Joshua 9-11 (Contemporary English Version)

Joshua 9

The People of Gibeon Trick the Leaders of Israel

 ^1-2The kings west of the Jordan River heard about Joshua's victories, and so they got together and decided to attack Joshua and Israel. These kings were from the hill country and from the foothills to the west, as well as from the Mediterranean seacoast as far north as the Lebanon Mountains. Some of them were Hittites, others were Amorites or Canaanites, and still others were Perizzites, Hivites, or Jebusites.

    ³The people of Gibeon had also heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai. ⁴So they decided that some of their men should pretend to be messengers to Israel from a faraway country. ^[a] The men put worn-out bags on their donkeys and found some old wineskins that had cracked and had been sewn back together. ⁵Their sandals were old and patched, and their clothes were worn out. They even took along some dry and crumbly bread. ⁶Then they went to the Israelite camp at Gilgal, where they said to Joshua and the men of Israel, " We have come from a country that is far from here. Please make a peace treaty with us." ^7-8The Israelites replied, " But maybe you really live near us. We can't make a peace treaty with you if you live nearby." ^[b] The Gibeonites ^[c] said, " If you make a peace treaty with us, we will be your servants." " Who are you?" Joshua asked. " Where do you come from?"

   They answered:

    ⁹We are your servants, and we live far from here. We came because the LORD your God is so famous. We heard what the LORD did in Egypt ¹⁰and what he did to those two Amorite kings on the other side of the Jordan: King Og of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth, and King Sihon of Heshbon.

    ¹¹Our leaders and everyone who lives in our country told us to meet with you and tell you that all of us are your servants. They said to ask you to make a peace treaty with our people. They told us to be sure and take along enough food for our journey. ¹²See this dry, crumbly bread of ours? It was hot out of the oven when we packed the food on the day we left our homes. ¹³These cracked wineskins were new when we filled them, and our clothes and sandals are worn out because we have traveled so far.

    ¹⁴The Israelites tried some of the food, ^[d] but they did not ask the LORD if he wanted them to make a treaty. ¹⁵So Joshua made a peace treaty with the messengers and promised that Israel would not kill their people. Israel's leaders swore that Israel would keep this promise. ^16-17A couple of days later, ^[e] the Israelites found out that these people actually lived in the nearby towns of Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-Jearim. ^[f] So the Israelites left the place where they had camped and arrived at the four towns two days later. ^{[g] 18}But they did not attack the towns, because the Israelite leaders had sworn in the name of the LORD that they would let these people live. The Israelites complained about their leaders' decision not to attack, ^19-21but the leaders reminded them, " We promised these people in the name of the LORD God of Israel that we would let them live, so we must not harm them. If we break our promise, God will punish us. We'll let them live, but we'll make them cut wood and carry water for our people."

    ²²Joshua told some of his soldiers, " I want to meet with the Gibeonite leaders. Bring them here."

   When the Gibeonites came, Joshua said, " You live close to us. Why did you lie by claiming you lived far away? ²³Now you are under a curse, and your people will have to send workers to cut wood and carry water for the place of worship." ^{[h] 24}The Gibeonites answered, " The LORD your God told his servant Moses that you were to kill everyone who lives here and take their land for yourselves. We were afraid you would kill us, and so we tricked you into making a peace treaty. But we agreed to be your servants, ²⁵and you are strong enough to do anything to us that you want. We just ask you to do what seems right."

    ²⁶Joshua did not let the Israelites kill the Gibeonites, ²⁷but he did tell the Gibeonites that they would have to be servants of the nation of Israel. They would have to cut firewood and bring it for the priests to use for burning sacrifices on the LORD's altar, wherever the LORD decided the altar would be. The Gibeonites would also have to carry water for the priests. And that is still the work of the Gibeonites.

   

Joshua 10

Joshua Commands the Sun To Stand Still

 ¹King Adonizedek of Jerusalem ^[i] 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 ^[j] chased the Amorite troops up the road to Beth-Horon and kept on killing them, until they reached the towns of Azekah and Makkedah. ^{[k] 11}And while these troops were going down through Beth-Horon Pass, ^[l] 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." ^[m] 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. ^[n] 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 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

 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, ^[o] 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

 ¹King Jabin of Hazor heard about Joshua's victories, so he sent messages to many nearby kings and asked them to join him in fighting Israel. He sent these messages to King Jobab of Madon, the kings of Shimron and Achshaph, ²the kings in the northern hill country and in the Jordan River valley south of Lake Galilee, ^[p] and the kings in the foothills and in Naphath-Dor to the west. ³He sent messages to the Canaanite kings in the east and the west, to the Amorite, Hittite, Perizzite, and Jebusite kings in the hill country, and to the Hivite kings in the region of Mizpah, near the foot of Mount Hermon. ^{[q] 4-5}The kings and their armies went to Merom Pond, ^[r] where they set up camp, and got ready to fight Israel. It seemed as though there were more soldiers and horses and chariots than there are grains of sand on a beach. ⁶The LORD told Joshua:

   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, ^[s] burn their chariots. ⁷Joshua and his army made a surprise attack against the enemy camp at Merom Pond ^{[t] 8-9}and crippled the enemies' horses. ^[u] 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, ^[v] the city of Sidon to the north, and Mizpeh Valley to the northeast. ^[w] 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, ^[x] 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, ^[y] 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 ^[z] 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. ^{[aa] 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.