Yahweh Raises Up Deborah and Barak

4 Then ^(A)the sons of Israel again did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh. Now Ehud had died. ² And Yahweh sold them into the hand of ^(B)Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; and the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in ^(C)Harosheth-hagoyim. ³ Then the sons of Israel cried to Yahweh; for he had 900 ^(D)iron chariots, and he oppressed the sons of Israel severely for twenty years.

⁴ Now Deborah, a ^[a]prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. ⁵ And she used to ^[b]sit under the ^(E)palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel came up to her for judgment. ⁶ Then she sent and summoned ^(F)Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not Yahweh, the God of Israel, commanded, ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, and take with you 10,000 men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun? ⁷ And I will draw out to you Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his ^[c]many troops to the river Kishon, and ^(G)I will give him into your hand.’” ⁸ Then Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” ⁹ So she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the honor shall not be yours on the journey that you are about to take, ^(H)for Yahweh will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. ¹⁰ Then Barak called ^(I)Zebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh, and 10,000 men went up ^[d](J)with him; Deborah also went up with him.

¹¹ Now Heber ^(K)the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, from the sons of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the ^[e]oak in ^(L)Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh.

¹² Then they told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor. ¹³ So Sisera called together all his chariots, ^(M)900 iron chariots, and all the people who were with him, from ^(N)Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon. ¹⁴ And Deborah said to Barak, “Arise! For this is the day in which Yahweh has given Sisera into your hand; has not ^(O)Yahweh gone out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. ^15 (P)And Yahweh threw Sisera and all his chariots and all his camp into confusion with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera came down from his chariot and fled away on foot. ¹⁶ But Barak pursued the chariots and all those in the camp as far as Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the camp of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; ^(Q)not even one remained.

¹⁷ Now Sisera fled away on foot 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. ¹⁸ And Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Turn aside, my master, turn aside to me! Do not be afraid.” And he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a ^[f]rug. ^19 (R)Then he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a ^[g]bottle of milk and gave him a drink; then she covered him. ²⁰ And he said to her, “Stand in the doorway of the tent, and it shall be if anyone comes and asks of you and says, ‘Is there a man here?’ that you shall say, ‘No.’” ²¹ Then Jael, Heber’s wife, ^(S)took a tent peg and placed a hammer in her hand and went secretly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went through into the ground; for he was sound asleep and exhausted. So he died. ²² Now behold, Barak was pursuing Sisera, and Jael came out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” And he entered ^[h]with her, and behold, Sisera was lying dead with the tent peg in his temple.

²³ So ^(T)God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the sons of Israel. ²⁴ And the hand of the sons of Israel went forth heavier and heavier against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had cut off Jabin the king of Canaan.

Gideon’s 300 Men

7 Then ^(A)Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and camped beside ^[a]the spring of Harod; and the camp of Midian was on the north side of ^[b]them by the hill of ^(B)Moreh in the valley.

² And Yahweh said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, ^(C)lest Israel honor themselves, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ ³ So now, ^[c]come, call out in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘^(D)Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.’” So 22,000 people returned, but 10,000 remained.

^4 (E)Then Yahweh said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. And it will be that he of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you; but everyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” ⁵ So he brought the people down to the water. And Yahweh said to Gideon, “Everyone who laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps, you shall set him aside by himself, and so also everyone who kneels to drink.” ⁶ Now the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was 300 men; but all the rest of the people kneeled to drink water. ⁷ And Yahweh said to Gideon, “I will save you ^(F)with the 300 men who lapped and will give the Midianites into your hands; so let all the other people go, each man to his place.” ⁸ So ^[d]the 300 men took the people’s provisions and their trumpets into their hands. And ^[e]Gideon sent all the other men of Israel, each to his tent, but retained the 300 men; and the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

⁹ Now it happened the same night that Yahweh said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, ^(G)for I have given it into your hands. ¹⁰ But if you are afraid to go down, then both you and Purah your young man, go down to the camp, ¹¹ and you will hear what they say; and ^(H)afterward your hands will be strengthened, that you may go down against the camp.” So he went with Purah his young man down to the ^[f]outskirts of the armed men that were in the camp. ¹² Now the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the sons of the east were lying in the valley ^(I)as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, ^(J)as numerous as the sand on the seashore. ¹³ Then Gideon came, and behold, a man was recounting a dream to his friend. And he said, “Behold, I ^[g]had a dream; ^[h]a loaf of barley bread was tumbling into the camp of Midian, and it came to the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it ^[i]upside down so that the tent lay flat.” ¹⁴ And his friend answered and said, “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given Midian and all the camp ^(K)into his hand.”

¹⁵ Now it happened that when Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. Then he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for Yahweh has given the camp of Midian into your hands.” ¹⁶ And he divided the 300 men into three ^[j]companies, and he put trumpets and empty pitchers into the hands of all of them, with torches inside the pitchers. ¹⁷ Then he said to them, “Look at me and do likewise. And behold, I will come to the outskirts of the camp, and it will be that just as I do so you do likewise. ¹⁸ And I and all who are with me will blow the trumpet. Then you also shall blow the trumpets all around the camp and say, ‘For Yahweh and for Gideon.’”

Gideon Kills the Princes of Midian

¹⁹ So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set up the watch; and they blew the trumpets and smashed the pitchers that were in their hands. ²⁰ Then the three ^[k]companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers, and they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing and called out, “A sword for Yahweh and for Gideon!” ²¹ And each stood in his place around the camp. Then ^(L)all of the camp ran, and they made a loud shout and fled. ²² So they blew 300 trumpets. And ^(M)Yahweh set the sword of one against another even throughout the whole camp. And the camp fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the edge of ^(N)Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. ²³ And the men of Israel were summoned from ^(O)Naphtali and Asher and all Manasseh, and they pursued Midian.

²⁴ Now Gideon had sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down to meet Midian and ^(P)capture the waters before them, as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were summoned, and they captured the waters as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan. ²⁵ Then they captured the two princes of Midian, ^(Q)Oreb and Zeeb, and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and they killed Zeeb at the wine press of Zeeb. Then they pursued Midian and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon ^(R)from across the Jordan.

Jephthah Delivers Israel

11 Now ^(A)Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a harlot. And Gilead ^[a]became the father of Jephthah. ² And Gilead’s wife bore him sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You shall not have an inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.” ³ So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of ^(B)Tob; and worthless fellows gathered themselves ^[b]about Jephthah, and they went out with him.

⁴ Now it happened after a while that ^(C)the sons of Ammon fought against Israel. ⁵ So it happened that as the sons of Ammon fought against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob; ⁶ and they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our chief that we may fight against the sons of Ammon.” ⁷ Then Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “^(D)Did you not hate me and drive me from my father’s house? So why have you come to me now when you are in distress?” ⁸ And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “For this reason we have now returned to you, that you may go with us and fight with the sons of Ammon and ^(E)become head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” ⁹ So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you take me back to fight against the sons of Ammon and Yahweh gives them up ^[c]to me, will I become your head?” ¹⁰ And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “^(F)Yahweh is ^[d]witness between us; surely we will do ^[e]as you have said.” ¹¹ Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before Yahweh at ^(G)Mizpah.

¹² And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, “What is between you and me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?” ¹³ Then the king of the sons of Ammon said to the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel ^(H)took away my land when they came up from Egypt, from the Arnon as far as the ^(I)Jabbok and the Jordan; so now, return them peaceably.” ¹⁴ But Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the sons of Ammon, ¹⁵ and they said to him, “Thus says Jephthah, ‘Israel did not take away the land of Moab nor the land of the sons of Ammon. ¹⁶ For when they came up from Egypt, and Israel ^(J)went through the wilderness to the ^[f]Red Sea and ^(K)came to Kadesh, ¹⁷ then Israel ^(L)sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please let us pass through your land,” but the king of Edom would not listen. ^(M)And they also sent to the king of Moab, but he was not willing. So Israel remained at Kadesh. ¹⁸ Then they went through the wilderness and ^(N)around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and came to the east toward the sunrise of the land of Moab, and they camped beyond the Arnon; but they ^(O)did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. ¹⁹ And Israel sent ^(P)messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, “Please let us pass through your land to our place.” ²⁰ But Sihon did not believe Israel to allow them to pass through his territory; so Sihon gathered all his people and camped in Jahaz and fought with Israel. ²¹ Then Yahweh, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they ^(Q)struck them down; so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. ^22 (R)So they possessed all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok, and from the wilderness as far as the Jordan. ²³ So now Yahweh, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites from before His people Israel. Are you then to possess it? ²⁴ Do you not possess what ^(S)Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whatever Yahweh our God has taken possession of before us, we will possess it. ²⁵ So now are you any better than ^(T)Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive with Israel, or did he ever fight against them? ^26 (U)While Israel lived in Heshbon and its towns and in Aroer and its towns and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, 300 years, why did you not deliver them for yourself within that time? ²⁷ I therefore have not sinned against you, but you are doing me evil by making war against me; ^(V)may Yahweh, the Judge, judge today between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.’” ²⁸ But the king of the sons of Ammon did not listen to the words which Jephthah sent him.

Jephthah Vows a Burnt Offering

²⁹ Now ^(W)the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Jephthah, so that he passed through Gilead and Manasseh; then he passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he went on to the sons of Ammon. ³⁰ Then Jephthah made a vow to Yahweh and said, “If You will indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand, ³¹ then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be Yahweh’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.” ³² So Jephthah crossed over to the sons of Ammon to fight against them; and Yahweh gave them into his hand. ³³ And he struck them with a very great slaughter from Aroer ^[g]to the entrance of ^(X)Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim. So the sons of Ammon were subdued before the sons of Israel.

³⁴ Then Jephthah came to his house at ^(Y)Mizpah. And behold, his daughter was coming out to meet him ^(Z)with tambourines and with dancing. Now she was his one and only child; besides her he had no son or daughter. ³⁵ So it happened that when he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are among those who trouble me. But I have opened my mouth to vow to Yahweh, and ^(AA)I cannot take it back.” ³⁶ So she said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to vow to Yahweh; ^(AB)do to me according to what has gone out from your mouth, since Yahweh has avenged you of your enemies, the sons of Ammon.” ³⁷ Then she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me; let me alone two months, that I may ^[h]go to the mountains and weep because of ^(AC)my virginity, I and my companions.” ³⁸ Then he said, “Go.” So he sent her away for two months; and she went with her companions and wept on the mountains because of her virginity. ³⁹ And it happened at the end of two months that she returned to her father, and he did to her according to the vow which he had made; and she did not know a man. Thus it became a ^[i]custom in Israel, ⁴⁰ that the daughters of Israel went yearly to ^[j]commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.

Samson Takes a Philistine as His Wife

14 Then Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines. ² So he came back up and told his father and ^[a]mother, “I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines; so now, take her for me as a wife.” ³ But his father and his mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your ^[b](A)relatives, or among all ^[c]our people, that you go to ^(B)take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Take her for me, for she is right in my eyes.” ⁴ However, his father and mother did not know that ^(C)it was of Yahweh, for He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.

⁵ Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and they came as far as the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young lion came roaring toward him. ^6 (D)And the Spirit of Yahweh ^[d]came upon him mightily, so that ^(E)he tore it as one tears a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done. ⁷ So he went down and spoke to the woman; and she was right in the eyes of Samson. ⁸ Then he returned later to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of the lion. ⁹ So he scraped ^[e]the honey into his ^[f]hands and went on, eating as he went. Then he went to his father and mother, and he gave some to them, and they ate it; but he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey out of the body of the lion.

¹⁰ Then his father went down to the woman; and Samson made a feast there, for the young men customarily did this. ¹¹ Now it happened that when they saw him, they took thirty companions to be with him. ¹² Then Samson said to them, “Let me now ^(F)propound a riddle to you; if you will indeed tell it to me within the seven days of the feast and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen wraps and thirty ^(G)changes of clothes. ¹³ But if you are unable to tell me, then you shall give me thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes.” And they said to him, “Propound your riddle, that we may hear it.” ¹⁴ So he said to them,

But they could not tell the riddle in three days.

¹⁵ Then it happened on the ^[g]fourth day that they said to Samson’s wife, “^(H)Entice your husband, so that he will tell us the riddle, ^(I)or we will burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us to impoverish us? Is this not so?” ¹⁶ So Samson’s wife wept before him and said, “^(J)You only hate me, and you do not love me; you have propounded a riddle to the sons of my people and have not told it to me.” And he said to her, “Behold, I have not told it to my father or mother; so should I tell you?” ¹⁷ However she wept before him seven days while their feast lasted. And on the seventh day he told her because she pressed him so hard. She then told the riddle to the sons of her people. ¹⁸ So the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down,

And he said to them,

¹⁹ Then ^(K)the Spirit of Yahweh ^[h]came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty of them and took their spoil and gave the changes of clothes to those who told the riddle. And his anger burned, and he went up to his father’s house. ²⁰ But Samson’s wife was ^(L)given to his companion who had been his ^[i]friend.

David Goes Up Against the Philistines

¹⁷ Then the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, so ^(A)all the Philistines went up to seek out David. And David heard of it and went down to the ^(B)fortress. ¹⁸ Now the Philistines had come and spread themselves out in ^(C)the valley of Rephaim. ¹⁹ Then ^(D)David asked of Yahweh, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You give them into my hand?” And ^(E)Yahweh said to David, “Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand.” ²⁰ So David came to ^(F)Baal-perazim, and there David struck them down; and he said, “Yahweh has broken through my enemies before me, like the breakthrough of waters.” Therefore he named that place ^[a]Baal-perazim.

David Strikes Down Nations

8 ^(A)Now it happened afterwards, that David struck the Philistines and subdued them; and David took ^[a]control of the chief city from the hand of the Philistines.

^2 (B)He also struck ^(C)Moab, and measured them with the line, making them lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death and one full line to keep alive. And ^(D)the Moabites became servants to David, ^(E)bringing tribute.

³ Then David struck ^(F)Hadadezer, the son of Rehob king of Zobah, as ^(G)he went to restore his ^[b]power at the ^[c]River. ⁴ And David captured from him 1,700 horsemen and 20,000 foot soldiers; and David ^(H)hamstrung all the chariot horses, but left enough of them for 100 chariots. ⁵ Then ^(I)the Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, king of Zobah. And David struck down 22,000 Arameans. ⁶ Then David placed garrisons among the Arameans of Damascus; and ^(J)the Arameans became servants to David, bringing tribute. And ^(K)Yahweh granted salvation to David wherever he went. ⁷ And David took the small shields of gold which were ^[d]carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ Also from ^[e]Betah and from ^(L)Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took a very large amount of bronze.

⁹ Then Toi king of ^(M)Hamath heard that David had struck down all the military force of Hadadezer, ¹⁰ so Toi sent ^[f]Joram his son to King David to ^[g]greet him and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and struck him down; for Hadadezer ^[h]had been at war with Toi. And in ^[i]Joram’s hand were articles of silver, of gold, and of bronze. ¹¹ King David also ^(N)set these apart as holy to Yahweh, with the silver and the gold that he had set apart as holy from all the nations which he had subdued: ¹² from ^[j]Aram, ^(O)Moab, ^(P)the sons of Ammon, ^(Q)the Philistines, ^(R)Amalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

¹³ So ^(S)David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 ^[k]Arameans in ^(T)the Valley of Salt. ¹⁴ Then he placed garrisons in Edom. In all Edom he placed garrisons, and ^(U)all the Edomites became servants to David. And ^(V)Yahweh granted salvation to David wherever he went.

¹⁵ So David reigned over all Israel; and David was doing justice and righteousness for all his people. ^16 (W)Now Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and ^(X)Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was ^(Y)recorder; ^17 (Z)and Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were ^(AA)priests, and Seraiah was ^(AB)scribe; ^18 (AC)and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada ^[l]was over the ^(AD)Cherethites and the Pelethites; and the sons of David were ^[m](AE)priests.

^12 (A)Be strong, and let us show strength for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God; and ^(B)may Yahweh do what is good in His sight.”