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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.

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

The Northern Conquest

11 And it came to pass, when Jabin king of Hazor heard these things, that he (A)sent to Jobab king of Madon, to the king (B)of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph, and to the kings who were from the north, in the mountains, in the plain south of (C)Chinneroth, in the lowland, and in the heights (D)of Dor on the west, to the Canaanites in the east and in the west, the (E)Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite in the mountains, (F)and the Hivite below (G)Hermon (H)in the land of Mizpah. So they went out, they and all their armies with them, as many people (I)as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude, with very many horses and chariots. And when all these kings had [a]met together, they came and camped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.

But the Lord said to Joshua, (J)“Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow about this time I will deliver all of them slain before Israel. You shall (K)hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.” So Joshua and all the people of war with him came against them suddenly by the waters of Merom, and they attacked them. And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel, who defeated them and chased them to [b]Greater (L)Sidon, to the [c]Brook (M)Misrephoth, and to the Valley of Mizpah eastward; they attacked them until they left none of them remaining. 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, (N)utterly destroying them. There was none left (O)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, (P)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 (Q)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 (R)As the Lord had commanded Moses His servant, so (S)Moses commanded Joshua, and (T)so Joshua did. [e]He left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.

Summary of Joshua’s Conquests

16 Thus Joshua took all this land: (U)the mountain country, all the South, (V)all the land of Goshen, the lowland, and the Jordan [f]plain—the mountains of Israel and its lowlands, 17 (W)from [g]Mount Halak and the ascent to Seir, even as far as Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. He captured (X)all their kings, and struck them down and killed them. 18 Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. 19 There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, except (Y)the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. All the others they took in battle. 20 For (Z)it was of the Lord [h]to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that He might utterly destroy them, and that they might receive no mercy, but that He might destroy them, (AA)as the Lord had commanded Moses.

21 And at that time Joshua came and cut off (AB)the Anakim from the mountains: from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel; Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities. 22 None of the Anakim were left in the land of the children of Israel; they remained only (AC)in Gaza, in Gath, (AD)and in Ashdod.

23 So Joshua took the whole land, (AE)according to all that the Lord had said to Moses; and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel (AF)according to their divisions by their tribes. Then the land (AG)rested from war.

Footnotes

  1. Joshua 11:5 Lit. assembled by appointment
  2. Joshua 11:8 Heb. Sidon Rabbah
  3. Joshua 11:8 Heb. Misrephoth Maim, lit. Burnings of Water
  4. Joshua 11:13 Heb. tel, a heap of successive city ruins
  5. Joshua 11:15 Lit. He turned aside from nothing
  6. Joshua 11:16 Heb. arabah
  7. Joshua 11:17 Lit. The Smooth or Bald Mountain
  8. Joshua 11:20 Lit. to make strong

11 1-3 When Jabin king of Hazor heard of all this, he sent word to Jobab king of Madon; to the king of Shimron; to the king of Acshaph; to all the kings in the northern mountains; to the kings in the valley south of Kinnereth; to the kings in the western foothills and Naphoth Dor; to the Canaanites both east and west; to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Jebusites in the hill country; and to the Hivites below Hermon in the region of Mizpah.

4-5 They came out in full force, all their troops massed together—a huge army, in number like sand on an ocean beach—to say nothing of all the horses and chariots. All these kings met and set up camp together at the Waters of Merom, ready to fight against Israel.

God said to Joshua: “Don’t worry about them. This time tomorrow I’ll hand them over to Israel, all dead. You’ll hamstring their horses. You’ll set fire to their chariots.”

7-9 Joshua, his entire army with him, took them by surprise, falling on them at the Waters of Merom. God gave them to Israel, who struck and chased them all the way to Greater Sidon, to Misrephoth Maim, and then to the Valley of Mizpah on the east. No survivors. Joshua treated them following God’s instructions: he hamstrung their horses; he burned up their chariots.

10-11 Then Joshua came back and took Hazor, killing its king. Early on Hazor had been head of all these kingdoms. They killed every person there, carrying out the holy curse—not a breath of life left anywhere. Then he burned down Hazor.

12-14 Joshua captured and massacred all the royal towns with their kings, the holy curse commanded by Moses the servant of God. But Israel didn’t burn the cities that were built on mounds, except for Hazor—Joshua did burn down Hazor. The People of Israel plundered all the loot, including the cattle, from these towns for themselves. But they killed the people—total destruction. They left nothing human that breathed.

15 Just as God commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did it. He didn’t leave incomplete one thing that God had commanded Moses.

* * *

16-20 Joshua took the whole country: the mountains, the southern desert, all of Goshen, the foothills, the valley (the Arabah), and the Israel mountains with their foothills, from Mount Halak, which towers over the region of Seir, all the way to Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon in the shadows of Mount Hermon. He captured their kings and then killed them. Joshua fought against these kings for a long time. Not one town made peace with the People of Israel, with the one exception of the Hivites who lived in Gibeon. Israel fought and took all the rest. It was God’s idea that they all would stubbornly fight the Israelites so he could put them under the holy curse without mercy. That way he could destroy them just as God had commanded Moses.

* * *

21-22 Joshua came out at that time also to root out the Anakim from the hills, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, from the mountains of Judah, from the mountains of Israel. Joshua carried out the holy curse on them and their cities. No Anakim were left in the land of the People of Israel, except in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod—there were a few left there.

23 Joshua took the whole region. He did everything that God had told Moses. Then he parceled it out as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribes.

And Israel had rest from war.