Judges 1-2 (Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition)

Judges 1

 ¹After the death of Josue the children of Israel consulted the Lord, saying: Who shall go up before us against the Chanaanite, and shall be the leader of the war?

    ²And the Lord said: Juda shall go up: behold I have delivered the land into his hands.

    ³And Juda said to Simeon his brother: Come up with me into my lot, and fight against the Chanaanite, that I also may go along with thee into thy lot. And Simeon went with him.

    ⁴And Juda went up, and the Lord delivered the Chanaanite, and the Pherezite into their hands: and they slew of them in Bezec ten thousand men.

    ⁵And they found Adonibezec in Bezec, and fought against him, and they defeated the Chanaanite, and the Pherezite.

    ⁶And Adonibezec fled: and they pursued after him and took him, and cut off his fingers and toes.

    ⁷And Adonibezec said: Seventy kings having their fingers and toes cut off, gathered up the leavings of the meat under my table: as I have done, so hath God requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

    ⁸And the children of Juda besieging Jerusalem, took it, and put it to the sword, and set the whole city on fire.

    ⁹And afterwards they went down and fought against the Chanaanite, who dwelt in the mountains, and in the south, and in the plains.

    ¹⁰And Juda going forward against the Chanaanite, that dwelt in Hebron (the name whereof was in former times Cariath-Arbe) slew Sesai, and Ahiman, and Tholmai:

    ¹¹And departing from thence he went to the inhabitants of Dabir, the ancient name of which was Cariath-Sepher, that is, the city of letters.

    ¹²And Caleb said: He that shall take Cariath-Sepher, and lay it waste, to him will I give my daughter Axa to wife.

    ¹³And Othoniel the son of Cenez, the younger brother of Caleb, having taken it, he gave him Axa his daughter to wife.

    ¹⁴And as she was going on her way her husband admonished her to ask a field of her father. And as she sighed sitting on her ass, Caleb said to her: What aileth thee?

    ¹⁵But she answered: Give me a blessing, for thou hast given me a dry land: give me also a watery land. So Caleb gave her the upper and the nether watery ground.

    ¹⁶And the children of the Cinite, the kinsman of Moses, went up from the city of palms, with the children of Juda into the wilderness of his lot, which is at the south side of Arad, and they dwelt with him.

    ¹⁷And Juda went with Simeon his brother, and they together defeated the Chanaanites that dwelt in Sephaath, and slew them. And the name of the city was called Horma, that is, Anathema.

    ¹⁸And Juda took Gaza with its confines, and Ascalon and Accaron with their confines.

    ¹⁹And the Lord was with Juda, and he possessed the hill country: but was not able to destroy the inhabitants of the valley, because they had many chariots armed with scythes.

    ²⁰And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said, who destroyed out of it the three sons of Enac.

    ²¹But the sons of Benjamin did not destroy the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem: and the Jebusite hath dwelt with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem until this present day.

    ²²The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them.

    ²³For when they were besieging the city, which before was called Luza,

    ²⁴They saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him: Shew us the entrance into the city, and we will shew thee mercy.

    ²⁵And when he had shewn them, they smote the city with the edge of the sword: but that man and all his kindred they let go:

    ²⁶Who being sent away, went into the land of Hethim, and built there a city, and called it Luza: which is so called until this day.

    ²⁷Manasses also did not destroy Bethsan, and Thanac with their villages, nor the inhabitants of Dor, and Jeblaam, and Mageddo with their villages. And the Chanaanite began to dwell with them.

    ²⁸But after Israel was grown strong he made them tributaries, and would not destroy them.

    ²⁹Ephraim also did not slay the Chanaanite that dwelt in Gazer, but dwelt with him.

    ³⁰Zabulon destroyed not the inhabitants of Cetron, and Naalol: but the Chanaanite dwelt among them, and became their tributaries.

    ³¹Aser also destroyed not the inhabitants of Accho, and of Sidon, of Ahalab, and of Achazib, and of Helba, and of Aphec, and of Rohob:

    ³²And he dwelt in the midst of the Chanaanites the inhabitants of that land, and did not slay them.

    ³³Nephtali also destroyed not the inhabitants of Bethsames, and of Bethanath: and he dwelt in the midst of the Chanaanites the inhabitants of the land, and the Bethsamites and Bethanites were tributaries to him.

    ³⁴And the Amorrhite straitened the children of Dan in the mountain, and gave them not place to go down to the plain:

    ³⁵And he dwelt in the mountain Hares, that is, of potsherds, in Aialon and Salebim. And the hand of the house of Joseph was heavy upon him, and he became tributary to him.

    ³⁶And the border of the Amorrhite was from the ascent of the scorpion, the rock, and the higher places.

   

Judges 2

 ¹And an angel of the Lord went up from Galgal to the place of weepers, and said: I made you go out of Egypt, and have brought you into the land for which I swore to your fathers: and I promised that I would not make void my covenant with you for ever:

    ²On condition that you should not make a league with the inhabitants of this land, but should throw down their altars: and you would not hear my voice: why have you done this?

    ³Wherefore I would not destroy them from before your face: that you may have enemies, and their gods may be your ruin.

    ⁴And when the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the children of Israel, they lifted up their voice, and wept.

    ⁵And the name of that place was called, The place of weepers, or of tears: and there they offered sacrifices to the Lord.

    ⁶And Josue sent away the people, and the children of Israel went every one to his own possession to hold it:

    ⁷And they served the Lord all his days, and the days of the ancients, that lived a long time after him, and who knew all the works of the Lord, which he had done for Israel.

    ⁸And Josue the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being a hundred and ten years old,

    ⁹And they buried him in the borders of his possession in Thamnathsare in mount Ephraim, on the north side of mount Gaas.

    ¹⁰And all that generation was gathered to their fathers: and there arose others that knew not the Lord, and the works which he had done for Israel.

    ¹¹And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they served Baalim.

    ¹²And they left the Lord the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt: and they followed strange gods, and the gods of the people that dwelt round about them, and they adored them: and they provoked the Lord to anger.

    ¹³Forsaking him, and serving Baal and Astaroth.

    ¹⁴And the Lord being angry against Israel, delivered them into the hands of plunderers: who took them and sold them to their enemies, that dwelt round about: neither could they stand against their enemies:

    ¹⁵But whithersoever they meant to go, the hand of the Lord was upon them, as he had said, and as he had sworn to them: and they were greatly distressed.

    ¹⁶And the Lord raised up judges, to deliver them from the hands of those that oppressed them: but they would not hearken to them,

    ¹⁷Committing fornication with strange gods, and adoring them. They quickly forsook the way, in which their fathers had walked: and hearing the commandments of the Lord, they did all things contrary.

    ¹⁸And when the Lord raised them up judges, in their days he was moved to mercy, and heard the groanings of the afflicted, and delivered them from the slaughter of the oppressors.

    ¹⁹But after the judge was dead, they returned, and did much worse things than their fathers had done, following strange gods, serving them and adoring them. They left not their own inventions, and the stubborn way, by which they were accustomed to walk.

    ²⁰And the wrath of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said: Behold this nation hath made void my covenant, which I had made with their fathers, and hath despised to hearken to my voice:

    ²¹I also will not destroy the nations which Josue left, when he died:

    ²²That through them I may try Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord, and walk in it, as their fathers kept it, or not.

    ²⁹The Lord therefore left all these nations, and would not quickly destroy them, neither did he deliver them into the hands of Josue.