Jueces 3

Nations left to test Israel

¹These are the nations that the LORD left in the land to test Israel by them, that is, all those in Israel who had never known any of the wars for Canaan. ²He did this only so that the generations of the Israelites would learn about war, at least those who had never experienced it before. ³These were the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites and Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal-hermon to Lebo-hamath.^{a 4}They were left to test Israel, to find out whether the Israelites would obey the commandments of the LORD, which he had given their ancestors through Moses. ⁵The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. ⁶They took the daughters of these peoples as wives, gave their own daughters to the sons of these peoples, and served their gods.

Othniel rescues Israel

⁷The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God, and they served the Baals and the Asherahs. ⁸So the anger of the LORD blazed against Israel, and he sold them into the power of Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram-naharaim. The Israelites served Cushan-rishathaim for eight years. ⁹Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised up a deliverer for them, who rescued them: Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.^{b 10}The Spirit of the LORD came on him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the LORD gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram into his power, so that he overpowered Cushan-rishathaim. ¹¹Then the land had peace for forty years, and Othniel son of Kenaz died.

Ehud and Eglon king of Moab

¹²Once again the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD made Eglon king of Moab strong against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the LORD. ¹³Eglon gathered the Ammonites and the Amalekites to join him, and he went and defeated Israel, and they took over the City of Palms. ¹⁴The Israelites served Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years.

¹⁵Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised up a deliverer for them: Ehud son of Gera, from the tribe of Benjamin, a left-handed man. The Israelites sent him to take their tribute to Eglon king of Moab.^{c 16}Ehud had made himself a double-edged sword, about 18 inches long, and he strapped it to his right thigh under his clothes.^{d 17}He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Eglon was an extremely fat man. ¹⁸When he had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who had carried it. ¹⁹But Ehud himself turned back at the carved images near Gilgal and said, “Your Majesty, I have a secret message for you.” The king said, “Quiet!” and all his attendants went out.^{e 20}Ehud came to him as he sat alone in his cool upper room. Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you,” and the king rose from his seat. ²¹Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh, and drove it into the king’s belly. ²²Even the handle went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, because Ehud did not pull the sword out of his belly. And the point came out at his back.^{f 23}Then Ehud went out into the porch. He shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.^{g 24}After Ehud had left, the king’s servants came in and found the upper room’s doors locked. They said, “He must be relieving himself in the cool room.” ²⁵They waited until they were embarrassed, but he still did not open the doors of the upper room. So they took the key and opened them, and there was their master, lying dead on the floor. ²⁶Ehud got away while they were waiting. He passed the carved images and escaped to Seirah. ²⁷When he arrived, he blew the ram’s horn in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down with him from the hills, with Ehud at their head. ²⁸He told them, “Follow me, because the LORD has handed your enemies the Moabites over to you.” So they went down after him and took control of the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and they let no one cross. ²⁹At that time they struck down about 10,000 Moabites, all of them sturdy and able fighters; not one got away. ³⁰So Moab was brought under Israel’s power on that day, and the land had peace for eighty years.

Shamgar strikes the Philistines

³¹After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath. He struck down 600 Philistines with an ox goad, and he too rescued Israel.