Joshua 11

1 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].

Now Jabin, king of Hazor, hearing of these things, sent to Jobab, king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph,

2 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]

And to the kings on the north in the hill-country, and in the Arabah south of Chinneroth, and in the lowland, and in the highlands of Dor on the west,

3 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.

And to the Canaanites on the east and on the west, and to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites in the hill-country, and the Hivites under Hermon in the land of Mizpah.

4 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.

And they went out, they and all their armies with them, a great people, in number like the sand on the seaside, with horses and war-carriages in great number.

5 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.

And all these kings came together, and put their forces in position at the waters of Merom, to make war on Israel.

6 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.”

And the Lord said to Joshua, Have no fear of them: for tomorrow at this time I will give them all up dead before Israel; you are to have the leg-muscles of their horses cut and their war-carriages burned with fire.

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

So Joshua and all the men of war with him came against them suddenly at the waters of Merom, and made an attack on them.

8 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).

And the Lord gave them up into the hands of Israel, and they overcame them driving them back to great Zidon and to Misrephoth-maim and into the valley of Mizpeh to the east; and they put them all to death, no man got away safely.

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

And Joshua did to them as the Lord had said to him; he had the leg-muscles of their horses cut and their war-carriages burned with fire.

10 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.

At that time, Joshua went on to take Hazor and put its king to the sword: for in earlier times Hazor was the chief of all those kingdoms.

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

And they put every person in it to death without mercy, giving every living thing up to the curse, and burning Hazor.

12 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.

And all the towns of these kings, and all the kings, Joshua took, and put them to the sword: he gave them up to the curse, as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had said.

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

As for the towns made on hills of earth, not one was burned by Israel but Hazor, which was burned by Joshua.

14 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.

And all the goods taken from these towns, and their cattle, the children of Israel kept for themselves; but every man they put to death without mercy, till their destruction was complete, and there was no one living.

15 [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.

As the Lord had given orders to Moses his servant, so Moses gave orders to Joshua, and so Joshua did; every order which the Lord had given to Moses was done.

16 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.

So Joshua took all that land, the hill-country and all the South, and all the land of Goshen, and the lowland and the Arabah, the hill-country of Israel and its lowland;

17 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.

From Mount Halak, which goes up to Seir, as far as Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon under Mount Hermon: and all their kings he overcame and put to death.

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

For a long time Joshua made war on all those kings.

19 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.

Not one town made peace with the children of Israel, but only the Hivites of Gibeon: they took them all in war.

20 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.

For the Lord made them strong in heart to go to war against Israel, so that he might give them up to the curse without mercy, and that destruction might come on them, as the Lord had given orders to Moses.

21 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.

And Joshua came at that time and put an end to the Anakim in the hill-country, in Hebron, in Debir, in Anab, and in all the hill-country of Judah and Israel: Joshua gave them and their towns to the curse.

22 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].

Not one of the Anakim was to be seen in the land of the children of Israel: only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, some were still living.

23 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.

So Joshua took all the land, as the Lord had said to Moses; and Joshua gave it to the children of Israel as their heritage, making division of it among them by their tribes. And the land had rest from war.