27 them. Now therefore I call God to witness, that I have not

sinned against thee, and that thou dealest wrongfully in going to war with me. Let the Lord, who is Judge, judge this day 28 between Israel and the Ammonites. And when the king of the

Ammonites hearkened not to the message which Jephthae 29 sent him, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthae, and he

marched through Galaad, and Manasses, and passed the watch tower of Galaad, into the border of the children of Am

mon.

30 And Jephthae vowed a vow to the Lord, and said, If thou deliver the children of Ammon into my hand, it shall be, that 31 whosoever cometh from the door of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall be for the Lord. Him will I dedicate as a whole burnt offering. 32 And when Jephthae passed on to come to battle with the chil

dren of Ammon, the Lord delivered them into his hand, and 33 he smote them from Aroer all the way to Arnon, through the

number of twenty cities, and even to Ebelcharmin, with a pro34 digious slaughter. And when the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel, and Jephthae came to Massepha, to his house, behold his daughter came out to meet 35 him, with timbrels and choirs. Now she was his only child. Besides her, he had neither son nor daughter. And when he saw her he rent his clothes, and said, Alas! alas! my daughter! Thou hast indeed troubled me; and thou thyself mayst be in trouble with me, for I have opened my mouth to the 36 Lord against thee, and I cannot go back. Upon which she said to him, Hast thou, my father, opened thy mouth to the Lord? Do to me according to what hath proceeded out of thy mouth, since the Lord hath executed vengeance for thee on 37 thine enemies-on the children of Ammon. Then she said to

her father, Grant me; my father, I pray thee, this favour. Let me alone two months, and I will go up and down on the mountains, and bewail my virginity—I call God to witness, with only 38 my female attendants. And he said, Go. So he sent her away two months, and she went with her female attendants, and bewailed 39 her virgin state on the mountains. And at the end of two months

she returned to her father and he performed with her his vow, 40 which he had vowed; so she knew not a man. And it was a

: XII.

custom in Israel, from year to year, for the daughters of Israel to go and bewail the daughter of Jephthac, the Galaadite, four days in the year.

Now the Ephraimites assembled, and went northward, and said to Jephthae, Why didst thou go to fight the Ammonites, and not call on us to go with thee? We will burn thy house over thee with fire. And Jephthae said to them, When I and my people, and the children of Ammon, were at hard conflict, I called on you; but you did not save me out of 3 their hands. So when I saw that thou wast not a deliverer, I

put my life in my hand, and went against the Ammonites, and the Lord delivered them into my hand. Why then are you 4 come up this day to fight against me? Then Jephthae re-assembled all the men of Galaad, and came to an engagement with Ephraim. And the men of Galaad smote Ephraim. Because they of Ephraim who were saved, said, You Galaadites 5 belong partly to Ephraim, and partly to Manasses, therefore the Galaadites seized the passages of the Jordan before Ephraim; and when those of Ephraim who escaped, said, Let 6 us cross over; the men of Galaad said to them, Art thou an Ephraimite? And when any said, No, then they said to him, say Stachys. And if he did not pronounce it distinctly, they took him, and slew him at the passages of the Jordan. So there fell of Ephraim, at that time, forty two thousand men.

7

And Jephthae judged Israel six years. Then Jephthae the 8 Galaadite died, and was buried in his own city, Galaad. And 9 after him, Abaissan of Bethlehem, judged Israel. And he had

thirty sons and thirty daughters. His daughters he sent abroad, and he brought from abroad thirty daughters for his sons, and 10 he judged Israel seven years. And Abaissan died, and was 11 buried in Bethlehem. And after him Ailom, the Zabulonite, 12 judged Israel ten years. And Ailom the Zabulonite died, and was 13 buried in Ailom, in the land of Zabulon. And after him Abdon, 14 son of Ellel, the Pharathonite, judged Israel. And he had forty

sons, and thirty grand sons, who rode on seventy colts; and 15 he judged Israel eight years. Then Abdon, son of Ellel the Pharathonite, died, and was buried at Pharathon, in the land of Ephraim, on mount Amelek.

XIII.

And the children of Israel again proceeded to do evil

in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the 2 hand of the Philistines, forty years. Now there was a man of

Saraa, a community of the Danites, whose name was Manoe; 3 and his wife was barren, and never had a child. And an angel

of the Lord appeared to the woman, and said to her, Behold, 4 thou art barren and hast never had a child. But thou shalt conceive a son, Now therefore be careful not to drink wine, nor any fermented liquor, nor eat any thing which is unclean. 5 For behold thou art with child, and shalt bear a son; and on his head a razor shall not come; for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb. And he shall begin to save Is6 rael out of the hand of the Philistines. And the woman went, and told her husband, saying, There came to me a man of God, and his visage was like that of an angel of God, very awful, so that I did not ask him whence he was, nor did he tell me his name. But he said to me, Behold thou art with 7 child, and shalt bear a son. Now therefore thou must not drink wine nor any fermented liquor, nor eat any thing unclean; for the child shall be consecrated to God, from the womb to 8 the day of his death. Whereupon Manoe prayed to the Lord, and said, O Lord Adonaie! grant me that the man of God, whom thou didst send, may come to us again, and instruct us 9 what we shall do to the child which is to be born. And God hearkened to the voice of Manoe, and the angel of God came again to the woman. Now she was sitting in the field, and 10 Manoe her husband was not with her. So the woman hasted, and ran and told her husband, and said to him, The man hath 11 appeared to me, who came to me before. Upon which Manoe arose, and went with his wife, and when he came to the man, he said to him, Art thou the man who spoke to my wife? And 12 the angel said, I am. Then Manoe said, Now the thing will

come to pass. How is the child to be educated, and what 13 is he to do? And the angel of the Lord said to Manoe, He

must abstain from all the things which I mentioned to this 14 woman. He must eat nothing which proceedeth from the vine,

nor drink wine, nor any fermented liquor, nor eat any thing 15 which is unclean. He must observe all that I have commanded

her. Then Manoe said to the angel of the Lord, Let us de16 tain thee here till we set before thee a kid of the goats. And

the angel of the Lord said to Manoe, Though thou detain me I cannot eat of thy victuals; but if thou wouldst offer a whole 17 burnt offering, offer it to the Lord. Because Manoe did not 18 know that he was an angel of the Lord, therefore Manoe said

to him, What is thy name, that when thy word cometh to pass we may honour thee? And the angel of the Lord said to Ma19 noe, Why askest thou my name? It is indeed Wonderful. Then Manoe took the kid of the goats, with the sacrifice of flour, and carried them up upon the rock for the Lord. And he went apart to offer the sacrifice, while Manoe and his wife 20 were looking on. And when the flame ascended above the altar,

up towards heaven, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame. 21 When Manoe and his wife saw this, they fell flat with their 22 face to the ground. And as the angel of the Lord no more ap

peared to Manoe and his wife, Manoe then knew that he was an angel of the Lord; whereupon he said to his wife, We shall 23 surely die, for we have seen God. But his wife said to him, Had it been the will of the Lord to cause us to die, he would not have received at our hand a whole burnt offering, and a sacrifice; nor would he have shewed us all these things; nor would he, as on this occasion, have caused us to hear these things.

24

So the woman bore a son, and called his name Sampson; 25 and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him; and the Spirit of the Lord began to go out with him, at the camp of Dan, between Saraa and Esthaol.

XIV. And Sampson went down to Thamnatha, and saw at 2 Thamnatha a woman of the daughters of the Philistines, and he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman at Thamnatha, of the daughters of the Philis3 tines. Now therefore get her for me for a wife. And his father and his mother said to him, Are there not daughters of thy brethren, or a woman among my whole tribe, that thou shouldst go to take a wife from among the uncircumcised Philistines? But Sampson said to his father, Get this woman for me; for she is 4 right in my eyes. His father and his mother did not know that it was of the Lord, that he was seeking to take vengeance on 5 the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel. Then Sampson went down, with his father and his mother to Thamnatha, and when he came to the vineyard

in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the 2 hand of the Philistines, forty years. Now there was a man of

Saraa, a community of the Danites, whose name was Manoe; 3 and his wife was barren, and never had a child. And an angel

of the Lord appeared to the woman, and said to her, Behold, 4 thou art barren and hast never had a child. But thou shalt conceive a son. Now therefore be careful not to drink wine, nor any fermented liquor, nor eat any thing which is unclean. 5 For behold thou art with child, and shalt bear a son; and on

his head a razor shall not come; for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb. And he shall begin to save Is6 rael out of the hand of the Philistines. And the woman went, and told her husband, saying, There came to me a man of God, and his visage was like that of an angel of God, very awful, so that I did not ask him whence he was, nor did he tell me his name. But he said to me, Behold thou art with 7 child, and shalt bear a son. Now therefore thou must not drink wine nor any fermented liquor, nor eat any thing unclean; for the child shall be consecrated to God, from the womb to 8 the day of his death. Whereupon Manoe prayed to the Lord, and said, O Lord Adonaie! grant me that the man of God, whom thou didst send, may come to us again, and instruct us 9 what we shall do to the child which is to be born. And God hearkened to the voice of Manoe, and the angel of God came again to the woman. Now she was sitting in the field, and 10 Manoe her husband was not with her. So the woman hasted, and ran and told her husband, and said to him, The man hath 11 appeared to me, who came to me before. Upon which Manoe arose, and went with his wife, and when he came to the man, he said to him, Art thou the man who spoke to my wife? And 12 the angel said, I am. Then Manoe said, Now the thing will

come to pass. How is the child to be educated, and what 13 is he to do? And the angel of the Lord said to Manoe, He

must abstain from all the things which I mentioned to this 14 woman. He must eat nothing which proceedeth from the vine,

nor drink wine, nor any fermented liquor, nor eat any thing 15 which is unclean. He must observe all that I have commanded

her. Then Manoe said to the angel of the Lord, Let us de16 tain thee here till we set before thee a kid of the goats. And