Judges 1

Israel Starts Taking Over the Land

1 After Joshua passed away, the Israelites went to the Lord and asked, “Lord, who should roll out first to fight these Canaanites for us?”

2 The Lord said, “Send Judah up first. I already gave him the land.”

3 Then Judah told his brother Simeon, “Aye bro, ride with me to fight these Canaanites. Help me, and I will help you when it is your turn.” Simeon said, “Bet.”

4 So Judah rolled up, and the Lord gave them victory. They smashed 10,000 men at a place called Bezek.

5 At Bezek, they caught a king named Adoni-bezek and went to war against the Canaanites and Perizzites.

6 Adoni-bezek tried to dip, but they chased him down and cut off his thumbs and big toes.

7 Adoni-bezek said, “Man, I used to do that to 70 kings. Made them eat scraps under my table. Now God got me feeling that same pain.” Then they took him to Jerusalem, where he died.

8 The tribe of Judah ran up in Jerusalem, fought hard, killed everybody, and burned the city down.

9 After that, they moved on to fight in the hill country, the Negev desert, and the lowlands.

10 Judah went to fight the Canaanites in Hebron (back then it was called Kiriath-arba) and killed Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

11 Then they rolled out to Debir, which used to be called Kiriath-sepher.

12 Caleb said, “Whoever takes out Kiriath-sepher, I will give him my daughter Achsah to marry.”

13 Othniel, Caleb’s nephew, stepped up, handled business, and married Achsah.

14 When she came to Othniel, she told him, “Ask my dad for some land.” When she pulled up to her father, Caleb asked, “What do you need, baby girl?”

15 She said, “Since you gave me dry land in the desert, can I get some water too,” So Caleb blessed her with both upper and lower springs.

16 The Kenites, Moses’ in-laws, rolled out from Jericho with Judah’s tribe and moved into the desert of Judah, south of Arad. They stayed there.

17 Judah and Simeon teamed up and took out the Canaanites in Zephath. They destroyed the whole city and renamed it Hormah.

18 Judah also captured Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron with all the areas around them.

19 The Lord was with Judah. They took the hill country, but they could not drive out the people in the valleys because they had iron chariots.

20 Just like Moses promised, Caleb got Hebron, and he drove out the three sons of Anak.

21 But the tribe of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem, so they still live there with Benjamin’s people to this day.

Other Tribes Struggle to Take the Land

22 Meanwhile, the tribes of Joseph went to fight Bethel, and the Lord was with them.

23 They sent spies to Bethel (which used to be called Luz).

24 They saw a man coming out the city and said, “Show us the way in, and we will let you live.”

25 He showed them the entrance, and they destroyed the city but let him and his family go free.

26 That man left and went to the land of the Hittites. He built a new city called Luz, and that is still its name today.

Other Tribes Fail to Drive Out the Canaanites

27 Manasseh did not drive out the people from Beth-shean, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, or Megiddo. The Canaanites stayed living there.

28 Later, when Israel got stronger, they made the Canaanites do hard labor, but they never fully drove them out.

29 Ephraim did not drive out the people in Gezer either, so the Canaanites stayed.

30 Zebulun did not drive out the people in Kitron or Nahalol, they just put them to work.

31 Asher did not clear out the people from Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob.

32 Asher’s tribe ended up living with the Canaanites like it was normal.

33 Naphtali did not drive out the people from Beth-shemesh or Beth-anath. They let them stay but forced them to do labor.

34 The Amorites pushed the tribe of Dan up into the hills, would not even let them come down to the valley.

35 The Amorites held down Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim. But when Joseph’s tribe got stronger, they made the Amorites serve them.

36 The Amorites’ territory stretched from Scorpion Pass up to Sela and beyond.