Joshua 10
10
Joshua Commands the Sun To Stand Still
1King Adonizedek of Jerusalem#10.1 Jerusalem: Jerusalem was not an Israelite city at this time. heard that Joshua had captured and destroyed the town of Ai, and then killed its king as he had done at Jericho. He also learned that the Gibeonites had signed a peace treaty with Israel. 2This frightened Adonizedek and his people. They knew that Gibeon was a large town, as big as the towns that had kings, and even bigger than the town of Ai had been. And all of the men of Gibeon were warriors. 3So Adonizedek sent messages to the kings of four other towns: King Hoham of Hebron, King Piram of Jarmuth, King Japhia of Lachish, and King Debir of Eglon. The messages said, 4“The Gibeonites have signed a peace treaty with Joshua and the Israelites. Come and help me attack Gibeon!”
5When these five Amorite kings called their armies together and attacked Gibeon, 6the Gibeonites sent a message to the Israelite camp at Gilgal: “Joshua, please come and rescue us! The Amorite kings from the hill country have joined together and are attacking us. We are your servants, so don't let us down. Please hurry!”
7Joshua and his army, including his best warriors, left Gilgal. 8“Joshua,” the Lord said, “don't be afraid of the Amorites. They will run away when you attack, and I will help you defeat them.”
9Joshua marched all night from Gilgal to Gibeon and made a surprise attack on the Amorite camp. 10The Lord made the enemy panic, and the Israelites started killing them right and left. They#10.10 They: Or “The Lord.” chased the Amorite troops up the road to Beth-Horon and kept on killing them, until they reached the towns of Azekah and Makkedah.#10.10 Makkedah: A total distance of about 40 kilometers. 11And while these troops were going down through Beth-Horon Pass,#10.11 Beth-Horon Pass: A three-kilometer long, steeply-sloping valley between the towns of Upper Beth-Horon and Lower Beth-Horon. the Lord made huge hailstones fall on them all the way to Azekah. More of the enemy soldiers died from the hail than from the Israelite weapons.
12-13 #
2 S 1.18; Si 46.4-6. The Lord was helping the Israelites defeat the Amorites that day. So about noon, Joshua prayed to the Lord loud enough for the Israelites to hear:
“Our Lord, make the sun stop
in the sky over Gibeon,
and the moon stand still
over Aijalon Valley.”#10.12,13 Aijalon Valley: A valley southwest of Beth-Horon Pass.
So the sun and the moon
stopped and stood still
until Israel defeated its enemies.
This poem can be found in The Book of Jashar.#10.12,13 Book of Jashar: This book may have been a collection of ancient war songs. The sun stood still and didn't go down for about a whole day. 14Never before and never since has the Lord done anything like that for someone who prayed. The Lord was really fighting for Israel.
15After the battle, Joshua and the Israelites went back to their camp at Gilgal.
Joshua Kills the Five Enemy Kings
16While the enemy soldiers were running from the Israelites, the five enemy kings ran away and hid in a cave near Makkedah. 17Joshua's soldiers told him, “The five kings have been found in a cave near Makkedah.”
18Joshua answered, “Roll some big stones over the mouth of the cave and leave a few soldiers to guard it. 19But you and everyone else must keep going after the enemy troops, because they will be safe if they reach their walled towns. Don't let them get away! The Lord our God is helping us get rid of them.” 20So Joshua and the Israelites almost wiped out the enemy soldiers. Only a few safely reached their walled towns.
21The Israelite army returned to their camp at Makkedah, where Joshua was waiting for them. No one around there dared say anything bad about the Israelites. 22Joshua told his soldiers, “Now, move the rocks from the entrance to the cave and bring those five kings to me.”
23The soldiers opened the entrance to the cave and brought out the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon. 24After Joshua had called the army together, he forced the five kings to lie down on the ground. Then he called his officers forward and told them, “You fought these kings along with me, so put your feet on their necks.” The officers did this, 25and Joshua continued, “Don't ever be afraid or discouraged. Be brave and strong. This is what the Lord will do to all your enemies.”
26Joshua killed the five kings and told his men to hang each body on a tree. Then at sunset 27he told some of his troops, “Take the bodies down and throw them into the cave where the kings were found. Cover the entrance to the cave with big rocks.”
Joshua's troops obeyed his orders, and those rocks are still there.
Joshua Continues the Fighting
28Later that day, Joshua captured Makkedah and killed its king and everyone else in the town, just as he had done at Jericho.
29Joshua and his army left Makkedah and attacked the town of Libnah. 30The Lord let them capture the town and its king, and they killed the king and everyone else, just as they had done at Jericho.
31Joshua then led his army to Lachish, and they set up camp around the town. They attacked, 32and the next day the Lord let them capture the town. They killed everyone, as they had done at Libnah. 33King Horam of Gezer arrived to help Lachish, but Joshua and his troops attacked and destroyed him and his army.
34From Lachish, Joshua took his troops to Eglon, where they set up camp surrounding the town. They attacked, 35captured it that same day, then killed everyone, as they had done at Lachish.
36Joshua and his army left Eglon and attacked Hebron. 37They captured the town and the nearby villages, then killed everyone, including the king. They destroyed Hebron in the same way they had destroyed Eglon.
38Joshua and the Israelite army turned and attacked Debir. 39They captured the town, and its nearby villages. Then they destroyed Debir and killed its king, together with everyone else, just as they had done with Hebron and Libnah.
40Joshua captured towns everywhere in the land: In the central hill country and the foothills to the west, in the Southern Desert and the region that slopes down toward the Dead Sea. Whenever he captured a town, he would kill the king and everyone else, as the Lord God of Israel had commanded. 41Joshua wiped out towns from Kadesh-Barnea to Gaza, everywhere in the region of Goshen,#10.41 Goshen: A region between the hill country of Judah and the desert further south. Not the same Goshen as in Genesis 47.4-6. and as far north as Gibeon. 42-43The Lord fought on Israel's side, so Joshua and the Israelite army were able to capture these kings and take their land. They fought one battle after another, then they went back to their camp at Gilgal after capturing all that land.
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Joshua 10: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Joshua 10
10
1Now when Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it; as he had done to Jericho and her king, so he had done to Ai and her king; and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among them, 2they were very afraid, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty. 3Therefore Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon, saying, 4“Come up to me and help me. Let’s strike Gibeon; for they have made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel.” 5Therefore 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, gathered themselves together and went up, they and all their armies, and encamped against Gibeon, and made war against it. 6The men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal, saying, “Don’t abandon your servants! Come up to us quickly and save us! Help us; for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the hill country have gathered together against us.”
7So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and the whole army with him, including all the mighty men of valor. 8Yahweh said to Joshua, “Don’t fear them, for I have delivered them into your hands. Not a man of them will stand before you.”
9Joshua therefore came to them suddenly. He marched from Gilgal all night. 10Yahweh confused them before Israel. He killed them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them by the way of the ascent of Beth Horon, and struck them to Azekah and to Makkedah. 11As they fled from before Israel, while they were at the descent of Beth Horon, Yahweh hurled down great stones from the sky on them to Azekah, and they died. There were more who died from the hailstones than those whom the children of Israel killed with the sword.
12Then Joshua spoke to Yahweh in the day when Yahweh delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel. He said in the sight of Israel, “Sun, stand still on Gibeon! You, moon, stop in the valley of Aijalon!”
13The sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the nation had avenged themselves of their enemies. Isn’t this written in the book of Jashar? The sun stayed in the middle of the sky, and didn’t hurry to go down about a whole day. 14There was no day like that before it or after it, that Yahweh listened to the voice of a man; for Yahweh fought for Israel.
15Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp to Gilgal. 16These five kings fled, and hid themselves in the cave at Makkedah. 17Joshua was told, saying, “The five kings have been found, hidden in the cave at Makkedah.”
18Joshua said, “Roll large stones to cover the cave’s entrance, and set men by it to guard them; 19but don’t stay there. Pursue your enemies, and attack them from the rear. Don’t allow them to enter into their cities; for Yahweh your God has delivered them into your hand.”
20When Joshua and the children of Israel had finished killing them with a very great slaughter until they were consumed, and the remnant which remained of them had entered into the fortified cities, 21all the people returned to the camp to Joshua at Makkedah in peace. None moved his tongue against any of the children of Israel. 22Then Joshua said, “Open the cave entrance, and bring those five kings out of the cave to me.”
23They did so, and 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. 24When they brought those kings out to Joshua, Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said to the chiefs of the men of war who went with him, “Come near. Put your feet on the necks of these kings.”
They came near, and put their feet on their necks.
25Joshua said to them, “Don’t be afraid, nor be dismayed. Be strong and courageous, for Yahweh will do this to all your enemies against whom you fight.”
26Afterward Joshua struck them, put them to death, and hanged them on five trees. They were hanging on the trees until the evening. 27At the time of the going down of the sun, Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and threw them into the cave in which they had hidden themselves, and laid great stones on the mouth of the cave, which remain to this very day.
28Joshua took Makkedah on that day, and struck it with the edge of the sword, with its king. He utterly destroyed it and all the souls who were in it. He left no one remaining. He did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho.
29Joshua passed from Makkedah, and all Israel with him, to Libnah, and fought against Libnah. 30Yahweh delivered it also, with its king, into the hand of Israel. He struck it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls who were in it. He left no one remaining in it. He did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho.
31Joshua passed from Libnah, and all Israel with him, to Lachish, and encamped against it, and fought against it. 32Yahweh delivered Lachish into the hand of Israel. He took it on the second day, and struck it with the edge of the sword, with all the souls who were in it, according to all that he had done to Libnah. 33Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish; and Joshua struck him and his people, until he had left him no one remaining.
34Joshua passed from Lachish, and all Israel with him, to Eglon; and they encamped against it and fought against it. 35They took it on that day, and struck it with the edge of the sword. He utterly destroyed all the souls who were in it that day, according to all that he had done to Lachish.
36Joshua went up from Eglon, and all Israel with him, to Hebron; and they fought against it. 37They took it, and struck it with the edge of the sword, with its king and all its cities, and all the souls who were in it. He left no one remaining, according to all that he had done to Eglon; but he utterly destroyed it, and all the souls who were in it.
38Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to Debir, and fought against it. 39He took it, with its king and all its cities. They struck them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls who were in it. He left no one remaining. As he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir, and to its king; as he had done also to Libnah, and to its king. 40So Joshua struck all the land, the hill country, the South, the lowland, the slopes, and all their kings. He left no one remaining, but he utterly destroyed all that breathed, as Yahweh, the God of Israel, commanded. 41Joshua struck them from Kadesh Barnea even to Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, even to Gibeon. 42Joshua took all these kings and their land at one time because Yahweh, the God of Israel, fought for Israel. 43Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp to Gilgal.
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