Judges
Chapter 2
1 An angel of God came from Gilgal to Bochim and said, “I brought you out of Egypt and into the land I promised your ancestors; and I said, I will always keep my promise to you.”
2 Do not make agreements with the people of this land; destroy their places of worship. But you did not listen to me: why did you do this?
3 So I said, I won’t force them out from your way; but they will be like thorns to bother you, and their gods will trap you.
4 When God’s angel said these things to all the Israelites, the people raised their voice and cried.
5 They named that place Bochim and offered sacrifices to God there.
6 After Joshua sent the people away, every Israelite went to their own land to take it over.
7 The people worshiped God during Joshua’s lifetime and while the older leaders lived, those who had seen all the great things God had done for Israel.
8 Joshua, Nun’s son and God’s servant, died at 110 years old.
9 They buried him at the edge of his land in Timnath Heres, in the hills of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
10 That whole generation passed away, and a new generation grew up after them who didn’t know God or remember what He had done for Israel.
11 The Israelites did bad things that God saw, and they worshipped Baal gods.
12 They left the God of their ancestors who had led them out of Egypt, and chased after other gods from the surrounding peoples, worshiping them and making God angry.
13 They left God and worshiped Baal and Ashtaroth.
14 God was very angry with Israel, so he let raiders come to rob them and sold them to their surrounding enemies, making it impossible for them to resist those enemies.
15 Wherever they went, God’s hand was against them for harm, just as God had said and promised, and they were in great trouble.
16 However, God appointed leaders who saved them from their attackers.
17 Still, they wouldn’t listen to their judges. They chased after other gods, worshipping them. They quickly left the path their ancestors followed, the one where they obeyed God’s commands; but they did not do the same.
18 When God gave them judges, God was with the judge and saved them from their enemies for as long as that judge lived. God felt sorry for them because they were groaning under those who were pressing and troubling them.
19 After the judge died, they turned back and behaved worse than their ancestors, by following and worshiping other gods, and by bowing down to them. They didn’t stop their actions or their stubborn behavior.
20 God was very angry with Israel and said, “Because these people have broken the agreement I made with their ancestors and have not listened to me;
21 From now on, I will not force out any of the nations that Joshua left behind when he died.
22 I will test Israel with these commands to see if they will follow God’s path as their ancestors did or not.
23 So God did not quickly remove those nations, nor did he hand them over to Joshua.