Gibeonites under attack

10 Jerusalem’s King Adoni-zedek heard that Joshua had captured Ai and had wiped it out as something reserved for God. Joshua did the same thing to Ai and its king that he had done to Jericho and its king. He also heard that the population of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were living among them. ² Adoni-zedek and his people^[a] were very afraid, because Gibeon was a large city, like one of the royal cities. It was larger than Ai. All its men were soldiers. ³ So Jerusalem’s King Adoni-zedek sent word to Hebron’s King Hoham, Jarmuth’s King Piram, Lachish’s King Japhia, and Eglon’s King Debir: ⁴ “Come up and help me. We will strike at Gibeon, because it has made peace with Joshua and with the Israelites.” ⁵ Then the five kings of the Amorites gathered. These were the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon. They went up with all their armies, camped against Gibeon, and attacked it. ⁶ The people of Gibeon sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: “Don’t desert your servants! Come to us quickly. Rescue us! Help us! All the Amorite kings from the highlands have assembled together against us.” ⁷ So Joshua went up from Gilgal with the entire army and all the bravest soldiers.

The Lord fights for Israel

⁸ Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Don’t be afraid of them. I have given them into your power. Not a single one of them can stand up against you.” ⁹ Joshua quickly attacked them, having come up overnight from Gilgal. ¹⁰ Then the Lord threw them into a panic before Israel. Joshua struck a mighty blow against them at Gibeon. He chased them on the way up to Beth-horon and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah. ¹¹ When they were fleeing from Israel and were on the slope of Beth-horon, the Lord threw down large stones from the sky all the way to Azekah. So they died. More died from the hailstones than the Israelites killed with the sword.

¹² On the day the Lord gave the Amorites into the power of Israel, Joshua spoke to the Lord in the presence of the Israelites:

Isn’t this written in the Jashar scroll? So the sun stood motionless in the middle of the sky. For a whole day, it was in no hurry to go down. ¹⁴ There hasn’t been a day like it before or since, when the Lord responded to a human voice. The Lord fought for Israel. ¹⁵ Then Joshua along with all Israel came back to the camp at Gilgal.

Israel executes five kings

¹⁶ Then those five kings fled and hid in the cave at Makkedah. ¹⁷ It was reported to Joshua, “The five kings have been found, hidden in the cave at Makkedah.”

¹⁸ Joshua said, “Roll large stones over the mouth of the cave. Station some men by it to guard them, ¹⁹ but don’t you stay there. Chase after your enemies and attack them from the rear. Don’t let them enter their cities, because the Lord your God has given them into your power.” ²⁰ Joshua and the Israelites finished dealing them a stunning blow until they were finished off. Some survivors among them escaped into the fortified cities. ²¹ Then the whole people came back safely to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah. Not a single person threatened the Israelites.

²² Joshua said, “Open up the mouth of the cave. Bring those five kings out of the cave to me.” ²³ They did so. They brought the five kings out of the cave to him: the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon. ²⁴ When they brought these kings out to Joshua, Joshua called for every Israelite. He said to the military commanders who had gone out with him, “Come forward. Put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So they went forward and put their feet on their necks. ²⁵ Then Joshua said to them, “Don’t be afraid or terrified. Be brave and strong, because this is how the Lord will deal with all the enemies you fight.” ²⁶ Next, Joshua struck them down. He put them to death and then hanged them on five trees. They were hanging on the trees until evening. ²⁷ At sundown, Joshua gave an order, and they took them down from the trees. They threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves, and they set large stones over the mouth of the cave. The stones are still there to this very day.

Victories in the south

²⁸ On that day, Joshua captured Makkedah. With a sword, he struck it and its king without mercy. He wiped them out, treating everyone in the city as something reserved for God. He left no survivors. He did to the king of Makkedah exactly as he had done to the king of Jericho.

²⁹ Then Joshua along with all Israel moved on from Makkedah to Libnah. They attacked Libnah. ³⁰ The Lord also gave it and its king into the power of Israel. With a sword, he struck it and everyone in it without mercy. He left no survivors in it. He did to its king exactly as he had done to the king of Jericho.

³¹ Joshua along with all Israel moved on from Libnah to Lachish. They camped near it and attacked it. ³² The Lord gave Lachish into the power of Israel. Joshua captured it on the second day. With a sword, he struck it and everyone in it without mercy, just exactly as he had done to Libnah. ³³ Then Gezer’s King Horam came up to help Lachish. But Joshua struck him and his people down, until no survivors were left.

³⁴ Joshua along with all Israel moved on from Lachish to Eglon. They camped against it and attacked it. ³⁵ They captured it on the same day and struck it down without mercy. On that day, he wiped out everyone in it as something reserved for God, just exactly as he had done to Lachish.

³⁶ Joshua along with all Israel went up from Eglon to Hebron and attacked it. ³⁷ They captured it and struck it down without mercy, along with its king, all its towns, and everyone in it. He left no survivors, just exactly as he had done to Eglon. He wiped out the city and everyone in it as something reserved for God.

³⁸ Joshua along with all Israel turned back to Debir and attacked it. ³⁹ He captured it along with its king and all its cities. They struck them down without mercy and wiped out everyone in it as something reserved for God. He left no survivors. Exactly as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir and its king—exactly as he had done to Libnah and its king.

⁴⁰ So Joshua struck at the whole land: the highlands, the arid southern plains, the lowlands, the slopes, and all their kings. He left no survivors. He wiped out everything that breathed as something reserved for God, exactly as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded. ⁴¹ Joshua struck them down from Kadesh-barnea to Gaza, and the whole land of Goshen as far as Gibeon. ⁴² Joshua captured all these kings and their land all at the same time. This was because the Lord, the God of Israel, fought for Israel. ⁴³ Then Joshua along with all Israel came back to the camp at Gilgal.

Victories in the north

11 King Jabin of Hazor heard about this. So he sent word to Madon’s King Jobab, to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph. ² He sent word to the kings from the north part of the highlands, in the desert plain south of Chinneroth, in the lowlands, and in Naphoth-dor on the west. ³ He sent word to the Canaanites from east and west, to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Jebusites in the highlands, and to the Hivites at the foot of Hermon in the land of Mizpah. ⁴ They went out with all their battalions as a great army. They were as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore. There were very many horses and chariots. ⁵ All these kings came together. They came and camped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.

⁶ The Lord said to Joshua, “Don’t be afraid of them. By this time tomorrow, I will make them all dead bodies in Israel’s presence. Cripple their horses! Burn their chariots!”

⁷ Then Joshua along with the entire army launched a surprise attack against them at the waters of Merom. ⁸ The Lord gave them into Israel’s power. They struck them down. They chased them as far as Great Sidon and Misrephoth-maim, then to the east as far as the Mizpeh Valley. They struck them down until no survivors were left. ⁹ Joshua dealt with them exactly as the Lord had told him. He crippled their horses and burned their chariots.

¹⁰ Joshua turned back at that time. He captured Hazor and struck down its king with the sword. Hazor had been the head of all those kingdoms in the past. ¹¹ They struck down everyone there without mercy, wiping them out as something reserved for God. Nothing that breathed was left. Hazor itself he burned. ¹² Joshua captured all these kings and their cities. He struck them down without mercy. He wiped them out as something reserved for God. This was exactly as Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded. ¹³ But Israel didn’t burn any of the cities that still are standing on their mounds. Joshua burned only Hazor. ¹⁴ The Israelites took all the valuable things from those cities and the cattle as plunder for themselves. But they struck down every person without mercy until they had wiped them out. They didn’t let anything that breathed survive. ¹⁵ What the Lord had commanded Moses his servant, Moses had commanded Joshua, and Joshua did exactly that. He didn’t deviate a bit from any command that the Lord had given Moses.

Summary of Israel’s victories

¹⁶ So Joshua took this whole land: the highlands, the whole arid southern plain, the whole land of Goshen, the lowlands, the desert plain, and both the highlands and the lowlands of Israel. ¹⁷ He took land stretching from Mount Halak, which goes up toward Seir, as far as Baal-gad at the foot of Mount Hermon in the Lebanon Valley. He captured all their kings. He struck them down and killed them. ¹⁸ Joshua waged war against all these kings for a long time. ¹⁹ There wasn’t one city that made peace with the Israelites, except the Hivites who lived in Gibeon. They captured every single one in battle. ²⁰ Their stubborn resistance came from the Lord and led them to wage war against Israel. Israel was then able to wipe them out as something reserved for God, without showing them any mercy. This was exactly what the Lord had commanded Moses.

²¹ At that time, Joshua went and wiped out the Anakim from the highlands. He wiped them out from Hebron, from Debir, and from Anab, from the whole highlands of Judah, and the whole highlands of Israel. Joshua wiped them out along with their cities as something reserved for God. ²² The Anakim no longer remained in the land of the Israelites. They survived only in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. ²³ So Joshua took the whole land, exactly as the Lord had promised Moses. Joshua gave it as a legacy to Israel according to their tribal shares. Then the land had a rest from war.

Moses defeated two kings

12 The Israelites struck down these kings of the land and took over their land on the east side of the Jordan. This ran from the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Hermon and included the whole eastern part of the desert plain. ² First there was the Amorites’ King Sihon, who lived in Heshbon. He ruled from Aroer by the rim of Arnon Valley and then from the middle of the valley as far as the Jabbok Valley, the border of the Ammonites. This was half of Gilead. ³ He ruled the desert plain up to the east side of the Chinneroth Sea. This ran southward in the direction of Beth-jeshimoth at the foot of the Pisgah slopes as far as the east side of the desert plain (that is, the Dead Sea) and ⁴ the territory next to it.^[b] Then there was Bashan’s King Og. He was one of the last of the Rephaim. He lived in Ashtaroth and Edrei. ⁵ He ruled over Mount Hermon, Salecah, and all of Bashan as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and half of Gilead down to the border of Heshbon’s King Sihon. ⁶ Moses the Lord’s servant and the Israelites struck them down. Moses the Lord’s servant gave their land as property to the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh.

Kings west of the Jordan

⁷ Joshua and the Israelites struck down these kings of the land and took over their land on the west side of the Jordan. This ran from Baal-gad in the Lebanon Valley as far as Mount Halak, which goes up toward Seir. Joshua gave it to the tribes of Israel as shares of property. ⁸ This was in the highlands, in the lowlands, in the desert plain, in the slopes, in the desert, and in the arid southern plain. The land belonged to Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. They were: