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.