The United Kings of Northern Canaan Defeated

11 When King Jabin of Hazor heard of this, he sent to King Jobab of Madon, to the king of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph,^{(A) 2} and to the kings who were in the northern hill country, and in the Arabah south of Chinneroth, and in the lowland, and in Naphoth-dor on the west,^{(B) 3} to the Canaanites in the east and the west, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites in the hill country, and the Hivites under Hermon in the land of Mizpah. ⁴ They came out, with all their troops, a great army, in number like the sand on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots.^{(C) 5} All these kings joined their forces and came and camped together at the waters of Merom, to fight with Israel.

⁶ And the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow at this time I will hand over all of them, slain, to Israel; you shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.”^{(D) 7} So Joshua came suddenly upon them with all his fighting force, by the waters of Merom, and fell upon them. ⁸ And the Lord handed them over to Israel, who attacked them and chased them as far as Great Sidon and Misrephoth-maim and eastward as far as the valley of Mizpeh. They struck them down until they had left no one remaining.^{(E) 9} And Joshua did to them as the Lord had commanded him; he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.^(F)

¹⁰ Joshua turned back at that time and took Hazor and struck its king down with the sword. Before that time Hazor was the head of all those kingdoms. ¹¹ And they put to the sword all who were in it, utterly destroying them; there was no one left who breathed, and he burned Hazor with fire.^{(G) 12} And all the towns of those kings and all their kings, Joshua took and struck them with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. ¹³ But Israel burned none of the towns that stood on mounds except Hazor, which Joshua did burn. ¹⁴ All the spoil of these towns and the livestock the Israelites plundered for themselves, but all the people they struck down with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them, and they did not leave any who breathed.^{(H) 15} As the Lord had commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.^(I)

Jonah Tries to Run Away from God

1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying,^{(A) 2} “Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it, for their wickedness has come up before me.”^{(B) 3} But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid his fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.^(C)

Conversion of Nineveh

3 The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying,^{(A) 2} “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” ³ So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. ⁴ Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” ⁵ And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.^(B)

¹⁰ When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them, and he did not do it.^(A)

Jonah’s Anger

4 But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry.^{(B) 2} He prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning, for I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from punishment.^{(C) 3} And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”^{(D) 4} And the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”^{(E) 5} Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, waiting to see what would become of the city.^(F)