and when the Lord your God delivers them before you and you strike them down, then you must utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them.
You shall not bring an abomination into your house, lest you become cursed like it, but you must absolutely detest and abhor it, for it is a cursed thing.
Joshua took Makkedah that day and struck it and its king with the edge of the sword. He destroyed it and all life within it. He did not leave any survivors. He did to the king of Makkedah just as he did to the king of Jericho.
So Joshua attacked the whole land: the hill country, the Negev, the lowlands, the mountain slopes, and all their kings. No survivor was left. He destroyed all who breathed, as the Lord God of Israel had commanded.
The Israelites plundered all the goods and the livestock of these cities, but they struck all the people with the edge of the sword until they destroyed them. They did not spare anyone who breathed.
Israel has sinned, and they have broken My covenant that I commanded them. They took from the things dedicated for destruction. They have stolen, acted deceitfully, and put them among their own possessions.
They answered Joshua, “It was told to your slaves that the Lord your God commanded Moses His servant to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land before you. So we were very afraid for our lives, and we did this thing.
Now go and strike Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not have compassion on them but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”