Judges 1:1-20

1Now it came about after the death of Joshua that the sons of Israel 1inquired of the Lord, saying, “Who shall go up first for us 2against the Canaanites, to fight against them?” 2The Lord said, “3Judah shall go up; behold, I have handed the land over to him.” 3Then Judah said to his brother Simeon, “Go up with me into 4the territory allotted me, and let’s fight the Canaanites; and 5I in turn will go with you into 6the territory allotted you.” So Simeon went with him. 4Judah went up, and 7the Lord handed over to them the Canaanites and the Perizzites, and they 8defeated ten thousand men at Bezek. 5They found Adoni-bezek in Bezek and fought against him, and they 9defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. 6But Adoni-bezek fled; and they pursued him and caught him, and cut off his 10thumbs and big toes. 7And Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and their big toes cut off used to gather up scraps under my table; 11as I have done, so God has repaid me.” So they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

8Then the sons of Judah fought against 12Jerusalem and captured it, and struck it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire. 9Afterward, the sons of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, and in the 13Negev, and in the lowland. 1014So Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (the name of Hebron was previously Kiriath-arba); and they struck Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

11Then 15from there he went against the inhabitants of Debir (the name of Debir was previously Kiriath-sepher). 12And Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give him my daughter Achsah as a wife.” 13Now 16Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, captured it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah as a wife. 14Then 17it happened that when she came to him, she incited him to ask her father for a field. Then later, she dismounted from 18her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What 19do you want?” 15She said to him, “Give me a blessing: since you have given me the land of the 20Negev, give me springs of water also.” So Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

16Now the 21descendants of 22the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up from the 23city of palms with the sons of Judah, to the wilderness of Judah which is in the south of 24Arad; and they went and lived with the people. 17Then Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they struck the Canaanites living in Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. So the name of the city was called 25Hormah. 18And Judah took 26Gaza with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory. 19Now the Lord was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not 27drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had 28iron chariots. 20Then they gave Hebron to Caleb, 29as Moses had 30promised; and he drove out from there 31the three sons of Anak.