Joshua 11 - Easy To Read Version

¹ Jabin, king of Hazor, heard about all these things that happened. So he decided to call together the armies of several kings. Jabin sent a message to Jobab, king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, the king of Acshaph,

² and to the kings of the north, in the hill country and in the desert. Jabin sent the message to the kings of the Kinnereth, [49] the Negev, [50] and the western foothills. Jabin also sent the message to the king of Naphoth Dor in the west.

³ Jabin sent that message to the kings of the Canaanite people in the east and in the west. He sent the message to the Amorite people, the Hittite people, the Perizzite people, and the Jebusite people living in the hill country. He also sent the message to the Hivite people living below Mount Hermon near Mizpah.

⁴ So the armies of all these kings came together. There were many fighting men and many horses and chariots. It was a very, very large army—it looked like there were as many men as grains of sand on the sea shore.

⁵ All of these kings met together at the small river of Merom. They joined their armies together into one camp and made plans for the battle against Israel.

⁶ Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Don’t be afraid of that army. I will allow you to defeat them. By this time tomorrow, you will have killed them all. You will cut the legs of the horses and burn all their chariots.”

⁷ Joshua and his whole army surprised the enemy. They attacked the enemy at the river of Merom.

⁸ The Lord allowed Israel to defeat them. The army of Israel defeated them and chased them to Greater Sidon, Misrephoth Maim, and the Valley of Mizpah in the east. The army of Israel fought until none of the enemy was left alive.

⁹ Joshua did what the Lord said he would do—Joshua cut the legs of their horses and burned their chariots.

¹⁰ Then Joshua went back and captured the city of Hazor. Joshua killed the king of Hazor. (Hazor was the leader of all the kingdoms that fought against Israel.)

¹¹ The army of Israel killed every person in that city. They completely destroyed all the people. There was nothing left alive. Then they burned the city.

¹² Joshua captured all of these cities. He killed all of their kings. Joshua completely destroyed everything in these cities. He did this the way Moses, the Lord’s servant, had commanded.

¹³ But the army of Israel did not burn any cities that were built on hills. The only city built on a hill that they burned was Hazor. This is the city Joshua burned.

¹⁴ The people of Israel kept for themselves all the things they found in the cities. They kept all the animals that they found in the city. But they killed all the people there. They did not allow any people to be left alive.

¹⁵ Long ago the Lord commanded his servant Moses to do this. Then Moses commanded Joshua to do this. So Joshua obeyed God. Joshua did everything that the Lord had commanded Moses.

¹⁶ So Joshua defeated all the people in that whole country. He had control over the hill country, the Negev, all the area of Goshen, the area of the western foothills, Jordan Valley, and the mountains of Israel and all the hills near them.

¹⁷ Joshua had control of all the land from Mount Halak near Seir to Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. Joshua captured all the kings in that land and killed them.

¹⁸ Joshua fought against those kings many years.

¹⁹ Only one city in all the land made a peace agreement with Israel. That was the Hivite city of Gibeon. All the other cities were defeated in war.

²⁰ The Lord wanted those people to think they were strong. Then they would fight against Israel. This way he could destroy them without mercy. He could destroy them the way the Lord had commanded Moses to do.

²¹ The Anakite people [51] lived in the hill country in the area of Hebron, Debir, Anab, and Judah. Joshua fought them and completely destroyed all those people and their towns.

²² There were no Anakite people left living in the land of Israel. The only Anakite people that were left alive were in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.

²³ Joshua took control of the whole land of Israel, just as the Lord had told Moses long ago. The Lord gave that land to Israel just like he promised. And Joshua divided the land among the family groups of Israel. Finally, the fighting ended and there was peace in the land.