Shofetim 2
1. And Malach Hashem went up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Mitzrayim, and have brought you unto HaAretz which I swore unto your avot; and I said, I will never (l’olam) break My brit (covenant) with you.
2. And ye shall make no brit with the inhabitants of HaAretz HaZot; ye shall throw down their mizbechot. But ye have not obeyed My voice; why have ye done this?
3. Therefore I said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall flank you in, and their elohim shall be a mokesh unto you.
4. And it came to pass, when the Malach Hashem spoke these words unto kol Bnei Yisroel, that HaAm lifted up their voice, and wept.
5. And they called the shem of that place Bochim; and they sacrificed there unto Hashem.
6. And when Yehoshua had let HaAm go, the Bnei Yisroel went every ish unto his nachalah to possess HaAretz.
7. And HaAm served Hashem all the days of Yehoshua, and all the days of the zekenim that outlived Yehoshua, who had seen kol ma’aseh Hashem hagadol, that He did for Yisroel.
8. And Yehoshua ben Nun, the Eved Hashem, died, being a hundred and ten years old.
9. And they buried him in the territory of his nachalah in Timnat-Cheres, in the Har Ephrayim, on the north side of the Har Gaash.
10. And also all that dor were gathered unto their avot; and there arose another dor after them, which had no da’as of Hashem, nor yet the ma’aseh which He had done for Yisroel.
11. And the Bnei Yisroel did harah in the sight of Hashem, and served Baalim;
12. And they forsook Hashem Elohei Avotam, which brought them out of Eretz Mitzrayim, and followed acharei elohim, of the elohei ha’amim that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked Hashem to anger.
13. And they forsook Hashem, and served Baal and Ashtarot.
14. And the Af Hashem was hot against Yisroel, and He delivered them into the hands of plunderers that plundered them, and He sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, that they were not any longer able to stand before their enemies.
15. Whenever they went out, the yad Hashem was against them for ra’ah, just as Hashem had said, and just as Hashem had sworn unto them; and they were greatly distressed.
16. Nevertheless Hashem raised up Shofetim, which saved them out of the yad of those that plundered them.
17. And yet they would not pay heed unto their Shofetim, but they went a-whoring after acharei elohim, and bowed themselves unto them; they turned quickly from HaDerech which their Avot walked in, the Way of obedience to the mitzvot Hashem; but they did not so.
18. And when Hashem raised them up Shofetim, then Hashem was with the Shofet, and saved them out of the yad of their enemies all the days of the Shofet; for it relented Hashem because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and afflicted them.
19. And it came to pass, when the Shofet was dead, that they turned again, and corrupted themselves more than their avot, in following acharei elohim to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their derech hakashah (stubborn way).
20. And the Af Hashem was hot against Yisroel; and He said, Because this people hath violated My brit (covenant) which I commanded their Avot, and have not paid heed unto My voice;
21. I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the Goyim which Yehoshua left when he died;
22. That through them I may test Yisroel, whether they will be shomrim Derech Hashem to walk therein, just as their Avot were shomer, or no.
23. Therefore Hashem let those Goyim remain, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered He them into the yad Yehoshua.