Joshua 10:1-26

New American Standard Bible

Five Kings Attack Gibeon

10 Now it came about when Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured Ai, and had ^[a]utterly destroyed it (just ^(A)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 ^(B)made peace with Israel and were ^[b]within their land, ² that ^[c]he ^(C)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. ³ Therefore Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent word ^(D)to Hoham king of Hebron, to Piram king of Jarmuth, to Japhia king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon, saying, ⁴ “Come up to me and help me, and let’s ^[d]attack Gibeon, for it has ^(E)made peace with Joshua and with the sons of Israel.” ⁵ So the five kings of ^(F)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.

⁶ Then the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal, saying, “Do not ^[e]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.” ⁷ So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and ^(G)all the people of war with him, and all the valiant warriors. ⁸ And the Lord said to Joshua, “^(H)Do not fear them, for I have handed them over to you; not ^[f]one of them will stand against you.” ⁹ So Joshua came upon them suddenly ^[g]by marching all night from Gilgal. ^10 (I)And the Lord brought them into confusion before Israel, and He struck them down in a great defeat at Gibeon, and pursued them by the way of the ascent to Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah. ¹¹ And as they fled from Israel, while they were at the descent of Beth-horon, ^(J)the Lord hurled large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died; there were more who died ^[h]from the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword.

¹² Then Joshua spoke to the Lord on the day when the Lord turned the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,

Is it not written in ^(M)the Book of Jashar? And ^(N)the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hurry to go down for about a whole day. ¹⁴ There was no day like that before it or after it, when the Lord listened to the voice of a man; for ^(O)the Lord fought for Israel.

¹⁵ Then Joshua and all Israel with him returned to the camp ^[i]at Gilgal.

Victory at Makkedah

¹⁶ Now these ^(P)five kings had fled and hidden themselves in the cave at Makkedah. ¹⁷ And it was told to Joshua, saying, “The five kings have been found hidden in the cave at Makkedah.” ¹⁸ So Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave, and post men by it to guard them, ¹⁹ but do not stay there yourselves; pursue your enemies and ^[j]attack them from behind. Do not allow them to enter their cities, for the Lord your God has handed them over to you.” ²⁰ It came about when Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished striking them down in a very great defeat, ^(Q)until they were destroyed, and the survivors of them who escaped ^[k]had entered the fortified cities, ²¹ that all the people returned to the camp, to Joshua at Makkedah in peace. No one ^[l]uttered a word against any of the sons of Israel.

²² Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave and bring these five kings out to me from the cave.” ²³ They did so, and ^(R)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. ²⁴ When they brought these kings out to Joshua, Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said to the leaders of the men of war who had gone with him, “Come forward, ^(S)put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So they came forward and put their feet on their necks. ²⁵ Joshua then said to them, “^(T)Do not fear or be dismayed! Be strong and courageous, for the Lord will do this to all your enemies with whom you fight.” ²⁶ So afterward Joshua struck them and put them to death, and he ^(U)hanged them on five ^[m]trees; and they were hung on the ^[n]trees until evening.