Judges 2

¹And the aungel of the Lord stiede fro Galgala to the place of weperis, and seide, Y ledde you out of Egipt, and Y brouyte you in to the lond, `for which Y swoor to youre fadris, and bihiyte, that Y schulde not make void my couenaunt with you in to with outen ende;

²so oneli that ye schulde not smyte boond of pees with the dwelleris of this lond, and schulden distrie `the auteris of hem; and ye nolden here my vois. Whi diden ye these thingis?

³Wherfore Y nolde do hem awei fro youre face, that ye haue enemyes, and that `the goddis of hem be to you in to fallyng.

⁴And whanne the `aungel of the Lord spak these wordis to alle the sones of Israel, thei reisiden her vois, and wepten; and the name of that place was clepid,

⁵of weperis, ether of teeris; and thei offriden there sacrifices to the Lord.

⁶Therfor Josue lefte the puple; and the sones of Israel wenten forth, ech man in to his possessioun, that thei schulden gete it.

⁷And thei serueden the Lord in alle the daies of Josue, and of eldere men that lyueden aftir hym in long tyme, and knewen alle the grete werkis of the Lord, whiche he hadde do with Israel.

⁸Forsothe Josue, sone of Nun, `seruaunt of the Lord, `was deed of an hundrid yeer and ten;

⁹and thei birieden hym in the endis of his possessioun, in Thannath of Sare, in the hil of Effraym, at the north coost of the hil Gaas.

¹⁰And al that generacioun was gaderid to her fadris; and othere men riseden, that knewen not the Lord, and the werkis whiche he `hadde do with Israel.

¹¹And the sones of Israel diden yuel in the siyt of the Lord, and thei serueden Baalym and Astaroth;

¹²and forsoken the Lord God of her fadris, that ledden hem out of the lond of Egipt; and thei sueden alien goddis, the goddis of puplis, that dwelliden in `the cumpasse of hem, and worschipeden tho goddis, and excitiden the Lord to greet wraththe, and forsoken hym,

¹³and serueden Baal and Astoroth.

¹⁴And the Lord was wrooth ayens Israel, and bitook hem in to the hondis of rauyscheris, whiche rauyscheris token hem, and seelden to enemyes, that dwelliden `bi cumpas; and thei myyten not ayenstonde her aduersaries;

¹⁵but whidir euer thei wolden go, the hond of the Lord was on hem, as he spak and swoor to hem; and thei weren turmentid greetli.

¹⁶And the Lord reiside iugis, that `delyueriden hem fro the hondis of destrieris, but thei nolden here hem,

¹⁷and thei diden fornycacioun, `that is, idolatrie, with alien goddis, and worschipiden hem. Soone thei forsoken the weie, bi which `the fadris of hem entriden; and thei herden the `comaundementis of the Lord, and diden alle thingis contrarie.

¹⁸And whanne the Lord reiside iugis in `the daies of hem, he was bowid bi mercy, and he herde the weilyngis of hem turmentid, and he delyuerede hem fro the sleyng of wasteris.

¹⁹Sotheli aftir that the iuge was deed, thei turneden ayen, and diden many thingis grettere `in yuel than her fadris diden; and thei sueden alien goddis, and serueden hem, and worschipiden hem; thei leften not her owne fyndyngis, and the hardeste weie `bi which thei weren wont to go.

²⁰And the strong veniaunce of the Lord was wrooth ayens Israel, and he seide, For this puple hath maad voide my couenaunt which Y couenauntide with her fadris, and dispiside to here my vois; also Y schal not do a wey folkis,

²¹whiche Josue `lefte, and was deed;

²²that in hem Y asaie Israel, whether thei kepen the weie of the Lord, and goen ther ynne, as her fadris kepten, ether nay.

²³Therfor the Lord lefte alle these naciouns, and nolde destrie soone, nethir bitook in to the hondis of Josue.

Judges 2

¹And an angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.

²And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?

³Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.

⁴And it came to pass, when the angel of the Lord spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.

⁵And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto the Lord.

⁶And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land.

⁷And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord, that he did for Israel.

⁸And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old.

⁹And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath–heres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash.

¹⁰And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.

¹¹And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim:

¹²And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger.

¹³And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.

¹⁴And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.

¹⁵Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.

¹⁶Nevertheless the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.

¹⁷And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the Lord; but they did not so.

¹⁸And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the Lord because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.

¹⁹And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.

²⁰And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice;

²¹I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died:

²²That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.

²³Therefore the Lord left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.