Judges 1
The Israelites, led by Judah, began to conquer the Canaanites, with the Lord delivering the land into their hands. Judah and his brother Simeon defeated the Canaanites at Bezek, and then Judah went on to capture Jerusalem and other cities. Caleb, a relative of Judah, offered his daughter Achsah to whoever would capture the city of Debir, which was accomplished by Othniel. The other tribes of Israel also fought against the Canaanites, but some were unsuccessful in driving them out, and instead made them tributaries.
1After the death of Joshua, the sons of Israel consulted the Lord, saying, "Who will ascend before us, against the Canaanite, and who will be the commander of the war?2And the Lord said: "Judah shall ascend. Behold, I have delivered the land into his hands.3And Judah said to his brother Simeon, "Go up with me to my lot, and fight against the Canaanite, so that I also may go forth with you to your lot." And Simeon went with him4And Judah went up, and the Lord delivered the Canaanite, as well as the Perizzite, into their hands. And they struck down ten thousand of the men at Bezek5And they found Adonibezek at Bezek, and they fought against him, and they struck down the Canaanite and the Perizzite6Then Adonibezek fled. And they pursued him and captured him, and they cut off the ends of his hands and feet7And Adonibezek said: "Seventy kings, with the ends of their hands and feet amputated, have been gathering the remnants of food under my table. Just as I have done, so has God repaid me." And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there8Then the sons of Judah, besieging Jerusalem, seized it. And they struck it with edge of the sword, delivering the entire city to be burned9And afterward, descending, they fought against the Canaanites who were living in the mountains, and in the south, and in the plains10And Judah, going forth against the Canaanites who were living at Hebron, (the name of which from antiquity was Kiriath-Arba) struck down Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai11And continuing on from there, he went to the inhabitants of Debir, the old name of which was Kiriath-Sepher, that is, the City of Letters12And Caleb said, "Whoever will strike Kiriath-Sepher, and will lay waste to it, I will give to him my daughter Achsah as wife.13And when Othniel, the son of Kenaz, a younger brother of Caleb, had seized it, he gave his daughter Achsah to him in marriage14And as she was traveling on a journey, her husband admonished her, so that she would request a field from her father. And since she had sighed while sitting on her donkey, Caleb said to her, "What is it?15But she responded: "Give a blessing to me. For you have given me a dry land. Also give a watered land." Therefore, Caleb gave to her the upper watered land and the lower watered land16Now the sons of the Kenite, the relative of Moses, ascended from the City of Palms, with the sons of Judah, into the wilderness of his lot, which is toward the south of Arad. And they lived with him17Then Judah went out with his brother Simeon, and together they struck the Canaanites who were living at Zephath, and they put them to death. And the name of the city was called Hormah, that is, Anathema18And Judah seized Gaza, with its parts, and Ashkelon as well as Ekron, with their borders19And the Lord was with Judah, and he possessed the mountains. But he was not able to wipe out the inhabitants of the valley. For they abounded with chariots armed with scythes20And just as Moses had said, they gave Hebron to Caleb, who destroyed out of it the three sons of Anak21But the sons of Benjamin did not wipe out the Jebusite inhabitants of Jerusalem. And the Jebusite has lived with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem, even to the present day22The house of Joseph also ascended against Bethel, and the Lord was with them23For when they were besieging the city, which was previously called Luz24they saw a man departing from the city, and they said to him, "Reveal to us the entrance to the city, and we will act with mercy toward you.25And when he had revealed it to them, they struck the city with the edge of the sword. But that man, and all his relatives, they released26And having been sent away, he went out to the land of the Hittites, and he built a city there, and he called it Luz. And so it is called, even to the present day27Likewise, Manasseh did not destroy Bethshean and Taanach, with their villages, nor the inhabitants of Dor and Ibleam and Megiddo, with their villages. And the Canaanite began to live with them28Then, after Israel had grown strong, he made them tributaries, but he was not willing to destroy them29And now Ephraim did not put to death the Canaanite, who was living at Gezer; instead, he lived with him30Zebulun did not wipe out the inhabitants of Kitron and of Nahalal. Instead, the Canaanite lived in their midst and became their tributary31Likewise, Asher did not destroy the inhabitants of Acco and Sidon, Ahlab and Achzib, and Helbah, and Aphik, and Rehob32And he lived in the midst of the Canaanites, the inhabitants of that land, for he did not put them to death33Naphtali also did not wipe out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Bethanath. And he lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land. And the Beth-shemeshites and Bethanathites were tributaries to him34And the Amorite hemmed in the sons of Dan on the mountain, and did not give them a place, so that they might descend to the flatlands35And he lived on the mountain at Har-heres, which is translated as ‘resembling brick,’ and at Aijalon and Sha-alabbin. But the hand of the house of Joseph was very heavy, and he became a tributary to him36Now the border of the Amorite was from the Ascent of the Scorpion, to the Rock and the higher places
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