Judges 1

1 And it came to pass, after the death of Joshua, that the sons of Israel asked of Yahweh, saying, —Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites, first, to make war upon them?

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

2 And Yahweh said—Judah, shall go, —lo! I have delivered the land into his power.

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

3 Then said Judah, unto Simeon his brother—Come up with me into the territory allotted me, and let us make war on the Canaanites, then will, I also, go with thee, into thy territory. So Simeon went 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 went up, and Yahweh delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, —and they smote 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 found Adoni-bezek in Bezek, and fought with him, —and smote the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

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

6 But Adoni-bezek fled, and they pursued him, —and took 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 Then said Adoni-bezek—Seventy kings, with their thumbs and great toes cut off, have been picking up crumbs under my table, as I have done, so, hath God requited me. And they brought him into Jerusalem, and he died 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 made war upon Jerusalem, and captured it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, —and, the city, they set on 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, the sons of Judah went down to make war upon the Canaanites, —dwelling in the hill country, and in the south, and in the lowland.

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 went against the Canaanites who were dwelling in Hebron, now, the name of Hebron, formerly, was Kiriath-arba, —and they smote 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 went from thence, against the inhabitants of Debir, —now, the name of Debir, formerly, was Kiriath-sepher.

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

12 And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kiriath-sepher, and captureth it, I will give unto him Achsah my daughter, to wife.

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

13 Then Othniel, son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, captured it, —and he gave him Achsah his daughter, to 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 came pass, when she came, that she moved him to ask of her father a field, and, when she alighted from off the ass, Caleb said unto her—What aileth 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 said unto him—Give me a present; for, south land, hast thou given me, give me therefore pools of water. So Caleb gave her Upper-pools, and Lower-pools.

“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 Now, the sons of the Kenite, father-in-law of Moses, had come up from the city of palm-trees, with the sons of Judah, into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad, —so they went and dwelt 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 Then went Judah, with Simeon his brother, and they smote the Canaanites dwelling in Zephath, —and devoted it to destruction, and the name of the city was called 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 captured Gaza with the boundaries thereof, and Ashkelon, with the boundaries thereof, —and Ekron, with the boundaries thereof.

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

19 And it same to pass that Yahweh was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, —but did not dispossess the inhabitants of the vale, because they had, 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 So they gave unto Caleb Hebron, as spake Moses, —and he drave out from 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 But, the Jebusites dwelling in Jerusalem, the sons of Benjamin did not drive out, —but the Jebusites have dwelt with the sons of Benjamin, in Jerusalem, unto 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 Then went up the house of Joseph—they also, —unto Bethel, —and, Yahweh, was 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 sent to spy out Bethel, —now, the name of the city, formerly, was, Luz.

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

24 So the watchers saw a man, coming forth from the city, —and they said unto him—Shew us, we pray thee, the way to get into the city, and we will deal with thee, in lovingkindness.

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 shewed them the way to get into the city, and they smote the city, with the edge of the sword, —but, the man and all his family, they let go.

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 went into the land of the Hittites, —and built a city, and called the name thereof, Luz, that, is the name thereof, 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 But Manasseh took not possession of Beth-shean and her towns, nor of Taanach and her towns, nor dispossessed the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam, and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo, and her towns, —but the Canaanites were determined to remain in this 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 when Israel, however, had waxed strong, they put the Canaanites under tribute, —though they, dispossessed, them not.

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

29 And, Ephraim, dispossessed not the Canaanites who were dwelling in Gezer, —so the Canaanites remained in their 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, dispossessed not the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol, —but the Canaanites remained in their midst, and came under tribute.

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, dispossessed not the inhabitants of Acco, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, —nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob;

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

32 but the Asherites dwelt in the midst of the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, —for they dispossessed them not.

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, dispossessed not the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh nor the inhabitants of Beth-anath, but they dwelt in the midst of the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, —and, the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, and of Beth-anath, became theirs, under tribute.

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 forced the sons of Dan into the hill country, —for they suffered them not to come down into the vale;

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

35 and, though the Amorites were determined to remain in the hill country of Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, yet was the hand of the house of Joseph heavy, so that they came under tribute.

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 boundary of the Amorites, was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upwards.

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