Nations Left to Test Israel 1 UDB At that time there were still many peoples in Canaan. Yahweh left them there to test the Israelite people because many of the Israelites in Canaan had not fought in any of the previous wars. BSB BSB: These are the nations that the LORD left to test all the Israelites who had not known any of the wars in Canaan,
2 UDB So Yahweh did this to teach the new generation of Israelites how to wage war. BSB BSB: if only to teach warfare to the subsequent generations of Israel, especially to those who had not known it formerly:
3 UDB This is a list of the peoples that Yahweh left there to test the Israelites: the Philistines and their five leaders, the people living in the area near the city of Sidon, the descendants of Canaan, and the Hivites who were living in the mountains of Lebanon between Mount Baal Hermon and Lebo Hamath ("the pass of Hamath"). BSB BSB: the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived in the mountains of Lebanon from Mount Baal-hermon to Lebo-hamath.
4 UDB Yahweh left these peoples there to test the Israelites to see if they would obey his commands that he had told Moses to give them. BSB BSB: These nations were left to test the Israelites, to find out whether they would keep the commandments of the LORD, which He had given their fathers through Moses.
5 UDB The Israelites lived among the peoples of the Canaanites, the Hivites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. BSB BSB: Thus the Israelites continued to live among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
6 UDB But the Israelites took the daughters of those people to be their own wives and gave their own daughters to those men to marry them. And they worshiped the gods of those people. BSB BSB: And they took the daughters of these people in marriage, gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
Othniel 7 UDB The Israelites did things that Yahweh said were very evil. They forgot about Yahweh their God, and they started to worship the idols that represented the god Baal and the goddess Asherah. BSB BSB: So the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.
8 UDB Therefore Yahweh was very angry with Israel, and he handed them over that they might live under the power of King Cushan-Rishathaim, who was king of Aram Naharaim in Mesopotamia. The people of Israel served Cushan-Rishathaim for eight years. BSB BSB: Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram-naharaim, and the Israelites served him eight years.
9 UDB But when they pleaded to Yahweh to help them, he brought a leader to rescue them. He was Othniel (the son of Caleb's younger brother Kenaz). BSB BSB: But when the Israelites cried out to the LORD, He raised up Othniel son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz as a deliverer to save them.
10 UDB Yahweh's Spirit gave him power and insight, and he became their leader. He led an army that fought against the army of Cushan-Rishathaim, and Othniel defeated them. BSB BSB: The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he became Israel’s judge and went out to war. And the LORD delivered Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram into the hand of Othniel, who prevailed against him.
11 UDB After that, for forty years there was peace in the land, until Othniel died. BSB BSB: So the land had rest for forty years, until Othniel son of Kenaz died.
Ehud 12 UDB After that, the Israelites again did things that Yahweh had forbidden them to do, things that were very evil. Yahweh made the army of King Eglon, who ruled the land of Moab, much stronger so that he could defeat the Israelites. BSB BSB: Once again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD. So He gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD.
13 UDB Eglon persuaded the leaders of the Ammonites and the Amalekites to join their armies with his army to attack Israel. They captured Jericho, which was called "The City of Palm Trees." BSB BSB: After enlisting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join forces with him, Eglon attacked and defeated Israel, taking possession of the City of Palms.
14 UDB Then King Eglon ruled the Israelites for eighteen years. BSB BSB: The Israelites served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.
15 UDB But then the Israelites again pleaded to Yahweh to help them. So he brought another leader to rescue them. He was Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed man from the descendants of Benjamin. The Israelites sent him to King Eglon to give him the money he required every year so he would not attack them. BSB BSB: And again they cried out to the LORD, and He raised up Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed Benjamite, as their deliverer. So they sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab.
16 UDB Ehud had with him a short double-edged sword, one-half meter in length. He hid it under his clothes by strapping the sword to his right thigh. BSB BSB: Now Ehud had made for himself a double-edged sword a cubit long. He strapped it to his right thigh under his cloak
17 UDB He gave the money to King Eglon, who was a very fat man. BSB BSB: and brought the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was an obese man.
18 UDB Then Ehud started to go back home with the men who had carried the money. BSB BSB: After Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he ushered out those who had carried it.
19 UDB When they arrived at the stone quarries near Gilgal, he told the other men to go on, but he himself turned around and went back to the king of Moab. When he arrived at the palace, he said to the king, "Your majesty, I have a secret message for you." So the king told all his servants to be quiet, and he sent them out of the room. BSB BSB: But upon reaching the idols near Gilgal, he himself turned back and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” “Silence,” said the king, and all his attendants left him.
20 UDB Then, as Eglon was sitting alone in the upstairs room of his summer palace, Ehud came close to him and said, "I have a message for you from God." Just then the king got up from his chair. BSB BSB: Then Ehud approached him while he was sitting alone in the coolness of his upper room. “I have a word from God for you,” Ehud said, and the king rose from his seat.
21 UDB As the king got up, Ehud reached with his left hand and pulled the dagger from his right thigh, and plunged it into the king's belly. BSB BSB: And Ehud reached with his left hand, pulled the sword from his right thigh, and plunged it into Eglon’s belly.
22 UDB He thrust it in so far that the handle went into the king's belly, and the blade came out the king's back. Ehud did not pull the dagger out. He left it there, with the handle buried in the king's fat. BSB BSB: Even the handle sank in after the blade, and Eglon’s fat closed in over it, so that Ehud did not withdraw the sword from his belly. And Eglon’s bowels emptied.
23 UDB Then Ehud left the room. He went out to the porch. He shut the doors to the room and locked them. BSB BSB: Then Ehud went out through the porch, closing and locking the doors of the upper room behind him.
24 UDB After he had gone, his servants came back, but they saw that the doors of the room were locked. They said, "The king must be defecating in the inner room." BSB BSB: After Ehud was gone, Eglon’s servants came in and found the doors of the upper room locked. “He must be relieving himself in the cool room,” they said.
25 UDB So they waited, but when the king did not open the doors of the room, after a while they were worried. They got a key and unlocked the doors. And they saw that their king was lying on the floor, dead. BSB BSB: So they waited until they became worried and saw that he had still not opened the doors of the upper room. Then they took the key and opened the doors—and there was their lord lying dead on the floor.
26 UDB Meanwhile, Ehud escaped. He passed by the stone quarries and arrived at Seirah, in the hill country where the descendants of Ephraim lived. BSB BSB: Ehud, however, had escaped while the servants waited. He passed by the idols and escaped to Seirah.
27 UDB There he blew a trumpet to tell everyone that the people should join him to fight the people of Moab. So the Israelites went with him from the hills. They went down toward the Jordan River, with Ehud leading them. BSB BSB: On arriving in Seirah, he blew the ram’s horn throughout the hill country of Ephraim. The Israelites came down with him from the hills, and he became their leader.
28 UDB He said to the men, "Yahweh is going to allow us to defeat your enemies, the people of Moab. So follow me!" So they followed him down to the river, and they stationed some of their men at the place where people can walk across the river so that they could kill any people from Moab who tried to cross the river to escape. BSB BSB: “Follow me,” he told them, “for the LORD has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they followed him down and seized the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and they did not allow anyone to cross over.
29 UDB At that time, the Israelites killed about ten thousand people from Moab. They were all strong and capable men, but not one of them escaped. BSB BSB: At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all robust and valiant men. Not one of them escaped.
30 UDB On that day, the Israelites conquered the people of Moab. Then there was peace in their land for eighty years. BSB BSB: So Moab was subdued under the hand of Israel that day, and the land had rest for eighty years.
Shamgar 31 UDB After Ehud died, Shamgar became their leader. He rescued the Israelites from the Philistines. In one battle he killed six hundred Philistines with an ox goad. BSB BSB: After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath. And he too saved Israel, striking down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.