1 These are the nations the Lord left behind to test all the Israelites who had not experienced any war in Canaan.
2 The Lord left them to teach Israel’s descendants about war, at least those who had known nothing about it in the past.
3 He left the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon from Mount Baal Hermon to the border of Hamath.
4 These nations were left to test the Israelites, to find out if they would obey the commands the Lord had given their ancestors through Moses.
5 So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.