Chronological
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. 19 The Lord was with the army of Judah, and they captured the hill country, but did not expel the inhabitants of the valley because they were equipped with iron chariots.
Hebron Awarded to Caleb(B)
20 They gave Hebron to Caleb, just as Moses had promised,[r] and he drove out the three sons of Anak from there. 21 However, the descendants of Benjamin did not expel the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived with the descendants of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
The Capture of Bethel
22 Then the army of the tribe[s] of Joseph attacked Bethel, and the Lord was with them. 23 The army of the tribe of Joseph scouted out Bethel, which had been formerly named Luz. 24 The scouts observed a man coming out of the city and they promised him, “Please show us the entrance to the city and we’ll deal kindly with you.” 25 So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they attacked the city with swords, but they let the man and his entire family escape. 26 So the man traveled to the land of the Hittites and built a city that he named “Luz,” and it is called by that name to this day.
Unconquered Territories
27 The army of the tribe of Manasseh did not conquer Beth-shean and its villages, Taanach and its villages, the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages. Instead, the Canaanites continued to live in that land. 28 When Israel had grown strong, they subjected the Canaanites to conscripted labor and never did expel them completely.
29 The army of the tribe of Ephraim did not expel the Canaanites who were living in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.
30 The army of the tribe of Zebulun did not expel the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them, but were subjected to conscripted labor.
31 The army of the tribe of Asher did not expel the inhabitants of Acco nor the inhabitants of Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob. 32 So the descendants of Asher lived among the Canaanites who continued to inhabit the land, because they did not expel them.
33 The army of the tribe of Naphtali did not expel the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and the inhabitants of Beth-anath. Instead, they lived among the Canaanites who inhabited the land. However, the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath were subjected to conscripted labor.
34 Later on, the Amorites forced the descendants of Dan into the hill country and did not permit them to come into the valleys of the hills. 35 Furthermore, the Amorites continued to inhabit Mount Heres in Aijalon and Shaalbim. Eventually, however, after the tribe[t] of Joseph had become strong, the Amorites[u] were subjected to conscripted labor. 36 The Amorite border extended upward from the Akrabbim Ascent, that is, from Sela.
Israel is Rebuked
2 Some time later, the angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim and announced to Israel,[v] “I brought you up from Egypt and led you into the land that I promised to your ancestors. I had told them,[w] ‘I’ll never breach my covenant with you. 2 As for you, you must not make any treaties[x] with the inhabitants of this land. Instead, tear down their altars.’ But you haven’t obeyed me. What have you done? 3 Therefore I’m now saying,[y] ‘I won’t expel them before you. Instead, they’ll remain at your side, and their gods will ensnare you.’”
4 Because the angel of the Lord said these things to all of the Israelis, the people wept out loud, 5 which is why they named the place Bochim.[z] And there they sacrificed to the Lord. 6 After Joshua had dismissed the people, the Israelis returned to their respective inheritances to take possession of the land.
The Death of Joshua(C)
7 The people served the Lord during the entire lifetime of Joshua as well as the lifetimes of all the elders who outlived Joshua and who had observed all the great deeds that the Lord had done for Israel. 8 But then Nun’s son Joshua, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110 years. 9 They buried him in Timnath-heres, within the boundaries of his inheritance in the mountainous region[aa] of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. 10 After that whole generation had died,[ab] another generation grew up after them that was not acquainted with the Lord or with what he had done for Israel.
The Rise of the Judges
11 So the Israelis practiced what the Lord considered to be evil by worshiping Canaanite deities.[ac] 12 They abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods from among the gods of the peoples who surrounded them. They bowed down in worship of them, and by doing so angered the Lord. 13 As a result, they abandoned the Lord by serving both Baal[ad] and Ashtaroth.[ae] 14 So in his burning anger against Israel, the Lord gave them into the domination of marauders who plundered them. The enemies who surrounded the Israelis[af] controlled them, and they were no longer able to withstand their adversaries. 15 Wherever they went, the Lord worked[ag] against them to bring misfortune, just as the Lord had warned, and just as the Lord had promised them. As a result, they suffered greatly.
16 Then the Lord raised up leaders,[ah] who delivered Israel[ai] from domination by their marauders. 17 But they didn’t listen to their leaders, because they were committing spiritual immorality by following other gods and worshiping them. They quickly turned away from the road on which their ancestors had walked in obedience to the commands of the Lord. They didn’t follow their example. 18 As a result, whenever the Lord raised up leaders for them, the Lord remained present with their leader, delivering Israel[aj] from the control of their enemies during the lifetime of that leader. The Lord[ak] was moved with compassion by their groaning that had been caused by those who were oppressing and persecuting them. 19 However, after the leader had died, they would relapse to a condition more corrupt than their ancestors, following other gods, serving them, and worshiping them. They would not abandon their activities or their obstinate lifestyles.
20 In his burning anger against Israel, the Lord said, “Because the people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their ancestors to keep, and because they haven’t obeyed me, 21 I’m also going to stop expelling any of the nations that remained after Joshua died. 22 That way, I’ll use them to demonstrate whether or not Israel will keep the Lord’s lifestyle by walking on that road like their ancestors did.” 23 So the Lord caused those nations to remain and did not expel them quickly. He did not give them into Joshua’s control.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.