Judges 2–3

Israel’s Disobedience

²Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim and said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I had promised to your ancestors. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you.^{* 2}For your part, do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land; tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my command. See what you have done!^{* 3}So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become adversaries^f to you, and their gods shall be a snare to you.”^{* 4}When the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the Israelites, the people lifted up their voices and wept. ⁵So they named that place Bochim,^g and there they sacrificed to the Lord.

Death of Joshua

⁶When Joshua dismissed the people, the Israelites all went to their own inheritances to take possession of the land.^{* 7}The people served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel. ⁸Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of one hundred ten years. ⁹So they buried him within the bounds of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. ¹⁰Moreover, that whole generation was gathered to their ancestors, and another generation grew up after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.^*

Israel’s Unfaithfulness

¹¹Then the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals,^{* 12}and they abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; they followed other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were all around them, and bowed down to them, and they provoked the Lord to anger.^{* 13}They abandoned the Lord and served Baal and the Astartes.^{* 14}So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers who plundered them, and he sold them into the power of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies.^{* 15}Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them to bring misfortune, as the Lord had warned them and sworn to them, and they were in great distress.

¹⁶Then the Lord raised up judges who delivered them out of the power of those who plundered them.^{* 17}Yet they did not listen even to their judges, for they lusted after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their ancestors had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord; they did not follow their example.^{* 18}Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he delivered them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge, for the Lord would be moved to pity by their groaning because of those who persecuted and oppressed them. ¹⁹But whenever the judge died, they would relapse and behave worse than their ancestors, following other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They would not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways.^{* 20}So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this nation has transgressed my covenant that I commanded their ancestors and have not obeyed my voice,^{* 21}I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died.”^{* 22}In order to test Israel, whether or not they would take care to walk in the way of the Lord as their ancestors did,^{* 23}the Lord had left those nations, not driving them out at once, and had not handed them over to Joshua.

Nations Remaining in the Land

³Now these are the nations that the Lord left to test all those in Israel who had no experience of war in Canaan^{* 2}(it was only for successive generations of Israelites, to teach war to those who had no experience of it): ³the five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath.^{* 4}They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the Lord that he commanded their ancestors by Moses.^{* 5}So the Israelites lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, ⁶and they took their daughters as wives for themselves, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods.^*

Othniel

⁷The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, forgetting the Lord their God and serving the Baals and the Asherahs.^{* 8}Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram-naharaim, and the Israelites served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. ⁹But when the Israelites cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the Israelites who delivered them, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.^{* 10}The spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel; he went out to war, and the Lord gave King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram into his hand, and his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim.^{* 11}So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel son of Kenaz died.

Ehud

¹²The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord strengthened King Eglon of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord.^{* 13}In alliance with the Ammonites and the Amalekites, he went and defeated Israel, and they took possession of the city of palms.^{* 14}So the Israelites served King Eglon of Moab eighteen years.

¹⁵But when the Israelites cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud son of Gera, a Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The Israelites sent tribute by him to King Eglon of Moab.^{* 16}Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit in length, and he fastened it on his right thigh under his clothes. ¹⁷Then he presented the tribute to King Eglon of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man.^{* 18}When Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent the people who carried the tribute on their way. ¹⁹But he himself turned back at the sculptured stones near Gilgal and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” So the king said,^h “Silence!” and all his attendants went out from his presence. ²⁰Ehud came to him, while he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber, and said, “I have a message from God for you.” So he rose from his seat. ²¹Then Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into Eglon’sⁱ belly; ²²the hilt 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 dirt^j came out. ²³Then Ehud went out into the vestibule^k and closed the doors of the roof chamber on him and locked them.

²⁴After he had gone, the servants came. When they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, “He must be relieving himself^l in the cool chamber.”^{* 25}So they waited until they were embarrassed. When he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them. There was their lord lying dead on the floor.^*

²⁶Ehud escaped while they delayed and passed beyond the sculptured stones and escaped to Seirah. ²⁷When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down with him from the hill country, having him at their head. ²⁸He said to them, “Follow after me, for the Lord has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and allowed no one to cross over.^{* 29}At that time they killed about ten thousand of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; no one escaped. ³⁰So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest eighty years.^*

Shamgar

³¹After him came Shamgar son of Anath, who killed six hundred of the Philistines with an oxgoad. He, too, delivered Israel.^*