Bible in Basic English

JUDGES, 9
Jotham's parable

    9:1 Now Abimelech, the son of Jerubbaal, went to Shechem to his mother's family, and said to them and to all the family of his mother's father, 2 Say now in the ears of all the townsmen of Shechem, Is it better for you to be ruled by all the seventy sons of Jerubbaal or by one man only ? And keep in mind that I am your bone and your flesh. 3 So his mother's family said all this about him in the ears of all the townsmen of Shechem : and their hearts were turned to Abimelech, for they said, He is our brother. 4 And they gave him seventy shekels of silver from the house of Baal-berith, with which Abimelech got the support of a number of uncontrolled and good-for-nothing persons. 5 Then he went to his father's house at Ophrah, and put his brothers, the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, to death on the same stone ; however, Jotham, the youngest, kept himself safe by going away to a secret place. 6 And all the townsmen of Shechem and all Beth-millo came together and went and made Abimelech their king, by the oak of the pillar in Shechem.
    9:7 Now Jotham, on hearing of it, went to the top of Mount Gerizim, and crying out with a loud voice said to them, Give ear to me, you townsmen of Shechem, so that God may give ear to you. 8 One day the trees went out to make a king for themselves; and they said to the olive-tree, Be king over us. 9 But the olive-tree said to them, Am I to give up my wealth of oil, by which men give honour to God, and go waving over the trees ? 10 Then the trees said to the fig-tree, You come and be king over us. 11 But the fig-tree said to them, Am I to give up my sweet taste and my good fruit and go waving over the trees ? 12 Then the trees said to the vine, You come and be king over us. 13 But the vine said to them, Am I to give up my wine, which makes glad God and men, to go waving over the trees ? 14 Then all the trees said to the thorn, You come and be king over us. 15 And the thorn said to the trees, If it is truly your desire to make me your king, then come and put your faith in my shade ; and if not, may fire come out of the thorn, burning up the cedars of Lebanon.
    9:16 So now, if you have done truly and uprightly in making Abimelech king, and if you have done well to Jerubbaal and his house in reward for the work of his hands ; 17 (For my father made war for you, and put his life in danger, and made you free from the hands of Midian ; 18 And you have gone against my father's family this day, and have put to death his sons, even seventy men on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his servant-wife, king over the townsmen of Shechem because he is your brother;) 19 If then you have done what is true and upright to Jerubbaal and his family this day, may you have joy in Abimelech, and may he have joy in you ; 20 But if not, may fire come out from Abimelech, burning up the townsmen of Shechem and Beth-millo ; and may fire come out from the townsmen of Shechem and Beth-millo, for the destruction of Abimelech. 21 Then Jotham straight away went in flight to Beer, and was living there for fear of his brother Abimelech.
    9:22 So Abimelech was chief over Israel for three years. 23 And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the townsmen of Shechem ; and the townsmen of Shechem were false to Abimelech ; 24 So that punishment for the violent attack made on the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, and for their blood, might come on Abimelech, their brother, who put them to death, and on the townsmen of Shechem who gave him their help in putting his brothers to death. 25 And the townsmen of Shechem put secret watchers on the tops of the mountains, and they made attacks on all who went by on the road and took their goods; and word of this came to Abimelech.
    9:26 Then Gaal, the son of Ebed, came with his brothers, and went over to Shechem ; and the men of Shechem put their faith in him. 27 And they went out into their fields and got in the fruit of their vines, and when the grapes had been crushed, they made a holy feast and went into the house of their god, and over their food and drink they were cursing Abimelech. 28 And Gaal, the son of Ebed, said, Who is Abimelech and who is Shechem, that we are to be his servants? Is it not right for the son of Jerubbaal and Zebul his captain to be servants to the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem ? But why are we to be his servants? 29 If only I had authority over this people ! I would put Abimelech out of the way, and I would say to Abimelech, Make your army strong, and come out.
    9:30 Now Zebul, the ruler of the town, hearing what Gaal, the son of Ebed, had said, was moved to wrath. 31 And he sent to Abimelech at Arumah, saying, See, Gaal, the son of Ebed, and his brothers have come to Shechem, and they are working up the town against you. 32 So now, get up by night, you and your people, and keep watch in the field secretly ; 33 And in the morning, when the sun is up, get up early and make a rush on the town; and when he and his people come out against you, do to them whatever you have a chance to do.
    9:34 So Abimelech and the people with him got up by night, in four bands, to make a surprise attack on Shechem. 35 And Gaal, the son of Ebed, went out, and took his place at the doorway into the town; then Abimelech and his people got up from the place where they had been waiting. 36 And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, See ! people are coming down from the tops of the mountains. And Zebul said to him, You see the shade of the mountains like men. 37 And Gaal said again, See! people are coming down from the middle of the land, and one band is coming by way of the oak-tree of the Seers. 38 Then Zebul said to him, Now where is your loud talk when you said, Who is Abimelech that we are to be his servants ? Is this not the people whom you were rating so low ? Go out now, and make war on them. 39 So Gaal went out at the head of the townsmen of Shechem and made war on Abimelech. 40 And Abimelech went after him and he went in flight before him ; and a great number were falling by the sword all the way up to the town. 41 Then Abimelech went back to Arumah; and Zebul sent Gaal and his brothers away and would not let them go on living in Shechem.
    9:42 Now the day after, the people went out into the fields ; and news of it came to Abimelech. 43 And he took his people, separating them into three bands, and was waiting secretly in the field; and when he saw the people coming out of the town, he went up and made an attack on them. 44 And Abimelech with his band made a rush, and took up their position at the doorway into the town; and the other two bands made a rush on all those who were in the fields, and overcame them. 45 And all that day Abimelech was fighting against the town ; and he took it, and put to death the people who were in it, and had the town pulled down and covered with salt.
    9:46 Then all the townsmen of the tower of Shechem, hearing of it, went into the inner room of the house of El-berith. 47 And word was given to Abimelech that all the men of the tower of Shechem were there together. 48 Then Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, with all his people ; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand and, cutting down branches of trees, took them and put them on his back. And he said to the people who were with him, Be quick and do as you have seen me do. 49 So all the people got branches, every man cutting down a branch, and they went with Abimelech at their head and, massing the branches against the inner room, put fire to the room over them ; so all those who were in the tower of Shechem, about a thousand men and women, were burned to death with it.
    9:50 Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and put his army in position against Thebez and took it. 51 But in the middle of the town there was a strong tower, to which all the men and women of the town went in flight and, shutting themselves in, went up to the roof of the tower. 52 And Abimelech came to the tower and made an attack on it, and got near to the door of the tower for the purpose of firing it. 53 But a certain woman sent a great stone, such as is used for crushing grain, on to the head of Abimelech, cracking the bone. 54 Then quickly crying out to his body-servant, he said to him, Take out your sword and put an end to me straight away, so that men may not say of me, His death was the work of a woman. So the young man put his sword through him, causing his death. 55 And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they went away, every man to his place. 56 In this way Abimelech was rewarded by God for the evil he had done to his father in putting his seventy brothers to death ; 57 And God sent back on to the heads of the men of Shechem all the evil they had done, and the curse of Jotham, the son of Jerubbaal, came on them.

JUDGES, 10
After Abimelech

    10:1     Now after Abimelech, Tola, the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, became the saviour of Israel ; he was living in Shamir in the hill-country of Ephraim. 2 He was judge over Israel for twenty-three years ; and at his death his body was put to rest in the earth in Shamir.
    10:3 And after him came Jair the Gileadite, who was judge over Israel for twenty-two years. 4 And he had thirty sons, who went on thirty young asses ; and they had thirty towns in the land of Gilead, which are named Havvoth-Jair to this day. 5 And at the death of Jair his body was put to rest in the earth in Kamon.
    10:6 And again the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord, worshipping the Baals and Astartes, and the gods of Aram and the gods of Zidon and the gods of Moab and the gods of the children of Ammon and the gods of the Philistines ; they gave up the Lord and were servants to him no longer. 7 And the wrath of the Lord was burning against Israel, and he gave them up into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the children of Ammon. 8 And that year the children of Israel were crushed under their yoke; for eighteen years all the children of Israel on the other side of Jordan, in the land of the Amorites which is in Gilead, were cruelly crushed down. 9 And the children of Ammon went over Jordan, to make war against Judah and Benjamin and the house of Ephraim; and Israel was in great trouble.
    10:10 Then the children of Israel, crying out to the Lord, said, Great is our sin against you, for we have given up our God and have been servants to the Baals. 11 And the Lord said to the children of Israel, Were not the Egyptians and the Amorites and the children of Ammon and the Philistines 12 And the Zidonians and Amalek and Midian crushing you down, and in answer to your cry did I not give you salvation from their hands ? 13 But, for all this, you have given me up and have been servants to other gods: so I will be your saviour no longer. 14 Go, send up your cry for help to the gods of your selection ; let them be your saviours in the time of your trouble. 15 And the children of Israel said to the Lord, We are sinners ; do to us whatever seems good to you : only give us salvation this day. 16 So they put away the strange gods from among them, and became the Lord's servants ; and his soul was angry because of the sorrows of Israel.
    10:17 Then the children of Ammon came together and put their army in position in Gilead. And the children of Israel came together and put their army in position in Mizpah. 18 And the people of Israel said to one another, Who will be the first to make an attack on the children of Ammon ? We will make him head over all Gilead.

JUDGES, 11
Jephthah made chief

11:1     Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a great man of war; he was the son of a loose woman, and Gilead was his father. 2 And Gilead's wife gave birth to sons, and when her sons became men, they sent Jephthah away, saying, You have no part in the heritage of our father's house, for you are the son of another woman. 3 So Jephthah went in flight from his brothers and was living in the land of Tob, where a number of good-for-nothing men, joining Jephthah, went out with him on his undertakings.
    11:4 Now after a time the children of Ammon made war against Israel. 5 And when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the responsible men of Gilead went to get Jephthah back from the land of Tob ; 6 And they said to Jephthah, Come and be our chief so that we may make war against the children of Ammon. 7 But Jephthah said to the responsible men of Gilead, Did you not, in your hate for me, send me away from my father's house? Why do you come to me now when you are in trouble ? 8 And the responsible men of Gilead said to Jephthah, That is the reason we have come back to you; so go with us and make war against the children of Ammon, and we will make you our head over all the people of Gilead. 9 Then Jephthah said to the responsible men of Gilead, If you take me back to make war against the children of Ammon, and if with the help of the Lord I overcome them, will you make me your head ? 10 And the responsible men of Gilead said to Jephthah, May the Lord be our witness: we will certainly do as you say. 11 So Jephthah went with the responsible men of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them ; and Jephthah said all these things before the Lord in Mizpah.
    11:12 Then Jephthah sent men to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What have you against me that you have come to make war against my land ? 13 And the king of the children of Ammon said to the men sent by Jephthah, Because Israel, when he came up out of Egypt, took away my land, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok and as far as Jordan: so now, give me back those lands quietly. 14 And Jephthah sent again to the king of the children of Ammon, 15 And said to him, This is the word of Jephthah : Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the children of Ammon; 16 But when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the waste land to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh; 17 Then Israel sent men to the king of Edom saying, Let me now go through your land; but the king of Edom did not give ear to them. And in the same way he sent to the king of Moab, but he would not; so Israel went on living in Kadesh. 18 Then he went on through the waste land and round the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and put up their tents on the other side of the Arnon; they did not come inside the limit of Moab, for the Arnon was the limit of Moab. 19 And Israel sent men to Sihon, king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon ; and Israel said to him, Let me now go through your land to my place. 20 But Sihon would not give way and let Israel go through his land ; and Sihon got together all his people, and put his army in position in Jahaz, and made war on Israel. 21 And the Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hands of Israel, and they overcame them ; so all the land of the Amorites, the people of that land, became Israel's. 22 All the limit of the Amorites was theirs, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok and from the waste land even to Jordan. 23 So now the Lord, the God of Israel, has taken away their land from the Amorites and given it to his people Israel ; are you then to have it ? 24 Do you not keep the lands of those whom Chemosh your god sends out from before you ? So we will keep all the lands of those whom the Lord our God sends out from before us. 25 What ! are you any better than Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab ? Did he ever take up a cause against Israel or make war against them ? 26 While Israel was living in Heshbon and its daughter-towns and in Aroer and its daughter-towns and in all the towns which are by the side of the Arnon, for three hundred years, why did you not get them back at that time ? 27 So I have done no wrong against you, but you are doing wrong to me in fighting against me: may the Lord, who is Judge this day, be judge between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon. 28 The king of the children of Ammon, however, did not give ear to the words which Jephthah sent to him.
    11:29 Then the spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah, and he went through Gilead and Manasseh, and came to Mizpeh of Gilead ; and from Mizpeh of Gilead he went over to the children of Ammon. 30 And Jephthah took an oath to the Lord, and said, If you will give the children of Ammon into my hands, 31 Then whoever comes out from the door of my house, meeting me when I come back in peace from the children of Ammon, will be the Lord's and I will give him as a burned offering. 32 So Jephthah went over to the children of Ammon to make war on them ; and the Lord gave them into his hands. 33 And he made an attack on them from Aroer all the way to Minnith, overrunning twenty towns, as far as Abel-cheramim, and put great numbers to the sword. So the children of Ammon were crushed before the children of Israel.
    11:34 Then Jephthah came back to his house in Mizpah, and his daughter came out, meeting him on his way with music and with dances ; she was his only child; he had no other sons or daughters. 35 And when he saw her he was overcome with grief, and said, Ah ! my daughter ! I am crushed with sorrow, and it is you who are the chief cause of my trouble ; for I have made an oath to the Lord and I may not take it back. 36 And she said to him, My father, you have made an oath to the Lord; do then to me whatever you have said ; for the Lord has sent a full reward on your haters, on the children of Ammon. 37 Then she said to her father, Only do this for me : let me have two months to go away into the mountains with my friends, weeping for my sad fate. 38 And he said, Go then. So he sent her away for two months ; and she went with her friends to the mountains, weeping for her sad fate. 39 And at the end of two months she went back to her father, who did with her as he had said in his oath: and she had never been touched by a man. So it became a rule in Israel, 40 For the women to go year by year sorrowing for the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite, four days in every year.

JUDGES, 12
Hephthah gathered Gilead

    12:1 Now the men of Ephraim came together and took up arms and went over to Zaphon ; and they said to Jephthah, Why did you go over to make war against the children of Ammon without sending for us to go with you ? Now we will put your house on fire over you. 2 And Jephthah said to them, I and my people were in danger, and the children of Ammon were very cruel to us, and when I sent for you, you gave me no help against them. 3 So when I saw that there was no help to be had from you, I put my life in my hand and went over against the children of Ammon, and the Lord gave them into my hands : why then have you come up to me this day to make war on me? 4 Then Jephthah got together all the men of Gilead and made war on Ephraim; and the men of Gilead overcame Ephraim. 5 And the Gileadites took the crossing-places of Jordan against the Ephraimites ; and when any of the men of Ephraim who had gone in flight said, let me go over ; the men of Gilead said to him, Are you an Ephraimite? And if he said, No ; 6 Then they said to him, Now say Shibboleth ; and he said Sibboleth, and was not able to say it in the right way ; then they took him and put him to death at the crossing-places of Jordan ; and at that time forty-two thousand Ephraimites were put to death.
    12:7 Now Jephthah was judge of Israel for six years. And Jephthah the Gileadite came to his death, and his body was put to rest in his town, Mizpeh of Gilead.
    12:8 And after him, Ibzan of Beth-lehem was judge of Israel. 9 He had thirty sons, and thirty daughters whom he sent to other places, and he got thirty wives from other places for his sons. And he was judge of Israel for seven years. 10 And Ibzan came to his death and his body was put to rest at Beth-lehem.
    12:11 And after him, Elon the Zebulonite was judge of Israel ; and he was judge of Israel for ten years. 12 And Elon the Zebulonite came to his death, and his body was put to rest in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.
    12:13 And after him, Abdon, the son of Hillel, the Pirathonite, was judge of Israel. 14 He had forty sons and thirty sons' sons who went on seventy young asses ; and he was judge of Israel for eight years. 15 And Abdon, the son of Hillel, came to his death, and his body was put to rest in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill-country of the Amalekites.

JUDGES, 13
Promise to Manoah


    13:1 And the children of Israel again did evil in the eyes of the Lord ; and the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.
    13:2 Now there was a certain man of Zorah of the family of the Danites, and his name was Manoah ; and his wife had never given birth to a child. 3 And the angel of the Lord came to the woman, and said to her, See now! though you have never given birth to children, you will be with child and give birth to a son. 4 Now then take care to have no wine or strong drink and to take no unclean thing for food ; 5 For you are with child and will give birth to a son ; his hair is never to be cut, for the child is to be separate to God from his birth ; and he will take up the work of freeing Israel from the hands of the Philistines. 6 Then the woman came in, and said to her husband, A man came to me, and his form was like the form of a god, causing great fear ; I put no question to him about where he came from, and he did not give me his name; 7 But he said to me, You are with child and will give birth to a son ; and now do not take any wine or strong drink or let anything unclean be your food ; for the child will be separate to God from his birth to the day of his death.
    13:8 Then Manoah made prayer to the Lord, and said, O Lord, let the man of God whom you sent come to us again and make clear to us what we are to do for the child who is to come. 9 And God gave ear to the voice of Manoah ; and the angel of God came to the woman again when she was seated in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her. 10 So the woman, running quickly, gave her husband the news, saying, I have seen the man who came to me the other day. 11 And Manoah got up and went after his wife, and came up to the man and said to him, Are you the man who was talking to this woman ? And he said, I am. 12 And Manoah said, Now when your words come true, what is to be the rule for the child and what will be his work ? 13 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, Let the woman take note of what I have said to her. 14 She is to have nothing which comes from the vine for her food, and let her take no wine or strong drink or anything which is unclean ; let her take care to do all I have given her orders to do.
    13:15 And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, Now let us keep you while we make ready a young goat for you. 16 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, Though you keep me I will not take of your food; but if you will make a burned offering, let it be offered to the Lord. For it had not come into Manoah's mind that he was the angel of the Lord. 17 Then Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, What is your name, so that when your words come true we may give you honour ? 18 But the angel of the Lord said to him, Why are you questioning me about my name, seeing that it is a wonder ? 19 So Manoah took the young goat with its meal offering, offering it on the rock to the Lord, who did strange things. 20 And when the flame went up to heaven from the altar, the angel of the Lord went up in the flame of the altar, while Manoah and his wife were looking on ; and they went down on their faces to the earth.
    13:21 But the angel of the Lord was seen no more by Manoah and his wife. Then it was clear to Manoah that he was the angel of the Lord. 22 And Manoah said to his wife, Death will certainly be our fate, for it is a god whom we have seen. 23 But his wife said to him, If the Lord was purposing our death, he would not have taken our burned offering and our meal offering, or have given us such orders about the child. 24 So the woman gave birth to a son, and gave him the name Samson ; and he became a man and the blessing of the Lord was on him. 25 And the spirit of the Lord first came on him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

JUDGES, 14
Sampson's acts


    14:1 Now Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah, of the daughters of the Philistines ; 2 And when he came back he said to his father and mother, I have seen a woman in Timnah, of the daughters of the Philistines : get her now for me for my wife. 3 Then his father and mother said to him, Is there no woman among the daughters of your relations or among all my people, that you have to go for your wife to the Philistines, who are without circumcision ? But Samson said to his father, Get her for me, for she is pleasing to me.
    14:4 Now his father and mother had no knowledge that this was the purpose of the Lord, who had the destruction of the Philistines in mind. Now the Philistines at that time were ruling over Israel.
    14:5 Then Samson went down to Timnah (and his father and his mother,) and came to the vine-gardens of Timnah ; and a young lion came rushing out at him. 6 And the spirit of the Lord came on him with power, and, unarmed as he was, pulling the lion in two as one might do to a young goat, he put him to death ; (but he said nothing to his father and mother of what he had done.) 7 So he went down and had talk with the woman ; and she was pleasing to Samson. 8 Then after a time he went back to take her ; and turning from the road to see the dead body of the lion, he saw a mass of bees in the body of the lion, and honey there. 9 And he took the honey in his hand, and went on, tasting it on the way; and when he came to his father and mother he gave some to them ; but did not say that he had taken the honey from the body of the lion.
    14:10 Then Samson went down to the woman, and made a feast there, as was the way among young men. 11 And he took thirty friends, and they were with him. 12 And Samson said, Now I have a hard question for you : if you are able to give me the answer before the seven days of the feast are over, I will give you thirty linen robes and thirty changes of clothing ; 13 But if you are not able to give me the answer, then you will have to give me thirty linen robes and thirty changes of clothing. And they said to him, Put your hard question and let us see what it is. 14 And he said, Out of the taker of food came food, and out of the strong came the sweet. And at the end of three days they were still not able to give the answer.
    14:15 So on the fourth day they said to Samson's wife, Get from your husband the answer to his question by some trick or other, or we will have you and your father's house burned with fire ; did you get us here to take all we have ? 16 Then Samson's wife, weeping over him, said, Truly you have no love for me but only hate ; you have put a hard question to the children of my people and have not given me the answer. And he said to her, See, I have not given the answer even to my father or my mother ; am I to give it to you ? 17 And all the seven days of the feast she went on weeping over him ; and on the seventh day he gave her the answer, because she gave him no peace ; and she sent word of it to the children of her people. 18 Then on the seventh day, before he went into the bride's room, the men of the town said to him, What is sweeter than honey ? and what is stronger than a lion ? And he said to them, If you had not been ploughing with my cow you would not have got the answer to my question. 19 And the spirit of the Lord came rushing on him, and he went down to Ashkelon and, attacking thirty men there, took their clothing from them, and gave it to the men who had given the answer to his hard question. Then, full of wrath, he went back to his father's house. 20 But Samson's wife was given to the friend who had been his best man.

JUDGES, 15

    15:1 Now a short time after, at the time of the grain-cutting, Samson, taking with him a young goat, went to see his wife ; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the bride's room. But her father would not let him go in. 2 And her father said, It seemed to me that you had only hate for her ; so I gave her to your friend : but is not her younger sister fairer than she ? so please take her in place of the other. 3 Then Samson said to them, This time I will give payment in full to the Philistines, for I am going to do them great evil. 4 So Samson went and got three hundred foxes and some sticks of fire-wood ; and he put the foxes tail to tail with a stick between every two tails ; 5 Then firing the sticks, he let the foxes loose among the uncut grain of the Philistines, and all the corded stems as well as the living grain and the vine-gardens and the olives went up in flames. 6 Then the Philistines said, Who has done this ? And they said, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he took his wife and gave her to his friend. So the Philistines came up and had her and her father's house burned. 7 And Samson said to them, If you go on like this, truly I will take my full payment from you ; and that will be the end of it. 8 And he made an attack on them, driving them in uncontrolled flight, and causing great destruction; then he went away to his safe place in the crack of the rock at Etam.
    15:9 Then the Philistines went and put up their tents in Judah, all round Lehi. 10 And the men of Judah said, Why have you come up against us ? And they said, We have come up to take Samson, and to do to him as he has done to us. 11 Then three thousand of the men of Judah went down to the crack of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, Is it not clear to you that the Philistines are our rulers? What is this you have done to us? And he said to them, I only did to them as they did to me. 12 Then they said to him, We have come down to take you and give you up into the hands of the Philistines. And Samson said to them, Give me your oath that you will not make an attack on me yourselves. 13 And they said, No; we will take you and give you up into their hands, but truly we will not put you to death. So knotting two new cords round him they took him up from the rock.
    15:14 And when he came to Lehi, the Philistines came out, meeting him with loud cries ; then the spirit of the Lord came rushing on him, and the cords on his arms became like grass which has been burned with fire, and the bands came falling off his hands. 15 And taking up the mouth-bone of an ass newly dead, which he saw by chance on the earth, he put to death a thousand men with it. 16 And Samson said, With a red ass's mouth-bone I have made them red with blood, with a red ass's mouth-bone I have sent destruction on a thousand men. 17 And having said these words, he let the mouth-bone go out of his hand ; so that place was named Ramath-lehi. 18 After this, he was in great need of water, and crying out to the Lord, he said, You have given this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and now need of water will be my death ; and I will be given into the hands of this people who are without circumcision. 19 Then God made a crack in the hollow rock in Lehi and water came out of it ; and after drinking, his spirit came back to him and he was strong again ; so that place was named En-hakkore; it is in Lehi to this day. 20 And he was judge of Israel in the days of the Philistines for twenty years.

JUDGES, 16
Samson and Delilah


    16:1 Now Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a loose woman and went in to her. 2 And it was said to the Gazites, Samson is here. So they went round, watching for him all day at the doorway of the town, but at night they kept quiet, saying, When daylight comes we will put him to death. 3 And Samson was there till the middle of the night ; then he got up, and took a grip on the doors of the town, pulling them up, together with their two supports and their locks, and put them on his back and took them up to the top of the hill in front of Hebron.
    16:4 Now after this, he was in love with a woman in the valley of Sorek, named Delilah. 5 And the chiefs of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her, Make use of your power over him and see what is the secret of his great strength, and how we may get the better of him, and put bands on him, so that we may make him feeble ; and every one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver. 6 So Delilah said to Samson, Make clear to me now what is the secret of your great strength, and how you may be put in bands and made feeble. 7 And Samson said to her, If seven new bow-cords which have never been made dry are knotted round me, I will become feeble and will be like any other man. 8 So the chiefs of the Philistines gave her seven new bow-cords which had never been made dry, and she had them tightly knotted round him. 9 Now she had men waiting secretly in the inner room ; and she said to him, The Philistines are on you, Samson. And the cords were broken by him as a twist of thread is broken when touched by a flame. So the secret of his strength did not come to light.
    16:10 Then Delilah said to Samson, See, you have been making sport of me with false words ; now, say truly how may you be put in bands ? 11 And he said to her, If they only put round me new thick cords which have never been used, then I will become feeble and will be like any other man. 12 So Delilah took new thick cords, knotting them tightly round him, and said to him, The Philistines are on you, Samson. And men were waiting secretly in the inner room. And the cords were broken off his arms like threads.
    16:13 Then Delilah said to Samson, Up to now you have made sport of me with false words ; now say truly, how may you be put in bands ? And he said to her, If you get the seven twists of my hair worked into the cloth you are making and fixed with the pin, I will become feeble and will be like any other man. 14 So while he was sleeping she got the seven twists of his hair worked into her cloth and fixed with the pin, and said to him, The Philistines are on you, Samson. Then awaking from his sleep, he got up quickly, pulling up cloth and machine together.
    16:15 And she said to him, Why do you say you are my lover when your heart is not mine ? Three times you have made sport of me, and have not made clear to me the secret of your great strength. 16 So day after day she gave him no peace, for ever questioning him till his soul was troubled to death. 17 And opening all his heart to her, he said to her, My head has never been touched by a blade, for I have been separate to God from the day of my birth : if my hair is cut off, then my strength will go from me and I will become feeble, and will be like any other man.
    16:18 And when Delilah saw that he had let her see into his heart, she sent word to the chiefs of the Philistines saying, Come up this time, for he has let out all his heart to me. Then the chiefs of the Philistines came to her, with the money in their hands. 19 And she made him go to sleep on her knees ; and she sent for a man and had his seven twists of hair cut off ; and while it was being done he became feeble and his strength went from him. 20 Then she said, The Philistines are on you, Samson. And awaking from his sleep, he said, I will go out as at other times, shaking myself free. But he was not conscious that the Lord had gone from him. 21 So the Philistines took him and put out his eyes ; then they took him down to Gaza, and, chaining him with bands of brass, put him to work crushing grain in the prison-house. 22 But the growth of his hair was starting again after it had been cut off.
    16:23 And the chiefs of the Philistines came together to make a great offering to Dagon their god, and to be glad ; for they said, Our god has given into our hands Samson our hater. 24 And when the people saw him, they gave praise to their god ; for they said, Our god has given into our hands the one who was fighting against us, who made our country waste, and who put great numbers of us to death. 25 Now when their hearts were full of joy, they said, Send for Samson to make sport for us. And they sent for Samson out of the prison-house, and he made sport before them ; and they put him between the pillars. 26 And Samson said to the boy who took him by the hand, Let me put my hand on the pillars supporting the house, so that I may put my back against them. 27 Now the house was full of men and women ; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and about three thousand men and women were on the roof, looking on while Samson made sport.
    16:28 And Samson, crying out to the Lord, said, O Lord God, do have me now in mind, and do make me strong only this once, O God, so that I may take one last payment from the Philistines for my two eyes. 29 Then Samson put his arms round the two middle pillars supporting the house, putting his weight on them, on one with his right hand and on the other with his left. 30 And Samson said, Let death overtake me with the Philistines. And he put out all his strength, and the house came down on the chiefs and on all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he sent to destruction by his death were more than all those on whom he had sent destruction in his life. 31 Then his brothers and his father's people came down and took him up and put his body to rest in the earth between Zorah and Eshtaol in the resting-place of Manoah his father. And he had been judge of Israel for twenty years.

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