Judges 3:1-7

1These were the nations the Lord permitted to remain so he could use them to test Israel – he wanted to test all those who had not experienced battle against the Canaanites.

2He left those nations simply because he wanted to teach the subsequent generations of Israelites, who had not experienced the earlier battles, how to conduct holy war.

3These were the nations: the five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo-Hamath.

4They were left to test Israel, so the Lord would know if his people would obey the commands he gave their ancestors through Moses.

5The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

6They took the Canaanites’ daughters as wives and gave their daughters to the Canaanites; they worshiped their gods as well.

7The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They forgot the Lord their God and worshiped the Baals and the Asherahs.