Judges {Shoftim}

1 Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked YHVH, saying: Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them? 2 And YHVH said: Judah shall go up; behold, I have delivered the land into his hand! 3 Then Judah said to Simeon his brother: Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with you into your lot. So Simeon went with him. 4 And Judah went up, and YHVH delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men. 5 They found Adoni-bezek in Bezek, and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites. 6 But Adoni-bezek fled, and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. 7 And Adoni-bezek said: Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their food under my table, as I have done, so Elohim has requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died. 8 Now, the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it, and smitten it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire. 9 And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites, who dwelt in the mountain, and in the south, and in the valley. 10 Judah went against the Canaanites who dwelt in Hebron (now, the name of Hebron before was Kiriath-arba), and they slew Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai. 11 From there he went against the inhabitants of Debir, and the name of Debir before was Kiriath-sepher, 12 and Caleb said: He who smites Kiriath-sepher and takes it, to him I will give Achsah my daughter to wife. 13 So Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it, and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife. 14 And it came to pass, when she came to him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field, and she lighted from off her donkey; and Caleb said to her: What will you? 15 And she said to him: Give me a blessing, for you have given me a south land; give me also springs of water. So Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs. 16 The children of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up out of Ir-hatamarim with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the south of Arad; they went and dwelt among the people. 17 And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah. 18 Also Judah took Gaza with its coast, and Ashkelon with its coast, and Ekron with its coast. 19 YHVH was with Judah, and he drove out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley because they had chariots of iron. 20 So they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses said, and he expelled the three sons of Anak. 21 And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem, but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day. 22 And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel, and YHVH was with them. 23 The house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel (now, the name of the city before was Luz). 24 And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said to him: Show us, we pray you, the entrance into the city, and we will show you mercy! 25 But when he showed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and all his family. 26 And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day. 27 Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean and its towns, nor Taanach and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns. But the Canaanites would dwell in that land. 28 And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out. 29 Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them. 30 Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became tributaries. 31 Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob. 32 But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out. 33 Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beth-anath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became tributaries to them. 34 And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain, for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley. 35 But the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim; yet, the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became tributaries. 36 And the coast of the Amorites was from the going up to Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.

1 An Angel of YHVH came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you to the land which I swore to your fathers; and I said that I will never break My covenant with you. 2 And you shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; you shall throw down their altars; but you have not obeyed My voice! Why have you done this? 3 Therefore, I also said that I will not drive them out from before you, but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you! 4 And it came to pass, when the Angel of YHVH spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept. 5 So they called the name of that place Bochim, and they sacrificed there unto YHVH. 6 And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man to his inheritance to possess the land. 7 And the people served YHVH all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of YHVH done for Israel. 8 And Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of YHVH, died, being a hundred and ten years old. 9 So they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the mount of Ephraim on the north side of the hill Gaash. 10 Also, all that generation were gathered to their fathers, and there arose another generation after them, who did not know YHVH, nor yet the works which YHVH had done for Israel. 11 So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of YHVH, and served Baalim, 12 and they forsook the El of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods; of the gods of the people who were round about them, and bowed themselves to them, and provoked YHVH unto anger. 13 They forsook YHVH, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. 14 And the anger of YHVH was hot against Israel, so YHVH delivered them into the hands of spoilers who spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. 15 Whenever they went out, the hand of YHVH was against them for evil, as YHVH had said, and as YHVH had sworn to them, and they were greatly distressed. 16 Nevertheless, YHVH raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who spoiled them. 17 And yet they would not hearken to their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves to them; they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of YHVH; but they did not so. 18 And when YHVH raised up judges for them, then YHVH was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for it repented YHVH because of their groaning, by reason of those who oppressed them and vexed them. 19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down to them; they did not cease from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way. 20 And the anger of YHVH was hot against Israel, and said: Because these people have transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened to My voice, 21 I also will not henceforth drive out from before them, any of the nations which Joshua left when he died; 22 that through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the way of YHVH, to walk in it, as their fathers did keep it, or not! 23 Therefore, YHVH left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither did He deliver them into the hand of Joshua.

1 Now, these are the nations which YHVH left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan; 2 that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing of it. 3 Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites who dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baal-hermon to the entrance to Hamath. 4 And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken to the commandments of YHVH, which was commanded of their fathers by the hand of Moses. 5 The children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites, 6 and they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods. 7 The children of Israel did evil in the sight of YHVH, and forgot YHVH their Elohim, and served Baalim and the phallic symbols. 8 Therefore, the anger of YHVH was hot against Israel, and sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, and the children of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. 9 When the children of Israel cried unto YHVH He raised up a deliverer unto the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. 10 And the Spirit of YHVH came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war, and YHVH delivered Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, into his hand; his hand prevailed against Cushan-rishathaim. 11 Then the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz, died. 12 The children of Israel did evil again in the sight of YHVH, and He strengthened Eglon, king of Moab, against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of YHVH. 13 So he gathered to him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed Ir-hatamarim. 14 So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. 15 But when the children of Israel cried to YHVH He raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a left-handed man, and by him the children of Israel sent a present to Eglon the king of Moab. 16 But Ehud made himself a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit length; and he did gird it under his clothing upon his right thigh. 17 And he brought the present to Eglon king of Moab, and Eglon was a very fat man. 18 When he had made an end to offer the present, he sent away the people who bare the present. 19 But he himself turned again from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said: I have a secret errand to you, O king! But he replied: Keep silence! And all who stood by him went out from him. 20 Then Ehud came to him as he was sitting in a summer parlor, which he had for himself alone. And Ehud said: I have a message from Elohim to you. And he arose out of his seat. 21 Then Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly, 22 and the shaft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly; and then the innards came out. 23 Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the parlor upon him, and locked them. 24 When he was gone out, his servants came; and when they saw that, behold, the doors of the parlor were locked, they said: Surely he is resting in his summer chamber! 25 So they lingered until they were ashamed, and, behold, he did not open the doors of the parlor. Therefore, they took a key and opened them, and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the ground. 26 And Ehud escaped while they lingered, and passed beyond the quarries and escaped to Seirath. 27 So it came to pass, when he arrived, that he blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mount, and he before them. 28 And he said to them: Follow after me, for YHVH has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the fords of Jordan toward Moab, and did not allow a man to pass over. 29 And they slew of Moab at that time, about ten thousand men, all large and all men of valor; and not one escaped. 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest eighty years. 31 And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad, and he also delivered Israel.

1 And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of YHVH, when Ehud was dead. 2 And YHVH sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. 3 And the children of Israel cried to YHVH: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel. 4 And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. 5 And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim, and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. 6 And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh Naphtali, and said to him: Adonai, Elohim of Israel, has commanded, saying: Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun. 7 And I will draw to you to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into your hand! 8 Barak said to her: If you will go with me, then I will go, but if you will not go with me then I will not go. 9 And she said: I will surely go with you! Notwithstanding, the journey that you take shall not be for your honor, for YHVH shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman! Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh, and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet, and Deborah went up with him. 11 Now Heber the Kenite, who was of the children of Hobab the father in law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent to the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh. 12 And they showed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor. 13 And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles to the river of Kishon. 14 And Deborah said to Barak: Up! For this is the day in which YHVH has delivered Sisera into your hand. Is not YHVH gone out before you? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him. 15 And YHVH discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet. 16 But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, to Harosheth of the Gentiles, and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left. 17 Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 18 Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him: Turn in, my lord, turn in to me and fear not! But when he had turned in to her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle. 19 And he said to her: Give me, I pray you, a little water to drink, for I am thirsty! So she opened a bottle of milk and gave him drink, and covered him. 20 Again he said to her: Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man does come and inquire of you, asking if there any men here? You shall say: No! 21 Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. 22 And behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him: Come and I will show you the man whom you seek! But when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples. 23 So Elohim subdued on that day, Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel. 24 And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin, king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.

1 Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying: 2 Praise YHVH for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves. 3 Hear, O you kings; give ear, O you princes; I, even I, will sing unto YHVH; I will sing praise unto Adonai, Elohim of Israel. 4 YHVH, when you went out of Seir, when you marched out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water. 5 The mountains melted from before YHVH, even that Sinai from before Adonai, Elohim of Israel. 6 In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travelers walked through byways. 7 The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until I Deborah arose; I arose a mother in Israel. 8 They chose new gods, then was war in the gates. Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel? 9 My heart is toward the governors of Israel, who offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless You YHVH! 10 Speak, you who ride on white asses, you who sit in judgment, and walk by the way. 11 Those who are delivered from the noise of archers in the places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of YHVH, even the righteous acts toward the inhabitants of his villages in Israel. Then shall the people of YHVH go down to the gates. 12 Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, utter a song! Arise, Barak, and lead your captivity captive, you son of Abinoam. 13 Then he made him who remains to have dominion over the nobles among the people: YHVH made me have dominion over the mighty. 14 Out of Ephraim there was a root of them against Amalek; after you, Benjamin, among your people; out of Machir governors came down, and out of Zebulun those who handle the pen of the writer. 15 And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; even Issachar, and also Barak: he was sent on foot into the valley. For the divisions of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart. 16 Why abode you among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart. 17 Gilead abode beyond Jordan, and why did Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode in his safe havens. 18 Zebulun and Naphtali were a people who jeopardized their lives to the death in the high places of the field. 19 The kings came and fought, then fought the kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money. 20 They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera. 21 The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, you have trodden down strength. 22 Then were the horse hoofs broken by the means of the prancing, the prancing of their mighty ones. 23 Curse you Meroz! Said the Angel of YHVH: Curse you bitterly its inhabitants; because they did not come to the help of YHVH, to the help of YHVH against the mighty! 24 Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent. 25 He asked water and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish. 26 She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workman's hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, when she had pierced and stricken through his temples. 27 At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down; at her feet he bowed, he fell; where he bowed, there he fell down dead. 28 The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice: Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why linger the wheels of his chariots? 29 Her wise ladies answered her, yes, she returned answer to herself: 30 Have they not sped? Have they not divided the prey? To every man a damsel or two; to Sisera a prey of diverse colors, a prey of divers colors of needlework, of diverse colors of needlework on both sides, fit for the necks of those who take the spoil! 31 So let all your enemies perish, O YHVH, but let those who Love Him be like the sun ​​when it comes out in full strength. And the land had rest forty years.

1 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of YHVH, and He delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. 2 And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel, and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made for themselves the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds. 3 And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them. 4 And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till you come to Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor donkey. 5 For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number and they entered into the land to destroy it. 6 And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, so the children of Israel cried unto YHVH. 7 And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto YHVH because of the Midianites 8 that YHVH sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them: Thus said Adonai, Elohim of Israel: I brought you up from Egypt and brought you forth out of the house of bondage, 9 and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out from before you, and gave you their land. 10 And I said to you that I Am Adonai your Elohim; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But you have not obeyed My voice! 11 Then there came an Angel of YHVH and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained to Joash the Abiezrite, and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the wine-press, to hide it from the Midianites. 12 The Angel of YHVH appeared to him and said to him: YHVH is with you, you mighty man of valor! 13 And Gideon said to Him: Oh my Adon, if YHVH be with us, why then is all this befallen us? And where be all His miracles which our fathers told us of, saying: Did not YHVH bring us up from Egypt? But now YHVH has forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. 14 YHVH looked upon him and said: Go in this your might, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have not I sent you? 15 And he said to Him: Oh my Adonai, wherewith shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. 16 But YHVH said to him: Surely I will be with you, and you shall smite the Midianites as one man! 17 And he said to Him: If now I have found grace in Your sight, then show me a sign that You talk with me. 18 Do not leave here, I pray you, until I come to You, and bring forth my present, and set it before You. And YHVH said: I will linger until you come again! 19 So Gideon went in and made ready a young goat, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour. The flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out to Him under the oak, and presented it. 20 And the Angel of Elohim said to him: Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth! And he did so. 21 Then the Angel of YHVH put forth the end of the staff that was in His hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the Angel of YHVH departed out of his sight. 22 When Gideon perceived that He was an Angel of YHVH, Gideon said: Alas, O Adonai my Elohim! Because I have seen an Angel of YHVH face to face. 23 And YHVH said to him: Peace be to you! Fear not, you shall not die! 24 Then Gideon built an altar there to YHVH, and called it Adonai Shalom! To this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. 25 And it came to pass the same night that YHVH said to him: Take your father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the grove that is by it. 26 And build an altar to Adonai your Elohim upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which you shall cut down. 27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as YHVH had said to him. And so it was, because he feared his father's household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night. 28 So when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the phallic symbol (grove) was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built. 29 And they said one to another: Who has done this thing? But when they inquired and asked, they said: Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing! 30 Then the men of the city said to Joash: Bring your son that he may die, because he has cast down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the phallic symbol that was by it! 31 Joash said to all who stood against him: Will you plead for Baal? Will you save him? He who will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning. If he is a god, let him plead for himself, because one has cast down his altar! 32 Therefore, on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying: Let Baal plead against him, because he has thrown down his altar! 33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel. 34 But the Spirit of YHVH came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him. 35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, who also was gathered after him, and he sent messengers to Asher, and to Zebulun, and to Naphtali; and they came up to meet them. 36 Then Gideon said to Elohim: If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, 37 behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said! 38 And it was so, for he rose up early on the next day, and thrust the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. 39 Then Gideon said to Elohim: Let not Your anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: Let me prove, I pray You, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. 40 And Elohim did so that night, for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.

1 Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people who were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. 2 And YHVH said to Gideon: The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against Me saying: My own hand has saved Me! 3 Now therefore go, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying: Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead! And there returned of the people twenty two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. 4 YHVH said to Gideon: The people are yet too many; bring them down to the water and I will try them for you there, and it shall be that of whom I say to you, this shall go with you, the same shall go with you; and of whomsoever I say to you, this shall not go with you, the same shall not go! 5 So he brought down the people to the water, and YHVH said to Gideon: Everyone who laps of the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, him shall you set by himself; likewise everyone who bows down upon his knees to drink! 6 And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men. But all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. 7 And YHVH said to Gideon: By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand, and let all the other people go every man to his place! 8 So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets, and he sent all the rest of Israel, every man to his tent, and retained those three hundred men, and the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley. 9 And it came to pass the same night, that YHVH said to him: Arise, go down to the host; for I have delivered it into your hand. 10 But if you fear to go down, go you with Phurah your servant down to the host, 11 and you shall hear what they say; and afterward shall your hands be strengthened to go down to the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant to the outside of the armed men who were in the host. 12 And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude. 13 And when Gideon arrived, there was a man who told a dream to his fellow, and said: Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came to a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along. 14 And his fellow answered and said: This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand has Elohim delivered Midian, and all the host. 15 And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation, that he worshiped, and returned into the host of Israel, and said: Arise, for YHVH has delivered into your hand the host of Midian! 16 And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers. 17 And he said to them: Look on me and do likewise, and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be that as I do, so shall you do. 18 When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say: The sword of YHVH! And of Gideon. 19 So Gideon, and the hundred men who were with him, came to the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch, and they had but newly set the watch, and they blew the trumpets, and broke the pitchers that were in their hands. 20 And the three companies blew the trumpets, and broke the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal, and they cried: The sword of YHVH! And of Gideon. 21 They stood, every man in his place round about the camp, and all the host ran, and cried, and fled. 22 And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and YHVH set every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host, and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, to Tabbath. 23 So the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites. 24 Gideon sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim, saying: Come down against the Midianites and take before them the waters to Bethbarah and Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and took the waters to Bethbarah and Jordan. 25 And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan.

1 And the men of Ephraim said to him: Why have you served us thus that you called us not, when you went to fight with the Midianites? And they did chide with him sharply. 2 But he said to them: What have I done now in comparison of you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? 3 Elohim has delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, and what was I able to do in comparison of you? Then their anger was abated toward him, when he had said that. 4 Then Gideon came to the Jordan, and crossed; he, and the three hundred men who were with him, faint, yet pursuing them. 5 And he said to the men of Succoth: Give, I pray you, loaves of bread to the people who follow me; for they are faint and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian. 6 The princes of Succoth said: Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand that we should give bread to your army? 7 And Gideon said: Therefore when YHVH has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers. 8 And he went up there to Penuel, and spoke to them likewise, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered him. 9 And he spoke also to the men of Penuel, saying: When I come again in peace I will break down this tower! 10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of all the hosts of the children of the east, for there fell a hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword. 11 And Gideon went up by the way of those who dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the host, for the host was secure. 12 When Zebah and Zalmunna fled he pursued after them, and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and discomfited all the host. 13 And Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle before the sun was up 14 and caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and inquired of him; he described to him the princes of Succoth, and the elders, even seventy seven men. 15 So he came to the men of Succoth and said: Behold Zebah and Zalmunna with whom you did upbraid me, saying: Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand that we should give bread to your men that are weary? 16 And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth. 17 And he beat down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city. 18 Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna: What manner of men were they whom you slew at Tabor? And they answered: As you are, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king. 19 And he said: They were my brethren, even the sons of my mother! As YHVH lives if you had saved them alive I would not slay you. 20 Then he said to Jether his firstborn: Up! And slay them! But the youth drew not his sword, for he feared because he was yet a youth. 21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said: Rise, and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength. Gideon arose and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments that were on their camels' necks. 22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon: Rule over us; both you and your son, and your son's son also, for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian. 23 But Gideon said to them: I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you; YHVH shall rule over you! 24 And Gideon said to them: I would desire a request of you that you would give me, every man the ear rings of his prey. (For they had golden ear rings, because they were Ishmaelites). 25 And they answered: We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment and did cast in it every man the earrings of his prey. 26 The weight of the golden ear rings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple clothing that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels' necks. 27 And Gideon made an ephod of it, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah, and all Israel went there a whoring after it, which thing became a snare to Gideon and to his house. 28 Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon. 29 And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house. 30 Gideon had seventy sons of his body begotten, for he had many wives, 31 and his concubine who was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech. 32 Gideon the son of Joash, died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulcher of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. 33 So it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim and made Baal-berith their gods. 34 And the children of Israel did not remember YHVH their Elohim, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side. 35 Neither showed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal; namely, Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had showed to Israel.

1 And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his mother's brethren, and communed with them, and with all the family of the house of his mother's father, saying: 2 Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, Whether is better for you, either that all the sons of Jerubbaal, who are seventy persons, reign over you, or that one reign over you? remember also that I am your bone and your flesh. 3 And his mother's brethren spoke of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words, and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said: He is our brother! 4 And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith, wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light persons, who followed him. 5 And he went to his father's house at Ophrah, and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, being seventy persons, upon one stone. Notwithstanding yet Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, for he hid himself. 6 And all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and went, and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem. 7 And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said to them: Hearken to me you men of Shechem, that Elohim may hearken to you. 8 The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them and they said to the olive tree: Reign you over us! 9 But the olive tree said to them: Should I leave my fatness wherewith by me they honor Elohim and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? 10 And the trees said to the fig tree: Come and reign over us! 11 But the fig tree said to them: Should I forsake my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees? 12 Then said the trees to the vine: Come and reign over us! 13 And the vine said to them: Should I leave my wine, which cheers Elohim and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? 14 Then said all the trees to the bramble: Come and reign over us! 15 But the bramble said to the trees: If in truth you anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow, and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon! 16 Now therefore, if you have done truly and sincerely, in that you have made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done to him according to the deserving of his hands: 17 (For my father fought for you, and adventured his life far, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian 18 and you are risen up against my father's house this day and have slain his sons, seventy persons, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother): 19 If you then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. 20 But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech. 21 Then Jotham ran away and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there for fear of Abimelech his brother. 22 When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel, 23 Elohim sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech 24 so that the cruelty done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother, who slew them; and upon the men of Shechem who aided him in the killing of his brethren. 25 So the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him in the top of the mountains, and they robbed all who came along that way by them, and it was told Abimelech. 26 And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren, and went over to Shechem, and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him. 27 So they went out into the fields and gathered their vineyards, and trod the grapes, and made merry, and went into the house of their gods, and ate and drink, and cursed Abimelech. 28 And Gaal the son of Ebed said: Who is Abimelech and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is not he the son of Jerubbaal? and Zebul his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem, for why should we serve him? 29 And would to Elohim this people were under my hand! Then would I remove Abimelech. So he said to Abimelech: Increase your army and come out! 30 When Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled. 31 And he sent messengers to Abimelech secretly, saying: Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brethren be come to Shechem; and, behold, they fortify the city against you. 32 Now therefore up by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field. 33 And it shall be, that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, you shall rise early, and set upon the city, and, behold, when he and the people who are with him come out against you, then may you do to them as you shall find occasion. 34 So Abimelech rose up, and all the people who were with him, by night, and they laid in wait against Shechem in four companies. 35 And Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city, and Abimelech rose up, and the people who were with him, from lying in wait. 36 When Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul: Behold there come people down from the top of the mountains! And Zebul said to him: You see the shadow of the mountains as if they were men! 37 And Gaal spoke again and said: See there come people down by the middle of the land, and another company come along by the plain of Meonenim! 38 Then said Zebul to him: Where is now your mouth wherewith you said: Who is Abimelech that we should serve him? Is not this the people that you have despised? Go out, I pray now, and fight with them! 39 So Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech. 40 But Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many were overthrown and wounded, even to the entering of the gate. 41 And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah, and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his brethren, that they should not dwell in Shechem. 42 And it came to pass on the next day, that the people went out into the field; and they told Abimelech. 43 So he took the people and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the field, and looked, and, behold, the people were come forth out of the city; and he rose up against them and smote them. 44 Abimelech and the company that was with him, rushed forward, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city, and the two other companies ran upon all the people who were in the fields, and slew them. 45 And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people who were there, and beat down the city, and sowed it with salt. 46 When all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that, they entered into a hold of the house of Beth-el-berith. 47 And it was told Abimelech that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. 48 So Abimelech went up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him; and Abimelech took an ax in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it, and laid it on his shoulder, and said to the people who were with him: What you have seen me do, make haste and do as I have done! 49 And all the people likewise cut down, every man his bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them to the hold, and set the hold on fire upon them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women. 50 Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it. 51 But there was a strong tower within the city, and into it fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut it, and went up to the top of the tower. 52 Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it, and went hard to the door of the tower to burn it with fire. 53 And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone on the head of Abimelech, and all to break his skull. 54 Then he called hastily to the young man his armor-bearer and said to him: Draw your sword and slay me, that men not say of me that a woman slew him. So his young man thrust him through, and he died. 55 And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man to his place. 56 Thus Elohim rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did to his father, in slaying his seventy brethren. 57 And all the evil of the men of Shechem did Elohim render upon their heads and upon them came the curse of Jotham, the son of Jerubbaal.

1 After Abimelech there arose to defend Israel Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; he dwelt in Shamir in mount Ephraim. 2 And he judged Israel twenty-three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir. 3 After him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty-two years. 4 And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty donkey colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havoth-jair {tent-villages of Jair} to this day, which are in the land of Gilead. 5 Then Jair died and was buried in Camon. 6 But the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of YHVH, and served Baalim and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook YHVH and refused to serve Him. 7 So the anger of YHVH was hot against Israel and sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon. 8 That year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel; eighteen years, all the children of Israel who were on the other side of the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. 9 Moreover, the children of Ammon passed over the Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim; so that Israel was sore distressed. 10 So the children of Israel cried unto YHVH, saying: We have sinned against You, both because we have forsaken our Elohim, and also served Baalim! 11 YHVH said to the children of Israel: Was it not I who delivered you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines? 12 The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, oppressed you; and you cried to Me and I delivered you out of their hand. 13 Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods! Therefore, I will deliver you no more! 14 Go and cry to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation! 15 And the children of Israel said to YHVH: We have sinned! Do unto us whatsoever seems good to You. Deliver us only, we pray unto You this day. 16 And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served YHVH, and His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel. 17 Then the children of Ammon were gathered together, and encamped in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled themselves together, and encamped in Mizpeh. 18 And the people and princes of Gilead said one to another, What man is he that will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? he shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.

1 Now, Jephthah from Gilead was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of a harlot, and Gilead fathered Jephthah. 2 And Gilead's wife bare him sons; and his wife's sons grew up, and they thrust out Jephthah, and said to him: You shall not inherit in our father's house, for you are the son of a strange woman! 3 Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob, and there were gathered worthless men to Jephthah, and went out with him. 4 It came to pass in process of time, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel. 5 And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob. 6 And they said to Jephthah: Come and be our captain so that we may fight with the children of Ammon! 7 But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead: Did not you hate me and expel me out of my father's house? Why do you come to me now when you are in distress? 8 The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah: Therefore we turn again to you now that you may go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead. 9 Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead: If you bring me home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and YHVH deliver them before me, shall I be your head? 10 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah: YHVH be witness between us, if we do not so according to your words! 11 Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and captain over them, and Jephthah uttered all his words before YHVH in Mizpeh. 12 Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, saying: What have you to do with me that you are come against me to fight in my land? 13 The king of the children of Ammon answered to the messengers of Jephthah: Because Israel took away my land when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even to Jabbok, and to the Jordan; now therefore, restore those lands again peaceably! 14 So Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the children of Ammon 15 and said to him: Thus said Jephthah, Israel did not take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon. 16 But when Israel came up from Egypt and walked through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh, 17 then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying: Let me, I pray you, pass through your land! But the king of Edom would not hearken. And in like manner they sent to the king of Moab, but he would not consent, and Israel abode in Kadesh. 18 Then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but did not come within the border of Moab, for Arnon was the border of Moab. 19 And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him: Let us pass, we pray you, through your land into my place! 20 But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his coast, so Sihon gathered all his people together and pitched in Jahaz, and fought against Israel. 21 And Adonai, Elohim of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. 22 And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even to Jabbok, and from the wilderness even to Jordan. 23 So now Adonai, Elohim of Israel, has dispossessed the Amorites from before His people Israel; should you possess it? 24 Will you not possess that which Chemosh your gods gives you to possess? So whomsoever Adonai our Elohim shall drive out from before us, them will we possess. 25 And now are you anything better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel or did he ever fight against them 26 while Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred years? Why therefore did you not recover them within that time? 27 Therefore, I have not sinned against you, but you do me wrong to war against me. YHVH the Judge will render judgment this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon. 28 Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon did not hearken to the words of Jephthah which he sent him. 29 Then the Spirit of YHVH came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over to the children of Ammon. 30 And Jephthah vowed a vow unto YHVH and said: If You shall without fail deliver the children of Ammon into my hands 31 then it shall be that whatsoever comes forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be Elohim's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. 32 So Jephthah passed over to the children of Ammon to fight against them; and YHVH delivered them into his hands. 33 And he smote them from Aroer, even till you come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and to the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel. 34 And Jephthah came to Mizpeh to his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances, and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 It came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said: Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are one of those who trouble me, for I have opened my mouth unto YHVH, and I cannot go back! 36 So she said to him: My father, if you have opened your mouth unto YHVH, do to me according to that which has proceeded out of your mouth; for as much as YHVH has taken vengeance for you of your enemies, even of the children of Ammon! 37 And she said to her father: Let this thing be done for me; let me alone two months that I may go up and down upon the mountains and bewail my virginity; I and my fellows. 38 And he said: Go! So he sent her away for two months, and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. 39 It came to pass at the end of two months that she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed, and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel 40 that the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.

1 And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward and said to Jephthah: Why did you go to fight against the children of Ammon and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house upon you with fire! 2 But Jephthah said to them: I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, you did not deliver me out of their hands. 3 When I saw that you did not deliver me, I put my life in my hands and passed over against the children of Ammon, and YHVH delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day, to fight against me? 4 Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim, and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said: You Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites! 5 The Gileadites took the passages of the Jordan before the Ephraimites, and it was so that when those Ephraimites who were escaped said: Let me go over! And the men of Gilead said to him: Are you an Ephraimite? If he said: No! 6 Then said they to him: Say now Shibboleth! But he said Sibboleth! For he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him and slew him at the passages of Jordan, and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty two thousand. 7 And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead. 8 And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. 9 He had thirty sons and thirty daughters, whom he sent abroad, and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years. 10 Then Ibzan died, and was buried at Bethlehem. 11 After him Elon, a Zebulonite, judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years. 12 And Elon the Zebulonite died, and was buried in Aijalon in the country of Zebulun. 13 And after him Abdon the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite, judged Israel. 14 And he had forty sons and thirty nephews, who rode on seventy donkey colts, and he judged Israel eight years. 15 Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the mountains of the Amalekites.

1 Again the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of YHVH, and YHVH delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years. 2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and bare not. 3 But the Angel of YHVH appeared to the woman and said to her: Behold now, you are barren, and bear not; but you shall conceive and bear a son. 4 Now therefore beware, I pray you, and drink neither wine nor strong drink, and eat no unclean thing. 5 For, lo, you shall conceive and bear a son, and no razor shall come on his head, for the child shall be a Nazarite to Elohim from the womb, and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines! 6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying: A Man of Elohim came to me, and His countenance was like the countenance of an Angel of Elohim, very terrible. But I did not ask Him whence He was, nor told me His name. 7 But He said to me: Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son; and now, drink neither wine nor strong drink, and eat no unclean thing, for the child shall be a Nazarite to Elohim from the womb to the day of his death! 8 Then Manoah entreated YHVH, and said: O my Adonai, let the Man of Elohim, whom You did send come again to us, and teach us what we shall do to the child that shall be born. 9 So Elohim hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the Angel of Elohim came again to the woman as she sat in the field. But Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 So the woman made haste, and ran, and showed her husband, and said to him: Behold, the Man has appeared to me, who came to me the other day. 11 Manoah arose and went after his wife, and came to the Man, and said to Him: Are you the Man that spoke to the woman? And He said: I Am! 12 And Manoah said: Now let Your words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do to him? 13 The Angel of YHVH said to Manoah: Of all that I said to the woman let her beware. 14 She may not eat of anything that comes of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; all that I commanded her, let her observe! 15 So Manoah said to the Angel of YHVH: I pray, let us detain You, until we shall have made ready a young goat for You. 16 But the Angel of YHVH said to Manoah: Though you detain Me, I will not eat of your bread, and if you will offer a burnt offering, you must offer it unto YHVH! For Manoah did not know that he was an Angel of YHVH. 17 And Manoah said to the angel of YHVH: What is Your name that when your sayings come to pass we may do You honor? 18 And the Angel of YHVH said to him: Why ask you thus after My name, seeing it is secret? {Wonderful} 19 So Manoah took a young goat with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto YHVH, and the Angel did wondrously; Manoah and his wife looked on. 20 For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, the Angel of YHVH ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground. 21 But the Angel of YHVH did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that He was an Angel of YHVH. 22 Manoah said to his wife: We shall surely die, because we have seen Elohim! 23 But his wife said to him: If YHVH were pleased to kill us, He would not have received a burnt offering and a voluntary offering at our hands, neither would He have showed us all these things, nor would as at this time, have told us such things as these. 24 Then the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson, and the child grew, and YHVH blessed him. 25 And the Spirit of YHVH began to move him at times in the Camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

1 Now, Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. 2 And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said: I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife! 3 Then his father and his mother said to him: Is there never a woman among the daughters of your brethren, or among all my people, that you want to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said to his father: Get her for me, for she pleases me well! 4 But his father and his mother did not know that it was of YHVH; that He sought an occasion against the Philistines, for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel. 5 Then Samson went down with his father and his mother to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath, and, behold, a young lion roared against him. 6 But the Spirit of YHVH came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a young goat, and he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done. 7 So he went down and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well. 8 And after a time, he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion. 9 So he took of it in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave to them, and they ate. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion. 10 So his father went down to the woman, and Samson made there a feast; for so the young men used to do. 11 And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him. 12 And Samson said to them: I will now put forth a riddle to you; if you can certainly declare it to me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. 13 But if you cannot declare it me, then shall you give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments! And they said to him: Put forth your riddle that we may hear it! 14 And he said to them: Out of the eater came forth food and out of the strong came forth sweetness! But they could not in three days expound the riddle. 15 And it came to pass on the seventh day that they said to Samson's wife: Entice your husband, that he may declare to us the riddle, lest we burn you and your father's house with fire. Have you called us to take what we have? Is it not so? 16 And Samson's wife wept before him, and said: You do but hate me, and love me not. You have put forth a riddle to the children of my people, and have not told it to me. Then he said to her: Behold, I have not told it to my father nor my mother; shall I tell it to you? 17 And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted, and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him, and she told the riddle to the children of her people. 18 So the men of the city said to him on the seventh day, before the sun went down: What is sweeter than honey and what is stronger than a lion? And he said to them: If you had not plowed with my heifer, you had not found out my riddle. 19 Then the Spirit of YHVH came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments to them who expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house. 20 But Samson's wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.

1 But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a young goat; and he said: I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in. 2 And her father said: I truly thought that you had utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister fairer than she? Take her, I pray you, instead of her. 3 And Samson said concerning them: Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure! 4 So Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails. 5 And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burnt up both the sheaves, and also the standing grain, with the vineyards and olives. 6 Then the Philistines said: Who has done this? And they answered: Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion! So the Philistines came up and burnt her and her father with fire. 7 Then Samson said to them: Though you have done this, yet I will be avenged of you, and after that I will cease! 8 And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter, and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam. 9 Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi. 10 And the men of Judah said: Why are you come up against us? And they answered: We are here to bind Samson, to do to him as he has done to us! 11 Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson: Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What is this that you have done to us? And he said to them: As they did to me, so I have done to them! 12 And they said to him: We are come down to bind you, that we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines! But Samson said to them: Swear to me that you will not fall upon me yourselves. 13 And they spoke to him, saying: No; but we will bind you fast and deliver you into their hand; but surely we will not kill you! So they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock. 14 And when he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him, but the Spirit of YHVH came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands. 15 And he found a new jawbone of an donkey, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men with it. 16 Then Samson said: With the jawbone of an donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an donkey have I slain a thousand men! 17 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramath-lehi. 18 He was very thirsty, and called on YHVH, and said: You have given this great deliverance into the hand of Your servant, and now shall I die for thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised? 19 But Elohim opened a hollow place that was in the jawbone, and there came out water. When he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: Wherefore he called its name En-hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day. 20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines for twenty years.

1 Then Samson went to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went into her. 2 And it was told the Gazites, saying: Samson has come here! And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying: In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him! 3 And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of a hill that is before Hebron. 4 And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 5 So the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her: Entice him and see wherein his great strength lies, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him, and we will give you, everyone of us, eleven hundred pieces of silver. 6 So Delilah said to Samson: Tell me I pray you, wherein your great strength lies and wherewith you might be bound to afflict you. 7 Samson said to her: If they bind me with seven green cords that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. 8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green cords which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. 9 Now, there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said to him: The Philistines be upon you Samson! And he broke the cord as a thread of fiber is broken when it touches the fire. So his strength was not known. 10 Delilah said to Samson: Behold, you have mocked me and told me lies. Now tell me I pray you, wherewith you might be bound. 11 And he said to her: If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak and be as another man. 12 Delilah therefore took new ropes and bound him with them, and said to him: The Philistines be upon you Samson! And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber, but he broke them from off his arms like a thread. 13 Delilah said to Samson: Hitherto you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me wherewith you might be bound. Then he said to her: If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web! 14 So she fastened it with the pin, and said to him: The Philistines be upon you Samson! And he woke out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web. 15 And she said to him: How can you say, I love you, when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me wherein your great strength lies. 16 So it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed to death 17 that he told her all his heart, and said to her: There has not come a razor upon my head, for I have been a Nazarite unto Elohim from my mother's womb. If I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man. 18 When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying: Come up this once, for he has showed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought money in their hand. 19 Then she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. 20 And she said: The Philistines be upon you Samson! And he awoke out of his sleep, and said: I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. But he did not realize that YHVH was departed from him. 21 But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house. 22 Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven. 23 Then the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their gods, and to rejoice, for they said: Our gods has delivered Samson our enemy into our hand! 24 And when the people saw him, they praised their gods, for they said: Our gods has delivered into our hands our enemy and the destroyer of our country who slew many of us! 25 And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said: Call for Samson that he may make us sport! And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport, and they set him between the pillars. 26 Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand: Let me feel the pillars whereupon the house stands, that I may lean upon them. 27 Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, who watched while Samson made sport. 28 So Samson called unto YHVH and said: O Adonai Elohim, remember me, I pray You, and strengthen me, I pray You, only this once, O Elohim, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. 29 Then Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left. 30 And Samson said: Let me die with the Philistines! And he bowed himself with all his might, and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people who were there. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they whom he slew in his life. 31 Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burying place of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel for twenty years.

1 There was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah, 2 and he said to his mother: The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you, about which you cursed, and spoke of also in my hearing; look, I have the silver; I took it. And his mother said: Blessed be you of Elohim, my son. 3 And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said: I had wholly dedicated the silver to Elohim from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image; now therefore I will restore it to you. 4 Yet he restored the money to his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made of it a graven image and a molten image, and they were in the house of Micah. 5 The man Micah had a house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. 6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. 7 And there was a young man out of Bethlehem-judah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. 8 And the man departed out of the city from Bethlehem-judah to sojourn where he could find a place, and he came to mount Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed. 9 And Micah said to him: Whence come you? And he said to him: I am a Levite of Bethlehem-judah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place! 10 Micah said to him: Dwell with me and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and your victuals! So the Levite went in. 11 And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was to him as one of his sons. 12 And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. 13 Then said Micah: Now know I that YHVH will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.

1 In those days there was no king in Israel, and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought an inheritance to dwell in; for to that day all their inheritance had not fallen to them among the tribes of Israel. 2 And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said to them, Go, search the land: when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there. 3 When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite, and they turned in there, and said to him, Who brought you here? and what are you doing in this place? and what have you here? 4 And he said to them, Thus and thus Micah deals with me, and has hired me, and I am his priest. 5 And they said to him, Ask counsel, we pray you, of Elohim, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous. 6 And the priest said to them, Go in peace: before YHVH is your way wherein you go. 7 Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people who were there, how they dwelt care free, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land, that might put them to shame in any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any man. 8 And they came to their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brethren said to them, What do you think? 9 And they said: Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good, and are you still? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land. 10 When you go, you shall come to a people secure, and to a large land: for Elohim has given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth. 11 And there went from there of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with weapons of war. 12 And they went up, and pitched in Kirjath-jearim, in Judah. Therefore they called that place Mahaneh-dan to this day. Behold, it is behind Kirjath-jearim. 13 And they passed to mount Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah. 14 Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said to their brethren: Do you know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? Now therefore, consider what you have to do. 15 And they turned inside, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even to the house of Micah, and saluted him. 16 And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate. 17 And the five men who went to spy out the land went up, and came in, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image, and the priest stood in the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men who were armed with weapons of war. 18 And these went into Micah's house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest to them: What are you doing? 19 And they said to him: Hold your peace, lay your hand upon your mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be a priest to the house of one man or that you be a priest to a tribe and a family in Israel? 20 And the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people. 21 So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the carriage before them. 22 And when they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men who were in the houses near to Micah's house gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan. 23 And they cried to the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said to Micah, What ails you, that you come with such a company? 24 And he said: You have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and you are gone away, and what have I more? And what is this that you say to me: What ails you? 25 So the children of Dan said to him: Let not your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows run upon you, and you lose your life, with the lives of your household. 26 The children of Dan went their way, and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house. 27 They took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came to Laish, to a people who were at quiet and secure, and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire. 28 And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Zidon, and they had no business with any man; and it was in the valley that lies by Beth-rehob. So they built a city, and dwelt in it, 29 and they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel; howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first. 30 And the children of Dan set up the graven image, and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. 31 And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made, all the time that the House of Elohim was in Shiloh.

1 And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Bethlehem-judah. 2 And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him to her father's house to Bethlehem-judah, and was there four whole months. 3 And her husband arose, and went after her, to speak friendly to her, and to bring her again, having his servant with him, and a couple of asses, and she brought him into her father's house, and when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet him. 4 And his father in law, the damsel's father, detained him; and he abode with him three days. So they ate and drink, and lodged there. 5 It came to pass on the fourth day, when they arose early in the morning, that he rose up to depart, and the damsel's father said to his son in law: Comfort your heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way! 6 So they sat down and ate and drink both of them together, for the damsel's father had said to the man: Be content, I pray you, and linger all night, and let your heart be merry. 7 When the man rose up to depart, his father-in-law urged him; therefore he lodged there again. 8 And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart, and the damsel's father said: Comfort your heart, I pray you! And they remained until afternoon, and they ate both of them. 9 When the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father-in-law, the damsel's father said to him: Behold, now the day draws toward evening, I pray you linger all night. Behold, the day grows to an end, lodge here, that your heart may be merry, and tomorrow get you early on your way that you may go home. 10 But the man would not linger that night, but he rose up and departed, and came over against Jebus, which is Jerusalem; and there were with him two asses saddled, his concubine also was with him. 11 And when they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said to his master: Come, I pray you, and let us turn in into this city of the Jebusites and lodge in it. 12 But his master said to him: We will not turn aside here into the city of a stranger that is not of the children of Israel; we will pass over to Gibeah. 13 And he said to his servant: Come and let us draw near to one of these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah. 14 So they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin. 15 They turned aside there, to go in and to lodge in Gibeah, and when he went in, he sat down in a street of the city, for there was no man who took them into his house to lodging. 16 And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at even, which was also of mount Ephraim; and he sojourned in Gibeah: but the men of the place were Benjamites. 17 And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a wayfaring man in the street of the city, and the old man said: Where go you and whence come you? 18 And he said to him: We are passing from Bethlehem-judah toward the side of mount Ephraim; from there am I, and I went to Bethlehem-judah, but I am now going to the house of YHVH, and there is no man who receives me to house. 19 Yet there is both straw and provender for our asses; and there is bread and wine also for me, and for your handmaid, and for the young man who is with your servants; there is no want of anything. 20 And the old man said: Peace be with you; howsoever let all your wants lie upon me, only do not lodge in the street. 21 So he brought him into his house and gave provender to the asses, and they washed their feet, and ate and drink. 22 Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying: Bring forth the man who came into your house, that we may rape him! 23 And the man, the master of the house, went out to them, and said to them: No, my brethren, no, I pray you, do not so wickedly; seeing that this man is come into my house, do not this folly. 24 Behold, here is my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble them, and do with them what seems good to you, but to this man do not so vile a thing. 25 But the men would not hearken to him, so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth to them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning, and when the day began to spring, they let her go. 26 Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was, till it was light. 27 And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way, and, behold, the woman his concubine was fallen down at the door of the house, and her hands were upon the threshold. 28 And he said to her: Up, and let us be going! But none answered. Then the man took her up upon an donkey, and the man rose up, and went to his place. 29 And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the coasts of Israel. 30 And it was so, that all who saw it said: There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt to this day. Consider it, take advice, and speak your minds.

1 Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beersheba, with the land of Gilead, to YHVH in Mizpeh. 2 And the chief of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of Elohim, four hundred thousand footmen who drew sword. 3 (Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpeh). Then said the children of Israel: Tell us, how was this wickedness? 4 And the Levite, the husband of the woman who was slain, answered and said: I came into Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge. 5 And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round about upon me by night, and thought to have slain me, and my concubine they forced, that she is dead. 6 And I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel, for they have committed lewdness and folly in Israel. 7 Behold, you are all children of Israel; give here your advice and counsel. 8 And all the people arose as one man, saying: We will not any of us go to his tent, neither will we any of us turn into his house. 9 But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up by lot against it. 10 And we will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to fetch victual for the people; that, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, they may do according to all the folly that they have wrought in Israel. 11 So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one man. 12 And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying: What wickedness is this that is done among you? 13 Now therefore deliver us the men, the children of Belial, who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel. But the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel. 14 But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities to Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel. 15 And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities twenty six thousand men who drew the sword, beside the inhabitants of Gibeah, who numbered seven hundred chosen men. 16 Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men left-handed; every one could sling stones at a hair breadth, and not miss. 17 And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men who drew the sword: all these were men of war. 18 And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the House of Elohim, and asked counsel of Elohim, and said: Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And YHVH said: Judah shall go up first! 19 And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped against Gibeah. 20 And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin; and the men of Israel put themselves in array to fight against them at Gibeah. 21 And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty two thousand men. 22 And the people the men of Israel encouraged themselves, and set their battle again in array in the place where they put themselves in array the first day. 23 And the children of Israel went up and wept before YHVH until even, and asked counsel of YHVH, saying: Shall I go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And YHVH said: Go up against him! 24 And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day. 25 Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men; all these drew the sword. 26 Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came to the House of Elohim, and wept, and sat there before YHVH, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before YHVH. 27 And the children of Israel inquired of YHVH (for the Ark of the Covenant of Elohim was there in those days 28 and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days), saying: Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And YHVH said: Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand! 29 And Israel set liers in wait round about Gibeah. 30 And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times. 31 And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite of the people, and kill, as at other times, in the highways, of which one goes up to the House of Elohim, and the other to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel. 32 And the children of Benjamin said: They are smitten down before us, as at the first. But the children of Israel said: Let us flee, and draw them from the city to the highways. 33 And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place, and put themselves in array at Baal-tamar, and the liers in wait of Israel came forth out of their places, even out of the meadows of Gibeah. 34 And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore: but they knew not that evil was near them. 35 And YHVH smote Benjamin before Israel, and the children of Israel destroyed of the Benjamites that day twenty five thousand one hundred men; all these drew the sword. 36 So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten: for the men of Israel gave place to the Benjamites, because they trusted to the liers in wait which they had set beside Gibeah. 37 And the liers in wait hastened, and rushed upon Gibeah; and the liers in wait drew themselves along, and smote all the city with the edge of the sword. 38 Now there was an appointed sign between the men of Israel and the liers in wait, that they should make a great flame with smoke rise up out of the city. 39 And when the men of Israel retired in the battle, Benjamin began to smite and kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons, for they said: Surely they are smitten down before us, as in the first battle. 40 But when the flame began to arise up out of the city with a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and, behold, the flame of the city ascended up to heaven. 41 And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of Benjamin were amazed, for they saw that evil was come upon them. 42 Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel to the way of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them; and those who came out of the cities they destroyed in the midst of them. 43 Thus they enclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and trod them down with ease over against Gibeah toward the sun-rising. 44 And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these were men of valor. 45 And they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men; and pursued hard after them to Gidom, and slew two thousand men of them. 46 So that all who fell that day of Benjamin were twenty five thousand men who drew the sword; all these were men of valor. 47 But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness to the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months. 48 And the men of Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin, and smote them with the edge of the sword, as well the men of every city, as the beast, and all that came to hand: also they set on fire all the cities that they came to.

1 Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying: There shall not any of us give his daughter to Benjamin to wife! 2 And the people came to the House of Elohim, and abode there till even before Elohim, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore; 3 And said: O Adonai Elohim of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be today one tribe lacking in Israel? 4 And it came to pass on the next day, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. 5 And the children of Israel said: Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that did not come up with the congregation to YHVH? For they had made a great oath concerning him who did not come up to YHVH to Mizpeh, saying: He shall surely be put to death! 6 And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said: There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day. 7 How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by YHVH that we will not give them of our daughters to wives? 8 And they said: What one is there of the tribes of Israel that did not come up to Mizpeh to YHVH? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly. 9 For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there. 10 And the congregation sent there twelve thousand of the most valiant men, and commanded them, saying: Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children. 11 And this is the thing that you shall do, You shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that has lain by man. 12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins, that had known no man by lying with any male, and they brought them to the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan. 13 And the whole congregation sent some to speak to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably to them. 14 And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them wives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead, and yet so they sufficed them not. 15 And the people repented over Benjamin, because YHVH had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. 16 Then the elders of the congregation said: What shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin? 17 And they said: There must be an inheritance for those who escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel. 18 Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters, for the children of Israel have sworn, saying: Cursed be he who gives a wife to Benjamin! 19 Then they said: Behold, there is a feast of YHVH in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah. 20 Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying: Go and lie in wait in the vineyards; 21 And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come out of the vineyards, and catch every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. 22 And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come to us to complain, that we will say to them, Be favorable to them for our sakes, because we did not reserve to each man his wife in the war; for you did not give to them at this time that you should be guilty. 23 And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught, and they went and returned to their inheritance, and repaired the cities, and dwelt in them. 24 And the children of Israel departed there at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from there every man to his inheritance. 25 In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes. (Back)