Judah Fights the Canaanites

1 After Joshua died, the ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel] asked the ·Lord [or Yahweh; ^Cthe translation “Lord” (all caps) represents the divine name YHWH, usually pronounced “Yahweh”], “Who will ·be first to go and [lead the] fight for us against the Canaanites?”

² The Lord said to them, “·The tribe of Judah [^LJudah] will go. [^LLook; ^TBehold] I have ·handed the land over to them [^Lgiven the land into his hand].”

³ ·The men of Judah [^LJudah] said to ·the men of Simeon, their relatives [^Lhis brother Simeon], “Come and help us fight the Canaanites for our ·land [allotment]. If you do, we will go and help you fight for your ·land [allotment].” So ·the men of Simeon [^LSimeon] went with them [^CSimeon’s land lay within Judah; Josh. 19:1].

⁴ When Judah attacked, the Lord handed over the Canaanites and the Perizzites to them, and they defeated ten thousand men at the city of Bezek. ⁵ ·There [^LAt Bezek] they found Adoni-Bezek [^Cthe ruler of the city], and fought him. The men of Judah defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites, ⁶ but Adoni-Bezek ran away. The men of Judah chased him, and when they caught him, they cut off his thumbs and big toes [^Csuch mutilation was common in the ancient Near East, rendering a king unfit for military service or priestly functions; Lev. 8:23–24].

⁷ Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings whose thumbs and big toes had been cut off used to eat scraps that fell from my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them.” The men of Judah took Adoni-Bezek to Jerusalem, and he died there.

⁸ Then the ·men [^Lsons] of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it. They ·attacked with their swords [^Lstruck it with the edge of the sword] and burned the city [^Ca temporary conquest; David later captured the city; 2 Sam. 5:7].

⁹ Later, they went down to fight the Canaanites who lived in the mountains, in the ·dry [or hill] country ·to the south [^Lin the Negev], and in the ·western hills [or lowland]. ¹⁰ ·The men of Judah [^LJudah] went to fight against the Canaanites in the city of Hebron (which used to be called Kiriath Arba [Gen. 13:18; 23:2; Josh. 14:15]). And they defeated Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai [Num. 13:22; Josh. 15:14].

Caleb and His Daughter

¹¹ Then they left there and went to fight against the people living in Debir. (In the past Debir had been called Kiriath Sepher.) ¹² Before attacking the city, Caleb said, “I will give Acsah, my daughter, as a wife to the man who attacks and captures the city of Kiriath Sepher.” ¹³ Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, captured the city, so Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to Othniel to be his wife. ¹⁴ When Acsah came to ·Othniel [^Lhim; ^Ccould be Othniel or Caleb], she ·told him to ask [or asked] her father for a field. When she got down from her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you want?” [Josh. 15:16–18]

¹⁵ Acsah answered him, “·Do me a special favor [^LGive me a blessing]. Since you have given me land in ·southern Canaan [^Lthe Negev], also give me springs of water.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs [Josh. 15:19].

Fights with the Canaanites

¹⁶ The ·Kenite people, who were from the family of [^Lsons/descendants of the Kenite] Moses’ father-in-law [Ex. 2:16], left the city of palm trees [^CJericho]. They went with the men of Judah to the ·Desert [Wilderness] of Judah to live with them there in ·southern Judah [^Lthe Negev] near the city of Arad.

¹⁷ The men of Judah and the men of Simeon [1:3], their ·relatives [brothers], defeated the Canaanites who lived in Zephath. They ·completely destroyed the city [devoted it to the Lord for destruction; see Josh. 2:10; 6:17–19], so they called it Hormah [^Csounds like Hebrew for “total destruction”]. ¹⁸ The men of Judah captured Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron [^CPhilistine cities along the coast], and the lands around them.

¹⁹ The Lord was with the men of Judah. They took the land in the ·mountains [hill country], but they could not force out the people living on the plain, because they had iron chariots [^Cwooden chariots with iron fittings]. ²⁰ As Moses had promised, Hebron was given to Caleb, and Caleb forced out the three sons of Anak [Num. 14:24; Deut. 1:36; Josh. 14:9–14]. ²¹ But the people of Benjamin could not ·make the Jebusite people leave [^Ldrive out the Jebusites from] Jerusalem. Since that time the Jebusites have lived with the ·Benjaminites [^Lsons of Benjamin] in Jerusalem.

²² The ·men [^Lhouse] of Joseph went to fight against the city of Bethel, and the Lord was with them. ²³ They sent some spies to Bethel (which used to be called Luz). ²⁴ The spies saw a man coming out of the city and said to him, “Show us a way into the city, and we will ·be kind to [have mercy on; or reward] you.” ²⁵ So the man showed them the way into the city. The men of Joseph ·attacked with swords the people in Bethel [^Lstruck the city with the edge of the sword], but they let the man and his family go free. ²⁶ He went to the land where the Hittites lived [^Cin Syria, north of Israel] and built a city. He named it Luz, which it is called even today.

²⁷ The people of Manasseh did not ·force [drive] out the inhabitants of the cities of Beth Shan, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, nor the small towns around them, because the Canaanites were determined to stay there. ²⁸ Later, the Israelites grew strong and forced the Canaanites ·to work as slaves [into forced labor], but they did not ·make all the Canaanites leave their land [^Ldrive them out completely]. ²⁹ The people of Ephraim did not ·force [drive] out all of the Canaanites living in Gezer. So the Canaanites continued to live in Gezer with the people of Ephraim. ³⁰ The people of Zebulun did not force out the Canaanites living in the cities of Kitron and Nahalol. They stayed and lived with the people of Zebulun, but Zebulun ·made them work as slaves [forced them into hard labor].

³¹ The people of Asher did not ·force [drive out] the Canaanites from the cities of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Aczib, Helbah, Aphek, and Rehob [^Ccities on the Mediterranean Sea north of Carmel and inland from the coast]. ³² Since the people of Asher did not ·force [drive] them out, the Canaanites continued to live with them. ³³ The people of Naphtali did not ·force [drive] out the people of the cities of Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath [^Cthe region east of Asher]. So they continued to live with the Canaanites in those cities, and the Canaanites ·worked as slaves [did forced labor]. ³⁴ The Amorites forced the Danites back into the ·mountains [hill country] and would not let them come down to live in the plain [Josh. 19:47–48; Judg. 18]. ³⁵ The Amorites were determined to stay in Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim. But when the Israelites grew stronger, they made the Amorites ·work as slaves [do forced labor]. ³⁶ The land of the Amorites was from ·Scorpion [or Akrabbim; ^CHebrew for “scorpion”] ·Pass [or Ascent; ^Csouth of the Dead Sea] to Sela and beyond.

The Angel of the Lord at Bokim

2 The ·angel [messenger] of the Lord [^Can angelic spokesperson for God, sometimes identified with the Lord himself; Gen. 16:7; Ex. 14:19; 23:20] went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, “I brought you up from Egypt and led you to the land I promised to give your ancestors. I said, ‘I will never break my ·agreement [covenant] with you [Gen. 17:7; Ex. 6:4]. ² But you must not make an ·agreement [covenant] with the people who live in this land [Ex. 23:32]. You must ·destroy [tear down] their altars [Deut. 7:2].’ But you did not obey me. How could you do this [^LWhat is this you have done]? ³ ·Now I tell you [or Then I told you; Num. 33:55; Josh. 23:12–13], ‘I will not ·force [drive] out the people in this land. They will ·be your enemies [or ensnare you; or be thorns in your side], and their gods will be a ·trap [snare] for you.’”

⁴ After the angel gave ·Israel [^Lthe sons/^Tchildren of Israel] this message from the Lord, they ·cried loudly [^Llifted up their voices and wept]. ⁵ So they named the place Bokim [^C“weeping ones”]. There they offered sacrifices to the Lord.

Joshua Dies

⁶ After Joshua ·dismissed [sent away] the people, the ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel] went to take possession of the land that they had been given. ⁷ The people ·served [worshiped; remained faithful to] the Lord during the lifetime of Joshua and during the lifetimes of the elders who ·lived after [outlived] Joshua and who had seen what great things the Lord had done for Israel. ⁸ Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of one hundred ten. ⁹ They buried him in ·his own land [the territory of his inheritance] at Timnath Heres [^Calso known as Timnath Serah; Josh. 19:50; 24:30] in the ·mountains [hill country] of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

The People Disobey

¹⁰ After ·those people [^Lthe whole generation] ·had died [^Lwere gathered to their fathers/ancestors], ·their children [^Lanother generation] grew up and did not know the Lord or what he had done for Israel. ¹¹ So ·they [^Lthe sons/^Tchildren of Israel] did ·what the Lord said was wrong [^Levil in the eyes/sight of the Lord], and they worshiped the ·Baal idols [^LBaals; ^CBaal was the main god of the Canaanites, but had many local manifestations]. ¹² They ·quit following [abandoned] the Lord, the God of their ancestors who had brought them out of Egypt. They began to worship the gods of the people who lived around them, and that made the Lord angry. ¹³ The Israelites ·quit following [abandoned] the Lord and worshiped Baal and Ashtoreth. ¹⁴ The Lord was angry with the people of Israel, so he ·handed them over to [gave them into the hand of] ·robbers [raiders; plunderers] who took their possessions. He ·let their enemies who lived around them defeat them [^Lsold them into the hand of their enemies around them]; they could not ·protect themselves [resist/^Lstand before them]. ¹⁵ When the Israelites went out to fight, ·they always lost, because the Lord was not with them [^Lthe hand of the Lord was against them for harm/evil]. The Lord had sworn to them this would happen. So the Israelites ·suffered very much [were in great distress].

God Chooses Judges

¹⁶ Then the Lord ·chose leaders called [^Lraised up] ·judges [leaders; ^Cnot courtroom judges, but leaders who guided the nation through difficult times, sometimes as military commanders], ·who saved the Israelites from [^Lto deliver them from the hand of] the ·robbers [raiders; plunderers]. ¹⁷ But the Israelites did not listen to their ·judges [leaders; v. 16]. They ·were not faithful to God but [^Lprostituted themselves to and] worshiped other gods instead. Their ancestors had ·obeyed [^Lwalked in the way/path of] the Lord’s commands, but they quickly turned away and did not obey. ¹⁸ Whenever the Lord sent ·judges [leaders] to save the Israelites from their enemies, he was with that ·judge [leader] and rescued the people during that ·judge’s [leader’s] lifetime. The Lord ·felt sorry for them [took pity on them; or relented] when they cried for help because of those who ·hurt [oppressed and afflicted] them. ¹⁹ But when the ·judges [leaders; 2:16] died, the Israelites ·again sinned [returned to their corrupt ways] and worshiped other gods. They became worse than their ancestors. The Israelites were very stubborn and refused to change their evil ways.

²⁰ So the ·Lord became angry with [^Langer of the Lord burned against] the Israelites. He said, “These people have ·broken [violated] the ·agreement [covenant] I made with their ancestors. They have not listened to me. ²¹ I will no longer ·defeat [^Ldrive out before them] the nations who were left when Joshua died. ²² I will use them to test Israel, to see if Israel will keep ·the Lord’s commands [^Lthe way of the Lord to walk in it] as their ancestors did.” ²³ In the past the Lord had permitted those nations to stay in the land. He did not quickly ·force [drive] them out or ·help Joshua’s army defeat them [^Lgive them into the hand of Joshua].

3 These are the nations the Lord did not force to leave. He wanted to test the Israelites who had not ·fought in [experienced; known] the wars of Canaan. ² (The only reason the Lord left those nations in the land was to teach the descendants of the Israelites who had not fought in those wars how to fight.) ³ These are the nations: the five ·rulers [lords] of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the people of Sidon, and the Hivites who lived in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath. ⁴ Those nations were in the land to test the Israelites—to see if they would obey the commands the Lord had given to their ancestors by [^Lthe hand of] Moses.

⁵ The people of Israel lived with the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. ⁶ The Israelites ·began to marry [^Ltook as wives] the daughters of those people, and they ·allowed their daughters to marry [^Lgave their daughters to] the sons of those people. Israel also served their gods.

Othniel, the First Judge

⁷ The ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel] did ·what the Lord said was wrong [^Levil in the eyes/sight of the Lord]. They forgot about the Lord their God and served the ·idols of Baal [^LBaals; 2:11] and ·Asherah [^LAsherahs; ^Csacred trees or poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah; Deut. 16:21; Judg. 6:25]. ⁸ So the Lord ·was angry with [^Lburned in anger against] Israel and allowed ·Cushan-Rishathaim [or Cushan, the Doubly Wicked] king of ·northwest Mesopotamia [or Aram Naharaim; ^CNaharaim means “two rivers,” referring to Mesopotamia] to rule over the ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel] for eight years. ⁹ When Israel cried to the Lord, the Lord ·sent someone to save them [^Lraised up a deliverer]. Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, saved the Israelites. ¹⁰ The Spirit of the Lord ·entered [enpowered; came upon; was upon] Othniel, and he became Israel’s ·judge [leader; 2:16]. When he went to war, the Lord ·handed over to him [^Lgave into his hand] ·Cushan-Rishathaim [or Cushan, the Doubly Wicked; v. 8] king of ·northwest Mesopotamia [or Aram Naharaim; v. 8]. ¹¹ So the land was at ·peace [rest] for forty years. Then Othniel son of Kenaz died.

Ehud, the Judge

¹² Again the ·people [^Lsons/^Tchildren] of Israel did ·what the Lord said was wrong [^Levil in the eyes/sight of the Lord]. So the Lord gave Eglon king of Moab power to defeat Israel because of the evil Israel did. ¹³ Eglon got the ·Ammonites and the Amalekites [^Lsons/descendants of Ammon and Amalek] to join him. Then he attacked Israel and took the city of palm trees [^CJericho]. ¹⁴ So the ·people [^Lsons; ^Tchildren] of Israel were ·ruled by [subject to] Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years.

¹⁵ When the people cried to the Lord, he ·sent someone to save [^Lraised up a rescuer/^Tdeliverer for] them. He was Ehud, son of Gera from the people of Benjamin, who was ·left-handed [^Lbound in the right hand]. Israel sent Ehud to give Eglon king of Moab the ·payment [tribute money] he demanded. ¹⁶ Ehud made himself a sword with two edges, ·about eighteen inches [^La cubit; ^Cthe distance between the elbow and the tip of the fingers] long, and he tied it to his right hip under his clothes. ¹⁷ Ehud gave Eglon king of Moab the ·payment [tribute money] he demanded. Now Eglon was a very fat man [^CEglon means “fat calf”]. ¹⁸ After he had given Eglon the ·payment [tribute money], Ehud ·sent away [dismissed] the people who had carried it. ¹⁹ When he passed the ·statues [images; idols] near Gilgal, he turned around [^CEhud returned to Eglon’s palace and sought a private audience with the king] and said to Eglon, “I have a secret message for you, King Eglon.”

The king said, “·Be quiet [Silence; or Give us privacy]!” Then he sent all of his servants out of the room. ²⁰ Ehud went to King Eglon, as he was sitting alone in the ·room above his summer palace [^Lcool upper room; ^Cprobably a breezy roof-top room with lattice windows; perhaps a bathroom].

Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” As the king stood up from his chair [^Cperhaps an act of reverence to receive the divine oracle], ²¹ Ehud reached with his left hand and took out the sword that was tied to his right hip [^Cthe unusual location on the right allowed concealment and caught the king by surprise]. Then he stabbed the sword deep into the king’s belly! ²² Even the handle sank in, and ·the blade came out his back [or his bowels discharged]. The king’s fat covered the whole sword, so Ehud left the sword in Eglon. ²³ Then he went out ·of the room [or to the porch/vestibule; or through the latrine] and closed and locked the doors behind him.

²⁴ When the servants returned just after Ehud left, they found the doors to the room locked. So they thought the king was ·relieving himself [^Lcovering his feet; ^Ca euphemism]. ²⁵ They waited for a long time. Finally they became ·worried [anxious; or embarrassed] because he still had not opened the doors. So they got the key and unlocked them and ·saw [^Llook; ^Tbehold] their king lying dead on the floor!

²⁶ While the servants were waiting, Ehud had escaped. He passed by the ·statues [idols; images] and went to Seirah. ²⁷ When he reached the ·mountains [hill country] of Ephraim he blew the trumpet. The ·people [^Lsons; ^Tchildren] of Israel heard it and went down from the hills with Ehud leading them.

²⁸ He said to them, “Follow me! The Lord has ·helped you to defeat [^Lgiven into your hand] your enemies, the Moabites.” So Israel followed Ehud and captured the ·crossings [fords] of the Jordan River ·across from [or against] Moab. They did not allow the Moabites to cross the Jordan River. ²⁹ Israel killed about ten thousand strong and able men from Moab; not one escaped. ³⁰ So that day Moab was ·forced to be under the rule of Israel [^Lsubdued/made subject that day under the hand of Israel], and there was ·peace [rest] in the land for eighty years.