New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Now these are the nations that the Lord left to test all those in Israel who had no experience of any war in Canaan
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Now these are the nations which the Lord kept in the land for the purpose of testing Israel by them, all those who had had no experience of all the wars of Canaan;
2 (it was only that successive generations of Israelites might know war, to teach those who had no experience of it before):
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Only because of the generations of the children of Israel, for the purpose of teaching them war--only those who up till then had no experience of it;
3 the 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.
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The five chiefs of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites and the Zidonians and the Hivites living in Mount Lebanon, from the mountain Baal-hermon as far as Hamath:
4 They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded their ancestors by Moses.
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For the purpose of testing Israel by them, to see if they would give ear to the orders of the Lord, which he had given to their fathers by the hand of Moses.
5 So the Israelites lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites;
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Now the children of Israel were living among the Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites:
6 and they took their daughters as wives for themselves, and their own daughters they gave to their sons; and they worshiped their gods.
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And they took as wives the daughters of these nations and gave their daughters to their sons, and became servants to their gods.
7 The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, forgetting the Lord their God, and worshiping the Baals and the Asherahs.
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And the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and put out of their minds the Lord their God, and became servants to the Baals and the Astartes.
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.
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So the wrath of the Lord was burning against Israel, and he gave them up into the hands of Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel were his servants for eight years.
9 But 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.
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And when the children of Israel made prayer to the Lord, he gave them a saviour, Othniel, the 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.
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And the spirit of the Lord came on him and he became judge of Israel, and went out to war, and the Lord gave up Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, into his hands and he overcame him.
11 So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel son of Kenaz died.
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Then for forty years the land had peace, till the death of Othniel, the son of Kenaz.
12 The 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.
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Then the children of Israel again did evil in the eyes of the Lord; and the Lord made Eglon, king of Moab, strong against Israel, because they had done evil in the Lord's eyes.
13 In alliance with the Ammonites and the Amalekites, he went and defeated Israel; and they took possession of the city of palms.
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And Eglon got together the people of Ammon and Amalek, and they went and overcame Israel and took the town of palm-trees.
14 So the Israelites served King Eglon of Moab eighteen years.
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And the children of Israel were servants to Eglon, king of Moab, for eighteen years.
15 But when the Israelites cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The Israelites sent tribute by him to King Eglon of Moab.
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Then when the children of Israel made prayer to the Lord, he gave them a saviour, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man; and the children of Israel sent an offering by him to Eglon, king 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.
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So Ehud made himself a two-edged sword, a cubit long, which he put on at his right side under his robe.
17 Then he presented the tribute to King Eglon of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man.
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And he took the offering to Eglon, king of Moab, who was a very fat man.
18 When Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent the people who carried the tribute on their way.
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And after giving the offering, he sent away the people who had come with the offering.
19 But 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, "Silence!" and all his attendants went out from his presence.
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But he himself, turning back from the stone images at Gilgal, said, I have something to say to you in secret, O king. And he said, Let there be quiet. Then all those who were waiting before him went out.
20 Ehud 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.
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Then Ehud came in to him while he was seated by himself in his summer-house. And Ehud said, I have a word from God for you. And he got up from his seat.
21 Then Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into Eglon's belly;
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And Ehud put out his left hand, and took the sword from his right side, and sent it into his stomach;
22 the 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 came out.
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And the hand-part went in after the blade, and the fat was joined up over the blade; for he did not take the sword out of his stomach. And he went out into the ...
23 Then Ehud went out into the vestibule, and closed the doors of the roof chamber on him, and locked them.
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Then Ehud went out into the covered way, shutting the doors of the summer-house on him and locking them.
24 After 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 in the cool chamber."
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Now when he had gone, the king's servants came, and saw that the doors of the summer-house were locked; and they said, It may be that he is in his summer-house for a private purpose.
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.
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And they went on waiting till they were shamed, but the doors were still shut; so they took the key, and, opening them, saw their lord stretched out dead on the floor.
26 Ehud escaped while they delayed, and passed beyond the sculptured stones, and escaped to Seirah.
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But Ehud had got away while they were waiting and had gone past the stone images and got away to Seirah.
27 When 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.
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And when he came there, he had a horn sounded in the hill-country of Ephraim, and all the children of Israel went down with him from the hill-country, and he at their head.
28 He 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.
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And he said to them, Come after me; for the Lord has given the Moabites, your haters, into your hands. So they went down after him and took the crossing-places of Jordan against Moab, and let no one go across.
29 At that time they killed about ten thousand of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; no one escaped.
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At that time they put about ten thousand men of Moab to the sword, every strong man and every man of war; not a man got away.
30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest eighty years.
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So Moab was broken that day under the hand of Israel. And for eighty years the land had peace.
31 After him came Shamgar son of Anath, who killed six hundred of the Philistines with an oxgoad. He too delivered Israel.
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And after him came Shamgar, the son of Anath, who put to death six hundred Philistines with an ox-stick; and he was another saviour of Israel.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.