Judges 1

1 And it comes to pass after the death of Joshua, that the sons of Israel ask of YHWH, saying, “Who goes up for us to the Canaanite, at the commencement, to fight against it?”

After the death of Joshua, the Israelites inquired of the LORD, “Who will be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?”

2 And YHWH says, “Judah goes up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.”

“Judah shall go up,” answered the LORD. “Indeed, I have delivered the land into their hands.”

3 And Judah says to his brother Simeon, “Go up with me into my lot, and we fight against the Canaanite—and I have gone, even I, with you into your lot”; and Simeon goes with him.

Then the men of Judah said to their brothers the Simeonites, “Come up with us to our allotted territory, and let us fight against the Canaanites. And we likewise will go with you to your territory.” So the Simeonites went with them.

4 And Judah goes up, and YHWH gives the Canaanite and the Perizzite into their hand, and they strike them in Bezek—ten thousand men;

When Judah attacked, the LORD delivered the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands, and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek.

5 and they find Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and fight against him, and strike the Canaanite and the Perizzite.

And there they found Adoni-bezek and fought against him, striking down the Canaanites and Perizzites.

6 And Adoni-Bezek flees, and they pursue after him, and seize him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes,

As Adoni-bezek fled, they pursued him, seized him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.

7 and Adoni-Bezek says, “Seventy kings—their thumbs and their great toes cut off—have been gathering under my table; as I have done so God has repaid to me”; and they bring him to Jerusalem, and he dies there.

Then Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have gathered the scraps under my table. As I have done to them, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, where he died.

8 And the sons of Judah fight against Jerusalem, and capture it, and strike it by the mouth of the sword, and they have sent the city into fire;

Then the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire.

9 and afterward the sons of Judah have gone down to fight against the Canaanite inhabiting the hill-country, and the south, and the low country;

Afterward, the men of Judah marched down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, in the Negev, and in the foothills.

10 and Judah goes to the Canaanite who is dwelling in Hebron (and the name of Hebron [was] formerly Kirjath-Arba), and they strike Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai.

Judah also marched against the Canaanites who were living in Hebron (formerly known as Kiriath-arba), and they struck down Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

11 And he goes there to the inhabitants of Debir (and the name of Debir [was] formerly Kirjath-Sepher),

From there they marched against the inhabitants of Debir (formerly known as Kiriath-sepher).

12 and Caleb says, “He who strikes Kirjath-Sepher and has captured it—then I have given my daughter Achsah to him for a wife.”

And Caleb said, “To the man who strikes down Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage.”

13 And Othniel son of Kenaz, younger brother of Caleb, captures it, and he gives his daughter Achsah to him for a wife.

So Othniel son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz captured the city, and Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to him in marriage.

14 And it comes to pass in her coming in, that she persuades him to ask from her father the field, and she comes down off the donkey, and Caleb says to her, “What do you [want]?”

One day Acsah came to Othniel and urged him to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you desire?”

15 And she says to him, “Give a blessing to me; when you have given me the south land—then you have given springs of water to me”; and Caleb gives the upper springs and the lower springs to her.

“Give me a blessing,” she answered. “Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me springs of water as well.” So Caleb gave her both the upper and lower springs.

16 And the sons of the Kenite, father-in-law of Moses, have gone up out of the city of palms with the sons of Judah [to] the wilderness of Judah, which [is] in the south of Arad, and they go and dwell with the people.

Now the descendants of Moses’ father-in-law, the Kenite, went up with the men of Judah from the City of Palms to the Wilderness of Judah in the Negev near Arad. They went to live among the people.

17 And Judah goes with his brother Simeon, and they strike the Canaanite inhabiting Zephath, and devote it; and [one] calls the name of the city Hormah.

Then the men of Judah went with their brothers the Simeonites, attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and devoted the city to destruction. So it was called Hormah.

18 And Judah captures Gaza and its border, and Askelon and its border, and Ekron and its border;

And Judah also captured Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron—each with its territory.

19 and YHWH is with Judah, and he occupies the hill-country, but not to dispossess the inhabitants of the valley, for they have chariots of iron.

The LORD was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the plains because they had chariots of iron.

20 And they give Hebron to Caleb, as Moses has spoken, and he dispossesses the three sons of Anak there.

Just as Moses had promised, Judah gave Hebron to Caleb, who drove out the descendants of the three sons of Anak.

21 And the sons of Benjamin have not dispossessed the Jebusite inhabiting Jerusalem; and the Jebusite dwells with the sons of Benjamin, in Jerusalem, until this day.

The Benjamites, however, failed to drive out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. So to this day the Jebusites live there among the Benjamites.

22 And the house of Joseph goes up—even they—to Beth-El, and YHWH [is] with them;

The house of Joseph also attacked Bethel, and the LORD was with them.

23 and the house of Joseph causes [men] to spy out Beth-El (and the name of the city [was] formerly Luz),

They sent spies to Bethel (formerly known as Luz),

24 and the watchers see a man coming out from the city, and say to him, “Please show us the entrance of the city, and we have done kindness with you.”

and when the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, “Please show us how to get into the city, and we will treat you kindly.”

25 And he shows them the entrance of the city, and they strike the city by the mouth of the sword, and they have sent the man and all his family away;

So the man showed them the entrance to the city, and they put the city to the sword but released that man and all his family.

26 and the man goes to the land of the Hittites, and builds a city, and calls its name Luz—it [is] its name to this day.

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

27 And Manasseh has not occupied Beth-Shean and its towns, and Taanach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Iblaim and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns, and the Canaanite is desirous to dwell in that land;

At that time Manasseh failed to drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and their villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land.

28 and it comes to pass, when Israel has been strong, that he sets the Canaanite to forced labor, and has not utterly dispossessed it.

When Israel became stronger, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor, but they never drove them out completely.

29 And Ephraim has not dispossessed the Canaanite who is dwelling in Gezer, and the Canaanite dwells in its midst, in Gezer.

Ephraim also failed to drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer; so the Canaanites continued to dwell among them in Gezer.

30 Zebulun has not dispossessed the inhabitants of Kitron, and the inhabitants of Nahalol, and the Canaanite dwells in its midst, and they become forced labor.

Zebulun failed to drive out the inhabitants of Kitron and Nahalol; so the Canaanites lived among them and served as forced laborers.

31 Asher has not dispossessed the inhabitants of Accho, and the inhabitants of Sidon, and Ahlab, and Achzib, and Helbah, and Aphik, and Rehob;

Asher failed to drive out the inhabitants of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, and Rehob.

32 and the Asherite dwells in the midst of the Canaanite, the inhabitants of the land, for it has not dispossessed them.

So the Asherites lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, because they did not drive them out.

33 Naphtali has not dispossessed the inhabitants of Beth-Shemesh, and the inhabitants of Beth-Anath, and he dwells in the midst of the Canaanite, the inhabitants of the land; and the inhabitants of Beth-Shemesh and of Beth-Anath were for forced labor for them.

Naphtali failed to drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath. So the Naphtalites also lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, but the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath served them as forced laborers.

34 And the Amorites press the sons of Dan to the mountain, for they have not permitted them to go down to the valley;

The Amorites forced the Danites into the hill country and did not allow them to come down into the plain.

35 and the Amorite is desirous to dwell in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, and the hand of the house of Joseph is heavy, and they are for forced labor;

And the Amorites were determined to dwell in Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim. But when the house of Joseph grew in strength, they pressed the Amorites into forced labor.

36 and the border of the Amorite [is] from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock and upward.

And the border of the Amorites extended from the Ascent of Akrabbim to Sela and beyond.