« | Joshua 11 | » |
1 And it came to pass, when Jabin king of Hazor heard [these things,] that he sent to Jobab king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph,
2 and to the kings who [were] from the north, in the mountains, in the plain south of Chinneroth, in the lowland, and in the heights of Dor on the west,
3 to the Canaanites in the east and in the west, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite in the mountains, and the Hivite below Hermon in the land of Mizpah.
4 So they went out, they and all their armies with them, [as] many people [as] the sand that [is] on the seashore in multitude, with very many horses and chariots.
5 And when all these kings had met together, they came and camped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.
6 But the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow about this time I will deliver all of them slain before Israel. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire."
7 So Joshua and all the people of war with him came against them suddenly by the waters of Merom, and they attacked them.
8 And the LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel, who defeated them and chased them to Greater Sidon, to the Brook Misrephoth, and to the Valley of Mizpah eastward; they attacked them until they left none of them remaining.
9 So Joshua did to them as the LORD had told him: he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.
10 Joshua turned back at that time and took Hazor, and struck its king with the sword; for Hazor was formerly the head of all those kingdoms.
11 And they struck all the people who [were] in it with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying [them.] There was none left breathing. Then he burned Hazor with fire.
12 So all the cities of those kings, and all their kings, Joshua took and struck with the edge of the sword. He utterly destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded.
13 But [as for] the cities that stood on their mounds, Israel burned none of them, except Hazor only, [which] Joshua burned.
14 And all the spoil of these cities and the livestock, the children of Israel took as booty for themselves; but they struck every man with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them, and they left none breathing.
15 As the LORD had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses.
16 Thus Joshua took all this land: the mountain country, all the South, all the land of Goshen, the lowland, and the Jordan plain -- the mountains of Israel and its lowlands,
17 from Mount Halak and the ascent to Seir, even as far as Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings, and struck them down and killed them.
18 Joshua made war a long time with all those kings.
19 There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. All [the others] they took in battle.
20 For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that He might utterly destroy them, [and] that they might receive no mercy, but that He might destroy them, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
21 And at that time Joshua came and cut off the Anakim from the mountains: from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel; Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities.
22 None of the Anakim were left in the land of the children of Israel; they remained only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod.
23 So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD had said to Moses; and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. Then the land rested from war.
The New King James Version (NKJV)
The New King James Version (NKJV) is a modern translation of the Bible that seeks to preserve the stylistic and literary beauty of the original King James Version (KJV) while making it more accessible to contemporary readers. The project to create the NKJV began in 1975, spearheaded by Arthur Farstad and a team of over 130 scholars, theologians, and pastors. They aimed to maintain the traditional language and rhythm of the KJV while updating archaic terms and expressions to be more understandable for modern audiences. The translation was completed and published in 1982, offering a blend of reverence for the past and clarity for the present.
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The NKJV has been praised for its readability and poetic qualities, which make it suitable for both private study and public worship. Its translators worked diligently to preserve the lyrical and memorable phrasing of the KJV, which has deeply influenced English literature and religious practice. By modernizing the language without compromising the text’s inherent dignity and solemnity, the NKJV has become a popular choice among those who value both accuracy and elegance in their Bible reading.
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