Study Desk

Then Samson said to the servant who was holding him by his hand, "Position me so that I can touch the pillars on which the house rests, so I can lean on them."

And Samson called to Yahweh and said, "My Lord Yahweh, remember me! Please give me strength this one time, O God, so that I can repay with one act of revenge to the Philistines for my eyes."

And Micah said to him, "Stay with me and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give to you ten pieces of silver a year, a set of clothes, and your food." So the Levite went with him.

So Micah appointed the Levite, and the young man became a priest for him; and he was in the house of Micah.

And the five men that went out to spy out the land (that is, Laish) responded and said to their relatives, "Do you know that there are in these houses an ephod, teraphim, and an idol of cast metal? So then, consider what you must do."

So they turned to that direction, and they came to the house of the young Levite, the house of Micah, and they greeted him.

And the descendants of Dan said to him, "You should not let your voice be heard among us, so that ill-tempered men will not attack you, and take your life and the lives of your household."

So they set up for themselves the carved divine image that Micah had made, all the days that the house of God was in Shiloh.

So her husband set out, and he went after her to speak tenderly to her, to bring her back. He took with him his servant and a pair of donkeys. And she brought him to her father's house, and the father of the young woman saw him and was glad to meet him.

So the two of them sat and ate and drank together, and the father of the young woman said to the man, "Please, agree to spend the night and enjoy yourself."

So they crossed over and went their way, and the sun went down on them beside Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin.

So he brought him to his house, and he fed the donkeys; they washed their feet, ate, and drank.

While they were enjoying themselves, behold, the men of the city, the perverse lot, surrounded the house, pounding on the door. And they said to the old man, the owner of the house, "Bring out the man who came to your house so that we may have sex with him."

So the man, the owner of the house, went out to them and said to them, "No, my brothers, do not act wickedly; since this man has come into my house, do not do this disgraceful thing.

And he said to her, "Get up, let us go," but there was no answer. So he put her on the donkey, and the man got up and went to his place.

So then, this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will go up against her by lot.

So then, hand over the men, the perverse lot, who are in Gibeah, so that we may kill them and purge this wickedness from Israel." But the descendants of Benjamin were not willing to listen to the voice of their relatives, the Israelites.

So Israel stationed an ambush all around Gibeah.

So all of Benjamin who fell on that day were twenty-five thousand sword-wielding men; all of these were able men.

So the elders of the congregation said, "What should we do for the remaining ones for wives, since the women from Benjamin have been destroyed?"