Joshua 10:1-15

Christian Standard Bible

The Day the Sun Stood Still

10 Now King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured Ai and completely destroyed^(A) it, treating Ai and its king as he had Jericho and its king, and that the inhabitants of Gibeon^(B) had made peace with Israel and were living among them.^{(C) 2} So Adoni-zedek and his people were^[a] greatly alarmed because Gibeon was a large city like one of the royal cities;^(D) it was larger than Ai, and all its men were warriors. ³ Therefore King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem sent word to King Hoham of Hebron, King Piram of Jarmuth, King Japhia of Lachish, and King Debir 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 give up on 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 all his troops, including all his best soldiers, came from Gilgal.^(E)

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

⁹ So Joshua caught them by surprise, after marching all night from Gilgal. ¹⁰ The Lord threw them into confusion^(I) 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^(J) 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?^[b]

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