When he got home, he took a knife, grabbed his concubine, and carved her up into twelve pieces.<n id="1" /> Then he sent the pieces throughout Israel.<n id="2" />

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

<p class="bodytext">All Israel rose up in unison<n id="1" /> and said, &#8220;Not one of us will go home!<n id="2" /> Not one of us will return<n id="3" /> to his house!

<p class="bodytext">Now Sisera ran away on foot to the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, for King Jabin of Hazor<n id="1" /> and the family of Heber the Kenite had made a peace treaty.<n id="2" />

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" />

So Gideon took ten of his servants<n id="1" /> and did just as the <sc>Lordsc> had told him. He was too afraid of his father&#8217;s family<n id="2" /> and the men of the city to do it in broad daylight, so he waited until nighttime.<n id="3" />p>

He went to his father&#8217;s home in Ophrah and murdered his half-brothers,<n id="1" /> the seventy legitimate<n id="2" /> sons of Jerub-Baal, on one stone. Only Jotham, Jerub-Baal&#8217;s youngest son, escaped,<n id="3" /> because he hid.

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;Now, if you have shown loyalty and integrity when you made Abimelech king, if you have done right to Jerub-Baal and his family,<n id="1" /> if you have properly repaid him<n id="2" /> &#8211;

But you have attacked<n id="1" /> my father&#8217;s family<n id="2" /> today. You murdered his seventy legitimate<n id="3" /> sons on one stone and made Abimelech, the son of his female slave, king over the leaders of Shechem, just because he is your close relative.<n id="4" />

Gilead&#8217;s wife also gave<n id="1" /> him sons. When his wife&#8217;s sons grew up, they made Jephthah leave and said to him, &#8220;You are not going to inherit any of our father&#8217;s wealth,<n id="2" /> because you are another woman&#8217;s son.&#8221;

<p class="bodytext">When Jephthah came home to Mizpah, there was his daughter hurrying out<n id="1" /> to meet him, dancing to the rhythm of tambourines.<n id="2" /> She was his only child; except for her he had no son or daughter.

<t /><p class="bodytext">The Ephraimites assembled<n id="1" /> and crossed over to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, &#8220;Why did you go and fight<n id="2" /> with the Ammonites without asking<n id="3" /> us to go with you? We will burn your house down right over you!&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

<p class="bodytext">On the fourth<n id="1" /> day they said to Samson&#8217;s bride, &#8220;Trick your husband into giving the solution to the riddle.<n id="2" /> If you refuse,<n id="3" /> we will burn up<n id="4" /> you and your father&#8217;s family.<n id="5" /> Did you invite us here<n id="6" /> to make us poor?&#8221;<n id="7" />

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s spirit empowered him. He went down to Ashkelon and murdered thirty men. He took their clothes<n id="1" /> and gave them<n id="2" /> to the men who had solved the riddle. He was furious as he went back home.<n id="3" />

<p class="bodytext">When they really started celebrating,<n id="1" /> they said, &#8220;Call for Samson so he can entertain us!&#8221; So they summoned Samson from the prison and he entertained them.<n id="2" /> They made him stand between two pillars.

Samson said, &#8220;Let me die with the Philistines!&#8221; He pushed hard<n id="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.<n id="2" />

His brothers and all his family<n id="1" /> went down and brought him back.<n id="2" /> They buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had led<n id="3" /> Israel for twenty years.p>

The Danites sent out from their whole tribe five representatives,<n id="1" /> capable men<n id="2" /> from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and explore it. They said to them, &#8220;Go, explore the land.&#8221; They came to the Ephraimite hill country and spent the night at Micah&#8217;s house.<n id="3" />

As they approached<n id="1" /> Micah&#8217;s house, they recognized the accent<n id="2" /> of the young Levite. So they stopped<n id="3" /> there and said to him, &#8220;Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?&#8221;<n id="4" />

The five men who had gone to spy out the land of Laish<n id="1" /> said to their kinsmen,<n id="2" /> &#8220;Do you realize that inside these houses are an ephod, some personal idols, a carved image, and a metal image? Decide now what you want to do.&#8221;