Judges 1
World English Bible
1 After the death of Joshua, the children of Israel asked of Yahweh,[a] saying, “Who should go up for us first against the Canaanites, to fight against them?”
2 Yahweh said, “Judah shall go up. Behold,[b] I have delivered the land into his hand.”
3 Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with you into your lot.” So Simeon went with him. 4 Judah went up, and Yahweh delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand. They struck ten thousand men in Bezek. 5 They found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and they fought against him. They struck the Canaanites and the Perizzites. 6 But Adoni-Bezek fled. They pursued him, caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his big toes. 7 Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their big toes cut off, scavenged under my table. As I have done, so God[c] has done to me.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there. 8 The children of Judah fought against Jerusalem, took it, struck it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.
9 After that, the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, and in the South, and in the lowland. 10 Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron. (The name of Hebron before that was Kiriath Arba.) They struck Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.
11 From there he went against the inhabitants of Debir. (The name of Debir before that was Kiriath Sepher.) 12 Caleb said, “I will give Achsah my daughter as wife to the man who strikes Kiriath Sepher, and takes it.” 13 Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it, so he gave him Achsah his daughter as his wife.
14 When she came, she got him to ask her father for a field. She got off her donkey; and Caleb said to her, “What would you like?”
15 She said to him, “Give me a blessing; because you have set me in the land of the South, give me also springs of water.” Then Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. 16 The children of the Kenite, Moses’ brother-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad; and they went and lived with the people. 17 Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they struck the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. The name of the city was called Hormah. 18 Also Judah took Gaza with its border, and Ashkelon with its border, and Ekron with its border. 19 Yahweh was with Judah, and drove out the inhabitants of the hill country; for he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron. 20 They gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said, and he drove the three sons of Anak out of there. 21 The children of Benjamin didn’t drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem, but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
22 The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and Yahweh was with them. 23 The house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel. (The name of the city before that was Luz.) 24 The watchers saw a man come out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the entrance into the city, and we will deal kindly with you.” 25 He showed them the entrance into the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man and all his family go. 26 The man went into the land of the Hittites, built a city, and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day.
27 Manasseh didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its towns, nor Taanach and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. 28 When Israel had grown strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, and didn’t utterly drive them out. 29 Ephraim didn’t drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, but the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them. 30 Zebulun didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites lived among them, and became subject to forced labor. 31 Asher didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Acco, nor the inhabitants of Sidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob; 32 but the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they didn’t drive them out. 33 Naphtali didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beth Anath; but he lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and of Beth Anath became subject to forced labor. 34 The Amorites forced the children of Dan into the hill country, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley; 35 but the Amorites would dwell in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim. Yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became subject to forced labor. 36 The border of the Amorites was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.
Judges 1
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
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.(A)
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
Contemporary English Version
The Tribes of Judah and Simeon Fight the Canaanites
1 After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord, “Which of our tribes should attack the Canaanites first?”
2 “Judah!” the Lord answered. “I'll help them take the land.”
3 The 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. 4-5 Together they attacked an army of 10,000 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. 6 The king tried to escape, but soldiers from Judah caught him. They cut off his thumbs and big toes, 7 and he said, “I've cut off the thumbs and big toes of 70 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. 8 They attacked Jerusalem,[b] captured it, killed everyone who lived there, and then burned it to the ground.
9 Judah's army fought the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, the Southern Desert, and the foothills to the west. 10 After 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.
11 From Hebron, Judah's army went to attack Debir, which at that time was called Kiriath-Sepher. 12 Caleb[d] told his troops, “The man who captures Kiriath-Sepher can marry my daughter Achsah.”
13 Caleb's nephew Othniel captured Kiriath-Sepher, so Caleb let him marry Achsah. Othniel was the son of Caleb's younger brother Kenaz.[e] 14 Right 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?”
15 She 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]
16 The 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]
17 Judah's army helped Simeon's army attack the Canaanites who lived at Zephath. They completely destroyed[k] the town and renamed it Hormah.[l]
18-19 The 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.
20 (A) The 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
21 (B) The Jebusites were living in Jerusalem, and the Benjamin tribe did not defeat them or capture the town. That's why Jebusites still live in Jerusalem along with the people of Benjamin.
The Ephraim and Manasseh Tribes Capture Bethel
22-23 The Ephraim and Manasseh tribes[o] were getting ready to attack Bethel, which at that time was called Luz. And the Lord helped them when they sent spies to find out as much as they could about Bethel. 24 While 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.” 25 The 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, 26 so 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
27-28 (C) Canaanites lived in the towns of Beth-Shan, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and all the villages nearby. The Canaanites were determined to stay, and the Manasseh tribe never did get rid of them. But later on, when the Israelites grew more powerful, they made slaves of the Canaanites.
29 (D) The Ephraim tribe did not get rid of the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived there with Israelites all around them.
30 The 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.
31-32 The 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.
33 The 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.
34 The 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.
35 The 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
36 The old Amorite-Edomite border used to go from Sela through Scorpion Pass[s] into the hill country.[t]
Footnotes
- 1.4,5 king of Bezek: Or “Adoni-Bezek.”
- 1.8 Jerusalem: This probably refers to towns and villages belonging to Jerusalem but lying in Judah's territory south of the city wall. Jerusalem itself was just inside Benjamin's territory, but was not captured by Israel at this time (see verse 21; Joshua 15.5-9; 18.15-18).
- 1.10 clans called: Or “warriors.”
- 1.12 Caleb: One of the leaders of Judah; see Joshua 14.6-14 and Numbers 13.6,30; 14.6,10, 20-24. For verses 12-15, see Joshua 15.13-19.
- 1.13 Othniel was the son of … Kenaz: Or “Othniel and Caleb both belonged to the Kenaz clan, but Othniel was younger than Caleb.”
- 1.14 Achsah … Othniel … he: Hebrew; two ancient translations “Othniel … Achsah … she.”
- 1.14 getting down from: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 1.15 spring-fed ponds … small ponds … Higher Pond and Lower Pond: Or “wells … wells … Higher Well and Lower Well.”
- 1.16 Jericho: The Hebrew text has “Town of Palm Trees,” another name for Jericho.
- 1.16 not far … Amalekites: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 1.17 completely destroyed: The Hebrew word means that the town was given completely to the Lord, and since it could not be used for normal purposes anymore, it had to be destroyed.
- 1.17 Hormah: In Hebrew “Hormah” sounds like “completely destroyed.”
- 1.20 Anakim: Perhaps a group of very tall people that lived in Palestine before the Israelites (see Numbers 13.33 and Deuteronomy 2.10,11, 20,21).
- 1.20 clans: See the note at 1.10.
- 1.22,23 The Ephraim and Manasseh tribes: The Hebrew text has “The Joseph family,” which was divided into these two tribes named after Joseph's sons.
- 1.24 If you … town: Sometimes there were small doors in the town wall that could be opened from the inside even when the main town gates were shut and locked.
- 1.26 land of the Hittites: The Hittites had an empire centered in what is now Turkey. At one time their empire reached south into Syria, north of Israel.
- 1.34 Amorites: Used in the general sense of nations that lived in Canaan before the Israelites.
- 1.36 Scorpion Pass: Or “Akrabbim Pass.”
- 1.36 country: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 36.
Judges 1
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Israel’s Failure to Complete the Conquest of Canaan
1 After the death of Joshua, the Israelites inquired of the Lord, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?”(A) 2 The Lord said, “Judah shall go up. I hereby give the land into his hand.” 3 Judah said to his brother Simeon, “Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, that we may fight against the Canaanites; then I, too, will go with you into the territory allotted to you.” So Simeon went with him.(B) 4 Then Judah went up, and the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they defeated ten thousand of them at Bezek.(C) 5 They came upon Adoni-bezek at Bezek and fought against him and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. 6 Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes. 7 Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to pick up scraps under my table; as I have done, so God has paid me back.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.
8 Then the people of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it. They put it to the sword and set the city on fire.(D) 9 Afterward the people of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the Negeb, and in the lowland. 10 Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba), and they defeated Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.(E)
11 From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir (the name of Debir was formerly Kiriath-sepher). 12 Then Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kiriath-sepher and takes it, I will give him my daughter Achsah as wife.” 13 And Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it, and he gave him his daughter Achsah as wife.(F) 14 When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. As she dismounted from her donkey, Caleb said to her, “What do you wish?”(G) 15 She said to him, “Give me a blessing; since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me also Gulloth-mayim.”[a] So Caleb gave her Upper Gulloth and Lower Gulloth.
16 The descendants of Hobab[b] the Kenite, Moses’s father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the Negeb near Arad. Then they went and settled with the Amalekites.[c](H) 17 Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they defeated the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and devoted it to destruction. So the city was called Hormah.(I) 18 Judah took Gaza with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory. 19 The Lord was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country but could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain, because they had chariots of iron.(J) 20 Hebron was given to Caleb, as Moses had said, and he drove out from it the three sons of Anak.(K) 21 But the Benjaminites did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem; so the Jebusites have lived in Jerusalem among the Benjaminites to this day.(L)
22 The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them. 23 The house of Joseph sent out spies to Bethel (the name of the city was formerly Luz).(M) 24 When the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, “Show us the way into the city, and we will deal kindly with you.” 25 So he showed them the way into the city, and they put the city to the sword, but they let the man and all his family go.(N) 26 So the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city and named it Luz; that is its name to this day.
27 Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of[d] 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, but the Canaanites continued to live in that land.(O) 28 When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor but did not in fact drive them out.
29 And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, but the Canaanites lived among them in Gezer.(P)
30 Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol, but the Canaanites lived among them and became subject to forced labor.
31 Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Mahalab,[e] or of Achzib, or of Helbah, or of Aphik, or of Rehob,(Q) 32 but the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out.
33 Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh or the inhabitants of Beth-anath but lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; nevertheless, the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became subject to forced labor for them.
34 The Amorites pressed the Danites back into the hill country; they did not allow them to come down to the plain.(R) 35 The Amorites continued to live in Har-heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the hand of the house of Joseph rested heavily on them, and they became subject to forced labor. 36 The border of the Amorites ran from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upward.(S)
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