Single lesson
The Tribes Continue in Canaan
Judges 1:1–36
This lesson helps children follow Judges 1 in order, notice what different tribes did, and compare the chapter’s victories with the repeated reports that some inhabitants were not driven out.
Before you teach
After Joshua’s death, the children of Israel asked Yahweh who should go first against the Canaanites. Yahweh named Judah. The chapter then records Judah’s campaigns, Caleb’s family at Debir, the house of Joseph at Bethel, and later a repeated pattern where several tribes did not drive out the inhabitants.
Students will be able to sequence the main parts of Judges 1 and name at least two outcomes the chapter records for different tribes.
Welcome: Who should go first?
5 minInvite children to listen for the opening question. Read Judges 1:1-3 aloud. Point out that Israel asked Yahweh who should go first against the Canaanites, and Yahweh answered Judah. Then Judah asked Simeon to go with him, and promised to go with Simeon in return. The chapter begins with asking Yahweh and then acting together.
Judges 1:1, Judges 1:2, Judges 1:3
Read and explain: Judah’s first actions
8 minRead through Judges 1:4-19 in selected parts. For Judges 1:6-8, give a brief, sober summary of the injury and death without dwelling on graphic detail. Explain that Judah had victories in several places, Caleb offered Achsah in marriage to the man who took Debir, Othniel took it, and Achsah asked Caleb for springs of water. The passage also says Yahweh was with Judah.
Judges 1:4, Judges 1:6, Judges 1:7, Judges 1:8, Judges 1:12, Judges 1:13, Judges 1:15, Judges 1:19
Discuss: Bethel and a change in the pattern
6 minRead Judges 1:19-26. Help children notice both success and difficulty. Judah drove out the hill country, yet the verse says he could not drive out the valley inhabitants because they had chariots of iron. Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites. Then the house of Joseph went up against Bethel, Yahweh was with them, and they took the city after a man showed the entrance.
Judges 1:19, Judges 1:21, Judges 1:22, Judges 1:24, Judges 1:25, Judges 1:26
Make and respond: Sequence the chapter
7 minGive children simple cards to draw or label key moments from the chapter: Israel asks Yahweh, Judah and Simeon go, Othniel takes Debir, Achsah asks for springs, Joseph goes to Bethel, and tribes later do not drive out the inhabitants. As they place the cards in order, ask them to tell the result in each part using words from the verses.
Judges 1:1, Judges 1:3, Judges 1:13, Judges 1:15, Judges 1:22, Judges 1:27, Judges 1:29, Judges 1:32, Judges 1:34
Closing: Hear the repeated ending
4 minRead Judges 1:27-36 and ask children to listen for repeated outcomes. Several tribes did not drive out the inhabitants. Some Canaanites became subject to forced labour. Dan was forced into the hill country by the Amorites, and the chapter ends by naming the border of the Amorites. Finish by restating the lesson goal together.
Judges 1:27, Judges 1:28, Judges 1:29, Judges 1:30, Judges 1:31, Judges 1:32, Judges 1:33, Judges 1:34, Judges 1:35, Judges 1:36
Questions to explore
What was the first question Israel asked, and what answer did Yahweh give?
Look at the opening verses for the question about who should go first and the answer that names Judah.
Judges 1:1, Judges 1:2
Which people in Caleb’s family are named at Debir, and what did Achsah ask for?
Find the verses where Caleb speaks, Othniel takes the city, and Achsah asks her father for springs of water.
Judges 1:12, Judges 1:13, Judges 1:14, Judges 1:15
What repeated problem appears near the end of the chapter, and what else happened to Dan?
Listen for the words about tribes that ‘didn’t drive out’ the inhabitants, and then note what the Amorites did to Dan.
Judges 1:27, Judges 1:29, Judges 1:30, Judges 1:31, Judges 1:33, Judges 1:34, Judges 1:35
Make, think or respond
Judges 1 Sequence Cards
What you’ll need
- plain paper or card
- pencils or markers
- Bible
- scissors
- envelope or rubber band
Try it together
- Write or draw six to eight key moments from Judges 1 on separate cards.
- Read the matching verses aloud and place the cards in order together.
- Sort the cards into two groups: victories and tribes that did not drive out the inhabitants.
- Ask each child to choose one card and describe its outcome from the verse.
- Store the cards in an envelope or hold them with a rubber band to review at the end.
This activity helps children trace the order of Judges 1 and notice the chapter’s different outcomes, including victories, people left in the land, and the closing note about the Amorites.
Adapt for your group
- For younger children, use six large picture cards and shorten place names, focusing on the repeated ideas: ask Yahweh, go, take, ask for springs, and did not drive out.
- For older or more confident readers, let them read Judges 1:27-36 and make a simple chart with three headings: tribe, action, and outcome.
An optional closing prayer
You may pray: ‘God, please help us listen carefully to your word, remember how Israel asked you who should go first, and learn from the different outcomes in this chapter.’
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Judges 1
1 After the death of Joshua, the children of Israel asked of Yahweh, saying, “Who should go up for us first against the Canaanites, to fight against them?”
2 Yahweh said, “Judah shall go up. Behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.”
3 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 you into your lot.” So Simeon went with him.
4 Judah went up, and Yahweh delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand. They struck ten thousand men in Bezek.
5 They found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and they fought against him. They struck the Canaanites and the Perizzites.
6 But Adoni-Bezek fled. They pursued him, caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his big toes.
7 Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their big toes cut off, scavenged under my table. As I have done, so God has done to me.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.
8 The children of Judah fought against Jerusalem, took it, struck it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.
9 After that, the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, and in the South, and in the lowland.
10 Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron. (The name of Hebron before that was Kiriath Arba.) They struck Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.
11 From there he went against the inhabitants of Debir. (The name of Debir before that was Kiriath Sepher.)
12 Caleb said, “I will give Achsah my daughter as wife to the man who strikes Kiriath Sepher, and takes it.”
13 Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it, so he gave him Achsah his daughter as his wife.
14 When she came, she got him to ask her father for a field. She got off her donkey; and Caleb said to her, “What would you like?”
15 She said to him, “Give me a blessing; because you have set me in the land of the South, give me also springs of water.” Then Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
16 The children of the Kenite, Moses’ brother-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad; and they went and lived with the people.
17 Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they struck the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. The name of the city was called Hormah.
18 Also Judah took Gaza with its border, and Ashkelon with its border, and Ekron with its border.
19 Yahweh was with Judah, and drove out the inhabitants of the hill country; for he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.
20 They gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said, and he drove the three sons of Anak out of there.
21 The children of Benjamin didn’t drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem, but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
22 The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and Yahweh was with them.
23 The house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel. (The name of the city before that was Luz.)
24 The watchers saw a man come out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the entrance into the city, and we will deal kindly with you.”
25 He showed them the entrance into the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man and all his family go.
26 The man went into the land of the Hittites, built a city, and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day.
27 Manasseh didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its towns, nor Taanach 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 When Israel had grown strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, and didn’t utterly drive them out.
29 Ephraim didn’t drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, but the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.
30 Zebulun didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites lived among them, and became subject to forced labor.
31 Asher didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Acco, nor the inhabitants of Sidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob;
32 but the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they didn’t drive them out.
33 Naphtali didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beth Anath; but he lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and of Beth Anath became subject to forced labor.
34 The Amorites forced the children of Dan into the hill country, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley;
35 but the Amorites would dwell in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim. Yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became subject to forced labor.
36 The border of the Amorites was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.