Joshua 10

₁They told King Adoni-Zedek of the city of Jerusalem what had happened. They told him that Joshua had won and had destroyed the town of Ai. They told him that Joshua did the same to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king. He also heard that the Gibeon people had made a peace agreement with the Israelites and that the Gibeon people had gone to live among them. ₂The people of Jerusalem became afraid, because Gibeon was a big city. It was like a city of a king, bigger than the town of Ai, and all the men of Gibeon knew how to fight in war. ₃Then King Adoni-Zedek sent messages to King Hoham from the city of Hebron, to King Piram from the town of Jarmuth, King Japhia from the town of Lachish and King Debir from the town of Eglon. He said to them: ₄‘Come and help me. We must attack the Gibeon people, because they have made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.’

₅The 5 Amorite kings came together. They were the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon. They and their armies put up their camp near Gibeon and they started to go to war_against the town. ₆The Gibeon people sent a message to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said: ‘Please do not leave us alone. Come quickly, and save us and help us, because all the kings of the Amorites who live in the hill_country have come together and started a war_against us.’

₇Joshua went from Gilgal, and all the men who could go to war, all who knew how to fight in a war, went with him. ₈The Lord said to Joshua: ‘You must not be afraid of the Amorites. I will help you defeat them. Not one of them will be able to do anything against you.’

₉Joshua and his men went from Gilgal and they walked that whole night until the next morning to the Amorites. The Amorites did not think they would come. ₁₀The Lord made the Amorites run away from the Israelites and they killed many Amorites at Gibeon. They followed_and_chased the Amorites on the road over the hill to the town of Beth-Horon. They kept on following and killing the Amorites up to the towns of Azekah and Makkedah. ₁₁The Amorites ran away from the Israelites and while the Amorites were on the road from the hill to the town of Beth-Horon the Lord sent big hail-stones to fall on them. Many of the Amorites died there, more than the Israelites had killed with their swords.

₁₂That day, when the Lord helped the Israelites defeat the Amorites, Joshua talked to the Lord. The Israelites heard him when he said:

₁₃Then the sun and the moon stood still until the Israelites defeated their enemies.

This was written in the book_of_Jashar: ‘The sun stood still high in the sky, the sun did not go down for a full day. ₁₄There had never been a day like this, not before and not after that day. The Lord did what a man had asked Him to do, because the Lord Himself made war_against the enemies of the Israelites so that they could defeat them.’

₁₅Joshua and all the men of Israel went back to their camp in the town of Gilgal.

₁₆The 5 Amorite kings ran away and went to hide in a cave near the town of Makkedah. ₁₇Joshua's men told him that they had found the 5 kings where they had hidden in the cave at Makkedah.

₁₈Joshua told his men to roll big rocks in front of the cave and to put some men there to keep guard. ₁₉He said that the other men must not stay there. They must follow_and_chase their enemies and attack them from behind. They must keep them from going into their towns, because the Lord would help them defeat their enemies.

₂₀Joshua and the Israelites kept on following and killing the Amorites and they killed many of them. Only a few of the Amorites could run away and go into the cities with strong walls.

₂₁All the Israelites went back safely to Joshua, to the camp near Makkedah. Now no one could say anything bad against them.

₂₂Later Joshua told his men to open the cave and to bring out the 5 kings. ₂₃His men did it. They took the 5 kings from the cave and brought them to Joshua. They were the kings from the towns of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon. ₂₄After they had brought the kings to Joshua, he called all the Israelites and he talked to the leaders of his men. He said to them: ‘Come here, and put your feet onto the necks of these kings.’ The leaders came and they put their feet onto the necks of the kings ₂₅Joshua said to the leaders: ‘Do not be afraid, and do not worry. Be strong and brave, because you will have to go to war_against your enemies, but the Lord will do the same with those enemies.’

₂₆Joshua then killed the 5 kings and he told his men to hang their bodies on trees. The bodies hung there until that night. ₂₇Then Joshua told his men to take down the bodies. They did this and they threw the bodies into the cave where the kings had hidden. Then they put big rocks in front of the cave. The rocks are still there.

₂₈On that day Joshua also defeated the town of Makkedah. He killed the people in the town. He said they were consecrated to the Lord to be destroyed and he killed them all. No one went free. Joshua did the same to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho.

₂₉Joshua and all the men of Israel went from Makkedah to the town of Libnah and he made war_against the town. ₃₀The Lord helped the Israelites defeat the people of Libnah and the king of the town. He killed all the people in the town and no one stayed alive. Joshua did the same to the king of Libnah as he had done to the king of Jericho.

₃₁Joshua and all the men of Israel went further. They went to the town of Lachish. They camped around the town and attacked the town. ₃₂The Lord helped the Israelites defeat the people of Lachish. Joshua defeated the town on the 2nd day. He killed all the people in the town like he had done with the people in Libnah. ₃₃At that time King Horam from the town of Gezer came to help the people of Lachish, but Joshua defeated the king and his people. No one stayed alive.

₃₄Joshua and all the men of Israel went further from Lachish to the town of Eglon. They camped around the town, and they attacked the town ₃₅and they defeated the town that same day. They killed all the people, the same as they had done with the people at the town of Lachish.

₃₆Joshua and all the men of Israel went further from the town of Eglon to the city of Hebron. ₃₇They defeated the town and they killed the king and all the people in the town. No one stayed alive. They did the same with the people of Hebron as they had done with the people of Eglon. They consecrated all the people in the town to the Lord and destroyed everything.

₃₈Joshua and all the men of Israel turned_around and went to the town of Debir. They attacked the town ₃₉and defeated them and they killed the king and all the people in the town. No one in the town stayed alive. Joshua did the same with the town of Debir and its king as he had done with the city of Hebron and the town of Libnah and their kings.

₄₀Joshua defeated the whole land, the hill_country, the lowlands and the land near the sea. Joshua defeated all those kings and he let no one stay alive. He consecrated every person who lived there to the Lord and destroyed everything, like the Lord, the God of Israel, had said. ₄₁Joshua defeated them from the town of Kadesh-Barnea to the town of Gaza, and the whole land of Goshen up to the town of Gibeon. ₄₂Joshua took all the kings and their lands at the same time, because the Lord Himself, the God of Israel, made war so that the Israelites could defeat their enemies. ₄₃Then Joshua and all the Israelites with him went back to the camp in Gilgal.