Judges 1

1 And it came to pass, after the death of Joshua, that the sons of Israel asked of Yahweh, saying, —Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites, first, to make war upon them?

After Joshua died, the Israeli people asked Yahweh, “Which [of our tribes] should attack the Canaan people-group first?”

2 And Yahweh said—Judah, shall go, —lo! I have delivered the land into his power.

Yahweh replied, “I will enable the tribe of Judah to defeat [IDM] the Canaan people-group.”

3 Then said Judah, unto Simeon his brother—Come up with me into the territory allotted me, and let us make war on the Canaanites, then will, I also, go with thee, into thy territory. So Simeon went with him.

The men of Judah went to their fellow Israelis, [the men] from the tribe of Simeon, and said to them, “Come and help us to fight the Canaan people-group [in order that we can take from them] the land [that Yahweh] allotted to us. If you do that, we will go with you [and help you] conquer the people in the land [that Yahweh promised to give to] you.” So the men from the tribe of Simeon went with the men of the tribe of Judah.

4 And Judah went up, and Yahweh delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, —and they smote them in Bezek, ten thousand men.

When the men of those two tribes attacked, Yahweh enabled them to defeat 10,000 men of the Canaan people-group and the Periz people-group [DOU] at Bezek [city].

5 And they found Adoni-bezek in Bezek, and fought with him, —and smote the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

During the battle they found Adoni-Bezek, the leader of the city,

6 But Adoni-bezek fled, and they pursued him, —and took him, and cut off his thumbs, and his great toes.

but he [tried to] run away. The Israelis pursued him and caught him. Then they cut off his thumbs and his big toes.

7 Then said Adoni-bezek—Seventy kings, with their thumbs and great toes cut off, have been picking up crumbs under my table, as I have done, so, hath God requited me. And they brought him into Jerusalem, and he died there.

Adoni-Bezek said, “[My army captured] 70 kings. We cut off their thumbs and big toes. After that, [we forced] those kings to eat scraps that fell from our table. Now God has (paid me back for/done to me like) [what we did to them].” Then the men of Judah took Adoni-Bezek to Jerusalem, and he died there.

8 And the sons of Judah made war upon Jerusalem, and captured it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, —and, the city, they set on fire.

The army of Judah fought against the men of Jerusalem, and they captured the city. With their swords they killed [the people who lived there] and they burned [the houses in] the city.

9 And, afterwards, the sons of Judah went down to make war upon the Canaanites, —dwelling in the hill country, and in the south, and in the lowland.

Later, the men of Judah went down to fight the Canaan people-group who lived in the hilly area, in the desert to the south, and in the foothills [to the west].

10 And Judah went against the Canaanites who were dwelling in Hebron, now, the name of Hebron, formerly, was Kiriath-arba, —and they smote Sheshai and Ahiman, and Talmai.

The men of Judah also went to fight against the Canaan people-group who lived in Hebron [city], which at that time was named Kiriath-Arba. They defeated [the armies of kings] Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

11 And he went from thence, against the inhabitants of Debir, —now, the name of Debir, formerly, was Kiriath-sepher.

Then they left that area and went to fight against the people living in Debir [city], which was previously named Kiriath-Sepher.

12 And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kiriath-sepher, and captureth it, I will give unto him Achsah my daughter, to wife.

[Before they attacked the city], Caleb said to them, “If one of you attacks and captures Kiriath-Sepher, I will allow him to marry my daughter.”

13 Then Othniel, son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, captured it, —and he gave him Achsah his daughter, to wife.

Othniel, who was the son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz, captured the city. So Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to him, to become his wife.

14 And it came pass, when she came, that she moved him to ask of her father a field, and, when she alighted from off the ass, Caleb said unto her—What aileth thee?

When Acsah married Othniel, she told him to ask her father to give him a field. [But she decided to ask him herself. She rode to Caleb’s house on her donkey], and when she got off the donkey, Caleb [could see that something was troubling her. So he] asked her, “What do you want?”

15 And she said unto him—Give me a present; for, south land, hast thou given me, give me therefore pools of water. So Caleb gave her Upper-pools, and Lower-pools.

She replied, “I want you to do a favor for me. You have given me some land in the southern desert, [but it is very dry there]. So please also give me some [land that has] springs of water.” So Caleb gave her some land on higher ground that had a spring, and some land on lower ground that also had a spring.

16 Now, the sons of the Kenite, father-in-law of Moses, had come up from the city of palm-trees, with the sons of Judah, into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad, —so they went and dwelt with the people.

The people of the Ken people-group who were descendants of Moses’ father-in-law left Jericho, which was called ‘The City of Palm Trees’. They went with some of the men of Judah to live with them in the southern desert area, near Arad [city].

17 Then went Judah, with Simeon his brother, and they smote the Canaanites dwelling in Zephath, —and devoted it to destruction, and the name of the city was called Hormah.

The men of Judah and their fellow Israelis from the tribe of Simeon defeated the people of the Canaan people-group who lived in Zephath [city]. They completely destroyed the city and gave it a new name, Hormah, [which means ‘complete destruction’].

18 And Judah captured Gaza with the boundaries thereof, and Ashkelon, with the boundaries thereof, —and Ekron, with the boundaries thereof.

The men of Judah also captured Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron [cities] and all the land that is near those cities.

19 And it same to pass that Yahweh was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, —but did not dispossess the inhabitants of the vale, because they had, chariots of iron.

Yahweh helped the men of Judah to capture the hilly area, but they could not force the people who were living in the plains to leave, because [those people had better weapons—] had iron chariots.

20 So they gave unto Caleb Hebron, as spake Moses, —and he drave out from thence the three sons of Anak.

Hebron [city] was given to Caleb because Moses had promised him that he could have that city. And Caleb forced the three clans descended from Anak to leave that area.

21 But, the Jebusites dwelling in Jerusalem, the sons of Benjamin did not drive out, —but the Jebusites have dwelt with the sons of Benjamin, in Jerusalem, unto this day.

But the people of the tribe of Benjamin could not force the people of the Jebus people-group to leave Jerusalem. So, since that time the people of the Jebus people-group have lived in Jerusalem with the people of the tribe of Benjamin.

22 Then went up the house of Joseph—they also, —unto Bethel, —and, Yahweh, was with them.

The men of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh went to fight against [the men of] Bethel [city], and Yahweh helped them.

23 And the house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel, —now, the name of the city, formerly, was, Luz.

They sent some spies to [find out everything that they could find out about] Bethel, which was previously called Luz.

24 So the watchers saw a man, coming forth from the city, —and they said unto him—Shew us, we pray thee, the way to get into the city, and we will deal with thee, in lovingkindness.

The spies saw a man who was coming out of the city. They said to him, “If you show us a way to get into the city, we will be kind to you [and we will not kill you].”

25 And he shewed them the way to get into the city, and they smote the city, with the edge of the sword, —but, the man and all his family, they let go.

So the man showed them a way to enter the city. The men of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh entered the city and killed all the people with their swords, but they did not kill the man [who showed them how to get into the city], and they did not kill his family.

26 And the man went into the land of the Hittites, —and built a city, and called the name thereof, Luz, that, is the name thereof, unto this day.

That man went to the area where the descendants of Heth lived, and built a city. He named the city Luz, and that is still the name of that city.

27 But Manasseh took not possession of Beth-shean and her towns, nor of Taanach and her towns, nor dispossessed the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam, and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo, and her towns, —but the Canaanites were determined to remain in this land;

There were people of the Canaan people-group who lived in Beth-Shan, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, and Megiddo [cities] and in the surrounding villages. [The men of] the tribe of Manasseh did not force those people to leave those towns, because the people of the Canaan people-group were determined to stay there.

28 when Israel, however, had waxed strong, they put the Canaanites under tribute, —though they, dispossessed, them not.

Later, the Israelis became (stronger/more numerous), and they forced the people of the Canaan people-group to work for them [as their slaves], but they did not force all the people of the Canaan people-group to leave their land.

29 And, Ephraim, dispossessed not the Canaanites who were dwelling in Gezer, —so the Canaanites remained in their midst, in Gezer.

[The men of] the tribe of Ephraim did not force the people of the Canaan people-group to leave Gezer [city]. So the people of the Canaan people-group continued to live with the people of the tribe of Ephraim.

30 Zebulun, dispossessed not the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol, —but the Canaanites remained in their midst, and came under tribute.

[The men of] the tribe of Zebulun did nor compel the people of the Canaan people-group who were living in Kitron and Nahalol [cities] to leave. They stayed there and lived among the people of the tribe of Zebulun, but the people of Zebulun forced them to work for them as their slaves.

31 Asher, dispossessed not the inhabitants of Acco, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, —nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob;

[The men of] the tribe of Asher did not force the people of the Canaan people-group who lived in Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Aczib, Helbah, Aphek and Rehob [cities] to leave.

32 but the Asherites dwelt in the midst of the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, —for they dispossessed them not.

So the people of the tribe of Asher lived among them.

33 Naphtali, dispossessed not the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh nor the inhabitants of Beth-anath, but they dwelt in the midst of the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, —and, the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, and of Beth-anath, became theirs, under tribute.

[The men of] the tribe of Naphtali did not compel the people who lived in Beth-Shemesh and Beth-Anath [cities] to leave, so the people in those two cities continued to live there, but the people of the Canaan people-group were forced to work as the slaves of the people of the tribe of Naphtali.

34 And the Amorites forced the sons of Dan into the hill country, —for they suffered them not to come down into the vale;

The people of the Amor people-group forced the people of the tribe of Dan to live in the hills. They did not allow them to come down [and live] on the plain.

35 and, though the Amorites were determined to remain in the hill country of Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, yet was the hand of the house of Joseph heavy, so that they came under tribute.

The people of the Amor people-group were determined to stay in Heres Mountain and in Aijalon and Shaalbim [cities]. But when the Israelis became (stronger/more numerous), they forced the people of the Amor people-group to work as their slaves.

36 And, the boundary of the Amorites, was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upwards.

The land where the Amor people-group lived extended from Scorpion Pass [toward the west] beyond Sela [town], up into the hilly area.