Judges 2:7-17

7The people worshiped the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and as long as the elderly men who outlived him remained alive. These men had witnessed all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.

8Joshua son of Nun, the Lord’s servant, died at the age of one hundred ten.

9The people buried him in his allotted land in Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

10That entire generation passed away; a new generation grew up that had not personally experienced the Lord’s presence or seen what he had done for Israel.

11The Israelites did evil before the Lord by worshiping the Baals.

12They abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods – the gods of the nations who lived around them. They worshiped them and made the Lord angry.

13They abandoned the Lord and worshiped Baal and the Ashtars.

14The Lord was furious with Israel and handed them over to robbers who plundered them. He turned them over to their enemies who lived around them. They could not withstand their enemies’ attacks.

15Whenever they went out to fight, the Lord did them harm, just as he had warned and solemnly vowed he would do. They suffered greatly.

16The Lord raised up leaders who delivered them from these robbers.

17But they did not obey their leaders. Instead they prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. They quickly turned aside from the path their ancestors had walked. Their ancestors had obeyed the Lord’s commands, but they did not.