10. After a while the people of Joshua's generation died, and the next generation did not know the Lord or any of the things he had done for Israel.
11-13. The Lord had brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and they had worshipped him. But now the Israelites stopped worshipping the Lord and worshipped the idols of Baal and Astarte, as well as the idols of other gods from nearby nations.The Lord was so angry
14-15. with the Israelites that he let other nations raid Israel and steal their crops and other possessions. Enemies were everywhere, and the Lord always let them defeat Israel in battle. The Lord had warned Israel he would do this, and now the Israelites were miserable.
16. From time to time, the Lord would choose special leaders known as judges. These judges would lead the Israelites into battle and defeat the enemies that made raids on them.
17. In years gone by, the Israelites had been faithful to the Lord, but now they were quick to be unfaithful and to refuse even to listen to these judges. The Israelites would disobey the Lord, and instead of worshipping him, they would worship other gods.
18. When enemies made life miserable for the Israelites, the Lord would feel sorry for them. He would choose a judge and help that judge rescue Israel from its enemies. The Lord would be kind to Israel as long as that judge lived.
19. But afterwards, the Israelites would become even more sinful than their ancestors had been. The Israelites were stubborn—they simply would not stop worshipping other gods or following the teachings of other religions.
20. The Lord was angry with Israel and said:The Israelites have broken the agreement I made with their ancestors. They won't obey me,
21. so I'll stop helping them defeat their enemies. Israel still had a lot of enemies when Joshua died,
22. and I'm going to let those enemies stay. I'll use them to test Israel, because then I can find out if Israel will worship and obey me as their ancestors did.
23. That's why the Lord had not let Joshua get rid of all those enemy nations straight away.