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Judges 21

  • 21:1 Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter to Benjamin to wife.
  • 21:2 And the people came to the house of God, and stayed there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore;
  • 21:3 And said, O LORD God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel?
  • 21:4 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
  • 21:5 And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation to the LORD? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to the LORD to Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely be put to death.
  • 21:6 And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day.
  • 21:7 How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?
  • 21:8 And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the LORD? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabeshgilead to the assembly.
  • 21:9 For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead there.
  • 21:10 And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the most valiant, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children.
  • 21:11 And this is the thing that you shall do, You shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that has lain by man.
  • 21:12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead four hundred young virgins, that had known no man by lying with any male: and they brought them to the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.
  • 21:13 And the whole congregation sent some to speak to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably to them.
  • 21:14 And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them wives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabeshgilead: and yet so they sufficed them not.
  • 21:15 And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
  • 21:16 Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?
  • 21:17 And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.
  • 21:18 However, we may not give them wives of our daughters: for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed be he that gives a wife to Benjamin.
  • 21:19 Then they said, Behold, there is a feast of the LORD in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.
  • 21:20 Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards;
  • 21:21 And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come you out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
  • 21:22 And it shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to us to complain, that we will say to them, Be favorable to them for our sakes: because we reserved not to each man his wife in the war: for you did not give to them at this time, that you should be guilty.
  • 21:23 And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught: and they went and returned to their inheritance, and repaired the cities, and dwelled in them.
  • 21:24 And the children of Israel departed there at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from there every man to his inheritance.
  • 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

Judges 20

  • 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, to the LORD in Mizpeh.
  • 20:2 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.
  • 20:3 (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?
  • 20:4 And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said, I came into Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge.
  • 20:5 And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round about on me by night, and thought to have slain me: and my concubine have they forced, that she is dead.
  • 20:6 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.
  • 20:7 Behold, you are all children of Israel; give here your advice and counsel.
  • 20:8 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.
  • 20:9 But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up by lot against it;
  • 20:10 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 worked in Israel.
  • 20:11 So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one man.
  • 20:12 And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that is done among you?
  • 20:13 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 listen to the voice of their brothers the children of Israel.
  • 20:14 But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities to Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel.
  • 20:15 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.
  • 20:16 Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men left handed; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss.
  • 20:17 And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: all these were men of war.
  • 20:18 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.
  • 20:19 And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped against Gibeah.
  • 20:20 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.
  • 20:21 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.
  • 20:22 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.
  • 20:23 (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.)
  • 20:24 And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day.
  • 20:25 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.
  • 20:26 Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came to 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.
  • 20:27 And the children of Israel inquired of the LORD, (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,
  • 20:28 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 your hand.
  • 20:29 And Israel set liers in wait round about Gibeah.
  • 20:30 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.
  • 20:31 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 goes up to the house of God, and the other to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel.
  • 20:32 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 to the highways.
  • 20:33 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.
  • 20:34 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.
  • 20:35 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.
  • 20:36 So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten: for the men of Israel gave place to the Benjamites, because they trusted to the liers in wait which they had set beside Gibeah.
  • 20:37 And the liers in wait hurried, and rushed on Gibeah; and the liers in wait drew themselves along, and smote all the city with the edge of the sword.
  • 20:38 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.
  • 20:39 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.
  • 20:40 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.
  • 20:41 And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of Benjamin were amazed: for they saw that evil was come on them.
  • 20:42 Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel to the way of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them; and them which came out of the cities they destroyed in the middle of them.
  • 20:43 Thus they enclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and stepped them down with ease over against Gibeah toward the sun rise.
  • 20:44 And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these were men of valor.
  • 20:45 And they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon: and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men; and pursued hard after them to Gidom, and slew two thousand men of them.
  • 20:46 So that all which fell that day of Benjamin were twenty and five thousand men that drew the sword; all these were men of valor.
  • 20:47 But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness to the rock Rimmon, and stayed in the rock Rimmon four months.
  • 20:48 And the men of Israel turned again on 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.

Judges 19

  • 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.
  • 19:2 And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him to her father’s house to Bethlehemjudah, and was there four whole months.
  • 19:3 And her husband arose, and went after her, to speak friendly to 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.
  • 19:4 And his father in law, the damsel’s father, retained him; and he stayed with him three days: so they did eat and drink, and lodged there.
  • 19:5 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 to his son in law, Comfort your heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way.
  • 19:6 And they sat down, and did eat and drink both of them together: for the damsel’s father had said to the man, Be content, I pray you, and tarry all night, and let your heart be merry.
  • 19:7 And when the man rose up to depart, his father in law urged him: therefore he lodged there again.
  • 19:8 And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart; and the damsel’s father said, Comfort your heart, I pray you. And they tarried until afternoon, and they did eat both of them.
  • 19:9 And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father in law, the damsel’s father, said to him, Behold, now the day draws toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day grows to an end, lodge here, that your heart may be merry; and to morrow get you early on your way, that you may go home.
  • 19:10 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.
  • 19:11 And when they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said to his master, Come, I pray you, and let us turn in into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it.
  • 19:12 And his master said to him, We will not turn aside here into the city of a stranger, that is not of the children of Israel; we will pass over to Gibeah.
  • 19:13 And he said to his servant, Come, and let us draw near to one of these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah.
  • 19:14 And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down on them when they were by Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin.
  • 19:15 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.
  • 19:16 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.
  • 19:17 And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a wayfaring man in the street of the city: and the old man said, Where go you? and from where come you?
  • 19:18 And he said to him, We are passing from Bethlehemjudah toward the side of mount Ephraim; from there am I: and I went to Bethlehemjudah, but I am now going to the house of the LORD; and there is no man that receives me to house.
  • 19:19 Yet there is both straw and provender for our asses; and there is bread and wine also for me, and for your handmaid, and for the young man which is with your servants: there is no want of any thing.
  • 19:20 And the old man said, Peace be with you; howsoever let all your wants lie on me; only lodge not in the street.
  • 19:21 So he brought him into his house, and gave provender to the asses: and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink.
  • 19:22 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 spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into your house, that we may know him.
  • 19:23 And the man, the master of the house, went out to them, and said to them, No, my brothers, no, I pray you, do not so wickedly; seeing that this man is come into my house, do not this folly.
  • 19:24 Behold, here is my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble you them, and do with them what seems good to you: but to this man do not so vile a thing.
  • 19:25 But the men would not listen to him: so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth to 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.
  • 19:26 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.
  • 19:27 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 on the threshold.
  • 19:28 And he said to her, Up, and let us be going. But none answered.  Then the man took her up on an ass, and the man rose up, and got him to his place.
  • 19:29 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.
  • 19:30 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 to this day: consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds.

Judges 18

  • 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 to that day all their inheritance had not fallen to them among the tribes of Israel.
  • 18:2 And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valor, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said to them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there.
  • 18:3 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 to him, Who brought you here? and what make you in this place? and what have you here?
  • 18:4 And he said to them, Thus and thus deals Micah with me, and has hired me, and I am his priest.
  • 18:5 And they said to him, Ask counsel, we pray you, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.
  • 18:6 And the priest said to them, Go in peace: before the LORD is your way wherein you go.
  • 18:7 Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelled 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.
  • 18:8 And they came to their brothers to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brothers said to them, What say you?
  • 18:9 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 you still? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land.
  • 18:10 When you go, you shall come to a people secure, and to a large land: for God has given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth.
  • 18:11 And there went from there of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with weapons of war.
  • 18:12 And they went up, and pitched in Kirjathjearim, in Judah: why they called that place Mahanehdan to this day: behold, it is behind Kirjathjearim.
  • 18:13 And they passed there to mount Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.
  • 18:14 Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said to their brothers, Do you know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what you have to do.
  • 18:15 And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even to the house of Micah, and saluted him.
  • 18:16 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.
  • 18:17 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.
  • 18:18 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 to them, What do you?
  • 18:19 And they said to him, Hold your peace, lay your hand on your mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for you to be a priest to the house of one man, or that you be a priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?
  • 18:20 And the priest’s heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the middle of the people.
  • 18:21 So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the carriage before them.
  • 18:22 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.
  • 18:23 And they cried to the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said to Micah, What ails you, that you come with such a company?
  • 18:24 And he said, You have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and you are gone away: and what have I more? and what is this that you say to me, What ails you?
  • 18:25 And the children of Dan said to him, Let not your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows run on you, and you lose your life, with the lives of your household.
  • 18:26 And the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house.
  • 18:27 And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came to Laish, to a people that were at quiet and secure: and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire.
  • 18:28 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 lies by Bethrehob. And they built a city, and dwelled therein.
  • 18:29 And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel: however, the name of the city was Laish at the first.
  • 18:30 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.
  • 18:31 And they set them up Micah’s graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

Judges 17

  • 17:1 And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah.
  • 17:2 And he said to his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you, about which you cursed, and spoke of also in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be you of the LORD, my son.
  • 17:3 And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver to the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it to you.
  • 17:4 Yet he restored the money to 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.
  • 17:5 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.
  • 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
  • 17:7 And there was a young man out of Bethlehemjudah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.
  • 17:8 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.
  • 17:9 And Micah said to him, From where come you? And he said to him, I am a Levite of Bethlehemjudah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place.
  • 17:10 And Micah said to him, Dwell with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and your victuals. So the Levite went in.
  • 17:11 And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was to him as one of his sons.
  • 17:12 And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.
  • 17:13 Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.

Judges 16

  • 16:1 Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in to her.
  • 16:2 And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come here. 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.
  • 16:3 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 on his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron.
  • 16:4 And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
  • 16:5 And the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lies, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and we will give you every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.
  • 16:6 And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray you, wherein your great strength lies, and with which you might be bound to afflict you.
  • 16:7 And Samson said to her, If they bind me with seven green thongs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.
  • 16:8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green thongs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.
  • 16:9 Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber.  And she said to him, The Philistines be on you, Samson. And he broke the thongs, as a thread of wick is broken when it touches the fire. So his strength was not known.
  • 16:10 And Delilah said to Samson, Behold, you have mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray you, with which you might be bound.
  • 16:11 And he said to her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.
  • 16:12 Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said to him, The Philistines be on you, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he broke them from off his arms like a thread.
  • 16:13 And Delilah said to Samson, Till now you have mocked me, and told me lies: tell me with which you might be bound. And he said to her, If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web.
  • 16:14 And she fastened it with the pin, and said to him, The Philistines be on you, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.
  • 16:15 And she said to him, How can you say, I love you, when your heart is not with me? you have mocked me these three times, and have not told me wherein your great strength lies.
  • 16:16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed to death;
  • 16:17 That he told her all his heart, and said to her, There has not come a razor on my head; for I have been a Nazarite to 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.
  • 16:18 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 has showed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought money in their hand.
  • 16:19 And she made him sleep on 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.
  • 16:20 And she said, The Philistines be on you, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he knew not that the LORD was departed from him.
  • 16:21 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.
  • 16:22 However, the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.
  • 16:23 Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
  • 16:24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us.
  • 16:25 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.
  • 16:26 And Samson said to the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house stands, that I may lean on them.
  • 16:27 Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were on the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.
  • 16:28 And Samson called to the LORD, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray you, and strengthen me, I pray you, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
  • 16:29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars on 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.
  • 16:30 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell on the lords, and on 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.
  • 16:31 Then his brothers 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 burial plot of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.

Judges 15

  • 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.
  • 15:2 And her father said, I truly thought that you had utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to your companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray you, instead of her.
  • 15:3 And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.
  • 15:4 And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the middle between two tails.
  • 15:5 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.
  • 15:6 Then the Philistines said, Who has 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.
  • 15:7 And Samson said to them, Though you have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.
  • 15:8 And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelled in the top of the rock Etam.
  • 15:9 Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.
  • 15:10 And the men of Judah said, Why are you come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he has done to us.
  • 15:11 Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Know you not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that you have done to us? And he said to them, As they did to me, so have I done to them.
  • 15:12 And they said to him, We are come down to bind you, that we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said to them, Swear to me, that you will not fall on me yourselves.
  • 15:13 And they spoke to him, saying, No; but we will bind you fast, and deliver you into their hand: but surely we will not kill you. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock.
  • 15:14 And when he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily on him, and the cords that were on his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.
  • 15:15 And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.
  • 15:16 And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps on heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.
  • 15:17 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.
  • 15:18 And he was sore thirsty, and called on the LORD, and said, You have given this great deliverance into the hand of your servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?
  • 15:19 But God split an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water out of there; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: why he called the name thereof Enhakkore, which is in Lehi to this day.
  • 15:20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

Judges 14

  • 14:1 And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.
  • 14:2 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.
  • 14:3 Then his father and his mother said to him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of your brothers, or among all my people, that you go to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said to his father, Get her for me; for she pleases me well.
  • 14:4 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.
  • 14:5 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.
  • 14:6 And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily on 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.
  • 14:7 And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.
  • 14:8 And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion.
  • 14:9 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 carcass of the lion.
  • 14:10 So his father went down to the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do.
  • 14:11 And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.
  • 14:12 And Samson said to them, I will now put forth a riddle to you: if you 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:
  • 14:13 But if you cannot declare it me, then shall you give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they said to him, Put forth your riddle, that we may hear it.
  • 14:14 And he said to 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.
  • 14:15 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said to Samson’s wife, Entice your husband, that he may declare to us the riddle, lest we burn you and your father’s house with fire: have you called us to take that we have? is it not so?
  • 14:16 And Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, You do but hate me, and love me not: you have put forth a riddle to the children of my people, and have not told it me. And he said to her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it you?
  • 14:17 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 on him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people.
  • 14:18 And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?  and he said to them, If you had not plowed with my heifer, you had not found out my riddle.
  • 14:19 And the Spirit of the LORD came on him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments to them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father’s house.
  • 14:20 But Samson’s wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.

Judges 13

  • 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.
  • 13:2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bore not.
  • 13:3 And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman, and said to her, Behold now, you are barren, and bore not: but you shall conceive, and bear a son.
  • 13:4 Now therefore beware, I pray you, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:
  • 13:5 For, see, you shall conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
  • 13:6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came to me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not from where he was, neither told he me his name:
  • 13:7 But he said to me, Behold, you shall 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.
  • 13:8 Then Manoah entreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which you did send come again to us, and teach us what we shall do to the child that shall be born.
  • 13:9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her.
  • 13:10 And the woman made haste, and ran, and showed her husband, and said to him, Behold, the man has appeared to me, that came to me the other day.
  • 13:11 And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said to him, Are you the man that spoke to the woman? And he said, I am.
  • 13:12 And Manoah said, Now let your words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do to him?
  • 13:13 And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, Of all that I said to the woman let her beware.
  • 13:14 She may not eat of any thing that comes of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe.
  • 13:15 And Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, I pray you, let us detain you, until we shall have made ready a kid for you.
  • 13:16 And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, Though you detain me, I will not eat of your bread: and if you will offer a burnt offering, you must offer it to the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD.
  • 13:17 And Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, What is your name, that when your sayings come to pass we may do you honor?
  • 13:18 And the angel of the LORD said to him, Why ask you thus after my name, seeing it is secret?
  • 13:19 So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it on a rock to the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on.
  • 13:20 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.
  • 13:21 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.
  • 13:22 And Manoah said to his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.
  • 13:23 But his wife said to 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 showed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these.
  • 13:24 And the woman bore a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.
  • 13:25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Judges 12

  • 12:1 And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said to Jephthah, Why passed you over to fight against the children of Ammon, and did not call us to go with you? we will burn your house on you with fire.
  • 12:2 And Jephthah said to them, I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, you delivered me not out of their hands.
  • 12:3 And when I saw that you 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: why then are you come up to me this day, to fight against me?
  • 12:4 Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, You Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites.
  • 12:5 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 to him, Are you an Ephraimite? If he said, No;
  • 12:6 Then said they to 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.
  • 12:7 And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.
  • 12:8 And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.
  • 12:9 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.
  • 12:10 Then died Ibzan, and was buried at Bethlehem.
  • 12:11 And after him Elon, a Zebulonite, judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years.
  • 12:12 And Elon the Zebulonite died, and was buried in Aijalon in the country of Zebulun.
  • 12:13 And after him Abdon the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite, judged Israel.
  • 12:14 And he had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on three score and ten ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years.
  • 12:15 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.