Now these are ^athe nations which the Lord left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan; ²Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof; ³Namely, ^bfive lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount ^cLebanon, from mount Baal-hermon unto the entering in of Hamath. ⁴And they were ^ato prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.

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Footnotes

ach. 2:21, 22. ver. 4. Josh. 13:2–6.
bSee Josh. 13:3.
cSee Josh. 13:4, 5.
ach. 2:21, 22. ver. 4. Josh. 13:2–6.

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In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Now these are the nations that the Lord left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

These are the nations the Lord left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience): the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath. They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the Lord’s commands, which he had given their ancestors through Moses.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

These are the nations the Lord left in order to test all those in Israel who had experienced none of the wars in Canaan. This was to teach the future generations of the Israelites how to fight in battle, especially those who had not fought before. These nations included the five rulers of the Philistines and all of the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived in the Lebanese mountains from Mount Baal-hermon as far as the entrance to Hamath. The Lord left them to test Israel, to determine if they would keep the Lord’s commands he had given their ancestors through Moses.

NLTNew Living Translation

These are the nations that the Lord left in the land to test those Israelites who had not experienced the wars of Canaan. He did this to teach warfare to generations of Israelites who had no experience in battle. These are the nations: the Philistines (those living under the five Philistine rulers), all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the mountains of Lebanon from Mount Baal-hermon to Lebo-hamath. These people were left to test the Israelites—to see whether they would obey the commands the Lord had given to their ancestors through Moses.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

These are the nations that Yahweh left, to test Israel by them (that is, to test all those who had not experienced any of the wars of Canaan, in order that the generations of Israel would know war, to teach those who had not experienced it before): the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon up to Lebo-Hamath. They were left for testing Israel, to know whether they would keep the commands of Yahweh that he commanded their ancestors through the hand of Moses.