<p class="bodytext">When Gideon realized<n id="1" /> that it was the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s messenger, he<n id="2" /> said, &#8220;Oh no!<n id="3" /> Master, <sc>Lordsc>!<n id="4" /> I have seen the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s messenger face to face!&#8221;

The men of the city said to Joash, &#8220;Bring out your son, so we can execute him!<n id="1" /> He pulled down the Baal altar and cut down the nearby Asherah pole.&#8221;

The <sc>Lordsc> said to Gideon, &#8220;You have too many men for me to hand Midian over to you.<n id="1" /> Israel might brag,<n id="2" /> &#8216;Our own strength has delivered us.&#8217;<n id="3" />

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" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">When Gideon heard the report of the dream and its interpretation, he praised God.<n id="1" /> Then he went back to the Israelite camp and said, &#8220;Get up, for the <sc>Lordsc> is handing the Midianite army over to you!&#8221;

He approached the men of Succoth and said, &#8220;Look what I have!<n id="1" /> Zebah and Zalmunna! You insulted me, saying, &#8216;You have not yet overpowered Zebah and Zalmunna. So why should we give bread to your exhausted men?&#8217;&#8221;<n id="2" />

The thornbush said to the trees, &#8216;If you really want to choose<n id="1" /> me as your king, then come along, find safety under my branches!<n id="2" /> Otherwise<n id="3" /> may fire blaze from the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!&#8217;p>

Gaal saw the men<n id="1" /> and said to Zebul, &#8220;Look, men are coming down from the tops of the hills.&#8221; But Zebul said to him, &#8220;You are seeing the shadows on the hills &#8211; it just looks like men.&#8221;<n id="2" />

He quickly called to the young man who carried his weapons,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Draw your sword and kill me, so they will not say,<n id="2" /> &#8216;A woman killed him.&#8217;&#8221; So the young man stabbed him and he died.

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>

The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, &#8220;That may be true,<n id="1" /> but now we pledge to you our loyalty.<n id="2" /> Come with us and fight with the Ammonites. Then you will become the leader<n id="3" /> of all who live in Gilead.&#8221;<n id="4" />

Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, &#8220;All right!<n id="1" /> If you take me back to fight with the Ammonites and the <sc>Lordsc> gives them to me,<n id="2" /> I will be your leader.&#8221;<n id="3" />

The Ammonite king said to Jephthah&#8217;s messengers, &#8220;Because Israel stole<n id="1" /> my land when they<n id="2" /> came up from Egypt &#8211; from the Arnon River in the south to the Jabbok River in the north, and as far west as the Jordan.<n id="3" /> Now return it<n id="4" /> peaceably!&#8221;p>

<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.

When he saw her, he ripped his clothes and said, &#8220;Oh no! My daughter! You have completely ruined me!<n id="1" /> You have brought me disaster!<n id="2" /> I made an oath to the <sc>Lord,sc> and I cannot break it.&#8221;<n id="3" />

She said to him, &#8220;My father, since<n id="1" /> you made an oath to the <sc>Lordsc>, do to me as you promised.<n id="2" /> After all, the <sc>Lordsc> vindicated you before<n id="3" /> your enemies, the Ammonites.&#8221;

She then said to her father, &#8220;Please grant me this one wish.<n id="1" /> For two months allow me to walk through the hills with my friends and mourn my virginity.&#8221;<n id="2" />

After two months she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. She died a virgin.<n id="1" /> Her tragic death gave rise to a custom in Israel.<n id="2" />

When I saw that you were not going to help,<n id="1" /> I risked my life<n id="2" /> and advanced against<n id="3" /> the Ammonites, and the <sc>Lordsc> handed them over to me. Why have you come up<n id="4" /> to fight with me today?&#8221;

then they said to him, &#8220;Say &#8216;Shibboleth!&#8217;&#8221;<n id="1" /> If he said, &#8220;Sibboleth&#8221; (and could not pronounce the word<n id="2" /> correctly), they grabbed him and executed him right there at the fords of the Jordan. On that day forty-two thousand Ephraimites fell dead.