During the eighteen years that the Israelites served Eglon, king of Moab, they were unhappy. Every year they had to bring much of their fruit and grain and many of their cattle to the King, ‘and they received no money for these things. The Moabites grew richer and the Israelites grew poorer all the while. The Moabites had a brave leader and the Israelites had no leader at all. They had forsaken God, and he had forsaken them.
After suffering for a long time the Israelites began to think about the victories that God gave to their fathers. They talked to each other about those happier days when God blessed them. They remembered, too, how they had turned away from God to serve the idols of the Canaanites. Now they took offerings for sacrifices and went to Shiloh and gave them to the high priest to offer on the great altar at the tabernacle. They prayed to God earnestly and asked him to forgive their sins and help them once more. And God sent them another deliverer, or judge.
The second judge of Israel was named Ehud. He belonged to the smallest of the twelve tribes—the tribe of Benjamin. To him the Israelites gave a present to carry to King Eglon.
Now Ehud did not feel friendly toward the wicked King who had made life so miserable for him and for his people. But he acted like a very good friend indeed. He brought the present to the beautiful summer house where the King was living, and turned to go away. Then he hurried back the second time to the beautiful palace and said, “I have a secret message for the King.” So Eglon dismissed his servants from the room and rose to hear what Ehud might say.
Underneath his clothes and on his right side Ehud carried a short sword, called a dagger. Ehud was left-handed, and no one could see that he had a weapon with him. But when the King came near he saw a sword flash in Ehud’s left hand and he felt it cut his flesh. Then he fell on the floor and died.
Ehud quickly locked the doors and ran away toward where the Israelites were. No one saw him leave the King’s room. But after some time the servants grew tired of waiting for him to come out. They tried the doors but found them locked. At first they supposed their King was lying down to rest, but after waiting a while longer they tried again to open the doors. This time they brought a key, and when the door was not opened they unlocked it and went inside the room. There they saw the King lying dead.
Now they knew that Ehud had killed King Eglon. But Ehud had gotten too far away for them to catch him. They called the army of Moab and sent in haste to the land of Israel. But Ehud had already reached home and had called the soldiers of Israel together and they came out and fought against the Moabites. In this battle Israel gained a great victory, and this victory brought them freedom again. After this time they enjoyed rest from their enemies for eighty years.
The next people to trouble the Israelites were the Philistines, their neighbors in the land of Israel. These were people whom the Israelites should have driven out of the land while God was helping them. Now they could never drive them away. But God sent Shamgar to help them gain a victory over the Philistines, and he killed six hundred of them with only an ox-goad for a weapon. Shamgar was the third Judge of Israel.