Judges 21 The Israelites mourned for their brethren Benjamite tribe, yet did not yield from their decision to prohibit any Israelite daughter to marry a Benjamite. Instead, they offered the surviving women from the conquered tribe of Jabesh Gilead and also suggested a plan for the remaining Benjamite men to take wives from the clan of Shiloh. The Israelites then left and went home to their own tribes an clans.

Judges 20
The other tribes of Israel came together to avenge the Benjamite men who raped and killed the wife of the Levite ( Judges 19). The men of Israel destroyed all the Benjamite men, animals, and livestock. They also set their towns on fire.

Judges 19 begins with "In those days Israel had no king". I'm supposing that this is a reminder again that these people are continuing to do whatever evil is in their heart with no regard to God. In this chapter, a Levite's wife was unfaithful to him and left him. He went after her and took her back, but then ran into trouble on the way back home. The couple end up staying with a nice old man who insisted on giving them shelter and provisions, but a group of wicked men arrived with perverse intentions. The old man tried to send the men away, but they raped and abused the Levite's wife and she eventually died the next morning. The chapter ends with a statement about how such evil things had never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt.

Judges 18
The people from the tribe of Dan were traveling and seeking a place to settle. "In those days, Israel had no king", so the Danites did whatever they pleased. When they came upon the land of Laish near Micah's estate, they encountered the Levite that Micah had hired to be his priest. The Levite blessed them saying, "Go in peace, for your journey has the Lord's approval". The Danites went to the house of Micah and took his ephod, household gods, his idols, and also persuaded the Levite priest to join them. Micah confronted the Danites, but could do nothing since they were too strong. The Danites took over the area, burned down the city of Laish, settled the land and rebuilt the city, naming it Dan, after their ancestor. The Danites set up for themselves the idols of Micah and Jonathon and his sons for their priests. It would seem that the Danites had no regard for the true God of Israel.

Judges 17 is about an Israelite named Micah who stole a bunch of money from his own mother and then became the hero in returning it to her. She was so ecstatic that she dedicated the money to the Lord for her son to make a carved image and a cast idol to "give it back to the Lord". She hired a silversmith to make the idol and image to put in Micah's house. With Micah's shrine of idols, he installed one of his sons as his priest. Then Micah invited a Levite from Bethlehem to stay with him and be his father and priest, offering to pay him and give him room and board. Micah said, "Now I know the Lord will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest." This blasphemy and idol worship occurred because "everyone did as he saw fit" (v.6).

Judges 16
Samson, still ruling as judge over Israel, again gave in to his lustful temptations in Gaza, where he met with a prostitute. The people there conspired to kill him at dawn, but he escaped again with a display of God-given supernatural strength. Next, Samson fell in love with a Philistine woman in Sorek, named Delilah. The Philistine leaders made a deal with her, paying her generously to lure and manipulate Samson into revealing his weakness and the source of his great strength. After many days of nagging, prodding, and torment, Samson finally gave in to her manipulation and explained his Nazirite status and that his great strength would be lost if he broke his vow and shaved his head. The Philistine leaders helped Delilah shave Samson's head while he was asleep and they then subdued him and seized him, gouged out his eyes and imprisoned him. Samson was surely humbled and realized his desperate need for God's mercy and grace, praying "O Sovereign Lord, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more". He was taken in shackles before the rulers of the Philistines to entertain them. But, Samson braced himself against the two central support pillars on which the temple stood and pushed them, toppling the structure down on the rulers and all the people, killing "many more when he died than while he lived".

Judges 15
When Samson learned that his wife was given away to a Philistine, he went off to get even with them. He set fire to the Philistine vineyards, olive groves, and stored grain. But when the Philistines heard what Samson had done, they burned his wife and her father to death. Samson had gone away to stay in a cave in Judah, but the Philistines pursued him there and asked the men of Judah to surrender Samson to them. The men of Judah confronted Samson and he allowed them to tie him up and hand him over to the Philistines. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson in power and he broke away the ropes and struck down a thousand Philistine men with the jawbone of a donkey. Afterwards, Samson cried out to the Lord in acknowledgement, "You have given your servant this great victory". He was very thirsty and God provided an opening in a hollow place and water came out for him to drink. Samson's strength was renewed again and he led Israel for twenty more years in the days of the Philistines.