{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_8307/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_8307","id":"gutenberg_8307","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/8307","summary":null,"tags":["Bible. Judges","Category: History - Religious","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"This eBook was produced by David Widger\nfrom etext #1581 prepared by Dennis McCarthy, Atlanta, Georgia\nand Tad Book, student, Pontifical North American College, Rome.\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE HOLY BIBLE\n\n\n\n\nTranslated from the Latin Vulgate\n\n\nDiligently Compared with the Hebrew, Greek,\nand Other Editions in Divers Languages\n\n\nTHE OLD TESTAMENT\nFirst Published by the English College at Douay\nA.D. 1609 & 1610\n\nand\n\nTHE NEW TESTAMENT\nFirst Published by the English College at Rheims\nA.D. 1582\n\n\nWith Annotations\n\n\nThe Whole Revised and Diligently Compared with\nthe Latin Vulgate by Bishop Richard Challoner\nA.D. 1749-1752\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE BOOK OF JUDGES\n\nThis Book is called JUDGES, because it contains the history of what\npassed under the government of the judges, who ruled Israel before they\nhad kings. The writer of it, according to the more general opinion, was\nthe prophet Samuel.\n\n\nJudges Chapter 1\n\nThe expedition and victory of Juda against the Chanaanites: who are\ntolerated in many places.\n\n1:1. After the death of Josue, the children of Israel consulted the\nLord, saying: Who shall go up before us against the Chanaanite, and\nshall be the leader of the war?\n\n1:2. And the Lord said: Juda shall go up: behold I have delivered the\nland into his hands.\n\n1:3. And Juda said to Simeon, his brother: Come up with me into my lot,\nand fight against the Chanaanite, that I also may go along with thee\ninto thy lot. And Simeon went with him.\n\n1:4. And Juda went up, and the Lord delivered the Chanaanite, and the\nPherezite into their hands: and they slew of them in Bezec ten thousand\nmen.\n\n1:5. And they found Adonibezec in Bezec, and fought against him, and\nthey defeated the Chanaanite, and the Pherezite.\n\n1:6. And Adonibezec fled: and they pursued after him and took him, and\ncut off his fingers and toes.\n\n1:7. And Adonibezec said: Seventy kings, having their fingers and toes\ncut off, gathered up the leavings of the meat under my table: as I have\ndone, so hath God requited me.  And they brought him to Jerusalem, and\nhe died there.\n\n1:8. And the children of Juda besieging Jerusalem, took it, and put it\nto the sword, and set the whole city on fire.\n\nJerusalem... This city was divided into two; one part was called Jebus,\nthe other Salem: the one was in the tribe of Juda, the other in the\ntribe of Benjamin. After it was taken and burnt by the men of Juda, it\nwas quickly rebuilt again by the Jebusites, as we may gather from ver.\n21; and continued in their possession till it was taken by king David.\n\n1:9. And afterwards they went down and fought against the Chanaanite,\nwho dwelt in the mountains, and in the south, and in the plains.\n\n1:10. And Juda going forward against the Chanaanite, that dwelt in\nHebron, (the name whereof was in former times Cariath-Arbe) slew Sesai,\nand Ahiman, and Tholmai:\n\nHebron... This expedition against Hebron, etc. is the same as is\nrelated, Jos. 15.24. It is here repeated, to give the reader at once a\nshort sketch of all the achievements of the tribe of Juda against the\nChanaanites.\n\n1:11. And departing from thence, he went to the inhabitants of Dabir,\nthe ancient name of which was Cariath-Sepher, that is, the city of\nletters.\n\nThe city of letters... Perhaps so called from some famous school, or\nlibrary, kept there.\n\n1:12. And Caleb said: He that shall take Cariath-Sepher, and lay it\nwaste, to him will I give my daughter Axa to wife.\n\n1:13. And Othoniel, the son of Cenez, the younger brother of Caleb,\nhaving taken it, he gave him Axa his daughter to wife.\n\n1:14. And as she was going on her way, her husband admonished her to ask\na field of her father. And as she sighed sitting on her ass, Caleb said\nto her: What aileth thee?\n\n1:15. But she answered: Give me a blessing, for thou hast given me a dry\nland: give me also a watery land So Caleb gave her the upper and the\nnether watery ground.\n\n1:16. And the children of the Cinite, the kinsman of Moses, went up from\nthe city of palms, with the children of Juda, into the wilderness of his\nlot, which is at the south side of Arad, and they dwelt with him.\n\nThe Cinite... Jethro the father in law of Moses was called Cinoeus, or\nthe Cinite; and his children who came along with the children of Israel\nsettled themselves among them in the land of Chanaan, embracing their\nworship and religion. From these the Rechabites sprung, of whom see Jer.\n35.-Ibid. The city of palms... Jericho, so called from the abundance of\npalm trees.\n\n1:17. And Juda went with Simeon, his brother, and they together defeated\nthe Chanaanites that dwelt in Sephaath, and slew them. And the name of\nthe city was called Horma, that is, Anathema.\n\n1:18. And Juda took Gaza, with its confines, and Ascalon, and Accaron,\nwith their confines.\n\nGaza, etc... These were three of the principal cities of the\nPhilistines, famous  both in sacred and profane history. They were taken\nat this time by the Israelites: but as they took no care to put\ngarrisons in them, the Philistines soon recovered them.\n\n1:19. And the Lord was with Juda, and he possessed the hill country: but\nwas not able to destroy the inhabitants of the valley, because they had\nmany chariots armed with scythes.\n\nWas not able, etc... Through a cowardly fear of their chariots armed\nwith hooks and scythes, and for want of confidence in God.\n\n1:20. And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said, who destroyed\nout of it the three sons of Enac.\n\n1:21. But the sons of Benjamin did not destroy the Jebusites that\ninhabited Jerusalem: and the Jebusite hath dwelt with the sons of\nBenjamin in Jerusalem until this present day.\n\n1:22. The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was\nwith them.\n\n1:23. For when they were besieging the city, which before was called\nLuza,\n\n1:24. They saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him: Shew\nus the entrance into the city, and we will shew thee mercy.\n\n1:25. And when he had shewed them, they smote the city with the edge of\nthe sword: but that man, and all his kindred, they let go:\n\n1:26. Who being sent away, went into the land of Hetthim, and built\nthere a city, and called it Luza: which is so called until this day.\n\n1:27. Manasses also did not destroy Bethsan, and Thanac, with their\nvillages; nor the inhabitants of Dor, and Jeblaam, and Mageddo, with\ntheir villages. And the Chanaanite began to dwell with them.\n\n1:28. But after Israel was grown strong, he made them tributaries, and\nwould not destroy them.\n\n1:29. Ephraim also did not slay the Chanaanite that dwelt in Gazer, but\ndwelt with him.\n\n1:30. Zabulon destroyed not the inhabitants of Cetron, and Naalol: but\nthe Chanaanite dwelt among them, and became their tributary.\n\n1:31. Aser also destroyed not the inhabitants of Accho, and of Sidon, of\nAhalab, and of Achazib, and of Helba, and of Aphec, and of Rohob:\n\n1:32. And he dwelt in the midst of the Chanaanites, the inhabitants of\nthat land, and did not slay them.\n\n1:33. Nephthali also destroyed not the inhabitants of Bethsames, and of\nBethanath: and he dwelt in the midst of the Chanaanites, the inhabitants\nof the land, and the Bethsamites and Bethanites were tributaries to him.\n\n1:34. And the Amorrhite straitened the children of Dan in the mountain,\nand gave them not a place to go down to the plain:\n\n1:35. And he dwelt in the mountain Hares, that is, of potsherds, in\nAialon and Salebim. And the hand of the house of Joseph was heavy upon\nhim, and he became tributary to him.\n\nHe dwelt... That is, the Amorrhite.\n\n1:36. And the border of the Amorrhite was from the ascent of the\nscorpion, the rock, and the higher places.\n\n\nJudges Chapter 2\n\nAn angel reproveth Israel. They weep for their sins. After the death of\nJosue, they often fall, and repenting are delivered from their\nafflictions, but still fall worse and worse.\n\n2:1. And an angel of the Lord went up from Galgal to the place of\nweepers, and said: I made you go out of Egypt, and have brought you into\nthe land for which I swore to your fathers: and I promised that I would\nnot make void my covenant with you for ever:\n\nAn angel... Taking the shape of a man.\n\n2:2. On condition that you should not make a league with the inhabitants\nof this land, but should throw down their altars: and you would not hear\nmy voice: why have you done this?\n\n2:3. Wherefore I would not destroy them from before your face; that you\nmay have enemies, and their gods may be your ruin.\n\n2:4. And when the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the\nchildren of Israel: they lifted up their voice, and wept.\n\n2:5. And the name of that place was called, The place of weepers, or of\ntears: and there they offered sacrifices to the Lord.\n\n\n2:6. And Josue sent away the people, and the children of Israel went\nevery one to his own possession to hold it:\n\nAnd Josue, etc... This is here inserted out of Jos. 24, by way of\nrecapitulation of what had happened before, and by way of an\nintroduction to that which follows.\n\n2:7. And they served the Lord all his days, and the days of the\nancients, that lived a long time after him, and who knew all the works\nof the Lord, which he had done for Israel.\n\n2:8. And Josue, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being a\nhundred and ten years old;\n\n2:9. And they buried him in the borders of his possession in\nThamnathsare, in Mount Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaas.\n\n2:10. And all that generation was gathered to their fathers: and there\narose others that knew not the Lord and the works which he had done for\nIsrael.\n\n2:11. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and\nthey served Baalim,\n\n2:12. And they left the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought\nthem out of the land of Egypt: and they followed strange gods, and the\ngods of the people that dwelt round about them, and they adored them:\nand they provoked the Lord to anger,\n\nThey followed strange gods... What is here said of the children of\nIsrael, as to their falling so often into idolatry, is to be understood\nof a great part of them; but not so universally, as if the true worship\nof God was ever quite abolished among them: for the succession of the\ntrue church and religion was kept up all this time by the priests and\nLevites, at least in the house of God in Silo.\n\n2:13. Forsaking him, and serving Baal and Astaroth\n\n2:14. And the Lord being angry against Israel, delivered them into the\nhands of plunderers: who took them and sold them to their enemies, that\ndwelt round about: neither could they stand against their enemies:\n\n2:15. But whithersoever they meant to go, the hand of the Lord was upon\nthem, as he had said, and as he had sworn to them: and they were greatly\ndistressed.\n\n2:16. And the Lord raised up judges, to deliver them from the hands of\nthose that oppressed them: but they would not hearken to them,\n\n2:17. Committing fornication with strange gods, and adoring them. They\nquickly forsook the way, in which their fathers had walked: and hearing\nthe commandments of the Lord, they did all things contrary.\n\n2:18. And when the Lord raised them up judges, in their days, he was\nmoved to mercy, and heard the groanings of the afflicted, and delivered\nthem from the slaughter of the oppressors.\n\n2:19. But after the judge was dead, they returned, and did much worse\nthings than their fathers had done, following strange gods, serving\nthem, and adoring them.  They left not their own inventions, and the\nstubborn way, by which they were accustomed to walk.\n\n2:20. And the wrath of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said:\nBehold this nation hath made void my covenant, which I had made with\ntheir fathers, and hath despised to hearken to my voice:\n\n2:21. I also will not destroy the nations which Josue left when he died:\n\n2:22. That through them I may try Israel, whether they will keep the way\nof the Lord, and walk in it, as their fathers kept it, or not.\n\n2:23. The Lord therefore left all these nations, and would not quickly\ndestroy them, neither did he deliver them into the hands of Josue.\n\n\nJudges Chapter 3\n\nThe people falling into idolatry are oppressed by their enemies; but\nrepenting are delivered by Othoniel, Aod, and Samgar.\n\n3:1. These are the nations which the Lord left, that by them he might\ninstruct Israel, and all that had not known the wars of the Chanaanites:\n\n3:2. That afterwards their children might learn to fight with their\nenemies, and to be trained up to war:\n\n3:3. The five princes of the Philistines, and all the Chanaanites, and\nthe Sidonians, and the Hevites that dwelt in Mount Libanus, from Mount\nBaal Hermon to the entering into Emath.\n\n3:4. And he left them, that he might try Israel by them, whether they\nwould hear the commandments of the Lord, which he had commanded their\nfathers, by the hand of Moses, or not.\n\n3:5. So the children of Israel dwelt in the midst of the Chanaanite, and\nthe Hethite, and the Amorrhite, and the Pherezite, and the Hevite, and\nthe Jebusite:\n\n3:6. And they took their daughters to wives, and they gave their own\ndaughters to their sons, and they served their gods.\n\n3:7. And they did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they forgot their\nGod, and served Baalim and Astaroth.\n\n3:8. And the Lord being angry with Israel, delivered them into the hands\nof Chusan Rasathaim, king of Mesopotamia, and they served him eight\nyears.\n\nMesopotamia... In Hebrew Aramnaharim. Syria of the two rivers: so called\nbecause it lies between the Euphrates and the Tigris. It is absolutely\ncalled Syria, ver. 10.\n\n3:9. And they cried to the Lord, who raised them up a saviour, and\ndelivered them; to wit, Othoniel, the son of Cenez, the younger brother\nof Caleb:\n\n3:10. And the spirit of the Lord was in him, and he judged Israel. And\nhe went out to fight, and the Lord delivered Chusan Rasathaim, king of\nSyria, and he overthrew him:\n\n3:11. And the land rested forty years, and Othoniel, the son of Cenez,\ndied.\n\n3:12. And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the\nLord: who strengthened against them Eglon, king of Moab: because they\ndid evil in his sight.\n\n3:13. And he joined to him the children of Ammon, and Amalec: and he\nwent and overthrew Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees.\n\n3:14. And the children of Israel served Eglon, king of Moab, eighteen\nyears.\n\n3:15. And afterwards they cried to the Lord, who raised them up a\nsaviour, called Aod, the son of Cera, the son of Jemini, who used the\nleft hand as well as the right.  And the children of Israel sent\npresents to Eglon, king of Moab, by him.\n\n3:16. And he made himself a two-edged sword, with a haft in the midst of\nthe length of the palm of the hand, and was girded therewith, under his\ngarment, on the right thigh.\n\n3:17. And he presented the gifts to Eglon, king of Moab Now Eglon was\nexceeding fat.\n\n3:18. And when he had presented the gifts unto him he followed his\ncompanions that came along with him.\n\n3:19. Then returning from Galgal, where the idols were, he said to the\nking: I have a secret message to thee, O king. And he commanded silence:\nand all being gone out that were about him,\n\n3:20. Aod went in to him: now he was sitting in a summer parlour alone,\nand he said: I have a word from God to thee. And he forthwith rose up\nfrom his throne.\n\nA word from God, etc... What Aod, who was judge and chief magistrate of\nIsrael, did on this occasion, was by a special inspiration of God: but\nsuch things are not to be imitated by private men.\n\n3:21. And Aod put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his\nright thigh, and thrust it into his belly,\n\n3:22. With such force that the haft went in after the blade into the\nwound, and was closed up with the abundance of fat. So that he did not\ndraw out the dagger, but left it in the body as he had struck it in: and\nforthwith, by the secret parts of nature, the excrements of the belly\ncame out.\n\n3:23. And Aod carefully shutting the doors of the parlour, and locking\nthem,\n\n3:24. Went out by a postern door. And the king's servants going in, saw\nthe doors of the parlour shut, and they said: Perhaps he is easing\nnature in his summer parlour.\n\n3:25. And waiting a long time, till they were ashamed, and seeing that\nno man opened the door, they took a key: and opening, they found their\nlord lying dead on the ground.\n\n3:26. But Aod, while they were in confusion, escaped, and passed by the\nplace of the idols from whence he had returned. And he came to Seirath:\n\n3:27. And forthwith he sounded the trumpet in Mount Ephraim: and the\nchildren of Israel went down with him, he himself going in the front.\n\n3:28. And he said to them: Follow me: for the Lord hath delivered our\nenemies, the Moabites, into our hands. And they went down after him, and\nseized upon the fords of the Jordan, which are in the way to Moab: and\nthey suffered no man to pass over:\n\n3:29. But they slew of the Moabites at that time, about ten thousand,\nall strong and valiant men: none of them could escape.\n\n3:30. And Moab was humbled that day under the hand of Israel: and the\nland rested eighty years.\n\n3:31. After him was Samgar, the son of Anath, who slew of the\nPhilistines six hundred men with a ploughshare: and he also defended\nIsrael.\n\n\nJudges Chapter 4\n\nDebbora and Barac deliver Israel from Jabin and Sisara, Jahal killeth\nSisara.\n\n4:1. And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord\nafter the death of Aod:\n\n4:2. And the Lord delivered them up into the hands of Jabin, king of\nChanaan, who reigned in Asor: and he had a general of his army named\nSisara, and he dwelt in Haroseth of the Gentiles.\n\n4:3. And the children of Israel cried to the Lord: for he had nine\nhundred chariots set with scythes and for twenty years had grievously\noppressed them.\n\n4:4. And there was at that time Debbora, a prophetess, the wife of\nLapidoth, who judged the people.\n\n4:5. And she sat under a palm tree, which was called by her name,\nbetween Rama and Bethel, in Mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel\ncame up to her for all judgment.\n\n4:6. And she sent and called Barac, the Son of Abinoem, out of Cedes, in\nNephthali: and she said to him: The Lord God of Israel hath commanded\nthee: Go, and lead an army to Mount Thabor, and thou shalt take with\nthee ten thousand fighting men of the children of Nephthali, and of the\nchildren of Zabulon:\n\n4:7. And I will bring unto thee in the place of the torrent Cison,\nSisara, the general of Jabin's army, and his chariots, and all his\nmultitude, and will deliver them into thy hand.\n\n4:8. And Barac said to her: If thou wilt come with me, I will go: if\nthou wilt not come with me, I will not go.\n\n4:9. She said to him: I will go, indeed, with thee, but at this time the\nvictory shall not be attributed to thee, because Sisara shall be\ndelivered into the hand of a woman. Debbora therefore arose, and went\nwith Barac to Cedes.\n\n4:10. And he called unto him Zabulon and Nephthali, and went up with ten\nthousand fighting men, having Debbora in his company.\n\n4:11. Now Haber, the Cinite, had some time before departed from the rest\nof the Cinites, his brethren, the sons of Hobab, the kinsman of Moses:\nand had pitched his tents unto the valley, which is called Sennim, and\nwas near Cedes.\n\n4:12. And it was told Sisara, that Barac, the son of Abinoem, was gone\nup to Mount Thabor:\n\n4:13. And he gathered together his nine hundred chariots armed with\nscythes, and all his army, from Haroseth of the Gentiles, to the torrent\nCison.\n\n4:14. And Debbora said to Barac: Arise, for this is the day wherein the\nLord hath delivered Sisara into thy hands: behold, he is thy leader. And\nBarac went down from Mount Thabor, and ten thousand fighting men with\nhim.\n\n4:15. And the Lord struck a terror into Sisara, and all his chariots,\nand all his multitude, with the edge of the sword, at the sight of\nBarac; insomuch, that Sisara leaping down from off his chariot, fled\naway on foot,\n\n4:16. And Barac pursued after the fleeing chariots, and the army, unto\nHaroseth of the Gentiles; and all the multitude of the enemies was\nutterly destroyed.\n\n4:17. But Sisara fleeing, came to the tent of Jahel, the wife of Haber,\nthe Cinite, for there was peace between Jabin, the king of Asor, and the\nhouse of Haber, the Cinite.\n\n4:18. And Jahel went forth to meet Sisara, and said to him: Come in to\nme, my lord; come in, fear not. He went into her tent, and being covered\nby her with a cloak,\n\n4:19. Said to her: Give me, I beseech thee, a little water, for I am\nvery thirsty. She opened a bottle of milk, and gave him to drink, and\ncovered him.\n\n4:20. And Sisara said to her: Stand before the door of the tent, and\nwhen any shall come and inquire of thee, saying: Is there any man here?\nthou shalt say: There is none.\n\n4:21. So Jahel, Haber's wife, took a nail of the tent, and taking also a\nhammer: and going in softly, and with silence, she put the nail upon the\ntemples of his head, and striking it with the hammer, drove it through\nhis brain fast into the ground: and so passing from deep sleep to death,\nhe fainted away and died.\n\n4:22. And behold, Barac came pursuing after Sisara: and Jahel went out\nto meet him, and said to him: Come, and I will shew thee the man whom\nthou seekest. And when he came into her tent, he saw Sisara lying dead,\nand the nail fastened in his temples.\n\n4:23. So God that day humbled Jabin, the king of Chanaan, before the\nchildren of Israel:\n\n4:24. Who grew daily stronger, and with a mighty hand overpowered Jabin,\nking of Chanaan, till they quite destroyed him.\n\n\nJudges Chapter 5\n\nThe canticle of Debbora and Barac after their victory.\n\n5:1. In that day Debbora and Barac, son of Abinoem, sung, and said:\n\n5:2. O you of Israel, that have willingly offered your lives to danger,\nbless the Lord.\n\n5:3. Hear, O ye kings, give ear, O ye princes: It is I, it is I, that\nwill sing to the Lord, I will sing to the Lord, the God of Israel.\n\n5:4. O Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir, and passedst by the regions\nof Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens and clouds dropped water.\n\n5:5. The mountains melted before the face of the Lord, and Sinai before\nthe face of the Lord the God of Israel.\n\n5:6. In the days of Samgar, the son of Anath, in the days of Jahel, the\npaths rested: and they that went by them, walked through bye-ways.\n\nThe paths rested... The ways to the sanctuary of God were unfrequented:\nand men walked in the by-ways of error and sin.\n\n5:7. The valiant men ceased, and rested in Israel: until Debbora arose,\na mother arose in Israel.\n\n5:8. The Lord chose new wars, and he himself overthrew the gates of the\nenemies: a shield and spear was not seen among forty thousand of Israel.\n\n5:9. My heart loveth the princes of Israel: O you, that of your own good\nwill offered yourselves to danger, bless the Lord.\n\n5:10. Speak, you that ride upon fair asses, and you that sit in\njudgment, and walk in the way.\n\n5:11. Where the chariots were dashed together, and the army of the\nenemies was choked, there let the justices of the Lord be rehearsed, and\nhis clemency towards the brave men of Israel: then the people of the\nLord went down to the gates, and obtained the sovereignty.\n\n5:12. Arise, arise, O Debbora, arise, arise, and utter a canticle.\nArise, Barac, and take hold of thy captives, O son of Abinoem.\n\n5:13. The remnants of the people are saved, the Lord hath fought among\nthe valiant ones.\n\n5:14. Out of Ephraim he destroyed them into Amalec, and after him out of\nBenjamin into thy people, O Amalec: Out of Machir there came down\nprinces, and out of Zabulon they that led the army to fight.\n\nOut of Ephraim, etc... The enemies straggling in their flight were\ndestroyed, as they were running through the land of Ephraim, and of\nBenjamin, which lies after, that is beyond Ephraim: and so on to the\nvery confines of Amalec. Or, it alludes to former victories of the\npeople of God, particularly that which was freshest in memory, when the\nmen of Ephraim and Benjamin, with Aod at their head, overthrew their\nenemies the Moabites with the Amalecites their allies. See chap. 3.\nIbid. Machir... The tribe of Manasses, whose eldest son was Machir.\n\n5:15. The captains of Issachar were with Debbora, and followed the steps\nof Barac, who exposed himself to danger, as one going headlong, and into\na pit. Ruben being divided against himself, there was found a strife of\ncourageous men.\n\nDivided against himself, etc... By this it seems that the valient men of\nthe tribe of Ruben were divided in their sentiments, with relation to\nthis war; which division kept them at home within their own borders, to\nhear the bleating of their flocks.\n\n5:16. Why dwellest thou between two borders, that thou mayst hear the\nbleatings of the flocks? Ruben being divided against himself, there was\nfound a strife of courageous men.\n\n5:17. Galaad rested beyond the Jordan, and Dan applied himself to ships:\nAser dwelt on the sea shore, and abode in the havens.\n\n5:18. But Zabulon and Nephthali offered their lives to death in the\nregion of Merome.\n\n5:19. The kings came and fought, the kings of Chanaan fought in Thanac,\nby the waters of Mageddo and yet they took no spoils.\n\n5:20. There was war made against them from heaven: the stars, remaining\nin their order and courses, fought against Sisara.\n\n5:21. The torrent of Cison dragged their carcasses, the torrent of\nCadumim, the torrent of Cison: tread thou, my soul, upon the strong\nones.\n\n5:22. The hoofs of the horses were broken whilst the stoutest of the\nenemies fled amain, and fell headlong down.\n\n5:23. Curse ye the land of Meroz, said the angel of the Lord: curse the\ninhabitants thereof, because they came not to the help of the Lord, to\nhelp his most valiant men.\n\nMeroz... Where this land of Meroz was, which is here laid under a curse,\nwe cannot find: nor is there mention of it anywhere else in holy writ.\nIn the spiritual sense, they are cursed who refuse to assist the people\nof God in their warfare against their spiritual enemies.\n\n5:24. Blessed among women be Jahel, the wife of Haber the Cinite, and\nblessed be she in her tent.\n\n5:25. He asked her water, and she gave him milk, and offered him butter\nin a dish fit for princes.\n\n5:26. She put her left hand to the nail, and her right hand to the\nworkman's hammer, and she struck Sisara, seeking in his head a place for\nthe wound, and strongly piercing through his temples.\n\n5:27. Between her feet he fell: he fainted, and he died: he rolled\nbefore her feet, and there he lay lifeless and wretched.\n\n5:28. His mother looked out at a window, and howled: and she spoke from\nthe dining room: Why is his chariot so long in coming back? Why are the\nfeet of his horses so slow?\n\n5:29. One that was wiser than the rest of his wives, returned this\nanswer to her mother in law:\n\n5:30. Perhaps he is now dividing the spoils, and the fairest of the\nwomen is chosen out for him: garments of divers colours are given to\nSisara for his prey, and furniture of different kinds is heaped together\nto adorn necks.\n\n5:31. So let all thy enemies perish, O Lord: but let them that love thee\nshine, as the sun shineth in his rising.\n\n5:32. And the land rested for forty years.\n\n\nJudges Chapter 6\n\nThe people for their sins, are oppressed by the Madianites. Gedeon is\ncalled to deliver them.\n\n6:1. And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord:\nand he delivered them into the hand of Madian seven years,\n\n6:2. And they were grievously oppressed by them.  And they made\nthemselves dens and caves in the mountains, and strong holds to resist.\n\n6:3. And when Israel had sown, Madian and Amalec, and the rest of the\neastern nations, came up:\n\n6:4. And pitching their tents among them, wasted all things as they were\nin the blade, even to the entrance of Gaza: and they left nothing at all\nin Israel for sustenance of life, nor sheep, nor oxen, nor asses.\n\n6:5. For they and all their flocks came with their tents, and like\nlocusts filled all places, an innumerable multitude of men, and of\ncamels, wasting whatsoever they touched.\n\n6:6. And Israel was humbled exceedingly in the sight of Madian.\n\n6:7. And he cried to the Lord, desiring help against the Madianites.\n\n6:8. And he sent unto them a prophet, and he spoke: Thus saith the Lord,\nthe God of Israel: I made you to come up out of Egypt, and brought you\nout of the house of bondage,\n\n6:9. And delivered you out of the hands of the Egyptians, and of all the\nenemies that afflicted you: and I cast them out at your coming in, and\ngave you their land.\n\n6:10. And I said: I am the Lord your God, fear not the gods of the\nAmorrhites, in whose land you dwell.  And you would not hear my voice.\n\n6:11. And an angel of the Lord came, and sat under an oak that was in\nEphra, and belonged to Joas, the father of the family of Ezri. And when\nGedeon, his son, was threshing and cleansing wheat by the winepress, to\nflee from Madian,\n\n6:12. The angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said: The Lord is with\nthee, O most valiant of men.\n\n6:13. And Gedeon said to him: I beseech thee, my lord, if the Lord be\nwith us, why have these evils fallen upon us? Where are his miracles,\nwhich our fathers have told us of, saying: The Lord brought us out of\nEgypt but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hand\nof Madian.\n\n6:14. And the Lord looked upon him, and said: Go, in this thy strength,\nand thou shalt deliver Israel out of the hand of Madian: know that I\nhave sent thee.\n\n6:15. He answered, and said: I beseech thee, my lord wherewith shall I\ndeliver Israel?  Behold, my family is the meanest in Manasses, and I am\nthe least in my father's house.\n\nThe meanest in Manasses, etc... Mark how the Lord chooseth the humble\n(who are mean and little in their own eyes) for the greatest\nenterprises.\n\n6:16. And the Lord said to him: I will be with thee: and thou shalt cut\noff Madian as one man.\n\n6:17. And he said: If I have found grace before thee, give me a sign\nthat it is thou that speakest to me:\n\n6:18. And depart not hence, till I return to thee, and bring a\nsacrifice, and offer it to thee. And he answered: I will wait thy\ncoming.\n\n6:19. So Gedeon went in, and boiled a kid, and made unleavened loaves of\na measure of flour: and putting the flesh in a basket, and the broth of\nthe flesh into a pot, he carried all under the oak, and presented to\nhim.\n\n6:20. And the angel of the Lord said to him: Take the flesh and the\nunleavened loaves, and lay them upon that rock, and pour out the broth\nthereon. And when he had done so,\n\n6:21. The angel of the Lord put forth the tip of the rod, which he held\nin his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened loaves: and there\narose a fire from the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened\nloaves: and the angel of the Lord vanished out of his sight.\n\n6:22. And Gedeon seeing that it was the angel of the Lord, said: Alas,\nmy Lord God: for I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.\n\n6:23. And the Lord said to him: Peace be with thee: fear not, thou shalt\nnot die.\n\n6:24. And Gedeon built there an altar to the Lord, and called it the\nLord's peace, until this present day. And when he was yet in Ephra,\nwhich is of the family of Ezri,\n\n6:25. That night the Lord said to him: Take a bullock of thy father's,\nand another bullock of seven years, and thou shalt destroy the altar of\nBaal, which is thy father's: and cut down the grove that is about the\naltar:\n\n6:26. And thou shalt build un altar to the Lord thy God, in the top of\nthis rock, whereupon thou didst lay the sacrifice before: and thou shalt\ntake the second bullock, and shalt offer a holocaust upon a pile of the\nwood, which thou shalt cut down out of the grove.\n\n6:27. Then Gedeon, taking ten men of his servants, did as the Lord had\ncommanded him. But fearing his father's house, and the men of that city,\nhe would not do it by day, but did all by night.\n\n6:28. And when the men of that town were risen in the morning, they saw\nthe altar of Baal destroyed, and the grove cut down, and the second\nbullock laid upon the altar, which then was built.\n\n6:29. And they said one to another: Who hath done this? And when they\ninquired for the author of the fact, it was said: Gedeon, the son of\nJoas, did all this.\n\n6:30. And they said to Joas: Bring out thy son hither, that he may die:\nbecause he hath destroyed the altar of Baal, and hath cut down his\ngrove.\n\n6:31. He answered them: Are you the avengers of Baal, that you fight for\nhim? he that is his adversary, let him die before to morrow light\nappear: if he be a god, let him revenge himself on him that hath cast\ndown his altar.\n\n6:32. From that day Gedeon was called Jerobaal, because Joas had said:\nLet Baal revenge himself on him that hath cast down his altar.\n\n6:33. Now all Madian, and Amalec, and the eastern people, were gathered\ntogether, and passing over the Jordan, camped in the valley of Jezrael.\n\n6:34. But the spirit of the Lord came upon Gedeon, and he sounded the\ntrumpet, and called together the house of Abiezer, to follow him.\n\n6:35. And he sent messengers into all Manasses, and they also followed\nhim and other messengers into Aser and Zabulon, and Nephthali, and\nthey came to meet him.\n\n6:36. And Gedeon said to God: If thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as\nthou hast said,\n\n6:37. I will put this fleece of wool on the floor: if there be dew in\nthe fleece only, and it be dry on all the ground beside, I shall know\nthat by my hand, as thou hast said, thou wilt deliver Israel.\n\n6:38. And it was so. And rising before day, wringing the fleece, he\nfilled a vessel with the dew.\n\n6:39. And he said again to God: Let not thy wrath be kindled against me,\nif I try once more, seeking a sign in the fleece. I pray that the fleece\nonly may be dry, and all the ground wet with dew.\n\n6:40. And God did that night as he had requested: and it was dry on the\nfleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.\n\n\nJudges Chapter 7\n\nGedeon, with three hundred men, by stratagem defeateth the Madianites.\n\n7:1. Then Jerobaal, who is the same as Gedeon, rising up early, and all\nthe people with him, came to the fountain that is called Harad. Now the\ncamp of Madian was in the valley, on the north side of the high hill.\n\n7:2. And the Lord said to Gedeon: The people that are with thee are\nmany, and Madian shall not be delivered into their hands: lest Israel\nshould glory against me, and say: I was delivered by my own strength.\n\nLest Israel, etc... By this we see that God will not choose for his\ninstruments in great achievements, which depend purely on his grace,\nsuch as, through pride and self conceit, will take the glory to\nthemselves.\n\n7:3. Speak to the people, and proclaim in the hearing of all:  Whosoever\nis fearful and timorous, let him return. So two and twenty thousand men\nwent away from Mount Galaad and returned home, and only ten thousand\nremained.\n\n7:4. And the Lord said to Gedeon: The people are still too many, bring\nthem to the waters, and there I will try them: and of whom I shall say\nto thee, This shall go with thee, let him go: whom I shall forbid to go,\nlet him return.\n\n7:5. And when the people were come down to the waters, the Lord said to\nGedeon: They that shall lap the water with their tongues, as dogs are\nwont to lap, thou shalt set apart by themselves: but they that shall\ndrink bowing down their knees, shall be on the other side.\n\n7:6. And the number of them that had lapped water; casting it with the\nhand to their mouth, was three hundred men: and all the rest of the\nmultitude had drunk kneeling.\n\n7:7. And the Lord said to Gedeon: By the three hundred men, that lapped\nwater, I will save you, and deliver Madian into thy hand: but let all\nthe rest of the people return to their place.\n\nThat lapped water... These were preferred that took the water up in\ntheir hands, and so lapped it, before them who laid themselves quite\ndown to the waters to drink: which argued a more eager and sensual\ndisposition.\n\n7:8. So taking victuals and trumpets according to their number, he\nordered all the rest of the multitude to depart to their tents: and he\nwith the three hundred gave himself to the battle. Now the camp of Madia\nwas beneath him in the valley.\n\n7:9. The same night the Lord said to him: Arise, and go down into the\ncamp: because I have delivered them into thy hand.\n\n7:10. But if thou be afraid to go alone, let Phara, thy servant, go down\nwith thee.\n\n7:11. And when thou shalt hear what they are saying, then shall thy\nhands be strengthened, and thou shalt go down more secure to the\nenemies' camp. And he went down with Phara his servant, into part of the\ncamp, where was the watch of men in arms.\n\n7:12. But Madian and Amalec, and all the eastern people, lay scattered\nin the valley, as a multitude of locusts: their camels also were\ninnumerable, as the sand that lieth on the sea shore.\n\n7:13. And when Gedeon was come, one told his neighbour a dream: and in\nthis manner related what he had seen: I dreamt a dream, and it seemed to\nme as if a hearth cake of barley bread rolled and came down into the\ncamp of Madian: and when it was come to a tent, it struck it, and beat\nit down flat to the ground.\n\nA dream... Observation of dreams is commonly superstitious, and as such\nis condemned in the word of God: but in some extraordinary cases, as we\nhere see, God is pleased by dreams to foretell what he is about to do.\n\n7:14. He to whom he spoke, answered: This is nothing else but the sword\nof Gedeon, the son of Joas, a man of Israel. For the Lord hath delivered\nMadian, and all their camp into his hand.\n\n7:15. And when Gedeon had heard the dream, and the interpretation\nthereof, he adored: and returned to the camp of Israel, and said: Arise,\nfor the Lord hath delivered the camp of Madian into our hands.\n\n7:16. And he divided the three hundred men into three parts, and gave\nthem trumpets in their hands, and empty pitchers, and lamps within the\npitchers.\n\n7:17. And he said to them: What you shall see me do, do you the same: I\nwill go into one part of the camp, and do you as I shall do.\n\n7:18. When the trumpet shall sound in my hand, do you also blow the\ntrumpets on every side of the camp, and shout together to the Lord and\nto Gedeon.\n\n7:19. And Gedeon, and the three hundred men that were with him, went\ninto part of the camp, at the beginning of the midnight watch, and the\nwatchmen being alarmed, they began to sound their trumpets, and to clap\nthe pitchers one against another.\n\nTheir trumpets, etc... In a mystical sense, the preachers of the gospel,\nin order to spiritual conquests, must not only sound with the trumpet of\nthe word of God, but must also break their earthen pitchers, by the\nmortification of the flesh and its passions, and carry lamps in their\nhands by the light of their virtues.\n\n7:20. And when they sounded their trurmpets in three places round about\nthe camp, and had broken their pitchers, they held their lamps in their\nleft hands, and with their right hands the trumpets which they blew, and\nthey cried out: The sword of the Lord and of Gedeon:\n\n7:21. Standing every man in his place round about the enemies' camp. So\nall the camp was troubled, and crying out and howling, they fled away:\n\n7:22. And the three hundred men nevertheless persisted sounding the\ntrumpets. And the Lord sent the sword into all the camp, and they killed\none another,\n\n7:23. Fleeing as far as Bethsetta, and the border of Abelmahula, in\nTebbath. But the men of Israel, shouting from Nephthali, and Aser, and\nfrom all Manasses, pursued after Madian.\n\n7:24. And Gedeon sent messengers into all Mount Ephraim, saying: Come\ndown to meet Madian, and take the waters before them to Bethbera and the\nJordan.  And all Ephraim shouted, and took the waters before them and\nthe Jordan as far as Bethbera.\n\n7:25. And having taken two men of Madian, Oreb and Zeb: Oreb they slew\nin the rock of Oreb, and Zeb in the winepress of Zeb. And they pursued\nMadian, carrying the heads of Oreb and Zeb to Gedeon, beyond the waters\nof the Jordan.\n\nTwo men... That is, two of their chiefs.\n\nJudges Chapter 8\n\nGedeon appeaseth the Ephraimites. Taketh Zebee and Salmana. Destroyeth\nSoccoth and Phanuel. Refuseth to be king. Maketh an ephod of the gold of\nthe prey, and dieth in a good old age. The people return to idolatry.\n\n8:1. And the men of Ephraim said to him: What is this that thou meanest\nto do, that thou wouldst not call us, when thou wentest to fight against\nMadian?  And they chid him sharply, and almost offered violence.\n\n8:2. And he answered them: What could I have done like to that which you\nhave done? Is not one bunch of grapes of Ephraim better than the\nvintages of Abiezer?\n\nWhat could I, etc... A meek and humble answer appeased them; who\notherwise might have come to extremities. So great is the power of\nhumility both with God and man.\n\n8:3. The Lord hath delivered into your hands the princes of Madian, Oreb\nand Zeb: what could I have done like to what you have done? And when he\nhad said this, their spirit was appeased, with which they swelled\nagainst him.\n\n8:4. And when Gedeon was come to the Jordan, he passed over it with the\nthree hundred men that were with him: who were so weary that they could\nnot pursue after them that fled.\n\n8:5. And he said to the men of Soccoth: Give, I beseech you, bread to\nthe people that is with me, for they are faint: that we may pursue\nZebee, and Salmana, the kings of Madian.\n\n8:6. The princes of Soccoth answered: Peradventure the palms of the\nhands of Zebee and Salmana are in thy hand, and therefore thou demandest\nthat we should give bread to thy army.\n\n8:7. And he said to them: When the Lord therefore shall have delivered\nZebee and Salmana into my hands, I will thresh your flesh with the\nthorns and briers of the desert.\n\n8:8. And going up from thence, he came to Phanuel: and he spoke the like\nthings to the men of that place.  And they also answered him, as the men\nof Soccoth had answered.\n\n8:9. He said, therefore, to them also: When I shall return a conqueror\nin peace, I will destroy this tower.\n\n8:10. But Zebee and Salmana were resting with all their army. For\nfifteen thousand men were left of all the troops of the eastern people,\nand one hundred and twenty thousand warriors that drew the sword were\nslain.\n\n8:11. And Gedeon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents, on the\neast of Nobe and Jegbaa, and smote the camp of the enemies, who were\nsecure, and suspected no hurt.\n\n8:12. And Zebee and Salmana fled, and Gedeon pursued and took them, all\ntheir host being put in confusion.\n\n8:13. And returning from the battle before the sun rising,\n\n8:14. He took a boy of the men of Soccoth: and he asked him the names of\nthe princes and ancients of Soccoth, and he described unto him seventy-\nseven men.\n\n8:15. And he came to Soccoth, and said to them: Behold Zebee, and\nSalmana, concerning whom you upbraided me, saying: Peradventure the\nhands of Zebee and Salmana are in thy hands, and therefore thou\ndemandest that we should give bread to the men that are weary and faint.\n\n8:16. So he took the ancients of the city, and thorns and briers of the\ndesert, and tore them with the same, and cut in pieces the men of\nSoccoth.\n\n8:17. And he demolished the tower of Phanuel, and slew the men of the\ncity.\n\n8:18. And he said to Zebee and Salmana: What manner of men were they,\nwhom you slew in Thabor? They answered: They were like thee, and one of\nthem as the son of a king.\n\n8:l9. He answered them: They were my brethren, the sons of my mother. As\nthe Lord liveth, if you had saved them, I would not kill you.\n\n8:20. And he said to Jether, his eldest son: Arise, and slay them. But\nhe drew not his sword: for he was afraid, being but yet a boy.\n\n8:21. And Zebee and Salmana said: Do thou rise and run upon us: because\nthe strength of a man is according to his age: Gedeon rose up, and slew\nZebee and Salmana: and he took the ornaments and bosses, with which the\nnecks of the camels of kings are wont to be adorned.\n\n8:22. And all the men of Israel said to Gedeon: Rule thou over us, and\nthy son, and thy son's son: because thou hast delivered us from the hand\nof Madian.\n\n8:23. And he said to them: I will not rule over you, neither shall my\nson rule over you, but the Lord shall rule over you.\n\n8:24. And he said to them: I desire one request of you: Give me the\nearlets of your spoils. For the Ismaelites were accustomed to wear\ngolden earlets.\n\n8:25. They answered: We will give them most willingly.  And spreading a\nmantle on the ground, they cast upon it the earlets of the spoils.\n\n8:26. And the weight of the earlets that he requested, was a thousand\nseven hundred sicles of gold, besides the ornaments, and jewels, and\npurple raiment, which the kings of Madian were wont to use, and besides\nthe golden chains that were about the camels necks.\n\n8:27. And Gedeon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city Ephra.\nAnd all Israel committed fornication with it, and it became a ruin to\nGedeon, and to all his house.\n\nAn ephod... A priestly garment which Gedeon made with a good design; but\nthe Israelites, after his death, abused it by making it an instrument of\ntheir idolatrous worship.\n\n8:28. But Madian was humbled before the children of Israel, neither\ncould they any more lift up their heads: but the land rested for forty\nyears, while Gedeon presided.\n\n8:29. So Jerobaal, the son of Joas, went and dwelt in his own house:\n\n8:30. And he had seventy sons, who came out of his thigh, for he had\nmany wives.\n\n8:31. And his concubine, that he had in Sichem, bore him a son, whose\nname was Abimelech.\n\nHis concubine... She was his servant, but not his harlot: and is called\nhis concubine, as wives of an inferior degree are commonly called in the\nOld Testament, though otherwise lawfully married.\n\n8:32. And Gedeon, the son of Joas died in a good old age, and was buried\nin the sepulchre of his father, in Ephra, of the family of Ezri.\n\n8:33. But after Gedeon was dead, the children of Israel turned again,\nand committed fornication with Baalim.  And they made a covenant with\nBaal, that he should be their god:\n\n8:34. And they remembered not the Lord their God, who delivered them out\nof the hands of all their enemies round about:\n\n8:35. Neither did they shew mercy to the house of Jerobaal Gedeon,\naccording to all the good things he had done to Israel.\n\n\nJudges Chapter 9\n\nAbimelech killeth his brethren. Joatham's parable. Gaal conspireth with\nthe Sichemites against Abimelech, but is overcome. Abimelech destroyeth\nSichem: but is killed at Thebes.\n\n9:1. And Abimelech, the son of Jerobaal, went to Sichem, to his mother's\nbrethren, and spoke to them, and to all the kindred of his mother's\nfather, saying:\n\n9:2. Speak to all the men of Sichem: whether is better for you that\nseventy men, all the sons of Jerobaal, should rule over you, or that one\nman should rule over you? And withal, consider that I am your bone, and\nyour flesh.\n\n9:3. And his mother's brethren spoke of him to all the men of Sichem,\nall these words, and they inclined their hearts after Abimelech, saying:\nHe is our brother:\n\n9:4. And they gave him seventy weight of silver out of the temple of\nBaalberith: wherewith he hired to himself men that were needy, and\nvagabonds, and they followed him.\n\nBaalberith... That is, Baal of the covenant, so called from the covenant\nthey had made with Baal, chap. 8.33.\n\n9:5. And he came to his father's house in Ephra, and slew his brethren,\nthe sons of Jerobaal, seventy men, upon one stone: and there remained\nonly Joatham, the youngest son of Jerobaal, who was hidden.\n\n9:6. And all the men of Sichem were gathered together, and all the\nfamilies of the city of Mello: and they went and made Abimelech king, by\nthe oak that stood in Sichem.\n\n9:7. This being told to Joatham, he went, and stood on the top of Mount\nGarizim: and lifting up his voice, he cried, and said: Hear me, ye men\nof Sichem, so may God hear you.\n\n9:8. The trees went to anoint a king over them: and they said to the\nolive tree: Reign thou over us.\n\n9:9. And it answered: Can I leave my fatness, which both gods and men\nmake use of, to come to be promoted among the trees?\n\nBoth gods and men make use of... The olive tree is introduced, speaking\nin this manner, because oil was used both in the worship of the true\nGod, and in that of the false gods, whom the Sichemites served.\n\n9:10. And the trees said to the fig tree: Come thou and reign over us.\n\n9:11. And it answered them: Can I leave my sweetness, and my delicious\nfruits, and go to be promoted among the other trees?\n\n9:12. And the trees said to the vine: Come thou and reign over us.\n\n9:13. And it answered them: Can I forsake my wine, that cheereth God and\nmen, and be promoted among the other trees?\n\nCheereth God and men... Wine is here represented as agreeable to God,\nbecause he had appointed it to be offered up with his sacrifices. But we\nare not obliged to take these words, spoken by the trees, in Joatham's\nparable, according to the strict literal sense: but only in a sense\naccomodated to the design of the parable expressed in the conclusion of\nit.\n\n9:14. And all the trees said to the bramble: Come thou and reign over\nus.\n\n9:15. And it answered them: If, indeed, you mean to make me king, come\nye, and rest under my shadow: but if you mean it not, let fire come out\nfrom the bramble, and devour the cedars of Libanus.\n\n9:16. Now, therefore, if you have done well, and without sin, in\nappointing Abimelech king over you, and have dealt well with Jerobaal,\nand with his house, and have made a suitable return for the benefits of\nhim who fought for you,\n\n9:17. And exposed his life to dangers, to deliver you from the hand of\nMadian,\n\n9:18. And you are now risen up against my father's house, and have\nkilled his sons, seventy men, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech,\nthe son of his handmaid, king over the inhabitants of Sichem, because he\nis your brother:\n\n9:19. If therefore you have dealt well, and without fault, with Jerobaal\nand his house, rejoice ye, this day, in Abimelech, and may he rejoice in\nyou.\n\n9:20. But if unjustly: let fire come out from him, and consume the\ninhabitants of Sichem, and the town of Mello: and let fire come out from\nthe men of Sichem and from the town of Mello, and devour Abimelech.\n\n9:21. And when he had said thus, he fled, and went into Bera: and dwelt\nthere for fear of Abimelech, his brother.\n\n9:22. So Abimelech reigned over Israel three years.\n\n9:23. And the Lord sent a very evil spirit between Abimelech and the\ninhabitants of Sichem; who began to detest him,\n\n9:24. And to lay the crime of the murder of the seventy sons of\nJerobaal, and the shedding of their blood, upon Abimelech, their\nbrother, and upon the rest of the princes of the Sichemites, who aided\nhim.\n\n9:25. And they set an ambush against him on the top of the mountains:\nand while they waited for his coming, they committed robberies, taking\nspoils of all that passed by: and it was told Abimelech.\n\n9:26. And Gaal, the son of Obed, came with his brethren, and went over\nto Sichem. And the inhabitants of Sichem, taking courage at his coming,\n\n9:27. Went out into the fields, wasting the vineyards, and treading down\nthe grapes: and singing and dancing, they went into the temple of their\ngod, and in their banquets and cups they cursed Abimelech.\n\n9:28. And Gaal, the son of Obed, cried: Who is Abimelech, and what is\nSichem, that we should serve him?  Is he not the son of Jerobaal, and\nhath made Zebul, his servant, ruler over the men of Emor, the father of\nSichem? Why then shall we serve him?\n\n9:29. Would to God that some man would put this people under my hand,\nthat I might remove Abimelech out of the way. And it was said to\nAbimelech: Gather together the multitude of an army, and come.\n\n9:30. For Zebul, the ruler of the city, hearing the words of Gaal, the\nson of Obed, was very angry,\n\n9:31. And sent messengers privately to Abimelech, saying: Behold, Gaal,\nthe son of Obed, is come into Sichem with his brethren, and endeavoureth\nto set the city against thee.\n\n9:32. Arise, therefore, in the night, with the people that is with thee,\nand lie hid in the field:\n\n9:33. And betimes in the morning, at sun rising, set upon the city, and\nwhen he shall come out against thee, with his people, do to him what\nthou shalt be able.\n\n9:34. Abimelech, therefore, arose with all his army, by night, and laid\nambushes near Sichem in four places.\n\n9:35. And Gaal, the son of Obed, went out, and stood in the entrance of\nthe gate of the city. And Abimelech rose up, and all his army with him,\nfrom the places of the ambushes.\n\n9:36. And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul: Behold, a\nmultitude cometh down from the mountains.  And he answered him: Thou\nseest the shadows of the mountains as if they were the heads of men, and\nthis is thy mistake.\n\n9:37. Again Gaal said: Behold, there cometh people down from the midst\nof the land, and one troop cometh by the way that looketh towards the\noak.\n\n9:38. And Zebul said to him: Where is now thy mouth, wherewith thou\nsaidst: Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? Is not this the\npeople which thou didst despise? Go out, and fight against him.\n\n9:39. So Gaal went out, in the sight of the people of Sichem, and fought\nagainst Abimelech,\n\n9:40. Who chased and put him to flight, and drove him to the city: and\nmany were slain of his people, even to the gate of the city:\n\n9:41. And Abimelech sat down in Ruma: but Zebul drove Gaal, and his\ncompanions, out of the city, and would not suffer them to abide in it.\n\n9:42. So the day following the people went out into the field. And it\nwas told to Abimelech,\n\n9:43. And he took his army, and divided it into three companies, and\nlaid ambushes in the fields. And seeing that the people came out of the\ncity, he arose, and set upon them,\n\n9:44. With his own company, assaulting and besieging the city: whilst\nthe two other companies chased the enemies that were scattered about the\nfield.\n\n9:45. And Abimelech assaulted the city all that day: and took it, and\nkilled the inhabitants thereof, and demolished it, so that he sowed salt\nin it.\n\nSowed salt... To make the ground barren, and fit for nothing.\n\n9:46. And when they who dwelt in the tower of Sichem, had heard this,\nthey went into the temple of their god Berith, where they had made a\ncovenant with him, and from thence the place had taken its name, and it\nwas exceeding strong.\n\n9:47. Abimelech also hearing that the men of the tower of Sichem were\ngathered together,\n\n9:48. Went up into mount Selmon, he and all his people with him: and\ntaking an axe, he cut down the bough of a tree, and laying it on his\nshoulder, and carrying it, he said to his companions: What you see me\ndo, do ye out of hand.\n\n9:49. So they cut down boughs from the trees, every man as fast as he\ncould, and followed their leader. And surrounding the fort, they set it\non fire: and so it came to pass, that with the smoke and with the fire a\nthousand persons were killed, men and women together, of the inhabitants\nof the town of Sichem.\n\n9:50. Then Abimelech, departing from thence, came to the town of Thebes,\nwhich he surrounded and besieged with his army.\n\n9:51. And there was in the midst of the city a high tower, to which both\nthe men and the women were fled together, and all the princes of the\ncity, and having shut and strongly barred the gate, they stood upon the\nbattlements of the tower to defend themselves.\n\n9:52. And Abimelech, coming near the tower, fought stoutly: and,\napproaching to the gate, endeavoured to set fire to it:\n\n9:53. And behold, a certain woman casting a piece of a millstone from\nabove, dashed it against the head of Abimelech, and broke his skull.\n\n9:54. And he called hastily to his armourbearer, and said to him: Draw\nthy sword, and kill me: lest it should be said that I was slain by a\nwoman. He did as he was commanded, and slew him.\n\n9:55. And when he was dead all the men of Israel that were with him,\nreturned to their homes.\n\n9:56. And God repaid the evil that Abimelech had done against his\nfather, killing his seventy brethren.\n\n9:57. The Sichemites also were rewarded for what they had done, and the\ncurse of Joatham, the son of Jerobaal, came upon them.\n\n\nJudges Chapter 10\n\nThola ruleth Israel twenty-three years; and Jair twenty-two. The people\nfall again into idolatry, and are afflicted again by the Philistines and\nAmmonites. They cry to God for help, who upon their repentance hath\ncompassion on them.\n\n10:1. After Abimelech, there arose a ruler in Israel, Thola, son of\nPhua, the uncle of Abimelech, a man of Issachar, who dwelt in Samir of\nmount Ephraim:\n\nUncle of Abimelech... i. e., half brother to Gedeon, as being born of\nthe same mother, but by a different father, and of a different tribe.\n\n10:2. And he judged Israel three and twenty years, and he died, and was\nburied in Samir.\n\n10:3. To him succeeded Jair, the Galaadite, who judged Israel for two\nand twenty years,\n\n10:4. Having thirty sons, that rode on thirty ass colts, and were\nprinces of thirty cities, which from his name were called Havoth Jair,\nthat is, the towns of Jair, until this present day, in the land of\nGalaad.\n\nHavoth Jair... This name was now confirmed to these towns, which they\nhad formerly received from another Jair. Num. 32.41.\n\n10:5. And Jair died, and was buried in the place which is called Camon.\n\n10:6. But the children of Israel, adding new sins to their old ones, did\nevil in the sight of the Lord, and served idols, Baalim and Astaroth,\nand the gods of Syria, and of Sidon, and of Moab, and of the children of\nAmmon, and of the Philistines: and they left the Lord, and did not serve\nhim.\n\n10:7. And the Lord being angry with them, delivered them into the hands\nof the Philistines, and of the children of Ammon.\n\n10:8. And they were afflicted, and grievously oppressed for eighteen\nyears, all they that dwelt beyond the Jordan in the land of the\nAmorrhite, who is in Galaad:\n\n10:9. Insomuch that the children of Ammon, passing over the Jordan,\nwasted Juda, and Benjamin, and Ephraim: and Israel was distressed\nexceedingly.\n\n10:10. And they cried to the Lord, and said, We have sinned against\nthee, because we have forsaken the Lord our God, and have served Baalim.\n\n10:11. And the Lord said to them: Did not the Egyptians, and the\nAmorrhites, and the children of Ammon, and the Philistines,\n\n10:12. The Sidonians also, and Amalec, and Chanaan, oppress you, and you\ncried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand?\n\n10:13. And yet you have forsaken me, and have worshipped strange gods:\ntherefore I will deliver you no more:\n\n10:14. Go, and call upon the gods which you have chosen: let them\ndeliver you in the time of distress.\n\n10:15. And the children of Israel said to the Lord: We have sinned, do\nthou unto us whatsoever pleaseth thee: only deliver us this time.\n\n10:16. And saying these things, they cast away out of their coasts all\nthe idols of strange gods, and served the Lord their God: and he was\ntouched with their miseries.\n\n10:17. And the children of Ammon shouting together, pitched their tents\nin Galaad: against whom the children of Israel assembled themselves\ntogether, and camped in Maspha.\n\n10:18. And the princes of Galaad said one to another: Whosoever of us\nshall first begin to fight against the children of Ammon, he shall be\nthe leader of the people of Galaad.\n\n\nJudges Chapter 11\n\nJephte is made ruler of the people of Galaad: he first pleads their\ncause against the Ammonites; then making a vow obtains a signal victory;\nhe performs his vow.\n\n11:1. There was at that time Jephte, the Galaadite, a most valiant man,\nand a warrior, the son of a woman that was a harlot, and his father was\nGalaad.\n\n11:2. Now Galaad had a wife of whom he had sons: who, after they were\ngrown up, thrust out Jephte, saying: Thou canst not inherit in the house\nof our father, because thou art born of another mother.\n\n11:3. Then he fled and avoided them, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and\nthere were gathered to him needy men and robbers, and they followed him\nas their prince.\n\n11:4. In those days the children of Ammon made war against Israel.\n\n11:5. And as they pressed hard upon them, the ancients of Galaad went to\nfetch Jephte out of the land of Tob to help them:\n\n11:6. And they said to him: Come thou, and be our prince, and fight\nagainst the children of Ammon.\n\n11:7. And he answered them: Are not you the men that hated me, and cast\nme out of my father's house, and now you are come to me, constrained by\nnecessity?\n\n11:8. And the princes of Galaad said to Jephte: For this cause we are\nnow come to thee, that thou mayst go with us, and fight against the\nchildren of Ammon, and be head over all the inhabitants of Galaad.\n\n11:9. Jephte also said to them: If you be come to me sincerely, that I\nshould fight for you against the children of Ammon, and the Lord shall\ndeliver them into my hand, shall I be your prince?\n\n11:10. They answered him: The Lord, who heareth these things, he himself\nis mediator and witness that we will do as we have promised.\n\n11:11. Jephte therefore went with the princes of Galaad, and all the\npeople made him their prince. And Jephte spoke all his words before the\nLord in Maspha.\n\n11:12. And he sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, to\nsay in his name: What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come\nagainst me, to waste my land?\n\n11:13. And he answered them: Because Israel took away my land, when he\ncame up out of Egypt, from the confines of the Arnon unto the Jaboc and\nthe Jordan: now, therefore, restore the same peaceably to me.\n\n11:14. And Jephte again sent word by them, and commanded them to say to\nthe king of Ammon:\n\n11:15. Thus saith Jephte: Israel did not take away the land of Moab, nor\nthe land of the children of Ammon:\n\n11:16. But when they came up out of Egypt, he walked through the desert\nto the Red Sea, and came into Cades.\n\n11:17. And he sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying: Suffer me to\npass through thy land. But he would not condescend to his request. He\nsent also to the king of Moab, who, likewise, refused to give him\npassage. He abode, therefore, in Cades,\n\n11:18. And went round the land of Edom at the side, and the land of\nMoab: and came over against the east coast of the land of Moab, and\ncamped on the other side of the Arnon: and he would not enter the bounds\nof Moab.\n\n11:19. So Israel sent messengers to Sehon, king of the Amorrhites, who\ndwelt in Hesebon, and they said to him: Suffer me to pass through thy\nland to the river.\n\n11:20. But he, also despising the words of Israel, suffered him not to\npass through his borders: but gathering an infinite multitude, went out\nagainst him to Jasa, and made strong opposition.\n\n11:21. And the Lord delivered him, with all his army, into the hands of\nIsrael, and he slew him, and possessed all the land of the Amorrhite,\nthe inhabitant of that country,\n\n11:22. And all the coasts thereof from the Arnon to the Jaboc, and from\nthe wilderness to the Jordan.\n\n11:23. So the Lord, the God of Israel, destroyed the Amorrhite, his\npeople of Israel fighting against him, and wilt thou now possess his\nland?\n\n11:24. Are not those things which thy god Chamos possesseth, due to thee\nby right? But what the Lord our God hath obtained by conquest, shall be\nour possession:\n\nChamos... The idol of the Moabites and Ammonites. He argues from their\nopinion, who thought they had a just title to the countries which they\nimagined they had conquered by the help of their gods: how much more\nthen had Israel in indisputable title to the countries which God, by\nvisible miracles, had conquered for them.\n\n11:25. Unless, perhaps, thou art better than Balac, the son of Sephor,\nking of Moab: or canst shew that he strove against Israel, and fought\nagainst him,\n\n11:26. Whereas he hath dwelt in Hesebon, and the villages thereof, and\nin Aroer, and its villages, and in all the cities near the Jordan, for\nthree hundred years.  Why have you for so long a time attempted nothing\nabout this claim?\n\n11:27. Therefore I do not trespass against thee, but thou wrongest me by\ndeclaring an unjust war against me.  The Lord be judge, and decide this\nday, between Israel and the children of Ammon.\n\n11:28. And the king of the children of Ammon would not hearken to the\nwords of Jephte, which he sent him by the messengers.\n\n11:29. Therefore the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephte, and going\nround Galaad, and Manasses, and Maspha of Galaad, and passing over from\nthence to the children of Ammon,\n\n11:30. He made a vow to the Lord, saying: If thou wilt deliver the\nchildren of Ammon into my hands,\n\n11:31. Whosoever shall first come forth out of the doors of my house,\nand shall meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon,\nthe same will I offer a holocaust to the Lord.\n\nWhosoever, etc... Some are of opinion, that the meaning of this vow of\nJephte, was to consecrate to God whatsoever should first meet him,\naccording to the condition of the thing; so as to offer it up as a\nholocaust, if it were such a thing as might be offered by the law; or to\ndevote it otherwise to God, if it were not such as the law allowed to be\noffered in sacrifice. And therefore they think the daughter of Jephte\nwas not slain by her father, but only consecrated to perpetual\nvirginity. But the common opinion followed by the generality of the holy\nfathers and divines is, that she was offered as a holocaust, in\nconsequence of her father's vow: and that Jephte did not sin, at least\nnot mortally, neither in making, nor in keeping, his vow: since he is no\nways blamed for it in scripture; and was even inspired by God himself to\nmake the vow (as appears from ver.  29, 30) in consequence of which he\nobtained the victory; and therefore he reasonably concluded that God,\nwho is the master of life and death, was pleased on this occasion to\ndispense with his own law; and that it was the divine will he should\nfulfil his vow.\n\n11:32. And Jephte passed over to the children of Ammon to fight against\nthem: and the Lord delivered them into his hands.\n\n11:33. And he smote them from Aroer till you come to Mennith, twenty\ncities, and as far as Abel, which is set with vineyards, with a very\ngreat slaughter: and the children of Ammon were humbled by the children\nof Israel.\n\n11:34. And when Jephte returned into Maspha, to his house, his only\ndaughter met him with timbrels and with dances: for he had no other\nchildren.\n\n11:35. And when he saw her, he rent his garments, and said: Alas! my\ndaughter, thou hast deceived me, and thou thyself art deceived: for I\nhave opened my mouth to the Lord, and I can do no other thing.\n\n11:36. And she answered him: My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth to\nthe Lord, do unto me whatsoever thou hast promised, since the victory\nhath been granted to thee, and revenge of thy enemies.\n\n11:37. And she said to her father: Grant me only this, which I desire:\nLet me go, that I may go about the mountains for two months, and may\nbewail my virginity with my companions.\n\nBewail my virginity... The bearing of children was much coveted under\nthe Old Testament, when women might hope that from some child of theirs,\nthe Saviour of the world might one day spring.  But under the New\nTestament virginity is preferred. 1 Cor. 7.35.\n\n11:38. And he answered her: Go. And he sent her away for two months. And\nwhen she was gone with her comrades and companions, she mourned her\nvirginity in the mountains.\n\n11:39. And the two months being expired, she returned to her father, and\nhe did to her as he had vowed, and she knew no man. From thence came a\nfashion in Israel, and a custom has been kept:\n\n11:40. That, from year to year, the daughters of Israel assemble\ntogether, and lament the daughter of Jephte the Galaadite, for four\ndays.\n\n\nJudges Chapter 12\n\nThe Ephraimites quarrel with Jephte: forty-two thousand of them are\nslain: Abeson, Ahialon, and Abdon, are judges.\n\n12:1. But behold there arose a sedition in Ephraim. And passing towards\nthe north, they said to Jephte: When thou wentest to fight against the\nchildren of Ammon, why wouldst thou not call us, that we might go with\nthee? Therefore we will burn thy house.\n\n12:2. And he answered them: I and my people were at great strife with\nthe children of Ammon: and I called you to assist me, and you would not\ndo it.\n\n12:3. And when I saw this, I put my life in my own hands, and passed\nover against the children of Ammon and the Lord delivered them into my\nhands. What have I deserved, that you should rise up to fight against\nme?\n\n12:4. Then calling to him all the men of Galaad, he fought against\nEphraim: and the men of Galaad defeated Ephraim, because he had said:\nGalaad is a fugitive of Ephraim, and dwelleth in the midst of Ephraim\nand Manasses.\n\n12:5. And the Galaadites secured the fords of the Jordan, by which\nEphraim was to return. And when any one of the number of Ephraim came\nthither in the flight, and said: I beseech you let me pass: the\nGalaadites said to him: Art thou not an Ephraimite? If he said: I am\nnot:\n\n12:6. They asked him: Say then, Scibboleth, which is interpreted, An ear\nof corn. But he answered, Sibboleth, not being able to express an ear of\ncorn by the same letter. Then presently they took him and killed him in\nthe very passage of the Jordan. And there fell at that time of Ephraim,\ntwo and forty thousand.\n\n12:7. And Jephte, the Galaadite, judged Israel six years: and he died,\nand was buried in his city of Galaad.\n\n12:8. After him Abesan of Bethlehem judged Israel:\n\n12:9. He had thirty sons, and as many daughters, whom he sent abroad,\nand gave to husbands, and took wives for his sons, of the same number,\nbringing them into his house. And he judged Israel seven years:\n\n12:10. And he died, and was buried in Bethlehem.\n\n12:11. To him succeeded Ahialon, a Zabulonite: and he judged Israel ten\nyears:\n\n12:12. And he died, and was buried in Zabulon.\n\n12:13. After him, Abdon, the son of Illel, a Pharathonite, judged\nIsrael:\n\n12:14. And he had forty sons, and of them thirty grandsons, mounted upon\nseventy ass colts, and he judged Israel eight years:\n\n12:15. And he died, and was buried in Pharathon, in the land of Ephraim,\nin the mount of Amalech.\n\n\nJudges Chapter 13\n\nThe people fall again into idolatry and are afflicted by the\nPhilistines. An angel foretelleth the birth of Samson.\n\n13:1. And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the\nLord: and he delivered them into the hands of the Philistines forty\nyears.\n\n13:2. Now there was a certain man of Saraa, and of the race of Dan,\nwhose name was Manue, and his wife was barren.\n\n13:3. And an angel of the Lord appeared to her, and said: Thou art\nbarren and without children: but thou shalt conceive and bear a son.\n\n13:4. Now therefore beware, and drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat\nnot any unclean thing.\n\n13:6. Because thou shalt conceive, and bear a son, and no razor shall\ntouch his head: for he shall be a Nazarite of God, from his infancy, and\nfrom his mother's womb, and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the\nhands of the Philistines.\n\n13:6. And when she was come to her husband, she said to him: A man of\nGod came to me, having the countenance of an angel, very awful. And when\nI asked him whence he came, and by what name he was called, he would not\ntell me:\n\n13:7. But he answered thus: Behold thou shalt conceive and bear a son:\nbeware thou drink no wine, nor strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing:\nfor the child shall be a Nazarite of God from his infancy, from his\nmother's womb until the day of his death.\n\n13:8. Then Manue prayed to the Lord, and said: I beseech thee, O Lord,\nthat the man of God, whom thou didst send, may come again, and teach us\nwhat we ought to do concerning the child, that shall be born.\n\n13:9. And the Lord heard the prayer of Manue, and the angel of the Lord\nappeared again to his wife, as she was sitting in the field. But Manue\nher husband was not with her. And when she saw the angel,\n\n13:10. She made haste, and ran to her husband: and told him, saying:\nBehold the man hath appeared to me, whom I saw before.\n\n13:11. He rose up, and followed his wife: and coming to the man, said to\nhim: Art thou he that spoke to the woman? And he answered: I am.\n\n13:12. And Manue said to him: When thy word shall come to pass, what\nwilt thou that the child should do?  or from what shall he keep himself?\n\n13:13. And the angel of the Lord said to Manue: From all the things I\nhave spoken of to thy wife, let her refrain herself:\n\nLet her refrain, etc... By the Latin text it is not clear whether this\nabstinence was prescribed to the mother, or to the child; but the Hebrew\n(in which the verbs relating thereto are of the feminine gender)\ndetermineth it to the mother. But then the child also was to refrain\nfrom the like things, because he was to be from his infancy a Nazarite\nof God, ver. 5, that is, one set aside, in a particular manner, and\nconsecrated to God: now the Nazarites by the law were to abstain from\nall these things.\n\n13:14. And let her eat nothing that cometh of the vine, neither let her\ndrink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: and whatsoever I\nhave commanded her, let her fulfil and observe.\n\n13:15. And Manue said to the angel of the Lord: I beseech thee to\nconsent to my request, and let us dress a kid for thee.\n\n13:16. And the angel answered him: If thou press me I will not eat of\nthy bread: but if thou wilt offer a holocaust, offer it to the Lord. And\nManue knew not it was the angel of the Lord.\n\n13:17. And he said to him: What is thy name, that, if thy word shall\ncome to pass, we may honour thee?\n\n13:18. And he answered him: Why askest thou my name, which is wonderful?\n\n13:19. Then Manue took a kid of the flocks, and the libations, and put\nthem upon a rock, offering to the Lord, who doth wonderful things: and\nhe and his wife looked on.\n\n13:20. And when the flame from the altar went up towards heaven, the\nangel of the Lord ascended also in the same. And when Manue and his wife\nsaw this, they fell flat on the ground;\n\n13:21. And the angel of the Lord appeared to them no more. And forthwith\nManue understood that it was an angel of the Lord,\n\n13:22. And he said to his wife: We shall certainly die, because we have\nseen God.\n\nSeen God... Not in his own person, but in the person of his messenger.\nThe Israelites, in those days, imagined they should die if they saw an\nangel, taking occasion perhaps from those words spoken by the Lord to\nMoses, Ex. 33.20, No man shall see me and live. But the event\ndemonstrated that it was but a groundless imagination.\n\n13:23. And his wife answered him: If the Lord had a mind to kill us, he\nwould not have received a holocaust and libations at our hands; neither\nwould he have shewed us all these things, nor have told us the things\nthat are to come.\n\n13:24. And she bore a son, and called his name Samson.  And the child\ngrew, and the Lord blessed him.\n\n13:25. And the Spirit of the Lord began to be with him in the camp of\nDan, between Saraa and Esthaol.\n\n\nJudges Chapter 14\n\nSamson desireth a wife of the Philistines. He killeth a lion: in whose\nmouth he afterwards findeth honey. His marriage feast, and riddle, which\nis discovered by his wife. He killeth, and strippeth thirty Philistines.\nHis wife taketh another man.\n\n14:1. Then Samson went down to Thamnatha, and seeing there a woman of\nthe daughters of the Philistines,\n\n14:2. He came up, and told his father and his mother, saying: I saw a\nwoman in Thamnatha of the daughters of the Philistines: I bescech you,\ntake her for me to wife.\n\n14:3. And his father and mother said to him: Is there no woman among the\ndaughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou wilt take a\nwife of the Philistines, who are uncircumcised?  And Samson said to his\nfather: Take this woman for me; for she hath pleased my eyes.\n\nIs there no woman among the daughters of thy brethren... This shews his\nparents were at first against his marriage with a Gentile, it being\nprohibited, Deut. 7.3; but afterwards they consented, knowing it to be\nby the dispensation of God; which otherwise would have been sinful in\nacting contrary to the law.\n\n14:4. Now his parents knew not that the thing was done by the Lord, and\nthat he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the\nPhilistines had dominion over Israel.\n\n14:5. Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Thamnatha. And\nwhen they were come to the vineyards of the town, behold a young lion\nmet him, raging and roaring.\n\n14:6. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson, and he tore the lion\nas he would have torn a kid in pieces, having nothing at all in his\nhand: and he would not tell this to his father and mother.\n\n14:7. And he went down, and spoke to the woman that had pleased his\neyes.\n\n14:8. And after some days, returning to take her, he went aside to see\nthe carcass of the lion, and behold there was a swarm of bees in the\nmouth of the lion, and a honey-comb.\n\n14:9. And when he had taken it in his hands, he went on eating: and\ncoming to his father and mother, he gave them of it, and they ate: but\nhe would not tell them that he had taken the honey from the body of the\nlion.\n\n14:10. So his father went down to the woman, and made a feast for his\nson Samson: for so the young men used to do.\n\n14:11. And when the citizens of that place saw him, they brought him\nthirty companions to be with him.\n\n14:12. And Samson said to them: I will propose to you a riddle, which if\nyou declare unto me within the seven days of the feast, I will give you\nthirty shirts, and as many coats:\n\n14:13. But if you shall not be able to declare it, you shall give me\nthirty shirts and the same number of coats. They answered him: Put forth\nthe riddle, that we may hear it.\n\n14:14. And he said to them: Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of\nthe strong came forth sweetness. And they could not for three days\nexpound the riddle.\n\n14:15. And when the seventh day came, they said to the wife of Samson:\nSooth thy husband, and persuade him to tell thee what the riddle\nmeaneth. But if thou wilt not do it, we will burn thee, and thy father's\nhouse.  Have you called us to the wedding on purpose to strip us?\n\n14:16. So she wept before Samson and complained, saying: Thou hatest me,\nand dost not love me: therefore thou wilt not expound to me the riddle,\nwhich thou hast proposed to the sons of my people. But he answered: I\nwould not tell it to my father and mother: and how can I tell it to\nthee?\n\n14:17. So she wept before him the seven days of the feast: and, at\nlength, on the seventh day, as she was troublesome to him, he expounded\nit. And she immediately told her countrymen.\n\n14:18. And they, on the seventh day before the sun went down, said to\nhim: What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And\nhe said to them: If you had not ploughed with my heifer, you had not\nfound out my riddle.\n\n14:19. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he went down to\nAscalon, and slew there thirty men whose garments he took away, and gave\nto them that had declared the riddle. And being exceeding angry, he went\nup to his father's house:\n\n14:20. But his wife took one of his friends and bridal companions for\nher husband.\n\n\nJudges Chapter 15\n\nSamson is denied his wife. He burns the corn of the Philistines, and\nkills many of them.\n\n15:1. And a while after, when the days of the wheat harvest were at\nhand, Samson came, meaning to visit his wife, and he brought her a kid\nof the flock.  And when he would have gone into her chamber, as usual,\nher father would not suffer him, saying:\n\n15:2. I thought thou hadst hated her, and therefore I gave her to thy\nfriend: but she hath a sister, who is younger and fairer than she, take\nher to wife instead of her.\n\n15:3. And Samson answered him: From this day I shall be blameless in\nwhat I do against the Philistines: for I will do you evils.\n\n15:4. And he went and caught three hundred foxes, and coupled them tail\nto tail, and fastened torches between the tails:\n\nFoxes... Being judge of the people he might have many to assist him to\ncatch with nets or otherwise a number of these animals; of which there\nwere great numbers in that country.\n\n15:6. And setting them on fire he let the foxes go, that they might run\nabout hither and thither. And they presently went into the standing corn\nof the Philistines.  Which being set on fire, both the corn that was\nalready carried together, and that which was yet standing, was all\nburnt, insomuch that the flame consumed also the vineyards and the\noliveyards.\n\n15:6. Then the Philistines said: Who hath done this thing? And it was\nanswered: Samson, the son in law of the Thamnathite, because he took\naway his wife, and gave her to another, hath done these things. And the\nPhilistines went up and burnt both the woman and her father.\n\n15:7. But Samson said to them: Although you have done this, yet will I\nbe revenged of you, and then I will be quiet.\n\n15:8. And he made a great slaughter of them, so that in astonishment\nthey laid the calf of the leg upon the thigh. And going down he dwelt in\na cavern of the rock Etam.\n\n15:9. Then the Philistines going up into the land of Juda, camped in the\nplace which afterwards was called Lechi, that is, the Jawbone, where\ntheir army was spread abroad.\n\n15:10. And the men of the tribe of Juda said to them: Why are you come\nup against us? They answered: We are come to bind Samson, and to pay him\nfor what he hath done against us.\n\n15:11. Wherefore three thousand men of Juda went down to the cave of the\nrock Etam, and said to Samson: Knowest thou not that the Philistines\nrule over us?  Why wouldst thou do thus? And he said to them: As they\ndid to me, so have I done to them.\n\n15:12. And they said to him: We are come to bind thee, and to deliver\nthee into the hands of the Philistines.  And Samson said to them: Swear\nto me, and promise me that you will not kill me.\n\n15:13. They said: We will not kill thee: but we will deliver thee up\nbound. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him from the\nrock Etam.\n\n15:14. Now when he was come to the place of the Jawbone, and the\nPhilistines shouting went to meet him, the Spirit of the Lord came\nstrongly upon him: and as flax is wont to be consumed at the approach of\nfire, so the bands with which he was bound were broken and loosed.\n\n15:15. And finding a jawbone, even the jawbone of an ass, which lay\nthere, catching it up, he slew therewith a thousand men.\n\n15:16. And he said: With the jawbone of an ass, with the jaw of the colt\nof asses, I have destroyed them, and have slain a thousand men.\n\n15:17. And when he had ended these words, singing, he threw the jawbone\nout of his hand, and called the name of that place Ramathlechi, which is\ninterpreted the lifting up of the jawbone.\n\n15:18. And being very thirsty, he cried to the Lord, and said: Thou hast\ngiven this very great deliverance and victory into the hand of thy\nservant: and behold I die for thirst, and shall fall into the hands of\nthe uncircumcised.\n\n15:19. Then the Lord opened a great tooth in the jaw of the ass and\nwaters issued out of it. And when he had drunk them, he refreshed his\nspirit, and recovered his strength. Therefore the name of that place was\ncalled The Spring of him that invoked from the jawbone, until this\npresent day.\n\n15:20. And he judged Israel, in the days of the Philistines, twenty\nyears.\n\n\nJudges Chapter 16\n\nSamson is deluded by Dalila: and falls into the hands of the\nPhilistines. His death.\n\n16:1. He went also into Gaza, and saw there a woman, a harlot, and went\nin unto her.\n\n16:2. And when the Philistines had heard this, and it was noised about\namong them, that Samson was come into the city, they surrounded him,\nsetting guards at the gate of the city, and watching there all the night\nin silence, that in the morning they might kill him as he went out.\n\n16:3. But Samson slept till midnight, and then rising, he took both the\ndoors of the gate, with the posts thereof and the bolt, and laying them\non his shoulders, carried them up to the top of the hill, which looketh\ntowards Hebron.\n\n16:4. After this he loved a woman, who dwelt in the valley of Sorec, and\nshe was called Dalila.\n\nDalila... Some are of opinion she was married to Samson; others that she\nwas his harlot. If the latter opinion be true, we cannot wonder that, in\npunishment of his lust, the Lord delivered him up, by her means, into\nthe hands of his enemies.  However if he was guilty, it is not to be\ndoubted but that under his afflictions he heartily repented and returned\nto God, and so obtained forgiveness of his sins.\n\n16:5. And the princes of the Philistines came to her, and sald: Deceive\nhim, and learn of him wherein his great strength lieth, and how we may\nbe able to overcome him, to bind and afflict him: which if thou shalt\ndo, we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.\n\n16:6. And Dalila said to Samson: Tell me, I beseech thee, wherein thy\ngreatest strength lieth, and what it is, wherewith if thou wert bound,\nthou couldst not break loose.\n\n16:7. And Samson answered her: If I shall be bound with seven cords,\nmade of sinews not yet dry, but still moist, I shall be weak like other\nmen.\n\n16:8. And the princes of the Philistines brought unto her seven cords,\nsuch as he spoke of, with which she bound him;\n\n16:9. Men lying privately in wait with her, and in the chamber,\nexpecting the event of the thing, and she cried out to him: The\nPhilistines are upon thee, Samson.  And he broke the bands, as a man\nwould break a thread of tow twined with spittle, when it smelleth the\nfire: so it was not known wherein his strength lay.\n\n16:10. And Dalila said to him: Behold thou hast mocked me, and hast told\nme a false thing: but now at least tell me wherewith thou mayest be\nbound.\n\n16:11. And he answered her: If I shall be bound with new ropes, that\nwere never in work, I shall be weak and like other men.\n\n16:12. Dalila bound him again with these, and cried out: The Philistines\nare upon thee, Samson, there being an ambush prepared for him in the\nchamber. But he broke the bands like threads of webs.\n\n16:13. And Dalila said to him again: How long dost thou deceive me, and\ntell me lies? Shew me wherewith thou mayest be bound. And Samson\nanswered her: If thou plattest the seven locks of my head with a lace,\nand tying them round about a nail, fastenest it in the ground, I shall\nbe weak.\n\n16:14. And when Dalila had done this, she said to him: The Philistines\nare upon thee, Samson. And awaking out of his sleep, he drew out the\nnail with the hairs and the lace.\n\n16:15. And Dalila said to him: How dost thou say thou lovest me, when\nthy mind is not with me? Thou hast told me lies these three times, and\nwouldst not tell me wherein thy greatest strength lieth.\n\n16:16. And when she pressed him much, and continually hung upon him for\nmany days, giving him no time to rest, his soul fainted away, and was\nwearied even unto death.\n\n16:17. Then opening the truth of the thing, he said to her: The razor\nhath never come upon my head, for I am a Nazarite, that is to say,\nconsecrated to God from my mother's womb: If my head be shaven, my\nstrength shall depart from me, and I shall become weak, and shall be\nlike other men.\n\n16:18. Then seeing that he had discovered to her all his mind, she sent\nto the princes of the Philistines, saying: Come up this once more, for\nnow he hath opened his heart to me. And they went up, taking with them\nthe money which they had promised.\n\n16:19. But she made him sleep upon her knees, and lay his head in her\nbosom. And she called a barber and shaved his seven locks, and began to\ndrive him away, and thrust him from her: for immediately his strength\ndeparted from him.\n\n16:20. And she said: The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And awaking\nfrom sleep, he said in his mind: I will go out as I did before, and\nshake myself, not knowing that the Lord was departed from him.\n\n16:21. Then the Philistines seized upon him, and forthwith pulled out\nhis eyes, and led him bound in chains to Gaza, and shutting him up in\nprison made him grind.\n\n16:22. And now his hair began to grow again,\n\n16:23. And the princes of the Philistines assembled together, to offer\ngreat sacrifices to Dagon their god, and to make merry, saying: Our god\nhath delivered our enemy Samson into our hands.\n\n16:24. And the people also seeing this, praised their god, and said the\nsame: Our god hath delivered our adversary into our hands, him that\ndestroyed our country, and killed very many.\n\n16:25. And rejoicing in their feasts, when they had now taken their good\ncheer, they commanded that Samson should be called, and should play\nbefore them. And being brought out of prison, he played before them; and\nthey made him stand between two pillars.\n\n16:26. And he said to the lad that guided his steps: Suffer me to touch\nthe pillars which support the whole house, and let me lean upon them,\nand rest a little.\n\n16:27. Now the house was full of men and women, and all the princes of\nthe Philistines were there. Moreover about three thousand persons of\nboth sexes, from the roof and the higher part of the house, were\nbeholding Samson's play.\n\n16:28. But he called upon the Lord, saying: O Lord God remember me, and\nrestore to me now my former strength, O my God, that I may revenge\nmyself on my enemies, and for the loss of my two eyes I may take one\nrevenge.\n\nRevenge myself... This desire of revenge was out of zeal for justice\nagainst the enemies of God and his people; and not out of private\nrancour and malice of heart.\n\n16:29. And laying hold on both the pillars on which the house rested,\nand holding the one with his right hand, and the other with his left,\n\n16:30. He said: Let me die with the Philistines. And when he had\nstrongly shook the pillars, the house fell upon all the princes, and the\nrest of the multitude, that was there: and he killed many more at his\ndeath, than he had killed before in his life.\n\nLet me die... Literally, let my soul die. Samson did not sin on this\noccasion, though he was indirectly the cause of his own death. Because\nhe was moved to what he did, by a particular inspiration of God, who\nalso concurred with him by a miracle, in restoring his strength upon the\nspot, in consequence of his prayer. Samson, by dying in this manner, was\na figure of Christ, who by his death overcame all his enemies.\n\n16:31. And his brethren and all his kindred, going down took his body,\nand buried it between Saraa and Esthaol, in the buryingplace of his\nfather Manue: and he judged Israel twenty years.\n\n\nJudges Chapter 17\n\nThe history of the idol of Michas, and the young Levite.\n\n17:1. There was at that time a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was\nMichas.\n\n17:2. Who said to his mother: The eleven hundred pieces of silver, which\nthou hadst put aside for thyself, and concerning which thou didst swear\nin my hearing, behold I have, and they are with me. And she said to him.\nBlessed be my son by the Lord.\n\n17:3. So he restored them to his mother, who said to him: I have\nconsecrated and vowed this silver to the Lord, that my son may receive\nit at my hand, and make a graven and a molten god; so now I deliver it\nto thee.\n\n17:4. And he restored them to his mother: and she took two hundred\npieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith, to make of them a\ngraven and a molten God, which was in the house of Michas.\n\n17:5. And he separated also therein a little temple for the god, and\nmade an ephod, and theraphim, that is to say, a priestly garment, and\nidols: and he filled the hand of one of his sons, and he became his\npriest.\n\nFilled the hand... That is, appointed and consecrated him to the\npriestly office.\n\n17:6. In those days there was no king in Israel, but every one did that\nwhich seemed right to himself.\n\n17:7. There was also another young man of Bethlehem Juda, of the kindred\nthereof: and he was a Levite, and dwelt there.\n\n17:8. Now he went out from the city of Bethlehem, and desired to sojourn\nwheresoever he should find it convenient for him. And when he was come\nto mount Ephraim, as he was on his journey, and had turned aside a\nlittle into the house of Michas,\n\n17:9. He was asked by him whence he came. And he answered: I am a Levite\nof Bethlehem Juda, and I am going to dwell where I can, and where I\nshall find a place to my advantage.\n\n17:10. And Michas said: Stay with me, and be unto me a father and a\npriest, and I will give thee every year ten pieces of silver, and a\ndouble suit of apparel, and thy victuals.\n\n17:11. He was content, and abode with the man, and was unto him as one\nof his sons.\n\n17:12. And Michas filled his hand, and had the young man with him for\nhis priest, saying:\n\n17:13. Now I know God will do me good, since I have a priest of the race\nof the Levites.\n\n\nJudges Chapter 18\n\nThe expedition of the men of Dan against Lais: in their way they rob\nMichas of his priest and his gods.\n\n18:1. In those days there was no king in Israel, and the tribe of Dan\nsought them an inheritance to dwell in: for unto that day they had not\nreceived their lot among the other tribes.\n\nNot received, etc... They had their portions assigned them, Jos.  19.40.\nBut, through their own sloth, possessed as yet but a small part of it.\nSee Judges 1.34.\n\n18:2. So the children of Dan sent five most valiant men, of their stock\nand family, from Saraa and Esthaol, to spy out the land, and to view it\ndiligently: and they said to them: Go, and view the land. They went on\ntheir way, and when they came to mount Ephraim, they went into the house\nof Michas, and rested there:\n\n18:3. And knowing the voice of the young man the Levite, and lodging\nwith him, they said to him: Who brought thee hither? what dost thou\nhere? why wouldst thou come hither?\n\n18:4. He answered them: Michas hath done such and such things for me,\nand hath hired me to be his priest.\n\n18:5. Then they desired him to consult the Lord, that they might know\nwhether their journey should be prosperous, and the thing should have\neffect.\n\n18:6. He answered them: Go in peace: the Lord looketh on your way, and\nthe journey that you go.\n\n18:7. So the five men going on came to Lais: and they saw how the people\ndwelt therein without any fear, according to the custom of the\nSidonians, secure and easy, having no man at all to oppose them, being\nvery rich, and living separated, at a distance from Sidon and from all\nmen.\n\n18:8. And they returned to their brethren in Saraa and Esthaol, who\nasked them what they had done: to whom they answered:\n\n18:9. Arise, and let us go up to them: for we have seen the land which\nis exceeding rich and fruitful: neglect not, lose no time: let us go and\npossess it, there will be no difficulty.\n\n18:10. We shall come to a people that is secure, into a spacious\ncountry, and the Lord will deliver the place to us, in which there is no\nwant of any thing that groweth on the earth.\n\n18:11. There went therefore of the kindred of Dan, to wit, from Saraa\nand Esthaol, six hundred men, furnished with arms for war.\n\n18:12. And going up they lodged in Cariathiarim of Juda: which place\nfrom that time is called the camp of Dan, and is behind Cariathiarim.\n\n18:13. From thence they passed into mount Ephraim.  And when they were\ncome to the house of Michas,\n\n18:14. The five men, that before had been sent to view the land of Lais,\nsaid to the rest of their brethren: You know that in these houses there\nis an ephod and theraphim, and a graven and a molten god: see what you\nare pleased to do.\n\n18:15. And when they had turned a little aside, they went into the house\nof the young man the Levite, who was in the house of Michas: and they\nsaluted him with words of peace.\n\n18:16. And the six hundred men stood before the door, appointed with\ntheir arms.\n\n18:17. But they that were gone into the house of the young man, went\nabout to take away the graven god, and the ephod, and the theraphim, and\nthe molten god, and the priest stood before the door, the six hundred\nvaliant men waiting not far off.\n\n18:18. So they that were gone in took away the graven thing, the ephod,\nand the idols, and the molten god, And the priest said to them: What are\nyou doing?\n\n18:19. And they said to him: Hold thy peace, and put thy finger on thy\nmouth, and come with us, that we may have thee for a father, and a\npriest. Whether is better for thee, to be a priest in the house of one\nman, or in a tribe and family in Israel?\n\n18:20. When he heard this, he agreed to their words, and took the ephod,\nand the idols, and the graven god, and departed with them.\n\n18:21. And when they were going forward, and had put before them the\nchildren and the cattle, and all that was valuable,\n\n18:22. And were now at a distance from the house of Michas, the men that\ndwelt in the houses of Michas gathering together followed them,\n\n18:23. And began to shout out after them. They looked back, and said to\nMichas: What aileth thee? Why dost thou cry?\n\n18:24. And he answered: You have taken away my gods which I have made\nme, and the priest, and all that I have, and do you say: What aileth\nthee?\n\n18:25. And the children of Dan said to him: See thou say no more to us,\nlest men enraged come upon thee, and thou perish with all thy house.\n\n18:26. And so they went on the journey they had begun.  But Michas\nseeing that they were stronger than he, returned to his house.\n\n18:27. And the six hundred men took the priest, and the things we spoke\nof before, and came to Lais, to a people that was quiet and secure, and\nsmote them with the edge of the sword: and the city they burnt with\nfire,\n\n18:28. There being no man at all who brought them any succour, because\nthey dwelt far from Sidon, and had no society or business with any man.\nAnd the city was in the land of Rohob: and they rebuilt it, and dwelt\ntherein,\n\n18:29. Calling the name of the city Dan, after the name of their father,\nwho was the son of Israel, which before was called Lais.\n\n18:30. And they set up to themselves the graven idol, and Jonathan the\nson of Gersam, the son of Moses, he and his sons were priests in the\ntribe of Dan, until the day of their captivity.\n\n18:31. And the idol of Michas remained with them all the time that the\nhouse of God was in Silo. In those days there was no king in Israel.\n\n\nJudges Chapter 19\n\nA Levite bringing home his wife, is lodged by an old man at Gabaa in the\ntribe of Benjamin. His wife is there abused by wicked men, and in the\nmorning found dead. Her husband cutteth her body in pieces, and sendeth\nto every tribe of Israel, requiring them to revenge the wicked fact.\n\n19:1. There was a certain Levite, who dwelt on the side of mount\nEphraim, who took a wife of Bethlehem Juda:\n\n19:2. And she left him, and returned to her father's house in Bethlehem,\nand abode with him four months.\n\n19:3. And her husband followed her, willing to be reconciled with her,\nand to speak kindly to her, and to bring her back with him, having with\nhim a servant and two asses: and she received him, and brought him into\nher father's house. And when his father in law had heard this, and had\nseen him, he met him with joy,\n\n19:4. And embraced the man. And the son in law tarried in the house of\nhis father in law three days, eating with him and drinking familiarly.\n\n19:5. But on the fourth day, arising early in the morning, he desired to\ndepart. But his father in law kept him, and said to him: Taste first a\nlittle bread, and strengthen thy stomach, and so thou shalt depart.\n\n19:6. And they sat down together, and ate and drank.  And the father of\nthe young woman said to his son in law: I beseech thee to stay here to\nday, and let us make merry together.\n\n19:7. But he rising up, began to be for departing. And nevertheless his\nfather in law earnestly pressed him, and made him stay with him.\n\n19:8. But when morning was come, the Levite prepared to go on his\njourney. And his father in law said to him again: I beseech thee to take\na little meat, and strengthening thyself, till the day be farther\nadvanced, afterwards thou mayest depart. And they ate together.\n\n19:9. And the young man arose to set forward with his wife and servant.\nAnd his father in law spoke to him again: Consider that the day is\ndeclining, and draweth toward evening: tarry with me to day also, and\nspend the day in mirth, and to morrow thou shalt depart, that thou\nmayest go into thy house.\n\n19:10. His son in law would not consent to his words: but forthwith went\nforward, and came over against Jebus, which by another name is called\nJerusalem, leading with him two asses loaden, and his concubine.\n\nConcubine.. She was his lawful wife, but even lawful wives are\nfrequently in scripture called concubines. See above, chap. 8.  ver.\n31.--Ver. 16. Jemini... That is, Benjamin.\n\n19:11. And now they were come near Jebus, and the day was far spent: and\nthe servant said to his master: Come, I beseech thee, let us turn into\nthe city of the Jebusites, and lodge there.\n\n19:12. His master answered him: I will not go into the town of another\nnation, who are not of the children of Israel, but I will pass over to\nGabaa:\n\n19:13. And when I shall come thither, we will lodge there, or at least\nin the city of Rama.\n\n19:14. So they passed by Jebus, and went on their journey, and the sun\nwent down upon them when they were by Gabaa, which is in the tribe of\nBenjamin:\n\n19:15. And they turned into it to lodge there. And when they were come\nin, they sat in the street of the city, for no man would receive them to\nlodge.\n\n19:16. And behold they saw an old man, returning out of the field and\nfrom his work in the evening, and he also was of mount Ephraim, and\ndwelt as a stranger in Gabaa; but the men of that country were the\nchildren of Jemini.\n\n19:17. And the old man lifting up his eyes, saw the man sitting with his\nbundles in the street of the city, and said to him: Whence comest thou?\nand whither goest thou?\n\n19:18. He answered him: We came out from Bethlehem Juda, and we are\ngoing to our home, which is on the side of mount Ephraim, from whence we\nwent to Bethlehem: and now we go to the house of God, and none will\nreceive us under his roof:\n\n19:19. We have straw and hay for provender of the asses, and bread and\nwine for the use of myself and of thy handmaid, and of the servant that\nis with me: we want nothing but lodging.\n\n19:20. And the old man answered him: Peace be with thee: I will furnish\nall things that are necessary: only I beseech thee, stay not in the\nstreet.\n\n19:21. And he brought him into his house, and gave provender to his\nasses: and after they had washed their feet, he entertained them with a\nfeast.\n\n19:22. While they were making merry, and refreshing their bodies with\nmeat and drink, after the labour of the journey, the men of that city,\nsons of Belial (that is, without yoke), came and beset the old man's\nhouse, and began to knock at the door, calling to the master of the\nhouse, and saying: Bring forth the man that came into thy house, that we\nmay abuse him:\n\n19:23. And the old man went out to them, and said: Do not so, my\nbrethren, do not so wickedly: because this man is come into my lodging,\nand cease I pray you from this folly.\n\n19:24. I have a maiden daughter, and this man hath a concubine, I will\nbring them out to you, and you may humble them, and satisfy your lust:\nonly, I beseech you, commit not this crime against nature on the man.\n\n19:25. They would not be satisfied with his words; which the man seeing,\nbrought out his concubine to them, and abandoned her to their\nwickedness: and when they had abused her all the night, they let her go\nin the morning.\n\n19:26. But the woman, at the dawning of the day, came to the door of the\nhouse, where her lord lodged, and there fell down.\n\n19:27. And in the morning the man arose, and opened the door, that he\nmight end the journey he had begun: and behold his concubine lay before\nthe door with her hands spread on the threshold.\n\n19:28. He thinking she was taking her rest, said to her: Arise, and let\nus be going. But as she made no answer, perceiving she was dead, he took\nher up, and laid her upon his ass, and returned to his house.\n\n19:29. And when he was come home, he took a sword, and divided the dead\nbody of his wife with her bones into twelve parts, and sent the pieces\ninto all the borders of Israel.\n\n19:30. And when every one had seen this, they all cried out: There was\nnever such a thing done in Israel, from the day that our fathers came up\nout of Egypt, until this day: give sentence, and decree in common what\nought to be done.\n\n\nJudges Chapter 20\n\nThe Israelites warring against Benjamin are twice defeated; but in the\nthird battle the Benjamites are all slain, saving six hundred men.\n\n20:1. Then all the children of Israel went out, and gathered together as\none man, from Dan to Bersabee, with the land of Galaad, to the Lord in\nMaspha:\n\n20:2. And all the chiefs of the people, and all the tribes of Israel,\nmet together in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand\nfootmen fit for war.\n\n20:3. (Nor were the children of Benjamin ignorant that the children of\nIsrael were come up to Maspha.) And the Levite, the husband of the woman\nthat was killed being asked, how so great a wickedness had been\ncommitted,\n\n20:4. Answered: I came into Gabaa, of Benjamin, with my wife, and there\nI lodged:\n\n20:5. And behold the men of that city, in the night beset the house\nwherein I was, intending to kill me, and abused my wife with an\nincredible fury of lust, so that at last she died.\n\n20:6. And I took her and cut her in pieces, and sent the parts into all\nthe borders of your possession: because there never was so heinous a\ncrime, and so great an abomination committed in Israel.\n\n20:7. You are all here, O children of Israel, determine what you ought\nto do.\n\n20:8. And all the people standing, answered as by the voice of one man:\nWe will not return to our tents, neither shall any one of us go into his\nown house:\n\n20:9.  But this we will do in common against Gabaa:\n\n20:10. We will take ten men of a hundred out of all the tribes of\nIsrael, and a hundred out of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten\nthousand, to bring victuals for the army, that we may fight against\nGabaa of Benjamin, and render to it for its wickedness, what it\ndeserveth.\n\n20:11. And all Israel were gathered together against the city, as one\nman, with one mind, and one counsel:\n\n20:12. And they sent messengers to all the tribe of Benjamin, to say to\nthem: Why hath so great an abomination been found among you?\n\n20:13. Deliver up the men of Gabaa, that have committed this heinous\ncrime, that they may die, and the evil may be taken away out of Israel.\nBut they would not hearken to the proposition of their brethren the\nchildren of Israel:\n\n20:14. But out of all the cities which were of their lot, they gathered\nthemselves together into Gabaa, to aid them, and to fight against the\nwhole people of Israel.\n\n20:15. And there were found of Benjamin five and twenty thousand men\nthat drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gabaa,\n\n20:16. Who were seven hundred most valiant men, fighting with the left\nhand as well as with the right: and slinging stones so sure that they\ncould hit even a hair, and not miss by the stone's going on either side.\n\n20:17. Of the men of Israel also, beside the children of Benjamin, were\nfound four hundred thousand that drew swords and were prepared to fight.\n\n20:18. And they arose and came to the house of God, that is, to Silo:\nand they consulted God, and said: Who shall be in our army the first to\ngo to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the Lord answered\nthem: Let Juda be your leader.\n\n20:19. And forthwith the children of Israel rising in the morning,\ncamped by Gabaa:\n\n20:20. And going out from thence to fight against Benjamin, began to\nassault the city.\n\n20:21. And the children of Benjamin coming out of Gabaa slew of the\nchildren of Israel that day two and twenty thousand men.\n\n20:22. Again Israel, trusting in their strength and their number, set\ntheir army in array in the same place, where they had fought before:\n\nTrusting in their strength... The Lord suffered them to be overthrown\nand many of them to be slain, though their cause was just; partly in\npunishment of the idolatry which they exercised or tolerated in the\ntribe of Dan, and elsewhere; and partly because they trusted in their\nown strength; and therefore, though he bid them fight, he would not give\nthem the victory, till they were thoroughly humbled and had learned to\ntrust in him alone.\n\n20:23. Yet so that they first went up and wept before the Lord until\nnight: and consulted him and said: Shall I go out any more to fight\nagainst the children of Benjamin my brethren or not? And he answered\nthem: Go up against them, and join battle.\n\n20:24. And when the children of Israel went out the next day to fight\nagainst the children of Benjamin,\n\n20:25. The children of Benjamin sallied forth out of the gates of Gabaa:\nand meeting them, made so great a slaughter of them, as to kill eighteen\nthousand men that drew the sword.\n\n20:26. Wherefore all the children of Israel came to the house of God,\nand sat and wept before the Lord: and they fasted that day till the\nevening, and offered to him holocausts, and victims of peace offerings,\n\n20:27. And inquired of him concerning their state. At that time the ark\nof the covenant of the Lord was there,\n\n20:28. And Phinees, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, was over the\nhouse. So they consulted the Lord, and said: Shall we go out any more to\nfight against the children of Benjamin, our brethren, or shall we cease?\nAnd the Lord said to them: Go up, for to morrow I will deliver them into\nyour hands.\n\n20:29. And the children of Israel set ambushes round about the city of\nGabaa:\n\n20:30. And they drew up their army against Benjamin the third time, as\nthey had done the first and second.\n\n20:31. And the children of Benjamin boldly issued out of the city, and\nseeing their enemies flee, pursued them a long way, so as to wound and\nkill some of them, as they had done the first and second day, whilst\nthey fled by two highways, whereof one goeth up to Bethel and the other\nto Gabaa, and they slew about thirty men:\n\n20:32. For they thought to cut them off as they did before. But they\nartfully feigning a flight, designed to draw them away from the city,\nand by their seeming to flee, to bring them to the highways aforesaid.\n\n20:33. Then all the children of Israel rising up out of the places where\nthey were, set their army in battle array, in the place which is called\nBaalthamar. The ambushes also, which were about the city, began by\nlittle and little to come forth,\n\n20:34. And to march from the west side of the city.  And other ten\nthousand men chosen out of all Israel, attacked the inhabitants of the\ncity. And the battle grew hot against the children of Benjamin: and they\nunderstood not that present death threatened them on every side.\n\n20:35. And the Lord defeated them before the children of Israel, and\nthey slew of them in that day five and twenty thousand, and one hundred,\nall fighting men, and that drew the sword.\n\n20:36. But the children of Benjamin, when they saw themselves to be too\nweak, began to flee. Which the children of Israel seeing, gave them\nplace to flee, that they might come to the ambushes that were prepared,\nwhich they had set near the city.\n\n20:37. And they that were in ambush arose on a sudden out of their\ncoverts, and whilst Benjamin turned their backs to the slayers, went\ninto the city, and smote it with the edge of the sword.\n\n20:38. Now the children of Israel had given a sign to them, whom they\nhad laid in ambushes, that after they had taken the city, they should\nmake a fire: that by the smoke rising on high, they might shew that the\ncity was taken.\n\n20:39. And when the children of Israel saw this in the battle, (for the\nchildren of Benjamin thought they fled, and pursued them vigorously,\nkilling thirty men of their army)\n\n20:40. And perceived, as it were, a pillar of smoke rise up from the\ncity; and Benjamin looking back, saw that the city was taken, and that\nthe flames ascended on high:\n\n20:41. They that before had made as if they fled, turning their faces,\nstood bravely against them. Which the children of Benjamin seeing,\nturned their backs,\n\n20:42. And began to go towards the way of the desert, the enemy pursuing\nthem thither also. And they that fired the city came also out to meet\nthem.\n\n20:43. And so it was, that they were slain on both sides by the enemies,\nand there was no rest of their men dying. They fell and were beaten down\non the east side of the city of Gabaa.\n\n20:44. And they that were slain in the same place, were eighteen\nthousand men, all most valiant soldiers.\n\n20:45. And when they that remained of Benjamin saw this, they fled into\nthe wilderness, and made towards the rock that is called Remmon. In that\nflight also, as they were straggling, and going different ways; they\nslew of them five thousand men. And as they went farther, they still\npursued them, and slew also other two thousand.\n\n20:46. And so it came to pass, that all that were slain of Benjamin, in\ndivers places, were five and twenty thousand fighting men, most valiant\nfor war.\n\n20:47. And there remained of all the number of Benjamin only six hundred\nmen that were able to escape, and flee to the wilderness: and they abode\nin the rock Remmon four months.\n\n20:48. But the children of Israel returning, put all the remains of the\ncity to the sword, both men and beasts, and all the cities and villages\nof Benjamin were consumed with devouring flames.\n\n\nJudges Chapter 21\n\nThe tribe of Benjamin is saved from being utterly extinct, by providing\nwives for the six hundred that remained.\n\n21:1. Now the children of Israel had also sworn in Maspha, saying: None\nof us shall give of his daughters to the children of Benjamin to wife.\n\n21:2. And they all came to the house of God in Silo, and sitting before\nhim till the evening, lifted up their voices, and began to lament and\nweep, saying:\n\n21:3. O Lord God of Israel, why is so great an evil come to pass in thy\npeople, that this day one tribe should be taken away from among us?\n\n21:4. And rising early the next day, they built an altar: and offered\nthere holocausts, and victims of peace, and they said:\n\n21:5. Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with\nthe army of the Lord? for they had bound themselves with a great oath,\nwhen they were in Maspha, that whosoever were wanting should be slain.\n\n21:6. And the children of Israel being moved with repentance for their\nbrother Benjamin, began to say: One tribe is taken away from Israel.\n\n21:7. Whence shall they take wives? For we have all in general sworn,\nnot to give our daughters to them.\n\n21:8. Therefore they said: Who is there of all the tribes of Israel,\nthat came not up to the Lord to Maspha?  And, behold, the inhabitants of\nJabes Galaad were found not to have been in that army.\n\n21:9. (At that time also when they were in Silo, no one of them was\nfound there,)\n\n21:10. So they sent ten thousand of the most valiant men, and commanded\nthem, saying: Go and put the inhabitants of Jabes Galaad to the sword,\nwith their wives and their children.\n\n21:11. And this is what you shall observe:  Every male, and all women\nthat have known men, you shall kill, but the virgins you shall save.\n\n21:12. And there were found of Jabes Galaad four hundred virgins, that\nhad not known the bed of a man, and they brought them to the camp in\nSilo, into the land of Chanaan.\n\n21:13. And they sent messengers to the children of Benjamin, that were\nin the rock Remmon, and commanded them to receive them in peace.\n\n21:14. And the children of Benjamin came at that time, and wives were\ngiven them of Jabes Galaad: but they found no others, whom they might\ngive in like manner.\n\n21:15. And all Israel was very sorry, and repented for the destroying of\none tribe out of Israel.\n\n21:16. And the ancients said: What shall we do with the rest, that have\nnot received wives? for all the women in Benjamin are dead.\n\n21:17. And we must use all care, and provide with great diligence, that\none tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.\n\n21:18. For as to our own daughters we cannot give them, being bound with\nan oath and a curse, whereby we said: Cursed be he that shall give\nBenjamin any of his daughters to wife.\n\n21:19. So they took counsel, and said: Behold, there is a yearly\nsolemnity of the Lord in Silo, which is situate on the north of the city\nof Bethel, and on the east side of the way, that goeth from Bethel to\nSichem, and on the south of the town of Lebona.\n\n21:20. And they commanded the children of Benjamin and said: Go, and lie\nhid in the vineyards,\n\n21:21. And when you shall see the daughters of Silo come out, as the\ncustom is, to dance, come ye on a sudden out of the vineyards, and catch\nyou every man his wife among them, and go into the land of Benjamin.\n\n21:22. And when their fathers and their brethren shall come, and shall\nbegin to complain against you, and to chide, we will say to them: Have\npity on them: for they took them not away as by the right of war or\nconquest, but when they asked to have them, you gave them not, and the\nfault was committed on your part.\n\n21:23. And the children of Benjamin did as they had been commanded: and,\naccording to their number, they carried off for themselves every man his\nwife of them that were dancing: and they went into their possession, and\nbuilt up their cities, and dwelt in them.\n\n21:24. The children of Israel also returned by their tribes, and\nfamilies, to their dwellings. In those days there was no king in Israel:\nbut every one did that which seemed right to himself.","title":"The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Book 07: Judges: The Challoner Revision","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":21905}