Judges 2:15
Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed. Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.
The verse describes what followed the death of Joshua and of the elders who had outlived him and had seen the great works of the Lord. There arose a new generation that forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt, and did evil by serving Baalim and following the gods of the peoples round about them, provoking the Lord to anger by rebellion against Him and worship of idols. Their worship was mingled with erroneous principles and ambitious pride, the fruit of evil seed sown earlier, and this rejection of God's ways began a downfall.
The hand of the Lord being against them for evil means that His anger was hot against them for transgressing His covenant, so that when His people turned from allegiance to Him and embraced what opposed Him they suffered disaster and defeat under His hand. He declared He would no longer drive out any of the nations Joshua had left, but left them to prove whether Israel would keep the way of the Lord, allowing those nations to overcome Israel to humble and punish them as He had warned, until the people became subject to the nations whose practices they had chosen to follow. By contrast, while they carried His banner He exalted them before their enemies.
Their suffering and distress were not caused by lacking a king. They were greatly distressed, but when they cried to God in their affliction He heard them and raised up rulers to deliver them.