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1 The angel of the Lord went from Gilgal to Bokim and told the people, “I led you out of the land of Egypt and brought you to this land that I promised to your forefathers, and I said I would never break the agreement I made with you. 2 I also told you not to make any agreements with the people living in the land and to tear down their altars. But you refused to obey what I said. Why did you do this? 3 I also warned you, ‘I will not drive them out before you, and they will be snares for you, and their gods will be traps for you.’ ”*See Numbers 33:55; Joshua 23:13
4 After the angel of the Lord had explained this to all the Israelites, the people wept out loud. 5 That's why they named the place Bokim,†“Bokim” means “weeping.” and they presented sacrifices there to the Lord.
6 After Joshua had dismissed the people, the Israelites went to take possession of the land, each to their allotted land. 7 The people continued to worship the Lord throughout Joshua's life, and throughout the lifetimes of the elders who outlived him, those who had seen all the wonderful things that the Lord had done for Israel.
8 Joshua, son of Nun, servant of the Lord, died at the age of one hundred and ten. 9 They buried him in Timnath-heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash, the land he had been allocated.
10 Once that generation had passed away, the generation that followed did not know the Lord, or what he had done for Israel. 11 The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord's sight, and they worshiped the Baals.‡“Baals”: pagan gods. 12 They deserted the Lord, the God of their forefathers, who had led them out of Egypt. They followed other gods, bowing down in worship to the gods of the peoples around them, making the Lord angry. 13 They deserted the Lord and worshiped Baal and Ashtaroth idols. 14 Because the Lord was angry with Israel he handed them over to invaders who plundered them. He sold them to their enemies all around—enemies they could no longer resist. 15 Whenever Israel went into battle, the Lord fought against them and defeated them, just as he had warned them and as he had vowed he would do. They were in a great deal of trouble.
16 Then the Lord provided them with judges,§“Judges”: or “leaders.” who saved them from their invaders. 17 But even so, they refused to listen to their judges, and prostituted themselves by following other gods, bowing down in worship to them. They quickly abandoned the way their forefathers had followed, and they did not obey the Lord's commandments as their forefathers had.
18 When the Lord provided Israel with judges over Israel, he was with each judge and saved the people from their enemies during that judge's lifetime, because the Lord felt sorry for his people, who groaned under their oppressors and persecutors. 19 But when the judge died, the people relapsed, and did worse things even than their forefathers, following other gods and worshiping them. They refused to give up what they were doing and held to their stubborn ways.
20 As a result the Lord became angry with Israel and he told them, “Because this nation has broken the agreement I ordered their forefathers to obey, and has not paid attention to what I said, 21 from now on I won't drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. 22 This is in order to use them to test Israel to see if they will keep the way of the Lord and follow it as their forefathers did.” 23 This is the reason why the Lord allowed those nations to remain, and didn't immediately drive them out by handing them over to Joshua.

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*2:3 See Numbers 33:55; Joshua 23:13

†2:5 “Bokim” means “weeping.”

‡2:11 “Baals”: pagan gods.

§2:16 “Judges”: or “leaders.”

© 2018 Dr. Jonathan Gallagher