Judges 1

1 After the death of Joshua, the sons of Israel consulted the Lord, saying, “Who will ascend before us, against the Canaanite, and who will be the commander of the war?”

After Joshua died, the Israelites asked the Lord, “Which tribe from among us should go first and attack the Canaanites?”

2 And the Lord said: “Judah shall ascend. Behold, I have delivered the land into his hands.”

“Judah is to go first,” the Lord replied. “I have handed the land over to them.”

3 And Judah said to his brother Simeon, “Go up with me to my lot, and fight against the Canaanite, so that I also may go forth with you to your lot.” And Simeon went with him.

The men of Judah said to their relatives of the tribe of Simeon, “Come with us to the land that has been allotted to us, and fight together with us against the Canaanites. Then we'll do the same for you and your allotted land.” So the tribe of Simeon joined with them.

4 And Judah went up, and the Lord delivered the Canaanite, as well as the Perizzite, into their hands. And they struck down ten thousand of the men at Bezek.

The men of Judah attacked the Canaanites and Perizzites, and the Lord handed them over in defeat. They killed ten thousand of the enemy at the town of Bezek.

5 And they found Adonibezek at Bezek, and they fought against him, and they struck down the Canaanite and the Perizzite.

There they confronted Adoni-bezek and fought with him, defeating the Canaanites and Perizzites.

6 Then Adonibezek fled. And they pursued him and captured him, and they cut off the ends of his hands and feet.

Adoni-bezek ran away, but they chased after him and captured him, and then cut off his thumbs and big toes.

7 And Adonibezek said: “Seventy kings, with the ends of their hands and feet amputated, have been gathering the remnants of food under my table. Just as I have done, so has God repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

Adoni-bezek said, “I had seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off picking up left-overs from under my table. Now God has paid me back in the same way what I did to them.” They took him to Jerusalem where he died.

8 Then the sons of Judah, besieging Jerusalem, seized it. And they struck it with edge of the sword, delivering the entire city to be burned.

The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem and conquered it. They killed the inhabitants with the sword and burned the town down.

9 And afterward, descending, they fought against the Canaanites who were living in the mountains, and in the south, and in the plains.

After this the men of Judah went to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, in the Negev, and in the foothills of the lowlands.

10 And Judah, going forth against the Canaanites who were living at Hebron, (the name of which from antiquity was Kiriath-Arba) struck down Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai.

They attacked the Canaanites who lived Hebron (previously known as Kiriath Arba) and defeated Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

11 And continuing on from there, he went to the inhabitants of Debir, the old name of which was Kiriath-Sepher, that is, the City of Letters.

From there they went on to attack the people living in Debir (previously known as Kiriath Sepher).

12 And Caleb said, “Whoever will strike Kiriath-Sepher, and will lay waste to it, I will give to him my daughter Achsah as wife.”

Caleb announced, “I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to whoever attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher.”

13 And when Othniel, the son of Kenaz, a younger brother of Caleb, had seized it, he gave his daughter Achsah to him in marriage.

Othniel, son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, was the one captured it, so he gave him his daughter Acsah in marriage.

14 And as she was traveling on a journey, her husband admonished her, so that she would request a field from her father. And since she had sighed while sitting on her donkey, Caleb said to her, “What is it?”

When Acsah came to Othniel, she encouraged him to ask her father for a field. As she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you want?”

15 But she responded: “Give a blessing to me. For you have given me a dry land. Also give a watered land.” Therefore, Caleb gave to her the upper watered land and the lower watered land.

“Please give me a blessing,” she replied. “You gave me land that's like the desert, so please give me springs of water as well.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.

16 Now the sons of the Kenite, the relative of Moses, ascended from the City of Palms, with the sons of Judah, into the wilderness of his lot, which is toward the south of Arad. And they lived with him.

The descendants of Moses' father-in-law, the Kenite, went with the people of Judah from the city of palms to the wilderness of Judah in the Negev near Arad where they settled among the people.

17 Then Judah went out with his brother Simeon, and together they struck the Canaanites who were living at Zephath, and they put them to death. And the name of the city was called Hormah, that is, Anathema.

Then Judah joined Simeon and defeated the Canaanites living in Zephath. They completely destroyed the town, so they named it Hormah.

18 And Judah seized Gaza, with its parts, and Ashkelon as well as Ekron, with their borders.

Judah also captured the towns of Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron, each with its surrounding territory.

19 And the Lord was with Judah, and he possessed the mountains. But he was not able to wipe out the inhabitants of the valley. For they abounded with chariots armed with scythes.

The Lord was with Judah, and they took over the hill country, but they could not drive out the people living on the plain because they had iron chariots.

20 And just as Moses had said, they gave Hebron to Caleb, who destroyed out of it the three sons of Anak.

As Moses had stipulated, Hebron was given to Caleb, who drove out from it the descendants of three sons of Anak.

21 But the sons of Benjamin did not wipe out the Jebusite inhabitants of Jerusalem. And the Jebusite has lived with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem, even to the present day.

However, Benjamin could not drive out the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so the Jebusites live among the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this very day.

22 The house of Joseph also ascended against Bethel, and the Lord was with them.

The descendants of Joseph went and attacked the town of Bethel, and the Lord was with them.

23 For when they were besieging the city, which was previously called Luz,

They sent spies to investigate Bethel, which was previously known as Luz.

24 they saw a man departing from the city, and they said to him, “Reveal to us the entrance to the city, and we will act with mercy toward you.”

The spies saw a man leaving the town and told him, “Please show us how to get into town, and we will treat you well.”

25 And when he had revealed it to them, they struck the city with the edge of the sword. But that man, and all his relatives, they released.

The man showed them the way into the town, and they killed all the inhabitants except the man and his family, whom they let go.

26 And having been sent away, he went out to the land of the Hittites, and he built a city there, and he called it Luz. And so it is called, even to the present day.

The man moved to the country of the Hittites, and built a town there and called it Luz, which is its name to this day.

27 Likewise, Manasseh did not destroy Bethshean and Taanach, with their villages, nor the inhabitants of Dor and Ibleam and Megiddo, with their villages. And the Canaanite began to live with them.

However, Manasseh didn't drive out the people living in the towns of Beth Shan, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo and their surrounding villages because the Canaanites insisted on living in the land.

28 Then, after Israel had grown strong, he made them tributaries, but he was not willing to destroy them.

When the Israelites grew stronger, they made the Canaanites do forced labor, but they never completely drove them out.

29 And now Ephraim did not put to death the Canaanite, who was living at Gezer; instead, he lived with him.

Ephraim didn't drive out the Canaanites living in the town of Gezer, so the Canaanites went on living there among them.

30 Zebulun did not wipe out the inhabitants of Kitron and of Nahalal. Instead, the Canaanite lived in their midst and became their tributary.

Zebulun didn't drive out the people living in the towns of Kitron and Nahalol, so the Canaanites went on living there among them. However, the Canaanites were made to do forced labor for the people of Zebulun.

31 Likewise, Asher did not destroy the inhabitants of Acco and Sidon, Ahlab and Achzib, and Helbah, and Aphik, and Rehob.

Asher didn't drive out the people living in the towns of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, and Rehob,

32 And he lived in the midst of the Canaanites, the inhabitants of that land, for he did not put them to death.

so the people of Asher went on living there among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land because they hadn't driven them out.

33 Naphtali also did not wipe out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Bethanath. And he lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land. And the Beth-shemeshites and Bethanathites were tributaries to him.

Naphtali didn't drive out the people living in the towns of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath. So the people of Asher went on living there among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land because they hadn't driven them out. However, the people of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath were made to do forced labor for the people of Naphtali.

34 And the Amorite hemmed in the sons of Dan on the mountain, and did not give them a place, so that they might descend to the flatlands.

The Amorites pushed the people of Dan back into the hill country—they did not let them come down into the lowlands.

35 And he lived on the mountain at Har-heres, which is translated as ‘resembling brick,’ and at Aijalon and Sha-alabbin. But the hand of the house of Joseph was very heavy, and he became a tributary to him.

The Amorites insisted on remaining in Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim, but when the tribes of Joseph grew stronger, the Amorites were made to do forced labor.

36 Now the border of the Amorite was from the Ascent of the Scorpion, to the Rock and the higher places.

The border with the Amorites ran from Scorpion Pass through Sela and on up from there.