Judges 10

1 After Abimelech, a leader rose up in Israel, Tola, the son of Puah, the paternal uncle of Abimelech, a man of Issachar, who lived in Shamir on mount Ephraim.

Now after Abimelech, Tola, the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, became the saviour of Israel; he was living in Shamir in the hill-country of Ephraim.

2 And he judged Israel for twenty-three years, and he died and was buried at Shamir.

He was judge over Israel for twenty-three years; and at his death his body was put to rest in the earth in Shamir.

3 After him succeeded Jair, a Gileadite, who judged Israel for twenty-two years,

And after him came Jair the Gileadite, who was judge over Israel for twenty-two years.

4 having thirty sons sitting upon thirty young donkeys, and who were leaders of thirty cities, which from his name were called Havvoth Jair, that is, the towns of Jair, even to the present day, in the land of Gilead.

And he had thirty sons, who went on thirty young asses; and they had thirty towns in the land of Gilead, which are named Havvoth-Jair to this day.

5 And Jair died, and he was buried in the place which is called Kamon.

And at the death of Jair his body was put to rest in the earth in Kamon.

6 But the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, joining new sins to old, and they served idols, the Baals and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria and Sidon, and of Moab and the sons of Ammon, and the Philistines. And they abandoned the Lord, and they did not worship him.

And again the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord, worshipping the Baals and Astartes, and the gods of Aram and the gods of Zidon and the gods of Moab and the gods of the children of Ammon and the gods of the Philistines; they gave up the Lord and were servants to him no longer.

7 And the Lord, becoming angry against them, delivered them into the hands of the Philistines and the sons of Ammon.

And the wrath of the Lord was burning against Israel, and he gave them up into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the children of Ammon.

8 And they were afflicted and vehemently oppressed for eighteen years, all who were living beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorite, which is in Gilead,

And that year the children of Israel were crushed under their yoke; for eighteen years all the children of Israel on the other side of Jordan, in the land of the Amorites which is in Gilead, were cruelly crushed down.

9 to such a great extent that the sons of Ammon, crossing over the Jordan, laid waste to Judah and Benjamin and Ephraim. And Israel was exceedingly afflicted.

And the children of Ammon went over Jordan, to make war against Judah and Benjamin and the house of Ephraim; and Israel was in great trouble.

10 And crying out to the Lord, they said: “We have sinned against you. For we have forsaken the Lord our God, and we have served the Baals.”

Then the children of Israel, crying out to the Lord, said, Great is our sin against you, for we have given up our God and have been servants to the Baals.

11 And the Lord said to them: “Did not the Egyptians, and the Amorites, and the sons of Ammon, and the Philistines,

And the Lord said to the children of Israel, Were not the Egyptians and the Amorites and the children of Ammon and the Philistines

12 and also the Sidonians, and Amalek, and Canaan, oppress you, and so you cried out to me, and I rescued you from their hand?

And the Zidonians and Amalek and Midian crushing you down, and in answer to your cry did I not give you salvation from their hands?

13 And yet you have forsaken me, and you have worshipped foreign gods. For this reason, I will not continue to free you any more.

But, for all this, you have given me up and have been servants to other gods: so I will be your saviour no longer.

14 Go, and call upon the gods whom you have chosen. Let them free you in the time of anguish.”

Go, send up your cry for help to the gods of your selection; let them be your saviours in the time of your trouble.

15 And the sons of Israel said to the Lord: “We have sinned. You may repay us in whatever way pleases you. Yet free us now.”

And the children of Israel said to the Lord, We are sinners; do to us whatever seems good to you: only give us salvation this day.

16 And saying these things, they cast out all the idols of the foreign gods from their regions, and they served the Lord God. And he was touched by their miseries.

So they put away the strange gods from among them, and became the Lord's servants; and his soul was angry because of the sorrows of Israel.

17 And then the sons of Ammon, shouting out together, pitched their tents in Gilead. And the sons of Israel gathered together against them, and they made camp at Mizpah.

Then the children of Ammon came together and put their army in position in Gilead. And the children of Israel came together and put their army in position in Mizpah.

18 And the leaders of Gilead said to one another, “Whoever among us will be the first to begin to contend against the sons of Ammon, he shall be the leader of the people of Gilead.”

And the people of Israel said to one another, Who will be the first to make an attack on the children of Ammon? We will make him head over all Gilead.