So the LORD became angry with the Israelites, and let the Philistines and the Ammonites conquer them.

His parents did not know that it was the LORD who was leading Samson to do this, for the LORD was looking for a chance to fight the Philistines. At this time the Philistines were ruling Israel.

as well as all the territory of the Avvim to the south. (The land from the stream Shihor, at the Egyptian border, as far north as the border of Ekron was considered Canaanite; the kings of the Philistines lived at Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron.)

At that time the Philistines gathered to go to war against Israel, so the Israelites set out to fight them. The Israelites set up their camp at Ebenezer and the Philistines at Aphek.

The Philistines attacked, and after fierce fighting they defeated the Israelites and killed about four thousand men on the battlefield.

They also sent gold mice, one for each of the cities ruled by the five Philistine kings, both the fortified towns and the villages without walls. The large rock in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, on which they placed the LORD's Covenant Box, is still there as a witness to what happened.

The Philistines assembled to fight the Israelites; they had thirty thousand war chariots, six thousand cavalry troops, and as many soldiers as there are grains of sand on the seashore. They went to Michmash, east of Bethaven, and camped there.

There were no blacksmiths in Israel because the Philistines were determined to keep the Hebrews from making swords and spears.

the charge was one small coin for sharpening axes and for fixing goads, and two coins for sharpening plows or hoes.)

The Philistines sent a group of soldiers to defend Michmash Pass.

The five Philistine kings marched out with their units of a hundred and of a thousand men; David and his men marched in the rear with King Achish.

So the LORD let them be conquered by Jabin, a Canaanite king who ruled in the city of Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived at Harosheth-of-the-Gentiles.

That day God gave the Israelites victory over Jabin, the Canaanite king.

They pressed harder and harder against him until they destroyed him.

Canaan's sons---Sidon, the oldest, and Heth---were the ancestors of the peoples who bear their names.

the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites,

until the Canaanite borders reached from Sidon southward to Gerar near Gaza, and eastward to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim near Lasha.

Amalekites live in the southern part of the land; Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and Canaanites live by the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan River."

the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites oppressed you in the past, and you cried out to me. Did I not save you from them?

So the five men left and went to the town of Laish. They saw how the people there lived in security like the Sidonians. They were a peaceful, quiet people, with no argument with anyone; they had all they needed. They lived far away from the Sidonians and had no dealings with any other people.

"Zebulun will live beside the sea. His shore will be a haven for ships. His territory will reach as far as Sidon.

The LORD gave the Israelites victory over them; the Israelites attacked and pursued them as far north as Misrephoth Maim and Sidon, and as far east as the valley of Mizpah. The fight continued until none of the enemy was left alive.

Joshua then turned back, captured Hazor and killed its king. (At that time Hazor was the most powerful of all those kingdoms.)

Joshua captured all these cities and their kings, putting everyone to death, just as Moses, the LORD's servant, had commanded.

Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah, as far as Sidon.

and from there to Hamath Pass. It will continue to Zedad

Break camp and move on. Go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the surrounding regions---to the Jordan Valley, to the hill country and the lowlands, to the southern region, and to the Mediterranean coast. Go to the land of Canaan and on beyond the Lebanon Mountains as far as the great Euphrates River.

(Mount Hermon is called Sirion by the Sidonians, and Senir by the Amorites.)

He also sent word to the Canaanites on both sides of the Jordan, to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites in the hill country, as well as to the Hivites who lived at the foot of Mount Hermon in the land of Mizpah.

the land of the Gebalites; all of Lebanon to the east, from Baalgad, which is south of Mount Hermon, to Hamath Pass.