Judges 1

1After Joshua died, the descendants of Israel asked of the Lord, saying, 'Who shall be first to go up for us to fight against the Canaanites?'

2And the Lord said, 'Judah shall go up. Indeed, I have delivered the land into his hand.'

3So Judah said to Simeon his brother, 'Come up with me to my allotted territory, so that we can stand in battle formation against the Canaanites; and I will go with you to your allotted territory.' And Simeon went with him.

4Then Judah went up, and the Lord delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand; and they killed ten thousand men at Bezek.

5And they overtook Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and stood in formation against him; and they slaughtered the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

6Then Adoni-Bezek fled, and they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes.

7And Adoni-Bezek said, 'Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to gather the things under my table; God has repaid me for what I have done.' They then brought him to Jerusalem, where he died.

8Now the sons of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and captured it by striking it with the edge of the sword and setting the city on fire.

9Afterward the sons of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who dwelt in the mountains, in the plains of the South.

10Then Judah went against the Canaanites who dwelt in Hebron, and Hebron—previously called Kirjath Arba—went out against them. And they struck Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, descendants of Enak.

11From there they went up against the inhabitants of Debir—previously called Kirjath Sepher, the City of Letters.

12Then Caleb said, 'Whoever attacks the City of Letters and takes it, to him I will give my daughter Achsah as wife.'

13And Othniel the younger son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it; so Caleb gave him his daughter Achsah as wife.

14And it came to be at the reception, Othniel urged her to ask her father for a field; and she complained and cried out from her donkey, 'You have delivered me into a southern land.' And Caleb responded to her, 'What is your request?'

15So Achsah said to him, 'Give me a blessing; since you have delivered me into a southern land, give me the water as well.' And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs, as was the desire of her heart.

16Now the sons of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up from the City of Palms with the sons of Judah into the desert of Judah, in the south of Judah, at the descent of Arad; and they went and dwelt with the people.

17And Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they attacked the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and utterly destroyed them. So the city was called Accursed.

18And Judah did not inherit Gaza nor her coasts, nor Ashkelon with its territory, nor Accaron nor her coasts, nor Ekron with its territory.

19The Lord was with Judah, and he inherited the mountain; for they could not completely destroy the inhabitants of the lowland, because Rechab prevented it.

20And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said, and after this he inherited the three cities of the sons of Anak.

21But the sons of Benjamin did not secure the Jebusites who dwelt in Jerusalem; so the Jebusites dwell with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem until this day.

22And the sons of Joseph also went up to Bethel, and the Lord was with them.

23Then they set up camp and spied on Bethel—previously named Luz.

24And when the spies looked, they noticed a man leaving the city and they seized him and said to him, 'Show us the entrance to the city and we will be merciful to you.'

25And 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 his family leave.

26And the man escaped to the land of the Hittites, where he built a city he called Luz. This is its name to this day.

27However, Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean, a city of Scythians, nor her towns and suburbs, nor Taanach and her suburbs, nor the inhabitants of Dor and its suburbs, nor the inhabitants of Balak and its daughters, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its suburbs and its daughters, nor the inhabitants of Jeblaham and its suburbs and its daughters; indeed, the Canaanites began to dwell in this land.

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

29Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; so the Canaanites dwelt in the midst of them in Gezer and paid taxes.

30Nor did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Domana; so the Canaanites dwelt in the midst of them and paid taxes.

31Nor did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Acco, though they did pay taxes to them, nor the inhabitants of Dor, nor the inhabitants of Sidon, nor the inhabitants of Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Nai, or Ereo.

32So Asher dwelt in the midst of the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for he was not able to drive them out.

33Nor did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beth Anath; but Naphtali dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath paid taxes to them.

34And the Amorites forced the sons of Dan into the mountains, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley.

35And the Amorites began to dwell in the mountain of the myrtle-grove, where there were bears and foxes; yet the hand of the house of Joseph was heavy upon the Amorite, and he came to pay tribute to them.

36Now the boundary of the Amorites went upward from the Ascent of Akrabbim, from the Rock.