²⁰ For it was the Lord himself who hardened their hearts^(A) to wage war against Israel, so that he might destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy, as the Lord had commanded Moses.^(B)

¹⁸ Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.^(A)

¹⁶ However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes.^{(A) 17} Completely destroy^[a] them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the Lord your God has commanded you.

²¹ The Lord said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders^(A) I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart^(B) so that he will not let the people go.^(C)

¹⁶ You must destroy all the peoples the Lord your God gives over to you.^(A) Do not look on them with pity^(B) and do not serve their gods,^(C) for that will be a snare^(D) to you.

²² What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience^(A) the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction?^{(B) 23} What if he did this to make the riches of his glory^(C) known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory^(D)—

⁴ (His parents did not know that this was from the Lord,^(A) who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines;^(B) for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)^(C)

¹² Joshua took all these royal cities and their kings and put them to the sword. He totally destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded.^{(A) 13} Yet Israel did not burn any of the cities built on their mounds—except Hazor, which Joshua burned. ¹⁴ The Israelites carried off for themselves all the plunder and livestock of these cities, but all the people they put to the sword until they completely destroyed them, not sparing anyone that breathed.^{(B) 15} As the Lord commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did it; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses.^(C)

³⁰ But Sihon king of Heshbon refused to let us pass through. For the Lord^(A) your God had made his spirit stubborn^(B) and his heart obstinate^(C) in order to give him into your hands,^(D) as he has now done.