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Israel Defeats the Northern Armies

11 When King Jabin of Hazor heard what had happened, he sent messages to the following kings: King Jobab of Madon; the king of Shimron; the king of Acshaph; all the kings of the northern hill country; the kings in the Jordan Valley south of Galilee[a]; the kings in the Galilean foothills[b]; the kings of Naphoth-dor on the west; the kings of Canaan, both east and west; the kings of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites in the hill country, and the Hivites in the towns on the slopes of Mount Hermon in the land of Mizpah.

All these kings came out to fight. Their combined armies formed a vast horde. And with all their horses and chariots, they covered the landscape like the sand on the seashore. The kings joined forces and established their camp around the water near Merom to fight against Israel.

Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them. By this time tomorrow I will hand all of them over to Israel as dead men. Then you must cripple their horses and burn their chariots.”

So Joshua and all his fighting men traveled to the water near Merom and attacked suddenly. And the Lord gave them victory over their enemies. The Israelites chased them as far as Greater Sidon and Misrephoth-maim, and eastward into the valley of Mizpah, until not one enemy warrior was left alive. Then Joshua crippled the horses and burned all the chariots, as the Lord had instructed.

10 Joshua then turned back and captured Hazor and killed its king. (Hazor had at one time been the capital of all these kingdoms.) 11 The Israelites completely destroyed[c] every living thing in the city, leaving no survivors. Not a single person was spared. And then Joshua burned the city.

12 Joshua slaughtered all the other kings and their people, completely destroying them, just as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded. 13 But the Israelites did not burn any of the towns built on mounds except Hazor, which Joshua burned. 14 And the Israelites took all the plunder and livestock of the ravaged towns for themselves. But they killed all the people, leaving no survivors. 15 As the Lord had commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua. And Joshua did as he was told, carefully obeying all the commands that the Lord had given to Moses.

16 So Joshua conquered the entire region—the hill country, the entire Negev, the whole area around the town of Goshen, the western foothills, the Jordan Valley,[d] the mountains of Israel, and the Galilean foothills. 17 The Israelite territory now extended all the way from Mount Halak, which leads up to Seir in the south, as far north as Baal-gad at the foot of Mount Hermon in the valley of Lebanon. Joshua killed all the kings of those territories, 18 waging war for a long time to accomplish this. 19 No one in this region made peace with the Israelites except the Hivites of Gibeon. All the others were defeated. 20 For the Lord hardened their hearts and caused them to fight the Israelites. So they were completely destroyed without mercy, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

21 During this period Joshua destroyed all the descendants of Anak, who lived in the hill country of Hebron, Debir, Anab, and the entire hill country of Judah and Israel. He killed them all and completely destroyed their towns. 22 None of the descendants of Anak were left in all the land of Israel, though some still remained in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.

23 So Joshua took control of the entire land, just as the Lord had instructed Moses. He gave it to the people of Israel as their special possession, dividing the land among the tribes. So the land finally had rest from war.

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Footnotes

  1. 11:2a Hebrew in the Arabah south of Kinnereth.
  2. 11:2b Hebrew the Shephelah; also in 11:16.
  3. 11:11 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering; also in 11:12, 20, 21.
  4. 11:16 Hebrew the Shephelah, the Arabah.

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