Samson taken by the Philistines. JUDGES.-CHAP. XVII., XVIII. B. C. thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell | A. M. 2997 14 And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, the Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web. 15 And she said unto him, m How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth. 16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was "vexed unto death; m c. 14.16. o Pr.12.23. p Nu.6.5. Pr.7.26. 43. Ho.7.9. u Je.219. v or, as w 1 Sa.5.2, x Job 30.9, Pr. 24.17, 17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, there hath not come a razor upon mine head; for PI have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall y Da.5.4. become weak, and he like any other man. 18. 2 and who The idolatry of Micah. 29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left. 30 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life. 31 Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burying-place of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years. CHAPTER XVII. 1 Of the money that Micah first stole, un restored, his mother maketh images, 5 and he, ornaments for them. 7 He hireth a Levite to be his priest. AND there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah. 2 And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, 'Blessed be thou of the LORD, my son. 3 And when he had restored the eleven hun 18 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this a c.9.27. once, for he hath showed me all his heart. b He 11.36.dred shekels of silver to his mother, his Then the lords of the Philistines came up untoe before her, and brought money in their hand. 19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. 20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him. 21 But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house. 22 Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven. i c.13.25. a Jos.17.14.. 25 And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called h c.18.1,7. for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars. 26 And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them. 27 Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport. 21.3,25. i De. 12.8. e 6 In those days there was no 1king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. 7 And there was a young man out of Beth-lehem-judah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. 8 And the man departed out of the city from Beth-lehem-judah to sojourn where he could find a place: and he came to mount Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed. 9 And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto him, I am a Levite of Beth-lehem-judah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place. 10 And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in. 11 And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was unto him Ru.1.1,2 as one of his sons. 1 The Danites send five men to seek out an inheritance. 3 At the house of Micah they consult with Jonathan, and are encouraged in their way. 7 They search Laish, and bring back news of good hope. 11 Six hundred men are sent to surprise it. 14 In the way they rob Micah of his priest and his consecrate things. 27 They win Laish, and call it Dan. 30 They set up idolatry, wherein Jonathan inherited the priesthood. Nthose days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites 179 B. C. 1419. b Jos. 19.47. sons. XIX. They go to Laish. 18 And these went into Micah's house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them, What do ye? The Danites seek an inheritance. JUDGES.-CHAP. sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for | A. M. 255. unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel. 2 And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there. d C 3 When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite: and they turned in thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this place? and what hast thou here? 4 And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath hired me, and I am his priest. 5 And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous. 6 And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before the LORD is your way wherein ye go. d c.13.25. 16.31. e Ho.4.12. f 1 Ki 22.6. 7 Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless, after the manner p c.13.25. of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land, that might put them to shame in any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any man. r asked him of peace. Ge. 43.27. 1Sa. 17.22. 8 ver. 11. 8 And they came unto their brethren to 1 Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren said ver.2,14. unto them, What say ye? 9 And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land. u Job 21.5. 29.9. 40.4. Pr.30.32. Mi. 7. 16. v c.17.10. w Ge. 21.17. 2 Ki.6.28. Ps. 114.5. Is. 22.1. x art ga thered together. 12 And they went up, and pitched in Kirjath-jearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place Mahaneh-dan unto this day: be- bitter of hold, it is behind Kirjath-jearim. 2 Sa. 17.8. z ver. 7,10. De.33.22. b Nu. 13.21. 2 Sa. 10.6. c Ge. 14.14. Jos. 19. 47. Iki 12 29, 30; 15.20. 13 And they passed thence unto mount Ephraim, and came unto the house of Micah. 14 Then answered the five men that went a ver.1,7. to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to do. 15 And they turned thitherward, and camed 1 Sa.4.2, to the house of the young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and saluted him. 16 And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, which were of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate. 17 And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the entering of the gate with the six hundred men that were appointed with weapons of war. &c. Ps. 78.60. e Jos. 18. 1. c. 19.18. a a woman, а сопси bine, or, a wife, a concu. bine. b days four months, or, a year and four months. to her heart. Ge.34.3. 19 And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, "lay thy hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel? 20 And the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people. 21 So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the carriage before them. 22 And when they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men that were in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan. 23 And they cried unto the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company? 24 And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away: and what have I more? and what is this that ye say unto me, What aileth thee? 25 And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows run upon thee, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household. 26 And the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back unto his house. 27 And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people that were at quiet and secure: and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire. 1 A Levite goeth to Beth-lehem to fetch home his wife. 16 An old man entertaineth him at Gibeah. 22 The Gibeonites abuse his concubine to death. 29 He divideth her into twelve pieces, to send them to the twelve tribes. AND it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Beth-lehem-judah. 2 And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father's house to Beth-lehem-judah, and was there four whole months. The Levite and his concubine. d B. C. 1419. d Je.3.1. The Levite declares his wrong. 19 Yet there is both straw and provender for our asses; and there is bread and wine also for me and for thy handmaid, and for the young man which is with thy servants: there is no want of any thing. JUDGES.-CHAP. XX. her again, having his servant with him, and A. M. 2585. a couple of asses: and she brought him into her father's house: and when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet him.e 4 And his father-in-law, the damsel's father, retained him; and he abode with him three days: so they did eat and drink, and lodged there. 5 And it came to pass on the fourth day, when they arose early in the morning, that he rose up to depart: and the damsel's father said unto his son-in-law, Comfort thy heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way. e 6 And they sat down, and did eat and drink both of them together: for the damsel's father had said unto the man, Be content, I pray thee, and tarry all night, and let thy heart be merry. 7 And when the man rose up to depart, his father-in-law urged him: therefore he lodged there again. 8 And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart: and the damsel's father said, Comfort thy heart, I pray thee. And they tarried until afternoon, and they did eat both of them. 9 And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his fatherin-law, the damsel's father, said unto him, Behold, now the day i draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thy heart may be merry; and to-morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home. 10 But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed, and came " over against Jebus, which is Jerusalem; and there were with him two asses saddled, his concubine also was with him. strength en. Ge. 18.5. ver. 8. f Ps. 101.15. g ver.22 h till the day declined. is weak. Lu.21.29. 20 And the old man said, Peace be with thee; howsoever let all thy wants lie upon me; only lodge not in the street. 21 So he brought him into his house, and gave provender unto the asses: and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink. 22 Now as they were making their hearts y merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spake to the master time of the of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him. k It is the pitching day. 1 Ge. 6.4. m to thy Lent. n to over against. J 15.3 63: 1828 p Jos. 18 25 1 Sa.7.17. 2 Sa.5.6. q Mat.25. 43 r Ps. 104.23. 8 Jos. 18.1. 1 Sa. 1.3,7. t gathereth. ver. 15. Jn. 15.6. u Ge.43.23, 24. .6.23. v Ge.19.2. w Ge.21.32. x Ge. 18.4. Jn. 13.5, 14. 11 And when they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said untɔ his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn in into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it. 12 And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger, ver 6,9. that is not of the children of Israel; we will pass over to Gibeah. 13 And he said unto his servant, Come, and let us draw near to one of these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah. 14 And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin. 15 And they turned aside thither, to go in and to lodge in Gibeah: and when he went in, he sat him down in a street of the city: for there was no man that took them into his house to lodging. 16 And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at even, which was also of mount Ephraim; and he sojourn-h ed in Gibeah: but the men of the place were Benjamites. 17 And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a wayfaring man in the street of the city and the old man said, Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou? 24 Behold here is my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing. 25 But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go. 26 Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was, till it was light. 27 And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way: and, behold, the woman his concubine was fallen down at the door of the house, and her hands were upon the threshold. 28 And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But none answered. Then the man took her up upon an ass, and the man rose up, and gat him unto his place. 29 And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the coast of Israel. 30 And it was so, that all that saw it said, There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day: consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds. HEN all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beersheba, with the land of Gilead, unto the LORD in Mizpeh. 2 And the chief of all the people, even of all 2 Sa. 310. the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword. 3 (Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpeh.) Then said the children of Israel, Tell us, how was this wickedness? 18 And he said unto him, We are passing from Beth-lehem-judah toward the side of mount Ephraim; from thence am I: and Id c.8.10. went to Beth-lehem-judah, but I am now going to the house of the LORD; and there is no man that receiveth me to house. e c.19.22.. 27. f the man, the Levite. e 4 And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said, I came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge. 5 And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round about upon me by night, and thought to have slain me: and my concubine have they forced, that she is dead. 6 And I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel: for they have committed lewdness and folly in Israel. 7 Behold, ye are all children of Israel; give here your advice and counsel. k 8¶ And all the people arose as one man, saying, We will not any of us go to his tent, neither will we any of us turn into his house. 9 But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up by lot against it; 10 And we will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to fetch victual for the people, that they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the folly that they have wrought in Israel. 11 So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one man. 12 And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that is done among you? 13 Now therefore deliver us the "men, the children of Belial, which are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel. But the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel: 14 But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel. A. M. 2585. B. C. 1419. g c.19.15, &c. humbled. 19.29. ver. 10. c. 19.23. Jos. 7.15. 2 Sa. 13. 12,13. k c.19.30. Jos. 9. 14. Pr.20.18. 24.6. Ja.1.5. 1 fellows. m De. 13.14. &c. The Benjamites sɩain. 26 Then all the children of Israel, and all Jos 2213, the people, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until even, and 184.30.22 offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before the LORD. n c.19.22 De. 13.13. 2 Sa. 20.1. 23.6. 1 Ki.21.13. 2 Ch.13.7. o De. 17.7, 12. 19.19. 24.7. Ec. 11.10. P c.3.15. 1 Ch.12.2. q ver 23,26 Joel 1.14. r Nu.27.21. c.1.1. Ge. 49.27. Ho. 10.9. t ver.26.27. Pa. 78.34. Ho.5.15. 31 And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite of the people, and kill, as at other times, in the highways, of which one goeth up to the house of God, and the other to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel. 32 And the children of Benjamin said, They are smitten down before us, as at the first. But the children of Israel said, Let us flee, and draw them from the city unto the highways. 33 And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place, and put themselves in array at Baal-tamar: and the liers in wait of Israel came forth out of their places, even out of the meadows of Gibeah. 34 And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the wounded. battle was sore: but they knew not that evil was near them. 17 And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: all these were men of war. 18 And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children Jo14. of Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up first. r 19 And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped against Gibeah. 20 And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin; and the men of Israel put themselves in array to fight against them at Gibeah. d or, Bethel. Job 21.13. Pr. 4.19. 29.6. F.c.8.11, 12; 9.12. Is. 3.10, 11; 47.11. Mat. 24. 44. Lt. 21.34. e 35 And the LORD smote Benjamin before Israel: and the children of Israel destroyed of the Benjamites that day twenty and five thousand and a hundred men: all these drew the sword. 36 So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten: for the men of Israel gave 1 Th.5.3. place to the Benjamites, because they trusted unto the liers in wait which they had set beside Gibeah. f Jos.8.15, &c. gor, made a long Bound with the trumpets. Jos. 6.5. 22 And the people the men of Israel en-hor, time. couraged themselves, and set their battle again in array in the place where they put themselves in array the first day. 37 And the liers in wait hasted, and rushed upon Gibeah; and the liers in wait drew themselves along, and smote all the city with the edge of the sword. 38 Now there was an appointed sign between the men of Israel and the liers in wait, that they should make a great flame with elevation smoke rise up out of the city. i with. The desolation of Benjamin. JUDGES.-CHAP. XXI. 39 And when the men of Israel retired in the battle, Benjamin began to smite and kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons: for they said, Surely they are smitten down be-1 fore us, as in the first battle. m 40 But when the flame began to arise up out of the city with a pillar of 1 smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and, behold, the flame of the city ascended up to heaven. 41 And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of Benjamin were "amazed: for they saw that evil was come upon them. 42 Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel unto the way of the wilderness; but the battle Povertook them; and them which came out of the cities they destroyed in the midst of them. 43 Thus they inclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and trode them down with ease over against Gibeah toward the sun-rising. 44 And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these were men of valour. 45 And they turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon: and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men; and pursued hard after them unto Gidom, and slew two thousand men of them. 46 So that all which fell that day of Benjamin were twenty and five thousand men that drew the sword; all these were men of valour. 47 But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months. 48 And the men of Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin, and smote them with the edge of the sword, as well the men of every city, as the beast, and all that "came to hand: also they set on fire all the cities that they came to. B. C. 1419. k the wounded. Ge.19.28. m whole consump tion. n Is.13.8. o touched. p La.1.3. qor, from un Over against. Jos 15.32 1 Ch.6.77. Zec.14.10 t c.21.13. u was found. v were found. a c.20.1,10. b 18.14.23, 29. Ro. 10.2. e c.20.18,26. d Ge.27.38. 1 Sa.30.4. e28a.24.25. g 1 Sa.11.1. h c.5.23. 1 Sa. 11 7. The virgins at Shiloh surprised to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly. 9 For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there. 10 And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go hand smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children. 11 And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye I shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man. 12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins, that had known no man by lying with any male: and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan. 13 And the whole congregation sent some m to speak to the children of Benjamin that "were in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably unto them. 14 And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them wives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead: and yet so they sufficed them not. 15 And the people repented P them for Benjamin, because that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. 16 Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin? 17 And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel. 18 Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters: for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin. 19 Then they said, Behold, there is a feast of the LORD in Shiloh yearly in a place which Nu.51.17. is on the north side of Beth-el, on the east knoweth side of the highway that goeth up from the lying with man. Beth-el to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah. k women 1 Jos. 18.1. 20 Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards; 21 And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. W 22 And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come unto us to complain, that we will say unto them, " Be favourable unto them for our sakes: because we reserved not to each man his wife in the war: for ye did not give unto them at this time, that ye should be guilty. 23 And the children of Benjamin did so, and oroard took them wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught: and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and repaired the cities, and dwelt in them. |