< Judges 3 >
1 And these are the nations that Jehovah left, to prove Israel by them, all that had not known all the wars of Canaan;
These are the nations that the LORD left to test all the Israelites who had not known any of the wars in Canaan,
2 only that the generations of the children of Israel might know war by learning it, at the least those who before had known nothing thereof:
if only to teach warfare to the subsequent generations of Israel, especially to those who had not known it formerly:
3 five lord ships of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwell on mount Lebanon; from mount Baal-Hermon unto the entering into Hamath.
the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived in the mountains of Lebanon from Mount Baal-hermon to Lebo-hamath.
4 And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would obey the commandments of Jehovah, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.
These nations were left to test the Israelites, to find out whether they would keep the commandments of the LORD, which He had given their fathers through Moses.
5 And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites: Hittites and Amorites and Perizzites and Hivites and Jebusites;
Thus the Israelites continued to live among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
6 and they took their daughters as wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
And they took the daughters of these people in marriage, gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
7 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of Jehovah, and forgot Jehovah their God, and served the Baals and the Asherahs.
So the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.
8 And the anger of Jehovah was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served Chushan-rishathaim eight years.
Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram-naharaim, and the Israelites served him eight years.
9 And the children of Israel cried to Jehovah; and Jehovah raised up a saviour to the children of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.
But when the Israelites cried out to the LORD, He raised up Othniel son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz as a deliverer to save them.
10 And the Spirit of Jehovah was upon him, and he judged Israel; and he went out to war, and Jehovah gave Chushan-rishathaim king of Syria into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushan-rishathaim.
The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he became Israel’s judge and went out to war. And the LORD delivered Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram into the hand of Othniel, who prevailed against him.
11 And the land had rest forty years; and Othniel the son of Kenaz died.
So the land had rest for forty years, until Othniel son of Kenaz died.
12 And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of Jehovah; and Jehovah strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they did evil in the sight of Jehovah.
Once again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD. So He gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD.
13 And he gathered to him the children of Ammon and Amalek and went and smote Israel, and they took possession of the city of palm-trees.
After enlisting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join forces with him, Eglon attacked and defeated Israel, taking possession of the City of Palms.
14 And the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.
The Israelites served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.
15 And the children of Israel cried to Jehovah, and Jehovah raised them up a saviour, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a man left-handed. And by him the children of Israel sent a gift to Eglon king of Moab.
And again they cried out to the LORD, and He raised up Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed Benjamite, as their deliverer. So they sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab.
16 And Ehud made him a sword having two edges, it was of a cubit length; and he girded it under his raiment upon his right hip.
Now Ehud had made for himself a double-edged sword a cubit long. He strapped it to his right thigh under his cloak
17 And he brought the gift to Eglon king of Moab; now Eglon was a very fat man.
and brought the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was an obese man.
18 And it came to pass when he had ended offering the gift, he sent away the people that had borne the gift.
After Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he ushered out those who had carried it.
19 But he turned from the graven images that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret word unto thee, O king. And he said, Be silent! And all that stood by him went out from him.
But upon reaching the idols near Gilgal, he himself turned back and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” “Silence,” said the king, and all his attendants left him.
20 And Ehud came to him; now he was sitting in the cool upper-chamber, which was for him alone. And Ehud said, I have a word from God unto thee. And he arose from the seat.
Then Ehud approached him while he was sitting alone in the coolness of his upper room. “I have a word from God for you,” Ehud said, and the king rose from his seat.
21 Then Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the sword from his right hip, and thrust it into his belly;
And Ehud reached with his left hand, pulled the sword from his right thigh, and plunged it into Eglon’s belly.
22 and the haft also went in after the blade, and the fat closed upon the blade; for he did not draw the sword out of his belly, and it came out between the legs.
Even the handle sank in after the blade, and Eglon’s fat closed in over it, so that Ehud did not withdraw the sword from his belly. And Eglon’s bowels emptied.
23 And Ehud went out into the portico, and shut the doors of the upper-chamber upon him, and bolted them.
Then Ehud went out through the porch, closing and locking the doors of the upper room behind him.
24 And when he was gone out, the servants of the [king] came and saw, and behold, the doors of the upper-chamber were bolted. And they said, Surely he is covering his feet in the summer chamber.
After Ehud was gone, Eglon’s servants came in and found the doors of the upper room locked. “He must be relieving himself in the cool room,” they said.
25 And they waited till they were ashamed; and behold, he opened not the doors of the upper-chamber, and they took the key, and opened [them], and behold, their lord lay dead on the earth.
So they waited until they became worried and saw that he had still not opened the doors of the upper room. Then they took the key and opened the doors—and there was their lord lying dead on the floor.
26 And Ehud had escaped while they lingered, and passed beyond the graven images, and escaped to Seirah.
Ehud, however, had escaped while the servants waited. He passed by the idols and escaped to Seirah.
27 And it came to pass when he was come, that he blew a trumpet in the hill-country of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the hill-country, and he before them.
On arriving in Seirah, he blew the ram’s horn throughout the hill country of Ephraim. The Israelites came down with him from the hills, and he became their leader.
28 And he said to them, Follow after me, for Jehovah has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the fords of the Jordan toward Moab, and suffered no one to pass over.
“Follow me,” he told them, “for the LORD has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they followed him down and seized the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross over.
29 And they slew the Moabites at that time, about ten thousand men, all fat, and all men of valour, and not a man escaped.
At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all robust and valiant men. Not one of them escaped.
30 And Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest eighty years.
So Moab was subdued under the hand of Israel that day, and the land had rest for eighty years.
31 And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath; and he smote the Philistines, six hundred men, with an ox-goad. And he also delivered Israel.
After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath. And he too saved Israel, striking down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad.