Judges 2:16-18

New Century Version

God Chooses Judges

¹⁶ Then the Lord chose leaders called judges,^[a] who saved the Israelites from the robbers. ¹⁷ But the Israelites did not listen to their judges. They were not faithful to God but worshiped other gods instead. Their ancestors had obeyed the Lord’s commands, but they quickly turned away and did not obey. ¹⁸ When their enemies hurt them, the Israelites cried for help. So the Lord felt sorry for them and sent judges to save them from their enemies. The Lord was with those judges all their lives.