Judges 1:1-18

New American Standard Bible 1995

Jerusalem Is Captured

1 Now it came about after the death of Joshua that the sons of Israel ^(A)inquired of the Lord, saying, “Who shall go up first for us ^(B)against the Canaanites, to fight against them?” ² The Lord 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 ^[a]the territory allotted me, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and ^[b]I in turn will go with you into ^[c]the territory allotted you.” So Simeon went with him. ⁴ Judah went up, and ^(D)the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hands, and they ^[d]defeated ten thousand men at Bezek. ⁵ They found Adoni-bezek in Bezek and fought against him, and they ^[e]defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. ⁶ But Adoni-bezek fled; and they pursued him and caught him and cut off his ^[f]thumbs and big toes. ⁷ 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 Afterward the sons of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country and in the ^[g]Negev and in the lowland. ^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.

Capture of Other Cities

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 attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will even give him my daughter Achsah for a wife.” ^13 (I)Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, captured it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah for a wife. ¹⁴ Then ^(J)it came about when she came to him, that she persuaded him to ask her father for a field. Then she alighted from ^[h]her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What ^[i]do you want?” ¹⁵ She said to him, “Give me a blessing, since you have given me the land of the ^[j]Negev, give me also springs of water.” So Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

¹⁶ The ^[k]descendants 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 utterly destroyed it. So the name of the city was called ^(N)Hormah. ¹⁸ And Judah took ^(O)Gaza with its territory and Ashkelon with its territory and Ekron with its territory.