Joshua 11

1 And it came to pass, when Jabin king of Hazor heard, that he sent unto Jobab king of Madon, and unto the king of Shimron, and unto 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 unto the kings who were on the north in the hill country and in the waste plain south of Chinneroth, and 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 the Canaanite on the east and on the west, and the Amorite, and the Hittite, 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 and they came out—they, and all their hosts with them, much people, like the sand that is upon the seashore for multitude, —with horses and chariots very many.

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 And, when all these kings were gathered together, they came in, and encamped as one man, 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 Then said Yahweh unto Joshua—Do not fear because of them, for, to-morrow, about this time, am I going to deliver up all of them, slain, before Israel, —their horses, shalt thou ham-string, and, their chariots, shalt thou burn up 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, and all the army with him, came in upon them, by the waters of Merom, suddenly, and fell upon them.

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

8 And Yahweh delivered them up into the hand of Israel, and they smote them, and chased them as far as great Zidon, and as far as Misrephoth-maim, and as far as the valley of Mizpeh, eastward, —yea they smote them until they left them not a survivor.

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 And Joshua did unto them, as Yahweh had said unto him, —their horses, he ham-strung, and, their chariots, burned he up with fire.

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

10 Then Joshua turned back, at that time, and captured Hazor, and, the king thereof, smote he with the sword, —for, Hazor, aforetime, was the head of all these 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 And they smote all the souls that were therein, with the edge of the sword, devoting them to destruction, there was left no breathing thing, —and, Hazor, burned he up with fire.

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

12 And, all the cities of these kings, and all the kings thereof, did Joshua capture, and he smote them with the edge of the sword, devoting them to destruction, —as Moses, the servant of Yahweh, 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 Yet, none of the cities that were still standing upon their mound, did Israel burn, none but Hazor alone, did Joshua burn.

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

14 But, all the spoil of these cities, and the cattle, did the sons of Israel take as their prey, —nevertheless, all the human beings, smote they with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them, they left remaining no breathing thing.

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 Yahweh commanded Moses his servant, so, Moses commanded Joshua, and, so, Joshua, did, he set aside nothing of all that Yahweh 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 took all this land—the hill country, and all the south, and all the land of Goshen, and the lowland, and the waste plain, —and the hill country of Israel, and the lowland thereof:

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 goeth up to Seir, even as far as Baal-gad, in the valley of the Lebanon, under Mount Hermon, —and, all their kings, he captured, and smote 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 Many days, did Joshua, with all these kings, make war.

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

19 There was not a city that made peace with the sons of Israel, save the Hivites dwelling in Gibeon, —the whole, took they 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, from Yahweh, came it to pass, that their heart was emboldened to come out to war with Israel, that he might devote them to destruction, that they might find no favour, —but that he might destroy them, —as Yahweh 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 And Joshua came in, 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, —with their cities, did Joshua devote them to destruction.

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 was left remaining none of the Anakim, in the land of the sons of Israel, —save 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 Yahweh had spoken unto Moses, and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel, according to their portions by their tribes, —and, 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.