Judges 1:1-18

International Standard Version

The Capture of Jerusalem

1 Sometime after Joshua had died, the Israelis asked the Lord, “Who is to lead^[a] us against the Canaanites in our opening attack against them?”

² The Lord replied, “The tribe of^[b] Judah is to lead you.^[c] Look! I’ve given the land into their control.”

³ But the tribe of Judah told the tribe of Simeon, the descendants of Judah’s^[d] brother, “Come with us^[e] into our territory, and we’ll both fight the Canaanites. In return, we’ll^[f] go with you when you fight in your territory.” So the army of^[g] the tribe of Simeon accompanied the army of the tribe of Judah.

⁴ When the army of the tribe of Judah went into battle, the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their control, and they defeated 10,000 men at Bezek. ⁵ They located Adoni-bezek in Bezek, fought him, and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. ⁶ Adoni-bezek ran off, but they pursued him, caught him, and amputated his thumbs and big toes. ⁷ Adoni-bezek used to brag, “Seventy kings without thumbs and big toes used to eat what was left under my table. God has repaid me for what I’ve done.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he later died there.

⁸ Then the army of Judah attacked Jerusalem, captured it, executed its inhabitants, and set fire to the city. ⁹ Later, the army of Judah left Jerusalem^[h] to attack the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, the Negev,^[i] and the Shephelah.^{[j] 10} They^[k] attacked the Canaanites who inhabited Hebron (formerly known as Kiriath-arba) and fought Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

The Capture of Debir^(A)

¹¹ The army of Judah then proceeded to attack the inhabitants of Debir, which used to be known as Kiriath-sepher. ¹² Caleb announced, “I’ll give my daughter Achsah in marriage to whomever leads the attack against Kiriath-sepher and captures it.” ¹³ Othniel, Caleb’s nephew through his younger brother Kenaz, captured the city, so Caleb^[l] awarded him his daughter Achsah in marriage.

¹⁴ Later on, after she had arrived, she urged Othniel^[m] to ask her father for a field. As she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you want^[n] for yourself?”

¹⁵ “I want this blessing from you,” she replied. “Since you’ve given me land in the Negev,^[o] give me water springs, too.” So Caleb gave her both the upper and lower springs.

The Capture of Certain Southern Territories

¹⁶ The descendants of the Kenites, the tribe from which^[p] Moses’ father-in-law came, accompanied the descendants of Judah from the city of the palms to the Judean wilderness, which is in the desert area south of Arad, and lived with the people there. ¹⁷ The army of Judah accompanied the army of Simeon, Judah’s^[q] brother, as they attacked the Canaanites who were living in Zephath, and they completely destroyed it. Then they renamed the city Hormah. ¹⁸ The army of Judah captured Gaza and its territory, Ashkelon and its territory, and Ekron and its territory.