The Israelites humiliated Midian; the Midianites’ fighting spirit was broken. The land had rest for forty years during Gideon’s time.

After they had gone a good distance from Micah’s house, Micah’s neighbors gathered together and caught up with the Danites.

The Lord was furious with Israel and handed them over to robbers who plundered them. He turned them over to their enemies who lived around them. They could not withstand their enemies’ attacks.

The Benjaminites attacked the army, leaving the city unguarded. They began to strike down their enemy just as they had done before. On the main roads (one leads to Bethel, the other to Gibeah) and in the field, they struck down about thirty Israelites.

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 Israelites went up and wept before the Lord until evening. They asked the Lord, “Should we again march out to fight the Benjaminites, our brothers?” The Lord said, “Attack them!”

That day they killed about ten thousand Moabites – all strong, capable warriors; not one escaped.

my father fought for you; he risked his life and delivered you from Midian’s power.

The Ammonites assembled and camped in Gilead; the Israelites gathered together and camped in Mizpah.

They took all the Amorite territory from the Arnon River on the south to the Jabbok River on the north, from the desert in the east to the Jordan in the west.

They worshiped Micah’s carved image the whole time God’s authorized shrine was in Shiloh.

The Israelites attacked the Benjaminites the next day; they took their positions against Gibeah just as they had done before.

O Lord, when you departed from Seir, when you marched from Edom’s plains, the earth shook, the heavens poured down, the clouds poured down rain.

Then the Benjaminites saw they were defeated. The Israelites retreated before Benjamin, because they had confidence in the men they had hid in ambush outside Gibeah.

He said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Describe for me the men you killed at Tabor.” They said, “They were like you. Each one looked like a king’s son.”

The Israelites returned to the Benjaminite towns and put the sword to them. They wiped out the cities, the animals, and everything they could find. They set fire to every city in their path.

Gideon fathered seventy sons through his many wives.

The Lord’s spirit empowered him. He went down to Ashkelon and murdered thirty men. He took their clothes and gave them to the men who had solved the riddle. He was furious as he went back home.

So they commanded the Benjaminites, “Go hide in the vineyards,

He said to her, “Stand watch at the entrance to the tent. If anyone comes along and asks you, ‘Is there a man here?’ say ‘No.’”