Joshua 10:1-43
10 And when King Adoni-Sedek of Jerusalem heard that Joshuaʽ had taken the Ghai and destroyed it without quarter, had done to the Ghai and its king the same as he had done to Jericho and its king, and that the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with the Israelites and were among them,
2 he was badly frightened, because Gibeon was a great city like one of the royal capitals, and because it was larger than the Ghai and all its men were champion warriors.
3 And King Adoni-Sedek of Jerusalem sent word to King Hoham of Hebron and King Piram of Jarmuth and King Japhiaʽ of Lakish and King Debir of ʽEglon
4 “Come up to me and help me conquer Gibeon, because it has made peace with Joshuaʽ and the sons of Israel”;
5 and the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lakish, the king of ʽEglon, they and all their armies, came together and went up and beleaguered Gibeon and attacked it.
6 And the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshuaʽ at the camp at the Gilgal “Do not neglect your servants; come right up to us and help us and save us, because all the Amorite kings in the highland have gathered against us.”
7 And Joshuaʽ went up from the Gilgal, he and all the fighting force with him, and all the first-class men.
8 And Jehovah said to Joshuaʽ “Do not be afraid of them, because I have given them into your hands; not a man of them shall stand before you.”
9 And Joshuaʽ came upon them suddenly, having made an all-night march up from the Gilgal;
10 and Jehovah threw them into confusion before the Israelites, and they inflicted a great defeat on them at Gibeon and pursued them along the road to the place where it goes up at Beth-Horon, and cut them down clear to ʽAzekah and to Makkedah.
11 And when they ran before the Israelites, as they were on the downward road at Beth-Horon Jehovah threw great stones on them out of the sky as far as ʽAzekah, and they were more of them killed by the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with swords.
12 Then Joshuaʽ spoke to Jehovah on the day that Jehovah gave the Amorites to be defeated before the sons of Israel, and said before the Israelites
“Sun, halt at Gibeon, and moon, in Aijalon Vale!”
13 * And the sun halted and the moon stood still till a nation avenged itself on its enemies.
(This is included in the Book of the Upright.) And the sun stood still halfway across the sky and did not press on to setting for about an entire day.
14 And there was never a day like that, before or after, of Jehovah’s obeying a man; for Jehovah was fighting for Israel.
15 And Joshuaʽ, and all Israel with him, went back to the camp at the Gilgal.
16 And these five kings took flight and hid in the cave at Makkedah.
17 And Joshuaʽ was told “The five kings are found, hiding in the cave at Makkedah.”
18 And Joshuaʽ said “Roll great stones to the mouth of the cave, and station men over it to watch them,
19 but do not stop yourselves; pursue your enemies and keep cutting off their rear, give them no chance to get into their cities, because your God Jehovah has given them into your hands.”
20 But when Joshuaʽ and the sons of Israel finished slaying them by wholesale till they were all gone and the survivors had made good their escape and got into the fortified cities,
21 and all the people had come back to Makkedah to Joshuaʽ safe and sound, not a man putting out his tongue against the sons of Israel,
22 Joshuaʽ said “Open the mouth of the cave and bring these five kings out of the cave to me”;
23 and they did so, and brought these five kings out of the cave to him, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lakish, the king of ʽEglon.
24 And when they brought these kings out to Joshuaʽ, Joshuaʽ called all the men of Israel and said to the chieftains of the fighting men who had gone with him “Come here, set your feet on the necks of these kings”; and they came up and set their feet on their necks.
25 And Joshuaʽ said to them “Do not be afraid nor dismayed; courage, and do your best, because Jehovah will do the like to all your enemies with whom you are fighting.”
26 And after that Joshuaʽ struck them dead and hung them on five trees, and they hung on the trees till evening;
27 and at sunset Joshuaʽ gave orders and they took them down off the trees and threw them into the cave where they had hidden and placed great stones on the mouth of the cave, where they remain to this very day.
28 And Joshuaʽ took Makkedah that day and massacred its people, giving no quarter to anything in it that breathed, not leaving a survivor, and did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho.
29 And Joshuaʽ and all Israel with him went over from Makkedah to Libnah and attacked Libnah;
30 and Jehovah gave it too, and its king, into Israel’s hands, and they massacred its people and everything in it that breathed, not leaving a survivor in it, and did to its king as they had to the king of Jericho.
31 And Joshuaʽ and all Israel with him went over from Libnah to Lakish and beleaguered it and attacked it,
32 and Jehovah gave Lakish into Israel’s hands, and they took it on the second day and massacred its people and destroyed it all without quarter, just as they had done to Libnah.
33 Then King Horam of Gezer came up to help Lakish, and Joshuaʽ defeated him and his people and cut them down till he did not leave him a survivor.
34 And Joshuaʽ and all Israel with him went over from Lakish to ʽEglon and beleaguered it and attacked it,
35 and took it that same day and massacred its people and everything in it that breathed, destroying all without quarter that same day, just as they had done to Lakish.
36 And Joshuaʽ and all Israel with him went up from ʽEglon to Hebron and attacked it,
37 and took it, and massacred its people and everything in it that breathed, not leaving a survivor, just as they had done to ʽEglon, and destroyed without quarter it and everything in it.
38 And Joshuaʽ and all Israel with him came back to Debir and attacked it,
39 and took it and its king and all its cities, and massacred their people and destroyed without quarter everything in it that breathed, not leaving a survivor; they did to Debir and its king the same as they had done to Hebron and as they had done to Libnah and its king.
40 And Joshuaʽ conquered all the country, the highland and the South and the lowland and the steeps, and all their kings, not leaving a survivor, and everything that breathed he destroyed without quarter, as Israel’s God Jehovah had commanded.
41 And Joshuaʽ conquered them from Kadesh-Barneaʽ to Ghaza, and all the Goshen country, to Gibeon;
42 and all these kings and their country Joshuaʽ took at one time, because Israel’s God Jehovah was fighting for Israel.
43 And Joshuaʽ and all Israel with him went back to the camp at the Gilgal.
Footnotes
^ 10:13 Lit. avenged its enemies
