^2:11The Israelites did evil before²⁵ the Lord by worshiping²⁶ the Baals. ^2:12They abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors²⁷ who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods—the gods of the nations who lived around them. They worshiped²⁸ them and made the Lord angry. ^2:13They abandoned the Lord and worshiped Baal and the Ashtars.²⁹

^2:14The Lord was furious with Israel³⁰ and handed them over to robbers who plundered them.³¹ He turned them over to³² their enemies who lived around them. They could not withstand their enemies’ attacks.³³^2:15Whenever they went out to fight,³⁴ the Lord did them harm,³⁵ just as he had warned and solemnly vowed he would do.³⁶ They suffered greatly.³⁷

^2:16The Lord raised up leaders³⁸ who delivered them from these robbers.³⁹

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Footnotes

25 Heb “in the eyes of.”
26 Or “serving”; or “following.”
27 Or “fathers.”
28 Or “bowed before” (the same expression occurs in the following verse).
29 Some English translations simply transliterate the plural Hebrew term (“Ashtaroth,” cf. , ), pluralize the transliterated Hebrew singular form (“Ashtoreths,” cf. ), or use a variation of the name (“Astartes,” cf. ). The Ashtars were local manifestations of the goddess Astarte.
30 Or “The Lord’s anger burned [or “raged”] against Israel.”
31 Heb “robbers who robbed them.” (The verb שָׁסָה [shasah] appears twice in the verse.) The expression robbers who plundered them is a derogatory reference to the enemy nations, as the next line indicates.
32 Heb “sold them into the hands of.”
33 The word “attacks” is supplied in the translation both for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
34 The expression “to fight” is interpretive.
35 Heb “the Lord’s hand was against them for harm.”
36 Heb “just as he had said and just as he had sworn to them.”
37 Or “they experienced great distress.”
38 Or more traditionally, “judges” (also in vv. 17, 18 [3×], 19). Since these figures carried out more than a judicial function, also serving as rulers and (in several instances) as military commanders, the translation uses the term “leaders.”
39 Heb “and they delivered them from the hand of the ones robbing them.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger. They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.

Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They aroused the Lord’s anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. In his anger against Israel the Lord gave them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist. Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.

Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. They worshiped the Baals and abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed other gods from the surrounding peoples and bowed down to them. They angered the Lord, for they abandoned him and worshiped Baal and the Ashtoreths.

The Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and he handed them over to marauders who raided them. He sold them to the enemies around them, and they could no longer resist their enemies. Whenever the Israelites went out, the Lord was against them and brought disaster on them, just as he had promised and sworn to them. So they suffered greatly.

The Lord raised up judges, who saved them from the power of their marauders,

NLTNew Living Translation

The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight and served the images of Baal. They abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods, worshiping the gods of the people around them. And they angered the Lord. They abandoned the Lord to serve Baal and the images of Ashtoreth. This made the Lord burn with anger against Israel, so he handed them over to raiders who stole their possessions. He turned them over to their enemies all around, and they were no longer able to resist them. Every time Israel went out to battle, the Lord fought against them, causing them to be defeated, just as he had warned. And the people were in great distress.

Then the Lord raised up judges to rescue the Israelites from their attackers.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

The Israelites did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and they served the Baals. They abandoned Yahweh the God of their ancestors, who brought them out from the land of Egypt. They followed 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. They abandoned Yahweh, and they served Baal and the Ashtaroth. So the anger of Yahweh was kindled 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. Whenever 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.

Then Yahweh raised up leaders, and they delivered them from the hand of their plunderers.

KJV 1900King James Version

And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim: And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger. And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed. Nevertheless the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.

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