Judges 1
Legacy Standard Bible
The Fight Against the Canaanites
1 Now it happened after the death of Joshua that the sons of Israel (A)asked of [a]Yahweh, saying, “Who shall go up first for us (B)against the Canaanites, to fight against them?” 2 And Yahweh said, “(C)Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.” 3 Then Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into [b]the territory allotted me, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and [c]I in turn will go with you into [d]the territory allotted you.” So Simeon went with him. 4 So Judah went up, and (D)Yahweh gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hands, and they struck down 10,000 men at Bezek. 5 Then they found Adoni-bezek in Bezek and fought against him, and they struck down the Canaanites and the Perizzites. 6 But Adoni-bezek fled; and they pursued him and seized him and cut off his [e]thumbs and big toes. 7 And Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and their big toes cut off used to gather up scraps under my table; (E)as I have done, so God has repaid me.” So they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.
8 Then the sons of Judah fought against (F)Jerusalem and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire. 9 And afterward the sons of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country and in the [f]Negev and in the [g]Shephelah. 10 (G)So Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (now the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba); and they struck Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.
11 Then (H)from there he went against the inhabitants of Debir (now the name of Debir formerly was Kiriath-sepher). 12 And Caleb said, “The one who strikes Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will even give him my daughter Achsah as a wife.” 13 (I)Then Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, captured it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah as a wife. 14 Now (J)it happened that when she came to him, she enticed him to ask her father for the field. Then she alighted from [h]her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What [i]do you want?” 15 And she said to him, “Give me a blessing, since you have given me the land of the [j]Negev, so you shall give me also springs of water.” So Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
16 Now the sons of (K)the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up from the (L)city of palms with the sons of Judah, to the wilderness of Judah which is in the south of (M)Arad; and they went and lived with the people. 17 Then Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they struck the Canaanites living in Zephath and devoted it to destruction. So the name of the city was called (N)Hormah. 18 And Judah captured (O)Gaza with its territory and Ashkelon with its territory and Ekron with its territory. 19 Now Yahweh was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not dispossess the inhabitants of the valley because they had (P)iron chariots. 20 Then they gave Hebron to Caleb, (Q)as Moses had [k]promised; and he dispossessed from there (R)the three sons of Anak. 21 (S)But the sons of Benjamin did not dispossess the (T)Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem; so the Jebusites have lived with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
22 Likewise the house of Joseph went up against Bethel, and Yahweh was with them. 23 And the house of Joseph spied out Bethel ((U)now the name of the city was formerly Luz). 24 Then the [l]spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the entrance to the city, and (V)we will treat you with lovingkindness.” 25 So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword, (W)but they let the man and all his family go free. 26 So the man went into the land of the Hittites and built a city and named it Luz [m]which is its name to this day.
Israel Fails to Complete the Conquest
27 (X)But Manasseh did not take possession of Beth-shean and its towns or Taanach and its towns or the inhabitants of Dor and its towns or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; so (Y)the Canaanites persisted to live in that land. 28 And it happened when Israel became strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not dispossess them completely.
29 (Z)Also Ephraim did not dispossess the Canaanites who were living in Gezer; so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.
30 Zebulun did not dispossess the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of [n]Nahalol; so the Canaanites lived among them and became subject to forced labor.
31 Asher did not dispossess the inhabitants of Acco or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab or of Achzib or of Helbah or of Aphik or of Rehob. 32 So the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not dispossess them.
33 Naphtali did not dispossess the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, but lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; and the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath became forced labor for them.
34 Then the Amorites pressed the sons of Dan into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the valley; 35 and the Amorites persisted in [o]living in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim; but the hand of the house of Joseph became heavy, and they became forced labor. 36 Now the border of the Amorites ran from the (AA)ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upward.
Footnotes
- Judges 1:1 The personal covenant name of God, a form of I AM WHO I AM, cf. Ex 3:14-15
- Judges 1:3 Lit my lot
- Judges 1:3 Lit I, even I
- Judges 1:3 Lit your lot
- Judges 1:6 Lit thumbs of his hands and his feet
- Judges 1:9 South country
- Judges 1:9 Or lowland
- Judges 1:14 Lit the
- Judges 1:14 Lit for yourself
- Judges 1:15 South country
- Judges 1:20 Lit spoken
- Judges 1:24 Lit the ones keeping watch
- Judges 1:26 Lit it
- Judges 1:30 Possibly same as Nahalal
- Judges 1:35 Lit dwelling
Judges 1
Lexham English Bible
Israel Continues Its Conquest
1 After the death of Joshua, the Israelites[a] inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Who will go up first for us against the Canaanites[b] to fight against them?” 2 And Yahweh said, “Judah will go up. I hereby give the land into his hand.” 3 And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Go up with me into my allotment, and let us fight against the Canaanites; then I too will go with you into your allotment.” And Simeon went with him. 4 And Judah went up, and Yahweh gave the Canaanites[c] and the Perizzites[d] into their hand, and they defeated ten thousand men at Bezek. 5 At Bezek they came upon Adoni-bezek, and they fought against him and defeated the Canaanites[e] and the Perizzites.[f] 6 And Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued after him; they caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes.[g] 7 Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes[h] cut off used to pick up scraps under my table; just as I have done, so God has repaid to me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.
8 The descendants[i] of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and they captured it, put it to the sword,[j] and set the city on fire.[k] 9 Afterward the descendants[l] of Judah pursued to fight against the Canaanites[m] who were living in the hill country, the Negev,[n] and the Shephelah.[o] 10 And Judah went against the Canaanites[p] living in Hebron (the former name of Hebron was Kiriath Arba). And they defeated Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.
11 And from there they went to the inhabitants of Debir (the former name of Debir was Kiriath Sepher). 12 And Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kiriath Sepher and captures it, I will give to him Acsah my daughter as a wife.” 13 Othniel son of Kenaz, the younger brother of Caleb, captured it, and he gave to him Acsah his daughter as a wife. 14 When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. As she dismounted from the donkey, Caleb said to her, “What do you want?”[q] 15 And she said to him, “Give me a gift;[r] you have given me the land of the Negev,[s] and give me also a spring of water.” And Caleb gave to her the upper and lower spring.[t]
16 The descendants[u] of Hobab the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up with the descendants[v] of Judah from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the Negev[w] near Arad. And they went[x] and settled with the people. 17 And Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they defeated the Canaanites[y] inhabiting Zephath; they utterly destroyed it, so he called the name of the city Hormah. 18 Judah captured Gaza and its territory, Ashkelon and its territory, and Ekron and its territory. 19 And Yahweh was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had chariots of iron. 20 They gave Hebron to Caleb just as Moses said, and he drove out the three sons of Anak from there. 21 But the descendants[z] of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites[aa] who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived among the descendants[ab] of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
22 Likewise, the house of Joseph went up against Bethel, and Yahweh was with them. 23 And the house of Joseph spied out Bethel (the former name of the city was Luz). 24 And when the spies saw a man leaving the city,[ac] they said to him, “Please show us the entrance of the city, and we will deal kindly[ad] with you.” 25 So he showed them the entrance of the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword,[ae] but they let go the man and all his family. 26 And the man went to the land of the Hittites, and he built a city and named it Luz; this is its name to this day.
27 Manasseh did not drive out Beth-Sean and its towns, or Taanach and its towns, or the inhabitants[af] of Dor and its towns, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; the Canaanites[ag] were determined to live in this land. 28 And it happened, when Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites[ah] to forced labor, but they never totally drove them out. 29 Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites[ai] living in Gezer, so the Canaanites[aj] lived in their midst in Gezer. 30 Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or Nahalol, so the Canaanites[ak] lived in their midst and became subjected to forced labor. 31 Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Aczib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob, 32 so the Asherites[al] lived in the midst of the Canaanites,[am] the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out.
33 Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh or Beth-anath, but lived in the midst of the Canaanites,[an] the inhabitants of the land; the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and Beth-anath became forced labor for them.
34 The Amorites pressed[ao] the descendants[ap] of Dan to the hill country, and they did not allow them to come down to the plain; 35 the Amorites were determined to live in Har-heres,[aq] in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the hand of the house of Joseph was heavy on them, and they became subjected to forced labor. 36 The border of the Amorites[ar] ran from the ascent of Akrabbim from Sela and upward.
Footnotes
- Judges 1:1 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Judges 1:1 Hebrew “Canaanite”
- Judges 1:4 Hebrew “Canaanite”
- Judges 1:4 Hebrew “Perizzite”
- Judges 1:5 Hebrew “Canaanite”
- Judges 1:5 Hebrew “Perizzite”
- Judges 1:6 Literally “the thumbs of his hands and feet”
- Judges 1:7 Literally “the thumbs of their hands and feet”
- Judges 1:8 Or “sons/children”
- Judges 1:8 Literally “they struck it with the mouth of the sword”
- Judges 1:8 Literally “the city they sent away with fire”
- Judges 1:9 Or “sons/children”
- Judges 1:9 Hebrew “Canaanite”
- Judges 1:9 An arid region south of the Judean hills
- Judges 1:9 A geographical region associated with an area of low country on the western edge of the Judaean hills.
- Judges 1:10 Hebrew “Canaanite”
- Judges 1:14 Literally “What is for you?”
- Judges 1:15 Literally “blessing”
- Judges 1:15 An arid region south of the Judaean hills
- Judges 1:15 Judges 1:11–15 is almost identical to Joshua 15:13–19
- Judges 1:16 Or “sons/children”
- Judges 1:16 Or “sons/children”
- Judges 1:16 An arid region south of the Judaean hills
- Judges 1:16 Hebrew “he went”
- Judges 1:17 Hebrew “Canaanite”
- Judges 1:21 Or “sons/children”
- Judges 1:21 Hebrew “Jebusite”
- Judges 1:21 Or “sons/children”
- Judges 1:24 Or “going out from the city”
- Judges 1:24 Or “do a loyal love”
- Judges 1:25 Literally “the mouth of the sword”
- Judges 1:27 Hebrew “inhabitant”
- Judges 1:27 Hebrew “Canaanite”
- Judges 1:28 Hebrew “Canaanite”
- Judges 1:29 Hebrew “Canaanite”
- Judges 1:29 Hebrew “Canaanite”
- Judges 1:30 Hebrew “Canaanite”
- Judges 1:32 Hebrew “Asherite”
- Judges 1:32 Hebrew “Canaanite”
- Judges 1:33 Hebrew “Canaanite”
- Judges 1:34 Or “forced”
- Judges 1:34 Or “sons/children”
- Judges 1:35 Or “Mount Heres”
- Judges 1:36 Hebrew “Amorite”
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