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Judges

Describes a time when Israel was ruled by judges and the cycle of turning away from God, facing trouble, and then returning to Him.

Chapter 1

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1 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?

*After Joshua died, the Israelites asked God, "Who should we send to fight the Canaanites first?"

2 And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.

*And God said, Judah will succeed: look, I have given the land to him.

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

*Judah asked his brother Simeon to join him in fighting the Canaanites on their land. Judah also promised to help Simeon fight in his land. Simeon agreed and joined Judah.

4 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.

*Judah advanced, and God helped them defeat the Canaanites and Perizzites. They killed ten thousand men from these groups in a place called Bezek.

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

*They discovered Adonibezek in Bezek, so they battled him. They killed the Canaanites and Perizzites.

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

*But Adonibezek ran away; they chased him, caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.

7 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.

*Adonibezek said that sixty-ten kings, with their thumbs and big toes cut off, ate food under his table. Just like he did, God paid him back. They took him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

8 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.

*Now, Judah's kids fought against Jerusalem, won, hurt it with swords, and burned the city down.

9 And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites, that dwelt in the mountain, and in the south, and in the valley.

*Afterward, the Judah's children went to battle the Canaanites living in the mountains, south, and valleys.

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

*Judah fought against the people living in Hebron, which used to be called Kirjatharba. They killed Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

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

*Then he went to the people of Debir, which used to be called Kirjathsepher.

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

*Caleb said, "If someone defeats Kirjathsepher and takes it, I'll give my daughter Achsah to them in marriage."

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

*Othniel, son of Kenaz and younger brother of Caleb, married Achsah, Caleb's daughter, after he captured the land.

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

*Then, when she arrived, she made him want to ask her father for a field. She got off her donkey, and Caleb asked her, "What do you want?"

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.

*She asked him for a blessing because he had given her a southern land. She also wanted water springs. Caleb then gave her both the upper and lower 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.

*The Kenite children, who were Moses's father-in-law, left the city of palm trees with the Judah children. They went to the Judah wilderness, near Arad, and lived with the local people.

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

*Judah and his brother Simeon went to Zephath, where they killed the people living there, completely destroying the city. They renamed the city Hormah.

18 Also Judah took Gaza with the coast thereof, and Askelon with the coast thereof, and Ekron with the coast thereof.

*Judah captured Gaza, its coast, Askelon, its coast, and Ekron, its coast too.

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

*And God helped Judah; he forced the people living on the mountain to leave; but couldn't make the people in the valley leave because they had strong metal cars.

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

*So, they gave Hebron to Caleb like Moses said would happen. Caleb then drove out the three sons of Anak from there.

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

*The people from the tribe of Benjamin didn't remove the Jebusites living in Jerusalem, so they still lived there together with the people of Benjamin until now.

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

*The people from the family of Joseph went to Bethel, and God was by their side.

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

*The family of Joseph went to check out Bethel, which used to be called Luz.

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

*The spies saw a man leave the city and asked him to show them the city's entrance. They promised to be kind to him if he helped them.

25 And when he shewed 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.

*When he showed them the city's entry, they attacked the city with swords, but spared the man and his entire 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.

*The man went to the Hittites' land, built a city, and named it Luz. This name still stands today.

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.

*Manasseh didn't remove the people from Bethshean and its towns, Taanach and its towns, Dor and its towns, Ibleam and its towns, or Megiddo and its towns. Instead, the Canaanites continued living there.

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

*When Israel was powerful, they made the Canaanites pay them money but didn't completely get rid of them.

29 Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.

*Ephraim didn't remove the Canaanites living in Gezer, they continued to live there with 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.

*Zebulun didn't remove the people from Kitron or Nahalol. Instead, the Canaanites stayed and became subjects.

31 Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob:

*Asher didn't remove the people from Acco, Zidon, Ahlab, Azeb, Helbah, Aphik or Rehob.

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

*But the people from Asher lived with the Canaanites, who lived in the land; for they didn't force them to leave.

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.

*Naphtali didn't force the people in Bethshemesh and Bethanath to leave. Instead, Naphtali lived with the Canaanites, who were already there. However, the people from Bethshemesh and Bethanath ended up paying tribute (or giving something) to Naphtali.

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

*The Amorites made the children of Dan go up a mountain because they wouldn't let them 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.

*But the people called Amorites lived on Mount Heres in Aijalon and in Shaalbim. However, the family of Joseph was strong, so these people had to pay them tribute.

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

*The land of the Amorites went from the bottom of Akrabbim mountain, starting at a big rock, upwards.

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