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64 3 John - American Standard-ASV1901 (ASV).md

# 3 John - American Standard-ASV1901 (ASV) **[1:1]** The elder unto Gaius the beloved, whom I love in truth. **[1:2]** Beloved, I pray that in all things thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. **[1:3]** For I rejoiced greatly, when brethren came and bare witness unto thy truth, even as thou walkest in truth. **[1:4]** Greater joy have I none than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth. **[1:5]** Beloved, thou doest a faithful work in whatsoever thou doest toward them that are brethren and strangers withal; **[1:6]** who bare witness to thy love before the church: whom thou wilt do well to set forward on their journey worthily of God: **[1:7]** because that for the sake of the Name they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles. **[1:8]** We therefore ought to welcome such, that we may be fellow-workers for the truth. **[1:9]** I wrote somewhat unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. **[1:10]** Therefore, if I come, I will bring to remembrance his works which he doeth, prating against us with wicked words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and them that would he forbiddeth and casteth `them' out of the church. **[1:11]** Beloved, imitate not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: he that doeth evil hath not seen God. **[1:12]** Demetrius hath the witness of all `men', and of the truth itself: yea, we also bear witness: and thou knowest that our witness is true. **[1:13]** I had many things to write unto thee, but I am unwilling to write `them' to thee with ink and pen: **[1:14]** but I hope shortly to see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace `be' unto thee. The friends salute thee. Salute the friends by name.

64 3 John - Bible in Basic English (BBE).md

# 3 John - Bible in Basic English (BBE) **[1:1]** I, a ruler in the church, send word to the well loved Gaius, for whom I have true love. **[1:2]** My loved one, it is my prayer that you may do well in all things, and be healthy in body, even as your soul does well. **[1:3]** For it gave me great joy when some of the brothers came and gave witness that you had the true faith and were walking in the true way. **[1:4]** I have no greater joy than to have news that my children are walking in the true way. **[1:5]** My loved one, you are doing a good work in being kind to those brothers who come from other places; **[1:6]** Who have given witness to the church of your love for them: and you will do well to send them on their way well cared for, as is right for servants of God: **[1:7]** For they went out for love of the Name, taking nothing from the Gentiles. **[1:8]** So it is right for us to take in such men as guests, so that we may take our part in the work of the true faith. **[1:9]** I sent a letter to the church, but Diotrephes, whose desire is ever to have the first place among them, will not have us there. **[1:10]** So if I come, I will keep in mind the things he does, talking against us with evil words: and as if this was not enough, he does not take the brothers into his house, and those who are ready to take them in, he keeps from doing so, putting them out of the church if they do. **[1:11]** My loved one, do not be copying what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God: he who does evil has not seen God. **[1:12]** Demetrius has the approval of all men and of what is true: and we give the same witness, and you are certain that our witness is true. **[1:13]** I had much to say to you, but it is not my purpose to put it all down with ink and pen: **[1:14]** But I am hoping to see you in a short time, and to have talk with you face to face. **[1:15]** May you have peace. Your friends here send you their love. Give my love to our friends by name.

64 3 John - King James Version (KJV).md

# 3 John - King James Version (KJV) **[1:1]** The elder unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth. **[1:2]** Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. **[1:3]** For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. **[1:4]** I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. **[1:5]** Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers; **[1:6]** Which have borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well: **[1:7]** Because that for his name's sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles. **[1:8]** We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth. **[1:9]** I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. **[1:10]** Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church. **[1:11]** Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God. **[1:12]** Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself: yea, and we also bear record; and ye know that our record is true. **[1:13]** I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee: **[1:14]** But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be to thee. Our friends salute thee. Greet the friends by name.

64 3 John - World English Bible (WEB).md

# 3 John - World English Bible (WEB) **[1:1]** The elder to Gaius the beloved, whom I love in truth. **[1:2]** Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be healthy, even as your soul prospers. **[1:3]** For I rejoiced greatly, when brothers came and testified about your truth, even as you walk in truth. **[1:4]** I have no greater joy than this, to hear about my children walking in truth. **[1:5]** Beloved, you do a faithful work in whatever you accomplish for those who are brothers and strangers. **[1:6]** They have testified about your love before the assembly. You will do well to send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God, **[1:7]** because for the sake of the Name they went out, taking nothing from the Gentiles. **[1:8]** We therefore ought to receive such, that we may be fellow workers for the truth. **[1:9]** I wrote to the assembly, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, doesn't accept what we say. **[1:10]** Therefore, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words. Not content with this, neither does he himself receive the brothers, and those who would, he forbids and throws out of the assembly. **[1:11]** Beloved, don't imitate that which is evil, but that which is good. He who does good is of God. He who does evil hasn't seen God. **[1:12]** Demetrius has the testimony of all, and of the truth itself; yes, we also testify, and you know that our testimony is true. **[1:13]** I had many things to write to you, but I am unwilling to write to you with ink and pen; **[1:14]** but I hope to see you soon, and we will speak face to face. Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends by name.

64 3 John - Young's Literal Translation (YLT).md

# 3 John - Young's Literal Translation (YLT) **[1:1]** The Elder to Gaius the beloved, whom I love in truth! **[1:2]** beloved, concerning all things I desire thee to prosper, and to be in health, even as thy soul doth prosper, **[1:3]** for I rejoiced exceedingly, brethren coming and testifying of the truth in thee, even as thou in truth dost walk; **[1:4]** greater than these things I have no joy, that I may hear of my children in truth walking. **[1:5]** Beloved, faithfully dost thou do whatever thou mayest work to the brethren and to the strangers, **[1:6]** who did testify of thy love before an assembly, whom thou wilt do well, having sent forward worthily of God, **[1:7]** because for `His' name they went forth, nothing receiving from the nations; **[1:8]** we, then, ought to receive such, that fellow-workers we may become to the truth. **[1:9]** I did write to the assembly, but he who is loving the first place among them -- Diotrephes -- doth not receive us; **[1:10]** because of this, if I may come, I will cause him to remember his works that he doth, with evil words prating against us; and not content with these, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and those intending he doth forbid, and out of the assembly he doth cast. **[1:11]** Beloved, be not thou following that which is evil, but that which is good; he who is doing good, of God he is, and he who is doing evil hath not seen God; **[1:12]** to Demetrius testimony hath been given by all, and by the truth itself, and we also -- we do testify, and ye have known that our testimony is true. **[1:13]** Many things I had to write, but I do not wish through ink and pen to write to thee, **[1:14]** and I hope straightway to see thee, and mouth to mouth we shall speak. Peace to thee! salute thee do the friends; be saluting the friends by name.

65 Jude - American Standard-ASV1901 (ASV).md

# Jude - American Standard-ASV1901 (ASV) **[1:1]** Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ: **[1:2]** Mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied. **[1:3]** Beloved, while I was giving all diligence to write unto you of our common salvation, I was constrained to write unto you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints. **[1:4]** For there are certain men crept in privily, `even' they who were of old written of beforehand unto this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. **[1:5]** Now I desire to put you in remembrance, though ye know all things once for all, that the Lord, having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. **[1:6]** And angels that kept not their own principality, but left their proper habitation, he hath kept in everlasting bonds under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. **[1:7]** Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them, having in like manner with these given themselves over to fornication and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire. **[1:8]** Yet in like manner these also in their dreamings defile the flesh, and set at nought dominion, and rail at dignities. **[1:9]** But Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing judgment, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. **[1:10]** But these rail at whatsoever things they know not: and what they understand naturally, like the creatures without reason, in these things are they destroyed. **[1:11]** Woe unto them! For they went in the way of Cain, and ran riotously in the error of Balaam for hire, and perished in the gainsaying of Korah. **[1:12]** These are they who are hidden rocks in your love-feasts when they feast with you, shepherds that without fear feed themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn leaves without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; **[1:13]** Wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the blackness of darkness hath been reserved forever. **[1:14]** And to these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones, **[1:15]** to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their works of ungodliness which they have ungodly wrought, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. **[1:16]** These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their lusts (and their mouth speaketh great swelling `words'), showing respect of persons for the sake of advantage. **[1:17]** But ye, beloved, remember ye the words which have been spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; **[1:18]** That they said to you, In the last time there shall be mockers, walking after their own ungodly lusts. **[1:19]** These are they who make separations, sensual, having not the Spirit. **[1:20]** But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, **[1:21]** keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. **[1:22]** And on some have mercy, who are in doubt; **[1:23]** and some save, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. **[1:24]** Now unto him that is able to guard you from stumbling, and to set you before the presence of his glory without blemish in exceeding joy, **[1:25]** to the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, `be' glory, majesty, dominion and power, before all time, and now, and for evermore. Amen.

65 Jude - Bible in Basic English (BBE).md

# Jude - Bible in Basic English (BBE) **[1:1]** Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and the brother of James, to those of God's selection who have been made holy by God the Father and are kept safe for Jesus Christ: **[1:2]** May mercy and peace and love be increased in you. **[1:3]** My loved ones, while my thoughts were full of a letter which I was going to send you about our common salvation, it was necessary for me to send you one requesting you with all my heart to go on fighting strongly for the faith which has been given to the saints once and for ever. **[1:4]** For certain men have come among you secretly, marked out before in the holy Writings for this evil fate, men without the fear of God, turning his grace into an unclean thing, and false to our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. **[1:5]** Now it is my purpose to put you in mind, though you once had knowledge of all these things, of how the Lord, having taken a people safely out of Egypt, later sent destruction on those who had no faith; **[1:6]** And the angels who did not keep to their kingdom but went out from the place which was theirs, he has put in eternal chains and in dark night till the great day of the judging. **[1:7]** Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the towns near them, having like these, given themselves up to unclean desires and gone after strange flesh, have been made an example, undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. **[1:8]** In the same way these dreamers make the flesh unclean, having no respect for authorities, and say evil of rulers. **[1:9]** Now when Michael, one of the chief angels, was fighting against the Evil One for the body of Moses, fearing to make use of violent words against him, he only said, May the Lord be your judge. **[1:10]** But these men say evil about such things as they have no knowledge of; and the things of which they have natural knowledge, like beasts without reason, are the cause of their destruction. **[1:11]** A curse on them! They have gone in the way of Cain, running uncontrolled into the error of Balaam for reward, and have come to destruction by saying evil against the Lord, like Korah. **[1:12]** These men are unseen rocks at your love-feasts, when they take part in them with you, keepers of sheep who without fear take the food of the sheep; clouds without water rushing before the wind, wasted trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots, **[1:13]** Violent waves of the sea, streaming with their shame, wandering stars for whom the darkest night is kept in store for ever. **[1:14]** The prophet Enoch, who was the seventh after Adam, said of these men, The Lord came with tens of thousands of his saints, **[1:15]** To be the judge of all, and to give a decision against all those whose lives are unpleasing to him, because of the evil acts which they have done, and because of all the hard things which sinners without fear of God have said against him. **[1:16]** These are the men who make trouble, ever desiring change, going after evil pleasures, using high-sounding words, respecting men's position in the hope of reward. **[1:17]** But you, my loved ones, keep in memory the words which were said before by the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, **[1:18]** How they said to you, In the last days there will be men who, guided by their evil desires, will make sport of holy things. **[1:19]** These are the men who make divisions, natural men, not having the Spirit. **[1:20]** But you, my loved ones, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, and making prayers in the Holy Spirit, **[1:21]** Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for life eternal through the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. **[1:22]** And have pity on those who are in doubt; **[1:23]** And to some give salvation, pulling them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the clothing which is made unclean by the flesh. **[1:24]** Now to him who is able to keep you from falling, and to give you a place in his glory, free from all evil, with great joy, **[1:25]** To the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, let us give glory and honour and authority and power, before all time and now and for ever. So be it.

65 Jude - King James Version (KJV).md

# Jude - King James Version (KJV) **[1:1]** Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called: **[1:2]** Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied. **[1:3]** Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. **[1:4]** For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. **[1:5]** I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. **[1:6]** And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. **[1:7]** Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. **[1:8]** Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. **[1:9]** Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. **[1:10]** But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. **[1:11]** Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. **[1:12]** These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; **[1:13]** Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. **[1:14]** And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, **[1:15]** To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. **[1:16]** These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage. **[1:17]** But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; **[1:18]** How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. **[1:19]** These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. **[1:20]** But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, **[1:21]** Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. **[1:22]** And of some have compassion, making a difference: **[1:23]** And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. **[1:24]** Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, **[1:25]** To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

65 Jude - World English Bible (WEB).md

# Jude - World English Bible (WEB) **[1:1]** Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ: **[1:2]** Mercy to you and peace and love be multiplied. **[1:3]** Beloved, while I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I was constrained to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. **[1:4]** For there are certain men who crept in secretly, even those who were long ago written about for this condemnation: ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying our only Master, God, and Lord, Jesus Christ. **[1:5]** Now I desire to remind you, though you already know this, that the Lord, having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who didn't believe. **[1:6]** Angels who didn't keep their first domain, but deserted their own dwelling place, he has kept in everlasting bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day. **[1:7]** Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them, having, in the same way as these, given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire. **[1:8]** Yet in like manner these also in their dreaming defile the flesh, despise authority, and slander celestial beings. **[1:9]** But Michael, the archangel, when contending with the devil and arguing about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him an abusive condemnation, but said, "May the Lord rebuke you!" **[1:10]** But these speak evil of whatever things they don't know. What they understand naturally, like the creatures without reason, in these things are they destroyed. **[1:11]** Woe to them! For they went in the way of Cain, and ran riotously in the error of Balaam for hire, and perished in Korah's rebellion. **[1:12]** These are hidden rocky reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you, shepherds who without fear feed themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn leaves without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; **[1:13]** wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever. **[1:14]** About these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones, **[1:15]** to execute judgment on all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their works of ungodliness which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." **[1:16]** These are murmurers and complainers, walking after their lusts (and their mouth speaks proud things), showing respect of persons to gain advantage. **[1:17]** But you, beloved, remember the words which have been spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. **[1:18]** They said to you that "In the last time there will be mockers, walking after their own ungodly lusts." **[1:19]** These are they who cause divisions, and are sensual, not having the Spirit. **[1:20]** But you, beloved, keep building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. **[1:21]** Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. **[1:22]** On some have compassion, making a distinction, **[1:23]** and some save, snatching them out of the fire with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh. **[1:24]** Now to him who is able to keep them from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory in great joy, **[1:25]** to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.

65 Jude - Young's Literal Translation (YLT).md

# Jude - Young's Literal Translation (YLT) **[1:1]** Judas, of Jesus Christ a servant, and brother of James, to those sanctified in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ kept -- called, **[1:2]** kindness to you, and peace, and love, be multiplied! **[1:3]** Beloved, all diligence using to write to you concerning the common salvation, I had necessity to write to you, exhorting to agonize for the faith once delivered to the saints, **[1:4]** for there did come in unobserved certain men, long ago having been written beforehand to this judgment, impious, the grace of our God perverting to lasciviousness, and our only Master, God, and Lord -- Jesus Christ -- denying, **[1:5]** and to remind you I intend, you knowing once this, that the Lord, a people out of the land of Egypt having saved, again those who did not believe did destroy; **[1:6]** messengers also, those who did not keep their own principality, but did leave their proper dwelling, to a judgment of a great day, in bonds everlasting, under darkness He hath kept, **[1:7]** as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them, in like manner to these, having given themselves to whoredom, and gone after other flesh, have been set before -- an example, of fire age-during, justice suffering. **[1:8]** In like manner, nevertheless, those dreaming also the flesh indeed do defile, and lordship they put away, and dignities they speak evil of, **[1:9]** yet Michael, the chief messenger, when, with the devil contending, he was disputing about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring up an evil-speaking judgment, but said, `The Lord rebuke thee!' **[1:10]** and these, as many things indeed as they have not known, they speak evil of; and as many things as naturally (as the irrational beasts) they understand, in these they are corrupted; **[1:11]** wo to them! because in the way of Cain they did go on, and to the deceit of Balaam for reward they did rush, and in the gainsaying of Korah they did perish. **[1:12]** These are in your love-feasts craggy rocks; feasting together with you, without fear shepherding themselves; clouds without water, by winds carried about; trees autumnal, without fruit, twice dead, rooted up; **[1:13]** wild waves of a sea, foaming out their own shames; stars going astray, to whom the gloom of the darkness to the age hath been kept. **[1:14]** And prophesy also to these did the seventh from Adam -- Enoch -- saying, `Lo, the Lord did come in His saintly myriads, **[1:15]** to do judgment against all, and to convict all their impious ones, concerning all their works of impiety that they did impiously, and concerning all the stiff things that speak against Him did impious sinners.' **[1:16]** These are murmurers, repiners; according to their desires walking, and their mouth doth speak great swellings, giving admiration to persons for the sake of profit; **[1:17]** and ye, beloved, remember ye the sayings spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: **[1:18]** that they said to you, that in the last time there shall be scoffers, after their own desires of impieties going on, **[1:19]** these are those setting themselves apart, natural men, the Spirit not having. **[1:20]** And ye, beloved, on your most holy faith building yourselves up, in the Holy Spirit praying, **[1:21]** yourselves in the love of God keep ye, waiting for the kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ -- to life age-during; **[1:22]** and to some be kind, judging thoroughly, **[1:23]** and some in fear save ye, out of the fire snatching, hating even the coat from the flesh spotted. **[1:24]** And to Him who is able to guard you not stumbling, and to set `you' in the presence of His glory unblemished, in gladness, **[1:25]** to the only wise God our Saviour, `is' glory and greatness, power and authority, both now and to all the ages! Amen.

66 Revelation - American Standard-ASV1901 (ASV).md

# Revelation - American Standard-ASV1901 (ASV) **[1:1]** The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show unto his servants, `even' the things which must shortly come to pass: and he sent and signified `it' by his angel unto his servant John; **[1:2]** who bare witness of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, `even' of all things that he saw. **[1:3]** Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein: for the time is at hand. **[1:4]** John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from him who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits that are before his throne; **[1:5]** and from Jesus Christ, `who is' the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by his blood; **[1:6]** and he made us `to be' a kingdom, `to be' priests unto his God and Father; to him `be' the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen. **[1:7]** Behold, he cometh with the clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they that pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over him. Even so, Amen. **[1:8]** I am the Alpha and the Omega, saith the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. **[1:9]** I John, your brother and partaker with you in tribulation and kingdom and patience `which are' in Jesus, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. **[1:10]** I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet **[1:11]** saying, What thou seest, write in a book and send `it' to the seven churches: unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamum, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. **[1:12]** And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And having turned I saw seven golden candlesticks; **[1:13]** and in the midst of the candlesticks one like unto a son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about at the breasts with a golden girdle. **[1:14]** And his head and his hair were white as white wool, `white' as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; **[1:15]** and his feet like unto burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace; and his voice as the voice of many waters. **[1:16]** And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. **[1:17]** And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying, Fear not; I am the first and the last, **[1:18]** and the Living one; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. **[1:19]** Write therefore the things which thou sawest, and the things which are, and the things which shall come to pass hereafter; **[1:20]** the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks are seven churches. **[2:1]** To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, he that walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks: **[2:2]** I know thy works, and thy toil and patience, and that thou canst not bear evil men, and didst try them that call themselves apostles, and they are not, and didst find them false; **[2:3]** and thou hast patience and didst bear for my name's sake, and hast not grown weary. **[2:4]** But I have `this' against thee, that thou didst leave thy first love. **[2:5]** Remember therefore whence thou art fallen, and repent and do the first works; or else I come to thee, and will move thy candlestick out of its place, except thou repent. **[2:6]** But this thou hast, that thou hatest the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. **[2:7]** He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. To him that overcometh, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God. **[2:8]** And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These things saith the first and the last, who was dead, and lived `again': **[2:9]** I know thy tribulation, and thy poverty (but thou art rich), and the blasphemy of them that say they are Jews, and they art not, but are a synagogue of Satan. **[2:10]** Fear not the things which thou art about to suffer: behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life. **[2:11]** He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. **[2:12]** and to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These things saith he that hath the sharp two-edged sword: **[2:13]** I know where thou dwellest, `even' where Satan's throne is; and thou holdest fast my name, and didst not deny my faith, even in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwelleth. **[2:14]** But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there some that hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication. **[2:15]** So hast thou also some that hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans in like manner. **[2:16]** Repent therefore; or else I come to thee quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of my mouth. **[2:17]** He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. To him that overcometh, to him will I give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written, which no one knoweth but he that receiveth it. **[2:18]** And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet are like unto burnished brass: **[2:19]** I know thy works, and thy love and faith and ministry and patience, and that thy last works are more than the first. **[2:20]** But I have `this' against thee, that thou sufferest the woman Jezebel, who calleth herself a prophetess; and she teacheth and seduceth my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed to idols. **[2:21]** And I gave her time that she should repent; and she willeth not to repent of her fornication. **[2:22]** Behold, I cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of her works. **[2:23]** And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he that searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto each one of you according to your works. **[2:24]** But to you I say, to the rest that are in Thyatira, as many as have not this teaching, who know not the deep things of Satan, as they are wont to say; I cast upon you none other burden. **[2:25]** Nevertheless that which ye have, hold fast till I come. **[2:26]** And he that overcometh, and he that keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give authority over the nations: **[2:27]** and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to shivers; as I also have received of my Father: **[2:28]** and I will give him the morning star. **[2:29]** He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. **[3:1]** And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars: I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and thou art dead. **[3:2]** Be thou watchful, and establish the things that remain, which were ready to die: for I have found no works of thine perfected before my God. **[3:3]** Remember therefore how thou hast received and didst hear; and keep `it', and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. **[3:4]** But thou hast a few names in Sardis that did not defile their garments: and they shall walk with me in white; for they are worthy. **[3:5]** He that overcometh shall thus be arrayed in white garments; and I will in no wise blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. **[3:6]** He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. **[3:7]** And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and none shall shut, and that shutteth and none openeth: **[3:8]** I know thy works (behold, I have set before thee a door opened, which none can shut), that thou hast a little power, and didst keep my word, and didst not deny my name. **[3:9]** Behold, I give of the synagogue of Satan, of them that say they are Jews, and they are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. **[3:10]** Because thou didst keep the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of trial, that `hour' which is to come upon the whole world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. **[3:11]** I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown. **[3:12]** He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out thence no more: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and mine own new name. **[3:13]** He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. **[3:14]** And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God: **[3:15]** I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. **[3:16]** So because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of my mouth. **[3:17]** Because thou sayest, I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art the wretched one and miserable and poor and blind and naked: **[3:18]** I counsel thee to buy of me gold refined by fire, that thou mayest become rich; and white garments, that thou mayest clothe thyself, and `that' the shame of thy nakedness be not made manifest; and eyesalve to anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see. **[3:19]** As many as I love, I reprove and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. **[3:20]** Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. **[3:21]** He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne. **[3:22]** He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. **[4:1]** After these things I saw, and behold, a door opened in heaven, and the first voice that I heard, `a voice' as of a trumpet speaking with me, one saying, Come up hither, and I will show thee the things which must come to pass hereafter. **[4:2]** Straightway I was in the Spirit: and behold, there was a throne set in heaven, and one sitting upon the throne; **[4:3]** and he that sat `was' to look upon like a jasper stone and a sardius: and `there was' a rainbow round about the throne, like an emerald to look upon. **[4:4]** And round about the throne `were' four and twenty thrones: and upon the thrones `I saw' four and twenty elders sitting, arrayed in white garments; and on their heads crowns of gold. **[4:5]** And out of the throne proceed lightnings and voices and thunders. And `there was' seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; **[4:6]** and before the throne, as it were a sea of glass like a crystal; and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, four living creatures full of eyes before and behind. **[4:7]** And the first creature `was' like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face as of a man, and the fourth creature `was' like a flying eagle. **[4:8]** and the four living creatures, having each one of them six wings, are full of eyes round about and within: and they have no rest day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, `is' the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come. **[4:9]** And when the living creatures shall give glory and honor and thanks to him that sitteth on the throne, to him that liveth for ever and ever, **[4:10]** the four and twenty elders shall fall down before him that sitteth on the throne, and shall worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and shall cast their crowns before the throne, saying, **[4:11]** Worthy art thou, our Lord and our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power: for thou didst create all things, and because of thy will they were, and were created. **[5:1]** And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the back, close sealed with seven seals. **[5:2]** And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a great voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? **[5:3]** And no one in the heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book, or to look thereon. **[5:4]** And I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open the book, or to look thereon: **[5:5]** and one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not; behold, the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath overcome to open the book and the seven seals thereof. **[5:6]** And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth. **[5:7]** And he came, and he taketh `it' out of the right hand of him that sat on the throne. **[5:8]** And when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. **[5:9]** And they sing a new song, saying, Worthy art thou to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou was slain, and didst purchase unto God with thy blood `men' of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, **[5:10]** and madest them `to be' unto our God a kingdom and priests; and they reign upon earth. **[5:11]** And I saw, and I heard a voice of many angels round about the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; **[5:12]** saying with a great voice, Worthy is the Lamb that hath been slain to receive the power, and riches, and wisdom, and might and honor, and glory, and blessing. **[5:13]** And every created thing which is in the heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and all things are in them, heard I saying, Unto him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb, `be' the blessing, and the honor, and the glory, and the dominion, for ever and ever. **[5:14]** And the four living creatures said, Amen. And the elders fell down and worshipped. **[6:1]** And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, Come. **[6:2]** And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat thereon had a bow; and there was given unto him a crown: and he came forth conquering, and to conquer. **[6:3]** And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, Come. **[6:4]** And another `horse' came forth, a red horse: and to him that sat thereon it was given to take peace from the earth, and that they should slay one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. **[6:5]** And when he opened the first seal, I heard the third living creature saying, Come. And I saw, and behold, a black horse; and he that sat thereon had a balance in his hand. **[6:6]** And I heard as it were a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, A measure of wheat for a shilling, and three measures of barley for a shilling; and the oil and the wine hurt thou not. **[6:7]** And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, Come. **[6:8]** And I saw, and behold, a pale horse: and he that sat upon him, his name was Death; and Hades followed with him. And there was given unto them authority over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with famine, and with death, and by the wild beasts of the earth. **[6:9]** And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of them that had been slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: **[6:10]** and they cried with a great voice, saying, How long, O Master, the holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? **[6:11]** And there was given them to each one a white robe; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little time, until their fellow-servants also and their brethren, who should be killed even as they were, should have fulfilled `their course'. **[6:12]** And I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon became as blood; **[6:13]** and the stars of the heaven fell unto the earth, as a fig tree casteth her unripe figs when she is shaken of a great wind. **[6:14]** And the heaven was removed as a scroll when it is rolled up; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. **[6:15]** And the kings of the earth, and the princes, and the chief captains, and the rich, and the strong, and every bondman and freeman, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains; **[6:16]** and they say to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: **[6:17]** for the great day of their wrath is come; and who is able to stand? **[7:1]** After his I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that no wind should blow on the earth, or on the sea, or upon any tree. **[7:2]** And I saw another angel ascend from the sunrising, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a great voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, **[7:3]** saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we shall have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. **[7:4]** And I heard the number of them that were sealed, a hundred and forty and four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel: **[7:5]** Of the tribe of Judah `were' sealed twelve thousand: Of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand; **[7:6]** Of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand; **[7:7]** Of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand; **[7:8]** Of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Benjamin `were' sealed twelve thousand. **[7:9]** After these things I saw, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of `all' tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands; **[7:10]** and they cry with a great voice, saying, Salvation unto our God who sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb. **[7:11]** And all the angels were standing round about the throne, and `about' the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, **[7:12]** saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, `be' unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. **[7:13]** And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, These that are arrayed in white robes, who are they, and whence came they? **[7:14]** And I say unto him, My lord, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they that come of the great tribulation, and they washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. **[7:15]** Therefore are they before the throne of God; and they serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall spread his tabernacle over them. **[7:16]** They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun strike upon them, nor any heat: **[7:17]** for the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall be their shepherd, and shall guide them unto fountains of waters of life: and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes. **[8:1]** And when he opened the seventh seal, there followed a silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. **[8:2]** And I saw the seven angels that stand before God; and there were given unto them seven trumpets. **[8:3]** And another angel came and stood over the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should add it unto the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. **[8:4]** And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel's hand. **[8:5]** And the angel taketh the censer; and he filled it with the fire of the altar, and cast it upon the earth: and there followed thunders, and voices, and lightnings, and an earthquake. **[8:6]** And the seven angels that had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. **[8:7]** And the first sounded, and there followed hail and fire, mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of the earth was burnt up, and the third part of the trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. **[8:8]** And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; **[8:9]** and there died the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, `even' they that had life; and the third part of the ships was destroyed. **[8:10]** And the third angel sounded, and there fell from heaven a great star, burning as a torch, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of the waters; **[8:11]** and the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter. **[8:12]** And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; that the third part of them should be darkened, and the day should not shine for the third part of it, and the night in like manner. **[8:13]** And I saw, and I heard an eagle, flying in mid heaven, saying with a great voice, Woe, woe, woe, for them that dwell on the earth, by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, who are yet to sound. **[9:1]** And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven fallen unto the earth: and there was given to him the key of the pit of the abyss. **[9:2]** And he opened the pit of the abyss; and there went up a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. **[9:3]** And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth; and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. **[9:4]** And it was said unto them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only such men as have not the seal of God on their foreheads. **[9:5]** And it was given them that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when it striketh a man. **[9:6]** And in those days men shall seek death, and shall in no wise find it; and they shall desire to die, and death fleeth from them. **[9:7]** And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared for war; and upon their heads as it were crowns like unto gold, and their faces were as men's faces. **[9:8]** And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as `teeth' of lions. **[9:9]** And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to war. **[9:10]** And they have tails like unto scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to hurt men five months. **[9:11]** They have over them as king the angel of the abyss: his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek `tongue' he hath the name Apollyon. **[9:12]** The first Woe is past: behold, there come yet two Woes hereafter. **[9:13]** And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar which is before God, **[9:14]** one saying to the sixth angel that had one trumpet, Loose the four angels that are bound at the great river Euphrates. **[9:15]** And the four angels were loosed, that had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, that they should kill the third part of men. **[9:16]** And the number of the armies of the horsemen was twice ten thousand times ten thousand: I heard the number of them. **[9:17]** And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates `as' of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone: and the heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceedeth fire and smoke and brimstone. **[9:18]** By these three plagues was the third part of men killed, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone, which proceeded out of their mouths. **[9:19]** For the power of the horses is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails are like unto serpents, and have heads; and with them they hurt. **[9:20]** And the rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood; which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk: **[9:21]** and they repented not of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. **[10:1]** And I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, arrayed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire; **[10:2]** and he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left upon the earth; **[10:3]** and he cried with a great voice, as a lion roareth: and when he cried, the seven thunders uttered their voices. **[10:4]** And when the seven thunders uttered `their voices', I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying, Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. **[10:5]** And the angel that I saw standing upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his right hand to heaven, **[10:6]** and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created the heaven and the things that are therein, and the earth and the things that are therein, and the sea and the things that are therein, that there shall be delay no longer: **[10:7]** but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then is finished they mystery of God, according to the good tidings which he declared to his servants the prophets. **[10:8]** And the voice which I heard from heaven, `I heard it' again speaking with me, and saying, Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel that standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. **[10:9]** And I went unto the angel, saying unto him that he should give me the little book. And he saith unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but in thy mouth it shall be sweet as honey. **[10:10]** And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and when I had eaten it, my belly was made bitter. **[10:11]** And they say unto me, Thou must prophesy again over many peoples and nations and tongues and kings. **[11:1]** And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and one said, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. **[11:2]** And the court which is without the temple leave without, and measure it not; for it hath been given unto the nations: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. **[11:3]** And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. **[11:4]** These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks, standing before the Lord of the earth. **[11:5]** And if any man desireth to hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their enemies; and if any man shall desire to hurt them, in this manner must he be killed. **[11:6]** These have the power to shut the heaven, that it rain not during the days of their prophecy: and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they shall desire. **[11:7]** And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that cometh up out of the abyss shall make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them. **[11:8]** And their dead bodies `lie' in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. **[11:9]** And from among the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations do `men' look upon their dead bodies three days and a half, and suffer not their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. **[11:10]** And they that dwell on the earth rejoice over them, and make merry; and they shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth. **[11:11]** And after the three days and a half the breath of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them that beheld them. **[11:12]** And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they went up into heaven in the cloud; and their enemies beheld them. **[11:13]** And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell; and there were killed in the earthquake seven thousand persons: and the rest were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. **[11:14]** The second Woe is past: behold, the third Woe cometh quickly. **[11:15]** And the seventh angel sounded; and there followed great voices in heaven, and they said, The kingdom of the world is become `the kingdom' of our Lord, and of his Christ: and he shall reign for ever and ever. **[11:16]** And the four and twenty elders, who sit before God on their thrones, fell upon their faces and worshipped God, **[11:17]** saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who art and who wast; because thou hast taken thy great power, and didst reign. **[11:18]** And the nations were wroth, and thy wrath came, and the time of the dead to be judged, and `the time' to give their reward to thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear thy name, the small and the great; and to destroy them that destroy the earth. **[11:19]** And there was opened the temple of God that is in heaven; and there was seen in his temple the ark of his covenant; and there followed lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake, and great hail. **[12:1]** And a great sign was seen in heaven: a woman arrayed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars; **[12:2]** and she was with child; and she crieth out, travailing in birth, and in pain to be delivered. **[12:3]** And there was seen another sign in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his heads seven diadems. **[12:4]** And his tail draweth the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon standeth before the woman that is about to be delivered, that when she is delivered he may devour her child. **[12:5]** And she was delivered of a son, a man child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and unto his throne. **[12:6]** And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that there they may nourish her a thousand two hundred and threescore days. **[12:7]** And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels `going forth' to war with the dragon; and the dragon warred and his angels; **[12:8]** And they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven. **[12:9]** And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him. **[12:10]** And I heard a great voice in heaven, saying, Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, who accuseth them before our God day and night. **[12:11]** And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony; and they loved not their life even unto death. **[12:12]** Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe for the earth and for the sea: because the devil is gone down unto you, having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time. **[12:13]** And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he persecuted the woman that brought forth the man `child'. **[12:14]** And there were given to the woman the two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness unto her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. **[12:15]** And the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman water as a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream. **[12:16]** And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon cast out of his mouth. **[12:17]** And the dragon waxed wroth with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her seed, that keep the commandments of God, and hold the testimony of Jesus: **[13:1]** and he stood upon the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns, and seven heads, and on his horns ten diadems, and upon his heads names of blasphemy. **[13:2]** And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as `the feet' of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his throne, and great authority. **[13:3]** And `I saw' one of his heads as though it had been smitten unto death; and his death-stroke was healed: and the whole earth wondered after the beast; **[13:4]** and they worshipped the dragon, because he gave his authority unto the beast; and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? And who is able to war with him? **[13:5]** and there was given to him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and there was given to him authority to continue forty and two months. **[13:6]** And he opened his mouth for blasphemies against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, `even' them that dwell in the heaven. **[13:7]** And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and there was given to him authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation. **[13:8]** And all that dwell on the earth shall worship him, `every one' whose name hath not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that hath been slain. **[13:9]** If any man hath an ear, let him hear. **[13:10]** If any man `is' for captivity, into captivity he goeth: if any man shall kill with the sword, with the sword must he be killed. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. **[13:11]** And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like unto lamb, and he spake as a dragon. **[13:12]** And he exerciseth all the authority of the first beast in his sight. And he maketh the earth and them dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose death-stroke was healed. **[13:13]** And he doeth great signs, that he should even make fire to come down out of heaven upon the earth in the sight of men. **[13:14]** And he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by reason of the signs which it was given him to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast who hath the stroke of the sword and lived. **[13:15]** And it was given `unto him' to give breath to it, `even' to the image to the breast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as should not worship the image of the beast should be killed. **[13:16]** And he causeth all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the bond, that there be given them a mark on their right hand, or upon their forehead; **[13:17]** and that no man should be able to buy or to sell, save he that hath the mark, `even' the name of the beast or the number of his name. **[13:18]** Here is wisdom. He that hath understanding, let him count the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man: and his number is Six hundred and sixty and six. **[14:1]** And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on the mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty and four thousand, having his name, and the name of his Father, written on their foreheads. **[14:2]** And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and the voice which I heard `was' as `the voice' of harpers harping with their harps: **[14:3]** and they sing as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders: and no man could learn the song save the hundred and forty and four thousand, `even' they that had been purchased out of the earth. **[14:4]** These are they that were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These `are' they that follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were purchased from among men, `to be' the firstfruits unto God and unto the Lamb. **[14:5]** And in their mouth was found no lie: they are without blemish. **[14:6]** And I saw another angel flying in mid heaven, having eternal good tidings to proclaim unto them that dwell on the earth, and unto every nation and tribe and tongue and people; **[14:7]** and he saith with a great voice, Fear God, and give him glory; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made the heaven and the earth and sea and fountains of waters. **[14:8]** And another, a second angel, followed, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, that hath made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. **[14:9]** And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a great voice, If any man worshippeth the beast and his image, and receiveth a mark on his forehead, or upon his hand, **[14:10]** he also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: **[14:11]** and the smoke of their torment goeth up for ever and ever; and they have no rest day and night, they that worship the beast and his image, and whoso receiveth the mark of his name. **[14:12]** Here is the patience of the saints, they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. **[14:13]** And I heard the voice from heaven saying, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; for their works follow with them. **[14:14]** And I saw, and behold, a white cloud; and on the cloud `I saw' one sitting like unto a son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand sharp sickle. **[14:15]** And another angel came out from the temple, crying with a great voice to him that sat on the cloud, Send forth thy sickle, and reap: for the hour to reap is come; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. **[14:16]** And he that sat on the cloud cast his sickle upon the earth; and the earth was reaped. **[14:17]** Another angel came out from the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. **[14:18]** And another angel came out from the altar, he that hath power over fire; and he called with a great voice to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Send forth thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. **[14:19]** And the angel cast his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vintage of the earth, and cast it into the winepress, the great `winepress', of the wrath of God. **[14:20]** And the winepress are trodden without the city, and there came out blood from the winepress, even unto the bridles of the horses, as far as a thousand and six hundred furlongs. **[15:1]** And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having seven plagues, `which are' the last, for in them is finished the wrath of God. **[15:2]** And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire; and them that come off victorious from the beast, and from his image, and from the number of his name, standing by the sea of glass, having harps of God. **[15:3]** And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty; righteous and true are thy ways, thou King of the ages. **[15:4]** Who shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy; for all the nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy righteous acts have been made manifest. **[15:5]** And after these things I saw, and the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: **[15:6]** and there came out from the temple the seven angels that had the seven plagues, arrayed with `precious' stone, pure `and' bright, and girt about their breasts with golden girdles. **[15:7]** And one of the four living creatures gave unto the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. **[15:8]** And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and none was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels should be finished. **[16:1]** And I heard a great voice out of the temple, saying to the seven angels, Go ye, and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God into the earth. **[16:2]** And the first went, and poured out his bowl into the earth; and it became a noisome and grievous sore upon the men that had the mark of the beast, and that worshipped his image. **[16:3]** And the second poured out his bowl into the sea; and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living soul died, `even' the things that were in the sea. **[16:4]** And the third poured out his bowl into the rivers and the fountains of the waters; and it became blood. **[16:5]** And I heard the angel of the waters saying, Righteous art thou, who art and who wast, thou Holy One, because thou didst thus judge: **[16:6]** for they poured out the blood of the saints and the prophets, and blood hast thou given them to drink: they are worthy. **[16:7]** And I heard the altar saying, Yea, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. **[16:8]** And the fourth poured out his bowl upon the sun; and it was given unto it to scorch men with fire. **[16:9]** And men were scorched men with great heat: and they blasphemed the name of God who hath the power over these plagues; and they repented not to give him glory. **[16:10]** And the fifth poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast; and his kingdom was darkened; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, **[16:11]** and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they repented not of their works. **[16:12]** And the sixth poured out his bowl upon the great river, the `river' Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way might by made ready for the kings that `come' from the sunrising. **[16:13]** And I saw `coming' out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, as it were frogs: **[16:14]** for they are spirits of demons, working signs; which go forth unto the kings of the whole world, to gather them together unto the war of the great day of God, the Almighty. **[16:15]** (Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walked naked, and they see his shame.) **[16:16]** And they gathered them together into the place which is called in Hebrew Har-magedon. **[16:17]** And the seventh poured out his bowl upon the air; and there came forth a great voice out of the temple, from the throne, saying, It is done: **[16:18]** and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since there were men upon the earth, so great an earthquake, so mighty. **[16:19]** And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. **[16:20]** And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. **[16:21]** And great hail, `every stone' about the weight of a talent, cometh down out of heaven upon men: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof is exceeding great. **[17:1]** And there came one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls, and spake with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters; **[17:2]** with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and they that dwell in the earth were made drunken with the wine of her fornication. **[17:3]** And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness: and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. **[17:4]** And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations, even the unclean things of her fornication, **[17:5]** and upon her forehead a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. **[17:6]** And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with a great wonder. **[17:7]** And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou wonder? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and the ten horns. **[17:8]** The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss, and to go into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, `they' whose name hath not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast, how that he was, and is not, and shall come. **[17:9]** Here is the mind that hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth: **[17:10]** and they are seven kings; the five are fallen, the one is, the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a little while. **[17:11]** And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is of the seven; and he goeth into perdition. **[17:12]** And the ten horns that thou sawest are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet; but they receive authority as kings, with the beast, for one hour. **[17:13]** These have one mind, and they give their power and authority unto the beast. **[17:14]** These shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they `also shall overcome' that are with him, called and chosen and faithful. **[17:15]** And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. **[17:16]** And the ten horns which thou sawest, and the beast, these shall hate the harlot, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her utterly with fire. **[17:17]** For God did put in their hearts to do his mind, and to come to one mind, and to give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God should be accomplished. **[17:18]** And the woman whom thou sawest is the great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. **[18:1]** After these things I saw another angel coming down out of heaven, having great authority; and the earth was lightened with his glory. **[18:2]** And he cried with a mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and is become a habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird. **[18:3]** For by the wine of the wrath of her fornication all the nations are fallen; and the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth waxed rich by the power of her wantonness. **[18:4]** And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come forth, my people, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues: **[18:5]** for her sins have reached even unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. **[18:6]** Render unto her even as she rendered, and double `unto her' the double according to her works: in the cup which she mingled, mingle unto her double. **[18:7]** How much soever she glorified herself, and waxed wanton, so much give her of torment and mourning: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall in no wise see mourning. **[18:8]** Therefore in one day shall her plagues come, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who judged her. **[18:9]** And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and lived wantonly with her, shall weep and wail over her, when they look upon the smoke of her burning, **[18:10]** standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. **[18:11]** And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth their merchandise any more; **[18:12]** merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stone, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet; and all thyine wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every vessel made of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble; **[18:13]** and cinnamon, and spice, and incense, and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and cattle, and sheep; and `merchandise' of horses and chariots and slaves; and souls of men. **[18:14]** And the fruits which thy soul lusted after are gone from thee, and all things that were dainty and sumptuous are perished from thee, and `men' shall find them no more at all. **[18:15]** The merchants of these things, who were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning; **[18:16]** saying, Woe, woe, the great city, she that was arrayed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearl! **[18:17]** for in an hour so great riches is made desolate. And every shipmaster, and every one that saileth any wither, and mariners, and as many as gain their living by sea, stood afar off, **[18:18]** and cried out as they looked upon the smoke of her burning, saying, What `city' is like the great city? **[18:19]** And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and mourning, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, wherein all that had their ships in the sea were made rich by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate. **[18:20]** Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye saints, and ye apostles, and ye prophets; for God hath judged your judgment on her. **[18:21]** And a strong angel took up a stone as it were a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with a mighty fall shall Babylon, the great city, be cast down, and shall be found no more at all. **[18:22]** And the voice of harpers and minstrels and flute-players and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft, shall be found any more at all in thee; and the voice of a mill shall be heard no more at all in thee; **[18:23]** and the light of a lamp shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the princes of the earth; for with thy sorcery were all the nations deceived. **[18:24]** And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that have been slain upon the earth. **[19:1]** After these things I heard as it were a great voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah; Salvation, and glory, and power, belong to our God: **[19:2]** for true and righteous are his judgments; for he hath judged the great harlot, her that corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. **[19:3]** And a second time they say, Hallelujah. And her smoke goeth up for ever and ever. **[19:4]** And the four and twenty elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God that sitteth on the throne, saying, Amen; Hallelujah. **[19:5]** And a voice came forth from the throne, saying, Give praise to our God, all ye his servants, ye that fear him, the small and the great. **[19:6]** And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunders, saying, Hallelujah: for the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigneth. **[19:7]** Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. **[19:8]** And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright `and' pure: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. **[19:9]** And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they that are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are true words of God. **[19:10]** And I fell down before his feet to worship him. And he saith unto me, See thou do it not: I am a fellow-servant with thee and with thy brethren that hold the testimony of Jesus: worship God; for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. **[19:11]** And I saw the heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and he that sat thereon called Faithful and True; and in righteous he doth judge and make war. **[19:12]** And his eyes `are' a flame of fire, and upon his head `are' many diadems; and he hath a name written which no one knoweth but he himself. **[19:13]** And he `is' arrayed in a garment sprinkled with blood: and his name is called The Word of God. **[19:14]** And the armies which are in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white `and' pure. **[19:15]** And out of his mouth proceedeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty. **[19:16]** And he hath on his garment and on his thigh a name written, KINGS OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. **[19:17]** And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in mid heaven, Come `and' be gathered together unto the great supper of God; **[19:18]** that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and of them that sit thereon, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, and small and great. **[19:19]** And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat upon the horse, and against his army. **[19:20]** And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought the signs in his sight, wherewith he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that worshipped his image: they two were cast alive into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone: **[19:21]** and the rest were killed with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, `even the sword' which came forth out of his mouth: and all the birds were filled with their flesh. **[20:1]** And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. **[20:2]** And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, **[20:3]** and cast him into the abyss, and shut `it', and sealed `it' over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years should be finished: after this he must be loosed for a little time. **[20:4]** And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and `I saw' the souls of them that had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as worshipped not the beast, neither his image, and received not the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they lived, and reigned with Christ a thousand years. **[20:5]** The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years should be finished. This is the first resurrection. **[20:6]** Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: over these the second death hath no power; but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. **[20:7]** And when the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, **[20:8]** and shall come forth to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. **[20:9]** And they went up over the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down out of heaven, and devoured them. **[20:10]** And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are also the beast and the false prophet; and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. **[20:11]** And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. **[20:12]** And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is `the book' of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. **[20:13]** And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. **[20:14]** And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, `even' the lake of fire. **[20:15]** And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire. **[21:1]** And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more. **[21:2]** And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven of God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. **[21:3]** And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his peoples, and God himself shall be with them, `and be' their God: **[21:4]** and he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more: the first things are passed away. **[21:5]** And he that sitteth on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he saith, Write: for these words are faithful and true. **[21:6]** And he said unto me, They are come to pass. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. **[21:7]** He that overcometh shall inherit these things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. **[21:8]** But for the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part `shall be' in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death. **[21:9]** And there came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, who were laden with the seven last plagues; and he spake with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb. **[21:10]** And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, **[21:11]** having the glory of God: her light was like unto a stone most precious, as it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal: **[21:12]** having a wall great and high; having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names written thereon, which are `the names' of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: **[21:13]** on the east were three gates; and on the north three gates; and on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. **[21:14]** And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. **[21:15]** And he that spake with me had for a measure a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. **[21:16]** And the city lieth foursquare, and the length thereof is as great as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs: the length and the breadth and the height thereof are equal. **[21:17]** And he measured the wall thereof, a hundred and forty and four cubits, `according to' the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. **[21:18]** And the building of the wall thereof was jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto pure glass. **[21:19]** The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; **[21:20]** the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. **[21:21]** And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the several gates was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. **[21:22]** And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God the Almighty, and the Lamb, are the temple thereof. **[21:23]** And the city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine upon it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the lamp thereof `is' the Lamb. **[21:24]** And the nations shall walk amidst the light thereof: and the kings of the earth bring their glory into it. **[21:25]** And the gates thereof shall in no wise be shut by day (for there shall be no night there): **[21:26]** and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it: **[21:27]** and there shall in no wise enter into it anything unclean, or he that maketh an abomination and a lie: but only they that are written in the Lamb's book of life. **[22:1]** And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, **[22:2]** in the midst of the street thereof. And on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve `manner of' fruits, yielding its fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. **[22:3]** And there shall be no curse any more: and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein: and his servants shall serve him; **[22:4]** and they shall see his face; and his name `shall be' on their foreheads. **[22:5]** And there shall be night no more; and they need no light of lamp, neither light of sun; for the Lord God shall give them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. **[22:6]** And he said unto me, These words are faithful and true: and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angels to show unto his servants the things which must shortly come to pass. **[22:7]** And behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book. **[22:8]** And I John am he that heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel that showed me these things. **[22:9]** And he saith unto me, See thou do it not: I am a fellow-servant with thee and with thy brethren the prophets, and with them that keep the words of this book: worship God. **[22:10]** And he saith unto me, Seal not up the words of the prophecy of this book; for the time is at hand. **[22:11]** He that is unrighteous, let him do unrighteousness still: and he that is filthy, let him be made filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him do righteousness still: and he that is holy, let him be made holy still. **[22:12]** Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to render to each man according as his work is. **[22:13]** I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. **[22:14]** Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have the right `to come' to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city. **[22:15]** Without are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every one that loveth and maketh a lie. **[22:16]** I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright, the morning star. **[22:17]** And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And he that heareth, let him say, Come. And he that is athirst, let him come: he that will, let him take the water of life freely. **[22:18]** I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book: **[22:19]** and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book. **[22:20]** He who testifieth these things saith, Yea: I come quickly. Amen: come, Lord Jesus. **[22:21]** The grace of the Lord Jesus be with the saints. Amen.

66 Revelation - Bible in Basic English (BBE).md

# Revelation - Bible in Basic English (BBE) **[1:1]** The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him so that his servants might have knowledge of the things which will quickly take place: and he sent and made it clear by his angel to his servant John; **[1:2]** Who gave witness of the word of God, and of the witness of Jesus Christ, even of all the things which he saw. **[1:3]** A blessing be on the reader, and on those who give ear to the prophet's words, and keep the things which he has put in the book: for the time is near. **[1:4]** John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from him who is and was and is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his high seat; **[1:5]** And from Jesus Christ, the true witness, the first to come back from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who had love for us and has made us clean from our sins by his blood; **[1:6]** And has made us to be a kingdom and priests to his God and Father; to him let glory and power be given for ever and ever. So be it. **[1:7]** See, he comes with the clouds, and every eye will see him, and those by whom he was wounded; and all the tribes of the earth will be sorrowing because of him. Yes, so be it. **[1:8]** I am the First and the Last, says the Lord God who is and was and is to come, the Ruler of all. **[1:9]** I, John, your brother, who have a part with you in the trouble and the kingdom and the quiet strength of Jesus, was in the island which is named Patmos, for the word of God and the witness of Jesus. **[1:10]** I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and a great voice at my back, as of a horn, came to my ears, **[1:11]** Saying, What you see, put in a book, and send it to the seven churches; to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamos and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea. **[1:12]** And turning to see the voice which said these words to me, I saw seven gold vessels with lights burning in them; **[1:13]** And in the middle of them one like a son of man, clothed with a robe down to his feet, and with a band of gold round his breasts. **[1:14]** And his head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; **[1:15]** And his feet like polished brass, as if it had been burned in a fire; and his voice was as the sound of great waters. **[1:16]** And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword: and his face was like the sun shining in its strength. **[1:17]** And when I saw him, I went down on my face at his feet as one dead. And he put his right hand on me, saying, Have no fear; I am the first and the last and the Living one; **[1:18]** And I was dead, and see, I am living for ever, and I have the keys of death and of Hell. **[1:19]** Put in writing, then, the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will be after these; **[1:20]** The secret of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and of the seven gold vessels with burning lights. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven lights are the seven churches. **[2:1]** To the angel of the church in Ephesus say: These things says he who has the seven stars in his right hand, who is walking in the middle of the seven gold lights: **[2:2]** I have knowledge of your doings, and of your hard work and long waiting, and that you will not put up with evil men, and have put to the test those who say they are Apostles and are not, and have seen that they are false; **[2:3]** And you have the power of waiting, and have undergone trouble because of my name, without weariness. **[2:4]** But I have this against you, that you are turned away from your first love. **[2:5]** So keep in mind where you were at first, and be changed in heart and do the first works; or I will come to you, and will take away your light from its place, if your hearts are not changed. **[2:6]** But at least you have the credit of hating the works of the Nicolaitans, as I do. **[2:7]** He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give of the fruit of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God. **[2:8]** And to the angel of the church in Smyrna say: These things says the first and the last, who was dead and is living: **[2:9]** I have knowledge of your troubles and how poor you are (but you have true wealth), and the evil words of those who say they are Jews, and are not, but are a Synagogue of Satan. **[2:10]** Have no fear of the things which you will have to undergo: see, the Evil One will send some of you into prison, so that you may be put to the test; and you will have great trouble for ten days. Be true till death, and I will give you the crown of life. **[2:11]** He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not come under the power of the second death. **[2:12]** And to the angel of the church in Pergamos say: These things says he who has the sharp two-edged sword: **[2:13]** I have knowledge that your living-place is where Satan has his seat: and you are true to my name, and were not turned away from your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my true witness, who was put to death among you, where Satan has his place. **[2:14]** But I have some things against you, because you have with you those who keep the teaching of Balaam, by whose suggestion Balak made the children of Israel go out of the right way, taking food which was offered to false gods, and going after the desires of the flesh. **[2:15]** And you have those who keep the teaching of the Nicolaitans. **[2:16]** See, then, that you have a change of heart; or I will come to you quickly, and will make war against them with the sword of my mouth. **[2:17]** He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give of the secret manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name, of which no one has knowledge but he to whom it is given. **[2:18]** And to the angel of the church in Thyatira say: These things says the Son of God, whose eyes are like a flame of fire, and his feet like polished brass: **[2:19]** I have knowledge of your works, and your love and faith and help and strength in trouble, and that your last works are more than the first. **[2:20]** But I have this against you, that you let the woman Jezebel say she is a prophet and give false teaching, making my servants go after the desires of the flesh and take food offered to false gods. **[2:21]** And I gave her time for a change of heart, but she has no mind to give up her unclean ways. **[2:22]** See, I will put her into a bed, and those who make themselves unclean with her, into great trouble, if they go on with her works. **[2:23]** And I will put her children to death; and all the churches will see that I am he who makes search into the secret thoughts and hearts of men: and I will give to every one of you the reward of your works. **[2:24]** But to you I say, to the rest in Thyatira, even to those who have not this teaching, and have no knowledge of the secrets of Satan, as they say; I put on you no other weight. **[2:25]** But what you have, keep safe till I come. **[2:26]** He who overcomes, and keeps my works to the end, to him I will give rule over the nations, **[2:27]** And he will be ruling them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of the potter they will be broken, even as I have power from my Father: **[2:28]** And I will give him the morning star. **[2:29]** He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches. **[3:1]** And to the angel of the church in Sardis say: These things says he who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: I have knowledge of your works, that you seem to be living but are dead. **[3:2]** Be on the watch, and make strong the rest of the things which are near to death; because as judged by me your works have not come up to God's measure. **[3:3]** Keep in mind, then, the teaching which was given to you, and be ruled by it and have a change of heart. If then you do not keep watch, I will come like a thief, and you will have no knowledge of the hour when I will come on you. **[3:4]** But you have some names in Sardis who have kept clean their robes; and as a reward they will go in white with me. **[3:5]** He who overcomes will be dressed in white, and I will not take his name from the book of life, and I will give witness to his name before my Father, and before his angels. **[3:6]** He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches. **[3:7]** And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia say: These things says he who is holy, he who is true, he who has the key of David, opening the door so that it may be shut by no one, and shutting it so that it may be open to no one. **[3:8]** I have knowledge of your works (see, I have put before you an open door which may be shut by no one), and that you have a little strength, and have kept my word, and have been true to my name. **[3:9]** See, I will make those of the Synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews, and are not, but say what is false; I will make them come and give worship before your feet, and see my love for you. **[3:10]** Because you have kept my word in quiet strength, I will keep you from the hour of testing which is coming on all the world, to put to the test those who are on earth. **[3:11]** I come quickly: keep that which you have, so that no one may take your crown. **[3:12]** Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the house of my God, and he will go out no more: and I will put on him the name of my God, and the name of the town of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and my new name. **[3:13]** He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches. **[3:14]** And to the angel of the church in Laodicea say: These things says the true and certain witness, the head of God's new order: **[3:15]** I have knowledge of your works, that you are not cold or warm: it would be better if you were cold or warm. **[3:16]** So because you are not one thing or the other, I will have no more to do with you. **[3:17]** For you say, I have wealth, and have got together goods and land, and have need of nothing; and you are not conscious of your sad and unhappy condition, that you are poor and blind and without clothing. **[3:18]** If you are wise you will get from me gold tested by fire, so that you may have true wealth; and white robes to put on, so that your shame may not be seen; and oil for your eyes, so that you may see. **[3:19]** To all those who are dear to me, I give sharp words and punishment: then with all your heart have sorrow for your evil ways. **[3:20]** See, I am waiting at the door and giving the sign; if my voice comes to any man's ears and he makes the door open, I will come in to him, and will take food with him and he with me. **[3:21]** To him who overcomes I will give a place with me on my high seat, even as I overcame, and am seated with my Father on his high seat. **[3:22]** He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches. **[4:1]** After these things I saw a door open in heaven, and the first voice came to my ears, like the sound of a horn, saying, Come up here, and I will make clear to you the things which are to come. **[4:2]** Straight away I was in the Spirit: and I saw a high seat in heaven, and one was seated on it; **[4:3]** And to my eyes he was like a jasper and a sardius stone: and there was an arch of light round the high seat, like an emerald. **[4:4]** And round about the high seat were four and twenty seats: and on them I saw four and twenty rulers seated, clothed in white robes; and on their heads crowns of gold. **[4:5]** And out of the high seat came flames and voices and thunders. And seven lights of fire were burning before the high seat, which are the seven Spirits of God; **[4:6]** And before the high seat there was, as it seemed, a clear sea of glass; and in the middle of the high seat, and round about it, four beasts full of eyes round about. **[4:7]** And the first beast was like a lion, and the second like an ox, and the third had a face like a man, and the fourth was like an eagle in flight. **[4:8]** And the four beasts, having every one of them six wings, are full of eyes round about and inside: and without resting day and night, they say, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God, Ruler of all, who was and is and is to come. **[4:9]** And when the beasts give glory and honour to him who is seated on the high seat, to him who is living for ever and ever, **[4:10]** The four and twenty rulers go down on their faces before him who is seated on the high seat, and give worship to him who is living for ever and ever, and take off their crowns before the high seat, saying, **[4:11]** It is right, our Lord and our God, for you to have glory and honour and power: because by you were all things made, and by your desire they came into being. **[5:1]** And I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the high seat, a book with writing inside it and on the back, shut with seven stamps of wax. **[5:2]** And I saw a strong angel saying in a loud voice, Who is able to make the book open, and to undo its stamps? **[5:3]** And no one in heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth, was able to get the book open, or to see what was in it. **[5:4]** And I was very sad, because there was no one able to get the book open or to see what was in it. **[5:5]** And one of the rulers said to me, Do not be sad: see, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome, and has power to undo the book and its seven stamps. **[5:6]** And I saw in the middle of the high seat and of the four beasts, and in the middle of the rulers, a Lamb in his place, which seemed as if it had been put to death, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. **[5:7]** And he came and took it out of the right hand of him who was seated on the high seat. **[5:8]** And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and the four and twenty rulers went down on their faces before the Lamb, having every one an instrument of music, and gold vessels full of perfumes, which are the prayers of the saints. **[5:9]** And their voices are sounding in a new song, saying, It is right for you to take the book and to make it open: for you were put to death and have made an offering to God of your blood for men of every tribe, and language, and people, and nation, **[5:10]** And have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they are ruling on the earth. **[5:11]** And I saw, and there came to my ears the sound of a great number of angels round about the high seat and the beasts and the rulers; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; **[5:12]** Saying with a great voice, It is right to give to the Lamb who was put to death, power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing. **[5:13]** And to my ears came the voice of everything in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and of all things which are in them, saying, To him who is seated on the high seat, and to the Lamb, may blessing and honour and glory and power be given for ever and ever. **[5:14]** And the four beasts said, So be it. And the rulers went down on their faces and gave worship. **[6:1]** And I saw when the Lamb undid one of the stamps, and the voice of one of the four beasts came to my ears, saying as with a voice of thunder, Come and see. **[6:2]** And I saw a white horse, and he who was seated on it had a bow; and there was given to him a crown: and he went out with power to overcome. **[6:3]** And when the second stamp was undone, the voice of the second beast came to my ears, saying, Come and see. **[6:4]** And another horse came out, a red horse; and it was given to him who was seated on it to take peace from the earth, so that people might put one another to death: and there was given to him a great sword. **[6:5]** And when the third stamp was undone, the voice of the third beast came to my ears, saying, Come and see. And I saw a black horse; and he who was seated on it had scales in his hand. **[6:6]** And a voice came to my ears, from the middle of the four beasts, saying, A measure of grain for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny: and see that you do no damage to the oil and the wine. **[6:7]** And when the fourth stamp was undone, the voice of the fourth beast came to my ears, saying, Come and see. **[6:8]** And I saw a grey horse, and the name of him who was seated on it was Death; and Hell came after him. And there was given to them authority over the fourth part of the earth, to put to destruction by the sword, and by taking away their food, and by death, and by the beasts of the earth. **[6:9]** And when the fifth stamp was undone, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been put to death for the word of God, and for the witness which they kept. **[6:10]** And they gave a great cry, saying, How long will it be, O Ruler, holy and true, before you take your place as judge and give punishment for our blood to those on the earth? **[6:11]** And there was given to every one a white robe, and they were ordered to take their rest for a little time, till the number was complete of the other servants, their brothers, who would be put to death, even as they had been. **[6:12]** And I saw when the sixth stamp was undone, and there was a great earth-shock; and the sun became black as haircloth, and all the moon became as blood; **[6:13]** And the stars of heaven were falling to the earth, like green fruit from a tree before the force of a great wind. **[6:14]** And the heaven was taken away like the roll of a book when it is rolled up; and all the mountains and islands were moved out of their places. **[6:15]** And the kings of the earth, and the rulers, and the chief captains, and the men of wealth, and the strong, and every servant and free man, took cover in the holes and the rocks of the mountains; **[6:16]** And they say to the mountains and to the rocks, Come down on us, covering us from the face of him who is seated on the high seat, and from the wrath of the Lamb: **[6:17]** For the great day of their wrath is come, and who may keep his place? **[7:1]** After this I saw four angels in their places at the four points of the earth, keeping back the four winds in their hands, so that there might be no moving of the wind on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree. **[7:2]** And I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the mark of the living God: and he said with a great voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to do damage to the earth and the sea, **[7:3]** Do no damage to the earth, or the sea, or the trees, till we have put a mark on the servants of our God. **[7:4]** And there came to my ears the number of those who had the mark on their brows, a hundred and forty-four thousand, who were marked out of every tribe of the people of Israel. **[7:5]** Of the tribe of Judah were marked twelve thousand: of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand: of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand: **[7:6]** Of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand: of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand: of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand: **[7:7]** Of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand: of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand: of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand: **[7:8]** Of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand: of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand: of the tribe of Benjamin were marked twelve thousand. **[7:9]** After these things I saw a great army of people more than might be numbered, out of every nation and of all tribes and peoples and languages, taking their places before the high seat and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, and with branches in their hands, **[7:10]** Saying with a loud voice, Salvation to our God who is seated on the high seat, and to the Lamb. **[7:11]** And all the angels were round about the high seat, and about the rulers and the four beasts; and they went down on their faces before the high seat, and gave worship to God, saying, **[7:12]** So be it. Let blessing and glory and wisdom and praise and honour and power and strength be given to our God for ever and ever. So be it. **[7:13]** And one of the rulers made answer, saying to me, These who have on white robes, who are they, and where did they come from? **[7:14]** And I said to him, My lord, you have knowledge. And he said to me, These are they who came through the great testing, and their robes have been washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb. **[7:15]** This is why they are before the high seat of God; and they are his servants day and night in his house: and he who is seated on the high seat will be a tent over them. **[7:16]** They will never be in need of food or drink: and they will never again be troubled by the burning heat of the sun: **[7:17]** For the Lamb who is on the high seat will be their keeper and their guide to fountains of living water: and God will make glad their eyes for ever. **[8:1]** And when the seventh stamp was undone there was quiet in heaven for about half an hour. **[8:2]** And I saw the seven angels who had their place before God; and seven horns were given to them. **[8:3]** And another angel came and took his place at the altar, having a gold vessel for burning perfume; and there was given to him much perfume, so that he might put it with the prayers of all the saints on the gold altar which was before the high seat. **[8:4]** And the smoke of the perfume, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel's hand. **[8:5]** And the angel took the vessel; and he made it full of the fire of the altar, and sent it down on the earth: and there came thunders and voices and flames and a shaking of the earth. **[8:6]** And the seven angels who had the seven horns made ready for sounding them. **[8:7]** And at the sounding of the first, a rain of ice and fire, mixed with blood, was sent on the earth: and a third part of the earth, and of the trees, and all green grass was burned up. **[8:8]** And at the sounding of the second angel, it was as if a great mountain burning with fire was sent into the sea: and a third part of the sea became blood, **[8:9]** And destruction came on a third part of the living things which were in the sea, and on a third part of the ships. **[8:10]** And at the sounding of the third angel, there went down from heaven a great star, burning like a flame, and it came on a third part of the rivers, and on the fountains of water. **[8:11]** And the name of the star is Wormwood: and a third part of the waters became bitter; and a number of men came to their end because of the waters, for they were made bitter. **[8:12]** And at the sounding of the fourth angel, a third part of the sun, and of the moon, and of the stars was made dark, so that there was no light for a third part of the day and of the night. **[8:13]** And there came to my ears the cry of an eagle in flight in the middle of heaven, saying with a great voice, Trouble, trouble, trouble, to all on the earth, because of the other voices of the horns of the three angels, whose sounding is still to come. **[9:1]** And at the sounding of the fifth angel I saw a star falling from heaven to the earth: and there was given to him the key of the great deep. **[9:2]** And he made the great deep open and a smoke went up from it, like the smoke of a great oven; and the sun and the air were made dark because of the smoke. **[9:3]** And from the smoke locusts came out on the earth; and power was given them, like the power of scorpions. **[9:4]** And they were ordered to do no damage to the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only to such men as have not the mark of God on their brows. **[9:5]** And orders were given them not to put them to death, but to give them great pain for five months: and their pain was as the pain from the wound of a scorpion. **[9:6]** And in those days men will be hoping for death, and it will not come to them; and they will have a great desire for death, and death will go in flight from them. **[9:7]** And the forms of the locusts were like horses made ready for war; and on their heads they had crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. **[9:8]** And they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. **[9:9]** And they had breastplates like iron, and the sound of their wings was as the sound of carriages, like an army of horses rushing to the fight. **[9:10]** And they have pointed tails like scorpions; and in their tails is their power to give men wounds for five months. **[9:11]** They have over them as king the angel of the great deep: his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek language Apollyon. **[9:12]** The first Trouble is past: see, there are still two Troubles to come. **[9:13]** And at the sounding of the sixth angel a voice came to my ears from the horns of the gold altar which is before God, **[9:14]** Saying to the sixth angel who had the horn, Make free the four angels who are chained at the great river Euphrates. **[9:15]** And the four angels were made free, who were ready for the hour and day and month and year, that they might put to death a third part of men. **[9:16]** And the number of the armies of the horsemen was twice ten thousand times ten thousand: the number of them came to my ears. **[9:17]** And so I saw the horses in the vision, and those who were seated on them, having breastplates of fire and glass and of burning stone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire and smoke and a smell of burning. **[9:18]** By these evils a third part of men was put to death, by the fire, and the smoke, and the burning smell which came out of their mouths. **[9:19]** For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails: because their tails are like snakes, and have heads, and with them they give wounds. **[9:20]** And the rest of the people, who were not put to death by these evils, were not turned from the works of their hands, but went on giving worship to evil spirits, and images of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood which have no power of seeing or hearing or walking: **[9:21]** And they had no regret for putting men to death, or for their use of secret arts, or for the evil desires of the flesh, or for taking the property of others. **[10:1]** And I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud; and an arch of coloured light was round his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire; **[10:2]** And he had in his hand a little open book: and he put his right foot on the sea, and his left on the earth; **[10:3]** And he gave a loud cry, like the angry voice of a lion: and at his cry the voices of the seven thunders were sounding. **[10:4]** And when the seven thunders had given out their voices, I was about to put their words down: and a voice from heaven came to my ears, saying, Keep secret the things which the seven thunders said, and do not put them in writing. **[10:5]** And the angel which I saw taking his position on the sea and on the earth, put up his right hand to heaven, **[10:6]** And took his oath by him who is living for ever and ever, who made the heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that there would be no more waiting: **[10:7]** But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when the sound of his horn is about to come, then will the secret of God be complete, of which he gave the good news to his servants the prophets. **[10:8]** And the voice came to me again from heaven, saying, Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who has his place on the sea and on the earth. **[10:9]** And I went to the angel, and said to him, Give me the little book. And he said to me: Put it in your mouth; and it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey. **[10:10]** And I took the little book out of the angel's hand and did as he said; and it was sweet as honey in my mouth: and when I had taken it, my stomach was made bitter. **[10:11]** And they said to me, You are to give word again of what is coming in the future to the peoples and nations and languages and kings. **[11:1]** And there was given to me a measuring rod: and one said, Go up and take the measure of the house of God, and the altar, and the worshippers in it. **[11:2]** But do not take the measure of the space outside the house; because it has been given to the nations: and the holy town will be under their feet for forty-two months. **[11:3]** And I will give orders to my two witnesses, and they will be prophets for a thousand, two hundred and sixty days, clothed with haircloth. **[11:4]** These are the two olive-trees and the two lights, which are before the Lord of the earth. **[11:5]** And if any man would do them damage, fire comes out of their mouth and puts an end to those who are working against them: and if any man has a desire to do them damage, in this way will he be put to death. **[11:6]** These have the power to keep the heaven shut, so that there may be no rain in the days when they are prophets: and they have power over the waters to make them into blood, and to send every sort of disease on the earth as their pleasure is. **[11:7]** And when they have come to the end of their witness, the beast which comes up out of the great deep will make war on them and overcome them and put them to death. **[11:8]** And their dead bodies will be in the open street of the great town, which in the spirit is named Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was put to death on the cross. **[11:9]** And the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will be looking on their dead bodies three days and a half, and will not let their dead bodies be put in the earth. **[11:10]** And those who are on the earth will have pleasure and delight over them; and they will send offerings one to another because these two prophets gave great trouble to all on the earth. **[11:11]** And after three days and a half the breath of life from God went into them, and they got up on their feet; and great fear came on those who saw them. **[11:12]** And a great voice from heaven came to their ears, saying to them, Come up here. And they went up into heaven in the cloud, and were seen by those desiring their death. **[11:13]** And in that hour there was a great earth-shock and a tenth part of the town came to destruction; and in the earth-shock seven thousand persons came to their end: and the rest were in fear, and gave glory to the God of heaven. **[11:14]** The second Trouble is past: see, the third Trouble comes quickly. **[11:15]** And at the sounding of the seventh angel there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he will have rule for ever and ever. **[11:16]** And the four and twenty rulers, who are seated before God on their high seats, went down on their faces and gave worship to God, saying, **[11:17]** We give you praise, O Lord God, Ruler of all, who is and who was; because you have taken up your great power and are ruling your kingdom. **[11:18]** And the nations were angry, and your wrath has come, and the time for the dead to be judged, and the time of reward for your servants, the prophets, and for the saints, and for those in whom is the fear of your name, small and great, and the time of destruction for those who made the earth unclean. **[11:19]** And the house of God which is in heaven was open; and the ark of his agreement was seen in his house, and there were flames and voices and thunders and an earth-shock and a rain of ice. **[12:1]** And a great sign was seen in heaven: a A woman clothed with the sun, and with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. **[12:2]** And she was with child; and she gave a cry, in the pains of childbirth. **[12:3]** And there was seen another sign in heaven; a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven crowns. **[12:4]** And his tail was pulling a third part of the stars of heaven down to the earth, and the dragon took his place before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when the birth had taken place he might put an end to her child. **[12:5]** And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who was to have rule over all the nations with a rod of iron: and her child was taken up to God and to his high seat. **[12:6]** And the woman went in flight to the waste land, where she has a place made ready by God, so that there they may give her food a thousand, two hundred and sixty days. **[12:7]** And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels going out to the fight with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels made war, **[12:8]** And they were overcome, and there was no more place for them in heaven. **[12:9]** And the great dragon was forced down, the old snake, who is named the Evil One and Satan, by whom all the earth is turned from the right way; he was forced down to the earth, and his angels were forced down with him. **[12:10]** And a great voice in heaven came to my ears, saying, Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ: because he who says evil against our brothers before our God day and night is forced down. **[12:11]** And they overcame him through the blood of the Lamb and the word of their witness; and loving not their lives they freely gave themselves up to death. **[12:12]** Be glad then, O heavens, and you who are in them. But there is trouble for the earth and the sea: because the Evil One has come down to you, being very angry, having the knowledge that he has but a short time. **[12:13]** And when the dragon saw that he was forced down to the earth, he made cruel attacks on the woman who gave birth to the male child. **[12:14]** And there were given to the woman two wings of a great eagle, so that she might go in flight into the waste land, to her place, where she is given food for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the snake. **[12:15]** And the snake sent out of his mouth after the woman a river of water, so that she might be taken away by the stream. **[12:16]** And the earth gave help to the woman, and with open mouth took up the river which the dragon sent out of his mouth. **[12:17]** And the dragon was angry with the woman and went away to make war on the rest of her seed, who keep the orders of God, and the witness of Jesus: **[13:1]** And he took his place on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads unholy names. **[13:2]** And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power and his seat and great authority. **[13:3]** And I saw one of his heads as if it had been given a death-wound; and his death-wound was made well: and all the earth was wondering at the beast. **[13:4]** And they gave worship to the dragon, because he gave authority to the beast; and worshipping the beast, they said, Who is like the beast? and who is able to go to war with him? **[13:5]** And there was given to him a mouth to say words of pride against God; and there was given to him authority to go on for forty-two months. **[13:6]** And his mouth was open to say evil against God, and against his name and his Tent, even against those who are in heaven. **[13:7]** And it was given to him to make war on the saints and to overcome them: and there was given to him authority over every tribe and people and language and nation. **[13:8]** And all who are on the earth will give him worship, everyone whose name has not been from the first in the book of life of the Lamb who was put to death. **[13:9]** If any man has ears, let him give ear. **[13:10]** If any man sends others into prison, into prison he will go: if any man puts to death with the sword, with the sword will he be put to death. Here is the quiet strength and the faith of the saints. **[13:11]** And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and his voice was like that of a dragon. **[13:12]** And he makes use of all the authority of the first beast before his eyes. And he makes the earth and those who are in it give worship to the first beast, whose death-wound was made well. **[13:13]** And he does great signs, even making fire come down from heaven on the earth before the eyes of men. **[13:14]** And those who are on the earth are turned from the true way by him through the signs which he was given power to do before the beast; giving orders to those who are on the earth to make an image to the beast, who was wounded by the sword, and came to life. **[13:15]** And he had power to give breath to the image of the beast, so that words might come from the image of the beast, and that he might have all those who did not give worship to the image of the beast put to death. **[13:16]** And he gives to all, small and great, the poor and those who have wealth, the free and those who are not free, a mark on their right hand or on their brows; **[13:17]** So that no man might be able to do trade but he who has the mark, even the name of the beast or the number of his name. **[13:18]** Here is wisdom. He who has knowledge let him get the number of the beast; because it is the number of a man: and his number is Six hundred and sixty-six. **[14:1]** And I saw the Lamb on the mountain of Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand, marked on their brows with his name and the name of his Father. **[14:2]** And a voice from heaven came to my ears, like the sound of great waters, and the sound of loud thunder: and the voice which came to me was like the sound of players, playing on instruments of music. **[14:3]** And they made as it seemed a new song before the high seat, and before the four beasts and the rulers: and no man might have knowledge of the song but the hundred and forty-four thousand, even those from the earth whom God has made his for a price. **[14:4]** These are they who have not made themselves unclean with women; for they are virgins. These are they who go after the Lamb wherever he goes. These were taken from among men to be the first fruits to God and to the Lamb. **[14:5]** And in their mouth there was no false word, for they are untouched by evil. **[14:6]** And I saw another angel in flight between heaven and earth, having eternal good news to give to those who are on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and language and people, **[14:7]** Saying with a loud voice, Have fear of God and give him glory; because the hour of his judging is come; and give worship to him who made heaven and earth and the sea and the fountains of water. **[14:8]** And a second angel came after, saying, Destruction has come to Babylon the great, which gave to all the nations the wine of the wrath of her evil ways. **[14:9]** And a third angel came after them, saying with a loud voice, If any man gives worship to the beast and his image, and has his mark on his brow or on his hand, **[14:10]** To him will be given of the wine of God's wrath which is ready unmixed in the cup of his wrath and he will have cruel pain, burning with fire before the holy angels and before the Lamb: **[14:11]** And the smoke of their pain goes up for ever and ever; and they have no rest day and night, who give worship to the beast and his image, and have on them the mark of his name. **[14:12]** Here is the quiet strength of the saints, who keep the orders of God, and the faith of Jesus. **[14:13]** And a voice from heaven came to my ears, saying, Put in writing, There is a blessing on the dead who from now on come to their end in the Lord: yes, says the Spirit, that they may have rest from their troubles; for their works go with them. **[14:14]** And I saw a white cloud, and on the cloud I saw one seated, like a son of man, having on his head a crown of gold, and in his hand a sharp curved blade. **[14:15]** And another angel came out from the house of God, crying with a loud voice to him who was seated on the cloud, Put in your blade, and let the grain be cut: because the hour for cutting it is come; for the grain of the earth is over-ready. **[14:16]** And he who was seated on the cloud sent in his blade on the earth; and the grain of the earth was cut. **[14:17]** And another angel came out from the house of God which is in heaven, having a sharp curved blade. **[14:18]** And another angel came out from the altar, who has power over fire; and he gave a loud cry to him who had the sharp curved blade, saying, Put in your sharp blade, and let the grapes of the vine of the earth be cut; for her grapes are fully ready. **[14:19]** And the angel sent his blade into the earth, and the vine of the earth was cut, and he put it into the great wine-crusher of the wrath of God. **[14:20]** And the grapes were crushed under foot outside the town, and blood came out from them, even to the head-bands of the horses, two hundred miles. **[15:1]** And I saw another sign in heaven, great and strange; seven angels having the seven last punishments, for in them the wrath of God is complete. **[15:2]** And I saw a sea which seemed like glass mixed with fire; and those who had overcome the beast and his image and the number of his name, were in their places by the sea of glass, with God's instruments of music in their hands. **[15:3]** And they give the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and full of wonder are your works, O Lord God, Ruler of all; true and full of righteousness are your ways, eternal King. **[15:4]** What man is there who will not have fear before you, O Lord, and give glory to your name? because you only are holy; for all the nations will come and give worship before you; for your righteousness has been made clear. **[15:5]** And after these things I saw, and the house of the Tent of witness in heaven was open: **[15:6]** And the seven angels who had the seven punishments came out from the house of God, clothed with linen, clean and bright and with bands of gold about their breasts. **[15:7]** And one of the four beasts gave to the seven angels seven gold vessels full of the wrath of God, who is living for ever and ever. **[15:8]** And the house of God was full of smoke from the glory of God, and from his power, and no one was able to go into the house of God, till the seven punishments of the seven angels were ended. **[16:1]** And a great voice out of the house of God came to my ears, saying to the seven angels, Go, and let that which is in the seven vessels of the wrath of God come down on the earth. **[16:2]** And the first went, and let what was in his vessel come down on the earth; and it became an evil poisoning wound on the men who had the mark of the beast, and who gave worship to his image. **[16:3]** And the second let what was in his vessel come out into the sea; and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living thing in the sea came to an end. **[16:4]** And the third let what was in his vessel come out into the rivers and the fountains of water; and they became blood. **[16:5]** And the voice of the angel of the waters came to my ears, saying, True and upright is your judging, O Holy One, who is and was from all time: **[16:6]** For they made the blood of saints and prophets come out like a stream, and blood have you given them for drink; which is their right reward. **[16:7]** And a voice came from the altar, saying, Even so, O Lord God, Ruler of all, true and full of righteousness is your judging. **[16:8]** And the fourth let what was in his vessel come out on the sun; and power was given to it that men might be burned with fire. **[16:9]** And men were burned with great heat: and they said evil things against the name of the God who has authority over these punishments; and they were not turned from their evil ways to give him glory. **[16:10]** And the fifth let what was in his vessel come out on the high seat of the beast; and his kingdom was made dark; and they were biting their tongues for pain. **[16:11]** And they said evil things against the God of heaven because of their pain and their wounds; and they were not turned from their evil works. **[16:12]** And the sixth let what was in his vessel come out on the great river Euphrates; and it became dry, so that the way might be made ready for the kings from the east. **[16:13]** And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, like frogs. **[16:14]** For they are evil spirits, working signs; who go out even to the kings of all the earth, to get them together to the war of the great day of God, the Ruler of all. **[16:15]** (See, I come as a thief. Happy is he who is watching and keeps his robes, so that he may not go unclothed, and his shame be seen.) **[16:16]** And they got them together into the place which is named in Hebrew Armageddon. **[16:17]** And the seventh let what was in his vessel come out on the air; and there came out a great voice from the house of God, from the high seat, saying, It is done. **[16:18]** And there were flames and voices and thunders; and there was a great earth-shock so that never, from the time when men were on the earth, had there been so great an earth-shock, so full of power. **[16:19]** And the great town was cut into three parts, and the towns of the nations came to destruction: and Babylon the great came into mind before God, to be given the cup of the wine of his wrath. **[16:20]** And every island went in flight, and the mountains were seen no longer. **[16:21]** And great drops of ice, every one about the weight of a talent, came down out of heaven on men: and men said evil things against God because of the punishment of the ice-drops; for it is very great. **[17:1]** And one of the seven angels who had the seven vessels came and said to me, Come here, so that you may see the judging of the evil woman who is seated on the great waters; **[17:2]** With whom the kings of the earth made themselves unclean, and those who are on the earth were full of the wine of her evil desires. **[17:3]** And he took me away in the Spirit into a waste land: and I saw a woman seated on a bright red beast, full of evil names, having seven heads and ten horns, **[17:4]** And the woman was clothed in purple and bright red, with ornaments of gold and stones of great price and jewels; and in her hand was a gold cup full of evil things and her unclean desires; **[17:5]** And on her brow was a name, SECRET, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE EVIL WOMEN AND OF THE UNCLEAN THINGS OF THE EARTH. **[17:6]** And I saw the woman overcome as with the wine of the blood of the saints, and the blood of those put to death because of Jesus. And when I saw her, I was overcome with a great wonder. **[17:7]** And the angel said to me, Why were you surprised? I will make clear to you the secret of the woman, and of the beast on which she is seated, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. **[17:8]** The beast which you saw was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the great deep, and to go into destruction. And those who are on the earth, whose names have not been put in the book of life from the first, will be full of wonder when they see the beast, that he was, and is not, and still will be. **[17:9]** Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman is seated: **[17:10]** And they are seven kings; the five have come to an end, the one is, the other has not come; and when he comes, he will have to go on for a little time. **[17:11]** And the beast which was, and is not, is himself the eighth, and is of the seven; and he goes into destruction. **[17:12]** And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, which still have been given no kingdom; but they are given authority as kings, with the beast, for one hour. **[17:13]** These have one mind, and they give their power and authority to the beast. **[17:14]** These will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because he is the Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with him are named, marked out, and true. **[17:15]** And he said to me, The waters which you saw, where the evil woman is seated, are peoples, and armies, and nations and languages. **[17:16]** And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will be turned against the evil woman, and will make her waste and uncovered, and will take her flesh for food, and will have her burned with fire. **[17:17]** Because God has put it in their hearts to do his purpose, and to be of one mind, giving their kingdom to the beast, till the words of God have effect and are complete. **[17:18]** And the woman whom you saw is the great town, which is ruling over the kings of the earth. **[18:1]** After these things I saw another angel coming down out of heaven, having great authority; and the earth was bright with his glory. **[18:2]** And he gave a loud cry, saying, Babylon the great has come down from her high place, she has come to destruction and has become a place of evil spirits, and of every unclean spirit, and a hole for every unclean and hated bird. **[18:3]** For through the wine of the wrath of her evil desires all the nations have come to destruction; and the kings of the earth made themselves unclean with her, and the traders of the earth had their wealth increased by the power of her evil ways. **[18:4]** And another voice from heaven came to my ears, saying, Come out of her, my people, so that you may have no part in her sins and in her punishments. **[18:5]** For her sins have gone up even to heaven, and God has taken note of her evil-doing. **[18:6]** Give to her as she gave, even an increased reward for her works; in the cup which was mixed by her, let there be mixed as much again for herself. **[18:7]** As she gave glory to herself, and became more evil in her ways, in the same measure give her pain and weeping: for she says in her heart, I am seated here a queen, and am no widow, and will in no way see sorrow. **[18:8]** For this reason in one day will her troubles come, death and sorrow and need of food; and she will be completely burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who is her judge. **[18:9]** And the kings of the earth, who made themselves unclean with her, and in her company gave themselves up to evil, will be weeping and crying over her, when they see the smoke of her burning, **[18:10]** Watching from far away, for fear of her punishment, saying, Sorrow, sorrow for Babylon, the great town, the strong town! for in one hour you have been judged. **[18:11]** And the traders of the earth are weeping and crying over her, because no man has any more desire for their goods, **[18:12]** Gold, and silver, and stones of great price, and jewels, and delicate linen, and robes of purple and silk and red; and perfumed wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every vessel made of fair wood, and of brass, and iron, and stone; **[18:13]** And sweet-smelling plants, and perfumes, and wine, and oil, and well crushed grain, and cattle and sheep; and horses and carriages and servants; and souls of men. **[18:14]** And the fruit of your soul's desire has gone from you, and all things delicate and shining have come to an end and will never again be seen. **[18:15]** The traders in these things, by which their wealth was increased, will be watching far off for fear of her punishment, weeping and crying; **[18:16]** Saying, Sorrow, sorrow for the great town, she who was clothed in delicate linen, and purple, and red; with ornaments of gold and stones of great price and jewels! **[18:17]** For in one hour such great wealth has come to nothing. And every shipmaster, and all who are sailing on the sea, and sailors and all who get their living by the sea, were watching from far away, **[18:18]** And crying out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What town is like the great town? **[18:19]** And they put dust on their heads, and were sad, weeping and crying, and saying, Sorrow, sorrow for the great town, in which was increased the wealth of all who had their ships on the sea because of her great stores! for in one hour she is made waste. **[18:20]** Be glad over her, heaven, and you saints, and Apostles, and prophets; because she has been judged by God on your account. **[18:21]** And a strong angel took up a stone like the great stone with which grain is crushed, and sent it into the sea, saying, So, with a great fall, will Babylon, the great town, come to destruction, and will not be seen any more at all. **[18:22]** And the voice of players and makers of music will never again be sounding in you: and no worker, expert in art, will ever again be living in you; and there will be no sound of the crushing of grain any more at all in you; **[18:23]** And never again will the shining of lights be seen in you; and the voice of the newly-married man and the bride will never again be sounding in you: for your traders were the lords of the earth, and by your evil powers were all the nations turned out of the right way. **[18:24]** And in her was seen the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been put to death on the earth. **[19:1]** After these things there came to my ears a sound like the voice of a great band of people in heaven, saying, Praise to the Lord; salvation and glory and power be to our God: **[19:2]** For true and upright are his decisions; for by him has the evil woman been judged, who made the earth unclean with the sins of her body; and he has given her punishment for the blood of his servants. **[19:3]** And again they said, Praise to the Lord. And her smoke went up for ever and ever. **[19:4]** And the four and twenty rulers and the four beasts went down on their faces and gave worship to God who was seated on the high seat, saying, Even so, praise to the Lord. **[19:5]** And a voice came from the high seat, saying, Give praise to our God, all you his servants, small and great, in whom is the fear of him. **[19:6]** And there came to my ears the voice of a great army, like the sound of waters, and the sound of loud thunders, saying, Praise to the Lord: for the Lord our God, Ruler of all, is King. **[19:7]** Let us be glad with delight, and let us give glory to him: because the time is come for the Lamb to be married, and his wife has made herself ready. **[19:8]** And to her it was given to be clothed in delicate linen, clean and shining: for the clean linen is the righteousness of the saints. **[19:9]** And he said to me, Put in the book, Happy are the guests at the bride-feast of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true words of God. **[19:10]** And I went on my face before his feet to give him worship. And he said to me, See you do it not: I am a brother-servant with you and with your brothers who keep the witness of Jesus: give worship to God: for the witness of Jesus is the spirit of the prophet's word. **[19:11]** And the heaven was open; and I saw a white horse, and he who was seated on it was named Certain and True; and he is judging and making war in righteousness. **[19:12]** And his eyes are a flame of fire, and crowns are on his head; and he has a name in writing, of which no man has knowledge but himself. **[19:13]** And he is clothed in a robe washed with blood: and his name is The Word of God. **[19:14]** And the armies which are in heaven went after him on white horses, clothed in delicate linen, white and clean. **[19:15]** And out of his mouth comes a sharp sword, with which he overcomes the nations: and he has rule over them with a rod of iron: and he is crushing with his feet the grapes of the strong wrath of God the Ruler of all. **[19:16]** And on his robe and on his leg is a name, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. **[19:17]** And I saw an angel taking his place in the sun; and he was crying with a loud voice, saying to all the birds in flight in the heavens, Come together to the great feast of God; **[19:18]** So that you may take for your food the flesh of kings, and of captains, and of strong men, and of horses and of those who are seated on them, and the flesh of all men, free and unfree, small and great. **[19:19]** And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, come together to make war against him who was seated on the horse and against his army. **[19:20]** And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who did the signs before him, by which they were turned from the true way who had the mark of the beast, and who gave worship to his image: these two were put living into the sea of ever-burning fire. **[19:21]** And the rest were put to death with the sword of him who was on the horse, even the sword which came out of his mouth: and all the birds were made full with their flesh. **[20:1]** And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the great deep and a great chain in his hand. **[20:2]** And he took the dragon, the old snake, which is the Evil One and Satan, and put chains on him for a thousand years, **[20:3]** And put him into the great deep, and it was shut and locked over him, so that he might put the nations in error no longer, till the thousand years were ended: after this he will be let loose for a little time. **[20:4]** And I saw high seats, and they were seated on them, and the right of judging was given to them: and I saw the souls of those who were put to death for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and those who did not give worship to the beast, or to his image, and had not his mark on their brows or on their hands; and they were living and ruling with Christ a thousand years. **[20:5]** The rest of the dead did not come to life again till the thousand years were ended. This is the first coming back from the dead. **[20:6]** Happy and holy is he who has a part in this first coming: over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will be ruling with him a thousand years. **[20:7]** And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be let loose out of his prison, **[20:8]** And will go out to put in error the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to get them together to the war, the number of whom is like the sands of the sea. **[20:9]** And they went up over the face of the earth, and made a circle about the tents of the saints, and the well loved town: and fire came down out of heaven for their destruction. **[20:10]** And the Evil One who put them in error was sent down into the sea of ever-burning fire, where the beast and the false prophet are, and their punishment will go on day and night for ever and ever. **[20:11]** And I saw a great white seat, and him who was seated on it, before whose face the earth and the heaven went in flight; and there was no place for them. **[20:12]** And I saw the dead, great and small, taking their places before the high seat; and the books were open, and another book was open, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged by the things which were in the books, even by their works. **[20:13]** And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and Hell gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man by his works. **[20:14]** And death and Hell were put into the sea of fire. This is the second death, even the sea of fire. **[20:15]** And if anyone's name was not in the book of life, he went down into the sea of fire. **[21:1]** And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were gone; and there was no more sea. **[21:2]** And I saw the holy town, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, like a bride made beautiful for her husband. **[21:3]** And there came to my ears a great voice out of the high seat, saying, See, the Tent of God is with men, and he will make his living-place with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them, and be their God. **[21:4]** And he will put an end to all their weeping; and there will be no more death, or sorrow, or crying, or pain; for the first things have come to an end. **[21:5]** And he who is seated on the high seat said, See, I make all things new. And he said, Put it in the book; for these words are certain and true. **[21:6]** And he said to me, It is done. I am the First and the Last, the start and the end. I will freely give of the fountain of the water of life to him who is in need. **[21:7]** He who overcomes will have these things for his heritage; and I will be his God, and he will be my son. **[21:8]** But those who are full of fear and without faith, the unclean and takers of life, those who do the sins of the flesh, and those who make use of evil powers or who give worship to images, and all those who are false, will have their part in the sea of ever-burning fire which is the second death. **[21:9]** And one of the seven angels who had the seven vessels in which were the seven last punishments, came and said to me, Come here, and see the bride, the Lamb's wife. **[21:10]** And he took me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and let me see the holy town Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, **[21:11]** Having the glory of God: and her light was like a stone of great price, a jasper stone, clear as glass: **[21:12]** She had a wall great and high, with twelve doors, and at the doors twelve angels; and names on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. **[21:13]** And on the east were three doors; and on the north three doors; and on the south three doors; and on the west three doors. **[21:14]** And the wall of the town had twelve bases, and on them the twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb. **[21:15]** And he who was talking with me had a gold measuring-rod to take the measure of the town, and of its doors, and its wall. **[21:16]** And the town is square, as wide as it is long; and he took the measure of the town with the rod, one thousand and five hundred miles: it is equally long and wide and high. **[21:17]** And he took the measure of its wall, one hundred and forty-four cubits, after the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. **[21:18]** And the building of its wall was of jasper, and the town was clear gold, clear as glass. **[21:19]** The bases of the wall of the town had ornaments of all sorts of beautiful stones. The first base was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; **[21:20]** The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. **[21:21]** And the twelve doors were twelve pearls; every door was made of one pearl; and the street of the town was clear gold, as clear as glass. **[21:22]** And I saw no Temple there; because the Lord God, the Ruler of all, and the Lamb are its Temple. **[21:23]** And the town has no need of the sun, or of the moon, to give it light: for the glory of God did make it light, and the light of it is the Lamb. **[21:24]** And the nations will go in its light: and the kings of the earth will take their glory into it. **[21:25]** And the doors of it will never be shut by day (for there is no night there): **[21:26]** And the glory and honour of the nations will come into it: **[21:27]** And nothing unclean may come into it, or anyone whose works are cursed or false; but only those whose names are in the Lamb's book of life. **[22:1]** And I saw a river of water of life, clear as glass, coming out of the high seat of God and of the Lamb, **[22:2]** In the middle of its street. And on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, having twelve sorts of fruits, giving its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree give life to the nations. **[22:3]** And there will be no more curse: and the high seat of God and of the Lamb will be there; and his servants will be worshipping him; **[22:4]** And they will see his face; and his name will be on their brows. **[22:5]** And there will be no more night; and they have no need of a light or of the shining of the sun; for the Lord God will give them light: and they will be ruling for ever and ever. **[22:6]** And he said to me, These words are certain and true: and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to make clear to his servants the things which are now to come about. **[22:7]** See, I come quickly. A blessing on him who keeps the words of this book of the prophet. **[22:8]** And I, John, am he who saw these things and to whose ears they came. And when I had seen and given ear, I went down on my face to give worship at the feet of the angel who made these things clear to me. **[22:9]** And he said to me, See you do it not; I am a brother-servant with you and with your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book: give worship to God. **[22:10]** And he said to me, Let not the words of this prophet's book be kept secret, because the time is near. **[22:11]** Let the evil man go on in his evil: and let the unclean be still unclean: and let the upright go on in his righteousness: and let the holy be holy still. **[22:12]** See, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give to every man the outcome of his works. **[22:13]** I am the First and the Last, the start and the end. **[22:14]** A blessing on those whose robes are washed, so that they may have a right to the tree of life, and may go in by the doors into the town. **[22:15]** Outside are the dogs, and those who make use of evil powers, those who make themselves unclean, and the takers of life, and those who give worship to images, and everyone whose delight is in what is false. **[22:16]** I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give witness to you of these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star. **[22:17]** And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him who gives ear, say, Come. And let him who is in need come; and let everyone desiring it take of the water of life freely. **[22:18]** For I say to every man to whose ears have come the words of this prophet's book, If any man makes an addition to them, God will put on him the punishments which are in this book: **[22:19]** And if any man takes away from the words of this book, God will take away from him his part in the tree of life and the holy town, even the things which are in this book. **[22:20]** He who gives witness to these things says, Truly, I come quickly. Even so come, Lord Jesus. **[22:21]** The grace of the Lord Jesus be with the saints. So be it.

66 Revelation - King James Version (KJV).md

# Revelation - King James Version (KJV) **[1:1]** The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: **[1:2]** Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. **[1:3]** Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. **[1:4]** John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; **[1:5]** And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, **[1:6]** And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. **[1:7]** Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. **[1:8]** I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. **[1:9]** I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. **[1:10]** I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, **[1:11]** Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. **[1:12]** And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; **[1:13]** And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. **[1:14]** His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; **[1:15]** And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. **[1:16]** And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. **[1:17]** And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: **[1:18]** I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. **[1:19]** Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; **[1:20]** The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. **[2:1]** Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; **[2:2]** I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: **[2:3]** And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. **[2:4]** Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. **[2:5]** Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. **[2:6]** But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate. **[2:7]** He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. **[2:8]** And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; **[2:9]** I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. **[2:10]** Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. **[2:11]** He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. **[2:12]** And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges; **[2:13]** I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. **[2:14]** But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. **[2:15]** So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate. **[2:16]** Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. **[2:17]** He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. **[2:18]** And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass; **[2:19]** I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first. **[2:20]** Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. **[2:21]** And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. **[2:22]** Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. **[2:23]** And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. **[2:24]** But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. **[2:25]** But that which ye have already hold fast till I come. **[2:26]** And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: **[2:27]** And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. **[2:28]** And I will give him the morning star. **[2:29]** He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. **[3:1]** And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. **[3:2]** Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. **[3:3]** Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. **[3:4]** Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. **[3:5]** He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. **[3:6]** He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. **[3:7]** And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; **[3:8]** I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. **[3:9]** Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. **[3:10]** Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. **[3:11]** Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. **[3:12]** Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. **[3:13]** He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. **[3:14]** And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; **[3:15]** I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. **[3:16]** So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. **[3:17]** Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: **[3:18]** I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. **[3:19]** As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. **[3:20]** Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. **[3:21]** To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. **[3:22]** He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. **[4:1]** After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. **[4:2]** And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. **[4:3]** And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. **[4:4]** And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. **[4:5]** And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. **[4:6]** And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. **[4:7]** And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. **[4:8]** And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. **[4:9]** And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, **[4:10]** The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, **[4:11]** Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. **[5:1]** And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. **[5:2]** And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? **[5:3]** And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. **[5:4]** And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. **[5:5]** And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. **[5:6]** And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. **[5:7]** And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. **[5:8]** And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. **[5:9]** And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; **[5:10]** And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. **[5:11]** And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; **[5:12]** Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. **[5:13]** And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. **[5:14]** And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever. **[6:1]** And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. **[6:2]** And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. **[6:3]** And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. **[6:4]** And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. **[6:5]** And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. **[6:6]** And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. **[6:7]** And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. **[6:8]** And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. **[6:9]** And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: **[6:10]** And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? **[6:11]** And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. **[6:12]** And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; **[6:13]** And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. **[6:14]** And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. **[6:15]** And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; **[6:16]** And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: **[6:17]** For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? **[7:1]** And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. **[7:2]** And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, **[7:3]** Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. **[7:4]** And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. **[7:5]** Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. **[7:6]** Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nephthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand. **[7:7]** Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. **[7:8]** Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand. **[7:9]** After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; **[7:10]** And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. **[7:11]** And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, **[7:12]** Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. **[7:13]** And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? **[7:14]** And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. **[7:15]** Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. **[7:16]** They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. **[7:17]** For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. **[8:1]** And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. **[8:2]** And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. **[8:3]** And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. **[8:4]** And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. **[8:5]** And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. **[8:6]** And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. **[8:7]** The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. **[8:8]** And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; **[8:9]** And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed. **[8:10]** And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; **[8:11]** And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter. **[8:12]** And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise. **[8:13]** And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound! **[9:1]** And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. **[9:2]** And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. **[9:3]** And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. **[9:4]** And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. **[9:5]** And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. **[9:6]** And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. **[9:7]** And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. **[9:8]** And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. **[9:9]** And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. **[9:10]** And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. **[9:11]** And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. **[9:12]** One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter. **[9:13]** And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, **[9:14]** Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. **[9:15]** And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. **[9:16]** And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. **[9:17]** And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. **[9:18]** By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. **[9:19]** For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt. **[9:20]** And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: **[9:21]** Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. **[10:1]** And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: **[10:2]** And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, **[10:3]** And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. **[10:4]** And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. **[10:5]** And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, **[10:6]** And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: **[10:7]** But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets. **[10:8]** And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. **[10:9]** And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. **[10:10]** And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. **[10:11]** And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings. **[11:1]** And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. **[11:2]** But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. **[11:3]** And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. **[11:4]** These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. **[11:5]** And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. **[11:6]** These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. **[11:7]** And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. **[11:8]** And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. **[11:9]** And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. **[11:10]** And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. **[11:11]** And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. **[11:12]** And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. **[11:13]** And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. **[11:14]** The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly. **[11:15]** And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. **[11:16]** And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, **[11:17]** Saying, We give thee thanks, O LORD God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. **[11:18]** And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. **[11:19]** And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail. **[12:1]** And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: **[12:2]** And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. **[12:3]** And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. **[12:4]** And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. **[12:5]** And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. **[12:6]** And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. **[12:7]** And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, **[12:8]** And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. **[12:9]** And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. **[12:10]** And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. **[12:11]** And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. **[12:12]** Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. **[12:13]** And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. **[12:14]** And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. **[12:15]** And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. **[12:16]** And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. **[12:17]** And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. **[13:1]** And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. **[13:2]** And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. **[13:3]** And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. **[13:4]** And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? **[13:5]** And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. **[13:6]** And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. **[13:7]** And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. **[13:8]** And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. **[13:9]** If any man have an ear, let him hear. **[13:10]** He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. **[13:11]** And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. **[13:12]** And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. **[13:13]** And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, **[13:14]** And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. **[13:15]** And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. **[13:16]** And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: **[13:17]** And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. **[13:18]** Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. **[14:1]** And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. **[14:2]** And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: **[14:3]** And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. **[14:4]** These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. **[14:5]** And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God. **[14:6]** And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, **[14:7]** Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. **[14:8]** And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. **[14:9]** And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, **[14:10]** The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: **[14:11]** And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. **[14:12]** Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. **[14:13]** And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them. **[14:14]** And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. **[14:15]** And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. **[14:16]** And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped. **[14:17]** And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. **[14:18]** And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. **[14:19]** And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. **[14:20]** And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs. **[15:1]** And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. **[15:2]** And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. **[15:3]** And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. **[15:4]** Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest. **[15:5]** And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: **[15:6]** And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. **[15:7]** And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. **[15:8]** And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled. **[16:1]** And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. **[16:2]** And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image. **[16:3]** And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea. **[16:4]** And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. **[16:5]** And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. **[16:6]** For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. **[16:7]** And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. **[16:8]** And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. **[16:9]** And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. **[16:10]** And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, **[16:11]** And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds. **[16:12]** And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. **[16:13]** And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. **[16:14]** For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. **[16:15]** Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. **[16:16]** And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. **[16:17]** And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. **[16:18]** And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. **[16:19]** And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. **[16:20]** And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. **[16:21]** And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great. **[17:1]** And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: **[17:2]** With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. **[17:3]** So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. **[17:4]** And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: **[17:5]** And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. **[17:6]** And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. **[17:7]** And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. **[17:8]** The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. **[17:9]** And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. **[17:10]** And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. **[17:11]** And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. **[17:12]** And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. **[17:13]** These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. **[17:14]** These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. **[17:15]** And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. **[17:16]** And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. **[17:17]** For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. **[17:18]** And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. **[18:1]** And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. **[18:2]** And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. **[18:3]** For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. **[18:4]** And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. **[18:5]** For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. **[18:6]** Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. **[18:7]** How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. **[18:8]** Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. **[18:9]** And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, **[18:10]** Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. **[18:11]** And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: **[18:12]** The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, **[18:13]** And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. **[18:14]** And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all. **[18:15]** The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, **[18:16]** And saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! **[18:17]** For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, **[18:18]** And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! **[18:19]** And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate. **[18:20]** Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. **[18:21]** And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. **[18:22]** And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; **[18:23]** And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. **[18:24]** And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth. **[19:1]** And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: **[19:2]** For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. **[19:3]** And again they said, Alleluia And her smoke rose up for ever and ever. **[19:4]** And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia. **[19:5]** And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. **[19:6]** And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. **[19:7]** Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. **[19:8]** And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. **[19:9]** And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. **[19:10]** And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. **[19:11]** And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. **[19:12]** His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. **[19:13]** And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. **[19:14]** And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. **[19:15]** And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. **[19:16]** And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. **[19:17]** And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; **[19:18]** That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. **[19:19]** And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. **[19:20]** And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. **[19:21]** And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. **[20:1]** And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. **[20:2]** And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, **[20:3]** And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. **[20:4]** And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. **[20:5]** But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. **[20:6]** Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. **[20:7]** And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, **[20:8]** And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. **[20:9]** And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. **[20:10]** And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. **[20:11]** And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. **[20:12]** And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. **[20:13]** And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. **[20:14]** And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. **[20:15]** And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. **[21:1]** And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. **[21:2]** And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. **[21:3]** And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. **[21:4]** And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. **[21:5]** And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. **[21:6]** And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. **[21:7]** He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. **[21:8]** But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. **[21:9]** And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. **[21:10]** And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, **[21:11]** Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; **[21:12]** And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: **[21:13]** On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. **[21:14]** And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. **[21:15]** And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. **[21:16]** And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. **[21:17]** And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. **[21:18]** And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. **[21:19]** And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; **[21:20]** The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. **[21:21]** And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. **[21:22]** And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. **[21:23]** And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. **[21:24]** And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. **[21:25]** And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. **[21:26]** And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. **[21:27]** And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. **[22:1]** And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. **[22:2]** In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. **[22:3]** And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: **[22:4]** And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. **[22:5]** And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. **[22:6]** And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. **[22:7]** Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. **[22:8]** And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. **[22:9]** Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God. **[22:10]** And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. **[22:11]** He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. **[22:12]** And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. **[22:13]** I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. **[22:14]** Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. **[22:15]** For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. **[22:16]** I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. **[22:17]** And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. **[22:18]** For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: **[22:19]** And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. **[22:20]** He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. **[22:21]** The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

66 Revelation - World English Bible (WEB).md

# Revelation - World English Bible (WEB) **[1:1]** This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things which must happen soon, which he sent and made known by his angel to his servant, John, **[1:2]** who testified to God's word, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, about everything that he saw. **[1:3]** Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written in it, for the time is at hand. **[1:4]** John, to the seven assemblies that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from God, who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before his throne; **[1:5]** and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us, and washed us from our sins by his blood; **[1:6]** and he made us to be a Kingdom, priests to his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. **[1:7]** Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him. All the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Even so, Amen. **[1:8]** "I am the Alpha and the Omega,{TR adds "the Beginning and the End"}" says the Lord God,{TR omits "God"} "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." **[1:9]** I John, your brother and partner with you in oppression, Kingdom, and perseverance in Christ Jesus, was on the isle that is called Patmos because of God's Word and the testimony of Jesus Christ. **[1:10]** I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, like a trumpet **[1:11]** saying, "{TR adds "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last."}What you see, write in a book and send to the seven assemblies{TR adds "which are in Asia"}: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and to Laodicea." **[1:12]** I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. Having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. **[1:13]** And among the lampstands was one like a son of man, clothed with a robe reaching down to his feet, and with a golden sash around his chest. **[1:14]** His head and his hair were white as white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. **[1:15]** His feet were like burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace. His voice was like the voice of many waters. **[1:16]** He had seven stars in his right hand. Out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest. **[1:17]** When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me, saying, "Don't be afraid. I am the first and the last, **[1:18]** and the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades. **[1:19]** Write therefore the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will happen hereafter; **[1:20]** the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands. The seven stars are the angels of the seven assemblies. The seven lampstands are seven assemblies. **[2:1]** To the angel of the assembly in Ephesus write: "He who holds the seven stars in his right hand, he who walks among the seven golden lampstands says these things: **[2:2]** "I know your works, and your toil and perseverance, and that you can't tolerate evil men, and have tested those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and found them false. **[2:3]** You have perseverance and have endured for my name's sake, and have{TR adds "have labored and"} not grown weary. **[2:4]** But I have this against you, that you left your first love. **[2:5]** Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the first works; or else I am coming to you swiftly, and will move your lampstand out of its place, unless you repent. **[2:6]** But this you have, that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. **[2:7]** He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of my God. **[2:8]** "To the angel of the assembly in Smyrna write: "The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life says these things: **[2:9]** "I know your works, oppression, and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews, and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. **[2:10]** Don't be afraid of the things which you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested; and you will have oppression for ten days. Be faithful to death, and I will give you the crown of life. **[2:11]** He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. He who overcomes won't be harmed by the second death. **[2:12]** "To the angel of the assembly in Pergamum write: "He who has the sharp two-edged sword says these things: **[2:13]** "I know your works and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. You hold firmly to my name, and didn't deny my faith in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. **[2:14]** But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to throw a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. **[2:15]** So you also have some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans likewise{TR reads "which I hate" instead of "likewise"}. **[2:16]** Repent therefore, or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of my mouth. **[2:17]** He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna,{Manna is supernatural food, named after the Hebrew for "What is it?". See Exodus 11:7-9.} and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows but he who receives it. **[2:18]** "To the angel of the assembly in Thyatira write: "The Son of God, who has his eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet are like burnished brass, says these things: **[2:19]** I know your works, your love, faith, service, patient endurance, and that your last works are more than the first. **[2:20]** But I have this against you, that you tolerate your{TR, NU read "that" instead of "your"} woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. She teaches and seduces my servants to commit sexual immorality, and to eat things sacrificed to idols. **[2:21]** I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. **[2:22]** Behold, I will throw her into a bed, and those who commit adultery with her into great oppression, unless they repent of her works. **[2:23]** I will kill her children with Death, and all the assemblies will know that I am he who searches the minds and hearts. I will give to each one of you according to your deeds. **[2:24]** But to you I say, to the rest who are in Thyatira, as many as don't have this teaching, who don't know what some call 'the deep things of Satan,' to you I say, I am not putting any other burden on you. **[2:25]** Nevertheless, hold firmly that which you have, until I come. **[2:26]** He who overcomes, and he who keeps my works to the end, to him I will give authority over the nations. **[2:27]** He will rule them with a rod of iron, shattering them like clay pots; as I also have received of my Father: **[2:28]** and I will give him the morning star. **[2:29]** He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. **[3:1]** "And to the angel of the assembly in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars says these things: "I know your works, that you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. **[3:2]** Wake up, and keep the things that remain, which you were about to throw away, for I have found no works of yours perfected before my God. **[3:3]** Remember therefore how you have received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If therefore you won't watch, I will come as a thief, and you won't know what hour I will come upon you. **[3:4]** Nevertheless you have a few names in Sardis that did not defile their garments. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. **[3:5]** He who overcomes will be arrayed in white garments, and I will in no way blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. **[3:6]** He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. **[3:7]** "To the angel of the assembly in Philadelphia write: "He who is holy, he who is true, he who has the key of David, he who opens and no one can shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says these things: **[3:8]** "I know your works (behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one can shut), that you have a little power, and kept my word, and didn't deny my name. **[3:9]** Behold, I give of the synagogue of Satan, of those who say they are Jews, and they are not, but lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. **[3:10]** Because you kept my command to endure, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, which is to come on the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. **[3:11]** I am coming quickly! Hold firmly that which you have, so that no one takes your crown. **[3:12]** He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will go out from there no more. I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and my own new name. **[3:13]** He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. **[3:14]** "To the angel of the assembly in Laodicea write: "The Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Head of God's creation, says these things: **[3:15]** "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. **[3:16]** So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth. **[3:17]** Because you say, 'I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing;' and don't know that you are the wretched one, miserable, poor, blind, and naked; **[3:18]** I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich; and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. **[3:19]** As many as I love, I reprove and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent. **[3:20]** Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me. **[3:21]** He who overcomes, I will give to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father on his throne. **[3:22]** He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies." **[4:1]** After these things I looked and saw a door opened in heaven, and the first voice that I heard, like a trumpet speaking with me, was one saying, "Come up here, and I will show you the things which must happen after this." **[4:2]** Immediately I was in the Spirit. Behold, there was a throne set in heaven, and one sitting on the throne **[4:3]** that looked like a jasper stone and a sardius. There was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald to look at. **[4:4]** Around the throne were twenty-four thrones. On the thrones were twenty-four elders sitting, dressed in white garments, with crowns of gold on their heads. **[4:5]** Out of the throne proceed lightnings, sounds, and thunders. There were seven lamps of fire burning before his throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. **[4:6]** Before the throne was something like a sea of glass, similar to crystal. In the midst of the throne, and around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes before and behind. **[4:7]** The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like a man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle. **[4:8]** The four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around about and within. They have no rest day and night, saying, "Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy{TR and NU read "holy" 3 times instead of 9.} is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come!" **[4:9]** When the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who sits on the throne, to him who lives forever and ever, **[4:10]** the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives forever and ever, and throw their crowns before the throne, saying, **[4:11]** "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, the Holy One,{TR omits "and God, the Holy One,"} to receive the glory, the honor, and the power, for you created all things, and because of your desire they existed, and were created!" **[5:1]** I saw, in the right hand of him who sat on the throne, a book written inside and outside, sealed shut with seven seals. **[5:2]** I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the book, and to break its seals?" **[5:3]** No one in heaven above, or on the earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book, or to look in it. **[5:4]** And I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open the book, or to look in it. **[5:5]** One of the elders said to me, "Don't weep. Behold, the Lion who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome; he who opens the book and its seven seals." **[5:6]** I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. **[5:7]** Then he came, and he took it out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. **[5:8]** Now when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. **[5:9]** They sang a new song, saying, "You are worthy to take the book, And to open its seals: For you were killed, And bought us for God with your blood, Out of every tribe, language, people, and nation, **[5:10]** And made them kings and priests to our God, And they reign on earth." **[5:11]** I saw, and I heard something like a voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousands of ten thousands, and thousands of thousands; **[5:12]** saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb who has been killed to receive the power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessing!" **[5:13]** I heard every created thing which is in heaven, on the earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them, saying, "To him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb be the blessing, the honor, the glory, and the dominion, forever and ever! Amen!{TR omits "Amen!"}" **[5:14]** The four living creatures said, "Amen!" The {TR adds "twenty-four"}elders fell down and worshiped.{TR adds "the one living forever and ever"} **[6:1]** I saw that the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as with a voice of thunder, "Come and see!" **[6:2]** And behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow. A crown was given to him, and he came forth conquering, and to conquer. **[6:3]** When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come!" **[6:4]** Another came forth, a red horse. To him who sat on it was given power to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another. There was given to him a great sword. **[6:5]** When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "Come and see!" And behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a balance in his hand. **[6:6]** I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, "A choenix{A choenix is a dry volume measure that is a little more than a litre (a little more than a quart).} of wheat for a denarius, and three choenix of barley for a denarius! Don't damage the oil and the wine!" **[6:7]** When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living creature saying, "Come and see!" **[6:8]** And behold, a pale horse, and he who sat on it, his name was Death. Hades followed with him. Authority over one fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword, with famine, with death, and by the wild animals of the earth was given to him. **[6:9]** When he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed for the Word of God, and for the testimony of the Lamb which they had. **[6:10]** They cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, Master, the holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" **[6:11]** A long white robe was given to each of them. They were told that they should rest yet for a while, until their fellow servants and their brothers,{The word for "brothers" here and where context allows may also be correctly translated "brothers and sisters" or "siblings."} who would also be killed even as they were, should complete their course. **[6:12]** I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became as blood. **[6:13]** The stars of the sky fell to the earth, like a fig tree dropping its unripe figs when it is shaken by a great wind. **[6:14]** The sky was removed like a scroll when it is rolled up. Every mountain and island were moved out of their places. **[6:15]** The kings of the earth, the princes, the commanding officers, the rich, the strong, and every slave and free person, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains. **[6:16]** They told the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, **[6:17]** for the great day of his wrath has come; and who is able to stand?" **[7:1]** After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree. **[7:2]** I saw another angel ascend from the sunrise, having the seal of the living God. He cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to harm the earth and the sea, **[7:3]** saying, "Don't harm the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, until we have sealed the bondservants of our God on their foreheads!" **[7:4]** I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel: **[7:5]** Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand, Of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, Of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand, **[7:6]** Of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, Of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, Of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand, **[7:7]** Of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, Of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, Of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand, **[7:8]** Of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, Of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand. **[7:9]** After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. **[7:10]** They cried with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation be to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" **[7:11]** All the angels were standing around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before his throne, and worshiped God, **[7:12]** saying, "Amen! Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might, be to our God forever and ever! Amen." **[7:13]** One of the elders answered, saying to me, "These who are arrayed in white robes, who are they, and from where did they come?" **[7:14]** I told him, "My lord, you know." He said to me, "These are those who came out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes, and made them white in the Lamb's blood. **[7:15]** Therefore they are before the throne of God, they serve him day and night in his temple. He who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. **[7:16]** They will never be hungry, neither thirsty any more; neither will the sun beat on them, nor any heat; **[7:17]** for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shepherds them, and leads them to springs of waters of life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." **[8:1]** When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. **[8:2]** I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. **[8:3]** Another angel came and stood over the altar, having a golden censer. Much incense was given to him, that he should add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. **[8:4]** The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel's hand. **[8:5]** The angel took the censer, and he filled it with the fire of the altar, and threw it on the earth. There followed thunders, sounds, lightnings, and an earthquake. **[8:6]** The seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. **[8:7]** The first sounded, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. One third of the earth was burnt up,{TR omits "One third of the earth was burnt up"} and one third of the trees were burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. **[8:8]** The second angel sounded, and something like a great burning mountain was thrown into the sea. One third of the sea became blood, **[8:9]** and one third of the living creatures which were in the sea died. One third of the ships were destroyed. **[8:10]** The third angel sounded, and a great star fell from the sky, burning like a torch, and it fell on one third of the rivers, and on the springs of the waters. **[8:11]** The name of the star is called "Wormwood." One third of the waters became wormwood. Many people died from the waters, because they were made bitter. **[8:12]** The fourth angel sounded, and one third of the sun was struck, and one third of the moon, and one third of the stars; so that one third of them would be darkened, and the day wouldn't shine for one third of it, and the night in the same way. **[8:13]** I saw, and I heard an eagle,{TR reads "angel" instead of "eagle"} flying in mid heaven, saying with a loud voice, "Woe! Woe! Woe for those who dwell on the earth, because of the other voices of the trumpets of the three angels, who are yet to sound!" **[9:1]** The fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from the sky which had fallen to the earth. The key to the pit of the abyss was given to him. **[9:2]** He opened the pit of the abyss, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke from a{TR adds "great"} burning furnace. The sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke from the pit. **[9:3]** Then out of the smoke came forth locusts on the earth, and power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. **[9:4]** They were told that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only those people who don't have God's seal on their foreheads. **[9:5]** They were given power not to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion, when it strikes a person. **[9:6]** In those days people will seek death, and will in no way find it. They will desire to die, and death will flee from them. **[9:7]** The shapes of the locusts were like horses prepared for war. On their heads were something like golden crowns, and their faces were like people's faces. **[9:8]** They had hair like women's hair, and their teeth were like those of lions. **[9:9]** They had breastplates, like breastplates of iron. The sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, or of many horses rushing to war. **[9:10]** They have tails like those of scorpions, and stings. In their tails they have power to harm men for five months. **[9:11]** They have over them as king the angel of the abyss. His name in Hebrew is "Abaddon,"{"Abaddon" is a Hebrew word that means ruin, destruction, or the place of destruction} but in Greek, he has the name "Apollyon."{"Apollyon" means "Destroyer."} **[9:12]** The first woe is past. Behold, there are still two woes coming after this. **[9:13]** The sixth angel sounded. I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar which is before God, **[9:14]** saying to the sixth angel who had one trumpet, "Free the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates!" **[9:15]** The four angels were freed who had been prepared for that hour and day and month and year, so that they might kill one third of mankind. **[9:16]** The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million{literally, "ten thousands of ten thousands"}. I heard the number of them. **[9:17]** Thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those who sat on them, having breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of lions. Out of their mouths proceed fire, smoke, and sulfur. **[9:18]** By these three plagues were one third of mankind killed: by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur, which proceeded out of their mouths. **[9:19]** For the power of the horses is in their mouths, and in their tails. For their tails are like serpents, and have heads, and with them they harm. **[9:20]** The rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, didn't repent of the works of their hands, that they wouldn't worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood; which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk. **[9:21]** They didn't repent of their murders, nor of their sorceries,{The word for "sorceries" (pharmakeia) also implies the use of potions, poisons, and drugs} nor of their sexual immorality, nor of their thefts. **[10:1]** I saw a mighty angel coming down out of the sky, clothed with a cloud. A rainbow was on his head. His face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. **[10:2]** He had in his hand a little open book. He set his right foot on the sea, and his left on the land. **[10:3]** He cried with a loud voice, as a lion roars. When he cried, the seven thunders uttered their voices. **[10:4]** When the seven thunders sounded, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from the sky saying, "Seal up the things which the seven thunders said, and don't write them." **[10:5]** The angel who I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to the sky, **[10:6]** and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there will no longer be delay, **[10:7]** but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as he declared to his servants, the prophets. **[10:8]** The voice which I heard from heaven, again speaking with me, said, "Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land." **[10:9]** I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book. He said to me, "Take it, and eat it up. It will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey." **[10:10]** I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth. When I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. **[10:11]** They told me, "You must prophesy again over many peoples, nations, languages, and kings." **[11:1]** A reed like a rod was given to me. Someone said, "Rise, and measure God's temple, and the altar, and those who worship in it. **[11:2]** Leave out the court which is outside of the temple, and don't measure it, for it has been given to the gentiles. They will tread the holy city under foot for forty-two months. **[11:3]** I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth." **[11:4]** These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands, standing before the Lord of the earth. **[11:5]** If anyone desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies. If anyone desires to harm them, he must be killed in this way. **[11:6]** These have the power to shut up the sky, that it may not rain during the days of their prophecy. They have power over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire. **[11:7]** When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them. **[11:8]** Their dead bodies will be in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. **[11:9]** From among the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations people will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not allow their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. **[11:10]** Those who dwell on the earth rejoice over them, and they will be glad. They will give gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. **[11:11]** After the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered into them, and they stood on their feet. Great fear fell on those who saw them. **[11:12]** I heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here!" They went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies saw them. **[11:13]** In that day there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified, and gave glory to the God of heaven. **[11:14]** The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe comes quickly. **[11:15]** The seventh angel sounded, and great voices in heaven followed, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ. He will reign forever and ever!" **[11:16]** The twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God's throne, fell on their faces and worshiped God, **[11:17]** saying: "We give you thanks, Lord God, the Almighty, the one who is and who was{TR adds "and who is coming"}; because you have taken your great power, and reigned. **[11:18]** The nations were angry, and your wrath came, as did the time for the dead to be judged, and to give your bondservants the prophets, their reward, as well as to the saints, and those who fear your name, to the small and the great; and to destroy those who destroy the earth." **[11:19]** God's temple that is in heaven was opened, and the ark of the Lord's covenant was seen in his temple. Lightnings, sounds, thunders, an earthquake, and great hail followed. **[12:1]** A great sign was seen in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. **[12:2]** She was with child. She cried out in pain, laboring to give birth. **[12:3]** Another sign was seen in heaven. Behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven crowns. **[12:4]** His tail drew one third of the stars of the sky, and threw them to the earth. The dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child. **[12:5]** She gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. Her child was caught up to God, and to his throne. **[12:6]** The woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that there they may nourish her one thousand two hundred sixty days. **[12:7]** There was war in the sky. Michael and his angels made war on the dragon. The dragon and his angels made war. **[12:8]** They didn't prevail, neither was a place found for him any more in heaven. **[12:9]** The great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. **[12:10]** I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now is come the salvation, the power, and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ; for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night. **[12:11]** They overcame him because of the Lamb's blood, and because of the word of their testimony. They didn't love their life, even to death. **[12:12]** Therefore rejoice, heavens, and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and to the sea, because the devil has gone down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has but a short time." **[12:13]** When the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. **[12:14]** Two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, so that she might be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. **[12:15]** The serpent spewed water out of his mouth after the woman like a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream. **[12:16]** The earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon spewed out of his mouth. **[12:17]** The dragon grew angry with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep God's commandments and hold Jesus' testimony. **[13:1]** Then I stood on the sand of the sea. I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads. On his horns were ten crowns, and on his heads, blasphemous names. **[13:2]** The beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. **[13:3]** One of his heads looked like it had been wounded fatally. His fatal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled at the beast. **[13:4]** They worshiped the dragon, because he gave his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?" **[13:5]** A mouth speaking great things and blasphemy was given to him. Authority to make war for forty-two months was given to him. **[13:6]** He opened his mouth for blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his dwelling, those who dwell in heaven. **[13:7]** It was given to him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. Authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation was given to him. **[13:8]** All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been killed. **[13:9]** If anyone has an ear, let him hear. **[13:10]** If anyone has captivity, he will go. If anyone is with the sword, he must be killed.{TR reads "If anyone leads into captivity, into captivity he goes. If anyone will kill with the sword, he must be killed with a sword." instead of "If anyone has captivity, he goes away. If anyone is with the sword, he must be killed."} Here is the endurance and the faith of the saints. **[13:11]** I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke like a dragon. **[13:12]** He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. He makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. **[13:13]** He performs great signs, even making fire come down out of the sky to the earth in the sight of people. **[13:14]** He deceives my own people who dwell on the earth because of the signs he was granted to do in front of the beast; saying to those who dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast who had the sword wound and lived. **[13:15]** It was given to him to give breath to it, to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause as many as wouldn't worship the image of the beast to be killed. **[13:16]** He causes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slave, to be given marks on their right hands, or on their foreheads; **[13:17]** and that no one would be able to buy or to sell, unless he has that mark, the name of the beast or the number of his name. **[13:18]** Here is wisdom. He who has understanding, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is six hundred sixty-six. **[14:1]** I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him a number, one hundred forty-four thousand, having his name, and the name of his Father, written on their foreheads. **[14:2]** I heard a sound from heaven, like the sound of many waters, and like the sound of a great thunder. The sound which I heard was like that of harpists playing on their harps. **[14:3]** They sing a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the one hundred forty-four thousand, those who had been redeemed out of the earth. **[14:4]** These are those who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are those who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed by Jesus from among men, the first fruits to God and to the Lamb. **[14:5]** In their mouth was found no lie, for they are blameless.{TR adds "before the throne of God"} **[14:6]** I saw an angel flying in mid heaven, having an eternal Gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on the earth, and to every nation, tribe, language, and people. **[14:7]** He said with a loud voice, "Fear the Lord, and give him glory; for the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and the springs of waters!" **[14:8]** Another, a second angel, followed, saying, "Babylon the great has fallen, which has made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality." **[14:9]** Another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a great voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead, or on his hand, **[14:10]** he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. **[14:11]** The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. They have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name. **[14:12]** Here is the patience of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." **[14:13]** I heard the voice from heaven saying, "Write, 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.'" "Yes," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors; for their works follow with them." **[14:14]** I looked, and behold, a white cloud; and on the cloud one sitting like a son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. **[14:15]** Another angel came out from the temple, crying with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, "Send forth your sickle, and reap; for the hour to reap has come; for the harvest of the earth is ripe!" **[14:16]** He who sat on the cloud thrust his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. **[14:17]** Another angel came out from the temple which is in heaven. He also had a sharp sickle. **[14:18]** Another angel came out from the altar, he who has power over fire, and he called with a great voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, "Send forth your sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for the earth's grapes are fully ripe!" **[14:19]** The angel thrust his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vintage of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. **[14:20]** The winepress was trodden outside of the city, and blood came out from the winepress, even to the bridles of the horses, as far as one thousand six hundred stadia.{1600 stadia = 296 kilometers or 184 miles} **[15:1]** I saw another great and marvelous sign in the sky: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them God's wrath is finished. **[15:2]** I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who overcame the beast, his image,{TR adds "his mark,"} and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. **[15:3]** They sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are your ways, you King of the nations. **[15:4]** Who wouldn't fear you, Lord, And glorify your name? For you only are holy. For all the nations will come and worship before you. For your righteous acts have been revealed." **[15:5]** After these things I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. **[15:6]** The seven angels who had the seven plagues came out, clothed with pure, bright linen, and wearing golden sashes around their breasts. **[15:7]** One of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever. **[15:8]** The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power. No one was able to enter into the temple, until the seven plagues of the seven angels would be finished. **[16:1]** I heard a loud voice out of the temple, saying to the seven angels, "Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God on the earth!" **[16:2]** The first went, and poured out his bowl into the earth, and it became a harmful and evil sore on the people who had the mark of the beast, and who worshiped his image. **[16:3]** The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man. Every living thing in the sea died. **[16:4]** The third poured out his bowl into the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. **[16:5]** I heard the angel of the waters saying, "You are righteous, who are and who were, you Holy One, because you have judged these things. **[16:6]** For they poured out the blood of the saints and the prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. They deserve this." **[16:7]** I heard the altar saying, "Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments." **[16:8]** The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was given to him to scorch men with fire. **[16:9]** People were scorched with great heat, and people blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues. They didn't repent and give him glory. **[16:10]** The fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was darkened. They gnawed their tongues because of the pain, **[16:11]** and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores. They didn't repent of their works. **[16:12]** The sixth poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates. Its water was dried up, that the way might be made ready for the kings that come from the sunrise. **[16:13]** I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, something like frogs; **[16:14]** for they are spirits of demons, performing signs; which go forth to the kings of the whole inhabited earth, to gather them together for the war of that great day of God, the Almighty. **[16:15]** "Behold, I come like a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his clothes, so that he doesn't walk naked, and they see his shame." **[16:16]** He gathered them together into the place which is called in Hebrew, Megiddo. **[16:17]** The seventh poured out his bowl into the air. A loud voice came forth out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, "It is done!" **[16:18]** There were lightnings, sounds, and thunders; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since there were men on the earth, so great an earthquake, so mighty. **[16:19]** The great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. **[16:20]** Every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. **[16:21]** Great hailstones, about the weight of a talent,{1 talent is about 34 kilograms or 75 pounds} came down out of the sky on people. People blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for this plague is exceedingly severe. **[17:1]** One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here. I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters, **[17:2]** with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality, and those who dwell in the earth were made drunken with the wine of her sexual immorality." **[17:3]** He carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet-colored animal, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. **[17:4]** The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of the sexual immorality of the earth. **[17:5]** And on her forehead a name was written, "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." **[17:6]** I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered with great amazement. **[17:7]** The angel said to me, "Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. **[17:8]** The beast that you saw was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss and to go into destruction. Those who dwell on the earth and whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel when they see that the beast was, and is not, and shall be present.{TR reads "yet is" instead of "shall be present"} **[17:9]** Here is the mind that has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits. **[17:10]** They are seven kings. Five have fallen, the one is, the other has not yet come. When he comes, he must continue a little while. **[17:11]** The beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is of the seven; and he goes to destruction. **[17:12]** The ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority as kings, with the beast, for one hour. **[17:13]** These have one mind, and they give their power and authority to the beast. **[17:14]** These will war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings. They also will overcome who are with him, called and chosen and faithful." **[17:15]** He said to me, "The waters which you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages. **[17:16]** The ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the prostitute, and will make her desolate, and will make her naked, and will eat her flesh, and will burn her utterly with fire. **[17:17]** For God has put in their hearts to do what he has in mind, and to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God should be accomplished. **[17:18]** The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth." **[18:1]** After these things, I saw another angel coming down out of the sky, having great authority. The earth was illuminated with his glory. **[18:2]** He cried with a mighty voice, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and she has become a habitation of demons, a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird! **[18:3]** For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality, the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from the abundance of her luxury." **[18:4]** I heard another voice from heaven, saying, "Come out of her, my people, that you have no participation in her sins, and that you don't receive of her plagues, **[18:5]** for her sins have reached to the sky, and God has remembered her iniquities. **[18:6]** Return to her just as she returned, and repay her double as she did, and according to her works. In the cup which she mixed, mix to her double. **[18:7]** However much she glorified herself, and grew wanton, so much give her of torment and mourning. For she says in her heart, 'I sit a queen, and am no widow, and will in no way see mourning.' **[18:8]** Therefore in one day her plagues will come: death, mourning, and famine; and she will be utterly burned with fire; for the Lord God who has judged her is strong. **[18:9]** The kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived wantonly with her, will weep and wail over her, when they look at the smoke of her burning, **[18:10]** standing far away for the fear of her torment, saying, 'Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For your judgment has come in one hour.' **[18:11]** The merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise any more; **[18:12]** merchandise of gold, silver, precious stones, pearls, fine linen, purple, silk, scarlet, all expensive wood, every vessel of ivory, every vessel made of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble; **[18:13]** and cinnamon, incense, perfume, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, sheep, horses, chariots, bodies, and people's souls. **[18:14]** The fruits which your soul lusted after have been lost to you, and all things that were dainty and sumptuous have perished from you, and you will find them no more at all. **[18:15]** The merchants of these things, who were made rich by her, will stand far away for the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning; **[18:16]** saying, 'Woe, woe, the great city, she who was dressed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls! **[18:17]** For in an hour such great riches are made desolate.' Every shipmaster, and everyone who sails anywhere, and mariners, and as many as gain their living by sea, stood far away, **[18:18]** and cried out as they looked at the smoke of her burning, saying, 'What is like the great city?' **[18:19]** They cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and mourning, saying, 'Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had their ships in the sea were made rich by reason of her great wealth!' For in one hour is she made desolate. **[18:20]** Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints, apostles, and prophets; for God has judged your judgment on her." **[18:21]** A mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, "Thus with violence will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down, and will be found no more at all. **[18:22]** The voice of harpists, minstrels, flute players, and trumpeters will be heard no more at all in you. No craftsman, of whatever craft, will be found any more at all in you. The sound of a mill will be heard no more at all in you. **[18:23]** The light of a lamp will shine no more at all in you. The voice of the bridegroom and of the bride will be heard no more at all in you; for your merchants were the princes of the earth; for with your sorcery all the nations were deceived. **[18:24]** In her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on the earth." **[19:1]** After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Hallelujah! Salvation, power, and glory belong to our God: **[19:2]** for true and righteous are his judgments. For he has judged the great prostitute, who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality, and he has avenged the blood of his servants at her hand." **[19:3]** A second said, "Hallelujah! Her smoke goes up forever and ever." **[19:4]** The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne, saying, "Amen! Hallelujah!" **[19:5]** A voice came forth from the throne, saying, "Give praise to our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, the small and the great!" **[19:6]** I heard something like the voice of a great multitude, and like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of mighty thunders, saying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns! **[19:7]** Let us rejoice and be exceedingly glad, and let us give the glory to him. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready." **[19:8]** It was given to her that she would array herself in bright, pure, fine linen: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. **[19:9]** He said to me, "Write, 'Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'" He said to me, "These are true words of God." **[19:10]** I fell down before his feet to worship him. He said to me, "Look! Don't do it! I am a fellow bondservant with you and with your brothers who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy." **[19:11]** I saw the heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it is called Faithful and True. In righteousness he judges and makes war. **[19:12]** His eyes are a flame of fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has names written and a name written which no one knows but he himself. **[19:13]** He is clothed in a garment sprinkled with blood. His name is called "The Word of God." **[19:14]** The armies which are in heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in white, pure, fine linen. **[19:15]** Out of his mouth proceeds a sharp, double-edged sword, that with it he should strike the nations. He will rule them with a rod of iron. He treads the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty. **[19:16]** He has on his garment and on his thigh a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." **[19:17]** I saw an angel standing in the sun. He cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the sky, "Come! Be gathered together to the great supper of God,{TR reads "supper of the great God" instead of "great supper of God"} **[19:18]** that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, and small and great." **[19:19]** I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him who sat on the horse, and against his army. **[19:20]** The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. **[19:21]** The rest were killed with the sword of him who sat on the horse, the sword which came forth out of his mouth. All the birds were filled with their flesh. **[20:1]** I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. **[20:2]** He seized the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole inhabited earth, and bound him for a thousand years, **[20:3]** and cast him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years were finished. After this, he must be freed for a short time. **[20:4]** I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as didn't worship the beast nor his image, and didn't receive the mark on their forehead and on their hand. They lived, and reigned with Christ for the thousand years. **[20:5]** The rest of the dead didn't live until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. **[20:6]** Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over these, the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with him one thousand years. **[20:7]** And after the thousand years, Satan will be released from his prison, **[20:8]** and he will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. **[20:9]** They went up over the breadth of the earth, and surrounded the camp of the saints, and the beloved city. Fire came down out of heaven from God, and devoured them. **[20:10]** The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever. **[20:11]** I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. There was found no place for them. **[20:12]** I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. **[20:13]** The sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them. They were judged, each one according to his works. **[20:14]** Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. **[20:15]** If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire. **[21:1]** I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more. **[21:2]** I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband. **[21:3]** I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, "Behold, God's dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. **[21:4]** He will wipe away from them every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more. The first things have passed away." **[21:5]** He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." He said, "Write, for these words of God are faithful and true." **[21:6]** He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give freely to him who is thirsty from the spring of the water of life. **[21:7]** He who overcomes, I will give him these things. I will be his God, and he will be my son. **[21:8]** But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers,{The word for "sorcerers" here also includes users of potions and drugs.} idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death." **[21:9]** One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, who were loaded with the seven last plagues came, and he spoke with me, saying, "Come here. I will show you the wife, the Lamb's bride." **[21:10]** He carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, **[21:11]** having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, as if it was a jasper stone, clear as crystal; **[21:12]** having a great and high wall; having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. **[21:13]** On the east were three gates; and on the north three gates; and on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. **[21:14]** The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb. **[21:15]** He who spoke with me had for a measure, a golden reed, to measure the city, its gates, and its walls. **[21:16]** The city lies foursquare, and its length is as great as its breadth. He measured the city with the reed, Twelve thousand twelve stadia{12,012 stadia = or 2,221 kilometers or 1,380 miles. TR reads 12,000 stadia instead of 12,012 stadia.}. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. **[21:17]** Its wall is one hundred forty-four cubits,{144 cubits is about 65.8 meters or 216 feet} by the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. **[21:18]** The construction of its wall was jasper. The city was pure gold, like pure glass. **[21:19]** The foundations of the city's wall were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire{or, lapis lazuli}; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; **[21:20]** the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprasus; the eleventh, jacinth; and the twelfth, amethyst. **[21:21]** The twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each one of the gates was made of one pearl. The street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. **[21:22]** I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple. **[21:23]** The city has no need for the sun, neither of the moon, to shine, for the very glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb. **[21:24]** The nations will walk in its light. The kings of the earth bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. **[21:25]** Its gates will in no way be shut by day (for there will be no night there), **[21:26]** and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it so that they may enter. **[21:27]** There will in no way enter into it anything profane, or one who causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. **[22:1]** He showed me a{TR adds "pure"} river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, **[22:2]** in the middle of its street. On this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruits, yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. **[22:3]** There will be no curse any more. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants serve him. **[22:4]** They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. **[22:5]** There will be no night, and they need no lamp light; for the Lord God will illuminate them. They will reign forever and ever. **[22:6]** He said to me, "These words are faithful and true. The Lord God of the spirits of the prophets sent his angel to show to his bondservants the things which must happen soon." **[22:7]** "Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book." **[22:8]** Now I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. When I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who had shown me these things. **[22:9]** He said to me, "See you don't do it! I am a fellow bondservant with you and with your brothers, the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God." **[22:10]** He said to me, "Don't seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. **[22:11]** He who acts unjustly, let him act unjustly still. He who is filthy, let him be filthy still. He who is righteous, let him do righteousness still. He who is holy, let him be holy still." **[22:12]** "Behold, I come quickly. My reward is with me, to repay to each man according to his work. **[22:13]** I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. **[22:14]** Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city. **[22:15]** Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. **[22:16]** I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify these things to you for the assemblies. I am the root and the offspring of David; the Bright and Morning Star." **[22:17]** The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" He who hears, let him say, "Come!" He who is thirsty, let him come. He who desires, let him take the water of life freely. **[22:18]** I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to them, may God add to him the plagues which are written in this book. **[22:19]** If anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, may God take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book. **[22:20]** He who testifies these things says, "Yes, I come quickly." Amen! Yes, come, Lord Jesus. **[22:21]** The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with all the saints. Amen.

66 Revelation - Young's Literal Translation (YLT).md

# Revelation - Young's Literal Translation (YLT) **[1:1]** A revelation of Jesus Christ, that God gave to him, to shew to his servants what things it behoveth to come to pass quickly; and he did signify `it', having sent through his messenger to his servant John, **[1:2]** who did testify the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ, as many things also as he did see. **[1:3]** Happy is he who is reading, and those hearing, the words of the prophecy, and keeping the things written in it -- for the time is nigh! **[1:4]** John to the seven assemblies that `are' in Asia: Grace to you, and peace, from Him who is, and who was, and who is coming, and from the Seven Spirits that are before His throne, **[1:5]** and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first-born out of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth; to him who did love us, and did bathe us from our sins in his blood, **[1:6]** and did make us kings and priests to his God and Father, to him `is' the glory and the power to the ages of the ages! Amen. **[1:7]** Lo, he doth come with the clouds, and see him shall every eye, even those who did pierce him, and wail because of him shall all the tribes of the land. Yes! Amen! **[1:8]** `I am the Alpha and the Omega, beginning and end, saith the Lord, who is, and who was, and who is coming -- the Almighty.' **[1:9]** I, John, who also `am' your brother, and fellow-partner in the tribulation, and in the reign and endurance, of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, because of the word of God, and because of the testimony of Jesus Christ; **[1:10]** I was in the Spirit on the Lord's-day, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, **[1:11]** `I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last;' and, `What thou dost see, write in a scroll, and send to the seven assemblies that `are' in Asia; to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.' **[1:12]** And I did turn to see the voice that did speak with me, and having turned, I saw seven golden lamp-stands, **[1:13]** and in the midst of the seven lamp-stands, `one' like to a son of man, clothed to the foot, and girt round at the breast with a golden girdle, **[1:14]** and his head and hairs white, as if white wool -- as snow, and his eyes as a flame of fire; **[1:15]** and his feet like to fine brass, as in a furnace having been fired, and his voice as a sound of many waters, **[1:16]** and having in his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth a sharp two-edged sword is proceeding, and his countenance `is' as the sun shining in its might. **[1:17]** And when I saw him, I did fall at his feet as dead, and he placed his right hand upon me, saying to me, `Be not afraid; I am the First and the Last, **[1:18]** and he who is living, and I did become dead, and, lo, I am living to the ages of the ages. Amen! and I have the keys of the hades and of the death. **[1:19]** `Write the things that thou hast seen, and the things that are, and the things that are about to come after these things; **[1:20]** the secret of the seven stars that thou hast seen upon my right hand, and the seven golden lamp-stands: the seven stars are messengers of the seven assemblies, and the seven lamp-stands that thou hast seen are seven assemblies. **[2:1]** `To the messenger of the Ephesian assembly write: These things saith he who is holding the seven stars in his right hand, who is walking in the midst of the seven lamp-stands -- the golden: **[2:2]** I have known thy works, and thy labour, and thy endurance, and that thou art not able to bear evil ones, and that thou hast tried those saying themselves to be apostles and are not, and hast found them liars, **[2:3]** and thou didst bear, and hast endurance, and because of my name hast toiled, and hast not been weary. **[2:4]** `But I have against thee: That thy first love thou didst leave! **[2:5]** remember, then, whence thou hast fallen, and reform, and the first works do; and if not, I come to thee quickly, and will remove thy lamp-stand from its place -- if thou mayest not reform; **[2:6]** but this thou hast, that thou dost hate the works of the Nicolaitans, that I also hate. **[2:7]** He who is having an ear -- let him hear what the Spirit saith to the assemblies: To him who is overcoming -- I will give to him to eat of the tree of life that is in the midst of the paradise of God. **[2:8]** `And to the messenger of the assembly of the Smyrneans write: These things saith the First and the Last, who did become dead and did live; **[2:9]** I have known thy works, and tribulation, and poverty -- yet thou art rich -- and the evil-speaking of those saying themselves to be Jews, and are not, but `are' a synagogue of the Adversary. **[2:10]** `Be not afraid of the things that thou art about to suffer; lo, the devil is about to cast of you to prison, that ye may be tried, and ye shall have tribulation ten days; become thou faithful unto death, and I will give to thee the crown of the life. **[2:11]** He who is having an ear -- let him hear what the Spirit saith to the assemblies: He who is overcoming may not be injured of the second death. **[2:12]** `And to the messenger of the assembly in Pergamos write: These things saith he who is having the sharp two-edged sword: **[2:13]** I have known thy works, and where thou dost dwell -- where the throne of the Adversary `is' -- and thou dost hold fast my name, and thou didst not deny my faith, even in the days in which Antipas `was' my faithful witness, who was put to death beside you, where the Adversary doth dwell. **[2:14]** `But I have against thee a few things: That thou hast there those holding the teaching of Balaam, who did teach Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the sons of Israel, to eat idol-sacrifices, and to commit whoredom; **[2:15]** so hast thou, even thou, those holding the teaching of the Nicolaitans -- which thing I hate. **[2:16]** `Reform! and if not, I come to thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. **[2:17]** He who is having an ear -- let him hear what the Spirit saith to the assemblies: To him who is overcoming, I will give to him to eat from the hidden manna, and will give to him a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written, that no one knew except him who is receiving `it'. **[2:18]** `And to the messenger of the assembly of Thyatira write: These things saith the Son of God, who is having his eyes as a flame of fire, and his feet like to fine brass; **[2:19]** I have known thy works, and love, and ministration, and faith, and thy endurance, and thy works -- and the last `are' more than the first. **[2:20]** `But I have against thee a few things: That thou dost suffer the woman Jezebel, who is calling herself a prophetess, to teach, and to lead astray, my servants to commit whoredom, and idol-sacrifices to eat; **[2:21]** and I did give to her a time that she might reform from her whoredom, and she did not reform; **[2:22]** lo, I will cast her into a couch, and those committing adultery with her into great tribulation -- if they may not repent of their works, **[2:23]** and her children I will kill in death, and know shall all the assemblies that I am he who is searching reins and hearts; and I will give to you -- to each -- according to your works. **[2:24]** `And to you I say, and to the rest who are in Thyatira, as many as have not this teaching, and who did not know the depths of the Adversary, as they say; I will not put upon you other burden; **[2:25]** but that which ye have -- hold ye, till I may come; **[2:26]** and he who is overcoming, and who is keeping unto the end my works, I will give to him authority over the nations, **[2:27]** and he shall rule them with a rod of iron -- as the vessels of the potter they shall be broken -- as I also have received from my Father; **[2:28]** and I will give to him the morning star. **[2:29]** He who is having an ear -- let him hear what the Spirit saith to the assemblies. **[3:1]** And to the messenger of the assembly in Sardis write: These things saith he who is having the Seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars: I have known thy works, and that thou hast the name that thou dost live, and thou art dead; **[3:2]** become watching, and strengthen the rest of the things that are about to die, for I have not found thy works fulfilled before God. **[3:3]** `Remember, then, how thou hast received, and heard, and be keeping, and reform: if, then, thou mayest not watch, I will come upon thee as a thief, and thou mayest not know what hour I will come upon thee. **[3:4]** Thou hast a few names even in Sardis who did not defile their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, because they are worthy. **[3:5]** He who is overcoming -- this one -- shall be arrayed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the scroll of the life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before His messengers. **[3:6]** He who is having an ear -- let him hear what the Spirit saith to the assemblies. **[3:7]** `And to the messenger of the assembly in Philadelphia write: These things saith he who is holy, he who is true, he who is having the key of David, he who is opening and no one doth shut, and he shutteth and no one doth open! **[3:8]** I have known thy works; lo, I have set before thee a door -- opened, and no one is able to shut it, because thou hast a little power, and didst keep my word, and didst not deny my name; **[3:9]** lo, I make of the synagogue of the Adversary those saying themselves to be Jews, and are not, but do lie; lo, I will make them that they may come and bow before thy feet, and may know that I loved thee. **[3:10]** `Because thou didst keep the word of my endurance, I also will keep thee from the hour of the trial that is about to come upon all the world, to try those dwelling upon the earth. **[3:11]** Lo, I come quickly, be holding fast that which thou hast, that no one may receive thy crown. **[3:12]** He who is overcoming -- I will make him a pillar in the sanctuary of my God, and without he may not go any more, and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, that doth come down out of the heaven from my God -- also my new name. **[3:13]** He who is having an ear -- let him hear what the Spirit saith to the assemblies. **[3:14]** `And to the messenger of the assembly of the Laodiceans write: These things saith the Amen, the witness -- the faithful and true -- the chief of the creation of God; **[3:15]** I have known thy works, that neither cold art thou nor hot; I would thou wert cold or hot. **[3:16]** So -- because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to vomit thee out of my mouth; **[3:17]** because thou sayest -- I am rich, and have grown rich, and have need of nothing, and hast not known that thou art the wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked, **[3:18]** I counsel thee to buy from me gold fired by fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white garments that thou mayest be arrayed, and the shame of thy nakedness may not be manifest, and with eye-salve anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see. **[3:19]** `As many as I love, I do convict and chasten; be zealous, then, and reform; **[3:20]** lo, I have stood at the door, and I knock; if any one may hear my voice, and may open the door, I will come in unto him, and will sup with him, and he with me. **[3:21]** He who is overcoming -- I will give to him to sit with me in my throne, as I also did overcome and did sit down with my Father in His throne. **[3:22]** He who is having an ear -- let him hear what the Spirit saith to the assemblies.' **[4:1]** After these things I saw, and lo, a door opened in the heaven, and the first voice that I heard `is' as of a trumpet speaking with me, saying, `Come up hither, and I will shew thee what it behoveth to come to pass after these things;' **[4:2]** and immediately I was in the Spirit, and lo, a throne was set in the heaven, and upon the throne is `one' sitting, **[4:3]** and He who is sitting was in sight like a stone, jasper and sardine: and a rainbow was round the throne in sight like an emerald. **[4:4]** And around the throne `are' thrones twenty and four, and upon the thrones I saw the twenty and four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and they had upon their heads crowns of gold; **[4:5]** and out of the throne proceed do lightnings, and thunders, and voices; and seven lamps of fire are burning before the throne, which are the Seven Spirits of God, **[4:6]** and before the throne `is' a sea of glass like to crystal, and in the midst of the throne, and round the throne, `are' four living creatures, full of eyes before and behind; **[4:7]** and the first living creature `is' like a lion, and the second living creature `is' like a calf, and the third living creature hath the face as a man, and the fourth living creature `is' like an eagle flying. **[4:8]** And the four living creatures, each by itself severally, had six wings, around and within `are' full of eyes, and rest they have not day and night, saying, `Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is coming;' **[4:9]** and when the living creatures do give glory, and honour, and thanks, to Him who is sitting upon the throne, who is living to the ages of the ages, **[4:10]** fall down do the twenty and four elders before Him who is sitting upon the throne, and bow before Him who is living to the ages of the ages, and they cast their crowns before the throne, saying, **[4:11]** `Worthy art Thou, O Lord, to receive the glory, and the honour, and the power, because Thou -- Thou didst create the all things, and because of Thy will are they, and they were created.' **[5:1]** And I saw upon the right hand of Him who is sitting upon the throne a scroll, written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals; **[5:2]** and I saw a strong messenger crying with a great voice, `Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose the seals of it?' **[5:3]** and no one was able in the heaven, nor upon the earth, nor under the earth, to open the scroll, nor to behold it. **[5:4]** And I was weeping much, because no one was found worthy to open and to read the scroll, nor to behold it, **[5:5]** and one of the elders saith to me, `Weep not; lo, overcome did the Lion, who is of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, to open the scroll, and to loose the seven seals of it; **[5:6]** and I saw, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb hath stood as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the Seven Spirits of God, which are sent to all the earth, **[5:7]** and he came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who is sitting upon the throne. **[5:8]** And when he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, having each one harps and golden vials full of perfumes, which are the prayers of the saints, **[5:9]** and they sing a new song, saying, `Worthy art thou to take the scroll, and to open the seals of it, because thou wast slain, and didst redeem us to God in thy blood, out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, **[5:10]** and didst make us to our God kings and priests, and we shall reign upon the earth.' **[5:11]** And I saw, and I heard the voice of many messengers round the throne, and the living creatures, and the elders -- and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands -- **[5:12]** saying with a great voice, `Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive the power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing!' **[5:13]** and every creature that is in the heaven, and in the earth, and under the earth, and the things that are upon the sea, and the all things in them, heard I saying, `To Him who is sitting upon the throne, and to the Lamb, `is' the blessing, and the honour, and the glory, and the might -- to the ages of the ages!' **[5:14]** and the four living creatures said, `Amen!' and the twenty-four elders fell down and they bow before Him who is living to the ages of the ages. **[6:1]** And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as it were a voice of thunder, `Come and behold!' **[6:2]** and I saw, and lo, a white horse, and he who is sitting upon it is having a bow, and there was given to him a crown, and he went forth overcoming, and that he may overcome. **[6:3]** And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, `Come and behold!' **[6:4]** and there went forth another horse -- red, and to him who is sitting upon it, there was given to him to take the peace from the land, and that one another they may slay, and there was given to him a great sword. **[6:5]** And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, `Come and behold!' and I saw, and lo, a black horse, and he who is sitting upon it is having a balance in his hand, **[6:6]** and I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, `A measure of wheat for a denary, and three measures of barley for a denary,' and `The oil and the wine thou mayest not injure.' **[6:7]** And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, `Come and behold!' **[6:8]** and I saw, and lo, a pale horse, and he who is sitting upon him -- his name is Death, and Hades doth follow with him, and there was given to them authority to kill, (over the fourth part of the land,) with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and by the beasts of the land. **[6:9]** And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony that they held, **[6:10]** and they were crying with a great voice, saying, `Till when, O Master, the Holy and the True, dost Thou not judge and take vengeance of our blood from those dwelling upon the land?' **[6:11]** and there was given to each one white robes, and it was said to them that they may rest themselves yet a little time, till may be fulfilled also their fellow-servants and their brethren, who are about to be killed -- even as they. **[6:12]** And I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and lo, a great earthquake came, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood, **[6:13]** and the stars of the heaven fell to the earth -- as a fig-tree doth cast her winter figs, by a great wind being shaken -- **[6:14]** and heaven departed as a scroll rolled up, and every mountain and island -- out of their places they were moved; **[6:15]** and the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich, and the chiefs of thousands, and the mighty, and every servant, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains, **[6:16]** and they say to the mountains and to the rocks, `Fall upon us, and hide us from the face of Him who is sitting upon the throne, and from the anger of the Lamb,' **[6:17]** because come did the great day of His anger, and who is able to stand? **[7:1]** And after these things I saw four messengers, standing upon the four corners of the land, holding the four winds of the land, that the wind may not blow upon the land, nor upon the sea, nor upon any tree; **[7:2]** and I saw another messenger going up from the rising of the sun, having a seal of the living God, and he did cry with a great voice to the four messengers, to whom it was given to injure the land and the sea, saying, **[7:3]** `Do not injure the land, nor the sea, nor the trees, till we may seal the servants of our God upon their foreheads.' **[7:4]** And I heard the number of those sealed, (144 thousands were sealed out of all the tribes of the sons of Israel): **[7:5]** of the tribe of Judah 12 thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Reuben 12 thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Gad 12 thousand were sealed; **[7:6]** of the tribe of Asher 12 thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Naphtali 12 thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Manasseh 12 thousand were sealed; **[7:7]** of the tribe of Simeon 12 thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Levi 12 thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Issachar 12 thousand were sealed; **[7:8]** of the tribe of Zebulun 12 thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Joseph 12 thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Benjamin 12 thousand were sealed. **[7:9]** After these things I saw, and lo, a great multitude, which to number no one was able, out of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne, and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands, **[7:10]** and crying with a great voice, saying, `The salvation `is' to Him who is sitting upon the throne -- to our God, and to the Lamb!' **[7:11]** And all the messengers stood around the throne, and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell upon their face, and bowed before God, **[7:12]** saying, `Amen! the blessing, and the glory, and the wisdom, and the thanksgiving, and the honour, and the power, and the strength, `are' to our God -- to the ages of the ages! Amen!' **[7:13]** And answer did one of the elders, saying to me, `These, who have been arrayed with the white robes -- who are they, and whence came they?' **[7:14]** and I have said to him, `Sir, thou hast known;' and he said to me, `These are those who are coming out of the great tribulation, and they did wash their robes, and they made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb; **[7:15]** because of this are they before the throne of God, and they do service to Him day and night in His sanctuary, and He who is sitting upon the throne shall tabernacle over them; **[7:16]** they shall not hunger any more, nor may the sun fall upon them, nor any heat, **[7:17]** because the Lamb that `is' in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters, and wipe away shall God every tear from their eyes.' **[8:1]** And when he openeth the seventh seal, there came silence in the heaven about half-an-hour, **[8:2]** and I saw the seven messengers who before God have stood, and there were given to them seven trumpets, **[8:3]** and another messenger did come, and he stood at the altar, having a golden censer, and there was given to him much perfume, that he may give `it' to the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar that `is' before the throne, **[8:4]** and go up did the smoke of the perfumes to the prayers of the saints out of the hand of the messenger, before God; **[8:5]** and the messenger took the censer, and did fill it out of the fire of the altar, and did cast `it' to the earth, and there came voices, and thunders, and lightnings, and an earthquake. **[8:6]** And the seven messengers who are having the seven trumpets did prepare themselves that they may sound; **[8:7]** and the first messenger did sound, and there came hail and fire, mingled with blood, and it was cast to the land, and the third of the trees was burnt up, and all the green grass was burnt up. **[8:8]** And the second messenger did sound, and as it were a great mountain with fire burning was cast into the sea, and the third of the sea became blood, **[8:9]** and die did the third of the creatures that `are' in the sea, those having life, and the third of the ships were destroyed. **[8:10]** And the third messenger did sound, and there fell out of the heaven a great star, burning as a lamp, and it did fall upon the third of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters, **[8:11]** and the name of the star is called Wormwood, and the third of the waters doth become wormwood, and many of the men did die of the waters, because they were made bitter. **[8:12]** And the fourth messenger did sound, and smitten was the third of the sun, and the third of the moon, and the third of the stars, that darkened may be the third of them, and that the day may not shine -- the third of it, and the night in like manner. **[8:13]** And I saw, and I heard one messenger, flying in the mid-heaven, saying with a great voice, `Wo, wo, wo, to those dwelling upon the land from the rest of the voices of the trumpet of the three messengers who are about to sound.' **[9:1]** And the fifth messenger did sound, and I saw a star out of the heaven having fallen to the earth, and there was given to it the key of the pit of the abyss, **[9:2]** and he did open the pit of the abyss, and there came up a smoke out of the pit as smoke of a great furnace, and darkened was the sun and the air, from the smoke of the pit. **[9:3]** And out of the smoke came forth locusts to the earth, and there was given to them authority, as scorpions of the earth have authority, **[9:4]** and it was said to them that they may not injure the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but -- the men only who have not the seal of God upon their foreheads, **[9:5]** and it was given to them that they may not kill them, but that they may be tormented five months, and their torment `is' as the torment of a scorpion, when it may strike a man; **[9:6]** and in those days shall men seek the death, and they shall not find it, and they shall desire to die, and the death shall flee from them. **[9:7]** And the likenesses of the locusts `are' like to horses made ready to battle, and upon their heads as crowns like gold, and their faces as faces of men, **[9:8]** and they had hair as hair of women, and their teeth were as `those' of lions, **[9:9]** and they had breastplates as breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings `is' as the noise of chariots of many horses running to battle; **[9:10]** and they have tails like to scorpions, and stings were in their tails; and their authority `is' to injure men five months; **[9:11]** and they have over them a king -- the messenger of the abyss -- a name `is' to him in Hebrew, Abaddon, and in the Greek he hath a name, Apollyon. **[9:12]** The first wo did go forth, lo, there come yet two woes after these things. **[9:13]** And the sixth messenger did sound, and I heard a voice out of the four horns of the altar of gold that is before God, **[9:14]** saying to the sixth messenger who had the trumpet, `Loose the four messengers who are bound at the great river Euphrates;' **[9:15]** and loosed were the four messengers, who have been made ready for the hour, and day, and month, and year, that they may kill the third of men; **[9:16]** and the number of the forces of the horsemen `is' two myriads of myriads, and I heard the number of them. **[9:17]** And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those sitting upon them, having breastplates of fire, and jacinth, and brimstone; and the heads of the horses `are' as heads of lions, and out of their mouths proceedeth fire, and smoke, and brimstone; **[9:18]** by these three were the third of men killed, from the fire, and from the smoke, and from the brimstone, that is proceeding out of their mouth, **[9:19]** for their authorities are in their mouth, and in their tails, for their tails `are' like serpents, having heads, and with them they do injure; **[9:20]** and the rest of men, who were not killed in these plagues, neither did reform from the works of their hands, that they may not bow before the demons, and idols, those of gold, and those of silver, and those of brass, and those of stone, and those of wood, that are neither able to see, nor to hear, nor to walk, **[9:21]** yea they did not reform from their murders, nor from their sorceries, nor from their whoredoms, nor from their thefts. **[10:1]** And I saw another strong messenger coming down out of the heaven, arrayed with a cloud, and a rainbow upon the head, and his face as the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire, **[10:2]** and he had in his hand a little scroll opened, and he did place his right foot upon the sea, and the left upon the land, **[10:3]** and he cried with a great voice, as a lion doth roar, and when he cried, speak out did the seven thunders their voices; **[10:4]** and when the seven thunders spake their voices, I was about to write, and I heard a voice out of the heaven saying to me, `Seal the things that the seven thunders spake,' and, `Thou mayest not write these things.' **[10:5]** And the messenger whom I saw standing upon the sea, and upon the land, did lift up his hand to the heaven, **[10:6]** and did swear in Him who doth live to the ages of the ages, who did create the heaven and the things in it, and the land and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it -- that time shall not be yet, **[10:7]** but in the days of the voice of the seventh messenger, when he may be about to sound, and the secret of God may be finished, as He did declare to His own servants, to the prophets. **[10:8]** And the voice that I heard out of the heaven is again speaking with me, and saying, `Go, take the little scroll that is open in the hand of the messenger who hath been standing upon the sea, and upon the land:' **[10:9]** and I went away unto the messenger, saying to him, `Give me the little scroll;' and he saith to me, `Take, and eat it up, and it shall make thy belly bitter, but in thy mouth it shall be sweet -- as honey.' **[10:10]** And I took the little scroll out of the hand of the messenger, and did eat it up, and it was in my mouth as honey -- sweet, and when I did eat it -- my belly was made bitter; **[10:11]** and he saith to me, `It behoveth thee again to prophesy about peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings -- many.' **[11:1]** And there was given to me a reed like to a rod, and the messenger stood, saying, `Rise, and measure the sanctuary of God, and the altar, and those worshipping in it; **[11:2]** and the court that is without the sanctuary leave out, and thou mayest not measure it, because it was given to the nations, and the holy city they shall tread down forty-two months; **[11:3]** and I will give to My two witnesses, and they shall prophesy days, a thousand, two hundred, sixty, arrayed with sackcloth; **[11:4]** these are the two olive `trees', and the two lamp-stands that before the God of the earth do stand; **[11:5]** and if any one may will to injure them, fire doth proceed out of their mouth, and doth devour their enemies, and if any one may will to injure them, thus it behoveth him to be killed. **[11:6]** These have authority to shut the heaven, that it may not rain rain in the days of their prophecy, and authority they have over the waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the land with every plague, as often as they may will. **[11:7]** `And when they may finish their testimony, the beast that is coming up out of the abyss shall make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them, **[11:8]** and their dead bodies `are' upon the broad-place of the great city (that is called spiritually Sodom, and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified,) **[11:9]** and they shall behold -- they of the peoples, and tribes, and tongues, and nations -- their dead bodies three days and a half, and their dead bodies they shall not suffer to be put into tombs, **[11:10]** and those dwelling upon the land shall rejoice over them, and shall make merry, and gifts they shall send to one another, because these -- the two prophets -- did torment those dwelling upon the land.' **[11:11]** And after the three days and a half, a spirit of life from God did enter into them, and they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon those beholding them, **[11:12]** and they heard a great voice out of the heaven saying to them, `Come up hither;' and they went up to the heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them; **[11:13]** and in that hour came a great earthquake, and the tenth of the city did fall, and killed in the earthquake were names of men -- seven thousands, and the rest became affrighted, and they gave glory to the God of the heaven. **[11:14]** The second wo did go forth, lo, the third wo doth come quickly. **[11:15]** And the seventh messenger did sound, and there came great voices in the heaven, saying, `The kingdoms of the world did become `those' of our Lord and of His Christ, and he shall reign to the ages of the ages!' **[11:16]** and the twenty and four elders, who before God are sitting upon their thrones, did fall upon their faces, and did bow before God, **[11:17]** saying, `We give thanks to Thee, O Lord God, the Almighty, who art, and who wast, and who art coming, because Thou hast taken Thy great power and didst reign; **[11:18]** and the nations were angry, and Thine anger did come, and the time of the dead, to be judged, and to give the reward to Thy servants, to the prophets, and to the saints, and to those fearing Thy name, to the small and to the great, and to destroy those who are destroying the land.' **[11:19]** And opened was the sanctuary of God in the heaven, and there was seen the ark of His covenant in His sanctuary, and there did come lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake, and great hail. **[12:1]** And a great sign was seen in the heaven, a woman arrayed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars, **[12:2]** and being with child she doth cry out, travailing and pained to bring forth. **[12:3]** And there was seen another sign in the heaven, and, lo, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his head seven diadems, **[12:4]** and his tail doth draw the third of the stars of the heaven, and he did cast them to the earth; and the dragon did stand before the woman who is about to bring forth, that when she may bring forth, her child he may devour; **[12:5]** and she brought forth a male child, who is about to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, and caught away was her child unto God and His throne, **[12:6]** and the woman did flee to the wilderness, where she hath a place made ready from God, that there they may nourish her -- days a thousand, two hundred, sixty. **[12:7]** And there came war in the heaven; Michael and his messengers did war against the dragon, and the dragon did war, and his messengers, **[12:8]** and they did not prevail, nor was their place found any more in the heaven; **[12:9]** and the great dragon was cast forth -- the old serpent, who is called `Devil,' and `the Adversary,' who is leading astray the whole world -- he was cast forth to the earth, and his messengers were cast forth with him. **[12:10]** And I heard a great voice saying in the heaven, `Now did come the salvation, and the power, and the reign, of our God, and the authority of His Christ, because cast down was the accuser of our brethren, who is accusing them before our God day and night; **[12:11]** and they did overcome him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life -- unto death; **[12:12]** because of this be glad, ye heavens, and those in them who do tabernacle; wo to those inhabiting the land and the sea, because the Devil did go down unto you, having great wrath, having known that he hath little time.' **[12:13]** And when the dragon saw that he was cast forth to the earth, he pursued the woman who did bring forth the male, **[12:14]** and there were given to the woman two wings of the great eagle, that she may fly to the wilderness, to her place, where she is nourished a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent; **[12:15]** and the serpent did cast forth after the woman, out of his mouth, water as a river, that he may cause her to be carried away by the river, **[12:16]** and the land did help the woman, and the land did open its mouth and did swallow up the river, that the dragon did cast forth out of his mouth; **[12:17]** and the dragon was angry against the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her seed, those keeping the commands of God, and having the testimony of Jesus Christ. **[13:1]** And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and I saw out of the sea a beast coming up, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon its horns ten diadems, and upon its heads a name of evil speaking, **[13:2]** and the beast that I saw was like to a leopard, and its feet as of a bear, and its mouth as the mouth of a lion, and the dragon did give to it his power, and his throne, and great authority. **[13:3]** And I saw one of its heads as slain to death, and its deadly stroke was healed, and all the earth did wonder after the beast, **[13:4]** and they did bow before the dragon who did give authority to the beast, and they did bow before the beast, saying, `Who `is' like to the beast? who is able to war with it?' **[13:5]** And there was given to it a mouth speaking great things, and evil-speakings, and there was given to it authority to make war forty-two months, **[13:6]** and it did open its mouth for evil-speaking toward God, to speak evil of His name, and of His tabernacle, and of those who in the heaven tabernacle, **[13:7]** and there was given to it to make war with the saints, and to overcome them, and there was given to it authority over every tribe, and tongue, and nation. **[13:8]** And bow before it shall all who are dwelling upon the land, whose names have not been written in the scroll of the life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world; **[13:9]** if any one hath an ear -- let him hear: **[13:10]** if any one a captivity doth gather, into captivity he doth go away; if any one by sword doth kill, it behoveth him by sword to be killed; here is the endurance and the faith of the saints. **[13:11]** And I saw another beast coming up out of the land, and it had two horns, like a lamb, and it was speaking as a dragon, **[13:12]** and all the authority of the first beast doth it do before it, and it maketh the land and those dwelling in it that they shall bow before the first beast, whose deadly stroke was healed, **[13:13]** and it doth great signs, that fire also it may make to come down from the heaven to the earth before men, **[13:14]** and it leadeth astray those dwelling on the land, because of the signs that were given it to do before the beast, saying to those dwelling upon the land to make an image to the beast that hath the stroke of the sword and did live, **[13:15]** and there was given to it to give a spirit to the image of the beast, that also the image of the beast may speak, and `that' it may cause as many as shall not bow before the image of the beast, that they may be killed. **[13:16]** And it maketh all, the small, and the great, and the rich, and the poor, and the freemen, and the servants, that it may give to them a mark upon their right hand or upon their foreheads, **[13:17]** and that no one may be able to buy, or to sell, except he who is having the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. **[13:18]** Here is the wisdom! He who is having the understanding, let him count the number of the beast, for the number of a man it is, and its number `is' 666. **[14:1]** And I saw, and lo, a Lamb having stood upon the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty-four thousands, having the name of his Father written upon their foreheads; **[14:2]** and I heard a voice out of the heaven, as a voice of many waters, and as a voice of great thunder, and a voice I heard of harpers harping with their harps, **[14:3]** and they sing, as it were, a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures, and the elders, and no one was able to learn the song except the hundred forty-four thousands, who have been bought from the earth; **[14:4]** these are they who with women were not defiled, for they are virgin; these are they who are following the Lamb whithersoever he may go; these were bought from among men -- a first-fruit to God and to the Lamb -- **[14:5]** and in their mouth there was not found guile, for unblemished are they before the throne of God. **[14:6]** And I saw another messenger flying in mid-heaven, having good news age-during to proclaim to those dwelling upon the earth, and to every nation, and tribe, and tongue, and people, **[14:7]** saying in a great voice, `Fear ye God, and give to Him glory, because come did the hour of His judgment, and bow ye before Him who did make the heaven, and the land, and sea, and fountains of waters.' **[14:8]** And another messenger did follow, saying, `Fall, fall, did Babylon, the great city, because of the wine of the wrath of her whoredom she hath given to all nations to drink.' **[14:9]** And a third messenger did follow them, saying in a great voice, `If any one the beast doth bow before, and his image, and doth receive a mark upon his forehead, or upon his hand, **[14:10]** he also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, that hath been mingled unmixed in the cup of His anger, and he shall be tormented in fire and brimstone before the holy messengers, and before the Lamb, **[14:11]** and the smoke of their torment doth go up to ages of ages; and they have no rest day and night, who are bowing before the beast and his image, also if any doth receive the mark of his name. **[14:12]** Here is endurance of the saints: here `are' those keeping the commands of God, and the faith of Jesus.' **[14:13]** And I heard a voice out of the heaven saying to me, `Write: Happy are the dead who in the Lord are dying from this time!' `Yes, (saith the Spirit,) That they may rest from their labours -- and their works do follow them!' **[14:14]** And I saw, and lo, a white cloud, and upon the cloud `one' sitting like to a son of man, having upon his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle; **[14:15]** and another messenger did come forth out of the sanctuary crying in a great voice to him who is sitting upon the cloud, `Send forth thy sickle and reap, because come to thee hath the hour of reaping, because ripe hath been the harvest of the earth;' **[14:16]** and he who is sitting upon the cloud did put forth his sickle upon the earth, and the earth was reaped. **[14:17]** And another messenger did come forth out of the sanctuary that `is' in the heaven, having -- he also -- a sharp sickle, **[14:18]** and another messenger did come forth out from the altar, having authority over the fire, and he called with a great cry to him having the sharp sickle, saying, `Send forth thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, because come to perfection have her grapes;' **[14:19]** and the messenger did put forth his sickle to the earth, and did gather the vine of the earth, and did cast `it' to the great wine-press of the wrath of God; **[14:20]** and trodden was the wine-press outside of the city, and blood did come forth out of the wine-press -- unto the bridles of the horses, a thousand, six hundred furlongs. **[15:1]** And I saw another sign in the heaven, great and wonderful, seven messengers having the seven last plagues, because in these was completed the wrath of God, **[15:2]** and I saw as a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who do gain the victory over the beast, and his image, and his mark, `and' the number of his name, standing by the sea of the glass, having harps of God, **[15:3]** and they sing the song of Moses, servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, `Great and wonderful `are' Thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty, righteous and true `are' Thy ways, O King of saints, **[15:4]** who may not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? because Thou alone `art' kind, because all the nations shall come and bow before Thee, because Thy righteous acts were manifested.' **[15:5]** And after these things I saw, and lo, opened was the sanctuary of the tabernacle of the testimony in the heaven; **[15:6]** and come forth did the seven messengers having the seven plagues, out of the sanctuary, clothed in linen, pure and shining, and girded round the breasts with golden girdles: **[15:7]** and one of the four living creatures did give to the seven messengers seven golden vials, full of the wrath of God, who is living to the ages of the ages; **[15:8]** and filled was the sanctuary with smoke from the glory of God, and from His power, and no one was able to enter into the sanctuary till the seven plagues of the seven messengers may be finished. **[16:1]** And I heard a great voice out of the sanctuary saying to the seven messengers, `Go away, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God to the earth;' **[16:2]** and the first did go away, and did pour out his vial upon the land, and there came a sore -- bad and grievous -- to men, those having the mark of the beast, and those bowing to his image. **[16:3]** And the second messenger did pour out his vial to the sea, and there came blood as of `one' dead, and every living soul died in the sea. **[16:4]** And the third messenger did pour out his vial to the rivers, and to the fountains of the waters, and there came blood, **[16:5]** and I heard the messenger of the waters, saying, `righteous, O Lord, art Thou, who art, and who wast, and who shalt be, because these things Thou didst judge, **[16:6]** because blood of saints and prophets they did pour out, and blood to them Thou didst give to drink, for they are worthy;' **[16:7]** and I heard another out of the altar, saying, `Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous `are' Thy judgments.' **[16:8]** And the fourth messenger did pour out his vial upon the sun, and there was given to him to scorch men with fire, **[16:9]** and men were scorched with great heat, and they did speak evil of the name of God, who hath authority over these plagues, and they did not reform -- to give to Him glory. **[16:10]** And the fifth messenger did pour out his vial upon the throne of the beast, and his kingdom did become darkened, and they were gnawing their tongues from the pain, **[16:11]** and they did speak evil of the God of the heaven, from their pains, and from their sores, and they did not reform from their works. **[16:12]** And the sixth messenger did pour out his vial upon the great river, the Euphrates, and dried up was its water, that the way of the kings who are from the rising of the sun may be made ready; **[16:13]** and I saw `come' out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs -- **[16:14]** for they are spirits of demons, doing signs -- which go forth unto the kings of the earth, and of the whole world, to bring them together to the battle of that great day of God the Almighty; -- **[16:15]** `lo, I do come as a thief; happy `is' he who is watching, and keeping his garments, that he may not walk naked, and they may see his unseemliness,' -- **[16:16]** and they did bring them together to the place that is called in Hebrew Armageddon. **[16:17]** And the seventh messenger did pour out his vial to the air, and there came forth a great voice from the sanctuary of the heaven, from the throne, saying, `It hath come!' **[16:18]** and there came voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and a great earthquake came, such as came not since men came upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake -- so great! **[16:19]** And it came -- the great city -- into three parts, and the cities of the nations did fall, and Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the wrath of His anger, **[16:20]** and every island did flee away, and mountains were not found, **[16:21]** and great hail (as of talent weight) doth come down out of the heaven upon men, and men did speak evil of God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague is very great. **[17:1]** And there came one of the seven messengers, who were having the seven vials, and he spake with me, saying to me, `Come, I will shew to thee the judgment of the great whore, who is sitting upon the many waters, **[17:2]** with whom the kings of the earth did commit whoredom; and made drunk from the wine of her whoredom were those inhabiting the earth;' **[17:3]** and he carried me away to a wilderness in the Spirit, and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-coloured beast, full of names of evil-speaking, having seven heads and ten horns, **[17:4]** and the woman was arrayed with purple and scarlet-colour, and gilded with gold, and precious stone, and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and uncleanness of her whoredom, **[17:5]** and upon her forehead was a name written: `Secret, Babylon the Great, the Mother of the Whores, and the Abominations of the earth.' **[17:6]** And I saw the woman drunken from the blood of the saints, and from the blood of the witnesses of Jesus, and I did wonder -- having seen her -- with great wonder; **[17:7]** and the messenger said to me, `Wherefore didst thou wonder? I -- I will tell thee the secret of the woman and of the beast that `is' carrying her, which hath the seven heads and the ten horns. **[17:8]** `The beast that thou didst see: it was, and it is not; and it is about to come up out of the abyss, and to go away to destruction, and wonder shall those dwelling upon the earth, whose names have not been written upon the scroll of the life from the foundation of the world, beholding the beast that was, and is not, although it is. **[17:9]** `Here `is' the mind that is having wisdom; the seven heads are seven mountains, upon which the woman doth sit, **[17:10]** and there are seven kings, the five did fall, and the one is, the other did not yet come, and when he may come, it behoveth him to remain a little time; **[17:11]** and the beast that was, and is not, he also is eighth, and out of the seven he is, and to destruction he doth go away. **[17:12]** `And the ten horns that thou sawest, are ten kings, who a kingdom did not yet receive, but authority as kings the same hour do receive with the beast, **[17:13]** these have one mind, and their own power and authority to the beast they shall give over; **[17:14]** these with the Lamb shall make war, and the Lamb shall overcome them, because Lord of lords he is, and King of kings, and those with him are called, and choice, and stedfast.' **[17:15]** And he saith to me, `The waters that thou didst see, where the whore doth sit, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues;' **[17:16]** and the ten horns that thou didst see upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her in fire, **[17:17]** for God did give into their hearts to do its mind, and to make one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast till the sayings of God may be complete, **[17:18]** and the woman that thou didst see is the great city that is having reign over the kings of the land.' **[18:1]** And after these things I saw another messenger coming down out of the heaven, having great authority, and the earth was lightened from his glory, **[18:2]** and he did cry in might -- a great voice, saying, `Fall, fall did Babylon the great, and she became a habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird, **[18:3]** because of the wine of the wrath of her whoredom have all the nations drunk, and the kings of the earth with her did commit whoredom, and merchants of the earth from the power of her revel were made rich. **[18:4]** And I heard another voice out of the heaven, saying, `Come forth out of her, My people, that ye may not partake with her sins, and that ye may not receive of her plagues, **[18:5]** because her sins did follow -- unto the heaven, and God did remember her unrighteousness. **[18:6]** Render to her as also she did render to you, and double to her doubles according to her works; in the cup that she did mingle mingle to her double. **[18:7]** `As much as she did glorify herself and did revel, so much torment and sorrow give to her, because in her heart she saith, I sit a queen, and a widow I am not, and sorrow I shall not see; **[18:8]** because of this, in one day, shall come her plagues, death, and sorrow, and famine; and in fire she shall be utterly burned, because strong `is' the Lord God who is judging her; **[18:9]** and weep over her, and smite themselves for her, shall the kings of the earth, who with her did commit whoredom and did revel, when they may see the smoke of her burning, **[18:10]** from afar having stood because of the fear of her torment, saying, Wo, wo, the great city! Babylon, the strong city! because in one hour did come thy judgment. **[18:11]** `And the merchants of the earth shall weep and sorrow over her, because their lading no one doth buy any more; **[18:12]** lading of gold, and silver, and precious stone, and pearl, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyne wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every vessel of most precious wood, and brass, and iron, and marble, **[18:13]** and cinnamon, and odours, and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and cattle, and sheep, and of horses, and of chariots, and of bodies and souls of men. **[18:14]** `And the fruits of the desire of thy soul did go away from thee, and all things -- the dainty and the bright -- did go away from thee, and no more at all mayest thou find them. **[18:15]** The merchants of these things, who were made rich by her, far off shall stand because of the fear of her torment, weeping, and sorrowing, **[18:16]** and saying, Wo, wo, the great city, that was arrayed with fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and gilded in gold, and precious stone, and pearls -- because in one hour so much riches were made waste! **[18:17]** `And every shipmaster, and all the company upon the ships, and sailors, and as many as work the sea, far off stood, **[18:18]** and were crying, seeing the smoke of her burning, saying, What `city is' like to the great city? **[18:19]** and they did cast dust upon their heads, and were crying out, weeping and sorrowing, saying, Wo, wo, the great city! in which were made rich all having ships in the sea, out of her costliness -- for in one hour was she made waste. **[18:20]** `Be glad over her, O heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets, because God did judge your judgment of her!' **[18:21]** And one strong messenger did take up a stone as a great millstone, and did cast `it' to the sea, saying, `Thus with violence shall Babylon be cast, the great city, and may not be found any more at all; **[18:22]** and voice of harpers, and musicians, and pipers, and trumpeters, may not be heard at all in thee any more; and any artizan of any art may not be found at all in thee any more; and noise of a millstone may not be heard at all in thee any more; **[18:23]** and light of a lamp may not shine at all in thee any more; and voice of bridegroom and of bride may not be heard at all in thee any more; because thy merchants were the great ones of the earth, because in thy sorcery were all the nations led astray, **[18:24]** and in her blood of prophets and of saints was found, and of all those who have been slain on the earth.' **[19:1]** And after these things I heard a great voice of a great multitude in the heaven, saying, `Alleluia! the salvation, and the glory, and the honour, and the power, `is' to the Lord our God; **[19:2]** because true and righteous `are' His judgments, because He did judge the great whore who did corrupt the earth in her whoredom, and He did avenge the blood of His servants at her hand;' **[19:3]** and a second time they said, `Alleluia;' and her smoke doth come up -- to the ages of the ages! **[19:4]** And fall down did the elders -- the twenty and four -- and the four living creatures, and they did bow before God who is sitting upon the throne, saying, `Amen, Alleluia.' **[19:5]** And a voice out of the throne did come forth, saying, `Praise our God, all ye His servants, and those fearing Him, both the small and the great;' **[19:6]** and I heard as the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, `Alleluia! because reign did the Lord God -- the Almighty! **[19:7]** may we rejoice and exult, and give the glory to Him, because come did the marriage of the Lamb, and his wife did make herself ready; **[19:8]** and there was given to her that she may be arrayed with fine linen, pure and shining, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.' **[19:9]** And he saith to me, `Write: Happy `are' they who to the supper of the marriage of the Lamb have been called;' and he saith to me, `These `are' the true words of God;' **[19:10]** and I fell before his feet, to bow before him, and he saith to me, `See -- not! fellow servant of thee am I, and of thy brethren, those having the testimony of Jesus; bow before God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of the prophecy.' **[19:11]** And I saw the heaven having been opened, and lo, a white horse, and he who is sitting upon it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness doth he judge and war, **[19:12]** and his eyes `are' as a flame of fire, and upon his head `are' many diadems -- having a name written that no one hath known, except himself, **[19:13]** and he is arrayed with a garment covered with blood, and his name is called, The Word of God. **[19:14]** And the armies in the heaven were following him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen -- white and pure; **[19:15]** and out of his mouth doth proceed a sharp sword, that with it he may smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and he doth tread the press of the wine of the wrath and the anger of God the Almighty, **[19:16]** and he hath upon the garment and upon his thigh the name written, `King of kings, and Lord of lords.' **[19:17]** And I saw one messenger standing in the sun, and he cried, a great voice, saying to all the birds that are flying in mid-heaven, `Come and be gathered together to the supper of the great God, **[19:18]** that ye may eat flesh of kings, and flesh of chiefs of thousands, and flesh of strong men, and flesh of horses, and of those sitting on them, and the flesh of all -- freemen and servants -- both small and great.' **[19:19]** And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, having been gathered together to make war with him who is sitting upon the horse, and with his army; **[19:20]** and the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who did the signs before him, in which he led astray those who did receive the mark of the beast, and those who did bow before his image; living they were cast -- the two -- to the lake of the fire, that is burning with brimstone; **[19:21]** and the rest were killed with the sword of him who is sitting on the horse, which `sword' is proceeding out of his mouth, and all the birds were filled out of their flesh. **[20:1]** And I saw a messenger coming down out of the heaven, having the key of the abyss, and a great chain over his hand, **[20:2]** and he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, who is Devil and Adversary, and did bind him a thousand years, **[20:3]** and he cast him to the abyss, and did shut him up, and put a seal upon him, that he may not lead astray the nations any more, till the thousand years may be finished; and after these it behoveth him to be loosed a little time. **[20:4]** And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them, and the souls of those who have been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus, and because of the word of God, and who did not bow before the beast, nor his image, and did not receive the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand, and they did live and reign with Christ the thousand years; **[20:5]** and the rest of the dead did not live again till the thousand years may be finished; this `is' the first rising again. **[20:6]** Happy and holy `is' he who is having part in the first rising again; over these the second death hath not authority, but they shall be priests of God and of the Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. **[20:7]** And when the thousand years may be finished, the Adversary shall be loosed out of his prison, **[20:8]** and he shall go forth to lead the nations astray, that are in the four corners of the earth -- Gog and Magog -- to gather them together to war, of whom the number `is' as the sand of the sea; **[20:9]** and they did go up over the breadth of the land, and did surround the camp of the saints, and the beloved city, and there came down fire from God out of the heaven, and devoured them; **[20:10]** and the Devil, who is leading them astray, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where `are' the beast and the false prophet, and they shall be tormented day and night -- to the ages of the ages. **[20:11]** And I saw a great white throne, and Him who is sitting upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven did flee away, and place was not found for them; **[20:12]** and I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and scrolls were opened, and another scroll was opened, which is that of the life, and the dead were judged out of the things written in the scrolls -- according to their works; **[20:13]** and the sea did give up those dead in it, and the death and the hades did give up the dead in them, and they were judged, each one according to their works; **[20:14]** and the death and the hades were cast to the lake of the fire -- this `is' the second death; **[20:15]** and if any one was not found written in the scroll of the life, he was cast to the lake of the fire. **[21:1]** And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth did pass away, and the sea is not any more; **[21:2]** and I, John, saw the holy city -- new Jerusalem -- coming down from God out of the heaven, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband; **[21:3]** and I heard a great voice out of the heaven, saying, `Lo, the tabernacle of God `is' with men, and He will tabernacle with them, and they shall be His peoples, and God Himself shall be with them -- their God, **[21:4]** and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and the death shall not be any more, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor shall there be any more pain, because the first things did go away.' **[21:5]** And He who is sitting upon the throne said, `Lo, new I make all things; and He saith to me, `Write, because these words are true and stedfast;' **[21:6]** and He said to me, `It hath been done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End; I, to him who is thirsting, will give of the fountain of the water of the life freely; **[21:7]** he who is overcoming shall inherit all things, and I will be to him -- a God, and he shall be to me -- the son, **[21:8]** and to fearful, and unstedfast, and abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all the liars, their part `is' in the lake that is burning with fire and brimstone, which is a second death.' **[21:9]** And there came unto me one of the seven messengers, who have the seven vials that are full of the seven last plagues, and he spake with me, saying, `Come, I will shew thee the bride of the Lamb -- the wife,' **[21:10]** and he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and did shew to me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, coming down out of the heaven from God, **[21:11]** having the glory of God, and her light `is' like a stone most precious, as a jasper stone clear as crystal, **[21:12]** having also a wall great and high, having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve messengers, and names written thereon, which are `those' of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel, **[21:13]** at the east three gates, at the north three gates, at the south three gates, at the west three gates; **[21:14]** and the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. **[21:15]** And he who is speaking with me had a golden reed, that he may measure the city, and its gates, and its wall; **[21:16]** and the city lieth square, and the length of it is as great as the breadth; and he did measure the city with the reed -- furlongs twelve thousand; the length, and the breadth, and the height, of it are equal; **[21:17]** and he measured its wall, an hundred forty-four cubits, the measure of a man, that is, of the messenger; **[21:18]** and the building of its wall was jasper, and the city `is' pure gold -- like to pure glass; **[21:19]** and the foundations of the wall of the city with every precious stone have been adorned; the first foundation jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; **[21:20]** the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprasus; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. **[21:21]** And the twelve gates `are' twelve pearls, each several one of the gates was of one pearl; and the broad-place of the city `is' pure gold -- as transparent glass. **[21:22]** And a sanctuary I did not see in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, is its sanctuary, and the Lamb, **[21:23]** and the city hath no need of the sun, nor of the moon, that they may shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the lamp of it `is' the Lamb; **[21:24]** and the nations of the saved in its light shall walk, and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it, **[21:25]** and its gates shall not at all be shut by day, for night shall not be there; **[21:26]** and they shall bring the glory and the honour of the nations into it; **[21:27]** and there may not at all enter into it any thing defiling and doing abomination, and a lie, but -- those written in the scroll of the life of the Lamb. **[22:1]** And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, bright as crystal, going forth out of the throne of God and of the Lamb: **[22:2]** in the midst of its broad place, and of the river on this side and on that, `is' a tree of life, yielding twelve fruits, in each several month rendering its fruits, and the leaves of the tree `are' for the service of the nations; **[22:3]** and any curse there shall not be any more, and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him, **[22:4]** and they shall see His face, and His name `is' upon their foreheads, **[22:5]** and night shall not be there, and they have no need of a lamp and light of a sun, because the Lord God doth give them light, and they shall reign -- to the ages of the ages. **[22:6]** And he said to me, `These words `are' stedfast and true, and the Lord God of the holy prophets did send His messenger to shew to His servants the things that it behoveth to come quickly: **[22:7]** Lo, I come quickly; happy `is' he who is keeping the words of the prophecy of this scroll.' **[22:8]** And I, John, am he who is seeing these things and hearing, and when I heard and beheld, I fell down to bow before the feet of the messenger who is shewing me these things; **[22:9]** and he saith to me, `See -- not; for fellow-servant of thee am I, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of those keeping the words of this scroll; before God bow.' **[22:10]** And he saith to me, `Thou mayest not seal the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is nigh; **[22:11]** he who is unrighteous -- let him be unrighteous still, and he who is filthy -- let him be filthy still, and he who is righteous -- let him be declared righteous still, and he who is sanctified -- let him be sanctified still: **[22:12]** And lo, I come quickly, and my reward `is' with me, to render to each as his work shall be; **[22:13]** I am the Alpha and the Omega -- the Beginning and End -- the First and the Last. **[22:14]** `Happy are those doing His commands that the authority shall be theirs unto the tree of the life, and by the gates they may enter into the city; **[22:15]** and without `are' the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the whoremongers, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every one who is loving and is doing a lie. **[22:16]** `I, Jesus did send my messenger to testify to you these things concerning the assemblies; I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star! **[22:17]** And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come; and he who is hearing -- let him say, Come; and he who is thirsting -- let him come; and he who is willing -- let him take the water of life freely. **[22:18]** `For I testify to every one hearing the words of the prophecy of this scroll, if any one may add unto these, God shall add to him the plagues that have been written in this scroll, **[22:19]** and if any one may take away from the words of the scroll of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the scroll of the life, and out of the holy city, and the things that have been written in this scroll;' **[22:20]** he saith -- who is testifying these things -- `Yes, I come quickly!' Amen! Yes, be coming, Lord Jesus! **[22:21]** The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ `is' with you all. Amen.

7 Judges - American Standard-ASV1901 (ASV).md

# Judges - American Standard-ASV1901 (ASV) **[1:1]** And it came to pass after the death of Joshua, that the children of Israel asked of Jehovah, saying, Who shall go up for us first against the Canaanites, to fight against them? **[1:2]** And Jehovah said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand. **[1:3]** And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him. **[1:4]** And Judah went up; and Jehovah delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they smote of them in Bezek ten thousand men. **[1:5]** And they found Adoni-bezek in Bezek; and they fought against him, and they smote the Canaanites and the Perizzites. **[1:6]** But Adoni-bezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. **[1:7]** And Adoni-bezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered `their food' under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there. **[1:8]** And the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire. **[1:9]** And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites that dwelt in the hill-country, and in the South, and in the lowland. **[1:10]** And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron (now the name of Hebron beforetime was Kiriath-arba); and they smote Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai. **[1:11]** And from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir. (Now the name of Debir beforetime was Kiriath-sepher.) **[1:12]** And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kiriath-sepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife. **[1:13]** And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife. **[1:14]** And it came to pass, when she came `unto him', that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she alighted from off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wouldest thou? **[1:15]** And she said unto him, Give me a blessing; for that thou hast set me in the land of the South, give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs. **[1:16]** And the children of the Kenite, Moses' brother-in-law, went up out of the city of palm-trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt with the people. **[1:17]** And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they smote the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah. **[1:18]** Also Judah took Gaza with the border thereof, and Ashkelon with the border thereof, and Ekron with the border thereof. **[1:19]** And Jehovah was with Judah; and drove out `the inhabitants of' the hill-country; for he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron. **[1:20]** And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses had spoken: and he drove out thence the three sons of Anak. **[1:21]** And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day. **[1:22]** And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Beth-el; and Jehovah was with them. **[1:23]** And the house of Joseph sent to spy out Beth-el. (Now the name of the city beforetime was Luz.) **[1:24]** And the watchers saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, Show us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will deal kindly with thee. **[1:25]** And he showed them the entrance into the city; and they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man go and all his family. **[1:26]** And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz, which is the name thereof unto this day. **[1:27]** And Manasseh did not drive out `the inhabitants of' Beth-shean and its towns, nor `of' Taanach and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. **[1:28]** And it came to pass, when Israel was waxed strong, that they put the Canaanites to taskwork, and did not utterly drive them out. **[1:29]** And Ephraim drove not out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them. **[1:30]** Zebulun drove not out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became subject to taskwork. **[1:31]** Asher drove not out the inhabitants of Acco, nor the inhabitants of Sidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob; **[1:32]** but the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out. **[1:33]** Naphtali drove not out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beth-anath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became subject to taskwork. **[1:34]** And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the hill-country; for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley; **[1:35]** but the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became subject to taskwork. **[1:36]** And the border of the Amorites was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward. **[2:1]** And the angel of Jehovah came up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you: **[2:2]** and ye shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall break down their altars. But ye have not hearkened unto my voice: why have ye done this? **[2:3]** Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be `as thorns' in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you. **[2:4]** And it came to pass, when the angel of Jehovah spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept. **[2:5]** And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto Jehovah. **[2:6]** Now when Joshua had sent the people away, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land. **[2:7]** And the people served Jehovah all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of Jehovah that he had wrought for Israel. **[2:8]** And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Jehovah, died, being a hundred and ten years old. **[2:9]** And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill-country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash. **[2:10]** And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, that knew not Jehovah, nor yet the work which he had wrought for Israel. **[2:11]** And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and served the Baalim; **[2:12]** and they forsook Jehovah, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the peoples that were round about them, and bowed themselves down unto them: and they provoked Jehovah to anger. **[2:13]** And they forsook Jehovah, and served Baal and the Ashtaroth. **[2:14]** And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that despoiled them; and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. **[2:15]** Whithersoever they went out, the hand of Jehovah was against them for evil, as Jehovah had spoken, and as Jehovah had sworn unto them: and they were sore distressed. **[2:16]** And Jehovah raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those that despoiled them. **[2:17]** And yet they hearkened not unto their judges; for they played the harlot after other gods, and bowed themselves down unto them: they turned aside quickly out of the way wherein their fathers walked, obeying the commandments of Jehovah; `but' they did not so. **[2:18]** And when Jehovah raised them up judges, then Jehovah was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented Jehovah because of their groaning by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them. **[2:19]** But it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they turned back, and dealt more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their doings, nor from their stubborn way. **[2:20]** And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel; and he said, Because this nation have transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice; **[2:21]** I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations that Joshua left when he died; **[2:22]** that by them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of Jehovah to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not. **[2:23]** So Jehovah left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua. **[3:1]** Now these are the nations which Jehovah left, to prove Israel by them, even as many `of Israel' as had not known all the wars of Canaan; **[3:2]** only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as beforetime knew nothing thereof: **[3:3]** `namely', the five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baal-hermon unto the entrance of Hamath. **[3:4]** And they were `left', to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of Jehovah, which he commanded their fathers by Moses. **[3:5]** And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites: **[3:6]** and they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons and served their gods. **[3:7]** And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and forgat Jehovah their God, and served the Baalim and the Asheroth. **[3:8]** Therefore the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. **[3:9]** And when the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah, Jehovah raised up a saviour to the children of Israel, who saved them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. **[3:10]** And the Spirit of Jehovah came upon him, and he judged Israel; and he went out to war, and Jehovah delivered Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand: and his hand prevailed against Cushan-rishathaim. **[3:11]** And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died. **[3:12]** And the children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah: and Jehovah strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah. **[3:13]** And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek; and he went and smote Israel, and they possessed the city of palm-trees. **[3:14]** And the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. **[3:15]** But when the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah, Jehovah raised them up a saviour, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a man left-handed. And the children of Israel sent tribute by him unto Eglon the king of Moab. **[3:16]** And Ehud made him a sword which had two edges, a cubit in length; and he girded it under his raiment upon his right thigh. **[3:17]** And he offered the tribute unto Eglon king of Moab: now Eglon was a very fat man. **[3:18]** And when he had made an end of offering the tribute, he sent away the people that bare the tribute. **[3:19]** But he himself turned back from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand unto thee, O king. And he said, Keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from him. **[3:20]** And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting by himself alone in the cool upper room. And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee. And he arose out of his seat. **[3:21]** And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his body: **[3:22]** and the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, for he drew not the sword out of his body; and it came out behind. **[3:23]** Then Ehud went forth into the porch, and shut the doors of the upper room upon him, and locked them. **[3:24]** Now when he was gone out, his servants came; and they saw, and, behold, the doors of the upper room were locked; and they said, Surely he is covering his feet in the upper chamber. **[3:25]** And they tarried till they were ashamed; and, behold, he opened not the doors of the upper room: therefore they took the key, and opened `them', and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth. **[3:26]** And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped unto Seirah. **[3:27]** And it came to pass, when he was come, that he blew a trumpet in the hill-country of Ephraim; and the children of Israel went down with him from the hill-country, and he before them. **[3:28]** And he said unto them, Follow after me; for Jehovah hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites, and suffered not a man to pass over. **[3:29]** And they smote of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, every lusty man, and every man of valor; and there escaped not a man. **[3:30]** So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years. **[3:31]** And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who smote of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox-goad: and he also saved Israel. **[4:1]** And the children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, when Ehud was dead. **[4:2]** And Jehovah sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. **[4:3]** And the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel. **[4:4]** Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, she judged Israel at that time. **[4:5]** And she dwelt under the palm-tree of Deborah between Ramah and Beth-el in the hill-country of Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. **[4:6]** And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh-naphtali, and said unto him, Hath not Jehovah, the God of Israel, commanded, `saying', Go and draw unto mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? **[4:7]** And I will draw unto thee, to the river Kishon, Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thy hand. **[4:8]** And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go; but if thou wilt not go with me, I will not go. **[4:9]** And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding, the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honor; for Jehovah will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh. **[4:10]** And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh; and there went up ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him. **[4:11]** Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, even from the children of Hobab the brother-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far as the oak in Zaanannim, which is by Kedesh. **[4:12]** And they told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor. **[4:13]** And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles, unto the river Kishon. **[4:14]** And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which Jehovah hath delivered Sisera into thy hand; is not Jehovah gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him. **[4:15]** And Jehovah discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot, and fled away on his feet. **[4:16]** But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; there was not a man left. **[4:17]** Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. **[4:18]** And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And he turned in unto her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. **[4:19]** And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him. **[4:20]** And he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and inquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No. **[4:21]** Then Jael Heber's wife took a tent-pin, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the pin into his temples, and it pierced through into the ground; for he was in a deep sleep; so he swooned and died. **[4:22]** And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will show thee the man whom thou seekest. And he came unto her; and, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the tent-pin was in his temples. **[4:23]** So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel. **[4:24]** And the hand of the children of Israel prevailed more and more against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan. **[5:1]** Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying, **[5:2]** For that the leaders took the lead in Israel, For that the people offered themselves willingly, Bless ye Jehovah. **[5:3]** Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, `even' I, will sing unto Jehovah; I will sing praise to Jehovah, the God of Israel. **[5:4]** Jehovah, when thou wentest forth out of Seir, When thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, The earth trembled, the heavens also dropped, Yea, the clouds dropped water. **[5:5]** The mountains quaked at the presence of Jehovah, Even yon Sinai at the presence of Jehovah, the God of Israel. **[5:6]** In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, In the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, And the travellers walked through byways. **[5:7]** The rulers ceased in Israel, they ceased, Until that I Deborah arose, That I arose a mother in Israel. **[5:8]** They chose new gods; Then was war in the gates: Was there a shield or spear seen Among forty thousand in Israel? **[5:9]** My heart is toward the governors of Israel, That offered themselves willingly among the people: Bless ye Jehovah. **[5:10]** Tell `of it', ye that ride on white asses, Ye that sit on rich carpets, And ye that walk by the way. **[5:11]** Far from the noise of archers, in the places of drawing water, There shall they rehearse the righteous acts of Jehovah, `Even' the righteous acts of his rule in Israel. Then the people of Jehovah went down to the gates. **[5:12]** Awake, awake, Deborah; Awake, awake, utter a song: Arise, Barak, and lead away thy captives, thou son of Abinoam. **[5:13]** Then came down a remnant of the nobles `and' the people; Jehovah came down for me against the mighty. **[5:14]** Out of Ephraim `came down' they whose root is in Amalek; After thee, Benjamin, among thy peoples; Out of Machir came down governors, And out of Zebulun they that handle the marshal's staff. **[5:15]** And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; As was Issachar, so was Barak; Into the valley they rushed forth at his feet. By the watercourses of Reuben There were great resolves of heart. **[5:16]** Why sattest thou among the sheepfolds, To hear the pipings for the flocks? At the watercourses of Reuben There were great searchings of heart. **[5:17]** Gilead abode beyond the Jordan: And Dan, why did he remain in ships? Asher sat still at the haven of the sea, And abode by his creeks. **[5:18]** Zebulun was a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death, And Naphtali, upon the high places of the field. **[5:19]** The kings came and fought; Then fought the kings of Canaan. In Taanach by the waters of Megiddo: They took no gain of money. **[5:20]** From heaven fought the stars, From their courses they fought against Sisera. **[5:21]** The river Kishon swept them away, That ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, march on with strength. **[5:22]** Then did the horsehoofs stamp By reason of the prancings, the prancings of their strong ones. **[5:23]** Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of Jehovah. Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof, Because they came not to the help of Jehovah, To the help of Jehovah against the mighty. **[5:24]** Blessed above women shall Jael be, The wife of Heber the Kenite; Blessed shall she be above women in the tent. **[5:25]** He asked water, `and' she gave him milk; She brought him butter in a lordly dish. **[5:26]** She put her hand to the tent-pin, And her right hand to the workmen's hammer; And with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote through his head; Yea, she pierced and struck through his temples. **[5:27]** At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay; At her feet he bowed, he fell; Where he bowed, there he fell down dead. **[5:28]** Through the window she looked forth, and cried, The mother of Sisera `cried' through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the wheels of his chariots? **[5:29]** Her wise ladies answered her, Yea, she returned answer to herself, **[5:30]** Have they not found, have they not divided the spoil? A damsel, two damsels to every man; To Sisera a spoil of dyed garments, A spoil of dyed garments embroidered, Of dyed garments embroidered on both sides, on the necks of the spoil? **[5:31]** So let all thine enemies perish, O Jehovah: But let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years. **[6:1]** And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah: and Jehovah delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. **[6:2]** And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel; and because of Midian the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds. **[6:3]** And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east; they came up against them; **[6:4]** and they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance in Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. **[6:5]** For they came up with their cattle and their tents; they came in as locusts for multitude; both they and their camels were without number: and they came into the land to destroy it. **[6:6]** And Israel was brought very low because of Midian; and the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah. **[6:7]** And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah because of Midian, **[6:8]** that Jehovah sent a prophet unto the children of Israel: and he said unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage; **[6:9]** and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drove them out from before you, and gave you their land; **[6:10]** and I said unto you, I am Jehovah your God; ye shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell. But ye have not hearkened unto my voice. **[6:11]** And the angel of Jehovah came, and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. **[6:12]** And the angel of Jehovah appeared unto him, and said unto him, Jehovah is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. **[6:13]** And Gideon said unto him, Oh, my lord, if Jehovah is with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not Jehovah bring us up from Egypt? but now Jehovah hath cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian. **[6:14]** And Jehovah looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian: have not I sent thee? **[6:15]** And he said unto him, Oh, Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. **[6:16]** And Jehovah said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. **[6:17]** And he said unto him, If now I have found favor in thy sight, then show me a sign that it is thou that talkest with me. **[6:18]** Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and lay it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again. **[6:19]** And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of meal: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it. **[6:20]** And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so. **[6:21]** Then the angel of Jehovah put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there went up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of Jehovah departed out of his sight. **[6:22]** And Gideon saw that he was the angel of Jehovah; and Gideon said, Alas, O Lord Jehovah! forasmuch as I have seen the angel of Jehovah face to face. **[6:23]** And Jehovah said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. **[6:24]** Then Gideon built an altar there unto Jehovah, and called it Jehovah-shalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. **[6:25]** And it came to pass the same night, that Jehovah said unto him, Take thy father's bullock, even the second bullock seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the Asherah that is by it; **[6:26]** and build an altar unto Jehovah thy God upon the top of this stronghold, in the orderly manner, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt-offering with the wood of the Asherah which thou shalt cut down. **[6:27]** Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as Jehovah had spoken unto him: and it came to pass, because he feared his father's household and the men of the city, so that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night. **[6:28]** And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built. **[6:29]** And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they inquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing. **[6:30]** Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die, because he hath broken down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the Asherah that was by it. **[6:31]** And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye contend for Baal? Or will ye save him? he that will contend for him, let him be put to death whilst `it is yet' morning: if he be a god, let him contend for himself, because one hath broken down his altar. **[6:32]** Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal contend against him, because he hath broken down his altar. **[6:33]** Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east assembled themselves together; and they passed over, and encamped in the valley of Jezreel. **[6:34]** But the Spirit of Jehovah came upon Gideon; and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered together after him. **[6:35]** And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; and they also were gathered together after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them. **[6:36]** And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast spoken, **[6:37]** behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing-floor; if there be dew on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the ground, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast spoken. **[6:38]** And it was so; for he rose up early on the morrow, and pressed the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. **[6:39]** And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be kindled against me, and I will speak but this once: let me make trial, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. **[6:40]** And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground. **[7:1]** Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and encamped beside the spring of Harod: and the camp of Midian was on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. **[7:2]** And Jehovah said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. **[7:3]** Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and trembling, let him return and depart from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. **[7:4]** And Jehovah said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. **[7:5]** So he brought down the people unto the water: and Jehovah 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. **[7:6]** And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. **[7:7]** And Jehovah said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thy hand; and let all the people go every man unto his place. **[7:8]** So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets; and he sent all the men of Israel every man unto his tent, but retained the three hundred men: and the camp of Midian was beneath him in the valley. **[7:9]** And it came to pass the same night, that Jehovah said unto him, Arise, get thee down into the camp; for I have delivered it into thy hand. **[7:10]** But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Purah thy servant down to the camp: **[7:11]** and thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thy hands be strengthened to go down into the camp. Then went he down with Purah his servant unto the outermost part of the armed men that were in the camp. **[7:12]** And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like locusts for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand which is upon the sea-shore for multitude. **[7:13]** And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man telling a dream unto his fellow; and he said, Behold, I dreamed a dream; and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, and came unto the tent, and smote it so that it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat. **[7:14]** And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: into his hand God hath delivered Midian, and all the host. **[7:15]** And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped; and he returned into the camp of Israel, and said, Arise; for Jehovah hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian. **[7:16]** And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put into the hands of all of them trumpets, and empty pitchers, with torches within the pitchers. **[7:17]** And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outermost part of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do. **[7:18]** When I blow the trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, For Jehovah and for Gideon. **[7:19]** So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outermost part of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch, when they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake in pieces the pitchers that were in their hands. **[7:20]** And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the torches in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands wherewith to blow; and they cried, The sword of Jehovah and of Gideon. **[7:21]** And they stood every man in his place round about the camp; and all the host ran; and they shouted, and put `them' to flight. **[7:22]** And they blew the three hundred trumpets, and Jehovah set every man's sword against his fellow, and against all the host; and the host fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. **[7:23]** And the men of Israel were gathered together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after Midian. **[7:24]** And Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill-country of Ephraim, saying, Come down against Midian, and take before them the waters, as far as Beth-barah, even the Jordan. So all the men of Ephraim were gathered together, and took the waters as far as Beth-barah, even the Jordan. **[7:25]** And they took the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian: and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan. **[8:1]** And the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why hast thou served us thus, that thou calledst us not, when thou wentest to fight with Midian? And they did chide with him sharply. **[8:2]** And he said unto them, What have I now done in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? **[8:3]** God hath delivered into your hand the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb: and what was I able to do in comparison with you? Then their anger was abated toward him, when he had said that. **[8:4]** And Gideon came to the Jordan, `and' passed over, he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing. **[8:5]** And he said unto the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people that follow me; for they are faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian. **[8:6]** And the princes of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand, that we should give bread unto thine army? **[8:7]** And Gideon said, Therefore when Jehovah hath delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers. **[8:8]** And he went up thence to Penuel, and spake unto them in like manner; and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. **[8:9]** And he spake also unto the men of Penuel, saying, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower. **[8:10]** Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of all the host of the children of the east; for there fell a hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword. **[8:11]** And 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. **[8:12]** And Zebah and Zalmunna fled; and he pursued after them; and he took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and discomfited all the host. **[8:13]** And Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle from the ascent of Heres. **[8:14]** And he caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and inquired of him: and he described for him the princes of Succoth, and the elders thereof, seventy and seven men. **[8:15]** And he came unto the men of Succoth, and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, concerning whom ye did taunt me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand, that we should give bread unto thy men that are weary? **[8:16]** And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth. **[8:17]** And he brake down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city. **[8:18]** Then 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. **[8:19]** And he said, They were my brethren, the sons of my mother: as Jehovah liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you. **[8:20]** And he said unto Jether his first-born, Up, and slay them. But the youth drew not his sword; for he feared, because he was yet a youth. **[8:21]** Then 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 the crescents that were on their camels' necks. **[8:22]** Then 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 saved us out of the hand of Midian. **[8:23]** And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: Jehovah shall rule over you. **[8:24]** And Gideon said unto them, I would make a request of you, that ye would give me every man the ear-rings of his spoil. (For they had golden ear-rings, because they were Ishmaelites.) **[8:25]** And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the ear-rings of his spoil. **[8:26]** And the weight of the golden ear-rings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred `shekels' of gold, besides the crescents, and the pendants, and the purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were about their camels' necks. **[8:27]** And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel played the harlot after it there; and it became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house. **[8:28]** So Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, and they lifted up their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon. **[8:29]** And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house. **[8:30]** And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten; for he had many wives. **[8:31]** And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, and he called his name Abimelech. **[8:32]** And 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. **[8:33]** And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and played the harlot after the Baalim, and made Baal-berith their god. **[8:34]** And the children of Israel remembered not Jehovah their God, who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side; **[8:35]** neither showed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, `who is' Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had showed unto Israel. **[9:1]** And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem unto his mother's brethren, and spake with them, and with all the family of the house of his mother's father, saying, **[9:2]** Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, Whether is better for you, that all the sons of Jerubbaal, who are threescore and ten persons, rule over you, or that one rule over you? remember also that I am your bone and your flesh. **[9:3]** And his mother's brethren spake of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother. **[9:4]** And they gave him threescore and ten `pieces' of silver out of the house of Baal-berith, wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light fellows, who followed him. **[9:5]** And 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: but Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left; for he hid himself. **[9:6]** And all the men of Shechem assembled themselves together, and all the house of Millo, and went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar that was in Shechem. **[9:7]** And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you. **[9:8]** The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive-tree, Reign thou over us. **[9:9]** But the olive-tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honor God and man, and go to wave to and fro over the trees? **[9:10]** And the trees said to the fig-tree, Come thou, and reign over us. **[9:11]** But the fig-tree said unto them, Should I leave my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to wave to and fro over the trees? **[9:12]** And the trees said unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us. **[9:13]** And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my new wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to wave to and fro over the trees? **[9:14]** Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us. **[9:15]** And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon. **[9:16]** Now therefore, if ye have dealt truly and uprightly, 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; **[9:17]** (for my father fought for you, and adventured his life, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian: **[9:18]** and 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 maid-servant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother); **[9:19]** if ye then have dealt truly and uprightly with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you: **[9:20]** but 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. **[9:21]** And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother. **[9:22]** And Abimelech was prince over Israel three years. **[9:23]** And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech: **[9:24]** that the violence done to the threescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal might come, and that their blood might be laid upon Abimelech their brother, who slew them, and upon the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to slay his brethren. **[9:25]** And the men of Shechem set liers-in-wait for him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them: and it was told Abimelech. **[9:26]** And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren, and went over to Shechem; and the men of Shechem put their trust in him. **[9:27]** And they went out into the field, and gathered their vineyards, and trod `the grapes', and held festival, and went into the house of their god, and did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelech. **[9:28]** And 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 ye the men of Hamor the father of Shechem: but why should we serve him? **[9:29]** And would that this people were under my hand! then would I remove Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, Increase thine army, and come out. **[9:30]** And when Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled. **[9:31]** And he sent messengers unto Abimelech craftily, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brethren are come to Shechem; and, behold, they constrain the city `to take part' against thee. **[9:32]** Now therefore, up by night, thou and the people that are with thee, and lie in wait in the field: **[9:33]** and it shall be, that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, thou shalt rise early, and rush upon the city; and, behold, when he and the people that are with him come out against thee, then mayest thou do to them as thou shalt find occasion. **[9:34]** And Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies. **[9:35]** And Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city: and Abimelech rose up, and the people that were with him, from the ambushment. **[9:36]** And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold, there come people down from the tops of the mountains. And Zebul said unto him, Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as if they were men. **[9:37]** And Gaal spake again and said, See, there come people down by the middle of the land, and one company cometh by the way of the oak of Meonenim. **[9:38]** Then said Zebul unto him, Where is now thy mouth, that thou saidst, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? is not this the people that thou hast despised? go out now, I pray, and fight with them. **[9:39]** And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech. **[9:40]** And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and there fell many wounded, even unto the entrance of the gate. **[9:41]** And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah: and Zebul drove out Gaal and his brethren, that they should not dwell in Shechem. **[9:42]** And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people went out into the field; and they told Abimelech. **[9:43]** And he took the people, and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the field; and he looked, and, behold, the people came forth out of the city; And he rose up against them, and smote them. **[9:44]** And Abimelech, and the companies that were with him, rushed forward, and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city: and the two companies rushed upon all that were in the field, and smote them. **[9:45]** And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that were therein: and he beat down the city, and sowed it with salt. **[9:46]** And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard thereof, they entered into the stronghold of the house of Elberith. **[9:47]** And it was told Abimelech that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. **[9:48]** And 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 up, and laid it on his shoulder: and he said unto the people that were with him, What ye have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done. **[9:49]** And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them to the stronghold, and set the stronghold on fire upon them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women. **[9:50]** Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it. **[9:51]** But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut themselves in, and gat them up to the roof of the tower. **[9:52]** And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and drew near unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire. **[9:53]** And a certain woman cast an upper millstone upon Abimelech's head, and brake his skull. **[9:54]** Then he called hastily unto the young man his armorbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and kill me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died. **[9:55]** And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place. **[9:56]** Thus God requited the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren; **[9:57]** and all the wickedness of the men of Shechem did God requite upon their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal. **[10:1]** And after 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 hill-country of Ephraim. **[10:2]** And he judged Israel twenty and three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir. **[10:3]** And after him arose Jair, the Gileadite; and he judged Israel twenty and two years. **[10:4]** And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havvoth-jair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead. **[10:5]** And Jair died, and was buried in Kamon. **[10:6]** And the children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and served the Baalim, and the Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Sidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook Jehovah, and served him not. **[10:7]** And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the children of Ammon. **[10:8]** And they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel that year: eighteen years `oppressed they' all the children of Israel that were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. **[10:9]** And the children of Ammon passed over the Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim; so that Israel was sore distressed. **[10:10]** And the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah, saying, We have sinned against thee, even because we have forsaken our God, and have served the Baalim. **[10:11]** And Jehovah said unto the children of Israel, `Did' not `I save you' from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines? **[10:12]** The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried unto me, and I saved you out of their hand. **[10:13]** Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will save you no more. **[10:14]** Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress. **[10:15]** And the children of Israel said unto Jehovah, We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; only deliver us, we pray thee, this day. **[10:16]** And they put away the foreign gods from among them, and served Jehovah; and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel. **[10:17]** Then the children of Ammon were gathered together, and encamped in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled themselves together, and encamped in Mizpah. **[10:18]** And the people, the princes of Gilead, said one to another, What man is he that will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? he shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead. **[11:1]** Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of a harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah. **[11:2]** And Gilead's wife bare him sons; and when his wife's sons grew up, they drove out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house; for thou art the son of another woman. **[11:3]** Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were gathered vain fellows to Jephthah, and they went out with him. **[11:4]** And it came to pass after a while, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel. **[11:5]** And it was so, that, when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob; **[11:6]** and they said unto Jephthah, Come and be our chief, that we may fight with the children of Ammon. **[11:7]** And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me, and drive me out of my father's house? and why are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress? **[11:8]** And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore are we turned again to thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight with the children of Ammon; and thou shalt be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead. **[11:9]** And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to fight with the children of Ammon, and Jehovah deliver them before me, shall I be your head? **[11:10]** And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Jehovah shall be witness between us; surely according to thy word so will we do. **[11:11]** Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them: and Jephthah spake all his words before Jehovah in Mizpah. **[11:12]** And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come unto me to fight against my land? **[11:13]** And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when he came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon even unto the Jabbok, and unto the Jordan: now therefore restore those `lands' again peaceably. **[11:14]** And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon; **[11:15]** and he said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah: Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon, **[11:16]** but when they came up from Egypt, and Israel went through the wilderness unto the Red Sea, and came to Kadesh; **[11:17]** then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land; but the king of Edom hearkened not. And in like manner he sent unto the king of Moab; but he would not: and Israel abode in Kadesh. **[11:18]** Then they went through the wilderness, and went around the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and they encamped on the other side of the Arnon; but they came not within the border of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. **[11:19]** And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land unto my place. **[11:20]** But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his border; but Sihon gathered all his people together, and encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel. **[11:21]** And Jehovah, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. **[11:22]** And they possessed all the border of the Amorites, from the Arnon even unto the Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto the Jordan. **[11:23]** So now Jehovah, the God of Israel, hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess them? **[11:24]** Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever Jehovah our God hath dispossessed from before us, them will we possess. **[11:25]** And now art thou anything better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them? **[11:26]** While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and its towns, and in Aroer and its towns, and in all the cities that are along by the side of the Arnon, three hundred years; wherefore did ye not recover them within that time? **[11:27]** I therefore have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me: Jehovah, the Judge, be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon. **[11:28]** Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah which he sent him. **[11:29]** Then the Spirit of Jehovah came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon. **[11:30]** And Jephthah vowed a vow unto Jehovah, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand, **[11:31]** then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be Jehovah's, and I will offer it up for a burnt-offering. **[11:32]** So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and Jehovah delivered them into his hand. **[11:33]** And he smote them from Aroer until thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto Abelcheramim, with a very great slaughter. So the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel. **[11:34]** And Jephthah came to Mizpah unto his house; and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. **[11:35]** And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me; for I have opened my mouth unto Jehovah, and I cannot go back. **[11:36]** And she said unto him, My father, thou hast opened thy mouth unto Jehovah; do unto me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth, forasmuch as Jehovah hath taken vengeance for thee on thine enemies, even on the children of Ammon. **[11:37]** And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may depart and go down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my companions. **[11:38]** And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she departed, she and her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. **[11:39]** And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew not man. And it was a custom in Israel, **[11:40]** that the daughters of Israel went yearly to celebrate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year. **[12:1]** And the men of Ephraim were gathered together, and passed northward; and they said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thy house upon thee with fire. **[12:2]** And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, ye saved me not out of their hand. **[12:3]** And when I saw that ye saved me not, I put my life in my hand, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and Jehovah delivered them into my hand: wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day, to fight against me? **[12:4]** Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim; and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye are fugitives of Ephraim, ye Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim, `and' in the midst of Manasseh. **[12:5]** And the Gileadites took the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And it was so, that, when `any of' the fugitives of Ephraim said, Let me go over, the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay; **[12:6]** then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth; and he said Sibboleth; for he could not frame to pronounce it right: then they laid hold on him, and slew him at the fords of the Jordan. And there fell at that time of Ephraim forty and two thousand. **[12:7]** And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in `one of' the cities of Gilead. **[12:8]** And after him Ibzan of Beth-lehem judged Israel. **[12:9]** And he had thirty sons; and thirty daughters he sent abroad, and thirty daughters he brought in from abroad for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years. **[12:10]** And Ibzan died, and was buried at Beth-lehem. **[12:11]** And after him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years. **[12:12]** And Elon the Zebulunite died, and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun. **[12:13]** And after him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel. **[12:14]** And he had forty sons and thirty sons' sons, that rode on threescore and ten ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years. **[12:15]** And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill-country of the Amalekites. **[13:1]** And the children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah; and Jehovah delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years. **[13:2]** And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not. **[13:3]** And the angel of Jehovah appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not; but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. **[13:4]** Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: **[13:5]** for, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come upon his head; for the child shall be a Nazirite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. **[13:6]** Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of the angel of God, very terrible; and I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name: **[13:7]** but he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing; for the child shall be a Nazirite unto God from the womb to the day of his death. **[13:8]** Then Manoah entreated Jehovah, and said, Oh, Lord, I pray thee, let the man of God whom thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born. **[13:9]** And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her. **[13:10]** And the woman made haste, and ran, and told her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the `other' day. **[13:11]** And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am. **[13:12]** And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass: what shall be the ordering of the child, and `how' shall we do unto him? **[13:13]** And the angel of Jehovah said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware. **[13:14]** She may not eat of anything that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; all that I commanded her let her observe. **[13:15]** And Manoah said unto the angel of Jehovah, I pray thee, let us detain thee, that we may make ready a kid for thee. **[13:16]** And the angel of Jehovah said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread; and if thou wilt make ready a burnt-offering, thou must offer it unto Jehovah. For Manoah knew not that he was the angel of Jehovah. **[13:17]** And Manoah said unto the angel of Jehovah, What is thy name, that, when thy words come to pass, we may do thee honor? **[13:18]** And the angel of Jehovah said unto him, Wherefore askest thou after my name, seeing it is wonderful? **[13:19]** So Manoah took the kid with the meal-offering, and offered it upon the rock unto Jehovah: and `the angel' did wondrously, and Manoah and his wife looked on. **[13:20]** For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of Jehovah ascended in the flame of the altar: and Manoah and his wife looked on; and they fell on their faces to the ground. **[13:21]** But the angel of Jehovah did no more appear to Manoah or to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of Jehovah. **[13:22]** And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. **[13:23]** But his wife said unto him, If Jehovah were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt-offering and a meal-offering at our hand, neither would he have showed us all these things, nor would at this time have told such things as these. **[13:24]** And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and Jehovah blessed him. **[13:25]** And the Spirit of Jehovah began to move him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol. **[14:1]** And Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. **[14:2]** And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife. **[14:3]** Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well. **[14:4]** But his father and his mother knew not that it was of Jehovah; for he sought an occasion against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines had rule over Israel. **[14:5]** Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnah, and came to the vineyards of Timnah: and, behold, a young lion roared against him. **[14:6]** And the Spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid; and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done. **[14:7]** And he went down, and talked with the woman, and she pleased Samson well. **[14:8]** And after a while he returned to take her; and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey. **[14:9]** And he took it into his hands, and went on, eating as he went; and he came to his father and mother, and gave unto them, and they did eat: but he told them not that he had taken the honey out of the body of the lion. **[14:10]** And his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do. **[14:11]** And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him. **[14:12]** And Samson said unto them, Let me now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can declare it unto me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of raiment; **[14:13]** but if ye cannot declare it unto me, then shall ye give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of raiment. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it. **[14:14]** And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth food, And out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days declare the riddle. **[14:15]** And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson's wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire: have ye called us to impoverish us? is it not `so'? **[14:16]** And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell thee? **[14:17]** And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she pressed him sore; and she told the riddle to the children of her people. **[14:18]** And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, Ye had not found out my riddle. **[14:19]** And the Spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and smote thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave the changes `of raiment' unto them that declared the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house. **[14:20]** But Samson's wife was `given' to his companion, whom he had used as his friend. **[15:1]** But it came to pass after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in. **[15:2]** And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her. **[15:3]** And Samson said unto them, This time shall I be blameless in regard of the Philistines, when I do them a mischief. **[15:4]** And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between every two tails. **[15:5]** And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks and the standing grain, and also the oliveyards. **[15:6]** Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they said, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he hath taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire. **[15:7]** And Samson said unto them, If ye do after this manner, surely I will be avenged of you, and after that I will cease. **[15:8]** And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock of Etam. **[15:9]** Then the Philistines went up, and encamped in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi. **[15:10]** And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they said, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us. **[15:11]** Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what then is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them. **[15:12]** And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves. **[15:13]** And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock. **[15:14]** When he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him: and the Spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon him, and the ropes that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands dropped from off his hands. **[15:15]** And he found a fresh jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and smote a thousand men therewith. **[15:16]** And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, With the jawbone of an ass have I smitten a thousand men. **[15:17]** And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand; and that place was called Ramath-lehi. **[15:18]** And he was sore athirst, and called on Jehovah, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance by the hand of thy servant; and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised. **[15:19]** But God clave the hollow place that is in Lehi, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore the name thereof was called En-hakkore, which is in Lehi, unto this day. **[15:20]** And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years. **[16:1]** And Samson went to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went in unto her. **[16:2]** `And it was told' the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, `Let be' till morning light, then we will kill him. **[16:3]** And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and laid hold of the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and plucked them up, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the mountain that is before Hebron. **[16:4]** And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. **[16:5]** And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred `pieces' of silver. **[16:6]** And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee. **[16:7]** And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withes that were never dried, then shall I become weak, and be as another man. **[16:8]** Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withes which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. **[16:9]** Now she had liers-in-wait abiding in the inner chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withes, as a string of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known. **[16:10]** And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound. **[16:11]** And he said unto her, If they only bind me with new ropes wherewith no work hath been done, then shall I become weak, and be as another man. **[16:12]** So Delilah took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And the liers-in-wait were abiding in the inner chamber. And he brake them off his arms like a thread. **[16:13]** And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web. **[16:14]** And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and plucked away the pin of the beam, and the web. **[16:15]** And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thy heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth. **[16:16]** And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, that his soul was vexed unto death. **[16:17]** And he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon my head; for I have been a Nazirite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man. **[16:18]** And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath told me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought the money in their hand. **[16:19]** And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and shaved off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. **[16:20]** And she said, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free. But he knew not that Jehovah was departed from him. **[16:21]** And the Philistines laid hold on him, and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison-house. **[16:22]** Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven. **[16:23]** And the lords of the Philistines gathered them together to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice; for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand. **[16:24]** And when the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hand our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, who hath slain many of us. **[16:25]** And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison-house; and he made sport before them. And they set him between the pillars: **[16:26]** and Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house resteth, that I may lean upon them. **[16:27]** Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport. **[16:28]** And Samson called unto Jehovah, and said, O Lord Jehovah, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. **[16:29]** And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house rested, and leaned upon them, the one with his right hand, and the other with his left. **[16:30]** And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead that he slew at his death were more than they that he slew in his life. **[16:31]** Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burying-place of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years. **[17:1]** And there was a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. **[17:2]** And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred `pieces' of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou didst utter a curse, and didst also speak it in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be my son of Jehovah. **[17:3]** And he restored the eleven hundred `pieces' of silver to his mother; and his mother said, I verily dedicate the silver unto Jehovah from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee. **[17:4]** And when he restored the money unto his mother, his mother took two hundred `pieces' of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and it was in the house of Micah. **[17:5]** And the man Micah had a house of gods, and he made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. **[17:6]** In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes. **[17:7]** And there was a young man out of Beth-lehem-judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he sojourned there. **[17:8]** And the man departed out of the city, out of Beth-lehem-judah, to sojourn where he could find `a place', and he came to the hill-country of Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed. **[17:9]** And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto him, I am a Levite of Beth-lehem-judah, and I go to sojourn where I may find `a place'. **[17:10]** And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten `pieces' of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in. **[17:11]** And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was unto him as one of his sons. **[17:12]** And Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. **[17:13]** Then said Micah, Now know I that Jehovah will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest. **[18:1]** In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day `their' inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel. **[18:2]** And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their whole number, men of valor, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land. And they came to the hill-country of Ephraim, unto the house of Micah, and lodged there. **[18:3]** When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite; and they turned aside thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what doest thou in this place? and what hast thou here? **[18:4]** And he said unto them, Thus and thus hath Micah dealt with me, and he hath hired me, and I am become his priest. **[18:5]** And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous. **[18:6]** And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before Jehovah is your way wherein ye go. **[18:7]** Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; for there was none in the land, possessing authority, that might put `them' to shame in anything, and they were far from the Sidonians, and had no dealings with any man. **[18:8]** And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren said unto them, What `say' ye? **[18:9]** And they said, Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go and to enter in to possess the land. **[18:10]** When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and the land is large; for God hath given it into your hand, a place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth. **[18:11]** And there set forth from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men girt with weapons of war. **[18:12]** And they went up, and encamped in Kiriath-jearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place Mahaneh-dan, unto this day; behold, it is behind Kiriath-jearim. **[18:13]** And they passed thence unto the hill-country of Ephraim, and came unto the house of Micah. **[18:14]** Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to do. **[18:15]** And they turned aside thither, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and asked him of his welfare. **[18:16]** And the six hundred men girt with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate. **[18:17]** And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men girt with weapons of war. **[18:18]** And when these went into Micah's house, and fetched the graven image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image, the priest said unto them, What do ye? **[18:19]** And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thy hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be priest unto the house of one man, or to be priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel? **[18:20]** And the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people. **[18:21]** So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the goods before them. **[18:22]** When they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men that were in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan. **[18:23]** And they cried unto the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company? **[18:24]** And he said, ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and are gone away, and what have I more? and how then say ye unto me, What aileth thee? **[18:25]** And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall upon you, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household. **[18:26]** And the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back unto his house. **[18:27]** And they took that which Micah had made, and the priest whom he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people quiet and secure, and smote them with the edge of the sword; and they burnt the city with fire. **[18:28]** And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with any man; and it was in the valley that lieth by Beth-rehob. And they built the city, and dwelt therein. **[18:29]** And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first. **[18:30]** And the children of Dan set up for themselves the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land. **[18:31]** So they set them up Micah's graven image which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh. **[19:1]** And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the farther side of the hill-country of Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Beth-lehem-judah. **[19:2]** And his concubine played the harlot against him, and went away from him unto her father's house to Beth-lehem-judah, and was there the space of four months. **[19:3]** And her husband arose, and went after her, to speak kindly unto her, to bring her again, having his servant with him, and a couple of asses: and she brought him into her father's house; and when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet him. **[19:4]** And his father-in-law, the damsel's father, retained him; and he abode with him three days: so they did eat and drink, and lodged there. **[19:5]** And it came to pass on the fourth day, that they arose early in the morning, and he rose up to depart: and the damsel's father said unto his son-in-law, Strengthen thy heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward ye shall go your way. **[19:6]** So they sat down, and did eat and drink, both of them together: and the damsel's father said unto the man, Be pleased, I pray thee, to tarry all night, and let thy heart be merry. **[19:7]** And the man rose up to depart; but his father-in-law urged him, and he lodged there again. **[19:8]** And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart; and the damsel's father said, Strengthen thy heart, I pray thee, and tarry ye until the day declineth; and they did eat, both of them. **[19:9]** And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father-in-law, the damsel's father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thy heart may be merry; and to-morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home. **[19:10]** But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed, and came over against Jebus (the same is Jerusalem): and there were with him a couple of asses saddled; his concubine also was with him. **[19:11]** When they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said unto his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn aside into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it. **[19:12]** And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside into the city of a foreigner, that is not of the children of Israel; but we will pass over to Gibeah. **[19:13]** And he said unto his servant, Come and let us draw near to one of these places; and we will lodge in Gibeah, or in Ramah. **[19:14]** So they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them near to Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin. **[19:15]** And they turned aside thither, to go in to lodge in Gibeah: and he went in, and sat him down in the street of the city; for there was no man that took them into his house to lodge. **[19:16]** And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at even: now the man was of the hill-country of Ephraim, and he sojourned in Gibeah; but the men of the place were Benjamites. **[19:17]** And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the wayfaring man in the street of the city; and the old man said, Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou? **[19:18]** And he said unto him, We are passing from Beth-lehem-judah unto the farther side of the hill-country of Ephraim; from thence am I, and I went to Beth-lehem-judah: and I am `now' going to the house of Jehovah; and there is no man that taketh me into his house. **[19:19]** Yet there is both straw and provender for our asses; and there is bread and wine also for me, and for thy handmaid, and for the young man that is with thy servants: there is no want of anything. **[19:20]** And the old man said, Peace be unto thee; howsoever let all thy wants lie upon me; only lodge not in the street. **[19:21]** So he brought him into his house, and gave the asses fodder; and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink. **[19:22]** As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain base fellows, beset the house round about, beating at the door; and they spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thy house, that we may know him. **[19:23]** And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them, and said unto them, Nay, my brethren, I pray you, do not so wickedly; seeing that this man is come into my house, do not this folly. **[19:24]** Behold, here is my daughter a virgin, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not any such folly. **[19:25]** But the men would not hearken to him: so the man laid hold on his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go. **[19:26]** Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was, till it was light. **[19:27]** And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way; and, behold, the woman his concubine was fallen down at the door of the house, with her hands upon the threshold. **[19:28]** And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going; but none answered: then he took her up upon the ass; and the man rose up, and gat him unto his place. **[19:29]** And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the borders of Israel. **[19:30]** And it was so, that all that saw it said, There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day: consider it, take counsel, and speak. **[20:1]** Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was assembled as one man, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, with the land of Gilead, unto Jehovah at Mizpah. **[20:2]** And the chiefs of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword. **[20:3]** (Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpah.) And the children of Israel said, Tell us, how was this wickedness brought to pass? **[20:4]** And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was murdered, answered and said, I came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge. **[20:5]** And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round about me by night; me they thought to have slain, and my concubine they forced, and she is dead. **[20:6]** And I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel; for they have committed lewdness and folly in Israel. **[20:7]** Behold, ye children of Israel, all of you, give here your advice and counsel. **[20:8]** And all the people arose as one man, saying, We will not any of us go to his tent, neither will we any of us turn unto his house. **[20:9]** But now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah: `we will go up' against it by lot; **[20:10]** and we will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to fetch victuals for the people, that they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the folly that they have wrought in Israel. **[20:11]** So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one man. **[20:12]** And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that is come to pass among you? **[20:13]** Now therefore deliver up the men, the base fellows, that are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel. But Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel. **[20:14]** And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel. **[20:15]** And the children of Benjamin were numbered on that day out of the cities twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who were numbered seven hundred chosen men. **[20:16]** Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every one could sling stones at a hair-breadth, and not miss. **[20:17]** And the men of Israel, besides Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: all these were men of war. **[20:18]** And the children of Israel arose, and went up to Beth-el, and asked counsel of God; and they said, Who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Benjamin? And Jehovah said, Judah `shall go up' first. **[20:19]** And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped against Gibeah. **[20:20]** And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin; and the men of Israel set the battle in array against them at Gibeah. **[20:21]** And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites on that day twenty and two thousand men. **[20:22]** And the people, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves, and set the battle again in array in the place where they set themselves in array the first day. **[20:23]** And the children of Israel went up and wept before Jehovah until even; and they asked of Jehovah, saying, Shall I again draw nigh to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And Jehovah said, Go up against him. **[20:24]** And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day. **[20:25]** And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men; all these drew the sword. **[20:26]** Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto Beth-el, and wept, and sat there before Jehovah, and fasted that day until even; and they offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before Jehovah. **[20:27]** And the children of Israel asked of Jehovah (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, **[20:28]** and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days), saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And Jehovah said, Go up; for to-morrow I will deliver him into thy hand. **[20:29]** And Israel set liers-in-wait against Gibeah round about. **[20:30]** And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and set themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times. **[20:31]** And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite and kill of the people, as at other times, in the highways, of which one goeth up to Beth-el, and the other to Gibeah, in the field, about thirty men of Israel. **[20:32]** And the children of Benjamin said, They are smitten down before us, as at the first. But the children of Israel said, Let us flee, and draw them away from the city unto the highways. **[20:33]** And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place, and set themselves in array at Baal-tamar: and the liers-in-wait of Israel brake forth out of their place, even out of Maareh-geba. **[20:34]** And there came over against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore; but they knew not that evil was close upon them. **[20:35]** And Jehovah smote Benjamin before Israel; and the children of Israel destroyed of Benjamin that day twenty and five thousand and a hundred men: all these drew the sword. **[20:36]** So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten; for the men of Israel gave place to Benjamin, because they trusted unto the liers-in-wait whom they had set against Gibeah. **[20:37]** And the liers-in-wait hasted, and rushed upon Gibeah; and the liers-in-wait drew themselves along, and smote all the city with the edge of the sword. **[20:38]** Now the appointed sign between the men of Israel and the liers-in-wait was, that they should make a great cloud of smoke rise up out of the city. **[20:39]** And the men of Israel turned in the battle, and Benjamin began to smite and kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons; for they said, Surely they are smitten down before us, as in the first battle. **[20:40]** But when the cloud began to arise up out of the city in a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them; and, behold, the whole of the city went up `in smoke' to heaven. **[20:41]** And the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were dismayed; for they saw that evil was come upon them. **[20:42]** Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel unto the way of the wilderness; but the battle followed hard after them; and they that came out of the cities destroyed them in the midst thereof. **[20:43]** They inclosed the Benjamites round about, `and' chased them, `and' trod them down at `their' resting-place, as far as over against Gibeah toward the sunrising. **[20:44]** And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these `were' men of valor. **[20:45]** And they turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon: and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men, and followed hard after them unto Gidom, and smote of them two thousand men. **[20:46]** So that all who fell that day of Benjamin were twenty and five thousand men that drew the sword; all these `were' men of valor. **[20:47]** But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon, and abode in the rock of Rimmon four months. **[20:48]** And the men of Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin, and smote them with the edge of the sword, both the entire city, and the cattle, and all that they found: moreover all the cities which they found they set on fire. **[21:1]** Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife. **[21:2]** And the people came to Beth-el, and sat there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore. **[21:3]** And they said, O Jehovah, the God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to-day one tribe lacking in Israel? **[21:4]** And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings. **[21:5]** And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up in the assembly unto Jehovah? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up unto Jehovah to Mizpah, saying, He shall surely be put to death. **[21:6]** And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day. **[21:7]** How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by Jehovah that we will not give them of our daughters to wives? **[21:8]** And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up unto Jehovah to Mizpah? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly. **[21:9]** For when the people were numbered, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there. **[21:10]** And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the little ones. **[21:11]** And this is the thing that ye shall do: ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man. **[21:12]** And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins, that had not known man by lying with him; and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan. **[21:13]** And the whole congregation sent and spake to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace unto them. **[21:14]** And Benjamin returned at that time; and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead: and yet so they sufficed them not. **[21:15]** And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that Jehovah had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. **[21:16]** Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin? **[21:17]** And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that are escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not blotted out from Israel. **[21:18]** Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters, for the children of Israel had sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin. **[21:19]** And they said, Behold, there is a feast of Jehovah from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north of Beth-el, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Beth-el to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah. **[21:20]** And they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards, **[21:21]** and see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. **[21:22]** And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come to complain unto us, that we will say unto them, Grant them graciously unto us, because we took not for each man `of them' his wife in battle, neither did ye give them unto them, else would ye now be guilty. **[21:23]** And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they carried off: and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and built the cities, and dwelt in them. **[21:24]** And the children of Israel departed thence at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from thence every man to his inheritance. **[21:25]** In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

7 Judges - Bible in Basic English (BBE).md

# Judges - Bible in Basic English (BBE) **[1:1]** Now after the death of Joshua, the children of Israel made request to the Lord, saying, Who is to go up first to make war for us against the Canaanites? **[1:2]** And the Lord said, Judah is to go up: see, I have given the land into his hands. **[1:3]** Then Judah said to Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my heritage, so that we may make war against the Canaanites; and I will then go with you into your heritage. So Simeon went with him. **[1:4]** And Judah went up; and the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hands; and they overcame ten thousand of them in Bezek. **[1:5]** And they came across Adoni-zedek, and made war on him; and they overcame the Canaanites and the Perizzites. **[1:6]** But Adoni-zedek went in flight; and they went after him and overtook him, and had his thumbs and his great toes cut off. **[1:7]** And Adoni-zedek said, Seventy kings, whose thumbs and great toes had been cut off, got broken meat under my table: as I have done, so has God done to me in full. And they took him to Jerusalem, and he came to his end there. **[1:8]** Then the children of Judah made an attack on Jerusalem, and took it, burning down the town after they had put its people to the sword without mercy. **[1:9]** After that the children of Judah went down to make war on the Canaanites living in the hill-country and in the south and in the lowlands. **[1:10]** And Caleb went against the Canaanites of Hebron: (now in earlier times Hebron was named Kiriath-arba:) and he put Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai to the sword. **[1:11]** And from there he went up against the people of Debir. (Now the name of Debir in earlier times was Kiriath-sepher.) **[1:12]** And Caleb said, I will give Achsah, my daughter, as wife to the man who overcomes Kiriath-sepher and takes it. **[1:13]** And Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah for his wife. **[1:14]** Now when she came to him, he put into her mind the idea of requesting a field from her father: and she got down from her ass; and Caleb said to her, What is it? **[1:15]** And she said to him, Give me a blessing; because you have put me in a dry south-land, now give me springs of water. So Caleb gave her the higher spring and the lower spring. **[1:16]** Now Hobab the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, had come up out of the town of palm-trees, with the children of Judah, into the waste land of Arad; and he went and was living among the Amalekites; **[1:17]** And Judah went with Simeon, his brother, and overcame the Canaanites living in Zephath, and put it under the curse; and he gave the town the name of Hormah. **[1:18]** Then Judah took Gaza and its limit, and Ashkelon and its limit, and Ekron and its limit. **[1:19]** And the Lord was with Judah; and he took the hill-country for his heritage; but he was unable to make the people of the valley go out, for they had war-carriages of iron. **[1:20]** And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said; and he took the land of the three sons of Anak, driving them out from there. **[1:21]** And the children of Judah did not make the Jebusites who were living in Jerusalem go out; the Jebusites are still living with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem. **[1:22]** And the family of Joseph went up against Beth-el, and the Lord was with them. **[1:23]** So they sent men to make a search round Beth-el. (Now the name of the town in earlier times was Luz.) **[1:24]** And the watchers saw a man coming out of the town, and said to him, If you will make clear to us the way into the town, we will be kind to you. **[1:25]** So he made clear to them the way into the town, and they put it to the sword; but they let the man and all his family get away safe. **[1:26]** And he went into the land of the Hittites, building a town there and naming it Luz: which is its name to this day. **[1:27]** And Manasseh did not take away the land of the people of Beth-shean and its daughter-towns, or of Taanach and its daughter-towns, or of the people of Dor and its daughter-towns, or of the people of Ibleam and its daughter-towns, or of the people of Megiddo and its daughter-towns, driving them out; but the Canaanites would go on living in that land. **[1:28]** And whenever Israel became strong, they put the Canaanites to forced work, without driving them out completely. **[1:29]** And Ephraim did not make the Canaanites who were living in Gezer go out; but the Canaanites went on living in Gezer among them. **[1:30]** Zebulun did not make the people of Kitron or the people of Nahalol go out; but the Canaanites went on living among them and were put to forced work. **[1:31]** And Asher did not take the land of the people of Acco, or Zidon, or Ahlab, or Achzib, or Helbah, or Aphik, or Rehob, driving them out; **[1:32]** But the Asherites went on living among the Canaanites, the people of the land, without driving them out. **[1:33]** Naphtali did not take the land of the people of Beth-shemesh or of Beth-anath, driving them out; but he was living among the Canaanites in the land; however, the people of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath were put to forced work. **[1:34]** And the children of Dan were forced into the hill-country by the Amorites, who would not let them come down into the valley; **[1:35]** For the Amorites would go on living in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim; but the children of Joseph became stronger than they, and put them to forced work. **[1:36]** And the limit of the Edomites went from the slope of Akrabbim from Sela and up. **[2:1]** Now the angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, *** I took you out of Egypt, guiding you into the land which I gave by an oath to your fathers; and I said, My agreement with you will never be broken by me: **[2:2]** And you are to make no agreement with the people of this land; you are to see that their altars are broken down: but you have not given ear to my voice: what have you done? **[2:3]** And so I have said, I will not send them out from before you; but they will be a danger to you, and their gods will be a cause of falling to you. **[2:4]** Now on hearing these words which the angel of the Lord said to all the children of Israel, the people gave themselves up to loud crying and weeping. **[2:5]** And they gave that place the name of Bochim, and made offerings there to the Lord. **[2:6]** And Joshua let the people go away, and the children of Israel went, every man to his heritage, to take the land for themselves. **[2:7]** And the people were true to the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the responsible men who were still living after the death of Joshua, and had seen all the great work of the Lord which he had done for Israel. **[2:8]** And death came to Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, he being a hundred and ten years old. **[2:9]** And they put his body in the earth in the land of his heritage in Timnath-heres, in the hill-country of Ephraim to the north of Mount Gaash. **[2:10]** And in time death overtook all that generation; and another generation came after them, having no knowledge of the Lord or of the things which he had done for Israel. **[2:11]** And the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord and became servants to the Baals; **[2:12]** And they gave up the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had taken them out of the land of Egypt, and went after other gods, the gods of the peoples round about them, worshipping them and moving the Lord to wrath. **[2:13]** And they gave up the Lord, and became the servants of Baal and the Astartes. **[2:14]** And the wrath of the Lord was burning against Israel, and he gave them up into the hands of those who violently took their property, and into the hands of their haters all round them, so that they were forced to give way before them. **[2:15]** Wherever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had taken his oath it would be; and things became very hard for them. **[2:16]** Then the Lord gave them judges, as their saviours from the hands of those who were cruel to them. **[2:17]** But still they would not give ear to their judges, but went after other gods and gave them worship; quickly turning from the way in which their fathers had gone, keeping the orders of the Lord; but they did not do so. **[2:18]** And whenever the Lord gave them judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and was their saviour from the hands of their haters all the days of the judge; for the Lord was moved by their cries of grief because of those who were cruel to them. **[2:19]** But whenever the judge was dead, they went back and did more evil than their fathers, going after other gods, to be their servants and their worshippers; giving up nothing of their sins and their hard-hearted ways. **[2:20]** And the wrath of the Lord was burning against Israel, and he said, Because this nation has not been true to my agreement which I made with their fathers, and has not given ear to my voice; **[2:21]** From now on I will not go on driving out from before them any of the nations which at the death of Joshua were still living in this land; **[2:22]** In order to put Israel to the test, and see if they will keep the way of the Lord, walking in it as their fathers did, or not. **[2:23]** So the Lord let those nations go on living in the land, not driving them out quickly, and did not give them up into the hands of Joshua. **[3:1]** Now these are the nations which the Lord kept in the land for the purpose of testing Israel by them, all those who had had no experience of all the wars of Canaan; **[3:2]** Only because of the generations of the children of Israel, for the purpose of teaching them war--only those who up till then had no experience of it; **[3:3]** The five chiefs of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites and the Zidonians and the Hivites living in Mount Lebanon, from the mountain Baal-hermon as far as Hamath: **[3:4]** For the purpose of testing Israel by them, to see if they would give ear to the orders of the Lord, which he had given to their fathers by the hand of Moses. **[3:5]** Now the children of Israel were living among the Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites: **[3:6]** And they took as wives the daughters of these nations and gave their daughters to their sons, and became servants to their gods. **[3:7]** And the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and put out of their minds the Lord their God, and became servants to the Baals and the Astartes. **[3:8]** So the wrath of the Lord was burning against Israel, and he gave them up into the hands of Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel were his servants for eight years. **[3:9]** And when the children of Israel made prayer to the Lord, he gave them a saviour, Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. **[3:10]** And the spirit of the Lord came on him and he became judge of Israel, and went out to war, and the Lord gave up Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, into his hands and he overcame him. **[3:11]** Then for forty years the land had peace, till the death of Othniel, the son of Kenaz. **[3:12]** Then the children of Israel again did evil in the eyes of the Lord; and the Lord made Eglon, king of Moab, strong against Israel, because they had done evil in the Lord's eyes. **[3:13]** And Eglon got together the people of Ammon and Amalek, and they went and overcame Israel and took the town of palm-trees. **[3:14]** And the children of Israel were servants to Eglon, king of Moab, for eighteen years. **[3:15]** Then when the children of Israel made prayer to the Lord, he gave them a saviour, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man; and the children of Israel sent an offering by him to Eglon, king of Moab. **[3:16]** So Ehud made himself a two-edged sword, a cubit long, which he put on at his right side under his robe. **[3:17]** And he took the offering to Eglon, king of Moab, who was a very fat man. **[3:18]** And after giving the offering, he sent away the people who had come with the offering. **[3:19]** But he himself, turning back from the stone images at Gilgal, said, I have something to say to you in secret, O king. And he said, Let there be quiet. Then all those who were waiting before him went out. **[3:20]** Then Ehud came in to him while he was seated by himself in his summer-house. And Ehud said, I have a word from God for you. And he got up from his seat. **[3:21]** And Ehud put out his left hand, and took the sword from his right side, and sent it into his stomach; **[3:22]** And the hand-part went in after the blade, and the fat was joined up over the blade; for he did not take the sword out of his stomach. And he went out into the ... **[3:23]** Then Ehud went out into the covered way, shutting the doors of the summer-house on him and locking them. **[3:24]** Now when he had gone, the king's servants came, and saw that the doors of the summer-house were locked; and they said, It may be that he is in his summer-house for a private purpose. **[3:25]** And they went on waiting till they were shamed, but the doors were still shut; so they took the key, and, opening them, saw their lord stretched out dead on the floor. **[3:26]** But Ehud had got away while they were waiting and had gone past the stone images and got away to Seirah. **[3:27]** And when he came there, he had a horn sounded in the hill-country of Ephraim, and all the children of Israel went down with him from the hill-country, and he at their head. **[3:28]** And he said to them, Come after me; for the Lord has given the Moabites, your haters, into your hands. So they went down after him and took the crossing-places of Jordan against Moab, and let no one go across. **[3:29]** At that time they put about ten thousand men of Moab to the sword, every strong man and every man of war; not a man got away. **[3:30]** So Moab was broken that day under the hand of Israel. And for eighty years the land had peace. **[3:31]** And after him came Shamgar, the son of Anath, who put to death six hundred Philistines with an ox-stick; and he was another saviour of Israel. **[4:1]** And the children of Israel again did evil in the eyes of the Lord when Ehud was dead. **[4:2]** And the Lord gave them up into the hands of Jabin, king of Canaan, who was ruling in Hazor; the captain of his army was Sisera, who was living in Harosheth of the Gentiles. **[4:3]** Then the children of Israel made prayer to the Lord; for he had nine hundred iron war-carriages, and for twenty years he was very cruel to the children of Israel. **[4:4]** Now Deborah, a woman prophet, the wife of Lapidoth, was judge of Israel at that time. **[4:5]** (And she had her seat under the palm-tree of Deborah between Ramah and Beth-el in the hill-country of Ephraim; and the children of Israel came up to her to be judged.) **[4:6]** And she sent for Barak, the son of Abinoam, from Kedesh-naphtali, and said to him, Has not the Lord, the God of Israel, given orders saying, Go and get your force into line in Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? **[4:7]** And I will make Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his war-carriages and his forces, come against you at the river Kishon, where I will give him into your hands. **[4:8]** And Barak said to her, If you will go with me then I will go; but if you will not go with me I will not go. **[4:9]** And she said, I will certainly go with you: though you will get no honour in your undertaking, for the Lord will give Sisera into the hands of a woman. So Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh. **[4:10]** Then Barak sent for Zebulun and Naphtali to come to Kedesh; and ten thousand men went up after him, and Deborah went up with him. **[4:11]** Now Heber the Kenite, separating himself from the rest of the Kenites, from the children of Hobab, the brother-in-law of Moses, had put up his tent as far away as the oak-tree in Zaanannim, by Kedesh. **[4:12]** And word was given to Sisera that Barak, the son of Abinoam, had gone up to Mount Tabor. **[4:13]** So Sisera got together all his war-carriages, nine hundred war-carriages of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles as far as the river Kishon. **[4:14]** Then Deborah said to Barak, Up! for today the Lord has given Sisera into your hands: has not the Lord gone out before you? So Barak went down from Mount Tabor and ten thousand men after him. **[4:15]** And the Lord sent fear on Sisera and all his war-carriages and all his army before Barak; and Sisera got down from his war-carriage and went in flight on foot. **[4:16]** But Barak went after the war-carriages and the army as far as Harosheth of the Gentiles; and all Sisera's army was put to the sword; not a man got away. **[4:17]** But Sisera went in flight on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between Jabin, king of Hazor, and the family of Heber the Kenite. **[4:18]** And Jael went out to Sisera, and said to him, Come in, my lord, come in to me without fear. So he went into her tent, and she put a cover over him. **[4:19]** Then he said to her, Give me now a little water, for I have need of a drink. And opening a skin of milk, she gave him drink, and put the cover over him again. **[4:20]** And he said to her, Take your place at the door of the tent, and if anyone comes and says to you, Is there any man here, say, No. **[4:21]** Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a tent-pin and a hammer and went up to him quietly, driving the pin into his head, and it went through his head into the earth, for he was in a deep sleep from weariness; and so he came to his end. **[4:22]** Then Jael went out, and meeting Barak going after Sisera, said to him, Come, and I will let you see the man you are searching for. So he came into her tent and saw, and there was Sisera stretched out dead with the tent-pin in his head. **[4:23]** So that day God overcame Jabin, king of Canaan, before the children of Israel. **[4:24]** And the power of the children of Israel went on increasing against Jabin, king of Canaan, till he was cut off. **[5:1]** At that time Deborah and Barak, the son of Abinoam, made this song, saying: **[5:2]** Because of the flowing hair of the fighters in Israel, because the people gave themselves freely, give praise to the Lord. **[5:3]** Give attention, O kings; give ear, O rulers; I, even I, will make a song to the Lord; I will make melody to the Lord, the God of Israel. **[5:4]** Lord, when you went out from Seir, moving like an army from the field of Edom, the earth was shaking and the heavens were troubled, and the clouds were dropping water. **[5:5]** The mountains were shaking before the Lord, before the Lord, the God of Israel. **[5:6]** In the days of Shamgar, the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were not used, and travellers went by side roads. **[5:7]** Country towns were no more in Israel, *** were no more, till you, Deborah, came up, till you came up as a mother in Israel. **[5:8]** They had no one to make arms, there were no more armed men in the towns; was there a body-cover or a spear to be seen among forty thousand in Israel? **[5:9]** Come, you rulers of Israel, you who gave yourselves freely among the people: give praise to the Lord. **[5:10]** Let them give thought to it, who go on white asses, and those who are walking on the road. **[5:11]** Give ear to the women laughing by the water-springs; there they will give again the story of the upright acts of the Lord, all the upright acts of his arm in Israel. **[5:12]** Awake! awake! Deborah: awake! awake! give a song: Up! Barak, and take prisoner those who took you prisoner, O son of Abinoam. **[5:13]** Then the chiefs went down to the doors; the Lord's people went down among the strong ones. **[5:14]** Out of Ephraim they came down into the valley; after you, Benjamin, among your tribesmen; from Machir came down the captains, and from Zebulun those in whose hand is the ruler's rod. **[5:15]** Your chiefs, Issachar, were with Deborah; and Naphtali was true to Barak; into the valley they went rushing out at his feet. In Reuben there were divisions, and great searchings of heart. **[5:16]** Why did you keep quiet among the sheep, hearing nothing but the watchers piping to the flocks? **[5:17]** Gilead was living over Jordan; and Dan was waiting in his ships; Asher kept in his place by the sea's edge, living by his inlets. **[5:18]** It was the people of Zebulun who put their lives in danger, even to death, with Naphtali on the high places of the field. **[5:19]** The kings came on to the fight, the kings of Canaan were warring; in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo: they took no profit in money. **[5:20]** The stars from heaven were fighting; from their highways they were fighting against Sisera. **[5:21]** The river Kishon took them violently away, stopping their flight, the river Kishon. Give praise, O my soul, to the strength of the Lord! **[5:22]** Then loudly the feet of the horses were sounding with the stamping, the stamping of their war-horses. **[5:23]** A curse, a curse on Meroz! said the angel of the Lord. A bitter curse on her townspeople! Because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord among the strong ones. **[5:24]** Blessings be on Jael, more than on all women! Blessings greater than on any in the tents! **[5:25]** His request was for water, she gave him milk; she put butter before him on a fair plate. **[5:26]** She put out her hand to the tent-pin, and her right hand to the workman's hammer; and she gave Sisera a blow, crushing his head, wounding and driving through his brow. **[5:27]** Bent at her feet he went down, he was stretched out; bent at her feet he went down; where he was bent down, there he went down in death. **[5:28]** Looking out from the window she gave a cry, the mother of Sisera was crying out through the window, Why is his carriage so long in coming? When will the noise of his wheels be sounding? **[5:29]** Her wise women gave answer to her, yes, she made answer again to herself, **[5:30]** Are they not getting, are they not parting the goods among them: a young girl or two to every man; and to Sisera robes of coloured needlework, worked in fair colours on this side and on that, for the neck of the queen? **[5:31]** So may destruction come on all your haters, O Lord; but let your lovers be like the sun going out in his strength. And for forty years the land had peace. **[6:1]** And the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord; and the Lord gave them up into the hand of Midian for seven years. **[6:2]** And Midian was stronger than Israel; and because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made holes for themselves in the mountains, and hollows in the rocks, and strong places. **[6:3]** And whenever Israel's grain was planted, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east came up against them; **[6:4]** And put their army in position against them; and they took all the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, till there was no food in Israel, or any sheep or oxen or asses. **[6:5]** For they came up regularly with their oxen and their tents; they came like the locusts in number; they and their camels were without number; and they came into the land for its destruction. **[6:6]** And Israel was in great need because of Midian; and the cry of the children of Israel went up to the Lord. **[6:7]** And when the cry of the children of Israel, because of Midian, came before the Lord, **[6:8]** The Lord sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them, The Lord the God of Israel, has said, I took you up from Egypt, out of the prison-house; **[6:9]** And I took you out of the hands of the Egyptians and out of the hands of all who were cruel to you, and I sent them out by force from before you and gave you their land; **[6:10]** And I said to you, I am the Lord your God; you are not to give worship to the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living, but you did not give ear to my voice. **[6:11]** Now the angel of the Lord came and took his seat under the oak-tree in Ophrah, in the field of Joash the Abiezrite; and his son Gideon was crushing grain in the place where the grapes were crushed, so that the Midianites might not see it. **[6:12]** And the angel of the Lord came before his eyes, and said to him, The Lord is with you, O man of war. **[6:13]** Then Gideon said to him, O my lord, if the Lord is with us why has all this come on us? And where are all his works of power, of which our fathers have given us word, saying, Did not the Lord take us out of Egypt? But now he has given us up, handing us over to the power of Midian. **[6:14]** And the Lord, turning to him, said, Go in the strength you have and be Israel's saviour from Midian: have I not sent you? **[6:15]** And he said to him, O Lord, how may I be the saviour of Israel? See, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. **[6:16]** Then the Lord said to him, Truly, I will be with you, and you will overcome the Midianites as if they were one man. **[6:17]** So he said to him, If now I have grace in your eyes, then give me a sign that it is you who are talking to me. **[6:18]** Do not go away till I come with my offering and put it before you. And he said, I will not go away before you come back. **[6:19]** Then Gideon went in and made ready a young goat, and with an ephah of meal he made unleavened cakes: he put the meat in a basket and the soup in which it had been cooked he put in a pot, and he took it out to him under the oak-tree and gave it to him there. **[6:20]** And the angel of God said to him, Take the meat and the unleavened cakes and put them down on the rock over there, draining out the soup over them. And he did so. **[6:21]** Then the angel of the Lord put out the stick which was in his hand, touching the meat and the cakes with the end of it; and a flame came up out of the rock, burning up the meat and the cakes: and the angel of the Lord was seen no longer. **[6:22]** Then Gideon was certain that he was the angel of the Lord; and Gideon said, I am in fear, O Lord God! for I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face. **[6:23]** But the Lord said to him, Peace be with you; have no fear: you are in no danger of death. **[6:24]** Then Gideon made an altar there to the Lord, and gave it the name Yahweh-shalom; to this day it is in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. **[6:25]** The same night the Lord said to him, Take ten men of your servants and an ox seven years old, and after pulling down the altar of Baal which is your father's, and cutting down the holy tree by its side, **[6:26]** Make an altar to the Lord your God on the top of this rock, in the ordered way and take the ox and make a burned offering with the wood of the holy tree which has been cut down. **[6:27]** Then Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord had said to him; but fearing to do it by day, because of his father's people and the men of the town, he did it by night. **[6:28]** And the men of the town got up early in the morning, and they saw the altar of Baal broken down, and the holy tree which was by it cut down, and the ox offered on the altar which had been put up there. **[6:29]** And they said to one another, Who has done this thing? And after searching with care, they said, Gideon, the son of Joash, has done this thing. **[6:30]** Then the men of the town said to Joash, Make your son come out to be put to death, for pulling down the altar of Baal and cutting down the holy tree which was by it. **[6:31]** But Joash said to all those who were attacking him, Will you take up the cause of Baal? will you be his saviour? Let anyone who will take up his cause be put to death while it is still morning: if he is a god, let him take up his cause himself because of the pulling down of his altar. **[6:32]** So that day he gave him the name of Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal take up his cause against him because his altar has been broken down. **[6:33]** Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east, banding themselves together, went over and put up their tents in the valley of Jezreel. **[6:34]** But the spirit of the Lord came on Gideon; and at the sound of his horn all Abiezer came together after him. **[6:35]** And he sent through all Manasseh, and they came after him; and he sent to Asher and Zebulun and Naphtali, and they came up and were joined to the others. **[6:36]** Then Gideon said to God, If you are going to give Israel salvation by my hand, as you have said, **[6:37]** See, I will put the wool of a sheep on the grain-floor; if there is dew on the wool only, while all the earth is dry, then I will be certain that it is your purpose to give Israel salvation by my hand as you have said. **[6:38]** And it was so: for he got up early on the morning after, and twisting the wool in his hands, he got a basin full of water from the dew on the wool. **[6:39]** Then Gideon said to God, Do not be moved to wrath against me if I say only this: let me make one more test with the wool; let the wool now be dry, while the earth is covered with dew. **[6:40]** And that night God did so; for the wool was dry, and there was dew on all the earth round it. **[7:1]** Then Jerubbaal, that is, Gideon, and all the people with him, got up early and put up their tents by the side of the water-spring of Harod; the tents of Midian were on the north side of him, under the hill of Moreh in the valley. **[7:2]** And the Lord said to Gideon, So great is the number of your people, that if I give the Midianites into their hands they will be uplifted in pride over me and will say, I myself have been my saviour. **[7:3]** So now, let it be given out to the people that anyone who is shaking with fear is to go back from Mount Galud. So twenty-two thousand of the people went back, but there were still ten thousand. **[7:4]** Then the Lord said to Gideon, There are still more people than is necessary; take them down to the water so that I may put them to the test for you there; then whoever I say is to go with you will go, and whoever I say is not to go will not go. **[7:5]** So he took the people down to the water; and the Lord said to Gideon, Put on one side by themselves all those drinking up the water with their tongues like a dog; and in the same way, all those who go down on their knees to the water while drinking. **[7:6]** Now the number of those who took up the water with their tongues was three hundred; all the rest of the people went down on their knees to the water. **[7:7]** And the Lord said to Gideon, By those three hundred who were drinking with their tongues I will give you salvation and give the Midianites into your hands; let the rest of the people go away, every man to his place. **[7:8]** So they took the vessels of the people, and their horns from their hands, and he sent them away, every man to his tent, keeping only the three hundred; and the tents of Midian were lower down in the valley. **[7:9]** The same night the Lord said to him, Up! go down now against their army, for I have given them into your hands. **[7:10]** But if you have fear of going down, take your servant Purah with you and go down to the tents; **[7:11]** And after hearing what they are saying, you will get strength to go down against the army. So he went down with his servant Purah to the outer line of the tents of the armed men. **[7:12]** Now the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the east were covering the valley like locusts; and their camels were like the sand by the seaside, without number. **[7:13]** When Gideon came there, a man was giving his friend an account of his dream, saying, See, I had a dream about a cake of barley bread which, falling into the tents of Midian, came on to the tent, overturning it so that it was stretched out flat on the earth. **[7:14]** And his friend in answer said, This is certainly the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, the men of Israel: into their hands God has given up all the army of Midian. **[7:15]** Then Gideon, hearing the story of the dream and the sense in which they took it, gave worship; then he went back to the tents of Israel, and said, Up! for the Lord has given the army of Midian into your hands. **[7:16]** Then separating the three hundred men into three bands, he gave every man a horn, and a vessel in which was a flaming branch. **[7:17]** And he said to them, Keep your eyes on me, and do what I do; when I come to the outer line of tents, whatever I do, you are to do the same. **[7:18]** At the sound of my horn, and the horns of those who are with me, let your horns be sounded all round the tents, and say, For the Lord and for Gideon. **[7:19]** So Gideon and the three hundred men who were with him came to the outer line of tents, at the start of the middle watch, when the watchmen had only then taken their stations; and the horns were sounded and the vessels broken. **[7:20]** So the three bands all gave a loud note on their horns, and when the vessels had been broken, they took the flaming branches in their left hands, and the horns in their right hands ready for blowing, crying out, For the Lord and for Gideon. **[7:21]** Then they made a line round the tents, every man in his place; and all the army, awaking from sleep, came running out, and with loud cries went in flight. **[7:22]** And the three hundred gave a loud note on their horns, and every man's sword was turned by the Lord against his brother all through the army; and the army went in flight as far as Beth-shittah in the direction of Zeredah, to the edge of Abel-meholah by Tabbath. **[7:23]** And the men of Israel came together from Naphtali and from Asher and all Manasseh, and went after Midian. **[7:24]** Then Gideon sent through all the hill-country of Ephraim saying, Come down against Midian, and keep the ways across Jordan before they come. So all the men of Ephraim, massing themselves together, kept the ways across Jordan. **[7:25]** And they took the two chiefs of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and they put Oreb to death at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they put to death at the place of the grape-crushing in Zeeb, and they went after Midian; but the heads of Oreb and Zeeb they took across Jordan to Gideon. **[8:1]** And the men of Ephraim came and said to him, Why did you not send for us when you went to war against Midian? And they said sharp and angry words to him. **[8:2]** And he said to them, What have I done in comparison with you? Is not that which Ephraim took up after the grape-cutting better than all the grapes which Abiezer got in from the grape-cutting? **[8:3]** God has given into your hands the chiefs of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; what have I been able to do in comparison with you? And when he said this, their feeling about him became kinder. **[8:4]** Then Gideon came to Jordan and went over it with his three hundred, overcome with weariness and in need of food. **[8:5]** And he said to the men of Succoth, Give bread cakes to my people, for they are overcome with weariness, and I am going on after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian. **[8:6]** But the chiefs of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna even now in your hand that we are to give bread to your army? **[8:7]** Then Gideon said, Because of this, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hands, I will have you stretched on a bed of thorns of the waste land and on sharp stems, and have you crushed as grain is crushed on a grain-floor. **[8:8]** So he went up from there to Penuel and made the same request to the men of Penuel; but they gave him the same answer as the men of Succoth had given. **[8:9]** So he said to the men of Penuel, When I come back in peace, I will have this tower broken down. **[8:10]** Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand men, those of all the army of the children of the east who were still living; for a hundred and twenty thousand of their swordsmen had been put to death. **[8:11]** And Gideon went up by the way used by the people living in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and made an attack on the army when they had no thought of danger. **[8:12]** And Zebah and Zalmunna went in flight; and he went after them, and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and put all the army to the curse. **[8:13]** Then Gideon, the son of Joash, went back from the fight: **[8:14]** And taking prisoner a young man of the people of Succoth, he got from him, in answer to his questions, a list of the chiefs of Succoth and the responsible men, seventy-seven men. **[8:15]** So he came to the men of Succoth and said, Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, on account of whom you made sport of me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna even now in your hand, that we are to give bread to your army who are overcome with weariness? **[8:16]** Then he took the responsible men of the town and had them crushed on a bed of thorns and sharp stems. **[8:17]** And he had the tower of Penuel broken down and the men of the town put to death. **[8:18]** Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, Where are the men whom you put to death at Tabor? And they gave answer, As you are, so were they; every one of them was like a king's son. **[8:19]** And he said, They were my brothers, my mother's sons: by the life of the Lord, if you had kept them safe, I would not put you to death. **[8:20]** Then he said to Jether, his oldest son, Up! Put them to death. But the boy did not take out his sword, fearing because he was still a boy. **[8:21]** Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Up! Put an end to us yourself: for you have a man's strength. Then Gideon got up and put Zebah and Zalmunna to death and took the ornaments which were on their camels' necks. **[8:22]** Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, Be our ruler, you and your son and your son's son after him; for you have been our saviour from the hands of Midian. **[8:23]** But Gideon said to them, I will not be a ruler over you, and my son will not be a ruler over you: it is the Lord who will be ruler over you. **[8:24]** Then Gideon said to them, I have a request to make to you; let every man give me the ear-rings he has taken. (For they had gold ear-rings, because they were Ishmaelites.) **[8:25]** And they gave answer, We will gladly give them. So they put down a robe, every man dropping into it the ear-rings he had taken. **[8:26]** The weight of the gold ear-rings which he got from them was one thousand, seven hundred shekels of gold; in addition to the moon-ornaments and jewels and the purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and the chains on their camels' necks. **[8:27]** And Gideon made an ephod from them and put it up in his town Ophrah; and all Israel went after it there and were false to the Lord; and it became a cause of sin to Gideon and his house. **[8:28]** So Midian was broken before the children of Israel and the Midianites never got back their strength. And the land had peace for forty years, in the days of Gideon. **[8:29]** And Jerubbaal, the son of Joash, went back to his house and was living there. **[8:30]** Gideon had seventy sons, the offspring of his body; for he had a number of wives. **[8:31]** And the servant-wife he had in Shechem had a son by him, to whom he gave the name Abimelech. **[8:32]** And Gideon, the son of Joash, came to his end when he was very old, and his body was put in the resting-place of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. **[8:33]** And after the death of Gideon, the children of Israel again went after the gods of Canaan and were false to the Lord, and made Baal-berith their god. **[8:34]** And the children of Israel did not keep in their minds the Lord their God, who had been their saviour from all their haters on every side; **[8:35]** And they were not kind to the house of Jerubbaal, that is, Gideon, in reward for all the good he had done to Israel. **[9:1]** Now Abimelech, the son of Jerubbaal, went to Shechem to his mother's family, and said to them and to all the family of his mother's father, **[9:2]** Say now in the ears of all the townsmen of Shechem, Is it better for you to be ruled by all the seventy sons of Jerubbaal or by one man only? And keep in mind that I am your bone and your flesh. **[9:3]** So his mother's family said all this about him in the ears of all the townsmen of Shechem: and their hearts were turned to Abimelech, for they said, He is our brother. **[9:4]** And they gave him seventy shekels of silver from the house of Baal-berith, with which Abimelech got the support of a number of uncontrolled and good-for-nothing persons. **[9:5]** Then he went to his father's house at Ophrah, and put his brothers, the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, to death on the same stone; however, Jotham, the youngest, kept himself safe by going away to a secret place. **[9:6]** And all the townsmen of Shechem and all Beth-millo came together and went and made Abimelech their king, by the oak of the pillar in Shechem. **[9:7]** Now Jotham, on hearing of it, went to the top of Mount Gerizim, and crying out with a loud voice said to them, Give ear to me, you townsmen of Shechem, so that God may give ear to you. **[9:8]** One day the trees went out to make a king for themselves; and they said to the olive-tree, Be king over us. **[9:9]** But the olive-tree said to them, Am I to give up my wealth of oil, by which men give honour to God, and go waving over the trees? **[9:10]** Then the trees said to the fig-tree, You come and be king over us. **[9:11]** But the fig-tree said to them, Am I to give up my sweet taste and my good fruit and go waving over the trees? **[9:12]** Then the trees said to the vine, You come and be king over us. **[9:13]** But the vine said to them, Am I to give up my wine, which makes glad God and men, to go waving over the trees? **[9:14]** Then all the trees said to the thorn, You come and be king over us. **[9:15]** And the thorn said to the trees, If it is truly your desire to make me your king, then come and put your faith in my shade; and if not, may fire come out of the thorn, burning up the cedars of Lebanon. **[9:16]** So now, if you have done truly and uprightly in making Abimelech king, and if you have done well to Jerubbaal and his house in reward for the work of his hands; **[9:17]** (For my father made war for you, and put his life in danger, and made you free from the hands of Midian; **[9:18]** And you have gone against my father's family this day, and have put to death his sons, even seventy men on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his servant-wife, king over the townsmen of Shechem because he is your brother;) **[9:19]** If then you have done what is true and upright to Jerubbaal and his family this day, may you have joy in Abimelech, and may he have joy in you; **[9:20]** But if not, may fire come out from Abimelech, burning up the townsmen of Shechem and Beth-millo; and may fire come out from the townsmen of Shechem and Beth-millo, for the destruction of Abimelech. **[9:21]** Then Jotham straight away went in flight to Beer, and was living there for fear of his brother Abimelech. **[9:22]** So Abimelech was chief over Israel for three years. **[9:23]** And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the townsmen of Shechem; and the townsmen of Shechem were false to Abimelech; **[9:24]** So that punishment for the violent attack made on the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, and for their blood, might come on Abimelech, their brother, who put them to death, and on the townsmen of Shechem who gave him their help in putting his brothers to death. **[9:25]** And the townsmen of Shechem put secret watchers on the tops of the mountains, and they made attacks on all who went by on the road and took their goods; and word of this came to Abimelech. **[9:26]** Then Gaal, the son of Ebed, came with his brothers, and went over to Shechem; and the men of Shechem put their faith in him. **[9:27]** And they went out into their fields and got in the fruit of their vines, and when the grapes had been crushed, they made a holy feast and went into the house of their god, and over their food and drink they were cursing Abimelech. **[9:28]** And Gaal, the son of Ebed, said, Who is Abimelech and who is Shechem, that we are to be his servants? Is it not right for the son of Jerubbaal and Zebul his captain to be servants to the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem? But why are we to be his servants? **[9:29]** If only I had authority over this people! I would put Abimelech out of the way, and I would say to Abimelech, Make your army strong, and come out. **[9:30]** Now Zebul, the ruler of the town, hearing what Gaal, the son of Ebed, had said, was moved to wrath. **[9:31]** And he sent to Abimelech at Arumah, saying, See, Gaal, the son of Ebed, and his brothers have come to Shechem, and they are working up the town against you. **[9:32]** So now, get up by night, you and your people, and keep watch in the field secretly; **[9:33]** And in the morning, when the sun is up, get up early and make a rush on the town; and when he and his people come out against you, do to them whatever you have a chance to do. **[9:34]** So Abimelech and the people with him got up by night, in four bands, to make a surprise attack on Shechem. **[9:35]** And Gaal, the son of Ebed, went out, and took his place at the doorway into the town; then Abimelech and his people got up from the place where they had been waiting. **[9:36]** And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, See! people are coming down from the tops of the mountains. And Zebul said to him, You see the shade of the mountains like men. **[9:37]** And Gaal said again, See! people are coming down from the middle of the land, and one band is coming by way of the oak-tree of the Seers. **[9:38]** Then Zebul said to him, Now where is your loud talk when you said, Who is Abimelech that we are to be his servants? Is this not the people whom you were rating so low? Go out now, and make war on them. **[9:39]** So Gaal went out at the head of the townsmen of Shechem and made war on Abimelech. **[9:40]** And Abimelech went after him and he went in flight before him; and a great number were falling by the sword all the way up to the town. **[9:41]** Then Abimelech went back to Arumah; and Zebul sent Gaal and his brothers away and would not let them go on living in Shechem. **[9:42]** Now the day after, the people went out into the fields; and news of it came to Abimelech. **[9:43]** And he took his people, separating them into three bands, and was waiting secretly in the field; and when he saw the people coming out of the town, he went up and made an attack on them. **[9:44]** And Abimelech with his band made a rush, and took up their position at the doorway into the town; and the other two bands made a rush on all those who were in the fields, and overcame them. **[9:45]** And all that day Abimelech was fighting against the town; and he took it, and put to death the people who were in it, and had the town pulled down and covered with salt. **[9:46]** Then all the townsmen of the tower of Shechem, hearing of it, went into the inner room of the house of El-berith. **[9:47]** And word was given to Abimelech that all the men of the tower of Shechem were there together. **[9:48]** Then Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, with all his people; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand and, cutting down branches of trees, took them and put them on his back. And he said to the people who were with him, Be quick and do as you have seen me do. **[9:49]** So all the people got branches, every man cutting down a branch, and they went with Abimelech at their head and, massing the branches against the inner room, put fire to the room over them; so all those who were in the tower of Shechem, about a thousand men and women, were burned to death with it. **[9:50]** Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and put his army in position against Thebez and took it. **[9:51]** But in the middle of the town there was a strong tower, to which all the men and women of the town went in flight and, shutting themselves in, went up to the roof of the tower. **[9:52]** And Abimelech came to the tower and made an attack on it, and got near to the door of the tower for the purpose of firing it. **[9:53]** But a certain woman sent a great stone, such as is used for crushing grain, on to the head of Abimelech, cracking the bone. **[9:54]** Then quickly crying out to his body-servant, he said to him, Take out your sword and put an end to me straight away, so that men may not say of me, His death was the work of a woman. So the young man put his sword through him, causing his death. **[9:55]** And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they went away, every man to his place. **[9:56]** In this way Abimelech was rewarded by God for the evil he had done to his father in putting his seventy brothers to death; **[9:57]** And God sent back on to the heads of the men of Shechem all the evil they had done, and the curse of Jotham, the son of Jerubbaal, came on them. **[10:1]** Now after Abimelech, Tola, the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, became the saviour of Israel; he was living in Shamir in the hill-country of Ephraim. **[10:2]** He was judge over Israel for twenty-three years; and at his death his body was put to rest in the earth in Shamir. **[10:3]** And after him came Jair the Gileadite, who was judge over Israel for twenty-two years. **[10:4]** And he had thirty sons, who went on thirty young asses; and they had thirty towns in the land of Gilead, which are named Havvoth-Jair to this day. **[10:5]** And at the death of Jair his body was put to rest in the earth in Kamon. **[10:6]** And again the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord, worshipping the Baals and Astartes, and the gods of Aram and the gods of Zidon and the gods of Moab and the gods of the children of Ammon and the gods of the Philistines; they gave up the Lord and were servants to him no longer. **[10:7]** And the wrath of the Lord was burning against Israel, and he gave them up into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the children of Ammon. **[10:8]** And that year the children of Israel were crushed under their yoke; for eighteen years all the children of Israel on the other side of Jordan, in the land of the Amorites which is in Gilead, were cruelly crushed down. **[10:9]** And the children of Ammon went over Jordan, to make war against Judah and Benjamin and the house of Ephraim; and Israel was in great trouble. **[10:10]** Then the children of Israel, crying out to the Lord, said, Great is our sin against you, for we have given up our God and have been servants to the Baals. **[10:11]** And the Lord said to the children of Israel, Were not the Egyptians and the Amorites and the children of Ammon and the Philistines **[10:12]** And the Zidonians and Amalek and Midian crushing you down, and in answer to your cry did I not give you salvation from their hands? **[10:13]** But, for all this, you have given me up and have been servants to other gods: so I will be your saviour no longer. **[10:14]** Go, send up your cry for help to the gods of your selection; let them be your saviours in the time of your trouble. **[10:15]** And the children of Israel said to the Lord, We are sinners; do to us whatever seems good to you: only give us salvation this day. **[10:16]** So they put away the strange gods from among them, and became the Lord's servants; and his soul was angry because of the sorrows of Israel. **[10:17]** Then the children of Ammon came together and put their army in position in Gilead. And the children of Israel came together and put their army in position in Mizpah. **[10:18]** And the people of Israel said to one another, Who will be the first to make an attack on the children of Ammon? We will make him head over all Gilead. **[11:1]** Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a great man of war; he was the son of a loose woman, and Gilead was his father. **[11:2]** And Gilead's wife gave birth to sons, and when her sons became men, they sent Jephthah away, saying, You have no part in the heritage of our father's house, for you are the son of another woman. **[11:3]** So Jephthah went in flight from his brothers and was living in the land of Tob, where a number of good-for-nothing men, joining Jephthah, went out with him on his undertakings. **[11:4]** Now after a time the children of Ammon made war against Israel. **[11:5]** And when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the responsible men of Gilead went to get Jephthah back from the land of Tob; **[11:6]** And they said to Jephthah, Come and be our chief so that we may make war against the children of Ammon. **[11:7]** But Jephthah said to the responsible men of Gilead, Did you not, in your hate for me, send me away from my father's house? Why do you come to me now when you are in trouble? **[11:8]** And the responsible men of Gilead said to Jephthah, That is the reason we have come back to you; so go with us and make war against the children of Ammon, and we will make you our head over all the people of Gilead. **[11:9]** Then Jephthah said to the responsible men of Gilead, If you take me back to make war against the children of Ammon, and if with the help of the Lord I overcome them, will you make me your head? **[11:10]** And the responsible men of Gilead said to Jephthah, May the Lord be our witness: we will certainly do as you say. **[11:11]** So Jephthah went with the responsible men of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them; and Jephthah said all these things before the Lord in Mizpah. **[11:12]** Then Jephthah sent men to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What have you against me that you have come to make war against my land? **[11:13]** And the king of the children of Ammon said to the men sent by Jephthah, Because Israel, when he came up out of Egypt, took away my land, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok and as far as Jordan: so now, give me back those lands quietly. **[11:14]** And Jephthah sent again to the king of the children of Ammon, **[11:15]** And said to him, This is the word of Jephthah: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the children of Ammon; **[11:16]** But when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the waste land to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh; **[11:17]** Then Israel sent men to the king of Edom saying, Let me now go through your land; but the king of Edom did not give ear to them. And in the same way he sent to the king of Moab, but he would not; so Israel went on living in Kadesh. **[11:18]** Then he went on through the waste land and round the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and put up their tents on the other side of the Arnon; they did not come inside the limit of Moab, for the Arnon was the limit of Moab. **[11:19]** And Israel sent men to Sihon, king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, Let me now go through your land to my place. **[11:20]** But Sihon would not give way and let Israel go through his land; and Sihon got together all his people, and put his army in position in Jahaz, and made war on Israel. **[11:21]** And the Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hands of Israel, and they overcame them; so all the land of the Amorites, the people of that land, became Israel's. **[11:22]** All the limit of the Amorites was theirs, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok and from the waste land even to Jordan. **[11:23]** So now the Lord, the God of Israel, has taken away their land from the Amorites and given it to his people Israel; are you then to have it? **[11:24]** Do you not keep the lands of those whom Chemosh your god sends out from before you? So we will keep all the lands of those whom the Lord our God sends out from before us. **[11:25]** What! are you any better than Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever take up a cause against Israel or make war against them? **[11:26]** While Israel was living in Heshbon and its daughter-towns and in Aroer and its daughter-towns and in all the towns which are by the side of the Arnon, for three hundred years, why did you not get them back at that time? **[11:27]** So I have done no wrong against you, but you are doing wrong to me in fighting against me: may the Lord, who is Judge this day, be judge between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon. **[11:28]** The king of the children of Ammon, however, did not give ear to the words which Jephthah sent to him. **[11:29]** Then the spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah, and he went through Gilead and Manasseh, and came to Mizpeh of Gilead; and from Mizpeh of Gilead he went over to the children of Ammon. **[11:30]** And Jephthah took an oath to the Lord, and said, If you will give the children of Ammon into my hands, **[11:31]** Then whoever comes out from the door of my house, meeting me when I come back in peace from the children of Ammon, will be the Lord's and I will give him as a burned offering. **[11:32]** So Jephthah went over to the children of Ammon to make war on them; and the Lord gave them into his hands. **[11:33]** And he made an attack on them from Aroer all the way to Minnith, overrunning twenty towns, as far as Abel-cheramim, and put great numbers to the sword. So the children of Ammon were crushed before the children of Israel. **[11:34]** Then Jephthah came back to his house in Mizpah, and his daughter came out, meeting him on his way with music and with dances; she was his only child; he had no other sons or daughters. **[11:35]** And when he saw her he was overcome with grief, and said, Ah! my daughter! I am crushed with sorrow, and it is you who are the chief cause of my trouble; for I have made an oath to the Lord and I may not take it back. **[11:36]** And she said to him, My father, you have made an oath to the Lord; do then to me whatever you have said; for the Lord has sent a full reward on your haters, on the children of Ammon. **[11:37]** Then she said to her father, Only do this for me: let me have two months to go away into the mountains with my friends, weeping for my sad fate. **[11:38]** And he said, Go then. So he sent her away for two months; and she went with her friends to the mountains, weeping for her sad fate. **[11:39]** And at the end of two months she went back to her father, who did with her as he had said in his oath: and she had never been touched by a man. So it became a rule in Israel, **[11:40]** For the women to go year by year sorrowing for the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite, four days in every year. **[12:1]** Now the men of Ephraim came together and took up arms and went over to Zaphon; and they said to Jephthah, Why did you go over to make war against the children of Ammon without sending for us to go with you? Now we will put your house on fire over you. **[12:2]** And Jephthah said to them, I and my people were in danger, and the children of Ammon were very cruel to us, and when I sent for you, you gave me no help against them. **[12:3]** So when I saw that there was no help to be had from you, I put my life in my hand and went over against the children of Ammon, and the Lord gave them into my hands: why then have you come up to me this day to make war on me? **[12:4]** Then Jephthah got together all the men of Gilead and made war on Ephraim; and the men of Gilead overcame Ephraim. **[12:5]** And the Gileadites took the crossing-places of Jordan against the Ephraimites; and when any of the men of Ephraim who had gone in flight said, let me go over; the men of Gilead said to him, Are you an Ephraimite? And if he said, No; **[12:6]** Then they said to him, Now say Shibboleth; and he said Sibboleth, and was not able to say it in the right way; then they took him and put him to death at the crossing-places of Jordan; and at that time forty-two thousand Ephraimites were put to death. **[12:7]** Now Jephthah was judge of Israel for six years. And Jephthah the Gileadite came to his death, and his body was put to rest in his town, Mizpeh of Gilead. **[12:8]** And after him, Ibzan of Beth-lehem was judge of Israel. **[12:9]** He had thirty sons, and thirty daughters whom he sent to other places, and he got thirty wives from other places for his sons. And he was judge of Israel for seven years. **[12:10]** And Ibzan came to his death and his body was put to rest at Beth-lehem. **[12:11]** And after him, Elon the Zebulonite was judge of Israel; and he was judge of Israel for ten years. **[12:12]** And Elon the Zebulonite came to his death, and his body was put to rest in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun. **[12:13]** And after him, Abdon, the son of Hillel, the Pirathonite, was judge of Israel. **[12:14]** He had forty sons and thirty sons' sons who went on seventy young asses; and he was judge of Israel for eight years. **[12:15]** And Abdon, the son of Hillel, came to his death, and his body was put to rest in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill-country of the Amalekites. **[13:1]** And the children of Israel again did evil in the eyes of the Lord; and the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years. **[13:2]** Now there was a certain man of Zorah of the family of the Danites, and his name was Manoah; and his wife had never given birth to a child. **[13:3]** And the angel of the Lord came to the woman, and said to her, See now! though you have never given birth to children, you will be with child and give birth to a son. **[13:4]** Now then take care to have no wine or strong drink and to take no unclean thing for food; **[13:5]** For you are with child and will give birth to a son; his hair is never to be cut, for the child is to be separate to God from his birth; and he will take up the work of freeing Israel from the hands of the Philistines. **[13:6]** Then the woman came in, and said to her husband, A man came to me, and his form was like the form of a god, causing great fear; I put no question to him about where he came from, and he did not give me his name; **[13:7]** But he said to me, You are with child and will give birth to a son; and now do not take any wine or strong drink or let anything unclean be your food; for the child will be separate to God from his birth to the day of his death. **[13:8]** Then Manoah made prayer to the Lord, and said, O Lord, let the man of God whom you sent come to us again and make clear to us what we are to do for the child who is to come. **[13:9]** And God gave ear to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came to the woman again when she was seated in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her. **[13:10]** So the woman, running quickly, gave her husband the news, saying, I have seen the man who came to me the other day. **[13:11]** And Manoah got up and went after his wife, and came up to the man and said to him, Are you the man who was talking to this woman? And he said, I am. **[13:12]** And Manoah said, Now when your words come true, what is to be the rule for the child and what will be his work? **[13:13]** And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, Let the woman take note of what I have said to her. **[13:14]** She is to have nothing which comes from the vine for her food, and let her take no wine or strong drink or anything which is unclean; let her take care to do all I have given her orders to do. **[13:15]** And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, Now let us keep you while we make ready a young goat for you. **[13:16]** And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, Though you keep me I will not take of your food; but if you will make a burned offering, let it be offered to the Lord. For it had not come into Manoah's mind that he was the angel of the Lord. **[13:17]** Then Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, What is your name, so that when your words come true we may give you honour? **[13:18]** But the angel of the Lord said to him, Why are you questioning me about my name, seeing that it is a wonder? **[13:19]** So Manoah took the young goat with its meal offering, offering it on the rock to the Lord, who did strange things. **[13:20]** And when the flame went up to heaven from the altar, the angel of the Lord went up in the flame of the altar, while Manoah and his wife were looking on; and they went down on their faces to the earth. **[13:21]** But the angel of the Lord was seen no more by Manoah and his wife. Then it was clear to Manoah that he was the angel of the Lord. **[13:22]** And Manoah said to his wife, Death will certainly be our fate, for it is a god whom we have seen. **[13:23]** But his wife said to him, If the Lord was purposing our death, he would not have taken our burned offering and our meal offering, or have given us such orders about the child. **[13:24]** So the woman gave birth to a son, and gave him the name Samson; and he became a man and the blessing of the Lord was on him. **[13:25]** And the spirit of the Lord first came on him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol. **[14:1]** Now Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah, of the daughters of the Philistines; **[14:2]** And when he came back he said to his father and mother, I have seen a woman in Timnah, of the daughters of the Philistines: get her now for me for my wife. **[14:3]** Then his father and mother said to him, Is there no woman among the daughters of your relations or among all my people, that you have to go for your wife to the Philistines, who are without circumcision? But Samson said to his father, Get her for me, for she is pleasing to me. **[14:4]** Now his father and mother had no knowledge that this was the purpose of the Lord, who had the destruction of the Philistines in mind. Now the Philistines at that time were ruling over Israel. **[14:5]** Then Samson went down to Timnah (and his father and his mother,) and came to the vine-gardens of Timnah; and a young lion came rushing out at him. **[14:6]** And the spirit of the Lord came on him with power, and, unarmed as he was, pulling the lion in two as one might do to a young goat, he put him to death; (but he said nothing to his father and mother of what he had done.) **[14:7]** So he went down and had talk with the woman; and she was pleasing to Samson. **[14:8]** Then after a time he went back to take her; and turning from the road to see the dead body of the lion, he saw a mass of bees in the body of the lion, and honey there. **[14:9]** And he took the honey in his hand, and went on, tasting it on the way; and when he came to his father and mother he gave some to them; but did not say that he had taken the honey from the body of the lion. **[14:10]** Then Samson went down to the woman, and made a feast there, as was the way among young men. **[14:11]** And he took thirty friends, and they were with him. **[14:12]** And Samson said, Now I have a hard question for you: if you are able to give me the answer before the seven days of the feast are over, I will give you thirty linen robes and thirty changes of clothing; **[14:13]** But if you are not able to give me the answer, then you will have to give me thirty linen robes and thirty changes of clothing. And they said to him, Put your hard question and let us see what it is. **[14:14]** And he said, Out of the taker of food came food, and out of the strong came the sweet. And at the end of three days they were still not able to give the answer. **[14:15]** So on the fourth day they said to Samson's wife, Get from your husband the answer to his question by some trick or other, or we will have you and your father's house burned with fire; did you get us here to take all we have? **[14:16]** Then Samson's wife, weeping over him, said, Truly you have no love for me but only hate; you have put a hard question to the children of my people and have not given me the answer. And he said to her, See, I have not given the answer even to my father or my mother; am I to give it to you? **[14:17]** And all the seven days of the feast she went on weeping over him; and on the seventh day he gave her the answer, because she gave him no peace; and she sent word of it to the children of her people. **[14:18]** Then on the seventh day, before he went into the bride's room, the men of the town said to him, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said to them, If you had not been ploughing with my cow you would not have got the answer to my question. **[14:19]** And the spirit of the Lord came rushing on him, and he went down to Ashkelon and, attacking thirty men there, took their clothing from them, and gave it to the men who had given the answer to his hard question. Then, full of wrath, he went back to his father's house. **[14:20]** But Samson's wife was given to the friend who had been his best man. **[15:1]** Now a short time after, at the time of the grain-cutting, Samson, taking with him a young goat, went to see his wife; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the bride's room. But her father would not let him go in. **[15:2]** And her father said, It seemed to me that you had only hate for her; so I gave her to your friend: but is not her younger sister fairer than she? so please take her in place of the other. **[15:3]** Then Samson said to them, This time I will give payment in full to the Philistines, for I am going to do them great evil. **[15:4]** So Samson went and got three hundred foxes and some sticks of fire-wood; and he put the foxes tail to tail with a stick between every two tails; **[15:5]** Then firing the sticks, he let the foxes loose among the uncut grain of the Philistines, and all the corded stems as well as the living grain and the vine-gardens and the olives went up in flames. **[15:6]** Then the Philistines said, Who has done this? And they said, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he took his wife and gave her to his friend. So the Philistines came up and had her and her father's house burned. **[15:7]** And Samson said to them, If you go on like this, truly I will take my full payment from you; and that will be the end of it. **[15:8]** And he made an attack on them, driving them in uncontrolled flight, and causing great destruction; then he went away to his safe place in the crack of the rock at Etam. **[15:9]** Then the Philistines went and put up their tents in Judah, all round Lehi. **[15:10]** And the men of Judah said, Why have you come up against us? And they said, We have come up to take Samson, and to do to him as he has done to us. **[15:11]** Then three thousand of the men of Judah went down to the crack of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, Is it not clear to you that the Philistines are our rulers? What is this you have done to us? And he said to them, I only did to them as they did to me. **[15:12]** Then they said to him, We have come down to take you and give you up into the hands of the Philistines. And Samson said to them, Give me your oath that you will not make an attack on me yourselves. **[15:13]** And they said, No; we will take you and give you up into their hands, but truly we will not put you to death. So knotting two new cords round him they took him up from the rock. **[15:14]** And when he came to Lehi, the Philistines came out, meeting him with loud cries; then the spirit of the Lord came rushing on him, and the cords on his arms became like grass which has been burned with fire, and the bands came falling off his hands. **[15:15]** And taking up the mouth-bone of an ass newly dead, which he saw by chance on the earth, he put to death a thousand men with it. **[15:16]** And Samson said, With a red ass's mouth-bone I have made them red with blood, with a red ass's mouth-bone I have sent destruction on a thousand men. **[15:17]** And having said these words, he let the mouth-bone go out of his hand; so that place was named Ramath-lehi. **[15:18]** After this, he was in great need of water, and crying out to the Lord, he said, You have given this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and now need of water will be my death; and I will be given into the hands of this people who are without circumcision. **[15:19]** Then God made a crack in the hollow rock in Lehi and water came out of it; and after drinking, his spirit came back to him and he was strong again; so that place was named En-hakkore; it is in Lehi to this day. **[15:20]** And he was judge of Israel in the days of the Philistines for twenty years. **[16:1]** Now Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a loose woman and went in to her. **[16:2]** And it was said to the Gazites, Samson is here. So they went round, watching for him all day at the doorway of the town, but at night they kept quiet, saying, When daylight comes we will put him to death. **[16:3]** And Samson was there till the middle of the night; then he got up, and took a grip on the doors of the town, pulling them up, together with their two supports and their locks, and put them on his back and took them up to the top of the hill in front of Hebron. **[16:4]** Now after this, he was in love with a woman in the valley of Sorek, named Delilah. **[16:5]** And the chiefs of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her, Make use of your power over him and see what is the secret of his great strength, and how we may get the better of him, and put bands on him, so that we may make him feeble; and every one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver. **[16:6]** So Delilah said to Samson, Make clear to me now what is the secret of your great strength, and how you may be put in bands and made feeble. **[16:7]** And Samson said to her, If seven new bow-cords which have never been made dry are knotted round me, I will become feeble and will be like any other man. **[16:8]** So the chiefs of the Philistines gave her seven new bow-cords which had never been made dry, and she had them tightly knotted round him. **[16:9]** Now she had men waiting secretly in the inner room; and she said to him, The Philistines are on you, Samson. And the cords were broken by him as a twist of thread is broken when touched by a flame. So the secret of his strength did not come to light. **[16:10]** Then Delilah said to Samson, See, you have been making sport of me with false words; now, say truly how may you be put in bands? **[16:11]** And he said to her, If they only put round me new thick cords which have never been used, then I will become feeble and will be like any other man. **[16:12]** So Delilah took new thick cords, knotting them tightly round him, and said to him, The Philistines are on you, Samson. And men were waiting secretly in the inner room. And the cords were broken off his arms like threads. **[16:13]** Then Delilah said to Samson, Up to now you have made sport of me with false words; now say truly, how may you be put in bands? And he said to her, If you get the seven twists of my hair worked into the cloth you are making and fixed with the pin, I will become feeble and will be like any other man. **[16:14]** So while he was sleeping she got the seven twists of his hair worked into her cloth and fixed with the pin, and said to him, The Philistines are on you, Samson. Then awaking from his sleep, he got up quickly, pulling up cloth and machine together. **[16:15]** And she said to him, Why do you say you are my lover when your heart is not mine? Three times you have made sport of me, and have not made clear to me the secret of your great strength. **[16:16]** So day after day she gave him no peace, for ever questioning him till his soul was troubled to death. **[16:17]** And opening all his heart to her, he said to her, My head has never been touched by a blade, for I have been separate to God from the day of my birth: if my hair is cut off, then my strength will go from me and I will become feeble, and will be like any other man. **[16:18]** And when Delilah saw that he had let her see into his heart, she sent word to the chiefs of the Philistines saying, Come up this time, for he has let out all his heart to me. Then the chiefs of the Philistines came to her, with the money in their hands. **[16:19]** And she made him go to sleep on her knees; and she sent for a man and had his seven twists of hair cut off; and while it was being done he became feeble and his strength went from him. **[16:20]** Then she said, The Philistines are on you, Samson. And awaking from his sleep, he said, I will go out as at other times, shaking myself free. But he was not conscious that the Lord had gone from him. **[16:21]** So the Philistines took him and put out his eyes; then they took him down to Gaza, and, chaining him with bands of brass, put him to work crushing grain in the prison-house. **[16:22]** But the growth of his hair was starting again after it had been cut off. **[16:23]** And the chiefs of the Philistines came together to make a great offering to Dagon their god, and to be glad; for they said, Our god has given into our hands Samson our hater. **[16:24]** And when the people saw him, they gave praise to their god; for they said, Our god has given into our hands the one who was fighting against us, who made our country waste, and who put great numbers of us to death. **[16:25]** Now when their hearts were full of joy, they said, Send for Samson to make sport for us. And they sent for Samson out of the prison-house, and he made sport before them; and they put him between the pillars. **[16:26]** And Samson said to the boy who took him by the hand, Let me put my hand on the pillars supporting the house, so that I may put my back against them. **[16:27]** Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and about three thousand men and women were on the roof, looking on while Samson made sport. **[16:28]** And Samson, crying out to the Lord, said, O Lord God, do have me now in mind, and do make me strong only this once, O God, so that I may take one last payment from the Philistines for my two eyes. **[16:29]** Then Samson put his arms round the two middle pillars supporting the house, putting his weight on them, on one with his right hand and on the other with his left. **[16:30]** And Samson said, Let death overtake me with the Philistines. And he put out all his strength, and the house came down on the chiefs and on all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he sent to destruction by his death were more than all those on whom he had sent destruction in his life. **[16:31]** Then his brothers and his father's people came down and took him up and put his body to rest in the earth between Zorah and Eshtaol in the resting-place of Manoah his father. And he had been judge of Israel for twenty years. **[17:1]** Now there was a man of the hill-country of Ephraim named Micah. **[17:2]** And he said to his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver which were taken from you, about which you took an oath and said in my hearing, I have given this silver to the Lord from my hand for myself, to make a pictured image and a metal image: see, I have the silver, for I took it: so now I will give it back to you. And his mother said, May the blessing of the Lord be on my son. **[17:3]** And he gave back the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, and his mother said, I have made the silver holy to the Lord from me for my son, to make a pictured image and a metal image. **[17:4]** So he gave the silver back to his mother. Then his mother took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a metal-worker who made a pictured image and a metal image from them: and it was in the house of Micah. **[17:5]** And the man Micah had a house of gods; and he made an ephod and family gods and put one of his sons in the position of priest. **[17:6]** In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did as seemed right to him. **[17:7]** Now there was a young man living in Beth-lehem-judah, of the family of Judah and a Levite, who was not a townsman of the place. **[17:8]** And he went away from the town of Beth-lehem-judah, looking for somewhere to make his living-place; and on his journey he came to the hill-country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah. **[17:9]** And Micah said to him, Where do you come from? And he said to him, I am a Levite from Beth-lehem-judah, and I am looking for a living-place. **[17:10]** Then Micah said to him, Make your living-place with me, and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten shekels of silver a year and your clothing and food. **[17:11]** And the Levite said he would make his living-place with the man, and he became to him as one of his sons. **[17:12]** And Micah gave the position to the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. **[17:13]** Then Micah said, Now I am certain that the Lord will do me good, seeing that the Levite has become my priest. **[18:1]** In those days there was no king in Israel, and in those days the Danites were looking for a heritage for themselves, to be their living-place; for up to that time no distribution of land had been made to them among the tribes of Israel. **[18:2]** So the children of Dan sent five men from among their number, strong men, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, to take a look at the land and make a search through it; and they said to them, Go and make a search through the land; and they came to the hill-country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, where they made a stop for the night. **[18:3]** When they were near the house of Micah, hearing a voice which was not strange to them, that of the young Levite, they went out of their road to his place, and said to him, How did you come here? and what are you doing in this place? and why are you here? **[18:4]** And he said to them, This is what Micah did for me, and he gave me payment and I became his priest. **[18:5]** Then they said, Do get directions from God for us, to see if the journey on which we are going will have a good outcome. **[18:6]** And the priest said to them, Go in peace: your way is guided by the Lord. **[18:7]** Then the five men went on their way and came to Laish and saw the people who were there, living without thought of danger, like the Zidonians, quiet and safe; for they had everything on earth for their needs, and they were far from the Zidonians and had no business with Aram. **[18:8]** So they came back to their brothers in Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brothers said to them, What news have you? **[18:9]** And they said, Up! and let us go against Laish; for we have seen the land, and it is very good: why are you doing nothing? Do not be slow to go in and take the land for your heritage. **[18:10]** When you come there you will come to a people living without thought of danger; and the land is wide, and God has given it into your hands: a place where there is everything on earth for man's needs. **[18:11]** So six hundred men of the Danites from Zorah and Eshtaol went out armed with instruments of war. **[18:12]** And they went up and put up their tents in Kiriath-jearim in Judah: so that place is named Mahaneh-dan to this day. It is to the west of Kiriath-jearim. **[18:13]** From there they went on to the hill-country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah. **[18:14]** Then the five men who had gone to make a search through the country of Laish, said to their brothers, Have you knowledge that in these houses there is an ephod and family gods and a pictured image and a metal image? So now you see what to do. **[18:15]** And turning from their road they came to the house of the young Levite, the house of Micah, and said to him, Is it well with you? **[18:16]** And the six hundred armed men of the Danites took their places by the doorway. **[18:17]** Then the five men who had gone to make a search through the land, went in and took the pictured image and the ephod and the family gods and the metal image; and the priest was by the doorway with the six hundred armed men. **[18:18]** And when they went into Micah's house and took out the pictured image and the ephod and the family gods and the metal image, the priest said to them, What are you doing? **[18:19]** And they said to him, Be quiet; say nothing, and come with us and be our father and priest; is it better for you to be priest to one man's house or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel? **[18:20]** Then the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod and the family gods and the pictured image and went with the people. **[18:21]** So they went on their way again, putting the little ones and the oxen and the goods in front of them. **[18:22]** When they had gone some way from the house of Micah, the men from the houses near Micah's house came together and overtook the children of Dan, **[18:23]** Crying out to them. And the Danites, turning round, said to Micah, What is your trouble, that you have taken up arms? **[18:24]** And he said, You have taken my gods which I made, and my priest, and have gone away; what is there for me now? Why then do you say to me, What is your trouble? **[18:25]** And the children of Dan said to him, Say no more, or men of bitter spirit may make an attack on you, causing loss of your life and the lives of your people. **[18:26]** Then the children of Dan went on their way; and when Micah saw that they were stronger than he, he went back to his house. **[18:27]** And they took that which Micah had made, and his priest, and came to Laish, to a people living quietly and without thought of danger, and they put them to the sword without mercy, burning down their town. **[18:28]** And they had no saviour, because it was far from Zidon, and they had no business with Aram; and it was in the valley which is the property of Beth-rehob. And building up the town again they took it for their living-place. **[18:29]** And they gave the town the name of Dan, after Dan their father, who was the son of Israel: though the town had been named Laish at first. **[18:30]** (And the children of Dan put up the pictured image for themselves; and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of the Danites till the day when the ark was taken prisoner.) **[18:31]** And they put up for themselves the image which Micah had made, and it was there all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh. **[19:1]** Now in those days, when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was living in the inmost parts of the hill-country of Ephraim, and he got for himself a servant-wife from Beth-lehem-judah. **[19:2]** And his servant-wife was angry with him, and went away from him to her father's house at Beth-lehem-judah, and was there for four months. **[19:3]** Then her husband got up and went after her, with the purpose of talking kindly to her, and taking her back with him; he had with him his young man and two asses: and she took him into her father's house, and her father, when he saw him, came forward to him with joy. **[19:4]** And his father-in-law, the girl's father, kept him there for three days; and they had food and drink and took their rest there. **[19:5]** Now on the fourth day they got up early in the morning and he made ready to go away; but the girl's father said to his son-in-law, Take a little food to keep up your strength, and then go on your way. **[19:6]** So seating themselves they had food and drink, the two of them together; and the girl's father said to the man, If it is your pleasure, take your rest here tonight, and let your heart be glad. **[19:7]** And the man got up to go away, but his father-in-law would not let him go, so he took his rest there again for the night. **[19:8]** Then early on the morning of the fifth day he got up to go away; but the girl's father said, Keep up your strength; so the two of them had a meal, and the man and his woman and his servant did not go till after the middle of the day. **[19:9]** And when they got up to go away, his father-in-law, the girl's father, said to him, Now evening is coming on, so do not go tonight; see, the day is almost gone; take your rest here and let your heart be glad, and tomorrow early, go on your way back to your house. **[19:10]** But the man would not be kept there that night, and he got up and went away and came opposite to Jebus (which is Jerusalem); and he had with him the two asses, ready for travelling, and his woman. **[19:11]** When they got near Jebus the day was far gone; and the servant said to his master, Now let us go from our road into this town of the Jebusites and take our night's rest there. **[19:12]** But his master said to him, We will not go out of our way into a strange town, whose people are not of the children of Israel; but we will go on to Gibeah. **[19:13]** And he said to his servant, Come, let us go on to one of these places, stopping for the night in Gibeah or Ramah. **[19:14]** So they went on their way; and the sun went down when they were near Gibeah in the land of Benjamin. **[19:15]** And they went off the road there with the purpose of stopping for the night in Gibeah: and he went in, seating himself in the street of the town, for no one took them into his house for the night. **[19:16]** Now when it was evening they saw an old man coming back from his work in the fields; he was from the hill-country of Ephraim and was living in Gibeah: but the men of the place were Benjamites. **[19:17]** And when he saw the traveller in the street of the town, the old man said, Where are you going? and where do you come from? **[19:18]** And he said to him, We are on our way from Beth-lehem-judah to the inmost parts of the hill-country of Ephraim: I came from there and went to Beth-lehem-judah: now I am on my way back to my house, but no man will take me into his house. **[19:19]** But we have dry grass and food for our asses, as well as bread and wine for me, and for the woman, and for the young man with us: we have no need of anything. **[19:20]** And the old man said, Peace be with you; let all your needs be my care; only do not take your rest in the street. **[19:21]** So he took them into his house and gave the asses food; and after washing their feet they took food and drink. **[19:22]** While they were taking their pleasure at the meal, the good-for-nothing men of the town came round the house, giving blows on the door; and they said to the old man, the master of the house, Send out that man who came to your house, so that we may take our pleasure with him. **[19:23]** So the man, the master of the house, went out to them, and said, No, my brothers, do not this evil thing; this man has come into my house, and you are not to do him this wrong. **[19:24]** See, here is my daughter, a virgin, and his servant-wife: I will send them out for you to take them and do with them whatever you will. But do no such thing of shame to this man. **[19:25]** But the men would not give ear to him: so the man took his woman and sent her out to them; and they took her by force, using her for their pleasure all night till the morning; and when dawn came they let her go. **[19:26]** Then at the dawn of day the woman came, and, falling down at the door of the man's house where her master was, was stretched there till it was light. **[19:27]** In the morning her master got up, and opening the door of the house went out to go on his way; and he saw his servant-wife stretched on the earth at the door of the house with her hands on the step. **[19:28]** And he said to her, Get up and let us be going; but there was no answer; so he took her up and put her on the ass, and went on his way and came to his house. **[19:29]** And when he had come to his house, he got his knife, and took the woman, cutting her up bone by bone into twelve parts, which he sent through all Israel. **[19:30]** And he gave orders to the men whom he sent, saying, This is what you are to say to all the men of Israel, Has ever an act like this been done from the day when the children of Israel came out of Egypt to this day? Give thought to it, turning it over in your minds, and give your opinion of it. **[20:1]** Then all the children of Israel took up arms, and the people came together like one man, from Dan to Beer-sheba, and the land of Gilead, before the Lord at Mizpah. **[20:2]** And the chiefs of the people, out of all the tribes of Israel, took their places in the meeting of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen armed with swords. **[20:3]** (Now the children of Benjamin had word that the children of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the children of Israel said, Make clear how this evil thing took place. **[20:4]** Then the Levite, the husband of the dead woman, said in answer, I came to Gibeah in the land of Benjamin, I and my servant-wife, for the purpose of stopping there for the night. **[20:5]** And the townsmen of Gibeah came together against me, going round the house on all sides by night; it was their purpose to put me to death, and my servant-wife was violently used by them and is dead. **[20:6]** So I took her, cutting her into parts which I sent through all the country of the heritage of Israel: for they have done an act of shame in Israel. **[20:7]** Here you all are, you children of Israel; give now your suggestions about what is to be done. **[20:8]** Then all the people got up as one man and said, Not one of us will go to his tent or go back to his house: **[20:9]** But this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will go up against it by the decision of the Lord; **[20:10]** And we will take ten men out of every hundred, through all the tribes of Israel, a hundred out of every thousand, a thousand out of every ten thousand, to get food for the people, so that they may give to Gibeah of Benjamin the right punishment for the act of shame they have done in Israel. **[20:11]** So all the men of Israel were banded together against the town, united like one man. **[20:12]** And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin saying, What is this evil which has been done among you? **[20:13]** Now give up those good-for-nothing persons in Gibeah so that we may put them to death, clearing away the evil from Israel. But the children of Benjamin would not give ear to the voice of their brothers, the children of Israel. **[20:14]** And the children of Benjamin came together from all their towns to Gibeah, to go to war with the children of Israel. **[20:15]** And the children of Benjamin who came that day from the towns were twenty-six thousand men armed with swords, in addition to the people of Gibeah, numbering seven hundred of the best fighting-men, **[20:16]** Who were left-handed, able to send a stone at a hair without error. **[20:17]** And the men of Israel, other than Benjamin, were four hundred thousand in number, all armed with swords; they were all men of war. **[20:18]** And they got up and went up to Beth-el to get directions from God, and the children of Israel said, Who is to be the first to go up to the fight against the children of Benjamin? And the Lord said, Judah is to go up first. **[20:19]** So the children of Israel got up in the morning and put themselves in position against Gibeah. **[20:20]** And the men of Israel went out to war against Benjamin (and the men of Israel put their forces in fighting order against them at Gibeah). **[20:21]** Then the children of Benjamin came out from Gibeah, cutting down twenty-two thousand of the Israelites that day. **[20:22]** But the people, the men of Israel, taking heart again, put their forces in order and took up the same position as on the first day. **[20:23]** Now the children of Israel went up, weeping before the Lord till evening, requesting the Lord and saying, Am I to go forward again to the fight against the children of Benjamin my brother? And the Lord said, Go up against him. **[20:24]** So the children of Israel went forward against the children of Benjamin the second day. **[20:25]** And the second day Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah, cutting down eighteen thousand men of the children of Israel, all swordsmen. **[20:26]** Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up to Beth-el, weeping and waiting there before the Lord, going without food all day till evening, and offering burned offerings and peace-offerings before the Lord. **[20:27]** And the children of Israel made request to the Lord, (for the ark of the agreement of the Lord was there in those days, **[20:28]** And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, was in his place before it,) and said, Am I still to go on with the fight against the children of Benjamin my brother, or am I to give it up? And the Lord said, Go on; for tomorrow I will give him into your hands. **[20:29]** So Israel put men secretly all round Gibeah to make a surprise attack on it. **[20:30]** And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in fighting order against Gibeah as before. **[20:31]** And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, moving away from the town; and as before, at their first attack, they put to death about thirty men of Israel on the highways, of which one goes up to Beth-el and the other to Gibeah, and in the open country. **[20:32]** And the children of Benjamin said, They are giving way before us as at first. But the children of Israel said, Let us go in flight and get them away from the town, into the highways. **[20:33]** So all the men of Israel got up and put themselves in fighting order at Baal-tamar: and those who had been waiting secretly to make a surprise attack came rushing out of their place on the west of Geba. **[20:34]** And they came in front of Gibeah, ten thousand of the best men in all Israel, and the fighting became more violent; but the children of Benjamin were not conscious that evil was coming on them. **[20:35]** Then the Lord sent sudden fear on Benjamin before Israel; and that day the children of Israel put to death twenty-five thousand, one hundred men of Benjamin, all of them swordsmen. **[20:36]** So the children of Benjamin saw that they were overcome: and the men of Israel had given way before Benjamin, putting their faith in the watchers who were to make the surprise attack on Gibeah. **[20:37]** And the watchers, rushing on Gibeah and overrunning it, put all the town to the sword without mercy. **[20:38]** Now the sign fixed between the men of Israel and those making the surprise attack was that when they made a pillar of smoke go up from the town, **[20:39]** The men of Israel were to make a turn about in the fight. And Benjamin had overcome and put to death about thirty of the men of Israel, and were saying, Certainly they are falling back before us as in the first fight. **[20:40]** Then the sign went up out of the town in the pillar of smoke, and the Benjamites, turning back, saw all the town going up in smoke to heaven. **[20:41]** And the men of Israel had made a turn about, and the men of Benjamin were overcome with fear, for they saw that evil had overtaken them. **[20:42]** So turning their backs on the men of Israel, they went in the direction of the waste land; but the fight overtook them; and those who came out of the town were heading them off and putting them to the sword. **[20:43]** And crushing Benjamin down, they went after them, driving them from Nohah as far as the east side of Gibeah. **[20:44]** Eighteen thousand men of Benjamin came to their death, all strong men of war. **[20:45]** And turning, they went in flight to the rock of Rimmon in the waste land: and on the highways five thousand of them were cut off by the men of Israel, who, pushing on hard after them to Geba, put to death two thousand more. **[20:46]** So twenty-five thousand of the swordsmen of Benjamin came to their end that day, all strong men of war. **[20:47]** But six hundred men, turning back, went in flight to the rock of Rimmon in the waste land, and were living on the rock of Rimmon for four months. **[20:48]** And the men of Israel, turning again against the children of Benjamin, put to the sword without mercy all the towns and the cattle and everything there was, burning every town which came into their hands. **[21:1]** Now the men of Israel had taken an oath in Mizpah, saying, Not one of us will give his daughter as a wife to Benjamin. **[21:2]** And the people came to Beth-el, waiting there till evening before God, and gave themselves up to bitter weeping. **[21:3]** And they said, O Lord, the God of Israel, why has this fate come on Israel, that today one tribe has been cut off from Israel? **[21:4]** Then on the day after, the people got up early and made an altar there, offering burned offerings and peace-offerings. **[21:5]** And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel, who did not come up to the Lord at the meeting of all Israel? For they had taken a great oath that whoever did not come up to Mizpah to the Lord was to be put to death. **[21:6]** And the children of Israel were moved with pity for Benjamin their brother, saying, Today one tribe has been cut off from Israel. **[21:7]** What are we to do about wives for those who are still living? For we have taken an oath by the Lord that we will not give them our daughters for wives. **[21:8]** And they said, Which one of the tribes of Israel did not come up to Mizpah to the Lord? And it was seen that no one had come from Jabesh-gilead to the meeting. **[21:9]** For when the people were numbered, not one man of the people of Jabesh-gilead was present. **[21:10]** So they (the meeting) sent twelve thousand of the best fighting-men, and gave them orders, saying, Go and put the people of Jabesh-gilead to the sword without mercy, with their women and their little ones. **[21:11]** And this is what you are to do: every male, and every woman who has had sex relations with a man, you are to put to the curse, but you are to keep safe the virgins. And they did so. **[21:12]** Now there were among the people of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins who had never had sex relations with a man; these they took to their tents in Shiloh in the land of Canaan. **[21:13]** And all the meeting sent to the men of Benjamin who were in the rock of Rimmon, offering them peace. **[21:14]** Then Benjamin came back; and they gave them the women whom they had kept from death among the women of Jabesh-gilead: but still there were not enough for them. **[21:15]** And the people were moved with pity for Benjamin, because the Lord had let his wrath loose on the tribes of Israel. **[21:16]** Then the responsible men of the meeting said, What are we to do about wives for the rest of them, seeing that the women of Benjamin are dead? **[21:17]** And they said, How is the rest of Benjamin to be given offspring so that one tribe of Israel may not be put out of existence, **[21:18]** Seeing that we may not give them our daughters as wives? For the children of Israel had taken an oath, saying, Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin. **[21:19]** And they said, See, every year there is a feast of the Lord in Shiloh, which is to the north of Beth-el, on the east side of the highway which goes up from Beth-el to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah. **[21:20]** And they said to the men of Benjamin, Go into the vine-gardens, waiting there secretly, **[21:21]** And watching; and if the daughters of Shiloh come out to take part in the dances, then come from the vine-gardens and take a wife for every one of you from among the daughters of Shiloh, and go back to the land of Benjamin. **[21:22]** And when their fathers or their brothers come and make trouble, you are to say to them, Give them to us as an act of grace; for we did not take them as wives for ourselves in war; and if you yourselves had given them to us you would have been responsible for the broken oath. **[21:23]** So the men of Benjamin did this, and got wives for themselves for every one of their number, taking them away by force from the dance; then they went back to their heritage, building up their towns and living in them. **[21:24]** Then the children of Israel went away from there, every man to his tribe and his family, every man went back to his heritage. **[21:25]** In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did what seemed right to him.

7 Judges - King James Version (KJV).md

# Judges - King James Version (KJV) **[1:1]** Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them? **[1:2]** And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand. **[1:3]** And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him. **[1:4]** And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men. **[1:5]** And they found Adonibezek in Bezek: and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites. **[1:6]** But Adonibezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. **[1:7]** And Adonibezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died. **[1:8]** Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it, and smitten it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire. **[1:9]** And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites, that dwelt in the mountain, and in the south, and in the valley. **[1:10]** And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron: (now the name of Hebron before was Kirjatharba:) and they slew Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai. **[1:11]** And from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir: and the name of Debir before was Kirjathsepher: **[1:12]** And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjathsepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife. **[1:13]** And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife. **[1:14]** And it came to pass, when she came to him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted from off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wilt thou? **[1:15]** And she said unto him, Give me a blessing: for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs. **[1:16]** And the children of the Kenite, Moses' father in law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lieth in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people. **[1:17]** And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah. **[1:18]** Also Judah took Gaza with the coast thereof, and Askelon with the coast thereof, and Ekron with the coast thereof. **[1:19]** And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron. **[1:20]** And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said: and he expelled thence the three sons of Anak. **[1:21]** And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day. **[1:22]** And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel: and the LORD was with them. **[1:23]** And the house of Joseph sent to descry Bethel. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.) **[1:24]** And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, Show us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will show thee mercy. **[1:25]** And when he showed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and all his family. **[1:26]** And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz: which is the name thereof unto this day. **[1:27]** Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns: but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. **[1:28]** And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out. **[1:29]** Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them. **[1:30]** Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became tributaries. **[1:31]** Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob: **[1:32]** But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: for they did not drive them out. **[1:33]** Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Bethshemesh, nor the inhabitants of Bethanath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Bethshemesh and of Bethanath became tributaries unto them. **[1:34]** And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain: for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley: **[1:35]** But the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became tributaries. **[1:36]** And the coast of the Amorites was from the going up to Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward. **[2:1]** And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. **[2:2]** And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? **[2:3]** Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you. **[2:4]** And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept. **[2:5]** And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto the LORD. **[2:6]** And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land. **[2:7]** And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel. **[2:8]** And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old. **[2:9]** And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash. **[2:10]** And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. **[2:11]** And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: **[2:12]** And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. **[2:13]** And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. **[2:14]** And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. **[2:15]** Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed. **[2:16]** Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. **[2:17]** And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so. **[2:18]** And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them. **[2:19]** And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way. **[2:20]** And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice; **[2:21]** I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died: **[2:22]** That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not. **[2:23]** Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua. **[3:1]** Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan; **[3:2]** Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof; **[3:3]** Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baalhermon unto the entering in of Hamath. **[3:4]** And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. **[3:5]** And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites: **[3:6]** And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods. **[3:7]** And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgat the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the groves. **[3:8]** Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Chushanrishathaim eight years. **[3:9]** And when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. **[3:10]** And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the LORD delivered Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushanrishathaim. **[3:11]** And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died. **[3:12]** And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD. **[3:13]** And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees. **[3:14]** So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. **[3:15]** But when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man lefthanded: and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab. **[3:16]** But Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit length; and he did gird it under his raiment upon his right thigh. **[3:17]** And he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab: and Eglon was a very fat man. **[3:18]** And when he had made an end to offer the present, he sent away the people that bare the present. **[3:19]** But he himself turned again from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand unto thee, O king: who said, Keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from him. **[3:20]** And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting in a summer parlor, which he had for himself alone. And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee. And he arose out of his seat. **[3:21]** And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly: **[3:22]** And the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly; and the dirt came out. **[3:23]** Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the parlor upon him, and locked them. **[3:24]** When he was gone out, his servants came; and when they saw that, behold, the doors of the parlor were locked, they said, Surely he covereth his feet in his summer chamber. **[3:25]** And they tarried till they were ashamed: and, behold, he opened not the doors of the parlor; therefore they took a key, and opened them: and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth. **[3:26]** And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped unto Seirath. **[3:27]** And it came to pass, when he was come, that he blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mount, and he before them. **[3:28]** And he said unto them, Follow after me: for the LORD hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the fords of Jordan toward Moab, and suffered not a man to pass over. **[3:29]** And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all lusty, and all men of valor; and there escaped not a man. **[3:30]** So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years. **[3:31]** And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel. **[4:1]** And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead. **[4:2]** And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. **[4:3]** And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel. **[4:4]** And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. **[4:5]** And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. **[4:6]** And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? **[4:7]** And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand. **[4:8]** And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go. **[4:9]** And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honor; for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh. **[4:10]** And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him. **[4:11]** Now Heber the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab the father in law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh. **[4:12]** And they showed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor. **[4:13]** And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the river of Kishon. **[4:14]** And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the LORD hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the LORD gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him. **[4:15]** And the LORD discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet. **[4:16]** But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left. **[4:17]** Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite: for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. **[4:18]** And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle. **[4:19]** And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him. **[4:20]** Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and inquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No. **[4:21]** Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. **[4:22]** And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will show thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples. **[4:23]** So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel. **[4:24]** And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan. **[5:1]** Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying, **[5:2]** Praise ye the LORD for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves. **[5:3]** Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto the LORD; I will sing praise to the LORD God of Israel. **[5:4]** LORD, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water. **[5:5]** The mountains melted from before the LORD, even that Sinai from before the LORD God of Israel. **[5:6]** In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through byways. **[5:7]** The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel. **[5:8]** They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel? **[5:9]** My heart is toward the governors of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless ye the LORD. **[5:10]** Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment, and walk by the way. **[5:11]** They that are delivered from the noise of archers in the places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the LORD, even the righteous acts toward the inhabitants of his villages in Israel: then shall the people of the LORD go down to the gates. **[5:12]** Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam. **[5:13]** Then he made him that remaineth have dominion over the nobles among the people: the LORD made me have dominion over the mighty. **[5:14]** Out of Ephraim was there a root of them against Amalek; after thee, Benjamin, among thy people; out of Machir came down governors, and out of Zebulun they that handle the pen of the writer. **[5:15]** And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; even Issachar, and also Barak: he was sent on foot into the valley. For the divisions of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart. **[5:16]** Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart. **[5:17]** Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches. **[5:18]** Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field. **[5:19]** The kings came and fought, then fought the kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money. **[5:20]** They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera. **[5:21]** The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength. **[5:22]** Then were the horsehoofs broken by the means of the pransings, the pransings of their mighty ones. **[5:23]** Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty. **[5:24]** Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent. **[5:25]** He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish. **[5:26]** She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen's hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, when she had pierced and stricken through his temples. **[5:27]** At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down: at her feet he bowed, he fell: where he bowed, there he fell down dead. **[5:28]** The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariots? **[5:29]** Her wise ladies answered her, yea, she returned answer to herself, **[5:30]** Have they not sped? have they not divided the prey; to every man a damsel or two; to Sisera a prey of divers colors, a prey of divers colors of needlework, of divers colors of needlework on both sides, meet for the necks of them that take the spoil? **[5:31]** So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years. **[6:1]** And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. **[6:2]** And 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. **[6:3]** And 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; **[6:4]** And 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. **[6:5]** For 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. **[6:6]** And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD. **[6:7]** And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD because of the Midianites, **[6:8]** That 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; **[6:9]** And 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; **[6:10]** And 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. **[6:11]** And 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. **[6:12]** And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. **[6:13]** And 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. **[6:14]** And 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? **[6:15]** And 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. **[6:16]** And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. **[6:17]** And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then show me a sign that thou talkest with me. **[6:18]** Depart 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. **[6:19]** And 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. **[6:20]** And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so. **[6:21]** Then 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. **[6:22]** And 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. **[6:23]** And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. **[6:24]** Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. **[6:25]** And 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: **[6:26]** And 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. **[6:27]** Then 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. **[6:28]** And 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. **[6:29]** And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they inquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing. **[6:30]** Then 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. **[6:31]** And 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. **[6:32]** Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar. **[6:33]** Then 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. **[6:34]** But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him. **[6:35]** And 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. **[6:36]** And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, **[6:37]** Behold, 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. **[6:38]** And 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. **[6:39]** And 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. **[6:40]** And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground. **[7:1]** Then 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. **[7:2]** And 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. **[7:3]** Now 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. **[7:4]** And 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. **[7:5]** So 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. **[7:6]** And 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. **[7:7]** And 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. **[7:8]** So 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. **[7:9]** And 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. **[7:10]** But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host: **[7:11]** And 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. **[7:12]** And 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. **[7:13]** And 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. **[7:14]** And 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. **[7:15]** And 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. **[7:16]** And 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. **[7:17]** And 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. **[7:18]** When 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. **[7:19]** So 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. **[7:20]** And 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. **[7:21]** And they stood every man in his place round about the camp; and all the host ran, and cried, and fled. **[7:22]** And 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. **[7:23]** And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites. **[7:24]** And 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. **[7:25]** And 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. **[8:1]** And 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. **[8:2]** And 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? **[8:3]** God 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. **[8:4]** And Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing them. **[8:5]** And 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. **[8:6]** And the princes of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thine army? **[8:7]** And 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. **[8:8]** And 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. **[8:9]** And he spake also unto the men of Penuel, saying, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower. **[8:10]** Now 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. **[8:11]** And 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. **[8:12]** And when Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued after them, and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and discomfited all the host. **[8:13]** And Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle before the sun was up, **[8:14]** And caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and inquired of him: and he described unto him the princes of Succoth, and the elders thereof, even threescore and seventeen men. **[8:15]** And 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? **[8:16]** And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth. **[8:17]** And he beat down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city. **[8:18]** Then 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. **[8:19]** And 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. **[8:20]** And 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. **[8:21]** Then 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. **[8:22]** Then 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. **[8:23]** And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you. **[8:24]** And 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.) **[8:25]** And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey. **[8:26]** And 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. **[8:27]** And 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. **[8:28]** Thus 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. **[8:29]** And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house. **[8:30]** And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives. **[8:31]** And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech. **[8:32]** And 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. **[8:33]** And 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. **[8:34]** And 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: **[8:35]** Neither showed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, namely, Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had showed unto Israel. **[9:1]** And 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, **[9:2]** Speak, 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. **[9:3]** And his mother's brethren spake of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother. **[9:4]** And 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. **[9:5]** And 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. **[9:6]** And 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. **[9:7]** And 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. **[9:8]** The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us. **[9:9]** But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honor God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? **[9:10]** And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us. **[9:11]** But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees? **[9:12]** Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us. **[9:13]** And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? **[9:14]** Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us. **[9:15]** And 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. **[9:16]** Now 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; **[9:17]** (For my father fought for you, and adventured his life far, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian: **[9:18]** And 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;) **[9:19]** If 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: **[9:20]** But 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. **[9:21]** And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother. **[9:22]** When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel, **[9:23]** Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech: **[9:24]** That 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. **[9:25]** And 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. **[9:26]** And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren, and went over to Shechem: and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him. **[9:27]** And 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. **[9:28]** And 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? **[9:29]** And 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. **[9:30]** And when Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled. **[9:31]** And 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. **[9:32]** Now therefore up by night, thou and the people that is with thee, and lie in wait in the field: **[9:33]** And 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. **[9:34]** And Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies. **[9:35]** And 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. **[9:36]** And 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. **[9:37]** And 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. **[9:38]** Then 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. **[9:39]** And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech. **[9:40]** And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many were overthrown and wounded, even unto the entering of the gate. **[9:41]** And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah: and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his brethren, that they should not dwell in Shechem. **[9:42]** And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people went out into the field; and they told Abimelech. **[9:43]** And 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. **[9:44]** And 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. **[9:45]** And 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. **[9:46]** And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that, they entered into an hold of the house of the god Berith. **[9:47]** And it was told Abimelech, that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. **[9:48]** And 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. **[9:49]** And 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. **[9:50]** Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it. **[9:51]** But 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. **[9:52]** And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire. **[9:53]** And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head, and all to brake his skull. **[9:54]** Then 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 women slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died. **[9:55]** And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place. **[9:56]** Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren: **[9:57]** And 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. **[10:1]** And 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. **[10:2]** And he judged Israel twenty and three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir. **[10:3]** And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty and two years. **[10:4]** And 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. **[10:5]** And Jair died, and was buried in Camon. **[10:6]** And 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. **[10:7]** And 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. **[10:8]** And 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. **[10:9]** Moreover 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. **[10:10]** And 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. **[10:11]** And 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? **[10:12]** The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand. **[10:13]** Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more. **[10:14]** Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation. **[10:15]** And 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. **[10:16]** And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel. **[10:17]** Then the children of Ammon were gathered together, and encamped in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled themselves together, and encamped in Mizpeh. **[10:18]** And 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. **[11:1]** Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah. **[11:2]** And Gilead's wife bare him sons; and his wife's sons grew up, and they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house; for thou art the son of a strange woman. **[11:3]** Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him. **[11:4]** And it came to pass in process of time, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel. **[11:5]** And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob: **[11:6]** And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may fight with the children of Ammon. **[11:7]** And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me, and expel me out of my father's house? and why are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress? **[11:8]** And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead. **[11:9]** And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the LORD deliver them before me, shall I be your head? **[11:10]** And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, The LORD be witness between us, if we do not so according to thy words. **[11:11]** Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and captain over them: and Jephthah uttered all his words before the LORD in Mizpeh. **[11:12]** And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against me to fight in my land? **[11:13]** And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably. **[11:14]** And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon: **[11:15]** And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon: **[11:16]** But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh; **[11:17]** Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land: but the king of Edom would not hearken thereto. And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab: but he would not consent: and Israel abode in Kadesh. **[11:18]** Then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab. **[11:19]** And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my place. **[11:20]** But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and pitched in Jahaz, and fought against Israel. **[11:21]** And the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. **[11:22]** And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan. **[11:23]** So now the LORD God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it? **[11:24]** Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess. **[11:25]** And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them, **[11:26]** While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred years? why therefore did ye not recover them within that time? **[11:27]** Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon. **[11:28]** Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah which he sent him. **[11:29]** Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon. **[11:30]** And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, **[11:31]** Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. **[11:32]** So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands. **[11:33]** And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel. **[11:34]** And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter. **[11:35]** And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back. **[11:36]** And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the LORD, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the LORD hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon. **[11:37]** And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows. **[11:38]** And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. **[11:39]** And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel, **[11:40]** That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year. **[12:1]** And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thine house upon thee with fire. **[12:2]** And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, ye delivered me not out of their hands. **[12:3]** And when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the LORD delivered them into my hand: wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day, to fight against me? **[12:4]** Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites. **[12:5]** And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay; **[12:6]** Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand. **[12:7]** And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead. **[12:8]** And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. **[12:9]** And he had thirty sons, and thirty daughters, whom he sent abroad, and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years. **[12:10]** Then died Ibzan, and was buried at Bethlehem. **[12:11]** And after him Elon, a Zebulonite, judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years. **[12:12]** And Elon the Zebulonite died, and was buried in Aijalon in the country of Zebulun. **[12:13]** And after him Abdon the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite, judged Israel. **[12:14]** And he had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on threescore and ten ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years. **[12:15]** And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the mount of the Amalekites. **[13:1]** And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years. **[13:2]** And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not. **[13:3]** And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. **[13:4]** Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: **[13:5]** For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. **[13:6]** Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name: **[13:7]** But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death. **[13:8]** Then Manoah intreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born. **[13:9]** And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her. **[13:10]** And the woman made haste, and ran, and showed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day. **[13:11]** And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am. **[13:12]** And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him? **[13:13]** And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware. **[13:14]** She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe. **[13:15]** And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee. **[13:16]** And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD. **[13:17]** And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honor? **[13:18]** And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret? **[13:19]** So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wonderously; and Manoah and his wife looked on. **[13:20]** For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground. **[13:21]** But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD. **[13:22]** And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. **[13:23]** But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have showed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these. **[13:24]** And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him. **[13:25]** And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol. **[14:1]** And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. **[14:2]** And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife. **[14:3]** Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well. **[14:4]** But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel. **[14:5]** Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him. **[14:6]** And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done. **[14:7]** And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well. **[14:8]** And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion. **[14:9]** And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion. **[14:10]** So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do. **[14:11]** And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him. **[14:12]** And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments: **[14:13]** But if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it. **[14:14]** And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle. **[14:15]** And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson's wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire: have ye called us to take that we have? is it not so? **[14:16]** And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee? **[14:17]** And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people. **[14:18]** And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion? and he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle. **[14:19]** And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house. **[14:20]** But Samson's wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend. **[15:1]** But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in. **[15:2]** And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her. **[15:3]** And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure. **[15:4]** And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails. **[15:5]** And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives. **[15:6]** Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire. **[15:7]** And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease. **[15:8]** And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam. **[15:9]** Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi. **[15:10]** And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us. **[15:11]** Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them. **[15:12]** And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves. **[15:13]** And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock. **[15:14]** And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands. **[15:15]** And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith. **[15:16]** And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men. **[15:17]** And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi. **[15:18]** And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised? **[15:19]** But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day. **[15:20]** And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years. **[16:1]** Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her. **[16:2]** And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him. **[16:3]** And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron. **[16:4]** And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. **[16:5]** And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver. **[16:6]** And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee. **[16:7]** And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withes that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. **[16:8]** Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withes which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. **[16:9]** Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withes, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known. **[16:10]** And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound. **[16:11]** And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. **[16:12]** Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread. **[16:13]** And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web. **[16:14]** And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web. **[16:15]** And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth. **[16:16]** And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; **[16:17]** That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man. **[16:18]** And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath showed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand. **[16:19]** And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. **[16:20]** And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him. **[16:21]** But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house. **[16:22]** Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven. **[16:23]** Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand. **[16:24]** And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us. **[16:25]** And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars. **[16:26]** And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them. **[16:27]** Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport. **[16:28]** And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. **[16:29]** And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left. **[16:30]** And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life. **[16:31]** Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years. **[17:1]** And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah. **[17:2]** And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my son. **[17:3]** And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee. **[17:4]** Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house of Micah. **[17:5]** And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. **[17:6]** In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. **[17:7]** And there was a young man out of Bethlehemjudah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. **[17:8]** And the man departed out of the city from Bethlehemjudah to sojourn where he could find a place: and he came to mount Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed. **[17:9]** And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto him, I am a Levite of Bethlehemjudah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place. **[17:10]** And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in. **[17:11]** And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was unto him as one of his sons. **[17:12]** And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. **[17:13]** Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest. **[18:1]** In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel. **[18:2]** And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valor, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there. **[18:3]** When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite: and they turned in thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this place? and what hast thou here? **[18:4]** And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath hired me, and I am his priest. **[18:5]** And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous. **[18:6]** And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before the LORD is your way wherein ye go. **[18:7]** Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land, that might put them to shame in any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any man. **[18:8]** And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren said unto them, What say ye? **[18:9]** And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land. **[18:10]** When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and to a large land: for God hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth. **[18:11]** And there went from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with weapons of war. **[18:12]** And they went up, and pitched in Kirjathjearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place Mahanehdan unto this day: behold, it is behind Kirjathjearim. **[18:13]** And they passed thence unto mount Ephraim, and came unto the house of Micah. **[18:14]** Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to do. **[18:15]** And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and saluted him. **[18:16]** And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, which were of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate. **[18:17]** And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the entering of the gate with the six hundred men that were appointed with weapons of war. **[18:18]** And these went into Micah's house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them, What do ye? **[18:19]** And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel? **[18:20]** And the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people. **[18:21]** So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the carriage before them. **[18:22]** And when they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men that were in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan. **[18:23]** And they cried unto the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company? **[18:24]** And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away: and what have I more? and what is this that ye say unto me, What aileth thee? **[18:25]** And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows run upon thee, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household. **[18:26]** And the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back unto his house. **[18:27]** And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people that were at quiet and secure: and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire. **[18:28]** And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Zidon, and they had no business with any man; and it was in the valley that lieth by Bethrehob. And they built a city, and dwelt therein. **[18:29]** And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first. **[18:30]** And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. **[18:31]** And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh. **[19:1]** And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Bethlehemjudah. **[19:2]** And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father's house to Bethlehemjudah, and was there four whole months. **[19:3]** And her husband arose, and went after her, to speak friendly unto her, and to bring her again, having his servant with him, and a couple of asses: and she brought him into her father's house: and when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet him. **[19:4]** And his father in law, the damsel's father, retained him; and he abode with him three days: so they did eat and drink, and lodged there. **[19:5]** And it came to pass on the fourth day, when they arose early in the morning, that he rose up to depart: and the damsel's father said unto his son in law, Comfort thine heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way. **[19:6]** And they sat down, and did eat and drink both of them together: for the damsel's father had said unto the man, Be content, I pray thee, and tarry all night, and let thine heart be merry. **[19:7]** And when the man rose up to depart, his father in law urged him: therefore he lodged there again. **[19:8]** And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart; and the damsel's father said, Comfort thine heart, I pray thee. And they tarried until afternoon, and they did eat both of them. **[19:9]** And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father in law, the damsel's father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and to morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home. **[19:10]** But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed, and came over against Jebus, which is Jerusalem; and there were with him two asses saddled, his concubine also was with him. **[19:11]** And when they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said unto his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn in into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it. **[19:12]** And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger, that is not of the children of Israel; we will pass over to Gibeah. **[19:13]** And he said unto his servant, Come, and let us draw near to one of these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah. **[19:14]** And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin. **[19:15]** And they turned aside thither, to go in and to lodge in Gibeah: and when he went in, he sat him down in a street of the city: for there was no man that took them into his house to lodging. **[19:16]** And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at even, which was also of mount Ephraim; and he sojourned in Gibeah: but the men of the place were Benjamites. **[19:17]** And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a wayfaring man in the street of the city: and the old man said, Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou? **[19:18]** And he said unto him, We are passing from Bethlehemjudah toward the side of mount Ephraim; from thence am I: and I went to Bethlehemjudah, but I am now going to the house of the LORD; and there is no man that receiveth me to house. **[19:19]** Yet there is both straw and provender for our asses; and there is bread and wine also for me, and for thy handmaid, and for the young man which is with thy servants: there is no want of any thing. **[19:20]** And the old man said, Peace be with thee; howsoever let all thy wants lie upon me; only lodge not in the street. **[19:21]** So he brought him into his house, and gave provender unto the asses: and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink. **[19:22]** Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him. **[19:23]** And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them, and said unto them, Nay, my brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly; seeing that this man is come into mine house, do not this folly. **[19:24]** Behold, here is my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing. **[19:25]** But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go. **[19:26]** Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was, till it was light. **[19:27]** And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way: and, behold, the woman his concubine was fallen down at the door of the house, and her hands were upon the threshold. **[19:28]** And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But none answered. Then the man took her up upon an ass, and the man rose up, and gat him unto his place. **[19:29]** And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the coasts of Israel. **[19:30]** And it was so, that all that saw it said, There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day: consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds. **[20:1]** Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beersheba, with the land of Gilead, unto the LORD in Mizpeh. **[20:2]** And the chief of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword. **[20:3]** (Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpeh.) Then said the children of Israel, Tell us, how was this wickedness? **[20:4]** And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said, I came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge. **[20:5]** And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round about upon me by night, and thought to have slain me: and my concubine have they forced, that she is dead. **[20:6]** And I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel: for they have committed lewdness and folly in Israel. **[20:7]** Behold, ye are all children of Israel; give here your advice and counsel. **[20:8]** And all the people arose as one man, saying, We will not any of us go to his tent, neither will we any of us turn into his house. **[20:9]** But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up by lot against it; **[20:10]** And we will take ten men of an hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and an hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to fetch victual for the people, that they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the folly that they have wrought in Israel. **[20:11]** So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one man. **[20:12]** And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that is done among you? **[20:13]** Now therefore deliver us the men, the children of Belial, which are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel. But the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel. **[20:14]** But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel. **[20:15]** And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, beside the inhabitants of Gibeah, which were numbered seven hundred chosen men. **[20:16]** Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss. **[20:17]** And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: all these were men of war. **[20:18]** And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up first. **[20:19]** And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped against Gibeah. **[20:20]** And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin; and the men of Israel put themselves in array to fight against them at Gibeah. **[20:21]** And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand men. **[20:22]** And the people the men of Israel encouraged themselves, and set their battle again in array in the place where they put themselves in array the first day. **[20:23]** (And the children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until even, and asked counsel of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And the LORD said, Go up against him.) **[20:24]** And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day. **[20:25]** And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men; all these drew the sword. **[20:26]** Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. **[20:27]** And the children of Israel inquired of the LORD, (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, **[20:28]** And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days,) saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And the LORD said, Go up; for to morrow I will deliver them into thine hand. **[20:29]** And Israel set liers in wait round about Gibeah. **[20:30]** And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times. **[20:31]** And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite of the people, and kill, as at other times, in the highways, of which one goeth up to the house of God, and the other to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel. **[20:32]** And the children of Benjamin said, They are smitten down before us, as at the first. But the children of Israel said, Let us flee, and draw them from the city unto the highways. **[20:33]** And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place, and put themselves in array at Baaltamar: and the liers in wait of Israel came forth out of their places, even out of the meadows of Gibeah. **[20:34]** And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore: but they knew not that evil was near them. **[20:35]** And the LORD smote Benjamin before Israel: and the children of Israel destroyed of the Benjamites that day twenty and five thousand and an hundred men: all these drew the sword. **[20:36]** So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten: for the men of Israel gave place to the Benjamites, because they trusted unto the liers in wait which they had set beside Gibeah. **[20:37]** And the liers in wait hasted, and rushed upon Gibeah; and the liers in wait drew themselves along, and smote all the city with the edge of the sword. **[20:38]** Now there was an appointed sign between the men of Israel and the liers in wait, that they should make a great flame with smoke rise up out of the city. **[20:39]** And when the men of Israel retired in the battle, Benjamin began to smite and kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons: for they said, Surely they are smitten down before us, as in the first battle. **[20:40]** But when the flame began to arise up out of the city with a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and, behold, the flame of the city ascended up to heaven. **[20:41]** And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of Benjamin were amazed: for they saw that evil was come upon them. **[20:42]** Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel unto the way of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them; and them which came out of the cities they destroyed in the midst of them. **[20:43]** Thus they inclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and trode them down with ease over against Gibeah toward the sunrising. **[20:44]** And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these were men of valor. **[20:45]** And they turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon: and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men; and pursued hard after them unto Gidom, and slew two thousand men of them. **[20:46]** So that all which fell that day of Benjamin were twenty and five thousand men that drew the sword; all these were men of valor. **[20:47]** But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months. **[20:48]** And the men of Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin, and smote them with the edge of the sword, as well the men of every city, as the beast, and all that came to hand: also they set on fire all the cities that they came to. **[21:1]** Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife. **[21:2]** And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore; **[21:3]** And said, O LORD God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel? **[21:4]** And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. **[21:5]** And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation unto the LORD? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to the LORD to Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely be put to death. **[21:6]** And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day. **[21:7]** How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives? **[21:8]** And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the LORD? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabeshgilead to the assembly. **[21:9]** For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead there. **[21:10]** And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children. **[21:11]** And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man. **[21:12]** And they found among the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead four hundred young virgins, that had known no man by lying with any male: and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan. **[21:13]** And the whole congregation sent some to speak to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably unto them. **[21:14]** And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them wives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabeshgilead: and yet so they sufficed them not. **[21:15]** And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. **[21:16]** Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin? **[21:17]** And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel. **[21:18]** Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters: for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin. **[21:19]** Then they said, Behold, there is a feast of the LORD in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah. **[21:20]** Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards; **[21:21]** And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. **[21:22]** And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come unto us to complain, that we will say unto them, Be favorable unto them for our sakes: because we reserved not to each man his wife in the war: for ye did not give unto them at this time, that ye should be guilty. **[21:23]** And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught: and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and repaired the cities, and dwelt in them. **[21:24]** And the children of Israel departed thence at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from thence every man to his inheritance. **[21:25]** In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

7 Judges - World English Bible (WEB).md

# Judges - World English Bible (WEB) **[1:1]** It happened after the death of Joshua, the children of Israel asked of Yahweh, saying, Who shall go up for us first against the Canaanites, to fight against them? **[1:2]** Yahweh said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand. **[1:3]** Judah said to Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with you into your lot. So Simeon went with him. **[1:4]** Judah went up; and Yahweh delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they struck of them in Bezek ten thousand men. **[1:5]** They found Adoni-bezek in Bezek; and they fought against him, and they struck the Canaanites and the Perizzites. **[1:6]** But Adoni-bezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. **[1:7]** Adoni-bezek said, "Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered [their food] under my table: as I have done, so God has requited me." They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there. **[1:8]** The children of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and took it, and struck it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire. **[1:9]** Afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill-country, and in the South, and in the lowland. **[1:10]** Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (now the name of Hebron before was Kiriath Arba); and they struck Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai. **[1:11]** From there he went against the inhabitants of Debir. (Now the name of Debir before was Kiriath Sepher.) **[1:12]** Caleb said, He who strikes Kiriath Sepher, and takes it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter as wife. **[1:13]** Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife. **[1:14]** It happened, when she came [to him], that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she alighted from off her donkey; and Caleb said to her, What would you? **[1:15]** She said to him, Give me a blessing; for that you have set me in the land of the South, give me also springs of water. Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. **[1:16]** The children of the Kenite, Moses' brother-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad; and they went and lived with the people. **[1:17]** Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they struck the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. The name of the city was called Hormah. **[1:18]** Also Judah took Gaza with the border of it, and Ashkelon with the border of it, and Ekron with the border of it. **[1:19]** Yahweh was with Judah; and drove out [the inhabitants of] the hill-country; for he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron. **[1:20]** They gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had spoken: and he drove out there the three sons of Anak. **[1:21]** The children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day. **[1:22]** The house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel; and Yahweh was with them. **[1:23]** The house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.) **[1:24]** The watchers saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said to him, Show us, we pray you, the entrance into the city, and we will deal kindly with you. **[1:25]** He shown them the entrance into the city; and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man go and all his family. **[1:26]** The man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name of it Luz, which is the name of it to this day. **[1:27]** Manasseh did not drive out [the inhabitants of] Beth-shean and its towns, nor [of] Taanach and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. **[1:28]** It happened, when Israel had grown strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, and did not utterly drive them out. **[1:29]** Ephraim didn't drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer; but the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them. **[1:30]** Zebulun didn't drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites lived among them, and became subject to forced labor. **[1:31]** Asher didn't drive out the inhabitants of Acco, nor the inhabitants of Sidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob; **[1:32]** but the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out. **[1:33]** Naphtali didn't drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beth Anath; but he lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth Anath became subject to forced labor. **[1:34]** The Amorites forced the children of Dan into the hill-country; for they would not allow them to come down to the valley; **[1:35]** but the Amorites would dwell in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became subject to forced labor. **[1:36]** The border of the Amorites was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward. **[2:1]** The angel of Yahweh came up from Gilgal to Bochim. He said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you to the land which I swore to your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you: **[2:2]** and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars. But you have not listened to my voice: why have you done this? **[2:3]** Therefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be [as thorns] in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you. **[2:4]** It happened, when the angel of Yahweh spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept. **[2:5]** They called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there to Yahweh. **[2:6]** Now when Joshua had sent the people away, the children of Israel went every man to his inheritance to possess the land. **[2:7]** The people served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of Yahweh that he had worked for Israel. **[2:8]** Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died, being one hundred ten years old. **[2:9]** They buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath Heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash. **[2:10]** Also all that generation were gathered to their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, who didn't know Yahweh, nor yet the work which he had worked for Israel. **[2:11]** The children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and served the Baals; **[2:12]** and they forsook Yahweh, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the peoples who were round about them, and bowed themselves down to them: and they provoked Yahweh to anger. **[2:13]** They forsook Yahweh, and served Baal and the Ashtaroth. **[2:14]** The anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers who despoiled them; and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. **[2:15]** Wherever they went out, the hand of Yahweh was against them for evil, as Yahweh had spoken, and as Yahweh had sworn to them: and they were sore distressed. **[2:16]** Yahweh raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who despoiled them. **[2:17]** Yet they didn't listen to their judges; for they played the prostitute after other gods, and bowed themselves down to them: they turned aside quickly out of the way in which their fathers walked, obeying the commandments of Yahweh; [but] they didn't do so. **[2:18]** When Yahweh raised them up judges, then Yahweh was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented Yahweh because of their groaning by reason of those who oppressed them and vexed them. **[2:19]** But it happened, when the judge was dead, that they turned back, and dealt more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down to them; they didn't cease from their doings, nor from their stubborn way. **[2:20]** The anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel; and he said, Because this nation have transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not listened to my voice; **[2:21]** I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations that Joshua left when he died; **[2:22]** that by them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of Yahweh to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not. **[2:23]** So Yahweh left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua. **[3:1]** Now these are the nations which Yahweh left, to prove Israel by them, even as many [of Israel] as had not known all the wars of Canaan; **[3:2]** only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing of it: **[3:3]** [namely], the five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to the entrance of Hamath. **[3:4]** They were [left], to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would listen to the commandments of Yahweh, which he commanded their fathers by Moses. **[3:5]** The children of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites: **[3:6]** and they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons and served their gods. **[3:7]** The children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and forgot Yahweh their God, and served the Baals and the Asheroth. **[3:8]** Therefore the anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Cushan Rishathaim eight years. **[3:9]** When the children of Israel cried to Yahweh, Yahweh raised up a savior to the children of Israel, who saved them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. **[3:10]** The Spirit of Yahweh came on him, and he judged Israel; and he went out to war, and Yahweh delivered Cushan Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand: and his hand prevailed against Cushan Rishathaim. **[3:11]** The land had rest forty years. Othniel the son of Kenaz died. **[3:12]** The children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh: and Yahweh strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh. **[3:13]** He gathered to him the children of Ammon and Amalek; and he went and struck Israel, and they possessed the city of palm trees. **[3:14]** The children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. **[3:15]** But when the children of Israel cried to Yahweh, Yahweh raised them up a savior, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a man left-handed. The children of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. **[3:16]** Ehud made him a sword which had two edges, a cubit in length; and he girded it under his clothing on his right thigh. **[3:17]** He offered the tribute to Eglon king of Moab: now Eglon was a very fat man. **[3:18]** When he had made an end of offering the tribute, he sent away the people who bore the tribute. **[3:19]** But he himself turned back from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand to you, king. He said, Keep silence. All who stood by him went out from him. **[3:20]** Ehud came to him; and he was sitting by himself alone in the cool upper room. Ehud said, I have a message from God to you. He arose out of his seat. **[3:21]** Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his body: **[3:22]** and the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed on the blade, for he didn't draw the sword out of his body; and it came out behind. **[3:23]** Then Ehud went forth into the porch, and shut the doors of the upper room on him, and locked them. **[3:24]** Now when he was gone out, his servants came; and they saw, and, behold, the doors of the upper room were locked; and they said, Surely he is covering his feet in the upper chamber. **[3:25]** They waited until they were ashamed; and, behold, he didn't open the doors of the upper room: therefore they took the key, and opened [them], and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth. **[3:26]** Ehud escaped while they waited, and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped to Seirah. **[3:27]** It happened, when he had come, that he blew a trumpet in the hill-country of Ephraim; and the children of Israel went down with him from the hill-country, and he before them. **[3:28]** He said to them, Follow after me; for Yahweh has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. They went down after him, and took the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites, and didn't allow a man to pass over. **[3:29]** They struck of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, every lusty man, and every man of valor; and there escaped not a man. **[3:30]** So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. The land had rest eighty years. **[3:31]** After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who struck of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox-goad: and he also saved Israel. **[4:1]** The children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, when Ehud was dead. **[4:2]** Yahweh sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth of the Gentiles. **[4:3]** The children of Israel cried to Yahweh: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel. **[4:4]** Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, she judged Israel at that time. **[4:5]** She lived under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill-country of Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. **[4:6]** She sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh-naphtali, and said to him, Hasn't Yahweh, the God of Israel, commanded, [saying], Go and draw to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? **[4:7]** I will draw to you, to the river Kishon, Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into your hand. **[4:8]** Barak said to her, If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go. **[4:9]** She said, I will surely go with you: notwithstanding, the journey that you take shall not be for your honor; for Yahweh will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh. **[4:10]** Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh; and there went up ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him. **[4:11]** Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, even from the children of Hobab the brother-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far as the oak in Zaanannim, which is by Kedesh. **[4:12]** They told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to Mount Tabor. **[4:13]** Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles, to the river Kishon. **[4:14]** Deborah said to Barak, Up; for this is the day in which Yahweh has delivered Sisera into your hand; hasn't Yahweh gone out before you? So Barak went down from Mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him. **[4:15]** Yahweh confused Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot, and fled away on his feet. **[4:16]** But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, to Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; there was not a man left. **[4:17]** However Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. **[4:18]** Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; don't be afraid. He came in to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. **[4:19]** He said to her, Please give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. She opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him. **[4:20]** He said to her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man does come and inquire of you, and say, Is there any man here? that you shall say, No. **[4:21]** Then Jael Heber's wife took a tent-pin, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him, and struck the pin into his temples, and it pierced through into the ground; for he was in a deep sleep; so he swooned and died. **[4:22]** Behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, Come, and I will show you the man whom you seek. He came to her; and, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the tent-pin was in his temples. **[4:23]** So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel. **[4:24]** The hand of the children of Israel prevailed more and more against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan. **[5:1]** Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying, **[5:2]** For that the leaders took the lead in Israel, For that the people offered themselves willingly, Bless you Yahweh. **[5:3]** Hear, you kings; give ear, you princes; I, [even] I, will sing to Yahweh; I will sing praise to Yahweh, the God of Israel. **[5:4]** Yahweh, when you went forth out of Seir, When you marched out of the field of Edom, The earth trembled, the sky also dropped, Yes, the clouds dropped water. **[5:5]** The mountains quaked at the presence of Yahweh, Even yon Sinai at the presence of Yahweh, the God of Israel. **[5:6]** In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, In the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, The travelers walked through byways. **[5:7]** The rulers ceased in Israel, they ceased, Until that I Deborah arose, That I arose a mother in Israel. **[5:8]** They chose new gods; Then was war in the gates: Was there a shield or spear seen Among forty thousand in Israel? **[5:9]** My heart is toward the governors of Israel, Who offered themselves willingly among the people: Bless you Yahweh. **[5:10]** Tell [of it], you who ride on white donkeys, You who sit on rich carpets, You who walk by the way. **[5:11]** Far from the noise of archers, in the places of drawing water, There shall they rehearse the righteous acts of Yahweh, [Even] the righteous acts of his rule in Israel. Then the people of Yahweh went down to the gates. **[5:12]** Awake, awake, Deborah; Awake, awake, utter a song: Arise, Barak, and lead away your captives, you son of Abinoam. **[5:13]** Then came down a remnant of the nobles [and] the people; Yahweh came down for me against the mighty. **[5:14]** Out of Ephraim [came down] they whose root is in Amalek; After you, Benjamin, among your peoples; Out of Machir came down governors, Out of Zebulun those who handle the marshal's staff. **[5:15]** The princes of Issachar were with Deborah; As was Issachar, so was Barak; Into the valley they rushed forth at his feet. By the watercourses of Reuben There were great resolves of heart. **[5:16]** Why sat you among the sheepfolds, To hear the whistling for the flocks? At the watercourses of Reuben There were great searchings of heart. **[5:17]** Gilead abode beyond the Jordan: Dan, why did he remain in ships? Asher sat still at the haven of the sea, Abode by his creeks. **[5:18]** Zebulun was a people that jeopardized their lives to the death, Naphtali, on the high places of the field. **[5:19]** The kings came and fought; Then fought the kings of Canaan. In Taanach by the waters of Megiddo: They took no gain of money. **[5:20]** From the sky the stars fought, From their courses they fought against Sisera. **[5:21]** The river Kishon swept them away, That ancient river, the river Kishon. My soul, march on with strength. **[5:22]** Then did the horse hoofs stamp By reason of the prancings, the prancings of their strong ones. **[5:23]** Curse you Meroz, said the angel of Yahweh. Curse you bitterly the inhabitants of it, Because they didn't come to the help of Yahweh, To the help of Yahweh against the mighty. **[5:24]** Blessed above women shall Jael be, The wife of Heber the Kenite; Blessed shall she be above women in the tent. **[5:25]** He asked water, [and] she gave him milk; She brought him butter in a lordly dish. **[5:26]** She put her hand to the tent-pin, Her right hand to the workmen's hammer; With the hammer she struck Sisera, she struck through his head; Yes, she pierced and struck through his temples. **[5:27]** At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay; At her feet he bowed, he fell; Where he bowed, there he fell down dead. **[5:28]** Through the window she looked forth, and cried, The mother of Sisera [cried] through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why do the wheels of his chariots wait? **[5:29]** Her wise ladies answered her, Yes, she returned answer to herself, **[5:30]** Have they not found, have they not divided the spoil? A lady, two ladies to every man; To Sisera a spoil of dyed garments, A spoil of dyed garments embroidered, Of dyed garments embroidered on both sides, on the necks of the spoil? **[5:31]** So let all your enemies perish, Yahweh: But let those who love him be as the sun when he goes forth in his might. The land had rest forty years. **[6:1]** The children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh: and Yahweh delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. **[6:2]** The hand of Midian prevailed against Israel; and because of Midian the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds. **[6:3]** So it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east; they came up against them; **[6:4]** and they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, until you come to Gaza, and left no sustenance in Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor donkey. **[6:5]** For they came up with their cattle and their tents; they came in as locusts for multitude; both they and their camels were without number: and they came into the land to destroy it. **[6:6]** Israel was brought very low because of Midian; and the children of Israel cried to Yahweh. **[6:7]** It happened, when the children of Israel cried to Yahweh because of Midian, **[6:8]** that Yahweh sent a prophet to the children of Israel: and he said to them, Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage; **[6:9]** and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out from before you, and gave you their land; **[6:10]** and I said to you, I am Yahweh your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But you have not listened to my voice. **[6:11]** The angel of Yahweh came, and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained to Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. **[6:12]** The angel of Yahweh appeared to him, and said to him, Yahweh is with you, you mighty man of valor. **[6:13]** Gideon said to him, Oh, my lord, if Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? and where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not Yahweh bring us up from Egypt? but now Yahweh has cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian. **[6:14]** Yahweh looked at him, and said, Go in this your might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian: have not I sent you? **[6:15]** He said to him, Oh, Lord, with which shall I save Israel? behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. **[6:16]** Yahweh said to him, Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man. **[6:17]** He said to him, If now I have found favor in your sight, then show me a sign that it is you who talk with me. **[6:18]** Please don't go away, until I come to you, and bring out my present, and lay it before you. He said, I will wait until you come again. **[6:19]** Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of meal: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out to him under the oak, and presented it. **[6:20]** The angel of God said to him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth. He did so. **[6:21]** Then the angel of Yahweh put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there went up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of Yahweh departed out of his sight. **[6:22]** Gideon saw that he was the angel of Yahweh; and Gideon said, Alas, Lord Yahweh! because I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face. **[6:23]** Yahweh said to him, Peace be to you; don't be afraid: you shall not die. **[6:24]** Then Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh, and called it Yahweh-shalom: to this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. **[6:25]** It happened the same night, that Yahweh said to him, Take your father's bull, even the second bull seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is by it; **[6:26]** and build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold, in the orderly manner, and take the second bull, and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down. **[6:27]** Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as Yahweh had spoken to him: and it happened, because he feared his father's household and the men of the city, so that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night. **[6:28]** When the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah was cut down that was by it, and the second bull was offered on the altar that was built. **[6:29]** They said one to another, Who has done this thing? When they inquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing. **[6:30]** Then the men of the city said to Joash, Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has broken down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the Asherah that was by it. **[6:31]** Joash said to all who stood against him, Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? he who will contend for him, let him be put to death while [it is yet] morning: if he be a god, let him contend for himself, because one has broken down his altar. **[6:32]** Therefore on that day he named him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal contend against him, because he has broken down his altar. **[6:33]** Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east assembled themselves together; and they passed over, and encamped in the valley of Jezreel. **[6:34]** But the Spirit of Yahweh came on Gideon; and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered together after him. **[6:35]** He sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; and they also were gathered together after him: and he sent messengers to Asher, and to Zebulun, and to Naphtali; and they came up to meet them. **[6:36]** Gideon said to God, If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken, **[6:37]** behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there be dew on the fleece only, and it be dry on all the ground, then shall I know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken. **[6:38]** It was so; for he rose up early on the next day, and pressed the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. **[6:39]** Gideon said to God, Don't let your anger be kindled against me, and I will speak but this once: Please let me make a trial just this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew. **[6:40]** God did so that night: for it was dry on the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground. **[7:1]** Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people who were with him, rose up early, and encamped beside the spring of Harod: and the camp of Midian was on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. **[7:2]** Yahweh said to Gideon, The people who are with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, My own hand has saved me. **[7:3]** Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead. There returned of the people twenty-two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. **[7:4]** Yahweh said to Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down to the water, and I will try them for you there: and it shall be, that of whom I tell you, This shall go with you, the same shall go with you; and of whoever I tell you, This shall not go with you, the same shall not go. **[7:5]** So he brought down the people to the water: and Yahweh said to Gideon, Everyone who laps of the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, him shall you set by himself; likewise everyone who bows down on his knees to drink. **[7:6]** The number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down on their knees to drink water. **[7:7]** Yahweh said to Gideon, By the three hundred men who lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand; and let all the people go every man to his place. **[7:8]** So the people took food in their hand, and their trumpets; and he sent all the men of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the three hundred men: and the camp of Midian was beneath him in the valley. **[7:9]** It happened the same night, that Yahweh said to him, Arise, get you down into the camp; for I have delivered it into your hand. **[7:10]** But if you fear to go down, go you with Purah your servant down to the camp: **[7:11]** and you shall hear what they say; and afterward shall your hands be strengthened to go down into the camp. Then went he down with Purah his servant to the outermost part of the armed men who were in the camp. **[7:12]** The Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like locusts for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand which is on the sea-shore for multitude. **[7:13]** When Gideon had come, behold, there was a man telling a dream to his fellow; 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. **[7:14]** His fellow answered, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: into his hand God has delivered Midian, and all the host. **[7:15]** It was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation of it, that he worshiped; and he returned into the camp of Israel, and said, Arise; for Yahweh has delivered into your hand the host of Midian. **[7:16]** He divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put into the hands of all of them trumpets, and empty pitchers, with torches within the pitchers. **[7:17]** He said to them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outermost part of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall you do. **[7:18]** When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow you the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, For Yahweh and for Gideon. **[7:19]** So Gideon, and the hundred men who were with him, came to the outermost part of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch, when they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and broke in pieces the pitchers that were in their hands. **[7:20]** The three companies blew the trumpets, and broke the pitchers, and held the torches in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands with which to blow; and they cried, The sword of Yahweh and of Gideon. **[7:21]** They stood every man in his place round about the camp; and all the host ran; and they shouted, and put [them] to flight. **[7:22]** They blew the three hundred trumpets, and Yahweh set every man's sword against his fellow, and against all the host; and the host fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel Meholah, by Tabbath. **[7:23]** The men of Israel were gathered together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after Midian. **[7:24]** Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill-country of Ephraim, saying, Come down against Midian, and take before them the waters, as far as Beth Barah, even the Jordan. So all the men of Ephraim were gathered together, and took the waters as far as Beth Barah, even the Jordan. **[7:25]** They took the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian: and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan. **[8:1]** The men of Ephraim said to him, Why have you served us thus, that you didn't call us, when you went to fight with Midian? They did chide with him sharply. **[8:2]** He said to them, What have I now done in comparison with you? Isn't the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? **[8:3]** God has delivered into your hand the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb: and what was I able to do in comparison with you? Then their anger was abated toward him, when he had said that. **[8:4]** Gideon came to the Jordan, [and] passed over, he, and the three hundred men who were with him, faint, yet pursuing. **[8:5]** He said to the men of Succoth, Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me; for they are faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian. **[8:6]** The princes of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army? **[8:7]** Gideon said, Therefore when Yahweh has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers. **[8:8]** He went up there to Penuel, and spoke to them in like manner; and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. **[8:9]** He spoke also to the men of Penuel, saying, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower. **[8:10]** Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of all the host of the children of the east; for there fell one hundred twenty thousand men who drew sword. **[8:11]** Gideon went up by the way of those who lived in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and struck the host; for the host was secure. **[8:12]** Zebah and Zalmunna fled; and he pursued after them; and he took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and confused all the host. **[8:13]** Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle from the ascent of Heres. **[8:14]** He caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and inquired of him: and he described for him the princes of Succoth, and the elders of it, seventy-seven men. **[8:15]** He came to the men of Succoth, and said, See Zebah and Zalmunna, concerning whom you did taunt me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are weary? **[8:16]** He took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth. **[8:17]** He broke down the tower of Penuel, and killed the men of the city. **[8:18]** Then said he to Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom you killed at Tabor? They answered, As you are, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king. **[8:19]** He said, They were my brothers, the sons of my mother: as Yahweh lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you. **[8:20]** He said to Jether his firstborn, Up, and kill them. But the youth didn't draw his sword; for he feared, because he was yet a youth. **[8:21]** Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise you, and fall on us; for as the man is, so is his strength. Gideon arose, and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescents that were on their camels' necks. **[8:22]** Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, Rule you over us, both you, and your son, and your son's son also; for you have saved us out of the hand of Midian. **[8:23]** Gideon said to them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: Yahweh shall rule over you. **[8:24]** Gideon said to them, I would make a request of you, that you would give me every man the ear-rings of his spoil. (For they had golden ear-rings, because they were Ishmaelites.) **[8:25]** They answered, We will willingly give them. They spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the ear-rings of his spoil. **[8:26]** The weight of the golden ear-rings that he requested was one thousand and seven hundred [shekels] of gold, besides the crescents, and the pendants, and the purple clothing that was on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were about their camels' necks. **[8:27]** Gideon made an ephod of it, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel played the prostitute after it there; and it became a snare to Gideon, and to his house. **[8:28]** So Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, and they lifted up their heads no more. The land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon. **[8:29]** Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house. **[8:30]** Gideon had seventy sons conceived from his body; for he had many wives. **[8:31]** His concubine who was in Shechem, she also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech. **[8:32]** Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. **[8:33]** It happened, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and played the prostitute after the Baals, and made Baal Berith their god. **[8:34]** The children of Israel didn't remember Yahweh their God, who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side; **[8:35]** neither shown they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, [who is] Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shown to Israel. **[9:1]** 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, **[9:2]** Please speak in the ears of all the men of Shechem, Whether is better for you, that all the sons of Jerubbaal, who are seventy persons, rule over you, or that one rule over you? Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh. **[9:3]** His mother's brothers spoke 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. **[9:4]** They gave him seventy [pieces] of silver out of the house of Baal Berith, with which Abimelech hired vain and light fellows, who followed him. **[9:5]** He went to his father's house at Ophrah, and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, being seventy persons, on one stone: but Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left; for he hid himself. **[9:6]** All the men of Shechem assembled themselves together, and all the house of Millo, and went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar that was in Shechem. **[9:7]** When they told it to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said to them, Listen to me, you men of Shechem, that God may listen to you. **[9:8]** The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said to the olive tree, Reign you over us. **[9:9]** But the olive tree said to them, Should I leave my fatness, with which by me they honor God and man, and go to wave back and forth over the trees? **[9:10]** The trees said to the fig tree, Come you, and reign over us. **[9:11]** But the fig tree said to them, Should I leave my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to wave back and forth over the trees? **[9:12]** The trees said to the vine, Come you, and reign over us. **[9:13]** The vine said to them, Should I leave my new wine, which cheers God and man, and go to wave back and forth over the trees? **[9:14]** Then said all the trees to the bramble, Come you, and reign over us. **[9:15]** The bramble said to the trees, If in truth you anoint me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon. **[9:16]** Now therefore, if you have dealt truly and righteously, in that you have made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done to him according to the deserving of his hands **[9:17]** (for my father fought for you, and adventured his life, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian: **[9:18]** and you are risen up against my father's house this day, and have slain his sons, seventy persons, on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maid-servant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother); **[9:19]** if you then have dealt truly and righteously with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice you in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you: **[9:20]** but 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. **[9:21]** Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and lived there, for fear of Abimelech his brother. **[9:22]** Abimelech was prince over Israel three years. **[9:23]** God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech: **[9:24]** that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and that their blood might be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers. **[9:25]** The men of Shechem set liers-in-wait for him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all who came along that way by them: and it was told Abimelech. **[9:26]** Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brothers, and went over to Shechem; and the men of Shechem put their trust in him. **[9:27]** They went out into the field, and gathered their vineyards, and trod [the grapes], and held festival, and went into the house of their god, and did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelech. **[9:28]** Gaal the son of Ebed said, Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Isn't he the son of Jerubbaal? and Zebul his officer? serve you the men of Hamor the father of Shechem: but why should we serve him? **[9:29]** Would that this people were under my hand! then would I remove Abimelech. He said to Abimelech, Increase your army, and come out. **[9:30]** When Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled. **[9:31]** He sent messengers to Abimelech craftily, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brothers are come to Shechem; and, behold, they constrain the city [to take part] against you. **[9:32]** Now therefore, up by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field: **[9:33]** and it shall be, that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, you shall rise early, and rush on the city; and, behold, when he and the people who are with him come out against you, then may you do to them as you shall find occasion. **[9:34]** Abimelech rose up, and all the people who were with him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies. **[9:35]** Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city: and Abimelech rose up, and the people who were with him, from the ambush. **[9:36]** When Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold, there come people down from the tops of the mountains. Zebul said to him, You see the shadow of the mountains as if they were men. **[9:37]** Gaal spoke again and said, Behold, there come people down by the middle of the land, and one company comes by the way of the oak of Meonenim. **[9:38]** Then said Zebul to him, Where is now your mouth, that you said, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? is not this the people that you have despised? go out now, I pray, and fight with them. **[9:39]** Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech. **[9:40]** Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and there fell many wounded, even to the entrance of the gate. **[9:41]** Abimelech lived at Arumah: and Zebul drove out Gaal and his brothers, that they should not dwell in Shechem. **[9:42]** It happened on the next day, that the people went out into the field; and they told Abimelech. **[9:43]** He took the people, and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the field; and he looked, and, behold, the people came forth out of the city; He rose up against them, and struck them. **[9:44]** Abimelech, and the companies that were with him, rushed forward, and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city: and the two companies rushed on all who were in the field, and struck them. **[9:45]** Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and killed the people who were therein: and he beat down the city, and sowed it with salt. **[9:46]** When all the men of the tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered into the stronghold of the house of Elberith. **[9:47]** It was told Abimelech that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. **[9:48]** Abimelech got him 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 bough from the trees, and took it up, and laid it on his shoulder: and he said to the people who were with him, What you have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done. **[9:49]** All the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them to the stronghold, and set the stronghold on fire on them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women. **[9:50]** Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it. **[9:51]** But there was a strong tower within the city, and there fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut themselves in, and got them up to the roof of the tower. **[9:52]** Abimelech came to the tower, and fought against it, and drew near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire. **[9:53]** A certain woman cast an upper millstone on Abimelech's head, and broke his skull. **[9:54]** Then he called hastily to the young man his armor bearer, and said to him, Draw your sword, and kill me, that men not say of me, A woman killed him. His young man thrust him through, and he died. **[9:55]** When the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man to his place. **[9:56]** Thus God requited the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did to his father, in killing his seventy brothers; **[9:57]** and all the wickedness of the men of Shechem did God requite on their heads: and on them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal. **[10:1]** After Abimelech there arose to save Israel Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he lived in Shamir in the hill-country of Ephraim. **[10:2]** He judged Israel twenty-three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir. **[10:3]** After him arose Jair, the Gileadite; and he judged Israel twenty-two years. **[10:4]** He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkey colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havvoth Jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead. **[10:5]** Jair died, and was buried in Kamon. **[10:6]** The children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and served the Baals, and the Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Sidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook Yahweh, and didn't serve him. **[10:7]** The anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the children of Ammon. **[10:8]** They vexed and oppressed the children of Israel that year: eighteen years [oppressed they] all the children of Israel that were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. **[10:9]** The children of Ammon passed over the Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim; so that Israel was sore distressed. **[10:10]** The children of Israel cried to Yahweh, saying, We have sinned against you, even because we have forsaken our God, and have served the Baals. **[10:11]** Yahweh said to the children of Israel, Didn't I save you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines? **[10:12]** The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and you cried to me, and I saved you out of their hand. **[10:13]** Yet you have forsaken me, and served other gods: therefore I will save you no more. **[10:14]** Go and cry to the gods which you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress. **[10:15]** The children of Israel said to Yahweh, We have sinned: do you to us whatever seems good to you; only deliver us, we pray you, this day. **[10:16]** They put away the foreign gods from among them, and served Yahweh; and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel. **[10:17]** Then the children of Ammon were gathered together, and encamped in Gilead. The children of Israel assembled themselves together, and encamped in Mizpah. **[10:18]** The people, the princes of Gilead, said one to another, What man is he who will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? he shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead. **[11:1]** Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of a prostitute: and Gilead became the father of Jephthah. **[11:2]** Gilead's wife bore him sons; and when his wife's sons grew up, they drove out Jephthah, and said to him, You shall not inherit in our father's house; for you are the son of another woman. **[11:3]** Then Jephthah fled from his brothers, and lived in the land of Tob: and there were gathered vain fellows to Jephthah, and they went out with him. **[11:4]** It happened after a while, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel. **[11:5]** It was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah out of the land of Tob; **[11:6]** and they said to Jephthah, Come and be our chief, that we may fight with the children of Ammon. **[11:7]** Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, Didn't you hate me, and drive me out of my father's house? and why are you come to me now when you are in distress? **[11:8]** The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, Therefore are we turned again to you now, that you may go with us, and fight with the children of Ammon; and you shall be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead. **[11:9]** Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, If you bring me home again to fight with the children of Ammon, and Yahweh deliver them before me, shall I be your head? **[11:10]** The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, Yahweh shall be witness between us; surely according to your word so will we do. **[11:11]** Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them: and Jephthah spoke all his words before Yahweh in Mizpah. **[11:12]** Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What have you to do with me, that you are come to me to fight against my land? **[11:13]** The king of the children of Ammon answered to the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when he came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon even to the Jabbok, and to the Jordan: now therefore restore those [lands] again peaceably. **[11:14]** Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the children of Ammon; **[11:15]** and he said to him, Thus says Jephthah: Israel didn't take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon, **[11:16]** but when they came up from Egypt, and Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea, and came to Kadesh; **[11:17]** then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, Please let me pass through your land; but the king of Edom didn't listen. In the same way, he sent to the king of Moab; but he would not: and Israel abode in Kadesh. **[11:18]** Then they went through the wilderness, and went around the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and they encamped on the other side of the Arnon; but they didn't come within the border of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. **[11:19]** Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, Let us pass, we pray you, through your land to my place. **[11:20]** But Sihon didn't trust Israel to pass through his border; but Sihon gathered all his people together, and encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel. **[11:21]** Yahweh, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they struck them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. **[11:22]** They possessed all the border of the Amorites, from the Arnon even to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness even to the Jordan. **[11:23]** So now Yahweh, the God of Israel, has dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and should you possess them? **[11:24]** Won't you possess that which Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whoever Yahweh our God has dispossessed from before us, them will we possess. **[11:25]** Now are you anything better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them? **[11:26]** While Israel lived in Heshbon and its towns, and in Aroer and its towns, and in all the cities that are along by the side of the Arnon, three hundred years; why didn't you recover them within that time? **[11:27]** I therefore have not sinned against you, but you do me wrong to war against me: Yahweh, the Judge, be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon. **[11:28]** However the king of the children of Ammon didn't listen to the words of Jephthah which he sent him. **[11:29]** Then the Spirit of Yahweh came on Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over to the children of Ammon. **[11:30]** Jephthah vowed a vow to Yahweh, and said, If you will indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand, **[11:31]** then it shall be, that whatever comes forth from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be Yahweh's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. **[11:32]** So Jephthah passed over to the children of Ammon to fight against them; and Yahweh delivered them into his hand. **[11:33]** He struck them from Aroer until you come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and to Abelcheramim, with a very great slaughter. So the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel. **[11:34]** Jephthah came to Mizpah to his house; and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances: and she was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. **[11:35]** It happened, when he saw her, that he tore his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! you have brought me very low, and you are one of those who trouble me; for I have opened my mouth to Yahweh, and I can't go back. **[11:36]** She said to him, My father, you have opened your mouth to Yahweh; do to me according to that which has proceeded out of your mouth, because Yahweh has taken vengeance for you on your enemies, even on the children of Ammon. **[11:37]** She said to her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may depart and go down on the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my companions. **[11:38]** He said, Go. He sent her away for two months: and she departed, she and her companions, and mourned her virginity on the mountains. **[11:39]** It happened at the end of two months, that she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she was a virgin. It was a custom in Israel, **[11:40]** that the daughters of Israel went yearly to celebrate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year. **[12:1]** The men of Ephraim were gathered together, and passed northward; and they said to Jephthah, Why did you pass over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didn't call us to go with you? we will burn your house on you with fire. **[12:2]** Jephthah said to them, I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, you didn't save me out of their hand. **[12:3]** When I saw that you didn't save me, I put my life in my hand, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and Yahweh delivered them into my hand: why then are you come up to me this day, to fight against me? **[12:4]** Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim; and the men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they said, You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim, [and] in the midst of Manasseh. **[12:5]** The Gileadites took the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. It was so, that when [any of] the fugitives of Ephraim said, Let me go over, the men of Gilead said to him, Are you an Ephraimite? If he said, No; **[12:6]** then said they to him, Say now Shibboleth; and he said Sibboleth; for he couldn't manage to pronounce it right: then they laid hold on him, and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. There fell at that time of Ephraim forty-two thousand. **[12:7]** Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in [one of] the cities of Gilead. **[12:8]** After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. **[12:9]** He had thirty sons; and thirty daughters he sent abroad, and thirty daughters he brought in from abroad for his sons. He judged Israel seven years. **[12:10]** Ibzan died, and was buried at Bethlehem. **[12:11]** After him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years. **[12:12]** Elon the Zebulunite died, and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun. **[12:13]** After him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel. **[12:14]** He had forty sons and thirty sons' sons, who rode on seventy donkey colts: and he judged Israel eight years. **[12:15]** Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill-country of the Amalekites. **[13:1]** The children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh; and Yahweh delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years. **[13:2]** There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and didn't bear. **[13:3]** The angel of Yahweh appeared to the woman, and said to her, See now, you are barren, and don't bear; but you shall conceive, and bear a son. **[13:4]** Now therefore please beware and drink no wine nor strong drink, and don't eat any unclean thing: **[13:5]** for, behold, you shall conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head; for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb: and he shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. **[13:6]** Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came to me, and his face was like the face of the angel of God, very awesome; and I didn't ask him whence he was, neither did he tell me his name: **[13:7]** but he said to me, Behold, you shall conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing; for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death. **[13:8]** Then Manoah entreated Yahweh, and said, Oh, Lord, please let the man of God whom you did send come again to us, and teach us what we shall do to the child who shall be born. **[13:9]** God listened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah, her husband, wasn't with her. **[13:10]** The woman made haste, and ran, and told her husband, and said to him, Behold, the man has appeared to me, who came to me the [other] day. **[13:11]** Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said to him, Are you the man who spoke to the woman? He said, I am. **[13:12]** Manoah said, Now let your words happen: what shall be the ordering of the child, and [how] shall we do to him? **[13:13]** The angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, Of all that I said to the woman let her beware. **[13:14]** She may not eat of anything that comes of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; all that I commanded her let her observe. **[13:15]** Manoah said to the angel of Yahweh, I pray you, let us detain you, that we may make ready a kid for you. **[13:16]** The angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, Though you detain me, I won't eat of your bread; and if you will make ready a burnt offering, you must offer it to Yahweh. For Manoah didn't know that he was the angel of Yahweh. **[13:17]** Manoah said to the angel of Yahweh, What is your name, that when your words happen, we may honor you? **[13:18]** The angel of Yahweh said to him, Why do you ask after my name, seeing it is wonderful? **[13:19]** So Manoah took the kid with the meal-offering, and offered it on the rock to Yahweh: and [the angel] did wondrously, and Manoah and his wife looked on. **[13:20]** For it happened, when the flame went up toward the sky from off the altar, that the angel of Yahweh ascended in the flame of the altar: and Manoah and his wife looked on; and they fell on their faces to the ground. **[13:21]** But the angel of Yahweh did no more appear to Manoah or to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of Yahweh. **[13:22]** Manoah said to his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. **[13:23]** But his wife said to him, If Yahweh were pleased to kill us, he wouldn't have received a burnt offering and a meal-offering at our hand, neither would he have shown us all these things, nor would at this time have told such things as these. **[13:24]** The woman bore a son, and named him Samson: and the child grew, and Yahweh blessed him. **[13:25]** The Spirit of Yahweh began to move him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol. **[14:1]** Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. **[14:2]** He came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me as wife. **[14:3]** Then his father and his mother said to him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of your brothers, or among all my people, that you go to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? Samson said to his father, Get her for me; for she pleases me well. **[14:4]** But his father and his mother didn't know that it was of Yahweh; for he sought an occasion against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines had rule over Israel. **[14:5]** Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnah, and came to the vineyards of Timnah: and, behold, a young lion roared against him. **[14:6]** The Spirit of Yahweh came mightily on him, and he tore him as he would have torn a kid; and he had nothing in his hand: but he didn't tell his father or his mother what he had done. **[14:7]** He went down, and talked with the woman, and she pleased Samson well. **[14:8]** After a while he returned to take her; and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey. **[14:9]** He took it into his hands, and went on, eating as he went; and he came to his father and mother, and gave to them, and they ate: but he didn't tell them that he had taken the honey out of the body of the lion. **[14:10]** His father went down to the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do. **[14:11]** It happened, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him. **[14:12]** Samson said to them, Let me now put forth a riddle to you: if you can declare it to me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing; **[14:13]** but if you can't declare it to me, then shall you give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing. They said to him, Put forth your riddle, that we may hear it. **[14:14]** He said to them, Out of the eater came forth food, Out of the strong came forth sweetness. They couldn't in three days declare the riddle. **[14:15]** It happened on the seventh day, that they said to Samson's wife, Entice your husband, that he may declare to us the riddle, lest we burn you and your father's house with fire: have you called us to impoverish us? is it not [so]? **[14:16]** Samson's wife wept before him, and said, You do but hate me, and don't love me: you have put forth a riddle to the children of my people, and haven't told it me. He said to her, Behold, I haven't told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell you? **[14:17]** She wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it happened on the seventh day, that he told her, because she pressed him sore; and she told the riddle to the children of her people. **[14:18]** The men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? He said to them, If you hadn't plowed with my heifer, You wouldn't have found out my riddle. **[14:19]** The Spirit of Yahweh came mightily on him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and struck thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave the changes [of clothing] to those who declared the riddle. His anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house. **[14:20]** But Samson's wife was [given] to his companion, whom he had used as his friend. **[15:1]** But it happened after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father wouldn't allow him to go in. **[15:2]** Her father said, I most assuredly thought that you had utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to your companion: isn't her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her, instead. **[15:3]** Samson said to them, This time shall I be blameless in regard of the Philistines, when I do them a mischief. **[15:4]** Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between every two tails. **[15:5]** When he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks and the standing grain, and also the olive groves. **[15:6]** Then the Philistines said, Who has done this? They said, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife, and given her to his companion. The Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire. **[15:7]** Samson said to them, If you do after this manner, surely I will be avenged of you, and after that I will cease. **[15:8]** He struck them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and lived in the cleft of the rock of Etam. **[15:9]** Then the Philistines went up, and encamped in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi. **[15:10]** The men of Judah said, Why are you come up against us? They said, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he has done to us. **[15:11]** Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, "Don't you know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?" He said to them, As they did to me, so have I done to them. **[15:12]** They said to him, We have come down to bind you, that we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines. Samson said to them, Swear to me that you will not fall on me yourselves. **[15:13]** They spoke to him, saying, No; but we will bind you fast, and deliver you into their hand: but surely we will not kill you. They bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock. **[15:14]** When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him: and the Spirit of Yahweh came mightily on him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands dropped from off his hands. **[15:15]** He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put forth his hand, and took it, and struck a thousand men therewith. **[15:16]** Samson said, With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps on heaps, With the jawbone of a donkey I have struck a thousand men. **[15:17]** It happened, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand; and that place was called Ramath Lehi. **[15:18]** He was very thirsty, and called on Yahweh, and said, You have given this great deliverance by the hand of your servant; and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised. **[15:19]** But God split the hollow place that is in Lehi, and water came out of it. When he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: therefore the name of it was called En Hakkore, which is in Lehi, to this day. **[15:20]** He judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years. **[16:1]** Samson went to Gaza, and saw there a prostitute, and went in to her. **[16:2]** [It was told] the Gazites, saying, Samson is come here. They compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, [Let be] until morning light, then we will kill him. **[16:3]** Samson lay until midnight, and arose at midnight, and laid hold of the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and plucked them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the mountain that is before Hebron. **[16:4]** It came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. **[16:5]** The lords of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her, Entice him, and see in which his great strength lies, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will each give you of us eleven hundred [pieces] of silver. **[16:6]** Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, Please, in which your great strength lies, and with which you might be bound to afflict you. **[16:7]** Samson said to her, If they bind me with seven green cords that were never dried, then shall I become weak, and be as another man. **[16:8]** Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green cords which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. **[16:9]** Now she had liers-in-wait abiding in the inner chamber. She said to him, The Philistines are on you, Samson. He broke the cords, as a string of tow is broken when it touches the fire. So his strength was not known. **[16:10]** Delilah said to Samson, Behold, you have mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, Please, with which you might be bound. **[16:11]** He said to her, If they only bind me with new ropes with which no work has been done, then shall I become weak, and be as another man. **[16:12]** So Delilah took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said to him, The Philistines are on you, Samson. The liers-in-wait were abiding in the inner chamber. He broke them off his arms like a thread. **[16:13]** Delilah said to Samson, Hitherto you have mocked me, and told me lies: tell me with which you might be bound. He said to her, If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web. **[16:14]** She fastened it with the pin, and said to him, The Philistines are on you, Samson. He awakened out of his sleep, and plucked away the pin of the beam, and the web. **[16:15]** She said to him, How can you say, I love you, when your heart is not with me? you have mocked me these three times, and have not told me in which your great strength lies. **[16:16]** It happened, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, that his soul was vexed to death. **[16:17]** He told her all his heart, and said to her, "No razor has ever come on my head; for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will go from me, and I will become weak, and be like any other man." **[16:18]** When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he has told me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought the money in their hand. **[16:19]** She made him sleep on her knees; and she called for a man, and shaved off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. **[16:20]** She said, The Philistines are on you, Samson. He awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free. But he didn't know that Yahweh had departed from him. **[16:21]** The Philistines laid hold on him, and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison-house. **[16:22]** However the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaved. **[16:23]** The lords of the Philistines gathered them together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice; for they said, Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hand. **[16:24]** When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, Our god has delivered into our hand our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, who has slain many of us. **[16:25]** It happened, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. They called for Samson out of the prison-house; and he made sport before them. They set him between the pillars: **[16:26]** and Samson said to the boy who held him by the hand, Allow me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house rests, that I may lean on them. **[16:27]** Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were on the roof about three thousand men and women, who saw while Samson made sport. **[16:28]** Samson called to Yahweh, and said, Lord Yahweh, remember me, Please, and strengthen me, Please, only this once, God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. **[16:29]** Samson took hold of the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and leaned on them, the one with his right hand, and the other with his left. **[16:30]** Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. He bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell on the lords, and on all the people who were therein. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than those who he killed in his life. **[16:31]** Then his brothers and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burying-place of Manoah his father. He judged Israel twenty years. **[17:1]** There was a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. **[17:2]** He said to his mother, The eleven hundred [pieces] of silver that were taken from you, about which you did utter a curse, and did also speak it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. His mother said, Blessed be my son of Yahweh. **[17:3]** He restored the eleven hundred [pieces] of silver to his mother; and his mother said, I most assuredly dedicate the silver to Yahweh from my hand for my son, to make an engraved image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it to you. **[17:4]** When he restored the money to his mother, his mother took two hundred [pieces] of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made of it an engraved image and a molten image: and it was in the house of Micah. **[17:5]** The man Micah had a house of gods, and he made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. **[17:6]** In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes. **[17:7]** There was a young man out of Bethlehem Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he sojourned there. **[17:8]** The man departed out of the city, out of Bethlehem Judah, to sojourn where he could find [a place], and he came to the hill-country of Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he traveled. **[17:9]** Micah said to him, Whence come you? He said to him, I am a Levite of Bethlehem Judah, and I go to sojourn where I may find [a place]. **[17:10]** Micah said to him, Dwell with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten [pieces] of silver by the year, and a suit of clothing, and your food. So the Levite went in. **[17:11]** The Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was to him as one of his sons. **[17:12]** Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. **[17:13]** Then said Micah, Now know I that Yahweh will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest. **[18:1]** In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for to that day [their] inheritance had not fallen to them among the tribes of Israel. **[18:2]** The children of Dan sent of their family five men from their whole number, men of valor, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said to them, Go, search the land. They came to the hill-country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there. **[18:3]** When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite; and they turned aside there, and said to him, Who brought you here? and what do you in this place? and what have you here? **[18:4]** He said to them, Thus and thus has Micah dealt with me, and he has hired me, and I am become his priest. **[18:5]** They said to him, Ask counsel, we pray you, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous. **[18:6]** The priest said to them, Go in peace: before Yahweh is your way wherein you go. **[18:7]** Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people who were therein, how they lived in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; for there was none in the land, possessing authority, that might put [them] to shame in anything, and they were far from the Sidonians, and had no dealings with any man. **[18:8]** They came to their brothers to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brothers said to them, What [say] you? **[18:9]** They said, Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are you still? don't be slothful to go and to enter in to possess the land. **[18:10]** When you go, you shall come to a people secure, and the land is large; for God has given it into your hand, a place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth. **[18:11]** There set forth from there of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men girt with weapons of war. **[18:12]** They went up, and encamped in Kiriath Jearim, in Judah: therefore they called that place Mahaneh-dan, to this day; behold, it is behind Kiriath Jearim. **[18:13]** They passed there to the hill-country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah. **[18:14]** Then the five men who went to spy out the country of Laish answered, and said to their brothers, Do you know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and an engraved image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what you have to do. **[18:15]** They turned aside there, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even to the house of Micah, and asked him of his welfare. **[18:16]** The six hundred men girt with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate. **[18:17]** The five men who went to spy out the land went up, and came in there, and took the engraved image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men girt with weapons of war. **[18:18]** When these went into Micah's house, and fetched the engraved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image, the priest said to them, What do you? **[18:19]** They said to him, Hold your peace, lay your hand on your mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel? **[18:20]** The priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the engraved image, and went in the midst of the people. **[18:21]** So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the goods before them. **[18:22]** When they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men who were in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan. **[18:23]** They cried to the children of Dan. They turned their faces, and said to Micah, What ails you, that you come with such a company? **[18:24]** He said, you have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and are gone away, and what have I more? and how then say you to me, What ails you? **[18:25]** The children of Dan said to him, "Don't let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall on you, and you lose your life, with the lives of your household." **[18:26]** The children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house. **[18:27]** They took that which Micah had made, and the priest whom he had, and came to Laish, to a people quiet and secure, and struck them with the edge of the sword; and they burnt the city with fire. **[18:28]** There was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with any man; and it was in the valley that lies by Beth Rehob. They built the city, and lived therein. **[18:29]** They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel: however the name of the city was Laish at the first. **[18:30]** The children of Dan set up for themselves the engraved image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land. **[18:31]** So they set them up Micah's engraved image which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh. **[19:1]** It happened in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the farther side of the hill-country of Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Bethlehem Judah. **[19:2]** His concubine played the prostitute against him, and went away from him to her father's house to Bethlehem Judah, and was there the space of four months. **[19:3]** Her husband arose, and went after her, to speak kindly to her, to bring her again, having his servant with him, and a couple of donkeys: and she brought him into her father's house; and when the father of the young lady saw him, he rejoiced to meet him. **[19:4]** His father-in-law, the young lady's father, retained him; and he abode with him three days: so they ate and drink, and lodged there. **[19:5]** It happened on the fourth day, that they arose early in the morning, and he rose up to depart: and the young lady's father said to his son-in-law, Strengthen your heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward you shall go your way. **[19:6]** So they sat down, and ate and drink, both of them together: and the young lady's father said to the man, Please be pleased to stay all night, and let your heart be merry. **[19:7]** The man rose up to depart; but his father-in-law urged him, and he lodged there again. **[19:8]** He arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart; and the young lady's father said, Please strengthen your heart and stay until the day declines; and they ate, both of them. **[19:9]** When the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father-in-law, the young lady's father, said to him, Behold, now the day draws toward evening, please stay all night: behold, the day grows to an end, lodge here, that your heart may be merry; and tomorrow get you early on your way, that you may go home. **[19:10]** But the man wouldn't stay that night, but he rose up and departed, and came over against Jebus (the same is Jerusalem): and there were with him a couple of donkeys saddled; his concubine also was with him. **[19:11]** When they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said to his master, Please come and let us turn aside into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it. **[19:12]** His master said to him, We won't turn aside into the city of a foreigner, that is not of the children of Israel; but we will pass over to Gibeah. **[19:13]** He said to his servant, Come and let us draw near to one of these places; and we will lodge in Gibeah, or in Ramah. **[19:14]** So they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down on them near to Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin. **[19:15]** They turned aside there, to go in to lodge in Gibeah: and he went in, and sat him down in the street of the city; for there was no man who took them into his house to lodge. **[19:16]** Behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at even: now the man was of the hill-country of Ephraim, and he sojourned in Gibeah; but the men of the place were Benjamites. **[19:17]** He lifted up his eyes, and saw the wayfaring man in the street of the city; and the old man said, Where go you? and whence come you? **[19:18]** He said to him, We are passing from Bethlehem Judah to the farther side of the hill-country of Ephraim; from there am I, and I went to Bethlehem Judah: and I am [now] going to the house of Yahweh; and there is no man who takes me into his house. **[19:19]** Yet there is both straw and provender for our donkeys; and there is bread and wine also for me, and for your handmaid, and for the young man who is with your servants: there is no want of anything. **[19:20]** The old man said, Peace be to you; howsoever let all your wants lie on me; only don't lodge in the street. **[19:21]** So he brought him into his house, and gave the donkeys fodder; and they washed their feet, and ate and drink. **[19:22]** As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain base fellows, beset the house round about, beating at the door; and they spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man who came into your house, that we may know him. **[19:23]** The man, the master of the house, went out to them, and said to them, No, my brothers, please don't act so wickedly; seeing that this man is come into my house, don't do this folly. **[19:24]** Behold, here is my daughter a virgin, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble you them, and do with them what seems good to you: but to this man don't do any such folly. **[19:25]** But the men wouldn't listen to him: so the man laid hold on his concubine, and brought her forth to them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go. **[19:26]** Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was, until it was light. **[19:27]** Her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way; and, behold, the woman his concubine was fallen down at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold. **[19:28]** He said to her, Up, and let us be going; but none answered: then he took her up on the donkey; and the man rose up, and got him to his place. **[19:29]** When he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the borders of Israel. **[19:30]** It was so, that all who saw it said, There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt to this day: consider it, take counsel, and speak. **[20:1]** Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was assembled as one man, from Dan even to Beersheba, with the land of Gilead, to Yahweh at Mizpah. **[20:2]** The chiefs of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen who drew sword. **[20:3]** (Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) The children of Israel said, Tell us, how was this wickedness brought to pass? **[20:4]** The Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered, I came into Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge. **[20:5]** The men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round about me by night; me they thought to have slain, and my concubine they forced, and she is dead. **[20:6]** I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel; for they have committed lewdness and folly in Israel. **[20:7]** Behold, you children of Israel, all of you, give here your advice and counsel. **[20:8]** All the people arose as one man, saying, We will not any of us go to his tent, neither will we any of us turn to his house. **[20:9]** But now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah: [we will go up] against it by lot; **[20:10]** and we will take ten men of one hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and one hundred of one thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to get food for the people, that they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the folly that they have worked in Israel. **[20:11]** So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one man. **[20:12]** The tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that is happen among you? **[20:13]** Now therefore deliver up the men, the base fellows, who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel. But Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brothers the children of Israel. **[20:14]** The children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities to Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel. **[20:15]** The children of Benjamin were numbered on that day out of the cities twenty-six thousand men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who were numbered seven hundred chosen men. **[20:16]** Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men left-handed; everyone could sling stones at a hair-breadth, and not miss. **[20:17]** The men of Israel, besides Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men who drew sword: all these were men of war. **[20:18]** The children of Israel arose, and went up to Bethel, and asked counsel of God; and they said, Who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Benjamin? Yahweh said, Judah [shall go up] first. **[20:19]** The children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped against Gibeah. **[20:20]** The men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin; and the men of Israel set the battle in array against them at Gibeah. **[20:21]** The children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites on that day Twenty-two thousand men. **[20:22]** The people, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves, and set the battle again in array in the place where they set themselves in array the first day. **[20:23]** The children of Israel went up and wept before Yahweh until even; and they asked of Yahweh, saying, Shall I again draw near to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? Yahweh said, Go up against him. **[20:24]** The children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day. **[20:25]** Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men; all these drew the sword. **[20:26]** Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came to Bethel, and wept, and sat there before Yahweh, and fasted that day until even; and they offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before Yahweh. **[20:27]** The children of Israel asked of Yahweh (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, **[20:28]** and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days), saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? Yahweh said, Go up; for tomorrow I will deliver him into your hand. **[20:29]** Israel set liers-in-wait against Gibeah round about. **[20:30]** The children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and set themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times. **[20:31]** The children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to strike and kill of the people, as at other times, in the highways, of which one goes up to Bethel, and the other to Gibeah, in the field, about thirty men of Israel. **[20:32]** The children of Benjamin said, They are struck down before us, as at the first. But the children of Israel said, Let us flee, and draw them away from the city to the highways. **[20:33]** All the men of Israel rose up out of their place, and set themselves in array at Baal Tamar: and the liers-in-wait of Israel broke forth out of their place, even out of Maareh Geba. **[20:34]** There came over against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore; but they didn't know that evil was close on them. **[20:35]** Yahweh struck Benjamin before Israel; and the children of Israel destroyed of Benjamin that day twenty-five thousand one hundred men: all these drew the sword. **[20:36]** So the children of Benjamin saw that they were struck; for the men of Israel gave place to Benjamin, because they trusted to the liers-in-wait whom they had set against Gibeah. **[20:37]** The liers-in-wait hurried, and rushed on Gibeah; and the liers-in-wait drew themselves along, and struck all the city with the edge of the sword. **[20:38]** Now the appointed sign between the men of Israel and the liers-in-wait was that they should make a great cloud of smoke rise up out of the city. **[20:39]** The men of Israel turned in the battle, and Benjamin began to strike and kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons; for they said, Surely they are struck down before us, as in the first battle. **[20:40]** But when the cloud began to arise up out of the city in a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them; and, behold, the whole of the city went up in smoke to the sky. **[20:41]** The men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were dismayed; for they saw that evil had come on them. **[20:42]** Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel to the way of the wilderness; but the battle followed hard after them; and those who came out of the cities destroyed them in the midst of it. **[20:43]** They enclosed the Benjamites round about, [and] chased them, [and] trod them down at [their] resting-place, as far as over against Gibeah toward the sunrise. **[20:44]** There fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these [were] men of valor. **[20:45]** They turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon: and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men, and followed hard after them to Gidom, and struck of them two thousand men. **[20:46]** So that all who fell that day of Benjamin were twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword; all these [were] men of valor. **[20:47]** But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and abode in the rock of Rimmon four months. **[20:48]** The men of Israel turned again on the children of Benjamin, and struck them with the edge of the sword, both the entire city, and the cattle, and all that they found: moreover all the cities which they found they set on fire. **[21:1]** Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter to Benjamin as wife. **[21:2]** The people came to Bethel, and sat there until evening before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore. **[21:3]** They said, Yahweh, the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that there should be today one tribe lacking in Israel? **[21:4]** It happened on the next day that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace-offerings. **[21:5]** The children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who didn't come up in the assembly to Yahweh? For they had made a great oath concerning him who didn't come up to Yahweh to Mizpah, saying, He shall surely be put to death. **[21:6]** The children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day. **[21:7]** How shall we do for wives for those who remain, seeing we have sworn by Yahweh that we will not give them of our daughters to wives? **[21:8]** They said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel who didn't come up to Yahweh to Mizpah? Behold, there came none to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly. **[21:9]** For when the people were numbered, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead there. **[21:10]** The congregation sent there twelve thousand men of the most valiant, and commanded them, saying, Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the little ones. **[21:11]** This is the thing that you shall do: you shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has lain by man. **[21:12]** They found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young virgins, who had not known man by lying with him; and they brought them to the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan. **[21:13]** The whole congregation sent and spoke to the children of Benjamin who were in the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace to them. **[21:14]** Benjamin returned at that time; and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh Gilead: and yet so they weren't enough for them. **[21:15]** The people repented them for Benjamin, because that Yahweh had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. **[21:16]** Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for those who remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin? **[21:17]** They said, There must be an inheritance for those who are escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel. **[21:18]** However we may not give them wives of our daughters, for the children of Israel had sworn, saying, Cursed be he who gives a wife to Benjamin. **[21:19]** They said, Behold, there is a feast of Yahweh from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah. **[21:20]** They commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards, **[21:21]** and see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come you out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. **[21:22]** It shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, that we will say to them, Grant them graciously to us, because we didn't take for each man his wife in battle, neither did you give them to them, else would you now be guilty. **[21:23]** The children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of those who danced, whom they carried off: and they went and returned to their inheritance, and built the cities, and lived in them. **[21:24]** The children of Israel departed there at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from there every man to his inheritance. **[21:25]** In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

7 Judges - Young's Literal Translation (YLT).md

# Judges - Young's Literal Translation (YLT) **[1:1]** And it cometh to pass, after the death of Joshua, that the sons of Israel ask at Jehovah, saying, `Who doth go up for us unto the Canaanite, at the commencement, to fight against it?' **[1:2]** And Jehovah saith, `Judah doth go up; lo, I have given the land into his hand.' **[1:3]** And Judah saith to Simeon his brother, `Go up with me into my lot, and we fight against the Canaanite -- and I have gone, even I, with thee into thy lot;' and Simeon goeth with him. **[1:4]** And Judah goeth up, and Jehovah giveth the Canaanite and the Perizzite into their hand, and they smite them in Bezek -- ten thousand men; **[1:5]** and they find Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and fight against him, and smite the Canaanite and the Perizzite. **[1:6]** And Adoni-Bezek fleeth, and they pursue after him, and seize him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes, **[1:7]** and Adoni-Bezek saith, `Seventy kings -- their thumbs and their great toes cut off -- have been gathering under my table; as I have done so hath God repaid to me;' and they bring him in to Jerusalem, and he dieth there. **[1:8]** And the sons of Judah fight against Jerusalem, and capture it, and smite it by the mouth of the sword, and the city they have sent into fire; **[1:9]** and afterwards have the sons of Judah gone down to fight against the Canaanite, inhabiting the hill-country, and the south, and the low country; **[1:10]** and Judah goeth unto the Canaanite who is dwelling in Hebron (and the name of Hebron formerly `is' Kirjath-Arba), and they smite Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai. **[1:11]** And he goeth thence unto the inhabitants of Debir (and the name of Debir formerly `is' Kirjath-Sepher), **[1:12]** and Caleb saith, `He who smiteth Kirjath-Sepher -- and hath captured it -- then I have given to him Achsah my daughter for a wife.' **[1:13]** And Othniel son of Kenaz, younger brother of Caleb, doth capture it, and he giveth to him Achsah his daughter for a wife. **[1:14]** And it cometh to pass in her coming in, that she persuadeth him to ask from her father the field, and she lighteth from off the ass, and Caleb saith to her, `What -- to thee?' **[1:15]** And she saith to him, `Give to me a blessing; when the south land thou hast given me -- then thou hast given to me springs of water; and Caleb giveth to her the upper springs and the lower springs. **[1:16]** And the sons of the Kenite, father-in-law of Moses, have gone up out of the city of palms with the sons of Judah `to' the wilderness of Judah, which `is' in the south of Arad, and they go and dwell with the people. **[1:17]** And Judah goeth with Simeon his brother, and they smite the Canaanite inhabiting Zephath, and devote it; and `one' calleth the name of the city Hormah. **[1:18]** And Judah captureth Gaza and its border, and Askelon and its border, and Ekron and its border; **[1:19]** and Jehovah is with Judah, and he occupieth the hill-country, but not to dispossess the inhabitants of the valley, for they have chariots of iron. **[1:20]** And they give to Caleb Hebron, as Moses hath spoken, and he dispossesseth thence the three sons of Anak. **[1:21]** And the Jebusite, inhabiting Jerusalem, the sons of Benjamin have not dispossessed; and the Jebusite dwelleth with the sons of Benjamin, in Jerusalem, till this day. **[1:22]** And the house of Joseph go up -- even they -- to Beth-El, and Jehovah `is' with them; **[1:23]** and the house of Joseph cause `men' to spy about Beth-El (and the name of the city formerly is Luz), **[1:24]** and the watchers see a man coming out from the city, and say to him, `Shew us, we pray thee, the entrance of the city, and we have done with thee kindness.' **[1:25]** And he sheweth them the entrance of the city, and they smite the city by the mouth of the sword, and the man and all his family they have sent away; **[1:26]** and the man goeth to the land of the Hittites, and buildeth a city, and calleth its name Luz -- it `is' its name unto this day. **[1:27]** And Manasseh hath not occupied Beth-Shean and its towns, and Taanach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Iblaim and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns, and the Canaanite is desirous to dwell in that land; **[1:28]** and it cometh to pass, when Israel hath been strong, that he setteth the Canaanite to tribute, and hath not utterly dispossessed it. **[1:29]** And Ephraim hath not dispossessed the Canaanite who is dwelling in Gezer, and the Canaanite dwelleth in its midst, in Gezer. **[1:30]** Zebulun hath not dispossessed the inhabitants of Kitron, and the inhabitants of Nahalol, and the Canaanite dwelleth in its midst, and they become tributary. **[1:31]** Asher hath not dispossessed the inhabitants of Accho, and the inhabitants of Zidon, and Ahlab, and Achzib, and Helbah, and Aphik, and Rehob; **[1:32]** and the Asherite dwelleth in the midst of the Canaanite, the inhabitants of the land, for it hath not dispossessed them. **[1:33]** Naphtali hath not dispossessed the inhabitants of Beth-Shemesh, and the inhabitants of Beth-Anath, and he dwelleth in the midst of the Canaanite, the inhabitants of the land; and the inhabitants of Beth-Shemesh and of Beth-Anath have become tributary to them. **[1:34]** And the Amorites press the sons of Dan to the mountain, for they have not suffered them to go down to the valley; **[1:35]** and the Amorite is desirous to dwell in mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, and the hand of the house of Joseph is heavy, and they become tributary; **[1:36]** and the border of the Amorite `is' from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock and upward. **[2:1]** And a messenger of Jehovah goeth up from Gilgal unto Bochim, **[2:2]** and saith, `I cause you to come up out of Egypt, and bring you in unto the land which I have sworn to your fathers, and say, I do not break My covenant with you to the age; and ye -- ye make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land -- their altars ye break down; and ye have not hearkened to My voice -- what `is' this ye have done? **[2:3]** And I also have said, I do not cast them out from your presence, and they have been to you for adversaries, and their gods are to you for a snare.' **[2:4]** And it cometh to pass, when the messenger of Jehovah speaketh these words unto all the sons of Israel, that the people lift up their voice and weep, **[2:5]** and they call the name of that place Bochim, and sacrifice there to Jehovah. **[2:6]** And Joshua sendeth the people away, and the sons of Israel go, each to his inheritance, to possess the land; **[2:7]** and the people serve Jehovah all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who prolonged days after Joshua, who saw all the great work of Jehovah which He did to Israel. **[2:8]** And Joshua son of Nun, servant of Jehovah, dieth, a son of a hundred and ten years, **[2:9]** and they bury him in the border of his inheritance, in Timnath-Heres, in the hill-country of Ephraim, on the north of mount Gaash; **[2:10]** and also all that generation have been gathered unto their fathers, and another generation riseth after them who have not known Jehovah, and even the work which He hath done to Israel. **[2:11]** And the sons of Israel do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and serve the Baalim, **[2:12]** and forsake Jehovah, God of their fathers, who bringeth them out from the land of Egypt, and go after other gods (of the gods of the peoples who `are' round about them), and bow themselves to them, and provoke Jehovah, **[2:13]** yea, they forsake Jehovah, and do service to Baal and to Ashtaroth. **[2:14]** And the anger of Jehovah burneth against Israel, and He giveth them into the hand of spoilers, and they spoil them, and He selleth them into the hand of their enemies round about, and they have not been able any more to stand before their enemies; **[2:15]** in every `place' where they have gone out, the hand of Jehovah hath been against them for evil, as Jehovah hath spoken, and as Jehovah hath sworn to them, and they are distressed -- greatly. **[2:16]** And Jehovah raiseth up judges, and they save them from the hand of their spoilers; **[2:17]** and also unto their judges they have not hearkened, but have gone a-whoring after other gods, and bow themselves to them; they have turned aside `with' haste out of the way `in' which their fathers walked to obey the commands of Jehovah -- they have not done so. **[2:18]** And when Jehovah raised up to them judges -- then was Jehovah with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for it repenteth Jehovah, because of their groaning from the presence of their oppressors, and of those thrusting them away. **[2:19]** And it hath come to pass, at the death of the judge -- they turn back and have done corruptly above their fathers, to go after other gods, to serve them, and to bow themselves to them; they have not fallen from their doings, and from their stiff way. **[2:20]** And the anger of Jehovah doth burn against Israel, and He saith, `Because that this nation have transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened to My voice -- **[2:21]** I also continue not to dispossess any from before them of the nations which Joshua hath left when he dieth, **[2:22]** in order to try Israel by them, whether they are keeping the way of Jehovah, to go in it, as their fathers kept `it' or not.' **[2:23]** And Jehovah leaveth these nations, so as not to dispossess them hastily, and did not give them into the hand of Joshua. **[3:1]** And these `are' the nations which Jehovah left, to try Israel by them, all who have not known all the wars of Canaan; **[3:2]** (only for the sake of the generations of the sons of Israel's knowing, to teach them war, only those who formerly have not known them) -- **[3:3]** five princes of the Philistines, and all the Canaanite, and the Zidonian, and the Hivite inhabiting mount Lebanon, from mount Baal-Hermon unto the entering in of Hamath; **[3:4]** and they are to prove Israel by them, to know whether they obey the commands of Jehovah that He commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. **[3:5]** And the sons of Israel have dwelt in the midst of the Canaanite, the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, **[3:6]** and take their daughters to them for wives, and their daughters have given to their sons, and they serve their gods; **[3:7]** and the sons of Israel do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and forget Jehovah their God, and serve the Baalim and the shrines. **[3:8]** And the anger of Jehovah burneth against Israel, and He selleth them into the hand of Chushan-Rishathaim king of Aram-Naharaim, and the sons of Israel serve Chushan-Rishathaim eight years; **[3:9]** and the sons of Israel cry unto Jehovah, and Jehovah raiseth a saviour to the sons of Israel, and he saveth them -- Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother; **[3:10]** and the Spirit of Jehovah is upon him, and he judgeth Israel, and goeth out to battle, and Jehovah giveth unto his hand Chushan-Rishathaim king of Aram, and strong is his hand against Chushan-Rishathaim; **[3:11]** and the land resteth forty years. And Othniel son of Kenaz dieth, **[3:12]** and the sons of Israel add to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah; and Jehovah strengtheneth Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because that they have done the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah; **[3:13]** and he gathereth unto him the Bene-Ammon and Amalek, and goeth and smiteth Israel, and they possess the city of palms; **[3:14]** and the sons of Israel serve Eglon king of Moab eighteen years. **[3:15]** And the sons of Israel cry unto Jehovah, and Jehovah raiseth to them a saviour, Ehud son of Gera, a Benjamite (a man -- shut of his right hand), and the sons of Israel send by his hand a present to Eglon king of Moab; **[3:16]** and Ehud maketh for himself a sword, and it hath two mouths (a cubit `is' its length), and he girdeth it under his long robe on his right thigh; **[3:17]** and he bringeth near the present to Eglon king of Moab, and Eglon `is' a very fat man. **[3:18]** And it cometh to pass, when he hath finished to bring near the present, that he sendeth away the people bearing the present, **[3:19]** and he himself hath turned back from the graven images which `are' at Gilgal, and saith, `A secret word I have unto thee, O king;' and he saith, `Hush!' and go out from him do all those standing by him. **[3:20]** And Ehud hath come unto him, and he is sitting in the upper chamber of the wall which he hath for himself, and Ehud saith, `A word of God I have unto thee;' and he riseth from off the throne; **[3:21]** and Ehud putteth forth his left hand, and taketh the sword from off his right thigh, and striketh it into his belly; **[3:22]** and the haft also goeth in after the blade, and the fat shutteth on the blade, that he hath not drawn the sword out of his belly, and it goeth out at the fundament. **[3:23]** And Ehud goeth out at the porch, and shutteth the doors of the upper chamber upon him, and hath bolted `it'; **[3:24]** and he hath gone out, and his servants have come in, and look, and lo, the doors of the upper chamber are bolted, and they say, `He is only covering his feet in the inner chamber of the wall.' **[3:25]** And they stay till confounded, and lo, he is not opening the doors of the upper chamber, and they take the key, and open, and lo, their lord is fallen to the earth -- dead. **[3:26]** And Ehud escaped during their tarrying, and hath passed by the images, and is escaped to Seirath. **[3:27]** And it cometh to pass, in his coming in, that he bloweth with a trumpet in the hill-country of Ephraim, and go down with him do the sons of Israel from the hill-country, and he before them; **[3:28]** and he saith unto them, `Pursue after me, for Jehovah hath given your enemies, the Moabites, into your hand;' and they go down after him, and capture the passages of the Jordan towards Moab, and have not permitted a man to pass over. **[3:29]** And they smite Moab at that time, about ten thousand men, all robust, and every one a man of valour, and not a man hath escaped, **[3:30]** and Moab is humbled in that day under the hand of Israel; and the land resteth eighty years. **[3:31]** And after him hath been Shamgar son of Anath, and he smiteth the Philistines -- six hundred men -- with an ox-goad, and he saveth -- he also -- Israel. **[4:1]** And the sons of Israel add to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah when Ehud is dead, **[4:2]** and Jehovah selleth them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who hath reigned in Hazor, and the head of his host `is' Sisera, and he is dwelling in Harosheth of the Goyim; **[4:3]** and the sons of Israel cry unto Jehovah, for he hath nine hundred chariots of iron, and he hath oppressed the sons of Israel mightily twenty years. **[4:4]** And Deborah, a woman inspired, wife of Lapidoth, she is judging Israel at that time, **[4:5]** and she is dwelling under the palm-tree of Deborah, between Ramah and Beth-El, in the hill-country of Ephraim, and the sons of Israel go up unto her for judgment. **[4:6]** And she sendeth and calleth for Barak son of Abinoam, out of Kedesh-Naphtali, and saith unto him, `Hath not Jehovah, God of Israel, commanded? go, and thou hast drawn towards mount Tabor, and hast taken with thee ten thousand men, out of the sons of Naphtali, and out of the sons of Zebulun, **[4:7]** and I have drawn unto thee, unto the brook Kishon, Sisera, head of the host of Jabin, and his chariot, and his multitude, and have given him into thy hand.' **[4:8]** And Barak saith unto her, `If thou dost go with me, then I have gone; and if thou dost not go with me, I do not go;' **[4:9]** and she saith, `I do certainly go with thee; only, surely thy glory is not on the way which thou art going, for into the hand of a woman doth Jehovah sell Sisera;' and Deborah riseth and goeth with Barak to Kedesh. **[4:10]** And Barak calleth Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh, and he goeth up -- at his feet `are' ten thousand men -- and Deborah goeth up with him. **[4:11]** And Heber the Kenite hath been separated from the Kenite, from the sons of Hobab father-in-law of Moses, and he stretcheth out his tent unto the oak in Zaanaim, which `is' by Kedesh. **[4:12]** And they declare to Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam hath gone up to mount Tabor, **[4:13]** and Sisera calleth all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who `are' with him, from Harosheth of the Goyim, unto the brook Kishon. **[4:14]** And Deborah saith unto Barak, `Rise, for this `is' the day in which Jehovah hath given Sisera into thy hand; hath not Jehovah gone out before thee?' And Barak goeth down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him. **[4:15]** And Jehovah destroyeth Sisera, and all the chariots, and all the camp, by the mouth of the sword, before Barak, and Sisera cometh down from off the chariot, and fleeth on his feet. **[4:16]** And Barak hath pursued after the chariots and after the camp, unto Harosheth of the Goyim, and all the camp of Sisera falleth by the mouth of the sword -- there hath not been left even one. **[4:17]** And Sisera hath fled on his feet unto the tent of Jael wife of Heber the Kenite, for peace `is' between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite; **[4:18]** and Jael goeth out to meet Sisera, and saith unto him, `Turn aside, my lord, turn aside unto me, fear not;' and he turneth aside unto her, into the tent, and she covereth him with a coverlet. **[4:19]** And he saith unto her, `Give me to drink, I pray thee, a little water, for I am thirsty;' and she openeth the bottle of milk, and giveth him to drink, and covereth him. **[4:20]** And he saith unto her, `Stand at the opening of the tent, and it hath been, if any doth come in, and hath asked thee, and said, Is there a man here? that thou hast said, There is not.' **[4:21]** And Jael wife of Heber taketh the pin of the tent, and taketh the hammer in her hand, and goeth unto him gently, and striketh the pin into his temples, and it fasteneth in the earth -- and he hath been fast asleep, and is weary -- and he dieth. **[4:22]** And lo, Barak is pursuing Sisera, and Jael cometh out to meet him, and saith to him, `Come, and I shew thee the man whom thou art seeking;' and he cometh in unto her, and lo, Sisera is fallen -- dead, and the pin in his temples. **[4:23]** And God humbleth on that day Jabin king of Canaan before the sons of Israel, **[4:24]** and the hand of the sons of Israel goeth, going on and becoming hard on Jabin king of Canaan, till that they have cut off Jabin king of Canaan. **[5:1]** And Deborah singeth -- also Barak son of Abinoam -- on that day, saying: -- **[5:2]** `For freeing freemen in Israel, For a people willingly offering themselves Bless ye Jehovah. **[5:3]** Hear, ye kings; give ear, ye princes, I, to Jehovah, I -- I do sing, I sing praise to Jehovah, God of Israel. **[5:4]** Jehovah, in Thy going forth out of Seir, In Thy stepping out of the field of Edom, Earth trembled, also the heavens dropped, Also thick clouds dropped water. **[5:5]** Hills flowed from the face of Jehovah, This one -- Sinai -- From the face of Jehovah, God of Israel. **[5:6]** In the days of Shamgar son of Anath -- In the days of Jael -- The ways have ceased, And those going in the paths go `in' crooked ways. **[5:7]** Villages ceased in Israel -- they ceased, Till that I arose -- Deborah, That I arose, a mother in Israel. **[5:8]** He chooseth new gods, Then war `is' at the gates! A shield is not seen -- and a spear Among forty thousand in Israel. **[5:9]** My heart `is' to the lawgivers of Israel, Who are offering themselves willingly among the people, Bless ye Jehovah! **[5:10]** Riders on white asses -- Sitters on a long robe -- And walkers by the way -- meditate! **[5:11]** By the voice of shouters Between the places of drawing water, There they give out righteous acts of Jehovah, Righteous acts of His villages in Israel, Then ruled in the gates have the people of Jehovah. **[5:12]** Awake, awake, Deborah; Awake, awake, utter a song; Rise, Barak, and take captive thy captivity, Son of Abinoam. **[5:13]** Then him who is left of the honourable ones He caused to rule the people of Jehovah, He caused me to rule among the mighty. **[5:14]** Out of Ephraim their root `is' against Amalek. After thee, Benjamin, among thy peoples. Out of Machir came down lawgivers, And out of Zebulun those drawing with the reed of a writer. **[5:15]** And princes in Issachar `are' with Deborah, Yea, Issachar `is' right with Barak, Into the valley he was sent on his feet. In the divisions of Reuben, Great `are' the decrees of heart! **[5:16]** Why hast thou abode between the boundaries, To hear lowings of herds? For the divisions of Reuben, Great `are' the searchings of heart! **[5:17]** Gilead beyond the Jordan did tabernacle, And Dan -- why doth he sojourn `in' ships? Asher hath abode at the haven of the seas, And by his creeks doth tabernacle. **[5:18]** Zebulun `is' a people who exposed its soul to death, Naphtali also -- on high places of the field. **[5:19]** Kings came -- they fought; Then fought kings of Canaan, In Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo; Gain of money they took not! **[5:20]** From the heavens they fought: The stars from their highways fought with Sisera. **[5:21]** The brook Kishon swept them away, The brook most ancient -- the brook Kishon. Thou dost tread down strength, O my soul! **[5:22]** Then broken were the horse-heels, By pransings -- pransings of its mighty ones. **[5:23]** Curse Meroz -- said a messenger of Jehovah, Cursing, curse ye its inhabitants, For they came not to the help of Jehovah, To the help of Jehovah among the mighty! **[5:24]** Blessed above women is Jael, Wife of Heber the Kenite, Above women in the tent she is blessed. **[5:25]** Water he asked -- milk she gave; In a lordly dish she brought near butter. **[5:26]** Her hand to the pin she sendeth forth, And her right hand to the labourers' hammer, And she hammered Sisera -- she smote his head, Yea, she smote, and it passed through his temple. **[5:27]** Between her feet he bowed -- He fell, he lay down; Between her feet he bowed, he fell; Where he bowed, there he fell -- destroyed. **[5:28]** Through the window she hath looked out -- Yea, she crieth out -- the mother of Sisera, Through the lattice: Wherefore is his chariot delaying to come? Wherefore tarried have the steps of his chariot? **[5:29]** The wise ones, her princesses, answer her, Yea, she returneth her sayings to herself: **[5:30]** Do they not find? -- they apportion spoil, A female -- two females -- for every head, Spoil of finger-work for Sisera, Spoil of embroidered finger-work, Finger-work -- a pair of embroidered things, For the necks of the spoil! **[5:31]** So do all Thine enemies perish, O Jehovah, And those loving Him `are' As the going out of the sun in its might!' and the land resteth forty years. **[6:1]** And the sons of Israel do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and Jehovah giveth them into the hand of Midian seven years, **[6:2]** and the hand of Midian is strong against Israel, from the presence of Midian have the sons of Israel made for themselves the flowings which `are' in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds. **[6:3]** And it hath been, if Israel hath sowed, that Midian hath come up, and Amalek, and the sons of the east, yea, they have come up against him, **[6:4]** and encamp against them, and destroy the increase of the land till thine entering Gaza; and they leave no sustenance in Israel, either sheep, or ox, or ass; **[6:5]** for they and their cattle come up, with their tents; they come in as the fulness of the locust for multitude, and of them and of their cattle there is no number, and they come into the land to destroy it. **[6:6]** And Israel is very weak from the presence of Midian, and the sons of Israel cry unto Jehovah. **[6:7]** And it cometh to pass when the sons of Israel have cried unto Jehovah, concerning Midian, **[6:8]** that Jehovah sendeth a man, a prophet, unto the sons of Israel, and he saith to them, `Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, I -- I have brought you up out of Egypt, and I bring you out from a house of servants, **[6:9]** and I deliver you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all your oppressors, and I cast them out from your presence, and I give to you their land, **[6:10]** and I say to you, I `am' Jehovah your God, ye do not fear the gods of the Amorite in whose land ye are dwelling: -- and ye have not hearkened to My voice.' **[6:11]** And the messenger of Jehovah cometh and sitteth under the oak which `is' in Ophrah, which `is' to Joash the Abi-Ezrite, and Gideon his son is beating out wheat in the wine-press, to remove `it' from the presence of the Midianites; **[6:12]** and the messenger of Jehovah appeareth unto him, and saith unto him, `Jehovah `is' with thee, O mighty one of valour.' **[6:13]** And Gideon saith unto him, `O, my lord -- and Jehovah is with us! -- and why hath all this found us? and where `are' all His wonders which our fathers recounted to us, saying, Hath not Jehovah brought us up out of Egypt? and now Jehovah hath left us, and doth give us into the hand of Midian.' **[6:14]** And Jehovah turneth unto him and saith, `Go in this -- thy power; and thou hast saved Israel out of the hand of Midian -- have not I sent thee.' **[6:15]** And he saith unto him, `O, my lord, wherewith do I save Israel? lo, my chief `is' weak in Manasseh, and I the least in the house of my father.' **[6:16]** And Jehovah saith unto him, `Because I am with thee -- thou hast smitten the Midianites as one man.' **[6:17]** And he saith unto Him, `If, I pray Thee, I have found grace in Thine eyes, then Thou hast done for me a sign that Thou art speaking with me. **[6:18]** Move not, I pray Thee, from this, till my coming in unto Thee, and I have brought out my present, and put it before Thee;' and he saith, `I -- I do abide till thy return.' **[6:19]** And Gideon hath gone in, and prepareth a kid of the goats, and of an ephah of flour unleavened things; the flesh he hath put in a basket, and the broth he hath put in a pot, and he bringeth out unto Him, unto the place of the oak, and bringeth `it' nigh. **[6:20]** And the messenger of God saith unto him, `Take the flesh and the unleavened things, and place on this rock -- and the broth pour out;' and he doth so. **[6:21]** And the messenger of Jehovah putteth forth the end of the staff which `is' in His hand, and cometh against the flesh, and against the unleavened things, and the fire goeth up out of the rock and consumeth the flesh and the unleavened things -- and the messenger of Jehovah hath gone from his eyes. **[6:22]** And Gideon seeth that He `is' a messenger of Jehovah, and Gideon saith, `Alas, Lord Jehovah! because that I have seen a messenger of Jehovah face to face!' **[6:23]** And Jehovah saith to him, `Peace to thee; fear not; thou dost not die.' **[6:24]** And Gideon buildeth there an altar to Jehovah, and calleth it Jehovah-Shalom, unto this day it `is' yet in Ophrah of the Abi-Ezrites. **[6:25]** And it cometh to pass, on that night, that Jehovah saith to him, `Take the young ox which `is' to thy father, and the second bullock of seven years, and thou hast thrown down the altar of Baal which `is' to thy father, and the shrine which `is' by it thou dost cut down, **[6:26]** and thou hast built an altar to Jehovah thy God on the top of this stronghold, by the arrangement, and hast taken the second bullock, and caused to ascend a burnt-offering with the wood of the shrine which thou cuttest down.' **[6:27]** And Gideon taketh ten men of his servants, and doth as Jehovah hath spoken unto him, and it cometh to pass, because he hath been afraid of the house of his father, and the men of the city, to do `it' by day, that he doth `it' by night. **[6:28]** And the men of the city rise early in the morning, and lo, broken down hath been the altar of Baal, and the shrine which is by it hath been cut down, and the second bullock hath been offered on the altar which is built. **[6:29]** And they say one to another, `Who hath done this thing?' and they inquire and seek, and they say, `Gideon son of Joash hath done this thing.' **[6:30]** And the men of the city say unto Joash, `Bring out thy son, and he dieth, because he hath broken down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the shrine which `is' by it.' **[6:31]** And Joash saith to all who have stood against him, `Ye, do ye plead for Baal? ye -- do ye save him? he who pleadeth for him is put to death during the morning; if he `is' a god he himself doth plead against him, because he hath broken down his altar.' **[6:32]** And he calleth him, on that day, Jerubbaal, saying, `The Baal doth plead against him, because he hath broken down his altar.' **[6:33]** And all Midian and Amalek and the sons of the east have been gathered together, and pass over, and encamp in the valley of Jezreel, **[6:34]** and the Spirit of Jehovah hath clothed Gideon, and he bloweth with a trumpet, and Abi-Ezer is called after him; **[6:35]** and messengers he hath sent into all Manasseh, and it also is called after him; and messengers he hath sent into Asher, and into Zebulun, and into Naphtali, and they come up to meet them. **[6:36]** And Gideon saith unto God, `If Thou art Saviour of Israel by my hand, as Thou hast spoken, **[6:37]** lo, I am placing the fleece of wool in the threshing-floor: if dew is on the fleece alone, and on all the earth drought -- then I have known that Thou dost save Israel by my hand, as Thou hast spoken;' **[6:38]** and it is so, and he riseth early on the morrow, and presseth the fleece, and wringeth dew out of the fleece -- the fulness of the bowl, of water. **[6:39]** And Gideon saith unto God, `Let not Thine anger burn against me, and I speak only this time; let me try, I pray Thee, only this time with the fleece -- let there be, I pray Thee, drought on the fleece alone, and on all the earth let there be dew.' **[6:40]** And God doth so on that night, and there is drought on the fleece alone, and on all the earth there hath been dew. **[7:1]** And Jerubbaal (he `is' Gideon) riseth early, and all the people who `are' with him, and they encamp by the well of Harod, and the camp of Midian hath been on the south of him, on the height of Moreh, in the valley. **[7:2]** And Jehovah saith unto Gideon, `Too many `are' the people who `are' with thee for My giving Midian into their hand, lest Israel beautify itself against Me, saying, My hand hath given salvation to me; **[7:3]** and now, call, I pray thee, in the ears of the people, saying, Whoso `is' afraid and trembling, let him turn back and go early from mount Gilead;' and there turn back of the people twenty and two thousand, and ten thousand have been left. **[7:4]** And Jehovah saith unto Gideon, `Yet `are' the people too many; bring them down unto the water, and I refine it for thee there; and it hath been, he of whom I say unto thee, This doth go with thee -- he doth go with thee; and any of whom I say unto thee, This doth not go with thee -- he doth not go.' **[7:5]** And he bringeth down the people unto the water, and Jehovah saith unto Gideon, `Every one who lappeth with his tongue of the water as the dog lappeth -- thou dost set him apart; also every one who boweth on his knees to drink.' **[7:6]** And the number of those lapping with their hand unto their mouth is three hundred men, and all the rest of the people have bowed down on their knees to drink water. **[7:7]** And Jehovah saith unto Gideon, `By the three hundred men who are lapping I save you, and have given Midian into thy hand, and all the people go, each to his place.' **[7:8]** And the people take the provision in their hand, and their trumpets, and every man of Israel he hath sent away, each to his tents; and on the three hundred men he hath kept hold, and the camp of Midian hath been by him at the lower part of the valley. **[7:9]** And it cometh to pass, on that night, that Jehovah saith unto him, `Rise, go down into the camp, for I have given it into thy hand; **[7:10]** and if thou art afraid to go down -- go down, thou and Phurah thy young man, unto the camp, **[7:11]** and thou hast heard what they speak, and afterwards are thy hands strengthened, and thou hast gone down against the camp.' And he goeth down, he and Phurah his young man, unto the extremity of the fifties who `are' in the camp; **[7:12]** and Midian and Amalek, and all the sons of the east are lying in the valley, as the locust for multitude, and of their camels there is no number, as sand which `is' on the sea-shore for multitude. **[7:13]** And Gideon cometh in, and lo, a man is recounting to his companion a dream, and saith, `Lo, a dream I have dreamed, and lo, a cake of barley-bread is turning itself over into the camp of Midian, and it cometh in unto the tent, and smiteth it, and it falleth, and turneth it upwards, and the tent hath fallen.' **[7:14]** And his companion answereth and saith, `This is nothing save the sword of Gideon son of Joash, a man of Israel; God hath given into his hand Midian and all the camp.' **[7:15]** And it cometh to pass, when Gideon heareth the narration of the dream and its interpretation, that he boweth himself, and turneth back unto the camp of Israel, and saith, `Rise ye, for Jehovah hath given into your hand the camp of Midian.' **[7:16]** And he divideth the three hundred men `into' three detachments, and putteth trumpets into the hand of all of them, and empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers. **[7:17]** And he saith unto them, `Look at me, and thus do; and lo, I am coming into the extremity of the camp -- and it hath been -- as I do so ye do; **[7:18]** and I have blown with a trumpet -- I and all who `are' with me, and ye have blown with trumpets, even ye, round about all the camp, and have said, For Jehovah and for Gideon.' **[7:19]** And Gideon cometh -- and the hundred men who `are' with him -- into the extremity of the camp, `at' the beginning of the middle watch (it hath only just confirmed the watchmen), and they blow with trumpets -- dashing in pieces also the pitchers which `are' in their hand; **[7:20]** and the three detachments blow with trumpets, and break the pitchers, and keep hold with their left hand on the lamps, and with their right hand on the trumpets to blow, and they cry, `The sword of Jehovah and of Gideon.' **[7:21]** And they stand each in his place, round about the camp, and all the camp runneth, and they shout, and flee; **[7:22]** and the three hundred blow the trumpets, and Jehovah setteth the sword of each against his companion, even through all the camp; and the camp fleeth unto Beth-Shittah, at Zererath, unto the border of Abel-Meholah, by Tabbath. **[7:23]** And the men of Israel are called from Naphtali, and from Asher, and from all Manasseh, and pursue after Midian. **[7:24]** And messengers hath sent Gideon into all the hill-country of Ephraim, saying, `Come down to meet Midian, and capture before them the waters unto Beth-Barah, and the Jordan;' and every man of Ephraim is called, and they capture the waters unto Beth-Barah, and the Jordan, **[7:25]** and they capture two of the heads of Midian, Oreb, and Zeeb, and slay Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they have slain at the wine-vat of Zeeb, and they pursue unto Midian; and the heads of Oreb and Zeeb they have brought in unto Gideon beyond the Jordan. **[8:1]** And the men of Ephraim say unto him, `What `is' this thing thou hast done to us -- not to call for us when thou didst go to fight with Midian?' and they strive with him severely; **[8:2]** and he saith unto them, `What have I done now like you? are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the harvest of Abi-Ezer? **[8:3]** Into your hand hath God given the heads of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and what have I been able to do like you?' Then their temper desisted from off him in his speaking this thing. **[8:4]** And Gideon cometh in unto the Jordan, passing over, he and the three hundred men who `are' with him -- wearied, and pursuing, **[8:5]** and he saith to the men of Succoth, `Give, I pray you, cakes of bread to the people who `are' at my feet, for they `are' wearied, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna kings of Midian.' **[8:6]** And the heads of Succoth say, `Is the hand of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand, that we give to thy host bread?' **[8:7]** And Gideon saith, `Therefore -- in Jehovah's giving Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand -- I have threshed your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness, and with the threshing instruments.' **[8:8]** And he goeth up thence `to' Penuel, and speaketh unto them thus; and the men of Penuel answer him as the men of Succoth answered. **[8:9]** And he speaketh also to the men of Penuel, saying, `In my turning back in peace, I break down this tower.' **[8:10]** And Zebah and Zalmunna `are' in Karkor, and their camps with them, about fifteen thousand, all who are left of all the camp of the sons of the east; and those falling `are' a hundred and twenty thousand men, drawing sword. **[8:11]** And Gideon goeth up the way of those who tabernacle in tents, on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smiteth the camp, and the camp was confident; **[8:12]** and Zebab and Zalmunna flee, and he pursueth after them, and captureth the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and all the camp he hath caused to tremble. **[8:13]** And Gideon son of Joash turneth back from the battle, at the going up of the sun, **[8:14]** and captureth a young man of the men of Succoth, and asketh him, and he describeth unto him the heads of Succoth, and its elders -- seventy and seven men. **[8:15]** And he cometh in unto the men of Succoth, and saith, `Lo Zebah and Zalmunna, with whom ye reproached me, saying, Is the hand of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand that we give to thy men who `are' wearied bread?' **[8:16]** And he taketh the elders of the city, and the thorns of the wilderness, and the threshing instruments, and teacheth by them the men of Succoth, **[8:17]** and the tower of Penuel he hath broken down, and slayeth the men of the city. **[8:18]** And he saith unto Zebah and unto Zalmunna, `How -- the men whom ye slew in Tabor?' and they say, `As thou -- so they, one -- as the form of the king's sons.' **[8:19]** And he saith, `My brethren -- sons of my mother -- they; Jehovah liveth, if ye had kept them alive -- I had not slain you.' **[8:20]** And he saith to Jether his first-born, `Rise, slay them;' and the young man hath not drawn his sword, for he hath been afraid, for he `is' yet a youth. **[8:21]** And Zebah saith -- also Zalmunna -- `Rise thou, and fall upon us; for as the man -- his might;' and Gideon riseth, and slayeth Zebah and Zalmunna, and taketh their round ornaments which `are' on the necks of their camels. **[8:22]** And the men of Israel say unto Gideon, `Rule over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, for thou hast saved us from the hand of Midian.' **[8:23]** And Gideon saith unto them, `I do not rule over you, nor doth my son rule over you; Jehovah doth rule over you.' **[8:24]** And Gideon saith unto them, `Let me ask of you a petition, and give ye to me each the ring of his prey, for they have rings of gold, for they `are' Ishmaelites.' **[8:25]** And they say, `We certainly give;' and they spread out the garment, and cast thither each the ring of his prey; **[8:26]** and the weight of the rings of gold which he asked is a thousand and seven hundred `shekels' of gold, apart from the round ornaments, and the drops, and the purple garments, which `are' on the kings of Midian, and apart from the chains which `are' on the necks of their camels, **[8:27]** and Gideon maketh it into an ephod, and setteth it up in his city, in Ophrah, and all Israel go a-whoring after it there, and it is to Gideon and to his house for a snare. **[8:28]** And Midian is humbled before the sons of Israel, and have not added to lift up their head; and the land resteth forty years in the days of Gideon. **[8:29]** And Jerubbaal son of Joash goeth and dwelleth in his own house, **[8:30]** and to Gideon there have been seventy sons, coming out of his loin, for he had many wives; **[8:31]** and his concubine, who `is' in Shechem, hath born to him -- even she -- a son, and he appointeth his name Abimelech. **[8:32]** And Gideon son of Joash dieth, in a good old age, and is buried in the burying-place of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abi-Ezrite. **[8:33]** And it cometh to pass, when Gideon `is' dead, that the sons of Israel turn back and go a-whoring after the Baalim, and set over them Baal-Berith for a god; **[8:34]** and the sons of Israel have not remembered Jehovah their God, who is delivering them out of the hand of all their enemies round about, **[8:35]** neither have they done kindness with the house of Jerubbaal -- Gideon -- according to all the good which he did with Israel. **[9:1]** and Abimelech son of Jerubbaal goeth to Shechem, unto his mother's brethren, and speaketh unto them, and unto all the family of the house of his mother's father, saying, **[9:2]** `Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the masters of Shechem, Which `is' good for you -- the ruling over you of seventy men (all the sons of Jerubbaal), or the ruling over you of one man? -- and ye have remembered that I `am' your bone and your flesh.' **[9:3]** And his mother's brethren speak concerning him, in the ears of all the masters of Shechem, all these words, and their heart inclineth after Abimelech, for they said, `He `is' our brother;' **[9:4]** and they give to him seventy silverings out of the house of Baal-Berith, and Abimelech hireth with them men, vain and unstable, and they go after him; **[9:5]** and he goeth into the house of his father at Ophrah, and slayeth his brethren, sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone; and Jotham, youngest son of Jerubbaal, is left, for he was hidden. **[9:6]** And all the masters of Shechem are gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and come and cause Abimelech to reign for king at the oak of the camp which `is' in Shechem; **[9:7]** and they declare `it' to Jotham, and he goeth and standeth on the top of mount Gerizim, and lifteth up his voice, and calleth, and saith to them, `Hearken unto me, O masters of Shechem, and God doth hearken unto you: **[9:8]** `The trees have diligently gone to anoint over them a king, and they say to the olive, Reign thou over us. **[9:9]** And the olive saith to them, Have I ceased from my fatness, by which they honour gods and men, that I have gone to stagger over the trees? **[9:10]** And the trees say to the fig, Come thou, reign over us. **[9:11]** And the fig saith to them, Have I ceased from my sweetness, and my good increase, that I have gone to stagger over the trees? **[9:12]** `And the trees say to the vine, Come thou, reign over us. **[9:13]** And the vine saith to them, Have I ceased from my new wine, which is rejoicing gods and men, that I have gone to stagger over the trees? **[9:14]** And all the trees say unto the bramble, Come thou, reign over us. **[9:15]** And the bramble saith unto the trees, If in truth ye are anointing me for king over you, come, take refuge in my shadow; and if not -- fire cometh out from the bramble, and devoureth the cedars of Lebanon. **[9:16]** `And, now, if in truth and in sincerity ye have acted, when ye make Abimelech king; and if ye have done good with Jerubbaal, and with his house; and if according to the deed of his hands ye have done to him -- **[9:17]** because my father hath fought for you, and doth cast away his life from `him', and deliver you from the hand of Midian; **[9:18]** and ye have risen against the house of my father to-day, and slay his sons, seventy men, on one stone, and cause Abimelech son of his handmaid to reign over the masters of Shechem, because he `is' your brother -- **[9:19]** yea, if in truth and in sincerity ye have acted with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, rejoice ye in Abimelech, and he doth rejoice -- even he -- in you; **[9:20]** and if not -- fire cometh out from Abimelech and devoureth the masters of Shechem and the house of Millo, and fire cometh out from the masters of Shechem and from the house of Millo, and devoureth Abimelech.' **[9:21]** And Jotham hasteth, and fleeth, and goeth to Beer, and dwelleth there, from the face of Abimelech his brother. **[9:22]** And Abimelech is prince over Israel three years, **[9:23]** and God sendeth an evil spirit between Abimelech and the masters of Shechem, and the masters of Shechem deal treacherously with Abimelech, **[9:24]** for the coming in of the violence `to' the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, and of their blood to place `it' on Abimelech their brother, who slew them, and on the masters of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to slay his brethren. **[9:25]** And the masters of Shechem set for him ambushes on the top of the hills, and rob every one who passeth over by them in the way, and it is declared to Abimelech. **[9:26]** And Gaal son of Ebed cometh -- also his brethren -- and they pass over into Shechem, and the masters of Shechem trust in him, **[9:27]** and go out into the field, and gather their vineyards, and tread, and make praises, and go into the house of their god, and eat and drink, and revile Abimelech. **[9:28]** And Gaal son of Ebed saith, `Who `is' Abimelech, and who `is' Shechem, that we serve him? is `he' not son of Jerubbaal? and Zebul his commander? Serve ye the men of Hamor father of Shechem, and wherefore do we serve him -- we? **[9:29]** and oh that this people were in my hand -- then I turn Abimelech aside;' and he saith to Abimelech, `Increase thy host, and come out.' **[9:30]** And Zebul, prince of the city, heareth the words of Gaal son of Ebed, and his anger burneth, **[9:31]** and he sendeth messengers unto Abimelech deceitfully, saying, `Lo, Gaal son of Ebed and his brethren are coming into Shechem, and lo, they are fortifying the city against thee; **[9:32]** and, now, rise by night, thou and the people who `are' with thee, and lay wait in the field, **[9:33]** and it hath been, in the morning, about the rising of the sun, thou dost rise early, and hast pushed against the city; and lo, he and the people who `are' with him are going out unto thee -- and thou hast done to him as thy hand doth find.' **[9:34]** And Abimelech riseth, and all the people who `are' with him, by night, and they lay wait against Shechem -- four detachments; **[9:35]** and Gaal son of Ebed goeth out, and standeth at the opening of the gate of the city, and Abimelech riseth -- also the people who `are' with him -- from the ambush, **[9:36]** and Gaal seeth the people, and saith unto Zebul, `Lo, people are coming down from the top of the hills;' and Zebul saith unto him, `The shadow of the hills thou art seeing like men.' **[9:37]** And Gaal addeth yet to speak, and saith, `Lo, people are coming down from the high part of the land, and another detachment is coming by the way of the oak of Meonenim.' **[9:38]** And Zebul saith unto him, `Where `is' now thy mouth, in that thou sayest, Who `is' Abimelech that we serve him? is not this the people against which thou hast kicked? go out, I pray thee now, and fight against it.' **[9:39]** And Gaal goeth out before the masters of Shechem, and fighteth against Abimelech, **[9:40]** and Abimelech pursueth him, and he fleeth from his presence, and many fall wounded -- unto the opening of the gate. **[9:41]** And Abimelech abideth in Arumah, and Zebul casteth out Gaal and his brethren from dwelling in Shechem. **[9:42]** And it cometh to pass, on the morrow, that the people go out to the field, and they declare `it' to Abimelech, **[9:43]** and he taketh the people, and divideth them into three detachments, and layeth wait in a field, and looketh, and lo, the people are coming out from the city, and he riseth against them, and smiteth them. **[9:44]** And Abimelech and the detachments who `are' with him have pushed on, and stand at the opening of the gate of the city, and the two detachments have pushed against all who are in the field, and smite them, **[9:45]** and Abimelech hath fought against the city all that day, and captureth the city, and the people who `are' in it he hath slain, and he breaketh down the city, and soweth it `with' salt. **[9:46]** And all the masters of the tower of Shechem hear, and go in unto the high place of the house of the god Berith, **[9:47]** and it is declared to Abimelech that all the masters of the tower of Shechem have gathered themselves together, **[9:48]** and Abimelech goeth up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people who `are' with him, and Abimelech taketh the great axe in his hand, and cutteth off a bough of the trees, and lifteth it up, and setteth `it' on his shoulder, and saith unto the people who `are' with him, `What ye have seen I have done -- haste, do ye like it.' **[9:49]** And all the people also cut down each one his bough, and go after Abimelech, and set `them' at the high place, and burn by these the high place with fire, and also all the men of the tower of Shechem die, about a thousand men and women. **[9:50]** And Abimelech goeth unto Thebez, and encampeth against Thebez, and captureth it, **[9:51]** and a strong tower hath been in the midst of the city, and thither flee do all the men and the women, and all the masters of the city, and they shut `it' behind them, and go up on the roof of the tower. **[9:52]** And Abimelech cometh unto the tower, and fighteth against it, and draweth nigh unto the opening of the tower to burn it with fire, **[9:53]** and a certain woman doth cast a piece of a rider on the head of Abimelech, and breaketh his skull, **[9:54]** and he calleth hastily unto the young man bearing his weapons, and saith to him, `Draw thy sword, and thou hast put me to death, lest they say of me -- A woman slew him;' and his young man pierced him through, and he dieth. **[9:55]** And the men of Israel see that Abimelech `is' dead, and go each one to his place; **[9:56]** and God turneth back the evil of Abimelech which he did to his father to slay his seventy brethren; **[9:57]** and all the evil of the men of Shechem hath God turned back on their head, and come unto them doth the cursing of Jotham son of Jerubbaal. **[10:1]** And there riseth after Abimelech, to save Israel, Tola son of Puah, son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, and he is dwelling in Shamir, in the hill-country of Ephraim, **[10:2]** and he judgeth Israel twenty and three years, and he dieth, and is buried in Shamir. **[10:3]** And there riseth after him Jair the Gileadite, and he judgeth Israel twenty and two years, **[10:4]** and he hath thirty sons riding on thirty ass-colts, and they have thirty cities, (they call them Havoth-Jair unto this day), which `are' in the land of Gilead; **[10:5]** and Jair dieth, and is buried in Kamon. **[10:6]** And the sons of Israel add to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and serve the Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Aram, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the Bene-Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsake Jehovah, and have not served Him; **[10:7]** and the anger of Jehovah burneth against Israel, and He selleth them into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the Bene-Ammon, **[10:8]** and they crush and oppress the sons of Israel in that year -- eighteen years all the sons of Israel `who' are beyond the Jordan, in the land of the Amorite, which `is' in Gilead. **[10:9]** And the Bene-Ammon pass over the Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim, and Israel hath great distress. **[10:10]** And the sons of Israel cry unto Jehovah, saying, `We have sinned against Thee, even because we have forsaken our God, and serve the Baalim.' **[10:11]** And Jehovah saith unto the sons of Israel, ``Have I' not `saved you' from the Egyptians, and from the Amorite, from the Bene-Ammon, and from the Philistines? **[10:12]** And the Zidonians, and Amalek, and Maon have oppressed you, and ye cry unto Me, and I save you out of their hand; **[10:13]** and ye -- ye have forsaken Me, and serve other gods, therefore I add not to save you. **[10:14]** Go and cry unto the gods on which ye have fixed; they -- they save you in the time of your adversity.' **[10:15]** And the sons of Israel say unto Jehovah, `We have sinned, do Thou to us according to all that is good in Thine eyes; only deliver us, we pray Thee, this day.' **[10:16]** And they turn aside the gods of the stranger out of their midst, and serve Jehovah, and His soul is grieved with the misery of Israel. **[10:17]** And the Bene-Ammon are called together, and encamp in Gilead, and the sons of Israel are gathered together, and encamp in Mizpah. **[10:18]** And the people -- heads of Gilead -- say one unto another, `Who `is' the man that doth begin to fight against the Bene-Ammon? he is for head to all inhabitants of Gilead.' **[11:1]** And Jephthah the Gileadite hath been a mighty man of valour, and he `is' son of a woman, a harlot; and Gilead begetteth Jephthah, **[11:2]** and the wife of Gilead beareth to him sons, and the wife's sons grow up and cast out Jephthah, and say to him, `Thou dost not inherit in the house of our father; for son of another woman `art' thou.' **[11:3]** And Jephthah fleeth from the face of his brethren, and dwelleth in the land of Tob; and vain men gather themselves together unto Jephthah, and they go out with him. **[11:4]** And it cometh to pass, after a time, that the Bene-Ammon fight with Israel, **[11:5]** and it cometh to pass, when the Bene-Ammon have fought with Israel, that the elders of Gilead go to take Jephthah from the land of Tob; **[11:6]** and they say unto Jephthah, `Come, and thou hast been to us for captain, and we fight against the Bene-Ammon.' **[11:7]** And Jephthah saith to the elders of Gilead, `Have not ye hated me? and ye cast me out from the house of my father, and wherefore have ye come unto me now when ye are in distress?' **[11:8]** and the elders of Gilead say unto Jephthah, `Therefore, now, we have turned back unto thee; and thou hast gone with us, and fought against the Bene-Ammon, and thou hast been to us for head -- to all the inhabitants of Gilead.' **[11:9]** And Jephthah saith unto the elders of Gilead, `If ye are taking me back to fight against the Bene-Ammon, and Jehovah hath given them before me -- I, am I to you for a head?' **[11:10]** And the elders of Gilead say unto Jephthah, `Jehovah is hearkening between us -- if according to thy word we do not so.' **[11:11]** And Jephthah goeth with the elders of Gilead, and the people set him over them for head and for captain, and Jephthah speaketh all his words before Jehovah in Mizpeh. **[11:12]** And Jephthah sendeth messengers unto the king of the Bene-Ammon, saying, `What -- to me and to thee, that thou hast come in unto me, to fight in my land.' **[11:13]** And the king of the Bene-Ammon saith unto the messengers of Jephthah, `Because Israel took my land in his coming up out of Egypt, from Arnon, and unto the Jabbok, and unto the Jordan; and now, restore them in peace.' **[11:14]** And Jephthah addeth yet and sendeth messengers unto the king of the Bene-Ammon, **[11:15]** and saith to him, `Thus said Jephthah, Israel took not the land of Moab, and the land of the Bene-Ammon, **[11:16]** for in their coming up out of Egypt, Israel goeth in the wilderness unto the Red Sea, and cometh in to Kadesh, **[11:17]** and Israel sendeth messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me pass over, I pray thee, through thy land, and the king of Edom hearkened not; and also unto the king of Moab hath `Israel' sent, and he hath not been willing; and Israel abideth in Kadesh, **[11:18]** and he goeth through the wilderness, and compasseth the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and cometh in at the rising of the sun of the land of Moab, and they encamp beyond Arnon, and have not come into the border of Moab, for Arnon `is' the border of Moab. **[11:19]** `And Israel sendeth messengers unto Sihon, king of the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and Israel saith to him, Let us pass over, we pray thee, through thy land, unto my place, **[11:20]** and Sihon hath not trusted Israel to pass over through his border, and Sihon gathereth all his people, and they encamp in Jahaz, and fight with Israel; **[11:21]** and Jehovah, God of Israel, giveth Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smite them, and Israel possesseth all the land of the Amorite, the inhabitant of that land, **[11:22]** and they possess all the border of the Amorite from Arnon, and unto the Jabbok, and from the wilderness, and unto the Jordan. **[11:23]** `And now, Jehovah, God of Israel, hath dispossessed the Amorite from the presence of His people Israel, and thou wouldst possess it! **[11:24]** That which Chemosh thy god causeth thee to possess -- dost thou not possess it? and all that which Jehovah our God hath dispossessed from our presence, -- it we do possess. **[11:25]** `And now, `art' thou at all better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he at all strive with Israel? did he at all fight against them? **[11:26]** In Israel's dwelling in Heshbon and in its towns, and in Aroer and in its towns, and in all the cities which `are' by the sides of Arnon three hundred years -- and wherefore have ye not delivered them in that time? **[11:27]** And I -- I have not sinned against thee, and thou art doing with me evil -- to fight against me. Jehovah, the Judge, doth judge to-day between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.' **[11:28]** And the king of the Bene-Ammon hath not hearkened unto the words of Jephthah which he sent unto him, **[11:29]** and the Spirit of Jehovah is on Jephthah, and he passeth over Gilead and Manasseh, and passeth over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he hath passed over to the Bene-Ammon. **[11:30]** And Jephthah voweth a vow to Jehovah, and saith, `If Thou dost at all give the Bene-Ammon into my hand -- **[11:31]** then it hath been, that which at all cometh out from the doors of my house to meet me in my turning back in peace from the Bene-Ammon -- it hath been to Jehovah, or I have offered up for it -- a burnt-offering.' **[11:32]** And Jephthah passeth over unto the Bene-Ammon to fight against them, and Jehovah giveth them into his hand, **[11:33]** and he smiteth them from Aroer, and unto thy going in to Minnith, twenty cities, and unto the meadow of the vineyards -- a very great smiting; and the Bene-Ammon are humbled at the presence of the sons of Israel. **[11:34]** And Jephthah cometh into Mizpeh, unto his house, and lo, his daughter is coming out to meet him with timbrels, and with choruses, and save her alone, he hath none, son or daughter. **[11:35]** And it cometh to pass, when he seeth her, that he rendeth his garments, and saith, `Alas, my daughter, thou hast caused me greatly to bend, and thou hast been among those troubling me; and I -- I have opened my mouth unto Jehovah, and I am not able to turn back.' **[11:36]** And she saith unto him, `My father -- thou hast opened thy mouth unto Jehovah, do to me as it hath gone out from thy mouth, after that Jehovah hath done for thee vengeance on thine enemies, on the Bene-Ammon.' **[11:37]** And she saith unto her father, `Let this thing be done to me; desist from me two months, and I go on, and have gone down on the hills, and I weep for my virginity -- I and my friends.' **[11:38]** And he saith, `Go;' and he sendeth her away two months, and she goeth, she and her friends, and she weepeth for her virginity on the hills; **[11:39]** and it cometh to pass at the end of two months that she turneth back unto her father, and he doth to her his vow which he hath vowed, and she knew not a man; and it is a statute in Israel: **[11:40]** from time to time the daughters of Israel go to talk to the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite, four days in a year. **[12:1]** And the men of Ephraim are called together, and pass over northward, and say to Jephthah, `Wherefore has thou passed over to fight against the Bene-Ammon, and on us hast not called to go with thee? thy house we burn over thee with fire.' **[12:2]** And Jephthah saith unto them, `A man of great strife I have been (I and my people) with the Bene-Ammon, and I call you, and ye have not saved me out of their hand, **[12:3]** and I see that thou art not a saviour, and I put my life in my hand, and pass over unto the Bene-Ammon, and Jehovah giveth them into my hand -- and why have ye come up unto me this day to fight against me?' **[12:4]** And Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead, and fighteth with Ephraim, and the men of Gilead smite Ephraim, because they said, `Fugitives of Ephraim `are' ye Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim -- in the midst of Manasseh.' **[12:5]** And Gilead captureth the passages of the Jordan to Ephraim, and it hath been, when `any of' the fugitives of Ephraim say, `Let me pass over,' and the men of Gilead say to him, `An Ephramite thou?' and he saith, `No;' **[12:6]** that they say to him, `Say, I pray thee, Shibboleth;' and he saith, `Sibboleth,' and is not prepared to speak right -- and they seize him, and slaughter him at the passages of the Jordan, and there fall at that time, of Ephraim, forty and two chiefs. **[12:7]** And Jephthah judged Israel six years, and Jephthah the Gileadite dieth, and is buried in `one of' the cities of Gilead. **[12:8]** And after him Ibzan of Beth-Lehem judgeth Israel, **[12:9]** and he hath thirty sons and thirty daughters, he hath sent without and thirty daughters hath brought in to his sons from without; and he judgeth Israel seven years. **[12:10]** And Ibzan dieth, and is buried in Beth-Lehem. **[12:11]** And after him Elon the Zebulunite judgeth Israel, and he judgeth Israel ten years, **[12:12]** and Elon the Zebulunite dieth, and is buried in Aijalon, in the land of Zebulun. **[12:13]** And after him, Abdon son of Hillel, the Pirathonite, judgeth Israel, **[12:14]** and he hath forty sons, and thirty grandsons, riding on seventy ass-colts, and he judgeth Israel eight years. **[12:15]** And Abdon son of Hillel, the Pirathonite, dieth, and is buried in Pirathon, in the land of Ephraim, in the hill-country of the Amalekite. **[13:1]** And the sons of Israel add to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and Jehovah giveth them into the hand of the Philistines forty years. **[13:2]** And there is a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danite, and his name `is' Manoah, his wife `is' barren, and hath not borne; **[13:3]** and a messenger of Jehovah appeareth unto the woman, and saith unto her, `Lo, I pray thee, thou `art' barren, and hast not borne; when thou hast conceived, then thou hast borne a son. **[13:4]** And, now, take heed, I pray thee, and do not drink wine, and strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing, **[13:5]** for, lo, thou art conceiving and bearing a son, and a razor doth not go up on his head, for a Nazarite to God is the youth from the womb, and he doth begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.' **[13:6]** And the woman cometh and speaketh to her husband, saying, `A man of God hath come unto me, and his appearance `is' as the appearance of a messenger of God, very fearful, and I have not asked him whence he `is', and his name he hath not declared to me; **[13:7]** and he saith to me, Lo, thou art pregnant, and bearing a son, and now do not drink wine and strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing, for a Nazarite to God is the youth from the womb till the day of his death.' **[13:8]** And Manoah maketh entreaty unto Jehovah, and saith, `O, my Lord, the man of God whom Thou didst send, let him come in, I pray thee, again unto us, and direct us what we do to the youth who is born.' **[13:9]** And God hearkeneth to the voice of Manoah, and the messenger of God cometh again unto the woman, and she `is' sitting in a field, and Manoah her husband is not with her, **[13:10]** and the woman hasteth, and runneth, and declareth to her husband, and saith unto him, `Lo, he hath appeared unto me -- the man who came on `that' day unto me.' **[13:11]** And Manoah riseth, and goeth after his wife, and cometh unto the man, and saith to him, `Art thou the man who spake unto the woman?' and he saith, `I `am'.' **[13:12]** And Manoah saith, `Now let thy words come to pass; what is the custom of the youth -- and his work?' **[13:13]** And the messenger of Jehovah saith unto Manoah, `Of all that I said unto the woman let her take heed; **[13:14]** of anything which cometh out from the wine-vine she doth not eat, and wine and strong drink she doth not drink, and any unclean thing she doth not eat; all that I have commanded her she doth observe.' **[13:15]** And Manoah saith unto the messenger of Jehovah, `Let us detain thee, we pray thee, and prepare before thee a kid of the goats.' **[13:16]** And the messenger of Jehovah saith unto Manoah, `If thou detain me -- I do not eat of thy bread; and if thou prepare a burnt-offering -- to Jehovah thou dost offer it;' for Manoah hath not known that He `is' a messenger of Jehovah. **[13:17]** And Manoah saith unto the messenger of Jehovah, `What `is' thy name? when thy words come to pass, then we have honoured thee.' **[13:18]** And the messenger of Jehovah saith to him, `Why `is' this -- thou dost ask for My name? -- and it `is' Wonderful.' **[13:19]** And Manoah taketh the kid of the goats, and the present, and offereth on the rock to Jehovah, and He is doing wonderfully, and Manoah and his wife are looking on, **[13:20]** and it cometh to pass, in the going up of the flame from off the altar toward the heavens, that the messenger of Jehovah goeth up in the flame of the altar, and Manoah and his wife are looking on, and they fall on their faces to the earth, **[13:21]** and the messenger of Jehovah hath not added again to appear unto Manoah, and unto his wife, then hath Manoah known that He `is' a messenger of Jehovah. **[13:22]** And Manoah saith unto his wife, `We certainly die, for we have seen God.' **[13:23]** And his wife saith to him, `If Jehovah were desirous to put us to death, He had not received from our hands burnt-offering and present, nor shewed us all these things, nor as `at this' time caused us to hear `anything' like this.' **[13:24]** And the woman beareth a son, and calleth his name Samson, and the youth groweth, and Jehovah doth bless him, **[13:25]** and the Spirit of Jehovah beginneth to move him in the camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol. **[14:1]** And Samson goeth down to Timnath, and seeth a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines, **[14:2]** and cometh up and declareth to his father, and to his mother, and saith, `A woman I have seen in Timnath, of the daughters of the Philistines; and now, take her for me for a wife.' **[14:3]** And his father saith to him -- also his mother, `Is there not among the daughters of thy brethren, and among all my people, a woman, that thou art going to take a woman from the uncircumcised Philistines?' and Samson saith unto his father, `Take her for me, for she is right in mine eyes.' **[14:4]** And his father and his mother have not known that from Jehovah it `is', that a meeting he is seeking of the Philistines; and at that time the Philistines are ruling over Israel. **[14:5]** And Samson goeth down -- also his father and his mother, to Timnath, and they come unto the vineyards of Timnath, and lo, a lion's whelp roareth at meeting him, **[14:6]** and the Spirit of Jehovah prospereth over him, and he rendeth it as the rending of a kid, and there is nothing in his hand, and he hath not declared to his father and to his mother that which he hath done. **[14:7]** And he goeth down and speaketh to the woman, and she is right in the eyes of Samson; **[14:8]** and he turneth back after `some' days to take her, and turneth aside to see the carcase of the lion, and lo, a company of bees `are' in the body of the lion -- and honey. **[14:9]** And he taketh it down on to his hands, and goeth on, going and eating; and he goeth unto his father, and unto his mother, and giveth to them, and they eat, and he hath not declared to them that from the body of the lion he took down the honey. **[14:10]** And his father goeth down unto the woman, and Samson maketh there a banquet, for so the young men do; **[14:11]** and it cometh to pass when they see him, that they take thirty companions, and they are with him. **[14:12]** And Samson saith to them, `Let me, I pray you, put forth to you a riddle; if ye certainly declare it to me `in' the seven days of the banquet, and have found `it' out, then I have given to you thirty linen shirts, and thirty changes of garments; **[14:13]** and if ye are not able to declare `it' to me, then ye have given to me thirty linen shirts, and thirty changes of garments.' And they say to him, `Put forth thy riddle, and we hear it!' **[14:14]** And he saith to them: `Out of the eater came forth meat, And out of the strong came forth sweetness;' and they were not able to declare the riddle `in' three days. **[14:15]** And it cometh to pass, on the seventh day, that they say to Samson's wife, `Entice thy husband, that he declare to us the riddle, lest we burn thee and the house of thy father with fire; to possess us have ye called for us? is it not?' **[14:16]** And Samson's wife weepeth for it, and saith, `Thou hast only hated me, and hast not loved me; the riddle thou hast put forth to the sons of my people -- and to me thou hast not declared it;' and he saith to her, `Lo, to my father and to my mother I have not declared `it' -- and to thee I declare `it'!' **[14:17]** And she weepeth for it the seven days `in' which their banquet hath been, and it cometh to pass on the seventh day that he declareth `it' to her, for she hath distressed him; and she declareth the riddle to the sons of her people. **[14:18]** And the men of the city say to him on the seventh day, before the sun goeth in: -- `What `is' sweeter than honey? And what stronger than a lion?' And he saith to them: `Unless ye had ploughed with my heifer, Ye had not found out my riddle.' **[14:19]** And the Spirit of Jehovah prospereth over him, and he goeth down to Ashkelon, and smiteth of them thirty men, and taketh their armour, and giveth the changes to those declaring the riddle; and his anger burneth, and he goeth up to the house of his father; **[14:20]** and Samson's wife becometh his companion's, who `is' his friend. **[15:1]** And it cometh to pass, after `some' days, in the days of wheat-harvest, that Samson looketh after his wife, with a kid of the goats, and saith, `I go in unto my wife, to the inner chamber;' and her father hath not permitted him to go in, **[15:2]** and her father saith, I certainly said, that thou didst certainly hate her, and I give her to thy companion; is not her sister -- the young one -- better than she? Let her be, I pray thee, to thee, instead of her.' **[15:3]** And Samson saith of them, `I am more innocent this time than the Philistines, though I am doing with them evil.' **[15:4]** And Samson goeth and catcheth three hundred foxes, and taketh torches, and turneth tail unto tail, and putteth a torch between the two tails, in the midst, **[15:5]** and kindleth fire in the torches, and sendeth `them' out into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burneth `it' from heap even unto standing corn, even unto vineyard -- olive-yard. **[15:6]** And the Philistines say, `Who hath done this?' And they say, `Samson, son-in-law of the Timnite, because he hath taken away his wife, and giveth her to his companion;' and the Philistines go up, and burn her and her father with fire. **[15:7]** And Samson saith to them, `Though ye do thus, nevertheless I am avenged on you, and afterwards I cease!' **[15:8]** And he smiteth them hip and thigh -- a great smiting, and goeth down and dwelleth in the cleft of the rock Etam. **[15:9]** And the Philistines go up, and encamp in Judah, and are spread out in Lehi, **[15:10]** and the men of Judah say, `Why have ye come up against us?' and they say, `To bind Samson we have come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.' **[15:11]** And three thousand men of Judah go down unto the cleft of the rock Etam, and say to Samson, `Hast thou now known that the Philistines are rulers over us? and what `is' this thou hast done to us?' And he saith to them, `As they did to me, so I did to them.' **[15:12]** And they say to him, `To bind thee we have come down -- to give thee into the hand of the Philistines.' And Samson saith to them, `Swear to me, lest ye fall upon me yourselves.' **[15:13]** And they speak to him, saying, No, but we certainly bind thee, and have given thee into their hand, and we certainly do not put thee to death;' and they bind him with two thick bands, new ones, and bring him up from the rock. **[15:14]** He hath come unto Lehi -- and the Philistines have shouted at meeting him -- and the Spirit of Jehovah prospereth over him, and the thick bands which `are' on his arms are as flax which they burn with fire, and his bands are wasted from off his hands, **[15:15]** and he findeth a fresh jaw-bone of an ass, and putteth forth his hand and taketh it, and smiteth with it -- a thousand men. **[15:16]** And Samson saith, `With a jaw-bone of the ass -- an ass upon asses -- with a jaw-bone of the ass I have smitten a thousand men.' **[15:17]** And it cometh to pass when he finisheth speaking, that he casteth away the jaw-bone out of his hand, and calleth that place Ramath-Lehi; **[15:18]** and he thirsteth exceedingly, and calleth unto Jehovah, and saith, `Thou -- Thou hast given by the hand of Thy servant this great salvation; and now, I die with thirst, and have fallen into the hand of the uncircumcised.' **[15:19]** And God cleaveth the hollow place which `is' in Lehi, and waters come out of it, and he drinketh, and his spirit cometh back, and he reviveth; therefore hath `one' called its name `The fountain of him who is calling,' which `is' in Lehi unto this day. **[15:20]** And he judgeth Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years. **[16:1]** And Samson goeth to Gaza, and seeth there a woman, a harlot, and goeth in unto her; **[16:2]** `it is told' to the Gazathites, saying, `Samson hath come in hither;' and they go round and lay wait for him all the night at the gate of the city, and keep themselves silent all the night, saying, `Till the light of the morning -- then we have slain him.' **[16:3]** And Samson lieth down till the middle of the night, and riseth in the middle of the night, and layeth hold on the doors of the gate of the city, and on the two side posts, and removeth them with the bar, and putteth on his shoulders, and taketh them up unto the top of the hill, which `is' on the front of Hebron. **[16:4]** And it cometh to pass afterwards that he loveth a woman in the valley of Sorek, and her name `is' Delilah, **[16:5]** and the princes of the Philistines come up unto her, and say to her, `Entice him, and see wherein his great power `is', and wherein we are able for him -- and we have bound him to afflict him, and we -- we give to thee, each one, eleven hundred silverlings.' **[16:6]** And Delilah saith unto Samson, `Declare, I pray thee, to me, wherein thy great power `is', and wherewith thou art bound, to afflict thee.' **[16:7]** And Samson saith unto her, `If they bind me with seven green withs which have not been dried, then I have been weak, and have been as one of the human race.' **[16:8]** And the princes of the Philistines bring up to her seven green withs which have not been dried, and she bindeth him with them. **[16:9]** And the ambush is abiding with her in an inner chamber, and she saith unto him, `Philistines `are' upon thee, Samson;' and he breaketh the withs as a thread of tow is broken in its smelling fire, and his power hath not been known. **[16:10]** And Delilah saith unto Samson, `Lo, thou hast played upon me, and speakest unto me lies; now, declare, I pray thee, to me, wherewith thou art bound.' **[16:11]** And he saith unto her, `If they certainly bind me with thick bands, new ones, by which work hath not been done, then I have been weak, and have been as one of the human race.' **[16:12]** And Delilah taketh thick bands, new ones, and bindeth him with them, and saith unto him, `Philistines `are' upon thee, Samson;' and the ambush is abiding in an inner chamber, and he breaketh them from off his arms as a thread. **[16:13]** And Delilah saith unto Samson, `Hitherto thou hast played upon me, and dost speak unto me lies; declare to me wherewith thou art bound.' And he saith unto her, `If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.' **[16:14]** And she fixeth `it' with the pin, and saith unto him, `Philistines `are' upon thee, Samson;' and he awaketh out of his sleep, and journeyeth with the pin of the weaving machine, and with the web. **[16:15]** And she saith unto him, `How dost thou say, I have loved thee, and thy heart is not with me? these three times thou hast played upon me, and hast not declared to me wherein thy great power `is'.' **[16:16]** And it cometh to pass, because she distressed him with her words all the days, and doth urge him, and his soul is grieved to death, **[16:17]** that he declareth to her all his heart, and saith to her, `A razor hath not gone up on my head, for a Nazarite to God I `am' from the womb of my mother; if I have been shaven, then hath my power turned aside from me, and I have been weak, and have been as any of the human race.' **[16:18]** And Delilah seeth that he hath declared to her all his heart, and she sendeth and calleth for the princes of the Philistines, saying, `Come up this time, for he hath declared to me all his heart;' and the princes of the Philistines have come up unto her, and bring up the money in their hand. **[16:19]** and she maketh him sleep on her knees, and calleth for a man, and shaveth the seven locks of his head, and beginneth to afflict him, and his power turneth aside from off him; **[16:20]** and she saith, `Philistines `are' upon thee, Samson;' and he awaketh out of his sleep, and saith, `I go out as time by time, and shake myself;' and he hath not known that Jehovah hath turned aside from off him. **[16:21]** And the Philistines seize him, and pick out his eyes, and bring him down to Gaza, and bind him with two brazen fetters; and he is grinding in the prison-house. **[16:22]** And the hair of his head beginneth to shoot up, when he hath been shaven, **[16:23]** and the princes of the Philistines have been gathered together to sacrifice a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice; and they say, `Our god hath given into our hand Samson our enemy.' **[16:24]** And the people see him, and praise their god, for they said, `Our god hath given in our hand our enemy, and he who is laying waste our land, and who multiplied our wounded.' **[16:25]** And it cometh to pass, when their heart `is' glad, that they say, `Call for Samson, and he doth play before us;' and they call for Samson out of the prison-house, and he playeth before them, and they cause him to stand between the pillars. **[16:26]** And Samson saith unto the young man who is keeping hold on his hand, `Let me alone, and let me feel the pillars on which the house is established, and I lean upon them.' **[16:27]** And the house hath been full of men and of women, and thither `are' all the princes of the Philistines, and on the roof `are' about three thousand men and women, who are looking on the playing of Samson. **[16:28]** And Samson calleth unto Jehovah, and saith, `Lord Jehovah, remember me, I pray Thee, and strengthen me, I pray Thee, only this time, O God; and I am avenged -- vengeance at once -- because of my two eyes, on the Philistines.' **[16:29]** And Samson turneth aside `to' the two middle pillars, on which the house is established, and on which it is supported, `to' the one with his right hand, and one with his left; **[16:30]** and Samson saith, `Let me die with the Philistines,' and he inclineth himself powerfully, and the house falleth on the princes, and on all the people who `are' in it, and the dead whom he hath put to death in his death are more than those whom he put to death in his life. **[16:31]** And his brethren come down, and all the house of his father, and lift him up, and bring him up, and bury him between Zorah and Eshtaol, in the burying-place of Manoah his father; and he hath judged Israel twenty years. **[17:1]** And there is a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, and his name `is' Micah, **[17:2]** and he saith to his mother, `The eleven hundred silverlings which have been taken of thine, and `of which' thou hast sworn, and also spoken in mine ears; lo, the silver `is' with me, I have taken it;' and his mother saith, `Blessed `is' my son of Jehovah.' **[17:3]** And he giveth back the eleven hundred silverlings to his mother, and his mother saith, `I had certainly sanctified the silver to Jehovah, from my hand, for my son, to make a graven image, and a molten image; and now, I give it back to thee.' **[17:4]** And he giveth back the money to his mother, and his mother taketh two hundred silverlings, and giveth them to a refiner, and he maketh them a graven image, and a molten image, and it is in the house of Micah. **[17:5]** As to the man Micah, he hath a house of gods, and he maketh an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrateth the hand of one of his sons, and he is to him for a priest; **[17:6]** in those days there is no king in Israel, each that which is right in his own eyes doth. **[17:7]** And there is a young man of Beth-Lehem-Judah, of the family of Judah, and he `is' a Levite, and he `is' a sojourner there. **[17:8]** And the man goeth out of the city, out of Beth-Lehem-Judah, to sojourn where he doth find, and cometh to the hill-country of Ephraim, unto the house of Micah, to work his way. **[17:9]** And Micah saith to him, `Whence comest thou?' and he saith unto him, `A Levite `am' I, of Beth-Lehem-Judah, and I am going to sojourn where I do find.' **[17:10]** And Micah saith to him, `Dwell with me, and be to me for a father and for a priest, and I give to thee ten silverlings for the days, and a suit of garments, and thy sustenance;' and the Levite goeth `in'. **[17:11]** And the Levite is willing to dwell with the man, and the young man is to him as one of his sons. **[17:12]** And Micah consecrateth the hand of the Levite, and the young man is to him for a priest, and he is in the house of Micah, **[17:13]** and Micah saith, `Now I have known that Jehovah doth good to me, for the Levite hath been to me for a priest.' **[18:1]** In those days there is no king in Israel, and in those days the tribe of the Danite is seeking for itself an inheritance to inhabit, for `that' hath not fallen to it unto that day in the midst of the tribes of Israel by inheritance. **[18:2]** And the sons of Dan send, out of their family, five men of them, men, sons of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to traverse the land, and to search it, and they say unto them, `Go, search the land;' and they come into the hill-country of Ephraim, unto the house of Micah, and lodge there. **[18:3]** They `are' with the household of Micah, and they have discerned the voice of the young man, the Levite, and turn aside there, and say to him, `Who hath brought thee hither? and what art thou doing in this `place?' and what to thee here?' **[18:4]** And he saith unto them, `Thus and thus hath Micah done to me; and he hireth me, and I am to him for a priest.' **[18:5]** And they say to him, `Ask, we pray thee, at God, and we know whether our way is prosperous on which we are going.' **[18:6]** And the priest saith to them, `Go in peace; over-against Jehovah `is' your way in which ye go.' **[18:7]** And the five men go, and come in to Laish, and see the people which `is' in its midst, dwelling confidently, according to the custom of Zidonians, quiet and confident; and there is none putting to shame in the land in `any' thing, possessing restraint, and they `are' far off from the Zidonians, and have no word with `any' man. **[18:8]** And they come in unto their brethren, at Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brethren say to them, `What -- ye?' **[18:9]** And they say, `Rise, and we go up against them, for we have seen the land, and lo, very good; and ye are keeping silent! be not slothful to go -- to enter to possess the land. **[18:10]** When ye go, ye come in unto a people confident, and the land `is' large on both hands, for God hath given it into your hand, a place where there is no lack of anything which `is' in the land.' **[18:11]** And there journey thence, of the family of the Danite, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, six hundred men girded with weapons of war. **[18:12]** And they go up and encamp in Kirjath-Jearim, in Judah, therefore they have called that place, `Camp of Dan,' till this day; lo, behind Kirjath-Jearim. **[18:13]** And they pass over thence `to' the hill-country of Ephraim, and come in unto the house of Micah. **[18:14]** And the five men, those going to traverse the land of Laish, answer and say unto their brethren, `Have ye known that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and graven image, and molten image? and now, know what ye do.' **[18:15]** And they turn aside thither, and come in unto the house of the young man the Levite, the house of Micah, and ask of him of welfare, -- **[18:16]** (and the six hundred men girded with their weapons of war, who `are' of the sons of Dan, are standing at the opening of the gate), -- **[18:17]** yea, the five men, those going to traverse the land, go up -- they have come in thither -- they have taken the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image -- and the priest is standing at the opening of the gate, and the six hundred men who are girded with weapons of war -- **[18:18]** yea, these have entered the house of Micah, and take the graven image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image; and the priest saith unto them, `What are ye doing?' **[18:19]** and they say to him, `Keep silent, lay thy hand on thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us for a father and for a priest: is it better thy being a priest to the house of one man, or thy being priest to a tribe and to a family in Israel?' **[18:20]** And the heart of the priest is glad, and he taketh the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and goeth into the midst of the people, **[18:21]** and they turn and go, and put the infants, and the cattle, and the baggage, before them. **[18:22]** They have been far off from the house of Micah -- and the men who `are' in the houses which `are' near the house of Micah have been called together, and overtake the sons of Dan, **[18:23]** and call unto the sons of Dan, and they turn round their faces, and say to Micah, `What -- to thee that thou hast been called together?' **[18:24]** And he saith, `My gods which I made ye have taken, and the priest, and ye go; and what to me more? and what `is' this ye say unto me, What -- to thee!' **[18:25]** And the sons of Dan say unto him, `Let not thy voice be heard with us, lest men bitter in soul fall upon you, and thou hast gathered thy life, and the life of thy household;' **[18:26]** and the sons of Dan go on their way, and Micah seeth that they are stronger than he, and turneth, and goeth back unto his house. **[18:27]** And they have taken that which Micah had made, and the priest whom he had, and come in against Laish, against a people quiet and confident, and smite them by the mouth of the sword, and the city have burnt with fire, **[18:28]** and there is no deliverer, for it `is' far off from Zidon, and they have no word with `any' man, and it `is' in the valley which `is' by Beth-Rehob; and they build the city, and dwell in it, **[18:29]** and call the name of the city Dan, by the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel; and yet Laish `is' the name of the city at the first. **[18:30]** And the sons of Dan raise up for themselves the graven image, and Jonathan son of Gershom, son of Manasseh, he and his sons have been priests to the tribe of the Danite, till the day of the removal of `the people' of the land. **[18:31]** And they appoint for them the graven image of Micah, which he had made, all the days of the house of God being in Shiloh. **[19:1]** And it cometh to pass, in those days, when there is no king in Israel, that there is a man a Levite, a sojourner in the sides of the hill-country of Ephraim, and he taketh to him a wife, a concubine, out of Beth-Lehem-Judah; **[19:2]** and commit whoredom against him doth his concubine, and she goeth from him unto the house of her father, unto Beth-Lehem-Judah, and is there days -- four months. **[19:3]** And her husband riseth and goeth after her, to speak unto her heart, to bring her back, and his young man `is' with him, and a couple of asses; and she bringeth him into the house of her father, and the father of the young woman seeth him, and rejoiceth to meet him. **[19:4]** And keep hold on him doth his father-in-law, father of the young woman, and he abideth with him three days, and they eat and drink, and lodge there. **[19:5]** And it cometh to pass, on the fourth day, that they rise early in the morning, and he riseth to go, and the father of the young woman saith unto his son-in-law, `Support thy heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward ye go on.' **[19:6]** And they sit and eat both of them together, and drink, and the father of the young woman saith unto the man, `Be willing, I pray thee, and lodge all night, and let thy heart be glad.' **[19:7]** And the man riseth to go, and his father-in-law presseth on him, and he turneth back and lodgeth there. **[19:8]** And he riseth early in the morning, on the fifth day, to go, and the father of the young woman saith, `Support, I pray thee, thy heart;' and they have tarried till the turning of the day, and they eat, both of them. **[19:9]** And the man riseth to go, he and his concubine, and his young man, and his father-in-law, father of the young woman, saith to him, `Lo, I pray thee, the day hath fallen toward evening, lodge all night, I pray thee; lo, the declining of the day! lodge here, and let thine heart be glad -- and ye have risen early to-morrow for your journey, and thou hast gone to thy tent.' **[19:10]** And the man hath not been willing to lodge all night, and he riseth, and goeth, and cometh in till over-against Jebus (It `is' Jerusalem), and with him `are' a couple of asses saddled; and his concubine `is' with him. **[19:11]** They `are' near Jebus, and the day hath gone greatly down, and the young man saith unto his lord, `Come, I pray thee, and we turn aside unto this city of the Jebusite, and lodge in it.' **[19:12]** And his lord saith unto him, `Let us not turn aside unto the city of a stranger, that is not of the sons of Israel, thither, but we have passed over unto Gibeah.' **[19:13]** And he saith to his young man, `Come, and we draw near to one of the places, and have lodged in Gibeah, or in Ramah.' **[19:14]** And they pass over, and go on, and the sun goeth in upon them near Gibeah, which is to Benjamin; **[19:15]** and they turn aside there to go in to lodge in Gibeah, and he goeth in and sitteth in a broad place of the city, and there is no man gathering them into the house to lodge. **[19:16]** And lo, a man, an aged one, hath come from his work from the field in the evening, and the man `is' of the hill-country of Ephraim, and he `is' a sojourner in Gibeah, and the men of the place `are' Benjamites. **[19:17]** And he lifteth up his eyes, and seeth the man, the traveller, in a broad place of the city, and the aged man saith, `Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou?' **[19:18]** And he saith unto him, `We are passing over from Beth-Lehem-Judah unto the sides of the hill-country of Ephraim -- thence I `am', and I go unto Beth-Lehem-Judah; and to the house of Jehovah I am going, and there is no man gathering me into the house, **[19:19]** and both straw and provender are for our asses, and also bread and wine there are for me, and for thy handmaid, and for the young man with thy servants; there is no lack of anything.' **[19:20]** And the old man saith, `Peace to thee; only, all thy lack `is' on me, only in the broad place lodge not.' **[19:21]** And he bringeth him in to his house, and mixeth `food' for the asses, and they wash their feet, and eat and drink. **[19:22]** They are making their heart glad, and lo, men of the city, men -- sons of worthlessness -- have gone round about the house, beating on the door, and they speak unto the old man, the master of the house, saying, `Bring out the man who hath come unto thine house, and we know him.' **[19:23]** And the man, the master of the house, goeth out unto them, and saith unto them, `Nay, my brethren, do not evil, I pray you, after that this man hath come in unto my house, do not this folly; **[19:24]** lo, my daughter, the virgin, and his concubine, let me bring them out, I pray you, and humble ye them, and do to them that which is good in your eyes, and to this man do not this foolish thing.' **[19:25]** And the men have not been willing to hearken to him, and the man taketh hold on his concubine, and bringeth `her' out unto them without, and they know her, and roll themselves upon her all the night, till the morning, and send her away in the ascending of the dawn; **[19:26]** and the woman cometh in at the turning of the morning, and falleth at the opening of the man's house, where her lord `is', till the light. **[19:27]** And her lord riseth in the morning, and openeth the doors of the house, and goeth out to go on his way, and lo, the woman, his concubine, is fallen at the opening of the house, and her hands `are' on the threshold, **[19:28]** and he saith unto her, `Rise, and we go;' and there is none answering, and he taketh her on the ass, and the man riseth and goeth to his place, **[19:29]** and cometh in unto his house, and taketh the knife, and layeth hold on his concubine, and cutteth her in pieces to her bones -- into twelve pieces, and sendeth her into all the border of Israel. **[19:30]** And it hath come to pass, every one who seeth hath said, `There hath not been -- yea, there hath not been seen like this, from the day of the coming up of the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt till this day; set your `heart' upon it, take counsel, and speak.' **[20:1]** And all the sons of Israel go out, and the company is assembled as one man, from Dan even unto Beer-Sheba, and the land of Gilead, unto Jehovah, at Mizpeh. **[20:2]** And the chiefs of all the people, of all the tribes of Israel, station themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen drawing sword. **[20:3]** And the sons of Benjamin hear that the sons of Israel have gone up to Mizpeh. And the sons of Israel say, `Speak ye, how hath this evil been?' **[20:4]** And the man, the Levite, husband of the woman who hath been murdered, answereth and saith, `Into Gibeah (which `is' to Benjamin) I have come, I and my concubine, to lodge; **[20:5]** and rise against me do the masters of Gibeah -- and they go round the house against me by night -- me they thought to slay, and my concubine they have humbled, and she dieth; **[20:6]** and I lay hold on my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and send her into all the country of the inheritance of Israel; for they have done wickedness and folly in Israel; **[20:7]** lo, ye `are' all sons of Israel; give for you a word and counsel here.' **[20:8]** And all the people rise as one man, saying, `None of us doth go to his tent, and none of us doth turn aside to his house; **[20:9]** and now, this `is' the thing which we do to Gibeah -- against it by lot! **[20:10]** and we have taken ten men of a hundred, of all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand of a myriad, to receive provision for the people, to do, at their coming to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the folly which it hath done in Israel.' **[20:11]** And every man of Israel is gathered unto the city, as one man -- companions. **[20:12]** And the tribes of Israel send men among all the tribes of Benjamin, saying, `What `is' this evil which hath been among you? **[20:13]** And now, give up the men -- sons of worthlessness -- which `are' in Gibeah, and we put them to death, and we put away evil from Israel.' And `the sons of' Benjamin have not been willing to hearken to the voice of their brethren, the sons of Israel; **[20:14]** and the sons of Benjamin are gathered out of the cities to Gibeah, to go out to battle with the sons of Israel. **[20:15]** And the sons of Benjamin number themselves on that day; out of the cities `are' twenty and six thousand men drawing sword, apart from the inhabitants of Gibeah, `who' numbered themselves, seven hundred chosen men; **[20:16]** among all this people `are' seven hundred chosen men, bound of their right hand, each of these slinging with a stone at the hair, and he doth not err. **[20:17]** And the men of Israel numbered themselves, apart from Benjamin, four hundred thousand men, drawing sword, each of these a man of war. **[20:18]** And they rise and go up to Beth-El, and ask of God, and the sons of Israel say, `Who doth go up for us at the commencement to battle with the sons of Benjamin?' and Jehovah saith, `Judah -- at the commencement.' **[20:19]** And the sons of Israel rise in the morning, and encamp against Gibeah, **[20:20]** and the men of Israel go out to battle with Benjamin, and the men of Israel set themselves in array with them, `for' battle against Gibeah, **[20:21]** and the sons of Benjamin come out from Gibeah, and destroy in Israel on that day two and twenty thousand men -- to the earth. **[20:22]** And the people, the men of Israel, strengthen themselves, and add to set the battle in array in the place where they arranged themselves on the first day. **[20:23]** And the sons of Israel go up and weep before Jehovah till the evening, and ask of Jehovah, saying, `Do I add to draw nigh to battle with the sons of Benjamin, my brother?' And Jehovah saith, `Go up against him.' **[20:24]** And the sons of Israel draw near unto the sons of Benjamin on the second day, **[20:25]** and Benjamin cometh out to meet them from Gibeah on the second day, and destroy among the sons of Israel again eighteen thousand men -- to the earth; all these are drawing sword. **[20:26]** And all the sons of Israel go up, even all the people, and come in to Beth-El, and weep, and sit there before Jehovah, and fast on that day till the evening, and cause to ascend burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before Jehovah. **[20:27]** And the sons of Israel ask of Jehovah, -- and there `is' the ark of the covenant of God in those days, **[20:28]** and Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, is standing before it in those days -- saying, `Do I add again to go out to battle with the sons of Benjamin, my brother, or do I cease?' And Jehovah saith, `Go up, for to-morrow I give him into thy hand.' **[20:29]** And Israel setteth liers in wait against Gibeah, round about, **[20:30]** and the sons of Israel go up against the sons of Benjamin, on the third day, and arrange themselves against Gibeah, as time by time. **[20:31]** And the sons of Benjamin come out to meet the people; they have been drawn away out of the city, and begin to smite `some' of the people -- wounded as time by time, in the highways (of which one is going up to Beth-El, and the other to Gibeah in the field), `are' about thirty men of Israel. **[20:32]** And the sons of Benjamin say, `They are smitten before us as at the beginning;' but the sons of Israel said, `Let us flee, and draw them away out of the city, unto the highways.' **[20:33]** And all the men of Israel have risen from their place, and arrange themselves at Baal-Tamar, and the ambush of Israel is coming forth out of its place, out of the meadow of Gibeah. **[20:34]** And they come in over against Gibeah -- ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel -- and the battle `is' grievous, and they have not known that the evil is striking against them. **[20:35]** And Jehovah smiteth Benjamin before Israel, and the sons of Israel destroy in Benjamin, on that day, twenty and five thousand, and a hundred men; all these `are' drawing sword. **[20:36]** And the sons of Benjamin see that they have been smitten -- and the men of Israel give place to Benjamin, for they have trusted unto the ambush which they had set against Gibeah, **[20:37]** and the ambush have hasted, and push against Gibeah, and the ambush draweth itself out, and smiteth the whole of the city by the mouth of the sword. **[20:38]** And there was the appointed sign to the men of Israel with the ambush -- their causing to go up a great volume of smoke from the city. **[20:39]** And the men of Israel turn in battle, and Benjamin hath begun to smite the wounded among the men of Israel, about thirty men, for they said, `Surely they are utterly smitten before us, as `at' the first battle; **[20:40]** and the volume hath begun to go up from the city -- a pillar of smoke -- and Benjamin turneth behind, and lo, gone up hath the perfection of the city toward the heavens. **[20:41]** And the men of Israel have turned, and the men of Benjamin are troubled, for they have seen that the evil hath stricken against them -- **[20:42]** and they turn before the men of Israel unto the way of the wilderness, and the battle hath followed them; and those who `are' from the city are destroying them in their midst; **[20:43]** they have compassed the Benjamites -- they have pursued them -- with ease they have trodden them down till over-against Gibeah, at the sun-rising. **[20:44]** And there fall of Benjamin eighteen thousand men -- the whole of these `are' men of valour; **[20:45]** and they turn and flee toward the wilderness, unto the rock of Rimmon; and they glean of them in the highways five thousand men, and follow after them unto Gidom, and smite of them two thousand men. **[20:46]** And all those falling of Benjamin are twenty and five thousand men drawing sword, on that day -- the whole of these `are' men of valour; **[20:47]** and there turn and flee into the wilderness, unto the rock of Rimmon six hundred men, and they dwell in the rock Rimmon four months. **[20:48]** And the men of Israel have turned back unto the sons of Benjamin, and smite them by the mouth of the sword out of the city, -- men unto cattle, unto all that is found; also all the cities which are found they have sent into fire. **[21:1]** And the men of Israel have sworn in Mizpeh, saying, `None of us doth give his daughter to Benjamin for a wife.' **[21:2]** And the people come in to Beth-El, and sit there till the evening before God, and lift up their voice, and weep -- a great weeping, **[21:3]** and say, `Why, O Jehovah, God of Israel, hath this been in Israel -- to be lacking to-day, from Israel, one tribe?' **[21:4]** And it cometh to pass on the morrow, that the people rise early, and build there an altar, and cause to ascend burnt-offerings and peace-offerings. **[21:5]** And the sons of Israel say, `Who `is' he that hath not come up in the assembly out of all the tribes of Israel unto Jehovah?' for the great oath hath been concerning him who hath not come up unto Jehovah to Mizpeh, saying, `He is surely put to death.' **[21:6]** And the sons of Israel repent concerning Benjamin their brother, and say, `There hath been to-day cut off one tribe from Israel, **[21:7]** what do we do for them -- for those who are left -- for wives, and we -- we have sworn by Jehovah not to give to them of our daughters for wives?' **[21:8]** And they say, `Who is `that' one out of the tribes of Israel who hath not come up unto Jehovah to Mizpeh?' and lo, none hath come in unto the camp from Jabesh-Gilead -- unto the assembly. **[21:9]** And the people numbered themselves, and lo, there is not there a man of the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead. **[21:10]** And the company send there twelve thousand men of the sons of valour, and command them, saying, `Go -- and ye have smitten the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead by the mouth of the sword, even the women and the infants. **[21:11]** And this `is' the thing which ye do; every male, and every woman knowing the lying of a male, ye devote.' **[21:12]** And they find out of the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead four hundred young women, virgins, who have not known man by the lying of a male, and they bring them in unto the camp at Shiloh, which `is' in the land of Canaan. **[21:13]** And all the company send, and speak, unto the sons of Benjamin who `are' in the rock Rimmon, and proclaim to them peace; **[21:14]** and Benjamin turneth back at that time, and they give to them the women whom they have kept alive of the women of Jabesh-Gilead, and they have not found for `all of' them so. **[21:15]** And the people repented concerning Benjamin, for Jehovah had made a breach among the tribes of Israel. **[21:16]** And the elders of the company say, `What do we do to the remnant for wives -- for the women have been destroyed out of Benjamin?' **[21:17]** And they say, `A possession of an escaped party `is' to Benjamin, and a tribe is not blotted out from Israel; **[21:18]** and we -- we are not able to give to them wives out of our daughters, for the sons of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed `is' he who is giving a wife to Benjamin.' **[21:19]** And they say, `Lo, a festival of Jehovah `is' in Shiloh, from time to time, which `is' on the north of Beth-El, at the rising of the sun, by the highway which is going up from Beth-El to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.' **[21:20]** And they command the sons of Benjamin, saying, `Go -- and ye have laid wait in the vineyards, **[21:21]** and have seen, and lo, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances -- then ye have gone out from the vineyards, and caught for you each his wife out of the daughters of Shiloh, and gone to the land of Benjamin; **[21:22]** and it hath been, when their fathers or their brethren come in to plead unto us, that we have said unto them, Favour us `by' them, for we have not taken `to' each his wife in battle, for ye -- ye have not given to them at this time `that' ye are guilty.' **[21:23]** And the sons of Benjamin do so, and take women according to their number, out of the dancers whom they have taken violently away; and they go, and turn back unto their inheritance, and build the cities, and dwell in them. **[21:24]** And the sons of Israel go up and down thence at that time, each to his tribe, and to his family; and they go out thence each to his inheritance. **[21:25]** In those days there is no king in Israel; each doth that which is right in his own eyes.

8 Ruth - American Standard-ASV1901 (ASV).md

# Ruth - American Standard-ASV1901 (ASV) **[1:1]** And it came to pass in the days when the judges judged, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem-judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. **[1:2]** And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem-judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there. **[1:3]** And Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons. **[1:4]** And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelt there about ten years. **[1:5]** And Mahlon and Chilion died both of them; and the woman was left of her two children and of her husband. **[1:6]** Then she arose with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that Jehovah had visited his people in giving them bread. **[1:7]** And she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah. **[1:8]** And Naomi said unto her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each of you to her mother's house: Jehovah deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me. **[1:9]** Jehovah grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voice, and wept. **[1:10]** And they said unto her, Nay, but we will return with thee unto thy people. **[1:11]** And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? have I yet sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? **[1:12]** Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should even have a husband to-night, and should also bear sons; **[1:13]** would ye therefore tarry till they were grown? would ye therefore stay from having husbands? nay, my daughters, for it grieveth me much for your sakes, for the hand of Jehovah is gone forth against me. **[1:14]** And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clave unto her. **[1:15]** And she said, Behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back unto her people, and unto her god: return thou after thy sister-in-law. **[1:16]** And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, and to return from following after thee, for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God; **[1:17]** where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: Jehovah do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me. **[1:18]** And when she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, she left off speaking unto her. **[1:19]** So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and `the women' said, Is this Naomi? **[1:20]** And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara; for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. **[1:21]** I went out full, and Jehovah hath brought me home again empty; why call ye me Naomi, seeing Jehovah hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me? **[1:22]** So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest. **[2:1]** And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz. **[2:2]** And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter. **[2:3]** And she went, and came and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on the portion of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. **[2:4]** And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, Jehovah be with you. And they answered him, Jehovah bless thee. **[2:5]** Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this? **[2:6]** And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab: **[2:7]** And she said, Let me glean, I pray you, and gather after the reapers among the sheaves. So she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, save that she tarried a little in the house. **[2:8]** Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither pass from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens. **[2:9]** Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn. **[2:10]** Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found favor in thy sight, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a foreigner? **[2:11]** And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been showed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother-in-law since the death of thy husband; and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people that thou knewest not heretofore. **[2:12]** Jehovah recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of Jehovah, the God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to take refuge. **[2:13]** Then she said, Let me find favor in thy sight, my lord, for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken kindly unto thy handmaid, though I be not as one of thy handmaidens. **[2:14]** And at meal-time Boaz said unto her, Come hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers, and they reached her parched grain, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left thereof. **[2:15]** And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not. **[2:16]** And also pull out some for her from the bundles, and leave it, and let her glean, and rebuke her not. **[2:17]** So she gleaned in the field until even; and she beat out that which she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. **[2:18]** And she took it up, and went into the city; and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought forth and gave to her that which she had left after she was sufficed. **[2:19]** And her mother-in-law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned to-day? and where hast thou wrought? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she showed her mother-in-law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man's name with whom I wrought to-day is Boaz. **[2:20]** And Naomi said unto her daughter-in-law, Blessed be he of Jehovah, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is nigh of kin unto us, one of our near kinsmen. **[2:21]** And Ruth the Moabitess said, Yea, he said unto me, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest. **[2:22]** And Naomi said unto Ruth her daughter-in-law, It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, and that they meet thee not in any other field. **[2:23]** So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz, to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and she dwelt with her mother-in-law. **[3:1]** And Naomi her mother-in-law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee? **[3:2]** And now is not Boaz our kinsman, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to-night in the threshing-floor. **[3:3]** Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the threshing-floor, but make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking. **[3:4]** And it shall be, when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do. **[3:5]** And she said unto her, All that thou sayest I will do. **[3:6]** And she went down unto the threshing-floor, and did according to all that her mother-in-law bade her. **[3:7]** And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain: and she came softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid her down. **[3:8]** And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was afraid, and turned himself; and, behold, a woman lay at his feet. **[3:9]** And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth thy handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thy handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman. **[3:10]** And he said, Blessed be thou of Jehovah, my daughter: thou hast showed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich. **[3:11]** And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou sayest; for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a worthy woman. **[3:12]** And now it is true that I am a near kinsman; howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I. **[3:13]** Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman, well; let him do the kinsman's part: but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to thee, as Jehovah liveth: lie down until the morning. **[3:14]** And she lay at his feet until the morning. And she rose up before one could discern another. For he said, Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing-floor. **[3:15]** And he said, Bring the mantle that is upon thee, and hold it; and she held it; and he measured six `measures' of barley, and laid it on her: and he went into the city. **[3:16]** And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, Who art thou, my daughter? And she told her all that the man had done to her. **[3:17]** And she said, These six `measures' of barley gave he me; for he said, Go not empty unto thy mother-in-law. **[3:18]** Then said she, Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall; for the man will not rest, until he have finished the thing this day. **[4:1]** Now Boaz went up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the near kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside, and sat down. **[4:2]** And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down. **[4:3]** And he said unto the near kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth the parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech's: **[4:4]** And I thought to disclose it unto thee, saying, Buy it before them that sit here, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; for there is none to redeem it besides thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it. **[4:5]** Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance. **[4:6]** And the near kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: take thou my right of redemption on thee; for I cannot redeem it. **[4:7]** Now this was `the custom' in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning exchanging, to confirm all things: a man drew off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbor; and this was the `manner of' attestation in Israel. **[4:8]** So the near kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thyself. And he drew off his shoe. **[4:9]** And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi. **[4:10]** Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day. **[4:11]** And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. Jehovah make the woman that is come into thy house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephrathah, and be famous in Bethlehem: **[4:12]** and let thy house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which Jehovah shall give thee of this young woman. **[4:13]** So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife; and he went in unto her, and Jehovah gave her conception, and she bare a son. **[4:14]** And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be Jehovah, who hath not left thee this day without a near kinsman; and let his name be famous in Israel. **[4:15]** And he shall be unto thee a restorer of life, and a nourisher of thine old age, for thy daughter-in-law, who loveth thee, who is better to thee than seven sons, hath borne him. **[4:16]** And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it. **[4:17]** And the women her neighbors gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David. **[4:18]** Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez begat Hezron, **[4:19]** and Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab, **[4:20]** and Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon, **[4:21]** and Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, **[4:22]** and Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.

8 Ruth - Bible in Basic English (BBE).md

# Ruth - Bible in Basic English (BBE) **[1:1]** Now there came a time, in the days of the judges, when there was no food in the land. And a certain man went from Beth-lehem-judah, he and his wife and his two sons, to make a living-place in the country of Moab. **[1:2]** And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Beth-lehem-judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and were there for some time. **[1:3]** And Elimelech, Naomi's husband, came to his end; and only her two sons were with her. **[1:4]** And they took two women of Moab as their wives: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth; and they went on living there for about ten years. **[1:5]** And Mahlon and Chilion came to their end; and the woman was without her two sons and her husband. **[1:6]** So she and her daughters-in-law got ready to go back from the country of Moab, for news had come to her in the country of Moab that the Lord, in mercy for his people, had given them food. **[1:7]** And she went out of the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on their way to go back to the land of Judah. **[1:8]** And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go back to your mothers' houses: may the Lord be good to you as you have been good to the dead and to me: **[1:9]** May the Lord give you rest in the houses of your husbands. Then she gave them a kiss; and they were weeping bitterly. **[1:10]** And they said to her, No, but we will go back with you to your people. **[1:11]** But Naomi said, Go back, my daughters; why will you come with me? Have I more sons in my body, to become your husbands? **[1:12]** Go back, my daughters, and go on your way; I am so old now that I may not have another husband. If I said, I have hopes, if I had a husband tonight, and might have sons, **[1:13]** Would you keep yourselves till they were old enough? would you keep from having husbands for them? No, my daughters; but I am very sad for you that the hand of the Lord is against me. **[1:14]** Then again they were weeping; and Orpah gave her mother-in-law a kiss, but Ruth would not be parted from her. **[1:15]** And Naomi said, See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods: go back after your sister-in-law. **[1:16]** But Ruth said, Give up requesting me to go away from you, or to go back without you: for where you go I will go; and where you take your rest I will take my rest; your people will be my people, and your God my God. **[1:17]** Wherever death comes to you, death will come to me, and there will be my last resting-place; the Lord do so to me and more if we are parted by anything but death. **[1:18]** And when she saw that Ruth was strong in her purpose to go with her she said no more. **[1:19]** So the two of them went on till they came to Beth-lehem. And when they came to Beth-lehem all the town was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi? **[1:20]** And she said to them, Do not let my name be Naomi, but Mara, for the Ruler of all has given me a bitter fate. **[1:21]** I went out full, and the Lord has sent me back again with nothing; why do you give me the name Naomi, seeing that the Lord has given witness against me, and the Ruler of all has sent sorrow on me? **[1:22]** So Naomi came back out of the country of Moab, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her; and they came to Beth-lehem in the first days of the grain-cutting. **[2:1]** And Naomi had a relation of her husband, a man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz. **[2:2]** And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, Now let me go into the field and take up the heads of grain after him in whose eyes I may have grace. And she said to her, Go, my daughter. **[2:3]** And she went, and came and took up the heads of grain in the field after the cutters; and by chance she went into that part of the field which was the property of Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. **[2:4]** And Boaz came from Beth-lehem, and said to the grain-cutters, The Lord be with you. And they made answer, The Lord give you his blessing. **[2:5]** Then Boaz said to his servant who was in authority over the cutters, Whose girl is this? **[2:6]** And the servant who was in authority over the cutters said, It is a Moabite girl who came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab; **[2:7]** And she said to me, Let me come into the grain-field and take up the grain after the cutters. So she came, and has been here from morning till now, without resting even for a minute. **[2:8]** Then said Boaz to Ruth, Give ear to me, my daughter: do not go to take up the grain in another field, or go away from here, but keep here by my young women: **[2:9]** Keep your eyes on the field they are cutting, and go after them; have I not given orders to the young men not to put a hand on you? And when you are in need of drink go to the vessels and take of what the young men have put there. **[2:10]** Then she went down on her face to the earth, and said to him, Why have I grace in your eyes, that you give attention to me, seeing I am from a strange people? **[2:11]** And Boaz answering said to her, I have had news of everything you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband; how you went away from your father and mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people who are strange to you. **[2:12]** The Lord give you a reward for what you have done, and may a full reward be given to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take cover. **[2:13]** Then she said, May I have grace in your eyes, my lord, for you have given me comfort, and you have said kind words to your servant, though I am not like one of your servants. **[2:14]** And at meal-time Boaz said to her, Come here, and take some of the bread, and put your bit into the wine. And she took her seat among the grain-cutters: and he gave her dry grain, and she took it, and there was more than enough for her meal. **[2:15]** And when she got ready to take up the grain, Boaz gave his young men orders, saying, Let her take it even from among the cut grain, and say nothing to her. **[2:16]** And let some heads of grain be pulled out of what has been corded up, and dropped for her to take, and let no sharp word be said to her. **[2:17]** So she went on getting together the heads of grain till evening; and after crushing out the seed it came to about an ephah of grain. **[2:18]** And she took it up and went into the town; and she let her mother-in-law see what she had got, and after taking enough for herself she gave her the rest. **[2:19]** And her mother-in-law said to her, Where did you take up the grain today, and where were you working? May a blessing be on him who gave such attention to you. And she gave her mother-in-law an account of where she had been working, and said, The name of the man with whom I was working today is Boaz. **[2:20]** And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, May the blessing of the Lord, who has at all times been kind to the living and to the dead, be on him. And Naomi said to her, The man is of our family, one of our near relations. **[2:21]** And Ruth the Moabitess said, Truly, he said to me, Keep near my young men till all my grain is cut. **[2:22]** And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, It is better, my daughter, for you to go out with his servant-girls, so that no danger may come to you in another field. **[2:23]** So she kept near the servant-girls of Boaz to take up the grain till the cutting of the early grain and the cutting of the late grain were ended; and she went on living with her mother-in-law. **[3:1]** And Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, My daughter, am I not to get you a resting-place where you may be in comfort? **[3:2]** And now, is there not Boaz, our relation, with whose young women you were? See, tonight he is separating the grain from the waste in his grain-floor. **[3:3]** So take a bath, and, after rubbing your body with sweet oil, put on your best robe, and go down to the grain-floor; but do not let him see you till he has come to the end of his meal. **[3:4]** But see to it, when he goes to rest, that you take note of the place where he is sleeping, and go in there, and, uncovering his feet, take your place by him; and he will say what you are to do. **[3:5]** And she said, I will do all you say. **[3:6]** So she went down to the grain-floor and did all her mother-in-law had said to her. **[3:7]** Now when Boaz had taken meat and drink, and his heart was glad, he went to take his rest at the end of the mass of grain; then she came softly and, uncovering his feet, went to rest. **[3:8]** Now in the middle of the night, the man awaking from his sleep in fear, and lifting himself up, saw a woman stretched at his feet. **[3:9]** And he said, Who are you? And she answering said, I am your servant Ruth: take your servant as wife, for you are a near relation. **[3:10]** And he said, May the Lord give you his blessing, my daughter: even better than what you did at the first is this last kind act you have done, in not going after young men, with or without wealth. **[3:11]** And now, my daughter, have no fear; I will do for you whatever you say: for it is clear to all my townspeople that you are a woman of virtue. **[3:12]** Now it is true that I am a near relation: but there is a relation nearer than I. **[3:13]** Take your rest here tonight; and in the morning, if he will do for you what it is right for a relation to do, very well, let him do so: but if he will not, then by the living Lord I myself will do so. **[3:14]** And she took her rest at his feet till the morning: and she got up before it was light enough for one to see another. And he said, Let it not come to anyone's knowledge that the woman came to the grain-floor. **[3:15]** And he said, Take your robe, stretching it out in your hands: and she did so, and he took six measures of grain and put them into it, and gave it her to take: and she went back to the town. **[3:16]** And when she came back her mother-in-law said to her, How did it go with you, my daughter? And she gave her an account of all the man had done to her. **[3:17]** And she said, He gave me these six measures of grain, saying, Do not go back to your mother-in-law with nothing in your hands. **[3:18]** Then she said, Do nothing now, my daughter, till you see what will come of this; for the man will take no rest till he has put this thing through. **[4:1]** And Boaz went up to the public place of the town, and took his seat there: and the near relation of whom he had been talking came by; and Boaz, crying out to him by name, said, Come and be seated here. And he came and was seated. **[4:2]** Then he got ten of the responsible men of the town, and said, Be seated here. And they took their seats. **[4:3]** Then he said to the near relation, Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is offering for a price that bit of land which was our brother Elimelech's: **[4:4]** And it was in my mind to give you the chance of taking it, with the approval of those seated here and of the responsible men of my people. If you are ready to do what it is right for a relation to do, then do it: but if you will not do it, say so to me now; for there is no one who has the right to do it but you, and after you myself. And he said, I will do it. **[4:5]** Then Boaz said, On the day when you take this field, you will have to take with it Ruth, the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, so that you may keep the name of the dead living in his heritage. **[4:6]** And the near relation said, I am not able to do the relation's part, for fear of damaging the heritage I have: you may do it in my place, for I am not able to do it myself. **[4:7]** Now, in earlier times this was the way in Israel when property was taken over by a near relation, or when there was a change of owner. To make the exchange certain one man took off his shoe and gave it to the other; and this was a witness in Israel. **[4:8]** So the near relation said to Boaz, Take it for yourself. And he took off his shoe. **[4:9]** Then Boaz said to the responsible men and to all the people, You are witnesses today that I have taken at a price from Naomi all the property which was Elimelech's, and everything which was Chilion's and Mahlon's. **[4:10]** And, further, I have taken Ruth, the Moabitess, who was the wife of Mahlon, to be my wife, to keep the name of the dead man living in his heritage, so that his name may not be cut off from among his countrymen, and from the memory of his town: you are witnesses this day. **[4:11]** And all the people who were in the public place, and the responsible men, said, We are witnesses. May the Lord make this woman, who is about to come into your house, like Rachel and Leah, which two were the builders of the house of Israel: and may you have wealth in Ephrathah, and be great in Beth-lehem; **[4:12]** May your family be like the family of Perez, the son whom Tamar gave to Judah, from the offspring which the Lord may give you by this young woman. **[4:13]** So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and he went in to her, and the Lord made her with child and she gave birth to a son. **[4:14]** And the women said to Naomi, A blessing on the Lord, who has not let you be this day without a near relation, and may his name be great in Israel. **[4:15]** He will be a giver of new life to you, and your comforter when you are old, for your daughter-in-law, who, in her love for you, is better than seven sons, has given birth to him. **[4:16]** And Naomi took the child and put her arms round it, and she took care of it. **[4:17]** And the women who were her neighbours gave it a name, saying, Naomi has a child; and they gave him the name of Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David. **[4:18]** Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron; **[4:19]** And Hezron became the father of Ram, and Ram became the father of Amminadab; **[4:20]** And Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon became the father of Salmon; **[4:21]** And Salmon became the father of Boaz, and Boaz became the father of Obed; **[4:22]** And Obed became the father of Jesse, and Jesse became the father of David.

8 Ruth - King James Version (KJV).md

# Ruth - King James Version (KJV) **[1:1]** Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. **[1:2]** And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehemjudah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there. **[1:3]** And Elimelech Naomi's husband died; and she was left, and her two sons. **[1:4]** And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years. **[1:5]** And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband. **[1:6]** Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread. **[1:7]** Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah. **[1:8]** And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother's house: the LORD deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me. **[1:9]** The LORD grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept. **[1:10]** And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people. **[1:11]** And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? **[1:12]** Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband also to night, and should also bear sons; **[1:13]** Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD is gone out against me. **[1:14]** And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her. **[1:15]** And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law. **[1:16]** And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: **[1:17]** Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me. **[1:18]** When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her. **[1:19]** So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi? **[1:20]** And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. **[1:21]** I went out full and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me? **[1:22]** So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest. **[2:1]** And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz. **[2:2]** And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter. **[2:3]** And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech. **[2:4]** And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The LORD be with you. And they answered him, The LORD bless thee. **[2:5]** Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this? **[2:6]** And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab: **[2:7]** And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house. **[2:8]** Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens: **[2:9]** Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn. **[2:10]** Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger? **[2:11]** And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been showed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. **[2:12]** The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust. **[2:13]** Then she said, Let me find favor in thy sight, my lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens. **[2:14]** And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left. **[2:15]** And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not: **[2:16]** And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not. **[2:17]** So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley. **[2:18]** And she took it up, and went into the city: and her mother in law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought forth, and gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed. **[2:19]** And her mother in law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned to day? and where wroughtest thou? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she showed her mother in law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man's name with whom I wrought to day is Boaz. **[2:20]** And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen. **[2:21]** And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest. **[2:22]** And Naomi said unto Ruth her daughter in law, It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, that they meet thee not in any other field. **[2:23]** So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law. **[3:1]** Then Naomi her mother in law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee? **[3:2]** And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to night in the threshingfloor. **[3:3]** Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the floor: but make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking. **[3:4]** And it shall be, when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do. **[3:5]** And she said unto her, All that thou sayest unto me I will do. **[3:6]** And she went down unto the floor, and did according to all that her mother in law bade her. **[3:7]** And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn: and she came softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid her down. **[3:8]** And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was afraid, and turned himself: and, behold, a woman lay at his feet. **[3:9]** And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman. **[3:10]** And he said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my daughter: for thou hast showed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich. **[3:11]** And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman. **[3:12]** And now it is true that I am thy near kinsman: howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I. **[3:13]** Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman, well; let him do the kinsman's part: but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to thee, as the LORD liveth: lie down until the morning. **[3:14]** And she lay at his feet until the morning: and she rose up before one could know another. And he said, Let it not be known that a woman came into the floor. **[3:15]** Also he said, Bring the vail that thou hast upon thee, and hold it. And when she held it, he measured six measures of barley, and laid it on her: and she went into the city. **[3:16]** And when she came to her mother in law, she said, Who art thou, my daughter? And she told her all that the man had done to her. **[3:17]** And she said, These six measures of barley gave he me; for he said to me, Go not empty unto thy mother in law. **[3:18]** Then said she, Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall: for the man will not be in rest, until he have finished the thing this day. **[4:1]** Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside, and sat down. **[4:2]** And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down. **[4:3]** And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech's: **[4:4]** And I thought to advertise thee, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know: for there is none to redeem it beside thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it. **[4:5]** Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance. **[4:6]** And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it. **[4:7]** Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbor: and this was a testimony in Israel. **[4:8]** Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he drew off his shoe. **[4:9]** And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi. **[4:10]** Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day. **[4:11]** And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem: **[4:12]** And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the LORD shall give thee of this young woman. **[4:13]** So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bare a son. **[4:14]** And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the LORD, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel. **[4:15]** And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him. **[4:16]** And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it. **[4:17]** And the women her neighbors gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David. **[4:18]** Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron, **[4:19]** And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab, **[4:20]** And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon, **[4:21]** And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, **[4:22]** And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.

8 Ruth - World English Bible (WEB).md

# Ruth - World English Bible (WEB) **[1:1]** It happened in the days when the judges judged, that there was a famine in the land. A certain man of Bethlehem Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. **[1:2]** The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem Judah. They came into the country of Moab, and continued there. **[1:3]** Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons. **[1:4]** They took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they lived there about ten years. **[1:5]** Mahlon and Chilion died both of them; and the woman was left of her two children and of her husband. **[1:6]** Then she arose with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that Yahweh had visited his people in giving them bread. **[1:7]** She went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. **[1:8]** Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each of you to her mother's house: Yahweh deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead, and with me. **[1:9]** Yahweh grant you that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voice, and wept. **[1:10]** They said to her, No, but we will return with you to your people. **[1:11]** Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will you go with me? have I yet sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? **[1:12]** Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should even have a husband tonight, and should also bear sons; **[1:13]** would you therefore wait until they were grown? would you therefore stay from having husbands? nay, my daughters, for it grieves me much for your sakes, for the hand of Yahweh is gone forth against me. **[1:14]** They lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth joined with her. **[1:15]** She said, Behold, your sister-in-law is gone back to her people, and to her god: return you after your sister-in-law. **[1:16]** Ruth said, "Don't entreat me to leave you, and to return from following after you, for where you go, I will go; and where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God; **[1:17]** where you die, will I die, and there will I be buried: Yahweh do so to me, and more also, if anything but death part you and me." **[1:18]** When she saw that she was steadfastly minded to go with her, she left off speaking to her. **[1:19]** So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. It happened, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and [the women] said, Is this Naomi? **[1:20]** She said to them, "Don't call me Naomi, call me Mara; for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. **[1:21]** I went out full, and Yahweh has brought me home again empty; why do you call me Naomi, seeing Yahweh has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?" **[1:22]** So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest. **[2:1]** Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz. **[2:2]** Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor. She said to her, Go, my daughter. **[2:3]** She went, and came and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. **[2:4]** Behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, Yahweh be with you. They answered him, Yahweh bless you. **[2:5]** Then said Boaz to his servant who was set over the reapers, Whose young lady is this? **[2:6]** The servant who was set over the reapers answered, It is the Moabite lady who came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab: **[2:7]** She said, Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves. So she came, and has continued even from the morning until now, except that she stayed a little in the house. **[2:8]** Then said Boaz to Ruth, Don't you hear, my daughter? Don't go to glean in another field, neither pass from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens. **[2:9]** Let your eyes be on the field that they reap, and go after them: haven't I charged the young men that they shall not touch you? and when you are thirsty, go to the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn. **[2:10]** Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said to him, Why have I found favor in your sight, that you should take knowledge of me, seeing I am a foreigner? **[2:11]** Boaz answered her, It has fully been shown me, all that you have done to your mother-in-law since the death of your husband; and how you have left your father and your mother, and the land of your birth, and have come to a people that you didn't know before. **[2:12]** Yahweh recompense your work, and a full reward be given you of Yahweh, the God of Israel, under whose wings you are come to take refuge. **[2:13]** Then she said, Let me find favor in your sight, my lord, because you have comforted me, and because you have spoken kindly to your handmaid, though I am not as one of your handmaidens. **[2:14]** At meal-time Boaz said to her, Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip your morsel in the vinegar. She sat beside the reapers, and they reached her parched grain, and she ate, and was sufficed, and left of it. **[2:15]** When she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and don't reproach her. **[2:16]** Also pull out some for her from the bundles, and leave it, and let her glean, and don't rebuke her. **[2:17]** So she gleaned in the field until even; and she beat out that which she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. **[2:18]** She took it up, and went into the city; and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought forth and gave to her that which she had left after she was sufficed. **[2:19]** Her mother-in-law said to her, Where have you gleaned today? and where have you worked? blessed be he who did take knowledge of you. She shown her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, The man's name with whom I worked today is Boaz. **[2:20]** Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, Blessed be he of Yahweh, who has not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. Naomi said to her, The man is a close relative to us, one of our near kinsmen. **[2:21]** Ruth the Moabitess said, Yes, he said to me, You shall keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest. **[2:22]** Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his maidens, and that they not meet you in any other field. **[2:23]** So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz, to glean to the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and she lived with her mother-in-law. **[3:1]** Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? **[3:2]** Now isn't Boaz our kinsman, with whose maidens you were? Behold, he winnows barley tonight in the threshing floor. **[3:3]** Wash yourself therefore, and anoint you, and put your clothing on you, and get you down to the threshing floor, but don't make yourself known to the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking. **[3:4]** It shall be, when he lies down, that you shall mark the place where he shall lie, and you shall go in, and uncover his feet, and lay you down; and he will tell you what you shall do. **[3:5]** She said to her, All that you say I will do. **[3:6]** She went down to the threshing floor, and did according to all that her mother-in-law bade her. **[3:7]** When Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain: and she came softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid her down. **[3:8]** It happened at midnight, that the man was afraid, and turned himself; and, behold, a woman lay at his feet. **[3:9]** He said, Who are you? She answered, I am Ruth your handmaid: spread therefore your skirt over your handmaid; for you are a near kinsman. **[3:10]** He said, Blessed are you by Yahweh, my daughter: you have shown more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as you didn't follow young men, whether poor or rich. **[3:11]** Now, my daughter, don't be afraid; I will do to you all that you say; for all the city of my people does know that you are a worthy woman. **[3:12]** Now it is true that I am a near kinsman; however there is a kinsman nearer than I. **[3:13]** Stay this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform to you the part of a kinsman, well; let him do the kinsman's part: but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to you, then will I do the part of a kinsman to you, as Yahweh lives: lie down until the morning. **[3:14]** She lay at his feet until the morning. She rose up before one could discern another. For he said, Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor. **[3:15]** He said, Bring the mantle that is on you, and hold it; and she held it; and he measured six [measures] of barley, and laid it on her: and he went into the city. **[3:16]** When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, Who are you, my daughter? She told her all that the man had done to her. **[3:17]** She said, These six [measures] of barley gave he me; for he said, "Don't go empty to your mother-in-law." **[3:18]** Then said she, "Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will fall; for the man will not rest, until he has finished the thing this day." **[4:1]** Now Boaz went up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the near kinsman of whom Boaz spoke came by; to whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. He turned aside, and sat down. **[4:2]** He took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit you down here. They sat down. **[4:3]** He said to the near kinsman, Naomi, who has come back out of the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech's: **[4:4]** I thought to disclose it to you, saying, Buy it before those who sit here, and before the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it: but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; for there is none to redeem it besides you; and I am after you. He said, I will redeem it. **[4:5]** Then said Boaz, What day you buy the field of the hand of Naomi, you must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance. **[4:6]** The near kinsman said, I can't redeem it for myself, lest I mar my own inheritance: take my right of redemption on you; for I can't redeem it. **[4:7]** Now this was [the custom] in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning exchanging, to confirm all things: a man drew off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbor; and this was the [manner of] attestation in Israel. **[4:8]** So the near kinsman said to Boaz, Buy it for yourself. He drew off his shoe. **[4:9]** Boaz said to the elders, and to all the people, You are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi. **[4:10]** Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance, that the name of the dead not be cut off from among his brothers, and from the gate of his place: you are witnesses this day. **[4:11]** All the people who were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. Yahweh make the woman who has come into your house like Rachel and like Leah, which two built the house of Israel: and do you worthily in Ephrathah, and be famous in Bethlehem: **[4:12]** and let your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, of the seed which Yahweh shall give you of this young woman. **[4:13]** So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife; and he went in to her, and Yahweh gave her conception, and she bore a son. **[4:14]** The women said to Naomi, Blessed be Yahweh, who has not left you this day without a near kinsman; and let his name be famous in Israel. **[4:15]** He shall be to you a restorer of life, and sustain you in your old age, for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him. **[4:16]** Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse to it. **[4:17]** The women her neighbors gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they named him Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David. **[4:18]** Now this is the history of the generations of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron, **[4:19]** and Hezron became the father of Ram, and Ram became the father of Amminadab, **[4:20]** and Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon became the father of Salmon, **[4:21]** and Salmon became the father of Boaz, and Boaz became the father of Obed, **[4:22]** and Obed became the father of Jesse, and Jesse became the father of David.

8 Ruth - Young's Literal Translation (YLT).md

# Ruth - Young's Literal Translation (YLT) **[1:1]** And it cometh to pass, in the days of the judging of the judges, that there is a famine in the land, and there goeth a man from Beth-Lehem-Judah to sojourn in the fields of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. **[1:2]** And the name of the man `is' Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites from Beth-Lehem-Judah; and they come into the fields of Moab, and are there. **[1:3]** And Elimelech husband of Naomi dieth, and she is left, she and her two sons; **[1:4]** and they take to them wives, Moabitesses: the name of the one `is' Orpah, and the name of the second Ruth; and they dwell there about ten years. **[1:5]** And they die also, both of them -- Mahlon and Chilion -- and the woman is left of her two children and of her husband. **[1:6]** And she riseth, she and her daughters-in-law, and turneth back from the fields of Moab, for she hath heard in the fields of Moab that God hath looked after His people, -- to give to them bread. **[1:7]** And she goeth out from the place where she hath been, and her two daughters-in-law with her, and they go in the way to turn back unto the land of Judah. **[1:8]** And Naomi saith to her two daughters-in-law, `Go, turn back, each to the house of her mother; Jehovah doth with you kindness as ye have done with the dead, and with me; **[1:9]** Jehovah doth grant to you, and find ye rest each in the house of her husband;' and she kisseth them, and they lift up their voice and weep. **[1:10]** And they say to her, `Surely with thee we go back to thy people.' **[1:11]** And Naomi saith, `Turn back, my daughters; why do ye go with me? are there yet to me sons in my bowels that they have been to you for husbands? **[1:12]** Turn back, my daughters, go, for I am too aged to be to a husband; though I had said, There is for me hope, also, I have been to-night to a husband, and also I have borne sons: **[1:13]** for them do ye wait till that they grow up? for them do ye shut yourselves up, not to be to a husband? nay, my daughters, for more bitter to me than to you, for the hand of Jehovah hath gone out against me.' **[1:14]** And they lift up their voice, and weep again, and Orpah kisseth her mother-in-law, and Ruth hath cleaved to her. **[1:15]** And she saith, `Lo, thy sister-in-law hath turned back unto her people, and unto her god, turn thou back after thy sister-in-law.' **[1:16]** And Ruth saith, `Urge me not to leave thee -- to turn back from after thee; for whither thou goest I go, and where thou lodgest I lodge; thy people `is' my people, and thy God my God. **[1:17]** Where thou diest I die, and there I am buried; thus doth Jehovah to me, and thus doth He add -- for death itself doth part between me and thee.' **[1:18]** And she seeth that she is strengthening herself to go with her, and she ceaseth to speak unto her; **[1:19]** and they go both of them till their coming in to Beth-Lehem; and it cometh to pass at their coming in to Beth-Lehem, that all the city is moved at them, and they say, `Is this Naomi?' **[1:20]** And she saith unto them, `Call me not Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly to me, **[1:21]** I went out full, and empty hath Jehovah brought me back, why do ye call me Naomi, and Jehovah hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath done evil to me?' **[1:22]** And Naomi turneth back, and Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, who hath turned back from the fields of Moab, and they have come in to Beth-Lehem at the commencement of barley-harvest. **[2:1]** And Naomi hath an acquaintance of her husband's, a man mighty in wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name `is' Boaz. **[2:2]** And Ruth the Moabitess saith unto Naomi, `Let me go, I pray thee, into the field, and I gather among the ears of corn after him in whose eyes I find grace;' and she saith to her, `Go, my daughter.' **[2:3]** And she goeth and cometh and gathereth in a field after the reapers, and her chance happeneth -- the portion of the field is Boaz's who `is' of the family of Elimelech. **[2:4]** And lo, Boaz hath come from Beth-Lehem, and saith to the reapers, `Jehovah `is' with you;' and they say to him, `Jehovah doth bless thee.' **[2:5]** And Boaz saith to his young man who is set over the reapers, `Whose `is' this young person?' **[2:6]** And the young man who is set over the reapers answereth and saith, `A young woman -- Moabitess -- she `is', who came back with Naomi from the fields of Moab, **[2:7]** and she saith, Let me glean, I pray thee -- and I have gathered among the sheaves after the reapers; and she cometh and remaineth since the morning and till now; she sat in the house a little. **[2:8]** And Boaz saith unto Ruth, `Hast thou not heard, my daughter? go not to glean in another field, and also, pass not over from this, and thus thou dost cleave to my young women: **[2:9]** thine eyes `are' on the field which they reap, and thou hast gone after them; have not I charged the young men not to touch thee? when thou art athirst then thou hast gone unto the vessels, and hast drunk from that which the young men draw.' **[2:10]** And she falleth on her face, and boweth herself to the earth, and saith unto him, `Wherefore have I found grace in thine eyes, to discern me, and I a stranger?' **[2:11]** And Boaz answereth and saith to her, `It hath thoroughly been declared to me all that thou hast done with thy mother-in-law, after the death of thy husband, and thou dost leave thy father, and thy mother, and the land of thy birth, and dost come in unto a people which thou hast not known heretofore. **[2:12]** Jehovah doth recompense thy work, and thy reward is complete from Jehovah, God of Israel, under whose wings thou hast come to take refuge.' **[2:13]** And she saith, `Let me find grace in thine eyes, my lord, because thou hast comforted me, and because thou hast spoken unto the heart of thy maid-servant, and I -- I am not as one of thy maid-servants.' **[2:14]** And Boaz saith to her, `At meal-time come nigh hither, and thou hast eaten of the bread, and dipped thy morsel in the vinegar.' And she sitteth at the side of the reapers, and he reacheth to her roasted corn, and she eateth, and is satisfied, and leaveth. **[2:15]** And she riseth to glean, and Boaz chargeth his young men, saying, `Even between the sheaves she doth glean, and ye do not cause her to blush; **[2:16]** and also ye do surely cast to her of the handfuls -- and have left, and she hath gleaned, and ye do not push against her.' **[2:17]** And she gleaneth in the field till the evening, and beateth out that which she hath gleaned, and it is about an ephah of barley; **[2:18]** and she taketh `it' up, and goeth into the city, and her mother-in-law seeth that which she hath gleaned, and she bringeth out and giveth to her that which she left from her satiety. **[2:19]** And her mother-in-law saith to her, `Where hast thou gleaned to-day? and where hast thou wrought? may he who is discerning thee be blessed.' And she declareth to her mother-in-law with whom she hath wrought, and saith, `The name of the man with whom I have wrought to-day `is' Boaz.' **[2:20]** And Naomi saith to her daughter-in-law, `Blessed `is' he of Jehovah who hath not forsaken His kindness with the living and with the dead;' and Naomi saith to her, `The man is a relation of ours; he `is' of our redeemers.' **[2:21]** And Ruth the Moabitess saith, `Also he surely said unto me, Near the young people whom I have thou dost cleave till they have completed the whole of the harvest which I have.' **[2:22]** And Naomi saith unto Ruth her daughter-in-law, `Good, my daughter, that thou goest out with his young women, and they come not against thee in another field.' **[2:23]** And she cleaveth to the young women of Boaz to glean, till the completion of the barley-harvest, and of the wheat-harvest, and she dwelleth with her mother-in-law. **[3:1]** And Naomi her mother-in-law saith to her, `My daughter, do not I seek for thee rest, that it may be well with thee? **[3:2]** and now, is not Boaz of our acquaintance, with whose young women thou hast been? lo, he is winnowing the threshing-floor of barley to-night, **[3:3]** and thou hast bathed, and anointed thyself, and put thy garments upon thee, and gone down to the threshing-floor; let not thyself be known to the man till he complete to eat and to drink; **[3:4]** and it cometh to pass when he lieth down, that thou hast known the place where he lieth down, and hast gone in, and uncovered his feet, and lain down, -- and he doth declare to thee that which thou dost do.' **[3:5]** And she saith unto her, `All that thou sayest -- I do.' **[3:6]** And she goeth down `to' the threshing-floor, and doth according to all that her mother-in-law commanded her **[3:7]** And Boaz eateth and drinketh, and his heart is glad; and he goeth in to lie down at the end of the heap; and she cometh in gently, and uncovereth his feet, and lieth down. **[3:8]** And it cometh to pass, at the middle of the night, that the man trembleth, and turneth himself, and lo, a woman is lying at his feet. **[3:9]** And he saith, `Who `art' thou?' and she saith, `I `am' Ruth thy handmaid, and thou hast spread thy skirt over thy handmaid, for thou `art' a redeemer.' **[3:10]** And he saith, `Blessed `art' thou of Jehovah, my daughter; thou hast dealt more kindly at the latter end than at the beginning -- not to go after the young men, either poor or rich. **[3:11]** And now, my daughter, fear not, all that thou sayest I do to thee, for all the gate of my people doth know that thou `art' a virtuous woman. **[3:12]** And now, surely, true, that I `am' a redeemer, but also there is a redeemer nearer than I. **[3:13]** Lodge to night, and it hath been in the morning, if he doth redeem thee, well: he redeemeth; and if he delight not to redeem thee, then I have redeemed thee -- I; Jehovah liveth! lie down till the morning.' **[3:14]** And she lieth down at his feet till the morning, and riseth before one doth discern another; and he saith, `Let it not be known that the woman hath come into the floor.' **[3:15]** And he saith, `Give the covering which `is' on thee, and keep hold on it;' and she keepeth hold on it, and he measureth six `measures' of barley, and layeth `it' on her; and he goeth into the city. **[3:16]** And she cometh in unto her mother-in-law, and she saith, `Who `art' thou, my daughter?' and she declareth to her all that the man hath done to her. **[3:17]** And she saith, `These six `measures' of barley he hath given to me, for he said, Thou dost not go in empty unto thy mother-in-law.' **[3:18]** And she saith, `Sit still, my daughter, till thou dost know how the matter falleth, for the man doth not rest except he hath completed the matter to-day.' **[4:1]** And Boaz hath gone up to the gate, and sitteth there, and lo, the redeemer is passing by of whom Boaz had spoken, and he saith, `Turn aside, sit down here, such a one, such a one;' and he turneth aside and sitteth down. **[4:2]** And he taketh ten men of the elders of the city, and saith, `Sit down here;' and they sit down. **[4:3]** And he saith to the redeemer, `A portion of the field which `is' to our brother, to Elimelech, hath Naomi sold, who hath come back from the fields of Moab; **[4:4]** and I said, I uncover thine ear, saying, Buy before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people; if thou dost redeem -- redeem, and if none doth redeem -- declare to me, and I know, for there is none save thee to redeem, and I after thee.' And he saith, I redeem `it'.' **[4:5]** And Boaz saith, `In the day of thy buying the field from the hand of Naomi, then from Ruth the Moabitess, wife of the dead, thou hast bought `it', to raise up the name of the dead over his inheritance.' **[4:6]** And the redeemer saith, `I am not able to redeem `it' for myself, lest I destroy mine inheritance; redeem for thyself -- thou -- my right of redemption, for I am not able to redeem.' **[4:7]** And this `is' formerly in Israel for redemption and for changing, to establish anything: a man hath drawn off his sandal, and given `it' to his neighbour, and this `is' the testimony in Israel. **[4:8]** And the redeemer saith to Boaz, `Buy `it' for thyself,' and draweth off his sandal. **[4:9]** And Boaz saith to the elders, and `to' all the people, `Witnesses `are' ye to-day that I have bought all that `is' to Elimelech, and all that `is' to Chilion and Mahlon, from the hand of Naomi; **[4:10]** and also Ruth the Moabitess, wife of Mahlon, I have bought to myself for a wife, to raise up the name of the dead over his inheritance; and the name of the dead is not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place; witnesses ye `are' to-day.' **[4:11]** And all the people who `are' in the gate say -- also the elders -- `Witnesses! Jehovah make the woman who is coming in unto thy house as Rachel and as Leah, both of whom built the house of Israel; and do thou virtuously in Ephrathah, and proclaim the Name in Beth-Lehem; **[4:12]** and let thy house be as the house of Pharez (whom Tamar bare to Judah), of the seed which Jehovah doth give to thee of this young woman.' **[4:13]** And Boaz taketh Ruth, and she becometh his wife, and he goeth in unto her, and Jehovah giveth to her conception, and she beareth a son. **[4:14]** And the women say unto Naomi, `Blessed `is' Jehovah who hath not let a redeemer cease to thee to-day, and his name is proclaimed in Israel, **[4:15]** and he hath been to thee for a restorer of life, and for a nourisher of thine old age, for thy daughter-in-law who hath loved thee -- who is better to thee than seven sons -- hath borne him.' **[4:16]** And Naomi taketh the lad, and layeth him in her bosom, and is to him for a nurse; **[4:17]** and the neighbouring women give to him a name, saying, `There hath been a son born to Naomi,' and they call his name Obed; he `is' father of Jesse, father of David. **[4:18]** And these are genealogies of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron, **[4:19]** and Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminidab, **[4:20]** and Amminidab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon, **[4:21]** and Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, **[4:22]** and Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.

9 1 Samuel - American Standard-ASV1901 (ASV).md

# 1 Samuel - American Standard-ASV1901 (ASV) **[1:1]** Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of the hill-country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite: **[1:2]** and he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. **[1:3]** And this man went up out of his city from year to year to worship and to sacrifice unto Jehovah of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, priests unto Jehovah, were there. **[1:4]** And when the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions: **[1:5]** but unto Hannah he gave a double portion; for he loved Hannah, but Jehovah had shut up her womb. **[1:6]** And her rival provoked her sore, to make her fret, because Jehovah had shut up her womb. **[1:7]** And `as' he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of Jehovah, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat. **[1:8]** And Elkanah her husband said unto her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons? **[1:9]** So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest was sitting upon his seat by the door-post of the temple of Jehovah. **[1:10]** And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto Jehovah, and wept sore. **[1:11]** And she vowed a vow, and said, O Jehovah of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thy handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thy handmaid, but wilt give unto thy handmaid a man-child, then I will give him unto Jehovah all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. **[1:12]** And it came to pass, as she continued praying before Jehovah, that Eli marked her mouth. **[1:13]** Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. **[1:14]** And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee. **[1:15]** And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I poured out my soul before Jehovah. **[1:16]** Count not thy handmaid for a wicked woman; for out of the abundance of my complaint and my provocation have I spoken hitherto. **[1:17]** Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace; and the God of Israel grant thy petition that thou hast asked of him. **[1:18]** And she said, Let thy handmaid find favor in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat; and her countenance was no more `sad'. **[1:19]** And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before Jehovah, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and Jehovah remembered her. **[1:20]** And it came to pass, when the time was come about, that Hannah conceived, and bare a son; and she called his name Samuel, `saying', Because I have asked him of Jehovah. **[1:21]** And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer unto Jehovah the yearly sacrifice, and his vow. **[1:22]** But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, `I will not go up' until the child be weaned; and then I will bring him, that he may appear before Jehovah, and there abide for ever. **[1:23]** And Elkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seemeth thee good; tarry until thou have weaned him; only Jehovah establish his word. So the woman tarried and gave her son suck, until she weaned him. **[1:24]** And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of meal, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of Jehovah in Shiloh: and the child was young. **[1:25]** And they slew the bullock, and brought the child to Eli. **[1:26]** And she said, Oh, my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto Jehovah. **[1:27]** For this child I prayed; and Jehovah hath given me my petition which I asked of him: **[1:28]** therefore also I have granted him to Jehovah; as long as he liveth he is granted to Jehovah. And he worshipped Jehovah there. **[2:1]** And Hannah prayed, and said: My heart exulteth in Jehovah; My horn is exalted in Jehovah; My mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; Because I rejoice in thy salvation. **[2:2]** There is none holy as Jehovah; For there is none besides thee, Neither is there any rock like our God. **[2:3]** Talk no more so exceeding proudly; Let not arrogancy come out of your mouth; For Jehovah is a God of knowledge, And by him actions are weighed. **[2:4]** The bows of the mighty men are broken; And they that stumbled are girded with strength. **[2:5]** They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; And they that were hungry have ceased `to hunger': Yea, the barren hath borne seven; And she that hath many children languisheth. **[2:6]** Jehovah killeth, and maketh alive: He bringeth down to Sheol, and bringeth up. **[2:7]** Jehovah maketh poor, and maketh rich: He bringeth low, he also lifteth up. **[2:8]** He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, He lifteth up the needy from the dunghill, To make them sit with princes, And inherit the throne of glory: For the pillars of the earth are Jehovah's, And he hath set the world upon them. **[2:9]** He will keep the feet of his holy ones; But the wicked shall be put to silence in darkness; For by strength shall no man prevail. **[2:10]** They that strive with Jehovah shall be broken to pieces; Against them will he thunder in heaven: Jehovah will judge the ends of the earth; And he will give strength unto his king, And exalt the horn of his anointed. **[2:11]** And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child did minister unto Jehovah before Eli the priest. **[2:12]** Now the sons of Eli were base men; they knew not Jehovah. **[2:13]** And the custom of the priests with the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came, while the flesh was boiling, with a flesh-hook of three teeth in his hand; **[2:14]** and he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the flesh-hook brought up the priest took therewith. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither. **[2:15]** Yea, before they burnt the fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have boiled flesh of thee, but raw. **[2:16]** And if the man said unto him, They will surely burn the fat first, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; then he would say, Nay, but thou shalt give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force. **[2:17]** And the sin of the young men was very great before Jehovah; for the men despised the offering of Jehovah. **[2:18]** But Samuel ministered before Jehovah, being a child, girded with a linen ephod. **[2:19]** Moreover his mother made him a little robe, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. **[2:20]** And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, Jehovah give thee seed of this woman for the petition which was asked of Jehovah. And they went unto their own home. **[2:21]** And Jehovah visited Hannah, and she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before Jehovah. **[2:22]** Now Eli was very old; and he heard all that his sons did unto all Israel, and how that they lay with the women that did service at the door of the tent of meeting. **[2:23]** And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings from all this people. **[2:24]** Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make Jehovah's people to transgress. **[2:25]** If one man sin against another, God shall judge him; but if a man sin against Jehovah, who shall entreat for him? Notwithstanding, they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because Jehovah was minded to slay them. **[2:26]** And the child Samuel grew on, and increased in favor both with Jehovah, and also with men. **[2:27]** And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, Did I reveal myself unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt `in bondage' to Pharaoh's house? **[2:28]** and did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up unto mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire? **[2:29]** Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in `my' habitation, and honorest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people? **[2:30]** Therefore Jehovah, the God of Israel, saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now Jehovah saith, Be it far from me; for them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. **[2:31]** Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man in thy house. **[2:32]** And thou shalt behold the affliction of `my' habitation, in all the wealth which `God' shall give Israel; and there shall not be an old man in thy house for ever. **[2:33]** And the man of thine, `whom' I shall not cut off from mine altar, `shall be' to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thy heart; and all the increase of thy house shall die in the flower of their age. **[2:34]** And this shall be the sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die both of them. **[2:35]** And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in my heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever. **[2:36]** And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in thy house shall come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests' offices, that I may eat a morsel of bread. **[3:1]** And the child Samuel ministered unto Jehovah before Eli. And the word of Jehovah was precious in those days; there was no frequent vision. **[3:2]** And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place (now his eyes had begun to wax dim, so that he could not see), **[3:3]** and the lamp of God was not yet gone out, and Samuel was laid down `to sleep', in the temple of Jehovah, where the ark of God was; **[3:4]** that Jehovah called Samuel; and he said, Here am I. **[3:5]** And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down. **[3:6]** And Jehovah called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again. **[3:7]** Now Samuel did not yet know Jehovah, neither was the word of Jehovah yet revealed unto him. **[3:8]** And Jehovah called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And Eli perceived that Jehovah had called the child. **[3:9]** Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Jehovah; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. **[3:10]** And Jehovah came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel said, Speak; for thy servant heareth. **[3:11]** And Jehovah said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. **[3:12]** In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from the beginning even unto the end. **[3:13]** For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever, for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons did bring a curse upon themselves, and he restrained them not. **[3:14]** And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be expiated with sacrifice nor offering for ever. **[3:15]** And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of Jehovah. And Samuel feared to show Eli the vision. **[3:16]** Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he said, Here am I. **[3:17]** And he said, What is the thing that `Jehovah' hath spoken unto thee? I pray thee, hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide anything from me of all the things that he spake unto thee. **[3:18]** And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is Jehovah: let him do what seemeth him good. **[3:19]** And Samuel grew, and Jehovah was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. **[3:20]** And all Israel from Dan even to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of Jehovah. **[3:21]** And Jehovah appeared again in Shiloh; for Jehovah revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of Jehovah. **[4:1]** And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and encamped beside Eben-ezer: and the Philistines encamped in Aphek. **[4:2]** And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines; and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men. **[4:3]** And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath Jehovah smitten us to-day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out of Shiloh unto us, that it may come among us, and save us out of the hand of our enemies. **[4:4]** So the people sent to Shiloh; and they brought from thence the ark of the covenant of Jehovah of hosts, who sitteth `above' the cherubim: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. **[4:5]** And when the ark of the covenant of Jehovah came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again. **[4:6]** And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of Jehovah was come into the camp. **[4:7]** And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore. **[4:8]** Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods? these are the gods that smote the Egyptians with all manner of plagues in the wilderness. **[4:9]** Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight. **[4:10]** And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man to his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. **[4:11]** And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain. **[4:12]** And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head. **[4:13]** And when he came, lo, Eli was sitting upon his seat by the wayside watching; for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out. **[4:14]** And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What meaneth the noise of this tumult? And the man hasted, and came and told Eli. **[4:15]** Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were set, so that he could not see. **[4:16]** And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to-day out of the army. And he said, How went the matter, my son? **[4:17]** And he that brought the tidings answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken. **[4:18]** And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that `Eli' feel from off his seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years. **[4:19]** And his daughter-in-law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, near to be delivered: and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and brought forth; for her pains came upon her. **[4:20]** And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast brought forth a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it. **[4:21]** And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel; because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father-in-law and her husband. **[4:22]** And she said, The glory is departed from Israel; for the ark of God is taken. **[5:1]** Now the Philistines had taken the ark of God, and they brought it from Eben-ezer unto Ashdod. **[5:2]** And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. **[5:3]** And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of Jehovah. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again. **[5:4]** And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of Jehovah; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands `lay' cut off upon the threshold; only `the stump of' Dagon was left to him. **[5:5]** Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod, unto this day. **[5:6]** But the hand of Jehovah was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with tumors, even Ashdod and the borders thereof. **[5:7]** And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us; for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god. **[5:8]** They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel `thither'. **[5:9]** And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of Jehovah was against the city with a very great discomfiture: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great; and tumors brake out upon them. **[5:10]** So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people. **[5:11]** They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to its own place, that is slay us not, and our people. For there was a deadly discomfiture throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. **[5:12]** And the men that died not were smitten with the tumors; and the cry of the city went up to heaven. **[6:1]** And the ark of Jehovah was in the country of the Philistines seven months. **[6:2]** And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do with the ark of Jehovah? show us wherewith we shall sent it to its place. **[6:3]** And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but by all means return him a trespass-offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you. **[6:4]** Then said they, What shall be the trespass-offering which we shall return to him? And they said, Five golden tumors, and five golden mice, `according to' the number of the lords of the Philistines; for one plague was on you all, and on your lords. **[6:5]** Wherefore ye shall make images of your tumors, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land. **[6:6]** Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When he had wrought wonderfully among them, did they not let the people go, and they departed? **[6:7]** Now therefore take and prepare you a new cart, and two milch kine, on which there hath come no yoke; and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them; **[6:8]** and take the ark of Jehovah, and lay it upon the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which ye return him for a trespass-offering, in a coffer by the side thereof; and send it away, that it may go. **[6:9]** And see; if it goeth up by the way of its own border to Beth-shemesh, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us; it was a chance that happened to us. **[6:10]** And the men did so, and took two milch kine, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home; **[6:11]** and they put the ark of Jehovah upon the cart, and the coffer with the mice of gold and the images of their tumors. **[6:12]** And the kine took the straight way by the way to Beth-shemesh; they went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border of Beth-shemesh. **[6:13]** And they of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley; and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it. **[6:14]** And the cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite, and stood there, where there was a great stone: and they clave the wood of the cart, and offered up the kine for a burnt-offering unto Jehovah. **[6:15]** And the Levites took down the ark of Jehovah, and the coffer that was with it, wherein the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt-offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day unto Jehovah. **[6:16]** And when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day. **[6:17]** And these are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned for a trespass-offering unto Jehovah: for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Ashkelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one; **[6:18]** and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fortified cities and of country villages, even unto the great stone, whereon they set down the ark of Jehovah, `which stone remaineth' unto this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite. **[6:19]** And he smote of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of Jehovah, he smote of the people seventy men, `and' fifty thousand men; and the people mourned, because Jehovah had smitten the people with a great slaughter. **[6:20]** And the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to stand before Jehovah, this holy God? and to whom shall he go up from us? **[6:21]** And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, saying, The Philistines have brought back the ark of Jehovah; come ye down, and fetch it up to you. **[7:1]** And the men of Kiriath-jearim came, and fetched up the ark of Jehovah, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of Jehovah. **[7:2]** And it came to pass, from the day that the ark abode in Kiriath-jearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after Jehovah. **[7:3]** And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto Jehovah with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, and direct your hearts unto Jehovah, and serve him only; and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. **[7:4]** Then the children of Israel did put away the Baalim and the Ashtaroth, and served Jehovah only. **[7:5]** And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray for you unto Jehovah. **[7:6]** And they gathered together to Mizpah, and drew water, and poured it out before Jehovah, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against Jehovah. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpah. **[7:7]** And when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines. **[7:8]** And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto Jehovah our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines. **[7:9]** And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it for a whole burnt-offering unto Jehovah: and Samuel cried unto Jehovah for Israel; and Jehovah answered him. **[7:10]** And as Samuel was offering up the burnt-offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel; but Jehovah thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten down before Israel. **[7:11]** And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them, until they came under Beth-car. **[7:12]** Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath Jehovah helped us. **[7:13]** So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more within the border of Israel: and the hand of Jehovah was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. **[7:14]** And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even unto Gath; and the border thereof did Israel deliver out of the hand of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites. **[7:15]** And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. **[7:16]** And he went from year to year in circuit to Beth-el and Gilgal, and Mizpah; and he judged Israel in all those places. **[7:17]** And his return was to Ramah, for there was his house; and there he judged Israel: and he built there an altar unto Jehovah. **[8:1]** And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. **[8:2]** Now the name of his first-born was Joel; and the name of his second, Abijah: they were judges in Beer-sheba. **[8:3]** And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted justice. **[8:4]** Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah; **[8:5]** and they said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. **[8:6]** But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto Jehovah. **[8:7]** And Jehovah said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee; for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not be king over them. **[8:8]** According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, in that they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. **[8:9]** Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit thou shalt protest solemnly unto them, and shalt show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. **[8:10]** And Samuel told all the words of Jehovah unto the people that asked of him a king. **[8:11]** And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them unto him, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and they shall run before his chariots; **[8:12]** and he will appoint them unto him for captains of thousands, and captains of fifties; and `he will set some' to plow his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and the instruments of his chariots. **[8:13]** And he will take your daughters to be perfumers, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. **[8:14]** And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. **[8:15]** And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. **[8:16]** And he will take your men-servants, and your maid-servants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. **[8:17]** He will take the tenth of your flocks: and ye shall be his servants. **[8:18]** And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king whom ye shall have chosen you; and Jehovah will not answer you in that day. **[8:19]** But the people refused to hearken unto the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay: but we will have a king over us, **[8:20]** that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. **[8:21]** And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of Jehovah. **[8:22]** And Jehovah said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city. **[9:1]** Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of valor. **[9:2]** And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a young man and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people. **[9:3]** And the asses of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with thee, and arise, go seek the asses. **[9:4]** And he passed through the hill-country of Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they found them not: then they passed through the land of Shaalim, and there they were not: and he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they found them not. **[9:5]** When they were come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant that was with him, Come, and let us return, lest my father leave off caring for the asses, and be anxious for us. **[9:6]** And he said unto him, Behold now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is a man that is held in honor; all that he saith cometh surely to pass: now let us go thither; peradventure he can tell us concerning our journey whereon we go. **[9:7]** Then said Saul to his servant, But, behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? for the bread is spent in our vessels, and there is not a present to bring to the man of God: what have we? **[9:8]** And the servant answered Saul again, and said, Behold, I have in my hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver: that will I give to the man of God, to tell us our way. **[9:9]** (Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, thus he said, Come, and let us go to the seer; for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer.) **[9:10]** Then said Saul to his servant, Well said; come, let us go. So they went unto the city where the man of God was. **[9:11]** As they went up the ascent to the city, they found young maidens going out to draw water, and said unto them, Is the seer here? **[9:12]** And they answered them, and said, He is; behold, `he is' before thee: make haste now, for he is come to-day into the city; for the people have a sacrifice to-day in the high place: **[9:13]** as soon as ye are come into the city, ye shall straightway find him, before he goeth up to the high place to eat; for the people will not eat until he come, because he doth bless the sacrifice; `and' afterwards they eat that are bidden. Now therefore get you up; for at this time ye shall find him. **[9:14]** And they went up to the city; `and' as they came within the city, behold, Samuel came out toward them, to go up to the high place. **[9:15]** Now Jehovah had revealed unto Samuel a day before Saul came, saying, **[9:16]** To-morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be prince over my people Israel; and he shall save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked upon my people, because their cry is come unto me. **[9:17]** And when Samuel saw Saul, Jehovah said unto him, Behold, the man of whom I spake to thee! this same shall have authority over my people. **[9:18]** Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, where the seer's house is. **[9:19]** And Samuel answered Saul, and said, I am the seer; go up before me unto the high place, for ye shall eat with me to-day: and in the morning I will let thee go, and will tell thee all that is in thy heart. **[9:20]** And as for thine asses that were lost three days ago, set not they mind on them; for they are found. And for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for thee, and for all thy father's house? **[9:21]** And Saul answered and said, Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? wherefore then speakest thou to me after this manner? **[9:22]** And Samuel took Saul and his servant, and brought them into the guest-chamber, and made them sit in the chiefest place among them that were bidden, who were about thirty persons. **[9:23]** And Samuel said unto the cook, Bring the portion which I gave thee, of which I said unto thee, Set it by thee. **[9:24]** And the cook took up the thigh, and that which was upon it, and set it before Saul. And `Samuel' said, Behold, that which hath been reserved! set it before thee and eat; because unto the appointed time hath it been kept for thee, for I said, I have invited the people. So Saul did eat with Samuel that day. **[9:25]** And when they were come down from the high place into the city, he communed with Saul upon the housetop. **[9:26]** And they arose early: and it came to pass about the spring of the day, that Samuel called to Saul on the housetop, saying, Up, that I may send thee away. And Saul arose, and they went out both of them, he and Samuel, abroad. **[9:27]** As they were going down at the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid the servant pass on before us (and he passed on), but stand thou still first, that I may cause thee to hear the word of God. **[10:1]** Then Samuel took the vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not that Jehovah hath anointed thee to be prince over his inheritance? **[10:2]** When thou art departed from me to-day, then thou shalt find two men by Rachel's sepulchre, in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say unto thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found; and, lo, thy father hath left off caring for the asses, and is anxious for you, saying, What shall I do for my son? **[10:3]** Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the oak of Tabor; and there shall meet thee there three men going up to God to Beth-el, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine: **[10:4]** and they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread, which thou shalt receive of their hand. **[10:5]** After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a timbrel, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they will be prophesying: **[10:6]** and the Spirit of Jehovah will come mightily upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man. **[10:7]** And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion shall serve thee; for God is with thee. **[10:8]** And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal; and, behold, I will come down unto thee, to offer burnt-offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace-offerings: seven days shalt thou tarry, till I come unto thee, and show thee what thou shalt do. **[10:9]** And it was so, that, when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day. **[10:10]** And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a band of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came mightily upon him, and he prophesied among them. **[10:11]** And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime saw that, behold, he prophesied with the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets? **[10:12]** And one of the same place answered and said, And who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets? **[10:13]** And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place. **[10:14]** And Saul's uncle said unto him and to his servant, Whither went ye? And he said, To seek the asses; and when we saw that they were not found, we came to Samuel. **[10:15]** And Saul's uncle said, Tell me, I pray thee, what Samuel said unto you. **[10:16]** And Saul said unto his uncle, He told us plainly that the asses were found. But concerning the matter of the kingdom, whereof Samuel spake, he told him not. **[10:17]** And Samuel called the people together unto Jehovah to Mizpah; **[10:18]** and he said unto the children of Israel, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all the kingdoms that oppressed you: **[10:19]** but ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saveth you out of all your calamities and your distresses; and ye have said unto him, `Nay', but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before Jehovah by your tribes, and by your thousands. **[10:20]** So Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken. **[10:21]** And he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by their families; and the family of the Matrites was taken; and Saul the son of Kish was taken: but when they sought him, he could not be found. **[10:22]** Therefore they asked of Jehovah further, Is there yet a man to come hither? And Jehovah answered, Behold, he hath hid himself among the baggage. **[10:23]** And they ran and fetched him thence; and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward. **[10:24]** And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom Jehovah hath chosen, that there is none like him along all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, `Long' live the king. **[10:25]** Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before Jehovah. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house. **[10:26]** And Saul also went to his house to Gibeah; and there went with him the host, whose hearts God had touched. **[10:27]** But certain worthless fellows said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no present. But he held his peace. **[11:1]** Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabesh-gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee. **[11:2]** And Nahash the Ammonite said unto them, On this condition will I make it with you, that all your right eyes be put out; and I will lay it for a reproach upon all Israel. **[11:3]** And the elders of Jabesh said unto him, Give us seven days' respite, that we may send messengers unto all the borders of Israel; and then, if there be none to save us, we will come out to thee. **[11:4]** Then came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul, and spake these words in the ears of the people: and all the people lifted up their voice, and wept. **[11:5]** And, behold, Saul came following the oxen out of the field; and Saul said, What aileth the people that they weep? And they told him the words of the men of Jabesh. **[11:6]** And the Spirit of God came mightily upon Saul when he heard those words, and his anger was kindled greatly. **[11:7]** And he took a yoke of oxen, and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the borders of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen. And the dread of Jehovah fell on the people, and they came out as one man. **[11:8]** And he numbered them in Bezek; and the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. **[11:9]** And they said unto the messengers that came, Thus shall ye say unto the men of Jabesh-gilead, To-morrow, by the time the sun is hot, ye shall have deliverance. And the messengers came and told the men of Jabesh; and they were glad. **[11:10]** Therefore the men of Jabesh said, To-morrow we will come out unto you, and ye shall do with us all that seemeth good unto you. **[11:11]** And it was so on the morrow, that Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch, and smote the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it came to pass, that they that remained were scattered, so that not two of them were left together. **[11:12]** And the people said unto Samuel, Who is he that said, Shall Saul reign over us? bring the men, that we may put them to death. **[11:13]** And Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death this day; for to-day Jehovah hath wrought deliverance in Israel. **[11:14]** Then said Samuel to the people, Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there. **[11:15]** And all the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before Jehovah in Gilgal; and there they offered sacrifices of peace-offerings before Jehovah; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly. **[12:1]** And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you. **[12:2]** And now, behold, the king walketh before you; and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my youth unto this day. **[12:3]** Here I am: witness against me before Jehovah, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I taken a ransom to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you. **[12:4]** And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken aught of any man's hand. **[12:5]** And he said unto them, Jehovah is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found aught in my hand. And they said, He is witness. **[12:6]** And Samuel said unto the people, It is Jehovah that appointed Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. **[12:7]** Now therefore stand still, that I may plead with you before Jehovah concerning all the righteous acts of Jehovah, which he did to you and to your fathers. **[12:8]** When Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers cried unto Jehovah, then Jehovah sent Moses and Aaron, who brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them to dwell in this place. **[12:9]** But they forgat Jehovah their God; and he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab; and they fought against them. **[12:10]** And they cried unto Jehovah, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken Jehovah, and have served the Baalim and the Ashtaroth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee. **[12:11]** And Jehovah sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side; and ye dwelt in safety. **[12:12]** And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay, but a king shall reign over us; when Jehovah your God was your king. **[12:13]** Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have asked for: and, behold, Jehovah hath set a king over you. **[12:14]** If ye will fear Jehovah, and serve him, and hearken unto his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of Jehovah, and both ye and also the king that reigneth over you be followers of Jehovah your God, `well': **[12:15]** but if ye will not hearken unto the voice of Jehovah, but rebel against the commandment of Jehovah, then will the hand of Jehovah be against you, as it was against your fathers. **[12:16]** Now therefore stand still and see this great thing, which Jehovah will do before your eyes. **[12:17]** Is it not wheat harvest to-day? I will call unto Jehovah, that he may send thunder and rain; and ye shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of Jehovah, in asking you a king. **[12:18]** So Samuel called unto Jehovah; and Jehovah sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared Jehovah and Samuel. **[12:19]** And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto Jehovah thy God, that we die not; for we have added unto all our sins `this' evil, to ask us a king. **[12:20]** And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not; ye have indeed done all this evil; yet turn not aside from following Jehovah, but serve Jehovah with all your heart: **[12:21]** and turn ye not aside; for `then would ye go' after vain things which cannot profit nor deliver, for they are vain. **[12:22]** For Jehovah will not forsake his people for his great name's sake, because it hath pleased Jehovah to make you a people unto himself. **[12:23]** Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against Jehovah in ceasing to pray for you: but I will instruct you in the good and the right way. **[12:24]** Only fear Jehovah, and serve him in truth with all your heart; for consider how great things he hath done for you. **[12:25]** But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king. **[13:1]** Saul was `forty' years old when he began to reign; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, **[13:2]** Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel, whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in the mount of Beth-el, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent. **[13:3]** And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba: and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear. **[13:4]** And all Israel heard say that Saul had smitten the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel was had in abomination with the Philistines. And the people were gathered together after Saul to Gilgal. **[13:5]** And the Philistines assembled themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea-shore in multitude: and they came up, and encamped in Michmash, eastward of Beth-aven. **[13:6]** When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for the people were distressed), then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in coverts, and in pits. **[13:7]** Now some of the Hebrews had gone over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead; but as for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. **[13:8]** And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel `had appointed': but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. **[13:9]** And Saul said, Bring hither the burnt-offering to me, and the peace-offerings. And he offered the burnt-offering. **[13:10]** And it came to pass that, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt-offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him. **[13:11]** And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines assembled themselves together at Michmash; **[13:12]** therefore said I, Now will the Philistines come down upon me to Gilgal, and I have not entreated the favor of Jehovah: I forced myself therefore, and offered the burnt-offering. **[13:13]** And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly; thou hast not kept the commandment of Jehovah thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would Jehovah have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. **[13:14]** But now thy kingdom shall not continue: Jehovah hath sought him a man after his own heart, and Jehovah hath appointed him to be prince over his people, because thou hast not kept that which Jehovah commanded thee. **[13:15]** And Samuel arose, and gat him up from Gilgal unto Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people that were present with him, about six hundred men. **[13:16]** And Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people that were present with them, abode in Geba of Benjamin: but the Philistines encamped in Michmash. **[13:17]** And the spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies: one company turned unto the way that leadeth to Ophrah, unto the land of Shual; **[13:18]** and another company turned the way to Beth-horon; and another company turned the way of the border that looketh down upon the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness. **[13:19]** Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel; for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears: **[13:20]** but all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock; **[13:21]** yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to set the goads. **[13:22]** So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan: but with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found. **[13:23]** And the garrison of the Philistines went out unto the pass of Michmash. **[14:1]** Now it fell upon a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bare his armor, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines' garrison, that is on yonder side. But he told not his father. **[14:2]** And Saul abode in the uttermost part of Gibeah under the pomegranate-tree which is in Migron: and the people that were with him were about six hundred men; **[14:3]** and Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of Jehovah in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And the people knew not that Jonathan was gone. **[14:4]** And between the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over unto the Philistines' garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side, and a rocky crag on the other side: and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. **[14:5]** The one crag rose up on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba. **[14:6]** And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armor, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that Jehovah will work for us; for there is no restraint to Jehovah to save by many or by few. **[14:7]** And his armorbearer said unto him, Do all that is in thy heart: turn thee, behold, I am with thee according to thy heart. **[14:8]** Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass over unto the men, and we will disclose ourselves unto them. **[14:9]** If they say thus unto us, Tarry until we come to you; then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up unto them. **[14:10]** But if they say thus, Come up unto us; then we will go up; for Jehovah hath delivered them into our hand: and this shall be the sign unto us. **[14:11]** And both of them disclosed themselves unto the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves. **[14:12]** And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armorbearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will show you a thing. And Jonathan said unto his armorbearer, Come up after me; for Jehovah hath delivered them into the hand of Israel. **[14:13]** And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet, and his armorbearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armorbearer slew them after him. **[14:14]** And that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armorbearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were half a furrow's length in an acre of land. **[14:15]** And there was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people; the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled; and the earth quaked: so there was an exceeding great trembling. **[14:16]** And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and, behold, the multitude melted away, and they went `hither' and thither. **[14:17]** Then said Saul unto the people that were with him, Number now, and see who is gone from us. And when they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armorbearer were not there. **[14:18]** And Saul said unto Ahijah, Bring hither the ark of God. For the ark of God was `there' at that time with the children of Israel. **[14:19]** And it came to pass, while Saul talked unto the priest, that the tumult that was in the camp of the Philistines went on and increased: and Saul said unto the priest, Withdraw thy hand. **[14:20]** And Saul and all the people that were with him were gathered together, and came to the battle: and, behold, every man's sword was against his fellow, `and there was' a very great discomfiture. **[14:21]** Now the Hebrews that were with the Philistines as beforetime, and that went up with them into the camp, `from the country' round about, even they also `turned' to be with the Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan. **[14:22]** Likewise all the men of Israel that had hid themselves in the hill-country of Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed hard after them in the battle. **[14:23]** So Jehovah saved Israel that day: and the battle passed over by Beth-aven. **[14:24]** And the men of Israel were distressed that day; for Saul had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food until it be evening, and I be avenged on mine enemies. So none of the people tasted food. **[14:25]** And all the people came into the forest; and there was honey upon the ground. **[14:26]** And when the people were come unto the forest, behold, the honey dropped: but no man put his hand to his mouth; for the people feared the oath. **[14:27]** But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people with the oath: wherefore he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand, and dipped it in the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were enlightened. **[14:28]** Then answered one of the people, and said, Thy father straitly charged the people with an oath, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth food this day. And the people were faint. **[14:29]** Then said Jonathan, My father hath troubled the land: see, I pray you, how mine eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey. **[14:30]** How much more, if haply the people had eaten freely to-day of the spoil of their enemies which they found? for now hath there been no great slaughter among the Philistines. **[14:31]** And they smote of the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. And the people were very faint; **[14:32]** and the people flew upon the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground; and the people did eat them with the blood. **[14:33]** Then they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against Jehovah, in that they eat with the blood. And he said, ye have dealt treacherously: roll a great stone unto me this day. **[14:34]** And Saul said, Disperse yourselves among the people, and say unto them, Bring me hither every man his ox, and every man his sheep, and slay them here, and eat; and sin not against Jehovah in eating with the blood. And all the people brought every man his ox with him that night, and slew them there. **[14:35]** And Saul built an altar unto Jehovah: the same was the first altar that he built unto Jehovah. **[14:36]** And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and take spoil among them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And they said, Do whatsoever seemeth good unto thee. Then said the priest, Let us draw near hither unto God. **[14:37]** And Saul asked counsel of God, Shall I go down after the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into the hand of Israel? But he answered him not that day. **[14:38]** And Saul said, Draw nigh hither, all ye chiefs of the people; and know and see wherein this sin hath been this day. **[14:39]** For, as Jehovah liveth, who saveth Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. But there was not a man among all the people that answered him. **[14:40]** Then said he unto all Israel, Be ye on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side. And the people said unto Saul, Do what seemeth good unto thee. **[14:41]** Therefore Saul said unto Jehovah, the God of Israel, Show the right. And Jonathan and Saul were taken `by lot'; but the people escaped. **[14:42]** And Saul said, Cast `lots' between me and Jonathan my son. And Jonathan was taken. **[14:43]** Then Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me what thou hast done. And Jonathan told him, and said, I did certainly taste a little honey with the end of the rod that was in my hand; and, lo, I must die. **[14:44]** And Saul said, God do so and more also; for thou shalt surely die, Jonathan. **[14:45]** And the people said unto Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? Far from it: as Jehovah liveth, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he hath wrought with God this day. So the people rescued Jonathan, that he died not. **[14:46]** Then Saul went up from following the Philistines; and the Philistines went to their own place. **[14:47]** Now when Saul had taken the kingdom over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and against Edom, and against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines: and whithersoever he turned himself, he put `them' to the worse. **[14:48]** And he did valiantly, and smote the Amalekites, and delivered Israel out of the hands of them that despoiled them. **[14:49]** Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, and Ishvi, and Malchishua; and the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the first-born Merab, and the name of the younger Michal: **[14:50]** and the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. And the name of the captain of his host was Abner the son of Ner, Saul's uncle. **[14:51]** And Kish was the father of Saul; and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel. **[14:52]** And there was sore war against the Philistines all the days of Saul: and when Saul saw any mighty man, or any valiant man, he took him unto him. **[15:1]** And Samuel said unto Saul, Jehovah sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of Jehovah. **[15:2]** Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, I have marked that which Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way, when he came up out of Egypt. **[15:3]** Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. **[15:4]** And Saul summoned the people, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah. **[15:5]** And Saul came to the city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley. **[15:6]** And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; for ye showed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. **[15:7]** And Saul smote the Amalekites, from Havilah as thou goest to Shur, that is before Egypt. **[15:8]** And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. **[15:9]** But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly. **[15:10]** Then came the word of Jehovah unto Samuel, saying, **[15:11]** It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king; for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And Samuel was wroth; and he cried unto Jehovah all night. **[15:12]** And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a monument, and turned, and passed on, and went down to Gilgal. **[15:13]** And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of Jehovah: I have performed the commandment of Jehovah. **[15:14]** And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? **[15:15]** And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto Jehovah thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed. **[15:16]** Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what Jehovah hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on. **[15:17]** And Samuel said, Though thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel? And Jehovah anointed thee king over Israel; **[15:18]** and Jehovah sent thee on a journey, and said, Go, and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. **[15:19]** Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of Jehovah, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah? **[15:20]** And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of Jehovah, and have gone the way which Jehovah sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. **[15:21]** But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice unto Jehovah thy God in Gilgal. **[15:22]** And Samuel said, Hath Jehovah as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of Jehovah? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. **[15:23]** For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because thou hast rejected the word of Jehovah, he hath also rejected thee from being king. **[15:24]** And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of Jehovah, and thy words, because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. **[15:25]** Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship Jehovah. **[15:26]** And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee; for thou hast rejected the word of Jehovah, and Jehovah hath rejected thee from being king over Israel. **[15:27]** And as Samuel turned about to go away, `Saul' laid hold upon the skirt of his robe, and it rent. **[15:28]** And Samuel said unto him, Jehovah hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbor of thine, that is better than thou. **[15:29]** And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent. **[15:30]** Then he said, I have sinned: yet honor me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship Jehovah thy God. **[15:31]** So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped Jehovah. **[15:32]** Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him cheerfully. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past. **[15:33]** And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before Jehovah in Gilgal. **[15:34]** Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul. **[15:35]** And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death; for Samuel mourned for Saul: and Jehovah repented that he had made Saul king over Israel. **[16:1]** And Jehovah said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from being king over Israel? fill thy horn with oil, and go: I will send thee to Jesse the Beth-lehemite; for I have provided me a king among his sons. **[16:2]** And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And Jehovah said, Take a heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to Jehovah. **[16:3]** And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee. **[16:4]** And Samuel did that which Jehovah spake, and came to Beth-lehem. And the elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, Comest thou peaceably? **[16:5]** And he said, Peaceably; I am come to sacrifice unto Jehovah: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. **[16:6]** And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely Jehovah's anointed is before him. **[16:7]** But Jehovah said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have rejected him: for `Jehovah seeth' not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but Jehovah looketh on the heart. **[16:8]** Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath Jehovah chosen this. **[16:9]** Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath Jehovah chosen this. **[16:10]** And Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Jehovah hath not chosen these. **[16:11]** And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he is keeping the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him; for we will not sit down till he come hither. **[16:12]** And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look upon. And Jehovah said, Arise, anoint him; for this is he. **[16:13]** Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah. **[16:14]** Now the Spirit of Jehovah departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from Jehovah troubled him. **[16:15]** And Saul's servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee. **[16:16]** Let our lord now command thy servants, that are before thee, to seek out a man who is a skilful player on the harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well. **[16:17]** And Saul said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me. **[16:18]** Then answered one of the young men, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Beth-lehemite, that is skilful in playing, and a mighty man of valor, and a man of war, and prudent in speech, and a comely person; and Jehovah is with him. **[16:19]** Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, who is with the sheep. **[16:20]** And Jesse took an ass `laden' with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul. **[16:21]** And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armorbearer. **[16:22]** And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favor in my sight. **[16:23]** And it came to pass, when the `evil' spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took the harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him. **[17:1]** Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle; and they were gathered together at Socoh, which belongeth to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. **[17:2]** And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and encamped in the vale of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. **[17:3]** And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. **[17:4]** And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. **[17:5]** And he had a helmet of brass upon his head, and he was clad with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass. **[17:6]** And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a javelin of brass between his shoulders. **[17:7]** And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head `weighed' six hundred shekels of iron: and his shield-bearer went before him. **[17:8]** And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. **[17:9]** If he be able to fight with me, and kill me, then will we be your servants; but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us. **[17:10]** And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together. **[17:11]** And when Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid. **[17:12]** Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Beth-lehem-judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man was an old man in the days of Saul, stricken `in years' among men. **[17:13]** And the three eldest sons of Jesse had gone after Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the first-born, and next unto him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. **[17:14]** And David was the youngest; and the three eldest followed Saul. **[17:15]** Now David went to and fro from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Beth-lehem. **[17:16]** And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. **[17:17]** And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry `them' quickly to the camp to thy brethren; **[17:18]** and bring these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge. **[17:19]** Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the vale of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. **[17:20]** And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the place of the wagons, as the host which was going forth to the fight shouted for the battle. **[17:21]** And Israel and the Philistines put the battle in array, army against army. **[17:22]** And David left his baggage in the hand of the keeper of the baggage, and ran to the army, and came and saluted his brethren. **[17:23]** And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them. **[17:24]** And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid. **[17:25]** And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel. **[17:26]** And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? **[17:27]** And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him. **[17:28]** And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why art thou come down? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thy heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. **[17:29]** And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause? **[17:30]** And he turned away from him toward another, and spake after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner. **[17:31]** And when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul; and he sent for him. **[17:32]** And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. **[17:33]** And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. **[17:34]** And David said unto Saul, Thy servant was keeping his father's sheep; and when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock, **[17:35]** I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth; and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. **[17:36]** Thy servant smote both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. **[17:37]** And David said, Jehovah that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and Jehovah shall be with thee. **[17:38]** And Saul clad David with his apparel, and he put a helmet of brass upon his head, and he clad him with a coat of mail. **[17:39]** And David girded his sword upon his apparel, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him. **[17:40]** And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in the shepherd's bag which he had, even in his wallet; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine. **[17:41]** And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him. **[17:42]** And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and withal of a fair countenance. **[17:43]** And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. **[17:44]** And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the birds of the heavens, and to the beasts of the field. **[17:45]** Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a javelin: but I come to thee in the name of Jehovah of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. **[17:46]** This day will Jehovah deliver thee into my hand; and I will smite thee, and take thy head from off thee; and I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day unto the birds of the heavens, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, **[17:47]** and that all this assembly may know that Jehovah saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is Jehovah's, and he will give you into our hand. **[17:48]** And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hastened, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. **[17:49]** And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead; and the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell upon his face to the earth. **[17:50]** So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. **[17:51]** Then David ran, and stood over the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. **[17:52]** And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou comest to Gai, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron. **[17:53]** And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. **[17:54]** And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armor in his tent. **[17:55]** And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell. **[17:56]** And the king said, Inquire thou whose son the stripling is. **[17:57]** And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. **[17:58]** And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Beth-lehemite. **[18:1]** And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. **[18:2]** And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father's house. **[18:3]** Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. **[18:4]** And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his apparel, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle. **[18:5]** And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, `and' behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and it was good in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul's servants. **[18:6]** And it came to pass as they came, when David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with timbrels, with joy, and with instruments of music. **[18:7]** And the women sang one to another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands. **[18:8]** And Saul was very wroth, and this saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom? **[18:9]** And Saul eyed David from that day and forward. **[18:10]** And it came to pass on the morrow, that an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as he did day by day. And Saul had his spear in his hand; **[18:11]** and Saul cast the spear; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall. And David avoided out of his presence twice. **[18:12]** And Saul was afraid of David, because Jehovah was with him, and was departed from Saul. **[18:13]** Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. **[18:14]** And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and Jehovah was with him. **[18:15]** And when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he stood in awe of him. **[18:16]** But all Israel and Judah loved David; for he went out and came in before them. **[18:17]** And Saul said to David, Behold, my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife: only be thou valiant for me, and fight Jehovah's battles. For Saul said, Let not my hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him. **[18:18]** And David said unto Saul, Who am I, and what is my life, `or' my father's family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king? **[18:19]** But it came to pass at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given unto Adriel the Meholathite to wife. **[18:20]** And Michal, Saul's daughter, loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. **[18:21]** And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul said to David, Thou shalt this day be my son-in-law a second time. **[18:22]** And Saul commanded his servants, `saying', Commune with David secretly, and say, Behold, the king hath delight in thee, and all his servants love thee: now therefore be the king's son-in-law. **[18:23]** And Saul's servants spake those words in the ears of David. And David said, Seemeth it to you a light thing to be the king's son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed? **[18:24]** And the servants of Saul told him, saying, On this manner spake David. **[18:25]** And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. **[18:26]** And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son-in-law. And the days were not expired; **[18:27]** and David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full number to the king, that he might be the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife. **[18:28]** And Saul saw and knew that Jehovah was with David; and Michal, Saul's daughter, loved him. **[18:29]** And Saul was yet the more afraid of David; and Saul was David's enemy continually. **[18:30]** Then the princes of the Philistines went forth: and it came to pass, as often as they went forth, that David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul; so that his name was much set by. **[19:1]** And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should slay David. But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted much in David. **[19:2]** And Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to slay thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself in the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself: **[19:3]** and I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art, and I will commune with my father of thee; and if I see aught, I will tell thee. **[19:4]** And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been to thee-ward very good: **[19:5]** for he put his life in his hand, and smote the Philistine, and Jehovah wrought a great victory for all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice; wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause? **[19:6]** And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan: and Saul sware, As Jehovah liveth, he shall not be put to death. **[19:7]** And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan showed him all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as beforetime. **[19:8]** And there was war again: and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled before him. **[19:9]** And an evil spirit from Jehovah was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand; and David was playing with his hand. **[19:10]** And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the spear; but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, and he smote the spear into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night. **[19:11]** And Saul sent messengers unto David's house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal, David's wife, told him, saying, If thou save not thy life to-night, to-morrow thou wilt be slain. **[19:12]** So Michal let David down through the window: and he went, and fled, and escaped. **[19:13]** And Michal took the teraphim, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats' `hair' at the head thereof, and covered it with the clothes. **[19:14]** And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick. **[19:15]** And Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him. **[19:16]** And when the messengers came in, behold, the teraphim was in the bed, with the pillow of goats' `hair' at the head thereof. **[19:17]** And Saul said unto Michal, Why hast thou deceived me thus, and let mine enemy go, so that he is escaped? And Michal answered Saul, He said unto me, Let me go; why should I kill thee? **[19:18]** Now David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth. **[19:19]** And it was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah. **[19:20]** And Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. **[19:21]** And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. **[19:22]** Then went he also to Ramah, and came to the great well that is in Secu: and he asked and said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah. **[19:23]** And he went thither to Naioth in Ramah: and the Spirit of God came upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. **[19:24]** And he also stripped off his clothes, and he also prophesied before Samuel, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets? **[20:1]** And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life? **[20:2]** And he said unto him, Far from it; thou shalt not die: behold, my father doeth nothing either great or small, but that he discloseth it unto me; and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so. **[20:3]** And David sware moreover, and said, Thy father knoweth well that I have found favor in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death. **[20:4]** Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee. **[20:5]** And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, to-morrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day at even. **[20:6]** If thy father miss me at all, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Beth-lehem his city; for it is the yearly sacrifice there for all the family. **[20:7]** If he say thus, It is well; thy servant shall have peace: but if he be wroth, then know that evil is determined by him. **[20:8]** Therefore deal kindly with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of Jehovah with thee: but if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father? **[20:9]** And Jonathan said, Far be it from thee; for if I should at all know that evil were determined by my father to come upon thee, then would not I tell it thee? **[20:10]** Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me if perchance thy father answer thee roughly? **[20:11]** And Jonathan said unto David, Come, and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field. **[20:12]** And Jonathan said unto David, Jehovah, the God of Israel, `be witness': when I have sounded my father about this time to-morrow, `or' the third day, behold, if there be good toward David, shall I not then send unto thee, and disclose it unto thee? **[20:13]** Jehovah do so to Jonathan, and more also, should it please my father to do thee evil, if I disclose it not unto thee, and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace: and Jehovah be with thee, as he hath been with my father. **[20:14]** And thou shalt not only while yet I live show me the lovingkindness of Jehovah, that I die not; **[20:15]** but also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever; no, not when Jehovah hath cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth. **[20:16]** So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, `saying', And Jehovah will require it at the hand of David's enemies. **[20:17]** And Jonathan caused David to swear again, for the love that he had to him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul. **[20:18]** Then Jonathan said unto him, To-morrow is the new moon: and thou wilt be missed, because thy seat will be empty. **[20:19]** And when thou hast stayed three days, thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself when the business was in hand, and shalt remain by the stone Ezel. **[20:20]** And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I shot at a mark. **[20:21]** And, behold, I will send the lad, `saying', Go, find the arrows. If I say unto the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee; take them, and come; for there is peace to thee and no hurt, as Jehovah liveth. **[20:22]** But if I say thus unto the boy, Behold, the arrows are beyond thee; go thy way; for Jehovah hath sent thee away. **[20:23]** And as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, Jehovah is between thee and me for ever. **[20:24]** So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat food. **[20:25]** And the king sat upon his seat, as at other times, even upon the seat by the wall; and Jonathan stood up, and Abner sat by Saul's side: but David's place was empty. **[20:26]** Nevertheless Saul spake not anything that day: for he thought, Something hath befallen him, he is not clean; surely he is not clean. **[20:27]** And it came to pass on the morrow after the new moon, `which was' the second `day', that David's place was empty: and Saul said unto Jonathan his son, Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday, nor to-day? **[20:28]** And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Beth-lehem: **[20:29]** and he said, Let me go, I pray thee; for our family hath a sacrifice in the city; and my brother, he hath commanded me `to be there': and now, if I have found favor in thine eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, and see my brethren. Therefore he is not come unto the king's table. **[20:30]** Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of a perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own shame, and unto the shame of thy mother's nakedness? **[20:31]** For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die. **[20:32]** And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said unto him, Wherefore should he be put to death? what hath he done? **[20:33]** And Saul cast his spear at him to smite him; whereby Jonathan knew that is was determined of his father to put David to death. **[20:34]** So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did eat no food the second day of the month; for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame. **[20:35]** And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad with him. **[20:36]** And he said unto his lad, Run, find now the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. **[20:37]** And when the lad was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow beyond thee? **[20:38]** And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not. And Jonathan's lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master. **[20:39]** But the lad knew not anything: only Jonathan and David knew the matter. **[20:40]** And Jonathan gave his weapons unto his lad, and said unto him, Go, carry them to the city. **[20:41]** And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of `a place' toward the South, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded. **[20:42]** And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of Jehovah, saying, Jehovah shall be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed, for ever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city. **[21:1]** Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech came to meet David trembling, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee? **[21:2]** And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know anything of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed the young men to such and such a place. **[21:3]** Now therefore what is under thy hand? give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatsoever there is present. **[21:4]** And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women. **[21:5]** And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days; when I came out, the vessels of the young men were holy, though it was but a common journey; how much more then to-day shall their vessels be holy? **[21:6]** So the priest gave him holy `bread'; for there was no bread there but the showbread, that was taken from before Jehovah, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away. **[21:7]** Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before Jehovah; and his name was Doeg the Edomite, the chiefest of the herdsmen that belonged to Saul. **[21:8]** And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thy hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste. **[21:9]** And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the vale of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it; for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me. **[21:10]** And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. **[21:11]** And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands? **[21:12]** And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath. **[21:13]** And he changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. **[21:14]** Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad; wherefore then have ye brought him to me? **[21:15]** Do I lack madmen, that ye have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house? **[22:1]** David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave of Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father's house heard it, they went down thither to him. **[22:2]** And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men. **[22:3]** And David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab: and he said unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth, `and be' with you, till I know what God will do for me. **[22:4]** And he brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the stronghold. **[22:5]** And the prophet Gad said unto David, Abide not in the stronghold; depart, and get thee into the land of Judah. Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hereth. **[22:6]** And Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him: now Saul was sitting in Gibeah, under the tamarisk-tree in Ramah, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him. **[22:7]** And Saul said unto his servants that stood about him, Hear now, ye Benjamites; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, will he make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, **[22:8]** that all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that discloseth to me when my son maketh a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or discloseth unto me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day? **[22:9]** Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. **[22:10]** And he inquired of Jehovah for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine. **[22:11]** Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests that were in Nob: and they came all of them to the king. **[22:12]** And Saul said, Hear now, thou son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here I am, my lord. **[22:13]** And Saul said unto him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread, and a sword, and hast inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day? **[22:14]** Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who among all thy servants is so faithful as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and is taken into thy council, and is honorable in thy house? **[22:15]** Have I to-day begun to inquire of God for him? be it far from me: let not the king impute anything unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father; for thy servant knoweth nothing of all this, less or more. **[22:16]** And the king said, Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech, thou, and all thy father's house. **[22:17]** And the king said unto the guard that stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests of Jehovah; because their hand also is with David, and because they knew that he fled, and did not disclose it to me. But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of Jehovah. **[22:18]** And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and he slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod. **[22:19]** And Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen and asses and sheep, with the edge of the sword. **[22:20]** And one of the sons of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David. **[22:21]** And Abiathar told David that Saul had slain Jehovah's priests. **[22:22]** And David said unto Abiathar, I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: I have occasioned `the death' of all the persons of thy father's house. **[22:23]** Abide thou with me, fear not; for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life: for with me thou shalt be in safeguard. **[23:1]** And they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and are robbing the threshing-floors. **[23:2]** Therefore David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And Jehovah said unto David, Go, and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah. **[23:3]** And David's men said unto him, Behold, we are afraid here in Judah: how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines? **[23:4]** Then David inquired of Jehovah yet again. And Jehovah answered him, and said, Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into thy hand. **[23:5]** And David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and slew them with a great slaughter. So David save the inhabitants of Keilah. **[23:6]** And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand. **[23:7]** And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. And Saul said, God hath delivered him into my hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that hath gates and bars. **[23:8]** And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. **[23:9]** And David knew that Saul was devising mischief against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod. **[23:10]** Then said David, O Jehovah, the God of Israel, thy servant hath surely heard that Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake. **[23:11]** Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O Jehovah, the God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And Jehovah said, He will come down. **[23:12]** Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver up to me and my men into the hand of Saul? And Jehovah said, They will deliver thee up. **[23:13]** Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go. And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah; and he forbare to go forth. **[23:14]** And David abode in the wilderness in the strongholds, and remained in the hill-country in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand. **[23:15]** And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life: and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in the wood. **[23:16]** And Jonathan, Saul's son, arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God. **[23:17]** And he said unto him, Fear not; for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee; and that also Saul my father knoweth. **[23:18]** And they two made a covenant before Jehovah: and David abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house. **[23:19]** Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in the strongholds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of the desert? **[23:20]** Now therefore, O king, come down, according to all the desire of thy soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him up into the king's hand. **[23:21]** And Saul said, Blessed be ye of Jehovah; for ye have had compassion on me. **[23:22]** Go, I pray you, make yet more sure, and know and see his place where his haunt is, `and' who hath seen him there; for it is told me that he dealeth very subtly. **[23:23]** See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking-places where he hideth himself, and come ye again to me of a certainty, and I will go with you: and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah. **[23:24]** And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah on the south of the desert. **[23:25]** And Saul and his men went to seek him. And they told David: wherefore he came down to the rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard `that', he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. **[23:26]** And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain: and David made haste to get away for fear of Saul; for Saul and his men compassed David and his men round about to take them. **[23:27]** But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste thee, and come; for the Philistines have made a raid upon the land. **[23:28]** So Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines: therefore they called that place Sela-hammahlekoth. **[23:29]** And David went up from thence, and dwelt in the strongholds of En-gedi. **[24:1]** And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of En-gedi. **[24:2]** Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats. **[24:3]** And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet. Now David and his men were abiding in the innermost parts of the cave. **[24:4]** And the men of David said unto him, Behold, the day of which Jehovah said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thy hand, and thou shalt do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily. **[24:5]** And it came to pass afterward, that David's heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt. **[24:6]** And he said unto his men, Jehovah forbid that I should do this thing unto my lord, Jehovah's anointed, to put forth my hand against him, seeing he is Jehovah's anointed. **[24:7]** So David checked his men with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. And Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way. **[24:8]** David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth, and did obeisance. **[24:9]** And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearkenest thou to men's words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt? **[24:10]** Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that Jehovah had delivered thee to-day into my hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee; but `mine eye' spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth my hand against my lord; for he is Jehovah's anointed. **[24:11]** Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand; for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in my hand, and I have not sinned against thee, though thou huntest after my life to take it. **[24:12]** Jehovah judge between me and thee, and Jehovah avenge me of thee; but my hand shall not be upon thee. **[24:13]** As saith the proverb of the ancients, Out of the wicked cometh forth wickedness; but my hand shall not be upon thee. **[24:14]** After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea. **[24:15]** Jehovah therefore be judge, and give sentence between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thy hand. **[24:16]** And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept. **[24:17]** And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I; for thou hast rendered unto me good, whereas I have rendered unto thee evil. **[24:18]** And thou hast declared this day how that thou hast dealt well with me, forasmuch as when Jehovah had delivered me up into thy hand, thou killedst me not. **[24:19]** For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore Jehovah reward thee good for that which thou hast done unto me this day. **[24:20]** And now, behold, I know that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thy hand. **[24:21]** Swear now therefore unto me by Jehovah, that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father's house. **[24:22]** And David sware unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men gat them up unto the stronghold. **[25:1]** And Samuel died; and all Israel gathered themselves together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran. **[25:2]** And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. **[25:3]** Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail; and the woman was of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb. **[25:4]** And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. **[25:5]** And David sent ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name: **[25:6]** and thus shall ye say to him that liveth `in prosperity', Peace be unto thee, and peace be to thy house, and peace be unto all that thou hast. **[25:7]** And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: thy shepherds have now been with us, and we did them no hurt, neither was there aught missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel. **[25:8]** Ask thy young men, and they will tell thee: wherefore let the young men find favor in thine eyes; for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thy hand, unto thy servants, and to thy son David. **[25:9]** And when David's young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased. **[25:10]** And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there are many servants now-a-days that break away every man from his master. **[25:11]** Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men of whom I know not whence they are? **[25:12]** So David's young men turned on their way, and went back, and came and told him according to all these words. **[25:13]** And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the baggage. **[25:14]** But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed at them. **[25:15]** But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we anything, as long as we went with them, when we were in the fields: **[25:16]** they were a wall unto us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. **[25:17]** Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his house: for he is such a worthless fellow, that one cannot speak to him. **[25:18]** Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched grain, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses. **[25:19]** And she said unto her young men, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal. **[25:20]** And it was so, as she rode on her ass, and came down by the covert of the mountain, that, behold, David and his men came down toward her; and she met them. **[25:21]** Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath returned me evil for good. **[25:22]** God do so unto the enemies of David, and more also, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light so much as one man-child. **[25:23]** And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and alighted from her ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground. **[25:24]** And she fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me be the iniquity; and let thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine ears, and hear thou the words of thy handmaid. **[25:25]** Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this worthless fellow, even Nabal; for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thy handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send. **[25:26]** Now therefore, my lord, as Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing Jehovah hath withholden thee from bloodguiltiness, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now therefore let thine enemies, and them that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. **[25:27]** And now this present which thy servant hath brought unto my lord, let it be given unto the young men that follow my lord. **[25:28]** Forgive, I pray thee, the trespass of thy handmaid: for Jehovah will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord fighteth the battles of Jehovah; and evil shall not be found in thee all thy days. **[25:29]** And though men be risen up to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul, yet the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with Jehovah thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as from the hollow of a sling. **[25:30]** And it shall come to pass, when Jehovah shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee prince over Israel, **[25:31]** that this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood without cause, or that my lord hath avenged himself. And when Jehovah shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thy handmaid. **[25:32]** And David said to Abigail, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me: **[25:33]** and blessed be thy discretion, and blessed be thou, that hast kept me this day from bloodguiltiness, and from avenging myself with mine own hand. **[25:34]** For in very deed, as Jehovah, the God of Israel, liveth, who hath withholden me from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light so much as one man-child. **[25:35]** So David received of her hand that which she had brought him: and he said unto her, Go up in peace to thy house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person. **[25:36]** And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light. **[25:37]** And it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, that his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. **[25:38]** And it came to pass about ten days after, that Jehovah smote Nabal, so that he died. **[25:39]** And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be Jehovah, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept back his servant from evil: and the evil-doing of Nabal hath Jehovah returned upon his own head. And David sent and spake concerning Abigail, to take her to him to wife. **[25:40]** And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David hath sent us unto thee, to take thee to him to wife. **[25:41]** And she arose, and bowed herself with her face to the earth, and said, Behold, thy handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord. **[25:42]** And Abigail hasted, and arose, and rode upon an ass, with five damsels of hers that followed her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife. **[25:43]** David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they became both of them his wives. **[25:44]** Now Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim. **[26:1]** And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before the desert? **[26:2]** Then Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. **[26:3]** And Saul encamped in the hill of Hachilah, which is before the desert, by the way. But David abode in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness. **[26:4]** David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul was come of a certainty. **[26:5]** And David arose, and came to the place where Saul had encamped; and David beheld the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the captain of his host: and Saul lay within the place of the wagons, and the people were encamped round about him. **[26:6]** Then answered David and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joab, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with thee. **[26:7]** So David and Abishai came to the people by night: and, behold, Saul lay sleeping within the place of the wagons, with his spear stuck in the ground at his head; and Abner and the people lay round about him. **[26:8]** Then said Abishai to David, God hath delivered up thine enemy into thy hand this day: now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear to the earth at one stroke, and I will not smite him the second time. **[26:9]** And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not; for who can put forth his hand against Jehovah's anointed, and be guiltless? **[26:10]** And David said, As Jehovah liveth, Jehovah will smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall go down into battle and perish. **[26:11]** Jehovah forbid that I should put forth my hand against Jehovah's anointed: but now take, I pray thee, the spear that is at his head, and the cruse of water, and let us go. **[26:12]** So David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul's head; and they gat them away: and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither did any awake; for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from Jehovah was fallen upon them. **[26:13]** Then David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of the mountain afar off; a great space being between them; **[26:14]** and David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, Answerest thou not, Abner? Then Abner answered and said, Who art thou that criest to the king? **[26:15]** And David said to Abner, Art not thou a `valiant' man? and who is like to thee in Israel? wherefore then hast thou not kept watch over thy lord the king? for there came one of the people in to destroy the king thy lord. **[26:16]** This thing is not good that thou hast done. As Jehovah liveth, ye are worthy to die, because ye have not kept watch over your lord, Jehovah's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is, and the cruse of water that was at his head. **[26:17]** And Saul knew David's voice, and said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And David said, It is my voice, my lord, O king. **[26:18]** And he said, Wherefore doth my lord pursue after his servant? for what have I done? or what evil is in my hand? **[26:19]** Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it be Jehovah that hath stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering: but if it be the children of men, cursed be they before Jehovah: for they have driven me out this day that I should not cleave unto the inheritance of Jehovah, saying, Go, serve other gods. **[26:20]** Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of Jehovah: for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains. **[26:21]** Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son David; for I will no more do thee harm, because my life was precious in thine eyes this day: behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly. **[26:22]** And David answered and said, Behold the spear, O king! let then one of the young men come over and fetch it. **[26:23]** And Jehovah will render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness; forasmuch as Jehovah delivered thee into my hand to-day, and I would not put forth my hand against Jehovah's anointed. **[26:24]** And, behold, as thy life was much set by this day in mine eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of Jehovah, and let him deliver me out of all tribulation. **[26:25]** Then Saul said to David, Blessed be thou, my son David: thou shalt both do mightily, and shalt surely prevail. So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place. **[27:1]** And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me any more in all the borders of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand. **[27:2]** And David arose, and passed over, he and the six hundred men that were with him, unto Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath. **[27:3]** And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal's wife. **[27:4]** And it was told Saul that David was fled to Gath: and he sought no more again for him. **[27:5]** And David said unto Achish, If now I have found favor in thine eyes, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee? **[27:6]** Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day: wherefore Ziklag pertaineth unto the kings of Judah unto this day. **[27:7]** And the number of the days that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months. **[27:8]** And David and his men went up, and made a raid upon the Geshurites, and the Girzites, and the Amalekites; for those `nations' were the inhabitants of the land, who were of old, as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt. **[27:9]** And David smote the land, and saved neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel; and he returned, and came to Achish. **[27:10]** And Achish said, Against whom have ye made a raid to-day? And David said, Against the South of Judah, and against the South of the Jerahmeelites, and against the South of the Kenites. **[27:11]** And David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring them to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell of us, saying, So did David, and so hath been his manner all the while he hath dwelt in the country of the Philistines. **[27:12]** And Achish believed David, saying, He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant for ever. **[28:1]** And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their hosts together for warfare, to fight with Israel. And Achish said unto David, Know thou assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me in the host, thou and thy men. **[28:2]** And David said to Achish, Therefore thou shalt know what thy servant will do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make thee keeper of my head for ever. **[28:3]** Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land. **[28:4]** And the Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and encamped in Shunem: and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they encamped in Gilboa. **[28:5]** And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. **[28:6]** And when Saul inquired of Jehovah, Jehovah answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets. **[28:7]** Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at En-dor. **[28:8]** And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and went, he and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, Divine unto me, I pray thee, by the familiar spirit, and bring me up whomsoever I shall name unto thee. **[28:9]** And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die? **[28:10]** And Saul sware to her by Jehovah, saying, As Jehovah liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing. **[28:11]** Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel. **[28:12]** And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice; and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul. **[28:13]** And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what seest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I see a god coming up out of the earth. **[28:14]** And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a robe. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground, and did obeisance. **[28:15]** And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do. **[28:16]** And Samuel said, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing Jehovah is departed from thee, and is become thine adversary? **[28:17]** And Jehovah hath done unto thee, as he spake by me: and Jehovah hath rent the kingdom out of thy hand, and given it to thy neighbor, even to David. **[28:18]** Because thou obeyedst not the voice of Jehovah, and didst not execute his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath Jehovah done this thing unto thee this day. **[28:19]** Moreover Jehovah will deliver Israel also with thee into the hand of the Philistines; and to-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: Jehovah will deliver the host of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines. **[28:20]** Then Saul fell straightway his full length upon the earth, and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night. **[28:21]** And the woman came unto Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled, and said unto him, Behold, thy handmaid hath hearkened unto thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened unto thy words which thou spakest unto me. **[28:22]** Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also unto the voice of thy handmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread before thee; and eat, that thou mayest have strength, when thou goest on thy way. **[28:23]** But he refused, and said, I will not eat. But his servants, together with the woman, constrained him; and he hearkened unto their voice. So he arose from the earth, and sat upon the bed. **[28:24]** And the woman had a fatted calf in the house; and she hasted, and killed it; and she took flour, and kneaded it, and did bake unleavened bread thereof: **[28:25]** and she brought it before Saul, and before his servants; and they did eat. Then they rose up, and went away that night. **[29:1]** Now the Philistines gathered together all their hosts to Aphek: and the Israelites encamped by the fountain which is in Jezreel. **[29:2]** And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds, and by thousands; and David and his men passed on in the rearward with Achish. **[29:3]** Then said the princes of the Philistines, What `do' these Hebrews `here'? And Achish said unto the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who hath been with me these days, or `rather' these years, and I have found no fault in him since he fell away `unto me' unto this day? **[29:4]** But he princes of the Philistines were wroth with him; and the princes of the Philistines said unto him, Make the man return, that he may go back to his place where thou hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary to us: for wherewith should this `fellow' reconcile himself unto his lord? should it not be with the heads of these men? **[29:5]** Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands? **[29:6]** Then Achish called David, and said unto him, As Jehovah liveth, thou hast been upright, and thy going out and thy coming in with me in the host is good in my sight; for I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming unto me unto this day: nevertheless the lords favor thee not. **[29:7]** Wherefore now return, and go in peace, that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines. **[29:8]** And David said unto Achish, But what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant so long as I have been before thee unto this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king? **[29:9]** And Achish answered and said to David, I know that thou art good in my sight, as an angel of God: notwithstanding the princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle. **[29:10]** Wherefore now rise up early in the morning with the servants of thy lord that are come with thee; and as soon as ye are up early in the morning, and have light, depart. **[29:11]** So David rose up early, he and his men, to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel. **[30:1]** And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid upon the South, and upon Ziklag, and had smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire, **[30:2]** and had taken captive the women `and all' that were therein, both small and great: they slew not any, but carried them off, and went their way. **[30:3]** And when David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captive. **[30:4]** Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep. **[30:5]** And David's two wives were taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. **[30:6]** And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David strengthened himself in Jehovah his God. **[30:7]** And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David. **[30:8]** And David inquired of Jehovah, saying, If I pursue after this troop, shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue; for thou shalt surely overtake `them', and shalt without fail recover `all'. **[30:9]** So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed. **[30:10]** But David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor. **[30:11]** And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they gave him water to drink. **[30:12]** And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him; for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights. **[30:13]** And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days ago I fell sick. **[30:14]** We made a raid upon the South of the Cherethites, and upon that which belongeth to Judah, and upon the South of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire. **[30:15]** And David said to him, Wilt thou bring me down to this troop? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me up into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this troop. **[30:16]** And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the ground, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah. **[30:17]** And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, who rode upon camels and fled. **[30:18]** And David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken; and David rescued his two wives. **[30:19]** And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor anything that they had taken to them: David brought back all. **[30:20]** And David took all the flocks and the herds, `which' they drove before those `other' cattle, and said, This is David's spoil. **[30:21]** And David came to the two hundred men, who were so faint that they could not follow David, whom also they had made to abide at the brook Besor; and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him: and when David came near to the people, he saluted them. **[30:22]** Then answered all the wicked men and base fellows, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them aught of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that he may lead them away, and depart. **[30:23]** Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which Jehovah hath given unto us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the troop that came against us into our hand. **[30:24]** And who will hearken unto you in this matter? for as his share is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his share be that tarrieth by the baggage: they shall share alike. **[30:25]** And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day. **[30:26]** And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold, a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of Jehovah: **[30:27]** To them that were in Beth-el, and to them that were in Ramoth of the South, and to them that were in Jattir, **[30:28]** and to them that were in Aroer, and to them that were in Siphmoth, and to them that were in Eshtemoa, **[30:29]** and to them that were in Racal, and to them that were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to them that were in the cities of the Kenites, **[30:30]** and to them that were in Hormah, and to them that were in Bor-ashan, and to them that were in Athach, **[30:31]** and to them that were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt. **[31:1]** Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa. **[31:2]** And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul. **[31:3]** And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers overtook him; and he was greatly distressed by reason of the archers. **[31:4]** Then said Saul to his armorbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armorbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took his sword, and fell upon it. **[31:5]** And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell upon his sword, and died with him. **[31:6]** So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armorbearer, and all his men, that same day together. **[31:7]** And when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley, and they that were beyond the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them. **[31:8]** And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa. **[31:9]** And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armor, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry the tidings unto the house of their idols, and to the people. **[31:10]** And they put his armor in the house of the Ashtaroth; and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan. **[31:11]** And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard concerning him that which the Philistines had done to Saul, **[31:12]** all the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan; and they came to Jabesh, and burnt them there. **[31:13]** And they took their bones, and buried them under the tamarisk-tree in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

9 1 Samuel - Bible in Basic English (BBE).md

# 1 Samuel - Bible in Basic English (BBE) **[1:1]** Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim, a Zuphite of the hill-country of Ephraim, named Elkanah; he was the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite: **[1:2]** And he had two wives, one named Hannah and the other Peninnah: and Peninnah was the mother of children, but Hannah had no children. **[1:3]** Now this man went up from his town every year to give worship and to make offerings to the Lord of armies in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there. **[1:4]** And when the day came for Elkanah to make his offering, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and daughters, their part of the feast: **[1:5]** But to Hannah he gave one part, though Hannah was very dear to him, but the Lord had not let her have children. **[1:6]** And the other wife did everything possible to make her unhappy, because the Lord had not let her have children; **[1:7]** And year by year, whenever she went up to the house of the Lord, she kept on attacking her, so that Hannah gave herself up to weeping and would take no food. **[1:8]** Then her husband Elkanah said to her, Hannah, why are you weeping? and why are you taking no food? why is your heart troubled? am I not more to you than ten sons? **[1:9]** So after they had taken food and wine in the guest room, Hannah got up. Now Eli the priest was seated by the pillars of the doorway of the Temple of the Lord. **[1:10]** And with grief in her soul, weeping bitterly, she made her prayer to the Lord. **[1:11]** And she made an oath, and said, O Lord of armies, if you will truly take note of the sorrow of your servant, not turning away from me but keeping me in mind, and will give me a man-child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut. **[1:12]** Now while she was a long time in prayer before the Lord, Eli was watching her mouth. **[1:13]** For Hannah's prayer came from her heart, and though her lips were moving she made no sound: so it seemed to Eli that she was overcome with wine. **[1:14]** And Eli said to her, How long are you going to be the worse for drink? Put away the effects of your wine from you. **[1:15]** And Hannah, answering him, said, No, my lord, I am a woman whose spirit is broken with sorrow: I have not taken wine or strong drink, but I have been opening my heart before the Lord. **[1:16]** Do not take your servant to be a good-for-nothing woman: for my words have come from my stored-up sorrow and pain. **[1:17]** Then Eli said to her, Go in peace: and may the God of Israel give you an answer to the prayer you have made to him. **[1:18]** And she said, May your servant have grace in your eyes. So the woman went away, and took part in the feast, and her face was no longer sad. **[1:19]** And early in the morning they got up, and after worshipping before the Lord they went back to Ramah, to their house: and Elkanah had connection with his wife; and the Lord kept her in mind. **[1:20]** Now the time came when Hannah, being with child, gave birth to a son; and she gave him the name Samuel, Because, she said, I made a prayer to the Lord for him. **[1:21]** And the man Elkanah with all his family went up to make the year's offering to the Lord, and to give effect to his oath. **[1:22]** But Hannah did not go, for she said to her husband, I will not go till the child has been taken from the breast, and then I will take him with me and put him before the Lord, where he may be for ever. **[1:23]** And her husband Elkanah said to her, Do whatever seems right to you, but not till you have taken him from the breast; only may the Lord do as he has said. So the woman, waiting there, gave her son milk till he was old enough to be taken from the breast. **[1:24]** Then when she had done so, she took him with her, with a three-year old ox and an ephah of meal and a skin full of wine, and took him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh: now the child was still very young. **[1:25]** And when they had made an offering of the ox, they took the child to Eli. **[1:26]** And she said, O my lord, as your soul is living, my lord, I am that woman who was making a prayer to the Lord here by your side: **[1:27]** My prayer was for this child; and the Lord has given him to me in answer to my request: **[1:28]** So I have given him to the Lord; for all his life he is the Lord's. Then he gave the Lord worship there. **[2:1]** And Hannah, in prayer before the Lord, said, My heart is glad in the Lord, my horn is lifted up in the Lord: my mouth is open wide over my haters; because my joy is in your salvation. **[2:2]** No other is holy as the Lord, for there is no other God but you: there is no Rock like our God. **[2:3]** Say no more words of pride; let not uncontrolled sayings come out of your mouths: for the Lord is a God of knowledge, by him acts are judged. **[2:4]** The bows of the men of war are broken, and the feeble are clothed with strength. **[2:5]** Those who were full are offering themselves as servants for bread; those who were in need are at rest; truly, she who had no children has become the mother of seven; and she who had a family is wasted with sorrow. **[2:6]** The Lord is the giver of death and life: sending men down to the underworld and lifting them up. **[2:7]** The Lord gives wealth and takes a man's goods from him: crushing men down and again lifting them up; **[2:8]** Lifting the poor out of the dust, and him who is in need out of the lowest place, to give them their place among rulers, and for their heritage the seat of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's and he has made them the base of the world. **[2:9]** He will keep the feet of his holy ones, but the evil-doers will come to their end in the dark night, for by strength no man will overcome. **[2:10]** Those who make war against the Lord will be broken; against them he will send his thunder from heaven: the Lord will be judge of the ends of the earth, he will give strength to his king, lifting up the horn of him on whom the holy oil has been put. **[2:11]** Then Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child became the servant of the Lord under the direction of Eli the priest. **[2:12]** Now the sons of Eli were evil and good-for-nothing men, having no knowledge of the Lord. **[2:13]** And the priests' way with the people was this: when any man made an offering, the priest's servant came while the flesh was being cooked, having in his hand a meat-hook with three teeth; **[2:14]** This he put into the pot, and everything which came up on the hook the priest took for himself. This they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. **[2:15]** And more than this, before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was making the offering, Give me some of the flesh to be cooked for the priest; he has no taste for meat cooked in water, but would have you give it uncooked. **[2:16]** And if the man said to him, First let the fat be burned, then take as much as you will; then the servant would say, No, you are to give it to me now, or I will take it by force. **[2:17]** And the sin of these young men was very great before the Lord; for they gave no honour to the Lord's offerings. **[2:18]** But Samuel did the work of the Lord's house, while he was a child, dressed in a linen ephod. **[2:19]** And his mother made him a little robe and took it to him every year when she came with her husband for the year's offering. **[2:20]** And every year Eli gave Elkanah and his wife a blessing, saying, May the Lord give you offspring by this woman in exchange for the child you have given to the Lord. And they went back to their house. **[2:21]** And the Lord had mercy on Hannah and she gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And the young Samuel became older before the Lord. **[2:22]** Now Eli was very old; and he had news from time to time of what his sons were doing to all Israel. **[2:23]** And he said to them, Why are you doing such things? for from all this people I get accounts of your evil ways. **[2:24]** No, my sons, the account which is given me, which the Lord's people are sending about, is not good. **[2:25]** If one man does wrong to another, God will be his judge: but if a man's sin is against the Lord, who will take up his cause? But they gave no attention to the voice of their father, for it was the Lord's purpose to send destruction on them. **[2:26]** And the young Samuel, becoming older, had the approval of the Lord and of men. **[2:27]** And a man of God came to Eli and said to him, The Lord says, Did I let myself be seen by your father's people when they were in Egypt, servants in Pharaoh's house? **[2:28]** Did I take him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest and to go up to my altar to make the smoke of the offerings go up and to take up the ephod? Did I give to your father's family all the offerings made by fire by the children of Israel? **[2:29]** Why then are you looking with envy on my offerings of meat and of meal which were ordered by my word, honouring your sons before me, and making yourselves fat with all the best of the offerings of Israel, my people? **[2:30]** For this reason the Lord God of Israel has said, Truly I did say that your family and your father's people would have their place before me for ever: but now the Lord says, Let it not be so; I will give honour to those by whom I am honoured, and those who have no respect for me will be of small value in my eyes. **[2:31]** See, the days are coming when your arm and the arm of your father's people will be cut off; **[2:32]** And never again will there be an old man in your family. **[2:33]** But one man of your family will not be cut off by my hand, and his eyes will be made dark, and grief will be in his heart: and all the offspring of your family will come to their end by the sword of men. **[2:34]** And this will be the sign to you, which will come on Hophni and Phinehas, your sons; death will overtake them on the same day. **[2:35]** And I will make a true priest for myself, one who will do what is in my heart and in my mind: and I will make for him a family which will not come to an end; and his place will be before my holy one for ever. **[2:36]** Then it will be that the rest of your family, anyone who has not been cut off, will go down on his knees to him for a bit of silver or a bit of bread, and say, Be pleased to put me into one of the priest's places so that I may have a little food. **[3:1]** Now the young Samuel was the servant of the Lord before Eli. In those days the Lord kept his word secret from men; there was no open vision. **[3:2]** And at that time, when Eli was resting in his place, (now his eyes were becoming clouded so that he was not able to see,) **[3:3]** And the light of God was still burning, while Samuel was sleeping in the Temple of the Lord where the ark of God was, **[3:4]** The voice of the Lord said Samuel's name; and he said, Here am I. **[3:5]** And running to Eli he said, Here am I, for you said my name. And Eli said, I did not say your name; go to your rest again. So he went back to his bed. **[3:6]** And again the Lord said, Samuel. And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, Here am I; for you certainly said my name. But he said in answer, I said nothing, my son; go to your rest again. **[3:7]** Now at that time Samuel had no knowledge of the Lord, and the revelation of the word of the Lord had not come to him. **[3:8]** And for the third time the Lord said Samuel's name. And he got up and went to Eli and said, Here am I; for you certainly said my name. Then it was clear to Eli that the voice which had said the child's name was the Lord's. **[3:9]** So Eli said to Samuel, Go back: and if the voice comes again, let your answer be, Say on, Lord; for the ears of your servant are open. So Samuel went back to his bed. **[3:10]** Then the Lord came and said as before, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel made answer, Say on, Lord; for the ears of your servant are open. **[3:11]** And the Lord said to Samuel, See, I will do a thing in Israel at which the ears of everyone hearing of it will be burning. **[3:12]** In that day I will do to Eli everything which I have said about his family, from first to last. **[3:13]** And you are to say to him that I will send punishment on his family for ever, for the sin which he had knowledge of; because his sons have been cursing God and he had no control over them. **[3:14]** So I have made an oath to the family of Eli that no offering of meat or of meal which they may make will ever take away the sin of his family. **[3:15]** And Samuel kept where he was, not moving till the time came for opening the doors of the house of God in the morning. And fear kept him from giving Eli an account of his vision. **[3:16]** Then Eli said, Samuel, my son. And Samuel answering said, Here am I. **[3:17]** And he said, What did the Lord say to you? Do not keep it from me: may God's punishment be on you if you keep from me anything he said to you. **[3:18]** Then Samuel gave him an account of everything, keeping nothing back. And he said, It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him. **[3:19]** And Samuel became older, and the Lord was with him and let not one of his words be without effect. **[3:20]** And it was clear to all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba that Samuel had been made a prophet of the Lord. **[3:21]** And the Lord was seen again in Shiloh; for the Lord gave to Samuel in Shiloh the revelation of his word. **[4:1]** Now at that time the Philistines came together to make war against Israel, and the men of Israel went out to war against the Philistines and took up their position at the side of Eben-ezer: and the Philistines put their forces in position in Aphek. **[4:2]** And the Philistines put their forces in order against Israel, and the fighting was hard, and Israel was overcome by the Philistines, who put to the sword about four thousand of their army in the field. **[4:3]** And when the people came back to their tents, the responsible men of Israel said, Why has the Lord let the Philistines overcome us today? Let us get the ark of the Lord's agreement here from Shiloh, so that it may be with us and give us salvation from the hands of those who are against us. **[4:4]** So the people sent to Shiloh and got the ark of the agreement of the Lord of armies whose resting-place is between the winged ones; and Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were there with the ark of God's agreement. **[4:5]** And when the ark of the Lord's agreement came into the tent-circle, all Israel gave a great cry, so that the earth was sounding with it. **[4:6]** And the Philistines, hearing the noise of their cry, said, What is this great cry among the tents of the Hebrews? Then it became clear to them that the ark of the Lord had come to the tent-circle. **[4:7]** And the Philistines, full of fear, said, God has come into their tents. And they said, Trouble is ours! for never before has such a thing been seen. **[4:8]** Trouble is ours! Who will give us salvation from the hands of these great gods? These are the gods who sent all sorts of blows on the Egyptians in the waste land. **[4:9]** Be strong, O Philistines, be men! Do not be servants to the Hebrews as they have been to you: go forward to the fight without fear. **[4:10]** So the Philistines went to the fight, and Israel was overcome, and every man went in flight to his tent: and great was the destruction, for thirty thousand footmen of Israel were put to the sword. **[4:11]** And the ark of God was taken; and Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli, were put to the sword. **[4:12]** And a man of Benjamin went running from the fight and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothing out of order and earth on his head. **[4:13]** And when he came, Eli was seated by the wayside watching: and in his heart was fear for the ark of God. And when the man came into the town and gave the news, there was a great outcry. **[4:14]** And Eli, hearing the noise and the cries, said, What is the reason of this outcry? And the man came quickly and gave the news to Eli. **[4:15]** Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were fixed so that he was not able to see. **[4:16]** And the man said to Eli, I have come from the army and have come in flight today from the fight. And he said, How did it go, my son? **[4:17]** And the man said, Israel went in flight from the Philistines, and there has been great destruction among the people, and your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been taken. **[4:18]** And at these words about the ark of God, Eli, falling back off his seat by the side of the doorway into the town, came down on the earth so that his neck was broken and death overtook him, for he was an old man and of great weight. He had been judging Israel for forty years. **[4:19]** And his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was with child and near the time when she would give birth; and when she had the news that the ark of God had been taken and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, her pains came on her suddenly and she gave birth. **[4:20]** And when she was very near death the women who were with her said, Have no fear, for you have given birth to a son. But she made no answer and gave no attention to it. **[4:21]** And she gave the child the name of Ichabod, saying, The glory has gone from Israel: because the ark of God was taken and because of her father-in-law and her husband. **[4:22]** And she said, The glory is gone from Israel, for the ark of God has been taken. **[5:1]** Now the Philistines, having taken the ark of God, took it with them from Eben-ezer to Ashdod. **[5:2]** They took the ark of God into the house of Dagon and put it by the side of Dagon. **[5:3]** And when the people of Ashdod got up early on the morning after, they saw that Dagon had come down to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon up and put him in his place again. **[5:4]** And when they got up early on the morning after, Dagon had come down to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord; and his head and his hands were broken off on the doorstep; only the base was in its place. **[5:5]** So to this day no priest of Dagon, or any who come into Dagon's house, will put his foot on the doorstep of the house of Dagon in Ashdod. **[5:6]** But the hand of the Lord was hard on the people of Ashdod and he sent disease on them through all the country of Ashdod. **[5:7]** And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, Let not the ark of the God of Israel be with us, for his hand is hard on us and on Dagon our god. **[5:8]** So they sent for all the lords of the Philistines to come together there, and said, What are we to do with the ark of the God of Israel? And their answer was, Let the ark of the God of Israel be taken away to Gath. So they took the ark of the God of Israel away. **[5:9]** But after they had taken it away, the hand of the Lord was stretched out against the town for its destruction: and the signs of disease came out on all the men of the town, small and great. **[5:10]** So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And when the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of the town made an outcry, saying, They have sent the ark of the God of Israel to us for the destruction of us and of our people. **[5:11]** So they sent and got together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go back to its place, so that it may not be the cause of death to us and to our people: for there was a great fear of death through all the town; the hand of God was very hard on them there. **[5:12]** And those men who were not overtaken by death were cruelly diseased: and the cry of the town went up to heaven. **[6:1]** Now the ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines for seven months. **[6:2]** And the Philistines sent for the priests and those who were wise in secret arts, and said to them, What are we to do with the ark of the Lord? How are we to send it away to its place? **[6:3]** And they said, If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it without an offering, but send him a sin-offering with it: then you will have peace again, and it will be clear to you why the weight of his hand has not been lifted from you. **[6:4]** Then they said, What sin-offering are we to send to him? And they said, Five gold images of the growths caused by your disease and five gold mice, one for every lord of the Philistines: for the same disease came on you and on your lords. **[6:5]** So make images of the growths caused by your disease and of the mice which are damaging your land; and give glory to the God of Israel: it may be that the weight of his hand will be lifted from you and from your gods and from your land. **[6:6]** Why do you make your hearts hard, like the hearts of Pharaoh and the Egyptians? When he had made sport of them, did they not let the people go, and they went away? **[6:7]** So now, take and make ready a new cart, and two cows which have never come under the yoke, and have the cows yoked to the cart, and take their young ones away from them: **[6:8]** And put the ark of the Lord on the cart, and the gold images which you are sending as a sin-offering in a chest by its side; and send it away so that it may go. **[6:9]** If it goes by the land of Israel to Beth-shemesh, then this great evil is his work; but if not, then we may be certain that the evil was not his doing, but was the working of chance. **[6:10]** And the men did so; they took two cows, yoking them to the cart and shutting up their young ones in their living-place: **[6:11]** And they put the ark of the Lord on the cart and the chest with the gold images. **[6:12]** And the cows took the straight way, by the road to Beth-shemesh; they went by the highway, not turning to the right or to the left, and the sound of their voices was clear on the road; and the lords of the Philistines went after them as far as the edge of Beth-shemesh. **[6:13]** And the people of Beth-shemesh were cutting their grain in the valley, and lifting up their eyes they saw the ark and were full of joy when they saw it. **[6:14]** And the cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite, and came to a stop there by a great stone: and cutting up the wood of the cart they made a burned offering of the cows to the Lord. **[6:15]** Then the Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the chest in which were the gold images, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Beth-shemesh made burned offerings and gave worship that day before the Lord. **[6:16]** And the five lords of the Philistines, having seen it, went back to Ekron the same day. **[6:17]** Now these are the gold images which the Philistines sent as a sin-offering to the Lord; one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron; **[6:18]** And the gold mice, one for every town of the Philistines, the property of the five lords, walled towns as well as country places: and the great stone where they put the ark of the Lord is still in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite to this day. **[6:19]** But the Lord sent destruction on seventy men of the people of Beth-shemesh for looking into the ark of the Lord; and great was the sorrow of the people for the destruction which the Lord had sent on them. **[6:20]** And the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to keep his place before the Lord, this holy God? and to whom may he go from us? **[6:21]** And they sent men to the people living in Kiriath-jearim, saying, The Philistines have sent back the ark of the Lord; come and take it up to your country. **[7:1]** So the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took the ark of the Lord to the house of Abinadab in Gibeah, and they made his son Eleazar holy and put the ark in his care. **[7:2]** And the ark was in Kiriath-jearim for a long time, as much as twenty years: and all Israel was searching after the Lord with weeping. **[7:3]** Then Samuel said to all Israel, If with all your hearts you would come back to the Lord, then put away all the strange gods and the Astartes from among you, and let your hearts be turned to the Lord, and be servants to him only: and he will make you safe from the hands of the Philistines. **[7:4]** So the children of Israel gave up the worship of Baal and Astarte, and became worshippers of the Lord only. **[7:5]** Then Samuel said, Let all Israel come to Mizpah and I will make prayer to the Lord for you. **[7:6]** So they came together to Mizpah, and got water, draining it out before the Lord, and they took no food that day, and they said, We have done evil against the Lord. And Samuel was judge of the children of Israel in Mizpah. **[7:7]** Now when the Philistines had news that the children of Israel had come together at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And the children of Israel, hearing of it, were full of fear. **[7:8]** And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Go on crying to the Lord our God for us to make us safe from the hands of the Philistines. **[7:9]** And Samuel took a young lamb, offering all of it as a burned offering to the Lord; and Samuel made prayers to the Lord for Israel and the Lord gave him an answer. **[7:10]** And while Samuel was offering the burned offering, the Philistines came near for the attack on Israel; but at the thunder of the Lord's voice that day the Philistines were overcome with fear, and they gave way before Israel. **[7:11]** And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and went after the Philistines, attacking them till they came under Beth-car. **[7:12]** Then Samuel took a stone and put it up between Mizpah and Jeshanah, naming it Eben-ezer, and saying, Up to now the Lord has been our help. **[7:13]** So the Philistines were overcome, and did not come into the country of Israel again: and all the days of Samuel the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines. **[7:14]** And the towns which the Philistines had taken were given back to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and all the country round them Israel made free from the power of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites. **[7:15]** And Samuel was judge of Israel all the days of his life. **[7:16]** From year to year he went in turn to Beth-el and Gilgal and Mizpah, judging Israel in all those places. **[7:17]** And his base was at Ramah, where his house was; there he was judge of Israel and there he made an altar to the Lord. **[8:1]** Now when Samuel was old, he made his sons judges over Israel. **[8:2]** The name of his first son was Joel and the name of his second Abijah: they were judges in Beer-sheba. **[8:3]** And his sons did not go in his ways, but moved by the love of money took rewards, and were not upright in judging. **[8:4]** Then all the responsible men of Israel got together and went to Samuel at Ramah, **[8:5]** And said to him, See now, you are old, and your sons do not go in your ways: give us a king now to be our judge, so that we may be like the other nations. **[8:6]** But Samuel was not pleased when they said to him, Give us a king to be our judge. And Samuel made prayer to the Lord. **[8:7]** And the Lord said to Samuel, Give ear to the voice of the people and what they say to you: they have not been turned away from you, but they have been turned away from me, not desiring me to be king over them. **[8:8]** As they have done from the first, from the day when I took them out of Egypt till this day, turning away from me and worshipping other gods, so now they are acting in the same way to you. **[8:9]** Give ear now to their voice: but make a serious protest to them, and give them a picture of the sort of king who will be their ruler. **[8:10]** And Samuel said all these words of the Lord to the people who were desiring a king. **[8:11]** And he said, This is the sort of king who will be your ruler: he will take your sons and make them his servants, his horsemen, and drivers of his war-carriages, and they will go running before his war-carriages; **[8:12]** And he will make them captains of thousands and of fifties; some he will put to work ploughing and cutting his grain and making his instruments of war and building his war-carriages. **[8:13]** Your daughters he will take to be makers of perfumes and cooks and bread-makers. **[8:14]** He will take your fields and your vine-gardens and your olive-gardens, all the best of them, and give them to his servants. **[8:15]** He will take a tenth of your seed and of the fruit of your vines and give it to his servants. **[8:16]** He will take your men-servants and your servant-girls, and the best of your oxen and your asses and put them to his work. **[8:17]** He will take a tenth of your sheep: and you will be his servants. **[8:18]** Then you will be crying out because of your king whom you have taken for yourselves; but the Lord will not give you an answer in that day. **[8:19]** But the people gave no attention to the voice of Samuel; and they said, No, but we will have a king over us, **[8:20]** So that we may be like the other nations, and so that our king may be our judge and go out before us to war. **[8:21]** Then Samuel, after hearing all the people had to say, went and gave an account of it to the Lord. **[8:22]** And the Lord said to Samuel, Give ear to their voice and make a king for them. Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, Let every man go back to his town. **[9:1]** Now there was a man of Benjamin named Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a man of wealth. **[9:2]** He had a son named Saul, a specially good-looking young man; there was no one better-looking among the children of Israel: he was taller by a head than any other of the people. **[9:3]** Now the asses of Saul's father Kish had gone wandering away. And Kish said to his son Saul, Take one of the servants with you, and get up and go in search of the asses. **[9:4]** So they went through the hill-country of Ephraim and through the land of Shalishah, but they saw no sign of them: then they went through the land of Shaalim, but they were not there: and they went through the land of the Benjamites, but they did not come across them. **[9:5]** And when they had come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to the servant who was with him, Come, let us go back, or my father may give up caring about the asses and be troubled about us. **[9:6]** But the servant said to him, See now, in this town there is a man of God, who is highly honoured, and everything he says comes true: let us go there now; it may be that he will give us directions about our journey. **[9:7]** Then Saul said to his servant, But if we go, what are we to take the man? all our bread is gone, and we have no offering to take to the man of God: what are we to do? **[9:8]** But the servant said in answer, I have here a fourth part of a shekel of silver: I will give that to the man of God, and he will give us directions about our way. **[9:9]** (In the past in Israel, when a man went to get directions from God, he said, Come let us go to the Seer, for he who now is named Prophet was in those days given the name of Seer.) **[9:10]** Then Saul said to his servant, You have said well; come, let us go. So they went to the town where the man of God was. **[9:11]** And when they were on the way up to the town, they saw some young girls going out to get water and said to them, Is the seer here? **[9:12]** And they said, He is; in fact he is before you: go quickly now, for he has come into the town today, for the people are making an offering in the high place today: **[9:13]** When you come into the town you will see him straight away, before he goes up to the high place for the feast: the people are waiting for his blessing before starting the feast, and after that the guests will take part in it. So go up now and you will see him. **[9:14]** So they went up to the town, and when they came inside the town, Samuel came face to face with them on his way to the high place. **[9:15]** Now the day before Saul came, the word of God had come to Samuel, saying, **[9:16]** Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and on him you are to put the holy oil, making him ruler over my people Israel, and he will make my people safe from the hands of the Philistines: for I have seen the sorrow of my people, whose cry has come up to me. **[9:17]** And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him, This is the man of whom I gave you word! he it is who is to have authority over my people. **[9:18]** Then Saul came up to Samuel in the doorway of the town and said, Give me directions, if you will be so good, to the house of the seer. **[9:19]** Then Samuel said to Saul, I am the seer; go up before me to the high place and take food with me today: and in the morning I will let you go, after opening to you all the secrets of your heart. **[9:20]** As for your asses which have been wandering for three days, give no thought to them, for they have come back. And for whom are all the desired things in Israel? are they not for you and your father's family? **[9:21]** And Saul said, Am I not a man of Benjamin, the smallest of all the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of the families of Benjamin? why then do you say these words to me? **[9:22]** Then Samuel took Saul and his servant into the guest room, and made them take the chief place among all the guests who were there, about thirty persons. **[9:23]** And Samuel said to the cook, Give me that part which I gave you orders to keep by you. **[9:24]** And the cook took up the leg with the fat tail on it, and put it before Saul. And Samuel said, This is the part which has been kept for you: take it as your part of the feast; because it has been kept for you till the right time came and till the guests were present. So that day Saul took food with Samuel. **[9:25]** And when they had come down from the high place into the town, where a bed was made ready for Saul, he went to rest. **[9:26]** And about dawn Samuel said to Saul on the roof, Get up so that I may send you away. So Saul got up, and he and Samuel went out together. **[9:27]** And on their way down to the end of the town, Samuel said to Saul, Give your servant orders to go on in front of us, (so he went on,) but you keep here, so that I may give you the word of God. **[10:1]** Then Samuel took the bottle of oil, and put the oil on his head and gave him a kiss and said, Is not the Lord with the holy oil making you ruler over Israel, his people? and you will have authority over the people of the Lord, and you will make them safe from the hands of their attackers round about them, and this will be the sign for you: **[10:2]** When you have gone away from me today, you will see two men by the resting-place of Rachel's body, in the land of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to you, The asses which you went in search of have come back, and now your father, caring no longer for the asses, is troubled about you, saying, What am I to do about my son? **[10:3]** Then you are to go on from there, and when you come to the oak-tree of Tabor, you will see three men going up to God to Beth-el, one having with him three young goats and another three cakes of bread and another a skin full of wine: **[10:4]** They will say, Peace be with you, and will give you two cakes of bread, which you are to take from them. **[10:5]** After that you will come to Gibeah, the hill of God, where an armed force of the Philistines is stationed: and when you come to the town, you will see a band of prophets coming down from the high place with instruments of music before them; and they will be acting like prophets: **[10:6]** And the spirit of the Lord will come on you with power, and you will be acting like a prophet with them, and will be changed into another man. **[10:7]** And when these signs come to you, see that you take the chance which is offered you; for God is with you. **[10:8]** Then you are to go down before me to Gilgal, where I will come to you, for the offering of burned offerings and peace-offerings: go on waiting there for seven days till I come to you and make clear to you what you have to do. **[10:9]** And it came about, that when he went away from Samuel, God gave him a changed heart: and all those signs took place that day. **[10:10]** And when they came to Gibeah, a band of prophets came face to face with him; and the spirit of God came on him with power and he took his place among them as a prophet. **[10:11]** Now when Saul's old friends saw him among the band of prophets, the people said to one another, What has come to Saul, the son of Kish? Is even Saul among the prophets? **[10:12]** And one of the people of that place said in answer, And who is their father? So it became a common saying, Is even Saul among the prophets? **[10:13]** Then going away from the prophets, he came to the house. **[10:14]** And Saul's father's brother said to him and his servant, Where have you been? And he said, Searching for the asses: and when we saw no sign of them, we came to Samuel. **[10:15]** Then he said, And what did Samuel say to you? **[10:16]** And Saul, answering him, said, He gave us word that the asses had come back. But he said nothing to him of Samuel's words about the kingdom. **[10:17]** Then Samuel sent for the people to come together before the Lord at Mizpah; **[10:18]** And he said to the children of Israel, The Lord, the God of Israel, has said, I took Israel out of Egypt, and made you free from the hands of the Egyptians and from all the kingdoms which kept you down: **[10:19]** But today you are turned away from your God, who himself has been your saviour from all your troubles and sorrows; and you have said to him, Put a king over us. So now, take your places before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands. **[10:20]** So Samuel made all the tribes of Israel come near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken. **[10:21]** Then he made the tribe of Benjamin come near by families, and the family of the Matrites was taken: and from them, Saul, the son of Kish, was taken: but when they went in search of him he was nowhere to be seen. **[10:22]** So they put another question to the Lord, Is the man present here? And the answer of the Lord was, He is keeping himself from view among the goods. **[10:23]** So they went quickly and made him come out; and when he took his place among the people, he was taller by a head than any of the people. **[10:24]** And Samuel said to all the people, Do you see the man of the Lord's selection, how there is no other like him among all the people? And all the people with loud cries said, Long life to the king! **[10:25]** Then Samuel gave the people the laws of the kingdom, writing them in a book which he put in a safe place before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house. **[10:26]** And Saul went to Gibeah, to his house; and with him went the men of war whose hearts had been touched by God. **[10:27]** But certain good-for-nothing persons said, How is this man to be our saviour? And having no respect for him, they gave him no offering. **[11:1]** Then about a month after this, Nahash the Ammonite came up and put his forces in position for attacking Jabesh-gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, Make an agreement with us and we will be your servants. **[11:2]** And Nahash the Ammonite said to them, I will make an agreement with you on this condition, that all your right eyes are put out; so that I may make it a cause of shame to all Israel. **[11:3]** Then the responsible men of Jabesh said to him, Give us seven days, so that we may send men to every part of Israel: and then, if no one comes to our help, we will come out to you. **[11:4]** So they sent representatives to Saul's town Gibeah, and these gave the news to the people: and all the people gave themselves to weeping. **[11:5]** Now Saul came from the field, driving the oxen before him; and he said, Why are the people weeping? And they gave him word of what the men of Jabesh had said. **[11:6]** And at their words, the spirit of God came on Saul with power, and he became very angry. **[11:7]** And he took two oxen and, cutting them up, sent them through all the land of Israel by the hand of runners, saying, If any man does not come out after Saul and Samuel, this will be done to his oxen. And the fear of the Lord came on the people and they came out like one man. **[11:8]** And he had them numbered in Bezek: the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. **[11:9]** Then he said to the representatives who had come, Say to the men of Jabesh-gilead, Tomorrow, by the time the sun is high, you will be made safe. And the representatives came and gave the news to the men of Jabesh; and they were glad. **[11:10]** So the men of Jabesh said, Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good to you. **[11:11]** Now on the day after, Saul put the people into three bands, and in the morning watch they came to the tents of the Ammonites, and they went on attacking them till the heat of the day: and those who were not put to death were put to flight in every direction, so that no two of them were together. **[11:12]** And the people said to Samuel, Who was it who said, Is Saul to be our king? give the men up, so that we may put them to death. **[11:13]** And Saul said, Not a man is to be put to death today: for today the Lord has made Israel safe. **[11:14]** Then Samuel said to the people, Come, let us go to Gilgal and there make the kingdom strong in the hands of Saul. **[11:15]** So all the people went to Gilgal; and there in Gilgal they made Saul king before the Lord; and peace-offerings were offered before the Lord; and there Saul and all the men of Israel were glad with great joy. **[12:1]** And Samuel said to all Israel, You see that I have given ear to everything you said to me, and have made a king over you. **[12:2]** And now, see, the king is before you: and I am old and grey-headed, and my sons are with you: I have been living before your eyes from my early days till now. **[12:3]** Here I am: give witness against me before the Lord and before the man on whom he has put the holy oil: whose ox or ass have I taken? to whom have I been untrue? who has been crushed down by me? from whose hand have I taken a price for the blinding of my eyes? I will give it all back to you. **[12:4]** And they said, You have never been untrue to us or cruel to us; you have taken nothing from any man. **[12:5]** Then he said, The Lord is witness against you, and the man on whom he has put the holy oil is witness this day that you have seen no wrong in me. And they said, He is witness. **[12:6]** And Samuel said to the people, The Lord is witness, who gave authority to Moses and Aaron, and who took your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. **[12:7]** Keep your places now, while I take up the argument with you before the Lord, and give you the story of the righteousness of the Lord, which he has made clear by his acts to you and to your fathers. **[12:8]** When Jacob and his sons had come into Egypt, and were crushed by the Egyptians, the prayers of your fathers came up to the Lord, and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who took your fathers out of Egypt, and he put them into this place. **[12:9]** But they were false to the Lord their God, and he gave them up into the hands of Sisera, captain of the army of Jabin, king of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the king of Moab, who made war against them. **[12:10]** Then crying out to the Lord, they said, We have done evil, because we have been turned away from the Lord, worshipping the Baals and the Astartes: but now, make us safe from those who are against us and we will be your servants. **[12:11]** So the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and took you out of the power of those who were fighting against you on every side, and made you safe. **[12:12]** And when you saw that Nahash, the king of the Ammonites, was coming against you, you said to me, No more of this; we will have a king for our ruler: when the Lord your God was your king. **[12:13]** Here, then, is the king marked out by you: the Lord has put a king over you. **[12:14]** If in the fear of the Lord you are his servants, hearing his voice and not going against the orders of the Lord, but being true to the Lord your God, you and the king ruling over you, then all will be well: **[12:15]** But if you do not give ear to the voice of the Lord, but go against his orders, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and against your king for your destruction, as it was against your fathers. **[12:16]** Now keep where you are and see this great thing which the Lord will do before your eyes. **[12:17]** Is it not now the time of the grain cutting? My cry will go up to the Lord and he will send thunder and rain: so that you may see and be conscious of your great sin which you have done in the eyes of the Lord in desiring a king for yourselves. **[12:18]** So Samuel made prayer to the Lord; and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people were in fear of the Lord and of Samuel. **[12:19]** And all the people said to Samuel, Make prayer for us to the Lord your God so that death may not overtake us: for in addition to all our sins we have done this evil, in desiring a king. **[12:20]** Then Samuel said to the people, Have no fear: truly you have done evil, but do not be turned away from the Lord; be his servants with all your heart; **[12:21]** And do not go from the right way turning to those false gods in which there is no profit and no salvation, for they are false. **[12:22]** For the Lord will not give his people up, because of the honour of his name; for it was the Lord's pleasure to make of you a people for himself. **[12:23]** And as for me, never will I go against the orders of the Lord by giving up my prayers for you: but I will go on teaching you the good and right way. **[12:24]** Only go in the fear of the Lord, and be his true servants with all your heart, keeping in mind what great things he has done for you. **[12:25]** But if you still do evil, destruction will overtake you and your king. **[13:1]** *** **[13:2]** And Saul took for himself three thousand men of Israel, of whom he kept two thousand with him in Michmash and in the mountain of Beth-el, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah in the land of Benjamin: the rest of the people he sent back to their tents. **[13:3]** And Jonathan made an attack on the armed force of the Philistines stationed at Gibeah; and news was given to the Philistines that the Hebrews were turned against them. And Saul had a horn sounded through all the land, **[13:4]** And all Israel had the news that Saul had made an attack on the Philistines, and that Israel was bitterly hated by the Philistines. And the people came together after Saul to Gilgal. **[13:5]** And the Philistines came together to make war on Israel, three thousand war-carriages and six thousand horsemen and an army of people like the sands of the sea in number: they came up and took up their position in Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven. **[13:6]** When the men of Israel saw the danger they were in, (for the people were troubled,) they took cover in cracks in the hillsides and in the woods and in rocks and holes and hollows. **[13:7]** And a great number of the people had gone over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead; but Saul was still in Gilgal, and all the people went after him shaking in fear. **[13:8]** And he went on waiting there for seven days, the time fixed by Samuel: but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were starting to go away from him. **[13:9]** Then Saul said, Come here and give me the burned offering and the peace-offerings. And he made a burned offering to the Lord. **[13:10]** And when the burned offering was ended, Samuel came; and Saul went out to see him and to give him a blessing. **[13:11]** And Samuel said, What have you done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were going away from me, and you had not come at the time which had been fixed, and the Philistines had come together at Michmash; **[13:12]** I said, Now the Philistines will come down on me at Gilgal, and I have made no prayer for help to the Lord: and so, forcing myself to do it, I made a burned offering. **[13:13]** And Samuel said to Saul, You have done a foolish thing: you have not kept the rules which the Lord your God gave you; it was the purpose of the Lord to make your authority over Israel safe for ever. **[13:14]** But now, your authority will not go on: the Lord, searching for a man who is pleasing to him in every way, has given him the place of ruler over his people, because you have not done what the Lord gave you orders to do. **[13:15]** Then Samuel went up from Gilgal and the rest of the people went up after Saul against the men of war, and they came from Gilgal to Gibeah in the land of Benjamin: and Saul took the number of the people who were with him, about six hundred men. **[13:16]** And Saul, with Jonathan his son and the people who were with them, was waiting in Geba in the land of Benjamin: but the tents of the Philistines were in Michmash. **[13:17]** And three bands of men came out from the Philistines to make an attack; one band went by the road which goes to Ophrah, into the land of Shual: **[13:18]** And another went in the direction of Beth-horon: and another went by the hill looking down on the valley of Zeboiim, in the direction of the waste land. **[13:19]** Now there was no iron-worker in all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, For fear the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears: **[13:20]** But all the Israelites had to go to the Philistines to get their ploughs and blades and axes and hooks made sharp; **[13:21]** For they had instruments for putting an edge on their ploughs and blades and forks and axes, and for putting iron points on their ox-driving rods. **[13:22]** So on the day of the fight at Michmash, not a sword or a spear was to be seen in the hands of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan: only Saul and his son Jonathan had them. **[13:23]** And the armed force of the Philistines went out to the narrow way of Michmash. **[14:1]** Now one day Jonathan, the son of Saul, said to the young man who was with him, looking after his arms, Come, let us go over to the Philistine force over there. But he said nothing to his father. **[14:2]** And Saul was still waiting in the farthest part of Geba, under the fruit-tree in Migron: there were about six hundred men with him; **[14:3]** And Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, brother of Ichabod, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of the Lord in Shiloh, who had the ephod. And the people had no idea that Jonathan had gone. **[14:4]** Now between the narrow roads over the mountains by which Jonathan was making his way to the Philistines' forces, there was a sharp overhanging rock on one side, and a sharp rock on the other side: one was named Bozez and the other Seneh. **[14:5]** The one rock went up on the north in front of Michmash and the other on the south in front of Geba. **[14:6]** And Jonathan said to his young servant who had his arms, Come, let us go over to the armies of these men who have no circumcision: it may be that the Lord will give us help, for there is no limit to his power; the Lord is able to give salvation by a great army or by a small band. **[14:7]** And his servant said to him, Do whatever is in your mind: see, I am with you in every impulse of your heart. **[14:8]** Then Jonathan said, Now we will go over to these men and let them see us. **[14:9]** If they say to us, Keep quiet where you are till we come to you; then we will keep our places and not go up to them. **[14:10]** But if they say, Come up to us; then we will go up, for the Lord has given them into our hands: and this will be the sign to us. **[14:11]** And they let the Philistine force see the two of them: and the Philistines said, Look! the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have taken cover. **[14:12]** And the armed men of the force gave Jonathan and his servant their answer, saying, Come up here to us, and we will let you see something. Then Jonathan said to his servant, Come up after me: for the Lord has given them up into the hands of Israel. **[14:13]** And Jonathan went up, gripping with his hands and his feet, his servant going up after him; and the Philistines gave way before Jonathan when he made an attack on them, and his servant put them to death after him. **[14:14]** And at their first attack, Jonathan and his servant put to the sword about twenty men, all inside the space of half an acre of land. **[14:15]** And there was great fear in the tents and in the field and among all the men of the armed force, and the attackers were shaking with fear; even the earth was moved with a great shaking and there was a fear as from God. **[14:16]** And the watchmen of Saul, looking out from Geba in the land of Benjamin, saw all the army flowing away and running here and there. **[14:17]** Then Saul said to the people who were with him, Let everyone be numbered and let us see who has gone from us. And when they had been numbered, it was seen that Jonathan and his servant were not there. **[14:18]** And Saul said to Ahijah, Let the ephod come here. For he went before Israel with the ephod at that time. **[14:19]** Now while Saul was talking to the priest, the noise in the tents of the Philistines became louder and louder; and Saul said to the priest, Take back your hand. **[14:20]** And Saul and all the people with him came together and went forward to the fight: and every man's sword was turned against the man at his side, and there was a very great noise. **[14:21]** Then the Hebrews who had been with the Philistines for some time, and had gone up with them to their tents, turning round were joined to those who were with Saul and Jonathan. **[14:22]** And all the men of Israel who had taken cover in the hill-country of Ephraim, hearing that the Philistines had been put to flight, went after them, attacking them. **[14:23]** So the Lord made Israel safe that day: and the fight went over to Beth-aven. **[14:24]** And all the people were with Saul, about twenty thousand men, and the fight was general through all the hill-country of Ephraim; but Saul made a great error that day, by putting the people under an oath, saying, Let that man be cursed who takes food before evening comes and I have given punishment to those who are against me. So the people had not a taste of food. **[14:25]** And there was honey on the face of the field, and all the people came to the honey, the bees having gone from it; **[14:26]** But not a man put his hand to his mouth for fear of the curse. **[14:27]** But Jonathan, having no knowledge of the oath his father had put on the people, stretching out the rod which was in his hand, put the end of it in the honey, and put it to his mouth; then his eyes were made bright. **[14:28]** Then one of the people said to him, Your father put the people under an oath, saying, Let that man be cursed who takes any food this day. And the people were feeble, needing food. **[14:29]** Then Jonathan said, My father has made trouble come on the land: now see how bright my eyes have become because I have taken a little of this honey. **[14:30]** How much more if the people had freely taken their food from the goods of those who were fighting against them! would there not have been much greater destruction among the Philistines? **[14:31]** That day they overcame the Philistines from Michmash to Aijalon: and the people were feeble from need of food. **[14:32]** And rushing at the goods taken in the fight, the people took oxen and sheep and young oxen, and put them to death there on the earth, and had a meal, taking the flesh with the blood in it. **[14:33]** Then it was said to Saul, See, the people are sinning against the Lord, taking the blood with the flesh. And he said to those who gave him the news, Now let a great stone be rolled to me here. **[14:34]** And Saul said, Go about among the people and say to them, Let every man come here to me with his ox and his sheep, and put them to death here, and take his meal: do no sin against the Lord by taking the blood with the flesh. So all the people took their oxen with them that night and put them to death there. **[14:35]** And Saul put up an altar to the Lord: this was the first altar which he put up to the Lord. **[14:36]** And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, attacking them till the morning, till there is not a man of them living. And they said, Do whatever seems right to you. Then the priest said, Let us come near to God. **[14:37]** And Saul, desiring directions from God, said, Am I to go down after the Philistines? will you give them up into the hands of Israel? But he gave him no answer that day. **[14:38]** And Saul said, Come near, all you chiefs of the people, and let us get word from God and see in whom is this sin today. **[14:39]** For, by the living Lord, the saviour of Israel, even if the sinner is Jonathan, my son, death will certainly be his fate. But not a man among all the people gave him any answer. **[14:40]** Then he said to all Israel, You be on one side, and I with Jonathan my son will be on the other side. And the people said to Saul, Do whatever seems good to you. **[14:41]** Then Saul said to the Lord, the God of Israel, Why have you not given me an answer today? If the sin is in me or in Jonathan my son, O Lord God of Israel, give Urim, and if it is in your people Israel, give Thummim. And by the decision of the Lord, Saul and Jonathan were marked out, and the people went free. **[14:42]** And Saul said, Give your decision between my son Jonathan and me. And Jonathan was taken. **[14:43]** Then Saul said to Jonathan, Give me an account of what you have done. And Jonathan gave him the story and said, Certainly I took a little honey on the end of my rod; and now death is to be my fate. **[14:44]** And Saul said, May God's punishment be on me if death is not your fate, Jonathan. **[14:45]** And the people said to Saul, Is death to come to Jonathan, the worker of this great salvation for Israel? Let it not be so: by the living Lord, not one hair of his head is to be touched, for he has been working with God today. So the people kept Jonathan from death. **[14:46]** Then Saul, turning back, went after the Philistines no longer: and the Philistines went back to their place. **[14:47]** Now when Saul had taken his place as ruler of Israel, he made war on those who were against him on every side, Moab and the Ammonites and Edom and the kings of Zobah and the Philistines: and whichever way he went, he overcame them. **[14:48]** And he did great things, and overcame the Amalekites, and made Israel safe from the hands of their attackers. **[14:49]** Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan and Ishvi and Malchi-shua; and these are the names of his daughters: the older was named Merab and the younger Michal; **[14:50]** The name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz; the captain of his army was Abner, the son of Ner, brother of Saul's father. **[14:51]** Kish, the father of Saul, and Ner, the father of Abner, were sons of Abiel. **[14:52]** All through the life of Saul there was bitter war against the Philistines; and whenever Saul saw any strong man or any good fighting man, he kept him near himself. **[15:1]** And Samuel said to Saul, The Lord sent me to put the holy oil on you and to make you king over his people, over Israel: so give ear now to the words of the Lord. **[15:2]** The Lord of armies says, I will give punishment to Amalek for what he did to Israel, fighting against him on the way when Israel came out of Egypt. **[15:3]** Go now and put Amalek to the sword, putting to the curse all they have, without mercy: put to death every man and woman, every child and baby at the breast, every ox and sheep, camel and ass. **[15:4]** And Saul sent for the people and had them numbered in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen and ten thousand men of Judah. **[15:5]** And Saul came to the town of Amalek, and took up his position in the valley secretly. **[15:6]** And Saul said to the Kenites, Go away, take yourselves out from among the Amalekites, or destruction will overtake you with them: for you were kind to the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt. So the Kenites went away from among the Amalekites. **[15:7]** And Saul made an attack on the Amalekites from Havilah on the road to Shur, which is before Egypt. **[15:8]** He took Agag, king of the Amalekites, prisoner, and put all the people to the sword without mercy. **[15:9]** But Saul and the people did not put Agag to death, and they kept the best of the sheep and the oxen and the fat beasts and the lambs, and whatever was good, not desiring to put them to the curse: but everything which was bad and of no use they put to the curse. **[15:10]** Then the Lord said to Samuel, **[15:11]** It is no longer my pleasure for Saul to be king; for he is turned back from going in my ways, and has not done my orders. And Samuel was very sad, crying to the Lord in prayer all night. **[15:12]** And early in the morning he got up and went to Saul; and word was given to Samuel that Saul had come to Carmel and put up a pillar, and had gone from there down to Gilgal. **[15:13]** And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, May the blessing of the Lord be with you: I have done what was ordered by the Lord. **[15:14]** And Samuel said, What then is this sound of the crying of sheep and the noise of oxen which comes to my ears? **[15:15]** And Saul said, They have taken them from the Amalekites: for the people have kept the best of the sheep and of the oxen as an offering to the Lord your God; all the rest we have given up to destruction. **[15:16]** Then Samuel said to Saul, Say no more! Let me give you word of what the Lord has said to me this night. And he said to him, Say on. **[15:17]** And Samuel said, Though you may seem little to yourself, are you not head of the tribes of Israel? for the Lord with the holy oil made you king over Israel, **[15:18]** And the Lord sent you on a journey and said, Go and put to the curse those sinners, the Amalekites, fighting against them till every one is dead. **[15:19]** Why then did you not do the orders of the Lord, but by violently taking their goods did evil in the eyes of the Lord? **[15:20]** And Saul said, Truly, I have done the orders of the Lord and have gone the way the Lord sent me; I have taken Agag, the king of Amalek, and have given the Amalekites up to destruction. **[15:21]** But the people took some of their goods, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which were put to the curse, to make an offering of them to the Lord your God in Gilgal. **[15:22]** And Samuel said, Has the Lord as much delight in offerings and burned offerings as in the doing of his orders? Truly, to do his pleasure is better than to make offerings, and to give ear to him than the fat of sheep. **[15:23]** For to go against his orders is like the sin of those who make use of secret arts, and pride is like giving worship to images. Because you have put away from you the word of the Lord, he has put you from your place as king. **[15:24]** And Saul said to Samuel, Great is my sin: for I have gone against the orders of the Lord and against your words: because, fearing the people, I did what they said. **[15:25]** So now, let my sin have forgiveness, and go back with me to give worship to the Lord. **[15:26]** And Samuel said to Saul, I will not go back with you: for you have put away from you the word of the Lord, and the Lord has put you from your place as king over Israel. **[15:27]** And when Samuel was turning round to go away, Saul took the skirt of his robe in his hand, and the cloth came away. **[15:28]** And Samuel said to him, The Lord has taken away the kingdom of Israel from you this day by force, and has given it to a neighbour of yours who is better than you. **[15:29]** And further, the Glory of Israel will not say what is false, and his purpose may not be changed: for he is not a man, whose purpose may be changed. **[15:30]** Then he said, Great is my sin: but still, give me honour now before the heads of my people and before Israel, and come back with me so that I may give worship to the Lord your God. **[15:31]** So Samuel went back after Saul, and Saul gave worship to the Lord. **[15:32]** Then Samuel said, Make Agag, the king of the Amalekites, come here to me. And Agag came to him shaking with fear. And Agag said, Truly the pain of death is past. **[15:33]** And Samuel said, As your sword has made women without children, so now your mother will be without children among women. And Agag was cut up by Samuel, bone from bone, before the Lord in Gilgal. **[15:34]** Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah, in the land of Saul. **[15:35]** And Samuel never saw Saul again till the day of his death; but Samuel was sorrowing for Saul: and it was no longer the Lord's pleasure for Saul to be king over Israel. **[16:1]** And the Lord said to Samuel, How long will you go on sorrowing for Saul, seeing that I have put him from his place as king over Israel? Take oil in your vessel and go; I will send you to Jesse, the Beth-lehemite: for I have got a king for myself among his sons. **[16:2]** And Samuel said, How is it possible for me to go? If Saul gets news of it he will put me to death. And the Lord said, Take a young cow with you and say, I have come to make an offering to the Lord. **[16:3]** And send for Jesse to be present at the offering, and I will make clear to you what you are to do: and you are to put the holy oil on him whose name I give you. **[16:4]** And Samuel did as the Lord said and came to Beth-lehem. And the responsible men of the town came out to him in fear and said, Do you come in peace? **[16:5]** And he said, In peace: I have come to make an offering to the Lord: make yourselves clean and come with me to make the offering. And he made Jesse and his sons clean, and sent for them to be present at the offering. **[16:6]** Now when they came, looking at Eliab, he said, Clearly the man of the Lord's selection is before him. **[16:7]** But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not take note of his face or how tall he is, because I will not have him: for the Lord's view is not man's; man takes note of the outer form, but the Lord sees the heart. **[16:8]** Then Jesse sent for Abinadab and made him come before Samuel. And he said, The Lord has not taken this one. **[16:9]** Then Jesse made Shammah come before him. And he said, The Lord has not taken this one. **[16:10]** And Jesse made his seven sons come before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, The Lord has not taken any of these. **[16:11]** Then Samuel said to Jesse, Are all your children here? And he said, There is still the youngest, and he is looking after the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, Send and make him come here: for we will not take our seats till he is here. **[16:12]** So he sent and made him come in. Now he had red hair and beautiful eyes and pleasing looks. And the Lord said, Come, put the oil on him, for this is he. **[16:13]** Then Samuel took the bottle of oil, and put the oil on him there among his brothers: and from that day the spirit of the Lord came on David with power. So Samuel went back to Ramah. **[16:14]** Now the spirit of the Lord had gone from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord was troubling him. **[16:15]** And Saul's servants said to him, See now, an evil spirit from God is troubling you. **[16:16]** Now give orders to your servants who are here before you to go in search of a man who is an expert player on a corded instrument: and it will be that when the evil spirit from God is on you, he will make music for you on his instrument, and you will get well. **[16:17]** And Saul said to his servants, Then get me a man who is an expert player, and make him come to me. **[16:18]** Then one of the servants in answer said, I have seen a son of Jesse, the Beth-lehemite, who is expert at playing, and a strong man and a man of war; and he is wise in his words, and pleasing in looks, and the Lord is with him. **[16:19]** So Saul sent his servants to Jesse and said, Send me your son David who is with the sheep. **[16:20]** And Jesse took five cakes of bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them to Saul by David. **[16:21]** And David came to Saul, waiting before him: and he became very dear to Saul, who made him his servant, giving him the care of his arms. **[16:22]** And Saul sent to Jesse saying, Let David be with me, for he is pleasing to me. **[16:23]** And whenever the evil spirit from God came on Saul, David took his instrument and made music: so new life came to Saul, and he got well, and the evil spirit went away from him. **[17:1]** Now the Philistines got their armies together for war, and came together at Socoh in the land of Judah, and took up their position between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim. **[17:2]** And Saul and the men of Israel came together and took up their position in the valley of Elah, and put their forces in order against the Philistines. **[17:3]** The Philistines were stationed on the mountain on one side and Israel on the mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. **[17:4]** And a fighter came out from the tents of the Philistines, named Goliath of Gath; he was more than six cubits tall. **[17:5]** And he had a head-dress of brass on his head, and he was dressed in a coat of metal, the weight of which was five thousand shekels of brass. **[17:6]** His legs were covered with plates of brass and hanging on his back was a javelin of brass. **[17:7]** The stem of his spear was as long as a cloth-worker's rod, and its head was made of six hundred shekels' weight of iron: and one went before him with his body-cover. **[17:8]** He took up his position and in a loud voice said to the armies of Israel, Why have you come out to make war? Am I not a Philistine and you servants of Saul? Send out a man for yourselves and let him come down to me. **[17:9]** If he is able to have a fight with me and overcome me, then we will be your servants: but if I am able to overcome him, then you will be our servants and do work for us. **[17:10]** And the Philistine said, I have put to shame the armies of Israel this day; give me a man so that we may have a fight together. **[17:11]** And Saul and all Israel, hearing those words of the Philistine, were troubled and full of fear. **[17:12]** Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Beth-lehem-judah named Jesse, who had eight sons; and he was an old man in Saul's day, and far on in years. **[17:13]** And the three oldest sons of Jesse had gone with Saul to the fight: the names of the three who went to the fight were Eliab, the oldest, and Abinadab the second, and Shammah the third. **[17:14]** And David was the youngest: and the three oldest were with Saul's army. **[17:15]** Now David went to and from Saul, looking after his father's sheep at Beth-lehem. **[17:16]** And the Philistine came near every morning and evening for forty days. **[17:17]** And Jesse said to his son David, Take now for your brothers an ephah of this dry grain and these ten cakes of bread, and go quickly with them to the tents to your brothers; **[17:18]** And take these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and see how your brothers are and come back with a sign to say how they are. **[17:19]** Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. **[17:20]** And David got up early in the morning, and, giving the sheep into the care of a keeper, took the things and went as Jesse had said; and he came to the lines where the carts were, when the army was going out to the fight giving their war-cry. **[17:21]** And Israel and the Philistines had put their forces in position, army against army. **[17:22]** And David gave his parcels into the hands of the keeper of the army stores, and went running to the army and came to his brothers to get knowledge about them. **[17:23]** And while he was talking to them, the fighter, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came out from the Philistines' lines and said the same words, in David's hearing. **[17:24]** And all the men of Israel, when they saw him, went in flight, overcome with fear. **[17:25]** And the men of Israel said, Have you seen this man? Clearly he has come out to put shame on Israel: and it is certain that if any man overcomes him, the king will give that man great wealth, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's family free in Israel. **[17:26]** And David said to the men near him, What will be done to the man who overcomes this Philistine and takes away the shame from Israel? for who is this Philistine, a man without circumcision, that he has put shame on the armies of the living God? **[17:27]** And the people gave him this answer, So it will be done to the man who overcomes him. **[17:28]** And Eliab, his oldest brother, hearing what David said to the men, was moved to wrath against David, and said, Why have you come here? Into whose care have you given that little flock of sheep in the waste land? I have knowledge of your pride and the evil of your heart, you have come down to see the fight. **[17:29]** And David said, What have I done now? was it not only a word? **[17:30]** And turning away from him to one of the other men, he said the same words: and the people gave him the same answer. **[17:31]** And, hearing what David said, they gave Saul word of it: and he sent for him. **[17:32]** And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart become feeble because of him; I, your servant, will go out and have a fight with this Philistine. **[17:33]** And Saul said to David, You are not able to go out against this Philistine and have a fight with him: for you are only a boy, and he has been a man of war from his earliest days. **[17:34]** And David said to Saul, Your servant has been keeper of his father's sheep; and if a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, **[17:35]** I went out after him, and overcame him, and took it out of his mouth: and if, turning on me, he came at me, I took him by the hair and overcame him and put him to death. **[17:36]** Your servant has overcome lion and bear: and the fate of this Philistine, who is without circumcision, will be like theirs, seeing that he has put shame on the armies of the living God. **[17:37]** And David said, The Lord, who kept me safe from the grip of the lion and the bear, will be my saviour from the hands of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go! and may the Lord be with you. **[17:38]** Then Saul gave David his clothing of war, and put a head-dress of brass on his head and had him clothed with a coat of metal. **[17:39]** And David took Saul's sword and put the band round him over the metal coat, and was unable to go forward; for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, It is not possible for me to go out with these, for I am not used to them. So David took them off. **[17:40]** Then he took his stick in his hand, and got five smooth stones from the bed of the stream and put them in a bag such as is used by sheep-keepers; and in his hand was a leather band used for sending stones: and so he went in the direction of the Philistine. **[17:41]** And the Philistine came nearer to David; and the man who had his body-cover went before him. **[17:42]** And when the Philistine, taking note, saw David, he had a poor opinion of him: for he was only a boy, red-haired and good-looking. **[17:43]** And the Philistine said to David, Am I a dog, that you come out to me with sticks? And the Philistine put curses on David by all his gods. **[17:44]** And the Philistine said to David, Come here to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field. **[17:45]** Then David said to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword and a spear and a javelin: but I come to you in the name of the Lord of armies, the God of the armies of Israel on which you have put shame. **[17:46]** This day the Lord will give you up into my hands, and I will overcome you, and take your head off you; and I will give the bodies of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth today, so that all the earth may see that Israel has a God; **[17:47]** And all these people who are here today may see that the Lord does not give salvation by sword and spear: for the fight is the Lord's, and he will give you up into our hands. **[17:48]** Now when the Philistine made a move and came near to David, David quickly went at a run in the direction of the army, meeting the Philistine face to face. **[17:49]** And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and sent it from his leather band straight at the Philistine, and the stone went deep into his brow, and he went down to the earth, falling on his face. **[17:50]** So David overcame the Philistine with his leather band and a stone, wounding the Philistine and causing his death: but David had no sword in his hand. **[17:51]** So running up to the Philistine and putting his foot on him, David took his sword out of its cover, and put him to death, cutting off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw that their fighter was dead, they went in flight. **[17:52]** And the men of Israel and of Judah got up, and gave a cry, and went after the Philistines as far as Gath and the town doors of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines were falling down by the road from Shaaraim all the way to Gath and Ekron. **[17:53]** Then the children of Israel came back from going after the Philistines, and took their goods from the tents. **[17:54]** And David took the head of the Philistine to Jerusalem, but the metal war-dress and the arms he put in his tent. **[17:55]** And when Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the captain of the army, Abner, whose son is this young man? And Abner said, On your life, O king, I have no idea. **[17:56]** And the king said, Make search and see whose son this young man is. **[17:57]** And when David was coming back after the destruction of the Philistine, Abner took him to Saul, with the head of the Philistine in his hand. **[17:58]** And Saul said to him, Young man, whose son are you? And David in answer said, I am the son of your servant Jesse of Beth-lehem. **[18:1]** Now after David's talk with Saul was ended, the soul of Jonathan was joined with the soul of David, and David became as dear to him as his very life. **[18:2]** And that day Saul took David and would not let him go back to his father's house. **[18:3]** Then Jonathan and David made an agreement together, because of Jonathan's love for David. **[18:4]** And Jonathan took off the robe he had on and gave it to David, with all his military dress, even to his sword and his bow and the band round his body. **[18:5]** And David went wherever Saul sent him, and did wisely: and Saul put him at the head of his men of war, and this was pleasing to all the people as well as to Saul's servants. **[18:6]** Now on their way, when David came back after the destruction of the Philistine, the women came out of all the towns of Israel, with songs and dances, meeting David with melody and joy and instruments of music. **[18:7]** And the women, answering one another in their song, said, Saul has put to death his thousands and David his tens of thousands. **[18:8]** And Saul was very angry and this saying was unpleasing to him; and he said, They have given David credit for tens of thousands, and to me for only thousands: what more is there for him but the kingdom? **[18:9]** And from that day Saul was looking with envy on David. **[18:10]** Now on the day after, an evil spirit from God came on Saul with great force and he was acting like a prophet among the men of his house, while David was making music for him, as he did day by day: and Saul had his spear in his hand. **[18:11]** And Saul, balancing the spear in his hand, said, I will give David a blow, pinning him to the wall. And David got away from him twice. **[18:12]** And Saul went in fear of David, because the Lord was with David and had gone away from Saul. **[18:13]** So Saul sent him away, and made him a captain over a thousand; and he went about his business before the people. **[18:14]** And in all his undertakings David did wisely; and the Lord was with him. **[18:15]** And when Saul saw how wisely he did, he was in fear of him. **[18:16]** But David was loved by all Israel and Judah, for he went out and came in before them. **[18:17]** And Saul said to David, Here is my oldest daughter Merab, whom I will give you for your wife: only be strong for me, fighting in the Lord's wars. For Saul said, Let it not be through me that his fate comes to him, but through the Philistines. **[18:18]** And David said to Saul, Who am I, and what is my father's family in Israel, that I am to be son-in-law to the king? **[18:19]** But when the time came to give Merab, Saul's daughter, to David, she was given to Adriel of Meholath. **[18:20]** And Saul's daughter Michal was in love with David: and Saul had word of it and was pleased. **[18:21]** And Saul said, I will give her to him, so that she may be a cause of danger to him, and so that the hands of the Philistines may be against him. So Saul said to David, Today you are to become my son-in-law for the second time. **[18:22]** And Saul gave his servants orders saying, Have talk with David secretly and say to him, See how the king has delight in you, and how you are loved by all his servants: then be the king's son-in-law. **[18:23]** And Saul's servants said these things to David. And David said, Does it seem to you a small thing to be the king's son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man, of no great name? **[18:24]** And the servants of Saul gave him an account of what David had said. **[18:25]** And Saul said, Then say to David, The king has no desire for any bride-price, but only for the private parts of a hundred Philistines so that the king may get the better of his haters. But it was in Saul's mind that David might come to his end by the hands of the Philistines. **[18:26]** And when his servants said these words to David, he was well pleased to be the son-in-law of the king. And the days were still not past. **[18:27]** So David and his men got up and went, and put to death two hundred of the Philistines; and David took their private parts and gave the full number of them to the king, so that he might be the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal for his wife. **[18:28]** And it was clear to Saul that the Lord was with David; and he was loved by all Israel. **[18:29]** And Saul's fear of David became all the greater, and he went on hating him, day by day. **[18:30]** Then the rulers of the Philistines went out to war: and whenever they went out, David did more wisely than all the other servants of Saul, so that his name became greatly honoured. **[19:1]** And Saul gave orders to his son Jonathan and to all his servants to put David to death. But Saul's son Jonathan had great delight in David. **[19:2]** And Jonathan said to David, Saul, my father, is purposing your death: so now, take care in the morning, and keep yourself safe in a secret place: **[19:3]** And I will go out and take my place by my father's side in the field near where you are; and I will get into talk with my father about you, and when I see how things are, I will give you word. **[19:4]** And Jonathan gave his father Saul a good account of David, and said to him, Let not the king do wrong against his servant, against David; because he has done you no wrong, and all his acts have had a good outcome for you: **[19:5]** For he put his life in danger and overcame the Philistine, and the Lord gave all Israel salvation: you saw it and were glad: why then are you sinning against him who has done no wrong, desiring the death of David without cause? **[19:6]** And Saul gave ear to the voice of Jonathan, and said with an oath, By the living Lord, he is not to be put to death. **[19:7]** Then Jonathan sent for David and gave him word of all these things. And Jonathan took David to Saul, who kept him by his side as in the past. **[19:8]** And there was war again: and David went out fighting the Philistines, causing great destruction among them; and they went in flight before him. **[19:9]** And an evil spirit from the Lord came on Saul, when he was seated in his house with his spear in his hand; and David made music for him. **[19:10]** And Saul would have sent his spear through him, pinning him to the wall, but he got away and the spear went into the wall: and that night David went in flight and got away. **[19:11]** Then in that night Saul sent men to David's house to keep watch on him so as to put him to death in the morning: and David's wife Michal said to him, If you do not go away to a safe place tonight you will be put to death in the morning. **[19:12]** So Michal let David down through the window, and he went in flight and got away. **[19:13]** Then Michal took the image and put it in the bed, with a cushion of goat's hair at its head, and she put clothing over it. **[19:14]** And when Saul sent men to take David, she said, He is ill. **[19:15]** And Saul sent his men to see David, saying, Do not come back without him, take him in his bed, so that I may put him to death. **[19:16]** And when the men came in, there was the image in the bed, with the cushion of goat's hair at its head **[19:17]** And Saul said to Michal, why have you been false to me, letting my hater go and get safely away? And in answer Michal said to Saul, He said to me, Let me go, or I will put you to death. **[19:18]** So David went in flight and got away and came to Ramah, to Samuel, and gave him an account of all Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and were living in Naioth. **[19:19]** And word was given to Saul that David was at Naioth in Ramah. **[19:20]** And Saul sent men to take David; and when they saw the band of prophets at work, with Samuel in his place at their head, the spirit of God came on Saul's men, and they became like prophets. **[19:21]** And Saul, having news of this, sent other men, who in the same way became like prophets. And a third time Saul sent men, and they like the others became like prophets. **[19:22]** Then he himself went to Ramah, and came to the great water-spring in Secu; and questioning the people he said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, They are at Naioth in Ramah. **[19:23]** And he went on from there to Naioth in Ramah: and the spirit of God came on him, and he went on, acting like a prophet, till he came to Naioth in Ramah. **[19:24]** And he took off his clothing, acting like a prophet before Samuel, and falling down he was stretched out, without his clothing, all that day and all that night. This is the reason for the saying, Is even Saul among the prophets? **[20:1]** And David went in flight from Naioth in Ramah and came to Jonathan and said, What have I done? What is my crime and my sin against your father that he is attempting to take my life? **[20:2]** And he said to him, Far be the thought: you will not be put to death: see, my father does nothing, great or small, without giving me word of it: would he keep this secret from me? It is not so. **[20:3]** But David took his oath again and said, Your father sees that I am dear to you; so he says to himself, Let Jonathan have no idea of this, for it will be a grief to him; but as the Lord is living, and as your soul is living, there is only a step between me and death. **[20:4]** Then Jonathan said to David, Whatever your desire is, I will do it for you. **[20:5]** And David said to Jonathan, Tomorrow is the new moon, and I will not be seated with the king at his table: but let me go to a safe place in the country till the evening. **[20:6]** And if your father takes note of the fact that I am away, say, David made a request to me for himself that he might go to Beth-lehem, to his town: for it is the time when his family make their offering year by year. **[20:7]** If he says, It is well, your servant will be at peace: but if he is angry, then it will be clear to you that he has an evil purpose in mind against me. **[20:8]** So, then, be kind to your servant; for you have been united with your servant in an agreement made before the Lord: but if there is any wrongdoing in me, put me to death yourself; why take me to your father? **[20:9]** And Jonathan said, Do not have such a thought: for if I saw that my father was designing evil against you, would I not give you word of it? **[20:10]** Then David said to Jonathan, Who will give me word if your father gives you a rough answer? **[20:11]** And Jonathan said to David, Come, let us go out into the country. And the two of them went out together into the open country. **[20:12]** And Jonathan said to David, May the Lord, the God of Israel, be witness; when I have had a chance of talking to my father, about this time tomorrow, if his feelings to David are good, will I not send and give you the news? **[20:13]** May the Lord's punishment be on Jonathan, if it is my father's pleasure to do you evil and I do not give you word of it and send you away so that you may go in peace: and may the Lord be with you, as he has been with my father. **[20:14]** And may you, while I am still living, O may you be kind to me, as the Lord is kind, and keep me from death! **[20:15]** And let not your mercy ever be cut off from my family, even when the Lord has sent destruction on all David's haters, cutting them off from the face of the earth. **[20:16]** And if it comes about that the name of Jonathan is cut off from the family of David, the Lord will make David responsible. **[20:17]** And Jonathan again took an oath to David, because of his love for him: for David was as dear to him as his very soul. **[20:18]** Then Jonathan said to him, Tomorrow is the new moon: and it will be seen that you are not present, for there will be no one in your seat. **[20:19]** And on the third day it will be specially noted, and you will go to the place where you took cover when the other business was in hand, waiting by the hill over there. **[20:20]** And on the third day I will send arrows from my bow against its side as if at a mark. **[20:21]** And I will send my boy to have a look for the arrow. And if I say to him, See, the arrow is on this side of you; take it up! then you may come; for there is peace for you and no evil, by the living Lord. **[20:22]** But if I say to the boy, See, the arrow has gone past you: then go on your way, for the Lord has sent you away. **[20:23]** As for what you and I were talking of, the Lord is between you and me for ever. **[20:24]** So David went to a secret place in the country: and when the new moon came, the king took his place at the feast. **[20:25]** And the king took his seat, as at other times, by the wall: and Jonathan was in front, and Abner was seated by Saul's side, but there was no one in David's seat. **[20:26]** But Saul said nothing that day, for his thought was, Something has taken place making him unclean; it is clear that he is not clean. **[20:27]** And on the day after the new moon, that is, the second day, there was still no one in David's seat: and Saul said to his son Jonathan, Why has the son of Jesse not come to the feast yesterday or today? **[20:28]** And answering Saul, Jonathan said, He made a request to me that he might go to Beth-lehem, **[20:29]** Saying, Our family is making an offering in the town, and my brothers have given me orders to be there: so now, if I have grace in your eyes, let me go away and see my brothers. This is why he has not come to the king's table. **[20:30]** Then Saul was moved to wrath against Jonathan, and he said to him, You son of an evil and uncontrolled woman, have I not seen how you have given your love to the son of Jesse, to your shame and the shame of your mother? **[20:31]** For while the son of Jesse is living on the earth, your position is unsafe and your kingdom is in danger. So make him come here to me, for it is certainly right for him to be put to death. **[20:32]** And Jonathan, answering his father Saul, said to him, Why is he to be put to death? What has he done? **[20:33]** And Saul, pointing his spear at him, made an attempt to give him a wound: from which it was clear to Jonathan that his father's purpose was to put David to death. **[20:34]** So Jonathan got up from the table, burning with wrath, and took no part in the feast the second day of the month, being full of grief for David because his father had put shame on him. **[20:35]** Now in the morning, Jonathan went out into the fields at the time he had said to David, and he had a little boy with him. **[20:36]** And he said to the boy, Go and get the arrow I let loose from my bow. And while the boy was running, he sent an arrow past him. **[20:37]** And when the boy came to the place where the arrow was, Jonathan, crying out after the boy, said, Has it not gone past you? **[20:38]** And Jonathan went on crying out after the boy, Be quick, do not keep waiting about, go quickly. And Jonathan's boy got the arrow and came back to his master. **[20:39]** But the boy had no idea what was going on; only Jonathan and David had knowledge of it. **[20:40]** And Jonathan gave his bow and arrows to the boy, and said to him, Take these and go back to the town. **[20:41]** And when the boy had gone, David came from his secret place by the hill, and falling to the earth went down on his face three times: and they gave one another a kiss, weeping together, till David's grief was the greater. **[20:42]** And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, for we two have taken an oath, in the name of the Lord, saying, The Lord will be between me and you, and between my seed and your seed for ever. Then David went away, and Jonathan went into the town. **[21:1]** Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was full of fear at meeting David, and said to him, Why are you by yourself, having no man with you? **[21:2]** And David said to Ahimelech the priest, The king has given me orders and has said to me, Say nothing to anyone about the business on which I am sending you and the orders I have given you: and a certain place has been fixed to which the young men are to go. **[21:3]** So now, if you have here five cakes of bread, give them into my hand, or whatever you have. **[21:4]** And the priest, answering David, said, I have no common bread here but there is holy bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women. **[21:5]** And David in answer said to the priest, Certainly women have been kept from us; and as has been done before when I have gone out the arms of the young men were made holy, even though it was a common journey; how much more today will their arms be made holy. **[21:6]** So the priest gave him the holy bread: there was no other, only the holy bread which had been taken from before the Lord, so that new bread might be put in its place on the day when it was taken away. **[21:7]** Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, kept back before the Lord; his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the strongest of Saul's runners. **[21:8]** And David said to Ahimelech, Have you no sword or spear with you here? for I have come without my sword and other arms, because the king's business had to be done quickly. **[21:9]** And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you put to death in the valley of Elah, is here folded in a cloth at the back of the ephod: take that, if you will, for there is no other sword here. And David said, there is no other sword like that; give it to me. **[21:10]** Then David got up and went in flight that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish, the king of Gath. **[21:11]** And the servants of Achish said to him, Is not this David, the king of the land? did they not make songs about him in their dances, saying, Saul has put to death thousands, and David tens of thousands? **[21:12]** And David took these words to heart, fearing Achish, the king of Gath. **[21:13]** So changing his behaviour before them, he made it seem as if he was off his head, hammering on the doors of the town, and letting the water from his mouth go down his chin. **[21:14]** Then Achish said to his servants, Look! the man is clearly off his head; why have you let him come before me? **[21:15]** Are there not enough unbalanced men about me, that you have let this person come and do such tricks before me? is such a man to come into my house? **[22:1]** So David went away from there and took cover in a strong place at Adullam; and his brothers and all his father's people, hearing of it, went down to him there. **[22:2]** And everyone who was in trouble, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, came together to him, and he became captain over them: about four hundred men were joined to him. **[22:3]** And from there David went to Mizpeh in the land of Moab: and he said to the king of Moab, Let my father and mother come and make their living-place with you till it is clear to me what God will do for me. **[22:4]** And he took them to the king of Moab and they went on living with him while David was in his safe place. **[22:5]** And the prophet Gad said to David, Do not go on living in this place but go into the land of Judah. Then David went away and came to the woodland of Hereth. **[22:6]** And news was given to Saul that David had been seen, and the men who were with him: now Saul was in Gibeah, seated under the tree in the high place, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were in their places before him. **[22:7]** Then Saul said to his servants who were there about him, Give ear now, you Benjamites; will the son of Jesse give to every one of you fields and vine-gardens, will he make you all captains of hundreds and captains of thousands; **[22:8]** That all of you have made designs against me, and not one of you gave me word when my son made an agreement with the son of Jesse, and not one of you has pity for me or has made my eyes open to the fact that my servant has been moved by my son against me, as at this day? **[22:9]** Then Doeg, the Edomite, who was by the side of the servants of Saul, in answer said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub. **[22:10]** And he got directions from the Lord for him, and gave him food, and put in his hand the sword of Goliath the Philistine. **[22:11]** Then the king sent for Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and for all the men of his father's family who were priests in Nob: and they all came to the king. **[22:12]** And Saul said, Give ear now, O son of Ahitub. And answering he said, Here I am, my lord. **[22:13]** And Saul said to him, Why have you made designs against me with the son of Jesse, giving him food and a sword and getting directions from the Lord for him, and helping him to take up arms against me, and to be on the watch to make a secret attack on me as he is doing now? **[22:14]** Then Ahimelech answering said to the king, Who among all your servants is so true to you as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and is a captain of your armed men, and has a place of honour in your house? **[22:15]** Is this the first time I have got directions from God for him? Far be the thought! let the king make no such statement against his servant or my father's family, for your servant has no knowledge, great or small, of this thing. **[22:16]** And the king said, You will certainly be put to death, Ahimelech, you and all your father's family. **[22:17]** Then the king said to the runners who were waiting near him, Put the priests of the Lord to death; because they are on David's side, and having knowledge of his flight, did not give me word of it. But the king's servants would not put out their hands to make an attack on the Lord's priests. **[22:18]** Then the king said to Doeg, You are to put the priests to death. And Doeg the Edomite, turning on the priests and attacking them, put to death that day eighty-five men who took up the ephod. **[22:19]** And Nob, the town of the priests, he put to the sword, all the men and women, children and babies at the breast, and oxen and asses and sheep. **[22:20]** And Abiathar, one of the sons of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub, got away and went in flight after David; **[22:21]** And gave him the news of how Saul had put to death the Lord's priests. **[22:22]** And David said to Abiathar, I was certain that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would take the news to Saul: I am responsible for the lives of all your father's family. **[22:23]** Keep here with me and have no fear; for he who has designs on my life has designs on yours: but with me you will be safe. **[23:1]** And they sent word to David, saying, The Philistines are fighting against Keilah and taking the grain from the grain-floors. **[23:2]** So David, questioning the Lord, said, Am I to go and make an attack on these Philistines? And the Lord said to David, Go and make an attack on the Philistines so that Keilah may be kept from falling into their hands. **[23:3]** And David's men said to him, Even here in Judah we are full of fear: how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines? **[23:4]** Then David put the question to the Lord again, and the Lord answering said, Up! go down to Keilah; for I will give the Philistines into your hands. **[23:5]** So David and his men went to Keilah, and had a fight with the Philistines, and took away their cattle, and put them to the sword with great destruction. So David was the saviour of the people of Keilah. **[23:6]** Now when Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, went in flight to David, he came down to Keilah with the ephod in his hand. **[23:7]** And news was given to Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, Now God has given him into my hands; for by going into a walled town with locked doors, he has let himself be shut in. **[23:8]** And Saul sent for all the people to come to the fight, and go down to Keilah to make an attack on David and his men. **[23:9]** And it was clear to David that Saul had evil designs against him, and he said to Abiathar the priest, Come here with the ephod. **[23:10]** Then David said, O Lord, the God of Israel, news has been given to your servant that it is Saul's purpose to come to Keilah and send destruction on the town because of me. **[23:11]** And now, is it true, as they have said to me, that Saul is coming? O Lord, the God of Israel, give ear to your servant, and say if these things are so. And the Lord said, He is coming down. **[23:12]** Then David said, Will the men of Keilah give me and my men up to Saul? and the Lord said, They will give you up. **[23:13]** Then David and his men, about six hundred of them, went out of Keilah, and got away wherever they were able to go. And Saul, hearing that David had got away from Keilah, did not go there. **[23:14]** And David kept in the waste land, in safe places, waiting in the hill-country in the waste land of Ziph. And Saul was searching for him every day, but God did not give him up into his hands. **[23:15]** And David was full of fear, in the knowledge that Saul had come out to take his life; and David was in the waste land of Ziph, in Horesh. **[23:16]** And Saul's son Jonathan went to David in Horesh, and made his hands strong in God; **[23:17]** And said to him, Have no fear, for Saul my father will not get you into his power; and you will be king of Israel, and I will be by your side, and my father Saul is certain of this. **[23:18]** And the two of them made an agreement before the Lord: and David went on living in Horesh, and Jonathan went back to his house. **[23:19]** Then the Ziphites came up to Gibeah to see Saul, and said, Is not David living secretly among us in the strong places in Horesh, in the hill of Hachilah to the south of the waste land? **[23:20]** So now, O king, have your soul's desire and come down, and we, for our part, will give him up into the king's hands. **[23:21]** And Saul said, The Lord's blessing will be yours, for you have had pity on me. **[23:22]** Go now, and take more steps, and see where he is living: for they say that he is expert in deceit. **[23:23]** So take care to get knowledge of all the secret places where he is taking cover, and be certain to come back to me, and I will go with you: and without doubt, if he is anywhere in the land, I will get him, among all the families of Judah. **[23:24]** And they went back and came to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in the waste land of Maon, in the dry land south of the waste land. **[23:25]** And Saul and his men went in search of him. And David had word of it, so he came down to the rock in the waste land of Maon. And Saul, hearing of this, went after David into the waste land of Maon. **[23:26]** And Saul and his men went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men went on the other: and David's purpose was to get away as quickly as possible, for fear of Saul; for Saul and his men were making a circle round David and his men in order to take them. **[23:27]** But a man came to Saul saying, Be quick and come; for the Philistines have made an attack on the land. **[23:28]** So turning back from going after David, Saul went against the Philistines: so that place was named Sela-hammah-lekoth. **[24:1]** And from there, David went up and took cover in the safe place of En-gedi. **[24:2]** Now when Saul came back from fighting the Philistines, news was given him that David was in the waste land of En-gedi. **[24:3]** Then Saul took three thousand of the best men out of all Israel, and went in search of David and his men on the rocks of the mountain goats. **[24:4]** And on the way he came to a place where sheep were kept, where there was a hollow in the rock; and Saul went in for a private purpose. Now David and his men were in the deepest part of the hollow. **[24:5]** And David's men said to him, Now is the time when the Lord says to you, I will give up your hater into your hands to do with him whatever seems good to you. Then David, getting up, took the skirt of Saul's robe in his hand, cutting off the end of it without his knowledge. **[24:6]** And later, David was full of regret for cutting off Saul's skirt. **[24:7]** And David said to his men, Before the Lord, never let it be said that my hand was lifted up against my lord, the man of the Lord's selection, for the Lord's holy oil has been put on him. **[24:8]** So with these words David kept his servants back, and did not let them make an attack on Saul. And Saul got up and went on his way. **[24:9]** And after that David came out of the hollow rock, and crying after Saul said, My lord the king. And when Saul gave a look back, David went down on his face and gave him honour. **[24:10]** And David said to Saul, Why do you give any attention to those who say that it is my desire to do you wrong? **[24:11]** Look! you have seen today how the Lord gave you up into my hands even now in the hollow of the rocks: and some would have had me put you to death, but I had pity on you: for I said, Never will my hand be lifted up against my lord, who has been marked with the holy oil. **[24:12]** And see, my father, see the skirt of your robe in my hand: for the fact that I took off the skirt of your robe and did not put you to death is witness that I have no evil purpose, and I have done you no wrong, though you are waiting for my life to take it. **[24:13]** May the Lord be judge between me and you, and may the Lord give me my rights against you, but my hand will never be lifted up against you. **[24:14]** There is an old saying, From the evil-doer comes evil: but my hand will never be lifted up against you. **[24:15]** After whom has the king of Israel come out? for whom are you searching? for a dead dog, an insect. **[24:16]** So let the Lord be judge, and give a decision between me and you, and see and give support to my cause, and keep me from falling into your hands. **[24:17]** Now when David had said these words to Saul, Saul said, Is this your voice, David, my son? And Saul was overcome with weeping. **[24:18]** And he said to David, You are right and I am wrong: for you have given me back good, but I have given you evil. **[24:19]** And you have made clear to me how good you have been to me today: because, when the Lord gave me up into your hands, you did not put me to death. **[24:20]** If a man comes across his hater, will he let him get away safe? so may you be rewarded by the Lord for what you have done for me today. **[24:21]** And now I am certain that you will be king, and that the kingdom of Israel will be made strong under your authority. **[24:22]** So give me your oath by the Lord, that you will not put an end to my seed after me or let my name be cut off from my father's family. **[24:23]** And David gave Saul his oath. And Saul went back to his house; but David and his men went up to their safe place. **[25:1]** And death came to Samuel; and all Israel came together, weeping for him, and put his body in its resting-place in his house at Ramah. Then David went down to the waste land of Maon. **[25:2]** Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel; he was a great man and had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats: and he was cutting the wool of his sheep in Carmel. **[25:3]** Now this man was named Nabal, and his wife's name was Abigail: she was a woman of good sense and pleasing looks: but the man was cruel and evil in his ways; he was of the family of Caleb. **[25:4]** And David had word in the waste land that Nabal was cutting the wool of his sheep. **[25:5]** And David sent ten young men, and said to them, Go up to Carmel and go to Nabal, and say kind words to him in my name; **[25:6]** And say this to my brother, May all be well for you: peace be to you and your house and all you have. **[25:7]** I have had word that you have wool-cutters: now the keepers of your sheep have been with us, and we have done them no evil, and taken nothing of theirs while they were in Carmel. **[25:8]** If your young men are questioned they will say the same thing. So now, let my young men have grace in your eyes, for we are come at a good time; please give anything you may have by you to your servants and to your son David. **[25:9]** And when David's young men came, they said all this to Nabal, in David's name, and said nothing more. **[25:10]** And Nabal gave them his answer and said, Who is David? who is the son of Jesse? there are a number of servants in these days running away from their masters. **[25:11]** Am I to take my bread and my wine and the meat I have got ready for my wool-cutters and give it to men coming from I have no idea where? **[25:12]** So David's young men, turning away, went back and gave him an account of everything he had said. **[25:13]** And David said to his men, Put on your swords, every one of you. And every man put on his sword; and David did the same; and about four hundred men went up with David, and two hundred kept watch over their goods. **[25:14]** But one of the young men said to Nabal's wife Abigail, David sent men from the waste land to say kind words to our master, and he gave them a rough answer. **[25:15]** But these men have been very good to us; they did us no wrong and nothing of ours was touched while we were with them in the fields: **[25:16]** But day and night they were like a wall round us while we were with them, looking after the sheep. **[25:17]** So now, give thought to what you are going to do; for evil is in store for our master and all his house: for he is such a good-for-nothing person that it is not possible to say anything to him. **[25:18]** Then Abigail quickly took two hundred cakes of bread and two skins full of wine and five sheep ready for cooking and five measures of dry grain and a hundred parcels of dry grapes and two hundred cakes of figs, and put them on asses. **[25:19]** And she said to her young men, Go on in front of me and I will come after you. But she said nothing to her husband Nabal. **[25:20]** Now while she was going down under cover of the mountain on her ass, David and his men came down against her, and suddenly she came face to face with them. **[25:21]** Now David had said, What was the use of my taking care of this man's goods in the waste land, so that there was no loss of anything which was his? he has only given me back evil for good. **[25:22]** May God's punishment be on David, if when morning comes there is so much as one male of his people still living. **[25:23]** And when Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her ass, falling down on her face before him. **[25:24]** And falling at his feet she said, May the wrong be on me, my lord, on me: let your servant say a word to you, and give ear to the words of your servant. **[25:25]** Let my lord give no attention to Nabal, that good-for-nothing: for as his name is, so is he, a man without sense: but I, your servant, did not see the young men whom my lord sent. **[25:26]** So now, my lord, by the living God and by your living soul, seeing that the Lord has kept you from the crime of blood and from taking into your hands the punishment for your wrongs, may all your haters, and those who would do evil to my lord, be like Nabal. **[25:27]** And let this offering, which your servant gives to my lord, be given to the young men who are with my lord. **[25:28]** And may the sin of your servant have forgiveness: for the Lord will certainly make your family strong, because my lord is fighting in the Lord's war; and no evil will be seen in you all your days. **[25:29]** And though a man has taken up arms against you, putting your life in danger, still the soul of my lord will be kept safe among the band of the living with the Lord your God; and the souls of those who are against you he will send violently away from him, like stones from a bag. **[25:30]** And when the Lord has done for my lord all those good things which he has said he will do for you, and has made you a ruler over Israel; **[25:31]** Then you will have no cause for grief, and my lord's heart will not be troubled because you have taken life without cause and have yourself given punishment for your wrongs: and when the Lord has been good to you, then give a thought to your servant. **[25:32]** And David said to Abigail, May the Lord, the God of Israel, be praised, who sent you to me today: **[25:33]** A blessing on your good sense and on you, who have kept me today from the crime of blood and from taking into my hands the punishment for my wrongs. **[25:34]** For truly, by the living Lord, the God of Israel, who has kept me from doing you evil, if you had not been so quick in coming to me and meeting me, by dawn there would not have been in Nabal's house so much as one male living. **[25:35]** Then David took from her hands her offering: and he said to her, Go back to your house in peace; see, I have given ear to your voice, and taken your offering with respect. **[25:36]** And Abigail went back to Nabal; and he was feasting in his house like a king; and Nabal's heart was full of joy, for he had taken much wine; so she said nothing to him till dawn came. **[25:37]** And in the morning, when the effect of the wine was gone, Nabal's wife gave him an account of all these things, and all the heart went out of him, and he became like stone. **[25:38]** And about ten days after, the Lord sent disease on Nabal and death came to him. **[25:39]** And David, hearing that Nabal was dead, said, May the Lord be praised, who has taken up my cause against Nabal for the shame which he put on me, and has kept back his servant from evil, and has sent on Nabal's head the reward of his evil-doing. And David sent word to Abigail, desiring to take her as his wife. **[25:40]** And when David's servants came to Carmel, to Abigail, they said to her, David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife. **[25:41]** And she got up, and going down on her face to the earth, said, See, I am ready to be a servant-girl, washing the feet of the servants of my lord. **[25:42]** Then Abigail got up quickly and went on her ass, with five of her young women, after the men whom David had sent; and she became David's wife. **[25:43]** And David had taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, to be his wife; these two were his wives. **[25:44]** Now Saul had given his daughter Michal, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish of Gallim. **[26:1]** And the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, and said, Is not David waiting secretly near us in the hill of Hachilah, before the waste land? **[26:2]** Then Saul went down to the waste land of Ziph, taking with him three thousand of the best men of Israel, to make search for David in the waste land of Ziph. **[26:3]** And Saul put up his tents on the hill of Hachilah, which is in front of the waste land on the road. But David was in the waste land, and he saw that Saul was coming after him. **[26:4]** And so David sent out watchers, and got word from them that Saul was certainly coming. **[26:5]** And David got up and came to the place where Saul's tents were: and David had a view of the place where Saul was sleeping with Abner, the son of Ner, the captain of his army: and Saul was sleeping inside the ring of carts, and the tents of the people were all round him. **[26:6]** Then David said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, brother of Joab, Who will go down with me to the tents of Saul? And Abishai said, I will go down with you. **[26:7]** So David and Abishai came down to the army by night: and Saul was sleeping inside the ring of carts with his spear planted in the earth by his head: and Abner and the people were sleeping round him. **[26:8]** Then Abishai said to David, God has given up your hater into your hands today; now let me give him one blow through to the earth with his spear, and there will be no need to give him a second. **[26:9]** And David said to Abishai Do not put him to death; for who, without sin, may put out his hand against the man on whom the Lord has put the holy oil? **[26:10]** And David said, By the living Lord, the Lord will send destruction on him; the natural day of his death will come, or he will go into the fight and come to his end. **[26:11]** Never will my hand be stretched out against the man marked with the holy oil; but take the spear which is by his head and the vessel of water, and let us go. **[26:12]** So David took the spear and the vessel of water from Saul's head; and they got away without any man seeing them, or being conscious of their coming, or awaking; for they were all sleeping because a deep sleep from the Lord had come on them. **[26:13]** Then David went over to the other side, and took his place on the top of a mountain some distance away, with a great space between them; **[26:14]** And crying out to the people and to Abner, the son of Ner, David said, Have you no answer to give, Abner? Then Abner said, Who is that crying out to the king? **[26:15]** And David said to Abner, Are you not a man of war? is there any other like you in Israel? why then have you not kept watch over your lord the king? for one of the people came in to put the king your lord to death. **[26:16]** What you have done is not good. By the living Lord, death is the right fate for you, because you have not kept watch over your lord, the man on whom the Lord has put the holy oil. Now see, where is the king's spear, and the vessel of water which was by his head? **[26:17]** And Saul, conscious that the voice was David's, said, Is that your voice, David, my son? And David said, It is my voice, O my lord king. **[26:18]** And he said, Why does my lord go armed against his servant? what have I done? or what evil is there in me? **[26:19]** Let my lord the king give ear now to the words of his servant. If it is the Lord who is moving you against me, let him take an offering: but if it is the children of men, may they be cursed before the Lord, for driving me out today and keeping me from my place in the heritage of the Lord, saying, Go, be the servant of other gods. **[26:20]** Then do not let my blood be drained out on the earth away from the face of the Lord: for the king of Israel has come out to take my life, like one going after birds in the mountains. **[26:21]** Then Saul said, I have done wrong: come back to me, David my son: I will do you no more wrong, because my life was dear to you today truly, I have been foolish and my error is very great. **[26:22]** Then David said, Here is the king's spear! let one of the young men come over and get it. **[26:23]** And the Lord will give to every man the reward of his righteousness and his faith: because the Lord gave you into my hands today, and I would not put out my hand against the man who has been marked with the holy oil. **[26:24]** And so, as your life was dear to me today, may my life be dear to the Lord, and may he make me free from all my troubles. **[26:25]** Then Saul said to David, May a blessing be on you, David, my son; you will do great things and without doubt you will overcome. Then David went on his way, and Saul went back to his place. **[27:1]** And David said to himself, Some day death will come to me by the hand of Saul: the only thing for me to do is to get away into the land of the Philistines; then Saul will give up hope of taking me in any part of the land of Israel: and so I may be able to get away from him. **[27:2]** So David and the six hundred men who were with him went over to Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath. **[27:3]** And David and his men were living with Achish at Gath; every man had his family with him, and David had his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail of Carmel, who had been the wife of Nabal. **[27:4]** And Saul, hearing that David had gone to Gath, went after him no longer. **[27:5]** Then David said to Achish, If now I have grace in your eyes, let me have a place in one of the smaller towns of your land, to be my living-place; for it is not right for your servant to be living with you in the king's town. **[27:6]** So Achish straight away gave him Ziklag: and for that reason Ziklag has been the property of the kings of Judah to this day. **[27:7]** And David was living in the land of the Philistines for the space of a year and four months. **[27:8]** And David and his men went up and made attacks on the Geshurites and the Girzites and the Amalekites; for these were the people who were living in the land from Telam on the way to Shur, as far as Egypt. **[27:9]** And David again and again made attacks on the land till not a man or a woman was still living; and he took away the sheep and the oxen and the asses and the camels and the clothing; and he came back to Achish. **[27:10]** And every time Achish said, Where have you been fighting today? David said, Against the South of Judah and the South of the Jerahmeelites and the South of the Kenites. **[27:11]** Not one living man or woman did David ever take back with him to Gath, fearing that they might give an account of what had taken place, and say, This is what David did, and so has he been doing all the time while he has been living in the land of the Philistines. **[27:12]** And Achish had belief in what David said, saying, He has made himself hated by all his people Israel, and so he will be my servant for ever. **[28:1]** Now in those days the Philistines got their forces together to make war on Israel. And Achish said to David, Certainly you and your men are to go out with me to the fight. **[28:2]** And David said to Achish, You will see now what your servant will do. And Achish said to David, Then I will make you keeper of my head for ever. **[28:3]** Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel, after weeping for him, had put his body in its last resting-place in Ramah, his town. And Saul had put away from the land all those who had control of spirits and who made use of secret arts. **[28:4]** And the Philistines came together and put their forces in position in Shunem; and Saul got all Israel together and they took up their positions in Gilboa. **[28:5]** And when Saul saw the Philistine army he was troubled, and his heart was moved with fear. **[28:6]** And when Saul went for directions to the Lord, the Lord gave him no answer, by a dream or by the Urim or by the prophets. **[28:7]** Then Saul said to his servants, Get me a woman who has control of a spirit so that I may go to her and get directions. And his servants said to him, There is such a woman at En-dor. **[28:8]** So Saul, putting on other clothing, so that he might not be seen to be the king, took two men with him and went to the woman by night; and he said, Now, with the help of the spirit which you have, make the person whose name I will give you come up. **[28:9]** And the woman said to him, But you have knowledge of what Saul has done, how he has put away out of the land those who have control of spirits and the users of secret arts: why would you, by a trick, put me in danger of death? **[28:10]** And Saul made an oath to her by the Lord, saying, By the living Lord, no punishment will come to you for this. **[28:11]** Then the woman said, Who am I to let you see? And he said, Make Samuel come up for me. **[28:12]** And the woman saw that it was Saul, and she gave a loud cry, and said to Saul, Why have you made use of deceit? for you are Saul. **[28:13]** And the king said to her, Have no fear: what do you see? And the woman said to Saul, I see a god coming up out of the earth. **[28:14]** And he said to her, What is his form? And she said, It is an old man coming up covered with a robe. And Saul saw that it was Samuel, and with his face bent down to the earth he gave him honour. **[28:15]** And Samuel said to Saul, Why have you made me come up, troubling my rest? And Saul in answer said, I am in great danger; for the Philistines are making war on me, and God has gone away from me and will no longer give me any answer, by the prophets or by dreams: so I have sent for you to make clear to me what I am to do. **[28:16]** And Samuel said, Why do you put your questions to me, seeing that God has gone away from you and is on the side of him who is against you? **[28:17]** And the Lord himself has done what I said: the Lord has taken the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbour David; **[28:18]** Because you did not do what the Lord said, and did not give effect to his burning wrath against Amalek. So the Lord has done this thing to you today. **[28:19]** And more than this, the Lord will give Israel up with you into the hands of the Philistines: and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me: and the Lord will give up the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines. **[28:20]** Then Saul went down flat on the earth, and was full of fear because of Samuel's words: and there was no strength in him, for he had taken no food all that day or all that night. **[28:21]** And the woman came to Saul and saw that he was in great trouble, and said to him, See now, your servant has given ear to your words, and I have put my life in danger by doing what you said. **[28:22]** So now, give ear to the voice of your servant, and let me give you a little bread; and take some food to give you strength when you go on your way. **[28:23]** But he would not, saying, I have no desire for food. But his servants, together with the woman, made him take food, and he gave way to them. So he got up from the earth, and took his seat on the bed. **[28:24]** And the woman had in the house a young cow, made fat for food; and she put it to death straight away; and she took meal and got it mixed and made unleavened bread; **[28:25]** And she put it before Saul and his servants, and they had a meal. Then they got up and went away the same night. **[29:1]** Now the Philistines got all their army together at Aphek: and the Israelites put their forces in position by the fountain in Jezreel. **[29:2]** And the lords of the Philistines went on with their hundreds and their thousands, and David and his men came after with Achish. **[29:3]** Then the rulers of the Philistines said, What are these Hebrews doing here? And Achish said to the rulers of the Philistines, Is this not David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me for a year or two, and I have never seen any wrong in him from the time when he came to me till now? **[29:4]** But the rulers of the Philistines were angry with him, and said to him, Make the man go back to the place you have given him; do not let him go down with us to the fight, or he may be turned against us and be false to us: for how will this man make peace with his lord? will it not be with the heads of these men? **[29:5]** Is this not David, who was named in their songs, when in the dance they said to one another, Saul has put to death thousands, and David tens of thousands? **[29:6]** Then Achish sent for David and said to him, By the living Lord, you are upright, and everything you have done with me in the army has been pleasing to me: I have seen no evil in you from the day when you came to me till now: but still, the lords are not pleased with you. **[29:7]** So now go back, and go in peace, so that you do not make the lords of the Philistines angry. **[29:8]** And David said to Achish, But what have I done? what have you seen in your servant while I have been with you till this day, that I may not go and take up arms against those who are now making war on my lord the king? **[29:9]** And Achish in answer said, It is true that in my eyes you are good, like an angel of God: but still, the rulers of the Philistines have said, He is not to go up with us to the fight. **[29:10]** So get up early in the morning, with the servants of your lord who are with you, and go to the place I have given you, and have no evil design in your heart, for you are good in my eyes; but when there is light enough in the morning, go away. **[29:11]** So David and his men got up early in the morning to go back to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel. **[30:1]** Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made an attack on the South and on Ziklag, and had overcome Ziklag and put it on fire; **[30:2]** And had made the women and all who were there, small and great, prisoners: they had not put any of them to death, but had taken them all away. **[30:3]** And when David and his men came to the town, they saw that it had been burned down, and their wives and their sons and daughters had been made prisoners. **[30:4]** Then David and the people who were with him gave themselves up to weeping till they were able to go on weeping no longer. **[30:5]** And David's two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel, had been made prisoners. **[30:6]** And David was greatly troubled; for the people were talking of stoning him, because their hearts were bitter, every man sorrowing for his sons and his daughters: but David made himself strong in the Lord his God. **[30:7]** And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, Come here to me with the ephod. And Abiathar took the ephod to David. **[30:8]** Then David, questioning the Lord, said, Am I to go after this band? will I be able to overtake them? And in answer he said, Go after them, for you will certainly overtake them, and get back everything. **[30:9]** So David went, and his six hundred men went with him, and they came to the stream Besor. **[30:10]** And David, with four hundred men, went on: but two hundred of them were overcome with weariness, and not able to go across the stream. **[30:11]** And in the fields they saw an Egyptian whom they took to David, and they gave him bread, and he had a meal, and they gave him water for drink; **[30:12]** And they gave him part of a cake of figs and some dry grapes; and after the food, his spirit came back to him, for he had had no food or drink for three days and nights. **[30:13]** And David said to him, Whose man are you and where do you come from? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master went on without me because three days back I became ill. **[30:14]** We made an attack on the south part of the country of the Cherethites, and on the land which is Judah's, and on the south of Caleb; and we put Ziklag on fire. **[30:15]** And David said to him, Will you take me down to this band? And he said, If you give me your oath that you will not put me to death or give me up to my master, I will take you to them. **[30:16]** And when he had taken him down, they saw them all, seated about on all sides, feasting and drinking among all the mass of goods which they had taken from the land of the Philistines and the land of Judah. **[30:17]** And David went on fighting them from evening till the evening of the day after; and not one of them got away but only four hundred young men who went in flight on camels. **[30:18]** And David got back everything the Amalekites had taken; and he got back his two wives. **[30:19]** There was no loss of anything, small or great, sons or daughters or goods or anything which they had taken away: David got it all back. **[30:20]** And they took all the flocks and herds, and driving them in front of him, said, These are David's. **[30:21]** And David came to the two hundred men, who because of weariness had not gone with him, but were waiting at the stream Besor: and they went out, meeting David and the people who were with him; and when they came near them, they said, How are you? **[30:22]** Then the bad and good-for-nothing men among those who went with David said, Because they did not go with us, we will give them nothing of the goods which we have got back, but only to every man his wife and children, so that he may take them and go. **[30:23]** Then David said, You are not to do this, my brothers, after what the Lord has given us, who has kept us safe and given up the band which came against us into our hands. **[30:24]** Who is going to give any attention to you in this question? for an equal part will be given to him who went to the fight and to him who was waiting by the goods: they are all to have the same. **[30:25]** And so he made it a rule and an order for Israel from that day till now. **[30:26]** And when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the goods to the responsible men of Judah, and to his friends, saying, Here is an offering for you from the goods of those who were fighting against the Lord; **[30:27]** He sent to those who were in Beth-el, and in Ramah of the South, and in Jattir; **[30:28]** And to those in Arara and Eshtemoa **[30:29]** and Carmel and in the towns of the Jerahmeelites, and in the towns of the Kenites; **[30:30]** And to those who were in Hormah and in Bor-ashan and in Athach; **[30:31]** And in Hebron, and to all the places where David and his men had been living. **[31:1]** Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel: and the men of Israel went in flight before the Philistines, falling down wounded in Mount Gilboa. **[31:2]** And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and they put to death Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. **[31:3]** And the fight was going badly for Saul, and the archers came across him, and he was wounded by the archers. **[31:4]** Then Saul said to the servant who had the care of his arms, Take out your sword and put it through me, before these men without circumcision come and make sport of me. But his servant, full of fear, would not do so. Then Saul took out his sword, and falling on it, put an end to himself. **[31:5]** And when his servant saw that Saul was dead, he did the same, and was united with him in death. **[31:6]** So death overtook Saul and his three sons and his servant on the same day. **[31:7]** And when the men of Israel across the valley and on the other side of Jordan saw that the army of Israel was in flight and that Saul and his sons were dead, they came out of their towns and went in flight; and the Philistines came and took them for themselves. **[31:8]** Now on the day after, when the Philistines came to take their goods from the dead, they saw Saul and his three sons dead on the earth in Mount Gilboa. **[31:9]** And cutting off his head and taking away his war-dress, they sent word into the land of the Philistines round about, to take the news to their gods and to the people. **[31:10]** His war-dress they put in the house of Astarte; and his body was fixed on the wall of Beth-shan. **[31:11]** And when the people of Jabesh-gilead had news of what the Philistines had done to Saul, **[31:12]** All the fighting men got up and, travelling all night, took Saul's body and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan; and they came to Jabesh and had them burned there. **[31:13]** And their bones they put in the earth under a tree in Jabesh; and for seven days they took no food.

9 1 Samuel - King James Version (KJV).md

# 1 Samuel - King James Version (KJV) **[1:1]** Now there was a certain man of Ramathaimzophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite: **[1:2]** And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. **[1:3]** And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there. **[1:4]** And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions: **[1:5]** But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the LORD had shut up her womb. **[1:6]** And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb. **[1:7]** And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat. **[1:8]** Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons? **[1:9]** So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the LORD. **[1:10]** And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore. **[1:11]** And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. **[1:12]** And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli marked her mouth. **[1:13]** Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. **[1:14]** And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee. **[1:15]** And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD. **[1:16]** Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto. **[1:17]** Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him. **[1:18]** And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. **[1:19]** And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the LORD, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD remembered her. **[1:20]** Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the LORD. **[1:21]** And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer unto the LORD the yearly sacrifice, and his vow. **[1:22]** But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD, and there abide for ever. **[1:23]** And Elkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seemeth thee good; tarry until thou have weaned him; only the LORD establish his word. So the woman abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned him. **[1:24]** And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the LORD in Shiloh: and the child was young. **[1:25]** And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli. **[1:26]** And she said, Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the LORD. **[1:27]** For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him: **[1:28]** Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshipped the LORD there. **[2:1]** And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation. **[2:2]** There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God. **[2:3]** Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. **[2:4]** The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength. **[2:5]** They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble. **[2:6]** The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. **[2:7]** The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. **[2:8]** He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, and he hath set the world upon them. **[2:9]** He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail. **[2:10]** The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed. **[2:11]** And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child did minister unto the LORD before Eli the priest. **[2:12]** Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD. **[2:13]** And the priest's custom with the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand; **[2:14]** And he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither. **[2:15]** Also before they burnt the fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw. **[2:16]** And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; then he would answer him, Nay; but thou shalt give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force. **[2:17]** Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD: for men abhorred the offering of the LORD. **[2:18]** But Samuel ministered before the LORD, being a child, girded with a linen ephod. **[2:19]** Moreover his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. **[2:20]** And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, The LORD give thee seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to the LORD. And they went unto their own home. **[2:21]** And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the LORD. **[2:22]** Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. **[2:23]** And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. **[2:24]** Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the LORD's people to transgress. **[2:25]** If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the LORD, who shall entreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the LORD would slay them. **[2:26]** And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favor both with the LORD, and also with men. **[2:27]** And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Did I plainly appear unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house? **[2:28]** And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel? **[2:29]** Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honorest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people? **[2:30]** Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. **[2:31]** Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house. **[2:32]** And thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel: and there shall not be an old man in thine house for ever. **[2:33]** And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart: and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age. **[2:34]** And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die both of them. **[2:35]** And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever. **[2:36]** And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in thine house shall come and crouch to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests' offices, that I may eat a piece of bread. **[3:1]** And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision. **[3:2]** And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; **[3:3]** And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; **[3:4]** That the LORD called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I. **[3:5]** And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down. **[3:6]** And the LORD called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again. **[3:7]** Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him. **[3:8]** And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child. **[3:9]** Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. **[3:10]** And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth. **[3:11]** And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. **[3:12]** In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end. **[3:13]** For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. **[3:14]** And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever. **[3:15]** And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel feared to show Eli the vision. **[3:16]** Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I. **[3:17]** And he said, What is the thing that the LORD hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me of all the things that he said unto thee. **[3:18]** And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good. **[3:19]** And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. **[3:20]** And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD. **[3:21]** And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD. **[4:1]** And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Ebenezer: and the Philistines pitched in Aphek. **[4:2]** And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men. **[4:3]** And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the LORD smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies. **[4:4]** So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubim: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. **[4:5]** And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again. **[4:6]** And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the LORD was come into the camp. **[4:7]** And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore. **[4:8]** Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. **[4:9]** Be strong and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight. **[4:10]** And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. **[4:11]** And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain. **[4:12]** And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head. **[4:13]** And when he came, lo, Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching: for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out. **[4:14]** And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What meaneth the noise of this tumult? And the man came in hastily, and told Eli. **[4:15]** Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see. **[4:16]** And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to day out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son? **[4:17]** And the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken. **[4:18]** And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years. **[4:19]** And his daughter in law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, near to be delivered: and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father in law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed; for her pains came upon her. **[4:20]** And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast born a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it. **[4:21]** And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband. **[4:22]** And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken. **[5:1]** And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod. **[5:2]** When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. **[5:3]** And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again. **[5:4]** And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him. **[5:5]** Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day. **[5:6]** But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof. **[5:7]** And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god. **[5:8]** They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither. **[5:9]** And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts. **[5:10]** Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people. **[5:11]** So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. **[5:12]** And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven. **[6:1]** And the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months. **[6:2]** And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of the LORD? tell us wherewith we shall send it to his place. **[6:3]** And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but in any wise return him a trespass offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you. **[6:4]** Then said they, What shall be the trespass offering which we shall return to him? They answered, Five golden emerods, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, and on your lords. **[6:5]** Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land. **[6:6]** Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? when he had wrought wonderfully among them, did they not let the people go, and they departed? **[6:7]** Now therefore make a new cart, and take two milch kine, on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them: **[6:8]** And take the ark of the LORD, and lay it upon the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which ye return him for a trespass offering, in a coffer by the side thereof; and send it away, that it may go. **[6:9]** And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to Bethshemesh, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us: it was a chance that happened to us. **[6:10]** And the men did so; and took two milch kine, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home: **[6:11]** And they laid the ark of the LORD upon the cart, and the coffer with the mice of gold and the images of their emerods. **[6:12]** And the kine took the straight way to the way of Bethshemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border of Bethshemesh. **[6:13]** And they of Bethshemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley: and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it. **[6:14]** And the cart came into the field of Joshua, a Bethshemite, and stood there, where there was a great stone: and they clave the wood of the cart, and offered the kine a burnt offering unto the LORD. **[6:15]** And the Levites took down the ark of the LORD, and the coffer that was with it, wherein the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Bethshemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day unto the LORD. **[6:16]** And when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day. **[6:17]** And these are the golden emerods which the Philistines returned for a trespass offering unto the LORD; for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Askelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one; **[6:18]** And the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fenced cities, and of country villages, even unto the great stone of Abel, whereon they set down the ark of the LORD: which stone remaineth unto this day in the field of Joshua, the Bethshemite. **[6:19]** And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter. **[6:20]** And the men of Bethshemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? and to whom shall he go up from us? **[6:21]** And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjathjearim, saying, The Philistines have brought again the ark of the LORD; come ye down, and fetch it up to you. **[7:1]** And the men of Kirjathjearim came, and fetched up the ark of the LORD, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD. **[7:2]** And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjathjearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD. **[7:3]** And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. **[7:4]** Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the LORD only. **[7:5]** And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the LORD. **[7:6]** And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before the LORD, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the LORD. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh. **[7:7]** And when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to Mizpeh, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines. **[7:8]** And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the LORD our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines. **[7:9]** And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the LORD: and Samuel cried unto the LORD for Israel; and the LORD heard him. **[7:10]** And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel. **[7:11]** And the men of Israel went out of Mizpeh, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them, until they came under Bethcar. **[7:12]** Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us. **[7:13]** So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more into the coast of Israel: and the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. **[7:14]** And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even unto Gath; and the coasts thereof did Israel deliver out of the hands of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites. **[7:15]** And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. **[7:16]** And he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places. **[7:17]** And his return was to Ramah; for there was his house; and there he judged Israel; and there he built an altar unto the LORD. **[8:1]** And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. **[8:2]** Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beersheba. **[8:3]** And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment. **[8:4]** Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, **[8:5]** And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. **[8:6]** But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. **[8:7]** And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. **[8:8]** According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. **[8:9]** Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. **[8:10]** And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king. **[8:11]** And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. **[8:12]** And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. **[8:13]** And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. **[8:14]** And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. **[8:15]** And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. **[8:16]** And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. **[8:17]** He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. **[8:18]** And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day. **[8:19]** Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; **[8:20]** That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. **[8:21]** And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD. **[8:22]** And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city. **[9:1]** Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power. **[9:2]** And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people. **[9:3]** And the asses of Kish Saul's father were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with thee, and arise, go seek the asses. **[9:4]** And he passed through mount Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalisha, but they found them not: then they passed through the land of Shalim, and there they were not: and he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they found them not. **[9:5]** And when they were come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant that was with him, Come, and let us return; lest my father leave caring for the asses, and take thought for us. **[9:6]** And he said unto him, Behold now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is an honorable man; all that he saith cometh surely to pass: now let us go thither; peradventure he can show us our way that we should go. **[9:7]** Then said Saul to his servant, But, behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? for the bread is spent in our vessels, and there is not a present to bring to the man of God: what have we? **[9:8]** And the servant answered Saul again, and said, Behold, I have here at hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver: that will I give to the man of God, to tell us our way. **[9:9]** (Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, thus he spake, Come, and let us go to the seer: for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer.) **[9:10]** Then said Saul to his servant, Well said; come, let us go. So they went unto the city where the man of God was. **[9:11]** And as they went up the hill to the city, they found young maidens going out to draw water, and said unto them, Is the seer here? **[9:12]** And they answered them, and said, He is; behold, he is before you: make haste now, for he came to day to the city; for there is a sacrifice of the people to day in the high place: **[9:13]** As soon as ye be come into the city, ye shall straightway find him, before he go up to the high place to eat: for the people will not eat until he come, because he doth bless the sacrifice; and afterwards they eat that be bidden. Now therefore get you up; for about this time ye shall find him. **[9:14]** And they went up into the city: and when they were come into the city, behold, Samuel came out against them, for to go up to the high place. **[9:15]** Now the LORD had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came, saying, **[9:16]** To morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel, that he may save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked upon my people, because their cry is come unto me. **[9:17]** And when Samuel saw Saul, the LORD said unto him, Behold the man whom I spake to thee of! this same shall reign over my people. **[9:18]** Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, where the seer's house is. **[9:19]** And Samuel answered Saul, and said, I am the seer: go up before me unto the high place; for ye shall eat with me to day, and to morrow I will let thee go, and will tell thee all that is in thine heart. **[9:20]** And as for thine asses that were lost three days ago, set not thy mind on them; for they are found. And on whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not on thee, and on all thy father's house? **[9:21]** And Saul answered and said, Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? wherefore then speakest thou so to me? **[9:22]** And Samuel took Saul and his servant, and brought them into the parlor, and made them sit in the chiefest place among them that were bidden, which were about thirty persons. **[9:23]** And Samuel said unto the cook, Bring the portion which I gave thee, of which I said unto thee, Set it by thee. **[9:24]** And the cook took up the shoulder, and that which was upon it, and set it before Saul. And Samuel said, Behold that which is left! set it before thee, and eat: for unto this time hath it been kept for thee since I said, I have invited the people. So Saul did eat with Samuel that day. **[9:25]** And when they were come down from the high place into the city, Samuel communed with Saul upon the top of the house. **[9:26]** And they arose early: and it came to pass about the spring of the day, that Samuel called Saul to the top of the house, saying, Up, that I may send thee away. And Saul arose, and they went out both of them, he and Samuel, abroad. **[9:27]** And as they were going down to the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid the servant pass on before us, (and he passed on), but stand thou still a while, that I may show thee the word of God. **[10:1]** Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance? **[10:2]** When thou art departed from me to day, then thou shalt find two men by Rachel's sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say unto thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found: and, lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses, and sorroweth for you, saying, What shall I do for my son? **[10:3]** Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine: **[10:4]** And they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread; which thou shalt receive of their hands. **[10:5]** After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy: **[10:6]** And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man. **[10:7]** And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee; for God is with thee. **[10:8]** And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal; and, behold, I will come down unto thee, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings: seven days shalt thou tarry, till I come to thee, and show thee what thou shalt do. **[10:9]** And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day. **[10:10]** And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. **[10:11]** And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime saw that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets? **[10:12]** And one of the same place answered and said, But who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets? **[10:13]** And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place. **[10:14]** And Saul's uncle said unto him and to his servant, Whither went ye? And he said, To seek the asses: and when we saw that they were no where, we came to Samuel. **[10:15]** And Saul's uncle said, Tell me, I pray thee, what Samuel said unto you. **[10:16]** And Saul said unto his uncle, He told us plainly that the asses were found. But of the matter of the kingdom, whereof Samuel spake, he told him not. **[10:17]** And Samuel called the people together unto the LORD to Mizpeh; **[10:18]** And said unto the children of Israel, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all kingdoms, and of them that oppressed you: **[10:19]** And ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations; and ye have said unto him, Nay, but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes, and by your thousands. **[10:20]** And when Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, the tribe of Benjamin was taken. **[10:21]** When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matri was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken: and when they sought him, he could not be found. **[10:22]** Therefore they inquired of the LORD further, if the man should yet come thither. And the LORD answered, Behold he hath hid himself among the stuff. **[10:23]** And they ran and fetched him thence: and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward. **[10:24]** And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the LORD hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king. **[10:25]** Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the LORD. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house. **[10:26]** And Saul also went home to Gibeah; and there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God had touched. **[10:27]** But the children of Belial said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought no presents. But he held his peace. **[11:1]** Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabeshgilead: and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee. **[11:2]** And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel. **[11:3]** And the elders of Jabesh said unto him, Give us seven days' respite, that we may send messengers unto all the coasts of Israel: and then, if there be no man to save us, we will come out to thee. **[11:4]** Then came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul, and told the tidings in the ears of the people: and all the people lifted up their voices, and wept. **[11:5]** And, behold, Saul came after the herd out of the field; and Saul said, What aileth the people that they weep? And they told him the tidings of the men of Jabesh. **[11:6]** And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly. **[11:7]** And he took a yoke of oxen, and hewed them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen. And the fear of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out with one consent. **[11:8]** And when he numbered them in Bezek, the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. **[11:9]** And they said unto the messengers that came, Thus shall ye say unto the men of Jabeshgilead, To morrow, by that time the sun be hot, ye shall have help. And the messengers came and showed it to the men of Jabesh; and they were glad. **[11:10]** Therefore the men of Jabesh said, To morrow we will come out unto you, and ye shall do with us all that seemeth good unto you. **[11:11]** And it was so on the morrow, that Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the host in the morning watch, and slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it came to pass, that they which remained were scattered, so that two of them were not left together. **[11:12]** And the people said unto Samuel, Who is he that said, Shall Saul reign over us? bring the men, that we may put them to death. **[11:13]** And Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death this day: for to day the LORD hath wrought salvation in Israel. **[11:14]** Then said Samuel to the people, Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there. **[11:15]** And all the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before the LORD in Gilgal; and there they sacrificed sacrifices of peace offerings before the LORD; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly. **[12:1]** And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you. **[12:2]** And now, behold, the king walketh before you: and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day. **[12:3]** Behold, here I am: witness against me before the LORD, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you. **[12:4]** And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man's hand. **[12:5]** And he said unto them, The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found ought in my hand. And they answered, He is witness. **[12:6]** And Samuel said unto the people, It is the LORD that advanced Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. **[12:7]** Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the LORD of all the righteous acts of the LORD, which he did to you and to your fathers. **[12:8]** When Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers cried unto the LORD, then the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, which brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place. **[12:9]** And when they forgat the LORD their God, he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. **[12:10]** And they cried unto the LORD, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD, and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee. **[12:11]** And the LORD sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelled safe. **[12:12]** And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the LORD your God was your king. **[12:13]** Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired! and, behold, the LORD hath set a king over you. **[12:14]** If ye will fear the LORD, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following the LORD your God: **[12:15]** But if ye will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall the hand of the LORD be against you, as it was against your fathers. **[12:16]** Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the LORD will do before your eyes. **[12:17]** Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking you a king. **[12:18]** So Samuel called unto the LORD; and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel. **[12:19]** And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the LORD thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king. **[12:20]** And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart; **[12:21]** And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain. **[12:22]** For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name's sake: because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people. **[12:23]** Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way: **[12:24]** Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you. **[12:25]** But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king. **[13:1]** Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, **[13:2]** Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in mount Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent. **[13:3]** And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear. **[13:4]** And all Israel heard say that Saul had smitten a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel also was had in abomination with the Philistines. And the people were called together after Saul to Gilgal. **[13:5]** And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Bethaven. **[13:6]** When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people were distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits. **[13:7]** And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. **[13:8]** And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. **[13:9]** And Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering. **[13:10]** And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him. **[13:11]** And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash; **[13:12]** Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the LORD: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering. **[13:13]** And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. **[13:14]** But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee. **[13:15]** And Samuel arose, and gat him up from Gilgal unto Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people that were present with him, about six hundred men. **[13:16]** And Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people that were present with them, abode in Gibeah of Benjamin: but the Philistines encamped in Michmash. **[13:17]** And the spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies: one company turned unto the way that leadeth to Ophrah, unto the land of Shual: **[13:18]** And another company turned the way to Bethhoron: and another company turned to the way of the border that looketh to the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness. **[13:19]** Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears: **[13:20]** But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock. **[13:21]** Yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to sharpen the goads. **[13:22]** So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan: but with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found. **[13:23]** And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the passage of Michmash. **[14:1]** Now it came to pass upon a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bare his armor, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines' garrison, that is on the other side. But he told not his father. **[14:2]** And Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron: and the people that were with him were about six hundred men; **[14:3]** And Ahiah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the LORD's priest in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And the people knew not that Jonathan was gone. **[14:4]** And between the passages, by which Jonathan sought to go over unto the Philistines' garrison, there was a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other side: and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. **[14:5]** The forefront of the one was situate northward over against Michmash, and the other southward over against Gibeah. **[14:6]** And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armor, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few. **[14:7]** And his armourbearer said unto him, Do all that is in thine heart: turn thee; behold, I am with thee according to thy heart. **[14:8]** Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass over unto these men, and we will discover ourselves unto them. **[14:9]** If they say thus unto us, Tarry until we come to you; then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up unto them. **[14:10]** But if they say thus, Come up unto us; then we will go up: for the LORD hath delivered them into our hand: and this shall be a sign unto us. **[14:11]** And both of them discovered themselves unto the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves. **[14:12]** And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armourbearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will show you a thing. And Jonathan said unto his armourbearer, Come up after me: for the LORD hath delivered them into the hand of Israel. **[14:13]** And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet, and his armourbearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armourbearer slew after him. **[14:14]** And that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armourbearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were an half acre of land, which a yoke of oxen might plow. **[14:15]** And there was trembling in the host, in the field, and among all the people: the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled, and the earth quaked: so it was a very great trembling. **[14:16]** And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and, behold, the multitude melted away, and they went on beating down one another. **[14:17]** Then said Saul unto the people that were with him, Number now, and see who is gone from us. And when they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armourbearer were not there. **[14:18]** And Saul said unto Ahiah, Bring hither the ark of God. For the ark of God was at that time with the children of Israel. **[14:19]** And it came to pass, while Saul talked unto the priest, that the noise that was in the host of the Philistines went on and increased: and Saul said unto the priest, Withdraw thine hand. **[14:20]** And Saul and all the people that were with him assembled themselves, and they came to the battle: and, behold, every man's sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture. **[14:21]** Moreover the Hebrews that were with the Philistines before that time, which went up with them into the camp from the country round about, even they also turned to be with the Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan. **[14:22]** Likewise all the men of Israel which had hid themselves in mount Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed hard after them in the battle. **[14:23]** So the LORD saved Israel that day: and the battle passed over unto Bethaven. **[14:24]** And the men of Israel were distressed that day: for Saul had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening, that I may be avenged on mine enemies. So none of the people tasted any food. **[14:25]** And all they of the land came to a wood; and there was honey upon the ground. **[14:26]** And when the people were come into the wood, behold, the honey dropped; but no man put his hand to his mouth: for the people feared the oath. **[14:27]** But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people with the oath: wherefore he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand, and dipped it in an honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were enlightened. **[14:28]** Then answered one of the people, and said, Thy father straitly charged the people with an oath, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food this day. And the people were faint. **[14:29]** Then said Jonathan, My father hath troubled the land: see, I pray you, how mine eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey. **[14:30]** How much more, if haply the people had eaten freely to day of the spoil of their enemies which they found? for had there not been now a much greater slaughter among the Philistines? **[14:31]** And they smote the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon: and the people were very faint. **[14:32]** And the people flew upon the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground: and the people did eat them with the blood. **[14:33]** Then they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against the LORD, in that they eat with the blood. And he said, Ye have transgressed: roll a great stone unto me this day. **[14:34]** And Saul said, Disperse yourselves among the people, and say unto them, Bring me hither every man his ox, and every man his sheep, and slay them here, and eat; and sin not against the LORD in eating with the blood. And all the people brought every man his ox with him that night, and slew them there. **[14:35]** And Saul built an altar unto the LORD: the same was the first altar that he built unto the LORD. **[14:36]** And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and spoil them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And they said, Do whatsoever seemeth good unto thee. Then said the priest, Let us draw near hither unto God. **[14:37]** And Saul asked counsel of God, Shall I go down after the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into the hand of Israel? But he answered him not that day. **[14:38]** And Saul said, Draw ye near hither, all the chief of the people: and know and see wherein this sin hath been this day. **[14:39]** For, as the LORD liveth, which saveth Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. But there was not a man among all the people that answered him. **[14:40]** Then said he unto all Israel, Be ye on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side. And the people said unto Saul, Do what seemeth good unto thee. **[14:41]** Therefore Saul said unto the LORD God of Israel, Give a perfect lot. And Saul and Jonathan were taken: but the people escaped. **[14:42]** And Saul said, Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son. And Jonathan was taken. **[14:43]** Then Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me what thou hast done. And Jonathan told him, and said, I did but taste a little honey with the end of the rod that was in mine hand, and, lo, I must die. **[14:44]** And Saul answered, God do so and more also: for thou shalt surely die, Jonathan. **[14:45]** And the people said unto Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? God forbid: as the LORD liveth, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he hath wrought with God this day. So the people rescued Jonathan, that he died not. **[14:46]** Then Saul went up from following the Philistines: and the Philistines went to their own place. **[14:47]** So Saul took the kingdom over Israel, and fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and against Edom, and against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines: and whithersoever he turned himself, he vexed them. **[14:48]** And he gathered an host, and smote the Amalekites, and delivered Israel out of the hands of them that spoiled them. **[14:49]** Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, and Ishui, and Melchishua: and the names of his two daughters were these; the name of the firstborn Merab, and the name of the younger Michal: **[14:50]** And the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz: and the name of the captain of his host was Abner, the son of Ner, Saul's uncle. **[14:51]** And Kish was the father of Saul; and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel. **[14:52]** And there was sore war against the Philistines all the days of Saul: and when Saul saw any strong man, or any valiant man, he took him unto him. **[15:1]** Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD. **[15:2]** Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. **[15:3]** Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. **[15:4]** And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah. **[15:5]** And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley. **[15:6]** And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye showed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. **[15:7]** And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt. **[15:8]** And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. **[15:9]** But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly. **[15:10]** Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying, **[15:11]** It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night. **[15:12]** And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal. **[15:13]** And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD. **[15:14]** And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? **[15:15]** And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed. **[15:16]** Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on. **[15:17]** And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel? **[15:18]** And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. **[15:19]** Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD? **[15:20]** And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. **[15:21]** But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal. **[15:22]** And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. **[15:23]** For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. **[15:24]** And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. **[15:25]** Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD. **[15:26]** And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel. **[15:27]** And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. **[15:28]** And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbor of thine, that is better than thou. **[15:29]** And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent. **[15:30]** Then he said, I have sinned: yet honor me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God. **[15:31]** So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the LORD. **[15:32]** Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past. **[15:33]** And Samuel said, As the sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal. **[15:34]** Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul. **[15:35]** And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel. **[16:1]** And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons. **[16:2]** And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the LORD said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the LORD. **[16:3]** And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee. **[16:4]** And Samuel did that which the LORD spake, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably? **[16:5]** And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto the LORD: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. **[16:6]** And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD's anointed is before him. **[16:7]** But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. **[16:8]** Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this. **[16:9]** Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this. **[16:10]** Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The LORD hath not chosen these. **[16:11]** And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither. **[16:12]** And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. **[16:13]** Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah. **[16:14]** But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him. **[16:15]** And Saul's servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee. **[16:16]** Let our lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well. **[16:17]** And Saul said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me. **[16:18]** Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the LORD is with him. **[16:19]** Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, which is with the sheep. **[16:20]** And Jesse took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul. **[16:21]** And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armourbearer. **[16:22]** And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favor in my sight. **[16:23]** And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him. **[17:1]** Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim. **[17:2]** And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. **[17:3]** And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. **[17:4]** And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. **[17:5]** And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass. **[17:6]** And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders. **[17:7]** And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him. **[17:8]** And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. **[17:9]** If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us. **[17:10]** And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together. **[17:11]** When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid. **[17:12]** Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehemjudah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul. **[17:13]** And the three eldest sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next unto him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. **[17:14]** And David was the youngest: and the three eldest followed Saul. **[17:15]** But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. **[17:16]** And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. **[17:17]** And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp of thy brethren; **[17:18]** And carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge. **[17:19]** Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. **[17:20]** And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle. **[17:21]** For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army. **[17:22]** And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren. **[17:23]** And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them. **[17:24]** And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid. **[17:25]** And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel. **[17:26]** And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? **[17:27]** And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him. **[17:28]** And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. **[17:29]** And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause? **[17:30]** And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner. **[17:31]** And when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul: and he sent for him. **[17:32]** And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. **[17:33]** And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. **[17:34]** And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: **[17:35]** And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. **[17:36]** Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. **[17:37]** David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee. **[17:38]** And Saul armed David with his armor, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail. **[17:39]** And David girded his sword upon his armor, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him. **[17:40]** And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine. **[17:41]** And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him. **[17:42]** And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. **[17:43]** And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. **[17:44]** And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field. **[17:45]** Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. **[17:46]** This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. **[17:47]** And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hands. **[17:48]** And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came, and drew nigh to meet David, that David hastened, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. **[17:49]** And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. **[17:50]** So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. **[17:51]** Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. **[17:52]** And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron. **[17:53]** And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents. **[17:54]** And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armor in his tent. **[17:55]** And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell. **[17:56]** And the king said, Inquire thou whose son the stripling is. **[17:57]** And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. **[17:58]** And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Bethlehemite. **[18:1]** And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. **[18:2]** And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father's house. **[18:3]** Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. **[18:4]** And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle. **[18:5]** And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul's servants. **[18:6]** And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music. **[18:7]** And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. **[18:8]** And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom? **[18:9]** And Saul eyed David from that day and forward. **[18:10]** And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul's hand. **[18:11]** And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice. **[18:12]** And Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and was departed from Saul. **[18:13]** Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. **[18:14]** And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the LORD was with him. **[18:15]** Wherefore when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him. **[18:16]** But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them. **[18:17]** And Saul said to David, Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife: only be thou valiant for me, and fight the LORD's battles. For Saul said, Let not mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him. **[18:18]** And David said unto Saul, Who am I? and what is my life, or my father's family in Israel, that I should be son in law to the king? **[18:19]** But it came to pass at the time when Merab Saul's daughter should have been given to David, that she was given unto Adriel the Meholathite to wife. **[18:20]** And Michal Saul's daughter loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. **[18:21]** And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul said to David, Thou shalt this day be my son in law in the one of the twain. **[18:22]** And Saul commanded his servants, saying, Commune with David secretly, and say, Behold, the king hath delight in thee, and all his servants love thee: now therefore be the king's son in law. **[18:23]** And Saul's servants spake those words in the ears of David. And David said, Seemeth it to you a light thing to be a king's son in law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed? **[18:24]** And the servants of Saul told him, saying, On this manner spake David. **[18:25]** And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. **[18:26]** And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son in law: and the days were not expired. **[18:27]** Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king's son in law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife. **[18:28]** And Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David, and that Michal Saul's daughter loved him. **[18:29]** And Saul was yet the more afraid of David; and Saul became David's enemy continually. **[18:30]** Then the princes of the Philistines went forth: and it came to pass, after they went forth, that David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul; so that his name was much set by. **[19:1]** And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. **[19:2]** But Jonathan Saul's son delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself: **[19:3]** And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art, and I will commune with my father of thee; and what I see, that I will tell thee. **[19:4]** And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been to thee-ward very good: **[19:5]** For he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the LORD wrought a great salvation for all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice: wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause? **[19:6]** And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan: and Saul sware, As the LORD liveth, he shall not be slain. **[19:7]** And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan showed him all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as in times past. **[19:8]** And there was war again: and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled from him. **[19:9]** And the evil spirit from the LORD was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand: and David played with his hand. **[19:10]** And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the javelin: but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, and he smote the javelin into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night. **[19:11]** Saul also sent messengers unto David's house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal David's wife told him, saying, If thou save not thy life to night, to morrow thou shalt be slain. **[19:12]** So Michal let David down through a window: and he went, and fled, and escaped. **[19:13]** And Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats' hair for his bolster, and covered it with a cloth. **[19:14]** And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick. **[19:15]** And Saul sent the messengers again to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him. **[19:16]** And when the messengers were come in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats' hair for his bolster. **[19:17]** And Saul said unto Michal, Why hast thou deceived me so, and sent away mine enemy, that he is escaped? And Michal answered Saul, He said unto me, Let me go; why should I kill thee? **[19:18]** So David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth. **[19:19]** And it was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah. **[19:20]** And Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them, the Spirit of God was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. **[19:21]** And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also. **[19:22]** Then went he also to Ramah, and came to a great well that is in Sechu: and he asked and said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, Behold, they be at Naioth in Ramah. **[19:23]** And he went thither to Naioth in Ramah: and the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. **[19:24]** And he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets? **[20:1]** And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life? **[20:2]** And he said unto him, God forbid; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, but that he will show it me: and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so. **[20:3]** And David sware moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death. **[20:4]** Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee. **[20:5]** And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, to morrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day at even. **[20:6]** If thy father at all miss me, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem his city: for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family. **[20:7]** If he say thus, It is well; thy servant shall have peace: but if he be very wroth, then be sure that evil is determined by him. **[20:8]** Therefore thou shalt deal kindly with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the LORD with thee: notwithstanding, if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father? **[20:9]** And Jonathan said, Far be it from thee: for if I knew certainly that evil were determined by my father to come upon thee, then would not I tell it thee? **[20:10]** Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? or what if thy father answer thee roughly? **[20:11]** And Jonathan said unto David, Come, and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field. **[20:12]** And Jonathan said unto David, O LORD God of Israel, when I have sounded my father about to morrow any time, or the third day, and, behold, if there be good toward David, and I then send not unto thee, and show it thee; **[20:13]** The LORD do so and much more to Jonathan: but if it please my father to do thee evil, then I will show it thee, and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace: and the LORD be with thee, as he hath been with my father. **[20:14]** And thou shalt not only while yet I live show me the kindness of the LORD, that I die not: **[20:15]** But also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever: no, not when the LORD hath cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth. **[20:16]** So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let the LORD even require it at the hand of David's enemies. **[20:17]** And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul. **[20:18]** Then Jonathan said to David, To morrow is the new moon: and thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty. **[20:19]** And when thou hast stayed three days, then thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself when the business was in hand, and shalt remain by the stone Ezel. **[20:20]** And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I shot at a mark. **[20:21]** And, behold, I will send a lad, saying, Go, find out the arrows. If I expressly say unto the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee, take them; then come thou: for there is peace to thee, and no hurt; as the LORD liveth. **[20:22]** But if I say thus unto the young man, Behold, the arrows are beyond thee; go thy way: for the LORD hath sent thee away. **[20:23]** And as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, the LORD be between thee and me for ever. **[20:24]** So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat meat. **[20:25]** And the king sat upon his seat, as at other times, even upon a seat by the wall: and Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul's side, and David's place was empty. **[20:26]** Nevertheless Saul spake not any thing that day: for he thought, Something hath befallen him, he is not clean; surely he is not clean. **[20:27]** And it came to pass on the morrow, which was the second day of the month, that David's place was empty: and Saul said unto Jonathan his son, Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday, nor to day? **[20:28]** And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem: **[20:29]** And he said, Let me go, I pray thee; for our family hath a sacrifice in the city; and my brother, he hath commanded me to be there: and now, if I have found favor in thine eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, and see my brethren. Therefore he cometh not unto the king's table. **[20:30]** Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother's nakedness? **[20:31]** For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die. **[20:32]** And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said unto him, Wherefore shall he be slain? what hath he done? **[20:33]** And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David. **[20:34]** So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did eat no meat the second day of the month: for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame. **[20:35]** And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad with him. **[20:36]** And he said unto his lad, Run, find out now the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. **[20:37]** And when the lad was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow beyond thee? **[20:38]** And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not. And Jonathan's lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master. **[20:39]** But the lad knew not any thing: only Jonathan and David knew the matter. **[20:40]** And Jonathan gave his artillery unto his lad, and said unto him, Go, carry them to the city. **[20:41]** And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place toward the south, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded. **[20:42]** And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, The LORD be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city. **[21:1]** Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee? **[21:2]** And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place. **[21:3]** Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present. **[21:4]** And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women. **[21:5]** And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel. **[21:6]** So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the showbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away. **[21:7]** Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD; and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul. **[21:8]** And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste. **[21:9]** And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me. **[21:10]** And David arose and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. **[21:11]** And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands? **[21:12]** And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath. **[21:13]** And he changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. **[21:14]** Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me? **[21:15]** Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house? **[22:1]** David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father's house heard it, they went down thither to him. **[22:2]** And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men. **[22:3]** And David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab: and he said unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me. **[22:4]** And he brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the hold. **[22:5]** And the prophet Gad said unto David, Abide not in the hold; depart, and get thee into the land of Judah. Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hareth. **[22:6]** When Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him, (now Saul abode in Gibeah under a tree in Ramah, having his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him;) **[22:7]** Then Saul said unto his servants that stood about him, Hear now, ye Benjamites; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds; **[22:8]** That all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that showeth me that my son hath made a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or showeth unto me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day? **[22:9]** Then answered Doeg the Edomite, which was set over the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. **[22:10]** And he inquired of the LORD for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine. **[22:11]** Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests that were in Nob: and they came all of them to the king. **[22:12]** And Saul said, Hear now, thou son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here I am, my lord. **[22:13]** And Saul said unto him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread, and a sword, and hast inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day? **[22:14]** Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, which is the king's son in law, and goeth at thy bidding, and is honorable in thine house? **[22:15]** Did I then begin to inquire of God for him? be it far from me: let not the king impute any thing unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father: for thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or more. **[22:16]** And the king said, Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech, thou, and all thy father's house. **[22:17]** And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests of the LORD: because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not show it to me. But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the LORD. **[22:18]** And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod. **[22:19]** And Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen, and asses, and sheep, with the edge of the sword. **[22:20]** And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David. **[22:21]** And Abiathar showed David that Saul had slain the LORD's priests. **[22:22]** And David said unto Abiathar, I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father's house. **[22:23]** Abide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life: but with me thou shalt be in safeguard. **[23:1]** Then they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah, and they rob the threshingfloors. **[23:2]** Therefore David inquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And the LORD said unto David, Go, and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah. **[23:3]** And David's men said unto him, Behold, we be afraid here in Judah: how much more then if we come to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines? **[23:4]** Then David inquired of the LORD yet again. And the LORD answered him and said, Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into thine hand. **[23:5]** So David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and smote them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. **[23:6]** And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand. **[23:7]** And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. And Saul said, God hath delivered him into mine hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that hath gates and bars. **[23:8]** And Saul called all the people together to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. **[23:9]** And David knew that Saul secretly practiced mischief against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod. **[23:10]** Then said David, O LORD God of Israel, thy servant hath certainly heard that Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake. **[23:11]** Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O LORD God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And the LORD said, He will come down. **[23:12]** Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the LORD said, They will deliver thee up. **[23:13]** Then David and his men, which were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go. And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah; and he forbare to go forth. **[23:14]** And David abode in the wilderness in strong holds, and remained in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand. **[23:15]** And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life: and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a wood. **[23:16]** And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God. **[23:17]** And he said unto him, Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee; and that also Saul my father knoweth. **[23:18]** And they two made a covenant before the LORD: and David abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house. **[23:19]** Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in strong holds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon? **[23:20]** Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of thy soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him into the king's hand. **[23:21]** And Saul said, Blessed be ye of the LORD; for ye have compassion on me. **[23:22]** Go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see his place where his haunt is, and who hath seen him there: for it is told me that he dealeth very subtilly. **[23:23]** See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself, and come ye again to me with the certainty, and I will go with you: and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah. **[23:24]** And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon. **[23:25]** Saul also and his men went to seek him. And they told David; wherefore he came down into a rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. **[23:26]** And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain: and David made haste to get away for fear of Saul; for Saul and his men compassed David and his men round about to take them. **[23:27]** But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste thee, and come; for the Philistines have invaded the land. **[23:28]** Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines: therefore they called that place Selahammahlekoth. **[23:29]** And David went up from thence, and dwelt in strong holds at Engedi. **[24:1]** And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi. **[24:2]** Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats. **[24:3]** And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave. **[24:4]** And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the LORD said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily. **[24:5]** And it came to pass afterward, that David's heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt. **[24:6]** And he said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD's anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD. **[24:7]** So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way. **[24:8]** David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed himself. **[24:9]** And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men's words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt? **[24:10]** Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the LORD's anointed. **[24:11]** Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it. **[24:12]** The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee. **[24:13]** As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked: but mine hand shall not be upon thee. **[24:14]** After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea. **[24:15]** The LORD therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand. **[24:16]** And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept. **[24:17]** And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil. **[24:18]** And thou hast showed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me: forasmuch as when the LORD had delivered me into thine hand, thou killedst me not. **[24:19]** For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore the LORD reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day. **[24:20]** And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand. **[24:21]** Swear now therefore unto me by the LORD, that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father's house. **[24:22]** And David sware unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men gat them up unto the hold. **[25:1]** And Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran. **[25:2]** And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. **[25:3]** Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb. **[25:4]** And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep. **[25:5]** And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name: **[25:6]** And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast. **[25:7]** And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel. **[25:8]** Ask thy young men, and they will show thee. Wherefore let the young men find favor in thine eyes: for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son David. **[25:9]** And when David's young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased. **[25:10]** And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master. **[25:11]** Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be? **[25:12]** So David's young men turned their way, and went again, and came and told him all those sayings. **[25:13]** And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff. **[25:14]** But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed on them. **[25:15]** But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields: **[25:16]** They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. **[25:17]** Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him. **[25:18]** Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses. **[25:19]** And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal. **[25:20]** And it was so, as she rode on the ass, that she came down by the covert on the hill, and, behold, David and his men came down against her; and she met them. **[25:21]** Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good. **[25:22]** So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall. **[25:23]** And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, **[25:24]** And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid. **[25:25]** Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send. **[25:26]** Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. **[25:27]** And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord. **[25:28]** I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days. **[25:29]** Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling. **[25:30]** And it shall come to pass, when the LORD shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel; **[25:31]** That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offense of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid. **[25:32]** And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me: **[25:33]** And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand. **[25:34]** For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall. **[25:35]** So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person. **[25:36]** And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light. **[25:37]** But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. **[25:38]** And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died. **[25:39]** And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the LORD, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the LORD hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife. **[25:40]** And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee, to take thee to him to wife. **[25:41]** And she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord. **[25:42]** And Abigail hasted, and arose and rode upon an ass, with five damsels of hers that went after her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife. **[25:43]** David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they were also both of them his wives. **[25:44]** But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti the son of Laish, which was of Gallim. **[26:1]** And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon? **[26:2]** Then Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. **[26:3]** And Saul pitched in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon, by the way. But David abode in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness. **[26:4]** David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul was come in very deed. **[26:5]** And David arose, and came to the place where Saul had pitched: and David beheld the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the captain of his host: and Saul lay in the trench, and the people pitched round about him. **[26:6]** Then answered David and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joab, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with thee. **[26:7]** So David and Abishai came to the people by night: and, behold, Saul lay sleeping within the trench, and his spear stuck in the ground at his bolster: but Abner and the people lay round about him. **[26:8]** Then said Abishai to David, God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand this day: now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear even to the earth at once, and I will not smite him the second time. **[26:9]** And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the LORD's anointed, and be guiltless? **[26:10]** David said furthermore, As the LORD liveth, the LORD shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish. **[26:11]** The LORD forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the LORD's anointed: but, I pray thee, take thou now the spear that is at his bolster, and the cruse of water, and let us go. **[26:12]** So David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul's bolster; and they gat them away, and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither awaked: for they were all asleep; because a deep sleep from the LORD was fallen upon them. **[26:13]** Then David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of an hill afar off; a great space being between them: **[26:14]** And David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, Answerest thou not, Abner? Then Abner answered and said, Who art thou that criest to the king? **[26:15]** And David said to Abner, Art not thou a valiant man? and who is like to thee in Israel? wherefore then hast thou not kept thy lord the king? for there came one of the people in to destroy the king thy lord. **[26:16]** This thing is not good that thou hast done. As the LORD liveth, ye are worthy to die, because ye have not kept your master, the LORD's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is, and the cruse of water that was at his bolster. **[26:17]** And Saul knew David's voice, and said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And David said, It is my voice, my lord, O king. **[26:18]** And he said, Wherefore doth my lord thus pursue after his servant? for what have I done? or what evil is in mine hand? **[26:19]** Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the LORD have stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering: but if they be the children of men, cursed be they before the LORD; for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the LORD, saying, Go, serve other gods. **[26:20]** Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth before the face of the LORD: for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains. **[26:21]** Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son David: for I will no more do thee harm, because my soul was precious in thine eyes this day: behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly. **[26:22]** And David answered and said, Behold the king's spear! and let one of the young men come over and fetch it. **[26:23]** The LORD render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the LORD delivered thee into my hand to day, but I would not stretch forth mine hand against the LORD's anointed. **[26:24]** And, behold, as thy life was much set by this day in mine eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of the LORD, and let him deliver me out of all tribulation. **[26:25]** Then Saul said to David, Blessed be thou, my son David: thou shalt both do great things, and also shalt still prevail. So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place. **[27:1]** And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand. **[27:2]** And David arose, and he passed over with the six hundred men that were with him unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath. **[27:3]** And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal's wife. **[27:4]** And it was told Saul that David was fled to Gath: and he sought no more again for him. **[27:5]** And David said unto Achish, If I have now found grace in thine eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee? **[27:6]** Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day: wherefore Ziklag pertaineth unto the kings of Judah unto this day. **[27:7]** And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months. **[27:8]** And David and his men went up, and invaded the Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and the Amalekites: for those nations were of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt. **[27:9]** And David smote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish. **[27:10]** And Achish said, Whither have ye made a road to day? And David said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the Kenites. **[27:11]** And David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring tidings to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David, and so will be his manner all the while he dwelleth in the country of the Philistines. **[27:12]** And Achish believed David, saying, He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant for ever. **[28:1]** And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel. And Achish said unto David, Know thou assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me to battle, thou and thy men. **[28:2]** And David said to Achish, Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make thee keeper of mine head for ever. **[28:3]** Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land. **[28:4]** And the Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and pitched in Shunem: and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they pitched in Gilboa. **[28:5]** And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled. **[28:6]** And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets. **[28:7]** Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor. **[28:8]** And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee. **[28:9]** And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die? **[28:10]** And Saul sware to her by the LORD, saying, As the LORD liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing. **[28:11]** Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel. **[28:12]** And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul. **[28:13]** And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth. **[28:14]** And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself. **[28:15]** And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do. **[28:16]** Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the LORD is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy? **[28:17]** And the LORD hath done to him, as he spake by me: for the LORD hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbor, even to David: **[28:18]** Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the LORD, nor executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the LORD done this thing unto thee this day. **[28:19]** Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines. **[28:20]** Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night. **[28:21]** And the woman came unto Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled, and said unto him, Behold, thine handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened unto thy words which thou spakest unto me. **[28:22]** Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also unto the voice of thine handmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread before thee; and eat, that thou mayest have strength, when thou goest on thy way. **[28:23]** But he refused, and said, I will not eat. But his servants, together with the woman, compelled him; and he hearkened unto their voice. So he arose from the earth, and sat upon the bed. **[28:24]** And the woman had a fat calf in the house; and she hasted, and killed it, and took flour, and kneaded it, and did bake unleavened bread thereof: **[28:25]** And she brought it before Saul, and before his servants; and they did eat. Then they rose up, and went away that night. **[29:1]** Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek: and the Israelites pitched by a fountain which is in Jezreel. **[29:2]** And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds, and by thousands: but David and his men passed on in the rearward with Achish. **[29:3]** Then said the princes of the Philistines, What do these Hebrews here? And Achish said unto the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, which hath been with me these days, or these years, and I have found no fault in him since he fell unto me unto this day? **[29:4]** And the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him; and the princes of the Philistines said unto him, Make this fellow return, that he may go again to his place which thou hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he be an adversary to us: for wherewith should he reconcile himself unto his master? should it not be with the heads of these men? **[29:5]** Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands? **[29:6]** Then Achish called David, and said unto him, Surely, as the LORD liveth, thou hast been upright, and thy going out and thy coming in with me in the host is good in my sight: for I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming unto me unto this day: nevertheless the lords favor thee not. **[29:7]** Wherefore now return, and go in peace, that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines. **[29:8]** And David said unto Achish, But what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant so long as I have been with thee unto this day, that I may not go fight against the enemies of my lord the king? **[29:9]** And Achish answered and said to David, I know that thou art good in my sight, as an angel of God: notwithstanding the princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle. **[29:10]** Wherefore now rise up early in the morning with thy master's servants that are come with thee: and as soon as ye be up early in the morning, and have light, depart. **[29:11]** So David and his men rose up early to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel. **[30:1]** And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire; **[30:2]** And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way. **[30:3]** So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives. **[30:4]** Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep. **[30:5]** And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. **[30:6]** And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God. **[30:7]** And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David. **[30:8]** And David inquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all. **[30:9]** So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed. **[30:10]** But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred abode behind, which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor. **[30:11]** And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they made him drink water; **[30:12]** And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights. **[30:13]** And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days agone I fell sick. **[30:14]** We made an invasion upon the south of the Cherethites, and upon the coast which belongeth to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire. **[30:15]** And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this company. **[30:16]** And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah. **[30:17]** And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled. **[30:18]** And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives. **[30:19]** And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all. **[30:20]** And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drave before those other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil. **[30:21]** And David came to the two hundred men, which were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made also to abide at the brook Besor: and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him: and when David came near to the people, he saluted them. **[30:22]** Then answered all the wicked men and men of Belial, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them ought of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and depart. **[30:23]** Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the LORD hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand. **[30:24]** For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike. **[30:25]** And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day. **[30:26]** And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of the LORD; **[30:27]** To them which were in Bethel, and to them which were in south Ramoth, and to them which were in Jattir, **[30:28]** And to them which were in Aroer, and to them which were in Siphmoth, and to them which were in Eshtemoa, **[30:29]** And to them which were in Rachal, and to them which were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to them which were in the cities of the Kenites, **[30:30]** And to them which were in Hormah, and to them which were in Chorashan, and to them which were in Athach, **[30:31]** And to them which were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt. **[31:1]** Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa. **[31:2]** And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Melchishua, Saul's sons. **[31:3]** And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers. **[31:4]** Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it. **[31:5]** And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him. **[31:6]** So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men, that same day together. **[31:7]** And when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley, and they that were on the other side Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them. **[31:8]** And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa. **[31:9]** And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armor, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the house of their idols, and among the people. **[31:10]** And they put his armor in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan. **[31:11]** And when the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul; **[31:12]** All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there. **[31:13]** And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

9 1 Samuel - World English Bible (WEB).md

# 1 Samuel - World English Bible (WEB) **[1:1]** Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the hill-country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite: **[1:2]** and he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. **[1:3]** This man went up out of his city from year to year to worship and to sacrifice to Yahweh of Hosts in Shiloh. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, priests to Yahweh, were there. **[1:4]** When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions: **[1:5]** but to Hannah he gave a double portion; for he loved Hannah, but Yahweh had shut up her womb. **[1:6]** Her rival provoked her sore, to make her fret, because Yahweh had shut up her womb. **[1:7]** [as] he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of Yahweh, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat. **[1:8]** Elkanah her husband said to her, Hannah, why weep you? and why don't you eat? and why is your heart grieved? am I not better to you than ten sons? **[1:9]** So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his seat by the door-post of the temple of Yahweh. **[1:10]** She was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to Yahweh, and wept sore. **[1:11]** She vowed a vow, and said, Yahweh of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your handmaid, and remember me, and not forget your handmaid, but will give to your handmaid a man-child, then I will give him to Yahweh all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come on his head. **[1:12]** It happened, as she continued praying before Yahweh, that Eli marked her mouth. **[1:13]** Now Hannah, she spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. **[1:14]** Eli said to her, How long will you be drunken? put away your wine from you. **[1:15]** Hannah answered, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I poured out my soul before Yahweh. **[1:16]** Don't count your handmaid for a wicked woman; for out of the abundance of my complaint and my provocation have I spoken hitherto. **[1:17]** Then Eli answered, Go in peace; and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of him. **[1:18]** She said, Let your handmaid find favor in your sight. So the woman went her way, and ate; and her facial expression wasn't sad any more. **[1:19]** They rose up in the morning early, and worshiped before Yahweh, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and Yahweh remembered her. **[1:20]** It happened, when the time was come about, that Hannah conceived, and bore a son; and she named him Samuel, [saying], Because I have asked him of Yahweh. **[1:21]** The man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer to Yahweh the yearly sacrifice, and his vow. **[1:22]** But Hannah didn't go up; for she said to her husband, [I will not go up] until the child be weaned; and then I will bring him, that he may appear before Yahweh, and there abide forever. **[1:23]** Elkanah her husband said to her, Do what seems you good; wait until you have weaned him; only Yahweh establish his word. So the woman waited and nursed her son, until she weaned him. **[1:24]** When she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bulls, and one ephah of meal, and a bottle of wine, and brought him to the house of Yahweh in Shiloh: and the child was young. **[1:25]** They killed the bull, and brought the child to Eli. **[1:26]** She said, Oh, my lord, as your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to Yahweh. **[1:27]** For this child I prayed; and Yahweh has given me my petition which I asked of him: **[1:28]** therefore also I have granted him to Yahweh; as long as he lives he is granted to Yahweh. He worshiped Yahweh there. **[2:1]** Hannah prayed, and said: My heart exults in Yahweh; My horn is exalted in Yahweh; My mouth is enlarged over my enemies; Because I rejoice in your salvation. **[2:2]** There is none holy as Yahweh; For there is none besides you, Neither is there any rock like our God. **[2:3]** Talk no more so exceeding proudly; Don't let arrogance come out of your mouth; For Yahweh is a God of knowledge, By him actions are weighed. **[2:4]** The bows of the mighty men are broken; Those who stumbled are girded with strength. **[2:5]** Those who were full have hired out themselves for bread; Those who were hungry have ceased [to hunger]: Yes, the barren has borne seven; She who has many children languishes. **[2:6]** Yahweh kills, and makes alive: He brings down to Sheol, and brings up. **[2:7]** Yahweh makes poor, and makes rich: He brings low, he also lifts up. **[2:8]** He raises up the poor out of the dust, He lifts up the needy from the dunghill, To make them sit with princes, Inherit the throne of glory: For the pillars of the earth are Yahweh's, He has set the world on them. **[2:9]** He will keep the feet of his holy ones; But the wicked shall be put to silence in darkness; For by strength shall no man prevail. **[2:10]** Those who strive with Yahweh shall be broken to pieces; Against them will he thunder in the sky: Yahweh will judge the ends of the earth; He will give strength to his king, Exalt the horn of his anointed. **[2:11]** Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. The child did minister to Yahweh before Eli the priest. **[2:12]** Now the sons of Eli were base men; they didn't know Yahweh. **[2:13]** The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came, while the flesh was boiling, with a flesh-hook of three teeth in his hand; **[2:14]** and he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the flesh-hook brought up the priest took therewith. So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. **[2:15]** Yes, before they burnt the fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man who sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have boiled flesh of you, but raw. **[2:16]** If the man said to him, They will surely burn the fat first, and then take as much as your soul desires; then he would say, No, but you shall give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force. **[2:17]** The sin of the young men was very great before Yahweh; for the men despised the offering of Yahweh. **[2:18]** But Samuel ministered before Yahweh, being a child, girded with a linen ephod. **[2:19]** Moreover his mother made him a little robe, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. **[2:20]** Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, Yahweh give you seed of this woman for the petition which was asked of Yahweh. They went to their own home. **[2:21]** Yahweh visited Hannah, and she conceived, and bore three sons and two daughters. The child Samuel grew before Yahweh. **[2:22]** Now Eli was very old; and he heard all that his sons did to all Israel, and how that they lay with the women who served at the door of the tent of meeting. **[2:23]** He said to them, Why do you such things? for I hear of your evil dealings from all this people. **[2:24]** No, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: you make Yahweh's people to disobey. **[2:25]** If one man sin against another, God shall judge him; but if a man sin against Yahweh, who shall entreat for him? Notwithstanding, they didn't listen to the voice of their father, because Yahweh was minded to kill them. **[2:26]** The child Samuel grew on, and increased in favor both with Yahweh, and also with men. **[2:27]** There came a man of God to Eli, and said to him, Thus says Yahweh, Did I reveal myself to the house of your father, when they were in Egypt [in bondage] to Pharaoh's house? **[2:28]** and did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire? **[2:29]** Why kick you at my sacrifice and at my offering, which I have commanded in [my] habitation, and honor your sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel my people? **[2:30]** Therefore Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, I said indeed that your house, and the house of your father, should walk before me forever: but now Yahweh says, Be it far from me; for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed. **[2:31]** Behold, the days come, that I will cut off your arm, and the arm of your father's house, that there shall not be an old man in your house. **[2:32]** You shall see the affliction of [my] habitation, in all the wealth which [God] shall give Israel; and there shall not be an old man in your house forever. **[2:33]** The man of yours, [whom] I shall not cut off from my altar, [shall be] to consume your eyes, and to grieve your heart; and all the increase of your house shall die in the flower of their age. **[2:34]** This shall be the sign to you, that shall come on your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die both of them. **[2:35]** I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in my heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before my anointed forever. **[2:36]** It shall happen, that everyone who is left in your house shall come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread, and shall say, Please put me into one of the priests' offices, that I may eat a morsel of bread. **[3:1]** The child Samuel ministered to Yahweh before Eli. The word of Yahweh was precious in those days; there was no frequent vision. **[3:2]** It happened at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place (now his eyes had begun to grow dim, so that he could not see), **[3:3]** and the lamp of God hadn't yet gone out, and Samuel had laid down [to sleep], in the temple of Yahweh, where the ark of God was; **[3:4]** that Yahweh called Samuel; and he said, Here am I. **[3:5]** He ran to Eli, and said, Here am I; for you called me. He said, I didn't call; lie down again. He went and lay down. **[3:6]** Yahweh called yet again, Samuel. Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for you called me. He answered, I didn't call, my son; lie down again. **[3:7]** Now Samuel didn't yet know Yahweh, neither was the word of Yahweh yet revealed to him. **[3:8]** Yahweh called Samuel again the third time. He arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for you called me. Eli perceived that Yahweh had called the child. **[3:9]** Therefore Eli said to Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call you, that you shall say, Speak, Yahweh; for your servant hears. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. **[3:10]** Yahweh came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel said, Speak; for your servant hears. **[3:11]** Yahweh said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of everyone who hears it shall tingle. **[3:12]** In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from the beginning even to the end. **[3:13]** For I have told him that I will judge his house forever, for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons did bring a curse on themselves, and he didn't restrain them. **[3:14]** Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be expiated with sacrifice nor offering forever. **[3:15]** Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of Yahweh. Samuel feared to show Eli the vision. **[3:16]** Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. He said, Here am I. **[3:17]** He said, "What is the thing that [Yahweh] has spoken to you? Please don't hide it from me. God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the things that he spoke to you." **[3:18]** Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. He said, It is Yahweh: let him do what seems him good. **[3:19]** Samuel grew, and Yahweh was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. **[3:20]** All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of Yahweh. **[3:21]** Yahweh appeared again in Shiloh; for Yahweh revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of Yahweh. **[4:1]** The word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and encamped beside Ebenezer: and the Philistines encamped in Aphek. **[4:2]** The Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was struck before the Philistines; and they killed of the army in the field about four thousand men. **[4:3]** When the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Why has Yahweh struck us today before the Philistines? Let us get the ark of the covenant of Yahweh out of Shiloh to us, that it may come among us, and save us out of the hand of our enemies. **[4:4]** So the people sent to Shiloh; and they brought from there the ark of the covenant of Yahweh of Hosts, who sits [above] the cherubim: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. **[4:5]** When the ark of the covenant of Yahweh came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again. **[4:6]** When the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What means the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? They understood that the ark of Yahweh was come into the camp. **[4:7]** The Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. They said, Woe to us! for there has not been such a thing heretofore. **[4:8]** Woe to us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods? these are the gods that struck the Egyptians with all manner of plagues in the wilderness. **[4:9]** Be strong, and behave yourselves like men, O you Philistines, that you not be servants to the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight. **[4:10]** The Philistines fought, and Israel was struck, and they fled every man to his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. **[4:11]** The ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain. **[4:12]** There ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes torn, and with earth on his head. **[4:13]** When he came, behold, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching; for his heart trembled for the ark of God. When the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out. **[4:14]** When Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What means the noise of this tumult? The man hurried, and came and told Eli. **[4:15]** Now Eli was ninety-eight years old; and his eyes were set, so that he could not see. **[4:16]** The man said to Eli, I am he who came out of the army, and I fled today out of the army. He said, How went the matter, my son? **[4:17]** He who brought the news answered, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there has been also a great slaughter among the people, and your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken. **[4:18]** It happened, when he made mention of the ark of God, that [Eli] fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck broke, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years. **[4:19]** His daughter-in-law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, near to be delivered: and when she heard the news that the ark of God was taken, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and brought forth; for her pains came on her. **[4:20]** About the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, Don't be afraid; for you have brought forth a son. But she didn't answer, neither did she regard it. **[4:21]** She named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel; because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father-in-law and her husband. **[4:22]** She said, The glory is departed from Israel; for the ark of God is taken. **[5:1]** Now the Philistines had taken the ark of God, and they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. **[5:2]** The Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. **[5:3]** When they of Ashdod arose early on the next day, behold, Dagon was fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh. They took Dagon, and set him in his place again. **[5:4]** When they arose early on the next day morning, behold, Dagon was fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands [lay] cut off on the threshold; only [the stump of] Dagon was left to him. **[5:5]** Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any who come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod, to this day. **[5:6]** But the hand of Yahweh was heavy on them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and struck them with tumors, even Ashdod and the borders of it. **[5:7]** When the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us; for his hand is sore on us, and on Dagon our god. **[5:8]** They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines to them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? They answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about to Gath. They carried the ark of the God of Israel [there]. **[5:9]** It was so, that after they had carried it about, the hand of Yahweh was against the city with a very great confusion: and he struck the men of the city, both small and great; and tumors broke out on them. **[5:10]** So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. It happened, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people. **[5:11]** They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to its own place, that it not kill us and our people. For there was a deadly confusion throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. **[5:12]** The men who didn't die were struck with the tumors; and the cry of the city went up to heaven. **[6:1]** The ark of Yahweh was in the country of the Philistines seven months. **[6:2]** The Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, "What shall we do with the ark of Yahweh? Show us with which we shall send it to its place." **[6:3]** They said, "If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, don't send it empty; but by all means return him a trespass-offering: then you shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you." **[6:4]** Then they said, "What shall be the trespass-offering which we shall return to him?" They said, "Five golden tumors, and five golden mice, [according to] the number of the lords of the Philistines; for one plague was on you all, and on your lords. **[6:5]** Therefore you shall make images of your tumors, and images of your mice that mar the land; and you shall give glory to the God of Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land. **[6:6]** Why then do you harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When he had worked wonderfully among them, didn't they let the people go, and they departed? **[6:7]** Now therefore take and prepare yourselves a new cart, and two milk cattle, on which there has come no yoke; and tie the cattle to the cart, and bring their calves home from them; **[6:8]** and take the ark of Yahweh, and lay it on the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which you return him for a trespass-offering, in a coffer by the side of it; and send it away, that it may go. **[6:9]** Behold; if it goes up by the way of its own border to Beth-shemesh, then he has done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that struck us; it was a chance that happened to us." **[6:10]** The men did so, and took two milk cattle, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home; **[6:11]** and they put the ark of Yahweh on the cart, and the coffer with the mice of gold and the images of their tumors. **[6:12]** The cattle took the straight way by the way to Beth-shemesh; they went along the highway, lowing as they went, and didn't turn aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth-shemesh. **[6:13]** They of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley; and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it. **[6:14]** The cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite, and stood there, where there was a great stone: and they split the wood of the cart, and offered up the cattle for a burnt offering to Yahweh. **[6:15]** The Levites took down the ark of Yahweh, and the coffer that was with it, in which the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day to Yahweh. **[6:16]** When the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day. **[6:17]** These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned for a trespass-offering to Yahweh: for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Ashkelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one; **[6:18]** and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fortified cities and of country villages, even to the great stone, whereon they set down the ark of Yahweh, [which stone remains] to this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite. **[6:19]** He struck of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of Yahweh, he struck of the people fifty thousand seventy men; and the people mourned, because Yahweh had struck the people with a great slaughter. **[6:20]** The men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to stand before Yahweh, this holy God? and to whom shall he go up from us? **[6:21]** They sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath Jearim, saying, The Philistines have brought back the ark of Yahweh; come you down, and bring it up to you. **[7:1]** The men of Kiriath Jearim came, and fetched up the ark of Yahweh, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of Yahweh. **[7:2]** It happened, from the day that the ark abode in Kiriath Jearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after Yahweh. **[7:3]** Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, If you do return to Yahweh with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, and direct your hearts to Yahweh, and serve him only; and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. **[7:4]** Then the children of Israel did put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and served Yahweh only. **[7:5]** Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray for you to Yahweh. **[7:6]** They gathered together to Mizpah, and drew water, and poured it out before Yahweh, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against Yahweh. Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpah. **[7:7]** When the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. When the children of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines. **[7:8]** The children of Israel said to Samuel, "Don't cease to cry to Yahweh our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines." **[7:9]** Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it for a whole burnt-offering to Yahweh: and Samuel cried to Yahweh for Israel; and Yahweh answered him. **[7:10]** As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel; but Yahweh thundered with a great thunder on that day on the Philistines, and confused them; and they were struck down before Israel. **[7:11]** The men of Israel went out of Mizpah, and pursued the Philistines, and struck them, until they came under Beth Kar. **[7:12]** Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto has Yahweh helped us. **[7:13]** So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more within the border of Israel: and the hand of Yahweh was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. **[7:14]** The cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even to Gath; and the border of it did Israel deliver out of the hand of the Philistines. There was peace between Israel and the Amorites. **[7:15]** Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. **[7:16]** He went from year to year in circuit to Bethel and Gilgal, and Mizpah; and he judged Israel in all those places. **[7:17]** His return was to Ramah, for there was his house; and there he judged Israel: and he built there an altar to Yahweh. **[8:1]** It happened, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. **[8:2]** Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abijah: they were judges in Beersheba. **[8:3]** His sons didn't walk in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted justice. **[8:4]** Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel to Ramah; **[8:5]** and they said to him, Behold, you are old, and your sons don't walk in your ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. **[8:6]** But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. Samuel prayed to Yahweh. **[8:7]** Yahweh said to Samuel, Listen to the voice of the people in all that they tell you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me, that I should not be king over them. **[8:8]** According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, in that they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also to you. **[8:9]** Now therefore listen to their voice: however you shall protest solemnly to them, and shall show them the manner of the king who shall reign over them. **[8:10]** Samuel told all the words of Yahweh to the people who asked of him a king. **[8:11]** He said, This will be the manner of the king who shall reign over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them to him, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and they shall run before his chariots; **[8:12]** and he will appoint them to him for captains of thousands, and captains of fifties; and [he will set some] to plow his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and the instruments of his chariots. **[8:13]** He will take your daughters to be perfumers, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. **[8:14]** He will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive groves, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. **[8:15]** He will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. **[8:16]** He will take your men-servants, and your maid-servants, and your best young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work. **[8:17]** He will take the tenth of your flocks: and you shall be his servants. **[8:18]** You shall cry out in that day because of your king whom you shall have chosen you; and Yahweh will not answer you in that day. **[8:19]** But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; and they said, No: but we will have a king over us, **[8:20]** that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. **[8:21]** Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of Yahweh. **[8:22]** Yahweh said to Samuel, Listen to their voice, and make them a king. Samuel said to the men of Israel, Go you every man to his city. **[9:1]** Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of valor. **[9:2]** He had a son, whose name was Saul, an impressive young man; and there was not among the children of Israel a better person than he. From his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people. **[9:3]** The donkeys of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with you, and arise, go seek the donkeys. **[9:4]** He passed through the hill-country of Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they didn't find them: then they passed through the land of Shaalim, and there they weren't there: and he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they didn't find them. **[9:5]** When they had come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, Come, and let us return, lest my father leave off caring for the donkeys, and be anxious for us. **[9:6]** He said to him, See now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is a man who is held in honor; all that he says comes surely to pass: now let us go there; peradventure he can tell us concerning our journey whereon we go. **[9:7]** Then said Saul to his servant, But, behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? for the bread is spent in our vessels, and there is not a present to bring to the man of God: what have we? **[9:8]** The servant answered Saul again, and said, Behold, I have in my hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver: that will I give to the man of God, to tell us our way. **[9:9]** (In earlier times in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, thus he said, Come, and let us go to the seer; for he who is now called a Prophet was before called a Seer.) **[9:10]** Then said Saul to his servant, Well said; come, let us go. So they went to the city where the man of God was. **[9:11]** As they went up the ascent to the city, they found young maidens going out to draw water, and said to them, Is the seer here? **[9:12]** They answered them, and said, He is; behold, [he is] before you: make haste now, for he is come today into the city; for the people have a sacrifice today in the high place: **[9:13]** as soon as you are come into the city, you shall immediately find him, before he goes up to the high place to eat; for the people will not eat until he come, because he does bless the sacrifice; [and] afterwards they eat who are invited. Now therefore get you up; for at this time you shall find him. **[9:14]** They went up to the city; [and] as they came within the city, behold, Samuel came out toward them, to go up to the high place. **[9:15]** Now Yahweh had revealed to Samuel a day before Saul came, saying, **[9:16]** Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man out of the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel; and he shall save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked on my people, because their cry is come to me. **[9:17]** When Samuel saw Saul, Yahweh said to him, Behold, the man of whom I spoke to you! this same shall have authority over my people. **[9:18]** Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate, and said, Tell me, Please, where the seer's house is. **[9:19]** Samuel answered Saul, and said, I am the seer; go up before me to the high place, for you shall eat with me today: and in the morning I will let you go, and will tell you all that is in your heart. **[9:20]** As for your donkeys who were lost three days ago, don't set your mind on them; for they are found. For whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you, and for all your father's house? **[9:21]** Saul answered, Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? why then speak you to me after this manner? **[9:22]** Samuel took Saul and his servant, and brought them into the guest-chamber, and made them sit in the best place among those who were invited, who were about thirty persons. **[9:23]** Samuel said to the cook, Bring the portion which I gave you, of which I said to you, Set it by you. **[9:24]** The cook took up the thigh, and that which was on it, and set it before Saul. [Samuel] said, Behold, that which has been reserved! set it before you and eat; because to the appointed time has it been kept for you, for I said, I have invited the people. So Saul ate with Samuel that day. **[9:25]** When they were come down from the high place into the city, he talked with Saul on the housetop. **[9:26]** They arose early: and it happened about the spring of the day, that Samuel called to Saul on the housetop, saying, Up, that I may send you away. Saul arose, and they went out both of them, he and Samuel, abroad. **[9:27]** As they were going down at the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid the servant pass on before us (and he passed on), but stand you still first, that I may cause you to hear the word of God. **[10:1]** Then Samuel took the vial of oil, and poured it on his head, and kissed him, and said, Isn't it that Yahweh has anointed you to be prince over his inheritance? **[10:2]** When you are departed from me today, then you shall find two men by Rachel's tomb, in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will tell you, The donkeys which you went to seek are found; and, behold, your father has left off caring for the donkeys, and is anxious for you, saying, What shall I do for my son? **[10:3]** Then shall you go on forward from there, and you shall come to the oak of Tabor; and there shall meet you there three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine: **[10:4]** and they will greet you, and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall receive of their hand. **[10:5]** After that you shall come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall happen, when you are come there to the city, that you shall meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tambourine, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they will be prophesying: **[10:6]** and the Spirit of Yahweh will come mightily on you, and you shall prophesy with them, and shall be turned into another man. **[10:7]** Let it be, when these signs are come to you, that you do as occasion shall serve you; for God is with you. **[10:8]** You shall go down before me to Gilgal; and, behold, I will come down to you, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace-offerings: seven days shall you wait, until I come to you, and show you what you shall do. **[10:9]** It was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs happened that day. **[10:10]** When they came there to the hill, behold, a band of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came mightily on him, and he prophesied among them. **[10:11]** It happened, when all who knew him before saw that, behold, he prophesied with the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that is come to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets? **[10:12]** One of the same place answered, Who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets? **[10:13]** When he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place. **[10:14]** Saul's uncle said to him and to his servant, Where went you? He said, To seek the donkeys; and when we saw that they were not found, we came to Samuel. **[10:15]** Saul's uncle said, Tell me, Please, what Samuel said to you. **[10:16]** Saul said to his uncle, He told us plainly that the donkeys were found. But concerning the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel spoke, he didn't tell him. **[10:17]** Samuel called the people together to Yahweh to Mizpah; **[10:18]** and he said to the children of Israel, Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all the kingdoms that oppressed you: **[10:19]** but you have this day rejected your God, who himself saves you out of all your calamities and your distresses; and you have said to him, [No], but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before Yahweh by your tribes, and by your thousands. **[10:20]** So Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken. **[10:21]** He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by their families; and the family of the Matrites was taken; and Saul the son of Kish was taken: but when they sought him, he could not be found. **[10:22]** Therefore they asked of Yahweh further, Is there yet a man to come here? Yahweh answered, Behold, he has hid himself among the baggage. **[10:23]** They ran and fetched him there; and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward. **[10:24]** Samuel said to all the people, "You see him whom Yahweh has chosen, that there is none like him among all the people?" All the people shouted, and said, [Long] live the king. **[10:25]** Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before Yahweh. Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house. **[10:26]** Saul also went to his house to Gibeah; and there went with him the host, whose hearts God had touched. **[10:27]** But certain worthless fellows said, How shall this man save us? They despised him, and brought him no present. But he held his peace. **[11:1]** Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabesh Gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you. **[11:2]** Nahash the Ammonite said to them, On this condition will I make it with you, that all your right eyes be put out; and I will lay it for a reproach on all Israel. **[11:3]** The elders of Jabesh said to him, Give us seven days' respite, that we may send messengers to all the borders of Israel; and then, if there be none to save us, we will come out to you. **[11:4]** Then came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul, and spoke these words in the ears of the people: and all the people lifted up their voice, and wept. **[11:5]** Behold, Saul came following the oxen out of the field; and Saul said, What ails the people that they weep? They told him the words of the men of Jabesh. **[11:6]** The Spirit of God came mightily on Saul when he heard those words, and his anger was kindled greatly. **[11:7]** He took a yoke of oxen, and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the borders of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, Whoever doesn't come forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen. The dread of Yahweh fell on the people, and they came out as one man. **[11:8]** He numbered them in Bezek; and the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. **[11:9]** They said to the messengers who came, Thus shall you tell the men of Jabesh Gilead, Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have deliverance. The messengers came and told the men of Jabesh; and they were glad. **[11:10]** Therefore the men of Jabesh said, Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you shall do with us all that seems good to you. **[11:11]** It was so on the next day, that Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch, and struck the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it happened, that those who remained were scattered, so that no two of them were left together. **[11:12]** The people said to Samuel, Who is he who said, Shall Saul reign over us? bring the men, that we may put them to death. **[11:13]** Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death this day; for today Yahweh has worked deliverance in Israel. **[11:14]** Then said Samuel to the people, Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there. **[11:15]** All the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before Yahweh in Gilgal; and there they offered sacrifices of peace-offerings before Yahweh; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly. **[12:1]** Samuel said to all Israel, Behold, I have listened to your voice in all that you said to me, and have made a king over you. **[12:2]** Now, behold, the king walks before you; and I am old and gray-headed; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my youth to this day. **[12:3]** Here I am: witness against me before Yahweh, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose donkey have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I taken a ransom to blind my eyes therewith? and I will restore it you. **[12:4]** They said, You have not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither have you taken anything of any man's hand. **[12:5]** He said to them, Yahweh is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand. They said, He is witness. **[12:6]** Samuel said to the people, It is Yahweh who appointed Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. **[12:7]** Now therefore stand still, that I may plead with you before Yahweh concerning all the righteous acts of Yahweh, which he did to you and to your fathers. **[12:8]** When Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers cried to Yahweh, then Yahweh sent Moses and Aaron, who brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them to dwell in this place. **[12:9]** But they forgot Yahweh their God; and he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab; and they fought against them. **[12:10]** They cried to Yahweh, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken Yahweh, and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve you. **[12:11]** Yahweh sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side; and you lived in safety. **[12:12]** When you saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, you said to me, No, but a king shall reign over us; when Yahweh your God was your king. **[12:13]** Now therefore see the king whom you have chosen, and whom you have asked for: and, behold, Yahweh has set a king over you. **[12:14]** If you will fear Yahweh, and serve him, and listen to his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of Yahweh, and both you and also the king who reigns over you are followers of Yahweh your God, [well]: **[12:15]** but if you will not listen to the voice of Yahweh, but rebel against the commandment of Yahweh, then will the hand of Yahweh be against you, as it was against your fathers. **[12:16]** Now therefore stand still and see this great thing, which Yahweh will do before your eyes. **[12:17]** Isn't it wheat harvest today? I will call to Yahweh, that he may send thunder and rain; and you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of Yahweh, in asking you a king. **[12:18]** So Samuel called to Yahweh; and Yahweh sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared Yahweh and Samuel. **[12:19]** All the people said to Samuel, Pray for your servants to Yahweh your God, that we not die; for we have added to all our sins [this] evil, to ask us a king. **[12:20]** Samuel said to the people, "Don't be afraid; you have indeed done all this evil; yet don't turn aside from following Yahweh, but serve Yahweh with all your heart: **[12:21]** and don't turn aside; for [then would you go] after vain things which can't profit nor deliver, for they are vain. **[12:22]** For Yahweh will not forsake his people for his great name's sake, because it has pleased Yahweh to make you a people to himself. **[12:23]** Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against Yahweh in ceasing to pray for you: but I will instruct you in the good and the right way. **[12:24]** Only fear Yahweh, and serve him in truth with all your heart; for consider how great things he has done for you. **[12:25]** But if you shall still do wickedly, you shall be consumed, both you and your king." **[13:1]** Saul was [forty] years old when he began to reign; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, **[13:2]** Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel, of which two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in the Mount of Bethel, and one thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent. **[13:3]** Jonathan struck the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba: and the Philistines heard of it. Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear. **[13:4]** All Israel heard say that Saul had struck the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel was had in abomination with the Philistines. The people were gathered together after Saul to Gilgal. **[13:5]** The Philistines assembled themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea-shore in multitude: and they came up, and encamped in Michmash, eastward of Beth Aven. **[13:6]** When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for the people were distressed), then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in coverts, and in pits. **[13:7]** Now some of the Hebrews had gone over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead; but as for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. **[13:8]** He stayed seven days, according to the set time that Samuel [had appointed]: but Samuel didn't come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. **[13:9]** Saul said, Bring here the burnt offering to me, and the peace-offerings. He offered the burnt offering. **[13:10]** It came to pass that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him. **[13:11]** Samuel said, What have you done? Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you didn't come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines assembled themselves together at Michmash; **[13:12]** therefore said I, Now will the Philistines come down on me to Gilgal, and I haven't entreated the favor of Yahweh: I forced myself therefore, and offered the burnt offering. **[13:13]** Samuel said to Saul, You have done foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of Yahweh your God, which he commanded you: for now would Yahweh have established your kingdom on Israel forever. **[13:14]** But now your kingdom shall not continue: Yahweh has sought him a man after his own heart, and Yahweh has appointed him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept that which Yahweh commanded you. **[13:15]** Samuel arose, and got him up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men. **[13:16]** Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people who were present with them, abode in Geba of Benjamin: but the Philistines encamped in Michmash. **[13:17]** The spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies: one company turned to the way that leads to Ophrah, to the land of Shual; **[13:18]** and another company turned the way to Beth Horon; and another company turned the way of the border that looks down on the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness. **[13:19]** Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel; for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears: **[13:20]** but all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his plowshare, mattock, axe, and sickle; **[13:21]** yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the plowshares, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to set the goads. **[13:22]** So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan: but with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found. **[13:23]** The garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash. **[14:1]** Now it fell on a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines' garrison, that is on yonder side. But he didn't tell his father. **[14:2]** Saul abode in the uttermost part of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree which is in Migron: and the people who were with him were about six hundred men; **[14:3]** and Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of Yahweh in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. The people didn't know that Jonathan was gone. **[14:4]** Between the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistines' garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side, and a rocky crag on the other side: and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. **[14:5]** The one crag rose up on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba. **[14:6]** Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, Come, and let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that Yahweh will work for us; for there is no restraint to Yahweh to save by many or by few. **[14:7]** His armor bearer said to him, Do all that is in your heart: turn you, behold, I am with you according to your heart. **[14:8]** Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass over to the men, and we will disclose ourselves to them. **[14:9]** If they say thus to us, Wait until we come to you; then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up to them. **[14:10]** But if they say thus, Come up to us; then we will go up; for Yahweh has delivered them into our hand: and this shall be the sign to us. **[14:11]** Both of them disclosed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves. **[14:12]** The men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armor bearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will show you a thing. Jonathan said to his armor bearer, Come up after me; for Yahweh has delivered them into the hand of Israel. **[14:13]** Jonathan climbed up on his hands and on his feet, and his armor bearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armor bearer killed them after him. **[14:14]** That first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armor bearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were half a furrow's length in an acre of land. **[14:15]** There was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people; the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled; and the earth quaked: so there was an exceeding great trembling. **[14:16]** The watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and, behold, the multitude melted away, and they went [here] and there. **[14:17]** Then said Saul to the people who were with him, Number now, and see who is gone from us. When they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armor bearer were not there. **[14:18]** Saul said to Ahijah, Bring here the ark of God. For the ark of God was [there] at that time with the children of Israel. **[14:19]** It happened, while Saul talked to the priest, that the tumult that was in the camp of the Philistines went on and increased: and Saul said to the priest, Withdraw your hand. **[14:20]** Saul and all the people who were with him were gathered together, and came to the battle: and, behold, every man's sword was against his fellow, [and there was] a very great confusion. **[14:21]** Now the Hebrews who were with the Philistines as before, and who went up with them into the camp, [from the country] round about, even they also [turned] to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. **[14:22]** Likewise all the men of Israel who had hid themselves in the hill-country of Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed hard after them in the battle. **[14:23]** So Yahweh saved Israel that day: and the battle passed over by Beth Aven. **[14:24]** The men of Israel were distressed that day; for Saul had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man who eats any food until it be evening, and I be avenged on my enemies. So none of the people tasted food. **[14:25]** All the people came into the forest; and there was honey on the ground. **[14:26]** When the people were come to the forest, behold, the honey dropped: but no man put his hand to his mouth; for the people feared the oath. **[14:27]** But Jonathan didn't hear when his father charged the people with the oath: therefore he put forth the end of the rod who was in his hand, and dipped it in the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were enlightened. **[14:28]** Then answered one of the people, and said, Your father directly charged the people with an oath, saying, Cursed be the man who eats food this day. The people were faint. **[14:29]** Then said Jonathan, My father has troubled the land. Please look how my eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey. **[14:30]** How much more, if haply the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies which they found? for now has there been no great slaughter among the Philistines. **[14:31]** They struck of the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. The people were very faint; **[14:32]** and the people flew on the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and killed them on the ground; and the people ate them with the blood. **[14:33]** Then they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against Yahweh, in that they eat with the blood. He said, you have dealt treacherously: roll a great stone to me this day. **[14:34]** Saul said, Disperse yourselves among the people, and tell them, Bring me here every man his ox, and every man his sheep, and kill them here, and eat; and don't sin against Yahweh in eating with the blood. All the people brought every man his ox with him that night, and killed them there. **[14:35]** Saul built an altar to Yahweh: the same was the first altar that he built to Yahweh. **[14:36]** Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and take spoil among them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. They said, Do whatever seems good to you. Then said the priest, Let us draw near here to God. **[14:37]** Saul asked counsel of God, Shall I go down after the Philistines? will you deliver them into the hand of Israel? But he didn't answer him that day. **[14:38]** Saul said, Draw near here, all you chiefs of the people; and know and see in which this sin has been this day. **[14:39]** For, as Yahweh lives, who saves Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. But there was not a man among all the people who answered him. **[14:40]** Then said he to all Israel, Be you on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side. The people said to Saul, Do what seems good to you. **[14:41]** Therefore Saul said to Yahweh, the God of Israel, Show the right. Jonathan and Saul were taken [by lot]; but the people escaped. **[14:42]** Saul said, Cast [lots] between me and Jonathan my son. Jonathan was taken. **[14:43]** Then Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me what you have done. Jonathan told him, and said, I did certainly taste a little honey with the end of the rod that was in my hand; and, behold, I must die. **[14:44]** Saul said, God do so and more also; for you shall surely die, Jonathan. **[14:45]** The people said to Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far from it: as Yahweh lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he has worked with God this day. So the people rescued Jonathan, that he didn't die. **[14:46]** Then Saul went up from following the Philistines; and the Philistines went to their own place. **[14:47]** Now when Saul had taken the kingdom over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and against Edom, and against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines: and wherever he turned himself, he put [them] to the worse. **[14:48]** He did valiantly, and struck the Amalekites, and delivered Israel out of the hands of those who despoiled them. **[14:49]** Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, and Ishvi, and Malchishua; and the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn Merab, and the name of the younger Michal: **[14:50]** and the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of the captain of his host was Abner the son of Ner, Saul's uncle. **[14:51]** Kish was the father of Saul; and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel. **[14:52]** There was sore war against the Philistines all the days of Saul: and when Saul saw any mighty man, or any valiant man, he took him to him. **[15:1]** Samuel said to Saul, Yahweh sent me to anoint you to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore listen you to the voice of the words of Yahweh. **[15:2]** Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, I have marked that which Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way, when he came up out of Egypt. **[15:3]** Now go and strike Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and don't spare them; but kill both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and donkey. **[15:4]** Saul summoned the people, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah. **[15:5]** Saul came to the city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley. **[15:6]** Saul said to the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; for you shown kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. **[15:7]** Saul struck the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, that is before Egypt. **[15:8]** He took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. **[15:9]** But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and wouldn't utterly destroy them: but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly. **[15:10]** Then came the word of Yahweh to Samuel, saying, **[15:11]** It repents me that I have set up Saul to be king; for he is turned back from following me, and has not performed my commandments. Samuel was angry; and he cried to Yahweh all night. **[15:12]** Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a monument, and turned, and passed on, and went down to Gilgal. **[15:13]** Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, Blessed are you by Yahweh: I have performed the commandment of Yahweh. **[15:14]** Samuel said, What means then this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? **[15:15]** Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed. **[15:16]** Then Samuel said to Saul, Stay, and I will tell you what Yahweh has said to me this night. He said to him, Say on. **[15:17]** Samuel said, "Though you were little in your own sight, weren't you made the head of the tribes of Israel? Yahweh anointed you king over Israel; **[15:18]** and Yahweh sent you on a journey, and said, 'Go, and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.' **[15:19]** Why then didn't you obey the voice of Yahweh, but flew on the spoil, and did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh?" **[15:20]** Saul said to Samuel, Yes, I have obeyed the voice of Yahweh, and have gone the way which Yahweh sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. **[15:21]** But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God in Gilgal. **[15:22]** Samuel said, Has Yahweh as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of Yahweh? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. **[15:23]** For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because you have rejected the word of Yahweh, he has also rejected you from being king. **[15:24]** Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of Yahweh, and your words, because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. **[15:25]** Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship Yahweh. **[15:26]** Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of Yahweh, and Yahweh has rejected you from being king over Israel. **[15:27]** As Samuel turned about to go away, [Saul] laid hold on the skirt of his robe, and it tore. **[15:28]** Samuel said to him, Yahweh has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you. **[15:29]** Also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent. **[15:30]** Then he said, I have sinned: yet honor me now, Please, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship Yahweh your God. **[15:31]** So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshiped Yahweh. **[15:32]** Then said Samuel, Bring you here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past. **[15:33]** Samuel said, As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women. Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before Yahweh in Gilgal. **[15:34]** Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul. **[15:35]** Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death; for Samuel mourned for Saul: and Yahweh repented that he had made Saul king over Israel. **[16:1]** Yahweh said to Samuel, How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from being king over Israel? fill your horn with oil, and go: I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite; for I have provided me a king among his sons. **[16:2]** Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. Yahweh said, Take a heifer with you, and say, I am come to sacrifice to Yahweh. **[16:3]** Call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do: and you shall anoint to me him whom I name to you. **[16:4]** Samuel did that which Yahweh spoke, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, Come you peaceably? **[16:5]** He said, Peaceably; I am come to sacrifice to Yahweh: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. He sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. **[16:6]** It happened, when they had come, that he looked at Eliab, and said, Surely Yahweh's anointed is before him. **[16:7]** But Yahweh said to Samuel, "Don't look on his face, or on the height of his stature; because I have rejected him: for [Yahweh sees] not as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart." **[16:8]** Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, Neither has Yahweh chosen this. **[16:9]** Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. He said, Neither has Yahweh chosen this. **[16:10]** Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. Samuel said to Jesse, Yahweh has not chosen these. **[16:11]** Samuel said to Jesse, Are here all your children? He said, There remains yet the youngest, and, behold, he is keeping the sheep. Samuel said to Jesse, Send and get him; for we will not sit down until he come here. **[16:12]** He sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful face, and goodly to look on. Yahweh said, Arise, anoint him; for this is he. **[16:13]** Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brothers: and the Spirit of Yahweh came mightily on David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah. **[16:14]** Now the Spirit of Yahweh departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from Yahweh troubled him. **[16:15]** Saul's servants said to him, See now, an evil spirit from God troubles you. **[16:16]** Let our lord now command your servants who are before you, to seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp: and it shall happen, when the evil spirit from God is on you, that he shall play with his hand, and you shall be well. **[16:17]** Saul said to his servants, Provide me now a man who can play well, and bring him to me. **[16:18]** Then answered one of the young men, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, and a mighty man of valor, and a man of war, and prudent in speech, and a comely person; and Yahweh is with him. **[16:19]** Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, Send me David your son, who is with the sheep. **[16:20]** Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son to Saul. **[16:21]** David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armor bearer. **[16:22]** Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Please let David stand before me; for he has found favor in my sight. **[16:23]** It happened, when the [evil] spirit from God was on Saul, that David took the harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him. **[17:1]** Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle; and they were gathered together at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim. **[17:2]** Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and encamped in the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. **[17:3]** The Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. **[17:4]** There went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. **[17:5]** He had a helmet of brass on his head, and he was clad with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass. **[17:6]** He had brass shin-armor on his legs, and a javelin of brass between his shoulders. **[17:7]** The staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head [weighed] six hundred shekels of iron: and his shield-bearer went before him. **[17:8]** He stood and cried to the armies of Israel, and said to them, Why are you come out to set your battle in array? am I not a Philistine, and you servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. **[17:9]** If he be able to fight with me, and kill me, then will we be your servants; but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall you be our servants, and serve us. **[17:10]** The Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together. **[17:11]** When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid. **[17:12]** Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man was an old man in the days of Saul, stricken [in years] among men. **[17:13]** The three eldest sons of Jesse had gone after Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. **[17:14]** David was the youngest; and the three eldest followed Saul. **[17:15]** Now David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. **[17:16]** The Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. **[17:17]** Jesse said to David his son, Take now for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry [them] quickly to the camp to your brothers; **[17:18]** and bring these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and look how your brothers fare, and take their pledge. **[17:19]** Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. **[17:20]** David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the place of the wagons, as the host which was going forth to the fight shouted for the battle. **[17:21]** Israel and the Philistines put the battle in array, army against army. **[17:22]** David left his baggage in the hand of the keeper of the baggage, and ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers. **[17:23]** As he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke according to the same words: and David heard them. **[17:24]** All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid. **[17:25]** The men of Israel said, Have you seen this man who is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who kills him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel. **[17:26]** David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man who kills this Philistine, and takes away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? **[17:27]** The people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man who kills him. **[17:28]** Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why are you come down? and with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride, and the naughtiness of your heart; for you have come down that you might see the battle. **[17:29]** David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause? **[17:30]** He turned away from him toward another, and spoke after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner. **[17:31]** When the words were heard which David spoke, they rehearsed them before Saul; and he sent for him. **[17:32]** David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine. **[17:33]** Saul said to David, You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. **[17:34]** David said to Saul, Your servant was keeping his father's sheep; and when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock, **[17:35]** I went out after him, and struck him, and delivered it out of his mouth; and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and struck him, and killed him. **[17:36]** Your servant struck both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God. **[17:37]** David said, Yahweh who delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. Saul said to David, Go, and Yahweh shall be with you. **[17:38]** Saul clad David with his clothing, and he put a helmet of brass on his head, and he clad him with a coat of mail. **[17:39]** David girded his sword on his clothing, and he tried to go; for he had not proved it. David said to Saul, I can't go with these; for I have not proved them. David put them off him. **[17:40]** He took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in the shepherd's bag which he had, even in his wallet; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine. **[17:41]** The Philistine came on and drew near to David; and the man who bore the shield went before him. **[17:42]** When the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and withal of a fair face. **[17:43]** The Philistine said to David, Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks? The Philistine cursed David by his gods. **[17:44]** The Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky, and to the animals of the field. **[17:45]** Then said David to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a javelin: but I come to you in the name of Yahweh of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. **[17:46]** This day will Yahweh deliver you into my hand; and I will strike you, and take your head from off you; and I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky, and to the wild animals of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, **[17:47]** and that all this assembly may know that Yahweh doesn't save with sword and spear: for the battle is Yahweh's, and he will give you into our hand. **[17:48]** It happened, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. **[17:49]** David put his hand in his bag, and took there a stone, and slang it, and struck the Philistine in his forehead; and the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. **[17:50]** So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine, and killed him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. **[17:51]** Then David ran, and stood over the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath of it, and killed him, and cut off his head therewith. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. **[17:52]** The men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until you come to Gai, and to the gates of Ekron. The wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even to Gath, and to Ekron. **[17:53]** The children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. **[17:54]** David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armor in his tent. **[17:55]** When Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? Abner said, As your soul lives, O king, I can't tell. **[17:56]** The king said, "Inquire whose son the young man is!" **[17:57]** As David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. **[17:58]** Saul said to him, Whose son are you, you young man? David answered, I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite. **[18:1]** It happened, when he had made an end of speaking to Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. **[18:2]** Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father's house. **[18:3]** Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. **[18:4]** Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him, and gave it to David, and his clothing, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his sash. **[18:5]** David went out wherever Saul sent him, [and] behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and it was good in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul's servants. **[18:6]** It happened as they came, when David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with instruments of music. **[18:7]** The women sang one to another as they played, and said, Saul has slain his thousands, David his ten thousands. **[18:8]** Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom? **[18:9]** Saul eyed David from that day and forward. **[18:10]** It happened on the next day, that an evil spirit from God came mightily on Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand; **[18:11]** and Saul cast the spear; for he said, I will strike David even to the wall. David avoided out of his presence twice. **[18:12]** Saul was afraid of David, because Yahweh was with him, and was departed from Saul. **[18:13]** Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. **[18:14]** David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and Yahweh was with him. **[18:15]** When Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he stood in awe of him. **[18:16]** But all Israel and Judah loved David; for he went out and came in before them. **[18:17]** Saul said to David, Behold, my elder daughter Merab, her will I give you as wife: only be valiant for me, and fight Yahweh's battles. For Saul said, Don't let my hand be on him, but let the hand of the Philistines be on him. **[18:18]** David said to Saul, Who am I, and what is my life, [or] my father's family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king? **[18:19]** But it happened at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as wife. **[18:20]** Michal, Saul's daughter, loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. **[18:21]** Saul said, I will give her to him, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Therefore Saul said to David, You shall this day be my son-in-law a second time. **[18:22]** Saul commanded his servants, [saying], Commune with David secretly, and say, Behold, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you: now therefore be the king's son-in-law. **[18:23]** Saul's servants spoke those words in the ears of David. David said, Seems it to you a light thing to be the king's son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed? **[18:24]** The servants of Saul told him, saying, On this manner spoke David. **[18:25]** Saul said, Thus shall you tell David, The king desires no dowry except one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. **[18:26]** When his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son-in-law. The days were not expired; **[18:27]** and David arose and went, he and his men, and killed of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full number to the king, that he might be the king's son-in-law. Saul gave him Michal his daughter as wife. **[18:28]** Saul saw and knew that Yahweh was with David; and Michal, Saul's daughter, loved him. **[18:29]** Saul was yet the more afraid of David; and Saul was David's enemy continually. **[18:30]** Then the princes of the Philistines went forth: and it happened, as often as they went forth, that David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul; so that his name was much set by. **[19:1]** Saul spoke to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted much in David. **[19:2]** Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeks to kill you: now therefore, please take care of yourself in the morning, and live in a secret place, and hide yourself: **[19:3]** and I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will commune with my father of you; and if I see anything, I will tell you. **[19:4]** Jonathan spoke good of David to Saul his father, and said to him, Don't let the king sin against his servant, against David; because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been very good toward you: **[19:5]** for he put his life in his hand, and struck the Philistine, and Yahweh worked a great victory for all Israel: you saw it, and did rejoice; why then will you sin against innocent blood, to kill David without a cause? **[19:6]** Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan: and Saul swore, As Yahweh lives, he shall not be put to death. **[19:7]** Jonathan called David, and Jonathan showed him all those things. Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as before. **[19:8]** There was war again: and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and killed them with a great slaughter; and they fled before him. **[19:9]** An evil spirit from Yahweh was on Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand; and David was playing with his hand. **[19:10]** Saul sought to strike David even to the wall with the spear; but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, and he struck the spear into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night. **[19:11]** Saul sent messengers to David's house, to watch him, and to kill him in the morning: and Michal, David's wife, told him, saying, If you don't save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be slain. **[19:12]** So Michal let David down through the window: and he went, and fled, and escaped. **[19:13]** Michal took the teraphim, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats' [hair] at the head of it, and covered it with the clothes. **[19:14]** When Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick. **[19:15]** Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him. **[19:16]** When the messengers came in, behold, the teraphim was in the bed, with the pillow of goats' [hair] at the head of it. **[19:17]** Saul said to Michal, Why have you deceived me thus, and let my enemy go, so that he is escaped? Michal answered Saul, He said to me, Let me go; why should I kill you? **[19:18]** Now David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. He and Samuel went and lived in Naioth. **[19:19]** It was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah. **[19:20]** Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of God came on the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. **[19:21]** When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. **[19:22]** Then went he also to Ramah, and came to the great well that is in Secu: and he asked and said, Where are Samuel and David? One said, Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah. **[19:23]** He went there to Naioth in Ramah: and the Spirit of God came on him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. **[19:24]** He also stripped off his clothes, and he also prophesied before Samuel, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, "Is Saul also among the prophets?" **[20:1]** David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, "What have I done? What is my iniquity?" and "What is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?" **[20:2]** He said to him, "Far from it; you shall not die: behold, my father does nothing either great or small, but that he discloses it to me; and why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so." **[20:3]** David swore moreover, and said, Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes; and he says, Don't let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death. **[20:4]** Then said Jonathan to David, Whatever your soul desires, I will even do it for you. **[20:5]** David said to Jonathan, Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field to the third day at evening. **[20:6]** If your father miss me at all, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem his city; for it is the yearly sacrifice there for all the family. **[20:7]** If he says, 'It is well;' your servant shall have peace: but if he be angry, then know that evil is determined by him. **[20:8]** Therefore deal kindly with your servant; for you have brought your servant into a covenant of Yahweh with you: but if there be in me iniquity, kill me yourself; for why should you bring me to your father? **[20:9]** Jonathan said, Far be it from you; for if I should at all know that evil were determined by my father to come on you, then wouldn't I tell you that? **[20:10]** Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me if perchance your father answer you roughly? **[20:11]** Jonathan said to David, Come, and let us go out into the field. They went out both of them into the field. **[20:12]** Jonathan said to David, Yahweh, the God of Israel, [be witness]: when I have sounded my father about this time tomorrow, [or] the third day, behold, if there be good toward David, shall I not then send to you, and disclose it to you? **[20:13]** Yahweh do so to Jonathan, and more also, should it please my father to do you evil, if I don't disclose it to you, and send you away, that you may go in peace: and Yahweh be with you, as he has been with my father. **[20:14]** You shall not only while yet I live show me the loving kindness of Yahweh, that I not die; **[20:15]** but also you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever; no, not when Yahweh has cut off the enemies of David everyone from the surface of the earth. **[20:16]** So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, [saying], Yahweh will require it at the hand of David's enemies. **[20:17]** Jonathan caused David to swear again, for the love that he had to him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul. **[20:18]** Then Jonathan said to him, Tomorrow is the new moon: and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. **[20:19]** When you have stayed three days, you shall go down quickly, and come to the place where you did hide yourself when the business was in hand, and shall remain by the stone Ezel. **[20:20]** I will shoot three arrows on the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. **[20:21]** Behold, I will send the boy, [saying], Go, find the arrows. If I tell the boy, Behold, the arrows are on this side of you; take them, and come; for there is peace to you and no hurt, as Yahweh lives. **[20:22]** But if I say thus to the boy, Behold, the arrows are beyond you; go your way; for Yahweh has sent you away. **[20:23]** As touching the matter which you and I have spoken of, behold, Yahweh is between you and me forever. **[20:24]** So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat food. **[20:25]** The king sat on his seat, as at other times, even on the seat by the wall; and Jonathan stood up, and Abner sat by Saul's side: but David's place was empty. **[20:26]** Nevertheless Saul didn't say anything that day: for he thought, Something has happened to him. He is not clean. Surely he is not clean. **[20:27]** It happened on the next day after the new moon, [which was] the second [day], that David's place was empty: and Saul said to Jonathan his son, Why doesn't the son of Jesse come to meat, neither yesterday, nor today? **[20:28]** Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem: **[20:29]** and he said, Please let me go, for our family has a sacrifice in the city; and my brother, he has commanded me [to be there]: and now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away, I pray you, and see my brothers. Therefore he is not come to the king's table. **[20:30]** Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, You son of a perverse rebellious woman, don't I know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother's nakedness? **[20:31]** For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you shall not be established, nor your kingdom. Therefore now send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die. **[20:32]** Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said to him, "Why should he be put to death? What has he done?" **[20:33]** Saul cast his spear at him to strike him. By this Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death. **[20:34]** So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and ate no food the second day of the month; for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame. **[20:35]** It happened in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little boy with him. **[20:36]** He said to his boy, Run, find now the arrows which I shoot. As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. **[20:37]** When the boy was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the boy, and said, Isn't the arrow beyond you? **[20:38]** Jonathan cried after the boy, Go fast! Hurry! Don't delay! Jonathan's boy gathered up the arrows, and came to his master. **[20:39]** But the boy didn't know anything: only Jonathan and David knew the matter. **[20:40]** Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy, and said to him, Go, carry them to the city. **[20:41]** As soon as the boy was gone, David arose out of [a place] toward the South, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded. **[20:42]** Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of Yahweh, saying, Yahweh shall be between me and you, and between my seed and your seed, forever. He arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city. **[21:1]** Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech came to meet David trembling, and said to him, Why are you alone, and no man with you? **[21:2]** David said to Ahimelech the priest, The king has commanded me a business, and has said to me, Let no man know anything of the business about which I send you, and what I have commanded you: and I have appointed the young men to such and such a place. **[21:3]** Now therefore what is under your hand? give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever there is present. **[21:4]** The priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women. **[21:5]** David answered the priest, and said to him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days; when I came out, the vessels of the young men were holy, though it was but a common journey; how much more then today shall their vessels be holy? **[21:6]** So the priest gave him holy [bread]; for there was no bread there but the show bread, that was taken from before Yahweh, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away. **[21:7]** Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before Yahweh; and his name was Doeg the Edomite, the best of the herdsmen who belonged to Saul. **[21:8]** David said to Ahimelech, Isn't there here under your hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste. **[21:9]** The priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if you will take that, take it; for there is no other except that here. David said, There is none like that; give it me. **[21:10]** David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. **[21:11]** The servants of Achish said to him, "Isn't this David the king of the land? Didn't they sing one to another about him in dances, saying, 'Saul has slain his thousands, David his ten thousands?'" **[21:12]** David laid up these words in his heart, and was very afraid of Achish the king of Gath. **[21:13]** He changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down on his beard. **[21:14]** Then said Achish to his servants, Look, you see the man is mad; why then have you brought him to me? **[21:15]** Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house? **[22:1]** David therefore departed there, and escaped to the cave of Adullam: and when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. **[22:2]** Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented, gathered themselves to him; and he became captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men. **[22:3]** David went there to Mizpeh of Moab: and he said to the king of Moab, Please let my father and my mother come forth, [and be] with you, until I know what God will do for me. **[22:4]** He brought them before the king of Moab: and they lived with him all the while that David was in the stronghold. **[22:5]** The prophet Gad said to David, Don't stay in the stronghold; depart, and get you into the land of Judah. Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hereth. **[22:6]** Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men who were with him: now Saul was sitting in Gibeah, under the tamarisk tree in Ramah, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him. **[22:7]** Saul said to his servants who stood about him, Hear now, you Benjamites; will the son of Jesse give everyone of you fields and vineyards, will he make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, **[22:8]** that all of you have conspired against me, and there is none who discloses to me when my son makes a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you who is sorry for me, or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day? **[22:9]** Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. **[22:10]** He inquired of Yahweh for him, and gave him food, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine. **[22:11]** Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests who were in Nob: and they came all of them to the king. **[22:12]** Saul said, Hear now, you son of Ahitub. He answered, Here I am, my lord. **[22:13]** Saul said to him, Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread, and a sword, and have inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day? **[22:14]** Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, Who among all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and is taken into your council, and is honorable in your house? **[22:15]** Have I today begun to inquire of God for him? be it far from me: don't let the king impute anything to his servant, nor to all the house of my father; for your servant knows nothing of all this, less or more. **[22:16]** The king said, You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you, and all your father's house. **[22:17]** The king said to the guard who stood about him, Turn, and kill the priests of Yahweh; because their hand also is with David, and because they knew that he fled, and didn't disclose it to me. But the servants of the king wouldn't put forth their hand to fall on the priests of Yahweh. **[22:18]** The king said to Doeg, Turn you, and fall on the priests. Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell on the priests, and he killed on that day eighty-five persons who wore a linen ephod. **[22:19]** Nob, the city of the priests, struck he with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and nursing babies, and oxen and donkeys and sheep, with the edge of the sword. **[22:20]** One of the sons of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David. **[22:21]** Abiathar told David that Saul had slain Yahweh's priests. **[22:22]** David said to Abiathar, I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: I have occasioned [the death] of all the persons of your father's house. **[22:23]** Abide you with me, don't be afraid; for he who seeks my life seeks your life: for with me you shall be in safeguard. **[23:1]** They told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and are robbing the threshing floors. **[23:2]** Therefore David inquired of Yahweh, saying, Shall I go and strike these Philistines? Yahweh said to David, Go, and strike the Philistines, and save Keilah. **[23:3]** David's men said to him, Behold, we are afraid here in Judah: how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines? **[23:4]** Then David inquired of Yahweh yet again. Yahweh answered him, and said, Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into your hand. **[23:5]** David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and killed them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. **[23:6]** It happened, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand. **[23:7]** It was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. Saul said, God has delivered him into my hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that has gates and bars. **[23:8]** Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. **[23:9]** David knew that Saul was devising mischief against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring here the ephod. **[23:10]** Then said David, O Yahweh, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake. **[23:11]** Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? Yahweh, the God of Israel, I beg you, tell your servant. Yahweh said, He will come down. **[23:12]** Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver up to me and my men into the hand of Saul? Yahweh said, They will deliver you up. **[23:13]** Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went wherever they could go. It was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah; and he gave up going there. **[23:14]** David abode in the wilderness in the strongholds, and remained in the hill-country in the wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God didn't deliver him into his hand. **[23:15]** David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life: and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in the wood. **[23:16]** Jonathan, Saul's son, arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God. **[23:17]** He said to him, Don't be afraid; for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you; and you shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you; and that also Saul my father knows. **[23:18]** They two made a covenant before Yahweh: and David abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house. **[23:19]** Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doesn't David hide himself with us in the strongholds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of the desert? **[23:20]** Now therefore, O king, come down, according to all the desire of your soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him up into the king's hand. **[23:21]** Saul said, Blessed be you of Yahweh; for you have had compassion on me. **[23:22]** Please go make yet more sure, and know and see his place where his haunt is, [and] who has seen him there; for it is told me that he deals very subtly. **[23:23]** See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking-places where he hides himself, and come you again to me of a certainty, and I will go with you: and it shall happen, if he be in the land, that I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah. **[23:24]** They arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah on the south of the desert. **[23:25]** Saul and his men went to seek him. They told David: why he came down to the rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon. When Saul heard [that], he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. **[23:26]** Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain: and David made haste to get away for fear of Saul; for Saul and his men compassed David and his men round about to take them. **[23:27]** But there came a messenger to Saul, saying, Haste you, and come; for the Philistines have made a raid on the land. **[23:28]** So Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines: therefore they called that place Sela Hammahlekoth. **[23:29]** David went up from there, and lived in the strongholds of En Gedi. **[24:1]** It happened, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of En Gedi. **[24:2]** Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men on the rocks of the wild goats. **[24:3]** He came to the sheep pens by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet. Now David and his men were abiding in the innermost parts of the cave. **[24:4]** The men of David said to him, Behold, the day of which Yahweh said to you, Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe secretly. **[24:5]** It happened afterward, that David's heart struck him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt. **[24:6]** He said to his men, Yahweh forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, Yahweh's anointed, to put forth my hand against him, seeing he is Yahweh's anointed. **[24:7]** So David checked his men with these words, and didn't allow them to rise against Saul. Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way. **[24:8]** David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king. When Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth, and did obeisance. **[24:9]** David said to Saul, Why listen you to men's words, saying, Behold, David seeks your hurt? **[24:10]** Behold, this day your eyes have seen how that Yahweh had delivered you today into my hand in the cave: and some bade me kill you; but [my eye] spared you; and I said, I will not put forth my hand against my lord; for he is Yahweh's anointed. **[24:11]** Moreover, my father, behold, yes, see the skirt of your robe in my hand; for in that I cut off the skirt of your robe, and didn't kill you, know you and see that there is neither evil nor disobedience in my hand, and I have not sinned against you, though you hunt after my life to take it. **[24:12]** Yahweh judge between me and you, and Yahweh avenge me of you; but my hand shall not be on you. **[24:13]** As says the proverb of the ancients, Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness; but my hand shall not be on you. **[24:14]** After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom do you pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea. **[24:15]** Yahweh therefore be judge, and give sentence between me and you, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of your hand. **[24:16]** It came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, Is this your voice, my son David? Saul lifted up his voice, and wept. **[24:17]** He said to David, You are more righteous than I; for you have rendered to me good, whereas I have rendered to you evil. **[24:18]** You have declared this day how that you have dealt well with me, because when Yahweh had delivered me up into your hand, you didn't kill me. **[24:19]** For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away unharmed? Therefore may Yahweh reward you good for that which you have done to me this day. **[24:20]** Now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. **[24:21]** Swear now therefore to me by Yahweh, that you will not cut off my seed after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father's house. **[24:22]** David swore to Saul. Saul went home; but David and his men got them up to the stronghold. **[25:1]** Samuel died; and all Israel gathered themselves together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran. **[25:2]** There was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. **[25:3]** Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail; and the woman was of good understanding, and of a beautiful face: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb. **[25:4]** David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. **[25:5]** David sent ten young men, and David said to the young men, Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name: **[25:6]** and thus shall you tell him who lives [in prosperity], Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. **[25:7]** Now I have heard that you have shearers: your shepherds have now been with us, and we did them no hurt, neither was there anything missing to them, all the while they were in Carmel. **[25:8]** Ask your young men, and they will tell you: therefore let the young men find favor in your eyes; for we come in a good day. Please give whatever comes to your hand, to your servants, and to your son David. **[25:9]** When David's young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased. **[25:10]** Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there are many servants now-a-days who break away every man from his master. **[25:11]** Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men who I don't know where they come from? **[25:12]** So David's young men turned on their way, and went back, and came and told him according to all these words. **[25:13]** David said to his men, Gird you on every man his sword. They girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the baggage. **[25:14]** But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to Greet our master; and he railed at them. **[25:15]** But the men were very good to us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we anything, as long as we went with them, when we were in the fields: **[25:16]** they were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. **[25:17]** Now therefore know and consider what you will do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his house: for he is such a worthless fellow that one can't speak to him. **[25:18]** Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched grain, and one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys. **[25:19]** She said to her young men, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she didn't tell her husband, Nabal. **[25:20]** It was so, as she rode on her donkey, and came down by the covert of the mountain, that behold, David and his men came down toward her; and she met them. **[25:21]** Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained to him: and he has returned me evil for good. **[25:22]** God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, if I leave of all that belongs to him by the morning light so much as one man-child. **[25:23]** When Abigail saw David, she hurried, and alighted from her donkey, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground. **[25:24]** She fell at his feet, and said, On me, my lord, on me be the iniquity; and please let your handmaid speak in your ears. Hear the words of your handmaid. **[25:25]** Please don't let my lord regard this worthless fellow, even Nabal; for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I your handmaid didn't see the young men of my lord, whom you did send. **[25:26]** Now therefore, my lord, as Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, seeing Yahweh has withheld you from blood guiltiness, and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now therefore let your enemies, and those who seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. **[25:27]** Now this present which your servant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord. **[25:28]** Please forgive the trespass of your handmaid: for Yahweh will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord fights the battles of Yahweh; and evil shall not be found in you all your days. **[25:29]** Though men be risen up to pursue you, and to seek your soul, yet the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with Yahweh your God; and the souls of your enemies, them shall he sling out, as from the hollow of a sling. **[25:30]** It shall come to pass, when Yahweh shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and shall have appointed you prince over Israel, **[25:31]** that this shall be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. When Yahweh shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember your handmaid. **[25:32]** David said to Abigail, Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me: **[25:33]** and blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, that have kept me this day from blood guiltiness, and from avenging myself with my own hand. **[25:34]** For in very deed, as Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, who has withheld me from hurting you, except you had hurried and come to meet me, surely there wouldn't have been left to Nabal by the morning light so much as one man-child. **[25:35]** So David received of her hand that which she had brought him: and he said to her, Go up in peace to your house; behold, I have listened to your voice, and have accepted your person. **[25:36]** Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: therefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light. **[25:37]** It happened in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, that his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. **[25:38]** It happened about ten days after, that Yahweh struck Nabal, so that he died. **[25:39]** When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be Yahweh, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from evil: and the evil-doing of Nabal has Yahweh returned on his own head. David sent and spoke concerning Abigail, to take her to him as wife. **[25:40]** When the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, David has sent us to you, to take you to him as wife. **[25:41]** She arose, and bowed herself with her face to the earth, and said, Behold, your handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord. **[25:42]** Abigail hurried, and arose, and rode on a donkey, with five ladies of hers who followed her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife. **[25:43]** David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they became both of them his wives. **[25:44]** Now Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim. **[26:1]** The Ziphites came to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doesn't David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before the desert? **[26:2]** Then Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. **[26:3]** Saul encamped in the hill of Hachilah, which is before the desert, by the way. But David abode in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness. **[26:4]** David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul was come of a certainty. **[26:5]** David arose, and came to the place where Saul had encamped; and David saw the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the captain of his host: and Saul lay within the place of the wagons, and the people were encamped round about him. **[26:6]** Then answered David and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joab, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? Abishai said, I will go down with you. **[26:7]** So David and Abishai came to the people by night: and, behold, Saul lay sleeping within the place of the wagons, with his spear stuck in the ground at his head; and Abner and the people lay round about him. **[26:8]** Then said Abishai to David, God has delivered up your enemy into your hand this day: now therefore please let me strike him with the spear to the earth at one stroke, and I will not strike him the second time. **[26:9]** David said to Abishai, Don't destroy him; for who can put forth his hand against Yahweh's anointed, and be guiltless? **[26:10]** David said, As Yahweh lives, Yahweh will strike him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall go down into battle and perish. **[26:11]** Yahweh forbid that I should put forth my hand against Yahweh's anointed: but now please take the spear that is at his head, and the jar of water, and let us go. **[26:12]** So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul's head; and they got them away: and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither did any awake; for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from Yahweh was fallen on them. **[26:13]** Then David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of the mountain afar off; a great space being between them; **[26:14]** and David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, Don't you answer, Abner? Then Abner answered, Who are you who cries to the king? **[26:15]** David said to Abner, Aren't you a [valiant] man? and who is like you in Israel? why then have you not kept watch over your lord, the king? for there came one of the people in to destroy the king your lord. **[26:16]** This thing isn't good that you have done. As Yahweh lives, you are worthy to die, because you have not kept watch over your lord, Yahweh's anointed. Now see where the king's spear is, and the jar of water that was at his head. **[26:17]** Saul knew David's voice, and said, Is this your voice, my son David? David said, It is my voice, my lord, O king. **[26:18]** He said, Why does my lord pursue after his servant? for what have I done? or what evil is in my hand? **[26:19]** Now therefore, please let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it be Yahweh that has stirred you up against me, let him accept an offering: but if it be the children of men, cursed be they before Yahweh: for they have driven me out this day that I shouldn't cling to Yahweh's inheritance, saying, Go, serve other gods. **[26:20]** Now therefore, don't let my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of Yahweh: for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one does hunt a partridge in the mountains. **[26:21]** Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son David; for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day: behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly. **[26:22]** David answered, Behold the spear, O king! let then one of the young men come over and get it. **[26:23]** Yahweh will render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness; because Yahweh delivered you into my hand today, and I wouldn't put forth my hand against Yahweh's anointed. **[26:24]** Behold, as your life was much set by this day in my eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of Yahweh, and let him deliver me out of all oppression. **[26:25]** Then Saul said to David, Blessed be you, my son David: you shall both do mightily, and shall surely prevail. So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place. **[27:1]** David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me any more in all the borders of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand. **[27:2]** David arose, and passed over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath. **[27:3]** David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal's wife. **[27:4]** It was told Saul that David was fled to Gath: and he sought no more again for him. **[27:5]** David said to Achish, If now I have found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you? **[27:6]** Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day: why Ziklag pertains to the kings of Judah to this day. **[27:7]** The number of the days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months. **[27:8]** David and his men went up, and made a raid on the Geshurites, and the Girzites, and the Amalekites; for those [nations] were the inhabitants of the land, who were of old, as you go to Shur, even to the land of Egypt. **[27:9]** David struck the land, and saved neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the donkeys, and the camels, and the clothing; and he returned, and came to Achish. **[27:10]** Achish said, Against whom have you made a raid today? David said, Against the South of Judah, and against the South of the Jerahmeelites, and against the South of the Kenites. **[27:11]** David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring them to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell of us, saying, So did David, and so has been his manner all the while he has lived in the country of the Philistines. **[27:12]** Achish believed David, saying, He has made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant forever. **[28:1]** It happened in those days, that the Philistines gathered their hosts together for warfare, to fight with Israel. Achish said to David, Know you assuredly, that you shall go out with me in the host, you and your men. **[28:2]** David said to Achish, Therefore you shall know what your servant will do. Achish said to David, Therefore will I make you keeper of my head for ever. **[28:3]** Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. Saul had put away those who had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land. **[28:4]** The Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and encamped in Shunem: and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they encamped in Gilboa. **[28:5]** When Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. **[28:6]** When Saul inquired of Yahweh, Yahweh didn't answer him, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets. **[28:7]** Then said Saul to his servants, Seek me a woman who has a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of her. His servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman who has a familiar spirit at En-dor. **[28:8]** Saul disguised himself, and put on other clothing, and went, he and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, Please divine to me by the familiar spirit, and bring me up whoever I shall name to you. **[28:9]** The woman said to him, Behold, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off those who have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: why then lay you a snare for my life, to cause me to die? **[28:10]** Saul swore to her by Yahweh, saying, As Yahweh lives, there shall no punishment happen to you for this thing. **[28:11]** Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up to you? He said, Bring me up Samuel. **[28:12]** When the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice; and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, Why have you deceived me? for you are Saul. **[28:13]** The king said to her, Don't be afraid: for what do you see? The woman said to Saul, I see a god coming up out of the earth. **[28:14]** He said to her, What form is he of? She said, An old man comes up; and he is covered with a robe. Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground, and did obeisance. **[28:15]** Samuel said to Saul, Why have you disquieted me, to bring me up? Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answers me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called you, that you may make known to me what I shall do. **[28:16]** Samuel said, Why then do you ask of me, seeing Yahweh is departed from you, and is become your adversary? **[28:17]** Yahweh has done to you, as he spoke by me: and Yahweh has torn the kingdom out of your hand, and given it to your neighbor, even to David. **[28:18]** Because you didn't obey the voice of Yahweh, and didn't execute his fierce wrath on Amalek, therefore has Yahweh done this thing to you this day. **[28:19]** Moreover Yahweh will deliver Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines; and tomorrow shall you and your sons be with me: Yahweh will deliver the host of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines. **[28:20]** Then Saul fell immediately his full length on the earth, and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night. **[28:21]** The woman came to Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled, and said to him, Behold, your handmaid has listened to your voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have listened to your words which you spoke to me. **[28:22]** Now therefore, please listen also to the voice of your handmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread before you; and eat, that you may have strength, when you go on your way. **[28:23]** But he refused, and said, I will not eat. But his servants, together with the woman, constrained him; and he listened to their voice. So he arose from the earth, and sat on the bed. **[28:24]** The woman had a fattened calf in the house; and she hurried, and killed it; and she took flour, and kneaded it, and did bake unleavened bread of it: **[28:25]** and she brought it before Saul, and before his servants; and they ate. Then they rose up, and went away that night. **[29:1]** Now the Philistines gathered together all their hosts to Aphek: and the Israelites encamped by the spring which is in Jezreel. **[29:2]** The lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds, and by thousands; and David and his men passed on in the rearward with Achish. **[29:3]** Then said the princes of the Philistines, What [do] these Hebrews [here]? Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, Isn't this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or [rather] these years, and I have found no fault in him since he fell away [to me] to this day? **[29:4]** But the princes of the Philistines were angry with him; and the princes of the Philistines said to him, Make the man return, that he may go back to his place where you have appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary to us: for with what should this [fellow] reconcile himself to his lord? should it not be with the heads of these men? **[29:5]** Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul has slain his thousands, David his ten thousands? **[29:6]** Then Achish called David, and said to him, As Yahweh lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the host is good in my sight; for I have not found evil in you since the day of your coming to me to this day: nevertheless the lords don't favor you. **[29:7]** Therefore now return, and go in peace, that you not displease the lords of the Philistines. **[29:8]** David said to Achish, But what have I done? and what have you found in your servant so long as I have been before you to this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king? **[29:9]** Achish answered David, I know that you are good in my sight, as an angel of God: notwithstanding the princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle. **[29:10]** Therefore now rise up early in the morning with the servants of your lord who have come with you; and as soon as you are up early in the morning, and have light, depart. **[29:11]** So David rose up early, he and his men, to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines. The Philistines went up to Jezreel. **[30:1]** It happened, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid on the South, and on Ziklag, and had struck Ziklag, and burned it with fire, **[30:2]** and had taken captive the women [and all] who were therein, both small and great: they didn't kill any, but carried them off, and went their way. **[30:3]** When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captive. **[30:4]** Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep. **[30:5]** David's two wives were taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. **[30:6]** David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David strengthened himself in Yahweh his God. **[30:7]** David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, Please bring me here the ephod. Abiathar brought there the ephod to David. **[30:8]** David inquired of Yahweh, saying, If I pursue after this troop, shall I overtake them? He answered him, Pursue; for you shall surely overtake [them], and shall without fail recover [all]. **[30:9]** So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed. **[30:10]** But David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who were so faint that they couldn't go over the brook Besor. **[30:11]** They found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he ate; and they gave him water to drink. **[30:12]** They gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him; for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights. **[30:13]** David said to him, To whom belong you? and whence are you? He said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days ago I fell sick. **[30:14]** We made a raid on the South of the Cherethites, and on that which belongs to Judah, and on the South of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire. **[30:15]** David said to him, Will you bring me down to this troop? He said, Swear to me by God, that you will neither kill me, nor deliver me up into the hands of my master, and I will bring you down to this troop. **[30:16]** When he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the ground, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah. **[30:17]** David struck them from the twilight even to the evening of the next day: and there not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men, who rode on camels and fled. **[30:18]** David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken; and David rescued his two wives. **[30:19]** There was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor anything that they had taken to them: David brought back all. **[30:20]** David took all the flocks and the herds, [which] they drove before those [other] cattle, and said, This is David's spoil. **[30:21]** David came to the two hundred men, who were so faint that they could not follow David, whom also they had made to abide at the brook Besor; and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people who were with him: and when David came near to the people, he greeted them. **[30:22]** Then answered all the wicked men and base fellows, of those who went with David, and said, Because they didn't go with us, we will not give them anything of the spoil that we have recovered, except to every man his wife and his children, that he may lead them away, and depart. **[30:23]** Then said David, You shall not do so, my brothers, with that which Yahweh has given to us, who has preserved us, and delivered the troop that came against us into our hand. **[30:24]** Who will listen to you in this matter? for as his share is who goes down to the battle, so shall his share be who tarries by the baggage: they shall share alike. **[30:25]** It was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day. **[30:26]** When David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil to the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold, a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of Yahweh: **[30:27]** To those who were in Bethel, and to those who were in Ramoth of the South, and to those who were in Jattir, **[30:28]** and to those who were in Aroer, and to those who were in Siphmoth, and to those who were in Eshtemoa, **[30:29]** and to those who were in Racal, and to those who were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to those who were in the cities of the Kenites, **[30:30]** and to those who were in Hormah, and to those who were in Borashan, and to those who were in Athach, **[30:31]** and to those who were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men used to stay. **[31:1]** Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain on Mount Gilboa. **[31:2]** The Philistines followed hard on Saul and on his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul. **[31:3]** The battle went sore against Saul, and the archers overtook him; and he was greatly distressed by reason of the archers. **[31:4]** Then said Saul to his armor bearer, Draw your sword, and thrust me through therewith, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armor bearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took his sword, and fell on it. **[31:5]** When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell on his sword, and died with him. **[31:6]** So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor bearer, and all his men, that same day together. **[31:7]** When the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, and those who were beyond the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and lived in them. **[31:8]** It happened on the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. **[31:9]** They cut off his head, and stripped off his armor, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry the news to the house of their idols, and to the people. **[31:10]** They put his armor in the house of the Ashtaroth; and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan. **[31:11]** When the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard concerning him that which the Philistines had done to Saul, **[31:12]** all the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan; and they came to Jabesh, and burnt them there. **[31:13]** They took their bones, and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

9 1 Samuel - Young's Literal Translation (YLT).md

# 1 Samuel - Young's Literal Translation (YLT) **[1:1]** And there is a certain man of Ramathaim-Zophim, of the hill-country of Ephraim, and his name `is' Elkanah, son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, and Ephrathite, **[1:2]** and he hath two wives, the name of the one `is' Hannah, and the name of the second Peninnah, and Peninnah hath children, and Hannah hath no children. **[1:3]** And that man hath gone up out of his city from time to time, to bow himself, and to sacrifice, before Jehovah of Hosts, in Shiloh, and there `are' two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, priests to Jehovah. **[1:4]** And the day cometh, and Elkanah sacrificeth, and he hath given to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions, **[1:5]** and to Hannah he giveth a certain portion -- double, for he hath loved Hannah, and Jehovah hath shut her womb; **[1:6]** and her adversity hath also provoked her greatly, so as to make her tremble, for Jehovah hath shut up her womb. **[1:7]** And so he doth year by year, from the time of her going up into the house of Jehovah, so it provoketh her, and she weepeth, and doth not eat. **[1:8]** And Elkanah her husband saith to her, `Hannah, why weepest thou? and why dost thou not eat? and why is thy heart afflicted? am I not better to thee than ten sons?' **[1:9]** And Hannah riseth after eating in Shiloh, and after drinking, and Eli the priest is sitting on the throne by the side-post of the temple of Jehovah. **[1:10]** And she is bitter in soul, and prayeth unto Jehovah, and weepeth greatly, **[1:11]** and voweth a vow, and saith, `Jehovah of Hosts, if Thou dost certainly look on the affliction of Thy handmaid, and hast remembered me, and dost not forget Thy handmaid, and hast given to Thy handmaid seed of men -- then I have given him to Jehovah all days of his life, and a razor doth not go up upon his head.' **[1:12]** And it hath been, when she multiplied praying before Jehovah, that Eli is watching her mouth, **[1:13]** and Hannah, she is speaking to her heart, only her lips are moving, and her voice is not heard, and Eli reckoneth her to be drunken. **[1:14]** And Eli saith unto her, `Until when are thou drunken? turn aside thy wine from thee.' **[1:15]** And Hannah answereth and saith, `No, my lord, A woman sharply pained in spirit I `am', and wine and strong drink I have not drunk, and I pour out my soul before Jehovah; **[1:16]** put not thy handmaid before a daughter of worthlessness, for from the abundance of my meditation, and of my provocation, I have spoken hitherto.' **[1:17]** And Eli answereth and saith, `Go in peace, and the God of Israel doth give thy petition which thou hast asked of Him.' **[1:18]** And she saith, `Let thy handmaid find grace in thine eyes;' and the woman goeth on her way, and eateth, and her countenance hath not been `sad' for it any more. **[1:19]** And they rise early in the morning, and bow themselves before Jehovah, and turn back, and come in unto their house in Ramah, and Elkanah knoweth Hannah his wife, and Jehovah remembereth her; **[1:20]** and it cometh to pass, at the revolution of the days, that Hannah conceiveth, and beareth a son, and calleth his name Samuel, `for, from Jehovah I have asked him.' **[1:21]** And the man Elkanah goeth up, and all his house, to sacrifice to Jehovah the sacrifice of the days, and his vow. **[1:22]** And Hannah hath not gone up, for she said to her husband, `Till the youth is weaned -- then I have brought him in, and he hath appeared before the face of Jehovah, and dwelt there -- unto the age.' **[1:23]** And Elkanah her husband saith to her, `Do that which is good in thine eyes; abide till thy weaning him; only, Jehovah establish His word;' and the woman abideth and suckleth her son till she hath weaned him, **[1:24]** and she causeth him to go up with her when she hath weaned him, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and she bringeth him into the house of Jehovah at Shiloh, and the youth `is but' a youth. **[1:25]** And they slaughter the bullock, and bring in the youth unto Eli, **[1:26]** and she saith, `O, my lord, thy soul liveth! my lord, I `am' the woman who stood with thee in this `place', to pray unto Jehovah; **[1:27]** for this youth I prayed, and Jehovah doth give to me my petition which I asked of Him; **[1:28]** and also I have caused him to be asked for Jehovah, all the days that he hath lived -- he is asked for Jehovah;' and he boweth himself there before Jehovah. **[2:1]** And Hannah prayeth, and saith: `My heart hath exulted in Jehovah, My horn hath been high in Jehovah, My mouth hath been large over mine enemies, For I have rejoiced in Thy salvation. **[2:2]** There is none holy like Jehovah, For there is none save Thee, And there is no rock like our God. **[2:3]** Ye multiply not -- ye speak haughtily -- The old saying goeth out from your mouth, For a God of knowledge `is' Jehovah, And by Him actions are weighed. **[2:4]** Bows of the mighty are broken, And the stumbling have girded on strength. **[2:5]** The satiated for bread hired themselves, And the hungry have ceased. While the barren hath borne seven, And she abounding with sons hath languished. **[2:6]** Jehovah putteth to death, and keepeth alive, He bringeth down to Sheol, and bringeth up. **[2:7]** Jehovah dispossesseth, and He maketh rich, He maketh low, yea, He maketh high. **[2:8]** He raiseth from the dust the poor, From a dunghill He lifteth up the needy, To cause `them' to sit with nobles, Yea, a throne of honour He doth cause them to inherit, For to Jehovah `are' the fixtures of earth, And He setteth on them the habitable world. **[2:9]** The feet of His saints He keepeth, And the wicked in darkness are silent, For not by power doth man become mighty. **[2:10]** Jehovah -- broken down are His adversaries, Against them in the heavens He thundereth: Jehovah judgeth the ends of earth, And giveth strength to His king, And exalteth the horn of His anointed.' **[2:11]** And Elkanah goeth to Ramath, unto his house, and the youth hath been serving Jehovah, `in' the presence of Eli the priest; **[2:12]** and the sons of Eli `are' sons of worthlessness, they have not known Jehovah. **[2:13]** And the custom of the priests with the people `is': any man sacrificing a sacrifice -- then hath the servant of the priest come in when the flesh is boiling, and the hook of three teeth in his hand, **[2:14]** and hath struck `it' into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the hook bringeth up doth the priest take for himself; thus they do to all Israel who are coming in, there, in Shiloh. **[2:15]** Also before they make perfume with the fat -- then hath the priest's servant come in, and said to the man who is sacrificing, `Give flesh to roast for the priest, and he doth not take of thee flesh boiled, but raw;' **[2:16]** and the man saith unto him, `Let them surely make a perfume (as to-day) with the fat, then take to thee as thy soul desireth;' and he hath said to him, `Surely now thou dost give; and if not -- I have taken by strength.' **[2:17]** And the sin of the young men is very great `in' the presence of Jehovah, for the men have despised the offering of Jehovah. **[2:18]** And Samuel is ministering `in' the presence of Jehovah, a youth girt `with' an ephod of linen; **[2:19]** and a small upper coat doth his mother make to him, and she hath brought it up to him from time to time, in her coming up with her husband to sacrifice the sacrifice of the time. **[2:20]** And Eli blessed Elkanah, and his wife, and said, `Jehovah doth appoint for thee seed of this woman, for the petition which she asked for Jehovah;' and they have gone to their place. **[2:21]** When Jehovah hath looked after Hannah, then she conceiveth and beareth three sons and two daughters; and the youth Samuel groweth up with Jehovah. **[2:22]** And Eli `is' very old, and hath heard all that his sons do to all Israel, and how that they lie with the women who are assembling `at' the opening of the tent of meeting, **[2:23]** and he saith to them, `Why do ye things like these? for I am hearing of your evil words from all the people -- these! **[2:24]** Nay, my sons; for the report which I am hearing is not good causing the people of Jehovah to transgress. -- **[2:25]** If a man sin against a man, then hath God judged him; but if against Jehovah a man sin, who doth pray for him?' and they hearken not to the voice of their father, though Jehovah hath delighted to put them to death. **[2:26]** And the youth Samuel is going on and growing up, and `is' good both with Jehovah, and also with men. **[2:27]** And there cometh a man of God unto Eli, and saith unto him, `Thus said Jehovah, Was I really revealed unto the house of thy father in their being in Egypt, before Pharaoh's house, **[2:28]** even to choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to Me for a priest, to go up on Mine altar, to make a perfume, to bear an ephod before Me, and I give to the house of thy father all the fire-offerings of the sons of Israel? **[2:29]** Why do ye kick at My sacrifice, and at Mine offering which I commanded `in' My habitation, and dost honour thy sons above Me, to make yourselves fat from the first part of every offering of Israel, of My people? **[2:30]** `Therefore -- the affirmation of Jehovah, God of Israel -- I certainly said, Thy house and the house of thy father, do walk up and down before Me to the age; and now -- the affirmation of Jehovah -- Far be it from Me! for he who is honouring Me, I honour, and those despising Me, are lightly esteemed. **[2:31]** `Lo, days `are' coming, and I have cut off thine arm, and the arm of the house of thy father, that an old man is not in thy house; **[2:32]** and thou hast beheld an adversary `in My' habitation, in all that He doth good with Israel, and there is not an old man in thy house all the days. **[2:33]** `And the man I cut not off of thine from Mine altar, `is' to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thy soul; and all the increase of thy house do die men; **[2:34]** and this `is' to thee the sign that cometh unto thy two sons, unto Hophni and Phinehas -- in one day they die both of them; **[2:35]** and I have raised up for Me a stedfast priest; as in My heart and in My soul he doth do; and I have built for him a stedfast house, and he hath walked up and down before Mine anointed all the days; **[2:36]** and it hath been, every one who is left in thy house doth come in to bow himself to him, for a wage of silver, and a cake of bread, and hath said, Admit me, I pray thee, unto one of the priest's offices, to eat a morsel of bread.' **[3:1]** And the youth Samuel is serving Jehovah before Eli, and the word of Jehovah hath been precious in those days -- there is no vision broken forth. **[3:2]** And it cometh to pass, at that time, that Eli is lying down in his place, and his eyes have begun to be dim -- he is not able to see. **[3:3]** And the lamp of God is not yet extinguished, and Samuel is lying down in the temple of Jehovah, where the ark of God `is', **[3:4]** and Jehovah calleth unto Samuel, and he saith, `Here `am' I.' **[3:5]** And he runneth unto Eli, and saith, `Here `am' I, for thou hast called for me;' and he saith, `I called not; turn back, lie down;' and he goeth and lieth down. **[3:6]** And Jehovah addeth to call again Samuel, and Samuel riseth and goeth unto Eli, and saith, `Here `am' I, for thou hast called for me;' and he saith, `I have not called, my son, turn back, lie down.' **[3:7]** And Samuel hath not yet known Jehovah, and the word of Jehovah is not yet revealed unto him. **[3:8]** And Jehovah addeth to call Samuel the third time, and he riseth and goeth unto Eli, and saith, `Here `am' I, for thou hast called for me;' and Eli understandeth that Jehovah is calling to the youth. **[3:9]** And Eli saith to Samuel, `Go, lie down, and it hath been, if He doth call unto thee, that thou hast said, Speak, Jehovah, for Thy servant is hearing;' and Samuel goeth and lieth down in his place. **[3:10]** And Jehovah cometh, and stationeth Himself, and calleth as time by time, `Samuel, Samuel;' and Samuel saith, `Speak, for Thy servant if hearing.' **[3:11]** And Jehovah saith unto Samuel, `Lo, I am doing a thing in Israel, at which the two ears of every one hearing it do tingle. **[3:12]** In that day I establish unto Eli all that I have spoken unto his house, beginning and completing; **[3:13]** and I have declared to him that I am judging his house -- to the age, for the iniquity which he hath known, for his sons are making themselves vile, and he hath not restrained them, **[3:14]** and therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli: the iniquity of the house of Eli is not atoned for, by sacrifice, and by offering -- unto the age.' **[3:15]** And Samuel lieth till the morning, and openeth the doors of the house of Jehovah, and Samuel is afraid of declaring the vision unto Eli. **[3:16]** And Eli calleth Samuel, and saith, `Samuel, my son;' and he saith, `Here `am' I.' **[3:17]** And he saith, `What `is' the word which He hath spoken unto thee? I pray thee, hide it not from me; so doth God do to thee, and so doth He add, if thou hidest from me a word of all the words that He hath spoken unto thee.' **[3:18]** And Samuel declareth to him the whole of the words, and hath not hid from him; and he saith, `It `is' Jehovah; that which is good in His eyes He doth.' **[3:19]** And Samuel groweth up, and Jehovah hath been with him, and hath not let fall any of his words to the earth; **[3:20]** and all Israel know, from Dan even unto Beer-Sheba, that Samuel is established for a prophet to Jehovah. **[3:21]** And Jehovah addeth to appear in Shiloh, for Jehovah hath been revealed unto Samuel, in Shiloh, by the word of Jehovah. **[4:1]** And the word of Samuel is to all Israel, and Israel goeth out to meet the Philistines for battle, and they encamp by Eben-Ezer, and the Philistines have encamped in Aphek, **[4:2]** and the Philistines set themselves in array to meet Israel, and the battle spreadeth itself, and Israel is smitten before the Philistines, and they smite among the ranks in the field about four thousand men. **[4:3]** And the people cometh in unto the camp, and the elders of Israel say, `Why hath Jehovah smitten us to-day before the Philistines? we take unto us from Shiloh the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and it cometh into our midst, and He doth save us out of the hand of our enemies.' **[4:4]** And the people sendeth to Shiloh, and they take up thence the ark of the covenant of Jehovah of Hosts, inhabiting the cherubs, and there `are' two sons of Eli, with the ark of the covenant of God, Hophni and Phinehas. **[4:5]** And it cometh to pass, at the coming in of the ark of the covenant of Jehovah unto the camp, that all Israel shout -- a great shout -- and the earth is moved. **[4:6]** And the Philistines hear the noise of the shouting, and say, `What `is' the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews?' and they perceive that the ark of Jehovah hath come in unto the camp. **[4:7]** And the Philistines are afraid, for they said, `God hath come in unto the camp;' and they say, `Wo to us, for there hath not been like this heretofore. **[4:8]** Wo to us, who doth deliver us out of the hand of these honourable gods? these `are' the gods who are smiting the Egyptians with every plague in the wilderness. **[4:9]** Strengthen yourselves, and become men, O Philistines, lest ye do service to Hebrews, as they have done to you -- then ye have become men, and have fought.' **[4:10]** And the Philistines fight, and Israel is smitten, and they flee each to his tents, and the blow is very great, and there fall of Israel thirty thousand footmen; **[4:11]** and the ark of God hath been taken, and the two sons of Eli have died, Hophni and Phinehas. **[4:12]** And a man of Benjamin runneth out of the ranks, and cometh into Shiloh, on that day, and his long robes `are' rent, and earth on his head; **[4:13]** and he cometh in, and lo, Eli is sitting on the throne by the side of the way, watching, for his heart hath been trembling for the ark of God, and the man hath come in to declare `it' in the city, and all the city crieth out. **[4:14]** And Eli heareth the noise of the cry, and saith, `What -- the noise of this tumult!' And the man hasted, and cometh in, and declareth to Eli. **[4:15]** And Eli is a son of ninety and eight years, and his eyes have stood, and he hath not been able to see. **[4:16]** And the man saith unto Eli, `I `am' he who hath come out of the ranks, and I out of the ranks have fled to-day;' and he saith, `What hath been the matter, my son?' **[4:17]** And he who is bearing tidings answereth and saith, `Israel hath fled before the Philistines, and also a great slaughter hath been among the people, and also thy two sons have died -- Hophni and Phinehas -- and the ark of God hath been captured.' **[4:18]** And it cometh to pass, at his mentioning the ark of God, that he falleth from off the throne backward, by the side of the gate, and his neck is broken, and he dieth, for the man `is' old and heavy, and he hath judged Israel forty years. **[4:19]** And his daughter-in-law, wife of Phinehas, `is' pregnant, about to bear, and she heareth the report of the taking of the ark of God, that her father-in-law and her husband have died, and she boweth, and beareth, for her pains have turned upon her. **[4:20]** And at the time of her death, when the women who are standing by her say, `Fear not, for a son thou hast borne,' she hath not answered, nor set her heart `to it'; **[4:21]** and she calleth the youth I-Chabod, saying, `Honour hath removed from Israel,' because of the taking of the ark of God, and because of her father-in-law and her husband. **[4:22]** And she saith, `Honour hath removed from Israel, for the ark of God hath been taken.' **[5:1]** And the Philistines have taken the ark of God, and bring it in from Eben-Ezer to Ashdod, **[5:2]** and the Philistines take the ark of God and bring it into the house of Dagon, and set it near Dagon. **[5:3]** And the Ashdodites rise early on the morrow, and lo, Dagon is fallen on its face to the earth, before the ark of Jehovah; and they take Dagon, and put it back to its place. **[5:4]** And they rise early in the morning on the morrow, and lo, Dagon is fallen on its face to the earth, before the ark of Jehovah, and the head of Dagon, and the two palms of its hands are cut off at the threshold, only the fishy part hath been left to him; **[5:5]** therefore the priests of Dagon, and all those coming into the house of Dagon, tread not on the threshold of Dagon, in Ashdod, till this day. **[5:6]** And the hand of Jehovah is heavy on the Ashdodites, and He maketh them desolate, and smiteth them with emerods, Ashdod and its borders. **[5:7]** And the men of Ashdod see that `it is' so, and have said, `The ark of the God of Israel doth not abide with us, for hard hath been His hand upon us, and upon Dagon our god.' **[5:8]** And they send and gather all the princes of the Philistines unto them, and say, `What do we do to the ark of the God of Israel?' and they say, `To Gath let the ark of the God of Israel be brought round;' and they bring round the ark of the God of Israel; **[5:9]** and it cometh to pass after they have brought it round, that the hand of Jehovah is against the city -- a very great destruction; and He smiteth the men of the city, from small even unto great; and break forth on them do emerods. **[5:10]** And they send the ark of God to Ekron, and it cometh to pass, at the coming in of the ark of God to Ekron, that the Ekronites cry out, saying, `They have brought round unto us the ark of the God of Israel, to put us to death -- and our people.' **[5:11]** And they send and gather all the princes of the Philistines, and say, `Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and it turneth back to its place, and it doth not put us to death -- and our people;' for there hath been a deadly destruction throughout all the city, very heavy hath the hand of God been there, **[5:12]** and the men who have not died have been smitten with emerods, and the cry of the city goeth up into the heavens. **[6:1]** And the ark of Jehovah is in the field of the Philistines seven months, **[6:2]** and the Philistines call for priests and for diviners, saying, `What do we do to the ark of Jehovah? let us know wherewith we send it to its place?' **[6:3]** And they say, `If ye are sending away the ark of the God of Israel, ye do not send it away empty; for ye do certainly send back to Him a guilt-offering; then ye are healed, and it hath been known to you why His hand doth not turn aside from you.' **[6:4]** And they say, `What `is' the guilt-offering which we send back to Him?' and they say, `The number of the princes of the Philistines -- five golden emerods, and five golden mice -- for one plague `is' to you all, and to your princes, **[6:5]** and ye have made images of your emerods, and images of your mice that are corrupting the land, and have given honour to the God of Israel; it may be He doth lighten His hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land; **[6:6]** and why do ye harden your heart as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their heart? do they not -- when He hath rolled Himself upon them -- send them away, and they go? **[6:7]** `And now, take and make one new cart, and two suckling kine, on which a yoke hath not gone up, and ye have bound the kine in the cart, and caused their young ones to turn back from after them to the house, **[6:8]** and ye have taken the ark of Jehovah, and put it on the cart, and the vessels of gold which ye have returned to Him -- a guilt-offering -- ye put in a coffer on its side, and have sent it away, and it hath gone; **[6:9]** and ye have seen, if the way of its own border it goeth up to Beth-Shemesh -- He hath done to us this great evil; and if not, then we have known that His hand hath not come against us; an accident it hath been to us.' **[6:10]** And the men do so, and take two suckling kine, and bind them in the cart, and their young ones they have shut up in the house; **[6:11]** and they place the ark of Jehovah upon the cart, and the coffer, and the golden mice, and the images of their emerods. **[6:12]** And the kine go straight in the way, on the way to Beth-Shemesh, in one highway they have gone, going and lowing, and have not turned aside right or left; and the princes of the Philistines are going after them unto the border of Beth-Shemesh. **[6:13]** And the Beth-Shemeshites are reaping their wheat-harvest in the valley, and they lift up their eyes, and see the ark, and rejoice to see `it'. **[6:14]** And the cart hath come in unto the field of Joshua the Beth-Shemeshite, and standeth there, and there `is' a great stone, and they cleave the wood of the cart, and the kine they have caused to ascend -- a burnt-offering to Jehovah. **[6:15]** And the Levites have taken down the ark of Jehovah, and the coffer which `is' with it, in which `are' the vessels of gold, and place `them' on the great stone; and the men of Beth-Shemesh have caused to ascend burnt-offerings and sacrifice sacrifices in that day to Jehovah; **[6:16]** and the five princes of the Philistines have seen `it', and turn back `to' Ekron, on that day. **[6:17]** And these `are' the golden emerods which the Philistines have sent back -- a guilt-offering to Jehovah: for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Ashkelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one; **[6:18]** and the golden mice -- the number of all the cities of the Philistines -- for the five princes, from the fenced city even unto the hamlet of the villages, even unto the great meadow on which they placed the ark of Jehovah -- `are' unto this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-Shemeshite. **[6:19]** And He smiteth among the men of Beth-Shemesh, for they looked into the ark of Jehovah, yea, He smiteth among the people seventy men -- fifty chief men; and the people mourn, because Jehovah smote among the people -- a great smiting. **[6:20]** And the men of Beth-Shemesh say, `Who is able to stand before Jehovah, this holy God? and unto whom doth He go up from us?' **[6:21]** And they send messengers unto the inhabitants of Kirjath-Jearim, saying, `The Philistines have sent back the ark of Jehovah; come down, take it up unto you.' **[7:1]** And the men of Kirjath-Jearim come and bring up the ark of Jehovah, and bring it in unto the house of Abinadab, in the height, and Eleazar his son they have sanctified to keep the ark of Jehovah. **[7:2]** And it cometh to pass, from the day of the dwelling of the ark in Kirjath-Jearim, that the days are multiplied -- yea, they are twenty years -- and wail do all the house of Israel after Jehovah. **[7:3]** And Samuel speaketh unto all the house of Israel, saying, `If with all your heart ye are turning back unto Jehovah -- turn aside the gods of the stranger from your midst, and Ashtaroth; and prepare your heart unto Jehovah, and serve Him only, and He doth deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.' **[7:4]** And the sons of Israel turn aside the Baalim and Ashtaroth, and serve Jehovah alone; **[7:5]** and Samuel saith, `Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I pray for you unto Jehovah.' **[7:6]** And they are gathered to Mizpeh, and draw water, and pour out before Jehovah, and fast on that day, and say there, `We have sinned against Jehovah;' and Samuel judgeth the sons of Israel in Mizpeh. **[7:7]** And the Philistines hear that the sons of Israel have gathered themselves to Mizpeh; and the princes of the Philistines go up against Israel, and the sons of Israel hear, and are afraid of the presence of the Philistines. **[7:8]** And the sons of Israel say unto Samuel, `Keep not silent for us from crying unto Jehovah our God, and He doth save us out of the hand of the Philistines.' **[7:9]** And Samuel taketh a fat lamb, and causeth it to go up -- a burnt-offering whole to Jehovah; and Samuel crieth unto Jehovah for Israel, and Jehovah answereth him; **[7:10]** and Samuel is causing the burnt-offering to go up -- and the Philistines have drawn nigh to battle against Israel -- and Jehovah doth thunder with a great noise, on that day, upon the Philistines, and troubleth them, and they are smitten before Israel. **[7:11]** And the men of Israel go out from Mizpeh, and pursue the Philistines, and smite them unto the place of Beth-Car. **[7:12]** And Samuel taketh a stone, and setteth `it' between Mizpeh and Shen, and calleth its name Eben-Ezer, saying, `Hitherto hath Jehovah helped us.' **[7:13]** And the Philistines are humbled, and have not added any more to come into the border of Israel, and the hand of Jehovah is on the Philistines all the days of Samuel. **[7:14]** And the cities which the Philistines have taken from Israel are restored to Israel -- from Ekron even unto Gath -- and their border hath Israel delivered out of the hand of the Philistines; and there is peace between Israel and the Amorite. **[7:15]** And Samuel judgeth Israel all the days of his life, **[7:16]** and he hath gone from year to year, and gone round Beth-El, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel `in' all these places; **[7:17]** and his returning `is' to Ramath, for there `is' his house, and there he hath judged Israel, and he buildeth there an altar to Jehovah. **[8:1]** And it cometh to pass, when Samuel `is' aged, that he maketh his sons judges over Israel. **[8:2]** And the name of his first-born son is Joel, and the name of his second Abiah, judges in Beer-Sheba: **[8:3]** and his sons have not walked in his ways, and turn aside after the dishonest gain, and take a bribe, and turn aside judgment. **[8:4]** And all the elders of Israel gather themselves together, and come in unto Samuel to Ramath, **[8:5]** and say unto him, `Lo, thou hast become aged, and thy sons have not walked in thy ways; now, appoint to us a king, to judge us, like all the nations.' **[8:6]** And the thing is evil in the eyes of Samuel, when they have said, `Give to us a king to judge us;' and Samuel prayeth unto Jehovah. **[8:7]** And Jehovah saith unto Samuel, `Hearken to the voice of the people, to all that they say unto thee, for thee they have not rejected, but Me they have rejected, from reigning over them. **[8:8]** According to all the works that they have done from the day of My bringing them up out of Egypt, even unto this day, when they forsake Me, and serve other gods -- so they are doing also to thee. **[8:9]** And now, hearken to their voice; only, surely thou dost certainly protest to them, and hast declared to them the custom of the king who doth reign over them.' **[8:10]** And Samuel speaketh all the words of Jehovah unto the people who are asking from him a king, **[8:11]** and saith, `This is the custom of the king who doth reign over you: Your sons he doth take, and hath appointed for himself among his chariots, and among his horsemen, and they have run before his chariots; **[8:12]** also to appoint for himself heads of thousands, and heads of fifties; also to plow his plowing, and to reap his reaping; and to make instruments of his war, and instruments of his charioteer. **[8:13]** `And your daughters he doth take for perfumers, and for cooks, and for bakers; **[8:14]** and your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive-yards -- the best -- he doth take, and hath given to his servants. **[8:15]** And your seed and your vineyards he doth tithe, and hath given to his eunuchs, and to his servants. **[8:16]** And your men-servants, and your maid-servants, and your young men -- the best, and your asses, he doth take, and hath prepared for his own work; **[8:17]** your flock he doth tithe, and ye are to him for servants. **[8:18]** And ye have cried out in that day because of the king whom ye have chosen for yourselves, and Jehovah doth not answer you in that day.' **[8:19]** And the people refuse to hearken to the voice of Samuel, and say, `Nay, but a king is over us, **[8:20]** and we have been, even we, like all the nations; and our king hath judged us, and gone out before us, and fought our battles.' **[8:21]** And Samuel heareth all the words of the people, and speaketh them in the ears of Jehovah; **[8:22]** and Jehovah saith unto Samuel, `Hearken to their voice, and thou hast caused to reign over them a king.' And Samuel saith unto the men of Israel, `Go ye each to his city.' **[9:1]** And there is a man of Benjamin, and his name `is' Kish, son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Bechorath, son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, mighty of valour, **[9:2]** and he hath a son, and his name `is' Saul, a choice youth and goodly, and there is not a man among the sons of Israel goodlier than he -- from his shoulder and upward, higher than any of the people. **[9:3]** And the asses of Kish, father of Saul, are lost, and Kish saith unto Saul his son, `Take, I pray thee, with thee, one of the young men, and rise, go, seek the asses.' **[9:4]** And he passeth over through the hill-country of Ephraim, and passeth over through the land of Shalisha, and they have not found; and they pass over through the land of Shaalim, and they are not; and he passeth over through the land of Benjamin, and they have not found. **[9:5]** They have come in unto the land of Zuph, and Saul hath said to his young man who `is' with him, `Come, and we turn back, lest my father leave off from the asses, and hath been sorrowful for us.' **[9:6]** And he saith to him, `Lo, I pray thee, a man of God `is' in this city, and the man is honoured; all that he speaketh doth certainly come; now, we go there, it may be he doth declare to us our way on which we have gone.' **[9:7]** And Saul saith to his young man, `And lo, we go, and what do we bring in to the man? for the bread hath gone from our vessels, and a present there is not to bring in to the man of God -- what `is' with us?' **[9:8]** And the young man addeth to answer Saul, and saith, `Lo, there is found with me a fourth of a shekel of silver: and I have given to the man of God, and he hath declared to us our way.' **[9:9]** Formerly in Israel, thus said the man in his going to seek God, `Come and we go unto the seer,' for the `prophet' of to-day is called formerly `the seer.' **[9:10]** And Saul saith to his young man, `Thy word `is' good; come, we go;' and they go unto the city where the man of God `is'. **[9:11]** They are going up in the ascent of the city, and have found young women going out to draw water, and say to them, `Is the seer in this `place'?' **[9:12]** And they answer them and say, `He is; lo, before thee! haste, now, for to-day he hath come in to the city, for the people hath a stated sacrifice in a high place. **[9:13]** At your going in to the city so ye do find him, before he doth go up in to the high place to eat; for the people do not eat till his coming, for he doth bless the sacrifice; afterwards they eat, who are called, and now, go up, for at this time ye find him.' **[9:14]** And they go up in to the city; they are coming in to the midst of the city, and lo, Samuel is coming out to meet them, to go up to the high place; **[9:15]** and Jehovah had uncovered the ear of Samuel one day before the coming of Saul, saying, **[9:16]** `At this time tomorrow, I send unto thee a man out of the land of Benjamin -- and thou hast anointed him for leader over My people Israel, and he hath saved My people out of the hand of the Philistines; for I have seen My people, for its cry hath come in unto Me.' **[9:17]** When Samuel hath seen Saul, then hath Jehovah answered him, `Lo, the man of whom I have spoken unto thee; this `one' doth restrain My people.' **[9:18]** And Saul draweth nigh to Samuel in the midst of the gate, and saith, `Declare, I pray thee, to me, where `is' this -- the seer's house?' **[9:19]** And Samuel answereth Saul and saith, `I `am' the seer; go up before me into the high place, and ye have eaten with me to-day, and I have sent thee away in the morning, and all that `is' in thy heart I declare to thee. **[9:20]** As to the asses which are lost to thee this day three days, set not thy heart to them, for they have been found; and to whom `is' all the desire of Israel?' is it not to thee and to all thy father's house?' **[9:21]** And Saul answereth and saith, `Am not I a Benjamite -- of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? and why hast thou spoken unto me according to this word?' **[9:22]** And Samuel taketh Saul, and his young man, and bringeth them in to the chamber, and giveth to them a place at the head of those called; and they `are' about thirty men. **[9:23]** And Samuel saith to the cook, `Give the portion which I gave to thee, of which I said unto thee, `Set it by thee?' **[9:24]** (and the cook lifteth up the leg, and that which `is' on it, and setteth before Saul), and he saith, `Lo, that which is left; set `it' before thee -- eat, for to this appointed season it is kept for thee, saying, The people I have called;' and Saul eateth with Samuel on that day. **[9:25]** And they come down from the high place to the city, and he speaketh with Saul on the roof. **[9:26]** And they rise early, and it cometh to pass, at the ascending of the dawn, that Samuel calleth unto Saul, on the roof, saying, `Rise, and I send thee away;' and Saul riseth, and they go out, both of them -- he and Samuel, without. **[9:27]** They are going down in the extremity of the city, and Samuel hath said unto Saul, `Say to the young man that he pass on before us (and he passeth on), and thou, stand at this time, and I cause thee to hear the word of God.' **[10:1]** And Samuel taketh the vial of the oil, and poureth on his head, and kisseth him, and saith, `Is it not because Jehovah hath appointed thee over His inheritance for leader? **[10:2]** In thy going to-day from me -- then thou hast found two men by the grave of Rachel, in the border of Benjamin, at Zelzah, and they have said unto thee, The asses have been found which thou hast gone to seek; and lo, thy father hath left the matter of the asses, and hath sorrowed for you, saying, What do I do for my son? **[10:3]** `And thou hast passed on thence, and beyond, and hast come in unto the oak of Tabor, and found thee there have three men going up unto God to Beth-El, one bearing three kids, and one bearing three cakes of bread, and one bearing a bottle of wine, **[10:4]** and they have asked of thee of welfare, and given to thee two loaves, and thou hast received from their hand. **[10:5]** `Afterwards thou dost come unto the hill of God, where the garrison of the Philistines `is', and it cometh to pass, at thy coming in thither to the city, that thou hast met a band of prophets coming down from the high place, and before them psaltery, and tabret, and pipe, and harp, and they are prophesying; **[10:6]** and prospered over thee hath the Spirit of Jehovah, and thou hast prophesied with them, and hast been turned to another man; **[10:7]** and it hath been, when these signs come to thee -- do for thyself as thy hand findeth, for God `is' with thee. **[10:8]** `And thou hast gone down before me to Gilgal, and lo, I am going down unto thee, to cause to ascend burnt-offerings, to sacrifice sacrifices of peace-offerings; seven days thou dost wait till my coming in unto thee, and I have made known to thee that which thou dost do.' **[10:9]** And it hath been, at his turning his shoulder to go from Samuel, that God turneth to him another heart, and all these signs come on that day, **[10:10]** and they come in thither to the height, and lo, a band of prophets -- to meet him, and prosper over him doth the Spirit of God, and he prophesieth in their midst. **[10:11]** And it cometh to pass, all his acquaintance heretofore, see, and lo, with prophets he hath prophesied, and the people say one unto another, `What `is' this hath happened to the son of Kish? is Saul also among the prophets?' **[10:12]** And a man thence answereth and saith, `And who `is' their father?' therefore it hath been for a simile, `Is Saul also among the prophets?' **[10:13]** And he ceaseth from prophesying, and cometh in to the high place, **[10:14]** and the uncle of Saul saith unto him, and unto his young man, `Whither went ye?' and he saith, `To seek the asses; and we see that they are not, and we come in unto Samuel.' **[10:15]** And the uncle of Saul saith, `Declare, I pray thee, to me, what Samuel said to you?' **[10:16]** And Saul saith unto his uncle, `He certainly declared to us that the asses were found;' and of the matter of the kingdom he hath not declared to him that which Samuel said. **[10:17]** And Samuel calleth the people unto Jehovah to Mizpeh, **[10:18]** and saith unto the sons of Israel, `Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, I have brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I deliver you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all the kingdoms who are oppressing you; **[10:19]** and ye to-day have rejected your God, who `is' Himself your saviour out of all your evils and your distresses, and ye say, `Nay, but -- a king thou dost set over us; and now, station yourselves before Jehovah, by your tribes, and by your thousands.' **[10:20]** And Samuel bringeth near the whole tribes of Israel, and the tribe of Benjamin is captured, **[10:21]** and he bringeth near the tribe of Benjamin by its families, and the family of Matri is captured, and Saul son of Kish is captured, and they seek him, and he hath not been found. **[10:22]** And they ask again at Jehovah, `Hath the man yet come hither?' and Jehovah saith, `Lo, he hath been hidden near the vessels.' **[10:23]** And they run and bring him thence, and he stationed himself in the midst of the people, and he is higher than any of the people from his shoulder and upward. **[10:24]** And Samuel saith unto all the people, `Have ye seen him on whom Jehovah hath fixed, for there is none like him among all the people?' And all the people shout, and say, `Let the king live!' **[10:25]** And Samuel speaketh unto the people the right of the kingdom, and writeth in a book, and placeth before Jehovah; and Samuel sendeth all the people away, each to his house. **[10:26]** And also Saul hath gone to his house, to Gibeah, and the force go with him whose heart God hath touched; **[10:27]** and the sons of worthlessness have said, `What! this one doth save us!' and they despise him, and have not brought to him a present; and he is as one deaf. **[11:1]** And Nahash the Ammonite cometh up, and encampeth against Jabesh-Gilead, and all the men of Jabesh say unto Nahash, `Make with us a covenant, and we serve thee.' **[11:2]** And Nahash the Ammonite saith unto them, `For this I covenant with you, by picking out to you every right eye -- and I have put it a reproach on all Israel.' **[11:3]** And the elders of Jabesh say to him, `Let us alone seven days, and we send messengers into all the border of Israel: and if there is none saving us -- then we have come out unto thee.' **[11:4]** And the messengers come to Gibeah of Saul, and speak the words in the ears of the people, and all the people lift up their voice and weep; **[11:5]** and lo, Saul hath come after the herd out of the field, and Saul saith, `What -- to the people, that they weep?' and they recount to him the words of the men of Jabesh. **[11:6]** And the Spirit of God doth prosper over Saul, in his hearing these words, and his anger burneth greatly, **[11:7]** and he taketh a couple of oxen, and cutteth them in pieces, and sendeth through all the border of Israel, by the hand of the messengers, saying, `He who is not coming out after Saul and after Samuel -- thus it is done to his oxen;' and the fear of Jehovah falleth on the people, and they come out as one man. **[11:8]** And he inspecteth them in Bezek, and the sons of Israel are three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. **[11:9]** And they say to the messengers who are coming, `Thus do ye say to the men of Jabesh-Gilead: To-morrow ye have safety -- by the heat of the sun;' and the messengers come and declare to the men of Jabesh, and they rejoice; **[11:10]** and the men of Jabesh say `to the Ammonites', `To-morrow we come out unto you, and ye have done to us according to all that `is' good in your eyes.' **[11:11]** And it cometh to pass, on the morrow, that Saul putteth the people in three detachments, and they come into the midst of the camp in the morning-watch, and smite Ammon till the heat of the day; and it cometh to pass that those left are scattered, and there have not been left of them two together. **[11:12]** And the people say unto Samuel, `Who is he that saith, Saul doth reign over us! give ye up the men, and we put them to death.' **[11:13]** And Saul saith, `There is no man put to death on this day, for to-day hath Jehovah wrought salvation in Israel.' **[11:14]** And Samuel saith unto the people, `Come and we go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there;' **[11:15]** and all the people go to Gilgal, and cause Saul to reign there before Jehovah in Gilgal, and sacrifice there sacrifices of peace-offerings before Jehovah, and there Saul rejoiceth -- and all the men of Israel -- very greatly. **[12:1]** And Samuel saith unto all Israel, `Lo, I have hearkened to your voice, to all that ye said to me, and I cause to reign over you a king, **[12:2]** and now, lo, the king is walking habitually before you, and I have become aged and gray-headed, and my sons, lo, they `are' with you, and I have walked habitually before you from my youth till this day. **[12:3]** `Lo, here `am' I; testify against me, over-against Jehovah, and over-against His anointed; whose ox have I taken, and whose ass have I taken, and whom have I oppressed; whom have I bruised, and of whose hand have I taken a ransom, and hide mine eyes with it? -- and I restore to you.' **[12:4]** And they say, `Thou hast not oppressed us, nor hast thou crushed us, nor hast thou taken from the hand of any one anything.' **[12:5]** And he saith unto them, `A witness `is' Jehovah against you: and a witness `is' His anointed this day, that ye have not found anything in my hand;' and they say, `A witness.' **[12:6]** And Samuel saith unto the people, `Jehovah -- He who made Moses and Aaron, and who brought up your fathers out of the land of Egypt! **[12:7]** and, now, station yourselves, and I judge you before Jehovah, with all the righteous acts of Jehovah, which He did with you, and with your fathers. **[12:8]** `When Jacob hath come in to Egypt, and your fathers cry unto Jehovah, then Jehovah sendeth Moses and Aaron, and they bring out your fathers from Egypt, and cause them to dwell in this place, **[12:9]** and they forget Jehovah their God, and He selleth them into the hand of Sisera, head of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fight against them, **[12:10]** and they cry unto Jehovah, and say, We have sinned, because we have forsaken Jehovah, and serve the Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and now, deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we serve Thee. **[12:11]** `And Jehovah sendeth Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivereth you out of the hand of your enemies round about, and ye dwell confidently. **[12:12]** `And ye see that Nahash king of the Bene-Ammon hath come against you, and ye say to me, Nay, but a king doth reign over us; and Jehovah your God `is' your king! **[12:13]** And, now, lo, the king whom ye have chosen -- whom ye have asked! and lo, Jehovah hath placed over you a king. **[12:14]** `If ye fear Jehovah, and have served Him, and hearkened to His voice, then ye do not provoke the mouth of Jehovah, and ye have been -- both ye and the king who hath reigned over you -- after Jehovah your God. **[12:15]** `And if ye do not hearken to the voice of Jehovah -- then ye have provoked the mouth of Jehovah, and the hand of Jehovah hath been against you, and against your fathers. **[12:16]** `Also now, station yourselves and see this great thing which Jehovah is doing before your eyes; **[12:17]** is it not wheat-harvest to-day? I call unto Jehovah, and He doth give voices and rain; and know ye and see that your evil is great which ye have done in the eyes of Jehovah, to ask for you a king.' **[12:18]** And Samuel calleth unto Jehovah, and Jehovah giveth voices and rain, on that day, and all the people greatly fear Jehovah and Samuel; **[12:19]** and all the people say unto Samuel, `Pray for thy servants unto Jehovah thy God, and we do not die, for we have added to all our sins evil to ask for us a king.' **[12:20]** And Samuel saith unto the people, `Fear not; ye have done all this evil; only, turn not aside from after Jehovah -- and ye have served Jehovah with all your heart, **[12:21]** and ye do not turn aside after the vain things which do not profit nor deliver, for they `are' vain, **[12:22]** for Jehovah doth not leave His people, on account of His great name; for Jehovah hath been pleased to make you to Him for a people. **[12:23]** `I, also, far be it from me to sin against Jehovah, by ceasing to pray for you, and I have directed you in the good and upright way; **[12:24]** only, fear ye Jehovah, and ye have served Him in truth with all your heart, for see that which He hath made great with you; **[12:25]** and if ye really do evil, both ye and your king are consumed.' **[13:1]** A son of a year `is' Saul in his reigning, yea, two years he hath reigned over Israel, **[13:2]** and Saul chooseth for himself three thousand `men' out of Israel; and two thousand are with Saul in Michmash, and in the hill-country of Beth-El; and a thousand have been with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin; and the remnant of the people he hath sent each to his tents. **[13:3]** And Jonathan smiteth the garrison of the Philistines which `is' in Geba, and the Philistines hear, and Saul hath blown with a trumpet through all the land, saying, `Let the Hebrews hear.' **[13:4]** And all Israel have heard, saying, `Saul hath smitten the garrison of the Philistines,' and also, `Israel hath been abhorred by the Philistines;' and the people are called after Saul to Gilgal. **[13:5]** And the Philistines have been gathered to fight with Israel; thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and a people as the sand which `is' on the sea-shore for multitude; and they come up and encamp in Michmash, east of Beth-Aven. **[13:6]** And the men of Israel have seen that they are distressed, that the people hath been oppressed, and the people hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits. **[13:7]** And Hebrews have passed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead; and Saul `is' yet in Gilgal, and all the people have trembled after him. **[13:8]** And he waiteth seven days, according to the appointment with Samuel, and Samuel hath not come to Gilgal, and the people are scattered from off him. **[13:9]** And Saul saith, `Bring nigh unto me the burnt-offering, and the peace-offerings;' and he causeth the burnt-offering to ascend. **[13:10]** And it cometh to pass at his completing to cause the burnt-offering to ascend, that lo, Samuel hath come, and Saul goeth out to meet him, to bless him; **[13:11]** and Samuel saith, `What hast thou done?' And Saul saith, `Because I saw that the people were scattered from off me, and thou hadst not come at the appointment of the days, and the Philistines are gathered to Michmash, **[13:12]** and I say, Now do the Philistines come down unto me to Gilgal, and the face of Jehovah I have not appeased; and I force myself, and cause the burnt-offering to ascend.' **[13:13]** And Samuel saith unto Saul, `Thou hast been foolish; thou hast not kept the command of Jehovah thy God, which He commanded thee, for now had Jehovah established thy kingdom over Israel unto the age; **[13:14]** and, now, thy kingdom doth not stand, Jehovah hath sought for Himself a man according to His own heart, and Jehovah chargeth him for leader over His people, for thou hast not kept that which Jehovah commanded thee.' **[13:15]** And Samuel riseth, and goeth up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin; and Saul inspecteth the people who are found with him, about six hundred men, **[13:16]** and Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people who are found with them, are abiding in Gibeah of Benjamin, and the Philistines have encamped in Michmash. **[13:17]** And the destroyer goeth out from the camp of the Philistines -- three detachments; the one detachment turneth unto the way of Ophrah, unto the land of Shual; **[13:18]** and the one detachment turneth the way of Beth-Horon, and the one detachment turneth the way of the border which is looking on the valley of the Zeboim, toward the wilderness. **[13:19]** And an artificer is not found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, `Lest the Hebrews make sword or spear;' **[13:20]** and all Israel go down to the Philistines, to sharpen each his ploughshare, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock; **[13:21]** and there hath been the file for mattocks, and for coulters, and for three-pronged rakes, and for the axes, and to set up the goads. **[13:22]** And it hath been, in the day of battle, that there hath not been found sword and spear in the hand of any of the people who `are' with Saul and with Jonathan -- and there is found to Saul and to Jonathan his son. **[13:23]** And the station of the Philistines goeth out unto the passage of Michmash. **[14:1]** And the day cometh that Jonathan son of Saul saith unto the young man bearing his weapons, `Come, and we pass over unto the station of the Philistines, which `is' on the other side of this;' and to his father he hath not declared `it'. **[14:2]** And Saul is abiding at the extremity of Gibeah, under the pomegranate which `is' in Migron, and the people who `are' with him, about six hundred men, **[14:3]** and Ahiah, son of Ahitub, brother of I-Chabod, son of Phinehas son of Eli priest of Jehovah in Shiloh, bearing an ephod; and the people knew not that Jonathan hath gone. **[14:4]** And between the passages where Jonathan sought to pass over unto the station of the Philistines `is' the edge of a rock on the one side, and the edge of a rock on the other side, and the name of the one is Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. **[14:5]** The one edge `is' fixed on the north over-against Michmash, and the one on the south over-against Gibeah. **[14:6]** And Jonathan saith unto the young man bearing his weapons, `Come, and we pass over unto the station of these uncircumcised; it may be Jehovah doth work for us, for there is no restraint to Jehovah to save by many or by few.' **[14:7]** And the bearer of his weapons saith to him, `Do all that `is' in thy heart; turn for thee; lo, I `am' with thee, as thine own heart.' **[14:8]** And Jonathan saith, `Lo, we are passing over unto the men, and are revealed unto them; **[14:9]** if thus they say unto us, `Stand still till we have come unto you,' then we have stood in our place, and do not go up unto them; **[14:10]** and if thus they say, `Come up against us,' then we have gone up, for Jehovah hath given them into our hand, and this to us `is' the sign. **[14:11]** And revealed are both of them unto the station of the Philistines, and the Philistines say, `Lo, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hid themselves.' **[14:12]** And the men of the station answer Jonathan, and the bearer of his weapons, and say, `Come up unto us, and we cause you to know something.' And Jonathan saith unto the bearer of his weapons, `Come up after me, for Jehovah hath given them into the hand of Israel.' **[14:13]** And Jonathan goeth up on his hands, and on his feet, and the bearer of his weapons after him; and they fall before Jonathan, and the bearer of his weapons is putting to death after him. **[14:14]** And the first smiting which Jonathan and the bearer of his weapons have smitten is of about twenty men, in about half a furrow of a yoke of a field, **[14:15]** and there is a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people, the station and the destroyers have trembled -- even they, and the earth shaketh, and it becometh a trembling of God. **[14:16]** And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin see, and lo, the multitude hath melted away, and it goeth on, and is beaten down. **[14:17]** And Saul saith to the people who `are' with him, `Inspect, I pray you, and see; who hath gone from us?' and they inspect, and lo, Jonathan and the bearer of his weapons are not. **[14:18]** And Saul saith to Ahiah, `Bring nigh the ark of God;' for the ark of God hath been on that day with the sons of Israel. **[14:19]** And it cometh to pass, while Saul spake unto the priest, that the noise which `is' in the camp of the Philistines goeth on, going on and becoming great, and Saul saith unto the priest, `Remove thy hand.' **[14:20]** And Saul is called, and all the people who `are' with him, and they come in unto the battle, and, lo, the sword of each hath been against his neighbour -- a very great destruction. **[14:21]** And the Hebrews `who' have been for the Philistines as heretofore, who had gone up with them into the camp, have turned round, even they, to be with Israel who `are' with Saul and Jonathan, **[14:22]** and all the men of Israel, who are hiding themselves in the hill-country of Ephraim, have heard that the Philistines have fled, and they pursue -- even they -- after them in battle. **[14:23]** And Jehovah saveth Israel on that day, and the battle hath passed over to Beth-Aven. **[14:24]** And the men of Israel have been distressed on that day, and Saul adjureth the people, saying, `Cursed `is' the man who eateth food till the evening, and I have been avenged of mine enemies;' and none of the people hath tasted food. **[14:25]** And all `they of' the land have come into a forest, and there is honey on the face of the field; **[14:26]** and the people come in unto the forest, and lo, the honey dropped, and none is moving his hand unto his mouth, for the people feared the oath. **[14:27]** And Jonathan hath not heard of his father's adjuring the people, and putteth forth the end of the rod, which `is' in his hand, and dippeth it in the honeycomb, and bringeth back his hand unto his mouth -- and his eyes see! **[14:28]** And a man of the people answereth and saith, `Thy father certainly adjured the people, saying, Cursed `is' the man who eateth food to-day; and the people are weary.' **[14:29]** And Jonathan saith, `My father hath troubled the land; see, I pray you, that mine eyes have become bright because I tasted a little of this honey. **[14:30]** How much more if the people had well eaten to-day of the spoil of its enemies which it hath found, for now, the smiting hath not been great among the Philistines.' **[14:31]** And they smite on that day among the Philistines from Michmash to Aijalon, and the people are very weary, **[14:32]** and the people make unto the spoil, and take sheep, and oxen, and sons of the herd, and slaughter on the earth, and the people eat with the blood. **[14:33]** And they declare to Saul, saying, `Lo, the people are sinning against Jehovah, to eat with the blood.' And he saith, `Ye have dealt treacherously, roll unto me to-day a great stone.' **[14:34]** And Saul saith, `Be ye scattered among the people, and ye have said to them, Bring ye nigh unto me each his ox, and each his sheep; and ye have slain `them' in this place, and eaten, and ye do not sin against Jehovah to eat with the blood.' And all the people bring nigh each his ox, in his hand, that night, and slaughter `them' there. **[14:35]** And Saul buildeth an alter to Jehovah; with it he hath begun to build altars to Jehovah. **[14:36]** And Saul saith, `Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and we prey upon them till the light of the morning, and leave not a man of them.' And they say, `All that is good in thine eyes do.' And the priest saith, `Let us draw near hither unto God.' **[14:37]** And Saul asketh of God, `Do I go down after the Philistines? dost Thou give them into the hand of Israel?' and He hath not answered him on that day. **[14:38]** And Saul saith, `Draw ye nigh hither all, the chiefs of the people, and know and see in what this sin hath been to-day; **[14:39]** for, Jehovah liveth, who is saving Israel: surely if it be in Jonathan my son, surely he doth certainly die;' and none is answering him out of all the people. **[14:40]** And he saith unto all Israel, `Ye -- ye are on one side, and I and Jonathan my son are on another side;' and the people say unto Saul, `That which is good in thine eyes do.' **[14:41]** And Saul saith unto Jehovah, God of Israel, `Give perfection;' and Jonathan and Saul are captured, and the people went out. **[14:42]** And Saul saith, `Cast between me and Jonathan my son;' and Jonathan is captured. **[14:43]** And Saul saith unto Jonathan, `Declare to me, what hast thou done?' and Jonathan declareth to him, and saith, `I certainly tasted with the end of the rod that `is' in my hand a little honey; lo, I die!' **[14:44]** And Saul saith, `Thus doth God do, and thus doth He add, for thou dost certainly die, Jonathan.' **[14:45]** And the people say unto Saul, `Doth Jonathan die who wrought this great salvation in Israel? -- a profanation! Jehovah liveth, if there falleth from the hair of his head to the earth, for with God he hath wrought this day;' and the people rescue Jonathan, and he hath not died. **[14:46]** And Saul goeth up from after the Philistines, and the Philistines have gone to their place; **[14:47]** and Saul captured the kingdom over Israel, and he fighteth round about against all his enemies, against Moab, and against the Bene-Ammon, and against Edom, and against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines, and whithersoever he turneth he doth vex `them'. **[14:48]** And he maketh a force, and smiteth Amalek, and delivereth Israel out of the hand of its spoiler. **[14:49]** And the sons of Saul are Jonathan, and Ishui, and Melchi-Shua; as to the name of his two daughters, the name of the first-born `is' Merab, and the name of the younger Michal; **[14:50]** and the name of the wife of Saul `is' Ahinoam, daughter of Ahimaaz; and the name of the head of his host `is' Abner son of Ner, uncle of Saul; **[14:51]** and Kish `is' father of Saul, and Ner father of Abner `is' son of Ahiel. **[14:52]** And the war is severe against the Philistines all the days of Saul; when Saul hath seen any mighty man, and any son of valour, then he doth gather him unto himself. **[15:1]** And Samuel saith unto Saul, `Me did Jehovah send to anoint thee for king over His people, over Israel; and now, hearken to the voice of the words of Jehovah: **[15:2]** `Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, I have looked after that which Amalek did to Israel, that which he laid for him in the way in his going up out of Egypt. **[15:3]** Now, go, and thou hast smitten Amalek, and devoted all that it hath, and thou hast no pity on it, and hast put to death from man unto woman, from infant unto suckling, from ox unto sheep, from camel unto ass.' **[15:4]** And Saul summoneth the people, and inspecteth them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand `are' men of Judah. **[15:5]** And Saul cometh in unto a city of Amalek, and layeth wait in a valley; **[15:6]** and Saul saith unto the Kenite, `Go, turn aside, go down from the midst of Amalek, lest I consume thee with it, and thou didst kindness with all the sons of Israel, in their going up out of Egypt;' and the Kenite turneth aside from the midst of Amalek. **[15:7]** And Saul smiteth Amalek from Havilah -- thy going in to Shur, which `is' on the front of Egypt, **[15:8]** and he catcheth Agag king of Amalek alive, and all the people he hath devoted by the mouth of the sword; **[15:9]** and Saul hath pity -- also the people -- on Agag, and on the best of the flock, and of the herd, and of the seconds, and on the lambs, and on all that `is' good, and have not been willing to devote them; and all the work, despised and wasted -- it they devoted. **[15:10]** And the word of Jehovah is unto Samuel, saying, **[15:11]** `I have repented that I caused Saul to reign for king, for he hath turned back from after Me, and My words he hath not performed;' and it is displeasing to Samuel, and he crieth unto Jehovah all the night. **[15:12]** And Samuel riseth early to meet Saul in the morning, and it is declared to Samuel, saying, `Saul hath come in to Carmel, and lo, he is setting up to himself a monument, and goeth round, and passeth over, and goeth down to Gilgal.' **[15:13]** And Samuel cometh in unto Saul, and Saul saith to him, `Blessed `art' thou of Jehovah; I have performed the word of Jehovah.' **[15:14]** And Samuel saith, `And what `is' the noise of this flock in mine ears -- and the noise of the herd which I am hearing?' **[15:15]** And Saul saith, `From Amalek they have brought them, because the people had pity on the best of the flock, and of the herd, in order to sacrifice to Jehovah thy God, and the remnant we have devoted.' **[15:16]** And Samuel saith unto Saul, `Desist, and I declare to thee that which Jehovah hath spoken unto me to-night;' and he saith to him, `Speak.' **[15:17]** And Samuel saith, `Art not thou, if thou `art' little in thine own eyes, head of the tribes of Israel? and Jehovah doth anoint thee for king over Israel, **[15:18]** and Jehovah sendeth thee in the way, and saith, Go, and thou hast devoted the sinners, the Amalekite, and fought against them till they are consumed; **[15:19]** and why hast thou not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah -- and dost fly unto the spoil, and dost do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah?' **[15:20]** And Saul saith unto Samuel, `Because -- I have hearkened to the voice of Jehovah, and I go in the way which Jehovah hath sent me, and bring in Agag king of Amalek, and Amalek I have devoted; **[15:21]** and the people taketh of the spoil of the flock and herd, the first part of the devoted thing, for sacrifice to Jehovah thy God in Gilgal.' **[15:22]** And Samuel saith, `Hath Jehovah had delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices as `in' hearkening to the voice of Jehovah? lo, hearkening than sacrifice is better; to give attention than fat of rams; **[15:23]** for a sin of divination `is' rebellion, and iniquity and teraphim `is' stubbornness; because thou hast rejected the word of Jehovah, He also doth reject thee from `being' king.' **[15:24]** And Saul saith unto Samuel, `I have sinned, for I passed over the command of Jehovah, and thy words; because I have feared the people, I also hearken to their voice; **[15:25]** and now, bear, I pray thee, with my sin, and turn back with me, and I bow myself to Jehovah.' **[15:26]** And Samuel saith unto Saul, `I do not turn back with thee; for thou hast rejected the word of Jehovah, and Jehovah doth reject thee from being king over Israel.' **[15:27]** And Samuel turneth round to go, and he layeth hold on the skirt of his upper robe -- and it is rent! **[15:28]** And Samuel saith unto him, `Jehovah hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee to-day, and given it to thy neighbour who is better than thou; **[15:29]** and also, the Pre-eminence of Israel doth not lie nor repent, for He `is' not a man to be penitent.' **[15:30]** And he saith, `I have sinned; now, honour me, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn back with me; and I have bowed myself to Jehovah thy God.' **[15:31]** And Samuel turneth back after Saul, and Saul boweth himself to Jehovah; **[15:32]** and Samuel saith, `Bring ye nigh unto me Agag king of Amalek,' and Agag cometh unto him daintily, and Agag saith, `Surely the bitterness of death hath turned aside.' **[15:33]** And Samuel saith, `As thy sword bereaved women -- so is thy mother bereaved above women;' and Samuel heweth Agag in pieces before Jehovah in Gilgal. **[15:34]** And Samuel goeth to Ramath, and Saul hath gone unto his house -- to Gibeah of Saul. **[15:35]** And Samuel hath not added to see Saul till the day of his death, for Samuel mourned for Saul, and Jehovah repented that He had caused Saul to reign over Israel. **[16:1]** And Jehovah saith unto Samuel, `Till when art thou mourning for Saul, and I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thy horn with oil, and go, I send thee unto Jesse the Beth-Lehemite, for I have seen among his sons for Myself a king. **[16:2]** And Samuel saith, `How do I go? when Saul hath heard, then he hath slain me.' And Jehovah saith, `A heifer of the herd thou dost take in thy hand, and hast said, To sacrifice to Jehovah I have come; **[16:3]** and thou hast called for Jesse in the sacrifice, and I cause thee to know that which thou dost do, and thou hast anointed to Me him of whom I speak unto thee.' **[16:4]** And Samuel doth that which Jehovah hath spoken, and cometh in to Beth-Lehem, and the elders of the city tremble to meet him, and `one' saith, `Is thy coming peace?' **[16:5]** and he saith, `Peace; to sacrifice to Jehovah I have come, sanctify yourselves, and ye have come in with me to the sacrifice;' and he sanctifieth Jesse and his sons, and calleth them to the sacrifice. **[16:6]** And it cometh to pass, in their coming in, that he seeth Eliab, and saith, `Surely, before Jehovah `is' His anointed.' **[16:7]** And Jehovah saith unto Samuel, `Look not unto his appearance, and unto the height of his stature, for I have rejected him; for `it is' not as man seeth -- for man looketh at the eyes, and Jehovah looketh at the heart.' **[16:8]** And Jesse calleth unto Abinadab, and causeth him to pass by before Samuel; and he saith, `Also on this Jehovah hath not fixed.' **[16:9]** And Jesse causeth Shammah to pass by, and he saith, `Also on this Jehovah hath not fixed.' **[16:10]** And Jesse causeth seven of his sons to pass by before Samuel, and Samuel saith to Jesse, `Jehovah hath not fixed on these.' **[16:11]** And Samuel saith unto Jesse, `Are the young men finished?' and he saith, `Yet hath been left the youngest; and lo, he delighteth himself among the flock;' and Samuel saith unto Jesse, `Send and take him, for we do not turn round till his coming in hither.' **[16:12]** And he sendeth, and bringeth him in, and he `is' ruddy, with beauty of eyes, and of good appearance; and Jehovah saith, `Rise, anoint him, for this `is' he.' **[16:13]** And Samuel taketh the horn of oil, and anointeth him in the midst of his brethren, and prosper over David doth the Spirit of Jehovah from that day and onwards; and Samuel riseth and goeth to Ramath. **[16:14]** And the Spirit of Jehovah turned aside from Saul, and a spirit of sadness from Jehovah terrified him; **[16:15]** and the servants of Saul say unto him, `Lo, we pray thee, a spirit of sadness `from' God is terrifying thee; **[16:16]** let our lord command, we pray thee, thy servants before thee, they seek a skilful man, playing on a harp, and it hath come to pass, in the spirit of sadness `from' God being upon thee, that he hath played with his hand, and `it is' well with thee.' **[16:17]** And Saul saith unto his servants, `Provide, I pray you, for me a man playing well -- then ye have brought `him' in unto me.' **[16:18]** And one of the servants answereth and saith, `Lo, I have seen a son of Jesse the Beth-Lehemite, skilful in playing, and a mighty virtuous man, and a man of battle, and intelligent in word, and a man of form, and Jehovah `is' with him.' **[16:19]** And Saul sendeth messengers unto Jesse, and saith, `Send unto me David thy son, who `is' with the flock.' **[16:20]** And Jesse taketh an ass, `with' bread, and a bottle of wine, and one kid of the goats, and sendeth by the hand of David his son unto Saul. **[16:21]** And David cometh in unto Saul, and standeth before him, and he loveth him greatly; and he is a bearer of his weapons. **[16:22]** And Saul sendeth unto Jesse, saying, `Let David, I pray thee, stand before me, for he hath found grace in mine eyes.' **[16:23]** And it hath come to pass, in the spirit of `sadness from' God being on Saul, that David hath taken the harp, and played with his hand, and Saul hath refreshment and gladness, and the spirit of sadness hath turned aside from off him. **[17:1]** And the Philistines gather their camps to battle, and are gathered to Shochoh, which `is' to Judah, and encamp between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephes-Dammim; **[17:2]** and Saul and the men of Israel have been gathered, and encamp by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array to meet the Philistines. **[17:3]** And the Philistines are standing on the mountain on this side, and the Israelites are standing on the mountain on that side, and the valley `is' between them. **[17:4]** And there goeth out a man of the duellists from the camps of the Philistines, Goliath `is' his name, from Gath; his height `is' six cubits and a span, **[17:5]** and a helmet of brass `is' on his head, and `with' a scaled coat of mail he `is' clothed, and the weight of the coat of mail `is' five thousand shekels of brass, **[17:6]** and a frontlet of brass `is' on his feet, and a javelin of brass between his shoulders, **[17:7]** and the wood of his spear `is' like a beam of weavers', and the flame of his spear `is' six hundred shekels of iron, and the bearer of the buckler is going before him. **[17:8]** And he standeth and calleth unto the ranks of Israel, and saith to them, `Why are ye come out to set in array the battle? `am' not I the Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose for you a man, and let him come down unto me; **[17:9]** if he be able to fight with me, and have smitten me, then we have been to you for servants; and if I am able for him, and have smitten him, then ye have been to us for servants, and have served us.' **[17:10]** And the Philistine saith, `I have reproached the ranks of Israel this day; give to me a man, and we fight together.' **[17:11]** And Saul heareth -- and all Israel -- these words of the Philistine, and they are broken down and greatly afraid. **[17:12]** And David `is' son of this Ephrathite of Beth-Lehem-Judah, whose name `is' Jesse, and he hath eight sons, and the man in the days of Saul hath become aged among men; **[17:13]** and the three eldest sons of Jesse go, they have gone after Saul to battle; and the name of his three sons who have gone into battle `are' Eliab the first-born, and his second Abinadab, and the third Shammah. **[17:14]** And David is the youngest, and the three eldest have gone after Saul, **[17:15]** and David is going and returning from Saul, to feed the flock of his father at Beth-Lehem. **[17:16]** And the Philistine draweth nigh, morning and evening, and stationeth himself forty days. **[17:17]** And Jesse saith to David his son, `Take, I pray thee, to thy brethren, an ephah of this roasted `corn', and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren; **[17:18]** and these ten cuttings of the cheese thou dost take in to the head of the thousand, and thy brethren thou dost inspect for welfare, and their pledge dost receive.' **[17:19]** And Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel `are' in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. **[17:20]** And David riseth early in the morning, and leaveth the flock to a keeper, and lifteth up, and goeth, as Jesse commanded him, and he cometh in to the path, and to the force which is going out unto the rank, and they have shouted for battle; **[17:21]** and Israel and the Philistines set in array rank to meet rank. **[17:22]** And David letteth down the goods from off him on the hand of a keeper of the goods, and runneth into the rank, and cometh and asketh of his brethren of welfare. **[17:23]** And he is speaking with them, and lo, a man of the duellists is coming up, Goliath the Philistine `is' his name, of Gath, out of the ranks of the Philistines, and he speaketh according to those words, and David heareth; **[17:24]** and all the men of Israel when they see the man flee from his presence, and are greatly afraid. **[17:25]** And the men of Israel say, `Have ye seen this man who is coming up? for, to reproach Israel he is coming up, and it hath been -- the man who smiteth him, the king doth enrich him with great riches, and his daughter he doth give to him, and his father's house doth make free in Israel.' **[17:26]** And David speaketh unto the men who are standing by him, saying, `What is done to the man who smiteth this Philistine, and hath turned aside reproach from Israel? for who `is' this uncircumcised Philistine that he hath reproached the ranks of the living God?' **[17:27]** And the people speak to him according to this word, saying, `Thus it is done to the man who smiteth him.' **[17:28]** And Eliab, his eldest brother, heareth when he speaketh unto the men, and the anger of Eliab burneth against David, and he saith, `Why `is' this -- thou hast come down! and to whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I have known thy pride, and the evil of thy heart -- for, to see the battle thou hast come down.' **[17:29]** And David saith, `What have I done now? is it not a word?' **[17:30]** And he turneth round from him unto another, and saith according to this word, and the people return him word as the first word. **[17:31]** And the words which David hath spoken are heard, and they declare before Saul, and he receiveth him; **[17:32]** and David saith unto Saul, `Let no man's heart fall because of him, thy servant doth go, and hath fought with this Philistine.' **[17:33]** And Saul saith unto David, `Thou art not able to go unto this Philistine, to fight with him, for a youth thou `art', and he a man of war from his youth.' **[17:34]** And David saith unto Saul, `A shepherd hath thy servant been to his father among the sheep, and the lion hath come -- and the bear -- and hath taken away a sheep out of the drove, **[17:35]** and I have gone out after him, and smitten him, and delivered out of his mouth, and he riseth against me, and I have taken hold on his beard, and smitten him, and put him to death. **[17:36]** Both the lion and the bear hath thy servant smitten, and this uncircumcised Philistine hath been as one of them, for he hath reproached the ranks of the living God.' **[17:37]** And David saith, `Jehovah, who delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He doth deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.' And Saul saith unto David, `Go, and Jehovah is with thee.' **[17:38]** And Saul clotheth David with his long robe, and hath put a helmet of brass on his head, and doth clothe him with a coat of mail. **[17:39]** And David girded his sword above his long robe, and beginneth to go, for he hath not tried `it'; and David saith unto Saul, `I am not able to go with these, for I had not tried;' and David turneth them aside from off him. **[17:40]** And he taketh his staff in his hand, and chooseth for him five smooth stones from the brook, and putteth them in the shepherds' habiliments that he hath, even in the scrip, and his sling `is' in his hand, and he draweth nigh unto the Philistine. **[17:41]** And the Philistine goeth on, going and drawing near unto David, and the man bearing the buckler `is' before him, **[17:42]** and the Philistine looketh attentively, and seeth David, and despiseth him, for he was a youth, and ruddy, with a fair appearance. **[17:43]** And the Philistine saith unto David, `Am I a dog that thou art coming unto me with staves?' and the Philistine revileth David by his gods, **[17:44]** and the Philistine saith unto David, `Come unto me, and I give thy flesh to the fowl of the heavens, and to the beast of the field.' **[17:45]** And David saith unto the Philistine, `Thou art coming unto me with sword, and with spear, and with buckler, and I am coming unto thee in the name of Jehovah of Hosts, God of the ranks of Israel, which thou hast reproached. **[17:46]** This day doth Jehovah shut thee up into my hand -- and I have smitten thee, and turned aside thy head from off thee, and given the carcase of the camp of the Philistines this day to the fowl of the heavens, and to the beast of the earth, and all the earth do know that God is for Israel. **[17:47]** and all this assembly do know that not by sword and by spear doth Jehovah save, that the battle `is' Jehovah's, and He hath given you into our hand.' **[17:48]** And it hath come to pass, that the Philistine hath risen, and goeth, and draweth near to meet David, and David hasteth and runneth to the rank to meet the Philistine, **[17:49]** and David putteth forth his hand unto the vessel, and taketh thence a stone, and slingeth, and smiteth the Philistine on his forehead, and the stone sinketh into his forehead, and he falleth on his face to the earth. **[17:50]** And David is stronger than the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smiteth the Philistine, and putteth him to death, and there is no sword in the hand of David, **[17:51]** and David runneth and standeth over the Philistine, and taketh his sword, and draweth it out of its sheath, and putteth him to death, and cutteth off with it his head; and the Philistines see that their hero `is' dead, and flee. **[17:52]** And the men of Israel rise -- also Judah -- and shout, and pursue the Philistines till thou enter the valley, and unto the gates of Ekron, and the wounded of the Philistines fall in the way of Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron, **[17:53]** and the sons of Israel turn back from burning after the Philistines, and spoil their camps. **[17:54]** And David taketh the head of the Philistine, and bringeth it in to Jerusalem, and his weapons he hath put in his own tent. **[17:55]** And when Saul seeth David going out to meet the Philistine, he hath said unto Abner, head of the host, `Whose son `is' this -- the youth, Abner?' and Abner saith, `Thy soul liveth, O king, I have not known.' **[17:56]** And the king saith, `Ask thou whose son this `is' -- the young man.' **[17:57]** And when David turneth back from smiting the Philistine, then Abner taketh him and bringeth him in before Saul, and the head of the Philistine in his hand; **[17:58]** and Saul saith unto him, `Whose son `art' thou, O youth?' and David saith, `Son of thy servant Jesse, the Beth-Lehemite.' **[18:1]** And it cometh to pass, when he finisheth to speak unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan hath been bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loveth him as his own soul. **[18:2]** And Saul taketh him on that day, and hath not permitted him to turn back to the house of his father. **[18:3]** And Jonathan maketh -- also David -- a covenant, because he loveth him as his own soul, **[18:4]** and Jonathan strippeth himself of the upper robe which `is' upon him, and giveth it to David, and his long robe, even unto his sword, and unto his bow, and unto his girdle. **[18:5]** And David goeth out whithersoever Saul doth send him; he acted wisely, and Saul setteth him over the men of war, and it is good in the eyes of all the people, and also in the eyes of the servants of Saul. **[18:6]** And it cometh to pass, in their coming in, in David's returning from smiting the Philistine, that the women come out from all the cities of Israel to sing -- also the dancers -- to meet Saul the king, with tabrets, with joy, and with three-stringed instruments; **[18:7]** and the women answer -- those playing, and say, `Saul hath smitten among his thousands, And David among his myriads.' **[18:8]** And it is displeasing to Saul exceedingly, and this thing is evil in his eyes, and he saith, `They have given to David myriads, and to me they have given the thousands, and more to him `is' only the kingdom;' **[18:9]** and Saul is eyeing David from that day and thenceforth. **[18:10]** And it cometh to pass, on the morrow, that the spirit of sadness `from' God prospereth over Saul, and he prophesieth in the midst of the house, and David is playing with his hand, as day by day, and the javelin `is' in the hand of Saul, **[18:11]** and Saul casteth the javelin, and saith, `I smite through David, even through the wall;' and David turneth round out of his presence twice. **[18:12]** And Saul is afraid of the presence of David, for Jehovah hath been with him, and from Saul He hath turned aside; **[18:13]** and Saul turneth him aside from him, and appointeth him to himself head of a thousand, and he goeth out an cometh in, before the people. **[18:14]** And David is in all his ways acting wisely, and Jehovah `is' with him, **[18:15]** and Saul seeth that he is acting very wisely, and is afraid of him, **[18:16]** and all Israel and Judah love David when he is going out and coming in before them. **[18:17]** And Saul saith unto David, `Lo, my elder daughter Merab -- her I give to thee for a wife; only, be to me for a son of valour, and fight the battles of Jehovah;' and Saul said, `Let not my hand be on him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him.' **[18:18]** And David saith unto Saul, `Who `am' I? and what my life -- the family of my father in Israel -- that I am son-in-law to the king?' **[18:19]** And it cometh to pass, at the time of the giving of Merab daughter of Saul to David, that she hath been given to Adriel the Meholathite for a wife. **[18:20]** And Michal daughter of Saul loveth David, and they declare to Saul, and the thing is right in his eyes, **[18:21]** and Saul saith, `I give her to him, and she is to him for a snare, and the hand of the Philistines is on him;' and Saul saith unto David, `By the second -- thou dost become my son-in-law to-day.' **[18:22]** And Saul commandeth his servants, `Speak unto David gently, saying, Lo, the king hath delighted in thee, and all his servants have loved thee, and now, be son-in-law to the king.' **[18:23]** And the servants of Saul speak in the ears of David these words, and David saith, `Is it a light thing in your eyes to be son-in-law to the king -- and I a poor man, and lightly esteemed?' **[18:24]** And the servants of Saul declare to him, saying, `According to these words hath David spoken.' **[18:25]** And Saul saith, `Thus do ye say to David, There is no delight to the king in dowry, but in a hundred foreskins of the Philistines -- to be avenged on the enemies of the king;' and Saul thought to cause David to fall by the hand of the Philistines. **[18:26]** And his servants declare to David these words, and the thing is right in the eyes of David, to be son-in-law to the king; and the days have not been full, **[18:27]** and David riseth and goeth, he and his men, and smiteth among the Philistines two hundred men, and David bringeth in their foreskins, and they set them before the king, to be son-in-law to the king; and Saul giveth to him Michal his daughter for a wife. **[18:28]** And Saul seeth and knoweth that Jehovah `is' with David, and Michal daughter of Saul hath loved him, **[18:29]** and Saul addeth to be afraid of the presence of David yet; and Saul is an enemy with David all the days. **[18:30]** And the princes of the Philistines come out, and it cometh to pass from the time of their coming out, David hath acted more wisely than any of the servants of Saul, and his name is very precious. **[19:1]** And Saul speaketh unto Jonathan his son, and unto all his servants, to put David to death, **[19:2]** and Jonathan son of Saul delighted exceedingly in David, and Jonathan declareth to David, saying, `Saul my father is seeking to put thee to death, and, now, take heed, I pray thee, in the morning, and thou hast abode in a secret place, and been hidden, **[19:3]** and I -- I go out, and have stood by the side of my father in the field where thou `art', and I speak of thee unto my father, and have seen what `is coming', and have declared to thee.' **[19:4]** And Jonathan speaketh good of David unto Saul his father, and saith unto him, `Let not the king sin against his servant, against David, because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works for thee `are' very good; **[19:5]** yea, he putteth his life in his hand, and smiteth the Philistine, and Jehovah worketh a great salvation for all Israel; thou hast seen, and dost rejoice, and why dost thou sin against innocent blood, to put David to death for nought?' **[19:6]** And Saul hearkeneth to the voice of Jonathan, and Saul sweareth, `Jehovah liveth -- he doth not die.' **[19:7]** And Jonathan calleth for David, and Jonathan declareth to him all these words, and Jonathan bringeth in David unto Saul, and he is before him as heretofore. **[19:8]** And there addeth to be war, and David goeth out and fighteth against the Philistines, and smiteth among them -- a great smiting, and they flee from his face. **[19:9]** And a spirit of sadness `from' Jehovah is unto Saul, and he is sitting in his house, and his javelin in his hand, and David is playing with the hand, **[19:10]** and Saul seeketh to smite with the javelin through David, and through the wall, and he freeth himself from the presence of Saul, and he smiteth the javelin through the wall; and David hath fled and escapeth during that night. **[19:11]** And Saul sendeth messengers unto the house of David to watch him, and to put him to death in the morning; and Michal his wife declareth to David, saying, `If thou art not delivering thy life to-night -- tomorrow thou art put to death.' **[19:12]** And Michal causeth David to go down through the window, and he goeth on, and fleeth, and escapeth; **[19:13]** and Michal taketh the teraphim, and layeth on the bed, and the mattress of goats' `hair' she hath put `for' his pillows, and covereth with a garment. **[19:14]** And Saul sendeth messengers to take David, and she saith, `He `is' sick.' **[19:15]** And Saul sendeth the messengers to see David, saying, `Bring him up in the bed unto me,' -- to put him to death. **[19:16]** And the messengers come in, and lo, the teraphim `are' on the bed, and the mattress of goats' `hair', `for' his pillows. **[19:17]** And Saul saith unto Michal, `Why thus hast thou deceived me -- that thou dost send away mine enemy, and he is escaped?' and Michal saith unto Saul, `He said unto me, Send me away: why do I put thee to death?' **[19:18]** And David hath fled, and is escaped, and cometh in unto Samuel to Ramath, and declareth to him all that Saul hath done to him, and he goeth, he and Samuel, and they dwell in Naioth. **[19:19]** And it is declared to Saul, saying, `Lo, David `is' in Naioth in Ramah.' **[19:20]** And Saul sendeth messengers to take David, and they see the assembly of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing, set over them, and the Spirit of God is on Saul's messengers, and they prophesy -- they also. **[19:21]** And they declare `it' to Saul, and he sendeth other messengers, and they prophesy -- they also; and Saul addeth and sendeth messengers a third time, and they prophesy -- they also. **[19:22]** And he goeth -- he also -- to Ramath, and cometh in unto the great well which `is' in Sechu, and asketh, and saith, `Where `are' Samuel and David?' and `one' saith, `Lo, in Naioth in Ramah.' **[19:23]** And he goeth thither -- unto Naioth in Ramah, and the Spirit of God is upon him -- him also; and he goeth, going on, and he prophesyeth till his coming in to Naioth in Ramah, **[19:24]** and he strippeth off -- he also -- his garments, and prophesieth -- he also -- before Samuel, and falleth down naked all that day and all the night; therefore they say, `Is Saul also among the prophets?' **[20:1]** And David fleeth from Naioth in Ramah, and cometh, and saith before Jonathan, `What have I done? what `is' mine iniquity? and what my sin before thy father, that he is seeking my life?' **[20:2]** And he saith to him, `Far be it! thou dost not die; lo, my father doth not do anything great or small and doth not uncover mine ear; and wherefore doth my father hide from me this thing? this `thing' is not.' **[20:3]** And David sweareth again, and saith, `Thy father hath certainly known that I have found grace in thine eyes, and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved; and yet, Jehovah liveth, and thy soul liveth, but -- as a step between me and death.' **[20:4]** And Jonathan saith to David, `What doth thy soul say? -- and I do it for thee.' **[20:5]** And David saith unto Jonathan, `Lo, the new moon `is' to-morrow; and I do certainly sit with the king to eat; and thou hast sent me away, and I have been hidden in a field till the third evening; **[20:6]** if thy father at all look after me, and thou hast said, David asked earnestly of me to run to Beth-Lehem his city, for a sacrifice of the days `is' there for all the family. **[20:7]** If thus he say: Good; peace `is' for thy servant; and if it be very displeasing to him -- know that the evil hath been determined by him; **[20:8]** and thou hast done kindness, to thy servant, for into a covenant of Jehovah thou hast brought thy servant with thee; -- and if there is in me iniquity, put thou me to death; and unto thy father, why is this -- thou dost bring me in?' **[20:9]** And Jonathan saith, `Far be it from thee! for I certainly do not know that the evil hath been determined by my father to come upon thee, and I do not declare it to thee.' **[20:10]** And David saith unto Jonathan, `Who doth declare to me? or what `if' thy father doth answer thee sharply?' **[20:11]** And Jonathan saith unto David, `Come, and we go out into the field;' and they go out both of them into the field. **[20:12]** And Jonathan saith unto David, `Jehovah, God of Israel -- when I search my father, about `this' time to-morrow `or' the third `day', and lo, good `is' towards David, and I do not then send unto thee, and have uncovered thine ear -- **[20:13]** thus doth Jehovah do to Jonathan, and thus doth He add; when the evil concerning thee is good to my father, then I have uncovered thine ear, and sent thee away, and thou hast gone in peace, and Jehovah is with thee, as he was with my father; **[20:14]** and not only while I am alive dost thou do with me the kindness of Jehovah, and I die not, **[20:15]** but thou dost not cut off thy kindness from my house unto the age, nor in Jehovah's cutting off the enemies of David, each one from off the face of the ground.' **[20:16]** And Jonathan covenanteth with the house of David, and Jehovah hath sought `it' from the hand of the enemies of David; **[20:17]** and Jonathan addeth to cause David to swear, because he loveth him, for with the love of his own soul he hath loved him. **[20:18]** And Jonathan saith to him, `To-morrow `is' new moon, and thou hast been looked after, for thy seat is looked after; **[20:19]** and on the third day thou dost certainly come down, and hast come in unto the place where thou wast hidden in the day of the work, and hast remained near the stone Ezel. **[20:20]** `And I shoot three of the arrows at the side, sending out for myself at a mark; **[20:21]** and lo, I send the youth: Go, find the arrows. If I at all say to the youth, Lo, the arrows `are' on this side of thee -- take them, -- then come thou, for peace `is' for thee, and there is nothing; Jehovah liveth. **[20:22]** And if thus I say to the young man, Lo, the arrows `are' beyond thee, -- go, for Jehovah hath sent thee away; **[20:23]** as to the thing which we have spoken, I and thou, lo, Jehovah `is' between me and thee -- unto the age.' **[20:24]** And David is hidden in the field, and it is the new moon, and the king sitteth down by the food to eat, **[20:25]** and the king sitteth on his seat, as time by time, on a seat by the wall, and Jonathan riseth, and Abner sitteth at the side of Saul, and David's place is looked after. **[20:26]** And Saul hath not spoken anything on that day, for he said, `It `is' an accident; he is not clean -- surely not clean.' **[20:27]** And it cometh to pass on the second morrow of the new moon, that David's place is looked after, and Saul saith unto Jonathan his son, `Wherefore hath the son of Jesse not come in, either yesterday or to-day, unto the food?' **[20:28]** And Jonathan answereth Saul, `David hath been earnestly asked of me unto Beth-Lehem, **[20:29]** and he saith, Send me away, I pray thee, for a family sacrifice we have in the city, and my brother himself hath given command to me, and now, if I have found grace in thine eyes, let me go away, I pray thee, and see my brethren; therefore he hath not come unto the table of the king.' **[20:30]** And the anger of Saul burneth against Jonathan, and he saith to him, `Son of a perverse rebellious woman! have I not known that thou art fixing on the son of Jesse to thy shame, and to the shame of the nakedness of thy mother? **[20:31]** for all the days that the son of Jesse liveth on the ground thou art not established, thou and thy kingdom; and now, send and bring him unto me, for he `is' a son of death.' **[20:32]** And Jonathan answereth Saul his father, and saith unto him, `Why is he put to death? what hath he done?' **[20:33]** And Saul casteth the javelin at him to smite him, and Jonathan knoweth that it hath been determined by his father to put David to death. **[20:34]** And Jonathan riseth from the table in the heat of anger, and hath not eaten food on the second day of the new moon, for he hath been grieved for David, for his father put him to shame. **[20:35]** And it cometh to pass in the morning, that Jonathan goeth out into the field for the appointment with David, and a little youth `is' with him. **[20:36]** And he saith to his youth, `Run, find, I pray thee, the arrows which I am shooting;' the youth is running, and he hath shot the arrow, causing `it' to pass over him. **[20:37]** And the youth cometh unto the place of the arrow which Jonathan hath shot, and Jonathan calleth after the youth, and saith, `Is not the arrow beyond thee?' **[20:38]** and Jonathan calleth after the youth, `Speed, haste, stand not;' and Jonathan's youth gathereth the arrows, and cometh unto his lord. **[20:39]** And the youth hath not known anything, only Jonathan and David knew the word. **[20:40]** And Jonathan giveth his weapons unto the youth whom he hath, and saith to him, `Go, carry into the city.' **[20:41]** The youth hath gone, and David hath risen from Ezel, at the south, and falleth on his face to the earth, and boweth himself three times, and they kiss one another, and they weep one with another, till David exerted himself; **[20:42]** and Jonathan saith to David, `Go in peace, in that we have sworn -- we two -- in the name of Jehovah, saying, Jehovah is between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed -- unto the age;' and he riseth and goeth; and Jonathan hath gone in to the city. **[21:1]** And David cometh in to Nob, unto Ahimelech the priest, and Ahimelech trembleth at meeting David, and saith to him, `Wherefore `art' thou thyself alone, and no man with thee?' **[21:2]** And David saith to Ahimelech the priest, `The king hath commanded me a matter, and he saith unto me, Let no man know anything of the matter about which I am sending thee, and which I have commanded thee; and the young men I have caused to know at such and such a place; **[21:3]** and now, what is there under thy hand? five loaves give into my hand, or that which is found.' **[21:4]** And the priest answereth David, and saith, `There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread; if the youths have been kept only from women.' **[21:5]** And David answereth the priest, and saith to him, `Surely, if women have been restrained from us as heretofore in my going out, then the vessels of the young men are holy, and it `is' a common way: and also, surely to-day it is sanctified in the vessel.' **[21:6]** And the priest giveth to him the holy thing, for there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence which is turned aside from the presence of Jehovah to put hot bread in the day of its being taken away. **[21:7]** And there `is' a man of the servants of Saul on that day detained before Jehovah, and his name `is' Doeg the Edomite, chief of the shepherds whom Saul hath. **[21:8]** And David saith to Ahimelech, `And is there not here under thy hand spear or sword? for neither my sword nor my vessels have I taken in my hand, for the matter of the king was urgent.' **[21:9]** And the priest saith, `The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou didst smite in the valley of Elah, lo, it is wrapt in a garment behind the ephod, if it thou dost take to thyself, take; for there is none other save it in this `place'.' And David saith, `There is none like it -- give it to me.' **[21:10]** And David riseth and fleeth on that day from the face of Saul, and cometh in unto Achish king of Gath; **[21:11]** and the servants of Achish say unto him, `Is not this David king of the land? is it not of this one they sing in dances, saying, `Saul smote among his thousands, and David among his myriads?' **[21:12]** And David layeth these words in his heart, and is exceedingly afraid of the face of Achish king of Gath, **[21:13]** and changeth his behaviour before their eyes, and feigneth himself mad in their hand, and scribbleth on the doors of the gate, and letteth down his spittle unto his beard. **[21:14]** And Achish saith unto his servants, `Lo, ye see a man acting as a madman; why do ye bring him in unto me? **[21:15]** A lack of madmen `have' I, that ye have brought in this one to act as a madman by me! doth this one come in unto my house?' **[22:1]** And David goeth thence, and is escaped unto the cave of Adullam, and his brethren hear, and all the house of his father, and go down unto him thither; **[22:2]** and gather themselves unto him do every man in distress, and every man who hath an exactor, and every man bitter in soul, and he is over them for head, and there are with him about four hundred men. **[22:3]** And David goeth thence to Mizpeh of Moab, and saith unto the king of Moab, `Let, I pray thee, my father and my mother go out with you, till that I know what God doth for me;' **[22:4]** and he leadeth them before the king of Moab, and they dwell with him all the days of David's being in the fortress. **[22:5]** And Gad the prophet saith unto David, `Thou dost not abide in a fortress, go, and thou hast entered for thee the land of Judah;' and David goeth and entereth the forest of Hareth. **[22:6]** And Saul heareth that David hath become known, and the men who `are' with him, and Saul is abiding in Gibeah, under the grove in Ramah, and his spear `is' in his hand, and all his servants standing by him. **[22:7]** And Saul saith to his servants who are standing by him, `Hear, I pray you, ye Benjamites; also to all of you doth the son of Jesse give fields and vineyards! all of you he doth appoint heads of thousands and heads of hundreds! **[22:8]** for ye have conspired all of you against me, and there is none uncovering mine ear about my son's covenanting with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you grieving for me, and uncovering mine ear, that my son hath raised up my servant against me, to lie in wait as `at' this day.' **[22:9]** And answer doth Doeg the Edomite, who is set over the servants of Saul, and saith, `I have seen the son of Jesse coming in to Nob, unto Ahimelech son of Ahitub, **[22:10]** and he asketh for him at Jehovah, and provision hath given to him, and the sword of Goliath the Philistine hath given to him. **[22:11]** And the king sendeth to call Ahimelech son of Ahitub, the priest, and all the house of his father, the priests, who `are' in Nob, and they come all of them unto the king; **[22:12]** and Saul saith, `Hear, I pray thee, son of Ahitub;' and he saith, `Here `am' I, my lord.' **[22:13]** And Saul saith unto him, `Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, by thy giving to him bread and a sword, and to ask for him at God, to rise against me, to lie in wait, as `at' this day?' **[22:14]** And Ahimelech answereth the king and saith, `And who among all thy servants `is' as David -- faithful, and son-in-law of the king, and hath turned aside unto thy council, and is honoured in thy house? **[22:15]** To-day have I begun to ask for him at God? far be it from me! let not the king lay anything against his servant, against any of the house of my father, for thy servant hath known nothing of all this, less or more.' **[22:16]** And the king saith, `Thou dost surely die, Ahimelech, thou, and all the house of thy father.' **[22:17]** And the king saith to runners, those standing by him, `Turn round, and put to death the priests of Jehovah, because their hand also `is' with David, and because they have known that he is fleeing, and have not uncovered mine ear;' and the servants of the king have not been willing to put forth their hand to come against the priests of Jehovah. **[22:18]** And the king saith to Doeg, `Turn round thou, and come against the priests;' and Doeg the Edomite turneth round, and cometh himself against the priests, and putteth to death in that day eighty and five men bearing a linen ephod, **[22:19]** and Nob, the city of the priests, he hath smitten by the mouth of the sword, from man even unto woman, from infant even unto suckling, and ox, and ass, and sheep, by the mouth of the sword. **[22:20]** And there escapeth one son of Ahimelech, son of Ahitub, and his name `is' Abiathar, and he fleeth after David, **[22:21]** and Abiathar declareth to David that Saul hath slain the priests of Jehovah. **[22:22]** And David saith to Abiathar, `I have known on that day when Doeg the Edomite `is' there, that he doth certainly declare `it' to Saul; I have brought `it' round to every person of the house of thy father; **[22:23]** dwell with me; fear not; for he who seeketh my life seeketh thy life; for a charge `art' thou with me.' **[23:1]** And they declare to David, saying, `Lo, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and they are spoiling the threshing-floors.' **[23:2]** And David asketh at Jehovah, saying, `Do I go? -- and have I smitten among these Philistines?' And Jehovah saith unto David, `Go, and thou hast smitten among the Philistines, and saved Keilah.' **[23:3]** And David's men say unto him, `Lo, we here in Judah are afraid; and how much more when we go to Keilah, unto the ranks of the Philistines?' **[23:4]** And David addeth again to ask at Jehovah, and Jehovah answereth him, and saith, `Rise, go down to Keilah, for I am giving the Philistines into thy hand.' **[23:5]** And David goeth, and his men, to Keilah, and fighteth with the Philistines, and leadeth away their cattle, and smiteth among them -- a great smiting, and David saveth the inhabitants of Keilah. **[23:6]** And it cometh to pass, in the fleeing of Abiathar son of Ahimelech unto David, to Keilah, an ephod came down in his hand. **[23:7]** And it is declared to Saul that David hath come in to Keilah, and Saul saith, `God hath made him known for my hand, for he hath been shut in, to enter into a city of doors and bar.' **[23:8]** And Saul summoneth the whole of the people to battle, to go down to Keilah, to lay siege unto David and unto his men. **[23:9]** And David knoweth that against him Saul is devising the evil, and saith unto Abiathar the priest, `Bring nigh the ephod.' **[23:10]** And David saith, `Jehovah, God of Israel, Thy servant hath certainly heard that Saul is seeking to come in unto Keilah, to destroy the city on mine account. **[23:11]** Do the possessors of Keilah shut me up into his hand? doth Saul come down as Thy servant hath heard? Jehovah, God of Israel, declare, I pray Thee, to Thy servant.' And Jehovah saith, `He doth come down.' **[23:12]** And David saith, `Do the possessors of Keilah shut me up, and my men, into the hand of Saul?' And Jehovah saith, `They shut `thee' up.' **[23:13]** And David riseth -- and his men -- about six hundred men, and they go out from Keilah, and go up and down where they go up and down; and to Saul it hath been declared that David hath escaped from Keilah, and he ceaseth to go out. **[23:14]** And David abideth in the wilderness, in fortresses, and abideth in the hill-country, in the wilderness of Ziph; and Saul seeketh him all the days, and God hath not given him into his hand. **[23:15]** And David seeth that Saul hath come out to seek his life, and David `is' in the wilderness of Ziph, in a forest. **[23:16]** And Jonathan son of Saul riseth, and goeth unto David to the forest, and strengtheneth his hand in God, **[23:17]** and saith unto him, `Fear not, for the hand of Saul my father doth not find thee, and thou dost reign over Israel, and I am to thee for second, and also so knoweth Saul my father.' **[23:18]** And they make a covenant both of them before Jehovah; and David abideth in the forest, and Jonathan hath gone to his house. **[23:19]** And the Ziphites go up unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, `Is not David hiding himself with us in fortresses, in the forest, in the height of Hachilah, which `is' on the south of the desolate place? **[23:20]** And, now, by all the desire of thy soul, O king, to come down, come down, and ours `is' to shut him up into the hand of the king.' **[23:21]** And Saul saith, `Blessed `are' ye of Jehovah, for ye have pity on me; **[23:22]** go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see his place where his foot is; who hath seen him there? for `one' hath said unto me, He is very subtile. **[23:23]** And see and know of all the hiding-places where he hideth himself, and ye have turned back unto me prepared, and I have gone with you, and it hath been, if he is in the land, that I have searched him out through all the thousands of Judah.' **[23:24]** And they rise and go to Ziph before Saul, and David and his men `are' in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain, at the south of the desolate place. **[23:25]** And Saul and his men go to seek, and they declare to David, and he goeth down the rock, and abideth in the wilderness of Maon; and Saul heareth, and pursueth after David `to' the wilderness of Maon. **[23:26]** And Saul goeth on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain, and David is hastened to go from the face of Saul, and Saul and his men are compassing David and his men, to catch them. **[23:27]** And a messenger hath come in unto Saul, saying, `Haste, and come, for the Philistines have pushed against the land.' **[23:28]** And Saul turneth back from pursuing after David, and goeth to meet the Philistines, therefore they have called that place `The Rock of Divisions.' **[23:29]** And David goeth up thence, and abideth in fortresses `at' En-gedi. **[24:1]** And it cometh to pass when Saul hath turned back from after the Philistines, that they declare to him, saying, `Lo, David `is' in the wilderness of En-gedi.' **[24:2]** And Saul taketh three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and goeth to seek David and his men, on the front of the rocks of the wild goats, **[24:3]** and he cometh in unto folds of the flock, on the way, and there `is' a cave, and Saul goeth in to cover his feet; and David and his men in the sides of the cave are abiding. **[24:4]** And the men of David say unto him, `Lo, the day of which Jehovah said unto thee, Lo, I am giving thine enemy into thy hand, and thou hast done to him as it is good in thine eyes;' and David riseth and cutteth off the skirt of the upper robe which `is' on Saul -- gently. **[24:5]** And it cometh to pass afterwards that the heart of David smiteth him, because that he hath cut off the skirt which `is' on Saul, **[24:6]** and he saith to his men, `Far be it from me, by Jehovah; I do not do this thing to my lord -- to the anointed of Jehovah -- to put forth my hand against him, for the anointed of Jehovah he `is'.' **[24:7]** And David subdueth his men by words, and hath not permitted them to rise against Saul; and Saul hath risen from the cave, and goeth on the way; **[24:8]** and David riseth afterwards, and goeth out from the cave, and calleth after Saul, saying, `My lord, O king!' And Saul looketh attentively behind him, and David boweth -- face to the earth -- and doth obeisance. **[24:9]** And David saith to Saul, `Why dost thou hear the words of man, saying, Lo, David is seeking thine evil? **[24:10]** Lo, this day have thine eyes seen how that Jehovah hath given thee to-day into my hand in the cave; and `one' said to slay thee, and `mine eye' hath pity on thee, and I say, I do not put forth my hand against my lord, for the anointed of Jehovah he `is'. **[24:11]** `And, my father, see, yea see the skirt of thine upper robe in my hand; for by cutting off the skirt of thy upper robe, and I have not slain thee, know and see that there is not in my hand evil and transgression, and I have not sinned against thee, and thou art hunting my soul to take it! **[24:12]** `Jehovah doth judge between me and thee, and Jehovah hath avenged me of thee, and my hand is not on thee; **[24:13]** as saith the simile of the ancients, From the wicked goeth out wickedness, and my hand is not on thee. **[24:14]** `After whom hath the king of Israel come out? after whom art thou pursuing? -- after a dead dog! after one flea! **[24:15]** And Jehovah hath been for judge, and hath judged between me and thee, yea, he seeth and pleadeth my cause, and doth deliver me out of thy hand.' **[24:16]** And it cometh to pass, when David completeth to speak these words unto Saul, that Saul saith, `Is this thy voice, my son David?' and Saul lifteth up his voice, and weepeth. **[24:17]** And he saith unto David, `More righteous thou `art' than I; for thou hast done me good, and I have done thee evil; **[24:18]** and thou hast declared to-day how that thou hast done good with me, how that Jehovah shut me up into thy hand, and thou didst not slay me, **[24:19]** and that a man doth find his enemy, and hath sent him away in a good manner; and Jehovah doth repay thee good for that which thou didst to me this day. **[24:20]** `And, now, lo, I have known that thou dost certainly reign, and the kingdom of Israel hath stood in thy hand; **[24:21]** and, now, swear to me by Jehovah -- thou dost not cut off my seed after me, nor dost thou destroy my name from the house of my father.' **[24:22]** And David sweareth to Saul, and Saul goeth unto his house, and David and his men have gone up unto the fortress. **[25:1]** And Samuel dieth, and all Israel are gathered, and mourn for him, and bury him in his house, in Ramah; and David riseth and goeth down unto the wilderness of Paran. **[25:2]** And `there is' a man in Maon, and his work `is' in Carmel; and the man `is' very great, and he hath three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats; and he is shearing his flock in Carmel. **[25:3]** And the name of the man `is' Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail, and the woman `is' of good understanding, and of fair form, and the man `is' hard and evil `in' doings; and he `is' a Calebite. **[25:4]** And David heareth in the wilderness that Nabal is shearing his flock, **[25:5]** and David sendeth ten young men, and David saith to the young men, `Go ye up to Carmel, and ye have come in unto Nabal, and asked of him in my name of welfare, **[25:6]** and said thus: To life! and thou, peace; and thy house, peace; and all that thou hast -- peace! **[25:7]** and, now, I have heard that thou hast shearers; now, the shepherds whom thou hast have been with us, we have not put them to shame, nor hath anything been looked after by them, all the days of their being in Carmel. **[25:8]** `Ask thy young men, and they declare to thee, and the young men find grace in thine eyes, for on a good day we have come; give, I pray thee, that which thy hand findeth, to thy servants, and to thy son, to David.' **[25:9]** And the young men of David come in, and speak unto Nabal according to all these words, in the name of David -- and rest. **[25:10]** And Nabal answereth the servants of David and saith, `Who `is' David, and who the son of Jesse? to-day have servants been multiplied who are breaking away each from his master; **[25:11]** and I have taken my bread, and my water, and my flesh, which I slaughtered for my shearers, and have given `it' to men whom I have not known whence they `are'!' **[25:12]** And the young men of David turn on their way, and turn back, and come in, and declare to him according to all these words. **[25:13]** And David saith to his men, `Gird ye on each his sword;' and they gird on each his sword, and David also girdeth on his sword, and there go up after David about four hundred men, and two hundred have remained by the vessels. **[25:14]** And to Abigail wife of Nabal hath one young man of the youths declared, saying, `Lo, David hath sent messengers out of the wilderness to bless our lord, and he flieth upon them; **[25:15]** and the men `are' very good to us, and have not put us to shame, and we have not looked after anything all the days we have gone up and down with them, in our being in the field; **[25:16]** a wall they have been unto us both by night and by day, all the days of our being with them, feeding the flock. **[25:17]** `And, now, know and consider what thou dost; for evil hath been determined against our lord, and against all his house, and he `is' too much a son of worthlessness to be spoken to.' **[25:18]** And Abigail hasteth, and taketh two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep, prepared, and five measures of roasted corn, and a hundred bunches of raisins, and two hundred bunches of figs, and setteth `them' on the asses. **[25:19]** And she saith to her young men, `Pass over before me; lo, after you I am coming;' and to her husband Nabal she hath not declared `it'; **[25:20]** and it hath come to pass, she is riding on the ass and is coming down in the secret part of the hill-country, and lo, David and his men are coming down to meet her, and she meeteth them. **[25:21]** And David said, `Only, in vain I have kept all that this `one' hath in the wilderness, and nothing hath been looked after of all that he hath, and he turneth back to me evil for good; **[25:22]** thus doth God do to the enemies of David, and thus He doth add, if I leave of all that he hath till the light of the morning -- of those sitting on the wall.' **[25:23]** And Abigail seeth David, and hasteth and cometh down from off the ass, and falleth before David on her face, and boweth herself to the earth, **[25:24]** and falleth at his feet and saith, `On me, my lord, the iniquity; and let, I pray thee, thy handmaid speak in thine ear, and hear the words of thy handmaid. **[25:25]** `Let not, I pray thee, my lord set his heart to this man of worthlessness, on Nabal, for as his name `is' so `is' he; Nabal `is' his name, and folly `is' with him; and I, thine handmaid, did not see the young men of my lord whom thou didst send; **[25:26]** and now, my lord, Jehovah liveth, and thy soul liveth, in that Jehovah hath withheld thee from coming in with blood, and to save thy hand to thee -- now let thine enemies be as Nabal, even those seeking evil unto my lord. **[25:27]** `And, now, this blessing which thy maid-servant hath brought to my lord -- it hath been given to the young men who are going up and down at the feet of my lord. **[25:28]** `Bear, I pray thee, with the transgression of thy handmaid, for Jehovah doth certainly make to my lord a stedfast house; for the battles of Jehovah hath my lord fought, and evil is not found in thee `all' thy days. **[25:29]** And man riseth to pursue thee and to seek thy soul, and the soul of my lord hath been bound in the bundle of life with Jehovah thy God; as to the soul of thine enemies, He doth sling them out in the midst of the hollow of the sling. **[25:30]** `And it hath been, when Jehovah doth to my lord according to all the good which He hath spoken concerning thee, and appointed thee for leader over Israel, **[25:31]** that this is not to thee for a stumbling-block, and for an offence of heart to my lord -- either to shed blood for nought, or my lord's restraining himself; and Jehovah hath done good to my lord, and thou hast remembered thy handmaid.' **[25:32]** And David saith to Abigail, `Blessed `is' Jehovah, God of Israel, who hath sent thee this day to meet me, **[25:33]** and blessed `is' thy discretion, and blessed `art' thou in that thou hast restrained me this day from coming in with blood, and to restrain my hand to myself. **[25:34]** And yet, Jehovah liveth, God of Israel, who hath kept me back from doing evil with thee, for unless thou hadst hasted, and dost come to meet me, surely there had not been left to Nabal till the light of the morning, of those sitting on the wall.' **[25:35]** And David receiveth from her hand that which she hath brought to him, and to her he hath said, `Go up in peace to thy house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and accept thy face.' **[25:36]** And Abigail cometh in unto Nabal, and lo, he hath a banquet in his house, like a banquet of the king, and the heart of Nabal `is' glad within him, and he `is' drunk unto excess, and she hath not declared to him anything, less or more, till the light of the morning. **[25:37]** And it cometh to pass in the morning, when the wine is gone out from Nabal, that his wife declareth to him these things, and his heart dieth within him, and he hath been as a stone. **[25:38]** And it cometh to pass, `in' about ten days, that Jehovah smiteth Nabal, and he dieth, **[25:39]** and David heareth that Nabal `is' dead, and saith, `Blessed `is' Jehovah who hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and His servant hath kept back from evil, and the wickedness of Nabal hath Jehovah turned back on his own head;' and David sendeth and speaketh with Abigail, to take her to him for a wife. **[25:40]** And the servants of David come in unto Abigail at Carmel, and speak unto her, saying, `David hath sent us unto thee to take thee to him for a wife.' **[25:41]** And she riseth and boweth herself -- face to the earth -- and saith, `Lo, thy handmaid `is' for a maid-servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.' **[25:42]** And Abigail hasteth and riseth, and rideth on the ass; and five of her young women who are going at her feet; and she goeth after the messengers of David, and is to him for a wife. **[25:43]** And Ahinoam hath David taken from Jezreel, and they are -- even both of them -- to him for wives; **[25:44]** and Saul gave Michal his daughter, wife to David, to Phalti son of Laish, who `is' of Gallim. **[26:1]** And the Ziphites come in unto Saul, at Gibeah, saying, `Is not David hiding himself in the height of Hachilah, on the front of the desert?' **[26:2]** And Saul riseth, and goeth down unto the wilderness of Ziph, and with him three thousand men, chosen ones of Israel, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. **[26:3]** And Saul encampeth in the height of Hachilah, which `is' on the front of the desert, by the way, and David is abiding in the wilderness, and he seeth that Saul hath come after him in to the wilderness; **[26:4]** and David sendeth spies, and knoweth that Saul hath come unto Nachon, **[26:5]** and David riseth, and cometh in unto the place where Saul hath encamped, and David seeth the place where Saul hath lain, and Abner son of Ner, head of his host, and Saul is lying in the path, and the people are encamping round about him. **[26:6]** And David answereth and saith unto Ahimelech the Hittite, and unto Abishai son of Zeruiah, brother of Joab, saying, `Who doth go down with me unto Saul, unto the camp?' and Abishai saith, `I -- I go down with thee.' **[26:7]** And David cometh -- and Abishai -- unto the people by night, and lo, Saul is lying sleeping in the path, and his spear struck into the earth at his pillow, and abner and the people are lying round about him. **[26:8]** And Abishai saith unto David, `God hath shut up to-day thine enemy into thy hand; and, now, let me smite him, I pray thee, with a spear, even into the earth at once -- and I do repeat `it' to him.' **[26:9]** And David saith unto Abishai, `Destroy him not; for who hath put forth his hand against the anointed of Jehovah, and been acquitted?' **[26:10]** And David saith, `Jehovah liveth; except Jehovah doth smite him, or his day come that he hath died, or into battle he go down, and hath been consumed -- **[26:11]** far be it from me, by Jehovah, from putting forth my hand against the anointed of Jehovah; and, now, take, I pray thee, the spear which `is' at his pillow, and the cruse of water, and we go away.' **[26:12]** And David taketh the spear, and the cruse of water at the pillow of Saul, and they go away, and there is none seeing, and there is none knowing, and there is none awaking, for all of them are sleeping, for a deep sleep `from' Jehovah hath fallen upon them. **[26:13]** And David passeth over to the other side, and standeth on the top of the hill afar off -- great `is' the place between them; **[26:14]** and David calleth unto the people, and unto Abner son of Ner, saying, `Dost thou not answer, Abner?' and Abner answereth and saith, `Who `art' thou `who' hast called unto the king?' **[26:15]** And David saith unto Abner, `Art not thou a man? and who `is' like thee in Israel? but why hast thou not watched over thy lord the king? for one of the people had come in to destroy the king, thy lord. **[26:16]** Not good is this thing which thou hast done; Jehovah liveth, but ye `are' sons of death, in that ye have not watched over your lord, over the anointed of Jehovah; and now, see where the king's spear `is', and the cruse of water which `is' at his bolster.' **[26:17]** And Saul discerneth the voice of David, and saith, `Is this thy voice, my son David?' and David saith, `My voice, my lord, O king!' **[26:18]** and he saith, `Why `is' this -- my lord is pursuing after his servant? for what have I done, and what `is' in my hand evil? **[26:19]** And, now, let, I pray thee, my lord the king hear the words of his servant: if Jehovah hath moved thee against me, let Him accept a present; and if the sons of men -- cursed `are' they before Jehovah, for they have cast me out to-day from being admitted into the inheritance of Jehovah, saying, Go, serve other gods. **[26:20]** `And now, let not my blood fall to the earth over-against the face of Jehovah, for the king of Israel hath come out to seek one flea, as `one' pursueth the partridge in mountains.' **[26:21]** And Saul saith, `I have sinned; turn back, my son David, for I do evil to thee no more, because that my soul hath been precious in thine eyes this day; lo, I have acted foolishly, and do err very greatly.' **[26:22]** And David answereth and saith, `Lo, the king's spear; and let one of the young men pass over, and receive it; **[26:23]** and Jehovah doth turn back to each his righteousness and his faithfulness, in that Jehovah hath given thee to-day into `my' hand, and I have not been willing to put forth my hand against the anointed of Jehovah, **[26:24]** and lo, as thy soul hath been great this day in mine eyes, so is my soul great in the eyes of Jehovah, and He doth deliver me out of all distress.' **[26:25]** And Saul saith unto David, `Blessed `art' thou, my son David, also working thou dost work, and also prevailing thou dost prevail.' And David goeth on his way, and Saul hath turned back to his place. **[27:1]** And David saith unto his heart, `Now am I consumed one day by the hand of Saul; there is nothing for me better than that I diligently escape unto the land of the Philistines, and Saul hath been despairing of me -- of seeking me any more in all the border of Israel, and I have escaped out of his hand.' **[27:2]** And David riseth, and passeth over, he and six hundred men who `are' with him, unto Achish son of Maoch king of Gath; **[27:3]** and David dwelleth with Achish in Gath, he and his men, each one with his household, `even' David and his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail wife of Nabal the Carmelitess. **[27:4]** And it is declared to Saul that David hath fled to Gath, and he hath not added any more to seek him. **[27:5]** And David saith unto Achish, `If, I pray thee, I have found grace in thine eyes, they give to me a place in one of the cities of the field, and I dwell there, yea, why doth thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?' **[27:6]** And Achish giveth to him in that day Ziklag, therefore hath Ziklag been to the kings of Judah till this day. **[27:7]** And the number of the days which David hath dwelt in the field of the Philistines `is' days and four months; **[27:8]** and David goeth up and his men, and they push unto the Geshurite, and the Gerizite, and the Amalekite, (for they are inhabitants of the land from of old), as thou comest in to Shur and unto the land of Egypt, **[27:9]** and David hath smitten the land, and doth not keep alive man and woman, and hath taken sheep, and oxen, and asses, and camels, and garments, and turneth back, and cometh in unto Achish. **[27:10]** And Achish saith, `Whither have ye pushed to-day?' and David saith, `Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelite, and unto the south of the Kenite.' **[27:11]** Neither man nor woman doth David keep alive, to bring in `word' to Gath, saying, `Lest they declare `it' against us, saying, Thus hath David done, and thus `is' his custom all the days that he hath dwelt in the fields of the Philistines.' **[27:12]** And Achish believeth in David, saying, `He hath made himself utterly abhorred among his people, in Israel, and hath been to me for a servant age-during.' **[28:1]** And it cometh to pass in those days, that the Philistines gather their camps for the war, to fight against Israel, and Achish saith unto David, `Thou dost certainly know that with me thou dost go out into the camp, thou and thy men.' **[28:2]** And David saith unto Achish, `Therefore -- thou dost know that which thy servant dost do.' And Achish saith unto David, `Therefore -- keeper of my head I do appoint thee all the days.' **[28:3]** And Samuel hath died, and all Israel mourn for him, and bury him in Ramah, even in his city, and Saul hath turned aside those having familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land. **[28:4]** And the Philistines are gathered, and come in, and encamp in Shunem, and Saul gathereth all Israel, and they encamp in Gilboa, **[28:5]** and Saul seeth the camp of the Philistines, and feareth, and his heart trembleth greatly, **[28:6]** and Saul asketh at Jehovah, and Jehovah hath not answered him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets. **[28:7]** And Saul saith to his servants, `Seek for me a woman possessing a familiar spirit, and I go unto her, and inquire of her;' and his servants say unto him, `Lo, a woman possessing a familiar spirit in En-dor.' **[28:8]** And Saul disguiseth himself and putteth on other garments, and goeth, he and two of the men with him, and they come in unto the woman by night, and he saith, `Divine, I pray thee, to me by the familiar spirit, and cause to come up to me him whom I say unto thee.' **[28:9]** And the woman saith unto him, `Lo, thou hast known that which Saul hath done, that he hath cut off those having familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land; and why art thou laying a snare for my soul -- to put me to death?' **[28:10]** And Saul sweareth to her by Jehovah, saying, `Jehovah liveth, punishment doth not meet thee for this thing.' **[28:11]** And the woman saith, `Whom do I bring up to thee?' and he saith, `Samuel -- bring up to me.' **[28:12]** And the woman seeth Samuel, and crieth with a loud voice, and the woman speaketh unto Saul, saying, `Why hast thou deceived me -- and thou Saul?' **[28:13]** And the king saith to her, `Do not fear; for what hast thou seen?' and the woman saith unto Saul, `Gods I have seen coming up out of the earth.' **[28:14]** And he saith to her, `What `is' his form?' and she saith, `An aged man is coming up, and he `is' covered with an upper robe;' and Saul knoweth that he `is' Samuel, and boweth -- face to thee earth -- and doth obeisance. **[28:15]** And Samuel saith unto Saul, `Why hast thou troubled me, to bring me up?' And Saul saith, `I have great distress, and the Philistines are fighting against me, God hath turned aside from me, and hath not answered me any more, either by the hand of the prophets, or by dreams; and I call for thee to let me know what I do.' **[28:16]** And Samuel saith, `And why dost thou ask me, and Jehovah hath turned aside from thee, and is thine enemy? **[28:17]** And Jehovah doth for Himself as He hath spoken by my hand, and Jehovah rendeth the kingdom out of thy hand, and giveth it to thy neighbour -- to David. **[28:18]** Because thou hast not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah, nor didst the fierceness of His anger on Amalek -- therefore this thing hath Jehovah done to thee this day; **[28:19]** yea, Jehovah giveth also Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow thou and thy sons `are' with me; also the camp of Israel doth Jehovah give into the hand of the Philistines.' **[28:20]** And Saul hasteth and falleth -- the fulness of his stature -- to the earth, and feareth greatly because of the words of Samuel; also power was not in him, for he had not eaten bread all the day, and all the night. **[28:21]** And the woman cometh in unto Saul, and seeth that he hath been greatly troubled, and saith unto him, `Lo, thy maid-servant hath hearkened to thy voice, and I put my soul in my hand, and I obey thy words which thou hast spoken unto me; **[28:22]** and now, hearken, I pray thee, also thou, to the voice of thy maid-servant, and I set before thee a morsel of bread, and eat, and there is in thee power when thou goest in the way.' **[28:23]** And he refuseth, and saith, `I do not eat;' and his servants urge on him, and also the woman, and he hearkeneth to their voice, and riseth from the earth, and sitteth on the bed. **[28:24]** And the woman hath a calf of the stall in the house, and she hasteth and slaughtereth it, and taketh flour, and kneadeth, and baketh it unleavened things, **[28:25]** and bringeth nigh before Saul, and before his servants, and they eat, and rise, and go on, during that night. **[29:1]** And the Philistines gather all their camps to Aphek, and the Israelites are encamping at a fountain which `is' in Jezreel, **[29:2]** and the princes of the Philistines are passing on by hundreds, and by thousands, and David and his men are passing on in the rear with Achish. **[29:3]** And the heads of the Philistines say, `What `are' these Hebrews?' and Achish saith unto the heads of the Philistines, `Is not this David servant of Saul king of Israel, who hath been with me these days or these years, and I have not found in him anything `wrong' from the day of his falling away till this day.' **[29:4]** And the heads of the Philistines are wroth against him, and the heads of the Philistines say to him, `Send back the man, and he doth turn back unto his place whither thou hast appointed him, and doth not go down with us into battle, and is not to us for an adversary in battle; and wherewith doth this one reconcile himself unto his lord -- is it not with the heads of those men?' **[29:5]** Is not this David, of whom they answer in choruses, saying, Saul hath smitten among his thousands, and David among his myriads?' **[29:6]** And Achish calleth unto David, and saith unto him, `Jehovah liveth, surely thou `art' upright, and good in mine eyes is thy going out, and thy coming in, with me in the camp, for I have not found in thee evil from the day of thy coming in unto me till this day; and in the eyes of the princes thou art not good; **[29:7]** and now, turn back, and go in peace, and thou dost do no evil in the eyes of the princes of the Philistines.' **[29:8]** And David saith unto Achish, `But what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant from the day that I have been before thee till this day -- that I go not in and have fought against the enemies of my lord the king?' **[29:9]** And Achish answereth and saith unto David, `I have known that thou `art' good in mine eyes as a messenger of God; only, the princes of the Philistines have said, He doth not go up with us into battle; **[29:10]** and now, rise thou early in the morning, and the servants of thy lord who have come with thee, when ye have risen early in the morning, and have light, then go ye.' **[29:11]** And David riseth early, he and his men, to go in the morning, to turn back unto the land of the Philistines, and the Philistines have gone up to Jezreel. **[30:1]** And it cometh to pass, in the coming in of David and his men to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites have pushed unto the south, and unto Ziklag, and smite Ziklag, and burn it with fire, **[30:2]** and they take captive the women who `are' in it; from small unto great they have not put any one to death, and they lead away, and go on their way. **[30:3]** And David cometh in -- and his men -- unto the city, and lo, burnt with fire, and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters have been taken captive! **[30:4]** And David lifteth up -- and the people who `are' with him -- their voice and weep, till that they have no power to weep. **[30:5]** And the two wives of David have been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail wife of Nabal the Carmelite; **[30:6]** and David hath great distress, for the people have said to stone him, for the soul of all the people hath been bitter, each for his sons and for his daughters; and David doth strengthen himself in Jehovah his God. **[30:7]** And David saith unto Abiathar the priest, son of Ahimelech, `Bring nigh, I pray thee, to me the ephod;' and Abiathar bringeth nigh the ephod unto David, **[30:8]** and David asketh at Jehovah, saying, `I pursue after this troop -- do I overtake it?' And He saith to him, `Pursue, for thou dost certainly overtake, and dost certainly deliver.' **[30:9]** And David goeth on, he and six hundred men who `are' with him, and they come in unto the brook of Besor, and those left have stood still, **[30:10]** and David pursueth, he and four hundred men, (and two hundred men stand still who have been too faint to pass over the brook of Besor), **[30:11]** and they find a man, an Egyptian, in the field, and take him unto David, and give to him bread, and he eateth, and they cause him to drink water, **[30:12]** and give to him a piece of a bunch of dried figs, and two bunches of raisins, and he eateth, and his spirit returneth unto him, for he hath not eaten bread nor drunk water three days and three nights. **[30:13]** And David saith to him, `Whose `art' thou? and whence `art' thou?' And he saith, `An Egyptian youth I `am', servant to a man, an Amalekite, and my lord forsaketh me, for I have been sick three days, **[30:14]** we pushed `to' the south of the Cherethite, and against that which `is' to Judah, and against the south of Caleb, and Ziklag we burned with fire.' **[30:15]** And David saith unto him, `Dost thou bring me down unto this troop?' and he saith, `Swear to me by God -- thou dost not put me to death, nor dost thou shut me up into the hand of my lord -- and I bring thee down unto this troop.' **[30:16]** And he bringeth him down, and lo, they are spread out over the face of all the earth, eating, and drinking, and feasting, with all the great spoil which they have taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah. **[30:17]** And David smiteth them from the twilight even unto the evening of the morrow, and there hath not escaped of them a man, except four hundred young men who have ridden on the camels, and are fled. **[30:18]** And David delivereth all that the Amalekites have taken; also his two wives hath David delivered. **[30:19]** And there hath not lacked to them `anything', from small unto great, and unto sons and daughters, and from the spoil, even unto all that they had taken to themselves, the whole hath David brought back, **[30:20]** and David taketh the whole of the flock, and of the herd, they have led on before these cattle, and they say, `This `is' David's spoil.' **[30:21]** And David cometh in unto the two hundred men who were too faint to go after David, and whom they cause to abide at the brook of Besor, and they go out to meet David, and to meet the people who `are' with him, and David approacheth the people, and asketh of them of welfare. **[30:22]** And every bad and worthless man, of the men who have gone with David, answereth, yea, they say, `Because that they have not gone with us we do not give to them of the spoil which we have delivered, except each his wife and his children, and they lead away and go. **[30:23]** And David saith, `Ye do not do so, my brethren, with that which Jehovah hath given to us, and He doth preserve us, and doth give the troop which cometh against us into our hand; **[30:24]** and who doth hearken to you in this thing? for as the portion of him who was brought down into battle, so also `is' the portion of him who is abiding by the vessels -- alike they share.' **[30:25]** And it cometh to pass from that day and forward, that he appointeth it for a statute and for an ordinance for Israel unto this day. **[30:26]** And David cometh in unto Ziklag, and sendeth of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, (saying, `Lo, for you a blessing, of the spoil of the enemies of Jehovah),' **[30:27]** to those in Beth-El, and to those in South Ramoth, and to those in Jattir, **[30:28]** and to those in Aroer, and to those in Siphmoth, and to those in Eshtemoa, **[30:29]** and to those in Rachal, and to those in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to those in the cities of the Kenites, **[30:30]** and to those in Hormah, and to those in Chor-Ashan, and to those in Athach, **[30:31]** and to those in Hebron, and to all the places where David had gone up and down, he and his men. **[31:1]** And the Philistines are fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel flee from the face of the Philistines, and fall wounded in mount Gilboa, **[31:2]** and the Philistines follow Saul and his sons, and the Philistines smite Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, sons of Saul. **[31:3]** And the battle is hard against Saul, and the archers find him -- men with bow -- and he is pained greatly by the archers; **[31:4]** and Saul saith to the bearer of his weapons, `Draw thy sword, and pierce me with it, lest they come -- these uncircumcised -- and have pierced me, and rolled themselves on me;' and the bearer of his weapons hath not been willing, for he is greatly afraid, and Saul taketh the sword, and falleth upon it. **[31:5]** And the bearer of his weapons seeth that Saul `is' dead, and he falleth -- he also -- on his sword, and dieth with him; **[31:6]** and Saul dieth, and three of his sons, and the bearer of his weapons, also all his men, on that day together. **[31:7]** And they see -- the men of Israel, who `are' beyond the valley, and who `are' beyond the Jordan -- that the men of Israel have fled, and that Saul and his sons have died, and they forsake the cities and flee, and Philistines come in, and dwell in them. **[31:8]** And it cometh to pass on the morrow, that the Philistines come to strip the wounded, and they find Saul and his three sons fallen on mount Gilboa, **[31:9]** and they cut off his head, and strip off his weapons, and send into the land of the Philistines round about, to proclaim tidings `in' the house of their idols, and `among' the people; **[31:10]** and they place his weapons `in' the house of Ashtaroth, and his body they have fixed on the wall of Beth-Shan. **[31:11]** And they hear regarding it -- the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead -- that which the Philistines have done to Saul, **[31:12]** and all the men of valour arise, and go all the night, and take the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, from the wall of Beth-Shan, and come in to Jabesh, and burn them there, **[31:13]** and they take their bones, and bury `them' under the tamarisk in Jabesh, and fast seven days.