1 After that Ioshua was dead, the children of Israel asked ye Lord, saying, Who shall goe vp for vs against the Canaanites, to fight first against them? 2 And the Lord said, Iudah shall goe vp: behold, I haue giuen the land into his hande. 3 And Iudah said vnto Simeon his brother, Come vp with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites: and I likewise will goe with thee into thy lot: so Simeon went with him. 4 Then Iudah went vp, and the Lord deliuered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hands, and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men. 5 And they founde Adoni-bezek in Bezek: and they fought against him, and slewe the Canaanites, and the Perizzites. 6 But Adoni-bezek fled, and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off the thumbes of his hands and of his feete. 7 And Adoni-bezek said, Seuentie Kings hauing the thumbes of their hands and of their feete cut off, gathered bread vnder my table: as I haue done, so God hath rewarded me. so they brought him to Ierusalem, and there he died. 8 (Nowe the children of Iudah had fought against Ierusalem, and had taken it and smitten it with the edge of the sworde, and had set the citie on fire.) 9 Afterwarde also the children of Iudah went downe to fight against the Canaanites, that dwelt in the mountaine, and towarde the South, and in the lowe countrey. 10 And Iudah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron, which Hebron beforetime was called Kiriath-arba: and they slewe Sheshai, and Ahiman and Talmai. 11 And from thence hee went to the inhabitantes of Debir, and the name of Debir in olde time was Kiriath-sepher. 12 And Caleb saide, He that smiteth Kiriath-sepher, and taketh it, euen to him wil I giue Achsah my daughter to wife. 13 And Othniel the sonne of Kenaz Calebs yonger brother tooke it, to whome hee gaue Achsah his daughter to wife. 14 And when shee came to him, shee mooued him to aske of her father a field, and shee lighted off her asse, and Caleb saide vnto her, What wilt thou? 15 And shee answered him, Giue mee a blessing: for thou hast giuen me a South countrey, giue me also springs of water: and Caleb gaue her the springs aboue and the springs beneath. 16 And the childre of Keni Moses father in law went vp out of the citie of the palme trees with the children of Iudah, into the wildernesse of Iudah, that lieth in the South of Arad, and went and dwelt among the people. 17 But Iudah went with Simeon his brother, and they slewe the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and vtterly destroied it, and called the name of the citie Hormah. 18 Also Iudah tooke Azzah with the coasts thereof, and Askelon with the coasts thereof, and Ekron with the coastes thereof. 19 And the Lord was with Iudah, and he possessed the mountaines: for he could not driue out the inhabitantes of the valleis, because they had charrets of yron. 20 And they gaue Hebron vnto Caleb, as Moses had saide, and hee expelled thence the three sonnes of Anak. 21 But the children of Beniamin did not cast out the Iebusites, that inhabited Ierusalem: therefore the Iebusites dwell with the children of Beniamin in Ierusalem vnto this day. 22 They also that were of the house of Ioseph, went vp to Beth-el, and the Lord was with them, 23 And the house of Ioseph caused to viewe Beth-el (and the name of the citie beforetime was Luz) 24 And the spies sawe a man come out of the citie, and they saide vnto him, Shewe vs, we praie thee, the way into the citie, and we will shewe thee mercie. 25 And when hee had shewed them the waie into the citie, they smote the citie with the edge of the sworde, but they let the man and all his housholde depart. 26 Then the man went into the lande of the Hittites, and built a citie, and called the name thereof Luz, which is the name thereof vnto this daie. 27 Neither did Manasseh destroie Bethshean with her townes, nor Taanach with her townes, nor the inhabitantes of Dor with her townes, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam with her townes, neither the inhabitants of Megiddo with her townes: but the Canaanites dwelled still in that lande. 28 Neuerthelesse when Israel was strong, they put the Canaanites to tribute, and expelled them not wholly. 29 Likewise Ephraim expelled not the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer, but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them. 30 Neither did Zebulun expell the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol, but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became tributaries. 31 Neither did Asher cast 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, 32 But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites the inhabitantes of the lande: for they did not driue them out. 33 Neither did Naphtali driue out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beth-anath, but dwelt among the Canaanites the inhabitants of the lande: neuerthelesse the inhabitantes of Beth-shemesh, and of Beth-anath became tributaries vnto them. 34 And the Amorites droue the children of Dan into the mountaine: so that they suffered them not to come downe to the valley. 35 And the Ammonites dwelt still in mount Heres in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, and when the hand of Iosephs familie preuailed, they became tributaries: 36 And the coast of the Amorites was from Maaleh-akrabbim, euen from Selah and vpward.
The Tribes of Judah and Simeon Capture Adonibezek
1 After Joshua's death the people of Israel asked the Lord, “Which of our tribes should be the first to go and attack the Canaanites?”
2 The Lord answered, “The tribe of Judah will go first. I am giving them control of the land.”
3 The people of Judah said to the people of Simeon, “Go with us into the territory assigned to us, and we will fight the Canaanites together. Then we will go with you into the territory assigned to you.” So the tribes of Simeon 4 and Judah went into battle together. The Lord gave them victory over the Canaanites and the Perizzites, and they defeated ten thousand men at Bezek. 5 They found Adonibezek there and fought him. 6 He ran away, but they chased him, caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes. 7 Adonibezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. God has now done to me what I did to them.” He was taken to Jerusalem, where he died.
The Tribe of Judah Conquers Jerusalem and Hebron
8 The people of Judah attacked Jerusalem and captured it. They killed its people and set fire to the city. 9 After this they went on to fight the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the foothills, and in the dry country to the south. 10 They marched against the Canaanites living in the city of Hebron, which used to be called Kiriath Arba. There they defeated the clans of Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.
Othniel Conquers the City of Debir
(Joshua 15.13-19)11 From there the men of Judah marched against the city of Debir, at that time called Kiriath Sepher. 12 One of them, called Caleb, said, “I will give my daughter Achsah in marriage to the man who succeeds in capturing Kiriath Sepher.” 13 Othniel, the son of Caleb's younger brother Kenaz, captured the city, so Caleb gave him his daughter Achsah in marriage. 14 On the wedding day Othniel urged her to ask her father for a field. She got down from her donkey, and Caleb asked her what she wanted. 15 She answered, “I want some water holes. The land you have given me is in the dry country.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.
The Victories of the Tribes of Judah and Benjamin
16 The descendants of Moses' father-in-law, the Kenite, went on with the people of Judah from Jericho, the city of palm trees, into the barren country south of Arad in Judah. There they settled among the Amalekites. 17 The people of Judah went with the people of Simeon, and together they defeated the Canaanites who lived in the city of Zephath. They put a curse on the city, destroyed it, and named it Hormah. 18-19 The Lord helped the people of Judah, and they took possession of the hill country. But they did not capture Gaza, Ashkelon, or Ekron, with their surrounding territories. These people living along the coast had iron chariots, and so the people of Judah were not able to drive them out. 20 As Moses had commanded, Hebron was given to Caleb, who drove out of the city the three clans descended from Anak. 21 But the people of the tribe of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem, and the Jebusites have continued to live there with the people of Benjamin ever since.
The Tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh Conquer Bethel
22-23 The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh went to attack the city of Bethel, at that time called Luz. The Lord helped them. They sent spies to the city, 24 who saw a man leaving and said to him, “Show us how to get into the city, and we won't hurt you.” 25 So he showed them, and the people of Ephraim and Manasseh killed everyone in the city, except this man and his family. 26 He later went to the land of the Hittites, built a city there, and named it Luz, which is still its name.
People Who Were Not Driven Out by the Israelites
27 The tribe of Manasseh did not drive out the people living in the cities of Beth Shan, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and the nearby towns; the Canaanites continued to live there. 28 When the Israelites became stronger, they forced the Canaanites to work for them, but still they did not drive them all out.
29 The tribe of Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites living in the city of Gezer, and so the Canaanites continued to live there with them.
30 The tribe of Zebulun did not drive out the people living in the cities of Kitron and Nahalal, and so the Canaanites continued to live there with them and were forced to work for them.
31 The tribe of Asher did not drive out the people living in the cities of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphek, and Rehob. 32 The people of Asher lived with the local Canaanites, since they had not been driven out.
33 The tribe of Naphtali did not drive out the people living in the cities of Beth Shemesh and Bethanath. The people of Naphtali lived with the local Canaanites, but forced them to work for them.
34 The Amorites forced the people of the tribe of Dan into the hill country and did not let them come down to the plain. 35 The Amorites continued to live at Aijalon, Shaalbim, and Mount Heres, but the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh kept them under their rule and forced them to work for them.
36 North of Sela, the Edomite border ran through Akrabbim Pass.