¹⁶Then the Lord gave them leaders. The leaders saved them from the power of those robbers. ¹⁷But the people wouldn’t listen to their leaders. They weren’t faithful to the Lord. They joined themselves to other gods and worshiped them. They didn’t obey the Lord’s commands as their people before them had done. They quickly turned away from the path their people had taken.

¹⁸When the Lord gave them a leader, he was with that leader. He saved the people from the power of their enemies. He did it as long as the leader lived. He was very sorry for the people. They groaned because of what their enemies did to them. The enemies beat them down. They treated them badly.

¹⁹But when the leader died, the people returned to their evil ways. The things they did were even more sinful than the things their people before them had done. They followed other gods. They served them. They worshiped them. They refused to give up their evil practices. They wouldn’t change their stubborn ways.

²⁰So the Lord’s anger burned against the people of Israel. He said, “This nation has broken my covenant. I made it with their people of long ago. But this nation has not listened to me. ²¹Joshua left some nations in the land when he died. I will not drive those nations out to make room for you anymore. ²²I will use them to put Israel to the test. I will see whether Israel will live the way I want them to. I will see whether they will follow my path, just as their people did long ago.”

²³The Lord had let those nations remain in the land. He didn’t drive them out right away. He didn’t hand them over to Joshua.

3The Lord left some nations in the land. He left them there in order to put the people of Israel to the test. He did it for all those who hadn’t lived through any of the wars in Canaan. ²He wanted to teach the men in Israel who had never been in battle before. He wanted them to learn how to fight. ³So he left the five rulers of the Philistines. He left the people of Canaan and the people of Sidon. He left the Hivites who were living in the Lebanon mountains. They lived in the area that was between Mount Baal Hermon and Lebo Hamath.

⁴The Lord left those nations where they were in order to put Israel to the test. He wanted to see whether they would obey his commands. He had given those commands through Moses to their people of long ago.

⁵So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. ⁶They got married to the daughters of those people. They gave their own daughters to the sons of those people. And they served the gods of those people.

Othniel

⁷The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God. They served the gods that were named after Baal. They also served the goddesses that were named after Asherah.

⁸So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel. He gave them over to the power of Cushan-Rishathaim. He was the king of Aram Naharaim. For eight years Israel was under his rule.

⁹They cried out to the Lord. Then he gave them a man to save them. His name was Othniel, the son of Kenaz. He was Caleb’s younger brother. ¹⁰The Spirit of the Lord came on Othniel. So he became Israel’s leader. He went to war. The Lord handed Cushan-Rishathaim, the king of Aram, over to him. Othniel overpowered him.

¹¹So the land was at peace for 40 years. Then Othniel, the son of Kenaz, died.

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