Conquest of the Northern Cities

11 Now when Jabin king of Hazor heard about these things, he sent word to Jobab king of Madon; to the kings of Shimron and Achshaph; 2 to the kings of the north in the mountains, in the Arabah south of Chinnereth, in the foothills,[fn] and in Naphoth-dor [fn] to the west; 3 to the Canaanites in the east and west; to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Jebusites in the hill country; and to the Hivites at the foot of Hermon in the land of Mizpah.

4 So these kings came out with all their armies, a multitude as numerous as the sand on the seashore, along with a great number of horses and chariots. 5 All these kings joined forces and encamped at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.

6 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for by this time tomorrow I will deliver all of them slain before Israel. You are to hamstring their horses and burn up their chariots.”

7 So by the waters of Merom, Joshua and his whole army came upon them suddenly and attacked them, 8 and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel, who struck them down and pursued them all the way to Greater Sidon and Misrephoth-maim, and eastward as far as the Valley of Mizpeh. They struck them down, leaving no survivors. 9 Joshua treated them as the LORD had told him; he hamstrung their horses and burned up their chariots.

10 At that time Joshua turned back and captured Hazor and put its king to the sword, because Hazor was formerly the head of all these kingdoms. 11 The Israelites put everyone in Hazor to the sword, devoting them to destruction.[fn] Nothing that breathed remained, and Joshua burned down Hazor itself.

12 Joshua captured all these kings and their cities and put them to the sword. He devoted them to destruction, as Moses the LORD’s servant had commanded. 13 Yet Israel did not burn any of the cities built on their mounds, except Hazor, which Joshua burned.

14 The Israelites took for themselves all the plunder and livestock of these cities, but they put all the people to the sword until they had completely destroyed them, not sparing anyone who breathed. 15 As the LORD had commanded His servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua. That is what Joshua did, leaving nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses.