The men ¹  who were chosen ²  took supplies ³  and their trumpets. Gideon ⁴  sent all the men of Israel back to their homes; ⁵  he kept only three hundred men. Now the Midianites ⁶  were camped down below ⁷  in the valley.

Gideon used all this to make ¹  an ephod, ²  which he put in his hometown of Ophrah. All the Israelites ³  prostituted themselves to it by worshiping it ⁴  there. It became a snare to Gideon and his family.

he took his men ¹  and divided them into three units and set an ambush in the field. When he saw the people coming out of the city, ²  he attacked and struck them down. ³ 

Israel’s power continued to overwhelm ¹  King Jabin of Canaan until they did away with ²  him. ³ 

Then the survivors ¹  came down ²  to the mighty ones; ³  the Lord’s people came down to me ⁴  as ⁵  warriors.

They stood in order ¹  all around the camp. The whole army ran away; they shouted as they scrambled away. ² 

He seized the leaders ¹  of the city, along with some desert thorns and briers; he then “threshed” the men of Succoth with them. ² 

and said to him, “This is what Jephthah says, ‘Israel did not steal ¹  the land of Moab and the land of the Ammonites.

Every year ¹  Israelite women commemorate ²  the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for four days. ³ 

Samson said to them, ¹  “This time I am justified in doing the Philistines harm!” ² 

Samson said to them, “Because you did this, ¹  I will get revenge against you before I quit fighting.” ² 

They said to him, “Seek a divine oracle for us, ¹  so we can know if we will be successful on our mission.” ² 

Meanwhile the six hundred Danites, fully armed, stood at the entrance to the gate. ¹ 

The Israelites asked the Lord (for the ark of God’s covenant was there in those days;

The men hiding in ambush made a mad dash ¹  to Gibeah. They ²  attacked ³  and put the sword to the entire city.

The Israelites had taken an oath in Mizpah, saying, “Not one of us will allow his daughter to marry a Benjaminite.”

When they took roll call, ¹  they noticed ²  none of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead were there.

The total weight of the gold earrings he requested came to seventeen hundred gold shekels. ¹  This was in addition to the crescent-shaped ornaments, jewelry, ²  purple clothing worn by the Midianite kings, and the necklaces on the camels. ³ 

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.

On the fourth ¹  day they said to Samson’s bride, “Trick your husband into giving the solution to the riddle. ²  If you refuse, ³  we will burn up ⁴  you and your father’s family. ⁵  Did you invite us here ⁶  to make us poor?” ⁷