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Israel Continues Its Conquest

After the death of Joshua, the Israelites[a] inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Who will go up first for us against the Canaanites[b] to fight against them?” And Yahweh said, “Judah will go up. I hereby give the land into his hand.” And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Go up with me into my allotment, and let us fight against the Canaanites; then I too will go with you into your allotment.” And Simeon went with him. And Judah went up, and Yahweh gave the Canaanites[c] and the Perizzites[d] into their hand, and they defeated ten thousand men at Bezek. At Bezek they came upon Adoni-bezek, and they fought against him and defeated the Canaanites[e] and the Perizzites.[f] And Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued after him; they caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes.[g] Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes[h] cut off used to pick up scraps under my table; just as I have done, so God has repaid to me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

The descendants[i] of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and they captured it, put it to the sword,[j] and set the city on fire.[k] Afterward the descendants[l] of Judah pursued to fight against the Canaanites[m] who were living in the hill country, the Negev,[n] and the Shephelah.[o] 10 And Judah went against the Canaanites[p] living in Hebron (the former name of Hebron was Kiriath Arba). And they defeated Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

11 And from there they went to the inhabitants of Debir (the former name of Debir was Kiriath Sepher). 12 And Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kiriath Sepher and captures it, I will give to him Acsah my daughter as a wife.” 13 Othniel son of Kenaz, the younger brother of Caleb, captured it, and he gave to him Acsah his daughter as a wife. 14 When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. As she dismounted from the donkey, Caleb said to her, “What do you want?”[q] 15 And she said to him, “Give me a gift;[r] you have given me the land of the Negev,[s] and give me also a spring of water.” And Caleb gave to her the upper and lower spring.[t]

16 The descendants[u] of Hobab the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up with the descendants[v] of Judah from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the Negev[w] near Arad. And they went[x] and settled with the people. 17 And Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they defeated the Canaanites[y] inhabiting Zephath; they utterly destroyed it, so he called the name of the city Hormah. 18 Judah captured Gaza and its territory, Ashkelon and its territory, and Ekron and its territory. 19 And Yahweh was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had chariots of iron. 20 They gave Hebron to Caleb just as Moses said, and he drove out the three sons of Anak from there. 21 But the descendants[z] of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites[aa] who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived among the descendants[ab] of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

22 Likewise, the house of Joseph went up against Bethel, and Yahweh was with them. 23 And the house of Joseph spied out Bethel (the former name of the city was Luz). 24 And when the spies saw a man leaving the city,[ac] they said to him, “Please show us the entrance of the city, and we will deal kindly[ad] with you.” 25 So he showed them the entrance of the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword,[ae] but they let go the man and all his family. 26 And the man went to the land of the Hittites, and he built a city and named it Luz; this is its name to this day.

27 Manasseh did not drive out Beth-Sean and its towns, or Taanach and its towns, or the inhabitants[af] of Dor and its towns, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; the Canaanites[ag] were determined to live in this land. 28 And it happened, when Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites[ah] to forced labor, but they never totally drove them out. 29 Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites[ai] living in Gezer, so the Canaanites[aj] lived in their midst in Gezer. 30 Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or Nahalol, so the Canaanites[ak] lived in their midst and became subjected to forced labor. 31 Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Aczib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob, 32 so the Asherites[al] lived in the midst of the Canaanites,[am] the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out.

33 Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh or Beth-anath, but lived in the midst of the Canaanites,[an] the inhabitants of the land; the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and Beth-anath became forced labor for them.

34 The Amorites pressed[ao] the descendants[ap] of Dan to the hill country, and they did not allow them to come down to the plain; 35 the Amorites were determined to live in Har-heres,[aq] in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the hand of the house of Joseph was heavy on them, and they became subjected to forced labor. 36 The border of the Amorites[ar] ran from the ascent of Akrabbim from Sela and upward.

Footnotes

  1. Judges 1:1 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  2. Judges 1:1 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  3. Judges 1:4 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  4. Judges 1:4 Hebrew “Perizzite”
  5. Judges 1:5 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  6. Judges 1:5 Hebrew “Perizzite”
  7. Judges 1:6 Literally “the thumbs of his hands and feet”
  8. Judges 1:7 Literally “the thumbs of their hands and feet”
  9. Judges 1:8 Or “sons/children”
  10. Judges 1:8 Literally “they struck it with the mouth of the sword”
  11. Judges 1:8 Literally “the city they sent away with fire”
  12. Judges 1:9 Or “sons/children”
  13. Judges 1:9 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  14. Judges 1:9 An arid region south of the Judean hills
  15. Judges 1:9 A geographical region associated with an area of low country on the western edge of the Judaean hills.
  16. Judges 1:10 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  17. Judges 1:14 Literally “What is for you?”
  18. Judges 1:15 Literally “blessing”
  19. Judges 1:15 An arid region south of the Judaean hills
  20. Judges 1:15 Judges 1:11–15 is almost identical to Joshua 15:13–19
  21. Judges 1:16 Or “sons/children”
  22. Judges 1:16 Or “sons/children”
  23. Judges 1:16 An arid region south of the Judaean hills
  24. Judges 1:16 Hebrew “he went”
  25. Judges 1:17 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  26. Judges 1:21 Or “sons/children”
  27. Judges 1:21 Hebrew “Jebusite”
  28. Judges 1:21 Or “sons/children”
  29. Judges 1:24 Or “going out from the city”
  30. Judges 1:24 Or “do a loyal love”
  31. Judges 1:25 Literally “the mouth of the sword”
  32. Judges 1:27 Hebrew “inhabitant”
  33. Judges 1:27 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  34. Judges 1:28 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  35. Judges 1:29 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  36. Judges 1:29 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  37. Judges 1:30 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  38. Judges 1:32 Hebrew “Asherite”
  39. Judges 1:32 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  40. Judges 1:33 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  41. Judges 1:34 Or “forced”
  42. Judges 1:34 Or “sons/children”
  43. Judges 1:35 Or “Mount Heres”
  44. Judges 1:36 Hebrew “Amorite”

Israel Fights the Remaining Canaanites(A)

After the death(B) of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord, “Who of us is to go up first(C) to fight against the Canaanites?(D)

The Lord answered, “Judah(E) shall go up; I have given the land into their hands.(F)

The men of Judah then said to the Simeonites their fellow Israelites, “Come up with us into the territory allotted to us, to fight against the Canaanites. We in turn will go with you into yours.” So the Simeonites(G) went with them.

When Judah attacked, the Lord gave the Canaanites and Perizzites(H) into their hands, and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek.(I) It was there that they found Adoni-Bezek(J) and fought against him, putting to rout the Canaanites and Perizzites. Adoni-Bezek fled, but they chased him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.

Then Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me back(K) for what I did to them.” They brought him to Jerusalem,(L) and he died there.

The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem(M) also and took it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire.

After that, Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country,(N) the Negev(O) and the western foothills. 10 They advanced against the Canaanites living in Hebron(P) (formerly called Kiriath Arba(Q)) and defeated Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai.(R) 11 From there they advanced against the people living in Debir(S) (formerly called Kiriath Sepher).

12 And Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Aksah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher.” 13 Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it; so Caleb gave his daughter Aksah to him in marriage.

14 One day when she came to Othniel, she urged him[a] to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What can I do for you?”

15 She replied, “Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.(T)

16 The descendants of Moses’ father-in-law,(U) the Kenite,(V) went up from the City of Palms[b](W) with the people of Judah to live among the inhabitants of the Desert of Judah in the Negev near Arad.(X)

17 Then the men of Judah went with the Simeonites(Y) their fellow Israelites and attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and they totally destroyed[c] the city. Therefore it was called Hormah.[d](Z) 18 Judah also took[e] Gaza,(AA) Ashkelon(AB) and Ekron—each city with its territory.

19 The Lord was with(AC) the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country,(AD) but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had chariots fitted with iron.(AE) 20 As Moses had promised, Hebron(AF) was given to Caleb, who drove from it the three sons of Anak.(AG) 21 The Benjamites, however, did not drive out(AH) the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem;(AI) to this day the Jebusites live there with the Benjamites.

22 Now the tribes of Joseph(AJ) attacked Bethel,(AK) and the Lord was with them. 23 When they sent men to spy out Bethel (formerly called Luz),(AL) 24 the spies saw a man coming out of the city and they said to him, “Show us how to get into the city and we will see that you are treated well.(AM) 25 So he showed them, and they put the city to the sword but spared(AN) the man and his whole family. 26 He then went to the land of the Hittites,(AO) where he built a city and called it Luz,(AP) which is its name to this day.

27 But Manasseh did not(AQ) drive out the people of Beth Shan or Taanach or Dor(AR) or Ibleam(AS) or Megiddo(AT) and their surrounding settlements, for the Canaanites(AU) were determined to live in that land. 28 When Israel became strong, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor but never drove them out completely.(AV) 29 Nor did Ephraim(AW) drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer,(AX) but the Canaanites continued to live there among them.(AY) 30 Neither did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites living in Kitron or Nahalol, so these Canaanites lived among them, but Zebulun did subject them to forced labor. 31 Nor did Asher(AZ) drive out those living in Akko or Sidon(BA) or Ahlab or Akzib(BB) or Helbah or Aphek(BC) or Rehob.(BD) 32 The Asherites lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land because they did not drive them out. 33 Neither did Naphtali drive out those living in Beth Shemesh(BE) or Beth Anath(BF); but the Naphtalites too lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, and those living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath became forced laborers for them. 34 The Amorites(BG) confined the Danites(BH) to the hill country, not allowing them to come down into the plain.(BI) 35 And the Amorites were determined also to hold out in Mount Heres,(BJ) Aijalon(BK) and Shaalbim,(BL) but when the power of the tribes of Joseph increased, they too were pressed into forced labor. 36 The boundary of the Amorites was from Scorpion Pass(BM) to Sela(BN) and beyond.(BO)

Footnotes

  1. Judges 1:14 Hebrew; Septuagint and Vulgate Othniel, he urged her
  2. Judges 1:16 That is, Jericho
  3. Judges 1:17 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
  4. Judges 1:17 Hormah means destruction.
  5. Judges 1:18 Hebrew; Septuagint Judah did not take