Timothy Works with Paul and Silas

16 Paul and Silas went back to Derbe and Lystra, where there was a follower named Timothy. His mother was also a follower. She was Jewish, and his father was Greek. ² The Lord's followers in Lystra and Iconium said good things about Timothy, ³ and Paul wanted him to go with them. But Paul first had him circumcised, because all the Jewish people around there knew that Timothy's father was Greek.^[a]

⁴ As Paul and the others went from city to city, they told the followers what the apostles and leaders in Jerusalem had decided, and they urged them to follow these instructions. ⁵ The churches became stronger in their faith, and each day more people put their faith in the Lord.

Paul's Vision in Troas

⁶ Paul and his friends went through Phrygia and Galatia, but the Holy Spirit would not let them preach in Asia. ⁷ After they arrived in Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not let them. ⁸ So they went on through^[b] Mysia until they came to Troas.

⁹ During the night, Paul had a vision of someone from Macedonia who was standing there and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” ¹⁰ After Paul had seen the vision, we began looking for a way to go to Macedonia. We were sure that God had called us to preach the good news there.

Lydia Becomes a Follower of the Lord

¹¹ We sailed straight from Troas to Samothrace, and the next day we arrived in Neapolis. ¹² From there we went to Philippi, which is a Roman colony in the first district of Macedonia.^[c]

We spent several days in Philippi. ¹³ Then on the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to a place by the river, where we thought there would be a Jewish meeting place for prayer. We sat down and talked with the women who came. ¹⁴ One of them was Lydia, who was from the city of Thyatira and sold expensive purple cloth. She was a worshiper of the Lord God, and he made her willing to accept what Paul was saying. ¹⁵ Then after she and her family were baptized, she kept on begging us, “If you think I really do have faith in the Lord, come stay in my home.” Finally, we accepted her invitation.

The Lord's Angel Speaks to Israel

2 The Lord's angel went from Gilgal to Bochim^[a] and gave the Israelites this message from the Lord:

I promised your ancestors that I would give this land to their families, and I brought your people here from Egypt. We made an agreement that I promised never to break, ^2 (A) and you promised not to make any peace treaties with the other nations that live in the land. Besides that, you agreed to tear down the altars where they sacrifice to their idols. Why haven't you kept your promise?

³ And so, I'll stop helping you defeat your enemies. Instead, they will be there to trap^[b] you into worshiping their idols.

⁴ The Israelites started crying loudly, ⁵ and they offered sacrifices to the Lord. From then on, they called that place “Crying.”^[c]

Israel Stops Worshiping the Lord

^6-9 (B) Joshua had been faithful to the Lord. And after Joshua sent the Israelites to take the land they had been promised, they remained faithful to the Lord until Joshua died at the age of 110. He was buried on his land in Timnath-Heres, in the hill country of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash. Even though Joshua was gone, the Israelites were faithful to the Lord during the lifetime of those men who had been leaders with Joshua and who had seen the wonderful things the Lord had done for Israel.

¹⁰ After a while the people of Joshua's generation died, and the next generation did not know the Lord or any of the things he had done for Israel. ^11-13 The Lord had brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and they had worshiped him. But now the Israelites stopped worshiping the Lord and worshiped the idols of Baal and Astarte, as well as the idols of other gods from nearby nations.

The Lord was so angry ^14-15 with the Israelites that he let other nations raid Israel and steal their crops and other possessions. Enemies were everywhere, and the Lord always let them defeat Israel in battle. The Lord had warned Israel he would do this, and now the Israelites were miserable.

The Lord Chooses Leaders for Israel

¹⁶ From time to time, the Lord would choose special leaders known as judges.^[d] These judges would lead the Israelites into battle and defeat the enemies that made raids on them. ¹⁷ In years gone by, the Israelites had been faithful to the Lord, but now they were quick to be unfaithful and to refuse even to listen to these judges. The Israelites disobeyed the Lord, and instead of worshiping him, they worshiped other gods.

¹⁸ When enemies made life miserable for the Israelites, the Lord felt sorry for them. He would choose a judge and help that judge rescue Israel from its enemies. The Lord was kind to Israel as long as that judge lived. ¹⁹ But afterwards, the Israelites would become even more sinful than their ancestors had been. The Israelites were stubborn—they simply would not stop worshiping other gods or following their teachings.

The Lord Lets Enemies Test Israel

²⁰ The Lord was angry with Israel and said:

The Israelites have broken the agreement I made with their ancestors. They won't obey me, ²¹ so I'll stop helping them defeat their enemies. Israel still had a lot of enemies when Joshua died, ²² and I'm going to let those enemies stay. I'll use them to test Israel, because then I can find out if Israel will worship and obey me as their ancestors did.

²³ That's why the Lord had not let Joshua get rid of those enemy nations all at once.

3 ^1-2 And the Lord had another reason for letting these enemies stay. The Israelites needed to learn how to fight in war, just as their ancestors had done. Each new generation would have to learn by fighting ³ the Philistines and their five rulers, as well as the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites that lived in the Lebanon Mountains from Mount Baal-Hermon to Hamath Pass.^[e]

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. ^5-6 But they refused. And some of them even married Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites who lived all around them. That's how they started worshiping foreign gods.

Othniel

⁷ The Israelites sinned against the Lord by forgetting him and worshiping idols of Baal and Astarte. ⁸ This made the Lord angry, so he let Israel be defeated by King Cushan Rishathaim of northern Syria,^[f] who ruled Israel eight years and made everyone pay taxes. ⁹ The Israelites begged the Lord for help, and so he chose Othniel to rescue them. Othniel was the son of Caleb's younger brother Kenaz.^{[g] 10} The Spirit of the Lord took control of Othniel, and he led Israel in a war against Cushan Rishathaim. The Lord let Othniel win, ¹¹ and Israel was at peace until Othniel died about 40 years later.

Ehud

¹² Once more the Israelites started disobeying the Lord. So he let them be defeated by King Eglon of Moab, ¹³ who had joined forces with the Ammonites and the Amalekites to attack Israel. Eglon and his army captured Jericho.^{[h] 14} Then he ruled Israel for 18 years and forced the Israelites to pay heavy taxes.

^15-16 The Israelites begged the Lord for help, and the Lord chose Ehud^[i] from the Benjamin tribe to rescue them. They put Ehud in charge of taking the taxes to King Eglon, but before Ehud went, he made a double-edged dagger. Ehud was left-handed, so he strapped the dagger to his right thigh, where it was hidden under his robes.

^17-18 Ehud and some other Israelites took the taxes to Eglon, who was a very fat man. As soon as they gave the taxes to Eglon, Ehud said it was time to go home.

^19-20 Ehud went with the other Israelites as far as the statues^[j] at Gilgal.^[k] Then he turned back and went upstairs to the room^[l] where Eglon had his throne. Ehud said, “Your Majesty, I need to talk with you in private.”

Eglon replied, “Don't say anything yet!” His officials left the room, and Eglon stood up as Ehud came closer.

“Yes,” Ehud said, “I have a message for you from God!” ²¹ Ehud pulled out the dagger with his left hand and shoved it so far into Eglon's stomach ^22-23 that even the handle was buried in his fat. Ehud left the dagger there. Then after closing and locking the doors to the room, he climbed through a window onto the porch^{[m] 24} and left.

When the king's officials came back and saw that the doors were locked, they said, “The king is probably inside relieving himself.” ²⁵ They stood there waiting until they felt foolish, but Eglon still didn't open the doors. Finally, they unlocked the doors and found King Eglon lying dead on the floor. ²⁶ But by that time, Ehud had already escaped past the statues.^[n]

Ehud went to the town of Seirah ^27-28 in the hill country of Ephraim and started blowing a trumpet as a signal to call the Israelites together. When they came, 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 10,000 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 80 years.

Shamgar

³¹ Shamgar the son of Anath was the next to rescue Israel. In one battle, he used a sharp wooden pole^[o] to kill 600 Philistines.

Elihu Continues

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