SHOPHETIM 1

1 And it came to be, after the death of Yahoshua, that the children of Yisra’ĕl asked 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, saying, “Who of us should go up first against the Kena’anites to fight against them?”

2 And 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 said, “Yahuḏah goes up. See, I have given the land into his hand.”

3 And Yahuḏah said to Shim’on his brother, “Come up with me into my allotment, and let us fight against the Kena’anites. And I myself shall also go with you into your allotment.” So Shim’on went with him.

4 And Yahuḏah went up, and 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 gave the Kena’anites and the Perizzites into their hand. And they smote ten thousand men at Bezeq.

5 And they found Aḏoni-Ḇezeq in Bezeq, and fought against him, and smote the Kena’anites and the Perizzites.

6 But Aḏoni-Ḇezeq fled, and they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes.

7 And Aḏoni-Ḇezeq said, “Seventy sovereigns with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to gather under my table. As I have done, so Elohim has repaid me.” And they brought him to Yerushalayim, and he died there.

8 And the children of Yahuḏah fought against Yerushalayim and captured it, and smote it with the edge of the sword and lit the city on fire.

9 And afterward the children Yahuḏah went down to fight against the Kena’anites who dwelt in the mountains, in the Negeḇ, and in the low country.

10 And Yahuḏah went against the Kena’anites who dwelt in Ḥeḇron – now the name of Ḥeḇron was formerly Qiryath Arba – and they smote Shĕshai, and Aḥiman, and Talmai.

11 And from there they went against the inhabitants of Deḇir – now the name of Deḇir was formerly Qiryath Sĕpher.

12 And Kalĕḇ said, “He who smites Qiryath Sĕpher, and shall capture it, to him I shall give my daughter Aḵsah as wife.”

13 And Othni’ĕl son of Qenaz, Kalĕḇ’s younger brother, captured it. And he gave him his daughter Aḵsah as wife.

14 And it came to be, when she came in, that she urged him to ask her father for a field. And when she got off from her donkey, Kalĕḇ said to her, “What is the matter?”

15 And she said to him, “Give me a beraḵah. Since you have given me land in the Negeḇ, give me also springs of water.” So Kalĕḇ gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

16 And the children of the Qĕynite, father-in-law of Mosheh, went up from Ir ha’Tamarim with the children of Yahuḏah into the Wilderness of Yahuḏah, which is in the south of Araḏ. And they went and dwelt among the people.

17 And Yahuḏah went with Shim’on his brother, and they smote the Kena’anites who inhabited Tsephath, and put it under the ban. So the name of the city was called Ḥormah.

18 And Yahuḏah captured Azzah and its border, and Ashqelon and its border, and Eqron and its border.

19 And 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 was with Yahuḏah, so they took possession of the mountains, but they were unable to drive out the inhabitants of the plain, because they had chariots of iron.

20 And they gave Ḥeḇron to Kalĕḇ, as Mosheh had said, and he drove out from there the three sons of Anaq.

21 However, the children of Binyamin did not drive out the Yeḇusites who inhabited Yerushalayim, so the Yeḇusites have dwelt with the children of Binyamin in Yerushalayim to this day.

22 And the house of Yosĕph also went up against Bĕyth Ĕl, and 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 was with them.

23 And the house of Yosĕph sent men to spy out Bĕyth Ĕl – now the name of the city was formerly Luz.

24 And the watchmen saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the entrance to the city, and we shall show you kindness.”

25 So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they smote the city with the edge of the sword. But the man and all his clan they let go,

26 and the man went to the land of the Ḥittites and built a city, and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day.

27 And Menashsheh did not dispossess Bĕyth She’an and its villages, nor Ta’anaḵ and its villages, nor the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, nor the inhabitants of Yiḇle’am and its villages, nor the inhabitants of Meḡiddo and its villages, for the Kena’anites desired to dwell in that land.

28 And it came to be, when Yisra’ĕl was strong, that they put the Kena’anites into compulsory labour, but did not completely drive them out.

29 Neither did Ephrayim drive out the Kena’anites who dwelt in Gezer, so the Kena’anites dwelt in their midst, in Gezer.

30 Neither did Zeḇulun drive out the inhabitants of Qitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol, so the Kena’anites dwelt in their midst, and became compulsory labour.

31 Neither did Ashĕr drive out the inhabitants of Akko nor the inhabitants of Tsiḏon, nor of Aḥlaḇ, nor of Aḵziḇ, nor of Ḥelbah, nor of Aphiq, nor of Reḥoḇ.

32 So the Ashĕrites dwelt, in the midst of the Kena’anites, the inhabitants of the land, because they did not drive them out.

33 Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Bĕyth Shemesh nor the inhabitants of Bĕyth Anath, but they dwelt among the Kena’anites, the inhabitants of the land. And the inhabitants of Bĕyth Shemesh and of Bĕyth Anath became compulsory labour for them.

34 And the Amorites pressed the children of Dan into the mountains, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley,

35 And the Amorites desired to dwell in Mount Ḥeres, in Ayalon, and in Sha’alḇim. But when the hand of the house of Yosĕph became stronger, they became compulsory labour.

36 And the border of the Amorites was from the Ascent of Aqrabbim, from Sela, and upward.