Joshua 10:1–27

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