The Tribes of Judah and Simeon Fight the Canaanites
1 After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord, “Which of our tribes should attack the Canaanites first?”
2 “Judah!” the Lord answered. “I'll help them take the land.”
3 The people of Judah went to their relatives, the Simeon tribe, and said, “Canaanites live in the land God gave us. Help us fight them, and we will help you.”
Troops from Simeon came to help Judah. 4-5 Together they attacked an army of 10,000 Canaanites and Perizzites at Bezek, and the Lord helped Judah defeat them. During the battle, Judah's army found out where the king of Bezek was, and they attacked there. 6 The king tried to escape, but soldiers from Judah caught him. They cut off his thumbs and big toes, 7 and he said, “I've cut off the thumbs and big toes of 70 kings and made those kings crawl around under my table for scraps of food. Now God is paying me back.”
The army of Judah took the king of Bezek along with them to Jerusalem, where he died. 8 They attacked Jerusalem, captured it, killed everyone who lived there, and then burned it to the ground.
9 Judah's army fought the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, the Southern Desert, and the foothills to the west. 10 After that, they attacked the Canaanites who lived at Hebron, defeating the three clans called Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. At that time, Hebron was called Kiriath-Arba.
11 From Hebron, Judah's army went to attack Debir, which at that time was called Kiriath-Sepher. 12 Caleb told his troops, “The man who captures Kiriath-Sepher can marry my daughter Achsah.”
13 Caleb's nephew Othniel captured Kiriath-Sepher, so Caleb let him marry Achsah. Othniel was the son of Caleb's younger brother Kenaz. 14 Right after the wedding, Achsah started telling Othniel that he ought to ask her father for a field. She went to see her father, and while she was getting down from her donkey, Caleb asked, “What's bothering you?”
15 She answered, “I need your help. The land you gave me is in the Southern Desert, so please give me some spring-fed ponds for a water supply.”
Caleb gave her a couple of small ponds named Higher Pond and Lower Pond.
16 The people who belonged to the Kenite clan were the descendants of the father-in-law of Moses. They left Jericho with the people of Judah and settled near Arad in the Southern Desert of Judah not far from the Amalekites.
17 Judah's army helped Simeon's army attack the Canaanites who lived at Zephath. They completely destroyed the town and renamed it Hormah.
18-19 The Lord helped the army of Judah capture Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron, and the land near those towns. They also took the hill country. But the people who lived in the valleys had iron chariots, so Judah was not able to make them leave or to take their land.
20 The tribe of Judah gave the town of Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had told them to do. Caleb defeated the three Anakim clans and took over the town.
The Benjamin Tribe Does Not Capture Jerusalem
21 The Jebusites were living in Jerusalem, and the Benjamin tribe did not defeat them or capture the town. That's why Jebusites still live in Jerusalem along with the people of Benjamin.
The Ephraim and Manasseh Tribes Capture Bethel
22-23 The Ephraim and Manasseh tribes were getting ready to attack Bethel, which at that time was called Luz. And the Lord helped them when they sent spies to find out as much as they could about Bethel. 24 While the spies were watching the town, a man came out, and they told him, “If you show us how our army can get into the town, we will make sure that you aren't harmed.” 25 The man showed them, and the two Israelite tribes attacked Bethel, killing everyone except the man and his family. The two tribes made the man and his family leave, 26 so they went to the land of the Hittites, where he built a town. He named the town Luz, and that is still its name.
Israel Does Not Get Rid of All the Canaanites
27-28 Canaanites lived in the towns of Beth-Shan, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and all the villages nearby. The Canaanites were determined to stay, and the Manasseh tribe never did get rid of them. But later on, when the Israelites grew more powerful, they made slaves of the Canaanites.
29 The Ephraim tribe did not get rid of the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived there with Israelites all around them.
30 The Zebulun tribe did not get rid of the Canaanites who lived in Kitron and Nahalol, and the Canaanites stayed there with Israelites around them. But the people of Zebulun did force the Canaanites into slave labor.
31-32 The Asher tribe did not get rid of the Canaanites who lived in Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, and Rehob, and the Asher tribe lived with Canaanites all around them.
33 The Naphtali tribe did not get rid of the Canaanites who lived in Beth-Shemesh and Beth-Anath, but they did force the Canaanites into slave labor. The Naphtali tribe lived with Canaanites around them.
34 The Amorites were strong enough to keep the tribe of Dan from settling in the valleys, so Dan had to stay in the hill country.
35 The Amorites on Mount Heres and in Aijalon and Shaalbim were also determined to stay. Later on, as Ephraim and Manasseh grew more powerful, they forced those Amorites into slave labor.
The Amorite-Edomite Border
36 The old Amorite-Edomite border used to go from Sela through Scorpion Pass into the hill country.
Bajuta ne Basimiyoni banobhata Adonibhezeki
1 Kwakati shule kwe lufu gwa Joshuwa, bathu be Iziraela bakabhuzwa Yahwe beti, “Ndiyani unowomilika kutanga pakati kwedu kanogwa ne Bakanana kene?” 2 Yahwe bakashandula beti, “Ngakumilike Juda, bonani, ndalonga shango mu maboko awe.” 3 Juda kadwa Simiyoni nkulu uwe kati, “Ngatiyende tose ku shango yandakakobegwa kuti tinogwa ne Bakanana, namibo ndowoyenda nawe ku shango yawakakobegwa.” Ndizo Simiyoni kayenda naye. 4 Kwakati Juda emilika, Yahwe bakalonga Bakanana ne Baperizi mu maboko abo, ngono bakabulaya balume bali zwiwulu zwili gumi (10 000) ku Bhezeki. 5 Bakawana Adonibhezeki ku Bhezeki ngono bakagwisana naye, bakakunda Bakanana ne Baperizi. 6 Adonibhezeki katizha ngono bakantatamila bakambhata, bakathubula zwinyala zwizwe zwikulu zwe maboko ne zwe makumbo. 7 Adonibhezeki kabe eti, “Bomambo bali makumi ali kutendeka (70) bakathubugwa zwinyala zwikulu zwe maboko ne zwe makumbo bakabe benunga mamburumburu kusi kwe tafuli yangu. Ngwenu Ndzimu bandibgwilizila nge zwandakathama kubali.” Bakan'yisa ku Jerusalema kafila ko.
Bajuta banotapa Jerusalema ne Heburoni
8 Balume be Juda bakagwisana ne Jerusalema ngono bakayitapa, bakabulaya bathu nge thumo, bakapisa nzi nkulu nge moto. 9 Shule kwa ipapo balume be Juda bakanogwisana ne Bakanana bakabe begala mu shango ye matuthu, ku Negebu ne mu shango itjapasi. 10 Bajuta bakanonginilila Bakanana bakabe begala mu Heburoni yakabe idang'wa Kiriyatiaribha, bakakunda Sheshayi na Ahimani na Talemayi.
Othiniyeli unotapa nzi we Debiri
(Joshuwa 15:13-19)11 Kudwa ipapo bakanonginilila bagali be Debiri yakabe idang'wa Kiriatiseferi. 12 Ngono Khalebu kati, “Ndowolobodza nkololokadzi wangu Akasa ku nlume unowogwisana ne Kiriatiseferi kayitapa.” 13 Ngono Othiniyeli nkololo wa Kenazi, nnung'una wa Khalebu kayitapa, ndizo Khalebu kanlobodza nkololokadzi uwe Akasa. 14 Kwakati Akasa azha kunli, Othiniyeli kankumbila kuti akumbile nnda kuna tate babe, wakati edeluka mu donki tjitje, Khalebu kambhuzwa kati, “Kwatini?” 15 Akasa kashandula eti, “Mundipe tjipo, ngoti makandipa shango ye ku burwa, mundipe matshime e vula.”
Kunda kwe ludzi gwa Juda ne gwa Bhenjamini
16 Ngono zwizekugwana zwe N'keni tezwale ba Mushe, zwakayenda ne bathu be Juda kudwa ku nzi nkulu we milala kunoti ku tjilambanyika tje Juda tjimu burwa hwunde ne Aradi, ngono bakanogala ne bathu. 17 Juda kayenda na Simiyoni nkulu uwe, bakakunda Bakanana bakabe begala ku Zefati ngono bakayilobesa. Ndizo zina le nzi nkulu likadang'wa Horima. 18 Juda katapa kose ne Gaza ne mituthu yayo, ne Ashikeloni ne mituthu yayo ne Ekironi ne mituthu yayo. 19 Yahwe bakabebana Juda, katola shango ye matuthu koga kasitate bagali be shango yakawala ngobe bakabebana koloyi dze ngwa dze butale. 20 Heburoni ikapiwa Khalebu sekwakaleba Mushe, ngono katata bakololo batatu ba Anaki. 21 Babhenjamini bakakong'wa tata Bajebusi bakabe begala mu Jerusalema, ndizo Bajebusi bakagala ne bathu be Bhenjamini mu Jerusalema kuswikila nasi.
Ludzi gwa Ifureimi na Manase banotapa Bhetele
22 Ludzi gwa Josefa gukanonginilila Bhetele, ngono Yahwe bakabe banabo. 23 Bakati betuma shodzi kunoshola Bhetele yakabe idang'wa Luzi, 24 shodzi dzikabona nlume ebhuda mu nzi nkulu ngono dzikandwa dzikati, “Utilakidze panonging'wa mu nzi nkulu ndizo towokubhata zwakanaka.” 25 Ngono kabalakidza panonging'wa, ngono bakanginilila nzi nge thumo, koga bakaletja nlume ne bensha uwe bose kuti bayende. 26 Ngono nlume kayenda ku shango ye Bahiti ngono kabaka nzi nkulu kautumila zina eti Luzi, ndilo zina lawo na nasi. 27 Koga Manase kasitate bagali be Bhetisheani ne mizana yayo kene Taanaki ne mizana yayo, kene bagali be Dori ne mizana yayo kene be Ibeliyamu ne mizana yayo, kene bagali be Megido ne mizana yayo, koga Bakanana bakadwilila bakagala mu shango iyeyo. 28 Kwakati Baiziraela batjisima, bakathama Bakanana kuti babashingile koga bakasibatate. 29 Baifureimi bakasitate Bakanana bakabe begala mu Gezeri, koga Bakanana bakagala nabo mu Gezeri. 30 Na Zebuluni kasitate bagali be Kitironi kene be Nahaloli, koga Bakanana bakagala mu bali, bakabe bashingili. 31 Asheri kasitate bagali be Akho kene be Sidoni kene be Alabu kene be Akizibi kene be Helibha kene be Afiki kene be Rihobi, 32 koga Baasheri bakagala pakati kwe Bakanana ibo bagali be shango, ngoti abazobatata.
33 Nafutali kasitate bagali be Bhetishemeshi kene be Bhetianati, koga bakagala pakati kwe Bakanana ibo bagali be shango. Ngono bagali be Bhetishemeshi ne be Bhetianati bakabe bashingili babo. 34 Baamoni bakasundila Badani shule ku shango ye matuthu, bakasibadumile kuzha ku shango yakawala. 35 Baamoni bakadwilila begala mu Hariheresi ne mu Aijaloni ne mu Shaalibimi koga simba la Josefa likabakulila ngono bakabe bashingili babo. 36 Ngathu we Baamori wakabe udwa ku Akirabhimi kunoti ku Sela, upindila mbeli.