Judges 1

1 And it cometh to pass, after the death of Joshua, that the sons of Israel ask at Jehovah, saying, 'Who doth go up for us unto the Canaanite, at the commencement, to fight against it?'

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 And Jehovah saith, 'Judah doth go up; lo, I have given the land into his hand.'

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

3 And Judah saith to Simeon his brother, 'Go up with me into my lot, and we fight against the Canaanite — and I have gone, even I, with thee into thy lot;' and Simeon goeth 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 And Judah goeth up, and Jehovah giveth the Canaanite and the Perizzite into their hand, and they smite them in Bezek — ten thousand men;

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 and they find Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and fight against him, and smite the Canaanite and the Perizzite.

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

6 And Adoni-Bezek fleeth, and they pursue after him, and seize him, and cut off his thumbs and his great 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 and Adoni-Bezek saith, 'Seventy kings — their thumbs and their great toes cut off — have been gathering under my table; as I have done so hath God repaid to me;' and they bring him in to Jerusalem, and he dieth 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 And the sons of Judah fight against Jerusalem, and capture it, and smite it by the mouth of the sword, and the city they have sent into 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 and afterwards have the sons of Judah gone down to fight against the Canaanite, inhabiting the hill-country, and the south, and the low country;

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 and Judah goeth unto the Canaanite who is dwelling in Hebron (and the name of Hebron formerly [is] Kirjath-Arba), and they smite Sheshai, and 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 And he goeth thence unto the inhabitants of Debir (and the name of Debir formerly [is] Kirjath-Sepher),

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

12 and Caleb saith, 'He who smiteth Kirjath-Sepher — and hath captured it — then I have given to him Achsah my daughter for a wife.'

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

13 And Othniel son of Kenaz, younger brother of Caleb, doth capture it, and he giveth to him Achsah his daughter for a wife.

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

14 And it cometh to pass in her coming in, that she persuadeth him to ask from her father the field, and she lighteth from off the ass, and Caleb saith to her, 'What — to thee?'

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 And she saith to him, 'Give to me a blessing; when the south land thou hast given me — then thou hast given to me springs of water; and Caleb giveth to 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 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.

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 And Judah goeth with Simeon his brother, and they smite the Canaanite inhabiting Zephath, and devote it; and [one] calleth the name of the city 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 And Judah captureth Gaza and its border, and Askelon and its border, and Ekron and its border;

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

19 and Jehovah is with Judah, and he occupieth the hill-country, but not to dispossess the inhabitants of the valley, for they have 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 And they give to Caleb Hebron, as Moses hath spoken, and he dispossesseth thence the three sons of Anak.

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 And the Jebusite, inhabiting Jerusalem, the sons of Benjamin have not dispossessed; and the Jebusite dwelleth with the sons of Benjamin, in Jerusalem, till 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 And the house of Joseph go up — even they — to Beth-El, and Jehovah [is] with them;

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

23 and the house of Joseph cause [men] to spy about Beth-El (and the name of the city formerly is Luz),

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

24 and the watchers see a man coming out from the city, and say to him, 'Shew us, we pray thee, the entrance of the city, and we have done with thee kindness.'

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 And he sheweth them the entrance of the city, and they smite the city by the mouth of the sword, and the man and all his family they have sent away;

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 and the man goeth to the land of the Hittites, and buildeth a city, and calleth its name Luz — it [is] its name unto 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 And Manasseh hath 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;

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 and it cometh to pass, when Israel hath been strong, that he setteth the Canaanite to tribute, and hath not utterly dispossessed it.

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

29 And Ephraim hath not dispossessed the Canaanite who is dwelling in Gezer, and the Canaanite dwelleth in its midst, in Gezer.

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 hath not dispossessed the inhabitants of Kitron, and the inhabitants of Nahalol, and the Canaanite dwelleth in its midst, and they become tributary.

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 hath not dispossessed the inhabitants of Accho, and the inhabitants of Zidon, and Ahlab, and Achzib, and Helbah, and Aphik, and 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 and the Asherite dwelleth in the midst of the Canaanite, the inhabitants of the land, for it hath not dispossessed them.

But the Asherites went on living among the Canaanites, the people of the land, without driving them out.

33 Naphtali hath not dispossessed the inhabitants of Beth-Shemesh, and the inhabitants of Beth-Anath, and he dwelleth in the midst of the Canaanite, the inhabitants of the land; and the inhabitants of Beth-Shemesh and of Beth-Anath have become tributary to them.

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 And the Amorites press the sons of Dan to the mountain, for they have not suffered them to go 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 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 become tributary;

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 and the border of the Amorite [is] 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.