Chapters 1, 2

After the death of Joshua,
the Israelites continued their campaign 
to occupy all parts of the land of Canaan.

But as time went on, 
the Israelites began to forget the Lord their God.

As a result, things went wrong for the Israelites.

To help them, the Lord appointed judges to lead them.
For a while the people followed the judges.

But as soon as a judge died,
the people again lapsed into idolatry.

第1、2 章  

若苏厄死后， 以色列人继续他们的战役
占领客纳罕所有土地。

但随着时间的流逝， 以色列人开始忘记主他们的神。

因此，以色列人的事情都不顺利。

为了帮助他们，主任命民長带领他们。
百姓跟随民長一阵子。

但当民長死了，百姓再次陷入偶像崇拜。　

Dear God, please don't let me forget you.
Please help me pray to you and love you every day.

　亲爱的神，请不要让我忘记你。
请帮我每天向你祈祷和爱你

Chapter 3

Some of the Israelites forgot the Lord their God
and worshipped false gods.

As a result, they were enslaved by the king of Edom for 8 years.

They cried to God for help
and God raised up Othniel, a nephew of Caleb,
to lead and rescue them.

Then the land enjoyed peace for 40 years.

But when Othniel died,
the Israelites again began to do what displeases the Lord,
and were again enslaved, this time by Eglon king of Moab,
for 18 years.

Once more they cried to the Lord for help
and he raised up Ehud, a left-hander.

As Ehud presented tribute to Eglon,
he said to Eglon:
"I have a secret message for you".

When they were alone, Eglon thought he was safe,
because Ehud's knife was on his right thigh.

Ehud then used his left-hand to grab the knife unexpectedly
and killed Eglon.

Ehud escaped from the king's quarters
before the king's attendants knew Eglon was dead.

Ehud then roused the Israelites to fight and defeat the Moabites,
after which the land enjoyed peace for 80 years

第 3 章

一些以色列人忘记主他们的神并崇拜假神。

因此，他们被厄东王奴役八年。

他们向神哭求帮助，而神兴起了敖特尼耳，加肋布的侄子，
领导和拯救他们。

然后，这土地享有和平四十年。

但是，当敖特尼耳死了，
以色列人又开始做冒犯主的事，
并再次被摩阿布王厄革隆奴役十八年。

又一次他们哭求主的帮助，
而神兴起了厄胡得，一个左撇子。  

当厄胡得献贡品给厄革隆，他对厄革隆说：
“我有机密消息给你。”

当他们独处，厄革隆以为他是安全的，
因为厄胡得的刀在他的右大腿上。

厄胡得然后用他的左手突然抓住刀和杀害厄革隆。

在君王的侍从知道厄革隆的死亡前，
厄胡得从君王的住所逃离。

厄胡得则激起了以色列人对抗和打败摩阿布人，
之后该地享有和平八十年。

Lord, please raise up good leaders in every country

主，请在每一个国家兴起优秀的领导人

Chapter 4

After Ehud died, the Israelites again began to stray from the Lord
and therefore again lost their freedom and peace.

The Lord then used Deborah, who was a judge and prophetess, 
to rescue the people.

Deborah instructed Barak son of Abinoam
to go and do battle with Sisera, the people's oppressor.

Barak said he would go only if Deborah went with him.
She agreed but then said that his hesitation 
would cause the Lord to give battle victory to a woman, not Barak.

When Barak's forces routed those of Sisera,
Sisera fled and took refuge in the tent of Jael, wife of Heber.

As Sisera slept from exhaustion,
Jael drove a tent peg into his head and he died.

So once again the Lord had rescued the Israelites.

第 4 章  

厄胡得死后，以色列人又开始违背主
并因此再次失去他们的自由与和平。

主然后使用德波辣，她是民长和先知，拯救百姓。

德波辣吩咐阿彼诺罕的儿子巴辣克
去与息色辣作战，百姓的压迫者。

巴辣克说他会去，只要德波辣跟他一起去。
她同意，但又说，他的犹豫会导致主将战争的胜利给与一个女人，而不是巴辣克。

当巴辣克的军队击溃息色辣的，
息色辣逃走并避难到赫贝尔的妻子雅厄耳的帐篷里。

当息色辣疲乏熟睡，
雅厄耳把帐棚上的木橛钉进他的头，于是他死了。
这样主再次救了以色列人。

Dear God, please give me more courage in the battle of life,
(and please protect and bless Barack Obama!) 

　亲爱的神，请在生活战斗中给我更多的勇气，
（并请祝福巴辣克奥巴马！）

Chapters  4, 5, 6

After Sisera's forces were defeated,
the land enjoyed peace for 40 years

But then the Israelites again lapsed into idolatry,
and so they were oppressed by the Midianites for 7 years

The Lord then raised up Gideon to rescue the people.

Following the Lord's instructions,
Gideon at night time destroyed the altar to Baal
in his father's house.

When the Midianites heard what Gideon had done,
they prepared to attack the Israelites.

The spirit of the Lord came on Gideon
and he rallied the Israelites.

Gideon asked for a sign of success in battle,
and said to the Lord:

"See  now, I spread out a fleece of wool on the ground;
tomorrow morning, if there is dew only on the fleece
and not on the surrounding ground,
then I know you will deliver Israel by my hand".

And so it happened the next morning:
the ground was dry but the fleece was drenched with dew.

Gideon asked for a second sign,
requesting that the fleece be dry but the ground covered with dew.

And God did what Gideon asked:
the fleece stayed dry, and there was dew on the ground

第 4、5、6 章  

息色辣的军队被打败后，这土地享有和平四十年。

但随后以色列人再次陷入偶像崇拜，
因此，他们被米德杨人压迫七年。

主随后兴起了基德红拯救百姓。

按着主的指示，基德红在夜间拆毁了在父亲屋里的巴耳祭坛。

当米德杨人听到基德红所作之事，他们准备攻打以色列人。

主的灵充满基德红  和他团结了以色列人。

基德红要求战斗成功的标记， 于是对主说：

“现在看，我摊开一把羊毛在地上;
明天早上，若露水只落在羊毛上，
而不是周围的土地，
那么我知道你将要藉我的手拯救以色列。”

而次日清早果然如此： 地是干的但羊毛被露水湿透。

基德红要求第二个标记，
要求羊毛是干的，但遍地覆盖着露水。

于是神做了基德红的要求： 羊毛保持干的，而地上有露水。  　

Dear Lord, thank you for hearing Gideon's prayer
(and please bless the work of the Gideon Society
 which puts Bibles in hotels around the world!)

　亲爱的主，感谢你聆听基德红的祈祷
（并请祝福基德红会的工作，
 它将圣经放在世界各地的酒店！）

Chapter 7

Gideon prepared to go to war with the Midianites.
But God told him to reduce his number of soldiers.

The army was told
"Let anyone who is frightened or fearful go home".

22,000 men went home; 10,000 stayed.

The Lord said there were still too many.
"So many men might cause Israel to claim that a victory
had nothing to do with the Lord".

So Gideon got the men to go to the river to drink.

All those who lapped the water, like a dog, he put on one side.
These numbered 300.

The rest knelt down and used their hands to drink.
These were sent home.

Gideon divided his 300 men into 3 groups, 
surrounding the Midianite camp.

To each man he gave a horn and an empty water container,
with a torch inside each container.

In the middle of the night, they attacked.
They sounded their horns and smashed their containers,
holding a horn in their right hand and a torch in their left.

The Midianites woke in terror,
thinking that the Israelites had a huge number of men.

In their panic, the Midianites attacked each other
as they fled the camp.

The Israelites drove the Midianites from the Israelite homeland.

第 7 章

基德红准备对米德杨人开战。但神告诉他减少士兵的数目。

军队被告知：“让任何害怕或恐惧的人回家。”

两万二千人回家; 一万人留下。

主说还是太多。
“这么多人也许导致以色列宣称胜利 与主无关。”

因此，基德红领他们到河边去喝水。

所有像狗舔水饮的，他安置在一边。这些计有三百人。

其余的跪下来并用他们的双手饮水。 这些被打发回家。

基德红把三百人分作三队，围绕米德杨人营地。

他把号角和空罐子交给各人， 把火把放在罐子里。

在半夜，他们进攻。 他们吹号角，打破罐子，
右手拿着号角，左手拿着火把。    

米德杨人惊醒， 以为以色列人人数众多。

在他们的恐慌中，米德杨人互相攻击 当他们逃离营地时。

以色列人把米德杨人从以色列人的家园赶出。

Dear God, thank you for the courage and leadership of Gideon

　亲爱的神，为基德红的勇气和领导才能感谢你

Chapter 8

After Gideon defeated all the enemies of the Israelites,
the Israelites asked him to be their ruler.

He replied: "It is not I who shall rule over you, nor my son;
The Lord must be your ruler".

After Gideon's death, the people of Israel again began
to worship the local idols. They no longer remembered
the Lord who had so often rescued them.

The people were also ungrateful to Gideon's family
despite all the good deeds that family had done for Israel.

第 8 章 

基德红打败以色列人所有敌人后，
以色列人要求他作他们的统治者。

他回答说：“这不是我将统治你，亦不是我的儿子;
主该是你的统治者。”

基德红死后，以色列人又开始 崇拜当地偶像。他们不再记得主，他常常拯救他们。  

百姓也没有恩待基德红的家，
尽管这家为以色列所施的善行。  　

Dear Lord, please don't let me ever become an ungrateful person 

　亲爱的主，请永远不要让我成为一个忘恩负义者

Chapter 9

Gideon had seventy sons by his wives and concubines.
One of his sons was Abimelech, son of a concubine.

Abimelech became king after murdering all but one
of his 70 half-brothers.

The half-brother who escaped was Jotham.

Abimelech ruled over Israel for 3 years.
Then God sent a spirit of discord
between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem.

The leaders of Shechem rebelled against Abimelech.
Abimelech started attacking and destroying their towns.

Abimelech besieged the town of Thebez.
The people of the town took refuge in a tower.

When Abimelech tried to set fire to the tower,
a woman in the tower threw down a large rock
which crushed Abimelech's head.

Abimelech got his armor-bearer to kill him with a sword,
so that no one could say he was killed by a woman.

第9章

基德红的妻妾诞下七十个儿子。
其中一个儿子阿彼默肋客是妾侍所生。

阿彼默肋客成为君王，当杀害七十个所有同父异母兄弟后，除了一人外。

逃脱的同父异母兄弟是约堂。

阿彼默肋客统治以色列三年。
然后，神降恶神在阿彼默肋客和舍根领导人之间。

舍根领导人反叛阿彼默肋客。
阿彼默肋客开始攻击和摧毁他们的城镇。

阿彼默肋客围攻特贝兹城。  人民到城堡躲避。

当阿彼默肋客试图放火烧城堡时，
在城堡里的一名女子扔下一块磨石，
它击碎了阿彼默肋客的头。

阿彼默肋客要替他拿兵器的少年人用刀杀死他，
如此，没人可以说他是被一个女人杀死。

Dear Lord, please stop evil people from hurting other people

　亲爱的主，请阻止坏人伤害其他人

Chapters 10, 11

The Israelites yet again served false gods,
and once more they were oppressed,
this time by the Ammonites.

The Israelites appealed to Jephthah to help them.
Jephthah was the son of a prostitute.
His brothers had driven him from home
and would not give him a share of their father's inheritance.

Jephthah went into exile and became a famous soldier.

Jephthah agreed to help the Israelites
after they agreed to make him their future leader.

Jephthah tried to reason with the Ammonite king,
but the king refused to negotiate a peace agreement.

The spirit of the Lord then came on Jephthah
and he led the Israelites to victory over the Ammonites.

第10、11章

以色列人又事奉假神，而且他们再次受压迫，
这次是阿孟人。

以色列人向依弗大求助。  依弗大是一名妓女的儿子。
他的兄弟们把他逐出家，和不会给他分享他们父亲的产业。

依弗大流亡国外并成为著名的士兵。

依弗大同意帮助以色列人，
当他们同意让他成为他们未来的领导人。

依弗大试图与阿孟人理论，但君王拒绝议订和约。

主的灵充满依弗大，和他带领以色列人战胜阿孟人。    　

Dear Lord, may your spirit give courage to all leaders

亲爱的主，愿你的灵给所有领导人勇气

Chapters  12, 13

Jephthah was judge in Israel for 6 years.
For the following 25 years,
Ibzan (7 years), Elon (10 years) and Abdon  (8 years) were judges.

After these judges, the Israelites again were unfaithful to the Lord
and so they were oppressed by the Philistines for 40 years.

It was then that the angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah's wife
and said to her:

"You are barren and have had no child.
But you will soon conceive and bear a son.
No razor is to touch his head,
for he shall be dedicated to the Lord from his mother's womb.
It is he who will rescue Israel from the Philistines".

The woman gave birth to a son and called him Samson.
The child grew and the Lord blessed him.

第 12、13 章  

依弗大在以色列作民长六年。
其后的二十五年，依贝赞（七年），厄隆（十年）和阿贝冬（八年）作民长。

这些民长之后，以色列人再次对主不忠，
因此，他们被培肋舍特人压迫四十年。

 就在那时，主的天使对玛诺亚的妻子显现并对她说：

“你是不育的，从未生育。不过，你即将怀孕生子。
剃刀不可触及他的头，因为他从母胎就是献于主。
这是他从培肋舍特人拯救以色列。”

那妇人生了一个儿子，给他起名叫三松。
孩子长大而主祝福他。    

Dear Lord, please bless all barren women

亲爱的主，请祝福所有不育的妇女

Chapter 14

Samson wanted to marry a Philistine woman,
even though custom required he marry an Israelite.

On his way to visit the woman in Philistine territory,
Samson was confronted by a young lion.

The spirit of the Lord filled Samson
and he tore the lion to pieces with his bare hands.

On his next visit to the woman's home, 
Samson saw that in the carcass of the dead lion 
there was a swarm of bees, and honey.

The people of the village made a wedding feast for 7 days.
But they were scared of Samson
so they assigned 30 men to stay with him.

Samson challenged them to answer a riddle:
if they got the right answer before the 7 days were over,
he would give them 30 pieces of silver and 30 festal robes.

But if they failed to get the right answer,
they had to give Samson 30 pieces of silver and 30 robes.
They agreed to the challenge.

Samson stated his riddle:
"Out of the eater came what is eaten,
out of the strong came what is sweet".

Three days went by and they could not solve the riddle.
So they asked Samson's wife to find out the answer.

Day after day she pestered Samson with pleading and tears
until, on the 7th day, he told her. She then told the men.

The men then said to Samson:
"What is sweeter than honey, and what is stronger than a lion?"

Samson then went to a nearby Philistine town and killed 30 men there.

He took their robes and gave them to the 30 wedding feast guests.

Full of anger, he stormed out of the village
and returned to his parents' house.

His wife was then given to the companion 
who had been his best man.

第 14 章

三松想与一个培肋舍特女人结婚，
即使风俗习惯要求他跟以色列人结婚。

在去探望那个住在培肋舍特领土上的女人之路上，三松遇到一只年轻的狮子。

主的灵充满三松，而他赤手空拳将那狮子撕开。

他下次探访该女人家时，
三松看见在狮子尸体内有一窝蜜蜂作了蜜。

村民摆设七天婚宴。但是他们害怕三松，
所以他们安排三十人陪伴他。    

三松挑战他们回答一个谜语：
如果他们在七天内猜出正确答案，
他会给他们三十块银和三十套礼服。

但是如果他们猜不到正确的答案，  
他们必须给三松三十块银和三十套礼服。他们答应挑战。

三松诉说他的谜语：
“食者生出食品，强者生出甘甜。”

三天过去而他们不能解这个谜语。
如此他们要求三松的妻子查出答案。

一天又一天地她以恳求和眼泪烦扰三松，  
直到第七天，他告诉她。她然后告诉同胞。

同胞然后对三松说：  
“什么比蜜糖还甜﹖什么比狮子还强？”

三松充满主的灵。 他去培肋舍特人附近的一个城镇，  
而在那里杀死三十人。

他拿了他们的礼服送给三十个婚宴客人。

充满愤怒，他冲出了村庄， 并回到父母家。

他的妻子其后被给予作他伴郎的一个同伴。

Dear God, please help me control my anger

　亲爱的神，请帮我控制我的愤怒

Chapter 15

When Samson found out his wife had been given to someone else
he took his revenge on the Philistines
by setting fire to their crops.

The Philistines then attacked the land of Judah, 
trying to capture Samson.

To avoid war with the Philistines,
the men of Judah bound Samson with ropes
and handed him over to the Philistines.

But as the Philistines approached him,
Samson was filled with the spirit of the Lord
and broke free from the ropes.

He saw a dead donkey's jawbone on the ground
and used this to strike down many Philistines
before making his escape.

Samson was judge in Israel for 20 years.

第 15 章

当三松发现他的妻子被给予别人时，
他放火焚烧培肋舍特人的农作物报复。

培肋舍特人然后攻击犹大人的土地，尝试捕捉三松。

避免与培肋舍特人战争，犹大人用绳把三松捆起，
把他交在培肋舍特人手中。

但是当培肋舍特人走近他时，三松充满主的灵，
以及挣脱绳索。

他看见一块死驴腮骨在地上，
在他逃跑前，便用它杀死很多培肋舍特人。

三松作以色列民长二十年。  

Dear Lord, you once gave strength to Samson.
Please give me strength to face the battles of life.

亲爱的主，你曾经给三松力量。请给我力量面对生活的战斗。

Chapter 16

Samson went to Gaza and entered the house of a prostitute.
The men of Gaza tried to capture Samson
but he eluded them.

Samson then fell in love with a woman called Delilah.
The Philistine leaders pressured Delilah 
to find out the secret of Samson's great strength.

Day after day Delilah pestered Samson
until he told her his secret:

"A razor has never touched my head,
because I have been specially dedicated to God from my birth.
If my hair is cut, I will lose my strength."

Delilah then cut Samson's hair while he was asleep
and called the Philistines to capture him.

The Philistines bound Samson, put out his eyes
and chained him in a prison in Gaza.
But in prison, Samson's hair began to grow again.

The Philistines held a special ceremony in a large building
to celebrate the capture of Samson.

They paraded Samson at the ceremony
and then made him stand between two pillars.

Samson prayed to God for strength one more time
and the Lord heard his prayer.

He then used his great strength
to pull down the main pillars supporting the building.

In this way, at his death, 
Samson killed more Philistines than before he went to prison.

第 16  章

三松去迦萨和进入一个妓女的房子。
迦萨人尝试捉拿三松  但是他躲避他们。

三松其后爱上一个女人，名叫德里拉。
培肋舍特的领袖劝说德里拉，查出三松超凡力量的秘密。

日复一日地德里拉烦扰三松，直到他告诉她他的秘密：

 “剃刀从未接触过我的头，因为从我诞生起我就特地献给主。
如果剃去我的头发，我将失去我的力量。”

德里拉然后剃去三松的头发当他睡着，
并召唤培肋舍特人抓住他。

培肋舍特人绑住三松，剜去他的眼睛，
用铜炼把他锁在监狱中。
但在监狱中，三松的头发开始再长。

培肋舍特人在大殿举行特别典礼，庆祝三松被捕。

在典礼时他们将三松游行，
 然后使他站在两柱中间。

三松祈求主再一次赐他力量，而主听他的祈祷。

他然后使用他的超凡力量，
拉倒支持大殿的主柱。

这样，他临死时，所杀的培肋舍特人，
比他进监狱前还多。    　

Dear Lord, you once gave special strength to Samson.
Please give me strength to face the battles of life.

亲爱的主，你曾经给三松特殊力量。请给我力量面对生活战斗。

Chapters 17- 21

After Samson's death, there was no leader in Israel
and everyone did as they pleased
as lawlessness and anarchy became widespread.

第 17 - 21 章

三松死後，以色列没有領導人，
随着无法无天和无政府状态变得普遍，
于是各人任意行事。
 

Dear Lord, please don't let lawlessness increase in our world.

　亲爱的主，請不要让秩序混乱在我们的世界增长。