Israel’s Disobedience

2 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. ² 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? ³ 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.’ ” ⁴ 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.

⁵ Then they called the name of that place ^[d]Bochim; and they sacrificed there to the Lord. ⁶ 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)

^7 (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. ⁸ Now ^(M)Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. ^9 (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.

The Nations Remaining in the Land

3 Now these are ^(A)the nations which the Lord left, that He might test Israel by them, that is, all who had not ^[a]known any of the wars in Canaan ² (this was only so that the generations of the children of Israel might be taught to know war, at least those who had not formerly known it), ³ namely, ^(B)five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who dwelt in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to the entrance of Hamath. ⁴ And they were left, that He might test Israel by them, to ^[b]know whether they would obey the commandments of the Lord, which He had commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.

^5 (C)Thus the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ⁶ And ^(D)they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons; and they served their gods.

Othniel

⁷ So the children of Israel did ^(E)evil in the sight of the Lord. They ^(F)forgot the Lord their God, and served the Baals and ^[c]Asherahs. ⁸ Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and He ^(G)sold them into the hand of ^(H)Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served Cushan-Rishathaim eight years. ⁹ When the children of Israel ^(I)cried out to the Lord, the Lord ^(J)raised up a deliverer for the children of Israel, who delivered them: ^(K)Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. ^10 (L)The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord delivered Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed over Cushan-Rishathaim. ¹¹ So the land had rest for forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

Ehud

^12 (M)And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord strengthened ^(N)Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. ¹³ Then he gathered to himself the people of Ammon and ^(O)Amalek, went and ^[d]defeated Israel, and took possession of ^(P)the City of Palms. ¹⁴ So the children of Israel ^(Q)served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.

¹⁵ But when the children of Israel ^(R)cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for them: Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a ^(S)left-handed man. By him the children of Israel sent tribute to Eglon king of Moab. ¹⁶ Now Ehud made himself a dagger (it was double-edged and a cubit in length) and fastened it under his clothes on his right thigh. ¹⁷ So he brought the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. (Now Eglon was a very fat man.) ¹⁸ And when he had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who had carried the tribute. ¹⁹ But he himself turned back ^(T)from the ^[e]stone images that were at Gilgal, and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.”

He said, “Keep silence!” And all who attended him went out from him.

²⁰ So Ehud came to him (now he was sitting upstairs in his cool private chamber). Then Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” So he arose from his seat.

God’s Judgment Defended

3 What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? ² Much in every way! Chiefly because ^(A)to them were committed the ^[a]oracles of God. ³ For what if ^(B)some did not believe? ^(C)Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? ^4 (D)Certainly not! Indeed, let ^(E)God be ^[b]true but ^(F)every man a liar. As it is written:

⁵ But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? ^(H)(I speak as a man.) ⁶ Certainly not! For then ^(I)how will God judge the world?

⁷ For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? ⁸ And why not say, ^(J)“Let us do evil that good may come”?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their ^[c]condemnation is just.

All Have Sinned^(K)

⁹ What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that ^(L)they are all under sin.

¹⁰ As it is written: