Judges 3

₁So then, the LORD left some nations in the land to test the Israelites who had not been through the wars in Canaan. ₂He did this only in order to teach each generation of Israelites about war, especially those who had never been in battle before. ₃Those left in the land were the five Philistine cities, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived in the Lebanon Mountains from Mount Baal Hermon as far as Hamath Pass. ₄They were to be a test for Israel, to find out whether or not the Israelites would obey the commands that the LORD had given their ancestors through Moses. ₅And so the people of Israel settled down among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ₆They intermarried with them and worshipped their gods.

₇The people of Israel forgot the LORD their God; they sinned against him and worshipped the idols of Baal and Asherah. ₈So the LORD became angry with Israel and let King Cushan Rishathaim of Mesopotamia conquer them, and he ruled over them for eight years. ₉Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and he sent a man who freed them. This was Othniel, the son of Caleb's younger brother Kenaz. ₁₀The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he became Israel's leader. Othniel went to war, and the LORD gave him victory over the king of Mesopotamia. ₁₁There was peace in the land for forty years, and then Othniel died.

₁₂The people of Israel sinned against the LORD again. Because of this the LORD made King Eglon of Moab stronger than Israel. ₁₃Eglon joined the Ammonites and the Amalekites; they defeated Israel and captured Jericho, the city of palm trees. ₁₄The Israelites were subject to Eglon for eighteen years.

₁₅Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and he sent a man to free them. This was Ehud, a left-handed man, who was the son of Gera, from the tribe of Benjamin. The people of Israel sent Ehud to King Eglon of Moab with gifts for him. ₁₆Ehud had made himself a double-edged sword nearly fifty centimetres long. He had it fastened on his right side under his clothes. ₁₇Then he took the gifts to Eglon, who was a very fat man. ₁₈When Ehud had given him the gifts, he told the men who had carried them to go back home. ₁₉But Ehud himself turned back at the carved stones near Gilgal, went back to Eglon, and said, “Your Majesty, I have a secret message for you.”

So the king ordered his servants, “Leave us alone!” And they all went out.

₂₀Then, as the king was sitting there alone in his cool room on the roof, Ehud went over to him and said, “I have a message from God for you.” The king stood up. ₂₁With his left hand Ehud took the sword from his right side and plunged it into the king's belly. ₂₂The whole sword went in, handle and all, and the fat covered it up. Ehud did not pull it out of the king's belly, and it stuck out behind, between his legs. ₂₃Then Ehud went outside, closed the doors behind him, locked them, ₂₄and left. The servants came and saw that the doors were locked, but they only thought that the king was inside, relieving himself. ₂₅They waited as long as they thought they should, but when he still did not open the door, they took the key and opened it. And there was their master, lying dead on the floor.

₂₆Ehud got away while they were waiting. He went past the carved stones and escaped to Seirah. ₂₇When he arrived there in the hill country of Ephraim, he blew a trumpet to call the men of Israel to battle; then he led them down from the hills. ₂₈He said, “Follow me! The LORD has given you victory over your enemies, the Moabites.” So they followed Ehud down and captured the place where the Moabites were to cross the Jordan; they did not allow a single man to cross. ₂₉That day they killed about 10,000 of the best Moabite soldiers; none of them escaped. ₃₀That day the Israelites defeated Moab, and there was peace in the land for eighty years.

₃₁The next leader was Shamgar son of Anath. He too rescued Israel, and did so by killing 600 Philistines with an ox goad.