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;
3:2 Only that the generations of the children of Israel might
know to teach them war, at the least such as before knew
nothing of it;)
3:3 [Namely], five lords of the Philistines, and all the
Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt on
mount Lebanon, from mount Baal-hermon to the entrance of
Hamath.
3:4 And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they
would hearken to the commandments of the LORD, which he
commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.
3:5 And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites,
Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and
Jebusites:
3:6 And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave
their daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
3:7 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the
LORD, and forgot the LORD their God, and served Baalim, and the
groves.
3:8 Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and
he sold them into the hand of Chushan-rishathaim king of
Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served
Chushan-rishathaim eight years.
3:9 And when the children of Israel cried to 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.
3:10 And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged
Israel, and went out to war: and the LORD delivered
Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his
hand prevailed against Chushan-rishathaim.
3:11 And the land had rest forty years: and Othniel the son of
Kenaz died.
3:12 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.
3:13 And he gathered to him the children of Ammon and Amalek,
and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of
palm-trees.
3:14 So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab
eighteen years.
3:15 But when the children of Israel cried to the LORD, the LORD
raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a
Benjaminite, a man left-handed: and by him the children of
Israel sent a present to Eglon king of Moab.
3:16 But Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit
length; and he girded it under his raiment upon his right
thigh.
3:17 And he brought the present to Eglon king of Moab: and Eglon
[was] a very fat man.
3:18 And when he had made an end to offer the present, he sent
away the people that bore the present.
3:19 But he himself turned again from the quarries that [were]
by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand to thee, O king:
who said, Keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from
him.
3:20 And Ehud came to him; and he was sitting in a
summer-parlor, which he had for himself alone: and Ehud said, I
have a message from God to thee. And he arose from [his] seat.
3:21 And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from
his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly:
3:22 And the haft also entered 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.
3:23 Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors
of the parlor upon him, and locked them.
3:24 When he had 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.
3:25 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 lay dead on the
earth.
3:26 And Ehud escaped while they tarried; and passed beyond the
quarries, and escaped to Seirath.
3:27 And it came to pass when he had 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.
3:28 And he said to them, Follow 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 towards Moab, and
suffered not a man to pass over.
3:29 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.
3:30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel: and
the land had rest eighty years.
3:31 And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who slew of the
Philistines six hundred men with an ox-goad; and he also
delivered Israel.
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