Nations Left to Test Israel 1 ULT Now those nations that Yahweh left for the testing of Israel by them, all who had not known any of the wars of Canaan, 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 ULT only for the knowing of the generations of the sons of Israel, to teach them warfare, only who previously had not known them, BSB BSB: if only to teach warfare to the subsequent generations of Israel, especially to those who had not known it formerly:
3 ULT { were} the five rulers of the Philistines, and all of the Canaanite and the Sidonian and the Hivite, the dweller of the mountain of Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo 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 ULT And they were for the testing of Israel by them, to know whether they would hear the commandments of Yahweh, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. 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 ULT So the sons of Israel dwelled in the midst of the Canaanite, the Hittite, and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. BSB BSB: Thus the Israelites continued to live among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
6 ULT And they took their daughters for themselves as wives, and they gave their daughters to their sons, and they served their gods. 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 ULT So the sons of Israel did evil in the eyes of Yahweh. And they forgot Yahweh their God and they served the Baals and the Asherahs. 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 ULT Then the nose of Yahweh burned against Israel and he sold them into the hand of Cushan- Rishathaim, the king of Aram Naharaim. And the sons of Israel served Cushan- Rishathaim 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 ULT Then the sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh, and Yahweh raised up a savior for the sons of Israel, and he saved them: Othniel, the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, the{ one} younger than him. 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 ULT And the Spirit of Yahweh was upon him, and he judged Israel. And he went out to war, and Yahweh gave Cushan- Rishathaim, the king of Aram, into his hand. So his hand was strong against Cushan- Rishathaim. 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 ULT And the land rested 40 years. Then Othniel, the son of Kenaz, died. BSB BSB: So the land had rest for forty years, until Othniel son of Kenaz died.
Ehud 12 ULT Then the sons of Israel resumed to do evil in the eyes of Yahweh. So Yahweh strengthened Eglon, the king of Moab, against Israel, because they did evil in the eyes of Yahweh. 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 ULT And he gathered to him the sons of Ammon and Amalek, and he went and struck Israel, and they possessed the City of Palms. 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 ULT So the sons of Israel served Eglon, the king of Moab, 18 years. BSB BSB: The Israelites served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.
15 ULT Then the sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh, and Yahweh raised up a savior for them, Ehud, the son of Gera, a Benjaminite, a man impeded in his right hand. And the sons of Israel sent tribute by his hand to Eglon, the king of Moab. 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 ULT And Ehud made a sword for himself, and two mouths{ were} to it; a cubit{ was} its length. And he bound it onto his right thigh beneath his clothing. 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 ULT Then he brought the tribute to Eglon, the king of Moab. Now Eglon{ was} a very fat man. BSB BSB: and brought the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was an obese man.
18 ULT Now it happened, when he had finished bringing the tribute, that he sent away the people, the bearers of the tribute. BSB BSB: After Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he ushered out those who had carried it.
19 ULT But he, he turned back from the carved images that{ were} at Gilgal, and he said,“A word of secrecy{ is} to me for you, O king.” And he said,“Hush!” So all of the ones standing around him went out from around him. 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 ULT Then Ehud came to him. Now he was sitting in the upper room of coolness that{ was} to him, alone. And Ehud said,“A word from God{ is} to me for you.” And he arose from upon the throne. 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 ULT Then Ehud stretched out his left hand and took the sword from upon his right thigh, and he thrust it into his 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 ULT And the handle also went in after the blade, and the fat closed around the handle, for he did not pull the sword from his belly, and excrement came out. 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 ULT Then Ehud went out{ to} the porch, and he closed the doors of the upper room behind him and bolted{ them}. BSB BSB: Then Ehud went out through the porch, closing and locking the doors of the upper room behind him.
24 ULT And he went out, and his servants came, and they looked, and behold, the doors of the upper room{ were} bolted. So they said,“Surely he is covering his feet in the chamber of coolness.” 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 ULT So they waited until they felt ashamed, but behold, he was not opening the doors of the upper room. So they took the opener and they opened{ them}, and behold, their lord{ was} fallen on the ground, 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 ULT But Ehud escaped during their delaying, and he passed the carved images, and he fled to Seirah. BSB BSB: Ehud, however, had escaped while the servants waited. He passed by the idols and escaped to Seirah.
27 ULT Now it happened at his coming that he blew on the shofar in the hill country of Ephraim. Then the sons of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he{ was} to the face of 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 ULT Now he had said to them,“Follow after me, for Yahweh has given your enemies, Moab, into your hand.” So they went down after him and they captured the fords of the Jordan opposite Moab, and they did not allow anyone to cross over. 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 ULT And they struck Moab at that time, about 10, 000 men. Each{ was} robust and each{ was} a man of strength, but not one escaped. BSB BSB: At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all robust and valiant men. Not one of them escaped.
30 ULT So Moab was subdued on that day under the hand of Israel, and the land rested 80 years. BSB BSB: So Moab was subdued under the hand of Israel that day, and the land had rest for eighty years.
Shamgar 31 ULT After him was Shamgar, the son of Anath, and he struck Philistines, 600 men, with a goad of the ox. So he also saved Israel. 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.