Judges, 1

1. Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them?

1. After the death of Joshua, the Israelites consulted Yahweh, "Who among us shall be the first to fight against the Canaanites?"

2. And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.

2. Yahweh answered: "The tribe of Judah shall go up first, and I will give the land into their hands."

3. And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him.

3. So the people of Judah said to their brothers from the tribe of Simeon, "Help us conquer the part of the land that is allotted to us, and then we will conquer with you the region that is yours." So they joined forces for the war.

4. And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men.

4. When the tribe of Judah attacked the Canaanites and the Perizzites, Yahweh gave them into their hands; in Bezek they defeated ten thousand men.

5. And they found Adonibezek in Bezek: and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

5. In Bezek they encountered the lord of Bezek and fought against him.

6. But Adonibezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.

6. The lord of Bezek fled but they pursued him. They captured him and cut off his thumbs and his big toes.

7. And Adonibezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered [their meat] under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.

7. The lord of Bezek then said, "Seventy kings whose thumbs and big toes I cut off used to pick scraps under my table, now God has done to me according to what I have done." They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

8. Now the children 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.

8. The tribe of Judah attacked the city of Jerusalem, and after killing its inhabitants they burned the city.

9. And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites, that dwelt in the mountain, and in the south, and in the valley.

9. Afterwards they went down from Jerusalem to attack the Canaanites who lived in the mountains, in the Negeb 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, and Ahiman, and Talmai.

10. They also attacked the Canaanites who were in Hebron (Hebron was also called Kiriath-arba at that time), and they defeated Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai.

11. And from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir: and the name of Debir before [was] Kirjathsepher:

11. From there they marched against the inhabitants of Debir, a city which was also called Kiriath-sepher.

12. And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjathsepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.

12. Then Caleb made this promise, "To the one who takes Kiriath-sepher, I will give my daughter Achsah as wife."

13. And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife.

13. It was Othoniel who took the city; he was the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, and Caleb gave him Achsah, his daughter, as wife.

14. And it came to pass, when she came [to him], that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted from off [her] ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wilt thou?

14. When Achsah came to Othoniel, she urged him to ask her father for a field. She alighted from her ass, and Caleb asked her, "What do you want?"

15. And she said unto him, Give me a blessing: for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs.

15. She answered, "What a gift this Negeb wilderness is! Give me also springs of water." And Caleb gave her the Upper Springs and the Lower Springs.

16. And the children of the Kenite, Moses' father in law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which [lieth] in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.

16. The descendants of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, also went up with the people of Judah from the city of palms to that part of the desert of Judah on the boundary of the Negeb near Arad, and they settled there with them.

17. And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah.

17. Those from Judah and their brothers from the tribe of Simeon attacked the Canaanites who lived in Zephath, and they sacrificed Zephath in honor of Yahweh. For this reason, the city was named "Anathema."

18. Also Judah took Gaza with the coast thereof, and Askelon with the coast thereof, and Ekron with the coast thereof.

18. Judah seized Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron with their respective territories.

19. And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out [the inhabitants of] the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.

19. Although they conquered the mountainous regions with the help of Yahweh, they could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they fought with iron chariots.

20. And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said: and he expelled thence the three sons of Anak.

20. Following the orders of Moses, they gave the city of Hebron to Caleb who had cast out the three sons of Anak from there.

21. And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day.

21. But the tribe of Benjamin did not succeed in expelling the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem; the Jebusites have stayed in Jerusalem until this day.

22. And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel: and the LORD [was] with them.

22. The people of Joseph went up against Bethel with the help of Yahweh.

23. And the house of Joseph sent to descry Bethel. (Now the name of the city before [was] Luz.)

23. They sent men out to spy in Bethel, formerly called Luz,

24. And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, Shew us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will shew thee mercy.

24. and they met a man coming out of the city. They said to him, "Tell us how we can enter the city, and we will not kill you."

25. And when he shewed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and all his family.

25. He showed them the way. Then they entered and put the city to the sword, but set that man free together with his whole family.

26. And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz: which [is] the name thereof unto this day.

26. The man went to the land of the Hittites where he built a city which he named Luz which is its name to this day.

27. Neither did Manasseh drive out [the inhabitants of] Bethshean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns: but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.

27. However, the tribe of Manasseh did not drive out the people of Beth-shean and Taa-nach or the inhabitants of Dor, Ibleam and Megiddo. The Canaanites persisted in dwelling in these cities and in the towns that depended on them, and they kept their lands.

28. And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out.

28. But when the Israelites grew stronger, they exacted taxes from the Canaanites who stayed in their place.

29. Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.

29. Neither did the tribe of Ephraim expel the Canaanites who lived in Gezer

30. Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became tributaries.

30. nor did the tribe of Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron and Nahalol. These Canaanites lived among them, but had to pay taxes to them.

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:

31. Those of Asher did not expel the people of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik or Rehob.

32. But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: for they did not drive them out.

32. The tribe of Asher had to live in the midst of the Canaanites who occupied their territory, for they could not drive them out from that region.

33. Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Bethshemesh, nor the inhabitants of Bethanath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Bethshemesh and of Bethanath became tributaries unto them.

33. The same happened with the tribe of Naphtali that failed to drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath; they had to dwell in the midst of the Canaanites who lived in that region. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath paid taxes to this tribe.

34. And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain: for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley:

34. The Amorites did not allow the descendants of Dan to come down to the plain, so the latter had to live in the mountains.

35. But the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became tributaries.

35. The Amorites also remained in Har-heres, Aijalon and Shaalbim, but when the tribe of Joseph grew stronger, they forced the Amorites to pay taxes.

36. And the coast of the Amorites [was] from the going up to Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.

36. The territory of the Amorites extended from the slope of Akrabbim, to Sela and upward.