The <sc>Lordsc> said to Gideon, &#8220;With the three hundred men who lapped I will deliver the whole army<n id="1" /> and I will hand Midian over to you.<n id="2" /> The rest of the men should go home.&#8221;<n id="3" />

The men<n id="1" /> who were chosen<n id="2" /> took supplies<n id="3" /> and their trumpets. Gideon<n id="4" /> sent all the men of Israel back to their homes;<n id="5" /> he kept only three hundred men. Now the Midianites<n id="6" /> were camped down below<n id="7" /> in the valley.p>

He said to the men of Succoth, &#8220;Give<n id="1" /> some loaves of bread to the men<n id="2" /> who are following me,<n id="3" /> because they are exhausted. I am chasing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.&#8221;

In the morning at sunrise quickly attack the city. When he and his men come out to fight you, do what you can to him.&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

Zebul said to him, &#8220;Where now are your bragging words,<n id="1" /> &#8216;Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?&#8217; Are these not the men<n id="2" /> you insulted?<n id="3" /> Go out now and fight them!&#8221;

Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He captured the city and killed all the people in it. Then he leveled<n id="1" /> the city and spread salt over it.<n id="2" />p>

So each of his men also cut off a branch and followed Abimelech. They put the branches<n id="1" /> against the stronghold and set fire to it.<n id="2" /> All the people<n id="3" /> of the Tower of Shechem died &#8211; about a thousand men and women.p>

The leaders<n id="1" /> of Gilead said to one another, &#8220;Who is willing to lead the charge<n id="2" /> against the Ammonites? He will become the leader of all who live in Gilead!&#8221;p>

So Jephthah went with the leaders of Gilead. The people made him their leader and commander. Jephthah repeated the terms of the agreement<n id="1" /> before the <sc>Lordsc> in Mizpah.p>

The <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel handed Sihon and his whole army over to Israel and they defeated them. Israel took<n id="1" /> all the land of the Amorites who lived in that land.

But his father and mother said to him, &#8220;Certainly you can find a wife among your relatives or among all our<n id="1" /> people! You should not have to go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines.&#8221;<n id="2" /> But Samson said to his father, &#8220;Get her for me,<n id="3" /> because she is the right one for me.&#8221;<n id="4" />

So Samson&#8217;s bride cried on his shoulder<n id="1" /> and said, &#8220;You must<n id="2" /> hate me; you do not love me! You told the young men<n id="3" /> a riddle, but you have not told me the solution.&#8221; He said to her, &#8220;Look, I have not even told my father or mother. Do you really expect me to tell you?&#8221;<n id="4" />

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" />

When the people saw him,<n id="1" /> they praised their god, saying, &#8220;Our god has handed our enemy over to us, the one who ruined our land and killed so many of us!&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

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" />

<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" />

When you invade,<n id="1" /> you will encounter<n id="2" /> unsuspecting people. The land is wide!<n id="3" /> God is handing it over to you &#8211; a place that lacks nothing on earth!&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

<p class="bodytext">Now the Danites<n id="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.<n id="2" />

We will take ten of every group of a hundred men from all the tribes of Israel (and a hundred of every group of a thousand, and a thousand of every group of ten thousand) to get supplies for the army.<n id="1" /> When they arrive in Gibeah of Benjamin they will punish them for the atrocity which they committed in Israel.&#8221;<n id="2" />

<p class="bodytext">So all the Israelites, the whole army,<n id="1" /> went up to<n id="2" /> Bethel.<n id="3" /> They wept and sat there before the <sc>Lordsc>; they did not eat anything<n id="4" /> that day until evening. They offered up burnt sacrifices and tokens of peace<n id="5" /> to the <sc>Lordsc>.