Judges 2–3

2ND CHAPTER

The Messenger of the Lord Reacts to Israel’s Failure

¹The Messenger of the Lord went from Gilgal to Bochim. He said, “I brought you out of Egypt into the land that I swore to give to your ancestors. I said, ‘I will never break my promise^ato you. ²You must never make a treaty with the people who live in this land. You must tear down their altars.’ But you didn’t obey me. What do you think you’re doing? ³So I have this to say, ‘I will not force them out of your way. They will be like thorns in your sides, and their gods will become a trap for you.’ ” 

⁴While the Messenger of the Lord was saying this to all the people of Israel, they began to cry loudly. ⁵So they called that place Bochim ^[Those Who Cry^[. They offered sacrifices there to the Lord. 

The Death of Joshua

⁶Now, Joshua sent the people of Israel home. So each family went to take possession of the territory they had inherited. ⁷The people served the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and throughout the lifetimes of the leaders who had outlived him and who had seen all the spectacular works the Lord had done for Israel. ⁸The Lord’s servant Joshua, son of Nun, died at the age of 110. ⁹He was buried at Timnath Heres within the territory he had inherited. This was in the mountains of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash. ¹⁰That whole generation had joined their ancestors in death. So another generation grew up after them. They had no personal experience with the Lord or with what he had done for Israel. 

The Sin of the Next Generation

¹¹The people of Israel did what the Lord considered evil. They began to serve other gods—the Baals. ¹²The Israelites abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors, the God who brought them out of Egypt. They followed the other gods of the people around them. They worshiped these gods, and that made the Lord angry. ¹³They abandoned the Lord to serve the god Baal and the goddess Astarte. ¹⁴So the Lord became angry with the people of Israel. He handed them over to people who robbed them. He also used their enemies around them to defeat them. They could no longer stand up against their enemies. ¹⁵Whenever the Israelites went to war, the power of the Lord brought disaster on them. This was what the Lord said he would do in an oath. So he made them suffer a great deal. 

¹⁶Then the Lord would send judges^bto rescue them from those who robbed them. ¹⁷But the people wouldn’t listen to the judges. The Israelites chased after other gods as though they were prostitutes and worshiped them. They quickly turned from the ways of their ancestors who had obeyed the Lord’s commands. They refused to be like their ancestors. ¹⁸But when the Lord appointed judges for the Israelites, he was with each judge. The Lord rescued them from their enemies as long as that judge was alive. The Lord was moved by the groaning of those who were tormented and oppressed. ¹⁹But after each judge died, the people went back to their old ways and acted more corruptly than their parents. They followed, served, and worshiped other gods. They never gave up their evil practices and stubborn ways. 

The Lord Allows the Nations to Stay in Order to Test His People

²⁰The Lord became angry with Israel. He said, “Because the people of this nation have rejected the promise I gave their ancestors and have not obeyed me, ²¹I will no longer force out the nations Joshua left behind when he died. ²²I will test the people of Israel with these nations to see whether or not they will carefully follow the Lord’s ways as their ancestors did.” ²³So the Lord let these nations stay. He had not handed them over to Joshua or forced them out quickly. 

3RD CHAPTER

¹These are the nations the Lord left behind to test all the Israelites who had not experienced any war in Canaan. ²The Lord left them to teach Israel’s descendants about war, at least those who had known nothing about it in the past. ³He left the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon from Mount Baal Hermon to the border of Hamath. ⁴These nations were left to test the Israelites, to find out if they would obey the commands the Lord had given their ancestors through Moses. 

The People Fail the Test

⁵So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. ⁶The Israelites allowed their sons and daughters to marry these people. Israel also served their gods. 

Othniel Defeats Cushan Rishathaim

⁷The people of Israel did what the Lord considered evil. They forgot the Lord their God and served other gods and goddesses—the Baals and the Asherahs. ⁸The Lord became angry with the people of Israel. He used King Cushan Rishathaim of Aram Naharaim to defeat them. So Israel served Cushan Rishathaim for eight years. 

⁹Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help. The Lord sent a savior to rescue them. It was Othniel, son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz. ¹⁰When the Lord’s Spirit came over him, he became the judge of Israel. He went out to war. The Lord handed King Cushan Rishathaim of Aram Naharaim over to him, and Othniel overpowered him. ¹¹So there was finally peace in the land for 40 years. Then Othniel, son of Kenaz, died. 

Ehud Defeats Moab

¹²Once again, the people of Israel did what the Lord considered evil. So the Lord made King Eglon of Moab stronger than Israel, because Israel did what the Lord considered evil. ¹³Eglon got the Ammonites and the Amalekites to help him, and they defeated the Israelites and occupied the City of Palms. ¹⁴The Israelites served King Eglon of Moab for 18 years. 

¹⁵Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help. The Lord sent a savior to rescue them. It was Ehud, a left-handed man from the tribe of Benjamin. (Ehud was the son of Gera.) 

The people sent him with their tax payment to King Eglon of Moab. ¹⁶Ehud made a two-edged dagger for himself. He fastened it to his right side under his clothes. ¹⁷Then he brought the tax payment to King Eglon. (Eglon was a very fat man.) ¹⁸When Ehud had finished delivering the payment, he sent back the men who had carried it. ¹⁹However, Ehud turned around at the stone idols near Gilgal ⸤and returned to Eglon⸥. He said, “Your Majesty, I have a secret message for you.” 

The king replied, “Keep quiet!” Then all his advisers left the room. 

²⁰Ehud came up to him as he sat alone in his room on the roof. He said to the king, “I have a message from God for you.” As the king rose from his throne, ²¹Ehud reached with his left hand, took the dagger from his right side, and plunged it into Eglon’s belly. ²²Even the handle went in after the blade. Eglon’s fat covered the blade because Ehud didn’t pull the dagger out. The blade stuck out in back.²³Ehud left the room.(He had closed and locked the doors of the room before he left.) 

²⁴After Ehud went out, Eglon’s advisers came in. They were surprised that the doors were locked. “He must be using the toilet,” they said. ²⁵They waited and waited, but Eglon didn’t open the doors. So they took the key and opened the door. They were shocked to see their ruler lying on the floor, dead. 

²⁶While they had been waiting, Ehud escaped. He went past the stone idols and escaped to Seirah. ²⁷When he arrived there, he blew a ram’s horn in the mountains of Ephraim ⸤to summon the troops⸥. So the troops of Israel came down from the mountains with him, and he led them. ²⁸He told them, “Follow me! The Lord will hand your enemy Moab over to you.” 

They followed him and captured the shallow crossings of the Jordan River that led to Moab and refused to let anyone cross. ²⁹At that time they killed about ten thousand of Moab’s best fighting men. Not one of them escaped. ³⁰The power of Moab was crushed by Israel that day. So there was finally peace in the land for 80 years. 

Shamgar Defeats the Philistines

³¹After Ehud came Shamgar, son of Anath. He killed 600 Philistines with a sharp stick used for herding oxen. So he, too, rescued Israel.