Judges 1

1 Now after the death of Joshua, it came to pass that the sons of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first to fight against them?
2 And the LORD said, Judah shall go up; behold, I have delivered the land into his hands.
3 And Judah said unto Simeon, his brother, Come up with me into my lot that we may fight against the Canaanite; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him.
4 And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the Canaanite and the Perizzite into their hands, and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men.
5 And they found Adonibezek in Bezek, and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanite and the Perizzite.
6 But Adonibezek fled, and they pursued after him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.
7 And Adonibezek said, Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered crumbs under my table; as I have done, so God has recompensed me. And they put him into Jerusalem, and there he died.
8 Now the sons of Judah had fought against Jerusalem and had taken it and smitten it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire.
9 And afterward the sons of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanite that dwelt in the mountains and in the Negev and in the plains.
10 And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron (now the name of Hebron before was Kirjatharba), and they slew Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.
11 And from there he went against the inhabitants of Debir (and the name of Debir before was Kirjathsepher).
12 And Caleb said, He that smites Kirjathsepher and takes it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.
13 And Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it; and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife.
14 And it came to pass when he took her that he persuaded her to ask her father for land to cultivate. And she lighted from off her ass, and Caleb said unto her, What wilt thou?
15 And she said unto him, Give me a blessing, for thou hast given me a dry land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
16 And the sons of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the sons of Judah into the wilderness of Judah which is towards the Negev of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.
17 And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanite that inhabited Zephath and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah.
18 Also Judah took Gaza with its border and Askelon with its border and Ekron with its border.
19 And the LORD was with Judah, who drove out the inhabitants of the mountains, but could not drive out the inhabitants of the plains, because they had chariots of iron.
20 And they gave Hebron unto Caleb as Moses had said, and he expelled from there the three sons of Anak.
21 And the sons of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; thus the Jebusites dwell with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day.
22 And also those of the house of Joseph went up against Bethel, and the LORD was with them.
23 And those of the house of Joseph put spies in Bethel (Now the name of the city before was Luz).
24 And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, Show us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will show thee mercy.
25 And when he showed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man go and all his family.
26 And the man went into the land of the Hittites and built a city and called the name of it Luz, which is its name unto this day.
27 Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean and its towns nor Taanach and its towns nor the inhabitants of Dor and its towns nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; but the Canaanite desired to dwell in that land.
28 And it came to pass when Israel was strong that they put the Canaanites under tribute but did not utterly drive them out.
29 Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanite that dwelt in Gezer, but the Canaanite dwelt in Gezer among them.
30 Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron nor the inhabitants of Nahalol, but the Canaanite dwelt among them and became tributaries.
31 Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho nor the inhabitants of Zidon nor of Ahlab nor of Achzib nor of Helbah nor of Aphik nor of Rehob;
32 to the contrary Asher dwelt among the Canaanites that inhabited the land, for they did not drive them out.
33 Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Bethshemesh nor the inhabitants of Bethanath, but he dwelt among the Canaanites that inhabited the land; nevertheless, the inhabitants of Bethshemesh and of Bethanath became tributaries unto them.
34 And the Amorites forced the sons of Dan into the mountain, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley.
35 And the Amorites desired to dwell in Mount Heres in Aijalon and in Shaalbim; yet when the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, they made them tributaries.
36 And the border of the Amorites was from the ascent to Akrabbim from the rock and upward.

Judges 1 Commentaries

The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010