Judges 3
1 These are the nations the LORD left in the land to test Israel through them—all those who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan.
2 This was only so that the generations of the Israelites might learn, as they were taught how to wage war—those who had never known it before.
3 They were the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived in the Lebanon mountains, from Mount Baal-hermon to the entrance of Hamath.
4 They remained to test Israel through them, to see whether they would obey the LORD’s commands, which he had given their ancestors through Moses.
5 The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
6 They took their daughters as wives, gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
7 The Israelites did what was evil in the LORD’s sight. They forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.
8 The LORD’s anger burned against Israel, and he sold them into the power of Cushan-rishathaim, king of Aram-naharaim. The Israelites served Cushan-rishathaim for eight years.
9 The Israelites cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised up a deliverer for them and rescued them: Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.
10 The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to battle, and the LORD handed Cushan-rishathaim, king of Aram, over to him; he prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim.
11 The land was at peace for forty years. Then Othniel son of Kenaz died.
12 The Israelites again did what was evil in the LORD’s sight, and the LORD strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the LORD’s sight.
13 Eglon gathered the Ammonites and Amalekites to himself, went out, struck Israel, and took possession of the City of Palms.
14 The Israelites served Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years.
15 The Israelites cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised up a deliverer for them: Ehud son of Gera, a Benjaminite, a man who was left-handed. The Israelites sent tribute to Eglon king of Moab through him.
16 Ehud made himself a double-edged sword, a cubit long, and strapped it under his clothes against his right thigh.
17 He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Eglon was a very fat man.
18 When he had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who had carried it.
19 But he himself turned back from the carved images near Gilgal and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” The king said, “Quiet!” Then everyone standing around him left.
20 Ehud came to him while he was sitting alone in the cool upper room and said, “I have a message from God for you.” Then the king rose from his seat.
21 Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into the king’s belly.
22 The handle went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, because Ehud did not draw the sword out of the king’s belly; and the waste came out.
23 Ehud went out to the porch, shut the doors of the upper room behind him, and locked them.
24 After he had gone, the king’s servants came and looked. The doors of the upper room were locked, so they said, “Surely he is relieving himself in the cool room.”
25 They waited until they became uneasy, but he still did not open the doors of the upper room. So they took the key and opened them. There was their lord, fallen to the floor, dead.
26 While they delayed, Ehud escaped. He passed by the carved images and fled to Seirah.
27 When he arrived, he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim. The Israelites came down with him from the hill country, and he led them.
28 He said to them, “Follow me, because the LORD has handed your enemies, the Moabites, over to you.” They followed him down, seized the Jordan crossings leading to Moab, and let no one cross.
29 At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabite men, all strong and valiant; not one escaped.
30 That day Moab was subdued under Israel’s hand, and the land was at peace for eighty years.
31 After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too delivered Israel.
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