1 And it happened that when Jabin {yavin: ruling one}, king of Hazor {khatsor: fortified stronghold}, heard, he sent to Jobab, king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron and to the king of Akshaph.
2 And to the kings who were in the north, in the hill country, and in the Arabah {arabah: rift valley} south of Kinneroth, and in the lowland, and in Naphoth-dor {nafot dor: Dor heights} toward the sea.
3 The Canaanite from the east and the west, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the hill country {ha-har: rugged highland}, and the Hivite beneath Hermon in the land of Mizpah {mitspeh: watchtower region}.
4 They went out with all their camps beside them—a vast encampment {machanehem: military tents}, a people as numerous as the sand that is on the seashore. They had horses and chariots in abundance {rov: multitude}.
5 All these kings gathered {vayyivvaʿadu: mutual deliberation} and pitched camp {vayyakhannu: strategic positioning} by the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.
6 And the LORD {YHWH, Battle Leader} said to Joshua, “Do not fear {tira: dread them} because of them, for tomorrow at this time I am giving all of them as slain before Israel; you shall hamstring their horses and you shall burn their chariots in fire.”
7 Joshua came with the battle force {milchamah: combat unit} against them at the waters of Merom, and suddenly they fell upon them {vayippelu: attacked swiftly}.
8 And the LORD {YHWH, Divine Deliverer} gave them into the hand of Israel, and they struck them and pursued them as far as Great Sidon {tsidon rabbah: major Canaanite city}, and to Misrephoth Mayim and to the Valley of Mizpah eastward, until no survivor was left.
9 And Joshua did to them as the LORD {YHWH, Divine Commander} had said to him: their horses {sus: war horse} he hamstrung, and their chariots he burned with fire.
10 And Joshua {Yehoshua: leader in conquest} turned back at that time and captured Hazor {Chatzor: Canaanite stronghold}, and he struck its king with the sword, for Hazor was formerly the head of all these kingdoms.
11 And they struck down all the living beings {nefesh: individual lives} who were in it by the edge of the sword, devoted to destruction; not one breath {neshamah: living soul} was left, and he burned Hazor with fire.
12 And Joshua captured all these cities of the kings and all their kings, and he struck them down by the sword {cherev: war weapon}. He put them under the ban, just as Moses, the servant of the LORD {YHWH, Holy War Commander} had commanded.
13 Israel did not burn any of the cities {he'arim: fortified settlements} that stood on their mounds {tilam: earthen battlements}—except Hazor alone, which Joshua burned down.
14 And all the plunder of these cities and the livestock the sons of Israel plundered for themselves; but all the people they struck down by the edge of the sword {cherev: cutting weapon} until they destroyed them {adhishmidam: total extermination}. They left no breathing thing alive.
15 Just as the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Commander} commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did so; he did not turn aside {hesir: depart from command} a single thing from all that the LORD had commanded Moses.
16 And Joshua {Yehoshua: Conquest Leader} took all this land—the hill country {har: elevated region}, all the Negev, the land of Goshen, the lowland, the Arabah, and the hill country of Israel with its lowland.
17 From the smooth {he-chalaq: level ridge} mountain that rises toward Seir and as far as Baal Gad {baal-gad: northern stronghold} in the valley of Lebanon under Mount Hermon, he captured all their kings and struck them and put them to death.
18 For many days, Joshua {Yehoshua: YHWH Is Salvation} made war against all these kings {melakhim: regional rulers}.
19 No city made peace with the sons of Israel {yisrael: Jacob's descendants}, except the Hivites {khivi: Gibeon clan}, the inhabitants of Gibeon; they took them all in battle.
20 For it was from the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Director} that their hearts were hardened {lechazzeq: made resolute} to confront Israel in battle, so that they might be devoted to destruction and be shown no mercy, so that they would be destroyed just as the LORD commanded Moses.
21 And Joshua {Yehoshua: Appointed Leader} came at that time and cut off the Anakim {‘anaqim: Giant Clan} from the hill country of Hebron, Debir and Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah and all the hill country of Israel. With their cities, Joshua utterly destroyed them.
22 No Anakites remained in the land of the sons of Israel; only in Gaza {Azzah: Philistine city}, in Gath, and in Ashdod did they remain {nish'aru: survived as a remnant}.
23 So Joshua took all the land, just as the LORD {YHWH, Promise Fulfiller} had spoken to Moses; and Joshua gave it as an inheritance {nachalah: allotted possession} to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war.