Judges 2

Chapter 2

The LORD’s Messenger Comes to Bokim

1 The angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said to the Israelites, “I brought you out of Egypt into this land that I swore to give your ancestors, and I said I would never break my covenant with you.2 For your part, you were not to make any covenants with the people living in this land; instead, you were to destroy their altars. But you disobeyed my command. Why did you do this?

3 So now I declare that I will no longer drive out the people living in your land. They will be thorns in your sides,t and their gods will be a constant temptation to you.”
4 When the angel of the LORD finished speaking to all the Israelites, the people wept loudly.

5 So they called the place Bokim (which means “weeping”), and they offered sacrifices there to the LORD.

The Death of Joshua

6 After Joshua sent the people away, each of the tribes left to take possession of the land allotted to them.

7 And the Israelites served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and the leaders who outlived him—those who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel.
8 Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of 110.

9 They buried him in the land he had been allocated, at Timnath-seraht in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

Israel Disobeys the LORD

10 After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the LORD or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel.
11 The Israelites did evil in the LORD’s sight and served the images of Baal.12 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.13 They abandoned the LORD to serve Baal and the images of Ashtoreth.14 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.

15 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.

The LORD Rescues His People

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

17 Yet Israel did not listen to the judges but prostituted themselves by worshiping other gods. How quickly they turned away from the path of their ancestors, who had walked in obedience to the LORD’s commands.
18 Whenever the LORD raised up a judge over Israel, he was with that judge and rescued the people from their enemies throughout the judge’s lifetime. For the LORD took pity on his people, who were burdened by oppression and suffering.

19 But when the judge died, the people returned to their corrupt ways, behaving worse than those who had lived before them. They went after other gods, serving and worshiping them. And they refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.
20 So the LORD burned with anger against Israel. He said, “Because these people have violated my covenant, which I made with their ancestors, and have ignored my commands,21 I will no longer drive out the nations that Joshua left unconquered when he died.22 I did this to test Israel—to see whether or not they would follow the ways of the LORD as their ancestors did.”

23 That is why the LORD left those nations in place. He did not quickly drive them out or allow Joshua to conquer them all.

JUDGES 2

The [Lord]'s Angel Speaks //to Israel

1 The [Lord]'s angel went from Gilgal to Bochimt and gave the Israelites this message from the [Lord]:
I promised your ancestors that I would give this land to their families, and I brought your people here from Egypt. We made an agreement that I promised never to break,

2 t and you promised not to make any peace treaties with the other nations that live in the land. Besides that, you agreed to tear down the altars where they sacrifice to their idols. Why haven't you kept your promise?

3 And so, I'll stop helping you defeat your enemies. Instead, they will be there to trapt you into worshiping their idols.
4 The Israelites started crying loudly,

5 and they offered sacrifices to the [Lord]. From then on, they called that place “Crying.”t

Israel Stops Worshiping //the [Lord]

6-9  t Joshua had been faithful to the [Lord]. And after Joshua sent the Israelites to take the land they had been promised, they remained faithful to the [Lord] until Joshua died at the age of 110. He was buried on his land in Timnath-Heres, in the hill country of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash. Even though Joshua was gone, the Israelites were faithful to the [Lord] during the lifetime of those men who had been leaders with Joshua and who had seen the wonderful things the [Lord] had done for Israel.
10 After a while the people of Joshua's generation died, and the next generation did not know the [Lord] or any of the things he had done for Israel.

11-13 The [Lord] had brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and they had worshiped him. But now the Israelites stopped worshiping the [Lord] and worshiped the idols of Baal and Astarte, as well as the idols of other gods from nearby nations.
The [Lord] was so angry

14-15 with the Israelites that he let other nations raid Israel and steal their crops and other possessions. Enemies were everywhere, and the [Lord] always let them defeat Israel in battle. The [Lord] had warned Israel he would do this, and now the Israelites were miserable.

The [Lord] Chooses Leaders //for Israel

17 In years gone by, the Israelites had been faithful to the [Lord], but now they were quick to be unfaithful and to refuse even to listen to these judges. The Israelites disobeyed the [Lord], and instead of worshiping him, they worshiped other gods.
18 When enemies made life miserable for the Israelites, the [Lord] felt sorry for them. He would choose a judge and help that judge rescue Israel from its enemies. The [Lord] was kind to Israel as long as that judge lived.

19 But afterwards, the Israelites would become even more sinful than their ancestors had been. The Israelites were stubborn—they simply would not stop worshiping other gods or following their teachings.

The [Lord] Lets Enemies //Test Israel

20 The [Lord] was angry with Israel and said:
The Israelites have broken the agreement I made with their ancestors. They won't obey me, 21 so I'll stop helping them defeat their enemies. Israel still had a lot of enemies when Joshua died,

22 and I'm going to let those enemies stay. I'll use them to test Israel, because then I can find out if Israel will worship and obey me as their ancestors did.
23 That's why the [Lord] had not let Joshua get rid of those enemy nations all at once.