king james study
====
JG-1:1 Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the
children of
Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against
the Canaanites
first, to fight against them?
JG-1:2 And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have
delivered the
land into his hand.
JG-1:3 And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me
into my lot,
that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go
with thee
into thy lot. So Simeon went with him.
JG-1:4 And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the Canaanites
and the
Perizzites into their hand: and they slew of them in Bezek ten
thousand men.
JG-1:5 And they found Adonibezek in Bezek: and they fought
against him, and
they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites.
JG-1:6 But Adonibezek fled; and they pursued after him, and
caught him, and
cut off his thumbs and his great toes.
JG-1:7 And Adonibezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having
their thumbs and
their great toes cut off, gathered [their meat] under my table:
as I have
done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem,
and there he
died.
JG-1:8 Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem,
and had taken
it, and smitten it with the edge of the sword, and set the city
on fire.
JG-1:9 And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight
against the
Canaanites, that dwelt in the mountain, and in the south, and in
the valley.
JG-1:10 And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in
Hebron: (now the
name of Hebron before [was] Kirjatharba:) and they slew Sheshai,
and Ahiman,
and Talmai.
JG-1:11 And from thence he went against the inhabitants of
Debir: and the
name of Debir before [was] Kirjathsepher:
JG-1:12 And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjathsepher, and
taketh it, to him
will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.
JG-1:13 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother,
took it: and
he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife.
JG-1:14 And it came to pass, when she came [to him], that she
moved him to
ask of her father a field: and she lighted from off [her] ass;
and Caleb said
unto her, What wilt thou?
JG-1:15 And she said unto him, Give me a blessing: for thou
hast given me a
south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her
the upper
springs and the nether springs.
JG-1:16 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 [lieth] in the south of Arad; and they went and
dwelt among the
people.
JG-1:17 And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew
the Canaanites
that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. And the name
of the city was
called Hormah.
JG-1:18 Also Judah took Gaza with the coast thereof, and
Askelon with the
coast thereof, and Ekron with the coast thereof.
JG-1:19 And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out [the
inhabitants of]
the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the
valley, because
they had chariots of iron.
JG-1:20 And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said: and he
expelled
thence the three sons of Anak.
JG-1:21 And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the
Jebusites that
inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children
of Benjamin in
Jerusalem unto this day.
JG-1:22 And the house of Joseph, they also went up against
Bethel: and the
LORD [was] with them.
JG-1:23 And the house of Joseph sent to descry Bethel. (Now the
name of the
city before [was] Luz.)
JG-1:24 And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and
they said
unto him, Show us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and
we will show
thee mercy.
JG-1:25 And when he showed them the entrance into the city,
they smote the
city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and all
his family.
JG-1:26 And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and
built a city, and
called the name thereof Luz: which [is] the name thereof unto
this day.
JG-1:27 Neither did Manasseh drive out [the inhabitants of]
Bethshean and her
towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and
her towns,
nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants
of Megiddo
and her towns: but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.
JG-1:28 And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they
put the
Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out.
JG-1:29 Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt
in Gezer; but
the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.
JG-1:30 Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron,
nor the
inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and
became
tributaries.
JG-1:31 Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho,
nor the
inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah,
nor of
Aphik, nor of Rehob:
JG-1:32 But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the
inhabitants of the
land: for they did not drive them out.
JG-1:33 Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of
Bethshemesh, nor
the inhabitants of Bethanath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites,
the
inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of
Bethshemesh and of
Bethanath became tributaries unto them.
JG-1:34 And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the
mountain: for
they would not suffer them to come down to the valley:
JG-1:35 But the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres in Aijalon,
and in
Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that
they became
tributaries.
JG-1:36 And the coast of the Amorites [was] from the going up
to Akrabbim,
from the rock, and upward.
====
JG-2:1 And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim,
and said, I
made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the
land which I
sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my
covenant with you.
JG-2:2 And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this
land; ye
shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice:
why have ye
done this?
JG-2:3 Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from
before you; but
they shall be [as thorns] in your sides, and their gods shall be
a snare unto
you.
JG-2:4 And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake
these words unto
all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their
voice, and wept.
JG-2:5 And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they
sacrificed
there unto the LORD.
JG-2:6 And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of
Israel went
every man unto his inheritance to possess the land.
JG-2:7 And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua,
and all the
days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the
great works of
the LORD, that he did for Israel.
JG-2:8 And Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD,
died, [being] an
hundred and ten years old.
JG-2:9 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in
Timnathheres,
in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash.
JG-2:10 And also all that generation were gathered unto their
fathers: and
there arose another generation after them, which knew not the
LORD, nor yet
the works which he had done for Israel.
JG-2:11 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the
LORD, and
served Baalim:
JG-2:12 And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which
brought them
out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods
of the people
that [were] round about them, and bowed themselves unto them,
and provoked the
LORD to anger.
JG-2:13 And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and
Ashtaroth.
JG-2:14 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and
he delivered
them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold
them into the
hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any
longer stand
before their enemies.
JG-2:15 Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the LORD was
against them
for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto
them: and they
were greatly distressed.
JG-2:16 Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered
them out of
the hand of those that spoiled them.
JG-2:17 And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but
they went a
whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they
turned quickly
out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the
commandments of the
LORD; [but] they did not so.
JG-2:18 And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD
was with the
judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all
the days of the
judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by
reason of them
that oppressed them and vexed them.
JG-2:19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, [that]
they returned,
and corrupted [themselves] more than their fathers, in following
other gods to
serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from
their own doings,
nor from their stubborn way.
JG-2:20 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and
he said,
Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I
commanded their
fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice;
JG-2:21 I also will not henceforth drive out any from before
them of the
nations which Joshua left when he died:
JG-2:22 That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will
keep the way
of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep [it], or
not.
JG-2:23 Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving
them out
hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.
====
JG-3:1 Now these [are] the nations which the LORD left, to
prove Israel by
them, [even] as many [of Israel] as had not known all the wars
of Canaan;
JG-3:2 Only that the generations of the children of Israel
might know, to
teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof;
JG-3:3 [Namely], five lords of the Philistines, and all the
Canaanites, and
the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from
mount
Baalhermon unto the entering in of Hamath.
JG-3:4 And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether
they would
hearken unto the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded
their fathers by
the hand of Moses.
JG-3:5 And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites,
Hittites, and
Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites:
JG-3:6 And they took their daughters to be their wives, and
gave their
daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
JG-3:7 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the
LORD, and
forgat the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the groves.
JG-3:8 Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel,
and he sold
them into the hand of Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and
the children
of Israel served Chushanrishathaim eight years.
JG-3:9 And when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the
LORD raised
up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them,
[even] Othniel
the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.
JG-3:10 And the spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged
Israel, and
went out to war: and the LORD delivered Chushanrishathaim king
of Mesopotamia
into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushanrishathaim.
JG-3:11 And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son
of Kenaz died.
JG-3:12 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight
of the LORD:
and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel,
because they
had done evil in the sight of the LORD.
JG-3:13 And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and
Amalek, and went
and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees.
JG-3:14 So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab
eighteen
years.
JG-3:15 But when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD,
the LORD raised
them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man
lefthanded: and
by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king
of Moab.
JG-3:16 But Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges, of a
cubit length;
and he did gird it under his raiment upon his right thigh.
JG-3:17 And he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab: and
Eglon [was] a
very fat man.
JG-3:18 And when he had made an end to offer the present, he
sent away the
people that bare the present.
JG-3:19 But he himself turned again from the quarries that
[were] by Gilgal,
and said, I have a secret errand unto thee, O king: who said,
Keep silence.
And all that stood by him went out from him.
JG-3:20 And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting in a summer
parlour, which
he had for himself alone. And Ehud said, I have a message from
God unto thee.
And he arose out of [his] seat.
JG-3:21 And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger
from his right
thigh, and thrust it into his belly:
JG-3:22 And the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat
closed upon
the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly;
and the dirt
came out.
JG-3:23 Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the
doors of the
parlour upon him, and locked them.
JG-3:24 When he was gone out, his servants came; and when they
saw that,
behold, the doors of the parlour [were] locked, they said,
Surely he covereth
his feet in his summer chamber.
JG-3:25 And they tarried till they were ashamed: and, behold,
he opened not
the doors of the parlour; therefore they took a key, and opened
[them]: and,
behold, their lord [was] fallen down dead on the earth.
JG-3:26 And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond
the quarries,
and escaped unto Seirath.
JG-3:27 And it came to pass, when he was come, that he blew a
trumpet in the
mountain of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with
him from the
mount, and he before them.
JG-3:28 And he said unto them, Follow after me: for the LORD
hath delivered
your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down
after him, and
took the fords of Jordan toward Moab, and suffered not a man to
pass over.
JG-3:29 And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand
men, all lusty,
and all men of valour; and there escaped not a man.
JG-3:30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel.
And the land
had rest fourscore years.
JG-3:31 And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew
of the
Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also
delivered Israel.
====
JG-4:1 And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight
of the LORD,
when Ehud was dead.
JG-4:2 And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of
Canaan, that
reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host [was] Sisera, which
dwelt in
Harosheth of the Gentiles.
JG-4:3 And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD: for he
had nine
hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed
the children
of Israel.
JG-4:4 And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she
judged Israel at
that time.
JG-4:5 And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between
Ramah and Bethel
in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for
judgment.
JG-4:6 And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of
Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the LORD God of
Israel commanded,
[saying], Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten
thousand men
of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?
JG-4:7 And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera,
the captain of
Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will
deliver him into
thine hand.
JG-4:8 And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I
will go: but
if thou wilt not go with me, [then] I will not go.
JG-4:9 And she said, I will surely go with thee:
notwithstanding the journey
that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the LORD
shall sell Sisera
into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak
to Kedesh.
JG-4:10 And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he
went up with
ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him.
JG-4:11 Now Heber the Kenite, [which was] of the children of
Hobab the father
in law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and
pitched his tent
unto the plain of Zaanaim, which [is] by Kedesh.
JG-4:12 And they showed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam
was gone up to
mount Tabor.
JG-4:13 And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, [even]
nine hundred
chariots of iron, and all the people that [were] with him, from
Harosheth of
the Gentiles unto the river of Kishon.
JG-4:14 And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this [is] the day
in which the
LORD hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the LORD gone
out before
thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men
after him.
JG-4:15 And the LORD discomfited Sisera, and all [his] chariots,
and all
[his] host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that
Sisera lighted
down off [his] chariot, and fled away on his feet.
JG-4:16 But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the
host, unto
Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon
the edge of
the sword; [and] there was not a man left.
JG-4:17 Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of
Jael the wife of
Heber the Kenite: for [there was] peace between Jabin the king
of Hazor and
the house of Heber the Kenite.
JG-4:18 And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him,
Turn in, my
lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto
her into the
tent, she covered him with a mantle.
JG-4:19 And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little
water to drink;
for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him
drink, and
covered him.
JG-4:20 Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent,
and it shall
be, when any man doth come and inquire of thee, and say, Is
there any man
here? that thou shalt say, No.
JG-4:21 Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and
took an hammer in
her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his
temples, and
fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary.
So he died.
JG-4:22 And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to
meet him, and
said unto him, Come, and I will show thee the man whom thou
seekest. And when
he came into her [tent], behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail
[was] in his
temples.
JG-4:23 So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan
before the
children of Israel.
JG-4:24 And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and
prevailed
against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin
king of
Canaan.
====
JG-5:1 Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that
day, saying,
JG-5:2 Praise ye the LORD for the avenging of Israel, when the
people
willingly offered themselves.
JG-5:3 Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, [even] I,
will sing unto
the LORD; I will sing [praise] to the LORD God of Israel.
JG-5:4 LORD, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst
out of the
field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the
clouds also
dropped water.
JG-5:5 The mountains melted from before the LORD, [even] that
Sinai from
before the LORD God of Israel.
JG-5:6 In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of
Jael, the
highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through
byways.
JG-5:7 [The inhabitants of] the villages ceased, they ceased in
Israel, until
that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.
JG-5:8 They chose new gods; then [was] war in the gates: was
there a shield
or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?
JG-5:9 My heart [is] toward the governors of Israel, that
offered themselves
willingly among the people. Bless ye the LORD.
JG-5:10 Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in
judgment, and walk
by the way.
JG-5:11 [They that are delivered] from the noise of archers in
the places of
drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of
the LORD,
[even] the righteous acts [toward the inhabitants] of his
villages in Israel:
then shall the people of the LORD go down to the gates.
JG-5:12 Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song:
arise, Barak, and
lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam.
JG-5:13 Then he made him that remaineth have dominion over the
nobles among
the people: the LORD made me have dominion over the mighty.
JG-5:14 Out of Ephraim [was there] a root of them against
Amalek; after thee,
Benjamin, among thy people; out of Machir came down governors,
and out of
Zebulun they that handle the pen of the writer.
JG-5:15 And the princes of Issachar [were] with Deborah; even
Issachar, and
also Barak: he was sent on foot into the valley. For the
divisions of Reuben
[there were] great thoughts of heart.
JG-5:16 Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the
bleatings of the
flocks? For the divisions of Reuben [there were] great
searchings of heart.
JG-5:17 Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain in
ships? Asher
continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches.
JG-5:18 Zebulun and Naphtali [were] a people [that] jeoparded
their lives
unto the death in the high places of the field.
JG-5:19 The kings came [and] fought, then fought the kings of
Canaan in
Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money.
JG-5:20 They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses
fought against
Sisera.
JG-5:21 The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river,
the river
Kishon. O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.
JG-5:22 Then were the horsehoofs broken by the means of the
prancings, the
prancings of their mighty ones.
JG-5:23 Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye
bitterly the
inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the
LORD, to the
help of the LORD against the mighty.
JG-5:24 Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the
Kenite be,
blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
JG-5:25 He asked water, [and] she gave [him] milk; she brought
forth butter
in a lordly dish.
JG-5:26 She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the
workmen's
hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his
head, when she
had pierced and stricken through his temples.
JG-5:27 At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down: at her feet
he bowed, he
fell: where he bowed, there he fell down dead.
JG-5:28 The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried
through the
lattice, Why is his chariot [so] long in coming? why tarry the
wheels of his
chariots?
JG-5:29 Her wise ladies answered her, yea, she returned answer
to herself,
JG-5:30 Have they not sped? have they [not] divided the prey;
to every man a
damsel [or] two; to Sisera a prey of divers colours, a prey of
divers colours
of needlework, of divers colours of needlework on both sides,
[meet] for the
necks of [them that take] the spoil?
JG-5:31 So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but [let] them
that love him
[be] as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land
had rest forty
years.
====
JG-6:1 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the
LORD: and the
LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.
JG-6:2 And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: [and]
because of the
Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which [are]
in the
mountains, and caves, and strong holds.
JG-6:3 And [so] it was, when Israel had sown, that the
Midianites came up,
and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came
up against
them;
JG-6:4 And they encamped against them, and destroyed the
increase of the
earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for
Israel, neither
sheep, nor ox, nor ass.
JG-6:5 For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and
they came as
grasshoppers for multitude; [for] both they and their camels
were without
number: and they entered into the land to destroy it.
JG-6:6 And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the
Midianites; and the
children of Israel cried unto the LORD.
JG-6:7 And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried
unto the LORD
because of the Midianites,
JG-6:8 That the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel,
which said
unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up
from Egypt, and
brought you forth out of the house of bondage;
JG-6:9 And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians,
and out of the
hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before
you, and gave
you their land;
JG-6:10 And I said unto you, I [am] the LORD your God; fear not
the gods of
the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my
voice.
JG-6:11 And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an
oak which [was]
in Ophrah, that [pertained] unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his
son Gideon
threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide [it] from the
Midianites.
JG-6:12 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said
unto him, The
LORD [is] with thee, thou mighty man of valour.
JG-6:13 And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be
with us, why
then is all this befallen us? and where [be] all his miracles
which our
fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from
Egypt? but now
the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of
the Midianites.
JG-6:14 And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy
might, and
thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not
I sent thee?
JG-6:15 And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I
save Israel?
behold, my family [is] poor in Manasseh, and I [am] the least in
my father's
house.
JG-6:16 And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee,
and thou
shalt smite the Midianites as one man.
JG-6:17 And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy
sight, then
show me a sign that thou talkest with me.
JG-6:18 Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee,
and bring
forth my present, and set [it] before thee. And he said, I will
tarry until
thou come again.
JG-6:19 And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and
unleavened cakes of an
ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the
broth in a pot,
and brought [it] out unto him under the oak, and presented [it].
JG-6:20 And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and
the unleavened
cakes, and lay [them] upon this rock, and pour out the broth.
And he did so.
JG-6:21 Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the
staff that [was]
in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and
there rose up
fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened
cakes. Then
the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight.
JG-6:22 And when Gideon perceived that he [was] an angel of the
LORD, Gideon
said, Alas, O Lord GOD! for because I have seen an angel of the
LORD face to
face.
JG-6:23 And the LORD said unto him, Peace [be] unto thee; fear
not: thou
shalt not die.
JG-6:24 Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and
called it
Jehovahshalom: unto this day it [is] yet in Ophrah of the
Abiezrites.
JG-6:25 And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said
unto him, Take
thy father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven
years old, and
throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down
the grove that
[is] by it:
JG-6:26 And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top
of this rock,
in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a
burnt sacrifice
with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down.
JG-6:27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as
the LORD had
said unto him: and [so] it was, because he feared his father's
household, and
the men of the city, that he could not do [it] by day, that he
did [it] by
night.
JG-6:28 And when the men of the city arose early in the morning,
behold, the
altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that
[was] by it, and
the second bullock was offered upon the altar [that was] built.
JG-6:29 And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing?
And when they
inquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done
this thing.
JG-6:30 Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy
son, that he
may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and
because he hath cut
down the grove that [was] by it.
JG-6:31 And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye
plead for
Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him be
put to death
whilst [it is yet] morning: if he [be] a god, let him plead for
himself,
because [one] hath cast down his altar.
JG-6:32 Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying,
Let Baal plead
against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.
JG-6:33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the
children of the
east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the
valley of
Jezreel.
JG-6:34 But the spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he
blew a trumpet;
and Abiezer was gathered after him.
JG-6:35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who
also was gathered
after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun,
and unto
Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.
JG-6:36 And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by
mine hand, as
thou hast said,
JG-6:37 Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; [and]
if the dew be
on the fleece only, and [it be] dry upon all the earth [beside],
then shall I
know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said.
JG-6:38 And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and
thrust the
fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl
full of water.
JG-6:39 And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot
against me, and
I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this
once with the
fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the
ground let
there be dew.
JG-6:40 And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the
fleece only, and
there was dew on all the ground.
====
JG-7:1 Then Jerubbaal, who [is] Gideon, and all the people that
[were] with
him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so
that the host of
the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of
Moreh, in the
valley.
JG-7:2 And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that [are]
with thee [are]
too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest
Israel vaunt
themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.
JG-7:3 Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people,
saying,
Whosoever [is] fearful and afraid, let him return and depart
early from mount
Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand;
and there
remained ten thousand.
JG-7:4 And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people [are] yet
[too] many; bring
them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there:
and it shall be,
[that] of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the
same shall go
with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go
with thee, the
same shall not go.
JG-7:5 So he brought down the people unto the water: and the
LORD said unto
Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as
a dog lappeth,
him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth
down upon his
knees to drink.
JG-7:6 And the number of them that lapped, [putting] their hand
to their
mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people
bowed down upon
their knees to drink water.
JG-7:7 And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men
that lapped
will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and
let all the
[other] people go every man unto his place.
JG-7:8 So the people took victuals in their hand, and their
trumpets: and he
sent all [the rest of] Israel every man unto his tent, and
retained those
three hundred men: and the host of Midian was beneath him in the
valley.
JG-7:9 And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said
unto him,
Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into
thine hand.
JG-7:10 But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy
servant down to
the host:
JG-7:11 And thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall
thine hands be
strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with
Phurah his
servant unto the outside of the armed men that [were] in the
host.
JG-7:12 And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the
children of the
east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude;
and their camels
[were] without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude.
JG-7:13 And when Gideon was come, behold, [there was] a man
that told a dream
unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a
cake of
barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a
tent, and smote
it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along.
JG-7:14 And his fellow answered and said, This [is] nothing
else save the
sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: [for] into
his hand hath
God delivered Midian, and all the host.
JG-7:15 And it was [so], when Gideon heard the telling of the
dream, and the
interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned into
the host of
Israel, and said, Arise; for the LORD hath delivered into your
hand the host
of Midian.
JG-7:16 And he divided the three hundred men [into] three
companies, and he
put a trumpet in every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and
lamps within the
pitchers.
JG-7:17 And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and,
behold, when
I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be [that], as I do,
so shall ye
do.
JG-7:18 When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that [are] with
me, then blow
ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say,
[The sword] of
the LORD, and of Gideon.
JG-7:19 So Gideon, and the hundred men that [were] with him,
came unto the
outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and
they had but
newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the
pitchers that
[were] in their hands.
JG-7:20 And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake
the pitchers,
and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in
their right hands
to blow [withal]: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of
Gideon.
JG-7:21 And they stood every man in his place round about the
camp: and all
the host ran, and cried, and fled.
JG-7:22 And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD
set every man's
sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the
host fled to
Bethshittah in Zererath, [and] to the border of Abelmeholah,
unto Tabbath.
JG-7:23 And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out
of Naphtali,
and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the
Midianites.
JG-7:24 And Gideon sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim,
saying, Come
down against the Midianites, and take before them the waters
unto Bethbarah
and Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves
together, and took
the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan.
JG-7:25 And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and
Zeeb; and they
slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the
winepress of Zeeb, and
pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon
on the other
side Jordan.
====
JG-8:1 And the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why hast thou
served us thus,
that thou calledst us not, when thou wentest to fight with the
Midianites? And
they did chide with him sharply.
JG-8:2 And he said unto them, What have I done now in
comparison of you? [Is]
not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the
vintage of Abiezer?
JG-8:3 God hath delivered into your hands the princes of Midian,
Oreb and
Zeeb: and what was I able to do in comparison of you? Then their
anger was
abated toward him, when he had said that.
JG-8:4 And Gideon came to Jordan, [and] passed over, he, and
the three
hundred men that [were] with him, faint, yet pursuing [them].
JG-8:5 And he said unto the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you,
loaves of bread
unto the people that follow me; for they [be] faint, and I am
pursuing after
Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.
JG-8:6 And the princes of Succoth said, [Are] the hands of
Zebah and Zalmunna
now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thine army?
JG-8:7 And Gideon said, Therefore when the LORD hath delivered
Zebah and
Zalmunna into mine hand, then I will tear your flesh with the
thorns of the
wilderness and with briers.
JG-8:8 And he went up thence to Penuel, and spake unto them
likewise: and the
men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered
[him].
JG-8:9 And he spake also unto the men of Penuel, saying, When I
come again in
peace, I will break down this tower.
JG-8:10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna [were] in Karkor, and their
hosts with them,
about fifteen thousand [men], all that were left of all the
hosts of the
children of the east: for there fell an hundred and twenty
thousand men that
drew sword.
JG-8:11 And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in
tents on the east
of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the host: for the host was
secure.
JG-8:12 And when Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued after them,
and took the
two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and discomfited all the
host.
JG-8:13 And Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle before
the sun [was
up],
JG-8:14 And caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and
inquired of him:
and he described unto him the princes of Succoth, and the elders
thereof,
[even] threescore and seventeen men.
JG-8:15 And he came unto the men of Succoth, and said, Behold
Zebah and
Zalmunna with whom ye did upbraid me, saying, [Are] the hands of
Zebah and
Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thy
men [that are]
weary?
JG-8:16 And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the
wilderness and
briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth.
JG-8:17 And he beat down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men
of the city.
JG-8:18 Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of
men [were they]
whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou [art], so
[were] they; each
one resembled the children of a king.
JG-8:19 And he said, They [were] my brethren, [even] the sons
of my mother:
[as] the LORD liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not
slay you.
JG-8:20 And he said unto Jether his firstborn, Up, [and] slay
them. But the
youth drew not his sword: for he feared, because he [was] yet a
youth.
JG-8:21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon
us: for as the
man [is, so is] his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah
and Zalmunna,
and took away the ornaments that [were] on their camels' necks.
JG-8:22 Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over
us, both
thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also: for thou hast
delivered us from the
hand of Midian.
JG-8:23 And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you,
neither shall my
son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you.
JG-8:24 And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of
you, that ye
would give me every man the earrings of his prey. (For they had
golden
earrings, because they [were] Ishmaelites.)
JG-8:25 And they answered, We will willingly give [them]. And
they spread a
garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey.
JG-8:26 And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested
was a
thousand and seven hundred [shekels] of gold; beside ornaments,
and collars,
and purple raiment that [was] on the kings of Midian, and beside
the chains
that [were] about their camels' necks.
JG-8:27 And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his
city, [even] in
Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which
thing became a
snare unto Gideon, and to his house.
JG-8:28 Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel,
so that they
lifted up their heads no more. And the country was in quietness
forty years in
the days of Gideon.
JG-8:29 And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his
own house.
JG-8:30 And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body
begotten: for he
had many wives.
JG-8:31 And his concubine that [was] in Shechem, she also bare
him a son,
whose name he called Abimelech.
JG-8:32 And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and
was buried in
the sepulchre of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
JG-8:33 And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that
the children of
Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made
Baalberith
their god.
JG-8:34 And the children of Israel remembered not the LORD
their God, who had
delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every
side:
JG-8:35 Neither showed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal,
[namely],
Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had showed unto
Israel.
====
JG-9:1 And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem unto
his mother's
brethren, and communed with them, and with all the family of the
house of his
mother's father, saying,
JG-9:2 Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem,
Whether [is]
better for you, either that all the sons of Jerubbaal, [which
are] threescore
and ten persons, reign over you, or that one reign over you?
remember also
that I [am] your bone and your flesh.
JG-9:3 And his mother's brethren spake of him in the ears of
all the men of
Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow
Abimelech; for
they said, He [is] our brother.
JG-9:4 And they gave him threescore and ten [pieces] of silver
out of the
house of Baalberith, wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light
persons, which
followed him.
JG-9:5 And he went unto his father's house at Ophrah, and slew
his brethren
the sons of Jerubbaal, [being] threescore and ten persons, upon
one stone:
notwithstanding yet Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was
left; for he hid
himself.
JG-9:6 And all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all
the house of
Millo, and went, and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the
pillar that
[was] in Shechem.
JG-9:7 And when they told [it] to Jotham, he went and stood in
the top of
mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto
them, Hearken
unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you.
JG-9:8 The trees went forth [on a time] to anoint a king over
them; and they
said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us.
JG-9:9 But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my
fatness,
wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted
over the trees?
JG-9:10 And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, [and]
reign over us.
JG-9:11 But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my
sweetness, and
my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees?
JG-9:12 Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, [and]
reign over us.
JG-9:13 And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine,
which cheereth
God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?
JG-9:14 Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou,
[and] reign over
us.
JG-9:15 And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye
anoint me king
over you, [then] come [and] put your trust in my shadow: and if
not, let fire
come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.
JG-9:16 Now therefore, if ye have done truly and sincerely, in
that ye have
made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal
and his house,
and have done unto him according to the deserving of his hands;
JG-9:17 (For my father fought for you, and adventured his life
far, and
delivered you out of the hand of Midian:
JG-9:18 And ye are risen up against my father's house this day,
and have
slain his sons, threescore and ten persons, upon one stone, and
have made
Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the men of
Shechem, because
he [is] your brother;)
JG-9:19 If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with
Jerubbaal and with his
house this day, [then] rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also
rejoice in
you:
JG-9:20 But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and
devour the men of
Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the
men of
Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.
JG-9:21 And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and
dwelt there, for
fear of Abimelech his brother.
JG-9:22 When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel,
JG-9:23 Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the
men of
Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with
Abimelech:
JG-9:24 That the cruelty [done] to the threescore and ten sons
of Jerubbaal
might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother,
which slew
them; and upon the men of Shechem, which aided him in the
killing of his
brethren.
JG-9:25 And the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him in the
top of the
mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them:
and it was
told Abimelech.
JG-9:26 And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren, and
went over to
Shechem: and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him.
JG-9:27 And they went out into the fields, and gathered their
vineyards, and
trode [the grapes], and made merry, and went into the house of
their god, and
did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelech.
JG-9:28 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?
JG-9:29 And would to God this people were under my hand! then
would I remove
Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, Increase thine army, and
come out.
JG-9:30 And when Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of
Gaal the son
of Ebed, his anger was kindled.
JG-9:31 And he sent messengers unto Abimelech privily, saying,
Behold, Gaal
the son of Ebed and his brethren be come to Shechem; and, behold,
they fortify
the city against thee.
JG-9:32 Now therefore up by night, thou and the people that
[is] with thee,
and lie in wait in the field:
JG-9:33 And it shall be, [that] in the morning, as soon as the
sun is up,
thou shalt rise early, and set upon the city: and, behold,
[when] he and the
people that [is] with him come out against thee, then mayest
thou do to them
as thou shalt find occasion.
JG-9:34 And Abimelech rose up, and all the people that [were]
with him, by
night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies.
JG-9:35 And Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the
entering of the
gate of the city: and Abimelech rose up, and the people that
[were] with him,
from lying in wait.
JG-9:36 And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold,
there come
people down from the top of the mountains. And Zebul said unto
him, Thou seest
the shadow of the mountains as [if they were] men.
JG-9:37 And Gaal spake again and said, See there come people
down by the
middle of the land, and another company come along by the plain
of Meonenim.
JG-9:38 Then said Zebul unto him, Where [is] now thy mouth,
wherewith thou
saidst, Who [is] Abimelech, that we should serve him? [is] not
this the people
that thou hast despised? go out, I pray now, and fight with them.
JG-9:39 And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought
with
Abimelech.
JG-9:40 And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and
many were
overthrown [and] wounded, [even] unto the entering of the gate.
JG-9:41 And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah: and Zebul thrust out
Gaal and his
brethren, that they should not dwell in Shechem.
JG-9:42 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people went
out into the
field; and they told Abimelech.
JG-9:43 And he took the people, and divided them into three
companies, and
laid wait in the field, and looked, and, behold, the people
[were] come forth
out of the city; and he rose up against them, and smote them.
JG-9:44 And Abimelech, and the company that [was] with him,
rushed forward,
and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and the two
[other]
companies ran upon all [the people] that [were] in the fields,
and slew them.
JG-9:45 And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and
he took the
city, and slew the people that [was] therein, and beat down the
city, and
sowed it with salt.
JG-9:46 And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard
[that], they
entered into an hold of the house of the god Berith.
JG-9:47 And it was told Abimelech, that all the men of the
tower of Shechem
were gathered together.
JG-9:48 And Abimelech gat him up to mount Zalmon, he and all
the people that
[were] with him; and Abimelech took an ax in his hand, and cut
down a bough
from the trees, and took it, and laid [it] on his shoulder, and
said unto the
people that [were] with him, What ye have seen me do, make haste,
[and] do as
I [have done].
JG-9:49 And all the people likewise cut down every man his
bough, and
followed Abimelech, and put [them] to the hold, and set the hold
on fire upon
them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also,
about a thousand
men and women.
JG-9:50 Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against
Thebez, and took
it.
JG-9:51 But there was a strong tower within the city, and
thither fled all
the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut [it] to
them, and gat
them up to the top of the tower.
JG-9:52 And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against
it, and went
hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire.
JG-9:53 And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon
Abimelech's
head, and all to brake his skull.
JG-9:54 Then he called hastily unto the young man his
armourbearer, and said
unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A
woman slew
him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died.
JG-9:55 And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead,
they departed
every man unto his place.
JG-9:56 Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he
did unto his
father, in slaying his seventy brethren:
JG-9:57 And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render
upon their
heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of
Jerubbaal.
====
JG-10:1 And after Abimelech there arose to defend Israel Tola
the son of Puah
the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, and he dwelt in Shamir in
mount Ephraim.
JG-10:2 And he judged Israel twenty and three years, and died,
and was buried
in Shamir.
JG-10:3 And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged
Israel twenty and
two years.
JG-10:4 And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts,
and they had
thirty cities, which are called Havothjair unto this day, which
[are] in the
land of Gilead.
JG-10:5 And Jair died, and was buried in Camon.
JG-10:6 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight
of the LORD,
and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the
gods of
Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of
Ammon, and the
gods of the Philistines, and forsook the LORD, and served not
him.
JG-10:7 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and
he sold them
into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the
children of
Ammon.
JG-10:8 And that year they vexed and oppressed the children of
Israel:
eighteen years, all the children of Israel that [were] on the
other side
Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which [is] in Gilead.
JG-10:9 Moreover the children of Ammon passed over Jordan to
fight also
against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of
Ephraim; so that
Israel was sore distressed.
JG-10:10 And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, saying,
We have
sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and
also served
Baalim.
JG-10:11 And the LORD said unto the children of Israel, [Did]
not [I deliver
you] from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the
children of Ammon,
and from the Philistines?
JG-10:12 The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the
Maonites, did
oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of
their hand.
JG-10:13 Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods:
wherefore I will
deliver you no more.
JG-10:14 Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let
them deliver you
in the time of your tribulation.
JG-10:15 And the children of Israel said unto the LORD, We have
sinned: do
thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; deliver us only,
we pray thee,
this day.
JG-10:16 And they put away the strange gods from among them,
and served the
LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.
JG-10:17 Then the children of Ammon were gathered together, and
encamped in
Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled themselves together,
and encamped
in Mizpeh.
JG-10:18 And the people [and] princes of Gilead said one to
another, What man
[is he] that will begin to fight against the children of Ammon?
he shall be
head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
====
JG-11:1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour,
and he [was]
the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.
JG-11:2 And Gilead's wife bare him sons; and his wife's sons
grew up, and
they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not
inherit in our
father's house; for thou [art] the son of a strange woman.
JG-11:3 Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the
land of Tob:
and there were gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out with
him.
JG-11:4 And it came to pass in process of time, that the
children of Ammon
made war against Israel.
JG-11:5 And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war
against
Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the
land of Tob:
JG-11:6 And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain,
that we may
fight with the children of Ammon.
JG-11:7 And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye
hate me, and
expel me out of my father's house? and why are ye come unto me
now when ye are
in distress?
JG-11:8 And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore
we turn again
to thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight against the
children of
Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
JG-11:9 And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye
bring me home
again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the LORD
deliver them before
me, shall I be your head?
JG-11:10 And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, The LORD
be witness
between us, if we do not so according to thy words.
JG-11:11 Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the
people made
him head and captain over them: and Jephthah uttered all his
words before the
LORD in Mizpeh.
JG-11:12 And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the
children of Ammon,
saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against
me to fight
in my land?
JG-11:13 And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto
the messengers
of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when they came up
out of Egypt,
from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore
restore those
[lands] again peaceably.
JG-11:14 And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of
the children of
Ammon:
JG-11:15 And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took
not away the
land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon:
JG-11:16 But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through
the
wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh;
JG-11:17 Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom,
saying, Let me, I
pray thee, pass through thy land: but the king of Edom would not
hearken
[thereto]. And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab:
but he would
not [consent]: and Israel abode in Kadesh.
JG-11:18 Then they went along through the wilderness, and
compassed the land
of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the
land of Moab,
and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the
border of
Moab: for Arnon [was] the border of Moab.
JG-11:19 And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the
Amorites, the king
of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee,
through thy
land into my place.
JG-11:20 But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast:
but Sihon
gathered all his people together, and pitched in Jahaz, and
fought against
Israel.
JG-11:21 And the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his
people into
the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all
the land of
the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.
JG-11:22 And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites,
from Arnon even
unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan.
JG-11:23 So now the LORD God of Israel hath dispossessed the
Amorites from
before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it?
JG-11:24 Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god
giveth thee to
possess? So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from
before us, them
will we possess.
JG-11:25 And now [art] thou any thing better than Balak the son
of Zippor,
king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever
fight against
them,
JG-11:26 While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in
Aroer and her
towns, and in all the cities that [be] along by the coasts of
Arnon, three
hundred years? why therefore did ye not recover [them] within
that time?
JG-11:27 Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou
doest me wrong to
war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the
children of
Israel and the children of Ammon.
JG-11:28 Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened
not unto the
words of Jephthah which he sent him.
JG-11:29 Then the spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he
passed over
Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from
Mizpeh of
Gilead he passed over [unto] the children of Ammon.
JG-11:30 And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If
thou shalt
without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,
JG-11:31 Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the
doors of my
house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of
Ammon, shall
surely be the LORD'S, and I will offer it up for a burnt
offering.
JG-11:32 So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to
fight against
them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands.
JG-11:33 And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to
Minnith, [even]
twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very
great
slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the
children of
Israel.
JG-11:34 And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and,
behold, his
daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and
she [was his]
only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.
JG-11:35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his
clothes, and
said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou
art one of
them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD,
and I cannot
go back.
JG-11:36 And she said unto him, My father, [if] thou hast
opened thy mouth
unto the LORD, do to me according to that which hath proceeded
out of thy
mouth; forasmuch as the LORD hath taken vengeance for thee of
thine enemies,
[even] of the children of Ammon.
JG-11:37 And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done
for me: let me
alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains,
and bewail my
virginity, I and my fellows.
JG-11:38 And he said, Go. And he sent her away [for] two months:
and she went
with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the
mountains.
JG-11:39 And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she
returned unto
her father, who did with her [according] to his vow which he had
vowed: and
she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel,
JG-11:40 [That] the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament
the daughter of
Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.
====
JG-12:1 And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together,
and went
northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over
to fight
against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with
thee? we will
burn thine house upon thee with fire.
JG-12:2 And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at
great strife
with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, ye delivered
me not out of
their hands.
JG-12:3 And when I saw that ye delivered [me] not, I put my
life in my hands,
and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the LORD
delivered them
into my hand: wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day, to
fight against
me?
JG-12:4 Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead,
and fought
with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they
said, Ye
Gileadites [are] fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites,
[and] among the
Manassites.
JG-12:5 And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before
the
Ephraimites: and it was [so] that when those Ephraimites which
were escaped
said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him,
[Art] thou an
Ephraimite? If he said, Nay;
JG-12:6 Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he
said Sibboleth:
for he could not frame to pronounce [it] right. Then they took
him, and slew
him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of
the Ephraimites
forty and two thousand.
JG-12:7 And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died
Jephthah the
Gileadite, and was buried in [one of] the cities of Gilead.
JG-12:8 And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.
JG-12:9 And he had thirty sons, and thirty daughters, [whom] he
sent abroad,
and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons. And he
judged Israel
seven years.
JG-12:10 Then died Ibzan, and was buried at Bethlehem.
JG-12:11 And after him Elon, a Zebulonite, judged Israel; and
he judged
Israel ten years.
JG-12:12 And Elon the Zebulonite died, and was buried in
Aijalon in the
country of Zebulun.
JG-12:13 And after him Abdon the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite,
judged Israel.
JG-12:14 And he had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on
threescore
and ten ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years.
JG-12:15 And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and
was buried in
Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the mount of the Amalekites.
====
JG-13:1 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight
of the LORD;
and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines
forty years.
JG-13:2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of
the Danites,
whose name [was] Manoah; and his wife [was] barren, and bare not.
JG-13:3 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and
said unto her,
Behold now, thou [art] barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt
conceive, and
bear a son.
JG-13:4 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine
nor strong
drink, and eat not any unclean [thing]:
JG-13:5 For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no
razor shall come
on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the
womb: and he
shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
JG-13:6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man
of God came
unto me, and his countenance [was] like the countenance of an
angel of God,
very terrible: but I asked him not whence he [was], neither told
he me his
name:
JG-13:7 But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and
bear a son; and
now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean
[thing]: for the
child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his
death.
JG-13:8 Then Manoah entreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord,
let the man of
God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what
we shall do
unto the child that shall be born.
JG-13:9 And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel
of God came
again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her
husband [was] not
with her.
JG-13:10 And the woman made haste, and ran, and showed her
husband, and said
unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto
me the [other]
day.
JG-13:11 And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to
the man, and
said unto him, [Art] thou the man that spakest unto the woman?
And he said, I
[am].
JG-13:12 And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How
shall we order
the child, and [how] shall we do unto him?
JG-13:13 And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all
that I said unto
the woman let her beware.
JG-13:14 She may not eat of any [thing] that cometh of the vine,
neither let
her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean [thing]: all
that I
commanded her let her observe.
JG-13:15 And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, I pray
thee, let us
detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.
JG-13:16 And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though
thou detain me, I
will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt
offering, thou must
offer it unto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he [was] an
angel of the
LORD.
JG-13:17 And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What [is]
thy name, that
when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour?
JG-13:18 And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest
thou thus after
my name, seeing it [is] secret?
JG-13:19 So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered
[it] upon a
rock unto the LORD: and [the angel] did wonderously; and Manoah
and his wife
looked on.
JG-13:20 For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward
heaven from off
the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of
the altar. And
Manoah and his wife looked on [it], and fell on their faces to
the ground.
JG-13:21 But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah
and to his
wife. Then Manoah knew that he [was] an angel of the LORD.
JG-13:22 And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die,
because we have
seen God.
JG-13:23 But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased
to kill us, he
would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at
our hands,
neither would he have showed us all these [things], nor would as
at this time
have told us [such things] as these.
JG-13:24 And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson:
and the child
grew, and the LORD blessed him.
JG-13:25 And the spirit of the LORD began to move him at times
in the camp of
Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.
====
JG-14:1 And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in
Timnath of the
daughters of the Philistines.
JG-14:2 And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and
said, I have
seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now
therefore get
her for me to wife.
JG-14:3 Then his father and his mother said unto him, [Is
there] never a
woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my
people, that thou
goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And
Samson said unto
his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.
JG-14:4 But his father and his mother knew not that it [was] of
the LORD,
that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that
time the
Philistines had dominion over Israel.
JG-14:5 Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother,
to Timnath, and
came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion
roared against
him.
JG-14:6 And the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and
he rent him as
he would have rent a kid, and [he had] nothing in his hand: but
he told not
his father or his mother what he had done.
JG-14:7 And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she
pleased Samson
well.
JG-14:8 And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned
aside to see
the carcase of the lion: and, behold, [there was] a swarm of
bees and honey in
the carcase of the lion.
JG-14:9 And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating,
and came to his
father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he
told not them
that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion.
JG-14:10 So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson
made there a
feast; for so used the young men to do.
JG-14:11 And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they
brought thirty
companions to be with him.
JG-14:12 And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a
riddle unto you:
if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the
feast, and find
[it] out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change
of garments:
JG-14:13 But if ye cannot declare [it] me, then shall ye give
me thirty
sheets and thirty change of garments. And they said unto him,
Put forth thy
riddle, that we may hear it.
JG-14:14 And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth
meat, and out of
the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three
days expound the
riddle.
JG-14:15 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said
unto Samson's
wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle,
lest we burn
thee and thy father's house with fire: have ye called us to take
that we have?
[is it] not [so]?
JG-14:16 And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost
but hate me,
and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the
children of my
people, and hast not told [it] me. And he said unto her, Behold,
I have not
told [it] my father nor my mother, and shall I tell [it] thee?
JG-14:17 And she wept before him the seven days, while their
feast lasted:
and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her,
because she lay sore
upon him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people.
JG-14:18 And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh
day before the
sun went down, What [is] sweeter than honey? and what [is]
stronger than a
lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer,
ye had not
found out my riddle.
JG-14:19 And the spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went
down to
Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and
gave change
of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger
was kindled,
and he went up to his father's house.
JG-14:20 But Samson's wife was [given] to his companion, whom
he had used as
his friend.
====
JG-15:1 But it came to pass within a while after, in the time
of wheat
harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I
will go in to
my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to
go in.
JG-15:2 And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst
utterly hated
her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: [is] not her younger
sister fairer
than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her.
JG-15:3 And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more
blameless than
the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.
JG-15:4 And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and
took firebrands,
and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst
between two tails.
JG-15:5 And when he had set the brands on fire, he let [them]
go into the
standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks,
and also the
standing corn, with the vineyards [and] olives.
JG-15:6 Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they
answered,
Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his
wife, and
given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and
burnt her and her
father with fire.
JG-15:7 And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this,
yet will I be
avenged of you, and after that I will cease.
JG-15:8 And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter:
and he went
down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.
JG-15:9 Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and
spread
themselves in Lehi.
JG-15:10 And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against
us? And they
answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath
done to us.
JG-15:11 Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of
the rock Etam,
and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines [are]
rulers over
us? what [is] this [that] thou hast done unto us? And he said
unto them, As
they did unto me, so have I done unto them.
JG-15:12 And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee,
that we may
deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said
unto them,
Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.
JG-15:13 And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind
thee fast, and
deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee.
And they bound
him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock.
JG-15:14 [And] when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted
against him:
and the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords
that [were]
upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his
bands loosed
from off his hands.
JG-15:15 And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth
his hand, and
took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.
JG-15:16 And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps
upon heaps, with
the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.
JG-15:17 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of
speaking, that he
cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place
Ramathlehi.
JG-15:18 And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and
said, Thou hast
given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and
now shall I die
for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?
JG-15:19 But God clave an hollow place that [was] in the jaw,
and there came
water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again,
and he revived:
wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore, which [is] in
Lehi unto this
day.
JG-15:20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines
twenty years.
====
JG-16:1 Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and
went in unto
her.
JG-16:2 [And it was told] the Gazites, saying, Samson is come
hither. And
they compassed [him] in, and laid wait for him all night in the
gate of the
city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when
it is day, we
shall kill him.
JG-16:3 And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight,
and took the
doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away
with them, bar
and all, and put [them] upon his shoulders, and carried them up
to the top of
an hill that [is] before Hebron.
JG-16:4 And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in
the valley of
Sorek, whose name [was] Delilah.
JG-16:5 And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and
said unto her,
Entice him, and see wherein his great strength [lieth], and by
what [means] we
may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him:
and we will give
thee every one of us eleven hundred [pieces] of silver.
JG-16:6 And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee,
wherein thy great
strength [lieth], and wherewith thou mightest be bound to
afflict thee.
JG-16:7 And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven
green withs that
were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.
JG-16:8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her
seven green withs
which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.
JG-16:9 Now [there were] men lying in wait, abiding with her in
the chamber.
And she said unto him, The Philistines [be] upon thee, Samson.
And he brake
the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the
fire. So his
strength was not known.
JG-16:10 And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked
me, and told
me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be
bound.
JG-16:11 And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new
ropes that never
were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.
JG-16:12 Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him
therewith, and said
unto him, The Philistines [be] upon thee, Samson. And [there
were] liers in
wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms
like a
thread.
JG-16:13 And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast
mocked me, and told
me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said
unto her, If
thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.
JG-16:14 And she fastened [it] with the pin, and said unto him,
The
Philistines [be] upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his
sleep, and went
away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.
JG-16:15 And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee,
when thine
heart [is] not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times,
and hast not
told me wherein thy great strength [lieth].
JG-16:16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with
her words, and
urged him, [so] that his soul was vexed unto death;
JG-16:17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her,
There hath not
come a razor upon mine head; for I [have been] a Nazarite unto
God from my
mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me,
and I shall
become weak, and be like any [other] man.
JG-16:18 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his
heart, she sent
and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up
this once, for he
hath showed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines
came up unto
her, and brought money in their hand.
JG-16:19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called
for a man, and
she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she
began to
afflict him, and his strength went from him.
JG-16:20 And she said, The Philistines [be] upon thee, Samson.
And he awoke
out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times
before, and shake
myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.
JG-16:21 But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes,
and brought him
down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did
grind in the
prison house.
JG-16:22 Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after
he was
shaven.
JG-16:23 Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them
together for to
offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice:
for they said,
Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
JG-16:24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god:
for they said,
Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the
destroyer of our
country, which slew many of us.
JG-16:25 And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry,
that they said,
Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for
Samson out of
the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him
between the
pillars.
JG-16:26 And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand,
Suffer me
that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I
may lean upon
them.
JG-16:27 Now the house was full of men and women; and all the
lords of the
Philistines [were] there; and [there were] upon the roof about
three thousand
men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.
JG-16:28 And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD,
remember me,
I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O
God, that I may
be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
JG-16:29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon
which the house
stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right
hand, and of
the other with his left.
JG-16:30 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And
he bowed
himself with [all his] might; and the house fell upon the lords,
and upon all
the people that [were] therein. So the dead which he slew at his
death were
more than [they] which he slew in his life.
JG-16:31 Then his brethren and all the house of his father came
down, and
took him, and brought [him] up, and buried him between Zorah and
Eshtaol in
the buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel
twenty years.
====
JG-17:1 And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name [was]
Micah.
JG-17:2 And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred
[shekels] of silver
that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and
spakest of also in
mine ears, behold, the silver [is] with me; I took it. And his
mother said,
Blessed [be thou] of the LORD, my son.
JG-17:3 And when he had restored the eleven hundred [shekels]
of silver to
his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver
unto the LORD
from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten
image: now
therefore I will restore it unto thee.
JG-17:4 Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his
mother took two
hundred [shekels] of silver, and gave them to the founder, who
made thereof a
graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house of
Micah.
JG-17:5 And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an
ephod, and
teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
JG-17:6 In those days [there was] no king in Israel, [but]
every man did
[that which was] right in his own eyes.
JG-17:7 And there was a young man out of Bethlehemjudah of the
family of
Judah, who [was] a Levite, and he sojourned there.
JG-17:8 And the man departed out of the city from
Bethlehemjudah to sojourn
where he could find [a place]: and he came to mount Ephraim to
the house of
Micah, as he journeyed.
JG-17:9 And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he
said unto him, I
[am] a Levite of Bethlehemjudah, and I go to sojourn where I may
find [a
place].
JG-17:10 And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me
a father and
a priest, and I will give thee ten [shekels] of silver by the
year, and a suit
of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in.
JG-17:11 And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and
the young man
was unto him as one of his sons.
JG-17:12 And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man
became his
priest, and was in the house of Micah.
JG-17:13 Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me
good, seeing I
have a Levite to [my] priest.
====
JG-18:1 In those days [there was] no king in Israel: and in
those days the
tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for
unto that day
[all their] inheritance had not fallen unto them among the
tribes of Israel.
JG-18:2 And the children of Dan sent of their family five men
from their
coasts, men of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out
the land, and
to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who
when they came
to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there.
JG-18:3 When they [were] by the house of Micah, they knew the
voice of the
young man the Levite: and they turned in thither, and said unto
him, Who
brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this [place]? and
what hast thou
here?
JG-18:4 And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with
me, and hath
hired me, and I am his priest.
JG-18:5 And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of
God, that we
may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.
JG-18:6 And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before the
LORD [is] your
way wherein ye go.
JG-18:7 Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw
the people
that [were] therein, how they dwelt careless, after the manner
of the
Zidonians, quiet and secure; and [there was] no magistrate in
the land, that
might put [them] to shame in [any] thing; and they [were] far
from the
Zidonians, and had no business with [any] man.
JG-18:8 And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol:
and their
brethren said unto them, What [say] ye?
JG-18:9 And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them:
for we have
seen the land, and, behold, it [is] very good: and [are] ye
still? be not
slothful to go, [and] to enter to possess the land.
JG-18:10 When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and to
a large land:
for God hath given it into your hands; a place where [there is]
no want of any
thing that [is] in the earth.
JG-18:11 And there went from thence of the family of the
Danites, out of
Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with weapons
of war.
JG-18:12 And they went up, and pitched in Kirjathjearim, in
Judah: wherefore
they called that place Mahanehdan unto this day: behold, [it is]
behind
Kirjathjearim.
JG-18:13 And they passed thence unto mount Ephraim, and came
unto the house
of Micah.
JG-18:14 Then answered the five men that went to spy out the
country of
Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in
these houses
an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image?
now therefore
consider what ye have to do.
JG-18:15 And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of
the young man
the Levite, [even] unto the house of Micah, and saluted him.
JG-18:16 And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons
of war, which
[were] of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate.
JG-18:17 And the five men that went to spy out the land went up,
[and] came
in thither, [and] took the graven image, and the ephod, and the
teraphim, and
the molten image: and the priest stood in the entering of the
gate with the
six hundred men [that were] appointed with weapons of war.
JG-18:18 And these went into Micah's house, and fetched the
carved image, the
ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the
priest unto them,
What do ye?
JG-18:19 And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand
upon thy
mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: [is
it] better for
thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a
priest unto a
tribe and a family in Israel?
JG-18:20 And the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod,
and the
teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the
people.
JG-18:21 So they turned and departed, and put the little ones
and the cattle
and the carriage before them.
JG-18:22 [And] when they were a good way from the house of
Micah, the men
that [were] in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered
together, and
overtook the children of Dan.
JG-18:23 And they cried unto the children of Dan. And they
turned their
faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest
with such a
company?
JG-18:24 And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made,
and the
priest, and ye are gone away: and what have I more? and what
[is] this [that]
ye say unto me, What aileth thee?
JG-18:25 And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not thy
voice be heard
among us, lest angry fellows run upon thee, and thou lose thy
life, with the
lives of thy household.
JG-18:26 And the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah
saw that they
[were] too strong for him, he turned and went back unto his
house.
JG-18:27 And they took [the things] which Micah had made, and
the priest
which he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people [that were] at
quiet and
secure: and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and
burnt the city
with fire.
JG-18:28 And [there was] no deliverer, because it [was] far
from Zidon, and
they had no business with [any] man; and it was in the valley
that [lieth] by
Bethrehob. And they built a city, and dwelt therein.
JG-18:29 And they called the name of the city Dan, after the
name of Dan
their father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the
city [was]
Laish at the first.
JG-18:30 And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and
Jonathan, the
son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were
priests to the tribe
of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.
JG-18:31 And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he
made, all the
time that the house of God was in Shiloh.
====
JG-19:1 And it came to pass in those days, when [there was] no
king in
Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side
of mount
Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Bethlehemjudah.
JG-19:2 And his concubine played the whore against him, and
went away from
him unto her father's house to Bethlehemjudah, and was there
four whole
months.
JG-19:3 And her husband arose, and went after her, to speak
friendly unto
her, [and] to bring her again, having his servant with him, and
a couple of
asses: and she brought him into her father's house: and when the
father of the
damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet him.
JG-19:4 And his father in law, the damsel's father, retained
him; and he
abode with him three days: so they did eat and drink, and lodged
there.
JG-19:5 And it came to pass on the fourth day, when they arose
early in the
morning, that he rose up to depart: and the damsel's father said
unto his son
in law, Comfort thine heart with a morsel of bread, and
afterward go your way.
JG-19:6 And they sat down, and did eat and drink both of them
together: for
the damsel's father had said unto the man, Be content, I pray
thee, and tarry
all night, and let thine heart be merry.
JG-19:7 And when the man rose up to depart, his father in law
urged him:
therefore he lodged there again.
JG-19:8 And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to
depart: and the
damsel's father said, Comfort thine heart, I pray thee. And they
tarried until
afternoon, and they did eat both of them.
JG-19:9 And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his
concubine, and his
servant, his father in law, the damsel's father, said unto him,
Behold, now
the day draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night:
behold, the day
groweth to an end, lodge here, that thine heart may be merry;
and to morrow
get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home.
JG-19:10 But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up
and departed,
and came over against Jebus, which [is] Jerusalem; and [there
were] with him
two asses saddled, his concubine also [was] with him.
JG-19:11 [And] when they [were] by Jebus, the day was far spent;
and the
servant said unto his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn
in into this
city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it.
JG-19:12 And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside
hither into the
city of a stranger, that [is] not of the children of Israel; we
will pass over
to Gibeah.
JG-19:13 And he said unto his servant, Come, and let us draw
near to one of
these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah.
JG-19:14 And they passed on and went their way; and the sun
went down upon
them [when they were] by Gibeah, which [belongeth] to Benjamin.
JG-19:15 And they turned aside thither, to go in [and] to lodge
in Gibeah:
and when he went in, he sat him down in a street of the city:
for [there was]
no man that took them into his house to lodging.
JG-19:16 And, behold, there came an old man from his work out
of the field at
even, which [was] also of mount Ephraim; and he sojourned in
Gibeah: but the
men of the place [were] Benjamites.
JG-19:17 And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a wayfaring
man in the
street of the city: and the old man said, Whither goest thou?
and whence
comest thou?
JG-19:18 And he said unto him, We [are] passing from
Bethlehemjudah toward
the side of mount Ephraim; from thence [am] I: and I went to
Bethlehemjudah,
but I [am now] going to the house of the LORD; and there [is] no
man that
receiveth me to house.
JG-19:19 Yet there is both straw and provender for our asses;
and there is
bread and wine also for me, and for thy handmaid, and for the
young man [which
is] with thy servants: [there is] no want of any thing.
JG-19:20 And the old man said, Peace [be] with thee; howsoever
[let] all thy
wants [lie] upon me; only lodge not in the street.
JG-19:21 So he brought him into his house, and gave provender
unto the asses:
and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink.
JG-19:22 [Now] as they were making their hearts merry, behold,
the men of the
city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, [and]
beat at the
door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying,
Bring forth
the man that came into thine house, that we may know him.
JG-19:23 And the man, the master of the house, went out unto
them, and said
unto them, Nay, my brethren, [nay], I pray you, do not [so]
wickedly; seeing
that this man is come into mine house, do not this folly.
JG-19:24 Behold, [here is] my daughter a maiden, and his
concubine; them I
will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what
seemeth good
unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing.
JG-19:25 But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took
his concubine,
and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused
her all the
night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they
let her go.
JG-19:26 Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and
fell down at the
door of the man's house where her lord [was], till it was light.
JG-19:27 And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the
doors of the
house, and went out to go his way: and, behold, the woman his
concubine was
fallen down [at] the door of the house, and her hands [were]
upon the
threshold.
JG-19:28 And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But
none answered.
Then the man took her [up] upon an ass, and the man rose up, and
gat him unto
his place.
JG-19:29 And when he was come into his house, he took a knife,
and laid hold
on his concubine, and divided her, [together] with her bones,
into twelve
pieces, and sent her into all the coasts of Israel.
JG-19:30 And it was so, that all that saw it said, There was no
such deed
done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up
out of the land
of Egypt unto this day: consider of it, take advice, and speak
[your minds].
====
JG-20:1 Then all the children of Israel went out, and the
congregation was
gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beersheba, with
the land of
Gilead, unto the LORD in Mizpeh.
JG-20:2 And the chief of all the people, [even] of all the
tribes of Israel,
presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four
hundred
thousand footmen that drew sword.
JG-20:3 (Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children
of Israel were
gone up to Mizpeh.) Then said the children of Israel, Tell [us],
how was this
wickedness?
JG-20:4 And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain,
answered and
said, I came into Gibeah that [belongeth] to Benjamin, I and my
concubine, to
lodge.
JG-20:5 And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the
house round
about upon me by night, [and] thought to have slain me: and my
concubine have
they forced, that she is dead.
JG-20:6 And I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and
sent her
throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel: for
they have
committed lewdness and folly in Israel.
JG-20:7 Behold, ye [are] all children of Israel; give here your
advice and
counsel.
JG-20:8 And all the people arose as one man, saying, We will
not any [of us]
go to his tent, neither will we any [of us] turn into his house.
JG-20:9 But now this [shall be] the thing which we will do to
Gibeah; [we
will go up] by lot against it;
JG-20:10 And we will take ten men of an hundred throughout all
the tribes of
Israel, and an hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten
thousand, to
fetch victual for the people, that they may do, when they come
to Gibeah of
Benjamin, according to all the folly that they have wrought in
Israel.
JG-20:11 So all the men of Israel were gathered against the
city, knit
together as one man.
JG-20:12 And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the
tribe of Benjamin,
saying, What wickedness [is] this that is done among you?
JG-20:13 Now therefore deliver [us] the men, the children of
Belial, which
[are] in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away
evil from Israel.
But the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of
their brethren
the children of Israel:
JG-20:14 But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves
together out of the
cities unto Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of
Israel.
JG-20:15 And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that
time out of the
cities twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, beside the
inhabitants of
Gibeah, which were numbered seven hundred chosen men.
JG-20:16 Among all this people [there were] seven hundred
chosen men
lefthanded; every one could sling stones at an hair [breadth],
and not miss.
JG-20:17 And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin, were numbered
four hundred
thousand men that drew sword: all these [were] men of war.
JG-20:18 And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the
house of God,
and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up
first to the
battle against the children of Benjamin? And the LORD said,
Judah [shall go
up] first.
JG-20:19 And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and
encamped
against Gibeah.
JG-20:20 And the men of Israel went out to battle against
Benjamin; and the
men of Israel put themselves in array to fight against them at
Gibeah.
JG-20:21 And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah,
and destroyed
down to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty and two
thousand men.
JG-20:22 And the people the men of Israel encouraged themselves,
and set
their battle again in array in the place where they put
themselves in array
the first day.
JG-20:23 (And the children of Israel went up and wept before
the LORD until
even, and asked counsel of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up again
to battle
against the children of Benjamin my brother? And the LORD said,
Go up against
him.)
JG-20:24 And the children of Israel came near against the
children of
Benjamin the second day.
JG-20:25 And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the
second day,
and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again
eighteen
thousand men; all these drew the sword.
JG-20:26 Then all the children of Israel, and all the people,
went up, and
came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the
LORD, and
fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and
peace offerings
before the LORD.
JG-20:27 And the children of Israel inquired of the LORD, (for
the ark of the
covenant of God [was] there in those days,
JG-20:28 And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron,
stood before it
in those days,) saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle
against the
children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And the LORD
said, Go up;
for to morrow I will deliver them into thine hand.
JG-20:29 And Israel set liers in wait round about Gibeah.
JG-20:30 And the children of Israel went up against the
children of Benjamin
on the third day, and put themselves in array against Gibeah, as
at other
times.
JG-20:31 And the children of Benjamin went out against the
people, [and] were
drawn away from the city; and they began to smite of the people,
[and] kill,
as at other times, in the highways, of which one goeth up to the
house of God,
and the other to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel.
JG-20:32 And the children of Benjamin said, They [are] smitten
down before
us, as at the first. But the children of Israel said, Let us
flee, and draw
them from the city unto the highways.
JG-20:33 And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place,
and put
themselves in array at Baaltamar: and the liers in wait of
Israel came forth
out of their places, [even] out of the meadows of Gibeah.
JG-20:34 And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men
out of all
Israel, and the battle was sore: but they knew not that evil
[was] near them.
JG-20:35 And the LORD smote Benjamin before Israel: and the
children of
Israel destroyed of the Benjamites that day twenty and five
thousand and an
hundred men: all these drew the sword.
JG-20:36 So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten:
for the men
of Israel gave place to the Benjamites, because they trusted
unto the liers in
wait which they had set beside Gibeah.
JG-20:37 And the liers in wait hasted, and rushed upon Gibeah;
and the liers
in wait drew [themselves] along, and smote all the city with the
edge of the
sword.
JG-20:38 Now there was an appointed sign between the men of
Israel and the
liers in wait, that they should make a great flame with smoke
rise up out of
the city.
JG-20:39 And when the men of Israel retired in the battle,
Benjamin began to
smite [and] kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons: for
they said,
Surely they are smitten down before us, as [in] the first battle.
JG-20:40 But when the flame began to arise up out of the city
with a pillar
of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and, behold, the
flame of the
city ascended up to heaven.
JG-20:41 And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of
Benjamin were
amazed: for they saw that evil was come upon them.
JG-20:42 Therefore they turned [their backs] before the men of
Israel unto
the way of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them; and
them which [came]
out of the cities they destroyed in the midst of them.
JG-20:43 [Thus] they enclosed the Benjamites round about, [and]
chased them,
[and] trode them down with ease over against Gibeah toward the
sunrising.
JG-20:44 And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all
these [were]
men of valour.
JG-20:45 And they turned and fled toward the wilderness unto
the rock of
Rimmon: and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand
men; and
pursued hard after them unto Gidom, and slew two thousand men of
them.
JG-20:46 So that all which fell that day of Benjamin were
twenty and five
thousand men that drew the sword; all these [were] men of valour.
JG-20:47 But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness
unto the rock
Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months.
JG-20:48 And the men of Israel turned again upon the children
of Benjamin,
and smote them with the edge of the sword, as well the men of
[every] city, as
the beast, and all that came to hand: also they set on fire all
the cities
that they came to.
====
JG-21:1 Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying,
There shall not
any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.
JG-21:2 And the people came to the house of God, and abode
there till even
before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore;
JG-21:3 And said, O LORD God of Israel, why is this come to
pass in Israel,
that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel?
JG-21:4 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose
early, and
built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace
offerings.
JG-21:5 And the children of Israel said, Who [is there] among
all the tribes
of Israel that came not up with the congregation unto the LORD?
For they had
made a great oath concerning him that came not up to the LORD to
Mizpeh,
saying, He shall surely be put to death.
JG-21:6 And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin
their brother,
and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day.
JG-21:7 How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing
we have sworn
by the LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?
JG-21:8 And they said, What one [is there] of the tribes of
Israel that came
not up to Mizpeh to the LORD? And, behold, there came none to
the camp from
Jabeshgilead to the assembly.
JG-21:9 For the people were numbered, and, behold, [there were]
none of the
inhabitants of Jabeshgilead there.
JG-21:10 And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men
of the
valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the
inhabitants of
Jabeshgilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the
children.
JG-21:11 And this [is] the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall
utterly destroy
every male, and every woman that hath lain by man.
JG-21:12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead
four hundred
young virgins, that had known no man by lying with any male: and
they brought
them unto the camp to Shiloh, which [is] in the land of Canaan.
JG-21:13 And the whole congregation sent [some] to speak to the
children of
Benjamin that [were] in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably
unto them.
JG-21:14 And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave
them wives which
they had saved alive of the women of Jabeshgilead: and yet so
they sufficed
them not.
JG-21:15 And the people repented them for Benjamin, because
that the LORD had
made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
JG-21:16 Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we
do for wives
for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of
Benjamin?
JG-21:17 And they said, [There must be] an inheritance for them
that be
escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.
JG-21:18 Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters:
for the
children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed [be] he that
giveth a wife to
Benjamin.
JG-21:19 Then they said, Behold, [there is] a feast of the LORD
in Shiloh
yearly [in a place] which [is] on the north side of Bethel, on
the east side
of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the
south of
Lebonah.
JG-21:20 Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin,
saying, Go and
lie in wait in the vineyards;
JG-21:21 And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come
out to dance
in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you
every man his wife
of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
JG-21:22 And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren
come unto us
to complain, that we will say unto them, Be favourable unto them
for our
sakes: because we reserved not to each man his wife in the war:
for ye did not
give unto them at this time, [that] ye should be guilty.
JG-21:23 And the children of Benjamin did so, and took [them]
wives,
according to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught:
and they
went and returned unto their inheritance, and repaired the
cities, and dwelt
in them.
JG-21:24 And the children of Israel departed thence at that
time, every man
to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from thence
every man to his
inheritance.
JG-21:25 In those days [there was] no king in Israel: every man
did [that
which was] right in his own eyes.
~~~~~~