Judges 2

The Angel of the Lord at Bokim

1 The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, “I brought you up from Egypt and led you to the land I promised to give your ancestors. I said, ‘I will never break my agreement with you.2 But you must not make an agreement with the people who live in this land. You must destroy their altars.’ But you did not obey me. How could you do this?

3 Now I tell you, ‘I will not force out the people in this land. They will be your enemies, and their gods will be a trap for you.’ ”
4 After the angel gave Israel this message from the Lord, they cried loudly.5 So they named the place Bokim. 

Joshua Dies

6 Then Joshua sent the people back to their land.7 The people served the Lord during the lifetime of Joshua and during the lifetimes of the elders who lived after Joshua and who had seen what great things the Lord had done for Israel.8 Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of one hundred ten.

9 They buried him in his own land at Timnath Serah in the mountains of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

The People Disobey

10 After those people had died, their children grew up and did not know the Lord or what he had done for Israel.11 So they did what the Lord said was wrong, and they worshiped the Baal idols.12 They quit following the Lord, the God of their ancestors who had brought them out of Egypt. They began to worship the gods of the people who lived around them, and that made the Lord angry.13 The Israelites quit following the Lord and worshiped Baal and Ashtoreth.14 The Lord was angry with the people of Israel, so he handed them over to robbers who took their possessions. He let their enemies who lived around them defeat them; they could not protect themselves.

15 When the Israelites went out to fight, they always lost, because the Lord was not with them. The Lord had sworn to them this would happen. So the Israelites suffered very much.

God Chooses Judges

16 Then the Lord chose leaders called judges, 17 But the Israelites did not listen to their judges. They were not faithful to God but worshiped other gods instead. Their ancestors had obeyed the Lord’s commands, but they quickly turned away and did not obey.18 When their enemies hurt them, the Israelites cried for help. So the Lord felt sorry for them and sent judges to save them from their enemies. The Lord was with those judges all their lives.

19 But when the judges died, the Israelites again sinned and worshiped other gods. They became worse than their ancestors. The Israelites were very stubborn and refused to change their evil ways.
20 So the Lord became angry with the Israelites. He said, “These people have broken the agreement I made with their ancestors. They have not listened to me.21 I will no longer defeat the nations who were left when Joshua died.22 I will use them to test Israel, to see if Israel will keep the Lord’s commands as their ancestors did.”23 In the past the Lord had permitted those nations to stay in the land. He did not quickly force them out or help Joshua’s army defeat them.

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.