Judges 10

¹Now after Abimelech, Tola, the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, became the saviour of Israel; he was living in Shamir in the hill-country of Ephraim.

²He was judge over Israel for twenty-three years; and at his death his body was put to rest in the earth in Shamir.

³And after him came Jair the Gileadite, who was judge over Israel for twenty-two years.

⁴And he had thirty sons, who went on thirty young asses; and they had thirty towns in the land of Gilead, which are named Havvoth-Jair to this day.

⁵And at the death of Jair his body was put to rest in the earth in Kamon.

⁶And again the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord, worshipping the Baals and Astartes, and the gods of Aram and the gods of Zidon and the gods of Moab and the gods of the children of Ammon and the gods of the Philistines; they gave up the Lord and were servants to him no longer.

⁷And the wrath of the Lord was burning against Israel, and he gave them up into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the children of Ammon.

⁸And that year the children of Israel were crushed under their yoke; for eighteen years all the children of Israel on the other side of Jordan, in the land of the Amorites which is in Gilead, were cruelly crushed down.

⁹And the children of Ammon went over Jordan, to make war against Judah and Benjamin and the house of Ephraim; and Israel was in great trouble.

¹⁰Then the children of Israel, crying out to the Lord, said, Great is our sin against you, for we have given up our God and have been servants to the Baals.

¹¹And the Lord said to the children of Israel, Were not the Egyptians and the Amorites and the children of Ammon and the Philistines

¹²And the Zidonians and Amalek and Midian crushing you down, and in answer to your cry did I not give you salvation from their hands?

¹³But, for all this, you have given me up and have been servants to other gods: so I will be your saviour no longer.

¹⁴Go, send up your cry for help to the gods of your selection; let them be your saviours in the time of your trouble.

¹⁵And the children of Israel said to the Lord, We are sinners; do to us whatever seems good to you: only give us salvation this day.

¹⁶So they put away the strange gods from among them, and became the Lord's servants; and his soul was angry because of the sorrows of Israel.

¹⁷Then the children of Ammon came together and put their army in position in Gilead. And the children of Israel came together and put their army in position in Mizpah.

¹⁸And the people of Israel said to one another, Who will be the first to make an attack on the children of Ammon? We will make him head over all Gilead.

Judges 10

¹After Abimelech there arose to save Israel Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim.

²He judged Israel twenty-three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir.

³After him arose Jair, the Gileadite; and he judged Israel twenty-two years.

⁴He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkey colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havvoth Jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead.

⁵Jair died, and was buried in Kamon.

⁶The children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals, and the Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Sidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook the Lord, and did not serve him.

⁷The anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the children of Ammon.

⁸They troubled and oppressed the children of Israel that year. Eighteen years they oppressed all the children of Israel that were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.

⁹The children of Ammon passed over the Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim; so that Israel was very distressed.

¹⁰The children of Israel cried to the Lord, saying, "We have sinned against you, even because we have forsaken our God, and have served the Baals."

¹¹The Lord said to the children of Israel, "Did I not save you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines?

¹²The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and you cried to me, and I saved you out of their hand.

¹³Yet you have forsaken me, and served other gods. Therefore I will save you no more.

¹⁴Go and cry to the gods which you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress."

¹⁵The children of Israel said to the Lord, "We have sinned. Do to us whatever seems good to you; only deliver us, please, this day."

¹⁶They put away the foreign gods from among them, and served the Lord; and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.

¹⁷Then the children of Ammon were gathered together, and encamped in Gilead. The children of Israel assembled themselves together, and encamped at Mizpah.

¹⁸The people, the rulers of Gilead, said to each other, "What man is he who will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead."