Judges 3:1-6 - Some Nations Remain In The Land

¹ These were the nations the Lord permitted to remain so he could use them to test Israel -- he wanted to test all those who had not experienced battle against the Canaanites. ² He left those nations simply because he wanted to teach the subsequent generations of Israelites, who had not experienced the earlier battles, how to conduct holy war. ³ These were the nations: the five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo-Hamath. ⁴ They were left to test Israel, so the Lord would know if his people would obey the commands he gave their ancestors through Moses. ⁵ The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. ⁶ They took the Canaanites' daughters as wives and gave their daughters to the Canaanites; they worshiped their gods as well.