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].

When Jabin, king of Hazor, heard about what happened, he sent a message to Jobab, king of Madon, to the kings of Shimron and 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 of the northern hill country, the Jordan Valley south of Kinnereth, the western foothills, and the foothills of Dor to 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.

to the kings of the Canaanites, both east and west, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites in the hill country, and the Hivites living near Mount 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.

All their armies assembled together, a vast horde as numberless as the sand of the seashore, together with many, many horses and chariots.

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.

All these kings joined forces and set up camp beside the waters of Merom to fight against 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.”

The Lord said to Joshua, “Don't be afraid because of them, for by this time tomorrow I myself will hand them all over to Israel, dead. Cripple their horses and burn their chariots.”

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

Joshua and the Israelite army went and attacked them without warning at the waters of Merom.

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).

The Lord handed them over to the Israelites who cut them down and chased them as far as Greater Sidon and Misrephoth Maim, and east to the valley of Mizpah, killing them until none were left.

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

Afterwards Joshua did what the Lord had ordered: he crippled the horses and burned the chariots.

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.

Then Joshua turned on Hazor. He captured it and killed its king, for Hazor was at that time the chief of all these kingdoms.

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

Joshua had all the inhabitants killed, leaving no survivors. He set it apart and completely destroyed it—no one was left alive. Then he burned down 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.

Joshua captured all these towns and killed their kings. He set them apart and completely destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the Lord had ordered.

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

However, Israel did not burn any of the towns built on mounds, except Hazor, which Joshua did burn.

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.

The Israelites did take for themselves all the plunder and livestock from these towns. But they killed all the inhabitants, destroying them all so none were left alive.

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 instructed Moses, so Moses had instructed Joshua. Joshua did what he had been told—he did everything that the Lord had instructed Moses.

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 conquered the whole land—the hill country, the Negev, all the land of Goshen, the western foothills, the Jordan Valley, the mountains of Israel, and the eastern foothills.

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.

This covered land from Mount Halak leading to Seir in the south, right up to Baal Gad in the north, below Mount Hermon in the valley of Lebanon. Joshua captured and killed all their kings.

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

Joshua fought a long war with all these 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 a single town made peace with the Israelites except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. All the rest were conquered in battle.

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 stubborn, wanting to fight the Israelites so that they might be set apart and completely destroyed, wiped out without mercy, as the Lord had instructed 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.

During this time Joshua also annihilated the descendants of Anak living in the hill country of Hebron, Debir, and Anab, and all the hill country of Judah and Israel. Joshua set apart and completely destroyed their towns,

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].

and there were no descendants of Anak left in the land of Israel, only some in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.

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 the entire land in accordance with what the Lord had instructed Moses, giving it to Israel to own as it was divided up among the tribes. Then the land was at peace.