an Israelite, with whose house Jabin was at peace. And Jael met Sisera, and said, Turn in my Lord, fear not. And she covered him with a mantle.

And he asked for a little Water, and she opened a bottle of Milk and gave him to drink. And he said to her, Stand in the door of the Tent, and it shall be when any Man doth come and enquire of thee and say, Is there any Man here? That thou shalt say, No.

Then Jael took a Nail of the Tent, and took a Hammer in her hand and went softly unto him, and smote the Nail into his Temples, and fastened it into the Ground, for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. And behold as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said, Come and I will shew thee the Man whom thou seekest. And behold Sisera lay dead, and the Nail was in his Temples.-And the Land had rest forty years.

CHAPTER 48.

GIDEON AND THE FLEECE.

AND Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and was oppressed by the Midianites. And there came an Angel of the Lord and sat under an Oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash, and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the wine-press to hide it from the Midianites. And the Angel appeared unto him and said, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. Go and save Israel, have not I sent thee. And Gideon prepared cakes and flesh and presented it to the Angel, and the Angel said, Lay it upon this rock, and he did Then the Angel put forth his staff, and touched it, and there rose up fire out of the rock and consumed the flesh and the cakes. Then the Angel departed out

of his sight. And when Gideon perceived that he was an Angel, he said, O Lord God! for because I have seen an Angel face to face. And the Lord said, Fear not, thou shalt not die.

And Gideon threw down the Altar of Baal that his Father had, and cut down the Grove that is by it. Then all the Midianites gathered together, and went over and pitched in the valley of Jezreel. But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, and sent messengers to Manassah, to Asher, Zebulun, and Napthali, and they came up to meet him.

And Gideon said-unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand as thou hast said, Behold I will put a Fleece of Wool in the floor, and if the dew be on the Fleece only, and it be dry upon all the Earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said. And it was so; for he rose up early and thrust the Fleece together, and wringed out the dew, a bowl full of Water.

And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once ;-let it now be dry only upon the Fleece, and upon all the Ground let there be dew. And God did so that night, for it was dry upon the Fleece only, and there was dew on all the Ground.

And Gideon trusted solely in the Lord, and he proclaimed that whatever People was fearful should return home; and there returned twenty-two thousand, and remained ten thousand; and again by the Lord's command, he sent back all except three hundred men. And the Host of Midian lay along beneath him in the Valley, like Grasshoppers for multitude, and their Camels like Sand on the sea side.

And he divided the three hundred Men into three

Companies, and he put a Trumpet in every Man's hand, with empty Pitchers, and Lamps concealed within the Pitchers; and they went down at night and stood secretly round about the Camp, and all at one time, blew the Trumpets and brake the Pitchers, and cried, The Sword of the Lord and of Gideon. And all the Host of Midian were afraid and fled, and the rest of Israel pursued after them and destroyed them.

Then the Men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, but he said, The Lord shall rule over you. And the Country had quietness forty years, in the days of Gideon.

And Gideon died, and after his death the Children of Israel turned again from the Lord to serve strange Gods.

CHAPTER 49.

JOTHAM'S FABLE OF THE TREES.

AND the Men of Sechem made Abimelech the Son of Gideon, their King, and slew the seventy other sons of Gideon, yet Jotham the youngest son was left; for he hid himself. Then spake Jotham unto the Men of Sechem and said, The Trees went forth on a time to anoint a King over them, and they said to the Olive Tree, Reign over us, but the Olive Tree said, Shall I leave my fatness, and go to be promoted over the Trees? And in like manner answered the Fig Tree and also the Vine, Then said all the Trees unto the Bramble, Come thou and reign over us, and the Bramble said, If in truth ye anoint me King over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow; if not, let Fire come out of the Bramble and devour the Cedars of Lebanon. Now therefore ye have done truly in that ye have made Abimelech King, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also

if

rejoice in you. But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Sechem, and let fire come out from the men of Sechem, and devour Abimelech.

And so, that the cruelty done to the seventy Brothers of Abimelech might be avenged; quarrels arose between Abimelech and the Men of Sechem, and Abimelech overcame and destroyed the Men of Sechem, and a certain Woman cast a piece of a Mill-stone upon Abimelech's head, and entirely brake his scull, and he died. Thus God punished the wickedness both of Abimelech and of the Men of Sechem.

CHAPTER 50.

SAMSON.

AND after this there was a succession of Judges in Israel, Jephthah and others. And the Children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years. And at this time Samson was born, the strongest man that ever lived. And he went down to Timnah to take a wife of the daughters of the Philistines, and behold a young Lion roared against him, and he rent him as he would have rent a Kid. And Samson soon repented of his marriage, and slew thirty of the Philistines, and went up to his Father's house. And his wife was given to his companion. And Samson went and he caught three hundred Foxes, and tied them tail to tail, and put a fire-brand in the midst between two tails, and set the brands on fire, and let theu go into the standing Corn of the Philistines, and burnt the standing Corn, with the Vineyards, and the Olives.

And this enraged the Philistines, who were Lords over the Israelites; and the Israelites bound Samson with Cords, to deliver him to the Philistines. And the Philistines shouted against him, and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and the Cords were as if they were flax burnt with fire. And Sainson found the jaw-bone of an Ass, and took it, and slew a thousand of the Philistines therewith.

And Samson slept in the City of Gaza, and the Men of the City laid wait for him, saying, In the morning we will kill him. And at midnight Samson arose and took the Gates of the City, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of an hill.

And after that, Delilah a cunning woman, prevailed upon Samson to tell her the secret of his strength, that if his head was shaven his strength would go. And she caused him to sleep on her knees, and shaved the hair from his head; and his strength went from him. Then the Philistines took and bound him with fetters of brass, and put out his eyes, and he did grind in the Prison-house.

Howbeit, the hair of his head began to grow again. Then the Lords of the Philistines gathered together to rejoice over Samson, and they called for Samson out of Prison-house, and he made them sport, and they set him between the Pillars.-And Samson said unto the Lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the Pillars whereupon the House standeth, that I may lean upon them. Now the House was full of Men 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.