Judges 1:1-21

English Standard Version

The Continuing Conquest of Canaan

1 After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel ^(A)inquired of the Lord, ^(B)“Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?” ² The Lord said, “Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.” ³ And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, that we may fight against the Canaanites. ^(C)And I likewise will go with you into the territory allotted to you.” So Simeon went with him. ⁴ Then Judah went up and the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they defeated 10,000 of them at Bezek. ⁵ They found 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 his big toes. ⁷ And Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and their big toes cut off ^(D)used to pick up scraps under my table. ^(E)As I have done, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

^8 (F)And the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire. ⁹ And afterward the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in ^(G)the hill country, in the Negeb, and in ^(H)the lowland. ^10 (I)And Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron ^(J)(now the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba), and they defeated ^(K)Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.

¹¹ From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. The name of Debir was formerly Kiriath-sepher. ¹² And Caleb said, “He who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give him Achsah my daughter for a wife.” ¹³ And Othniel the son of Kenaz, ^(L)Caleb's younger brother, captured it. And he gave him Achsah his daughter for a wife. ¹⁴ When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you want?” ¹⁵ She said to him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water.” And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

¹⁶ And the descendants of the ^(M)Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah ^(N)from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the Negeb near ^(O)Arad, ^(P)and they went and settled with the people. ^17 (Q)And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they defeated the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and devoted it to destruction. So the name of the city was called ^(R)Hormah.^{[a] 18} Judah also ^(S)captured Gaza with its territory, and Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory. ^19 (T)And the Lord was with Judah, and he took possession of the ^(U)hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had ^(V)chariots of iron. ^20 (W)And Hebron was given to Caleb, as Moses had said. And he drove out from it ^(X)the three sons of Anak. ²¹ But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, ^(Y)so the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.