The Book of Joshua

⭑ Unlocked Dynamic Bible :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 11 -

When King Jabin of Hazor heard about all these things that had happened, he sent messages to Jobab, king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Akshaph, requesting them to send their armies to come and help him fight against the Israelites.

He also sent messages to the kings in the northern hills and to the kings in the plain along the Jordan, south of the Sea of Galilee, in the low country. He also sent a message to the king of the high country of Dor in the west,

to the kings of the Canaanites in both the east and the west, to the Amorites, the Hethites, the Perizzites, and to the Jebusites who lived in the hill country, and to the Hivites by Mount Hermon in the region of Mizpah.

So the armies of all those kings gathered together. Their men were as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. They also came with horses and chariots in great numbers.

All of those kings met at the fixed time and set up their armies in a camp at the brook of Merom, in order to wage war against Israel.

Then Yahweh said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, because at this time tomorrow I will give them to you. You will defeat them and kill all of them. Then you must cripple all their horses and burn all their chariots.”

So Joshua and his army came to the brook of Merom and without warning attacked their enemies.

Yahweh enabled the Israelites to defeat them. They pursued them to the city of Sidon, to Misrephothmaim, and to Mizpah in the east. They attacked them until they had killed them all.

Then Joshua did what Yahweh told them to do: He crippled their enemies’ horses and he burned up their chariots.

So Joshua and his army went back to the city of Hazor, and captured it, and killed their king. Hazor was the most important city of all these kingdoms that fought against Israel.

They killed everything that was living in Hazor, and then they burned the city to ashes.

Joshua’s army captured all of those cities and killed all of their kings. They did that as Moses, the man who served Yahweh well, had commanded them to do.

Joshua’s men burned Hazor, but they did not burn any of the other cities that were built on mounds and were surrounded by walls.

The Israelites took for themselves the animals that they found in the fields and everything else that was valuable. But they killed every human being and every living thing in the cities.

As Yahweh had given Moses instructions to act, in the same way Moses also gave Joshua commands to act. And Joshua did everything that Yahweh had commanded Moses to do.

Joshua Takes the Whole Land

Joshua’s army defeated all the people who were living in that land. They took control of the hill country and the southern Judean wilderness, all the area of Goshen, the western foothills, and the plain along the Jordan. They took control of all the mountains in Israel and of all the lowlands near the mountains.

They took control over all the land from Mount Halak in the south of Edom to Baalgaal in the valley near the region of Lebanon to the north, near Mount Hermon. They captured all the kings of those areas and killed them.

Joshua’s men fought against all those kings for a long time.

There was only one city that made a peace treaty with the Israelites; they were the people of the Hivites who lived in Gibeon. The Israelites captured all the other cities in battles.

Yahweh caused the people in all those other groups to be stubborn, with the result that they fought against the Israelite army, and so God used the Israelite army to destroy them all. God did not hold back the Israelite army from totally destroying their enemies. This is what Yahweh had commanded Moses to do.

Joshua’s army also fought the Anakite giants who lived in the hills near Hebron, Debir, and Anah. They also fought against the people who lived in the hill country of Judah and Israel, and they killed all of those people and destroyed their cities as well.

As a result, there were no descendants of Anak who remained alive in Israel. Only a few remained alive in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.

Joshua’s army took control of all the land, just as Yahweh long ago had told Moses to do. Yahweh gave the land to the Israelites, because he had promised to give it to them. Then Joshua divided the land among the Israelite tribes. And after that, there was peace in the land.

When Jabin king of Hazor heard of it, he sent to Jobab king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph,

and to the kings who were on the north, in the hill country, in the Arabah south of Chinneroth, in the lowland, and in the heights of Dor on the west,

to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite in the hill country, and the Hivite under Hermon in the land of Mizpah.

They went out, they and all their armies with them, many people, even as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude, with very many horses and chariots.

All these kings met together; and they came and encamped together at the waters of Merom, to fight with Israel.

The LORD said to Joshua, “Don’t be afraid because of them; for tomorrow at this time, I will deliver them up all slain before Israel. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.”

So Joshua came suddenly, with all the warriors, against them by the waters of Merom, and attacked them.

The LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel, and they struck them, and chased them to great Sidon, and to Misrephoth Maim, and to the valley of Mizpah eastward. They struck them until they left them no one remaining.

Joshua did to them as the LORD told him. He hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.

Joshua turned back at that time, and took Hazor, and struck its king with the sword; for Hazor used to be the head of all those kingdoms.

They struck all the souls who were in it with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them. There was no one left who breathed. He burned Hazor with fire.

Joshua captured all the cities of those kings, with their kings, and he struck them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the LORD commanded.

But as for the cities that stood on their mounds, Israel burned none of them, except Hazor only. Joshua burned that.

The children of Israel took all the plunder of these cities, with the livestock, as plunder for themselves; but every man they struck with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them. They didn’t leave any who breathed.

As the LORD commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua. Joshua did so. He left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses.

Joshua Takes the Whole Land

So Joshua captured all that land, the hill country, all the South, all the land of Goshen, the lowland, the Arabah, the hill country of Israel, and the lowland of the same,

from Mount Halak, that goes up to Seir, even to Baal Gad in the valley of Lebanon under Mount Hermon. He took all their kings, struck them, and put them to death.

Joshua made war a long time with all those kings.

There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. They took all in battle.

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

Joshua came at that time, and cut off 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 utterly destroyed them with their cities.

There were none of the Anakim left in the land of the children of Israel. Only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, did some remain.

So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD spoke to Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. Then the land had rest from war.