Judges 2:8-3

Amplified Bible

⁸ Then Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten. ⁹ And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. ¹⁰ Also, all [the people of] that generation were gathered to their fathers [in death]; and another generation arose after them who did not know (recognize, understand) the Lord, nor even the work which He had done for Israel.

Israel Serves Baals

¹¹ Then the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord and worshiped and served the Baals, ¹² and they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods from the gods of the peoples who were around them, and they bowed down to them, and offended and provoked the Lord to anger. ¹³ So they abandoned the Lord and served Baal [the pagan god of the Canaanites] and the ^[a]Ashtaroth. ¹⁴ So the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He gave them into the hands (power) of plunderers who robbed them; and He sold them into the hands of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer stand [in opposition] before their enemies. ¹⁵ Wherever they went, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil (misfortune), as the Lord had spoken, and as the Lord had sworn to them, so that they were severely distressed.^(A)

¹⁶ Then the Lord raised up ^[b]judges who rescued them from the hands of those who robbed them. ¹⁷ Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they played the prostitute after other gods and they bowed down to them. They quickly turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked in obeying the commandments of the Lord; they did not do as their fathers. ¹⁸ When the Lord raised up judges for them, He was with the judge and He rescued them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed and afflicted them. ¹⁹ But when the judge died, they turned back and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, in following and serving other gods, and bowing down to them. They did not ^[c]abandon their practices or their stubborn ways. ²⁰ So the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He said, “Because this ^[d]nation has transgressed (violated) My covenant (binding agreement) which I commanded their fathers, and has not listened to My voice, ²¹ I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left [to be conquered] when he died, ²² in order to test [the loyalty of] Israel by them, whether Israel will keep the way of the Lord to walk in it, as their fathers did, or not.” ²³ So the Lord allowed those nations to remain, not driving them out at once; and He did not give them into the hand of Joshua.

Idolatry Leads to Servitude

3 Now these are the nations which the Lord left [in order] to test Israel by them (that is, all [the people of Israel] who had not [previously] experienced any of the wars in Canaan; ² only in order that the generations of the sons of Israel might be taught war, at least those who had not experienced it previously). ³ The remaining nations are: the five lords (governors) of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon from Mount Baal-hermon to the entrance of Hamath. ⁴ They were [allowed to remain] for the testing of Israel, to determine whether Israel would listen to and obey the commandments of the Lord, which He had commanded their fathers (ancestors) through Moses. ⁵ And the Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites; ⁶ and they took their daughters for themselves as wives and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their [pagan] gods.^(B)

⁷ And the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the ^[e]Asheroth.^{(C) 8} So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of ^[f]Mesopotamia; and the Israelites served Cushan-rishathaim eight years.