Judges 1-4

New King James Version

The Continuing Conquest of Canaan^(A)

1 Now after the ^(B)death of Joshua it came to pass that the children of Israel ^(C)asked the Lord, saying, “Who shall be first to go up for us against the ^(D)Canaanites to fight against them?”

² And the Lord said, ^(E)“Judah shall go up. Indeed I have delivered the land into his hand.”

³ So Judah said to ^(F)Simeon his brother, “Come up with me to my allotted territory, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and ^(G)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 ^(H)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; ^(I)as I have done, so God has repaid me.” Then they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.

⁸ Now ^(J)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 (K)And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who dwelt in the mountains, in the ^[a]South, and in the lowland. ¹⁰ Then Judah ^[b]went against the Canaanites who dwelt in ^(L)Hebron. (Now the name of Hebron was formerly ^(M)Kirjath Arba.) And they killed Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

^11 (N)From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. (The name of Debir was formerly Kirjath Sepher.)

^12 (O)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, ^(P)Caleb’s younger brother, took it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah as wife. ^14 (Q)Now it happened, when she came to him, that ^[c]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, ^(R)“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 (S)Now the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up ^(T)from the City of Palms with the children of Judah into the Wilderness of Judah, which lies in the South near ^(U)Arad; ^(V)and they went and dwelt among the people. ^17 (W)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 ^(X)Hormah. ¹⁸ Also Judah took ^(Y)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 ^(Z)chariots of iron. ^20 (AA)And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said. Then he ^[d]expelled from there the ^(AB)three sons of Anak. ^21 (AC)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 ^[e]house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, ^(AD)and the Lord was with them. ²³ So the ^[f]house of Joseph ^(AE)sent men to spy out Bethel. (The name of the city was formerly ^(AF)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 ^(AG)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 (AH)However, Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its villages, or ^(AI)Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of ^(AJ)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 ^[g]under tribute, but did not completely drive them out.

^29 (AK)Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; so the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.

³⁰ Nor did ^(AL)Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol; so the Canaanites dwelt among them, and ^[h]were put under tribute.

^31 (AM)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 ^(AN)dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out.

^33 (AO)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, ^(AP)in Aijalon, and in ^[i]Shaalbim; yet when the strength of the house of Joseph became greater, they ^[j]were put under tribute.

³⁶ Now the boundary of the Amorites was ^(AQ)from the Ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela, and upward.

Israel’s Disobedience

2 Then the Angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: ^(AR)“I led you up from Egypt and ^(AS)brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and ^(AT)I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you. ² And ^(AU)you shall make no ^[k]covenant with the inhabitants of this land; ^(AV)you shall tear down their altars.’ ^(AW)But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? ³ Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be ^(AX)thorns^[l] in your side, and ^(AY)their gods shall ^[m]be a ^(AZ)snare to you.’ ” ⁴ So it was, when the Angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voices and wept.

⁵ Then they called the name of that place ^[n]Bochim; and they sacrificed there to the Lord. ⁶ And when ^(BA)Joshua had dismissed the people, the children of Israel went each to his own inheritance to possess the land.

Death of Joshua^(BB)

^7 (BC)So the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which He had done for Israel. ⁸ Now ^(BD)Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. ^9 (BE)And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at ^(BF)Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. ¹⁰ When all that generation had ^[o]been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who ^(BG)did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel.

Israel’s Unfaithfulness

¹¹ Then the children of Israel did ^(BH)evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals; ¹² and they ^(BI)forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed ^(BJ)other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they ^(BK)bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger. ¹³ They forsook the Lord ^(BL)and served ^[p]Baal and the ^[q]Ashtoreths. ^14 (BM)And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel. So He ^(BN)delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and ^(BO)He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they ^(BP)could no longer stand before their enemies. ¹⁵ Wherever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for calamity, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had ^(BQ)sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed.

¹⁶ Nevertheless, ^(BR)the Lord raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them. ¹⁷ Yet they would not listen to their judges, but they ^(BS)played the harlot with other gods, and bowed down to them. They turned quickly from the way in which their fathers walked, in obeying the commandments of the Lord; they did not do so. ¹⁸ And when the Lord raised up judges for them, ^(BT)the Lord was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; ^(BU)for the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed them and harassed them. ¹⁹ And it came to pass, ^(BV)when the judge was dead, that they reverted and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, by following other gods, to serve them and bow down to them. They did not cease from their own doings nor from their stubborn way.

²⁰ Then the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and He said, “Because this nation has ^(BW)transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not heeded My voice, ²¹ I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua ^(BX)left when he died, ²² so ^(BY)that through them I may ^(BZ)test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the Lord, to walk in them as their fathers kept them, or not.” ²³ Therefore the Lord left those nations, without driving them out immediately; nor did He deliver them into the hand of Joshua.

The Nations Remaining in the Land

3 Now these are ^(CA)the nations which the Lord left, that He might test Israel by them, that is, all who had not ^[r]known any of the wars in Canaan ² (this was only so that the generations of the children of Israel might be taught to know war, at least those who had not formerly known it), ³ namely, ^(CB)five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who dwelt in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to the entrance of Hamath. ⁴ And they were left, that He might test Israel by them, to ^[s]know whether they would obey the commandments of the Lord, which He had commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.

^5 (CC)Thus the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ⁶ And ^(CD)they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons; and they served their gods.

Othniel

⁷ So the children of Israel did ^(CE)evil in the sight of the Lord. They ^(CF)forgot the Lord their God, and served the Baals and ^[t]Asherahs. ⁸ Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and He ^(CG)sold them into the hand of ^(CH)Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served Cushan-Rishathaim eight years. ⁹ When the children of Israel ^(CI)cried out to the Lord, the Lord ^(CJ)raised up a deliverer for the children of Israel, who delivered them: ^(CK)Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. ^10 (CL)The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord delivered Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed over Cushan-Rishathaim. ¹¹ So the land had rest for forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

Ehud

^12 (CM)And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord strengthened ^(CN)Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. ¹³ Then he gathered to himself the people of Ammon and ^(CO)Amalek, went and ^[u]defeated Israel, and took possession of ^(CP)the City of Palms. ¹⁴ So the children of Israel ^(CQ)served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.

¹⁵ But when the children of Israel ^(CR)cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for them: Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a ^(CS)left-handed man. By him the children of Israel sent tribute to Eglon king of Moab. ¹⁶ Now Ehud made himself a dagger (it was double-edged and a cubit in length) and fastened it under his clothes on his right thigh. ¹⁷ So he brought the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. (Now Eglon was a very fat man.) ¹⁸ And when he had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who had carried the tribute. ¹⁹ But he himself turned back ^(CT)from the ^[v]stone images that were at Gilgal, and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.”

He said, “Keep silence!” And all who attended him went out from him.

²⁰ So Ehud came to him (now he was sitting upstairs in his cool private chamber). Then Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” So he arose from his seat. ²¹ Then Ehud reached with his left hand, took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. ²² Even the ^[w]hilt went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the dagger out of his belly; and his entrails came out. ²³ Then Ehud went out through the porch and shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.

²⁴ When he had gone out, ^[x]Eglon’s servants came to look, and to their surprise, the doors of the upper room were locked. So they said, “He is probably ^(CU)attending^[y] to his needs in the cool chamber.” ²⁵ So they waited till they were ^(CV)embarrassed, and still he had not opened the doors of the upper room. Therefore they took the key and opened them. And there was their master, fallen dead on the floor.

²⁶ But Ehud had escaped while they delayed, and passed beyond the ^[z]stone images and escaped to Seirah. ²⁷ And it happened, when he arrived, that ^(CW)he blew the trumpet in the ^(CX)mountains of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mountains; and ^[aa]he led them. ²⁸ Then he said to them, “Follow me, for ^(CY)the Lord has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him, seized the ^(CZ)fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross over. ²⁹ And at that time they killed about ten thousand men of Moab, all stout men of valor; not a man escaped. ³⁰ So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And ^(DA)the land had rest for eighty years.

Shamgar

³¹ After him was ^(DB)Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed six hundred men of the Philistines ^(DC)with an ox goad; ^(DD)and he also delivered ^(DE)Israel.

Deborah

4 When Ehud was dead, ^(DF)the children of Israel again did ^(DG)evil in the sight of the Lord. ² So the Lord ^(DH)sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in ^(DI)Hazor. The commander of his army was ^(DJ)Sisera, who dwelt in ^(DK)Harosheth Hagoyim. ³ And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord; for Jabin had nine hundred ^(DL)chariots of iron, and for twenty years ^(DM)he had harshly oppressed the children of Israel.

⁴ Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time. ^5 (DN)And she would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim. And the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. ⁶ Then she sent and called for ^(DO)Barak the son of Abinoam from ^(DP)Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, “Has not the Lord God of Israel commanded, ‘Go and ^[ab]deploy troops at Mount ^(DQ)Tabor; take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun; ⁷ and against you ^(DR)I will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude at the ^(DS)River Kishon; and I will ^[ac]deliver him into your hand’?”

⁸ And Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!”

⁹ So she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless there will be no glory for you in the journey you are taking, for the Lord will ^(DT)sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. ¹⁰ And Barak called ^(DU)Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; he went up with ten thousand men ^(DV)under^[ad] his command, and Deborah went up with him.

¹¹ Now Heber ^(DW)the Kenite, of the children of ^(DX)Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, had separated himself from the Kenites and pitched his tent near the terebinth tree at Zaanaim, ^(DY)which is beside Kedesh.

¹² And they reported to Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor. ¹³ So Sisera gathered together all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth Hagoyim to the River Kishon.

¹⁴ Then Deborah said to Barak, ^[ae]“Up! For this is the day in which the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand. ^(DZ)Has not the Lord gone out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him. ¹⁵ And the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot. ¹⁶ But Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth Hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was ^(EA)left.

¹⁷ However, Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of ^(EB)Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. ¹⁸ And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; do not fear.” And when he had turned aside with her into the tent, she covered him with a ^[af]blanket.

¹⁹ Then he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened ^(EC)a jug of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him. ²⁰ And he said to her, “Stand at the door of the tent, and if any man comes and inquires of you, and says, ‘Is there any man here?’ you shall say, ‘No.’ ”

²¹ Then Jael, Heber’s wife, ^(ED)took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went down into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. ²² And then, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, I will show you the man whom you seek.” And when he went into her tent, there lay Sisera, dead with the peg in his temple.

²³ So on that day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan in the presence of the children of Israel. ²⁴ And the hand of the children of Israel grew stronger and stronger against Jabin king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.