Judges 2:6–3:6

Joshua Dies

⁶And Joshua sent the people away, and the Israelites^h went each to theirⁱ own inheritance to take possession of the land. ⁷And the people served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who saw all the great work Yahweh had done for Israel. ⁸And Joshua son of Nun, servant of Yahweh, died at the age of one hundred and ten years.^{j 9}They buried him within the border of his inheritance in Timnah-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash. ¹⁰Moreover, that entire generation was gathered to their^k ancestors,^l and another generation grew up after them who did not know Yahweh or the work he had done for Israel.^m

Israel Worships the Baals

¹¹The Israelitesⁿ did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and they served^o the Baals. ¹²They abandoned Yahweh the God of their ancestors,^p who brought them out from the land of Egypt. They followed^q other gods from the gods of the people who were around them; and they bowed down to them, and they provoked the anger of Yahweh. ¹³They abandoned Yahweh, and they served Baal and the Ashtaroth. ¹⁴So the anger of Yahweh was kindled^r against Israel, and he gave them into the hand of plunderers; and they plundered them, and he sold them into the hand of their enemies from all sides. They were unable to withstand their enemies any longer. ¹⁵Whenever^s they went out, the hand of Yahweh was against them to harm them, just as Yahweh warned, and just as Yahweh had sworn to them. And they were very distressed.^t

¹⁶Then Yahweh raised up leaders,^u and they delivered them from the hand of their plunderers. ¹⁷But they did not listen to their leaders,^v but lusted after other gods and bowed down to them. They turned away quickly from the way that their ancestors^w went, who had obeyed the commandment of Yahweh; they did not do as their ancestors. ¹⁸And when Yahweh raised leaders^x for them, Yahweh was with the leader,^y and he delivered them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the leader,^z for Yahweh was moved by their groaning because of their persecutors and oppressors. ¹⁹But when the leader^a died they relapsed and acted corruptly, more than their ancestors,^b following other gods, serving them,^c and bowing down to them. They would not give up their deeds or their stubborn ways. ²⁰So the anger of Yahweh burned^d against Israel, and he said, “Because this people transgressed my covenant that I commanded their ancestors,^e and have not obeyed my voice, ²¹I will not again drive out anyone from before them from the nations that Joshua left when he died, ²²in order to test Israel whether or not they would observe the way of Yahweh, to walk in it just as their ancestors^f did.” ²³So Yahweh left those nations; he did not drive them out at once, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua.

Some Nations Remain in the Land

3These are the nations that Yahweh left, to test Israel by them (that is, to test all those who had not experienced^a any of the wars of Canaan, ²in order that the generations of Israel would know war, to teach those who had not experienced it^b before): ³the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites,^c the Sidonians,^d and the Hivites^e living on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon up to Lebo-Hamath. ⁴They were left for testing Israel, to know whether they would keep the commands of Yahweh that he commanded their ancestors^f through the hand of Moses. ⁵And the Israelites^g lived in the midst of the Canaanites,^h the Hittites,ⁱ the Amorites,^j the Perizzites,^k the Hivites,^l and the Jebusites.^{m 6}And they took their daughters as wives for themselves, and they gave their daughters to their sons, and they served their gods.ⁿ