Joshua 8:18-10:28 (New American Standard Bible)

 ¹⁸Then the LORD said to Joshua, "^(A)Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand." So Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city.

 ¹⁹The men in ambush rose quickly from their place, and when he had stretched out his hand, they ran and entered the city and captured it, and they quickly set the city on fire.

 ²⁰When the men of Ai turned back and looked, behold, the smoke of the city ascended to the sky, and they had no place to flee this way or that, for the people who had been fleeing to the wilderness turned against the pursuers.

 ²¹When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that the smoke of the city ascended, they turned back and slew the men of Ai.

 ²²The others came out from the city to encounter them, so that they were trapped in the midst of Israel, some on this side and some on that side; and they slew them until ^(B)no one was left of those who survived or escaped.

 ²³But they took alive the king of Ai and brought him to Joshua.

 ²⁴Now when Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the field in the wilderness where they pursued them, and all of them were fallen by the edge of the sword until they were destroyed, then all Israel returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword.

 ^25(C)All who fell that day, both men and women, were 12,000--all the people of Ai.

 ²⁶For Joshua ^(D)did not withdraw his hand with which he stretched out the javelin until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.

 ^27(E)Israel took only the cattle and the spoil of that city as plunder for themselves, according to the word of the LORD which He had commanded Joshua.

 ²⁸So Joshua burned Ai and made it ^(F)a heap forever, a desolation until this day.

 ^29(G)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.

 ³⁰Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, in ^(H)Mount Ebal,

 ³¹just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the sons of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, ^(I)an altar of uncut stones on which no man had wielded an iron tool; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings.

 ³²He ^(J)wrote there on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written, in the presence of the sons of Israel.

 ^33(K)All Israel with their elders and officers and their judges were standing on both sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, the stranger as well as the native Half of them stood in front of ^(L)Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had given command at first to bless the people of Israel.

 ³⁴Then afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in ^(M)the book of the law.

 ³⁵There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel ^(N)with the women and the little ones and the strangers who were living among them.

Joshua 9

Guile of the Gibeonites

 ¹Now it came about when ^(O)all the kings who were beyond the Jordan, in the hill country and in the lowland and on all the ^(P)coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, ^(Q)the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, heard of it,

 ²that they gathered themselves together with ^(R)one accord to fight with Joshua and with Israel.

 ³When the inhabitants of ^(S)Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai,

 ⁴they also acted craftily and set out as envoys, and took worn-out sacks on their donkeys, and wineskins worn-out and torn and mended,

 ⁵and worn-out and patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and had become crumbled.

 ⁶They went to Joshua to the ^(T)camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, "We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a covenant with us."

 ⁷The men of Israel said to the ^(U)Hivites, "Perhaps you are living within our land; ^(V)how then shall we make a covenant with you?"

 ⁸But they said to Joshua, "^(W)We are your servants." Then Joshua said to them, "Who are you and where do you come from?"

 ⁹They said to him, "Your servants have come from ^(X)a very far country because of the fame of the LORD your God; for ^(Y)we have heard the report of Him and all that He did in Egypt,

 ¹⁰and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon and to Og king of Bashan who was at Ashtaroth.

 ¹¹"So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, 'Take provisions in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them and say to them, "^(Z)We are your servants; now then, make a covenant with us."'

 ¹²"This our bread was warm when we took it for our provisions out of our houses on the day that we left to come to you; but now behold, it is dry and has become crumbled.

 ¹³"These wineskins which we filled were new, and behold, they are torn; and these our clothes and our sandals are worn out because of the very long journey."

 ¹⁴So the men of Israel took some of their provisions, and ^(AA)did not ask for the counsel of the LORD.

 ^15(AB)Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them.

 ¹⁶It came about at the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were neighbors and that they were living within their land.

 ¹⁷Then the sons of Israel set out and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were ^(AC)Gibeon and Chephirah and Beeroth and Kiriath-jearim.

 ¹⁸The sons of Israel did not strike them because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD the God of Israel. And the whole congregation grumbled against the leaders.

 ¹⁹But all the leaders said to the whole congregation, "We have sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, and now we cannot touch them.

 ²⁰"This we will do to them, even let them live, so that wrath will not be upon us for the oath which we swore to them."

 ²¹The leaders said to them, "Let them live." So they became ^(AD)hewers of wood and drawers of water for the whole congregation, just as the leaders had spoken to them.

 ²²Then Joshua called for them and spoke to them, saying, "Why have you deceived us, saying, 'We are very far from you,' ^(AE)when you are living within our land?

 ²³"Now therefore, you are ^(AF)cursed, and you shall never cease being slaves, both hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God."

 ²⁴So they answered Joshua and said, "^(AG)Because it was certainly told your servants that the LORD your God had commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land before you; therefore we feared greatly for our lives because of you, and have done this thing.

 ²⁵"Now behold, ^(AH)we are in your hands; do as it seems good and right in your sight to do to us."

 ²⁶Thus he did to them, and delivered them from the hands of the sons of Israel, and they did not kill them.

 ²⁷But Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD, to this day, ^(AI)in the place which He would choose.

Joshua 10

Five Kings Attack Gibeon

 ¹Now it came about when Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured Ai, and had utterly destroyed it (just ^(AJ)as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had done to Ai and its king), and that the inhabitants of Gibeon had ^(AK)made peace with Israel and were within their land,

 ²that he ^(AL)feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like 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 word ^(AM)to Hoham king of Hebron and to Piram king of Jarmuth and to Japhia king of Lachish and to Debir king of Eglon, saying,

 ⁴"Come up to me and help me, and let us attack Gibeon, for it has ^(AN)made peace with Joshua and with the sons of Israel."

 ⁵So the five kings of ^(AO)the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, gathered together and went up, they with all their armies, and camped by Gibeon and fought against it.

 ⁶Then the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal, saying, "Do not abandon your servants; come up to us quickly and save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites that live in the hill country have assembled against us."

 ⁷So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and ^(AP)all the people of war with him and all the valiant warriors.

 ⁸The LORD said to Joshua, "^(AQ)Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands; not one of them shall stand before you."

 ⁹So Joshua came upon them suddenly by marching all night from Gilgal.

 ^10(AR)And the LORD confounded them before Israel, and He slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and pursued them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah.

 ¹¹As they fled from before Israel, while they were at the descent of Beth-horon, ^(AS)the LORD threw large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died; there were more who died from the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword.

 ¹²Then Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,
         "O ^(AT)sun, stand still at Gibeon,
         And O moon in the valley of Aijalon."
    ^13(AU)So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
         Until the nation avenged themselves of their enemies
         Is it not written in ^(AV)the book of Jashar? And ^(AW)the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day.

 ¹⁴There was no day like that before it or after it, when the LORD listened to the voice of a man; for ^(AX)the LORD fought for Israel.

 ¹⁵Then Joshua and all Israel with him returned to the camp to Gilgal.

Victory at Makkedah

 ¹⁶Now these ^(AY)five kings had fled and hidden themselves in the cave at Makkedah.

 ¹⁷It was told Joshua, saying, "The five kings have been found hidden in the cave at Makkedah."

 ¹⁸Joshua said, "Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave, and assign men by it to guard them,

 ¹⁹but do not stay there yourselves; pursue your enemies and attack them in the rear. Do not allow them to enter their cities, for the LORD your God has delivered them into your hand."

 ²⁰It came about when Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished slaying them with a very great slaughter, ^(AZ)until they were destroyed, and the survivors who remained of them had entered the fortified cities,

 ²¹that all the people returned to the camp to Joshua at Makkedah in peace. No one uttered a word against any of the sons of Israel.

 ²²Then Joshua said, "Open the mouth of the cave and bring these five kings out to me from the cave."

 ²³They did so, and ^(BA)brought these five kings out to him from the cave: the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon.

 ²⁴When they brought these kings out to Joshua, Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said to the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him, "Come near, ^(BB)put your feet on the necks of these kings." So they came near and put their feet on their necks.

 ²⁵Joshua then said to them, "^(BC)Do not fear or be dismayed! Be strong and courageous, for thus the LORD will do to all your enemies with whom you fight."

 ²⁶So afterward Joshua struck them and put them to death, and he ^(BD)hanged them on five trees; and they hung on the trees until evening.

 ²⁷It came about at sunset that Joshua gave a command, and ^(BE)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.

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