The Continuing Conquest of Canaan
1
After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel 1inquired of the LORD, 2"Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?"
2
The LORD said, "Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand."
3
And Judah said to Simeon his brother, "Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, that we may fight against the Canaanites. 3And I likewise will go with you into the territory allotted to you." So Simeon went with him.
4
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.
5
They found Adoni-bezek at Bezek and fought against him and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites.
6
Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and his big toes.
7
And Adoni-bezek said, "Seventy kings with their thumbs and their big toes cut off 4used to pick up scraps under my table. 5As I have done, so God has repaid me." And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.
8
6And 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.
9
And afterward the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in 7the hill country, in the Negeb, and in 8the lowland.
10
9And Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron 10(now the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba), and they defeated 11Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.
11
From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. The name of Debir was formerly Kiriath-sepher.
12
And Caleb said, "He who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give him Achsah my daughter for a wife."
13
And Othniel the son of Kenaz, 12Caleb's younger brother, captured it. And he gave him Achsah his daughter for a wife.
14
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?"
15
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.
16
And the descendants of the 13Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah 14from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the Negeb near 15Arad, 16and they went and settled with the people.
17
17And 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 18Hormah.a
18
Judah also 19captured Gaza with its territory, and Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory.
19
20And the LORD was with Judah, and he took possession of the 21hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had 22chariots of iron.
20
23And Hebron was given to Caleb, as Moses had said. And he drove out from it 24the three sons of Anak.
21
But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, 25so the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
24
And the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, "Please show us the way into the city, 28and we will deal kindly with you."
25
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.
26
And the man went to 29the land of the Hittites and built a city and called its name Luz. That is its name to this day.
Failure to Complete the Conquest
27
30Manasseh 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.
28
When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely.
29
31And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.
30
Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of 32Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them, but became subject to forced labor.
31
33Asher 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,
32
so the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out.
33
Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of 34Beth-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.
34
35The Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)