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;

And these [are] the nations which the Lord left to prove Israel with them, all that had not known the wars of Chanaan.

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 for the sake of the generations of Israel, to teach them war, only the men before them knew them not.

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;

The five lordships of the Phylistines, and every Chananite, and the Sidonian, and the Evite who lived in Libanus from the mount of Aermon to Laboemath.

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 [this] was done in order to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would obey the commands of the Lord, which he charged their fathers by the hand of 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 children of Israel lived in the midst of the Chananite, and the Chettite, and the Amorite, and the Pherezite, and the Evite, and the Jebusite.

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 for wives to themselves, and they gave their 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 children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgot the Lord their God, and served Baalim and the groves.

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;

And the Lord was very angry with Israel, and sold them into the hand of Chusarsathaim king of Syria of the rivers: and the children of Israel served Chusarsathaim 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 the children of Israel cried to the Lord; and the Lord raised up a saviour to Israel, and he saved them, Gothoniel the son of Kenez, the brother of Chaleb younger than himself.

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 the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel; and he went out to war against Chusarsathaim: and the Lord delivered into his hand Chusarsathaim king of Syria of the rivers, and his hand prevailed against Chusarsathaim.

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

And the land was quiet forty years; and Gothoniel the son of Kenez 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 children of Israel continued to do evil before the Lord: and the Lord strengthened Eglom king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil before the Lord.

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 himself all the children of Ammon and Amalec, and went and struck Israel, and took possession of the city of Palm-trees.

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

And the children of Israel served Eglom 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;

And the children of Israel cried to the Lord; and he raised up to them a saviour, Aod the son of Gera a son of Jemeni, a man who used both hands alike: and the children of Israel sent gifts by his hand to Eglom 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 Aod made himself a dagger of two edges, of a span long, and he girded it under his cloak 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 went, and brought the presents to Eglom king of Moab, and Eglom [was] a very handsome 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 it came to pass when [Aod] had made an end of offering his gifts, that he dismissed those that brought the gifts.

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.

And he himself returned from the quarries that are by Galgal; and Aod said, I have a secret errand to you, O king! and Eglom said to him, Be silent: and he sent away from his presence all who waited upon 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 Aod went in to him; and he sat in his own upper summer chamber quite alone; and Aod said, I have a message from God to you, O king: and Eglom rose up from his throne near him.

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

And it came to pass as he arose, that Aod stretched forth his left hand, and took the dagger off his right thigh, and plunged it into his belly;

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 drove in also the haft after the blade, and the fat closed in upon the blade, for he drew not out the dagger from his belly.

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

And Aod went out to the porch, and passed out by the appointed [guards], and shut the doors of the chamber 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.”

And he went out: and Eglom's servants came, and saw, and behold, the doors of the upper chamber [were] locked; and they said, Does he not uncover his feet in the summer-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 waited till they were ashamed, and, behold, there was no one that opened the doors of the upper chamber; and they took the key, and opened them; and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead upon the earth.

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

And Aod escaped while they were in a tumult, and no one paid attention to him; and he passed the quarries, and escaped to Setirotha.

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 Aod came into the land of Israel, that he blew the horn in mount Ephraim, and the children of Israel came down with him from the mountain, and he [was] 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, Come down after me, for the Lord God has delivered our enemies, even Moab, into our hand; and they went down after him, and seized on the fords of Jordan before Moab, and he did not suffer 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 struck Moab on that day about ten thousand men, every [lusty] person and every mighty man; and not a man escaped.

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

So Moab was humbled in that day under the hand of Israel, and the land had rest eighty years; and Aod judged them till he died.

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 rose up Samegar the son of Dinach, and struck the Philistines to the number of six hundred men with a ploughshare [such as is drawn by] oxen; and he too delivered Israel.