That day they killed about ten thousand Moabites ¹  – all strong, capable warriors; not one escaped.

The next day the Shechemites ¹  came out to the field. When Abimelech heard about it, ² 

the Israelites counterattacked. ¹  Benjamin had begun to strike down the Israelites; ²  they struck down ³  about thirty men. They said, “There’s no doubt about it! They are totally defeated as in the earlier battle.”

The men of Zebulun were not concerned about their lives; ¹  Naphtali charged on to the battlefields. ² 

Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their armies. There were about fifteen thousand survivors from the army of the eastern peoples; a hundred and twenty thousand sword-wielding soldiers had been killed. ¹ 

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 

So each of his men also cut off a branch and followed Abimelech. They put the branches ¹  against the stronghold and set fire to it. ²  All the people ³  of the Tower of Shechem died – about a thousand men and women.

The Benjaminites attacked ¹  the army, leaving the city unguarded. ²  They began to strike down their enemy ³  just as they had done before. On the main roads (one leads to Bethel, ⁴  the other to Gibeah) and in the field, they struck down ⁵  about thirty Israelites.

He said to his mother, “You know ¹  the eleven hundred pieces of silver which were stolen ²  from you, about which I heard you pronounce a curse? Look here, I have the silver. I stole ³  it, but now I am giving it back to you.” ⁴  His mother said, “May the Lord reward ⁵  you, my son!”

He said to them, “Follow me, for the Lord is about to defeat your enemies, the Moabites!” ¹  They followed him, captured the fords of the Jordan River ²  opposite Moab, ³  and did not let anyone cross.

Gideon said to him, “Pardon me, ¹  but if the Lord is with us, why has such disaster ²  overtaken us? Where are all his miraculous deeds our ancestors told us about? They said, ³  ‘Did the Lord not bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.”

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 

When their fathers or brothers come and protest to us, ¹  we’ll say to them, “Do us a favor and let them be, ²  for we could not get each one a wife through battle. ³  Don’t worry about breaking your oath! ⁴  You would only be guilty if you had voluntarily given them wives.’” ⁵ 

Now the temple ¹  was filled with men and women, and all the rulers of the Philistines were there. There were three thousand men and women on the roof watching Samson entertain.

So Israel hid men in ambush outside Gibeah.

It was some time after this when the Ammonites fought with Israel.

All you Israelites, ¹  make a decision here!” ² 

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

He approached the men of Succoth and said, “Look what I have! ¹  Zebah and Zalmunna! You insulted me, saying, ‘You have not yet overpowered Zebah and Zalmunna. So why should we give bread to your exhausted men?’” ² 

When the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help because of Midian,