Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the pass ¹  of Heres.

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

The Lord’s spirit empowered ¹  Jephthah. He passed through Gilead and Manasseh and went ²  to Mizpah in Gilead. From there he approached the Ammonites. ³ 

But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. He ¹  assembled his whole army, ²  camped in Jahaz, and fought with Israel.

Israel sent messengers to King Sihon, the Amorite king who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, “Please allow us to pass through your land to our land.” ¹ 

That entire generation passed away; ¹  a new generation grew up ²  that had not personally experienced the Lord’s presence or seen what he had done for Israel. ³ 

Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please allow us ¹  to pass through your land.” But the king of Edom rejected the request. ²  Israel sent the same request to the king of Moab, but he was unwilling to cooperate. ³  So Israel stayed at Kadesh.

But then an old man passed by, returning at the end of the day from his work in the field. ¹  The man was from the Ephraimite hill country; he was living temporarily in Gibeah. (The residents of the town were Benjaminites.) ² 

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

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

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 

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

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

They said, “Why, O Lord God of Israel, has this happened in Israel?” An entire ¹  tribe has disappeared from Israel today!”

The Levite ¹  said to him, “We are traveling from Bethlehem ²  in Judah to the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. That’s where I’m from. I had business in Bethlehem in Judah, but now I’m heading home. ³  But no one has invited me into their home.

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

Manoah said to the Lord’s messenger, “Tell us your name, so we can honor you when your announcement comes true.” ¹ 

Whenever Israel was strong militarily, they forced the Canaanites to do hard labor, but they never totally conquered them.

The border of Amorite territory ran from the Scorpion Ascent ¹  to Sela and on up. ² 

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. ¹