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Judges 1

The Tribes of Judah and Simeon Fight the Canaanites

    ²" Judah!" the LORD answered. " I'll help them take the land."

    ³The people of Judah went to their relatives, the Simeon tribe, and said, " Canaanites live in the land God gave us. Help us fight them, and we will help you."

   Troops from Simeon came to help Judah.

    ^4-5Together they attacked an army of ten thousand Canaanites and Perizzites at Bezek, and the LORD helped Judah defeat them. During the battle, Judah's army found out where the king of Bezek ^[a] was, and they attacked there.

    ⁶Bezek tried to escape, but soldiers from Judah caught him. They cut off his thumbs and big toes,

    ⁷and he said, " I've cut off the thumbs and big toes of seventy kings and made those kings crawl around under my table for scraps of food. Now God is paying me back." The army of Judah took the king of Bezek along with them to Jerusalem, where he died.

    ⁸They attacked Jerusalem, ^[b] captured it, killed everyone who lived there, and then burned it to the ground.

    ⁹Judah's army fought the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, the Southern Desert, and the foothills to the west.

    ¹⁰After that, they attacked the Canaanites who lived at Hebron, defeating the three clans called ^[c] Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. At that time, Hebron was called Kiriath-Arba.

    ¹¹From Hebron, Judah's army went to attack Debir, which at that time was called Kiriath-Sepher.

    ¹²Caleb ^[d] told his troops, " The man who captures Kiriath-Sepher can marry my daughter Achsah."

    ¹³Caleb's nephew Othniel captured Kiriath-Sepher, so Caleb let him marry Achsah. Othniel was the son of Caleb's younger brother Kenaz. ^[e]

    ¹⁴Right after the wedding, Achsah started telling Othniel that he ^[f] ought to ask her father for a field. She went to see her father, and while she was getting down from ^[g] her donkey, Caleb asked, " What's bothering you?"

    ¹⁵She answered, " I need your help. The land you gave me is in the Southern Desert, so please give me some spring-fed ponds for a water supply."

   Caleb gave her a couple of small ponds named Higher Pond and Lower Pond. ^[h]

    ¹⁶The people who belonged to the Kenite clan were the descendants of the father-in-law of Moses. They left Jericho ^[i] with the people of Judah and settled near Arad in the Southern Desert of Judah not far from the Amalekites. ^[j]

    ¹⁷Judah's army helped Simeon's army attack the Canaanites who lived at Zephath. They completely destroyed ^[k] the town and renamed it Hormah. ^[l]

    ^18-19The LORD helped the army of Judah capture Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron, and the land near those towns. They also took the hill country. But the people who lived in the valleys had iron chariots, so Judah was not able to make them leave or to take their land.

    ²⁰The tribe of Judah gave the town of Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had told them to do. Caleb defeated the three Anakim ^[m] clans ^[n] and took over the town.

The Benjamin Tribe Does Not Capture Jerusalem

The Ephraim and Manasseh Tribes Capture Bethel

    ²⁴While the spies were watching the town, a man came out, and they told him, " If you show us how our army can get into the town, ^[p] we will make sure that you aren't harmed."

    ²⁵The man showed them, and the two Israelite tribes attacked Bethel, killing everyone except the man and his family. The two tribes made the man and his family leave,

    ²⁶so they went to the land of the Hittites, ^[q] where he built a town. He named the town Luz, and that is still its name.

Israel Does Not Get Rid of All the Canaanites

    ²⁹The Ephraim tribe did not get rid of the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived there with Israelites all around them.

    ³⁰The Zebulun tribe did not get rid of the Canaanites who lived in Kitron and Nahalol, and the Canaanites stayed there with Israelites around them. But the people of Zebulun did force the Canaanites into slave labor.

    ^31-32The Asher tribe did not get rid of the Canaanites who lived in Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, and Rehob, and the Asher tribe lived with Canaanites all around them.

    ³³The Naphtali tribe did not get rid of the Canaanites who lived in Beth-Shemesh and Beth-Anath, but they did force the Canaanites into slave labor. The Naphtali tribe lived with Canaanites around them.

    ³⁴The Amorites ^[r] were strong enough to keep the tribe of Dan from settling in the valleys, so Dan had to stay in the hill country.

    ³⁵The Amorites on Mount Heres and in Aijalon and Shaalbim were also determined to stay. Later on, as Ephraim and Manasseh grew more powerful, they forced those Amorites into slave labor.

The Amorite-Edomite Border

Judges 2

The LORD's Angel Speaks to Israel

    ²and you promised not to make any peace treaties with the other nations that live in the land. Besides that, you agreed to tear down the altars where they sacrifice to their idols. But you didn't keep your promise.

    ³And so, I'll stop helping you defeat your enemies. Instead, they will be there to trap ^[v] you into worshiping their idols.

    ⁴The Israelites started crying loudly,

    ⁵and they offered sacrifices to the LORD. From then on, they called that place " Crying." ^[w]

Israel Stops Worshiping the LORD

    ¹⁰After a while the people of Joshua's generation died, and the next generation did not know the LORD or any of the things he had done for Israel.

    ^11-13The LORD had brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and they had worshiped him. But now the Israelites stopped worshiping the LORD and worshiped the idols of Baal and Astarte, as well as the idols of other gods from nearby nations.

   The LORD was so angry

    ^14-15at the Israelites that he let other nations raid Israel and steal their crops and other possessions. Enemies were everywhere, and the LORD always let them defeat Israel in battle. The LORD had warned Israel he would do this, and now the Israelites were miserable.

The LORD Chooses Leaders for Israel

    ¹⁷In years gone by, the Israelites had been faithful to the LORD, but now they were quick to be unfaithful and to refuse even to listen to these judges. The Israelites would disobey the LORD, and instead of worshiping him, they would worship other gods.

    ¹⁸When enemies made life miserable for the Israelites, the LORD would feel sorry for them. He would choose a judge and help that judge rescue Israel from its enemies. The LORD would be kind to Israel as long as that judge lived.

    ¹⁹But afterwards, the Israelites would become even more sinful than their ancestors had been. The Israelites were stubborn--they simply would not stop worshiping other gods or following the teachings of other religions.

The LORD Lets Enemies Test Israel

   The Israelites have broken the agreement I made with their ancestors. They won't obey me,

    ²¹so I'll stop helping them defeat their enemies. Israel still had a lot of enemies when Joshua died,

    ²²and I'm going to let those enemies stay. I'll use them to test Israel, because then I can find out if Israel will worship and obey me as their ancestors did.

    ²³That's why the LORD had not let Joshua get rid of all those enemy nations right away.

Judges 3

    ³the Philistines and their five rulers, as well as the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites that lived in the Lebanon Mountains from Mount Baal-Hermon to Hamath Pass. ^[y]

    ⁴Moses had told the Israelites what the LORD had commanded them to do, and now the LORD was using these nations to find out if Israel would obey.

    ^5-6But they refused. And it was because of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites who lived all around them. Some of the Israelites married the people of these nations, and that's how they started worshiping foreign gods.

Othniel

    ⁸This made the LORD angry, so he let Israel be defeated by King Cushan Rishathaim of northern Syria, ^[z] who ruled Israel eight years and made everyone pay taxes.

    ⁹The Israelites begged the LORD for help, and he chose Othniel to rescue them. Othniel was the son of Caleb's younger brother Kenaz. ^[aa]

    ¹⁰The Spirit of the LORD took control of Othniel, and he led Israel in a war against Cushan Rishathaim. The LORD gave Othniel victory,

    ¹¹and Israel was at peace until Othniel died about forty years later.

Ehud

    ¹³who had joined forces with the Ammonites and the Amalekites to attack Israel. Eglon and his army captured Jericho. ^[ab]

    ¹⁴Then he ruled Israel for eighteen years and forced the Israelites to pay heavy taxes.

    ^15-16The Israelites begged the LORD for help, and the LORD chose Ehud ^[ac] from the Benjamin tribe to rescue them. They put Ehud in charge of taking the taxes to King Eglon, but before Ehud went, he made a double-edged dagger. Ehud was left-handed, so he strapped the dagger to his right thigh, where it would be hidden under his robes.

    ^17-18Ehud and some other Israelites took the taxes to Eglon, who was a very fat man. As soon as they gave the taxes to Eglon, Ehud said it was time to go home.

    ^19-20Ehud went with the other Israelites as far as the statues ^[ad] at Gilgal. ^[ae] Then he turned back and went upstairs to the cool room ^[af] where Eglon had his throne. Ehud said, " Your Majesty, I need to talk with you in private." Eglon replied, " Don't say anything yet!" His officials left the room, and Eglon stood up as Ehud came closer.

   " Yes," Ehud said, " I have a message for you from God!"

    ²¹Ehud pulled out the dagger with his left hand and shoved it so far into Eglon's stomach

    ^22-23that even the handle was buried in his fat. Ehud left the dagger there. Then after closing and locking the doors to the room, he climbed through a window onto the porch ^[ag]

    ²⁴and left. When the king's officials came back and saw that the doors were locked, they said, " The king is probably inside relieving himself."

    ²⁵They stood there waiting until they felt foolish, but Eglon never opened the doors. Finally, they unlocked the doors and found King Eglon lying dead on the floor.

    ²⁶But by that time, Ehud had already escaped past the statues. ^[ah] Ehud went to the town of Seirah

    ^27-28in the hill country of Ephraim and started blowing a signal on a trumpet. The Israelites came together, and he shouted, " Follow me! The LORD will help us defeat the Moabites."

   The Israelites followed Ehud down to the Jordan valley, and they captured the places where people cross the river on the way to Moab. They would not let anyone go across,

    ²⁹and before the fighting was over, they killed about ten thousand Moabite warriors--not one escaped alive.

    ³⁰Moab was so badly defeated that it was a long time before they were strong enough to attack Israel again. And Israel was at peace for eighty years.

Shamgar

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Luke 4

Jesus and the Devil

(Matthew 4.1-11; Mark 1.12,13)

    ⁴Jesus answered, "The Scriptures say, `No one can live only on food.' "

    ⁵Then the devil led Jesus up to a high place and quickly showed him all the nations on earth. ⁶The devil said, "I will give all this power and glory to you. It has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. ⁷Just worship me, and you can have it all."

    ⁸Jesus answered, "The Scriptures say:

   `Worship the Lord your God

   and serve only him!' "

    ⁹Finally, the devil took Jesus to Jerusalem and had him stand on top of the temple. The devil said, "If you are God's Son, jump off. ^10-11The Scriptures say:

   `God will tell his angels

   to take care of you.

   They will catch you

   in their arms,

   and you will not hurt

   your feet on the stones.' "

    ¹²Jesus answered, "The Scriptures also say, `Don't try to test the Lord your God!' "

    ¹³After the devil had finished testing Jesus in every way possible, he left him for a while.

Jesus Begins His Work

(Matthew 4.12-17; Mark 1.14,15)

The People of Nazareth Turn against Jesus

(Matthew 13.53-58; Mark 6.1-6)

    ¹⁸"The Lord's Spirit

   has come to me,

   because he has chosen me

   to tell the good news

   to the poor.

   The Lord has sent me

   to announce freedom

   for prisoners,

   to give sight to the blind,

   to free everyone

   who suffers,

    ¹⁹and to say, `This is the year

   the Lord has chosen.' "

    ²⁰Jesus closed the book, then handed it back to the man in charge and sat down. Everyone in the meeting place looked straight at Jesus.

    ²¹Then Jesus said to them, "What you have just heard me read has come true today."

    ²²All the people started talking about Jesus and were amazed at the wonderful things he said. They kept on asking, "Isn't he Joseph's son?"

    ²³Jesus answered:

   You will certainly want to tell me this saying, "Doctor, first make yourself well." You will tell me to do the same things here in my own hometown that you heard I did in Capernaum. ²⁴But you can be sure that no prophets are liked by the people of their own hometown.

    ²⁵Once during the time of Elijah there was no rain for three and a half years, and people everywhere were starving. There were many widows in Israel, ²⁶but Elijah was sent only to a widow in the town of Zarephath near the city of Sidon. ²⁷During the time of the prophet Elisha, many men in Israel had leprosy. ^[b] But no one was healed, except Naaman who lived in Syria. ²⁸When the people in the meeting place heard Jesus say this, they became so angry ²⁹that they got up and threw him out of town. They dragged him to the edge of the cliff on which the town was built, because they wanted to throw him down from there. ³⁰But Jesus slipped through the crowd and got away.