Judges 3:12-30

Lexham English Bible

Ehud

¹² And again the Israelites^[a] did evil in the eyes of Yahweh. So Yahweh strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because they did evil in the eyes of Yahweh. ¹³ He gathered to himself the Ammonites and Amalekites,^[b] and he went and defeated Israel, and they took possession of the city of palms. ¹⁴ And the Israelites^[c] served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.

¹⁵ And the Israelites^[d] cried out to Yahweh, and Yahweh raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud son of Gera, a Benjaminite and a left-handed man.^[e] And the Israelites^[f] sent a tribute to Eglon king of Moab through him.^{[g] 16} Ehud made for himself a short, two-edged^[h] sword (a cubit in length), and he fastened it under his clothes on his right thigh. ¹⁷ Then he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. ¹⁸ When Ehud^[i] had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute. ¹⁹ But he turned back from the sculptured stones^[j] that were near Gilgal, and he said, “I have a secret message^[k] for you, O king.” And he^[l] said, “Silence!” So all those standing in his presence went out, ²⁰ and Ehud came to him while he was sitting alone in his cool upper room. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God^[m] for you.” So he got up from his seat. ²¹ Then Ehud reached with his left hand for the sword on his right thigh, and he thrust it into his^[n] stomach. ²² And the handle also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade because he did not draw back the sword from his stomach; and it went protruding out the back.^{[o] 23} And Ehud went out the vestibule, and he closed the doors of the upper room and locked them behind him.

²⁴ After he left, his servants returned. When they saw that the doors of the upper room were locked, they thought,^[p] “Surely he is relieving himself^[q] in the cool inner room.” ²⁵ And they waited so long they became embarrassed because he did not open the doors of the upper room. So they took the key and opened the doors, and there their lord was lying on the ground dead.

²⁶ And Ehud escaped while they delayed. He passed by the sculptured stones^[r] and escaped to Seirah. ²⁷ And when he arrived he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites^[s] went down from the hill country with him leading them. ²⁸ And he said to them, “Follow after me! Yahweh has given Moab your enemies into your hand.” So they went down after him, and they captured the fords of the Jordan toward Moab; and they did not allow anyone to cross over. ²⁹ And they struck Moab at that time, about ten thousand men, all strong and able men;^[t] no one escaped. ³⁰ And Moab was subdued on that day under the hand of Israel. And the land rested eighty years.^[u]