< 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 Joshua died, the Israelites asked the Lord, “Which tribe from among us should go first and attack the Canaanites?”
2 And YHWH says, “Judah goes up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.”
“Judah is to go first,” the Lord replied. “I have handed the land over to them.”
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.
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 goes up, and YHWH gives the Canaanite and the Perizzite into their hand, and they strike them in Bezek—ten thousand men;
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 find Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and fight against him, and strike the Canaanite and the Perizzite.
There they confronted Adoni-bezek and fought with him, defeating 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,
Adoni-bezek ran away, but they chased after him and captured him, and then 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.
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 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;
The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem and conquered it. They killed the inhabitants with the sword and burned the town down.
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;
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 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.
They attacked the Canaanites who lived Hebron (previously known as Kiriath Arba) and defeated 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 went on to attack the people living in Debir (previously 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.”
Caleb announced, “I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to whoever attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher.”
13 And Othniel son of Kenaz, younger brother of Caleb, captures it, and he gives his daughter Achsah to him for a wife.
Othniel, son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, was the one captured it, so he gave him his daughter Acsah 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]?”
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 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.
“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 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.
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 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 joined Simeon and defeated the Canaanites living in Zephath. They completely destroyed the town, so they named it Hormah.
18 And Judah captures Gaza and its border, and Askelon and its border, and Ekron and its border;
Judah also captured the towns of Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron, each with its surrounding 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 over the hill country, but they could not drive out the people living on the plain because they had iron chariots.
20 And they give Hebron to Caleb, as Moses has spoken, and he dispossesses the three sons of Anak there.
As Moses had stipulated, Hebron was given to Caleb, who drove out from it the descendants of 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.
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 And the house of Joseph goes up—even they—to Beth-El, and YHWH [is] with them;
The descendants of Joseph went and attacked the town of 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 investigate Bethel, which was previously 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.”
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 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;
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 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.
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 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;
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 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 the Israelites grew stronger, they made the Canaanites do forced labor, but they never completely drove them out.
29 And Ephraim has not dispossessed the Canaanite who is dwelling in Gezer, and the Canaanite dwells in its midst, in Gezer.
Ephraim didn't drive out the Canaanites living in the town of Gezer, so the Canaanites went on living there among them.
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 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 Asher has not dispossessed the inhabitants of Accho, and the inhabitants of Sidon, and 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 the Asherite dwells in the midst of the Canaanite, the inhabitants of the land, for it has not dispossessed them.
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 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 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 Amorites press the sons of Dan to the mountain, for they have not permitted them to go down to the valley;
The Amorites pushed the people of Dan back into the hill country—they did not let them come down into the lowlands.
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;
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 and the border of the Amorite [is] from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock and upward.
The border with the Amorites ran from Scorpion Pass through Sela and on up from there.

< Judges 1 >