enemies oppressed them, then they remembered that God was their strength. So they turned in sorrow and repentance to seek the Lord with all their heart, and all their soul. And when they had been subject to the Moabites eighteen years, the Lord again had mercy upon them, and raised them up a deliverer from the tribe of Benjamin, whose name was Ehud. Ehud was a man left-handed; and when he was sent, with others of the children of Israel, to bear a present to Eglon the king of Moab, who was at Gilgal, he placed a dagger on his right side, under his raiment. And when he had offered the present to Eglon, he drew forth the dagger with his left hand, and smote him, and slew him. Then he escaped from the soldiers of the king of Moab, and fled to Mount Ephraim; and there he blew a trumpet, and said to the men of Israel, "Follow after me, for the Lord hath delivered your enemies, the Moabites, into your hands." Then the men of Israel went down with Ehud to the river Jordan, to the fords by which the Moabites must pass to their own land. And they suffered not a man to pass over, but slew at that time ten thousand men; and none escaped. So the children of Israel were delivered from their enemies, and the people of Moab were subdued before them. B.C. 1492. After the destruction of the Moabites by the About hand of Ehud, the children of Israel dwelt in peace for many years; they served the Lord and walked in His ways, and the Lord preserved them from their enemies. B.C. The tribes who dwelt in the north part of the land of Canaan were the first to sin against the Lord, after He had delivered Israel from the power of the Moabites. Then the Lord gave them About into the hand of Jabin, a king of the Canaanites, 1412. who still dwelt in that part of the land; and for twenty years he greatly oppressed them. But when they repented of their sin, God heard their prayers, and stretched forth His hand to deliver them. He spoke by the mouth of Deborah, a prophetess, who dwelt in Mount Ephraim, and commanded Barak, a man of the tribe of Naphtali, to gather together ten thousand of the men of About B.C. Naphtali and Zebulun, and go forth against Sisera, the captain of the armies of Jabin the king of Canaan. Then Barak gathered together the men of Naph1392. tali and Zebulun, and led them against Sisera and the army of the Canaanites; and Deborah the prophetess went with him. And the Lord scattered the army of the Canaanites, with their chariots of iron, before Barak and the men of Israel. And they pursued after the hosts of Sisera, and slew them, so that there was not a man left. And Sisera fled from the battle; and as he sought to hide himself from Barak he was slain by the hand of a woman. So God subdued on that day the army of the king of Canaan before the children of Israel; and they prevailed against him until they had destroyed him. After this, the whole land of Israel had rest from war for forty years, and the children of Israel dwelt in peace. Judges iii. iv. Psalm lxxviii. To prevail against a person is to overcome him. Chapter XC. THE SUFFERINGS OF ISRAEL UNDER THE MIDIANITES, AND THE CALL OF GIDEON TO DELIVER THEM. DURING the long time of peace and rest which was given to the children of Israel after the destruction of the Moabites by the hand of Ehud, their hearts were again turned away from God. In the time of their prosperity, when all things went well with them, their hearts were lifted up, and they forgot the Lord their God. They neglected His ordinances, and walked not in the way of His commandments, but cast His law behind their back. So, "when His people would not obey Him, nor hearken unto His voice, God gave them up to their own hearts' lusts, and let them follow their own imaginations." Then they were drawn away again to worship other gods-the gods of the heathen who dwelt in their land. "They were mingled among the heathen, and they learned About B.C. their works, insomuch that they worshipped their idols; yea, they offered their sons and their daughters unto devils, and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, which they offered unto the idols of Canaan; and the land was defiled with blood. Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against His people, and He gave them over into the hands of the heathen." The Lord now caused the people of the land 1352. of Midian to come up against Israel, to punish His rebellious people. And they took possession of the pleasant land of Canaan, for the Lord delivered His people into their hands. And for fear of them the children of Israel fled forth from their houses, and dwelt in dens and caves in the mountains. And when they had sown their land, the Midianites came and gathered the corn and the fruit of their land. Their asses, and their oxen, and their sheep were taken from them; and there was no food left for them to eat. For the people of Midian were a great multitude, and there were with them the Amalekites, and the |