Judges

1 And it came to pass, after the death of Joshua, that the sons of Israel asked of Yahweh, saying,—Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites, first, to make war upon them?

2 And Yahweh said—Judah shall go,—lo! I have delivered the land into his power.

3 Then said Judah unto Simeon his brother—Come up with me into the territory allotted me, and let us make war on the Canaanites, then will I also go with thee into thy territory. So Simeon went with him.

4 And Judah went up, and Yahweh delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand,—and they smote them in Bezek, ten thousand men.

5 And they found Adoni-bezek in Bezek, and fought with him,—and smote the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

6 But Adoni-bezek fled, and they pursued him,—and took him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.

7 Then said Adoni-bezek—Seventy kings with their thumbs and great toes cut off have been picking up crumbs under my table, as I have done so hath God requited me. And they brought him into Jerusalem, and he died there.

8 And the sons of Judah made war upon Jerusalem, and captured it and smote it with the edge of the sword,—and the city they set on fire.

9 And, afterwards, the sons of Judah went down to make war upon the Canaanites,—dwelling in the hill country, and in the south, and in the lowland.

10 And Judah went against the Canaanites who were dwelling in Hebron, now the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba,—and they smote Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.

11 And he went from thence, against the inhabitants of Debir,—now the name of Debir formerly was Kiriath-sepher.

12 And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kiriath-sepher and captureth it, I will give unto him Achsah my daughter to wife.

13 Then Othniel, son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, captured it,—and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife.

14 And it came to pass, when she came, that she moved him to ask of her father a field, and when she alighted from off the ass, Caleb said unto her—What aileth thee?

15 And she said unto him—Give me a present; for south land hast thou given me, give me therefore pools of water. So Caleb gave her Upper-pools, and Lower-pools.

16 Now the sons of the Kenite, father-in-law of Moses, had come up from the city of palm-trees with the sons of Judah, into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad,—so they went and dwelt with the people.

17 Then went Judah with Simeon his brother, and they smote the Canaanites dwelling in Zephath,—and devoted it to destruction, and the name of the city was called Hormah.

18 And Judah captured Gaza with the boundaries thereof, and Ashkelon with the boundaries thereof,—and Ekron with the boundaries thereof.

19 And it came to pass that Yahweh was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country,—but did not dispossess the inhabitants of the vale, because they had chariots of iron.

20 So they gave unto Caleb Hebron, as spake Moses,—and he drave out from thence the three sons of Anak.

21 But the Jebusites dwelling in Jerusalem the sons of Benjamin did not drive out,—but the Jebusites have dwelt with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem, unto this day.

22 Then went up the house of Joseph—they also—unto Bethel,—and Yahweh was with them.

23 And the house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel,—now the name of the city formerly was Luz.

24 So the watchers saw a man coming forth from the city,—and they said unto him—Shew us, we pray thee, the way to get into the city, and we will deal with thee in lovingkindness.

25 And he shewed them the way to get into the city, and they smote the city with the edge of the sword,—but the man and all his family they let go.

26 And the man went into the land of the Hittites,—and built a city and called the name thereof Luz, that is the name thereof, unto this day.

27 But Manasseh took not possession of Beth-shean and her towns, nor of Taanach and her towns, nor dispossessed the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns,—but the Canaanites were determined to remain in this land;

28 when Israel, however, had waxed strong, they put the Canaanites under tribute,—though they dispossessed them not.

29 And Ephraim dispossessed not the Canaanites who were dwelling in Gezer,—so the Canaanites remained in their midst in Gezer.

30 Zebulun dispossessed not the inhabitants of Kitrôn, nor the inhabitants of Nahalôl,—but the Canaanites remained in their midst, and came under tribute.

31 Asher, dispossessed not the inhabitants of Acco, nor the inhabitants of Zidon,—nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob;

32 but the Asherites dwelt in the midst of the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land,—for they dispossessed them not.

33 Naphtali dispossessed not the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh nor the inhabitants of Beth-anâth, but they dwelt in the midst of the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land,—and the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anâth became theirs under tribute.

34 And the Amorites forced the sons of Dan into the hill country,—for they suffered them not to come down into the vale;

35 and though the Amorites were determined to remain in the hill country of Heres, in Aijalon and in Shaalbim, yet was the hand of the house of Joseph heavy, so that they came under tribute.

36 And the boundary of the Amorites was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upwards.