He said to me, ‘Look, you will conceive and have a son. ¹  So now, do not drink wine or beer and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. ²  For the child will be dedicated ³  to God from birth till the day he dies.’”

Barak summoned men from Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. Ten thousand men followed him; ¹  Deborah went up with him as well.

Manoah’s wife ¹  gave birth to a son and named him Samson. ²  The child grew and the Lord empowered ³  him.

The men of Judah said to their relatives, the men of Simeon, ¹  “Invade our allotted land with us and help us attack the Canaanites. ²  Then we ³  will go with you into your allotted land.” So the men of Simeon went with them.

When Ehud had left, Eglon’s ¹  servants came and saw the locked doors of the upper room. They said, “He must be relieving himself ²  in the well-ventilated inner room.” ³ 

Issachar’s leaders were with Deborah, the men of Issachar ¹  supported ²  Barak; into the valley they were sent under Barak’s command. ³  Among the clans of Reuben there was intense ⁴  heart searching. ⁵ 

The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men who lapped I will deliver the whole army ¹  and I will hand Midian over to you. ²  The rest of the men should go home.” ³ 

They stopped there and decided to spend the night ¹  in Gibeah. They came into the city and sat down in the town square, but no one invited them to spend the night. ² 

When Gideon arrived, he heard a man telling another man about a dream he had. ¹  The man ²  said, “Look! I had a dream. I saw ³  a stale cake of barley bread rolling into the Midianite camp. It hit a tent so hard it knocked it over and turned it upside down. The tent just collapsed.” ⁴ 

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

So he brought the men ¹  down to the water. Then the Lord said to Gideon, “Separate those who lap the water as a dog laps from those who kneel to drink.” ² 

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.

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

Here are my virgin daughter and my guest’s ¹  concubine. I will send them out and you can abuse them and do to them whatever you like. ²  But don’t do such a disgraceful thing to this man!”

Then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.

The rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her and said to her, “Trick him! Find out what makes him so strong and how we can subdue him and humiliate ¹  him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred silver pieces.”

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 

When he looked up and saw the traveler ¹  in the town square, the old man said, “Where are you heading? Where do you come from?”

He happened to see ¹  a solid ²  jawbone of a donkey. He grabbed it ³  and struck down ⁴  a thousand men.

Gideon continued, ¹  “I would like to make one request. Each of you give me an earring from the plunder you have taken.” ²  (The Midianites ³  had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.)