Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content
Previous Next
Add parallel Print Page Options Listen to Judges 3
Close NASB

Judges 3
New American Standard Bible

Idolatry Leads to Servitude

3 (A)Now these are the nations that the Lord left, to test Israel by them (that is, all the Israelites who had not [a]experienced any of the wars of Canaan; 2 only in order that the generations of the sons of Israel might [b]be taught war, [c]those who had not [d]experienced it previously). 3 These nations are: the five governors of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians, and (B)the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as [e]Lebo-hamath. 4 They were left to (C)test Israel by them, to find out if they would [f]obey the commandments of the Lord, which He had commanded their fathers [g]through Moses. 5 (D)The sons of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; 6 and (E)they took their daughters for themselves as wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.

7 So the sons of Israel did (F)what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and they (G)forgot the Lord their God and (H)served the Baals and the [h]Asheroth. 8 Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, so that He sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim, king of [i]Mesopotamia; and the sons of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim for eight years.

The First Judge Frees Israel

9 But the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up a deliverer for the sons of Israel to set them free, (I)Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. 10 And (J)the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel. When he went to war, the Lord handed over to him Cushan-rishathaim king of [j]Mesopotamia, so that [k]he prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. 11 Then the land was at rest for forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

12 Now the sons of Israel again (K)did evil in the sight of the Lord. So (L)the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. 13 And he gathered to himself the sons of Ammon and Amalek; and he went and [l]defeated Israel, and they took possession of (M)the city of the palm trees. 14 And the sons of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab for eighteen years.

Ehud Kills Eglon

15 But when the sons of Israel (N)cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for them, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. And the sons of Israel sent tribute by [m]him to Eglon the king of Moab. 16 Now Ehud made himself a sword which had two edges, a cubit in length, and he strapped it on his right thigh under his cloak. 17 Then he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. 18 And it came about, when he had finished presenting the tribute, that Ehud sent away the people who had carried the tribute. 19 But he himself turned back from the idols which were at Gilgal, and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And the king said, “Silence!” And all who were attending him left him. 20 Then Ehud came to him while he was sitting in his cool roof chamber alone. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he got up from his seat. 21 Then Ehud reached out with his left hand and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. 22 The hilt of the sword also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade because he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and [n]the refuse came out. 23 Then Ehud went out into the [o]vestibule, and shut the doors of the roof chamber behind him, and locked them.

24 When he had left, [p]the king’s servants came and looked, and behold, the doors of the roof chamber were locked; and they said, “(O)Undoubtedly he is [q]relieving himself in the cool room.” 25 So they waited [r]until it would have been shameful to wait longer; but behold, he did not open the doors of the roof chamber. So they took the key and opened them, and behold, their master had fallen to the [s]floor dead.

26 Now Ehud escaped while they were hesitating, and he passed by the idols and escaped to Seirah. 27 And [t]when he arrived, (P)he blew the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was [u]leading them. 28 Then he said to them, “Pursue them, for the Lord has handed your enemies the Moabites over to you.” So they went down after him and took control of (Q)the crossing places of the Jordan opposite Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross. 29 They struck and killed about ten thousand Moabites at that time, all robust and valiant men; and no one escaped. 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land was at rest for eighty years.

Shamgar Saves Israel

31 Now after him came (R)Shamgar the son of Anath, who struck and killed six hundred Philistines with an [v]oxgoad; and he also saved Israel.

Footnotes

  1. Judges 3:1 Lit known
  2. Judges 3:2 Lit know, to teach them
  3. Judges 3:2 Lit only those
  4. Judges 3:2 Lit known
  5. Judges 3:3 Or the entrance of Hamath
  6. Judges 3:4 Lit listen to
  7. Judges 3:4 Lit by the hand of
  8. Judges 3:7 I.e., wooden symbols of a female deity (Asherah)
  9. Judges 3:8 Heb Aram-naharaim
  10. Judges 3:10 Heb Aram
  11. Judges 3:10 Lit his hand was strong
  12. Judges 3:13 Lit struck
  13. Judges 3:15 Lit his hand
  14. Judges 3:22 Meaning of the Heb uncertain, but perhaps excrement
  15. Judges 3:23 Meaning uncertain
  16. Judges 3:24 Lit his
  17. Judges 3:24 Lit covering his feet; a euphemism referring to a squatting position
  18. Judges 3:25 Lit until shaming
  19. Judges 3:25 Lit earth
  20. Judges 3:27 Lit it happened
  21. Judges 3:27 Lit before them
  22. Judges 3:31 I.e., a spiked stick for driving livestock
Close ISV

Judges 3
International Standard Version

Unconquered Canaanite Nations

3 Here’s a list of nations that the Lord caused to remain in order to test Israel (that is,[a] everyone who had not gained any battle experience in Canaan) 2 only so that successive Israeli generations, who had not known war previously, might come to know it by experience. 3 These nations included[b] the five lords of the Philistines, all of the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived in Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. 4 They remained there to test Israel, to reveal if they would obey the commands of the Lord that he issued to their ancestors through Moses.

Othniel, Israel’s First Judge

5 The Israelis continued to live among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, 6 taking their daughters as wives for themselves, giving their own daughters to their sons, and serving their gods. 7 The Israelis kept on practicing evil in full view of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served Canaanite male and female deities.[c] 8 Then in his burning anger against Israel, the Lord delivered them to domination by King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram-naharaim.[d] So the Israelis served Cushan-rishathaim for eight years. 9 When the Israelis cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up Othniel son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz, to deliver[e] them,[f] and he did. 10 The Spirit of the Lord was on him, and he governed Israel. When Othniel[g] went out to battle, the Lord handed king Cushan-rishathaim of Aram-naharaim[h] into his control, and Othniel’s[i] domination of Cushan-rishathaim was strong. 11 As a result, the land was quiet for 40 years. Then Kenaz’ son Othniel died.

Ehud, Israel’s Second Judge

12 The Israelis again practiced evil in full view of the Lord. So the Lord strengthened Eglon king of Moab in his control over Israel, because they had practiced evil in full view of the Lord. 13 Eglon[j] assembled together the Ammonites and the Amalekites, proceeded to attack Israel, and captured the cities of palms. 14 So the Israelis served king Eglon of Moab for eighteen years.

15 But when the Israelis cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up Gera’s son Ehud, a left-handed descendant of Benjamin, as a deliverer for them. The Israelis paid tribute through him to king Eglon of Moab. 16 Ehud forged a double-edged sword that was one cubit[k] long, tied it to his right thigh under his cloak, 17 and went to present the tribute to King Eglon of Moab. Now Eglon happened to be a very obese man.

18 As he finished presenting the tribute, Ehud[l] sent away the people who had been carrying it. 19 He had turned away from the idols that were at Gilgal. So he told Eglon, “I have a secret message for you, king.”

King Eglon[m] responded “Silence!” and all of his attendants left him.

20 Ehud approached him while he was sitting by himself in the cool roof chamber of his palace.[n] He said, “I have a message from God for you!” So when Eglon[o] got up from his seat, 21 Ehud used his left hand to take the sword from his right thigh and then plunged it into Eglon’s[p] abdomen. 22 The hilt also penetrated along with the sword blade, and Eglon’s fat closed in over the blade. Because he did not withdraw the sword from Eglon’s abdomen, the sword point[q] exited from Eglon’s entrails.[r]

23 Then Ehud left the cool chamber in the direction of the vestibule, shutting and locking the doors behind him. 24 After he left, Eglon’s[s] attendants came to look, but the doors to the cool chamber were locked! So they said, “He must be relieving himself[t] in the inner part of the cool chamber.”[u] 25 They waited until they were embarrassed, since he never opened the doors to the chamber. Eventually they took a key, opened the doors, and found their master dead on the ground.

26 Meanwhile, Ehud escaped while they were delayed, passed by the idols, and escaped in the direction of Seirah. 27 When he arrived there, he sounded a trumpet in the mountainous region[v] of Ephraim. While the Israeli army accompanied Ehud from the mountainous regions,[w] 28 he told them, “Attack them, because the Lord has given your enemies—the Moabites—into your control.” So the Israeli army[x] followed after him, seized the fords of the Jordan River opposite Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross. 29 At that time they attacked about 10,000 Moabites, all of whom were strong and valiant men. Not one man escaped. 30 As a result, Moab was subdued under the control of Israel, and the land remained quiet for 80 years.

Shamgar, Israel’s Third Judge

31 After Ehud,[y] Anath’s son Shamgar attacked 600 Philistines with a cattle prod. He also delivered Israel.

Footnotes

  1. Judges 3:1 The Heb. lacks that is
  2. Judges 3:3 The Heb. lacks These nations included
  3. Judges 3:7 Lit. served the Baals and the Ashtaroth
  4. Judges 3:8 Or Aram of the Two Rivers; i.e. Mesopotamia
  5. Judges 3:9 Lit. to be a deliverer for; or to be a messiah
  6. Judges 3:9 Lit. deliver the Israelis
  7. Judges 3:10 Lit. he
  8. Judges 3:10 Or Aram of the Two Rivers; i.e. Mesopotamia
  9. Judges 3:10 Lit. his
  10. Judges 3:13 Lit. He
  11. Judges 3:16 I.e. about a foot and a half
  12. Judges 3:18 Lit. he
  13. Judges 3:19 Lit. So he
  14. Judges 3:20 The Heb. lacks of his palace
  15. Judges 3:20 Lit. he
  16. Judges 3:21 Lit. his
  17. Judges 3:22 So LXX. MT reads abdomen, it
  18. Judges 3:22 Or from behind
  19. Judges 3:24 Lit. his
  20. Judges 3:24 Lit. be covering his feet
  21. Judges 3:24 Or cool area; i.e. a private room (usually on a roof) for residence in warm weather
  22. Judges 3:27 Or the hill country
  23. Judges 3:27 Or the hill country
  24. Judges 3:28 Lit. he
  25. Judges 3:31 Lit. him
Next
Judges 2
Judges 4
Next
dropdown
New American Standard Bible (NASB)

New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.

New American Standard Bible is made available by The Lockman Foundation
International Standard Version (ISV)

Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.

ISV Bible