18 of war. 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 19 them, What do ye? And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine 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 20 a tribe and a family in Israel? 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 21 the people. 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 23 the children of Dan. And they cried unto the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest 24 with such a company? 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 25 is this that ye say unto me, What aileth thee? And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest 2 angry fellows run 26 upon thee, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household. 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 22 23 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 28 smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire. And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Zidon, and they had no business with any man; and it was in the valley that lieth by Beth-rehob. 29 And they built a city, and dwelt therein. And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel: 30 howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first. And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the cap31 tivity of the land. And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh. 19 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 2 to him a concubine out of Beth-lehem-judah. 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 45 four whole months. 3 And her husband arose, and went after her, to speak 6 friendly unto her, and to bring her again, having his servant with him, and a couple of asses: and she brought him into her father's house: and when the father of the 4 damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet him. And his father-in-law, the damsel's father, retained him; and he abode with him three days: so they did eat and 5 drink, and lodged there. 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, 7 Comfort thine heart with a morsel of bread, and 6 afterward go your way. 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 7 pray thee, and tarry all night, and let thine heart be merry. And when the man rose up to depart, his father-in-law urged him therefore he lodged there 8 again. And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart and the damsel's father said, Comfort thine heart, I pray thee. And they tarried 98 until afternoon, and they did eat both of them. And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father-in-law, the damsel's father, said unto him, Behold, now the day 9 draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, 10 the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and to-morrow get you early on your way, 10 that thou mayest go 11 home. But the man would not tarry that night, but 1 Heb. that thou art gathered together. 2 Heb. bitter of soul. 3 Heb. a woman a concubine, or, a wife a concubine, 4 Or, a year and four months. 8 Heb. till the day declincd. 9 Heb. is weak. 10 Heb. it is the pitching time of the day. 11 Heb. to thy tent. 11 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. And when they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said unto his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn in into this city of the 12 Jebusites, and lodge in it. And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger, that is not of the children of Israel; 13 we will pass over to Gibeah. 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 15 when they were by Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin. 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 sojourned in Gibeah: but the men 17 of the place were Benjamites. 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 18 thou? and whence comest thou? And he said unto him, We are passing from Beth-lehem-judah, toward the side of mount Ephraim; from thence am 1: and I went to Beth-lehem-judah, but I am now going to the house of the LORD; 19 and there is no man that 2 receiveth me to house. 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 20 any thing. And the old man said, Peace be with thee; howsoever let all thy 21 wants lie upon me; only lodge not in the street. 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 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 of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the 23 man that came into thine house, that we may know him. And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them, and said unto them, Nay, my brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly; seeing that this man is come 24 into mine house, do not this folly. 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 25 a thing. 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 3 Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door 27 of the man's house where her lord was, till it was light. 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, 28 and her hands were upon the threshold. 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 30 sent her into all the coast of Israel. 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. 20 Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, with the land of Gilead, 2 unto the LORD in Mizpeh. And the chief of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, 3 four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword. (Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpeh.) 4 Then said the children of Israel, Tell us, how was this wickedness? And 1 Heb. to over against. 2 Heb. gathereth. 3 Heb. the matter of this folly. 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 62 forced, that she is dead. And I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel: for they 7 have committed lewdness and folly in Israel. Behold, ye are all children of Israel; give here your advice and counsel. 8 And all the people arose as one man, saying, We will not any of us go to his 9 tent, neither will we any of us turn into his house. But now this shall be 10 the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up by lot against it; and we will take ten men of an hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and an 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, 3 knit together as 12 one man. And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, 13 saying, What wickedness is this that is done among you? 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 14 would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel: but the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto 15 Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel. And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, beside the inhabitants of Gibeah, which were 16 numbered seven hundred chosen men. Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every one could sling stones at an 17 hair breadth, and not miss. And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword; all these were men of war. 18 19 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 of Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up first. And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped against 20 Gibeah. And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin; and the 21 men of Israel put themselves in array to fight against them at Gibeah. And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand men. 223 And the people the men of Israel encouraged themselves, and set their battle again in array in the place where they put themselves in array the first day. 23 (And the children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until even, and asked counsel of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And the LORD said, Go up against him.) 24 And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the 25 second day. And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men ; all these drew the sword. 26 Then all the children of Israel, and all 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 offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. 27 And the children of Israel inquired of the LORD, (for the ark of the covenant 28 of God was there in those days, and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days,) saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And the LORD said, Go up; for to-morrow I will deliver them into thine hand. 29, 30 And Israel set liers in wait round about Gibeah. And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves 31 in array against Gibeah, as at other times. And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began 4 to smite of the people, and kill, as at other times, in the highways, of which 1 Heb. the man the Levite. 2 Heb. humbled. 3 Heb. fellows. 4 Heb. to smite of the people wounded as at, &c. one goeth up to the house of God, and the other to Gibeah in the field, about 32 thirty men of Israel. 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 33 draw them from the city unto the highways. 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 34 Gibeah. And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore: but they knew not that evil was near them. 35 And the LORD Smote Benjamin before Israel: and the children of Israel destroyed of the Benjamites that day twenty and five thousand and an hundred men all these drew the sword. 36 So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten: for the men of Israel gave place to the Benjamites, because they trusted unto the liers in wait 37 which they had set beside Gibeah. And the liers in wait hasted, and rushed upon Gibeah; and the liers in wait 2 drew themselves along, and smote all the 38 city with the edge of the sword. Now there was an appointed 3 sign between the men of Israel and the liers in wait, that they should make a great 5 flame 39 with smoke rise up out of the city. 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 before us, as in the first 40 battle. But when the flame began to arise up out of the city with a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and, behold, 7 the flame of the city 41 ascended up to heaven. And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of Benjamin were amazed: for they saw that evil 8 was come upon them. 42 Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel unto the way of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them; and them which came out of the 43 cities they destroyed in the midst of them. Thus they inclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and trode them down with ease 10 over against 44 Gibeah toward the sunrising. And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand 45 men; all these were men of valour. 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 46 thousand men of them. So that all which fell that day of Benjamin were twenty 47 and five thousand men that drew the sword; all these were men of valour. But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months. 48 21 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 11 came to hand: also they set on fire all the cities that 12 they came to. Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife. And the people came to the house 2 of God, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and 3 wept sore; and said, O LORD God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, 4 that there should be to-day one tribe lacking in Israel? And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. 5 And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation unto the LORD? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to the LORD to Mizpeh, saying, 6 He shall surely be put to death. And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day. 7 How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the 8 LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives? And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the LORD? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the as9 sembly. For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the 10 inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there. And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and 11 the children. And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy 12 every male, and every woman that hath lain by man. And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred 2 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 3 to speak to the children of Benjamin 14 that were in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably unto them. And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them wives which they had saved 15 alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead: and yet so they sufficed them not. 16 And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them 17 that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin? And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe 18 be not destroyed out of Israel. 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 5 yearly in a place which is on the north side of Beth-el, 6 on the east side 7 of the highway 20 that goeth up from Beth-el to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah. Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the 21 vineyards; 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 22 the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. 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 23 should be guilty. And the children of Benjamin did so, and 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 24 them. And the children of Israel departed thence at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from thence every man to his 25 inheritance. In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes. THE BOOK OF RUTH. 1 NOW it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Beth-lehem-judah went to sojourn 2 in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Beth-lehem-judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and 10 continued there. 3 And Elimelech Naomi's husband died; and she was left, and her two sons. 4 And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth and they dwelled there about ten 5 years. And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband. 6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the country of Moab for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the : 1 Heb. knoweth the lying with man. 4 Or, proclaim peace. 2 Heb. young women virgins. 3 Heb. and spake and called. 5 Heb. from year to year. 8 Or, Gratify us in them. 10 Heb. were. 9 Heb. judged. |