1. Tola was the next person to rescue Israel. He belonged to the Issachar tribe, but he lived in Shamir, a town in the hill country of Ephraim. His father was Puah, and his grandfather was Dodo.
2. Tola was a leader of Israel for twenty-three years, then he died and was buried in Shamir.
3. The next leader of Israel was Jair, who lived in Gilead. He was a leader for twenty-two years.
4. He had thirty sons, and each son had his own mule and was in charge of one town in Gilead. Those thirty towns are still called The Settlements of Jair.
5. When he died, he was buried in the town of Kamon.
6. Before long, the Israelites began disobeying the Lord by worshipping Baal, Astarte, and gods from Syria, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and Philistia.
7. The Lord was angry with Israel and decided to let Philistia and Ammon conquer them.
8. So the same year that Jair died, Israel's army was crushed by these two nations. For eighteen years, Ammon was cruel to the Israelites who lived in Gilead, the region east of the River Jordan that had once belonged to the Amorites.