JudgesChapter 1

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¹After Joshua died, the Israelites asked the LORD, "Who should go up first to fight for us against the Canaanites?" ²The LORD answered, "Judah will go up. Look, I have handed the land over to them." ³Then the men of Judah spoke to their brothers, the people of Simeon. They said, "Come up with us into the land given to us. Let's fight the Canaanites together. Then we will go with you into your land too." So the people of Simeon went with them. ⁴When Judah attacked, the LORD handed the Canaanites and Perizzites over to them. They killed ten thousand men at Bezek. ⁵There they found Adoni-bezek and fought against him. They struck down the Canaanites and Perizzites. ⁶Adoni-bezek ran away, but they chased him and caught him. They cut off his thumbs and big toes. ⁷Then Adoni-bezek said, "Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them." They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there. ⁸Then the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it. They killed its people with the sword and set the city on fire. ⁹After that, the men of Judah went down to fight the Canaanites. These Canaanites lived in the hill country, in the Negev, and in the low hills to the west. ¹⁰Judah also marched against the Canaanites living in Hebron. Hebron used to be called Kiriath-arba. They struck down Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. ¹¹From there they marched against the people living in Debir. Debir used to be called Kiriath-sepher. ¹²Caleb said, "I will give my daughter Acsah as a wife to the man who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it." ¹³Othniel captured the city. He was the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. So Caleb gave him his daughter Acsah to be his wife. ¹⁴One day Acsah came to Othniel. She urged him to ask her father for a field. When she got down off her donkey, Caleb asked her, "What do you want?" ¹⁵"Give me a blessing," she answered. "You have given me land in the Negev. Now give me springs of water too." So Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. ¹⁶Moses' father-in-law was a Kenite. His descendants went up with the men of Judah from the City of Palms. They went to the Desert of Judah in the Negev, near Arad. They went to live among the people there. ¹⁷Then the men of Judah went with their brothers, the people of Simeon. They attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath. They set the city apart to be completely destroyed. So it was named Hormah. ¹⁸Judah also captured Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron, each with the land around it. ¹⁹The LORD was with Judah. They took over the hill country. But they could not drive out the people living on the plains, because those people had iron chariots. ²⁰Judah gave Hebron to Caleb, just as Moses had promised. Caleb drove out the descendants of the three sons of Anak from there. ²¹But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. So the Jebusites still live there with the people of Benjamin to this day. ²²The family of Joseph also attacked Bethel. And the LORD was with them. ²³They sent spies to Bethel. It used to be called Luz. ²⁴The spies saw a man coming out of the city. They said to him, "Please show us how to get into the city. If you do, we will be kind to you." ²⁵So the man showed them the way into the city. They killed the people of the city with the sword. But they let that man and his whole family go. ²⁶The man went to the land of the Hittites. He built a city there and named it Luz. That is still its name today. ²⁷At that time Manasseh did not drive out the people of Beth-shean, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and their villages. That was because the Canaanites were set on staying in that land. ²⁸Later Israel grew stronger. Then they made the Canaanites do forced labor. But they never drove them out completely. ²⁹Ephraim also did not drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer. So the Canaanites kept on living among them in Gezer. ³⁰Zebulun did not drive out the people of Kitron and Nahalol. So the Canaanites lived among them and were made to do forced labor. ³¹Asher did not drive out the people of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, and Rehob. ³²So the people of Asher lived among the Canaanites who lived in the land. That was because they did not drive them out. ³³Naphtali did not drive out the people of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath. So the people of Naphtali also lived among the Canaanites who lived in the land. But the people of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath were made to do forced labor for them. ³⁴The Amorites pushed the people of Dan back into the hill country. They did not let them come down into the plain. ³⁵The Amorites were set on staying in Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim. But the family of Joseph grew stronger. Then they made the Amorites do forced labor. ³⁶The border of the Amorites ran from the Ascent of Akrabbim to Sela and beyond.