The<n id="1" /> remnant of Benjamin must be preserved. An entire Israelite tribe should not be wiped out.<n id="2" />

This is why<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> permitted these nations to remain and did not conquer them immediately;<n id="2" /> he did not hand them over to Joshua.p>

But the Ammonite king disregarded<n id="1" /> the message sent by Jephthah.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="bodytext">There was a man named Manoah from Zorah, from the Danite tribe. His wife was infertile and childless.<n id="1" />

Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, &#8220;Please allow us<n id="1" /> to pass through your land.&#8221; But the king of Edom rejected the request.<n id="2" /> Israel sent the same request to the king of Moab, but he was unwilling to cooperate.<n id="3" /> So Israel stayed at Kadesh.

but you must not make an agreement with the people who live in this land. You should tear down the altars where they worship.&#8217;<n id="1" /> But you have disobeyed me.<n id="2" /> Why would you do such a thing?<n id="3" />

That day they killed about ten thousand Moabites<n id="1" /> &#8211; all strong, capable warriors; not one escaped.

They invaded the land<n id="1" /> and devoured<n id="2" /> its crops<n id="3" /> all the way to Gaza. They left nothing for the Israelites to eat,<n id="4" /> and they took away<n id="5" /> the sheep, oxen, and donkeys.

I said to you, &#8220;I am the <sc>Lordsc> your God! Do not worship<n id="1" /> the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are now living!&#8221; But you have disobeyed me.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

He ordered Jether his firstborn son, &#8220;Come on!<n id="1" /> Kill them!&#8221; But Jether was too afraid to draw his sword,<n id="2" /> because he was still young.

Gideon said to them, &#8220;I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The <sc>Lordsc> will rule over you.&#8221;

<t /><p class="bodytext">The Israelites humiliated Midian; the Midianites&#8217; fighting spirit was broken.<n id="1" /> The land had rest for forty years during Gideon&#8217;s time.<n id="2" />

The Israelites did not remain true<n id="1" /> to the <sc>Lordsc> their God, who had delivered them from all the enemies who lived around them.

They did not treat<n id="1" /> the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) fairly in return for all the good he had done for Israel.p>

But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. He<n id="1" /> assembled his whole army,<n id="2" /> camped in Jahaz, and fought with Israel.

<p class="bodytext">Jephthah said to them, &#8220;My people and I were entangled in controversy with the Ammonites.<n id="1" /> I asked for your help, but you did not deliver me from their power.<n id="2" />

The <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s angelic<n id="1" /> messenger appeared to the woman and said to her, &#8220;You<n id="2" /> are infertile and childless,<n id="3" /> but you will conceive and have a son.

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s messenger did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. After all this happened Manoah realized that the visitor had been the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s messenger.<n id="1" />

The <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s spirit empowered<n id="1" /> him and he tore the lion<n id="2" /> in two with his bare hands<n id="3" /> as easily as one would tear a young goat. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.p>

He said to them,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Out of the one who eats came something to eat;p> <p class="poetry">out of the strong one came something sweet.&#8221;p> <p class="bodyblock">They could not solve the riddle for three days.p>