Northern armies unite against Israel
1News of all this spread north to King Jabin of Hazor. He rallied kings from all over the territory: King Jobab of Madon and kings of Shimron and Achshaph; 2Kings of the north highlands, the Jordan River Valley south of the Sea of Galilee, [1] the foothills to the west, and the western region of Dor; [2] 3Kings of Canaanites from east to west along with kings of Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites in the highlands, and Hivites in Mizpah territory at the foot of Mount Hermon.4These kings united their forces into a massive army. They had more warriors than sand on a beach. This coalition army fielded an enormous chariot corps, with a lot of horsepower. [3] 5They camped at Merom Springs [4] as a staging ground for the battle against Israel. 6One day before the battle, the LORD told Joshua, “Don’t be afraid. By this time tomorrow I’ll have given you this army. And they’ll be dead. When you attack them, disable their horses by cutting their hamstrings.” [5]
Joshua leads surprise attack
7Joshua and his men hit the enemy in a surprise attack at Merom Springs. 8The LORD had Israel defeat the coalition army. Then the Israelites chased down enemy warriors who ran away. They pursued them as far north as Sidon, west to Misrephoth-maim, and east to Mizpah territory. Israel’s fighters chased them and killed them until there was no one left to kill. 9Joshua had done what the LORD said. He disabled the horses and burned the chariots. 10After this battle, Joshua captured Hazor and killed King Jabin. Until then, Hazor had been capital of all the kingdoms that fought Israel in this battle. 11Israel’s army killed everyone in Hazor and then set the city on fire.12Joshua took every city of every king who fought him in that battle at Merom Springs. And in every city, the Israelites killed everyone. They did what Moses, the LORD’s servant, told them to do. 13They didn’t destroy towns built on mounds [6] of previous cities. [7] Hazor was the exception. Joshua set Hazor on fire. 14Israel killed all the people in those cities. Then they kept whatever they found and wanted, including the livestock. 15The LORD told Joshua what to do and when to do it, just the LORD had done with Moses. Joshua did whatever the LORD said.
How Joshua captured the country
16So, this is the story of how Joshua took control of all the land. He captured the central highlands, the Negev deserts in the south, the territory of Goshen, [8] the foothills above the coastal plains, the Jordan River Valley, and Israel’s mountains and foothills. 17He captured territory from Mount Halak [9] in the far south to Edom in the distant east, and all the way up north to Baal-gad in the Lebanon Valley at the foot of Mount Hermon. Joshua executed all the kings who ruled those places.18Joshua fought this war for a long time. 19The only town Joshua made peace with was the Hivite town of Gibeon. 20The LORD made the people in those enemy towns so stubborn that they insisted on fighting Israel. For that, Israel killed them all. They left no survivors, which is what the LORD told Moses they should do: show no mercy.
21After those victories, Joshua turned his attacks toward descendants of the giant, Anak. [10] They lived in the highlands of Hebron, Debir, Anab, all the hills of Judah, and all the hills of Israel. Joshua wiped out their cities and killed their people. 22No Anakites survived to live in Israel. Some lived along the coast in the cities of Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. [11] 23This is how Joshua captured all the land, just as the LORD told Moses it would happen. Joshua gave the land to Israel. He divided it among the tribes. After all these battles, the people lived in peace.
