Judges 1:19-36

The Voice

¹⁹ The Eternal was with Judah, and the tribe conquered all of the highlands. But those living in the plains had iron chariots, so Judah could not drive them out. ²⁰ Caleb received the land of Hebron, as Moses had promised many years earlier, and he drove out the three sons of Anak. ²¹ The people of the tribe of Benjamin, however, did not drive the Jebusites out of Jerusalem, and the Jebusites live alongside the Benjaminites in Jerusalem to this very day.

^22-23 The tribe of Joseph went up against Bethel (which was formerly known as Luz), and the Eternal supported them. They sent out spies ²⁴ who intercepted a man leaving the city.

²⁵ He showed them the way, and they destroyed the city with swords; but as they had promised, they let the man and his family go. ²⁶ This man went into the land of the Hittites, and there he established a city; he called it Luz, and that is still its name.

^27-28 The tribe of Manasseh failed to drive out the people who lived in the cities and surrounding villages of Beth-shean, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, and Megiddo. The Canaanites continued to live in those regions for they were determined to live there; but when the people of Israel grew strong, they made the Canaanites their slaves and did not completely drive them out.

²⁹ So it was with the tribe of Ephraim, who did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer but lived among them.

³⁰ Zebulun also did not drive out the people of Kitron or Nahalol, so these Canaanites lived among them and became their slaves.

^31-32 Asher failed to drive out the people of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, and Rehob; instead, the tribe of Asher lived among the Canaanites who lived in the land.

³³ Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh or Beth-anath but lived among these Canaanites who lived in the land. They also became the slaves of Naphtali.

³⁴ The Amorites pushed the tribe of Dan back into the hills and did not allow them to dwell in the valley. ³⁵ The Amorites persisted in living on Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the tribe of Joseph overpowered them and forced them into labor. ³⁶ In those days, the border of the Amorites ran from the heights of Akrabbim to Sela and beyond.