CHAPTER 10
After the time
of Abimelech,
a man
of Issachar,
Tola
son
of Puah,
the son
of Dodo,
rose
to deliver
Israel.
He lived
in Shamir,
in the hill country
of Ephraim.
He had
thirty
sons
who rode
on
thirty
donkeys.
And they had
thirty
towns
in the land
of Gilead,
which to
this
day
are called
Havvoth-jair.
And again
the Israelites
did
evil
in the sight
of the LORD.
They served
the Baals,
the Ashtoreths,
the gods
of Aram,
Sidon,
and
Moab,
and
the gods
of the Ammonites
and Philistines.
Thus they forsook
the LORD
and did not
serve Him.
So the anger
of the LORD
burned
against Israel,
and He sold them
into the hands
of the Philistines
and Ammonites,
who that very
year
harassed
and oppressed
the Israelites,
and did so for eighteen
years
to all
the Israelites
on the other side
of the Jordan
in Gilead,
the land
of the Amorites.
The Ammonites
also
crossed
the Jordan
to fight
against Judah,
Benjamin,
and the house
of Ephraim,
and Israel
was in severe
distress.
Then the Israelites
cried out
to
the LORD,
saying,
“We have sinned
against You,
for we have indeed
forsaken
our God
and served
the Baals.”
Sidonians,
Amalekites,
and Maonites
oppressed you
and you cried out
to Me,
did I not deliver
you
from their hands?
“We have sinned,”
the Israelites
said
to
the LORD.
“Deal
with us
as You see
fit;
but
please
deliver us today!”
So they put away
the foreign
gods
from among them
and served
the LORD,
and He
could no longer bear
the misery
of Israel.
Then the Ammonites
were called to arms
and camped
in Gilead,
and the Israelites
assembled
and camped
at Mizpah.
The rulers
of Gilead
said
to
one
another,
“Whoever
will launch
the attack
against the Ammonites
will be
the head
of all
who live
in Gilead.”