| 3:1 | Now these the nations which the LORD left, to prove Israel by them, (as many as had not known all the wars of Canaan; | |
| 3:2 | Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing of it;) | |
| 3:3 | , five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt on mount Lebanon, from mount Baal-hermon to the entrance of Hamath. | |
| 3:4 | And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken to the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. | |
| 3:5 | And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites: | |
| 3:6 | And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods. | |
| 3:7 | And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgot the LORD their God, and served Baalim, and the groves. | |
| 3:8 | Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Chushan-rishathaim eight years. | |
| 3:9 | And when the children of Israel cried to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. | |
| 3:10 | And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the LORD delivered Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushan-rishathaim. | |
| 3:11 | And the land had rest forty years: and Othniel the son of Kenaz died. | |
| 3:12 | And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD. | |
| 3:13 | And he gathered to him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm-trees. | |
| 3:14 | So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. | |
| 3:15 | But when the children of Israel cried to the LORD, the LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjaminite, a man left-handed: and by him the children of Israel sent a present to Eglon king of Moab. | |
| 3:16 | But Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit length; and he girded it under his raiment upon his right thigh. | |
| 3:17 | And he brought the present to Eglon king of Moab: and Eglon a very fat man. | |
| 3:18 | And when he had made an end to offer the present, he sent away the people that bore the present. | |
| 3:19 | But he himself turned again from the quarries that by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand to thee, O king: who said, Keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from him. | |
| 3:20 | And Ehud came to him; and he was sitting in a summer-parlor, which he had for himself alone: and Ehud said, I have a message from God to thee. And he arose from seat. | |
| 3:21 | And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly: | |
| 3:22 | And the haft also entered after the blade: and the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly; and the dirt came out. | |
| 3:23 | Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the parlor upon him, and locked them. | |
| 3:24 | When he had gone out, his servants came; and when they saw that, behold, the doors of the parlor locked, they said, Surely he covereth his feet in his summer-chamber. | |
| 3:25 | And they tarried till they were ashamed: and behold, he opened not the doors of the parlor, therefore they took a key and opened and behold, their lord lay dead on the earth. | |
| 3:26 | And Ehud escaped while they tarried; and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped to Seirath. | |
| 3:27 | And it came to pass when he had come, that he blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mount, and he before them. | |
| 3:28 | And he said to them, Follow me: for the LORD hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the fords of Jordan towards Moab, and suffered not a man to pass over. | |
| 3:29 | And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all lusty, and all men of valor: and there escaped not a man. | |
| 3:30 | So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel: and the land had rest eighty years. | |
| 3:31 | And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox-goad; and he also delivered Israel. | |