| King James Bible | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan; | 1These are the nations the LORD left in order to test Israel, since the Israelites had fought none of these in any of the wars with Canaan. |
| 2Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof; | 2This was to teach the future generations of the Israelites how to fight in battle, especially those who had not fought before. |
| 3Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baalhermon unto the entering in of Hamath. | 3These nations included: the five rulers of the Philistines and all of the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived in the Lebanese mountains from Mount Baal-hermon as far as the entrance to Hamath. |
| 4And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. | 4The LORD left them to test Israel, to determine if they would keep the LORD's commands He had given their fathers through Moses. |
| 5And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites: | 5But they settled among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. |
| 6And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods. | 6The Israelites took their daughters as wives for themselves, gave their own daughters to their sons, and worshiped their gods. |
| 7And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgat the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the groves. | 7The Israelites did what was evil in the LORD's sight; they forgot the LORD their God and worshiped the Baals and the Asherahs. |
| 8Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Chushanrishathaim eight years. | 8The LORD's anger burned against Israel, and He sold them to Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram-naharaim, and the Israelites served him eight years. |
| 9And when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. | 9The Israelites cried out to the LORD. So the LORD raised up Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's youngest brother, as a deliverer to save the Israelites. |
| 10And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the LORD delivered Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushanrishathaim. | 10The Spirit of the LORD came on him, and he judged Israel. Othniel went out to battle, and the LORD handed over Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram to him, so that Othniel overpowered him. |
| 11And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died. | 11Then the land was peaceful 40 years, and Othniel son of Kenaz died. |
| 12And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD. | 12The Israelites again did what was evil in the LORD's sight. He gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel, because they had done what was evil in the LORD's sight. |
| 13And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees. | 13After Eglon convinced the Ammonites and the Amalekites to join forces with him, he attacked and defeated Israel and took possession of the City of Palms. |
| 14So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. | 14The Israelites served Eglon king of Moab 18 years. |
| 15But when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man lefthanded: and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab. | 15Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and He raised up Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed Benjaminite, as a deliverer for them. The Israelites sent him to Eglon king of Moab with tribute money. |
| 16But Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit length; and he did gird it under his raiment upon his right thigh. | 16Ehud made himself a double-edged sword 18 inches long. He strapped it to his right thigh under his clothes |
| 17And he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab: and Eglon was a very fat man. | 17and brought the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was an extremely fat man. |
| 18And when he had made an end to offer the present, he sent away the people that bare the present. | 18When Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he dismissed the people who had carried it. |
| 19But he himself turned again from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand unto thee, O king: who said, Keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from him. | 19At the carved images near Gilgal he returned and said, "King Eglon, I have a secret message for you." The king called for silence, and all his attendants left him. |
| 20And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting in a summer parlour, which he had for himself alone. And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee. And he arose out of his seat. | 20Then Ehud approached him while he was sitting alone in his room upstairs where it was cool. Ehud said, "I have a word from God for you," and the king stood up from his throne. |
| 21And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly: | 21Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and plunged it into Eglon's belly. |
| 22And the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly; and the dirt came out. | 22Even the handle went in after the blade, and Eglon's fat closed in over it, so that Ehud did not withdraw the sword from his belly. And Eglon's insides came out. |
| 23Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the parlour upon him, and locked them. | 23Ehud escaped by way of the porch, closing and locking the doors of the upstairs room behind him. |
| 24When he was gone out, his servants came; and when they saw that, behold, the doors of the parlour were locked, they said, Surely he covereth his feet in his summer chamber. | 24Ehud was gone when Eglon's servants came in. They looked and found the doors of the upstairs room locked and thought he was relieving himself in the cool room. |
| 25And they tarried till they were ashamed: and, behold, he opened not the doors of the parlour; therefore they took a key, and opened them: and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth. | 25The servants waited until they became worried and saw that he had still not opened the doors of the upstairs room. So they took the key and opened the doors--and there was their lord lying dead on the floor! |
| 26And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped unto Seirath. | 26Ehud escaped while the servants waited. He crossed over the Jordan near the carved images and reached Seirah. |
| 27And it came to pass, when he was come, that he blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mount, and he before them. | 27After he arrived, he sounded the ram's horn throughout the hill country of Ephraim. The Israelites came down with him from the hill country, and he became their leader. |
| 28And he said unto them, Follow after me: for the LORD hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the fords of Jordan toward Moab, and suffered not a man to pass over. | 28He told them, "Follow me, because the LORD has handed over your enemies, the Moabites, to you." So they followed him, captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross over. |
| 29And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all lusty, and all men of valour; and there escaped not a man. | 29At that time they struck down about 10,000 Moabites, all strong and able-bodied men. Not one of them escaped. |
| 30So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years. | 30Moab became subject to Israel that day, and the land was peaceful 80 years. |
| 31And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel. | 31After Ehud, Shamgar son of Anath became judge. He delivered Israel by striking down 600 Philistines with an oxgoad. |
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