Judges 1

1 After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel asked Yahweh, saying, “Who first will attack the Canaanites for us, to fight against them?”

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

2 Yahweh said, “Judah will attack. See, I have given them control of this land.”

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

3 The men of Judah said to men of Simeon, their brothers, “Come up with us into our territory that was assigned to us that together we may fight against the Canaanites. We will likewise go with you to the territory that was assigned to you.” So the tribe of Simeon went with them.

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 The men of Judah attacked, and Yahweh gave them victory over the Canaanites and the Perizzites. They killed ten thousand of them at Bezek.

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 at Bezek, and they fought against him and defeated 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 him and caught him, and they cut off his thumbs and his big 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, who had their thumbs and their big toes cut off, gathered their food from under my table. As I have done, even so God has done to 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 men of Judah fought against the city of Jerusalem and took it. They attacked it with the edge of the sword and they 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 After that, the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the Negev, and the western foothills.

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 Judah advanced against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (the name of Hebron was previously Kiriath Arba), and they defeated Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

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

11 From there the men of Judah advanced against the inhabitants of Debir (the name of Debir was previously Kiriath Sepher).

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

12 Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kiriath Sepher and takes it, I will give him Aksah, my daughter, to be his wife.”

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

13 Othniel, son of Kenaz (Caleb's younger brother) captured Debir, so Caleb gave him Aksah, his daughter, to be his wife.

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

14 Soon Aksah came to Othniel, and she urged him to ask her father to give her a field. As she was getting off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What can I do for you?”

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 of the Negev, also give me springs of water.” So Caleb gave her 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 The descendants of Moses' father-in-law the Kenite went up from the City of Palms with the people of Judah, into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the Negev, to live with the people of Judah near Arad.

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 The men of Judah went with the men of Simeon their brothers and they attacked the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and they completely 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 The people of Judah also captured Gaza and the land around it, Ashkelon and the land around it, and Ekron and the land around it.

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

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

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 Hebron was given to Caleb (like Moses had said), 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 But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem. So the Jebusites have lived 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 The house of Joseph prepared to attack Bethel, and Yahweh was with them.

The descendants of Joseph went and attacked the town of Bethel, and the Lord was with them.

23 They sent out men to spy on Bethel (the city that was formerly called Luz).

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

24 The spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, “Show us, please, how to get into the city, and we will be kind to 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 He showed them a way into the city, and so they attacked the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family get 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 Then the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city and called it 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 The people of Manasseh did not drive out the people living in the cities of Beth Shan and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or those who lived in Dor and its villages, or those who lived in Ibleam and its villages, or those who lived in Megiddo and its villages, because the Canaanites were determined to live 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 When Israel became strong, they forced the Canaanites to serve them with hard labor, but they never drove them out completely.

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

29 Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites continued to live 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 did not drive out the people living in Kitron, or the people living in Nahalol, and so the Canaanites continued to live among them, but Zebulun forced the Canaanites to serve them with hard 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 people living in Akko, or the people living in Sidon, or those living in Ahlab, Akzib, Helbah, Aphek, or Rehob.

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

32 So the tribe of Asher lived among the Canaanites (those who lived in the land), because 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 The tribe of Naphtali did not drive out those who were living in Beth Shemesh, or those living in Beth Anath. So the tribe of Naphtali lived among the Canaanites (the people who were living in that land). However, the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were forced into hard labor for Naphthali.

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 tribe of Dan to live in the hill country, not allowing them to come down to the plain.

The Amorites pushed the people of Dan back into the hill country—they did not let them come down into the lowlands.

35 So the Amorites lived at Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the military might of the house of Joseph conquered them, and they were forced to serve them with hard 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 ran from the hill of Akrabbim at Sela up into the hill country.

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