Judges 10

Tola and Jair

10After Abimelech, Tola son of Puah, son of Dodo became judge and began to deliver Israel. He was from Issachar and lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. ²Tola judged Israel 23 years and when he died, was buried in Shamir.

³After him came Jair the Gileadite, ^qwho judged Israel 22 years. ⁴He had 30 sons who rode on 30 donkeys. They had 30 towns ^rin Gilead, which are called Jair’s Villages ^sto this day. ⁵When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon.

Israel’s Rebellion and Repentance

⁶Then the Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. ^tThey worshiped the Baals and the Ashtoreths, the gods of Aram, Sidon, and Moab, and the gods of the Ammonites and the Philistines. ^uThey abandoned Yahweh and did not worship Him. ^v7So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and He sold them to ^wthe Philistines and the Ammonites. ^x8They shattered and crushed the Israelites that year, and for 18 years they did the same to all the Israelites who were on the other side of the Jordan ^yin the land of the Amorites ^zin Gilead. ⁹The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim. Israel was greatly oppressed, ¹⁰so they cried out to the Lord, saying, “We have sinned against You. ^aWe have abandoned our God and worshiped the Baals.”

¹¹The Lord said to the Israelites, “When the Egyptians, ^bAmorites, Ammonites, Philistines, ¹²Sidonians, Amalekites, and Maonites ^cdoppressed you, and you cried out to Me, did I not deliver you from their power? ¹³But you have abandoned Me and worshiped other gods. Therefore, I will not deliver you again. ¹⁴Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. ^eLet them deliver you in the time of your oppression.”

¹⁵But the Israelites said, “We have sinned. Deal with us as You see fit; ^fonly deliver us ^gtoday!” ¹⁶So they got rid of the foreign gods ^hamong them and worshiped the Lord, ⁱand He became weary ^jof Israel’s misery.

¹⁷The Ammonites were called together, and they camped in Gilead. So the Israelites assembled and camped at Mizpah. ^k18The rulers ^lof Gilead said to one another, “Which man will lead the fight against the Ammonites? He will be the leader of all the inhabitants of Gilead.”