Judges 1
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.#Judges 1:11–15 is almost identical to Joshua 15:13–19
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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Judges 1
1
Judah Fights the Canaanites
1After Joshua died, the Israelites prayed to the Lord, “Which of our tribes should be the first to go and fight for us against the Canaanites?”
2The Lord said to the Israelites, “The tribe of Judah will go. I will let them take this land.”
3The men of Judah went to their relatives from the tribe of Simeon and asked for help. They said, “Brothers, if you will come and help us fight for the land God gave us, we will go and help you fight for your land.” The men of Simeon agreed and went with them.
4The Lord helped the men of Judah defeat the Canaanites and the Perizzites. They killed 10,000 men at the city of Bezek. 5In the city of Bezek, they found the ruler of Bezek#1:5 ruler of Bezek Or “Adoni Bezek.” and fought him, and they defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites.
6The ruler of Bezek tried to escape, but the men of Judah chased him and caught him. When they caught him, they cut off his thumbs and big toes. 7Then the ruler of Bezek said, “I cut off the thumbs and big toes of 70 kings. And they had to eat pieces of food that fell from my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them.” The men of Judah took the ruler of Bezek to Jerusalem, and he died there.
8The men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it. They used their swords to kill the people of Jerusalem. Then they burned the city. 9Later, they went down to fight against some more Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the Negev, and in the western foothills.
10Then the men of Judah went to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the city of Hebron. (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba.) They defeated the men named Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.#1:10 Sheshai, Ahiman, Talmai Three sons of a man named Anak. They were giants. See Num. 13:22.
Caleb and His Daughter
11The men of Judah left that place. They went to the city of Debir to fight against the people there. (In the past, Debir was called Kiriath Sepher.) 12Before they started to fight, Caleb made a promise to the men. He said, “I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to whoever attacks and conquers Kiriath Sepher.”
13Caleb had a younger brother named Kenaz. Kenaz had a son named Othniel. Othniel captured the city of Kiriath Sepher. So Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to Othniel to be his wife.
14Acsah went to live with Othniel. Othniel told Acsah#1:14 Othniel told Acsah Or “Acsah told Othniel.” to ask her father for some land. She went to her father. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What is wrong?”
15Acsah answered him, “Give me a blessing.#1:15 Give me a blessing Or “Please welcome me” or “Give me a stream of water.” You gave me dry desert land in the Negev. Please give me some land with water on it.” So Caleb gave her what she wanted. He gave her the upper and lower pools of water in that land.
16The Kenites left the City of Palm Trees#1:16 City of Palm Trees Another name for Jericho. and went with the men of Judah. They went to the desert of Judah to live with the people there. This was in the Negev near the city Arad. (The Kenites were from the family of Moses’ father-in-law.)
17Some Canaanites lived in the city of Zephath. The men of Judah and men from the tribe of Simeon attacked them and completely destroyed the city. So they named the city Hormah.#1:17 Hormah This name means “completely destroyed” or “a gift given totally to God.” See Lev. 27:28-29.
18The men of Judah also captured the cities of Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron and all the small towns around them.
19The Lord was on the side of the men of Judah when they fought. They took the land in the hill country, but they failed to take the land in the valleys, because the people living there had iron chariots.
20Moses had promised to give the land near Hebron to Caleb, so that land was given to Caleb’s family. The men of Caleb forced the three sons of Anak#1:20 three sons of Anak Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, mentioned above in verse 10. to leave that place.
21The tribe of Benjamin could not force the Jebusites to leave Jerusalem. So even today,#1:21 even today That is, at the time the book was written. the Jebusites live with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem.
Joseph’s Descendants Capture Bethel
22The descendants of Joseph went to fight against the city of Bethel, and the Lord was with them. 23They sent some spies to the city of Bethel (which was then called Luz). 24While the spies were watching, they saw a man come out of the city. They said to the man, “Show us a secret way into the city. If you help us, we will not hurt you.”
25The man showed the spies the secret way into the city. The men of Joseph used their swords to kill the people of Bethel. But they did not hurt the man who helped them or anyone in his family. The man and his family were allowed to go free. 26He went to the land where the Hittites lived and built a city. He named it Luz, and that city is still called Luz today.
Other Tribes Fight the Canaanites
27There were Canaanites living in the cities of Beth Shean, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and the small towns around the cities. The people from the tribe of Manasseh could not force those people to leave their towns. So the Canaanites stayed. They refused to leave their homes. 28Later, the Israelites grew stronger and forced the Canaanites to work as slaves for them. But the Israelites could not force all the Canaanites to leave their land.
29There were Canaanites living in Gezer. And the Ephraimites did not make all the Canaanites leave their land. So they continued to live in Gezer with the Ephraimites.
30Some Canaanites lived in the cities of Kitron and Nahalol. The people of Zebulun did not force those people to leave their land. They stayed and lived with the people of Zebulun. But the people of Zebulun made them work as slaves.
31The people of Asher did not force the other people to leave the cities of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Aczib, Helbah, Aphek, and Rehob. 32The people of Asher did not force those Canaanites to leave their land, so the Canaanites continued to live with them.
33The people of Naphtali did not force the people to leave the cities of Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath, so the people of Naphtali continued to live with the people in those cities. Those Canaanites worked as slaves for the people of Naphtali.
34The Amorites forced the tribe of Dan to live in the hill country. They had to stay in the hills because the Amorites would not let them come down to live in the valleys. 35The Amorites decided to stay in Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim. Later, when the descendants of Joseph grew stronger, they made the Amorites work as slaves for them. 36The land of the Amorites was from Scorpion Pass to Sela and up into the hill country past Sela.
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