Joshua 9–10

CHAPTER 9

The Gibeonites Act Craftily

¹Now it happened when ^aall the kings who were beyond the Jordan, in the hill country and in the ¹Shephelah and on all the ^bcoast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, ^cthe Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, heard of it,

²that they gathered themselves together with ^1aone accord to fight with Joshua and with Israel.

³Now the inhabitants of ^aGibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai.

⁴So they also acted craftily and went and traveled as envoys and took worn-out sacks on their donkeys, and wineskins worn-out and torn and ¹mended,

⁵and worn-out and patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and was crumbled.

⁶And they went to Joshua to the ^acamp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a far country; so now, cut a covenant with us.”

⁷Then the men of Israel said to the ^aHivites, “Perhaps you are living ¹within our land; ^bhow then shall we cut a covenant with you?”

⁸But they said to Joshua, “^aWe are your servants.” Then Joshua said to them, “Who are you and where do you come from?”

⁹They said to him, “Your servants have come from ^aa very far country because of the ¹fame of Yahweh your God; for ^bwe have heard the report of Him and all that He did in Egypt,

¹⁰and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon and to Og king of Bashan who was at Ashtaroth.

¹¹“So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, ‘Take provisions in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them and say to them, “^aWe are your servants; now then, cut a covenant with us.” ’

¹²“This bread of ours was warm when we took it for our provisions out of our houses on the day that we left to come to you; but now behold, it is dry and has become crumbled.

¹³“And these wineskins which we filled were new, and behold, they are torn; and these clothes of ours and our sandals are worn out because of the very long journey.”

¹⁴So the men of Israel took some of their provisions, but ^athey did not ask for the ¹command of Yahweh.

^15aAnd Joshua made peace with them and cut a covenant with them, to let them live; and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them.

¹⁶Now it happened at the end of three days after they had cut a covenant with them, that they heard that they were near them and that they were living ¹nearly among them.

¹⁷Then the sons of Israel set out and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were ^aGibeon and Chephirah and Beeroth and Kiriath-jearim.

¹⁸But the sons of Israel did not strike them down because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by Yahweh the God of Israel. And the whole congregation grumbled against the leaders.

¹⁹Then all the leaders said to the whole congregation, “We have sworn to them by Yahweh, the God of Israel, so now we cannot touch them.

²⁰“This we will do to them, even let them live, so that wrath will not be upon us for the oath which we swore to them.”

²¹So the leaders said to them, “Let them live.” Thus they became ^ahewers of wood and drawers of water for the whole congregation, just as the leaders had spoken to them.

²²Then Joshua called for them and spoke to them, saying, “Why have you deceived us, saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ ^awhen you are living nearly in the midst of us?

²³“So now, you are ^acursed, and ¹you shall never be cut loose from being slaves, both hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.”

²⁴So they answered Joshua and said, “^aBecause it was certainly told to your slaves that Yahweh your God had commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land before you; therefore we feared greatly for our lives because of you and have done this thing.

²⁵“So now, behold, ^awe are in your hands; do as it seems good and right in your sight to do to us.”

²⁶Thus he did to them and delivered them from the hands of the sons of Israel, and they did not kill them.

²⁷But Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of Yahweh, to this day, ^ain the place which He would choose.

CHAPTER 10

Five Kings Attack Gibeon

¹Now it happened that when Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured Ai and had devoted it to destruction (just ^aas he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had done to Ai and its king), and that the inhabitants of Gibeon had ^bmade peace with Israel and were ¹within their land,

²they ^afeared exceedingly because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty.

³Therefore Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent word ^ato Hoham king of Hebron and to Piram king of Jarmuth and 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 it has ^amade peace with Joshua and with the sons of Israel.”

⁵So the five kings of ^athe Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, gathered together and went up, they with all their armies, and camped by Gibeon and fought against it.

⁶Then the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal, saying, “Do not ¹abandon your slaves; come up to us quickly and save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites that live in the hill country have assembled against us.”

⁷So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and ^aall the people of war with him and all the valiant warriors.

⁸And Yahweh said to Joshua, “^aDo not fear them, for I have given them into your hands; not ¹one of them shall stand before you.”

⁹So Joshua came upon them suddenly—he had gone up, marching all night from Gilgal.

^10aAnd Yahweh threw them into confusion before Israel, and He struck them with a great slaughter at Gibeon and pursued them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah.

¹¹Now it happened as they fled from before Israel, while they were at the descent of Beth-horon, that ^aYahweh threw down large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died; there were more who died ¹from the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword.

¹²Then Joshua spoke to Yahweh in the day when Yahweh gave over the Amorites before the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,

“O ^asun, stand still at Gibeon,

And O moon in the valley of Aijalon.”

^13aSo the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,

Until the nation avenged themselves of their enemies.

Is it not written in ^bthe book of Jashar? And ^cthe sun stood in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day.

¹⁴And there was no day like that before it or after it, when Yahweh listened to the voice of a man; for ^aYahweh fought for Israel.

¹⁵Then Joshua and all Israel with him returned to the camp to Gilgal.

Joshua Captures Makkedah

¹⁶And these ^afive kings fled and hid themselves in the cave at Makkedah.

¹⁷Then it was told Joshua, saying, “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 assign men by it to keep watch over them,

¹⁹but as for you, do not stand there; pursue your enemies and ¹attack them in the rear. Do not allow them to enter their cities, for Yahweh your God has given them into your hand.”

²⁰Now it happened when Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished striking them with a very great slaughter ^auntil they were completely destroyed, and the survivors—those of them who survived—¹had entered the fortified cities,

²¹that all the people returned to the camp to Joshua at Makkedah in peace. No one so much as ¹lifted his tongue against any of the sons of Israel.

²²Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave and bring these five kings out to me from the cave.”

²³And they did so and ^abrought these 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.

²⁴Now it happened that when they brought these kings out to Joshua, Joshua called for all the men of Israel and said to the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him, “Come near, ^aput your feet on the necks of these kings.” So they came near and put their feet on their necks.

²⁵Joshua then said to them, “^aDo not fear or be dismayed! Be strong and courageous, for thus Yahweh will do to all your enemies with whom you fight.”

²⁶So afterward Joshua struck them and put them to death, and he ^ahanged them on five trees; and they hung on the trees until evening.

²⁷Now it happened that at ¹sunset Joshua gave a command, and ^athey took them down from the trees and threw them down into the cave where they had hidden themselves, and they put large stones over the mouth of the cave, to this very day.

²⁸Now Joshua captured Makkedah on that day and struck it and its king with the edge of the sword; ^ahe ¹devoted ²it to destruction and every ³person who was in it. He left no survivor. Thus he did to the king of Makkedah ^bjust as he had done to the king of Jericho.

Israel Captures Kings by Yahweh’s Sword

²⁹Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Makkedah to ^aLibnah and fought against Libnah.

³⁰And Yahweh gave it also with its king into the hands of Israel, and he struck it and every person who was in it with the edge of the sword. He left no survivor remaining in it. Thus he did to its king just as he had done to the king of Jericho.

³¹And Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Libnah to Lachish, and they camped by it and fought against it.

³²And Yahweh gave Lachish into the hands of Israel; and he captured it on the second day and struck it and every person who was in it with the edge of the sword, according to all that he had done to Libnah.

³³Then Horam king of ^aGezer came up to help Lachish, and Joshua struck him…