<p class="bodytext">After Ehud<n id="1" /> came<n id="2" /> Shamgar son of Anath; he killed six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad and, like Ehud,<n id="3" /> delivered Israel.p>

Barak summoned men from Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. Ten thousand men followed him;<n id="1" /> Deborah went up with him as well.

They said to one another,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Who did this?&#8221;<n id="2" /> They investigated the matter thoroughly<n id="3" /> and concluded<n id="4" /> that Gideon son of Joash had done it.

Three hundred men lapped;<n id="1" /> the rest of the men<n id="2" /> kneeled to drink water.

He divided the three hundred men into three units.<n id="1" /> He gave them all trumpets and empty jars with torches inside them.<n id="2" />

He captured a young man from Succoth<n id="1" /> and interrogated him. The young man wrote down for him the names of Succoth&#8217;s officials and city leaders &#8211; seventy-seven men in all.<n id="2" />

He seized the leaders<n id="1" /> of the city, along with some desert thorns and briers; he then &#8220;threshed&#8221; the men of Succoth with them.<n id="2" />

<p class="bodytext">He said to Zebah and Zalmunna, &#8220;Describe for me<n id="1" /> the men you killed at Tabor.&#8221; They said, &#8220;They were like you. Each one looked like a king&#8217;s son.&#8221;<n id="2" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">The men of Israel said to Gideon, &#8220;Rule over us &#8211; you, your son, and your grandson. For you have delivered us from Midian&#8217;s power.&#8221;<n id="1" />

Gideon continued,<n id="1" /> &#8220;I would like to make one request. Each of you give me an earring from the plunder you have taken.&#8221;<n id="2" /> (The Midianites<n id="3" /> had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.)

But the olive tree said to them, &#8216;I am not going to stop producing my oil, which is used to honor gods and men, just to sway above the other trees!&#8217;<n id="1" />p>

But the grapevine said to them, &#8216;I am not going to stop producing my wine, which makes gods and men so happy, just to sway above the other trees!&#8217;<n id="1" />p>

God also repaid the men of Shechem for their evil deeds. The curse spoken by Jotham son of Jerub-Baal fell<n id="1" /> on them.p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">After Abimelech&#8217;s death,<n id="1" /> Tola son of Puah, grandson<n id="2" /> of Dodo, from the tribe of Issachar,<n id="3" /> rose up to deliver Israel. He lived in Shamir in the Ephraimite hill country.

<p class="bodytext">Jephthah said to them, &#8220;My people and I were entangled in controversy with the Ammonites.<n id="1" /> I asked for your help, but you did not deliver me from their power.<n id="2" />

God answered Manoah&#8217;s prayer.<n id="1" /> God&#8217;s angelic messenger visited<n id="2" /> the woman again while she was sitting in the field. But her husband Manoah was not with her.

The men of Judah said, &#8220;Why are you attacking<n id="1" /> us?&#8221; The Philistines<n id="2" /> said, &#8220;We have come up to take Samson prisoner so we can do to him what he has done to us.&#8221;

She made him go to sleep on her lap<n id="1" /> and then called a man in to shave off<n id="2" /> the seven braids of his hair.<n id="3" /> She made him vulnerable<n id="4" /> and his strength left him.

Now the temple<n id="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.

Now this man Micah owned a shrine.<n id="1" /> He made an ephod<n id="2" /> and some personal idols and hired one of his sons to serve as a priest.<n id="3" />