Joshua 10–12

The Sun Stands Still

10As soon as Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, heard how Joshua had captured Ai and had devoted it to destruction,^{1 m}doing to Ai and its king ⁿas he had done to Jericho and its king, and ^ohow the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, ^2phe² feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were warriors. ³So Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, to Piram king of Jarmuth, to Japhia king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon, saying, ⁴“Come up to me and help me, and let us strike Gibeon. For ^qit has made peace with Joshua and with the people of Israel.” ⁵Then the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, ^rgathered their forces and went up with all their armies and encamped against Gibeon and made war against it.

⁶And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua ^sat the camp in Gilgal, saying, “Do not relax your hand from your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the hill country are gathered against us.” ⁷So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and ^tall the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor. ⁸And the Lord said to Joshua, ^u“Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. ^vNot a man of them shall stand before you.” ⁹So Joshua came upon them suddenly, having marched up all night from Gilgal. ^10wAnd the Lord threw them into a panic before Israel, who³ struck them with a great blow at Gibeon and chased them by the way of ^xthe ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah. ¹¹And as they fled before Israel, while they were ^xgoing down the ascent of Beth-horon, ^ythe Lord threw down large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword.

¹²At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,

^z“Sun, stand still at Gibeon,

and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.”

¹³And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,

until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.

Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. ^14aThere has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded the voice of a man, for ^bthe Lord fought for Israel.

¹⁵So ^cJoshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.

Five Amorite Kings Executed

¹⁶These five kings fled and hid themselves in the cave at ^dMakkedah. ¹⁷And it was told to Joshua, “The five kings have been found, hidden in the cave at Makkedah.” ¹⁸And Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave and set men by it to guard them, ¹⁹but do not stay there yourselves. Pursue your enemies; ^eattack their rear guard. Do not let them enter their cities, for the Lord your God has given them into your hand.” ²⁰When Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished striking them with a great blow ^funtil they were wiped out, and when the remnant that remained of them had entered into the fortified cities, ²¹then all the people returned safe to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah. ^gNot a man moved his tongue against any of the people of Israel.

²²Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me from the cave.” ²³And they did so, and brought those five kings out to him from the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon. ²⁴And when they brought those kings out to Joshua, Joshua summoned all the men of Israel and said to the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him, “Come near; put your feet on the necks of these kings.” Then they came near and put their feet on their necks. ²⁵And Joshua said to them, ^h“Do not be afraid or dismayed; be strong and courageous. ⁱFor thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.” ²⁶And afterward Joshua struck them and put them to death, and he hanged them on five trees. And ^jthey hung on the trees until evening. ²⁷But at the time of the going down of the sun, Joshua commanded, and ^kthey took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves, and they set large stones against the mouth of the cave, which remain to this very day.

²⁸As for ^lMakkedah, Joshua captured it on that day and struck it, and its king, with the edge of the sword. He devoted to destruction every person in it; he left none remaining. And he did to the king of Makkedah ^mjust as he had done to the king of Jericho.

Conquest of Southern Canaan

²⁹Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Makkedah to ⁿLibnah and fought against Libnah. ³⁰And the Lord gave it also and its king into the hand of Israel. And he struck it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it; he left none remaining in it. And he did to its king ^mas he had done to the king of Jericho.

³¹Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Libnah to ^oLachish and laid siege to it and fought against it. ³²And the Lord gave Lachish into the hand of Israel, and he captured it on the second day and struck it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it, as he had done to Libnah.

³³Then Horam king of ^pGezer came up to help Lachish. And Joshua struck him and his people, until he left none remaining.

³⁴Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Lachish to ^qEglon. And they laid siege to it and fought against it. ³⁵And they captured it on that day, and struck it with the edge of the sword. And he devoted every person in it to destruction that day, as he had done to Lachish.

³⁶Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to ^rHebron. And they fought against it ³⁷and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword, and its king and its towns, and every person in it. He left none remaining, as he had done to Eglon, and devoted it to destruction and every person in it.

³⁸Then Joshua and all Israel with him turned back to ^sDebir and fought against it ³⁹and he captured it with its king and all its towns. And they struck them with the edge of the sword and devoted to destruction every person in it; he left none remaining. Just as he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and its king, so he did to Debir and to its king.

⁴⁰So Joshua struck the whole land, the hill country and the Negeb and the lowland ^tand the slopes, and all their kings. He left none remaining, ^ubut devoted to destruction all that breathed, just as the Lord God of Israel commanded. ⁴¹And Joshua struck them from ^vKadesh-barnea as far as Gaza, and all the country of ^wGoshen, as far as Gibeon. ⁴²And Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time, ^xbecause the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel. ^43yThen Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.

Conquests in Northern Canaan

11When Jabin, king of Hazor, heard of this, he ^zsent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph, ²and to the kings who were in the northern hill country, and in the ^aArabah south of ^bChinneroth, and in the lowland, and ^cin Naphoth-dor on the ^dwest, ³to the Canaanites in the east and the west, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the ^eJebusites in the hill country, and the ^fHivites under ^gHermon in the land of ^hMizpah. ⁴And they came out with all their troops, a great horde, in number ⁱlike the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots. ⁵And all these kings joined their forces and came and encamped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.

⁶And the Lord said to Joshua, ^j“Do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow at this time I will give over all of them, slain, to Israel. You shall ^khamstring their horses and burn their ^lchariots with fire.” ⁷So Joshua and all his warriors came ^msuddenly against them by the waters of Merom and fell upon them. ⁸And the Lord gave them into the hand of Israel, who struck them and chased them as far as ⁿGreat Sidon and ^oMisrephoth-maim, and eastward as far as the Valley of ^pMizpeh. And they struck them until he left none remaining. ⁹And Joshua did to them ^qjust as the Lord said to him: he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.

¹⁰And Joshua turned back at that time and captured ^rHazor and struck its king with the sword, for Hazor formerly was the head of all those kingdoms. ¹¹And they struck with the sword all who were in it, devoting them to destruction;^{1 s}there was none left that breathed. And he burned Hazor with fire. ¹²And all the cities of those kings, and all their kings, Joshua captured, and struck them with the edge of the sword, devoting them to destruction, ^tjust as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. ¹³But none of the cities that stood on mounds did Israel burn, except Hazor alone; that Joshua burned. ¹⁴And all the spoil of these cities and the livestock, the people of Israel took for their plunder. But every person they struck with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them, and they did not leave any who breathed. ^15uJust as the Lord had commanded Moses his servant, ^vso Moses commanded Joshua, ^wand so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.

¹⁶So Joshua took all that land, ^xthe hill country and all the Negeb and ^yall the land of Goshen ^zand the lowland ^zand the Arabah ^aand the hill country of Israel and its lowland ^17bfrom Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, as far as ^cBaal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon below ^dMount Hermon. And he captured ^eall their kings and struck them and put them to death. ¹⁸Joshua made war ^fa long time with all those kings. ¹⁹There was not a city that made peace with the people of Israel…