CHAPTER 10

¹And it happened when Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had taken Ai and put it under the ban, as he had done to Jericho and its king, so had he done to Ai and its king, and that the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were in their midst, ²that he was very afraid, for Gibeon was a big town, like one of the royal towns, and it was bigger than Ai, and all its men were warriors. ³And Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron and to Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon, saying, ⁴“Come up to me and help me, and let us strike Gibeon, for it has made peace with Joshua and with the Israelites.” ⁵And the five Amorite kings, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered together, they and all their camps, and they encamped against Gibeon and did battle against it. ⁶And the men of Gibeon sent messengers to Joshua at the Gilgal camp, saying, “Do not let go of your servants. Come up quickly to us and rescue us and help us, for all the Amorite kings who live in the high country have gathered against us.” ⁷And Joshua came up from Gilgal, he and all the combat troops with him, and all the valiant warriors. ⁸And the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hand. No man of them will stand up before you.” ⁹And Joshua came against them suddenly—all night long he had come up from Gilgal. ¹⁰And the LORD panicked them before Israel, and they struck them a great blow at Gilgal, and they pursued them on the road of the ascent to Beth-Horon, and they struck them down as far as Azekah and as far as Makkedah. ¹¹And it happened when they fled before Israel, that they were on the descent from Beth-Horon when the LORD flung down on them great stones from the heavens as far as Azekah, and those who died from the hailstones were many more than the Israelites killed by the sword. ¹²Then did Joshua speak to the LORD on the day the LORD gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, and he said in the sight of Israel:

                 “O sun in Gibeon halt,

                     and the moon in Ajalon Valley.”

                 ¹³And the sun halted

                     and the moon stood still

                         till the nation wreaked vengeance on its foes.

Is it not written in the Book of Jashar?—“And the sun stood still in the middle of the heavens and did not hasten to set for a whole day. ¹⁴And there was nothing like that day before it or after it, in the LORD’s heeding the voice of a man, for the LORD did battle for Israel.” ¹⁵And Joshua went back, and all Israel with him, to the Gilgal camp. ¹⁶And those five kings fled and hid in a cave at Makkedah. ¹⁷And it was told to Joshua, saying, “The five kings have been found hiding in the cave at Makkedah. ¹⁸And Joshua said, “Roll great stones over the mouth of the cave, and set men over it to guard them. ¹⁹As for you, do not stand still. Pursue your enemies and cut them down from behind. Do not let them enter their towns, for the LORD your God has given them into your hand.” ²⁰And it happened when Joshua and the Israelites had finished striking them a very great blow, to the last of them, that a remnant of them survived and entered the fortified towns. ²¹And the troops came back safely to the camp to Joshua, no man so much as snarled at the Israelites. ²²And Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave, and bring these five kings out to me from the cave.” ²³And so they did, and they brought those five kings out to him from the cave—the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon. ²⁴And it happened when they brought out those kings to Joshua, that Joshua called out to all the men of Israel and said to the captains of the men of war who had gone with him: “Put your feet on the necks of these kings.” And they drew near and put their feet on their necks. ²⁵And Joshua said to them, “Do not fear and do not cower. Be strong and stalwart, for thus shall the LORD do to all your enemies with whom you do battle.” ²⁶And afterward Joshua struck them down and put them to death, and he impaled them on five poles, and they remained impaled on the poles till evening. ²⁷And it happened as the sun was setting that Joshua gave the command and they took them down from the poles and flung them into the cave in which they had hidden, and they put great stones over the mouth of the cave, to this very day. ²⁸And Joshua took Makkedah on that day and struck it and its king with the edge of the sword and every living thing within it. He left no survivor, and he did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho. ²⁹And Joshua moved on, and all Israel with him, from Makkedah to Libnah, and he did battle with Libnah. ³⁰And the LORD gave it as well into the hand of Israel with its king, and he struck it with the edge of the sword and every living thing within it. He left no survivor, and he did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho. ³¹And Joshua moved on, and all Israel with him, from Libnah to Lachish, and he camped against it and did battle against it. ³²And the LORD gave Lachish into the hand of Israel, and he took it on the second day and struck it by the edge of the sword and every living thing within it, as all that he had done to Libnah. ³³Then did Horam king of Gezer come up to help Lachish, and Joshua struck him down, and all his troops with him, till he left no survivor of him. ³⁴And Joshua moved on, and all Israel with him, from Lachish to Eglon, and they camped against it and did battle against it. ³⁵And they took it on that day and struck it with the edge of the sword and every living thing within it. On that day he passed it under the ban as all he had done to Lachish. ³⁶And Joshua went up, and all Israel with him, from Eglon to Hebron, and they did battle against it. ³⁷And they took it and struck it with the edge of the sword, and its king and all its towns and every living thing within it. He left no survivor, as all he had done to Eglon, and he put it under the ban and every living thing within it. ³⁸And Joshua, and all Israel with him, turned back to Debir and did battle against it. ³⁹And he took it, and its king and all its towns, and he struck them with the edge of the sword, and he put under the ban every living thing within it. He left no survivor. As he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir and its king and as he had done to Libnah and to its king. ⁴⁰And Joshua struck the whole land, the high country and the Negeb and the lowland and the slopes and all their kings. And he left no survivor of it. And every breathing thing he put under the ban as the LORD God of Israel had charged. ⁴¹And Joshua struck them from Kadesh-Barnea to Gaza, and the whole land of Goshen to Gibeon. ⁴²And all these kings and their land Joshua took in one fell swoop, for the LORD God of Israel did battle for Israel. ⁴³And Joshua, and all Israel with him, turned back to the Gilgal camp.