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Defeating Northern Kings

¹ When Jabin king of Hazor heard about all that had happened, he sent messages to Jobab king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Acshaph. ² He sent messages to the kings in the northern mountains and also to the kings in the Jordan Valley south of Lake Galilee and in the western hills. He sent a message to the king of Naphoth Dor in the west ³ and to the kings of the Canaanites in the east and in the west. He sent messages to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Jebusites in the mountains. Jabin also sent one to the Hivites, who lived below Mount Hermon in the area of Mizpah. ⁴ So the armies of all these kings came together with their horses and chariots. There were as many soldiers as grains of sand on the seashore.

⁵ All of these kings met together at the waters of Merom, joined their armies together into one camp, and made plans to fight against the Israelites.

⁶ Then the Lord said to Joshua, "Don't be afraid of them, because at this time tomorrow I will give them to you. You will cripple their horses and burn all their chariots."

⁷ So Joshua and his whole army surprised the enemy by attacking them at the waters of Merom. ⁸ The Lord handed them over to Israel. They chased them to Greater Sidon, Misrephoth Maim, and the Valley of Mizpah in the east. Israel fought until none of the enemy was left alive. ⁹ Joshua did what the Lord said to do; he crippled their horses and burned their chariots.

¹⁰ Then Joshua went back and captured the city of Hazor and killed its king. (Hazor had been the leader of all the kingdoms that fought against Israel.) ¹¹ Israel killed everyone in Hazor, completely destroying them; no one was left alive. Then they burned Hazor itself.

¹² Joshua captured all of these cities, killed all of their kings, and completely destroyed everything in these cities. He did this just as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded. ¹³ But the Israelites did not burn any cities that were built on their mounds, except Hazor; only that city was burned by Joshua. ¹⁴ The people of Israel kept for themselves everything they found in the cities, including all the animals. But they killed all the people there; they left no one alive. ¹⁵ Long ago the Lord had commanded his servant Moses to do this, and then Moses had commanded Joshua to do it. Joshua did everything the Lord had commanded Moses.

¹⁶ So Joshua defeated all the people in the land. He had control of the mountains and the area of southern Canaan, all the areas of Goshen, the western hills, and the Jordan Valley. He controlled the mountains of Israel and all the hills near them. ¹⁷ Joshua controlled all the land from Mount Halak near Edom to Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon, below Mount Hermon. Joshua also captured all the kings in the land and killed them. ¹⁸ He fought against them for many years. ¹⁹ The people of only one city in all the land had made a peace agreement with Israel—the Hivites living in Gibeon. All the other cities were defeated in war. ²⁰ The Lord made those people stubborn so they would fight against Israel and he could completely destroy them without mercy. This is what the Lord had commanded Moses to do.

²¹ Now Joshua fought the Anakites who lived in the mountains of Hebron, Debir, Anab, Judah, and Israel, and he completely destroyed them and their towns. ²² There were no Anakites left living in the land of the Israelites and only a few were left in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. ²³ Joshua took control of all the land of Israel as the Lord had told Moses to do long ago. He gave the land to Israel, because he had promised it to them. Then Joshua divided the land among the tribes of Israel, and there was peace in the land.