1And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.2.1 angel: or, messenger 2And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? 3Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you. 4And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept. 5And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto the LORD.2.5 Bochim: that is, Weepers
6¶ And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land. 7And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel.2.7 outlived: Heb. prolonged days after 8And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old. 9And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash.2.9 Timnath-heres: also called, Timnath-serah 10And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.
11¶ And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: 12And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. 13And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.
14¶ And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. 15Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.
16¶ Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.2.16 delivered: Heb. saved 17And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so. 18And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them. 19And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.2.19 corrupted…: or, were corrupt2.19 ceased…: Heb. let nothing fall of their
20¶ And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice; 21I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died: 22That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not. 23Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.2.23 left: or, suffered
የእግዚአብሔር መልአክ በቦኪም
1የእግዚአብሔር መልአክ ከጌልገላ ወደ ቦኪም ወጥቶ እንዲህ አለ፤ “ከግብፅ ምድር አወጣኋችሁ፤ ለቀደሙትም አባቶቻችሁ ልሰጣቸው ወደ ማልሁላቸው ምድር አመጣኋችሁ፤ እንዲህም አልሁ፤ ከእናንተ ጋር የገባሁትን ቃል ኪዳኔን አላፈርስም፤ 2እናንተም ከዚህች ምድር ነዋሪዎች ጋር ቃል ኪዳን አታድርጉ፤ መሠዊያቸውንም አፍርሱ፤ እናንተ ግን አልታዘዛችሁኝም፤ ይህን ያደረጋችሁት ለምንድን ነው? 3ስለዚህ አሁንም ከፊታችሁ አሳድጄ እንደማላስወጣቸው እነግራችኋለሁ፤ ነገር ግን እነርሱ የጐን ውጋት፣ አማልክታቸውም ወጥመድ ይሆኑባችኋል።”
4የእግዚአብሔርም መልአክ ይህን ቃል ለእስራኤላውያን ሁሉ በተናገረ ጊዜ፣ ሕዝቡ ድምፃቸውን ከፍ አድርገው አለቀሱ፤ 5ያንን ስፍራ ቦኪም2፥5 ቦኪም ማለት አልቃሽ ማለት ነው። ብለው ጠሩት፤ በዚያም ለእግዚአብሔር መሥዋዕት አቀረቡ።
ያለ መታዘዝ ውጤት
6ኢያሱ ሕዝቡን ካሰናበተ በኋላ እያንዳንዱ የእስራኤል ነገድ ምድሪቱን ለመውረስ ወደየርስቱ ሄደ። 7ኢያሱ በሕይወት በነበረበት ዘመን ሁሉ እንዲሁም ከእርሱ በኋላ እግዚአብሔር ለእስራኤል ያደረገውን ታላላቅ ነገሮች ሁሉ ያዩ አለቆች በነበሩበት ዘመን ሁሉ ሕዝቡ እግዚአብሔርን አመለከ።
8የእግዚአብሔር አገልጋይ የነዌ ልጅ ኢያሱ በመቶ ዐሥር ዓመቱ ሞተ። 9እነርሱም በኰረብታማው በኤፍሬም አገር በምትገኘው ከገዓስ ተራራ በስተ ሰሜን ባለችው በራሱ ርስት ላይ በተምናሔሬስ ቀበሩት።
10ያ ሁሉ ትውልድ ወደ አባቶቹ ከተከማቸ በኋላ እግዚአብሔርንም ሆነ እርሱ ለእስራኤል ሕዝብ ያደረገውን ነገር የማያውቅ ሌላ ትውልድ ተነሣ። 11ከዚያም እስራኤላውያን በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ክፉ ነገር አደረጉ፤ የበኣል አማልክትንም አመለኩ። 12ከግብፅ ምድር ያወጣቸውን የአባቶቻቸውን አምላክ እግዚአብሔርን ተዉ፤ በዙሪያቸው ያሉት ሕዝቦች የሚያመልኳቸውን አማልክት ተከተሉ፤ ሰገዱላቸውም። እግዚአብሔርንም አስቈጡት፤ 13እርሱን ትተው በኣልንና አስታሮትን አምልከዋልና 14እግዚአብሔር በእስራኤል ላይ በመቈጣቱ ለሚዘርፏቸው አሳልፎ ሰጣቸው፤ በዙሪያቸው ላሉ ጠላቶቻቸው ሸጣቸው። 15እስራኤላውያን ለውጊያ በሚወጡበት ጊዜ ሁሉ እግዚአብሔር አስቀድሞ በእነርሱ ላይ እንደ ተናገረውና እንደ ማለው ይሸነፉ ዘንድ የእግዚአብሔር እጅ ትከፋባቸው ነበር፤ ከዚህም የተነሣ እጅግ ተጨነቁ።
16እግዚአብሔርም ከእነዚህ ወራሪዎች የሚያድኗቸውን መሳፍንት2፥16 በዚህም ከ17-19 ባለው ክፍል መሪ ተብሎ ሊተረጐም ይችላል። አስነሣ፤ 17እስራኤላውያን ግን ሌሎችን አማልክት ተከትለው አመነዘሩ፤ ሰገዱላቸውም እንጂ መሳፍንታቸውን አልሰሙም። አባቶቻቸው እግዚአብሔርን በመታዘዝ በሄዱበት መንገድ ሳይሆን፣ አባቶቻቸው የእግዚአብሔርን ሕግ በመከተል ከሄዱበት መንገድ ፈጥነው ፈቀቅ አሉ። 18እግዚአብሔር መሳፍንትን ባሰነሣላቸው ቍጥር ከመስፍኑ ጋር ስለሚሆን፣ እርሱ በሕይወት እስካለ ድረስ እግዚአብሔር ከጠላቶቻቸው ያድናቸው ነበር፤ ከጠላቶቻቸው ሥቃይና መከራ ሲደርስባቸው በሚጮኹበት ጊዜ እግዚአብሔር ይራራላቸው ነበር። 19መስፍኑ ከሞተ በኋላ ግን ሕዝቡ ሌሎችን አማልክት በመከተል፣ እነርሱን በማገልገልና በማምለክ ከአባቶቻቸው ይልቅ ወደ ክፉ መንገድ ተመለሱ፤ ክፉ ሥራቸውንና የእልኸኝነት መንገዳቸውንም አይተውም ነበር።
20ስለዚህ እግዚአብሔር በእስራኤል ላይ እጅግ ተቈጣ፤ እንዲህም አለ፤ “ይህ ሕዝብ ለቀደሙ አባቶቹ የሰጠሁትን ቃል ኪዳን ስለ ተላለፈ፣ እኔንም ስላልሰማ፣ 21ኢያሱ በሞተ ጊዜ ከተዋቸው በምድሪቱ ከነበሩት ሕዝቦች አንዳቸውንም እንኳ በፊታቸው አሳድጄ አላስወጣም። 22ይህን የማደርገውም አባቶቻቸው እንዳደረጉት ሁሉ፣ እስራኤላውያን የእግዚአብሔርን መንገድ የሚጠብቁ መሆን አለመሆናቸውን ለማወቅ እፈትናቸው ዘንድ እነርሱን መሣሪያ ለማድረግ ነው።” 23ስለዚህ እግዚአብሔር እነዚያን ሕዝቦች በዚያው እንዲኖሩ አደረገ፤ በኢያሱ እጅ አሳልፎ በመስጠት ወዲያውኑ አሳድዶ አላስወጣቸውም።
