Judges 2
1 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:
And an Angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to the Place of Weeping, and he said: “I led you away from Egypt, and I led you into the land, about which I swore to your fathers. And I promised that I would not nullify my covenant with you, even forever:
2 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?
but only if you would not form a pact with the inhabitants of this land. Instead, you should overturn their altars. Yet you were not willing to listen to my voice. Why have you done this?
3 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.
For this reason, I am not willing to destroy them before your face, so that you may have enemies, and so that their gods may be your ruin.”
4 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.
And when the Angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, they lifted up their voice, and they wept.
5 And they gave that place the name of Bochim, and made offerings there to the Lord.
And the name of that place was called, the Place of Weeping, or the Place of Tears. And they immolated victims to the Lord in that place.
6 And Joshua let the people go away, and the children of Israel went, every man to his heritage, to take the land for themselves.
Then Joshua dismissed the people, and the sons of Israel went away, each one to his own possession, so that they might obtain it.
7 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.
And they served the Lord, during all his days, and during all the days of the elders, who lived for a long time after him, and who knew all the works of the Lord, which he had done for Israel.
8 And death came to Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, he being a hundred and ten years old.
Then Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being one hundred and ten years old.
9 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.
And they buried him in the parts of his possession at Timnath-Serah, on Mount Ephraim, before the northern side of Mount Gaash.
10 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.
And that entire generation was gathered to their fathers. And there rose up others, who had not known the Lord and the works that he had done for Israel.
11 And the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord and became servants to the Baals;
And the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they served the Baals.
12 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.
And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had led them away from the land of Egypt. And they followed foreign gods and the gods of the peoples who were living around them, and they adored them. And they provoked the Lord to wrath,
13 And they gave up the Lord, and became the servants of Baal and the Astartes.
forsaking him, and serving Baal and Ashtaroth.
14 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.
And the Lord, having become angry against Israel, delivered them into the hands of plunderers, who seized them and sold them to the enemies that were living on all sides. Neither were they able to withstand their adversaries.
15 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.
Instead, wherever they wanted to go, the hand of the Lord was upon them, just as he said and just as he swore to them. And they were greatly afflicted.
16 Then the Lord gave them judges, as their saviours from the hands of those who were cruel to them.
And the Lord raised up judges, who would free them from the hands of their oppressors. But they were not willing to listen to them.
17 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.
Fornicating with foreign gods and adoring them, they quickly deserted the way along which their fathers had advanced. And having heard the commandments of the Lord, they did all things to the contrary.
18 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.
And while the Lord was raising up the judges, in their days, he was moved to mercy, and he listened to the groaning of the afflicted, and he freed them from the slaughter of their oppressors.
19 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.
But after a judge had died, they turned back, and they were doing much worse things than their fathers had done, following strange gods, serving them, and adoring them. They did not abandon their pursuits and their very stubborn way, by which they were accustomed to walk.
20 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;
And the fury of the Lord was enraged against Israel, and he said: “For this people has made void my covenant, which I had formed with their fathers, and they have despised listening to my voice.
21 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;
And so, I will not destroy the nations that Joshua left behind when he died,
22 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.
so that, by them, I may test Israel, as to whether or not they will keep the way of the Lord, and walk in it, just as their fathers kept it.”
23 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.
Therefore, the Lord left all these nations, and he was not willing to quickly overthrow them, nor did he deliver them into the hands of Joshua.
