own land at Timnath Serah in the mountains of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. ¹⁰ After those people had died, their children grew up and did not know the Lord or what he had done for Israel.¹¹ So they did what the Lord said was wrong, and they worshiped the Baal idols.¹² They quit following the Lord, the God of their ancestors who had brought them out of Egypt. They began to worship the gods of the people who lived around them, and that made the Lord angry.¹³ The Israelites quit following the Lord and worshiped Baal and Ashtoreth.¹⁴ The Lord was angry with the people of Israel, so he handed them over to robbers who took their possessions. He let their enemies who lived around them defeat them; they could not protect themselves.¹⁵ When the Israelites went out to fight, they always lost, because the Lord was not with them. The Lord had sworn to them this would happen. So the Israelites suffered very much. ¹⁶ Then the Lord chose leaders called judges, who saved the Israelites from the robbers.¹⁷ But the Israelites did not listen to their judges. They were not faithful to God but worshiped other gods instead. Their ancestors had obeyed the Lord's commands, but they quickly turned away and did not obey.¹⁸ When their enemies hurt them, the Israelites cried for help. So the Lord felt sorry for them and sent judges to save them from their enemies. The Lord was with those judges all their lives.¹⁹ But when the judges died, the Israelites again sinned and worshiped other gods. They became worse than their ancestors. The Israelites were very stubborn and refused to change their evil ways. ²⁰ So the Lord became angry with the Israelites. He said, "These people have broken the agreement I made with their ancestors. They have not listened to me.²¹ I will no longer defeat the nations who were left when Joshua died.²² I will use them to test Israel, to see if Israel will keep the Lord's commands as their ancestors did."²³ In the past the Lord had permitted those nations to stay in the land. He did not quickly force them out or help Joshua's army defeat them.

Judges 3 - New Century

 ¹ These are the nations the Lord did not force to leave. He wanted to test the Israelites who had not fought in the wars of Canaan.² (The only reason the Lord left those nations in the land was to teach the descendants of the Israelites who had not fought in those wars how to fight.)³ These are the nations: the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the people of Sidon, and the Hivites who lived in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath.⁴ Those nations were in the land to test the Israelites—to see if they would obey the commands the Lord had given to their ancestors by Moses. ⁵ The people of Israel lived with the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.⁶ The Israelites began to marry the daughters of those people, and they allowed their daughters to marry the sons of those people. Israel also served their gods. ⁷ The Israelites did what the Lord said was wrong. They forgot about the Lord their God and served the idols of Baal and Asherah.⁸ So the Lord was angry with Israel and allowed Cushan-Rishathaim king of Northwest Mesopotamia to rule over the Israelites for eight years.⁹ When Israel cried to the Lord, the Lord sent someone to save them. Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, saved the Israelites.¹⁰ The Spirit of the Lord entered Othniel, and he became Israel's judge. When he went to war, the Lord handed over to him Cushan-Rishathaim king of Northwest Mesopotamia.¹¹ So the land was at peace for forty years. Then Othniel son of Kenaz died. ¹² Again the people of Israel did what the Lord said was wrong. So the Lord gave Eglon king of Moab power to defeat Israel because of the evil Israel did.¹³ Eglon got the Ammonites and the Amalekites to join him. Then he attacked Israel and took Jericho, the city of palm trees.¹⁴ So the people of Israel were ruled by Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years. ¹⁵ When the people cried to the Lord, he sent someone to save them. He was Ehud, son of Gera from the people of Benjamin, who was left-handed. Israel sent Ehud to give Eglon king of Moab the payment he demanded.¹⁶ Ehud made himself a sword with two edges, about eighteen inches long, and he tied it to his right hip under his clothes.¹⁷ Ehud gave Eglon king of Moab the payment he demanded. Now Eglon was a very fat man.¹⁸ After he had given Eglon the payment, Ehud sent away the people who had carried it.¹⁹ When he passed the statues near Gilgal, he turned around and said to Eglon, "I have a secret message for you, King Eglon."    The king said, "Be quiet!" Then he sent all of his servants out of the room.²⁰ Ehud went to King Eglon, as he was sitting alone in the room above his summer palace.    Ehud said, "I have a message from God for you." As the king stood up from his chair,²¹ Ehud reached with his left hand and took out the sword that was tied to his right hip. Then he stabbed the sword deep into the king's belly!²² Even the handle sank in, and the blade came out his back. The king's fat covered the whole sword, so Ehud left the sword in Eglon.²³ Then he went out of the room and closed and locked the doors behind him. ²⁴ When the servants returned just after Ehud left, they found the doors to the room locked. So they thought the king was relieving himself.²⁵ They waited for a long time. Finally they became worried because he still had not opened the doors. So they got the key and unlocked them and saw their king lying dead on the floor! ²⁶ While the servants were waiting, Ehud had escaped. He passed by the statues and went to Seirah.²⁷ When he reached the mountains of Ephraim he blew the trumpet. The people of Israel heard it and went down from the hills with Ehud leading them. ²⁸ He said to them, "Follow me! The Lord has helped you to defeat your enemies, the Moabites." So Israel followed Ehud and captured the crossings of the Jordan River. They did not allow the Moabites to cross the Jordan River.²⁹ Israel killed about ten thousand strong and able men from Moab; not one escaped.³⁰ So that day Moab was forced to be under the rule of Israel, and there was peace in the land for eighty years.

Judges 4 - New Century

 ¹ After Ehud died, the Israelites again did what the Lord said was wrong.² So he let Jabin, a king of Canaan who ruled in the city of Hazor, defeat Israel. Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Haggoyim, was the commander of Jabin's army.³ Because he had nine hundred iron chariots and was very cruel to the people of Israel for twenty years, they cried to the Lord for help. ⁴ A prophetess named Deborah, the wife of Lappidoth, was judge of Israel at that time.⁵ Deborah would sit under the Palm Tree of Deborah, which was between the cities of Ramah and Bethel, in the mountains of Ephraim. And the people of Israel would come to her to settle their arguments. ⁶ Deborah sent a message to Barak son of Abinoam. Barak lived in the city of Kedesh, which is in the area of Naphtali. Deborah said to Barak, "The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: 'Go and gather ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them to Mount Tabor.⁷ I will make Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, and his chariots, and his army meet you at the Kishon River. I will hand Sisera over to you.' " ⁸ Then Barak said to Deborah, "I will go if you will go with me, but if you won't go with me, I won't go." ⁹ "Of course I will go with you," Deborah answered, "but you will not get credit for the victory. The Lord will let a woman defeat Sisera." So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh.¹⁰ At Kedesh, Barak called the people of Zebulun and Naphtali together. From them, he gathered ten thousand men to follow him, and Deborah went with him also. ¹¹ Now Heber the Kenite had left the other Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses' brother-in-law. Heber had put up his tent by the great tree in Zaanannim, near Kedesh. ¹² When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone to Mount Tabor,¹³ Sisera gathered his nine hundred iron chariots and all the men with him, from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon River. ¹⁴ Then Deborah said to Barak, "Get up! Today is the day the Lord will hand over Sisera. The Lord has already cleared the way for you." So Barak led ten thousand men down Mount Tabor.¹⁵ As Barak approached, the Lord confused Sisera and his army and chariots. The Lord defeated them with the sword, but Sisera left his chariot and ran away on foot.¹⁶ Barak and his men chased Sisera's chariots and army to Harosheth Haggoyim. With their swords they killed all of Sisera's men; not one of them was left alive. ¹⁷ But Sisera himself ran away to the tent where Jael lived. She was the wife of Heber, one of the Kenite family groups. Heber's family was at peace with Jabin king of Hazor.¹⁸ Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, "Come into my tent, master! Come in. Don't be afraid." So Sisera went into Jael's tent, and she covered him with a rug. ¹⁹ Sisera said to Jael, "I am thirsty. Please give me some water to drink." So she opened a leather bag of milk and gave him a drink. Then she covered him up. ²⁰ He said to her, "Go stand at the entrance to the tent. If anyone comes and asks you, 'Is anyone here?' say, 'No.' " ²¹ But Jael, the wife of Heber, took a tent peg and a hammer and quietly went to Sisera. Since he was very tired, he was in a deep sleep. She hammered the tent peg through the side of Sisera's head and into the ground. And so Sisera died. ²² At that very moment Barak came by Jael's tent, chasing Sisera. Jael went out to meet him and said, "Come. I will show you the man you are looking for." So Barak entered her tent, and there Sisera lay dead, with the tent peg in his head. ²³ On that day God defeated Jabin king of Canaan in the sight of Israel. ²⁴ Israel became stronger and stronger against Jabin king of Canaan until finally they destroyed him.

Judges 5 - New Century

 ¹ On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song:
 ² "The leaders led Israel.
       The people volunteered to go to battle.
       Praise the Lord!
 ³ Listen, kings.
       Pay attention, rulers!
    I myself will sing to the Lord.
       I will make music to the Lord, the God of Israel.

 ⁴ "Lord, when you came from Edom,
       when you marched from the land of Edom,
    the earth shook,
       the skies rained,
       and the clouds dropped water.
 ⁵ The mountains shook before the Lord, the God of Mount Sinai,
       before the Lord, the God of Israel!

 ⁶ "In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,
       in the days of Jael, the main roads were empty.
       Travelers went on the back roads.
 ⁷ There were no warriors in Israel
       until I, Deborah, arose,
       until I arose to be a mother to Israel.
 ⁸ At that time they chose to follow new gods.
       Because of this, enemies fought us at our city gates.
    No one could find a shield or a spear
       among the forty thousand people of Israel.
 ⁹ My heart is with the commanders of Israel.
       They volunteered freely from among the people.
    Praise the Lord!

 ¹⁰ "You who ride on white donkeys
       and sit on saddle blankets,
       and you who walk along the road, listen!
 ¹¹ Listen to the sound of the singers
       at the watering holes.
    There they tell about the victories of the Lord,
       the victories of the Lord's warriors in Israel.
    Then the Lord's people went down to the city gates.

 ¹² "Wake up, wake up, Deborah!
       Wake up, wake up, sing a song!
    Get up, Barak!
       Go capture your enemies, son of Abinoam!

 ¹³ "Then those who were left came down to the important leaders.
       The Lord's people came down to me with strong men.
 ¹⁴ They came from Ephraim in the mountains of Amalek.
       Benjamin was among the people who followed you.
    From the family group of Makir, the commanders came down.
       And from Zebulun came those who lead.
 ¹⁵ The princes of Issachar were with Deborah.
       The people of Issachar were loyal to Barak
       and followed him into the valley.
    The Reubenites thought hard
       about what they would do.
 ¹⁶ Why did you stay by the sheepfold?
       Was it to hear the music played for your sheep?
    The Reubenites thought hard
       about what they would do.
 ¹⁷ The people of Gilead stayed east of the Jordan River.
       People of Dan, why did you stay by the ships?
    The people of Asher stayed at the seashore,
       at their safe harbors.
 ¹⁸ But the people of Zebulun risked their lives,
       as did the people of Naphtali on the battlefield.

 ¹⁹ "The kings came, and they fought.
       At that time the kings of Canaan fought
    at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo.
       But they took away no silver or possessions of Israel.
 ²⁰ The stars fought from heaven;
       from their paths, they fought Sisera.
 ²¹ The Kishon River swept Sisera's men away,
       that old river, the Kishon River.
    March on, my soul, with strength!
 ²² Then the horses' hoofs beat the ground.
       Galloping, galloping go Sisera's mighty horses.
 ²³ 'May the town of Meroz be cursed,' said the angel of the Lord.
       'Bitterly curse its people,
    because they did not come to help the Lord.
       They did not fight the strong enemy.'

 ²⁴ "May Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite,
       be blessed above all women who live in tents.
 ²⁵ Sisera asked for water,
       but Jael gave him milk.
    In a bowl fit for a ruler,
       she brought him cream.
 ²⁶ Jael reached out and took the tent peg.
       Her right hand reached for the workman's hammer.
    She hit Sisera! She smashed his head!
       She crushed and pierced the side of his head!
 ²⁷ At Jael's feet he sank.
       He fell, and he lay there.
    At her feet he sank. He fell.
       Where Sisera sank, there he fell, dead!

 ²⁸ "Sisera's mother looked out through the window.
       She looked through the curtains and cried out,
    'Why is Sisera's chariot so late in coming?
       Why are sounds of his chariots' horses delayed?'
 ²⁹ The wisest of her servant ladies answer her,
       and Sisera's mother says to herself,
 ³⁰ 'Surely they are robbing the people they defeated!
       Surely they are dividing those things among themselves!
    Each soldier is given a girl or two.
       Maybe Sisera is taking pieces of dyed cloth.
    Maybe they are even taking
       pieces of dyed, embroidered cloth for the necks of the victors!'

Judges 6 - New Century

 ¹ Again the Israelites did what the Lord said was wrong. So for seven years the Lord handed them over to Midian.² Because the Midianites were very powerful and were cruel to Israel, the Israelites made hiding places in the mountains, in caves, and in safe places.³ Whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other peoples from the east would come and attack them.⁴ They camped in the land and destroyed the crops that the Israelites had planted as far away as Gaza. They left nothing for Israel to eat, and no sheep, cattle, or donkeys.⁵ The Midianites came with their tents and their animals like swarms of locusts to ruin the land. There were so many people and camels they could not be counted.⁶ Israel became very poor because of the Midianites, so they cried out to the Lord. ⁷ When the Israelites cried out to the Lord against the Midianites,⁸ the Lord sent a prophet to them. He said, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you out of Egypt, the land of slavery.⁹ I saved you from the Egyptians and from all those who were against you. I forced the Canaanites out of their land and gave it to you.¹⁰ Then I said to you, 'I am the Lord your God. Live in the land of the Amorites, but do not worship their gods.' But you did not obey me." ¹¹ The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak tree at Ophrah that belonged to Joash, one of the Abiezrite people. Gideon, Joash's son, was separating some wheat from the chaff in a winepress to keep the wheat from the Midianites.¹² The angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon and said, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior!" ¹³ Then Gideon said, "Sir, if the Lord is with us, why are we having so much trouble? Where are the miracles our ancestors told us he did when the Lord brought them out of Egypt? But now he has left us and has handed us over to the Midianites." ¹⁴ The Lord turned to Gideon and said, "Go with your strength and save Israel from the Midianites. I am the one who is sending you." ¹⁵ But Gideon answered, "Lord, how can I save Israel? My family group is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least important member of my family." ¹⁶ The Lord answered him, "I will be with you. It will seem as if the Midianites you are fighting are only one man." ¹⁷ Then Gideon said to the Lord, "If you are pleased with me, give me proof that it is really you talking with me.¹⁸ Please wait here until I come back to you. Let me bring my offering and set it in front of you."    And the Lord said, "I will wait until you return." ¹⁹ So Gideon went in and cooked a young goat, and with twenty quarts of flour, made bread without yeast. Then he put the meat into a basket and the broth into a pot. He brought them out and gave them to the angel under the oak tree. ²⁰ The angel of God said to Gideon, "Put the meat and the bread without yeast on that rock over there. Then pour the broth on them." And Gideon did as he was told.²¹ The angel of the Lord touched the meat and the bread with the end of the stick that was in his hand. Then fire jumped up from the rock and completely burned up the meat and the bread! And the angel of the Lord disappeared!²² Then Gideon understood he had been talking to the angel of the Lord. So Gideon cried out, "Lord God! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!" ²³ But the Lord said to Gideon, "Calm down! Don't be afraid! You will not die!" ²⁴ So Gideon built an altar there to worship the Lord and named it The Lord Is Peace. It still stands at Ophrah, where the Abiezrites live. ²⁵ That same night the Lord said to Gideon, "Take the bull that belongs to your father and a second bull seven years old. Pull down your father's altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah idol beside it.²⁶ Then build an altar to the Lord your God with its stones in the right order on this high ground. Kill and burn a second bull on this altar, using the wood from the Asherah idol." ²⁷ So Gideon got ten of his servants and did what the Lord had told him to do. But Gideon was afraid that his family and the men of the city might see him, so he did it at night, not in the daytime. ²⁸ When the men of the city got up the next morning, they saw that the altar for Baal had been destroyed and that the Asherah idol beside it had been cut down! They also saw the altar Gideon had built and the second bull that had been sacrificed on it.²⁹ The men of the city asked each other, "Who did this?"    After they asked many questions, someone told them, "Gideon son of Joash did this." ³⁰ So they said to Joash, "Bring your son out. He has pulled down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah idol beside it. He must die!"

Judges 7 - New Century

 ¹ Early in the morning Jerub-Baal (also called Gideon) and all his men set up their camp at the spring of Harod. The Midianites were camped north of them in the valley at the bottom of the hill called Moreh.² Then the Lord said to Gideon, "You have too many men to defeat the Midianites. I don't want the Israelites to brag that they saved themselves.³ So now, announce to the people, 'Anyone who is afraid may leave Mount Gilead and go back home.' " So twenty-two thousand men returned home, but ten thousand remained. ⁴ Then the Lord said to Gideon, "There are still too many men. Take the men down to the water, and I will test them for you there. If I say, 'This man will go with you, he will go. But if I say, 'That one will not go with you,' he will not go." ⁵ So Gideon led the men down to the water. There the Lord said to him, "Separate them into those who drink water by lapping it up like a dog and those who bend down to drink."⁶ There were three hundred men who used their hands to bring water to their mouths, lapping it as a dog does. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. ⁷ Then the Lord said to Gideon, "Using the three hundred men who lapped the water, I will save you and hand Midian over to you. Let all the others go home."⁸ So Gideon sent the rest of Israel to their homes. But he kept three hundred men and took the jars and the trumpets of those who left.    Now the camp of Midian was in the valley below Gideon.⁹ That night the Lord said to Gideon, "Get up. Go down and attack the camp of the Midianites, because I will give them to you.¹⁰ But if you are afraid to go down, take your servant Purah with you.¹¹ When you come to the camp of Midian, you will hear what they are saying. Then you will not be afraid to attack the camp."    So Gideon and his servant Purah went down to the edge of the enemy camp.¹² The Midianites, the Amalekites, and all the peoples from the east were camped in that valley. There were so many of them they seemed like locusts. Their camels could not be counted because they were as many as the grains of sand on the seashore! ¹³ When Gideon came to the enemy camp, he heard a man telling his friend about a dream. He was saying, "I dreamed that a loaf of barley bread rolled into the camp of Midian. It hit the tent so hard that the tent turned over and fell flat!" ¹⁴ The man's friend said, "Your dream is about the sword of Gideon son of Joash, a man of Israel. God will hand Midian and the whole army over to him!" ¹⁵ When Gideon heard about the dream and what it meant, he worshiped God. Then Gideon went back to the camp of Israel and called out to them, "Get up! The Lord has handed the army of Midian over to you!"¹⁶ Gideon divided the three hundred men into three groups. He gave each man a trumpet and an empty jar with a burning torch inside. ¹⁷ Gideon told the men, "Watch me and do what I do. When I get to the edge of the camp, do what I do.¹⁸ Surround the enemy camp. When I and everyone with me blow our trumpets, you blow your trumpets, too. Then shout, 'For the Lord and for Gideon!' " ¹⁹ So Gideon and the one hundred men with him came to the edge of the enemy camp just after they had changed guards. It was during the middle watch of the night. Then Gideon and his men blew their trumpets and smashed their jars.²⁰ All three groups of Gideon's men blew their trumpets and smashed their jars. They held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands. Then they shouted, "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!"²¹ Each of Gideon's men stayed in his place around the camp, but the Midianites began shouting and running to escape. ²² When Gideon's three hundred men blew their trumpets, the Lord made all the Midianites fight each other with their swords! The enemy army ran away to the city of Beth Shittah toward Zererah. They ran as far as the border of Abel Meholah, near the city of Tabbath.²³ Then men of Israel from Naphtali, Asher, and all of Manasseh were called out to chase the Midianites.²⁴ Gideon sent messengers through all the mountains of Ephraim, saying, "Come down and attack the Midianites. Take control of the Jordan River as far as Beth Barah before the Midianites can get to it."    So they called out all the men of Ephraim, who took control of the Jordan River as far as Beth Barah.²⁵ The men of Ephraim captured two princes of Midian named Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb, and they continued chasing the Midianites. They brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was east of the Jordan River.

Judges 8 - New Century

 ¹ The men of Ephraim asked Gideon, "Why did you treat us this way? Why didn't you call us when you went to fight against Midian?" They argued angrily with Gideon.  ² But he answered them, "I have not done as well as you! The small part you did was better than all that my people of Abiezer did.³ God let you capture Oreb and Zeeb, the princes of Midian. How can I compare what I did with what you did?" When the men of Ephraim heard Gideon's answer, they were not as angry anymore. ⁴ When Gideon and his three hundred men came to the Jordan River, they were tired, but they chased the enemy across to the other side.⁵ Gideon said to the men of Succoth, "Please give my soldiers some bread because they are very tired. I am chasing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian." ⁶ But the leaders of Succoth said, "Why should we give your soldiers bread? You haven't caught Zebah and Zalmunna yet." ⁷ Then Gideon said, "The Lord will surrender Zebah and Zalmunna to me. After that, I will whip your skin with thorns and briers from the desert." ⁸ Gideon left Succoth and went to the city of Peniel and asked them for food. But the people of Peniel gave him the same answer as the people of Succoth.⁹ So Gideon said to the men of Peniel, "After I win the victory, I will return and pull down this tower." ¹⁰ Zebah and Zalmunna and their army were in the city of Karkor. About fifteen thousand men were left of the armies of the peoples of the east. Already one hundred twenty thousand soldiers had been killed.¹¹ Gideon went up the road of those who live in tents east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he attacked the enemy army when they did not expect it.¹² Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian, ran away, but Gideon chased and captured them and frightened away their army. ¹³ Then Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the Pass of Heres. ¹⁴ Gideon captured a young man from Succoth and asked him some questions. So the young man wrote down for Gideon the names of seventy-seven officers and elders of Succoth.  ¹⁵ When Gideon came to Succoth, he said to the people of that city, "Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. You made fun of me by saying, 'Why should we give bread to your tired men? You have not caught Zebah and Zalmunna yet.' " ¹⁶ So Gideon took the elders of the city and punished them with thorns and briers from the desert. ¹⁷ He also pulled down the tower of Peniel and killed the people in that city. ¹⁸ Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, "What were the men like that you killed on Mount Tabor?"    They answered, "They were like you. Each one of them looked like a prince." ¹⁹ Gideon said, "Those were my brothers, my mother's sons. As surely as the Lord lives, I would not kill you if you had spared them."²⁰ Then Gideon said to Jether, his oldest son, "Kill them." But Jether was only a boy and was afraid, so he did not take out his sword. ²¹ Then Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, "Come on. Kill us yourself. As the saying goes, 'It takes a man to do a man's job.' " So Gideon got up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna and took the decorations off their camels' necks. ²² The people of Israel said to Gideon, "You saved us from the Midianites. Now, we want you and your son and your grandson to rule over us." ²³ But Gideon told them, "The Lord will be your ruler. I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you." ²⁴ He said, "I want you to do this one thing for me. I want each of you to give me a gold earring from the things you took in the fighting." (The Ishmaelites wore gold earrings.)  ²⁵ They said, "We will gladly give you what you want." So they spread out a coat, and everyone threw down an earring from what he had taken.²⁶ The gold earrings weighed about forty-three pounds. This did not count the decorations, necklaces, and purple robes worn by the kings of Midian, nor the chains from the camels' necks.²⁷ Gideon used the gold to make a holy vest, which he put in his hometown of Ophrah. But all the Israelites were unfaithful to God and worshiped it, so it became a trap for Gideon and his family. ²⁸ So Midian was under the rule of Israel; they did not cause trouble anymore. And the land had peace for forty years, as long as Gideon was alive. ²⁹ Gideon son of Joash went to his home to live.³⁰ He had seventy sons of his own, because he had many wives.

Judges 9 - New Century

 ¹ Abimelech son of Gideon went to his uncles in the city of Shechem. He said to his uncles and all of his mother's family group,² "Ask the leaders of Shechem, 'Is it better for the seventy sons of Gideon to rule over you or for one man to rule?' Remember, I am your relative." ³ Abimelech's uncles spoke to all the leaders of Shechem about this. And they decided to follow Abimelech, because they said, "He is our relative."⁴ So the leaders of Shechem gave Abimelech about one and three-quarter pounds of silver from the temple of the god Baal-Berith. Abimelech used the silver to hire some worthless, reckless men, who followed him wherever he went.⁵ He went to Ophrah, the hometown of his father, and murdered his seventy brothers, the sons of Gideon. He killed them all on one stone. But Gideon's youngest son, Jotham, hid from Abimelech and escaped.⁶ Then all of the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo gathered beside the great tree standing in Shechem. There they made Abimelech their king. ⁷ When Jotham heard this, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim. He shouted to the people: "Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem, so that God will listen to you!⁸ One day the trees decided to appoint a king to rule over them. They said to the olive tree, 'You be king over us!' ⁹ "But the olive tree said, 'Men and gods are honored by my oil. Should I stop making it and go and sway over the other trees?' ¹⁰ "Then the trees said to the fig tree, 'Come and be king over us!' ¹¹ "But the fig tree answered, 'Should I stop making my sweet and good fruit and go and sway over the other trees?' ¹² "Then the trees said to the vine, 'Come and be king over us!' ¹³ "But the vine answered, 'My new wine makes men and gods happy. Should I stop making it and go and sway over the trees?' ¹⁴ "Then all the trees said to the thornbush, 'Come and be king over us.' ¹⁵ "But the thornbush said to the trees, 'If you really want to appoint me king over you, come and find shelter in my shade! But if not, let fire come out of the thornbush and burn up the cedars of Lebanon!' ¹⁶ "Now, were you completely honest and sincere when you made Abimelech king? Have you been fair to Gideon and his family? Have you treated Gideon as you should?¹⁷ Remember, my father fought for you and risked his life to save you from the power of the Midianites.¹⁸ But now you have turned against my father's family and have killed his seventy sons on one stone. You have made Abimelech, the son of my father's slave girl, king over the leaders of Shechem just because he is your relative!¹⁹ So then, if you have been honest and sincere to Gideon and his family today, be happy with Abimelech as your king. And may he be happy with you!²⁰ But if not, may fire come out of Abimelech and completely burn you leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo! Also may fire come out of the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo and burn up Abimelech!" ²¹ Then Jotham ran away and escaped to the city of Beer. He lived there because he was afraid of his brother Abimelech. ²² Abimelech ruled Israel for three years.²³ Then God sent an evil spirit to make trouble between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem so that the leaders of Shechem turned against him.²⁴ Abimelech had killed Gideon's seventy sons, his own brothers, and the leaders of Shechem had helped him. So God sent the evil spirit to punish them.²⁵ The leaders of Shechem were against Abimelech then. They put men on the hilltops in ambush who robbed everyone going by. And Abimelech was told. ²⁶ A man named Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers moved into Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem trusted him.²⁷ They went out to the vineyards to pick grapes, and they squeezed the grapes. Then they had a feast in the temple of their god, where they ate and drank and cursed Abimelech.²⁸ Gaal son of Ebed said, "We are the men of Shechem. Who is Abimelech that we should serve him? Isn't he one of Gideon's sons, and isn't Zebul his officer? We should serve the men of Hamor, Shechem's father. Why should we serve Abimelech?²⁹ If you made me commander of these people, I would get rid of Abimelech. I would say to him, 'Get your army ready and come out to battle.' " ³⁰ Now when Zebul, the ruler of Shechem, heard what Gaal son of Ebed said, he was very angry.

Judges 10 - New Century

 ¹ After Abimelech died, another judge came to save Israel. He was Tola son of Puah, the son of Dodo. Tola was from the people of Issachar and lived in the city of Shamir in the mountains of Ephraim.² Tola was a judge for Israel for twenty-three years. Then he died and was buried in Shamir. ³ After Tola died, Jair from the region of Gilead became judge. He was a judge for Israel for twenty-two years.⁴ Jair had thirty sons, who rode thirty donkeys. These thirty sons controlled thirty towns in Gilead, which are called the Towns of Jair to this day.⁵ Jair died and was buried in the city of Kamon. ⁶ Again the Israelites did what the Lord said was wrong. They worshiped Baal and Ashtoreth, the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, and Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines. The Israelites left the Lord and stopped serving him.⁷ So the Lord was angry with them and handed them over to the Philistines and the Ammonites.⁸ In the same year those people destroyed the Israelites who lived east of the Jordan River in the region of Gilead, where the Amorites lived. So the Israelites suffered for eighteen years.⁹ The Ammonites then crossed the Jordan River to fight the people of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim, causing much trouble to the people of Israel.¹⁰ So the Israelites cried out to the Lord, "We have sinned against you. We left our God and worshiped the Baal idols." ¹¹ The Lord answered the Israelites, "When the Egyptians, Amorites, Ammonites, Philistines,¹² Sidonians, Amalekites, and Maonites were cruel to you, you cried out to me, and I saved you.¹³ But now you have left me again and have worshiped other gods. So I refuse to save you again.¹⁴ You have chosen those gods. So go call to them for help. Let them save you when you are in trouble." ¹⁵ But the people of Israel said to the Lord, "We have sinned. Do to us whatever you want, but please save us today!"¹⁶ Then the Israelites threw away the foreign gods among them, and they worshiped the Lord again. So he felt sorry for them when he saw their suffering. ¹⁷ The Ammonites gathered for war and camped in Gilead. The Israelites gathered and camped at Mizpah.¹⁸ The leaders of the people of Gilead said, "Who will lead us to attack the Ammonites? He will become the head of all those who live in Gilead."

Judges 11 - New Century

 ¹ Jephthah was a strong soldier from Gilead. His father was named Gilead, and his mother was a prostitute.² Gilead's wife had several sons. When they grew up, they forced Jephthah to leave his home, saying to him, "You will not get any of our father's property, because you are the son of another woman."³ So Jephthah ran away from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. There some worthless men began to follow him. ⁴ After a time the Ammonites fought against Israel. ⁵ When the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to Jephthah to bring him back from Tob. ⁶ They said to him, "Come and lead our army so we can fight the Ammonites." ⁷ But Jephthah said to them, "Didn't you hate me? You forced me to leave my father's house. Why are you coming to me now that you are in trouble?" ⁸ The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "It is because of those troubles that we come to you now. Please come with us and fight against the Ammonites. You will be the ruler over everyone who lives in Gilead."  ⁹ Then Jephthah answered, "If you take me back to Gilead to fight the Ammonites and the Lord helps me win, I will be your ruler." ¹⁰ The elders of Gilead said to him, "The Lord is listening to everything we are saying. We promise to do all that you tell us to do."¹¹ So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him their leader and commander of their army. Jephthah repeated all of his words in front of the Lord at Mizpah. ¹² Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, asking, "What have you got against Israel? Why have you come to attack our land?" ¹³ The king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, "We are fighting Israel because you took our land when you came up from Egypt. You took our land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River to the Jordan River. Now give our land back to us peacefully." ¹⁴ Jephthah sent the messengers to the Ammonite king again.¹⁵ They said:    "This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take the land of the people of Moab or Ammon.¹⁶ When the Israelites came out of Egypt, they went into the desert to the Red Sea and then to Kadesh.¹⁷ Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, 'Let the people of Israel go across your land.' But the king of Edom refused. We sent the same message to the king of Moab, but he also refused. So the Israelites stayed at Kadesh. ¹⁸ "Then the Israelites went into the desert around the borders of the lands of Edom and Moab. Israel went east of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon River, the border of Moab. They did not cross it to go into the land of Moab. ¹⁹ "Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of the city of Heshbon, asking, 'Let the people of Israel pass through your land to go to our land.'²⁰ But Sihon did not trust the Israelites to cross his land. So he gathered all of his people and camped at Jahaz and fought with Israel. ²¹ "But the Lord, the God of Israel, handed Sihon and his army over to Israel. All the land of the Amorites became the property of Israel.²² So Israel took all the land of the Amorites from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River, from the desert to the Jordan River. ²³ "It was the Lord, the God of Israel, who forced out the Amorites ahead of the people of Israel. So do you think you can make them leave?²⁴ Take the land that your god Chemosh has given you. We will live in the land the Lord our God has given us! ²⁵ "Are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel or fight with the people of Israel?²⁶ For three hundred years the Israelites have lived in Heshbon and Aroer and the towns around them and in all the cities along the Arnon River. Why have you not taken these cities back in all that time?²⁷ I have not sinned against you, but you are sinning against me by making war on me. May the Lord, the Judge, decide whether the Israelites or the Ammonites are right." ²⁸ But the king of the Ammonites ignored this message from Jephthah. ²⁹ Then the Spirit of the Lord entered Jephthah. Jephthah passed through Gilead and Manasseh and the city of Mizpah in Gilead to the land of the Ammonites.³⁰ Jephthah made a promise to the Lord, saying, "If you will hand over the Ammonites to me."

Judges 12 - New Century

 ¹ The men of Ephraim called all their soldiers together and crossed the river to the town of Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, "Why didn't you call us to help you fight the Ammonites? We will burn your house down with you in it." ² Jephthah answered them, "My people and I fought a great battle against the Ammonites. I called you, but you didn't come to help me.³ When I saw that you would not help me, I risked my own life and went against the Ammonites. The Lord handed them over to me. So why have you come to fight against me today?" ⁴ Then Jephthah called the men of Gilead together and fought the men of Ephraim. The men of Gilead struck them down because the Ephraimites had said, "You men of Gilead are nothing but deserters from Ephraim—living between Ephraim and Manasseh."⁵ The men of Gilead captured the crossings of the Jordan River that led to the country of Ephraim. A person from Ephraim trying to escape would say, "Let me cross the river." Then the men of Gilead would ask him, "Are you from Ephraim?" If he replied no,⁶ they would say to him, "Say the word 'Shibboleth.' " The men of Ephraim could not say that word correctly. So if the person from Ephraim said, "Sibboleth," the men of Gilead would kill him at the crossing. So forty-two thousand people from Ephraim were killed at that time. ⁷ Jephthah was a judge for Israel for six years. Then Jephthah, the man from Gilead, died and was buried in a town in Gilead. ⁸ After Jephthah died, Ibzan from Bethlehem was a judge for Israel.⁹ He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He let his daughters marry men who were not in his family group, and he brought thirty women who were not in his tribe to be wives for his sons. Ibzan judged Israel for seven years.¹⁰ Then he died and was buried in Bethlehem. ¹¹ After Ibzan died, Elon from the tribe of Zebulun was a judge for Israel. He judged Israel for ten years.¹² Then Elon, the man of Zebulun, died and was buried in the city of Aijalon in the land of Zebulun. ¹³ After Elon died, Abdon son of Hillel from the city of Pirathon was a judge for Israel.¹⁴ He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. He judged Israel for eight years.¹⁵ Then Abdon son of Hillel died and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the mountains where the Amalekites lived.

Judges 13 - New Century

 ¹ Again the people of Israel did what the Lord said was wrong. So he handed them over to the Philistines for forty years. ² There was a man named Manoah from the tribe of Dan, who lived in the city of Zorah. He had a wife, but she could not have children.³ The angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah's wife and said, "You have not been able to have children, but you will become pregnant and give birth to a son.⁴ Be careful not to drink wine or beer or eat anything that is unclean,⁵ because you will become pregnant and have a son. You must never cut his hair, because he will be a Nazirite, given to God from birth. He will begin to save Israel from the power of the Philistines." ⁶ Then Manoah's wife went to him and told him what had happened. She said, "A man from God came to me. He looked like an angel from God; his appearance was frightening. I didn't ask him where he was from, and he didn't tell me his name.⁷ But he said to me, 'You will become pregnant and will have a son. Don't drink wine or beer or eat anything that is unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from his birth until the day of his death.' " ⁸ Then Manoah prayed to the Lord: "Lord, I beg you to let the man of God come to us again. Let him teach us what we should do for the boy who will be born to us." ⁹ God heard Manoah's prayer, and the angel of God came to Manoah's wife again while she was sitting in the field. But her husband Manoah was not with her.¹⁰ So she ran to tell him, "He is here! The man who appeared to me the other day is here!" ¹¹ Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he said, "Are you the man who spoke to my wife?"    The man said, "I am." ¹² So Manoah asked, "When what you say happens, what kind of life should the boy live? What should he do?" ¹³ The angel of the Lord said, "Your wife must be careful to do everything I told her to do.¹⁴ She must not eat anything that grows on a grapevine, or drink any wine or beer, or eat anything that is unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her." ¹⁵ Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, "We would like you to stay awhile so we can cook a young goat for you." ¹⁶ The angel of the Lord answered, "Even if I stay awhile, I would not eat your food. But if you want to prepare something, offer a burnt offering to the Lord." (Manoah did not understand that the man was really the angel of the Lord.) ¹⁷ Then Manoah asked the angel of the Lord, "What is your name? Then we will honor you when what you have said really happens." ¹⁸ The angel of the Lord said, "Why do you ask my name? It is too amazing for you to understand."¹⁹ So Manoah sacrificed a young goat on a rock and offered some grain as a gift to the Lord. Then an amazing thing happened as Manoah and his wife watched.²⁰ The flames went up to the sky from the altar. As the fire burned, the angel of the Lord went up to heaven in the flame. When Manoah and his wife saw that, they bowed facedown on the ground.²¹ The angel of the Lord did not appear to them again. Then Manoah understood that the man was really the angel of the Lord.²² Manoah said, "We have seen God, so we will surely die." ²³ But his wife said to him, "If the Lord wanted to kill us, he would not have accepted our burnt offering or grain offering. He would not have shown us all these things or told us all this." ²⁴ So the woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew, and the Lord blessed him.²⁵ The Spirit of the Lord began to work in Samson while he was in the city of Mahaneh Dan, between the cities of Zorah and Eshtaol.

Judges 14 - New Century

 ¹ Samson went down to the city of Timnah where he saw a Philistine woman.² When he returned home, he said to his father and mother, "I saw a Philistine woman in Timnah. I want you to get her for me so I can marry her." ³ His father and mother answered, "Surely there is a woman from Israel you can marry. Do you have to marry a woman from the Philistines, who are not circumcised?"    But Samson said, "Get that woman for me! She is the one I want!"⁴ (Samson's parents did not know that the Lord wanted this to happen because he was looking for a way to challenge the Philistines, who were ruling over Israel at this time.)⁵ Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah, as far as the vineyard near there. Suddenly, a young lion came roaring toward Samson!⁶ The Spirit of the Lord entered Samson with great power, and he tore the lion apart with his bare hands. For him it was as easy as tearing apart a young goat. But Samson did not tell his father or mother what he had done.⁷ Then he went down to the city and talked to the Philistine woman, and he liked her. ⁸ Several days later Samson went back to marry her. On his way he went over to look at the body of the dead lion and found a swarm of bees and honey in it.⁹ Samson got some of the honey with his hands and walked along eating it. When he came to his parents, he gave some to them. They ate it, too, but Samson did not tell them he had taken the honey from the body of the dead lion. ¹⁰ Samson's father went down to see the Philistine woman. And Samson gave a feast, as was the custom for the bridegroom.¹¹ When the people saw him, they sent thirty friends to be with him. ¹² Samson said to them, "Let me tell you a riddle. Try to find the answer during the seven days of the feast. If you can, I will give you thirty linen shirts and thirty changes of clothes.¹³ But if you can't, you must give me thirty linen shirts and thirty changes of clothes."    So they said, "Tell us your riddle so we can hear it." ¹⁴ Samson said,
    "Out of the eater comes something to eat.
       Out of the strong comes something sweet."
After three days, they had not found the answer.  ¹⁵ On the fourth day they said to Samson's wife, "Did you invite us here to make us poor? Trick your husband into telling us the answer to the riddle. If you don't, we will burn you and everyone in your father's house." ¹⁶ So Samson's wife went to him, crying, and said, "You hate me! You don't really love me! You told my people a riddle, but you won't tell me the answer."    Samson said, "I haven't even told my father or mother. Why should I tell you?" ¹⁷ Samson's wife cried for the rest of the seven days of the feast. So he finally gave her the answer on the seventh day, because she kept bothering him. Then she told her people the answer to the riddle. ¹⁸ Before sunset on the seventh day of the feast, the Philistine men had the answer. They came to Samson and said,
    "What is sweeter than honey?
       What is stronger than a lion?"    Then Samson said to them,
    "If you had not plowed with my young cow,
       you would not have solved my riddle!" ¹⁹ Then the Spirit of the Lord entered Samson and gave him great power. Samson went down to the city of Ashkelon and killed thirty of its men and took all that they had and gave the clothes to the men who had answered his riddle. Then he went to his father's house very angry.²⁰ And Samson's wife was given to his best man.

Judges 15 - New Century

 ¹ At the time of the wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife, taking a young goat with him. He said, "I'm going to my wife's room," but her father would not let him go in. ² He said to Samson, "I thought you really hated your wife, so I gave her to your best man. Her younger sister is more beautiful. Take her instead." ³ But Samson said to them, "This time no one will blame me for hurting you Philistines!"⁴ So Samson went out and caught three hundred foxes. He took two foxes at a time, tied their tails together, and then tied a torch to the tails of each pair of foxes.⁵ After he lit the torches, he let the foxes loose in the grainfields of the Philistines so that he burned up their standing grain, the piles of grain, their vineyards, and their olive trees. ⁶ The Philistines asked, "Who did this?"    Someone told them, "Samson, the son-in-law of the man from Timnah, did because his father-in-law gave his wife to his best man."    So the Philistines burned Samson's wife and her father to death.⁷ Then Samson said to the Philistines, "Since you did this, I won't stop until I pay you back!"⁸ Samson attacked the Philistines and killed many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave in the rock of Etam. ⁹ The Philistines went up and camped in the land of Judah, near a place named Lehi.¹⁰ The men of Judah asked them, "Why have you come here to fight us?"    They answered, "We have come to make Samson our prisoner, to pay him back for what he did to our people." ¹¹ Then three thousand men of Judah went to the cave in the rock of Etam and said to Samson, "What have you done to us? Don't you know that the Philistines rule over us?"    Samson answered, "I only paid them back for what they did to me." ¹² Then they said to him, "We have come to tie you up and to hand you over to the Philistines."    Samson said to them, "Promise me you will not hurt me yourselves." ¹³ The men from Judah said, "We agree. We will just tie you up and give you to the Philistines. We will not kill you." So they tied Samson with two new ropes and led him up from the cave in the rock.¹⁴ When Samson came to the place named Lehi, the Philistines came to meet him, shouting for joy. Then the Spirit of the Lord entered Samson and gave him great power. The ropes on him weakened like burned strings and fell off his hands!¹⁵ Samson found the jawbone of a dead donkey, took it, and killed a thousand men with it! ¹⁶ Then Samson said,
    "With a donkey's jawbone
       I made donkeys out of them.
    With a donkey's jawbone
       I killed a thousand men!"
¹⁷ When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone. So that place was named Ramath Lehi.  ¹⁸ Samson was very thirsty, so he cried out to the Lord, "You gave me, your servant, this great victory. Do I have to die of thirst now? Do I have to be captured by people who are not circumcised?"¹⁹ Then God opened up a hole in the ground at Lehi, and water came out. When Samson drank, he felt better; he felt strong again. So he named that spring Caller's Spring, which is still in Lehi. ²⁰ Samson judged Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

Judges 16 - New Century

 ¹ One day Samson went to Gaza and saw a prostitute there. He went in to spend the night with her.² When the people of Gaza heard, "Samson has come here!" they surrounded the place and waited for him near the city gate all night. They whispered to each other, "When dawn comes, we will kill Samson!" ³ But Samson only stayed with the prostitute until midnight. Then he got up and took hold of the doors and the two posts of the city gate and tore them loose, along with the bar. He put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces the city of Hebron. ⁴ After this, Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the Valley of Sorek.⁵ The Philistine rulers went to Delilah and said, "Find out what makes Samson so strong. Trick him into telling you how we can overpower him and capture him and tie him up. If you do this, each one of us will give you twenty-eight pounds of silver." ⁶ So Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me why you are so strong. How can someone tie you up and capture you?" ⁷ Samson answered, "Someone would have to tie me up with seven new bowstrings that have not been dried. Then I would be as weak as any other man." ⁸ The Philistine rulers brought Delilah seven new bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied Samson with them.⁹ Some men were hiding in another room. Delilah said to him, "Samson, the Philistines are here!" But Samson broke the bowstrings like pieces of burned string. So the Philistines did not find out the secret of Samson's strength. ¹⁰ Then Delilah said to Samson, "You made a fool of me. You lied to me. Now tell me how someone can tie you up." ¹¹ Samson said, "They would have to tie me with new ropes that have not been used before. Then I would become as weak as any other man." ¹² So Delilah took new ropes and tied Samson. Some men were hiding in another room. She called out to him, "Samson, the Philistines are here!" But he broke the ropes as easily as if they were threads. ¹³ Then Delilah said to Samson, "Again you have made a fool of me. You lied to me. Tell me how someone can tie you up."    He said, "Using the loom, weave the seven braids of my hair into the cloth, and tighten it with a pin. Then I will be as weak as any other man."    While Samson slept, Delilah wove the seven braids of his hair into the cloth.¹⁴ Then she fastened it with a pin.    Again she said to him, "Samson, the Philistines are here!" Samson woke up and pulled out the pin and the loom with the cloth. ¹⁵ Then Delilah said to him, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when you don't even trust me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me. You haven't told me the secret of your great strength."¹⁶ She kept bothering Samson about his secret day after day until he felt he was going to die! ¹⁷ So he told her everything. He said, "I have never had my hair cut, because I have been set apart to God as a Nazirite since I was born. If someone shaved my head, I would lose my strength and be as weak as any other man." ¹⁸ When Delilah saw that he had told her everything sincerely, she sent a message to the Philistine rulers. She said, "Come back one more time, because he has told me everything." So the Philistine rulers came back to Delilah and brought the silver with them.¹⁹ Delilah got Samson to sleep, lying in her lap. Then she called in a man to shave off the seven braids of Samson's hair. In this way she began to make him weak, and his strength left him. ²⁰ Then she said, "Samson, the Philistines are here!"    He woke up and thought, "I'll leave as I did before and shake myself free." But he did not know that the Lord had left him. ²¹ Then the Philistines captured Samson and tore out his eyes. They took him down to Gaza, where they put bronze chains on him and made him grind grain in the prison.²² But his hair began to grow again. ²³ The Philistine rulers gathered to celebrate and to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They said, "Our god has handed Samson our enemy over to us."²⁴ When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying,
    "This man destroyed our country.
       He killed many of us!
    But our god handed over
       our enemy to us." ²⁵ While the people were enjoying the celebration, they said, "Bring Samson out to perform for us." So they brought Samson from the prison, and he performed for them. They made him stand between the pillars.²⁶ Samson said to the servant holding his hand, "Let me feel the pillars that hold up the temple so I can lean against them."²⁷ Now the temple was full of men and women. All the Philistine rulers were there, and about three thousand men and women were on the roof watching Samson perform.²⁸ Then Samson prayed to the Lord, "Lord God, remember me. God, please give me strength one more time so I can pay these Philistines back for putting out my two eyes!"²⁹ Then Samson turned to the two center pillars that supported the whole temple. He braced himself between the two pillars, with his right hand on one and his left hand on the other.³⁰ Samson said, "Let me die with these Philistines!" Then he pushed as hard as he could, causing the temple to fall on the rulers and all the people in it. So Samson killed more of the Philistines when he died than when he was alive.

Judges 17 - New Century

 ¹ There was a man named Micah who lived in the mountains of Ephraim.² He said to his mother, "I heard you speak a curse about the twenty-eight pounds of silver that were taken from you. I have the silver with me; I took it."    His mother said, "The Lord bless you, my son!" ³ Micah gave the twenty-eight pounds of silver to his mother. Then she said, "I will give this silver to the Lord. I will have my son make an idol and a statue. So I will give the silver back to you." ⁴ When he gave the silver back to his mother, she took about five pounds and gave it to a silversmith. With it he made an idol and a statue, which stood in Micah's house.⁵ Micah had a special holy place, and he made a holy vest and some household idols. Then Micah chose one of his sons to be his priest.⁶ At that time Israel did not have a king, so everyone did what seemed right. ⁷ There was a young man who was a Levite from the city of Bethlehem in Judah who was from the people of Judah.⁸ He left Bethlehem to look for another place to live, and on his way he came to Micah's house in the mountains of Ephraim.⁹ Micah asked him, "Where are you from?"    He answered, "I'm a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I'm looking for a place to live." ¹⁰ Micah said to him, "Live with me and be my father and my priest. I will give you four ounces of silver each year and clothes and food." So the Levite went in.¹¹ He agreed to live with Micah and became like one of Micah's own sons.¹² Micah made him a priest, and he lived in Micah's house.¹³ Then Micah said, "Now I know the Lord will be good to me, because I have a Levite as my priest."

Judges 18 - New Century

 ¹ At that time Israel did not have a king. And at that time the tribe of Dan was still looking for a land where they could live, a land of their own. The Danites had not yet been given their own land among the tribes of Israel.² So, from their family groups, they chose five soldiers from the cities of Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out and explore the land. They were told, "Go, explore the land."    They came to the mountains of Ephraim, to Micah's house, where they spent the night.³ When they came near Micah's house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite. So they stopped there and asked him, "Who brought you here? What are you doing here? Why are you here?" ⁴ He told them what Micah had done for him, saying, "He hired me. I am his priest." ⁵ They said to him, "Please ask God if our journey will be successful." ⁶ The priest said to them, "Go in peace. The Lord is pleased with your journey." ⁷ So the five men left. When they came to the city of Laish, they saw that the people there lived in safety, like the people of Sidon. They thought they were safe and had plenty of everything. They lived a long way from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone else. ⁸ When the five men returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their relatives asked them, "What did you find?" ⁹ They answered, "We have seen the land, and it is very good. We should attack them. Aren't you going to do something? Don't wait! Let's go and take that land!¹⁰ When you go, you will see there is plenty of land—plenty of everything! The people are not expecting an attack. Surely God has handed that land over to us!" ¹¹ So six hundred Danites left Zorah and Eshtaol ready for war.¹² On their way they set up camp near the city of Kiriath Jearim in Judah. That is why the place west of Kiriath Jearim is named Mahaneh Dan to this day.¹³ From there they traveled on to the mountains of Ephraim. Then they came to Micah's house. ¹⁴ The five men who had explored the land around Laish said to their relatives, "Do you know in one of these houses there are a holy vest, household gods, an idol, and a statue? You know what to do."¹⁵ So they stopped at the Levite's house, which was also Micah's house, and greeted the Levite.¹⁶ The six hundred Danites stood at the entrance gate, wearing their weapons of war.¹⁷ The five spies went into the house and took the idol, the holy vest, the household idols, and the statue. The priest and the six hundred men armed for war stood by the entrance gate. ¹⁸ When the spies went into Micah's house and took the image, the holy vest, the household idols, and the statue, the priest asked them, "What are you doing?" ¹⁹ They answered, "Be quiet! Don't say a word. Come with us and be our father and priest. Is it better for you to be a priest for one man's house or for a tribe and family group in Israel?"²⁰ This made the priest happy. So he took the holy vest, the household idols, and the idol and went with the Danites.²¹ They left Micah's house, putting their little children, their animals, and everything they owned in front of them. ²² When they had gone a little way from Micah's house, the men who lived near Micah were called out and caught up with them.²³ The men with Micah shouted at the Danites, who turned around and said to Micah, "What's the matter with you? Why have you been called out to fight?" ²⁴ Micah answered, "You took my gods that I made and my priest. What do I have left? How can you ask me, 'What's the matter?' " ²⁵ The Danites answered, "You should not argue with us. Some of our angry men might attack you, killing you and your family."²⁶ Then the Danites went on their way. Micah knew they were too strong for him, so he turned and went back home. ²⁷ Then the Danites took what Micah had made and his priest and went on to Laish. They attacked those peaceful people and killed them with their swords and then burned the city.²⁸ There was no one to save the people of Laish. They lived too far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with anyone else. Laish was in a valley near Beth Rehob.    The people of Dan rebuilt the city and lived there.²⁹ They changed the name of Laish to Dan, naming it for their ancestor Dan, one of the sons of Israel. ³⁰ The people of Dan set up the idols in the city of Dan. Jonathan son of Gershom, Moses' son, and his sons served as priests for the tribe of Dan until the land was captured.

Judges 19 - New Century

 ¹ At that time Israel did not have a king.    There was a Levite who lived in the faraway mountains of Ephraim. He had taken a slave woman from the city of Bethlehem in the land of Judah to live with him,² but she was unfaithful to him. She left him and went back to her father's house in Bethlehem in Judah and stayed there for four months.³ Then her husband went to ask her to come back to him, taking with him his servant and two donkeys. When the Levite came to her father's house, she invited him to come in, and her father was happy to see him.⁴ The father-in-law, the young woman's father, asked him to stay. So he stayed for three days and ate, drank, and slept there. ⁵ On the fourth day they got up early in the morning. The Levite was getting ready to leave, but the woman's father said to his son-in-law, "Refresh yourself by eating something. Then go."⁶ So the two men sat down to eat and drink together. After that, the father said to him, "Please stay tonight. Relax and enjoy yourself."⁷ When the man got up to go, his father-in-law asked him to stay. So he stayed again that night.⁸ On the fifth day the man got up early in the morning to leave. The woman's father said, "Refresh yourself. Wait until this afternoon." So the two men ate together. ⁹ When the Levite, his slave woman, and his servant got up to leave, the father-in-law, the young woman's father, said, "It's almost night. The day is almost gone. Spend the night here and enjoy yourself. Tomorrow morning you can get up early and go home."¹⁰ But the Levite did not want to stay another night. So he took his two saddled donkeys and his slave woman and traveled toward the city of Jebus (also called Jerusalem). ¹¹ As the day was almost over, they came near Jebus. So the servant said to his master, "Let's stop at this city of the Jebusites, and spend the night here." ¹² But his master said, "No. We won't go inside a foreign city. Those people are not Israelites. We will go on to the city of Gibeah."¹³ He said, "Come on. Let's try to make it to Gibeah or Ramah so we can spend the night in one of those cities."¹⁴ So they went on. The sun went down as they came near Gibeah, which belongs to the tribe of Benjamin.¹⁵ They stopped there to spend the night. They came to the public square of the city and sat down, but no one invited them home to spend the night. ¹⁶ Finally, in the evening an old man came in from his work in the fields. His home was in the mountains of Ephraim, but now he was living in Gibeah. (The people of Gibeah were from the tribe of Benjamin.)¹⁷ He saw the traveler in the public square and asked, "Where are you going? Where did you come from?" ¹⁸ The Levite answered, "We are traveling from Bethlehem in Judah to my home in the mountains of Ephraim. I have been to Bethlehem in Judah, but now I am going to the Holy Tent of the Lord. No one has invited me to stay in his house.¹⁹ We already have straw and food for our donkeys and bread and wine for me, the young woman, and my servant. We don't need anything." ²⁰ The old man said, "You are welcome to stay at my house. Let me give you anything you need, but don't spend the night in the public square."²¹ So the old man took the Levite into his house, and he fed their donkeys. They washed their feet and had something to eat and drink. ²² While they were enjoying themselves, some wicked men of the city surrounded the house and beat on the door. They shouted to the old man who owned the house, "Bring out the man who came to your house. We want to have sexual relations with him." ²³ The owner of the house went outside and said to them, "No, my friends. Don't be so evil. This man is a guest in my house. Don't do this terrible thing!²⁴ Look, here are my daughter, who has never had sexual relations before, and the man's slave woman. I will bring them out to you now. Do anything you want with them, but don't do such a terrible thing to this man." ²⁵ But the men would not listen to him. So the Levite took his slave woman and sent her outside to them. They forced her to have sexual relations with them, and they abused her all night long. Then, at dawn, they let her go.²⁶ She came back to the house where her master was staying and fell down at the door and lay there until daylight. ²⁷ In the morning when the Levite got up, he opened the door of the house and went outside to go on his way. But his slave woman was lying at the doorway of the house, with her hands on the doorsill.²⁸ The Levite said to her, "Get up; let's go." But she did not answer. So he put her on his donkey and went home. ²⁹ When the Levite got home, he took a knife and cut his slave woman into twelve parts, limb by limb. Then he sent a part to each area of Israel.³⁰ Everyone who saw this said, "Nothing like this has ever happened before, not since the people of Israel came out of Egypt. Think about it. Tell us what to do."

Judges 20 - New Century

 ¹ So all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, joined together before the Lord in the city of Mizpah.² The leaders of all the tribes of Israel took their places in the meeting of the people of God. There were 400,000 soldiers with swords.³ (The people of Benjamin heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the Israelites said to the Levite, "Tell us how this evil thing happened." ⁴ So the husband of the murdered woman answered, "My slave woman and I came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night.⁵ During the night the men of Gibeah came after me. They surrounded the house and wanted to kill me. They forced my slave woman to have sexual relations and she died.⁶ I took her and cut her into parts and sent one part to each area of Israel because the people of Benjamin did this wicked and terrible thing in Israel.⁷ Now, all you Israelites, speak up. What is your decision?" ⁸ Then all the people stood up at the same time, saying, "None of us will go home. Not one of us will go back to his house!⁹ Now this is what we will do to Gibeah. We will throw lots.¹⁰ That way we will choose ten men from every hundred men from all the tribes of Israel, and we will choose a hundred men from every thousand, and a thousand men from every ten thousand. These will find supplies for the army. Then the army will go to the city of Gibeah of Benjamin to repay them for the terrible thing they have done in Israel."¹¹ So all the men of Israel were united and gathered against the city. ¹² The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin demanding, "What is this evil thing some of your men have done?¹³ Hand over the wicked men in Gibeah so that we can put them to death. We must remove this evil from Israel."    But the Benjaminites would not listen to their fellow Israelites.¹⁴ The Benjaminites left their own cities and met at Gibeah to fight the Israelites.¹⁵ In only one day the Benjaminites got 26,000 soldiers together who were trained with swords. They also had 700 chosen men from Gibeah.¹⁶ Seven hundred of these trained soldiers were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss! ¹⁷ The Israelites, except for the Benjaminites, gathered 400,000 soldiers with swords. ¹⁸ The Israelites went up to the city of Bethel and asked God, "Which tribe shall be first to attack the Benjaminites?"    The Lord answered, "Judah shall go first." ¹⁹ The next morning the Israelites got up and made a camp near Gibeah.²⁰ The men of Israel went out to fight the Benjaminites and took their battle position at Gibeah.²¹ Then the Benjaminites came out of Gibeah and killed 22,000 Israelites during the battle that day.^22-23 The Israelites went before the Lord and cried until evening. They asked the Lord, "Shall we go to fight our relatives, the Benjaminites, again?"    The Lord answered, "Go up and fight them." The men of Israel encouraged each other. So they took the same battle positions they had taken the first day. ²⁴ The Israelites came to fight the Benjaminites the second day.²⁵ The Benjaminites came out of Gibeah to attack the Israelites. This time, the Benjaminites killed 18,000 Israelites, all of whom carried swords. ²⁶ Then the Israelites went up to Bethel. There they sat down and cried to the Lord and fasted all day until evening. They also brought burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the Lord.²⁷ The Israelites asked the Lord a question. (In those days the Ark of the Agreement with God was there at Bethel.²⁸ A priest named Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, served before the Ark of the Agreement.) They asked, "Shall we go to fight our relatives, the Benjaminites, again, or shall we stop fighting?"    The Lord answered, "Go, because tomorrow I will hand them over to you." ²⁹ Then the Israelites set up ambushes all around Gibeah.³⁰ They went to fight against the Benjaminites at Gibeah on the third day, getting into position for battle as they had done before.

Judges 21 - New Century

 ¹ At Mizpah the men of Israel had sworn, "Not one of us will let his daughter marry a man from the tribe of Benjamin." ² The people went to the city of Bethel and sat before God until evening, crying loudly.³ They said, "Lord, God of Israel, why has this terrible thing happened to us so that one tribe of Israel is missing today?" ⁴ Early the next day the people built an altar and put burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to God on it. ⁵ Then the Israelites asked, "Did any tribe of Israel not come here to meet with us in the presence of the Lord?" They asked this question because they had sworn that anyone who did not meet with them at Mizpah would be killed. ⁶ The Israelites felt sorry for their relatives, the Benjaminites. They said, "Today one tribe has been cut off from Israel.⁷ We swore before the Lord that we would not allow our daughters to marry a Benjaminite. How can we make sure that the remaining men of Benjamin will have wives?"⁸ Then they asked, "Which one of the tribes of Israel did not come here to Mizpah?" They found that no one from the city of Jabesh Gilead had come.⁹ The people of Israel counted everyone, but there was no one from Jabesh Gilead. ¹⁰ So the whole group of Israelites sent twelve thousand soldiers to Jabesh Gilead to kill the people with their swords, even the women and children. ¹¹ "This is what you must do: Kill every man in Jabesh Gilead and every married woman."¹² The soldiers found four hundred young unmarried women in Jabesh Gilead, so they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in Canaan. ¹³ Then the whole group of Israelites sent a message to the men of Benjamin, who were at the rock of Rimmon, offering to make peace with them.¹⁴ So the men of Benjamin came back at that time. The Israelites gave them the women from Jabesh Gilead who had not been killed, but there were not enough women. ¹⁵ The people of Israel felt sorry for the Benjaminites because the Lord had separated the tribes of Israel. ¹⁶ The elders of the Israelites said, "The women of Benjamin have been killed. Where can we get wives for the men of Benjamin who are still alive? ¹⁷ These men must have children to continue their families so a tribe in Israel will not die out.¹⁸ But we cannot allow our daughters to marry them, because we swore, 'Anyone who gives a wife to a man of Benjamin is cursed.'¹⁹ We have an idea! There is a yearly festival of the Lord at Shiloh, which is north of the city of Bethel, east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem, and south of the city of Lebonah." ²⁰ So the elders told the men of Benjamin, "Go and hide in the vineyards. ²¹ Watch for the young women from Shiloh to come out to join the dancing. Then run out from the vineyards and take one of the young Shiloh women and return to the land of Benjamin.²² If their fathers or brothers come to us and complain, we will say: 'Be kind to the men of Benjamin. We did not get wives for Benjamin during the war, and you did not give the women to the men from Benjamin. So you are not guilty.' " ²³ So that is what the Benjaminites did. While the young women were dancing, each man caught one of them, took her away, and married her. Then they went back to the land God had given them and rebuilt their cities and lived there. ²⁴ Then the Israelites went home to their own tribes and family groups, to their own land that God had given them. ²⁵ In those days Israel did not have a king. All the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.