Feb 22 - Judges 1-3
Judges
1After the death of Joshua, the sons of Israel consulted the Lord, saying, "Who will ascend before us, against the Canaanite, and who will be the commander of the war?2And the Lord said: "Judah shall ascend. Behold, I have delivered the land into his hands.3And Judah said to his brother Simeon, "Go up with me to my lot, and fight against the Canaanite, so that I also may go forth with you to your lot." And Simeon went with him4And Judah went up, and the Lord delivered the Canaanite, as well as the Perizzite, into their hands. And they struck down ten thousand of the men at Bezek5And they found Adonibezek at Bezek, and they fought against him, and they struck down the Canaanite and the Perizzite6Then Adonibezek fled. And they pursued him and captured him, and they cut off the ends of his hands and feet7And Adonibezek said: "Seventy kings, with the ends of their hands and feet amputated, have been gathering the remnants of food under my table. Just as I have done, so has God repaid me." And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there8Then the sons of Judah, besieging Jerusalem, seized it. And they struck it with edge of the sword, delivering the entire city to be burned9And afterward, descending, they fought against the Canaanites who were living in the mountains, and in the south, and in the plains10And Judah, going forth against the Canaanites who were living at Hebron, (the name of which from antiquity was Kiriath-Arba) struck down Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai11And continuing on from there, he went to the inhabitants of Debir, the old name of which was Kiriath-Sepher, that is, the City of Letters12And Caleb said, "Whoever will strike Kiriath-Sepher, and will lay waste to it, I will give to him my daughter Achsah as wife.13And when Othniel, the son of Kenaz, a younger brother of Caleb, had seized it, he gave his daughter Achsah to him in marriage14And as she was traveling on a journey, her husband admonished her, so that she would request a field from her father. And since she had sighed while sitting on her donkey, Caleb said to her, "What is it?15But she responded: "Give a blessing to me. For you have given me a dry land. Also give a watered land." Therefore, Caleb gave to her the upper watered land and the lower watered land16Now the sons of the Kenite, the relative of Moses, ascended from the City of Palms, with the sons of Judah, into the wilderness of his lot, which is toward the south of Arad. And they lived with him17Then Judah went out with his brother Simeon, and together they struck the Canaanites who were living at Zephath, and they put them to death. And the name of the city was called Hormah, that is, Anathema18And Judah seized Gaza, with its parts, and Ashkelon as well as Ekron, with their borders19And the Lord was with Judah, and he possessed the mountains. But he was not able to wipe out the inhabitants of the valley. For they abounded with chariots armed with scythes20And just as Moses had said, they gave Hebron to Caleb, who destroyed out of it the three sons of Anak21But the sons of Benjamin did not wipe out the Jebusite inhabitants of Jerusalem. And the Jebusite has lived with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem, even to the present day22The house of Joseph also ascended against Bethel, and the Lord was with them23For when they were besieging the city, which was previously called Luz24they saw a man departing from the city, and they said to him, "Reveal to us the entrance to the city, and we will act with mercy toward you.25And when he had revealed it to them, they struck the city with the edge of the sword. But that man, and all his relatives, they released26And having been sent away, he went out to the land of the Hittites, and he built a city there, and he called it Luz. And so it is called, even to the present day27Likewise, Manasseh did not destroy Bethshean and Taanach, with their villages, nor the inhabitants of Dor and Ibleam and Megiddo, with their villages. And the Canaanite began to live with them28Then, after Israel had grown strong, he made them tributaries, but he was not willing to destroy them29And now Ephraim did not put to death the Canaanite, who was living at Gezer; instead, he lived with him30Zebulun did not wipe out the inhabitants of Kitron and of Nahalal. Instead, the Canaanite lived in their midst and became their tributary31Likewise, Asher did not destroy the inhabitants of Acco and Sidon, Ahlab and Achzib, and Helbah, and Aphik, and Rehob32And he lived in the midst of the Canaanites, the inhabitants of that land, for he did not put them to death33Naphtali also did not wipe out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Bethanath. And he lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land. And the Beth-shemeshites and Bethanathites were tributaries to him34And the Amorite hemmed in the sons of Dan on the mountain, and did not give them a place, so that they might descend to the flatlands35And he lived on the mountain at Har-heres, which is translated as ‘resembling brick,’ and at Aijalon and Sha-alabbin. But the hand of the house of Joseph was very heavy, and he became a tributary to him36Now the border of the Amorite was from the Ascent of the Scorpion, to the Rock and the higher places
1And an Angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to the Place of Weeping, and he said: "I led you away from Egypt, and I led you into the land, about which I swore to your fathers. And I promised that I would not nullify my covenant with you, even forever2but only if you would not form a pact with the inhabitants of this land. Instead, you should overturn their altars. Yet you were not willing to listen to my voice. Why have you done this3For this reason, I am not willing to destroy them before your face, so that you may have enemies, and so that their gods may be your ruin.4And when the Angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, they lifted up their voice, and they wept5And the name of that place was called, the Place of Weeping, or the Place of Tears. And they immolated victims to the Lord in that place6Then Joshua dismissed the people, and the sons of Israel went away, each one to his own possession, so that they might obtain it7And they served the Lord, during all his days, and during all the days of the elders, who lived for a long time after him, and who knew all the works of the Lord, which he had done for Israel8Then Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being one hundred and ten years old9And they buried him in the parts of his possession at Timnath-Serah, on Mount Ephraim, before the northern side of Mount Gaash10And that entire generation was gathered to their fathers. And there rose up others, who had not known the Lord and the works that he had done for Israel11And the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they served the Baals12And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had led them away from the land of Egypt. And they followed foreign gods and the gods of the peoples who were living around them, and they adored them. And they provoked the Lord to wrath13forsaking him, and serving Baal and Ashtaroth14And the Lord, having become angry against Israel, delivered them into the hands of plunderers, who seized them and sold them to the enemies that were living on all sides. Neither were they able to withstand their adversaries15Instead, wherever they wanted to go, the hand of the Lord was upon them, just as he said and just as he swore to them. And they were greatly afflicted16And the Lord raised up judges, who would free them from the hands of their oppressors. But they were not willing to listen to them17Fornicating with foreign gods and adoring them, they quickly deserted the way along which their fathers had advanced. And having heard the commandments of the Lord, they did all things to the contrary18And while the Lord was raising up the judges, in their days, he was moved to mercy, and he listened to the groaning of the afflicted, and he freed them from the slaughter of their oppressors19But after a judge had died, they turned back, and they were doing much worse things than their fathers had done, following strange gods, serving them, and adoring them. They did not abandon their pursuits and their very stubborn way, by which they were accustomed to walk20And the fury of the Lord was enraged against Israel, and he said: "For this people has made void my covenant, which I had formed with their fathers, and they have despised listening to my voice21And so, I will not destroy the nations that Joshua left behind when he died22so that, by them, I may test Israel, as to whether or not they will keep the way of the Lord, and walk in it, just as their fathers kept it.23Therefore, the Lord left all these nations, and he was not willing to quickly overthrow them, nor did he deliver them into the hands of Joshua
1These are the nations which the Lord left, so that by them he might instruct Israel and all who had not known the wars of the Canaanites2so that afterward their sons might learn to contend with their enemies, and to have a willingness to do battle3the five princes of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites who were living on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-Hermon as far as the entrance to Hamath4And he left them, so that by them he might test Israel, as to whether or not they would listen to the commandments of the Lord, which he instructed to their fathers by the hand of Moses5And so, the sons of Israel lived in the midst of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite6And they took their daughters as wives, and they gave their own daughters to their sons, and they served their gods7And they did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they forgot their God, while serving the Baals and Ashtaroth8And the Lord, having become angry with Israel, delivered them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim, the king of Mesopotamia, and they served him for eight years9And they cried out to the Lord, who raised up for them a savior, and he freed them, namely, Othniel, the son of Kenaz, a younger brother of Caleb10And the Spirit of the Lord was in him, and he judged Israel. And he went out to fight, and the Lord delivered Cushan-Rishathaim, the king of Syria, and he overwhelmed him11And the land was quiet for forty years. And Othniel, the son of Kenaz, died12Then the sons of Israel resumed doing evil in the sight of the Lord, who strengthened Eglon, the king of Moab, against them because they did evil in his sight13And he joined to him the sons of Ammon and the sons of Amalek. And he went forth and struck Israel, and he possessed the City of Palms14And the sons of Israel served Eglon, the king of Moab, for eighteen years15And afterward, they cried out to the Lord, who raised up for them a savior, called Ehud, the son of Gera, the son of Benjamin, who used either hand as well as the right hand. And the sons of Israel sent gifts to Eglon, the king of Moab, by him16And he made for himself a two-edged sword, having a handle, reaching to the middle, the length of the palm of a hand. And he was girded with it under his cloak, on the right thigh17And he offered the gifts to Eglon, the king of Moab. Now Eglon was exceedingly fat18And when he had presented the gifts to him, he followed out his companions, who had arrived with him19And then, returning from Gilgal where the idols were, he said to the king, "I have a secret word for you, O king." And he ordered silence. And when all those who were around him had departed20Ehud entered to him. Now he was sitting alone in a summer upper room. And he said, "I have a word from God to you." And immediately he rose up from his throne21And Ehud extended his left hand, and he took the dagger from his right thigh. And he thrust it into his abdome22so strongly that the handle followed the blade into the wound, and was enclosed by the great amount of fat. Neither did he withdraw the sword. Instead, he left it in the body just as he had struck with it. And immediately, by the private parts of nature, the filth of the bowels went out23Then Ehud carefully closed the doors of the upper room. And securing the bars24he departed by a back exit. And the servants of the king, entering, saw that the doors of the upper room were closed, and they said, "Perhaps he is emptying his bowels in the summer room.25And after waiting a long time, until they were embarrassed, and seeing that no one opened the door, they took the key, and opening it, they found their lord lying dead on the ground26But Ehud, while they were in confusion, escaped and passed by the place of the idols, from which he had returned. And he arrived at Seirath27And immediately he sounded the trumpet on Mount Ephraim. And the sons of Israel descended with him, he himself advancing at the front28And he said to them: "Follow me. For the Lord has delivered our enemies, the Moabites, into our hands." And they descended after him, and they occupied the fords of the Jordan, which cross over to Moab. And they did not permit anyone to cross29And so, they struck down the Moabites at that time, about ten thousand, all strong and robust men. None of them were able to escape30And Moab was humbled in that day under the hand of Israel. And the land was quiet for eighty years31After him, there was Shamgar, the son of Anath, who struck down six hundred men of the Philistines with a plowshare. And he also defended Israel