Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He pushed hard and the temple collapsed on the rulers and all the people in it. He killed many more people in his death than he had killed during his life.

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

He said to his servant, “Come on, we will go into one of the other towns and spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.”

He woke up early in the morning on the fifth day so he could leave, but the girl’s father said, “Get some energy. Wait until later in the day to leave!” So they ate a meal together.

Samson continued on down to Timnah and spoke to the girl. In his opinion, she was just the right one.

The Israelites had taken an oath in Mizpah, saying, “Not one of us will allow his daughter to marry a Benjaminite.”

So they traveled on, and the sun went down when they were near Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin.

But then an old man passed by, returning at the end of the day from his work in the field. The man was from the Ephraimite hill country; he was living temporarily in Gibeah. (The residents of the town were Benjaminites.)

They said, “Why, O Lord God of Israel, has this happened in Israel?” An entire tribe has disappeared from Israel today!”

There was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah. He was a Levite who had been temporarily residing among the tribe of Judah.

The handle went in after the blade, and the fat closed around the blade, for Ehud did not pull the sword out of his belly.

The Midianites overwhelmed Israel. Because of Midian the Israelites made shelters for themselves in the hills, as well as caves and strongholds.

So Jephthah left his half-brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Lawless men joined Jephthah’s gang and traveled with him.

The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines for forty years.

Gideon went and prepared a young goat, along with unleavened bread made from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. He brought the food to him under the oak tree and presented it to him.

The men of Judah attacked the Canaanites living in Hebron. (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba.) They killed Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They forgot the Lord their God and worshiped the Baals and the Asherahs.

The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord turned them over to Midian for seven years.

All the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east assembled. They crossed the Jordan River and camped in the Jezreel Valley.

When he looked up and saw the traveler in the town square, the old man said, “Where are you heading? Where do you come from?”