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Israel's Conquest and Incomplete Possession

Judges 1:1-36

1
Chapter 1
1 After the death of Joshua, the sons of Israel asked the LORD, "Who will go up for us first to fight the Canaanites?" 2 And the LORD said, "Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand." 3 Judah said to Simeon his brother, "Go up with me into my territory, and we will fight against the Canaanites. And I will also go with you into your territory." So Simeon went with him. 4 Judah went up, and the LORD gave the Canaanite and the Perizzite into their hand, and they struck them at Bezek—ten thousand men. 5 And they found Adoni-bezek at Bezek and fought against him and struck down the Canaanite and the Perizzite. 6 And Adoni-bezek fled, and they pursued him, seized him, and cut off the thumbs of his hands and his feet. 7 Adoni-bezek said, "Seventy kings, with the thumbs of their hands and their feet cut off, were gathering scraps under my table; as I have done, so God has repaid me." And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there. 8 And the sons of Judah fought Jerusalem and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword, and they set the city on fire. 9 Afterward the sons of Judah went down to fight the Canaanites who dwelt in the hill country, the Negev, and the Shephelah. 10 And Judah went against the Canaanite who was dwelling in Hebron, and they struck Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. 11 He went from there to the inhabitants of Debir (the name of Debir was formerly Kiriath-sepher). 12 Caleb said, "Whoever strikes Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give Achsah my daughter to him as a wife." 13 And Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, captured it, and he gave Achsah his daughter to him as wife. 14 When she came, she urged him to ask her father for the field. She dismounted from the donkey, and Caleb said to her, "What do you want?" 15 And she said to him, "Give me a blessing, for you have given me land in the Negev; give me also springs of water." And he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. 16 The sons of Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up from the City of Palms with the sons of Judah—from the Wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad—and they went and dwelt with the people. 17 And Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they struck the Canaanites dwelling in Zephath and devoted her to destruction, and he called the name of the city Hormah. 18 Judah captured Gaza and its borders and Ashkelon and its borders and Ekron and its borders. 19 And the LORD was with Judah, and he dispossessed the hill country, for he was not able to dispossess the inhabitants of the valley, for they had iron chariots. 20 And they gave Hebron to Caleb just as Moses had spoken, and he drove out from there the three sons of Anak. 21 And the Jebusites dwelt in Jerusalem; the sons of Benjamin did not dispossess them, and the Jebusites dwelt with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day. 22 The house of Joseph also went up to Bethel, and the LORD was with them. 23 They spied out the house of Joseph at Bethel (the name of the city was formerly Luz). 24 The guards saw a man coming out from the city, and they said to him, "Please show us the entrance of the city, and we will show steadfast love to you." 25 They saw the entrance to the city and struck the city with the edge of the sword, and they let the man and all his clan go. 26 The man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city and called its name Luz; that is its name to this day. 27 Manasseh did not dispossess Beth-shean and its daughters and Taanach and its daughters and the inhabitants of Dor and its daughters and the inhabitants of Jokneam and its daughters and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its daughters, and the Canaanite was pleased to dwell in this land. 28 When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanite to tribute but did not dispossess them. 29 And Ephraim did not dispossess the Canaanite dwelling in Gezer, and the Canaanite dwelt in their midst in Gezer. 30 Zebulun did not dispossess the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol, and the Canaanite dwelt among them, and they became forced labor. 31 which did not dispossess the inhabitants of Acco, the inhabitants of Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, and Rehob. 32 And the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not dispossess them. 33 Naphtali did not dispossess the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and the inhabitants of Beth-anath, and he dwelt among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, and the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath were to them for tribute. 34 The Amorites pressed the sons of Dan in the hill country, for they did not allow them to go down to the valley. 35 The Amorites refused to live in the hill country of Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim. But the hand of the house of Joseph grew heavy, and they became subject to forced labor. 36 And the boundary of the Amorite was from the ascent of Aqrabbim, from the rock, and upward.