Judges 1

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

Now after the death of Joshua, the children of Israel made request to the Lord, saying, Who is to go up first to make war for us against the Canaanites?

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

And the Lord said, Judah is to go up: see, I have given the land into his hands.

3 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.

Then Judah said to Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my heritage, so that we may make war against the Canaanites; and I will then go with you into your heritage. So Simeon went with him.

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

And Judah went up; and the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hands; and they overcame ten thousand of them in Bezek.

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

And they came across Adoni-zedek, and made war on him; and they overcame the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

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

But Adoni-zedek went in flight; and they went after him and overtook him, and had his thumbs and his great toes cut off.

7 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.

And Adoni-zedek said, Seventy kings, whose thumbs and great toes had been cut off, got broken meat under my table: as I have done, so has God done to me in full. And they took him to Jerusalem, and he came to his end there.

8 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.

Then the children of Judah made an attack on Jerusalem, and took it, burning down the town after they had put its people to the sword without mercy.

9 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.

After that the children of Judah went down to make war on the Canaanites living in the hill-country and in the south and in the lowlands.

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

And Caleb went against the Canaanites of Hebron: (now in earlier times Hebron was named Kiriath-arba: ) and he put Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai to the sword.

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

And from there he went up against the people of Debir. (Now the name of Debir in earlier times was Kiriath-sepher.)

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

And Caleb said, I will give Achsah, my daughter, as wife to the man who overcomes Kiriath-sepher and takes it.

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

And Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah for his wife.

14 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?”

Now when she came to him, he put into her mind the idea of requesting a field from her father: and she got down from her ass; and Caleb said to her, What is it?

15 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.

And she said to him, Give me a blessing; because you have put me in a dry south-land, now give me springs of water. So Caleb gave her the higher spring and the lower spring.

16 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.

Now Hobab the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, had come up out of the town of palm-trees, with the children of Judah, into the waste land of Arad; and he went and was living among the Amalekites;

17 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.

And Judah went with Simeon, his brother, and overcame the Canaanites living in Zephath, and put it under the curse; and he gave the town the name of Hormah.

18 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.

Then Judah took Gaza and its limit, and Ashkelon and its limit, and Ekron and its limit.

19 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.

And the Lord was with Judah; and he took the hill-country for his heritage; but he was unable to make the people of the valley go out, for they had war-carriages of iron.

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

And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said; and he took the land of the three sons of Anak, driving them out from there.

21 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.

And the children of Judah did not make the Jebusites who were living in Jerusalem go out; the Jebusites are still living with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem.

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

And the family of Joseph went up against Beth-el, and the Lord was with them.

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

So they sent men to make a search round Beth-el. (Now the name of the town in earlier times was Luz.)

24 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.”

And the watchers saw a man coming out of the town, and said to him, If you will make clear to us the way into the town, we will be kind to you.

25 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.

So he made clear to them the way into the town, and they put it to the sword; but they let the man and all his family get away safe.

26 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.

And he went into the land of the Hittites, building a town there and naming it Luz: which is its name to this day.

27 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.

And Manasseh did not take away the land of the people of Beth-shean and its daughter-towns, or of Taanach and its daughter-towns, or of the people of Dor and its daughter-towns, or of the people of Ibleam and its daughter-towns, or of the people of Megiddo and its daughter-towns, driving them out; but the Canaanites would go on living in that land.

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

And whenever Israel became strong, they put the Canaanites to forced work, without driving them out completely.

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

And Ephraim did not make the Canaanites who were living in Gezer go out; but the Canaanites went on living in Gezer among them.

30 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.

Zebulun did not make the people of Kitron or the people of Nahalol go out; but the Canaanites went on living among them and were put to forced work.

31 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.

And Asher did not take the land of the people of Acco, or Zidon, or Ahlab, or Achzib, or Helbah, or Aphik, or Rehob, driving them out;

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

But the Asherites went on living among the Canaanites, the people of the land, without driving them out.

33 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.

Naphtali did not take the land of the people of Beth-shemesh or of Beth-anath, driving them out; but he was living among the Canaanites in the land; however, the people of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath were put to forced work.

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

And the children of Dan were forced into the hill-country by the Amorites, who would not let them come down into the valley;

35 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.

For the Amorites would go on living in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim; but the children of Joseph became stronger than they, and put them to forced work.

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

And the limit of the Edomites went from the slope of Akrabbim from Sela and up.