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Joshua’s army captured towns in the north
1 When King Jabin of Hazor city heard about all those things that had happened, he sent messages to Jobab, the king of Madon city, to the king of Shimron city, and to the king of Acshaph city, requesting them to send their armies to come and help him fight against the Israelis.
2 He also sent messages to the kings in the northern hilly area and to the kings in the Jordan River Valley, south of Galilee Lake 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 Canaan people-group in the eastern and western parts of the land. He sent messages to the Amor people-group and the Heth people-group and the Periz people-group and the Jebus people-group who lived in the hilly area. He also sent a message to the Hiv people-group who lived below Hermon Mountain in the Mizpah area.
4 So the armies of all those kings gathered together, bringing their horses and chariots. There seemed to be [HYP] as many soldiers as grains of sand on the seashore.
5 All of those kings and their armies gathered together at Merom Pond, and they set up their tents there. Then they made plans to fight against the Israelis.
6 Then Yahweh said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, because at this time tomorrow I will enable your men to defeat them. Your men must also cripple their horses and burn their chariots.”
7 So Joshua and his army traveled to Merom Pond and attacked their enemies ◄by surprise/before they were ready to fight►.
8 Yahweh enabled the Israelis to defeat them. They pursued them to Sidon city in the far north, and to Misrephoth-Maim in the northwest, and to Mizpah Valley in the northeast. The Israelis fought them until ◄they were all dead/there were no survivors►.
9 Then Joshua and his men did what Yahweh told them to do: They crippled their enemies’ horses and burned their chariots.
10 The king of Hazor had ruled the people of all the kingdoms whose armies had fought against the Israelis. So Joshua’s army went back to Hazor and captured that city and killed their king.
11 They killed everyone in Hazor; ◄they did not spare anyone/no one was left alive► [DOU]. Then they burned the city.
12 Joshua’s army captured all of those cities and killed all of their kings. They did that like Moses, the man who served Yahweh well, had commanded them to do.
13 Joshua’s men burned Hazor city, but they did not burn any of the other cities that were built on small hills.
14 The Israelis took for themselves the animals that they found in those cities and everything else that was valuable [DOU]. But they killed all the people.
15 Many years before, Yahweh had told Moses to do that, and then Moses told Joshua to do it. So Joshua did everything that Yahweh had commanded Moses to do.
16 Joshua’s army defeated all the people who were living in that land. They took control over the hilly area and the area in the southern part of Canaan, all the area of Goshen, the western foothills, and the Jordan River Valley. They took control over all the mountains in Israel and all the hills near the mountains.
17 They took control of all the land from Halak Mountain in the south up to the Seir hilly area as far as Baal-Gaal in Lebanon Valley in the north, at the bottom of Hermon Mountain. They captured all the kings of those areas and killed them.
18 Joshua’s men fought against those groups for many years.
19 There was only one group that made a peace agreement with the Israelis; they were the people of the Hiv people-group who lived in Gibeon. The Israelis captured all the other towns in battles.
20 Yahweh caused the people in all those other groups to be stubborn [IDM], with the result that they fought against the Israeli army, and the Israelis killed them all. They were not merciful to any of them. That is what Yahweh had commanded Moses to do.
21 Joshua’s army also fought the Anak people-group who lived in the hills near Hebron, Debir, and Anah cities. They also fought against the people who lived in the hilly area of Judah and Israel, and they killed all of those people and destroyed their cities.
22 As a result, there were no descendants of Anak who remained alive in Israel. Only a few remained alive in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod cities.
23 Joshua’s army took control of all the land, just as Yahweh long ago had told Moses to do. Yahweh gave the land to the Israelis, because he had promised to give it to them. Then Joshua divided the land among the Israeli tribes. After that, there was ◄peace/no more battles► in the land.