Judges 3

1 And these are the nations that Jehovah left, to prove Israel by them, all that had not known all the wars of Canaan;

Now these are the nations which the Lord kept in the land for the purpose of testing Israel by them, all those who had had no experience of all the wars of Canaan;

2 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:

Only because of the generations of the children of Israel, for the purpose of teaching them war — only those who up till then had no experience of it;

3 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.

The five chiefs of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites and the Zidonians and the Hivites living in Mount Lebanon, from the mountain Baal-hermon as far as Hamath:

4 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.

For the purpose of testing Israel by them, to see if they would give ear to the orders of the Lord, which he had given to their fathers by the hand of Moses.

5 And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites: Hittites and Amorites and Perizzites and Hivites and Jebusites;

Now the children of Israel were living among the Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites:

6 and they took their daughters as wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods.

And they took as wives the daughters of these nations and gave their daughters to their sons, and became servants to their gods.

7 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of Jehovah, and forgot Jehovah their God, and served the Baals and the Asherahs.

And the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and put out of their minds the Lord their God, and became servants to the Baals and the Astartes.

8 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.

So the wrath of the Lord was burning against Israel, and he gave them up into the hands of Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel were his servants for eight years.

9 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.

And when the children of Israel made prayer to the Lord, he gave them a saviour, Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.

10 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.

And the spirit of the Lord came on him and he became judge of Israel, and went out to war, and the Lord gave up Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, into his hands and he overcame him.

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

Then for forty years the land had peace, till the death of Othniel, the son of Kenaz.

12 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.

Then the children of Israel again did evil in the eyes of the Lord; and the Lord made Eglon, king of Moab, strong against Israel, because they had done evil in the Lord's eyes.

13 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.

And Eglon got together the people of Ammon and Amalek, and they went and overcame Israel and took the town of palm-trees.

14 And the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.

And the children of Israel were servants to Eglon, king of Moab, for eighteen years.

15 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.

Then when the children of Israel made prayer to the Lord, he gave them a saviour, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man; and the children of Israel sent an offering by him to Eglon, king of Moab.

16 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.

So Ehud made himself a two-edged sword, a cubit long, which he put on at his right side under his robe.

17 And he brought the gift to Eglon king of Moab; now Eglon was a very fat man.

And he took the offering to Eglon, king of Moab, who was a very fat man.

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

And after giving the offering, he sent away the people who had come with the offering.

19 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.

But he himself, turning back from the stone images at Gilgal, said, I have something to say to you in secret, O king. And he said, Let there be quiet. Then all those who were waiting before him went out.

20 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.

Then Ehud came in to him while he was seated by himself in his summer-house. And Ehud said, I have a word from God for you. And he got up from his seat.

21 Then Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the sword from his right hip, and thrust it into his belly;

And Ehud put out his left hand, and took the sword from his right side, and sent it into his stomach;

22 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.

And the hand-part went in after the blade, and the fat was joined up over the blade; for he did not take the sword out of his stomach. And he went out into the ...

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

Then Ehud went out into the covered way, shutting the doors of the summer-house on him and locking them.

24 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.

Now when he had gone, the king's servants came, and saw that the doors of the summer-house were locked; and they said, It may be that he is in his summer-house for a private purpose.

25 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.

And they went on waiting till they were shamed, but the doors were still shut; so they took the key, and, opening them, saw their lord stretched out dead on the floor.

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

But Ehud had got away while they were waiting and had gone past the stone images and got away to Seirah.

27 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.

And when he came there, he had a horn sounded in the hill-country of Ephraim, and all the children of Israel went down with him from the hill-country, and he at their head.

28 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.

And he said to them, Come after me; for the Lord has given the Moabites, your haters, into your hands. So they went down after him and took the crossing-places of Jordan against Moab, and let no one go across.

29 And they slew the Moabites at that time, about ten thousand men, all fat, and all men of valour, and not a man escaped.

At that time they put about ten thousand men of Moab to the sword, every strong man and every man of war; not a man got away.

30 And Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest eighty years.

So Moab was broken that day under the hand of Israel. And for eighty years the land had peace.

31 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.

And after him came Shamgar, the son of Anath, who put to death six hundred Philistines with an ox-stick; and he was another saviour of Israel.