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?

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

³ And Judah said to 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.

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.

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

⁶ But Adoni-bezek fled; and they pursued him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.

⁷ And Adoni-bezek said, seventy kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their food under my table; as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.

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.)

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

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

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

¹² And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjath-sepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter for a wife.

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

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 to her, What wilt thou?

¹⁵ And she said to 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.

¹⁶ And the children of the Kenite, Moses's 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.

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.

¹⁸ Also Judah took Gaza with its border, and Askelon with its border, and Ekron with its border.

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

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

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 to this day.

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

²³ And the house of Joseph sent to explore Beth-el. Now the name of the city before was Luz.

²⁴ And the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, Show us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will Show thee mercy.

²⁵ And when he showed 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.

²⁶ And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name of it Luz: which is its name to this day.

²⁷ Neither did Manasseh expel the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its towns, nor Tanach and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.

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

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

³⁰ Neither did Zebulun expel the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became tributaries.

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

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

³³ Neither did Naphtali expel the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beth-anath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless, the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became tributaries to them.

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

³⁵ But the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres in Ajalon, and in Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became tributaries.

³⁶ And the border of the Amorites was from the ascent to Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.

¹ And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.

² And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me for a wife.

³ Then his father and his mother said to him, Is there not a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said to his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.

⁴ But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

⁵ Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and behold, a young lion roared against him.

⁶ And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.

⁷ And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.

⁸ And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion: and behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion.

⁹ And he took of it in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they ate: but he told them not that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion.

¹⁰ So his father went down to the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do.

¹¹ And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.

¹² And Samson said to them, I will now propose a riddle to you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments:

¹³ But if ye cannot declare it to me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they said to him, propose thy riddle, that we may hear it.

¹⁴ And he said to them, Out of the eater came forth food, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle.

¹⁵ And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said to Samson's wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare to us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire: have ye called us to take what we possess? is it not so?

¹⁶ And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast proposed a riddle to the children of my people, and hast not told it to me. And he said to her, Behold, I have not told it to my father nor to my mother, and shall I tell it to thee?

¹⁷ And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she urged him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people.

¹⁸ And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said to them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.

¹⁹ And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments to them who expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house.

²⁰ But Samson's wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.