Northern Canaan Taken

11 Then it came about, when Jabin king of (A)Hazor heard about it, that he sent word to Jobab king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, 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 lowland, and on the [b]heights of Dor on the west— to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, and the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the hill country, and (C)the Hivite [c]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 gathered together, and came and encamped together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel.

Yet the Lord said to Joshua, “(G)Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow at this time I am going to turn all of them over to Israel as good as dead; 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 at the waters of Merom, and attacked them. And the Lord handed them over to Israel, so that they [d]defeated them, and 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 no survivor was left to them. And Joshua did to them just as the Lord had told 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 previously was the head of all these kingdoms. 11 (M)They struck every person who was in it with the edge of the sword, [e]utterly destroying them; there was no one left who breathed. And he burned Hazor with fire. 12 Joshua captured all the cities of these kings, and all their kings; and he struck them with the edge of the sword and utterly destroyed them, just (N)as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. 13 However, Israel did not burn any cities that stood on their mounds, except Hazor alone, which Joshua burned. 14 And (O)all the spoils of these cities and the cattle, the sons of Israel took as their plunder; but they struck every person with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them. They left no one breathing. 15 Just as the Lord had commanded His servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.

16 So Joshua took all that land: (P)the hill country and all the [f]Negev, all the land of Goshen, the lowland, (Q)the Arabah, the hill country of Israel and its lowland 17 from (R)Mount Halak, that rises toward Seir, even as far as Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon [g]at the foot of Mount Hermon. And he captured (S)all their kings, and struck them 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 the Lord to [h]harden their hearts, to meet Israel in battle in order that he might (V)utterly destroy them, that they might [i]receive no mercy, but that he might destroy them, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

21 Then Joshua came at that time and eliminated (W)the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, Debir, Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah and all the hill country of Israel. Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities. 22 There were no Anakim left in the land of the sons of Israel; only in Gaza, (X)Gath, and (Y)Ashdod some remained. 23 So Joshua took the whole land, in accordance with everything that the Lord had spoken to Moses; and (Z)Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. (AA)So the land was at rest from war.

Footnotes

  1. Joshua 11:2 I.e., Sea of Galilee
  2. Joshua 11:2 Or Naphoth-dor
  3. Joshua 11:3 Lit under
  4. Joshua 11:8 Lit struck
  5. Joshua 11:11 Lit putting them under the ban, and so throughout the ch
  6. Joshua 11:16 I.e., South country
  7. Joshua 11:17 Lit under
  8. Joshua 11:20 Lit make strong
  9. Joshua 11:20 Lit have

11 And it came to pass, when Jabin king of Hazor had heard those things, that he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph,

And to the kings that were on the north of the mountains, and of the plains south of Chinneroth, and in the valley, and in the borders of Dor on the west,

And to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, and to the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the mountains, and to the Hivite under Hermon in the land of Mizpeh.

And they went out, they and all their hosts with them, much people, even as the sand that is upon the sea shore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many.

And when all these kings were met together, they came and pitched together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel.

And the Lord said unto Joshua, Be not afraid because of them: for to morrow about this time will I deliver them up all slain before Israel: thou shalt hough their horses, and burn their chariots with fire.

So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly; and they fell upon them.

And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them unto great Zidon, and unto Misrephothmaim, and unto the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they smote them, until they left them none remaining.

And Joshua did unto them as the Lord bade him: he houghed their horses, and burnt their chariots with fire.

10 And Joshua at that time turned back, and took Hazor, and smote the king thereof with the sword: for Hazor beforetime was the head of all those kingdoms.

11 And they smote all the souls that were therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them: there was not any left to breathe: and he burnt Hazor with fire.

12 And all the cities of those kings, and all the kings of them, did Joshua take, and smote them with the edge of the sword, and he utterly destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the Lord commanded.

13 But as for the cities that stood still in their strength, Israel burned none of them, save Hazor only; that did Joshua burn.

14 And all the spoil of these cities, and the cattle, the children of Israel took for a prey unto themselves; but every man they smote with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them, neither left they any to breathe.

15 As the Lord commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so did Joshua; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses.

16 So Joshua took all that land, the hills, and all the south country, and all the land of Goshen, and the valley, and the plain, and the mountain of Israel, and the valley of the same;

17 Even from the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir, even unto Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon under mount Hermon: and all their kings he took, and smote them, and slew 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, save the Hivites the inhabitants of Gibeon: all other they took in battle.

20 For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the Lord commanded Moses.

21 And at that time came Joshua, and cut off the Anakims from the mountains, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel: Joshua destroyed them utterly with their cities.

22 There was none of the Anakims left in the land of the children of Israel: only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, there remained.

23 So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war.

11 1-3 When King Jabin of Hazor heard what had happened, he sent urgent messages to the following kings:

King Jobab of Madon;

The king of Shimron;

The king of Achshaph;

All the kings of the northern hill country;

The kings in the Arabah, south of Chinneroth;

Those in the lowland;

The kings in the mountain areas of Dor, on the west;

The kings of Canaan, both east and west;

The kings of the Amorites;

The kings of the Hittites;

The kings of the Perizzites;

The kings in the Jebusite hill country;

The Hivite kings in the cities on the slopes of Mount Hermon, in the land of Mizpah.

All these kings responded by mobilizing their armies and uniting to crush Israel. Their combined troops, along with a vast array of horses and chariots, covered the landscape around the springs of Merom as far as one could see; for they established their camp at the springs of Merom.

But the Lord said to Joshua, “Don’t be afraid of them, for by this time tomorrow they will all be dead! Hamstring their horses and burn their chariots.” Joshua and his troops arrived suddenly at the springs of Merom and attacked. And the Lord gave all that vast army to the Israelis, who chased them as far as Great Sidon and a place called the Salt Pits, and eastward into the valley of Mizpah; so not one enemy troop survived the battle. Then Joshua and his men did as the Lord had instructed, for they hamstrung the horses and burned all the chariots.

10 On the way back, Joshua captured Hazor and killed its king. (Hazor had at one time been the capital of the federation of all those kingdoms.) 11 Every person there was killed and the city was burned.

12 Then he attacked and destroyed all the other cities of those kings. All the people were slaughtered, just as Moses had commanded long before. 13 (However, Joshua did not burn any of the cities built on mounds except for Hazor.) 14 All the loot and cattle of the ravaged cities were taken by the Israelis for themselves, but they killed all the people. 15 For so the Lord had commanded his disciple Moses; and Moses had passed the commandment on to Joshua, who did as he had been told: he carefully obeyed all of the Lord’s instructions to Moses.

16 So Joshua conquered the entire land—the hill country, the Negeb, the land of Goshen, the lowlands, the Arabah, and the hills and lowlands of Israel. 17 The Israeli territory now extended all the way from Mount Halak, near Seir, to Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon, at the foot of Mount Hermon. And Joshua killed all the kings of those territories. 18 It took seven years[a] of war to accomplish all of this. 19 None of the cities was given a peace treaty except the Hivites of Gibeon; all of the others were destroyed. 20 For the Lord made the enemy kings want to fight the Israelis instead of asking for peace; so they were mercilessly killed, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

21 During this period Joshua routed all of the giants—the descendants of Anak who lived in the hill country in Hebron, Debir, Anab, Judah, and Israel; he killed them all and completely destroyed their cities. 22 None was left in all the land of Israel, though some still remained in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.

23 So Joshua took the entire land just as the Lord had instructed Moses; and he gave it to the people of Israel as their inheritance, dividing the land among the tribes. So the land finally rested from its war.

Footnotes

  1. Joshua 11:18 It took seven years, implied in other text, literally, “a long time.”