The people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of the Lord which He had done for Israel.

Israel Serves the Baals

Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals,

They abandoned the Lord and served Baal and the Ashtaroth.

But it came about, when the judge died, that they would turn back and act more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them and bow down to them; they did not abandon their practices or their obstinate ways.

and they took their daughters for themselves as wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.

So the sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and they forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth.

Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, so that He sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia; and the sons of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim for eight years.

And the sons of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab for eighteen years.

Then Gaal the son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is Zebul not his governor? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem; but why should we serve him?

Then Zebul said to him, “Where then is your boasting with which you said, ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Is this not the people whom you rejected? Go out now and fight them!”

Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the sons of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; so they abandoned the Lord and did not serve Him.

Then the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, “We have sinned against You, for indeed, we have abandoned our God and served the Baals.”

Yet you abandoned Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer save you.

So they removed the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord; and He could no longer endure the misery of Israel.