Judges 2:11-23

11The Israelites did things that the Lord saw were evil. They worshipped the idols of Baal.

12They turned away from the Lord God that their ancestors had worshipped. He was the one who had brought them safely out of Egypt. Instead, they served the false gods of the people who lived near them. They worshipped those gods and the Lord became very angry.

13They turned away from the Lord and they worshipped the idols of Baal and Ashtoreth instead.

14The Lord was very angry with the Israelites and he punished them. He sent robbers to attack them and take their animals and their food. He put them under the power of their enemies who lived around them. They were not strong enough to fight against their enemies.

15When the Israelites went to fight against their enemies, the Lord turned against them. He punished them, as he said he would do. So the Israelites were in great trouble.

16After that, the Lord chose judges to lead his people. These leaders rescued the Israelites from their enemies who were robbing them.

17But the people did not obey their leaders. They refused to serve the Lord faithfully. Instead, they worshipped false gods. They did not live in the way that their ancestors had lived. Their ancestors had obeyed the Lord's commands, but they refused to obey him.

18Every time that the Lord chose a judge to lead them, the Lord helped the leader to rescue them from their enemies. While the leader was still alive, the Lord was kind to them. When the Israelites called out to the Lord for help, he was sorry for them. He saw the cruel things that their enemies were doing to give them pain.

19But when the leader died, the people would stop serving the Lord. They would do even more wicked things than their fathers had done. They would serve false gods and they would worship them. They refused to stop doing the wicked things that they wanted to do.

20Because of this, the Lord became very angry with the Israelites. He said, ‘This nation of my people has not obeyed the covenant that I made with their ancestors.

21So I will not chase out the nations that are still living in the land. They are the people who were still there when Joshua died.

22I will use those nations to test the Israelites. I will see if my people will live carefully, in the way that I have shown them. That is the way that their ancestors lived.’

23So the Lord let some of the Canaanite nations continue to live in the land. He did not chase them all away. He did not put them all under Joshua's power.