They said to him, &#8220;We have come down to take you prisoner so we can hand you over to the Philistines.&#8221; Samson said to them, &#8220;Promise me<n id="1" /> you will not kill<n id="2" /> me.&#8221;

They worshiped<n id="1" /> Micah&#8217;s carved image<n id="2" /> the whole time God&#8217;s authorized shrine<n id="3" /> was in Shiloh.p>

<p class="bodytext">The entire assembly sent messengers to the Benjaminites at the cliff of Rimmon and assured them they would not be harmed.<n id="1" />

But we can&#8217;t allow our daughters to marry them,<n id="1" /> for the Israelites took an oath, saying, &#8216;Whoever gives a woman to a Benjaminite will be destroyed!&#8217;<n id="2" />

<p class="bodytext">The men of Naphtali did not conquer the people living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath.<n id="1" /> They live among the Canaanites residing in the land. The Canaanites<n id="2" /> living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were forced to do hard labor for them.p>

They abandoned the <sc>Lordsc> God of their ancestors<n id="1" /> who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods &#8211; the gods of the nations who lived around them. They worshiped<n id="2" /> them and made the <sc>Lordsc> angry.

But they did not obey<n id="1" /> their leaders. Instead they prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped<n id="2" /> them. They quickly turned aside from the path<n id="3" /> their ancestors<n id="4" /> had walked. Their ancestors had obeyed the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s commands, but they did not.<n id="5" />

When the <sc>Lordsc> raised up leaders for them, the <sc>Lordsc> was with each leader and delivered the people<n id="1" /> from their enemies while the leader remained alive. The <sc>Lordsc> felt sorry for them<n id="2" /> when they cried out in agony because of what their harsh oppressors did to them.<n id="3" />

<p class="bodytext">When the Israelites cried out for help to the <sc>Lordsc>, he<n id="1" /> raised up a deliverer for them. His name was Ehud son of Gera the Benjaminite, a left-handed man.<n id="2" /> The Israelites sent him to King Eglon of Moab with their tribute payment.<n id="3" />

The Midianites<n id="1" /> overwhelmed Israel.<n id="2" /> Because of Midian the Israelites made shelters<n id="3" /> for themselves in the hills, as well as caves and strongholds.

he<n id="1" /> sent a prophet<n id="2" /> to the Israelites. He said to them, &#8220;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel says: &#8216;I brought you up from Egypt<n id="3" /> and took you out of that place of slavery.<n id="4" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">When Jotham heard the news,<n id="1" /> he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim. He spoke loudly to the people below,<n id="2" /> &#8220;Listen to me, leaders of Shechem, so that God may listen to you!p>

Samson said to them, &#8220;I will give you a riddle. If you really can solve it during the seven days the party lasts,<n id="1" /> I will give you thirty linen robes and thirty sets<n id="2" /> of clothes.

She cried on his shoulder<n id="1" /> until the party was almost over.<n id="2" /> Finally, on the seventh day, he told her because she had nagged him so much.<n id="3" /> Then she told the young men the solution to the riddle.<n id="4" />

On the seventh day, before the sun set, the men of the city said to him,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;What is sweeter than honey?p> <p class="poetry">What is stronger than a lion?&#8221;p> <p class="bodyblock">He said to them,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;If you had not plowed with my heifer,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">you would not have solved my riddle!&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">So the five men journeyed on<n id="1" /> and arrived in Laish. They noticed that the people there<n id="2" /> were living securely, like the Sidonians do,<n id="3" /> undisturbed and unsuspecting. No conqueror was troubling them in any way.<n id="4" /> They lived far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone.<n id="5" />

No one came to the rescue because the city<n id="1" /> was far from Sidon<n id="2" /> and they had no dealings with anyone.<n id="3" /> The city<n id="4" /> was in a valley near Beth Rehob. The Danites<n id="5" /> rebuilt the city and occupied it.

The Danites worshiped<n id="1" /> the carved image. Jonathan, descendant<n id="2" /> of Gershom, son of Moses,<n id="3" /> and his descendants<n id="4" /> served as priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the exile.

Here are my virgin daughter and my guest&#8217;s<n id="1" /> concubine. I will send them out and you can abuse them and do to them whatever you like.<n id="2" /> But don&#8217;t do such a disgraceful thing to this man!&#8221;

When their fathers or brothers come and protest to us,<n id="1" /> we&#8217;ll say to them, &#8220;Do us a favor and let them be,<n id="2" /> for we could not get each one a wife through battle.<n id="3" /> Don&#8217;t worry about breaking your oath!<n id="4" /> You would only be guilty if you had voluntarily given them wives.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="5" />p>