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Israel Continues Its Conquest

After the death of Joshua, the Israelites[a] inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Who will go up first for us against the Canaanites[b] to fight against them?” And Yahweh said, “Judah will go up. I hereby give the land into his hand.” And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Go up with me into my allotment, and let us fight against the Canaanites; then I too will go with you into your allotment.” And Simeon went with him. And Judah went up, and Yahweh gave the Canaanites[c] and the Perizzites[d] into their hand, and they defeated ten thousand men at Bezek. At Bezek they came upon Adoni-bezek, and they fought against him and defeated the Canaanites[e] and the Perizzites.[f] And Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued after him; they caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes.[g] Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes[h] cut off used to pick up scraps under my table; just as I have done, so God has repaid to me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

The descendants[i] of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and they captured it, put it to the sword,[j] and set the city on fire.[k] Afterward the descendants[l] of Judah pursued to fight against the Canaanites[m] who were living in the hill country, the Negev,[n] and the Shephelah.[o] 10 And Judah went against the Canaanites[p] living in Hebron (the former name of Hebron was Kiriath Arba). And they defeated Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

11 And from there they went to the inhabitants of Debir (the former name of Debir was Kiriath Sepher). 12 And Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kiriath Sepher and captures it, I will give to him Acsah my daughter as a wife.” 13 Othniel son of Kenaz, the younger brother of Caleb, captured it, and he gave to him Acsah his daughter as a wife. 14 When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. As she dismounted from the donkey, Caleb said to her, “What do you want?”[q] 15 And she said to him, “Give me a gift;[r] you have given me the land of the Negev,[s] and give me also a spring of water.” And Caleb gave to her the upper and lower spring.[t]

16 The descendants[u] of Hobab the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up with the descendants[v] of Judah from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the Negev[w] near Arad. And they went[x] and settled with the people. 17 And Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they defeated the Canaanites[y] inhabiting Zephath; they utterly destroyed it, so he called the name of the city Hormah. 18 Judah captured Gaza and its territory, Ashkelon and its territory, and Ekron and its territory. 19 And Yahweh was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had chariots of iron. 20 They gave Hebron to Caleb just as Moses said, and he drove out the three sons of Anak from there. 21 But the descendants[z] of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites[aa] who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived among the descendants[ab] of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

22 Likewise, the house of Joseph went up against Bethel, and Yahweh was with them. 23 And the house of Joseph spied out Bethel (the former name of the city was Luz). 24 And when the spies saw a man leaving the city,[ac] they said to him, “Please show us the entrance of the city, and we will deal kindly[ad] with you.” 25 So he showed them the entrance of the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword,[ae] but they let go the man and all his family. 26 And the man went to the land of the Hittites, and he built a city and named it Luz; this is its name to this day.

27 Manasseh did not drive out Beth-Sean and its towns, or Taanach and its towns, or the inhabitants[af] of Dor and its towns, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; the Canaanites[ag] were determined to live in this land. 28 And it happened, when Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites[ah] to forced labor, but they never totally drove them out. 29 Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites[ai] living in Gezer, so the Canaanites[aj] lived in their midst in Gezer. 30 Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or Nahalol, so the Canaanites[ak] lived in their midst and became subjected to forced labor. 31 Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Aczib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob, 32 so the Asherites[al] lived in the midst of the Canaanites,[am] the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out.

33 Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh or Beth-anath, but lived in the midst of the Canaanites,[an] the inhabitants of the land; the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and Beth-anath became forced labor for them.

34 The Amorites pressed[ao] the descendants[ap] of Dan to the hill country, and they did not allow them to come down to the plain; 35 the Amorites were determined to live in Har-heres,[aq] in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the hand of the house of Joseph was heavy on them, and they became subjected to forced labor. 36 The border of the Amorites[ar] ran from the ascent of Akrabbim from Sela and upward.

Footnotes

  1. Judges 1:1 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  2. Judges 1:1 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  3. Judges 1:4 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  4. Judges 1:4 Hebrew “Perizzite”
  5. Judges 1:5 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  6. Judges 1:5 Hebrew “Perizzite”
  7. Judges 1:6 Literally “the thumbs of his hands and feet”
  8. Judges 1:7 Literally “the thumbs of their hands and feet”
  9. Judges 1:8 Or “sons/children”
  10. Judges 1:8 Literally “they struck it with the mouth of the sword”
  11. Judges 1:8 Literally “the city they sent away with fire”
  12. Judges 1:9 Or “sons/children”
  13. Judges 1:9 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  14. Judges 1:9 An arid region south of the Judean hills
  15. Judges 1:9 A geographical region associated with an area of low country on the western edge of the Judaean hills.
  16. Judges 1:10 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  17. Judges 1:14 Literally “What is for you?”
  18. Judges 1:15 Literally “blessing”
  19. Judges 1:15 An arid region south of the Judaean hills
  20. Judges 1:15 Judges 1:11–15 is almost identical to Joshua 15:13–19
  21. Judges 1:16 Or “sons/children”
  22. Judges 1:16 Or “sons/children”
  23. Judges 1:16 An arid region south of the Judaean hills
  24. Judges 1:16 Hebrew “he went”
  25. Judges 1:17 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  26. Judges 1:21 Or “sons/children”
  27. Judges 1:21 Hebrew “Jebusite”
  28. Judges 1:21 Or “sons/children”
  29. Judges 1:24 Or “going out from the city”
  30. Judges 1:24 Or “do a loyal love”
  31. Judges 1:25 Literally “the mouth of the sword”
  32. Judges 1:27 Hebrew “inhabitant”
  33. Judges 1:27 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  34. Judges 1:28 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  35. Judges 1:29 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  36. Judges 1:29 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  37. Judges 1:30 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  38. Judges 1:32 Hebrew “Asherite”
  39. Judges 1:32 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  40. Judges 1:33 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  41. Judges 1:34 Or “forced”
  42. Judges 1:34 Or “sons/children”
  43. Judges 1:35 Or “Mount Heres”
  44. Judges 1:36 Hebrew “Amorite”

After the death of Joshua, the children of Israel asked of Yahweh,[a] saying, “Who should go up for us first against the Canaanites, to fight against them?”

Yahweh said, “Judah shall go up. Behold,[b] I have delivered the land into his hand.”

Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with you into your lot.” So Simeon went with him. Judah went up, and Yahweh delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand. They struck ten thousand men in Bezek. They found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and they fought against him. They struck the Canaanites and the Perizzites. But Adoni-Bezek fled. They pursued him, caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his big toes. Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their big toes cut off, scavenged under my table. As I have done, so God[c] has done to me.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there. The children of Judah fought against Jerusalem, took it, struck it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.

After that, the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, and in the South, and in the lowland. 10 Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron. (The name of Hebron before that was Kiriath Arba.) They struck Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

11 From there he went against the inhabitants of Debir. (The name of Debir before that was Kiriath Sepher.) 12 Caleb said, “I will give Achsah my daughter as wife to the man who strikes Kiriath Sepher, and takes it.” 13 Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it, so he gave him Achsah his daughter as his wife.

14 When she came, she got him to ask her father for a field. She got off her donkey; and Caleb said to her, “What would you like?”

15 She said to him, “Give me a blessing; because you have set me in the land of the South, give me also springs of water.” Then Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. 16 The children of the Kenite, Moses’ brother-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad; and they went and lived with the people. 17 Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they struck the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. The name of the city was called Hormah. 18 Also Judah took Gaza with its border, and Ashkelon with its border, and Ekron with its border. 19 Yahweh was with Judah, and drove out the inhabitants of the hill country; for he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron. 20 They gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said, and he drove the three sons of Anak out of there. 21 The children of Benjamin didn’t drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem, but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

22 The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and Yahweh was with them. 23 The house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel. (The name of the city before that was Luz.) 24 The watchers saw a man come out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the entrance into the city, and we will deal kindly with you.” 25 He showed them the entrance into the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man and all his family go. 26 The man went into the land of the Hittites, built a city, and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day.

27 Manasseh didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its towns, nor Taanach and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. 28 When Israel had grown strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, and didn’t utterly drive them out. 29 Ephraim didn’t drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, but the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them. 30 Zebulun didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites lived among them, and became subject to forced labor. 31 Asher didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Acco, nor the inhabitants of Sidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob; 32 but the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they didn’t drive them out. 33 Naphtali didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beth Anath; but he lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and of Beth Anath became subject to forced labor. 34 The Amorites forced the children of Dan into the hill country, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley; 35 but the Amorites would dwell in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim. Yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became subject to forced labor. 36 The border of the Amorites was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.

Footnotes

  1. 1:1 “Yahweh” is God’s proper Name, sometimes rendered “LORD” (all caps) in other translations.
  2. 1:2 “Behold”, from “הִנֵּה”, means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection.
  3. 1:7 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “אֱלֹהִ֑ים” (Elohim).