Judges 3
1 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.
The following are the nations the Lord left and used to test all those Israelites who had not known what it was like to be part of any of the wars in Canaan.
(He did so to teach warfare to the later generations of Israel, particularly to those who had not previously experienced it.)
3 [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.
They are: the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the mountains of Lebanon from Mount Baal-hermon to Lebo-hamath.
4 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.
They were left there be to a test for the Israelites, to find out whether the Israelites would keep the Lord's commandments which he had given their forefathers through Moses.
5 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.
They lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
6 [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.
The Israelites intermarried with them, marrying their daughters, giving their own daughters to their sons, and worshiped their gods.
7 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.
The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord's sight. They ignored the Lord their God and worshiped the images of Baals and Asherahs.
8 Yahweh became very angry with the Israelis. So he allowed king Cushan from Mesopotamia to conquer them and rule them for eight years.
The Lord became angry with Israel, so he sold them to Cushan-Rishathaim, king of Aram Naharaim. The Israelites were subject to Cushan-Rishathaim for eight years.
9 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.
But when the Israelites cried out to the Lord to help them, he provided someone to rescue them, Othniel, son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, and he saved them.
10 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.
The Spirit of the Lord came on him, and he became Israel's judge. He went to war with Cushan-Rishathaim, king of Aram, and the Lord handed the king over to Othniel, who was victorious.
11 After that, there was peace in the land for 40 years, until Othniel died.
As a result, the country was a peace for forty years until Othniel, son of Kenaz, died.
12 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.
But once again the Israelites did what was evil in the Lord's sight, and because they did this the Lord gave power to Eglon, king of Moab, to conquer Israel.
13 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’.
Eglon had the Ammonites and the Amalekite join him, and then attacked and defeated Israel, taking possession of the City of Palms.
14 Then King Eglon ruled the Israelis for eighteen years.
The Israelites were subject to Eglon, king of Moab, for eighteen years.
15 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.
Again the Israelites cried out to the Lord to help them, and he provided someone to rescue them, Ehud, son of Gera the Benjamite, a left-handed man. The Israelites sent him to pay the tribute to Eglon, king of Moab.
16 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.
Ehud had made for himself a cubit long double-edged sword, and he strapped it to his right thigh under his clothes.
17 He gave the money to King Eglon, who was a very fat man.
He came and presented the tribute to Eglon, king of Moab, who was a very fat man.
18 Then Ehud started to go back home with the men who had carried the money.
Then after delivering the tribute he sent home those who had helped carry it.
19 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.
But when he reached the stone idols near Gilgal, he turned back. He went to see Eglon, and told him, “Your Majesty, I have a secret message for you.” The king told his attendants, “Silence!” and they all left.
20 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,
Ehud then went over to where Eglon was sitting alone in his cool upstairs room, and told him, “I have a message from God for you.” As the king got up from his seat,
21 Ehud reached with his left hand and pulled the dagger from his right thigh, and plunged it into the king’s belly.
Ehud grabbed his sword with his left hand from his right thigh and drove it into Eglon's belly.
22 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.
The handle went in with the blade and the fat closed over it. So Ehud didn't pull the sword out, and the king defecated.
23 Then Ehud left the room. He went out to the porch. He shut the doors to the room and locked them.
Then Ehud closed and locked the doors, and escaped through the toilet.
24 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.”
After he had left, the servants came and saw that the doors of the room were locked. “He must be using the toilet,” they concluded.
25 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.
So they waited until they couldn't stand it any more, and since he still hadn't opened the doors of the room, they went and found the key and opened the doors. There was their lord, lying dead on the floor.
26 Meanwhile, Ehud escaped. He passed by the stone carvings and arrived at Seirah, in the hilly area where the descendants of Ephraim lived.
While the servants delayed acting, Ehud escaped, passing the stone idols and on to Seirah.
27 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.
When he got there, he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites joined him. They went down from the hills, with Ehud leading them.
28 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].
He told them, “Follow me, for the Lord has handed Moab, your enemy, over to you.” So they followed him down and took control of the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab. They didn't let anyone cross.
29 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.
Then they attacked the Moabites and killed around 10,000 of their best and strongest fighting men. Not a single one escaped.
30 On that day, the Israelis conquered the people of Moab. Then there was peace in their land for 80 years.
Moab was conquered that day and made subject to Israel, and the country was at peace for eighty years.
31 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).
After Ehud was Shamgar, son of Anath, who killed six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He also rescued Israel.
