Judges

The Book of Judges

1 And after Joshuaʽ’s death the sons of Israel put the question to Jehovah “Whom shall we have go up against the Canaanites to begin with, and attack them?” 2 And Jehovah said “Judah shall go up: I have given the land into his hands.” 3 And Judah said to his brother Simeon “Come up with me into my allotment to attack the Canaanites, and so will I go with you into your allotment”; and Simeon went with him. 4 So Judah went up, and Jehovah gave the Canaanites and Perizzites into his hands, and they defeated them at Bezek, killing ten thousand men. 5 And they found Adoni-Bezek at Bezek and attacked him, and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites; 6 and Adoni-Bezek fled, and they ran him down and laid hold of him and cut off his thumbs and great toes, 7 and Adoni-Bezek said “Seventy kings have picked up their food under my table with their thumbs and great toes cut off; God has paid me back just what I had done.” And they brought him to Jerusalem and he died there.

8 And the sons of Judah attacked Jerusalem and took it, and massacred the people and put the torch to the city. 9 And afterward the sons of Judah went down to attack the Canaanites who lived in the highlands and in the South and in the lowlands; 10* and Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (the name of Hebron formerly being Kirjath-Arbogh) and killed Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai. 11* And from there he went against the inhabitants of Debir (the name of Debir formerly being Kirjath-Sepher); 12 and Caleb said “To the one who conquers and takes Kirjath-Sepher I will give my daughter ʽAcsah as wife”; 13 and Ghothniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it, and Caleb gave him his daughter ʽAcsah as wife. 14** And when she came she instigated him to ask her father for land: and she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her “What is the matter?” 15* and she said to him “Give me a blessing, because you have put me in the South: give me bowls of water.” And Caleb gave her Upper Gulloth and Nether Gulloth.

16*** And Hobab the Cainite, Moses’s father-in-law, went up from the City of Palms with the sons of Judah to the wilderness of Judah, in the South about ʽArad, and went and lived with the ʽAmalekites.

17* And Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they defeated the Canaanites who lived in Sephath; and they destroyed it without quarter, and named the city Hormah.

18 And Judah took Ghaza and its territory, and Ashkelon and its territory, and ʽEkron and its territory; 19 and Jehovah was with Judah, and they took possession of the highland—for they were not able to dispossess the inhabitants of the vale, because they had iron chariots. 20 And they gave Caleb Hebron, as Moses had promised, and he dispossessed from there the three sons of the ʽAnak.

21 And the sons of Benjamin did not dispossess the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, and the Jebusites lived with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

22* And the house of Joseph too went up to Bethel, and Jehovah was with them. 23 And the house of Joseph made a reconnaissance at Bethel (the name of the city formerly was Luz); 24 and the sentinels saw a man come out of the city, and said to him “Show us the way into the city and we will befriend you.” 25 And he showed them the way into the city; and they massacred the people of the city, but let the man and his clan go. 26 And the man went to the country of the Hittites and built a city and named it Luz; that is its name to this day.

27 And Manasseh did not dispossess Beth-Shean and its dependencies, and Taʽanac and its dependencies, and the inhabitants of Dor and its dependencies, and the inhabitants of Jibleʽam and its dependencies, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its dependencies, but the Canaanites persisted in living in this country. 28 And when Israel grew strong they subjected them to forced labor; they did not dispossess them.

29 And Ephraim did not dispossess the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, but the Canaanites lived among them in Gezer.

30 Zebulun did not dispossess the inhabitants of Kitron and the inhabitants of Nahalol, but the Canaanites lived among them and became subject to forced labor.

31 Asher did not dispossess the inhabitants of ʽAcco and the inhabitants of Sidon, and Ahlab and Aczib and Helbah and Aphik and Rehob; 32 and the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the country, but had not dispossessed them.

33 Naphtali did not dispossess the inhabitants of Beth-Shemesh and the inhabitants of Beth-ʽAnath, but lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the country, and the inhabitants of Beth-Shemesh and Beth-ʽAnath became subject to forced labor under them.

34 And the Amorites crowded the sons of Dan into the highland; for they did not let them get down to the vale, 35 and the Amorites persisted in living in Har-Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaʽalbim. But the hand of the house of Joseph grew heavy, and they became subject to forced labor.

36*** And the territory of the Amorites was from Scorpion Pass, from Selaʽ upward.