JUDGES
The Book of Judges: Judges 1
1 After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord, “Which tribe should go first to attack the Canaanites?”
2 The Lord answered, Judah, for I have given them victory over the land.
3 The men of Judah said to their relatives from the tribe of Simeon, “Join with us to fight against the Canaanites living in the territory allotted to us. Then we will help you conquer your territory.” So the men of Simeon went with Judah.
4 When the men of Judah attacked, the Lord gave them victory over the Canaanites and Perizzites, and they killed 10,000 enemy warriors at the town of Bezek.
5 While at Bezek they encountered King Adoni-bezek and fought against him, and the Canaanites and Perizzites were defeated.
6 But Adoni-bezek escaped, and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.
7 Adoni-Bezek said: "Seventy kings, with their thumbs and their big toes cut off, gathered food under my table; God has paid me back in accordance with what I did." They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.
8 Now the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it, killing all its people and setting the city on fire.
9 And the people of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill-country, in the Negev, and in the valley.
10 The people of Judah marched against the Canaanites in Hebron (formerly called Kiriath-arba), defeating the forces of Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.
11 From there they attacked the inhabitants of Debir (formerly called Kiriath-sepher).
12 Caleb said, “to the one who attacks and captures Kiriath-sepher; I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage!”
13 Othniel, the son of Caleb’s younger brother, Kenaz, was the one who conquered it, so Acsah became Othniel’s wife.
14 After becoming his wife, she persuaded him to ask her father to give them a field; when she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, "What do you want?"
15 She said, “Let me have another gift. You have already given me land in the Negev; now please give me springs of water, too.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.
16 And the children of the Kenite, Moses' father in law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lies to the south of Arad; and they went and lived among the people.
17 Then Judah went with Simeon to fight against the Canaanites living in Zephath, and they completely destroyed the town. So the town was named Hormah.
18 In addition, Judah captured the towns of Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron, along with their surrounding territories.
19 The Lord was with the people of Judah, and they took possession of the hill country. But they failed to drive out the people living in the plains, who had iron chariots.
20 The town of Hebron was given to Caleb as Moses had promised. And Caleb drove out the people living there, who were descendants of the three sons of Anak.
21 The tribe of Benjamin, however, failed to drive out the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem. So to this day the Jebusites live in Jerusalem among the people of Benjamin.
22 The descendants of Joseph attacked the town of Bethel, and the Lord was with them.
23 They sent men to scout out Bethel (formerly known as Luz).
24 The spies saw a man coming out of the city and said to him: "Please show us the way to enter the city, and we will treat you kindly."
25 So he showed them the way into the city, and they overpowered the city with the sword, but they let the man and all his family go free.
26 He went into the land of the Hittim, built a city and called it Luz, which is its name to this day
27 The tribe of Manasseh failed to drive out the people living in Beth-shan, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and all their surrounding settlements, because the Canaanites were determined to stay in that region.
28 In time, when Israel had grown strong, they did put the Canaanites into slavery but failed to drive them out completely.
29 The tribe of Ephraim did not drive the Canaanites out of Gezer, so the Canaanites continued to live there among them.
30 The tribe of Zebulun failed to drive out the residents of Kitron and Nahalol, so the Canaanites continued to live among them. But the Canaanites were forced to work as slaves for the people of Zebulun.
31 The tribe of Asher failed to drive out the residents of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Aczib, Helbah, Aphik, and Rehob.
32 But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: because they too did not drive them out.
33 Likewise, neither did the tribe of Naphtali drive out the residents of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath. Instead, they moved in among the Canaanites, who controlled the land. Nevertheless, the people of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath were forced to work as slaves for the people of Naphtali.
34 As for the tribe of Dan, the Amorites forced them back into the hill country and would not let them come down into the plains.
35 The Amorites were determined to stay in Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim, but when the descendants of Joseph became stronger, they forced the Amorites to work as slaves.
36 The boundary of the Amorites was from the Scorpion Ascent(Pass) and the Rock and upward from there.
The Book of Judges: Judges 2
1 The angel of the LORD(Jesus) went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said: I brought you out of Egypt into this land that I swore to give your fathers, and I said 'I would never break my covenant with you;
2 you, for your part, are not to make any covenant with the inhabitants of this land but must tear down their altars.' However, you have paid no attention to what I said. What is this you have done? 3 This is why I also said, 'I will not drive them out before you; but they will be on your flanks, and their gods will become a snare for you.'
4 When the angel of the LORD(Jesus) finished speaking to the people of Israel, they wept loudly.
5 So they called the place Bokim (which means “weeping”), and they offered sacrifices there to the LORD(Jesus).
The Death of Joshua:
6 Then Joshua sent the people back to their land.
7 The people served the LORD(Jesus) during the lifetime of Joshua and during the lifetimes of the older leaders who lived after Joshua and who had seen what great things the LORD(Jesus) had done for Israel.
8 Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD(Jesus), died at the age of 110.
9 They buried him in his own land at Timnath Serah in the mountains of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
10 After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the LORD(Jesus) or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel.
11 The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD(Jesus) and served Baal.
12 They abandoned the LORD(Jesus), the God(Elohim/Theos) of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods(elohim/theos), worshiping the gods(elohim/thoes) of the people around them. And they angered the LORD(Jesus).
13 They abandoned the LORD(Jesus) to serve Baal and the images of Ashtoreth (Easter).
14 The LORD(Jesus) was angry with the people of Israel, so he handed them over to robbers who took their possessions. He let their enemies who lived around them defeat them; they could not protect themselves.
15 Whenever Israel went out to battle, the LORD(Jesus) fought against them, causing them to be defeated, just as he had warned. And the people were in great distress.
16 Then the LORD(Jesus) raised up judges, who rescued them from the power of those who were plundering them.
17 Yet they did not pay attention to their judges, but made whores of themselves to other gods and worshipped them; they quickly turned away from the path on which their ancestors had walked, the way of obeying the LORD(Jesus)'s Law - they failed to do this.
18 Whenever the LORD(Jesus) raised up a judge over Israel, he was with that judge and rescued the people from their enemies throughout the judge’s lifetime. For the LORD(Jesus) took pity on his people, who were burdened by oppression and suffering.
19 But when the judge died, the people returned to their corrupt ways, behaving worse than those who had lived before them. They went after other gods, serving and worshiping them. And they refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.
20 So the LORD(Jesus) burned with anger against Israel. He said: Because these people have violated my covenant, which I made with their ancestors, and have ignored my commands,
21 I will no longer drive out the nations that Joshua left unconquered when he died.
22 I did this to test Israel—to see whether or not they would follow the ways of the LORD(Jesus) as their ancestors did.
23 So the LORD(Jesus) allowed those nations to remain where they were, without quickly driving them out; he did not hand them over to Joshua.
The Book of Judges: Judges 3
1 These are the nations that the LORD(Jesus) left in the land to test the house of Israel who had not known the wars of Canaan.
3 These are the nations: the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the people of Sidon, and the Hivites who lived in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath.
4 These people were left to test Israel—to see whether they would obey the commandments the LORD(Jesus) had given to their ancestors through Moses.
5 So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites,
6 and they began to intermarried with them, the daughters of those people, and Israel also served their gods.
Othniel Becomes Judge
7 The people of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD(Jesus). They forgot about the LORD(Jesus) their God(Elohim/Theos), and they served the images of Baal and the Asherah (Easter) poles.
8 Then the LORD(Jesus) burned with anger against Israel, and he turned them over to King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram-naharaim. And the Israelites served Cushan-rishathaim for eight years.
Aram-naharaim means “Aram of the two rivers,” thought to have been located between the Euphrates and Balih Rivers in northwestern Mesopotamia.
9 But when the people of Israel cried out to the LORD(Jesus) for help, the LORD(Jesus) raised up a rescuer to save them. His name was Othniel, the son of Caleb’s younger brother, Kenaz.
10 The Spirit of the LORD(Jesus) entered him, and he became a judge over Israel. He went to war against King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram, and the LORD(Jesus) gave Othniel victory over him.
Ehud Becomes Judge
12 Again the people of Israel did what the LORD(Jesus) said was wrong. So the LORD(Jesus) gave Eglon king of Moab power to defeat Israel because of the evil Israel did.
13 Eglon got the Ammonites and the Amalekites to join him. Then he attacked Israel and took Jericho, the city of palm trees.
15 But when the people of Israel cried out to the LORD(Jesus) for help, the LORD(Jesus) again raised up a rescuer to save them. His name was Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed man of the tribe of Benjamin. The Israelites sent Ehud to deliver their tribute money to King Eglon of Moab.
16 So Ehud made a double-edged dagger that was about a foot and a half long, and he strapped it to his right thigh, keeping it hidden under his clothing.
19 But he himself, after reaching the quarries at Gilgal, went back and said, "King, I have a secret message for you." The king commanded silence, and all his attendants withdrew.
20 Ehud walked over to Eglon, who was sitting alone in a cool upstairs room. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God(Elohim/Theos) for you!” As King Eglon rose from his seat,
21 Ehud reached with his left hand, pulled out the dagger strapped to his right thigh, and plunged it into the king’s belly.
22 The dagger went so deep that the handle disappeared beneath the king’s fat. So Ehud did not pull out the dagger, and the king’s bowels emptied out from behind.
23 Then Ehud went out onto the porch, shut the doors of the upstairs room(bathroom) behind him and locked them.
24 After Ehud was gone, the king’s servants returned and found the doors to the upstairs room locked. They thought he might be using the toilet in the room,
25 so they waited until they became embarrassed, but he still didn't open the doors of the upstairs room. So they took the key and opened them; and there before them lay their master, dead on the ground.
27 When he reached the mountains of Ephraim he blew the trumpet. The people of Israel heard it and went down from the hills with Ehud leading them.
28 He said to them, “Follow me,for the LORD(Jesus) has given you victory over Moab your enemy.” So they followed him and captured the crossings of the Jordan River. They did not allow the Moabites to cross the Jordan River.
29 They attacked the Moabites and killed about 10,000 of their strongest and most able-bodied warriors. Not one of them escaped.
Shamgar Becomes Judge
six hundred men with an oxgoad--This instrument is eight feet long and about six inches in circumference. It is armed at the lesser end with a sharp prong for driving the cattle, and on the other with a small iron paddle for removing the clay which encumbers the plough in working. Such an instrument, wielded by a strong arm, would do no mean execution. We may suppose, however, for the notice is very fragmentary, that Shamgar was only the leader of a band of peasants, who by means of such implements of labor as they could lay hold of at the moment, achieved the heroic exploit recorded.
The Book of Judges: Judges 4
Deborah Becomes the only woman Judge of Israel:
1 But after Ehud had died, the people of Israel again did what was evil in the LORD(Jesus)'s sight.2 So the LORD(Jesus) handed them over to King Jabin of Hazor, a Canaanite king. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-haggoyim.
3 Because he had 900 iron chariots and was very cruel to the people of Israel for twenty years, they cried to the LORD(Jesus) for help.
4 Deborah, a woman and a prophet, the wife of Lapidot, was judging Israel at that time.
5 She would sit under the Palm of Deborah, between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel would come to her for judgment.
6 Deborah sent a message to Barak son of Abinoam. Barak lived in the city of Kedesh, which is in the area of Naphtali. Deborah said to Barak, "The LORD(Jesus), the God(Elohim/Theos) of Israel, commands you: 'Go and gather 10,000 men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them to Mount Tabor.
7 And I will call out Sisera, commander of Jabin’s army, along with his chariots and warriors, to the Kishon River. There I will give you victory over him.”
8 Then Barak said to Deborah, "I will go if you will go with me, but if you won't go with me, I won't go."
9 She replied, "Yes, I will gladly go with you; but the way you are doing it will bring you no glory; because the LORD(Jesus) will hand Sisra over to a woman." Then Deborah set out and went with Barak to Kedesh.
10 At Kedesh, Barak called together the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali, and 10,000 warriors went up with him. Deborah also went with him.
11 Now Heber the Kenite had left the other Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses' father-in-law. Heber had put up his tent by the great tree in Zaanannim, near Kedesh.
Some texts read Moses' brother-in-law, but this is Moses' second wife, and the man mentioned is not the priest of Midian.
12 When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor,
13 he called for all 900 of his iron chariots and all of his warriors, and they marched from Harosheth-haggoyim to the Kishon River.
14 Then Deborah said to Barak, “Get ready! This is the day the LORD(Jesus) will give you victory over Sisera, for the LORD(Jesus) is marching ahead of you.” So Barak led his 10,000 warriors down the slopes of Mount Tabor into battle.
15 When Barak attacked, the LORD(Jesus) threw Sisera and all his chariots and warriors into a panic. Sisera leaped down from his chariot and escaped on foot.
16 Then Barak chased the chariots and the enemy army all the way to Harosheth-haggoyim, killing all of Sisera’s warriors. No one one was left alive.
17 Meanwhile, Sisera ran to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because Heber’s family was on friendly terms with King Jabin of Hazor.
18 Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, "Come into my tent, master! Come in. Don't be afraid." So Sisera went into Jael's tent, and she covered him with a blanket.
19 He said to her, "Please give me a little water to drink - I'm thirsty." She opened a goatskin of milk, gave him some to drink, and covered him up again.
20 He said to her, "Stand at the entrance to the tent; and if anyone asks you if somebody is here, say, 'No.'"
21 But when he fell asleep, Jael quietly crept up to him with a hammer and tent peg in her hand. Then she drove the tent peg through his temple and into the ground, and so he died.
22 When Barak came looking for Sisera, Jael went out to meet him. She said, “Come, and I will show you the man you are looking for.” So he followed her into the tent and found Sisera lying there dead, with the tent peg through his temple.
23 On that day God(Elohim/Theos) defeated Jabin king of Canaan in the sight of Israel.
24 Israel became stronger and stronger against Jabin king of Canaan until finally they destroyed him.
The Book of Judges: Judges 5
The Song of Deborah:
This noble triumphal ode was evidently the composition of Deborah herself.
1 On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song:2 "The leaders led Israel.
The people volunteered to go to battle.
Praise the LORD(Jesus)!
3 Listen, kings.
Pay attention, rulers!
I myself will sing to the LORD(Jesus).
I will make music to the LORD(Jesus), the God(Elohim/Theos) of Israel.
4 "LORD(Jesus), when you came from Edom,
when you marched from the land of Edom,
the earth shook,
the skies rained,
and the clouds dropped water.
5 The mountains shook before the LORD(Jesus), the God(Elohim/Theos) of Mount Sinai,
before the LORD(Jesus), the God(Elohim/Theos) of Israel!
6 "In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,
in the days of Jael, the main roads were empty.
Travelers went on the back roads.
7 There were no warriors in Israel
until I, Deborah, arose,
until I arose to be a mother to Israel.
8 At that time they chose to follow new gods(elohim/theos).
Because of this, enemies fought us at our city gates.
No one could find a shield or a spear
among the forty thousand people of Israel.
9 My heart is with the commanders of Israel.
They volunteered freely from among the people.
Praise the LORD(Jesus)!
10 "You who ride on white donkeys
and sit on saddle blankets,
and you who walk along the road, listen!
11 Listen to the sound of the singers
at the watering holes.
There they tell about the victories of the LORD(Jesus),
the victories of the LORD(Jesus)'s warriors in Israel.
Then the LORD(Jesus)'s people went down to the city gates.
12 "Wake up, wake up, Deborah!
Wake up, wake up, sing a song!
Get up, Barak!
Go capture your enemies, son of Abinoam!
13 "Then those who were left came down to the important leaders.
The LORD(Jesus)'s people came down to me with strong men.
14 They came from Ephraim in the mountains of Amalek.
Benjamin was among the people who followed you.
From the family group of Makir, the commanders came down.
And from Zebulun came those who lead.
15 The princes of Issachar were with Deborah.
The people of Issachar were loyal to Barak
and followed him into the valley.
The Reubenites thought hard
about what they would do.
16 Why did you stay by the sheepfold?
Was it to hear the music played for your sheep?
The Reubenites thought hard
about what they would do.
17 The people of Gilead stayed east of the Jordan River.
People of Dan, why did you stay by the ships? (Note: Dan on Ships: Vikings)
The people of Asher stayed at the seashore,
at their safe harbors.
18 But the people of Zebulun risked their lives,
as did the people of Naphtali on the battlefield.
19 "The kings came, and they fought.
At that time the kings of Canaan fought
at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo.
But they took away no silver or possessions of Israel.
20 The stars fought from heaven;
from their paths, they fought Sisera.
21 The Kishon River swept Sisera's men away,
that old river, the Kishon River.
March on, my soul, with strength!
22 Then the horses' hoofs beat the ground.
Galloping, galloping go Sisera's mighty horses.
23 'May the town of Meroz be cursed,' said the angel of the LORD(Jesus).
'Bitterly curse its people,
because they did not come to help the LORD(Jesus).
They did not fight the strong enemy.'
24 "May Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite,
be blessed above all women who live in tents.
25 Sisera asked for water,
but Jael gave him milk.
In a bowl fit for a ruler,
she brought him cottage cheese.
26 Jael reached out and took the tent peg.
Her right hand reached for the workman's hammer.
She hit Sisera! She smashed his head!
She crushed and pierced the side of his head!
27 At Jael's feet he sank.
He fell, and he lay there.
At her feet he sank. He fell.
Where Sisera sank, there he fell, dead!
28 "Sisera's mother looked out through the window.
She looked through the curtains and cried out,
'Why is Sisera's chariot so late in coming?
Why are sounds of his chariots' horses delayed?'
29 The wisest of her servant ladies answer her,
and Sisera's mother says to herself,
30 'Surely they are robbing the people they defeated!
Surely they are dividing those things among themselves!
Each soldier is given a girl or two.
Maybe Sisera is taking pieces of dyed cloth.
Maybe they are even taking
pieces of dyed, embroidered cloth for the necks of the victors!'
31 "Let all your enemies die this way, LORD(Jesus)!
But let all the people who love you
be as strong as the rising sun!"
Then there was peace in the land for forty years.
The Book of Judges: Judges 6
Gideon Becomes Judge:
1 The the people of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD(Jesus), so the LORD(Jesus) handed them over to the Midianites for seven years. 2 The people of Midian were so cruel that the people of Israel made hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds.
3 One time, Israel planted their crops, marauders from Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east would attack Israel,
4 camping in the land and destroying crops as far away as Gaza. They left the Israelites with nothing to eat, taking all the sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys.
5 These enemy hordes, coming with their livestock and tents, were as thick as locusts; they arrived on droves of camels too numerous to count. And they stayed until the land was stripped bare.
6 So Israel was reduced to starvation by the Midianites. Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD(Jesus) for help.
7 When they cried out to the LORD(Jesus) because of Midian,
8 the LORD(Jesus) sent a prophet to the people of Israel. He said: This is what the LORD(Jesus), the God(Elohim/Theos) of Israel, says: I brought you up out of slavery in Egypt.
9 I rescued you from the Egyptians and from all who oppressed you. I drove out your enemies and gave you their land.
10 I told you, ‘I am the LORD(Jesus) your God(Elohim/Theos). You must not worship the gods(elohim/theos) of the Amorites, in whose land you now live.’ But you have not listened to me.”
11 Then the angel of the LORD(Jesus) came and sat beneath the great tree at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash of the clan of Abiezer. Gideon son of Joash was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites.
12 The angel of the LORD(Jesus) appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the LORD(Jesus) is with you!”
13 “Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD(Jesus) is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The LORD(Jesus) brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the LORD(Jesus) has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.”
14 Then the LORD(Jesus) turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”
15 “But LORD(Jesus),” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!”
16 The LORD(Jesus) said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.”
17 Gideon replied, “If you are truly going to help me, show me a sign to prove that it is really the LORD(Jesus) speaking to me.
18 Don’t go away until I come back and bring my offering to you.”He answered, “I will stay here until you return.”
19 Gideon hurried home. He cooked a young goat, and with a basket of flour he baked some bread without yeast. Then, carrying the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, he brought them out and presented them to the angel, who was under the great tree.
20 The angel of God(Elohim/Theos) said to him, “Place the meat and the unleavened bread on this rock, and pour the broth over it.” And Gideon did as he was told.
Here as in all of this chapter this angel in reality is Jesus.. See verse 22.
21 Then the angel of the LORD(Jesus) touched the meat and bread with the tip of the staff in his hand, and fire flamed up from the rock and consumed all he had brought. And the angel of the LORD(Jesus) disappeared.
22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD(Jesus), he cried out, “Oh, Sovereign LORD(Jesus), I’m doomed! I have seen the angel of the LORD(Jesus) face to face!”
23 “It is all right,” the LORD(Jesus) replied. “Do not be afraid. You will not die.”
24 So Gideon built an altar there to worship the LORD(Jesus) and named it The LORD(Jesus) Is Peace. It still stands at Ophrah, where the Abiezrites live to this very day!
25 That same night the LORD(Jesus) said to Gideon: Take the bull that belongs to your father and a second bull seven years old. Pull down your father's altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah idol beside it.
26 Then build an altar to the LORD(Jesus) your God(Elohim/Theos) here on this hilltop sanctuary, laying the stones carefully. Sacrifice the bull as a burnt offering on the altar, using as fuel the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down.
27 So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the LORD(Jesus) had commanded. But he did it at night because he was afraid of the other members of his father’s household and the people of the town.
28 When the men of the city got up the next morning, there was the altar of Baal destroyed, the sacred pole cut down, and the second bull a burnt offering on the newly built altar.
29 The people said to each other, “Who did this?” And after asking around and making a careful search, they learned that it was Gideon, the son of Joash.
30 “Bring out your son,” the men of the town demanded of Joash. “He must die for destroying the altar of Baal and for cutting down the Asherah(Easter) pole.”
31 But Joash shouted to the mob that confronted him, “Why are you defending Baal? Will you argue his case? Whoever pleads his case will be put to death by morning! If Baal truly is a God(Elohim/Theos), let him defend himself and destroy the one who broke down his altar!”
32 From then on Gideon was called Jerub-baal, which means “Let Baal defend himself,” because he broke down Baal’s altar.
Gideon Asks for a Sign:
33 Soon afterward the armies of Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east formed an alliance against Israel and crossed the Jordan, camping in the valley of Jezreel.34 Then the Spirit of the LORD(Jesus) took possession of Gideon. He blew a ram’s horn as a call to arms, and the men of the clan of Abiezer came to him.
35 He also sent messengers throughout Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, summoning their warriors, and all of them responded.
36 Then Gideon said to God(Elohim/Theos), “If you are truly going to use me to rescue Israel as you promised,
37 prove it to me in this way. I will put a wool fleece on the threshing floor tonight. If the fleece is wet with dew in the morning but the ground is dry, then I will know that you are going to help me rescue Israel as you promised.”
38 And it happened! He got up early in the morning, pressed the fleece together and wrung dew out of it, a bowlful of water.
39 But Gideon said to God(Elohim/Theos), “Don't be angry with me because I am asking one more thing, let me make one more test, please: this time let it be dry only on the fleece, with dew all over the ground."
40 And that is what God(Elohim/Theos) did that night - it was dry only on the fleece, even though there was dew all over the ground.
The Book of Judges: Judges 7
Gideon Defeats Midian:
1 So Jerub-baal (that is, Gideon) and his army got up early and went as far as the spring of Harod. The armies of Midian were camped north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. Jerubbaal--This had now become Gideon's honorable surname, "the enemy of Baal."
2 The LORD(Jesus) said to Gideon: You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength.
3 Therefore, tell the people, ‘Whoever is timid or afraid may leave Mt Gilead and go home.’” So 22,000 of them went home, leaving only 10,000 who were willing to fight.
4 Then the LORD(Jesus) spoke to Gideon: There are still too many! Bring them down to the spring, and I will test them to determine who will go with you and who will not.
5 When he took his warriors down to the water, the LORD(Jesus) told him: Divide the men into two groups. In one group put all those who cup water in their hands and lap it up with their tongues like dogs. In the other group put all those who kneel down and drink with their mouths in the stream.
6 300 lapped, putting their hand to their mouth; all the rest of the men got down on their knees to drink water.
7 Then the LORD(Jesus) said to Gideon, "Using the 300 men who lapped the water, I will save you and hand Midian over to you. Let all the others go home."
8 So Gideon collected the provisions and rams’ horns of the other warriors and sent them home. But he kept the 300 men with him. Now the camp of Midian was in the valley below Gideon.
9 That night the LORD(Jesus) said to him: Get up and attack the camp, because I have handed it over to you.
10 But if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah.
11 and after you hear what they are saying, you will have the courage to attack the camp. So with his servant Purah he went down to the outposts of the camp.
12 The armies of Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts. Their camels were like grains of sand on the seashore—too many to count!
13 When Gideon came to the enemy camp, he heard a man telling his friend about a dream. He was saying, "I dreamed that a loaf of barley bread rolled into the camp of Midian. It hit the tent so hard that the tent turned over and fell flat!"
14 His comrade answered, "This can only be the sword of Gideon son of Joash, a man of Israel. God(Elohim/Theos) has given Midian and all its army into his hands."
15 When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he fell on his knees in worship. Then he returned to the camp of Israel and said, "Get up! because the LORD(Jesus) has handed Midian's army over to you."
16 He divided the 300 men into three companies. He put in the hands of all of them shofars and empty pitchers with torches in them.
17 Then he said to them, “Keep your eyes on me. When I come to the edge of the camp, do just as I do.
18 As soon as I and those with me blow the rams’ horns(shofars), blow your horns, too, all around the entire camp, and shout, ‘For the LORD(Jesus) and for Gideon!’”
19 So Gideon and the 100 men with him came to the edge of the enemy camp just after they had changed guards. It was at midnight. Then Gideon and his men blew their trumpets and smashed their jars.
20 Then all three groups blew their horns and broke their jars. They held the blazing torches in their left hands and the horns in their right hands, and they all shouted, “A sword for the LORD(Jesus) and for Gideon!”
21 Each man stood at his position around the camp and watched as all the Midianites rushed around in a panic, shouting as they ran to escape.
22 When the 300 Israelites blew their rams’ horns, the LORD(Jesus) caused the warriors in the camp to fight against each other with their swords. Those who were not killed fled to places as far away as Beth-shittah near Zererah and to the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath.
23 Then Gideon sent for the warriors of Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh, who joined in chasing the army of Midian.
24 Gideon also sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down to attack the Midianites. Cut them off at the shallow crossings of the Jordan River at Beth-barah.” So all the men of Ephraim did as they were told.
25 They captured Oreb and Zeeb, the two Midianite commanders, killing Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. And they continued to chase the Midianites. Afterward the men of Israel brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was by the Jordan River.
The Book of Judges: Judges 8
1 The men of Ephraim asked Gideon, "Why did you treat us this way? Why didn't you call us when you went to fight against Midian?" They argued angrily with Gideon.
3 God let you capture Oreb and Zeeb, the princes of Midian. How can I compare what I did with what you did?" When the men of Ephraim heard Gideon's answer, they were not as angry anymore.
4 Gideon then crossed the Jordan River with his 300 men, and though exhausted, they continued to chase the enemy.
5 In Succoth, Gideon asked the leaders of the town, “Please give my warriors some food. They are very tired. I am chasing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”
6 But the leaders of Succoth replied, “Catch Zebah and Zalmunna first, and then we will feed your army.”
7 Gideon said, “After the Lord gives me victory over Zebah and Zalmunna, I will return and tear your flesh with the thorns and briers from the wilderness.”
8 From there Gideon went up to Peniel and made the same request for food, but he got the same answer.
9 So he said to the people of Peniel, “After I return in victory, I will tear down this tower.”
10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with 15,000 men, all that remained of the allied armies of the east, for 120,000 had already been killed.
11 Gideon went up and circled around by the caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah, taking the Midianite army by surprise.
12 Zebah and Zalmunna, the two Midianite kings, fled, but Gideon chased them down and captured all their warriors.
13 After this, Gideon returned from the battle by way of Heres Pass,
14 where he captured a young man from Succoth and demanded that he write down the names of all the seventy-seven officials and elders in the town.
15 When Gideon came to Succoth, he said to the people of that city, "Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. You made fun of me by saying, 'Why should we give bread to your tired men? You have not caught Zebah and Zalmunna yet.'"
16 And he took the leaders of the city and desert thorns and thistles, and used them to teach the people of Sukkot a lesson!
17 He also broke down the tower of Peniel and put the men of the city to death.
18 Then he asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “The men you killed at Tabor... What were they like?”
“Like you,” they replied. “They all had the look of a king’s son.”
19 Gideon replied, "Those were my brothers, my mother's sons. As surely as the Lord lives, I would not kill you if you had spared them."
20 Turning to Jether, his oldest son, he said, “Kill them!” But Jether did not draw his sword, for he was only a boy and was afraid.
21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, “Be a man! Kill us yourself!” So Gideon killed them both and took the royal ornaments from the necks of their camels.
22 The men of Israel said to Gideon: "Rule over us, you, your son and your grandson, because you saved us from the power of Midian.
They want him to be their king, which he refuses.
23 But Gideon replied, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son. The Lord will rule over you!
24 However, I do have one request—that each of you give me an earring from the plunder you collected from your fallen enemies.” (The enemies, being Ishmaelites, all wore gold earrings.)
25 “Gladly!” they replied. They spread out a cloak, and each one threw in a gold earring he had gathered from the plunder.
26 The gold earrings weighed about 43 pounds. This did not count the decorations, necklaces, and purple robes worn by the kings of Midian, nor the chains from the camels' necks.
27Out of these things Gideon made a ritual vest, which he located in his city, Ophrah. But all Israel turned it into an idol there, and it thus became a trap to Gideon and his family.
28 That is the story of how the people of Israel defeated Midian, which never recovered. Throughout the rest of Gideon’s lifetime—about forty years—there was peace in the land.
29 Gideon son of Joash went to his home to live.
30 He had seventy sons born to him, for he had many wives.
31 He also had a concubine in Shechem, who gave birth to a son, whom he named Abimelech.
32 Gideon died when he was very old, and he was buried in the grave of his father, Joash, at Ophrah in the land of the clan of Abiezer.
33 As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel were again unfaithful to God and followed the Baals. They made Baal-Berith their god.
34 They forgot the Lord their God, who had rescued them from all their enemies surrounding them.
35 And they were not kind to the family of Jerub-Baal, also called Gideon, for all the good he had done for Israel.
The Book of Judges: Judges 9
1 One day Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his mother’s brothers. He said to them and to the rest of his mother’s family,
2 “Please ask all the men of Shechem whether they want to be ruled by all seventy of Gideon’s sons or by one man. And remember that I am your own flesh and blood relative!”3 And his mother's brothers told everyone about him to all of the men of Shechem all his words: and they decided in favor of Abimelech because he was their relative.
4 They also gave him seventy pieces of silver from the temple of Baal-berith, which he used to hire some good for nothing troublemakers who agreed to follow him.
5 He went to his father’s home at Ophrah, and there, on a stone, they killed all seventy of his half brothers, the sons of Gideon. But the youngest brother, Jotham, escaped and hid.
6 And all the men of Shechem gathered together, under the oak beside the pillar at Shechem and made Abimelech their king.
7 When Jotham heard about this, he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted,
“Listen to me, citizens of Shechem! Listen to me if you want God(Elohim/Theos) to listen to you!
8 “Once upon a time the trees decided to elect a king. First they said to the olive tree,‘Be our king!’
9 “But the olive tree refused, saying, ‘Should I quit producing the olive oil that blesses both God(Elohim/Theos) and people, just to wave back and forth over the trees?’
10 “So the trees said to the fig tree, 'You, come and rule over us!'
11 “But the fig tree replied, 'Am I supposed to leave my sweetness and my good fruit just to go and hold sway over the trees?'
12 “So the trees said to the grapevine, 'You, come and rule over us!'
13 “But the grapevine replied, 'Am I supposed to leave my wine, which gives cheer to God and humanity, just to go and hold sway over the trees?'
14 “Finally, all the trees said to the thorn bush, 'You, come and rule over us!'
15 “The thorn bush replied, 'If you really make me king over you, then come and take shelter in my shade. But if not, let fire come out of the thorn bush and burn down the cedars of Lebanon.’”
16 "Here's the point. Have you been honest and straightforward in making Abimelech king? Have you been fair with Yeruba'al and his household and treated him as he deserves?
17 For he fought for you and risked his life when he rescued you from the Midianites.
18 But today you have revolted against my father and his descendants, killing his seventy sons on one stone. And you have chosen his slave woman’s son, Abimelech, to be your king just because he is your relative.
19 “If you have acted honorably and in good faith toward Gideon and his descendants today, then may you find joy in Abimelech, and may he find joy in you.
20 But if you have not acted in good faith, then may fire come out from Abimelech and devour the leading citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo; and may fire come out from the citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo and devour Abimelech!”
21 Then Jotham escaped and lived in Beer because he was afraid of his brother Abimelech.
22 Abimelech ruled over Israel for three years,
23 God(Elohim/Theos) sent a spirit that stirred up trouble between Abimelech and the leading citizens of Shechem, and they revolted.
24 God(Elohim/Theos) was punishing Abimelech for murdering Gideon’s seventy sons, and the citizens of Shechem for supporting him in this treachery of murdering his brothers.
25 The citizens of Shechem set an ambush for Abimelech on the hilltops and robbed everyone who passed that way. But someone warned Abimelech about their plot.
26 Gaal son of Ebed moved to Shechem with his brothers and gained the confidence of the leading citizens of Shechem.
27 They went out into the field, gathered their grapes and pressed the juice out of them. Then they held a feast and went into the house of their god to eat and drink, and there they insulted Abimelech.
28 And Gaal the son of Ebed said, Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? is not he the son of Jerubbaal? and Zebul his officer? serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem: for why should we serve him?
29 Oh that God(Elohim/Theos) would put these people were under my hand! then would I remove Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, Increase your army, and come out.
30 But when Zebul, the leader of the city, heard what Gaal was saying, he was furious.
31 He sent messengers to Abimelech in private telling him, “Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers have come to live in Shechem, and now they are inciting the city to rebel against you.
32 Come by night with an army and hide out in the fields.
33 In the morning, as soon as it is daylight, attack the city. When Gaal and those who are with him come out against you, you can do with them as you wish.”
34 So Abimelech and all his men went by night and split into four groups, stationing themselves around Shechem.
35 Gaal the son of a slave went out and stationed himself at the entrance to the city gate. Then Abimelech and his men rose from their ambush.
36 And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, “Look, there are people coming down from the hilltops!”
and Zebul replied, “It’s just the shadows on the hills that look like men.”
37 Gaal said again, "Look, there are men coming down from the main hill in the land, and one group is coming on the road from the Fortuneteller's Oak.
38 Then Zebul turned on him and asked, “Now where is that big mouth of yours? Wasn’t it you that said, ‘Who is Abimelech, and why should we be his servants?’ The men you mocked are right outside the city! Go out and fight them!”
39 So Gaal led the leading citizens of Shechem into battle against Abimelech.
40 But Abimelech chased him, and many of Shechem’s men were wounded and fell along the road as they retreated to the city gate.
41 Abimelech returned to Arumah, and Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem.
42 But the very next day the people went down to the field and Abimelech was told all about it.
43 he divided his men into three groups and set an ambush in the fields. When Abimelech saw the people coming out of the city, he and his men jumped up from their hiding places and attacked them.
44 Abimelech and his group stormed the city gate to keep the men of Shechem from getting back in, while Abimelech’s other two groups cut them down in the fields.
45 The battle went on all day before Abimelech finally captured the city. He killed the people, leveled the city, and scattered salt all over the ground.
46 When the men who lived in the tower of Shechem heard what had happened, they entered into an hold of the house of the god(elohim/theos) Berith.
47 Someone reported to Abimelech that the citizens had gathered together,
48 so he led his forces to Mount Zalmon. He took an ax and chopped some branches from a tree, then put them on his shoulder. “Quick, do as I have done!” he told his men.
49 So each of them cut down some branches, following Abimelech’s example. They piled the branches against the walls of the temple and set them on fire. So all the people who had lived in the tower of Shechem died—about 1,000 men and women.
50 Then Abimelech attacked the town of Thebez and captured it.
51 But there was a strong tower inside the town, and all the men and women. The entire population—fled to it. They barricaded themselves in and climbed up to the roof of the tower.
52 Abimelech followed them to attack the tower. But as he prepared to set fire to the entrance,
53 a woman on the roof dropped a millstone that landed on Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull.
54 He quickly said to his young armor bearer, “Draw your sword and kill me! Don’t let it be said that a woman killed Abimelech!” So the young man ran him through with his sword, and he died.
55 When Abimelech’s men saw that he was dead, they disbanded and returned to their homes.
56 In this way, God(Elohim/Theos) punished Abimelech for the evil he had done against his father by murdering his seventy brothers.
57 God(Elohim/Theos) also punished the men of Shechem for all their evil. So the curse of Jotham son of Gideon was fulfilled.
The Book of Judges: Judges 10
1 After Abimelech died, a man of Issachar, Tola son of Puah, the son of Dodo, rose to save Israel. He lived in Shamir, in the hill country of Ephraim.
2 He judged Israel for twenty-three years. When he died, he was buried in Shamir.
3 After Tola died, Jair from Gilead judged Israel for twenty-two years.4 He had thirty sons, who rode thirty donkeys. They controlled thirty towns in Gilead, which to this day are called Havvoth Jair.
5 When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon.
6 Again the Israelites did evil in the site of the LORD(Jesus). They served the images of Baal and Ashtoreth(Easter), and the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and Philistia. They abandoned the LORD(Jesus) and no longer served him at all.
7 So the LORD(Jesus) burned with anger against Israel, and he turned them over to the Philistines and the Ammonites,
8 who began to oppress them that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all of Israel on the east side of the Jordan in Gilead, the land of the Amorites.
9 The Ammonites also crossed to the west side of the Jordan and attacked Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim, so that Israel were in great distress.
10 Finally, they cried out to the LORD(Jesus) for help, saying, “We have sinned against you because we have abandoned you as our God(Elohim/Theos) and have served the images of Baal.”
11 The LORD(Jesus) replied: Did I not rescue you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines,
12 the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites? When they oppressed you, you cried out to me for help, and I rescued you.
13 Yet you have abandoned me and served other gods(elohim/theos). So I will not rescue you anymore.
14 Go and cry out to the gods(elohim/theos) you have chosen! Let them rescue you in your hour of distress!
15 But the children of Israel pleaded with the LORD(Jesus) and said, “We have sinned. Punish us as you see fit, only rescue us today from our enemies.”
16 They got rid of their foreign gods(elohim/theos) and served the LORD(Jesus), and he became troubled by Israel's misery.
17 Then the people of Ammon gathered together and set up camp in Gilead, while the people of Israel assembled and camped at Mitzpah.
18 The leaders of Gilead said to each other, “Whoever attacks the Ammonites first will become ruler over all the people of Gilead.”
The Book of Judges: Judges 11
1 Now Jephthah of Gilead was a brave soldier. He was the son of a prostitute. His father was Gilead.
2 Gilead’s wife also had several sons, and when these half brothers grew up, they chased Jephthah off the land. “You will not get any of our father’s inheritance,” they said, “for you are the son of a whore.”
3 So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Soon he had a band of worthless rebels following him.
5 When the Ammonites attacked, the elders of Gilead sent for Jephthah in the land of Tob. The elders said,
6 “Come and be our commander! Help us fight the Ammonites!”
7 But Jephthah said to them, “Aren’t you the ones who hated me and drove me from my father’s house? Why do you come to me now when you’re in trouble?”
8 “Because we need you,” the elders replied. “If you lead us in battle against the Ammonites, we will make you ruler over all the people of Gilead.”
9 Jephthah said to the elders, “Let me get this straight. If I come with you and if the LORD(Jesus) gives me victory over the Ammonites, will you really make me ruler over all the people?”
10 “The LORD(Jesus) is our witness,” the elders replied. “We promise to do whatever you say.”
11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him their ruler and commander of the army. At Mizpah, in the presence of the LORD(Jesus), Jephthah repeated what he had said to the elders.
12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of Ammon, asking, “Why have you come out to fight against my land?”
13 The king of Ammon answered Jephthah’s messengers, “When the Israelites came out of Egypt, they stole my land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River and all the way to the Jordan. Now then, give back the land peaceably.”
14 Jephthah sent this message back to the Ammonite king:
15 “This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not steal any land from Moab or Ammon.
16 When the people of Israel arrived at Kadesh on their journey from Egypt after crossing the Red Sea,[Sea of Reeds]
17 they sent messengers to the king of Edom asking for permission to pass through his land. But their request was denied. Then they asked the king of Moab for similar permission, but he wouldn’t let them pass through either. So the people of Israel stayed in Kadesh.
18 “Finally, they went around Edom and Moab through the wilderness. They traveled along Moab’s eastern border and camped on the other side of the Arnon River. But they never once crossed the Arnon River into Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab.
19 “Then Israel sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled from Heshbon, asking for permission to cross through his land to get to their destination.
20 But King Sihon didn’t trust Israel to pass through his land. Instead, he mobilized his army at Jahaz and attacked them.
21 But the LORD(Jesus), the God(Elohim/Theos) of Israel, gave his people victory over King Sihon. So Israel took control of all the land of the Amorites, who lived in that region,
22 from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River, and from the eastern wilderness to the Jordan.
23 “So you see, it was the LORD(Jesus), the God(Elohim/Theos) of Israel, who took away the land from the Amorites and gave it to Israel. Why, then, should we give it back to you?
24 You keep whatever your God(Elohim/Theos) Chemosh gives you, and we will keep whatever the LORD(Jesus) our God(Elohim/Theos) gives us.
25 Are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he try to make a case against Israel for disputed land? Did he go to war against them?
26 “Israel has been living here for 300 years, inhabiting Heshbon and its surrounding settlements, all the way to Aroer and its settlements, and in all the towns along the Arnon River. Why have you made no effort to recover it before now?
27 Therefore, I have not sinned against you. Rather, you have wronged me by attacking me. Let the LORD(Yahweh), who is Jesus ( אֵת ('eth))* the judge, decide today which of us is right—Israel or Ammon.”
28 But the king of Ammon paid no attention to Jephthah’s message.
Jephthah’s Vow
29 Then the Spirit of the LORD(Jesus) came upon Jephthah, and he went throughout the land of Gilead and Manasseh, including Mizpah in Gilead, and from there he led an army against the Ammonites.30 Jephthah made a vow to the LORD(Jesus). He said, “If you give me victory over the Ammonites,
31 I will give to the LORD(Jesus) whatever comes out of my house to meet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”
32 So Jephthah led his army against the Ammonites, and the LORD(Jesus) gave him victory.
33 He crushed the Ammonites, devastating about twenty towns from Aroer to an area near Minnith and as far away as Abel-keramim. In this way Israel defeated the Ammonites.
34 When Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, his daughter came out to meet him, playing on a tambourine and dancing for joy. She was his one and only child; he had no other sons or daughters.
35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes in anguish. “Oh, my daughter!” he cried out. “You have completely destroyed me! You’ve brought disaster on me! For I have made a vow to the LORD(Jesus), and I cannot take it back.”
36 And she said, “Father, if you have made a vow to the LORD(Jesus), you must do to me what you have vowed, for the LORD(Jesus) has given you a great victory over your enemies, the Ammonites.
37 But first let me do this one thing: Let me go up and roam in the hills and weep with my friends for two months, because I will die a virgin.”
38 “You may go,” Jephthah said. And he sent her away for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never have children.
39 When she returned home, her father kept the vow he had made, and she died a virgin... So it has become a custom in Israel...
40 for young Israelite women to go away for four days each year to lament the fate of Jephthah’s daughter.
Entire chapter was NLT version.
HIS VOW:
Christ tells us NOT to make vows, because vows are meant to be kept. Whether this girl was literally killed (which would be against God's Law, or was forced to remain a virgin and unmaried, is not explained. I favor the second view as being the right one.
The Book of Judges: Judges 12
1 The men of Ephraim assembled an army and crossed over the Jordan River to Zaphon. And said to Jephthah: “Why didn’t you call for us to help you fight against the Ammonites? We are going to burn down your house with you in it!”
3 When I saw that you weren't rescuing me, I put my life in my own hands and went over to attack the people of 'Amon; and God(Elohim/Theos) gave them over into my power. So why have you come up today to fight me?"
4 Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought against Ephraim: and the men of Gilead destroyed Ephraim, because they said, You Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim who live in Ephraim, and among the Manassites.
5 The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim, and whenever a survivor of Ephraim said, "Let me cross over," the men of Gilead asked him, "Are you an Ephraimite?" If he replied, "No,"
6 they would tell him to say “Shibboleth.” If he was from Ephraim, he would say “Sibboleth,” because people from Ephraim cannot pronounce the word correctly. Then they would take him and kill him at the shallow crossings of the Jordan. In all, 42,000 Ephraimites were killed at that time.
7 Jephthah judged Israel for six years. When he died, he was buried in one of the towns of Gilead.
8 After Jephthah died, Ibzan from Bethlehem judged Israel.
9 He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He gave his daughters away in marriage to those outside his clan, and for his sons he brought in thirty young women as wives from outside his clan. Ibzan led Israel seven years.
10 When he died, he was buried at Bethlehem.
11 After Ibzan died, Elon from the tribe of Zebulun judged Israel for ten years.
12 When he died, he was buried at Aijalon in Zebulun.
13 After Elon died, Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, judged Israel.
14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. He judged Israel for eight years.
15 Then Abdon son of Hillel died, and was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.
The Book of Judges: Judges 13
The Birth of Samson:
1 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD(Jesus), so the LORD(Jesus) delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years. 2 There was a man from Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was barren and remained childless.
3 The angel of the LORD(Jesus) appeared to her and said: You are barren and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son.
4 Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean,
5 because you will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor may be used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God(Elohim/Theos) from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.
He is telling her that the boy will be a under the Naraite Vow
6 The woman came and told her husband; she said, "A man of God(Elohim/Theos) came to me; his face was fearsome, like that of the angel of God(Elohim/Theos). I didn't ask him where he came from, and he didn't tell me his name.
His name was “I AM” or Jesus!
7 But he said to me, 'You will conceive and give birth to a son. Now then, drink no wine or other fermented drink and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite of God(Elohim/Theos) from birth until the day of his death.' "
8 Then Manoah prayed to the LORD(Jesus) : "O LORD(Jesus), I beg you, let the man of God(Elohim/Theos) you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born."
9 God(Elohim/Theos) paid attention to what Manoach said, and the angel of God(Elohim/Theos) came again to the woman as she sat in the field, but her husband Manoah was not with her.
10 The woman hurried to tell her husband, "He's here! The man who appeared to me the other day!"
11 Manoah got up and followed his wife and went to the man. He said, "Are you the one who talked to my wife?" He said. "Yes."
All versions render “I AM” here and not yes, but it is not that way in the hebrew! He was not giving a hint of his name, he was merely answering the question in the affirmative!
12 So Manoah asked him, "When your words are fulfilled, what is to be the rule for the boy's life and work?"
13 The angel of the LORD(Jesus) said to Manoah: Your wife must do all that I have told her.
14 She shouldn't eat anything that comes from a grapevine, she shouldn't drink wine or other intoxicating liquor, and she shouldn't eat anything unclean. She should do everything I ordered her to do.
15 Manoah said to the angel of the LORD(Jesus), "We would like you to stay until we prepare a young goat for you."
16 The angel of the LORD(Jesus) replied: Even if I do stay, I won't eat your food; and if you prepare a burnt offering, you must offer it to the LORD(Jesus). Manoah did not realize that it was the angel of the LORD(Jesus).
17 Then Manoah said to the angel of the LORD(Jesus), "What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes true?"
18 He replied: Why do you ask my name? It is a wonderful secret!
What is thy name?--Manoah's request elicited the most unequivocal proofs of the divinity of his supernatural visitor--in his name "secret" (in the Margin, "wonderful"), and in the miraculous flame that betokened the acceptance of the sacrifice.
Here again is proof that Jesus did not want to reveal His name which IS NOT Yahweh, but hayah or “I AM” Yahweh is the personal family name of God, where hayah is Christ's name for now. We read in Revelation that Christ is coming back with a new name that nobody knows. Those who believe that one must address Christ by sopecific Hebrew names have no hint of the truth. Christ has often hid His name to those that even have His spirit!
19 Then Manoah took a young goat, together with the grain offering, and sacrificed it on a rock to the LORD(Jesus). And the LORD(Jesus) did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched:
20 As the flame went up toward the sky from the altar, the angel of the LORD(Jesus) ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with their faces to the ground.
21 When the angel of the LORD(Jesus) did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it was the angel of the LORD(Jesus).
22 And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God(Elohim/Theos).
23 But his wife answered, "If the LORD(Jesus) had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things or now told us this."
24 The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the LORD(Jesus) blessed him,
25 The Spirit of the LORD(Jesus) began to stir him when he was in the Camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
The Book of Judges: Judges 14
Samson:
2 When he returned home, he told his father and mother, “A young Philistine woman in Timnah caught my eye. I want to marry her. Get her for me.”
And Samson said to his father, “Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.”
Samson said . . . Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well--literally, "she is right in mine eyes"; not by her beautiful countenance or handsome figure, but right or fit for his purpose. And this throws light on the historian's remark in reference to the resistance of his parents: they "knew not that it was of the Lord, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines"--rather, "from the Philistines"--originating on their side. The Lord, by a course of retributive proceedings, was about to destroy the Philistine power, and the means which He meant to employ was not the forces of a numerous army, as in the case of the preceding judges, but the miraculous prowess of the single-handed champion of Israel. In these circumstances, the provocation to hostilities could only spring out of a private quarrel, and this marriage scheme was doubtless suggested by the secret influence of the Spirit as the best way of accomplishing the intended result.
4 His father and mother didn’t know that the LORD(Jesus) was at work in this, creating an opportunity to work against the Philistines, who ruled over Israel at that time.
5 Then went Samson down, with his father and his mother, to Timnath, When they came to the vineyards of Timnah, a young lion roared at him.
a young lion--Hebrew, a lion in the pride of his youthful prime. The wild mountain passes of Judah were the lairs of savage beasts; and most or all the "lions" of Scripture occur in that wild country. His rending and killing the shaggy monster, without any weapon in his hand, were accomplished by that superhuman courage and strength which the occasional influences of the Spirit enabled him to put forth, and by the exertion of which, in such private incidental circumstances, he was gradually trained to confide in them for the more public work to which he was destined.
6 And the Spirit of the LORD(Jesus) came powerfully upon him, and he ripped the lion’s jaws apart with his bare hands. He did it as easily as if it were a young goat. But he didn’t tell his father or mother about it.
7 Then he went down and talked with the woman and found he still liked her.
8 Awhile later, as he was returning to claim his bride, he turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion and saw that there was now a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey.
9 He scraped the honey out into his hands and went on, eating as he went; and when he came to his father and mother, he gave them some; and they ate too. But he didn't tell them that he had scraped the honey out of the body of the lion.
10 So his father was making final arrangements for the marriage, Samson threw a party at Timnah, as was the custom for elite young men.
11 When the they saw him, they selected thirty young men from the town to be his companions.
12 Samson said to them, “Let me tell you a riddle.If you can solve it within the seven days of the banquet and tell me the solution, I will give you thirty linen shirts and thirty changes of good clothes.
13 But if you can't solve it, you give me thirty linen shirts and thirty changes of good clothes." They answered, "Tell us the riddle, we want to hear it."
14 So he said to them, "Out of the eater came food; out of the strong came sweetness." Three days passed, and they couldn't solve the riddle.
15 On the seventh day, they said to Samson's wife, "Coax your husband into telling us the solution to the riddle. Otherwise we'll burn down your father's house and you with it. You two called us here to turn us into paupers, didn't you?"
16 So Samson’s wife came to him in tears and said, “You don’t love me; you hate me! You have given my people a riddle, but you haven’t told me the answer.” He answered her saying, “I haven’t even given the answer to my father or mother,Why should I tell you?”
17 But she had been crying throughout the seven days of the banquet; so on the seventh day, because she had kept pressing him, he told her the solution; and she passed it on to her people.
18 Then, before sundown on the seventh day, the men of the city said to him, "What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion?" Samson answered, "If you hadn't plowed with my young cow, you wouldn't have solved my riddle now."
If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle--a metaphor borrowed from agricultural pursuits, in which not only oxen but cows and heifers were, and continue to be, employed in dragging the plough. Divested of metaphor, the meaning is taken by some in a criminal sense, but probably means no more than that they had resorted to the aid of his wife--an unworthy expedient, which might have been deemed by a man of less noble spirit and generosity as releasing him from the obligation to fulfil his bargain.
19 Then the Spirit of the LORD(Jesus) came powerfully upon him. He went down to the town of Ashkelon, killed thirty men, took their belongings, and gave their clothing to the men who had solved his riddle. But Samson was furious about what had happened, and he went back home to live with his father and mother.
20 His wife was given in marriage to the man who had been Samson’s best man at the wedding.
The Book of Judges: Judges 15
1 But after a while, during the wheat-harvest season, Samson went to see his wife. He brought a young goat for her and said to her father, "I want to go to my wife in her room." But he wouldn't let him.
wheat harvest--that is, about the end of our April, or the beginning of our May. The shocks of grain were then gathered into heaps, and lying on the field or on the threshing-floors. It was the dry season, dry far beyond our experience, and the grain in a most combustible state.
2 Her father said, "I really thought you hated her altogether, so I gave her to your best man. But her younger sister - isn't she even prettier? Why not take her instead?"
This allegation was a mere sham, a flimsy pretext to excuse his refusal of admittance. The proposal he made of a marriage with her younger sister was but an insult to Samson, and one which it was unlawful for an Israelite to accept (Leviticus 18:18).
3 Samson said, “This time I cannot be blamed for everything I am going to do to you Philistines.”
4 Then he went out and caught 300 jackels. He tied their tails together in pairs, and he fastened a torch to each pair of tails.
5 Then he lit the torches and let the jackels run through the grain fields of the Philistines. He burned all their grain to the ground, including the sheaves and the uncut grain. He also destroyed their vineyards and olive groves.
6 The Philistines said, "Who did this?" They answered, "Samson, the son-in-law of the man from Timnah, because he took Samson's wife and gave her to his best man." Then the Philistines came up and burned both her and her father to death.
7 “Because you did this,” Samson vowed, “I won’t rest until I take my revenge on you!”
8 Infuriated, he attacked the Philistines with great anger and killed many of them. Then he went to live in a cave in the rock of Etam.
9 The Philistines retaliated by setting up camp in Judah and spreading out near the town of Lehi.
10 The men of Judah asked the Philistines, “Why are you attacking us?” They replied, "To arrest Samson, that's why - to treat him the way he treated us."
11 Then 3,000 men from Judah went down to the cave at the Eitam Rock and said to Samson, "Don't you know that the Philistines are our rulers? What are you doing to us?" He answered, "I've only treated them the way they treated me." He answered, “I only did to them what they did to me.”
12 They said to him, "We've come down to arrest you and hand you over to the Philistines." Samson replied, "Swear to me that you won't fall on me yourselves."
13 “We will only tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines,” they replied. “We won’t kill you.” So they tied him up with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock.
14 As Samson arrived at Lehi, the Philistines came shouting in triumph. But the Spirit of the LORD(Jesus) came powerfully upon Samson, and he snapped the ropes on his arms as if they were burnt strands of flax, and they fell from his wrists.
15 Then he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey. He picked it up and killed 1,000 Philistines with it.
16 Samson said, "With the jawbone of a donkey I left heaps piled on heaps! With the jawbone of a donkey I killed a thousand men!"
The inadequacy of the weapon plainly shows this to have been a miraculous feat, "a case of supernatural strength," just as the gift of prophecy is a case of supernatural knowledge [CHALMERS].
17 After he finished speaking he threw the jawbone away, and the place came to be called Ramat-Lechi [jawbone heights].
18 Samson was now very thirsty, and he cried out to the LORD(Jesus), “You have accomplished this great victory by the strength of your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of these pagans?”
19 So God(Elohim/Theos)made a gash in the crater at Lehi, and water came out. When he had drunk, his spirit came back; and he revived. This is why the place was called 'Ein-HaKorei [the spring of him who called], and it is there in Lehi until now.
20 Samson judged Israel for twenty years during the period when the Philistines dominated the land.
The Book of Judges: Judges 16
1 One day Samson went to Gaza and saw a prostitute and had sex with her.
2 The people of Gaza were told, "Samson is here!" So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They made no move during the night, saying, "At dawn we'll kill him."
Samson and Delilah:
4 Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah.The location of this place is not known, nor can the character of Delilah be clearly ascertained. Her abode, her mercenary character, and her heartless blandishments afford too much reason to believe she was a profligate woman.
5 The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, "See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you 1,100 pieces of silver.”
They probably imagined that he carried some amulet about his person, or was in the possession of some important secret by which he had acquired such herculean strength; and they bribed Delilah, doubtless by a large reward, to discover it for them. She undertook the service and made several attempts, plying all her arts of persuasion or blandishment in his soft and communicative moods, to extract his secret.
6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me what makes you so strong and what it would take to tie you up securely.”
7 Samson replied, “If I were tied up with seven new bowstrings that have not yet been dried, I would become as weak as anyone else.”
8 Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh thongs that had not been dried, and she tied him with them.
9 With men hidden in the room, she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" But he snapped the thongs as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.
10 Then Delilah said to Samson, "You have made a fool of me; you lied to me. Come now, tell me how you can be tied."
11 He said, "If anyone ties me securely with new ropes that have never been used, I'll become as weak as any other man."
12 Delilah took new ropes and tied him up with them. The men were hiding in the inner room as before, and again Delilah cried out, “Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!” But again Samson snapped the ropes from his arms as if they were thread.
13 Delilah then said to Samson, “You’ve been making fun of me and telling me lies! Now tell me how you can be tied up securely.”
He replied, "If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric on the loom and tighten it with the pin, I'll become as weak as any other man." So while he was sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into the fabric
14 and tightened it with the pin. Again she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom, with the fabric.15 She said to him, "How can you say you love me when your heart isn't with me? Three times you've made fun of me, and you haven't told me the source of your great strength."
16Every day she kept nagging at him and pressing at him, till it bothered him to death,
17 so that he finally told her everything. He said to her, "No razor has ever touched my head, because I have been a nazirite of God(Elohim/Theos) since I was born. If someone shaves me, then my strength will leave me; and I will be like any other man."
His herculean powers did not arise from his hair, but from his peculiar relation to God as a Nazarite. His unshorn locks were a sign of his Nazaritism, and a pledge on the part of God that his supernatural strength would be continued.
18 When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, "Come back once more; he has told me everything." So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands.
19 Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him, and his strength left him.
20 Then she cried out, “Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!” When he woke up, he thought, “I will do as before and shake myself free.” But he didn’t realize the LORD(Jesus) had left him.
Samson's strength was really not in his hair, but in God(Elohim/Theos)'s Spirit! The hair was only symbolic of his vow, and when God(Elohim/Theos) took away his Spirit, Samson was left weak.
21 Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison.
22 But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.
It is probable that he had now reflected on his folly; and becoming a sincere penitent, renewed his Nazarite vow. "His hair grew together with his repentance, and his strength with his hairs" [BISHOP HALL].
Samson’s End and God(Elohim/Theos)'s return:
23 The Philistine rulers held a great festival, offering sacrifices and praising their God(Elohim/Theos), Dagon. They said, “Our God(Elohim/Theos) has given us victory over our enemy Samson!”-It was a common practice in heathen nations, on the return of their solemn religious festivals, to bring forth their war prisoners from their places of confinement or slavery; and, in heaping on them every species of indignity, they would offer their grateful tribute to the gods by whose aid they had triumphed over their enemies. Dagon, was a sea idol, usually represented as having the head and upper parts human, while the rest of the body resembled a fish.(Jamieson) Fish Head- See Pope's Mitre!
24 When the people saw him, they praised their God(Elohim/Theos), saying, “Our God(Elohim/Theos) has delivered our enemy to us! The one who killed so many of us is now in our power!”
25 Half drunk by now, the people demanded, “Bring out Samson so he can amuse us!” So he was brought from the prison to amuse them, and they had him stand between the pillars supporting the roof.
26 Samson said to the servant who held his hand, "Put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple, so that I may lean against them."
27 Now the temple was completely filled with people. All the Philistine rulers were there, and there were about 3,000 men and women on the roof who were watching as Samson amused them.
This building seems to have been similar to the spacious and open amphitheaters well known among the Romans and still found in many countries of the East. They are built wholly of wood. The standing place for the spectators is a wooden floor resting upon two pillars and rising on an inclined plane, so as to enable all to have a view of the area in the center. In the middle there are two large beams, on which the whole weight of the structure lies, and these beams are supported by two pillars placed almost close to each other, so that when these are unsettled or displaced, the whole pile must tumble to the ground. (Jamieson)
28 Then Samson prayed to the LORD(Jesus), “Sovereign LORD(Jesus), remember me again. O God(Elohim/Theos), please strengthen me just one more time. With one blow let me pay back the Philistines for the loss of my two eyes.”
His penitent and prayerful spirit seems clearly to indicate that this meditated act was not that of a vindictive suicide, and that he regarded himself as putting forth his strength in his capacity of a public magistrate. He must be considered, in fact, as dying for his country's cause. His death was not designed or sought, except as it might be the inevitable consequence of his great effort. His prayer must have been a silent ejaculation, and, from its being revealed to the historian, approved and accepted of God. (Jamieson)
29 Then Samson put his hands on the two center pillars that held up the temple. Pushing against them with both hands,
30 he prayed, “Let me die with the Philistines.” And the temple crashed down on the Philistine rulers and all the people. So he killed more people when he died than he had during his entire lifetime.
31 Later his brothers and other relatives went down to get his body. They took him back home and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol, where his father, Manoah, was buried. Samson had judged Israel for twenty years.
See: (Hebrews 11:32).
The Book of Judges: Judges 17
1 And there was a man from the hills of Ephraim, whose name was Micah.
a man of mount Ephraim--that is, the mountainous parts of Ephraim. This and the other narratives that follow form a miscellaneous collection, or appendix to the Book of Judges. It belongs to a period when the Hebrew nation was in a greatly disordered and corrupt state. This episode of Micah is connected with Judges 1:34. It relates to his foundation of a small sanctuary of his own--a miniature representation ofthe Shiloh tabernacle--which he stocked with images modelled probably in imitation of the ark and cherubim. Micah and his mother were sincere in their intention to honor God. But their faith was blended with a sad amount of ignorance and delusion. The divisive course they pursued, as well as the will-worship they practised, subjected the perpetrators to the penalty of death. (Jamieson)
2 He said to his mother, "You know the 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you - you pronounced a curse about it, and you told me about it? Well, the money is with me. I took it." His mother said, "May the LORD(Jesus) bless my son,"
4 But he returned the money to his mother, and she took 200 pieces of silver and gave them to the metalworker, who made a carved image overlaid with silver which was put in Micah’s house.
5 Micah set up a shrine for the idol, and he made a sacred ephod and some household idols. Then he installed one of his sons as his personal priest.
-Hebrew, "a house of God"--a domestic chapel, a private religious establishment of his own.
6 In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.
Times like today, where there really is no following of the Law, everyone does what they see fit. The times of Judges are much like our times today.
7 One day a young Levite, who had been living in Bethlehem in Judah, arrived in that area.
8 He had left Bethlehem in search of another place to live, and as he traveled, he came to the hill country of Ephraim. He happened to stop at Micah’s house as he was traveling through.
9 “Where are you from?” Micah asked him. He replied, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am looking for a place to live.”
10 Micah said, "Stay with me, and be a father and priest for me; I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, in addition to your clothing and food." So the Levite went in.
11 and agreed to stay with the man; the young man became like one of his sons.
12 So Micah consecrated the Levite, the young man became his priest and stayed there in Micah’s house.
13 Micah said,"Now I know that the LORD(Jesus) will treat me well, because I have a Levite for a priest.
The Book of Judges: Judges 18
1At that time there was no king in Israel, and it was also at that time that the tribe of Dan was looking for a place to claim ownership of and settle in, since they had not yet been given any land of their own among the tribes of Israel.
2 The children of Dan chose from their clans five capable warriors from the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol to scout out a land for them to settle in.When these warriors arrived in the hill country of Ephraim, they came to Micah’s house and spent the night there.
4 And he answered them, Here is the deal that Micah made with me. He hired me to be his priest.
5 Then they said, “Ask God(Elohim/Theos) whether or not our journey will be successful.”
6 “Go in peace,” the priest replied. “For the LORD(Jesus) is watching over your journey.”
7 So the five men went on to the town of Laish, where they noticed the people living carefree lives, like the Sidonians; they were peaceful. The people were also wealthy because their land was very fertile. And they lived a great distance from Sidon and had no allies nearby.
8 When the men returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their relatives asked them, “What did you find?”
9 They said, "Let's go up and attack them. We've seen the land, and it's excellent. Don't delay; start moving! Go in, and take the land!
10 When you go, you will come to a people who feel safe. There's plenty of land, the place lacks nothing, it has everything there is on earth, and God(Elohim/Theos) has given it to you."
11 So 600 men from the tribe of Dan, armed with weapons of war, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol.
12 They camped at a place west of Kiriath-jearim in Judah, which is called the camp of Dan [Mahaneh-dan] to this day.
Remember, a sign of Dan is that the name every place where they stay, after their forefather Dan! See Verse 29
13 Then they went on from there into the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah.
14 The five men who had scouted out the land around Laish explained to the others, “These buildings contain a sacred ephod, as well as some household idols, a carved image, and a cast idol. What do you think you should do?”
15 Then the five men turned off the road and went over to Micah’s house, where the young Levite lived, and greeted him kindly.
16 As the 600 armed warriors from the tribe of Dan stood at the entrance of the gate,
17 the five scouts entered the shrine and removed the carved image, the sacred ephod, the household idols, and the cast idol. Meanwhile, the priest was standing at the gate with the 600 armed warriors.
18 When these men went into Micah's house and took the carved image, the ephod, the other household gods and the cast idol, the priest said to them, "What are you doing?"
19 They answered him, "Be quiet! Don't say a word. Come with us, and be our father and priest. Isn't it better that you serve a tribe and clan in Israel as priest rather than just one man's household?"
20 The young priest was glad to go with them, so he took along the sacred ephod, the household idols, and the carved image.
21 So they turned and left, with their children, cattle and belongings going ahead of them.
22 When the people from the tribe of Dan were quite a distance from Micah’s house, the people who lived near Micah came chasing after them.
23 They were shouting as they caught up with them. The men of Dan turned around and said to Micah, “What’s the matter? Why have you called these men together and chased after us like this?”
24 “What do you mean, ‘What’s the matter?’” Micah replied. “You’ve taken away all the gods I have made, and my priest, and I have nothing left!”
25 The men of Dan said, “Watch what you say! There are some short-tempered men around here who might get angry and kill you and your family.”
26 So the men of Dan continued on their way. When Micah saw that there were too many of them for him to attack, he turned around and went home.
27 Then, with Micah’s idols and his priest, the men of Dan came to the town of Laish, whose people were peaceful and secure. They attacked with swords and burned the town to the ground.
28 There was no one to rescue the people, for they lived a great distance from Sidon and had no allies nearby. This happened in the valley near Beth-rehob. Then the people of the tribe of Dan rebuilt the town and lived there.
29 They renamed the town 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 So Micah’s carved image was worshiped by the tribe of Dan as long as the Tabernacle of God(Elohim/Theos) remained at Shiloh.
The Book of Judges: Judges 19
The Levite and His Concubine:
1 In those days there was no king in Israel. There was a man from the tribe of Levi living in a remote area of the hill country of Ephraim. One day he brought home a woman from Bethlehem in Judah to be his concubine. took to him a concubine--The priests under the Mosaic law enjoyed the privilege of marrying as well as other classes of the people. It was no disreputable connection this Levite had formed; for a nuptial engagement with a concubine wife (though, as wanting in some outward ceremonies, it was reckoned a secondary or inferior relationship) possessed the true essence of marriage; it was not only lawful, but sanctioned by the example of many good men.(Jamieson)
2 But she became unfaithful to him and returned to her father’s home in Bethlehem. After about four months,
The cause of the separation assigned in our version rendered it unlawful for her husband to take her back (Deuteronomy 24:4); and according to the uniform style of sentiment and practice in the East, she would have been put to death, had she gone to her father's family. Other versions concur with JOSEPHUS, in representing the reason for the flight from her husband's house to be, that she was disgusted with him, through frequent brawls.(Jamieson)
3 Then her husband went after her to persuade her to return; he had his servant with him and a pair of donkeys. She brought him into her father's house; and when the girl's father saw him, he was glad to meet him.
4 His father-in-law, the girl's father, kept him there; so he remained with him three days; they ate, drank and stayed there.
5 On the fourth day the man was up early, ready to leave, but the woman’s father said to his son-in-law, “Have something to eat before you go.”
6 So the two men sat down together and had something to eat and drink. Then the woman’s father said, “Please stay another night and have a good time.”
7 The man got up to leave, but his father-in-law kept urging him to stay, so he finally gave in and stayed the night.
8 On the morning of the fifth day he was up early again, ready to leave, and again the woman’s father said, “Have something to eat; then you can leave later this afternoon.” So they had another day of feasting.
Irrefutable evidence that the day bean in the morning at this time
9 When the man got up to leave with his concubine and servant, his father-in-law, the girl's father, said to him, "Look, it's almost evening. Please stay the night - you see that it's getting late. Stay on, enjoy yourself, and tomorrow get going early on your way home."
10 But this time the man was determined to leave. So he took his two saddled donkeys and his concubine and headed in the direction of Jebus (that is, Jerusalem).
The note, "which is Jerusalem," must have been inserted by Ezra or some later hand. Jebus being still, though not entirely (Judges 1:8) in the possession of the old inhabitants, the Levite resisted the advice of his attendant to enter it and determined rather to press forward to pass the night in Gibeah, which he knew was occupied by Israelites. The distance from Beth-lehem to Jerusalem is about six miles. The event showed that it would have been better to have followed the advice of his attendant--to have trusted themselves among aliens than among their own countrymen.
11 It was late in the day when they neared Jebus, and the man’s servant said to him, “Let’s stop at this Jebusite town and spend the night there.”
12 “No,” his master said, “we can’t stay in this foreign town where there are no people from Israel. Instead, we will go on to Gibeah.
13 Come on, let’s try to get as far as Gibeah or Ramah, and we’ll spend the night in one of those towns.”
14 So they went on. The sun was setting as they came to Gibeah, a town in the land of Benjamin,
15 so they stopped there to spend the night. They rested in the town square, but no one took them in for the night.
16 That evening an old man came home from his work in the fields. He was from the hill country of Ephraim, but he was living in Gibeah, where the people were from the tribe of Benjamin.
17 When he saw the travelers sitting in the town square, he asked them where they were from and where they were going.
18 “We have been in Bethlehem in Judah,” the man replied. “We are on our way to a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim, which is my home. I traveled to Bethlehem, and now I’m returning to the house of the LORD(Jesus), but there's no one here who will let me spend the night in his home.
19 even though we have everything we need. We have straw and feed for our donkeys and plenty of bread and wine for ourselves.”
20 And the old man said, "Peace be with you! However, let all your needs be my responsibility; only do not spend the night in the open square."
21So he brought him into his house, and gave food for the donkeys. And they washed their feet, and ate and drank.
22 While they were enjoying themselves, a crowd of troublemakers from the town surrounded the house. They began beating at the door and shouting to the old man, “Bring out the man who is staying with you so we can have sex with him.”
23 The old man stepped outside to talk to them. “No, my brothers, don’t do such an evil thing. For this man is a guest in my house, and such a thing would be shameful.
This is much like the Sodom experience of Lot
24 Here, take my virgin daughter and this man’s concubine. I will bring them out to you, and you can abuse them and do whatever you like. But don’t do such a shameful thing to this man.”
25 But they wouldn’t listen to him. So the Levite took hold of his concubine and pushed her out the door. The men of the town abused her all night, taking turns raping her until morning. Finally, at dawn they let her go.
26 At daybreak the woman returned to the house where her husband was staying. She collapsed at the door of the house and lay there until it was light.
27 When her husband opened the door to leave, there lay his concubine with her hands on the threshold.
28 He said to her, "Get up! Let's go!" But there was no answer. So he loaded her body on the donkey and began his trip home.
29 When he got home, he took a knife and cut his concubine’s body into twelve pieces. Then he sent one piece to each tribe throughout all the territory of Israel.
30 Everyone who saw it said, “Such a horrible crime has not been committed in all the time since Israel left Egypt. Think about it! What are we going to do? Who’s going to speak up?”
The Book of Judges: Judges 20
Israel at War with Benjamin:
1 So all the children of Israel came out, from Dan to Beersheba, as well as from the land of Gilead, and the congregation gathered together as one man before the LORD(Jesus) at Mizpah. 2 The leaders of all the tribes of Isra'el presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God(Elohim/Theos) , 400,000 foot soldiers armed with swords.
3 (Now word soon reached the land of Benjamin that the other tribes had gone up to Mizpah.) The Israelites then asked how this terrible crime had happened.
4 So the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, "My concubine and I went into Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, to spend the night.
5 That night some of the leading citizens of Gibeah surrounded the house, planning to kill me, and they raped my concubine until she was dead.
6 So I cut her body into twelve pieces and sent the pieces throughout the territory assigned to Israel, for these men have committed a terrible and shameful crime.
7 Look, you are all people of Israel. So discuss what to do, and give your advice here and now."
8 All the people stood up in agreement and said, "None of us will go home to his tent or his house.
9 Instead, this is what we will do to Gibeah; we will draw lots to decide who will attack it.
10 We'll take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred from a thousand, and a thousand from ten thousand, to get provisions for the army. Then, when the army arrives at Gibeah in Benjamin for this shameful thing they have done in Israel.”
11 So all of Israel were completely united, and they gathered together to attack the town.
12 The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, "What about this awful crime that was committed among you?
13 Now surrender those wicked men of Gibeah so that we may put them to death and purge the evil from Israel."
But the Benjamites would not listen to their fellow Israelites.
14 Instead, they came from their towns and gathered at Gibeah to fight the Israelites.
15 In all, 26,000 of their warriors armed with swords arrived in Gibeah to join the 700 elite troops who lived there.
16 Among Benjamin’s elite troops, 700 were left-handed, and each of them could sling a rock and hit a target within a hairsbreadth without missing.
17 Israel had 400,000 experienced soldiers armed with swords, not counting Benjamin’s warriors.
18 Then the children of Israel arose and went up to the house of God(Elohim/Theos) to inquire of God(Elohim/Theos). They said, "Which of us shall go up first to battle against the children of Benjamin?" The LORD(Jesus) said, "Judah first!"
19 So the Israelites left early the next morning and camped near Gibeah.
20 Then they advanced toward Gibeah to attack the men of Benjamin.
21 But Benjamin’s warriors, who were defending the town, came out and killed 22,000 Israelites on the battlefield that day.
22 But the Israelites encouraged each other and took their positions again at the same place they had fought the previous day.
23 For they had gone up to Bethel and wept in the presence of the LORD(Jesus) until evening. They had asked the LORD(Jesus), “Should we fight against our relatives from Benjamin again?”And the LORD(Jesus) had said, “Go out and fight against them.”
24 So the next day Israel went out again to fight against the men of Benjamin,
25 And Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah on the second day, and cut down to the ground eighteen thousand more of the children of Israel; took weapons.
26 Then all the children of Israel, that is, all the people, went up and came to the house of God(Elohim/Theos) and wept. They sat there before the LORD(Jesus) and fasted that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD(Jesus).
27 So the children of Israel inquired of the LORD(Jesus) (the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,
28 and Phinehas son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron was the priest.) The Israelites asked the LORD(Jesus), “Should we fight against our relatives from Benjamin again, or should we stop?”
The LORD(Jesus) said, “Go! Tomorrow I will hand them over to you.”
29 Israel set an ambush all around Gibeah.
30 And on the third day Israel attacked rhe army of Benjamin and took their positions at the same place as before.
31 So the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city. They began to strike down and kill some of the people, as at the other times, in the highways (one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah) and in the field, about thirty men of Israel.
32 Then the warriors of Benjamin shouted, “We’re defeating them as we did before!” But the Israelites had planned in advance to run away so that the men of Benjamin would chase them along the roads and be drawn away from the town.
33 All the men of Israel left their places and took up a battle position at Baal-Tamar, while the other Israel men burst out of their hiding places at the plain of Gibeah.
34 There were 10,000 men chosen from all Israel who advanced against Gibeah. The fighting was so heavy that Benjamin didn’t realize disaster was imminent.
35 So the LORD(Jesus) helped Israel defeat Benjamin, and that day the Israelites killed 25,100 of Benjamin’s warriors, all of whom were experienced swordsmen.
36 Then the men of Benjamin saw that they were beaten.The Israelites had retreated from Benjamin’s warriors in order to give those hiding in ambush more room to maneuver against Gibeah.
37 Then those who were hiding rushed in from all sides and killed everyone in the town.
38 The army of Israel and the ambushers had agreed that as a signal they would make a huge cloud of smoke rise from the city,
39 When the Israelites saw the smoke, they turned and attacked Benjamin’s warriors. By that time Benjamin’s warriors had killed about thirty Israelites, and they shouted, “We’re defeating them as we did in the first battle!”
40 But when the warriors of Benjamin looked behind them and saw the smoke rising into the sky from every part of the town,
41 the men of Israel turned and attacked. At this point the men of Benjamin became terrified, because they realized disaster had come upon them,
42 they turned their backs on the men of Israel and made for the road to the desert. But the battle followed them, and those who came out of the city destroyed them from the rear.
43 The Israelites surrounded the men of Benjamin and chased them relentlessly, finally overtaking them east of Gibeah.
44 That day 18,000 of Benjamin’s strongest warriors died in battle.
45 The survivors fled into the wilderness toward the rock of Rimmon, but Israel killed 5,000 of them along the road. They continued the chase until they had killed another 2,000 near Gidom.
46 So that day the tribe of Benjamin lost 25,000 strong warriors armed with swords,
47 leaving only 600 men who escaped to the rock of Rimmon, where they lived for four months.
48 And the Israelites returned and slaughtered every living thing in all the towns—the people, the livestock, and everything they found. They also burned down all the towns they came to.
The Book of Judges: Judges 21
Wives for the Benjamites:
1 The men of Israel had taken an oath at Mizpah: "Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite." 2 Now the people went to Bethel and sat in the presence of God(Elohim/Theos) until evening, weeping loudly and bitterly.
3 "O LORD(Jesus), the God(Elohim/Theos) of Israel," they cried, "why has this happened to Israel? Why should one tribe be missing from Israel today?"
4 Early the next morning the people built an altar and presented their burnt offerings and peace offerings on it.
5 Then all of Israel asked, "Who from all the tribes of Israel has failed to assemble before the LORD(Jesus) ?" For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to assemble before the LORD(Jesus) at Mizpah should certainly be put to death.
6 Now Israel grieved for their brothers, the Benjamites. "Today one tribe is cut off from Israel," they said.
7 "How can we provide wives for those who are left, since we have taken an oath by the LORD(Jesus) not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?"
8 Then they asked, "Which one of the tribes of Israel failed to assemble before the LORD(Jesus) at Mizpah?" They discovered that no one from Jabesh Gilead had come to the camp for the assembly.
9 For when they counted the people, they found that none of the people of Jabesh Gilead were there.
10 So the assembly sent twelve thousand fighting men with instructions to go to Jabesh Gilead and put to the sword those living there, including the women and children.
11 "This is what you are to do," they said. "Kill every male and every woman who is not a virgin."
12 They found among the people living in Jabesh Gilead 400 young women who had never slept with a man, and they took them to the camp at Shiloh in Canaan.
13 Then the whole church sent an offer of peace to the Benjamites at the rock of Rimmon.
14 So the Benjamites returned at that time and were given the women of Jabesh Gilead who had been spared. But there were not enough for all of them.
15 The people grieved for Benjamin, because the LORD(Jesus) had made a gap in the tribes of Israel.
16 And the elders of the assembly said, "With the women of Benjamin destroyed, how shall we provide wives for the men who are left?
17 The Benjamite survivors must have heirs," they said, "so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out.
18 But we cannot give them our own daughters in marriage because we have sworn with a solemn oath: 'Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to a Benjamite.'
19 But look, there is the annual festival of the LORD(Jesus) in Shiloh, to the north of Bethel, and east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem, and to the south of Lebonah."
This is probably the FEAST OF TABERNACLES
20 So they told the Benjamites, "Go and hide in the vineyards
21 and watch. When the girls of Shiloh come out to join in the dancing, then rush from the vineyards and each of you seize a wife from the girls of Shiloh and go to the land of Benjamin.
22 When their fathers or brothers come to complain to us, we will tell them, 'Do us a kindness by helping them, because we did not get wives for them during the war, and you are innocent, since you did not give your daughters to them.' "
23 So that is what the Benjamites did. While the girls were dancing, each man caught one and carried her off to be his wife. Then they returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and settled in them.
24 At that time the Israelites left that place and went home to their tribes and clans, each to his own inheritance.
25 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.
Comments:
Everyone did as they saw fit, parallels perfectly this modern time; and modern Christians, that are rebelling against God and God's Laws, but are still finding grace.
Rape and Marriage: We also see in this chapter some insight into God's Laws concerning both rape and marriage. God abhors rape and it is a death penalty crime. However, God also sees marriage as both a duty and a great reward. It is not in God's plan to marry whomever we choose, but who God chooses for us.
This is the end of the book of Judges (Joshua-Judges)
