Judges 3

1 And these [are] the nations which YHWH left, to try Israel by them, all who have not known all the wars of Canaan;

Now these are the nations which Jehovah left to prove Israel by them, (even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan,

2 (only for the sake of the generations of the sons of Israel knowing, to teach them war, only those who formerly have not known them)—

only that the generations of the sons of Israel might know, to teach them war, at least to such as formerly knew nothing of that):

3 five princes of the Philistines, and all the Canaanite, and the Zidonian, and the Hivite inhabiting Mount Lebanon, from Mount Ba‘al-Hermon to the entering in of Hamath;

namely, the five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baal-hermon to the entrance of Hamath.

4 and they are to prove Israel by them, to know whether they obey the commands of YHWH that He commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.

And they were left, to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken to the commandments of Jehovah, which he commanded their fathers by Moses.

5 And the sons of Israel have dwelt in the midst of the Canaanite, the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite,

And the sons of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

6 and take their daughters to them for wives, and have given their daughters to their sons, and they serve their gods;

And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons and served their gods.

7 and the sons of Israel do evil in the eyes of YHWH, and forget their God YHWH, and serve the Ba‘alim and the Asheroth.

And the sons of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and forgot Jehovah their God, and served the Baalim and the Asheroth.

8 And the anger of YHWH burns against Israel, and He sells them into the hand of Chushan-Rishathaim king of Aram-Naharaim, and the sons of Israel serve Chushan-Rishathaim eight years;

Therefore the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia, And the sons of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years.

9 and the sons of Israel cry to YHWH, and YHWH raises a savior to the sons of Israel, and he saves them—Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother;

And when the sons of Israel cried to Jehovah, Jehovah raised up a savior to the sons of Israel, who saved them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.

10 and the Spirit of YHWH is on him, and he judges Israel, and goes out to battle, and YHWH gives Chushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into his hand, and his hand is strong against Chushan-Rishathaim;

And the Spirit of Jehovah came upon him, and he judged Israel. And he went out to war, and Jehovah delivered Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand, and his hand prevailed against Cushan-rishathaim.

11 and the land rests forty years. And Othniel son of Kenaz dies,

And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

12 and the sons of Israel add to do evil in the eyes of YHWH; and YHWH strengthens Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because that they have done evil in the eyes of YHWH;

And the sons of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah. And Jehovah strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel because they had done that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah.

13 and he gathers the sons of Ammon and Amalek to himself, and goes and strikes Israel, and they possess the city of palms;

And he gathered to him the sons of Ammon and Amalek, and he went and smote Israel, and they possessed the city of palm trees.

14 and the sons of Israel serve Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.

And the sons of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.

15 And the sons of Israel cry to YHWH, and YHWH raises a savior to them, Ehud son of Gera, a Benjamite (a man [with] his right hand bound), and the sons of Israel send a present by his hand to Eglon king of Moab;

But when the sons of Israel cried to Jehovah, Jehovah raised up for them a savior, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man. And the sons of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab.

16 and Ehud makes a sword for himself, and it has two mouths (its length [is] a cubit), and he girds it under his long robe on his right thigh;

And Ehud made for himself a sword which had two edges, a cubit in length. And he girded it under his raiment upon his right thigh.

17 and he brings the present near to Eglon king of Moab, and Eglon [is] a very fat man.

And he offered the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man.

18 And it comes to pass, when he has finished to bring the present near, that he sends the people carrying the present away,

And when he had made an end of offering the tribute, he sent away the men who bore the tribute.

19 and he himself has turned back from the carved images which [are] at Gilgal and says, “I have a secret word for you, O king”; and he says, “Hush!” And all those standing by him go out from him.

But he himself turned back from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand to thee, O king. And he said, Keep silence. And all who stood by him went out from him.

20 And Ehud has come to him, and he is sitting in the cool upper chamber which he has for himself, and Ehud says, “I have a word of God for you”; and he rises from off the throne;

And Ehud came to him. And he was sitting by himself alone in the cool upper room. And Ehud said, I have a message from God to thee. And he arose out of his seat.

21 and Ehud puts forth his left hand, and takes the sword from off his right thigh, and thrusts it into his belly;

And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his body.

22 and the hilt also goes in after the blade, and the fat shuts on the blade, that he has not drawn the sword out of his belly, and he goes out [through] the antechamber [[or and the dung came out]].

And the handle also went in after the blade, and the fat closed upon the blade, for he did not draw the sword out of his body, and it came out behind.

23 And Ehud goes out at the porch, and shuts the doors of the upper chamber on him, and has bolted [it];

Then Ehud went forth into the porch, and shut the doors of the upper room upon him, and locked them.

24 and he has gone out, and his servants have come in, and look, and behold, the doors of the upper chamber are bolted, and they say, “He is surely covering his feet, [relieving himself, ] in the cool inner chamber.”

Now when he was gone out, his servants came, and they saw, and, behold, the doors of the upper room were locked. And they said, Surely he is covering his feet in the upper chamber.

25 And they stay until confounded, and behold, he is not opening the doors of the upper chamber, and they take the key, and open, and behold, their lord is fallen to the earth—dead.

And they delayed till they were ashamed, and, behold, he did not open the doors of the upper room. Therefore they took the key, and opened, and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth.

26 And Ehud escaped during their lingering, and has passed by the images, and escapes to Seirath.

And Ehud escaped while they delayed, and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped to Seirah.

27 And it comes to pass, in his coming in, that he blows with a horn in the hill-country of Ephraim, and the sons of Israel go down with him from the hill-country, and he before them;

And it came to pass, when he came, that he blew a trumpet in the hill-country of Ephraim. And the sons of Israel went down with him from the hill-country, and he before them.

28 and he says to them, “Pursue after me, for YHWH has given your enemies, the Moabites, into your hand”; and they go down after him, and capture the passages of the Jordan toward Moab, and have not permitted a man to pass over.

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 against the Moabites, and did not allow a man to pass over.

29 And they strike Moab at that time, about ten thousand men, all robust, and everyone a man of valor, and no man has escaped,

And they smote about ten thousand men of Moab at that time, every robust man, and every man of valor, and there escaped not a man.

30 and Moab is humbled in that day under the hand of Israel; and the land rests [for] eighty years.

So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest eighty years.

31 And after him has been Shamgar son of Anath, and he strikes the Philistines—six hundred men—with an ox-goad, and he also saves Israel.

And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who smote six hundred men of the Philistines with an ox-goad, and he also saved Israel.