Joshua left those nations ¹  to test ²  Israel. I wanted to see ³  whether or not the people ⁴  would carefully walk in the path ⁵  marked out by ⁶  the Lord, as their ancestors ⁷  were careful to do.”

The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. ¹  They forgot the Lord their God and worshiped the Baals and the Asherahs. ² 

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

Gideon ¹  said to him, “But Lord, ²  how ³  can I deliver Israel? Just look! My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my family.” ⁴ 

When Gideon realized ¹  that it was the Lord’s messenger, he ²  said, “Oh no! ³  Master, Lord! ⁴  I have seen the Lord’s messenger face to face!”

He sent messengers throughout Manasseh and summoned them to follow him as well. ¹  He also sent messengers throughout Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they came up to meet him.

He said to them, “Watch me and do as I do. Watch closely! ¹  I am going to the edge of the camp. Do as I do!

He went up from there to Penuel and made the same request. ¹  The men of Penuel responded the same way the men of Succoth had. ² 

Gideon went up the road of the nomads ¹  east of Nobah and Jogbehah and ambushed the surprised army. ² 

After Gideon died, the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They made Baal-Berith ¹  their god.

They paid him seventy silver shekels out of the temple of Baal-Berith. Abimelech then used the silver to hire some lawless, dangerous ¹  men as his followers. ² 

But the fig tree said to them, ‘I am not going to stop producing my sweet figs, my excellent fruit, just to sway above the other trees!’ ¹ 

The leaders of Shechem rebelled against Abimelech by putting ¹  bandits in ²  the hills, who robbed everyone who traveled by on the road. But Abimelech found out about it. ³ 

If only these men ¹  were under my command, ²  I would get rid of Abimelech!” He challenged Abimelech, ³  “Muster ⁴  your army and come out for battle!” ⁵ 

Gaal again said, “Look, men are coming down from the very center ¹  of the land. A unit ²  is coming by way of the Oak Tree of the Diviners.” ³ 

Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He captured the city and killed all the people in it. Then he leveled ¹  the city and spread salt over it. ² 

God also repaid the men of Shechem for their evil deeds. The curse spoken by Jotham son of Jerub-Baal fell ¹  on them.

The Israelites cried out for help to the Lord: “We have sinned against you. We abandoned our God and worshiped ¹  the Baals.”

The Lord said to the Israelites, “Did I not deliver you from Egypt, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines,

Samson went down to Timnah. When he approached ¹  the vineyards of Timnah, he saw a roaring young lion attacking him. ²