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Joshua Takes the Whole Land

11 Now it happened, when Jabin king of (A)Hazor heard of it, that he sent to Jobab king of Madon and to the king of Shimron and 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 [b]Shephelah and on the [c]heights of Dor on the west— to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, and the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Jebusite in the hill country, and (C)the Hivite [d]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 agreed to meet, and they came and encamped together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel.

Then Yahweh said to Joshua, “(G)Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow at this time I will give all of them over, slain, before Israel; 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 by the waters of Merom, and they fell upon them. And Yahweh gave them into the hand of Israel, so that they struck them down, and they 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 [e]there was no survivor remaining for them. And Joshua did to them as Yahweh had said to 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 formerly was the head of all these kingdoms. 11 (M)And they struck every person who was in it with the edge of the sword, [f]devoting them to destruction; there was no one left who breathed. And he burned Hazor with fire. 12 And Joshua captured all the cities of these kings and all their kings, and he struck them with the edge of the sword, and he devoted them to destruction, just (N)as Moses the servant of Yahweh had commanded. 13 However, Israel did not burn any cities that stood on their mounds, except Hazor alone, which Joshua burned. 14 (O)Now all the spoil of these cities and the cattle, the sons of Israel took as their plunder; but they struck every man with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them. They left no one remaining who breathed. 15 Just as Yahweh had commanded Moses His servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did; he left nothing undone of all that Yahweh had commanded Moses.

16 Thus Joshua took all that land: (P)the hill country and all the [g]Negev, all that land of Goshen, the [h]Shephelah, (Q)the Arabah, the hill country of Israel and its [i]Shephelah 17 from (R)Mount Halak, that rises toward Seir, even as far as Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon [j]at the foot of Mount Hermon. And he captured (S)all their kings and struck them down 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 Yahweh to strengthen their hearts, to meet Israel in battle in order that he might (V)devote them to destruction, that they might [k]receive no mercy, but that he might destroy them, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

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

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Footnotes

  1. Joshua 11:2 Sea of Galilee
  2. Joshua 11:2 Or lowland
  3. Joshua 11:2 Heb Naphoth-dor
  4. Joshua 11:3 Lit under
  5. Joshua 11:8 Lit he had no survivor
  6. Joshua 11:11 Or putting them under the ban, so in ch
  7. Joshua 11:16 South country
  8. Joshua 11:16 Or lowland
  9. Joshua 11:16 Or lowland
  10. Joshua 11:17 Lit under
  11. Joshua 11:20 Lit have

Northern Kings Defeated

11 When Jabin(A) king of Hazor(B) heard of this, he sent word to Jobab king of Madon, to the kings of Shimron(C) and Akshaph,(D) and to the northern kings who were in the mountains, in the Arabah(E) south of Kinnereth,(F) in the western foothills and in Naphoth Dor(G) on the west; to the Canaanites in the east and west; to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites(H) and Jebusites in the hill country;(I) and to the Hivites(J) below Hermon(K) in the region of Mizpah.(L) They came out with all their troops and a large number of horses and chariots—a huge army, as numerous as the sand on the seashore.(M) All these kings joined forces(N) and made camp together at the Waters of Merom(O) to fight against Israel.

The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, because by this time tomorrow I will hand(P) all of them, slain, over to Israel. You are to hamstring(Q) their horses and burn their chariots.”(R)

So Joshua and his whole army came against them suddenly at the Waters of Merom and attacked them, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Israel. They defeated them and pursued them all the way to Greater Sidon,(S) to Misrephoth Maim,(T) and to the Valley of Mizpah on the east, until no survivors were left. Joshua did to them as the Lord had directed: He hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots.

10 At that time Joshua turned back and captured Hazor and put its king to the sword.(U) (Hazor had been the head of all these kingdoms.) 11 Everyone in it they put to the sword. They totally destroyed[a] them,(V) not sparing anyone that breathed,(W) and he burned(X) Hazor itself.

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.(Y) 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.(Z) 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.(AA)

16 So Joshua took this entire land: the hill country,(AB) all the Negev,(AC) the whole region of Goshen, the western foothills,(AD) the Arabah and the mountains of Israel with their foothills, 17 from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir,(AE) to Baal Gad(AF) in the Valley of Lebanon(AG) below Mount Hermon.(AH) He captured all their kings and put them to death.(AI) 18 Joshua waged war against all these kings for a long time. 19 Except for the Hivites(AJ) living in Gibeon,(AK) not one city made a treaty of peace(AL) with the Israelites, who took them all in battle. 20 For it was the Lord himself who hardened their hearts(AM) to wage war against Israel, so that he might destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy, as the Lord had commanded Moses.(AN)

21 At that time Joshua went and destroyed the Anakites(AO) from the hill country: from Hebron, Debir(AP) and Anab,(AQ) from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua totally destroyed them and their towns. 22 No Anakites were left in Israelite territory; only in Gaza,(AR) Gath(AS) and Ashdod(AT) did any survive.

23 So Joshua took the entire land,(AU) just as the Lord had directed Moses, and he gave it as an inheritance(AV) to Israel according to their tribal divisions.(AW) Then the land had rest(AX) from war.(AY)

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Footnotes

  1. Joshua 11:11 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verses 12, 20 and 21.