And Yahweh said, "Judah will go up. I hereby give the land into his hand."

And Judah said to Simeon his brother, "Go up with me into my allotment, and let us fight against the Canaanites; then I too will go with you into your allotment." And Simeon went with him.

And Judah went up, and Yahweh gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they defeated ten thousand men at Bezek.

At Bezek they came upon Adoni-bezek, and they fought against him and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

And Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued after him; they caught him and cut off {his thumbs and big toes}.

Adoni-bezek said, "Seventy kings with {their thumbs and big toes} cut off used to pick up [scraps] under my table; just as I have done, so God has repaid to me. And they brought him [to] Jerusalem, and he died there.

The descendants of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and they captured it, {put it to the sword}, and {set the city on fire}.

Afterward the descendants of Judah pursued to fight against the Canaanites who were living in the hill country, the Negev, and the Shephelah.

And Judah went against the Canaanites living in Hebron (the former name of Hebron [was] Kiriath Arba). And they defeated Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

And from there they went to the inhabitants of Debir (the former name of Debir [was] Kiriath Sepher).

And Caleb said, "Whoever attacks Kiriath Sepher and captures it, I will give to him Acsah my daughter as a wife."

Othniel son of Kenaz, the younger brother of Caleb, captured it, and he gave to him Acsah his daughter as a wife.

When she came [to him], she urged him to ask her father for a field. As she dismounted from the donkey, Caleb said to her, "{What do you want}?"

And she said to him, "Give me {a gift}; you have given me the land of the Negev, and give me also a spring of water." And Caleb gave to her the upper and lower spring.

The descendants of Hobab [the] Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up with the descendants of Judah from the city of palms [into] the wilderness of Judah, which [is] in [the] Negev [near] Arad. And they went and settled with the people.

And Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they defeated the Canaanites inhabiting Zephath; they utterly destroyed it, so he called the name of the city Hormah.

Judah captured Gaza and its territory, Ashkelon and its territory, and Ekron and its territory.

And Yahweh was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they [had] chariots of iron.

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

Likewise, the house of Joseph went up [against] Bethel, and Yahweh [was] with them.

And the house of Joseph spied out Bethel (the former name of the city was Luz).

And when the spies saw a man leaving the city, they said to him, "Please show us the entrance of the city, and we will deal kindly with you."

So he showed them the entrance of the city, and they struck the city with {the edge of the sword}, but they let go the man and all his family.

And the man went [to] the land of the Hittites, and he built a city and named it Luz; this [is] its name to this day.

Manasseh did not drive out Beth-Sean and its towns, or Taanach and its towns, or the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; the Canaanites [were] determined to live in this land.

And it happened, when Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they never totally drove them out.

Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived in their midst and became [subjected] to forced labor.

Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh or Beth-anath, but lived in the midst of the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and Beth-anath became forced labor for them.

The Amorites pressed the descendants of Dan to the hill country, and they did not allow them to come down to the plain;

the Amorites [were] determined to live in Har-heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the hand of the house of Joseph was heavy [on them], and they became [subjected] to forced labor.

The border of the Amorites [ran] from the ascent of Akrabbim from Sela and upward.

And the angel of Yahweh went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, "I brought you up from Egypt, and I brought you to the land that I had promised to your ancestors. I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you.

And [as for] you, do not {make a covenant} with the inhabitants of this land; break down their altars.' But you did not listen to my voice. {Why would you do such a thing}?

Now I say, I will not drive them out from before you; they will {become as thorns} for you, and their gods will be a trap for you."

And as the angel of Yahweh spoke these words to all the {Israelites}, the people {wept bitterly}.

And they called the name of this place Bokim, and there they sacrificed to Yahweh.

And Joshua sent the people away, and the {Israelites} went each to their own inheritance to take possession of the land.

And the people served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who saw all the great work Yahweh had done for Israel.

And Joshua son of Nun, servant of Yahweh, died {at the age of one hundred and ten years}.

Moreover, that entire generation was gathered to their ancestors, and another generation grew up after them who did not know Yahweh or the work he had done for Israel.

The {Israelites} did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and {they served} the Baals.

They abandoned Yahweh the God of their ancestors, who brought them out from the land of Egypt. They {followed} other gods from the gods of the people who [were] around them; and they bowed down to them, and they provoked the anger of Yahweh.

They abandoned Yahweh, and they served Baal and the Ashtaroth.

So {the anger of Yahweh was kindled} against Israel, and he gave them into the hand of plunderers; and they plundered them, and he sold them into the hand of their enemies from all sides. They were unable to withstand their enemies any longer.

{Whenever} they went out, the hand of Yahweh was against them to harm [them], just as Yahweh warned, and just as Yahweh had sworn to them. And {they were very distressed}.

Then Yahweh raised up leaders, and they delivered them from the hand of their plunderers.

But they did not listen to their leaders, but lusted after other gods and bowed down to them. They turned away quickly from the way that their ancestors went, who had obeyed the commandment of Yahweh; they did not do [as their ancestors].

And when Yahweh raised leaders for them, Yahweh was with the leader, and he delivered them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the leader, for Yahweh was moved by their groaning because of their persecutors and oppressors.

But when the leader died they relapsed and acted corruptly, more than their ancestors, following other gods, serving them, and bowing down to them. They would not give up their deeds or their stubborn ways.

{So the anger of Yahweh burned} against Israel, and he said, "Because this people transgressed my covenant that I commanded their ancestors, and have not obeyed my voice,

So Yahweh left those nations; he did not drive them out at once, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua.

the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon up to Lebo-Hamath.

And the {Israelites} lived in the midst of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

And they took their daughters as wives for themselves, and they gave their daughters to their sons, and they served their gods.

The {Israelites} did evil in the eyes of Yahweh. They forgot Yahweh their God, and they served the Baals and the Asheroth.

And {the anger of Yahweh was kindled} against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-Rishathaim, the king of Aram Naharaim; and the {Israelites} served Cushan-Rishathaim eight years.

The {Israelites} cried out to Yahweh, and Yahweh raised up a deliverer for the {Israelites} who delivered them, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.

And the spirit of Yahweh came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and Yahweh gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into his hand, and {he prevailed over} Cushan-Rishathaim.

And again the {Israelites} did evil in the eyes of Yahweh. So Yahweh strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because they did evil in the eyes of Yahweh.

He gathered to himself the {Ammonites and Amalekites}, and he went and defeated Israel, and they took possession of the city of palms.

And the {Israelites} served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.

And the {Israelites} cried out to Yahweh, and Yahweh raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud son of Gera, a Benjaminite and {a left-handed man}. And the {Israelites} sent a tribute to Eglon king of Moab {through him}.

Ehud made for himself a short, {two-edged} sword (a cubit in length), and he fastened it under his clothes on his right thigh.

But he turned back from the sculptured stones that [were] near Gilgal, and he said, "I have {a secret message} for you, O king." And he said, "Silence!" So all those standing in his presence went out,

and Ehud came to him [while] he [was] sitting alone in his cool upper room. And Ehud said, "I have a {message from God} for you." So he got up from his seat.

Then Ehud reached with his left hand for the sword on his right thigh, and he thrust it into his stomach.

And the handle also went [in] after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade because he did not draw back the sword from his stomach; and it went protruding out the back.

And Ehud went out the vestibule, and he closed the doors of the upper room and locked [them] behind him.

And they waited so long they became embarrassed because he did not open the doors of the upper room. So they took the key and opened [the doors], and there their lord was lying on the ground dead.

And Ehud escaped while they delayed. He passed by the sculptured stones and escaped to Seirah.

And when he arrived he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the {Israelites} went down from the hill country with him leading them.

And he said to them, "Follow after me! Yahweh has given Moab your enemies into your hand." So they went down after him, and they captured the fords of the Jordan toward Moab; and they did not allow anyone to cross over.

And they struck Moab at that time, about ten thousand men, {all strong and able men}; no one escaped.

And Moab was subdued on that day under the hand of Israel. And the land rested eighty years.

And Shamgar son of Anath came after him, and he killed six hundred Philistines with the goad of an ox; he also delivered Israel.

And again the {Israelites} did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and Ehud died.

So Yahweh sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army [was] Sisera, and he [was] living in Harosheth Haggoyim.

And the {Israelites} cried to Yahweh, as he [had] nine hundred iron chariots, and he oppressed the {Israelites} {cruelly} for twenty years.

And she used to sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the {Israelites} went up to her for judgment.

She sent and called for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh Naphtali and said to him, "Has not Yahweh the God of Israel commanded you? 'Go, {march to} Mount Tabor, and take ten thousand men from the descendants of Naphtali and Zebulun.

{I will draw out} Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and troops, to the wadi of Kishon, and I will give him into your hand.'"

She said, "Surely I will go with you; however, there will be no glory for you in {the path you are taking}, for Yahweh will sell Sisera into [the] hand of a woman." And Deborah stood up and went with Barak to Kedesh.

Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and {they went up behind him}, ten thousand men, and Deborah went up with him.

And Heber the Kenite [was] separated from [the other] Kenites, [that is], from the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses. And {he was encamped} at Elon-bezaanannim, which [is] near Kedesh.

Sisera summoned all his chariots--all nine hundred chariots of iron--and the entire army that [was] with him from Harosheth Haggoyim to the wadi of Kishon.

And Deborah said to Barak, "Get up! This [is] the day that Yahweh has given Sisera into your hand. Has Yahweh not gone out before you?" So Barak went out from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.

And Yahweh threw Sisera and all his chariots and army into confusion before {the edge of Barak's sword}; and Sisera dismounted from [his] chariot and fled on foot.

But Barak pursued after the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim, and all of Sisera's army fell to {the edge of the sword}; no one was left.

Sisera fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because [there was] peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.

And Jael came out to meet Sisera, and she said to him, "Turn aside, my lord; turn aside to me and do not be afraid." So he turned aside into her tent, and she covered him {with a blanket}.

And he said to her, "Please, give me a drink of water, because I am thirsty." So she opened a skin vessel of milk and gave him a drink and covered him.

And he said to her, "Stand [at] the doorway of the tent, and if anyone comes and asks you, and says, 'Is there anyone here?' You must answer, 'No.'"

But Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, took in her hand a tent peg and a hammer, and she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went through into the ground; he [was] fast asleep since he was exhausted, and he died.

And behold, Barak [was] pursuing Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him, and she said to him, "Come, and I will show you the man whom you [are] seeking." And he came with her and saw that Sisera was lying dead with the peg in his temple.

And the hand of the {Israelites} {pressed harder} and harder on Jabin king of Canaan, until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.

And Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang on that day:

Yahweh, when you went down from Seir, when you marched from the region of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens poured down, the clouds poured down water.

The riders of white female donkeys, [those] sitting on saddle blankets, and [those] going on [the] way, talk about it!

At the sound of [those] dividing [the sheep] among the watering places, there they will recount the righteous deeds of Yahweh, the righteous deeds for his warriors in Israel. Then the people of Yahweh went down to the gates.

Then [the] remnant went down to [the] nobles; the people of Yahweh went down for him against [the] mighty.