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;

These are the nations which the Lord left, so that by them he might instruct Israel and all who had not known the wars of the Canaanites,

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)—

so that afterward their sons might learn to contend with their enemies, and to have a willingness to do battle:

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 princes of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites who were living on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-Hermon as far as the entrance to 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 he left them, so that by them he might test Israel, as to whether or not they would listen to the commandments of the Lord, which he instructed to 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 so, the sons of Israel lived in the midst of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, 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 as wives, and they gave their own daughters to their sons, and they 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 they did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they forgot their God, while serving the Baals and Ashtaroth.

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, having become angry with Israel, delivered them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim, the king of Mesopotamia, and they served him for 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 they cried out to the Lord, who raised up for them a savior, and he freed them, namely, Othniel, the son of Kenaz, a younger brother of Caleb.

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 was in him, and he judged Israel. And he went out to fight, and the Lord delivered Cushan-Rishathaim, the king of Syria, and he overwhelmed him.

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

And the land was quiet for 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;

Then the sons of Israel resumed doing evil in the sight of the Lord, who strengthened Eglon, the king of Moab, against them because they did evil in his sight.

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 joined to him the sons of Ammon and the sons of Amalek. And he went forth and struck Israel, and he possessed the City of Palms.

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

And the sons of Israel served Eglon, the king of Moab, for 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 afterward, they cried out to the Lord, who raised up for them a savior, called Ehud, the son of Gera, the son of Benjamin, who used either hand as well as the right hand. And the sons of Israel sent gifts to Eglon, the king of Moab, by him.

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 he made for himself a two-edged sword, having a handle, reaching to the middle, the length of the palm of a hand. And he was girded with it under his cloak, on the 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 gifts to Eglon, the king of Moab. Now Eglon was exceedingly fat.

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 presented the gifts to him, he followed out his companions, who had arrived with him.

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 then, returning from Gilgal where the idols were, he said to the king, “I have a secret word for you, O king.” And he ordered silence. And when all those who were around him had departed,

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;

Ehud entered to him. Now he was sitting alone in a summer upper room. And he said, “I have a word from God to you.” And immediately he rose up from his throne.

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 extended his left hand, and he took the dagger from his right thigh. And he thrust it into his abdomen

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]].

so strongly that the handle followed the blade into the wound, and was enclosed by the great amount of fat. Neither did he withdraw the sword. Instead, he left it in the body just as he had struck with it. And immediately, by the private parts of nature, the filth of the bowels went out.

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

Then Ehud carefully closed the doors of the upper room. And securing the bars,

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.”

he departed by a back exit. And the servants of the king, entering, saw that the doors of the upper room were closed, and they said, “Perhaps he is emptying his bowels in the summer room.”

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 after waiting a long time, until they were embarrassed, and seeing that no one opened the door, they took the key, and opening it, they found their lord lying dead on the ground.

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

But Ehud, while they were in confusion, escaped and passed by the place of the idols, from which he had returned. And he arrived at Seirath.

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 immediately he sounded the trumpet on Mount Ephraim. And the sons of Israel descended with him, he himself advancing at the front.

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 me. For the Lord has delivered our enemies, the Moabites, into our hands.” And they descended after him, and they occupied the fords of the Jordan, which cross over to Moab. And they did not permit anyone to cross.

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 so, they struck down the Moabites at that time, about ten thousand, all strong and robust men. None of them were able to escape.

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

And Moab was humbled in that day under the hand of Israel. And the land was quiet for 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.

After him, there was Shamgar, the son of Anath, who struck down six hundred men of the Philistines with a plowshare. And he also defended Israel.