Judges 3:12-19

New American Standard Bible

¹² Now the sons of Israel again ^(A)did evil in the sight of the Lord. So ^(B)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 ^[a]defeated Israel, and they took possession of ^(C)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 ^(D)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 ^[b]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.