Judges 2
2
The Angel of the Lord at Bokim
1The angel of the Lord went up to the city of Bokim from the city of Gilgal. The angel spoke this message from the Lord to the Israelites: “I brought you out of Egypt and led you to the land that I promised to give to your ancestors. I told you I would never break my agreement with you. 2But in return, you must never make any agreement with the people living in that land. You must destroy their altars. I told you that, but you didn’t obey me.
3“Now I will tell you this, ‘I will not force the other people to leave this land any longer. These people will become a problem for you. They will be like a trap to you. Their false gods will become like a net to trap you.’”
4After the angel gave the Israelites this message from the Lord, the people cried loudly. 5So they named the place Bokim.#2:5 Bokim This name means “people crying.” There they offered sacrifices to the Lord.
Disobedience and Defeat
6Then Joshua told the people to go home, so each tribe went to take their area of land. 7The Israelites served the Lord as long as Joshua was alive, and they continued serving the Lord during the lifetimes of the elders who lived after Joshua had died. These old men had seen all the great things the Lord had done for the Israelites. 8Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110 years. 9The Israelites buried Joshua on the land that he had been given. That was at Timnath Heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
10After that whole generation died, the next generation grew up. This new generation did not know about the Lord or what he had done for the Israelites. 11So the Israelites did something very evil before the Lord. They began serving the false god Baal. 12It was the Lord, the God their ancestors worshiped, who had brought the Israelites out of Egypt. But they stopped following him and began to worship the false gods of the people living around them. This made the Lord angry. 13The Israelites stopped following the Lord and began worshiping Baal and Ashtoreth.
14The Lord was angry with the Israelites, so he let enemies attack them and take their possessions. He let their enemies who lived around them defeat them. The Israelites could not protect themselves from their enemies. 15When the Israelites went out to fight, they always lost. They lost because the Lord was not on their side. He had already warned them that they would lose if they served the gods of the people living around them. The Israelites suffered very much.
16Then the Lord chose leaders called judges. These leaders saved the Israelites from the enemies who took their possessions. 17But the Israelites did not listen to their judges. The Israelites were not faithful to God—they followed other gods.#2:17 were not faithful … gods Literally, “acted like a prostitute with other gods.” In the past, the ancestors of the Israelites obeyed the Lord’s commands. But now the Israelites changed and stopped obeying the Lord.
18Many times the enemies of Israel did bad things to the people, so the Israelites would cry for help. And each time the Lord felt sorry for the people and sent a judge to save them from their enemies. The Lord was always with those judges. Each time the Israelites were saved from their enemies. 19But when each judge died, the Israelites again sinned and started worshiping the false gods. They acted worse than their ancestors did. The Israelites were very stubborn and refused to change their evil ways.
20So the Lord became angry with the Israelites, and he said, “This nation has broken the agreement that I made with their ancestors. They have not listened to me. 21So I will no longer defeat the nations and clear the way for the Israelites. Those nations were still in this land when Joshua died, and I will let them stay in this land. 22I will use them to test the Israelites. I will see if the Israelites can keep the Lord’s commands as their ancestors did.” 23The Lord allowed those nations to stay in the land. He did not quickly force them to leave the country. He did not help Joshua’s army defeat them.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Judges 2
2
The Angel of the Lord at Bokim
1The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, “I brought you up from Egypt and led you to the land I promised to give your ancestors. I said, ‘I will never break my agreement with you. 2But you must not make an agreement with the people who live in this land. You must destroy their altars.’ But you did not obey me. How could you do this? 3Now I tell you, ‘I will not force out the people in this land. They will be your enemies, and their gods will be a trap for you.’ ”
4After the angel gave Israel this message from the Lord, they cried loudly. 5So they named the place Bokim. There they offered sacrifices to the Lord.
Joshua Dies
6Then Joshua sent the people back to their land. 7The people served the Lord during the lifetime of Joshua and during the lifetimes of the elders who lived after Joshua and who had seen what great things the Lord had done for Israel. 8Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of one hundred ten. 9They buried him in his own land at Timnath Serah in the mountains of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
The People Disobey
10After those people had died, their children grew up and did not know the Lord or what he had done for Israel. 11So they did what the Lord said was wrong, and they worshiped the Baal idols. 12They quit following the Lord, the God of their ancestors who had brought them out of Egypt. They began to worship the gods of the people who lived around them, and that made the Lord angry. 13The Israelites quit following the Lord and worshiped Baal and Ashtoreth. 14The Lord was angry with the people of Israel, so he handed them over to robbers who took their possessions. He let their enemies who lived around them defeat them; they could not protect themselves. 15When the Israelites went out to fight, they always lost, because the Lord was not with them. The Lord had sworn to them this would happen. So the Israelites suffered very much.
God Chooses Judges
16Then the Lord chose leaders called judges, who saved the Israelites from the robbers. 17But the Israelites did not listen to their judges. They were not faithful to God but worshiped other gods instead. Their ancestors had obeyed the Lord’s commands, but they quickly turned away and did not obey. 18When their enemies hurt them, the Israelites cried for help. So the Lord felt sorry for them and sent judges to save them from their enemies. The Lord was with those judges all their lives. 19But when the judges died, the Israelites again sinned and worshiped other gods. They became worse than their ancestors. The Israelites were very stubborn and refused to change their evil ways.
20So the Lord became angry with the Israelites. He said, “These people have broken the agreement I made with their ancestors. They have not listened to me. 21I will no longer defeat the nations who were left when Joshua died. 22I will use them to test Israel, to see if Israel will keep the Lord’s commands as their ancestors did.” 23In the past the Lord had permitted those nations to stay in the land. He did not quickly force them out or help Joshua’s army defeat them.
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.