Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹Then Samson went down to Timnah, and he saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines.

²So he came back and told his father and mother, “I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines; so now, get her for me as a wife.”

³But his father and his mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” Yet Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, because she is right for me.”

⁴However, his father and mother did not know that this was of the LORD, for He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. And at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.

⁵Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came as far as the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young lion came roaring toward him.

⁶And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, so that he tore it apart as one tears apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.

⁷So he went down and talked to the woman; and she looked pleasing to Samson.

⁸When he returned later to take her, he turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of the lion.

⁹So he took out the honey on his hands and went on, eating as he went. 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 took the honey out of the body of the lion.

¹⁰Then his father went down to the woman; and Samson held a feast there, for the young men customarily did this.

¹¹When they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.

¹²Then Samson said to them, “Let me now propose a riddle for you; if you actually tell me the answer within the seven days of the feast, and solve it, then I will give you thirty linen wraps and thirty outfits of clothes.

¹³But if you are unable to tell me, then you shall give me thirty linen wraps and thirty outfits of clothes.” And they said to him, “Propose your riddle, so that we may hear it.”

¹⁴So he said to them, “Out of the eater came something to eat, And out of the strong came something sweet.” But they could not tell the answer to the riddle in three days.

¹⁵Then it came about on the fourth day that they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband, so that he will tell us the riddle, or we will burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us to impoverish us? Is this not so?”

¹⁶So Samson’s wife wept in front of him and said, “You only hate me, and you do not love me; you have proposed a riddle to the sons of my people, and have not told it to me.” And he said to her, “Behold, I have not told it to my father or mother; so should I tell you?”

¹⁷However she wept before him for seven days while their feast lasted. And on the seventh day he told her because she pressed him so hard. She then told the riddle to the sons of her people.

¹⁸So the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, “What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?” And he said to them, “If you had not plowed with my heifer, You would not have found out my riddle.”

¹⁹Then the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty men of them and took what they were wearing and gave the outfits of clothes to those who told the riddle. And his anger burned, and he went up to his father’s house.

²⁰But Samson’s wife was given to his companion who had been his friend.

¹But after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife with a young goat, and said, “I will go in to my wife in her room.” But her father did not let him enter.

²Her father said, “I really thought that you hated her intensely; so I gave her to your companion. Is her younger sister not more beautiful than she? Please let her be yours instead.”

³Samson then said to them, “This time I will have been blameless regarding the Philistines when I do them harm.”

⁴And Samson went and caught three hundred jackals, and took torches, and turned the jackals tail to tail and put one torch in the middle between two tails.

⁵When he had set fire to the torches, he released the jackals into the standing grain of the Philistines and set fire to both the bundled heaps and the standing grain, along with the vineyards and olive groves.

⁶Then the Philistines said, “Who did this?” And some said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he took his wife and gave her to his companion.” So the Philistines came up and burned her and her father to death with fire.

⁷Then Samson said to them, “If this is how you act, I will certainly take revenge on you, and only after that will I stop.”

⁸So he struck them ruthlessly with a great slaughter; and afterward he went down and lived in the cleft of the rock of Etam.

⁹Then the Philistines went up and camped in Judah, and spread out in Lehi.

¹⁰So the men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” And they said, “We have come up to bind Samson in order to do to him as he did to us.”

¹¹Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” And he said to them, “Just as they did to me, so I have done to them.”

¹²Then they said to him, “We have come down to bind you so that we may hand you over to the Philistines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not kill me.”

¹³So they said to him, “No, but we will bind you tightly and give you into their hands; but we certainly will not kill you.” Then they bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock.

¹⁴When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him so that the ropes that were on his arms were like flax that has burned with fire, and his restraints dropped from his hands.

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

¹⁶And Samson said, “With the jawbone of a donkey, Heaps upon heaps, With the jawbone of a donkey I have killed a thousand men.”

¹⁷When he had finished speaking, he threw the jawbone from his hand; and he named that place Ramath-lehi.

¹⁸Then he became very thirsty, and he called to the LORD and said, “You have handed this great victory over to Your servant, and now am I to die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”

¹⁹But God split the hollow place that is in Lehi so that water came out of it. When he drank, his strength returned and he revived. Therefore he named it En-hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day.

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

¹Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a prostitute there, and had relations with her.

²When it was reported to the Gazites, saying, “Samson has come here,” they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. And they kept silent all night, saying, “Let’s wait until the morning light, then we will kill him.”

³Now Samson lay asleep until midnight, and at midnight he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two doorposts, and pulled them up along with the bars; then he put them on his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the mountain which is opposite Hebron.

⁴After this it came about that he was in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

⁵So the governors of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and see where his great strength lies and how we can overpower him so that we may bind him to humble him. Then we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.”

⁶So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you can be bound to humble you.”

⁷And Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh animal tendons that have not been dried, then I will become weak and be like any other man.”

⁸Then the governors of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh animal tendons that had not been dried, and she bound him with them.

⁹Now she had men prepared for an ambush in an inner room. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he tore the tendons to pieces just like a thread of flax is torn apart when it comes too close to fire. So his strength was not discovered.

¹⁰Then Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have toyed with me and told me lies; now please tell me how you may be bound.”

¹¹Then He said to her, “If they bind me tightly with new ropes which have not been used, then I will become weak and be like any other man.”

¹²So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” For the men in the ambush were waiting in the inner room. But he tore the ropes from his arms like thread.

¹³Then Delilah said to Samson, “Up to now you have toyed with me and told me lies; tell me how you may be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my hair with the web [and fasten it with the pin, then I will be weak like any other man.”

¹⁴So while he slept, Delilah wove the seven locks of his hair with the web]. And she fastened it with the pin and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep and pulled out the pin of the loom and the web.

¹⁵Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have toyed with me these three times and have not told me where your great strength is.”

¹⁶And it came about, when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, that his soul was annoyed to death.

¹⁷So he told her all that was in his heart and said to her, “A razor has never come on my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will leave me and I will become weak and be like any other man.”

¹⁸When Delilah saw that he had told her all that was in his heart, she sent word and called the governors of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all that is in his heart.” Then the governors of the Philistines came up to her and brought up the money in their hands.

¹⁹And she made him sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to humble him, and his strength left him.

²⁰She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him.

²¹Then the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza and restrained him with bronze chains, and he became a grinder in the prison.

²²However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it was shaved off.

²³Now the governors of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to celebrate, for they said, “Our god has handed Samson our enemy over to us.”

²⁴When the people saw him, they praised their god, for they said, “Our god has handed our enemy over to us, Even the destroyer of our country, Who has killed many of us.”

²⁵It so happened when they were in high spirits, that they said, “Call for Samson, that he may amuse us.” So they called for Samson from the prison, and he entertained them. And they made him stand between the pillars.

²⁶Then Samson said to the boy who was holding his hand, “Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, so that I may lean against them.”

²⁷Now the house was full of men and women, and all the governors of the Philistines were there. And about three thousand men and women were on the roof looking on while Samson was entertaining them.

²⁸Then Samson called to the LORD and said, “Lord GOD, please remember me and please strengthen me just this time, O God, that I may at once take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes.”

²⁹Then Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and braced himself against them, the one with his right hand and the other with his left.

³⁰And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he pushed outwards powerfully, so that the house fell on the governors and all the people who were in it. And the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed during his lifetime.

³¹Then his brothers and all his father’s household came down and took him, and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. So he had judged Israel for twenty years.

¹Now there was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah.

²And he said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse and also spoke it in my hearing, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the LORD.”

³He then returned the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, “I wholly consecrate the silver from my hand to the LORD for my son to make a carved image and a cast metal image; so now I will return them to you.”

⁴So when he returned the silver to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith, who made them into a carved image and a cast metal image, and they were in the house of Micah.

⁵And the man Micah had a shrine and he made an ephod and household idols, and consecrated one of his sons, so that he might become his priest.

⁶In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

⁷Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he was staying there.

⁸Then the man left the city, Bethlehem in Judah, to stay wherever he would find a place; and as he made his journey, he came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah.

⁹Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to stay wherever I may find a place.”

¹⁰Micah then said to him, “Stay with me and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, a supply of clothing, and your sustenance.” So the Levite went in.

¹¹The Levite agreed to live with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons.

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

¹³Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, because I have a Levite as a priest.”

¹In those days there was no king of Israel; and in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for themselves to live in, for until that day an inheritance had not been allotted to them as a possession among the tribes of Israel.

²So the sons of Dan sent from their family five men out of their whole number, valiant men from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to explore it; and they said to them, “Go, explore the land.” And they came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and stayed overnight there.

³When they were near the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young man, the Levite; and they turned aside there and said to him, “Who brought you here? And what are you doing in this place? And what do you have here?”

⁴He said to them, “Micah has done this and that for me, and he has hired me and I have become his priest.”

⁵Then they said to him, “Inquire of God, please, that we may know whether our way on which we are going will be successful.”

⁶And the priest said to them, “Go in peace; your way in which you are going has the LORD’S approval.”

⁷So the five men departed and came to Laish, and saw the people who were in it living in security, in the way of the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting; for there was no oppressive ruler humiliating them for anything in the land, and they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone.

⁸When they came back to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers said to them, “What do you say?”

⁹And they said, “Arise, and let’s go up against them; for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. And will you sit still? Do not hesitate to go, to enter, to take possession of the land.

¹⁰When you enter, you will come to an unsuspecting people with a spacious land; for God has handed it over to you, a place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth.”

¹¹Then from the family of the Danites, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, six hundred men armed with weapons of war set out.

¹²They went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. Therefore they called that place Mahaneh-dan to this day; behold, it is west of Kiriath-jearim.

¹³And they passed from there to the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah.

¹⁴Then the five men who went to spy out the country of Laish said to their kinsmen, “Do you know that there are in these houses an ephod and household idols, and a carved image and a cast metal image? Now then, consider what you should do.”

¹⁵So they turned aside there and came to the house of the young man, the Levite, to the house of Micah, and asked him how he was doing.

¹⁶Meanwhile, the six hundred men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the sons of Dan, were positioned at the entrance of the gate.

¹⁷Now the five men who went to spy out the land went up and entered there; they took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the cast metal image, while the priest was standing at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war.

¹⁸When these men entered Micah’s house and took the carved image, the ephod, household idols, and the cast metal image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

¹⁹And they said to him, “Be silent, put your hand over your mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be a priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?”

²⁰The priest’s heart was glad, and he took the ephod, the household idols, and the carved image, and went among the people.

²¹Then they turned and left, and put the children, the livestock, and the valuables in front of them.

²²When they had distanced themselves from Micah’s house, the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house assembled by command and overtook the sons of Dan.

²³Then they called out to the sons of Dan, who turned around and said to Micah, “What is the matter with you, that you have assembled together?”

²⁴And he said, “You have taken my gods which I made, and the priest, and have gone away; what more do I have? So how can you say to me, ‘What is the matter with you?’ ”

²⁵Then the sons of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, or else fierce men will attack you, and you will lose your life and the lives of your household.”

²⁶So the sons of Dan went on their way; and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house.

²⁷Then they took what Micah had made and the priest who had belonged to him, and came to Laish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting, and struck them with the edge of the sword; and they burned the city with fire.

²⁸And there was no one to save them, because it was far from Sidon and they had no dealings with anyone, and it was in the valley which is near Beth-rehob. So they rebuilt the city and lived in it.

²⁹And they named the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father who was born to Israel; however, the name of the city was previously Laish.

³⁰The sons of Dan set up for themselves the carved image; and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land.

³¹So they set up for themselves Micah’s carved image which he had made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

¹Now it came about in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite staying in the remote part of the hill country of Ephraim, who took a concubine for himself from Bethlehem in Judah.

²But his concubine found him repugnant, and she left him and went to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah, and remained there for a period of four months.

³Then her husband set out and went after her to speak gently to her in order to bring her back, taking with him his servant and a pair of donkeys. And she brought him into her father’s house, and when the girl’s father saw him, he was glad to meet him.

⁴His father-in-law, the girl’s father, prevailed upon him, and he remained with him for three days. So they ate and drank and stayed there.

⁵Now on the fourth day they got up early in the morning, and he prepared to go; but the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Strengthen yourself with a piece of bread, and afterward you may go.”

⁶So both of them sat down and ate and drank together; and the girl’s father said to the man, “Please be so kind as to spend the night, and let your heart be cheerful.”

⁷However, the man got up to go; but his father-in-law urged him, and he spent the night there again.

⁸Now on the fifth day he got up to go early in the morning, but the girl’s father said, “Please strengthen yourself, and wait until late afternoon”; so both of them ate.

⁹When the man got up to go, along with his concubine and servant, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Behold now, the day has drawn to a close; please spend the night. Behold, the day is coming to an end; spend the night here so that your heart may be cheerful. Then tomorrow you may arise early for your journey and go home.”

¹⁰But the man was unwilling to spend the night, so he got up and left, and came to a place opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). And with him was a pair of saddled donkeys; his concubine also was with him.

¹¹When they were near Jebus, the day was almost gone; and the servant said to his master, “Please come, and let’s turn aside into this city of the Jebusites and spend the night in it.”

¹²However, his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into a city of foreigners who are not of the sons of Israel; instead, we will go on as far as Gibeah.”

¹³And he said to his servant, “Come, and let’s approach one of these places; and we will spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.”

¹⁴So they passed along and went their way, and the sun set on them near Gibeah which belongs to Benjamin.

¹⁵They turned aside there to enter and spend the night in Gibeah. When they entered, they sat down in the public square of the city, for no one took them into his house to spend the night.

¹⁶Then behold, an old man was coming out of the field from his work at evening. Now the man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was staying in Gibeah, but the men of the place were Benjaminites.

¹⁷And he raised his eyes and saw the traveler in the public square of the city; and the old man said, “Where are you going, and where do you come from?”

¹⁸And he said to him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote part of the hill country of Ephraim, for I am from there, and I went to Bethlehem in Judah. But I am now going to my house, and no one will take me into his house.

¹⁹Yet there is both straw and feed for our donkeys, and also bread and wine for me, and your female slave, and the young man who is with your servants; there is no lack of anything.”

²⁰Then the old man said, “Peace to you. Only let me take care of all your needs; however, do not spend the night in the public square.”

²¹So he took him into his house and fed the donkeys, and they washed their feet and ate and drank.

²²While they were celebrating, behold, the men of the city, certain worthless men, surrounded the house, pushing one another at the door; and they spoke to the owner of the house, the old man, saying, “Bring out the man who entered your house that we may have relations with him.”

²³Then the man, the owner of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, please do not act so wickedly. Since this man has come into my house, do not commit this vile sin.

²⁴Here is my virgin daughter and the man’s concubine. Please let me bring them out, then rape them and do to them whatever you wish. But do not commit this act of vile sin against this man.”

²⁵But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and brought her outside to them; and they raped her and abused her all night until morning, then let her go at the approach of dawn.

²⁶As the day began to dawn, the woman came and fell down at the doorway of the man’s house where her master was, until full daylight.

²⁷When her master got up in the morning and opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, then behold, his concubine was lying at the doorway of the house with her hands on the threshold.

²⁸And he said to her, “Get up and let’s go,” but there was no answer. Then he put her on the donkey; and the man set out and went to his home.

²⁹When he entered his house, he took a knife and seized his concubine, and cut her in twelve pieces, limb by limb. Then he sent her throughout the territory of Israel.

³⁰All who saw it said, “Nothing like this has ever happened or been seen from the day when the sons of Israel came up from the land of Egypt to this day. Consider it, make a plan, and speak up!”

¹Then all the sons of Israel from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, came out, and the congregation assembled as one person to the LORD at Mizpah.

²And the leaders of all the people, all the tribes of Israel, took their stand in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand foot soldiers who drew the sword.

³(Now the sons of Benjamin heard that the sons of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the sons of Israel said, “Tell us, how did this wickedness take place?”

⁴So the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, “I came with my concubine to spend the night at Gibeah which belongs to Benjamin.

⁵But the citizens of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house at night, threatening me. They intended to kill me; instead, they raped my concubine so that she died.

⁶And I took hold of my concubine and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout the land of Israel’s inheritance; for they have committed an outrageous sin and vile act in Israel.

⁷Behold, all you sons of Israel, give your response and advice here.”

⁸Then all the people rose up as one person, saying, “Not one of us will go to his tent, nor will any of us go home.

⁹But now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up against it by lot.

¹⁰And we will take ten men out of a hundred throughout the tribes of Israel, and a hundred out of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand to supply provisions for the people, so that when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, they may punish them for all the vile sin that they have committed in Israel.”

¹¹So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, united as one man.

¹²Then the tribes of Israel sent men through the entire tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that has taken place among you?

¹³Now then, turn over the men, the worthless men who are in Gibeah, so that we may put them to death and remove this wickedness from Israel.” But the sons of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the sons of Israel.

¹⁴Instead, the sons of Benjamin gathered from the cities to Gibeah, to go out to battle against the sons of Israel.

¹⁵From the cities on that day the sons of Benjamin were counted, twenty-six thousand men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah who were counted, seven hundred choice men.

¹⁶Out of all these people seven hundred choice men were left-handed; each one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.

¹⁷Then the men of Israel besides Benjamin were counted, four hundred thousand men who drew the sword; all of these were men of war.

¹⁸Now the sons of Israel set out, went up to Bethel, and inquired of God and said, “Who shall go up first for us to battle against the sons of Benjamin?” Then the LORD said, “Judah shall go up first.”

¹⁹So the sons of Israel got up in the morning and camped against Gibeah.

²⁰The men of Israel went to battle against Benjamin, and the men of Israel lined up for battle against them at Gibeah.

²¹Then the sons of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and struck to the ground on that day twenty-two thousand men of Israel.

²²But the people, the men of Israel, showed themselves courageous and lined up for battle again in the place where they had lined themselves up on the first day.

²³And the sons of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until evening, and inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall we again advance for battle against the sons of my brother Benjamin?” And the LORD said, “Go up against him.”

²⁴So the sons of Israel came against the sons of Benjamin on the second day.

²⁵And Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah the second day and struck to the ground again eighteen thousand men of the sons of Israel; all of these drew the sword.

²⁶Then all the sons of Israel and all the people went up and came to Bethel, and they wept and remained there before the LORD, and fasted that day until evening. And they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.

²⁷And the sons of Israel inquired of the LORD (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,

²⁸and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, Aaron’s son, stood before it to minister in those days), saying, “Shall I yet again go out to battle against the sons of my brother Benjamin, or shall I stop?” And the LORD said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will hand them over to you.”

²⁹So Israel set men in ambush around Gibeah.

³⁰And the sons of Israel went up against the sons of Benjamin on the third day and lined up against Gibeah as at other times.

³¹When the sons of Benjamin went out against the people, they were lured away from the city, and they began to strike and kill some of the people as at other times, on the roads (one of which goes up to Bethel, and the other to Gibeah), and in the field, about thirty men of Israel.

³²And the sons of Benjamin said, “They are defeated before us, like the first time.” But the sons of Israel said, “Let’s flee, so that we may draw them away from the city to the roads.”

³³Then all the men of Israel rose from their place and lined up at Baal-tamar; and the men of Israel in ambush charged from their place, from Maareh-geba.

³⁴When ten thousand choice men from all Israel came against Gibeah, the battle became fierce; but Benjamin did not know that disaster was close to them.

³⁵And the LORD struck Benjamin before Israel, so that the sons of Israel destroyed 25,100 men of Benjamin that day, all who drew the sword.

³⁶So the sons of Benjamin saw that they were defeated. When the men of Israel gave ground to Benjamin because they relied on the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah,

³⁷the men in ambush hurried and rushed against Gibeah; the men in ambush also deployed and struck all the city with the edge of the sword.

³⁸Now the agreed sign between the men of Israel and the men in ambush was that they would make a great cloud of smoke rise from the city.

³⁹Then the men of Israel turned in the battle, and Benjamin began to strike and kill about thirty men of Israel, for they said, “Undoubtedly they are defeated before us, as in the first battle.”

⁴⁰But when the cloud began to rise from the city in a column of smoke, Benjamin looked behind them; and behold, the entire city was going up in smoke to heaven.

⁴¹Then the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were terrified; for they saw that disaster was close to them.

⁴²Therefore, they turned their backs before the men of Israel to flee in the direction of the wilderness, but the battle overtook them while those who attacked from the cities were annihilating them in the midst of them.

⁴³They surrounded Benjamin, pursued them without rest, and trampled them down opposite Gibeah toward the east.

⁴⁴So eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell; all of these were valiant men.

⁴⁵The rest turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, but they caught five thousand of them on the roads and overtook them at Gidom, and killed two thousand of them.

⁴⁶So all those of Benjamin who fell that day were twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword; all of these were valiant men.

⁴⁷But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon; and they remained at the rock of Rimmon for four months.

⁴⁸The men of Israel then turned back against the sons of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, both the entire city with the cattle and all that they found; they also set on fire all the cities which they found.

¹Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, “None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin in marriage.”

²So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, and raised their voices and wept profusely.

³And they said, “Why, LORD, God of Israel, has this happened in Israel, that one tribe is missing today from Israel?”

⁴And it came about the next day that the people got up early and built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

⁵Then the sons of Israel said, “Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who did not go up to the LORD in the assembly?” For they had taken a solemn oath concerning anyone who did not go up to the LORD at Mizpah, saying, “He shall certainly be put to death.”

⁶And the sons of Israel were sorry for their brother Benjamin, and said, “Today one tribe is cut off from Israel!

⁷What are we to do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the LORD not to give them any of our daughters as wives?”

⁸And they said, “What one is there of the tribes of Israel that did not go up to the LORD at Mizpah?” And behold, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly.

⁹For when the people were counted, behold, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead was there.

¹⁰And the congregation sent twelve thousand of the valiant warriors there, and commanded them, saying, “Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, along with the women and the children.

¹¹And this is the thing that you shall do: you shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has slept with a male.”

¹²And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins who had not known a man by sleeping with him; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

¹³Then the whole congregation sent word and spoke to the sons of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace to them.

¹⁴And the tribe of Benjamin returned at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had allowed to live from the women of Jabesh-gilead; but they were not enough for them.

¹⁵And the people were sorry for Benjamin, because the LORD had created a gap in the tribes of Israel.

¹⁶Then the elders of the congregation said, “What are we to do for wives for those who are left, since the women have been eliminated from Benjamin?”

¹⁷And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be wiped out from Israel.

¹⁸But we cannot give them wives from our daughters.” For the sons of Israel had sworn, saying, “Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin!”

¹⁹So they said, “Behold, there is a feast of the LORD from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south side of Lebonah.”

²⁰And they commanded the sons of Benjamin, saying, “Go and lie in wait in the vineyards,

²¹and watch; and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to take part in the dances, then you shall come out of the vineyards, and each of you shall seize his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.

²²And when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we shall say to them, ‘Give them to us voluntarily, because we did not take for each man of Benjamin a wife in battle, nor did you give them to them, otherwise you would now be guilty.’ ”

²³The sons of Benjamin did so, and took wives according to their number from those who danced, whom they seized. And they went and returned to their inheritance, and rebuilt the cities and lived in them.

²⁴And the sons of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and each one departed from there to his inheritance.

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

¹Now it came about in the days when the judges governed, that there was a famine in the land. And a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to reside in the land of Moab with his wife and his two sons.

²The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife, Naomi; and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem in Judah. So they entered the land of Moab and remained there.

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

⁴And they took for themselves Moabite women as wives; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other, Ruth. And they lived there about ten years.

⁵Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.

⁶Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the land of Moab, because she had heard in the land of Moab that the LORD had visited His people by giving them food.

⁷So she departed from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.

⁸But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to your mother’s house. May the LORD deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me.

⁹May the LORD grant that you may find a place of rest, each one in the house of her husband.” Then she kissed them, and they raised their voices and wept.

¹⁰However, they said to her, “No, but we will return with you to your people.”

¹¹But Naomi said, “Return, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?

¹²Return, my daughters! Go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I said I have hope, if I were even to have a husband tonight and also give birth to sons,

¹³would you therefore wait until they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters; for it is much more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the LORD has come out against me.”

¹⁴And they raised their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

¹⁵Then she said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; return after your sister-in-law.”

¹⁶But Ruth said, “Do not plead with me to leave you or to turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you sleep, I will sleep. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.

¹⁷Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD do so to me, and worse, if anything but death separates me from you.”

¹⁸When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her about it.

¹⁹So they both went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they had come to Bethlehem, all the city was stirred because of them, and the women said, “Is this Naomi?”

²⁰But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.

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

²²So Naomi returned, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, who returned from the land of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

¹Now Naomi had a relative of her husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.

²And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain following one in whose eyes I may find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.”

³So she left and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.

⁴Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, “May the LORD be with you.” And they said to him, “May the LORD bless you.”

⁵Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?”

⁶And the servant in charge of the reapers replied, “She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab.

⁷And she said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ So she came and has remained from the morning until now; she has been sitting in the house for a little while.”

⁸Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen carefully, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field; furthermore, do not go on from this one, but join my young women here.

⁹Keep your eyes on the field which they reap, and go after them. Indeed, I have ordered the servants not to touch you. When you are thirsty, go to the water jars and drink from what the servants draw.”

¹⁰Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?”

¹¹Boaz replied to her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully reported to me, and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people that you did not previously know.

¹²May the LORD reward your work, and may your wages be full from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”

¹³Then she said, “I have found favor in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me and indeed have spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not like one of your female servants.”

¹⁴And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here, that you may eat of the bread and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers; and he served her roasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied and had some left.

¹⁵When she got up to glean, Boaz commanded his servants, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not insult her.

¹⁶Also you are to purposely slip out for her some grain from the bundles and leave it so that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.”

¹⁷So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.

¹⁸And she picked it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also took some out and gave Naomi what she had left after she was satisfied.

¹⁹Her mother-in-law then said to her, “Where did you glean today and where did you work? May he who took notice of you be blessed.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.”

²⁰Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed of the LORD who has not withdrawn His kindness from the living and from the dead.” Again Naomi said to her, “The man is our relative; he is one of our redeemers.”

²¹Then Ruth the Moabitess said, “Furthermore, he said to me, ‘You are to stay close to my servants until they have finished all my harvest.’ ”

²²And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, so that others do not assault you in another field.”

²³So she stayed close by the young women of Boaz in order to glean until the end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

¹Then her mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, shall I not seek security for you, that it may go well for you?

²Now then, is Boaz not our relative, with whose young women you were? Behold, he is winnowing barley at the threshing floor tonight.

³Wash yourself therefore, and anoint yourself, and put on your best clothes, and go down to the threshing floor; but do not reveal yourself to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.

⁴And it shall be when he lies down, that you shall take notice of the place where he lies, and you shall go and uncover his feet and lie down; then he will tell you what you should do.”

⁵And she said to her, “All that you say I will do.”

⁶So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law had commanded her.

⁷When Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was cheerful, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain; and she came secretly, and uncovered his feet and lay down.

⁸And it happened in the middle of the night that the man was startled and bent forward; and behold, a woman was lying at his feet.

⁹So he said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth your slave. Now spread your garment over your slave, for you are a redeemer.”

¹⁰Then he said, “May you be blessed of the LORD, my daughter. You have shown your last kindness to be better than the first, by not going after young men, whether poor or rich.

¹¹So now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you whatever you say, for all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence.

¹²But now, although it is true that I am a redeemer, yet there is also a redeemer more closely related than I.

¹³Remain this night, and when morning comes, if he will redeem you, good; let him redeem you. But if he does not wish to redeem you, then I will redeem you, as the LORD lives. Lie down until morning.”

¹⁴So she lay at his feet until morning, and got up before one person could recognize another; and he said, “Do not let it be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.”

¹⁵Again he said, “Give me the shawl that is on you and hold it.” So she held it, and he measured six measures of barley and laid it on her. Then she went into the city.

¹⁶When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “How did it go, my daughter?” And she told her all that the man had done for her.

¹⁷She also said, “These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said, ‘Do not go to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’ ”

¹⁸Then she said, “Wait, my daughter, until you know how the matter turns out; for the man will not rest until he has settled it today.”

¹Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there, and behold, the redeemer of whom Boaz spoke was passing by, so he said, “Come over here, friend, sit down here.” And he came over and sat down.

²Then he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down.

³And he said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has returned from the land of Moab, has to sell the plot of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech.

⁴So I thought that I would inform you, saying, ‘Buy it before those who are sitting here, and before the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if not, tell me so that I may know; for there is no one except you to redeem it, and I am after you.’ ” And he said, “I will redeem it.”

⁵Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of the deceased, in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance.”

⁶Then the redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, otherwise I would jeopardize my own inheritance. Redeem it for yourself; you may have my right of redemption, since I cannot redeem it.”

⁷Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning the redemption and the exchange of land to confirm any matter: a man removed his sandal and gave it to another; and this was the way of confirmation in Israel.

⁸So the redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.” And he removed his sandal.

⁹Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon.

¹⁰Furthermore, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, to be my wife in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance, so that the name of the deceased will not be eliminated from his brothers or from the court of his birth place; you are witnesses today.”

¹¹And all the people who were in the court, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built the house of Israel; and may you achieve wealth in Ephrathah and become famous in Bethlehem.

¹²Moreover, may your house be like the house of Perez whom Tamar bore to Judah, through the descendants whom the LORD will give you by this young woman.”

¹³So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he had relations with her. And the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.

¹⁴Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed is the LORD who has not left you without a redeemer today, and may his name become famous in Israel.

¹⁵May he also be to you one who restores life and sustains your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”

¹⁶Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her lap, and became his nurse.

¹⁷And the neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi!” So they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

¹⁸Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron,

¹⁹Hezron fathered Ram, and Ram fathered Amminadab,

²⁰and Amminadab fathered Nahshon, and Nahshon fathered Salmon,

²¹and Salmon fathered Boaz, and Boaz fathered Obed,

²²and Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.

¹Now there was a man from Ramathaim-zophim from the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.

²And he had two wives: the name of one was Hannah and the name of the other Peninnah; and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

³Now this man would go up from his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of armies in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the LORD there.

⁴When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters;

⁵but to Hannah he would give a double portion, because he loved Hannah, but the LORD had closed her womb.

⁶Her rival, moreover, would provoke her bitterly to irritate her, because the LORD had closed her womb.

⁷And it happened year after year, as often as she went up to the house of the LORD, that she would provoke her; so she wept and would not eat.

⁸Then Elkanah her husband would say to her, “Hannah, why do you weep, and why do you not eat, and why is your heart sad? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

⁹Then Hannah got up after eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the temple of the LORD.

¹⁰She, greatly distressed, prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly.

¹¹And she made a vow and said, “LORD of armies, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your bond-servant and remember me, and not forget Your bond-servant, but will give Your bond-servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head.”

¹²Now it came about, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli was watching her mouth.

¹³As for Hannah, she was speaking in her heart, only her lips were quivering, but her voice was not heard. So Eli thought that she was drunk.

¹⁴Then Eli said to her, “How long will you behave like a drunk? Get rid of your wine!”

¹⁵But Hannah answered and said, “No, my lord, I am a woman despairing in spirit; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the LORD.

¹⁶Do not consider your bond-servant a useless woman, for I have spoken until now out of my great concern and provocation.”

¹⁷Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your request that you have asked of Him.”

¹⁸She said, “Let your bond-servant find favor in your sight.” So the woman went on her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

¹⁹Then they got up early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD, and returned again to their house in Ramah. And Elkanah had relations with Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her.

²⁰It came about in due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him of the LORD.”

²¹Then the man Elkanah went up with all his household to offer to the LORD the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow.

²²But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “I will not go until the child is weaned; then I will bring him, so that he may appear before the LORD and stay there for life.”

²³Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you. Stay until you have weaned him; only may the LORD confirm His word.” So the woman stayed and nursed her son until she weaned him.

²⁴Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with a three-year-old bull, one ephah of flour, and a jug of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD in Shiloh, although the child was young.

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

²⁶And she said, “Pardon me, my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying to the LORD.

²⁷For this boy I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my request which I asked of Him.

²⁸So I have also dedicated him to the LORD; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the LORD.” And he worshiped the LORD there.

¹Then Hannah prayed and said, “My heart rejoices in the LORD; My horn is exalted in the LORD, My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation.

²There is no one holy like the LORD, Indeed, there is no one besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God.

³Do not go on boasting so very proudly, Do not let arrogance come out of your mouth; For the LORD is a God of knowledge, And with Him actions are weighed.

⁴The bows of the mighty are broken to pieces, But those who have stumbled strap on strength.

⁵Those who were full hire themselves out for bread, But those who were hungry cease to be hungry. Even the infertile woman gives birth to seven, But she who has many children languishes.

⁶The LORD puts to death and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and brings up.

⁷The LORD makes poor and rich; He humbles, He also exalts.

⁸He raises the poor from the dust, He lifts the needy from the garbage heap To seat them with nobles, And He gives them a seat of honor as an inheritance; For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’S, And He set the world on them.

⁹He watches over the feet of His godly ones, But the wicked ones are silenced in darkness; For not by might shall a person prevail.

¹⁰Those who contend with the LORD will be terrified; Against them He will thunder in the heavens, The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; And He will give strength to His king, And will exalt the horn of His anointed.”

¹¹Then Elkanah went to his home at Ramah. But the boy continued to attend to the service of the LORD before Eli the priest.

¹²Now the sons of Eli were useless men; they did not know the LORD.

¹³And this was the custom of the priests with the people: when anyone was offering a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come while the meat was cooking, with a three-pronged fork in his hand.

¹⁴And he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; everything that the fork brought up, the priest would take for himself. They did so in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.

¹⁵Also, before they burned the fat, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest meat for roasting, as he will not take cooked meat from you, only raw.”

¹⁶And if the man said to him, “They must burn the fat first, then take as much as you desire,” then he would say, “No, but you must give it to me now; and if not, I am taking it by force!”

¹⁷And so the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD, for the men treated the offering of the LORD disrespectfully.

¹⁸Now Samuel was ministering before the LORD, as a boy wearing a linen ephod.

¹⁹And his mother would make for him a little robe and bring it up to him from year to year when she would come up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.

²⁰Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “May the LORD give you children from this woman in place of the one she requested of the LORD.” And they went to their own home.

²¹The LORD indeed visited Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew up before the LORD.

²²Now Eli was very old; and he heard about everything that his sons were doing to all Israel, and that they slept with the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting.

²³So he said to them, “Why are you doing such things as these, the evil things that I hear from all these people?

²⁴No, my sons; for the report is not good which I hear the LORD’S people circulating.

²⁵If one person sins against another, God will mediate for him; but if a person sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for the LORD desired to put them to death.

²⁶Now the boy Samuel was continuing to grow and to be in favor both with the LORD and with people.

²⁷Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Did I not indeed reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh’s house?

²⁸Did I not choose them from all the tribes of Israel to be My priests, to go up to My altar, to burn incense, to carry an ephod before Me? And did I not give to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel?

²⁹Why are you showing contempt for My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded for My dwelling, and why are you honoring your sons above Me, by making yourselves fat with the choicest of every offering of My people Israel?’

³⁰Therefore the LORD God of Israel declares, ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father was to walk before Me forever’; but now the LORD declares, ‘Far be it from Me—for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be insignificant.

³¹Behold, the days are coming when I will eliminate your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house.

³²And you will look at the distress of My dwelling, in spite of all the good that I do for Israel; and there will never be an old man in your house.

³³Yet I will not cut off every man of yours from My altar, so that your eyes will fail from weeping and your soul grieve, and all the increase of your house will die in the prime of life.

³⁴And this will be the sign to you which will come in regard to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: on the same day both of them will die.

³⁵But I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and My soul; and I will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed always.

³⁶And everyone who is left in your house will come to bow down to him for a silver coin or a loaf of bread and say, “Please assign me to one of the priest’s offices so that I may eat a piece of bread.” ’ ”