Judges 1

1  AFTER THE death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord, Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?2  And the Lord said, Judah shall go up; behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.3  And Judah [the tribe] said to [the tribe of] Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my allotted territory, so that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with you into your territory. So Simeon went with him.4  Then Judah went up and the Lord delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they smote 10,000 of them in Bezek.5  And they found Adoni-bezek in Bezek and fought against him, and they smote the Canaanites and the Perizzites.6  Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and his big toes.7  Adoni-bezek said, Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off had to gather their food under my table. As I have done, so God has repaid me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.8  And the men of Judah fought against [Jebusite] Jerusalem and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire.9  Afterward the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who dwelt in the hill country, in the South (the Negeb), and in the lowland.10  And Judah went against the Canaanites who dwelt in Hebron. The name of Hebron before was Kiriath-arba. And they defeated Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.11  From there [Judah] went against the inhabitants of Debir. The name of Debir before was Kiriath-sepher [city of books and scribes].12  And Caleb said, Whoever attacks Kiriath-sepher and takes it, to him will I give Achsah, my daughter, as wife.13  And Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it; and he gave him Achsah, his daughter, as wife.14  And when she came to [Othniel], she got his consent to ask her father for a [sloping] field. And she alighted off her donkey, and Caleb said to her, What do you want?15  And she said to him, Give me a present; since you have set me in the land of the South (the Negeb), give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.16  And the descendants of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up with the Judahites from the City of Palms (Jericho) into the Wilderness of Judah, which lies in the South (the Negeb) near Arad; and they went and dwelt with the people.17  And [the tribe of] Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and utterly destroyed it. So the city was called Hormah [destruction].18  Also Judah took Gaza, Askelon, and Ekron--each with its territory.19  The Lord was with Judah, and [Judah] drove out the inhabitants of the hill country, but he could not drive out those inhabiting the [difficult] valley basin because they had chariots of iron.20  Hebron was given to Caleb as Moses said, and he expelled from there the three sons of Anak. 21  But the Benjamites did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; the Jebusites dwell with the Benjamites in Jerusalem to this day.22  The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them.23  And the house of Joseph was sent to spy out Bethel. The name of the city formerly had been Luz.24  And the spies saw a man coming out of the city and they said to him, Show us, we pray you, the way into the city and we will show you mercy.25  When he showed them the entrance to the city, they smote the city with the sword, but they let the man and all his family go.26  And the man went into the land of the Hittites and built a city and called it Luz, which is its name to this day.27  Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its villages, or of Taanach or Dor or Ibleam or Megiddo and their villages, but the Canaanites remained in that land.28  When Israel became strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor but did not utterly drive them out.29  Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer, but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.30  Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or of Nahalol, but the Canaanites dwelt among them and were put to forced labor.31  Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Acco or of Sidon or of Ahlab or of Achzib or of Helbah or of Aphik or of Rehob;32  But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out.33  Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh or of Beth-anath, but dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; but the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became subject to forced labor for them.34  The Amorites forced the Danites back into the hill country, for they would not allow them to come down into the plain;35  The Amorites remained fixed in Mount Heres [mountain of the sun], in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim; yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became subject to forced labor.36  And the border of the Amorites was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock Sela and onward.

Judges 1

Judah Takes the Lead

1 After Joshua died, the Israelites askedt the Lord, “Who should lead the invasion against the Canaanites and launch the attack?”t2 The Lord said, “The men of Judah should take the lead.t Be sure of this! I am handing the land over to them.”t

3 The men of Judah said to their relatives, the men of Simeon,t “Invade our allotted land with us and help us attack the Canaanites.t Then wet will go with you into your allotted land.” So the men of Simeon went with them.
4 The men of Judah attacked,t and the Lord handed the Canaanites and Perizzites over to them. They killed ten thousand men at Bezek.5 They mett Adoni-Bezek at Bezek and fought him. They defeated the Canaanites and Perizzites.6 When Adoni-Bezek ran away, they chased him and captured him. Then they cut off his thumbs and big toes.7 Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings, with thumbs and big toes cut off, used to lick upt food scrapst under my table. God has repaid me for what I did to them.”t They brought him to Jerusalem,s where he died.

8 The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem and captured it. They put the sword to it and set the city on fire.
9 Later the men of Judah went down to attack the Canaanites living in the hill country, the Negev, and the lowlands.t10 The men of Judah attacked the Canaanites living in Hebron. (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba.) They killed Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.11 From there they attacked the people of Debir.t (Debir used to be called Kiriath Sepher.)12 Caleb said, “To the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher I will give my daughter Acsah as a wife.”

13 When Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother,t captured it, Calebt gave him his daughter Acsah as a wife.
14 One time Acsaht came and charmed her fathert so she could ask him for some land. When she got down from her donkey, Caleb said to her, “What would you like?”

15 She answered, “Please give me a special present.t Since you have given me land in the Negev, now give me springs of water.” So Caleb gave her both the upper and lower springs.t

16 Now the descendants of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah from the City of Date Palm Trees to Arad in the desert of Judah,s located in the Negev.t They went and lived with the people of Judah.t
17 The men of Judah went with their brothers the men of Simeont and defeated the Canaanites living in Zephath. They wiped out Zephath.t So people now call the city Hormah.s

18 The men of Judah captured Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron, and the territory surrounding each of these cities.t
19 The Lord was with the men of Judah. They conqueredt the hill country, but they could nots conquer the people living in the coastal plain, because they had chariots with iron-rimmed wheels.t20 Caleb receivedt Hebron, just as Moses had promised. He drove out the three Anakites.

21 The men of Benjamin, however, did not conquer the Jebusites living in Jerusalem.s The Jebusites live with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this very day.s

Partial Success

22 When the ment of Joseph attackedt Bethel,s the Lord was with them.23 When the men of Joseph spied out Bethel (it used to be called Luz),24 the spies spottedt a man leaving the city. They said to him, “If you show us a secret entrance into the city, we will reward you.”25 He showed them a secret entrance into the city, and they put the city to the sword. But they let the man and his extended family leave safely.

26 Het moved to Hittite country and built a city. He named it Luz, and it has kept that name to this very day.
27 The men of Manasseh did not conquer Beth Shan, Taanach, or their surrounding towns. Nor did they conquer the people living in Dor, Ibleam, Megiddos or their surrounding towns.t The Canaanites managedt to remain in those areas.t

28 Whenever Israel was strong militarily, they forced the Canaanites to do hard labor, but they never totally conquered them.

29 The men of Ephraim did not conquer the Canaanites living in Gezer. The Canaanites lived among them in Gezer.

30 The men of Zebulun did not conquer the people living in Kitron and Nahalol.t The Canaanites lived among them and were forced to do hard labor.
31 The men of Asher did not conquer the people living in Acco or Sidon,s nor did they conquer Ahlab, Aczib, Helbah, Aphek, or Rehob.t

32 The people of Asher live among the Canaanites residing in the land because they did not conquer them.

33 The men of Naphtali did not conquer the people living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath.t They live among the Canaanites residing in the land. The Canaanitest living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were forced to do hard labor for them.
34 The Amorites forced the people of Dan to live in the hill country. They did not allow them to live int the coastal plain.35 The Amorites managedt to remain in Har Heres,t Aijalon, and Shaalbim. Whenever the tribe of Joseph was strong militarily,t the Amorites were forced to do hard labor.

36 The border of Amorite territory ran from the Scorpion Ascentt to Sela and on up.t