‏ Judges 3

Idolatry Leads to Servitude

1 aNow these are the nations that the Lord left, to test Israel by them (that is, all the Israelites who had not
Lit known
experienced any of the wars of Canaan;
2only in order that the generations of the sons of Israel might
Lit know, to teach them
be taught war,
Lit only those
those who had not
Lit known
experienced it previously).
3These nations are: the five governors of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians, and fthe Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as
Or the entrance of Hamath
Lebo-hamath.
4They were left to htest Israel by them, to find out if they would
Lit listen to
obey the commandments of the Lord, which He had commanded their fathers
Lit by the hand of
through Moses.
5 kThe sons of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; 6and lthey took their daughters for themselves as wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.

7 So the sons of Israel did mwhat was evil in the sight of the Lord, and they nforgot the Lord their God and oserved the Baals and the
I.e., wooden symbols of a female deity (Asherah)
Asheroth.
8Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, so that He sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim, king of
Heb Aram-naharaim
Mesopotamia; and the sons of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim for eight years.

The First Judge Frees Israel

9 But the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up a deliverer for the sons of Israel to set them free, rOthniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. 10And sthe Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel. When he went to war, the Lord handed over to him Cushan-rishathaim king of
Heb Aram
Mesopotamia, so that
Lit his hand was strong
he prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim.
11Then the land was at rest for forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

12 Now the sons of Israel again vdid evil in the sight of the Lord. So wthe Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. 13And he gathered to himself the sons of Ammon and Amalek; and he went and
Lit struck
defeated Israel, and they took possession of ythe city of the palm trees.
14And the sons of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab for eighteen years.

Ehud Kills Eglon

15 But when the sons of Israel zcried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for them, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. And the sons of Israel sent tribute by
Lit his hand
him to Eglon the king of Moab.
16Now Ehud made himself a sword which had two edges, a cubit in length, and he strapped it on his right thigh under his cloak. 17Then he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. 18And it came about, when he had finished presenting the tribute, that Ehud sent away the people who had carried the tribute. 19But he himself turned back from the idols which were at Gilgal, and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And the king said, “Silence!” And all who were attending him left him. 20Then Ehud came to him while he was sitting in his cool roof chamber alone. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he got up from his seat. 21Then Ehud reached out with his left hand and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. 22The hilt of the sword also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade because he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and
Meaning of the Heb uncertain, but perhaps excrement
the refuse came out.
23Then Ehud went out into the
Meaning uncertain
vestibule, and shut the doors of the roof chamber behind him, and locked them.

24 When he had left,
Lit his
the king’s servants came and looked, and behold, the doors of the roof chamber were locked; and they said, “ aeUndoubtedly he is
Lit covering his feet; a euphemism referring to a squatting position
relieving himself in the cool room.”
25So they waited
Lit until shaming
until it would have been shameful to wait longer; but behold, he did not open the doors of the roof chamber. So they took the key and opened them, and behold, their master had fallen to the
Lit earth
floor dead.

26 Now Ehud escaped while they were hesitating, and he passed by the idols and escaped to Seirah. 27And
Lit it happened
when he arrived, ajhe blew the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was
Lit before them
leading them.
28Then he said to them, “Pursue them, for the Lord has handed your enemies the Moabites over to you.” So they went down after him and took control of althe crossing places of the Jordan opposite Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross. 29They struck and killed about ten thousand Moabites at that time, all robust and valiant men; and no one escaped. 30So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land was at rest for eighty years.

Shamgar Saves Israel

31 Now after him came amShamgar the son of Anath, who struck and killed six hundred Philistines with an
I.e., a spiked stick for driving livestock
oxgoad; and he also saved Israel.
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