Judges 2

Read the chapter

¹The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said to the Israelites, “I brought you out of Egypt into this land that I swore to give your ancestors, and I said I would never break my covenant with you. ✦ ²For your part, you were not to make any covenants with the people living in this land; instead, you were to destroy their altars. But you disobeyed my command. Why did you do this? ✦ ³So now I declare that I will no longer drive out the people living in your land. They will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a constant temptation to you.” ✦ ⁴When the angel of the Lord finished speaking to all the Israelites, the people wept loudly. ✦ ⁵So they called the place Bokim (which means “weeping”), and they offered sacrifices there to the Lord. ✦ ⁶After Joshua sent the people away, each of the tribes left to take possession of the land allotted to them. ✦ ⁷And the Israelites served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and the leaders who outlived him—those who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel. ✦ ⁸Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110. ✦ ⁹They buried him in the land he had been allocated, at Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. ✦ ¹⁰After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel. ✦ ¹¹The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight and served the images of Baal. ✦ ¹²They abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods, worshiping the gods of the people around them. And they angered the Lord. ✦ ¹³They abandoned the Lord to serve Baal and the images of Ashtoreth. ✦ ¹⁴This made the Lord burn with anger against Israel, so he handed them over to raiders who stole their possessions. He turned them over to their enemies all around, and they were no longer able to resist them. ✦ ¹⁵Every time Israel went out to battle, the Lord fought against them, causing them to be defeated, just as he had warned. And the people were in great distress. ✦ ¹⁶Then the Lord raised up judges to rescue the Israelites from their attackers. ✦ ¹⁷Yet Israel did not listen to the judges but prostituted themselves by worshiping other gods. How quickly they turned away from the path of their ancestors, who had walked in obedience to the Lord’s commands. ✦ ¹⁸Whenever the Lord raised up a judge over Israel, he was with that judge and rescued the people from their enemies throughout the judge’s lifetime. For the Lord took pity on his people, who were burdened by oppression and suffering. ✦ ¹⁹But when the judge died, the people returned to their corrupt ways, behaving worse than those who had lived before them. They went after other gods, serving and worshiping them. And they refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways. ✦ ²⁰So the Lord burned with anger against Israel. He said, “Because these people have violated my covenant, which I made with their ancestors, and have ignored my commands, ✦ ²¹I will no longer drive out the nations that Joshua left unconquered when he died. ✦ ²²I did this to test Israel—to see whether or not they would follow the ways of the Lord as their ancestors did.” ✦ ²³That is why the Lord left those nations in place. He did not quickly drive them out or allow Joshua to conquer them all.

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

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.

Where this chapter connects

Judg 3 ·11 Ps 106 ·8 Josh 24 ·8 Judg 2 ·8 Judg 10 ·7 Deut 32 ·5 Lev 26 ·5 Deut 7 ·5

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 2 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.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

Pastoral

SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Judges videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Judges 2YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Judges 2David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on JudgesMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Judges 2Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

← Judges 1 Judges 3 →