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Joshua 10

Joshua Commands the Sun To Stand Still

    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 ^[b] chased the Amorite troops up the road to Beth-Horon and kept on killing them, until they reached the towns of Azekah and Makkedah. ^{[c] 11}And while these troops were going down through Beth-Horon Pass, ^[d] 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. ^12-13The 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." ^[e] 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. ^[f] 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

    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 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, 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

    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, ^[g] 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.

Joshua 11

Joshua Captures Towns in the North

   Don't let them frighten you! I'll help you defeat them, and by this time tomorrow they will be dead.

   When you attack, the first thing you have to do is to cripple their horses. Then after the battle is over, ^[k] burn their chariots. ⁷Joshua and his army made a surprise attack against the enemy camp at Merom Pond ^{[l] 8-9}and crippled the enemies' horses. ^[m] Joshua followed the LORD's instructions, and the LORD helped Israel defeat the enemy. The Israelite army even chased enemy soldiers as far as Misrephoth-Maim to the northwest, ^[n] the city of Sidon to the north, and Mizpeh Valley to the northeast. ^[o] None of the enemy soldiers escaped alive. The Israelites came back after the battle and burned the enemy's chariots. ¹⁰Up to this time, the king of Hazor had controlled the kingdoms that had joined together to attack Israel, so Joshua led his army back and captured Hazor. They killed its king ¹¹and everyone else, then they set the town on fire.

    ^12-15Joshua captured all the towns where the enemy kings had ruled. These towns were built on small hills, ^[p] and Joshua did not set fire to any of these towns, except Hazor. The Israelites kept the animals and everything of value from these towns, but they killed everyone who lived in them, including their kings. That's what the LORD had told his servant Moses to do, that's what Moses had told Joshua to do, and that's exactly what Joshua did. ¹⁶Joshua and his army took control of the northern and southern hill country, the foothills to the west, the Southern Desert, the whole region of Goshen, ^[q] and the Jordan River valley. ^17-18They took control of the land from Mount Halak near the country of Edom in the south to Baal-Gad in Lebanon Valley at the foot of Mount Hermon in the north. Joshua and his army were at war with the kings in this region for a long time, but finally they captured and put to death the last king. ^19-20The LORD had told Moses that he wanted the towns in this region destroyed and their people killed without mercy. That's why the LORD made the people in the towns stubborn and determined to fight Israel. The only town that signed a peace treaty with Israel was the Hivite town of Gibeon. The Israelite army captured the rest of the towns in battle.

    ²¹During this same time, Joshua and his army killed the Anakim ^[r] from the northern and southern hill country. They also destroyed the towns where the Anakim had lived, including Hebron, Debir, and Anab. ²²There were not any Anakim left in the regions where the Israelites lived, although there were still some in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. ^{[s] 23}That's how Joshua captured the land, just as the LORD had commanded Moses, and Joshua divided it up among the tribes.

   Finally, there was peace in the land.

Joshua 12

The Kings Defeated by the Israelites

    ²The first king that Moses and the Israelites defeated was an Amorite, King Sihon of Heshbon. ^[t] The southern border of his kingdom ran down the middle of the Arnon River gorge, taking in the town of Aroer on the northern edge of the gorge. The Jabbok River separated Sihon's kingdom from the Ammonites on the east. Then the Jabbok turned west and became his northern border, so his kingdom included the southern half of the region of Gilead. ³Sihon also controlled the eastern side of the Jordan River valley from Lake Galilee ^[u] south to Beth-Jeshimoth and the Dead Sea. In addition to these regions, he ruled the town called Slopes of Mount Pisgah ^[v] and the land south of there at the foot of the hill. ⁴Next, Moses and the Israelites defeated King Og of Bashan, ^[w] who lived in the town of Ashtaroth part of each year and in Edrei the rest of the year. Og was one of the last of the Rephaim. ^{[x] 5}His kingdom stretched north to Mount Hermon, east to the town of Salecah, and included the land of Bashan as far west as the borders of the kingdoms of Geshur and Maacah. He also ruled the northern half of Gilead. ⁶Moses, the LORD's servant, had led the people of Israel in defeating Sihon and Og. Then Moses gave their land to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh.

    ^7-8Later, Joshua and the Israelites defeated many kings west of the Jordan River, from Baal-Gad in Lebanon Valley in the north to Mount Halak near the country of Edom in the south. This region included the hill country and the foothills, the Jordan River valley and its western slopes, and the Southern Desert. Joshua and the Israelites took this land from the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Joshua divided up the land among the tribes of Israel.

   The Israelites defeated the kings of the following towns west of the Jordan River:

    ^9-24Jericho, Ai near Bethel, Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, Eglon, Gezer, Debir, Geder, Hormah, Arad, Libnah, Adullam, Makkedah, Bethel, Tappuah, Hepher, Aphek, Lasharon, ^[y] Madon, Hazor, Shimron-Meron, Achshaph, Taanach, Megiddo, Kedesh, Jokneam on Mount Carmel, Dor in Naphath-Dor, Goiim in Galilee, ^[z] and Tirzah. ^[aa] There were thirty-one of these kings in all.

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Mary Visits Elizabeth

   The Holy Spirit came upon Elizabeth. ⁴²Then in a loud voice she said to Mary:

   God has blessed you more than any other woman! He has also blessed the child you will have. ⁴³Why should the mother of my Lord come to me? ⁴⁴As soon as I heard your greeting, my baby became happy and moved within me. ⁴⁵The Lord has blessed you because you believed that he will keep his promise.

Mary's Song of Praise

   With all my heart

   I praise the Lord,

    ⁴⁷and I am glad

   because of God my Savior.

    ⁴⁸He cares for me,

   his humble servant.

   From now on,

   all people will say

   God has blessed me.

    ⁴⁹God All-Powerful has done

   great things for me,

   and his name is holy.

    ⁵⁰He always shows mercy

   to everyone

   who worships him.

    ⁵¹The Lord has used

   his powerful arm

   to scatter those

   who are proud.

    ⁵²He drags strong rulers

   from their thrones

   and puts humble people

   in places of power.

    ⁵³God gives the hungry

   good things to eat,

   and sends the rich away

   with nothing.

    ⁵⁴He helps his servant Israel

   and is always merciful

   to his people.

    ⁵⁵The Lord made this promise

   to our ancestors,

   to Abraham and his family

   forever!

    ⁵⁶Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months. Then she went back home.