Judges 3

Matthew^{(i) 1} These are the nacyons whiche the Lord left to tempt Israel: euen as many of Israel as had not knowen al the warres of Canaan: ² Onelye for the learnyng of the generacyon of the children of Israel: which before knewe nothyng of warre, ³ he lefte the fyue Lordes of the Philistines, & all the Cananites, the Sidonites, the Heuites that dwelt in mount Lybanon: euen from mount Baal Hermon and Hemath. ⁴ Those remayned to proue Israel by, to wete whether they wolde herken vnto the commaundementes of the Lorde, whiche he commaunded theyr fathers by the hand of Moses. ⁵ And as the chyldren of Israel dwelt among the Cananites hethytes, Amorites, Pheresites, Heuytes, and Iebusytes, ⁶ they toke the doughters of them to be theyr wyues, & gaue theyr owne doughters to theyr sonnes, & serued theyr Goddes. ⁷ And so the chyldren of Israell dyd wyckedlye in the syght of the Lord and forgate the Lorde theyr God and serued Baalim & Aseroth. ⁸ Therfore the Lorde was angrye wyth Israel, and deliuered them into the handes of Chusan Rasathaim Kynge of Mesopotamia. So that the chyldren of Israel serued Chusan Rasathaim .viij. yeares. ⁹ And then the chyldren of Israel cryed vnto the Lorde. And the Lord stered them vp a sauer, and saued them: one Othonyel the sonne of Kenes, Calebs younger brother. ¹⁰ And the spryte of the Lorde came vpon hym. And he iudged Israell, and wente oute to warre. And the Lorde solde Chusan Rasathaim Kyng of Mesopotamia in hys hande. So that his hand was myghtye ouer Chusan Rasathaim. ¹¹ And the lande had rest fourtye yeares. And Othonyel the sonne of Kenes dyed. ¹² And then the children of Israel went to agayne, & commytted wyckednesse in the syght of the Lorde. And then the Lord hardened Eglon the Kyng of the Moabytes, agaynst the chyldren of Israel, because they had committed wyckednesse before the Lorde. ¹³ And this Eglon gathered vnto him the chyldren of Ammon, and the Amalekites & went & smote the chyldren of Israel, & conquered the cytye of paulme trees. ¹⁴ And the chyldren of Israell serued Eglon the king of the Moabytes .xviij. yeares. ¹⁵ And then they cryed vnto the Lorde. And the Lord stered them vp a sauer, Ahud the sonne of Gera the sonne of Iemini, a man that could do nothyng handsomly with his ryght hande. By whome the chyldren of Israell sente a present vnto Eglon the kyng of the Moabites ¹⁶ which Ahud made hym a dagger wyth two edges, of a cubyte lengthe, & he dyd gyrde it vnder hys cote vpon hys ryght thigh ¹⁷ and caried the present vnto Eglon the Kynge of the Moabytes, whych Eglon was a very fatte man. ¹⁸ And when he had presented the present, he sent the people that bare it awaye, ¹⁹ but he hym selfe turned agayne from the Idolles by Galgal, and sayde. I haue a secret vnto the O Kynge: and the kynge commaunded hym to holde his peace vntyl all that stode aboute hym, were gone out from hym. ²⁰ And Ahud came in vnto hym into a somer parler, whyche he had seueral vnto hym selfe alone, and sayde: I haue a message vnto the from God. And he arose out of hys seate. ²¹ And Ahud put forth hys lefte hande and toke the dagger from hys ryght thyghe and thrust it into hys belye; ²² so that the hafte went in after the blade. And the hafte stopped in the fatte, for he drue not the dagger out of hys belye. And the dyrt came out. ²³ But Ahud gat hym oute at a posterne dore, and shutte the dores of the parler vpon hym and locked them. ²⁴ When he was gone out, hys seruauntes came and loked. And beholde, the dores of the parler were locked. And they sayde. A, he is a doiynge of hys easement in hys somer chomber. ²⁵ And when they had taried tyl they were a shamed, for noman dyd the dores of the parler open: then they toke a keye and opened them. And beholde theyr Lorde was fallen doune dead, vnto the earth. ²⁶ But Ahud eskaped whyle they taryed & was gone beyonde the Idolles and eskaped into Seirath. ²⁷ And when he was come he blew a trompette in mount Ephraim. And the chyldren of Israell went doune wyth him of the hille and he before them. ²⁸ And he sayd vnto them, folowe me, for the lord hath delyuered your enemies, the Moabytes into your handes. And they descended after hym and toke the passages of Iordan from the Moabites, & suffered not a man to passe ouer. ²⁹ And they slew of the Moabites the same tyme vpon a ten thousande men, all fatte, & men of might: that there skaped not a man ³⁰ and so the Moabytes were subdued that daie vnder the handes of Israell, and the land had rest .lxxx. yeares. ³¹ And after hym came Samgar the sonne of Anath, whiche slewe of the Phylistines syxe hundred men wyth an oxe gode, and delyuered Israel also.