Judges 1

1 And it cometh to pass, after the death of Joshua, that the sons of Israel ask at Jehovah, saying, 'Who doth go up for us unto the Canaanite, at the commencement, to fight against it?'

After Joshua died, the Israelites asked the Lord, “Which tribe from among us should go first and attack the Canaanites?”

2 And Jehovah saith, 'Judah doth go up; lo, I have given the land into his hand.'

“Judah is to go first,” the Lord replied. “I have handed the land over to them.”

3 And Judah saith to Simeon his brother, 'Go up with me into my lot, and we fight against the Canaanite — and I have gone, even I, with thee into thy lot;' and Simeon goeth with him.

The men of Judah said to their relatives of the tribe of Simeon, “Come with us to the land that has been allotted to us, and fight together with us against the Canaanites. Then we'll do the same for you and your allotted land.” So the tribe of Simeon joined with them.

4 And Judah goeth up, and Jehovah giveth the Canaanite and the Perizzite into their hand, and they smite them in Bezek — ten thousand men;

The men of Judah attacked the Canaanites and Perizzites, and the Lord handed them over in defeat. They killed ten thousand of the enemy at the town of Bezek.

5 and they find Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and fight against him, and smite the Canaanite and the Perizzite.

There they confronted Adoni-bezek and fought with him, defeating the Canaanites and Perizzites.

6 And Adoni-Bezek fleeth, and they pursue after him, and seize him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes,

Adoni-bezek ran away, but they chased after him and captured him, and then cut off his thumbs and big toes.

7 and Adoni-Bezek saith, 'Seventy kings — their thumbs and their great toes cut off — have been gathering under my table; as I have done so hath God repaid to me;' and they bring him in to Jerusalem, and he dieth there.

Adoni-bezek said, “I had seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off picking up left-overs from under my table. Now God has paid me back in the same way what I did to them.” They took him to Jerusalem where he died.

8 And the sons of Judah fight against Jerusalem, and capture it, and smite it by the mouth of the sword, and the city they have sent into fire;

The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem and conquered it. They killed the inhabitants with the sword and burned the town down.

9 and afterwards have the sons of Judah gone down to fight against the Canaanite, inhabiting the hill-country, and the south, and the low country;

After this the men of Judah went to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, in the Negev, and in the foothills of the lowlands.

10 and Judah goeth unto the Canaanite who is dwelling in Hebron (and the name of Hebron formerly [is] Kirjath-Arba), and they smite Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai.

They attacked the Canaanites who lived Hebron (previously known as Kiriath Arba) and defeated Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

11 And he goeth thence unto the inhabitants of Debir (and the name of Debir formerly [is] Kirjath-Sepher),

From there they went on to attack the people living in Debir (previously known as Kiriath Sepher).

12 and Caleb saith, 'He who smiteth Kirjath-Sepher — and hath captured it — then I have given to him Achsah my daughter for a wife.'

Caleb announced, “I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to whoever attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher.”

13 And Othniel son of Kenaz, younger brother of Caleb, doth capture it, and he giveth to him Achsah his daughter for a wife.

Othniel, son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, was the one captured it, so he gave him his daughter Acsah in marriage.

14 And it cometh to pass in her coming in, that she persuadeth him to ask from her father the field, and she lighteth from off the ass, and Caleb saith to her, 'What — to thee?'

When Acsah came to Othniel, she encouraged him to ask her father for a field. As she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you want?”

15 And she saith to him, 'Give to me a blessing; when the south land thou hast given me — then thou hast given to me springs of water; and Caleb giveth to her the upper springs and the lower springs.

“Please give me a blessing,” she replied. “You gave me land that's like the desert, so please give me springs of water as well.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.

16 And the sons of the Kenite, father-in-law of Moses, have gone up out of the city of palms with the sons of Judah [to] the wilderness of Judah, which [is] in the south of Arad, and they go and dwell with the people.

The descendants of Moses' father-in-law, the Kenite, went with the people of Judah from the city of palms to the wilderness of Judah in the Negev near Arad where they settled among the people.

17 And Judah goeth with Simeon his brother, and they smite the Canaanite inhabiting Zephath, and devote it; and [one] calleth the name of the city Hormah.

Then Judah joined Simeon and defeated the Canaanites living in Zephath. They completely destroyed the town, so they named it Hormah.

18 And Judah captureth Gaza and its border, and Askelon and its border, and Ekron and its border;

Judah also captured the towns of Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron, each with its surrounding territory.

19 and Jehovah is with Judah, and he occupieth the hill-country, but not to dispossess the inhabitants of the valley, for they have chariots of iron.

The Lord was with Judah, and they took over the hill country, but they could not drive out the people living on the plain because they had iron chariots.

20 And they give to Caleb Hebron, as Moses hath spoken, and he dispossesseth thence the three sons of Anak.

As Moses had stipulated, Hebron was given to Caleb, who drove out from it the descendants of three sons of Anak.

21 And the Jebusite, inhabiting Jerusalem, the sons of Benjamin have not dispossessed; and the Jebusite dwelleth with the sons of Benjamin, in Jerusalem, till this day.

However, Benjamin could not drive out the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so the Jebusites live among the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this very day.

22 And the house of Joseph go up — even they — to Beth-El, and Jehovah [is] with them;

The descendants of Joseph went and attacked the town of Bethel, and the Lord was with them.

23 and the house of Joseph cause [men] to spy about Beth-El (and the name of the city formerly is Luz),

They sent spies to investigate Bethel, which was previously known as Luz.

24 and the watchers see a man coming out from the city, and say to him, 'Shew us, we pray thee, the entrance of the city, and we have done with thee kindness.'

The spies saw a man leaving the town and told him, “Please show us how to get into town, and we will treat you well.”

25 And he sheweth them the entrance of the city, and they smite the city by the mouth of the sword, and the man and all his family they have sent away;

The man showed them the way into the town, and they killed all the inhabitants except the man and his family, whom they let go.

26 and the man goeth to the land of the Hittites, and buildeth a city, and calleth its name Luz — it [is] its name unto this day.

The man moved to the country of the Hittites, and built a town there and called it Luz, which is its name to this day.

27 And Manasseh hath not occupied Beth-Shean and its towns, and Taanach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Iblaim and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns, and the Canaanite is desirous to dwell in that land;

However, Manasseh didn't drive out the people living in the towns of Beth Shan, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo and their surrounding villages because the Canaanites insisted on living in the land.

28 and it cometh to pass, when Israel hath been strong, that he setteth the Canaanite to tribute, and hath not utterly dispossessed it.

When the Israelites grew stronger, they made the Canaanites do forced labor, but they never completely drove them out.

29 And Ephraim hath not dispossessed the Canaanite who is dwelling in Gezer, and the Canaanite dwelleth in its midst, in Gezer.

Ephraim didn't drive out the Canaanites living in the town of Gezer, so the Canaanites went on living there among them.

30 Zebulun hath not dispossessed the inhabitants of Kitron, and the inhabitants of Nahalol, and the Canaanite dwelleth in its midst, and they become tributary.

Zebulun didn't drive out the people living in the towns of Kitron and Nahalol, so the Canaanites went on living there among them. However, the Canaanites were made to do forced labor for the people of Zebulun.

31 Asher hath not dispossessed the inhabitants of Accho, and the inhabitants of Zidon, and Ahlab, and Achzib, and Helbah, and Aphik, and Rehob;

Asher didn't drive out the people living in the towns of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, and Rehob,

32 and the Asherite dwelleth in the midst of the Canaanite, the inhabitants of the land, for it hath not dispossessed them.

so the people of Asher went on living there among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land because they hadn't driven them out.

33 Naphtali hath not dispossessed the inhabitants of Beth-Shemesh, and the inhabitants of Beth-Anath, and he dwelleth in the midst of the Canaanite, the inhabitants of the land; and the inhabitants of Beth-Shemesh and of Beth-Anath have become tributary to them.

Naphtali didn't drive out the people living in the towns of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath. So the people of Asher went on living there among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land because they hadn't driven them out. However, the people of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath were made to do forced labor for the people of Naphtali.

34 And the Amorites press the sons of Dan to the mountain, for they have not suffered them to go down to the valley;

The Amorites pushed the people of Dan back into the hill country—they did not let them come down into the lowlands.

35 and the Amorite is desirous to dwell in mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, and the hand of the house of Joseph is heavy, and they become tributary;

The Amorites insisted on remaining in Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim, but when the tribes of Joseph grew stronger, the Amorites were made to do forced labor.

36 and the border of the Amorite [is] from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock and upward.

The border with the Amorites ran from Scorpion Pass through Sela and on up from there.