Judges

These are the nations that the Lord let live to test the Israelites through them, that is to say, all the Israelites who had not known any of the wars in Canaan.

He let these people live so that the generation of the children of Israel who had not known war before might learn how to fight.

These people were the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites of Mount Lebanon, from the mountain of Baal-Hermon to as far as the entrance of Hamath.

They continued to test Israel to see if they would observe the Lord’s commandments to their fathers through Moses.

So the Israelites lived amid the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

The Israelites married the daughters of these people, gave their daughters in marriage to the sons of these people, and served their gods.

Othniel

The Israelites mistreated the Lord; they forgot the Lord, their God, and served the Baals and the Asherahs.

Because of this, the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he left them in the hands of Cushan-rishathaim, king of Aram, to whom they were subject for eight years.

Then the Israelites cried to the Lord, and he raised from among them a liberator who saved them—Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.

The spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he led Israel. When Othniel went to war, the Lord gave Cushan-rishathaim, king of Aram, into Othniel’s hands.

Othniel won over the king, and the land had peace for forty years. Then Othniel, son of Kenaz, died.

Ehud

The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so he strengthened Eglon, king of Moab, to attack them because they had mistreated the Lord.

Eglon joined the Ammonites and the Amalekites; they set out and marched together, defeating Israel and taking the City of Palms.

The Israelites became subject to Eglon, king of Moab, for eighteen years.

But as they cried to the Lord, he gave them a liberator—Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera, from the tribe of Benjamin.

The Israelites entrusted a gift to him to bring to Eglon, king of Moab.

So, Ehud made for himself a two-edged dagger, one cubit long, and strapped it on his right thigh under his clothes.

He then presented the gift to Eglon, king of Moab. Eglon was an obese man.

When Ehud finished offering the present, he dismissed the men who had brought everything.

But when he arrived at the place of the Idols, near Gilgal, he returned to the king and said to Eglon:

“I have a secret message for you, O king.”

Eglon, king of Moab, declared:

“Leave me alone!”

Thus, everyone present left the room.

Then Ehud approached him while the king sat alone in his private roof chamber, which was cool. Ehud told him, “Lord, I have a warning from God for you.” The king rose from his seat.

Then Ehud, with his left hand, took the dagger from his right thigh and thrust it into the king’s belly.

The handle even went in with the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for Ehud did not draw the dagger out of his belly, and the dirt came out.

Ehud jumped through the window after having locked the roof doors behind him.

When he had gone, the servants came and saw that the doors of the upper room were locked. They thought:

“He must be relieving himself in the cool room.”

They waited for some time, but the doors of the roof room remained closed. Finally, they took the keys and opened the doors: their lord lay on the floor dead.

Ehud had escaped while the servants waited for their king; he had passed through the place of the Idols and reached a safe place in Seirah.

When he arrived, he had the trumpets sounded in the mountains of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down from the mountains.

He stood before them and said:

“Follow me, for the Lord has given the people of Moab, our enemies, into our hands.”

They went down with him, barred the passages of the Jordan towards Moab, and let nobody pass.

They defeated Moab on that occasion, killing some ten thousand, all strong and brave men. Nobody was spared.

Surely, they are dividing the plunder—one captive, two captives for each warrior: colored cloths for Sisera as booty, colored cloths twice adorned with raised embroidery for a scarf.

So, on that day, Moab became subject to Israel, and the land remained peaceful for eighty years.

Shangar

Then Shamgar, the son of Anath, came; he killed six hundred Philistines with an ox goad. He, too, saved Israel.