1 After Yehoshua’s (Joshua’s) death, the Israelis asked Yahweh, “Which tribe should go first to attack the Kena’anim (Canaanites)?” 2 “Yehudah (Judah) will go first,” Yahweh answered. “Listen, I’ve already determined that they’ll conquer the land.”

3 Then the Yehudah leaders said to the tribe of Shim’on (Simeon), “Come with us into the region that we’ve been allocated and we can fight together against the Kena’anim. Then we’ll do the same in your area.” So the warriors from the two tribes worked together. 4 When they attacked, Yahweh gave them victory over the Kena’anim and the Perizim and they killed ten thousand men at Bezek. 5 They confronted Adoni-Vezek in Bezek and fought against him (then eventually defeating the Kena’anim and the Perizim). 6 Adoni-Vezek tried to flee but they chased him and captured him, cutting off his thumbs and big toes. 7 “Seventy kings had their thumbs and big toes chopped off,” Adoni-Vezek said, “and were gathering scraps of food beneath my table. Just as I have done, so God has repaid to me.” Then they took him to Yerushalem (Jerusalem) and he died there.