Judges 10

Two Judges Hold It Down

1 After Abimelech, a man named Tola stepped up to save Israel. He was from Issachar’s tribe and lived in Shamir, up in the hill country of Ephraim.

2 Tola ran things for 23 years. Then he died and was buried in Shamir.

3 Next up was Jair from Gilead. He judged Israel for 22 years.

4 He had 30 sons who rode around on 30 donkeys and ran 30 towns in Gilead. They called the area “Havvoth-jair”, still called that today.

5 Jair died and was buried in Kamon.

Israel Falls Off Again

6 Then Israel started wilding again, doing evil in God’s eyes. They started worshiping Baal, Ashtoreth, and the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and the Philistines. They straight up ditched the Lord.

7 So God got heated. He let the Philistines and Ammonites come down hard on Israel.

8 For 18 years, those two nations crushed all the Israelites east of the Jordan in Gilead, land of the Amorites.

9 The Ammonites even crossed the Jordan to beef with Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. Israel was stressed heavy.

Israel Cries Out, Again

10 So Israel cried out to the Lord like, “We messed up. We turned our back on You and chased other gods.”

11 God said, “Did I not save you all from Egypt, the Amorites, Ammonites, Philistines…

12 Sidonians, Amalekites, and Maonites too, all of them had you all pressed, and I came through.”

13 “But now you all turned on Me again and went after fake gods. So nah, I am not saving you all this time.”

14 “Go cry out to those fake gods you chose. Let them save you when stuff hits the fan.”

Israel Repents Hard

15 Israel told the Lord, “Do whatever You must do to us. Just please save us this one more time.”

16 Then they got rid of the fake gods and started serving the Lord again. And He could not just stand by while they suffered.

The Fight Is Coming

17 The Ammonites gathered up and set up camp in Gilead. Israel camped at Mizpah.

18 The leaders of Gilead said, “Whoever leads the fight against the Ammonites, he is going to run this whole region.”