More fights against the Canaanites

16 The people of the Ken people-group who were descendants of Moses’ father-in-law left Jericho, which was called ‘The City of Palm Trees’. They went with some of the men of Judah to live with them in the southern desert area, near Arad city.

17 The men of Judah and their fellow Israelis from the tribe of Simeon defeated the people of the Canaan people-group who lived in Zephath city. They completely destroyed the city and gave it a new name, Hormah, which means ‘complete destruction’. 18 The men of Judah also captured Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron cities and all the land that is near those cities. 19 Yahweh helped the men of Judah to capture the hilly area, but they could not force the people who were living in the plains to leave, because those people had better weapons—they had iron chariots.

20 Hebron city was given to Caleb because Moses had promised him that he could have that city. And Caleb forced the three clans descended from Anak to leave that area. 21 But the people of the tribe of Benjamin could not force the people of the Jebus people-group to leave Jerusalem. So, since that time the people of the Jebus people-group have lived in Jerusalem with the people of the tribe of Benjamin.

22 The men of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh went to fight against the men of Bethel city, and Yahweh helped them. 23 They sent some spies to find out everything that they could find out about Bethel, which was previously called Luz. 24 The spies saw a man who was coming out of the city. They said to him, “If you show us a way to get into the city, we will be kind to you and we will not kill you.” 25 So the man showed them a way to enter the city. The men of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh entered the city and killed all the people with their swords, but they did not kill the man who showed them how to get into the city, and they did not kill his family. 26 That man went to the area where the descendants of Heth lived, and built a city. He named the city Luz, and that is still the name of that city.

27 There were people of the Canaan people-group who lived in Beth-Shan, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, and Megiddo cities and in the surrounding villages. The men of the tribe of Manasseh did not force those people to leave those towns, because the people of the Canaan people-group were determined to stay there. 28 Later, the Israelis became ◄stronger/more numerous►, and they forced the people of the Canaan people-group to work for them as their slaves, but they did not force all the people of the Canaan people-group to leave their land. 29 The men of the tribe of Ephraim did not force the people of the Canaan people-group to leave Gezer city. So the people of the Canaan people-group continued to live with the people of the tribe of Ephraim. 30 The men of the tribe of Zebulun did nor compel the people of the Canaan people-group who were living in Kitron and Nahalol cities to leave. They stayed there and lived among the people of the tribe of Zebulun, but the people of Zebulun forced them to work for them as their slaves. 31 The men of the tribe of Asher did not force the people of the Canaan people-group who lived in Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Aczib, Helbah, Aphek and Rehob cities to leave. 32 So the people of the tribe of Asher lived among them. 33 The men of the tribe of Naphtali did not compel the people who lived in Beth-Shemesh and Beth-Anath cities to leave, so the people in those two cities continued to live there, but the people of the Canaan people-group were forced to work as the slaves of the people of the tribe of Naphtali. 34 The people of the Amor people-group forced the people of the tribe of Dan to live in the hills. They did not allow them to come down and live on the plain. 35 The people of the Amor people-group were determined to stay in Heres Mountain and in Aijalon and Shaalbim cities. But when the Israelis became ◄stronger/more numerous►, they forced the people of the Amor people-group to work as their slaves. 36 The land where the Amor people-group lived extended from Scorpion Pass toward the west beyond Sela town, up into the hilly area.