"Ruth"

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 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 continued there. And Elimelech Naomi’s husband died; and she was left, and her two sons. 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 years. And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman (Naomi) was left of her two sons and her husband.

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 Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) had visited his people in giving them bread. Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah. And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother’s house: the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead, and with me. The Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) grant you that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept. And they said to her, Surely we will return with thee unto your people. 

And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will you go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?  Turn again, my daughters, go your way;for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband also to night, and should also bear sons; would you tarry for them till they were grown? would you stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieve me much for your sake that the hand of the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) is gone out against me. And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth stayed unto her. And Naomi said, Behold, your sister in law is gone back to her people, and unto her gods: return you after your sister in law. And Ruth said, do not beg me to leave you, or to return from following after you: for whither you go, I will go; and where you lodge, I will lodge: your people will be my people, and your Almighty my Almighty: where you die, will I die, and there will I be buried: The Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part you and me. 

When Naomi saw that she was steadfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her. So they two went until they came to Beth-lehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Beth-lehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi? And Naomi said to them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) has brought me home again empty: why then call you me Naomi, seeing the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me? 

So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Beth-lehem in the beginning of barley harvest.

Ruth 1

"Judges VII"

Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH), very terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name: but he said unto me, Behold, you will conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.

Then Manoah intreated (implore) the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH), and said, O my Adonai (Highest), let the man of Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) which you didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that will be born. 

And Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) listened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her. And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day. And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Are you the man that speaked to the woman? And he said, I am. And Manoah said, Now let your words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how will we do unto him? 

And the angel of the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) said to Manoah, Of all that I said to the woman let her beware. "She may not eat of any thing that come of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe.

And Manoah said unto the angel of the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH), I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.  And the angel of the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) said to Manoah, Though you detain me, I will not eat of your bread: and if you wilt offer a burnt offering, you must offer it to the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH). For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH).  And Manoah said unto the angel of the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH), What is your name, that when you sayings come to pass we may do thee honor?  And the angel of the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) said unto him, Why ask you thus after my name, seeing it is secret? 

So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH): and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on.  For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground. But the angel of the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH). 

And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH). But his wife said unto him, If the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these.

And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) blessed him. And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Judges 13

And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife. Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that you goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleased me well. 

But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH), that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him.  And the Spirit of the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done. And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.

And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion. And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion.

So his father went down to the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do. And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him. And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if you can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments:  but if you cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it. And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle.  And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson’s wife, Entice your husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father’s house with fire: have you called us to take that we have? is it not so? And Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and loves me not: You hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee? And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people. And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, you had not found out my riddle.

And the Spirit of the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father’s house. But Samson’s wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.

Judges 14

But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in. And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her. And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure. And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails. 5 And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives.

Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire. And Samson said unto them, Though you have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease. And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.

Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi. And the men of Judah said, Why are you come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he has done to us. Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Know you not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them. And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that you will not fall upon me yourselves. And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock.

And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands. And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith. And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men. And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramath-lehi.

And he was sore thirsty, and called on the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH), and said, You has given this great deliverance into the hand of your servant: and now will I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised? But the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) opened a hollow place that was in the jaw (Lehi), and there came water; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof En-hakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.  

And Samson judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

Judges 15

Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her. And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him. And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron.

And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Attract him, and see where in his great strength lithe, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver. 

And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein your great strength lithe, and wherewith you mightiest be bound to afflict thee. And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green ropes that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green ropes which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the ropes, as a thread of tow is broken when it touche the fire. So his strength was not known. 

And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, you have mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were lier in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread. And Delilah said unto Samson, before you have mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith you mighty be bound. And he said unto her, If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web. And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awake out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.

And she said unto him, How canst you say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? you have mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein your great strength lithe. And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; that he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man. 

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 once, for he have shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought money in their hand. 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. 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.

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. Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.

Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god have delivered Samson our enemy into our hand. And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us. 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 for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars. And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house stand, that I may lean upon them. 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. And Samson called to the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH), and said, O Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH), remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH), that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. 

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. 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. 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.

Judges 16

"Judges VI"

And after him Ibzan of Beth-lehem judged Israel. 

*And he had thirty sons, and thirty daughters, whom he sent abroad, and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years. Then died Ibzan, and was buried at Beth-lehem.

And after him Elon, a Zebulonite, judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years. 

*And Elon the Zebulonite died, and was buried in Aijalon in the country of Zebulun.

And after him Abdon the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite, judged Israel. 

*And he had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on threescore and ten ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years. And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the mount of the Amalekites.

Judges 12:8-15

" Judges V"

And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH), and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the YHVH (YEHOVAH) Almighty, and served not him. And the anger of the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon. And that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel: eighteen years, all the children of Israel that were on the other side Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. Moreover the children of Ammon passed over Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim; so that Israel was sore distressed.

And the children of Israel cried unto the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH), saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH), and also served Baalim.

Judges 10:6-10

And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob:  and they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may fight with the children of Ammon. And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me, and expel me out of my father’s house? and why are you come unto me now when you are in distress? And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead. And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If you bring me home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) deliver them before me, shall I be your head?

Then the Spirit of the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon. And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH), and said, 

"If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,  then it shall be, that whatsoever come forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the YHVH’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering".

So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) delivered them into his hands. And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.

And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter. And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! you hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH), and I cannot go back. And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the Lord hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon.

Judges 11

And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thine house upon thee with fire. And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, you delivered me not out of their hands. And when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) delivered them into my hand: wherefore then are you come up unto me this day, to fight against me? 

Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, You Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites. And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, are you an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay; then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.

And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.

Judges 12:1-7

"Judges IV"

And all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and went, and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem.

And when they told it to Jotham (Gideon's son), he went and stood in the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) may hearken unto you,

Now therefore, if ye have done truly and sincerely, in that ye have made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done unto him according to the deserving of his hands; (for my father fought for you, and adventured his life far, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian: and ye are risen up against my father’s house this day, and have slain his sons, threescore and ten persons, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother;) if you then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you:  but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.

When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel, then Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech.

And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place.

Thus Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren: and all the evil of the men of Shechem did Almighty YHVH (YEHOVAH) render upon their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

Judges 9

After Abimelech (Gideon's son) there arose to defend Israel Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in mount Ephraim. And he judged Israel twenty and three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir.

And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty and two years. And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havoth-jair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead. And Jair died, and was buried in Camon.

Judges 10:1-5