Skip to content
Judges / Ehud's Assassination and Israel's Deliverance
Navigation
A A

Ehud's Assassination and Israel's Deliverance

Judges 3:12-30

3
Chapter 3
12 And the sons of Israel added to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD strengthened Eglon king of Moab over Israel, because they had done evil in the eyes of the LORD. 13 And he gathered to him the sons of Ammon and Amalek, and he went and struck Israel, and they possessed the City of Palms. 14 The sons of Israel served Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years. 15 The Israelites cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised up a deliverer for them, Ehud son of Gera, son of a right-handed man, a man restricted in his right hand; and the Israelites sent by his hand an offering to Eglon king of Moab. 16 Ehud made a sword two cubits long for him, and he girded it under his garments on his right thigh. 17 And he approached the offering to Eglon king of Moab, and Eglon was a very fat man. 18 When he finished offering the offering, he sent away the people, the bearers of the offering. 19 He returned from the idols that were at Gilgal and said, "I have a secret word for you, O king." And he said, "Hush!" And all the men standing by him went out from him. 20 Ehud came to him, and he was sitting in the upper room of the summons that was for him alone. Ehud said, "A word of God for me to you." And he arose from his throne. 21 Ehud thrust out his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. 22 The handle 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 handle came out. 23 Ehud went out onto the porch, closed the doors of the upper room behind him, and locked them. 24 And when he went out, his servants came and saw, and behold, the doors of the upper room were locked. And they said, "Surely he is covering his feet in the inner chamber." 25 They waited until he was ashamed, and behold, he did not open the doors of the upper room. They took the key and opened them, and behold, their lord had fallen to the ground dead. 26 Ehud escaped while they delayed, crossed over the images, and escaped to the hill country. 27 When he arrived, he blew a ram's horn in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down with him from the hill country, with him before them. 28 He said to them, "Pursue after me, for the LORD has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand." And they went down after him and captured the fords of the Jordan to Moab, and they did not give a man to cross. 29 And they struck down Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all fat and all men of might, and no man escaped. 30 Moab was subdued that day under Israel's hand, and the land had peace for eighty years.