Judges 1

1 After the death of Joshua, the children of Israel asked of the Lord, “Who will go up for us against the Canaanites, to lead the fight against them?” 2 And the Lord said, “Judah will go up. See, I have given the land into his hand.” 3 And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into my portion, and let us draw up for battle against the Canaanites, and I too will go with you into your portion.” So Simeon went with him.

4 And Judah went up, and the Lord gave the Canaanite and the Perizzite into their hands; and they cut them down in Bezek, ten thousand men. 5 And they came upon Adoni-bezek in Bezek and drew up against him, and they cut down the Canaanite and the Perizzite. 6 And Adoni-bezek fled, and they ran after him and caught him, and cut off the ends of his hands and the ends of his feet. 7 And Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings, with the ends of their hands and the ends of their feet cut off, used to gather up what was under my table. As I have done, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there. 8 And the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it, and struck it with the edge of the sword, and burned the city with fire.

9 Afterward the children of Judah went down to fight the Canaanite living in the hill country, and in the south, and in the lowland. 10 And Judah went against the Canaanite living in Hebron, and Hebron came out against him — the name of Hebron before that was Kiriath-arba-sepher — and they struck down Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai, the offspring of Anak. 11 And from there they went up against those living in Debir; and the name of Debir before was Kiriath-sepher, the City of Writings.

12 And Caleb said, “Whoever strikes the City of Writings and takes it first, I will give him Achsah my daughter as his wife.” 13 And Othniel the younger, son of Kenaz the brother of Caleb, took it; and Caleb gave him Achsah his daughter as his wife. [a] 14 And as she was going in, Othniel urged her to ask her father for a field. And she grumbled, and cried out from the donkey, “You have given me away into a land of the south.” And Caleb said to her, “What is the matter with you?” 15 And Achsah said to him, “Please give me a blessing, since you have given me away into a land of the south; and you will give me a ransom of water.” And Caleb gave her what her heart asked: the ransom of the heights and the ransom of the low ground. [b]

16 And the sons of Jethro the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up from the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness that is in the south of Judah, at the descent of Arad; and they settled with the people.

17 And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and he cut down the Canaanite living in Zephath; and they destroyed them completely, and he called the name of the city Destruction. [c] 18 But Judah did not inherit Gaza or its borders, nor Ashkelon or its borders, nor Ekron or its borders, nor Ashdod or its open land. [d] 19 And the Lord was with Judah, and he inherited the mountain; for they were not able to destroy the people living in the valley, because Rechab had forbidden them. [e]

20 And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said; and from there he inherited the three cities of the sons of Anak. 21 But the children of Benjamin did not inherit the Jebusite living in Jerusalem; and the Jebusite has lived with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

22 And the sons of Joseph, they too went up, to Bethel; and the Lord was with them. 23 And they camped and spied out Bethel; and the name of their city before was Luz. 24 And the men keeping watch saw a man coming out of the city, and they caught him and said to him, “Show us the way into the city, and we will show you mercy.” 25 And he showed them the way into the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but the man and his family they let go. 26 And the man went into the land of the Hittites and built a city there and called its name Luz. That is its name to this day.

27 And Manasseh did not drive out Beth-shan, which is a city of Scythians, nor her daughter towns, nor the settlements around her; nor Taanach, nor her daughter towns; nor the people living in Dor, nor her daughter towns; nor the people living in Balak, nor the settlements around her, nor her daughter towns; nor the people living in Megiddo, nor the settlements around her, nor her daughter towns; nor the people living in Ibleam, nor the settlements around her, nor her daughter towns. And the Canaanite began to live in this land. 28 And when Israel grew strong, he made the Canaanite pay tribute, but drive him out he did not.

29 And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanite living in Gezer; and the Canaanite lived in the midst of Ephraim, in Gezer, and paid tribute. 30 And Zebulun did not drive out the people living in Kedron, nor the people living in Domana; and the Canaanite lived in the midst of them, and paid tribute to him. 31 And Asher did not drive out the people living in Acco, and they paid tribute to him; nor the people living in Dor, nor the people living in Sidon, nor the people living in Ahlab, nor Achzib, nor Helbah, nor Nai, nor Ereo. 32 And Asher lived in the midst of the Canaanite who lived in the land, because he could not drive him out. 33 And Naphtali did not drive out the people living in Beth-shemesh, nor the people living in Beth-anath; and Naphtali lived in the midst of the Canaanite who lived in the land, and the people of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath paid tribute to them.

34 And the Amorite pressed the children of Dan back into the mountain, for they did not let him come down into the valley. 35 And the Amorite began to live in the mountain of potsherds, where the bears are and where the foxes are, in Myrsinon and in Thalabin; and the hand of the house of Joseph lay heavy on the Amorite, and he paid tribute to them. 36 And the border of the Amorite ran from the going up of Akrabbim, from the Rock and upward.