11:1 When Jabin king of Hazor heard the news, he organized a coalition, including¹ Jobab king of Madon, the king of Shimron, the king of Acshaph, 11:2 and the northern kings who ruled in² the hill country, the Arabah south of Kinnereth³, the lowlands, and the heights of Dor to the west. 11:3 Canaanites came⁴ from the east and west; Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Jebusites from the hill country; and Hivites from below Hermon in the area⁵ of Mizpah. 11:4 These kings came out with their armies; they were as numerous as the sand on the seashore and had a large number of horses and chariots.⁶ 11:5 All these kings gathered and joined forces⁷ at the Waters of Merom to fight Israel.

11:6 The LORD told Joshua, “Don’t be afraid of them for about this time tomorrow I will cause all of them to lie dead before Israel. You must hamstring their horses and burn⁸ their chariots.” 11:7 Joshua and his whole army caught them by surprise at the Waters of Merom and attacked them.⁹ 11:8 The LORD handed them over to Israel and they struck them down and chased them all the way to Greater Sidon, Misrephoth Maim,¹⁰ and the Mizpah Valley to the east. They struck them down until no survivors remained. 11:9 Joshua did to them as the LORD had commanded him; he hamstrung their horses and burned¹¹ their chariots.

11:10 At that time Joshua turned, captured Hazor, and struck down its king with the sword, for Hazor was at that time¹² the leader of all these kingdoms. 11:11 They annihilated everyone who lived there with the sword¹³—no one who breathed remained—and burned¹⁴ Hazor.

11:12 Joshua captured all these royal cities and all their kings and annihilated them with the sword¹⁵, as Moses, the LORD’s servant, had commanded. 11:13 But Israel did not burn any of the cities located on mounds,¹⁶ except for Hazor; it was the only one Joshua burned. 11:14 The Israelites plundered all the loot of these cities and the cattle, but they totally destroyed all the people¹⁷ and allowed no one who breathed to live. 11:15 Moses, the LORD’s servant, passed on the LORD’s commands to Joshua, and Joshua did as he was told. He did not ignore any of the commands the LORD had given Moses.¹⁸

11:16 Joshua conquered the whole land,¹⁹ including the hill country, all the Negev, all the land of Goshen, the lowlands,²⁰ the Arabah, the hill country of Israel and its lowlands, 11:17 from Mount Halak on up to Seir, as far as Baal Gad in the Lebanon Valley below Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings and executed them.²¹ 11:18 Joshua campaigned against²² these kings for quite some time.²³ 11:19 No city made peace with the Israelites (except the Hivites living in Gibeon);²⁴ they had to conquer all of them,²⁵ 11:20 for the LORD determined to make them obstinate so they would attack Israel. He wanted Israel to annihilate them without mercy, as he had instructed Moses.²⁶

11:21 At that time Joshua attacked and eliminated the Anakites from the hill country²⁷—from Hebron, Debir, Anab and all the hill country of Judah and Israel.²⁸ Joshua annihilated them and their cities. 11:22 No Anakites were left in Israelite territory, though some remained in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. 11:23 Joshua conquered²⁹ the whole land, just as the LORD had promised Moses,³⁰ and he assigned Israel their tribal portions.³¹ Then the land was free of war.