jephBLih, and went oat with him.

4 Aed it came to pass in process of t'aai, that tbe children of Ammon iisie waj against Israel.

5 Ami it was so, that wheu the chiliita of Ammon made war against luad, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Je^usih out of the land of Tob i

6 And they said unto Jephthah, Come, lad be our captain, that we may fight «ki the children of Ammon.

; And Jephthah said unto the children ot Gilead, Did not ye hate me, and expel me out of my father's house? and »ay ire ye come unto me now ~when re ire in distress?

8 And the elders of Gilead said unto Jcfi'athih, Therefore we turn again to tiae now, that thou mayest go with us, ind fight against the children of Amman, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.

9 And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to %tt against the children of Ammon, ind the Lord deliver them before me, tall I be your head?

to And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, The Lo R D be witness between ns.ifwedonotsoaccordingtothy words.

Ii Then Jephthah went with the elder* of Gilead, and the people made him head and captain over them? and Jephthah uttered all his words before the Lord in Mr/.peh.

ix And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ainmon, faying, What hast thou to do with me, flat thou art come against me to fight in my land t

13 And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away ray land, when they came up out os Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably.

14 And jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon:

15 And said unto him, Thus faith Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children os Ammon:

lfi But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadefh;

17 Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom,fay ing,Let me,I pray thee, pass through thy land: but the kiE»of EJom would not hearken thereto. And in like manner they sent unto

the king oi"Moab: but he would not consent: anft Isi.icl abode in Kadem. .18 Then they went aloili? through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab': for Arnon nuai the border of Moab.

19 And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heslibon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my place.

10 But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and pitched in Jah:i7, and fought against Israel.

zi And the Lo R O God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.

22 And they possessed all the coast* of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness eveil unto Jordan.

23 So now the Lord God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and lhouldest thou possess it?

24. Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosli thy god giveth thee to possess ? So whomloever the Lord our God (hall drive out from before us, them will we possess.

25 And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor king of Moab? did lie ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them,

26 While Israel dwelt in Heslibon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred years? why therefore did ye not recover them within that time?

a? Wherefore I havenot sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to waragainst me: the Lord the Judge be judge this day- between the children of Israel and the children os Ammon. .-..• i 18 Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah which he sent him. ,

29 Then the Spirit of the Lo R n came upon Jephthah, and he passed ovev Gilead, and Manasseh, and palled over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh .of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon.

30 if And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lc R. 0, and laid, Is thou wait without

out fail deliver the children of Animon into mine hands,

31 Then it (hall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, (hall surely be the Loru's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.

31 So Jephthah passed over, unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord delivered them into bis hands.

33 And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.

34 % And Jephthah came to Mizpeh vmto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.

35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thouhastbroughtme very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I haveopened my mouth unto the Lor n, and I cannot go back.

36 And she said unto him, My father, jf thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the Lord hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, e-ven of the children of Ammon.

37 And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that* I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows.

38 And he said, Go. And he sent her away far two months: and (he went with her companions, and bewailed her ■virginity upon the mountains.

39 And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he bad vowed: and me knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel,

40 That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament! the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days- in a year.

CHAP. XII. 1 The Ephraimites discerned by Shibboleth, are flam by the Gileadites. 7 Jephthah dieth.

AN D the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight

CHAP. XIII. 7 lfndis a the kr.nd of the Philistine!, i hst^deffearethto Mancah's wife. % 7k atgtlaffeareth to Manoah. 15 Ma tuh'sfamjue, whereby the angel is difcKirii. 24 Sarisen is born.

AM) the children of Israel did evil ■jiinintlie fight of the Lord j anJ &io*d delivered them into the hand rfttt Philistines farty years.

* f And diere was a certain man of Zoran, of the family of the Danites, rtAname was Manoah; and his wife ^barren, and bare not.

J Andtheangelof the Lo R D appeared ftttfbewomjn, and (aid unto her, Be^M aow, thou art barren, and beared oat; but thou (halt conceive, and bear a ftj.

; Kow therefore beware, I pray thee, ■'-.'idrinV. r.ot wine, nor strong drink, anieatno:any unclean thing:

5 For !o, thou ihalt conceive, and bear 5Ha: md no ralor shall come on his -as: for the child (hail be a Kazan re Mm God from the womb: and he dial! %in to deliver Israel out of the hand of ^rhilifiines.

'Then the woman came and told her Jitend, saying, A man of God came ^tone, and his countenance -was like -countenance of an angel of God, ve•^'nrible: but I aiked him not whence «'•'.«, neither told he me his name: , 7 Bit lie said unto me, Behold, thou Wtconceive, and bear a son; and now ^'wnowine nor strong drink, neither « My unclean thing ■. for the child sliall * * "aarite to God from the womb to w day of his death.

•f Then Manoah intreated the Lo R n, ;^ uid, 0 my Lord, let the man of God ,fMh thou didst fend come again unto l:>, and teich us what we shall do unto «*d that shall be born.

9 And God hearkened to the voice of /■Mwh; and the angel of God came 'Pui onto the woman as she fat in the

-»'■ but Manoah her husband --was riot ^o her.

10 And the woman made haste, and n?? *nd shewed her husband, and said ;«ohim, Behold, theman hath appeared a'8 me, that came unto me the other day. ,'■ .And Manoah arose, and went after "^ife, and came to the man, and said

0 Mm, Art thou the man that spakest W,J the woman? And he said, I am. ,! And Manoah said, Now let thy '^ come to pass. How shall we order 'Mild? andAnvshallwedounto him > 'I And the angel of the Lord said

not that he was an angel of the Lord.

17 And Manoah said, unto .the i:\gelof the Lo R D, What iV thy name, that

I when thy sayings come to pass, we may do thee honour?

18 And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Why alkest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?

19 SoManoah took a kid, with a meat offering, and offered /'/ upon a rock unto theLoR D. Andres OT/gr/dicI wonderoufly, and Manoah and his wife looked on,

20 For it came to pass, when the flams went up toward heaven from otF the altar, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on ;'/, and fell on their faces to the ground.

21 But the angel of the Lor D did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he ivas an angel of the Lor D.

22 And Manoah said unto his wife, We sliall surely die, because we have seen God.

23 But his wife said tinto him, If the Lor D were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hand's, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would, as at this time, have toldus

such things as these.

24. ^J And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson. And the child grew, and the Lor D blessed him.

25 And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp os' Dan, between Zorah and Eslitaol.

CHAP. XIV. 1 Samson defireth a wife oj t/:r Philistines.

1 o His marriage feast, 12 and 'riddle.

19 Hespoileth thirty Philistines. ' ''

AND Samson went down to Tininarh, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. 1 And he came up and told his father Q^ and

and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.

3 Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumciled Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for (lie pleaseth me well.

4. But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the Lord, that he fought an occasion against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

5 Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath : and, behold, a young lion roared against him.

6 And the Spirit of the Lor D came mightily upon him; and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.

7 And he went down and talked with the woman; and slie pleased Samson well.

8 And after a time, he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion; and, behold, there •was a swarm of bees, and honey in the carcase of the lion.

9 And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion.

Io fl So his father went down unto the woman, and Samson made there a feast: for so used the young men to do.

11 And it came to pass, when they saw him, that the_y brought thirty companions to be with him.

n fl And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets, and thirty change of garments:

13 But if ye cannot declare it me, then (hall ye give me thirty sheets, and thirty change of garments. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it.

i+ And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle.

i s And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson's wife,

Entice thy husoand, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire have ye called us to take that we have i ts it notso?

16 And Samson's wife weptbefore him and said, Thou dost but hateme, and lov est me not: thou hast put forth a riddli unto the children of my people, and has not told it me. And he said unto her Behold, I have not told it my father no my mother, and (hall I tell it thee?

17 And she wept before him the sevei days, while the feast lasted: and i came to pass on the seventh day, that hi told her, because slie lay sore upon him and slie told the riddle to the children o her people.

_ 18 And the men of the city said unti him on the seventh day before the iui went down, What is sweeter than honey and what is stronger than a lion? and h said unto them, If ye had not plowc< with my heifer, ye had not found ou my riddle.

19 f And the Spirit of the Lord cam upon him, and he went down to Alhke Ion, and slew thirty men of them, am took their spoil, and gave change of gar ments unto them which expounded th riddle. And his auger was kindled, am he went up to his fathers house.

20 But Samson's wife was given to hi companion, whom he had used as hi friend.

CHAP. XV.

1 Samson is denied his •wise. 3 He hurnct

the Philistines" corn. 9 He is bound by th

men osjudah, andddii-'eredto the PhUij

tines. \\He killeth them with a jawbone

BUT it came to pass within a whit after, in the time of wheat harvest that Samson visited his wife with a kid and he said, I will go in to nvy wife int the chamber. But Tier father would nc suffer him to go in.

■z And her father said, I verily thoug] that thou hadst utterly hated her; there sore I gave her to thy companion: is nc her younger sister fairer than slie? tait her, I pray thee, instead of her.

3 f And Samson said concerning them Now (hall I be more blameless than tli Philistines, though I do them a displea sure.

4 And Samson went and caught thre hundred foxes, and _ took ' firebrand 1 and turned tail to tail, and put a ru« brand in the midst between two tails.

5 And when he had set the branc on fire, he let them go into the standiu corn of the Philistines, and burnt u SamfiwMverfJ to the Philistines; Chap

both rii£ shocks, and also the standing corn, irjtii the vineyards and olives.

i Then the Philistines said, Who hath toasruis? And they answered, Samson, tie son in law of the Timnite, because it hsd caken his wife, and given her to kiitompanion. And the Philistines came ■>? iad burnt her and her father with mt.

- And Samson said unto them, Though yt have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.

i And he smote them hip and thigh '.iiagreat slaughter. And he went down zndd^eh in the top of the rock Etam.

5 f Then the Philistines went up, and packed in Judah, and spread themselves lalebi.

Io And the men of Judah said, Why ire ye come up against us ? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.

ti Then three thousand men of Judah rent so the top of the rock Etam, and (aid to Samson, Knowelt thou not that the Philistines ore rulers over us? what if this that thou hast done unto us? And 1* hid unto them, As they did unto me, :':> hate I done unto them.

:i And they said unto him, We are rome down to bind thee, that we may cdhner thee into the hand of the Phililiaa. And Samson said unto them, Surar unto methat ye will not fall upea me yourselves.

il And they spake unto I«m, saying, No: but we will bind thee fast, and de'iver thee into their hand: but surely »e will not kill thee. And they bound fcm with two new cords, and brought s.m up from the rock.

:+ % And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him i and the Spirit of the Lor D came mightily upon sin, and the cords that inert upon his ^nsj became as flax that was burnt with "iii, and his bands loosed from off his iaffds.

t j And he found a new jawbone of an

is. and put forth his hand and took it,

■ad Oew a thousand men therewith.

iS And Samson said, With the jaw

', '.eseofanass, heapsupon heaps, with the

; Mof an ass have I (lain a thousand men.

i? And it came to pass, when he had

Kde an end of speaking, that lie cast

my the jawbone out of his hand, and

teikd that place Ramath-lehi.

\t And he was fore athirst, and call'1 on the Lo R D, and said, Thou hast riven this great deliverance into the »and of thy servant; and now shall I

, xvi. • and enticed by Delilah.

die for thirst, and fill into the hand of the uncircumcifed?

19 But Godclavean hollow place that ivas in the jaw, and there crime water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived. Wherefore he called the name thereof En-hakkofe, which is in Lehi unto this day.

to And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

CHAP. XVI. 1 Samfcn carrieth away the gates of Gaza.

4 Delilah, corrupted by the Philistines, entietth him; 15 and ovrrcometh him. 2i The Philistines put out his eyes, 23 The manner of his death.

THEN went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.

2 And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were cjuiet all the night, saying, In the morning when it is day we (hall kill him.

3 And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the c i ty, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron.

4. SJ And it came to pass afterward, that lie loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name ivas Delilah.

5 And thelordsofthe Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lie/h, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred/iif« of silver.

6 AndDelikh said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength Heth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.

7 And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.

8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.

9 Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. Ana shesaiduntohim, The Philistines foupon tlioe, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the sire. So his strength was not known.

Qi 10 And