Judges 1

1 It happened after the death of Joshua, the children of Israel asked of Jehovah, saying, "Who should go up first to fight for us against the Canaanites?"

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

2 Jehovah said, "Judah should go up. Look, I have delivered the land into his hand."

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

3 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.

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 Judah went up; and Jehovah delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they struck of 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 They found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek; and they fought against him, and they struck the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

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

6 But Adoni-Bezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught 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 Adoni-Bezek said, "Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, scavenged under my table: as I have done, so God has requited me." They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died 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 The people of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and took it, and struck it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.

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

9 Afterward the people of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, and in the Negev, and in the lowland.

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 went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron, and Hebron came out in opposition (now the name of Hebron before was Kiriath Arba), and they struck Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai.

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

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

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

12 Caleb said, "He who strikes Kiriath Sepher, and takes it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter as wife."

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

13 Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife.

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

14 It happened, when she came to him, that she got him to ask her father for a field. And she got off from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, "What would you like?"

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 She said to him, "Give me a blessing; since you have given me the land in the Negev, give me also springs of water." So Caleb gave her according to her heart the upper springs and the lower springs.

“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 descendants of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the people of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the Negev of Arad; and they went and lived 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 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.

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

18 Also Judah took Gaza with its territory, and Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory, and Ashdod with its surrounding lands.

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

19 Jehovah 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.

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 They gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had spoken. And from there he possessed the three cities, and he drove out from there the three sons of Anak.

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

21 The people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to 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 also went up against Bethel; and Jehovah was 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 sent out spies to Bethel. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.)

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

24 And the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they captured him, and they said to him, "Please show us the entrance into the city, and we will show you mercy."

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

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 The man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called its name Luz, which 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 Manasseh did not 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.

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 It happened, when Israel had grown strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, and did not utterly drive them out.

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

29 Ephraim didn't drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer; but the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.

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

30 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.

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 did not 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;

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

32 but the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out.

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 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.

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 The Amorites forced the people of Dan into the hill country; for they would not allow them to come 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 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.

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

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