Israel’s Failure to Complete the Conquest of Canaan

1 After the death of Joshua, the Israelites inquired of the Lord, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?”^{(A) 2} The Lord said, “Judah shall go up. I hereby give the land into his hand.” ³ Judah said to his brother Simeon, “Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, that we may fight against the Canaanites; then I, too, will go with you into the territory allotted to you.” So Simeon went with him.^{(B) 4} Then Judah went up, and the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they defeated ten thousand of them at Bezek.^{(C) 5} They came upon Adoni-bezek at Bezek and fought against him and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. ⁶ Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes. ⁷ Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to pick up scraps under my table; as I have done, so God has paid me back.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

⁸ Then the people of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it. They put it to the sword and set the city on fire.^{(D) 9} Afterward the people of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the Negeb, and in the lowland. ¹⁰ Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba), and they defeated Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.^(E)

¹¹ From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir (the name of Debir was formerly Kiriath-sepher). ¹² Then Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kiriath-sepher and takes it, I will give him my daughter Achsah as wife.” ¹³ And Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it, and he gave him his daughter Achsah as wife.^{(F) 14} When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. As she dismounted from her donkey, Caleb said to her, “What do you wish?”^{(G) 15} She said to him, “Give me a blessing; since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me also Gulloth-mayim.”^[a] So Caleb gave her Upper Gulloth and Lower Gulloth.

¹⁶ The descendants of Hobab^[b] the Kenite, Moses’s father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the Negeb near Arad. Then they went and settled with the Amalekites.^{[c](H) 17} Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they defeated the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and devoted it to destruction. So the city was called Hormah.^{(I) 18} Judah took Gaza with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory. ¹⁹ The Lord was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country but could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain, because they had chariots of iron.^{(J) 20} Hebron was given to Caleb, as Moses had said, and he drove out from it the three sons of Anak.^{(K) 21} But the Benjaminites did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem; so the Jebusites have lived in Jerusalem among the Benjaminites to this day.^(L)

²² The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them. ²³ The house of Joseph sent out spies to Bethel (the name of the city was formerly Luz).^{(M) 24} When the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, “Show us the way into the city, and we will deal kindly with you.” ²⁵ So he showed them the way into the city, and they put the city to the sword, but they let the man and all his family go.^{(N) 26} So the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city and named it Luz; that is its name to this day.

²⁷ Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of^[d] Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages, but the Canaanites continued to live in that land.^{(O) 28} When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor but did not in fact drive them out.

²⁹ And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, but the Canaanites lived among them in Gezer.^(P)

³⁰ Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol, but the Canaanites lived among them and became subject to forced labor.

³¹ Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Mahalab,^[e] or of Achzib, or of Helbah, or of Aphik, or of Rehob,^{(Q) 32} but the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out.

³³ Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh or the inhabitants of Beth-anath but lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; nevertheless, the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became subject to forced labor for them.

³⁴ The Amorites pressed the Danites back into the hill country; they did not allow them to come down to the plain.^{(R) 35} The Amorites continued to live in Har-heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the hand of the house of Joseph rested heavily on them, and they became subject to forced labor. ³⁶ The border of the Amorites ran from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upward.^(S)

Israel’s Disobedience

2 Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim and said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I had promised to your ancestors. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you.^{(T) 2} For your part, do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land; tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my command. See what you have done!^{(U) 3} So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become adversaries^[f] to you, and their gods shall be a snare to you.”^{(V) 4} When the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the Israelites, the people lifted up their voices and wept. ⁵ So they named that place Bochim,^[g] and there they sacrificed to the Lord.

Death of Joshua

⁶ When Joshua dismissed the people, the Israelites all went to their own inheritances to take possession of the land.^{(W) 7} The people served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel. ⁸ Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of one hundred ten years. ⁹ So they buried him within the bounds of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. ¹⁰ Moreover, that whole generation was gathered to their ancestors, and another generation grew up after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.^(X)

Israel’s Unfaithfulness

¹¹ Then the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals,^{(Y) 12} and they abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; they followed other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were all around them and bowed down to them, and they provoked the Lord to anger.^{(Z) 13} They abandoned the Lord and served Baal and the Astartes.^{(AA) 14} So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers who plundered them, and he sold them into the power of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies.^{(AB) 15} Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them to bring misfortune, as the Lord had warned them and sworn to them, and they were in great distress.

¹⁶ Then the Lord raised up judges who delivered them out of the power of those who plundered them.^{(AC) 17} Yet they did not listen even to their judges, for they lusted after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their ancestors had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord; they did not follow their example.^{(AD) 18} Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he delivered them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge, for the Lord would be moved to pity by their groaning because of those who persecuted and oppressed them. ¹⁹ But whenever the judge died, they would relapse and behave worse than their ancestors, following other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They would not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways.^{(AE) 20} So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this nation has transgressed my covenant that I commanded their ancestors and have not obeyed my voice,^{(AF) 21} I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died.”^{(AG) 22} In order to test Israel, whether or not they would take care to walk in the way of the Lord as their ancestors did,^{(AH) 23} the Lord had left those nations, not driving them out at once, and had not handed them over to Joshua.

Nations Remaining in the Land

3 Now these are the nations that the Lord left to test all those in Israel who had no experience of war in Canaan^{(AI) 2} (it was only for successive generations of Israelites, to teach war to those who had no experience of it): ³ the five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath.^{(AJ) 4} They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the Lord that he commanded their ancestors by Moses.^{(AK) 5} So the Israelites lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, ⁶ and they took their daughters as wives for themselves, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods.^(AL)

Othniel

⁷ The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, forgetting the Lord their God and serving the Baals and the Asherahs.^{(AM) 8} Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram-naharaim, and the Israelites served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. ⁹ But when the Israelites cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the Israelites who delivered them, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.^{(AN) 10} The spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel; he went out to war, and the Lord gave King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram into his hand, and his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim.^{(AO) 11} So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel son of Kenaz died.

Ehud

¹² The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord strengthened King Eglon of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord.^{(AP) 13} In alliance with the Ammonites and the Amalekites, he went and defeated Israel, and they took possession of the city of palms.^{(AQ) 14} So the Israelites served King Eglon of Moab eighteen years.

¹⁵ But when the Israelites cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud son of Gera, a Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The Israelites sent tribute by him to King Eglon of Moab.^{(AR) 16} Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit in length, and he fastened it on his right thigh under his clothes. ¹⁷ Then he presented the tribute to King Eglon of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man.^{(AS) 18} When Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent the people who carried the tribute on their way. ¹⁹ But he himself turned back at the sculptured stones near Gilgal and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” So the king said,^[h] “Silence!” and all his attendants went out from his presence. ²⁰ Ehud came to him, while he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber, and said, “I have a message from God for you.” So he rose from his seat. ²¹ Then Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into Eglon’s^[i] belly; ²² the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the sword out of his belly, and the dirt^[j] came out. ²³ Then Ehud went out into the vestibule^[k] and closed the doors of the roof chamber on him and locked them.

²⁴ After he had gone, the servants came. When they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, “He must be relieving himself^[l] in the cool chamber.”^{(AT) 25} So they waited until they were embarrassed. When he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them. There was their lord lying dead on the floor.^(AU)

²⁶ Ehud escaped while they delayed and passed beyond the sculptured stones and escaped to Seirah. ²⁷ When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down with him from the hill country, having him at their head. ²⁸ He said to them, “Follow after me, for the Lord has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and allowed no one to cross over.^{(AV) 29} At that time they killed about ten thousand of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; no one escaped. ³⁰ So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest eighty years.^(AW)

Shamgar

³¹ After him came Shamgar son of Anath, who killed six hundred of the Philistines with an oxgoad. He, too, delivered Israel.^(AX)

The Testing of Jesus

4 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,^{(A) 2} where for forty days he was tested by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over he was famished.^{(B) 3} The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” ⁴ Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’ ”^(C)

⁵ Then the devil^[a] led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. ⁶ And the devil^[b] said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please.^{(D) 7} If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” ⁸ Jesus answered him, “It is written,

⁹ Then the devil^[c] led him to Jerusalem and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, ¹⁰ for it is written,

¹¹ and

¹² Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”^{(G) 13} When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.^(H)

The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry

¹⁴ Then Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding region.^{(I) 15} He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.^(J)

The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth

¹⁶ When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read,^{(K) 17} and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

²⁰ And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.^{(N) 21} Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” ²² All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”^{(O) 23} He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’ ”^{(P) 24} And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown.^{(Q) 25} But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months and there was a severe famine over all the land,^{(R) 26} yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. ²⁷ There were also many with a skin disease in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”^{(S) 28} When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. ²⁹ They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.^{(T) 30} But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.^(U)