Judg 3 | ESV | STEP | Now these are the nations that the Lord left , to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan .

‏ Judges 3

1 ^aNow these are the nations that the Lord left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. 2 It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. 3 These are the nations: ^bthe five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. 4 They were for ^cthe testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. 5 So the people of Israel lived ^damong the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6 ^eAnd their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods.

Othniel

7 ^fAnd the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and ^gthe Asheroth. 8 Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, ^hand he sold them into the hand of ⁱCushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. 9 But when the people of Israel ^jcried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a ^kdeliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, ^lOthniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. 10 ^mThe Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. 11 ⁿSo the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

Ehud

12 ^oAnd the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord strengthened Eglon ^pthe king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord. 13 He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the ^qAmalekites, and went and defeated Israel. And they took possession of ^rthe city of palms. 14 And the people of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.

15 Then the people of Israel ^scried out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up for them ^ta deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, ^ua left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. 16 And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit ^{▼▼A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters} in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes. 17 And he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. 18 And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute. 19 But he himself turned back ^wat the idols near Gilgal and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And he commanded, “Silence.” And all his attendants went out from his presence. 20 And Ehud came to him as he was sitting alone in his ^xcool roof chamber. ^yAnd Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he arose from his seat. 21 And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. 22 And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and the dung came out. 23 Then Ehud went out into the porch ^{▼▼The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain} and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him ^aaand locked them.

24 When he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, ^ab“Surely he is relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber.” 25 And they waited till they were embarrassed. But when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their lord dead on the floor.

26 Ehud escaped while they delayed, and he passed beyond ^acthe idols and escaped to Seirah. 27 When he arrived, ^adhe sounded the trumpet in ^aethe hill country of Ephraim. Then the people of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was their leader. 28 And he said to them, “Follow after me, ^affor the Lord has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him and seized ^agthe fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and did not allow anyone to pass over. 29 And they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped. 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. ^ahAnd the land had rest for eighty years.

Shamgar

31 After him was ^aiShamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines ^ajwith an oxgoad, and he also ^aksaved Israel.