Joshua 11
EasyEnglish Bible
Joshua fights against kings in the north
11 Jabin, king of Hazor, heard what had happened. So he sent a message to Jobab, king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron and the king of Acshaph. 2 He also sent a message to the kings of the hill country in the north, in the Jordan Valley, south of Galilee.[a] He also sent a message to people in the low hills and Naphoth Dor in the west. 3 So Canaanite people came from the east and from the west. They were Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites and Jebusites who lived in the hills. They were also Hivites who lived near Hermon mountain, in the region of Mizpah. 4 All these kings came with their big armies. They had many horses and chariots. The soldiers were too many to count. 5 These kings all joined together to fight against the Israelites. They put up their tents near the water at Merom.
6 The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Do not be afraid of them. This time tomorrow they will all be dead! I will give all of them to you Israelites. You must cut the legs of their horses so that they cannot run well. You must also burn their chariots.’
7 So Joshua and his whole army went to attack them at the Waters of Merom. They quickly attacked them by surprise. 8 The Lord caused the Israelites to win against them. The Israelite soldiers chased them as far as Sidon, Misrephoth Maim and the valley of Mizpah in the east. They killed their enemies as they chased them, until they were all dead. 9 Joshua did what the Lord had commanded him to do. He cut their horses' legs and he burned their chariots.
10 At that time, Hazor was the most important city among all those kingdoms that fought against the Israelites. So Joshua turned back and attacked Hazor. He killed its king. 11 The Israelites killed everyone who lived there. Nothing in the city was left alive. They burned the city and destroyed it.
12 Joshua took all these cities and he killed all their kings. He destroyed them all, as the Lord's servant Moses had told him to do. 13 But the Israelites did not burn the cities that were built on small hills. Hazor was the only city like that which Joshua did burn. 14 The Israelites took for themselves all the animals and the valuable things from those cities. But they killed all the people. They did not let any of them live. 15 Moses had told all the Lord's commands to Joshua. Joshua obeyed all the Lord's commands. He did everything that the Lord had told Moses.
The land that Joshua took for the Israelites
16 Joshua's army won against all the people who were living in the land. He took the hill country, the Negev in the south, and the land of Goshen. He took the low hills in the west and the Jordan Valley. He took the mountains and the hills of Israel. 17 The land went from Halak mountain near Edom country, to Baal Gad in the Lebanon valley, below Hermon mountain. He caught all the kings of those regions and he killed them all. 18 Joshua was fighting against those kings for a long time. 19 None of those kingdoms agreed not to fight against the Israelites, except the Hivites who lived in Gibeon. The Israelites fought battles against all the other kingdoms and they won. 20 The Lord had caused the minds of those people to become hard. So they all decided to fight against the Israelites. The Lord wanted the Israelites to destroy those people completely, as he had commanded Moses.
21 During that time, Joshua went to fight against the Anakites, who lived in the hill country. They lived in Hebron, Debir and Anab, and among the hills of Judah and Israel. Joshua destroyed them all, and all their towns. 22 So no Anakites remained in Israel, except for a few who lived in Gaza, Gath and Ashdod.
23 In that way, Joshua took the whole land. The Lord had promised Moses that he would give the land to his people. Joshua gave a part of the land to each tribe, for them to live in.
After all that, the people did not have to fight any more.
Footnotes
- 11:2 Kinnereth was an old name for Galilee.
Yehoshua 11
Orthodox Jewish Bible
11 And it came to pass, when Yavin Melech Chatzor had heard those things, that he sent to Yovav Melech Madon, to the Melech Shimron, and to the Melech Achshaph,
2 And to the melachim to the north, in the har, and the Aravah south of Kinnarot, and in the Shefelah, and in the regions of Dor on the west,
3 And to the Kena’ani on the east and on the west, and to Emori, and the Chitti, and the Perizzi, and the Yevusi in the har, and to the Chivi at the base of Chermon in Eretz HaMitzpah.
4 And they went out, they and all their machanot with them, am rav, even as the sand that is upon the sea in multitude, with susim and chariots rav me’od.
5 And when all these melachim were met together, they came to encamp together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Yisroel.
6 And Hashem said unto Yehoshua, Be not afraid before them; for machar about this time will I deliver them up all slain before Yisroel; thou shalt lame their susim, and burn their merkevot with eish.
7 So Yehoshua, kol Am HaMilchamah with him, came against them by the waters of Merom pitom (suddenly); and they fell upon them.
8 And Hashem delivered them into the yad Yisroel, who struck them down, and pursued them unto Tzidon Rabbah, and unto Misrefot-Mayim, and unto the Valley of Mitzpeh eastward; and they struck them down, until they left them none sarid (remaining).
9 And Yehoshua did unto them just as Hashem directed him; he lamed their susim, and burned their merkevot with eish.
10 And Yehoshua at that time turned back, and took Chatzor, and struck down the melech thereof with the cherev; for Chatzor formerly had been the rosh kol hamamlachot haelleh.
11 And they struck down kol hanefesh that were therein with the edge of the cherev, utterly destroying them; there was not left kol neshamah; and with eish he burned Chatzor.
12 And all the towns of those melachim, and all the melachim of them, did Yehoshua take, and struck them down with the edge of the cherev, and he utterly destroyed them, just as Moshe Eved Hashem commanded.
13 But as for the towns that stood on their tel (mound, old site), Yisroel burned none of them, except Chatzor only; that did Yehoshua burn.
14 And all the plunder of these towns, and the behemah, the Bnei Yisroel carried off for themselves; but kol haAdam they struck down with the edge of the cherev, until they had destroyed them, neither left they kol neshamah.
15 Just as Hashem commanded Moshe His Eved, so did Moshe command Yehoshua, and so did Yehoshua; he left nothing undone of all that Hashem commanded Moshe.
16 So Yehoshua took kol HaAretz hazot, the har, and kol haNegev, and kol Eretz HaGoshen, and the Shefelah, and the Aravah, and the har Yisroel, and Shefelah;
17 Even from the Har HeChalak, that goeth up to Seir, even unto Baal-Gad in the valley of the Levanon under Mt Chermon; and all their melachim he took, and struck them down, and slaughtered them.
18 Yehoshua made milchamah yamim rabbim with all those melachim.
19 There was not an ir that made terms of shalom with the Bnei Yisroel, except Chivi the inhabitants of Giv’on; all others they took in milchamah.
20 For it was of Hashem to harden their hearts, that they should come against Yisroel in milchamah, that he might destroy them utterly, that there might be to them no techinnah (mercy plea), but that he might destroy them, just as Hashem commanded Moshe.
21 And at that time came Yehoshua, and cut off the Anakim from the har, from Chevron, from Devir, from Anav, from kol har Yehudah, from kol har Yisroel; Yehoshua destroyed them utterly with their towns.
22 There were none of the Anakim left in the Eretz Bnei Yisroel; only in Azah (Gaza), in Gat, and in Ashdod, there remained.
23 So Yehoshua took Kol HaAretz, according to all that Hashem said unto Moshe; and Yehoshua gave it for a nachalah unto Yisroel according to their divisions by their shevatim. And HaAretz rested from milchamah.
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