Judges 2
1 And a messenger of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, And he said, I caused you to go up out of Egypt, and I brought you unto the land which I had sworn unto your fathers; and I said, I will not break my covenant with you for ever.
The angel of the Lord went from Gilgal to Bokim and told the people, “I led you out of the land of Egypt and brought you to this land that I promised to your forefathers, and I said I would never break the agreement I made with you.
2 But ye for your part shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; their altars shall ye throw down; but ye have not obeyed my voice: what is this ye have done?
I also told you not to make any agreements with the people living in the land and to tear down their altars. But you refused to obey what I said. Why did you do this?
3 And I also have said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be evil neighbors to you, and their gods shall become a snare unto you.
I also warned you, ‘I will not drive them out before you, and they will be snares for you, and their gods will be traps for you.’”
4 And it came to pass, when the messenger of the Lord spoke these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.
After the angel of the Lord had explained this to all the Israelites, the people wept out loud.
5 And they called the name of that place, Bochim; and they sacrificed there unto the Lord.
That's why they named the place Bokim, and they presented sacrifices there to the Lord.
6 And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to take possession of the land.
After Joshua had dismissed the people, the Israelites went to take possession of the land, each to their allotted land.
7 And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that lived many days after Joshua, who had seen all the great deeds of the Lord, which he had done for Israel.
The people continued to worship the Lord throughout Joshua's life, and throughout the lifetimes of the elders who outlived him, those who had seen all the wonderful things that the Lord had done for Israel.
8 Then died Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, being one hundred and ten years old.
Joshua, son of Nun, servant of the Lord, died at the age of one hundred and ten.
9 And they buried him on the border of his inheritance in Timnath-cheres, in the mountain of Ephraim, on the north side of mount Ga'ash.
They buried him in Timnath-heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash, the land he had been allocated.
10 And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers; and there arose another generation after them, who knew not the Lord, and likewise not the deeds which he had done for Israel.
Once that generation had passed away, the generation that followed did not know the Lord, or what he had done for Israel.
11 And the children of Israel did the evil in the eyes of the Lord, and served the Be'alim:
The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord's sight, and they worshiped the Baals.
12 And they forsook the Lord the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they went after other gods, of the gods of the nations that were round about them, and they bowed themselves unto them, and incensed the Lord.
They deserted the Lord, the God of their forefathers, who had led them out of Egypt. They followed other gods, bowing down in worship to the gods of the peoples around them, making the Lord angry.
13 And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and 'Ashtaroth.
They deserted the Lord and worshiped Baal and Ashtaroth idols.
14 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of spoilers who spoiled them, and he sold them into the hand of their enemies round about, and they were not able any longer to stand before their enemies.
Because the Lord was angry with Israel he handed them over to invaders who plundered them. He sold them to their enemies all around—enemies they could no longer resist.
15 Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had spoken, and as the Lord had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.
Whenever Israel went into battle, the Lord fought against them and defeated them, just as he had warned them and as he had vowed he would do. They were in a great deal of trouble.
16 And the Lord raised up judges, and they delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.
Then the Lord provided them with judges, who saved them from their invaders.
17 But also unto their judges they did not hearken; but they went astray after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers had walked in, to obey the commandments of the Lord; they did not so.
But even so, they refused to listen to their judges, and prostituted themselves by following other gods, bowing down in worship to them. They quickly abandoned the way their forefathers had followed, and they did not obey the Lord's commandments as their forefathers had.
18 And when the Lord raised them up judges, then was the Lord with the judge, and he delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord bethought himself because of their groaning by reason of those that oppressed them and ill-treated them.
When the Lord provided Israel with judges over Israel, he was with each judge and saved the people from their enemies during that judge's lifetime, because the Lord felt sorry for his people, who groaned under their oppressors and persecutors.
19 And it came to pass, when the judge died, that they returned, and became more corrupt than their fathers, in going after other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them: they omitted nothing from their doings, and from their stubborn way.
But when the judge died, the people relapsed, and did worse things even than their forefathers, following other gods and worshiping them. They refused to give up what they were doing and held to their stubborn ways.
20 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel; and he said, For the cause that this people have transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice:
As a result the Lord became angry with Israel and he told them, “Because this nation has broken the agreement I ordered their forefathers to obey, and has not paid attention to what I said,
21 So will I also for my part not drive out henceforth any man from before them out of the nations which Joshua left when he died;
from now on I won't drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died.
22 In order to prove through them the Israelites, whether they will keep the way of the Lord, to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.
This is in order to use them to test Israel to see if they will keep the way of the Lord and follow it as their forefathers did.”
23 And thus did the Lord leave these nations, so as not to drive them out speedily; and he delivered them not into the hand of Joshua.
This is the reason why the Lord allowed those nations to remain, and didn't immediately drive them out by handing them over to Joshua.
