Judges11-20
Judges 1-10 New Testament Old Testament Judges 21
Judges 11
1 ¶Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of
an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.
2 And Gilead's wife bare him sons; and his wife's sons grew up, and they thrust
out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house;
for thou art the son of a strange woman.
3 Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there
were gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him.
4 ¶And it came to pass in process of time, that the children of Ammon made war
against Israel.
5 And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the
elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob:
6 And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may fight with
the children of Ammon.
7 And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me, and expel me
out of my father's house? and why are ye come unto me now when ye are in
distress?
8 And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to thee
now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and
be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
9 And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to
fight against the children of Ammon, and the LORD deliver them before me, shall
I be your head?
10 And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, The LORD be witness between us,
if we do not so according to thy words.
11 Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head
and captain over them: and Jephthah uttered all his words before the LORD in
Mizpeh.
12 ¶And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying,
What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against me to fight in my land?
13 And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of
Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from
Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again
peaceably.
14 And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon:
15 And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of
Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon:
16 But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto
the Red sea, and came to Kadesh;
17 Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray
thee, pass through thy land: but the king of Edom would not hearken thereto. And
in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab: but he would not consent: and
Israel abode in Kadesh.
18 Then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom,
and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched
on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon
was the border of Moab.
19 And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of
Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land
into my place.
20 But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast: but Sihon gathered
all his people together, and pitched in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.
21 And the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand
of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the
Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.
22 And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto
Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan.
23 So now the LORD God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his
people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it?
24 Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So
whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we
possess.
25 And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab?
did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them,
26 While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and
in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred years? why
therefore did ye not recover them within that time?
27 Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war
against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel
and the children of Ammon.
28 Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of
Jephthah which he sent him.
29 ¶Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead,
and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he
passed over unto the children of Ammon.
30 And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail
deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,
31 Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to
meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the
LORD'S, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.
32 So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and
the LORD delivered them into his hands.
33 And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty
cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus
the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.
34 And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came
out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child;
beside her he had neither son nor daughter.
35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said,
Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that
trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back.
36 And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the
LORD, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth;
forasmuch as the LORD hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of
the children of Ammon.
37 And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two
months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I
and my fellows.
38 And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her
companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains.
39 And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her
father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew
no man. And it was a custom in Israel,
40 That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah
the Gileadite four days in a year.
Judges 12
1 ¶And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and
said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children
of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thine house upon
thee with fire.
2 And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the
children of Ammon; and when I called you, ye delivered me not out of their
hands.
3 And when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands, and passed
over against the children of Ammon, and the LORD delivered them into my hand:
wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day, to fight against me?
4 Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with
Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye Gileadites
are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites.
5 And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it
was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over;
that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay;
6 Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he
could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the
passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two
thousand.
7 And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and
was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.
8 ¶And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.
9 And he had thirty sons, and thirty daughters, whom he sent abroad, and took in
thirty daughters from abroad for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years.
10 Then died Ibzan, and was buried at Bethlehem.
11 And after him Elon, a Zebulonite, judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten
years.
12 And Elon the Zebulonite died, and was buried in Aijalon in the country of
Zebulun.
13 And after him Abdon the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite, judged Israel.
14 And he had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on threescore and ten ass
colts: and he judged Israel eight years.
15 And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon
in the land of Ephraim, in the mount of the Amalekites.
Judges 13
1 ¶And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the
LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.
2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name
was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.
3 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold
now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.
4 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and
eat not any unclean thing:
5 For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his
head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall
begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me,
and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible:
but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name:
7 But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now
drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child
shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.
8 ¶Then Manoah intreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which
thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child
that shall be born.
9 And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto
the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her.
10 And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said unto him,
Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day.
11 And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto
him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am.
12 And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the
child, and how shall we do unto him?
13 And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman
let her beware.
14 She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink
wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let
her observe.
15 ¶And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee,
until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.
16 And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not
eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it
unto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD.
17 And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy
sayings come to pass we may do thee honour?
18 And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name,
seeing it is secret?
19 So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto
the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on.
20 For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar,
that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and
his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground.
21 But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then
Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD.
22 And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.
23 But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not
have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would
he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such
things as these.
24 ¶And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew,
and the LORD blessed him.
25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan
between Zorah and Eshtaol.
Judges 14
1 ¶And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters
of the Philistines.
2 And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a
woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for
me to wife.
3 Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the
daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a
wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her
for me; for she pleaseth me well.
4 But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought
an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had
dominion over Israel.
5 Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to
the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him.
6 And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would
have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or
his mother what he had done.
7 And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.
8 And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the
carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the
carcase of the lion.
9 And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father
and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had
taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion.
10 ¶So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for
so used the young men to do.
11 And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions
to be with him.
12 And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can
certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out,
then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments:
13 But if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and
thirty change of garments. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we
may hear it.
14 And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the
strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the
riddle.
15 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson's wife,
Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee
and thy father's house with fire: have ye called us to take that we have? is it
not so?
16 And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and
lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and
hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father
nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee?
17 And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came
to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him: and
she told the riddle to the children of her people.
18 And the men of the city said unto 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
unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.
19 And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and
slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto
them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to
his father's house.
20 But Samson's wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.
Judges 15
1 ¶But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that
Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into
the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in.
2 And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her;
therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than
she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her.
3 And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the
Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.
4 And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and
turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails.
5 And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn
of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn,
with the vineyards and olives.
6 Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the
son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his
companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.
7 And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of
you, and after that I will cease.
8 And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and
dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.
9 ¶Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in
Lehi.
10 And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered,
To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.
11 Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said
to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is
this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so
have I done unto them.
12 And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver
thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me,
that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.
13 And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver
thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with
two new cords, and brought him up from the rock.
14 And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the
Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms
became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his
hands.
15 And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it,
and slew a thousand men therewith.
16 And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw
of an ass have I slain a thousand men.
17 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away
the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi.
18 ¶And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given
this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for
thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?
19 But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water
thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived:
wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.
20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
Judges 16
1 ¶Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.
2 And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed
him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet
all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.
3 And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the
gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and
put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is
before Hebron.
4 ¶And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek,
whose name was Delilah.
5 And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice
him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail
against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every
one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.
6 And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength
lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.
7 And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were
never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.
8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which
had not been dried, and she bound him with them.
9 Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she
said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as
a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not
known.
10 And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies:
now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound.
11 And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were
occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.
12 Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him,
The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in
the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread.
13 And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies:
tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest
the seven locks of my head with the web.
14 And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon
thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the
beam, and with the web.
15 And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is
not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein
thy great strength lieth.
16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged
him, so that his soul was vexed unto death;
17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a
razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb:
if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and
be like any other man.
18 ¶And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called
for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed
me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and
brought money in their hand.
19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she
caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict
him, and his strength went from him.
20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his
sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And
he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.
21 But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to
Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.
22 ¶Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.
23 Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great
sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath
delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god
hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which
slew many of us.
25 And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for
Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison
house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars.
26 And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may
feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them.
27 Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines
were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women,
that beheld while Samson made sport.
28 And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray
thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at
once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood,
and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other
with his left.
30 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with
all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that
were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which
he slew in his life.
31 Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him,
and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace
of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.
Judges 17
1 ¶And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah.
2 And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were
taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears,
behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thou
of the LORD, my son.
3 And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother,
his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the LORD from my hand
for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will
restore it unto thee.
4 Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred
shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image
and a molten image: and they were in the house of Micah.
5 And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and
consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was
right in his own eyes.
7 ¶And there was a young man out of Bethlehemjudah of the family of Judah, who
was a Levite, and he sojourned there.
8 And the man departed out of the city from Bethlehemjudah to sojourn where he
could find a place: and he came to mount Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he
journeyed.
9 And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto him, I am a
Levite of Bethlehemjudah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place.
10 And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest,
and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel,
and thy victuals. So the Levite went in.
11 And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was unto
him as one of his sons.
12 And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man became his priest, and
was in the house of Micah.
13 Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a
Levite to my priest.
Judges 18
1 ¶In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the
Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their
inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel.
2 And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men
of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it;
and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount
Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there.
3 When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the
Levite: and they turned in thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither?
and what makest thou in this place? and what hast thou here?
4 And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath hired me,
and I am his priest.
5 And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know
whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.
6 And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before the LORD is your way
wherein ye go.
7 ¶Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were
therein, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and
secure; and there was no magistrate in the land, that might put them to shame in
any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any
man.
8 And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren
said unto them, What say ye?
9 And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the
land, and, behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go, and
to enter to possess the land.
10 When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and to a large land: for God
hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of any thing that
is in the earth.
11 And there went from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out
of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with weapons of war.
12 And they went up, and pitched in Kirjathjearim, in Judah: wherefore they
called that place Mahanehdan unto this day: behold, it is behind Kirjathjearim.
13 And they passed thence unto mount Ephraim, and came unto the house of Micah.
14 ¶Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and
said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and
teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye
have to do.
15 And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of the young man the
Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and saluted him.
16 And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, which were of
the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate.
17 And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither,
and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten
image: and the priest stood in the entering of the gate with the six hundred men
that were appointed with weapons of war.
18 And these went into Micah's house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod,
and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them, What do
ye?
19 And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go
with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be a
priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a
family in Israel?
20 And the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and
the graven image, and went in the midst of the people.
21 So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the
carriage before them.
22 And when they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men that were in
the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together, and overtook the
children of Dan.
23 And they cried unto the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and
said unto Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company?
24 And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye
are gone away: and what have I more? and what is this that ye say unto me, What
aileth thee?
25 And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us,
lest angry fellows run upon thee, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy
household.
26 And the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that they were too
strong for him, he turned and went back unto his house.
27 ¶And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had,
and came unto Laish, unto a people that were at quiet and secure: and they smote
them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire.
28 And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Zidon, and they had no
business with any man; and it was in the valley that lieth by Bethrehob. And
they built a city, and dwelt therein.
29 And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father,
who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first.
30 And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of
Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan
until the day of the captivity of the land.
31 And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made, all the time that
the house of God was in Shiloh.
Judges 19
1 ¶And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that
there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to
him a concubine out of Bethlehemjudah.
2 And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto
her father's house to Bethlehemjudah, and was there four whole months.
3 And her husband arose, and went after her, to speak friendly unto her, and to
bring her again, having his servant with him, and a couple of asses: and she
brought him into her father's house: and when the father of the damsel saw him,
he rejoiced to meet him.
4 And his father in law, the damsel's father, retained him; and he abode with
him three days: so they did eat and drink, and lodged there.
5 And it came to pass on the fourth day, when they arose early in the morning,
that he rose up to depart: and the damsel's father said unto his son in law,
Comfort thine heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way.
6 And they sat down, and did eat and drink both of them together: for the
damsel's father had said unto the man, Be content, I pray thee, and tarry all
night, and let thine heart be merry.
7 And when the man rose up to depart, his father in law urged him: therefore he
lodged there again.
8 And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart: and the damsel's
father said, Comfort thine heart, I pray thee. And they tarried until afternoon,
and they did eat both of them.
9 And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant,
his father in law, the damsel's father, said unto him, Behold, now the day
draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day groweth to
an end, lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and to morrow get you early
on your way, that thou mayest go home.
10 But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed, and came
over against Jebus, which is Jerusalem; and there were with him two asses
saddled, his concubine also was with him.
11 And when they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said unto
his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn in into this city of the
Jebusites, and lodge in it.
12 And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside hither into the city of
a stranger, that is not of the children of Israel; we will pass over to Gibeah.
13 And he said unto his servant, Come, and let us draw near to one of these
places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah.
14 And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when
they were by Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin.
15 And they turned aside thither, to go in and to lodge in Gibeah: and when he
went in, he sat him down in a street of the city: for there was no man that took
them into his house to lodging.
16 ¶And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at even,
which was also of mount Ephraim; and he sojourned in Gibeah: but the men of the
place were Benjamites.
17 And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a wayfaring man in the street of
the city: and the old man said, Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou?
18 And he said unto him, We are passing from Bethlehemjudah toward the side of
mount Ephraim; from thence am I: and I went to Bethlehemjudah, but I am now
going to the house of the LORD; and there is no man that receiveth me to house.
19 Yet there is both straw and provender for our asses; and there is bread and
wine also for me, and for thy handmaid, and for the young man which is with thy
servants: there is no want of any thing.
20 And the old man said, Peace be with thee; howsoever let all thy wants lie
upon me; only lodge not in the street.
21 So he brought him into his house, and gave provender unto the asses: and they
washed their feet, and did eat and drink.
22 ¶Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city,
certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and
spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that
came into thine house, that we may know him.
23 And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them, and said unto them,
Nay, my brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly; seeing that this man is
come into mine house, do not this folly.
24 Behold, here is my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring
out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but
unto this man do not so vile a thing.
25 But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his concubine, and
brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night
until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go.
26 Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of
the man's house where her lord was, till it was light.
27 And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and
went out to go his way: and, behold, the woman his concubine was fallen down at
the door of the house, and her hands were upon the threshold.
28 And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But none answered. Then the
man took her up upon an ass, and the man rose up, and gat him unto his place.
29 And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his
concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve pieces, and
sent her into all the coasts of Israel.
30 And it was so, that all that saw it said, There was no such deed done nor
seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt
unto this day: consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds.
Judges 20
1 ¶Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered
together as one man, from Dan even to Beersheba, with the land of Gilead, unto
the LORD in Mizpeh.
2 And the chief of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented
themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen
that drew sword.
3 (Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up
to Mizpeh.) Then said the children of Israel, Tell us, how was this wickedness?
4 And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said, I
came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge.
5 And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round about upon me
by night, and thought to have slain me: and my concubine have they forced, that
she is dead.
6 And I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all
the country of the inheritance of Israel: for they have committed lewdness and
folly in Israel.
7 Behold, ye are all children of Israel; give here your advice and counsel.
8 And all the people arose as one man, saying, We will not any of us go to his
tent, neither will we any of us turn into his house.
9 But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up by
lot against it;
10 And we will take ten men of an hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel,
and an hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to fetch
victual for the people, that they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin,
according to all the folly that they have wrought in Israel.
11 So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one
man.
12 ¶And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying,
What wickedness is this that is done among you?
13 Now therefore deliver us the men, the children of Belial, which are in
Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel. But the
children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the
children of Israel:
14 But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities
unto Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel.
15 And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities
twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, beside the inhabitants of Gibeah,
which were numbered seven hundred chosen men.
16 Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every
one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss.
17 And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand
men that drew sword: all these were men of war.
18 ¶And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked
counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against
the children of Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up first.
19 And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped against
Gibeah.
20 And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin; and the men of
Israel put themselves in array to fight against them at Gibeah.
21 And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to
the ground of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand men.
22 And the people the men of Israel encouraged themselves, and set their battle
again in array in the place where they put themselves in array the first day.
23 (And the children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until even, and
asked counsel of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up again to battle against the
children of Benjamin my brother? And the LORD said, Go up against him.)
24 And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the
second day.
25 And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and
destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand
men; all these drew the sword.
26 ¶Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto
the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day
until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
27 And the children of Israel enquired of the LORD, (for the ark of the covenant
of God was there in those days,
28 And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those
days,) saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of
Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And the LORD said, Go up; for to morrow I
will deliver them into thine hand.
29 And Israel set liers in wait round about Gibeah.
30 And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the
third day, and put themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times.
31 And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away
from the city; and they began to smite of the people, and kill, as at other
times, in the highways, of which one goeth up to the house of God, and the other
to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel.
32 And the children of Benjamin said, They are smitten down before us, as at the
first. But the children of Israel said, Let us flee, and draw them from the city
unto the highways.
33 And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place, and put themselves in
array at Baaltamar: and the liers in wait of Israel came forth out of their
places, even out of the meadows of Gibeah.
34 And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and
the battle was sore: but they knew not that evil was near them.
35 And the LORD smote Benjamin before Israel: and the children of Israel
destroyed of the Benjamites that day twenty and five thousand and an hundred
men: all these drew the sword.
36 So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten: for the men of Israel
gave place to the Benjamites, because they trusted unto the liers in wait which
they had set beside Gibeah.
37 And the liers in wait hasted, and rushed upon Gibeah; and the liers in wait
drew themselves along, and smote all the city with the edge of the sword.
38 Now there was an appointed sign between the men of Israel and the liers in
wait, that they should make a great flame with smoke rise up out of the city.
39 And when the men of Israel retired in the battle, Benjamin began to smite and
kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons: for they said, Surely they are
smitten down before us, as in the first battle.
40 But when the flame began to arise up out of the city with a pillar of smoke,
the Benjamites looked behind them, and, behold, the flame of the city ascended
up to heaven.
41 And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of Benjamin were amazed: for
they saw that evil was come upon them.
42 Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel unto the way of
the wilderness; but the battle overtook them; and them which came out of the
cities they destroyed in the midst of them.
43 Thus they inclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and trode
them down with ease over against Gibeah toward the sunrising.
44 And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these were men of
valour.
45 And they turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon: and
they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men; and pursued hard after
them unto Gidom, and slew two thousand men of them.
46 So that all which fell that day of Benjamin were twenty and five thousand men
that drew the sword; all these were men of valour.
47 But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon,
and abode in the rock Rimmon four months.
48 And the men of Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin, and smote
them with the edge of the sword, as well the men of every city, as the beast,
and all that came to hand: also they set on fire all the cities that they came
to.