Judges 1:1-18
Lexham English Bible
Israel Continues Its Conquest
1 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?” 2 And Yahweh said, “Judah will go up. I hereby give the land into his hand.” 3 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. 4 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. 5 At Bezek they came upon Adoni-bezek, and they fought against him and defeated the Canaanites[e] and the Perizzites.[f] 6 And Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued after him; they caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes.[g] 7 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.
8 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] 9 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.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Judges 1:1 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Judges 1:1 Hebrew “Canaanite”
- Judges 1:4 Hebrew “Canaanite”
- Judges 1:4 Hebrew “Perizzite”
- Judges 1:5 Hebrew “Canaanite”
- Judges 1:5 Hebrew “Perizzite”
- Judges 1:6 Literally “the thumbs of his hands and feet”
- Judges 1:7 Literally “the thumbs of their hands and feet”
- Judges 1:8 Or “sons/children”
- Judges 1:8 Literally “they struck it with the mouth of the sword”
- Judges 1:8 Literally “the city they sent away with fire”
- Judges 1:9 Or “sons/children”
- Judges 1:9 Hebrew “Canaanite”
- Judges 1:9 An arid region south of the Judean hills
- Judges 1:9 A geographical region associated with an area of low country on the western edge of the Judaean hills.
- Judges 1:10 Hebrew “Canaanite”
- Judges 1:14 Literally “What is for you?”
- Judges 1:15 Literally “blessing”
- Judges 1:15 An arid region south of the Judaean hills
- Judges 1:15 Judges 1:11–15 is almost identical to Joshua 15:13–19
- Judges 1:16 Or “sons/children”
- Judges 1:16 Or “sons/children”
- Judges 1:16 An arid region south of the Judaean hills
- Judges 1:16 Hebrew “he went”
- Judges 1:17 Hebrew “Canaanite”
Judges 1:1-18
New King James Version
The Continuing Conquest of Canaan(A)
1 Now after the (B)death of Joshua it came to pass that the children of Israel (C)asked the Lord, saying, “Who shall be first to go up for us against the (D)Canaanites to fight against them?”
2 And the Lord said, (E)“Judah shall go up. Indeed I have delivered the land into his hand.”
3 So Judah said to (F)Simeon his brother, “Come up with me to my allotted territory, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and (G)I will likewise go with you to your allotted territory.” And Simeon went with him. 4 Then Judah went up, and the Lord delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand; and they killed ten thousand men at (H)Bezek. 5 And they found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and fought against him; and they defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. 6 Then Adoni-Bezek fled, and they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes. 7 And Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to gather scraps under my table; (I)as I have done, so God has repaid me.” Then they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.
8 Now (J)the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it; they struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire. 9 (K)And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who dwelt in the mountains, in the [a]South, and in the lowland. 10 Then Judah [b]went against the Canaanites who dwelt in (L)Hebron. (Now the name of Hebron was formerly (M)Kirjath Arba.) And they killed Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.
11 (N)From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. (The name of Debir was formerly Kirjath Sepher.)
12 (O)Then Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kirjath Sepher and takes it, to him I will give my daughter Achsah as wife.” 13 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, (P)Caleb’s younger brother, took it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah as wife. 14 (Q)Now it happened, when she came to him, that [c]she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you wish?” 15 So she said to him, (R)“Give me a blessing; since you have given me land in the South, give me also springs of water.”
And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
16 (S)Now the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up (T)from the City of Palms with the children of Judah into the Wilderness of Judah, which lies in the South near (U)Arad; (V)and they went and dwelt among the people. 17 (W)And Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they attacked the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. So the name of the city was called (X)Hormah. 18 Also Judah took (Y)Gaza with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Judges 1:9 Heb. Negev, and so throughout the book
- Judges 1:10 attacked
- Judges 1:14 LXX, Vg. he urged her
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
