Historical
The Fight Against the Canaanites
1 Now it happened after the death of Joshua that the sons of Israel (A)asked of [a]Yahweh, saying, “Who shall go up first for us (B)against the Canaanites, to fight against them?” 2 And Yahweh said, “(C)Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.” 3 Then Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into [b]the territory allotted me, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and [c]I in turn will go with you into [d]the territory allotted you.” So Simeon went with him. 4 So Judah went up, and (D)Yahweh gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hands, and they struck down 10,000 men at Bezek. 5 Then they found Adoni-bezek in Bezek and fought against him, and they struck down the Canaanites and the Perizzites. 6 But Adoni-bezek fled; and they pursued him and seized him and cut off his [e]thumbs and big toes. 7 And Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and their big toes cut off used to gather up scraps under my table; (E)as I have done, so God has repaid me.” So they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.
8 Then the sons of Judah fought against (F)Jerusalem and captured it and struck 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 Canaanites living in the hill country and in the [f]Negev and in the [g]Shephelah. 10 (G)So Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (now the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba); and they struck Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.
11 Then (H)from there he went against the inhabitants of Debir (now the name of Debir formerly was Kiriath-sepher). 12 And Caleb said, “The one who strikes Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will even give him my daughter Achsah as a wife.” 13 (I)Then Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, captured it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah as a wife. 14 Now (J)it happened that when she came to him, she enticed him to ask her father for the field. Then she alighted from [h]her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What [i]do you want?” 15 And she said to him, “Give me a blessing, since you have given me the land of the [j]Negev, so you shall give me also springs of water.” So Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
16 Now the sons of (K)the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up from the (L)city of palms with the sons of Judah, to the wilderness of Judah which is in the south of (M)Arad; and they went and lived with the people. 17 Then Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they struck the Canaanites living in Zephath and devoted it to destruction. So the name of the city was called (N)Hormah. 18 And Judah captured (O)Gaza with its territory and Ashkelon with its territory and Ekron with its territory. 19 Now Yahweh was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not dispossess the inhabitants of the valley because they had (P)iron chariots. 20 Then they gave Hebron to Caleb, (Q)as Moses had [k]promised; and he dispossessed from there (R)the three sons of Anak. 21 (S)But the sons of Benjamin did not dispossess the (T)Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem; so the Jebusites have lived with the sons 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 ((U)now the name of the city was formerly Luz). 24 Then the [l]spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the entrance to the city, and (V)we will treat you with lovingkindness.” 25 So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword, (W)but they let the man and all his family go free. 26 So the man went into the land of the Hittites and built a city and named it Luz [m]which is its name to this day.
Israel Fails to Complete the Conquest
27 (X)But Manasseh did not take possession of Beth-shean and its towns or Taanach and its towns or the inhabitants of Dor and its towns or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; so (Y)the Canaanites persisted to live in that land. 28 And it happened when Israel became strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not dispossess them completely.
29 (Z)Also Ephraim did not dispossess the Canaanites who were living in Gezer; so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.
30 Zebulun did not dispossess the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of [n]Nahalol; so the Canaanites lived among them and became subject to forced labor.
31 Asher did not dispossess the inhabitants of Acco or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab or of Achzib or of Helbah or of Aphik or of Rehob. 32 So the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not dispossess them.
33 Naphtali did not dispossess the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, but lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; and the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath became forced labor for them.
34 Then the Amorites pressed the sons of Dan into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the valley; 35 and the Amorites persisted in [o]living in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim; but the hand of the house of Joseph became heavy, and they became forced labor. 36 Now the border of the Amorites ran from the (AA)ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upward.
The Angel of Yahweh Speaks to Israel
2 Then (AB)the angel of Yahweh came up from Gilgal to (AC)Bochim. And he said, “(AD)I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land which I have sworn to your fathers; and I said, ‘(AE)I will never break My covenant with you, 2 and as for you, (AF)you shall cut no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; (AG)you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not listened to My voice; what is this you have done? 3 Therefore I also said, ‘(AH)I will not drive them out before you; but they will [p]become (AI)as thorns in your sides, and their gods will become a snare to you.’” 4 So it happened that when the angel of Yahweh spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. 5 So they named that place [q]Bochim; and there they sacrificed to Yahweh.
Joshua’s Death and Burial
6 (AJ)Then Joshua sent the people away, and the sons of Israel went each to his inheritance to possess the land. 7 And the people served Yahweh all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who [r]survived Joshua, who saw all the great work of Yahweh which He had done for Israel. 8 Then Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died at the age of 110. 9 And they buried him in the territory of (AK)his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. 10 And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who (AL)did not know Yahweh or even the work which He had done for Israel.
Israel Serves Baals
11 Then the sons of Israel did (AM)what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh and [s]served the (AN)Baals, 12 and (AO)they forsook Yahweh, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them and bowed themselves down to them; thus they provoked Yahweh to anger. 13 So they forsook Yahweh and (AP)served Baal and the Ashtaroth. 14 (AQ)And the anger of Yahweh burned against Israel, and He gave them into the hands of plunderers who plundered them; and (AR)He sold them into the hands of their enemies around them, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. 15 Wherever they went, the hand of Yahweh was against them for evil, as Yahweh had spoken and (AS)as Yahweh had sworn to them, so that they were severely distressed.
Yahweh Raises Up Judges
16 (AT)Then Yahweh raised up judges [t]who saved them from the hands of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they did not listen to their judges either, for they played the harlot after other gods and bowed themselves down to them. They turned aside quickly from the way (AU)in which their fathers had walked in obeying the commandments of Yahweh; they did not do as their fathers. 18 Now when Yahweh raised up judges for them, (AV)Yahweh was with the judge and saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for Yahweh was (AW)moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed and suppressed them. 19 But it happened when the judge died, that they would turn back and act more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them and bow down to them; they did not abandon their practices or their stubborn ways. 20 (AX)So the anger of Yahweh burned against Israel, and He said, “Because this nation has trespassed against My covenant which I commanded their fathers and has not listened to My voice, 21 (AY)I also will no longer dispossess before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died, 22 in order to (AZ)test Israel by them, whether they will keep the way of Yahweh to walk in it as their fathers [u]did, or not.” 23 So Yahweh allowed those nations to rest, not dispossessing them quickly; and He did not give them into the hand of Joshua.
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