Israel’s Disobedience

Then the Angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: (A)“I led you up from Egypt and (B)brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and (C)I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you. And (D)you shall make no [a]covenant with the inhabitants of this land; (E)you shall tear down their altars.’ (F)But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be (G)thorns[b] in your side, and (H)their gods shall [c]be a (I)snare to you.’ ” So it was, when the Angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voices and wept.

Then they called the name of that place [d]Bochim; and they sacrificed there to the Lord. And when (J)Joshua had dismissed the people, the children of Israel went each to his own inheritance to possess the land.

Death of Joshua(K)

(L)So the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which He had done for Israel. Now (M)Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. (N)And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at (O)Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. 10 When all that generation had [e]been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who (P)did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel.

Israel’s Unfaithfulness

11 Then the children of Israel did (Q)evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals; 12 and they (R)forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed (S)other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they (T)bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger. 13 They forsook the Lord (U)and served [f]Baal and the [g]Ashtoreths. 14 (V)And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel. So He (W)delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and (X)He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they (Y)could no longer stand before their enemies. 15 Wherever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for calamity, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had (Z)sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed.

16 Nevertheless, (AA)the Lord raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they would not listen to their judges, but they (AB)played the harlot with other gods, and bowed down to them. They turned quickly from the way in which their fathers walked, in obeying the commandments of the Lord; they did not do so. 18 And when the Lord raised up judges for them, (AC)the Lord was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; (AD)for the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed them and harassed them. 19 And it came to pass, (AE)when the judge was dead, that they reverted and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, by following other gods, to serve them and bow down to them. They did not cease from their own doings nor from their stubborn way.

20 Then the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and He said, “Because this nation has (AF)transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not heeded My voice, 21 I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua (AG)left when he died, 22 so (AH)that through them I may (AI)test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the Lord, to walk in them as their fathers kept them, or not.” 23 Therefore the Lord left those nations, without driving them out immediately; nor did He deliver them into the hand of Joshua.

Footnotes

  1. Judges 2:2 treaty
  2. Judges 2:3 LXX, Tg., Vg. enemies to you
  3. Judges 2:3 entrap you
  4. Judges 2:5 Lit. Weeping
  5. Judges 2:10 Died and joined their ancestors
  6. Judges 2:13 A Canaanite god
  7. Judges 2:13 Canaanite goddesses

Israel Disobeys Yahweh

And the angel of Yahweh went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, “I brought you up from Egypt, and I brought you to the land that I had promised to your ancestors.[a] I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you. And as for you, do not make a covenant[b] with the inhabitants of this land; break down their altars.’ But you did not listen to my voice. Why would you do such a thing?[c] Now I say, I will not drive them out from before you; they will become as thorns[d] for you, and their gods will be a trap for you.” And as the angel of Yahweh spoke these words to all the Israelites,[e] the people wept bitterly.[f] And they called the name of this place Bokim,[g] and there they sacrificed to Yahweh.

Joshua Dies

And Joshua sent the people away, and the Israelites[h] went each to their[i] own inheritance to take possession of the land. And the people served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who saw all the great work Yahweh had done for Israel. And Joshua son of Nun, servant of Yahweh, died at the age of one hundred and ten years.[j] They buried him within the border of his inheritance in Timnah-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash. 10 Moreover, that entire generation was gathered to their[k] ancestors,[l] and another generation grew up after them who did not know Yahweh or the work he had done for Israel.[m]

Israel Worships the Baals

11 The Israelites[n] did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and they served[o] the Baals. 12 They abandoned Yahweh the God of their ancestors,[p] who brought them out from the land of Egypt. They followed[q] other gods from the gods of the people who were around them; and they bowed down to them, and they provoked the anger of Yahweh. 13 They abandoned Yahweh, and they served Baal and the Ashtaroth. 14 So the anger of Yahweh was kindled[r] against Israel, and he gave them into the hand of plunderers; and they plundered them, and he sold them into the hand of their enemies from all sides. They were unable to withstand their enemies any longer. 15 Whenever[s] they went out, the hand of Yahweh was against them to harm them, just as Yahweh warned, and just as Yahweh had sworn to them. And they were very distressed.[t]

16 Then Yahweh raised up leaders,[u] and they delivered them from the hand of their plunderers. 17 But they did not listen to their leaders,[v] but lusted after other gods and bowed down to them. They turned away quickly from the way that their ancestors[w] went, who had obeyed the commandment of Yahweh; they did not do as their ancestors. 18 And when Yahweh raised leaders[x] for them, Yahweh was with the leader,[y] and he delivered them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the leader,[z] for Yahweh was moved by their groaning because of their persecutors and oppressors. 19 But when the leader[aa] died they relapsed and acted corruptly, more than their ancestors,[ab] following other gods, serving them,[ac] and bowing down to them. They would not give up their deeds or their stubborn ways. 20 So the anger of Yahweh burned[ad] against Israel, and he said, “Because this people transgressed my covenant that I commanded their ancestors,[ae] and have not obeyed my voice, 21 I will not again drive out anyone from before them from the nations that Joshua left when he died, 22 in order to test Israel whether or not they would observe the way of Yahweh, to walk in it just as their ancestors[af] did.” 23 So Yahweh left those nations; he did not drive them out at once, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua.

Footnotes

  1. Judges 2:1 Or “fathers”
  2. Judges 2:2 Literally “cut a covenant”
  3. Judges 2:2 Literally “What is this thing you have done?”
  4. Judges 2:3 Or “become snares;” some ancient manuscripts read “be adversaries”
  5. Judges 2:4 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  6. Judges 2:4 Literally “lifted up their voices and they wept”
  7. Judges 2:5 “Bokim” means “weepers”
  8. Judges 2:6 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  9. Judges 2:6 Hebrew “his”
  10. Judges 2:8 Literally “a son of one hundred and ten years”
  11. Judges 2:10 Hebrew “his”
  12. Judges 2:10 Or “fathers”
  13. Judges 2:10 Judges 2:6–10 is repeated in Joshua 24:28–31
  14. Judges 2:11 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  15. Judges 2:11 Or “they worshiped”
  16. Judges 2:12 Or “fathers”
  17. Judges 2:12 Literally “went after”
  18. Judges 2:14 Literally “The nose of Yahweh became hot”
  19. Judges 2:15 Literally “At all that”
  20. Judges 2:15 Literally “it was very cramped for them”
  21. Judges 2:16 Or “judges”
  22. Judges 2:17 Or “judges”
  23. Judges 2:17 Or “fathers”
  24. Judges 2:18 Or “judges”
  25. Judges 2:18 Or “judge”
  26. Judges 2:18 Or “judge”
  27. Judges 2:19 Or “judge”
  28. Judges 2:19 Or “fathers”
  29. Judges 2:19 Or “worshiping them”
  30. Judges 2:20 Literally “So the nose of Yahweh became hot”
  31. Judges 2:20 Or “fathers”
  32. Judges 2:22 Or “fathers”