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1 ¶ Now after the death of Joshua, it came to pass that the sons of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first to fight against them?
2 And the LORD said, Judah shall go up; behold, I have delivered the land into his hands.
3 And Judah said unto Simeon, his brother, Come up with me into my lot that we may fight against the Canaanite; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him.
4 And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the Canaanite and the Perizzite into their hands, and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men.
5 And they found Adonibezek in Bezek, and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanite and the Perizzite.
6 But Adonibezek fled, and they pursued after him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.
7 And Adonibezek said, Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered crumbs under my table; as I have done, so God has recompensed me. And they put him into Jerusalem, and there he died.
8 Now the sons of Judah had fought against Jerusalem and had taken it and smitten it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire.
9 ¶ And afterward the sons of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanite that dwelt in the mountains and in the Negev and in the plains.
10 And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron (now the name of Hebron before was Kirjatharba), and they slew Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.
11 And from there he went against the inhabitants of Debir (and the name of Debir before was Kirjathsepher).
12 And Caleb said, He that smites Kirjathsepher and takes it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.
13 And Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it; and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife.
14 And it came to pass when he took her that he persuaded her to ask her father for land to cultivate. And she lighted from off her ass, and Caleb said unto her, What wilt thou?
15 And she said unto him, Give me a blessing, for thou hast given me a dry land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
16 And the sons of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the sons of Judah into the wilderness of Judah which is towards the Negev of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.
17 And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanite that inhabited Zephath and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah.
18 Also Judah took Gaza with its border and Askelon with its border and Ekron with its border.
19 And the LORD was with Judah, who drove out the inhabitants of the mountains, but could not drive out the inhabitants of the plains, because they had chariots of iron.
20 And they gave Hebron unto Caleb as Moses had said, and he expelled from there the three sons of Anak.
21 ¶ And the sons of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; thus the Jebusites dwell with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day.
22 And also those of the house of Joseph went up against Bethel, and the LORD was with them.
23 And those of the house of Joseph put spies in Bethel (Now the name of the city before was Luz).
24 And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, Show us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will show thee mercy.
25 And when he showed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man go and all his family.
26 And the man went into the land of the Hittites and built a city and called the name of it Luz, which is its name unto this day.
27 Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean 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 Canaanite desired to dwell in that land.
28 And it came to pass when Israel was strong that they put the Canaanites under tribute but did not utterly drive them out.
29 Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanite that dwelt in Gezer, but the Canaanite dwelt in Gezer among them.
30 Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron nor the inhabitants of Nahalol, but the Canaanite dwelt among them and became tributaries.
31 Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho nor the inhabitants of Zidon nor of Ahlab nor of Achzib nor of Helbah nor of Aphik nor of Rehob;
32 to the contrary Asher dwelt among the Canaanites that inhabited the land, for they did not drive them out.
33 Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Bethshemesh nor the inhabitants of Bethanath, but he dwelt among the Canaanites that inhabited the land; nevertheless, the inhabitants of Bethshemesh and of Bethanath became tributaries unto them.
34 And the Amorites forced the sons of Dan into the mountain, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley.
35 And the Amorites desired to dwell in Mount Heres in Aijalon and in Shaalbim; yet when the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, they made them tributaries.
36 And the border of the Amorites was from the ascent to Akrabbim from the rock and upward.
2 ¶ And the angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim and said, I brought you up out of Egypt and caused you to enter into the land which I swore unto your fathers, and I said, I will never break my covenant with you
2 as long as ye make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; to the contrary, ye shall throw down their altars, but ye have not heard my voice; why have ye done this?
3 Therefore, I also said, I will not drive them out from before you, but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.
4 And when the angel of the LORD spoke these words unto all the sons of Israel, the people lifted up their voice, and wept.
5 And they called the name of that place Bochim, and they sacrificed there unto the LORD.
6 ¶ For Joshua had let the people go, and the sons of Israel had each gone unto his inheritance to possess the land.
7 And the people had served the LORD all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua who had seen all the great works of the LORD that he had done with Israel.
8 And Joshua, the son of Nun, the slave of the LORD, died, being one hundred and ten years old.
9 And they buried him within the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres in the mount of Ephraim on the north side of the mount of Gaash.
10 And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers, and there arose another generation after them which did not know the LORD nor the work which he had done to Israel.
11 And the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baalim.
12 And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the peoples that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them and provoked the LORD to anger.
13 And they forsook the LORD and served Baal and Ashtaroth.
14 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies.
15 Wherever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said and as the LORD had sworn unto them; and thus they were greatly distressed.
16 Nevertheless, the LORD raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.
17 And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they fornicated after other gods and bowed themselves unto them; they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers had walked hearing the commandments of the LORD; but they did not do so.
18 And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of that judge; for the LORD repented because of their groanings by reason of those that oppressed them and afflicted them.
19 But when the judge was dead, then they would return, and corrupt themselves more than their fathers in following other gods to serve them and to bow down unto them; they did not diminish from their own doings nor from their stubborn way.
20 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he said, Because these people transgress my covenant which I commanded their fathers and do not hearken unto my voice;
21 neither will I drive out any longer from before them any of these Gentiles which Joshua left when he died,
22 that through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD by walking therein as their fathers kept it, or not.
23 Therefore, the LORD left those Gentiles, without driving them out hastily; neither did he deliver them into the hand of Joshua.
Copyright © 2013, 2020 by Ransom Press International