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, that by them he might instruct Israel, and all that had not known the wars of the Chanaanites:

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)—

That afterwards their children might learn to fight with their enemies, and to be trained up to war:

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 Chanaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hevites that dwelt in mount Libanus, from mount Baal Hermon to the entering into Emath.

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, 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.

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,

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:

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 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, and served Baalim and Astaroth.

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 being angry with Israel, delivered them into the hands of Chusan Rasathaim king of Mesopotamia, and they served him 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 to the Lord, who raised them up a saviour, and delivered them, to wit, Othoniel the son of Cenez, the 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 into his hands Chusan Rasathaim king of Syria, and he overthrew him.

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

And the land rested forty years, and Othoniel the son of Cenez 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 did evil again in the sight of the Lord: who strengthened against them Eglon king of Moab: 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 children of Ammon, and Amalec: and he went and overthrew Israel, and possessed 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 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 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.

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 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.

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

And he presented the gifts to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was exceeding 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 unto him, he followed his companions that came along 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.

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,

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;

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,

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

And Aod put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, 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]].

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.

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

But Aod carefully shutting the doors of the parlour and locking 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.”

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.

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 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.

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

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:

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 forthwith he sounded the trumpet in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel went down with him, he himself going in 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 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.

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,

But they slew of the Moabites at that time, about ten thousand, all strong and Valiant men: none of them could 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 that day under the hand of Israel: and the land rested 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 was Samgar the son of Anath, who slew of the Philistines six hundred men with a ploughshare: and he also defended Israel.