1 When Jabin king of Hazor heard this, he sent word to Jobab king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph, 2 and to the kings in the north, in the hill country, in the Arabah south of Chinneroth, in the lowland, and on the heights of Dor to the west, 3 to the Canaanites in the east and west, the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Jebusites in the hill country, and the Hivites below Hermon in the land of Mizpah. 4 They went out with all their armies, a multitude as numerous as the sand on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots. 5 All these kings joined forces and came and camped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.

6 The LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for tomorrow about this time I will give them all over, slain, before Israel. You must hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.” 7 So Joshua and all the men of war with him came upon them suddenly at the waters of Merom and fell upon them. 8 The LORD gave them into the hand of Israel, and they struck them down and pursued them as far as Great Sidon, Misrephoth-maim, and the Valley of Mizpah to the east. They struck them down until they left them no survivor. 9 Joshua did to them as the LORD had told him: he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.

10 At that time Joshua turned back and captured Hazor and struck down its king with the sword, for Hazor had formerly been the head of all these kingdoms. 11 They struck every person in it with the edge of the sword, devoting them to destruction. Nothing that breathed remained. He burned Hazor with fire. 12 Joshua captured all the cities of these kings and all their kings. He struck them with the edge of the sword and devoted them to destruction, as Moses, the servant of the LORD, had commanded. 13 But Israel did not burn any of the cities standing on their mounds, except Hazor alone, which Joshua burned. 14 The people of Israel took all the plunder and livestock of these cities for themselves. But they struck all the people with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them, leaving nothing that breathed. 15 As the LORD had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses. 16 Joshua took all this land: the hill country, all the Negev, all the land of Goshen, the lowland, the Arabah, the hill country of Israel and its lowland, 17 from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, as far as Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings, struck them down, and killed them. 18 Joshua waged war against all these kings for a long time. 19 No city made peace with the people of Israel except the Hivites living in Gibeon. They took all the others in battle. 20 For it was the LORD’s doing to harden their hearts to meet Israel in battle, so that they would be devoted to destruction and receive no mercy, but be destroyed, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

21 At that time Joshua came and cut off the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, Debir, and Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah and all the hill country of Israel. Joshua devoted them and their cities to destruction. 22 No Anakim remained in the land of the people of Israel. They remained only in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. 23 Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD had told Moses. Joshua gave it to Israel as an inheritance, according to their tribal divisions. And the land rested from war.