JudgesChapter 2

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¹Now the angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim. He said, "I brought you up out of Egypt. I led you into the land I had promised to your fathers. I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you. ²And you must not make a covenant with the people of this land. You must tear down their altars.' But you have not obeyed me. Why have you done this? ³So now I tell you this. I will not drive these people out ahead of you. They will be thorns in your sides. And their gods will be a trap for you." ⁴The angel of the LORD said these words to all the Israelites. Then the people cried loudly. ⁵So they named that place Bochim. They offered sacrifices there to the LORD.a ⁶Joshua had sent the people away. Then the Israelites went out to take over the land. Each one went to his own share. ⁷The people served the LORD all through the life of Joshua. They also served him through the lives of the elders who lived longer than Joshua. These elders had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel. ⁸Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died. He was 110 years old. ⁹They buried him on his own land, at Timnath-heres. It was in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. ¹⁰That whole generation also died and joined their fathers. Then another generation grew up. They did not know the LORD. They did not know what he had done for Israel. ¹¹The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD. They served the Baals. ¹²So they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods, the gods of the nations around them. They bowed down to them and made the LORD angry. ¹³This was because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. ¹⁴Then the LORD's anger burned against Israel. He handed them over to robbers who took their things. He sold them to their enemies all around them. They could no longer stand up to their enemies. ¹⁵Every time Israel went out to fight, the LORD's hand was against them. He brought disaster on them, just as he had warned them with an oath. So they were in great trouble. ¹⁶Then the LORD gave them judges. The judges saved them from the robbers who took their things. ¹⁷But Israel did not listen to their judges. Instead, they were unfaithful to God like a prostitute. They went after other gods and bowed down to them. They quickly turned from the way their fathers had lived. Their fathers had obeyed the LORD's commands. But they did not do what their fathers had done. ¹⁸Each time the LORD gave the Israelites a judge, he was with that judge. He saved them from their enemies as long as the judge was alive. That was because the LORD felt sorry for them when they groaned. They groaned because of the people who were cruel to them and hurt them. ¹⁹But when the judge died, the Israelites became even worse than their fathers. They went after other gods to serve them and bow down to them. They would not give up their evil ways and their stubborn ways. ²⁰So the LORD's anger burned against Israel. He said, "This nation has broken the covenant I gave their fathers. They have not listened to me. ²¹So I will not drive out ahead of them any of the nations that were left when Joshua died. ²²I will use these nations to test Israel. I will see if they will keep to the way of the LORD and walk in it, as their fathers did." ²³That is why the LORD had left those nations in the land. He had not driven them out right away. He had not handed them over to Joshua.