Northern Canaan Taken

11 Then it came about, when Jabin king of (A)Hazor heard about it, that he sent word to Jobab king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph, and to the kings who were of the north in the hill country, and in the (B)Arabah—south of [a]Chinneroth and in the lowland, and on the [b]heights of Dor on the west— to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, and the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the hill country, and (C)the Hivite [c]at the foot of (D)Hermon in the land of (E)Mizpeh. Then they came out, they and all their armies with them, (F)as many people as the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots. So all of these kings gathered together, and came and encamped together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel.

Yet the Lord said to Joshua, “(G)Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow at this time I am going to turn all of them over to Israel as good as dead; you shall (H)hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.” So Joshua and all the people of war with him came upon them suddenly at the waters of Merom, and attacked them. And the Lord handed them over to Israel, so that they [d]defeated them, and pursued them as far as Great Sidon, and (I)Misrephoth-maim, and the Valley of (J)Mizpeh to the east; and they struck them until no survivor was left to them. And Joshua did to them just as the Lord had told him; he (K)hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.

10 Then Joshua turned back at that time and captured (L)Hazor, and struck its king with the sword; for Hazor previously was the head of all these kingdoms. 11 (M)They struck every person who was in it with the edge of the sword, [e]utterly destroying them; there was no one left who breathed. And he burned Hazor with fire. 12 Joshua captured all the cities of these kings, and all their kings; and he struck them with the edge of the sword and utterly destroyed them, just (N)as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. 13 However, Israel did not burn any cities that stood on their mounds, except Hazor alone, which Joshua burned. 14 And (O)all the spoils of these cities and the cattle, the sons of Israel took as their plunder; but they struck every person with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them. They left no one breathing. 15 Just as the Lord had commanded His servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.

16 So Joshua took all that land: (P)the hill country and all the [f]Negev, all the land of Goshen, the lowland, (Q)the Arabah, the hill country of Israel and its lowland 17 from (R)Mount Halak, that rises toward Seir, even as far as Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon [g]at the foot of Mount Hermon. And he captured (S)all their kings, and struck them and put them to death. 18 Joshua waged war a long time with all these kings. 19 There was not a city which made peace with the sons of Israel except (T)the Hivites living in Gibeon; they took them all in battle. 20 (U)For it was of the Lord to [h]harden their hearts, to meet Israel in battle in order that he might (V)utterly destroy them, that they might [i]receive no mercy, but that he might destroy them, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

21 Then Joshua came at that time and eliminated (W)the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, Debir, Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah and all the hill country of Israel. Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities. 22 There were no Anakim left in the land of the sons of Israel; only in Gaza, (X)Gath, and (Y)Ashdod some remained. 23 So Joshua took the whole land, in accordance with everything that the Lord had spoken to Moses; and (Z)Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. (AA)So the land was at rest from war.

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Footnotes

  1. Joshua 11:2 I.e., Sea of Galilee
  2. Joshua 11:2 Or Naphoth-dor
  3. Joshua 11:3 Lit under
  4. Joshua 11:8 Lit struck
  5. Joshua 11:11 Lit putting them under the ban, and so throughout the ch
  6. Joshua 11:16 I.e., South country
  7. Joshua 11:17 Lit under
  8. Joshua 11:20 Lit make strong
  9. Joshua 11:20 Lit have

Israel Defeats the Northern Armies

11 When King Jabin of Hazor heard what had happened, he sent messages to the following kings: King Jobab of Madon; the king of Shimron; the king of Acshaph; all the kings of the northern hill country; the kings in the Jordan Valley south of Galilee[a]; the kings in the Galilean foothills[b]; the kings of Naphoth-dor on the west; the kings of Canaan, both east and west; the kings of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites in the hill country, and the Hivites in the towns on the slopes of Mount Hermon in the land of Mizpah.

All these kings came out to fight. Their combined armies formed a vast horde. And with all their horses and chariots, they covered the landscape like the sand on the seashore. The kings joined forces and established their camp around the water near Merom to fight against Israel.

Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them. By this time tomorrow I will hand all of them over to Israel as dead men. Then you must cripple their horses and burn their chariots.”

So Joshua and all his fighting men traveled to the water near Merom and attacked suddenly. And the Lord gave them victory over their enemies. The Israelites chased them as far as Greater Sidon and Misrephoth-maim, and eastward into the valley of Mizpah, until not one enemy warrior was left alive. Then Joshua crippled the horses and burned all the chariots, as the Lord had instructed.

10 Joshua then turned back and captured Hazor and killed its king. (Hazor had at one time been the capital of all these kingdoms.) 11 The Israelites completely destroyed[c] every living thing in the city, leaving no survivors. Not a single person was spared. And then Joshua burned the city.

12 Joshua slaughtered all the other kings and their people, completely destroying them, just as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded. 13 But the Israelites did not burn any of the towns built on mounds except Hazor, which Joshua burned. 14 And the Israelites took all the plunder and livestock of the ravaged towns for themselves. But they killed all the people, leaving no survivors. 15 As the Lord had commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua. And Joshua did as he was told, carefully obeying all the commands that the Lord had given to Moses.

16 So Joshua conquered the entire region—the hill country, the entire Negev, the whole area around the town of Goshen, the western foothills, the Jordan Valley,[d] the mountains of Israel, and the Galilean foothills. 17 The Israelite territory now extended all the way from Mount Halak, which leads up to Seir in the south, as far north as Baal-gad at the foot of Mount Hermon in the valley of Lebanon. Joshua killed all the kings of those territories, 18 waging war for a long time to accomplish this. 19 No one in this region made peace with the Israelites except the Hivites of Gibeon. All the others were defeated. 20 For the Lord hardened their hearts and caused them to fight the Israelites. So they were completely destroyed without mercy, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

21 During this period Joshua destroyed all the descendants of Anak, who lived in the hill country of Hebron, Debir, Anab, and the entire hill country of Judah and Israel. He killed them all and completely destroyed their towns. 22 None of the descendants of Anak were left in all the land of Israel, though some still remained in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.

23 So Joshua took control of the entire land, just as the Lord had instructed Moses. He gave it to the people of Israel as their special possession, dividing the land among the tribes. So the land finally had rest from war.

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Footnotes

  1. 11:2a Hebrew in the Arabah south of Kinnereth.
  2. 11:2b Hebrew the Shephelah; also in 11:16.
  3. 11:11 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering; also in 11:12, 20, 21.
  4. 11:16 Hebrew the Shephelah, the Arabah.