Joshua 11
Lexham English Bible
Joshua’s Conquest of the North
11 And it happened, when Jabin king of Hazor heard this, he sent to Jobab king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, to the king of Acshaph, 2 and to the kings who were in the north in the hill country, in the Arabah[a] south of Kinnereth,[b] in the Shephelah,[c] and in Naphoth Dor[d] in the west, 3 to the Canaanites[e] in the east and west, the Amorites,[f] the Hittites,[g] the Perizzites,[h] and the Jebusites[i] in the hill country, and the Hivites[j] at the foot of[k] Hermon in the land of Mizpah. 4 They came out, they and all their armies with them, as a great army like the sand on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots. 5 And all these kings joined forces, and they came and camped together by the waters of Merom to fight with Israel.
6 And Yahweh said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid because of their presence, for tomorrow at this time I will hand them over slain to Israel; you will hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.” 7 So Joshua, and all the fighting men[l] with him, came against them suddenly at the waters of Merom, and they attacked them.[m] 8 And Yahweh gave them into the hand of Israel, and they struck them and pursued them up to Great Sidon and Misrephoth Maim, and eastward up to the valley of Mizpeh. And they struck them until they left behind no survivor. 9 And Joshua did to them as Yahweh commanded him; he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.
10 Then Joshua turned back at that time, and he captured Hazor and struck its king with the sword, because Hazor formerly was the head of all these kingdoms. 11 He struck all the people that were in it with the edge of the sword,[n] utterly destroying them. There was no one left who breathed,[o] and he burned Hazor with fire. 12 And Joshua captured all the cities of these kings, and all their kings, and he utterly destroyed them with the edge of the sword,[p] as Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded. 13 Israel did not burn the cities standing on their mounds,[q] except Hazor alone, which Joshua burned. 14 And all the spoil and livestock of these cities the Israelites took as booty; they struck the people with the edge of the sword,[r] until they had destroyed them—they left behind no one who breathed. 15 Just as Yahweh commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did; he left nothing undone that Yahweh had commanded Moses.
A Review of Joshua’s Conquests
16 So Joshua took all this land: the hill country, all the Negev,[s] all the land of Goshen,[t] the Shephelah,[u] the Arabah,[v] and the hill country of Israel and its Shephelah,[w] 17 from Mount Halak that rises to Seir and to Baal Gad in the valley of Lebanon[x] at the foot of[y] Mount Hermon; he captured all their kings, struck them, and killed them. 18 For many days Joshua made war with all these kings. 19 There was not a city that made peace with the Israelites[z] besides the Hivites[aa] and the inhabitants of Gibeon—all were taken in battle.[ab] 20 For it was Yahweh that hardened their hearts,[ac] to meet Israel in war in order to utterly destroy them without mercy, that they would destroy them just as Yahweh commanded Moses.
21 At that time Joshua came and exterminated the Anakites from the hill country, from Hebron, Debir, Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel; Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities. 22 None of the Anakites were left in the land of the Israelites;[ad] some remained only in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. 23 Joshua took all the land according to all that Yahweh had spoken to Moses; and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel, according to their tribal divisions, and the land rested from war.
Footnotes
- Joshua 11:2 A dry region that runs south of the Sea of Galilee along the Jordan valley
- Joshua 11:2 That is, the Sea of Galilee
- Joshua 11:2 Or “lowlands”; a geographical region on the western edge of the hills of Judea
- Joshua 11:2 Or “the heights of Dor”
- Joshua 11:3 Hebrew “Canaanite”
- Joshua 11:3 Hebrew “Amorite”
- Joshua 11:3 Hebrew “Hittite”
- Joshua 11:3 Hebrew “Perizzite”
- Joshua 11:3 Hebrew “Jebusite”
- Joshua 11:3 Hebrew “Hivite”
- Joshua 11:3 Literally “under”
- Joshua 11:7 Literally “all the people of war”
- Joshua 11:7 Literally “they fell upon them”
- Joshua 11:11 Literally “the mouth of the sword”
- Joshua 11:11 Literally “No one was left over of any breath”
- Joshua 11:12 Literally “the mouth of the sword”
- Joshua 11:13 Hebrew “mound”
- Joshua 11:14 Literally “the mouth of the sword”
- Joshua 11:16 An arid region south of the Judaean hills
- Joshua 11:16 A southern region; the name means “on the mountains”
- Joshua 11:16 Or “lowlands”; a geographical region on the western edge of the hills of Judea
- Joshua 11:16 A dry region that runs south of the Sea of Galilee along the Jordan valley
- Joshua 11:16 Or “lowlands”; a geographical region on the western edge of the hills of Judea
- Joshua 11:17 Or “white mountain”
- Joshua 11:17 Literally “under”
- Joshua 11:19 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Joshua 11:19 Hebrew “Hivite”
- Joshua 11:19 Literally “the all they took in the battle”
- Joshua 11:20 Literally “made their hearts strong”
- Joshua 11:22 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
Joshua 11
International Children’s Bible
Defeating Northern Kings
11 Jabin king of Hazor heard about all that had happened. He sent messages to Jobab king of Madon, to the king of Shimron and to the king of Acshaph. 2 He sent one to the kings in the northern mountains. Jabin also sent a message to the kings in the Jordan Valley south of Lake Galilee and in the western mountain slopes. He sent a message to the king of Naphoth Dor in the west. 3 Jabin also sent one to the kings of the Canaanites in the east and in the west. He sent messages to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites and Jebusites in the mountains. Jabin also sent one to the Hivites. They lived below Mount Hermon in the area of Mizpah. 4 So the armies of all these kings came together. There were many fighting men, horses and chariots. It was a huge army. It looked like there were as many men as grains of sand on the seashore.
5 All of these kings met together at the Waters of Merom. They joined their armies together into one camp. They made plans to fight against the Israelites.
6 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Don’t be afraid of them. At this time tomorrow I will allow you to defeat them. You will kill all of them. You will cripple their horses and burn all their chariots.”
7 So Joshua and his whole army surprised the enemy. They attacked them at the Waters of Merom. 8 The Lord allowed Israel to defeat them. They chased them to Greater Sidon, Misrephoth Maim and the Valley of Mizpah in the east. Israel fought until none of the enemy was left alive. 9 Joshua did what the Lord said to do. He cut the legs of their horses and burned their chariots.
10 Then Joshua went back and captured the city of Hazor. He killed the king of Hazor. (Hazor had been the leader of all the kingdoms that fought against Israel.) 11 Israel killed everyone in Hazor. They completely destroyed them. There was nothing left alive. Then they burned Hazor itself.
12 Joshua captured all of these cities. He killed all of their kings. He completely destroyed everything in these cities. He did this the way Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded. 13 But the Israelites did not burn any cities that were built on their hills, except Hazor. That city alone was burned by Joshua. 14 The people of Israel kept for themselves everything they found in the cities. They kept all the animals they found. But they killed all the people there. They did not leave anyone alive. 15 Long ago the Lord had commanded his servant Moses to do this. Then Moses had commanded Joshua to do it. So Joshua obeyed God. He did everything the Lord had commanded Moses.
16 So Joshua defeated all the people in the land. He had control of the mountains and the area of southern Canaan. He controlled all the areas of Goshen, the western mountain slopes and the Jordan Valley. He controlled the mountains of Israel and all the hills near them. 17 Joshua controlled all the land from Mount Halak near Edom to Baal Gad. Baal Gad was in the Valley of Lebanon, below Mount Hermon. Joshua captured all the kings in the land and killed them. 18 He fought against them for many years. 19 The people of only one city in all the land had made a peace agreement with Israel. They were the Hivites living in Gibeon. All the other cities were defeated in war. 20 The Lord made those people stubborn so they would fight against Israel. This way he could completely destroy them without mercy. This is what the Lord had commanded Moses to do.
21 Now Joshua fought the Anakites who lived in the mountains of Hebron, Debir, Anab, Judah and Israel. And he completely destroyed them and their towns. 22 There were no Anakites left living in the land of the Israelites. Only a few Anakites were left in Gaza, Gath and Ashdod. 23 Joshua took control of all the land of Israel. This was what the Lord had told Moses to do long ago. He gave the land to Israel because he had promised it to them. Then Joshua divided the land among the tribes of Israel. The fighting had finally ended. And there was peace in the land.
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