JUDGES
1
1 And it came to pass after the death of Joshua, that the children of Israel enquired of the Lord, saying, Who shall go up for us first against the Chananites, to fight against them? 2 And the Lord said, Judas shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand. 3 And Judas said to his brother Symeon, Come up with me into my lot, and let us array ourselves against the Chananites, and I also will go with thee into thy lot: and Symeon went with him. 4 And Judas went up; and the Lord delivered the Chananite and the Pherezite into their hands, and they smote them in Bezek to the number of ten thousand men. 5 And they overtook Adonibezek in Bezek, and fought against him; and they smote the Chananite and the Pherezite. 6 And Adonibezek fled, and they pursued after him, and took him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. 7 And Adonibezek said, Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their food under my table: as I therefore have done, so God has recompensed me: and they *brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.
8 And the children of Judas fought against Jerusalem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and they burnt the city with fire. 9 And afterwards the children of Judas went down to fight with the Chananite dwelling in the hill country, and the south, and the plain country. 10 And Judas went to the Chananite who dwelt in Chebron; and Chebron came out against him; [and the name of Chebron before was Cariatharbocsepher:] and they smote Sessi, and Achiman, and Tholmi, children of Enac. 11 And they went up thence to the inhabitants of Dabir; but the name of Dabir was before Cariathsepher, the city of Letters.
12 And Chaleb said, Whosoever shall smite the city of Letters, and shall first take it, I will give to him Ascha my daughter to wife. 13 And Gothoniel the younger son of Kenez the brother of Chaleb took it; and Chaleb gave him his daughter Ascha to wife. 14 And it came to pass as she went in, that Gothoniel urged her to ask a field of her father; and she murmured and cried from off her ass, Thou hast sent me forth into a south land: and Chaleb said to her, †What is thy request? 15 And Ascha said to him, Give me, I pray thee, a blessing, for thou hast sent me forth into a south land, and thou shalt give me the ransom of water: and Chaleb gave her according to her heart the ransom of the upper springs and the ransom of the low springs.
16 And the children of Jothor the Kenite the father-in-law of Moses went up from the city of palm-trees with the children of Judas, to the wilderness that is in the south of Juda, which is at the descent of Arad, and they dwelt with the people.
17 And Judas went with Symeon his brother, and smote the Chananite that inhabited Sepheth, and they utterly destroyed them; and they called the name of the city Anathema. 18 But Judas did not inherit Gaza nor her coasts, nor Ascalon nor her coasts, nor Accaron nor her coasts, nor Azotus nor the lands around it. 19 And the Lord was with Judas, and he inherited the mountain; for they were not able to destroy the inhabitants of the valley, for ‡Rechab prevented them. 20 And they gave Chebron to Chaleb, as Moses said; and thence he inherited the three cities of the children of Enac.
21 But the children of Benjamin did not §take the inheritance of the Jebusite who dwelt in Jerusalem; and the Jebusite dwelt with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem until this day.
22 And the sons of Joseph, they also went up to Bæthel; and the Lord was with them. 23 And they encamped and surveyed Bæthel: and the name of the city before was Luza.
24 And the spies looked, and behold, a man went out of the city, and they took him; and they said to him, Shew us the way into the city, and we will deal mercifully with thee. 25 And he shewed them the way into the city; and they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and his family. 26 And the man went into the land of Chettin, and built there a city, and called the name of it Luza; this is its name until this day.
27 And Manasse did not drive out the inhabitants of Bæthsan, which is a city of Scythians, nor her towns, nor her suburbs; nor Thanac, nor her **towns; nor the inhabitants of Dor, nor her towns; nor the inhabitant of Balac, nor her suburbs, nor her towns; nor the inhabitants of Magedo, nor her suburbs, nor her towns; nor the inhabitants of Jeblaam, nor her suburbs, nor her towns; and the Chananite began to dwell in this land. 28 And it came to pass when Israel was strong, that he made the Chananite tributary, but did not utterly drive them out. 29 And Ephraim did not drive out the Chananite that dwelt in Gazer; and the Chananite dwelt in the midst of him in Gazer, and became tributary. 30 And Zabulon did not drive out the inhabitants of Kedron, nor the inhabitants of Domana: and the Chananite dwelt in the midst of them, and became tributary to them.†† 31 And Aser did not drive out the inhabitants of Accho, and that people became tributary to him, nor the inhabitants of Dor, nor the inhabitants of Sidon, nor the inhabitants of Dalaph, nor Aschazi, nor Chebda, nor Nai, nor Ereo. 32 And Aser dwelt in the midst of the Chananite who inhabited the land, for he could not drive him out. 33 And Nephthali did not drive out the inhabitants of Bæthsamys, nor the inhabitants of Bæthanach; and Nephthali dwelt in the midst of the Chananite who inhabited the land: but the inhabitants of Bethsamys and of Bætheneth became tributary to them.
34 And the Amorite drove out the children of Dan into the mountain, for they did not suffer them to come down into the valley. 35 And the Amorite began to dwell in the mountain of shells, in which are bears, and foxes, in Myrsinon, and in Thalabin; and the hand of the house of Joseph was heavy upon the Amorite, and he became tributary to them. 36 And the border of the Amorite was from the going up of Acrabin, from the rock and upwards.
* 1:7 Gr. bring. † 1:14 Or, What ails thee? ‡ 1:19 Heb. they had chariots of iron. § 1:21 Gr. inherit. ** 1:27 Gr. daughters. †† 1:30 Gr. him, sc. Zabulon.