Judges 1

1And it happened after the death of Joshua that the sons of Israel asked Yahweh, saying, “Who will go up for us first against the Canaanites to fight against them?”

2And the LORD said, “Judah shall go up. Look, I have given the land into his hand.”

3And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into my allotted territory, and let us fight against the Canaanites; and I too will go with you into your allotted territory.” So Simeon went with him.

4Then Judah went up, and Yahweh gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek.

5They found Adoni-bezek in Bezek, and they fought against him and struck down the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

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

7And Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings, with the thumbs of their hands and their feet cut off, used to gather scraps under my table. As I have done, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

8Then the sons of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it, and struck it with the edge of the sword, and they set the city on fire.

9Afterward, the sons of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, the Negev, and the lowland.

10Then Judah went against the Canaanites living in Hebron (Hebron’s former name was Kiriath-arba), and they struck down Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

11From there he went against the inhabitants of Debir. (The former name of Debir was Kiriath-sepher.)

12And Caleb said, “Whoever strikes Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give him my daughter Achsah as a wife.”

13Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, captured it, and he gave him his daughter Achsah as a wife.

14And when she came, she urged him to ask her father for the field. Then she dismounted from the donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you want?”

15She said to him, “Please give me a blessing, because you have given me the land of the Negev; give me also springs of water.” So Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

16And the descendants of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up from the City of Palms with the descendants of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the Negev of Arad; then he went and settled with the people.

17Then Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they struck down the Canaanites living in Zephath and devoted it to destruction; so they called the name of the city Hormah.

18Judah captured Gaza and its territory, Ashkelon and its territory, and Ekron and its territory.

19And Yahweh was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country; but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had iron chariots.

20They gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said, and he drove out from there the three sons of Anak.

21But the sons of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who were living in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

22The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and Yahweh was with them.

23And the house of Joseph spied out Bethel; formerly the name of the city was Luz.

24The watchers saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the entrance to the city, and we will deal kindly with you.”

25So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man and all his family go.

26And the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city and called its name Luz; that is its name to this day.

27But Manasseh did not dispossess Beth-shean and its daughter towns, or Taanach and its daughter towns, or the inhabitants of Dor and its daughter towns, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its daughter towns, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its daughter towns; and the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in this land.

28And when Israel became strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not drive them out completely.

29And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, and the Canaanites lived among them in Gezer.

30Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them and became forced laborers.

31Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon, or Ahlab, or Achzib, or Helbah, or Aphek, or Rehob.

32So the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, because they did not drive them out.

33Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, so he lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. And the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath became forced labor for them.

34And the Amorites pressed the sons of Dan back into the hill country, because they did not allow them to go down into the valley.

35But the Amorites persisted in dwelling in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim; then the hand of the house of Joseph grew heavy, and they became subject to forced labor.

36And the border of the Amorites was from the Ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upward.