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

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

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

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.

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;

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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;

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

And when Othniel, the son of Kenaz, a younger brother of Caleb, had seized it, he gave his daughter Achsah 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]?”

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?”

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.

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.

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 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.

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 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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

And just as Moses had said, they gave Hebron to Caleb, who destroyed out of it 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.

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.

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

The house of Joseph also ascended against 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),

For when they were besieging the city, which was previously called 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.”

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.”

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;

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.

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 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.

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;

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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.

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

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.

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 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.

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

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