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the LORD raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel...

1 And these are the nations which the LORD left, to prove Israel by them, as many as had not known all the wars of Canaan, 2 Only so that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least those who before knew nothing of it: 3 Five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that lived in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to the border of Hamath. 4 And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would obey the commands of the LORD, which He commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. 5 And the children of Israel lived among the Canaanites, and Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites. 6 And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods.

7 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD and forgot the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the Asherim. 8 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Chushan-Rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia. And the children of Israel served Chushan-Rishathaim eight years.

9 And when the children of Israel cried to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, Othniel, the son of Caleb's younger brother Kenaz. 10 And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel and went out to war. And the LORD delivered Chushan-Rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, into his hand. And his hand prevailed against Chushan-Rishathaim. 11 And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

12 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD. And the LORD made Eglon the king of Moab strong against Israel because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD. 13 And he gathered to him the children of Ammon and Amalek. And he went forth and struck Israel, and took the city of palm trees. 14 So the children of Israel served Eglon, the king of Moab, eighteen years.

15 But when the children of Israel cried to the LORD, the LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a left-handed man. And the children of Israel sent a present to Eglon the king of Moab by him, 16 So Ehud made himself a dagger which had two edges, a cubit long. And he tied it under his clothing upon his right thigh. 17 And he brought the present to Eglon, king of Moab. And Eglon was a very fat man. 18 And when he had finished offering the present to the king, he sent away the people who carried the present. 19 But he himself turned back at the graven images near Gilgal, and said, "I have a secret message for you, O king." And he said, "Keep silence." And all that stood by him went out from him. 20 And Ehud came to him. And he was sitting in the cool roof room which he had for himself alone. And Ehud said, "I have a message from God for you." And he rose out of his seat. 21 And Ehud put forth his left hand and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. 22 And the hilt also went in after the blade. And the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly. And the dung came out. 23 Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the room upon him, and locked them.

24 And when he had gone out, his servants came. And they looked, and, behold, the doors of the roof room were locked, they said, "Surely he is covering his feet in his cool roof room." 25 And they waited until they were ashamed. And, behold, he did not open the doors of the room. And they took a key and opened them. And behold, their lord had fallen down dead on the floor.

26 And Ehud escaped while they waited, and passed beyond the graven images, and escaped to Seirath. 27 And it came to pass when he arrived, he blew a ram's horn on the mountain of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mountain, and he went in front of them. 28 And he said to them, "Follow after me, for the LORD has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand." And they went down after him and took the fords of Jordan toward Moab, and did not allow a man to pass over. 29 And they killed about ten thousand of the men of Moab at that time, all strong, and all men of might. And there did not escape a man. 30 So Moab was subdued under the hand of Israel that day. And the land had rest eighty years.

31 And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed six hundred men of the Philistines with an ox goad. And he also delivered Israel. — Judges 3 | A Faithful Version (AFV) Holy Bible, A Faithful Version © 2020 A Faithful Version. All Rights Reserved. Cross References: Genesis 10:17; Exodus 15:25; Exodus 34:15; Numbers 24:2; Deuteronomy 3:18; Deuteronomy 8:2; Joshua 9:7; Joshua 15:17; Judges 1:16; Judges 2:11; Judges 2:14; Judges 5:6; Judges 6:34; Judges 7:24; Judges 20:16; Ruth 1:2; 1 Samuel 24:3; 2 Samuel 13:18; 2 Samuel 20:8; Nehemiah 9:28; Psalm 44:12; Jeremiah 36:22

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Othniel, the First Judge

7 The people of Israel did what the Lord said was wrong. They forgot about the Lord their God. Instead, they served the idols of Baal and Asherah. 8 The Lord was angry with Israel. He allowed Cushan-Rishathaim king of Northwest Mesopotamia to rule over the Israelites. They were under that king’s rule for eight years. 9 Then Israel cried to the Lord. So the Lord sent a man to save them. He was Othniel son of Kenaz. (Kenaz was Caleb’s younger brother.) Othniel saved the Israelites. 10 The Spirit of the Lord entered Othniel. And he became Israel’s judge and went to war. The Lord helped him to defeat Cushan-Rishathaim king of Northwest Mesopotamia. 11 So the land was at peace for 40 years. Then Othniel son of Kenaz died.

Ehud, the Judge

12 Again the people of Israel did what the Lord said was wrong. So the Lord gave Eglon king of Moab power to defeat Israel. This was because of the evil Israel did. 13 Eglon got the Ammonite people and the Amalekite people to join him. Then he attacked Israel and took Jericho, the city of palm trees. 14 The people of Israel were under the rule of Eglon king of Moab for 18 years.

15 So the people cried to the Lord. And he sent a man to save them. That man was Ehud, who was left-handed. Ehud was the son of Gera from the people of Benjamin. Israel sent Ehud to give Eglon king of Moab the payment he demanded. 16 Ehud made a sword for himself. The sword had two edges and was about 18 inches long. He tied the sword to his right upper leg under his clothes. 17 So Ehud came to Eglon king of Moab and gave him the payment he demanded. Eglon was a very fat man. 18 After he had given Eglon the payment, Ehud sent home the men who had carried it. 19 When he passed the statues near the city Gilgal, he turned around. Ehud said to Eglon, “I have a secret message for you, King Eglon.”

The king said, “Be quiet!” Then he sent all of his servants out of the room. 20 Ehud went to King Eglon. Eglon was now sitting alone in the room on top of his summer palace.

Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” As the king stood up from his chair, 21 Ehud reached with his left hand. He took out the sword that was tied to his right upper leg. Then he stabbed the sword deep into the king’s belly! 22 The sword went into Eglon’s belly so far that even the handle sank in. And the blade came out his back. The king’s fat covered the whole sword. So Ehud left the sword in Eglon. 23 He went out of the room and closed and locked the doors behind him.

24 The servants returned just after Ehud left. They found the doors to the room locked. So they thought the king was relieving himself. 25 They waited for a long time. Finally they became worried because he still had not opened the doors. So they got the key and unlocked them. When they entered, they saw their king lying dead on the floor!

26 While the servants were waiting, Ehud had escaped. He passed by the statues and went to Seirah. 27 When he arrived there, he blew a trumpet in the mountains of Ephraim. The people of Israel heard it and went down from the hills with Ehud leading them.

28 He said to them, “Follow me! The Lord has helped us to defeat our enemies, the people of Moab.” So Israel followed Ehud. They took control of the places where the Jordan River could easily be crossed. Israel did not allow the Moabites to come across the Jordan River. 29 Israel killed about 10,000 strong and able men from Moab. Not one Moabite man escaped. 30 So that day Moab was forced to be under the rule of Israel. And there was peace in the land for 80 years.

Shamgar, the Judge

31 After Ehud, another man saved Israel. His name was Shamgar son of Anath. Shamgar killed 600 Philistines with a sharp stick used to guide oxen. — Judges 3:7-31 | International Children’s Bible (ICB) The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a division of Thomas Nelson. Cross References: Deuteronomy 3:18; Deuteronomy 4:9; Deuteronomy 34:3; Numbers 11:25; Judges 2:11; Judges 5:6; Judges 7:24; Judges 12:5; Judges 15:17; Judges 20:16; Psalm 44:12; 1 Samuel 12:9; 1 Samuel 13:3; 1 Samuel 24:3; 2 Samuel 13:18; 2 Samuel 20:8; Nehemiah 8:5; Nehemiah 9:28; Ruth 1:2; Jeremiah 36:22; Amos 3:15; 1 Chronicles 12:2

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Forgotten Bible Heroes - Shamgar

(Pencil and digital original work)

No one knows who he was; no one knows his real name. All that is known is his one heroic feat: killing 600 Philistine warriors with an oxgoad. What tragedy had driven him from his home? Did he die in this effort? Did he meet the God of Israel? Will we ever know?

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Shamgar, An Unsung Hero

Shamgar, An Unsung Hero

My sporting achievements are few and far between. One of the few was when I was at primary school. Every lunchtime and after school, I went to football training. However, for not hard to surmise reasons, I was never selected for the school team until one fateful day. It was my final year at the school before moving on to secondary school and the last match of the season was approaching hence my…

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நிகரில்லா கிருபை அப்பா -Nigarilla Kirubai Appa

நிகரில்லா கிருபை அப்பா -Nigarilla Kirubai Appa

நிகரில்லா கிருபை அப்பா, உங்க அன்புக்கு நிகர் இல்லையே – 2மலைகள் விலகி போனாலும், உங்க கிருபை மட்டும் விட்டு விலகளையேமலைகள் விலகி போனாலும், உங்க கிருபை என்னை விட்டு விலகளையேகிருபை என்னை விட்டு விலகளையே, கிருபை மட்டும் விட்டு விலகளையே – நிகரில்லா உம்மையே நான் மறந்தாலும், நீர் என்னை தேடி அன்பு வைத்தீர் – 2நீர் என்னை தேடி அன்பு வைத்தீர் – 2 – – நிகரில்லா உலகம் என்னை வெறுத்தாலும், நீர் மட்டும் என் மேல்…