CHAPTER XI.
1 Concerning one that abhorred strange tongues. 3 He meeteth with a damsel. 14 And falleth unto her. 15 Concerning the writing on the board. 24 A certain man disturbeth his companions. 29 He is delivered from tribulation. 33 Whereby another suffereth in his stead.
Concerning sundry happenings that befell the fighters of En when they went out with the host.
2 Now there was a certain man that went unto the war. And when he was arrived nigh unto the camp, he was commanded to seek a certain habitation and to sojourn there.
3 ¶ And on the morrow after he was come into that house, he beheld a damsel. And, lo, she was fair as the blossom of the pomegranate and graceful as a roe that skippeth upon the mountains.
4 And her neck, it was like unto a tower that is of ivory, and there was red upon her lips; also, she had doves' eyes and full of softness.
5 Now in his youth he had given him over unto idleness, heeding not instruction and scorning all strange speech. But the time of his repentance, it was at hand, because he had no words for to tell her all that which was in his heart.
6 Nevertheless, after he had gazed long enough upon the beauty of her, he was moved to make him trial with his tongue. And he spake unto her despairingly in these words, saying Hast thou the coat of my father?
7 And because he could not frame to pronounce it right, therefore did she understand him not. Nevertheless, she did smile upon him for himself, and because of the way of him also.
8 And when the next day was come, he espied the maiden from his window; and she was walking in the courtyard of their habitation. And he descended unto her, seeking advancement in her eyes.
9 And when he had greeted her with his hand, and had put his countenance in the shape of his adoration, then spake he more words after the manner of before. And he said unto her, Hast thou a morsel of bread? Nay, my friend, but I have a little cheese.
10 Nevertheless, she understood no word of all that which he did say. But because he spake from out of his depths, therefore did she perceive the nature of his ailment.
11 Now after the passing of the fourteenth day, he did come upon the damsel unattended and alone, in a place apart that was well screened. And, behold, his speech was all used up; neither had she understood the meaning of any of it.
12 And there remained unto him no words, save only two. And because she had understood him not before, therefore spake he them unto him, and he said, Jer tame.
13 And, lo, she held up her mouth on the instant, and with her arms she did seize him forthwith; yea, she was filled with a great understanding.
14 ¶ And because he had put the matter at hazard, therefore did he fall unto her on that day.
15 ¶ Now there was a certain stripling of the men of En, and he was journeying along a ditch, being nigh unto that place where the host of Hu, it was encamped.
16 And it was a shallow ditch, having no depth, and his path, it was beset with dangers. Wherefore he tarried not by the way.
17 And as he hasted him along, behold, there was a board, and it stood up against him; and there was writing on the board. And he stayed the order of his going for to read it.
18 Now the missiles of the enemy, they were sent against that spot like the grains of a desert of sand being lifted by the wind.
19 Nevertheless, he was full of determination for to get him unto the board. Wherefore he did lay him flat upon the ground; yea, even as a worm doth travel, in like manner approached he unto the board.
20. And when he was come thither (and by reason of his perseverance, he did come thither), lo, the writing, it was made plain unto him; and he did see it, what it was.
21 And the words of it, being interpreted, did say, Get thee hence, O fool, whilst yet thou remainest whole. For whosoever tarrieth here, verily, he shall be cut off in the height of his folly.
22 And after he had seen the writing, what it was, he did get him thence; even as he came, that was in the manner of a worm, he did go away from that same place.
23 And the curses that fell from that man's mouth, they did shake the two encampments.
24 ¶ Now there was a certain man, being a fighter of the land of En, and in the innocence of his youth, he had taken unto himself a wife.
25 And she was a woman loose of the jaw, so that there was no peace on earth for him. Yea, neither in the day nor in the night was any peace vouchsafed unto him.
26 And when he was come amongst the host, he complained unto his companions continually concerning the soreness of his lot; and the voice of his groaning was ofttimes heard in the starry watches of the night.
27 And after they had borne with him for a long time without any respite, they were filled with a great hatred against that woman, that she should trouble them so. Yea, they abominated her utterly.
28 And they conspired together for to deliver him, perceiving that there was no other means unto their own salvation.
29 ¶ Wherefore it came to pass after the next occasion when they did go against the enemy, that they sent them word unto the officer that was appointed, and they said unto him,
30 In the heat of the encounter, in the forefront of the battle, he was smitten unto death. Also, we did bury him underneath the earth for to make assurance certain.
31 And when they told him that he was dead, it rejoiced him greatly. And from that day forth he was as other men.
32 But when his wife did hear about it, she put on sackcloth and ashes, and, during seven days, she did weep in the public places of the city, crying out in a loud voice, and saying, My husband, Oh, my husband.
33 ¶ And on the eighth day she gat her another.