12 Men Israels barn gjorde atter det som var ondt i Herrens øine; og Herren gav Eglon, kongen i Moab, makt over Israel, fordi de gjorde det som var ondt i Herrens øine.

13 Han fikk med sig Ammons barn og Amalek og drog ut og slo Israel, og de inntok Palmestaden.

14 Og Israels barn tjente Eglon, kongen i Moab, i atten år.

15 Da ropte Israels barn til Herren, og Herren opreiste dem en frelser, benjaminitten Ehud, Geras sønn, en kjevhendt mann. Israels barn sendte ham engang med en gave til Eglon, kongen i Moab;

16 da gjorde Ehud sig et tveegget, alenlangt sverd og bandt det om sig under sine klær ved sin høire hofte.

17 Så førte han gaven frem til Eglon, kongen i Moab; men Eglon var en meget fet mann.

18 Og da han hadde gitt gaven fra sig, lot han folkene som hadde båret gaven, dra hjem.

19 Men selv vendte han tilbake fra stenbruddene ved Gilgal og lot si: Jeg har et hemmelig ord til dig, konge! Da sa kongen: Hysj! Så gikk de ut alle de som stod om ham.

20 Og Ehud kom inn til ham, mens han satt alene i sin kjølige sal, og Ehud sa: Jeg har et ord fra Gud til dig. Da reiste han sig op fra sin stol.

21 Men Ehud rakte ut sin venstre hånd og tok sverdet fra sin høire hofte og støtte det i hans buk;

22 og heftet gikk inn efter bladet, og fettet lukket til om bladet, for han drog ikke sverdet ut av hans buk; det gikk ut baktil.

23 Og Ehud gikk ut i buegangen, og han lukket døren til salen hvor han var, og låste den.

24 Og da han var gått ut, kom tjenerne inn, og da de så at døren til salen var låst, sa de: Han har visst et ærend i svalkammeret.

25 Og de ventet meget lenge, men han lukket ikke op døren til salen; da tok de nøklen og lukket op, og se, deres herre lå død på gulvet.

26 Mens de gav sig tid, slapp Ehud bort; han var allerede kommet forbi stenbruddene og kom frem til Se'ira.

27 Da han kom dit, støtte han i basunen på Efra'im-fjellet; og Israels barn drog ned med ham fra fjellene, og han foran dem.

28 Og han sa til dem: Skynd eder efter mig! For Herren har gitt eders fiender, moabittene, i eders hånd. Så drog de ned efter ham, og de satte folk ved vadestedene over Jordan til Moab og lot ingen komme over.

29 Dengang slo de omkring ti tusen mann av Moab, som alle var sterke og djerve menn; ikke én slapp bort.

30 Så blev da Moab på den dag ydmyket under Israels hånd, og landet hadde ro i åtti år.

12 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 And Eglon got together the people of Ammon and Amalek, and they went and overcame Israel and took the town of palm-trees.

14 And the children of Israel were servants to Eglon, king of Moab, for eighteen years.

15 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 So Ehud made himself a two-edged sword, a cubit long, which he put on at his right side under his robe.

17 And he took the offering to Eglon, king of Moab, who was a very fat man.

18 And after giving the offering, he sent away the people who had come with the offering.

19 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 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 And Ehud put out his left hand, and took the sword from his right side, and sent it into his stomach;

22 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 covered way, shutting the doors of the summer-house on him and locking them.

24 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 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 But Ehud had got away while they were waiting and had gone past the stone images and got away to Seirah.

27 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 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 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 broken that day under the hand of Israel. And for eighty years the land had peace.