⁵⁵ But if you fail to drive out the people who live in the land, those who remain will be like splinters in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will harass you in the land where you live.

³ So now I declare that I will no longer drive out the people living in your land. They will be thorns in your sides,^[a] and their gods will be a constant temptation to you.”

¹² “But if you turn away from him and cling to the customs of the survivors of these nations remaining among you, and if you intermarry with them, ¹³ then know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive them out of your land. Instead, they will be a snare and a trap to you, a whip for your backs and thorny brambles in your eyes, and you will vanish from this good land the Lord your God has given you.

¹⁶ “You must destroy all the nations the Lord your God hands over to you. Show them no mercy, and do not worship their gods, or they will trap you.

⁴ for they will lead your children away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and he will quickly destroy you.

³³ They must not live in your land, or they will cause you to sin against me. If you serve their gods, you will be caught in the trap of idolatry.”

²¹ The tribe of Benjamin, however, failed to drive out the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem. So to this day the Jebusites live in Jerusalem among the people of Benjamin.

²² The descendants of Joseph attacked the town of Bethel, and the Lord was with them. ²³ They sent men to scout out Bethel (formerly known as Luz). ²⁴ They confronted a man coming out of the town and said to him, “Show us a way into the town, and we will have mercy on you.” ²⁵ So he showed them a way in, and they killed everyone in the town except that man and his family. ²⁶ Later the man moved to the land of the Hittites, where he built a town. He named it Luz, which is its name to this day.

²⁷ The tribe of Manasseh failed to drive out the people living in Beth-shan,^[a] Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and all their surrounding settlements, because the Canaanites were determined to stay in that region. ²⁸ When the Israelites grew stronger, they forced the Canaanites to work as slaves, but they never did drive them completely out of the land.

²⁹ The tribe of Ephraim failed to drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, so the Canaanites continued to live there among them.

³⁰ The tribe of Zebulun failed to drive out the residents of Kitron and Nahalol, so the Canaanites continued to live among them. But the Canaanites were forced to work as slaves for the people of Zebulun.

³¹ The tribe of Asher failed to drive out the residents of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Aczib, Helbah, Aphik, and Rehob. ³² Instead, the people of Asher moved in among the Canaanites, who controlled the land, for they failed to drive them out.

³³ Likewise, the tribe of Naphtali failed to drive out the residents of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath. Instead, they moved in among the Canaanites, who controlled the land. Nevertheless, the people of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath were forced to work as slaves for the people of Naphtali.

³⁴ As for the tribe of Dan, the Amorites forced them back into the hill country and would not let them come down into the plains. ³⁵ The Amorites were determined to stay in Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim, but when the descendants of Joseph became stronger, they forced the Amorites to work as slaves. ³⁶ The boundary of the Amorites ran from Scorpion Pass^[b] to Sela and continued upward from there.