Joshua 11:5-15
New King James Version
5 And when all these kings had [a]met together, they came and camped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.
6 But the Lord said to Joshua, (A)“Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow about this time I will deliver all of them slain before Israel. You shall (B)hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.” 7 So Joshua and all the people of war with him came against them suddenly by the waters of Merom, and they attacked them. 8 And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel, who defeated them and chased them to [b]Greater (C)Sidon, to the [c]Brook (D)Misrephoth, and to the Valley of Mizpah eastward; they attacked them until they left none of them remaining. 9 So Joshua did to them as the Lord had told him: he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.
10 Joshua turned back at that time and took Hazor, and struck its king with the sword; for Hazor was formerly the head of all those kingdoms. 11 And they struck all the people who were in it with the edge of the sword, (E)utterly destroying them. There was none left (F)breathing. Then he burned Hazor with fire.
12 So all the cities of those kings, and all their kings, Joshua took and struck with the edge of the sword. He utterly destroyed them, (G)as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. 13 But as for the cities that stood on their [d]mounds, Israel burned none of them, except Hazor only, which Joshua burned. 14 And all the (H)spoil of these cities and the livestock, the children of Israel took as booty for themselves; but they struck every man with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them, and they left none breathing. 15 (I)As the Lord had commanded Moses His servant, so (J)Moses commanded Joshua, and (K)so Joshua did. [e]He left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Joshua 11:5 Lit. assembled by appointment
- Joshua 11:8 Heb. Sidon Rabbah
- Joshua 11:8 Heb. Misrephoth Maim, lit. Burnings of Water
- Joshua 11:13 Heb. tel, a heap of successive city ruins
- Joshua 11:15 Lit. He turned aside from nothing
Joshua 11:5-15
Expanded Bible
5 All of these kings met together at the waters of Merom [C probably modern Meirun, eight miles northwest of the Sea of Galilee], joined their armies together into one camp, and made plans to fight against the Israelites.
6 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Don’t be afraid of them, because at this time tomorrow I will give them to you. You will ·cripple [hamstring] their horses and burn all their chariots.”
7 So Joshua and his whole army surprised the enemy [10:9] by attacking them at the waters of Merom. 8 The Lord ·handed them over to [L gave them into the hand of] Israel. They chased them to Greater Sidon, Misrephoth Maim, and the Valley of Mizpah in the east [C locations north and west of the battle]. Israel fought until none of the enemy was left alive. 9 Joshua did what the Lord said to do; he ·crippled [hamstrung] their horses and burned their chariots [C Israel did not take the horses and chariots to use themselves, in order to show their trust in God; Ps. 20:7].
10 Then Joshua went back and captured the city of Hazor and ·killed [L struck with the sword] its king. (Hazor had been the leader of all the kingdoms that fought against Israel.) 11 Israel ·killed [L struck with the sword] everyone in Hazor, ·completely destroying them [devoting them to destruction; 2:10; 6:21]; no one was left ·alive [L that breathed]. Then they burned Hazor itself.
12 Joshua captured all of these cities, ·killed [L struck with the edge of the sword] all of their kings, and ·completely destroyed [devoted to destruction; v. 11] everything in these cities. He did this just as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded. 13 But the Israelites did not burn any cities that were built on their mounds [C so Israel could immediately occupy these strategically important cities; Deut. 6:10–11], except Hazor; only that city was burned by Joshua. 14 The ·people [L sons; children] of Israel kept for themselves ·everything [the plunder/spoil] they found in the cities, including all the animals. But they ·killed [L struck with the edge of the sword] all the people there; they left no one ·alive [L that breathed]. 15 Long ago the Lord had commanded his servant Moses to do this, and then Moses had commanded Joshua to do it [Deut. 7:1–6; 20:16–18]. Joshua ·did everything [L left nothing undone that] the Lord had commanded Moses.
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