Judges 2

Pattern of Sin and Judgment

2The Angel of the Lord ^jwent up from Gilgal to Bochim ^kand said, “I brought you out of Egypt and led you into the land ^lI had promised to your fathers. ^mI also said: I will never break My covenant with you. ²You are not to make a covenant ⁿwith the people who are living in this land, and you are to tear down their altars. ^opBut you have not obeyed Me. What is this you have done? ³Therefore, I now say: I will not drive out these people before you. ^qThey will be thorns ^rsin your sides, ^tand their gods will be a trap for you.” ^u4When the Angel of the Lord had spoken these words to all the Israelites, the people wept loudly. ⁵So they named that place Bochim ^vand offered sacrifices there to the Lord.

Joshua’s Death

⁶Joshua sent the people away, and the Israelites went to take possession of the land, each to his own inheritance. ^w7The people worshiped the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and during the lifetimes of the elders who outlived ^xJoshua. They had seen all the Lord’s great works ^yHe had done for Israel.

⁸Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110. ⁹They buried him in the territory of his inheritance, in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, ^znorth of Mount Gaash. ¹⁰That whole generation was also gathered to their ancestors. After them another generation rose up who did not know the Lord ^aor the works He had done for Israel.

¹¹The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. ^bThey worshiped the Baals ^c12and abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods from the surrounding peoples ^dand bowed down to them. They infuriated the Lord, ^e13for they abandoned Him and worshiped Baal and the Ashtoreths. ^f

¹⁴The Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and He handed them over to marauders who raided them. He sold ^gthem to ^hthe enemies around them, and they could no longer resist their enemies. ¹⁵Whenever the Israelites went out, the Lord ⁱwas against them ^jand brought disaster on them, just as He had promised and sworn to them. ^kSo they suffered greatly.

¹⁶The Lord raised up ^ljudges, who saved them from the power of their marauders, ¹⁷but they did not listen to their judges. Instead, they prostituted ^mthemselves with other gods, bowing down to them. They quickly turned from the way ⁿof their fathers, who had walked in obedience to the Lord’s commands. They did not do as their fathers did. ¹⁸Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for the Israelites, the Lord was with ^ohim and saved the people from the power of their enemies while the judge was still alive. ^pThe Lord was moved to pity whenever they groaned because of those who were oppressing and afflicting them. ¹⁹Whenever the judge died, the Israelites would act even more corruptly ^qthan their fathers, going after other gods to worship and bow down to them. They did not turn from their evil practices or their obstinate ^rways.

²⁰The Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and He declared, “Because this nation has violated My covenant ^sthat I made with their fathers ^tand disobeyed Me, ²¹I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left ^uwhen he died. ^v22I did this to test Israel and to see whether they would keep the Lord’s way ^wby walking in it, as their fathers had.” ^x23The Lord left these nations and did not drive them out immediately. He did not hand them over to Joshua.