Little by little he will drive out these nations as you advance. You will not be able to destroy them all at once, for, if you did, the number of wild animals would increase and be a threat to you.

But the people of Judah were not able to drive out the Jebusites, who lived in Jerusalem. The Jebusites still live there with the people of Judah.

But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites have lived among the Ephraimites to this day, but they have been forced to work as slaves.

The people of Manasseh, however, were not able to drive out the people living in those cities, so the Canaanites continued to live there.

Even when the Israelites became stronger, they did not drive out all the Canaanites, but they did force them to work for them.

So then, the LORD left some nations in the land to test the Israelites who had not been through the wars in Canaan.

Those left in the land were the five Philistine cities, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived in the Lebanon Mountains from Mount Baal Hermon as far as Hamath Pass.