Judges 2

1  NOW THE Angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And He said, I brought you up from Egypt and have brought you to the land which I swore to give to your fathers, and I said, I will never break My covenant with you; 2  And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; but you shall break down their altars. But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this?3  So now I say, 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 to you.4  When the Angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the Israelites, the people lifted up their voice and wept.5  They named that place Bochim [weepers], and they sacrificed there to the Lord.6  And when Joshua had let the people go, the Israelites went every man to his inheritance to possess the land.7  And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which He did for Israel.8  And Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being 110 years old.9  And they buried him within the boundary of his inheritance in Timnath-heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.10  And also all that generation were gathered to their fathers, and there arose another generation after them who did not know (recognize, understand) the Lord, or even the work which He had done for Israel.11  And the people of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals.12  And they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, Who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods of the peoples round about them and bowed down to them, and provoked the Lord to anger.13  And they forsook the Lord and served Baal [the god worshiped by the Canaanites] and the Ashtaroth [female deities such as Ashtoreth and Asherah].14  So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He gave them into the power of plunderers who robbed them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could no longer stand before their foes.15  Whenever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn to them; and they were bitterly distressed. 16  But the Lord raised up judges, who delivered them out of the hands of those who robbed them.17  And yet they did not listen to their judges, for they played the harlot after other gods and bowed down to them. They turned quickly out of the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not so.18  When the Lord raised them up judges, then He was with the judge and delivered them out of the hands of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord was moved to relent because of their groanings by reason of those who oppressed and vexed them.19  But when the judge was dead, they turned back and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, following and serving other gods, and bowing down to them. They did not cease from their practices or their stubborn way.20  So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel; and He said, Because this people have transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers and have not listened to My voice,21  I from now on will also not drive out from before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died,22  That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk in it, as their fathers kept it, or not.23  So the Lord left those nations, without driving them out at once, nor had He delivered them into Joshua’s power.

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.