The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord will judge any grievance you have against us, if we do not do as you say.”

Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king, saying, “Why have you come against me to attack my land?”

Israel sent messengers to King Sihon, the Amorite king who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, “Please allow us to pass through your land to our land.”

The Lord’s angelic messenger appeared to the woman and said to her, “You are infertile and childless, but you will conceive and have a son.

God answered Manoah’s prayer. God’s angelic messenger visited the woman again while she was sitting in the field. But her husband Manoah was not with her.

The Lord’s messenger did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. After all this happened Manoah realized that the visitor had been the Lord’s messenger.

So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me what makes you so strong and how you can be subdued and humiliated.”

Delilah said to Samson, “Look, you deceived me and told me lies! Now tell me how you can be subdued.”

Samson said to the young man who held his hand, “Position me so I can touch the pillars that support the temple. Then I can lean on them.”

The Danites said to him, “Don’t say another word to us, or some very angry men will attack you, and you and your family will die.”

The Danites went on their way; when Micah realized they were too strong to resist, he turned around and went home.

On the fourth day they woke up early and the Levite got ready to leave. But the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Have a bite to eat for some energy, then you can go.”

So the two of them sat down and had a meal together. Then the girl’s father said to the man, “Why not stay another night and have a good time!”

But his master said to him, “We should not stop at a foreign city where non-Israelites live. We will travel on to Gibeah.”

The old man said, “Everything is just fine! I will take care of all your needs. But don’t spend the night in the town square.”

When he got home, he took a knife, grabbed his concubine, and carved her up into twelve pieces. Then he sent the pieces throughout Israel.

All the Israelites from Dan to Beer Sheba and from the land of Gilead left their homes and assembled together before the Lord at Mizpah.

Among this army were seven hundred specially-trained left-handed soldiers. Each one could sling a stone and hit even the smallest target.

The men of Israel marched out to fight Benjamin; they arranged their battle lines against Gibeah.

Then the Benjaminites said, “They are defeated just as before.” But the Israelites said, “Let’s retreat and lure them away from the city into the main roads.”