³ When the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,^{(A) 4} they acted deceptively. They gathered provisions^[a] and took worn-out sacks on their donkeys and old wineskins, cracked and mended. ⁵ They wore old, patched sandals on their feet and threadbare clothing on their bodies. Their entire provision of bread was dry and crumbly. ⁶ They went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land. Please make a treaty with us.”^(B)

⁷ The men of Israel replied to the Hivites,^[b] “Perhaps you live among us. How can we make a treaty with you?”^(C)

⁸ They said to Joshua, “We are your servants.”

Then Joshua asked them, “Who are you and where do you come from?”

⁹ They replied to him, “Your servants have come from a far away land because of the reputation of the Lord your God. For we have heard of His fame, and all that He did in Egypt, ¹⁰ and all that He did to the two Amorite kings beyond the Jordan—Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan, who was in Ashtaroth. ¹¹ So our elders and all the inhabitants of our land told us, ‘Take provisions with you for the journey; go and meet them and say, “We are your servants. Please make a treaty with us.”’ ¹² This bread of ours was warm when we took it from our houses as food on the day we left to come to you. But take a look, it is now dry and crumbly. ¹³ These wineskins were new when we filled them, but look, they are cracked. And these clothes and sandals of ours are worn out from the extremely long journey.” ¹⁴ Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions, but did not seek the Lord’s counsel.^{(D) 15} So Joshua established peace with them and made a treaty to let them live, and the leaders of the community swore an oath to them.^(E)

Gibeon’s Deception Discovered

¹⁶ Three days after making the treaty with them, they heard that the Gibeonites were their neighbors, living among them. ¹⁷ So the Israelites set out and reached the Gibeonite cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim.^{(F) 18} But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the community had sworn an oath^(G) to them by the Lord, the God of Israel. Then the whole community grumbled against the leaders.

¹⁹ All the leaders answered them, “We have sworn an oath to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, and now we cannot touch them. ²⁰ This is how we will treat them: we will let them live, so that no wrath will fall on us because of the oath we swore to them.” ²¹ They also said, “Let them live.” So the Gibeonites became woodcutters and water carriers^(H) for the whole community, as the leaders had promised them.

²² Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said to them, “Why did you deceive us by telling us you live far away from us, when in fact you live among us? ²³ Therefore you are cursed and will always be slaves—woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”

²⁴ The Gibeonites answered him, “It was clearly communicated to 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. We greatly feared for our lives because of you, and that is why we did this. ²⁵ Now we are in your hands. Do to us whatever you think is right.”^{[c] 26} This is what Joshua did to them: he delivered them from the hands of the Israelites, and they did not kill them. ²⁷ On that day he made them woodcutters and water carriers—as they are today—for the community and for the Lord’s altar at the place He would choose.^(I)

The Day the Sun Stood Still

10 Now Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured Ai and completely destroyed^(J) it, treating Ai and its king as he had Jericho and its king, and that the inhabitants of Gibeon^(K) had made peace with Israel and were living among them.^{(L) 2} So Adoni-zedek and his people were^[d] greatly alarmed because Gibeon was a large city like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were warriors. ³ Therefore Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent word to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon, saying, ⁴ “Come up and help me. We will attack Gibeon, because they have made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.” ⁵ So the five Amorite kings—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon—joined forces, advanced with all their armies, besieged Gibeon, and fought against it.

⁶ Then the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: “Don’t abandon^[e] your servants. Come quickly and save us! Help us, for all the Amorite kings living in the hill country have joined forces against us.” ⁷ So Joshua and his whole military force, including all the fighting men, came from Gilgal.^(M)

⁸ The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them,^(N) for I have handed them over to you. Not one of them will be able to stand against you.”

⁹ So Joshua caught them by surprise, after marching all night from Gilgal. ¹⁰ The Lord threw them into confusion^(O) before Israel. He defeated them in a great slaughter at Gibeon, chased them through the ascent of Beth-horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah. ¹¹ As they fled before Israel, the Lord threw large hailstones on them^(P) from the sky along the descent of Beth-horon all the way to Azekah, and they died. More of them died from the hail than the Israelites killed with the sword.

¹² On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the Lord in the presence of Israel:

Isn’t this written in the Book of Jashar?^[f]

¹⁴ There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord listened to the voice of a man, because the Lord fought for Israel.^{(R) 15} Then Joshua and all Israel with him returned to the camp at Gilgal.

Execution of the Five Kings

¹⁶ Now the five defeated kings had fled and hidden themselves in the cave at Makkedah. ¹⁷ It was reported to Joshua: “The five kings have been found; they are hiding in the cave at Makkedah.”

¹⁸ Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave, and station men by it to guard the kings. ¹⁹ But as for the rest of you, don’t stay there. Pursue your enemies and attack them from behind. Don’t let them enter their cities, for the Lord your God has handed them over to you.” ²⁰ So Joshua and the Israelites finished inflicting a terrible slaughter on them until they were destroyed, although a few survivors ran away to the fortified cities. ²¹ The people returned safely to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah. And no one dared to threaten^[g] the Israelites.

²² Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave, and bring those five kings to me out of there.” ²³ That is what they did. They brought the five kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon to Joshua out of the cave. ²⁴ When they had brought the kings to him, Joshua summoned all the men of Israel and said to the military commanders who had accompanied him, “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So the commanders came forward and put their feet on their necks. ²⁵ Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid or discouraged. Be strong and courageous,^(S) for the Lord will do this to all the enemies you fight.”

²⁶ After this, Joshua struck them down and executed them. He hung^[h] their bodies on five trees^[i] and they were there until evening.^{(T) 27} At sunset Joshua commanded that they be taken down from the trees^[j](U) and thrown into the cave where they had hidden. Then large stones were placed against the mouth of the cave, and the stones are there to this day.^(V)

Conquest of Southern Cities

²⁸ On that day Joshua captured Makkedah and struck it down with the sword, including its king. He completely destroyed it^[k] and everyone in it, leaving no survivors. So he treated the king of Makkedah as he had the king of Jericho.^(W)

²⁹ Joshua and all Israel with him crossed from Makkedah to Libnah and fought against Libnah.^{(X) 30} The Lord also handed it and its king over to Israel. He struck it down, putting everyone in it to the sword, and left no survivors in it. He treated Libnah’s king as he had the king of Jericho.

³¹ From Libnah, Joshua and all Israel with him crossed to Lachish. They laid siege to it and attacked it. ³² The Lord handed Lachish over to Israel, and Joshua captured it on the second day. He struck it down, putting everyone in it to the sword, just as he had done to Libnah. ³³ At that time Horam king of Gezer went to help Lachish,^(Y) but Joshua struck him down along with his people, leaving no survivors in it.

³⁴ Then Joshua crossed from Lachish to Eglon and all Israel with him. They laid siege to it and attacked it. ³⁵ On that day they captured it and struck it down, putting everyone in it to the sword. He completely destroyed it that day, just as he had done to Lachish.

³⁶ Next, Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron^(Z) and attacked it. ³⁷ They captured it and struck down its king, all its villages, and everyone in it with the sword. He left no survivors, just as he had done at Eglon. He completely destroyed Hebron and everyone in it.

³⁸ Finally, Joshua turned toward Debir^(AA) and attacked it. And all Israel was with him. ³⁹ He captured it—its king and all its villages. They struck them down with the sword and completely destroyed everyone in it, leaving no survivors. He treated Debir and its king as he had treated Hebron and as he had treated Libnah and its king.

⁴⁰ So Joshua conquered the whole region—the hill country, the Negev, the Judean foothills,^[l] and the slopes—with all their kings, leaving no survivors. He completely destroyed every living being, as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded.^{(AB) 41} Joshua conquered everyone from Kadesh-barnea to Gaza, and all the land of Goshen^(AC) as far as Gibeon. ⁴² Joshua captured all these kings and their land in one campaign,^[m] because the Lord, the God of Israel, fought for Israel. ⁴³ Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

¹⁹ “There was a rich man who would dress in purple and fine linen,^(A) feasting lavishly every day. ²⁰ But a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, was left at his gate.^{(B) 21} He longed to be filled^(C) with what fell from the rich man’s table,^(D) but instead the dogs^(E) would come and lick his sores. ²² One day the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s side.^[a](F) The rich man also died and was buried. ²³ And being in torment^(G) in Hades,^(H) he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off, with Lazarus at his side. ²⁴ ‘Father Abraham!’^(I) he called out, ‘Have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony^(J) in this flame!’

²⁵ “‘Son,’^[b] Abraham said, ‘remember that during your life you received your good things,^(K) just as Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here,^(L) while you are in agony. ²⁶ Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that those who want to pass over from here to you cannot; neither can those from there cross over to us.’

²⁷ “‘Father,’ he said, ‘then I beg you to send him to my father’s house— ²⁸ because I have five brothers—to warn^(M) them, so they won’t also come to this place of torment.’

²⁹ “But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets;^(N) they should listen to them.’

³⁰ “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said. ‘But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

³¹ “But he told him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.’”^(O)

Warnings from Jesus

17 He^(P) said to His disciples, “Offenses^[c] will certainly come,^[d] but woe^(Q) to the one they come^(R) through! ² It would be better for him if a millstone^[e] were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to stumble.^{(S) 3} Be^(T) on your guard. If your brother sins,^[f] rebuke^(U) him, and if he repents, forgive^(V) him. ⁴ And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and comes back to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

Faith and Duty

⁵ The^(W) apostles^(X) said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”^(Y)

⁶ “If you have faith the size of^[g] a mustard seed,”^(Z) the Lord said, “you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

⁷ “Which one of you having a slave tending sheep or plowing will say to him when he comes in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? ⁸ Instead, will he not tell him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, get ready,^[h] and serve me while I eat and drink; later you can eat and drink’?^{(AA) 9} Does he thank that slave because he did what was commanded?^{[i] 10} In the same way, when you have done all that you were commanded, you should say, ‘We are good-for-nothing^(AB) slaves; we’ve only done our duty.’”

Psalm 83

Prayer against Enemies

A song. A psalm of Asaph.^(A)