Judges 2
The Voice
2 The Eternal’s messenger traveled from Gilgal to Bochim.
Messenger (to the people of Israel): I rescued you out of the land of Egypt and brought you into this land that I had promised to your ancestors. I said, “I will never break My covenant with you. 2 As your part of this bargain, you shall not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land. You must tear down the altars of their gods.” But you did not do as I commanded. Do you realize what you have done? 3 Now I tell you, “I will not drive them out before you. The people of the land will irritate you, and their gods will ensnare you.”
4 When the Eternal’s messenger spoke these words to Israel, the people wept bitterly. 5 So they named that place Bochim, which means “weeping,” and there they sacrificed to Him.
6 When Joshua sent the people away, each tribe of Israel went to gain possession of its territorial inheritance. 7 The people served the Eternal as long as Joshua lived and through all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua—those who had seen all the great works that the Eternal had done for Israel.
8 Joshua, son of Nun, the Eternal’s servant, died at the age of 110 years 9 and was buried within the borders of his inheritance at Timnath-heres in the hills of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. 10 Now that whole generation, the generation that had walked with Moses—the generation that saw the walls of Jericho fall—that generation passed on, and another generation grew up after them, a generation that did not know the Eternal and had not seen the great works He had done for Israel. 11 Consequently this new generation served the gods of Canaan—the Baals[a] as they were called—doing what the Eternal God considered evil. 12 They abandoned the Eternal One, the True God of their ancestors, who brought them safely out of Egypt. Instead, they began to serve the gods of their neighbors, the Canaanites, bowing low before their images, causing the Eternal to burn with anger.
13 The Israelites abandoned the worship of the Eternal One and turned to serve Baal and his consort the moon goddess, Ashtaroth. 14 So the Eternal’s anger burned hot against them, and He caused them to be overcome by those around them, using their enemies to plunder them so that the Israelites could no longer stand against their enemies. 15 Whenever they marched out to battle, the hand of the Eternal One was raised against them in evil, as He had warned and promised them, and they were in anguish.
16 But the Eternal appointed judges among them, leaders and liberators who rescued the Israelites from their enemies who plundered them. 17 Even then the people of Israel did not listen to their judges, but instead passionately pursued other gods and bowed down to them. How quickly they turned from the faithfulness exhibited by their ancestors in obeying the Eternal’s commandments. This younger generation did not follow their ancestors’ example.
18 Still, whenever the Eternal appointed judges among the Israelites, He was with each one, saving the Israelites from their enemies as long as that leader lived, for He was moved to compassion by the groans of His people when they were persecuted and oppressed. 19 But when the judge died, then the people would fall away from their faithfulness, and the next generation behaved even worse than their ancestors, pursuing and serving other gods, and bowing down before them. They would not change their bad habits but clung to them stubbornly.
20 So the Eternal’s anger burned hot against the people of Israel.
Eternal One: Since these people have violated the covenant I gave as a commandment to their ancestors and no longer listen to My voice, 21 I will no longer drive out from their path any of the nations who still remained in this land when Joshua died. 22 I will put My people to the test to see whether or not they will walk the faithful way of the Eternal as their ancestors did.
23 So God did as He promised. He left those pagan nations in the land of Canaan. He did not drive them away immediately, nor did He give them into the hands of Joshua and his armies.
Footnotes
- 2:11 Literally, lords
Judges 2
New King James Version
Israel’s Disobedience
2 Then the Angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: (A)“I led you up from Egypt and (B)brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and (C)I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you. 2 And (D)you shall make no [a]covenant with the inhabitants of this land; (E)you shall tear down their altars.’ (F)But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? 3 Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be (G)thorns[b] in your side, and (H)their gods shall [c]be a (I)snare to you.’ ” 4 So it was, when the Angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voices and wept.
5 Then they called the name of that place [d]Bochim; and they sacrificed there to the Lord. 6 And when (J)Joshua had dismissed the people, the children of Israel went each to his own inheritance to possess the land.
Death of Joshua(K)
7 (L)So the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which He had done for Israel. 8 Now (M)Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. 9 (N)And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at (O)Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. 10 When all that generation had [e]been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who (P)did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel.
Israel’s Unfaithfulness
11 Then the children of Israel did (Q)evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals; 12 and they (R)forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed (S)other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they (T)bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger. 13 They forsook the Lord (U)and served [f]Baal and the [g]Ashtoreths. 14 (V)And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel. So He (W)delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and (X)He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they (Y)could no longer stand before their enemies. 15 Wherever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for calamity, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had (Z)sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed.
16 Nevertheless, (AA)the Lord raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they would not listen to their judges, but they (AB)played the harlot with other gods, and bowed down to them. They turned quickly from the way in which their fathers walked, in obeying the commandments of the Lord; they did not do so. 18 And when the Lord raised up judges for them, (AC)the Lord was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; (AD)for the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed them and harassed them. 19 And it came to pass, (AE)when the judge was dead, that they reverted and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, by following other gods, to serve them and bow down to them. They did not cease from their own doings nor from their stubborn way.
20 Then the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and He said, “Because this nation has (AF)transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not heeded My voice, 21 I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua (AG)left when he died, 22 so (AH)that through them I may (AI)test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the Lord, to walk in them as their fathers kept them, or not.” 23 Therefore the Lord left those nations, without driving them out immediately; nor did He deliver them into the hand of Joshua.
Footnotes
- Judges 2:2 treaty
- Judges 2:3 LXX, Tg., Vg. enemies to you
- Judges 2:3 entrap you
- Judges 2:5 Lit. Weeping
- Judges 2:10 Died and joined their ancestors
- Judges 2:13 A Canaanite god
- Judges 2:13 Canaanite goddesses
Judges 2
English Standard Version
Israel's Disobedience
2 Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to (A)Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, (B)‘I will never break my covenant with you, 2 (C)and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; (D)you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? 3 So now I say, (E)I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become (F)thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.” 4 As soon as the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. 5 And they called the name of that place Bochim.[a] And they sacrificed there to the Lord.
The Death of Joshua
6 When Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land. 7 (G)And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel. 8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110 years. 9 And they buried him within the boundaries of (H)his inheritance in Timnath-heres, (I)in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. 10 And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.
Israel's Unfaithfulness
11 (J)And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. 12 (K)And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. (L)They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and (M)bowed down to them. (N)And they provoked the Lord to anger. 13 They abandoned the Lord (O)and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. 14 (P)So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he (Q)gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. (R)And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, (S)so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. 15 Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, (T)and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.
The Lord Raises Up Judges
16 (U)Then the Lord raised up judges, (V)who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they did not listen to their judges, for (W)they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. (X)They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not do so. 18 Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, (Y)the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. (Z)For the Lord was moved to pity by (AA)their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. 19 But (AB)whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. 20 (AC)So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this people (AD)have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, 21 (AE)I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, 22 in order (AF)to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the Lord as their fathers did, or not.” 23 So the Lord left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua.
Footnotes
- Judges 2:5 Bochim means weepers
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
