Judges 1

Modern English Version

Israel Fights Remaining Canaanites

1 After the death of Joshua, the children of Israel inquired of the Lord, “Who should go up against the Canaanites first, in order to wage war against them?”

² The Lord said, “Judah shall go up. Indeed, I have given the land into their hands.”

³ Then the men of Judah said to Simeon, their brothers, “Come up with us into our allotted territory. We will wage war against the Canaanites. Likewise we will go with you into your allotted territory.” So Simeon went with them.

⁴ Then Judah went up, and the Lord gave the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands. They struck down ten thousand men in Bezek. ⁵ They found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek and fought against him. They struck down the Canaanites and Perizzites. ⁶ Yet Adoni-Bezek fled, and they chased after him, seized him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.

⁷ Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings whose thumbs and big toes were cut off once collected scraps of food under my table. Just as I have done, so God has repaid me.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

⁸ Then Judah waged war against Jerusalem. They captured it, struck it with the edge of the sword, and sent the city up in flames.

⁹ Afterwards, Judah went down to wage war against the Canaanites living in the hill country, the Negev, and the lowlands. ¹⁰ Judah went against the Canaanites living in Hebron (previously the name of Hebron was Kiriath Arba) and they struck down Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. ¹¹ From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir (previously the name of Debir was Kiriath Sepher).

¹² Caleb said, “He who attacks Kiriath Sepher and takes it, I will give him my daughter Aksah as wife.” ¹³ Othniel son of Kenaz, the younger brother of Caleb, captured it. So Caleb gave him Aksah his daughter in marriage.

¹⁴ When she came to Othniel, she urged him to ask her father for a field. As she dismounted from her donkey, Caleb said to her, “What can I do for you?”

¹⁵ She answered, “Please give me a special gift. Since you have given me land in the Negev, now give me springs of water.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.

¹⁶ The descendants of Moses’ father-in-law, the Kenite, went up with the descendants of Judah from the City of Palms to the Negev near Arad. Then they went and lived with the people.

¹⁷ But Judah went with his brother Simeon and struck down the Canaanites living in Zephath and utterly destroyed it. So now they call the city Hormah. ¹⁸ Then Judah captured Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron, and the territory belonging to each of these cities.

¹⁹ The Lord was with Judah, and they took the hill country but could not drive out the inhabitants of the coastal plain, for they had iron chariots. ²⁰ They gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said, and he drove out the three sons of Anak. ²¹ However, the tribe of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites live with the tribe of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

²² The descendants of Joseph went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them. ²³ The descendants of Joseph sent spies into Bethel (the former name of the city was Luz). ²⁴ The spies saw a man coming out of the city and said to him, “Please show us the entrance to the city, and we will deal kindly with you.” ²⁵ So he showed them an entrance to the city. They struck the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and his extended family go. ²⁶ The man went to the land of the Hittites. He built a city and named it Luz, and that is its name to this day.

²⁷ Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shan, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, or their daughter villages, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that land. ²⁸ When the children of Israel became strong, they put the Canaanites to hard labor as slaves, but they did not actually drive them out. ²⁹ Ephraim did not drive out the inhabitants of Gezer, so the Canaanites lived among them in Gezer. ³⁰ Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron and Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them and became slave laborers. ³¹ Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Akko, Sidon, Ahlab, Akzib, Helbah, Aphek, or Rehob. ³² Asher lived among the Canaanites, 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, so they live among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. The Canaanites of Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath became slave laborers for them. ³⁴ The Amorites pushed the tribe of Dan into the hill country, for they would not let them come down to the coastal plain. ³⁵ The Amorites were determined to live in Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim, but the hand of the descendants of Joseph was heavy on them, and they became slave laborers. ³⁶ The border of the Amorites was from the Ascent of Akrabbim to Sela and beyond.