When he looked up and saw the traveler ¹  in the town square, the old man said, “Where are you heading? Where do you come from?”

The leaders of Gibeah attacked me and at night surrounded the house where I was staying. ¹  They wanted to kill me; instead they abused my concubine so badly that she died.

Then the Israelites dispersed from there to their respective tribal and clan territories. Each went from there to his own property. ¹ 

Now the descendants of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah from the City of Date Palm Trees to Arad in the desert of Judah, ¹  located in the Negev. ²  They went and lived with the people of Judah. ³ 

They came from Ephraim, who uprooted Amalek, ¹  they follow ²  after you, Benjamin, with your soldiers. From Makir leaders came down, from Zebulun came ³  the ones who march carrying ⁴  an officer’s staff.

‘Call judgment down on ¹  Meroz,’ says the Lord’s angelic ²  messenger; ‘Be sure ³  to call judgment down on ⁴  those who live there, because they did not come to help in the Lord’s battle, ⁵  to help in the Lord’s battle against the warriors.’ ⁶ 

May all your enemies perish like this, O Lord! But may those who love you shine like the rising sun at its brightest!” ¹  And the land had rest for forty years.

Gideon used all this to make ¹  an ephod, ²  which he put in his hometown of Ophrah. All the Israelites ³  prostituted themselves to it by worshiping it ⁴  there. It became a snare to Gideon and his family.

The Ammonite king said to Jephthah’s messengers, “Because Israel stole ¹  my land when they ²  came up from Egypt – from the Arnon River in the south to the Jabbok River in the north, and as far west as the Jordan. ³  Now return it ⁴  peaceably!”

He lit the torches ¹  and set the jackals loose in the Philistines’ standing grain. He burned up the grain heaps and the standing grain, as well as the vineyards and olive groves.

The rulers of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate. They said, “Our god has handed Samson, our enemy, over to us.”

Now the temple ¹  was filled with men and women, and all the rulers of the Philistines were there. There were three thousand men and women on the roof watching Samson entertain.

As they approached ¹  Micah’s house, they recognized the accent ²  of the young Levite. So they stopped ³  there and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?” ⁴ 

When he got home, he took a knife, grabbed his concubine, and carved her up into twelve pieces. ¹  Then he sent the pieces throughout Israel. ² 

and keep your eyes open. ¹  When you see ²  the daughters of Shiloh coming out to dance in the celebration, ³  jump out from the vineyards. Each one of you, catch yourself a wife from among the daughters of Shiloh and then go home to the land of Benjamin.

The men of Manasseh did not conquer Beth Shan, Taanach, or their surrounding towns. Nor did they conquer the people living in Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo ¹  or their surrounding towns. ²  The Canaanites managed ³  to remain in those areas. ⁴ 

The Lord’s angelic messenger ¹  went up from Gilgal to Bokim. He said, “I brought you up from Egypt and led you into the land I had solemnly promised to give to your ancestors. ²  I said, ‘I will never break my agreement ³  with you,

He approached the men of Succoth and said, “Look what I have! ¹  Zebah and Zalmunna! You insulted me, saying, ‘You have not yet overpowered Zebah and Zalmunna. So why should we give bread to your exhausted men?’” ² 

The total weight of the gold earrings he requested came to seventeen hundred gold shekels. ¹  This was in addition to the crescent-shaped ornaments, jewelry, ²  purple clothing worn by the Midianite kings, and the necklaces on the camels. ³ 

When he saw her, he ripped his clothes and said, “Oh no! My daughter! You have completely ruined me! ¹  You have brought me disaster! ²  I made an oath to the Lord, and I cannot break it.” ³