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Angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land of which I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you. 2 You must not make a covenant with the people of this land, and you are to tear down their altars’. But you have not obeyed Me. Why have you done this? 3 Therefore I now tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will become thorns in your side, and their gods will be a snare to you.”
4 When the Angel of the Lord had spoken these words to all the Israelites, the people wept loudly. 5 So they call the name of that place Bochim, and they offered sacrifices to the Lord.
6 When Joshua had dismissed the people, the Israelites went to take possession of the land, each to his own inheritance. 7 The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua, and throughout the lifetime of the elders who outlived Joshua and had seen all the great works the Lord had done for Israel.
8 Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten. 9 They buried him within the borders of his inheritance at Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash.
10 After all that generation were also gathered to their fathers, there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the works He had done for Israel.
11 Then the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. 12 They forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed after other gods from the surrounding peoples, and bowed down to them. They provoked the Lord to anger, 13 for they forsook the Lord, and worshipped Baal and the Ashtoreths.
14 The Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies around them, so that they could no longer resist their enemies. 15 Whenever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for disaster, as the Lord had sworn to them; and they were in great distress.
16 Then the Lord raised up judges, who delivered them from the hands of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they would not listen to their judges, but prostituted themselves to other gods and bowed down to them. They quickly turned away from the way in which their fathers had walked in obedience to the commands of the Lord. They did not do as their fathers did.
18 Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge and saved them from the hand of their enemies as long as the judge lived. The Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who were oppressing and afflicting them. 19 But when the judge died, they would turn back and behave more corruptly than their fathers, following other gods, worshipping them, and bowing down to them. They would not turn from their evil practices or their stubborn ways.
20 Therefore the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He said, “Because this people have violated My covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to Me, 21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died. 22 I will test Israel through these nations to see whether they will keep the ways of the Lord by walking in them as their forefathers did.” 23 So the Lord left those nations and did not drive them out immediately. He did not deliver them into the hands of Joshua.