The Rise of the Judges

¹¹ So the Israelis practiced what the Lord considered to be evil by worshiping Canaanite deities.^{[a] 12} They abandoned the Lord 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 surrounded them. They bowed down in worship of them, and by doing so angered the Lord. ¹³ As a result, they abandoned the Lord by serving both Baal^[b] and Ashtaroth.^{[c] 14} So in his burning anger against Israel, the Lord gave them into the domination of marauders who plundered them. The enemies who surrounded the Israelis^[d] controlled them, and they were no longer able to withstand their adversaries. ¹⁵ Wherever they went, the Lord worked^[e] against them to bring misfortune, just as the Lord had warned, and just as the Lord had promised them. As a result, they suffered greatly.

¹⁶ Then the Lord raised up leaders,^[f] who delivered Israel^[g] from domination by their marauders. ¹⁷ But they didn’t listen to their leaders, because they were committing spiritual immorality by following other gods and worshiping them. They quickly turned away from the road on which their ancestors had walked in obedience to the commands of the Lord. They didn’t follow their example. ¹⁸ As a result, whenever the Lord raised up leaders for them, the Lord remained present with their leader, delivering Israel^[h] from the control of their enemies during the lifetime of that leader. The Lord^[i] was moved with compassion by their groaning that had been caused by those who were oppressing and persecuting them. ¹⁹ However, after the leader had died, they would relapse to a condition more corrupt than their ancestors, following other gods, serving them, and worshiping them. They would not abandon their activities or their obstinate lifestyles.