Judges 1
Christian Standard Bible
Judah’s Leadership against the Canaanites
1 After the death of Joshua,(A) the Israelites inquired of the Lord,(B) “Who will be the first to fight for us against the Canaanites?”
2 The Lord answered, “Judah(C) is to go.(D) I have handed the land over to him.”(E)
3 Judah said to his brother Simeon, “Come with me to my allotted territory, and let’s fight against the Canaanites. I will also go with you to your allotted territory.” So Simeon went with him.
4 When Judah attacked, the Lord handed the Canaanites and Perizzites(F) over to them. They struck down ten thousand men in Bezek.(G) 5 They found Adoni-bezek in Bezek, fought against him, and struck down the Canaanites and Perizzites.
6 When Adoni-bezek fled, they pursued him, caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.(H) 7 Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to pick up scraps[a] under my table. God has repaid me for what I have done.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.
8 The men of Judah fought against Jerusalem, captured it, put it to the sword, and set the city on fire. 9 Afterward, the men of Judah marched down to fight against the Canaanites who were living in the hill country, the Negev, and the Judean foothills.[b] 10 Judah also marched against the Canaanites who were living in Hebron(I) (Hebron was formerly named Kiriath-arba(J)). They struck down Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.(K) 11 From there they marched against the residents of Debir(L) (Debir was formerly named Kiriath-sepher).
12 Caleb(M) said, “Whoever attacks and captures Kiriath-sepher, I will give my daughter Achsah(N) to him as a wife.” 13 So Othniel(O) son of Kenaz, Caleb’s youngest brother, captured it, and Caleb gave his daughter Achsah to him as his wife.
14 When she arrived, she persuaded Othniel to ask her father for a field. As she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you want?” 15 She answered him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have given me land in the Negev,(P) give me springs also.” So Caleb gave her both the upper and lower springs.(Q)
16 The descendants of the Kenite, Moses’s father-in-law,(R) had gone up with the men of Judah from the City of Palms[c](S) to the Wilderness of Judah, which was in the Negev of Arad.(T) They went to live among the people.
17 Judah went with his brother Simeon, struck the Canaanites who were living in Zephath, and completely destroyed the town. So they named the town Hormah.(U) 18 Judah captured Gaza and its territory, Ashkelon and its territory, and Ekron and its territory. 19 The Lord was with(V) Judah and enabled them to take possession of the hill country, but they could not drive out(W) the people who were living in the plain because those people had iron chariots.(X)
20 Judah gave Hebron to Caleb, just as Moses had promised.(Y) Then Caleb drove out the three sons of Anak(Z) who lived there.
Benjamin’s Failure
21 At the same time the Benjaminites did not drive out the Jebusites who were living in Jerusalem. The Jebusites have lived among the Benjaminites in Jerusalem to this day.(AA)
Success of the House of Joseph
22 The house of Joseph also attacked Bethel, and the Lord was with(AB) them. 23 They sent spies to Bethel (the town was formerly named Luz(AC)). 24 The spies saw a man coming out of the town and said to him, “Please show us how to get into town, and we will show you kindness.”(AD) 25 When he showed them the way into the town, they put the town to the sword but released the man and his entire family. 26 Then the man went to the land of the Hittites, built a town, and named it Luz. That is its name still today.
Failure of the Other Tribes
27 At that time Manasseh failed to take possession of Beth-shean(AE) and Taanach(AF) and their surrounding villages, or the residents of Dor,(AG) Ibleam,(AH) and Megiddo(AI) and their surrounding villages; the Canaanites were determined to stay in this land.(AJ) 28 When Israel became stronger, they made the Canaanites serve as forced labor but never drove them out completely.(AK)
29 At that time Ephraim failed to drive out the Canaanites who were living in Gezer, so the Canaanites have lived among them in Gezer.(AL)
30 Zebulun failed to drive out the residents of Kitron or the residents of Nahalol,(AM) so the Canaanites lived among them and served as forced labor.
31 Asher failed to drive out the residents of Acco or of Sidon, or Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob. 32 The Asherites lived among the Canaanites who were living in the land, because they failed to drive them out.
33 Naphtali did not drive out the residents of Beth-shemesh or the residents of Beth-anath. They lived among the Canaanites who were living in the land, but the residents of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath served as their forced labor.
34 The Amorites(AN) forced the Danites into the hill country and did not allow them to go down into the valley. 35 The Amorites were determined to stay in Har-heres, Aijalon,(AO) and Shaalbim. When the house of Joseph got the upper hand, the Amorites were made to serve as forced labor. 36 The territory of the Amorites extended from the Scorpions’ Ascent,(AP) that is from Sela(AQ) upward.
Judges 1
Common English Bible
The tribes and their military conflicts
1 After Joshua’s death, the Israelites asked the Lord, “Who should go up first to fight for us against the Canaanites?”
2 The Lord said, “The tribe of Judah will go up. I’ve handed over the land to them.”
3 So the tribe of Judah said to the tribe of Simeon, their brothers, “Come up with us into our territory, and let’s fight against the Canaanites. Then we’ll go with you into your territory too.” So Simeon went with them.
4 When Judah went up, the Lord handed them the Canaanites and Perizzites. They defeated ten thousand men at Bezek. 5 There they found Adoni-bezek at Bezek, fought against him, and defeated the Canaanites and Perizzites. 6 Adoni-bezek fled, but they chased after him, captured him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes. 7 He said, “Seventy kings with severed thumbs and big toes used to pick up scraps under my table, so God has paid me back exactly for what I did.” They brought him to Jerusalem, where he died. 8 The people of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it. They killed its people with their swords and set the city on fire.
9 Afterward, the people of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the highlands, the southern plain,[a] and the western foothills.[b] 10 Judah moved against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron, known before as Kiriath-arba, and they defeated Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. 11 From there they moved against those who lived in Debir, known before as Kiriath-sepher. 12 Caleb said, “I’ll give my daughter Achsah as a wife to the one who defeats and captures Kiriath-sepher.” 13 Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, captured it; so Caleb gave him his daughter Achsah as a wife. 14 When she arrived, she convinced Othniel to ask her father for a certain piece of land. As she got down from her donkey, Caleb said to her, “What do you want?”
15 Achsah said to Caleb, “Give me a gift. Since you’ve given me land in the southern plain, give me springs of water.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.
16 The descendants of Moses’ father-in-law the Kenite went up with the people of Judah from Palm City into the Judean desert, which was in the southern plain near Arad. They went and lived with the Amalekites.[c] 17 Then the Judahites went with the Simeonites, their brothers, and they defeated the Canaanites who lived in Zephath, and they completely destroyed it. So the city was called Hormah.[d] 18 Judah also captured Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron, and all their territories. 19 Thus the Lord was with the tribe of Judah, and they took possession of the highlands. However, they didn’t drive out those who lived in the plain because they had iron chariots. 20 They gave Hebron to Caleb, just as Moses had commanded, and they drove out from there the three sons of Anak. 21 But the people of Benjamin didn’t drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem. So the Jebusites still live with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem today.
22 In the same way, Joseph’s household went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them. 23 When they sent men to spy on Bethel, previously named Luz, 24 the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, “Show us the way into the city, and we’ll be loyal to you in return.” 25 So he showed them the way into the city. They killed the city’s people with their swords, but they let that man and all his relatives go. 26 The man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city. He named it Luz, which is still its name today.
27 The tribe of Manasseh didn’t drive out the people in Beth-shean, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, or any of their villages. The Canaanites were determined to live in that land. 28 When Israel became stronger they forced the Canaanites to work for them, but they didn’t completely drive them out. 29 The tribe of Ephraim didn’t drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, so the Canaanites kept on living there with them.
30 The tribe of Zebulun didn’t drive out the people living in Kitron or Nahalol. These Canaanites lived with them but were forced to work for them. 31 The tribe of Asher didn’t drive out the people living in Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob. 32 The people of Asher settled among the Canaanites in the land because they couldn’t drive them out. 33 The tribe of Naphtali didn’t drive out the people living in Beth-shemesh or Beth-anath but settled among the Canaanites in the land. The people living in Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath were forced to work for them.
34 The Amorites pushed the people of Dan back into the highlands because they wouldn’t allow them to come down to the plain. 35 The Amorites were determined to live in Har-heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim, but Joseph’s household became strong, and the Amorites were forced to work for them. 36 The border of the Amorites ran from the Akrabbim pass, from Sela, and upward.
Footnotes
- Judges 1:9 Heb negeb
- Judges 1:9 Heb shephelah
- Judges 1:16 LXX (cf 1 Sam 15:6); MT people
- Judges 1:17 Or destruction
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