Judges 2
1 And an angel of YHWH came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.
Yahweh [appeared in the form of] an angel [and] went up from Gilgal to [a place that was later called] Bokim. He said [to the Israeli people], “I brought your [ancestors] up here from Egypt. I led them into this land that I solemnly promised to give to your ancestors. I said to them, ‘The agreement that I made with you, as for me, I will never (break it/say that it is ended).
2 And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?
But as for you, you must never make a peace agreement with the people who live in this land. You must tear down the altars [where they make sacrifices to idols].’ But you have not obeyed me.
3 Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their elohim shall be a snare unto you.
So now, I am telling you that I will not expel [your enemies] as you advance. They will be like thorns in your sides. And [they] will try to trap you [by making you worship] their idols.”
4 And it came to pass, when the angel of YHWH spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.
After he told that to all the Israelis, the people cried loudly.
5 And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto YHWH.
They called that place Bokim, [which means ‘weeping’]. There they offered sacrifices to Yahweh.
6 And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land.
After Joshua sent the Israeli people away, each group went to possess the land that had been allotted to them.
7 And the people served YHWH all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of YHWH, that he did for Israel.
They served Yahweh as long as Joshua was alive, and as long as the elders, those who had seen all the great things that Yahweh had done for Israel, were alive.
8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of YHWH, died, being an hundred and ten years old.
Then Yahweh’s servant Joshua died. He was 110 years old when he died.
9 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash.
They buried his body in the area he had received [from Moses], at Timnath-Serah, in the area where the descendants of Ephraim lived, north of Gaash Mountain.
10 And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not YHWH, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.
After all the people died who lived at the same time as Joshua [EUP], a group of people grew up who did not know Yahweh, and did not know what great things he had done for the Israeli people.
11 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of YHWH, and served Baalim:
They did things that Yahweh said were very evil. They worshiped [idols that represented the god] Baal and the goddess Astarte. They worshiped [DOU] the various gods that the people-groups around them worshiped. They stopped worshiping Yahweh, the God their ancestors worshiped, the one who had brought their ancestors out of Egypt. That caused Yahweh to be very angry.
12 And they forsook YHWH Elohim of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other elohim, of the elohim of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked YHWH to anger.
13 And they forsook YHWH, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.
14 And the anger of YHWH was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.
So he allowed people from other groups to raid them and steal their crops and animals. They were no longer able to resist their enemies, and Yahweh allowed all their enemies around them to defeat them.
15 Whithersoever they went out, the hand of YHWH was against them for evil, as YHWH had said, and as YHWH had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.
Whenever the Israelis went to fight [their enemies], Yahweh [MTY] was opposing them, and allowed their enemies to defeat them, just as he had promised he would do. So the Israelis were greatly distressed.
16 Nevertheless YHWH raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.
Then Yahweh gave leaders to them. These leaders rescued the Israelis from the people who were raiding them.
17 And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other elohim, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of YHWH; but they did not so.
But the Israelis still would not pay attention to their leaders. Instead, they went to the idols, [acting like] prostitutes [who gave themselves to men who were not their husbands] [MET], and they worshiped those idols. They were not like their ancestors. Their ancestors obeyed what Yahweh commanded, but their descendants quickly stopped behaving as their ancestors had behaved.
18 And when YHWH raised them up judges, then YHWH was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented YHWH because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.
Whenever Yahweh gave a leader to them, he helped that leader and enabled him to rescue the people from their enemies. He helped them like that as long as that leader was alive. Yahweh pitied them as they groaned because they were being oppressed and caused to suffer.
19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other elohim to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.
But after that leader died, the people went back to behaving in ways even more evil than their ancestors had behaved. They worshiped other gods and bowed down to them and did all [LIT] the things that they thought those gods wanted them to do.
20 And the anger of YHWH was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice;
So Yahweh was very angry with the Israeli people. He said, “These people have disobeyed the agreement I made with their ancestors. They have not done what I told them to do.
21 I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died:
So I will no longer expel the people-groups that Joshua left in this land when he died.
22 That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of YHWH to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.
I will use them to test the Israeli people to see whether they will do what I want them to do, as their ancestors did.”
23 Therefore YHWH left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.
Yahweh had allowed those people-groups to stay in that land. He did not expel them by allowing Joshua [and his men] to defeat them.
