God’s messenger said to him, “Put the meat and unleavened bread on this rock, ¹  and pour out the broth.” Gideon did as instructed. ² 

The men of Israel marched out to fight Benjamin; they ¹  arranged their battle lines against Gibeah.

The Benjaminites did as instructed. ¹  They abducted two hundred of the dancing girls to be their wives. ²  They went home ³  to their own territory, ⁴  rebuilt their cities, and settled down. ⁵ 

They said, “We are happy to give you earrings.” ¹  So they ²  spread out a garment, and each one threw an earring from his plunder onto it.

Joshua left those nations ¹  to test ²  Israel. I wanted to see ³  whether or not the people ⁴  would carefully walk in the path ⁵  marked out by ⁶  the Lord, as their ancestors ⁷  were careful to do.”

They threw away the foreign gods they owned ¹  and worshiped ²  the Lord. Finally the Lord grew tired of seeing Israel suffer so much. ³ 

So Jephthah went with the leaders of Gilead. The people made him their leader and commander. Jephthah repeated the terms of the agreement ¹  before the Lord in Mizpah.

So they traveled on, ¹  and the sun went down when they were near Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin. ² 

Gideon went and prepared a young goat, ¹  along with unleavened bread made from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. He brought the food ²  to him under the oak tree and presented it to him.

That entire generation passed away; ¹  a new generation grew up ²  that had not personally experienced the Lord’s presence or seen what he had done for Israel. ³ 

They invaded the land ¹  and devoured ²  its crops ³  all the way to Gaza. They left nothing for the Israelites to eat, ⁴  and they took away ⁵  the sheep, oxen, and donkeys.

Ten thousand men, well-trained soldiers from all Israel, then made a frontal assault against Gibeah – the battle was fierce. ¹  But the Benjaminites did not realize that disaster was at their doorstep. ² 

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 

“The trees were determined to go out ¹  and choose a king for themselves. ²  They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king!’ ³ 

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

He went up from there to Penuel and made the same request. ¹  The men of Penuel responded the same way the men of Succoth had. ² 

The leaders of Shechem rebelled against Abimelech by putting ¹  bandits in ²  the hills, who robbed everyone who traveled by on the road. But Abimelech found out about it. ³ 

At that time I also warned you, ¹  ‘If you disobey, ²  I will not drive out the Canaanites ³  before you. They will ensnare you ⁴  and their gods will lure you away.’” ⁵ 

They waited so long they were embarrassed, but he still did not open the doors of the upper room. Finally they took the key and opened the doors. ¹  Right before their eyes was their master, sprawled out dead on the floor! ² 

When Jotham heard the news, ¹  he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim. He spoke loudly to the people below, ²  “Listen to me, leaders of Shechem, so that God may listen to you!