by Septuagint
[50] And Abimelech went out of Baethel-berith, and encamped against Thebes, and took it. [51] And there was a strong tower in the midst of the city; and thither all the men and the women of the city fled, and shut the door without them, and went up on the roof of the tower. [52] And Abimelech drew near to the tower, and they besieged it; and Abimelech drew near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire. [53] And a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon the head of Abimelech, and broke his skull. [54] And he cried out quickly to the young man his armour-bearer, and said to him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, lest at any time they should say, A woman slew him: and his young man thrust him through and he died. [55] And the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead; and they went each to his place.
[56] So God requited the wickedness of Abimelech, which he wrought against his father, in slaying his seventy brethren. [57] And all the wickedness of the men of Sychem God requited upon their head; and the curse of Joatham the son of Jerobaal came upon them.
Chapter 10
[1] And after Abimelech Thola the son of Phua rose up to save Israel, being the son of his father’s brother, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Samir in mount Ephraim. [2] And he judged Israel twenty-three years, and died, and was buried in Samir.
[3] And after him arose Jair of Galaad, and he judged Israel twenty-two years. [4] And he had thirty-two sons riding on thirty-two colts, and they had thirty-two cities; and they called them Jair’s towns until this day in the land of Galaad. [5] And Jair died, and was buried in Rhamnon.
[6] And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim, and Astaroth, and the gods of Aram, and the gods of Sidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Phylistines; and they forsook the Lord, and did not serve him. [7] And the Lord was very angry with Israel, and sold them into the hands of the Phylistines, and into the hand of the children of Ammon. [8] And they afflicted and bruised the children of Israel at that time eighteen years, all the children of Israel beyond Jordan in the land of the Amorite in Galaad. [9] And the children of Ammon went over Jordan to fight with Juda, and Benjamin, and with Ephraim; and the children of Israel were greatly afflicted.
[10] And the children of Israel cried to the Lord, saying, We have sinned against thee, because we have forsaken God, and served Baalim. [11] And the Lord said to the children of Israel, Did I not save you from Egypt and from the Amorite, and from the children of Ammon, and from the Phylistines, [12] and from the Sidonians, and Amalec, and Madiam, who afflicted you? and ye cried to me, and I saved you out of their hand? [13] Yet ye forsook me and served other gods; therefore I will not save you any more. [14] Go, and cry to the gods whom ye have chosen to yourselves, and let them save you in the time of your affliction. [15] And the children of Israel said to the Lord, We have sinned: do thou to us according to all that is good in thine eyes; only deliver us this day. [16] And they put away the strange gods from the midst of them, and served the Lord only, and his soul was pained for the trouble of Israel.
[17] And the children of Ammon went up, and encamped in Galaad; and the children of Israel were gathered together and encamped on the hill. [18] And the people the princes of Galaad said every man to his neighbour, Who is he that shall begin to fight against the children of Ammon? he shall even be head over all that dwell in Galaad.
Chapter 11
[1] And Jephthae the Galaadite was a mighty man; and he was the son of a harlot, who bore Jephthae to Galaad. [2] And the wife of Galaad bore him sons; and the sons of his wife grew up, and they cast out Jephthae, and said to him, Thou shalt not inherit in the house of our father, for thou art the son of a concubine.
[3] And Jephthae fled from the face of his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob; and vain men gathered to Jephthae, and went out with him.
[4] And it came to pass when the children of Ammon prepared to fight with Israel, [5] that the elders of Galaad went to fetch Jephthae from the land of Tob. [6] And they said to Jephthae, Come, and be our head, and we will fight with the sons of Ammon. [7] And Jephthae said to the elders of Galaad, Did ye not hate me, and cast me out of my father’s house, and banish me from you? and wherefore are ye come to me now when ye want me? [8] And the elders of Galaad said to Jephthae, Therefore have we now turned to thee, that thou shouldest go with us, and fight against the sons of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Galaad. [9] And Jephthae said to the elders of Galaad, If ye turn me back to fight with the children of Ammon, and the Lord should deliver them before me, then will I be your head. [10] And the elders of Galaad said to Jephthae, The Lord be witness between us, if we shall not do according to thy word.
[11] And Jephthae went with the elders of Galaad, and the people made him head and ruler over them: and Jephthae spoke all his words before the Lord in Massepha.
[12] And Jephthae sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What have I to do with thee, that thou hast come against me to fight in my land? [13] And the king of the children of Ammon said to the messengers of Jephthae, Because Israel took my land when he went up out of Egypt, from Arnon to Jaboc, and to Jordan: now then return them peaceably and I will depart.
[14] And Jephthae again sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, [15] and said to him, Thus says Jephthae, Israel took not the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon; [16] for in their going up out of Egypt Israel went in the wilderness as far as the sea of Siph, and came to Cades. [17] And Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, I will pass, if it please thee, by thy land: and the king of Edom complied not: and Israel also sent to the king of Moab, and he did not consent; and Israel sojourned in Cades. [18] And they journeyed in the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab: and they came by the east of the land of Moab, an encamped in the country beyond Arnon, and came not within the borders of Moab, for Arnon is the border of Moab. [19] And Israel sent messengers to Seon king of the Amorite, king of Esbon, and Israel said to him, Let us pass, we pray thee, by thy land to our place. [20] And Seon did not trust Israel to pass by his coast; and Seon gathered all his people, and they encamped at Jasa; and he set the battle in array against Israel. [21] And the Lord God of Israel delivered Seon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote him; and Israel inherited all the land of the Amorite who dwelt in that land, [22] from Arnon and to Jaboc, and from the wilderness to Jordan. [23] And now the Lord God of Israel has removed the Amorite from before his people Israel, and shalt thou inherit his land? [24] Wilt thou not inherit those possessions which Chamos thy god shall cause thee to inherit; and shall not we inherit the land of all those whom the Lord our God has removed from before you? [25] And now art thou any better than Balac son of Sepphor, king of Moab? did he indeed fight with Israel, or indeed make war with him, [26] when Israel dwelt in Esebon and in its coasts, and in the land of Aroer and in its coasts, and in all the cities by Jordan, three hundred years? and wherefore didst thou not recover them in that time? [27] And now I have not sinned against thee, but thou wrongest me in preparing war against me: may the Lord the Judge judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.
[28] But the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not to the words of Jephthae, which he sent to him. [29] And the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthae, and he passed over Galaad, and Manasse, and passed by the watch-tower of Galaad to the other side of the children of Ammon.
[30] And Jephthae vowed a vow to the Lord, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand, [31] then it shall come to pass that whosoever shall first come out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, he shall be the Lord’s: I will offer him up for a whole-burnt-offering. [32] And Jephthae advanced to meet the sons of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord delivered them into his hand. [33] And he smote them from Aroer till one comes to Arnon, in number twenty cities, and as far as Ebelcharmim, with a very great des
truction: and the children of Ammon were straitened before the children of Israel.
[34] And Jephthae came to Massepha to his house; and behold, his daughter came forth to meet him with timbrels and dances; and she was his only child, he had not another son or daughter. [35] And it came to pass when he saw her, that he rent his garments, and said, Ah, ah, my daughter, thou hast indeed troubled me, and thou wast the cause of my trouble; and I have opened my mouth against thee to the Lord, and I shall not be able to return from it. [36] And she said to him, Father, hast thou opened thy mouth to the Lord? Do to me accordingly as the word went out of thy mouth, in that the Lord has wrought vengeance for thee on thine enemies of the children of Ammon. [37] And she said to her father, Let my father now do this thing: let me alone for two months, and I will go up and down on the mountains, and I will bewail my virginity, I and my companions. [38] And he said, Go: and he sent her away for two months; and she went, and her companions, and she bewailed her virginity on the mountains.
[39] And it came to pass at the end of the two months that she returned to her father; and he performed upon her his vow which he vowed; and she knew no man: [40] and it was an ordinance in Israel, That the daughters of Israel went from year to year to bewail the daughter of Jephthae the Galaadite for four days in a year.
Chapter 12
[1] And the men of Ephraim assembled themselves, and passed on to the north, and said to Jephthae, Wherefore didst thou go over to fight with the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thy house over thee with fire. [2] And Jephthae said to them, I and my people and the children of Ammon were very much engaged in war; and I called for you, and ye did not save me out of their hand. [3] And I saw that thou wert no helper, and I put my life in my hand, and passed on to the sons of Ammon; and the Lord delivered them into my hand: and wherefore are ye come up against me this day to fight with me?
[4] And Jephthae gathered all the men of Galaad, and fought with Ephraim; and the men of Galaad smote Ephraim, because they that were escaped of Ephraim said, Ye are of Galaad in the midst of Ephraim and in the midst of Manasse. [5] And Galaad took the fords of Jordan before Ephraim; and they that escaped of Ephraim said to them, Let us go over: and the men of Galaad said, Art thou an Ephrathite? and he said, No. [6] Then they said to him, Say now Stachys; and he did not rightly pronounce it so: and they took him, and slew him at the fords of Jordan; and there fell at that time of Ephraim two and forty thousand.
[7] And Jephthae judged Israel six years; and Jephthae the Galaadite died, and was buried in his city Galaad.
[8] And after him Abaissan of Bethleem judged Israel. [9] And he had thirty sons, and thirty daughters, whom he sent forth; and he brought in thirty daughters for his sons from without; and he judged Israel seven years. [10] And Abaissan died, and was buried in Bethleem.
[11] And after him Ælom of Zabulon judged Israel ten years. [12] And Ælom of Zabulon died, and was buried in Ælom in the land of Zabulon.
[13] And after him Abdon the son of Ellel, the Pharathonite, judged Israel. [14] And he had forty sons, and thirty grandsons, that rode upon seventy colts: and he judged Israel eight years. [15] And Abdon the son of Ellel, the Pharathonite, died, and was buried in Pharathon in the land of Ephraim in the mount of Amalec.
Chapter 13
[1] And the children of Israel yet again committed iniquity before the Lord; and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Phylistines forty years.
[2] And there was a man of Saraa, of the family of the kindred of Dan, and his name was Manoe, and his wife was barren, and bore not. [3] And an angel of the Lord appeared to the woman, and said to her, Behold, thou art barren and hast not born; yet thou shalt conceive a son. [4] And now be very cautious, and drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat no unclean thing; [5] for behold, thou art with child, and shalt bring forth a son; and there shall come no razor upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Phylistines.
[6] And the woman went in, and spoke to her husband, saying, A man of God came to me, and his appearance was as of an angel of God, very dreadful; and I did not ask him whence he was, and he did not tell me his name. [7] And he said to me, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bring forth a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat no unclean thing; for the child shall be holy to God from the womb until the day of his death.
[8] And Manoe prayed to the Lord and said, I pray thee, O Lord my lord, concerning the man of God whom thou sentest; let him now come to us once more, and teach us what we shall do to the child about to be born.
[9] And the Lord heard the voice of Manoe, and the angel of God came yet again to the woman; and she sat in the field, and Manoe her husband was not with her. [10] And the woman hasted, and ran, and brought word to her husband, and said to him, Behold the man who came in the other day to me has appeared to me.
[11] And Manoe arose and followed his wife, and came to the man, and said to him, Art thou the man that spoke to the woman? and the angel said, I am. [12] And Manoe said, Now shall thy word come to pass: what shall be the ordering of the child, and our dealings with him? [13] And the angel of the Lord said to Manoe, Of all things concerning which I spoke to the woman, she shall beware. [14] She shall eat of nothing that comes of the vine yielding wine, and let her not drink wine or strong liquor, and let her not eat anything unclean: all things that I have charged her she shall observe.
[15] And Manoe said to the angel of the Lord, Let us detain thee here, and prepare before thee a kid of the goats. [16] And the angel of the Lord said to Manoe, If thou shouldest detain me, I will not eat of thy bread; and if thou wouldest offer a whole-burnt-offering, to the Lord thou shalt offer it: for Manoe knew not that he was an angel of the Lord. [17] And Manoe said to the angel of the Lord, What is thy name, that when thy word shall come to pass, we may glorify thee? [18] And the angel of the Lord said to him, Why dost thou thus ask after my name; whereas it is wonderful? [19] And Manoe took a kid of the goats and its meat-offering, and offered it on the rock to the Lord; and the angel wrought a distinct work, and Manoe and his wife were looking on. [20] And it came to pass when the flame went up above the altar toward heaven, that the angel of the Lord went up in the flame; and Manoe and his wife were looking, and they fell upon their face to the earth.
[21] And the angel appeared no more to Manoe and to his wife: then Manoe knew that this was an angel of the Lord. [22] And Manoe said to his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. [23] But his wife said to him, If the Lord were pleased to slay us, he would not have received of our hand a whole-burnt-offering and a meat-offering; and he would not have shewn us all these things, neither would he have caused us to hear all these things as at this time.
[24] And the woman brought forth a son, and she called his name Sampson; and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him. [25] And the Spirit of the Lord began to go out with him in the camp of Dan, and between Saraa and Esthaol.
Chapter 14
[1] And Sampson went down to Thamnatha, and saw a woman in Thamnatha of the daughters of the Philistines. [2] And he went up and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Thamnatha of the daughters of the Phylistines; and now take her to me for a wife. [3] And his father and his mother said to him, Are there no daughters of thy brethren, and is there not a woman of all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines?
And Sampson said to his father, Take her for me, for she is right in my eyes. [4] And his father and his mother knew not that it was of the Lord, that he sought to be revenged on the Philistines: and at that time the Philistines lorded it over Israel. [5] And Sampson and his father and his mother went down to Thamnatha, and he came to the vineyard of Thamnatha; and behold, a young lion roared in meeting him. [6] And the spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him, and he crushed him as he would have crushed a kid of the goats, and there was nothing in his hands: and he told n
ot his father and his mother what he had done. [7] And they went down and spoke to the woman, and she was pleasing in the eyes of Sampson.
[8] And after some time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees, and honey were in the mouth of the lion. [9] And he took it into his hands, and went on eating, and he went to his father and his mother, and gave to them, and they did eat; but he told them not that he took the honey out of the mouth of the lion.
[10] And his father went down to the woman, and Sampson made there a banquet for seven days, for so the young men are used to do. [11] And it came to pass when they saw him, that they took thirty guests, and they were with him.
[12] And Sampson said to them, I propound you a riddle: if ye will indeed tell it me, and discover it within the seven days of the feast, I will you give thirty sheets and thirty changes of raiment. [13] And if ye cannot tell it me, ye shall give me thirty napkins and thirty changes of apparel: and they said to him, Propound thy riddle, and we will hear it. [14] And he said to them, Meat came forth of the eater, and sweetness out of the strong: and they could not tell the riddle for three days.
[15] And it came to pass on the fourth day, that they said to the wife of Sampson, Deceive now thy husband, and let him tell thee the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father’s house with fire: did ye invite us to do us violence? [16] And Sampson’s wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not; for the riddle which thou hast propounded to the children of my people thou hast not told me: and Sampson said to her, If I have not told it to my father and my mother, shall I tell it to thee? [17] And she wept before him the seven days, during which their banquet lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she troubled him; and she told it to the children of her people. [18] And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day, before sunrise, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? and Sampson said to them, If ye had not ploughed with my heifer, ye would not have known my riddle. [19] And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him powerfully, and he went down to Ascalon, and destroyed of the inhabitants thirty men, and took their garments, and gave the changes of raiment to them that told the riddle; and Sampson was very angry, and went up to the house of his father. [20] And the wife of Sampson was given to one of his friends, with whom he was on terms of friendship.