Judges 2

1 And the angel of Jehovah came up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you:2 and ye shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall break down their altars. But ye have not hearkened unto my voice: why have ye done this?3 Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.4 And it came to pass, when the angel of Jehovah spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.5 And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto Jehovah.

6 Now when Joshua had sent the people away, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land.7 And the people served Jehovah all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of Jehovah that he had wrought for Israel.8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Jehovah, died, being a hundred and ten years old.9 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill-country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash.10 And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, that knew not Jehovah, nor yet the work which he had wrought for Israel.

11 And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and served the Baalim;12 and they forsook Jehovah, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the peoples that were round about them, and bowed themselves down unto them: and they provoked Jehovah to anger.13 And they forsook Jehovah, and served Baal and the Ashtaroth.14 And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that despoiled them; and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.15 Whithersoever they went out, the hand of Jehovah was against them for evil, as Jehovah had spoken, and as Jehovah had sworn unto them: and they were sore distressed.

16 And Jehovah raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those that despoiled them.17 And yet they hearkened not unto their judges; for they played the harlot after other gods, and bowed themselves down unto them: they turned aside quickly out of the way wherein their fathers walked, obeying the commandments of Jehovah; but they did not so.18 And when Jehovah raised them up judges, then Jehovah was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented Jehovah because of their groaning by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.19 But it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they turned back, and dealt more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their doings, nor from their stubborn way.20 And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel; and he said, Because this nation have transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice;21 I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations that Joshua left when he died;22 that by them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of Jehovah to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.23 So Jehovah left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.

Judges 2

Confrontation and Repentance at Bokim

1 The Lord’s angelic messengers went up from Gilgal to Bokim. He said, “I brought you up from Egypt and led you into the land I had solemnly promised to give to your ancestors.t I said, ‘I will never break my agreementt with you,2 but you must not make an agreement with the people who live in this land. You should tear down the altars where they worship.’t But you have disobeyed me.t Why would you do such a thing?t

3 At that time I also warned you,t ‘If you disobey,t I will not drive out the Canaanitest before you. They will ensnare yout and their gods will lure you away.’”t
4 When the Lord’s messenger finished speaking these words to all the Israelites, the people wept loudly.t

5 They named that place Bokims and offered sacrifices to the Lord there.

The End of an Era

6 When Joshua dismissedt the people, the Israelites went to their allotted portions of territory,t intending to take possession of the land.7 The people worshipedt the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and as long as the elderly ment who outlived him remained alive. These men had witnessedt all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.t8 Joshua son of Nun, the Lord’s servant, died at the age of one hundred ten.9 The peoplet buried him in his allotted landt in Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

10 That entire generation passed away;t a new generation grew upt that had not personally experienced the Lord’s presence or seen what he had done for Israel.t

A Monotonous Cycle

11 The Israelites did evil beforet the Lord by worshipingt the Baals.12 They abandoned the Lord God of their ancestorst who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods – the gods of the nations who lived around them. They worshipedt them and made the Lord angry.

13 They abandoned the Lord and worshiped Baal and the Ashtars.ts
14 The Lord was furious with Israelt and handed them over to robbers who plundered them.ts He turned them over tot their enemies who lived around them. They could not withstand their enemies’ attacks.t

15 Whenever they went out to fight,t the Lord did them harm,t just as he had warned and solemnly vowed he would do.t They suffered greatly.t
16 The Lord raised up leaderst who delivered them from these robbers.t17 But they did not obeyt their leaders. Instead they prostituted themselves to other gods and worshipedt them. They quickly turned aside from the patht their ancestorst had walked. Their ancestors had obeyed the Lord’s commands, but they did not.t18 When the Lord raised up leaders for them, the Lord was with each leader and delivered the peoplet from their enemies while the leader remained alive. The Lord felt sorry for themt when they cried out in agony because of what their harsh oppressors did to them.t

19 When a leader died, the next generationt would againt act more wickedly than the previous one.ts They would follow after other gods, worshiping themt and bowing down to them. They did not give upt their practices or their stubborn ways.

A Divine Decision

20 The Lord was furious with Israel.t He said, “This nationt has violated the terms of the agreement I made with their ancestorst by disobeying me.t21 So I will no longer remove before them any of the nations that Joshua left unconquered when he died.22 Joshua left those nationst to testt Israel. I wanted to seet whether or not the peoplet would carefully walk in the patht marked out byt the Lord, as their ancestorst were careful to do.”

23 This is whyt the Lord permitted these nations to remain and did not conquer them immediately;t he did not hand them over to Joshua.