31When all this had ended, the Israelites who were there went out to the towns of Judah, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. They destroyed the high places and the altars throughout Judah and Benjamin and in Ephraim and Manasse
21The men of Israel had taken an oath at Mizpah: Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite. 2The people went to Bethel, where they sat before God until evening, raising their voices and weeping bitterly. 3O LORD , the God of Isr
23Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2He went up to the temple of the Lord with the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets-all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their
33Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. 2He did evil in the eyes of the Lord , following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 3He rebuilt th
24Again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, Go and take a census of Israel and Judah. 2So the king said to Joab and the army commanders with him, Go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beer
14Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman. 2When he returned, he said to his father and mother, I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife. 3His father and mother replied, Isn't there an acceptab
15Later on, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat and went to visit his wife. He said, I'm going to my wife's room. But her father would not let him go in. 2I was so sure you thoroughly hated her, he said, that I gave her to your fri
16One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her. 2The people of Gaza were told, Samson is here! So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They made no move durin
17Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim 2said to his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse-I have that silver with me; I took it. Then his mother said, The LOR
18In those days Israel had no king. And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking a place of their own where they might settle, because they had not yet come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. 2So the Danites sent five warriors
19In those days Israel had no king. Now a Levite who lived in a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim took a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. 2But she was unfaithful to him. She left him and went back to her father's house in Bethlehem, Judah.
23These are the last words of David: The oracle of David son of Jesse, the oracle of the man exalted by the Most High, the man anointed by the God of Jacob, Israel's singer of songs : 2The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me; his word was on my tongu
30Hezekiah sent word to all Israel and Judah and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, inviting them to come to the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover to the Lord , the God of Israel. 2The king and his officials and the
24During Jehoiakim's reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded the land, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. But then he changed his mind and rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar. 2The Lord sent Babylonian, Aramean, Moabite and Ammonite r
25So in the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. He encamped outside the city and built siege works all around it. 2The city was kept under
17Ahithophel said to Absalom, I would choose twelve thousand men and set out tonight in pursuit of David. 2I would attack him while he is weary and weak. I would strike him with terror, and then all the people with him will flee. I would strike down
18David mustered the men who were with him and appointed over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. 2David sent the troops out-a third under the command of Joab, a third under Joab's brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third unde
19Joab was told, The king is weeping and mourning for Absalom. 2And for the whole army the victory that day was turned into mourning, because on that day the troops heard it said, The king is grieving for his son. 3The men stole into the city that da
20Now a troublemaker named Sheba son of Bicri, a Benjamite, happened to be there. He sounded the trumpet and shouted, We have no share in David, no part in Jesse's son! Every man to his tent, O Israel! 2So all the men of Israel deserted David to foll