2 ARST Yahweh replied,“The men of the tribe of Judah must attack first. I will enable the tribe of Judah to defeat the Canaanites.” BSB BSB: “Judah shall go up,” answered the LORD. “Indeed, I have delivered the land into their hands.”
3 ARST The men of Judah went to their fellow Israelites, the men from the tribe of Simeon, and said to them,“Come and help us to fight the Canaanites in order that we can take from them the land that Yahweh allotted to us. If you do that, we will go with you and help you conquer the people in the land that Yahweh promised to give to you.” So the men from the tribe of Simeon went with the men of the tribe of Judah. BSB BSB: Then the men of Judah said to their brothers the Simeonites, “Come up with us to our allotted territory, and let us fight against the Canaanites. And we likewise will go with you to your territory.” So the Simeonites went with them.
4 ARST When the men of those two tribes attacked, Yahweh enabled them to defeat ten thousand men of the Canaanites and the Perizzites at the city of Bezek. BSB BSB: When Judah attacked, the LORD delivered the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands, and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek.
5 ARST During the battle they found Adoni- Bezek, the leader of the city. BSB BSB: And there they found Adoni-bezek and fought against him, striking down the Canaanites and Perizzites.
6 ARST Adoni- Bezek tried to run away. The Israelites pursued him and caught him. Then they cut off his thumbs and his big toes. BSB BSB: As Adoni-bezek fled, they pursued him, seized him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.
7 ARST Adoni- Bezek said,“My army captured seventy kings. We cut off their thumbs and big toes. After that, we forced those kings to eat scraps that fell from our table. Now God has paid me back for what I did.” Then the men of Judah took Adoni- Bezek to Jerusalem, and he died there. BSB BSB: Then Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have gathered the scraps under my table. As I have done to them, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, where he died.
8 ARST The army of Judah fought against the men of Jerusalem, and they captured the city. With their swords they killed the people who lived there and they burned the houses in the city. BSB BSB: Then the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire.
9 ARST Later, the men of Judah went down to fight the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the southern Judean wilderness, and in the foothills to the west. BSB BSB: Afterward, the men of Judah marched down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, in the Negev, and in the foothills.
10 ARST The men of Judah also went to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the city of Hebron(which used to be named Kiriath Arba). They defeated the armies of kings Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. BSB BSB: Judah also marched against the Canaanites who were living in Hebron (formerly known as Kiriath-arba), and they struck down Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.
11 ARST Then they left that area and went to fight against the people living in the city of Debir, which was previously named Kiriath Sepher. BSB BSB: From there they marched against the inhabitants of Debir (formerly known as Kiriath-sepher).
12 ARST Before they attacked the city, Caleb said to them,“The person who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher, I will allow him to marry my daughter Aksah.” BSB BSB: And Caleb said, “To the man who strikes down Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage.”
13 ARST Othniel, who was the son of Caleb’ s younger brother Kenaz, captured the city. So Caleb gave his daughter Aksah to him, to become his wife. BSB BSB: So Othniel son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz captured the city, and Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to him in marriage.
14 ARST After Aksah married Othniel, she asked him to request her father to give him a field. Then she rode back to her father Caleb’ s house on her donkey. When she got off the donkey, Caleb asked her,“What do you want?” BSB BSB: One day Acsah came to Othniel and urged him to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you desire?”
15 ARST She replied,“I want you to do a favor for me. You have given me the land of the southern Judean wilderness, but it is very dry there. So please also give me some land that has springs of water.” So Caleb gave her some land on higher ground that had a spring, and some land on lower ground that had a spring in it. BSB BSB: “Give me a blessing,” she answered. “Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me springs of water as well.” So Caleb gave her both the upper and lower springs.
16 ARST The Kenites who were descendants of Moses’ father- in- law left Jericho, which was called“The City of Palm Trees.” They went with some of the men of Judah to live with them in the southern Judean wilderness, near the city of Arad. BSB BSB: Now the descendants of Moses’ father-in-law, the Kenite, went up with the men of Judah from the City of Palms to the Wilderness of Judah in the Negev near Arad. They went to live among the people.
17 ARST The men of Judah and their fellow Israelites from the tribe of Simeon defeated the Canaanites who lived in the city of Zephath. They completely destroyed the city and gave it a new name, Hormah, which means“complete destruction.” BSB BSB: Then the men of Judah went with their brothers the Simeonites, attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and devoted the city to destruction. So it was called Hormah.
18 ARST The men of Judah also captured Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron cities and all the land that is near those cities. BSB BSB: And Judah also captured Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron—each with its territory.
19 ARST Yahweh helped the men of Judah to capture the hill country, but they could not force the people who were living in the plains to leave, because they had better weapons— they had iron chariots. BSB BSB: The LORD was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the plains because they had chariots of iron.
20 ARST The city of Hebron was given to Caleb because Moses had promised him that he could have that city. And Caleb forced the three clans descended from Anak to leave that area. BSB BSB: Just as Moses had promised, Judah gave Hebron to Caleb, who drove out the descendants of the three sons of Anak.
22 ARST The men of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh went to fight against the men of the city of Bethel, and Yahweh helped them. BSB BSB: The house of Joseph also attacked Bethel, and the LORD was with them.
23 ARST They sent some spies to find out everything that they could find out about Bethel, which was previously called Luz. BSB BSB: They sent spies to Bethel (formerly known as Luz),
24 ARST The spies saw a man who was coming out of the city. They said to him,“If you show us a way to get into the city, we will be kind to you and we will not kill you.” BSB BSB: and when the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, “Please show us how to get into the city, and we will treat you kindly.”
25 ARST So the man showed them a way to enter the city. The men of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh entered the city and killed all the people with their swords, but they did not kill the man who showed them how to get into the city, and they did not kill his family. BSB BSB: So the man showed them the entrance to the city, and they put the city to the sword but released that man and all his family.
26 ARST That man went to the area where the descendants of Heth lived, and he built a city. He named the city Luz, and that is still the name of that city. BSB BSB: And the man went to the land of the Hittites, built a city, and called it Luz, which is its name to this day.
27 ARST There were Canaanites who lived in Beth Shan, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, and Megiddo cities and in the surrounding villages. The men of the tribe of Manasseh did not force them to leave those towns, because the Canaanites were determined to stay there. BSB BSB: At that time Manasseh failed to drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and their villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land. 28 ARST Later, the Israelites became stronger, and they forced the Canaanites to work for them as their slaves, but they did not force all the Canaanites to leave their land. BSB BSB: When Israel became stronger, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor, but they never drove them out completely.
29 ARST The men of the tribe of Ephraim did not force the Canaanites to leave the city of Gezer. So the Canaanites continued to live with the tribe of Ephraim. BSB BSB: Ephraim also failed to drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer; so the Canaanites continued to dwell among them in Gezer.
30 ARST The men of the tribe of Zebulun did not force the Canaanites who were living in the cities of Kitron and Nahalol to leave. They stayed there and lived with the tribe of Zebulun, but the people of Zebulun forced them to work for them as their slaves. BSB BSB: Zebulun failed to drive out the inhabitants of Kitron and Nahalol; so the Canaanites lived among them and served as forced laborers.
31 ARST The men of the tribe of Asher did not force the Canaanites who lived in Akko, Sidon, Ahlab, Aczib, Helbah, Aphek and Rehob cities to leave. BSB BSB: Asher failed to drive out the inhabitants of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, and Rehob.
32 ARST So the tribe of Asher lived with the Canaanites(those who were still there), and did not make them leave. BSB BSB: So the Asherites lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, because they did not drive them out.
33 ARST The men of the tribe of Naphtali did not compel the people who lived in the cities of Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath to leave, so they continued to live with the Canaanites in those cities, but the Canaanites were forced to work as the slaves of the tribe of Naphtali. BSB BSB: Naphtali failed to drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath. So the Naphtalites also lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, but the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath served them as forced laborers.
34 ARST The Amorites forced the tribe of Dan to live in the hills. They did not allow them to come down and live on the plain. BSB BSB: The Amorites forced the Danites into the hill country and did not allow them to come down into the plain.
35 ARST The Amorites were determined to stay at Mount Heres and in the cities of Aijalon and Shaalbim. But when the Israelites became stronger, they forced the Amorites to work as their slaves. BSB BSB: And the Amorites were determined to dwell in Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim. But when the house of Joseph grew in strength, they pressed the Amorites into forced labor.
36 ARST The land where the Amorites lived extended from Scorpion Pass toward the west beyond Sela, up into the hill country. BSB BSB: And the border of the Amorites extended from the Ascent of Akrabbim to Sela and beyond.
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