1After Abimelech, Tola son of Puah, son of Dodo, a man from Issachar, rose to save Israel. He lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim.
2He judged Israel for twenty-three years, then died and was buried in Shamir.
3After him, Jair from Gilead rose and judged Israel for twenty-two years.
4He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkey colts, and they owned thirty cities, which are called Havvoth Jair to this day, located in the land of Gilead.
5Jair died and was buried in Kamon.
6The people of Israel again did evil in Yahweh’s sight. They worshiped the Baals, the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. They abandoned Yahweh and stopped serving him.
7Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel, and he handed them over to the Philistines and the Ammonites.
8That year, for eighteen years, they tormented and oppressed the people of Israel who lived on the other side of the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.
9The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim, causing great distress for Israel.
10The people of Israel cried out to Yahweh, saying, “We have sinned against you, because we have abandoned our God and served the Baals.”
11Yahweh said to the people of Israel, "Didn't I save you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the Ammonites, and from the Philistines?
12The Sidonians, Amalekites, and Maonites also oppressed you. When you cried out to me, I saved you from their power."
13"Yet you abandoned me and served other gods. Therefore, I will not save you anymore."
14"Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!"
15The people of Israel said to Yahweh, "We have sinned! Do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please rescue us today."
16They removed the foreign gods from among them and served Yahweh. And he was deeply troubled by Israel's suffering.
17Then the Ammonites gathered together and camped in Gilead. The people of Israel assembled themselves and camped in Mizpah.
18The people, the leaders of Gilead, said to one another, "Who will be the first person to fight against the Ammonites? He will be the leader of all the people of Gilead."