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
The Angel of the Lord Warns Israel at Bokim
1The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim. There he said to the Israelites, “I brought you up out of Egypt. I led you into this land. It is the land I promised to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. At that time I said, ‘I will never break the covenant I made with you. 2So you must not make a covenant with the people of this land. Instead, you must tear down their altars.’ But you have disobeyed me. Why did you do it? 3I have said something else. I said, ‘I will not drive out those people to make room for you. They and their gods will become traps for you.’ ”
4The angel of the Lord spoke these things to all the Israelites. Then the people wept out loud. 5So that place was called Bokim. The people offered sacrifices there to the Lord.
The People Disobey the Lord and Lose Their Battles
6Joshua sent the Israelites away. Then they went to take over the land. All of them went to their own shares of land. 7The people served the Lord as long as Joshua lived. They also served him as long as the elders lived. Those were the elders who lived longer than Joshua did. They had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.
8Joshua, the servant of the Lord, died. He was the son of Nun. He was 110 years old when he died. 9His people buried him on his own property at Timnath Heres. It’s north of Mount Gaash in the hill country of Ephraim.
10All the people of Joshua’s time joined the members of their families who had already died. Then those who were born after them grew up. They didn’t know the Lord and what he had done for Israel. 11The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They served gods that were named Baal. 12They deserted the Lord, the God of their people. He had brought them out of Egypt. But now the Israelites served other gods and worshiped them. They served the gods of the nations that were around them. They made the Lord angry 13because they deserted him. They served Baal. They also served female gods that were named Ashtoreth. 14The Lord became angry with the Israelites. So he handed them over to robbers. The robbers stole everything from them. The Lord handed the Israelites over to their enemies all around them. Israel wasn’t able to fight against them anymore and win. 15When the Israelites went out to fight, the Lord’s power was against them. He let their enemies win the battle over them. The Lord had warned them that it would happen. And now they were suffering terribly.
16Then the Lord gave them leaders. The leaders saved them from the power of those robbers. 17But the people wouldn’t listen to their leaders. They weren’t faithful to the Lord. They served other gods and worshiped them. They didn’t obey the Lord’s commands as their people before them had done. They quickly turned away from the path their people had taken. 18When the Lord gave them a leader, he was with that leader. The Lord saved the people from the power of their enemies. He did it as long as the leader lived. The Lord felt very sorry for the people. They groaned because of what their enemies did to them. Their enemies treated them badly. 19But when the leader died, the people returned to their evil ways. The things they did were even more sinful than the things their people before them had done. They served other gods and worshiped them. They refused to give up their evil practices. They wouldn’t change their stubborn ways.
20So the Lord became very angry with the Israelites. He said, “This nation has broken my covenant. I made it with their people of long ago. But this nation has not listened to me. 21Joshua left some nations in the land when he died. I will no longer drive out those nations to make room for Israel. 22I will use those nations to test Israel. I will see whether Israel will live the way I, the Lord, want them to. I will see whether they will be like their people of long ago. I will see whether they will follow my path.” 23The Lord had let those nations remain in the land. He didn’t drive them out right away. He didn’t hand them over to Joshua.
