Bible in 90 Days

^13-14 “We promise,” the men said. “We will only tie you up and turn you over to the Philistines. We won't kill you.” Then they tied up his hands and arms with two brand-new ropes and led him away from Etam Rock.

When the Philistines saw that Samson was being brought to their camp at Jawbone, they started shouting and ran toward him. But the Lord's Spirit took control of Samson, and Samson broke the ropes, as though they were pieces of burnt cloth. ¹⁵ Samson glanced around and spotted the jawbone of a donkey. The jawbone had not yet dried out, so it was still hard and heavy. Samson grabbed it and started hitting Philistines—he killed 1,000 of them! ¹⁶ After the fighting was over, he made up this poem about what he had done to the Philistines:

¹⁷ Samson tossed the jawbone on the ground and decided to call the place Jawbone Hill.^[b] It is still called that today.

¹⁸ Samson was so thirsty that he prayed, “Our Lord, you helped me win a battle against a whole army. Please don't let me die of thirst now. Those heathen Philistines will carry off my dead body.”

¹⁹ Samson was tired and weary, but God sent water gushing from a rock.^[c] Samson drank some and felt strong again.

Samson named the place Caller Spring,^[d] because he had called out to God for help. The spring is still there at Jawbone.

²⁰ Samson was a leader^[e] of Israel for 20 years, but the Philistines were still the rulers of Israel.

Samson Carries Off the Gates of Gaza

16 One day while Samson was in Gaza, he saw a prostitute and went to her house to spend the night. ² The people who lived in Gaza found out he was there, and they decided to kill him at sunrise. So they went to the city gate and waited all night in the guardrooms on each side of the gate.^[f]

³ But Samson got up in the middle of the night and went to the town gate. He pulled the gate doors and doorposts out of the wall and put them on his shoulders. Then he carried them all the way to the top of the hill that overlooks Hebron,^[g] where he set the doors down, still closed and locked.

Delilah Tricks Samson

⁴ Some time later, Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in Sorek Valley. ⁵ The Philistine rulers^[h] went to Delilah and said, “Trick Samson into telling you what makes him so strong and what can make him weak. Then we can tie him up so he can't get away. If you find out his secret, we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.”^[i]

⁶ The next time Samson was at Delilah's house, she asked, “Samson, what makes you so strong? How can I tie you up so you can't get away? Come on, you can tell me.”

⁷ Samson answered, “If someone ties me up with seven new bowstrings that have never been dried,^[j] it will make me just as weak as anyone else.”

^8-9 The Philistine rulers gave seven new bowstrings to Delilah. They also told some of their soldiers to go to Delilah's house and hide in the room where Samson and Delilah were. If the bowstrings made Samson weak, they would be able to capture him.

Delilah tied up Samson with the bowstrings and shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are attacking!”

Samson snapped the bowstrings, as though they were pieces of scorched string. The Philistines had not found out why Samson was so strong.

¹⁰ “You lied and made me look like a fool,” Delilah said. “Now tell me. How can I really tie you up?”

¹¹ Samson answered, “Use some new ropes. If I'm tied up with ropes that have never been used, I'll be just as weak as anyone else.”

¹² Delilah got new ropes, and again some Philistines hid in the room. Then she tied up Samson's arms and shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are attacking!”

Samson snapped the ropes as if they were threads.

¹³ “You're still lying and making a fool of me,” Delilah said. “Tell me how I can tie you up!”

“My hair is in seven braids,” Samson replied. “If you weave my braids into the threads on a loom and nail the loom^[k] to a wall, then I will be as weak as anyone else.”

¹⁴ While Samson was asleep, Delilah wove his braids into the threads on a loom and nailed the loom to a wall.^[l] Then she shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are attacking!”

Samson woke up and pulled the loom free from its posts in the ground and from the nails in the wall. Then he pulled his hair free from the woven cloth.

¹⁵ “Samson,” Delilah said, “you claim to love me, but you don't mean it! You've made me look like a fool three times now, and you still haven't told me why you are so strong.” ¹⁶ Delilah started nagging and pestering him day after day, until he couldn't stand it any longer.

¹⁷ Finally, Samson told her the truth. “I have belonged to God^[m] ever since I was born, so my hair has never been cut. If it were ever cut off, my strength would leave me, and I would be as weak as anyone else.”

¹⁸ Delilah realized that he was telling the truth. So she sent someone to tell the Philistine rulers, “Come to my house one more time. Samson has finally told me the truth.”

The Philistine rulers went to Delilah's house, and they brought along the silver they had promised her. ¹⁹ Delilah had lulled Samson to sleep with his head resting in her lap. She signaled to one of the Philistine men as she began cutting off Samson's seven braids. And by the time she was finished, Samson's strength was gone. Delilah tied him up ²⁰ and shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are attacking!”

Samson woke up and thought, “I'll break loose and escape, just as I always do.” He did not realize that the Lord had stopped helping him.

²¹ The Philistines grabbed Samson and poked out his eyes. They took him to the prison in Gaza and chained him up. Then they put him to work, turning a millstone to grind grain. ²² But they didn't cut his hair any more, so it started growing back.

²³ The Philistine rulers threw a big party and sacrificed a lot of animals to their god Dagon. The rulers said:

^24-25 Everyone there was having a good time, and they shouted, “Bring out Samson—he's still good for a few more laughs!”

The rulers had Samson brought from the prison, and when the people saw him, this is how they praised their god:

They made fun of Samson for a while, then they told him to stand near the columns that supported the roof. ²⁶ A young man was leading Samson by the hand, and Samson said to him, “I need to lean against something. Take me over to the columns that hold up the roof.”

²⁷ The Philistine rulers were celebrating in a temple packed with people and with 3,000^[n] more on the flat roof. They had all been watching Samson and making fun of him.^[o]

²⁸ Samson prayed, “Please remember me, Lord God. The Philistines poked out my eyes, but make me strong one last time, so I can take revenge for at least one of my eyes!”^[p]

²⁹ Samson was standing between the two middle columns that held up the roof. He felt around and found one column with his right hand, and the other with his left hand. ³⁰ Then he shouted, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He pushed against the columns as hard as he could, and the temple collapsed with the Philistine rulers and everyone else still inside. Samson killed more Philistines when he died than he had killed during his entire life.

³¹ His brothers and the rest of his family went to Gaza and took his body back home. They buried him in his father's tomb,^[q] which was located between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Samson was a leader^[r] of Israel for 20 years.

Micah Makes Idols and Hires a Priest

17 Micah^[s] belonged to the Ephraim tribe and lived in the hill country. ² One day he told his mother, “Do you remember those 1,100 pieces of silver^[t] that were stolen from you? I was there when you put a curse on whoever stole them. Well, I'm the one who did it.”

His mother answered, “I pray that the Lord will bless^[u] you, my son.”

^3-4 Micah returned the silver to his mother, and she said, “I give this silver to the Lord, so my son can use it to make an idol.” Turning to her son, she said, “Micah, now the silver belongs to you.”

But Micah handed it back to his mother. She took 200 pieces^[v] of the silver and gave them to a silver worker, who made them into an idol.^[w] They kept the idol in Micah's house. ⁵ He had a shrine for worshiping God there at his home, and he had made some idols and a sacred priestly vest. Micah chose one of his own sons to be the priest for his shrine.

^6 (A) This was before kings ruled Israel, so all the Israelites did whatever they thought was right.

^7-8 One day a young Levite came to Micah's house in the hill country of Ephraim. He had been staying with one of the clans of Judah in Bethlehem, but he had left Bethlehem to find a new place to live^[x] where he could be a priest.^[y]

⁹ “Where are you from?” Micah asked.

“I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” the man answered, “and I'm on my way to find a new place to live.”

¹⁰ Micah said, “Why don't you stay here with me? You can be my priest and tell me what God wants me to do. Every year I'll give you ten pieces of silver and one complete set of clothes, and I'll provide all your food.”

The young man went for a walk, ^11-12 then he agreed to stay with Micah and be his priest. He lived in Micah's house, and Micah treated him like one of his own sons. ¹³ Micah said, “I have a Levite as my own priest. Now I know that the Lord will be kind to me.”

18 These things happened before kings ruled Israel.

The Tribe of Dan Takes Micah's Priest and Idols

About this time, the tribe of Dan was looking for a place to live. The other tribes had land, but the people of Dan did not really have any to call their own. ² The tribe chose five warriors to represent their clans and told them, “Go and find some land where we can live.”

The warriors left the area of Zorah and Eshtaol and went into the hill country of Ephraim. One night they stayed at Micah's house, ³ because they heard the young Levite talking, and they knew from his accent that he was from the south. They asked him, “What are you doing here? Who brought you here?”

⁴ The Levite replied, “Micah hired me as his priest.” Then he told them how well Micah had treated him.

⁵ “Please talk to God for us,” the men said. “Ask God if we will be successful in what we are trying to do.”

⁶ “Don't worry,” answered the priest. “The Lord is pleased with what you are doing.”

⁷ The five men left and went to the town of Laish, whose people were from Sidon,^[z] but Sidon was too far away to protect them. Even though their town had no walls, the people thought they were safe from attack. So they had not asked anyone else^[aa] for protection, which meant that the tribe of Dan could easily take over Laish.^[ab]

⁸ The five men went back to Zorah and Eshtaol, where their relatives asked, “Did you find any land?”

^9-10 “Let's go!” the five men said. “We saw some very good land with enough room for all of us, and it has everything we will ever need. What are you waiting for? Let's attack and take it. You'll find that the people think they're safe, but God is giving the land to us.”

¹¹ Six hundred men from the tribe of Dan strapped on their weapons and left Zorah and Eshtaol with their families.^{[ac] 12} One night they camped near Kiriath-Jearim in the territory of Judah, and that's why the place just west of Kiriath-Jearim is still known as Dan's Camp.^{[ad] 13} Then they went into the hill country of Ephraim.

When they came close to Micah's house, ¹⁴ the five men who had been spies asked the other warriors, “Did you know that someone in this village has several idols and a sacred priestly vest? What do you think we should do about it?”

^15-18 The 600 warriors left the road and went to the house on Micah's property where the young Levite priest lived. They stood at the gate and greeted the priest. Meanwhile, the five men who had been there before went into Micah's house and took the sacred priestly vest and the idols.

“Hey!” the priest shouted. “What do you think you're doing?”

¹⁹ “Quiet!” the men said. “Keep your mouth shut and listen. Why don't you come with us and be our priest, so you can tell us what God wants us to do? You could stay here and be a priest for one man's family, but wouldn't you rather be the priest for a clan or even a whole tribe of Israel?”

²⁰ The priest really liked that idea. So he took the vest and the idols and joined the others ²¹ from the tribe of Dan. Then they turned and left, after putting their children, their cattle, and the rest of their other possessions in front.

²² They had traveled for some time before Micah asked his neighbors to help him get his things back. He and his men caught up with the people of Dan ²³ and shouted for them to stop.

They turned to face him and asked, “What's wrong? Why did you bring all these men?”

²⁴ Micah answered, “You know what's wrong. You stole the gods^[ae] I made, and you took my priest. I don't have anything left.”

²⁵ “We don't want to hear any more about it,” the people of Dan said. “And if you make us angry, you'll only get yourself and your family killed.” ²⁶ After saying this, they turned and left.

Micah realized there was no way he could win a fight with them, and so he went back home.

The Tribe of Dan Captures Laish

^27-28 The tribe of Dan took Micah's priest and the things Micah had made, and headed for Laish, which was located in a valley controlled by the town of Beth-Rehob. Laish was defenseless, because it had no walls and was too far from Sidon for the Sidonians to help defend it. The leaders of Laish had not even asked nearby towns to help them in case of an attack.

The warriors from Dan made a surprise attack on Laish, killing everyone and burning it down. Then they rebuilt the town and settled there themselves. ²⁹ But they named it Dan, after one of Israel's^[af] sons, who was the ancestor of their tribe.

^30-31 Even though the place of worship^[ag] was in Shiloh, the people of Dan set up the idol Micah had made. They worshiped the idol, and the Levite was their priest. His name was Jonathan, and he was a descendant of Gershom the son of Moses.^[ah] His descendants served as priests for the tribe of Dan, until the people of Israel were taken away as prisoners by their enemies.

A Woman Is Murdered

19 Before kings ruled Israel, a Levite^[ai] was living deep in the hill country of the Ephraim tribe. He married^[aj] a woman from Bethlehem in Judah, ² but she was unfaithful and went back to live with her family in Bethlehem.

Four months later ³ her husband decided to try and talk her into coming back. So he went to Bethlehem, taking along a servant and two donkeys. He talked with his wife, and she invited him into her family's home. Her father was glad to see him ⁴ and did not want him to leave. So the man stayed three days, eating and drinking with his father-in-law.

⁵ When everyone got up on the fourth day, the Levite started getting ready to go home. But his father-in-law said, “Don't leave until you have a bite to eat. You'll need strength for your journey.”

⁶ The two men sat down together and ate a big meal. “Come on,” the man's father-in-law said. “Stay tonight and have a good time.”

⁷ The Levite tried to leave, but his father-in-law insisted, and he spent one more night there. ⁸ The fifth day, the man got up early to leave, but his wife's father said, “You need to keep up your strength! Why don't you leave right after lunch?” So the two of them started eating.

⁹ Finally, the Levite got up from the meal, so he and his wife and servant could leave. “Look,” his father-in-law said, “it's already late afternoon, and if you leave now, you won't get very far before dark. Stay with us one more night and enjoy yourself. Then you can get up early tomorrow morning and start home.”

¹⁰ But the Levite decided not to spend the night there again. He had the saddles put on his two donkeys, then he and his wife and servant traveled as far as Jebus, which is now called Jerusalem. ¹¹ It was beginning to get dark, and the man's servant said, “Let's stop and spend the night in this town where the Jebusites live.”

¹² “No,” the Levite answered. “They aren't Israelites, and I refuse to spend the night there. We'll stop for the night at Gibeah, ¹³ or maybe we can even reach Ramah^[ak] before dark.”

¹⁴ They walked on and reached Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin just after sunset. ¹⁵ They left the road and went into Gibeah. But the Levite couldn't find a house where anyone would let them spend the night, and they sat down in the open area just inside the town gates.

¹⁶ Soon an old man came in through the gates on his way home from working in the fields. Most of the people who lived in Gibeah belonged to the tribe of Benjamin, but this man was originally from the hill country of Ephraim. ¹⁷ He noticed that the Levite was just in town to spend the night. “Where are you going?” the old man asked. “Where did you come from?”

¹⁸ “We've come from Bethlehem in Judah,” the Levite answered. “We went there on a visit. Now we're going to the place where the Lord is worshiped, and later we will return to our home in the hill country of Ephraim. But no one here will let us spend the night^[al] in their home. ¹⁹ We brought food for our donkeys and bread and wine for ourselves, so we don't need anything except a place to sleep.”

²⁰ The old man said, “You are welcome to spend the night in my home and to be my guest, but don't stay out here!”

²¹ The old man brought them into his house and fed their donkeys. Then he and his guests washed their feet^[am] and began eating and drinking. ^22 (B) They were having a good time, when some worthless men of that town surrounded the house and started banging on the door and shouting, “A man came to your house tonight. Send him out, so we can have sex with him!”

²³ The old man went outside and said, “My friends, please don't commit such a horrible crime against a man who is a guest in my house. ²⁴ Let me send out my daughter instead. She's a virgin. And I'll even send out the man's wife.^[an] You can rape them or do whatever else you want, but please don't do such a horrible thing to this man.”

²⁵ The men refused to listen, so the Levite grabbed his wife and shoved her outside. The men raped her and abused her all night long. Finally, they let her go just before sunrise, ²⁶ and it was almost daybreak when she went back to the house where her husband^[ao] was staying. She collapsed at the door and lay there until sunrise.

²⁷ About that time, her husband woke up and got ready to leave. He opened the door and went outside, where he found his wife lying at the door with her hands on the doorstep. ²⁸ “Get up!” he said. “It's time to leave.”

But his wife didn't move.^[ap]

He lifted her body onto his donkey and left. ^29 (C) When he got home, he took a butcher knife and cut her body into twelve pieces. Then he told some messengers, “Take one piece to each tribe of Israel ³⁰ and ask everyone if anything like this has ever happened since Israel left Egypt. Tell them to think about it, talk it over, and tell us what should be done.”

Everyone who saw a piece of the body said, “This is horrible! Nothing like this has ever happened since the day Israel left Egypt.”^[aq]

Israel Gets Ready for War

20 ^1-3 The Israelites called a meeting of the nation. And since they were God's people, the meeting was held at the place of worship in Mizpah. Men who could serve as soldiers came from everywhere in Israel—from Dan in the north, Beersheba in the south, and Gilead east of the Jordan River. Four hundred thousand of them came to Mizpah, and they each felt the same about what those men from the tribe of Benjamin had done.

News about the meeting at Mizpah reached the tribe of Benjamin.

As soon as the leaders of the tribes of Israel took their places, the Israelites said, “How could such a horrible thing happen?”

⁴ The husband of the murdered woman answered:

My wife^[ar] and I went into the town of Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night. ⁵ Later that night, the men of Gibeah surrounded the house. They wanted to kill me, but instead they raped and killed my wife. ⁶ It was a terrible thing for Israelites to do! So I cut up her body and sent the pieces everywhere in Israel.

⁷ You are the people of Israel, and you must decide today what to do about the men of Gibeah.

⁸ The whole army was in agreement, and they said, “None of us will go home. ^9-10 We'll send one tenth of the men from each tribe to get food for the army. And we'll ask God^[as] who should attack Gibeah, because those men^[at] deserve to be punished for committing such a horrible crime in Israel.”

¹¹ Everyone agreed that Gibeah had to be punished.

¹² The tribes of Israel sent messengers to every town and village in Benjamin. And wherever the messengers went, they said, “How could those worthless men in Gibeah do such a disgusting thing? ¹³ We can't allow such a terrible crime to go unpunished in Israel! Hand the men over to us, and we will put them to death.”

But the people of Benjamin refused to listen to the other Israelites. ¹⁴ Men from towns all over Benjamin's territory went to Gibeah and got ready to fight Israel. ¹⁵ The Benjamin tribe had 26,000 soldiers, not counting the 700 who were Gibeah's best warriors. ¹⁶ In this army there were 700 left-handed experts who could sling a rock^[au] at a target the size of a hair and hit it every time.

¹⁷ The other Israelite tribes organized their army and found they had 400,000 experienced soldiers. ¹⁸ So they went to the place of worship at Bethel^[av] and asked God, “Which tribe should be the first to attack the people of Benjamin?”

“Judah,” the Lord answered.

¹⁹ The next morning the Israelite army moved its camp to a place near Gibeah. ²⁰ Then they left their camp and got into position to attack the army of Benjamin.

The War Between Israel and Benjamin

²¹ Benjamin's soldiers came out of Gibeah and attacked, and when the day was over, 22,000 Israelite soldiers lay dead on the ground.

^22-24 The people of Israel went to the place of worship and cried until sunset. Then they asked the Lord, “Should we attack the people of Benjamin again, even though they are our relatives?”

“Yes,” the Lord replied, “attack them again!”

The Israelite soldiers encouraged each other to be brave and to fight hard. Then the next day they went back to Gibeah and took up the same positions as they had before.

²⁵ That same day, Benjamin's soldiers came out of Gibeah and attacked, leaving another 18,000 Israelite soldiers dead on the battlefield.

^26-28 The people of Israel went to the place of worship at Bethel,^[aw] where the sacred chest was being kept. They sat on the ground, crying and not eating for the rest of the day. Then about sunset, they offered sacrifices to please the Lord and to ask his blessing.^[ax] Phinehas^[ay] the priest then prayed, “Our Lord, the people of Benjamin are our relatives. Should we stop fighting or attack them again?”

“Attack!” the Lord answered. “Tomorrow I will let you defeat them.”

²⁹ The Israelites surrounded Gibeah, but stayed where they could not be seen. ³⁰ Then the next day, they took the same positions as twice before, ^31-41 but this time they had a different plan. They said, “When the men of Benjamin attack, we will run off and let them chase us away from the town and into the country roads.”

The soldiers of Benjamin attacked the Israelite army and started pushing it back from the town. They killed about 30 Israelites in the fields and along the road between Gibeah and Bethel. The men of Benjamin were thinking, “We're mowing them down like we did before.”

The Israelites were running away, but they headed for Baal-Tamar, where they regrouped. They had set an ambush, and they were sure it would work. Ten thousand of Israel's best soldiers had been hiding west of Gibeah,^[az] and as soon as the men of Benjamin chased the Israelites into the countryside, these 10,000 soldiers made a surprise attack on the town gates. They dashed in and captured Gibeah, killing everyone there. Then they set the town on fire, because the smoke would be the signal for the other Israelite soldiers to turn and attack the soldiers of Benjamin.

The fighting had been so heavy around the soldiers of Benjamin, that they did not know the trouble they were in. But then they looked back and saw clouds of smoke rising from the town. They looked in front and saw the soldiers of Israel turning to attack. This terrified them, because they realized that something horrible was happening. And it was horrible—over 25,000^[ba] soldiers of Benjamin died that day, and those who were left alive knew that the Lord had given Israel the victory.

⁴² The men of Benjamin headed down the road toward the desert, trying to escape from the Israelites. But the Israelites stayed right behind them, keeping up their attack. Men even came out of the nearby towns to help kill the men of Benjamin, ⁴³ who were having to fight on all sides. The Israelite soldiers never let up their attack.^[bb] They chased and killed the warriors of Benjamin as far as a place directly east of Gibeah,^{[bc] 44} until 18,000 of these warriors lay dead.

⁴⁵ Some other warriors of Benjamin turned and ran down the road toward Rimmon Rock in the desert. The Israelites killed 5,000 of them on the road, then chased the rest until they had killed^[bd] 2,000 more. ⁴⁶ Twenty-five thousand soldiers of Benjamin died that day, all of them experienced warriors. ⁴⁷ Only 600 of them finally made it into the desert to Rimmon Rock, where they stayed for four months.

⁴⁸ The Israelites turned back and went to every town in Benjamin's territory, killing all the people and animals, and setting the towns on fire.

Wives for the Men of Benjamin

21 When the Israelites had met at Mizpah before the war with Benjamin,^[be] they had made this sacred promise: “None of us will ever let our daughters marry any man from Benjamin.”

² After the war with Benjamin, the Israelites went to the place of worship at Bethel and sat there until sunset. They cried loudly and bitterly ³ and prayed, “Our Lord, you are the God of Israel. Why did you let this happen? Now one of our tribes is almost gone.”

⁴ Early the next morning, the Israelites built an altar and offered sacrifices to please the Lord and to ask his blessing.^{[bf] 5} Then they asked each other, “Did any of the tribes of Israel fail to come to the place of worship? We made a sacred promise that anyone who didn't come to the meeting at Mizpah would be put to death.”

⁶ The Israelites were sad about what had happened to the Benjamin tribe, and they said, “One of our tribes was almost wiped out. ⁷ Only a few men of Benjamin weren't killed in the war. We need to get wives for them, so the tribe won't completely disappear. But how can we do that, after promising in the Lord's name that we wouldn't let them marry any of our daughters?”

^8-9 Again the Israelites asked, “Did any of the tribes stay away from the meeting at Mizpah?”

After asking around, they discovered that no one had come from Jabesh in Gilead. ^10-11 So they sent 12,000 warriors with these orders: “Attack Jabesh in Gilead and kill everyone, except the women who have never been married.”

¹² The warriors attacked Jabesh in Gilead, and returned to their camp at Shiloh in Canaan^[bg] with 400 young women.

¹³ The Israelites met and sent messengers to the men of Benjamin at Rimmon Rock, telling them that the Israelites were willing to make peace with them. ¹⁴ So the men of Benjamin came back from Rimmon Rock, and the Israelites let them marry the young women from Jabesh. But there weren't enough women.

¹⁵ The Israelites were very sad, because the Lord had almost wiped out one of their tribes. ¹⁶ Then their leaders said:

All the women of the Benjamin tribe were killed. How can we get wives for the men of Benjamin who are left? ¹⁷ If they don't have children, one of the Israelite tribes will die out. ¹⁸ But we can't let the men of Benjamin marry any of our daughters. We made a sacred promise not to do that, and if we break our promise, we will be under our own curse.

¹⁹ Then someone suggested, “What about the Lord's Festival that takes place each year in Shiloh? It's held north of Bethel, south of Lebonah, and just east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem.”

²⁰ The leaders told the men of Benjamin who still did not have wives:

Go to Shiloh and hide in the vineyards near the festival. ²¹ Wait there for the young women of Shiloh to come out and perform their dances. Then rush out and grab one of the young women, then take her home as your wife. ²² If the fathers or brothers of these women complain about this, we'll say, “Be kind enough to let those men keep your daughter. After all, we couldn't get enough wives for all the men of Benjamin in the battle at Jabesh. And because you didn't give them permission to marry your daughters, you won't be under the curse we earlier agreed on.”^[bh]

²³ The men of Benjamin went to Shiloh and hid in the vineyards. The young women soon started dancing, and each man grabbed one of them and carried her off. Then the men of Benjamin went back to their own land and rebuilt their towns and started living in them again.

²⁴ Afterwards, the rest of the Israelites returned to their homes and families.

Israel Was Not Ruled by a King

^25 (D) In those days Israel wasn't ruled by a king, and everyone did what they thought was right.

Ruth Is Loyal to Naomi

1 ^1-2 Before Israel was ruled by kings, Elimelech from the clan of Ephrath lived in the town of Bethlehem. His wife was named Naomi, and their two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. But when their crops failed in Israel, they moved to the country of Moab.^[bi] And while they were there, ³ Elimelech died, leaving Naomi with only her two sons.

⁴ Later, Naomi's sons married Moabite women. One was named Orpah and the other Ruth. About ten years later, ⁵ Mahlon and Chilion also died. Now Naomi had no husband or sons.

^6-7 When Naomi heard that the Lord had given his people a good harvest, she and her two daughters-in-law got ready to leave Moab and go to Judah. As they were on their way there, ⁸ Naomi said to them, “Don't you want to go back home to your own mothers? You were kind to my husband and sons, and you've always been kind to me. I pray that the Lord will be just as kind to you. ⁹ May he give each of you another husband and a home of your own.”

Naomi kissed them. They cried ¹⁰ and said, “We want to go with you and live among your people.”

¹¹ But she replied, “My daughters, why don't you return home? What good will it do you to go with me? Do you think I could have more sons for you to marry?^{[bj] 12} You must go back home, because I am too old to marry again. Even if I got married tonight and later had more sons, ¹³ would you wait for them to become old enough to marry? No, my daughters! Life is harder for me than it is for you, because the Lord has turned against me.”^[bk]

¹⁴ They cried again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth held on to her. ¹⁵ Naomi then said to Ruth, “Look, your sister-in-law is going back to her people and to her gods! Why don't you go with her?”

¹⁶ Ruth answered,

¹⁸ When Naomi saw that Ruth had made up her mind to go with her, she stopped urging her to go back.

¹⁹ They reached Bethlehem, and the whole town was excited to see them. The women who lived there asked, “Can this really be Naomi?”

²⁰ Then she told them, “Don't call me Naomi any longer! Call me Mara,^[bm] because God has made my life bitter. ²¹ I had everything when I left, but the Lord has brought me back with nothing. How can you still call me Naomi, when God has turned against me and made my life so hard?”

²² The barley harvest was just beginning when Naomi and Ruth, her Moabite daughter-in-law, arrived in Bethlehem.

Ruth Meets Boaz

2 ^1-3 (E) One day, Ruth said to Naomi, “Let me see if I can find someone who will let me pick up the grain left in the fields by the harvest workers.”^[bn]

Naomi answered, “Go ahead, my daughter.” So immediately Ruth went out to pick up grain in a field. She didn't know it was owned by Boaz, a relative of Naomi's husband Elimelech, as well as a rich and important man.

⁴ When Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and went out to his field, he said to the harvest workers, “The Lord bless you!”

They replied, “And may the Lord bless you!”

⁵ Then Boaz asked the man in charge of the harvest workers, “Who is that young woman?”

⁶ The man answered, “She is the one who came back from Moab with Naomi. ⁷ She asked if she could pick up grain left by the harvest workers, and she has been working all morning without a moment's rest.”^[bo]

⁸ Boaz went over to Ruth and said, “I think it would be best for you not to pick up grain in anyone else's field. Stay here with the women ⁹ and follow along behind them, as they gather up what the men have cut. I have warned the men not to bother you, and whenever you are thirsty, you can drink from their water jars.”

¹⁰ Ruth bowed down to the ground and said, “You know I come from another country. Why are you so good to me?”

¹¹ Boaz answered, “I've heard how you've helped your mother-in-law ever since your husband died. You even left your own father and mother to come and live in a foreign land among people you don't know. ¹² I pray that the Lord God of Israel will reward you for what you have done. And now that you have come to him for protection, I pray that he will bless you.”

¹³ Ruth replied, “Sir, it's good of you to speak kindly to me and make me feel so welcome. I'm not even one of your servants.”

¹⁴ At mealtime Boaz said to Ruth, “Come, eat with us. Have some bread and dip it in the sauce.” At once she sat down with the workers, and Boaz handed her some roasted grain. Ruth ate all she wanted and had some left over.

¹⁵ When Ruth left to start picking up grain, Boaz told his men, “Don't stop her, even if she picks up grain from where it is stacked. ¹⁶ Be sure to pull out some stalks of grain from the bundles and leave them on the ground for her. And don't speak harshly to her!”

¹⁷ Ruth worked in the field until evening. Then after she had pounded the grain off the stalks, she had a large basket full of grain. ¹⁸ She took the grain to town and showed Naomi how much she had picked up. Ruth also gave her the food left over from her lunch.

¹⁹ Naomi said, “Where did you work today? Whose field was it? God bless the man who treated you so well!” Then Ruth told her that she had worked in the field of a man named Boaz.

^20 (F) “The Lord bless Boaz!” Naomi replied. “He^[bp] has shown that he is still loyal to the living and to the dead. Boaz is a close relative, one of those who is supposed to look after us.”

²¹ Ruth told her, “Boaz even said I could stay in the field with his workers until they had finished harvesting all his grain.”

²² Naomi replied, “My daughter, it's good that you can pick up grain alongside the women who work in his field. Who knows what might happen to you in someone else's field!” ²³ And so, Ruth stayed close to the women, while picking up grain in his field.

Ruth worked in the fields until the barley and wheat were harvested. And all this time she lived with Naomi.

Naomi Makes Plans for Ruth

3 One day, Naomi said to Ruth:

It's time I found you a husband, who will give you a home and take care of you.

² You have been picking up grain alongside the women who work for Boaz, and you know he is a relative of ours. Tonight he will be threshing the grain. ³ Now take a bath and put on some perfume, then dress in your best clothes. Go where he is working, but don't let him see you until he has finished eating and drinking. ⁴ Watch where he goes to spend the night, then when he is asleep, lift the cover and lie down at his feet.^[bq] He will tell you what to do.

⁵ Ruth answered, “I'll do whatever you say.” ⁶ She went out to the place where Boaz was working and did what Naomi had told her.

⁷ After Boaz finished eating and drinking and was feeling happy, he went over and fell asleep near the pile of grain. Ruth slipped over quietly. She lifted the cover and lay down near his feet.

⁸ In the middle of the night, Boaz suddenly woke up and was shocked to see a woman lying at his feet. ⁹ “Who are you?” he asked.

“Sir, I am Ruth,” she answered, “and you are the relative who is supposed to take care of me. So spread the edge of your cover over me.”^[br]

¹⁰ Boaz replied:

The Lord bless you! This shows how truly loyal you are to your family. You could have looked for a younger man, either rich or poor, but you didn't. ¹¹ Don't worry, I'll do what you have asked. You are respected by everyone in town.

^12 (G) It's true that I am one of the relatives who is supposed to take care of you, but there is someone who is an even closer relative. ¹³ Stay here until morning, then I will find out if he is willing to look after you. If he isn't, I promise by the living God to do it myself. Now go back to sleep until morning.

¹⁴ Ruth lay down again, but she got up before daylight, because Boaz did not want anyone to know she had been there. ¹⁵ Then he told her to spread out her cape. And he filled it with grain and placed it on her shoulder.

When Ruth got back to town, ¹⁶ Naomi asked her^[bs] what had happened, and Ruth told her everything. ¹⁷ She also said, “Boaz gave me this grain, because he didn't want me to come back without something for you.”

¹⁸ Naomi replied, “Just be patient and don't worry about what will happen. He won't rest until everything is settled today!”

Ruth and Boaz Get Married

4 In the meanwhile, Boaz had gone to the meeting place at the town gate and was sitting there when the other close relative came by. So Boaz invited him to come over and sit down, and he did. ² Then Boaz got ten of the town leaders and also asked them to sit down. After they had sat down, ³ he said to the man:

Naomi has come back from Moab and is selling the land that belonged to her husband Elimelech. ⁴ I'm telling you about this, since you are his closest relative and have the right to buy the property. If you want it, you can buy it now. These ten men and the others standing here can be witnesses. But if you don't want the property, let me know, because I am next in line.

The man replied, “I'll buy it!”

⁵ “If you do buy it from Naomi,” Boaz told him, “you must also marry Ruth. Then if you have a son by her, the property will stay in the family of Ruth's first husband.”

⁶ The man answered, “If that's the case, I don't want to buy it! That would make problems with the property I already own.^[bt] You may buy it yourself, because I cannot.”

^7 (H) To make a sale legal in those days, one person would take off a sandal and give it to the other. ⁸ So after the man had agreed to let Boaz buy the property, he took off one of his sandals and handed it to Boaz.

⁹ Boaz told the town leaders and everyone else:

All of you are witnesses that today I have bought from Naomi the property that belonged to Elimelech and his two sons, Chilion and Mahlon. ^10 (I) You are also witnesses that I have agreed to marry Mahlon's widow Ruth, the Moabite woman. This will keep the property in his family's name, and he will be remembered in this town.

^11 (J) The town leaders and the others standing there said:

We are witnesses to this. And we pray that the Lord will give your wife many children, just as he did Leah and Rachel, the wives of Jacob. May you be a rich man in the tribe of Ephrath and an important man in Bethlehem. ^12 (K) May the children you have by this young woman make your family as famous as the family of Perez,^[bu] the son of Tamar and Judah.

¹³ Boaz married Ruth, and the Lord blessed her with a son. ¹⁴ After his birth, the women said to Naomi:

Praise the Lord! Today he has given you a grandson to take care of you. We pray that the boy will grow up to be famous everywhere in Israel. ¹⁵ He will^[bv] make you happy and take care of you in your old age, because he is the son of your daughter-in-law. And she loves you more than seven sons of your own would love you.

¹⁶ Naomi loved the boy and took good care of him. ¹⁷ The neighborhood women named him Obed, but they called him “Naomi's Boy.”

When Obed grew up he had a son named Jesse, who later became the father of King David. ^18-22 Here is a list of the ancestors of David: Jesse, Obed, Boaz, Salmon, Nahshon, Amminadab, Ram, Hezron, and Perez.

Hannah Asks the Lord for a Child

1 Elkanah lived in Ramah,^[bw] a town in the hill country of Ephraim. His great-great-grandfather was Zuph, so Elkanah was a member of the Zuph clan of the Ephraim tribe. Elkanah's father was Jeroham, his grandfather was Elihu, and his great-grandfather was Tohu.

² Elkanah had two wives,^[bx] Hannah and Peninnah. Although Peninnah had children, Hannah did not have any.

³ Once a year Elkanah traveled from his hometown to Shiloh, where he worshiped the Lord All-Powerful and offered sacrifices. Eli was the Lord's priest there, and his two sons Hophni and Phinehas served with him as priests.^[by]

⁴ Whenever Elkanah offered a sacrifice, he gave some of the meat^[bz] to Peninnah and some to each of her sons and daughters. ⁵ But he gave Hannah even more, because^[ca] he loved Hannah very much, even though the Lord had kept her from having children of her own.

⁶ Peninnah liked to make Hannah feel miserable about not having any children, ⁷ especially when the family went to the house of the Lord^[cb] each year.

One day, Elkanah was there offering a sacrifice, when Hannah began crying and refused to eat. ⁸ So Elkanah asked, “Hannah, why are you crying? Why won't you eat? Why do you feel so bad? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?”

⁹ When the sacrifice had been offered, and they had eaten the meal, Hannah got up and went to pray. Eli was sitting in his chair near the door to the place of worship. ¹⁰ Hannah was heartbroken and was crying as she prayed, ^11 (L) “Lord All-Powerful, I am your servant, but I am so miserable! Please let me have a son. I promise to give him to you for as long as he lives, and his hair will never be cut.”^[cc]

^12-13 Hannah prayed silently to the Lord for a long time. But her lips were moving, and Eli thought she was drunk. ¹⁴ “How long are you going to stay drunk?” he asked. “Sober up!”

^15-16 “Sir, please don't think I'm no good!” Hannah answered. “I'm not drunk, and I haven't been drinking. But I do feel miserable and terribly upset. I've been praying all this time, telling the Lord about my problems.”

¹⁷ Eli replied, “Go home. Everything will be fine. The God of Israel will answer your prayer.”

¹⁸ “Sir, thank you for being so kind to me,” Hannah said. Then she left, and after eating something, she felt much better.

Samuel Is Born

¹⁹ Elkanah and his family got up early the next morning and worshiped the Lord. Then they went back home to Ramah. Later the Lord blessed Elkanah and Hannah ²⁰ with a son. She named him Samuel because she had asked the Lord for him.^[cd]

Hannah Gives Samuel to the Lord

²¹ The next time Elkanah and his family went to offer their yearly sacrifice, he took along a gift that he had promised to give to the Lord. ²² But Hannah stayed home, because she had told Elkanah, “Samuel and I won't go until he's old enough for me to stop nursing him. Then I'll give him to the Lord, and he can stay there at Shiloh for the rest of his life.”

²³ “You know what's best,” Elkanah said. “Stay here until it's time to stop nursing him. I'm sure the Lord will help you do what you have promised.”^[ce] Hannah did not go to Shiloh until she stopped nursing Samuel.

^24-25 When it was the time of year to go to Shiloh again, Hannah and Elkanah^[cf] took Samuel to the Lord's house. They brought along a three-year-old bull,^[cg] a sack containing about nine kilograms of flour, and a clay jar full of wine. Hannah and Elkanah offered the bull as a sacrifice, then brought the little boy to Eli.

²⁶ “Sir,” Hannah said, “a few years ago I stood here beside you and asked the Lord ²⁷ to give me a child. Here he is! The Lord gave me just what I asked for. ²⁸ Now I am giving him to the Lord, and he will be the Lord's servant for as long as he lives.”

Hannah Prays

Elkanah^[ch] worshiped the Lord there at Shiloh, and 2 ^1 (M) Hannah prayed:

Samuel Stays with Eli

¹¹ Elkanah and Hannah went back home to Ramah, but the boy Samuel stayed to help Eli serve the Lord.

Eli's Sons

^12-13 Eli's sons were priests, but they were dishonest and refused to obey the Lord. So, while people were boiling the meat from their sacrifices, these priests would send over a servant with a large, three-pronged fork. ¹⁴ The servant would stick the fork into the cooking pot, and whatever meat came out on the fork was taken back to Eli's two sons. That was how they treated every Israelite who came to offer sacrifices in Shiloh. ¹⁵ Sometimes, when people were offering sacrifices, the servant would come over, even before the fat had been cut off and sacrificed to the Lord.^[ck]

Then the servant would tell them, “The priest doesn't want his meat boiled! Give him some raw meat that he can roast!”

¹⁶ Usually the people answered, “Take what you want. But first, let us sacrifice the fat to the Lord.”

“No,” the servant would reply. “If you don't give it to me now, I'll take it by force.”

¹⁷ Eli's sons did not show any respect for the sacrifices that the people offered. This was a terrible sin, and it made the Lord very angry.

Hannah Visits Samuel

¹⁸ The boy Samuel served the Lord and wore a special linen garment^{[cl] 19} and the clothes^[cm] his mother made for him. She brought new clothes every year, when she and her husband came to offer sacrifices at Shiloh.

²⁰ Eli always blessed Elkanah and his wife and said, “Samuel was born in answer to your prayers. Now you have given him to the Lord. I pray that the Lord will bless you with more children to take his place.” After Eli had blessed them, Elkanah and Hannah would return home.

²¹ The Lord was kind to Hannah, and she had three more sons and two daughters. But Samuel grew up at the Lord's house in Shiloh.

Eli Warns His Sons

²² Eli was now very old, and he heard what his sons were doing to the people of Israel.^{[cn] 23-24} “Why are you doing these awful things?” he asked them. “I've been hearing nothing but complaints about you from all of the Lord's people. ²⁵ If you harm another person, God can help make things right between the two of you. But if you commit a crime against the Lord, no one can help you!”

But the Lord had already decided to kill them. So he kept them from listening to their father.

A Prophet Speaks to Eli

^26 (O) Each day, as Samuel grew older, the Lord was pleased with him, and so were the people.

²⁷ One day a prophet came to Eli and gave him this message from the Lord:

When your ancestors were slaves of the king of Egypt, I came and showed them who I am. ^28-29 (P) Out of all the tribes of Israel, I chose your family to be my priests. I wanted them to offer sacrifices and burn incense to me and to find out from me what I want my people to do. I commanded everyone to bring their sacrifices here where I live, and I allowed you and your family to keep those that were not offered to me on the altar.

But you honor your sons instead of me! You don't respect^[co] the sacrifices and offerings that are brought to me, and you've all grown fat from eating the best parts.