At the news of all this, a summons went out from Jabin, king of Asor, to the king of Madon, Jobab, and the kings of Semeron and Achsaph,

and all the kings of the north country, on the heights, and in the valley south of Ceneroth, in the plains, too, and the territories of Dor by the sea coast.

Chanaanites from east and west, Amorrhites and Hethites and Pherezites and Jebusites from the hills, Hevites from the land of Maspha, close to the spurs of Hermon,

all alike went out to battle with their armies, an array of men countless as is the sand by the sea shore, with horses too and chariots beyond all reckoning.

The meeting-place for all these kings in their march against Israel was at the waters of Merom.

But the Lord said to Josue, Do not be afraid of them; by this time to-morrow they are all doomed to die at Israel’s onslaught. Then thou wilt be able to hamstring those horses of theirs, give those chariots to the flames.

So Josue with all his army made a sudden march to the waters of Merom, and there fell upon them;

and the Lord gave Israel the mastery, so that they defeated the enemy and pursued them all the way to the famous town of Sidon, and the waters of Maserephoth, and eastwards to Masphe. So hard did Josue press them that none were left surviving;

and then he did as the Lord had bidden him, hamstringing their horses and setting fire to their chariots.

Then he turned back to Asor, which in old days was paramount among all these kingdoms; he put Jabin to the sword,

and destroyed every living thing that dwelt there; no trace of them was left, all must be exterminated, and the city itself burned down.

He conquered, too, the capitals of all the neighbouring kings, and destroyed them, as Moses, the Lord’s servant, had bidden him,

except those which stood among the mountains, or on steep hills;✻ Asor itself was the only well-defended city the Israelites burned down.

The spoil and the cattle belonging to these cities they divided among themselves, but left no human creature alive.

The Lord’s bidding to Josue through Moses was carried out in full; no word of what the Lord had enjoined on Moses but Josue obeyed it.

It was Josue that conquered all the hill-country and the land south of it, the Gosen country and the low valleys, and the region west of them, the hill-country of Israel,✻ too, and the plain before it.

These conquests of his extended from the slopes of the Edomite hills right up to Baalgad, on the Lebanon plain under mount Hermon; the kings, everywhere, were captured, and crushed, and slain.

Long time must Josue spend campaigning against them;

there was no city that surrendered to the Israelites, except the Hevite city of Gabaon, all the rest were reduced by force of arms.

For indeed the Lord’s purpose was that they should be stubborn-hearted, and be defeated by Israel in battle, with no claim to mercy; so that all might be destroyed, in pursuance of the command the Lord gave to Moses.

At this time, too, Josue made his way up into the mountain country, Hebron, Dabir, Anab, and all the mountain country both of Juda and Israel, to make an end of the Enacim and their cities.

He left no trace of the breed of Enac in Israelite territory; they survived only at Gaza, Geth and Azotus.

Thus, in fulfilment of the Lord’s promise to Moses, Josue occupied the whole country, and gave the several tribes enjoyment of their several portions; and the land was at peace.