Judges 1

1 And it came to be, after the death of Yehoshua, that the sons of Israel asked in Yahweh, saying, “Who shall ascend for us unto the Cana’anite at the start, to war against him?” 2 And Yahweh said: Judah shall ascend; lo, I have given the land into his hand. 3 And Judah said to Simeon his brother: Ascend with me into my lot, and we shall war against the Canaanite, and I shall go also with thee into thy lot. And Simeon went with him. 4 And Judah ascended, and Yahweh gave the Canaanite and the Perizzite into their hand, and they smote them at Bezek — ten thousand men. 5 And they found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and warred against him, and smote the Canaanite and the Perizzite. 6 And Adoni-Bezek fled, and they pursued after him, and seized him, and cut off the thumbs of his hands and feet; 7 and Adoni-Bezek said: Seventy kings, the thumbs of their hands and feet cut off, have been gleaning under my table; as I have done, so hath God repaid to me. And they brought him in to Jerusalem, and he died there. 8 And the sons of Judah warred against Jerusalem, and captured it, and smote it by the mouth of the sword, and the city they sent into fire. 9 And afterwards the sons of Judah descended to war against the Canaanite, dwelling in the mountainland, and the south, and the lowland; 10 and Judah went unto the Canaanite who was dwelling in Hebron (and the name of Hebron before was Kiriath-Arba), and they smote Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai. 11 And he went thence unto the inhabitants of Debir (and the name of Debir before was Kiriath-Sepher). 12 And Caleb said: The one who smiteth Kiriath-Sepher, and captureth it, I will even give to him Aksah my daughter for his woman. 13 And Othniel, son of Kenaz, younger brother of Caleb, captured it, and he gave to him Aksah his daughter for his woman. 14 And it came to be, in her coming [to him], that she induced him, to ask from her father the field, and she came down from the he-ass, and Caleb said to her: What — to thee? 15 And she said to him: Give to me a blessing, in that the south thou hast given me — give thou also to me springs of water. And Caleb gave to her the upper springs and the lower springs. 16 And the sons of the Kenite, father-in-law of Moses, ascended out of the City of Palms with the sons of Judah, to the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad, and they went and dwelt with the people. 17 And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they smote the Canaanite dwelling in Zephath, and devoted it; and he called the name of the city Charamah. 18 And Judah captured Gaza and its border, and Ashkelon and its border, and Ekron and its border; 19 and Yahweh was with Judah, and he possessed the mountainland, but could not dispossess the dwellers of the valley, for they had chariots of iron. 20 And they gave to Caleb Hebron, as Moses had spoken, and he dispossessed thence the three sons of Anak. 21 And the Jebusite, dwelling in Jerusalem, the sons of Benjamin did not dispossess; and the Jebusite dwelleth with the sons of Benjamin, in Jerusalem, until this day. 22 And the house of Joseph ascended, also they, unto Beth-El, and Yahweh was with them; 23 and the house of Joseph spied about Beth-El (and the name of the city before was Luz), 24 and the watchers saw a man coming forth out of the city, and said to him: Show us, pray, an entry to the city, and we will do with thee chesed. 25 And he showed them an entry to the city, and they smote the city by the mouth of the sword, and the man and all his family they sent forth; 26 and the man went to the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called its name Luz — that is its name until this day. 27 And Manasseh did not possess Beth-Shean and its villages, and Taanach and its villages, and the dwellers in Dor and its villages, and the dwellers in Ibleam and its villages, and the dwellers in Megiddo and its villages, and the Canaanite was pleased to dwell in that land; 28 and it came to be, when Israel was strong, that he set the Canaanite to forced labor, and hath not utterly dispossessed it. 29 And Ephraim did not dispossess the Canaanite who was dwelling in Gezer, and the Canaanite dwelt in his inwards, in Gezer. 30 Zebulun did not dispossess the dwellers of Kitron, and the dwellers of Nahalol, and the Canaanite dwelt in his inwards, and became subject to forced labor. 31 Asher did not dispossess the dwellers of Ako, and the dwellers of Tzidon, and Achlab, and Akzib, and Chelbah, and Aphik, and Rechob; 32 and the Asherite dwelled in the inwards of the Canaanite, the dwellers of the land, for it did not dispossess them. 33 Naphtali did not dispossess the dwellers of Beth-Shemesh, and the dwellers of Beth-Anath, and he dwelt in the inwards of the Canaanite, the dwellers of the land; and the dwellers of Beth-Shemesh and of Beth-Anath became forced labor to them. 34 And the Amorites pressed the sons of Dan into the mountainland, for they would not give them to descend to the valley; 35 and the Amorite was pleased to dwell in Mount Cheres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, and the hand of the house of Joseph became weighty, and they become forced labor; 36 and the border of the Amorite was from the Ascent of Scorpions, from the rock and upward.