1 These nowe are the nations which the Lord left, that he might proue Israel by them (euen as many of Israel as had not knowen all the warres of Canaan, 2 Only to make the generations of the children of Israel to know, and to teach them warre, which doutles their predecessors knew not) 3 Fiue princes of the Philistims, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hiuites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baal-hermon vntill one come to Hamath. 4 And these remayned to proue Israel by them, to wit, whether they would obey the commandements of the Lord, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. 5 And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hiuites, and the Iebusites, 6 And they tooke their daughters to bee their wiues, and gaue their daughters to their sonnes, and serued their gods. 7 So the children of Israel did wickedly in the sight of the Lord, and forgate the Lord their God, and serued Baalim, and Asheroth. 8 Therefore the wrath of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he solde them into the hand of Chushan rishathaim King of Aram-naharaim, and the children of Israel serued Chushan rishathaim eyght yeeres. 9 And when the children of Israel cryed vnto the Lord, the Lord stirred vp a sauiour to ye children of Israel, and he saued them, euen Othniel the sonne of Kenaz, Calebs yonger brother. 10 And the spirite of the Lord came vpon him, and he iudged Israel, and went out to warre: and the Lord deliuered Chushan rishathaim king of Aram into his hand, and his hand preuailed against Chushan rishathaim. 11 So the lande had rest fourtie yeeres, and Othniel the sonne of Kenaz dyed. 12 Then the children of Israel againe committed wickednesse in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord strengthened Eglon King of Moab against Israel, because they had committed wickednesse before the Lord. 13 And he gathered vnto him the children of Ammon, and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and they possessed the citie of palme trees. 14 So the children of Israel serued Eglon king of Moab eighteene yeeres. 15 But when the children of Israel cried vnto the Lord, the Lord stirred them vp a sauiour, Ehud the sonne of Gera the sonne of Iemini, a man lame of his right hande: and the children of Israel sent a present by him vnto Eglon King of Moab. 16 And Ehud made him a dagger with two edges of a cubite length, and he did gird it vnder his rayment vpon his right thigh, 17 And he presented ye gift vnto Eglon King of Moab (and Eglon was a very fat man) 18 And when he had now presented the present, he sent away the people that bare ye present, 19 But he turned againe from the quarris, that were by Gilgal, and said, I haue a secret errand vnto thee, O King. Who said, Keepe silence: and all that stoode about him, went out from him. 20 Then Ehud came vnto him. (and he sate alone in a sommer parler, which he had) and Ehud said, I haue a message vnto thee from God. Then he arose out of his throne, 21 And Ehud put forth his left hand, and tooke the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his bellie, 22 So that the hafte went in after the blade, and the fatte closed about the blade, so that he could not drawe the dagger out of his bellie, but the dirt came out. 23 Then Ehud gate him out into the porch, and shut the doores of the parler vpon him, and locked them. 24 And when he was gone out, his seruantes came: who seeing that the doores of the parler were locked, they sayd, Surely he doeth his easement in his sommer chamber. 25 And they taryed till they were ashamed: and seeing he opened not the doores of the parler, they tooke the key, and opened them, and behold, their lord was fallen dead on the earth. 26 So Ehud escaped (while they taried) and was passed the quarris, and escaped vnto Seirah. 27 And when he came home, he blew a trumpet in mount Ephraim, and the children of Israel went downe with him from the mountaine, and he went before them. 28 Then said he vnto them, Follow me: for the Lord hath deliuered your enemies, euen Moab into your hand. So they went downe after him, and tooke the passages of Iorden towarde Moab, and suffred not a man to passe ouer. 29 And they slewe of the Moabites the same time about ten thousand men, all fed men, and all were warriours, and there escaped not a man. 30 So Moab was subdued that daye, vnder the hand of Israel: and the land had rest fourescore yeeres. 31 And after him was Shamgar the sonne of Anath, which slewe of the Philistims sixe hundreth men with an oxe goade, and he also deliuered Israel.
The Nations Remaining in the Land
1 So then, the Lord left some nations in the land to test the Israelites who had not been through the wars in Canaan. 2 He did this only in order to teach each generation of Israelites about war, especially those who had never been in battle before. 3 Those 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. 4 They 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. 5 And so the people of Israel settled down among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6 They intermarried with them and worshiped their gods.
Othniel
7 The people of Israel forgot the Lord their God; they sinned against him and worshiped the idols of Baal and Asherah. 8 So the Lord became angry with Israel and let King Cushan Rishathaim of Mesopotamia conquer them. They were subject to him for eight years. 9 Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and he sent someone to free them. This was Othniel, the son of Caleb's younger brother Kenaz. 10 The spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he became Israel's leader. Othniel went to war, and the Lord gave him the victory over the king of Mesopotamia. 11 There was peace in the land for forty years, and then Othniel died.
Ehud
12 The people of Israel sinned against the Lord again. Because of this the Lord made King Eglon of Moab stronger than Israel. 13 Eglon joined the Ammonites and the Amalekites; they defeated Israel and captured Jericho, the city of palm trees. 14 The Israelites were subject to Eglon for eighteen years.
15 Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and he sent someone 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. 16 Ehud had made himself a double-edged sword about a foot and a half long. He had it fastened on his right side under his clothes. 17 Then he took the gifts to Eglon, who was a very fat man. 18 When Ehud had given him the gifts, he told the men who had carried them to go back home. 19 But 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.
20 Then, 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. 21 With his left hand Ehud took the sword from his right side and plunged it into the king's belly. 22 The 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. 23 Then Ehud went outside, closed the doors behind him, locked them, 24 and left. The servants came and saw that the doors were locked, but they only thought that the king was inside, relieving himself. 25 They 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.
26 Ehud got away while they were waiting. He went past the carved stones and escaped to Seirah. 27 When he arrived there in the hill country of Ephraim, he blew a trumpet to call the people of Israel to battle; then he led them down from the hills. 28 He told them, “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 anyone to cross. 29 That day they killed about ten thousand of the best Moabite soldiers; none of them escaped. 30 That day the Israelites defeated Moab, and there was peace in the land for eighty years.
Shamgar
31 The next leader was Shamgar son of Anath. He too rescued Israel, and did so by killing six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad.