⁵⁵ But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be ^(A)irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell.

³ Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be ^(A)thorns^[a] in your side, and ^(B)their gods shall ^[b]be a ^(C)snare to you.’ ”

¹⁶ Also you shall ^[a]destroy all the peoples whom the Lord your God delivers over to you; your eye shall have no pity on them; nor shall you serve their gods, for that will ^(A)be a snare to you.

¹² Or else, if indeed you do ^(A)go back, and cling to the remnant of these nations—these that remain among you—and ^(B)make marriages with them, and go in to them and they to you, ¹³ know for certain that ^(C)the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. ^(D)But they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the Lord your God has given you.

^21 (A)But the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; so the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

²² And the ^[a]house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, ^(B)and the Lord was with them. ²³ So the ^[b]house of Joseph ^(C)sent men to spy out Bethel. (The name of the city was formerly ^(D)Luz.) ²⁴ And when the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, “Please show us the entrance to the city, and ^(E)we will show you mercy.” ²⁵ So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man and all his family go. ²⁶ And the man went to the land of the Hittites, built a city, and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day.

Incomplete Conquest of the Land

^27 (F)However, Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its villages, or ^(G)Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of ^(H)Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land. ²⁸ And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites ^[c]under tribute, but did not completely drive them out.

^29 (I)Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; so the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.

³⁰ Nor did ^(J)Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol; so the Canaanites dwelt among them, and ^[d]were put under tribute.

^31 (K)Nor did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Acco or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob. ³² So the Asherites ^(L)dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out.

^33 (M)Nor did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh or the inhabitants of Beth Anath; but they dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were put under tribute to them.

³⁴ And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountains, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley; ³⁵ and the Amorites were determined to dwell in Mount Heres, ^(N)in Aijalon, and in ^[e]Shaalbim; yet when the strength of the house of Joseph became greater, they ^[f]were put under tribute.

³⁶ Now the boundary of the Amorites was ^(O)from the Ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela, and upward.

⁴ For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; ^(A)so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly.

²⁴ “And there shall no longer be a pricking brier or ^(A)a painful thorn for the house of Israel from among all who are around them, who ^(B)despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord God.”

³³ They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, ^(A)it will surely be a snare to you.”