Judges 2

Israel's Disobedience

1 Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to j 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, k 'I will never break my covenant with you, 2 l and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; m you shall break down their altars.' But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? 3 So now I say, n I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become o thorns in your sides, 1 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. 2 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 p 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 q his inheritance in Timnath-heres, r 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 s And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. 12 t And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. u They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and v bowed down to them. w And they provoked the Lord to anger. 13 They abandoned the Lord x and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. 14 y So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he z gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. a And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, b 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, c and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.

The Lord Raises Up Judges

16 d Then the Lord raised up judges, e who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they did not listen to their judges, for f they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. g 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, h the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. i For the Lord was moved to pity by j their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. 19 But k 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 l So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said, "Because this people m has transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, 21 n I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, 22 in order o 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.

  1. Cross References
    Judges 2:5
    And they called the name of that place Bochim. And they sacrificed there to the Lord.
  2. Cross References
    Genesis 17:7
    And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.
    Exodus 6:4
    I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners.
    Deuteronomy 31:16
    And the Lord said to Moses, "Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them.
  3. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 7:2
    And when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them.
  4. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 12:3
    You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim with fire. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place.
  5. Cross References
    Judges 2:21
    I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died.
  6. Cross References
    Numbers 33:55
    But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell.
    Joshua 23:13
    Know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the Lord your God has given you.
  7. Cross References
    Judges 2:7 - 9
    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.
    Joshua 24:29 - 31
    After these things Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being 110 years old.
  8. Cross References
    Joshua 19:50
    By command of the Lord they gave him the city that he asked, Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. And he rebuilt the city and settled in it.
  9. Cross References
    Joshua 24:33
    And Eleazar the son of Aaron died, and they buried him at Gibeah, the town of Phinehas his son, which had been given him in the hill country of Ephraim.
  10. Cross References
    Judges 3:7
    And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth.
    Judges 4:1
    And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud died.
    Judges 6:1
    The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years.
    Judges 10:6
    The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the Lord and did not serve him.
    Judges 13:1
    And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.
  11. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 31:16
    And the Lord said to Moses, "Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them.
  12. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 6:14
    You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you -
  13. Cross References
    Judges 2:17
    Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. 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.
    Judges 2:19
    But 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.
    Exodus 20:5
    You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me.
  14. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 31:29
    For I know that after my death you will surely act corruptly and turn aside from the way that I have commanded you. And in the days to come evil will befall you, because you will do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger through the work of your hands.
  15. Cross References
    Judges 3:7
    And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth.
    Judges 10:6
    The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the Lord and did not serve him.
    Psalms 106:36
    They served their idols, which became a snare to them.
    1 Samuel 7:4
    So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord only.
  16. Cross References
    Judges 2:20
    So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said, "Because this people has transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice.
  17. Cross References
    2 Kings 17:20
    And the Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until he had cast them out of his sight.
  18. Cross References
    Judges 3:8
    Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years.
    Judges 4:2
    And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim.
    Deuteronomy 32:30
    How could one have chased a thousand, and two have put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had given them up?
    1 Samuel 12:9
    But they forgot the Lord their God. And he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them.
  19. Cross References
    Leviticus 26:37
    They shall stumble over one another, as if to escape a sword, though none pursues. And you shall have no power to stand before your enemies.
    Joshua 7:12 - 13
    Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you.
  20. Cross References
    Leviticus 26:14 - 46
    But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments.
    Deuteronomy 28:15 - 68
    But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.
  21. Cross References
    Judges 3:9
    But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.
    Judges 3:15
    Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab.
    1 Samuel 12:11
    And the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety.
    Acts 13:20
    All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.
  22. Cross References
    Judges 3:31
    After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who kil...
    Judges 10:1
    After Abimelech there arose to save Israel Tola...
    Judges 10:12 - 13
    The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites and the ...
    Judges 12:2 - 3
    And Jephthah said to them, "I and my people had...
    Judges 13:5
    For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. ...
    Judges 3:9
    But when the people of Israel cried out to the ...
    Nehemiah 9:27
    Therefore you gave them into the hand of their ...
  23. Cross References
    Judges 8:33
    As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god.
    Exodus 34:15
    Lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice.
  24. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 9:12
    Then the Lord said to me, 'Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted corruptly. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them; they have made themselves a metal image.
  25. Cross References
    Joshua 1:5
    No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.
  26. Cross References
    Genesis 6:6
    And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on ...
    Deuteronomy 32:36
    For the Lord will vindicate his people and have...
    Psalms 106:45
    For their sake he remembered his covenant, and ...
    Jeremiah 18:8
    And if that nation, concerning which I have spo...
    Jeremiah 26:3
    It may be they will listen, and every one turn ...
    Numbers 23:19
    God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of...
  27. Cross References
    Exodus 2:24
    And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
    Exodus 6:5
    Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant.
  28. Cross References
    Judges 3:12
    And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
    Judges 4:1
    And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud died.
    Judges 6:1
    The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years.
    Judges 8:33
    As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god.
  29. Cross References
    Judges 2:14
    So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies.
  30. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 17:2
    If there is found among you, within any of your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, a man or woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, in transgressing his covenant.
    Joshua 23:16
    If you transgress the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you.
  31. Cross References
    Judges 2:3
    So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.
    Joshua 23:13
    Know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the Lord your God has given you.
  32. Cross References
    Judges 3:1
    Now these are the nations that the Lord left, t...
    Judges 3:4
    They were for the testing of Israel, to know wh...
    Exodus 15:25
    And he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed h...
    Deuteronomy 8:2
    And you shall remember the whole way that the L...
    Deuteronomy 8:16
    Who fed you in the wilderness with manna that y...
    Deuteronomy 13:3
    You shall not listen to the words of that proph...
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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