Joshua 11

¹ When Jabin, king of Hazor, learned of this, he sent a message to Jobab, king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph,

² and to the northern kings in the mountain regions and in the Arabah near Chinneroth, in the foothills, and in Naphath-dor to the west.

³ These were Canaanites to the east and west, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites and Jebusites in the mountain regions, and Hivites at the foot of Hermon in the land of Mizpah.

⁴ They came out with all their troops, an army numerous as the sands on the seashore, and with a multitude of horses and chariots.

⁵ All these kings joined forces and marched to the waters of Merom, where they encamped together to fight against Israel.

⁶ The LORD said to Joshua, "Do not fear them, for by this time tomorrow I will stretch them slain before Israel. You must hamstring their horses and burn their chariots."

⁷ Joshua with his whole army came upon them at the waters of Merom in a surprise attack.

⁸ The LORD delivered them into the power of the Israelites, who defeated them and pursued them to Greater Sidon, to Misrephoth-maim, and eastward to the valley of Mizpeh. They struck them all down, leaving no survivors.

⁹ Joshua did to them as the LORD had commanded: he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots.

¹⁰ At that time Joshua, turning back, captured Hazor and slew its king with the sword; for Hazor formerly was the chief of all those kingdoms.

¹¹ He also fulfilled the doom by putting every person there to the sword, till none was left alive. Hazor itself he burned.

¹² Joshua thus captured all those kings with their cities and put them to the sword, fulfilling the doom on them, as Moses, the servant of the LORD, had commanded.

¹³ However, Israel did not destroy by fire any of the cities built on raised sites, except Hazor, which Joshua burned.

¹⁴ The Israelites took all the spoil and livestock of these cities as their booty; but the people they put to the sword, until they had exterminated the last of them, leaving none alive.

¹⁵ As the LORD had commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua acted accordingly. He left nothing undone that the LORD had commanded Moses should be done.

¹⁶ So Joshua captured all this land: the mountain regions, the entire Negeb, all the land of Goshen, the foothills, the Arabah, as well as the mountain regions and foothills of Israel,

¹⁷ from Mount Halak that rises toward Seir as far as Baal-gad in the Lebanon valley at the foot of Mount Hermon. All their kings he captured and put to death.

¹⁸ Joshua waged war against all these kings for a long time.

¹⁹ With the exception of the Hivites who lived in Gibeon, no city made peace with the Israelites; all were taken in battle.

²⁰ For it was the design of the LORD to encourage them to wage war against Israel, that they might be doomed to destruction and thus receive no mercy, but be exterminated, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

²¹ At that time Joshua penetrated the mountain regions and exterminated the Anakim in Hebron, Debir, Anab, the entire mountain region of Judah, and the entire mountain region of Israel. Joshua fulfilled the doom on them and on their cities,

²² so that no Anakim were left in the land of the Israelites. However, some survived in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod.

²³ Thus Joshua captured the whole country, just as the LORD had foretold to Moses. Joshua gave it to Israel as their heritage, apportioning it among the tribes. And the land enjoyed peace.