Joshua 11
11
Joshua Captures Towns in the North
1King Jabin of Hazor heard about Joshua's victories, so he sent messages to many nearby kings and asked them to join him in fighting Israel. He sent these messages to King Jobab of Madon, the kings of Shimron and Achshaph, 2the kings in the northern hill country and in the Jordan River valley south of Lake Galilee,#11.2 Lake Galilee: The Hebrew text has “Lake Chinnereth,” an earlier name. and the kings in the foothills and in Naphath-Dor to the west. 3He sent messages to the Canaanite kings in the east and the west, to the Amorite, Hittite, Perizzite, and Jebusite kings in the hill country, and to the Hivite kings in the region of Mizpah, near the foot of Mount Hermon.#11.3 Mizpah, near the foot of Mount Hermon: Probably the same region as Mizpeh Valley in verses 8,9, but different from the two other places named Mizpeh in 15.37-41; 18.25-28, and also different from the Mizpah mentioned in Genesis 31.49 and Judges 10.17.
4-5The kings and their armies went to Merom Pond,#11.4,5 Pond: Or “Gorge.” where they set up camp, and got ready to fight Israel. It seemed as though there were more soldiers and horses and chariots than there are grains of sand on a beach.
6The Lord told Joshua:
Don't let them frighten you! I'll help you defeat them, and by this time tomorrow they will be dead.
When you attack, the first thing you have to do is to cripple their horses. Then after the battle is over,#11.6 When … over: Or “After the battle is over, cripple their horses and burn their chariots.” burn their chariots.
7Joshua and his army made a surprise attack against the enemy camp at Merom Pond#11.7 Pond: See the note at 11.4,5. 8-9and crippled the enemies' horses.#11.8,9 and crippled the enemies' horses: It is also possible that the Israelites crippled the enemies' horses after the battle at the same time they burned the enemies' chariots; see the note at 11.6. Joshua followed the Lord's instructions, and the Lord helped Israel defeat the enemy. The Israelite army even chased enemy soldiers as far as Misrephoth-Maim to the northwest,#11.8,9 Misrephoth-Maim … northwest: Or “the town of Misrephoth to the northwest” or “the Misrephoth River.” the city of Sidon to the north, and Mizpeh Valley to the northeast.#11.8,9 northeast: These three areas were 30 to 55 kilometers north of Merom. None of the enemy soldiers escaped alive. The Israelites came back after the battle and burned the enemy's chariots.
10Up to this time, the king of Hazor had controlled the kingdoms that had joined together to attack Israel, so Joshua led his army back and captured Hazor. They killed its king 11and everyone else, then they set the town on fire.
12-15Joshua captured all the towns where the enemy kings had ruled. These towns were built on small hills,#11.12-15 small hills: Towns were often built on top of the ruins of a previous town that had been destroyed. When this happened many times at one place, a hill was formed. and Joshua did not set fire to any of these towns, except Hazor. The Israelites kept the animals and everything of value from these towns, but they killed everyone who lived in them, including their kings. That's what the Lord had told his servant Moses to do, that's what Moses had told Joshua to do, and that's exactly what Joshua did.
16Joshua and his army took control of the northern and southern hill country, the foothills to the west, the Southern Desert, the whole region of Goshen,#11.16 Goshen: See the note at 10.41. and the Jordan River valley. 17-18They took control of the land from Mount Halak near the country of Edom in the south to Baal-Gad in Lebanon Valley at the foot of Mount Hermon in the north. Joshua and his army were at war with the kings in this region for a long time, but finally they captured and put to death the last king.
19-20 #
Dt 7.16. The Lord had told Moses that he wanted the towns in this region destroyed and their people killed without mercy. That's why the Lord made the people in the towns stubborn and determined to fight Israel. The only town that signed a peace treaty with Israel was the Hivite town of Gibeon. The Israelite army captured the rest of the towns in battle.
21During this same time, Joshua and his army killed the Anakim#11.21 Anakim: Perhaps a group of very large people that lived in Palestine before the Israelites (see Numbers 13.33 and Deuteronomy 2.10,11, 20,21). from the northern and southern hill country. They also destroyed the towns where the Anakim had lived, including Hebron, Debir, and Anab. 22There were not any Anakim left in the regions where the Israelites lived, although there were still some in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.#11.22 Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod: Towns in Philistia.
23That's how Joshua captured the land, just as the Lord had commanded Moses, and Joshua divided it up among the tribes.
Finally, there was peace in the land.
Currently Selected:
Joshua 11: CEVDCI
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Joshua 11
11
1 And when Jabin, the king of Hazor, had heard these things, he sent to Jobab, the king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph,
2 also to the kings of the north, who were living in the mountains, and in the plains opposite the southern region of Chinneroth, and also in the plains and the regions of Dor, beside the sea,
3 also to the Canaanites, from east to west, and to the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the mountains, also to the Hivite who was living at the base of Hermon, in the land of Mizpah.
4 And they all went forth with their troops, a people exceedingly numerous, like the sand that is on the shore of the sea. And their horses and chariots were an immense multitude.
5 And all these kings assembled at the waters of Merom, so that they might fight against Israel.
6 And the Lord said to Joshua: "You should not fear them. For tomorrow, at this same hour, I will deliver all these to be wounded in the sight of Israel. You will hamstring their horses, and you will burn their chariots with fire."
7 And Joshua, and the entire army with him, came against them suddenly, at the waters of Merom, and they rushed upon them.
8 And the Lord delivered them into the hands of Israel. And they struck them, and they pursued them as far as the great Sidon, and the waters of Misrephoth, and the field of Mizpeh, which is toward the eastern region. He struck them all, so that nothing was left of them to remain.
9 And he did just as the Lord had instructed him. He hamstrung their horses, and he burned their chariots with fire.
10 And turning back, he immediately seized Hazor. And he struck down its king with the sword. For Hazor, from antiquity, held the first position among all these kingdoms.
11 And he struck down all the souls that were staying there. He did not leave in it any remains, but he destroyed everything unto utter annihilation, and he destroyed the city itself with fire.
12 And he seized, struck, and destroyed all the surrounding cities and their kings, just as Moses, the servant of God, had instructed him.
13 And except for the cities that were on hills and in elevated places, the rest Israel burned. One only, highly-fortified Hazor, was consumed with fire.
14 And the sons of Israel divided among themselves all the plunder of these cities, and the cattle, putting to death all persons.
15 Just as the Lord had instructed his servant Moses, so did Moses instruct Joshua, and he fulfilled everything. He did not omit even one word out of all the commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses.
16 And so Joshua seized the entire land of the mountains, and of the south, and the land of Goshen, and the plains, and the western region, and the mountain of Israel, and its plains.
17 As for the part of the mountain that ascends to Seir, as far as Baalgad, along the plain of Lebanon under mount Hermon, all their kings he seized, struck down, and killed.
18 For a long time, Joshua fought against these kings.
19 There was not a city that delivered itself to the sons of Israel, except the Hivites who were living at Gibeon. For he seized it all in warfare.
20 For it was the sentence of the Lord that their hearts would be hardened, and that they would fight against Israel and fall, and that they did not deserve any clemency, and that they should perish, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
21 In that time, Joshua went and put to death the Anakim from the mountains, from Hebron and Debir and Anab, and from all the mountains of Judah and Israel. And he destroyed their cities.
22 He did not leave any from the stock of the Anakim in the land of the sons of Israel, except the cities of Gaza, and Gath, and Ashdod, which alone were left behind.
23 Thus, Joshua seized all the land, just as the Lord spoke to Moses, and he delivered it as a possession to the sons of Israel, according to their divisions and tribes. And the land rested from battles.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in