Judges 2:12-13

2:12 They abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors ¹  who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods – the gods of the nations who lived around them. They worshiped ²  them and made the Lord angry. 2:13 They abandoned the Lord and worshiped Baal and the Ashtars. ³ 

Judges 2:17

2:17 But they did not obey ⁴  their leaders. Instead they prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped ⁵  them. They quickly turned aside from the path ⁶  their ancestors ⁷  had walked. Their ancestors had obeyed the Lord’s commands, but they did not. ⁸ 

Judges 2:19

2:19 When a leader died, the next generation ⁹  would again ¹⁰  act more wickedly than the previous one. ¹¹  They would follow after other gods, worshiping them ¹²  and bowing down to them. They did not give up ¹³  their practices or their stubborn ways.

¹ tn Or “fathers.”

² tn Or “bowed before” (the same expression occurs in the following verse).

³ tn Some English translations simply transliterate the plural Hebrew term (“Ashtaroth,” cf. NAB, NASB), pluralize the transliterated Hebrew singular form (“Ashtoreths,” cf. NIV), or use a variation of the name (“Astartes,” cf. NRSV).

⁵ tn Or “did not listen to.”

⁶ tn Or “bowed before.”

⁷ tn Or “way [of life].”

⁸ tn Or “fathers.”

⁹ tn Heb “…walked, obeying the Lord’s commands. They did not do this.”

⁷ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the next generation) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁸ tn The verb שׁוּב (shuv, “to return; to turn”) is sometimes translated “turn back” here, but it is probably used in an adverbial sense, indicating that the main action (“act wickedly”) is being repeated.

⁹ tn Heb “their fathers.”

¹⁰ tn Or “serving [them]”; or “following [them].”

¹¹ tn Or “drop.”