Judges 1

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

After the death of Joshua, the children of Israel asked of the LORD, saying, “Who should go up for us first against the Canaanites, to fight against them?”

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

The LORD said, “Judah shall go up. Behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.”

3 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.

Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with you into your lot.” So Simeon went with him.

4 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.

Judah went up, and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand. They struck ten thousand men in Bezek.

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

They found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and they fought against him. They struck the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

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

But Adoni-Bezek fled. They pursued him, caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his big toes.

7 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.

Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their big toes cut off, scavenged under my table. As I have done, so God has done to me.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

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

The children of Judah fought against Jerusalem, took it, struck it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.

9 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.

After that, the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, and in the South, and in the lowland.

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

Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron. (The name of Hebron before that was Kiriath Arba.) They struck Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

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

From there he went against the inhabitants of Debir. (The name of Debir before that was Kiriath Sepher.)

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

Caleb said, “I will give Achsah my daughter as wife to the man who strikes Kiriath Sepher, and takes it.”

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

Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it, so he gave him Achsah his daughter as his wife.

14 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?”

When she came, she got him to ask her father for a field. She got off her donkey; and Caleb said to her, “What would you like?”

15 “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.

She said to him, “Give me a blessing; because you have set me in the land of the South, give me also springs of water.” Then Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

16 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.

The children of the Kenite, Moses’ brother-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad; and they went and lived with the people.

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

Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they struck the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. The name of the city was called Hormah.

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

Also Judah took Gaza with its border, and Ashkelon with its border, and Ekron with its border.

19 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.

The LORD was with Judah, and drove out the inhabitants of the hill country; for he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.

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

They gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said, and he drove the three sons of Anak out of there.

21 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.

The children of Benjamin didn’t drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem, but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

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

The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the LORD was with them.

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

The house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel. (The name of the city before that was Luz.)

24 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.”

The watchers saw a man come out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the entrance into the city, and we will deal kindly with you.”

25 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.

He showed them the entrance into the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man and all his family go.

26 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.

The man went into the land of the Hittites, built a city, and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day.

27 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.

Manasseh didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its towns, nor Taanach and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.

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

When Israel had grown strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, and didn’t utterly drive them out.

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

Ephraim didn’t drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, but the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.

30 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.

Zebulun didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites lived among them, and became subject to forced labor.

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

Asher didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Acco, nor the inhabitants of Sidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob;

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

but the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they didn’t drive them out.

33 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.

Naphtali didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beth Anath; but he lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and of Beth Anath became subject to forced labor.

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

The Amorites forced the children of Dan into the hill country, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley;

35 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.

but the Amorites would dwell in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim. Yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became subject to forced labor.

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

The border of the Amorites was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.