But Gideon told them,“ I will not rule over you. My son won’t rule over you either. The Lord will rule over you.”

基甸说：“我不管理你们，我的儿子也不管理你们，惟有耶和华管理你们。”

基甸对他们说：“我不治理你们，我的儿子也不治理你们，耶和华会治理你们。”

基甸对他们说：“我不治理你们，我的儿子也不治理你们，耶和华会治理你们。”

基甸回答说：“我和我子孙都不统治你们，统治你们的是耶和华。

基甸回答他们：“我不统治你们，我的子孙也不统治你们，唯有耶和华统治你们。”

基甸說：「我不管理你們，我的兒子也不管理你們，惟有耶和華管理你們。」

基甸對他們說：「我不治理你們，我的兒子也不治理你們，耶和華會治理你們。」

基甸對他們說：「我不治理你們，我的兒子也不治理你們，耶和華會治理你們。」

基甸回答說：「我和我子孫都不統治你們，統治你們的是耶和華。

基甸回答他們：“我不統治你們，我的子孫也不統治你們，唯有耶和華統治你們。”

基甸對他們說：『我不管理你們，我兒子也不管理你們，只有永恆主管理你們。』

基甸曰、我不治爾、我子亦不治爾、治爾者乃耶和華也、

其田曰、我不治爾、子孫亦不治爾、治爾者乃耶和華也。

基甸對曰、我不治爾、我子亦不治爾、治爾者惟主、

But Gideon told them,“ I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.”

Gideon said to them,“ I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.”

But Gideon replied,“ I will not rule over you, nor will my son. The Lord will rule over you!

But Gideon said to them,“ I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the LORD will rule over you.”

But Gideon said to them,“ I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the Lord shall rule over you.”

But Gideon said to them,“ I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the Lord shall rule over you.”

And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: Jehovah shall rule over you.

But Gideon said to them,“ I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.”

And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you.

Gideon said to them,“ I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you.”

Gideon said to them,“ I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you. Yahweh shall rule over you.”

But now you have turned your backs on your God. He saves you out of all your trouble and suffering. In spite of that, you have said,‘ We refuse to listen. Place a king over us.’ So now gather together to meet with the Lord. Do it tribe by tribe and family group by family group.”

“ But then you saw that Nahash, the king of Ammon, was about to attack you. So you said to me,‘ No! We want a king to rule over us.’ You said it even though the Lord your God was your king.

That’s because the Lord is our judge. The Lord gives us our law. The Lord is our king. He will save us.

They also started to argue. They disagreed about which of them was thought to be the most important person.Jesus said to them,“ The kings of the Gentiles hold power over their people. And those who order them around call themselves Protectors.But you must not be like that. Instead, the most important among you should be like the youngest. The one who rules should be like the one who serves.Who is more important? Is it the one at the table, or the one who serves? Isn’t it the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.

Don’t act as if you were a ruler over those under your care. Instead, be examples to the flock.

Your faith is not under our control. You remain strong in your own faith. But we work together with you for your joy.

We are like people you never ruled over. We are like those who don’t belong to you.

The leaders of Gilead spoke to one another. They said,“ Who will lead the attack against the Ammonites? That person will be the ruler of all the people who live in Gilead.”

Samuel wasn’t pleased when they said,“ Give us a king to lead us.” So he prayed to the Lord.The Lord told him,“ Listen to everything the people are saying to you. You are not the one they have turned their backs on. I am the one they do not want as their king.

Jephthah said,“ Suppose you take me back to fight against the Ammonites. And suppose the Lord gives me victory over them. Then will I really be your leader?”The elders of Gilead replied,“ The Lord is our witness. We’ll certainly do as you say.”So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead. And the people made him their leader and commander. He went to Mizpah. There he repeated to the Lord everything he had said.

When the Lord gave them a leader, he was with that leader. The Lord saved the people from the power of their enemies. He did it as long as the leader lived. The Lord felt very sorry for the people. They groaned because of what their enemies did to them. Their enemies treated them badly.