Daily Reading

Judges 9:1-12:15

9:1 And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem unto his mother's brethren, and communed with them, and with all the family of the house of his mother's father, saying,
9:2 Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem,
Whether is better for you, either that all the sons of
Jerubbaal, which are threescore and ten persons, reign over
you, or that one reign over you? remember also that I am your
bone and your flesh.

9:3 And his mother's brethren spake of him in the ears of all
the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined
to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother.

9:4 And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out
of the house of Baalberith, wherewith Abimelech hired vain and
light persons, which followed him.

9:5 And he went unto his father's house at Ophrah, and slew his
brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, being threescore and ten
persons, upon one stone: notwithstanding yet Jotham the
youngest son of Jerubbaal was left; for he hid himself.

9:6 And all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the
house of Millo, and went, and made Abimelech king, by the plain
of the pillar that was in Shechem.

9:7 And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the
top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and
said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God
may hearken unto you.

9:8 The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them;
and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us.

9:9 But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my
fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be
promoted over the trees?

9:10 And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign
over us.

9:11 But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my
sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the
trees?

9:12 Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign
over us.

9:13 And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which
cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?

9:14 Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and
reign over us.

9:15 And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint
me king over you, then come and put your trust in my
shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and
devour the cedars of Lebanon.

9:16 Now therefore, if ye have done truly and sincerely, in that
ye have made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with
Jerubbaal and his house, and have done unto him according to
the deserving of his hands;

9:17 (For my father fought for you, and adventured his life far,
and delivered you out of the hand of Midian:

9:18 And ye are risen up against my father's house this day, and
have slain his sons, threescore and ten persons, upon one
stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant,
king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother;)

9:19 If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubbaal
and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech,
and let him also rejoice in you:

9:20 But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour
the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come
out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and
devour Abimelech.

9:21 And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt
there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.

9:22 When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel,

9:23 Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men
of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with
Abimelech:

9:24 That the cruelty done to the threescore and ten sons of
Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech
their brother, which slew them; and upon the men of Shechem,
which aided him in the killing of his brethren.

9:25 And the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him in the top
of the mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way
by them: and it was told Abimelech.

9:26 And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren, and went
over to Shechem: and the men of Shechem put their confidence in
him.

9:27 And they went out into the fields, and gathered their
vineyards, and trode the grapes, and made merry, and went
into the house of their god, and did eat and drink, and cursed
Abimelech.

9:28 And Gaal the son of Ebed said, Who is Abimelech, and who
is Shechem, that we should serve him? is not he the son
of Jerubbaal? and Zebul his officer? serve the men of Hamor the
father of Shechem: for why should we serve him?

9:29 And would to God this people were under my hand! then would
I remove Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, Increase thine
army, and come out.

9:30 And when Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of
Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled.

9:31 And he sent messengers unto Abimelech privily, saying,
Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brethren be come to
Shechem; and, behold, they fortify the city against thee.

9:32 Now therefore up by night, thou and the people that is
with thee, and lie in wait in the field:

9:33 And it shall be, that in the morning, as soon as the sun
is up, thou shalt rise early, and set upon the city: and,
behold, when he and the people that is with him come out
against thee, then mayest thou do to them as thou shalt find
occasion.

9:34 And Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with
him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four
companies.

9:35 And Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the
entering of the gate of the city: and Abimelech rose up, and
the people that were with him, from lying in wait.

9:36 And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold,
there come people down from the top of the mountains. And Zebul
said unto him, Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as if
they were men.

9:37 And Gaal spake again and said, See there come people down
by the middle of the land, and another company come along by
the plain of Meonenim.

9:38 Then said Zebul unto him, Where is now thy mouth,
wherewith thou saidst, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve
him? is not this the people that thou hast despised? go out,
I pray now, and fight with them.

9:39 And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought
with Abimelech.

9:40 And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many
were overthrown and wounded, even unto the entering of the
gate.

9:41 And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah: and Zebul thrust out Gaal
and his brethren, that they should not dwell in Shechem.

9:42 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people went out
into the field; and they told Abimelech.

9:43 And he took the people, and divided them into three
companies, and laid wait in the field, and looked, and, behold,
the people were come forth out of the city; and he rose up
against them, and smote them.

9:44 And Abimelech, and the company that was with him, rushed
forward, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and
the two other companies ran upon all the people that were
in the fields, and slew them.

9:45 And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he
took the city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat
down the city, and sowed it with salt.

9:46 And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that,
they entered into an hold of the house of the god Berith.

9:47 And it was told Abimelech, that all the men of the tower of
Shechem were gathered together.

9:48 And Abimelech gat him up to mount Zalmon, he and all the
people that were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his
hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it, and
laid it on his shoulder, and said unto the people that were
with him, What ye have seen me do, make haste, and do as I
have done.

9:49 And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough,
and followed Abimelech, and put them to the hold, and set the
hold on fire upon them; so that all the men of the tower of
Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women.

9:50 Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez,
and took it.

9:51 But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither
fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut
it to them, and gat them up to the top of the tower.

9:52 And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it,
and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire.

9:53 And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon
Abimelech's head, and all to brake his skull.

9:54 Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer,
and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say
not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him
through, and he died.

9:55 And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead,
they departed every man unto his place.

9:56 Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did
unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren:

9:57 And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon
their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of
Jerubbaal.

10:1 And after Abimelech there arose to defend Israel Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in mount Ephraim.
10:2 And he judged Israel twenty and three years, and died, and
was buried in Shamir.

10:3 And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel
twenty and two years.

10:4 And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and
they had thirty cities, which are called Havothjair unto this
day, which are in the land of Gilead.

10:5 And Jair died, and was buried in Camon.

10:6 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of
the LORD, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of
Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the
gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines,
and forsook the LORD, and served not him.

10:7 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he
sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands
of the children of Ammon.

10:8 And that year they vexed and oppressed the children of
Israel: eighteen years, all the children of Israel that were
on the other side Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which
is in Gilead.

10:9 Moreover the children of Ammon passed over Jordan to fight
also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house
of Ephraim; so that Israel was sore distressed.

10:10 And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, saying, We
have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our
God, and also served Baalim.

10:11 And the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Did not
I deliver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from
the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines?

10:12 The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites,
did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of
their hand.

10:13 Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore
I will deliver you no more.

10:14 Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them
deliver you in the time of your tribulation.

10:15 And the children of Israel said unto the LORD, We have
sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee;
deliver us only, we pray thee, this day.

10:16 And they put away the strange gods from among them, and
served the LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of
Israel.

10:17 Then the children of Ammon were gathered together, and
encamped in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled
themselves together, and encamped in Mizpeh.

10:18 And the people and princes of Gilead said one to
another, What man is he that will begin to fight against the
children of Ammon? he shall be head over all the inhabitants of
Gilead.

11:1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he [was] the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.
11:2 And Gilead's wife bare him sons; and his wife's sons grew
up, and they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt
not inherit in our father's house; for thou art the son of a
strange woman.

11:3 Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land
of Tob: and there were gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went
out with him.

11:4 And it came to pass in process of time, that the children
of Ammon made war against Israel.

11:5 And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war
against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out
of the land of Tob:

11:6 And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that
we may fight with the children of Ammon.

11:7 And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye
hate me, and expel me out of my father's house? and why are ye
come unto me now when ye are in distress?

11:8 And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore we
turn again to thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight
against the children of Ammon, and be our head over all the
inhabitants of Gilead.

11:9 And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me
home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the LORD
deliver them before me, shall I be your head?

11:10 And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, The LORD be
witness between us, if we do not so according to thy words.

11:11 Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the
people made him head and captain over them: and Jephthah
uttered all his words before the LORD in Mizpeh.

11:12 And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children
of Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art
come against me to fight in my land?

11:13 And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the
messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when
they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and
unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again
peaceably.

11:14 And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the
children of Ammon:

11:15 And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not
away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon:

11:16 But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the
wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh;

11:17 Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying,
Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land: but the king of
Edom would not hearken thereto. And in like manner they sent
unto the king of Moab: but he would not consent: and Israel
abode in Kadesh.

11:18 Then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed
the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east
side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of
Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was
the border of Moab.

11:19 And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the
Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us
pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my place.

11:20 But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast:
but Sihon gathered all his people together, and pitched in
Jahaz, and fought against Israel.

11:21 And the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his
people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel
possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that
country.

11:22 And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from
Arnon even unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto
Jordan.

11:23 So now the LORD God of Israel hath dispossessed the
Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou
possess it?

11:24 Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth
thee to possess? So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out
from before us, them will we possess.

11:25 And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of
Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did
he ever fight against them,

11:26 While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer
and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the
coasts of Arnon, three hundred years? why therefore did ye not
recover them within that time?

11:27 Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest
me wrong to war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this
day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.

11:28 Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not
unto the words of Jephthah which he sent him.

11:29 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he
passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of
Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the
children of Ammon.

11:30 And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou
shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine
hands,

11:31 Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the
doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the
children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD'S, and I will offer
it up for a burnt offering.

11:32 So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to
fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands.

11:33 And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to
Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the
vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of
Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.

11:34 And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold,
his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with
dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither
son nor daughter.

11:35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his
clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very
low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have
opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back.

11:36 And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened
thy mouth unto the LORD, do to me according to that which hath
proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the LORD hath taken
vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of
Ammon.

11:37 And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for

11:38 And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months:
and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity
upon the mountains.

11:39 And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she
returned unto her father, who did with her according to his
vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man. And it was a
custom in Israel,

11:40 That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the
daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.

12:1 And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thine house upon thee with fire.
12:2 And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great
strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, ye
delivered me not out of their hands.

12:3 And when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in
my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and
the LORD delivered them into my hand: wherefore then are ye
come up unto me this day, to fight against me?

12:4 Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and
fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim,
because they said, Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim
among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites.

12:5 And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the
Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which
were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said
unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay;

12:6 Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said
Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then
they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and
there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two
thousand.

12:7 And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah
the Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.

12:8 And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.

12:9 And he had thirty sons, and thirty daughters, whom he
sent abroad, and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his
sons. And he judged Israel seven years.

12:10 Then died Ibzan, and was buried at Bethlehem.

12:11 And after him Elon, a Zebulonite, judged Israel; and he
judged Israel ten years.

12:12 And Elon the Zebulonite died, and was buried in Aijalon in
the country of Zebulun.

12:13 And after him Abdon the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite,
judged Israel.

12:14 And he had forty sons and thirty nephews, that rode on
threescore and ten ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years.

12:15 And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died, and was
buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the mount of the
Amalekites.



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