Judges 5-10
New American Standard Bible
2'For the leaders leading in Israel, For the people volunteering, Bless the Lord!
3Hear, you kings; listen, you dignitaries! I myself—to the Lord, I myself will sing, I will sing praise to the Lord, the God of Israel!
4Lord, when You went out from Seir, When You marched from the field of Edom, The earth quaked, the heavens also dripped, The clouds also dripped water.
5The mountains flowed with water at the presence of the Lord, This Sinai, at the presence of the Lord, the God of Israel.
6'In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, In the days of Jael, the roads were deserted, And travelers went by roundabout ways.
7The peasantry came to an end, they came to an end in Israel, Until I, Deborah, arose, Until I arose, a mother in Israel.
8New gods were chosen; Then war was in the gates. Not a shield or a spear was seen Among forty thousand in Israel.
9My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel, The volunteers among the people; Bless the Lord!
10You who ride on white donkeys, You who sit on rich carpets, And you who travel on the road—shout in praise!
11At the sound of those who distribute water among the watering places, There they will recount the righteous deeds of the Lord, The righteous deeds for His peasantry in Israel. Then the people of the Lord went down to the gates.
12'Awake, awake, Deborah; Awake, awake, sing a song! Arise, Barak, and lead away your captives, son of Abinoam.
13Then survivors came down to the nobles; The people of the Lord came down to me as warriors.
14From Ephraim those whose root is in Amalek came down, Following you, Benjamin, with your peoples; From Machir commanders came down, And from Zebulun those who wield the staff of office.
15And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; As was Issachar, so was Barak; Into the valley they rushed at his heels; Among the divisions of Reuben There were great determinations of heart.
16Why did you sit among the sheepfolds, To hear the piping for the flocks? Among the divisions of Reuben There were great searchings of heart.
17Gilead remained across the Jordan; And why did Dan stay on ships? Asher sat at the seashore, And remained by its landings.
18Zebulun was a people who risked their lives, And Naphtali too, on the high places of the field.
19'The kings came and fought; Then the kings of Canaan fought At Taanach near the waters of Megiddo; They took no plunder in silver.
20The stars fought from heaven, From their paths they fought against Sisera.
21The torrent of Kishon swept them away, The ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon. My soul, march on with strength!
22Then the horses’ hoofs beat From the galloping, the galloping of his mighty stallions.
23‘Curse Meroz,’ said the angel of the Lord, ‘Utterly curse its inhabitants, Because they did not come to the help of the Lord, To the help of the Lord against the warriors.’
24'Most blessed of women is Jael, The wife of Heber the Kenite; Most blessed is she of women in the tent.
25He asked for water, she gave him milk; In a magnificent bowl she brought him curds.
26She reached out her hand for the tent peg, And her right hand for the workmen’s hammer. Then she struck Sisera, she smashed his head; And she shattered and pierced his temple.
27Between her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay; Between her feet he bowed, he fell; Where he bowed, there he fell dead.
28'Out of the window she looked and wailed, The mother of Sisera through the lattice, ‘Why does his chariot delay in coming? Why do the hoofbeats of his chariots delay?’
29Her wise princesses would answer her, Indeed she repeats her words to herself,
30‘Are they not finding, are they not dividing the spoils? A concubine, two concubines for every warrior; To Sisera a spoil of dyed cloth, A spoil of dyed cloth embroidered, Dyed cloth of double embroidery on the neck of the plunderer?’
Chapter 6
1Then the sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord handed them over to Midian for seven years. 2The power of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of Midian the sons of Israel made for themselves the dens which were in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. 3For whenever Israel had sown, the Midianites would come up with the Amalekites and the people of the east and march against them. 4So they would camp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel, nor a sheep, ox, or donkey. 5For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, they would come in like locusts in number, and both they and their camels were innumerable; and they came into the land to ruin it. 6So Israel was brought very low because of Midian, and the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord.
7Now it came about, when the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of Midian,
8that the Lord sent a prophet to the sons of Israel, and he said to them, 'This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘It was I who brought you up from Egypt, and brought you out of the house of slavery.
9And I rescued you from the hands of the Egyptians, and from the hands of all your oppressors, and I drove them out from you and gave you their land,
10and I said to you, 'I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live.' But you have not obeyed Me.’?'
11Then the angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites.
12And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, 'The Lord is with you, valiant warrior.'
13Then Gideon said to him, 'O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did the Lord not bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.'
14And the Lord looked at him and said, 'Go in this strength of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?'
15But he said to Him, 'O Lord, how am I to save Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.'
16Yet the Lord said to him, 'I will certainly be with you, and you will defeat Midian as one man.'
17So Gideon said to Him, 'If now I have found favor in Your sight, then perform for me a sign that it is You speaking with me.
18Please do not depart from here until I come back to You, and bring out my offering and lay it before You.' And He said, 'I will remain until you return.'
19Then Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour; he put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, and brought them out to him under the oak and presented them.
20And the angel of God said to him, 'Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.' And he did so.
21Then the angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire came up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.
22When Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord, he said, 'Oh, Lord God! For I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!'
23But the Lord said to him, 'Peace to you, do not be afraid; you shall not die.'
24Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and named it The Lord is Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
25Now on the same night the Lord said to him, 'Take your father’s bull and a second bull seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it;
26and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of this stronghold in an orderly way, and take a second bull and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.'
27Then Gideon took ten men from his servants and did as the Lord had spoken to him; and because he was too afraid of his father’s household and the men of the city to do it by day, he did it by night.
28When the people of the city got up early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal had been torn down, and the Asherah which had been beside it had been cut down, and the second bull had been offered on the altar which had been built.
29So they said to one another, 'Who did this thing?' And when they searched and inquired, they said, 'Gideon the son of Joash did this thing.'
30Then the men of the city said to Joash, 'Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has torn down the altar of Baal, and indeed, he has cut down the Asherah which was beside it.'
31But Joash said to all who stood against him, 'Will you contend for Baal, or will you save him? Whoever will contend for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, since someone has torn down his altar!'
32Therefore on that day he named Gideon Jerubbaal, that is to say, 'Let Baal contend against him,' because he had torn down his altar.
33Then all the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the people of the east assembled together; and they crossed over and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.
34So the Spirit of the Lord covered Gideon like clothing; and he blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him.
35And he sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and they also were called together to follow him; and he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they came up to meet them.
36Then Gideon said to God, 'If You are going to save Israel through me, as You have spoken,
37behold, I am putting a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that You will save Israel through me, as You have spoken.'
38And it was so. When he got up early the next morning and wrung out the fleece, he wrung the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water.
39Then Gideon said to God, 'Do not let Your anger burn against me, so that I may speak only one more time; please let me put You to the test only one more time with the fleece: let it now be dry only on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the ground.'
40And God did so that night; for it was dry only on the fleece, and dew was on all the ground.
2And the Lord said to Gideon, 'The people who are with you are too many for Me to hand Midian over to them, otherwise Israel would become boastful, saying, ‘My own power has saved me.’
3Now therefore come, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is afraid and worried, is to return and leave Mount Gilead.’?' So twenty-two thousand from the people returned, but ten thousand remained.
4Then the Lord said to Gideon, 'The people are still too many; bring them down to the water and I will test them for you there. So it shall be that he of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you; but everyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.'
5So he brought the people down to the water. Then the Lord said to Gideon, 'You shall put everyone who laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps in one group, and everyone who kneels down to drink in another.'
6Now the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people kneeled down to drink water.
7And the Lord said to Gideon, 'I will save you with the three hundred men who lapped, and will hand the Midianites over to you; so have all the other people go, each man to his home.'
8So the three hundred men took the people’s provisions and their trumpets in their hands. And Gideon dismissed all the other men of Israel, each to his tent, but retained the three hundred men; and the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.
9Now on the same night it came about that the Lord said to him, 'Arise, go down against the camp, for I have handed it over to you.
10But if you are afraid to go down, go with Purah your servant down to the camp,
11so that you will hear what they say; and afterward you will have the courage to go down against the camp.' So he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the army that was in the camp.
12Now the Midianites, the Amalekites, and all the people of the east were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as numerous as the sand on the seashore.
13When Gideon came, behold, a man was relating a dream to his friend. And he said, 'Behold, I had a dream; a loaf of barley bread was tumbling into the camp of Midian, and it came to the tent and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down so that the tent collapsed.'
14And his friend replied, 'This is nothing other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has handed over to him Midian and all the camp.'
15When Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. Then he returned to the camp of Israel and said, 'Arise, for the Lord has handed over to you the camp of Midian!'
16And he divided the three hundred men into three units, and he put trumpets and empty pitchers into the hands of all of them, with torches inside the pitchers.
17Then he said to them, 'Look at me and do likewise. And behold, when I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do.
18When I and all who are with me blow the trumpet, then you also blow the trumpets around the entire camp and say, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’?'
19So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle night watch, when they had just posted the watch; and they blew the trumpets and smashed the pitchers that were in their hands.
20When the three units blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers, they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing, and shouted, 'A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!'
21And each stood in his place around the camp; and all the army ran, crying out as they fled.
22And when they blew the three hundred trumpets, the Lord set the sword of one against another even throughout the entire army; and the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the edge of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath.
23And the men of Israel were summoned from Naphtali, Asher, and all Manasseh, and they pursued Midian.
24Then Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, 'Come down against Midian and take control of the waters ahead of them, as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.' So all the men of Ephraim were summoned, and they took control of the waters as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.
25And they captured the two leaders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and they killed Zeeb at the wine press of Zeeb, while they pursued Midian; and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon from across the Jordan.
Chapter 8
1Then the men of Ephraim said to Gideon, 'What is this thing that you have done to us, not calling upon us when you went to fight against Midian?' And they quarreled with him vehemently. 2But he said to them, 'What have I done now in comparison with you? Is the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim not better than the vintage of Abiezer? 3God has handed over to you the leaders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and what was I able to do in comparison with you?' Then their anger toward him subsided when he said that.
4Then Gideon and the three hundred men who were with him came to the Jordan and crossed over, exhausted yet still pursuing.
5And he said to the men of Succoth, 'Please give loaves of bread to the people who are following me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.'
6But the leaders of Succoth said, 'Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?'
7So Gideon said, 'For this answer, when the Lord has handed over to me Zebah and Zalmunna, I will thrash your bodies with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.'
8Then he went up from there to Penuel and spoke similarly to them; and the men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth had answered.
9So he said also to the men of Penuel, 'When I return safely, I will tear down this tower.'
10Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of the entire army of the people of the east; for the fallen were 120,000 swordsmen.
11Gideon went up by the way of those who lived in tents to the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he attacked the camp when the camp was unsuspecting.
12When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and routed the entire army.
13Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres.
14And he captured a youth from Succoth and questioned him. Then the youth wrote down for him the leaders of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men.
15And he came to the men of Succoth and said, 'Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘ Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are weary?’?'
16Then he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and he disciplined the men of Succoth with them.
17And he tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.
18Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, 'Where were the men whom you killed at Tabor?' But they said, 'You and they were alike, each one resembling the son of a king.'
19And he said, 'They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord lives, if only you had let them live, I would not kill you.'
20So he said to Jether his firstborn, 'Rise, kill them.' But the youth did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a youth.
21Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, 'Rise up yourself, and attack us; for as the man, so is his strength.' So Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent amulets which were on their camels’ necks.
22Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, 'Rule over us, both you and your son, your son’s son as well, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian!'
23But Gideon said to them, 'I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the Lord shall rule over you.'
24Yet Gideon said to them, 'I would request of you, that each of you give me an earring from his plunder.' (For they had gold earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)
25And they said, 'We will certainly give them to you.' So they spread out a garment, and every one of them tossed an earring there from his plunder.
26The weight of the gold earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, apart from the crescent amulets, the ear pendants, and the purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and apart from the neck chains that were on their camels’ necks.
27Gideon made it into an ephod, and placed it in his city, Ophrah; but all Israel committed infidelity with it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.
29Then Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house.
30Now Gideon had seventy sons who were his direct descendants, for he had many wives.
31And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.
32And Gideon the son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
33Then it came about, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the sons of Israel again committed infidelity with the Baals, and made Baal-berith their god.
34So the sons of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had saved them from the hands of all their enemies on every side;
35nor did they show kindness to the household of Jerubbaal ( that is, Gideon) in accordance with all the good that he had done for Israel.
Chapter 9
1Now Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem, to his mother’s relatives, and spoke to them and to the entire family of the household of his mother’s father, saying, 2Speak, now, in the hearing of all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you: for seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, to rule over you, or for one man to rule over you?’ Also, remember that I am your bone and your flesh.' 3So his mother’s relatives spoke all these words on his behalf in the hearing of all the leaders of Shechem; and they were inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, 'He is our relative.' 4And they gave him seventy pieces of silver from the house of Baal-berith, with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless men, and they followed him. 5Then he went to his father’s house in Ophrah and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, because he hid himself. 6All the leaders of Shechem and all Beth-millo assembled together, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the memorial stone which was in Shechem.
7Now when they told Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and raised his voice and called out. And he said to them, 'Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem, that God may listen to you.
8Once the trees went to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us!’
9But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I give up my fatness with which God and mankind are honored, and go to wave over the trees?’
10Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You, come, reign over us!’
11But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I give up my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to wave over the trees?’
12Then the trees said to the vine, ‘You, come, reign over us!’
13But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I give up my new wine, which cheers God and mankind, and go to wave over the trees?’
14Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You, come, reign over us!’
15And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If you really are anointing me as king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, may fire come out of the bramble and consume the cedars of Lebanon.’
16Now then, if you have acted with honesty and integrity in making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have dealt with him as he deserved—
17for my father fought for you, and risked his life and saved you from the hand of Midian;
18but in fact you have risen against my father’s house today and have killed his sons, seventy men, on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his female slave, king over the leaders of Shechem, because he is your relative—
19so if you have acted with honesty and integrity toward Jerubbaal and his house this day, be joyful about Abimelech, and may he also be joyful about you.
20But if not, may fire come out of Abimelech and consume the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo; and may fire come out of the leaders of Shechem and from Beth-millo, and consume Abimelech.'
21Then Jotham escaped and fled, and went to Beer; and he stayed there because of his brother Abimelech.
22Now Abimelech ruled over Israel for three years.
23Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem; and the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech,
24so that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal would come, and the responsibility for their blood would be placed on their brother Abimelech, who killed them, and on the leaders of Shechem, who encouraged him to kill his brothers.
25The leaders of Shechem set up men in ambush against him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed everyone who would pass by them on the road; and it was reported to Abimelech.
26Now Gaal the son of Ebed came with his relatives, and crossed over into Shechem; and the leaders of Shechem trusted him.
27So they went out to the field and gathered the grapes of their vineyards and trampled them, and held a festival; and they went into the house of their god, and ate and drank and cursed Abimelech.
28Then Gaal the son of Ebed said, 'Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is Zebul not his governor? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem; but why should we serve him?
29If only this people were under my authority! Then I would do away with Abimelech.' And he said to Abimelech, 'Enlarge your army and come out!'
30When Zebul the leader of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger burned.
31So using deception, he successfully sent messengers to Abimelech, saying, 'Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his relatives have come to Shechem; and behold, they are stirring up the city against you.
32So now, arise by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field.
33Then in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, you shall rise early and attack the city; and behold, when he and the people who are with him come out against you, you shall do to them whatever you can.'
34So Abimelech and all the people who were with him got up at night, and lay in wait against Shechem, in four units.
35Now Gaal the son of Ebed went out and stood at the entrance of the city gate; and Abimelech and the people who were with him arose from the ambush.
36When Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, 'Look, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains.' But Zebul said to him, 'You are seeing the shadow of the mountains as if they were people.'
37And Gaal spoke yet again and said, 'Look, people are coming down from the highest part of the land, and one unit is coming by way of the diviners’ oak.'
38Then Zebul said to him, 'Where then is your boasting with which you said, ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Is this not the people whom you rejected? Go out now and fight them!'
39So Gaal went out in the sight of the leaders of Shechem and fought Abimelech.
40But Abimelech chased him, and he fled from him; and many fell wounded up to the entrance of the gate.
41Then Abimelech stayed in Arumah, but Zebul drove out Gaal and his relatives so that they could not stay in Shechem.
42Now it came about the next day, that the people went out to the field, and it was reported to Abimelech.
43So he took his people and divided them into three units, and lay in wait in the field; when he looked and saw the people coming out from the city, he attacked them and killed them.
44Then Abimelech and the company who was with him rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the city gate; the other two companies then attacked all who were in the field and killed them.
45Abimelech fought against the city that whole day, and he captured the city and killed the people who were in it; then he tore down the city and sowed it with salt.
46When all the leaders of the tower of Shechem heard about it, they entered the inner chamber of the temple of El-berith.
47And it was reported to Abimelech that all the leaders of the tower of Shechem were gathered together.
48So Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand and cut down a branch from the trees, and lifted it and put it on his shoulder. Then he said to the people who were with him, 'What you saw me do, hurry and do likewise.'
49So all the people also cut down, each one, his branch and followed Abimelech, and put them on top of the inner chamber and set the inner chamber on fire over those inside, so that all the people of the tower of Shechem also died, about a thousand men and women.
50Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and he camped against Thebez and captured it.
51But there was a strong tower in the center of the city, and all the men and women with all the leaders of the city fled there and shut themselves in; and they went up on the roof of the tower.
52So Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it, and approached the entrance of the tower to burn it down with fire.
53But a woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head, crushing his skull.
54Then he called quickly to the young man, his armor bearer, and said to him, 'Draw your sword and kill me, so that it will not be said of me, ‘A woman killed him.’?' So the young man pierced him through, and he died.
55Now when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, each left for his home.
56So God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father in killing his seventy brothers.
57God also returned all the wickedness of the men of Shechem on their heads, and the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal came upon them.
Chapter 10
1Now after Abimelech died, Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, rose up to save Israel; and he lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. 2He judged Israel for twenty-three years. Then he died and was buried in Shamir.
3After him, Jair the Gileadite rose up and judged Israel for twenty-two years.
4And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities in the land of Gilead that are called Havvoth-jair to this day.
5And Jair died and was buried in Kamon.
6Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the sons of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; so they abandoned the Lord and did not serve Him.
7And the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the sons of Ammon.
8And they afflicted and oppressed the sons of Israel that year; for eighteen years they oppressed all the sons of Israel who were beyond the Jordan, in Gilead in the land of the Amorites.
9And the sons of Ammon crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was in great difficulty.
10Then the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, 'We have sinned against You, for indeed, we have abandoned our God and served the Baals.'
11And the Lord said to the sons of Israel, 'Did I not save you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the sons of Ammon, and the Philistines?
12And when the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites oppressed you, you cried out to Me, and I saved you from their hands.
13Yet you abandoned Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer save you.
14Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.'
15Then the sons of Israel said to the Lord, 'We have sinned, do to us whatever seems good to You; only please save us this day.'
16So they removed the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord; and He could no longer endure the misery of Israel.
17Then the sons of Ammon were summoned, and they camped in Gilead. And the sons of Israel gathered together and camped in Mizpah.
18And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said to one another, 'Who is the man who will begin to fight against the sons of Ammon? He shall become head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.'
King James Version
Chapter 5
1Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying, 2Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves.
22Then were the horsehoofs broken by the means of the pransings, the pransings of their mighty ones.
Chapter 6
1And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. 2And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds. 3And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them; 4And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. 5For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it. 6And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the Lord.
7And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord because of the Midianites,
8That the Lord sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage;
9And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave you their land;
10And I said unto you, I am the Lord your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice.
11And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.
12And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.
13And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.
14And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?
15And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.
16And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.
17And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me.
18Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again.
19And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it.
20And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.
21Then the angel of the Lord put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight.
22And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the Lord, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord God! for because I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face.
23And the Lord said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.
24Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord, and called it Jehovahshalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
25And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him, Take thy father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it:
26And build an altar unto the Lord thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down.
27Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the Lord had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father's household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.
28And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built.
29And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they enquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing.
30Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it.
31And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar.
32Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.
33Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel.
34But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him.
35And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was gathered after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.
36And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said,
37Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said.
38And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.
39And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.
40And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.
Chapter 7
1Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. 2And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. 3Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. 4And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. 5So he brought down the people unto the water: and the Lord said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink. 6And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. 7And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place. 8So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: and he sent all the rest of Israel every man unto his tent, and retained those three hundred men: and the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley. 9And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand. 10But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host: 11And thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host. 12And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude. 13And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along. 14And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host. 15And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned into the host of Israel, and said, Arise; for the Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian. 16And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers. 17And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do. 18When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon.
19So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands.
20And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon.
21And they stood every man in his place round about the camp: and all the host ran, and cried, and fled.
22And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the Lord set every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath.
23And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites.
24And Gideon sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites, and take before them the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and took the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan.
25And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan.
Chapter 8
1And the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why hast thou served us thus, that thou calledst us not, when thou wentest to fight with the Midianites? And they did chide with him sharply. 2And he said unto them, What have I done now in comparison of you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? 3God hath delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb: and what was I able to do in comparison of you? Then their anger was abated toward him, when he had said that. 4And Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing them. 5And he said unto the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people that follow me; for they be faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian. 6And the princes of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thine army? 7And Gideon said, Therefore when the Lord hath delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into mine hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers. 8And he went up thence to Penuel, and spake unto them likewise: and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered him. 9And he spake also unto the men of Penuel, saying, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.
10Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of all the hosts of the children of the east: for there fell an hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword.
11And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the host: for the host was secure.
12And when Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued after them, and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and discomfited all the host.
13And Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle before the sun was up,
14And caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and enquired of him: and he described unto him the princes of Succoth, and the elders thereof, even threescore and seventeen men.
15And he came unto the men of Succoth, and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, with whom ye did upbraid me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thy men that are weary?
16And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth.
17And he beat down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city.
18Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king.
19And he said, They were my brethren, even the sons of my mother: as the Lord liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you.
20And he said unto Jether his firstborn, Up, and slay them. But the youth drew not his sword: for he feared, because he was yet a youth.
21Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us: for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments that were on their camels' necks.
22Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian.
23And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the Lord shall rule over you.
24And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you, that ye would give me every man the earrings of his prey. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)
25And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey.
26And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels' necks.
27And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.
28Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon.
29And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.
30And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives.
31And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech.
32And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
33And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made Baalberith their god.
34And the children of Israel remembered not the Lord their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side:
35Neither shewed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, namely, Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shewed unto Israel.
Chapter 9
1And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem unto his mother's brethren, and communed with them, and with all the family of the house of his mother's father, saying, 2Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, Whether is better for you, either that all the sons of Jerubbaal, which are threescore and ten persons, reign over you, or that one reign over you? remember also that I am your bone and your flesh. 3And his mother's brethren spake of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother. 4And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baalberith, wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light persons, which followed him. 5And he went unto his father's house at Ophrah, and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, being threescore and ten persons, upon one stone: notwithstanding yet Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left; for he hid himself. 6And all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and went, and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem. 7And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you.
8The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us.
9But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?
10And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us.
11But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees?
12Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us.
13And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?
14Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us.
15And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.
16Now therefore, if ye have done truly and sincerely, in that ye have made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done unto him according to the deserving of his hands;
17(For my father fought for you, and adventured his life far, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian:
18And ye are risen up against my father's house this day, and have slain his sons, threescore and ten persons, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother;)
19If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you:
20But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.
21And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.
22When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel,
23Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech:
24That the cruelty done to the threescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother, which slew them; and upon the men of Shechem, which aided him in the killing of his brethren.
25And the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him in the top of the mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them: and it was told Abimelech.
26And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren, and went over to Shechem: and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him.
27And they went out into the fields, and gathered their vineyards, and trode the grapes, and made merry, and went into the house of their god, and did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelech.
28And Gaal the son of Ebed said, Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? is not he the son of Jerubbaal? and Zebul his officer? serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem: for why should we serve him?
29And would to God this people were under my hand! then would I remove Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, Increase thine army, and come out.
30And when Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled.
31And he sent messengers unto Abimelech privily, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brethren be come to Shechem; and, behold, they fortify the city against thee.
32Now therefore up by night, thou and the people that is with thee, and lie in wait in the field:
33And it shall be, that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, thou shalt rise early, and set upon the city: and, behold, when he and the people that is with him come out against thee, then mayest thou do to them as thou shalt find occasion.
34And Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies.
35And Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and Abimelech rose up, and the people that were with him, from lying in wait.
36And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold, there come people down from the top of the mountains. And Zebul said unto him, Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.
37And Gaal spake again and said, See there come people down by the middle of the land, and another company come along by the plain of Meonenim.
38Then said Zebul unto him, Where is now thy mouth, wherewith thou saidst, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? is not this the people that thou hast despised? go out, I pray now, and fight with them.
39And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech.
40And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many were overthrown and wounded, even unto the entering of the gate.
41And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah: and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his brethren, that they should not dwell in Shechem.
42And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people went out into the field; and they told Abimelech.
43And he took the people, and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the field, and looked, and, behold, the people were come forth out of the city; and he rose up against them, and smote them.
44And Abimelech, and the company that was with him, rushed forward, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and the two other companies ran upon all the people that were in the fields, and slew them.
45And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat down the city, and sowed it with salt.
46And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that, they entered into an hold of the house of the god Berith.
47And it was told Abimelech, that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together.
48And Abimelech gat him up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people that were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it, and laid it on his shoulder, and said unto the people that were with him, What ye have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done.
49And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them to the hold, and set the hold on fire upon them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women.
50Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it.
51But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut it to them, and gat them up to the top of the tower.
52And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire.
53And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head, and all to brake his skull.
54Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died.
55And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place.
56Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren:
57And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.
Chapter 10
1And after Abimelech there arose to defend Israel Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in mount Ephraim. 2And he judged Israel twenty and three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir.
3And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty and two years.
4And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havothjair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead.
5And Jair died, and was buried in Camon.
6And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the Lord, and served not him.
7And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon.
8And that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel: eighteen years, all the children of Israel that were on the other side Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.
9Moreover the children of Ammon passed over Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim; so that Israel was sore distressed.
10And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim.
11And the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines?
12The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand.
13Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more.
14Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.
15And the children of Israel said unto the Lord, We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; deliver us only, we pray thee, this day.
16And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the Lord: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.
17Then the children of Ammon were gathered together, and encamped in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled themselves together, and encamped in Mizpeh.
18And the people and princes of Gilead said one to another, What man is he that will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? he shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
Christian Standard Bible
2When the leaders lead in Israel, when the people volunteer, blessed be the Lord.
3Listen, kings! Pay attention, princes! I will sing to the Lord; I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel.
4 Lord, when you came from Seir, when you marched from the fields of Edom, the earth trembled, the skies poured rain, and the clouds poured water.
5The mountains melted before the Lord, even Sinai, before the Lord, the God of Israel.
6In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the main roads were deserted because travelers kept to the side roads.
7Villages were deserted, they were deserted in Israel, until I, Deborah, arose, a mother in Israel.
8Israel chose new gods, then there was war in the city gates. Not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel.
9My heart is with the leaders of Israel, with the volunteers of the people. Blessed be the Lord!
10You who ride on white donkeys, who sit on saddle blankets, and who travel on the road, give praise!
11Let them tell the righteous acts of the Lord, the righteous deeds of his warriors in Israel, with the voices of the singers at the watering places. Then the Lord’s people went down to the city gates.
12"Awake! Awake, Deborah! Awake! Awake, sing a song! Arise, Barak, and take your prisoners, son of Abinoam!"
13Then the survivors came down to the nobles; the Lord’s people came down to me with the warriors.
14Those with their roots in Amalek came from Ephraim; Benjamin came with your people after you. The leaders came down from Machir, and those who carry a marshal’s staff came from Zebulun.
15The princes of Issachar were with Deborah; Issachar was with Barak; they were under his leadership in the valley. There was great searching of heart among the clans of Reuben.
16Why did you sit among the sheep pens listening to the playing of pipes for the flocks? There was great searching of heart among the clans of Reuben.
17Gilead remained beyond the Jordan. Dan, why did you linger at the ships? Asher remained at the seashore and stayed in his harbors.
18The people of Zebulun defied death, Naphtali also, on the heights of the battlefield.
19Kings came and fought. Then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the Waters of Megiddo, but they did not plunder the silver.
20The stars fought from the heavens; the stars fought with Sisera from their paths.
21The river Kishon swept them away, the ancient river, the river Kishon. March on, my soul, in strength!
22The horses’ hooves then hammered— the galloping, galloping of his stallions.
23"Curse Meroz," says the angel of the Lord, "Bitterly curse her inhabitants, for they did not come to help the Lord, to help the Lord with the warriors."
24Jael is most blessed of women, the wife of Heber the Kenite; she is most blessed among tent-dwelling women.
25He asked for water; she gave him milk. She brought him cream in a majestic bowl.
26She reached for a tent peg, her right hand, for a workman’s hammer. Then she hammered Sisera— she crushed his head; she shattered and pierced his temple.
27He collapsed, he fell, he lay down between her feet; he collapsed, he fell between her feet; where he collapsed, there he fell—dead.
28Sisera’s mother looked through the window; she peered through the lattice, crying out: "Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why don’t I hear the hoofbeats of his horses?"
29Her wisest princesses answer her; she even answers herself:
Chapter 6
1The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord handed them over to Midian seven years, 2and they oppressed Israel. Because of Midian, the Israelites made hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds. 3Whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and the Qedemites came and attacked them. 4They encamped against them and destroyed the produce of the land, even as far as Gaza. They left nothing for Israel to eat, as well as no sheep, ox, or donkey. 5For the Midianites came with their cattle and their tents like a great swarm of locusts. They and their camels were without number, and they entered the land to lay waste to it. 6So Israel became poverty-stricken because of Midian, and the Israelites cried out to the Lord.
7When the Israelites cried out to him because of Midian,
8the Lord sent a prophet to them. He said to them, "This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I brought you out of Egypt and out of the place of slavery.
9I rescued you from the power of Egypt and the power of all who oppressed you. I drove them out before you and gave you their land.
10I said to you: I am the Lord your God. Do not fear the gods of the Amorites whose land you live in. But you did not obey me.’"
11The angel of the Lord came, and he sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash, the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress in order to hide it from the Midianites.
12Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said: "The Lord is with you, valiant warrior."
23But the Lord said to him, "Peace to you. Don’t be afraid, for you will not die."
24So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace. It is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites today.
25On that very night the Lord said to him, "Take your father’s young bull and a second bull seven years old. Then tear down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.
26Build a well-constructed altar to the Lord your God on the top of this mound. Take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down."
27So Gideon took ten of his male servants and did as the Lord had told him. But because he was too afraid of his father’s family and the men of the city to do it in the daytime, he did it at night.
28When the men of the city got up in the morning, they found Baal’s altar torn down, the Asherah pole beside it cut down, and the second bull offered up on the altar that had been built.
29They said to each other, "Who did this?" After they made a thorough investigation, they said, "Gideon son of Joash did it."
31But Joash said to all who stood against him, "Would you plead Baal’s case for him? Would you save him? Whoever pleads his case will be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him plead his own case because someone tore down his altar."
32That day he was called Jerubbaal, since Joash said, "Let Baal contend with him," because he tore down his altar.
34The Spirit of the Lord enveloped Gideon, and he blew the ram’s horn and the Abiezrites rallied behind him.
35He sent messengers throughout all of Manasseh, who rallied behind him. He also sent messengers throughout Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, who also came to meet him.
36Then Gideon said to God, "If you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you said,
37I will put a wool fleece here on the threshing floor. If dew is only on the fleece, and all the ground is dry, I will know that you will deliver Israel by my strength, as you said."
38And that is what happened. When he got up early in the morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung dew out of it, filling a bowl with water.
39Gideon then said to God, "Don’t be angry with me; let me speak one more time. Please allow me to make one more test with the fleece. Let it remain dry, and the dew be all over the ground."
40That night God did as Gideon requested: only the fleece was dry, and dew was all over the ground.
Chapter 7
1Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the troops who were with him, got up early and camped beside the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them, below the hill of Moreh, in the valley. 2The Lord said to Gideon, "You have too many troops for me to hand the Midianites over to them, or else Israel might elevate themselves over me and say, ‘My own strength saved me.’ 3Now announce to the troops: ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’" So twenty-two thousand of the troops turned back, but ten thousand remained.
4Then the Lord said to Gideon, "There are still too many troops. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. If I say to you, ‘This one can go with you,’ he can go. But if I say about anyone, ‘This one cannot go with you,’ he cannot go."
5So he brought the troops down to the water, and the Lord said to Gideon, "Separate everyone who laps water with his tongue like a dog. Do the same with everyone who kneels to drink."
6The number of those who lapped with their hands to their mouths was three hundred men, and all the rest of the troops knelt to drink water.
7The Lord said to Gideon, "I will deliver you with the three hundred men who lapped and hand the Midianites over to you. But everyone else is to go home."
8So Gideon sent all the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred troops, who took the provisions and their trumpets. The camp of Midian was below him in the valley.
9That night the Lord said to him, "Get up and attack the camp, for I have handed it over to you.
10But if you are afraid to attack the camp, go down with Purah your servant.
11Listen to what they say, and then you will be encouraged to attack the camp." So he went down with Purah his servant to the outpost of the troops who were in the camp.
12Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and all the Qedemites had settled down in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and their camels were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore.
13When Gideon arrived, there was a man telling his friend about a dream. He said, "Listen, I had a dream: a loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp, struck a tent, and it fell. The loaf turned the tent upside down so that it collapsed."
15When Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to Israel’s camp and said, "Get up, for the Lord has handed the Midianite camp over to you."
16Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies and gave each of the men a trumpet in one hand and an empty pitcher with a torch inside it in the other hand.
17"Watch me," he said to them, "and do what I do. When I come to the outpost of the camp, do as I do.
18When I and everyone with me blow our trumpets, you are also to blow your trumpets all around the camp. Then you will say, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’"
19Gideon and the hundred men who were with him went to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch after the sentries had been stationed. They blew their trumpets and broke the pitchers that were in their hands.
20The three companies blew their trumpets and shattered their pitchers. They held their torches in their left hands, their trumpets in their right hands, and shouted, "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!"
21Each Israelite took his position around the camp, and the entire Midianite army began to run, and they cried out as they fled.
22When Gideon’s men blew their three hundred trumpets, the Lord caused the men in the whole army to turn on each other with their swords. They fled to Acacia House in the direction of Zererah as far as the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath.
23Then the men of Israel were called from Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh, and they pursued the Midianites.
24Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim with this message: "Come down to intercept the Midianites and take control of the watercourses ahead of them as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan." So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they took control of the watercourses as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.
25They captured Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian; they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb, while they were pursuing the Midianites. They brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon across the Jordan.
2So he said to them, "What have I done now compared to you? Is not the gleaning of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer?
3God handed over to you Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian. What was I able to do compared to you?" When he said this, their anger against him subsided.
4Gideon and the three hundred men came to the Jordan and crossed it. They were exhausted but still in pursuit.
5He said to the men of Succoth, "Please give some loaves of bread to the troops under my command, because they are exhausted, for I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian."
7Gideon replied, "Very well, when the Lord has handed Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I will tear your flesh with thorns and briers from the wilderness!"
8He went from there to Penuel and asked the same thing from them. The men of Penuel answered just as the men of Succoth had answered.
9He also told the men of Penuel, "When I return safely, I will tear down this tower!"
10Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and with them was their army of about fifteen thousand men, who were all those left of the entire army of the Qedemites. Those who had been killed were one hundred twenty thousand armed men.
11Gideon traveled on the caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked their army while the army felt secure.
12Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them. He captured these two kings of Midian and routed the entire army.
13Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the Ascent of Heres.
14He captured a youth from the men of Succoth and interrogated him. The youth wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven leaders and elders of Succoth.
15Then he went to the men of Succoth and said, "Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. You taunted me about them, saying, ‘Are Zebah and Zalmunna now in your power that we should give bread to your exhausted men?’"
16So he took the elders of the city, and he took some thorns and briers from the wilderness, and he disciplined the men of Succoth with them.
17He also tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.
19So he said, "They were my brothers, the sons of my mother! As the Lord lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you."
20Then he said to Jether, his firstborn, "Get up and kill them." The youth did not draw his sword, for he was afraid because he was still a youth.
23But Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you."
24Then he said to them, "Let me make a request of you: Everyone give me an earring from his plunder." Now the enemy had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.
25They said, "We agree to give them." So they spread out a cloak, and everyone threw an earring from his plunder on it.
26The weight of the gold earrings he requested was forty-three pounds of gold, in addition to the crescent ornaments and ear pendants, the purple garments on the kings of Midian, and the chains on the necks of their camels.
27Gideon made an ephod from all this and put it in Ophrah, his hometown. Then all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.
28So Midian was subdued before the Israelites, and they were no longer a threat. The land had peace for forty years during the days of Gideon.
29Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) son of Joash went back to live at his house.
30Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, since he had many wives.
31His concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.
32Then Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
33When Gideon died, the Israelites turned and prostituted themselves by worshiping the Baals and made Baal-berith their god.
34The Israelites did not remember the Lord their God who had rescued them from the hand of the enemies around them.
35They did not show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) for all the good he had done for Israel.
Chapter 9
1Abimelech son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem and spoke to his uncles and to his mother’s whole clan, saying, 2"Please speak in the hearing of all the citizens of Shechem, ‘Is it better for you that seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you or that one man rule over you?’ Remember that I am your own flesh and blood."
3His mother’s relatives spoke all these words about him in the hearing of all the citizens of Shechem, and they were favorable to Abimelech, for they said, "He is our brother."
4So they gave him seventy pieces of silver from the temple of Baal-berith. Abimelech used it to hire worthless and reckless men, and they followed him.
5He went to his father’s house in Ophrah and killed his seventy brothers, the sons of Jerubbaal, on top of a large stone. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, survived, because he hid.
6Then all the citizens of Shechem and of Beth-millo gathered together and proceeded to make Abimelech king at the oak of the pillar in Shechem.
7When they told Jotham, he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim, raised his voice, and called to them: Listen to me, citizens of Shechem, and may God listen to you:
8The trees decided to anoint a king over themselves. They said to the olive tree, "Reign over us."
9But the olive tree said to them, "Should I stop giving my oil that people use to honor both God and men, and rule over the trees?"
10Then the trees said to the fig tree, "Come and reign over us."
11But the fig tree said to them, "Should I stop giving my sweetness and my good fruit, and rule over trees?"
12Later, the trees said to the grapevine, "Come and reign over us."
13But the grapevine said to them, "Should I stop giving my wine that cheers both God and man, and rule over trees?"
14Finally, all the trees said to the bramble, "Come and reign over us."
15The bramble said to the trees, "If you really are anointing me as king over you, come and find refuge in my shade. But if not, may fire come out from the bramble and consume the cedars of Lebanon."
16"Now if you have acted faithfully and honestly in making Abimelech king, if you have done well by Jerubbaal and his family, and if you have rewarded him appropriately for what he did—
17for my father fought for you, risked his life, and rescued you from Midian,
18and now you have attacked my father’s family today, killed his seventy sons on top of a large stone, and made Abimelech, the son of his slave woman, king over the citizens of Shechem ‘because he is your brother’—
19so if you have acted faithfully and honestly with Jerubbaal and his house this day, rejoice in Abimelech and may he also rejoice in you.
20But if not, may fire come from Abimelech and consume the citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo, and may fire come from the citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo and consume Abimelech."
21Then Jotham fled, escaping to Beer, and lived there because of his brother Abimelech.
22When Abimelech had ruled over Israel three years,
23God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem. They treated Abimelech deceitfully,
24so that the crime against the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come to justice and their blood would be avenged on their brother Abimelech, who killed them, and on the citizens of Shechem, who had helped him kill his brothers.
25The citizens of Shechem rebelled against him by putting men in ambush on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed everyone who passed by them on the road. So this was reported to Abimelech.
26Gaal son of Ebed came with his brothers and crossed into Shechem, and the citizens of Shechem trusted him.
27So they went out to the countryside and harvested grapes from their vineyards. They trampled the grapes and held a celebration. Then they went to the house of their god, and as they ate and drank, they cursed Abimelech.
28Gaal son of Ebed said, "Who is Abimelech and who is Shechem that we should serve him? Isn’t he the son of Jerubbaal, and isn’t Zebul his officer? You are to serve the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem. Why should we serve Abimelech?
29If only these people were in my power, I would remove Abimelech." So he said to Abimelech, "Gather your army and come out."
30When Zebul, the ruler of the city, heard the words of Gaal son of Ebed, he was angry.
31So he secretly sent messengers to Abimelech, saying, "Beware! Gaal son of Ebed, with his brothers, have come to Shechem and are turning the city against you.
32Now tonight, you and the troops with you, come and wait in ambush in the countryside.
33Then get up early, and at sunrise attack the city. When he and the troops who are with him come out against you, do to him whatever you can."
34So Abimelech and all the troops with him got up at night and waited in ambush for Shechem in four units.
35Gaal son of Ebed went out and stood at the entrance of the city gate. Then Abimelech and the troops who were with him got up from their ambush.
36When Gaal saw the troops, he said to Zebul, "Look, troops are coming down from the mountaintops!" But Zebul said to him, "The shadows of the mountains look like men to you."
37Then Gaal spoke again, "Look, troops are coming down from the central part of the land, and one unit is coming from the direction of the Diviners’ Oak."
38Zebul replied, "What do you have to say now? You said, ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Aren’t these the troops you despised? Now go and fight them!"
39So Gaal went out leading the citizens of Shechem and fought against Abimelech,
40but Abimelech pursued him, and Gaal fled before him. Numerous bodies were strewn as far as the entrance of the city gate.
41Abimelech stayed in Arumah, and Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers from Shechem.
42The next day when the people of Shechem went into the countryside, this was reported to Abimelech.
43He took the troops, divided them into three companies, and waited in ambush in the countryside. He looked, and the people were coming out of the city, so he arose against them and struck them down.
44Then Abimelech and the units that were with him rushed forward and took their stand at the entrance of the city gate. The other two units rushed against all who were in the countryside and struck them down.
45So Abimelech fought against the city that entire day, captured it, and killed the people who were in it. Then he tore down the city and sowed it with salt.
46When all the citizens of the Tower of Shechem heard, they entered the inner chamber of the temple of El-berith.
47Then it was reported to Abimelech that all the citizens of the Tower of Shechem had gathered.
48So Abimelech and all the troops who were with him went up to Mount Zalmon. Abimelech took his ax in his hand and cut a branch from the trees. He picked up the branch, put it on his shoulder, and said to the troops who were with him, "Hurry and do what you have seen me do."
49Each of the troops also cut his own branch and followed Abimelech. They put the branches against the inner chamber and set it on fire; about a thousand men and women died, including all the men of the Tower of Shechem.
50Abimelech went to Thebez, camped against it, and captured it.
51There was a strong tower inside the city, and all the men, women, and citizens of the city fled there. They locked themselves in and went up to the roof of the tower.
52When Abimelech came to attack the tower, he approached its entrance to set it on fire.
53But a woman threw the upper portion of a millstone on Abimelech’s head and fractured his skull.
54He quickly called his armor-bearer and said to him, "Draw your sword and kill me, or they’ll say about me, ‘A woman killed him.’" So his armor-bearer ran him through, and he died.
55When the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they all went home.
56In this way, God brought back Abimelech’s evil—the evil that Abimelech had done to his father when he killed his seventy brothers.
57God also brought back to the men of Shechem all their evil. So the curse of Jotham son of Jerubbaal came upon them.
Chapter 10
1After Abimelech, Tola son of Puah, son of Dodo became judge and began to deliver Israel. He was from Issachar and lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. 2Tola judged Israel twenty-three years and when he died, was buried in Shamir.
3After him came Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years.
4He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys. They had thirty towns in Gilead, which are still called Jair’s Villages today.
5When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon.
6Then the Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They worshiped the Baals and the Ashtoreths, the gods of Aram, Sidon, and Moab, and the gods of the Ammonites and the Philistines. They abandoned the Lord and did not worship him.
7So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and he sold them to the Philistines and the Ammonites.
8They shattered and crushed the Israelites that year, and for eighteen years they did the same to all the Israelites who were on the other side of the Jordan in the land of the Amorites in Gilead.
9The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim. Israel was greatly oppressed,
10so they cried out to the Lord, saying, "We have sinned against you. We have abandoned our God and worshiped the Baals."
11The Lord said to the Israelites, "When the Egyptians, Amorites, Ammonites, Philistines,
12Sidonians, Amalekites, and Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, did I not deliver you from them?
13But you have abandoned me and worshiped other gods. Therefore, I will not deliver you again.
14Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them deliver you whenever you are oppressed."
New Living Translation
4'Lord, when you set out from Seir and marched across the fields of Edom, the earth trembled, and the cloudy skies poured down rain.
5The mountains quaked in the presence of the Lord, the God of Mount Sinai — in the presence of the Lord, the God of Israel.
6'In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, and in the days of Jael, people avoided the main roads, and travelers stayed on winding pathways.
7There were few people left in the villages of Israel — until Deborah arose as a mother for Israel.
8When Israel chose new gods, war erupted at the city gates. Yet not a shield or spear could be seen among forty thousand warriors in Israel!
9My heart is with the commanders of Israel, with those who volunteered for war. Praise the Lord!
10'Consider this, you who ride on fine donkeys, you who sit on fancy saddle blankets, and you who walk along the road.
11Listen to the village musicians gathered at the watering holes. They recount the righteous victories of the Lord and the victories of his villagers in Israel. Then the people of the Lord marched down to the city gates.
13'Down from Tabor marched the few against the nobles. The people of the Lord marched down against mighty warriors.
14They came down from Ephraim — a land that once belonged to the Amalekites; they followed you, Benjamin, with your troops. From Makir the commanders marched down; from Zebulun came those who carry a commander’s staff.
15The princes of Issachar were with Deborah and Barak. They followed Barak, rushing into the valley. But in the tribe of Reuben there was great indecision.
16Why did you sit at home among the sheepfolds — to hear the shepherds whistle for their flocks? Yes, in the tribe of Reuben there was great indecision.
17Gilead remained east of the Jordan. And why did Dan stay home? Asher sat unmoved at the seashore, remaining in his harbors.
18But Zebulun risked his life, as did Naphtali, on the heights of the battlefield.
19'The kings of Canaan came and fought, at Taanach near Megiddo’s springs, but they carried off no silver treasures.
20The stars fought from heaven. The stars in their orbits fought against Sisera.
21The Kishon River swept them away — that ancient torrent, the Kishon. March on with courage, my soul!
22Then the horses’ hooves hammered the ground, the galloping, galloping of Sisera’s mighty steeds.
23‘Let the people of Meroz be cursed,’ said the angel of the Lord. ‘Let them be utterly cursed, because they did not come to help the Lord — to help the Lord against the mighty warriors.’
24'Most blessed among women is Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite. May she be blessed above all women who live in tents.
25Sisera asked for water, and she gave him milk. In a bowl fit for nobles, she brought him yogurt.
26Then with her left hand she reached for a tent peg, and with her right hand for the workman’s hammer. She struck Sisera with the hammer, crushing his head. With a shattering blow, she pierced his temples.
27He sank, he fell, he lay still at her feet. And where he sank, there he died.
29'Her wise women answer, and she repeats these words to herself:
30‘They must be dividing the captured plunder — with a woman or two for every man. There will be colorful robes for Sisera, and colorful, embroidered robes for me. Yes, the plunder will include colorful robes embroidered on both sides.’
Chapter 6
1The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. So the Lord handed them over to the Midianites for seven years. 2The Midianites were so cruel that the Israelites made hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds. 3Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, marauders from Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east would attack Israel, 4camping in the land and destroying crops as far away as Gaza. They left the Israelites with nothing to eat, taking all the sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. 5These enemy hordes, coming with their livestock and tents, were as thick as locusts; they arrived on droves of camels too numerous to count. And they stayed until the land was stripped bare. 6So Israel was reduced to starvation by the Midianites. Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.
7When they cried out to the Lord because of Midian,
8the Lord sent a prophet to the Israelites. He said, 'This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of slavery in Egypt.
9I rescued you from the Egyptians and from all who oppressed you. I drove out your enemies and gave you their land.
10I told you, ‘I am the Lord your God. You must not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you now live.’ But you have not listened to me.'
11Then the angel of the Lord came and sat beneath the great tree at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash of the clan of Abiezer. Gideon son of Joash was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites.
12The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, 'Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!'
20The angel of God said to him, 'Place the meat and the unleavened bread on this rock, and pour the broth over it.' And Gideon did as he was told.
21Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and bread with the tip of the staff in his hand, and fire flamed up from the rock and consumed all he had brought. And the angel of the Lord disappeared.
23It is all right,' the Lord replied. 'Do not be afraid. You will not die.'
24And Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and named it Yahweh-Shalom (which means 'the Lord is peace'). The altar remains in Ophrah in the land of the clan of Abiezer to this day.
25That night the Lord said to Gideon, 'Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one that is seven years old. Pull down your father’s altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah pole standing beside it.
26Then build an altar to the Lord your God here on this hilltop sanctuary, laying the stones carefully. Sacrifice the bull as a burnt offering on the altar, using as fuel the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down.'
28Early the next morning, as the people of the town began to stir, someone discovered that the altar of Baal had been broken down and that the Asherah pole beside it had been cut down. In their place a new altar had been built, and on it were the remains of the bull that had been sacrificed.
29The people said to each other, 'Who did this?' And after asking around and making a careful search, they learned that it was Gideon, the son of Joash.
31But Joash shouted to the mob that confronted him, 'Why are you defending Baal? Will you argue his case? Whoever pleads his case will be put to death by morning! If Baal truly is a god, let him defend himself and destroy the one who broke down his altar!'
32From then on Gideon was called Jerub-baal, which means 'Let Baal defend himself,' because he broke down Baal’s altar.
33Soon afterward the armies of Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east formed an alliance against Israel and crossed the Jordan, camping in the valley of Jezreel.
34Then the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon with power. He blew a ram’s horn as a call to arms, and the men of the clan of Abiezer came to him.
35He also sent messengers throughout Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, summoning their warriors, and all of them responded.
36Then Gideon said to God, 'If you are truly going to use me to rescue Israel as you promised,
37prove it to me in this way. I will put a wool fleece on the threshing floor tonight. If the fleece is wet with dew in the morning but the ground is dry, then I will know that you are going to help me rescue Israel as you promised.'
38And that is just what happened. When Gideon got up early the next morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung out a whole bowlful of water.
39Then Gideon said to God, 'Please don’t be angry with me, but let me make one more request. Let me use the fleece for one more test. This time let the fleece remain dry while the ground around it is wet with dew.'
40So that night God did as Gideon asked. The fleece was dry in the morning, but the ground was covered with dew.
Chapter 7
1So Jerub-baal (that is, Gideon) and his army got up early and went as far as the spring of Harod. The armies of Midian were camped north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. 2The Lord said to Gideon, 'You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength. 3Therefore, tell the people, ‘Whoever is timid or afraid may leave this mountain and go home.’' So 22,000 of them went home, leaving only 10,000 who were willing to fight.
4But the Lord told Gideon, 'There are still too many! Bring them down to the spring, and I will test them to determine who will go with you and who will not.'
5When Gideon took his warriors down to the water, the Lord told him, 'Divide the men into two groups. In one group put all those who cup water in their hands and lap it up with their tongues like dogs. In the other group put all those who kneel down and drink with their mouths in the stream.'
6Only 300 of the men drank from their hands. All the others got down on their knees and drank with their mouths in the stream.
8So Gideon collected the provisions and rams’ horns of the other warriors and sent them home. But he kept the 300 men with him. The Midianite camp was in the valley just below Gideon.
9That night the Lord said, 'Get up! Go down into the Midianite camp, for I have given you victory over them!
10But if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah.
11Listen to what the Midianites are saying, and you will be greatly encouraged. Then you will be eager to attack.' So Gideon took Purah and went down to the edge of the enemy camp.
12The armies of Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts. Their camels were like grains of sand on the seashore — too many to count!
13Gideon crept up just as a man was telling his companion about a dream. The man said, 'I had this dream, and in my dream a loaf of barley bread came tumbling down into the Midianite camp. It hit a tent, turned it over, and knocked it flat!'
15When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship before the Lord. Then he returned to the Israelite camp and shouted, 'Get up! For the Lord has given you victory over the Midianite hordes!'
16He divided the 300 men into three groups and gave each man a ram’s horn and a clay jar with a torch in it.
17Then he said to them, 'Keep your eyes on me. When I come to the edge of the camp, do just as I do.
18As soon as I and those with me blow the rams’ horns, blow your horns, too, all around the entire camp, and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’'
19It was just after midnight, after the changing of the guard, when Gideon and the 100 men with him reached the edge of the Midianite camp. Suddenly, they blew the rams’ horns and broke their clay jars.
20Then all three groups blew their horns and broke their jars. They held the blazing torches in their left hands and the horns in their right hands, and they all shouted, 'A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!'
21Each man stood at his position around the camp and watched as all the Midianites rushed around in a panic, shouting as they ran to escape.
22When the 300 Israelites blew their rams’ horns, the Lord caused the warriors in the camp to fight against each other with their swords. Those who were not killed fled to places as far away as Beth-shittah near Zererah and to the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath.
24Gideon also sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, 'Come down to attack the Midianites. Cut them off at the shallow crossings of the Jordan River at Beth-barah.' So all the men of Ephraim did as they were told.
25They captured Oreb and Zeeb, the two Midianite commanders, killing Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. And they continued to chase the Midianites. Afterward the Israelites brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was by the Jordan River.
2But Gideon replied, 'What have I accomplished compared to you? Aren’t even the leftover grapes of Ephraim’s harvest better than the entire crop of my little clan of Abiezer?
3God gave you victory over Oreb and Zeeb, the commanders of the Midianite army. What have I accomplished compared to that?' When the men of Ephraim heard Gideon’s answer, their anger subsided.
4Gideon then crossed the Jordan River with his 300 men, and though exhausted, they continued to chase the enemy.
5When they reached Succoth, Gideon asked the leaders of the town, 'Please give my warriors some food. They are very tired. I am chasing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.'
8From there Gideon went up to Peniel and again asked for food, but he got the same answer.
9So he said to the people of Peniel, 'After I return in victory, I will tear down this tower.'
10By this time Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with about 15,000 warriors — all that remained of the allied armies of the east, for 120,000 had already been killed.
11Gideon circled around by the caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah, taking the Midianite army by surprise.
12Zebah and Zalmunna, the two Midianite kings, fled, but Gideon chased them down and captured all their warriors.
13After this, Gideon returned from the battle by way of Heres Pass.
14There he captured a young man from Succoth and demanded that he write down the names of all the seventy-seven officials and elders in the town.
15Gideon then returned to Succoth and said to the leaders, 'Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. When we were here before, you taunted me, saying, ‘Catch Zebah and Zalmunna first, and then we will feed your exhausted army.’'
16Then Gideon took the elders of the town and taught them a lesson, punishing them with thorns and briers from the wilderness.
17He also tore down the tower of Peniel and killed all the men in the town.
23But Gideon replied, 'I will not rule over you, nor will my son. The Lord will rule over you!
24However, I do have one request — that each of you give me an earring from the plunder you collected from your fallen enemies.' (The enemies, being Ishmaelites, all wore gold earrings.)
25Gladly!' they replied. They spread out a cloak, and each one threw in a gold earring he had gathered from the plunder.
26The weight of the gold earrings was forty-three pounds, not including the royal ornaments and pendants, the purple clothing worn by the kings of Midian, or the chains around the necks of their camels.
29Then Gideon son of Joash returned home.
30He had seventy sons born to him, for he had many wives.
31He also had a concubine in Shechem, who gave birth to a son, whom he named Abimelech.
32Gideon died when he was very old, and he was buried in the grave of his father, Joash, at Ophrah in the land of the clan of Abiezer.
33As soon as Gideon died, the Israelites prostituted themselves by worshiping the images of Baal, making Baal-berith their god.
34They forgot the Lord their God, who had rescued them from all their enemies surrounding them.
35Nor did they show any loyalty to the family of Jerub-baal (that is, Gideon), despite all the good he had done for Israel.
Chapter 9
1One day Gideon’s son Abimelech went to Shechem to visit his uncles — his mother’s brothers. He said to them and to the rest of his mother’s family, 2Ask the leading citizens of Shechem whether they want to be ruled by all seventy of Gideon’s sons or by one man. And remember that I am your own flesh and blood!'
3So Abimelech’s uncles gave his message to all the citizens of Shechem on his behalf. And after listening to this proposal, the people of Shechem decided in favor of Abimelech because he was their relative.
4They gave him seventy silver coins from the temple of Baal-berith, which he used to hire some reckless troublemakers who agreed to follow him.
5He went to his father’s home at Ophrah, and there, on one stone, they killed all seventy of his half brothers, the sons of Gideon. But the youngest brother, Jotham, escaped and hid.
7When Jotham heard about this, he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted, 'Listen to me, citizens of Shechem! Listen to me if you want God to listen to you!
8Once upon a time the trees decided to choose a king. First they said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king!’
9But the olive tree refused, saying, ‘Should I quit producing the olive oil that blesses both God and people, just to wave back and forth over the trees?’
10'Then they said to the fig tree, ‘You be our king!’
11But the fig tree also refused, saying, ‘Should I quit producing my sweet fruit just to wave back and forth over the trees?’
12'Then they said to the grapevine, ‘You be our king!’
13But the grapevine also refused, saying, ‘Should I quit producing the wine that cheers both God and people, just to wave back and forth over the trees?’
14'Then all the trees finally turned to the thornbush and said, ‘Come, you be our king!’
15And the thornbush replied to the trees, ‘If you truly want to make me your king, come and take shelter in my shade. If not, let fire come out from me and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’'
16Jotham continued, 'Now make sure you have acted honorably and in good faith by making Abimelech your king, and that you have done right by Gideon and all of his descendants. Have you treated him with the honor he deserves for all he accomplished?
17For he fought for you and risked his life when he rescued you from the Midianites.
18But today you have revolted against my father and his descendants, killing his seventy sons on one stone. And you have chosen his slave woman’s son, Abimelech, to be your king just because he is your relative.
19If you have acted honorably and in good faith toward Gideon and his descendants today, then may you find joy in Abimelech, and may he find joy in you.
20But if you have not acted in good faith, then may fire come out from Abimelech and devour the leading citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo; and may fire come out from the citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo and devour Abimelech!'
22After Abimelech had ruled over Israel for three years,
23God sent a spirit that stirred up trouble between Abimelech and the leading citizens of Shechem, and they revolted.
24God was punishing Abimelech for murdering Gideon’s seventy sons, and the citizens of Shechem for supporting him in this treachery of murdering his brothers.
25The citizens of Shechem set an ambush for Abimelech on the hilltops and robbed everyone who passed that way. But someone warned Abimelech about their plot.
26One day Gaal son of Ebed moved to Shechem with his brothers and gained the confidence of the leading citizens of Shechem.
27During the annual harvest festival at Shechem, held in the temple of the local god, the wine flowed freely, and everyone began cursing Abimelech.
28Who is Abimelech?' Gaal shouted. 'He’s not a true son of Shechem, so why should we be his servants? He’s merely the son of Gideon, and this Zebul is merely his deputy. Serve the true sons of Hamor, the founder of Shechem. Why should we serve Abimelech?
29If I were in charge here, I would get rid of Abimelech. I would say to him, ‘Get some soldiers, and come out and fight!’'
30But when Zebul, the leader of the city, heard what Gaal was saying, he was furious.
31He sent messengers to Abimelech in Arumah, telling him, 'Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers have come to live in Shechem, and now they are inciting the city to rebel against you.
32Come by night with an army and hide out in the fields.
33In the morning, as soon as it is daylight, attack the city. When Gaal and those who are with him come out against you, you can do with them as you wish.'
34So Abimelech and all his men went by night and split into four groups, stationing themselves around Shechem.
35Gaal was standing at the city gates when Abimelech and his army came out of hiding.
39So Gaal led the leading citizens of Shechem into battle against Abimelech.
40But Abimelech chased him, and many of Shechem’s men were wounded and fell along the road as they retreated to the city gate.
41Abimelech returned to Arumah, and Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem.
42The next day the people of Shechem went out into the fields to battle. When Abimelech heard about it,
43he divided his men into three groups and set an ambush in the fields. When Abimelech saw the people coming out of the city, he and his men jumped up from their hiding places and attacked them.
44Abimelech and his group stormed the city gate to keep the men of Shechem from getting back in, while Abimelech’s other two groups cut them down in the fields.
45The battle went on all day before Abimelech finally captured the city. He killed the people, leveled the city, and scattered salt all over the ground.
46When the leading citizens who lived in the tower of Shechem heard what had happened, they ran and hid in the temple of Baal-berith.
47Someone reported to Abimelech that the citizens had gathered in the temple,
48so he led his forces to Mount Zalmon. He took an ax and chopped some branches from a tree, then put them on his shoulder. 'Quick, do as I have done!' he told his men.
49So each of them cut down some branches, following Abimelech’s example. They piled the branches against the walls of the temple and set them on fire. So all the people who had lived in the tower of Shechem died — about 1,000 men and women.
50Then Abimelech attacked the town of Thebez and captured it.
51But there was a strong tower inside the town, and all the men and women — the entire population — fled to it. They barricaded themselves in and climbed up to the roof of the tower.
52Abimelech followed them to attack the tower. But as he prepared to set fire to the entrance,
53a woman on the roof dropped a millstone that landed on Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull.
54He quickly said to his young armor bearer, 'Draw your sword and kill me! Don’t let it be said that a woman killed Abimelech!' So the young man ran him through with his sword, and he died.
55When Abimelech’s men saw that he was dead, they disbanded and returned to their homes.
56In this way, God punished Abimelech for the evil he had done against his father by murdering his seventy brothers.
57God also punished the men of Shechem for all their evil. So the curse of Jotham son of Gideon was fulfilled.
Chapter 10
1After Abimelech died, Tola son of Puah, son of Dodo, was the next person to rescue Israel. He was from the tribe of Issachar but lived in the town of Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. 2He judged Israel for twenty-three years. When he died, he was buried in Shamir.
3After Tola died, Jair from Gilead judged Israel for twenty-two years.
4His thirty sons rode around on thirty donkeys, and they owned thirty towns in the land of Gilead, which are still called the Towns of Jair.
5When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon.
6Again the Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They served the images of Baal and Ashtoreth, and the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and Philistia. They abandoned the Lord and no longer served him at all.
7So the Lord burned with anger against Israel, and he turned them over to the Philistines and the Ammonites,
8who began to oppress them that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites east of the Jordan River in the land of the Amorites (that is, in Gilead).
9The Ammonites also crossed to the west side of the Jordan and attacked Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. The Israelites were in great distress.
10Finally, they cried out to the Lord for help, saying, 'We have sinned against you because we have abandoned you as our God and have served the images of Baal.'
11The Lord replied, 'Did I not rescue you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines,
12the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites? When they oppressed you, you cried out to me for help, and I rescued you.
13Yet you have abandoned me and served other gods. So I will not rescue you anymore.
14Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen! Let them rescue you in your hour of distress!'
English Standard Version
2"That the leaders took the lead in Israel, that the people offered themselves willingly, bless the Lord!
3"Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes; to the Lord I will sing; I will make melody to the Lord, the God of Israel.
4"Lord, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the region of Edom, the earth trembled and the heavens dropped, yes, the clouds dropped water.
5The mountains quaked before the Lord, even Sinai before the Lord, the God of Israel.
6"In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned, and travelers kept to the byways.
7The villagers ceased in Israel; they ceased to be until I arose; I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel.
8 When new gods were chosen, then war was in the gates. Was shield or spear to be seen among forty thousand in Israel?
9My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel who offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless the Lord.
10"Tell of it, you who ride on white donkeys, you who sit on rich carpets and you who walk by the way.
11To the sound of musicians at the watering places, there they repeat the righteous triumphs of the Lord, the righteous triumphs of his villagers in Israel. "Then down to the gates marched the people of the Lord.
12 "Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, break out in a song! Arise, Barak, lead away your captives, O son of Abinoam.
13Then down marched the remnant of the noble; the people of the Lord marched down for me against the mighty.
14From Ephraim their root they marched down into the valley, following you, Benjamin, with your kinsmen; from Machir marched down the commanders, and from Zebulun those who bear the lieutenant 's staff;
15the princes of Issachar came with Deborah, and Issachar faithful to Barak; into the valley they rushed at his heels. Among the clans of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.
16Why did you sit still among the sheepfolds, to hear the whistling for the flocks? Among the clans of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.
17 Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan; and Dan, why did he stay with the ships? Asher sat still at the coast of the sea, staying by his landings.
18 Zebulun is a people who risked their lives to the death; Naphtali, too, on the heights of the field.
19"The kings came, they fought; then fought the kings of Canaan, at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo; they got no spoils of silver.
20 From heaven the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera.
21 The torrent Kishon swept them away, the ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon. March on, my soul, with might!
22"Then loud beat the horses ' hoofs with the galloping, galloping of his steeds.
23"Curse Meroz, says the angel of the Lord, curse its inhabitants thoroughly, because they did not come to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.
24"Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, of tent-dwelling women most blessed.
25 He asked for water and she gave him milk; she brought him curds in a noble 's bowl.
26 She sent her hand to the tent peg and her right hand to the workmen 's mallet; she struck Sisera; she crushed his head; she shattered and pierced his temple.
27Between her feet he sank, he fell, he lay still; between her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell — dead.
28 "Out of the window she peered, the mother of Sisera wailed through the lattice: ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?’
29Her wisest princesses answer, indeed, she answers herself,
30‘Have they not found and divided the spoil? — A womb or two for every man; spoil of dyed materials for Sisera, spoil of dyed materials embroidered, two pieces of dyed work embroidered for the neck as spoil?’
31 "So may all your enemies perish, O Lord! But your friends be like the sun as he rises in his might." And the land had rest for forty years.
Chapter 6
1The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. 2And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. 3For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. 4They would encamp against them and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey. 5For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come like locusts in number — both they and their camels could not be counted — so that they laid waste the land as they came in. 6And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the Lord.
7When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites,
8the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery.
9And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land.
10And I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice."
11Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites.
12And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, "The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor."
13And Gideon said to him, "Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian."
14And the Lord turned to him and said, "Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?"
15And he said to him, "Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father 's house."
16And the Lord said to him, "But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man."
17And he said to him, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me.
18Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you." And he said, "I will stay till you return."
19So Gideon went into his house and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the terebinth and presented them.
20And the angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them." And he did so.
21Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.
22Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. And Gideon said, "Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face."
23But the Lord said to him, "Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die."
24Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The Lord Is Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.
25That night the Lord said to him, "Take your father 's bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it
26and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down."
27So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the Lord had told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night.
28When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built.
29And they said to one another, "Who has done this thing?" And after they had searched and inquired, they said, "Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing."
30Then the men of the town said to Joash, "Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it."
31But Joash said to all who stood against him, "Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down."
32Therefore on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, "Let Baal contend against him," because he broke down his altar.
33Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East came together, and they crossed the Jordan and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel.
34But the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him.
35And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.
36Then Gideon said to God, "If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said,
37behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said."
38And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water.
39Then Gideon said to God, "Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew."
40And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.
2The Lord said to Gideon, "The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’
3Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’" Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained.
4And the Lord said to Gideon, "The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ shall not go."
5So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, "Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink."
6And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water.
7And the Lord said to Gideon, "With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home."
8So the people took provisions in their hands, and their trumpets. And he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the 300 men. And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.
9That same night the Lord said to him, "Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand.
10But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant.
11And you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp." Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the armed men who were in the camp.
12And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number, as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance.
13When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade. And he said, "Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat."
14And his comrade answered, "This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp."
15As soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped. And he returned to the camp of Israel and said, "Arise, for the Lord has given the host of Midian into your hand."
16And he divided the 300 men into three companies and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with torches inside the jars.
17And he said to them, "Look at me, and do likewise. When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do.
18When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’"
19So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch. And they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands.
20Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. And they cried out, "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!"
21Every man stood in his place around the camp, and all the army ran. They cried out and fled.
22When they blew the 300 trumpets, the Lord set every man 's sword against his comrade and against all the army. And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath.
23And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian.
24Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, "Come down against the Midianites and capture the waters against them, as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan." So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they captured the waters as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan.
25And they captured the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. Then they pursued Midian, and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon across the Jordan.
Chapter 8
1Then the men of Ephraim said to him, "What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight against Midian?" And they accused him fiercely. 2And he said to them, "What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? 3God has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?" Then their anger against him subsided when he said this.
4And Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the 300 men who were with him, exhausted yet pursuing.
5So he said to the men of Succoth, "Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian."
6And the officials of Succoth said, "Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?"
7So Gideon said, "Well then, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers."
8And from there he went up to Penuel, and spoke to them in the same way, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered.
9And he said to the men of Penuel, "When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower."
10Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about 15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of the people of the East, for there had fallen 120,000 men who drew the sword.
11And Gideon went up by the way of the tent dwellers east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the army, for the army felt secure.
12And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw all the army into a panic.
13Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres.
14And he captured a young man of Succoth and questioned him. And he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men.
15And he came to the men of Succoth and said, "Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are exhausted?’"
16And he took the elders of the city, and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth a lesson.
17And he broke down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.
18Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, "Where are the men whom you killed at Tabor?" They answered, "As you are, so were they. Every one of them resembled the son of a king."
19And he said, "They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you."
20So he said to Jether his firstborn, "Rise and kill them!" But the young man did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a young man.
21Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, "Rise yourself and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength." And Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.
22Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, "Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian."
23Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you."
24And Gideon said to them, "Let me make a request of you: every one of you give me the earrings from his spoil." (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)
25And they answered, "We will willingly give them." And they spread a cloak, and every man threw in it the earrings of his spoil.
26And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the collars that were around the necks of their camels.
27And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah. And all Israel whored after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family.
28So Midian was subdued before the people of Israel, and they raised their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.
29Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house.
30Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives.
31And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech.
32And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, at Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
33As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god.
34And the people of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side,
35and they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.
Chapter 9
1Now Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his mother 's relatives and said to them and to the whole clan of his mother 's family, 2"Say in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you, that all seventy of the sons of Jerubbaal rule over you, or that one rule over you?’ Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh."
3And his mother 's relatives spoke all these words on his behalf in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, "He is our brother."
4And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows, who followed him.
5And he went to his father 's house at Ophrah and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, for he hid himself.
6And all the leaders of Shechem came together, and all Beth-millo, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar at Shechem.
7When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim and cried aloud and said to them, "Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem, that God may listen to you.
8The trees once went out to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’
9But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my abundance, by which gods and men are honored, and go hold sway over the trees?’
10And the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and reign over us.’
11But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit and go hold sway over the trees?’
12And the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and reign over us.’
13But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my wine that cheers God and men and go hold sway over the trees?’
14Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come and reign over us.’
15And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade, but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’
16"Now therefore, if you acted in good faith and integrity when you made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house and have done to him as his deeds deserved —
17for my father fought for you and risked his life and delivered you from the hand of Midian,
18and you have risen up against my father 's house this day and have killed his sons, seventy men on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his female servant, king over the leaders of Shechem, because he is your relative —
19if you then have acted in good faith and integrity with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you.
20But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the leaders of Shechem and from Beth-millo and devour Abimelech."
21And Jotham ran away and fled and went to Beer and lived there, because of Abimelech his brother.
22Abimelech ruled over Israel three years.
23And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech,
24that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers.
25And the leaders of Shechem put men in ambush against him on the mountaintops, and they robbed all who passed by them along that way. And it was told to Abimelech.
26And Gaal the son of Ebed moved into Shechem with his relatives, and the leaders of Shechem put confidence in him.
27And they went out into the field and gathered the grapes from their vineyards and trod them and held a festival; and they went into the house of their god and ate and drank and reviled Abimelech.
28And Gaal the son of Ebed said, "Who is Abimelech, and who are we of Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is not Zebul his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem; but why should we serve him?
29Would that this people were under my hand! Then I would remove Abimelech. I would say to Abimelech, ‘Increase your army, and come out.’"
30When Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled.
31And he sent messengers to Abimelech secretly, saying, "Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his relatives have come to Shechem, and they are stirring up the city against you.
32Now therefore, go by night, you and the people who are with you, and set an ambush in the field.
33Then in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, rise early and rush upon the city. And when he and the people who are with him come out against you, you may do to them as your hand finds to do."
34So Abimelech and all the men who were with him rose up by night and set an ambush against Shechem in four companies.
35And Gaal the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city, and Abimelech and the people who were with him rose from the ambush.
36And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, "Look, people are coming down from the mountaintops!" And Zebul said to him, "You mistake the shadow of the mountains for men."
37Gaal spoke again and said, "Look, people are coming down from the center of the land, and one company is coming from the direction of the Diviners ' Oak."
38Then Zebul said to him, "Where is your mouth now, you who said, ‘Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?’ Are not these the people whom you despised? Go out now and fight with them."
39And Gaal went out at the head of the leaders of Shechem and fought with Abimelech.
40And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him. And many fell wounded, up to the entrance of the gate.
41And Abimelech lived at Arumah, and Zebul drove out Gaal and his relatives, so that they could not dwell at Shechem.
42On the following day, the people went out into the field, and Abimelech was told.
43He took his people and divided them into three companies and set an ambush in the fields. And he looked and saw the people coming out of the city. So he rose against them and killed them.
44Abimelech and the company that was with him rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the gate of the city, while the two companies rushed upon all who were in the field and killed them.
45And Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He captured the city and killed the people who were in it, and he razed the city and sowed it with salt.
46When all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered the stronghold of the house of El-berith.
47Abimelech was told that all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem were gathered together.
48And Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him. And Abimelech took an axe in his hand and cut down a bundle of brushwood and took it up and laid it on his shoulder. And he said to the men who were with him, "What you have seen me do, hurry and do as I have done."
49So every one of the people cut down his bundle and following Abimelech put it against the stronghold, and they set the stronghold on fire over them, so that all the people of the Tower of Shechem also died, about 1,000 men and women.
50Then Abimelech went to Thebez and encamped against Thebez and captured it.
51But there was a strong tower within the city, and all the men and women and all the leaders of the city fled to it and shut themselves in, and they went up to the roof of the tower.
52And Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it and drew near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire.
53And a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech 's head and crushed his skull.
54Then he called quickly to the young man his armor-bearer and said to him, "Draw your sword and kill me, lest they say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’" And his young man thrust him through, and he died.
55And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, everyone departed to his home.
56Thus God returned the evil of Abimelech, which he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers.
57And God also made all the evil of the men of Shechem return on their heads, and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.
Chapter 10
1After Abimelech there arose to save Israel Tola the son of Puah, son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, and he lived at Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. 2And he judged Israel twenty-three years. Then he died and was buried at Shamir.
3After him arose Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years.
4And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities, called Havvoth-jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead.
5And Jair died and was buried in Kamon.
6The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the Lord and did not serve him.
7So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites,
8and they crushed and oppressed the people of Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the people of Israel who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.
9And the Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed.
10And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, "We have sinned against you, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals."
11And the Lord said to the people of Israel, "Did I not save you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites, from the Ammonites and from the Philistines?
12The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and I saved you out of their hand.
13Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more.
14Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress."
15And the people of Israel said to the Lord, "We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day."
16So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord, and he became impatient over the misery of Israel.
17Then the Ammonites were called to arms, and they encamped in Gilead. And the people of Israel came together, and they encamped at Mizpah.
18And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said one to another, "Who is the man who will begin to fight against the Ammonites? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead."
New International Version
3"Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers! I, even I, will sing to the Lord; I will praise the Lord, the God of Israel, in song.
4"When you, Lord, went out from Seir, when you marched from the land of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens poured, the clouds poured down water.
5The mountains quaked before the Lord, the One of Sinai, before the Lord, the God of Israel.
6"In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned; travelers took to winding paths.
7Villagers in Israel would not fight; they held back until I, Deborah, arose, until I arose, a mother in Israel.
8God chose new leaders when war came to the city gates, but not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel.
9My heart is with Israel’s princes, with the willing volunteers among the people. Praise the Lord!
10"You who ride on white donkeys, sitting on your saddle blankets, and you who walk along the road, consider
12‘Wake up, wake up, Deborah! Wake up, wake up, break out in song! Arise, Barak! Take captive your captives, son of Abinoam.’
13"The remnant of the nobles came down; the people of the Lord came down to me against the mighty.
14Some came from Ephraim, whose roots were in Amalek; Benjamin was with the people who followed you. From Makir captains came down, from Zebulun those who bear a commander’s staff.
15The princes of Issachar were with Deborah; yes, Issachar was with Barak, sent under his command into the valley. In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart.
16Why did you stay among the sheep pens to hear the whistling for the flocks? In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart.
17Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan. And Dan, why did he linger by the ships? Asher remained on the coast and stayed in his coves.
18The people of Zebulun risked their very lives; so did Naphtali on the terraced fields.
19"Kings came, they fought, the kings of Canaan fought. At Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo, they took no plunder of silver.
20From the heavens the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera.
21The river Kishon swept them away, the age-old river, the river Kishon. March on, my soul; be strong!
22Then thundered the horses’ hooves— galloping, galloping go his mighty steeds.
23‘Curse Meroz,’ said the angel of the Lord. ‘Curse its people bitterly, because they did not come to help the Lord, to help the Lord against the mighty.’
24"Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent-dwelling women.
25He asked for water, and she gave him milk; in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk.
26Her hand reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman’s hammer. She struck Sisera, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple.
27At her feet he sank, he fell; there he lay. At her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell—dead.
28"Through the window peered Sisera’s mother; behind the lattice she cried out, ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why is the clatter of his chariots delayed?’
29The wisest of her ladies answer her; indeed, she keeps saying to herself,
Chapter 6
1The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. 2Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. 3Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. 4They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. 5They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. 6Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.
7When the Israelites cried out to the Lord because of Midian,
8he sent them a prophet, who said, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
9I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians. And I delivered you from the hand of all your oppressors; I drove them out before you and gave you their land.
10I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.’ But you have not listened to me."
11The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites.
12When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior."
20The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth." And Gideon did so.
21Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared.
22When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, "Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!"
25That same night the Lord said to him, "Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.
26Then build a proper kind of altar to the Lord your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering."
31But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, "Are you going to plead Baal’s cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar."
32So because Gideon broke down Baal’s altar, they gave him the name Jerub-Baal that day, saying, "Let Baal contend with him."
33Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined forces and crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.
34Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him.
35He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet them.
36Gideon said to God, "If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised—
37look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said."
38And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water.
39Then Gideon said to God, "Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew."
40That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.
Chapter 7
1Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. 2The Lord said to Gideon, "You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’ 3Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’ " So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.
5So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, "Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink."
6Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.
8So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites home but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others. Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley.
9During that night the Lord said to Gideon, "Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands.
10If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah
11and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp." So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp.
12The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.
15When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, "Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands."
16Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside.
17"Watch me," he told them. "Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do.
18When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’ "
19Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands.
20The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!"
21While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled.
22When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.
23Israelites from Naphtali, Asher and all Manasseh were called out, and they pursued the Midianites.
24Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, "Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth Barah." So all the men of Ephraim were called out and they seized the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth Barah.
25They also captured two of the Midianite leaders, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was by the Jordan.
2But he answered them, "What have I accomplished compared to you? Aren’t the gleanings of Ephraim’s grapes better than the full grape harvest of Abiezer?
3God gave Oreb and Zeeb, the Midianite leaders, into your hands. What was I able to do compared to you?" At this, their resentment against him subsided.
4Gideon and his three hundred men, exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit, came to the Jordan and crossed it.
5He said to the men of Sukkoth, "Give my troops some bread; they are worn out, and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian."
8From there he went up to Peniel and made the same request of them, but they answered as the men of Sukkoth had.
9So he said to the men of Peniel, "When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower."
10Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with a force of about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of the armies of the eastern peoples; a hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had fallen.
11Gideon went up by the route of the nomads east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the unsuspecting army.
12Zebah and Zalmunna, the two kings of Midian, fled, but he pursued them and captured them, routing their entire army.
13Gideon son of Joash then returned from the battle by the Pass of Heres.
14He caught a young man of Sukkoth and questioned him, and the young man wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven officials of Sukkoth, the elders of the town.
15Then Gideon came and said to the men of Sukkoth, "Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me by saying, ‘Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your exhausted men?’ "
16He took the elders of the town and taught the men of Sukkoth a lesson by punishing them with desert thorns and briers.
17He also pulled down the tower of Peniel and killed the men of the town.
19Gideon replied, "Those were my brothers, the sons of my own mother. As surely as the Lord lives, if you had spared their lives, I would not kill you."
20Turning to Jether, his oldest son, he said, "Kill them!" But Jether did not draw his sword, because he was only a boy and was afraid.
23But Gideon told them, "I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you."
24And he said, "I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder." (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings.)
25They answered, "We’ll be glad to give them." So they spread out a garment, and each of them threw a ring from his plunder onto it.
26The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred shekels, not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains that were on their camels’ necks.
27Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.
29Jerub-Baal son of Joash went back home to live.
30He had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives.
31His concubine, who lived in Shechem, also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelek.
32Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
33No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god
34and did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side.
35They also failed to show any loyalty to the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) in spite of all the good things he had done for them.
Chapter 9
1Abimelek son of Jerub-Baal went to his mother’s brothers in Shechem and said to them and to all his mother’s clan, 2"Ask all the citizens of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you: to have all seventy of Jerub-Baal’s sons rule over you, or just one man?’ Remember, I am your flesh and blood."
3When the brothers repeated all this to the citizens of Shechem, they were inclined to follow Abimelek, for they said, "He is related to us."
4They gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, and Abimelek used it to hire reckless scoundrels, who became his followers.
5He went to his father’s home in Ophrah and on one stone murdered his seventy brothers, the sons of Jerub-Baal. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerub-Baal, escaped by hiding.
6Then all the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo gathered beside the great tree at the pillar in Shechem to crown Abimelek king.
7When Jotham was told about this, he climbed up on the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted to them, "Listen to me, citizens of Shechem, so that God may listen to you.
8One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king.’
16"Have you acted honorably and in good faith by making Abimelek king? Have you been fair to Jerub-Baal and his family? Have you treated him as he deserves?
17Remember that my father fought for you and risked his life to rescue you from the hand of Midian.
18But today you have revolted against my father’s family. You have murdered his seventy sons on a single stone and have made Abimelek, the son of his female slave, king over the citizens of Shechem because he is related to you.
19So have you acted honorably and in good faith toward Jerub-Baal and his family today? If you have, may Abimelek be your joy, and may you be his, too!
20But if you have not, let fire come out from Abimelek and consume you, the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and let fire come out from you, the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and consume Abimelek!"
22After Abimelek had governed Israel three years,
23God stirred up animosity between Abimelek and the citizens of Shechem so that they acted treacherously against Abimelek.
24God did this in order that the crime against Jerub-Baal’s seventy sons, the shedding of their blood, might be avenged on their brother Abimelek and on the citizens of Shechem, who had helped him murder his brothers.
25In opposition to him these citizens of Shechem set men on the hilltops to ambush and rob everyone who passed by, and this was reported to Abimelek.
26Now Gaal son of Ebed moved with his clan into Shechem, and its citizens put their confidence in him.
27After they had gone out into the fields and gathered the grapes and trodden them, they held a festival in the temple of their god. While they were eating and drinking, they cursed Abimelek.
28Then Gaal son of Ebed said, "Who is Abimelek, and why should we Shechemites be subject to him? Isn’t he Jerub-Baal’s son, and isn’t Zebul his deputy? Serve the family of Hamor, Shechem’s father! Why should we serve Abimelek?
29If only this people were under my command! Then I would get rid of him. I would say to Abimelek, ‘Call out your whole army!’ "
30When Zebul the governor of the city heard what Gaal son of Ebed said, he was very angry.
31Under cover he sent messengers to Abimelek, saying, "Gaal son of Ebed and his clan have come to Shechem and are stirring up the city against you.
32Now then, during the night you and your men should come and lie in wait in the fields.
33In the morning at sunrise, advance against the city. When Gaal and his men come out against you, seize the opportunity to attack them."
34So Abimelek and all his troops set out by night and took up concealed positions near Shechem in four companies.
35Now Gaal son of Ebed had gone out and was standing at the entrance of the city gate just as Abimelek and his troops came out from their hiding place.
39So Gaal led out the citizens of Shechem and fought Abimelek.
40Abimelek chased him all the way to the entrance of the gate, and many were killed as they fled.
41Then Abimelek stayed in Arumah, and Zebul drove Gaal and his clan out of Shechem.
42The next day the people of Shechem went out to the fields, and this was reported to Abimelek.
43So he took his men, divided them into three companies and set an ambush in the fields. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he rose to attack them.
44Abimelek and the companies with him rushed forward to a position at the entrance of the city gate. Then two companies attacked those in the fields and struck them down.
45All that day Abimelek pressed his attack against the city until he had captured it and killed its people. Then he destroyed the city and scattered salt over it.
46On hearing this, the citizens in the tower of Shechem went into the stronghold of the temple of El-Berith.
47When Abimelek heard that they had assembled there,
48he and all his men went up Mount Zalmon. He took an ax and cut off some branches, which he lifted to his shoulders. He ordered the men with him, "Quick! Do what you have seen me do!"
49So all the men cut branches and followed Abimelek. They piled them against the stronghold and set it on fire with the people still inside. So all the people in the tower of Shechem, about a thousand men and women, also died.
50Next Abimelek went to Thebez and besieged it and captured it.
51Inside the city, however, was a strong tower, to which all the men and women—all the people of the city—had fled. They had locked themselves in and climbed up on the tower roof.
52Abimelek went to the tower and attacked it. But as he approached the entrance to the tower to set it on fire,
53a woman dropped an upper millstone on his head and cracked his skull.
54Hurriedly he called to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword and kill me, so that they can’t say, ‘A woman killed him.’ " So his servant ran him through, and he died.
55When the Israelites saw that Abimelek was dead, they went home.
56Thus God repaid the wickedness that Abimelek had done to his father by murdering his seventy brothers.
57God also made the people of Shechem pay for all their wickedness. The curse of Jotham son of Jerub-Baal came on them.
Chapter 10
1After the time of Abimelek, a man of Issachar named Tola son of Puah, the son of Dodo, rose to save Israel. He lived in Shamir, in the hill country of Ephraim. 2He led Israel twenty-three years; then he died, and was buried in Shamir.
3He was followed by Jair of Gilead, who led Israel twenty-two years.
4He had thirty sons, who rode thirty donkeys. They controlled thirty towns in Gilead, which to this day are called Havvoth Jair.
5When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon.
6Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. They served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites and the gods of the Philistines. And because the Israelites forsook the Lord and no longer served him,
7he became angry with them. He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites,
8who that year shattered and crushed them. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites on the east side of the Jordan in Gilead, the land of the Amorites.
9The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin and Ephraim; Israel was in great distress.
10Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord, "We have sinned against you, forsaking our God and serving the Baals."
11The Lord replied, "When the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines,
12the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you and you cried to me for help, did I not save you from their hands?
13But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you.
14Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!"
New King James Version
2“When leaders lead in Israel, When the people willingly offer themselves, Bless the Lord!
3“Hear, O kings! Give ear, O princes! I, even I, will sing to the Lord; I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel.
4“Lord, when You went out from Seir, When You marched from the field of Edom, The earth trembled and the heavens poured, The clouds also poured water;
5 The mountains gushed before the Lord, This Sinai, before the Lord God of Israel.
6“In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath, In the days of Jael, The highways were deserted, And the travelers walked along the byways.
7Village life ceased, it ceased in Israel, Until I, Deborah, arose, Arose a mother in Israel.
8They chose new gods; Then there was war in the gates; Not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel.
9My heart is with the rulers of Israel Who offered themselves willingly with the people. Bless the Lord!
10“Speak, you who ride on white donkeys, Who sit in judges’ attire, And who walk along the road.
11Far from the noise of the archers, among the watering places, There they shall recount the righteous acts of the Lord, The righteous acts for His villagers in Israel; Then the people of the Lord shall go down to the gates.
12“Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, sing a song! Arise, Barak, and lead your captives away, O son of Abinoam!
13“Then the survivors came down, the people against the nobles; The Lord came down for me against the mighty.
14From Ephraim were those whose roots were in Amalek. After you, Benjamin, with your peoples, From Machir rulers came down, And from Zebulun those who bear the recruiter’s staff.
15And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; As Issachar, so was Barak Sent into the valley under his command; Among the divisions of Reuben There were great resolves of heart.
16Why did you sit among the sheepfolds, To hear the pipings for the flocks? The divisions of Reuben have great searchings of heart.
17 Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan, And why did Dan remain on ships? Asher continued at the seashore, And stayed by his inlets.
18 Zebulun is a people who jeopardized their lives to the point of death, Naphtali also, on the heights of the battlefield.
19“The kings came and fought, Then the kings of Canaan fought In Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo; They took no spoils of silver.
20They fought from the heavens; The stars from their courses fought against Sisera.
21 The torrent of Kishon swept them away, That ancient torrent, the torrent of Kishon. O my soul, march on in strength!
22Then the horses’ hooves pounded, The galloping, galloping of his steeds.
23‘Curse Meroz,’ said the angel of the Lord, ‘Curse its inhabitants bitterly, Because they did not come to the help of the Lord, To the help of the Lord against the mighty.’
24“Most blessed among women is Jael, The wife of Heber the Kenite; Blessed is she among women in tents.
25He asked for water, she gave milk; She brought out cream in a lordly bowl.
26She stretched her hand to the tent peg, Her right hand to the workmen’s hammer; She pounded Sisera, she pierced his head, She split and struck through his temple.
27At her feet he sank, he fell, he lay still; At her feet he sank, he fell; Where he sank, there he fell dead.
28“The mother of Sisera looked through the window, And cried out through the lattice, ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarries the clatter of his chariots?’
29Her wisest ladies answered her, Yes, she answered herself,
30‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoil: To every man a girl or two; For Sisera, plunder of dyed garments, Plunder of garments embroidered and dyed, Two pieces of dyed embroidery for the neck of the looter?’
Chapter 6
1Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years, 2and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which are in the mountains. 3So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. 4Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey. 5For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming in as numerous as locusts; both they and their camels were without number; and they would enter the land to destroy it. 6So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord.
7And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord because of the Midianites,
8that the Lord sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I brought you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of bondage;
9and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land.
10Also I said to you, “I am the Lord your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.” But you have not obeyed My voice.’ ”
11Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites.
12And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”
19So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot; and he brought them out to Him under the terebinth tree and presented them.
20The Angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so.
23Then the Lord said to him, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.”
24So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it The-Lord- Is-Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
25Now it came to pass the same night that the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it;
26and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down.”
27So Gideon took ten men from among his servants and did as the Lord had said to him. But because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night.
28And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, there was the altar of Baal, torn down; and the wooden image that was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was being offered on the altar which had been built.
29So they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And when they had inquired and asked, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.”
30Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has torn down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the wooden image that was beside it.”
31But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Would you plead for Baal? Would you save him? Let the one who would plead for him be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him plead for himself, because his altar has been torn down!”
32Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, “Let Baal plead against him, because he has torn down his altar.”
33Then all the Midianites and Amalekites, the people of the East, gathered together; and they crossed over and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel.
34But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon; then he blew the trumpet, and the Abiezrites gathered behind him.
35And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, who also gathered behind him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.
36So Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said—
37look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.”
38And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water.
39Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.”
40And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.
2And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’
3Now therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead.’ ” And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained.
4But the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. Then it will be, that of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ the same shall go with you; and of whomever I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ the same shall not go.”
5So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set apart by himself; likewise everyone who gets down on his knees to drink.”
6And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people got down on their knees to drink water.
7Then the Lord said to Gideon, “By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his place.”
8So the people took provisions and their trumpets in their hands. And he sent away all the rest of Israel, every man to his tent, and retained those three hundred men. Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.
9It happened on the same night that the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand.
10But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant,
11and you shall hear what they say; and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outpost of the armed men who were in the camp.
12Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude.
15And so it was, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel, and said, “Arise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand.”
16Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet into every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers.
17And he said to them, “Look at me and do likewise; watch, and when I come to the edge of the camp you shall do as I do:
18When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you also blow the trumpets on every side of the whole camp, and say, ‘ The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!’ ”
19So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just as they had posted the watch; and they blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers that were in their hands.
20Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers—they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing—and they cried, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!”
21And every man stood in his place all around the camp; and the whole army ran and cried out and fled.
22When the three hundred blew the trumpets, the Lord set every man’s sword against his companion throughout the whole camp; and the army fled to Beth Acacia, toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel Meholah, by Tabbath.
24Then Gideon sent messengers throughout all the mountains of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites, and seize from them the watering places as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan.” Then all the men of Ephraim gathered together and seized the watering places as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan.
25And they captured two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued Midian and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan.
2So he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?
3God has delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. And what was I able to do in comparison with you?” Then their anger toward him subsided when he said that.
4When Gideon came to the Jordan, he and the three hundred men who were with him crossed over, exhausted but still in pursuit.
5Then he said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.”
7So Gideon said, “For this cause, when the Lord has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers!”
8Then he went up from there to Penuel and spoke to them in the same way. And the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered.
9So he also spoke to the men of Penuel, saying, “When I come back in peace, I will tear down this tower!”
10Now Zebah and Zalmunna were at Karkor, and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand, all who were left of all the army of the people of the East; for one hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword had fallen.
11Then Gideon went up by the road of those who dwell in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah; and he attacked the army while the camp felt secure.
12When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued them; and he took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and routed the whole army.
13Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle, from the Ascent of Heres.
14And he caught a young man of the men of Succoth and interrogated him; and he wrote down for him the leaders of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men.
15Then he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you ridiculed me, saying, ‘ Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your weary men?’ ”
16And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth.
17Then he tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.
19Then he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.”
20And he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise, kill them!” But the youth would not draw his sword; for he was afraid, because he was still a youth.
23But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the Lord shall rule over you.”
24Then Gideon said to them, “I would like to make a request of you, that each of you would give me the earrings from his plunder.” For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.
25So they answered, “We will gladly give them.” And they spread out a garment, and each man threw into it the earrings from his plunder.
26Now the weight of the gold earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments, pendants, and purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were around their camels’ necks.
27Then Gideon made it into an ephod and set it up in his city, Ophrah. And all Israel played the harlot with it there. It became a snare to Gideon and to his house.
29Then Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.
30Gideon had seventy sons who were his own offspring, for he had many wives.
31And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, whose name he called Abimelech.
32Now Gideon the son of Joash died at a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
33So it was, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel again played the harlot with the Baals, and made Baal-Berith their god.
34Thus the children of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side;
35nor did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (Gideon) in accordance with the good he had done for Israel.
Chapter 9
1Then Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem, to his mother’s brothers, and spoke with them and with all the family of the house of his mother’s father, saying, 2“Please speak in the hearing of all the men of Shechem: ‘Which is better for you, that all seventy of the sons of Jerubbaal reign over you, or that one reign over you?’ Remember that I am your own flesh and bone.”
3And his mother’s brothers spoke all these words concerning him in the hearing of all the men of Shechem; and their heart was inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is our brother.”
4So they gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless men; and they followed him.
5Then he went to his father’s house at Ophrah and killed his brothers, the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, because he hid himself.
6And all the men of Shechem gathered together, all of Beth Millo, and they went and made Abimelech king beside the terebinth tree at the pillar that was in Shechem.
7Now when they told Jotham, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted his voice and cried out. And he said to them: “Listen to me, you men of Shechem, That God may listen to you!
8“The trees once went forth to anoint a king over them. And they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us!’
9But the olive tree said to them, ‘Should I cease giving my oil, With which they honor God and men, And go to sway over trees?’
10“Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and reign over us!’
11But the fig tree said to them, ‘Should I cease my sweetness and my good fruit, And go to sway over trees?’
12“Then the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and reign over us!’
13But the vine said to them, ‘Should I cease my new wine, Which cheers both God and men, And go to sway over trees?’
14“Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come and reign over us!’
15And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in truth you anoint me as king over you, Then come and take shelter in my shade; But if not, let fire come out of the bramble And devour the cedars of Lebanon!’
16“Now therefore, if you have acted in truth and sincerity in making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done to him as he deserves—
17for my father fought for you, risked his life, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian;
18but you have risen up against my father’s house this day, and killed his seventy sons on one stone, and made Abimelech, the son of his female servant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother—
19if then you have acted in truth and sincerity with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you.
20“But if not, let fire come from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and Beth Millo; and let fire come from the men of Shechem and from Beth Millo and devour Abimelech!”
21And Jotham ran away and fled; and he went to Beer and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.
22After Abimelech had reigned over Israel three years,
23God sent a spirit of ill will between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech,
24that the crime done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might be settled and their blood be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who aided him in the killing of his brothers.
25And the men of Shechem set men in ambush against him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all who passed by them along that way; and it was told Abimelech.
26Now Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brothers and went over to Shechem; and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him.
27So they went out into the fields, and gathered grapes from their vineyards and trod them, and made merry. And they went into the house of their god, and ate and drank, and cursed Abimelech.
28Then Gaal the son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is not Zebul his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem; but why should we serve him?
29If only this people were under my authority! Then I would remove Abimelech.” So he said to Abimelech, “Increase your army and come out!”
30When Zebul, the ruler of the city, heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was aroused.
31And he sent messengers to Abimelech secretly, saying, “Take note! Gaal the son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem; and here they are, fortifying the city against you.
32Now therefore, get up by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field.
33And it shall be, as soon as the sun is up in the morning, that you shall rise early and rush upon the city; and when he and the people who are with him come out against you, you may then do to them as you find opportunity.”
34So Abimelech and all the people who were with him rose by night, and lay in wait against Shechem in four companies.
35When Gaal the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entrance to the city gate, Abimelech and the people who were with him rose from lying in wait.
39So Gaal went out, leading the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech.
40And Abimelech chased him, and he fled from him; and many fell wounded, to the very entrance of the gate.
41Then Abimelech dwelt at Arumah, and Zebul drove out Gaal and his brothers, so that they would not dwell in Shechem.
42And it came about on the next day that the people went out into the field, and they told Abimelech.
43So he took his people, divided them into three companies, and lay in wait in the field. And he looked, and there were the people, coming out of the city; and he rose against them and attacked them.
44Then Abimelech and the company that was with him rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the gate of the city; and the other two companies rushed upon all who were in the fields and killed them.
45So Abimelech fought against the city all that day; he took the city and killed the people who were in it; and he demolished the city and sowed it with salt.
46Now when all the men of the tower of Shechem had heard that, they entered the stronghold of the temple of the god Berith.
47And it was told Abimelech that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together.
48Then Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him. And Abimelech took an ax in his hand and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it and laid it on his shoulder; then he said to the people who were with him, “What you have seen me do, make haste and do as I have done.”
49So each of the people likewise cut down his own bough and followed Abimelech, put them against the stronghold, and set the stronghold on fire above them, so that all the people of the tower of Shechem died, about a thousand men and women.
50Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and he encamped against Thebez and took it.
51But there was a strong tower in the city, and all the men and women—all the people of the city—fled there and shut themselves in; then they went up to the top of the tower.
52So Abimelech came as far as the tower and fought against it; and he drew near the door of the tower to burn it with fire.
53But a certain woman dropped an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull.
54Then he called quickly to the young man, his armorbearer, and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, lest men say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’ ” So his young man thrust him through, and he died.
55And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed, every man to his place.
56Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father by killing his seventy brothers.
57And all the evil of the men of Shechem God returned on their own heads, and on them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.
Chapter 10
1After Abimelech there arose to save Israel Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in the mountains of Ephraim. 2He judged Israel twenty-three years; and he died and was buried in Shamir.
3After him arose Jair, a Gileadite; and he judged Israel twenty-two years.
4Now he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys; they also had thirty towns, which are called “Havoth Jair” to this day, which are in the land of Gilead.
5And Jair died and was buried in Camon.
6Then the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the people of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook the Lord and did not serve Him.
7So the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the people of Ammon.
8From that year they harassed and oppressed the children of Israel for eighteen years—all the children of Israel who were on the other side of the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, in Gilead.
9Moreover the people of Ammon crossed over the Jordan to fight against Judah also, against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed.
11So the Lord said to the children of Israel, “ Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites and from the people of Ammon and from the Philistines?
12Also the Sidonians and Amalekites and Maonites oppressed you; and you cried out to Me, and I delivered you from their hand.
13Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods. Therefore I will deliver you no more.
14“Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress.”
15And the children of Israel said to the Lord, “We have sinned! Do to us whatever seems best to You; only deliver us this day, we pray.”
16So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord. And His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel.
17Then the people of Ammon gathered together and encamped in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled together and encamped in Mizpah.
18And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said to one another, “Who is the man who will begin the fight against the people of Ammon? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”
