Judges 2–3

Israel Disobeys Yahweh

2And the angel of Yahweh went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, “I brought you up from Egypt, and I brought you to the land that I had promised to your ancestors.^a I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you. ²And as for you, do not make a covenant^b with the inhabitants of this land; break down their altars.’ But you did not listen to my voice. Why would you do such a thing?^{c 3}Now I say, I will not drive them out from before you; they will become as thorns^d for you, and their gods will be a trap for you.” ⁴And as the angel of Yahweh spoke these words to all the Israelites,^e the people wept bitterly.^{f 5}And they called the name of this place Bokim,^g and there they sacrificed to Yahweh.

Joshua Dies

⁶And Joshua sent the people away, and the Israelites^h went each to theirⁱ own inheritance to take possession of the land. ⁷And the people served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who saw all the great work Yahweh had done for Israel. ⁸And Joshua son of Nun, servant of Yahweh, died at the age of one hundred and ten years.^{j 9}They buried him within the border of his inheritance in Timnah-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash. ¹⁰Moreover, that entire generation was gathered to their^k ancestors,^l and another generation grew up after them who did not know Yahweh or the work he had done for Israel.^m

Israel Worships the Baals

¹¹The Israelitesⁿ did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and they served^o the Baals. ¹²They abandoned Yahweh the God of their ancestors,^p who brought them out from the land of Egypt. They followed^q other gods from the gods of the people who were around them; and they bowed down to them, and they provoked the anger of Yahweh. ¹³They abandoned Yahweh, and they served Baal and the Ashtaroth. ¹⁴So the anger of Yahweh was kindled^r against Israel, and he gave them into the hand of plunderers; and they plundered them, and he sold them into the hand of their enemies from all sides. They were unable to withstand their enemies any longer. ¹⁵Whenever^s they went out, the hand of Yahweh was against them to harm them, just as Yahweh warned, and just as Yahweh had sworn to them. And they were very distressed.^t

¹⁶Then Yahweh raised up leaders,^u and they delivered them from the hand of their plunderers. ¹⁷But they did not listen to their leaders,^v but lusted after other gods and bowed down to them. They turned away quickly from the way that their ancestors^w went, who had obeyed the commandment of Yahweh; they did not do as their ancestors. ¹⁸And when Yahweh raised leaders^x for them, Yahweh was with the leader,^y and he delivered them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the leader,^z for Yahweh was moved by their groaning because of their persecutors and oppressors. ¹⁹But when the leader^a died they relapsed and acted corruptly, more than their ancestors,^b following other gods, serving them,^c and bowing down to them. They would not give up their deeds or their stubborn ways. ²⁰So the anger of Yahweh burned^d against Israel, and he said, “Because this people transgressed my covenant that I commanded their ancestors,^e and have not obeyed my voice, ²¹I will not again drive out anyone from before them from the nations that Joshua left when he died, ²²in order to test Israel whether or not they would observe the way of Yahweh, to walk in it just as their ancestors^f did.” ²³So Yahweh left those nations; he did not drive them out at once, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua.

Some Nations Remain in the Land

3These are the nations that Yahweh left, to test Israel by them (that is, to test all those who had not experienced^a any of the wars of Canaan, ²in order that the generations of Israel would know war, to teach those who had not experienced it^b before): ³the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites,^c the Sidonians,^d and the Hivites^e living on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon up to Lebo-Hamath. ⁴They were left for testing Israel, to know whether they would keep the commands of Yahweh that he commanded their ancestors^f through the hand of Moses. ⁵And the Israelites^g lived in the midst of the Canaanites,^h the Hittites,ⁱ the Amorites,^j the Perizzites,^k the Hivites,^l and the Jebusites.^{m 6}And they took their daughters as wives for themselves, and they gave their daughters to their sons, and they served their gods.ⁿ

Othniel

⁷The Israelites^o did evil in the eyes of Yahweh. They forgot Yahweh their God, and they served the Baals and the Asheroth.^{p 8}And the anger of Yahweh was kindled^q against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-Rishathaim, the king of Aram Naharaim; and the Israelites^r served Cushan-Rishathaim eight years. ⁹The Israelites^s cried out to Yahweh, and Yahweh raised up a deliverer for the Israelites^t who delivered them, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. ¹⁰And the spirit of Yahweh came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and Yahweh gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into his hand, and he prevailed over^u Cushan-Rishathaim. ¹¹So the land rested forty years. Then Othniel son of Kenaz died.

Ehud

¹²And again the Israelites^v 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. ¹³He gathered to himself the Ammonites and Amalekites,^w and he went and defeated Israel, and they took possession of the city of palms. ¹⁴And the Israelites^x served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.

¹⁵And the Israelites^y cried out to Yahweh, and Yahweh raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud son of Gera, a Benjaminite and a left-handed man.^z And the Israelites^a sent a tribute to Eglon king of Moab through him.^{b 16}Ehud made for himself a short, two-edged^c sword (a cubit in length), and he fastened it under his clothes on his right thigh. ¹⁷Then he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. ¹⁸When Ehud^d had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute. ¹⁹But he turned back from the sculptured stones^e that were near Gilgal, and he said, “I have a secret message^f for you, O king.” And he^g said, “Silence!” So all those standing in his presence went out, ²⁰and Ehud came to him while he was sitting alone in his cool upper room. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God^h for you.” So he got up from his seat. ²¹Then Ehud reached with his left hand for the sword on his right thigh, and he thrust it into hisⁱ stomach. ²²And 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.^{j 23}And Ehud went out the vestibule, and he closed the doors of the upper room and locked them behind him.

²⁴After he left, his servants returned. When they saw that the doors of the upper room were locked, they thought,^k “Surely he is relieving himself^l in the cool inner room.” ²⁵And 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.

²⁶And Ehud escaped while they delayed. He passed by the sculptured stones^m and escaped to Seirah. ²⁷And when he arrived he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelitesⁿ went down from the hill country with him leading them. ²⁸And 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. ²⁹And they struck Moab at that time, about ten thousand men, all strong and able men;^o no one escaped. ³⁰And Moab was subdued on that day under the hand of Israel. And the land rested eighty years.^p

Shamgar

³¹And Shamgar son of Anath came after him, and he killed six hundred Philistines with the goad of an ox; he also delivered Israel.