Judges 2
1 Now the angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I had promised to your fathers, and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you,
Now the angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, I took you out of Egypt, guiding you into the land which I gave by an oath to your fathers; and I said, My agreement with you will never be broken by me:
2 and you are not to make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall tear down their altars.’ Yet you have not obeyed My voice. What is this you have done?
And you are to make no agreement with the people of this land; you are to see that their altars are broken down: but you have not given ear to my voice: what have you done?
3 So now I tell you that I will not drive out these people before you; they will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a snare to you.”
And so I have said, I will not send them out from before you; but they will be a danger to you, and their gods will be a cause of falling to you.
4 When the angel of the LORD had spoken these words to all the Israelites, the people lifted up their voices and wept.
Now on hearing these words which the angel of the Lord said to all the children of Israel, the people gave themselves up to loud crying and weeping.
5 So they called that place Bochim and offered sacrifices there to the LORD.
And they gave that place the name of Bochim, and made offerings there to the Lord.
6 After Joshua had dismissed the people, the Israelites went out to take possession of the land, each to his own inheritance.
And Joshua let the people go away, and the children of Israel went, every man to his heritage, to take the land for themselves.
7 And the people served the LORD throughout the days of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him, who had seen all the great works that the LORD had done for Israel.
And the people were true to the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the responsible men who were still living after the death of Joshua, and had seen all the great work of the Lord which he had done for Israel.
8 And Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of 110.
And death came to Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, he being a hundred and ten years old.
9 They buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath-heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
And they put his body in the earth in the land of his heritage in Timnath-heres, in the hill-country of Ephraim to the north of Mount Gaash.
10 After that whole generation had also been gathered to their fathers, another generation rose up who did not know the LORD or the works that He had done for Israel.
And in time death overtook all that generation; and another generation came after them, having no knowledge of the Lord or of the things which he had done for Israel.
11 And the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals.
And the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord and became servants to the Baals;
12 Thus they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they followed after various gods of the peoples around them. They bowed down to them and provoked the LORD to anger,
And they gave up the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had taken them out of the land of Egypt, and went after other gods, the gods of the peoples round about them, worshipping them and moving the Lord to wrath.
13 for they forsook Him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.
And they gave up the Lord, and became the servants of Baal and the Astartes.
14 Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of those who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.
And the wrath of the Lord was burning against Israel, and he gave them up into the hands of those who violently took their property, and into the hands of their haters all round them, so that they were forced to give way before them.
15 Wherever Israel marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them to bring calamity, just as He had sworn to them. So they were greatly distressed.
Wherever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had taken his oath it would be; and things became very hard for them.
16 Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them from the hands of those who plundered them.
Then the Lord gave them judges, as their saviours from the hands of those who were cruel to them.
17 Israel, however, did not listen to their judges. Instead, they prostituted themselves with other gods and bowed down to them. They quickly turned from the way of their fathers, who had walked in obedience to the LORD’s commandments; they did not do as their fathers had done.
But still they would not give ear to their judges, but went after other gods and gave them worship; quickly turning from the way in which their fathers had gone, keeping the orders of the Lord; but they did not do so.
18 Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for the Israelites, He was with that judge and saved them from the hands of their enemies while the judge was still alive; for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning under those who oppressed them and afflicted them.
And whenever the Lord gave them judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and was their saviour from the hands of their haters all the days of the judge; for the Lord was moved by their cries of grief because of those who were cruel to them.
19 But when the judge died, the Israelites became even more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods to serve them and bow down to them. They would not give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.
But whenever the judge was dead, they went back and did more evil than their fathers, going after other gods, to be their servants and their worshippers; giving up nothing of their sins and their hard-hearted ways.
20 So the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He said, “Because this nation has transgressed the covenant I laid down for their fathers and has not heeded My voice,
And the wrath of the Lord was burning against Israel, and he said, Because this nation has not been true to my agreement which I made with their fathers, and has not given ear to my voice;
21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died.
From now on I will not go on driving out from before them any of the nations which at the death of Joshua were still living in this land;
22 In this way I will test whether Israel will keep the way of the LORD by walking in it as their fathers did.”
In order to put Israel to the test, and see if they will keep the way of the Lord, walking in it as their fathers did, or not.
23 That is why the LORD had left those nations in place and had not driven them out immediately by delivering them into the hand of Joshua.
So the Lord let those nations go on living in the land, not driving them out quickly, and did not give them up into the hands of Joshua.
