⁶Once again the Israelites sinned against the Lord by worshipping the Baals and the Astartes, as well as the gods of Syria, of Sidon, of Moab, of Ammon, and of Philistia. They abandoned the Lord and stopped worshipping him. ⁷So the Lord became angry with the Israelites, and let the Philistines and the Ammonites conquer them. ⁸For eighteen years they oppressed and persecuted all the Israelites who lived in Amorite country east of the River Jordan in Gilead. ⁹The Ammonites even crossed the Jordan to fight the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. Israel was in great distress.

¹⁰Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord and said, “We have sinned against you, for we left you, our God, and worshipped the Baals.”

¹¹The Lord gave them this answer: “The Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, ¹²the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites oppressed you in the past, and you cried out to me. Did I not save you from them? ¹³But you still left me and worshipped other gods, so I am not going to rescue you again. ¹⁴Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them rescue you when you get into trouble.”

¹⁵But the people of Israel said to the Lord, “We have sinned. Do whatever you like, but please, save us today.” ¹⁶So they got rid of their foreign gods and worshipped the Lord; and he became troubled over Israel’s distress.

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