Judges 3:1-6

GOD’S WORD Translation

3 These are the nations the Lord left behind to test all the Israelites who had not experienced any war in Canaan. ² The Lord left them to teach Israel’s descendants about war, at least those who had known nothing about it in the past. ³ He left the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon from Mount Baal Hermon to the border of Hamath. ⁴ These nations were left to test the Israelites, to find out if they would obey the commands the Lord had given their ancestors through Moses.

The People Fail the Test

⁵ So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. ⁶ The Israelites allowed their sons and daughters to marry these people. Israel also served their gods.