the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34
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Green's Literal Translation
Judges 3
1 And these are the nations which Jehovah left in order to test Israel by them, all who did not know all the wars of Canaan;
2 only that the generations of the sons of Israel might know, to teach them war, only those who did not before know them:
3 five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that lived in Mount Lebanon from Mount Baal-hermon to the entering of Hamath.
4 And they existed to test Israel by them, to know whether they would listen to the commands of Jehovah, which He had commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.
5 And the sons of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
6 And they took their daughters to themselves for wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and they served their gods.
7 And the sons of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and forgot Jehovah their God, and served the Baals and the Asherahs.
8 And the anger of Jehovah glowed against Israel. And He gave them over into the hand of Chushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia. And the sons of Israel served Chushan-rishathaim eight years.
9 And when the sons of Israel cried to Jehovah, Jehovah raised up a deliverer to the sons of Israel, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, who saved them.
10 And the Spirit of Jehovah was put on him, and he judged Israel. And he went out to war, and Jehovah gave Chushan-rishathaim the king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand had power over Chushan-rishathaim.
11 And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.
12 And the sons of Israel did evil again in the sight of Jehovah. And Jehovah made Eglon the king of Moab strong against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of Jehovah.
13 And he gathered to him the sons of Ammon and Amalek, and went and struck Israel. And they possessed the city of palm trees.
14 And the sons of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.
15 And the sons of Israel cried to Jehovah, even Jehovah raised up a deliverer to them, Ehud the son of Gera, a son of the Benjamite, a man with his right hand impeded. And the sons of Israel sent a present by his hand to Eglon the king of Moab.
16 And Ehud made a sword for himself, and it had two edges, a cubit in length. And he girded it under his long robe, on his right thigh.
17 And he brought the present to Eglon the king of Moab; and Eglon was a very fat man.
18 And it happened, when he had finished offering the present, he sent away the people, the bearers of the present.
19 And he himself turned back from the carved images at Gilgal, and said, I have a secret word for you, O king. And he said, Be silent! And all those standing beside him went out from him.
20 And Ehud came to him. And he was sitting by himself in the cool roof room which was his. And Ehud said, I have a word from God to you. And he rose out of his seat.
21 And Ehud put out his left hand and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into Eglon's belly.
22 And the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed on the blade; for he did not draw the sword out of his belly. And it came out behind.
23 Then Ehud went out to the porch, and shut the doors of the roof room on him, and locked them.
24 And when he had gone out, his servants came. And they looked, and, behold, the doors of the roof room were locked. And they said, Surely he is covering his feet in the cool roof room.
25 And they waited until they were ashamed. And, behold! He did not open the doors of the room. So they took the key and opened them. And, behold, their master had fallen down to the earth dead.
26 And Ehud escaped while they waited. And he had passed by the images, and had slipped away to Seirath.
27 And it happened, when he had come, he blew a horn in the hills of Ephraim. And the sons of Israel came down with him from the hills, and he before them.
28 And he said to them, Follow 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 against the Moabites. And they did not allow a man to pass over.
29 And they struck about ten thousand men of Moab at that time, every lusty man, all mighty men. And not a man escaped.
30 So 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, who struck six hundred men of the Philistines with an ox goad. And he also delivered Israel.
Green's Literal Translation
Copyright © 1976-2000 by Jay P. Green, Sr. Used by permission of the copyright holder.