Judges 2
1 And an angel of the Lord went up from Galgal to the [place of] weeping, and to Baethel, and to the house of Israel, and said to them, Thus says the Lord, I brought you up out of Egypt, and I brought you into the land which I sware to your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant that I have made with you.
Seorang malaikat utusan TUHAN pergi dari Gilgal ke Bokim untuk menegur bangsa Israel. Dia menyampaikan pesan TUHAN yang berkata, “Aku sudah membawa kalian keluar dari Mesir menuju ke negeri yang Aku janjikan dengan bersumpah kepada nenek moyang kalian. Aku juga sudah berkata, ‘Aku tidak akan pernah mengingkari perjanjian-Ku dengan kalian.’
2 And you shall make no covenant with them that dwell in this land, neither shall you worship their gods; but you shall destroy their graven images, you shall pull down their altars: but you listened not to my voice, for you did these things.
Dan Aku telah menyuruh, ‘Kalian tidak boleh mengikat perjanjian dengan penduduk negeri ini, dan kalian harus menghancurkan mezbah-mezbah dewa mereka.’ Tetapi kalian sama sekali tidak taat kepada-Ku!
3 And I said, I will not drive them out from before you, but they shall be for a distress to you, and their gods shall be to you for an offence.
Karena itu Aku tidak akan lagi mengusir bangsa-bangsa Kanaan dari hadapan kalian. Mereka akan membuatmu menderita, dan kalian akan terjerat dalam penyembahan dewa mereka.”
4 And it came to pass when the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.
Mendengar perkataan malaikat itu, umat Israel meratap dengan nyaring.
5 And they named the name of that place Weepings; and they sacrificed there to the Lord.
Selanjutnya tempat itu dinamai Bokim, artinya ‘tempat tangisan’. Mereka pun mempersembahkan kurban kepada TUHAN di sana.
6 And Joshua dismissed the people, and they went every man to his inheritance, to inherit the land.
Dulu, sesudah bangsa Israel berhasil menguasai negeri Kanaan, Yosua membubarkan mereka supaya setiap suku pergi untuk menduduki tanah warisan yang sudah diberikan kepada mereka masing-masing.
7 And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that lived many days with Joshua, as many as knew all the great work of the Lord, what things he had wrought in Israel.
Bangsa Israel setia menyembah TUHAN semasa hidup Yosua dan para tua-tua yang hidup lebih lama daripadanya, yaitu generasi yang sudah menyaksikan seluruh perbuatan ajaib TUHAN bagi Israel.
8 And Joshua the son of Naue, the servant of the Lord, died, a hundred and ten years old.
Yosua, hamba TUHAN itu, meninggal pada umur 110 tahun
9 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance, in Thamnathares, in mount Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaas.
dan dikuburkan di tanah warisannya di Timnat Heres, di wilayah perbukitan Efraim, sebelah utara gunung Gaas.
10 And all that generation were laid to their fathers: and another generation rose up after them, who knew not the Lord, nor yet the work which he wrought in Israel.
Sesudah semua orang dari generasi itu meninggal, generasi berikutnya tidak mengenal TUHAN maupun perbuatan-perbuatan-Nya yang hebat bagi bangsa Israel.
11 And the children of Israel wrought evil before the Lord, and served Baalim.
Mereka berbuat jahat di mata TUHAN dan menyembah berbagai macam patung Baal.
12 And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and walked after other gods, of the gods of the nations round about them; and they worshipped them.
Mereka meninggalkan TUHAN, Allah leluhur mereka, yang sudah membawa nenek moyang Israel keluar dari Mesir. Mereka malah bersujud menyembah dewa-dewa dari bangsa-bangsa di sekeliling mereka. Hal itu membuat TUHAN marah.
13 And they provoked the Lord, and forsook him, and served Baal and the Astartes.
Mereka meninggalkan TUHAN dan menyembah dewa-dewa Baal dan dewi Astoret.
14 And the Lord was very angry with Israel; and he gave them into the hands of the spoilers, and they spoiled them; and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, and they could not any longer resist their enemies,
Maka murka TUHAN berkobar atas bangsa Israel. Dia membiarkan musuh-musuh merampas harta mereka. Dia juga membuat Israel kalah ketika diserang oleh bangsa-bangsa musuh di sekeliling mereka, sehingga Israel tidak lagi sanggup menghadapi lawannya.
15 amongst whoever they went; and the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord spoke, and as the Lord sware to them; and he greatly afflicted them.
Sebagaimana sudah diperingatkan TUHAN dengan bersumpah, setiap kali Israel maju berperang, TUHAN membuat mereka kalah. Bangsa Israel pun sangat menderita.
16 And the Lord raised up judges, and the Lord save them out of the hands of them that spoiled them: and yet they listened not to the judges,
Lalu TUHAN mengangkat pembela-pembela untuk menyelamatkan bangsa Israel dari musuh-musuh yang menjarah mereka.
17 for they went a whoring after other gods, and worshipped them; and they turned quickly out of the way in which their fathers walked to listen to the words of the Lord; they did not so.
Akan tetapi, umat Israel tidak mendengarkan hakim-hakim itu. Sebaliknya, mereka bersujud menyembah dewa-dewa. Mereka mengkhianati TUHAN seperti seorang istri yang mengkhianati suaminya dengan pergi melacur. Begitu cepatnya mereka menyimpang dari jalan hidup nenek moyang mereka yang taat kepada perintah TUHAN. Generasi ini sudah menyimpang.
18 And because the Lord raised them up judges, so the Lord was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord was moved at their groaning by reason of them that besieged them and afflicted them.
Setiap kali TUHAN mengangkat seorang hakim untuk bangsa Israel, TUHAN menyertai hakim itu seumur hidupnya dan menyelamatkan Israel dari musuh. TUHAN bertindak karena kasihan mendengar umat-Nya merintih akibat penindasan musuh.
19 And it came to pass when the judge died, that they went back, and again corrupted [themselves] worse than their fathers to go after other gods to serve them an to worship them: they abandoned not their devices nor their stubborn ways.
Tetapi sesudah hakim itu meninggal, umat Israel kembali berbuat jahat, bahkan lebih jahat daripada generasi sebelumnya. Mereka menyembah dan mengabdi kepada dewa-dewa. Bangsa itu memang keras kepala dan tidak mau meninggalkan perbuatan-perbuatan mereka yang jahat.
20 And the Lord was very angry with Israel, and said, Forasmuch as this nation has forsaken my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not listened to my voice,
Maka murka TUHAN berkobar atas bangsa Israel. Kata-Nya, “Bangsa ini sudah melanggar perjanjian yang Aku perintahkan kepada nenek moyang mereka dan tidak menaati perkataan-Ku,
21 therefore I will not any more cast out a man of the nations before their face, which Joshua the son of Naue left in the land. And [the Lord] left [them],
maka Aku tidak akan lagi mengusir bangsa apa pun yang masih tinggal di negeri itu setelah Yosua meninggal.
22 to prove Israel with them, whether they would keep the way of the Lord, to walk in it, as their fathers kept it, or no.
Aku akan membiarkan bangsa-bangsa itu tetap di sana untuk menguji bangsa Israel, apakah mereka akan kembali hidup menurut jalan-Ku seperti generasi sebelumnya, atau tidak.”
23 So the Lord will leave these nations, so as not to cast them out suddenly; and he delivered them not into the hand of Joshua.
Itulah alasan TUHAN tidak menyerahkan bangsa-bangsa itu ke tangan bangsa Israel pada zaman Yosua. Dia membiarkan musuh-musuh tetap di negeri itu dan tidak segera mengusir mereka.
