you must bring the two of them to the gate of that city and stone them to death, the young woman because she did not cry out though in the city and the man because he violated ¹  his neighbor’s fiancée; ²  in this way you will purge ³  evil from among you.

her first husband who divorced her is not permitted to remarry ¹  her after she has become ritually impure, for that is offensive to the Lord. ²  You must not bring guilt on the land ³  which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

But if the man does not want to marry his brother’s widow, then she ¹  must go to the elders at the town gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to preserve his brother’s name in Israel; he is unwilling to perform the duty of a brother-in-law to me!”

then his sister-in-law must approach him in view of the elders, remove his sandal from his foot, and spit in his face. ¹  She will then respond, “Thus may it be done to any man who does not maintain his brother’s family line!” ² 

Then Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg in one hand and a hammer in the other. ¹  She crept up on him, drove the tent peg through his temple into the ground ²  while he was asleep from exhaustion, ³  and he died.

Now Barak was chasing Sisera. Jael went out to welcome him. She said to him, “Come here and I will show you the man you are searching for.” He went with her into the tent, ¹  and there he saw Sisera sprawled out dead ²  with the tent peg in his temple.

But his father and mother said to him, “Certainly you can find a wife among your relatives or among all our ¹  people! You should not have to go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines.” ²  But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, ³  because she is the right one for me.” ⁴ 

They hid ¹  in the bedroom and then she said to him, “The Philistines are here, ²  Samson!” He snapped the bowstrings as easily as a thread of yarn snaps when it is put close to fire. ³  The secret of his strength was not discovered. ⁴ 

So she made him go to sleep, wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric on the loom, fastened it with the pin, and said to him, “The Philistines are here, ¹  Samson!” ²  He woke up ³  and tore away the pin of the loom and the fabric.

When Delilah saw that he had told her his secret, ¹  she sent for ²  the rulers of the Philistines, saying, “Come up here again, for he has told me ³  his secret.” ⁴  So the rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her, bringing the silver in their hands.

her husband came ¹  after her, hoping he could convince her to return. ²  He brought with him his servant ³  and a pair of donkeys. When she brought him into her father’s house and the girl’s father saw him, he greeted him warmly. ⁴ 

Then he said, “Hold out the shawl ¹  you are wearing ²  and grip it tightly.” As she held it tightly, he measured out about sixty pounds ³  of barley into the shawl and put it on her shoulders. Then he ⁴  went into town,

She made a vow saying, “O Lord of hosts, if you will look with compassion ¹  on the suffering of your female servant, ²  remembering me and not forgetting your servant, and give a male child ³  to your servant, then I will dedicate him to the Lord all the days of his life. His hair will never be cut.” ⁴ 

Saul said, “I will give her to him so that she may become a snare to him and the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David, “Today is the second time for you to become my son-in-law.” ¹ 

When David went home to pronounce a blessing on his own house, ¹  Michal, Saul’s daughter, came out to meet him. ²  She said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished ³  himself this day! He has exposed himself today before his servants’ slave girls the way a vulgar fool ⁴  might do!”

Jonadab replied to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be sick. ¹  When your father comes in to see you, say to him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come in so she can fix some food for me. Let her prepare the food in my sight so I can watch. Then I will eat from her hand.’”

So Amnon lay down and pretended to be sick. When the king came in to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come in so she can make a couple of cakes in my sight. Then I will eat from her hand.”

She replied, “In that case, ¹  let the king invoke the name of ²  the Lord your God so that the avenger of blood may not kill! Then they will not destroy my son!” He replied, “As surely as the Lord lives, not a single hair of your son’s head ³  will fall to the ground.”

Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest until the rain fell on them, ¹  she did not allow the birds of the air to feed ²  on them by day, nor the wild animals ³  by night.

His servants advised ¹  him, “A young virgin must be found for our master, the king, ²  to take care of the king’s needs ³  and serve as his nurse. She can also sleep with you ⁴  and keep our master, the king, warm.” ⁵