Judges 10

After Abimelech died, Tola, the son of Puah and grandson of Dodo became a leader. He rescued the Israelites from their enemies. He belonged to the tribe of Issachar. However, he lived in the town of Shamir in the hilly area where the descendants of Ephraim live.

Tola was the leader of the Israelites for 23 years. When he died, his family buried him in Shamir. \*

After Tola died, Jair from the region of Gilead became a leader. He was the leader of the Israelites for 22 years.

He had 30 sons, and he gave each of them his own donkey to ride on. They lived in 30 cities in the region of Gilead. People still call those cities Havvoth Jair.

When Jair died, his family buried him in the town of Kamon. \*

Once again the Israelites did things that God said were very wicked. They worshiped various idols that represented gods such as Baal. They also worshiped female fertility goddesses such as Ashtoreth. They also worshiped the gods that people worshiped in the countries of Aram and Moab and in the city of Sidon. And they worshiped the gods that the Ammonites and Philistines worshiped. But they did not worship God at all anymore.

So God became very angry with the Israelites, and he allowed the Philistines and Ammonites to conquer them. \*

For 18 years, the Amorites had already been oppressing all the people of Israel who lived in the area east of the Jordan River. That land formerly belonged to the Amorites. (People also call it Gilead.) But now they began to oppress all of the Israelites severely.

The Ammonites crossed over the Jordan River and also fought against the people of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. They made the Israelites suffer terribly. \*

So the Israelites prayed desperately to God. They said, “We have sinned against you. We have stopped worshiping you, and instead we have been worshiping idols representing false gods such as Baal.”

God answered them, saying, “{In the past,} the Egyptians, Amorites, Ammonites, Philistines,

Sidonians, Amalekites, and Maonites were treating you badly. You prayed desperately to me, and I rescued you from them. \*

But even after that, you stopped worshiping me. You worshiped other gods instead. So I am not going to keep rescuing you.

See whether the gods you are worshiping can rescue you now that you are in trouble again!” \*

But the people of Israel said to God, “We confess that we have sinned. Punish us in whatever way you wish. But please rescue us now!”

Then the Israelites threw away the idols that represented the foreign gods they had been worshiping. They worshiped God instead. God saw that they were suffering greatly. He felt compassion for them and decided to help them. \*

Ammonite soldiers gathered {to fight against the Israelites}. They set up their tents in the region of Gilead. So the Israelite soldiers gathered {to fight against them}. They set up their tents near the city of Mizpah.

The leaders of the people of Gilead said to each other, “Who will lead our attack against the Ammonite army? If someone will do that, we will make him the leader of everyone who lives in the region of Gilead.” \*