From there they traveled through the Ephraimite hill country and arrived at Micah’s house.

<t /><p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s spirit empowered<n id="1" /> Jephthah. He passed through Gilead and Manasseh and went<n id="2" /> to Mizpah in Gilead. From there he approached the Ammonites.<n id="3" />

Now Ehud had escaped while they were delaying. When he passed the carved images, he escaped to Seirah.p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">All the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east<n id="1" /> assembled. They crossed the Jordan River<n id="2" /> and camped in the Jezreel Valley.

<t /><p class="bodytext">Now Gideon and his three hundred men had crossed over the Jordan River, and even though they were exhausted, they were still chasing the Midianites.<n id="1" />

<p class="bodytext">Gaal son of Ebed<n id="1" /> came through Shechem with his brothers. The leaders of Shechem transferred their loyalty to him.<n id="2" />

Jephthah approached<n id="1" /> the Ammonites to fight with them, and the <sc>Lordsc> handed them over to him.

So they traveled on,<n id="1" /> and the sun went down when they were near Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin.<n id="2" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">The Ephraimites assembled<n id="1" /> and crossed over to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, &#8220;Why did you go and fight<n id="2" /> with the Ammonites without asking<n id="3" /> us to go with you? We will burn your house down right over you!&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

The leaders of Shechem rebelled against Abimelech by putting<n id="1" /> bandits in<n id="2" /> the hills, who robbed everyone who traveled by on the road. But Abimelech found out about it.<n id="3" />p>

The Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight with Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim.<n id="1" /> Israel suffered greatly.<n id="2" />p>

Israel sent messengers to King Sihon, the Amorite king who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, &#8220;Please allow us to pass through your land to our land.&#8221;<n id="1" />

But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. He<n id="1" /> assembled his whole army,<n id="2" /> camped in Jahaz, and fought with Israel.

But his master said to him, &#8220;We should not stop at a foreign city where non-Israelites live.<n id="1" /> We will travel on to Gibeah.&#8221;

<t /><p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> was furious with Israel.<n id="1" /> He said, &#8220;This nation<n id="2" /> has violated the terms of the agreement I made with their ancestors<n id="3" /> by disobeying me.<n id="4" />

He said to them, &#8220;Follow me, for the <sc>Lordsc> is about to defeat your enemies, the Moabites!&#8221;<n id="1" /> They followed him, captured the fords of the Jordan River<n id="2" /> opposite Moab,<n id="3" /> and did not let anyone cross.

Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, &#8220;Please allow us<n id="1" /> to pass through your land.&#8221; But the king of Edom rejected the request.<n id="2" /> Israel sent the same request to the king of Moab, but he was unwilling to cooperate.<n id="3" /> So Israel stayed at Kadesh.

When I saw that you were not going to help,<n id="1" /> I risked my life<n id="2" /> and advanced against<n id="3" /> the Ammonites, and the <sc>Lordsc> handed them over to me. Why have you come up<n id="4" /> to fight with me today?&#8221;

The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan River<n id="1" /> opposite Ephraim.<n id="2" /> Whenever an Ephraimite fugitive<n id="3" /> said, &#8220;Let me cross over,&#8221; the men of Gilead asked<n id="4" /> him, &#8220;Are you an Ephraimite?&#8221; If he said, &#8220;No,&#8221;

The Levite<n id="1" /> said to him, &#8220;We are traveling from Bethlehem<n id="2" /> in Judah to the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. That&#8217;s where I&#8217;m from. I had business in Bethlehem in Judah, but now I&#8217;m heading home.<n id="3" /> But no one has invited me into their home.