Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹Samson went down to Timnah and saw a young Philistine woman there.

²He went back and told his father and his mother: “I have seen a young Philistine woman in Timnah. Now get her for me as a wife.”

³But his father and mother said to him, “Can’t you find a young woman among your relatives or among any of our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines for a wife?” But Samson told his father, “Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.”

⁴Now his father and mother did not know this was from the LORD, who wanted the Philistines to provide an opportunity for a confrontation. At that time, the Philistines were ruling Israel.

⁵Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother and came to the vineyards of Timnah. Suddenly a young lion came roaring at him,

⁶the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully on him, and he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.

⁷Then he went and spoke to the woman, because she seemed right to Samson.

⁸After some time, when he returned to marry her, he left the road to see the lion’s carcass, and there was a swarm of bees with honey in the carcass.

⁹He scooped some honey into his hands and ate it as he went along. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them and they ate it. But he did not tell them that he had scooped the honey from the lion’s carcass.

¹⁰His father went to visit the woman, and Samson prepared a feast there, as young men were accustomed to do.

¹¹When the Philistines saw him, they brought thirty men to accompany him.

¹²“Let me tell you a riddle,” Samson said to them. “If you can explain it to me during the seven days of the feast and figure it out, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes.

¹³But if you can’t explain it to me, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes.” “Tell us your riddle,” they replied. “Let’s hear it.”

¹⁴So he said to them: Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet. After three days, they were unable to explain the riddle.

¹⁵On the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife, “Persuade your husband to explain the riddle to us, or we will burn you and your father’s family to death. Did you invite us here to rob us?”

¹⁶So Samson’s wife came to him, weeping, and said, “You hate me and don’t love me! You told my people the riddle, but haven’t explained it to me.” “Look,” he said, “I haven’t even explained it to my father or mother, so why should I explain it to you?”

¹⁷She wept the whole seven days of the feast, and at last, on the seventh day, he explained it to her, because she had nagged him so much. Then she explained it to her people.

¹⁸On the seventh day, before sunset, the men of the city said to him: What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion? So he said to them: If you hadn’t plowed with my young cow, you wouldn’t know my riddle now!

¹⁹The Spirit of the LORD came powerfully on him, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of their men. He stripped them and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. In a rage, Samson returned to his father’s house,

²⁰and his wife was given to one of the men who had accompanied him.

¹Later on, during the wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat as a gift and visited his wife. “I want to go to my wife in her room,” he said. But her father would not let him enter.

²“I was sure you hated her,” her father said, “so I gave her to one of the men who accompanied you. Isn’t her younger sister more beautiful than she is? Why not take her instead?”

³Samson said to them, “This time I will be blameless when I harm the Philistines.”

⁴So he went out and caught three hundred foxes. He took torches, turned the foxes tail-to-tail, and put a torch between each pair of tails.

⁵Then he ignited the torches and released the foxes into the standing grain of the Philistines. He burned the piles of grain and the standing grain as well as the vineyards and olive groves.

⁶Then the Philistines asked, “Who did this?” They were told, “It was Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because he took Samson’s wife and gave her to his companion.” So the Philistines went to her and her father and burned them to death.

⁷Then Samson told them, “Because you did this, I swear that I won’t rest until I have taken vengeance on you.”

⁸He tore them limb from limb and then went down and stayed in the cave at the rock of Etam.

⁹The Philistines went up, camped in Judah, and raided Lehi.

¹⁰So the men of Judah said, “Why have you attacked us?” They replied, “We have come to tie Samson up and pay him back for what he did to us.”

¹¹Then three thousand men of Judah went to the cave at the rock of Etam, and they asked Samson, “Don’t you realize that the Philistines rule us? What have you done to us?” “I have done to them what they did to me,” he answered.

¹²They said to him, “We’ve come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines.” Then Samson told them, “Swear to me that you yourselves won’t kill me.”

¹³“No,” they said, “we won’t kill you, but we will tie you up securely and hand you over to them.” So they tied him up with two new ropes and led him away from the rock.

¹⁴When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came to meet him shouting. The Spirit of the LORD came powerfully on him, and the ropes that were on his arms and wrists became like burnt flax and fell off.

¹⁵He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand, took it, and killed a thousand men with it.

¹⁶Then Samson said: With the jawbone of a donkey I have piled them in heaps. With the jawbone of a donkey I have killed a thousand men.

¹⁷When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone and named that place Ramath-lehi.

¹⁸He became very thirsty and called out to the LORD: “You have accomplished this great victory through your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”

¹⁹So God split a hollow place in the ground at Lehi, and water came out of it. After Samson drank, his strength returned, and he revived. That is why he named it En-hakkore, which is still in Lehi today.

²⁰And he judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

¹Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute and went to bed with her.

²When the Gazites heard that Samson was there, they surrounded the place and waited in ambush for him all that night at the city gate. They kept quiet all night, saying, “Let’s wait until dawn; then we will kill him.”

³But Samson stayed in bed only until midnight. Then he got up, took hold of the doors of the city gate along with the two gateposts, and pulled them out, bar and all. He put them on his shoulders and took them to the top of the mountain overlooking Hebron.

⁴Some time later, he fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the Sorek Valley.

⁵The Philistine leaders went to her and said, “Persuade him to tell you where his great strength comes from, so we can overpower him, tie him up, and make him helpless. Each of us will then give you 1,100 pieces of silver.”

⁶So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me, where does your great strength come from? How could someone tie you up and make you helpless?”

⁷Samson told her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I will become weak and be like any other man.”

⁸The Philistine leaders brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him up with them.

⁹While the men in ambush were waiting in her room, she called out to him, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” But he snapped the bowstrings as a strand of yarn snaps when it touches fire. The secret of his strength remained unknown.

¹⁰Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me and told me lies! Won’t you please tell me how you can be tied up?”

¹¹He told her, “If they tie me up with new ropes that have never been used, I will become weak and be like any other man.”

¹²Delilah took new ropes, tied him up with them, and shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” But while the men in ambush were waiting in her room, he snapped the ropes off his arms like a thread.

¹³Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me all along and told me lies! Tell me how you can be tied up.” He told her, “If you weave the seven braids on my head into the fabric on a loom — ”

¹⁴She fastened the braids with a pin and called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” He awoke from his sleep and pulled out the pin, with the loom and the web.

¹⁵“How can you say, ‘I love you,’” she told him, “when your heart is not with me? This is the third time you have mocked me and not told me what makes your strength so great!”

¹⁶Because she nagged him day after day and pleaded with him until she wore him out,

¹⁷he told her the whole truth and said to her, “My hair has never been cut, because I am a Nazirite to God from birth. If I am shaved, my strength will leave me, and I will become weak and be like any other man.”

¹⁸When Delilah realized that he had told her the whole truth, she sent this message to the Philistine leaders: “Come one more time, for he has told me the whole truth.” The Philistine leaders came to her and brought the silver with them.

¹⁹Then she let him fall asleep on her lap and called a man to shave off the seven braids on his head. In this way, she made him helpless, and his strength left him.

²⁰Then she cried, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” When he awoke from his sleep, he said, “I will escape as I did before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had left him.

²¹The Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles, and he was forced to grind grain in the prison.

²²But his hair began to grow back after it had been shaved.

²³Now the Philistine leaders gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They rejoiced and said: Our god has handed over our enemy Samson to us.

²⁴When the people saw him, they praised their god and said: Our god has handed over to us our enemy who destroyed our land and who multiplied our dead.

²⁵When they were in good spirits, they said, “Bring Samson here to entertain us.” So they brought Samson from prison, and he entertained them. They had him stand between the pillars.

²⁶Samson said to the young man who was leading him by the hand, “Lead me where I can feel the pillars supporting the temple, so I can lean against them.”

²⁷The temple was full of men and women; all the leaders of the Philistines were there, and about three thousand men and women were on the roof watching Samson entertain them.

²⁸He called out to the LORD: “Lord GOD, please remember me. Strengthen me, God, just once more. With one act of vengeance, let me pay back the Philistines for my two eyes.”

²⁹Samson took hold of the two middle pillars supporting the temple and leaned against them, one on his right hand and the other on his left.

³⁰Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” He pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the leaders and all the people in it. And those he killed at his death were more than those he had killed in his life.

³¹Then his brothers and all his father’s family came down, carried him back, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. So he judged Israel twenty years.

¹There was a man from the hill country of Ephraim named Micah.

²He said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver taken from you, and that I heard you place a curse on — here’s the silver. I took it.” Then his mother said, “My son, may you be blessed by the LORD!”

³He returned the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, “I personally consecrate the silver to the LORD for my son’s benefit to make a carved image and a silver idol. I will give it back to you.”

⁴So he returned the silver to his mother, and she took five pounds of silver and gave it to a silversmith. He made it into a carved image and a silver idol, and it was in Micah’s house.

⁵This man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household idols, and installed one of his sons to be his priest.

⁶In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever seemed right to him.

⁷There was a young man, a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who was staying within the clan of Judah.

⁸The man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah to stay wherever he could find a place. On his way he came to Micah’s home in the hill country of Ephraim.

⁹“Where do you come from?” Micah asked him. He answered him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I’m going to stay wherever I can find a place.”

¹⁰Micah replied, “Stay with me and be my father and priest, and I will give you four ounces of silver a year, along with your clothing and provisions.” So the Levite went in

¹¹and agreed to stay with the man, and the young man became like one of his sons.

¹²Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in Micah’s house.

¹³Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, because a Levite has become my priest.”

¹In those days, there was no king in Israel, and the Danite tribe was looking for territory to occupy. Up to that time no territory had been captured by them among the tribes of Israel.

²So the Danites sent out five brave men from all their clans, from Zorah and Eshtaol, to scout out the land and explore it. They told them, “Go and explore the land.” They came to the hill country of Ephraim as far as the home of Micah and spent the night there.

³While they were near Micah’s home, they recognized the accent of the young Levite. So they went over to him and asked, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is keeping you here?”

⁴He told them, “This is what Micah has done for me: He has hired me, and I became his priest.”

⁵Then they said to him, “Please inquire of God for us to determine if we will have a successful journey.”

⁶The priest told them, “Go in peace. The LORD is watching over the journey you are going on.”

⁷The five men left and came to Laish. They saw that the people who were there were living securely, in the same way as the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting. There was nothing lacking in the land and no oppressive ruler. They were far from the Sidonians, having no alliance with anyone.

⁸When the men went back to their relatives at Zorah and Eshtaol, their relatives asked them, “What did you find out?”

⁹They answered, “Come on, let’s attack them, for we have seen the land, and it is very good. Why wait? Don’t hesitate to go and invade and take possession of the land!

¹⁰When you get there, you will come to an unsuspecting people and a spacious land, for God has handed it over to you. It is a place where nothing on earth is lacking.”

¹¹Six hundred Danites departed from Zorah and Eshtaol armed with weapons of war.

¹²They went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. This is why the place is still called the Camp of Dan today; it is west of Kiriath-jearim.

¹³From there they traveled to the hill country of Ephraim and arrived at Micah’s house.

¹⁴The five men who had gone to scout out the land of Laish told their brothers, “Did you know that there are an ephod, household gods, and a carved image and a silver idol in these houses? Now think about what you should do.”

¹⁵So they detoured there and went to the house of the young Levite at the home of Micah and greeted him.

¹⁶The six hundred Danite men were standing by the entrance of the city gate, armed with their weapons of war.

¹⁷Then the five men who had gone to scout out the land went in and took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the silver idol, while the priest was standing by the entrance of the city gate with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war.

¹⁸When they entered Micah’s house and took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the silver idol, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

¹⁹They told him, “Be quiet. Keep your mouth shut. Come with us and be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest for the house of one person or for you to be a priest for a tribe and family in Israel?”

²⁰So the priest was pleased and took his ephod, household idols, and carved image, and went with the people.

²¹They prepared to leave, putting their dependents, livestock, and possessions in front of them.

²²After they were some distance from Micah’s house, the men who were in the houses near it were mustered and caught up with the Danites.

²³They called to the Danites, who turned to face them, and said to Micah, “What’s the matter with you that you mustered the men?”

²⁴He said, “You took the gods I had made and the priest, and went away. What do I have left? How can you say to me, ‘What’s the matter with you? ’”

²⁵The Danites said to him, “Don’t raise your voice against us, or angry men will attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.”

²⁶The Danites went on their way, and Micah turned to go back home, because he saw that they were stronger than he was.

²⁷After they had taken the gods Micah had made and the priest that belonged to him, they went to Laish, to a quiet and unsuspecting people. They killed them with their swords and burned the city.

²⁸There was no one to rescue them because it was far from Sidon and they had no alliance with anyone. It was in a valley that belonged to Beth-rehob. They rebuilt the city and lived in it.

²⁹They named the city Dan, after the name of their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel. The city was formerly named Laish.

³⁰The Danites set up the carved image for themselves. Jonathan son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the Danite tribe until the time of the exile from the land.

³¹So they set up for themselves Micah’s carved image that he had made, and it was there as long as the house of God was in Shiloh.

¹In those days, when there was no king in Israel, a Levite staying in a remote part of the hill country of Ephraim acquired a woman from Bethlehem in Judah as his concubine.

²But she was unfaithful to him and left him for her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah. She was there for four months.

³Then her husband got up and followed her to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He had his servant with him and a pair of donkeys. So she brought him to her father’s house, and when the girl’s father saw him, he gladly welcomed him.

⁴His father-in-law, the girl’s father, detained him, and he stayed with him for three days. They ate, drank, and spent the nights there.

⁵On the fourth day, they got up early in the morning and prepared to go, but the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Have something to eat to keep up your strength and then you can go.”

⁶So they sat down and the two of them ate and drank together. Then the girl’s father said to the man, “Please agree to stay overnight and enjoy yourself.”

⁷The man got up to go, but his father-in-law persuaded him, so he stayed and spent the night there again.

⁸He got up early in the morning of the fifth day to leave, but the girl’s father said to him, “Please keep up your strength.” So they waited until late afternoon and the two of them ate.

⁹The man got up to go with his concubine and his servant, when his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Look, night is coming. Please spend the night. See, the day is almost over. Spend the night here, enjoy yourself, then you can get up early tomorrow for your journey and go home.”

¹⁰But the man was unwilling to spend the night. He got up, departed, and arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem ). The man had his two saddled donkeys and his concubine with him.

¹¹When they were near Jebus and the day was almost gone, the servant said to his master, “Please, why not let us stop at this Jebusite city and spend the night here?”

¹²But his master replied to him, “We will not stop at a foreign city where there are no Israelites. Let’s move on to Gibeah.”

¹³“Come on,” he said, “let’s try to reach one of these places and spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.”

¹⁴So they continued on their journey, and the sun set as they neared Gibeah in Benjamin.

¹⁵They stopped to go in and spend the night in Gibeah. The Levite went in and sat down in the city square, but no one took them into their home to spend the night.

¹⁶In the evening, an old man came in from his work in the field. He was from the hill country of Ephraim, but he was residing in Gibeah where the people were Benjaminites.

¹⁷When he looked up and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, “Where are you going, and where do you come from?”

¹⁸He answered him, “We’re traveling from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote hill country of Ephraim, where I am from. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and now I’m going to the house of the LORD. No one has taken me into his home,

¹⁹although there’s straw and feed for the donkeys, and I have bread and wine for me, my concubine, and the servant with us. There is nothing we lack.”

²⁰“Welcome!” said the old man. “I’ll take care of everything you need. Only don’t spend the night in the square.”

²¹So he brought him to his house and fed the donkeys. Then they washed their feet and ate and drank.

²²While they were enjoying themselves, all of a sudden, wicked men of the city surrounded the house and beat on the door. They said to the old man who was the owner of the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him!”

²³The owner of the house went out and said to them, “Please don’t do this evil, my brothers. After all, this man has come into my house. Don’t commit this horrible outrage.

²⁴Here, let me bring out my virgin daughter and the man’s concubine now. Abuse them and do whatever you want to them. But don’t commit this outrageous thing against this man.”

²⁵But the men would not listen to him, so the man seized his concubine and took her outside to them. They raped her and abused her all night until morning. At daybreak they let her go.

²⁶Early that morning, the woman made her way back, and as it was getting light, she collapsed at the doorway of the man’s house where her master was.

²⁷When her master got up in the morning, opened the doors of the house, and went out to leave on his journey, there was the woman, his concubine, collapsed near the doorway of the house with her hands on the threshold.

²⁸“Get up,” he told her. “Let’s go.” But there was no response. So the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.

²⁹When he entered his house, he picked up a knife, took hold of his concubine, cut her into twelve pieces, limb by limb, and then sent her throughout the territory of Israel.

³⁰Everyone who saw it said, “Nothing like this has ever happened or has been seen since the day the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt until now. Think it over, discuss it, and speak up!”

¹All the Israelites from Dan to Beer-sheba and from the land of Gilead came out, and the community assembled as one body before the LORD at Mizpah.

²The leaders of all the people and of all the tribes of Israel presented themselves in the assembly of God’s people: four hundred thousand armed foot soldiers.

³The Benjaminites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah. The Israelites asked, “Tell us, how did this evil act happen?”

⁴The Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered: “I went to Gibeah in Benjamin with my concubine to spend the night.

⁵Citizens of Gibeah came to attack me and surrounded the house at night. They intended to kill me, but they raped my concubine, and she died.

⁶Then I took my concubine and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout Israel’s territory, because they have committed a wicked outrage in Israel.

⁷Look, all of you are Israelites. Give your judgment and verdict here and now.”

⁸Then all the people stood united and said, “None of us will go to his tent or return to his house.

⁹Now this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will attack it. By lot

¹⁰we will take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and one hundred out of every thousand, and one thousand out of every ten thousand to get provisions for the troops when they go to Gibeah in Benjamin to punish them for all the outrage they committed in Israel.”

¹¹So all the men of Israel gathered united against the city.

¹²Then the tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this evil act that has happened among you?

¹³Hand over the wicked men in Gibeah so we can put them to death and eradicate evil from Israel.” But the Benjaminites would not listen to their fellow Israelites.

¹⁴Instead, the Benjaminites gathered together from their cities to Gibeah to go out and fight against the Israelites.

¹⁵On that day the Benjaminites mobilized twenty-six thousand armed men from their cities, besides seven hundred fit young men rallied by the inhabitants of Gibeah.

¹⁶There were seven hundred fit young men who were left-handed among all these troops; all could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.

¹⁷The Israelites, apart from Benjamin, mobilized four hundred thousand armed men, every one an experienced warrior.

¹⁸They set out, went to Bethel, and inquired of God. The Israelites asked, “Who is to go first to fight for us against the Benjaminites?” And the LORD answered, “Judah will be first.”

¹⁹In the morning, the Israelites set out and camped near Gibeah.

²⁰The men of Israel went out to fight against Benjamin and took their battle positions against Gibeah.

²¹The Benjaminites came out of Gibeah and slaughtered twenty-two thousand men of Israel on the field that day.

²²But the Israelite troops rallied and again took their battle positions in the same place where they positioned themselves on the first day.

²³They went up, wept before the LORD until evening, and inquired of him: “Should we again attack our brothers the Benjaminites?” And the LORD answered: “Fight against them.”

²⁴On the second day the Israelites advanced against the Benjaminites.

²⁵That same day the Benjaminites came out from Gibeah to meet them and slaughtered an additional eighteen thousand Israelites on the field; all were armed.

²⁶The whole Israelite army went to Bethel where they wept and sat before the LORD. They fasted that day until evening and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the LORD.

²⁷Then the Israelites inquired of the LORD. In those days, the ark of the covenant of God was there,

²⁸and Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, was serving before it. The Israelites asked: “Should we again fight against our brothers the Benjaminites or should we stop?” The LORD answered: “Fight, because I will hand them over to you tomorrow.”

²⁹So Israel set up an ambush around Gibeah.

³⁰On the third day the Israelites fought against the Benjaminites and took their battle positions against Gibeah as before.

³¹Then the Benjaminites came out against the troops and were drawn away from the city. They began to attack the troops as before, killing about thirty men of Israel on the highways, one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah through the open country.

³²The Benjaminites said, “We are defeating them as before.” But the Israelites said, “Let’s flee and draw them away from the city to the highways.”

³³So all the men of Israel got up from their places and took their battle positions at Baal-tamar, while the Israelites in ambush charged out of their places west of Geba.

³⁴Then ten thousand fit young men from all Israel made a frontal assault against Gibeah, and the battle was fierce, but the Benjaminites did not know that disaster was about to strike them.

³⁵The LORD defeated Benjamin in the presence of Israel, and on that day the Israelites slaughtered 25,100 men of Benjamin; all were armed.

³⁶Then the Benjaminites realized they had been defeated. The men of Israel had retreated before Benjamin, because they were confident in the ambush they had set against Gibeah.

³⁷The men in ambush had rushed quickly against Gibeah; they advanced and put the whole city to the sword.

³⁸The men of Israel had a prearranged signal with the men in ambush: when they sent up a great cloud of smoke from the city,

³⁹the men of Israel would return to the battle. When Benjamin had begun to strike them down, killing about thirty men of Israel, they said, “They’re defeated before us, just as they were in the first battle.”

⁴⁰But when the column of smoke began to go up from the city, Benjamin looked behind them, and the whole city was going up in smoke.

⁴¹Then the men of Israel returned, and the men of Benjamin were terrified when they realized that disaster had struck them.

⁴²They retreated before the men of Israel toward the wilderness, but the battle overtook them, and those who came out of the cities slaughtered those between them.

⁴³They surrounded the Benjaminites, pursued them, and easily overtook them near Gibeah toward the east.

⁴⁴There were eighteen thousand men who died from Benjamin; all were warriors.

⁴⁵Then Benjamin turned and fled toward the wilderness to Rimmon Rock, and Israel killed five thousand men on the highways. They overtook them at Gidom and struck two thousand more dead.

⁴⁶All the Benjaminites who died that day were twenty-five thousand armed men; all were warriors.

⁴⁷But six hundred men escaped into the wilderness to Rimmon Rock and stayed there four months.

⁴⁸The men of Israel turned back against the other Benjaminites and killed them with their swords — the entire city, the animals, and everything that remained. They also burned all the cities that remained.

¹The men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah: “None of us will give his daughter to a Benjaminite in marriage.”

²So the people went to Bethel and sat there before God until evening. They wept loudly and bitterly,

³and cried out, “Why, LORD God of Israel, has it occurred that one tribe is missing in Israel today?”

⁴The next day the people got up early, built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.

⁵The Israelites asked, “Who of all the tribes of Israel didn’t come to the LORD with the assembly?” For a great oath had been taken that anyone who had not come to the LORD at Mizpah would certainly be put to death.

⁶But the Israelites had compassion on their brothers, the Benjaminites, and said, “Today a tribe has been cut off from Israel.

⁷What should we do about wives for the survivors? We’ve sworn to the LORD not to give them any of our daughters as wives.”

⁸They asked, “Which city among the tribes of Israel didn’t come to the LORD at Mizpah?” It turned out that no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp and the assembly.

⁹For when the roll was called, no men were there from the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead.

¹⁰The congregation sent twelve thousand brave warriors there and commanded them: “Go and kill the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the sword, including women and dependents.

¹¹This is what you should do: Completely destroy every male, as well as every woman who has gone to bed with a man.”

¹²They found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins, who had not gone to bed with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan.

¹³The whole congregation sent a message of peace to the Benjaminites who were at Rimmon Rock.

¹⁴Benjamin returned at that time, and Israel gave them the women they had kept alive from Jabesh-gilead. But there were not enough for them.

¹⁵The people had compassion on Benjamin, because the LORD had made this gap in the tribes of Israel.

¹⁶The elders of the congregation said, “What should we do about wives for those who are left, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?”

¹⁷They said, “There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out.

¹⁸But we can’t give them our daughters as wives.” For the Israelites had sworn, “Anyone who gives a wife to a Benjaminite is cursed.”

¹⁹They also said, “Look, there’s an annual festival to the LORD in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.”

²⁰Then they commanded the Benjaminites: “Go and hide in the vineyards.

²¹Watch, and when you see the young women of Shiloh come out to perform the dances, each of you leave the vineyards and catch a wife for yourself from the young women of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.

²²When their fathers or brothers come to us and protest, we will tell them, ‘Show favor to them, since we did not get enough wives for each of them in the battle. You didn’t actually give the women to them, so you are not guilty of breaking your oath.’”

²³The Benjaminites did this and took the number of women they needed from the dancers they caught. They went back to their own inheritance, rebuilt their cities, and lived in them.

²⁴At that time, each of the Israelites returned from there to his own tribe and family. Each returned from there to his own inheritance.

²⁵In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever seemed right to him.

¹During the time of the judges, there was a famine in the land. A man left Bethlehem in Judah with his wife and two sons to stay in the territory of Moab for a while.

²The man’s name was Elimelech, and his wife’s name was Naomi. The names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They entered the fields of Moab and settled there.

³Naomi’s husband Elimelech died, and she was left with her two sons.

⁴Her sons took Moabite women as their wives: one was named Orpah and the second was named Ruth. After they lived in Moab about ten years,

⁵both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two children and without her husband.

⁶She and her daughters-in-law set out to return from the territory of Moab, because she had heard in Moab that the LORD had paid attention to his people’s need by providing them food.

⁷She left the place where she had been living, accompanied by her two daughters-in-law, and traveled along the road leading back to the land of Judah.

⁸Naomi said to them, “Each of you go back to your mother’s home. May the LORD show kindness to you as you have shown to the dead and to me.

⁹May the LORD grant each of you rest in the house of a new husband.” She kissed them, and they wept loudly.

¹⁰They said to her, “We insist on returning with you to your people.”

¹¹But Naomi replied, “Return home, my daughters. Why do you want to go with me? Am I able to have any more sons who could become your husbands?

¹²Return home, my daughters. Go on, for I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me to have a husband tonight and to bear sons,

¹³would you be willing to wait for them to grow up? Would you restrain yourselves from remarrying? No, my daughters, my life is much too bitter for you to share, because the LORD’s hand has turned against me.”

¹⁴Again they wept loudly, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

¹⁵Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. Follow your sister-in-law.”

¹⁶But Ruth replied: Don’t plead with me to abandon you or to return and not follow you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live; your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.

¹⁷Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD punish me, and do so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.

¹⁸When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped talking to her.

¹⁹The two of them traveled until they came to Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole town was excited about their arrival and the local women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”

²⁰“Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara,” she answered, “for the Almighty has made me very bitter.

²¹I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has opposed me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?”

²²So Naomi came back from the territory of Moab with her daughter-in-law Ruth the Moabitess. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

¹Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side. He was a prominent man of noble character from Elimelech’s family. His name was Boaz.

²Ruth the Moabitess asked Naomi, “Will you let me go into the fields and gather fallen grain behind someone with whom I find favor?” Naomi answered her, “Go ahead, my daughter.”

³So Ruth left and entered the field to gather grain behind the harvesters. She happened to be in the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from Elimelech’s family.

⁴Later, when Boaz arrived from Bethlehem, he said to the harvesters, “The LORD be with you.” “The LORD bless you,” they replied.

⁵Boaz asked his servant who was in charge of the harvesters, “Whose young woman is this?”

⁶The servant answered, “She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the territory of Moab.

⁷She asked, ‘Will you let me gather fallen grain among the bundles behind the harvesters? ’ She came and has been on her feet since early morning, except that she rested a little in the shelter.”

⁸Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Don’t go and gather grain in another field, and don’t leave this one, but stay here close to my female servants.

⁹See which field they are harvesting, and follow them. Haven’t I ordered the young men not to touch you? When you are thirsty, go and drink from the jars the young men have filled.”

¹⁰She fell facedown, bowed to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor with you, so that you notice me, although I am a foreigner?”

¹¹Boaz answered her, “Everything you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband’s death has been fully reported to me: how you left your father and mother and your native land, and how you came to a people you didn’t previously know.

¹²May the LORD reward you for what you have done, and may you receive a full reward from the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.”

¹³“My lord,” she said, “I have found favor with you, for you have comforted and encouraged your servant, although I am not like one of your female servants.”

¹⁴At mealtime Boaz told her, “Come over here and have some bread and dip it in the vinegar sauce.” So she sat beside the harvesters, and he offered her roasted grain. She ate and was satisfied and had some left over.

¹⁵When she got up to gather grain, Boaz ordered his young men, “Let her even gather grain among the bundles, and don’t humiliate her.

¹⁶Pull out some stalks from the bundles for her and leave them for her to gather. Don’t rebuke her.”

¹⁷So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening. She beat out what she had gathered, and it was about twenty-six quarts of barley.

¹⁸She picked up the grain and went into the town, where her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She brought out what she had left over from her meal and gave it to her.

¹⁹Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you gather barley today, and where did you work? May the LORD bless the man who noticed you.” Ruth told her mother-in-law whom she had worked with and said, “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz.”

²⁰Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May the LORD bless him because he has not abandoned his kindness to the living or the dead.” Naomi continued, “The man is a close relative. He is one of our family redeemers.”

²¹Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also told me, ‘Stay with my young men until they have finished all of my harvest.’”

²²So Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “My daughter, it is good for you to work with his female servants, so that nothing will happen to you in another field.”

²³Ruth stayed close to Boaz’s female servants and gathered grain until the barley and the wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

¹Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, shouldn’t I find rest for you, so that you will be taken care of?

²Now isn’t Boaz our relative? Haven’t you been working with his female servants? This evening he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor.

³Wash, put on perfumed oil, and wear your best clothes. Go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let the man know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking.

⁴When he lies down, notice the place where he’s lying, go in and uncover his feet, and lie down. Then he will explain to you what you should do.”

⁵So Ruth said to her, “I will do everything you say.”

⁶She went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law had charged her to do.

⁷After Boaz ate, drank, and was in good spirits, he went to lie down at the end of the pile of barley, and she came secretly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.

⁸At midnight, Boaz was startled, turned over, and there lying at his feet was a woman!

⁹So he asked, “Who are you?” “I am Ruth, your servant,” she replied. “Take me under your wing, for you are a family redeemer.”

¹⁰Then he said, “May the LORD bless you, my daughter. You have shown more kindness now than before, because you have not pursued younger men, whether rich or poor.

¹¹Now don’t be afraid, my daughter. I will do for you whatever you say, since all the people in my town know that you are a woman of noble character.

¹²Yes, it is true that I am a family redeemer, but there is a redeemer closer than I am.

¹³Stay here tonight, and in the morning, if he wants to redeem you, that’s good. Let him redeem you. But if he doesn’t want to redeem you, as the LORD lives, I will. Now lie down until morning.”

¹⁴So she lay down at his feet until morning but got up while it was still dark. Then Boaz said, “Don’t let it be known that a woman came to the threshing floor.”

¹⁵And he told Ruth, “Bring the shawl you’re wearing and hold it out.” When she held it out, he shoveled six measures of barley into her shawl, and she went into the town.

¹⁶She went to her mother-in-law, Naomi, who asked her, “What happened, my daughter?” Then Ruth told her everything the man had done for her.

¹⁷She said, “He gave me these six measures of barley, because he said, ‘Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’”

¹⁸Naomi said, “My daughter, wait until you find out how things go, for he won’t rest unless he resolves this today.”

¹Boaz went to the gate of the town and sat down there. Soon the family redeemer Boaz had spoken about came by. Boaz said, “Come over here and sit down.” So he went over and sat down.

²Then Boaz took ten men of the town’s elders and said, “Sit here.” And they sat down.

³He said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has returned from the territory of Moab, is selling the portion of the field that belonged to our brother Elimelech.

⁴I thought I should inform you: Buy it back in the presence of those seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you want to redeem it, do it. But if you do not want to redeem it, tell me so that I will know, because there isn’t anyone other than you to redeem it, and I am next after you.” “I want to redeem it,” he answered.

⁵Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from Naomi, you will acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the deceased man, to perpetuate the man’s name on his property.”

⁶The redeemer replied, “I can’t redeem it myself, or I will ruin my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption, because I can’t redeem it.”

⁷At an earlier period in Israel, a man removed his sandal and gave it to the other party in order to make any matter legally binding concerning the right of redemption or the exchange of property. This was the method of legally binding a transaction in Israel.

⁸So the redeemer removed his sandal and said to Boaz, “Buy back the property yourself.”

⁹Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I am buying from Naomi everything that belonged to Elimelech, Chilion, and Mahlon.

¹⁰I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, to perpetuate the deceased man’s name on his property, so that his name will not disappear among his relatives or from the gate of his hometown. You are witnesses today.”

¹¹All the people who were at the city gate, including the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is entering your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built the house of Israel. May you be powerful in Ephrathah and your name well known in Bethlehem.

¹²May your house become like the house of Perez, the son Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring the LORD will give you by this young woman.”

¹³Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. He slept with her, and the LORD granted conception to her, and she gave birth to a son.

¹⁴The women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you without a family redeemer today. May his name become well known in Israel.

¹⁵He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. Indeed, your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”

¹⁶Naomi took the child, placed him on her lap, and became his nanny.

¹⁷The neighbor women said, “A son has been born to Naomi,” and they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

¹⁸Now these are the family records of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron,

¹⁹Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab,

²⁰Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon,

²¹Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed,

²²Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.

¹There was a man from Ramathaim-zophim in the hill country of Ephraim. His name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.

²He had two wives, the first named Hannah and the second Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah was childless.

³This man would go up from his town every year to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of Armies at Shiloh, where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were the LORD’s priests.

⁴Whenever Elkanah offered a sacrifice, he always gave portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to each of her sons and daughters.

⁵But he gave a double portion to Hannah, for he loved her even though the LORD had kept her from conceiving.

⁶Her rival would taunt her severely just to provoke her, because the LORD had kept Hannah from conceiving.

⁷Year after year, when she went up to the LORD’s house, her rival taunted her in this way. Hannah would weep and would not eat.

⁸“Hannah, why are you crying?” her husband Elkanah would ask. “Why won’t you eat? Why are you troubled? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

⁹On one occasion, Hannah got up after they ate and drank at Shiloh. The priest Eli was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the LORD’s temple.

¹⁰Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears.

¹¹Making a vow, she pleaded, “LORD of Armies, if you will take notice of your servant’s affliction, remember and not forget me, and give your servant a son, I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut.”

¹²While she continued praying in the LORD’s presence, Eli watched her mouth.

¹³Hannah was praying silently, and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk

¹⁴and said to her, “How long are you going to be drunk? Get rid of your wine!”

¹⁵“No, my lord,” Hannah replied. “I am a woman with a broken heart. I haven’t had any wine or beer; I’ve been pouring out my heart before the LORD.

¹⁶Don’t think of me as a wicked woman; I’ve been praying from the depth of my anguish and resentment.”

¹⁷Eli responded, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the request you’ve made of him.”

¹⁸“May your servant find favor with you,” she replied. Then Hannah went on her way; she ate and no longer looked despondent.

¹⁹The next morning Elkanah and Hannah got up early to worship before the LORD. Afterward, they returned home to Ramah. Then Elkanah was intimate with his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her.

²⁰After some time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, because she said, “I requested him from the LORD.”

²¹When Elkanah and all his household went up to make the annual sacrifice and his vow offering to the LORD,

²²Hannah did not go and explained to her husband, “After the child is weaned, I’ll take him to appear in the LORD’s presence and to stay there permanently.”

²³Her husband Elkanah replied, “Do what you think is best, and stay here until you’ve weaned him. May the LORD confirm your word.” So Hannah stayed there and nursed her son until she weaned him.

²⁴When she had weaned him, she took him with her to Shiloh, as well as a three-year-old bull, half a bushel of flour, and a clay jar of wine. Though the boy was still young, she took him to the LORD’s house at Shiloh.

²⁵Then they slaughtered the bull and brought the boy to Eli.

²⁶“Please, my lord,” she said, “as surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD.

²⁷I prayed for this boy, and since the LORD gave me what I asked him for,

²⁸I now give the boy to the LORD. For as long as he lives, he is given to the LORD.” Then he worshiped the LORD there.

¹Hannah prayed: My heart rejoices in the LORD; my horn is lifted up by the LORD. My mouth boasts over my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation.

²There is no one holy like the LORD. There is no one besides you! And there is no rock like our God.

³Do not boast so proudly, or let arrogant words come out of your mouth, for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and actions are weighed by him.

⁴The bows of the warriors are broken, but the feeble are clothed with strength.

⁵Those who are full hire themselves out for food, but those who are starving hunger no more. The woman who is childless gives birth to seven, but the woman with many sons pines away.

⁶The LORD brings death and gives life; he sends some down to Sheol, and he raises others up.

⁷The LORD brings poverty and gives wealth; he humbles and he exalts.

⁸He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the trash heap. He seats them with noblemen and gives them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s; he has set the world on them.

⁹He guards the steps of his faithful ones, but the wicked perish in darkness, for a person does not prevail by his own strength.

¹⁰Those who oppose the LORD will be shattered; he will thunder in the heavens against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth. He will give power to his king; he will lift up the horn of his anointed.

¹¹Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy served the LORD in the presence of the priest Eli.

¹²Eli’s sons were wicked men; they did not respect the LORD

¹³or the priests’ share of the sacrifices from the people. When anyone offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling

¹⁴and plunge it into the container, kettle, cauldron, or cooking pot. The priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is the way they treated all the Israelites who came there to Shiloh.

¹⁵Even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the one who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast, because he won’t accept boiled meat from you — only raw.”

¹⁶If that person said to him, “The fat must be burned first; then you can take whatever you want for yourself,” the servant would reply, “No, I insist that you hand it over right now. If you don’t, I’ll take it by force!”

¹⁷So the servants’ sin was very severe in the presence of the LORD, because the men treated the LORD’s offering with contempt.

¹⁸Samuel served in the LORD’s presence —this mere boy was dressed in the linen ephod.

¹⁹Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.

²⁰Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife: “May the LORD give you children by this woman in place of the one she has given to the LORD.” Then they would go home.

²¹The LORD paid attention to Hannah’s need, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.

²²Now Eli was very old. He heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

²³He said to them, “Why are you doing these things? I have heard about your evil actions from all these people.

²⁴No, my sons, the news I hear the LORD’s people spreading is not good.

²⁵If one person sins against another, God can intercede for him, but if a person sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to their father, since the LORD intended to kill them.

²⁶By contrast, the boy Samuel grew in stature and in favor with the LORD and with people.

²⁷A man of God came to Eli and said to him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Didn’t I reveal myself to your forefather’s family when they were in Egypt and belonged to Pharaoh’s palace?

²⁸Out of all the tribes of Israel, I chose your house to be my priests, to offer sacrifices on my altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in my presence. I also gave your forefather’s family all the Israelite fire offerings.

²⁹Why, then, do all of you despise my sacrifices and offerings that I require at the place of worship? You have honored your sons more than me, by making yourselves fat with the best part of all of the offerings of my people Israel.’

³⁰“Therefore, this is the declaration of the LORD, the God of Israel: ‘I did say that your family and your forefather’s family would walk before me forever. But now,’ this is the LORD’s declaration, ‘no longer! For those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disgraced.

³¹Look, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your forefather’s house, so that none in your family will reach old age.

³²You will see distress in the place of worship, in spite of all that is good in Israel, and no one in your family will ever again reach old age.

³³Any man from your family I do not cut off from my altar will bring grief and sadness to you. All your descendants will die violently.

³⁴This will be the sign that will come to you concerning your two sons Hophni and Phinehas: both of them will die on the same day.

³⁵“‘Then I will raise up a faithful priest for myself. He will do whatever is in my heart and mind. I will establish a lasting dynasty for him, and he will walk before my anointed one for all time.

³⁶Anyone who is left in your family will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread. He will say: Please appoint me to some priestly office so I can have a piece of bread to eat.’”