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 ten thousand 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. Bezek 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 seventy 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 burnt 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. Straight 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?”