Judges 3:1-6

New Century Version

3 These are the nations the Lord did not force to leave. He wanted to test the Israelites who had not fought in the wars of Canaan. ² (The only reason the Lord left those nations in the land was to teach the descendants of the Israelites who had not fought in those wars how to fight.) ³ These are the nations: the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the people of Sidon, and the Hivites who lived in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath. ⁴ Those nations were in the land to test the Israelites—to see if they would obey the commands the Lord had given to their ancestors by Moses.

⁵ The people of Israel lived with the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. ⁶ The Israelites began to marry the daughters of those people, and they allowed their daughters to marry the sons of those people. Israel also served their gods.