The Lord was furious with Israel ¹  and handed them over to robbers who plundered them. ²  He turned them over to ³  their enemies who lived around them. They could not withstand their enemies’ attacks. ⁴ 

May all your enemies perish like this, O Lord! But may those who love you shine like the rising sun at its brightest!” ¹  And the land had rest for forty years.

The Israelites did not remain true ¹  to the Lord their God, who had delivered them from all the enemies who lived around them.

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.”

When the Lord raised up leaders for them, the Lord was with each leader and delivered the people ¹  from their enemies while the leader remained alive. The Lord felt sorry for them ²  when they cried out in agony because of what their harsh oppressors did to them. ³ 

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.

She said to him, “My father, since ¹  you made an oath to the Lord, do to me as you promised. ²  After all, the Lord vindicated you before ³  your enemies, the Ammonites.”

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