Judges 1
Israel Continues Its Conquest
1After the death of Joshua, the ⌞Israelites⌟ ▼▼Literally “sons/children of Israel”
inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Who will go up first for us against the Canaanites ▼▼Hebrew “Canaanite”
to fight against them?” 2And Yahweh said, “Judah will go up. I hereby give the land into his hand.” 3And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Go up with me into my allotment, and let us fight against the Canaanites; then I too will go with you into your allotment.” And Simeon went with him. 4And Judah went up, and Yahweh gave the Canaanites ▼▼Hebrew “Canaanite”
and the Perizzites ▼▼Hebrew “Perizzite”
into their hand, and they defeated ten thousand men at Bezek. 5At Bezek they came upon Adoni-bezek, and they fought against him and defeated the Canaanites ▼▼Hebrew “Canaanite”
and the Perizzites. ▼▼Hebrew “Perizzite”
6And Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued after him; they caught him and cut off ⌞his thumbs and big toes⌟. ▼▼Literally “the thumbs of his hands and feet”
7Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with ⌞their thumbs and big toes⌟ ▼▼Literally “the thumbs of their hands and feet”
cut off used to pick up scraps under my table; just as I have done, so God has repaid to me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there. 8The descendants ▼▼Or “sons/children”
of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and they captured it, ⌞put it to the sword⌟, ▼▼Literally “they struck it with the mouth of the sword”
and ⌞set the city on fire⌟. ▼▼Literally “the city they sent away with fire”
9Afterward the descendants ▼▼Or “sons/children”
of Judah pursued to fight against the Canaanites ▼▼Hebrew “Canaanite”
who were living in the hill country, the Negev, ▼▼An arid region south of the Judean hills
and the Shephelah. ▼▼A geographical region associated with an area of low country on the western edge of the Judaean hills.
10And Judah went against the Canaanites ▼▼Hebrew “Canaanite”
living in Hebron (the former name of Hebron was Kiriath Arba). And they defeated Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. 11And from there they went to the inhabitants of Debir (the former name of Debir was Kiriath Sepher). 12And Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kiriath Sepher and captures it, I will give to him Acsah my daughter as a wife.” 13Othniel son of Kenaz, the younger brother of Caleb, captured it, and he gave to him Acsah his daughter as a wife. 14When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. As she dismounted from the donkey, Caleb said to her, “⌞What do you want⌟?” ▼▼Literally “What is for you?”
15And she said to him, “Give me ⌞a gift⌟; ▼▼Literally “blessing”
you have given me the land of the Negev, ▼▼An arid region south of the Judaean hills
and give me also a spring of water.” And Caleb gave to her the upper and lower spring. ▼ 16The descendants ▼▼Or “sons/children”
of Hobab the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up with the descendants ▼▼Or “sons/children”
of Judah from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the Negev ▼▼An arid region south of the Judaean hills
near Arad. And they went ▼▼Hebrew “he went”
and settled with the people. 17And Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they defeated the Canaanites ▼▼Hebrew “Canaanite”
inhabiting Zephath; they utterly destroyed it, so he 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 they could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had chariots of iron. 20They gave Hebron to Caleb just as Moses said, and he drove out the three sons of Anak from there. 21But the descendants ▼▼Or “sons/children”
of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites ▼▼Hebrew “Jebusite”
who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived among the descendants ▼▼Or “sons/children”
of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day. 22Likewise, the house of Joseph went up against Bethel, and Yahweh was with them. 23And the house of Joseph spied out Bethel (the former name of the city was Luz). 24And when the spies saw a man leaving the city, ▼▼Or “going out from the city”
they said to him, “Please show us the entrance of the city, and we will deal kindly ▼▼Or “do a loyal love”
with you.” 25So he showed them the entrance of the city, and they struck the city with ⌞the edge of the sword⌟, ▼▼Literally “the mouth of the sword”
but they let go the man and all his family. 26And the man went to the land of the Hittites, and he built a city and named it Luz; this is its name to this day. 27Manasseh did not drive out Beth-Sean and its towns, or Taanach and its towns, or the inhabitants ▼▼Hebrew “inhabitant”
of Dor and its towns, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; the Canaanites ▼▼Hebrew “Canaanite”
were determined to live in this land. 28And it happened, when Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites ▼▼Hebrew “Canaanite”
to forced labor, but they never totally drove them out. 29Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites ▼▼Hebrew “Canaanite”
living in Gezer, so the Canaanites ▼▼Hebrew “Canaanite”
lived in their midst in Gezer. 30Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or Nahalol, so the Canaanites ▼▼Hebrew “Canaanite”
lived in their midst and became subjected to forced labor. 31Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Aczib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob, 32so the Asherites ▼▼Hebrew “Asherite”
lived in the midst of the Canaanites, ▼▼Hebrew “Canaanite”
the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out. 33Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh or Beth-anath, but lived in the midst of the Canaanites, ▼▼Hebrew “Canaanite”
the inhabitants of the land; the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and Beth-anath became forced labor for them. 34The Amorites pressed ▼▼Or “forced”
the descendants ▼▼Or “sons/children”
of Dan to the hill country, and they did not allow them to come down to the plain; 35the Amorites were determined to live in Har-heres, ▼▼Or “Mount Heres”
in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the hand of the house of Joseph was heavy on them, and they became subjected to forced labor. 36The border of the Amorites ▼▼Hebrew “Amorite”
ran from the ascent of Akrabbim from Sela and upward.
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