Joshua 1-12

New Catholic Bible

The Conquest of the Promised Land^[a]

Chapter 1

Assurance of Divine Aid. ¹ After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, saying, ^2 [b]“Moses my servant is dead. Rise, therefore, and cross over this Jordan, you and all of this people, to the land that I am giving to them, the people of Israel. ³ Every place that you set your feet down, I have given to you, as I promised to Moses. ⁴ Your territory will extend from the Desert of Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all of the land of the Hittites, and as far as the great sea on the west. ⁵ No one will be able to withstand you, all the days of your life. I will treat you just as I treated Moses, for I will never forsake nor abandon you. ⁶ So be strong and take courage, for you will lead these people to inherit the land that I promised to their forefathers to give them. ⁷ Only be strong and take courage. Be careful to observe the entire law that my servant Moses gave to you. Do not turn away from it to the right or to the left, so that you might prosper wherever you go. ⁸ Do not let this book of the law be absent from your mouth; meditate upon it day and night, so that you might carefully observe everything that is written in it. Then you will prosper and be successful. ⁹ I have given you a command. Be strong and brave, do not be afraid nor dismayed. I, the Lord, your God, will be with you wherever you go.”

¹⁰ The Tribes beyond the Jordan. So Joshua gave a command to the leaders of the people saying, ¹¹ “Pass through the camp and give orders to the people saying, ‘Prepare three days’ worth of provisions for yourselves, for within three days you are going to cross over this Jordan in order to take possession of the land that the Lord, your God, has given to you as an inheritance.’ ” ¹² Joshua then said to the Reubenites and the Gadites and to half of the tribe of Manasseh,^{[c] 13} “Remem-ber what Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you, saying, ‘The Lord, your God, has given you a place of rest,^[d] he is giving you this land.’ ¹⁴ Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock are to remain on the land that Moses gave you on the far side of the Jordan, but all of your brave warriors will pass over armed, marching before your brethren to help them. ¹⁵ You shall remain there until the Lord gives rest to your brethren as well, and they too take possession of the land that the Lord, your God, has given them. Then you will come back to the land of your inheritance and take possession of it, the land that Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you on the east of the Jordan, in the direction of the sunrise.” ¹⁶ They answered Joshua saying, “We will do whatever you command us to do, and we will go wherever you send us. ¹⁷ We will obey you just as we obeyed Moses in everything. May the Lord, your God, be with you just as he was with Moses. ¹⁸ Whoever rebels against your commands and does not obey whatever you command them to do will be put to death. Only be strong and brave.”

Chapter 2^[e]

Rahab Saves the Spies.^{[f] 1} Joshua, the son of Nun, secretly dispatched two spies from Shittim.^[g] He told them, “Go reconnoiter the land, especially Jericho.” They went and they came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab, where they stayed. ² The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some Israelites came here tonight to spy throughout the land.” ³ The king of Jericho sent a message to Rahab saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you and entered your house, for they are here to spy through the whole countryside.” ⁴ But the woman had taken the two spies and she had hidden them. She said, “The men came to me, but I did not know where they were coming from. ⁵ When it was time to close the gates at dusk, they left. I do not know where they went. Chase after the men quickly, you may catch up with them.” ⁶ She had really taken them up on the roof and hidden them under stalks of flax^[h] that she had laid out on the roof. ⁷ The men set out after them on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan. The gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out after them.

⁸ Before they went to sleep, she came up on the roof ⁹ and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you this land. We are terrified and all the inhabitants of the land are trembling at your approach. ¹⁰ We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came up out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, Sihon and Og, on the other side of the Jordan, how you annihilated them. ¹¹ When we heard about this, our hearts grew faint and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord, your God is God in the heavens above and on the earth below. ¹² Now, I beg you, swear to the Lord that since I showed you kindness, you will also show kindness to my father’s household. Give me a pledge of your fidelity. ¹³ Spare my father and my mother, my brothers and my sisters, and all their households, saving us from sure death.” ¹⁴ The men answered her, “Our lives for your lives. If you do not inform on what we are doing, then we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the Lord has given us the land.”

¹⁵ She let them down by a rope through the window, for the house in which she lived was built upon the city wall. ¹⁶ She said to them, “Go into the hills so that the pursuers will not find you. Hide there for three days until the pursuers shall have returned here. Then you can go on your way.” ¹⁷ The men said to her, “We will not be bound to the promise that you made us swear ¹⁸ unless, when we enter the land, you have a scarlet cord tied to the window from which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father, and your mother, and your brothers, and all of your father’s household into your house. ¹⁹ Whoever goes outside of the doors of your house will be responsible for his own death, we will not be at fault. But whoever is in the house with you, it will be our responsibility if anyone lays a hand on him. ²⁰ However, if you inform on what we are doing, then we will not be bound to the promise that you made us swear.” ²¹ She said, “Let it be as you have said.” She sent them away, and they departed. She then tied a scarlet cord to the window.

²² The Spies Report to Joshua. They left, and went into the hills where they remained for three days until the pursuers had returned. The pursuers had searched all along that way, but had not found them. ^23 [i]The two men then went back home. They came down from the hills and forded the river, coming to Joshua, the son of Nun. They told him everything that had happened to them. ²⁴ They said to Joshua, “Surely the Lord has delivered the entire land into our hands, for all of the people in the land are overcome with fear of us.”

Chapter 3

Instructions before the Crossing. ¹ Joshua and all of the Israelites rose early the next morning and set out for Shittim, arriving at the Jordan where they camped before they crossed over it. ² Three days later the leaders of the people passed through the camp ³ giving orders to the people saying, “When you see the priests and Levites carrying the Ark of the Lord, your God, set out from where you are and follow after it. ⁴ Maintain a distance of about two thousand cubits^[j] between it and yourselves; do not approach it too closely. Thus you will know the way you are to go, for you have never passed this way before.” ⁵ Joshua said to the priests, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will perform wondrous deeds in your midst.”^{[k] 6} Joshua also said to the priests, “Pick up the Ark of the Covenant and pass on in front of the people.” So they picked up the Ark of the Covenant and went on ahead of the people.

⁷ The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all of Israel, so that they may know that I will treat you the same way that I treated Moses. ⁸ Say to the priests who are carrying the Ark of the Covenant: ‘Approach the edge of the water and stand in the Jordan.’ ” ⁹ Joshua instructed the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord, your God.” ¹⁰ Joshua continued, “This is how you will know that there is a living God among you who will drive out the Canaanites,^[l] the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites from before you. ¹¹ Behold, the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the earth will pass before you into the Jordan. ¹² Choose twelve men from out of the tribes of Israel, one man from each tribe. ^13 [m]As soon as the priests who are carrying the Ark of the Lord, the Lord of the whole earth, set their feet down in the water, the waters of the Jordan will stop flowing downstream and will mount up in a heap.”

¹⁴ Crossing over the Jordan. When the people broke camp to cross over the Jordan, the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant went on ahead of them. ¹⁵ Now the Jordan was at its flood stage during the entire harvest season, but as soon as the priests carrying the Ark stepped into the Jordan, ¹⁶ the waters from upstream stopped flowing. They stood up in a mound quite a distance away, at a town called Adam, near Zarethan. The waters that were flowing downstream to the Arabah (the Salt Sea) disappeared entirely, so the people were able to cross over the Jordan. ¹⁷ The priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord were standing on dry ground right in the middle of the Jordan. All of the Israelites passed over on dry ground until the entire people had crossed over the Jordan.

Chapter 4

The Twelve Memorial Stones. ¹ When the entire people had passed over the Jordan, the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, ² “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each of the tribes, ³ and tell them to take twelve stones from the bed of the Jordan where the priests had been standing, and to carry them over with you, depositing them at the place where you will be camping this evening.”

⁴ So Joshua called the twelve men together whom the Israelites had chosen, one man from each tribe, ⁵ and Joshua said to them, “Cross over in front of the Ark of the Lord, your God, into the middle of the Jordan and have each man place a rock on his shoulder, one for each of the tribes of the Israelites. ^6 [n]These will serve as a reminder for you when, in the future, your children ask, ‘What is the meaning of these stones?’ ⁷ you will answer them, ‘The waters of the Jordan stopped flowing before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan ceased to flow.’ These stones will be a memorial to the Israelites forever.”

⁸ The Israelites did just what Joshua had commanded them to do. They picked up twelve stones from the Jordan’s riverbed, just as the Lord had instructed Joshua to do, one for each of the tribes of the Israelites, and they brought them out to the place where they were camping that night and they laid them down there. ⁹ Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the Jordan’s riverbed, where the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant had been standing. They are still there today.

¹⁰ Now the priests who were carrying the Ark stood in the middle of the Jordan until everything that the Lord had directed Joshua to tell the people had been done, the things that Moses had ordered Joshua to do. The people hurried over, ¹¹ and when all the people had completed the crossing, the Ark of the Lord passed over, and the priests crossed over in front of the people. ¹² The men of Reuben, the men of Gad, and the men of one of the halves of the tribe of Manasseh passed in front of the Israelites, clad in battle gear, as Moses had instructed them to do. ¹³ About forty thousand men clad in battle gear passed over before the Lord into the plains of Jericho to do battle. ¹⁴ That day the Lord exalted Joshua before all of Israel. They revered him as long as he lived, even as they had revered Moses.

¹⁵ The Lord then said to Joshua, ¹⁶ “Tell the priests who are carrying the Ark of Testimony^[o] to come up out of the Jordan.” ¹⁷ So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.” ¹⁸ So the priests, carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, came up out of the Jordan. As soon as the priests’ feet touched dry land, the waters of the Jordan returned back to their place, flowing at flood stage as they had before.

^19 [p]The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month,^[q] and they camped at Gilgal to the east of Jericho. ²⁰ Joshua erected the twelve stones that had been taken out of the Jordan at Gilgal. ²¹ He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your children ask their fathers, ‘What is the meaning of these stones?’ ²² tell your children, ‘Israel crossed over the Jordan on dry land.’ ²³ The Lord, your God, dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you could cross over, just as the Lord, your God, had dried up the Red Sea before us until we had crossed over it. ²⁴ He did this so that everyone upon the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is mighty and so that you might always fear the Lord, your God.”

Chapter 5

The Circumcision at Gilgal. ¹ When all of the Amorite kings on the west side of the Jordan and all of the Canaanite kings who lived along the coast heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the Israelites until they had passed over it, they grew fainthearted and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites.

^2 [r]It was at that time that the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives for yourself and circumcise the Israelites again.” ³ So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath-haaraloth. ⁴ This is the reason why Joshua had to perform this circumcision. All of the men who had come out of Egypt, all of the fighting men, had died in the wilderness on their way from Egypt. ⁵ All of the men who had come out had been circumcised, but all of those who had been born in the wilderness on the way from Egypt had not been circumcised. ⁶ The Israelites had spent forty years in the wilderness until all of the fighting men who had come out of Egypt and who had not obeyed the command of the Lord had died. The Lord had sworn to them that they would not see the land that he had promised to their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. ⁷ It was their children, whom he had raised up in their stead, whom Joshua circumcised, for they were still uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way. ⁸ When he had finished circumcising the whole nation, they remained where they were until they recovered. ⁹ Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have removed the reproach of Egypt from you.” So this site has been called Gilgal up to the present.

^10 [s]On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while they were camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated Passover. ¹¹ The day after Passover, the very next day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and parched grain. ¹² The manna stopped the day after they had eaten the produce of the land. There was no more manna for the Israelites, but that same year they ate the produce of the land of Canaan.

¹³ Worship at Jericho.^[t] As Joshua drew near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?” ¹⁴ He answered, “Neither. I, the commander of the army of the Lord, have now arrived.” Joshua fell to the ground, face first, and worshiped him. He said, “What does my lord bid of his servant?” ¹⁵ The commander of the army of the Lord said to Joshua, “Take your shoes off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Joshua did this.

Chapter 6^[u]

Jericho Overtaken. ¹ Now Jericho was shut up tight on account of the people of Israel, none went out and none came in. ² The Lord said to Joshua, “Behold, I have given Jericho, its king, and its mighty warriors into your hands. ³ Your soldiers are to march all around the city once, doing that for six days. ⁴ Seven priests will carry seven trumpets made from ram’s horns in front of the Ark. On the seventh day you are to march around the city seven times while the priests blow their trumpets.^{[v] 5} Then they will make a long blast on the ram’s horns. As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, have all of the people give a great shout. The walls will fall down, and the people will go on up, every man in a straight line.”

⁶ So Joshua, the son of Nun, summoned the priests and said to them, “Take up the Ark of the Covenant. Have seven priests holding trumpets made from rams’ horns precede the Ark of the Lord.” ⁷ He gave the command to the people, “Advance! March around the city with the armed soldiers walking in front of the Ark of the Lord.” ⁸ When Joshua finished speaking to the people, the seven priests carrying trumpets made from rams’ horns walked in front of the Lord and moved forward, blowing their trumpets, and the Ark of the Lord followed them. ⁹ The armed soldiers marched in front of the priests who were blowing their trumpets, and a rear guard followed the Ark. The whole time the trumpets were being blown. ¹⁰ But Joshua commanded the people, “Do not shout or raise your voices. Do not say a thing until the day I tell you to shout. Then you are to shout.”

¹¹ So he had the Ark of the Lord carried around the city once. They then went back into the camp where they spent the night. ¹² Joshua rose early the next morning, and the priests took the Ark of the Lord. ¹³ The seven priests carrying the trumpets made from rams’ horns went ahead of the Ark of the Lord, blowing on their trumpets as they went. The armed soldiers marched in front of them, and a rear guard followed the Ark of the Lord, with the trumpets being blown the whole time. ¹⁴ Thus they went around the city once on the second day, and then they returned to the camp. They did this for six days in a row.

¹⁵ On the seventh day they rose at daybreak and went around the city seven times just as they had before, but that day they went around the city seven times. ¹⁶ On the seventh time around when the priests blew their trumpets, Joshua commanded the people, “Shout out, for the Lord has given you the city. ¹⁷ The city and all that is in it are devoted^[w] to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute shall live, she and all who are in her household, for she hid the spies whom we sent there. ¹⁸ But avoid those things that are dedicated, lest you call a curse on yourself when you take something that is dedicated and you bring a curse and destruction upon the camp of Israel. ¹⁹ All the silver and gold and objects of bronze and iron are dedicated to the Lord. They must go into the treasury of the Lord.”

²⁰ The people shouted and the priests blew their trumpets. When the people heard the sound of the trumpets and the people let out a great shout, the wall collapsed, and each man went up in a straight line and they took the city. ²¹ They wiped out everything that was in the city, men and women, young and old, ox and sheep and donkey, by the edge of the sword.

²² Rahab’s Family Spared. But Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the countryside, “Go to the harlot’s house and bring her out to me, her and everyone who is with her, just as you promised her that you would do.” ²³ So the young men who had done the spying brought out Rahab, her father, her mother, her brothers, and everyone whom she had with her. They brought out the entire family and left them outside of the camp of Israel. ²⁴ They then burned the entire city with everything that was in it. Only the silver and gold, and the objects of bronze and iron were put into the treasury in the house of the Lord. ²⁵ But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, along with her father’s household, and all that she owned because she had hid the spies whom Joshua had sent. She lives among the Israelites up to the present.

²⁶ Joshua then said, “May the man who attempts to rebuild this city, Jericho, be cursed by the Lord. May he lose his firstborn^[x] if he lays its foundation, may he lose his youngest if he sets up its gates.” ²⁷ The Lord was with Joshua, and his reputation became known throughout the land.

Chapter 7

Israelites Defeated at Ai.^{[y] 1} The Israelites, however, acted treacherously with regard to those things that had been dedicated. Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the dedicated things for himself. The Lord’s anger blazed forth against the Israelites. ² Joshua sent some men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, to the east of Bethel. He said to them, “Go up and take a look at the countryside,” so the men went up and investigated Ai. ³ They returned and said to Joshua, “You should not send the entire nation there, only send about two or three thousand men against Ai to conquer it. You should not bother the whole nation, for there are not that many of them. ⁴ So about three thousand men went up there, and they had to flee from before the men of Ai. ⁵ The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of them when they chased them from their gates all the way down to Shebarim. They killed them as they ran down the slopes, and the people’s courage melted away like water.

⁶ Joshua tore his clothes and threw himself face down on the earth in front of the Ark of the Lord, remaining there until the evening. The elders of Israel did the same, tossing dust upon their heads. ^7 [z]Joshua said, “Alas, O Lord, why did you bring this people across the Jordan just to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites so they could destroy us? It would have been better if we had stayed on the other side of the Jordan. ⁸ O Lord, what can I say, now that Israel has fled before its enemies? ⁹ The Canaanites and all of the other inhabitants of the land will surely hear about this. They will surround us and wipe out remembrance of our name from the earth. What would happen to the grandeur of your name?”

¹⁰ The Lord said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing on your face? ¹¹ Israel has sinned. They have violated my covenant that I commanded them to observe. They have taken some of the dedicated things for themselves. They have stolen, they have lied, they have placed these things together with their own property. ¹² This is why the Israelites could not stand up to their enemies. They turned their backs and fled because they were under a curse. I will not be with you anymore unless you wipe out those who are cursed from your midst. ¹³ Arise, consecrate the people. Tell them, ‘Sanctify yourselves in preparation for tomorrow. Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: “There are things that have been dedicated in your midst, O Israel. You will not be able to stand up to your enemies until you remove the dedicated things from your midst.” ¹⁴ In the morning you will present yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe that the Lord chooses will present itself clan by clan. The clan that the Lord chooses will present itself family by family. The family that the Lord chooses will present itself person by person.^{[aa] 15} That person who has taken dedicated things will be thrown into the flames, he and all that he owns. He has violated the covenant of the Lord and he has done a disgraceful thing in Israel.’ ”

¹⁶ Achan’s Guilt and Punishment. Early the next morning Joshua had the people of Israel come forward by their tribes, and Judah was chosen. ¹⁷ The clans of Judah then came forward, and the clan of the Zerahites was chosen. The clan of the Zerahites came forward family by family, and the family of Zabdi was chosen. ¹⁸ The family came forward person by person, and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah was chosen.

¹⁹ Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and make your confession to him. Tell me now what you have done, do not hide it from me.” ²⁰ Achan answered Joshua, “I have truly sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel, for this is what I have done. ²¹ I spotted among the spoils a good garment made in Babylonia,^[ab] and two hundred silver shekels, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels. I coveted them so I took them. They are hidden in my tent, with the silver buried underneath it.”

²² Joshua sent some runners to the tent, and there it was in the tent, with the silver buried underneath it. ²³ They took it out of the tent and brought it to Joshua and to all of the Israelites, laying it out before the Lord. ^24 [ac]Joshua, together with all of Israel, took Achan, the son of Zerah, along with the silver, the garment, and the bar of gold, his sons and his daughters, his oxen, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all his other property to the Valley of Achor. ²⁵ Joshua said, “Why have you brought this calamity upon us? The Lord will bring a calamity down upon you today.” Then all of the Israelites stoned him, and after they stoned the rest of them, they threw them in the fire. ²⁶ They piled up a great mound of stones over Achan that is still there to the present. The fierce anger of the Lord was thus quenched. This is why this site is called the Valley of Achor to this day.

Chapter 8

Joshua Conquers Ai. ¹ The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or discouraged! Arise and take all of your soldiers with you, going up to Ai. See that I have given the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land into your hands. ² You shall treat Ai and its king just like you did Jericho, except that you can take its plunder and cattle for yourselves. Set up an ambush for them behind the city.”

³ So Joshua and all of the soldiers went up to Ai. Joshua selected thirty thousand of the strongest and most courageous and sent them out by night,^{[ad] 4} commanding them, “Set up an ambush for them behind the city. Stay fairly close to the city, and be alert! ⁵ I will go with everyone who is with me and we will approach near the city. When they come out against us like they did before, we will flee before them. ⁶ They will chase after us until we have drawn them away from the city, for they will say to themselves, ‘They are fleeing away from us just like the first time.’ When we flee from them, ⁷ you are to spring out of the ambush and take the city. The Lord, your God, will deliver it into your hands. ⁸ When you have taken the city, set it on fire. Do what the Lord has commanded you to do! See, you now have my orders.”

⁹ Joshua sent them off, and they went into their ambush, lying in wait between Bethel and Ai, on the western side of Ai. Joshua spent the night with his people. ¹⁰ Early the next morning Joshua mustered the people, and he and the elders^[ae] of Israel marched off before them to Ai. ¹¹ All of the soldiers who were with him went up and approached the city, drawing up in front of it. They pitched camp on the northern side of Ai, with the valley lying between them and Ai. ¹² He had taken about five thousand men and set them up in an ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the western side of the city. ¹³ All the soldiers were thus ready, those who were on the northern side of the city and those lying in wait on the western side of the city. That night Joshua went down into the valley. ¹⁴ When the king of Ai saw this, he and all the men from the city rose early and went out to do battle with Israel at a fixed place in the plain. He did not know about the ambush that was lying in wait for him behind the city. ¹⁵ Joshua and all the Israelites were driven back before them, and they fled in the direction of the desert. ¹⁶ All of the men of Ai were summoned to pursue them. They followed after Joshua, and thus were drawn away from the city. ¹⁷ Every single man in Ai and Bethel went out after the Israelites. They left the city open and pursued the Israelites.

¹⁸ The Lord then said to Joshua, “Stretch out the spear in your hand toward Ai, for I will deliver it into your hands.” So Joshua stretched out the spear in his hands toward the city. ¹⁹ As soon as he stretched out his hand, the men who were hiding in ambush rose from their place and rushed forward. They entered into the city and captured it, quickly setting it on fire. ²⁰ The men from Ai looked back, and they saw smoke rising up into the sky from the city. There was no possibility of fleeing in any direction, for the people who had fled into the desert turned back upon their pursuers. ²¹ Joshua and all of the Israelites saw that those who had been in ambush had taken the city and that smoke was rising up from the city, so they turned and attacked the men from Ai. ²² The others also came out of the city against them, so that they were caught in the middle between two Israelite forces. They cut them down; none of them escaped or survived ²³ except for the king of Ai, whom they captured alive and brought to Joshua.

²⁴ When the Israelites had finished killing all of those who lived in Ai, in the fields, and in the wilderness where they had chased them, putting all of them to the edge of the sword, all of the Israelites returned to Ai and put everyone in it to death by the sword. ²⁵ Twelve thousand men and women were slain that day, all of those who lived in Ai. ²⁶ Joshua did not pull back the hand that held the outstretched spear until he had wiped out everyone who had lived in Ai. ²⁷ The Israelites carried off the cattle and plunder from the city as booty for themselves, as the Lord had instructed Joshua. ²⁸ Joshua burned Ai, leaving it a heap of ruins, and it remains desolate to this very day. ²⁹ He hung the king of Ai from a tree until that evening. When the sun was setting, Joshua ordered that they should take his body down from the tree and toss it down at the entrance to the city gate. They piled a large mound of stones on it, which is still there today.

³⁰ The Altar on Mount Ebal.^[af] Joshua then built an altar on Mount Ebal to the Lord, the God of Israel ³¹ as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded the Israelites to do in the book of the law. Moses had written, “It is to be an altar of unhewn stones that no one has touched with iron tools.” They offered burnt offerings to the Lord there, and also sacrificed peace offerings. ³² There, in front of all of the Israelites, he copied on the stones the law that Moses had written. ³³ All of the Israelites, including their elders, their officials, and their judges were standing on either side of the Ark. They were facing the priests, the Levites who carry the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. There were both the foreigners and the native born. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim, and half of the people stood in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had previously commanded, so that they might bless the people of Israel. ³⁴ Afterward he read all of the words of the law along with its blessings and curses, just as all of it is written in the book of the law. ³⁵ Joshua read every single word that Moses had commanded before the whole assembly of Israel, along with the women, the little ones, and the foreigners who were living with them.

Chapter 9^[ag]

United against Israel. ¹ When all of the kings on that side of the Jordan heard about these things; those who were in the hill country, those on the western slopes, and those along the coast to the great sea, all the way up to Lebanon, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; ² they gathered together as one to fight against Joshua and the Israelites.

Plot of the Gibeonites. ³ But the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai ⁴ and they devised a cunning plot. They prepared provisions, collecting them and putting them into old sacks upon their donkeys, along with old wineskins that were torn and mended. ⁵ They put old mended sandals on their feet, and dressed in old clothing, making sure that all of their provisions were dried out and crumbling. ⁶ They came to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal and said to him and to the people of Israel, “We have come here from a distant country, so make a covenant with us.” ⁷ The Israelites said to the Hivites, “Maybe you actually live among us, how could we make a covenant with you?” ⁸ They then said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” Joshua said to them, “Who are you, and where do you come from?” ⁹ They said to him, “We, your servants, come from a very distant land because of the name of the Lord, your God. We have heard reports about him and everything that he did in Egypt ¹⁰ and everything that he did to the two kings of the Amorites on the other side of the Jordan; Sihon, the king of Heshbon, and Og, the king of Bashan, who dwelt at Ashtaroth. ¹¹ Our elders and everyone who dwells in our land said to us, ‘Take some provisions for the journey and go to meet with them and say to them, “We are your servants, so please make a covenant with us.” ’ ¹² Here is our bread. It was still hot from the oven when we took it out of our houses on the day we set out to come to you. Look at it now, it is dry and crumbling. ¹³ These wineskins were new when we filled them. Look at them now, they are falling apart. These clothes and our shoes have become old because of the very long journey that we have made.”

¹⁴ The Israelites partook of some of their provisions, but they did not ask the counsel of the Lord.^{[ah] 15} Joshua made peace with them; he made a covenant with them, permitting them to live. The leaders of the assembly also swore an oath to them.

¹⁶ Punishment of the Gibeonites. Three days after they had made a covenant with them, they heard that they were actually neighbors, and that they were living in their land. ¹⁷ The Israelites went out and arrived at their cities three days later. Their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. ¹⁸ But the Israelites did not kill them, for the leaders of the assembly had made an oath to them by the Lord, the God of Israel. Everyone in the assembly, however, grumbled against their leaders. ¹⁹ All of the leaders said to the assembly, “We have made an oath to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, so now we cannot touch them. ²⁰ This is what we will do to them. We will let them live, lest wrath come upon us because of the oath we swore to them.” ²¹ So the leaders said to them, “Let them live. They will cut firewood and draw water for the whole assembly of Israel, just as the leaders promised them.”

²² Joshua then summoned them and he said to them, “You have deceived us by telling us that you came from a distant land when you actually live in our midst. ²³ Now, therefore, you will be cursed, you shall always be slaves, cutting firewood and drawing water for the house of my God.”

²⁴ They answered Joshua, “Your servants were informed on how the Lord, your God, commanded Moses, his servant, to give you all the land and to kill all of the inhabitants in the land ahead of you. We truly feared for our lives, for you would have done this thing. ²⁵ So therefore, we are in your hands. Do whatever you consider to be right to us.” ²⁶ And so this is what he did to them: he rescued them out of the hands of the Israelites so that they did not kill them, ²⁷ but Joshua established them that day as the ones who would cut firewood and draw water for the assembly and for the altar of the Lord in the place that he would choose, which they still do today.

Chapter 10

Conspiracy against Gibeon.^{[ai] 1} Now Adoni-zedek, the king of Jerusalem, heard that Joshua had taken Ai and had totally destroyed it, doing to Ai and its king what he had already done to Jericho and its king, and also how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were living near them. ² He and his people were shocked, for Gibeon was one of the larger cities, large enough to be one of the royal cities. It was larger than Ai, and all its men were mighty warriors. ³ Adoni-zedek appealed to Hoham, the king of Hebron, Piram, the king of Jarmuth, Japhia, the king of Lachish, and Debir, the king of Eglon, saying, ⁴ “Come up and assist me with an attack on Gibeon, for it has made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.”

⁵ The five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, and all of their armies went up and encamped outside of Gibeon to attack it. ⁶ The Gibeonites sent a message to Joshua who was in his camp at Gilgal saying, “Do not abandon your servants! Come up quickly to us and save us. All of the kings of the Amorites who live in the hill country have gathered forces against us.”

Joshua Rescues Gibeon. ⁷ So Joshua and all of his fighting men went up along with his most valiant warriors. ⁸ The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them. I have delivered them into your hands. Not one of them will be able to withstand you.” ⁹ Joshua marched from Gilgal all night and took them by surprise. ¹⁰ The Lord routed them before Israel. They killed many at Gibeon, chasing after them on the road leading up to Beth-horon, slaying them all the way up to Azekah and Makkedah. ¹¹ As they were fleeing before the Israelites on the road from Beth-horon to Azekah, the Lord hurled down large hailstones upon them, so that more of them were killed by the hailstones than had been killed by the swords of the Israelites.

¹² On the day that the Lord delivered the Amorites up to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the Lord in front of the Israelites saying, “O Sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the valley of Aijalon.” ¹³ So the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation had taken vengeance upon their enemies. Is this not written about in the Book of Jashar?^[aj] The sun stood still in the middle of the sky and delayed going down for a full day. ¹⁴ There had never before been a day like this, and never will be again, a day when the Lord listened to the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel. ¹⁵ Joshua and all the Israelites with him then returned to the camp in Gilgal.

¹⁶ Five Kings Executed. These five kings fled and hid themselves in a cave at Makkedah. ¹⁷ Joshua was told, “The five kings have been found hidden in a cave at Makkedah.” ¹⁸ Joshua said, “Roll large stones over the mouth of the cave and assign men to guard it, ¹⁹ but do not stay there yourselves. You must chase after your enemies and attack them in the rear. Do not allow them to enter into their cities, for the Lord, your God, has delivered them over into your hands.” ²⁰ When the Israelites had finished all but wiping them out, and those few who remained had slipped into fortified cities, ²¹ all the people returned safely to Joshua at the camp in Makkedah. No one uttered a sound against the Israelites.

²² Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave, and bring those five kings out of the cave to me.” ²³ So they brought those five kings out of the cave 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 they had brought those five kings to Joshua, Joshua summoned all of the men of Israel and said to the leaders of the army who had gone out with him, “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.”^[ak] So they drew near and put their feet on their necks. ²⁵ Joshua said to them, “Do not fear or be dismayed. Be strong and courageous. This is what the Lord will do to all of your enemies against whom you are going to fight.” ²⁶ Joshua then struck and killed them, hanging them from five trees. They were left hanging from the trees until the evening. ²⁷ At sunset Joshua ordered that they be taken down from the trees and cast into the cave where they had been hiding. They placed large stones at the mouth of the cave that are still there today. ²⁸ That same day Joshua conquered Makkedah. He put it and its king to the sword, wiping out all of them. He did not leave any survivors. He treated the king of Makkedah the same way he had treated the king of Jericho.

²⁹ The Conquest of Southern Canaan. Joshua and all the Israelites then moved on from Makkedah to Libnah, and once there they attacked Libnah. ³⁰ The Lord handed it and its king over into the hands of the Israelites. They put everyone in it to the sword. He left no survivors. He treated its king the same way he had treated the king of Jericho.

³¹ Joshua and all of the Israelites then traveled from Libnah to Lachish, making camp outside of it and attacking it. ³² The Lord handed Lachish over^[al] into the hands of the Israelites who took it on the second day. They put everyone in it to the sword, just as they had done at Libnah.

³³ Horam, the king of Gezer, had come up to assist Lachish. Joshua defeated him and his army, leaving no survivors. ³⁴ Joshua and all of the Israelites then traveled from Lachish to Eglon. They camped outside of it and attacked it. ³⁵ They captured it that same day, putting everyone in it to the sword. He totally wiped it out, just as he had done at Lachish.

³⁶ Joshua and all of the Israelites went up from Eglon to Hebron and attacked it. ³⁷ They took it and put everyone to the sword, including its king, its dependent towns, and all of its inhabitants. He totally destroyed it and killed everyone in it, just as he had done at Eglon.

³⁸ Then Joshua and all of the Israelites turned back to Debir and attacked it. ³⁹ He took it and its king and all of its dependent towns. He put them all to the sword. He totally destroyed it and killed everyone in it. He left no survivors. He treated Debir and its king the same way he had treated Hebron and also Libnah and its king.

⁴⁰ So Joshua struck down the entire land, the hill country, the Negeb, the western slopes and the mountain slopes and all of their kings. He left no survivors, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded. ⁴¹ Joshua conquered from Kadesh-barnea up to Gaza, and the whole territory of Goshen up to Gibeon. ⁴² Joshua captured all of these kings and all of their lands in one campaign because the Lord, the God of Israel, was fighting for Israel. ⁴³ Then Joshua and all of the Israelites returned to the camp at Gilgal.

Chapter 11

Conquest of the North. ¹ When Jabin, the king of Hazor, heard about this, he sent to Jobab, the king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph, ² to the kings from the north who lived in the mountains, in the Arabah south of Chinneroth, in the western slopes, and in the highlands in Naphath-dor in the west, ³ to the Canaanites who lived in the east and the west, to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites who lived in the mountains, and to the Hivites who lived below Hermon in the land of Mizpah. ⁴ They went out along with all of their armies. There were as many of them as there is sand on the shore of the sea, along with a very large number of horses and chariots. ⁵ When all of these kings gathered together, they went and camped around the waters of Merom to do battle with Israel.

⁶ The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow, around this time, I will deliver all of them up to be slain by Israel. You are to hamstring their horses and burn their chariots.” ⁷ Joshua and the whole army with him surprised them at the waters of Merom and attacked them. ⁸ The Lord delivered them into the hands of the Israelites who defeated them and pursued them to Greater Sidon, to Misrephoth-maim and to the valley of Mizpah in the east. They continued to slay them until there were no survivors. ⁹ Joshua did as the Lord had directed: the horses were hamstrung and the chariots were burned.

¹⁰ Joshua then turned back to Hazor and he captured it, putting its king to the sword. (Hazor had been at the head of all of those kingdoms.) ¹¹ They also put everyone in it to the sword. They totally destroyed it, not leaving any survivors, and they burned Hazor to the ground. ¹² Joshua captured all of these cities and their kings and he put them to the sword. He totally destroyed them, as the Lord had commanded Moses, his servant. ¹³ But as for the cities built upon mounds, Israel did not burn any of them except for Hazor which Joshua burned. ¹⁴ The Israelites carried off the cattle and the spoils from these cities for themselves, but they put every person to the sword, totally destroying them and not leaving any survivors. ¹⁵ Whatever the Lord had commanded Moses is what Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did these things. He left nothing undone^[am] from everything that the Lord had commanded Moses.

¹⁶ Joshua’s Conquests as Ordered by Moses. Joshua conquered the entire land: the hill country, the Negeb, the whole of Goshen, the western slopes, the Arabah, and the mountains of Israel with their foothills, ¹⁷ from Mount Halak and the uplands toward Seir, up to Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon beneath Mount Hermon. He captured all of their kings and he struck them down, putting them to death.

¹⁸ Joshua waged war upon all of these kings for a long time.^{[an] 19} The Israelites conquered them all in battle. They did not make a covenant of peace with any city except with the Hivites who lived in Gibeon. ²⁰ It was the Lord himself who had hardened their hearts so that they fought against Israel and thus he might totally wipe them out, exterminating them without mercy, as the Lord had commanded Moses to do.

²¹ It was at that time that Joshua went and crushed the Anakim^[ao] from the mountain country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, from all of the hill country of Judah, and from all of the hill country of Israel. Joshua totally wiped them out along with their cities. ²² No Anakim were left in the land of the Israelites. The only ones who survived lived in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. ²³ So Joshua conquered the entire land just as the Lord had directed Moses to do. Joshua gave it to Israel following their tribal divisions, and there was a respite from fighting in the land.

Chapter 12^[ap]

Conquered Kings East of the Jordan. ¹ These are the kings of the land that the Israelites conquered and of which they took possession on the other side of the Jordan, from the Arnon River up to Mount Hermon, including the entire eastern side of the Arabah. ² There was Sihon, the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon and ruled from Aroer which lay on the banks of the Arnon River. The middle of the river up to the Jabbok River formed the boundary with the Ammonites. This included half of Gilead. ³ He also ruled over the eastern Arabah from the Sea of Chinnereth to the Sea of Arabah (the Salt Sea), the road to Beth-jeshimoth and southward below the slopes of the Pisgah. ⁴ There was also Og, the king of Bashan and its territory. He was the last of the Rephaim,^[aq] and he lived in Ashtaroth and Edrei, ⁵ and reigned over Mount Hermon, over Salecah, and over all of Bashan up to the boundary with the Geshurites and the Maachathites, as well as half of Gilead, up to the boundary with Sihon, the king of Heshbon.^{[ar] 6} Moses, the servant of the Lord, and the Israelites conquered them. Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave them into the possession of the Reubenites, the Gadites, and one of the halves of the tribe of Manasseh.

Kings Conquered West of the Jordan. ⁷ These are the kings of the land that Joshua and the Israelites conquered on this side of the Jordan, the western side, from Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon up to Mount Halak and the uplands toward Seir. Joshua gave it into the possession of the tribes of Israel according to their tribal divisions. ⁸ There was the hill country, the western slope, the Arabah, the mountain slopes, the desert, and the Negeb which belonged to the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ⁹ There was one king from Jericho, there was one king from Ai (which is near Bethel); ¹⁰ there was one king from Jerusalem; there was one king from Hebron; ¹¹ there was one king from Jarmuth; there was one king from Lachish; ¹² there was one king from Eglon; there was one king from Gezer; ¹³ there was one king from Debir; there was one king from Geder; ¹⁴ there was one king from Hormah; there was one king from Arad; ¹⁵ there was one king from Libnah; there was one king from Adullam; ¹⁶ there was one king from Makkedah; there was one king from Bethel; ¹⁷ there was one king from Tappuah; there was one king from Hepher; ¹⁸ there was one king from Aphek; there was one king from Lasharon; ¹⁹ there was one king from Madon; there was one king from Hazor; ²⁰ there was one king from Shimron Meron; there was one king from Achshaph; ²¹ there was one king from Taanach; there was one king from Megiddo; ²² there was one king from Kedesh; there was one king from Jokneam in Carmel; ²³ there was one king in Dor (in Naphath-dor); there was one king of the nations in Gilgal; ²⁴ there was one king in Tirzah. There were thirty-one kings in all.