Judges 2:16-Judges 3:6 - The Lord Raises Up Judges

¹⁶ And LORD raised up judges who saved them out of the hand of those who despoiled them. ¹⁷ And yet they did not hearken to their judges, for they played the harlot after other gods, and bowed themselves down to them. They turned aside quickly out of the way in which their fathers walked, obeying the commandments of LORD. ¹⁸ And when LORD raised up judges for them, then LORD was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For LORD regretted because of their groaning because of those who oppressed them and ¹⁹ But 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 to them. They did not cease from their doings, nor from their

²⁰ And the anger of LORD was kindled against Israel, and he said, Because this nation has transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not hearkened to my voice, ²¹ I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations that Joshua left when he died, ²² that by them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of LORD to walk in it, as their fathers kept it, or not. ²³ So LORD left those nations, without driving them out quickly. Neither did he deliver them into the hand of Joshua.

¹ Now these are the nations which LORD left to prove Israel by them, (even as many [of Israel] as had not known all the wars of Canaan, ² only that the generations of the sons of Israel might know, to teach them war, at least to such as formerly knew nothing of that): ³ [namely], the five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baal-hermon to the entrance of Hamath. ⁴ And they were [left], to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken to the commandments of LORD, which he commanded their fathers by Moses. ⁵ And the sons of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ⁶ And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons and served their gods.