but you must not make an agreement with the people who live in this land. You should tear down the altars where they worship.’ ¹  But you have disobeyed me. ²  Why would you do such a thing? ³ 

The people worshiped ¹  the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and as long as the elderly men ²  who outlived him remained alive. These men had witnessed ³  all the great things the Lord had done for Israel. ⁴ 

When a leader died, the next generation ¹  would again ²  act more wickedly than the previous one. ³  They would follow after other gods, worshiping them ⁴  and bowing down to them. They did not give up ⁵  their practices or their stubborn ways.

Now, announce to the men, ¹  ‘Whoever is shaking with fear ²  may turn around and leave Mount Gilead.’” ³  Twenty-two thousand men ⁴  went home; ⁵  ten thousand remained.

They went out to the field, harvested their grapes, ¹  squeezed out the juice, ²  and celebrated. They came to the temple ³  of their god and ate, drank, and cursed Abimelech.

As the flame went up from the altar toward the sky, the Lord’s messenger went up in it ¹  while Manoah and his wife watched. They fell facedown ²  to the ground.

When her master ¹  got up in the morning, opened the doors of the house, and went outside to start on his journey, there was the woman, his concubine, sprawled out on the doorstep of the house with her hands on the threshold.

Then the Benjaminites said, “They are defeated just as before.” But the Israelites said, “Let’s retreat ¹  and lure them ²  away from the city into the main roads.”

the Israelites counterattacked. ¹  Benjamin had begun to strike down the Israelites; ²  they struck down ³  about thirty men. They said, “There’s no doubt about it! They are totally defeated as in the earlier battle.”

The Israelites returned to the Benjaminite towns ¹  and put the sword to them. They wiped out the cities, ²  the animals, and everything they could find. They set fire to every city in their path. ³ 

The Benjaminites did as instructed. ¹  They abducted two hundred of the dancing girls to be their wives. ²  They went home ³  to their own territory, ⁴  rebuilt their cities, and settled down. ⁵ 

They met ¹  Adoni-Bezek at Bezek and fought him. They defeated the Canaanites and Perizzites.

Caleb received ¹  Hebron, just as Moses had promised. He drove out the three Anakites.

The Amorites forced the people of Dan to live in the hill country. They did not allow them to live in ¹  the coastal plain.

The Lord raised up leaders ¹  who delivered them from these robbers. ² 

So I will no longer remove before them any of the nations that Joshua left unconquered when he died.

The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

They took the Canaanites’ daughters as wives and gave their daughters to the Canaanites; ¹  they worshiped ²  their gods as well.

The mountains trembled ¹  before the Lord, the God of Sinai; ²  before the Lord God of Israel.

Then the survivors ¹  came down ²  to the mighty ones; ³  the Lord’s people came down to me ⁴  as ⁵  warriors.