the withes, as a string of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known. And Delilah said unto 60 Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If they only bind me with new ropes wherewith no work hath been done, then shall I become weak, and be as another man. So Delilah took new ropes, and bound him 65 therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And the liers in wait were abiding in the inner chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread. And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said 70 unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web. And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and plucked away the pin of the beam,1 and the web. And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when 75 thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three

times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth. And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, that his soul was vexed unto death. And he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come So a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazirite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come 85 up this once, for he hath told me all his heart. Then the lords

man.

of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought the money in their hand. And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and shaved off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. 90 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times, and shake myself. But he wist not that the LORD was departed

1 For the pin of the beam read the loom.

from him.

And the Philistines laid hold on him, and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house. 95 Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.

23 And the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice : for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our 100 hand. And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made sport before them and they set him between the pillars. And when the people saw him, they praised their god for they said, 105 Our god hath delivered into our hand our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which hath slain many of us. And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house resteth, that I may lean upon them. Now the house was full of men 110 and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport. And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O 115 God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house rested, and leaned upon them, the one with his right hand, and the other with his left. And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself 120 with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life. Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and 125 Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father.

LESSON XXXIX

THE MIGRATION OF DAN

The Ephraimite Micah makes an image and appoints a priest to watch over it. Some Danites, driven out of their territory by the Philistines, move northward to find a new home. On their way they carry off the priest and the image, and take them to Laish, where they settle.

JUDGES XVII. 1-XVIII. 31

171 And there was a man of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou didst utter a curse, and didst also speak it in mine 5 ears,1 I verily dedicate the silver unto the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a graven image: behold, the silver is with me: I took it. [Now therefore I will restore it unto thee.] And his mother said, Blessed be my son of the LORD. And when he restored the money unto his mother, his mother took 10 two hundred pieces of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image and it was in the house of Micah. And the man Micah had an house of gods,2 and he made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.

15

7 And there was a young man out of Beth-lehem-judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. And the man departed out of the city, out of Beth-lehem-judah,

1 For thou didst .

also say

in

my hearing.

2 For gods read God.

ears read thou didst take an oath, and didst

to sojourn where he could find a place and he came to the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed. And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said 20 unto him, I am a Levite of Beth-lehem-judah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place. And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten pieces of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. And the Levite was content to dwell with the 25 man. And Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.

18 1 And in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them 30 an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel. And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from Zorah, and from Eshtaol; and they said unto them, Go, search the land : and they came to the hill country of Ephraim, unto the house 35 of Micah, and lodged there. When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite: and they turned aside thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what doest thou in this place? and what hast thou here? And he said unto them, Thus and thus hath Micah 40 dealt with me, and he hath hired me, and I am become his priest. And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pay thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous. And the priest said unto them, Go in peace before the LORD is your way wherein ye go.

45

7 Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt in security, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure. And they came. unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren said unto them, What say ye? And they said, Arise, and let 50 us go up against them 1: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good and are ye still? be not slothful to go and to

PART II.

:

1 For against them read to Laish.

Р

enter in to possess the land. When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and the land is large: a place where there is 55 no want of any thing that is in the earth.

11 And there set forth from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men girt with weapons of war. And they went up, and encamped in Kiriath-jearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place 60 Mahaneh-dan, unto this day: behold, it is behind Kiriathjearim. And they passed thence unto the hill country of Ephraim, and came unto the house of Micah. Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses 65 an ephod, and teraphim? now therefore consider what ye have to do. And they turned aside thither, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and asked him of his welfare. And the six hundred men girt with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by 70 the entering of the gate. And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, and took the ephod, and the teraphim: and the priest said unto them, What do ye? And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest : 75 is it better for thee to be priest unto the house of one man, or to be priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel? And the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and went in the midst of the people. So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the goods 80 before them. Whey they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men that were in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan. And they cried unto the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest 85 with such a company? And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and are gone away, and what have I more? and how then say ye unto me, What aileth thee? And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall upon you, and