Whenever they went out to fight, ¹  the Lord did them harm, ²  just as he had warned and solemnly vowed he would do. ³  They suffered greatly. ⁴ 

How can we find wives for those who are left? ¹  After all, we took an oath in the Lord’s name not to give them our daughters as wives.”

The Benjaminites returned at that time, and the Israelites ¹  gave to them the women they had spared from Jabesh Gilead. But there were not enough to go around. ² 

They took the Canaanites’ daughters as wives and gave their daughters to the Canaanites; ¹  they worshiped ²  their gods as well.

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 

The priest said to them, “Go with confidence. ¹  The Lord will be with you on your mission.” ² 

When the Danites returned to their tribe ¹  in Zorah and Eshtaol, their kinsmen ²  asked them, “How did it go?” ³ 

So they traveled on, ¹  and the sun went down when they were near Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin. ² 

He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys and possessed thirty cities. To this day these towns are called Havvoth Jair ¹  – they are in the land of Gilead. ² 

He scooped it up with his hands and ate it as he walked along. When he returned ¹  to his father and mother, he offered them some and they ate it. But he did not tell them he had scooped the honey out of the lion’s carcass. ² 

Three thousand men of Judah went down to the cave in the cliff of Etam and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines rule over us? Why have you done this to us?” He said to them, “I have only done to them what they have done to me.”

The Lord was with the men of Judah. They conquered ¹  the hill country, but they could not ²  conquer the people living in the coastal plain, because they had chariots with iron-rimmed wheels. ³ 

When a leader died, the next generation ¹  would again ²  act more wickedly than the previous one. ³  They would follow after other gods, worshiping them ⁴  and bowing down to them. They did not give up ⁵  their practices or their stubborn ways.

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.)

After Gideon died, the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They made Baal-Berith ¹  their god.

But the olive tree said to them, ‘I am not going to stop producing my oil, which is used to honor gods and men, just to sway above the other trees!’ ¹ 

But the fig tree said to them, ‘I am not going to stop producing my sweet figs, my excellent fruit, just to sway above the other trees!’ ¹ 

But the grapevine said to them, ‘I am not going to stop producing my wine, which makes gods and men so happy, just to sway above the other trees!’ ¹ 

He said to them, “Out of the one who eats came something to eat; out of the strong one came something sweet.” They could not solve the riddle for three days.