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And an Angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to the Place of Weeping, and he said: “I led you away from Egypt, and I led you into the land, about which I swore to your fathers. And I promised that I would not nullify my covenant with you, even forever:(a)
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but only if you would not form a pact with the inhabitants of this land. Instead, you should overturn their altars. Yet you were not willing to listen to my voice. Why have you done this?
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For this reason, I am not willing to destroy them before your face, so that you may have enemies, and so that their gods may be your ruin.”
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And when the Angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, they lifted up their voice, and they wept.
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And the name of that place was called, the Place of Weeping, or the Place of Tears. And they immolated victims to the Lord in that place.
Joshua’s Death and Burial
(Joshua 24:29–33)
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Then Joshua dismissed the people, and the sons of Israel went away, each one to his own possession, so that they might obtain it.(b)
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And they served the Lord, during all his days, and during all the days of the elders, who lived for a long time after him, and who knew all the works of the Lord, which he had done for Israel.
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Then Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being one hundred and ten years old.
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And they buried him in the parts of his possession at Timnath-Serah, on Mount Ephraim, before the northern side of Mount Gaash.
Israel’s Unfaithfulness
(Isaiah 43:22–28; Jeremiah 2:23–37)
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And that entire generation was gathered to their fathers. And there rose up others, who had not known the Lord and the works that he had done for Israel.
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And the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they served the Baals.
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And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had led them away from the land of Egypt. And they followed foreign gods and the gods of the peoples who were living around them, and they adored them. And they provoked the Lord to wrath,(c)
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forsaking him, and serving Baal and Ashtaroth.
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And the Lord, having become angry against Israel, delivered them into the hands of plunderers, who seized them and sold them to the enemies that were living on all sides. Neither were they able to withstand their adversaries.
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Instead, wherever they wanted to go, the hand of the Lord was upon them, just as he said and just as he swore to them. And they were greatly afflicted.
Judges Raised Up
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And the Lord raised up judges, who would free them from the hands of their oppressors. But they were not willing to listen to them.
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Fornicating with foreign gods and adoring them, they quickly deserted the way along which their fathers had advanced. And having heard the commandments of the Lord, they did all things to the contrary.
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And while the Lord was raising up the judges, in their days, he was moved to mercy, and he listened to the groaning of the afflicted, and he freed them from the slaughter of their oppressors.
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But after a judge had died, they turned back, and they were doing much worse things than their fathers had done, following strange gods, serving them, and adoring them. They did not abandon their pursuits and their very stubborn way, by which they were accustomed to walk.
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And the fury of the Lord was enraged against Israel, and he said: “For this people has made void my covenant, which I had formed with their fathers, and they have despised listening to my voice.
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And so, I will not destroy the nations that Joshua left behind when he died,
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so that, by them, I may test Israel, as to whether or not they will keep the way of the Lord, and walk in it, just as their fathers kept it.”
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Therefore, the Lord left all these nations, and he was not willing to quickly overthrow them, nor did he deliver them into the hands of Joshua.
Footnotes