Judges 1

The Continuing Conquest of Canaan

1 Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass that the children of Israel asked the Lord, saying, Who shall be first to go up for us against the Canaanites to fight against them? Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass that the children of Israel asked the Lord, saying, Who shall be first to go up for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?2 And the Lord said, Judah shall go up. Indeed I have delivered the land into his hand.3 So Judah said to Simeon his brother, Come up with me to my allotted territory, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I will likewise go with you to your allotted territory. And Simeon went with him.4 Then Judah went up, and the Lord delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand; and they killed ten thousand men at Bezek.5 And they found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and fought against him; and they defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites.6 Then Adoni-Bezek fled, and they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes.7 And Adoni-Bezek said, Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to gather scraps under my table; as I have done, so God has repaid me. Then they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.8 Now the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it; they struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire.9 And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who dwelt in the mountains, in the South, and in the lowland.10 Then Judah went against the Canaanites who dwelt in Hebron. (Now the name of Hebron was formerly Kirjath Arba.) And they killed Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.11 From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. (The name of Debir was formerly Kirjath Sepher.)12 Then Caleb said, Whoever attacks Kirjath Sepher and takes it, to him I will give my daughter Achsah as wife.13 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Calebs younger brother, took it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah as wife.14 Now it happened, when she came to him, that she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, What do you wish?15 So she said to him, Give me a blessing; since you have given me land in the South, give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.16 Now the children of the Kenite, Moses father-in-law, went up from the City of Palms with the children of Judah into the Wilderness of Judah, which lies in the South near Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.17 And Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they attacked the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. So the name of the city was called Hormah.18 Also Judah took Gaza with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory.19 So the Lord was with Judah. And they drove out the mountaineers, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland, because they had chariots of iron.20 And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said. Then he expelled from there the three sons of Anak.21 But the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; so the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.22 And the house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them.23 So the house of Joseph sent men to spy out Bethel. (The name of the city was formerly Luz.)24 And when the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, Please show us the entrance to the city, and we will show you mercy.25 So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man and all his family go.26 And the man went to the land of the Hittites, built a city, and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day.

Incomplete Conquest of the Land

27 However, Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land.28 And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites under tribute, but did not completely drive them out.29 Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; so the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.30 Nor did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol; so the Canaanites dwelt among them, and were put under tribute.31 Nor did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Acco or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob.32 So the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out.33 Nor did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh or the inhabitants of Beth Anath; but they dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were put under tribute to them.34 And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountains, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley;35 and the Amorites were determined to dwell in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim; yet when the strength of the house of Joseph became greater, they were put under tribute.36 Now the boundary of the Amorites was from the Ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela, and upward.

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