Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹Once Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw a Philistine woman.

²Then he came up, and told his father and mother, “I saw a Philistine woman at Timnah; now get her for me as my wife.”

³But his father and mother said to him, “Is there not a woman among your kin, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, because she pleases me.”

⁴His father and mother did not know that this was from the LORD; for he was seeking a pretext to act against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

⁵Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah. When he came to the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion roared at him.

⁶The spirit of the LORD rushed on him, and he tore the lion apart barehanded as one might tear apart a kid. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.

⁷Then he went down and talked with the woman, and she pleased Samson.

⁸After a while he returned to marry her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey.

⁹He scraped it out into 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 taken the honey from the carcass of the lion.

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

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

¹²Samson said to them, “Let me now put a riddle to you. If you can explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty festal garments.

¹³But if you cannot explain it to me, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty festal garments.” So they said to him, “Ask your riddle; let us hear it.”

¹⁴He said to them, “Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet.” But for three days they could not explain the riddle.

¹⁵On the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife, “Coax your husband to explain the riddle to us, or we will burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us here to impoverish us?”

¹⁶So Samson’s wife wept before him, saying, “You hate me; you do not really love me. You have asked a riddle of my people, but you have not explained it to me.” He said to her, “Look, I have not told my father or my mother. Why should I tell you?”

¹⁷She wept before him the seven days that their feast lasted; and because she nagged him, on the seventh day he told her. Then she explained the riddle to her people.

¹⁸The men of the town said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, “What is sweeter than honey? 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 on him, and he went down to Ashkelon. He killed thirty men of the town, took their spoil, and gave the festal garments to those who had explained the riddle. In hot anger he went back to his father’s house.

²⁰And Samson’s wife was given to his companion, who had been his best man.

¹After a while, at the time of the wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife, bringing along a kid. He said, “I want to go into my wife’s room.” But her father would not allow him to go in.

²Her father said, “I was sure that you had rejected her; so I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister prettier than she? Why not take her instead?”

³Samson said to them, “This time, when I do mischief to the Philistines, I will be without blame.”

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

⁵When he had set fire to the torches, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burned up the shocks and the standing grain, as well as the vineyards and olive groves.

⁶Then the Philistines asked, “Who has done this?” And they said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken Samson’s wife and given her to his companion.” So the Philistines came up, and burned her and her father.

⁷Samson said to them, “If this is what you do, I swear I will not stop until I have taken revenge on you.”

⁸He struck them down hip and thigh with great slaughter; and he went down and stayed in the cleft of the rock of Etam.

⁹Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah, and made a raid on Lehi.

¹⁰The men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” They said, “We have come up to bind Samson, 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 they said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then have you done to us?” He replied, “As they did to me, so I have done to them.”

¹²They said to him, “We have come down to bind you, so that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines.” Samson answered them, “Swear to me that you yourselves will not attack me.”

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

¹⁴When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him; and the spirit of the LORD rushed on him, and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands.

¹⁵Then he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached down and took it, and with it he killed a thousand men.

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

¹⁷When he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and that place was called Ramath-lehi.

¹⁸By then he was very thirsty, and he called on the LORD, saying, “You have granted this great victory by the hand of your servant. Am I now to die of thirst, and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”

¹⁹So God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came from it. When he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore it was named En-hakkore, which is at Lehi to this day.

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

¹Once Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute and went in to her.

²The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” So they circled around and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They kept quiet all night, thinking, “Let us wait until the light of the morning; then we will kill him.”

³But Samson lay only until midnight. Then at midnight he rose up, took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two posts, pulled them up, bar and all, put them on his shoulders, and carried them to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron.

⁴After this he fell in love with a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

⁵The lords of the Philistines came to her and said to her, “Coax him, and find out what makes his strength so great, and how we may overpower him, so that we may bind him in order to subdue him; and we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.”

⁶So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me what makes your strength so great, and how you could be bound, so that one could subdue you.”

⁷Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that are not dried out, then I shall become weak, and be like anyone else.”

⁸Then the lords of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not dried out, and she bound him with them.

⁹While men were lying in wait in an inner chamber, she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he snapped the bowstrings, as a strand of fiber snaps when it touches the fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.

¹⁰Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me and told me lies; please tell me how you could be bound.”

¹¹He said to her, “If they bind me with new ropes that have not been used, then I shall become weak, and be like anyone else.”

¹²So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them, and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” (The men lying in wait were in an inner chamber.) But he snapped the ropes off his arms like a thread.

¹³Then Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me and told me lies; tell me how you could be bound.” He said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web and make it tight with the pin, then I shall become weak, and be like anyone else.”

¹⁴So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his head and wove them into the web, and made them tight with the pin. Then she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep, and pulled away the pin, 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 mocked me three times now and have not told me what makes your strength so great.”

¹⁶Finally, after she had nagged him with her words day after day, and pestered him, he was tired to death.

¹⁷So he told her his whole secret, and said to her, “A razor has never come upon my head; for I have been a nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, then my strength would leave me; I would become weak, and be like anyone else.”

¹⁸When Delilah realized that he had told her his whole secret, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “This time come up, for he has told his whole secret to me.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought the money in their hands.

¹⁹She let him fall asleep on her lap; and she called a man, and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. He began to weaken, and his strength left him.

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

²¹So the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles; and he ground at the mill in the prison.

²²But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

²³Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon, and to rejoice; for they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.”

²⁴When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, “Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has killed many of us.”

²⁵And when their hearts were merry, they said, “Call Samson, and let him entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them. They made him stand between the pillars;

²⁶and Samson said to the attendant who held him by the 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; all the lords of the Philistines were there, and on the roof there were about three thousand men and women, who looked on while Samson performed.

²⁸Then Samson called to the LORD and said, “Lord GOD, remember me and strengthen me only this once, O God, so that with this one act of revenge I may pay back the Philistines for my two eyes.”

²⁹And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other.

³⁰Then Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” He strained with all his might; and the house fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So those he killed at his death were more than those he had killed during his life.

³¹Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. He had judged Israel twenty years.

¹There was a man in the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah.

²He said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and even spoke it in my hearing, — that silver is in my possession; I took it; but now I will return it to you.” And his mother said, “May my son be blessed by the LORD!”

³Then he returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother; and his mother said, “I consecrate the silver to the LORD from my hand for my son, to make an idol of cast metal.”

⁴So when he returned the money to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into an idol of cast metal; and it was in the house of Micah.

⁵This man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and teraphim, and installed one of his sons, who became his priest.

⁶In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.

⁷Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the clan of Judah. He was a Levite residing there.

⁸This man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah, to live wherever he could find a place. He came to the house of Micah in the hill country of Ephraim to carry on his work.

⁹Micah said to him, “From where do you come?” He replied, “I am a Levite of Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to live wherever I can find a place.”

¹⁰Then Micah said to him, “Stay with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, a set of clothes, and your living.”

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

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

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

¹In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking for itself a territory to live in; for until then no territory among the tribes of Israel had been allotted to them.

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

³While they were at Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite; so they went over and asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?”

⁴He said to them, “Micah did such and such for me, and he hired me, and I have become his priest.”

⁵Then they said to him, “Inquire of God that we may know whether the mission we are undertaking will succeed.”

⁶The priest replied, “Go in peace. The mission you are on is under the eye of the LORD.”

⁷The five men went on, and when they came to Laish, they observed the people who were there living securely, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting, lacking nothing on earth, and possessing wealth. Furthermore, they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with Aram.

⁸When they came to their kinsfolk at Zorah and Eshtaol, they said to them, “What do you report?”

⁹They said, “Come, let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and it is very good. Will you do nothing? Do not be slow to go, but enter in and possess the land.

¹⁰When you go, you will come to an unsuspecting people. The land is broad — God has indeed given it into your hands — a place where there is no lack of anything on earth.”

¹¹Six hundred men of the Danite clan, armed with weapons of war, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol,

¹²and went up and encamped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. On this account that place is called Mahaneh-dan to this day; it is west of Kiriath-jearim.

¹³From there they passed on to the hill country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.

¹⁴Then the five men who had gone to spy out the land (that is, Laish) said to their comrades, “Do you know that in these buildings there are an ephod, teraphim, and an idol of cast metal? Now therefore consider what you will do.”

¹⁵So they turned in that direction and came to the house of the young Levite, at the home of Micah, and greeted him.

¹⁶While the six hundred men of the Danites, armed with their weapons of war, stood by the entrance of the gate,

¹⁷the five men who had gone to spy out the land proceeded to enter and take the idol of cast metal, the ephod, and the teraphim. The priest was standing by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war.

¹⁸When the men went into Micah’s house and took the idol of cast metal, the ephod, and the teraphim, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

¹⁹They said to him, “Keep quiet! Put your hand over your mouth, and come with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one person, or to be priest to a tribe and clan in Israel?”

²⁰Then the priest accepted the offer. He took the ephod, the teraphim, and the idol, and went along with the people.

²¹So they resumed their journey, putting the little ones, the livestock, and the goods in front of them.

²²When they were some distance from the home of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house were called out, and they overtook the Danites.

²³They shouted to the Danites, who turned around and said to Micah, “What is the matter that you come with such a company?”

²⁴He replied, “You take my gods that I made, and the priest, and go away, and what have I left? How then can you ask me, ‘What is the matter?’”

²⁵And the Danites said to him, “You had better not let your voice be heard among us or else hot-tempered fellows will attack you, and you will lose your life and the lives of your household.”

²⁶Then the Danites went their way. When Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his home.

²⁷The Danites, having taken what Micah had made, and the priest who belonged to him, came to Laish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting, put them to the sword, and burned down the city.

²⁸There was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon and they had no dealings with Aram. It was in the valley that belongs to Beth-rehob. They rebuilt the city, and lived in it.

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

³⁰Then the Danites set up the idol for themselves. Jonathan son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the time the land went into captivity.

³¹So they maintained as their own Micah’s idol that he had made, as long as the house of God was at Shiloh.

¹In those days, when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite, residing in the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, took to himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.

²But his concubine became angry with him, and she went away from him to her father’s house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there some four months.

³Then her husband set out after her, to speak tenderly to her and bring her back. He had with him his servant and a couple of donkeys. When he reached her father’s house, the girl’s father saw him and came with joy to meet him.

⁴His father-in-law, the girl’s father, made him stay, and he remained with him three days; so they ate and drank, and he stayed there.

⁵On 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, “Fortify yourself with a bit of food, and after that you may go.”

⁶So the two men sat and ate and drank together; and the girl’s father said to the man, “Why not spend the night and enjoy yourself?”

⁷When the man got up to go, his father-in-law kept urging him until he spent the night there again.

⁸On the fifth day he got up early in the morning to leave; and the girl’s father said, “Fortify yourself.” So they lingered until the day declined, and the two of them ate and drank.

⁹When the man with his concubine and his servant got up to leave, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Look, the day has worn on until it is almost evening. Spend the night. See, the day has drawn to a close. Spend the night here and enjoy yourself. Tomorrow you can get up early in the morning for your journey, and go home.”

¹⁰But the man would not spend the night; he got up and departed, and arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). He had with him a couple of saddled donkeys, and his concubine was with him.

¹¹When they were near Jebus, the day was far spent, and the servant said to his master, “Come now, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites, and spend the night in it.”

¹²But his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into a city of foreigners, who do not belong to the people of Israel; but we will continue on to Gibeah.”

¹³Then he said to his servant, “Come, let us try to reach one of these places, and spend the night at Gibeah or at Ramah.”

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

¹⁵They turned aside there, to go in and spend the night at Gibeah. He went in and sat down in the open square of the city, but no one took them in to spend the night.

¹⁶Then at evening there was an old man coming from his work in the field. The man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was residing in Gibeah. (The people of the place were Benjaminites.)

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

¹⁸He answered him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, from which I come. I went to Bethlehem in Judah; and I am going to my home. Nobody has offered to take me in.

¹⁹We your servants have straw and fodder for our donkeys, with bread and wine for me and the woman and the young man along with us. We need nothing more.”

²⁰The old man said, “Peace be to you. I will care for all your wants; only do not spend the night in the square.”

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

²²While they were enjoying themselves, the men of the city, a perverse lot, surrounded the house, and started pounding on the door. They said to the old man, the master of the house, “Bring out the man who came into your house, so that we may have intercourse with him.”

²³And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. Since this man is my guest, do not do this vile thing.

²⁴Here are my virgin daughter and his concubine; let me bring them out now. Ravish them and do whatever you want to them; but against this man do not do such a vile thing.”

²⁵But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine, and put her out to them. They wantonly raped her, and abused her all through the night until the morning. And as the dawn began to break, they let her go.

²⁶As morning appeared, the woman came and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her master was, until it was light.

²⁷In the morning her master got up, opened the doors of the house, and when he went out to go on his way, there was his concubine lying at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold.

²⁸“Get up,” he said to her, “we are going.” But there was no answer. Then he put her on the donkey; and the man set out for his home.

²⁹When he had entered his house, he took a knife, and grasping his concubine he cut her into twelve pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel.

³⁰Then he commanded the men whom he sent, saying, “Thus shall you say to all the Israelites, ‘Has such a thing ever happened since the day that the Israelites came up from the land of Egypt until this day? Consider it, take counsel, and speak out.’”

¹Then all the Israelites came out, from Dan to Beer-sheba, including the land of Gilead, and the congregation assembled in one body before the LORD at Mizpah.

²The chiefs of all the people, of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand foot-soldiers bearing arms.

³(Now the Benjaminites heard that the people of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the Israelites said, “Tell us, how did this criminal act come about?”

⁴The Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered, “I came to Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night.

⁵The lords of Gibeah rose up against me, and surrounded the house at night. They intended to kill me, and they raped my concubine until she died.

⁶Then I took my concubine and cut her into pieces, and sent her throughout the whole extent of Israel’s territory; for they have committed a vile outrage in Israel.

⁷So now, you Israelites, all of you, give your advice and counsel here.”

⁸All the people got up as one, saying, “We will not any of us go to our tents, nor will any of us return to our houses.

⁹But now this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will go up against it by lot.

¹⁰We will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand of ten thousand, to bring provisions for the troops, who are going to repay Gibeah of Benjamin for all the disgrace that they have done in Israel.”

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

¹²The tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What crime is this that has been committed among you?

¹³Now then, hand over those scoundrels in Gibeah, so that we may put them to death, and purge the evil from Israel.” But the Benjaminites would not listen to their kinsfolk, the Israelites.

¹⁴The Benjaminites came together out of the towns to Gibeah, to go out to battle against the Israelites.

¹⁵On that day the Benjaminites mustered twenty-six thousand armed men from their towns, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah.

¹⁶Of all this force, there were seven hundred picked men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair, and not miss.

¹⁷And the Israelites, apart from Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand armed men, all of them warriors.

¹⁸The Israelites proceeded to go up to Bethel, where they inquired of God, “Which of us shall go up first to battle against the Benjaminites?” And the LORD answered, “Judah shall go up first.”

¹⁹Then the Israelites got up in the morning, and encamped against Gibeah.

²⁰The Israelites went out to battle against Benjamin; and the Israelites drew up the battle line against them at Gibeah.

²¹The Benjaminites came out of Gibeah, and struck down on that day twenty-two thousand of the Israelites.

²²The Israelites went up and wept before the LORD until the evening; and they inquired of the LORD, “Shall we again draw near to battle against our kinsfolk the Benjaminites?” And the LORD said, “Go up against them.” The Israelites took courage, and again formed the battle line in the same place where they had formed it on the first day.

²³

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

²⁵Benjamin moved out against them from Gibeah the second day, and struck down eighteen thousand of the Israelites, all of them armed men.

²⁶Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went back to Bethel and wept, sitting there before the LORD; they fasted that day until evening. Then they offered burnt offerings and sacrifices of well-being before the LORD.

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

²⁸and Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, ministered before it in those days), saying, “Shall we go out once more to battle against our kinsfolk the Benjaminites, or shall we desist?” The LORD answered, “Go up, for tomorrow I will give them into your hand.”

²⁹So Israel stationed men in ambush around Gibeah.

³⁰Then the Israelites went up against the Benjaminites on the third day, and set themselves in array against Gibeah, as before.

³¹When the Benjaminites went out against the army, they were drawn away from the city. As before they began to inflict casualties on the troops, along the main roads, one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah, as well as in the open country, killing about thirty men of Israel.

³²The Benjaminites thought, “They are being routed before us, as previously.” But the Israelites said, “Let us retreat and draw them away from the city toward the roads.”

³³The main body of the Israelites drew back its battle line to Baal-tamar, while those Israelites who were in ambush rushed out of their place west of Geba.

³⁴There came against Gibeah ten thousand picked men out of all Israel, and the battle was fierce. But the Benjaminites did not realize that disaster was close upon them.

³⁵The LORD defeated Benjamin before Israel; and the Israelites destroyed twenty-five thousand one hundred men of Benjamin that day, all of them armed.

³⁶Then the Benjaminites saw that they were defeated. The Israelites gave ground to Benjamin, because they trusted to the troops in ambush that they had stationed against Gibeah.

³⁷The troops in ambush rushed quickly upon Gibeah. Then they put the whole city to the sword.

³⁸Now the agreement between the main body of Israel and the men in ambush was that when they sent up a cloud of smoke out of the city

³⁹the main body of Israel should turn in battle. But Benjamin had begun to inflict casualties on the Israelites, killing about thirty of them; so they thought, “Surely they are defeated before us, as in the first battle.”

⁴⁰But when the cloud, a column of smoke, began to rise out of the city, the Benjaminites looked behind them — and there was the whole city going up in smoke toward the sky!

⁴¹Then the main body of Israel turned, and the Benjaminites were dismayed, for they saw that disaster was close upon them.

⁴²Therefore they turned away from the Israelites in the direction of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them, and those who came out of the city were slaughtering them in between.

⁴³Cutting down the Benjaminites, they pursued them from Nohah and trod them down as far as a place east of Gibeah.

⁴⁴Eighteen thousand Benjaminites fell, all of them courageous fighters.

⁴⁵When they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, five thousand of them were cut down on the main roads, and they were pursued as far as Gidom, and two thousand of them were slain.

⁴⁶So all who fell that day of Benjamin were twenty-five thousand arms-bearing men, all of them courageous fighters.

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

⁴⁸Meanwhile, the Israelites turned back against the Benjaminites, and put them to the sword — the city, the people, the animals, and all that remained. Also the remaining towns they set on fire.

¹Now the Israelites had sworn at Mizpah, “No one of us shall give his daughter in marriage to Benjamin.”

²And the people came to Bethel, and sat there until evening before God, and they lifted up their voices and wept bitterly.

³They said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, why has it come to pass that today there should be one tribe lacking in Israel?”

⁴On the next day, the people got up early, and built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and sacrifices of well-being.

⁵Then the Israelites said, “Which of all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the LORD?” For a solemn oath had been taken concerning whoever did not come up to the LORD to Mizpah, saying, “That one shall be put to death.”

⁶But the Israelites had compassion for Benjamin their kin, and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel this day.

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

⁸Then they said, “Is there anyone from the tribes of Israel who did not come up to the LORD to Mizpah?” It turned out that no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp, to the assembly.

⁹For when the roll was called among the people, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead was there.

¹⁰So the congregation sent twelve thousand soldiers there and commanded them, “Go, put the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead to the sword, including the women and the little ones.

¹¹This is what you shall do; every male and every woman that has lain with a male you shall devote to destruction.”

¹²And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins who had never slept with a man and brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

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

¹⁴Benjamin returned at that time; and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead; but they did not suffice for them.

¹⁵The people had compassion on Benjamin because the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.

¹⁶So the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since there are no women left in Benjamin?”

¹⁷And they said, “There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, in order that a tribe may not be blotted out from Israel.

¹⁸Yet we cannot give any of our daughters to them as wives.” For the Israelites had sworn, “Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to Benjamin.”

¹⁹So they said, “Look, the yearly festival of the LORD is taking place at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.”

²⁰And they instructed the Benjaminites, saying, “Go and lie in wait in the vineyards,

²¹and watch; when the young women of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards and each of you carry off a wife for himself from the young women of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.

²²Then if their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Be generous and allow us to have them; because we did not capture in battle a wife for each man. But neither did you incur guilt by giving your daughters to them.’”

²³The Benjaminites did so; they took wives for each of them from the dancers whom they abducted. Then they went and returned to their territory, and rebuilt the towns, and lived in them.

²⁴So the Israelites departed from there at that time by tribes and families, and they went out from there to their own territories.

²⁵In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.

¹In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and 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; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there.

³But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons.

⁴These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years,

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

⁶Then she started to return with her daughters-in-law from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the LORD had considered his people and given them food.

⁷So she set out from the place where she had been living, she and her two daughters-in-law, and they went on their way to go back to the land of Judah.

⁸But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back 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.

⁹The LORD grant that you may find security, each of you in the house of your husband.” Then she kissed them, and they wept aloud.

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

¹¹But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters, why will you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb that they may become your husbands?

¹²Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me, even if I should have a husband tonight and bear sons,

¹³would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, it has been far more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the LORD has turned against me.”

¹⁴Then they wept aloud again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

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

¹⁶But Ruth said, “Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.

¹⁷Where you die, I will die — there will I be buried. May the LORD do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!”

¹⁸When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.

¹⁹So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them; and the women said, “Is this Naomi?”

²⁰She said to them, “Call me no longer Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me.

²¹I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty; why call me Naomi when the LORD has dealt harshly with me, and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?”

²²So Naomi returned together with Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, who came back with her from the country of Moab. They came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

¹Now Naomi had a kinsman on her husband’s side, a prominent rich man, of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.

²And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain, behind someone in whose sight I may find favor.” She said to her, “Go, my daughter.”

³So she went. She came and gleaned in the field behind the reapers. As it happened, she came to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.

⁴Just then Boaz came from Bethlehem. He said to the reapers, “The LORD be with you.” They answered, “The LORD bless you.”

⁵Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, “To whom does this young woman belong?”

⁶The servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the Moabite who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab.

⁷She said, ‘Please, let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the reapers.’ So she came, and she has been on her feet from early this morning until now, without resting even for a moment.”

⁸Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women.

⁹Keep your eyes on the field that is being reaped, and follow behind them. I have ordered the young men not to bother you. If you get thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.”

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

¹¹But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before.

¹²May the LORD reward you for your deeds, and may you have a full reward from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge!”

¹³Then she said, “May I continue to find favor in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, even though I am not one of your servants.”

¹⁴At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here, and eat some of this bread, and dip your morsel in the sour wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he heaped up for her some parched grain. She ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over.

¹⁵When she got up to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, “Let her glean even among the standing sheaves, and do not reproach her.

¹⁶You must also pull out some handfuls for her from the bundles, and leave them for her to 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.

¹⁸She picked it up and came into the town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gleaned. Then she took out and gave her what was left over after she herself had been satisfied.

¹⁹Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” 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.”

²⁰Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a relative of ours, one of our nearest kin.”

²¹Then Ruth the Moabite said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay close by my servants, until they have finished all my harvest.’”

²²Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is better, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, otherwise you might be bothered in another field.”

²³So she stayed close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests; and she lived with her mother-in-law.

¹Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, I need to seek some security for you, so that it may be well with you.

²Now here is our kinsman Boaz, with whose young women you have been working. See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor.

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

⁴When he lies down, observe the place where he lies; then, go and uncover his feet and lie down; and he will tell you what to do.”

⁵She said to her, “All that you tell me I will do.”

⁶So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had instructed her.

⁷When Boaz had eaten and drunk, and he was in a contented mood, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came stealthily and uncovered his feet, and lay down.

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

⁹He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant; spread your cloak over your servant, for you are next-of-kin.”

¹⁰He said, “May you be blessed by the LORD, my daughter; this last instance of your loyalty is better than the first; you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich.

¹¹And now, my daughter, do not be afraid, I will do for you all that you ask, for all the assembly of my people know that you are a worthy woman.

¹²But now, though it is true that I am a near kinsman, there is another kinsman more closely related than I.

¹³Remain this night, and in the morning, if he will act as next-of-kin for you, good; let him do it. If he is not willing to act as next-of-kin for you, then, as the LORD lives, I will act as next-of-kin for you. Lie down until the morning.”

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

¹⁵Then he said, “Bring the cloak you are wearing and hold it out.” So she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley, and put it on her back; then he went into the city.

¹⁶She came to her mother-in-law, who said, “How did things go with you, my daughter?” Then she told her all that the man had done for her,

¹⁷saying, “He gave me these six measures of barley, for he said, ‘Do not go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’”

¹⁸She replied, “Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today.”

¹No sooner had Boaz gone up to the gate and sat down there than the next-of-kin, of whom Boaz had spoken, came passing by. So Boaz said, “Come over, friend; sit down here.” And he went over and sat down.

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

³He then said to the next-of-kin, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our kinsman Elimelech.

⁴So I thought I would tell you of it, and say: Buy it in the presence of those sitting here, and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not, tell me, so that I may know; for there is no one prior to you to redeem it, and I come after you.” So he said, “I will redeem it.”

⁵Then Boaz said, “The day you acquire the field from the hand of Naomi, you are also acquiring Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead man, to maintain the dead man’s name on his inheritance.”

⁶At this, the next-of-kin said, “I cannot redeem it for myself without damaging my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”

⁷Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one took off a sandal and gave it to the other; this was the manner of attesting in Israel.

⁸So when the next-of-kin said to Boaz, “Acquire it for yourself,” he took off his sandal.

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

¹⁰I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, to be my wife, to maintain the dead man’s name on his inheritance, in order that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his kindred and from the gate of his native place; today you are witnesses.”

¹¹Then all the people who were at the gate, along with the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you produce children in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem;

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

¹³So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, the LORD made her conceive, and she bore a son.

¹⁴Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin; and may his name be renowned in Israel!

¹⁵He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him.”

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

¹⁷The women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed; he became the father of Jesse, the father of David.

¹⁸Now these are the descendants of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron,

¹⁹Hezron of Ram, Ram of Amminadab,

²⁰Amminadab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon,

²¹Salmon of Boaz, Boaz of Obed,

²²Obed of Jesse, and Jesse of David.

¹There was a certain man of Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham son of Elihu son of Tohu son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.

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

³Now this man used to go up year by year from his town to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the LORD.

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

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

⁶Her rival used to provoke her severely, to irritate her, because the LORD had closed her womb.

⁷So it went on year by year; as often as she went up to the house of the LORD, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat.

⁸Her husband Elkanah said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?”

⁹After they had eaten and drunk at Shiloh, Hannah rose and presented herself before the LORD. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the LORD.

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

¹¹She made this vow: “O LORD of hosts, if only you will look on the misery of your servant, and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a male child, then I will set him before you as a nazirite until the day of his death. He shall drink neither wine nor intoxicants, and no razor shall touch his head.”

¹²As she continued praying before the LORD, Eli observed her mouth.

¹³Hannah was praying silently; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard; therefore Eli thought she was drunk.

¹⁴So Eli said to her, “How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Put away your wine.”

¹⁵But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman deeply troubled; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD.

¹⁶Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation all this time.”

¹⁷Then Eli answered, “Go in peace; the God of Israel grant the petition you have made to him.”

¹⁸And she said, “Let your servant find favor in your sight.” Then the woman went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband, and her countenance was sad no longer.

¹⁹They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD; then they went back to their house at Ramah. Elkanah knew his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her.

²⁰In due time Hannah conceived and bore a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, “I have asked him of the LORD.”

²¹The man Elkanah and all his household went up 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, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, that he may appear in the presence of the LORD, and remain there forever; I will offer him as a nazirite for all time.”

²³Her husband Elkanah said to her, “Do what seems best to you, wait until you have weaned him; only — may the LORD establish his word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son, until she weaned him.

²⁴When she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. She brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh; and the child was young.

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

²⁶And she said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the LORD.

²⁷For this child I prayed; and the LORD has granted me the petition that I made to him.

²⁸Therefore I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he lives, he is given to the LORD.” She left him there for the LORD.

¹Hannah prayed and said, “My heart exults in the LORD; my strength is exalted in my God. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in my victory.

²“There is no Holy One like the LORD, no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.

³Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.

⁴The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble gird on strength.

⁵Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry are fat with spoil. The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn.

⁶The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up.

⁷The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low, he also exalts.

⁸He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and on them he has set the world.

⁹“He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness; for not by might does one prevail.

¹⁰The LORD! His adversaries shall be shattered; the Most High will thunder in heaven. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king, and exalt the power of his anointed.”

¹¹Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, while the boy remained to minister to the LORD, in the presence of the priest Eli.

¹²Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels; they had no regard for the LORD

¹³or for the duties of the priests to the people. When anyone offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand,

¹⁴and he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.

¹⁵Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the one who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast; for he will not accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.”

¹⁶And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take whatever you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now; if not, I will take it by force.”

¹⁷Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the LORD; for they treated the offerings of the LORD with contempt.

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

¹⁹His mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year, when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.

²⁰Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “May the LORD repay you with children by this woman for the gift that she made to the LORD”; and then they would return to their home.

²¹And the LORD took note of Hannah; she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.

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

²³He said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all these people.

²⁴No, my sons; it is not a good report that I hear the people of the LORD spreading abroad.

²⁵If one person sins against another, someone can intercede for the sinner with the LORD; but if someone sins against the LORD, who can make intercession?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father; for it was the will of the LORD to kill them.

²⁶Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the LORD and with the people.

²⁷A man of God came to Eli and said to him, “Thus the LORD has said, ‘I revealed myself to the family of your ancestor in Egypt when they were slaves to the house of Pharaoh.

²⁸I chose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to offer incense, to wear an ephod before me; and I gave to the family of your ancestor all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel.

²⁹Why then look with greedy eye at my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded, and honor your sons more than me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?’

³⁰Therefore the LORD the God of Israel declares: ‘I promised that your family and the family of your ancestor should go in and out 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 shall be treated with contempt.

³¹See, a time is coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your ancestor’s family, so that no one in your family will live to old age.

³²Then in distress you will look with greedy eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed upon Israel; and no one in your family shall ever live to old age.

³³The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep out his eyes and grieve his heart; all the members of your household shall die by the sword.

³⁴The fate of your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you — both of them shall die on the same day.

³⁵I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed one forever.

³⁶Everyone who is left in your family shall come to implore him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread, and shall say, Please put me in one of the priest’s places, that I may eat a morsel of bread.’”