8. They broke with the customs of their parents and worshipped the God of heaven, the God whom they knew. So their ancestors sent them away from the presence of their gods, and they fled to Mesopotamia, where they lived as strangers for a long time.
9. Then their God commanded them to leave there and go to the land of Canaan. They settled there and became very rich in gold, silver, and cattle.
10. But when a famine spread through the land of Canaan, they went down to live as strangers in Egypt, where there was food. While they were there, their numbers increased so that they couldn’t be counted.
11. Then the king of Egypt turned against them and took advantage of them, enslaving them and forcing them to make bricks.
12. They cried out to their God, and he sent incurable plagues upon the entire land of Egypt, so that the Egyptians drove them out of their sight.
13. God dried up the Red Sea before the Israelites,
14. and led them by way of Sinai and Kadesh-barnea. They drove out all of the inhabitants of the desert.
15. They lived in the land of the Amorites and destroyed all the Heshbonites with their strength. Once they had crossed the Jordan, they took possession of all the highlands.
16. They drove out the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Shechemites, and all the Gergesites, and they lived there for a long time.
17. "As long as they didn’t sin against their God, they prospered, because the God who hates wrongdoing was with them.
18. But when they neglected the way God had laid out for them, they were greatly defeated in many battles and taken as prisoners to a foreign land. The temple of their God was burned to the ground, and their enemies took possession of their cities.
19. But now they have turned back to their God, having returned from the place where they were scattered. They have occupied Jerusalem, where their sanctuary is, and settled in the highlands, because it was desolate.
20. Now, my lord and master, if this people should slip up and sin against their God, and if we find out about their offense, then we can go up and defeat them.
21. But if they as a nation aren’t guilty, it is better that my master just pass them by, for their Lord and God will protect them, and we will become a joke throughout all the land."