When the Lord your God gives them to you and you defeat them, destroy every one of them because they have been claimed by the Lord. Don’t make any treaties with them or show them any mercy.
Realize today that the Lord your God is the one who is going ahead of you like a raging fire. He will wipe them out and will use you to crush their power. You will take possession of their land and will quickly destroy them as the Lord promised you.
That same day Joshua captured Makkedah, and the Israelites killed its people and king with swords. He claimed them for the Lord by destroying them. There were no survivors. He did the same thing to the king of Makkedah that he had done to the king of Jericho.
The Lord also handed Libnah and its king over to Israel. He killed all the people. There were no survivors. He did the same thing to the king of Libnah that he had done to the king of Jericho.
They captured it and its neighboring villages and killed its king and all the people. There were no survivors, the same as at Eglon. He claimed the city and all its people for the Lord by destroying them.
So Joshua carried out what the Lord had commanded his servant Moses and what Moses had commanded him. He did not leave out anything the Lord had commanded Moses.
I will force out of the way of the people of Israel everyone who lives in the mountains from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim and all the people of Sidon. However, you must distribute the land as an inheritance to Israel by drawing lots, as I commanded you.
The Lord allowed them to have peace on every side, as he had sworn with an oath to their ancestors. Not one of their enemies stood up to them. The Lord handed all their enemies over to them.
He built an altar with uncut stones on which no iron chisels had been used. This was as the Lord’s servant Moses had commanded the people of Israel in the Book of Moses’ Teachings. They made burnt offerings to the Lord and sacrificed fellowship offerings on the altar.
They answered Joshua, “We were told that the Lord your God commanded his servant Moses to give you the whole land and destroy all who live there. We deceived you because we feared for our lives.