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.

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Footnotes

uOr “judges”
vOr “judges”
wOr “fathers”
xOr “judges”
yOr “judge”
zOr “judge”
aOr “judge”
bOr “fathers”
cOr “worshiping them”
dLiterally “So the nose of Yahweh became hot”
eOr “fathers”
fOr “fathers”