Joshua Defeats Jabin and His Allies

11 When the news of Israel's victories reached King Jabin of Hazor, he sent word to King Jobab of Madon, to the kings of Shimron and Achshaph, ² and to the kings in the hill country in the north, in the Jordan Valley south of Lake Galilee, in the foothills, and on the coast near Dor. ³ He also sent word to the Canaanites on both sides of the Jordan, to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites in the hill country, as well as to the Hivites who lived at the foot of Mount Hermon in the land of Mizpah. ⁴ They came with all their soldiers—an army with as many men as there are grains of sand on the seashore. They also had many horses and chariots. ⁵ All of these kings joined forces and came together and set up camp at Merom Brook to fight against Israel.

⁶ The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them. By this time tomorrow I will have killed all of them for Israel. You are to cripple their horses and burn their chariots.” ⁷ So Joshua and all his men attacked them by surprise at Merom Brook. ⁸ The Lord gave the Israelites victory over them; the Israelites attacked and pursued them as far north as Misrephoth Maim and Sidon, and as far east as the valley of Mizpah. The fight continued until none of the enemy was left alive. ⁹ Joshua did to them what the Lord had commanded: he crippled their horses and burned their chariots.

¹⁰ Joshua then turned back, captured Hazor and killed its king. (At that time Hazor was the most powerful of all those kingdoms.) ¹¹ They put everyone there to death; no one was left alive, and the city was burned.

¹² Joshua captured all these cities and their kings, putting everyone to death, just as Moses, the Lord's servant, had commanded. ¹³ However, the Israelites did not burn any of the cities built on mounds, except Hazor, which Joshua did burn. ¹⁴ The people of Israel took all the valuables and livestock from these cities and kept them for themselves. But they put every person to death; no one was left alive. ¹⁵ The Lord had given his commands to his servant Moses, Moses had given them to Joshua, and Joshua obeyed them. He did everything that the Lord had commanded Moses.

The Territory Taken by Joshua

¹⁶ Joshua captured all the land—the hill country and foothills, both north and south, all the area of Goshen and the dry country south of it, as well as the Jordan Valley. ^17-18 The territory extended from Mount Halak in the south near Edom, as far as Baalgad in the north, in the valley of Lebanon south of Mount Hermon. Joshua was at war with the kings of this territory for a long time, but he captured them all and put them to death. ¹⁹ The only city that made peace with the people of Israel was Gibeon, where some of the Hivites lived. All the others were conquered in battle. ^20 (A)The Lord had made them determined to fight the Israelites, so that they would be condemned to total destruction and all be killed without mercy. This was what the Lord had commanded Moses.

²¹ At this time Joshua went and destroyed the race of giants called the Anakim who lived in the hill country—in Hebron, Debir, Anab, and in all the hill country of Judah and Israel. Joshua completely destroyed them and their cities. ²² None of the Anakim were left in the land of Israel; a few, however, were left in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.

²³ Joshua captured the whole land, as the Lord had commanded Moses. Joshua gave it to the Israelites as their own and divided it into portions, one for each tribe.

So the people rested from war.

The Kings Defeated by Moses

12 ^(B)The people of Israel had already conquered and occupied the land east of the Jordan, from the Arnon Valley up the Jordan Valley and as far north as Mount Hermon. They defeated two kings. ² One was Sihon, the Amorite king who ruled at Heshbon. His kingdom included half of Gilead: from Aroer (on the edge of the Arnon Valley) and from the city in^[a] the middle of that valley, as far as the Jabbok River, the border of Ammon; ³ it included the Jordan Valley from Lake Galilee south to Beth Jeshimoth (east of the Dead Sea) and on toward the foot of Mount Pisgah.

⁴ They also defeated King Og of Bashan, who was one of the last of the Rephaim; he ruled at Ashtaroth and Edrei. ⁵ His kingdom included Mount Hermon, Salecah, and all of Bashan as far as the boundaries of Geshur and Maacah, as well as half of Gilead, as far as the territory of King Sihon of Heshbon.

^6 (C)These two kings were defeated by Moses and the people of Israel. Moses, the Lord's servant, gave their land to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and to half the tribe of Manasseh, to be their possession.

The Kings Defeated by Joshua

⁷ Joshua and the people of Israel defeated all the kings in the territory west of the Jordan, from Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak in the south near Edom. Joshua divided this land among the tribes and gave it to them as a permanent possession. ⁸ This portion included the hill country, the western foothills, the Jordan Valley and its foothills, the eastern slopes, and the dry country in the south. This land had been the home of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ⁹ The people of Israel defeated the kings of the following cities: Jericho, Ai (near Bethel), ¹⁰ Jerusalem, Hebron, ¹¹ Jarmuth, Lachish, ¹² Eglon, Gezer, ¹³ Debir, Geder, ¹⁴ Hormah, Arad, ¹⁵ Libnah, Adullam, ¹⁶ Makkedah, Bethel, ¹⁷ Tappuah, Hepher, ¹⁸ Aphek, Lasharon, ¹⁹ Madon, Hazor, ²⁰ Shimron Meron, Achshaph, ²¹ Taanach, Megiddo, ²² Kedesh, Jokneam (in Carmel), ²³ Dor (on the coast), Goiim (in Galilee^[b]), ²⁴ and Tirzah—thirty-one kings in all.