Joshua 11

1 It happened, when Jabin king of Hazor heard of it, that he sent to Jobab king of Maron, to the king of Shim'on, to the king of Achshaph,

When King Jabin of Hazor [city] heard [about all those things that had happened], he sent messages to Jobab, the king of Madon [city], to the king of Shimron [city], and to the king of Acshaph [city], [requesting them to send their armies to come and help him fight against the Israelis].

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

He also sent messages to the kings in the northern hilly area and to the kings in the Jordan [River] Valley, south of Galilee [Lake] and in the western hills. He sent a message to the king of Naphoth-Dor [in the west]

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

and to the kings of the Canaan people-group in the eastern and western parts of the land. He sent messages to the Amor people-group and the Heth people-group and the Periz people-group and the Jebus people-group who lived in the hilly area. He also sent a message to the Hiv people-group who lived below Hermon [Mountain] in the Mizpah area.

4 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.

So the armies of all those kings gathered together, bringing their horses and chariots. [There seemed to be] [HYP] as many soldiers as grains of sand on the seashore.

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

All of those kings [and their armies] gathered together at Merom Pond, [and they set up their tents there]. Then they made plans to fight against the Israelis.

6 The LORD said to Joshua, "Do not 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."

Then Yahweh said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, because at this time tomorrow I will enable your men to defeat them. Your men must also cripple their horses and burn their chariots.”

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

So Joshua and his army traveled to Merom Pond and attacked their enemies (by surprise/before they were ready to fight).

8 The LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel, and they struck them, and chased them to Greater Sidon, and to Misrephoth Maim, and to the Valley of Mizpeh eastward. They struck them until they left them none remaining.

Yahweh enabled the Israelis to defeat them. They pursued them to Sidon [city in the far north], and to Misrephoth-Maim [in the northwest], and to Mizpah Valley in the northeast. The Israelis fought them until (they were all dead/there were no survivors).

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

Then Joshua and his men did what Yahweh told them to do: They crippled their enemies’ horses and burned their chariots.

10 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.

The king of Hazor had ruled the people of all the kingdoms whose armies had fought against the Israelis. So Joshua’s army went back to Hazor and captured that city and killed their king.

11 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 burnt Hazor with fire.

They killed everyone in Hazor; (they did not spare anyone/no one was left alive) [DOU]. Then they burned the city.

12 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.

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

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

Joshua’s men burned Hazor [city], but they did not burn any of the other cities that were built on small hills.

14 The children of Israel took all the spoil of these cities, with the livestock, as spoils for themselves; but every man they struck with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them. They did not leave any who breathed.

The Israelis took for themselves the animals that they found in those cities and everything else [that was valuable] [DOU]. But they killed all the people.

15 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.

[Many years before], Yahweh had told Moses to do that, and then Moses told Joshua to do it. So Joshua did everything that Yahweh had commanded Moses to do.

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

Joshua’s [army] defeated all the people who were living in that land. They took control over the hilly area and the area in the southern part of Canaan, all the area of Goshen, the western foothills, and the Jordan [River] Valley. They took control over all the mountains in Israel and all the hills near the mountains.

17 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.

They took control of all the land from Halak Mountain [in the south] up to the Seir [hilly area] as far as Baal-Gaal in Lebanon Valley [in the north], at the bottom of Hermon Mountain. They captured all the kings of those areas and killed them.

18 Joshua made war a long time with all those kings.

Joshua’s men fought against those groups for many years.

19 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.

There was only one group that made a peace agreement with the Israelis; they were the people of the Hiv people-group who lived in Gibeon. The Israelis captured all the other towns in battles.

20 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.

Yahweh caused the people in all those other groups to be stubborn [IDM], with the result that they fought against the Israeli army, and the Israelis killed them all. They were not merciful to any of them. That is what Yahweh had commanded Moses to do.

21 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.

Joshua’s army also fought the Anak people-group who lived in the hills near Hebron, Debir, and Anah [cities]. They also fought against the people who lived in the hilly area of Judah and Israel, and they killed all of those people and destroyed their cities.

22 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.

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

23 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. The land had rest from war.

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 Israelis, because he had promised to give it to them. Then Joshua divided the land among the Israeli tribes. After that, there was (peace/no more battles) in the land.