Sometime after Joshua had died, the Israelis asked the LORD, "Who is to lead us against the Canaanites in our opening attack against them?"

The LORD replied, "The tribe of Judah is to lead you. Look! I've given the land into their control."

Adoni-bezek used to brag, "Seventy kings without thumbs and big toes used to eat what was left under my table. God has repaid me for what I've done." They brought him to Jerusalem, and he later died there.

Then the army of Judah attacked Jerusalem, captured it, executed its inhabitants, and set fire to the city.

Later, the army of Judah left Jerusalem to attack the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, the Negev, and the Shephelah.

The army of Judah then proceeded to attack the inhabitants of Debir, which used to be known as Kiriath-sepher.

Caleb announced, "I'll give my daughter Achsah in marriage to whomever leads the attack against Kiriath-sepher and captures it."

Later on, after she had arrived, she urged Othniel to ask her father for a field. As she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, "What do you want for yourself?"

"I want this blessing from you," she replied. "Since you've given me land in the Negev, give me water springs, too." So Caleb gave her both the upper and lower springs.

The descendants of the Kenites, the tribe from which Moses' father-in-law came, accompanied the descendants of Judah from the city of the palms to the Judean wilderness, which is in the desert area south of Arad, and lived with the people there.

They gave Hebron to Caleb, just as Moses had promised, and he drove out the three sons of Anak from there.

However, the descendants of Benjamin did not expel the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived with the descendants of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

The scouts observed a man coming out of the city and they promised him, "Please show us the entrance to the city and we'll deal kindly with you."

So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they attacked the city with swords, but they let the man and his entire family escape.

So the man traveled to the land of the Hittites and built a city that he named "Luz," and it is called by that name to this day.

The army of the tribe of Manasseh did not conquer Beth-shean and its villages, Taanach and its villages, the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages. Instead, the Canaanites continued to live in that land.

When Israel had grown strong, they subjected the Canaanites to conscripted labor and never did expel them completely.

The army of the tribe of Zebulun did not expel the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them, but were subjected to conscripted labor.

So the descendants of Asher lived among the Canaanites who continued to inhabit the land, because they did not expel them.

The army of the tribe of Naphtali did not expel the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and the inhabitants of Beth-anath. Instead, they lived among the Canaanites who inhabited the land. However, the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath were subjected to conscripted labor.

Later on, the Amorites forced the descendants of Dan into the hill country and did not permit them to come into the valleys of the hills.

Furthermore, the Amorites continued to inhabit Mount Heres in Aijalon and Shaalbim. Eventually, however, after the tribe of Joseph had become strong, the Amorites were subjected to conscripted labor.

Some time later, the angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim and announced to Israel, "I brought you up from Egypt and led you into the land that I promised to your ancestors. I had told them, "I'll never breach my covenant with you.

As for you, you must not make any treaties with the inhabitants of this land. Instead, tear down their altars.' But you haven't obeyed me. What have you done?

Therefore I'm now saying, "I won't expel them before you. Instead, they'll remain at your side, and their gods will ensnare you.'"

Because the angel of the LORD said these things to all of the Israelis, the people wept out loud,

which is why they named the place Bochim. And there they sacrificed to the LORD.

After Joshua had dismissed the people, the Israelis returned to their respective inheritances to take possession of the land.

So the Israelis practiced what the LORD considered to be evil by worshiping Canaanite deities.

So in his burning anger against Israel, the LORD gave them into the domination of marauders who plundered them. The enemies who surrounded the Israelis controlled them, and they were no longer able to withstand their adversaries.

Wherever they went, the LORD worked against them to bring misfortune, just as the LORD had warned, and just as the LORD had promised them. As a result, they suffered greatly.

But they didn't listen to their leaders, because they were committing spiritual immorality by following other gods and worshiping them. They quickly turned away from the road on which their ancestors had walked in obedience to the commands of the LORD. They didn't follow their example.

However, after the leader had died, they would relapse to a condition more corrupt than their ancestors, following other gods, serving them, and worshiping them. They would not abandon their activities or their obstinate lifestyles.

In his burning anger against Israel, the LORD said, "Because the people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their ancestors to keep, and because they haven't obeyed me,

I'm also going to stop expelling any of the nations that remained after Joshua died.

That way, I'll use them to demonstrate whether or not Israel will keep the LORD's lifestyle by walking on that road like their ancestors did."

So the LORD caused those nations to remain and did not expel them quickly. He did not give them into Joshua's control.

Here's a list of nations that the LORD caused to remain in order to test Israel (that is, everyone who had not gained any battle experience in Canaan)

only so that successive Israeli generations, who had not known war previously, might come to know it by experience.

They remained there to test Israel, to reveal if they would obey the commands of the LORD that he issued to their ancestors through Moses.

The Israelis continued to live among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites,

taking their daughters as wives for themselves, giving their own daughters to their sons, and serving their gods.

Then in his burning anger against Israel, the LORD delivered them to domination by King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram-naharaim. So the Israelis served Cushan-rishathaim for eight years.

When the Israelis cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up Othniel son of Caleb's younger brother Kenaz, to deliver them, and he did.

The Spirit of the LORD was on him, and he governed Israel. When Othniel went out to battle, the LORD handed king Cushan-rishathaim of Aram-naharaim into his control, and Othniel's domination of Cushan-rishathaim was strong.

Eglon assembled together the Ammonites and the Amalekites, proceeded to attack Israel, and captured the cities of palms.

But when the Israelis cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up Gera's son Ehud, a left-handed descendant of Benjamin, as a deliverer for them. The Israelis paid tribute through him to king Eglon of Moab.

Ehud forged a double-edged sword that was one cubit long, tied it to his right thigh under his cloak,

and went to present the tribute to King Eglon of Moab. Now Eglon happened to be a very obese man.

Ehud used his left hand to take the sword from his right thigh and then plunged it into Eglon's abdomen.

After he left, Eglon's attendants came to look, but the doors to the cool chamber were locked! So they said, "He must be relieving himself in the inner part of the cool chamber."

They waited until they were embarrassed, since he never opened the doors to the chamber. Eventually they took a key, opened the doors, and found their master dead on the ground.

he told them, "Attack them, because the LORD has given your enemies the Moabites into your control." So the Israeli army followed after him, seized the fords of the Jordan River opposite Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross.

so the LORD turned them over to domination by King Jabin of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. Sisera, the commanding officer of his army, lived in Harosheth-haggoyim.

The Israelis cried out to the LORD, because of his 900 iron chariots. Jabin oppressed the Israelis forcefully for twenty years.

She sent word to Abinoam's son Barak from Kedesh-naphtali, summoning him. She asked him, "The LORD God of Israel has commanded you, hasn't he? He told you, "Go out, march to Mount Tabor, and take 10,000 men with you from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun.

I will draw out Sisera, the commanding officer of Jabin's army, along with his chariots and troops, to the Kishon River, where I will drop him right into your hands.'"

"If you'll go with me, I'll go," Barak replied. "But if you won't go with me, then I'm not going."

She responded, "I will surely go with you, but the road that you're about to take will not lead to honor for you. The LORD will sell Sisera into the hands of a woman." Then Deborah got up and went with Barak toward Kedesh.

Barak called out the army of the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali to march on Kedesh, and 10,000 men went out to war with him, along with Deborah.

So Sisera gathered his iron chariots together from Harosheth-haggoyim all 900 of them, along with all the people who were assigned to them and they assembled at the Kishon River.

"Get going!" Deborah told Barak. "Because today's the day when the LORD has dropped Sisera into your hands! Look! The LORD has already gone out ahead of you!" So Barak left Mount Tabor, followed by 10,000 men,

Meanwhile, Sisera had escaped on foot to a tent belonging to Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, since there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the household of Heber the Kenite.

Jael went out to greet Sisera. "Turn aside, sir!" she told him. "Turn aside to me! Don't be afraid." So he turned aside to her and entered her tent, where she concealed him behind a curtain.

He asked her, "Please give me some water to drink, because I'm thirsty." Instead, she opened a leather container of milk, gave him a drink, and then covered him up.

But Heber's wife Jael grabbed a tent peg in one hand and a hammer in the other, crept up to him quietly, and drove the tent peg right through his temple into the ground below after he had fallen sound asleep from exhaustion. That's how he died.

Meanwhile, as Barak continued chasing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him. "Come with me," she told him, "and I'll show you the man you're looking for!" So he went with her, and there was Sisera, lying dead with the tent peg still embedded in his temple!

That's how God subdued Jabin, king of Canaan right in front of the Israelis that day.

Later that day, Deborah and Abinoam's son Barak celebrated by singing this song:

Listen, you kings! Turn your ears to me, you rulers! As for me, to the LORD I will sing! I will sing praise to the LORD God of Israel.

During the lifetime of Anath's son Shamgar and during the lifetime of Jael highways remained deserted, while travelers kept to back roads.

New gods were chosen, then war came to the city gates, but there wasn't a shield or spear to be seen among 40,000 soldiers of Israel.

My heart is for the commanders of Israel, to those who work willingly among the people. Bless the LORD!

From the sound of those who divide their work loads at the watering troughs, there they will retell the righteous deeds of the LORD, the righteous victories for his rural people in Israel." Then the people of the LORD went down to the gates.

Why did you sit down among the sheepfolds? To hear the bleating of the flocks? Among the divisions of the army of Reuben there was great searching of heart.

"Kings came to fight, then battled the kings of Canaan at Taanach near the waters of Megiddo. They took no silver as the spoils of war.

""Meroz is cursed!' declared the angel of the LORD. "Utterly and totally cursed are its inhabitants, because they never came to the aid of the LORD, to the aid of the LORD against the valiant warriors!'"

He crumpled to the ground between her feet, where he fell down and collapsed. Between her feet he crumpled, Fallen dead!

"Back at home, out the window Sisera's mother peered, lamenting through the lattice. "Why is his chariot delayed in returning? "Why do the hoof beats of his chariots wait?'

Her wise attendants find an answer for her; in fact, she tells the same words to herself:

"They're busy finding and dividing the war booty, aren't they? A girl or two for each valiant warrior, and some dyed materials for Sisera perhaps dyed, embroidered war booty or some detailed embroidery for my neck as the booty of war!

Later on, the Israelis practiced what the LORD considered to be evil, so the LORD handed them over to the domination of Midian for seven years.

Midian's control predominated throughout Israel, and because of Midian the Israelis went out to find temporary hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and fortified places.

They set up their military encampments to fight them, destroyed the harvest of the land as far as Gaza, and left nothing in Israel, whether harvested grain, sheep, oxen, or donkeys.

They would invade with their livestock and tents, swooping in as numerous as locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels and they came into the land to destroy it.

Because Israel was deeply impoverished due to the Midianites, they cried out to the LORD.

When the Israelis cried out to him about Midian,

the LORD sent a man who was a prophet to the Israelis and told them, "This is what the LORD God of Israel says: "I was the one who brought you up from the land of Egypt, delivering you from the house of servitude.

I delivered you from the domination of Egypt and from the domination of all of your oppressors, expelling them right in front of you and giving their land to you.

I told you, "I am the LORD your God. You are not to fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you'll be living."' But you haven't obeyed what I said."

After this, the angel of the LORD arrived and sat down in the shade of the oak tree in Ophrah that belonged to Joash, a descendant of Abiezer, while his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a wine press in order to safeguard it from the Midianites.

The angel of the LORD appeared to him and told him, "The LORD is with you, you valiant warrior!"

But Gideon replied, "Right" Sir, if the LORD is with us, then why has all of this happened to us? And where are all of his miraculous works that our ancestors recounted to us when they said, "The LORD brought us up from Egypt, didn't he?' But now the LORD has abandoned us and given us over to Midian!"

The LORD looked straight at him and replied, "Go with this determination of yours and deliver Israel from Midian's domination. I've directed you, haven't I?"

So Gideon asked him, "Please, if I have received favor from you, then do a miracle for me that shows that you're making this promise to me.

And please don't leave here until I've come back to you, brought my offering, and set it down in front of you." The LORD replied, "I'll stay until you return."

Then Gideon went and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket and poured the broth into a pot, and brought them to the angel right under the oak tree. Then he made his offering.

When Gideon realized that he had seen the angel of the LORD himself, he cried out, "Oh no! Lord GOD! I've been looking right at the angel of the LORD and face-to-face at that!"

"Calm down! Don't be afraid." the LORD replied. "You're not going to die!"

So Gideon built an altar right there to the LORD and called it "The LORD is peace." (To this very day it still stands in Ophrah, which belongs to the descendants of Abiezer.)