Judah fights the Canaanites
After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord, "Who will
be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?"
The Lord answered, "Judah is to go; I have given the land into
their hands."
Then the men of Judah said to the Simeonites their brothers, "Come
up with us into the territory allotted to us, to fight against the
Canaanites. We in turn will go with you into yours." So the
Simeonites went with them. When Judah attacked, the Lord gave the
Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands and they struck down ten
thousand men at Bezek.
It was there that they found Adoni-Bezek and fought against him,
putting to rout the Canaanites and Perizzites. Adoni-Bezek fled, but
they chased him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.
Then Adoni-Bezek said, "Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes
cut off have picked up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me
back for what I did to them." They brought him to Jerusalem, and he
died there. The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem also and took it.
They put the city to the sword and set it on fire.
After that, the men of Judah went down to fight against the
Canaanites living in the hill country, the Negev and the western
foothills. They advanced against the Canaanites living in Hebron
(formerly called Kiriath Arba) and defeated Sheshai, Ahiman and
Talmai.
Othniel Introduced
From there they advanced against the people living in Debir
(formerly called Kiriath Sepher). And Caleb said, "I will give my
daughter Acsah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures
Kiriath Sepher." Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took
it; so Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to him in marriage.
Othnie
One day when she came to Othniel, she urged him to ask her father
for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, "What can
I do for you?" She replied, "Do me a special favor. Since you have
given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water." Then
Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.
Judah and Simeon
The descendants of Moses' father-in-law, the Kenite, went up from
the City of Palms with the men of Judah to live among the people of
the Desert of Judah in the Negev near Arad. Then the men of Judah
went with the Simeonites their brothers and attacked the Canaanites
living in Zephath, and they totally destroyed the city. Therefore it
was called Hormah. The men of Judah also took Gaza, Ashkelon and
Ekron—each city with its territory.
God gave Judah success
The Lord was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the
hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the
plains, because they had iron chariots. As Moses had promised,
Hebron was given to Caleb, who drove from it the three sons of Anak.
Success and Failure
The Benjamites, however, failed to dislodge the Jebusites, who were
living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the
Benjamites.
Now the house of Joseph attacked Bethel, and the Lord was with
them. When they sent men to spy out Bethel (formerly called Luz),
the spies saw a man coming out of the city and they said to him,
"Show us how to get into the city and we will see that you are
treated well." So he showed them, and they put the city to the sword
but spared the man and his whole family. He then went to the land of
the Hittites, where he built a city and called it Luz, which is its
name to this day.
But Manasseh did not drive out the people of Beth Shan or Taanach
or Dor or Ibleam or Megiddo and their surrounding settlements, for
the Canaanites were determined to live in that land. When Israel
became strong, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor but
never drove them out completely. Nor did Ephraim drive out the
Canaanites living in Gezer, but the Canaanites continued to live
there among them.
Neither did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites living in Kitron or
Nahalol, who remained among them; but they did subject them to
forced labor.
Nor did Asher drive out those living in Acco or Sidon or Ahlab or
Aczib or Helbah or Aphek or Rehob, and because of this the people of
Asher lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land.
Neither did Naphtali drive out those living in Beth Shemesh or Beth
Anath; but the Naphtalites too lived among the Canaanite inhabitants
of the land, and those living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath became
forced laborers for them.
The Amorites confined the Danites to the hill country, not allowing
them to come down into the plain. And the Amorites were determined
also to hold out in Mount Heres, Aijalon and Shaalbim, but when the
power of the house of Joseph increased, they too were pressed into
forced labor. The boundary of the Amorites was from Scorpion Pass to
Sela and beyond.
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