1 ^pNow these are the nations that the Lord left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. 2 It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. 3 These are the nations: ^qthe 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 ^rthe testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. 5 So the people of Israel lived ^samong the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6 ^tAnd their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods.

Othniel

7 ^uAnd the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and ^vthe Asheroth. 8 Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, ^wand he sold them into the hand of ^xCushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. 9 But when the people of Israel ^ycried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a ^zdeliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, ^aOthniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. 10 ^bThe Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. 11 ^cSo the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

Ehud

12 ^dAnd the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord strengthened Eglon ^ethe king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord. 13 He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the ^fAmalekites, and went and defeated Israel. And they took possession of ^gthe city of palms. 14 And the people of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.

15 Then the people of Israel ^hcried out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up for them ^ha deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, ⁱa left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. 16 And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit¹ in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes. 17 And he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. 18 And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute. 19 But he himself turned back ^jat the idols near Gilgal and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And he commanded, “Silence.” And all his attendants went out from his presence. 20 And Ehud came to him as he was sitting alone in his ^kcool roof chamber. ^lAnd Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he arose from his seat. 21 And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. 22 And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and the dung came out. 23 Then Ehud went out into the porch² and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him ^mand locked them.

24 When he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, ⁿ“Surely he is relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber.” 25 And they waited till they were embarrassed. But when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their lord dead on the floor.

26 Ehud escaped while they delayed, and he passed beyond ^othe idols and escaped to Seirah. 27 When he arrived, ^phe sounded the trumpet in ^qthe hill country of Ephraim. Then the people of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was their leader. 28 And he said to them, “Follow after me, ^rfor the Lord has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him and seized ^sthe fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and did not allow anyone to pass over. 29 And they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped. 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. ^tAnd the land had rest for eighty years.

Shamgar

31 After him was ^uShamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines ^vwith an oxgoad, and he also ^wsaved Israel.

Samson Defeats the Philistines

1 After some days, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife with ^ka young goat. And he said, “I will go in to my wife in the chamber.” But her father would not allow him to go in. 2 And her father said, “I really thought that you utterly hated her, ^lso I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her instead.” 3 And Samson said to them, “This time I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines, when I do them harm.” 4 So Samson went and caught 300 foxes and took torches. And he turned them tail to tail and put a torch between each pair of tails. 5 And when he had set fire to the torches, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines and set fire to the stacked grain and the standing grain, as well as the olive orchards. 6 Then the Philistines said, “Who has done this?” And they said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife ^mand given her to his companion.” And the Philistines came up and ⁿburned her and her father with fire. 7 And Samson said to them, “If this is what you do, I swear I will be avenged on you, and after that I will quit.” 8 And he struck them hip and thigh with a great blow, and he went down and stayed in the ^ocleft of the rock of Etam.

9 Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah and ^pmade a raid on ^qLehi. 10 And the men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” They said, “We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he did to us.” 11 Then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, “Do you not know that ^rthe Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” And he said to them, “As they did to me, so have I done to them.” 12 And they said to him, “We have come down to bind you, that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves.” 13 They said to him, “No; we will only bind you and give you into their hands. We will surely not kill you.” So they bound him with two ^snew ropes and brought him up from the rock.

14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. ^tThen the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands. 15 And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, ^uand with it he struck 1,000 men. 16 And Samson said,

17 As soon as he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand. And that place ^vwas called Ramath-lehi.¹

18 And he was very thirsty, and he called upon the Lord and said, ^w“You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and shall I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” 19 And God split open the hollow place that is ^vat Lehi, and water came out from it. And when he drank, ^xhis spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore the name of it was called En-hakkore;² it is at Lehi to this day. 20 And he judged Israel ^yin the days of the Philistines twenty years.