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 that the Lord left, to prove by them the Israelites, namely, all those who had not experienced 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 in order that the future generations of the children of Israel might obtain knowledge, to teach them war; but only such as before had learned 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;

Namely, the five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Zidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt on mount Lebanon, from mount Ba'al-chermon unto the entrance of Chamath.

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 by them the Israelites, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the Lord, which he had 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 in the midst of the Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Emorites, 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 themselves for wives, and their daughters they gave 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 the children of Israel did [thus] the evil in the eyes of the Lord, and forgot the Lord their God, and served the Be'alim 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;

Wherefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rish'athayim the king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served Cushan-rish'athayim 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 then unto the Lord, and the Lord raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, namely, 'Othniel the son of Kenaz, 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 came over him, and he judged Israel, and went out to battle: and the Lord delivered Cushan-rish'athayim the king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed over Cushan-rish'athayim.

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

And the land had rest forty years; and then died 'Othniel the son of Kenaz.

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 again the evil in the eyes of the Lord; and the Lord strengthened 'Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done the evil in the eyes of 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 unto him the children of 'Ammon and 'Amalek, and they went and smote 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 '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 the children of Israel cried then unto the Lord; and the Lord raised up unto them a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera a Benjamite, a man who was lamed in his right hand; and the children of Israel sent by him a present unto '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;

But Ehud made himself a sword which had two edges, of a cubit length; and he girded it under his garments 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 brought the present near unto 'Eglon the 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 made an end to offer the present, that he sent away the people who had borne the present.

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 returned again from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret word unto thee, O King. And he said, Keep silence. And thereupon went out from his presence all that stood by 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 in unto him; and he was sitting in the summer upper chamber, which was for himself alone. And Ehud said, I have a word of God unto thee. And he arose out of his chair.

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 stretched 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 haft 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 passed into the fundament.

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 forth into the ante-room, and shut the doors of the upper chamber after 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.”

He was just gone out, when his servants came; and they saw, behold, the doors of the upper chamber were locked; and they said, Surely he covereth 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 tarried till they were ashamed; and behold, he opened not the doors of the upper chamber; wherefore they took the key and opened them: and, behold, their lord was lying dead on the floor.

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

And Ehud had escaped while they were tarrying, and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped unto Se'irah.

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 the cornet on the mountain of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mountain, 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 unto them, Pursue after me; for the Lord hath delivered your enemies, the Moabites, into your hand. And they went down after him, and seized on the fords of the Jordan toward Moab, and suffered not 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 of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all lusty, and all men 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.

And Moab was humbled 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 of the philistines six hundred men with an ox-goad; and he also delivered Israel.