Judges 3:10-26

¹⁰The Spirit of the Lord came on him, and he became Israel's judge. He went to war with Cushan-Rishathaim, king of Aram, and the Lord handed the king over to Othniel, who was victorious.

¹¹As a result, the country was a peace for forty years until Othniel, son of Kenaz, died.

¹²But once again the Israelites did what was evil in the Lord's sight, and because they did this the Lord gave power to Eglon, king of Moab, to conquer Israel.

¹³Eglon had the Ammonites and the Amalekite join him, and then attacked and defeated Israel, taking possession of the City of Palms.

¹⁴The Israelites were subject to Eglon, king of Moab, for eighteen years.

¹⁵Again the Israelites cried out to the Lord to help them, and he provided someone to rescue them, Ehud, son of Gera the Benjamite, a left-handed man. The Israelites sent him to pay the tribute to Eglon, king of Moab.

¹⁶Ehud had made for himself a cubit long double-edged sword, and he strapped it to his right thigh under his clothes.

¹⁷He came and presented the tribute to Eglon, king of Moab, who was a very fat man.

¹⁸Then after delivering the tribute he sent home those who had helped carry it.

¹⁹But when he reached the stone idols near Gilgal, he turned back. He went to see Eglon, and told him, “Your Majesty, I have a secret message for you.” The king told his attendants, “Silence!” and they all left.

²⁰Ehud then went over to where Eglon was sitting alone in his cool upstairs room, and told him, “I have a message from God for you.” As the king got up from his seat,

²¹Ehud grabbed his sword with his left hand from his right thigh and drove it into Eglon's belly.

²²The handle went in with the blade and the fat closed over it. So Ehud didn't pull the sword out, and the king defecated.

²³Then Ehud closed and locked the doors, and escaped through the toilet.

²⁴After he had left, the servants came and saw that the doors of the room were locked. “He must be using the toilet,” they concluded.

²⁵So they waited until they couldn't stand it any more, and since he still hadn't opened the doors of the room, they went and found the key and opened the doors. There was their lord, lying dead on the floor.

²⁶While the servants delayed acting, Ehud escaped, passing the stone idols and on to Seirah.