Judges 1

Modern

Literal

The Conquest of Canaan Proceeds

¹After the death of Joshua, the Israelites inquired of the LORD, “Who will be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?”

¹And it came to pass after the death of Joshua, that the sons of Israel asked of YHWH, saying, “Who shall go up for us against the Canaanite as the first to fight against them?”

²“Judah shall go up,” answered the LORD. “Indeed, I have delivered the land into their hands.”

²And YHWH said, “Judah shall go up; behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.”

³Then the men of Judah said to their brothers the Simeonites, “Come up with us to our allotted territory, and let us fight against the Canaanites. And we likewise will go with you to your territory.” So the Simeonites went with them.

³And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into my allotment, that we may fight against the Canaanite. And will go likewise I with you into your allotment.” And Simeon went with him.

⁴When Judah attacked, the LORD delivered the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands, and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek.

⁴And Judah went up, and YHWH delivered the Canaanite and the Perizzite into their hand, and they struck them in Bezek—ten thousand men.

⁵And there they found Adoni-bezek and fought against him, striking down the Canaanites and Perizzites.

⁵And they found Adoni-bezek in Bezek and fought against him, and they struck down the Canaanite and the Perizzite.

⁶As Adoni-bezek

fled, they pursued him, seized him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.

⁶And Adoni-bezek fled, and they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and his feet.

⁷Then Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have gathered the scraps under my table. As I have done to them, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, where he died.

⁷And Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings, with the thumbs of their hands and their feet cut off, have been scavenging under my table; as I have done, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

The Capture of Jerusalem and Hebron

⁸Then the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire.

⁸And the sons of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and they took it, and they struck it with the mouth of the sword, and they sent the city into fire.

⁹Afterward, the men of Judah marched down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, in the Negev, and in the foothills.^a

⁹And afterward the sons of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanite dwelling in the hill country, and in the Negev, and in the Shephelah.

¹⁰Judah also marched against the Canaanites who were living in Hebron (formerly known as Kiriath-arba), and they struck down Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

¹⁰And Judah went against the Canaanite dwelling in Hebron (and the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba), and they killed Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai.

¹¹From there they marched against the inhabitants of Debir (formerly known as Kiriath-sepher).

¹¹And they went from there against those dwelling in Debir (and the name of Debir was formerly Kiriath-sepher).

¹²And Caleb said, “To the man who strikes down Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage.”

¹²And Caleb said, “Whoever strikes down Kiriath-sepher and takes it, I will give to him Acsah my daughter as wife.”

¹³So Othniel son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz captured the city, and Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to him in marriage.

¹³And Othniel son of Kenaz, the younger brother of Caleb, took it. And he gave to him Acsah his daughter as wife.

¹⁴One day Acsah came to Othniel and urged him^a to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you desire?”

¹⁴And it came to pass in her coming in, that she urged him to ask from her father the field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What shall be unto you?”

¹⁵“Give me a blessing,” she answered. “Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me springs of water as well.”

So Caleb gave her both the upper and lower springs.

¹⁵And she said to him, “Give to me a blessing. Since the land of the Negev you have given me, give to me springs of water.” And Caleb gave to her the upper springs and the lower springs.

¹⁶Now the descendants of Moses’ father-in-law, the Kenite, went up with the men of Judah from the City of Palms^a to the Wilderness of Judah in the Negev near Arad. They went to live among the people.

¹⁶And the sons of the Kenite, father-in-law of Moses, went up from the City of Palms with the sons of Judah into the Wilderness of Judah, which is in the Negev of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.

¹⁷Then the men of Judah went with their brothers the Simeonites, attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and devoted the city to destruction.^a So it was called Hormah.^b

¹⁷And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they attacked the Canaanite dwelling in Zephath and devoted it to destruction. And they called the name of the city Hormah.

¹⁸And Judah also captured^a Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron—each with its territory.

¹⁸And Judah took Gaza and its territory, and Ashkelon and its territory, and Ekron and its territory.

¹⁹The LORD was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the plains because they had chariots of iron.

¹⁹And YHWH was with Judah, and he possessed the hill country. But he did not dispossess those dwelling in the valley, because they had chariots of iron.

²⁰Just as Moses had promised, Judah gave Hebron to Caleb, who drove out the descendants of the three sons of Anak.

²⁰And they gave to Caleb Hebron, as Moses had said, and he dispossessed from there the three sons of Anak.

²¹The Benjamites, however, failed to drive out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. So to this day the Jebusites live there among the Benjamites.

²¹And the Jebusite who inhabited Jerusalem, the sons of Benjamin did not dispossess. And the Jebusite has dwelt with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

²²The house of Joseph also attacked Bethel, and the LORD was with them.

²²And the house of Joseph went up—even they—against Bethel, and YHWH was with them.

²³They sent spies to Bethel (formerly known as Luz),

²³And the house of Joseph they sent to spy out in Bethel (and the name of the city was formerly Luz),

²⁴and when the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, “Please show us how to get into the city, and we will treat you kindly.”

²⁴and the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, “Show us, please, the entrance to the city, and we will show you kindness.”

²⁵So the man showed them the entrance to the city, and they put the city to the sword but released that man and all his family.

²⁵And he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city with the mouth of the sword. And the man and all his family they sent away.

²⁶And the man went to the land of the Hittites, built a city, and called it Luz, which is its name to this day.

²⁶And the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city, and he called its name Luz; that is its name to this day.

The Failure to Complete the Conquest

²⁷At that time Manasseh failed to drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and their villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land.

²⁷And Manasseh did not dispossess those of Beth-shean and its villages, and Taanach and its villages, and those dwelling in Dor and its villages, and those dwelling in Ibleam and its villages, and those dwelling in Megiddo and its villages; for the Canaanite were determined to dwell in this land.

²⁸When Israel became stronger, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor, but they never drove them out completely.

²⁸And it came to pass, when Israel became strong, that he put the Canaanite to forced labor, and he did not drive him out completely.

²⁹Ephraim also failed to drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer; so the Canaanites continued to dwell among them in Gezer.

²⁹And Ephraim did not dispossess the Canaanite dwelling in Gezer; and the Canaanite dwelt among them in Gezer.

³⁰Zebulun failed to drive out the inhabitants of Kitron and Nahalol; so the Canaanites lived among them and served as forced laborers.

³⁰Zebulun did not dispossess those dwelling in Kitron, and those dwelling in Nahalol; and the Canaanite dwelt among them and were put to forced labor.

³¹Asher failed to drive out the inhabitants of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, and Rehob.

³¹Asher did not dispossess those dwelling in Acco, and those dwelling in Sidon, and of Ahlab, and Achzib, and Helbah, and Aphek, and Rehob.

³²So the Asherites lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, because they did not drive them out.

³²And the Asherite dwelt among the Canaanite dwellers of the land, for they did not drive them out.

³³Naphtali failed to drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath. So the Naphtalites also lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, but the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath served them as forced laborers.

³³Naphtali did not dispossess those dwelling in Beth-shemesh and those dwelling in Beth-anath, and they dwelt among the Canaanite dwellers of the land. And those dwelling in Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath were put to forced labor to them.

³⁴The Amorites forced the Danites into the hill country and did not allow them to come down into the plain.

³⁴And the Amorite pressed the sons of Dan into the hill country, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley.

³⁵And the Amorites were determined to dwell in Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim. But when the house of Joseph grew in strength, they pressed the Amorites into forced labor.

³⁵And the Amorite were determined to dwell in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim. And the strength of the house of Joseph became heavy, and they were put to forced labor.

³⁶And the border of the Amorites extended from the Ascent of Akrabbim^a to Sela and beyond.

³⁶And the border of the Amorite was from the Ascent of Akrabbim to Sela and upward.