Israēla nepaklausība
1 Kunga eņģelis nāca augšup no Gilgālas uz Bohīmu un sacīja: “Es jūs izvedu no Ēģiptes un ievedu zemē, kuru zvērēdams esmu solījis jūsu tēviem, sacīdams: es nelauzīšu savu derību ar jums nemūžam, 2 bet jūs neslēdziet derību ar šīs zemes iedzīvotājiem! Viņu altāri jums jānojauc! – Tomēr jūs neesat klausījuši manu balsi! Kādēļ jūs tā darījāt?! 3 Tad arī es sacīju: es nedzīšu viņus projām no jums. Tie būs jums līdzās, un viņu dievi kļūs jums par slazdiem.” 4 Kad Kunga eņģelis bija runājis šos vārdus uz visiem Israēla dēliem, ļaudis sāka raudāt, 5 un šī vieta tika nosaukta: Bohīma . Tur viņi kāva upurus Kungam.
Jozuas nāve
(Joz 24:29–31)6 Tad Jozua atlaida tautu, un Israēla dēli devās ikviens uz savu mantojuma daļu, lai iegūtu īpašumā šo zemi. 7 Tauta kalpoja Kungam visu Jozuas dzīves laiku un visu to vecajo dzīves laiku, kuri pārdzīvoja Jozuu un bija redzējuši visus Kunga lielos darbus, ko viņš darīja Israēlam. 8 Kunga kalps Jozua, Nūna dēls, nomira simts desmit gadu vecs 9 un tika apbedīts savā mantotajā novadā Timnat-Heresā , Efraima kalnos uz ziemeļiem no Gaašas kalna. 10 Arī visa šī paaudze tika piepulcināta tēviem, un pēc viņiem cēlās cita paaudze, kas nepazina Kungu, nedz arī tos darbus, ko viņš bija darījis Israēlam.
Israēla neuzticība
11 Tad Israēla dēli darīja to, kas ļauns Kunga acīs, – vergoja baāliem. 12 Viņi atmeta Kungu, savu tēvu Dievu, kas tos bija izvedis no Ēģiptes zemes, un dzinās pēc citiem dieviem – apkārtējo tautu dieviem – un zemojās tiem, tā sadusmodami Kungu. 13 Viņi atmeta Kungu, vergodami vergoja Baalam un aštartēm. 14 Tad Kunga dusmas iedegās pret Israēlu, un viņš tos nodeva laupītājiem, kuri tos aplaupīja, un viņš tos pārdeva apkārtējiem ienaidniekiem, ka tie vairs nevarēja pastāvēt savu ienaidnieku priekšā. 15 Visur, kur tie devās, Kunga roka bija pret viņiem uz ļaunu, kā Kungs bija sacījis un kā Kungs bija tiem zvērējis, un tie bija lielos spaidos. 16 Tad Kungs lika celties soģiem, kas tos izglāba no laupītāju rokām. 17 Bet arī savus soģus viņi neklausīja, jo nodevās maucībai ar citiem dieviem, zemojās tiem un jo drīz novērsās no ceļa, ko bija staigājuši viņu tēvi, kuri klausīja Kunga baušļus, – bet viņi tā nedarīja. 18 Kad Kungs lika viņu vidū celties soģiem, tad Kungs bija ar šo soģi, un viņš tos izpestīja no ienaidnieku rokas visas šī soģa dienas, jo Kungs iežēlojās par viņu vaidiem apspiedēju un nomācēju priekšā. 19 Bet, tiklīdz soģis nomira, viņi griezās atpakaļ un atkal bija izvirtušāki par saviem tēviem, dzinās pakaļ citiem dieviem, lai tiem vergotu un tiem zemotos. Viņi neatmeta neko no saviem darbiem un savas stūrgalvības. 20 Tad Kunga dusmas iedegās pret Israēlu, un viņš teica: “Tāpēc ka šie ļaudis ir aizgājuši no manas derības, ko es pavēlēju viņu tēviem, un nav klausījuši manu balsi, 21 arī es nevienu no tām tautām, ko Jozua nomirdams ir atstājis, vairs nedzīšu prom no viņiem, 22 lai tā pārbaudītu Israēlu – vai tie ievēros Kunga ceļu, staigādami pa to, kā to darījuši viņu tēvi, vai ne.” 23 Tā Kungs atstāja šīs tautas un neizdzina tās tūlīt, un neatdeva tās Jozuas rokā.
The Lord's Angel Speaks to Israel
1 The Lord's angel went from Gilgal to Bochim and gave the Israelites this message from the Lord:
I promised your ancestors that I would give this land to their families, and I brought your people here from Egypt. We made an agreement that I promised never to break, 2 and you promised not to make any peace treaties with the other nations that live in the land. Besides that, you agreed to tear down the altars where they sacrifice to their idols. Why haven't you kept your promise?
3 And so, I'll stop helping you defeat your enemies. Instead, they will be there to trap you into worshiping their idols.
4 The Israelites started crying loudly, 5 and they offered sacrifices to the Lord. From then on, they called that place “Crying.”
Israel Stops Worshiping the Lord
6-9 Joshua had been faithful to the Lord. And after Joshua sent the Israelites to take the land they had been promised, they remained faithful to the Lord until Joshua died at the age of 110. He was buried on his land in Timnath-Heres, in the hill country of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash. Even though Joshua was gone, the Israelites were faithful to the Lord during the lifetime of those men who had been leaders with Joshua and who had seen the wonderful things the Lord had done for Israel.
10 After a while the people of Joshua's generation died, and the next generation did not know the Lord or any of the things he had done for Israel. 11-13 The Lord had brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and they had worshiped him. But now the Israelites stopped worshiping the Lord and worshiped the idols of Baal and Astarte, as well as the idols of other gods from nearby nations.
The Lord was so angry 14-15 with the Israelites that he let other nations raid Israel and steal their crops and other possessions. Enemies were everywhere, and the Lord always let them defeat Israel in battle. The Lord had warned Israel he would do this, and now the Israelites were miserable.
The Lord Chooses Leaders for Israel
16 From time to time, the Lord would choose special leaders known as judges. These judges would lead the Israelites into battle and defeat the enemies that made raids on them. 17 In years gone by, the Israelites had been faithful to the Lord, but now they were quick to be unfaithful and to refuse even to listen to these judges. The Israelites disobeyed the Lord, and instead of worshiping him, they worshiped other gods.
18 When enemies made life miserable for the Israelites, the Lord felt sorry for them. He would choose a judge and help that judge rescue Israel from its enemies. The Lord was kind to Israel as long as that judge lived. 19 But afterwards, the Israelites would become even more sinful than their ancestors had been. The Israelites were stubborn—they simply would not stop worshiping other gods or following their teachings.
The Lord Lets Enemies Test Israel
20 The Lord was angry with Israel and said:
The Israelites have broken the agreement I made with their ancestors. They won't obey me, 21 so I'll stop helping them defeat their enemies. Israel still had a lot of enemies when Joshua died, 22 and I'm going to let those enemies stay. I'll use them to test Israel, because then I can find out if Israel will worship and obey me as their ancestors did.
23 That's why the Lord had not let Joshua get rid of those enemy nations all at once.
