| Chapter 3 |
| 1 | Now these are the nations which
the LORD left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known
all the wars of Canaan; |
| 2 | Only that the generations of the children of
Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing
thereof; |
| 3
| Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the
Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon,
from mount Baalhermon unto the entering in of Hamath. |
| 4 | And they were
to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the
commandments of the LORD, which he commanded 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: |
| 6 |
And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to
their sons, and served their gods. |
| 7 | And the children of Israel did
evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgat the LORD their God, and served Baalim
and the groves. |
|
8 | Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against
Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushanrishathaim king of
Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Chushanrishathaim eight
years. |
| 9 |
And when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD
raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even
Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. |
| 10 | And the
Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war:
and the LORD delivered Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and
his hand prevailed against Chushanrishathaim. |
| 11 | And the land
had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died. |
| 12 | And the
children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD
strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil
in the sight of the LORD. |
|
13 | And he gathered unto him the children
of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm
trees. |
| 14
| So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab
eighteen years. |
|
15 | But when the children of Israel cried unto the
LORD, the LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a
man lefthanded: and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the
king of Moab. |
|
16 | But Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges, of
a cubit length; and he did gird it under his raiment upon his right
thigh. |
| 17
| And he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab: and
Eglon was a very fat man. |
|
18 | And when he had made an end to offer
the present, he sent away the people that bare the present. |
| 19 | But he
himself turned again from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a
secret errand unto thee, O king: who said, Keep silence. And all that stood by
him went out from him. |
| 20 | And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting
in a summer parlor, which he had for himself alone. And Ehud said, I have a
message from God unto thee. And he arose out of his seat. |
| 21 | And Ehud
put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust
it into his belly: |
| 22 | And the haft also went in after the blade;
and the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out of
his belly; and the dirt came out. |
| 23 | Then Ehud went forth through
the porch, and shut the doors of the parlor upon him, and locked them.
|
| 24 | When he was gone out, his servants came; and when they saw that, behold,
the doors of the parlor were locked, they said, Surely he covereth his feet in
his summer chamber. |
| 25 | And they tarried till they were ashamed:
and, behold, he opened not the doors of the parlor; therefore they took a key,
and opened them: and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the
earth. |
| 26
| And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond
the quarries, and escaped unto Seirath. |
|
27 | And it came to pass, when
he was come, that he blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim, and the
children of Israel went down with him from the mount, and he before them.
|
| 28 | And he said unto them, Follow after me: for the LORD hath delivered your
enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the
fords of Jordan toward Moab, and suffered not a man to pass over. |
| 29 |
And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all lusty, and all
men of valor; and there escaped not a man. |
|
30 | So Moab was subdued
that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years.
|
| 31 | And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the
Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel. |
