Joshua - The Old Testament

¹ Now, it happened that Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem, learned that Joshua had conquered Ai and put the town under the curse of destruction, treating Ai and its king as he had already treated Jericho and its king; and also that the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were living with them.

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

³ Consequently, 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,

⁴ 'Join me up here and help me to conquer Gibeon, since it has made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.'

⁵ The five Amorite kings joined forces and went up there, 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; laying siege to Gibeon, they 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, since all the Amorite kings living in the highlands have allied themselves against us.'

⁷ Joshua came up from Gilgal, he, all the fighting men and all the bravest of his army.

⁸ Yahweh said to Joshua, 'Do not be afraid of these people; I have put them at your mercy; not one of them will put up any resistance.'

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

¹⁰ Yahweh threw them into disorder at the sight of Israel, defeating them completely at Gibeon; furthermore, he pursued them by way of 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, and they died. More of them died under the hailstones than under the swords of the Israelites.

¹² Joshua then spoke to Yahweh, the day Yahweh delivered the Amorites to the Israelites. In the presence of Israel, Joshua said: Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and, moon, you too, over the Vale of Aijalon!

¹³ And the sun stood still, and the moon halted, until the people had taken vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of the Just? 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 Joshua, and all Israel with him, then went back to the camp at Gilgal.

¹⁶ As regards the five kings, these had fled and hidden in the cave of Makkedah,

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

¹⁸ Joshua said, 'Roll great stones over the mouth of the cave and post men there to keep guard.

¹⁹ You yourselves, do not stay there doing nothing; pursue the enemy, cut off their line of retreat and do not let them enter their towns, for Yahweh your God has put them at your mercy.'

²⁰ When Joshua and the Israelites had finished inflicting a very great defeat on them, to the point of destroying them, those 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 Joshua then said, 'Clear the mouth of the cave and bring the five kings out to me.'

²³ They did so, and brought the five kings out of the cave to take them to him: 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 out, Joshua assembled all the men of Israel and said to the chiefs of the warriors 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 'Be fearless and undaunted,' Joshua went on, 'be strong and stand firm, for this is how Yahweh will 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, on Joshua's orders, they were taken down from the trees and thrown into the cave where they had been hiding. Great stones were laid over the mouth of the cave, and these are still there to this very day.

²⁸ The same day Joshua captured Makkedah, putting it and its king to the sword; he delivered them over to the curse of destruction, 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 and Yahweh put this, too, and its king at Israel's mercy; and Israel put every living creature there to 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 put Lachish at Israel's mercy, and Israel took it on the second day and put it and every living creature in it to the sword, as they had treated Libnah.

³³ Horam king of Gezer then marched up to help Lachish, but Joshua beat him and his people 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 The same day they took it and put it to the sword. That day he delivered over to the curse of destruction every living creature there, treating it 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 put it to the sword, with its king, its dependencies and every living creature in it. As he had treated Eglon, so here, he left no one alive. He delivered it over to the curse of destruction, with every living creature in it.

³⁸ Joshua, and all Israel with him, then turned back on Debir and attacked it.

³⁹ He took it and its king and all the places belonging to it; they put them to the sword, and every living creature there they delivered over to the curse of destruction. He left no one alive. As he had treated Hebron, as he had treated Libnah and its king, so he treated Debir and its king.

⁴⁰ Thus Joshua subjugated the whole country: the highlands, the Negeb, the lowlands and watered foothills, and all their kings. He left not one survivor and put every living thing under the curse of destruction, as Yahweh, 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 territory Joshua captured in a single campaign, because Yahweh, God of Israel, fought for Israel.

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