Judges 1

The Continuing Conquest of Canaan

1 After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel a inquired of the Lord, b "Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?" 2 The Lord said, "Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand." 3 And Judah said to Simeon his brother, "Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, that we may fight against the Canaanites. c And I likewise will go with you into the territory allotted to you." So Simeon went with him. 4 Then Judah went up and the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they defeated 10,000 of them at Bezek. 5 They found Adoni-bezek at Bezek and fought against him and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. 6 Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and his big toes. 7 And Adoni-bezek said, "Seventy kings with their thumbs and their big toes cut off d used to pick up scraps under my table. e As I have done, so God has repaid me." And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

8 f And the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire. 9 And afterward the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in g the hill country, in the Negeb, and in g the lowland. 10 h And Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron i (now the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba), and they defeated j Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.

11 From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. The name of Debir was formerly Kiriath-sepher. 12 And Caleb said, "He who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give him Achsah my daughter for a wife." 13 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, k Caleb's younger brother, captured it. And he gave him Achsah his daughter for a wife. 14 When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, "What do you want?" 15 She said to him, "Give me a blessing. Since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water." And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

16 And the descendants of the l Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah m from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the Negeb near n Arad, o and they went and settled with the people. 17 p And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they defeated the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and devoted it to destruction. So the name of the city was called q Hormah. 1 18 Judah also r captured Gaza with its territory, and Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory. 19 p And the Lord was with Judah, and he took possession of the s hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had t chariots of iron. 20 u And Hebron was given to Caleb, as Moses had said. And he drove out from it v the three sons of Anak. 21 But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, w so the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

22 The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, x and the Lord was with them. 23 And the house of Joseph scouted out Bethel. ( y Now the name of the city was formerly Luz.) 24 And the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, "Please show us the way into the city, z and we will deal kindly with you." 25 And he showed them the way into the city. And they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go. 26 And the man went to a the land of the Hittites and built a city and called its name Luz. That is its name to this day.

Failure to Complete the Conquest

27 b Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages, for the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land. 28 When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely.

29 c And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.

30 Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of d Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them, but became subject to forced labor.

31 e Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon or of Ahlab or of Achzib or of Helbah or of Aphik or of Rehob, 32 so the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out.

33 Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of f Beth-shemesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, so they lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became subject to forced labor for them.

34 g The Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain. 35 The Amorites persisted in dwelling in Mount Heres, h in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the hand of the house of Joseph rested heavily on them, and they became subject to forced labor. 36 And the border of the Amorites ran from i the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upward.

  1. Cross References
    Numbers 27:21
    And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the Lord. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the people of Israel with him, the whole congregation.
    1 Samuel 22:10
    And he inquired of the Lord for him and gave him provisions and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.
    2 Samuel 2:1
    After this David inquired of the Lord, "Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?" And the Lord said to him, "Go up." David said, "To which shall I go up?" And he said, "To Hebron.
  2. Cross References
    Judges 20:18
    The people of Israel arose and went up to Bethel and inquired of God, "Who shall go up first for us to fight against the people of Benjamin?" And the Lord said, "Judah shall go up first.
  3. Cross References
    Judges 1:17
    And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they defeated the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and devoted it to destruction. So the name of the city was called Hormah.
  4. Cross References
    Luke 16:21
    Who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.
  5. Cross References
    Leviticus 24:19
    If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him.
    1 Samuel 15:33
    And Samuel said, "As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women." And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.
  6. Cross References
    Joshua 15:63
    But the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the people of Judah could not drive out, so the Jebusites dwell with the people of Judah at Jerusalem to this day.
  7. Cross References
    Joshua 9:1
    As soon as all the kings who were beyond the Jordan in the hill country and in the lowland all along the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, heard of this.
    Joshua 11:2
    And to the kings who were in the northern hill country, and in the Arabah south of Chinneroth, and in the lowland, and in Naphoth-dor on the west.
    Joshua 11:16
    So Joshua took all that land, the hill country and all the Negeb and all the land of Goshen and the lowland and the Arabah and the hill country of Israel and its lowland
    Joshua 12:8
    In the hill country, in the lowland, in the Arabah, in the slopes, in the wilderness, and in the Negeb, the land of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites):
  8. Cross References
    Joshua 9:1
    As soon as all the kings who were beyond the Jordan in the hill country and in the lowland all along the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, heard of this.
    Joshua 11:2
    And to the kings who were in the northern hill country, and in the Arabah south of Chinneroth, and in the lowland, and in Naphoth-dor on the west.
    Joshua 11:16
    So Joshua took all that land, the hill country and all the Negeb and all the land of Goshen and the lowland and the Arabah and the hill country of Israel and its lowland
    Joshua 12:8
    In the hill country, in the lowland, in the Arabah, in the slopes, in the wilderness, and in the Negeb, the land of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites):
  9. Cross References
    Judges 1:10 - 15
    And Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (now the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba), and they defeated Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.
    Joshua 15:13 - 19
    According to the commandment of the Lord to Joshua, he gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh a portion among the people of Judah, Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron (Arba was the father of Anak).
  10. Cross References
    Joshua 14:15
    Now the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba. (Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim.) And the land had rest from war.
    Joshua 15:13
    According to the commandment of the Lord to Joshua, he gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh a portion among the people of Judah, Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron (Arba was the father of Anak).
  11. Cross References
    Numbers 13:22
    They went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. ( Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
    Joshua 15:14
    And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak, Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai, the descendants of Anak.
  12. Cross References
    Judges 3:9
    But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.
  13. Cross References
    Judges 4:11
    Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh.
    Judges 4:17
    But Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.
    1 Samuel 15:6
    Then Saul said to the Kenites, "Go, depart; go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt." So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
  14. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 34:3
    The Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar.
  15. Cross References
    Numbers 21:1
    When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negeb, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive.
  16. Cross References
    Numbers 10:29 - 32
    And Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, "We are setting out for the place of which the Lord said, 'I will give it to you.' Come with us, and we will do good to you, for the Lord has promised good to Israel.
  17. Cross References
    Judges 1:3
    And Judah said to Simeon his brother, "Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, that we may fight against the Canaanites. And I likewise will go with you into the territory allotted to you." So Simeon went with him.
  18. Cross References
    Numbers 21:3
    And the Lord heeded the voice of Israel and gave over the Canaanites, and they devoted them and their cities to destruction. So the name of the place was called Hormah.
  19. Cross References
    Judges 3:3
    These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath.
    Joshua 11:22
    There was none of the Anakim left in the land of the people of Israel. Only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod did some remain.
  20. Cross References
    Judges 1:17
    And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they defeated the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and devoted it to destruction. So the name of the city was called Hormah.
  21. Cross References
    Judges 1:9
    And afterward the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the Negeb, and in the lowland.
  22. Cross References
    Joshua 17:16
    The people of Joseph said, "The hill country is not enough for us. Yet all the Canaanites who dwell in the plain have chariots of iron, both those in Beth-shean and its villages and those in the Valley of Jezreel.
    Joshua 17:18
    But the hill country shall be yours, for though it is a forest, you shall clear it and possess it to its farthest borders. For you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong.
  23. Cross References
    Numbers 14:24
    But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.
    Deuteronomy 1:36
    Except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the Lord!
    Joshua 14:9
    And Moses swore on that day, saying, 'Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God.
    Joshua 14:13
    Then Joshua blessed him, and he gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance.
    Joshua 15:13 - 14
    According to the commandment of the Lord to Joshua, he gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh a portion among the people of Judah, Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron (Arba was the father of Anak).
  24. Cross References
    Judges 1:10
    And Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (now the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba), and they defeated Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.
  25. Cross References
    Joshua 15:63
    But the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the people of Judah could not drive out, so the Jebusites dwell with the people of Judah at Jerusalem to this day.
  26. Cross References
    Judges 1:19
    And the Lord was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had chariots of iron.
  27. Cross References
    Genesis 28:19
    He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first.
    Genesis 35:6
    And Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.
    Genesis 48:3
    And Jacob said to Joseph, "God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me.
    Joshua 18:13
    From there the boundary passes along southward in the direction of Luz, to the shoulder of Luz (that is, Bethel), then the boundary goes down to Ataroth-addar, on the mountain that lies south of Lower Beth-horon.
  28. Cross References
    Joshua 2:12
    Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a sure sign
    Joshua 2:14
    And the men said to her, "Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the Lord gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.
  29. Cross References
    Joshua 1:4
    From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory.
  30. Cross References
    Judges 1:27 - 28
    Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages, for the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land.
    Joshua 17:11 - 13
    Also in Issachar and in Asher Manasseh had Beth-shean and its villages, and Ibleam and its villages, and the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, and the inhabitants of En-dor and its villages, and the inhabitants of Taanach and its villages, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; the third is Naphath.
  31. Cross References
    Joshua 16:10
    However, they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites have lived in the midst of Ephraim to this day but have been made to do forced labor.
    1 Kings 9:16
    (Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it with fire, and had killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and had given it as dowry to his daughter, Solomon's wife.
  32. Cross References
    Joshua 19:15
    And Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem - twelve cities with their villages.
    Joshua 21:35
    Dimnah with its pasturelands, Nahalal with its pasturelands - four cities.
  33. Cross References
    Judges 1:31 - 32
    Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon or of Ahlab or of Achzib or of Helbah or of Aphik or of Rehob.
    Joshua 19:24 - 30
    The fifth lot came out for the tribe of the people of Asher according to their clans.
  34. Cross References
    Judges 1:33
    Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, so they lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became subject to forced labor for them.
    Joshua 19:32 - 39
    The sixth lot came out for the people of Naphtali, for the people of Naphtali, according to their clans.
  35. Cross References
    Joshua 19:47 - 48
    When the territory of the people of Dan was lost to them, the people of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, and after capturing it and striking it with the sword they took possession of it and settled in it, calling Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor.
  36. Cross References
    Joshua 19:42
    Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah.
  37. Cross References
    Numbers 34:4
    And your border shall turn south of the ascent of Akrabbim, and cross to Zin, and its limit shall be south of Kadesh-barnea. Then it shall go on to Hazar-addar, and pass along to Azmon.
    Joshua 15:3
    It goes out southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, passes along to Zin, and goes up south of Kadesh-barnea, along by Hezron, up to Addar, turns about to Karka.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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