11 Now when King Yabin of Hatsor heard about all that, he sent to King Yovav of Madon and the kings of Shimron and Akshaf, 2 as well as the kings from the hill country in the north and in the rift valley plains south of Lake Galilee, and in the lowlands and in the heights of Dor in the west, 3 and the kings of the Canaanites both east and west, and the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and the Yebusites who lived in the hill country, and to the Hivites by Mt. Hermon in the Mitspah region. 4 So they all came out with their warriors—so many people that they were as many as the grains of sand on the seashore, along with many horses and chariots. 5 All those kings gathered together at the time they’d specified and took up positions at the Merom stream to fight against Israel.

6 But Yahweh told Yehoshua, “Don’t be afraid that they look overwhelming, because tomorrow at this time, I’ll ensure that they’re all slain by Israel. You’ll hamstring their horses and burn their chariots.” 7 Then Yehoshua and all his warriors went to Merom and attacked them without warning 8 and Yahweh enabled them to defeat them. 9 Then Yehoshua did what Yahweh had instructed him—he crippled their horses and set fire to their chariots.

10 After that, Yehoshua returned to Hatsor city and captured it and killed the king—in the past it had been the head of all those kingdoms. 11 They killed everything in the city—not leaving anything that breathes—and then set fire to it.

12 So Yehoshua had captured all those kings and their cities, and completely destroyed them and their people just as Yahweh’s servant Mosheh had commanded. 13 However, other than Hatsor, they didn’t burn any of the other more defensible cities built up on mounds. 14 The Israelis took any valuables and any livestock from those cities, but they killed everyone and everything else. 15 Yehoshua did everything exactly as Yahweh had instructed his servant Mosheh (and as Mosheh had then instructed him), not forgetting or ignoring anything.