Israel's Disobedience

2 Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to ^(A)Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ^(B)‘I will never break my covenant with you, ^2 (C)and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; ^(D)you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? ³ So now I say, ^(E)I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become ^(F)thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.” ⁴ As soon as the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. ⁵ And they called the name of that place Bochim.^[a] And they sacrificed there to the Lord.

Israel's Unfaithfulness

^11 (A)And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. ^12 (B)And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. ^(C)They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and ^(D)bowed down to them. ^(E)And they provoked the Lord to anger. ¹³ They abandoned the Lord ^(F)and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. ^14 (G)So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he ^(H)gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. ^(I)And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, ^(J)so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. ¹⁵ Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, ^(K)and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.

The Lord Raises Up Judges

^16 (L)Then the Lord raised up judges, ^(M)who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. ¹⁷ Yet they did not listen to their judges, for ^(N)they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. ^(O)They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not do so. ¹⁸ Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, ^(P)the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. ^(Q)For the Lord was moved to pity by ^(R)their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. ¹⁹ But ^(S)whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. ^20 (T)So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this people ^(U)have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, ^21 (V)I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, ²² in order ^(W)to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the Lord as their fathers did, or not.” ²³ So the Lord left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua.

Final Instructions and Greetings

¹⁷ I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles ^(A)contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; ^(B)avoid them. ¹⁸ For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but ^(C)their own appetites,^[a] and ^(D)by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. ¹⁹ For ^(E)your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you ^(F)to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. ^20 (G)The God of peace ^(H)will soon crush Satan under your feet. ^(I)The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

^21 (J)Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.

²² I Tertius, ^(K)who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.

^23 (L)Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.^[b]

Doxology

^25 (M)Now to him who is able to strengthen you ^(N)according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, ^(O)according to the revelation of the mystery ^(P)that was kept secret for ^(Q)long ages ²⁶ but ^(R)has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, ^(S)to bring about the obedience of faith— ²⁷ to ^(T)the only wise God ^(U)be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

The Crucifixion

^32 (A)(B)As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to ^(C)carry his cross. ^33 (D)And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), ^34 (E)they offered him wine to drink, mixed with ^(F)gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. ³⁵ And when they had crucified him, ^(G)they divided his garments among them by casting lots. ³⁶ Then they sat down and ^(H)kept watch over him there. ³⁷ And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, ^(I)the King of the Jews.” ³⁸ Then two ^(J)robbers were crucified with him, ^(K)one on the right and one on the left. ³⁹ And ^(L)those who passed by ^(M)derided him, ^(N)wagging their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, ^(O)“You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! ^(P)If you are ^(Q)the Son of God, come down from the cross.” ⁴¹ So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, ^42 (R)“He saved others; ^(S)he cannot save himself. ^(T)He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. ^43 (U)He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” ^44 (V)And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.