Judges 2
1 The angel of YHWH came up from Gilgal to Bochim. He said, "I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you to the land which I swore to 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 you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.' But you have not listened to my voice: why have you 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 Therefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you, but they will become your adversaries, and their gods shall be a snare to 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 It happened, when the angel of YHWH spoke these words to 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 They called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there to YHWH.
They called that place Bokim, [which means ‘weeping’]. There they offered sacrifices to Yahweh.
6 Now when Joshua had sent the people away, the children of Israel went every man to 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 The people served YHWH all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of YHWH that he had worked 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 Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of YHWH, died, being one hundred ten years old.
Then Yahweh’s servant Joshua died. He was 110 years old when he died.
9 They buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath Serah, in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of 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 all that generation were also gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know YHWH, nor 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 The children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of YHWH, and served the Baals;
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, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them: and they provoked YHWH to anger.
13 They forsook YHWH, and served Baal and the Ashtaroth.
14 The anger of YHWH was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of marauders who plundered them; and he sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, 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 Wherever they went out, the hand of YHWH was against them for harm, as YHWH had spoken, and as YHWH had sworn to them: and they were in great distress.
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 YHWH raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them.
Then Yahweh gave leaders to them. These leaders rescued the Israelis from the people who were raiding them.
17 Yet they did not listen to their judges; for they played the prostitute after other gods, and bowed themselves down to them: they turned aside quickly out of the way in which their fathers walked, obeying the commandments of YHWH; but they did not do 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 When YHWH raised up judges for them, then YHWH was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it grieved YHWH because of their groaning by reason of those who oppressed them and troubled 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 But it happened, when the judge was dead, that they turned back, and dealt more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down to them; they did not cease from their practices, and they did not turn aside from their stubborn ways.
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 The anger of YHWH was kindled against Israel; and he said, "Because this nation has transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not obeyed 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 will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that 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 by them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the way of YHWH to walk in it, as their fathers kept 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 So 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.
