This chart is part of a memory system for learning the key people, events, topics, and verses of all 929 Old Testament chapters.
Probably written by Samuel, Judges recounts Israel’s repeated cycle of sin, oppression, repentance, and deliverance during the time between Joshua’s leadership and the rise of the monarchy. The nation lacked a central ruler, and “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). God raised up deliverers—called judges—to rescue Israel from its enemies and call them back to faithfulness. The book emphasizes God’s mercy and Israel’s spiritual decline. It was likely written around 1050–1045 b.c.
| CHAPTER/TOPICS | VERSES |
| 1. Israel fails to fully drive out the Jebusites. | 1:21 |
| 2. God raises up judges to deliver Israel. | 2:16 |
| 3. Ehud kills the king; Shamgar saves with an ox goad. | 3:21, 31 |
| 4. Deborah leads Israel; Jael defeats Sisera. | 4:4, 21 |
| 5. The Song of Deborah and Barak praises God’s deliverance. | 5:1 |
| 6. God calls Gideon a mighty man of valor. | 6:11–12 |
| 7. Gideon’s army is reduced to 300. | 7:7 |
| 8. Gideon brings peace. | 8:28 |
| 9. Abimelech kills his brothers to become king. | 9:4–6 |
| 10. Israel cries out again in repentance. | 10:10 |
| 11. Jephthah makes a tragic vow in battle. | 11:30–31 |
| 12. The “shibboleth” test leads to death in civil war. | 12:6 |
| 13. The angel announces the birth of Samson. | 13:3–5, 24 |
| 14. Samson’s strength begins to show. | 14:6 |
| 15. Samson kills 1,000 men with a donkey’s jawbone. | 15:14–15 |
| 16. Samson dies with the Philistines. | 16:30 |
| 17. There was no king in Israel—“everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” | 17:6 |
| 18. Danites steal idols and settle in the north. | 18:18, 28 |
| 19. A Levite’s concubine is abused and killed – Moral decay deepens | 19:25 |
| 20. Civil war breaks out against Benjamin. | 20:48 |
| 21. “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” | 21:25 |
