And when he had built him a royal palace at Jericho, (14) he
omitted no method whereby he might distress them; and indeed he
reduced them to poverty for eighteen years. But when God had once
taken pity of the Israelites, on account of their afflictions,
and was moved to compassion by their supplications put up to him,
he freed them from the hard usage they had met with under the
Moabites. This liberty he procured for them in the following
manner; -

2. There was a young man of the tribe of Benjamin, whose name was
Ehud, the son of Gera, a man of very great courage in bold
undertakings, and of a very strong body, fit for hard labor, but
best skilled in using his left hand, in which was his whole
strength; and he also dwelt at Jericho. Now this man became
familiar with Eglon, and that by means of presents, with which he
obtained his favor, and insinuated himself into his good opinion;
whereby he was also beloved of those that were about the king.
Now, when on a time he was bringing presents to the king, and had
two servants with him, he put a dagger on his right thigh
secretly, and went in to him: it was then summer thee, and the
middle of the day, when the guards were not strictly on their
watch, both because of the heat, and because they were gone to
dinner. So the young man, when he had offered his presents to the
king, who then resided in a small parlor that stood conveniently
to avoid the heat, fell into discourse with him, for they were
now alone, the king having bid his servants that attended him to
go their ways, because he had a mind to talk with Ehud. He was
now sitting on his throne; and fear seized upon Ehud lest he
should miss his stroke, and not give him a deadly wound; so he
raised himself up, and said he had a dream to impart to him by