Judges 3
1 These are the nations which the Lord left, that by them he might instruct Israel, and all that had not known the wars of the Chanaanites:
Now these are the nations which the Lord kept in the land for the purpose of testing Israel by them, all those who had had no experience of all the wars of Canaan;
2 That afterwards their children might learn to fight with their enemies, and to be trained up to war:
Only because of the generations of the children of Israel, for the purpose of teaching them war — only those who up till then had no experience of it;
3 The five princes of the Philistines, and all the Chanaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hevites that dwelt in mount Libanus, from mount Baal Hermon to the entering into Emath.
The five chiefs of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites and the Zidonians and the Hivites living in Mount Lebanon, from the mountain Baal-hermon as far as Hamath:
4 And he left them, that he might try Israel by them, whether they would hear the commandments of the Lord, which he had commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses, or not.
For the purpose of testing Israel by them, to see if they would give ear to the orders of the Lord, which he had given to their fathers by the hand of Moses.
5 So the children of Israel dwelt in the midst of the Chanaanite, and the Hethite, and the Amorrhite, and the Pherezite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite:
Now the children of Israel were living among the Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites:
6 And they took their daughters to wives, and they gave their own daughters to their sons, and they served their gods.
And they took as wives the daughters of these nations and gave their daughters to their sons, and became servants to their gods.
7 And they did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they forgot their God, and served Baalim and Astaroth.
And the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and put out of their minds the Lord their God, and became servants to the Baals and the Astartes.
8 And the Lord being angry with Israel, delivered them into the hands of Chusan Rasathaim king of Mesopotamia, and they served him eight years.
So the wrath of the Lord was burning against Israel, and he gave them up into the hands of Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel were his servants for eight years.
9 And they cried to the Lord, who raised them up a saviour, and delivered them, to wit, Othoniel the son of Cenez, the younger brother of Caleb:
And when the children of Israel made prayer to the Lord, he gave them a saviour, Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.
10 And the spirit of the Lord was in him, and he judged Israel. And he went out to fight, and the Lord delivered into his hands Chusan Rasathaim king of Syria, and he overthrew him.
And the spirit of the Lord came on him and he became judge of Israel, and went out to war, and the Lord gave up Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, into his hands and he overcame him.
11 And the land rested forty years, and Othoniel the son of Cenez died.
Then for forty years the land had peace, till the death of Othniel, the son of Kenaz.
12 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord: who strengthened against them Eglon king of Moab: because they did evil in his sight.
Then the children of Israel again did evil in the eyes of the Lord; and the Lord made Eglon, king of Moab, strong against Israel, because they had done evil in the Lord's eyes.
13 And he joined to him the children of Ammon, and Amalec: and he went and overthrew Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees.
And Eglon got together the people of Ammon and Amalek, and they went and overcame Israel and took the town of palm-trees.
14 And the children of Israel served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years:
And the children of Israel were servants to Eglon, king of Moab, for eighteen years.
15 And afterwards they cried to the Lord, who raised them up a saviour called Aod, the son of Gera, the son of Jemini, who used the left hand as well as the right. And the children of Israel sent presents to Eglon king of Moab by him.
Then when the children of Israel made prayer to the Lord, he gave them a saviour, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man; and the children of Israel sent an offering by him to Eglon, king of Moab.
16 And he made himself a two-edged sword, with a haft in the midst of the length of the palm of the hand, and was girded therewith under his garment on the right thigh.
So Ehud made himself a two-edged sword, a cubit long, which he put on at his right side under his robe.
17 And he presented the gifts to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was exceeding fat.
And he took the offering to Eglon, king of Moab, who was a very fat man.
18 And when he had presented the gifts unto him, he followed his companions that came along with him.
And after giving the offering, he sent away the people who had come with the offering.
19 Then returning from Galgal, where the idols were, be said to the king: I have a secret message to thee, O king. And he commanded silence: and all being gone out that were about him,
But he himself, turning back from the stone images at Gilgal, said, I have something to say to you in secret, O king. And he said, Let there be quiet. Then all those who were waiting before him went out.
20 Aod went in to him: now he was sitting in a summer parlour alone, and he said: I have a word from God to thee. And he forthwith rose up from his throne,
Then Ehud came in to him while he was seated by himself in his summer-house. And Ehud said, I have a word from God for you. And he got up from his seat.
21 And Aod put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly,
And Ehud put out his left hand, and took the sword from his right side, and sent it into his stomach;
22 With such force that the haft went in after the blade into the wound, and was closed up with the abundance of fat. So that he did not draw out the dagger, but left it in his body as he had struck it in. And forthwith by the secret parts of nature the excrements of the belly came out.
And the hand-part went in after the blade, and the fat was joined up over the blade; for he did not take the sword out of his stomach. And he went out into the ...
23 But Aod carefully shutting the doors of the parlour and locking them,
Then Ehud went out into the covered way, shutting the doors of the summer-house on him and locking them.
24 Went out by a postern door. And the king’s servants going in, saw the doors of the parlour shut, and they said: Perhaps he is easing nature in his summer parlour.
Now when he had gone, the king's servants came, and saw that the doors of the summer-house were locked; and they said, It may be that he is in his summer-house for a private purpose.
25 And waiting a long time till they were ashamed, and seeing that no man opened the door, they took a key: and opening, they found their lord lying dead on the ground.
And they went on waiting till they were shamed, but the doors were still shut; so they took the key, and, opening them, saw their lord stretched out dead on the floor.
26 But Aod, while they were in confusion, escaped, and passed by the place of the idols, from whence he had returned. And he came to Seirath:
But Ehud had got away while they were waiting and had gone past the stone images and got away to Seirah.
27 And forthwith he sounded the trumpet in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel went down with him, he himself going in the front.
And when he came there, he had a horn sounded in the hill-country of Ephraim, and all the children of Israel went down with him from the hill-country, and he at their head.
28 And he said to them: Follow me: for the Lord hath delivered our enemies the Moabites into our hands. And they went down after him, and seized upon the fords of the Jordan, which are in the way to Moab: and they suffered no man to pass over.
And he said to them, Come after me; for the Lord has given the Moabites, your haters, into your hands. So they went down after him and took the crossing-places of Jordan against Moab, and let no one go across.
29 But they slew of the Moabites at that time, about ten thousand, all strong and Valiant men: none of them could escape.
At that time they put about ten thousand men of Moab to the sword, every strong man and every man of war; not a man got away.
30 And Moab was humbled that day under the hand of Israel: and the land rested eighty years.
So Moab was broken that day under the hand of Israel. And for eighty years the land had peace.
31 After him was Samgar the son of Anath, who slew of the Philistines six hundred men with a ploughshare: and he also defended Israel.
And after him came Shamgar, the son of Anath, who put to death six hundred Philistines with an ox-stick; and he was another saviour of Israel.
