He said to the men of Succoth, “Give ¹  some loaves of bread to the men ²  who are following me, ³  because they are exhausted. I am chasing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”

When the people saw him, ¹  they praised their god, saying, “Our god has handed our enemy over to us, the one who ruined our land and killed so many of us!” ² 

They were left to test Israel, so the Lord would know if his people would obey the commands he gave their ancestors through Moses. ¹ 

The rulers of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate. They said, “Our god has handed Samson, our enemy, over to us.”

The Lord spoke to Gideon again, “There are still too many men. ¹  Bring them down to the water and I will thin the ranks some more. ²  When I say, ‘This one should go with you,’ pick him to go; ³  when I say, ⁴  ‘This one should not go with you,’ do not take him.” ⁵ 

“Tell ¹  all the leaders of Shechem this: ‘Why would you want ²  to have seventy men, all Jerub-Baal’s sons, ruling over you, when you can have just one ruler? Recall that I am your own flesh and blood.’” ³ 

Then Israel ¹  went through the desert and bypassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab. They traveled east of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon River; ²  they did not go through Moabite territory (the Arnon was Moab’s border).

When he saw her, he ripped his clothes and said, “Oh no! My daughter! You have completely ruined me! ¹  You have brought me disaster! ²  I made an oath to the Lord, and I cannot break it.” ³ 

The Israelites asked, “Who from all the Israelite tribes has not assembled before the Lord?” They had made a solemn oath that whoever did not assemble before the Lord at Mizpah must certainly be executed. ¹ 

Gideon went up the road of the nomads ¹  east of Nobah and Jogbehah and ambushed the surprised army. ² 

When Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, ¹  captured it, Caleb ²  gave him his daughter Acsah as a wife.

They took the Canaanites’ daughters as wives and gave their daughters to the Canaanites; ¹  they worshiped ²  their gods as well.

“When the leaders took the lead ¹  in Israel, When the people answered the call to war – Praise the Lord!

They worshiped ¹  Micah’s carved image ²  the whole time God’s authorized shrine ³  was in Shiloh.

He went to his father’s home in Ophrah and murdered his half-brothers, ¹  the seventy legitimate ²  sons of Jerub-Baal, on one stone. Only Jotham, Jerub-Baal’s youngest son, escaped, ³  because he hid.

When you invade, ¹  you will encounter ²  unsuspecting people. The land is wide! ³  God is handing it over to you – a place that lacks nothing on earth!” ⁴ 

The Lord’s messenger said to Manoah, “If I stay, ¹  I will not eat your food. But if you want to make a burnt sacrifice to the Lord, you should offer it.” (He said this because Manoah did not know that he was the Lord’s messenger.) ² 

then they said to him, “Say ‘Shibboleth!’” ¹  If he said, “Sibboleth” (and could not pronounce the word 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.

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.

Gideon said, “Since you will not help, ¹  after the Lord hands Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I will thresh ²  your skin ³  with ⁴  desert thorns and briers.”