New Living Translation NLT
The Message Bible MSG
1 After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the LORD, “Which tribe should go first to attack the Canaanites?”
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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 answered, “Judah, for I have given them victory over the land.”
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And God said, "Judah will go. I've given the land to him."
3 The men of Judah said to their relatives from the tribe of Simeon, “Join with us to fight against the Canaanites living in the territory allotted to us. Then we will help you conquer your territory.” So the men of Simeon went with Judah.
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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 When the men of Judah attacked, the LORD gave them victory over the Canaanites and Perizzites, and they killed 10,000 enemy warriors at the town of 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 While at Bezek they encountered King Adoni-bezek and fought against him, and the Canaanites and Perizzites were defeated.
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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 escaped, but the Israelites soon captured him and cut off his thumbs and 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 Adoni-bezek said, “I once had seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off, eating scraps from under my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them.” They took 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 The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem and captured it, killing all its people and setting 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 Then they went down to fight the Canaanites living in the hill country, the Negev, and the western foothills.
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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 Judah marched against the Canaanites in Hebron (formerly called Kiriath-arba), defeating the forces of Sheshai, 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 to fight against the people living in the town of Debir (formerly called Kiriath-sepher).
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From there they had marched against the population of Debir (Debir used to be called Kiriath Sepher).
12 Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to the one who attacks and captures Kiriath-sepher.”
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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 Othniel, the son of Caleb’s younger brother, Kenaz, was the one who conquered it, so Acsah became Othniel’s 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 Acsah married Othniel, she urged him to ask her father for a field. As she got down off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What’s the matter?”
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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, “Let me have another gift. You have already given me land in the Negev; now please give me springs of water, too.” So Caleb gave her the upper and 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 When the tribe of Judah left Jericho—the city of palms—the Kenites, who were descendants of Moses’ father-in-law, traveled with them into the wilderness of Judah. They settled among the people there, near the town of Arad in the Negev.
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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 Then Judah joined with Simeon to fight against the Canaanites living in Zephath, and they completely destroyed the town. So the town was named 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 In addition, Judah captured the towns of Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron, along with their surrounding territories.
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But Judah didn't manage to capture Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron with their territories.
19 The LORD was with the people of Judah, and they took possession of the hill country. But they failed to drive out the people living in the plains, who had iron chariots.
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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 The town of Hebron was given to Caleb as Moses had promised. And Caleb drove out the people living there, who were descendants of 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 The tribe of Benjamin, however, failed to drive out the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem. So to this day the Jebusites live in Jerusalem among the people of Benjamin.
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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 descendants of Joseph attacked the town of 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 They sent men to scout out Bethel (formerly known as Luz).
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Joseph sent out spies to look the place over. Bethel used to be known as Luz.
24 They confronted a man coming out of the town and said to him, “Show us a way into the town, and we will have mercy on 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 So he showed them a way in, and they killed everyone in the town except that man and his family.
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The man showed them a way in. They killed everyone in the city but the man and his family.
26 Later the man moved to the land of the Hittites, where he built a town. He named it Luz, which 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 The tribe of Manasseh failed to drive out the people living in Beth-shan, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and all their surrounding settlements, because the Canaanites were determined to stay in that region.
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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 the Israelites grew stronger, they forced the Canaanites to work as slaves, but they never did drive them completely out of the land.
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When Israel became stronger they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they never got rid of them.
29 The tribe of Ephraim failed to drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, so the Canaanites continued to live there 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 The tribe of Zebulun failed to drive out the residents of Kitron and Nahalol, so the Canaanites continued to live among them. But the Canaanites were forced to work as slaves for the people of Zebulun.
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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 The tribe of Asher failed to drive out the residents of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Aczib, Helbah, Aphik, and Rehob.
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Nor did Asher drive out the people of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Aczib, Helbah, Aphek, and Rehob.
32 Instead, the people of Asher moved in among the Canaanites, who controlled the land, for they failed to 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 Likewise, the tribe of Naphtali failed to drive out the residents of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath. Instead, they moved in among the Canaanites, who controlled the land. Nevertheless, the people of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath were forced to work as slaves for the people of Naphtali.
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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 As for the tribe of Dan, the Amorites forced them back into the hill country and would not let them come down into the plains.
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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 were determined to stay in Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim, but when the descendants of Joseph became stronger, they forced the Amorites to work as slaves.
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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 The boundary of the Amorites ran from Scorpion Pass to Sela and continued upward from there.
36
The Amorite border extended from Scorpions' Pass and Sela upward.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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.