Study Desk

Now it came about after the death of Joshua that the sons of Israel ^(C1)inquired of the LORD, saying, "Who shall go up first for us ^(C2)against the Canaanites, to fight against them?"

The LORD said, "^(C1)Judah shall go up; behold, I have handed the land over to him."

Then Judah said to his brother Simeon, "Go up with me into ^(F1)the territory allotted me, and let's fight the Canaanites; and ^(F2)I in turn will go with you into ^(F3)the territory allotted you." So Simeon went with him.

Judah went up, and ^(C1)the LORD handed over to them the Canaanites and the Perizzites, and they ^(F1)defeated ten thousand men at Bezek.

They found Adoni-bezek in Bezek and fought against him, and they ^(F1)defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

But Adoni-bezek fled; and they pursued him and caught him, and cut off his ^(F1)thumbs and big toes.

And Adoni-bezek said, "Seventy kings with their thumbs and their big toes cut off used to gather up scraps under my table; ^(C1)as I have done, so God has repaid me." So they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

Then the sons of Judah fought against ^(C1)Jerusalem and captured it, and struck it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.

Afterward, the sons of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, and in the ^(F1)Negev, and in the lowland.

^(C1)So Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (the name of Hebron was previously Kiriath-arba); and they struck Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

Then ^(C1)from there he went against the inhabitants of Debir (the name of Debir was previously Kiriath-sepher).

And Caleb said, "Whoever attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give him my daughter Achsah as a wife."

Now ^(C1)Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, captured it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah as a wife.

Then ^(C1)it happened that when she came to him, she incited him to ask her father for a field. Then later, she dismounted from ^(F1)her donkey, and Caleb said to her, "What ^(F2)do you want?"

She said to him, "Give me a blessing: since you have given me the land of the ^(F1)Negev, give me springs of water also." So Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

Now the ^(F1)descendants of ^(C1)the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up from the ^(C2)city of palms with the sons of Judah, to the wilderness of Judah which is in the south of ^(C3)Arad; and they went and lived with the people.

Then Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they struck the Canaanites living in Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. So the name of the city was called ^(C1)Hormah.

And Judah took ^(C1)Gaza with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory.

Now the LORD was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not ^(F1)drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had ^(C1)iron chariots.

Then they gave Hebron to Caleb, ^(C1)as Moses had ^(F1)promised; and he drove out from there ^(C2)the three sons of Anak.

^(C1)But the sons of Benjamin did not drive out the ^(C2)Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem; so the Jebusites have lived with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.