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 that Jehovah left, to prove Israel by them, all that 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 children of Israel might know war by learning it, at the least those who before had known nothing thereof:

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;

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.

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 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.

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 dwelt among the Canaanites: Hittites and Amorites and Perizzites and Hivites and 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 as wives, and 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 Jehovah, and forgot Jehovah their God, and served the Baals and the Asherahs.

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 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.

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 Jehovah; and Jehovah raised up a saviour to the children of Israel, who saved them, 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 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.

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 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.

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 children of Ammon and Amalek and went and smote Israel, and they 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 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;

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.

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 him a sword having two edges, it was of a cubit length; and he girded it under his raiment upon his right hip.

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

And he brought the gift 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 it came to pass when he had ended offering the gift, he sent away the people that had borne the gift.

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 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.

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; 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.

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

Then Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the sword from his right hip, and thrust 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 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.

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

And Ehud went out into the portico, and shut the doors of the upper-chamber upon him, and bolted 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 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.

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, 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.

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

And Ehud had escaped while they lingered, and passed beyond the graven images, 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 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.

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 toward Moab, and suffered no one 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 slew the Moabites at that time, about ten thousand men, all fat, and all men of valour, 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.

And 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; and he smote the Philistines, six hundred men, with an ox-goad. And he also delivered Israel.