Joshua 11:1-23

When the news of Israel’s southern victories reached King Jabin of Hazor, he organized a massive coalition to fight against Israel. He sent messages to: King Jobab of Merom, the king of Shimron, the king of Achshaph, the kings of the northern hill country, the kings of the Jordan Valley south of Lake Galilee, the kings of the foothills, the western kings in the heights of Dor, the eastern and western Canaanite kings, the Amorite kings, the Hittite kings, the Perizzite kings, the Jebusite kings in the highlands, and the Hivite kings who lived near Mount Hermon in the land of Mizpah. They came out in full force with a multitude of horses and chariots. Their vast armies were as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore. All these kings and their enormous armies joined forces and encamped at Lake Merom to fight against Israel. YAHWEH spoke to Joshua, saying, “Don’t be afraid of them; by this time tomorrow, I, YAHWEH, will have them all lying slain before Israel. After the battle, cripple their horses and burn their chariots.” Joshua launched his surprise attack, and all his army pounced on them at their camp at Lake Merom. YAHWEH fought alongside Joshua’s fighting men to defeat them. Part of the Israelite army attacked and pursued the retreating forces as far north as the cities of Misrephoth Maim and Sidon. Another part of the Israelite army pursued the enemy as far east as the valley of Mizpah and crushed them all, leaving no survivors. Afterward, Joshua crippled their horses and burned their chariots as YAHWEH had commanded. Because Hazor at that time was the most powerful of all these kingdoms, Joshua circled back after the battle and conquered it. They killed the king, burned Hazor to the ground, and annihilated all its inhabitants. They spared not one breathing thing, leaving no survivors. Joshua conquered all those royal cities and their kings. He destroyed them all, as YAHWEH’s servant Moses had commanded. However, of all the cities built on mounds, Joshua burned down only Hazor. The Israelites kept all the spoils of these towns, including the livestock, but the inhabitants they killed with the sword. There were no survivors. Just as YAHWEH commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua obeyed everything that YAHWEH commanded Moses. So Joshua conquered the entire region: the Judean hills, the southern desert, all the land of Goshen, the foothills, the lowlands of the Jordan Valley, the northern hill country of Israel including its lowlands—everything from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, all the way to Baal-Gad in the Lebanon Valley below Mount Hermon. Joshua captured all their kings and executed them. Joshua waged war with all those kings over a long period. Apart from the Hivites living in Gibeon, not one city made peace with Israel. By the power of YAHWEH, Joshua conquered them all. YAHWEH himself hardened their hearts and made them obstinate so they would attack Israel. YAHWEH had determined to wipe them out and condemn them to destruction without mercy, just as he had commanded Moses. Joshua also drove out the Anakim, a race of giants, from the hill country (including the cities of Hebron, Debir, and Anab)—from the entire hill country of Judah and Israel. Joshua destroyed the Anakim and their towns so that there were no surviving Anakim in Israelite territory. Some survived but only in the Philistine cities of Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. Joshua conquered the whole land, just as YAHWEH had promised Moses. Joshua assigned portions of the land to each of the tribes of Israel, and the Israelites lived in peace throughout the land.