Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem and summoned Israel’s elders, leaders, judges, and officers, and they presented themselves before God.

²Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your ancestors, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods.

³But I took your father Abraham from the region beyond the Euphrates River, led him throughout the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants. I gave him Isaac,

⁴and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave the hill country of Seir to Esau as a possession. “‘Jacob and his sons, however, went down to Egypt.

⁵I sent Moses and Aaron, and I defeated Egypt by what I did within it, and afterward I brought you out.

⁶When I brought your fathers out of Egypt and you reached the Red Sea, the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen as far as the sea.

⁷Your fathers cried out to the LORD, so he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea over them, engulfing them. Your own eyes saw what I did to Egypt. After that, you lived in the wilderness a long time.

⁸“‘Later, I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived beyond the Jordan. They fought against you, but I handed them over to you. You possessed their land, and I annihilated them before you.

⁹Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, set out to fight against Israel. He sent for Balaam son of Beor to curse you,

¹⁰but I would not listen to Balaam. Instead, he repeatedly blessed you, and I rescued you from him.

¹¹“‘You then crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. Jericho’s citizens — as well as the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hethites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites — fought against you, but I handed them over to you.

¹²I sent hornets ahead of you, and they drove out the two Amorite kings before you. It was not by your sword or bow.

¹³I gave you a land you did not labor for, and cities you did not build, though you live in them; you are eating from vineyards and olive groves you did not plant.’

¹⁴“Therefore, fear the LORD and worship him in sincerity and truth. Get rid of the gods your fathers worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and worship the LORD.

¹⁵But if it doesn’t please you to worship the LORD, choose for yourselves today: Which will you worship — the gods your fathers worshiped beyond the Euphrates River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living? As for me and my family, we will worship the LORD.”

¹⁶The people replied, “We will certainly not abandon the LORD to worship other gods!

¹⁷For the LORD our God brought us and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery, and performed these great signs before our eyes. He also protected us all along the way we went and among all the peoples whose lands we traveled through.

¹⁸The LORD drove out before us all the peoples, including the Amorites who lived in the land. We too will worship the LORD, because he is our God.”

¹⁹But Joshua told the people, “You will not be able to worship the LORD, because he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions and sins.

²⁰If you abandon the LORD and worship foreign gods, he will turn against you, harm you, and completely destroy you, after he has been good to you.”

²¹“No!” the people answered Joshua. “We will worship the LORD.”

²²Joshua then told the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you yourselves have chosen to worship the LORD.” “We are witnesses,” they said.

²³“Then get rid of the foreign gods that are among you and turn your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.”

²⁴So the people said to Joshua, “We will worship the LORD our God and obey him.”

²⁵On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people at Shechem and established a statute and ordinance for them.

²⁶Joshua recorded these things in the book of the law of God; he also took a large stone and set it up there under the oak at the sanctuary of the LORD.

²⁷And Joshua said to all the people, “You see this stone — it will be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words the LORD said to us, and it will be a witness against you, so that you will not deny your God.”

²⁸Then Joshua sent the people away, each to his own inheritance.

²⁹After these things, the LORD’s servant, Joshua son of Nun, died at the age of 110.

³⁰They buried him in his allotted territory at Timnath-serah, in the hill country of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash.

³¹Israel worshiped the LORD throughout Joshua’s lifetime and during the lifetimes of the elders who outlived Joshua and who had experienced all the works the LORD had done for Israel.

³²Joseph’s bones, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the parcel of land Jacob had purchased from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of silver. It was an inheritance for Joseph’s descendants.

³³And Eleazar son of Aaron died, and they buried him at Gibeah, which had been given to his son Phinehas in the hill country of Ephraim.

¹After the death of Joshua, the Israelites inquired of the LORD, “Who will be the first to fight for us against the Canaanites?”

²The LORD answered, “Judah is to go. I have handed the land over to him.”

³Judah said to his brother Simeon, “Come with me to my allotted territory, and let us fight against the Canaanites. I will also go with you to your allotted territory.” So Simeon went with him.

⁴When Judah attacked, the LORD handed the Canaanites and Perizzites over to them. They struck down ten thousand men in Bezek.

⁵They found Adoni-bezek in Bezek, fought against him, and struck down the Canaanites and Perizzites.

⁶When Adoni-bezek fled, they pursued him, caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.

⁷Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to pick up scraps under my table. God has repaid me for what I have done.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

⁸The men of Judah fought against Jerusalem, captured it, put it to the sword, and set the city on fire.

⁹Afterward, the men of Judah marched down to fight against the Canaanites who were living in the hill country, the Negev, and the Judean foothills.

¹⁰Judah also marched against the Canaanites who were living in Hebron (Hebron was formerly named Kiriath-arba ). They struck down Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

¹¹From there they marched against the residents of Debir (Debir was formerly named Kiriath-sepher).

¹²Caleb said, “Whoever attacks and captures Kiriath-sepher, I will give my daughter Achsah to him as a wife.”

¹³So Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s youngest brother, captured it, and Caleb gave his daughter Achsah to him as his wife.

¹⁴When she arrived, she persuaded Othniel to ask her father for a field. As she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you want?”

¹⁵She answered him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me springs also.” So Caleb gave her both the upper and lower springs.

¹⁶The descendants of the Kenite, Moses’s father-in-law, had gone up with the men of Judah from the City of Palms to the Wilderness of Judah, which was in the Negev of Arad. They went to live among the people.

¹⁷Judah went with his brother Simeon, struck the Canaanites who were living in Zephath, and completely destroyed the town. So they named the town Hormah.

¹⁸Judah captured Gaza and its territory, Ashkelon and its territory, and Ekron and its territory.

¹⁹The LORD was with Judah and enabled them to take possession of the hill country, but they could not drive out the people who were living in the valley because those people had iron chariots.

²⁰Judah gave Hebron to Caleb, just as Moses had promised. Then Caleb drove out the three sons of Anak who lived there.

²¹At the same time the Benjaminites did not drive out the Jebusites who were living in Jerusalem. The Jebusites have lived among the Benjaminites in Jerusalem to this day.

²²The house of Joseph also attacked Bethel, and the LORD was with them.

²³They sent spies to Bethel (the town was formerly named Luz ).

²⁴The spies saw a man coming out of the town and said to him, “Please show us how to get into town, and we will show you kindness.”

²⁵When he showed them the way into the town, they put the town to the sword but released the man and his entire family.

²⁶Then the man went to the land of the Hittites, built a town, and named it Luz. That is its name still today.

²⁷At that time Manasseh failed to take possession of Beth-shean and Taanach and their surrounding villages, or the residents of Dor, Ibleam, and Megiddo and their surrounding villages; the Canaanites were determined to stay in this land.

²⁸When Israel became stronger, they made the Canaanites serve as forced labor but never drove them out completely.

²⁹At that time Ephraim failed to drive out the Canaanites who were living in Gezer, so the Canaanites have lived among them in Gezer.

³⁰Zebulun failed to drive out the residents of Kitron or the residents of Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them and served as forced labor.

³¹Asher failed to drive out the residents of Acco or of Sidon, or Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob.

³²The Asherites lived among the Canaanites who were living in the land, because they failed to drive them out.

³³Naphtali did not drive out the residents of Beth-shemesh or the residents of Beth-anath. They lived among the Canaanites who were living in the land, but the residents of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath served as their forced labor.

³⁴The Amorites forced the Danites into the hill country and did not allow them to go down into the valley.

³⁵The Amorites were determined to stay in Har-heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim. When the house of Joseph got the upper hand, the Amorites were made to serve as forced labor.

³⁶The territory of the Amorites extended from the Scorpions’ Ascent, that is from Sela upward.

¹The angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim and said, “I brought you out of Egypt and led you into the land I had promised to your fathers. I also said: I will never break my covenant with you.

²You are not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land. You are to tear down their altars. But you have not obeyed me. What is this you have done?

³Therefore, I now say: I will not drive out these people before you. They will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a trap for you.”

⁴When the angel of the LORD had spoken these words to all the Israelites, the people wept loudly.

⁵So they named that place Bochim and offered sacrifices there to the LORD.

⁶Previously, when Joshua had sent the people away, the Israelites had gone to take possession of the land, each to his own inheritance.

⁷The people worshiped the LORD throughout Joshua’s lifetime and during the lifetimes of the elders who outlived Joshua. They had seen all the LORD’s great works he had done for Israel.

⁸Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of 110.

⁹They buried him in the territory of his inheritance, in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

¹⁰That whole generation was also gathered to their ancestors. After them another generation rose up who did not know the LORD or the works he had done for Israel.

¹¹The Israelites did what was evil in the LORD’s sight. They worshiped the Baals

¹²and abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed other gods from the surrounding peoples and bowed down to them. They angered the LORD,

¹³for they abandoned him and worshiped Baal and the Ashtoreths.

¹⁴The LORD’s anger burned against Israel, and he handed them over to marauders who raided them. He sold them to the enemies around them, and they could no longer resist their enemies.

¹⁵Whenever the Israelites went out, the LORD was against them and brought disaster on them, just as he had promised and sworn to them. So they suffered greatly.

¹⁶The LORD raised up judges, who saved them from the power of their marauders,

¹⁷but they did not listen to their judges. Instead, they prostituted themselves with other gods, bowing down to them. They quickly turned from the way of their fathers, who had walked in obedience to the LORD’s commands. They did not do as their fathers did.

¹⁸Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for the Israelites, the LORD was with him and saved the people from the power of their enemies while the judge was still alive. The LORD was moved to pity whenever they groaned because of those who were oppressing and afflicting them.

¹⁹Whenever the judge died, the Israelites would act even more corruptly than their fathers, following other gods to serve them and bow in worship to them. They did not turn from their evil practices or their obstinate ways.

²⁰The LORD’s anger burned against Israel, and he declared, “Because this nation has violated my covenant that I made with their fathers and disobeyed me,

²¹I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died.

²²I did this to test Israel and to see whether or not they would keep the LORD’s way by walking in it, as their fathers had.”

²³The LORD left these nations and did not drive them out immediately. He did not hand them over to Joshua.

¹These are the nations the LORD left in order to test all those in Israel who had experienced none of the wars in Canaan.

²This was to teach the future generations of the Israelites how to fight in battle, especially those who had not fought before.

³These nations included the five rulers of the Philistines and all of the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived in the Lebanese mountains from Mount Baal-hermon as far as the entrance to Hamath.

⁴The LORD left them to test Israel, to determine if they would keep the LORD’s commands he had given their fathers through Moses.

⁵But they settled among the Canaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

⁶The Israelites took their daughters as wives for themselves, gave their own daughters to their sons, and worshiped their gods.

⁷The Israelites did what was evil in the LORD’s sight; they forgot the LORD their God and worshiped the Baals and the Asherahs.

⁸The LORD’s anger burned against Israel, and he sold them to King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram-naharaim, and the Israelites served him eight years.

⁹The Israelites cried out to the LORD. So the LORD raised up Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s youngest brother, as a deliverer to save the Israelites.

¹⁰The Spirit of the LORD came on him, and he judged Israel. Othniel went out to battle, and the LORD handed over King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram to him, so that Othniel overpowered him.

¹¹Then the land had peace for forty years, and Othniel son of Kenaz died.

¹²The Israelites again did what was evil in the LORD’s sight. He gave King Eglon of Moab power over Israel, because they had done what was evil in the LORD’s sight.

¹³After Eglon convinced the Ammonites and the Amalekites to join forces with him, he attacked and defeated Israel and took possession of the City of Palms.

¹⁴The Israelites served King Eglon of Moab eighteen years.

¹⁵Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and he raised up Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed Benjaminite, as a deliverer for them. The Israelites sent him with the tribute for King Eglon of Moab.

¹⁶Ehud made himself a double-edged sword eighteen inches long. He strapped it to his right thigh under his clothes

¹⁷and brought the tribute to King Eglon of Moab, who was an extremely fat man.

¹⁸When Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he dismissed the people who had carried it.

¹⁹At the carved images near Gilgal he returned and said, “King Eglon, I have a secret message for you.” The king said, “Silence!” and all his attendants left him.

²⁰Then Ehud approached him while he was sitting alone in his upstairs room where it was cool. Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you,” and the king stood up from his throne.

²¹Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and plunged it into Eglon’s belly.

²²Even the handle went in after the blade, and Eglon’s fat closed in over it, so that Ehud did not withdraw the sword from his belly. And the waste came out.

²³Ehud escaped by way of the porch, closing and locking the doors of the upstairs room behind him.

²⁴Ehud was gone when Eglon’s servants came in. They looked and found the doors of the upstairs room locked and thought he was relieving himself in the cool room.

²⁵The servants waited until they became embarrassed and saw that he had still not opened the doors of the upstairs room. So they took the key and opened the doors — and there was their lord lying dead on the floor!

²⁶Ehud escaped while the servants waited. He passed the Jordan near the carved images and reached Seirah.

²⁷After he arrived, he sounded the ram’s horn throughout the hill country of Ephraim. The Israelites came down with him from the hill country, and he became their leader.

²⁸He told them, “Follow me, because the LORD has handed over your enemies, the Moabites, to you.” So they followed him, captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross over.

²⁹At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all stout and able-bodied men. Not one of them escaped.

³⁰Moab became subject to Israel that day, and the land had peace for eighty years.

³¹After Ehud, Shamgar son of Anath became judge. He also delivered Israel, striking down six hundred Philistines with a cattle prod.

¹The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD after Ehud had died.

²So the LORD sold them to King Jabin of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera who lived in Harosheth of the Nations.

³Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, because Jabin had nine hundred iron chariots, and he harshly oppressed them twenty years.

⁴Deborah, a prophetess and the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time.

⁵She would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to settle disputes.

⁶She summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “Hasn’t the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded you: ‘Go, deploy the troops on Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men from the Naphtalites and Zebulunites?

⁷Then I will lure Sisera commander of Jabin’s army, his chariots, and his infantry at the Wadi Kishon to fight against you, and I will hand him over to you.’”

⁸Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go. But if you will not go with me, I will not go.”

⁹“I will gladly go with you,” she said, “but you will receive no honor on the road you are about to take, because the LORD will sell Sisera to a woman.” So Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh.

¹⁰Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; ten thousand men followed him, and Deborah also went with him.

¹¹Now Heber the Kenite had moved away from the Kenites, the sons of Hobab, Moses’s father-in-law, and pitched his tent beside the oak tree of Zaanannim, which was near Kedesh.

¹²It was reported to Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up Mount Tabor.

¹³Sisera summoned all his nine hundred iron chariots and all the troops who were with him from Harosheth of the Nations to the Wadi Kishon.

¹⁴Then Deborah said to Barak, “Go! This is the day the LORD has handed Sisera over to you. Hasn’t the LORD gone before you?” So Barak came down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.

¹⁵The LORD threw Sisera, all his charioteers, and all his army into a panic before Barak’s assault. Sisera left his chariot and fled on foot.

¹⁶Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth of the Nations, and the whole army of Sisera fell by the sword; not a single man was left.

¹⁷Meanwhile, Sisera had fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was peace between King Jabin of Hazor and the family of Heber the Kenite.

¹⁸Jael went out to greet Sisera and said to him, “Come in, my lord. Come in with me. Don’t be afraid.” So he went into her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.

¹⁹He said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink for I am thirsty.” She opened a container of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him again.

²⁰Then he said to her, “Stand at the entrance to the tent. If a man comes and asks you, ‘Is there a man here? ’ say, ‘No.’”

²¹While he was sleeping from exhaustion, Heber’s wife Jael took a tent peg, grabbed a hammer, and went silently to Sisera. She hammered the peg into his temple and drove it into the ground, and he died.

²²When Barak arrived in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to greet him and said to him, “Come and I will show you the man you are looking for.” So he went in with her, and there was Sisera lying dead with a tent peg through his temple!

²³That day God subdued King Jabin of Canaan before the Israelites.

²⁴The power of the Israelites continued to increase against King Jabin of Canaan until they destroyed him.

¹On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang:

²When the leaders lead in Israel, when the people volunteer, blessed be the LORD.

³Listen, kings! Pay attention, princes! I will sing to the LORD; I will sing praise to the LORD God of Israel.

⁴LORD, when you came from Seir, when you marched from the fields of Edom, the earth trembled, the skies poured rain, and the clouds poured water.

⁵The mountains melted before the LORD, even Sinai, before the LORD, the God of Israel.

⁶In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the main roads were deserted because travelers kept to the side roads.

⁷Villages were deserted, they were deserted in Israel, until I, Deborah, arose, a mother in Israel.

⁸Israel chose new gods, then there was war in the city gates. Not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel.

⁹My heart is with the leaders of Israel, with the volunteers of the people. Blessed be the LORD!

¹⁰You who ride on white donkeys, who sit on saddle blankets, and who travel on the road, give praise!

¹¹Let them tell the righteous acts of the LORD, the righteous deeds of his warriors in Israel, with the voices of the singers at the watering places. Then the LORD’s people went down to the city gates.

¹²“Awake! Awake, Deborah! Awake! Awake, sing a song! Arise, Barak, and take your prisoners, son of Abinoam!”

¹³Then the survivors came down to the nobles; the LORD’s people came down to me with the warriors.

¹⁴Those with their roots in Amalek came from Ephraim; Benjamin came with your people after you. The leaders came down from Machir, and those who carry a marshal’s staff came from Zebulun.

¹⁵The princes of Issachar were with Deborah; Issachar was with Barak; they were under his leadership in the valley. There was great searching of heart among the clans of Reuben.

¹⁶Why did you sit among the sheep pens listening to the playing of pipes for the flocks? There was great searching of heart among the clans of Reuben.

¹⁷Gilead remained beyond the Jordan. Dan, why did you linger at the ships? Asher remained at the seashore and stayed in his harbors.

¹⁸The people of Zebulun defied death, Naphtali also, on the heights of the battlefield.

¹⁹Kings came and fought. Then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the Waters of Megiddo, but they did not plunder the silver.

²⁰The stars fought from the heavens; the stars fought with Sisera from their paths.

²¹The river Kishon swept them away, the ancient river, the river Kishon. March on, my soul, in strength!

²²The horses’ hooves then hammered — the galloping, galloping of his stallions.

²³“Curse Meroz,” says the angel of the LORD, “Bitterly curse her inhabitants, for they did not come to help the LORD, to help the LORD with the warriors.”

²⁴Jael is most blessed of women, the wife of Heber the Kenite; she is most blessed among tent-dwelling women.

²⁵He asked for water; she gave him milk. She brought him cream in a majestic bowl.

²⁶She reached for a tent peg, her right hand, for a workman’s hammer. Then she hammered Sisera — she crushed his head; she shattered and pierced his temple.

²⁷He collapsed, he fell, he lay down between her feet; he collapsed, he fell between her feet; where he collapsed, there he fell — dead.

²⁸Sisera’s mother looked through the window; she peered through the lattice, crying out: “Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why don’t I hear the hoofbeats of his horses?”

²⁹Her wisest princesses answer her; she even answers herself:

³⁰“Are they not finding and dividing the spoil — a girl or two for each warrior, the spoil of colored garments for Sisera, the spoil of an embroidered garment or two for my neck?”

³¹LORD, may all your enemies perish as Sisera did. But may those who love him be like the rising of the sun in its strength. And the land had peace for forty years.

¹The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD handed them over to Midian seven years,

²and they oppressed Israel. Because of Midian, the Israelites made hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds.

³Whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and the Qedemites came and attacked them.

⁴They encamped against them and destroyed the produce of the land, even as far as Gaza. They left nothing for Israel to eat, as well as no sheep, ox, or donkey.

⁵For the Midianites came with their cattle and their tents like a great swarm of locusts. They and their camels were without number, and they entered the land to lay waste to it.

⁶So Israel became poverty-stricken because of Midian, and the Israelites cried out to the LORD.

⁷When the Israelites cried out to him because of Midian,

⁸the LORD sent a prophet to them. He said to them, “This is what the LORD God of Israel says: ‘I brought you out of Egypt and out of the place of slavery.

⁹I rescued you from the power of Egypt and the power of all who oppressed you. I drove them out before you and gave you their land.

¹⁰I said to you: I am the LORD your God. Do not fear the gods of the Amorites whose land you live in. But you did not obey me.’”

¹¹The angel of the LORD came, and he sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash, the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress in order to hide it from the Midianites.

¹²Then the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said: “The LORD is with you, valiant warrior.”

¹³Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened? And where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about? They said, ‘Hasn’t the LORD brought us out of Egypt? ’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.”

¹⁴The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and deliver Israel from the grasp of Midian. I am sending you!”

¹⁵He said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Look, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s family.”

¹⁶“But I will be with you,” the LORD said to him. “You will strike Midian down as if it were one man.”

¹⁷Then he said to him, “If I have found favor with you, give me a sign that you are speaking with me.

¹⁸Please do not leave this place until I return to you. Let me bring my gift and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay until you return.”

¹⁹So Gideon went and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from a half bushel of flour. He placed the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. He brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.

²⁰The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat with the unleavened bread, put it on this stone, and pour the broth on it.” So he did that.

²¹The angel of the LORD extended the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire came up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight.

²²When Gideon realized that he was the angel of the LORD, he said, “Oh no, Lord GOD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!”

²³But the LORD said to him, “Peace to you. Don’t be afraid, for you will not die.”

²⁴So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD Is Peace. It is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites today.

²⁵On that very night the LORD said to him, “Take your father’s young bull and a second bull seven years old. Then tear down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.

²⁶Build a well-constructed altar to the LORD your God on the top of this mound. Take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down.”

²⁷So Gideon took ten of his male servants and did as the LORD had told him. But because he was too afraid of his father’s family and the men of the city to do it in the daytime, he did it at night.

²⁸When the men of the city got up in the morning, they found Baal’s altar torn down, the Asherah pole beside it cut down, and the second bull offered up on the altar that had been built.

²⁹They said to each other, “Who did this?” After they made a thorough investigation, they said, “Gideon son of Joash did it.”

³⁰Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son. He must die, because he tore down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”

³¹But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Would you plead Baal’s case for him? Would you save him? Whoever pleads his case will be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him plead his own case because someone tore down his altar.”

³²That day he was called Jerubbaal, since Joash said, “Let Baal contend with him,” because he tore down his altar.

³³All the Midianites, Amalekites, and Qedemites gathered together, crossed over the Jordan, and camped in the Jezreel Valley.

³⁴The Spirit of the LORD enveloped Gideon, and he blew the ram’s horn and the Abiezrites rallied behind him.

³⁵He sent messengers throughout all of Manasseh, who rallied behind him. He also sent messengers throughout Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, who also came to meet him.

³⁶Then Gideon said to God, “If you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you said,

³⁷I will put a wool fleece here on the threshing floor. If dew is only on the fleece, and all the ground is dry, I will know that you will deliver Israel by my strength, as you said.”

³⁸And that is what happened. When he got up early in the morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung dew out of it, filling a bowl with water.

³⁹Gideon then said to God, “Don’t be angry with me; let me speak one more time. Please allow me to make one more test with the fleece. Let it remain dry, and the dew be all over the ground.”

⁴⁰That night God did as Gideon requested: only the fleece was dry, and dew was all over the ground.

¹Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the troops who were with him, got up early and camped beside the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them, below the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

²The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many troops for me to hand the Midianites over to them, or else Israel might elevate themselves over me and say, ‘My own strength saved me.’

³Now announce to the troops: ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand of the troops turned back, but ten thousand remained.

⁴Then the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many troops. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. If I say to you, ‘This one can go with you,’ he can go. But if I say about anyone, ‘This one cannot go with you,’ he cannot go.”

⁵So he brought the troops down to the water, and the LORD said to Gideon, “Separate everyone who laps water with his tongue like a dog. Do the same with everyone who kneels to drink.”

⁶The number of those who lapped with their hands to their mouths was three hundred men, and all the rest of the troops knelt to drink water.

⁷The LORD said to Gideon, “I will deliver you with the three hundred men who lapped and hand the Midianites over to you. But everyone else is to go home.”

⁸So Gideon sent all the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred troops, who took the provisions and their trumpets. The camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

⁹That night the LORD said to him, “Get up and attack the camp, for I have handed it over to you.

¹⁰But if you are afraid to attack the camp, go down with Purah your servant.

¹¹Listen to what they say, and then you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he went down with Purah his servant to the outpost of the troops who were in the camp.

¹²Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and all the Qedemites had settled down in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and their camels were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore.

¹³When Gideon arrived, there was a man telling his friend about a dream. He said, “Listen, I had a dream: a loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp, struck a tent, and it fell. The loaf turned the tent upside down so that it collapsed.”

¹⁴His friend answered: “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has handed the entire Midianite camp over to him.”

¹⁵When Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to Israel’s camp and said, “Get up, for the LORD has handed the Midianite camp over to you.”

¹⁶Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies and gave each of the men a trumpet in one hand and an empty pitcher with a torch inside it in the other hand.

¹⁷“Watch me,” he said to them, “and do what I do. When I come to the outpost of the camp, do as I do.

¹⁸When I and everyone with me blow our trumpets, you are also to blow your trumpets all around the camp. Then you will say, ‘For the LORD and for Gideon! ’”

¹⁹Gideon and the hundred men who were with him went to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch after the sentries had been stationed. They blew their trumpets and broke the pitchers that were in their hands.

²⁰The three companies blew their trumpets and shattered their pitchers. They held their torches in their left hands, their trumpets in their right hands, and shouted, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!”

²¹Each Israelite took his position around the camp, and the entire Midianite army began to run, and they cried out as they fled.

²²When Gideon’s men blew their three hundred trumpets, the LORD caused the men in the whole army to turn on each other with their swords. They fled to Acacia House in the direction of Zererah as far as the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath.

²³Then the men of Israel were called from Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh, and they pursued the Midianites.

²⁴Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim with this message: “Come down to intercept the Midianites and take control of the watercourses ahead of them as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they took control of the watercourses as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.

²⁵They captured Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian; they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb, while they were pursuing the Midianites. They brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon across the Jordan.

¹The men of Ephraim said to him, “Why have you done this to us, not calling us when you went to fight against the Midianites?” And they argued with him violently.

²So he said to them, “What have I done now compared to you? Is not the gleaning of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer?

³God handed over to you Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian. What was I able to do compared to you?” When he said this, their anger against him subsided.

⁴Gideon and the three hundred men came to the Jordan and crossed it. They were exhausted but still in pursuit.

⁵He said to the men of Succoth, “Please give some loaves of bread to the troops under my command, because they are exhausted, for I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”

⁶But the princes of Succoth asked, “Are Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hands that we should give bread to your army?”

⁷Gideon replied, “Very well, when the LORD has handed Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I will tear your flesh with thorns and briers from the wilderness!”

⁸He went from there to Penuel and asked the same thing from them. The men of Penuel answered just as the men of Succoth had answered.

⁹He also told the men of Penuel, “When I return safely, I will tear down this tower!”

¹⁰Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and with them was their army of about fifteen thousand men, who were all those left of the entire army of the Qedemites. Those who had been killed were one hundred twenty thousand armed men.

¹¹Gideon traveled on the caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked their army while the army felt secure.

¹²Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them. He captured these two kings of Midian and routed the entire army.

¹³Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the Ascent of Heres.

¹⁴He captured a youth from the men of Succoth and interrogated him. The youth wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven leaders and elders of Succoth.

¹⁵Then he went to the men of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. You taunted me about them, saying, ‘Are Zebah and Zalmunna now in your power that we should give bread to your exhausted men? ’”

¹⁶So he took the elders of the city, and he took some thorns and briers from the wilderness, and he disciplined the men of Succoth with them.

¹⁷He also tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

¹⁸He asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?” “They were like you,” they said. “Each resembled the son of a king.”

¹⁹So he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother! As the LORD lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.”

²⁰Then he said to Jether, his firstborn, “Get up and kill them.” The youth did not draw his sword, for he was afraid because he was still a youth.

²¹Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Get up and strike us down yourself, for a man is judged by his strength.” So Gideon got up, killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.

²²Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you as well as your sons and your grandsons, for you delivered us from the power of Midian.”

²³But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the LORD will rule over you.”

²⁴Then he said to them, “Let me make a request of you: Everyone give me an earring from his plunder.” Now the enemy had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.

²⁵They said, “We agree to give them.” So they spread out a cloak, and everyone threw an earring from his plunder on it.

²⁶The weight of the gold earrings he requested was forty-three pounds of gold, in addition to the crescent ornaments and ear pendants, the purple garments on the kings of Midian, and the chains on the necks of their camels.

²⁷Gideon made an ephod from all this and put it in Ophrah, his hometown. Then all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.

²⁸So Midian was subdued before the Israelites, and they were no longer a threat. The land had peace for forty years during the days of Gideon.

²⁹Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) son of Joash went back to live at his house.

³⁰Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, since he had many wives.

³¹His concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.

³²Then Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

³³When Gideon died, the Israelites turned and prostituted themselves by worshiping the Baals and made Baal-berith their god.

³⁴The Israelites did not remember the LORD their God who had rescued them from the hand of the enemies around them.

³⁵They did not show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) for all the good he had done for Israel.

¹Abimelech son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem and spoke to his uncles and to his mother’s whole clan, saying,

²“Please speak in the hearing of all the citizens of Shechem, ‘Is it better for you that seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you or that one man rule over you? ’ Remember that I am your own flesh and blood.”

³His mother’s relatives spoke all these words about him in the hearing of all the citizens of Shechem, and they were favorable to Abimelech, for they said, “He is our brother.”

⁴So they gave him seventy pieces of silver from the temple of Baal-berith. Abimelech used it to hire worthless and reckless men, and they followed him.

⁵He went to his father’s house in Ophrah and killed his seventy brothers, the sons of Jerubbaal, on top of a large stone. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, survived, because he hid.

⁶Then all the citizens of Shechem and of Beth-millo gathered together and proceeded to make Abimelech king at the oak of the pillar in Shechem.

⁷When they told Jotham, he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim, raised his voice, and called to them: Listen to me, citizens of Shechem, and may God listen to you:

⁸The trees decided to anoint a king over themselves. They said to the olive tree, “Reign over us.”

⁹But the olive tree said to them, “Should I stop giving my oil that people use to honor both God and men, and rule over the trees?”

¹⁰Then the trees said to the fig tree, “Come and reign over us.”

¹¹But the fig tree said to them, “Should I stop giving my sweetness and my good fruit, and rule over trees?”

¹²Later, the trees said to the grapevine, “Come and reign over us.”

¹³But the grapevine said to them, “Should I stop giving my wine that cheers both God and man, and rule over trees?”

¹⁴Finally, all the trees said to the bramble, “Come and reign over us.”

¹⁵The bramble said to the trees, “If you really are anointing me as king over you, come and find refuge in my shade. But if not, may fire come out from the bramble and consume the cedars of Lebanon.”

¹⁶“Now if you have acted faithfully and honestly in making Abimelech king, if you have done well by Jerubbaal and his family, and if you have rewarded him appropriately for what he did —

¹⁷for my father fought for you, risked his life, and rescued you from Midian,

¹⁸and now you have attacked my father’s family today, killed his seventy sons on top of a large stone, and made Abimelech, the son of his slave woman, king over the citizens of Shechem ‘because he is your brother’ —

¹⁹so if you have acted faithfully and honestly with Jerubbaal and his house this day, rejoice in Abimelech and may he also rejoice in you.

²⁰But if not, may fire come from Abimelech and consume the citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo, and may fire come from the citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo and consume Abimelech.”

²¹Then Jotham fled, escaping to Beer, and lived there because of his brother Abimelech.

²²When Abimelech had ruled over Israel three years,

²³God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem. They treated Abimelech deceitfully,

²⁴so that the crime against the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come to justice and their blood would be avenged on their brother Abimelech, who killed them, and on the citizens of Shechem, who had helped him kill his brothers.

²⁵The citizens of Shechem rebelled against him by putting men in ambush on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed everyone who passed by them on the road. So this was reported to Abimelech.

²⁶Gaal son of Ebed came with his brothers and crossed into Shechem, and the citizens of Shechem trusted him.

²⁷So they went out to the countryside and harvested grapes from their vineyards. They trampled the grapes and held a celebration. Then they went to the house of their god, and as they ate and drank, they cursed Abimelech.

²⁸Gaal son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech and who is Shechem that we should serve him? Isn’t he the son of Jerubbaal, and isn’t Zebul his officer? You are to serve the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem. Why should we serve Abimelech?

²⁹If only these people were in my power, I would remove Abimelech.” So he said to Abimelech, “Gather your army and come out.”

³⁰When Zebul, the ruler of the city, heard the words of Gaal son of Ebed, he was angry.

³¹So he secretly sent messengers to Abimelech, saying, “Beware! Gaal son of Ebed, with his brothers, have come to Shechem and are turning the city against you.

³²Now tonight, you and the troops with you, come and wait in ambush in the countryside.

³³Then get up early, and at sunrise attack the city. When he and the troops who are with him come out against you, do to him whatever you can.”

³⁴So Abimelech and all the troops with him got up at night and waited in ambush for Shechem in four units.

³⁵Gaal son of Ebed went out and stood at the entrance of the city gate. Then Abimelech and the troops who were with him got up from their ambush.

³⁶When Gaal saw the troops, he said to Zebul, “Look, troops are coming down from the mountaintops!” But Zebul said to him, “The shadows of the mountains look like men to you.”

³⁷Then Gaal spoke again, “Look, troops are coming down from the central part of the land, and one unit is coming from the direction of the Diviners’ Oak.”

³⁸Zebul replied, “What do you have to say now? You said, ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him? ’ Aren’t these the troops you despised? Now go and fight them!”

³⁹So Gaal went out leading the citizens of Shechem and fought against Abimelech,

⁴⁰but Abimelech pursued him, and Gaal fled before him. Numerous bodies were strewn as far as the entrance of the city gate.

⁴¹Abimelech stayed in Arumah, and Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers from Shechem.

⁴²The next day when the people of Shechem went into the countryside, this was reported to Abimelech.

⁴³He took the troops, divided them into three companies, and waited in ambush in the countryside. He looked, and the people were coming out of the city, so he arose against them and struck them down.

⁴⁴Then Abimelech and the units that were with him rushed forward and took their stand at the entrance of the city gate. The other two units rushed against all who were in the countryside and struck them down.

⁴⁵So Abimelech fought against the city that entire day, captured it, and killed the people who were in it. Then he tore down the city and sowed it with salt.

⁴⁶When all the citizens of the Tower of Shechem heard, they entered the inner chamber of the temple of El-berith.

⁴⁷Then it was reported to Abimelech that all the citizens of the Tower of Shechem had gathered.

⁴⁸So Abimelech and all the troops who were with him went up to Mount Zalmon. Abimelech took his ax in his hand and cut a branch from the trees. He picked up the branch, put it on his shoulder, and said to the troops who were with him, “Hurry and do what you have seen me do.”

⁴⁹Each of the troops also cut his own branch and followed Abimelech. They put the branches against the inner chamber and set it on fire; about a thousand men and women died, including all the men of the Tower of Shechem.

⁵⁰Abimelech went to Thebez, camped against it, and captured it.

⁵¹There was a strong tower inside the city, and all the men, women, and citizens of the city fled there. They locked themselves in and went up to the roof of the tower.

⁵²When Abimelech came to attack the tower, he approached its entrance to set it on fire.

⁵³But a woman threw the upper portion of a millstone on Abimelech’s head and fractured his skull.

⁵⁴He quickly called his armor-bearer and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, or they’ll say about me, ‘A woman killed him.’” So his armor-bearer ran him through, and he died.

⁵⁵When the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they all went home.

⁵⁶In this way, God brought back Abimelech’s evil—the evil that Abimelech had done to his father when he killed his seventy brothers.

⁵⁷God also brought back to the men of Shechem all their evil. So the curse of Jotham son of Jerubbaal came upon them.

¹After Abimelech, Tola son of Puah, son of Dodo became judge and began to deliver Israel. He was from Issachar and lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim.

²Tola judged Israel twenty-three years and when he died, was buried in Shamir.

³After him came Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years.

⁴He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys. They had thirty towns in Gilead, which are still called Jair’s Villages today.

⁵When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon.

⁶Then the Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They worshiped the Baals and the Ashtoreths, the gods of Aram, Sidon, and Moab, and the gods of the Ammonites and the Philistines. They abandoned the LORD and did not worship him.

⁷So the LORD’s anger burned against Israel, and he sold them to the Philistines and the Ammonites.

⁸They shattered and crushed the Israelites that year, and for eighteen years they did the same to all the Israelites who were on the other side of the Jordan in the land of the Amorites in Gilead.

⁹The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim. Israel was greatly oppressed,

¹⁰so they cried out to the LORD, saying, “We have sinned against you. We have abandoned our God and worshiped the Baals.”

¹¹The LORD said to the Israelites, “When the Egyptians, Amorites, Ammonites, Philistines,

¹²Sidonians, Amalekites, and Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, did I not deliver you from them?

¹³But you have abandoned me and worshiped other gods. Therefore, I will not deliver you again.

¹⁴Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them deliver you whenever you are oppressed.”

¹⁵But the Israelites said, “We have sinned. Deal with us as you see fit; only rescue us today!”

¹⁶So they got rid of the foreign gods among them and worshiped the LORD, and he became weary of Israel’s misery.

¹⁷The Ammonites were called together, and they camped in Gilead. So the Israelites assembled and camped at Mizpah.

¹⁸The rulers of Gilead said to one another, “Which man will begin the fight against the Ammonites? He will be the leader of all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

¹Jephthah the Gileadite was a valiant warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead was his father.

²Gilead’s wife bore him sons, and when they grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You will have no inheritance in our father’s family, because you are the son of another woman.”

³So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Then some worthless men joined Jephthah and went on raids with him.

⁴Some time later, the Ammonites fought against Israel.

⁵When the Ammonites made war with Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.

⁶They said to him, “Come, be our commander, and let’s fight the Ammonites.”

⁷Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead, “Didn’t you hate me and drive me out of my father’s family? Why then have you come to me now when you’re in trouble?”

⁸They answered Jephthah, “That’s true. But now we turn to you. Come with us, fight the Ammonites, and you will become leader of all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

⁹So Jephthah said to them, “If you are bringing me back to fight the Ammonites and the LORD gives them to me, I will be your leader.”

¹⁰The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD is our witness if we don’t do as you say.”

¹¹So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead. The people made him their leader and commander, and Jephthah repeated all his terms in the presence of the LORD at Mizpah.

¹²Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, asking, “What do you have against me that you have come to fight me in my land?”

¹³The king of the Ammonites said to Jephthah’s messengers, “When Israel came from Egypt, they seized my land from the Arnon to the Jabbok and the Jordan. Now restore it peaceably.”

¹⁴Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites

¹⁵to tell him, “This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites.

¹⁶But when they came from Egypt, Israel traveled through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh.

¹⁷Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us travel through your land,’ but the king of Edom would not listen. They also sent messengers to the king of Moab, but he refused. So Israel stayed in Kadesh.

¹⁸“Then they traveled through the wilderness and around the lands of Edom and Moab. They came to the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon but did not enter into the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab.

¹⁹“Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon. Israel said to him, ‘Please let us travel through your land to our country,’

²⁰but Sihon would not trust Israel to pass through his territory. Instead, Sihon gathered all his troops, camped at Jahaz, and fought with Israel.

²¹Then the LORD God of Israel handed over Sihon and all his troops to Israel, and they defeated them. So Israel took possession of the entire land of the Amorites who lived in that country.

²²They took possession of all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.

²³“The LORD God of Israel has now driven out the Amorites before his people Israel, and will you now force us out?

²⁴Isn’t it true that you can have whatever your god Chemosh conquers for you, and we can have whatever the LORD our God conquers for us?

²⁵Now are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend with Israel or fight against them?

²⁶While Israel lived three hundred years in Heshbon and Aroer and their surrounding villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, why didn’t you take them back at that time?

²⁷I have not sinned against you, but you are doing me wrong by fighting against me. Let the LORD who is the judge decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites.”

²⁸But the king of the Ammonites would not listen to Jephthah’s message that he sent him.

²⁹The Spirit of the LORD came on Jephthah, who traveled through Gilead and Manasseh, and then through Mizpah of Gilead. He crossed over to the Ammonites from Mizpah of Gilead.

³⁰Jephthah made this vow to the LORD: “If you in fact hand over the Ammonites to me,

³¹whoever comes out the doors of my house to greet me when I return safely from the Ammonites will belong to the LORD, and I will offer that person as a burnt offering.”

³²Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD handed them over to him.

³³He defeated twenty of their cities with a great slaughter from Aroer all the way to the entrance of Minnith and to Abel-keramim. So the Ammonites were subdued before the Israelites.

³⁴When Jephthah went to his home in Mizpah, there was his daughter, coming out to meet him with tambourines and dancing! She was his only child; he had no other son or daughter besides her.

³⁵When he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “No! Not my daughter! You have devastated me! You have brought great misery on me. I have given my word to the LORD and cannot take it back.”

³⁶Then she said to him, “My father, you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me as you have said, for the LORD brought vengeance on your enemies, the Ammonites.”

³⁷She also said to her father, “Let me do this one thing: Let me wander two months through the mountains with my friends and mourn my virginity.”

³⁸“Go,” he said. And he sent her away two months. So she left with her friends and mourned her virginity as she wandered through the mountains.

³⁹At the end of two months, she returned to her father, and he kept the vow he had made about her. And she had never been intimate with a man. Now it became a custom in Israel

⁴⁰that four days each year the young women of Israel would commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

¹The men of Ephraim were called together and crossed the Jordan to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why have you crossed over to fight against the Ammonites but didn’t call us to go with you? We will burn your house with you in it!”

²Then Jephthah said to them, “My people and I had a bitter conflict with the Ammonites. So I called for you, but you didn’t deliver me from their power.

³When I saw that you weren’t going to deliver me, I took my life in my own hands and crossed over to the Ammonites, and the LORD handed them over to me. Why then have you come today to fight against me?”

⁴Then Jephthah gathered all of the men of Gilead. They fought and defeated Ephraim, because Ephraim had said, “You Gileadites are Ephraimite fugitives in the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh.”

⁵The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim. Whenever a fugitive from Ephraim said, “Let me cross over,” the Gileadites asked him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he answered, “No,”

⁶they told him, “Please say Shibboleth.” If he said, “Sibboleth,” because he could not pronounce it correctly, they seized him and executed him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time forty-two thousand from Ephraim died.

⁷Jephthah judged Israel six years, and when he died, he was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.

⁸Ibzan, who was from Bethlehem, judged Israel after Jephthah

⁹and had thirty sons. He gave his thirty daughters in marriage to men outside the tribe and brought back thirty wives for his sons from outside the tribe. Ibzan judged Israel seven years,

¹⁰and when he died, he was buried in Bethlehem.

¹¹Elon, who was from Zebulun, judged Israel after Ibzan. He judged Israel ten years,

¹²and when he died, he was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.

¹³After Elon, Abdon son of Hillel, who was from Pirathon, judged Israel.

¹⁴He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. Abdon judged Israel eight years,

¹⁵and when he died, he was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

¹The Israelites again did what was evil in the LORD’s sight, so the LORD handed them over to the Philistines forty years.

²There was a certain man from Zorah, from the family of Dan, whose name was Manoah; his wife was unable to conceive and had no children.

³The angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “It is true that you are unable to conceive and have no children, but you will conceive and give birth to a son.

⁴Now please be careful not to drink wine or beer, or to eat anything unclean;

⁵for indeed, you will conceive and give birth to a son. You must never cut his hair, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from birth, and he will begin to save Israel from the power of the Philistines.”

⁶Then the woman went and told her husband, “A man of God came to me. He looked like the awe-inspiring angel of God. I didn’t ask him where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name.

⁷He said to me, ‘You will conceive and give birth to a son. Therefore, do not drink wine or beer, and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from birth until the day of his death.’”

⁸Manoah prayed to the LORD and said, “Please, Lord, let the man of God you sent come again to us and teach us what we should do for the boy who will be born.”

⁹God listened to Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman. She was sitting in the field, and her husband Manoah was not with her.

¹⁰The woman ran quickly to her husband and told him, “The man who came to me the other day has just come back!”

¹¹So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he asked, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?” “I am,” he said.

¹²Then Manoah asked, “When your words come true, what will be the boy’s responsibilities and work?”

¹³The angel of the LORD answered Manoah, “Your wife needs to do everything I told her.

¹⁴She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine or drink wine or beer. And she must not eat anything unclean. Your wife must do everything I have commanded her.”

¹⁵“Please stay here,” Manoah told him, “and we will prepare a young goat for you.”

¹⁶The angel of the LORD said to him, “If I stay, I won’t eat your food. But if you want to prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the LORD.” (Manoah did not know he was the angel of the LORD.)

¹⁷Then Manoah said to him, “What is your name, so that we may honor you when your words come true?”

¹⁸“Why do you ask my name,” the angel of the LORD asked him, “since it is beyond understanding.”

¹⁹Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the LORD, who did something miraculous while Manoah and his wife were watching.

²⁰When the flame went up from the altar to the sky, the angel of the LORD went up in its flame. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell facedown on the ground.

²¹The angel of the LORD did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah realized that it was the angel of the LORD.

²²“We’re certainly going to die,” he said to his wife, “because we have seen God!”

²³But his wife said to him, “If the LORD had intended to kill us, he wouldn’t have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from us, and he would not have shown us all these things or spoken to us like this.”

²⁴So the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the LORD blessed him.

²⁵Then the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him in the Camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.