Oppression by Philistines and Ammonites

10 Now after Abimelech died, Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, (A)rose up to save Israel; and he lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. He judged Israel for twenty-three years. Then he died and was buried in Shamir.

After him, Jair the Gileadite rose up and judged Israel for twenty-two years. And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities [a]in the land of Gilead (B)that are called [b]Havvoth-jair to this day. And Jair died and was buried in Kamon.

Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, and (C)they served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, (D)the gods of the sons of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; so (E)they abandoned the Lord and did not serve Him. And the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He (F)sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the sons of Ammon. And they [c]afflicted and oppressed the sons of Israel [d]that year; for eighteen years they oppressed all the sons of Israel who were beyond the Jordan, [e]in Gilead in the land of the Amorites. And the sons of Ammon crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was in great difficulty.

10 Then the (G)sons of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, “We have sinned against You, for indeed, we have abandoned our God and served the Baals.” 11 And the Lord said to the sons of Israel, “Did I not save you (H)from the Egyptians, (I)the Amorites, (J)the sons of Ammon, and the Philistines? 12 And when the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites (K)oppressed you, you cried out to Me, and I saved you from their hands. 13 Yet (L)you abandoned Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer save you. 14 (M)Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.” 15 Then the sons of Israel said to the Lord, “We have sinned, (N)do to us whatever [f]seems good to You; only please save us this day.” 16 (O)So they removed the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord; and [g](P)He could no longer endure the misery of Israel.

17 Then the sons of Ammon were summoned, and they camped in Gilead. And the sons of Israel gathered together and camped in (Q)Mizpah. 18 And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said to one another, “Who is the man who will begin to fight against the sons of Ammon? He shall become head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

Footnotes

  1. Judges 10:4 Lit which are in
  2. Judges 10:4 I.e., the towns of Jair
  3. Judges 10:8 Lit destroyed
  4. Judges 10:8 Lit in that
  5. Judges 10:8 Lit which is in
  6. Judges 10:15 Lit the good in Your eyes
  7. Judges 10:16 Lit His soul became impatient with the misery

Tola Becomes Israel’s Judge

10 After Abimelech died, Tola son of Puah, son of Dodo, was the next person to rescue Israel. He was from the tribe of Issachar but lived in the town of Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. He judged Israel for twenty-three years. When he died, he was buried in Shamir.

Jair Becomes Israel’s Judge

After Tola died, Jair from Gilead judged Israel for twenty-two years. His thirty sons rode around on thirty donkeys, and they owned thirty towns in the land of Gilead, which are still called the Towns of Jair.[a] When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon.

The Ammonites Oppress Israel

Again the Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They served the images of Baal and Ashtoreth, and the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and Philistia. They abandoned the Lord and no longer served him at all. So the Lord burned with anger against Israel, and he turned them over to the Philistines and the Ammonites, who began to oppress them that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites east of the Jordan River in the land of the Amorites (that is, in Gilead). The Ammonites also crossed to the west side of the Jordan and attacked Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim.

The Israelites were in great distress. 10 Finally, they cried out to the Lord for help, saying, “We have sinned against you because we have abandoned you as our God and have served the images of Baal.”

11 The Lord replied, “Did I not rescue you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, 12 the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites? When they oppressed you, you cried out to me for help, and I rescued you. 13 Yet you have abandoned me and served other gods. So I will not rescue you anymore. 14 Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen! Let them rescue you in your hour of distress!”

15 But the Israelites pleaded with the Lord and said, “We have sinned. Punish us as you see fit, only rescue us today from our enemies.” 16 Then the Israelites put aside their foreign gods and served the Lord. And he was grieved by their misery.

17 At that time the armies of Ammon had gathered for war and were camped in Gilead, and the people of Israel assembled and camped at Mizpah. 18 The leaders of Gilead said to each other, “Whoever attacks the Ammonites first will become ruler over all the people of Gilead.”

Footnotes

  1. 10:4 Hebrew Havvoth-jair.