Judges 3

1 And these [are] the nations which Jehovah left, to try Israel by them, all who have not known all the wars of Canaan;

At that time there were still many people-groups in Canaan. Yahweh left them there to test the Israeli people. But many of the Israelis in Canaan were ones who had not fought in any of the wars in Canaan. So Yahweh also left those people-groups in Canaan so that the descendants of those who had not fought in any of the wars might learn how to fight.

2 (only for the sake of the generations of the sons of Israel's knowing, to teach them war, only those who formerly have not known them) —

3 five princes of the Philistines, and all the Canaanite, and the Zidonian, and the Hivite inhabiting mount Lebanon, from mount Baal-Hermon unto the entering in of Hamath;

[This is a list of] the people-groups that Yahweh left there: The Philistines and their five leaders, the people living in the area near Sidon [city], the descendants of Canaan, and the descendants of Hiv who were living in the mountains of Lebanon between Baal-Hermon Mountain and Lebo-Hamath.

4 and they are to prove Israel by them, to know whether they obey the commands of Jehovah that He commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.

Yahweh left these people-groups there to test the Israelis, to see if they would obey his commands which he had told Moses to give them.

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,

The Israelis lived among the Canaan people-group, the Hiv people-group, the Amor people-group, the Periz people-group, the Hiv people-group, and the Jebus people-group.

6 and take their daughters to them for wives, and their daughters have given to their sons, and they serve their gods;

[Moses had told the people not to associate with any of those people]. But the Israelis took daughters of people from those people-groups [to be their own wives], and gave their own daughters to men of those groups, to marry them. And [as a result] they started to worship the gods of those people-groups.

7 and the sons of Israel do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and forget Jehovah their God, and serve the Baalim and the shrines.

The Israelis did things that Yahweh said were very evil. They forgot about Yahweh, their God, and they started to worship [the idols that represented] the god Baal and the goddess Asherah.

8 And the anger of Jehovah burneth against Israel, and He selleth them into the hand of Chushan-Rishathaim king of Aram-Naharaim, and the sons of Israel serve Chushan-Rishathaim eight years;

Yahweh became very angry with the Israelis. So he allowed king Cushan from Mesopotamia to conquer them and rule them for eight years.

9 and the sons of Israel cry unto Jehovah, and Jehovah raiseth a saviour to the sons of Israel, and he saveth them — Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother;

But when they pleaded to Yahweh [to help them], he gave them a leader to rescue them. He was Othniel, the son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz.

10 and the Spirit of Jehovah is upon him, and he judgeth Israel, and goeth out to battle, and Jehovah giveth unto his hand Chushan-Rishathaim king of Aram, and strong is his hand against Chushan-Rishathaim;

Yahweh’s Spirit came upon him, and he became their leader. He [led an army that] fought against [the army of] Cushan, and defeated them.

11 and the land resteth forty years. And Othniel son of Kenaz dieth,

After that, there was peace in the land for 40 years, until Othniel died.

12 and the sons of Israel add to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah; and Jehovah strengtheneth Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because that they have done the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah;

After that, the Israelis again did things that Yahweh said were very evil. As a result, he allowed the army of King Eglon, who ruled [the] Moab [area], to defeat the Israelis.

13 and he gathereth unto him the Bene-Ammon and Amalek, and goeth and smiteth Israel, and they possess the city of palms;

Eglon persuaded the leaders of the Ammon and Amalek people-groups to join their armies with his army to attack Israel. They captured [Jericho, which was called] ‘The City of Palm Trees’.

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

Then King Eglon ruled the Israelis for eighteen years.

15 And the sons of Israel cry unto Jehovah, and Jehovah raiseth to them a saviour, Ehud son of Gera, a Benjamite (a man — shut of his right hand), and the sons of Israel send by his hand a present to Eglon king of Moab;

But then the Israelis again pleaded to Yahweh [to help them]. So he gave them another leader to rescue them. He was Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera, from the descendants of Benjamin. The Israelis sent him to King Eglon to give him their yearly protection money.

16 and Ehud maketh for himself a sword, and it hath two mouths (a cubit [is] its length), and he girdeth it under his long robe on his right thigh;

Ehud had with him a double-edged dagger, about a foot and a half long. He strapped it to his right thigh, under his clothes.

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

He gave the money to King Eglon, who was a very fat man.

18 And it cometh to pass, when he hath finished to bring near the present, that he sendeth away the people bearing the present,

Then Ehud started to go back home with the men who had carried the money.

19 and he himself hath turned back from the graven images which [are] at Gilgal, and saith, 'A secret word I have unto thee, O king;' and he saith, 'Hush!' and go out from him do all those standing by him.

When they arrived at the stone carvings near Gilgal, [he told the other men to go on, but] he himself turned around and went back [to the king of Moab. When he arrived at the palace], he said to the king, “Your majesty, I have a secret message for you.” So the king told all his servants to be quiet, and sent them out of the room.

20 And Ehud hath come unto him, and he is sitting in the upper chamber of the wall which he hath for himself, and Ehud saith, 'A word of God I have unto thee;' and he riseth from off the throne;

Then, as Eglon was sitting alone in the upstairs room of his summer palace, Ehud came close to him and said, “I have a message for you from God.” As the king got up from his chair,

21 and Ehud putteth forth his left hand, and taketh the sword from off his right thigh, and striketh it into his belly;

Ehud reached with his left hand and pulled the dagger from his right thigh, and plunged it into the king’s belly.

22 and the haft also goeth in after the blade, and the fat shutteth on the blade, that he hath not drawn the sword out of his belly, and it goeth out at the fundament.

He thrust it in so far that the handle went into the king’s belly, and the blade came out the king’s back. Ehud did not pull the dagger out. [He left it there, with] the handle buried in the king’s fat.

23 And Ehud goeth out at the porch, and shutteth the doors of the upper chamber upon him, and hath bolted [it];

Then Ehud left the room. He went out to the porch. He shut the doors to the room and locked them.

24 and he hath gone out, and his servants have come in, and look, and lo, the doors of the upper chamber are bolted, and they say, 'He is only covering his feet in the inner chamber of the wall.'

After he had gone, King Eglon’s servants came back, but they saw that the doors of the room were locked. They said, “The king must be defecating in the inner room.”

25 And they stay till confounded, and lo, he is not opening the doors of the upper chamber, and they take the key, and open, and lo, their lord is fallen to the earth — dead.

So they waited, but when the king did not open the doors of the room, after a while they were worried. They got a key and unlocked the doors. And they saw that their king was lying on the floor, dead.

26 And Ehud escaped during their tarrying, and hath passed by the images, and is escaped to Seirath.

Meanwhile, Ehud escaped. He passed by the stone carvings and arrived at Seirah, in the hilly area where the descendants of Ephraim lived.

27 And it cometh to pass, in his coming in, that he bloweth with a trumpet in the hill-country of Ephraim, and go down with him do the sons of Israel from the hill-country, and he before them;

There he blew a trumpet [to signal that the people should join him to fight the people of Moab]. So the Israelis went with him from the hills. They went down [toward the Jordan river], with Ehud leading them.

28 and he saith unto them, 'Pursue after me, for Jehovah hath given your enemies, the Moabites, into your hand;' and they go down after him, and capture the passages of the Jordan towards Moab, and have not permitted a man to pass over.

He said to the men, “Yahweh is going to allow us to defeat your enemies, the people of Moab. So follow me!” So they followed him down to the river, and they stationed some of their men at the place where people can walk across the river, in order that they could [kill any people from Moab who tried to] cross the river [to escape].

29 And they smite Moab at that time, about ten thousand men, all robust, and every one a man of valour, and not a man hath escaped,

At that time, the Israelis killed about 10,000 people from Moab. They were all strong and capable men, but not one of them escaped.

30 and Moab is humbled in that day under the hand of Israel; and the land resteth eighty years.

On that day, the Israelis conquered the people of Moab. Then there was peace in their land for 80 years.

31 And after him hath been Shamgar son of Anath, and he smiteth the Philistines — six hundred men — with an ox-goad, and he saveth — he also — Israel.

After Ehud [died], Shamgar became their leader. He rescued the Israelis [from the Philistines. In one battle] he killed 600 Philistines with an (ox goad/sharp wooden pole).