¹ After the death of Josue the children of Israel consulted the Lord, saying: Who shall go up before us against the Chanaanite, and shall be the leader of the war?

² And the Lord said: Juda shall go up: behold I have delivered the land into his hands.

³ And Juda said to Simeon his brother: Come up with me into my lot, and fight against the Chanaanite, that I also may go along with thee into thy lot. And Simeon went with him.

⁴ And Juda went up, and the Lord delivered the Chanaanite, and the Pherezite into their hands: and they slew of them in Bezec ten thousand men.

⁵ And they found Adonibezec in Bezec, and fought against him, and they defeated the Chanaanite, and the Pherezite.

⁶ And Adonibezec fled: and they pursued after him and took him, and cut off his fingers and toes.

⁷ And Adonibezec said: Seventy kings having their fingers and toes cut off, gathered up the leavings of the meat under my table: as I have done, so hath God requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

⁸ And the children of Juda besieging Jerusalem, took it, and put it to the sword, and set the whole city on fire.

⁹ And afterwards they went down and fought against the Chanaanite, who dwelt in the mountains, and in the south, and in the plains.

¹⁰ And Juda going forward against the Chanaanite, that dwelt in Hebron (the name whereof was in former times Cariath-Arbe) slew Sesai, and Ahiman, and Tholmai:

¹¹ And departing from thence he went to the inhabitants of Dabir, the ancient name of which was Cariath-Sepher, that is, the city of letters.

¹² And Caleb said: He that shall take Cariath-Sepher, and lay it waste, to him will I give my daughter Axa to wife.

¹³ And Othoniel the son of Cenez, the younger brother of Caleb, having taken it, he gave him Axa his daughter to wife.

¹⁴ And as she was going on her way her husband admonished her to ask a field of her father. And as she sighed sitting on her ass, Caleb said to her: What aileth thee?

¹⁵ But she answered: Give me a blessing, for thou hast given me a dry land: Give me also a watery land. So Caleb gave her the upper and the nether watery ground.

¹⁶ And the children of the Cinite, the kinsman of Moses, went up from the city of palms, with the children of Juda into the wilderness of his lot, which is at the south side of Arad, and they dwelt with him.

¹⁷ And Juda went with Simeon his brother, and they together defeated the Chanaanites that dwelt in Sephaath, and slew them. And the name of the city was called Horma, that is, Anathema.

¹⁸ And Juda took Gaza with its confines, and Ascalon and Accaron with their confines.

¹⁹ And the Lord was with Juda, and he possessed the hill country: but was not able to destroy the inhabitants of the valley, because they had many chariots armed with scythes.

²⁰ And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said, who destroyed out of it the three sons of Enac.

²¹ But the sons of Benjamin did not destroy the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem: and the Jebusite hath dwelt with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem until this present day.

²² The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them.

²³ For when they were besieging the city, which before was called Luza,

²⁴ They saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him: Shew us the entrance into the city, and we will Shew thee mercy.

²⁵ And when he had shewn them, they smote the city with the edge of the sword: but that man and all his kindred they let go:

²⁶ Who being sent away, went into the land of Hethim, and built there a city, and called it Luza: which is so called until this day.

²⁷ Manasses also did not destroy Bethsan, and Thanac with their villages, nor the inhabitants of Dor, and Jeblaam, and Mageddo with their villages. And the Chanaanite began to dwell with them.

²⁸ But after Israel was grown strong he made them tributaries, and would not destroy them.

²⁹ Ephraim also did not slay the Chanaanite that dwelt in Gazer, but dwelt with him.

³⁰ Zabulon destroyed not the inhabitants of Cetron, and Naalol: but the Chanaanite dwelt among them, and became their tributaries.

³¹ Aser also destroyed not the inhabitants of Accho, and of Sidon, of Ahalab, and of Achazib, and of Helba, and of Aphec, and of Rohob:

³² And he dwelt in the midst of the Chanaanites the inhabitants of that land, and did not slay them.

³³ Nephtali also destroyed not the inhabitants of Bethsames, and of Bethanath: and he dwelt in the midst of the Chanaanites the inhabitants of the land, and the Bethsamites and Bethanites were tributaries to him.

³⁴ And the Amorrhite straitened the children of Dan in the mountain, and gave them not place to go down to the plain:

³⁵ And he dwelt in the mountain Hares, that is, of potsherds, in Aialon and Salebim. And the hand of the house of Joseph was heavy upon him, and he became tributary to him.

³⁶ And the border of the Amorrhite was from the ascent of the scorpion, the rock, and the higher places.

¹ These are the nations which the Lord left, that by them he might instruct Israel, and all that had not known the wars of the Chanaanites:

² That afterwards their children might learn to fight with their enemies, and to be trained up to war:

³ The five princes of the Philistines, and all the Chanaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hevites that dwelt in mount Libanus, from mount Baal Hermon to the entering into Emath.

⁴ And he left them, that he might try Israel by them, whether they would hear the commandments of the Lord, which he had commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses, or not.

⁵ So the children of Israel dwelt in the midst of the Chanaanite, and the Hethite, and the Amorrhite, and the Pherezite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite:

⁶ And they took their daughters to wives, and they gave their own daughters to their sons, and they served their gods.

⁷ And they did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they forgot their God, and served Baalim and Astaroth.

⁸ And the Lord being angry with Israel, delivered them into the hands of Chusan Rasathaim king of Mesopotamia, and they served him eight years.

⁹ And they cried to the Lord, who raised them up a saviour, and delivered them, to wit, Othoniel the son of Cenez, the younger brother of Caleb:

¹⁰ And the spirit of the Lord was in him, and he judged Israel. And he went out to fight, and the Lord delivered into his hands Chusan Rasathaim king of Syria, and he overthrew him.

¹¹ And the land rested forty years, and Othoniel the son of Cenez died.

¹² And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord: who strengthened against them Eglon king of Moab: because they did evil in his sight.

¹³ And he joined to him the children of Ammon, and Amalec: and he went and overthrew Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees.

¹⁴ And the children of Israel served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years:

¹⁵ And afterwards they cried to the Lord, who raised them up a saviour called Aod, the son of Gera, the son of Jemini, who used the left hand as well as the right. And the children of Israel sent presents to Eglon king of Moab by him.

¹⁶ And he made himself a two-edged sword, with a haft in the midst of the length of the palm of the hand, and was girded therewith under his garment on the right thigh.

¹⁷ And he presented the gifts to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was exceeding fat.

¹⁸ And when he had presented the gifts unto him, he followed his companions that came along with him.

¹⁹ Then returning from Galgal, where the idols were, be said to the king: I have a secret message to thee, O king. And he commanded silence: and all being gone out that were about him,

²⁰ Aod went in to him: now he was sitting in a summer parlour alone, and he said: I have a word from God to thee. And he forthwith rose up from his throne,

²¹ And Aod put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly,

²² With such force that the haft went in after the blade into the wound, and was closed up with the abundance of fat. So that he did not draw out the dagger, but left it in his body as he had struck it in. And forthwith by the secret parts of nature the excrements of the belly came out.

²³ But Aod carefully shutting the doors of the parlour and locking them,

²⁴ Went out by a postern door. And the king's servants going in, saw the doors of the parlour shut, and they said: Perhaps he is easing nature in his summer parlour.

²⁵ And waiting a long time till they were ashamed, and seeing that no man opened the door, they took a key: and opening, they found their lord lying dead on the ground.

²⁶ But Aod, while they were in confusion, escaped, and passed by the place of the idols, from whence he had returned. And he came to Seirath:

²⁷ And forthwith he sounded the trumpet in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel went down with him, he himself going in the front.

²⁸ And he said to them: Follow me: for the Lord hath delivered our enemies the Moabites into our hands. And they went down after him, and seized upon the fords of the Jordan, which are in the way to Moab: and they suffered no man to pass over.

²⁹ But they slew of the Moabites at that time, about ten thousand, all strong and Valiant men: none of them could escape.

³⁰ And Moab was humbled that day under the hand of Israel: and the land rested eighty years.

³¹ After him was Samgar the son of Anath, who slew of the Philistines six hundred men with a ploughshare: and he also defended Israel.