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After the death of Joshua the sons of Israel counselled with the Lord, and said, Who shall go up before us against Canaanites, and shall be duke of the battle? (After Joshua’s death the Israelites counselled with the Lord, and asked, Who shall go out first against the Canaanites, and shall be our leader in the battle?)

And the Lord said, Judah shall go up (in the lead); lo! I have given the land into his hands.

And Judah said to Simeon, his brother, Go thou up with me in(to) my lot, and fight thou against Canaanites, that I go with thee in thy lot (and then I shall go with thee into thy lot). And (so) Simeon went with him;

and Judah went up (in the lead). And the Lord betook (the) Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands, and they killed in Bezek ten thousand men.

And they found Adonibezek in Bezek, and they fought against him, and they overcame Canaanites, and Perizzites.

And Adonibezek fled, whom they pursued, and took (hold of), and they cut off the ends of his hands and of his feet.

And Adonibezek said, Seventy kings, when the ends of their hands and of their feet were cut away, gathered remnants of meats under my board (gathered scraps of food under my table); as I have done, so God hath yielded to me. And they brought him into Jerusalem, and there he died.

Then the sons of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and they took it, and they smote it by the sharpness of sword, and they betook all the city to burning. (Then the sons of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and they took it, and they struck down the people of Jerusalem with their sharp swords, and they burned down all the city.)

And afterward they went down, and fought against Canaanites, that dwelled in the hilly places (who lived in the hill country), and at the south, (and) in [the] wild fields.

10 And Judah went against Canaanites, that dwelled in Hebron, whose name was by eld time Kiriatharba (And Judah went out against the Canaanites, who lived in Hebron, whose name in olden times was Kiriatharba); and Judah killed Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai.

11 And from thence he went forth, and he came to the dwellers of Debir, whose eld name was Kiriathsepher, that is, the city of letters. (And from there he went forth, and he came to the inhabitants of Debir, whose old name was Kiriathsepher, that is, the City of Letters.)

12 And Caleb said, I shall give Achsah, my daughter, (for a) wife to him that shall smite Kiriathsepher, and shall waste it.

13 And when Othniel, the son of Kenaz, the younger brother of Caleb, had taken it, Caleb gave Achsah, his daughter, (for a) wife to him.

14 And her husband stirred her, going in the way, that she should ask of her father a field; and when she had sighed, sitting on the ass, Caleb said to her, What hast thou? (And her husband stirred her up, going on the way, to ask for a field from her father; and when she sighed, sitting on the donkey, Caleb said to her, What is the matter?)

15 And she answered, Give thou [a] blessing to me, for thou hast given a dry land to me; give thou to me also a moist land with waters (now give thou also to me some land with abundant water). And (so) Caleb gave to her the moist land above, and the moist land beneath.

16 Forsooth the sons of (the) Kenite, the father of Moses’ wife, ascended from the city of Palms with the sons of Judah, into the desert of his lot, which desert is at the south of Arad; and [they] dwelled with him. (And the sons of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up from the City of Palms with the sons of Judah, into the wilderness of Judah, which wilderness is south of Arad; and they lived among the people there.)

17 And Judah went with Simeon, his brother; and they smote altogether Canaanites, that dwelled in Zephath, and they killed him; and the name of that city was called Hormah, that is, cursing, either perfect destroying, for that city was destroyed utterly. (And Judah went with his brother Simeon; and they struck down the Canaanites who lived in Zephath, and they killed them all; and the name of that city was called Hormah, that is, Cursed, or Completely Destroyed, for that city was utterly destroyed.)

18 And Judah took Gaza with his coasts, and Askelon (with his terms), and Ekron with his terms. (And Judah took Gaza, and Askelon, and Ekron, along with their land.)

19 And the Lord was with Judah, and he had in possession the hilly places; and he might not do away the dwellers of the valley, for they were plenteous in iron chariots, (full of weapons,) sharp as scythes. (And the Lord was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not do away the inhabitants in the valley, for they had plentiful iron chariots, full of weapons, sharp as scythes.)

20 And the sons of Israel gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said, and Caleb did away from it (the) three sons of Anak. (And the Israelites gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said, and Caleb did away from it the three sons of the Anakim, or of the giants.)

21 But the sons of Benjamin did not (do) away Jebusites, the dweller(s) of Jerusalem; and Jebusites dwelled with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this present day. (But the Benjaminites did not do away the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and so the Jebusites lived with the Benjaminites in Jerusalem unto this present day.)

22 Also the house of Joseph went up into Bethel, and the Lord was with them.

23 For when they besieged the city (And when they besieged Bethel), that was called Luz before,

24 they saw a man going out of the city, and they said to him, Show thou to us the entering of the city (Show us how to enter the city), and we shall do mercy with thee.

25 And when he had showed to them, they smote the city by sharpness of sword; and they delivered that man and all his kindred. (And when he had shown them, they struck down the people of that city with their sharp swords; and they saved that man and all his family.)

26 And when he was delivered, he went into the land of Hittites, and builded there a city, and called it Luz; which is called so till into this present day (which it is still called unto this present day).

27 Also Manasseh did not away Bethshean and Taanach with their towns, and the dwellers of Dor, and Ibleam, and Megiddo, with their towns; and Canaanites began to dwell with them. (And Manasseh did not do away Bethshean and Taanach with their towns, and the inhabitants of Dor, and Ibleam, and Megiddo, with their towns; and so the Canaanites began to live with them.)

28 Soothly after that Israel was strengthened, he made them tributaries, either to pay tribute, and would not do away them. (And after that Israel was made strong, they made them all tributaries, that is, they forced them to pay tribute, or taxes, and did not do them away.)

29 Soothly Ephraim killed not Canaanites that dwelled in Gezer, but dwelled with him. (And Ephraim did not kill the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, but they lived with them.)

30 Zebulun did not away the dwellers of Kitron, and of Nahalol; but Canaanites dwelled in the midst of him, and was made tributary to him. (Zebulun did not do away the inhabitants of Kitron, and of Nahalol; but the Canaanites lived in their midst, and were made to pay tribute, or taxes, to them.)

31 Also Asher did not away the dwellers of Accho (And Asher did not do away the inhabitants of Accho), and of Sidon, of Ahlab, and of Achzib, and of Helbah, and of Aphik, and of Rehob;

32 and Asher dwelled in the midst of Canaanites, the dweller(s) of that land, and Asher killed not him. (and so the Asherites lived in the midst of the Canaanites, the inhabitants of that land, and they did not kill them.)

33 Naphtali did not away the dwellers of Bethshemesh, and of Bethanath; and he dwelled among Canaanites, the dweller(s) of the land; and Bethshemesh and Bethanath were (made) tributaries to him. (And the Naphtalites did not do away the inhabitants of Bethshemesh, and of Bethanath; and they lived among the Canaanites, the people of the land; and the people of Bethshemesh and of Bethanath were made to pay tribute, or taxes, to them.)

34 And Amorites held strait the sons of Dan in the hill, and he gave not place to them to go down to [the] plainer places; (And the Amorites held back the Danites in the hill country, and would not allow them to come down into the valley;)

35 and he dwelled in the hill of Heres, which is interpreted, Witnessing, (and) in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim. And the hand of the house of Joseph was made heavy, and he was made tributary to him. (and they lived on Mount Heres, which is translated, Witnessing, and in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim. But then the hand of the house of Joseph was made heavy upon them, and the Amorites were made to pay tribute, or taxes, to them.)

36 And the term of Amorites was from the ascending of Scorpion, and from the stone, and [the] higher places. (And the border of the Amorites was from the going up of Akrabbim, and from Sela, up to the higher places.)

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