1 And the angel of the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Enforcer} went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and brought you into the land which I swore to your fathers, and I said, ‘I will not break my covenant {berit: binding agreement} with you forever.’”
2 And you must not make a covenant {berit: sacred agreement} with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars, but you have not listened to My {YHWH, Sovereign Judge} voice. What is this that you have done?
3 And I {YHWH, Covenant Upholder} also said, “I will not drive them out from before you, and they shall be for you as thorns {tzidim: persistent trouble} in your sides, and their gods shall be for you as a snare.”
4 And when the messenger of the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Messenger} had spoken these words {hadevarim: authoritative declarations} to all the sons of Israel, the people lifted up their voice and wept.
5 And they called the name of that place Bokim {bokim: weepers}, and there they offered sacrifices to the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Respondent}.
6 Then Joshua {Yehoshua, Faithful Leader} dismissed the people, and the sons of Israel each went to his inheritance {nachalah: allotted portion} to possess the land.
7 And the people served the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Guardian} all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who prolonged their days after Joshua and had seen all the great work {ma’aseh: mighty acts} that He had done for Israel.
8 And Joshua, son of Nun, the servant of the LORD {YHWH, Faithful Leader}, died at the age of one hundred and ten years {shanim: measured lifetime}.
9 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance at Timnath-Heres, in the hill country {har: elevated land} of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash {Gaash: shaking terrain}.
10 And also all that generation was gathered to their fathers, and another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Judge} nor even the deed {ma'aseh: mighty act} which He had done for Israel.
11 And the sons of Israel did what was evil in the eyes of the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge}, and they served the Baals {habbe’alim: local idol lords}.
12 And they forsook the LORD {YHWH, Faithful Redeemer}, the God of their fathers who delivered {hamotzi: one who brings out} them from the land of Egypt. They went after other gods chosen from the gods of the peoples around them, bowed down to them, and provoked the LORD to anger.
13 And they forsook the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Judge} and served Baal and the Ashtaroth {ashtarot: fertility idols}.
14 And the anger of the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge} burned against Israel, and He gave them into the hand of raiders {shosim: violent plunderers}, who plundered them, and He sold them into the hand of their enemies all around, and they were no longer able to stand before their enemies.
15 In all that they went out, the hand of the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Judge} was against them for harm {ra’ah: divine judgment}, just as He had spoken and as He had sworn to them. It greatly distressed them.
16 And the LORD {YHWH, Delivering Judge} raised up judges {shofetim: leaders appointed to bring justice}, and they delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them.
17 And also to their judges they did not listen, for they prostituted themselves after other gods and bowed down to them. They turned aside quickly from the way which their fathers had walked, obeying the commands {mitzvot: authoritative instructions} of the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Lawgiver}; they did not do so.
18 And whenever the LORD {YHWH, Deliverer and Judge} raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge and rescued them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge, for the LORD was moved to pity because of their groaning {mina’akah: desperate cries} before those who oppressed and tormented them.
19 And it came to pass when the judge {shofet: tribal deliverer} died, that they returned and corrupted {shachat: moral decay} themselves more than their fathers, going after other gods to serve them and to bow down to them. They did not cease from their deeds nor from their stubborn way.
20 And the LORD’s {YHWH, Righteous Judge} anger burned against Israel, and He said, “Because this nation has transgressed {avru: flagrantly disobeyed} My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and they did not listen to My voice.”
21 Also I {YHWH, Disposer of Nations} will not continue to drive out {lehorish: dispossess fully} anyone from before them, from the nations that Joshua left when he died.
22 It was for the purpose of testing {nassot: deliberate proving} Israel by means of them, to see whether they would keep the way of the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Tester} and walk in it as their fathers did, or not.
23 And the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Preserver} left these nations so as not to dispossess them swiftly {maher: rapid removal}, and He did not give them into the hand of Joshua.