Judges 1:19-36

Evangelical Heritage Version

¹⁹ The Lord was with Judah, and Judah took possession of the hill country, but Judah could not take possession of the land belonging to the people who lived in the valleys and lowlands, because they had iron chariots.^[a]

²⁰ Hebron was given to Caleb, as Moses had commanded, and he took possession of the land of the three sons of Anak.

²¹ But the men of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites live among the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

²² The house of Joseph likewise went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them. ²³ The house of Joseph sent spies to scout Bethel (the name of the city was formerly Luz). ²⁴ The spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us a way into the city, and we will grant you mercy.” ²⁵ The man showed them a way into the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and his whole family go. ²⁶ The man went to the land of the Hittites, built a city, and named it Luz. That is its name to this day.

²⁷ But the tribe of Manasseh did not take possession of Beth Shan and its towns or Ta’anach and its towns. They did not drive out the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns, so the Canaanites were determined to keep living in this land. ²⁸ Whenever Israel grew strong, they made the Canaanites perform forced labor, but they did not drive them out completely.

²⁹ In the same way, Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites living at Gezer. Instead, the Canaanites continued to live among them at Gezer.

³⁰ Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol. Instead, the Canaanites continued to live among them. Zebulun did subject them to forced labor.

³¹ Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Akko, the inhabitants of Sidon, or those in Ahlab, Akzib, Helbah, Aphek, or Rehob. ³² Instead, the people of Asher lived among the Canaanites, who continued to live in the land because the Asherites did not drive them out.

³³ Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh or the inhabitants of Beth Anath. Instead, they continued to live among the Canaanites, who continued to live in the land, but the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath did perform forced labor for Naphtali.

³⁴ The Amorites forced the men of Dan back into the hill country. They did not allow them to come down to the lowlands. ³⁵ The Amorites were determined to continue living in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Sha’albim, but the hand of the house of Joseph grew heavy on them, and they were put to forced labor. ³⁶ The border of the Amorites stretched from the Ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela, and beyond.