12 But the Israelites prayed to their God, and he severely punished the whole nation of Egypt. So the Egyptians made the Israelites leave.
13 The God of the Israelites then caused the Red Sea to open up, and the people walked safely through on dry land.
14 He later led them to Mount Sinai and Kadesh-Barnea.Along the way, the Israelites forced out everyone who was living in the desert,
15 and they settled in the land belonging to the Amorites. They also wiped out the people in the region of Heshbon before crossing the Jordan River and taking control of the entire hill country of Canaan.
16 There they forced out the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Shechemites, and the Gergesites. The Israelites have lived in Canaan ever since.
17 Their God hates any wrongdoing, so as long as they obeyed him, they were successful.
18 But as soon as they ignored his teachings, he let them be defeated by enemy after enemy, until finally they were taken away as captives to a foreign nation. The temple of their God was destroyed, and their cities were taken over by enemies.