1 And these are the nations that Jehovah left, to prove Israel by them, all that had not known all the wars of Canaan; 2 only that the generations of the children of Israel might know war by learning it, at the least those who before had known nothing thereof: 3 five lord ships of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwell on mount Lebanon; from mount Baal-Hermon unto the entering into Hamath. 4 And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would obey the commandments of Jehovah, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. 5 And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites: Hittites and Amorites and Perizzites and Hivites and Jebusites; 6 and they took their daughters as wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods. 7 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of Jehovah, and forgot Jehovah their God, and served the Baals and the Asherahs. 8 And the anger of Jehovah was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served Chushan-rishathaim eight years. 9 And the children of Israel cried to Jehovah; and Jehovah raised up a saviour to the children of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. 10 And the Spirit of Jehovah was upon him, and he judged Israel; and he went out to war, and Jehovah gave Chushan-rishathaim king of Syria into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushan-rishathaim. 11 And the land had rest forty years; and Othniel the son of Kenaz died. 12 And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of Jehovah; and Jehovah strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they did evil in the sight of Jehovah. 13 And he gathered to him the children of Ammon and Amalek and went and smote Israel, and they took possession of the city of palm-trees. 14 And the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. 15 And the children of Israel cried to Jehovah, and Jehovah raised them up a saviour, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a man left-handed. And by him the children of Israel sent a gift to Eglon king of Moab. 16 And Ehud made him a sword having two edges, it was of a cubit length; and he girded it under his raiment upon his right hip. 17 And he brought the gift to Eglon king of Moab; now Eglon was a very fat man. 18 And it came to pass when he had ended offering the gift, he sent away the people that had borne the gift. 19 But he turned from the graven images that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret word unto thee, O king. And he said, Be silent! And all that stood by him went out from him. 20 And Ehud came to him; now he was sitting in the cool upper-chamber, which was for him alone. And Ehud said, I have a word from God unto thee. And he arose from the seat. 21 Then Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the sword from his right hip, and thrust it into his belly; 22 and the haft also went in after the blade, and the fat closed upon the blade; for he did not draw the sword out of his belly, and it came out between the legs. 23 And Ehud went out into the portico, and shut the doors of the upper-chamber upon him, and bolted them. 24 And when he was gone out, the servants of the [king] came and saw, and behold, the doors of the upper-chamber were bolted. And they said, Surely he is covering his feet in the summer chamber. 25 And they waited till they were ashamed; and behold, he opened not the doors of the upper-chamber, and they took the key, and opened [them], and behold, their lord lay dead on the earth. 26 And Ehud had escaped while they lingered, and passed beyond the graven images, and escaped to Seirah. 27 And it came to pass when he was come, that he blew a trumpet in the hill-country of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the hill-country, and he before them. 28 And he said to them, Follow after me, for Jehovah has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the fords of the Jordan toward Moab, and suffered no one to pass over. 29 And they slew the Moabites at that time, about ten thousand men, all fat, and all men of valour, and not a man escaped. 30 And Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest eighty years. 31 And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath; and he smote the Philistines, six hundred men, with an ox-goad. And he also delivered Israel.
Judges 3 Darby Translation
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Anath
Named only as the father of the judge Shamgar.
Cited in the guide: Judges 3:31; Judges 5:6
Cushan-rishathaim
King of Aram-naharaim into whose hand the LORD sold Israel for eight years until Othniel defeated him.
Cited in the guide: Judges 3:8; Judges 3:10
Eglon
Obese king of Moab who, joined by the Ammonites and Amalekites, defeated Israel, took the City of Palms and ruled Israel eighteen years until Ehud killed him in his upper room.
Cited in the guide: Judges 3:12; Judges 3:14; Judges 3:17
Ehud
Left-handed Benjamite whom the LORD raised up as deliverer, who killed Eglon king of Moab with a double-edged sword and led Israel to subdue Moab, giving the land eighty years of…
Cited in the guide: Judges 3:15; Judges 3:21; Judges 3:26
Gera
Benjamite named as the father of the judge Ehud.
Cited in the guide: Judges 3:15
Kenaz
Brother of Caleb (his younger brother, according to Judges) and father of Othniel, the first judge after Joshua.
Cited in the guide: Joshua 15:17; Judges 1:13; Judges 3:9
Othniel
Son of Caleb's brother Kenaz who captured Kiriath-sepher and so won Caleb's daughter Acsah as his wife, and later, with the Spirit of the LORD upon him, judged Israel and defeated…
Cited in the guide: Joshua 15:17; Judges 1:13; Judges 3:9–11
Shamgar
Son of Anath who saved Israel by striking down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad, and whose days are recalled in Deborah's song.
Cited in the guide: Judges 3:31; Judges 5:6
Cross references (26)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Judges 2:21–22; Proverbs 17:3; Deuteronomy 7:22; 1 Peter 4:12; Deuteronomy 8:16
- 2 2 Timothy 2:3; Genesis 3:5; Genesis 2:17; Genesis 3:7; 2 Chronicles 12:8
- 3 Joshua 13:3; Joshua 13:5; 1 Samuel 6:18; 1 Samuel 13:5; Judges 10:12
- 4 Judges 2:22; Judges 3:1; Exodus 15:25; Deuteronomy 8:2; Deuteronomy 33:8
- 5 Psalm 106:34–38; Exodus 3:8; Genesis 10:15–18; Exodus 3:17; Joshua 9:1
- 6 Exodus 34:16; Deuteronomy 7:3–4; 1 Kings 11:1–5; Ezra 9:11–12; Nehemiah 13:23–27
- 7 Exodus 34:13; Deuteronomy 4:9; 2 Kings 23:6; 1 Kings 18:19; 2 Kings 23:14
- 8 Judges 2:14; Psalm 85:3; Judges 4:9; Habakkuk 3:7; Deuteronomy 29:20
- 9 Judges 3:15; Psalm 22:5; Judges 1:13; Judges 6:7; Judges 10:10
- 10 Judges 14:19; Judges 11:29; Judges 14:6; 1 Samuel 11:6; Judges 13:25
- 11 Judges 5:31; Judges 3:30; Joshua 11:23; Judges 8:28; Esther 9:22
- 12 1 Samuel 12:9; John 19:11; Judges 2:19; Daniel 5:18; 2 Kings 5:1
- 13 Judges 1:16; Deuteronomy 34:3; Judges 5:14; Psalm 83:6–7
- 14 Leviticus 26:23–25; Deuteronomy 28:40; Deuteronomy 28:47–48
- 15 Judges 3:9; Psalm 78:34; Judges 20:16; Isaiah 36:16; Jeremiah 33:3
- 16 Revelation 2:12; Hebrews 4:12; Psalm 45:3; Judges 3:21; Revelation 1:16
- 17 Ezekiel 34:20; Job 15:27; Jeremiah 5:28; Judges 3:29; Psalm 73:19
- 19 Joshua 4:20; Acts 23:18–19; 2 Kings 9:5–6; Judges 3:20; Genesis 45:1
- 20 Jeremiah 10:7; Amos 3:15; Judges 3:19; Micah 6:9; 2 Samuel 24:12
- 21 1 Samuel 15:33; 2 Corinthians 5:16; Zechariah 13:3; Job 20:25; Numbers 25:7–8
- 24 1 Samuel 24:3
- 27 1 Samuel 13:3; Judges 6:34; Judges 17:1; 2 Kings 9:13; Judges 7:24
- 28 Judges 12:5; Judges 7:15; Judges 7:9; Joshua 2:7; 1 Samuel 17:47
- 29 Deuteronomy 32:15; Judges 3:17; Psalm 17:10; Job 15:27
- 30 Judges 3:11; Judges 5:31
- 31 Judges 5:6; 1 Samuel 17:47; 1 Corinthians 1:17; 1 Samuel 17:50; Judges 2:16
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences