When the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help because of Midian,

“So all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘You come and be our king!’ ¹ 

my father fought for you; he risked his life ¹  and delivered you from Midian’s power. ² 

So Abimelech and all his men came up ¹  at night and set an ambush outside Shechem – they divided into ²  four units.

a woman threw an upper millstone ¹  down on his ²  head and shattered his skull.

He struck them down and defeated them. ¹  Then he went down and lived for a time in the cave in the cliff of Etam.

They said to him, “Seek a divine oracle for us, ¹  so we can know if we will be successful on our mission.” ² 

When the Israelites turned around, the Benjaminites panicked ¹  because they could see that disaster was on their doorstep. ² 

The Lord’s spirit empowered him ¹  and he led Israel. When he went to do battle, the Lord handed over to him King Cushan-Rishathaim of Aram and he overpowered him. ² 

The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight. ¹  The Lord gave King Eglon of Moab control over Israel ²  because they had done evil in the Lord’s sight.

But he went back ¹  once he reached ²  the carved images ³  at Gilgal. He said to Eglon, ⁴  “I have a secret message for you, O king.” Eglon ⁵  said, “Be quiet!” ⁶  All his attendants left.

When the men of the city got up the next morning, they saw ¹  the Baal altar pulled down, the nearby Asherah pole cut down, and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar.

Look, I am putting a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece, and the ground around it ¹  is dry, then I will be sure ²  that you will use me to deliver Israel, ³  as you promised.”

He did this so the violent deaths of Jerub-Baal’s seventy sons might be avenged and Abimelech, their half-brother ¹  who murdered them, might have to pay for their spilled blood, along with the leaders of Shechem who helped him murder them. ² 

So each of his men also cut off a branch and followed Abimelech. They put the branches ¹  against the stronghold and set fire to it. ²  All the people ³  of the Tower of Shechem died – about a thousand men and women.

She then said to her father, “Please grant me this one wish. ¹  For two months allow me to walk through the hills with my friends and mourn my virginity.” ² 

Samson spent half the night with the prostitute; then he got up in the middle of the night and left. ¹  He grabbed the doors of the city gate, as well as the two posts, and pulled them right off, bar and all. ²  He put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of a hill east of Hebron. ³ 

Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He pushed hard ¹  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. ² 

Now the Danites ¹  took what Micah had made, as well as his priest, and came to Laish, where the people were undisturbed and unsuspecting. They struck them down with the sword and burned the city. ² 

One time Acsah ¹  came and charmed her father ²  so she could ask him for some land. When she got down from her donkey, Caleb said to her, “What would you like?”