^23 (A)his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him on the same day (for ^(B)he who is hanged is ^[a]accursed of God), so that you ^(C)do not defile your land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance.

^29 (A)He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening; and at sunset Joshua gave command and they took his body down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the city gate, and raised over it a great heap of stones that stands to this day.

²⁶ So afterward Joshua struck them and put them to death, and he ^(A)hanged them on five trees; and they hung on the trees until evening. ²⁷ It came about at ^[a]sunset that Joshua gave a command, and ^(B)they took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves, and put large stones over the mouth of the cave, to this very day.

²⁸ Now Joshua captured Makkedah on that day, and struck it and its king with the edge of the sword; ^(C)he ^[b]utterly destroyed ^[c]it and every ^[d]person who was in it. He left no survivor. Thus he did to the king of Makkedah ^(D)just as he had done to the king of Jericho.

Joshua’s Conquest of Southern Palestine

²⁹ Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Makkedah to ^(E)Libnah, and fought against Libnah. ³⁰ The Lord gave it also with its king into the hands of Israel, and he struck it and every person who was in it with the edge of the sword. He left no survivor in it. Thus he did to its king just as he had done to the king of Jericho.

³¹ And Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Libnah to Lachish, and they camped by it and fought against it. ³² The Lord gave Lachish into the hands of Israel; and he captured it on the second day, and struck it and every person who was in it with the edge of the sword, according to all that he had done to Libnah.

³³ Then Horam king of ^(F)Gezer came up to help Lachish, and Joshua ^[e]defeated him and his people until he had left him no survivor.

³⁴ And Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Lachish to Eglon, and they camped by it and fought against it. ³⁵ They captured it on that day and struck it with the edge of the sword; and he ^[f]utterly destroyed that day every person who was in it, according to all that he had done to Lachish.

³⁶ Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to ^(G)Hebron, and they fought against it. ³⁷ They captured it and struck it and its king and all its cities and all the persons who were in it with the edge of the sword. He left no survivor, according to all that he had done to Eglon. And he ^[g]utterly destroyed it and every person who was in it.

³⁸ Then Joshua and all Israel with him returned to ^(H)Debir, and they fought against it. ³⁹ He captured it and its king and all its cities, and they struck them with the edge of the sword, and ^[h]utterly destroyed every person who was in it. He left no survivor. Just as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir and its king, as he had also done to Libnah and its king.

⁴⁰ Thus Joshua struck all the land, ^(I)the hill country and the ^[i]Negev and the lowland and the slopes and ^(J)all their kings. He left no survivor, but ^(K)he ^[j]utterly destroyed all who breathed, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded. ⁴¹ Joshua struck them from Kadesh-barnea even as far as Gaza, and all the country of ^(L)Goshen even as far as Gibeon. ⁴² Joshua captured all these kings and their lands at one time, because ^(M)the Lord, the God of Israel, fought for Israel. ⁴³ So Joshua and all Israel with him returned to the camp at Gilgal.