¹² Then the sons of Israel again ^(A)did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh. So ^(B)Yahweh strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel because they had done what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh. ¹³ And he gathered to himself the sons of Ammon and Amalek; and he went and struck Israel, and they possessed ^(C)the city of the palm trees. ¹⁴ So the sons of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.

Yahweh Raises Up Ehud and Shamgar

¹⁵ Then the sons of Israel ^(D)cried to Yahweh, and Yahweh raised up a savior for them, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man. And the sons of Israel sent tribute by his hand to Eglon the king of Moab. ¹⁶ And Ehud made himself a sword which had two edges, a ^[a]cubit in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his cloak. ¹⁷ Then he brought the tribute near to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. ¹⁸ And it happened when he had finished bringing the tribute near, that he sent away the people who had carried the tribute. ¹⁹ But he himself turned back from the graven images which were at Gilgal and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And he said, “Keep silence.” And all who stood by him left him. ²⁰ But Ehud came to him while he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he arose from his seat. ²¹ Then Ehud sent forth his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. ²² The handle also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the sword out of his belly; and the refuse came out. ²³ Then Ehud went out into the vestibule and shut the doors of the roof chamber behind him and locked them.

²⁴ Now he went out, and his servants came in and looked, and behold, the doors of the roof chamber were locked; and they said, “^(E)He is surely ^[b]relieving himself in the cool room.” ²⁵ Then they waited until they were ashamed; but behold, he did not open the doors of the roof chamber. Therefore they took the key and opened them, and behold, their master had fallen to the ^[c]floor dead.

²⁶ Now Ehud escaped while they were delaying, and he passed by the graven images and escaped to Seirah. ²⁷ And it happened when he had arrived, that ^(F)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 in front of them. ²⁸ Then he said to them, “Pursue them, for Yahweh has given your enemies the Moabites into your hands.” So they went down after him and captured ^(G)the fords of the Jordan opposite Moab and did not allow anyone to cross. ²⁹ And they struck down at that time about 10,000 Moabites, 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 quiet for eighty years.