Israel Stops Worshiping the Lord

¹¹ Then the people of Israel sinned against the Lord and began to serve the Baals. ¹² They stopped worshiping the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the God who had brought them out of Egypt, and they began to worship other gods, the gods of the peoples around them. They bowed down to them and made the Lord angry. ¹³ They stopped worshiping the Lord and served the Baals and the Astartes. ¹⁴ And so the Lord became furious with Israel and let raiders attack and rob them. He let the enemies all around overpower them, and the Israelites could no longer protect themselves. ¹⁵ Every time they would go into battle, the Lord was against them, just as he had said he would be. They were in great distress.

¹⁶ Then the Lord gave the Israelites leaders who saved them from the raiders.

¹⁰ We'll oppress the poor, even if they are righteous. We'll show no respect for widows or old people. ¹¹ We'll call ourselves right if we are strong enough to get what we want. No one ever got anywhere by being weak! ¹² Righteous people are nothing but a nuisance, so let's look for chances to get rid of them. They are against what we do; they accuse us of breaking the Law of Moses and violating the traditions of our ancestors. ¹³ They claim to know God, and they call themselves the Lord's children. ¹⁴ We can't stand the sight of people like that; what they are contradicts our whole way of thinking. ¹⁵ They are not like other people; they have strange ways. ¹⁶ They think that our moral standards are so corrupt that everything we do should be avoided. They boast of having God for their Father, and believe that when all is said and done, only the righteous will be happy. ¹⁷ But we'll see if that's true! Let's see what will happen when it's time for them to die! ¹⁸ If the righteous really are God's children, God will save them from their enemies. ¹⁹ So let's put them to the test. We'll be cruel to them, and torment them; then we'll find out how calm and reasonable they are! We'll find out just how much they can stand! ²⁰ We'll condemn them to a shameful death. After all, they say that God will protect them.