Judges 10
Good News Translation
Tola
10 After Abimelech's death Tola, the son of Puah and grandson of Dodo, came to free Israel. He was from the tribe of Issachar and lived at Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. 2 He was Israel's leader for twenty-three years. Then he died and was buried at Shamir.
Jair
3 After Tola came Jair from Gilead. He led Israel for twenty-two years. 4 He had thirty sons who rode thirty donkeys. They had thirty cities in the land of Gilead, which are still called the villages of Jair. 5 Jair died and was buried at Kamon.
Jephthah
6 Once again the Israelites sinned against the Lord by worshiping the Baals and the Astartes, as well as the gods of Syria, of Sidon, of Moab, of Ammon, and of Philistia. They abandoned the Lord and stopped worshiping him. 7 So the Lord became angry with the Israelites, and let the Philistines and the Ammonites conquer them. 8 For eighteen years they oppressed and persecuted all the Israelites who lived in Amorite country east of the Jordan River in Gilead. 9 The Ammonites even crossed the Jordan to fight the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. Israel was in great distress.
10 Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord and said, “We have sinned against you, for we left you, our God, and worshiped the Baals.”
11 The Lord gave them this answer: “The Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, 12 the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites oppressed you in the past, and you cried out to me. Did I not save you from them? 13 But you still left me and worshiped other gods, so I am not going to rescue you again. 14 Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them rescue you when you get in trouble.”
15 But the people of Israel said to the Lord, “We have sinned. Do whatever you like, but please, save us today.” 16 So they got rid of their foreign gods and worshiped the Lord; and he became troubled over Israel's distress.
17 Then the Ammonite army prepared for battle and camped in Gilead. The people of Israel came together and camped at Mizpah in Gilead. 18 There the people and the leaders of the Israelite tribes asked one another, “Who will lead the fight against the Ammonites? Whoever does will be the leader of everyone in Gilead.”
Judges 10
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Tola and Jair
10 After Abimelech, Tola son of Puah son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, who lived at Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim, rose to deliver Israel.(A) 2 He judged Israel twenty-three years. Then he died and was buried at Shamir.
3 After him came Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years. 4 He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty towns, which are in the land of Gilead and are called Havvoth-jair to this day.(B) 5 Jair died and was buried in Kamon.
Oppression by the Ammonites
6 The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, serving the Baals and the Astartes, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. Thus they abandoned the Lord and did not worship him.(C) 7 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites,(D) 8 and they crushed and oppressed the Israelites that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. 9 The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was greatly distressed.
10 So the Israelites cried to the Lord, saying, “We have sinned against you, because we have abandoned our God and have served the Baals.”(E) 11 And the Lord said to the Israelites, “Did I not deliver you[a] from the Egyptians and from the Amorites, from the Ammonites and from the Philistines?(F) 12 The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand.(G) 13 Yet you have abandoned me and served other gods; therefore I will deliver you no more. 14 Go and cry to the gods whom you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your distress.”(H) 15 And the Israelites said to the Lord, “We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you, but deliver us this day!”(I) 16 So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord, and he could no longer bear to see Israel suffer.(J)
17 Then the Ammonites were called to arms, and they encamped in Gilead, and the Israelites came together, and they encamped at Mizpah.(K) 18 The commanders of the people of Gilead said to one another, “Who will begin the fight against the Ammonites? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”(L)
Footnotes
- 10.11 Heb lacks Did I not deliver you
Judges 10
Complete Jewish Bible
10 After Avimelekh there arose to save Isra’el Tola the son of Pu’ah, the son of Dodo, from the tribe of Yissakhar. He lived in Shamir, in the hills of Efrayim. 2 He judged Isra’el twenty-three years, and when he died he was buried in Shamir.
3 After him arose Ya’ir, from Gil‘ad. He judged Isra’el twenty-two years. 4 He had thirty sons who rode on thirty young donkeys. They owned thirty cities which are called Havot-Ya’ir to this day; they are in the territory of Gil‘ad. 5 When Ya’ir died, he was buried in Kamon.
6 Again the people of Isra’el did what was evil from Adonai’s perspective — they served the ba‘alim, the ‘ashtarot, the gods of Aram, the gods of Tzidon, the gods of Mo’av, the gods of the people of ‘Amon and the gods of the P’lishtim. They abandoned Adonai and did not serve him; 7 so the anger of Adonai blazed against Isra’el, and he handed them over to the P’lishtim and the people of ‘Amon. 8 For eighteen years, starting that year, they oppressed and persecuted all the people of Isra’el who lived beyond the Yarden, in the territory of the Emorim, in Gil‘ad. 9 The people of ‘Amon also crossed the Yarden to fight Y’hudah, Binyamin and the house of Efrayim; so that Isra’el was greatly distressed.
10 Then the people of Isra’el cried to Adonai, “We have sinned against you by forsaking our God and serving the ba‘alim.” 11 Adonai said to the people of Isra’el, “I saved you from the Egyptians, the Emorim, the people of ‘Amon, and the P’lishtim, didn’t I? 12 Likewise, when the people of Tzidon, ‘Amalek and Ma‘on oppressed you, you cried out to me; and I rescued you from their power. 13 Yet you abandoned me and served other gods; therefore I will not rescue you any more. 14 Go and cry to the gods you chose; let them rescue you when you’re in trouble!” 15 The people of Isra’el said to Adonai, “We have sinned! Treat us in whatever way seems good to you, but save us today, please!” 16 They got rid of their foreign gods and served Adonai, and he became troubled by Isra’el’s misery.
17 Then the people of ‘Amon gathered together and set up camp in Gil‘ad, while the people of Isra’el assembled and camped at Mitzpah. 18 The people, the chiefs of Gil‘ad, said to each other, “Whoever leads the battle against the army of ‘Amon will be head over everyone living in Gil‘ad.”
Judges 10
The Message
Tola
10 1-2 Tola son of Puah, the son of Dodo, was next after Abimelech. He rose to the occasion to save Israel. He was a man of Issachar. He lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. He judged Israel for twenty-three years and then died and was buried at Shamir.
Jair
3-5 After him, Jair the Gileadite stepped into leadership. He judged Israel for twenty-two years. He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys and had thirty towns in Gilead. The towns are still called Jair’s Villages. Jair died and was buried in Kamon.
* * *
6-8 And then the People of Israel went back to doing evil in God’s sight. They worshiped the Baal gods and Ashtoreth goddesses: gods of Aram, Sidon, and Moab; gods of the Ammonites and the Philistines. They just walked off and left God, quit worshiping him. And God exploded in hot anger at Israel and sold them off to the Philistines and Ammonites, who, beginning that year, bullied and battered the People of Israel mercilessly. For eighteen years they had them under their thumb, all the People of Israel who lived east of the Jordan in the Amorite country of Gilead.
9 Then the Ammonites crossed the Jordan to go to war also against Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. Israel was in a bad way!
10 The People of Israel cried out to God for help: “We’ve sinned against you! We left our God and worshiped the Baal gods!”
11-14 God answered the People of Israel: “When the Egyptians, Amorites, Ammonites, Philistines, Sidonians—even Amalek and Midian!—oppressed you and you cried out to me for help, I saved you from them. And now you’ve gone off and betrayed me, worshiping other gods. I’m not saving you anymore. Go ahead! Cry out for help to the gods you’ve chosen—let them get you out of the mess you’re in!”
15 The People of Israel said to God: “We’ve sinned. Do to us whatever you think best, but please, get us out of this!”
16 Then they cleaned house of the foreign gods and worshiped only God. And God took Israel’s troubles to heart.
Jephthah
17-18 The Ammonites prepared for war, setting camp in Gilead. The People of Israel set their rival camp in Mizpah. The leaders in Gilead said, “Who will stand up for us against the Ammonites? We’ll make him head over everyone in Gilead!”
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson