The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to hand Midian over to you. ¹  Israel might brag, ²  ‘Our own strength has delivered us.’ ³ 

The Lord’s messenger said to him, “You should not ask me my name, because you cannot comprehend it.” ¹ 

Samson said to them, ¹  “This time I am justified in doing the Philistines harm!” ² 

The Lord spoke to Gideon again, “There are still too many men. ¹  Bring them down to the water and I will thin the ranks some more. ²  When I say, ‘This one should go with you,’ pick him to go; ³  when I say, ⁴  ‘This one should not go with you,’ do not take him.” ⁵ 

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.”

When Jotham heard the news, ¹  he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim. He spoke loudly to the people below, ²  “Listen to me, leaders of Shechem, so that God may listen to you!

Zebul said to him, “Where now are your bragging words, ¹  ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Are these not the men ²  you insulted? ³  Go out now and fight them!”

The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That may be true, ¹  but now we pledge to you our loyalty. ²  Come with us and fight with the Ammonites. Then you will become the leader ³  of all who live in Gilead.” ⁴ 

The Lord’s spirit empowered ¹  him and he tore the lion ²  in two with his bare hands ³  as easily as one would tear a young goat. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.

So the two of them sat down and had a meal together. ¹  Then the girl’s father said to the man, “Why not stay another night and have a good time!” ² 

So Gideon took ten of his servants ¹  and did just as the Lord had told him. He was too afraid of his father’s family ²  and the men of the city to do it in broad daylight, so he waited until nighttime. ³ 

Gideon said to God, “Please do not get angry at me, when I ask for just one more sign. ¹  Please allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make only the fleece dry, while the ground around it is covered with dew.” ² 

When he arrived in Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they approached him. But the Lord’s spirit empowered ¹  him. The ropes around his arms were like flax dissolving in ²  fire, and they ³  melted away from his hands.

The rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her and said to her, “Trick him! Find out what makes him so strong and how we can subdue him and humiliate ¹  him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred silver pieces.”

They hid ¹  in the bedroom and then she said to him, “The Philistines are here, ²  Samson!” He snapped the bowstrings as easily as a thread of yarn snaps when it is put close to fire. ³  The secret of his strength was not discovered. ⁴