1 Now the ^aangel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, ^b“I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the ^cland that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ^d‘I will never break my covenant with you, 2 and ^eyou shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; ^fyou shall break down their altars.’ ^gBut you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? 3 So now I say, ^hI will not drive them out before you, but they shall become ⁱthorns 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.¹ And they sacrificed there to the Lord.

6 When Joshua ^jdismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land. 7 ^kAnd the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had ^lseen 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 his inheritance in Timnath-heres, 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 ^mdid not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.

11 And the people of Israel ⁿdid what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. 12 And they ^oabandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, ^pwho had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the ^qgods of the peoples who were around them, and ^rbowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger. 13 They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. 14 So the ^sanger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to ^tplunderers, who plundered them. And he ^usold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that ^vthey could no longer withstand their enemies. 15 Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, ^was the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.

16 Then the Lord ^xraised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they ^ywhored after other gods and bowed down to them. They ^zsoon 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, the Lord was ^awith the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the Lord was ^bmoved to pity by their ^cgroaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. 19 But whenever the judge died, ^dthey 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 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this people have ^etransgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, 21 ^fI will no longer drive out before them any of the ^gnations that Joshua left when he died, 22 in order to ^htest 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.