The Book of Judges

⭑ Literal Standard Version :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 3 -

And these [are] the nations which YHWH left, to try Israel by them, all who have not known all the wars of Canaan;

(only for the sake of the generations of the sons of Israel knowing, to teach them war, only those who formerly have not known them)—

five princes of the Philistines, and all the Canaanite, and the Zidonian, and the Hivite inhabiting Mount Lebanon, from Mount Ba‘al-Hermon to the entering in of Hamath;

and they are to prove Israel by them, to know whether they obey the commands of YHWH that He commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.

And the sons of Israel have dwelt in the midst of the Canaanite, the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite,

and take their daughters to them for wives, and have given their daughters to their sons, and they serve their gods;

Othniel

and the sons of Israel do evil in the eyes of YHWH, and forget their God YHWH, and serve the Ba‘alim and the Asheroth.

And the anger of YHWH burns against Israel, and He sells them into the hand of Chushan-Rishathaim king of Aram-Naharaim, and the sons of Israel serve Chushan-Rishathaim eight years;

and the sons of Israel cry to YHWH, and YHWH raises a savior to the sons of Israel, and he saves them—Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother;

and the Spirit of YHWH is on him, and he judges Israel, and goes out to battle, and YHWH gives Chushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into his hand, and his hand is strong against Chushan-Rishathaim;

and the land rests forty years. And Othniel son of Kenaz dies,

Ehud

and the sons of Israel add to do evil in the eyes of YHWH; and YHWH strengthens Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because that they have done evil in the eyes of YHWH;

and he gathers the sons of Ammon and Amalek to himself, and goes and strikes Israel, and they possess the city of palms;

and the sons of Israel serve Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.

And the sons of Israel cry to YHWH, and YHWH raises a savior to them, Ehud son of Gera, a Benjamite (a man [with] his right hand bound), and the sons of Israel send a present by his hand to Eglon king of Moab;

and Ehud makes a sword for himself, and it has two mouths (its length [is] a cubit), and he girds it under his long robe on his right thigh;

and he brings the present near to Eglon king of Moab, and Eglon [is] a very fat man.

And it comes to pass, when he has finished to bring the present near, that he sends the people carrying the present away,

and he himself has turned back from the carved images which [are] at Gilgal and says, “I have a secret word for you, O king”; and he says, “Hush!” And all those standing by him go out from him.

And Ehud has come to him, and he is sitting in the cool upper chamber which he has for himself, and Ehud says, “I have a word of God for you”; and he rises from off the throne;

and Ehud puts forth his left hand, and takes the sword from off his right thigh, and thrusts it into his belly;

and the hilt also goes in after the blade, and the fat shuts on the blade, that he has not drawn the sword out of his belly, and he goes out [through] the antechamber [[ or and the dung came out ]].

And Ehud goes out at the porch, and shuts the doors of the upper chamber on him, and has bolted [it];

and he has gone out, and his servants have come in, and look, and behold, the doors of the upper chamber are bolted, and they say, “He is surely covering his feet, [relieving himself,] in the cool inner chamber.”

And they stay until confounded, and behold, he is not opening the doors of the upper chamber, and they take the key, and open, and behold, their lord is fallen to the earth—dead.

And Ehud escaped during their lingering, and has passed by the images, and escapes to Seirath.

And it comes to pass, in his coming in, that he blows with a horn in the hill-country of Ephraim, and the sons of Israel go down with him from the hill-country, and he before them;

and he says to them, “Pursue after me, for YHWH has given your enemies, the Moabites, into your hand”; and they go down after him, and capture the passages of the Jordan toward Moab, and have not permitted a man to pass over.

And they strike Moab at that time, about ten thousand men, all robust, and everyone a man of valor, and no man has escaped,

and Moab is humbled in that day under the hand of Israel; and the land rests [for] eighty years.

Shamgar

And after him has been Shamgar son of Anath, and he strikes the Philistines—six hundred men—with an ox-goad, and he also saves Israel.

Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to test Israel by them, even as many as had not known all the wars of Canaan;

only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at least those who knew nothing of it before:

the five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to the entrance of Hamath.

They were left to test Israel by them, to know whether they would listen to the LORD’s commandments, which he commanded their fathers by Moses.

The children of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

They took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons and served their gods.

Othniel

The children of Israel did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, and forgot the LORD their God, and served the Baals and the Asheroth.

Therefore the LORD’s anger burned against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served Cushan Rishathaim eight years.

When the children of Israel cried to the LORD, the LORD raised up a savior to the children of Israel, who saved them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.

The LORD’s Spirit came on him, and he judged Israel; and he went out to war, and the LORD delivered Cushan Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. His hand prevailed against Cushan Rishathaim.

The land had rest forty years, then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

Ehud

The children of Israel again did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done that which was evil in the LORD’s sight.

He gathered the children of Ammon and Amalek to himself; and he went and struck Israel, and they possessed the city of palm trees.

The children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.

But when the children of Israel cried to the LORD, the LORD raised up a savior for them: Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man. The children of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab.

Ehud made himself a sword which had two edges, a cubit

(a)

in length; and he wore it under his clothing on his right thigh.

He offered the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man.

When Ehud had finished offering the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute.

But he himself turned back from the stone idols that were by Gilgal, and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” The king said, “Keep silence!” All who stood by him left him.

Ehud came to him; and he was sitting by himself alone in the cool upper room. Ehud said, “I have a message from God to you.” He arose out of his seat.

Ehud put out his left hand, and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his body.

The handle also went in after the blade; and the fat closed on the blade, for he didn’t draw the sword out of his body; and it came out behind.

Then Ehud went out onto the porch, and shut the doors of the upper room on him, and locked them.

After he had gone, his servants came and saw that the doors of the upper room were locked. They said, “Surely he is covering his feet

(b)

in the upper room.”

They waited until they were ashamed; and behold, he didn’t open the doors of the upper room. Therefore they took the key and opened them, and behold, their lord had fallen down dead on the floor.

Ehud escaped while they waited, passed beyond the stone idols, and escaped to Seirah.

When he had come, 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 led them.

He said to them, “Follow me; for the LORD has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” They followed him, and took the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites, and didn’t allow any man to pass over.

They struck at that time about ten thousand men of Moab, every strong man and every man of valor. No man escaped.

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

Shamgar

After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who struck six hundred men of the Philistines with an ox goad. He also saved Israel.

Footnotes

(a)3:16 A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a man’s arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimeters.

(b)3:24 or, “relieving himself”.