The nations God didn't drive out
3:1-6
1
Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to prove Israel by them,
even as many ofIsrael as had not known all the wars of Canaan;
2
Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach
them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof
3
Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and
the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baalhermon unto the entering in
of Hamath.
4
And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken
unto the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the
hand of Moses.
5
And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites,
and Hivites, and Jebusites:
These are the nations that God left [
1] to test Israel to find out
whether they would obey him (or not):
The Philistines, Canaanites, Sidonians, Hivites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites,and
Jebusites.
6
And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters
to their sons, and served their gods.
The Israelites intermarried with the people of these nations, and served their gods.
Othniel delivers Israel from Chushanrishathaim
7
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgat
the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the groves.
The Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim and the groves.
8
Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of
Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served
Chushanrishathaim eight years.
So God was angry and sold them to Chushanrishathaim, the king of Mesopotamia, for eight years.
9
And when the children of Israel cried unto 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.
When the Israelites cried out to God, he selected a deliverer, Othniel.
10
And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel,
and went out to war:
and the LORD delivered Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand;
and his hand prevailed against Chushanrishathaim.
11
And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.
And there was peace for forty years.
Then Othniel died.
Ehud delivers a message from God
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.
The Israelites do evil in the sight of the Lord (again).
God punishes them by strengthening Eglon, the king of Moab.
13
And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and
smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees.
Eglon smote Israel, with the help of the Ammonites and Amalekites, and possessed the city of palm trees.
14
So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.
And the Israelites served Eglon for eighteen years.
15
But when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised them up a
deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man lefthanded: and by him the children of
Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab.
The Israelites cry out to God (again), and God sends them a deliverer named Ehud.
16
But Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit length; and he
did gird it under his raiment upon his right thigh.
Ehud made a two-edged dagger, 18 inches long, and he hid it under his clothes next to his right thigh.
17
And he brought the
present unto Eglon king of Moab: and Eglon was a very fat man.
18
And when he had made an end to offer the present, he sent away the people
that bare the present.
Ehud then brought a present to Eglon, who was a very fat man.
19
But he himself turned again from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and
said, I have a secret errand unto thee, O king: who said, Keep silence. And
all that stood by him went out from him.
20
And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting in a summer parlour, which he
had for himself alone. And
Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee. And he arose out
of his seat.
Ehud said to Eglon,
I have a message to you from God.
21
And Ehud put forth
his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into
his belly:
And Ehud took the dagger with his left hand and thrust it into Eglon's belly.
22
And the haft also
went in 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.
The dagger's handle went in after the blade and the fat closed in around it, so that Ehud couldn't pull it out.
[
3]
And the dirt came out. [4]
23
Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the parlour
upon him, and locked them.
Ehud locked the door to Eglon's room.
24
When he was gone out, his servants came; and when they saw that, behold,
the doors of the parlour were locked, they said, Surely he covereth his feet
in his summer chamber.
When the servants found the locked door, they said,
King Eglon is covering his feet [5] in his summer chamber.
25
And they tarried till they were ashamed: and, behold, he opened not the
doors of the parlour; therefore they took a key, and opened them: and,
behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth.
After they got over their embarrassment, the servants found a key to open the door, and saw that King Eglon was dead.
God delivers 10,000 lusty Moabites
26
And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the quarries, and
escaped unto Seirath.
27
And it came to pass, when he was 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.
After killing King Eglon, Ehud blew a trumpet on the mountain of Ephraim, and all the Israelites descended the
mountain with him.
28
And he said unto them, Follow after 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 toward Moab, and suffered not a man to pass over.
Ehud said to them,
Follow me, because God has delivered the Moabites into your hand.
29
And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all lusty, and all men of valour; and
there escaped not a man.
And the Israelites killed about 10,000 men, all lusty men of valor. Not a single man escaped. [
6]
30
So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had
rest fourscore years.
And there was peace for 80 years.
Shamgar kills 600 with an ox goad
3:31
31
And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew
of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel.
Sometime after that, Shamgar killed 600 Philistines with an ox goad. [7]
3:12-25
