Then Abdon son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

He said to her, “Get up, let’s leave!” But there was no response. He put her on the donkey and went home. ¹ 

Whenever Israel was strong militarily, they forced the Canaanites to do hard labor, but they never totally conquered them.

The Lord was furious with Israel. ¹  He said, “This nation ²  has violated the terms of the agreement I made with their ancestors ³  by disobeying me. ⁴ 

Then Samson’s father accompanied him to Timnah for the marriage. ¹  Samson hosted a party ²  there, for this was customary for bridegrooms ³  to do.

It was to you that God handed over the Midianite generals, Oreb and Zeeb! What did I accomplish to rival that?” ¹  When he said this, they calmed down. ² 

In those days Israel had no king. There was a Levite ¹  living temporarily in the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. He acquired a concubine ²  from Bethlehem ³  in Judah.

The Lord was with the men of Judah. They conquered ¹  the hill country, but they could not ²  conquer the people living in the coastal plain, because they had chariots with iron-rimmed wheels. ³ 

Now the temple ¹  was filled with men and women, and all the rulers of the Philistines were there. There were three thousand men and women on the roof watching Samson entertain.

Ehud made himself a sword – it had two edges and was eighteen inches long. ¹  He strapped it under his coat on his right thigh.

When Ehud approached him, he was sitting in his well-ventilated ¹  upper room all by himself. Ehud said, “I have a message from God ²  for you.” When Eglon rose up from his seat, ³ 

Issachar’s leaders were with Deborah, the men of Issachar ¹  supported ²  Barak; into the valley they were sent under Barak’s command. ³  Among the clans of Reuben there was intense ⁴  heart searching. ⁵ 

When they got near Jebus, it was getting quite late ¹  and the servant ²  said to his master, “Come on, let’s stop at ³  this Jebusite city and spend the night in it.”

The Amorites managed ¹  to remain in Har Heres, ²  Aijalon, and Shaalbim. Whenever the tribe of Joseph was strong militarily, ³  the Amorites were forced to do hard labor.

The Lord was furious with Israel ¹  and turned them over to ²  King Cushan-Rishathaim ³  of Aram-Naharaim. They were Cushan-Rishathaim’s subjects ⁴  for eight years.

He was very thirsty, so he cried out to the Lord and said, “You have given your servant ¹  this great victory. But now must I die of thirst and fall into hands of the Philistines?” ² 

The Lord was furious with Israel ¹  and handed them over to robbers who plundered them. ²  He turned them over to ³  their enemies who lived around them. They could not withstand their enemies’ attacks. ⁴ 

The total weight of the gold earrings he requested came to seventeen hundred gold shekels. ¹  This was in addition to the crescent-shaped ornaments, jewelry, ²  purple clothing worn by the Midianite kings, and the necklaces on the camels. ³ 

In those days Israel had no king. And in those days the Danite tribe was looking for a place ¹  to settle, because at that time they did not yet have a place to call their own among the tribes of Israel. ² 

They stopped ¹  there, went inside the young Levite’s house (which belonged to Micah), ²  and asked him how he was doing. ³