Sometime later, during the wheat harvest, ¹  Samson took a young goat as a gift and went to visit his bride. ²  He said to her father, ³  “I want to have sex with my bride in her bedroom!” ⁴  But her father would not let him enter.

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 

Manoah said, “Now, when your announcement comes true, ¹  how should the child be raised and what should he do?” ² 

The Levite ¹  said to him, “We are traveling from Bethlehem ²  in Judah to the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. That’s where I’m from. I had business in Bethlehem in Judah, but now I’m heading home. ³  But no one has invited me into their home.

She then said to her father, “Please grant me this one wish. ¹  For two months allow me to walk through the hills with my friends and mourn my virginity.” ² 

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 

But the man did not want to stay another night. He left ¹  and traveled as far as ²  Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). ³  He had with him a pair of saddled donkeys and his concubine. ⁴ 

The Lord said to him, “You are safe! ¹  Do not be afraid! You are not going to die!”

God sent a spirit to stir up hostility ¹  between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem. He made the leaders of Shechem disloyal ²  to Abimelech.

Manoah said to the Lord’s messenger, “Please stay here awhile, ¹  so we can prepare a young goat for you to eat.” ² 

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 

He said to his mother, “You know ¹  the eleven hundred pieces of silver which were stolen ²  from you, about which I heard you pronounce a curse? Look here, I have the silver. I stole ³  it, but now I am giving it back to you.” ⁴  His mother said, “May the Lord reward ⁵  you, my son!”

The five men who had gone to spy out the land of Laish ¹  said to their kinsmen, ²  “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.”

After Joshua died, the Israelites asked ¹  the Lord, “Who should lead the invasion against the Canaanites and launch the attack?” ² 

The officials of Succoth said, “You have not yet overpowered Zebah and Zalmunna. So why should we give ¹  bread to your army?” ² 

The men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us – you, your son, and your grandson. For you have delivered us from Midian’s power.” ¹ 

Deborah said to Barak, “Spring into action, ¹  for this is the day the Lord is handing Sisera over to you! ²  Has the Lord not taken the lead?” ³  Barak quickly went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.

Hear ¹  the sound of those who divide the sheep ²  among the watering places; there they tell of ³  the Lord’s victorious deeds, the victorious deeds of his warriors ⁴  in Israel. Then the Lord’s people went down to the city gates –

Through the window she looked; Sisera’s mother cried out through the lattice: ‘Why is his chariot so slow to return? Why are the hoofbeats of his chariot-horses ¹  delayed?’

Now, announce to the men, ¹  ‘Whoever is shaking with fear ²  may turn around and leave Mount Gilead.’” ³  Twenty-two thousand men ⁴  went home; ⁵  ten thousand remained.