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Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass that the children of Israel asked the Lord, saying, “Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them?”

And the Lord said, “Judah shall go up. Behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.”

And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into my allotment, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot.” So Simeon went with him.

And Judah went up; and the Lord delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men.

And they found Adonibezek in Bezek; and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

But Adonibezek fled; and they pursued after him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.

And Adonibezek said, “Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table. As I have done, so God hath requited me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.

Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it and smitten it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire.

And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who dwelt in the mountain and in the South and in the valley.

10 And Judah went against the Canaanites who dwelt in Hebron (now the name of Hebron before was Kirjatharba), and they slew Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.

11 And from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir (and the name of Debir before was Kirjathsepher).

12 And Caleb said, “He that smiteth Kirjathsepher and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter for a wife.”

13 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it; and he gave him Achsah his daughter for a wife.

14 And it came to pass, when she came to him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field; and she alighted from her ass, and Caleb said unto her, “What wilt thou?”

15 And she said unto him, “Give me a blessing, for thou hast given me a south land. Give me also springs of water.” And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs.

16 And the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the Wilderness of Judah, which lieth in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.

17 And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah.

18 Also Judah took Gaza with the regions thereof, and Ashkelon with the regions thereof, and Ekron with the region thereof.

19 And the Lord was with Judah; and he drove out the inhabitants of the mountain, but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley because they had chariots of iron.

20 And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said; and he expelled from thence the three sons of Anak.

21 And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem, but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day.

22 And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel; and the Lord was with them.

23 And the house of Joseph sent to descry Bethel. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.)

24 And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, “Show us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will show thee mercy.”

25 And when he showed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and all his family.

26 And the man went into the land of the Hittites and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz, which is the name thereof unto this day.

27 Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.

28 And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out.

29 Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer, but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.

30 Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron nor the inhabitants of Nahalol, but the Canaanites dwelt among them and became tributaries.

31 Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Acco, nor the inhabitants of Sidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob;

32 but the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out.

33 Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Bethshemesh nor the inhabitants of Bethanath, but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless the inhabitants of Bethshemesh and of Bethanath became tributaries unto them.

34 And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain, for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley.

35 But the Amorites would dwell in Mount Heres in Aijalon and in Shaalbim; yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became tributaries.

36 And the border of the Amorites was from the going up to Akrabbim, from the rock and upward.

And an angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim and said, “I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I swore unto your fathers; and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you.

And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars.’ But ye have not obeyed My voice. Why have ye done this?

Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.’”

And it came to pass, when the angel of the Lord spoke these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice and wept.

And they called the name of that place Bochim [that is, Weepers], and they sacrificed there unto the Lord.

And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land.

And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord that He did for Israel.

And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being a hundred and ten years old.

And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash.

10 And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers, and there arose another generation after them who knew not the Lord nor yet the works which He had done for Israel.

11 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baalim.

12 And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, the gods of the people who were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger.

13 And they forsook the Lord and served Baal and Ashtaroth.

14 And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and He delivered them into the hands of despoilers who despoiled them, and He sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.

15 Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn unto them; and they were greatly distressed.

16 Nevertheless the Lord raised up judges, who delivered them out of the hand of those who despoiled them.

17 And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them. They turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the Lord; but they did not so.

18 And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord was moved to repent because of their groanings by reason of those who oppressed them and vexed them.

19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned and corrupted themselves more than their fathers in following other gods, to serve them and to bow down unto them. They ceased not from their own doings nor from their stubborn way.

20 And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and He said, “Because this people hath transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto My voice,

21 I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died,

22 that through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.”

23 Therefore the Lord left those nations without driving them out hastily, neither delivered He them into the hand of Joshua.

Now these are the nations which the Lord left, to test Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan

(only so that the generations of the children of Israel might know to teach them war, at least such as before knew nothing thereof),

namely: five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites who dwelt in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baalhermon unto the entrance of Hamath.

And they were to test Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the Lord, which He commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.

And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites.

And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods.

And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgot the Lord their God, and served the Baalim and the Asherahs.

Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Chushanrishathaim, king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served Chushanrishathaim eight years.

And when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.

10 And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel and went out to war; and the Lord delivered Chushanrishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, into his hand. And his hand prevailed against Chushanrishathaim;

11 and the land had rest forty years, and Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

12 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord.

13 And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees.

14 So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.

15 But when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man lefthanded; and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab.

16 But Ehud made himself a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit length; and he girded it under his raiment upon his right thigh.

17 And he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab. And Eglon was a very fat man.

18 And when he had made an end of offering the present, he sent away the people who bore the present.

19 But he himself turned again from the quarries that were by Gilgal and said, “I have a secret errand unto thee, O king,” who said, “Keep silence!” And all who stood by him went out from him.

20 And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting in a summer parlor, which he had for himself alone. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God unto thee.” And he arose out of his seat.

21 And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly.

22 And the haft also went in after the blade, and the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly; and the dirt came out.

23 Then Ehud went forth through the porch and shut the doors of the parlor upon him, and locked them.

24 When he had gone out, his servants came; and when they saw that, behold, the doors of the parlor were locked, they said, “Surely he covereth his feet in his summer chamber.”

25 And they tarried till they were ashamed; and behold, he opened not the doors of the parlor. Therefore they took a key and opened them; and behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth.

26 And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the quarries and escaped unto Seirah.

27 And it came to pass, when he had come, that he blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim; and the children of Israel went down with him from the mount, and he before them.

28 And he said unto them, “Follow after me, for the Lord hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” And they went down after him, and took the fords of the Jordan toward Moab, and suffered not a man to pass over.

29 And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all lusty and all men of valor; and there escaped not a man.

30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years.

31 And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad; and he also delivered Israel.