Joshua 10

New Life Version

10 Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had taken Ai and had destroyed it. Joshua had done the same thing to Ai and its king that he had done to Jericho and its king. Adoni-zedek heard that the people of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them. ² He was very much afraid. Because Gibeon was a large city, like one of the cities of a king. It was larger than Ai. All its men were strong. ³ So Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem sent word to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon. He said to them, ⁴ “Come and help me. Let us go fight against Gibeon. For it has made peace with Joshua and the people of Israel.” ⁵ So the five kings of the Amorites, the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon, gathered together with all their armies. And they went and set up their tents by Gibeon, to fight against it.

⁶ Then the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua at the tents at Gilgal, saying, “Do not leave your servants alone. Hurry and help us. For all the kings of the Amorites who live in the hill country have gathered against us.” ⁷ So Joshua went up from Gilgal. He took with him all the men of war and all the strong soldiers. ⁸ The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them. For I have given them into your hands. Not one of them will stand in front of you.” ⁹ So Joshua came upon them by surprise by traveling all night from Gilgal. ¹⁰ The Lord brought trouble upon the Amorites in front of Israel. He killed many of them at Gibeon, and went after them on the way up to Beth-horon. He killed them as far as Azekah and Makkedah. ¹¹ They ran from Israel. And while they ran from Beth-horon, the Lord made large hail-stones fall from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. More died from the hail-stones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword.

¹² Then Joshua spoke to the Lord on the day when the Lord made the Amorites lose the war against the sons of Israel. He said, in the eyes of Israel, “O sun, stand still at Gibeon. O moon, stand still in the valley of Aijalon.” ¹³ So the sun stood still and the moon stopped, until the nation punished those who fought against them. Is it not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the center of the sky. It did not hurry to go down for about a whole day. ¹⁴ There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord listened to the voice of a man. For the Lord fought for Israel. ¹⁵ Then Joshua and all Israel returned to the tents at Gilgal.

¹⁶ Now these five kings had run away and hidden themselves in the cave at Makkedah. ¹⁷ Joshua was told, “The five kings have been found hiding in the cave at Makkedah.” ¹⁸ And Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the opening of the cave. Then put men there to watch over them. ¹⁹ But do not stay there yourselves. Go after those who hate you. Follow after them and fight. Do not let them go into their cities. For the Lord your God has given them into your hand.” ²⁰ Joshua and the sons of Israel finished killing many of them, until they were destroyed. Those who were left alive went into their strong cities. ²¹ Then all the people returned to Joshua at the tents at Makkedah in peace. No one said a word against any of the people of Israel.

²² Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me.” ²³ The five kings were brought to him from the cave, the king of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon. ²⁴ When they brought those kings out to Joshua, he called for all the men of Israel. He said to the leaders of the men of war who had gone with him, “Come near. Put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So they came and put their feet on their necks. ²⁵ Then Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid or troubled. Be strong and have strength of heart. For the Lord will do this to all who hate you and fight against you.” ²⁶ After this Joshua killed the kings. He hanged them on five trees, and they hung on the trees until evening. ²⁷ When the sun went down, Joshua had them taken down from the trees and thrown into the cave where they had hidden. Large stones were put over the opening of the cave. And they are there to this day.

²⁸ Joshua took Makkedah on that day. He destroyed it and its king with the sword. He destroyed all of it and every person in it. No one was left alive. He did the same to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho.

²⁹ Then Joshua and all Israel went from Makkedah to fight against Libnah. ³⁰ The Lord gave it and its king into the hands of Israel also. Joshua destroyed it and every person in it with the sword. He left no one alive. So he did the same to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho.

³¹ Joshua and all Israel went from Libnah to Lachish. They stayed beside it and fought against it. ³² And the Lord gave Lachish into the hands of Israel. Joshua took it on the second day. He destroyed it and every person in it with the sword, just as he had done to Libnah.

³³ Horam king of Gezer came to help Lachish. But Joshua won the battle against him and his people. He left no one alive.

³⁴ Joshua and all Israel went from Lachish to Eglon. They stayed beside it and fought against it. ³⁵ And they took it on that day and destroyed it with the sword. He destroyed every person who was in it that day, just as he had done to Lachish.

³⁶ Joshua and all Israel went from Eglon to Hebron. And they fought against it. ³⁷ They took it and destroyed it. They destroyed its king, all its cities and all who were in it with the sword. He left no one alive, just as he had done to Eglon. He destroyed all of it and every person in it. ³⁸ Then Joshua and all Israel returned to Debir. And they fought against it. ³⁹ He took it, its king and all its cities. He destroyed them with the sword. Every person in it was destroyed. No one was left alive. He did the same to Debir and its king as he had done to Hebron and Libnah and their kings.

⁴⁰ So Joshua won the war against the whole land, the hill country, the Negev, the valleys, the hill-sides, and all their kings. He left no one alive. He destroyed all who breathed, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had told him. ⁴¹ Joshua killed them from Kadesh-barnea as far as Gaza. He killed them in all the country of Goshen as far as Gibeon. ⁴² Joshua took all these kings and their lands at the same time. Because the Lord, the God of Israel, fought for Israel. ⁴³ Then Joshua and all Israel returned to the tents at Gilgal.