12 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight.[u] The Lord gave King Eglon of Moab control over Israel[v] because they had done evil in the Lord’s sight. 13 Eglon formed alliances with[w] the Ammonites and Amalekites. He came and defeated Israel, and they seized the city of date palm trees.[x] 14 The Israelites were subject to[y] King Eglon of Moab for eighteen years.

15 When the Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, he[z] raised up a deliverer for them. His name was Ehud son of Gera the Benjaminite, a left-handed man.[aa] The Israelites sent him to King Eglon of Moab with their tribute payment.[ab] 16 Ehud made himself a sword—it had two edges and was 18 inches long.[ac] He strapped it under his coat on his right thigh. 17 He brought the tribute payment to King Eglon of Moab. (Now Eglon was a very fat man.)

18 After Ehud brought the tribute payment, he dismissed the people who had carried it.[ad] 19 But he went back[ae] once he reached[af] the carved images[ag] at Gilgal. He said to Eglon,[ah] “I have a secret message for you, O king.” Eglon[ai] said, “Be quiet!”[aj] All his attendants left. 20 When Ehud approached him, he was sitting in his well-ventilated[ak] upper room all by himself. Ehud said, “I have a message from God[al] for you.” When Eglon rose up from his seat,[am] 21 Ehud reached with his left hand, pulled the sword from his right thigh, and drove it into Eglon’s[an] belly. 22 The handle went in after the blade, and the fat closed around the blade, for Ehud[ao] did not pull the sword out of his belly.[ap] 23 As Ehud went out into the vestibule,[aq] he closed the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.

24 When Ehud had left, Eglon’s[ar] servants came and saw the locked doors of the upper room. They said, “He must be relieving himself[as] in the well-ventilated inner room.”[at] 25 They waited so long they were embarrassed, but he still did not open the doors of the upper room. Finally they took the key and opened the doors.[au] Right before their eyes was their master, sprawled out dead on the floor![av] 26 Now Ehud had escaped while they were delaying. When he passed the carved images, he escaped to Seirah.

27 When he reached Seirah,[aw] he blew a trumpet[ax] in the Ephraimite hill country. The Israelites went down with him from the hill country, with Ehud in the lead.[ay] 28 He said to them, “Follow me, for the Lord is about to defeat your enemies, the Moabites!”[az] They followed him, captured the fords of the Jordan River[ba] opposite Moab,[bb] and did not let anyone cross. 29 That day they killed about 10,000 Moabites[bc]—all strong, capable warriors; not one escaped. 30 Israel humiliated Moab that day, and the land had rest for eighty years.

31 After Ehud[bd] came[be] Shamgar son of Anath. He killed 600 Philistines with an oxgoad. So he also delivered Israel.