The Conquest of Canaan Proceeds (Joshua 13:1–7)
2 UST Yahweh replied,“The soldiers of the tribe of Judah must attack first. I have already made the people of Judah the owners of the land{ in Canaan that Joshua assigned to them}.” BSB BSB: “Judah shall go up,” answered the LORD. “Indeed, I have delivered the land into their hands.”
3 UST Then the men of Judah went to their fellow Israelites, the men from the tribe of Simeon. They said to them,“Come and help us fight the Canaanites. That way we will be able to conquer the territory that Yahweh has given to us.{ If you do that,} we will go with you and help you conquer the territory that Yahweh has given to you.” So the soldiers of the tribe of Simeon went with the soldiers 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 UST So the soldiers from the tribes of Judah and Simeon went together. Yahweh enabled them to defeat the army of the Canaanites and Perizzites. At the city of Bezek, they killed about 10, 000 enemy soldiers. 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 UST The king of Bezek, Adoni- Bezek, personally commanded his army to defend his city. But the Israelite soldiers were able to defeat his army of Canaanites and Perizzites. BSB BSB: And there they found Adoni-bezek and fought against him, striking down the Canaanites and Perizzites.
6 UST Adoni- Bezek tried to run away, but the soldiers from the tribes of Judah and Simeon chased 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 UST Adoni- Bezek said,“My army captured 70 kings. We cut off their thumbs and big toes. After that, we gave them little to eat, and we humiliated them. Because I did that to them, now God has done the same thing to me.” Then the soldiers took Adoni- Bezek to the city of Jerusalem. That was where he died. 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.
The Capture of Jerusalem and Hebron (Joshua 15:13–19)
8 UST The soldiers from the tribes of Judah and Simeon fought against the people of Jerusalem, and they captured that city. They killed all the people who lived there, and they burned down all the buildings 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 UST After that, the soldiers from the tribes of Judah and Simeon went to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, the southern wilderness, and the western lowland. 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 UST The soldiers from the tribes of Judah and Simeon also went to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the city of Hebron.(People used to call that city Kiriath Arba).{ Those Canaanites were from} the clans of Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. The soldiers defeated them. 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 UST Then they left that area and went to fight against the people who lived in the city of Debir.(People used to call that city Kiriath Sepher.) BSB BSB: From there they marched against the inhabitants of Debir (formerly known as Kiriath-sepher).
12 UST A man whose name was Caleb{ was commanding the soldiers. He} told them,“I need someone to lead the attack against Kiriath Sepher and conquer that city. I will allow the man who does that 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 UST Caleb had a younger brother whose name was Kenaz. Kenaz had a son whose name was Othniel. Othniel commanded the soldiers who captured the city of Kiriath Sepher. So Caleb allowed Othniel to marry his daughter Aksah. 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 UST Aksah came{ to Kiriath Sepher} to marry Othniel. When she got there, she convinced Othniel to let her ask her father for some land they could farm. She{ went to see her father and respectfully} got off the donkey she was riding. Caleb asked her,“What would you like me to do for you?” 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 UST She replied,“Please do a favor for me. You have given{ my husband and} me some land in an area where it is very dry. So please also give us some land that has springs on it.” So Caleb gave her some land on higher ground that had a spring and some land on lower ground that had a spring. 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 UST The father- in- law of Moses was a Kenite. Some of his descendants had been living in the area of Jericho, which people called the City of Palms. They went with some people from the tribe of Judah to the wilderness{ in the southern part} of the territory that belonged to that tribe. They settled with those Judeans in the dry region that is around 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 UST The army of the tribe Judah then went with their fellow Israelites, the army of the tribe of Simeon{, to help them conquer the territory that Joshua had assigned to them.} They defeated the Canaanites who lived in the town of Zephath. They completely destroyed that city. Then they 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 UST The soldiers from the tribes of Judah and Simeon also captured the cities of Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron and all the land around those cities. BSB BSB: And Judah also captured Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron—each with its territory.
19 UST So Yahweh helped the soldiers from Judah to capture the hill country. But they could not force the people who were living in the plains to leave. That was because those people had{ better weapons. They had} chariots that had iron parts. 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 UST The people of the tribe of Judah gave the city of Hebron to Caleb because Moses had promised him that he could have that city. Caleb forced the three clans whose ancestor was 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 UST Just as the soldiers from Judah and Simeon had done, soldiers from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh went{ to conquer the territory that Joshua had assigned to them. They first attacked} the city of Bethel, and Yahweh helped them. BSB BSB: The house of Joseph also attacked Bethel, and the LORD was with them.
23 UST They sent some spies to find out everything they could about Bethel.(People used to call that city Luz.) BSB BSB: They sent spies to Bethel (formerly known as Luz),
24 UST 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, then we will be kind to you{ and not kill you when we capture the city}.” 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 UST So the man showed them a way to get into the city. The soldiers from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh went in and killed all the people who lived in the city. But they allowed the man and his whole family to leave safely. 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 UST That man went to the area where the Hittites lived. He built a city there and named it Luz. That is still the name of that city now. 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.
The Failure to Complete the Conquest 28 UST 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 UST The soldiers from the tribe of Ephraim were not able to force the Canaanites who were living in the city of Gezer to leave. So the Canaanites continued to live in that city 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 UST There were also Canaanites living in the cities of Kitron and Nahalol. The soldiers from the tribe of Zebulun were not able to force them to leave. So those Canaanites stayed in those cities and lived with the tribe of Zebulun. But the people of Zebulun forced them to work 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 UST There were Canaanites living in the cities of Akko, Sidon, Ahlab, Aczib, Helbah, Aphek, and Rehob. The soldiers from the tribe of Asher were not able to force them to leave. BSB BSB: Asher failed to drive out the inhabitants of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, and Rehob.
32 UST So those Canaanites continued to live in those cities. The people of the tribe of Asher lived with them, because they were not able to force them to leave. BSB BSB: So the Asherites lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, because they did not drive them out.
33 UST There were Canaanites living in the cities of Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath. The soldiers from the tribe of Naphtali were not able to force them to leave. So those Canaanites continued to live in that area. The people of the tribe of Naphtali lived with them. But they forced the ones who lived in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath to work as their slaves. 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 UST The Amorites forced the people of the tribe of Dan to live in the hills. That was because 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 UST The Amorites fought hard to keep living at Mount Heres and in the cities of Aijalon and Shaalbim{, and so the Israelites were not able to force them to leave}. But when the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh became stronger, they forced those 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 UST The land where the Amorites lived extended from the Ascent of Akrabbim{ 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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