English Standard Version ESV
The Message Bible MSG
1 After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel inquired of the Lord, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them? ”
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A time came after the death of Joshua when the People of Israel asked God, "Who will take the lead in going up against the Canaanites to fight them?"
2 The Lord said, “Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand. ”
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And God said, "Judah will go. I've given the land to him."
3 And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, that we may fight against the Canaanites. And I likewise will go with you into the territory allotted to you. ” So Simeon went with him.
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The men of Judah said to those of their brother Simeon, "Go up with us to our territory and we'll fight the Canaanites. Then we'll go with you to your territory." And Simeon went with them.
4 Then Judah went up and the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they defeated 10,000 of them at Bezek.
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So Judah went up. God gave them the Canaanites and the Perizzites. They defeated them at Bezek - ten military units!
5 They found Adoni-bezek at Bezek and fought against him and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites.
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They caught up with My-Master-Bezek there and fought him. They smashed the Canaanites and the Perizzites.
6 Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and his big toes.
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My-Master-Bezek ran, but they gave chase and caught him. They cut off his thumbs and big toes.
7 And Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and their big toes cut off used to pick up scraps under my table. As I have done, so God has repaid me. ” And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.
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My-Master-Bezek said, "Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to crawl under my table, scavenging. Now God has done to me what I did to them." They brought him to Jerusalem and he died there.
8 And the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire.
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The people of Judah attacked and captured Jerusalem, subduing the city by sword and then sending it up in flames.
9 And afterward the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the Negeb, and in the lowland.
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After that they had gone down to fight the Canaanites who were living in the hill country, the Negev, and the foothills.
10 And Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (now the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba), and they defeated Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.
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Judah had gone on to the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba) and brought Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai to their knees.
11 From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. The name of Debir was formerly Kiriath-sepher.
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From there they had marched against the population of Debir (Debir used to be called Kiriath Sepher).
12 And Caleb said, “He who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give him Achsah my daughter for a wife. ”
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Caleb had said, "Whoever attacks Kiriath Sepher and takes it, I'll give my daughter Acsah to him as his wife."
13 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, captured it. And he gave him Achsah his daughter for a wife.
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Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's brother, took it, so Caleb gave him his daughter Acsah as his wife.
14 When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you want? ”
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When she arrived she got him to ask for farm land from her father. As she dismounted from her donkey Caleb asked her, "What would you like?"
15 She said to him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water. ” And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
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She said, "Give me a marriage gift. You've given me desert land; Now give me pools of water!" And he gave her the upper and the lower pools.
16 And the descendants of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the Negeb near Arad, and they went and settled with the people.
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The people of Hobab the Kenite, Moses' relative, went up with the people of Judah from the City of Palms to the wilderness of Judah at the descent of Arad. They settled down there with the Amalekites.
17 And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they defeated the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and devoted it to destruction. So the name of the city was called Hormah.
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The people of Judah went with their kin the Simeonites and struck the Canaanites who lived in Zephath. They carried out the holy curse and named the city Curse-town.
18 Judah also captured Gaza with its territory, and Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory.
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But Judah didn't manage to capture Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron with their territories.
19 And the Lord was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had chariots of iron.
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God was certainly with Judah in that they took over the hill country. But they couldn't oust the people on the plain because they had iron chariots.
20 And Hebron was given to Caleb, as Moses had said. And he drove out from it the three sons of Anak.
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They gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had directed. Caleb drove out the three sons of Anak.
21 But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
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But the people of Benjamin couldn't get rid of the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. Benjaminites and Jebusites live side by side in Jerusalem to this day.
22 The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them.
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The house of Joseph went up to attack Bethel. God was with them.
23 And the house of Joseph scouted out Bethel. ( Now the name of the city was formerly Luz. )
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Joseph sent out spies to look the place over. Bethel used to be known as Luz.
24 And the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the way into the city, and we will deal kindly with you. ”
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The spies saw a man leaving the city and said to him, "Show us a way into the city and we'll treat you well."
25 And he showed them the way into the city. And they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go.
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The man showed them a way in. They killed everyone in the city but the man and his family.
26 And the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city and called its name Luz. That is its name to this day.
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The man went to Hittite country and built a city. He named it Luz; that's its name to this day.
27 Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages, for the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land.
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But Manasseh never managed to drive out Beth Shan, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, and Megiddo with their territories. The Canaanites dug in their heels and wouldn't budge.
28 When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely.
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When Israel became stronger they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they never got rid of them.
29 And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.
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Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer. The Canaanites stuck it out and lived there with them.
30 Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them, but became subject to forced labor.
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Nor did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites in Kitron or Nahalol. They kept living there, but they were put to forced labor.
31 Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon or of Ahlab or of Achzib or of Helbah or of Aphik or of Rehob,
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Nor did Asher drive out the people of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Aczib, Helbah, Aphek, and Rehob.
32 so the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out.
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Asher went ahead and settled down with the Canaanites since they could not get rid of them.
33 Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, so they lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became subject to forced labor for them.
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Naphtali fared no better. They couldn't drive out the people of Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath so they just moved in and lived with them. They did, though, put them to forced labor.
34 The Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain.
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The Amorites pushed the people of Dan up into the hills and wouldn't let them down on the plains.
35 The Amorites persisted in dwelling in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the hand of the house of Joseph rested heavily on them, and they became subject to forced labor.
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The Amorites stubbornly continued to live in Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim. But when the house of Joseph got the upper hand, they were put to forced labor.
36 And the border of the Amorites ran from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upward.
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The Amorite border extended from Scorpions' Pass and Sela upward.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2025
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.