Joshua 10

¹ Now it happened that Adoni-zedek the king of Jerusalem was told that Joshua had conquered Ai and put the town under a ban, dealing with Ai and its king as he had dealt earlier with Jericho and its king; and also that the inhabitants of Gibeon had made their peace with Israel and entered their community.

² There was consternation at this, since Gibeon was as important a town as one of the royal towns themselves, and larger than Ai, while all its citizens were fighting men.

³ Then Adoni-zedek the king of Jerusalem sent word to Hoham the king of Hebron, Piram the king of Jarmuth, Japhia the king of Lachish and Debir the king of Eglon,

⁴ ‘Join me and help me to conquer Gibeon, because it has made peace with Joshua and the Israelites’

⁵ The five Amorite kings joined forces and set off together, that is, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish and the king of Eglon, they and all their armies with them; they besieged Gibeon and attacked it.

⁶ The men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal, ‘Do not desert your servants; come up here quickly to save us and help us, because all the Amorite kings living in the mountains have allied themselves against us’.

⁷ Joshua came up from Gilgal in person, bringing all the fighting men and all the bravest of his army with him.

⁸ Yahweh said to Joshua, ‘Do not be afraid of these men; I have delivered them into your power; not one of them will be able to stand against you.’

⁹ Having marched from Gilgal throughout the night, Joshua caught them unawares.

¹⁰ Yahweh drove them headlong before Israel, defeating them completely at Gibeon; furthermore, he pursued them towards the descent of Beth-horon and harassed them as far as Azekah, and as far as Makkedah

¹¹ And as they fled from Israel down the descent of Beth-horon, Yahweh hurled huge hailstones from heaven on them all the way to Azekah, which killed them. More of them died under the hailstones than at the edge of Israel’s sword.

¹² Then Joshua spoke to Yahweh, the same day that Yahweh delivered the Amorites to the Israelites. Joshua declaimed:[*b] ‘Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and, moon, you also, over the Vale of Aijalon’.

¹³ And the sun stood still, and the moon halted, till the people had vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of the Just?[*c] The sun stood still in the middle of the sky and delayed its setting for almost a whole day.

¹⁴ There was never a day like that before or since, when Yahweh obeyed the voice of a man, for Yahweh was fighting for Israel.

¹⁵ Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, returned to the camp at Gilgal.[*d]

¹⁶ As for those five kings, they had fled and hidden in the cave of Makkedah,

¹⁷ and news of this was brought to Joshua. ‘The five kings’ the message ran ‘have been found hiding in the cave at Makkedah.’

¹⁸ Joshua answered, ‘Roll great stones to the mouth of the cave and post men there to keep guard.

¹⁹ And you, do not stay there idle; pursue the enemy, cut off their line of retreat and do not let them enter their towns, for Yahweh your God has put them in your power.’

²⁰ When Joshua and the sons of Israel had routed them completely and were near to slaughtering the last of them, the survivors who had escaped alive took refuge in their fortresses.

²¹ The people came back to Joshua’s camp at Makkedah; they were all safe and sound, and no one dared to attempt anything against the Israelites.

²² Then Joshua said, ‘Clear the mouth of the cave, and bring the five kings out to me’.

²³ They did so, bringing him the five kings from the cave; the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish and the king of Eglon.

²⁴ When these kings had been brought to him, Joshua assembled all the men of Israel and said to the officers of the men of war who had fought with him, ‘Come forward and put your feet on the necks of these kings!’ They came forward and put their feet on their necks.

²⁵ ‘Do not be afraid; have confidence,’ Joshua went on ‘be resolute, for this is how Yahweh shall deal with all the enemies you fight.’

²⁶ With this Joshua struck and killed them and had them hanged on five trees; they hung there till evening.

²⁷ At the hour of sunset Joshua gave his order; they were taken down from the trees and thrown into the cave where they had been hiding. Great stones were laid at the mouth of the cave, and these are still there today.

²⁸ The same day, Joshua took Makkedah, striking the town and its king with the edge of the sword; he delivered them over to the ban, with every living creature there, and let no one escape; and he treated the king of Makkedah as he had treated the king of Jericho.

²⁹ Joshua, and all Israel with him, went on from Makkedah to Libnah and attacked it.

³⁰ This, too, with its king, Yahweh gave into the power of Israel; and Israel struck every living creature there with the edge of the sword, and left none alive, and treated its king like the king of Jericho.

³¹ Joshua, and all Israel with him, went on from Libnah to Lachish, and besieged it and attacked it.

³² Yahweh gave Lachish into the power of Israel and Israel took it on the second day and struck it and every living creature there with the edge of the sword, as they had treated Libnah.

³³ Then Horam the king of Gezer marched up to help Lachish, but Joshua struck him and his people down until not one was left alive.

³⁴ Joshua, and all Israel with him, went on from Lachish to Eglon. They besieged it and attacked it.

³⁵ They took it the same day and struck it with the edge of the sword. Every living creature there he delivered over to the ban that day, as he had treated Lachish.

³⁶ Joshua, and all Israel with him, went on up from Eglon to Hebron. They attacked it,

³⁷ took it and struck it with the edge of the sword, with its king, all the places belonging to it and every living creature in it. As he had treated Eglon, so here, he left not a man alive. He delivered it over to the ban, with every living creature in it.

³⁸ Joshua, and all Israel with him, turned aside to Debir and attacked it.

³⁹ He took it and its king and all the places belonging to it; they struck them with the edge of the sword, and every living creature there they delivered over to the ban. He left none alive. As he had treated Hebron, as he had treated Libnah and its king, so he treated Debir and its king.

⁴⁰ Thus Joshua subdued the whole land: the highlands, the Negeb, the lowlands, the hillsides, and all the kings in them. He left not a man alive and delivered every single soul over to the ban, as Yahweh the God of Israel had commanded.

⁴¹ Joshua conquered them from Kadesh-barnea to Gaza, and the whole region of Goshen as far as Gibeon.

⁴² All these kings and their kingdoms Joshua mastered in one campaign, because Yahweh the God of Israel fought for Israel.

⁴³ And then Joshua, and all Israel with him, returned to the camp at Gilgal.