1 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ led away all the spoil of Ga’ash, and went out of the city by night.
2 They were going out marching toward the stronghold of Bĕyth Ḥoron, but the inhabitants of Bĕyth Ḥoron were going to the stronghold to meet them. And on that night the sons of Ya’aqoḇ fought with the inhabitants of Bĕyth Ḥoron, in the stronghold of Bĕyth Ḥoron.
3 And all the inhabitants of Bĕyth Ḥoron were mighty men, one of them would not flee from before a thousand men. And they fought on that night at the stronghold, and their shouts were heard on that night from afar, and the earth quaked at their shouting.
4 And all the sons of Ya’aqoḇ were afraid of those men, as they were not accustomed to fighting in the dark, and they were greatly put to shame. And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ cried out to 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, saying, “Give help to us O 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄! Deliver us that we may not die by the hands of these uncircumcised men.”
5 And 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 listened to the voice of the sons of Ya’aqoḇ, and 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 caused great fear and confusion to seize the people of Bĕyth Ḥoron, and they fought among themselves, one with the other in the darkness of night, and smote each other in great numbers.
6 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ, knowing that 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 had brought a spirit of confusion among those men, and that they fought each man with his neighbour, went forth from among the bands of the people of Bĕyth Ḥoron and went as far as the descent of the stronghold of Bĕyth Ḥoron, and farther. And they waited there safely with their young men on that night.
7 And the people of Bĕyth Ḥoron fought the whole night, one man with his brother, and the other with his neighbour, and they cried out in every direction at the stronghold. And their cry was heard at a distance, and the whole earth shook at their voice, for they were mighty, above all the people of the earth.
8 And all the inhabitants of the cities of the Kena’anites, the Ḥittites, the Amorites, the Ḥiwwites and all the sovereigns of Kena’an, and also those who were on the other side of the Yardĕn, heard the noise of the shouting on that night.
9 And they said, “Indeed these are the battles of the Iḇrim who are fighting against the seven cities, who came near to them; and who can stand against those Iḇrim?”
10 And all the inhabitants of the cities of the Kena’anites, and all those who were on the other side of the Yardĕn, were greatly afraid of the sons of Ya’aqoḇ, for they said, “See, the same will be done to us as was done to those cities, for who can stand against their mighty strength?”
11 And the cries of the Ḥoronites were very great on that night, and continued to increase; and they smote each other till morning, and many of them were killed.
12 And the morning appeared, and all the sons of Ya’aqoḇ rose up at daybreak and went up to the stronghold, and they smote those who remained of the Ḥoronites in a fearful manner, and they were all killed in the stronghold.
13 And the sixth day appeared, and all the inhabitants of Kena’an saw at a distance all the people of Bĕyth Ḥoron lying dead in the stronghold of Bĕyth Ḥoron, and strewn about as the carcasses of lambs and goats.
14 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ led all the spoil which they had captured from Ga’ash and went to Bĕyth Ḥoron. And they found the city full of people like the sand of the sea, and they fought with them, and the sons of Ya’aqoḇ smote them there till evening.
15 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ did to Bĕyth Ḥoron as they had done to Ga’ash and Taphnaḵ, and as they had done to Ḥatsar, to Sarton and to Shiloh.
16 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ took with them the spoil of Bĕyth Ḥoron and all the spoil of the cities, and on that day they went home to Sheḵem.
17 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ came home to the city of Sheḵem, and they remained outside the city, and they rested there from the battle, and stayed there all night.
18 And all their servants together with all the spoil that they had taken from the cities, they left outside the city, and they did not enter the city, for they said, “Maybe there may be yet more fighting against us, and they may come to besiege us in Sheḵem.”
19 And Ya’aqoḇ and his sons and their servants remained on that night and the next day in the portion of the field which Ya’aqoḇ had purchased from Ḥamor for five sheqels, and all that they had captured was with them.
20 And all the booty which the sons of Ya’aqoḇ had captured, was in the portion of the field, as great as the sand on the sea shore.
21 And the inhabitants of the land watched them from afar, and all the inhabitants of the land were afraid of the sons of Ya’aqoḇ who had done this matter, for no sovereign from the days of old had ever done so.
22 And the seven sovereigns of the Kena’anites resolved to make peace with the sons of Ya’aqoḇ, for they were greatly afraid for their lives, because of the sons of Ya’aqoḇ.
23 And on that day, being the seventh day, Yaphiya sovereign of Ḥeḇron sent secretly to the sovereign of Ai, and to the sovereign of Giḇ’on, and to the sovereign of Shalĕm, and to the sovereign of Aḏullam, and to the sovereign of Laḵish, and to the sovereign of Ḥatsar, and to all the Kena’anite sovereigns who were under their subjection, saying,
24 “Go up with me, and come to me that we may go to the sons of Ya’aqoḇ, and I will make peace with them, and make a covenant with them, lest all your lands be destroyed by the swords of the sons of Ya’aqoḇ, as they did to Sheḵem and the cities around it, as you have heard and seen.
25 “And when you come to me, do not come with many men, but let every sovereign bring his three chief officers, and every officer bring three of his captains.
26 “And all of you come to Ḥeḇron, and we will go together to the sons of Ya’aqoḇ, and request of them that they would make a covenant of peace with us.”
27 And all those sovereigns did as the sovereign of Ḥeḇron had sent to them, for they were all under his counsel and command. And all the sovereigns of Kena’an assembled to go to the sons of Ya’aqoḇ, to make peace with them. And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ returned and went to the portion of the field that was in Sheḵem, for they did not trust the sovereigns of the land.
28 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ returned and remained in the portion of the field ten days, and no one came to fight against them.
29 And when the sons of Ya’aqoḇ saw that there was no sign of battle, they all assembled and went to the city of Sheḵem, and the sons of Ya’aqoḇ remained in Sheḵem.
30 And at the passing of forty days, all the sovereigns of the Amorites assembled from all their places and came to Ḥeḇron, to Yaphiya, sovereign of Ḥeḇron.
31 And the number of sovereigns that came to Ḥeḇron, to make peace with the sons of Ya’aqoḇ, was twenty-one sovereigns, and the number of officers that came with them was sixty-nine, and their men were one hundred and eighty-nine. And all these sovereigns and their men rested by Mount Ḥeḇron.
32 And the sovereign of Ḥeḇron went out with his three officers and nine men, and these sovereigns resolved to go to the sons of Ya’aqoḇ to make peace.
33 And they said to the sovereign of Ḥeḇron, “Go before us with your men, and speak for us to the sons of Ya’aqoḇ, and we will come after you and confirm your words.” And the sovereign of Ḥeḇron did so.
34 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ heard that all the sovereigns of Kena’an had gathered together and rested in Ḥeḇron, and the sons of Ya’aqoḇ sent four of their servants as spies, saying, “Go and spy these sovereigns, and search and examine their men whether they are few or many. And if they are but few in number, count them all and come back.”
35 And the servants of Ya’aqoḇ went secretly to these sovereigns, and did as the sons of Ya’aqoḇ had commanded them. And on that day they came back to the sons of Ya’aqoḇ, and said to them, “We came to those sovereigns, and they are but few in number, and we counted them all, and see, they were two hundred and eighty-eight, sovereigns and men.”
36 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ said, “They are but few in number, therefore we will not all go out to them.” And in the morning the sons of Ya’aqoḇ rose up and chose sixty-two of their men, and ten of the sons of Ya’aqoḇ went with them. And they girded on their weapons of battle, for they said, “They are coming to fight against us.” For they did not know that they were coming to make peace with them.
37 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ went with their servants to the gate of Sheḵem, toward those sovereigns, and their father Ya’aqoḇ was with them.
38 And when they had come out, see, the sovereign of Ḥeḇron and his three officers and nine men with him were coming along the way toward the sons of Ya’aqoḇ. And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ lifted up their eyes, and saw at a distance Yaphiya, sovereign of Ḥeḇron, with his officers, coming toward them. And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ took their stand at the place of the gate of Sheḵem, and did not proceed.
39 And the sovereign of Ḥeḇron continued to advance, he and his officers, until he came near to the sons of Ya’aqoḇ. And he and his officers bowed down to them to the ground, and the sovereign of Ḥeḇron sat with his officers before Ya’aqoḇ and his sons.
40 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ said to him, “What has befallen you, O sovereign of Ḥeḇron? Why have you come to us this day? What do you require from us?” And the sovereign of Ḥeḇron said to Ya’aqoḇ, “I ask you my master, all the sovereigns of the Kena’anites have come this day to make peace with you.”
41 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ heard the words of the sovereign of Ḥeḇron, and they would not agree to his proposals, for the sons of Ya’aqoḇ had no trust in him, for they thought that the sovereign of Ḥeḇron had spoken deceitfully to them.
42 And the sovereign of Ḥeḇron knew from the words of the sons of Ya’aqoḇ, that they did not believe his words. And the sovereign of Ḥeḇron approached nearer to Ya’aqoḇ, and said to him, “I ask you, my master, to be assured that all these sovereigns have come to you on peaceable terms, for they have not come with all their men, neither did they bring their weapons of battle with them, for they have come to seek peace from my master and his sons.”
43 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ answered the sovereign of Ḥeḇron, saying, “Send to all these sovereigns, and if you speak truth to us, let them each come individually before us. And if they come to us unarmed, we shall then know that they seek peace from us.”
44 And Yaphiya, sovereign of Ḥeḇron, sent one of his men to the sovereigns, and they all came before the sons of Ya’aqoḇ, and bowed down to them to the ground. And these sovereigns sat before Ya’aqoḇ and his sons, and they spoke to them, saying,
45 “We have heard all that you did to the sovereigns of the Amorites with your sword and exceedingly mighty arm, so that no man could stand up before you, and we were afraid of you for the sake of our lives, lest it should befall us as it did to them.
46 “So we have come to you to make a covenant of peace between us. And now therefore make a covenant of peace and truth with us, that you will not strive with us, inasmuch as we have not striven with you.”
47 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ knew that they had indeed come to seek peace from them, and the sons of Ya’aqoḇ listened to them, and made a covenant with them.
48 And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ swore to them that they would not strive with them, and all the sovereigns of the Kena’anites also swore to them. And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ made them serve compulsorily from then onward.
49 And after this all the officers of these sovereigns came with their men before Ya’aqoḇ, with presents in their hands for Ya’aqoḇ and his sons, and they bowed down to him to the ground.
50 And these sovereigns then urged the sons of Ya’aqoḇ and begged of them to return all the spoil they had captured from the seven cities of the Amorites. And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ did so, and they returned all that they had captured, the women, the little ones, the cattle and all the spoil which they had taken. And they sent them off, and they went away each to his city.
51 And all these sovereigns again bowed down to the sons of Ya’aqoḇ, and they sent or brought them many gifts in those days. And the sons of Ya’aqoḇ sent off these sovereigns and their men, and they went peaceably away from them to their cities, and the sons of Ya’aqoḇ also returned to their home, to Sheḵem.
52 And there was peace from then onward between the sons of Ya’aqoḇ and the sovereigns of the Kena’anites, until the children of Yisra’ĕl came to inherit the land of Kena’an.