Judges 1

1 After the death of Joshua, the children of Israel asked of the LORD, saying, “Who should go up for us first against the Canaanites, to fight against them?”

Now after the death of Joshua, the children of Israel made request to the Lord, saying, Who is to go up first to make war for us against the Canaanites?

2 The LORD said, “Judah shall go up. Behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.”

And the Lord said, Judah is to go up: see, I have given the land into his hands.

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.

Then Judah said to Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my heritage, so that we may make war against the Canaanites; and I will then go with you into your heritage. So Simeon went with him.

4 Judah went up, and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand. They struck ten thousand men in Bezek.

And Judah went up; and the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hands; and they overcame ten thousand of them in Bezek.

5 They found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and they fought against him. They struck the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

And they came across Adoni-zedek, and made war on him; and they overcame the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

6 But Adoni-Bezek fled. They pursued him, caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his big toes.

But Adoni-zedek went in flight; and they went after him and overtook him, and had his thumbs and his great toes cut off.

7 Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their big toes cut off, scavenged under my table. As I have done, so God has done to me.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

And Adoni-zedek said, Seventy kings, whose thumbs and great toes had been cut off, got broken meat under my table: as I have done, so has God done to me in full. And they took him to Jerusalem, and he came to his end there.

8 The children of Judah fought against Jerusalem, took it, struck it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.

Then the children of Judah made an attack on Jerusalem, and took it, burning down the town after they had put its people to the sword without mercy.

9 After that, the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, and in the South, and in the lowland.

After that the children of Judah went down to make war on the Canaanites living in the hill-country and in the south and in the lowlands.

10 Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron. (The name of Hebron before that was Kiriath Arba.) They struck Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

And Caleb went against the Canaanites of Hebron: (now in earlier times Hebron was named Kiriath-arba: ) and he put Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai to the sword.

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

And from there he went up against the people of Debir. (Now the name of Debir in earlier times was Kiriath-sepher.)

12 Caleb said, “I will give Achsah my daughter as wife to the man who strikes Kiriath Sepher, and takes it.”

And Caleb said, I will give Achsah, my daughter, as wife to the man who overcomes Kiriath-sepher and takes it.

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

And Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah for his wife.

14 When she came, she got him to ask her father for a field. She got off her donkey; and Caleb said to her, “What would you like?”

Now when she came to him, he put into her mind the idea of requesting a field from her father: and she got down from her ass; and Caleb said to her, What is it?

15 She said to him, “Give me a blessing; because you have set me in the land of the South, give me also springs of water.” Then Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

And she said to him, Give me a blessing; because you have put me in a dry south-land, now give me springs of water. So Caleb gave her the higher spring and the lower spring.

16 The children of the Kenite, Moses’ brother-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad; and they went and lived with the people.

Now Hobab the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, had come up out of the town of palm-trees, with the children of Judah, into the waste land of Arad; and he went and was living among the Amalekites;

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.

And Judah went with Simeon, his brother, and overcame the Canaanites living in Zephath, and put it under the curse; and he gave the town the name of Hormah.

18 Also Judah took Gaza with its border, and Ashkelon with its border, and Ekron with its border.

Then Judah took Gaza and its limit, and Ashkelon and its limit, and Ekron and its limit.

19 The LORD 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.

And the Lord was with Judah; and he took the hill-country for his heritage; but he was unable to make the people of the valley go out, for they had war-carriages of iron.

20 They gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said, and he drove the three sons of Anak out of there.

And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said; and he took the land of the three sons of Anak, driving them out from there.

21 The children of Benjamin didn’t drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem, but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

And the children of Judah did not make the Jebusites who were living in Jerusalem go out; the Jebusites are still living with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem.

22 The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the LORD was with them.

And the family of Joseph went up against Beth-el, and the Lord was with them.

23 The house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel. (The name of the city before that was Luz.)

So they sent men to make a search round Beth-el. (Now the name of the town in earlier times was Luz.)

24 The watchers saw a man come out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the entrance into the city, and we will deal kindly with you.”

And the watchers saw a man coming out of the town, and said to him, If you will make clear to us the way into the town, we will be kind to you.

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 and all his family go.

So he made clear to them the way into the town, and they put it to the sword; but they let the man and all his family get away safe.

26 The man went into the land of the Hittites, built a city, and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day.

And he went into the land of the Hittites, building a town there and naming it Luz: which is its name to this day.

27 Manasseh didn’t 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.

And Manasseh did not take away the land of the people of Beth-shean and its daughter-towns, or of Taanach and its daughter-towns, or of the people of Dor and its daughter-towns, or of the people of Ibleam and its daughter-towns, or of the people of Megiddo and its daughter-towns, driving them out; but the Canaanites would go on living in that land.

28 When Israel had grown strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, and didn’t utterly drive them out.

And whenever Israel became strong, they put the Canaanites to forced work, without driving them out completely.

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

And Ephraim did not make the Canaanites who were living in Gezer go out; but the Canaanites went on living in Gezer 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 did not make the people of Kitron or the people of Nahalol go out; but the Canaanites went on living among them and were put to forced work.

31 Asher didn’t 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;

And Asher did not take the land of the people of Acco, or Zidon, or Ahlab, or Achzib, or Helbah, or Aphik, or Rehob, driving them out;

32 but the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they didn’t drive them out.

But the Asherites went on living among the Canaanites, the people of the land, without driving 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 did not take the land of the people of Beth-shemesh or of Beth-anath, driving them out; but he was living among the Canaanites in the land; however, the people of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath were put to forced work.

34 The Amorites forced the children of Dan into the hill country, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley;

And the children of Dan were forced into the hill-country by the Amorites, who would not let them come down into the valley;

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.

For the Amorites would go on living in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim; but the children of Joseph became stronger than they, and put them to forced work.

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

And the limit of the Edomites went from the slope of Akrabbim from Sela and up.