Judges 1

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.