You who ride on light-colored female donkeys, who sit on saddle blankets, ¹  you who walk on the road, pay attention!

The Lord turned them over to ¹  King Jabin of Canaan, who ruled in Hazor. ²  The general of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Haggoyim. ³ 

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 Lord raised up leaders ¹  who delivered them from these robbers. 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 

After Ehud brought the tribute payment, he dismissed the people who had carried it. ¹ 

His concubine, ¹  who lived in Shechem, also gave him a son, whom he named Abimelech. ² 

The leaders ¹  of Gilead said to one another, “Who is willing to lead the charge ²  against the Ammonites? He will become the leader of all who live in Gilead!”

He had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy donkeys. He led Israel for eight years.

So he brought the men ¹  down to the water. Then the Lord said to Gideon, “Separate those who lap the water as a dog laps from those who kneel to drink.” ² 

After Joshua died, the Israelites asked ¹  the Lord, “Who should lead the invasion against the Canaanites and launch the attack?” ² 

Caleb said, “To the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher I will give my daughter Acsah as a wife.”

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 

They came from Ephraim, who uprooted Amalek, ¹  they follow ²  after you, Benjamin, with your soldiers. From Makir leaders came down, from Zebulun came ³  the ones who march carrying ⁴  an officer’s staff.

They abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors ¹  who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods – the gods of the nations who lived around them. They worshiped ²  them and made the Lord angry.

He left those nations simply because he wanted to teach the subsequent generations of Israelites, who had not experienced the earlier battles, how to conduct holy war. ¹ 

They said to one another, ¹  “Who did this?” ²  They investigated the matter thoroughly ³  and concluded ⁴  that Gideon son of Joash had done it.

My heart went out ¹  to Israel’s leaders, to the people who answered the call to war. Praise the Lord!

There was a young man from Bethlehem ¹  in Judah. He was a Levite who had been temporarily residing among the tribe of Judah. ² 

He did this so the violent deaths of Jerub-Baal’s seventy sons might be avenged and Abimelech, their half-brother ¹  who murdered them, might have to pay for their spilled blood, along with the leaders of Shechem who helped him murder them. ²