Joshua 10–12

The Day the Sun Stood Still

10Now Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured Ai and completely destroyed ^tit, treating Ai and its king as he had Jericho and its king, and that the inhabitants of Gibeon ^uhad made peace with Israel and were living among them. ^v2So Adoni-zedek and his people were ^wgreatly alarmed because Gibeon was a large city like one of the royal cities; ^xit was larger than Ai, and all its men were warriors. ³Therefore Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent word to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king 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 abandon ^yyour 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 his whole military force, including all the fighting men, came from Gilgal. ^z

⁸The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, ^afor I have handed them over to you. ^bNot one of them will be able to stand against you.” ^c

⁹So Joshua caught them by surprise, after marching all night from Gilgal. ¹⁰The Lord threw them into confusion ^dbefore 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 ^efrom 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, ^fstand 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? ^g

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 the voice of a man, because the Lord fought for Israel. ^h15Then 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 themselves 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 ⁱthe 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, ^jfor the Lord will do this to all the enemies you fight.”

²⁶After this, Joshua struck them down and executed them. He hung ^ktheir bodies on five trees ^land they were there until evening. ^m27At sunset Joshua commanded that they be taken down from the trees ^noand thrown into the cave where they had hidden. Then large stones were placed against the mouth of the cave, and the stones are there to this day. ^p

Conquest of Southern Cities

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

²⁹Joshua and all Israel with him ^scrossed from Makkedah to Libnah and fought against Libnah. ^t30The 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 Horam king of Gezer went to help Lachish, ^ubut Joshua struck him down along with his people, leaving no survivors in it.

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 ^vand 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 ^wand 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 ^x—the hill country, the Negev, the Judean foothills, ^yand the slopes—with all their kings, leaving no survivors. He completely destroyed every living being, as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded. ^z41Joshua conquered everyone from Kadesh-barnea to Gaza, and all the land of Goshen ^aas far as Gibeon. ⁴²Joshua captured all these kings and their land in one campaign, ^bbecause the Lord, the God of Israel, fought for Israel. ^c43Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal.

Conquest of Northern Cities

11When Jabin king of Hazor heard this news, he sent a message to:

Jobab king of Madon,

the kings of Shimron and Achshaph,

²and the kings of the north in the hill country,

the Arabah south of Chinnereth, ^d

the Judean foothills, ^e

and the Slopes of Dor ^fto the west,

³the Canaanites in the east and west,

the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites,

and Jebusites in the hill country,

and the Hivites at the foot of Hermon

in the land of Mizpah. ^g

⁴They went out with all their armies—a multitude as numerous as the sand on the seashore ^h—along with a vast number of horses and chariots. ⁵All these kings joined forces; they came together and camped at the waters of Merom to attack Israel. ⁱ

⁶The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for at this time tomorrow I will cause all of them to be killed before Israel. ^jYou are to hamstring their horses and burn up their chariots.” ^k7So Joshua and his whole military force surprised them at the waters of Merom and attacked them. ⁸The Lord handed them over to Israel, and they struck them down, pursuing them as far as Great Sidon and Misrephoth-maim, and to the east as far as the Valley of Mizpeh. ^lmThey struck them down, leaving no survivors. ⁿ⁹Joshua treated them as the Lord had told him; he hamstrung their horses and burned up their chariots.

¹⁰At that time Joshua turned back, captured Hazor, and struck down its king with the sword, because Hazor had formerly been the leader of all these kingdoms. ¹¹They struck down everyone in it with the sword, completely destroying ^othem; he left no one alive. Then he burned down Hazor.

¹²Joshua captured all these kings and their cities and struck them down with the sword. He completely destroyed them, as Moses the Lord’s servant ^phad commanded. ¹³However, Israel did not burn any of the cities that stood on their mounds except Hazor, which Joshua burned. ¹⁴The Israelites plundered all the spoils and cattle of these cities for themselves. But they struck down every person with the sword until they had annihilated them, leaving no one alive. ¹⁵Just as the Lord had commanded His servant Moses, Moses commanded Joshua. That is what Joshua did, leaving nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.

Summary of Conquests

¹⁶So Joshua took all this land—the hill country, all the Negev, all the land of Goshen, ^qthe foothills, ^rthe Arabah, and the hill country of Israel with its foothills ^s— ¹⁷from Mount Halak, ^twhich ascends to Seir, as far as Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon at the foot of Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings and struck them down, putting them to death. ^u18Joshua waged war with all these kings for a long time. ¹⁹No city made peace with the Israelites except the Hivites who inhabited Gibeon; ^vall of them were taken in battle. ²⁰For it was the Lord’s intention to harden their hearts, ^wso that they would engage Israel in battle, be completely destroyed without mercy, and be annihilated, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

²¹At that time Joshua proceeded to exterminate the Anakim ^xfrom the hill country—Hebron, Debir, Anab—all the hill country of Judah and of Israel. Joshua completely destroyed them with their cities. ²²No Anakim were left in the land of the Israelites, except for some remaining in Gaza, Gath, ^yand Ashdod.

²³So Joshua took the entire land, in keeping…