Judges 2:7-17

7The people served the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and throughout the lifetimes of the leaders who had outlived him and who had seen all the spectacular works the Lord had done for Israel.

8The Lord’s servant Joshua, son of Nun, died at the age of 110.

9He was buried at Timnath Heres within the territory he had inherited. This was in the mountains of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash.

10That whole generation had joined their ancestors in death. So another generation grew up after them. They had no personal experience with the Lord or with what he had done for Israel.

11The people of Israel did what the Lord considered evil. They began to serve other gods—the Baals.

12The Israelites abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors, the God who brought them out of Egypt. They followed the other gods of the people around them. They worshiped these gods, and that made the Lord angry.

13They abandoned the Lord to serve the god Baal and the goddess Astarte.

14So the Lord became angry with the people of Israel. He handed them over to people who robbed them. He also used their enemies around them to defeat them. They could no longer stand up against their enemies.

15Whenever the Israelites went to war, the power of the Lord brought disaster on them. This was what the Lord said he would do in an oath. So he made them suffer a great deal.

16Then the Lord would send judges  to rescue them from those who robbed them.

17But the people wouldn’t listen to the judges. The Israelites chased after other gods as though they were prostitutes and worshiped them. They quickly turned from the ways of their ancestors who had obeyed the Lord’s commands. They refused to be like their ancestors.