4. When the Lord’s messenger finished speaking these words to all the Israelites, the people wept loudly.
5. They named that place Bokim and offered sacrifices to the Lord there.
6. When Joshua dismissed the people, the Israelites went to their allotted portions of territory, intending to take possession of the land.
7. The people worshiped the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and as long as the elderly men who outlived him remained alive. These men had witnessed all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.
8. Joshua son of Nun, the Lord’s servant, died at the age of one hundred ten.
9. The people buried him in his allotted land in Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
10. That entire generation passed away; a new generation grew up that had not personally experienced the Lord’s presence or seen what he had done for Israel.
11. The Israelites did evil before the Lord by worshiping the Baals.
12. They abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods – the gods of the nations who lived around them. They worshiped them and made the Lord angry.
13. They abandoned the Lord and worshiped Baal and the Ashtars.
14. The Lord was furious with Israel and handed them over to robbers who plundered them. He turned them over to their enemies who lived around them. They could not withstand their enemies’ attacks.
15. Whenever they went out to fight, the Lord did them harm, just as he had warned and solemnly vowed he would do. They suffered greatly.
16. The Lord raised up leaders who delivered them from these robbers.
17. But they did not obey their leaders. Instead they prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. They quickly turned aside from the path their ancestors had walked. Their ancestors had obeyed the Lord’s commands, but they did not.
18. When the Lord raised up leaders for them, the Lord was with each leader and delivered the people from their enemies while the leader remained alive. The Lord felt sorry for them when they cried out in agony because of what their harsh oppressors did to them.