The Gibeonite Deception

9 As soon as all the kings who were beyond the Jordan ^(A)in the hill country and in the lowland all along the coast ^(B)of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, ^(C)the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, heard of this, ² they gathered together as one to fight against Joshua and Israel.

³ But when the inhabitants of ^(D)Gibeon heard what Joshua had done ^(E)to Jericho and ^(F)to Ai, ⁴ they on their part acted with cunning and went and made ready provisions and took worn-out sacks for their donkeys, and wineskins, worn-out and torn and mended, ⁵ with worn-out, patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes. And all their provisions were dry and crumbly. ⁶ And they went to Joshua in ^(G)the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant country, so now make a covenant with us.” ⁷ But the men of Israel said to ^(H)the Hivites, “Perhaps you live among us; then ^(I)how can we make a covenant with you?” ⁸ They said to Joshua, ^(J)“We are your servants.” And Joshua said to them, “Who are you? And where do you come from?” ⁹ They said to him, ^(K)“From a very distant country your servants have come, because of the name of the Lord your God. ^(L)For we have heard a report of him, and all that he did in Egypt, ^10 (M)and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon the king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who lived in ^(N)Ashtaroth. ¹¹ So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said to us, ‘Take provisions in your hand for the journey and go to meet them and say to them, “We are your servants. Come now, make a covenant with us.”’ ¹² Here is our bread. It was still warm when we took it from our houses as our food for the journey on the day we set out to come to you, but now, behold, it is dry and crumbly. ¹³ These wineskins were new when we filled them, and behold, they have burst. And these garments and sandals of ours are worn out from the very long journey.” ¹⁴ So the men took some of their provisions, but ^(O)did not ask counsel from the Lord. ¹⁵ And Joshua ^(P)made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore to them.

¹⁶ At the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, they heard that they were their neighbors ^(Q)and that they lived among them. ¹⁷ And the people of Israel set out and reached their cities on the third day. ^(R)Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. ¹⁸ But the people of Israel did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel. Then all the congregation murmured against the leaders. ¹⁹ But all the leaders said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, and now we may not touch them. ²⁰ This we will do to them: let them live, lest ^(S)wrath be upon us, ^(T)because of the oath that we swore to them.” ²¹ And the leaders said to them, “Let them live.” So they became ^(U)cutters of wood and drawers of water for all the congregation, just as the leaders ^(V)had said of them.

²² Joshua summoned them, and he said to them, “Why did you deceive us, saying, ^(W)‘We are very far from you,’ when ^(X)you dwell among us? ²³ Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you shall never be anything but servants, ^(Y)cutters of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.” ²⁴ They answered Joshua, “Because it was told to your servants for a certainty that the Lord your God had ^(Z)commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you—so ^(AA)we feared greatly for our lives because of you and did this thing. ²⁵ And now, behold, we are in your hand. Whatever seems good and right in your sight to do to us, do it.” ²⁶ So he did this to them and delivered them out of the hand of the people of Israel, and they did not kill them. ²⁷ But Joshua made them that day ^(AB)cutters of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord, to this day, ^(AC)in the place that he should choose.

The Sun Stands Still

10 As soon as Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, heard how Joshua had captured Ai and had devoted it to destruction,^{[a] (AD)}doing to Ai and its king ^(AE)as he had done to Jericho and its king, and ^(AF)how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, ^2 (AG)he^[b] 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 warriors. ³ So Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent 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 us strike Gibeon. For ^(AH)it has made peace with Joshua and with the people of Israel.” ⁵ Then 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, ^(AI)gathered their forces and went up with all their armies and encamped against Gibeon and made war against it.

⁶ And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua ^(AJ)at the camp in Gilgal, saying, “Do not relax your hand from your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the hill country are gathered against us.” ⁷ So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and ^(AK)all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor. ⁸ And the Lord said to Joshua, ^(AL)“Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. ^(AM)Not a man of them shall stand before you.” ⁹ So Joshua came upon them suddenly, having marched up all night from Gilgal. ^10 (AN)And the Lord threw them into a panic before Israel, who^[c] struck them with a great blow at Gibeon and chased them by the way of ^(AO)the ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah. ¹¹ And as they fled before Israel, while they were ^(AP)going down the ascent of Beth-horon, ^(AQ)the Lord threw down large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword.

¹² At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,

Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. ^14 (AS)There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded the voice of a man, for ^(AT)the Lord fought for Israel.

¹⁵ So ^(AU)Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.

Five Amorite Kings Executed

¹⁶ These five kings fled and hid themselves in the cave at ^(AV)Makkedah. ¹⁷ And it was told to Joshua, “The five kings have been found, hidden in the cave at Makkedah.” ¹⁸ And Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave and set men by it to guard them, ¹⁹ but do not stay there yourselves. Pursue your enemies; ^(AW)attack their rear guard. Do not let them enter their cities, for the Lord your God has given them into your hand.” ²⁰ When Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished striking them with a great blow ^(AX)until they were wiped out, and when the remnant that remained of them had entered into the fortified cities, ²¹ then all the people returned safe to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah. ^(AY)Not a man moved his tongue against any of the people of Israel.

²² Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me from the cave.” ²³ And they did so, and brought those 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 And when they brought those kings out to Joshua, Joshua summoned all the men of Israel and said to the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him, “Come near; put your feet on the necks of these kings.” Then they came near and put their feet on their necks. ²⁵ And Joshua said to them, ^(AZ)“Do not be afraid or dismayed; be strong and courageous. ^(BA)For thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.” ²⁶ And afterward Joshua struck them and put them to death, and he hanged them on five trees. And ^(BB)they hung on the trees until evening. ²⁷ But at the time of the going down of the sun, Joshua commanded, and ^(BC)they took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves, and they set large stones against the mouth of the cave, which remain to this very day.

²⁸ As for ^(BD)Makkedah, Joshua captured it on that day and struck it, and its king, with the edge of the sword. He devoted to destruction every person in it; he left none remaining. And he did to the king of Makkedah ^(BE)just as he had done to the king of Jericho.

Conquest of Southern Canaan

²⁹ Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Makkedah to ^(BF)Libnah and fought against Libnah. ³⁰ And the Lord gave it also and its king into the hand of Israel. And he struck it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it; he left none remaining in it. And he did to its king ^(BG)as he had done to the king of Jericho.

³¹ Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Libnah to ^(BH)Lachish and laid siege to it and fought against it. ³² And the Lord gave Lachish into the hand of Israel, and he captured it on the second day and struck it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it, as he had done to Libnah.

³³ Then Horam king of ^(BI)Gezer came up to help Lachish. And Joshua struck him and his people, until he left none remaining.

³⁴ Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Lachish to ^(BJ)Eglon. And they laid siege to it and fought against it. ³⁵ And they captured it on that day, and struck it with the edge of the sword. And he devoted every person in it to destruction that day, as he had done to Lachish.

³⁶ Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to ^(BK)Hebron. And they fought against it ³⁷ and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword, and its king and its towns, and every person in it. He left none remaining, as he had done to Eglon, and devoted it to destruction and every person in it.

³⁸ Then Joshua and all Israel with him turned back to ^(BL)Debir and fought against it ³⁹ and he captured it with its king and all its towns. And they struck them with the edge of the sword and devoted to destruction every person in it; he left none remaining. Just as he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and its king, so he did to Debir and to its king.

⁴⁰ So Joshua struck the whole land, the hill country and the Negeb and the lowland ^(BM)and the slopes, and all their kings. He left none remaining, ^(BN)but devoted to destruction all that breathed, just as the Lord God of Israel commanded. ⁴¹ And Joshua struck them from ^(BO)Kadesh-barnea as far as Gaza, and all the country of ^(BP)Goshen, as far as Gibeon. ⁴² And Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time, ^(BQ)because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel. ^43 (BR)Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.

My Help and My Deliverer

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

8 ¹ but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ^2 (A)Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and ^(B)he sat down and taught them. ³ The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst ⁴ they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. ⁵ Now ^(C)in the Law, Moses commanded us ^(D)to stone such women. So what do you say?” ⁶ This they said ^(E)to test him, ^(F)that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. ⁷ And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, ^(G)“Let him who is without sin among you ^(H)be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸ And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. ⁹ But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. ¹⁰ Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” ¹¹ She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, ^(I)“Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on ^(J)sin no more.”]]

I Am the Light of the World

^12 (K)Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ^(L)“I am the light of the world. Whoever ^(M)follows me will not ^(N)walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” ¹³ So the Pharisees said to him, ^(O)“You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” ¹⁴ Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, ^(P)my testimony is true, for I know ^(Q)where I came from and ^(R)where I am going, but ^(S)you do not know where I come from or where I am going. ^15 (T)You judge according to the flesh; ^(U)I judge no one. ¹⁶ Yet even if I do judge, ^(V)my judgment is true, for ^(W)it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father^[a] who sent me. ^17 (X)In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. ¹⁸ I am the one who bears witness about myself, and ^(Y)the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” ¹⁹ They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, ^(Z)“You know neither me nor my Father. ^(AA)If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” ²⁰ These words he spoke in ^(AB)the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but ^(AC)no one arrested him, because ^(AD)his hour had not yet come.

²¹ So he said to them again, ^(AE)“I am going away, and ^(AF)you will seek me, and ^(AG)you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” ²² So the Jews said, ^(AH)“Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” ²³ He said to them, ^(AI)“You are from below; I am from above. ^(AJ)You are of this world; ^(AK)I am not of this world. ²⁴ I told you that you ^(AL)would die in your sins, for ^(AM)unless you believe that ^(AN)I am he you will die in your sins.” ²⁵ So they said to him, ^(AO)“Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. ²⁶ I have much to say about you and much to judge, but ^(AP)he who sent me is true, and I declare ^(AQ)to the world ^(AR)what I have heard from him.” ²⁷ They did not understand that ^(AS)he had been speaking to them about the Father. ²⁸ So Jesus said to them, “When you have ^(AT)lifted up the Son of Man, ^(AU)then you will know that ^(AV)I am he, and that ^(AW)I do nothing on my own authority, but ^(AX)speak just as the Father taught me. ²⁹ And ^(AY)he who sent me is with me. ^(AZ)He has not left me alone, for ^(BA)I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” ³⁰ As he was saying these things, ^(BB)many believed in him.

The Truth Will Set You Free

³¹ So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ^(BC)“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, ³² and you will ^(BD)know the truth, and the truth ^(BE)will set you free.” ³³ They answered him, ^(BF)“We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(BG)everyone who practices sin is a slave^[b] to sin. ^35 (BH)The slave does not remain in the house forever; ^(BI)the son remains forever. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷ I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet ^(BJ)you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. ^38 (BK)I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard ^(BL)from your father.”

You Are of Your Father the Devil

³⁹ They answered him, ^(BM)“Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, ^(BN)“If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, ⁴⁰ but now ^(BO)you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth ^(BP)that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. ⁴¹ You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, ^(BQ)“We were not born of sexual immorality. We have ^(BR)one Father—even God.” ⁴² Jesus said to them, ^(BS)“If God were your Father, you would love me, for ^(BT)I came from God and ^(BU)I am here. ^(BV)I came not of my own accord, but ^(BW)he sent me. ^43 (BX)Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot ^(BY)bear to hear my word. ^44 (BZ)You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. ^(CA)He was a murderer from the beginning, and ^(CB)does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. ^(CC)When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵ But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. ⁴⁶ Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? ^47 (CD)Whoever is of God hears the words of God. ^(CE)The reason why you do not hear them is that ^(CF)you are not of God.”

Before Abraham Was, I Am

⁴⁸ The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and ^(CG)have a demon?” ⁴⁹ Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but ^(CH)I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. ⁵⁰ Yet ^(CI)I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. ⁵¹ Truly, truly, ^(CJ)I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never ^(CK)see death.” ⁵² The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! ^(CL)Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet ^(CM)you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never ^(CN)taste death.’ ^53 (CO)Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” ⁵⁴ Jesus answered, ^(CP)“If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. ^(CQ)It is my Father who glorifies me, ^(CR)of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’^{[c] 55} But ^(CS)you have not known him. ^(CT)I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be ^(CU)a liar ^(CV)like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. ^56 (CW)Your father Abraham ^(CX)rejoiced ^(CY)that he would see my day. ^(CZ)He saw it and was glad.” ⁵⁷ So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”^{[d] 58} Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, ^(DA)I am.” ⁵⁹ So ^(DB)they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.