Chapter 11

Jephthah the Ninth Judge

1 Now aJephthah the Gileadite was a 1valiant warrior, but he was the son of a harlot. And Gilead 2was the father of Jephthah.

2 Gilead’s wife bore him sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You shall not have an inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.”

3 So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of aTob; and worthless fellows gathered themselves 1about Jephthah, and they went out with him.

4 It came about after a while that athe sons of Ammon fought against Israel.

5 When the sons of Ammon fought against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob;

6 and they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our chief that we may fight against the sons of Ammon.”

7 Then Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “aDid you not hate me and drive me from my father’s house? So why have you come to me now when you are in trouble?”

8 The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “For this reason we have now returned to you, that you may go with us and fight with the sons of Ammon and abecome head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

9 So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you take me back to fight against the sons of Ammon and the Lord gives them up 1to me, will I become your head?”

10 The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “aThe Lord is 1witness between us; surely we will do 2as you have said.”

11 Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord at aMizpah.

12 Now Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, “What is between you and me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?”

13 The king of the sons of Ammon said to the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel atook away my land when they came up from Egypt, from the Arnon as far as the bJabbok and the Jordan; therefore, return them peaceably now.”

14 But Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the sons of Ammon,

15 and they said to him, “Thus says Jephthah, ‘Israel did not take away the land of Moab nor the land of the sons of Ammon.

16 ‘For when they came up from Egypt, and Israel awent through the wilderness to the 1Red Sea and bcame to Kadesh,

17 then Israel asent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please let us pass through your land,” but the king of Edom would not listen. bAnd they also sent to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained at Kadesh.

18 ‘Then they went through the wilderness and aaround the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and came to the east side of the land of Moab, and they camped beyond the Arnon; but they bdid not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab.

19 ‘And Israel sent amessengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, “Please let us pass through your land to our place.”

20 ‘But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory; so Sihon gathered all his people and camped in Jahaz and fought with Israel.

21 ‘The Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they 1adefeated them; so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.

22 ‘aSo they possessed all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok, and from the wilderness as far as the Jordan.

23 ‘Since now the Lord, the God of Israel, drove out the Amorites from before His people Israel, are you then to possess it?

24 ‘Do you not possess what aChemosh your god gives you to possess? So whatever the Lord our God has driven out before us, we will possess it.

25 ‘Now are you any better than aBalak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive with Israel, or did he ever fight against them?

26 ‘aWhile Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, three hundred years, why did you not recover them within that time?

27 ‘I therefore have not sinned against you, but you are doing me wrong by making war against me; amay the Lord, the Judge, judge today between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.’ ”

28 But the king of the sons of Ammon 1disregarded the message which Jephthah sent him.

Jephthah’s Tragic Vow

29 Now athe Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, so that he passed through Gilead and Manasseh; then he passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he went on to the sons of Ammon.

30 Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, “If You will indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand,

31 then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”

32 So Jephthah crossed over to the sons of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord gave them into his hand.

33 He struck them with a very great slaughter from Aroer 1to the entrance of aMinnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim. So the sons of Ammon were subdued before the sons of Israel.

34 When Jephthah came to his house at aMizpah, behold, his daughter was coming out to meet him bwith tambourines and with dancing. Now she was his one and only child; besides her he had no son or daughter.

35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are among those who trouble me; for I have 1given my word to the Lord, and aI cannot take it back.”

36 So she said to him, “My father, you have 1given your word to the Lord; ado to me 2as you have said, since the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the sons of Ammon.”

37 She said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me; let me alone two months, that I may 1go to the mountains and weep because of amy virginity, I and my companions.”

38 Then he said, “Go.” So he sent her away for two months; and she left with her companions, and wept on the mountains because of her virginity.

39 At the end of two months she returned to her father, who did to her according to the vow which he had made; and she 1had no relations with a man. Thus it became a custom in Israel,

40 that the daughters of Israel went yearly to 1commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.

Chapter 12

Jephthah and His Successors

1 Then the men of Ephraim were summoned, and they crossed 1to Zaphon and asaid to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the sons of Ammon without calling us to go with you? We will burn your house down on you.”

2 Jephthah said to them, “I and my people were at great strife with the sons of Ammon; when I called you, you did not deliver me from their hand.

3 “When I saw that you would not deliver me, I 1atook my life in my hands and crossed over against the sons of Ammon, and the Lord gave them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?”

4 Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought Ephraim; and the men of Gilead 1defeated Ephraim, because they said, “You are fugitives of Ephraim, O Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and in the midst of Manasseh.”

5 The Gileadites acaptured the fords of the Jordan opposite Ephraim. And it happened when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead would say to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,”

6 then they would say to him, “Say now, ‘Shibboleth.’ ” But he said, “Sibboleth,” for he could not 1pronounce it correctly. Then they seized him and slew him at the fords of the Jordan. Thus there fell at that time 42,000 of Ephraim.

7 Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.

8 Now Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel after him.

9 He had thirty sons, and thirty daughters whom he 1gave in marriage outside the family, and he brought in thirty daughters from outside for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years.

10 Then Ibzan died and was buried in Bethlehem.

11 Now Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel after him; and he judged Israel ten years.

12 Then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried at Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.

13 Now Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel after him.

14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy donkeys; and he judged Israel eight years.

15 Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried at Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

Chapter 13

Philistines Oppress Again

1 Now the sons of Israel aagain did evil in the sight of the Lord, so that the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines forty years.

2 There was a certain man of aZorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had borne no children.

3 aThen the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son.

4 “Now therefore, be careful anot to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing.

5 “aFor behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a bNazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “aA man of God came to me and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. And I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name.

7 “But he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and now you shall not drink wine or strong drink nor eat any unclean thing, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’ ”

8 Then Manoah entreated the Lord and said, “O Lord, please let athe man of God whom You have sent come to us again that he may teach us what to do for the boy who is to be born.”

9 God listened to the voice of Manoah; and athe angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her.

10 So the woman ran quickly and told her 1husband, “Behold, athe man who 2came the other day has appeared to me.”

11 Then Manoah arose and followed his wife, and when he came to the man he said to him, “Are you athe man who spoke to the woman?” And he said, “I am.”

12 Manoah said, “Now when your words come to pass, what shall be the boy’s mode of life and his vocation?”

13 So athe angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “bLet the woman pay attention 1to all that I said.

14 “She should not eat anything that comes from the avine nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; let her observe all that I commanded.”

15 Then Manoah said to athe angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain you so that we may prepare a young goat for you.”

16 The angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Though you detain me, aI will not eat your 1food, but if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the Lord.” For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord.

17 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “aWhat is your name, so that when your words come to pass, we may honor you?”

18 But the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is 1awonderful?”

19 So aManoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to the Lord, and He performed wonders while Manoah and his wife looked on.

20 For it came about when the flame went up from the altar toward heaven, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they afell on their faces to the ground.

21 Now the angel of the Lord did not appear to Manoah or his wife again. aThen Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord.

22 So Manoah said to his wife, “aWe will surely die, for we have seen God.”

23 But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have ashown us all these things, nor would He have let us hear things like this at this time.”

24 Then the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson; and the achild grew up and the Lord blessed him.

25 And athe Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in 1bMahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Chapter 14

Samson’s Marriage

1 Then Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines.

2 So he came 1back and told his father and 2mother, “I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife.”

3 Then his father and his mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your 1arelatives, or among all 2our people, that you go to btake a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she 3looks good to me.”

4 However, his father and mother did not know that ait was of the Lord, for He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.

5 Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came as far as the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young lion came roaring toward him.

6 aThe Spirit of the Lord 1came upon him mightily, so that bhe tore him as one tears a young goat though he had nothing in his hand; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.

7 So he went down and talked to the woman; and she 1looked good to Samson.

8 When he returned later to take her, he turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of the lion.

9 So he scraped 1the honey into his 2hands and went on, eating as he went. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them and they ate it; but he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey out of the body of the lion.

10 Then his father went down to the woman; and Samson made a feast there, for the young men customarily did this.

11 When they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.

Samson’s Riddle

12 Then Samson said to them, “Let me now apropound a riddle to you; if you will indeed tell it to me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen wraps and thirty bchanges of clothes.

13 “But if you are unable to tell me, then you shall give me thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes.” And they said to him, “Propound your riddle, that we may hear it.”

14 So he said to them,

“Out of the eater came something to eat,

And out of the strong came something sweet.”

But they could not tell the riddle in three days.

15 Then it came about on the 1fourth day that they said to Samson’s wife, “aEntice your husband, so that he will tell us the riddle, bor we will burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us to impoverish us? Is this not so?”

16 Samson’s wife wept before him and said, “aYou only hate me, and you do not love me; you have propounded a riddle to the sons of my people, and have not told it to me.” And he said to her, “Behold, I have not told it to my father or mother; so should I tell you?”

17 However she wept before him seven days while their feast lasted. And on the seventh day he told her because she pressed him so hard. She then told the riddle to the sons of her people.

18 So the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down,

“What is sweeter than honey?

And what is stronger than a lion?”

And he said to them,

“If you had not plowed with my heifer,

You would not have found out my riddle.”

19 Then athe Spirit of the Lord 1came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of them and took their spoil and gave the changes of clothes to those who told the riddle. And his anger burned, and he went up to his father’s house.

20 But Samson’s wife was agiven to his companion who had been his 1friend.

Chapter 15

Samson Burns Philistine Crops

1 But after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife awith a young goat, and said, “I will go in to my wife in her room.” But her father did not let him enter.

2 Her father said, “I really thought that you hated her intensely; so I agave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister 1more beautiful than she? Please let her be yours 2instead.”

3 Samson then said to them, “This time I shall be blameless in regard to the Philistines when I do them harm.”

4 Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned the foxes tail to tail and put one torch in the middle between two tails.

5 When he had set fire to the torches, he released 1the foxes into the standing grain of the Philistines, thus burning up both the shocks and the standing grain, along with the vineyards and groves.

6 Then the Philistines said, “Who did this?” And they said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because 1he took his wife and gave her to his companion.” So the Philistines came up and aburned her and her father with fire.

7 Samson said to them, “Since you act like this, I will surely take revenge on you, but after that I will quit.”

8 He struck them 1ruthlessly with a great slaughter; and he went down and lived in the cleft of the rock of Etam.

9 Then the Philistines went up and camped in Judah, and spread out in Lehi.

10 The men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” And they said, “We have come up to bind Samson in order to do to him as he did to us.”

11 Then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Do you not know athat the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” And he said to them, “As they did to me, so I have done to them.”

12 They said to him, “We have come down to bind you so that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not 1kill me.”

13 So they said to 1him, “No, but we will bind you fast and give you into their hands; yet surely we will not kill you.” Then they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock.

14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. And athe Spirit of the Lord 1came upon him mightily so that the ropes that were on his arms were as flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds 2dropped from his hands.

15 He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, so he 1reached out and took it and 2killed aa thousand men with it.

16 Then Samson said,

“With the jawbone of a donkey,

1Heaps upon heaps,

With the jawbone of a donkey

I have 2killed a thousand men.”

17 When he had finished speaking, he threw the jawbone from his hand; and he named that place 1Ramath-lehi.

18 Then he became very thirsty, and he acalled to the Lord and said, “You have given this great deliverance by the hand of Your servant, and now 1shall I die of thirst 2and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”

19 But God split the hollow place that is in Lehi so that water came out of it. When he drank, ahis 1strength returned and he revived. Therefore he named it 2En-hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day.

20 So ahe judged Israel twenty years in bthe days of the Philistines.