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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

Victories in the north

11 King Jabin of Hazor heard about this. So he sent word to Madon’s King Jobab, to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph. He sent word to the kings from the north part of the highlands, in the desert plain south of Chinneroth, in the lowlands, and in Naphoth-dor on the west. He sent word to the Canaanites from east and west, to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Jebusites in the highlands, and to the Hivites at the foot of Hermon in the land of Mizpah. They went out with all their battalions as a great army. They were as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore. There were very many horses and chariots. All these kings came together. They came and camped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.

The Lord said to Joshua, “Don’t be afraid of them. By this time tomorrow, I will make them all dead bodies in Israel’s presence. Cripple their horses! Burn their chariots!”

Then Joshua along with the entire army launched a surprise attack against them at the waters of Merom. The Lord gave them into Israel’s power. They struck them down. They chased them as far as Great Sidon and Misrephoth-maim, then to the east as far as the Mizpeh Valley. They struck them down until no survivors were left. Joshua dealt with them exactly as the Lord had told him. He crippled their horses and burned their chariots.

10 Joshua turned back at that time. He captured Hazor and struck down its king with the sword. Hazor had been the head of all those kingdoms in the past. 11 They struck down everyone there without mercy, wiping them out as something reserved for God. Nothing that breathed was left. Hazor itself he burned. 12 Joshua captured all these kings and their cities. He struck them down without mercy. He wiped them out as something reserved for God. This was exactly as Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded. 13 But Israel didn’t burn any of the cities that still are standing on their mounds. Joshua burned only Hazor. 14 The Israelites took all the valuable things from those cities and the cattle as plunder for themselves. But they struck down every person without mercy until they had wiped them out. They didn’t let anything that breathed survive. 15 What the Lord had commanded Moses his servant, Moses had commanded Joshua, and Joshua did exactly that. He didn’t deviate a bit from any command that the Lord had given Moses.

Summary of Israel’s victories

16 So Joshua took this whole land: the highlands, the whole arid southern plain, the whole land of Goshen, the lowlands, the desert plain, and both the highlands and the lowlands of Israel. 17 He took land stretching from Mount Halak, which goes up toward Seir, as far as Baal-gad at the foot of Mount Hermon in the Lebanon Valley. He captured all their kings. He struck them down and killed them. 18 Joshua waged war against all these kings for a long time. 19 There wasn’t one city that made peace with the Israelites, except the Hivites who lived in Gibeon. They captured every single one in battle. 20 Their stubborn resistance came from the Lord and led them to wage war against Israel. Israel was then able to wipe them out as something reserved for God, without showing them any mercy. This was exactly what the Lord had commanded Moses.

21 At that time, Joshua went and wiped out the Anakim from the highlands. He wiped them out from Hebron, from Debir, and from Anab, from the whole highlands of Judah, and the whole highlands of Israel. Joshua wiped them out along with their cities as something reserved for God. 22 The Anakim no longer remained in the land of the Israelites. They survived only in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. 23 So Joshua took the whole land, exactly as the Lord had promised Moses. Joshua gave it as a legacy to Israel according to their tribal shares. Then the land had a rest from war.

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