Judges 2
Expanded Bible
The Angel of the Lord at Bokim
2 The ·angel [messenger] of the Lord [C an angelic spokesperson for God, sometimes identified with the Lord himself; Gen. 16:7; Ex. 14:19; 23:20] 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 [covenant] with you [Gen. 17:7; Ex. 6:4]. 2 But you must not make an ·agreement [covenant] with the people who live in this land [Ex. 23:32]. You must ·destroy [tear down] their altars [Deut. 7:2].’ But you did not obey me. How could you do this [L What is this you have done]? 3 ·Now I tell you [or Then I told you; Num. 33:55; Josh. 23:12–13], ‘I will not ·force [drive] out the people in this land. They will ·be your enemies [or ensnare you; or be thorns in your side], and their gods will be a ·trap [snare] for you.’”
4 After the angel gave ·Israel [L the sons/T children of Israel] this message from the Lord, they ·cried loudly [L lifted up their voices and wept]. 5 So they named the place Bokim [C “weeping ones”]. There they offered sacrifices to the Lord.
Joshua Dies
6 After Joshua ·dismissed [sent away] the people, the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] went to take possession of the land that they had been given. 7 The people ·served [worshiped; remained faithful to] the Lord during the lifetime of Joshua and during the lifetimes of the elders who ·lived after [outlived] 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 [the territory of his inheritance] at Timnath Heres [C also known as Timnath Serah; Josh. 19:50; 24:30] in the ·mountains [hill country] of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
The People Disobey
10 After ·those people [L the whole generation] ·had died [L were gathered to their fathers/ancestors], ·their children [L another generation] grew up and did not know the Lord or what he had done for Israel. 11 So ·they [L the sons/T children of Israel] did ·what the Lord said was wrong [L evil in the eyes/sight of the Lord], and they worshiped the ·Baal idols [L Baals; C Baal was the main god of the Canaanites, but had many local manifestations]. 12 They ·quit following [abandoned] 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 [abandoned] the Lord and worshiped Baal and Ashtoreth. 14 The Lord was angry with the people of Israel, so he ·handed them over to [gave them into the hand of] ·robbers [raiders; plunderers] who took their possessions. He ·let their enemies who lived around them defeat them [L sold them into the hand of their enemies around them]; they could not ·protect themselves [resist/L stand before them]. 15 When the Israelites went out to fight, ·they always lost, because the Lord was not with them [L the hand of the Lord was against them for harm/evil]. The Lord had sworn to them this would happen. So the Israelites ·suffered very much [were in great distress].
God Chooses Judges
16 Then the Lord ·chose leaders called [L raised up] ·judges [leaders; C not courtroom judges, but leaders who guided the nation through difficult times, sometimes as military commanders], ·who saved the Israelites from [L to deliver them from the hand of] the ·robbers [raiders; plunderers]. 17 But the Israelites did not listen to their ·judges [leaders; v. 16]. They ·were not faithful to God but [L prostituted themselves to and] worshiped other gods instead. Their ancestors had ·obeyed [L walked in the way/path of] the Lord’s commands, but they quickly turned away and did not obey. 18 Whenever the Lord sent ·judges [leaders] to save the Israelites from their enemies, he was with that ·judge [leader] and rescued the people during that ·judge’s [leader’s] lifetime. The Lord ·felt sorry for them [took pity on them; or relented] when they cried for help because of those who ·hurt [oppressed and afflicted] them. 19 But when the ·judges [leaders; 2:16] died, the Israelites ·again sinned [returned to their corrupt ways] 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 [L anger of the Lord burned against] the Israelites. He said, “These people have ·broken [violated] the ·agreement [covenant] I made with their ancestors. They have not listened to me. 21 I will no longer ·defeat [L drive out before them] 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 [L the way of the Lord to walk in it] as their ancestors did.” 23 In the past the Lord had permitted those nations to stay in the land. He did not quickly ·force [drive] them out or ·help Joshua’s army defeat them [L give them into the hand of Joshua].
Judges 2
New American Standard Bible
Israel Rebuked
2 Now (A)the angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to (B)Bochim. And he said, “(C)I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land which I have sworn to your fathers; and I said, ‘(D)I will never break My covenant with you, 2 and as for you, (E)you shall not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land; (F)you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not [a]obeyed Me; what is this thing that you have done? 3 Therefore I also said, ‘(G)I will not drive them out from you; but they will [b]become (H)like thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a snare to you.’” 4 Now when the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people raised their voices and wept. 5 So they named that place [c]Bochim; and there they sacrificed to the Lord.
Joshua Dies
6 (I)When Joshua had dismissed the people, the sons of Israel went, each one to his inheritance, to take possession of the land. 7 The people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who [d]survived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of the Lord which He had done for Israel. 8 Then Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110. 9 And they buried him in the territory of (J)his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. 10 All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and another generation rose up after them who (K)did not know the Lord, nor even the work which He had done for Israel.
Israel Serves the Baals
11 Then the sons of Israel did (L)evil in the sight of the Lord and [e]served the (M)Baals, 12 and (N)they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they followed other gods from the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them; so they provoked the Lord to anger. 13 They abandoned the Lord and (O)served Baal and the Ashtaroth. 14 (P)Then the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He handed them over to plunderers, and they plundered them; and (Q)He sold them into the hands of their enemies around them, so that they could no longer stand [f]against their enemies. 15 Wherever they went, the hand of the Lord was against them for [g]evil, as the Lord had spoken and (R)just as the Lord had sworn to them, so that they were severely distressed.
16 (S)Then the Lord raised up judges [h]who saved them from the hands of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they [i]committed infidelity with other gods and bowed down to them. They turned aside quickly from the way (T)in which their fathers had walked in obeying the commandments of the Lord; they did not do the same as their fathers. 18 And when the Lord raised up judges for them, (U)the Lord was with the judge and saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord was (V)moved to pity by their groaning because of those who tormented and oppressed them. 19 But it came about, when the judge died, that they would turn back and act more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them and bow down to them; they did not abandon their practices or their obstinate ways. 20 (W)So the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He said, “Because this nation has violated My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not listened to My voice, 21 (X)I in turn will no longer drive out from them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died, 22 in order to (Y)test Israel by them, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk in it as their fathers [j]did, or not.” 23 So the Lord allowed those nations to remain, not driving them out quickly; and He did not hand them over to Joshua.
Footnotes
- Judges 2:2 Lit listened to My voice
- Judges 2:3 Some ancient mss become adversaries to you and
- Judges 2:5 I.e., weepers
- Judges 2:7 Lit prolonged days after
- Judges 2:11 Or worshiped
- Judges 2:14 Lit before
- Judges 2:15 Or misfortune
- Judges 2:16 Lit and they
- Judges 2:17 I.e., against God
- Judges 2:22 Lit kept
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New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
