He did this so the violent deaths of Jerub-Baal’s seventy sons might be avenged and Abimelech, their half-brother who murdered them, might have to pay for their spilled blood, along with the leaders of Shechem who helped him murder them.

When Delilah saw that he had told her his secret, she sent for the rulers of the Philistines, saying, “Come up here again, for he has told me his secret.” So the rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her, bringing the silver in their hands.

They were having a good time, when suddenly some men of the city, some good-for-nothings, surrounded the house and kept beating on the door. They said to the old man who owned the house, “Send out the man who came to visit you so we can have sex with him.”

So the five men journeyed on and arrived in Laish. They noticed that the people there were living securely, like the Sidonians do, undisturbed and unsuspecting. No conqueror was troubling them in any way. They lived far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone.

He said to me, ‘Look, you will conceive and have a son. So now, do not drink wine or beer and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. For the child will be dedicated to God from birth till the day he dies.’”

The Lord’s angelic messenger came and sat down under the oak tree in Ophrah owned by Joash the Abiezrite. He arrived while Joash’s son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress so he could hide it from the Midianites.

There was a fortified tower in the center of the city, so all the men and women, as well as the city’s leaders, ran into it and locked the entrance. Then they went up to the roof of the tower.

That day God humiliated King Jabin of Canaan before the Israelites.

That night God did as he asked. Only the fleece was dry and the ground around it was covered with dew.

Israel humiliated Moab that day, and the land had rest for eighty years.

That day twenty-five thousand sword-wielding Benjaminites fell in battle, all of them capable warriors.

The land had rest for forty years; then Othniel son of Kenaz died.

Jephthah approached the Ammonites to fight with them, and the Lord handed them over to him.

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 Israelites got up the next morning and moved against Gibeah.

God’s messenger said to him, “Put the meat and unleavened bread on this rock, and pour out the broth.” Gideon did as instructed.

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

His father-in-law, the girl’s father, persuaded him to stay with him for three days, and they ate and drank together, and spent the night there.

He also threatened the men of Penuel, warning, “When I return victoriously, I will tear down this tower.”

Abimelech went back to Arumah; Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem.