Judges 2
World English Bible
2 Yahweh’s angel came up from Gilgal to Bochim. He said, “I brought you out of Egypt, and have brought you to the land which I swore to give your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you. 2 You shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land. You shall break down their altars.’ But you have not listened to my voice. Why have you done this? 3 Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be in your sides, and their gods will be a snare to you.’”
4 When Yahweh’s angel spoke these words to all the children of Israel, the people lifted up their voice and wept. 5 They called the name of that place Bochim,[a] and they sacrificed there to Yahweh. 6 Now when Joshua had sent the people away, the children of Israel each went to his inheritance to possess the land. 7 The people served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of Yahweh that he had worked for Israel. 8 Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died, being one hundred ten years old. 9 They buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath Heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash. 10 After all that generation were gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who didn’t know Yahweh, nor the work which he had done for Israel. 11 The children of Israel did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and served the Baals. 12 They abandoned Yahweh, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them; and they provoked Yahweh to anger. 13 They abandoned Yahweh, and served Baal and the Ashtaroth. 14 Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. 15 Wherever they went out, Yahweh’s hand was against them for evil, as Yahweh had spoken, and as Yahweh had sworn to them; and they were very distressed. 16 Yahweh raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they didn’t listen to their judges; for they prostituted themselves to other gods, and bowed themselves down to them. They quickly turned away from the way in which their fathers walked, obeying Yahweh’s commandments. They didn’t do so. 18 When Yahweh raised up judges for them, then Yahweh was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for it grieved Yahweh because of their groaning by reason of those who oppressed them and troubled them. 19 But when the judge was dead, they turned back, and dealt more corruptly than their fathers in following other gods to serve them and to bow down to them. They didn’t cease what they were doing, or give up their stubborn ways. 20 Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel; and he said, “Because this nation transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not listened to my voice, 21 I also will no longer drive out any of the nations that Joshua left when he died from before them; 22 that by them I may test Israel, to see if they will keep Yahweh’s way to walk therein, as their fathers kept it, or not.” 23 So Yahweh left those nations, without driving them out hastily. He didn’t deliver them into Joshua’s hand.
Footnotes
- 2:5 “Bochim” means “weepers”.
Judges 2
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
2 Now the [a]Angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And He said, I brought you up from Egypt and have brought you to the land which I swore to give to your fathers, and I said, I will never break My covenant with you;(A)
2 And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; but you shall break down their altars. But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this?
3 So now I say, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.
4 When the Angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the Israelites, the people lifted up their voice and wept.
5 They named that place Bochim [weepers], and they sacrificed there to the Lord.
6 And when Joshua had let the people go, the Israelites went every man to his inheritance to possess the land.
7 And 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 did for Israel.
8 And Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being 110 years old.
9 And they buried him within the boundary of his inheritance in Timnath-heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
10 And also all that generation were gathered to their fathers, and there arose another generation after them who did not know (recognize, understand) the Lord, or even the work which He had done for Israel.
11 And the people of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals.
12 And they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, Who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods of the peoples round about them and bowed down to them, and provoked the Lord to anger.
13 And they forsook the Lord and served Baal [the god worshiped by the Canaanites] and the Ashtaroth [female deities such as Ashtoreth and Asherah].
14 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He gave them into the power of plunderers who robbed them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could no longer stand before their foes.
15 Whenever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn to them; and they were bitterly distressed.(B)
16 But the Lord raised up judges, who delivered them out of the hands of those who robbed them.
17 And yet they did not listen to their judges, for they played the harlot after other gods and bowed down to them. They turned quickly out of the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not so.
18 When the Lord raised them up judges, then He was with the judge and delivered them out of the hands of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord was moved to relent because of their groanings by reason of those who oppressed and vexed them.
19 But when the judge was dead, they turned back and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, following and serving other gods, and bowing down to them. They did not cease from their practices or their stubborn way.
20 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel; and He said, Because this people have transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers and have not listened to My voice,
21 I from now on will also not drive out from before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died,
22 That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk in it, as their fathers kept it, or not.
23 So the Lord left those nations, without driving them out at once, nor had He delivered them into Joshua’s power.
Footnotes
- Judges 2:1 See footnote on Gen. 16:7.
Judges 2
Contemporary English Version
The Lord's Angel Speaks to Israel
2 The Lord's angel went from Gilgal to Bochim[a] and gave the Israelites this message from the Lord:
I promised your ancestors that I would give this land to their families, and I brought your people here from Egypt. We made an agreement that I promised never to break, 2 (A) and you promised not to make any peace treaties with the other nations that live in the land. Besides that, you agreed to tear down the altars where they sacrifice to their idols. Why haven't you kept your promise?
3 And so, I'll stop helping you defeat your enemies. Instead, they will be there to trap[b] you into worshiping their idols.
4 The Israelites started crying loudly, 5 and they offered sacrifices to the Lord. From then on, they called that place “Crying.”[c]
Israel Stops Worshiping the Lord
6-9 (B) Joshua had been faithful to the Lord. And after Joshua sent the Israelites to take the land they had been promised, they remained faithful to the Lord until Joshua died at the age of 110. He was buried on his land in Timnath-Heres, in the hill country of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash. Even though Joshua was gone, the Israelites were faithful to the Lord during the lifetime of those men who had been leaders with Joshua and who had seen the wonderful things the Lord had done for Israel.
10 After a while the people of Joshua's generation died, and the next generation did not know the Lord or any of the things he had done for Israel. 11-13 The Lord had brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and they had worshiped him. But now the Israelites stopped worshiping the Lord and worshiped the idols of Baal and Astarte, as well as the idols of other gods from nearby nations.
The Lord was so angry 14-15 with the Israelites that he let other nations raid Israel and steal their crops and other possessions. Enemies were everywhere, and the Lord always let them defeat Israel in battle. The Lord had warned Israel he would do this, and now the Israelites were miserable.
The Lord Chooses Leaders for Israel
16 From time to time, the Lord would choose special leaders known as judges.[d] These judges would lead the Israelites into battle and defeat the enemies that made raids on them. 17 In years gone by, the Israelites had been faithful to the Lord, but now they were quick to be unfaithful and to refuse even to listen to these judges. The Israelites disobeyed the Lord, and instead of worshiping him, they worshiped other gods.
18 When enemies made life miserable for the Israelites, the Lord felt sorry for them. He would choose a judge and help that judge rescue Israel from its enemies. The Lord was kind to Israel as long as that judge lived. 19 But afterwards, the Israelites would become even more sinful than their ancestors had been. The Israelites were stubborn—they simply would not stop worshiping other gods or following their teachings.
The Lord Lets Enemies Test Israel
20 The Lord was angry with Israel and said:
The Israelites have broken the agreement I made with their ancestors. They won't obey me, 21 so I'll stop helping them defeat their enemies. Israel still had a lot of enemies when Joshua died, 22 and I'm going to let those enemies stay. I'll use them to test Israel, because then I can find out if Israel will worship and obey me as their ancestors did.
23 That's why the Lord had not let Joshua get rid of those enemy nations all at once.
Footnotes
- 2.1 Bochim: In Hebrew “Bochim” means “crying” (see verse 5).
- 2.3 trap: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 2.5 Crying: Or “Bochim.”
- 2.16 special leaders known as judges: The Hebrew text has “judges.” In addition to leading Israelites in battle, these special leaders also decided legal cases and sometimes performed religious duties.
Judges 2
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Israel’s Disobedience
2 Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim and said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I had promised to your ancestors. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you.(A) 2 For your part, do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land; tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my command. See what you have done!(B) 3 So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become adversaries[a] to you, and their gods shall be a snare to you.”(C) 4 When the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the Israelites, the people lifted up their voices and wept. 5 So they named that place Bochim,[b] and there they sacrificed to the Lord.
Death of Joshua
6 When Joshua dismissed the people, the Israelites all went to their own inheritances to take possession of the land.(D) 7 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 work that the Lord had done for Israel. 8 Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of one hundred ten years. 9 So they buried him within the bounds of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. 10 Moreover, that whole generation was gathered to their ancestors, and another generation grew up after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.(E)
Israel’s Unfaithfulness
11 Then the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals,(F) 12 and they abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; they followed other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were all around them and bowed down to them, and they provoked the Lord to anger.(G) 13 They abandoned the Lord and served Baal and the Astartes.(H) 14 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers who plundered them, and he sold them into the power of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies.(I) 15 Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them to bring misfortune, as the Lord had warned them and sworn to them, and they were in great distress.
16 Then the Lord raised up judges who delivered them out of the power of those who plundered them.(J) 17 Yet they did not listen even to their judges, for they lusted after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their ancestors had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord; they did not follow their example.(K) 18 Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he delivered them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge, for the Lord would be moved to pity by their groaning because of those who persecuted and oppressed them. 19 But whenever the judge died, they would relapse and behave worse than their ancestors, following other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They would not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways.(L) 20 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this nation has transgressed my covenant that I commanded their ancestors and have not obeyed my voice,(M) 21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died.”(N) 22 In order to test Israel, whether or not they would take care to walk in the way of the Lord as their ancestors did,(O) 23 the Lord had left those nations, not driving them out at once, and had not handed them over to Joshua.
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