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Judges 1

1

After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the LORD, "Who will be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?"

2

The LORD answered, "Judah is to go; I have given the land into their hands."

3

Then the men of Judah said to the Simeonites their brothers, "Come up with us into the territory allotted to us, to fight against the Canaanites. We in turn will go with you into yours." So the Simeonites went with them.

4

When Judah attacked, the LORD gave the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek.

5

It was there that they found Adoni-Bezek and fought against him, putting to rout the Canaanites and Perizzites.

6

Adoni-Bezek fled, but they chased him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.

7

Then Adoni-Bezek said, "Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them." They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

8

The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem also and took it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire.

9

After that, the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, the Negev and the western foothills.

10

They advanced against the Canaanites living in Hebron (formerly called Kiriath Arba) and defeated Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai.

11

From there they advanced against the people living in Debir (formerly called Kiriath Sepher).

12

And Caleb said, "I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher."

13

Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it; so Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to him in marriage.

14

One day when she came to Othniel, she urged him to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, "What can I do for you?"

15

She replied, "Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water." Then Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.

16

The descendants of Moses' father-in-law, the Kenite, went up from the City of Palms with the men of Judah to live among the people of the Desert of Judah in the Negev near Arad.

17

Then the men of Judah went with the Simeonites their brothers and attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and they totally destroyed the city. Therefore it was called Hormah.

18

The men of Judah also took Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron--each city with its territory.

19

The LORD was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots.

20

As Moses had promised, Hebron was given to Caleb, who drove from it the three sons of Anak.

21

The Benjamites, however, failed to dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the Benjamites.

22

Now the house of Joseph attacked Bethel, and the LORD was with them.

23

When they sent men to spy out Bethel (formerly called Luz),

24

the spies saw a man coming out of the city and they said to him, "Show us how to get into the city and we will see that you are treated well."

25

So he showed them, and they put the city to the sword but spared the man and his whole family.

26

He then went to the land of the Hittites, where he built a city and called it Luz, which is its name to this day.

27

But Manasseh did not drive out the people of Beth Shan or Taanach or Dor or Ibleam or Megiddo and their surrounding settlements, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that land.

28

When Israel became strong, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor but never drove them out completely.

29

Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, but the Canaanites continued to live there among them.

30

Neither did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites living in Kitron or Nahalol, who remained among them; but they did subject them to forced labor.

31

Nor did Asher drive out those living in Acco or Sidon or Ahlab or Aczib or Helbah or Aphek or Rehob,

32

and because of this the people of Asher lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land.

33

Neither did Naphtali drive out those living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath; but the Naphtalites too lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, and those living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath became forced laborers for them.

34

The Amorites confined the Danites to the hill country, not allowing them to come down into the plain.

35

And the Amorites were determined also to hold out in Mount Heres, Aijalon and Shaalbim, but when the power of the house of Joseph increased, they too were pressed into forced labor.

36

The boundary of the Amorites was from Scorpion Pass to Sela and beyond.

Judges 2

1

The angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, "I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, `I will never break my covenant with you,

2

and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.' Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this?

3

Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be [thorns] in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you."

4

When the angel of the LORD had spoken these things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud,

5

and they called that place Bokim. There they offered sacrifices to the LORD.

6

After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to his own inheritance.

7

The people served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel.

8

Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of a hundred and ten.

9

And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

10

After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel.

11

Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals.

12

They forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the LORD to anger

13

because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.

14

In his anger against Israel the LORD handed them over to raiders who plundered them. He sold them to their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.

15

Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the LORD was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.

16

Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders.

17

Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. Unlike their fathers, they quickly turned from the way in which their fathers had walked, the way of obedience to the LORD's commands.

18

Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the LORD had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them.

19

But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

20

Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and said, "Because this nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to me,

21

I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died.

22

I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the LORD and walk in it as their forefathers did."

23

The LORD had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua.

Judges 3

1

These are the nations the LORD left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan

2

(he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience):

3

the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath.

4

They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the LORD's commands, which he had given their forefathers through Moses.

5

The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.

6

They took their daughters in marriage and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.

7

The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.

8

The anger of the LORD burned against Israel so that he sold them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram Naharaim, to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years.

9

But when they cried out to the LORD, he raised up for them a deliverer, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, who saved them.

10

The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, so that he became Israel's judge and went to war. The LORD gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him.

11

So the land had peace for forty years, until Othniel son of Kenaz died.

12

Once again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and because they did this evil the LORD gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel.

13

Getting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join him, Eglon came and attacked Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms.

14

The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years.

15

Again the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and he gave them a deliverer--Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The Israelites sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab.

16

Now Ehud had made a double-edged sword about a foot and a half long, which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing.

17

He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very fat man.

18

After Ehud had presented the tribute, he sent on their way the men who had carried it.

19

At the idols near Gilgal he himself turned back and said, "I have a secret message for you, O king." The king said, "Quiet!" And all his attendants left him.

20

Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his summer palace and said, "I have a message from God for you." As the king rose from his seat,

21

Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king's belly.

22

Even the handle sank in after the blade, which came out his back. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it.

23

Then Ehud went out to the porch ; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.

24

After he had gone, the servants came and found the doors of the upper room locked. They said, "He must be relieving himself in the inner room of the house."

25

They waited to the point of embarrassment, but when he did not open the doors of the room, they took a key and unlocked them. There they saw their lord fallen to the floor, dead.

26

While they waited, Ehud got away. He passed by the idols and escaped to Seirah.

27

When he arrived there, he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down with him from the hills, with him leading them.

28

"Follow me," he ordered, "for the LORD has given Moab, your enemy, into your hands." So they followed him down and, taking possession of the fords of the Jordan that led to Moab, they allowed no one to cross over.

29

At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all vigorous and strong; not a man escaped.

30

That day Moab was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace for eighty years.

31

After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.

Judges 4

1

After Ehud died, the Israelites once again did evil in the eyes of the LORD.

2

So the LORD sold them into the hands of Jabin, a king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Haggoyim.

3

Because he had nine hundred iron chariots and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the LORD for help.

4

Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time.

5

She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came to her to have their disputes decided.

6

She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, "The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you: `Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead the way to Mount Tabor.

7

I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.'"

8

Barak said to her, "If you go with me, I will go; but if you don't go with me, I won't go."

9

"Very well," Deborah said, "I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about this, the honor will not be yours, for the LORD will hand Sisera over to a woman." So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh,

10

where he summoned Zebulun and Naphtali. Ten thousand men followed him, and Deborah also went with him.

11

Now Heber the Kenite had left the other Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses' brother-in-law, and pitched his tent by the great tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh.

12

When they told Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor,

13

Sisera gathered together his nine hundred iron chariots and all the men with him, from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon River.

14

Then Deborah said to Barak, "Go! This is the day the LORD has given Sisera into your hands. Has not the LORD gone ahead of you?" So Barak went down Mount Tabor, followed by ten thousand men.

15

At Barak's advance, the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot.

16

But Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim. All the troops of Sisera fell by the sword; not a man was left.

17

Sisera, however, fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there were friendly relations between Jabin king of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite.

18

Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, "Come, my lord, come right in. Don't be afraid." So he entered her tent, and she put a covering over him.

19

"I'm thirsty," he said. "Please give me some water." She opened a skin of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him up.

20

"Stand in the doorway of the tent," he told her. "If someone comes by and asks you, `Is anyone here?' say `No.'"

21

But Jael, Heber's wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.

22

Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him. "Come," she said, "I will show you the man you're looking for." So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera with the tent peg through his temple--dead.

23

On that day God subdued Jabin, the Canaanite king, before the Israelites.

24

And the hand of the Israelites grew stronger and stronger against Jabin, the Canaanite king, until they destroyed him.

Judges 5

1

On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song:

2

"When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly offer themselves-- praise the LORD!

3

"Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers! I will sing to the LORD, I will sing; I will make music to the LORD, the God of Israel.

4

"O LORD, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the land of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens poured, the clouds poured down water.

5

The 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 roads were abandoned; travelers took to winding paths.

7

Village life in Israel ceased, ceased until I, Deborah, arose, arose a mother in Israel.

8

When they chose new gods, war came to the city gates, and not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel.

9

My 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

11

the voice of the singers at the watering places. They recite the righteous acts of the LORD, the righteous acts of his warriors in Israel. "Then the people of the LORD went down to the city gates.

12

`Wake up, wake up, Deborah! Wake up, wake up, break out in song! Arise, O Barak! Take captive your captives, O son of Abinoam.'

13

"Then the men who were left came down to the nobles; the people of the LORD came to me with the mighty.

14

Some 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.

15

The princes of Issachar were with Deborah; yes, Issachar was with Barak, rushing after him into the valley. In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart.

16

Why did you stay among the campfires to hear the whistling for the flocks? In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart.

17

Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan. And Dan, why did he linger by the ships? Asher remained on the coast and stayed in his coves.

18

The people of Zebulun risked their very lives; so did Naphtali on the heights of the field.

19

"Kings came, they fought; the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, but they carried off no silver, no plunder.

20

From the heavens the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera.

21

The river Kishon swept them away, the age-old river, the river Kishon. March on, my soul; be strong!

22

Then thundered the horses' hoofs-- 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.

25

He asked for water, and she gave him milk; in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk.

26

Her 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.

27

At 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?'

29

The wisest of her ladies answer her; indeed, she keeps saying to herself,

30

`Are they not finding and dividing the spoils: a girl or two for each man, colorful garments as plunder for Sisera, colorful garments embroidered, highly embroidered garments for my neck-- all this as plunder?'

31

"So may all your enemies perish, O LORD! But may they who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength." Then the land had peace forty years.

Judges 6

1

Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites.

2

Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds.

3

Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country.

4

They 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.

5

They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count the men and their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it.

6

Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the LORD for help.

7

When the Israelites cried to the LORD because of Midian,

8

he 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.

9

I snatched you from the power of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors. I drove them from before you and gave you their land.

10

I 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."

11

The 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.

12

When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior."

13

"But sir," Gideon replied, "if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, `Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian."

14

The LORD turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?"

15

"But Lord, " Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."

16

The LORD answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together."

17

Gideon replied, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me.

18

Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you." And the LORD said, "I will wait until you return."

19

Gideon went in, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.

20

The 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.

21

With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angel of the LORD touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the LORD disappeared.

22

When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he exclaimed, "Ah, Sovereign LORD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!"

23

But the LORD said to him, "Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die."

24

So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

25

That 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.

26

Then 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."

27

So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the LORD told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the men of the town, he did it at night rather than in the daytime.

28

In the morning when the men of the town got up, there was Baal's altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar!

29

They asked each other, "Who did this?" When they carefully investigated, they were told, "Gideon son of Joash did it."

30

The men of the town demanded of Joash, "Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal's altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it."

31

But 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."

32

So that day they called Gideon "Jerub-Baal, " saying, "Let Baal contend with him," because he broke down Baal's altar.

33

Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined forces and crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.

34

Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him.

35

He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet them.

36

Gideon said to God, "If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised--

37

look, 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."

38

And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew--a bowlful of water.

39

Then 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. This time make the fleece dry and the ground covered with dew."

40

That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

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