Category: Judges

[16:4] After this, Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in Sorek Valley.

[16:5] The five Philistine kings went to her and said, “Trick Samson into telling you why he is so strong and how we can overpower him, tie him up, and make him helpless. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.”

[16:6] So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me what makes you so strong. If someone wanted to tie you up and make you helpless, how could he do it?”

[16:7] Samson answered, “If they tie me up with seven new bowstrings that are not dried out, I'll be as weak as anybody else.”

[16:8] So the Philistine kings brought Delilah seven new bowstrings that were not dried out, and she tied Samson up.

[16:9] She had some men waiting in another room, so she shouted, “Samson! The Philistines are coming!” But he snapped the bowstrings just as thread breaks when fire touches it. So they still did not know the secret of his strength.

[16:10] Delilah told Samson, “Look, you've been making a fool of me and not telling me the truth. Please tell me how someone could tie you up.”

[16:11] He told her, “If they tie me with new ropes that have never been used, I'll be as weak as anybody else.”

[16:12] So Delilah got some new ropes and tied him up. Then she shouted, “Samson! The Philistines are coming!” The men were waiting in another room. But he snapped the ropes off his arms like thread.

[16:13] Delilah said to Samson, “You're still making a fool of me and not telling me the truth. Tell me how someone could tie you up.” He told her, “If you weave my seven locks of hair into a loom, and make it tight with a peg, I'll be as weak as anybody else.”

[16:14] Delilah then lulled him to sleep, took his seven locks of hair, and wove them into the loom. She made it tight with a peg and shouted, “Samson! The Philistines are coming!” But he woke up and pulled his hair loose from the loom.

[16:15] So she said to him, “How can you say you love me, when you don't mean it? You've made a fool of me three times, and you still haven't told me what makes you so strong.”

[16:16] She kept on asking him, day after day. He got so sick and tired of her bothering him about it

[16:17] that he finally told her the truth. “My hair has never been cut,” he said. “I have been dedicated to God as a nazirite from the time I was born. If my hair were cut, I would lose my strength and be as weak as anybody else.”

[16:18] When Delilah realized that he had told her the truth, she sent a message to the Philistine kings and said, “Come back one more time. He has told me the truth.” Then they came and brought the money with them.

[16:19] Delilah lulled Samson to sleep in her lap and then called a man, who cut off Samson's seven locks of hair. Then she began to torment him, for he had lost his strength.

[16:20] Then she shouted, “Samson! The Philistines are coming!” He woke up and thought, “I'll get loose and go free, as always.” He did not know that the Lord had left him.

[16:21] The Philistines captured him and put his eyes out. They took him to Gaza, chained him with bronze chains, and put him to work grinding at the mill in the prison.

[16:22] But his hair started growing back.

[16:23] The Philistine kings met together to celebrate and offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They sang, “Our god has given us victory over our enemy Samson!”

[16:26] Samson said to the boy who was leading him by the hand, “Let me touch the columns that hold up the building. I want to lean on them.”

[16:27] The building was crowded with men and women. All five Philistine kings were there, and there were about three thousand men and women on the roof, watching Samson entertain them.

[16:28] Then Samson prayed, “Sovereign Lord, please remember me; please, God, give me my strength just this one time more, so that with this one blow I can get even with the Philistines for putting out my two eyes.”

[16:29] So Samson took hold of the two middle columns holding up the building. Putting one hand on each column, he pushed against them

[16:30] and shouted, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He pushed with all his might, and the building fell down on the five kings and everyone else. Samson killed more people at his death than he had killed during his life.

[16:31] His brothers and the rest of his family came down to get his body. They took him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. He had been Israel's leader for twenty years.

[17:1] There was once a man named Micah, who lived in the hill country of Ephraim.

[17:2] He told his mother, “When someone stole those eleven hundred pieces of silver from you, you put a curse on the robber. I heard you do it. Look, I have the money. I am the one who took it.” His mother said, “May the Lord bless you, my son!”

[17:3] He gave the money back to his mother, and she said, “To keep the curse from falling on my son, I myself am solemnly dedicating the silver to the Lord. It will be used to make a wooden idol covered with silver. So now I will give the pieces of silver back to you.”

[17:4] Then he gave them back to his mother. She took two hundred of the pieces of silver and gave them to a metalworker, who made an idol, carving it from wood and covering it with the silver. It was placed in Micah's house.

[17:5] This man Micah had his own place of worship. He made some idols and an ephod, and appointed one of his sons as his priest.

[17:6] There was no king in Israel at that time; everyone did whatever they wanted.

[17:7] At that same time there was a young Levite who had been living in the town of Bethlehem in Judah.

[17:8] He left Bethlehem to find another place to live. While he was traveling, he came to Micah's house in the hill country of Ephraim.

[17:9] Micah asked him, “Where do you come from?” He answered, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I am looking for a place to live.”

[17:10] Micah said, “Stay with me. Be my adviser and priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, some clothes, and your food.”

[17:11] The young Levite agreed to stay with Micah and became like a son to him.

[17:12] Micah appointed him as his priest, and he lived in Micah's home.

[17:13] Micah said, “Now that I have a Levite as my priest, I know that the Lord will make things go well for me.”

[18:1] There was no king in Israel at that time. In those days the tribe of Dan was looking for territory to claim and settle in because they had not yet received any land of their own among the tribes of Israel.

[18:2] So the people of Dan chose five qualified men out of all the families in the tribe and sent them from the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol with instructions to explore the land and spy on it. When they arrived in the hill country of Ephraim, they stayed at Micah's house.

[18:3] While they were there, they recognized the accent of the young Levite, so they went up to him and asked, “What are you doing here? Who brought you here?”

[18:4] He answered, “I have an arrangement with Micah, who pays me to serve as his priest.”

[18:5] They said to him, “Please ask God if we are going to be successful on our trip.”

[18:6] The priest answered, “You have nothing to worry about. The Lord is taking care of you on this trip.”

[18:7] So the five men left and went to the town of Laish. They saw how the people there lived in security like the Sidonians. They were a peaceful, quiet people, with no argument with anyone; they had all they needed. They lived far away from the Sidonians and had no dealings with any other people.

[18:8] When the five men returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, the people asked them what they had found out.

[18:9] “Come on,” they replied. “Let's attack Laish. We saw the land, and it's very good. Don't stay here doing nothing; hurry! Go on in and take it over!

[18:10] When you get there, you will find that the people don't suspect a thing. It is a big country; it has everything a person could want, and God has given it to you.”

[18:11] So six hundred men from the tribe of Dan left Zorah and Eshtaol, ready for battle.

[18:12] They went up and camped west of Kiriath Jearim in Judah. That is why the place is still called Camp of Dan.

[18:13] They went on from there and came to Micah's house in the hill country of Ephraim.

[18:14] Then the five men who had gone to spy on the country around Laish said to their companions, “Did you know that here in one of these houses there is a wooden idol covered with silver? There are also other idols and an ephod. What do you think we should do?”

[18:15] So they went into Micah's house, where the young Levite lived, and asked the Levite how he was getting along.

[18:16] Meanwhile the six hundred Danite soldiers, ready for battle, were standing at the gate.

[18:17] The five spies went straight on into the house and took the wooden idol covered with silver, the other idols, and the ephod, while the priest stayed at the gate with the six hundred armed men.

[18:18] When the men went into Micah's house and took the sacred objects, the priest asked them, “What are you doing?”

[18:19] They told him, “Keep quiet. Don't say a word. Come with us and be our priest and adviser. Wouldn't you rather be a priest for a whole Israelite tribe than for the family of one man?”

[18:20] This made the priest very happy, so he took the sacred objects and went along with them.

[18:21] They turned around and started off, with their children, their livestock, and their belongings going ahead.

[18:22] They had traveled a good distance from the house when Micah called his neighbors out for battle. They caught up with the Danites

[18:23] and shouted at them. The Danites turned around and asked Micah, “What's the matter? Why all this mob?”

[18:24] Micah answered, “What do you mean, ‘What's the matter?’ You take my priest and the gods that I made, and walk off What have I got left?”

[18:25] The Danites told him, “You had better not say anything else unless you want these men to get angry and attack you. You and your whole family would die.”

[18:26] Then the Danites went on. Micah saw that they were too strong for him, so he turned and went back home.

[18:29] They changed its name from Laish to Dan, after their ancestor Dan, the son of Jacob.

[18:30] The Danites set up the idol to be worshiped, and Jonathan, the son of Gershom and grandson of Moses, served as a priest for the Danites, and his descendants served as their priests until the people were taken away into exile.

[18:31] Micah's idol remained there as long as the Tent where God was worshiped remained at Shiloh.

[19:1] In those days before Israel had a king, there was a Levite living far back in the hill country of Ephraim. He took a young woman from Bethlehem in Judah to be his concubine.

[19:2] But she became angry with him, went back to her father's house in Bethlehem, and stayed there four months.

[19:3] Then the man decided to go after her and try to persuade her to return to him. He took his servant and two donkeys with him. The woman showed the Levite into the house, and when her father saw him, he gave him a hearty greeting.

[19:4] The father insisted that he stay, and so he stayed for three days. The couple had their meals and spent the nights there.

[19:5] On the morning of the fourth day they woke up early and got ready to go. But the woman's father said to the Levite, “Have something to eat first. You'll feel better. You can go later.”

[19:6] So the two men sat down and ate and drank together. Then the woman's father told him, “Please spend the night and enjoy yourself.”

[19:7] The Levite got up to go, but the father urged him to stay, so he spent another night there.

[19:8] Early in the morning of the fifth day he started to leave, but the woman's father said, “Eat something, please. Wait until later in the day.” So the two men ate together.

[19:9] When the man, his concubine, and the servant once more started to leave, the father said, “Look, it's almost evening now; you might as well stay all night. It will be dark soon; stay here and have a good time. Tomorrow you can get up early for the trip and go home.”

[19:14] So they passed by Jebus and continued on their way. It was sunset when they came to Gibeah in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin.

[19:15] They turned off the road to go and spend the night there. They went into town and sat down in the city square, but no one offered to take them home for the night.

[19:16] While they were there, an old man came by at the end of a day's work on the farm. He was originally from the hill country of Ephraim, but he was now living in Gibeah. (The other people there were from the tribe of Benjamin.)

[19:17] The old man noticed the traveler in the city square and asked him, “Where do you come from? Where are you going?”

[19:18] The Levite answered, “We have been in Bethlehem in Judah, and now we are on our way home deep in the hill country of Ephraim. No one will put us up for the night,

[19:19] even though we have fodder and straw for our donkeys, as well as bread and wine for my concubine and me and for my servant. We have everything we need.”

[19:20] The old man said, “You are welcome in my home! I'll take care of you; you don't have to spend the night in the square.”

[19:21] So he took them home with him and fed their donkeys. His guests washed their feet and had a meal.

[19:22] They were enjoying themselves when all of a sudden some sexual perverts from the town surrounded the house and started beating on the door. They said to the old man, “Bring out that man that came home with you! We want to have sex with him!”

[19:23] But the old man went outside and said to them, “No, my friends! Please! Don't do such an evil, immoral thing! This man is my guest.

[19:24] Look! Here is his concubine and my own virgin daughter. I'll bring them out now, and you can have them. Do whatever you want to with them. But don't do such an awful thing to this man!”

[19:25] But the men would not listen to him. So the Levite took his concubine and put her outside with them. They raped her and abused her all night long and didn't stop until morning.

[19:26] At dawn the woman came and fell down at the door of the old man's house, where her husband was. She was still there when daylight came.

[19:27] Her husband got up that morning, and when he opened the door to go on his way, he found his concubine lying in front of the house with her hands reaching for the door.

[19:28] He said, “Get up. Let's go.” But there was no answer. So he put her body across the donkey and started on his way home.

[19:29] When he arrived, he went in the house and got a knife. He took his concubine's body, cut it into twelve pieces, and sent one piece to each of the twelve tribes of Israel.

[19:30] Everyone who saw it said, “We have never heard of such a thing! Nothing like this has ever happened since the Israelites left Egypt! We have to do something about this! What will it be?”

[20:1] All the people of Israel from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, as well as from the land of Gilead in the east, answered the call. They gathered in one body in the Lord's presence at Mizpah.

[20:2] The leaders of all the tribes of Israel were present at this gathering of God's people, and there were 400,000 foot soldiers.

[20:3] Meanwhile the people of Benjamin heard that all the other Israelites had gathered at Mizpah. The Israelites asked, “Tell us, how was this crime committed?”

[20:4] The Levite whose concubine had been murdered answered, “My concubine and I went to Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin to spend the night.

[20:5] The men of Gibeah came to get me and surrounded the house at night. They intended to kill me; instead they raped my concubine, and she died.

[20:6] I took her body, cut it in pieces, and sent one piece to each of the twelve tribes of Israel. These people have committed an evil and immoral act among us.

[20:7] All of you here are Israelites. What are we going to do about this?”

[20:8] All the people stood up together and said, “None of us, whether he lives in a tent or in a house, will go home.

[20:9] This is what we will do: we will draw lots and choose some men to attack Gibeah.

[20:10] One tenth of the men in Israel will provide food for the army, and the others will go and punish Gibeah for this immoral act that they have committed in Israel.”

[20:11] So all the men in Israel assembled with one purpose—to attack the town.

[20:12] The Israelite tribes sent messengers all through the territory of the tribe of Benjamin to say, “What is this crime that you have committed?

[20:13] Now hand over those perverts in Gibeah, so that we can kill them and remove this evil from Israel.” But the people of Benjamin paid no attention to the other Israelites.

[20:14] From all the cities of Benjamin they came to Gibeah to fight the other people of Israel.

[20:17] Not counting the tribe of Benjamin, the Israelites gathered 400,000 trained soldiers.

[20:18] The Israelites went to the place of worship at Bethel, and there they asked God, “Which tribe should attack the Benjaminites first?” The Lord answered, “The tribe of Judah.”

[20:19] So the Israelites started out the next morning and camped near the city of Gibeah.

[20:20] They went to attack the army of Benjamin, and placed the soldiers in position facing the city.

[20:21] The army of Benjamin came out of the city, and before the day was over they had killed twenty-two thousand Israelite soldiers. The Lord answered, “Yes.” So the Israelite army was encouraged, and they placed their soldiers in position again, where they had been the day before.

[20:24] They marched against the army of Benjamin a second time.

[20:25] And for the second time the Benjaminites came out of Gibeah, and this time they killed eighteen thousand trained Israelite soldiers.

[20:26] Then all the people of Israel went up to Bethel and mourned. They sat there in the Lord's presence and did not eat until evening. They offered fellowship sacrifices and burned some sacrifices whole—all in the presence of the Lord. The Lord answered, “Fight. Tomorrow I will give you victory over them.”

[20:29] So the Israelites put some soldiers in hiding around Gibeah.

[20:30] Then for the third straight day they marched against the army of Benjamin and placed their soldiers in battle position facing Gibeah, as they had done before.

[20:31] The Benjaminites came out to fight and were led away from the city. As they had before, they began killing some Israelites in the open country, on the road to Bethel and on the road to Gibeah. They killed about thirty Israelites.

[20:32] The Benjaminites said, “We've beaten them just as before.” But the Israelites had planned to retreat and lead them away from the city onto the roads.

[20:33] So when the main army of the Israelites pulled back and regrouped at Baaltamar, the men surrounding Gibeah suddenly rushed out of their hiding places in the rocky country around the city.

[20:34] Ten thousand men, specially chosen out of all Israel, attacked Gibeah, and the fighting was hard. The Benjaminites had not realized that they were about to be destroyed.

[20:35] The Lord gave Israel victory over the army of Benjamin. The Israelites killed 25,100 of the enemy that day,

[20:36] and the Benjaminites realized they were defeated.

[20:36] The main body of the Israelite army had retreated from the Benjaminites because they were relying on the men that they had put in hiding around Gibeah.

[20:37] These men ran quickly toward Gibeah; they spread out in the city and killed everyone there.

[20:38] The main Israelite army and the men in hiding had arranged a signal. When they saw a big cloud of smoke going up from the town,

[20:39] the Israelites out on the battlefield were to turn around. By this time the Benjaminites had already killed the thirty Israelites. They told themselves, “Yes, we've beaten them just as before.”

[20:40] Then the signal appeared; a cloud of smoke began to go up from the town. The Benjaminites looked behind them and were amazed to see the whole city going up in flames.

[20:41] Then the Israelites turned around, and the Benjaminites were thrown into panic because they realized that they were about to be destroyed.

[20:42] They retreated from the Israelites and ran toward the open country, but they could not escape. They were caught between the main army and the men who were now coming out of the city, and they were destroyed.

[20:43] The Israelites had the enemy trapped, and without stopping they pursued them as far as a point east of Gibeah, killing them as they went.

[20:44] Eighteen thousand of the best Benjaminite soldiers were killed.

[20:45] The others turned and ran toward the open country to Rimmon Rock. Five thousand of them were killed on the roads. The Israelites continued to pursue the rest to Gidom, killing two thousand.

[20:46] In all, twenty-five thousand Benjaminites were killed that day—all of them brave soldiers.

[20:47] But six hundred men were able to escape to the open country to Rimmon Rock, and they stayed there four months.

[20:48] The Israelites turned back against the rest of the Benjaminites and killed them all—men, women, and children, and animals as well. They burned every town in the area.

[21:1] When the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, they had made a solemn promise to the Lord: “None of us will allow a Benjaminite to marry a daughter of ours.”

[21:2] So now the people of Israel went to Bethel and sat there in the presence of God until evening. Loudly and bitterly they mourned:

[21:3] “Lord God of Israel, why has this happened? Why is the tribe of Benjamin about to disappear from Israel?”

[21:4] Early the next morning the people got up and built an altar there. They offered fellowship sacrifices and burned some sacrifices whole.

[21:5] They asked, “Is there any group out of all the tribes of Israel that did not go to the gathering in the Lord's presence at Mizpah?” (They had taken a solemn oath that anyone who had not gone to Mizpah would be put to death.)

[21:6] The people of Israel felt sorry for their brothers the Benjaminites and said, “Today Israel has lost one of its tribes.

[21:7] What shall we do to provide wives for the men of Benjamin who are left? We have made a solemn promise to the Lord that we will not give them any of our daughters.”

[21:8] When they asked if there was some group out of the tribes of Israel that had not gone to the gathering at Mizpah, they found out that no one from Jabesh in Gilead had been there;

[21:9] at the roll call of the army no one from Jabesh had responded.

[21:10] So the assembly sent twelve thousand of their bravest men with the orders, “Go and kill everyone in Jabesh, including women and children.

[21:11] Kill all the males, and also every woman who is not a virgin.”

[21:12] They found four hundred young virgins among the people in Jabesh, so they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

[21:13] Then the whole assembly sent word to the Benjaminites who were at Rimmon Rock and offered to end the war.

[21:14] The Benjaminites came back, and the other Israelites gave them the young women from Jabesh whom they had not killed. But there were not enough of them.

[21:15] The people felt sorry for the Benjaminites because the Lord had broken the unity of the tribes of Israel.

[21:16] So the leaders of the gathering said, “There are no more women in the tribe of Benjamin. What shall we do to provide wives for the men who are left?

[21:17] Israel must not lose one of its twelve tribes. We must find a way for the tribe of Benjamin to survive,

[21:18] but we cannot allow them to marry our daughters, because we have put a curse on anyone who allows a Benjaminite to marry one of our daughters.”

[21:19] Then they thought, “The yearly festival of the Lord at Shiloh is coming soon.” (Shiloh is north of Bethel, south of Lebonah, and east of the road between Bethel and Shechem.)

[21:20] They told the Benjaminites, “Go and hide in the vineyards

[21:21] and watch. When the young women of Shiloh come out to dance during the festival, you come out of the vineyards. Each of you take a wife by force from among them and take her back to the territory of Benjamin with you.

[21:22] If their fathers or brothers come to you and protest, you can tell them, ‘Please let us keep them, because we did not take them from you in battle to be our wives. And since you did not give them to us, you are not guilty of breaking your promise.’”

[21:23] The Benjaminites did this; each of them chose a wife from the young women who were dancing at Shiloh and carried her away. Then they went back to their own territory, rebuilt their towns, and lived there.

[21:24] At the same time the rest of the Israelites left, and every man went back to his own tribe and family and to his own property.

[21:25] There was no king in Israel at that time. Everyone did whatever they pleased.