“The Lord drove out from before you great and mighty nations; no one has been able to resist you ¹  to this very day.

But if you ever turn away and make alliances with ¹  these nations that remain near you, ²  and intermarry with them and establish friendly relations with them, ³ 

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

These were the nations the Lord permitted to remain so he could use them to test Israel – he wanted to test all those who had not experienced battle against the Canaanites. ¹ 

The Lord turned them over to ¹  King Jabin of Canaan, who ruled in Hazor. ²  The general of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Haggoyim. ³ 

They said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons don’t follow your ways. So now appoint over us a king to lead ¹  us, just like all the other nations have.”

King David dedicated these things to the Lord, ¹  along with the dedicated silver and gold that he had taken from ²  all the nations that he had subdued,

He was wiser than any man, including Ethan the Ezrahite or Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. He was famous in all the neighboring nations. ¹ 

There were also male cultic prostitutes ¹  in the land. They committed the same horrible sins as the nations ²  that the Lord had driven out from before the Israelites.

As they approached him, ¹  Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike these people ²  with blindness.” ³  The Lord ⁴  struck them with blindness as Elisha requested. ⁵ 

He followed in the footsteps of ¹  the kings of Israel. He passed his son through the fire, ²  a horrible sin practiced by the nations ³  whom the Lord drove out from before the Israelites.

they observed the practices ¹  of the nations whom the Lord had driven out from before Israel, and followed the example of the kings of Israel. ² 

They burned incense on all the high places just like the nations whom the Lord had driven away from before them. Their evil practices made the Lord angry. ¹ 

They were worshiping ¹  the Lord and at the same time serving their own gods in accordance with the practices of the nations from which they had been deported.

Were the nations whom my ancestors destroyed – the nations of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden in Telassar – rescued by their gods? ¹ 

But they did not obey, ¹  and Manasseh misled them so that they sinned more than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed from before the Israelites.

Say this prayer: ¹  “Deliver us, O God who delivers us! Gather us! Rescue us from the nations! Then we will give thanks ²  to your holy name, and boast about your praiseworthy deeds.” ³ 

He offered sacrifices in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom and passed his sons through the fire, ¹  a horrible sin practiced by the nations ²  whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites.

Are you not aware of what I and my predecessors ¹  have done to all the nations of the surrounding lands? Have the gods of the surrounding lands actually been able to rescue their lands from my power? ² 

Many were bringing presents ¹  to the Lord in Jerusalem and precious gifts to King Hezekiah of Judah. From that time on he was respected by ²  all the nations.