The Israelites Fight Against the Remaining Canaanites
1Joshua died. After that, the Israelites spoke to the Lord. They asked him, “Who of us will go up first and fight against the Canaanites?”
2The Lord answered, “The tribe of Judah will go up. I have handed the land over to them.”
3Then the men of Judah spoke to their fellow Israelites, the men of Simeon. They said, “Come up with us. Come into the territory Joshua gave us. Help us fight against the Canaanites. Then we’ll go with you into your territory.” So the men of Simeon went with them.
4When the men of Judah attacked, the Lord helped them. He handed the Canaanites and Perizzites over to them. They struck down 10,000 men at Bezek. 5The men of Judah found Adoni-Bezek there. They fought against him. They struck down the Canaanites and Perizzites. 6But Adoni-Bezek ran away. The men of Judah chased him and caught him. Then they cut off his thumbs and big toes.
7Adoni-Bezek said, “I cut off the thumbs and big toes of 70 kings. I made them pick up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them.” The men of Judah brought Adoni-Bezek to Jerusalem. That’s where he died.
8The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem and captured it. They set the city on fire. They killed its people with their swords.
9After that, the men of Judah went down to fight against some Canaanites. Those Canaanites were living in the central hill country. They also fought against those living in the Negev Desert and the western hills. 10Then the men of Judah marched out against the Canaanites living in Hebron. Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba. The men of Judah won the battle over Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai. 11From Hebron they marched out against the people living in Debir. It used to be called Kiriath Sepher.
12Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Aksah to be married. I’ll give her to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher.” 13Othniel captured it. So Caleb gave his daughter Aksah to him to be his wife. Othniel was the son of Kenaz. He was Caleb’s younger brother.
14One day Aksah came to Othniel. She begged him to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What can I do for you?”
15She replied, “Do me a special favor. You have given me some land in the Negev Desert. Give me springs of water also.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.
16Moses’ father-in-law was a Kenite. His family went up from Jericho. Jericho was also known as the City of Palm Trees. His family went up with the people of Judah to the Desert of Judah. They went there to live among its people. Those people were living in the Negev Desert near Arad.
17The men of Judah marched out with their fellow Israelites, the men of Simeon. They attacked the people of Canaan living in Zephath. They set the city apart to the Lord in a special way to be destroyed. That’s why the city was called Hormah. 18The men of Judah captured Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron. They also captured the territory around each of those cities.
19The Lord was with the men of Judah. They took over the central hill country. But they weren’t able to drive the people out of the plains. That’s because those people used chariots that had some iron parts. 20Moses had promised to give Hebron to Caleb. So Hebron was given to Caleb. He drove the three sons of Anak out of it. 21But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. So to this day they live there with the people of Benjamin.
22The tribes of Joseph attacked Bethel. The Lord was with them. 23They sent men to Bethel to check it out. It used to be called Luz. 24Those who were sent saw a man coming out of the city. They said to him, “Show us how to get into the city. If you do, we’ll see that you are treated well.” 25So he showed them how to get in. The men of Joseph killed the people in the city with their swords. But they spared the man from Bethel. They also spared his whole family. 26Then he went to the land of the Hittites. He built a city there. He called it Luz. That’s still its name to this day.
27But the tribe of Manasseh didn’t drive out the people of Beth Shan. They didn’t drive out the people of Taanach, Dor, Ibleam and Megiddo. And they didn’t drive out the people of the settlements that are around those cities either. That’s because the Canaanites had made up their minds to continue living in that land. 28Later, Israel became stronger. Then they forced the Canaanites to work hard for them. But Israel never drove them out completely. 29The tribe of Ephraim didn’t drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer. So the Canaanites continued to live there among them. 30The tribe of Zebulun didn’t drive out the Canaanites living in Kitron and Nahalol. So these Canaanites lived among them. But the people of Zebulun forced the Canaanites to work hard for them. 31The tribe of Asher didn’t drive out the people living in Akko and Sidon. They didn’t drive out the people of Ahlab, Akzib, Helbah, Aphek and Rehob. 32So the people of Asher lived among the Canaanites who were in the land. 33The tribe of Naphtali didn’t drive out the people living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath. So the people of Naphtali lived among the Canaanites who were in the land. The people of Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were forced to work hard for them. 34The Amorites made the people of Dan stay in the central hill country. They didn’t let them come down into the plain. 35The Amorites made up their minds to stay in Mount Heres. They also stayed in Aijalon and Shaalbim. But the power of the tribes of Joseph grew. Then the Amorites were forced to work hard for them. 36The border of the Amorites started at Scorpion Pass. It went to Sela and even past it.
Juda og Simeon indtager deres område
1Efter Josvas død spurgte israelitterne Herren: „Hvem skal nu gå i spidsen i kampen mod kana’anæerne?”
2Herren svarede: „Judas stamme. Jeg vil hjælpe dem til at indtage det land, jeg har lovet dem.”
3Lederne af Judas stamme sagde til lederne af Simeons stamme: „Hjælp os med at besejre de kana’anæere, som bor i det område, der skal tilhøre os. Så hjælper vi bagefter jer med at indtage jeres område.” Så fulgte mændene fra Simeons stamme med Judas mænd.
4Da de angreb, gav Herren dem sejr over kana’anæerne og perizzitterne, så de dræbte 10.000 af fjendens krigere ved byen Bezek. 5Fjendens hær blev anført af kong Adonibezek, 6og det lykkedes ham at undslippe, men israelitterne fangede ham og huggede hans tommelfingre og storetæer af. 7„Jeg har selv behandlet 70 høvdinge på samme måde,” sagde kongen, „og jeg har ladet dem spise smulerne under mit bord. Nu gengælder Gud mig for, hvad jeg har gjort imod dem.” Derefter blev han ført til Jerusalem, hvor han blev til sin dødsdag.
8Judas mænd angreb også Jerusalem, huggede indbyggerne ned og satte ild til byen. 9Derefter rykkede de ud mod kana’anæerne i det sydlige højland, i Negev og på de vestlige bakkeskråninger. 10De gik til angreb på kana’anæerne i Hebron, det tidligere Kirjat-Arba, og besejrede Sheshajs, Ahimans og Talmajs mænd. 11De angreb også byen Debir, der tidligere hed Kirjat-Sefer. 12Kaleb havde forinden sagt: „Den, der indtager Kirjat-Sefer, får min datter Aksa til kone.” 13Otniel, der var søn af Kalebs yngre bror, Kenaz, erobrede byen og fik som belønning Aksa til kone.
14Efter brylluppet bad Aksa sin mand om tilladelse til at tage hjem til sin far og bede om et stykke agerjord. Da hun kom derhen og stod af sit æsel, spurgte Kaleb hende: „Hvad kan jeg gøre for dig?” 15„Velsign mig med en afskedsgave. Du har jo bortgiftet mig til det tørre sydland, så jeg har brug for nogle vandkilder.” Så gav Kaleb hende de øvre og de nedre kilder.
16Dengang Judas stamme drog op fra Palmernes By,1,16 Det vil sige Jeriko. fulgte efterkommerne af Moses’ svigerfar med dem. De hed kenitterne, og de slog sig ned blandt de øvrige beboere i Negevs ørken syd for Arad.
17Da Judas og Simeons mænd drog i kamp sammen, udryddede de kana’anæerne i Zefat og udslettede byen totalt. Derfor kaldes byen nu Horma.1,17 Horma betyder „udslettelse”. 18Judas hær indtog også byerne Gaza, Ashkalon og Ekron med de omkringliggende områder. 19Herren hjalp Judas stamme med at indtage højlandet, men de klarede ikke at få alle folkene i lavlandet drevet bort, fordi de havde stridsvogne af jern.
20Kaleb havde nu fået Hebron, som Moses i sin tid havde lovet ham, og han fik jaget de folk bort, som boede der. De var efterkommere af Anaks tre sønner.
De øvrige stammer fordriver ikke alle de oprindelige indbyggere
21Benjamins stamme fordrev ikke alle jebusitterne fra Jerusalem. Derfor bor jebusitterne stadig i byen sammen med benjaminitterne.
22-23Efraims og Manasses stammer angreb byen Betel, tidligere kaldet Luz, og Herren var med dem. De sendte først spioner af sted, 24som fangede en mand, der var på vej ud af byen. De sagde så til ham: „Hvis du viser os, hvordan vi kommer ind i byen, vil vi skåne dit liv.” 25Manden viste dem et smuthul, hvorefter hele byens befolkning blev hugget ned, med undtagelse af den mand og hans familie. 26Senere flyttede han til hittitternes land og grundlagde der en by, som han kaldte Luz.1,26 Opkaldt efter det gamle navn på hans hjemby. Det vides ikke, hvor denne by lå. Byen ligger der den dag i dag.
27Manasses stamme fordrev ikke alle indbyggerne i Bet-Shan, Ta’anak, Dor, Jibleam og Megiddo og landsbyerne deromkring, for kana’anæerne var fast besluttet på at blive boende. 28Senere, da israelitterne blev stærkere, gjorde de kana’anæerne til slaver, men de fik aldrig fordrevet dem fra landet. 29På samme måde gik det for Efraims stamme. Kana’anæerne blev boende side om side med dem i Gezer.
30Zebulons stamme udryddede heller ikke kana’anæerne i Kitron og Nahalol, men gjorde dem til slaver, 31og Ashers stamme fordrev ikke indbyggerne i Akko, Sidon, Ahlab, Akzib, Helba, Afik og Rehob. 32Kana’anæerne blev boende side om side med Ashers stamme. 33På samme måde gik det for Naftalis stamme: de fordrev ikke indbyggerne i Bet-Shemesh og Bet-Anat, men de gjorde dem til slaver.
34Amoritterne holdt stand mod Dans stamme, så de ikke kunne bosætte sig i lavlandet. 35Amoritterne blev også boende på Heresbjerget, i Ajjalon og i Sha’albim, men da Efraims og Manasses stammer blev stærkere, gjorde de dem til slaver. 36Amoritternes sydlige grænse løber fra Akrabbimpasset til Sela og videre opefter.
