They abandoned the Lord and worshiped Baal and the Ashtars. ¹ 

Gaal son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerub-Baal, and is not Zebul the deputy he appointed? ¹  Serve the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem! But why should we serve Abimelech? ² 

The Israelites did evil before ¹  the Lord by worshiping ²  the Baals.

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

The Israelites were subject to ¹  King Eglon of Moab for eighteen years.

But since you abandoned me and worshiped ¹  other gods, I will not deliver you again.

They threw away the foreign gods they owned ¹  and worshiped ²  the Lord. Finally the Lord grew tired of seeing Israel suffer so much. ³ 

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.

The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. ¹  They forgot the Lord their God and worshiped the Baals and the Asherahs. ² 

The Israelites cried out for help to the Lord: “We have sinned against you. We abandoned our God and worshiped ¹  the Baals.”

The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight. ¹  They worshiped ²  the Baals and the Ashtars, ³  as well as the gods of Syria, Sidon, ⁴  Moab, the Ammonites, and the Philistines. ⁵  They abandoned the Lord and did not worship ⁶  him.

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 

The Lord was furious with Israel ¹  and turned them over to ²  King Cushan-Rishathaim ³  of Aram-Naharaim. They were Cushan-Rishathaim’s subjects ⁴  for eight years.

Zebul said to him, “Where now are your bragging words, ¹  ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Are these not the men ²  you insulted? ³  Go out now and fight them!”