Judges 2 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

The angel of Yahweh went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, "I brought you out of Egypt and led you into the land I swore to give your ancestors. I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you,

and you must not make a treaty with the people living in this land. You must tear down their altars.' But you haven't listened to me. What have you done?

So now I'm telling you: I will not drive them out ahead of you. They will become thorns in your sides, and their gods will become a trap for you."

When the angel of Yahweh spoke these words to all the Israelites, the people wept out loud.

So they named that place Bokim, and they offered sacrifices to Yahweh there.

After Joshua dismissed the people, the Israelites each went to claim their allotted territory.

The people served Yahweh throughout Joshua's lifetime and throughout the lifetime of the elders who outlived Joshua — those who had seen all the great things Yahweh had done for Israel.

Joshua son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died at the age of one hundred and ten.

They buried him in the territory of his allotted land at Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

That entire generation was also gathered to their ancestors. After them, another generation grew up who didn't know Yahweh and hadn't seen what he had done for Israel.

Then the Israelites did what was evil in Yahweh's eyes. They served the Baals,

and abandoned Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They chased after other gods — the gods of the peoples around them — and bowed down to them. They provoked Yahweh to anger.

They abandoned Yahweh and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.

Yahweh's anger burned against Israel, and he handed them over to raiders who plundered them. He sold them to their enemies all around them, and they could no longer stand and fight against their enemies.

Everywhere they went, Yahweh's hand was against them to bring disaster, just as Yahweh had warned them and sworn to them. They were in terrible distress.

Then Yahweh raised up leaders who rescued them from the hands of those who were plundering them.

But they wouldn't even listen to their leaders. They prostituted themselves to other gods and bowed down to them. They quickly turned away from the path their ancestors had walked — the path of obeying Yahweh's commands. They didn't follow it.

Whenever Yahweh raised up a leader for them, Yahweh was with that leader and rescued them from their enemies throughout that leader's lifetime. Yahweh was moved by their groaning under those who oppressed and crushed them.

But when the leader died, the people went right back to their corrupt ways — even worse than their ancestors. They chased after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They refused to give up any of their practices or their stubborn ways.

So Yahweh's anger burned against Israel. He said, "Because this nation has violated the covenant I made with their ancestors and hasn't listened to me,

I will no longer drive out ahead of them any of the nations that Joshua left behind when he died.

I will use them to test Israel and see whether or not they will keep to Yahweh's path and walk in it, as their ancestors did."

So Yahweh left those nations in place. He didn't drive them out quickly, and he hadn't handed them over to Joshua.