Ruth 3 recounts Naomi's plan for Ruth to seek rest by approaching Boaz at the threshing floor. Ruth follows the plan, and Boaz responds with kindness, promising to settle the matter of redemption, while noting a nearer kinsman.

Ruth gleans in the field of Boaz, who notices her, protects her, and provides generously for her. Naomi recognizes Boaz as a close relative and sees Yahweh's kindness to the living and the dead.

Ruth 1 tells how Naomi, bereaved of husband and sons in Moab, returns to Bethlehem with her daughter-in-law Ruth, who refuses to leave her. The chapter moves from famine and grief to a quiet arrival at the start of barley harvest, setting the stage for what follows.

Judges 21 describes how Israel, having sworn not to give their daughters to Benjamin, sought wives for the surviving Benjamites. They destroyed Jabesh Gilead and took virgins from there, then allowed the Benjamites to seize women at a feast in Shiloh, and the chapter ends noting that everyone did as they saw fit.

Judges 20 tells how all Israel gathered at Mizpah after a Levite reported a horrific crime in Gibeah, and when Benjamin refused to surrender the guilty men, a civil war erupted that nearly annihilated the tribe. After two defeats, Israel sought Yahweh, set an ambush, and struck down twenty-five thousand Benjamites, leaving only six hundred survivors.

Judges 19 tells of a Levite whose concubine leaves him and returns to her father. After he retrieves her, they travel and stay in Gibeah, where wicked men abuse her all night, and the Levite later cuts her body into twelve pieces to send throughout Israel.

Judges 18 tells how the tribe of Dan, lacking an inheritance, sent spies who found Laish and stole Micah's idols and priest. They conquered Laish, renamed it Dan, and set up idolatry that lasted until the captivity.

Judges 17 recounts how Micah, an Ephraimite, stole silver from his mother, returned it, and used part of it to make idols. He then hired a wandering Levite as his personal priest, believing this would secure Yahweh's favor.

Judges 16 recounts Samson's downfall through Delilah, his capture by the Philistines, and his final act of strength that kills many. It shows both the cost of compromise and God's surprising response to a flawed judge's last prayer.

Judges 15 recounts Samson's escalating conflict with the Philistines after his wife is given to another man. It shows his personal revenge, the Spirit's empowerment, and God's provision of water, ending with Samson judging Israel for twenty years.

Judges 14 narrates Samson's marriage to a Philistine woman, his killing of a lion, and the riddle he poses at the wedding feast. The chapter shows Yahweh using Samson's desires as an occasion against the Philistines, while Samson's wife betrays the riddle under threat.

Judges 13 recounts Israel's repeated evil and God's deliverance into Philistine hands for forty years. It then focuses on Manoah and his barren wife, to whom Yahweh's angel announces a son who will be a Nazirite from the womb and begin to save Israel.

Judges 12 continues the story of Jephthah, focusing on his conflict with the tribe of Ephraim and the tragic use of the word Shibboleth to identify and kill Ephraimites. It then briefly lists three minor judges: Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon, noting their families and years of service.

Judges 11 recounts how Jephthah, an outcast son of a prostitute, is recalled by Gilead's elders to lead against the Ammonites. After failed diplomacy, Yahweh's Spirit enables him to defeat Ammon, but his rash vow to sacrifice whatever first meets him results in the offering of his only daughter.

Judges 10 recounts two minor judges, Tola and Jair, followed by Israel's repeated idolatry and God's anger. When Ammon oppresses them, Israel cries out, and God, though grieved, moves to deliver them.

Judges 9 recounts Abimelech's violent bid for kingship, his murder of seventy brothers, and the subsequent rebellion and destruction of Shechem. It ends with God repaying Abimelech's wickedness and the curse of Jotham coming upon the men of Shechem.

Judges 8 recounts Gideon's pursuit of the Midianite kings, his discipline of the men of Succoth and Penuel, his refusal of kingship, and his making of an ephod that ensnares Israel. After Gideon's death, Israel returns to Baal worship and forgets Yahweh's deliverance.

Judges 7 tells how God trimmed Gideon's army from thirty-two thousand down to three hundred so that Israel could not claim credit for the victory. God then encouraged Gideon with a Midianite's dream and threw the vast enemy camp into panic through trumpets, broken jars, and torches.

Judges 6 recounts Israel's oppression by Midian, their cry to God, and God's call to Gideon to deliver them. Gideon responds with doubt and requests signs, which God graciously provides.

Judges 5 is the song of Deborah and Barak, sung after Israel's victory over the Canaanite king Jabin and his commander Sisera. It praises God for the leaders who led, the people who volunteered, and the unlikely deliverance through Jael, while rebuking tribes that stayed away.