1When Jabin king of Hazor heard about these things, he sent word to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph,
2and to the kings in the north in the mountains, and in the plains south of Chinneroth, and in the valley, and in the borders of Dor on the west,
3and to the Canaanite in the east and in the west, and to the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the mountains, and to the Hivite under Hermon in the land of Mizpeh.
4They came out with all their armies, a great crowd of people, as many as the sand on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots.
5All these kings joined together. They came and camped together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel.
6The LORD said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them. By this time tomorrow I will hand them all over to Israel, killed. You are to cut the hamstrings of their horses, and burn their chariots with fire."
7So Joshua came against them suddenly at the waters of Merom, with all his fighting men, and they fell upon them.
8The LORD gave them into the hand of Israel. Israel struck them down and chased them as far as great Zidon, and as far as Misrephothmaim, and to the valley of Mizpeh in the east. They struck them down until they left none of them alive.
9Joshua did to them as the LORD had told him. He cut the hamstrings of their horses, and burned their chariots with fire.
10At that time Joshua turned back and took Hazor, and killed its king with the sword. For in earlier times Hazor was the head of all those kingdoms.
11They struck down every living person in it with the edge of the sword, destroying them completely. No one was left breathing. And he burned Hazor with fire.
12Joshua took all the cities of those kings, and their kings as well, and struck them down with the edge of the sword. He destroyed them completely, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded.
13But Israel burned none of the cities that still stood on their mounds, except Hazor only. That one Joshua burned.
14All the goods of these cities, and the cattle, the children of Israel took for themselves. But they struck down every person with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them. They left no one breathing.
15As the LORD had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses.
16So Joshua took all that land: the hills, and all the south country, and all the land of Goshen, and the valley, and the plain, and the mountain of Israel, and its valley;
17from Mount Halak, which goes up to Seir, as far as Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings, struck them down, and killed them.
18Joshua made war with all those kings for a long time.
19Not one city made peace with the children of Israel, except the Hivites who lived in Gibeon. All the rest they took in battle.
20For it was from the LORD to harden their hearts, so that they would come against Israel in battle. He would destroy them completely, and they would find no mercy, but he would destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses.
21At that time Joshua came and cut off the Anakims from the mountains, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel. Joshua destroyed them completely with their cities.