Joshua 9–10

The Treaty with the Gibeonites

9And it came to pass when ^aall the kings who were on this side of the Jordan, in the hills and in the lowland and in all the coasts of ^bthe Great Sea toward Lebanon—^cthe Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite—heard about it, ²that they ^dgathered together to fight with Joshua and Israel with one ¹accord.

³But when the inhabitants of ^eGibeon ^fheard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, ⁴they worked craftily, and went and ²pretended to be ambassadors. And they took old sacks on their donkeys, old wineskins torn and ³mended, ⁵old and patched sandals on their feet, and old garments on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy. ⁶And they went to Joshua, ^gto the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a ⁴covenant with us.”

⁷Then the men of Israel said to the ^hHivites, “Perhaps you dwell among us; so ⁱhow can we make a covenant with you?”

⁸But they said to Joshua, ^j“We are your servants.”

And Joshua said to them, “Who are you, and where do you come from?”

⁹So they said to him: ^k“From a very far country your servants have come, because of the name of the Lord your God; for we have ^lheard of His fame, and all that He did in Egypt, ¹⁰and ^mall that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan—to Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth. ¹¹Therefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, ‘Take provisions with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, “We are your servants; now therefore, make a covenant with us.” ’ ¹²This bread of ours we took hot for our provision from our houses on the day we departed to come to you. But now look, it is dry and moldy. ¹³And these wineskins which we filled were new, and see, they are torn; and these our garments and our sandals have become old because of the very long journey.”

¹⁴Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; ⁿbut they ⁵did not ask counsel of the Lord. ¹⁵So Joshua ^omade peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live; and the rulers of the congregation swore to them.

¹⁶And it happened at the end of three days, after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors who dwelt near them. ¹⁷Then the children of Israel journeyed and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were ^pGibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjath Jearim. ¹⁸But the children of Israel did not ⁶attack them, ^qbecause the rulers of the congregation had sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel. And all the congregation complained against the rulers.

¹⁹Then all the rulers said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel; now therefore, we may not touch them. ²⁰This we will do to them: We will let them live, lest ^rwrath be upon us because of the oath which we swore to them.” ²¹And the rulers said to them, “Let them live, but let them be ^swoodcutters and water carriers for all the congregation, as the rulers had ^tpromised them.”

²²Then Joshua called for them, and he spoke to them, saying, “Why have you deceived us, saying, ^u‘We are very far from you,’ when ^vyou dwell near us? ²³Now therefore, you are ^wcursed, and none of you shall be freed from being slaves—woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”

²⁴So they answered Joshua and said, “Because your servants were clearly told that the Lord your God ^xcommanded His servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; therefore ^ywe were very much afraid for our lives because of you, and have done this thing. ²⁵And now, here we are, ^zin your hands; do with us as it seems good and right to do to us.” ²⁶So he did to them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, so that they did not kill them. ²⁷And that day Joshua made them ^awoodcutters and water carriers for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord, ^bin the place which He would choose, even to this day.

The Sun Stands Still

10Now it came to pass when Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem ^aheard how Joshua had taken ^bAi and had utterly destroyed it—^cas he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had done to ^dAi and its king—and ^ehow the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, ²that they ^ffeared 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 mighty. ³Therefore Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon, saying, ⁴“Come up to me and help me, that we may attack Gibeon, for ^git has made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel.” ⁵Therefore the five kings of the ^hAmorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, ⁱgathered together and went up, they and all their armies, and camped before Gibeon and made war against it.

⁶And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp ^jat Gilgal, saying, “Do not forsake your servants; come up to us quickly, save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the mountains have gathered together against us.”

⁷So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he and ^kall the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor. ⁸And the Lord said to Joshua, ^l“Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hand; ^mnot a man of them shall ⁿstand before you.” ⁹Joshua therefore came upon them suddenly, having marched all night from Gilgal. ¹⁰So the Lord ^orouted them before Israel, killed them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, chased them along the road that goes ^pto Beth Horon, and struck them down as far as ^qAzekah and Makkedah. ¹¹And it happened, as they fled before Israel and were on the descent of Beth Horon, ^rthat the Lord cast down large hailstones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died from the hailstones than the children of Israel killed with the sword.

¹²Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel:

^s“Sun, stand still over Gibeon;

And Moon, in the Valley of ^tAijalon.”

¹³So the sun stood still,

And the moon stopped,

Till the people had revenge

Upon their enemies.

^uIs this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. ¹⁴And there has been ^vno day like that, before it or after it, that the Lord heeded the voice of a man; for ^wthe Lord fought for Israel.

^15xThen Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.

The Amorite Kings Executed

¹⁶But these five kings had fled and hidden themselves in a cave at Makkedah. ¹⁷And it was told Joshua, saying, “The five kings have been found hidden in the cave at Makkedah.”

¹⁸So Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave, and set men by it to guard them. ¹⁹And do not stay there yourselves, but pursue your enemies, and attack their rear guard. Do not allow them to enter their cities, for the Lord your God has delivered them into your hand.” ²⁰Then it happened, while Joshua and the children of Israel made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter, till they had finished, that those who escaped entered fortified cities. ²¹And all the people returned to the camp, to Joshua at Makkedah, in peace.

^yNo one ¹moved his tongue against any of the children of Israel.

²²Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave, and bring out those five kings to me from the cave.” ²³And they did so, and brought out those five kings 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.

²⁴So it was, when they brought out those kings to Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said to the captains of the men of war who went with him, “Come near, put your feet on the necks of these kings.” And they drew near and ^zput their feet on their necks. ²⁵Then Joshua said to ²them, ^a“Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; be strong and of good courage, for ^bthus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.” ²⁶And afterward Joshua struck ³them and killed them, and hanged them on five trees; and they ^cwere hanging on the trees until evening. ²⁷So it was at the time of the going down of the sun that Joshua commanded, and they ^dtook them down from the trees, cast them into the cave where they had been hidden, and laid large stones against the cave’s mouth, which remain until this very day.

Conquest of the Southland

²⁸On that day Joshua took Makkedah, and struck it and its king with the edge of the sword. He utterly ^edestroyed ⁴them—all the people who were in it. He let none remain. He also did to the king of Makkedah ^fas he had done to the king of Jericho.

²⁹Then Joshua passed from Makkedah, and all Israel with him, to ^gLibnah; and they fought against Libnah. ³⁰And the Lord also delivered it and its king into the hand of Israel; he struck it and all the people who were in it with the edge of the sword. He let none remain in it, but did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho.

³¹Then Joshua passed from Libnah, and all Israel with him, to Lachish; and they encamped against it and fought against it. ³²And the Lord delivered Lachish into the hand of Israel, who took it on the second day, and struck it and all the people who were in it with the edge of the sword, according to all that he had done to Libnah. ³³Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish; and Joshua struck him and his people, until he left him none remaining.

³⁴From Lachish Joshua passed to Eglon, and all Israel with him; and they encamped against it and fought against it. ³⁵They took it on that day and…