Judges 1

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

And it came to pass after the death of Joshua, that the children of Israel enquired of the Lord, saying, Who shall go up for us first against the Chananites, to fight against them?

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

And the Lord said, Judas 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.

And Judas said to his brother Symeon, Come up with me into my lot, and let us array ourselves against the Chananites, and I also will go with you into your lot: and Symeon 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.

And Judas went up; and the Lord delivered the Chananite and the Pherezite into their hands, and they struck them in Bezek to [the number of] ten thousand men.

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

And they overtook Adonibezek in Bezek, and fought against him; and they struck the Chananite and the Pherezite.

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

And Adonibezek fled, and they pursued after him, and took him, and cut off his thumbs and his great 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.

And Adonibezek said, Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered [their food] under my table: as I therefore have done, so God has recompensed me: and 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.

And the children of Judas fought against Jerusalem, and took it, and struck with the edge of the sword, and they burnt the city with 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.

And afterwards the children of Judas went down to fight with the Chananite dwelling in the hill country, and the south, and the plain country.

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

And Judas went to the Chananite who lived in Chebron; and Chebron came out against him; [and the name of Chebron before was Cariatharbocsepher: ] and they struck Sessi, and Achiman, and Tholmi, children of Enac.

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

And they went up thence to the inhabitants of Dabir; but the name of Dabir was before Cariathsepher, the city of Letters.

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

And Chaleb said, Whosoever shall strike the city of Letters, and shall first take it, I will give to him Ascha my daughter to wife.

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

And Gothoniel the younger son of Kenez the brother of Chaleb took it; and Chaleb gave him his daughter Ascha to 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?”

And it came to pass as she went in, that Gothoniel urged her to ask a field of her father; and she murmured and cried from off her ass, You have sent me forth into a south land: and Chaleb said to her, What is your request?

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.

And Ascha said to him, Give me, I pray you, a blessing, for you have sent me forth into a south land, and you shall give me the ransom of water: and Chaleb gave her according to her heart the ransom of the upper [springs] and the ransom of the low [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.

And the children of Jothor the Kenite the father-in-law of Moses went up from the city of palm-trees with the children of Judas, to the wilderness that is in the south of Juda, which is at the descent of Arad, and they 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.

And Judas went with Symeon his brother, and struck the Chananite that inhabited Sepheth, and they utterly destroyed them; and they called the name of the city Anathema.

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

But Judas did not inherit Gaza nor her coasts, nor Ascalon nor her coasts, nor Accaron nor her coasts, [nor] Azotus nor the lands around it.

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.

And the Lord was with Judas, and he inherited the mountain; for they were not able to destroy the inhabitants of the valley, for Rechab prevented them.

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

And they gave Chebron to Chaleb, as Moses said; and thence he inherited the three cities of the children of Enac.

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.

But the children of Benjamin did not take the inheritance of the Jebusite who lived in Jerusalem; and the Jebusite lived with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem until this day.

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

And the sons of Joseph, they also went up to Baethel; and the Lord was with them.

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

And they encamped and surveyed Baethel: and the name of the city before was Luza.

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.”

And the spies looked, and behold, a man went out of the city, and they took him; and they said to him, Show us the way into the city, and we will deal mercifully 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.

And he showed them the way into the city; and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and his family.

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.

And the man went into the land of Chettin, and built there a city, and called the name of it Luza; this [is] its name until 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.

And Manasse did not drive out [the inhabitants of] Baethsan, which is a city of Scythians, nor her towns, nor her suburbs; nor Thanac, nor her towns; nor the inhabitants of Dor, nor her suburbs, nor her towns; nor the inhabitant of Balac, nor her suburbs, nor her towns; nor the inhabitants of Magedo, nor her suburbs, nor her towns; nor the inhabitants of Jeblaam, nor her suburbs, nor her towns; and the Chananite began to dwell in this land.

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

And it came to pass when Israel was strong, that he made the Chananite tributary, but did not 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.

And Ephraim did not drive out the Chananite that lived in Gazer; and the Chananite lived in the midst of him in Gazer, and became tributary.

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.

And Zabulon did not drive out the inhabitants of Kedron, nor the inhabitants of Domana: and the Chananite lived in the midst of them, and became tributary to them.

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

And Aser did not drive out the inhabitants of Accho, and [that people] became tributary to him, nor the inhabitants of Dor, nor the inhabitants of Sidon, nor the inhabitants of Dalaph, nor Aschazi, nor Chebda, nor Nai, nor Ereo.

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

And Aser lived in the midst of the Chananite who inhabited the land, for he could not drive him 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.

And Nephthali did not drive out the inhabitants of Baethsamys, nor the inhabitants of Baethanach; and Nephthali lived in the midst of the Chananite who inhabited the land: but the inhabitants of Bethsamys and of Baetheneth became tributary to them.

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

And the Amorite drove out the children of Dan into the mountains, for they did not suffer them to come down into 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.

And the Amorite began to dwell in the mountain of shells, in which [are] bears, and foxes, in Myrsinon, and in Thalabin; and the hand of the house of Joseph was heavy upon the Amorite, and he became tributary to them.

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

And the border of the Amorite [was] from the going up of Acrabin, from the rock and upwards.