1 Samuel 28

1 Some time later the Philistines gathered their troops to fight Israel, and Achish said to David, “Of course you understand that you and your men are to fight on my side.”

2 “Of course,” David answered. “I am your servant, and you will see for yourself what I can do.”

Achish said, “Good! I will make you my permanent bodyguard.”

Saul Consults a Medium

3 Now Samuel had died, and all the Israelites had mourned for him and had buried him in his hometown of Ramah. Saul had forced all the fortunetellers and mediums to leave Israel.

4 The Philistine troops assembled and camped near the town of Shunem; Saul gathered the Israelites and camped at Mount Gilboa.

5 When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was terrified,

6 and so he asked the Lord what to do. But the Lord did not answer him at all, either by dreams or by the use of Urim and Thummim or by prophets.

7 Then Saul ordered his officials, “Find me a woman who is a medium, and I will go and consult her.”

“There is one in Endor,” they answered.

8 So Saul disguised himself; he put on different clothes, and after dark he went with two of his men to see the woman. “Consult the spirits for me and tell me what is going to happen,” he said to her. “Call up the spirit of the man I name.”

9 The woman answered, “Surely you know what King Saul has done, how he forced the fortunetellers and mediums to leave Israel.Why, then, are you trying to trap me and get me killed?”

10 Then Saul made a sacred vow. “By the living Lord I promise that you will not be punished for doing this,” he told her.

11 “Whom shall I call up for you?” the woman asked.

“Samuel,” he answered.

12 When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed and said to Saul, “Why have you tricked me? You are King Saul!”

13 “Don’t be afraid!” the king said to her. “What do you see?”

“I see a spirit coming up from the earth,” she answered.

14 “What does it look like?” he asked.

“It’s an old man coming up,” she answered. “He is wearing a cloak.”

Then Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed to the ground in respect.

15 Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me? Why did you make me come back?”

Saul answered, “I am in great trouble! The Philistines are at war with me, and God has abandoned me. He doesn’t answer me any more, either by prophets or by dreams. And so I have called you, for you to tell me what I must do.”

16 Samuel said, “Why do you call me when the Lord has abandoned you and become your enemy?

17 The Lord has done to you what he told you through me: he has taken the kingdom away from you and given it to David instead.

18 You disobeyed the Lord’s command and did not completely destroy the Amalekites and all they had. That is why the Lord is doing this to you now.

19 He will give you and Israel over to the Philistines. Tomorrow you and your sons will join me, and the Lord will also give the army of Israel over to the Philistines.”

20 At once Saul fell down and lay stretched out on the ground, terrified by what Samuel had said. He was weak, because he had not eaten anything all day and all night.

21 The woman went over to him and saw that he was terrified, so she said to him, “Please, sir, I risked my life by doing what you asked.

22 Now please do what I ask. Let me fix you some food. You must eat so that you will be strong enough to travel.”

23 Saul refused and said he would not eat anything. But his officers also urged him to eat. He finally gave in, got up from the ground, and sat on the bed.

24 The woman quickly killed a calf which she had been fattening. Then she took some flour, prepared it, and baked some bread without yeast.

25 She set the food before Saul and his officers, and they ate it. And they left that same night.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/1SA/28-335c3b44f50fd843932983bf0766b64a.mp3?version_id=68—

1 Samuel 29

David Is Rejected by the Philistines

1 The Philistines brought all their troops together at Aphek, while the Israelites camped at the spring in Jezreel Valley.

2 The five Philistine kings marched out with their units of a hundred and of a thousand men; David and his men marched in the rear with King Achish.

3 The Philistine commanders saw them and asked, “What are these Hebrews doing here?”

Achish answered, “This is David, an official of King Saul of Israel. He has been with me for quite some time now. He has done nothing I can find fault with since the day he came over to me.”

4 But the Philistine commanders were angry with Achish and said to him, “Send that fellow back to the town you gave him. Don’t let him go into battle with us; he might turn against us during the fighting. What better way is there for him to win back his master’s favor than by the death of our men?

5 After all, this is David, the one about whom the women sang, as they danced, ‘Saul has killed thousands, but David has killed tens of thousands.’”

6 Achish called David and said to him, “I swear by the living God of Israel that you have been loyal to me; and I would be pleased to have you go with me and fight in this battle. I have not found any fault in you from the day you came over to me. But the other kings don’t approve of you.

7 So go back home in peace, and don’t do anything that would displease them.”

8 David answered, “What have I done wrong, sir? If, as you say, you haven’t found any fault in me since the day I started serving you, why shouldn’t I go with you, my master and king, and fight your enemies?”

9 “I agree,” Achish replied. “I consider you as loyal as an angel of God. But the other kings have said that you can’t go with us into battle.

10 So then, David, tomorrow morning all of you who left Saul and came over to me will have to get up early and leave as soon as it’s light.”

11 So David and his men started out early the following morning to go back to Philistia, and the Philistines went on to Jezreel.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/1SA/29-f3dac6605cf04a04322dea7bf3f1308f.mp3?version_id=68—

1 Samuel 30

The War against the Amalekites

1 Two days later David and his men arrived back at Ziklag. The Amalekites had raided southern Judah and attacked Ziklag. They had burned down the town

2 and captured all the women; they had not killed anyone, but had taken everyone with them when they left.

3 When David and his men arrived, they found that the town had been burned down and that their wives, sons, and daughters had been carried away.

4 David and his men started crying and did not stop until they were completely exhausted.

5 Even David’s two wives, Ahinoam and Abigail, had been taken away.

6 David was now in great trouble, because his men were all very bitter about losing their children, and they were threatening to stone him; but the Lord his God gave him courage.

7 David said to the priest Abiathar son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod,” and Abiathar brought it to him.

8 David asked the Lord, “Shall I go after those raiders? And will I catch them?”

He answered, “Go after them; you will catch them and rescue the captives.”

9 So David and his six hundred men started out, and when they arrived at Besor Brook, some of them stayed there.

10 David continued on his way with four hundred men; the other two hundred men were too tired to cross the brook and so stayed behind.

11 The men with David found a young Egyptian out in the country and brought him to David. They gave him some food and water,

12 some dried figs, and two bunches of raisins. After he had eaten, his strength returned; he had not had anything to eat or drink for three full days.

13 David asked him, “Who is your master, and where are you from?”

“I am an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite,” he answered. “My master left me behind three days ago because I got sick.

14 We had raided the territory of the Cherethites in the southern part of Judah and the territory of the clan of Caleb, and we burned down Ziklag.”

15 “Will you lead me to those raiders?” David asked him.

He answered, “I will if you promise me in God’s name that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master.”

16 And he led David to them.

The raiders were scattered all over the place, eating, drinking, and celebrating because of the enormous amount of loot they had captured from Philistia and Judah.

17 At dawn the next day David attacked them and fought until evening. Except for four hundred young men who mounted camels and got away, none of them escaped.

18 David rescued everyone and everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives;

19 nothing at all was missing. David got back all his men’s sons and daughters, and all the loot the Amalekites had taken.

20 He also recovered all the flocks and herds; his men drove all the livestock in front of themand said, “This belongs to David!”

21 Then David went back to the two hundred men who had been too weak to go with him and had stayed behind at Besor Brook. They came forward to meet David and his men, and David went up to them and greeted them warmly.

22 But some mean and worthless men who had gone with David said, “They didn’t go with us, and so we won’t give them any of the loot. They can take their wives and children and go away.”

23 But David answered, “My brothers, you can’t do this with what the Lord has given us! He kept us safe and gave us victory over the raiders.

24 No one can agree with what you say! All must share alike: whoever stays behind with the supplies gets the same share as the one who goes into battle.”

25 David made this a rule, and it has been followed in Israel ever since.

26 When David returned to Ziklag, he sent part of the loot to his friends, the leaders of Judah, with the message, “Here is a present for you from the loot we took from the Lord’s enemies.”

27 He sent it to the people in Bethel, to the people in Ramah in the southern part of Judah, and to the people in the towns of Jattir,

28 Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa,

29 and Racal; to the clan of Jerahmeel, to the Kenites,

30 and to the people in the towns of Hormah, Borashan, Athach,

31 and Hebron. He sent it to all the places where he and his men had roamed.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/1SA/30-0a8fd373c2f8d0dd88c58b06a16dcb64.mp3?version_id=68—

1 Samuel 31

The Death of Saul and His Sons

1 The Philistines fought a battle against the Israelites on Mount Gilboa. Many Israelites were killed there, and the rest of them, including King Saul and his sons, fled.

2 But the Philistines caught up with them and killed three of Saul’s sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua.

3 The fighting was heavy around Saul, and he himself was hit by enemy arrows and badly wounded.

4 He said to the young man carrying his weapons, “Draw your sword and kill me, so that these godless Philistines won’t gloat over me and kill me.” But the young man was too terrified to do it. So Saul took his own sword and threw himself on it.

5 The young man saw that Saul was dead, so he too threw himself on his own sword and died with Saul.

6 And that is how Saul, his three sons, and the young man died; all of Saul’s men died that day.

7 When the Israelites on the other side of Jezreel Valley and east of the Jordan River heard that the Israelite army had fled and that Saul and his sons had been killed, they abandoned their towns and fled. Then the Philistines came and occupied the towns.

8 The day after the battle the Philistines went to plunder the corpses, and they found the bodies of Saul and his three sons lying on Mount Gilboa.

9 They cut off Saul’s head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers with them throughout Philistia to tell the good news to their idols and to their people.

10 Then they put his weapons in the temple of the goddess Astarte, and they nailed his body to the wall of the city of Beth Shan.

11 When the people of Jabesh in Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,

12 the bravest men started out and marched all night to Beth Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall, brought them back to Jabesh, and burned them there.

13 Then they took the bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in town, and fasted for seven days.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/1SA/31-5bee4c06b60865dcbea3637b2d47f478.mp3?version_id=68—

Ruth 1

Elimelech and His Family Move to Moab

1-2 Long ago, in the days before Israel had a king, there was a famine in the land. So a man named Elimelech, who belonged to the clan of Ephrath and who lived in Bethlehem in Judah, went with his wife Naomi and their two sons Mahlon and Chilion to live for a while in the country of Moab. While they were living there,

3 Elimelech died, and Naomi was left alone with her two sons,

4 who married Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. About ten years later

5 Mahlon and Chilion also died, and Naomi was left all alone, without husband or sons.

Naomi and Ruth Return to Bethlehem

6 Some time later Naomi heard that the Lord had blessed his people by giving them good crops; so she got ready to leave Moab with her daughters-in-law.

7 They started out together to go back to Judah, but on the way

8 she said to them, “Go back home and stay with your mothers. May the Lord be as good to you as you have been to me and to those who have died.

9 And may the Lord make it possible for each of you to marry again and have a home.”

So Naomi kissed them good-bye. But they started crying

10 and said to her, “No! We will go with you to your people.”

11 “You must go back, my daughters,” Naomi answered. “Why do you want to come with me? Do you think I could have sons again for you to marry?

12 Go back home, for I am too old to get married again. Even if I thought there was still hope, and so got married tonight and had sons,

13 would you wait until they had grown up? Would this keep you from marrying someone else? No, my daughters, you know that’s impossible. The Lord has turned against me, and I feel very sorry for you.”

14 Again they started crying. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye and went back home,but Ruth held on to her.

15 So Naomi said to her, “Ruth, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her god.Go back home with her.”

16 But Ruth answered, “Don’t ask me to leave you! Let me go with you. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.

17 Wherever you die, I will die, and that is where I will be buried. May the Lord’s worst punishment come upon me if I let anything but deathseparate me from you!”

18 When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more.

19 They went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived, the whole town became excited, and the women there exclaimed, “Is this really Naomi?”

20 “Don’t call me Naomi,” she answered; “call me Marah,because Almighty God has made my life bitter.

21 When I left here, I had plenty, but the Lord has brought me back without a thing. Why call me Naomi when the Lord Almighty has condemned me and sent me trouble?”

22 This, then, was how Naomi came back from Moab with Ruth, her Moabite daughter-in-law. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the barley harvest was just beginning.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/RUT/1-691f991e42b35a30c0995660f668bbd4.mp3?version_id=68—

Ruth 2

Ruth Works in the Field of Boaz

1 Naomi had a relative named Boaz, a rich and influential man who belonged to the family of her husband Elimelech.

2 One day Ruth said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields to gather the grain that the harvest workers leave. I am sure to find someone who will let me work with him.”

Naomi answered, “Go ahead, daughter.”

3 So Ruth went out to the fields and walked behind the workers, picking up the heads of grain which they left. It so happened that she was in a field that belonged to Boaz.

4 Some time later Boaz himself arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the workers. “The Lord be with you!” he said.

“The Lord bless you!” they answered.

5 Boaz asked the man in charge, “Who is that young woman?”

6 The man answered, “She is the foreigner who came back from Moab with Naomi.

7 She asked me to let her follow the workers and gather grain. She has been working since early morning and has just now stopped to rest for a while under the shelter.”

8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Let me give you some advice. Don’t gather grain anywhere except in this field. Work with the women here;

9 watch them to see where they are reaping and stay with them. I have ordered my men not to molest you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and drink from the water jars that they have filled.”

10 Ruth bowed down with her face touching the ground, and said to Boaz, “Why should you be so concerned about me? Why should you be so kind to a foreigner?”

11 Boaz answered, “I have heard about everything that you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband died. I know how you left your father and mother and your own country and how you came to live among a people you had never known before.

12 May the Lord reward you for what you have done. May you have a full reward from the Lord God of Israel, to whom you have come for protection!”

13 Ruth answered, “You are very kindto me, sir. You have made me feel better by speaking gently to me, even though I am not the equal of one of your servants.”

14 At mealtime Boaz said to Ruth, “Come and have a piece of bread, and dip it in the sauce.” So she sat with the workers, and Boaz passed some roasted grain to her. She ate until she was satisfied, and she still had some food left over.

15-16 After she had left to go and gather grain, Boaz ordered the workers, “Let her gather grain even where the bundles are lying, and don’t say anything to stop her. Besides that, pull out some heads of grain from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up.”

17 So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening, and when she had beaten it out, she found she had nearly twenty-five pounds.

18 She took the grain back into town and showed her mother-in-law how much she had gathered. She also gave her the food left over from the meal.

19 Naomi asked her, “Where did you gather all this grain today? Whose field have you been working in? May God bless the man who took an interest in you!”

So Ruth told Naomi that she had been working in a field belonging to a man named Boaz.

20 “May the Lord bless Boaz!” Naomi exclaimed. “The Lord always keeps his promises to the living and the dead.” And she went on, “That man is a close relative of ours, one of those responsible for taking care of us.”

21 Then Ruth said, “Best of all, he told me to keep gathering grain with his workers until they finish the harvest.”

22 Naomi said to Ruth, “Yes, daughter, it will be better for you to work with the women in Boaz’ field. You might be molested if you went to someone else’s field.”

23 So Ruth worked with them and gathered grain until all the barley and wheat had been harvested. And she continued to live with her mother-in-law.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/RUT/2-3ae9945d4edf9dd9b5bd655659cbe8ea.mp3?version_id=68—

Ruth 3

Ruth Finds a Husband

1 Some time later Naomi said to Ruth, “I must find a husband for you, so that you will have a home of your own.

2 Remember that this man Boaz, whose women you have been working with, is our relative. Now listen. This evening he will be threshing the barley.

3 So wash yourself, put on some perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes. Then go where he is threshing, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking.

4 Be sure to notice where he lies down, and after he falls asleep, go and lift the covers and lie down at his feet. He will tell you what to do.”

5 Ruth answered, “I will do everything you say.”

6 So Ruth went to the threshing place and did just what her mother-in-law had told her.

7 When Boaz had finished eating and drinking, he was in a good mood. He went to the pile of barley and lay down to sleep. Ruth slipped over quietly, lifted the covers and lay down at his feet.

8 During the night he woke up suddenly, turned over, and was surprised to find a woman lying at his feet.

9 “Who are you?” he asked.

“It’s Ruth, sir,” she answered. “Because you are a close relative, you are responsible for taking care of me. So please marry me.”

10 “The Lord bless you,” he said. “You are showing even greater family loyalty in what you are doing now than in what you did for your mother-in-law. You might have gone looking for a young man, either rich or poor, but you haven’t.

11 Now don’t worry, Ruth. I will do everything you ask; as everyone in town knows, you are a fine woman.

12 It is true that I am a close relative and am responsible for you, but there is a man who is a closer relative than I am.

13 Stay here the rest of the night, and in the morning we will find out whether or not he will take responsibility for you. If so, well and good; if not, then I swear by the living Lord that I will take the responsibility. Now lie down and stay here till morning.”

14 So she lay there at his feet, but she got up before it was light enough for her to be seen, because Boaz did not want anyone to know that she had been there.

15 Boaz said to her, “Take off your cloak and spread it out here.” She did, and he poured out almost fifty pounds of barley and helped her lift it to her shoulder. Then she returned to town with it.

16 When she arrived home, her mother-in-law asked her, “How did you get along, daughter?”

Ruth told her everything that Boaz had done for her.

17 She added, “He told me I must not come back to you empty-handed, so he gave me all this barley.”

18 Naomi said to her, “Now be patient, Ruth, until you see how this all turns out. Boaz will not rest today until he settles the matter.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/RUT/3-c6c32e614ec5047c3488d8c317671734.mp3?version_id=68—

Ruth 4

Boaz Marries Ruth

1 Boaz went to the meeting place at the town gate and sat down there. Then Elimelech’s nearest relative, the man whom Boaz had mentioned, came by, and Boaz called to him, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he went over and sat down.

2 Then Boaz got ten of the leaders of the town and asked them to sit down there too. When they were seated,

3 he said to his relative, “Now that Naomi has come back from Moab, she wants to sell the field that belonged to our relative Elimelech,

4 and I think you ought to know about it. Now then, if you want it, buy it in the presence of these men sitting here. But if you don’t want it, say so, because the right to buy it belongs first to you and then to me.”

The man said, “I will buy it.”

5 Boaz said, “Very well, if you buy the field from Naomi, then you are also buying Ruth,the Moabite widow, so that the field will stay in the dead man’s family.”

6 The man answered, “In that case I will give up my right to buy the field, because it would mean that my own children would not inherit it. You buy it; I would rather not.”

7 Now in those days, to settle a sale or an exchange of property, it was the custom for the seller to take off his sandal and give it to the buyer. In this way the Israelites showed that the matter was settled.

8 So when the man said to Boaz, “You buy it,” he took off his sandal and gave it to Boaz.

9 Then Boaz said to the leaders and all the others there, “You are all witnesses today that I have bought from Naomi everything that belonged to Elimelech and to his sons Chilion and Mahlon.

10 In addition, Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon’s widow, becomes my wife. This will keep the property in the dead man’s family, and his family line will continue among his people and in his hometown. You are witnesses to this today.”

11 The leaders and the others said, “Yes, we are witnesses. May the Lord make your wife become like Rachel and Leah, who bore many children to Jacob. May you become rich in the clan of Ephrath and famous in Bethlehem.

12 May the children that the Lord will give you by this young woman make your family like the family of Perez, the son of Judah and Tamar.”

Boaz and His Descendants

13 So Boaz took Ruth home as his wife. The Lord blessed her, and she became pregnant and had a son.

14 The women said to Naomi, “Praise the Lord! He has given you a grandson today to take care of you. May the boy become famous in Israel!

15 Your daughter-in-law loves you, and has done more for you than seven sons. And now she has given you a grandson, who will bring new life to you and give you security in your old age.”

16 Naomi took the child, held him close,and took care of him.

17 The women of the neighborhood named the boy Obed. They told everyone, “A son has been born to Naomi!”

Obed became the father of Jesse, who was the father of David.

18-22 This is the family line from Perez to David: Perez, Hezron, Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz, Obed, Jesse, David.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/RUT/4-ff60ffb783cdc46877184de7a4d6fc8c.mp3?version_id=68—

Judges 1

The Tribes of Judah and Simeon Capture Adonibezek

1 After Joshua’s death the people of Israel asked the Lord, “Which of our tribes should be the first to go and attack the Canaanites?”

2 The Lord answered, “The tribe of Judah will go first. I am giving them control of the land.”

3 The people of Judah said to the people of Simeon, “Go with us into the territory assigned to us, and we will fight the Canaanites together. Then we will go with you into the territory assigned to you.” So the tribes of Simeon

4 and Judah went into battle together. The Lord gave them victory over the Canaanites and the Perizzites, and they defeated ten thousand men at Bezek.

5 They found Adonibezek there and fought him.

6 He ran away, but they chased him, caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.

7 Adonibezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. God has now done to me what I did to them.” He was taken to Jerusalem, where he died.

The Tribe of Judah Conquers Jerusalem and Hebron

8 The people of Judah attacked Jerusalem and captured it. They killed its people and set fire to the city.

9 After this they went on to fight the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the foothills, and in the dry country to the south.

10 They marched against the Canaanites living in the city of Hebron, which used to be called Kiriath Arba. There they defeated the clans of Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

Othniel Conquers the City of Debir

11 From there the men of Judah marched against the city of Debir, at that time called Kiriath Sepher.

12 One of them, called Caleb, said, “I will give my daughter Achsah in marriage to the man who succeeds in capturing Kiriath Sepher.”

13 Othniel, the son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz, captured the city, so Caleb gave him his daughter Achsah in marriage.

14 On the wedding day Othniel urged herto ask her father for a field. She got down from her donkey, and Caleb asked her what she wanted.

15 She answered, “I want some water holes. The land you have given me is in the dry country.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.

The Victories of the Tribes of Judah and Benjamin

16 The descendants of Moses’ father-in-law, the Kenite, went on with the people of Judah from Jericho, the city of palm trees, into the barren country south of Arad in Judah. There they settled among the Amalekites.

17 The people of Judah went with the people of Simeon, and together they defeated the Canaanites who lived in the city of Zephath. They put a curse on the city, destroyed it, and named it Hormah.

18-19 The Lord helped the people of Judah, and they took possession of the hill country. But they did not captureGaza, Ashkelon, or Ekron, with their surrounding territories. These people living along the coast had iron chariots, and so the people of Judah were not able to drive them out.

20 As Moses had commanded, Hebron was given to Caleb, who drove out of the city the three clans descended from Anak.

21 But the people of the tribe of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem, and the Jebusites have continued to live there with the people of Benjamin ever since.

The Tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh Conquer Bethel

22-23 The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh went to attack the city of Bethel, at that time called Luz. The Lord helped them. They sent spies to the city,

24 who saw a man leaving and said to him, “Show us how to get into the city, and we won’t hurt you.”

25 So he showed them, and the people of Ephraim and Manasseh killed everyone in the city, except this man and his family.

26 He later went to the land of the Hittites, built a city there, and named it Luz, which is still its name.

People Who Were Not Driven Out by the Israelites

27 The tribe of Manasseh did not drive out the people living in the cities of Beth Shan, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and the nearby towns; the Canaanites continued to live there.

28 When the Israelites became stronger, they forced the Canaanites to work for them, but still they did not drive them all out.

29 The tribe of Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites living in the city of Gezer, and so the Canaanites continued to live there with them.

30 The tribe of Zebulun did not drive out the people living in the cities of Kitron and Nahalal, and so the Canaanites continued to live there with them and were forced to work for them.

31 The tribe of Asher did not drive out the people living in the cities of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphek, and Rehob.

32 The people of Asher lived with the local Canaanites, since they had not been driven out.

33 The tribe of Naphtali did not drive out the people living in the cities of Beth Shemesh and Bethanath. The people of Naphtali lived with the local Canaanites, but forced them to work for them.

34 The Amorites forced the people of the tribe of Dan into the hill country and did not let them come down to the plain.

35 The Amorites continued to live at Aijalon, Shaalbim, and Mount Heres, but the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh kept them under their rule and forced them to work for them.

36 North of Sela, the Edomiteborder ran through Akrabbim Pass.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/JDG/1-1c0ea41468982a752b7c4d1a1e5a2c3b.mp3?version_id=68—

Judges 2

The Angel of the Lord at Bochim

1 The angel of the Lord went from Gilgal to Bochim and said to the Israelites, “I took you out of Egypt and brought you to the land that I promised to your ancestors. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you.

2 You must not make any covenant with the people who live in this land. You must tear down their altars.’ But you have not done what I told you. You have done just the opposite!

3 So I tell you now that I will not drive these people out as you advance. They will be your enemies,and you will be trapped by the worship of their gods.”

4 When the angel had said this, all the people of Israel began to cry,

5 and that is why the place is called Bochim.There they offered sacrifices to the Lord.

The Death of Joshua

6 Joshua sent the people of Israel on their way, and each man went to take possession of his own share of the land.

7 As long as Joshua lived, the people of Israel served the Lord, and even after his death they continued to do so as long as the leaders were alive who had seen for themselves all the great things that the Lord had done for Israel.

8 The Lord’s servant Joshua son of Nun died at the age of a hundred and ten.

9 He was buried in his own part of the land at Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash.

10 That whole generation also died, and the next generation forgot the Lord and what he had done for Israel.

Israel Stops Worshiping the Lord

11 Then the people of Israel sinned against the Lord and began to serve the Baals.

12 They stopped worshiping the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the God who had brought them out of Egypt, and they began to worship other gods, the gods of the peoples around them. They bowed down to them and made the Lord angry.

13 They stopped worshiping the Lord and served the Baals and the Astartes.

14 And so the Lord became furious with Israel and let raiders attack and rob them. He let the enemies all around overpower them, and the Israelites could no longer protect themselves.

15 Every time they would go into battle, the Lord was against them, just as he had said he would be. They were in great distress.

16 Then the Lord gave the Israelites leaders who saved them from the raiders.

17 But the Israelites paid no attention to their leaders. Israel was unfaithful to the Lord and worshiped other gods. Their fathers had obeyed the Lord’s commands, but this new generation soon stopped doing so.

18 Whenever the Lord gave Israel a leader, the Lord would help that leader and would save the people from their enemies as long as that leader lived. The Lord would have mercy on them because they groaned under their suffering and oppression.

19 But when the leader died, the people would return to the old ways and behave worse than the previous generation. They would serve and worship other gods, and stubbornly continue their own evil ways.

20 Then the Lord would become furious with Israel and say, “This nation has broken the covenant that I commanded their ancestors to keep. Because they have not obeyed me,

21 I will no longer drive out any of the nations that were still in the land when Joshua died.

22 I will use them to find out whether or not these Israelites will follow my ways, as their ancestors did.”

23 So the Lord allowed these nations to remain in the land; he did not give Joshua victory over them, nor did he drive them out soon after Joshua’s death.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/JDG/2-bf1cf3bd4381e5d150f9f1365d97f9a8.mp3?version_id=68—