After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel inquired of the
LORD, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to
fight against them?” The LORD said, “Judah shall go up; behold, I
have given the land into his hand.” 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.
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. They found Adoni-bezek at Bezek and fought against him and
defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. Adoni-bezek fled, but
they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and his big
toes. And Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and
their big toes cut off used to pick up scraps under my table. As I
have done, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to
Jerusalem, and he died there.
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. 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. 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.
From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. The name
of Debir was formerly Kiriath-sepher. And Caleb said, “He who
attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give him Achsah my
daughter for a wife.” And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger
brother, captured it. And he gave him Achsah his daughter for a
wife. 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?” 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.
And the descendants of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up
with the people of Judah from the city of palms into the wilderness
of Judah, which lies in the Negeb near Arad, and they went and
settled with the people. 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. Judah
also captured Gaza with its territory, and Ashkelon with its
territory, and Ekron with its territory. 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. And Hebron was given to Caleb, as Moses had said. And he
drove out from it the three sons of Anak. But the people of
Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so
the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem
to this day.
The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the LORD was
with them. And the house of Joseph scouted out Bethel. (Now the
name of the city was formerly Luz.) And the spies saw a man coming
out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the way into
the city, and we will deal kindly with you.” 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. And the man went
to the land of the Hittites and built a city and called its name
Luz. That is its name to this day.
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. When Israel grew strong, they
put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out
completely.
And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer,
so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.
Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the
inhabitants of Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them, but
became subject to forced labor.
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, so the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the
inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out.
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.
The Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill
country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain. The
Amorites persisted in dwelling in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in
Shaalbim, but the hand of the house of Joseph rested heavily on
them, and they became subject to forced labor. And the border of
the Amorites ran from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upward.
