Old/New Testament

The Men of Judah Fight the Canaanites

1 Joshua died. Then the people of Israel prayed to the Lord. They said, “Who will be first to go and fight for us against the Canaanite people?”

² The Lord said to them, “The tribe of Judah will go. I have given them the power to take this land.”

³ The men of Judah asked for help from the men of Simeon, their relatives. The men of Judah said, “Come and help us fight the Canaanites for our land. If you do, we will go and help you fight for your land.” So the men of Simeon went with them.

⁴ The Lord gave the men of Judah the victory over the Canaanites and the Perizzites. The men of Judah defeated l0,000 men at the city of Bezek. ⁵ There they found Adoni-Bezek, the ruler of the city, and fought him. The men of Judah defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. ⁶ So Adoni-Bezek ran away. But the men of Judah chased him. When they caught him, they cut off his thumbs and big toes.

⁷ Then Adoni-Bezek said, “I cut off the thumbs and big toes of 70 kings. And those kings had to eat scraps that fell from my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them.” The men of Judah took Adoni-Bezek to Jerusalem, and he died there.

⁸ Then the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it. They used their swords to kill the people of Jerusalem. And they burned the city.

⁹ Later, they went down to fight against more of the Canaanites. Some of the Canaanites lived in the mountains. Others lived in the dry country to the south. And still others lived in the western mountain slopes. ¹⁰ Then the men of Judah went to fight against the Canaanites in the city of Hebron. (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba.) The men of Judah defeated the descendants of Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai.

Caleb and His Daughter

¹¹ Then the men of Judah left Hebron. They went to the city of Debir to fight against the people there. (Debir used to be called Kiriath Sepher.) ¹² Before attacking the city, Caleb said, “I want a man to attack and capture the city of Kiriath Sepher. I will give him Acsah, my daughter, as a wife.” ¹³ Caleb had a younger brother named Kenaz. Kenaz had a son named Othniel. Othniel captured the city of Kiriath Sepher. So Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to Othniel to be his wife. ¹⁴ When Acsah came to Othniel, he told her to ask her father for some land. So she got down from her donkey, and Caleb said, “What do you want?”

¹⁵ Acsah answered Caleb, “Do me a favor. You have put me in the dry land of southern Judah. Give me some land with springs of water.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs of water.

Fights with the Canaanites

¹⁶ The Kenite people left Jericho, the city of palm trees. They went with the men of Judah. The Kenites went to the Desert of Judah to live with the people there. This was in southern Judah near the city of Arad. (The Kenites were from the family of Moses’ father-in-law.)

¹⁷ Some Canaanite people also lived in the city of Zephath. So the men of Judah and the men of Simeon, their relatives, defeated those Canaanites. They completely destroyed the city. So they called the city Hormah.^{[a] 18} The men of Judah captured Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron and all the lands around them.

¹⁹ The Lord was on the side of the men of Judah. They took the land in the mountains. But they could not force out the people living on the plain. This was because those people had iron chariots. ²⁰ As Moses had promised, Hebron was given to Caleb. Caleb forced out the three sons of Anak. ²¹ But the people of Benjamin could not make the Jebusite people leave Jerusalem. Since that time the Jebusites have lived with the Benjaminites in Jerusalem.

²² The men of Joseph went to fight against the city of Bethel. The Lord was on their side. ²³ They sent some spies to Bethel. (Bethel used to be called Luz.) ²⁴ The spies saw a man coming out of the city. They said to him, “Show us a way into the city. If you help us, we will be kind to you.” ²⁵ The man showed the spies the way into the city. The men of Joseph killed the people in Bethel. But the man who helped them and his family were allowed to go free. ²⁶ He went to the land where the Hittite people lived, and he built a city. He named the city Luz, and it is called that today.

²⁷ There were Canaanites living in the cities of Beth Shan, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo and the small towns around them. The people of Manasseh did not force those people out of their towns. The Canaanites were determined to stay there. ²⁸ Later, the people of Israel grew strong. They forced the Canaanites to work as slaves for them. But the Israelites did not make all the Canaanites leave their land. ²⁹ There were Canaanites living in Gezer. And the people of Ephraim did not make all of those Canaanites leave their land. So the Canaanite people continued to live in Gezer with the people of Ephraim. ³⁰ Some Canaanites lived in the cities of Kitron and Nahalol. The people of Zebulun did not make them leave their land. They stayed and lived with the people of Zebulun. But Zebulun made them work as slaves.

³¹ The people of Asher did not make the Canaanites leave the cities of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Aczib, Helbah, Aphek and Rehob. ³² The people of Asher did not make them leave their land. So the Canaanites continued to live with the people of Asher. ³³ The people of Naphtali did not make the people leave the cities of Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath. So the people of Naphtali continued to live with the Canaanites in those cities. Those people worked as slaves for the people of Naphtali. ³⁴ The Amorites forced the Danites back into the mountains. The Amorites would not let them come down to live in the plain. ³⁵ The Amorites were determined to stay in Mount Heres, Aijalon and Shaalbim. But the Israelites grew stronger. Then they made the Amorites work as slaves for them. ³⁶ The land of the Amorites was from Scorpion Pass to Sela and beyond it.

The Angel of the Lord at Bokim

2 The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim. He spoke to the people of Israel there and said: “I brought you up from Egypt. I led you to the land I promised to give to your ancestors. I said, ‘I will never break my agreement with you. ² But in return, you must not make an agreement with the people who live in this land. You must destroy their altars.’ But you did not obey me. How could you do this? ³ Now I will tell you this: ‘I will not force out the people in this land. They will become your enemies. Their gods will become a trap for you.’”

⁴ After the angel gave Israel this message from the Lord, they cried loudly. ⁵ So they named the place Bokim.^[b] There they offered sacrifices to the Lord.

Joshua Dies

⁶ Then Joshua told the people they could go home. So each one went to take his own share of the land. ⁷ The people of Israel served the Lord as long as Joshua was alive. They continued serving the Lord during the lifetimes of the elders who lived on after Joshua. These men had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel. ⁸ Joshua son of Nun was the servant of the Lord. Joshua died at the age of 110. ⁹ So the Israelites buried him in the land he had been given. That land was at Timnath Heres. It was in the mountains of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

The People Disobey

¹⁰ After those people had died, their children grew up. They did not know the Lord or what he had done for Israel. ¹¹ So they did evil and worshiped the Baal idols. They did what the Lord said was wrong. ¹² The Lord had brought the people of Israel out of Egypt. And the ancestors of these people had worshiped the Lord. But the Israelites quit following the Lord. They began to worship the gods of the people who lived around them. That made the Lord angry. ¹³ The Israelites quit following the Lord and worshiped Baal and Ashtoreth. ¹⁴ The Lord was angry with the people of Israel. So he let robbers attack them and take their possessions. He let their enemies who lived around them defeat them. They could not protect themselves from their enemies. ¹⁵ When the Israelites went out to fight, they always lost. They lost because the Lord was not on their side. The Lord had sworn to them this would happen. So the Israelites suffered very much.

God Chooses Judges

¹⁶ Then the Lord chose leaders called judges.^[c] These leaders saved the people of Israel from the robbers. ¹⁷ But the Israelites did not listen to their judges. They were not faithful to God. They followed other gods instead. In the past the people of Israel obeyed the Lord’s commands. But now the Israelites stopped obeying the Lord. ¹⁸ Many times the enemies of Israel hurt the Israelites. So the Israelites would cry for help. And each time the Lord felt sorry for them. Each time he sent a judge to save them from their enemies. The Lord was with those judges. ¹⁹ But when each judge died, the Israelites again sinned and worshiped the false gods. They became worse than their ancestors. The Israelites were very stubborn; they refused to change their evil ways.

²⁰ So the Lord became angry with the Israelites. He said, “These people have broken the agreement I made with their ancestors. They have not listened to me. ²¹ So I will no longer defeat the nations who were left when Joshua died. ²² I will use those nations to test Israel. I will see if Israel keeps the Lord’s commands as their ancestors did.” ²³ In the past the Lord had permitted those nations to stay in the land. He did not quickly force them out. He did not help Joshua’s army defeat them.

3 These are the nations the Lord did not force to leave. He wanted to test the Israelites who had not fought in the wars to take Canaan. ² The only reason the Lord left those nations in the land was to teach the descendants of the Israelites. He wanted to teach the people who had not fought in those wars how to fight. ³ These are the nations: the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the people of Sidon and the Hivites. The Hivites lived in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath. ⁴ Those nations were in the land to test the Israelites. The Lord wanted to see if Israel would obey the commands he had given to their ancestors by Moses.

⁵ The people of Israel lived with the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. ⁶ The Israelites began to marry the daughters of those people. And the Israelites allowed their daughters to marry the sons of those people. Israel served the gods of those people.

Othniel, the First Judge

⁷ The people of Israel did what the Lord said was wrong. They forgot about the Lord their God. Instead, they served the idols of Baal and Asherah. ⁸ The Lord was angry with Israel. He allowed Cushan-Rishathaim king of Northwest Mesopotamia to rule over the Israelites. They were under that king’s rule for eight years. ⁹ Then Israel cried to the Lord. So the Lord sent a man to save them. He was Othniel son of Kenaz. (Kenaz was Caleb’s younger brother.) Othniel saved the Israelites. ¹⁰ The Spirit of the Lord entered Othniel. And he became Israel’s judge and went to war. The Lord helped him to defeat Cushan-Rishathaim king of Northwest Mesopotamia. ¹¹ So the land was at peace for 40 years. Then Othniel son of Kenaz died.

Ehud, the Judge

¹² Again the people of Israel did what the Lord said was wrong. So the Lord gave Eglon king of Moab power to defeat Israel. This was because of the evil Israel did. ¹³ Eglon got the Ammonite people and the Amalekite people to join him. Then he attacked Israel and took Jericho, the city of palm trees. ¹⁴ The people of Israel were under the rule of Eglon king of Moab for 18 years.

¹⁵ So the people cried to the Lord. And he sent a man to save them. That man was Ehud, who was left-handed. Ehud was the son of Gera from the people of Benjamin. Israel sent Ehud to give Eglon king of Moab the payment he demanded. ¹⁶ Ehud made a sword for himself. The sword had two edges and was about 18 inches long. He tied the sword to his right upper leg under his clothes. ¹⁷ So Ehud came to Eglon king of Moab and gave him the payment he demanded. Eglon was a very fat man. ¹⁸ After he had given Eglon the payment, Ehud sent home the men who had carried it. ¹⁹ When he passed the statues near the city Gilgal, he turned around. Ehud said to Eglon, “I have a secret message for you, King Eglon.”

The king said, “Be quiet!” Then he sent all of his servants out of the room. ²⁰ Ehud went to King Eglon. Eglon was now sitting alone in the room on top of his summer palace.

Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” As the king stood up from his chair, ²¹ Ehud reached with his left hand. He took out the sword that was tied to his right upper leg. Then he stabbed the sword deep into the king’s belly! ²² The sword went into Eglon’s belly so far that even the handle sank in. And the blade came out his back. The king’s fat covered the whole sword. So Ehud left the sword in Eglon. ²³ He went out of the room and closed and locked the doors behind him.

²⁴ The servants returned just after Ehud left. They found the doors to the room locked. So they thought the king was relieving himself. ²⁵ They waited for a long time. Finally they became worried because he still had not opened the doors. So they got the key and unlocked them. When they entered, they saw their king lying dead on the floor!

²⁶ While the servants were waiting, Ehud had escaped. He passed by the statues and went to Seirah. ²⁷ When he arrived there, he blew a trumpet in the mountains of Ephraim. The people of Israel heard it and went down from the hills with Ehud leading them.

²⁸ He said to them, “Follow me! The Lord has helped us to defeat our enemies, the people of Moab.” So Israel followed Ehud. They took control of the places where the Jordan River could easily be crossed. Israel did not allow the Moabites to come across the Jordan River. ²⁹ Israel killed about 10,000 strong and able men from Moab. Not one Moabite man escaped. ³⁰ So that day Moab was forced to be under the rule of Israel. And there was peace in the land for 80 years.

Shamgar, the Judge

³¹ After Ehud, another man saved Israel. His name was Shamgar son of Anath. Shamgar killed 600 Philistines with a sharp stick used to guide oxen.

Jesus Is Tempted by the Devil

4 Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. The Spirit led Jesus into the desert ² where the devil tempted Jesus for 40 days. Jesus ate nothing during that time. When those days were ended, he was very hungry.

³ The devil said to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, tell this rock to become bread.”

⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written in the Scriptures: ‘A person does not live only by eating bread.’”^[a]

⁵ Then the devil took Jesus and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ⁶ The devil said to Jesus, “I will give you all these kingdoms and all their power and glory. It has all been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I wish. ⁷ If you worship me, all will be yours.”

⁸ Jesus answered, “It is written in the Scriptures: ‘You must worship the Lord your God. Serve only him!’”^[b]

⁹ Then the devil led Jesus to Jerusalem and put him on a high place of the Temple. He said to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! ¹⁰ It is written in the Scriptures:

¹² Jesus answered, “But it also says in the Scriptures: ‘Do not test the Lord your God.’”^[c]

¹³ After the devil had tempted Jesus in every way, he went away to wait until a better time.

Jesus Teaches the People

¹⁴ Jesus went back to Galilee with the power of the Holy Spirit. Stories about Jesus spread all through the area. ¹⁵ He began to teach in the synagogues, and all the people praised him.

¹⁶ Jesus traveled to Nazareth, where he had grown up. On the Sabbath day he went to the synagogue as he always did. Jesus stood up to read. ¹⁷ The book of Isaiah the prophet was given to him. He opened the book and found the place where this is written:

²⁰ Jesus closed the book, gave it back, and sat down. Everyone in the synagogue was watching Jesus closely. ²¹ He began to speak to them. He said, “While you heard these words just now, they were coming true!”

²² All the people praised Jesus. They were amazed at the beautiful words he spoke. They asked, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

²³ Jesus said to them, “I know that you will tell me the old saying: ‘Doctor, heal yourself.’ You want to say, ‘We heard about the things you did in Capernaum. Do those things here in your own town!’” ²⁴ Then Jesus said, “I tell you the truth. A prophet is not accepted in his own town. ²⁵ What I say is true. During the time of Elijah it did not rain in Israel for three and a half years. There was no food anywhere in the whole country. And there were many widows in Israel during that time. ²⁶ But Elijah was sent to none of those widows. He was sent only to a widow in Zarephath, a town in Sidon. ²⁷ And there were many with a harmful skin disease living in Israel during the time of the prophet Elisha. But none of them were healed except Naaman, who was from the country of Syria.”

²⁸ When all the people in the synagogue heard these things, they became very angry. ²⁹ They got up and forced Jesus out of town. The town was built on a hill. They took Jesus to the edge of the hill and wanted to throw him off. ³⁰ But Jesus walked through the crowd and went on his way.