Nations Left to Test Israel

¹These are the nations that the LORD left to test all the Israelites who had not known any of the wars in Canaan,

²if only to teach warfare to the subsequent generations of Israel, especially to those who had not known it formerly:

³the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived in the mountains of Lebanon from Mount Baal-hermon to Lebo-hamath.

⁴These nations were left to test the Israelites, to find out whether they would keep the commandments of the LORD, which He had given their fathers through Moses.

⁵Thus the Israelites continued to live among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

⁶And they took the daughters of these people in marriage, gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.

Othniel

⁷So the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.

⁸Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram-naharaim,and the Israelites served him eight years.

⁹But when the Israelites cried out to the LORD, He raised up Othniel son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz as a deliverer to save them.

¹⁰The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he became Israel’s judge and went out to war. And the LORD delivered Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram into the hand of Othniel, who prevailed against him.

¹¹So the land had rest for forty years, until Othniel son of Kenaz died.

Ehud

¹²Once again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD. So He gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD.

¹³After enlisting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join forces with him, Eglon attacked and defeated Israel, taking possession of the City of Palms.

¹⁴The Israelites served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.

¹⁵And again they cried out to the LORD, and He raised up Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed Benjamite, as their deliverer. So they sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab.

¹⁶Now Ehud had made for himself a double-edged sword a cubit long.He strapped it to his right thigh under his cloak

¹⁷and brought the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was an obese man.

¹⁸After Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he ushered out those who had carried it.

¹⁹But upon reaching the idols near Gilgal, he himself turned back and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.”“Silence,” said the king, and all his attendants left him.

²⁰Then Ehud approached him while he was sitting alone in the coolness of his upper room. “I have a word from God for you,” Ehud said, and the king rose from his seat.

²¹And Ehud reached with his left hand, pulled the sword from his right thigh, and plunged it into Eglon’s belly.

²²Even the handle sank in after the blade, and Eglon’s fat closed in over it, so that Ehud did not withdraw the sword from his belly. And Eglon’s bowels emptied.

²³Then Ehud went out through the porch, closing and locking the doors of the upper room behind him.

²⁴After Ehud was gone, Eglon’s servants came in and found the doors of the upper room locked. “He must be relieving himself in the cool room,” they said.

²⁵So they waited until they became worried and saw that he had still not opened the doors of the upper room. Then they took the key and opened the doors—and there was their lord lying dead on the floor.

²⁶Ehud, however, had escaped while the servants waited. He passed by the idols and escaped to Seirah.

²⁷On arriving in Seirah, he blew the ram’s horn throughout the hill country of Ephraim. The Israelites came down with him from the hills, and he became their leader.

²⁸“Follow me,” he told them, “for the LORD has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand.”So they followed him down and seized the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and they did not allow anyone to cross over.

²⁹At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all robust and valiant men. Not one of them escaped.

³⁰So Moab was subdued under the hand of Israel that day, and the land had rest for eighty years.

Shamgar

³¹After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath. And he too saved Israel, striking down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad.

The Burden against Babylon

¹This is the burden against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz received:

²Raise a banner on a barren hilltop;call aloud to them.Wave your hand,that they may enter the gates of the nobles.

³I have commanded My sanctified ones;I have even summoned My warriorsto execute My wrathand exult in My triumph.

⁴Listen, a tumult on the mountains,like that of a great multitude!Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms,like nations gathered together!The LORD of Hosts is mobilizingan army for war.

⁵They are coming from faraway lands,from the ends of the heavens—the LORD and the weapons of His wrath—to destroy the whole country.

⁶Wail, for the Day of the LORD is near;it will come as destruction from the Almighty.

⁷Therefore all hands will fall limp,and every man’s heart will melt.

⁸Terror, pain, and anguish will seize them;they will writhe like a woman in labor.They will look at one another,their faces flushed with fear.

⁹Behold, the Day of the LORD is coming—cruel, with fury and burning anger—to make the earth a desolationand to destroy the sinners within it.

¹⁰For the stars of heaven and their constellationswill not give their light.The rising sun will be darkened,and the moon will not give its light.

¹¹I will punish the world for its eviland the wicked for their iniquity.I will end the haughtiness of the arrogantand lay low the pride of the ruthless.

¹²I will make man scarcer than pure gold,and mankind rarer than the gold of Ophir.

¹³Therefore I will make the heavens tremble,and the earth will be shaken from its placeat the wrath of the LORD of Hostson the day of His burning anger.

¹⁴Like a hunted gazelle,like a sheep without a shepherd,each will return to his own people,each will flee to his native land.

¹⁵Whoever is caught will be stabbed,and whoever is captured will die by the sword.

¹⁶Their infants will be dashed to piecesbefore their eyes,their houses will be looted,and their wives will be ravished.

¹⁷Behold, I will stir up against them the Medes,who have no regard for silverand no desire for gold.

¹⁸Their bows will dash young men to pieces;they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb;they will not look with pity on the children.

¹⁹And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms,the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans,will be overthrown by Godlike Sodom and Gomorrah.

²⁰She will never be inhabitedor settled from generation to generation;no nomad will pitch his tent there,no shepherd will rest his flock there.

²¹But desert creatures will lie down there,and howling creatures will fill her houses.Ostricheswill dwell there,and wild goats will leap about.

²²Hyenas will howl in her fortressesand jackalsin her luxurious palaces.Babylon’s time is at hand,and her days will not be prolonged.

Judgment on the Nations

¹Come near, O nations, to listen;pay attention, O peoples.Let the earth hear, and all that fills it,the world and all that springs from it.

²The LORD is angry with all the nationsand furious with all their armies.He will devote them to destruction;He will give them over to slaughter.

³Their slain will be left unburied,and the stench of their corpses will rise;the mountains will flow with their blood.

⁴All the stars of heaven will be dissolved.The skies will be rolled up like a scroll,and all their stars will falllike withered leaves from the vine,like foliage from the fig tree.

Judgment on Edom

⁵When My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens,then it will come down upon Edom,upon the people I have devoted to destruction.

⁶The sword of the LORD is bathed in blood.It drips with fat—with the blood of lambs and goats,with the fat of the kidneys of rams.For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah,a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

⁷And the wild oxen will fall with them,the young bulls with the strong ones.Their land will be drenched with blood,and their soil will be soaked with fat.

⁸For the LORD has a day of vengeance,a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.

⁹Edom’s streams will be turned to tar,and her soil to sulfur;her land will become a blazing pitch.

¹⁰It will not be quenched—day or night.Its smoke will ascend forever.From generation to generation it will lie desolate;no one will ever again pass through it.

¹¹The desert owl and screech owl will possess it,and the great owl and raven will dwell in it.The LORD will stretch out over Edoma measuring line of chaosand a plumb line of destruction.

¹²No nobles will be left to proclaim a king,and all her princes will come to nothing.

¹³Her towers will be overgrown with thorns,her fortresses with thistles and briers.She will become a haunt for jackals,an abode for ostriches.

¹⁴The desert creatures will meet with hyenas,and one wild goat will call to another.There the night creaturewill settleand find her place of repose.

¹⁵There the owl will make her nest;she will lay and hatch her eggsand gather her brood under her shadow.Even there the birds of prey will gather,each with its mate.

¹⁶Search and read the scroll of the LORD:Not one of these will go missing,not one will lack her mate,because He has ordered it by His mouth,and He will gather them by His Spirit.

¹⁷He has allotted their portion;His hand has distributed it by measure.They will possess it forever;they will dwell in it from generation to generation.

His Loving Devotion Endures Forever

¹Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good.His loving devotion endures forever.

²Give thanks to the God of gods.His loving devotion endures forever.

³Give thanks to the Lord of lords.His loving devotion endures forever.

⁴He alone does great wonders.His loving devotion endures forever.

⁵By His insight He made the heavens.His loving devotion endures forever.

⁶He spread out the earth upon the waters.His loving devotion endures forever.

⁷He made the great lights—His loving devotion endures forever.

⁸the sun to rule the day,His loving devotion endures forever.

⁹the moon and stars to govern the night.His loving devotion endures forever.

¹⁰He struck down the firstborn of EgyptHis loving devotion endures forever.

¹¹and brought Israel out from among themHis loving devotion endures forever.

¹²with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.His loving devotion endures forever.

¹³He divided the Red Seain twoHis loving devotion endures forever.

¹⁴and led Israel through the midst,His loving devotion endures forever.

¹⁵but sweptPharaoh and his army into the Red Sea.His loving devotion endures forever.

¹⁶He led His people through the wilderness.His loving devotion endures forever.

¹⁷He struck down great kingsHis loving devotion endures forever.

¹⁸and slaughtered mighty kings—His loving devotion endures forever.

¹⁹Sihon king of the AmoritesHis loving devotion endures forever.

²⁰and Og king of Bashan—His loving devotion endures forever.

²¹and He gave their land as an inheritance,His loving devotion endures forever.

²²a heritage to His servant Israel.His loving devotion endures forever.

²³He remembered us in our low estateHis loving devotion endures forever.

²⁴and freed us from our enemies.His loving devotion endures forever.

²⁵He gives food to every creature.His loving devotion endures forever.

²⁶Give thanks to the God of heaven!His loving devotion endures forever.