8 For eighteen years they oppressed and persecuted all the Israelites who lived in Amorite country east of the River Jordan in Gilead.
9 The Ammonites even crossed the Jordan to fight the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. Israel was in great distress.
10 Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord and said, “We have sinned against you, for we left you, our God, and worshipped the Baals.”
11 The Lord gave them this answer: “The Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines,
12 the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites oppressed you in the past, and you cried out to me. Did I not save you from them?
13 But you still left me and worshipped other gods, so I am not going to rescue you again.
14 Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them rescue you when you get into trouble.”