Israel's Unfaithfulness

11 (A)And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. 12 (B)And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. (C)They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and (D)bowed down to them. (E)And they provoked the Lord to anger. 13 They abandoned the Lord (F)and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. 14 (G)So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he (H)gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. (I)And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, (J)so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. 15 Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, (K)and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.

The Lord Raises Up Judges

16 (L)Then the Lord raised up judges, (M)who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they did not listen to their judges, for (N)they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. (O)They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not do so. 18 Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, (P)the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. (Q)For the Lord was moved to pity by (R)their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. 19 But (S)whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways.

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11 The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord’s sight.(A) They worshiped the Baals(B) 12 and abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed other gods from the surrounding peoples(C) and bowed down to them. They angered the Lord,(D) 13 for they abandoned him and worshiped Baal and the Ashtoreths.(E)

14 The Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and he handed them over to marauders who raided them. He sold(F) them to the enemies around them, and they could no longer resist their enemies. 15 Whenever the Israelites went out, the Lord was against them(G) and brought disaster on them, just as he had promised and sworn to them.(H) So they suffered greatly.

16 The Lord raised up(I) judges, who saved them from the power of their marauders, 17 but they did not listen to their judges. Instead, they prostituted(J) themselves with other gods, bowing down to them. They quickly turned from the way(K) of their ancestors, who had walked in obedience to the Lord’s commands. They did not do as their ancestors did. 18 Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for the Israelites, the Lord was with(L) him and saved the people from the power of their enemies while the judge was still alive. The Lord was moved to pity whenever they groaned because of those who were oppressing and afflicting them. 19 Whenever the judge died, the Israelites would act even more corruptly(M) than their ancestors, following other gods to serve them and bow in worship to them. They did not turn from their evil practices or their obstinate(N) ways.

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