3. the Philistines and their five rulers, as well as the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived in the Lebanon Mountains from Mount Baal-Hermon to Hamath Pass.
4. Moses had told the Israelites what the Lord had commanded them to do, and now the Lord was using these nations to find out if Israel would obey.
7. The Israelites sinned against the Lord by forgetting him and worshipping idols of Baal and Astarte.
8. This made the Lord angry, so he let Israel be defeated by King Cushan Rishathaim of northern Syria, who ruled Israel eight years and made everyone pay taxes.
9. The Israelites begged the Lord for help, and he chose Othniel to rescue them. Othniel was the son of Caleb's younger brother Kenaz.
27-28. in the hill country of Ephraim and started blowing a signal on a trumpet. The Israelites came together, and he shouted, “Follow me! The Lord will help us defeat the Moabites.”The Israelites followed Ehud down to the Jordan Valley, and they captured the places where people cross the river on the way to Moab. They would not let anyone go across,
29. and before the fighting was over, they killed about ten thousand Moabite warriors—not one escaped alive.
30. Moab was so badly defeated that it was a long time before they were strong enough to attack Israel again. And Israel was at peace for eighty years.
31. Shamgar the son of Anath was the next to rescue Israel. In one battle, he used a sharp wooden pole to kill six hundred Philistines.