Judges 1

1 After Joshua died, the Israeli people asked Yahweh, “Which [of our tribes] should attack the Canaan people-group first?”

After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel asked Yahweh, saying, “Who first will attack the Canaanites for us, to fight against them?”

2 Yahweh replied, “I will enable the tribe of Judah to defeat [IDM] the Canaan people-group.”

Yahweh said, “Judah will attack. See, I have given them control of this land.”

3 The men of Judah went to their fellow Israelis, [the men] from the tribe of Simeon, and said to them, “Come and help us to fight the Canaan people-group [in order that we can take from them] the land [that Yahweh] allotted to us. If you do that, we will go with you [and help you] conquer the people in the land [that Yahweh promised to give to] you.” So the men from the tribe of Simeon went with the men of the tribe of Judah.

The men of Judah said to men of Simeon, their brothers, “Come up with us into our territory that was assigned to us that together we may fight against the Canaanites. We will likewise go with you to the territory that was assigned to you.” So the tribe of Simeon went with them.

4 When the men of those two tribes attacked, Yahweh enabled them to defeat 10,000 men of the Canaan people-group and the Periz people-group [DOU] at Bezek [city].

The men of Judah attacked, and Yahweh gave them victory over the Canaanites and the Perizzites. They killed ten thousand of them at Bezek.

5 During the battle they found Adoni-Bezek, the leader of the city,

They found Adoni-Bezek at Bezek, and they fought against him and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

6 but he [tried to] run away. The Israelis pursued him and caught him. Then they cut off his thumbs and his big toes.

But Adoni-Bezek fled, and they pursued him and caught him, and they cut off his thumbs and his big toes.

7 Adoni-Bezek said, “[My army captured] 70 kings. We cut off their thumbs and big toes. After that, [we forced] those kings to eat scraps that fell from our table. Now God has (paid me back for/done to me like) [what we did to them].” Then the men of Judah took Adoni-Bezek to Jerusalem, and he died there.

Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings, who had their thumbs and their big toes cut off, gathered their food from under my table. As I have done, even so God has done to me.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

8 The army of Judah fought against the men of Jerusalem, and they captured the city. With their swords they killed [the people who lived there] and they burned [the houses in] the city.

The men of Judah fought against the city of Jerusalem and took it. They attacked it with the edge of the sword and they set the city on fire.

9 Later, the men of Judah went down to fight the Canaan people-group who lived in the hilly area, in the desert to the south, and in the foothills [to the west].

After that, the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the Negev, and the western foothills.

10 The men of Judah also went to fight against the Canaan people-group who lived in Hebron [city], which at that time was named Kiriath-Arba. They defeated [the armies of kings] Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

Judah advanced against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (the name of Hebron was previously Kiriath Arba), and they defeated Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

11 Then they left that area and went to fight against the people living in Debir [city], which was previously named Kiriath-Sepher.

From there the men of Judah advanced against the inhabitants of Debir (the name of Debir was previously Kiriath Sepher).

12 [Before they attacked the city], Caleb said to them, “If one of you attacks and captures Kiriath-Sepher, I will allow him to marry my daughter.”

Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kiriath Sepher and takes it, I will give him Aksah, my daughter, to be his wife.”

13 Othniel, who was the son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz, captured the city. So Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to him, to become his wife.

Othniel, son of Kenaz (Caleb's younger brother) captured Debir, so Caleb gave him Aksah, his daughter, to be his wife.

14 When Acsah married Othniel, she told him to ask her father to give him a field. [But she decided to ask him herself. She rode to Caleb’s house on her donkey], and when she got off the donkey, Caleb [could see that something was troubling her. So he] asked her, “What do you want?”

Soon Aksah came to Othniel, and she urged him to ask her father to give her a field. As she was getting off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What can I do for you?”

15 She replied, “I want you to do a favor for me. You have given me some land in the southern desert, [but it is very dry there]. So please also give me some [land that has] springs of water.” So Caleb gave her some land on higher ground that had a spring, and some land on lower ground that also had a spring.

She said to him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have given me the land of the Negev, also give me springs of water.” So Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

16 The people of the Ken people-group who were descendants of Moses’ father-in-law left Jericho, which was called ‘The City of Palm Trees’. They went with some of the men of Judah to live with them in the southern desert area, near Arad [city].

The descendants of Moses' father-in-law the Kenite went up from the City of Palms with the people of Judah, into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the Negev, to live with the people of Judah near Arad.

17 The men of Judah and their fellow Israelis from the tribe of Simeon defeated the people of the Canaan people-group who lived in Zephath [city]. They completely destroyed the city and gave it a new name, Hormah, [which means ‘complete destruction’].

The men of Judah went with the men of Simeon their brothers and they attacked the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and they completely destroyed it. The name of the city was called Hormah.

18 The men of Judah also captured Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron [cities] and all the land that is near those cities.

The people of Judah also captured Gaza and the land around it, Ashkelon and the land around it, and Ekron and the land around it.

19 Yahweh helped the men of Judah to capture the hilly area, but they could not force the people who were living in the plains to leave, because [those people had better weapons—] had iron chariots.

Yahweh was with the people of Judah and they took possession of the hill country, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the plains because they had iron chariots.

20 Hebron [city] was given to Caleb because Moses had promised him that he could have that city. And Caleb forced the three clans descended from Anak to leave that area.

Hebron was given to Caleb (like Moses had said), and he drove out from there the three sons of Anak.

21 But the people of the tribe of Benjamin could not force the people of the Jebus people-group to leave Jerusalem. So, since that time the people of the Jebus people-group have lived in Jerusalem with the people of the tribe of Benjamin.

But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem. So the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

22 The men of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh went to fight against [the men of] Bethel [city], and Yahweh helped them.

The house of Joseph prepared to attack Bethel, and Yahweh was with them.

23 They sent some spies to [find out everything that they could find out about] Bethel, which was previously called Luz.

They sent out men to spy on Bethel (the city that was formerly called Luz).

24 The spies saw a man who was coming out of the city. They said to him, “If you show us a way to get into the city, we will be kind to you [and we will not kill you].”

The spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, “Show us, please, how to get into the city, and we will be kind to you.”

25 So the man showed them a way to enter the city. The men of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh entered the city and killed all the people with their swords, but they did not kill the man [who showed them how to get into the city], and they did not kill his family.

He showed them a way into the city, and so they attacked the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family get away.

26 That man went to the area where the descendants of Heth lived, and built a city. He named the city Luz, and that is still the name of that city.

Then the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city and called it Luz, which is its name to this day.

27 There were people of the Canaan people-group who lived in Beth-Shan, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, and Megiddo [cities] and in the surrounding villages. [The men of] the tribe of Manasseh did not force those people to leave those towns, because the people of the Canaan people-group were determined to stay there.

The people of Manasseh did not drive out the people living in the cities of Beth Shan and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or those who lived in Dor and its villages, or those who lived in Ibleam and its villages, or those who lived in Megiddo and its villages, because the Canaanites were determined to live in that land.

28 Later, the Israelis became (stronger/more numerous), and they forced the people of the Canaan people-group to work for them [as their slaves], but they did not force all the people of the Canaan people-group to leave their land.

When Israel became strong, they forced the Canaanites to serve them with hard labor, but they never drove them out completely.

29 [The men of] the tribe of Ephraim did not force the people of the Canaan people-group to leave Gezer [city]. So the people of the Canaan people-group continued to live with the people of the tribe of Ephraim.

Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites continued to live in Gezer among them.

30 [The men of] the tribe of Zebulun did nor compel the people of the Canaan people-group who were living in Kitron and Nahalol [cities] to leave. They stayed there and lived among the people of the tribe of Zebulun, but the people of Zebulun forced them to work for them as their slaves.

Zebulun did not drive out the people living in Kitron, or the people living in Nahalol, and so the Canaanites continued to live among them, but Zebulun forced the Canaanites to serve them with hard labor.

31 [The men of] the tribe of Asher did not force the people of the Canaan people-group who lived in Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Aczib, Helbah, Aphek and Rehob [cities] to leave.

Asher did not drive out the people living in Akko, or the people living in Sidon, or those living in Ahlab, Akzib, Helbah, Aphek, or Rehob.

32 So the people of the tribe of Asher lived among them.

So the tribe of Asher lived among the Canaanites (those who lived in the land), because they did not drive them out.

33 [The men of] the tribe of Naphtali did not compel the people who lived in Beth-Shemesh and Beth-Anath [cities] to leave, so the people in those two cities continued to live there, but the people of the Canaan people-group were forced to work as the slaves of the people of the tribe of Naphtali.

The tribe of Naphtali did not drive out those who were living in Beth Shemesh, or those living in Beth Anath. So the tribe of Naphtali lived among the Canaanites (the people who were living in that land). However, the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were forced into hard labor for Naphthali.

34 The people of the Amor people-group forced the people of the tribe of Dan to live in the hills. They did not allow them to come down [and live] on the plain.

The Amorites forced the tribe of Dan to live in the hill country, not allowing them to come down to the plain.

35 The people of the Amor people-group were determined to stay in Heres Mountain and in Aijalon and Shaalbim [cities]. But when the Israelis became (stronger/more numerous), they forced the people of the Amor people-group to work as their slaves.

So the Amorites lived at Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the military might of the house of Joseph conquered them, and they were forced to serve them with hard labor.

36 The land where the Amor people-group lived extended from Scorpion Pass [toward the west] beyond Sela [town], up into the hilly area.

The border of the Amorites ran from the hill of Akrabbim at Sela up into the hill country.