1And the angel of Jehovah came up from Gilgal to Bochim . And he said, I made you to go up out of Egypt , and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you : 2and ye shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall break down their altars . But ye have not hearkened unto my voice : why have ye done this ? 3Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you ; but they shall be as thorns in your sides , and their gods shall be a snare unto you . 4And it came to pass , when the angel of Jehovah spake these words unto all the children of Israel , that the people lifted up their voice , and wept . 5And they called the name of that place Bochim : and they sacrificed there unto Jehovah .
Israel's Disobedience and Its Consequences
6Now when Joshua had sent the people away , the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land . 7And the people served Jehovah all the days of Joshua , and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua , who had seen all the great work of Jehovah that he had wrought for Israel . 8And Joshua the son of Nun , the servant of Jehovah , died , being a hundred and ten years old . 9And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-heres , in the hill-country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash . 10And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them , that knew not Jehovah , nor yet the work which he had wrought for Israel . 11And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah , and served the Baalim ; 12and they forsook Jehovah , the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt , and followed other gods, of the gods of the peoples that were round about them , and bowed themselves down unto them : and they provoked Jehovah to anger . 13And they forsook Jehovah , and served Baal and the Ashtaroth . 14And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel , and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that despoiled them ; and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about , so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies . 15Whithersoever they went out , the hand of Jehovah was against them for evil , as Jehovah had spoken , and as Jehovah had sworn unto them : and they were sore distressed .
God's Compassion and the Rise of Judges
16And Jehovah raised up judges , who saved them out of the hand of those that despoiled them . 17And yet they hearkened not unto their judges ; for they played the harlot after other gods , and bowed themselves down unto them : they turned aside quickly out of the way wherein their fathers walked , obeying the commandments of Jehovah ; but they did not so . 18And when Jehovah raised them up judges , then Jehovah was with the judge , and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge : for it repented Jehovah because of their groaning by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them . 19But it came to pass , when the judge was dead , that they turned back , and dealt more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them , and to bow down unto them ; they ceased not from their doings , nor from their stubborn way .
The Death of Joshua and the Generational Shift
20And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel ; and he said , Because this nation have transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice ; 21I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations that Joshua left when he died ; 22that by them I may prove Israel , whether they will keep the way of Jehovah to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it , or not . 23So Jehovah left those nations , without driving them out hastily ; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua .