1   When Jabin king of Hazor heard of all this, he sent to Jobab king of Madon, 2   to the kings of Shimron and Akshaph, to the northern kings in the hill-country, in the Arabah opposite ^note Kinnereth, in the Shephelah, and in the district of Dor on the west, 3   the Canaanites to the east and the west, the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Jebusites in the hill-country, and the Hivites below Hermon in the land of Mizpah. 4   They took the field with all their forces, a great horde countless as the grains of sand on the sea-shore, among them a great number of horses and chariots. 5   All these kings made common cause, and came and encamped at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel. 6   The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Do not be afraid of them, for at this time tomorrow I shall deliver them to Israel all dead men; you shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots.’ 7   So Joshua and his army surprised them by the waters of Merom and fell upon them. 8   The Lord delivered them into the hands of Israel; they struck them down and pursued them as far as Greater Sidon, Misrephoth on the west, and the Vale of Mizpah on the east. They struck them down until not a man was left alive. 9   Joshua dealt with them as the Lord had commanded: he hamstrung their horses and burnt their chariots.

10   At this point Joshua turned his forces against Hazor, formerly the head of all these kingdoms. He captured the city and put its king to death with the sword. 11   They killed every living thing in it and wiped them all out; they spared nothing that drew breath, and Hazor itself they destroyed by fire. 12   So Joshua captured these kings and their cities and put them to the sword, destroying them all, as Moses the servant

Israel's entry into the promised land of the Lord had commanded. 13   The cities whose ruined mounds are still standing were not burnt by the Israelites; it was Hazor alone that Joshua burnt. 14   The Israelites plundered all these cities and kept for themselves the cattle and any other spoil they took; but they put every living soul to the sword until they had destroyed every one; they did not leave alive any one that drew breath. 15   The Lord laid his commands on his servant Moses, and Moses laid these same commands on Joshua, and Joshua carried them out. Not one of the commands laid on Moses by the Lord did he leave unfulfilled.

16   And so Joshua took the whole country, the hill-country, all the Negeb, all the land of Goshen, the Shephelah, the Arabah, and the Israelite hill-country with the adjoining lowlands. 17   His conquests extended from the bare mountain which leads up to Seir as far as Baal-gad in the Vale of Lebanon under Mount Hermon. He took prisoner all their kings, struck them down and put them to death. 18   It was a long war that he fought against all these kingdoms. 19   Except for the Hivites who lived in Gibeon, not one of their cities came to terms with the Israelites; all were taken by storm. 20   It was the Lord's purpose that they should offer an obstinate resistance to the Israelites in battle, and that thus they should be annihilated without mercy and utterly destroyed, ^note as the Lord had commanded Moses.

21   It was then that Joshua proceeded to wipe out the Anakim from the hill-country, from Hebron, Debir, Anab, all the hill-country of Judah and all the hill-country of Israel, destroying both them and their cities. 22   No Anakim were left in the land taken by the Israelites; they survived only in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.

23   Thus Joshua took the whole country, fulfilling all the commands that the Lord had laid on Moses; he assigned it as Israel's patrimony, allotting to each tribe its share; and the land was at peace.

Previous section

Next section