Listen, Jack! Folks, this is the story of Judges 1 in the Bible. Here's the deal: After Joshua died, the people of Israel asked the Lord who should go up first to fight against the people of Canaan. The Lord said, "Judah shall go up!" So, Judah and his brothers went up and fought against the Canaanites and captured the city of Jerusalem. They also captured the towns of Hebron, Jarmuth, Ephron, and Gezer.

But then, the people of Benjamin didn't help the people of Judah fight against the Canaanites. C'mon, man! So, the Lord was not happy with them. Literally!

So, the people of Judah decided they would take the hill country of Ephraim. They were successful in taking the cities of Bethel and Jericho, but they couldn't take Ai. My father used to say, "When God gives you a challenge, you just have to accept it with open arms." And that's what these folks did. They asked for help from the tribe of Joseph, but the tribe of Joseph refused. So, the people of Judah went and asked for help from the people of Benjamin. And do you know what? They finally got some help from the people of Benjamin and the people of Joseph and they took the city of Ai.

But then, the people of Judah couldn't take the cities of Debir and Libnah. So, they asked for help from the tribe of Manasseh, but the tribe of Manasseh refused. But then, the people of Judah thought, "Hey, why don't we just go and ask the tribe of Simeon for help?" So, they did, and the tribe of Simeon went and helped them take the cities of Debir and Libnah.

So, the people of Judah kept fighting and they kept taking more and more cities. See here, Jack, they were unstoppable! Eventually, they captured the whole hill country of Canaan.

But then, the Lord said, "You haven't fulfilled your mission yet. You still have to go and remove the Amorites from the hill country and the plains." So, the people of Judah and Benjamin did just that. They went and fought against the Amorites and they drove them out of the land.

So, folks, that's the story of Judges 1. I tell you what: it's a story of faith and determination. No malarkey! They kept fighting and they kept winning, even when they were facing impossible odds. Excuse me, they were true warriors. Or uh, you know, they were true heroes. Not gonna happen that they don't get the recognition they deserve.