 Chapter 19 The second lot, however, came out for Simeon, for the sons of Simeon with their families. But their share was in the middle of the sons of Judah, and that district ran from Barshiba, and Sheba, and Moledah, and Fort Shoal, and Bala, and Atzem, and Elpola, and Bethul, and Karma, and Siklag, and Beth Marabaff, and Fort Susa, and Beth Libanth, and Rashokam, thirteen towns with their villages. Aene, Rimon, and Aether, and Ashan, four towns with their villages, and all the districts that surrounded the cities which were Adbulaf, Bar, and Rama to the south. This was the share of the tribe of the sons of Simeon for their families. The share of the tribe of the sons of Simeon was within the lines of the sons of Judah, for the district of the sons of Judah was too much for them, so the sons of Simeon shared with them. But the third lot fell to the sons of Zebulon for their families, and the boundary of their district began at Sarid, and these are the boundaries to the westward, Marallah, and Faga on the hill, and Gifa on the river which is opposite Zakhnon. But it turns from Sarid eastwards towards the rising sun at the border of Kisloth-Tabor, and goes to Dabareth, and the ascent of Jagia, and from there it passes eastward towards the sunrise to Gifkhafer, Atha, and Katzin, and goes to Ramon, to Mithar, to Na, where the line rounds from the north of Kanathan, and its terminus is at the valley of Jaf-Fak-El, and Kata, and Nalaal, and Shimran, and Yadullah, and Beth-Leaklam, twelve towns with their villages. This was the share of the sons of Zebulon with their families, these towns and their villages. The fourth lot came to the sons of Issachar for their families, and its boundaries were to Isra'al, and Kisloth, and Shonam, and Kafarim, and Shayuan, and Anakrath, and Rabith, and Kishon, and Abetz, Ramath, and Ayin-Ginmai, and Ayin-Khada, and Beth-Fazats, and Faga the Great by Tabor, and Shakhaz-Tama, and Beth-Shems, and the terminations of the boundaries were at the Jordan, sixteen towns and their villages. This was the district of the tribe of the sons of Issachar for their families, the towns and their villages. And the fifth lot came to the tribe of the sons of Ashur with their families, and the boundaries of the district were Kali, and Beten, and Akshaf, and Ahu'alak, and Ahmad, and Misha'el, and Faga in Carmel, towards the west were Bashigor, with her daughters. Then it turned eastward towards the son by Beth-Kadon, and Faga in Zebulon, and by the veil of Jaf-Tak'al, and Abron, and Reykab, and Qomran, and Kana to Zaydan the Great. There the boundary turned to Rama, and Adair, and Mib-Zar-Tzor, where the line turns to Khosa, and its western terminus is by the line of Akh-Ziba, and Ahmad, and Afak, and Reykab, twelve towns with their villages. This is the district of the tribe of the sons of Ashur with their families, these towns and these villages. Then came the sixth lot for the sons of Naftali, for the sons of Naftali with their families, and the boundaries from Kalaaf, and Alon, to Sanarim, and Adim to Nikob, and Zabu'al, to Lakum, and its terminus was the Jordan. Then the border turned westward to Aznoth-Taber, and went from there to Kuka, with Faga of Zebulon on the south, but Ashur had Faga on the lake, and with Judah and the Jordan towards the sunrise. And the towns were Mib-Zar, Tzadim, Tzor, with Kamaf, Rakaf, and Kinaroff, and Ad-Mah, and Roma, and Khad-Zor, and Khadesh, and Ad-Roy, and An-Khadsar, and Irayim, and Mig-Dad-Al, Karem, and Beth-Anath, and Beth-Shemesh, nineteen towns with their villages. The seventh lot came to the tribe of the sons of Dan, with their families, and the boundary of their district was Tsara, and Ash-Tu'al, and Er-Shemesh, and Shabalm, and Ilan, and Zaf-Lalai, and Elan, and Thim-Nafa, and Akron, and Af-Lakab, and Gebathan, and Balaf, and Yad, and Ben-I-Bek-Hare, and Gath-Rimon, and Ma-Zer-Kon, and Rakan, to the bound of the Cape of Yaffo. This was the district of the tribe of the sons of Dan for their families, these towns with their villages. Thus the division of the country was completed, with the boundaries and the children of Israel were given their shares by Joshua the son of Nun whilst with them. They gave to him by command of the ever-living the city that is called Timnaf Seraq on Mount Ephraim, and he built the town and resided in it. These are the districts which Aliezer the priest and Joshua the son of Nun assigned, with the chiefs of the tribes of the children of Israel by lot at Shiloh before the ever-living in the open hall of assembly, when they made the division of the country. CHAPTER XX. The ever-living afterwards spoke to Joshua, commanding, Speak to the children of Israel to say, Fix for yourselves the cities of refuge which I commanded you by the medium of Moses, so that the manslayer who has struck a life by accident unintentionally may fly there, so that you may have a refuge for yourselves from the Avenger of Blood by flying to one of those cities. He can then stand in the open court of the city and state in the hearing of the magistrates of that town his case when they shall admit him to the town to themselves and appoint him a place and residence with them. But if the Avenger of Blood pursues after him, then they must protect the manslayer from his hand if he struck his neighbor unintentionally and did not hate him before it. He shall, however, stay in that city until he can be placed before the court to be judged or until the death of the High Priest who may be in those days when the manslayer may return and go to his own village and house to the village from whence he fled. They consequently consecrated Kudesh in Galilee in the Highlands of Naftali and Shechem in Mount Ephraim and Kiryaf Arba in the Highlands of Judah and beyond the Jordan east of Jericho they gave Betzer in the desert of the plain for the tribe of Rubin and Ramaph Gilad for the tribe of Gad and Gilan in Bashan for the tribe of Manasseh. These cities were to be opened to all the children of Israel and to the foreigner to fly to, whoever struck a life so that they might not die by the hand of the Avenger of Blood until they had been placed before a court of justice. The chief fathers of the Levites also approached Aliezer the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel and addressed them in Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, The ever-living commanded by the medium of Moses to give residential towns to us and pasture for our cattle. So the children of Israel gave to the Levites from their districts by command of the ever-living these cities and their pasture lands. When the lot was drawn for the family of the kathai it came for the sons of Aaron the priest of the Levites from the tribe of Judah and from the tribe of Simeon and from the tribe of Benjamin, sixteen towns by lot. But for the other sons of kath with their families from the tribe of Ephraim and from the tribe of Dan and from the half-tribe of Manasseh, ten cities by lot. But to the sons of Gershan with their families from the tribe of Issachar and from the tribe of Asher and from the tribe of Naftali and from the half-tribe of Manasseh, thirteen cities. To the sons of Mararai with their families from the tribe of Reuben and from the tribe of Gad and from the tribe of Zebulon, twelve cities. So the children of Israel gave these cities by lot to the Levites with their pasture lands as the ever-living commanded by means of Moses. But the tribe of the sons of Judah and the tribe of the sons of Simeon gave these towns, which are recited by name, and they were for the sons of Aaron of the family of the kathai, of the sons of Levi, for the first lot came to them. Consequently they gave to them Kareth Arba, he was the father of Aenak in the highlands of Judah. But the pastures around it and the farms of the city and the villages around it they gave to Caleb the son of Japhuna as his own estate. But to the sons of Aaron the priest, they gave the city of Refuge for the manslayer, at Hebron, with its pastureage, and Libna with its pastureage, and Aether with its pastureage, and Eshtimoa with its pastureage, and Kolon with its pastureage, and Dabir with its pastureage, and Aene with its pastureage, and Judah with its pastureage, and Bethshems with its pastureage, ten cities from those two tribes. And from the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its pastureage, and Gibe with its pasturage, and Anathoth with its pasturage, and Almon with its pasturage, four towns. All the towns of the sons of Aaron the priest were thirteen towns with their pasturage. And to the family of the sons of Cahath with the other Levites, beside the sons of Caph, towns were allotted to them from the tribe of Ephraim, and they gave them the cities of refuge for the manslayer, Shechem, with its pasturage in Mount Ephraim, and Ghazir with its pasturage, and Kipsin with its pasturage, and Bethhoron with its pasturage, four towns. And from the tribe of Dan, Althaca with its pasturage, and Giphthon with its pasturage, and Aelon with its pasturage, Bethrimon with its pasturage, four towns. And from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Anak with its pasturage, and Gathrimon with its pastures, two towns, in all ten towns with their pastures, to the family of the sons of Cahath with others, and to the sons of Gershan of the family of the Levites they gave from the half-tribe of Manasseh as a city of refuge for the manslayer, Golan in Bashan with its pastures, and Bashthera with its pastures, two towns, and from the tribe of Issachar, Kishyan with its pastures, and Dabroth with its pastures, Jarmoth with its pastures, Ain Ghanim with its pastures, four towns, and from the tribe of Ashur, Mishal with its pastures, Abdan with its pastures, Kilkath with its pastures, and Rikabh with its pastures, four towns, and from the tribe of Naftali as the city of refuge for the manslayer, Qadish in Galilee with its pastures, and Khamafdad with its pastures, and Karthon with its pastures, three towns. All the towns of the family of Gershan were thirteen towns with their pastures, and to the family of the sons of Mararai with other Levites they gave from the tribe of Zebulun, Joknam with its pastures, Kartha and its pastures, Dimna with its pastures, Nalal and its pastures, four towns, and from the tribe of Gad a city of refuge for the manslayer, Ramoth in Gilad with its pastures, and Maknim with its pastures, Heshban with its pastures, Jazer with its pastures, in all four towns. All the towns of the sons of the Mararai with their families, and other families of the Levites which were allotted them were twelve towns. All the towns of the Levites distributed amongst the possessions of the children of Israel were forty-eight, with their pastures, and those towns were, town by town, pasture by pasture, proportionate to all the towns. Thus the ever-living gave to Israel all the country which he had promised to their ancestors to give them, and they possessed and resided in it, and the ever-living made all quiet around them exactly as he promised to their fathers, and no man of all their enemies stood before them. The ever-living gave all their enemies into their power, not a word failed of all the good things that the ever-living promised to the house of Israel. They all came. CHAPTER XXII Joshua afterwards summoned the Rubinites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and said to them, You have done all that Moses the servant of the ever-living ordered you, and you have listened to my voice and all that I commanded you. You have not forsaken your brothers during this long period until this day, and you have done the work your ever-living God ordered you. Therefore, since your ever-living God has given quiet to your brothers as he promised them, you can now return and go to your homes in the country you possess, which Moses the servant of the ever-living gave you beyond the Jordan. Take special care, however, to practice all the commands and the law which Moses the servant of the ever-living ordered you, and love your ever-living God, and walk in all his ways, and guard his instructions, and seek him and serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. Then Joshua blessed and dismissed them, and they departed. But to the half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given Bashan, and to the other half Joshua gave with their brothers on the westward side of the Jordan. Joshua also dismissed them to their houses and blessed them and addressed them, saying, You return to your homes with great wealth and with very much cattle, with silver and with gold and with brass and with iron and with very much clothing. Your share of the prizes along with your brothers from your enemies. So the sons of Reuben turned and went with the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh from the children of Israel at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, marching to the land of Gilad to the country they possessed, which they possessed by command of the ever-living through the medium of Moses. When the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, however, came to the rapids of the Jordan in the land of Canaan, they built there an altar near the Jordan, a great memorial altar. But the children of Israel heard the report that the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh had built an altar on the confines of the land at Canaan at the rapids of the Jordan, near the ford of the children of Israel. When the children of Israel heard it, they convoked all the parliament of the sons of Israel to Shiloh about going up against them to war. But the children of Israel sent to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the half-tribe of Manasseh to the land of Gilad, Thineas, the son of Aliezer, the priest, and ten princes with him, a single prince for each ancestral house of all the tribes of Israel, and a headman of ancestral family of the regiments of Israel who went to the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilad and said to them, All the parliament of the everliving says thus, What perversity is this which you have erected against the God of Israel, turning today from following the everliving to build for yourselves an altar, revolting at once from the everliving? Was the offense of Pior a small matter for us, which has not been cleansed from us to this day, and it brought a stroke from the everliving to the assembly? Yet you would turn today from following the everliving, and you would revolt today from the everliving and tomorrow he will be angry with all the assembly of Israel. If however the country you own is unclean, pass over to the country possessed by the everliving where the dwelling of the everliving is placed, and you shall possess amongst us, but revolt not from the everliving. We will not however refuse you to build for yourselves an altar, but let it be a special altar to our everliving God. Was not Akan the descendant of Zarach very offensive in the devoted thing, and anger came upon all the assembly of Israel, and did not that same man die for his fault? The sons of Rubin, and the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, however, replied to the heads of the regiments of Israel, By the God of gods, by the everliving God of gods, the everliving himself knows, and Israel itself should know if it is for revolt or if it is for offense to the everliving, then let us not be spared today for building for ourselves an altar if we have turned from following the everliving. But it is not sought for the object of offering offerings and gifts, and to make offerings and sacrifices of thanks to the everliving himself. Was it not for the following event we did it, saying, Tomorrow, if your children say to our sons, what is the everliving God of Israel to you? When the everliving gave boundaries to our children and your children, the sons of Rubin and the sons of Gad at the Jordan, you have no part in the everliving, and thus your children might prevent our children from ever seeing the everliving. So we said to ourselves, let us build this altar not for offerings and not for sacrifice, but for it to lie between us and you and to the generations after us, to serve as a witness for our rights in the service of the everliving to present to him our offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings that your children may not say to our children tomorrow, you have no part in the everliving. So that it may be replied when they say thus to us or to our descendants hereafter, we can answer, look at this building in the form of the altar of the everliving which our fathers made, not for offering or for sacrifice, but as a bond between us and you. We reject the idea from us of revolting from the everliving or turning today from following the everliving or building an altar for offering and sacrifice, apart from the altar of the everliving God who dwells before us. When Phineas the son of Aliezer the priest and all the princes of the parliament and the heads of the regiments of Israel with him heard the declarations of the sons of Rubin and the sons of Gad and the sons of Manasseh, Phineas the son of Aliezer the priest said to the sons of Rubin and the sons of Gad and the sons of Manasseh, we learn today that the everliving is in the midst of us, since you have not offended the everliving with an offense, thus you have saved the children of Israel from the hand of the everliving. Then Phineas the son of Aliezer the priest returned accompanied by the princes from the sons of Rubin and the sons of Gad, from the land of Gilad to the land of Canaan to the children of Israel, and reported the business to them, and the affair was considered to be right in the opinion of the children of Israel, and they thanked God and decided not to go up to war against them or waste the country where the sons of Rubin and the sons of Gad resided, because the sons of Rubin and the sons of Gad declared, the altar is a witness for itself between us that the everliving is God. CHAPTER XXIII It was some time after the everliving had given to Israel rest from all its enemies around, and Joshua had become by that time old, that Joshua convoked the representatives of Israel by its magistrates and chiefs, and judges, and registrars, and said to them, I am old, I am advanced in days, and you have seen all that your everliving God has done to all these nations before you, for your everliving God has apportioned them to you. You have seen how I have subdued to you these different nations for your tribes to divide, all the nations that I conquered from the Jordan to the great sea of the setting sun. Your everliving God himself terrified them and drove them before you, and expelled them from the country as your everliving God promised you. Therefore set yourselves firmly to keep and to do all that is written in the books of the laws of Moses, and never turn from them to the right hand or the left, and never go with the remnant of these different nations amongst whom you reside to remember the name of their gods, or to swear by them, or serve them, or worship them, but adhere to your everliving God as you have done until today. For the everliving has driven before you great and strong nations, and none have stood before you to this day. Every man of you has chased a thousand, for your everliving God himself fought for you as he promised. Therefore carefully guard your souls to love your everliving God, for if you turn and degrade yourselves like these other nations, these men amongst you, and worship with them and intermix yourselves with them, know for a certainty that your everliving God will not continue driving these nations out before you, but they will become a trap and a snare and a whip to torture you, and thorns in your eyes to destroy you from off this beautiful land which your everliving God has given you. But now, for myself, I am soon going the way of all the earth, so assure yourselves with all your heart and all your soul that not a single word will fail of all the beautiful promises that your everliving God has promised to you. All will come, not a single word of them will fail, but it will happen that as all the good promises which your everliving God promised will come to you, in the same way the everliving will bring upon you the whole of his threats until he wastes you from off this beautiful land, which your everliving God has given you upon your abandoning the covenant of your everliving God which he made with you, and you go and serve other gods and bow down to them, then the anger of the everliving will burn against you and destroy you quickly from off the beautiful land he has given you. Chapter 24 Joshua afterwards collected all the tribes of Israel at Shechem and summoned the nobles of Israel and the chiefs and the judges and the registrars and stationed them before the everliving. Then Joshua again addressed all the people. Thus says the everliving who is the God of Israel, your ancestors dwelt beyond the river from of old until Tyra the father of Abraham and father of Nahor where they served other gods, but I took Abraham your ancestor from the other side of the river and caused him to travel over all the country of Canaan, but I held back his race yet gave him Isaac. I also gave Isaac Jacob and Esau and gave to Esau Mount Sayir to reign over, but caused Jacob and his sons to descend to the Mitsarayim. I afterwards sent Moses and Aaron and struck the Egyptians by what I did to their very souls and after that I brought you out. When I was bringing your fathers out from the Mitsarayim and they arrived at the sea with the Mitsarites pursuing after them with chariot and horse to the sea of weeds, then they cried to the everliving and he placed a darkness between them and the Mitsarites and it advanced with them as far as the sea and your sons saw what I did to the Mitsarayim. Afterwards you remained in the desert a long time until I brought you to the country of the Amorites who were settled beyond the Jordan whom you made war with and whom I gave into your power and you seized their country and laid it waste before you. Then Balak the son of Zippor king of Moab arose and made war with Israel and sent an invited Balaam the son of Bior to curse you, but I was not willing to listen to Balaam and he blessed you and I delivered you from his hand. Then you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho and the Prince of Jericho with the Amorites, the Parasites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Gergashites, the Hivites and the Jebusites made war against you, but I gave them into your power and sent the Hornet in advance and drove out the kings of the Amorites before you, not with your sword nor with your bow, and gave you a country you had not reclaimed and towns you had not built and you live in them. Vineyards and olive groves which you had not planted and you ate of them. So now look to the everliving and serve him with sincerity and truth, but the gods your ancestors served over the river and among the Mitsarayim turn away from them and serve the everliving. But if it is hateful in your sight to serve the everliving, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served when beyond the river or the gods of the Amorites amongst whom you live in these countries. I and my family however will serve the everliving. But the people answered, Let it be a curse to us to forsake the everliving or to serve other gods. For our everliving god he brought us up, we and our fathers from the land of the Mitsarayim, from the house of Bondage, and he did the great wonders before our eyes and guarded us in all the way we traveled and amongst all the nations through whose midst we passed, and the everliving has driven out all the peoples and the Amorites who occupied the country before. Therefore we will serve the everliving, for he is our god. But Joshua replied to the people, You are not able to serve the everliving, for he is a holy god, he is a jealous god, he will not endure your sins and your offenses, for you will forsake the everliving, and you will serve seducing gods and change and degrade and destroy yourselves by following after what seems delightful to you. The people, however, answered Joshua, No, for we will serve the everliving. Then Joshua replied to the people, You are witnesses to yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves the everliving to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. Then turn out those seducing gods which are in your breasts and bend your heart to the everliving god of Israel. And the people responded to Joshua. We will only serve our everliving god and listen to his voice. So Joshua made a covenant on that day with the people and enacted it as a constitution and decree at Shechem. Joshua also engraved the words upon the tables of the laws of god and took a great stone and erected it there, along with those which are in the sanctuary of the everliving. Then Joshua said to all the people, Look at this stone which you have erected as a witness that you have heard all the words of the everliving which I have spoken to you and it shall be a witness to you against slipping away from your god. And then Joshua sent the people each to his own house. After these events had taken place, Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the everliving, died, being 110 years of age, and they buried him within the bounds of his estate at Thimnaf Sarak, which is in Mount Ephraim on the north of the hill of Gash. Israel served the everliving all the time of Joshua and all the time of the elders who outlived Joshua and who knew all the acts of the everliving that he had done for Israel. The bones of Joseph which the children of Israel had brought up from Mitseraim, they buried in Shechem in the piece of land which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor, the son of Shechem, for a hundred kestars, and which became the property of the sons of Joseph. Then Ali Azar, the son of Aaron, died, and they buried him in Gubaph, the estate of Phineas which had been given to him in Mount Ephraim. The end of chapters 19 through 24 and the end of the Book of Joshua Recording by Mark Penfold Chapters 1 through 7 of the Book of Judges from the Holy Bible in Modern English This LibriVox recording is in the public domain Recording by Mark Penfold The Holy Bible in Modern English translated by Farrar Fenton The Book of Judges Chapters 1 through 7 Chapter 1 After the death of Joshua, the children of Israel inquired of the everliving Who shall lead us against the Canaanites to make war with them? The Lord replied Judah shall go up and I will give the country into his power. Judah however said to Simeon his brother, Go up with me to my district and we will fight with the Canaanites and then I will go with you to your district. So Simeon went with them. Judah accordingly went up and the everliving gave the Canaanites and the Parasites into their power and they defeated them in Bezek with a loss of 10,000 men. Then they met the Prince of Bezek at Bezek and fought with him and defeated the Canaanites and Parasites and the Prince of Bezek fled but they pursued after and captured him and cut off the thumbs of his hands and feet. Then the Prince of Bezek said, Seven kings with the thumbs of their hands and feet cut off were waiters beside my table as I did, God has repaid to me. They afterwards brought him to Jerusalem where he died. The children of Judah next besieged Jerusalem and captured and conquered it by the edge of the sword and delivered the city to fire. After that the sons of Judah proceeded to make war with the Canaanites who occupied the hills, the south, and the pastures. Then Judah marched against the Canaanites who held Hebron and defeated Shashai and Akhaiman and Thalmai and marched from there to the possessors of Debir where Caleb said, Whoever conquers Chris Sefer and captures it I will give him my daughter Aksa for a wife. So Athneal, the son of Kenez the younger brother of Caleb captured it from them and he gave Aksa his daughter to him as a wife. Now as she was coming he suggested to her to ask an estate from her father so she dismounted from her ass when Caleb asked her What do you want? And she replied Give me a blessing with the southern land you have given me give me springs of water So Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs The sons of Kenai the father-in-law of Moses had come up from the city of the palm trees with the sons of Judah into the desert of Judah which is to the south of Arad and marched and lived with that people. Then Judah went with Simeon his brother and conquered the Canaanites inhabiting Zipath and destroyed it and called the name of the town Karma. Judah also captured Gaza and its district and Ashkelon and its district and Akron and its district for the ever-living was with Judah and he took possession of the highlands but they could not drive out the population of the plains because they had iron chariots. Hebron was given to Caleb as Moses had promised and he drove the three sons of Anak from it but the Jebusites continued in Jerusalem for the sons of Benjamin could not drive them out so the Jebusites continued to reside with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day. The house of Joseph also went up to Bethel and the ever-living was with them so the house of Joseph was successful against Bethel the name of the town was formerly Luiz and the scouts saw a man who came out from the city and said to him show us we pray the entrance into the town and we will reward you so he showed them an entrance to the city and they took the city with the sword but they sent the man away with all his family who went to the country of the Hittites and built a town and called it by the name of Luiz and it bears that name to this day Manasseh also did not disperse the people of Bethshan with its villages and Thanak with its villages or the inhabitants of Iblam with its villages or the population of Megiddo with its villages but permitted the Canaanites to reside in that country but when Israel prevailed it laid the Canaanites under tribute and did not expel them Ephraim also did not expel the Canaanite population of Gezer or the Canaanite population from around Gezer Zebulun also did not expel the population from Qitan the inhabitants from the riverside or the Canaanite population from amongst itself but put them under tribute Ashur did not expel the population from Aqa or the inhabitants of Zidon or Aqbal or Aqzib or Qabda or Afik or Reqab but the Ashurites resided amongst the Canaanite population of the country for they did not expel them Naftali did not dispossess the inhabitants of Bethshemish or the population of Beth-anath but resided amongst the Canaanite population of the country and the inhabitants of Bethshemish and Beth-anath were tributary to them the Amorites also resisted the Sons of Gad in the Highlands although they were not able to descend to the Plains therefore they allowed the Amorites to occupy the Eastern Hills at Ayalon and Shalbim and Thikbad alongside the House of Joseph and they paid tribute and the boundary of the Amorites was from the Ascent of Akrabim from Seila and upwards Chapter 2 But a messenger of the Everliving came from Gilgal to Bokeem who said I will not break my covenant with you forever but you shall not make a treaty with the inhabitants of this country but strike down their altars however you have not listened to my voice why have you done so when I said if you do not drive them out from you they will be thorns and their gods will be snares to you When the messenger of the Everliving addressed this speech to the Parliament of the Children of Israel the people lifted up their voices and wept and called the name of that valley the weepings and sacrificed there to the Everliving When Joshua dismissed the people the children went each to his share to take possession of the country and the people served the Everliving all the days of Joshua and all the time of the old men who survived Joshua who had seen all the great acts of the Everliving which he did for Israel Joshua the son of Nun the servant of the Everliving died at 110 years of age and they buried him within the bounds of his estate at Thimnaf in Mount Ephraim on the north of the hill of Gash but when all that generation were added to their fathers there arose another generation after them who knew not the Everliving or the acts which he did for Israel Then the children of Israel did wrong in the sight of the Everliving and passed over to Baal and forsook the Everliving God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of the Mitsarayim and went after the gods of the nations who surrounded them and worshiped them and provoked the Everliving thus they forsook the Everliving and worshiped Ash-Taraf Then the anger of the Everliving burned against Israel and he gave them to the hand of robbers who robbed them and delivered them to the power of their enemies all round and they were not able to stand before their enemies wherever they went the hand of the Everliving was against them for evil as the Everliving had said and as the Everliving had threatened them and he greatly afflicted them The Everliving afterwards raised up judges who protected them from the powers of the robbers yet however they would not listen to their judges for they went whoring after other gods and worshiped them turning soon from the path which their fathers followed that of listening to the commands of the Everliving they did it not but when the Everliving caused some of the judges to arise and the Everliving was with that judge he saved them from the hand of their enemies for the Everliving pitied their groans under their adversaries and oppressors but when that judge died they turned and corrupted themselves more than their fathers by following seducing gods and serving and worshiping them they ceased not from their offenses and from making their way hard Then the anger of the Everliving burnt against Israel and he said Because this nation has broken my covenant which I communicated to their ancestors and does not listen to my word I also will not continue to drive out before them any of the nations whom Joshua left at his death so that I may try Israel by them whether they will keep the path of the Everliving and walk in it as their fathers kept it or not So the Everliving gave them not those nations and did not dispossess them of the mountains and gave them not to the hand of Joshua Chapter 3 And these are the nations whom the Everliving permitted to try Israel all who are not acquainted with the wars of Canaan so that the generations of the children of Israel might learn war which they otherwise would not have known The five lordships of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and Zydonians and the Hivites inhabiting the hills of the Lebanon from the hill of Baal-Herman to the pass of K-Math They were also to try Israel to teach them to listen to the commands of the Everliving which he dictated to their fathers by the hand of Moses So the children of Israel resided amongst the Canaanites the Hittites the Amorites the Parasites the Hivites and the Jebusites and took their daughters to themselves for wise and gave their daughters to their sons and served their gods The children of Israel also did wrong in the sight of the Everliving and forsook their Everliving God and served Balim and Ashtaroth The anger of the Everliving consequently burned against Israel and he delivered them to the power of Koshan Ramaphim king of Aram between the rivers and the children of Israel were subject to Koshan Ramaphim for nine years Then the sons of Israel cried to the Everliving and the Everliving sent a savior for Israel in Athnayal the descendant of Kenez the youngest brother of Caleb who saved them for the spirit of the Everliving was upon him and he judged Israel and went out to war and the Everliving gave Koshan Ramaphim to his hand thus the country had peace for forty years until Athnayal Ben Kenez died The children of Israel however continued to do wrong in the sight of the Everliving so the Everliving emboldened Aglon king of Moab against Israel because they did wrong in the eyes of the Everliving and he added to himself the children of Amon and Amalek and Zabin and defeated Israel and seized the town of Palm Trees The sons of Israel consequently served Aglon king of Moab eighteen years Then the children of Israel cried to the Everliving and the Everliving raised a savior for them Ahud Ben Gerah a Benjaminite a left-handed man by whose means the sons of Israel sent the tribute to Aglon king of Moab But Ahud made himself a sword of a foot long with a double edge and bound it under his cloak on his right thigh when he approached with the tribute to Aglon king of Moab Aglon however was a very fat man and when he had finished presenting the tribute he sent away the people who carried the tribute but he returned back from the quarries that are in Gilgal and said I desire a word in private between myself and you king and he replied All right and sent away all who stood about him Then Ahud came to him and he sat upon the raised seat which was reserved for himself alone and Ahud said There is a message from God with me for you So he rose from his throne Then Ahud stretched out his left hand and drew the sword from his thigh and drove it into his belly and the excrement came out after the blade but the fat closed up over the blade for he did not draw the sword from his belly but it went into the intestines Then Ahud went out by the private porch and shut the door after him and locked it But when he was gone the servants came and looked and saw the door of the chamber locked and said Perhaps he is lying down in the chamber of his summer house So they waited until they were alarmed and seeing no one open the door of the retreat at length they took a key and opened the door and saw their prince fallen on the earth dead But Ahud escaped while they delayed and passed the quarries and ran away like a tempest and then went on and blew a trumpet in Mount Ephraim and the children of Israel flocked to him from the hills and he became their leader and said to them Follow after me, for the everliving will give your enemies the Moabites into your hand So they followed after him and captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab and permitted no man to pass over They also cut off from Moab at the same period about ten thousand men, all stout men of Valor and not a man escaped Moab was consequently from that time subjected to the hand of Israel and the land was at rest eight years and after that came Shamgar the son of Anath who slew six hundred of the Philistines with an ox-goad and delivered Israel Chapter 4 But the children of Israel continued to do wrong in the sight of the everliving therefore the everliving delivered them to the power of Jabin, king of Canaan who reigned in Qatzor, the commander of whose army was named Cicera and he resided in Karshif of the Heaven But the children of Israel cried to the everliving for he had nine hundred chariots of iron and oppressed the Israelites cruelly for ten years At that time a woman, Deborah, a distinguished teacher, was a judge in Israel and Deborah sat under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel and Mount Ephraim and the Israelites went to her for decisions But she sent and summoned Barak, the son of Abinoham, from Qadish of Naftali and said to him Has not the everliving god of Israel ordered you? Go and encamp on Mount Tabor and collect ten thousand men to you from the sons of Naftali and the sons of Zebulun and I will draw Cicera, the commander of the army of Jabin with his chariots and his great numbers to you at the river Kaishan and I will deliver him into your hand But Barak replied to her If you will go with me, I will go and if you will not go with me, I will not go And she answered I will go with you However the road you go shall not lead to your honor for the everliving will give Cicera to the hand of a woman Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Qadish where Barak invited Zebulun and Naftali to Qadish and ten thousand men came to his feet and Deborah went up with him and Haber the Kenite, who was descended from Qiyen, one of the sons of Hobab, a father-in-law of Moses, who had also pitched his tent at Alon Batsanim near Qadish and it was reported to Cicera that Barak bin Abinoham had occupied Mount Tabor Cicera consequently summoned all his charioteers with their nine hundred chariots of iron and all his forces from Karsheth of the Haven to the river Kaishan Then Deborah said to Barak Arise, for this is the day when I will deliver Cicera to your hand Does not the everliving go before you? So Barak descended from Mount Tabor with the ten thousand men following him and the everliving routed Cicera with all his chariots and all his troops with the sword before Barak so that Cicera descended from his chariot and fled on foot But Barak pursued the charioteers and the infantry to Karsheth of the Haven and stormed all the camps of Cicera by the sword not sparing one Cicera however fled on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite for there was peace between Jabeen king of Qatzor and the house of Heber the Kenite and Jael came out to meet Cicera and said to him Turn in Prince, turn into me, fear nothing So he entered with her into the tent and she covered him with a cloak Then he said to her Let me have a little water to drink for I am thirsty and she opened him a bottle of milk and gave him a drink and covered him up again Then he said to her Stand before the door of the hall and if any man comes to inquire of you and says Is there anyone here? Answer, there is no one Jael the wife of Heber however took a peg of the tent and grasped a hammer in her hand and went to him secretly and fixed it on his temples and drove it through to the earth for he was fast asleep so he expired and died Then she saw Barak pursuing Cicera so Jael went out to meet him and said to him Come and I will show you the man whom you seek and he went with her and saw Cicera lying dead with the nail through his temples Thus God defeated on that day Jabeen king of Canaan before the Israelites and the power of the children of Israel increased advanced and strengthened over Jabeen king of Canaan until Jabeen king of Canaan was subdued Chapter 5 Then Deborah and Barak ben Abenoam saying saying Deborah For free freedom in Israel you heroes and people bless the Lord Barak let kings hear let princes listen I to the Lord myself will sing I chant to the ever-living God of Israel the troops Lord in your advance from Seir in your march through the field of Edom the earth shook the heavens poured down the storm clouds poured out water the mountains melted before the Lord Sinai itself before the living God of Israel Deborah In the days of Shamgar son of Anath in the days of Yal the caravan ceased and travelers went in the bypass Judges ceased in Israel ceased till I Deborah arose till I arose a mother to Israel Barak they chose for themselves new gods when there was war at the gates was a shield or a spear to be seen in forty thousand of Israel Deborah my heart can picture Israel heroes among the people bless the Lord the troops you riders upon white asses and you who dwell in the plane and the travelers by roadways publish with the sound as of rushing waters the kindness the Lord has done the kindness to Israel's hamlets when the Lord's force rushed down to the dales Barak arise arise you Deborah awake awake an utter a song Deborah arise Barak and conquer conqueror son of Abinoham let the nobles and people descend the Lord sent me to summon heroes come to me Ephraim rooted in Amalek follow me Benjamin from your caves come to me Makhir with your chieftains with Zebulun wielding the writer's pen and Issachar's eloquent princes and along with Issachar Barak who directs the march with skill my heart aches for Reuben's absence why state he among the sheepfolds to hear the cries of his flocks my heart aches for Reuben's absence Gilad remained beyond the Jordan but why stayed Dan in his ships and Asher rest on the shore of the sea and continue to lie in his ports Zebulun's men risked their lives to death with Naftali from the highlands Barak kings came out to the war like Canaan's kings at Thanak who fought by the brook of Megiddo they took no silver as plunder the stars they fought from the skies the stars from their high course fought against Cicera the river Kaishan swept them away that ancient river the river Kaishan Deborah rushed strongly along my life how the hoofs of the horses sound with their mighty leapings and prancings Curse Miraz said the man of the Lord when cursing curse its people for they came not with help to the Lord to help the Lord and his heroes but blessed the children of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite bless all the sons of her tent he asked her water she gave him milk she offered him butter on a beautiful dish then she stretched her hand to the nail her right hand to the workman's hammer and Cicera pierced through his head and broke and drove through his temples at her feet he bowed fell down at her feet he bowed fell down when he bowed he fell down dead the troops Cicera's mother at the evening hour bent and watched from her window what prevents his chariots return what delays the trap of his chargers her wise women answered to her nay continued her words to herself have they not found plenty of plunder a lovely girl for the generals and a plunder of robes for Cicera a plunder of robes embroidered embroidered robes for the necks of the victors Deborah, Barak and troops Lord, thus destroy your foes but let your friends, Marjahn, like the sun in his glory after this the country rested for forty years CHAPTER VI then the Israelites did wrong in the eyes of the ever-living so the ever-living gave them to the hand of Midian, twelve years and the power of Midian was so strong over Israel that the Israelites made for themselves entrenchments in the mountains and caves and towers and if the Israelites sowed then Midian and Amalek and the Benai Kedem came upon and assailed them and wasted the whole breadth of the country to the pass of Gaza and left no means of subsistence for Israel or sheep or ox or ass for they and their cattle with them advanced with their tents coming in such immense numbers both of themselves and their camels that they could not be counted and went over the country destroying it thus Israel was thoroughly exhausted before Midian then the children of Israel cried to the ever-living and when the Israelites cried to the ever-living on account of Midian the ever-living sent a man a preacher to the sons of Israel and he said to them the ever-living God of Israel says thus I brought you from the Mitsarayim and brought you from the House of Bondage and delivered you from the power of your opponents and swept them before you and gave you this country then I said to you I am your ever-living God you shall not reverence the gods of the Amorites in whose country you reside but you would not listen to my voice afterwards the messenger of the ever-living went and sat under the oak which is at Afra belonging to Yoash and Gideon his son was threshing wheat in a wine cellar to hide it from the Midianites and the messenger of the ever-living looked in at him and said to him the ever-living is with you brave man but Gideon answered him what sir if the ever-living is with us then why has all this come and where are all his wonders that our fathers related to us telling about the bringing us up from Mitsarayim for now the ever-living has forsaken us and put us under the foot of Midian but the noble man turned to him and replied go with your courage and rescue Israel from the hand of Midian have I not sent you he however returned me sir how can I rescue Israel the regiments of Manasseh have failed and I am the youngest of my father's family but the noble man answered to him because I will be with you and you shall defeat the Midianites like a single man then he asked him if now I have found favor in your eyes and you have done me the kindness of speaking with me do not remove from here until I come back to you when I will bring my present and present it to you so he replied I will sit down until you return then Gideon went and killed a goat's kid and baked an unfermented cake and placed the meat on a tray and put the broth in a basin and brought to him under the oak and presented it then the divine messenger said to him take the meat and the biscuit and ascend to the peak of Luz and pour out the broth and he did so when the messenger of the ever-living extended the end of the staff which he had in his hand and touched the meat and the biscuit and fire came from the rock and consumed the meat and the biscuit then the messenger of the ever-living went from his sight and Gideon perceived that he was a messenger from the ever-living so Gideon exclaimed ah great lord I have certainly seen a messenger of the ever-living face to face and the noble replied to him peace to you fear not you will not die consequently Gideon built there an altar to the ever-living and it is called the ever-living's peace to this day it is near Afrath of Aliezer in the night again the ever-living said to him take the bowl of your father's herd and a second seven-year bowl and overthrow your father's altar to Baal and break the shrine that is beside it and build an altar to your ever-living god on the top of this refuge on the mound and take the two bowls and offer as a burnt offering with the wood of the shrine which you have broken up so Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the ever-living told him but because he feared his father's family and the men of the village he could not do it by day so did it by night when they arose in the morning and observed the altar of Baal thrown down and the shrine that was near it broken and the two bowls burning upon the altar he had built then each said to his neighbor who has done these things so they examined and inquired and were told Gideon the son of Yoash has done them the people of the village consequently said to Yoash bring out your son and let him die for he has overthrown the altar of Baal and has broken the shrine that was by it but Yoash replied to all who stood about him would you defend Baal if he can help you then he can defend himself if he is a god he can kill for himself this morning let him defend himself for the overthrowing of his altar so they named him at once Jerubaal saying let Baal destroy him for he overturned his altar in consequence the forces of Midian and Amalek and the Ben Aikedam assembled together and encamped in the plain of Jezraal but the spirit of the ever-living descended upon Gideon and he blew the trumpet and summoned the Abiazerites after him and sent messengers to all Manasseh and also summoned them after him and he also sent messengers to Asur and Zebulun and to Naftali and they went up to meet him then Gideon said to God if you will save Israel by my hand as you promised I will lay this fleece of wool on the level floor if the dew is on the fleece only and dryness upon all the ground then I shall understand that you will save Israel as you have promised and he arose in the morning and wrung the fleece when as much dew ran from the fleece as filled a bucket with water Gideon however said to God let not your anger burn against me and I will speak once again I will try another time with the fleece let it now be dry on the fleece only while there is dew on the ground so the ever-living made it thus that night there was dryness in the fleece only and upon the ground there came dew Chapter 7 Then Jezrabal who was Gideon arose and all the people who are with him and encamped in the well at Karad overlooking from the north the camp of Mora upon the plain but the ever-living said to Gideon there are too many people with you for me to give the Midianites into your power for fear Israel should glorify against me and say my hand has saved myself therefore now proclaim in the hearing of the people and say who is afraid and timid let him return and depart to Mount Gilad consequently 22,000 of the people departed but there were left 10,000 but the ever-living again said to Gideon the people are too many order them down to the brook and their select for yourself and whoever replies to you thus I will go with you let him go with you but all who say I will not go with you let him not go with you so he took those men with him down to the brook where the ever-living said to Gideon all who lap with the tongue from the brook like a dog laps place them by themselves and all who bend on the knees to drink and the number of the lappers from the hand to their mouths was 300 men but all the rest of the people knelt on the knee to drink from the brook then the ever-living said to Gideon with the 300 men who lapped I will rescue you and give Midian into your hand so the people took their staves in their hands and their clothing and all the force of Israel went off to their homes except those 300 brave men and the camp of Midian was opposite those in the plain and night came then the Lord said to him arise descend to the camp for I will give it to your hand but if you fear the descent go down with Fuhrar your squire to the camp when you will hear what they say and after that embolden your hand he therefore descended to the camp and Fuhrar his squire went down with him to the officer's quarters who were over the camp where Midian and Amalek and the Benai Kedem were spread over the plain like locusts for number and their camels were innumerable like dust scattered on the shore of the sea for multitude but Gideon proceeded and perceived a man relating a dream to his comrade who said I have dreamed a dream when I saw a round barley cake thrown into the camp of Midian and it went to the general's pavilion and struck it and it fell but it bounded forward and another pavilion fell then his comrade answered and said that is nothing less than the sword of Gideon Ben Yoash the man of Israel God will give Midian and all this camp into his power but when Gideon heard this dream related and its interpretation he bowed down and returned to the camp of Israel and said arise for the Lord will give the camp of Midian to your hands then he divided the three hundred men into three divisions and all of them took trumpets in their hands with dark lanterns and lamps inside the dark lanterns and he said to them watch me and what I do you do the same and when I come to the edge of the camp what I do then you also do it when I blow my trumpet then all of you blow your trumpets with me all around the camp and shout the sword of the Lord and of Gideon then Gideon and the hundred men with him went to the headquarters side of the camp where the officers were stationed and sounded the trumpet and opened the dark lanterns they carried the three divisions also blew their trumpets and waved their dark lanterns and rushed on with the lanterns in their left hands and the trumpets in their right blowing and shouting the sword of the Lord and of Gideon and halted outside around the camp and aroused all in the camp who fled in terror but the three hundred continued to blow the trumpets and the everliving turned the sword of each against his comrade in all the camp and the camp fled in confusion to the edge of the meadows of Nekola near Tabbath the man of Israel afterwards summoned Naftali and Asher and all Manasseh and they followed after Midian Gideon also sent messengers to the whole of Mount Ephraim to say descend to meet Midian and capture from them the Fords at Beth-Bara and of the Jordan so they called out every man of Ephraim and captured the Fords at Beth-Bara and at the Jordan and captured the two princes of Midian Aureb and Zaab and killed Aureb at the Rock of Aureb and executed Zaab at the winepress of Zaab and continued the pursuit of Midian but they brought the heads of Aureb and Zaab to Gideon from beyond the Jordan The end of chapters one through seven of The Book of Judges Recording by Mark Penfold Chapters eight through fourteen of The Book of Judges from the Holy Bible in Modern English This Le Provox recording is in the public domain Recording by Mark Penfold The Holy Bible in Modern English Translated by Farrar Fenton The Book of Judges Chapters eight through fourteen Chapter eight The men of Ephraim however asked him Why have you done this business for us and not consulted us? For you have gone to war with Midian and continued with it rashly But he answered What have I done now more than you? Are not the gleaning of Ephraim better than the vintage of A by Esser? God has given to your hand the princes of Midian Aureb and Zaab So what have I been able to do more than you? Then turn your spirit away from me when speaking about this matter Then Gideon went beyond the Jordan himself and the three hundred men with him weary yet pursuing and said to the people of Sukkoth Give I entreat you a little bread to the men who are with me for they are exhausted and I am pursuing after Zibak and Zalmuna the kings of Midian But the masters of Sukkoth replied Are the hands of Zibak and Zalmuna in your power that we should give you any bread? Gideon however retorted When the everliving give Zibak and Zalmuna into my power then I will inform your governors with thorns from the desert and with briars From there he went to Fanuol and asked them the same but the men of Fanuol answered like the men of Sukkoth So Gideon also replied to the men of Fanuol When I return with peace I will throw down this towering Fanuol Now Zibak and Zalmuna were encamped at Karkar with about fifteen thousand men all they had left them but with the whole camp of the Benay Kedem a hundred and twenty thousand infantry accomplished swordsmen Gideon consequently advanced by the lower road to the general's pavilion from the east of Novak and Yagba and attacked the camp whilst the camp was resting in security Zibak and Zalmuna however fled and he pursued them and captured both the kings of Midian Zibak and Zalmuna and all the camp was thrown into confusion When Gideon Ben-Yoash returned from the war coming up from the desert he captured a young man from the people of Sukkoth and questioned him and he described to him the chief men of Sukkoth and the seven aldermen and the seven councilmen then he advanced against the people of Sukkoth and said Here are Zibak and Zalmuna about whom you insulted me saying is the hand of Zibak and Zalmuna in your power yet that we should give bread to your weary men then he seized the aldermen of the town and informed the people of Sukkoth with the thorns and briars of the desert next he threw down the tower of Fanual and killed the chiefs of the village then he asked Zibak and Zalmuna what sort of men were they whom you murdered at Thabor and they replied like yourself each one in appearance like the distinguished son of a king when he answered they were my brothers sons of my mother as god lives to me if you had spared their lives I would not have killed you then he said to Jeffair his firstborn get up and kill them but the youth did not draw his sword because he was afraid for he was only a lad so Zibak and Zalmuna said get yourself up and assail us like a man in his vigor Gideon then arose and killed Zibak and Zalmuna and took the crescents that were upon the necks of their camels the men of Israel afterwards said to Gideon rule over us you and your son and your descendants for you have saved us from the hand of Midian but Gideon replied to them I will not be governor over you nor shall my son govern you the ever living is your governor but Gideon said I request each of you to give me a ring from your plunder for as they were Ishmaelites they wore gold rings and they replied we will give you that gift so he spread his cloak and each threw upon it a ring from the plunder and the gold rings which he asked were 1,700 shekels in weight besides the crescents and eardrops and cloaks and the woven shawls of the king of Midian and the necklaces which were on the necks of the camels Gideon afterwards made a suit of armor of them and set it up in his village at Afra but all Israel hoared after it there and it became a snare to Gideon and all his house Midian was thus subdued before the Israelites and it did not again raise its head so that the country had rest for 40 years in the time of Gideon Jerob Bal Ben Yoash however returned to his home and Gideon had 70 sons produced from his loins for he had many wives but his secondary wife who was in Chechem bore him also a son and his name was Abimelech then Gideon Ben Yoash died with good gray hair and they buried him in the tomb of Yoash his father in Afra of Ebaezer but when Gideon Ben Yoash was dead the Israelites went again and hoared after Baal and chose Baal Barath as their god for the Israelites remembered not their ever-living god who redeemed them from the power of all their enemies around nor did they act kindly to the family of Jerob Baal Gideon for all the good he had done for them Chapter 9 Abimelech went to Chechem and spoke to them and to all the clan of the house of his mother's father to say I wish you to whisper to the ears of the Baalites of Chechem what good is it to you this government of 70 men all the sons of Jerob Baal compared to the government of a single man and remember that I am your bones and flesh so his mother's relatives whispered all these things about him to the ears of all the Baalites of Chechem and turned their hearts after Abimelech for they said he is our country man they therefore gave him 70 shekels from the house of Baal Barath with which Abimelech hired 70 vaga bonds and reprobates and they followed him then he went to the house of his father in Afra and murdered his brothers the sons of Jerob Baal 70 men upon a single stone except Jotham ben Jerob Baal the youngest for he hid himself then all the Baalites of Chechem and the house of Miloa proceeded and went and made Abimelech king to reign in Alon the garrison of Chechem when this was reported to Jotham he went and stood on Mount Garrison and raised his voice and called to them and said listen to me you Baalites of Chechem and let your gods listen the trees once went out to elect a king over themselves and they said to the olive will you be king over us but the olive replied to them shall I resign my fatness with which gods and men are delighted to trouble myself about trees then the trees said to the fig come and be king over us when the fig replied to them shall I abandon my pleasantness and beautiful fruit to go and trouble myself about the trees next the trees said to the vine come and be king over us but it answered them shall I abandon my wine which delights gods and men and go and trouble myself about the trees then all the trees said to the bramble come you reign over us and the bramble answered the trees if you really consecrate me as your king come here shelter under me and if you will not fire shall go out from the bramble and consume the cedar of Lebanon so now if in truth and uprightness you have made Abimelech your king and if you have done handsomely to Jerubal and to his family and if you have done to him according to the work of the hand of my father who fought for you and poured out his soul for you who have risen upon my father's family today and murdered seventy prisons on a single stone and have elected Abimelech the son of his slave over the ball lights of Shechem because he is your relative then according to the truth and justice with which you have acted towards Jerubal and towards his family today be content with Abimelech and let him be content with you but if not let fire come out from Abimelech and consume the ball lights of Shechem and the house of Maloa and let fire come out from the ball lights of Shechem and from the house of Maloa and consume Abimelech then Jotham fled and hid himself in Barah and stayed there from the presence of Abimelech his brother when Abimelech had been a chief in Israel for three years the everliving sent a bad feeling between Abimelech and the ball lights of Shechem consequently the ball lights of Shechem plotted against Abimelech the injury done to the seventy sons of Jerubal and their blood returned upon Abimelech their brother who had murdered them and upon the ball lights of Shechem who encouraged his hand to the murder of his brothers so the ball lights of Shechem laid an ambush upon the tops of the mountains and they robbed all who passed near them in the road and it was reported to Abimelech then Gal Ben Abde came to Shechem with his brothers and passed into it and the ball lights of Shechem confided in him and went out and reaped their vineyards and pressed them and afterwards made a feast and went to the house of their god and ate and drank and cursed Abimelech then Gal Ben Abde exclaimed who is Abimelech and what was Shechem that we should be enslaved is he not the son of Jerubal and Zabul his lieutenant they were slaves those furious low-bred bastards but why should we be enslaved but if this people were under my hand I would turn Abimelech off then he shouted against Abimelech collect your army and meet me outside when Zabul the commandant of the city heard of the speech of Gal Ben Abde he was furious and sent messengers to Abimelech at Pharma to say I find Gal Ben Abde and his brothers have come to Shechem and that your rivals in the town are against you so now get up by night you and all the force with you and hide in the fields and at dawn when the sun rises advance and attack the city and then you and the force you bring with you can do to him whatever you find in your power Abimelech consequently arose that night and all his force with him and they advanced secretly against Shechem in four divisions but Gal Ben Abde went out and stationed himself outside the gate of the town then Abimelech and the force with him arose from their ambush and Gal saw the force and asked Zabul is that an army descending from the top of the hills when Zabul replied to him you see the shadow of the mountains instead of men but Gal continued to speak and said look it is a force that descends from the highlands and when division comes from the road of Alan Maonim then Zabul replied to him where now is the mouth which said who is Abimelech that we should be enslaved is not that the man whom you despised now go and fight with him Gal consequently went out with the ball lights of Shechem and fought with Abimelech but Abimelech repulsed him and he fled before him and many fell wounded before the gate of the town Abimelech then retired to the highlands until Zabul advised Gal and his relatives against remaining in Shechem so when morning came his army went out to the fields and he reported it to Abimelech so he took his force and divided it under three leaders and lay in ambush in the fields and watched until the army had come clear of the town when he arose and assailed it then Abimelech and the officers who were with him rushed and seized the open gate of the town and the two other leaders charged upon all who were in the fields and repulsed them whilst Abimelech assailed the town all that day and captured it and killed the people who were in it and threw down the houses and sowed it with salt when all the ball lights of Shechem tower heard of it they went to the tower of the house of their god Berith and it was reported to Abimelech that all the ball lights had assembled at Shechem tower Abimelech consequently ascended Mount Zalman with all his force where he took an axe and cut bows from the trees and hoisted them upon his shoulder and said to the people who were with him what you have seen me do be quick and do the same so all the army each cut a branch and marched after Abimelech and piled them against the tower and set the tower on fire with them and thus killed all the people in the tower of Shechem about a thousand men and women then Abimelech marched to Thebetts and besieged Thebetts and captured it but there was a strong tower in the middle of the town and all the men and women fled there and shut themselves in and went to the roof of the tower Abimelech however advanced to the tower and assailed it and approached close to the door of the tower to consume it with fire but a woman threw an upper millstone upon the head of Abimelech and broke his skull when he immediately called to the youth who carried his arms and said draw your sword and kill me for fear that they should say a woman killed him so his squire drew and killed him and when the men of Israel saw Abimelech was dead each returned to his home thus God turned upon Abimelech the wrong which he did to his father in murdering his seventy brothers God caused all the wickedness of the men of Shechem to return upon their heads and brought the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubal upon them Chapter 10 After Abimelech a man of Issachar Thola Benfua arose to save Israel he resided in Shamar on Mount Ephraim and judged Israel for thirteen years when he died and was buried in Shamar then Jair the Giladite arose after him and judged Israel for twelve years and he had thirty sons who rode upon asses and they possessed thirty villages called the villages of Jair to this day they are in the country of Gilad when Jair died he was buried in Cayman then the children of Israel repeated the doing of evil in the site of the everliving and served the Baalim and Ashtaroth and the gods of Aram and the gods of Zaidon and the gods of Moab and the gods of the sons of Aram and the gods of the Philistines and forsook the everliving and did not serve him so the anger of the everliving burnt against Israel and he gave them up to the hand of the Philistines and to the power of the people of Amon who crushed and oppressed the children of Israel who were in Bashan beyond the Jordan in the country of the Amorites and in Gilad for eighteen years the Amorites also passed over the Jordan to make war with Judah and Benjamin and the house of Ephraim and ravaged Israel greatly then the children of Israel cried to the everliving saying we have sinned against you for we have forsaken our God and served the Baalim but the everliving replied to the children of Israel have you not the Mitzurites and the Amorites and the Benai Amon and the Philistines and the Zaidonians as refugees from oppression for yourselves that you call to me to save you from their hand when you have forsaken me and served other gods therefore I will not continue to save you go and call the gods whom you have chosen for yourselves let them save you in the period of your distress the children of Israel however said to the everliving we have sinned due to us all that is good in your sight oh save us now today and they put away the foreign gods from amongst themselves and served the everliving and he stayed his anger against Israel then the Amonites assembled and encamped in Gilad and the children of Israel collected and encamped in Mitzvah but the army said to the chiefs of Gilad we have not a man to lead us let the man who is able to fight with the Amonites be the head of all the inhabitants of Gilad Chapter 11 Now Jaffa the Giladite was a heroic man but he was the son of a foreigner who bore Jaffa to Gilad his Giladite wife also bore him sons and that woman's sons grew up and drove Jaffa out and said you shall not inherit with a family of our father for you are the son of a foreigner Jaffa consequently fled from the presence of his brothers and lived in the country of Taub where Jaffa collected vagabond fellows who came to him this was in the time when the Amonites were at war with the children of Israel so the judges of Gilad went to bring Jaffa from the district of Taub and they said to Jaffa come and be our leader and fight for us with the Amonites but Jaffa replied to the judges of Gilad did you not hate me and drive me from the house of my father then why should you come to me now that you are in distress the judges of Gilad however answered Jaffa in spite of that return now with us and fight the Amonites and you shall be the chief of all the inhabitants of Gilad then Jaffa said to the judges of Gilad if I return with you to fight the Amonites and the everliving gives them to my advance am I to be your chief and the judges of Gilad answered Jaffa let the everliving decide between us if it is not done as you say Jaffa thereupon went with the judges of Gilad and the people appointed him over themselves as a chief and leader and Jaffa took the oaths before them in misba then Jaffa sent messengers to the king of the Amonites to say what is there between me and you that you have come to fight me in my country when the king of Amon answered the messengers of Jaffa because Israel when coming up from the Mitzrayim seized my country from Arnon to the Jabok and the Jordan but you can go back to them in peace but Jaffa sent messengers again to the king of the Benai Amon and said to him Jaffa replied thus Israel did not seize the country of Moab and the country of the Benai Amon for in the coming up from the Mitzrayim Israel went in the desert by the Red Sea and came to Gadesh when Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom to say I wish to pass over by your country but the king of Edom and the king of Moab replied that they were not willing therefore Israel halted at Gadesh and marched into the desert and went around the land of Moab and encamped at the river Arnon and did not invade the bounds of Moab for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab from there Israel sent ambassadors to Sihon the king of the Amorites king of Heshban and said to him I Israel would pass through your country to my place but Sihon would not trust Israel to pass through his boundaries so Sihon collected all his forces and encamped at Jatz and fought with Israel the ever-living God of Israel however gave Sihon and all his army to the hand of Israel and Israel conquered all the country of the Amorites residing in that region and acquired all the region of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabak and from the desert to the Jordan and since the ever-living God of Israel has driven the Amorites before his people yet you would possess cannot you possess what Kimash your God has caused you to possess and whatever our ever-living God has caused us to possess we shall possess for ourselves and now are you better than Balak bin Sifor the great king of Moab greater than Israel if you can fight with them fight with them Israel however has dwelt in Heshban and its villages and in ROR and its villages and all the towns along the Arnon three hundred years so why have you not recovered them during that period and I myself have not offended you but you have done wrong to me in making more upon me let the ever-living as judge decide today between the children of Israel and the Benai Amon but the king of the Amonites would not listen to the words that Jaffa sent to him then the spirit of the ever-living came upon Jaffa and he passed through Gilad and Manasseh and advanced to Misfah of Gilad for Misfah of Gilad was in subjection to the Benai Amon therefore Jaffa vowed a vow to the ever-living and said if you will deliver the Benai Amon to my hand then whatever first comes out of the doors of my house to meet me upon my returning with peace from the Benai Amon shall be the Lord's and shall be offered as an offering Jaffa then advanced against the Benai Amon to fight with them and the ever-living gave them into his power and he conquered from them ROR and as far as the passive Minith twenty villages and onwards to the vine fields a very great conquest thus the Amonites were subjected to the children of Israel when however Jaffa returned to Misfah to his home his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and dances and except her alone there was no child to his house so when she approached him he tore his robes and said alas my daughter you have overwhelmed me with sorrow and you are my grief for I have opened my mouth to the ever-living and I am not able to go back but she answered him my father if you have opened your mouth to the ever-living due to me according to what has come out from your mouth since the ever-living has made a triumph for you over your enemies the Benai Amon then she asked her father get this thing to me give me two months that I may go and wander on the hills and lament for my maidenhood I and my friends and he replied go and sent her away for two months so she and her friends went and lamented over her girlhood upon the mountains but at the end of the two months she returned to her father and he did to her as he had vowed and she knew no man thus it became an institution in Israel that from year to year the girls of Israel should go to celebrate the daughter of Jaffa the Giladite for four days yearly CHAPTER XII but the men of Ephraim assembled an advanced northward and demanded of Jaffa why did you proceed to war with the Amonites and not invite us to go with you we will burn your house over you with fire but Jaffa replied to them there was a great contention between myself and the people with me and the Benai Amon and I applied to you but you did not save me from their power when I saw that you would not save I took my life in my hand and advanced against the Amonites and the ever-living gave them into my power then why do you ascend today against me to fight with me consequently Jaffa assembled all the army of Gilad and fought the Ephraimites and the men of Gilad defeated Ephraim then the men of Gilad said to themselves Ephraim will escape between the Ephraimites and Manassites so they captured the Fords of the Jordan from Ephraim and when any one of the fugitives of Ephraim said I wish to pass over the men of Gilad replied to him are you an Ephraimite and if he answered no they replied to him say Shibboleth and he responded Sibboleth for he was not able to pronounce it then they seized and slew him at the Fords of the Jordan so there fell at that time 42,000 of the Ephraimites Jaffa afterwards judged in Israel for six years then Jaffa the Giladite died and was buried in the city of Gilad after him Ibzan the Bethlehemite judged in Israel and he had 30 sons and 30 daughters sent out and 30 daughters came in to his sons from without and he judged Israel seven years then Ibzan died and they buried him in Bethlehem then Ilon the Zebulonite judged in Israel after him and he judged in Israel 10 years then Ilon the Zebulonite died and they buried him in the country of Zebulon but after him Abdon Ben-Hilel the Peraphonite judged in Israel and he had 40 sons and 30 grandsons who rode on 70 asses and he judged in Israel eight years then Abdon Ben-Hilel the Peraphonite died and they buried him in Perathon in the country of Ephraim in the Mount of the Amalekites Chapter 13 Then the children of Israel repeated the doing of wrong in the sight of the Everliving so the Everliving delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for 40 years but there was a remarkable man of Zahra of the family of Dan and his name was Mano but his wife was Baron she was childless a messenger of the Everliving however appeared to his wife and said to her look now you barren and childless woman you shall conceive and bury son but guard yourself and drink neither wine nor beer and eat no grapes for you shall conceive and bury son upon whose head no razor shall go for the youth shall be a Nazareite to God from his birth and he shall be strong and save Israel from the hand of the Philistines the woman therefore went and said to her husband a man from God has come to me and his appearance was like a messenger of God very bright but I did not ask him if he was so and he did not tell me his name but he said to me see you shall conceive and bury son and you shall not drink wine or beer nor eat any grapes for the youth shall be a Nazareite to God from his birth to the day of his death so Mano entreated the Everliving and said let the man whom you have sent appear God to me let him come again to us that we may learn what the youth who is to be born must do the everliving therefore listened to the voice of Mano and the messenger of God came again to the woman when she was sitting in the field and Mano her husband was not with her but the woman hastened and ran and informed and said to him the man who came the other day to me has appeared to me so Mano arose and followed his wife and came to the man and asked him are you the man who spoke to this woman and he replied I am then Mano said may your word come true what does the everliving decide what the youth shall do and the messenger of the everliving answered to Mano your wife must abstain from all that I said from all that comes from the vine she shall not eat of the vine she shall not drink wine and she shall not drink beer she shall also eat no grapes she must abstain from all that I have commanded then Mano replied to the messenger of the everliving stay here and I will present to you a goat's kid but the messenger of the everliving replied to Mano if I stay I will not eat of your bread but if you make an offering to the everliving offer it for Mano did not know he was a messenger of the everliving then Mano asked the messenger of the everliving what is your name that I may come to you and bless you but the messenger of the everliving asked him why do you ask my name when it is wonderful then Mano took a goat's kid and a bread offering and went up on the rock to the everliving and set the offering apart and Mano and his wife watched them but when the flame went up from the altar to the skies the messenger of the everliving also went up in the flame of the altar and Mano and his wife saw him and they fell upon their faces to the earth the messenger of the everliving however did not again appear to Mano or his wife after he had recognized that he was a messenger of the everliving Mano consequently said to his wife we shall die for we have seen a god but she replied to him if the everliving intended to kill us he would not have received a burnt offering from our hands and we should not have seen all this and he would not have listened to us as he has the woman afterwards bore a son and called his name Samson and the lad grew great and the everliving blessed him and the mighty spirit of the everliving impelled him to the camp of Dan between Zara and Ashtal chapter 14 but Samson descended to Thimnaf and saw a woman in Thimnaf a Philistine girl so he returned and told his father and mother and said I have seen a woman in Thimnaf a Philistine girl so I wish you to obtain her as a wife for me but his father and mother replied is there not a girl related to you or a woman in all your nation that you should go and take a wife from the foul Philistines Samson however exclaimed to his father and mother get her for me for she is perfect in my eyes for his father and mother did not know that it was given to him from the everliving to seek a wife from the Philistines although at that period the Philistines governed in Israel consequently Samson and his father and mother descended to Thimnaf once formerly when he had gone to the vineyards of Thimnaf a young lion had roared at his approach and the spirit of the everliving had fallen upon him and he had torn it in two like tearing a kid but had not told his father or his mother what he had done so they went down and spoke to the woman who was perfect in the eyes of Samson and stayed some time for the marriage but he went aside one day to look at the carcass of the lion and observed a swarm of bees in the skeleton and honey so he took some into his hand and walked along and ate as he walked with his father and mother then he gave them some and they ate but he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the skeleton of a lion afterwards when his father came down to see his wife Samson made a feast as young men are accustomed he had visitors also with him and he chose 30 friends who were to stay with him and Samson said to them let us agree together to ask riddles if you can guess mine in the seven days of the feast and relate it I will give you 30 shirts and 30 suits of clothes but if you are not able to guess it for me then you shall give me 30 shirts and 30 suits of clothing when they reply to him tell your riddle and we will listen so he said to them there came meat from the eater and from the strong came sweetness and they were not able to guess the riddle by the third day but when the seventh day came they said to Samson's wife open your husband and explain the riddle for us or we will burn you and destroy your father's house with fire unless you tell it to us Samson's wife consequently wept to him and said you hate me now and do not love me you have not explained that riddle to me and my relatives but he answered her I have not explained it to my father and mother so why should I explain it to you she consequently wept over him the seven days that the feast lasted and when the seventh day came he explained it to her for she wore him out and she explained it to her relatives so the men of the village said to him at the end of the seventh day at sunset what is sweeter than honey and what's stronger than a lion but he replied to them if you are not proud with my heifer you would not have found out my riddle then the spirit of enthusiasm came upon him and he went down to Ashkelon and killed their thirty men and took their clothing and gave the suits to the guessers of the riddle but he was furious and went off to the house of his father the wife of Samson however was left with the companions who had accompanied him the end of chapters eight through fourteen of the book of judges recording by Mark Penfold