As the Lord had given orders to Moses, so the people of Israel did, and they made division of the land.
And now, as you see, the Lord has kept me safe these forty-five years, from the time when the Lord said this to Moses, while Israel was wandering in the waste land: and now I am eighty-five years old.
So Hebron became the heritage of Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, to this day, because with all his heart he was true to the Lord, the God of Israel.
And when the children of Israel had become strong, they put the Canaanites to forced work, in place of driving them out.
And all the meeting of the children of Israel came together at Shiloh and put up the Tent of meeting there: and the land was crushed before them.
But there were still seven tribes among the children of Israel who had not taken up their heritage.
Then Joshua said to the children of Israel, Why are you so slow to go in and take up your heritage in the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you?
And Joshua made the distribution for them in Shiloh by the decision of the Lord, marking out the land for the children of Israel by their divisions.
So the distribution of the land and its limits was complete; and the children of Israel gave Joshua, the son of Nun, a heritage among them;
These are the heritages which eleazar the priest and Joshua, the son of Nun, and the heads of families of the tribes of the children of Israel gave out at Shiloh, by the decision of the Lord, at the door of the tent of meeting. So the distribution of the land was complete.
Say to the children of Israel, Let certain towns be marked out as safe places, as I said to you by the mouth of Moses,
These were the towns marked out for all the children of Israel and for the man from a strange country living among them, so that anyone causing the death of another in error, might go in flight there, and not be put to death by him who has the right of punishment for blood till he had come before the meeting of the people.
Then the heads of the families of the Levites came to eleazar the priest and Joshua, the son of Nun, and to the heads of families of the tribes of the children of Israel;
And the children of Israel out of their heritage gave to the Levites these towns with their grass-lands, by the order of the Lord.
All these towns with their grass-lands the children of Israel gave by the decision of the Lord to the Levites, as the Lord had given orders by Moses.
All the towns of the Levites, among the heritage of the children of Israel, were forty-eight towns with their grass-lands.
So the Lord gave to Israel all the land which he gave by oath to their fathers; so it became their heritage and their living-place.
The Lord kept faith with the house of Israel about all the good which he said he would do for them, and all his words came true.
So reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh went back, parting from the children of Israel at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, to the land of their heritage which had been given to them by the Lord's order to Moses.
And news came to the children of Israel, See, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have put up an altar opposite the land of Canaan, in the country by Jordan on the side which is Israel's.
Then all the meeting of the children of Israel, hearing this, came together at Shiloh to go up against them to war.
And the children of Israel sent Phinehas, the son of eleazar the priest, to the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead,
And with him they sent ten chiefs, one for every tribe of the children of Israel, every one of them the head of his house among the families of Israel.
This is what all the meeting of the people of the Lord has said, What is this wrong which you have done against the God of Israel, turning back this day from the Lord and building an altar for yourselves, and being false to the Lord?
That now you are turned back from the Lord? and, because you are false to him today, tomorrow his wrath will be let loose on all the people of Israel.
Did not Achan, the son of Zerah, do wrong about the cursed thing, causing wrath to come on all the people of Israel? And not on him only came the punishment of death.
Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel,
God, even God the Lord, God, even God the Lord, he sees, and Israel will see--if it is in pride or in sin against the Lord,
And if we have not, in fact, done this designedly and with purpose, having in our minds the fear that in time to come your children might say to our children, What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel?
Then phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the meeting and the heads of the families of Israel who were with him, hearing what the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh said, were pleased.
Then Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, and the chiefs went back from the land of Gilead, from the children of Reuben and the children of Gad, and came to the children of Israel in canaan and gave them the news.
And the children of Israel were pleased about this; and they gave praise to God, and had no more thought of going to war against the children of Reuben and the children of Gad for the destruction of their land.
Now after a long time, when the Lord had given Israel rest from wars on every side, and Joshua was old and full of years,
Joshua sent for all Israel, for their responsible men and their chiefs and their judges and their overseers, and said to them, I am old, and full of years:
Then Joshua got all the tribes of Israel together at Shechem; and he sent for the responsible men of Israel and their chiefs and their judges and their overseers; and they took their place before God.
And Joshua said to all the people, These are the words of the Lord, the God of Israel: In the past your fathers, Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor, were living on the other side of the River: and they were worshipping other gods.
Then Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab, went up to war against Israel; and he sent for Balaam, the son of Beor, to put a curse on you:
Then, he said, put away the strange gods among you, turning your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.
And Israel was true to the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the older men who were still living after Joshua's death, and had seen what the Lord had done for Israel.
And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel had taken up from Egypt, they put in the earth in Shechem, in the property which Jacob had got from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred shekels: and they became the heritage of the children of Joseph.
Now after the death of Joshua, the children of Israel made request to the Lord, saying, Who is to go up first to make war for us against the Canaanites?
And whenever Israel became strong, they put the Canaanites to forced work, without driving them out completely.
Now on hearing these words which the angel of the Lord said to all the children of Israel, the people gave themselves up to loud crying and weeping.
And Joshua let the people go away, and the children of Israel went, every man to his heritage, to take the land for themselves.
And the people were true to the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the responsible men who were still living after the death of Joshua, and had seen all the great work of the Lord which he had done for Israel.
And in time death overtook all that generation; and another generation came after them, having no knowledge of the Lord or of the things which he had done for Israel.
And the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord and became servants to the Baals;
And the wrath of the Lord was burning against Israel, and he gave them up into the hands of those who violently took their property, and into the hands of their haters all round them, so that they were forced to give way before them.
And the wrath of the Lord was burning against Israel, and he said, Because this nation has not been true to my agreement which I made with their fathers, and has not given ear to my voice;
In order to put Israel to the test, and see if they will keep the way of the Lord, walking in it as their fathers did, or not.
Now these are the nations which the Lord kept in the land for the purpose of testing Israel by them, all those who had had no experience of all the wars of Canaan;
Only because of the generations of the children of Israel, for the purpose of teaching them war--only those who up till then had no experience of it;
For the purpose of testing Israel by them, to see if they would give ear to the orders of the Lord, which he had given to their fathers by the hand of Moses.
Now the children of Israel were living among the Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites:
And the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and put out of their minds the Lord their God, and became servants to the Baals and the Astartes.
So the wrath of the Lord was burning against Israel, and he gave them up into the hands of Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel were his servants for eight years.
And when the children of Israel made prayer to the Lord, he gave them a saviour, Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.
And the spirit of the Lord came on him and he became judge of Israel, and went out to war, and the Lord gave up Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, into his hands and he overcame him.
Then the children of Israel again did evil in the eyes of the Lord; and the Lord made Eglon, king of Moab, strong against Israel, because they had done evil in the Lord's eyes.
And Eglon got together the people of Ammon and Amalek, and they went and overcame Israel and took the town of palm-trees.
And the children of Israel were servants to Eglon, king of Moab, for eighteen years.
Then when the children of Israel made prayer to the Lord, he gave them a saviour, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man; and the children of Israel sent an offering by him to Eglon, king of Moab.
And when he came there, he had a horn sounded in the hill-country of Ephraim, and all the children of Israel went down with him from the hill-country, and he at their head.
So Moab was broken that day under the hand of Israel. And for eighty years the land had peace.
And after him came Shamgar, the son of Anath, who put to death six hundred philistines with an ox-stick; and he was another saviour of Israel.
And the children of Israel again did evil in the eyes of the Lord when Ehud was dead.
Then the children of Israel made prayer to the Lord; for he had nine hundred iron war-carriages, and for twenty years he was very cruel to the children of Israel.
Now Deborah, a woman prophet, the wife of Lapidoth, was judge of Israel at that time.
(And she had her seat under the palm-tree of Deborah between ramah and Beth-el in the hill-country of Ephraim; and the children of Israel came up to her to be judged.)
And she sent for Barak, the son of Abinoam, from Kedesh-naphtali, and said to him, Has not the Lord, the God of Israel, given orders saying, Go and get your force into line in Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?
So that day God overcame Jabin, king of Canaan, before the children of Israel.
And the power of the children of Israel went on increasing against Jabin, king of Canaan, till he was cut off.
Because of the flowing hair of the fighters in Israel, because the people gave themselves freely, give praise to the Lord.
Give attention, O kings; give ear, O rulers; I, even I, will make a song to the Lord; I will make melody to the Lord, the God of Israel.
The mountains were shaking before the Lord, before the Lord, the God of Israel.
Country towns were no more in Israel, *** were no more, till you, Deborah, came up, till you came up as a mother in Israel.
They had no one to make arms, there were no more armed men in the towns; was there a body-cover or a spear to be seen among forty thousand in Israel?
Come, you rulers of Israel, you who gave yourselves freely among the people: give praise to the Lord.
Give ear to the women laughing by the water-springs; there they will give again the story of the upright acts of the Lord, all the upright acts of his arm in Israel.
And the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord; and the Lord gave them up into the hand of midian for seven years.
And Midian was stronger than Israel; and because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made holes for themselves in the mountains, and hollows in the rocks, and strong places.
And whenever Israel's grain was planted, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east came up against them;
And put their army in position against them; and they took all the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, till there was no food in Israel, or any sheep or oxen or asses.
And Israel was in great need because of Midian; and the cry of the children of Israel went up to the Lord.
And when the cry of the children of Israel, because of Midian, came before the Lord,
The Lord sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them, The Lord the God of Israel, has said, I took you up from Egypt, out of the prison-house;
And the Lord, turning to him, said, Go in the strength you have and be Israel's saviour from Midian: have I not sent you?
And he said to him, O Lord, how may I be the saviour of Israel? See, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.
Then Gideon said to God, If you are going to give Israel salvation by my hand, as you have said,
See, I will put the wool of a sheep on the grain-floor; if there is dew on the wool only, while all the earth is dry, then I will be certain that it is your purpose to give Israel salvation by my hand as you have said.
And his friend in answer said, This is certainly the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, the men of Israel: into their hands God has given up all the army of Midian.
Then Gideon, hearing the story of the dream and the sense in which they took it, gave worship; then he went back to the tents of Israel, and said, Up! for the Lord has given the army of Midian into your hands.
And the men of Israel came together from Naphtali and from Asher and all Manasseh, and went after Midian.
Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, Be our ruler, you and your son and your son's son after him; for you have been our saviour from the hands of Midian.
And Gideon made an ephod from them and put it up in his town Ophrah; and all Israel went after it there and were false to the Lord; and it became a cause of sin to Gideon and his house.
So midian was broken before the children of Israel and the Midianites never got back their strength. And the land had peace for forty years, in the days of Gideon.
And after the death of Gideon, the children of Israel again went after the gods of canaan and were false to the Lord, and made Baal-berith their god.
And the children of Israel did not keep in their minds the Lord their God, who had been their saviour from all their haters on every side;
And they were not kind to the house of Jerubbaal, that is, Gideon, in reward for all the good he had done to Israel.
So Abimelech was chief over Israel for three years.
And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they went away, every man to his place.
Now after Abimelech, Tola, the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, became the saviour of Israel; he was living in Shamir in the hill-country of Ephraim.
He was judge over Israel for twenty-three years; and at his death his body was put to rest in the earth in Shamir.
And after him came Jair the Gileadite, who was judge over Israel for twenty-two years.
And again the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord, worshipping the Baals and Astartes, and the gods of Aram and the gods of Zidon and the gods of Moab and the gods of the children of Ammon and the gods of the Philistines; they gave up the Lord and were servants to him no longer.
And the wrath of the Lord was burning against Israel, and he gave them up into the hands of the philistines and into the hands of the children of Ammon.
And that year the children of Israel were crushed under their yoke; for eighteen years all the children of Israel on the other side of Jordan, in the land of the Amorites which is in Gilead, were cruelly crushed down.
And the children of Ammon went over Jordan, to make war against Judah and Benjamin and the house of Ephraim; and Israel was in great trouble.
Then the children of Israel, crying out to the Lord, said, Great is our sin against you, for we have given up our God and have been servants to the Baals.
And the Lord said to the children of Israel, Were not the egyptians and the Amorites and the children of Ammon and the Philistines
And the children of Israel said to the Lord, We are sinners; do to us whatever seems good to you: only give us salvation this day.
So they put away the strange gods from among them, and became the Lord's servants; and his soul was angry because of the sorrows of Israel.
Then the children of Ammon came together and put their army in position in Gilead. And the children of Israel came together and put their army in position in Mizpah.
And the people of Israel said to one another, Who will be the first to make an attack on the children of Ammon? We will make him head over all Gilead.
Now after a time the children of Ammon made war against Israel.
And when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the responsible men of gilead went to get Jephthah back from the land of Tob;
And the king of the children of Ammon said to the men sent by Jephthah, Because Israel, when he came up out of Egypt, took away my land, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok and as far as Jordan: so now, give me back those lands quietly.
And said to him, This is the word of Jephthah: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the children of Ammon;
But when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the waste land to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh;
Then Israel sent men to the king of edom saying, Let me now go through your land; but the king of Edom did not give ear to them. And in the same way he sent to the king of Moab, but he would not; so Israel went on living in Kadesh.
And Israel sent men to Sihon, king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, Let me now go through your land to my place.
But sihon would not give way and let Israel go through his land; and Sihon got together all his people, and put his army in position in Jahaz, and made war on Israel.
And the Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hands of Israel, and they overcame them; so all the land of the Amorites, the people of that land, became Israel's.
So now the Lord, the God of Israel, has taken away their land from the Amorites and given it to his people Israel; are you then to have it?
What! are you any better than Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever take up a cause against Israel or make war against them?
While Israel was living in heshbon and its daughter-towns and in Aroer and its daughter-towns and in all the towns which are by the side of the Arnon, for three hundred years, why did you not get them back at that time?
So I have done no wrong against you, but you are doing wrong to me in fighting against me: may the Lord, who is Judge this day, be judge between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.
And he made an attack on them from Aroer all the way to Minnith, overrunning twenty towns, as far as Abel-cheramim, and put great numbers to the sword. So the children of Ammon were crushed before the children of Israel.
And at the end of two months she went back to her father, who did with her as he had said in his oath: and she had never been touched by a man. So it became a rule in Israel,
Now Jephthah was judge of Israel for six years. And Jephthah the Gileadite came to his death, and his body was put to rest in his town, Mizpeh of Gilead.
And after him, Ibzan of Beth-lehem was judge of Israel.
He had thirty sons, and thirty daughters whom he sent to other places, and he got thirty wives from other places for his sons. And he was judge of Israel for seven years.
And after him, Elon the Zebulonite was judge of Israel; and he was judge of Israel for ten years.
And after him, Abdon, the son of Hillel, the Pirathonite, was judge of Israel.
He had forty sons and thirty sons' sons who went on seventy young asses; and he was judge of Israel for eight years.
And the children of Israel again did evil in the eyes of the Lord; and the Lord gave them into the hands of the philistines for forty years.
For you are with child and will give birth to a son; his hair is never to be cut, for the child is to be separate to God from his birth; and he will take up the work of freeing Israel from the hands of the Philistines.
Now his father and mother had no knowledge that this was the purpose of the Lord, who had the destruction of the Philistines in mind. Now the philistines at that time were ruling over Israel.
And he was judge of Israel in the days of the Philistines for twenty years.
Then his brothers and his father's people came down and took him up and put his body to rest in the earth between Zorah and Eshtaol in the resting-place of manoah his father. And he had been judge of Israel for twenty years.
In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did as seemed right to him.
In those days there was no king in Israel, and in those days the Danites were looking for a heritage for themselves, to be their living-place; for up to that time no distribution of land had been made to them among the tribes of Israel.
And they said to him, Be quiet; say nothing, and come with us and be our father and priest; is it better for you to be priest to one man's house or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?
And they gave the town the name of Dan, after Dan their father, who was the son of Israel: though the town had been named Laish at first.
Now in those days, when there was no king in Israel, a certain levite was living in the inmost parts of the hill-country of Ephraim, and he got for himself a servant-wife from Beth-lehem-judah.
But his master said to him, We will not go out of our way into a strange town, whose people are not of the children of Israel; but we will go on to Gibeah.
And when he had come to his house, he got his knife, and took the woman, cutting her up bone by bone into twelve parts, which he sent through all Israel.
And he gave orders to the men whom he sent, saying, This is what you are to say to all the men of Israel, Has ever an act like this been done from the day when the children of Israel came out of Egypt to this day? Give thought to it, turning it over in your minds, and give your opinion of it.
Then all the children of Israel took up arms, and the people came together like one man, from Dan to Beer-sheba, and the land of Gilead, before the Lord at Mizpah.
And the chiefs of the people, out of all the tribes of Israel, took their places in the meeting of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen armed with swords.
(Now the children of Benjamin had word that the children of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the children of Israel said, Make clear how this evil thing took place.
So I took her, cutting her into parts which I sent through all the country of the heritage of Israel: for they have done an act of shame in Israel.
Here you all are, you children of Israel; give now your suggestions about what is to be done.
And we will take ten men out of every hundred, through all the tribes of Israel, a hundred out of every thousand, a thousand out of every ten thousand, to get food for the people, so that they may give to Gibeah of Benjamin the right punishment for the act of shame they have done in Israel.
So all the men of Israel were banded together against the town, united like one man.
And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin saying, What is this evil which has been done among you?
Now give up those good-for-nothing persons in Gibeah so that we may put them to death, clearing away the evil from Israel. But the children of Benjamin would not give ear to the voice of their brothers, the children of Israel.
And the children of Benjamin came together from all their towns to Gibeah, to go to war with the children of Israel.
And the men of Israel, other than Benjamin, were four hundred thousand in number, all armed with swords; they were all men of war.
And they got up and went up to Beth-el to get directions from God, and the children of Israel said, Who is to be the first to go up to the fight against the children of Benjamin? And the Lord said, Judah is to go up first.
So the children of Israel got up in the morning and put themselves in position against Gibeah.
And the men of Israel went out to war against Benjamin (and the men of Israel put their forces in fighting order against them at Gibeah).
Then the children of Benjamin came out from Gibeah, cutting down twenty-two thousand of the Israelites that day.
But the people, the men of Israel, taking heart again, put their forces in order and took up the same position as on the first day.
Now the children of Israel went up, weeping before the Lord till evening, requesting the Lord and saying, Am I to go forward again to the fight against the children of Benjamin my brother? And the Lord said, Go up against him.
So the children of Israel went forward against the children of Benjamin the second day.
And the second day Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah, cutting down eighteen thousand men of the children of Israel, all swordsmen.
Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up to Beth-el, weeping and waiting there before the Lord, going without food all day till evening, and offering burned offerings and peace-offerings before the Lord.
And the children of Israel made request to the Lord, (for the ark of the agreement of the Lord was there in those days,
So Israel put men secretly all round Gibeah to make a surprise attack on it.
And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in fighting order against Gibeah as before.
And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, moving away from the town; and as before, at their first attack, they put to death about thirty men of Israel on the highways, of which one goes up to Beth-el and the other to Gibeah, and in the open country.
And the children of Benjamin said, They are giving way before us as at first. But the children of Israel said, Let us go in flight and get them away from the town, into the highways.
So all the men of Israel got up and put themselves in fighting order at Baal-tamar: and those who had been waiting secretly to make a surprise attack came rushing out of their place on the west of Geba.
And they came in front of Gibeah, ten thousand of the best men in all Israel, and the fighting became more violent; but the children of Benjamin were not conscious that evil was coming on them.
Then the Lord sent sudden fear on Benjamin before Israel; and that day the children of Israel put to death twenty-five thousand, one hundred men of Benjamin, all of them swordsmen.
So the children of Benjamin saw that they were overcome: and the men of Israel had given way before Benjamin, putting their faith in the watchers who were to make the surprise attack on Gibeah.
Now the sign fixed between the men of Israel and those making the surprise attack was that when they made a pillar of smoke go up from the town,
The men of Israel were to make a turn about in the fight. And Benjamin had overcome and put to death about thirty of the men of Israel, and were saying, Certainly they are falling back before us as in the first fight.
And the men of Israel had made a turn about, and the men of Benjamin were overcome with fear, for they saw that evil had overtaken them.
So turning their backs on the men of Israel, they went in the direction of the waste land; but the fight overtook them; and those who came out of the town were heading them off and putting them to the sword.
And turning, they went in flight to the rock of Rimmon in the waste land: and on the highways five thousand of them were cut off by the men of Israel, who, pushing on hard after them to Geba, put to death two thousand more.
And the men of Israel, turning again against the children of Benjamin, put to the sword without mercy all the towns and the cattle and everything there was, burning every town which came into their hands.
Now the men of Israel had taken an oath in Mizpah, saying, Not one of us will give his daughter as a wife to Benjamin.
And they said, O Lord, the God of Israel, why has this fate come on Israel, that today one tribe has been cut off from Israel?
And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel, who did not come up to the Lord at the meeting of all Israel? For they had taken a great oath that whoever did not come up to Mizpah to the Lord was to be put to death.
And the children of Israel were moved with pity for Benjamin their brother, saying, Today one tribe has been cut off from Israel.
And they said, Which one of the tribes of Israel did not come up to Mizpah to the Lord? And it was seen that no one had come from Jabesh-gilead to the meeting.
And the people were moved with pity for Benjamin, because the Lord had let his wrath loose on the tribes of Israel.
And they said, How is the rest of Benjamin to be given offspring so that one tribe of Israel may not be put out of existence,
Seeing that we may not give them our daughters as wives? For the children of Israel had taken an oath, saying, cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin.
Then the children of Israel went away from there, every man to his tribe and his family, every man went back to his heritage.
In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did what seemed right to him.
The Lord give you a reward for what you have done, and may a full reward be given to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take cover.
Now, in earlier times this was the way in Israel when property was taken over by a near relation, or when there was a change of owner. To make the exchange certain one man took off his shoe and gave it to the other; and this was a witness in Israel.
And all the people who were in the public place, and the responsible men, said, We are witnesses. May the Lord make this woman, who is about to come into your house, like rachel and Leah, which two were the builders of the house of Israel: and may you have wealth in Ephrathah, and be great in Beth-lehem;
And the women said to Naomi, A blessing on the Lord, who has not let you be this day without a near relation, and may his name be great in Israel.
Then Eli said to her, Go in peace: and may the God of Israel give you an answer to the prayer you have made to him.
This he put into the pot, and everything which came up on the hook the priest took for himself. This they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.
Now Eli was very old; and he had news from time to time of what his sons were doing to all Israel.
Did I take him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest and to go up to my altar to make the smoke of the offerings go up and to take up the ephod? Did I give to your father's family all the offerings made by fire by the children of Israel?
Why then are you looking with envy on my offerings of meat and of meal which were ordered by my word, honouring your sons before me, and making yourselves fat with all the best of the offerings of Israel, my people?
For this reason the Lord God of Israel has said, Truly I did say that your family and your father's people would have their place before me for ever: but now the Lord says, Let it not be so; I will give honour to those by whom I am honoured, and those who have no respect for me will be of small value in my eyes.
And the Lord said to Samuel, See, I will do a thing in Israel at which the ears of everyone hearing of it will be burning.
And it was clear to all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba that Samuel had been made a prophet of the Lord.
Now at that time the philistines came together to make war against Israel, and the men of Israel went out to war against the Philistines and took up their position at the side of Eben-ezer: and the Philistines put their forces in position in Aphek.
And the Philistines put their forces in order against Israel, and the fighting was hard, and Israel was overcome by the Philistines, who put to the sword about four thousand of their army in the field.
And when the people came back to their tents, the responsible men of Israel said, Why has the Lord let the Philistines overcome us today? Let us get the ark of the Lord's agreement here from Shiloh, so that it may be with us and give us salvation from the hands of those who are against us.
And when the ark of the Lord's agreement came into the tent-circle, all Israel gave a great cry, so that the earth was sounding with it.
So the Philistines went to the fight, and Israel was overcome, and every man went in flight to his tent: and great was the destruction, for thirty thousand footmen of Israel were put to the sword.
And the man said, Israel went in flight from the Philistines, and there has been great destruction among the people, and your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been taken.
And at these words about the ark of God, Eli, falling back off his seat by the side of the doorway into the town, came down on the earth so that his neck was broken and death overtook him, for he was an old man and of great weight. He had been judging Israel for forty years.
And she gave the child the name of Ichabod, saying, The glory has gone from Israel: because the ark of God was taken and because of her father-in-law and her husband.
And she said, The glory is gone from Israel, for the ark of God has been taken.
And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, Let not the ark of the God of Israel be with us, for his hand is hard on us and on Dagon our god.
So they sent for all the lords of the philistines to come together there, and said, What are we to do with the ark of the God of Israel? And their answer was, Let the ark of the God of Israel be taken away to Gath. So they took the ark of the God of Israel away.
So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And when the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of the town made an outcry, saying, They have sent the ark of the God of Israel to us for the destruction of us and of our people.
So they sent and got together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go back to its place, so that it may not be the cause of death to us and to our people: for there was a great fear of death through all the town; the hand of God was very hard on them there.
And they said, If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it without an offering, but send him a sin-offering with it: then you will have peace again, and it will be clear to you why the weight of his hand has not been lifted from you.
So make images of the growths caused by your disease and of the mice which are damaging your land; and give glory to the God of Israel: it may be that the weight of his hand will be lifted from you and from your gods and from your land.
If it goes by the land of Israel to Beth-shemesh, then this great evil is his work; but if not, then we may be certain that the evil was not his doing, but was the working of chance.
And the ark was in Kiriath-jearim for a long time, as much as twenty years: and all Israel was searching after the Lord with weeping.
Then Samuel said to all Israel, If with all your hearts you would come back to the Lord, then put away all the strange gods and the Astartes from among you, and let your hearts be turned to the Lord, and be servants to him only: and he will make you safe from the hands of the Philistines.
So the children of Israel gave up the worship of Baal and Astarte, and became worshippers of the Lord only.
Then Samuel said, Let all Israel come to Mizpah and I will make prayer to the Lord for you.
So they came together to Mizpah, and got water, draining it out before the Lord, and they took no food that day, and they said, We have done evil against the Lord. And Samuel was judge of the children of Israel in Mizpah.
Now when the philistines had news that the children of Israel had come together at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And the children of Israel, hearing of it, were full of fear.
And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Go on crying to the Lord our God for us to make us safe from the hands of the Philistines.
And Samuel took a young lamb, offering all of it as a burned offering to the Lord; and Samuel made prayers to the Lord for Israel and the Lord gave him an answer.
And while Samuel was offering the burned offering, the Philistines came near for the attack on Israel; but at the thunder of the Lord's voice that day the Philistines were overcome with fear, and they gave way before Israel.
And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and went after the Philistines, attacking them till they came under Beth-car.
So the Philistines were overcome, and did not come into the country of Israel again: and all the days of Samuel the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines.
And the towns which the Philistines had taken were given back to Israel, from ekron to Gath, and all the country round them Israel made free from the power of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.
And Samuel was judge of Israel all the days of his life.
From year to year he went in turn to Beth-el and gilgal and Mizpah, judging Israel in all those places.
And his base was at Ramah, where his house was; there he was judge of Israel and there he made an altar to the Lord.
Now when Samuel was old, he made his sons judges over Israel.
Then all the responsible men of Israel got together and went to Samuel at Ramah,
And the Lord said to Samuel, Give ear to their voice and make a king for them. Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, Let every man go back to his town.
He had a son named Saul, a specially good-looking young man; there was no one better-looking among the children of Israel: he was taller by a head than any other of the people.
(In the past in Israel, when a man went to get directions from God, he said, Come let us go to the Seer, for he who now is named Prophet was in those days given the name of Seer.)
Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and on him you are to put the holy oil, making him ruler over my people Israel, and he will make my people safe from the hands of the Philistines: for I have seen the sorrow of my people, whose cry has come up to me.
As for your asses which have been wandering for three days, give no thought to them, for they have come back. And for whom are all the desired things in Israel? are they not for you and your father's family?
And Saul said, Am I not a man of Benjamin, the smallest of all the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of the families of Benjamin? why then do you say these words to me?
Then Samuel took the bottle of oil, and put the oil on his head and gave him a kiss and said, Is not the Lord with the holy oil making you ruler over Israel, his people? and you will have authority over the people of the Lord, and you will make them safe from the hands of their attackers round about them, and this will be the sign for you:
And he said to the children of Israel, The Lord, the God of Israel, has said, I took Israel out of Egypt, and made you free from the hands of the egyptians and from all the kingdoms which kept you down:
So Samuel made all the tribes of Israel come near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken.
And Nahash the Ammonite said to them, I will make an agreement with you on this condition, that all your right eyes are put out; so that I may make it a cause of shame to all Israel.
Then the responsible men of Jabesh said to him, Give us seven days, so that we may send men to every part of Israel: and then, if no one comes to our help, we will come out to you.
And he took two oxen and, cutting them up, sent them through all the land of Israel by the hand of runners, saying, If any man does not come out after Saul and Samuel, this will be done to his oxen. And the fear of the Lord came on the people and they came out like one man.
And he had them numbered in Bezek: the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.
And Saul said, Not a man is to be put to death today: for today the Lord has made Israel safe.
So all the people went to Gilgal; and there in Gilgal they made Saul king before the Lord; and peace-offerings were offered before the Lord; and there Saul and all the men of Israel were glad with great joy.
And Samuel said to all Israel, You see that I have given ear to everything you said to me, and have made a king over you.
And Saul took for himself three thousand men of Israel, of whom he kept two thousand with him in Michmash and in the mountain of Beth-el, and a thousand were with Jonathan in gibeah in the land of Benjamin: the rest of the people he sent back to their tents.
And all Israel had the news that Saul had made an attack on the Philistines, and that Israel was bitterly hated by the Philistines. And the people came together after Saul to Gilgal.
And the Philistines came together to make war on Israel, three thousand war-carriages and six thousand horsemen and an army of people like the sands of the sea in number: they came up and took up their position in Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven.
When the men of Israel saw the danger they were in, (for the people were troubled,) they took cover in cracks in the hillsides and in the woods and in rocks and holes and hollows.
And Samuel said to Saul, You have done a foolish thing: you have not kept the rules which the Lord your God gave you; it was the purpose of the Lord to make your authority over Israel safe for ever.
Now there was no iron-worker in all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, For fear the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears:
But all the Israelites had to go to the Philistines to get their ploughs and blades and axes and hooks made sharp;
And the armed men of the force gave Jonathan and his servant their answer, saying, Come up here to us, and we will let you see something. Then Jonathan said to his servant, Come up after me: for the Lord has given them up into the hands of Israel.
And Saul said to Ahijah, Let the ephod come here. For he went before Israel with the ephod at that time.
And all the men of Israel who had taken cover in the hill-country of Ephraim, hearing that the Philistines had been put to flight, went after them, attacking them.
So the Lord made Israel safe that day: and the fight went over to Beth-aven.
And Saul, desiring directions from God, said, Am I to go down after the Philistines? will you give them up into the hands of Israel? But he gave him no answer that day.
For, by the living Lord, the saviour of Israel, even if the sinner is Jonathan, my son, death will certainly be his fate. But not a man among all the people gave him any answer.
Then he said to all Israel, You be on one side, and I with Jonathan my son will be on the other side. And the people said to Saul, Do whatever seems good to you.
Then Saul said to the Lord, the God of Israel, Why have you not given me an answer today? If the sin is in me or in Jonathan my son, O Lord God of Israel, give Urim, and if it is in your people Israel, give Thummim. And by the decision of the Lord, Saul and Jonathan were marked out, and the people went free.
And the people said to Saul, Is death to come to Jonathan, the worker of this great salvation for Israel? Let it not be so: by the living Lord, not one hair of his head is to be touched, for he has been working with God today. So the people kept Jonathan from death.
Now when Saul had taken his place as ruler of Israel, he made war on those who were against him on every side, Moab and the Ammonites and Edom and the kings of Zobah and the Philistines: and whichever way he went, he overcame them.
And he did great things, and overcame the Amalekites, and made Israel safe from the hands of their attackers.
And Samuel said to Saul, The Lord sent me to put the holy oil on you and to make you king over his people, over Israel: so give ear now to the words of the Lord.
The Lord of armies says, I will give punishment to Amalek for what he did to Israel, fighting against him on the way when Israel came out of Egypt.
And Saul said to the Kenites, Go away, take yourselves out from among the Amalekites, or destruction will overtake you with them: for you were kind to the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt. So the Kenites went away from among the Amalekites.
And Samuel said, Though you may seem little to yourself, are you not head of the tribes of Israel? for the Lord with the holy oil made you king over Israel,
And Samuel said to Saul, I will not go back with you: for you have put away from you the word of the Lord, and the Lord has put you from your place as king over Israel.
And Samuel said to him, The Lord has taken away the kingdom of Israel from you this day by force, and has given it to a neighbour of yours who is better than you.
And further, the Glory of Israel will not say what is false, and his purpose may not be changed: for he is not a man, whose purpose may be changed.
Then he said, Great is my sin: but still, give me honour now before the heads of my people and before Israel, and come back with me so that I may give worship to the Lord your God.
And Samuel never saw Saul again till the day of his death; but Samuel was sorrowing for Saul: and it was no longer the Lord's pleasure for Saul to be king over Israel.
And the Lord said to Samuel, How long will you go on sorrowing for Saul, seeing that I have put him from his place as king over Israel? Take oil in your vessel and go; I will send you to Jesse, the Beth-lehemite: for I have got a king for myself among his sons.
And Saul and the men of Israel came together and took up their position in the valley of Elah, and put their forces in order against the Philistines.
The Philistines were stationed on the mountain on one side and Israel on the mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.
He took up his position and in a loud voice said to the armies of Israel, Why have you come out to make war? Am I not a Philistine and you servants of Saul? Send out a man for yourselves and let him come down to me.
And the Philistine said, I have put to shame the armies of Israel this day; give me a man so that we may have a fight together.
And Saul and all Israel, hearing those words of the Philistine, were troubled and full of fear.
Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.
And Israel and the Philistines had put their forces in position, army against army.
And all the men of Israel, when they saw him, went in flight, overcome with fear.
And the men of Israel said, Have you seen this man? Clearly he has come out to put shame on Israel: and it is certain that if any man overcomes him, the king will give that man great wealth, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's family free in Israel.
And David said to the men near him, What will be done to the man who overcomes this Philistine and takes away the shame from Israel? for who is this Philistine, a man without circumcision, that he has put shame on the armies of the living God?
Most of the teaching of Jesus are recorded in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The Complete Sayings of Jesus presents every word spoken by Jesus in one place and provides an index to assist in finding specific ocassions, places and/or events. It is a must read aid for serious Bible study.
He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, saith the Lord. These are the words of Christ; and they direct us to imitate his life and character. The Imitation of Christ is guide to following the example of Jesus Christ. Let it be our most earnest study to dwell upon the life and example of Jesus.
The Apocrypha books are 14 books that were included between the old and new testaments in the original King James Version of the bible and many others. Church leaders agreed that these books were valuable for instruction in life and manners, but did not all agree that they should be considered cannon.
The Childrens Bible provides bible lessons from the Old and New testaments. There are 216 stories written in plain english. The stories are easy to read and understand but they are not just for childern. It is a pleasure to read and enjoy these important stories.
Let us love one another, for love comes from God and every one who loves is a child of God and knows God. He who loves not man does not know God, for God is love. God showed his love for us, for he sent his only Son into the world that through him we might have life. Love the stranger.
In Mark 12:30 Jesus said;
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment.
And the second Mark 12:31 [is] like, [namely] this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
The Gospel of The Birth of Mary was attributed to St. Matthew and was received as genuine and authentic by early Christians. It is to be found in the works of Jerome, a Father of the Church in the 4th century and is translated from his collection.
The Book of Enoch is ascribed to the great-grandfather of Noah and is included in the cannon of some churches. It describes the fall of the angels (watchers), visions of heaven and hell and the birth of Noah. Quotes from the book of Enoch are found in the New Testament.
The First Book of Adam and Eve. Books 1 begins immediately after the expulsion from the Garden of Eden. We learn about the fall but also of the promise to save Adam and his decendents. The story depicts mans struggle against evil, the devil and sin.
The Second Book of Adam and Eve. Discusses Adam's sorrow and death. The history of the patriarchs who lived before the Flood until the birth of Noah; the children of Seth on Mount Hermon and Cain's death. It ends with the testament and translation of Enoch.
The Infancy of Jesus Christ (Infancy Gospel of Thomas) relates the life of Jesus from the ages of five to twelve. It is believed that the document was transcribed from oral traditions some time prior to the second century. The ancient writing is possibly Gnostic and many early church leaders considered it heretical.
Daily Bible study is essential. The Bible Verse of the Day provides a collection of enlightening and inspiration bible verses. Improve your knowledge and understanding of the Bible and your life by studying the words of the holy scripture. Explore the King James Bible (kjv) and discover new insights.
The World English Bible was produced to provide speakers of modern English with a version of the Bible that is easily understood. The Bible is in the public domain and available world-wide. It is an accurate modern translation of the original King James Bible, including the Apocryphal books.
Looking for something in the Bible? Want to find a specifc verse or list of words? The Bible search feature makes it easy find verses or words. Enter the verses or words in the search bar or visit the search page to access additional search options. Finding information in the Bible will never be easier.
The favorite verses page is a list of popular bible verses. Each verse includes a link to the chapter and verse of the book where it is found in the bible. Click on any link for a bible verse and it will take you to that location in the bible.
The bible contains great stories. Visit the bible stories page for links to some of the best known and most significant stories and passages in the bible.