³⁷ The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab; ^(A)he is the father of the Moabites to this day.

⁹ Then the Lord said to me, ‘Do not harass Moab, nor contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, because I have given ^(A)Ar to ^(B)the descendants of Lot as a possession.’ ”

Moab Rebels Against Israel

3 Now ^(A)Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel at Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years. ² And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not like his father and mother; for he put away the sacred pillar of Baal ^(B)that his father had made. ³ Nevertheless he persisted in ^(C)the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin; he did not depart from them.

⁴ Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheepbreeder, and he ^(D)regularly paid the king of Israel one hundred thousand ^(E)lambs and the wool of one hundred thousand rams. ⁵ But it happened, when ^(F)Ahab died, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.

⁶ So King Jehoram went out of Samaria at that time and mustered all Israel. ⁷ Then he went and sent to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, saying, “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?”

And he said, “I will go up; ^(G)I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” ⁸ Then he said, “Which way shall we go up?”

And he answered, “By way of the Wilderness of Edom.”

⁹ So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom, and they marched on that roundabout route seven days; and there was no water for the army, nor for the animals that followed them. ¹⁰ And the king of Israel said, “Alas! For the Lord has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.”

¹¹ But ^(H)Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of the Lord by him?”

So one of the servants of the king of Israel answered and said, “Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who ^(I)poured^[a] water on the hands of Elijah.”

¹² And Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the Lord is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom ^(J)went down to him.

¹³ Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, ^(K)“What have I to do with you? ^(L)Go to ^(M)the prophets of your father and the ^(N)prophets of your mother.”

But the king of Israel said to him, “No, for the Lord has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.”

¹⁴ And Elisha said, ^(O)“As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you, nor see you. ¹⁵ But now bring me ^(P)a musician.”

Then it happened, when the musician ^(Q)played, that ^(R)the hand of the Lord came upon him. ¹⁶ And he said, “Thus says the Lord: ^(S)‘Make this valley full of ^[b]ditches.’ ¹⁷ For thus says the Lord: ‘You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you, your cattle, and your animals may drink.’ ¹⁸ And this is a simple matter in the sight of the Lord; He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand. ¹⁹ Also you shall attack every fortified city and every choice city, and shall cut down every good tree, and stop up every spring of water, and ruin every good piece of land with stones.”

²⁰ Now it happened in the morning, when ^(T)the grain offering was offered, that suddenly water came by way of Edom, and the land was filled with water.

²¹ And when all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, all who were able to bear arms and older were ^[c]gathered; and they stood at the border. ²² Then they rose up early in the morning, and the sun was shining on the water; and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood. ²³ And they said, “This is blood; the kings have surely struck swords and have killed one another; now therefore, Moab, to the spoil!”

²⁴ So when they came to the camp of Israel, Israel rose up and attacked the Moabites, so that they fled before them; and they entered their land, killing the Moabites. ²⁵ Then they destroyed the cities, and each man threw a stone on every good piece of land and filled it; and they stopped up all the springs of water and cut down all the good trees. But they left the stones of ^(U)Kir Haraseth intact. However the slingers surrounded and attacked it.

²⁶ And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew swords, to break through to the king of Edom, but they could not. ²⁷ Then ^(V)he took his eldest son who would have reigned in his place, and offered him as a burnt offering upon the wall; and there was great ^[d]indignation against Israel. ^(W)So they departed from him and returned to their own land.

David’s Further Conquests^(A)

8 After this it came to pass that David ^[a]attacked the Philistines and subdued them. And David took ^[b]Metheg Ammah from the hand of the Philistines.

² Then ^(B)he defeated Moab. Forcing them down to the ground, he measured them off with a line. With two lines he measured off those to be put to death, and with one full line those to be kept alive. So the Moabites became David’s ^(C)servants, and ^(D)brought tribute.

³ David also defeated Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of ^(E)Zobah, as he went to recover ^(F)his territory at the River Euphrates. ⁴ David took from him one thousand chariots, ^[c]seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand foot soldiers. Also David ^(G)hamstrung all the chariot horses, except that he spared enough of them for one hundred chariots.

^5 (H)When the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David killed twenty-two thousand of the Syrians. ⁶ Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus; and the Syrians became David’s servants, and brought tribute. So ^(I)the Lord preserved David wherever he went. ⁷ And David took ^(J)the shields of gold that had belonged to the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ Also from ^[d]Betah and from ^(K)Berothai,^[e] cities of Hadadezer, King David took a large amount of bronze.

⁹ When ^[f]Toi king of ^(L)Hamath heard that David had defeated all the army of Hadadezer, ¹⁰ then Toi sent ^[g]Joram his son to King David, to ^[h]greet him and bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him (for Hadadezer had been at war with Toi); and Joram brought with him articles of silver, articles of gold, and articles of bronze. ¹¹ King David also ^(M)dedicated these to the Lord, along with the silver and gold that he had dedicated from all the nations which he had subdued— ¹² from ^[i]Syria, from Moab, from the people of Ammon, from the ^(N)Philistines, from Amalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

¹³ And David made himself a ^(O)name when he returned from killing ^(P)eighteen thousand ^[j]Syrians in ^(Q)the Valley of Salt. ¹⁴ He also put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, and ^(R)all the Edomites became David’s servants. And the Lord preserved David wherever he went.

David’s Administration^(S)

¹⁵ So David reigned over all Israel; and David administered judgment and justice to all his people. ^16 (T)Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army; ^(U)Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; ^17 (V)Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were the priests; ^[k]Seraiah was the ^[l]scribe; ^18 (W)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over both the ^(X)Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were ^[m]chief ministers.

¹⁰ Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, ^(A)that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from ^[a]his position at the gate. You are witnesses this day.”

The Nations Remaining in the Land

3 Now these are ^(A)the nations which the Lord left, that He might test Israel by them, that is, all who had not ^[a]known any of the wars in Canaan ² (this was only so that the generations of the children of Israel might be taught to know war, at least those who had not formerly known it), ³ namely, ^(B)five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who dwelt in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to the entrance of Hamath. ⁴ And they were left, that He might test Israel by them, to ^[b]know whether they would obey the commandments of the Lord, which He had commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.

^5 (C)Thus the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ⁶ And ^(D)they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons; and they served their gods.

Othniel

⁷ So the children of Israel did ^(E)evil in the sight of the Lord. They ^(F)forgot the Lord their God, and served the Baals and ^[c]Asherahs. ⁸ Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and He ^(G)sold them into the hand of ^(H)Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served Cushan-Rishathaim eight years. ⁹ When the children of Israel ^(I)cried out to the Lord, the Lord ^(J)raised up a deliverer for the children of Israel, who delivered them: ^(K)Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. ^10 (L)The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord delivered Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed over Cushan-Rishathaim. ¹¹ So the land had rest for forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

Ehud

^12 (M)And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord strengthened ^(N)Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. ¹³ Then he gathered to himself the people of Ammon and ^(O)Amalek, went and ^[d]defeated Israel, and took possession of ^(P)the City of Palms. ¹⁴ So the children of Israel ^(Q)served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.

¹⁵ But when the children of Israel ^(R)cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for them: Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a ^(S)left-handed man. By him the children of Israel sent tribute to Eglon king of Moab. ¹⁶ Now Ehud made himself a dagger (it was double-edged and a cubit in length) and fastened it under his clothes on his right thigh. ¹⁷ So he brought the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. (Now Eglon was a very fat man.) ¹⁸ And when he had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who had carried the tribute. ¹⁹ But he himself turned back ^(T)from the ^[e]stone images that were at Gilgal, and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.”

He said, “Keep silence!” And all who attended him went out from him.

²⁰ So Ehud came to him (now he was sitting upstairs in his cool private chamber). Then Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” So he arose from his seat. ²¹ Then Ehud reached with his left hand, took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. ²² Even the ^[f]hilt went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the dagger out of his belly; and his entrails came out. ²³ Then Ehud went out through the porch and shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.

²⁴ When he had gone out, ^[g]Eglon’s servants came to look, and to their surprise, the doors of the upper room were locked. So they said, “He is probably ^(U)attending^[h] to his needs in the cool chamber.” ²⁵ So they waited till they were ^(V)embarrassed, and still he had not opened the doors of the upper room. Therefore they took the key and opened them. And there was their master, fallen dead on the floor.

²⁶ But Ehud had escaped while they delayed, and passed beyond the ^[i]stone images and escaped to Seirah. ²⁷ And it happened, when he arrived, that ^(W)he blew the trumpet in the ^(X)mountains of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mountains; and ^[j]he led them. ²⁸ Then he said to them, “Follow me, for ^(Y)the Lord has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him, seized the ^(Z)fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross over. ²⁹ And at that time they killed about ten thousand men of Moab, all stout men of valor; not a man escaped. ³⁰ So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And ^(AA)the land had rest for eighty years.

Shamgar

³¹ After him was ^(AB)Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed six hundred men of the Philistines ^(AC)with an ox goad; ^(AD)and he also delivered ^(AE)Israel.

^3 (A)“An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord forever,

¹⁹ And when you come near the people of Ammon, do not harass them or meddle with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to ^(A)the descendants of Lot as a possession.’ ”

Balak Sends for Balaam

22 Then ^(A)the children of Israel moved, and camped in the plains of Moab on the side of the Jordan across from Jericho.

² Now ^(B)Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. ³ And ^(C)Moab was exceedingly afraid of the people because they were many, and Moab was sick with dread because of the children of Israel. ⁴ So Moab said to ^(D)the elders of Midian, “Now this company will ^[a]lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time. ⁵ Then ^(E)he sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at ^(F)Pethor, which is near ^[b]the River in the land of ^[c]the sons of his people, to call him, saying: “Look, a people has come from Egypt. See, they cover the face of the earth, and are settling next to me! ^6 (G)Therefore please come at once, ^(H)curse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”