 chapters one through five of judges American standard version this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information and to find out how you can volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Sam Stinson chapter one and it came to pass after the death of Joshua that the children of Israel asked of Jehovah saying who shall go up for us first against the Canaanites to fight against them and Jehovah said Judah shall go up behold I have delivered the land into his hand 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 the lot so Simeon went with him and Judah went up and Jehovah delivered the Canaanites and the Parasites into their hand and they smote of them in Bezek ten thousand men and they found Adani Bezek in Bezek and they fought against him and they smote the Canaanites and the Parasites but Adani Bezek fled and they pursued after him and caught him and cut off his thumbs in his great toes and Adani Bezek said three score and ten kings having their thumbs in their great toes cut off gathered their food under my table as I have done so God hath requited me and they brought him to Jerusalem and he died there and the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it and smote it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire and afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites that dwelt in the hill country and in the south and in the lowland and Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron now the name of Hebron before time was Kirith Arba and they smote Shashi and Ahemann and Talmai and from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir now the name of Debir before time was Kirith Sefer and Caliph said he that smideth Kirith Sefer and taketh it to him will I give Eksa my daughter to wife and Othniel the son of Canaz Calib's younger brother took it and he gave him Eksa his daughter to wife and it came to pass when she came unto him that she moved him to ask of her father a field and she alighted from off her ass and Calib said unto her what would is thou and she said unto him give me a blessing for that thou hast set me in the land of the south give me also springs of water and Calib gave her the upper springs and the nether springs and the children of the Kenite Moses's brother-in-law went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah which is in the south of Arad and they went and dwelt with the people and Judah went with Simeon his brother and they smote the Canaanites that inhabited Zeffath and utterly destroyed it and the name of the city was called Horma also Judah took Gaza with the border thereof and Ashkelon with the border thereof and Ekron with the border thereof and Jehovah was with Judah and drove out the inhabitants of the hill country for he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley because they had chariots of iron and they gave Hebron unto Calib as Moses had spoken and he drove out thence the three sons of Anak 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 and the house of Joseph they also went up against Bethel and Jehovah was with them and the house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel now the name of the city before time was Luz and the watchers 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 deal kindly with thee and he showed them the entrance into the city and they smote the city with the edge of the sword but they let the man go and all his family and the man went into the land of the Hittites and built the city and called the name thereof Luz which is the name thereof unto this day and Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Sheehan and its towns nor of Tanakh and its towns nor the inhabitants of Dore and its towns nor the inhabitants of Iblum and its towns nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns but the Canaanites would dwell in that land and it came to pass when Israel was waxed strong that they put the Canaanites to task work and did not utterly drive them out and Ephraim drove not out the Canaanites that dwelt in Giza but the Canaanites dwelt in Giza among them. Zebulun drove not out the inhabitants of Ketron nor the inhabitants of Nahalol but the Canaanites dwelt among them and became subject to task work. Asher drove not out the inhabitants of Akko nor the inhabitants of Sidon nor of Alab nor of Akzib nor of Helba nor of Afik nor of Rehab but the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites the inhabitants of the land for they did not drive them out. Naftali drove not out the inhabitants of Beth Sheemesh nor the inhabitants of Beth Anath but he dwelt among the Canaanites the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth Sheemesh and of Beth Anath became subject to task work and the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the hill country for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley but the Amorites would dwell in Mount Harris and Ajalon and in Shalbeem yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed so that they became subject to task work and the border of the Amorites was from the ascent of Akrabim from the rock and upward and of chapter one, chapter two and the angel of Jehovah came up from Gilgal to Bakim and he said, I made you to go up out of Egypt and have brought you unto the land which I swear into your fathers and I said I will never break my covenant with you and ye shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land ye shall break down their altars but ye have not harkened unto my voice. Why have ye done this? 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 and it came to pass when the angel of Jehovah spake these words unto all the children of Israel that the people lifted up their voice and wept and they called the name of that place Bakim and they sacrificed there unto Jehovah. Now when Joshua had sent the people away the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land and the people served Jehovah all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua who had seen all the great work of Jehovah that he had wrought for Israel and Joshua the son of Nun the servant of Jehovah died being a hundred and ten years old and they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath Harris in the hill country of Ephraim on the north of the mountain of Gaash and also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers and there arose another generation after them that knew not Jehovah nor yet the work which he had wrought for Israel and the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah and served the baleen and they forsook Jehovah the god of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt and followed other gods of the gods of the peoples that were round about them and bowed themselves down unto them and they provoked Jehovah to anger and they forsook Jehovah and served bale and the ashtaraf and the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that despoiled them and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies with or so ever they went out the hand of Jehovah was against them for evil as Jehovah had spoken and as Jehovah had sworn unto them and they were sore distressed and Jehovah raised up judges who saved them out of the hand of those that despoiled them and yet they hearkened not unto their judges for they played the harlot after other gods and bowed themselves down unto them they turned aside quickly out of the way wherein their fathers walked obeying the commandments of Jehovah but they did not so and when Jehovah raised them up judges then Jehovah was with the judge and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge for it repented Jehovah because of their groaning by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them but it came to pass when the judge was dead that they turned back and dealt more corruptly than their fathers and following other gods to serve them and to bow down unto them they ceased not from their doings nor from their stubborn way and the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel and he said because this nation have transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers and have not hearkened unto my voice I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations that Joshua left when he died that by them I may prove Israel whether they will keep the way of Jehovah to walk therein as their fathers did keep it or not so Jehovah left those nations without driving them out hastily neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua and of chapter 2 chapter 3 now these are the nations which Jehovah left to prove Israel by them even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan only that the generations of the children of Israel might know to teach them war at the least such as before time knew nothing thereof namely the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sedonians and the Hivites that dwelt in Mount Lebanon from Mount Bael Hermon unto the entrance of Hamath and they were left to prove Israel by them to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of Jehovah which he commanded their fathers by Moses and the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites the Hittites and the Amorites and the Parasites and the Hivites and the Jebusites and they took their daughters to be their wives and gave their own daughters to their sons and serve their gods and the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah and forget Jehovah their god and serve the Baelim and the Asharoth therefore the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel and he sold them into the hand of Kushan Rish Athayim king of Mesopotamia and the children of Israel served Kushan Rish Athayim eight years and when the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah Jehovah raised up a savior to the children of Israel who saved them even Othniel the son of Canaz Caleb's younger brother and the spirit of Jehovah came upon him and he judged Israel and he went out to war and Jehovah delivered Kushan Rish Athayim king of Mesopotamia into his hand and his hand prevailed against Kushan Rish Athayim and the land had rest 40 years and Othniel the son of Canaz died and the children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah and Jehovah strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel because they had done that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah and he gathered unto him the children of Amon and Amalek and he went and smote Israel and they possessed the city of palm trees and the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab 18 years but when the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah Jehovah raised them up a savior Ahud the son of Gurah the benjamite a man left handed and the children of Israel sent tribute by him unto Eglon the king of Moab and Ahud made him a sword which had two edges a cubit in length and he girded it under his raiment upon his right thigh and he offered the tribute unto Eglon king of Moab now Eglon was a very fat man and when he had made an end of offering the tribute he sent away the people that bear the tribute but he himself turned back from the quarries that were by Gilgal and said I have a secret errand unto thee O king and he said keep silence and all that stood by him went out from him and Ahud came unto him and he was sitting by himself alone in the cool upper room and Ahud said I have a message from God unto thee and he arose out of his seat and Ahud put forth his left hand and took the sword from his right thigh and thrust it into his body and the shaft also went in after the blade and the fat closed upon the blade for he drew not the sword out of his body and it came out behind then Ahud went forth into the porch and shut the doors of the upper room upon him and locked them now when he was gone out his servants came and they saw and behold the doors of the upper room were locked and they said surely he is covering his feet in the upper chamber and they tarried till they were ashamed and behold he opened not the doors of the upper room therefore they took the key and opened them and behold their lord was fallen down dead on the earth and Ahud escaped while they tarried and passed beyond the quarries and escaped unto Seirah and it came to pass when he was come that he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim and the children of Israel went down with him from the hill country and he before them and he said unto them follow after me for Jehovah hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand and they went down after him and took the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and suffered not a man to pass over and they smote of Moab at that time about 10,000 men every lusty man and every man of valor and they escaped not a man so Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel and the land had rest four score years and after him was Shamgar the son of Anath who smote of the Philistines 600 men with an ox goad and he also saved Israel end of chapter three chapter four and the children of Israel again did that which was evil on the side of Jehovah when Ahud was dead and Jehovah sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan that reigned in Hazor the captain of whose host was Cicera who dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles and the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah for he had 900 chariots of iron in 20 years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel now Deborah a prophetess the wife of Lapidoth she judged Israel at that time and she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel and the hill country of Ephraim and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment and she sent in called Barak the son of Abbenoam out of Cadesh Naftali and said unto him hath not Jehovah the god of Israel commanded saying go and draw unto Mount Tabor and take with the 10,000 men of the children of Naftali and of the children of Zebulun and I will draw unto thee to the river Kishan Cicera the captain of Jabin's army with his chariots in his multitude and I will deliver him into thy hand and Barak said unto her if thou wilt go with me then I will go but if thou wilt not go with me I will not go and she said I will surely go with thee notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honor for Jehovah will sell Cicera into the hand of a woman and Deborah arose and went with Barak to Cadesh and Barak called Zebulun and Naftali together to Cadesh and there went up 10,000 men at his feet and Deborah went up with him now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites even from the children of Hobab the brother-in-law of Moses and had pitched his tent as far as the oak of Zan Anim which is by Cadesh and they told Cicera that Barak the son of Abinoham was gone up to Mount Tabor and Cicera gathered together all his chariots even 900 chariots of iron and all the people that were with him from Herosheth of the Gentiles unto the river Kishan and Deborah said unto Barak up for this is the day in which Jehovah hath delivered Cicera into thy hand is not Jehovah gone out before thee so Barak went down from Mount Tabor and 10,000 men after him and Jehovah discomfited Cicera and all his chariots and all his host with the edge of the sword before Barak and Cicera alighted from his chariot and fled away on his feet but Barak pursued after the chariots and after the host unto Herosheth of the Gentiles and all the host of Cicera fell by the edge of the sword there was not a man left how be it Cicera 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 and Jael went out to meet Cicera and said unto him turn in my lord turn in to me fear not and he turned in unto her into the tent and she covered him with a rug 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 and 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 then Jael Heber's wife took a tent pin and took a hammer in her hand and went softly unto him and smote the pin into his temples and it pierced through into the ground for he was in a deep sleep so he swooned and died and behold as Barak pursued Cicera Jael came out to meet him and said unto him come and I will show thee the man whom thou seekest and he came unto her and behold Cicera lay dead and the tent pin was in his temples so God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel and the hand of the children of Israel prevailed more and more against Jabin the king of Canaan until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan. End of chapter four chapter five then saying Debra and Barak the son of Abinoham on that day saying for that the leaders took the lead in Israel for that the people offered themselves willingly bless ye Jehovah hear oh ye kings give ear oh ye princes I even I will sing unto Jehovah I will sing praise to Jehovah the god of Israel Jehovah when thou wentest forth out of Seir when thou marchest out of the field of Edom the earth trembled the heavens also dropped ye the clouds dropped water the mountains quaked at the presence of Jehovah even Yon Sinai at the presence of Jehovah the god of Israel and the days of Shamgar the son of Anath and the days of Jael the highways were unoccupied and the travelers walked through byways the rulers ceased in Israel they ceased until that I Debra arose that I arose a mother in Israel they chose new gods then was war in the gates was there a shield or spear seen among 40 000 in Israel my heart is toward the governors of Israel that offered themselves willingly among the people bless ye Jehovah tell of it ye that ride on white asses ye that sit on rich carpets and ye that walk by the way far from the noise of archers and the places of drawing water there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of Jehovah even the righteous acts of his rule in Israel then the people of Jehovah went down to the gates awake awake Debra awake awake utter a song arise Barak and lead away thy captives thou son of Abinoham then came down a remnant of the nobles and the people Jehovah came down from me against the mighty out of Ephraim came down they whose root is in Amalek after thee Benjamin among thy peoples out of Makir came down governors and out of Zebulun they that handled the marshals staff and the princes of Izakar were with Debra as was Izakar so was Barak into the valley they rushed forth at his feet by the watercourses of Rubin there were great resolves of heart why saddest thou among the sheepfolds to hear the pipings for the flocks at the watercourses of Rubin there were great searchings of heart Gilead abode beyond the Jordan and Dan why did he remain in ships Asher sat still at the haven of the sea and abode by his creeks Zebulun was a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death and naftali upon the high places of the field the kings came and fought then fought the kings of Canaan and to knock by the waters of Megiddo they took no gain of money from heaven fought the stars from their courses they fought against Cicera the river Kishon swept them away that ancient river the river Kishon oh my soul march on with strength then did the horse hoofs stamp by reason of the prancings the prancings of their strong ones curse ye miraz said the angel of Jehovah curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof because they came not to the help of Jehovah to the help of Jehovah against the mighty blessed above women shall Je'el be the wife of Heber the Kenite blessed shall she be above women in the tent he asked water and she gave him milk she brought him butter in a lordly dish she put her hand to the tent pin and her right hand to the workman's hammer and with the hammer she smoked Cicera she smoked through his head ye she pierced and struck through his temples at her feet he bowed he fell he lay at her feet he bowed he fell where he bowed there he fell down dead through the window she looked forth and cried the mother of Cicera cried through the lattice why is his chariot so long in coming why tarry the wheels of his chariots her wise ladies answered her yay she returned answer to herself have they not found have they not divided the spoil a damsel two damsels to every man to Cicera a spoil of dyed garments a spoil of dyed garments embroidered of dyed garments embroidered on both sides on the necks of the spoil so let all thine enemies perish oh Jehovah but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might and the land had rest 40 years end of chapter five chapters six through nine of judges american standard version this is a libra vox recording all libra vox recordings are in the public domain for more information and to find out how you can volunteer please visit libra vox dot org recording by sam stinson chapter six and the children of israel did that which was evil in the sign of Jehovah and Jehovah delivered them into the hands of Midian seven years and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel and because of Midian the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds and so it was when Israel had sown that the Midianites came up and the Amalekites and the children of the east they came up against them and they encamped against them and destroyed the increase of the earth till thou come unto Gaza and left no sustenance in Israel neither sheep nor ox nor as for they came up with their cattle and their tents they came in as locus for multitude both they and their camels were without number and they came into the land to destroy it and Israel was brought very low because of Midian and the children of Israel cried into Jehovah and it came to pass when the children of Israel cried into Jehovah because of Midian that Jehovah sent a prophet unto the children of Israel and he said unto them thus saith Jehovah the god of Israel I brought you up from Egypt and brought you forth out of the house of bondage and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all that oppressed you and drove them out from before you and gave you their land and I said unto you I am Jehovah your god ye shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell but ye have not hearkened unto my voice and the angel of Jehovah came and sat under the oak which was in Ophra that pertained unto Joash the Abirasite and his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press to hide it from the Midianites and the angel of Jehovah appeared unto him and said unto him Jehovah is with thee thou mighty man of valor and Gideon said unto him oh my lord if Jehovah is with us why then is all this befallen us and where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of saying did not Jehovah bring us up from Egypt but now Jehovah hath cast us off and delivered us into the hand of Midian and Jehovah looked upon him and said go in this thy might and save Israel from the hand of Midian have not I sent thee and he said unto him oh lord where with shall I save Israel behold my family is the poorest in Manasseh and I am the least in my father's house and Jehovah said unto him surely I will be with thee and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man and he said unto him if now I have found favor in thy sight then show me a sign that it is thou that talkest with me depart not hence I pray thee until I come unto thee and bring forth my present and lay it before thee and he said I will tarry until thou come again and Gideon went in and made ready a kid and unleavened cakes of an effa of meal 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 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 then the angel of Jehovah put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes and there went up fire out of the rock and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes and the angel of Jehovah departed out of his sight and Gideon saw that he was the angel of Jehovah and Gideon said alas oh lord Jehovah for as much as I have seen the angel of Jehovah face to face and Jehovah said unto him peace be unto thee fear not thou shalt not die then Gideon built an altar there unto Jehovah and called it Jehovah Shalom unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abirasites and it came to pass the same night that Jehovah said unto him take thy father's bullock even the second bullock seven years old and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath and cut down the ashrah that is by it and build an altar unto Jehovah thy God upon the top of this stronghold in the orderly manner and take the second bullock and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the ashrah which thou shalt cut down then Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as Jehovah had spoken unto him and it came to pass because he feared his father's household and the men of the city so that he could not do it by day that he did it by night and when the men of the city arose early in the morning behold the altar of Baal was broken down and the ashrah was cut down that was by it and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built 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 and the men of the city said unto Joash bring out thy son that he may die because he hath broken down the altar of Baal and because he hath cut down the ashrah that was by it and Joash said unto all that stood against him will ye contend for Baal or will ye save him he that will contend for him let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning if he be a god let him contend for himself because one hath broken down his altar therefore on that day he called him Jerub Baal saying let Baal contend against him because he hath broken down his altar then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east assembled themselves together and they passed over and encamped in the valley of Jezreel but the spirit of Jehovah came upon Gideon and he blew a trumpet and Abbeazer was gathered together after him and he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh and they also were gathered together unto him and he sent messengers unto Asher and unto Zebulun and unto Naftali and they came up to meet them and Gideon said unto God if thou wilt save Israel by my hand as thou hast spoken behold I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor if there be dew on the fleece only and it be dry upon all the ground then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by my hand as thou hast spoken and it was so for he rose up early on the morrow and pressed the fleece together and wrung the dew out of the fleece a bowl full of water and Gideon said unto God let not thine anger rekindled against me and I will speak but this once let me make trial 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 and God did so that night for it was dry upon the fleece only and there was dew on all the ground end of chapter six chapter seven then Jerobbeil who is Gideon and all the people that were with him rose up early and encamped beside the spring of Herod and the camp of Midian was on the north side of them by the hill of Morat in the valley and Jehovah said unto Gideon the people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand lest Israel vaunt themselves against me saying my known hand has saved me now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people saying whosoever is fearful and trembling let him return and depart from Mount Gilead and their return of the people twenty and two thousand and there remained ten thousand and Jehovah 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 so he brought down the people unto the water and Jehovah said unto Gideon everyone that lapeth of the water with his tongue as a dog lapeth him shalt thou set by himself likewise everyone that boweth down upon his knees to drink and the number of them that lapped putting their hand to their mouth was three hundred men but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water and Jehovah said unto Gideon by the three hundred men that lapped will I save you and deliver the Midianites into thy hand and let all the people go every man unto his place so the people took victuals in their hand and their trumpets and he sent all the men of Israel every man unto his tent but retained the three hundred men and the camp of Midian was beneath him in the valley and it came to pass the same night that Jehovah said unto him arise get thee down into the camp for I have delivered it into thy hand but if thou fear to go down go thou with para thy servant down to the camp and thou shalt hear what they say and afterward shall thy hands be strengthened to go down into the camp then went he down with para his servant into the outermost part of the armed men that were in the camp and the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like locusts for multitude and their camels were without number as the sand which is upon the seashore for multitude and when Gideon was come behold there was a man telling a dream unto his fellow and he said behold I dreamed a dream and lo a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came unto the tent and smote it so that it fell and turned it upside down so that the tent lay flat and his fellow answered and said this is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash a man of Israel and to his hand God have delivered Midian and all the host and it was so when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and the interpretation thereof that he worshiped and he returned into the camp of Israel and said arise for Jehovah have delivered into your hand the host of Midian and he divided the 300 men into three companies and he put into the hands of all of them trumpets and empty pitchers with torches within the pitchers and he said unto them look on me and do likewise and behold when I come to the outermost part of the camp it shall be that as I do so shall ye do when I blow the trumpet I and all that are with me then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of the camp and say for Jehovah and for Gideon so Gideon and the hundred men that were with him came unto the outermost part of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch when they had but newly set the watch and they blew the trumpets and break in pieces the pitchers that were in their hands and the three companies blew the trumpets and break the pitchers and held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands were with Toblo and they cried the sword of Jehovah and of Gideon and they stood every man in his place round about the camp and all the host ran and they shouted and put them to flight and they blew the 300 trumpets and Jehovah said every man's sword against his fellow and against all the host and the host fled as far as Beth Shattah toward Zerera as far as the border of Abel Mahola by Tabith and the men of Israel were gathered together out of Naftali and out of Asher and out of all Manasseh and pursued after Midian and Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim saying come down against Midian and take before them the waters as far as Bethbara even the Jordan so all the men of Ephraim were gathered together and took the waters as far as Bethbara even the Jordan and they took the two princes of Midian Orib and Zeb and they slew Orib at the rock of Orib and Zeb they slew at the wine press of Zeb and pursued Midian and they brought the heads of Orib and Zeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan end of chapter seven chapter eight and the men of Ephraim said unto him why has thou served us thus that thou callest us not when thou wentest to fight with Midian and they did chide him sharply and he said unto them what have I now done in comparison with you is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abbeazer God have delivered into your hand the princes of Midian Orib and Zeb and what was I able to do in comparison with you then their anger was abated toward him when he had said that and Gideon came to the Jordan and passed over he and the 300 men that were with him faint yet pursuing and he said unto the men of Sukkoth give I pray you loaves of bread and to the people that follow me for they are faint and I am pursuing after Zeba and Zalmunah the kings of Midian and the princes of Sukkoth said are the hands of Zeba and Zalmunah now in thy hand that we should give bread unto thine army and Gideon said therefore when Jehovah hath delivered Zeba and Zalmunah into my hand then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briars and he went up thence to penuel and spake unto them in like manner and the men of penuel answered him as the men of Sukkoth had answered and he spake also unto the men of penuel saying when I come again in peace I will break down this tower now Zeba and Zalmunah were in Karkor and their host with them about 15,000 men all that were left of all the host of the children of the east for there fell 120,000 men that drew sword and Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents on the east of Noba and jog Bihá and smote the host for the host was secure and Zeba and Zalmunah fled and he pursued after them and he took the two kings of Midian Zeba and Zalmunah and discomfited all the host and Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle from the ascent of Harris and he caught a young man of the men of Sukkoth and inquired of him and he described for him the princes of Sukkoth and the elders thereof 70 and 7 men and he came unto the men of Sukkoth and said behold Zeba and Zalmunah concerning whom ye did taught me saying are the hands of Zeba and Zalmunah now in thy hand that we should give bread unto thy men that are weary and he took the elders of the city and thorns of the wilderness and briars and with them he taught the men of Sukkoth and he break down the tower of penuel and slew the men of the city then said he unto Zeba and Zalmunah 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 and he said they were my brethren the sons of my mother as Jehovah liveth if ye had saved them alive I would not slay you and he said unto Jethar his firstborn up and slay them but the youth threw not his sword for he feared because he was yet a youth and Zeba and Zalmunah said rise thou and fall upon us for as the man is so is his strength and Gideon arose and slew Zeba and Zalmunah and took the crescents that were on their camels necks then the men of Israel said unto Gideon rule thou over us both thou and thy son and thy sons son also for thou hast saved us out of the hand of Midian and Gideon said unto them I will not rule over you neither shall my son rule over you Jehovah shall rule over you and Gideon said unto them I would make a request of you that ye would give me every man the earrings of his spoil for they had golden earrings because they were Ishmaelites and they answered we will willingly give them and they spread a garment and did cast therein every man the earrings of his spoil and the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold besides the crescents and the pendants and the purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian and besides the chains that were about their camels necks and Gideon made an ephid thereof and put it in his city even in Ofra and all Israel played the harlot after it there and it became a snare unto Gideon and to his house so Midian was subdued before the children of Israel and they lifted up their heads no more and the land had rest 40 years in the days of Gideon and Jerubb Bale the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house and Gideon had three score and ten sons of his body begotten for he had many wives and his concubine that was in Shechem she also bear him a son and he called his name Abimelech and Gideon the son of Joash died in good old age and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash's father and Ofra of the Abirazites and it came to pass as soon as Gideon was dead that the children of Israel turned again and played the harlot after the baleem and made Bale Barith their god and the children of Israel remembered not Jehovah their god who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side neither showed they kindness to the house of Jerubb Bale who is Gideon according to all the goodness which he had showed unto Israel end of chapter eight chapter nine and Abimelech the son of Jerubb Bale went to Shechem unto his mother's brethren and spake with them and with all the family of the house of his mother's father saying speak I pray you in the years of all the men of Shechem whether is better for you that all the sons of Jerubb Bale who are three score and ten persons rule over you or that one rule over you remember also that I am your bone and your flesh 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 and they gave him three score and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Bale Barith wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light fellows who followed him and he went unto his father's house at Ophra and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubb Bale being three score and ten persons upon one stone but Jotham the youngest son of Jerubb Bale was left for he hid himself and all the men of Shechem assembled themselves together and all the house of Milo and went and made Abimelech king by the oak of the pillar that was in Shechem and when they told it to Jotham he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim and lifted up his voice and cried and said unto them harken unto me ye men of Shechem that God may harken unto you the trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them and they said unto the olive tree reign now over us but the olive tree said unto them should I leave my fatness wherewith by me they honor God in man and go to wave to and fro over the trees and the tree said to the fig tree come thou and reign over us but the fig tree said unto them should I leave my sweetness in my good fruit and go to wave to and fro over the trees and the tree said unto the vine come thou and reign over us and the vine said unto them should I leave my new wine which cheereth God and man and go to wave to and fro over the trees then said all the trees unto the bramble come thou and reign over us and the bramble said unto the trees if in truth ye anoint me king over you then come and take refuge in my shade and if not let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of lebanon now therefore if ye have dealt truly and uprightly and that ye have made a bimolette king and if ye have dealt well with Jerub Bale and his house and have done unto him according to the deserving of his hands for my father fought for you and adventured his life and delivered you out of the hand of Midian and ye are risen up against my father's house this day and have slain his sons three score and ten persons upon one stone and have made a bimolec the son of his maid servant king over the men of Shechem because he is your brother if ye then have dealt truly and uprightly with Jerub Bale and with his house this day then rejoice ye in a bimolec and let him also rejoice in you but if not let fire come out from a bimolec and devour the men of Shechem and the house of Milo and let fire come out from the men of Shechem and from the house of Milo and devour a bimolec and Jotham ran away and fled and went to Ba'ir and dwelt there for fear of a bimolec his brother and a bimolec was prince over Israel three years and God sent an evil spirit between a bimolec and the men of Shechem and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with a bimolec that the violence done to the three score and ten sons of Jerub Bale might come and that their blood might be laid upon a bimolec their brother who slew them and upon the men of Shechem who strengthened his hands to slay his brethren and the men of Shechem set liars and wait for him on the tops of the mountains and they robbed all that came along that way by them and it was told a bimolec and Gael the son of Ebed came with his brethren and went over to Shechem and the men of Shechem put their trust in him and they went out into the field and gathered their vineyards and trod the grapes and held festival and went to do the house of their God and did eat and drink and cursed a bimolec and Gael the son of Ebed said who is a bimolec and who is Shechem that we should serve him is not he the son of Jerub Bale and Zebel his officer serve ye the men of Hamor the father of Shechem but why should we serve him and would that this people were under my hand then would I remove a bimolec and he said to a bimolec increase thine army and come out and when Zebel the ruler of the city heard the words of Gael the son of Ebed his anger was kindled and he sent messengers into a bimolec craftily saying behold Gael the son of Ebed and his brethren are come to Shechem and behold they constrain the city to take part against thee now therefore up by night thou and the people that are with thee and lie in wait in the field and it shall be that in the morning as soon as the sun is up thou shalt rise early and rush upon the city and behold when he and the people that are with him come out against thee then may as thou do to them as thou shalt find occasion and the bimolec rose up and all the people that were with him by night and they laid waste against Shechem in four companies and Gael the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city and the bimolec rose up and the people that were with him from the ambushment and when Gael saw the people he said to Zebel behold there come people down from the tops of the mountains and Zebel said unto him thou seest the shadow of the mountains as if they were men and Gael spake again and said see there come people down by the middle of the land and one company cometh by the way of the oak of Me'an Anim then said Zebel unto him where is now thy mouth that thou saidest who is a bimolec that we should serve him is not this the people that thou hast despised go out now I pray and fight with them and Gael went out before the men of Shechem and fought with a bimolec and a bimolec chased him and he fled before him and there fell many wounded even unto the entrance of the gate and a bimolec dwelt at Aruma and Zebel drove out Gael and his brethren that they should not dwell in Shechem and it came to pass on the morrow that the people went out into the field and they told the bimolec and he took the people and divided them into three companies and laid weight in the field and he looked and behold the people came forth out of the city and he rose up against them and smote them and a bimolec and the companies that were with him rushed forward and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city and the two companies rushed upon all that were in the field and smote them and a bimolec fought against the city all that day and he took the city and slew the people that were there in and he beat down the city and sowed it with salt and when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard their off they entered into the stronghold of the house of El Beareth and it was told a bimolec that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together and a bimolec got him up to Mount Zalman he and all the people that were with him and a bimolec took an axe in his hand and cut down a bow from the trees and took it up and laid it on his shoulder and he said unto the people that were with him what ye have seen me do make haste and do as I have done and all the people likewise cut down every man his bow and followed a bimolec and put them to the stronghold and set the stronghold on fire upon them so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also about a thousand men and women then went a bimolec to Thebes and and camped against Thebes and took it but there was a strong tower within the city and thither fled all the men and women and all day of the city and shut themselves in and gat them up to the roof of the tower and a bimolec came unto the tower and fought against it and drew near unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire and a certain woman cast an upper millstone upon a bimolec's head and break his skull then he called hastily unto the young man his armor-bearer and sent unto him draw thy sword and kill me that men say not of me a woman slew him and his young man thrust him through and he died and when the men of Israel saw that a bimolec was dead they departed every man unto his place thus God requited the wickedness of a bimolec which he did unto his father in slaying his seventy brethren and all the wickedness of the men of Shechem did God requite upon their heads and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerub Bale End of Chapter 9 Chapters 10 through 13 of Judges American Standard Version This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information and to find out how you can volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Sam Stinson Chapter 10 And after a bimolec there arose to save Israel Tola the son of Pua the son of Dodo a man of Isikar and he dwelled in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim and he judged Israel twenty and three years and died and was buried in Shamir and after him arose Jair the Gileadite and he judged Israel twenty and two years and he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ascults and they had thirty cities which are called Havoth Jair unto this day which are in the land of Gilead and Jair died and was buried in Kaman and the children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah and served the Baleem and the Ashtaroff and the gods of Syria and the gods of Sidon and the gods of Moab and the gods of the children of Ammon and the gods of the Philistines and they forsook Jehovah and served him not and the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the children of Ammon and they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel that year eighteen years oppressed they all the children of Israel that were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites which is in Gilead and the children of Ammon passed over the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim so that Israel was sore distressed and the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah saying we have sinned against thee even because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baleem and Jehovah said unto the children of Israel did not I save you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites from the children of Ammon and from the Philistines the Sidonians also and the Amalekites and the Maonites did oppress you and ye cried unto me and I saved you out of their hand yet ye have forsaken me and served other gods wherefore I will save you no more go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen let them save you in the time of your distress and the children of Israel said unto Jehovah we have sinned do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee only deliver us we pray thee this day and they put away the foreign gods from among them and served Jehovah and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel then the children of Ammon were gathered together and encamped in Gilead and the children of Israel assembled themselves together and encamped in Mispah and the people the 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 End of chapter 10 Chapter 11 Now Jebtha the Gileadite was a mighty man of Valar and he was the son of a harlot and Gilead begat Jebtha and Gilead's wife bear him sons and when his wife's sons grew up they drove out Jebtha and said unto him thou shalt not inherit in our father's house for thou art the son of another woman then Jebtha fled from his brethren and dwelt in the land of Tob and there were gathered vain fellows to Jebtha and they went out with him and it came to pass after a while that the children of Ammon made war against Israel and it was so that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jebtha out of the land of Tob and they said unto Jebtha come and be our chief that we may fight with the children of Ammon and Jebtha said unto the elders of Gilead did not ye hate me and drive me out of my father's house and why are ye common to me now when ye are in distress and the elders of Gilead said unto Jebtha therefore are we turned again to thee now that thou mayest go with us and fight with the children of Ammon and thou shalt be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead and Jebtha said unto the elders of Gilead if ye bring me home again to fight with the children of Ammon and Jehovah deliver them before me shall I be your head and the elders of Gilead said unto Jebtha Jehovah shall be witness between us surely according to thy word so will we do then Jebtha went with the elders of Gilead and the people made him head and chief over them and Jebtha spake all his words before Jehovah in Mispah and Jebtha sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon saying what hast thou to do with me that thou art come unto me to fight against my land and the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jebtha because Israel took away my land when he came up out of Egypt from the Arnan even unto the Javik and unto the Jordan now therefore restore those lands again peaceably and Jebtha sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon and he said unto him thus saith Jebtha Israel took not away the land of Moab nor the land of the children of Ammon but when they came up from Egypt and Israel went through the wilderness unto the Red Sea and came to Qadish then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom saying let me I pray thee pass through thy land but the king of Edom hearkened not and in like manner he sent unto the king of Moab but he would not and Israel abode in Qadish then they went through the wilderness and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and came by the east side of the land of Moab and they encamped on the other side of the Arnan but they came not within the border of Moab for the Arnan was the border of Moab and Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites the king of Heshman and Israel said unto him let us pass we pray thee through thy land and to my place but Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his border but Sihon gathered all his people together and encamped in Jihaz and fought against Israel and Jehovah the god of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel and they smoked them so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites the inhabitants of that country and they possessed all the border of the Amorites from the Arnan even unto the Jabbaq and from the wilderness even unto the Jordan so now Jehovah the god of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel and shouldest thou possess them will not thou possess that which Kimosh thy god giveth thee to possess so whosoever Jehovah our god hath dispossessed from before us them will we possess and now aren't thou anything better than Balak the son of Zippor king of Moab did he ever strive against Israel or did he ever fight against them while Israel dwelled in Heshman and its towns and in our Oer and its towns and in all the cities that are along by the side of the Arnan 300 years wherefore did ye not recover them within that time I therefore have not sinned against thee but thou doest me wrong to war against me Jehovah the judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon Albeit the king of the children of Ammon harkened not unto the words of Jebtha which he sent him then the spirit of Jehovah came upon Jebtha and he passed over Gilead and Manasseh and passed over Mizpa of Gilead and from Mizpa of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon and Jebtha vowed a vow unto Jehovah and said if thou wilt indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand then it shall be that whatsoever cometh forth from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the children of Ammon it shall be Jehovah's and I will offer it up for a burnt offering so Jebtha passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them and Jehovah delivered them into his hand and he smote them from R-O-R until thou come to Mineth even twenty cities and unto Abel Ker Amim with a very great slaughter so the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel and Jebtha came to Mizpa unto his house and behold his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances and she was his only child besides her he had neither son nor daughter and it came to pass when he saw her that he ranked 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 Jehovah and I cannot go back and she said unto him my father thou hast opened thy mouth unto Jehovah do unto me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth for as much as Jehovah hath taken vengeance for thee on thine enemies even on the children of Ammon and she said unto her father let this thing be done for me let me alone two months that I may depart and go down upon the mountains and bewail my virginity I and my companions and he said go and he sent her away for two months and she departed she and her companions and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains 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 not man and it was a custom in Israel that the daughters of Israel went yearly to celebrate the daughter of Jebtha the Gileadite four days in a year end of chapter eleven chapter twelve and the men of Ephraim were gathered together and passed northward and they said unto Jebtha wherefore pass it thou over to fight against the children of Ammon and didst not call us to go with thee we will burn thy house upon thee with fire and Jebtha said unto them I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon and when I called you ye saved me not out of their hand and when I saw that ye saved me not I put my life in my hand and passed over against the children of Ammon and Jehovah delivered them into my hand wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day to fight against me then Jebtha gathered together all the men of Gilead and fought with Ephraim and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim because they said ye are fugitives of Ephraim ye Gileadites in the midst of Ephraim and in the midst of Manasseh and the Gileadites took the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites and it was so that when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said let me go over the men of Gilead said unto him art thou an Ephraimite if he said nay then said they unto him say now Shibboleth and he said Sibboleth for he could not frame to pronounce it right then they laid hold on him and slew him at the fords of the Jordan and there fell at that time of Ephraim forty and two thousand and Jebtha judged Israel six years then died Jebtha the Gileadite and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead and after him Ibn Zahn of Bethlehem judged Israel and he had thirty sons and thirty daughters he sent abroad and thirty daughters he brought in from abroad for his sons and he judged Israel seven years and Ibn Zahn died and was buried at Bethlehem and after him Elan the Zebulonite judged Israel and he judged Israel ten years and Elan the Zebulonite died and was buried in Ijalan in the land of Zebulon and after him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pyrethonite judged Israel and he had forty sons and thirty sons sons that rode on three score and ten ascults and he judged Israel eight years and Abdon the son of Hillel the Pyrethonite died and was buried in Pyrethon in the land of Ephraim in the hill country of the Amalekites and of chapter 12 chapter 13 and the children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah and Jehovah delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years and there was a certain man of Zorah of the family of the Danites whose name was Manoa and his wife was Baran and Baranot and the angel of Jehovah appeared unto the woman and said unto her behold now thou art Baran and Barist not but thou shalt conceive and bear a son now therefore be where I pray thee and drink no wine nor strong drink and eat not any unclean thing for lo thou shalt conceive and bear a son and no razor shall come upon his head for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb and he shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines then the woman came and told her husband saying a man of God came unto me and his countenance was like the countenance of the angel of God very terrible and I asked him not whence he was neither told he me his name but he said unto me behold thou shalt conceive and bear a son and now drink no wine nor strong drink and eat not any unclean thing for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb to the day of his death then Manoa entreated Jehovah and said oh lord I pray thee let the man of God whom thou didst send come again unto us and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born and God hearkened to the voice of Manoa and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field but Manoa her husband was not with her and the woman made haste and ran and told her husband and said unto him behold the man hath appeared unto me that came unto me the other day and Manoa 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 and Manoa said now let thy words come to pass what shall be the ordering of the child and how shall we do unto him and the angel of Jehovah said unto Manoa of all that I said unto the woman let her beware she may not eat of anything 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 and Manoa said unto the angel of Jehovah I pray thee let us detain thee that we may make ready a kid for thee and the angel of Jehovah said unto Manoa though thou detain me I will not eat of thy bread and if thou wilt make ready a burnt offering thou must offer it unto Jehovah for Manoa knew not that he was the angel of Jehovah and Manoa said unto the angel of Jehovah what is thy name that when thy words come to pass we may do the honor and the angel of Jehovah said unto him wherefore askest thou after my name seeing it is wonderful so Manoa took the kid with the meal offering and offered it upon the rock unto Jehovah and the angel did wondrously and Manoa and his wife looked on for it came to pass when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar that the angel of Jehovah ascended in the flame of the altar and Manoa and his wife looked on and they fell on their faces to the ground but the angel of Jehovah did no more appear to Manoa or to his wife than Manoa knew that he was the angel of Jehovah and Manoa said unto his wife we shall surely die because we have seen God but his wife said unto him if Jehovah were pleased to kill us he would not have received a burnt offering and a meal offering at our hand neither would he have showed us all these things nor would at this time have told such things as these and the woman bears son and called his name Samson and the child grew and Jehovah blessed him and the spirit of Jehovah began to move him in Mahane Don between Zora and Esh Taal End of chapter 13 Chapters 14 through 17 of Judges American Standard Version This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information and to find out how you can volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Sam Stinson Chapter 14 And Samson went down to Timna and saw a woman in Timna of the daughters of the Philistines and he came up and told his father and his mother and said I have seen a woman in Timna of the daughters of the Philistines now therefore get her for me to wife 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 but his father and his mother knew not that it was of Jehovah for he sought an occasion against the Philistines now at that time the Philistines had rule over Israel then went Samson down and his father and his mother to Timna and came to the vineyards of Timna and behold a young lion roared against him and the spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon him and he ranked 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 and he went down and talked with the woman and she pleased Samson well and after a while he returned to take her and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion and behold there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion and honey and he took it into his hands and went on eating as he went and he came to his father and mother and gave unto them and they did eat but he told them not that he had taken the honey out of the body of the lion and his father went down unto the woman and Samson made their a feast foreso used the young men to do and it came to pass when they saw him that they brought 30 companions to be with him and Samson said unto them let me now put forth a riddle unto you if ye can declare it unto me within the seven days of the feast and find it out then I will give you 30 linen garments and 30 changes of raiment but if ye cannot declare it unto me then shall ye give me 30 linen garments and 30 changes of raiment and they said unto him put forth thy riddle that we may hear it and he said unto them out of the eater came forth food and out of the strong came forth sweetness and they could not in three days declare the riddle 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 impoverish us is it not so and Samson's wife wept before him and said thou dost but hate me and love is me not thou has put forth a riddle unto the children of my people and has not told it me and he said unto her behold I have not told it my father nor my mother and shall I tell thee 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 pressed him soar and she told the riddle to the children of her people 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 and the spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon him and he went down to Ashkelon and smote 30 men of them and took their spoil and gave the changes of raiment unto them that declared the riddle and his anger was kindled and he went up to his father's house but Samson's wife was given to his companion whom he had used as his friend and of chapter 14 chapter 15 but it came to pass after a while 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 and her father said I barely 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 and Samson said unto them this time shall I be blameless in regard of the Philistines when I do them a mischief and Samson went and caught 300 foxes and took firebrands and turned tail to tail and put a firebrand in the midst between every two tails and when he had set the brands on fire he let them go into the standing grain of the Philistines and burnt up both the shocks and the standing grain and also the olive yards then the Philistines said who hath done this and they said Samson the son-in-law of the Tim Knight because he hath taken his wife and given her to his companion and the Philistines came up and burnt her and her father with fire and Samson said unto them if ye do after this manner surely I will be avenged of you and after that I will cease and he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter and he went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock of Eton then the Philistines went up and encamped in Judah and spread themselves in Lehi and the men of Judah said why are ye come up against us and they said to bind Samson are we come up to do to him as he hath done to us then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Eton and said to Samson knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us what then is this that thou has done unto us and he said unto them as they did unto me so have I done unto them 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 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 ropes and brought him up from the rock when he came unto Lehi the Philistines shouted as they met him and the spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon him and the ropes that were upon his arms became as flaxs that was burnt with fire and his bands dropped from off his hands and he found a fresh jawbone of an ass and put forth his hand and took it and smote a thousand men therewith and Samson said with the jawbone of an ass heaps upon heaps with the jawbone of an ass have I smitten a thousand men and it came to pass when he had made an end of speaking that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand and that place was called Ramath Lehi and he was sore a thirst and called on Jehovah and said Thou hast given this great deliverance by the hand of thy servant and now shall I die for thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised but God clave the hollow place that is in Lehi and there came water there out and when he had drunk his spirit came again and he revived wherefore the name thereof was called En Hakkori which is in Lehi unto this day and he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years end of chapter 15 chapter 16 and Samson went to Gaza and saw there a harlot and went in unto her and it was told the Gazites saying Samson has 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 like be till morning light then we will kill him and Samson laid till midnight and arose at midnight and laid hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts and plucked them up barren all and put them upon his shoulders and carried them up to the top of the mountain that is before Hebron and it came to pass afterward that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah 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 and Delilah said to Samson tell me I pray thee wherein thy great strength lieth and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee and Samson said unto her if they bind me with seven green wives that were never dried then shall I become weak and be as another man then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green wives which had not been dried and she bound him with them now she had liars in weight abiding in the inner chamber and she said unto him the Philistines are upon thee Samson and he break the wives as a string of tau is broken when it touches the fire so his strength was not known 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 and he said unto her if they only bind me with new ropes wherewith no work hath been done then shall I become weak and be as another man so Delilah took new ropes and bound him therewith and said unto him the Philistines are upon thee Samson and the liars in weight were abiding in the inner chamber and he break them off his arms like a thread and Delilah said unto Samson hither too 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 and she fastened it with the pin and said unto him the Philistines are upon thee Samson and he awaked out of his sleep and plucked away the pin of the beam and the web and she said unto him how can't thou say I love thee when thy heart is not with me thou hast mocked me these three times and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth and it came to pass when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him that his soul was vexed unto death and he told her all his heart and said unto her there hath not come a razor upon my 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 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 told me all his heart then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her and brought the money in their hand and she made him sleep upon her knees and she called for a man and shaved off the seven locks of his head and she began to afflict him and his strength went from him and she said the Philistines are upon thee Samson and he awoke out of his sleep and said I will go out as at other times and shake myself free but he knew not that Jehovah was departed from him and the Philistines laid hold on him and put out his eyes and they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with fetters of brass and he did grind in the prison house how be it the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven and the lords of the Philistines gathered them together to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagen their God and to rejoice for they said our God hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand and when the people saw him they praised their God for they said our God hath delivered into our hand our enemy and the destroyer of our country who hath slain many of us 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 sport before them and they set him between the pillars and Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand suffer me that I may feel the pillars were upon the house resteth that I may lean upon them 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 and Samson called unto Jehovah and said oh Lord Jehovah remember me I pray thee and strengthen me I pray thee only this once oh God that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes and Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house rested and leaned upon them the one with his right hand and the other with his left 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 that he slew at his death were more than they that he slew in his life than his brethren and all the house of his father came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zora and Eshtaal and the burying place of Manoa his father and he judged Israel 20 years end of chapter 16 chapter 17 and there was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah and he said unto his mother the eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from thee about which thou didst utter a curse and didst also speak it in mine ears behold the silver is with me I took it and his mother said blessed be my son of Jehovah and he restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother and his mother said I verily dedicate the silver unto Jehovah from my hand for my son to make a graven image and a molten image now therefore I will restore it unto thee and when he restored the money unto his mother his mother took 200 pieces of silver and gave them to the founder who made thereof a graven image and a molten image and it was in the house of Micah and the man Micah had a house of gods and he made an Ephod and Terafim and consecrated one of his sons who became his priest in those days there was no king in Israel every man did that which was right in his own eyes and there was a young man out of Bethlehem Judah of the family of Judah who was a Levite and he sojourned there and the man departed out of the city out of Bethlehem Judah to sojourn where he could find a place and he came to the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah as he journeyed and Micah said unto him whence comest thou? and he said unto him I am a Levite of Bethlehem Judah and I go to sojourn where I may find a place and Micah said unto him dwell with me and be unto me a father and a priest and I will give thee ten pieces of silver by the year and a suit of apparel and thy victuals so the Levite went in and the Levite was content to dwell with the man and the young man was unto him as one of his sons and Micah consecrated the Levite and the young man became his priest and was in the house of Micah then said Micah now know I that Jehovah will do me good seeing I have a Levite to my priest End of Chapter 17 Chapters 18 through 21 of Judges American Standard Version This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information and to find out how you can volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Sam Stinson Chapter 18 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 their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel and the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their whole number men of Valor from Zorah and from Esh to all to spy out the land and to search it and they said unto them go search the land and they came to the hill country of Ephraim unto the house of Micah and lodged there when they were by the house of Micah they knew the voice of the young man the Levite and they turned aside thither and said unto him who brought thee hither and what doest thou in this place and what hast thou here and he said unto them thus and thus hath Micah dealt with me and he hath hired me and I am become his priest 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 and the priest said unto them go in peace before Jehovah is your way wherein ye go then the five men departed and came to Leish and saw the people that were therein how they dwelt in security after the manner of the Sedonians quiet and secure for there was none in the land possessing authority that might put them to shame in anything and they were far from the Sedonians and had no dealings with any man and they came unto their brethren to Zora and Eshtaol and their brethren said unto them what say ye and they said arise and let us 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 in to possess the land when ye go ye shall come unto a people secure and the land is large for God hath given it into your hand a place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth and they are set forth from thence of the family of the Danites out of Zora and out of Eshtaol six hundred men girt with weapons of war and they went up and encamped in Kirithjerim in Judah wherefore they called that place Mahane Dan unto this day behold it is behind Kirithjerim and they passed thence unto the hill country of Ephraim and came unto the house of Micah then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Leish and said unto their brethren do ye know that there is in these houses an Ephot and Terafim and a graven image and a molten image now therefore consider what ye have to do and they turned aside dither and came to the house of the young man the Levite even unto the house of Micah and asked him of his welfare and the six hundred men girt with their weapons of war who were of the children of Dan stood by the entrance of the gate and the five men that went to spy out the land went up and came in dither and took the graven image and the Ephot and the Terafim and the molten image and the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men girt with weapons of war and when these went into Micah's house and fetched the graven image the Ephot and the Terafim and the molten image the priest said unto them what do ye and they said unto him hold thy peace lay thy hand upon thy mouth and go with us and be to us a father and a priest is it better for thee to be priest unto the house of one man or to be priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel and the priest's heart was glad and he took the Ephot and the Terafim and the graven image and went in the midst of the people so they turned and departed and put the little ones in the cattle and the goods before them 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 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 and he said ye have taken away my gods which I made and the priest and are gone away and what have I more and how then say ye unto me what aileth thee and the children of Dan said unto him let not thy voice be heard among us lest angry fellows fall upon you and thou lose thy life with the lives of thy household 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 and they took that which Micah had made and the priest whom he had and came unto Leish unto a people quiet and secure and smote them with the edge of the sword and they burnt the city with fire and there was no deliverer because it was far from Sidon and they had no dealings with any man and it was in the valley that lieth by Beth Rehob and they built the city and dwelt therein and they called the name of the city Dan after the name of Dan their father who was born unto Israel how be at the name of the city was Leish at the first and the children of Dan set up for themselves the graven image and Jonathan the son of Gershom the son of Moses he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land so they set them up Micah's graven image which he made all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh end of chapter 18 chapter 19 and it came to pass in those days when there was no king in Israel that there was a certain Levite so shurning on the farther side of the hill country of Ephraim who took to him a concubine out of Bethlehem Judah and his concubine played the harlot against him and went away from him unto her father's house to Bethlehem Judah and was there the space of four months and her husband arose and went after her to speak kindly unto her 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 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 and it came to pass in the fourth day that they arose early in the morning and he rose up to depart and the damsel's father said unto his son-in-law strengthen thy heart with a morsel of bread and afterward ye shall go your way so they sat down and did eat and drink both of them together and the damsel's father said unto the man be pleased I pray thee to tarry all night and let thy heart be merry and the man rose up to depart but his father-in-law urged him and he lodged there again and he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart and the damsel's father said strengthen thy heart I pray thee and tarry ye until the day declineeth and they did eat both of them 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 draws toward evening I pray you tarry all night behold the day groweth to an end lodge here that thy heart may be merry and tomorrow get you early on your way that thou mayest go home but the man would not tarry that night but he rose up and departed and came over against Jebus the same is Jerusalem and there were with him a couple of asses saddled his concubine also was with him 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 aside into this city of the Jebusites and lodge in it and his master said unto him we will not turn aside into the city of a foreigner that is not of the children of Israel but we will pass over to Givia and he said unto his servant come and let us draw near to one of these places and we will lodge in Givia or in Reima so they passed on and went their way and the sun went down upon them near to Givia which belongedeth to Benjamin and they turned aside thither to go into lodge in Givia and he went in and sat him down in the street of the city for there was no man that took them into his house to lodge and behold there came an old man from his work out of the field at even now the man was of the hill country of Ephraim and he sojourned in Givia that the men of the place were Benjamites and he lifted up his eyes and saw the way faring man in the street of the city and the old man said wither goest thou and whence comest thou and he said unto him we are passing from Bethlehem Judah unto the farther side of the hill country of Ephraim from thence Am I and I went to Bethlehem Judah and I am now going to the house of Jehovah and there is no man that taketh me into his house yet there is both straw and preventer for our asses and there is bread and wine also for me and for thy handmaid and for the young man that is with thy servants there is no want of anything and the old man said peace be unto thee howsoever let all thy wants lie upon me only lodge not in the street so he brought him into his house and gave the asses fodder and they washed their feet and did eat and drink as they were making their hearts merry behold the men of the city certain base fellows beset the house round about beating at the door and they spake to the master of the house the old man saying bring forth the man that came into thy house that we may know him and the man the master of the house went out unto them and said unto them nay my brethren I pray you do not so wickedly seeing that this man has come into my house do not this folly behold here is my daughter a virgin 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 any such folly but the men would not hearken to him so the man laid hold on 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 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 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 with her hands upon the threshold and he said unto her up and let us be going but none answered then he took her upon the ass and the man rose up and got him unto his place and when he was come into his house he took a knife and laid hold on his concubine and divided her limb by limb into twelve pieces and sent her throughout all the borders of Israel 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 it take counsel and speak End of chapter 19 Chapter 20 Then all the children of Israel went out and the congregation was assembled as one man from Dan even to Beersheba with the land of Gilead unto Jehovah at Mizpa and the chiefs of all the people even of all the tribes of Israel presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God 400,000 footmen that drew sword now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpa and the children of Israel said tell us how was this wickedness brought to pass and the Levite the husband of the woman that was murdered answered and said I came into Gibeah that belongedeth to Benjamin I and my concubine to lodge and the men of Gibeah rose against me and beset the house round about me by night me they thought to have slain and my concubine they forced and she is dead 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 behold ye children of Israel all of you give here your advice and counsel 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 unto his house but now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah we will go up against it by lot and we will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel and a hundred of a thousand and a thousand out of ten thousand to fetch victuals 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 so all the men of Israel were gathered against the city knit together as one man and the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin saying what wickedness is this that is come to pass among you now therefore deliver up the men the base fellows that are in Gibeah that we may put them to death and put away evil from Israel but Benjamin would not harken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel and the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah to go out to battle against the children of Israel and the children of Benjamin were numbered on that day out of the cities twenty and six thousand men that drew sword besides the inhabitants of Gibeah who were numbered seven hundred chosen men among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men left handed everyone could sling stones at a hair breath and not miss and the men of Israel besides Benjamin were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword all these were men of war and the children of Israel arose and went up to Bethel and asked counsel of God and they said who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Benjamin and Jehovah said Judah shall go up first and the children of Israel rose up in the morning and encamped against Gibeah and the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin and the men of Israel set the battle in array against them at Gibeah and the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites on that day twenty and two thousand men and the people the men of Israel encouraged themselves and set the battle again in array in the place where they set themselves in array the first day and the children of Israel went up and wept before Jehovah until even and they asked of Jehovah saying shall I again draw night to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother and Jehovah said go up against him and the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day 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 then all the children of Israel and all the people went up and came unto Bethel and wept and sat there before Jehovah and fasted that day until even and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before Jehovah and the children of Israel asked of Jehovah for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days and Phineas the son of Eliezer 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 Jehovah said go up for tomorrow I will deliver him into thy hand and Israel set liars and weight against Gibeah round about and the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day and set themselves in array against Gibeah as at other times and the children of Benjamin went out against the people and were drawn away from the city and they began to smite and kill of the people as at other times in the highways of which one goeth up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah in the field about 30 men of Israel 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 away from the city unto the highways and all the men of Israel rose up out of their place and set themselves in array at Baal Tamar and the liars and weight of Israel break forth out of their place even out of Marah Gibeah and there came over against Gibeah 10,000 chosen men out of all Israel and the battle was sore but they knew not that evil was close upon them and Jehovah smote Benjamin before Israel and the children of Israel destroyed of Benjamin that day 20 and 5,100 men all these drew the sword so the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten for the men of Israel gave place to Benjamin because they trusted unto the liars and weight whom they had set against Gibeah and the liars and weight hastened and rushed upon Gibeah and the liars and weight drew themselves along and smote all the city with the edge of the sword now the appointed sign between the men of Israel and the liars and weight was that they should make a great cloud of smoke rise up out of the city and the men of Israel turned in the battle and Benjamin began to smite and kill of the men of Israel about 30 persons for they said surely they are smitten down before us as in the first battle but when the cloud began to arise up out of the city in a pillar of smoke the benjamites looked behind them and behold the whole of the city went up in smoke to heaven and the men of Israel turned and the men of Benjamin were dismayed for they saw that evil was come upon them therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel unto the way of the wilderness but the battle followed hard after them and they that came out of the cities destroyed them in the midst thereof they enclosed the benjamites round about and chased them and trod them down at their resting place as far as over against Gibbia toward the sun rising and there fell of Benjamin 18,000 men all these were men of Valor and they turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimen and they gleaned of them in the highways 5,000 men and followed hard after them unto Giedem and smote of them 2,000 men so that all who fell that day of Benjamin were 20 and 5,000 men that drew the sword all these were men of Valor but 600 men turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimen and abode in the rock of Rimen for months and the men of Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin and smote them with the edge of the sword both the entire city and the cattle and all that they found moreover all the cities which they found they set on fire end of chapter 20 chapter 21 now the men of Israel had sworn in Mispah saying there shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife and the people came to Bethel and sat there till even before God and lifted up their voices and wept sore and they said oh Jehovah the God of Israel why is this come to pass in Israel that there should be today one tribe lacking in Israel 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 and the children of Israel said who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up in the assembly unto Jehovah for they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up unto Jehovah to Mispah saying he shall surely be put to death and the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother and said there is one tribe cut off from Israel this day how shall we do for wives for them that remain seeing we have sworn by Jehovah that we will not give them of our daughters to wives and they said what one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up unto Jehovah to Mispah and behold there came none to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly for when the people were numbered behold there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead there and the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantist and commanded them saying go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword with the women and the little ones and this is the thing that ye shall do ye shall utterly destroy every male and every woman that hath lain by man and they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young virgins that had not known man by lying with him and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh which is in the land of Canaan and the whole congregation sent and spake to the children of Benjamin that were in the Rock of Rimen and proclaimed peace unto them and Benjamin returned at that time and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh Gilead and yet so they sufficed them not and the people repented them for Benjamin because that Jehovah had made a breach in the tribes of Israel 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 and they said there must be an inheritance for them that are escaped of Benjamin that a tribe be not blotted out from Israel how be it we may not give them wives of our daughters for the children of Israel had sworn saying cursed be he that give it the wife to Benjamin and they said behold there is a feast of Jehovah from year to year in Shiloh which is on the north of Bethel on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem and on the south of Lebonah and they commanded the children of Benjamin saying go and lie in wait in the vineyards and see and behold if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the 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 and it shall be when their fathers or their brethren come to complain unto us that we will say unto them grant them graciously unto us because we took not for each man of them his wife in battle neither did ye give them unto them else would ye now be guilty and the children of Benjamin did so and took them wives according to their number of them that danced whom they carried off and they went and returned unto their inheritance and built the cities and dwelt in them 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 in those days there was no king in Israel every man did that which was right in his own eyes end of chapter 21 and also the end of Judges American Standard Version