Judges 2
1 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).
| ויעל מלאך יהוה מן הגלגל אל הבכים ויאמר אעלה אתכם ממצרים ואביא אתכם אל הארץ אשר נשבעתי לאבתיכם ואמר לא אפר בריתי אתכם לעולם׃ |
2 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.
| ואתם לא תכרתו ברית ליושבי הארץ הזאת מזבחותיהם תתצון ולא שמעתם בקלי מה זאת עשיתם׃ |
3 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.”
| וגם אמרתי לא אגרש אותם מפניכם והיו לכם לצדים ואלהיהם יהיו לכם למוקש׃ |
4 After he told that to all the Israelis, the people cried loudly.
| ויהי כדבר מלאך יהוה את הדברים האלה אל כל בני ישראל וישאו העם את קולם ויבכו׃ |
5 They called that place Bokim, [which means ‘weeping’]. There they offered sacrifices to Yahweh.
| ויקראו שם המקום ההוא בכים ויזבחו שם ליהוה׃ |
6 After Joshua sent the Israeli people away, each group went to possess the land that had been allotted to them.
| וישלח יהושע את העם וילכו בני ישראל איש לנחלתו לרשת את הארץ׃ |
7 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.
| ויעבדו העם את יהוה כל ימי יהושע וכל ימי הזקנים אשר האריכו ימים אחרי יהושוע אשר ראו את כל מעשה יהוה הגדול אשר עשה לישראל׃ |
8 Then Yahweh’s servant Joshua died. He was 110 years old when he died.
| וימת יהושע בן נון עבד יהוה בן מאה ועשר שנים׃ |
9 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.
| ויקברו אותו בגבול נחלתו בתמנת חרס בהר אפרים מצפון להר געש׃ |
10 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.
| וגם כל הדור ההוא נאספו אל אבותיו ויקם דור אחר אחריהם אשר לא ידעו את יהוה וגם את המעשה אשר עשה לישראל׃ |
11 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.
| ויעשו בני ישראל את הרע בעיני יהוה ויעבדו את הבעלים׃ |
| ויעזבו את יהוה אלהי אבותם המוציא אותם מארץ מצרים וילכו אחרי אלהים אחרים מאלהי העמים אשר סביבותיהם וישתחוו להם ויכעסו את יהוה׃ |
| ויעזבו את יהוה ויעבדו לבעל ולעשתרות׃ |
14 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.
| ויחר אף יהוה בישראל ויתנם ביד שסים וישסו אותם וימכרם ביד אויביהם מסביב ולא יכלו עוד לעמד לפני אויביהם׃ |
15 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.
| בכל אשר יצאו יד יהוה היתה בם לרעה כאשר דבר יהוה וכאשר נשבע יהוה להם ויצר להם מאד׃ |
16 Then Yahweh gave leaders to them. These leaders rescued the Israelis from the people who were raiding them.
| ויקם יהוה שפטים ויושיעום מיד שסיהם׃ |
17 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.
| וגם אל שפטיהם לא שמעו כי זנו אחרי אלהים אחרים וישתחוו להם סרו מהר מן הדרך אשר הלכו אבותם לשמע מצות יהוה לא עשו כן׃ |
18 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.
| וכי הקים יהוה להם שפטים והיה יהוה עם השפט והושיעם מיד איביהם כל ימי השופט כי ינחם יהוה מנאקתם מפני לחציהם ודחקיהם׃ |
19 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.
| והיה במות השופט ישבו והשחיתו מאבותם ללכת אחרי אלהים אחרים לעבדם ולהשתחות להם לא הפילו ממעלליהם ומדרכם הקשה׃ |
20 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.
| ויחר אף יהוה בישראל ויאמר יען אשר עברו הגוי הזה את בריתי אשר צויתי את אבותם ולא שמעו לקולי׃ |
21 So I will no longer expel the people-groups that Joshua left in this land when he died.
| גם אני לא אוסיף להוריש איש מפניהם מן הגוים אשר עזב יהושע וימת׃ |
22 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.”
| למען נסות בם את ישראל השמרים הם את דרך יהוה ללכת בם כאשר שמרו אבותם אם לא׃ |
23 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.
| וינח יהוה את הגוים האלה לבלתי הורישם מהר ולא נתנם ביד יהושע׃ |
