And they passed thence unto mount Ephraim, and came unto the house of Micah. Now there was an appointed sign between the men of Israel and the liers in wait, that they should make a great flame with smoke rise up out of the city. And it came to pass in process of time, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel. And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin. 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. And Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies.
And after him Elon, a Zebulonite, judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years. Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven. And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. 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? And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, The LORD be witness between us, if we do not so according to thy words. And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds. And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out.
Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi. 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. And the people the men of Israel encouraged themselves, and set their battle again in array in the place where they put themselves in array the first day. And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee. So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one man.