Judges 1–2

Judah’s Leadership against the Canaanites

1After the death of Joshua, ^athe Israelites inquired of the Lord, ^b“Who will be the first to fight for us against the Canaanites?”

²The Lord answered, “Judah ^cis to go. ^dI have handed the land over to him.” ^e

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

⁴When Judah attacked, the Lord handed the Canaanites and Perizzites ^fover to them. They struck down 10,000 men in Bezek. ^g5They found Adoni-bezek in Bezek, fought against him, and struck down the Canaanites and Perizzites.

⁶When Adoni-bezek fled, they pursued him, seized him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes. ^h7Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to pick up scraps ⁱunder my table. God has repaid me for what I have done.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

⁸The men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire. ⁹Afterward, the men of Judah marched down to fight against the Canaanites who were living in the hill country, the Negev, and the Judean foothills. ^j10Judah also marched against the Canaanites who were living in Hebron ^k(Hebron was formerly named Kiriath-arba ^l). They struck down Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. ^m11From there they marched against the residents of Debir ⁿ(Debir was formerly named Kiriath-sepher).

¹²Caleb ^osaid, “Whoever strikes down and captures Kiriath-sepher, I will give my daughter Achsah ^pto him as a wife.” ¹³So Othniel ^qson of Kenaz, Caleb’s youngest brother, captured it, and Caleb gave his daughter Achsah to him as his wife.

¹⁴When she arrived, she persuaded Othniel ^rto ask her father for a field. As she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, ^s“What do you want?” ¹⁵She answered him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have given me land in the Negev, ^tgive me springs of water also.” So Caleb gave her both the upper and lower springs. ^uv

¹⁶The descendants of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, ^whad gone up with the men of Judah from the City of Palms ^xyto the Wilderness of Judah, which was in the Negev of Arad. ^zThey went to live among the people.

¹⁷Judah went with his brother Simeon, struck the Canaanites who were living in Zephath, and completely destroyed the town. So they named the town Hormah. ^a18Judah captured Gaza and its territory, Ashkelon and its territory, and Ekron and its territory. ^b19The Lord was with ^cJudah and enabled them to take possession of the hill country, but they could not drive out ^dthe people who were living in the valley because those people had iron chariots. ^ef

²⁰Judah gave Hebron to Caleb, just as Moses had promised. ^gThen Caleb drove out the three sons of Anak ^hwho lived there. ⁱ

Benjamin’s Failure

²¹At the same time the Benjaminites did not drive out the Jebusites who were living in Jerusalem. The Jebusites have lived among the Benjaminites in Jerusalem to this day. ^j

Success of the House of Joseph

²²The house of Joseph also attacked Bethel, and the Lord was with ^kthem. ²³They sent spies to Bethel (the town was formerly named Luz ^l). ²⁴The spies saw a man coming out of the town and said to him, “Please show us how to get into town, and we will treat you well.” ^m25When he showed them the way into the town, they put the town to the sword but released the man and his entire family. ²⁶Then the man went to the land of the Hittites, built a town, and named it Luz. That is its name to this day.

Failure of the Other Tribes

²⁷At that time Manasseh failed to take possession of Beth-shean ^noand its villages, ^por Taanach ^qand its villages, or the residents of Dor ^rand its villages, or the residents of Ibleam ^stand its villages, or the residents of Megiddo ^uand its villages; the Canaanites refused to leave ^vthis land. ^w28When Israel became stronger, they made the Canaanites serve as forced labor but never drove them out completely. ^x

²⁹At that time Ephraim failed to drive out the Canaanites who were living in Gezer, so the Canaanites have lived among them in Gezer. ^yz

³⁰Zebulun failed to drive out the residents of Kitron or the residents of Nahalol, ^aso the Canaanites lived among them and served as forced labor.

³¹Asher failed to drive out the residents of Acco ^bor of Sidon, or Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob. ³²The Asherites lived among the Canaanites who were living in the land, because they failed to drive them out.

³³Naphtali did not drive out the residents of Beth-shemesh or the residents of Beth-anath. They lived among the Canaanites who were living in the land, but the residents of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath served as their forced labor.

³⁴The Amorites ^cforced the Danites into the hill country and did not allow them to go down into the valley. ³⁵The Amorites refused to leave ^dHar-heres, Aijalon, ^eand Shaalbim. When the house of Joseph got the upper hand, ^fthe Amorites ^gwere made to serve as forced labor. ³⁶The territory of the Amorites extended from the Ascent of Akrabbim, ^hthat is from Sela ⁱupward.

Pattern of Sin and Judgment

2The Angel of the Lord ^jwent up from Gilgal to Bochim ^kand said, “I brought you out of Egypt and led you into the land ^lI had promised to your fathers. ^mI also said: I will never break My covenant with you. ²You are not to make a covenant ⁿwith the people who are living in this land, and you are to tear down their altars. ^opBut you have not obeyed Me. What is this you have done? ³Therefore, I now say: I will not drive out these people before you. ^qThey will be thorns ^rsin your sides, ^tand their gods will be a trap for you.” ^u4When the Angel of the Lord had spoken these words to all the Israelites, the people wept loudly. ⁵So they named that place Bochim ^vand offered sacrifices there to the Lord.

Joshua’s Death

⁶Joshua sent the people away, and the Israelites went to take possession of the land, each to his own inheritance. ^w7The people worshiped the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and during the lifetimes of the elders who outlived ^xJoshua. They had seen all the Lord’s great works ^yHe had done for Israel.

⁸Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110. ⁹They buried him in the territory of his inheritance, in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, ^znorth of Mount Gaash. ¹⁰That whole generation was also gathered to their ancestors. After them another generation rose up who did not know the Lord ^aor the works He had done for Israel.

¹¹The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. ^bThey worshiped the Baals ^c12and abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods from the surrounding peoples ^dand bowed down to them. They infuriated the Lord, ^e13for they abandoned Him and worshiped Baal and the Ashtoreths. ^f

¹⁴The Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and He handed them over to marauders who raided them. He sold ^gthem to ^hthe enemies around them, and they could no longer resist their enemies. ¹⁵Whenever the Israelites went out, the Lord ⁱwas against them ^jand brought disaster on them, just as He had promised and sworn to them. ^kSo they suffered greatly.

¹⁶The Lord raised up ^ljudges, who saved them from the power of their marauders, ¹⁷but they did not listen to their judges. Instead, they prostituted ^mthemselves with other gods, bowing down to them. They quickly turned from the way ⁿof their fathers, who had walked in obedience to the Lord’s commands. They did not do as their fathers did. ¹⁸Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for the Israelites, the Lord was with ^ohim and saved the people from the power of their enemies while the judge was still alive. ^pThe Lord was moved to pity whenever they groaned because of those who were oppressing and afflicting them. ¹⁹Whenever the judge died, the Israelites would act even more corruptly ^qthan their fathers, going after other gods to worship and bow down to them. They did not turn from their evil practices or their obstinate ^rways.

²⁰The Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and He declared, “Because this nation has violated My covenant ^sthat I made with their fathers ^tand disobeyed Me, ²¹I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left ^uwhen he died. ^v22I did this to test Israel and to see whether they would keep the Lord’s way ^wby walking in it, as their fathers had.” ^x23The Lord left these nations and did not drive them out immediately. He did not hand them over to Joshua.