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So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord. And His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel.
Judges 10:16 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB They put away the foreign gods from among them, and served Yahweh; and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.
  • KJV And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.
  • BSB So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD, and He could no longer bear the misery of Israel.
  • NASB So they removed the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord; and He could no longer endure the misery of Israel.
  • NLT Then the Israelites put aside their foreign gods and served the Lord. And he was grieved by their misery.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Israel puts away their foreign gods and serves the LORD, who is grieved over their misery. Repentance is proven by action, and God's compassion stirs.

Overview

True repentance shows itself as the people actually remove their idols and return to serving the LORD. Moved by their suffering, God's heart is grieved, an anthropomorphism revealing his deep compassion. This tender response, even after such provocation, foreshadows the mercy fully revealed in Christ, who feels with his people and saves them.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 20

  • Isa 63:9In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and in his pity he redeemed them. He bore them, and carried them all the days of old.
  • Ps 106:44–45Nevertheless he regarded their distress, when he heard their cry.
  • Jer 31:20Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a darling child? for as often as I speak against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him,” says Yahweh.
  • Hos 11:8“How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned within me, my compassion is aroused.
  • Deut 32:36For Yahweh will judge his people, and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone; that there is no one remaining, shut up or left at large.
  • Eph 4:32And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you.
  • Luke 19:41When he came near, he saw the city and wept over it,
  • Ezek 18:30–32“Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, everyone according to his ways,” says the Lord Yahweh. “Return, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
  • 2 Chr 15:8When Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominations out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from the hill country of Ephraim; and he renewed Yahweh’s altar that was before Yahweh’s porch.
  • Gen 6:6Yahweh was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart.
  • Jer 18:7–8At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy it;
  • Josh 24:23“Now therefore put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to Yahweh, the God of Israel.”
  • Hos 14:8Ephraim, what have I to do any more with idols? I answer, and will take care of him. I am like a green cypress tree; from me your fruit is found.”
  • 2 Chr 7:14if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
  • 2 Chr 33:15He took away the foreign gods, and the idol out of Yahweh’s house, and all the altars that he had built in the mountain of Yahweh’s house, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.
  • Hos 14:1–3Israel, return to Yahweh your God; for you have fallen because of your sin.
  • Luke 15:20“He arose, and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
  • Heb 4:15For we don’t have a high priest who can’t be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who has been in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin.
  • Heb 3:10Therefore I was displeased with that generation, and said, ‘They always err in their heart, but they didn’t know my ways;’
  • John 11:34and said, “Where have you laid him?” They told him, “Lord, come and see.”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Judges videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Judges 10:16YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JudgesMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.

How Judges 10:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.