Ehud was the second judge of Israel and a Benjaminite who delivered Israel from Moabite oppression. He is known for his bold assassination of the Moabite king Eglon and the subsequent victory over Moab, which gave Israel peace for eighty years.
12Again the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the LORD.
15Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised up a deliverer for them: Ehud son of Gera, a Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The Israelites sent tribute by his hand to Eglon king of Moab.
Ehud gained a private audience with the very fat King Eglon under the pretext of having a secret message, and killed him with his sword in his upper chamber.
19But he himself turned back at the carved stones near Gilgal and said, "I have a secret message for you, O king." The king said, "Silence!" and all who were standing by him withdrew from his presence.
20Ehud came to him while he was sitting alone in his cool upper chamber, and Ehud said, "I have a message from God for you." And the king rose from his seat.
27When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down with him from the hills, with him at their head.
28He said to them, "Follow me, for the LORD has given your enemies, the Moabites, into your hand." So they followed him down and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites, letting no one cross over.