Joshua 9–10

DECEPTION BY GIBEON

9When all the kings heard about Jericho and Ai, those who were west of the Jordan in the hill country,^l in the Judean foothills,^A and all along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea^m toward Lebanon—the Hethites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—²they formed a unified alliance to fight against Joshua and Israel.

³When the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,^{n 4}they acted deceptively. They gathered provisions^B and took worn-out sacks on their donkeys and old wineskins, cracked and mended. ⁵They wore old, patched sandals on their feet and threadbare clothing on their bodies. Their entire provision of bread was dry and crumbly. ⁶They went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land. Please make a treaty with us.”^o

⁷The men of Israel replied to the Hivites, “Perhaps you live among us. How can we make a treaty with you?”^p

⁸They said to Joshua, “We are your servants.”^a

Then Joshua asked them, “Who are you and where do you come from?”

⁹They replied to him, “Your servants have come from a faraway land because of the reputation of the Lord your God. For we have heard of his fame, and all that he did in Egypt, ¹⁰and all that he did to the two Amorite kings beyond the Jordan—King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan, who was in Ashtaroth. ¹¹So our elders and all the inhabitants of our land told us, ‘Take provisions with you for the journey; go and meet them and say, “We are your servants. Please make a treaty with us.” ’ ¹²This bread of ours was warm when we took it from our houses as food on the day we left to come to you; but see, it is now dry and crumbly. ¹³These wineskins were new when we filled them; but see, they are cracked. And these clothes and sandals of ours are worn out from the extremely long journey.” ¹⁴Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions, but did not seek the Lord’s decision.^{b 15}So Joshua established peace with them and made a treaty to let them live, and the leaders of the community swore an oath to them.^c

GIBEON’S DECEPTION DISCOVERED

¹⁶Three days after making the treaty with them, they heard that the Gibeonites were their neighbors, living among them. ¹⁷So the Israelites set out and reached the Gibeonite cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim.^{d 18}But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the community had sworn an oath^e to them by the Lord, the God of Israel. Then the whole community grumbled against the leaders.

¹⁹All the leaders answered them, “We have sworn an oath to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, and now we cannot touch them. ²⁰This is how we will treat them: we will let them live, so that no wrath will fall on us because of the oath we swore to them.” ²¹They also said, “Let them live.” So the Gibeonites became woodcutters and water carriers^f for the whole community, as the leaders had promised them.

²²Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said to them, “Why did you deceive us by telling us you live far away from us, when in fact you live among us? ²³Therefore you are cursed and will always be slaves—woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”

²⁴The Gibeonites answered him, “It was clearly communicated to your servants that the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land before you. We greatly feared for our lives because of you, and that is why we did this.^{g 25}Now we are in your hands. Do to us whatever you think is right.”^{h 26}This is what Joshua did to them: he rescued them from the Israelites, and they did not kill them. ²⁷On that day he made them woodcutters and water carriers—as they are today—for the community and for the Lord’s altar at the place he would choose.ⁱ

THE DAY THE SUN STOOD STILL

10Now King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured Ai and completely destroyed^j it, treating Ai and its king as he had Jericho and its king, and that the inhabitants of Gibeon^k had made peace with Israel and were living among them.^{l 2}So Adoni-zedek and his people were^A greatly alarmed because Gibeon was a large city like one of the royal cities;^m it was larger than Ai, and all its men were warriors. ³Therefore King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem sent word to King Hoham of Hebron, King Piram of Jarmuth, King Japhia of Lachish, and King Debir of Eglon, saying, ⁴“Come up and help me. We will attack Gibeon, because they have made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.” ⁵So the five Amorite kings—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon—joined forces, advanced with all their armies, besieged Gibeon, and fought against it.

⁶Then the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: “Don’t give up on your servants. Come quickly and save us! Help us, for all the Amorite kings living in the hill country have joined forces against us.” ⁷So Joshua and all his troops, including all his best soldiers, came from Gilgal.ⁿ

⁸The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them,^o for I have handed them over to you.^p Not one of them will be able to stand against you.”^q

⁹So Joshua caught them by surprise, after marching all night from Gilgal. ¹⁰The Lord threw them into confusion^r before Israel. He defeated them in a great slaughter at Gibeon, chased them through the ascent of Beth-horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah. ¹¹As they fled before Israel, the Lord threw large hailstones on them^a from the sky along the descent of Beth-horon all the way to Azekah, and they died. More of them died from the hail than the Israelites killed with the sword.

¹²On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the Lord in the presence of Israel:

“Sun,^b stand still over Gibeon,

and moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”

¹³And the sun stood still

and the moon stopped

until the nation took vengeance on its enemies.

Isn’t this written in the Book of Jashar?^A

So the sun stopped

in the middle of the sky

and delayed its setting

almost a full day.

¹⁴There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord listened to a man, because the Lord fought for Israel.^{c 15}Then Joshua and all Israel with him returned to the camp at Gilgal.

EXECUTION OF THE FIVE KINGS

¹⁶Now the five defeated kings had fled and hidden in the cave at Makkedah. ¹⁷It was reported to Joshua, “The five kings have been found; they are hiding in the cave at Makkedah.”

¹⁸Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave, and station men by it to guard the kings. ¹⁹But as for the rest of you, don’t stay there. Pursue your enemies and attack them from behind. Don’t let them enter their cities, for the Lord your God has handed them over to you.” ²⁰So Joshua and the Israelites finished inflicting a terrible slaughter on them until they were destroyed, although a few survivors ran away to the fortified cities. ²¹The people returned safely to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah. And no one dared to threaten the Israelites.

²²Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave, and bring those five kings to me out of there.” ²³That is what they did. They brought the five kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon to Joshua out of the cave. ²⁴When they had brought the kings to him, Joshua summoned all the men of Israel and said to the military commanders who had accompanied him, “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So the commanders came forward and put their feet on their necks. ²⁵Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid or discouraged. Be strong and courageous,^d for the Lord will do this to all the enemies you fight.”

²⁶After this, Joshua struck them down and executed them. He hung^B their bodies on five trees^B and they were there until evening.^{e 27}At sunset Joshua commanded that they be taken down from the trees^f and thrown into the cave where they had hidden. Then large stones were placed against the mouth of the cave, and the stones are still there today.^g

CONQUEST OF SOUTHERN CITIES

²⁸On that day Joshua captured Makkedah and struck it down with the sword, including its king. He completely destroyed it^A and everyone in it, leaving no survivors. So he treated the king of Makkedah as he had the king of Jericho.^h

²⁹Joshua and all Israel with himⁱ crossed from Makkedah to Libnah and fought against Libnah.^{j 30}The Lord also handed it and its king over to Israel. He struck it down, putting everyone in it to the sword, and left no survivors in it. He treated Libnah’s king as he had the king of Jericho.

³¹From Libnah, Joshua and all Israel with him crossed to Lachish. They laid siege to it and attacked it. ³²The Lord handed Lachish over to Israel, and Joshua captured it on the second day. He struck it down, putting everyone in it to the sword, just as he had done to Libnah. ³³At that time King Horam of Gezer went to help Lachish,^k but Joshua struck him down along with his people, leaving no survivors.

³⁴Then Joshua crossed from Lachish to Eglon and all Israel with him. They laid siege to it and attacked it. ³⁵On that day they captured it and struck it down, putting everyone in it to the sword. He completely destroyed it that day, just as he had done to Lachish.

³⁶Next, Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron^l and attacked it. ³⁷They captured it and struck down its king, all its villages, and everyone in it with the sword. He left no survivors, just as he had done at Eglon. He completely destroyed Hebron and everyone in it.

³⁸Finally, Joshua turned toward Debir^a and attacked it. And all Israel was with him. ³⁹He captured it—its king and all its villages. They struck them down with the sword and completely destroyed everyone in it, leaving no survivors. He treated Debir and its king as he had treated Hebron and as he had treated Libnah and its king.

⁴⁰So Joshua conquered the whole region^b—the…