¹⁷ And it was told 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 set men by it to guard them. ¹⁹ And do not stay there yourselves, but pursue your enemies, and attack their rear guard. Do not allow them to enter their cities, for the Lord your God has delivered them into your hand.” ²⁰ Then it happened, while Joshua and the children of Israel made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter, till they had finished, that those who escaped entered fortified cities. ²¹ And all the people returned to the camp, to Joshua at Makkedah, in peace.

^(A)No one ^[a]moved his tongue against any of the children of Israel.

²² Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave, and bring out those five kings to me from the cave.” ²³ And they did so, and brought out those five kings 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 So it was, when they brought out those kings to Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said to the captains of the men of war who went with him, “Come near, put your feet on the necks of these kings.” And they drew near and ^(B)put their feet on their necks. ²⁵ Then Joshua said to ^[b]them, ^(C)“Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; be strong and of good courage, for ^(D)thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.” ²⁶ And afterward Joshua struck ^[c]them and killed them, and hanged them on five trees; and they ^(E)were hanging on the trees until evening. ²⁷ So it was at the time of the going down of the sun that Joshua commanded, and they ^(F)took them down from the trees, cast them into the cave where they had been hidden, and laid large stones against the cave’s mouth, which remain until this very day.

Conquest of the Southland

²⁸ On that day Joshua took Makkedah, and struck it and its king with the edge of the sword. He utterly ^(G)destroyed ^[d]them—all the people who were in it. He let none remain. He also did to the king of Makkedah ^(H)as he had done to the king of Jericho.

²⁹ Then Joshua passed from Makkedah, and all Israel with him, to ^(I)Libnah; and they fought against Libnah. ³⁰ And the Lord also delivered it and its king into the hand of Israel; he struck it and all the people who were in it with the edge of the sword. He let none remain in it, but did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho.

³¹ Then Joshua passed from Libnah, and all Israel with him, to Lachish; and they encamped against it and fought against it. ³² And the Lord delivered Lachish into the hand of Israel, who took it on the second day, and struck it and all the people who were in it with the edge of the sword, according to all that he had done to Libnah. ³³ Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish; and Joshua struck him and his people, until he left him none remaining.

³⁴ From Lachish Joshua passed to Eglon, and all Israel with him; and they encamped against it and fought against it. ³⁵ They took it on that day and struck it with the edge of the sword; all the people who were in it he utterly destroyed that day, according to all that he had done to Lachish.

³⁶ So Joshua went up from Eglon, and all Israel with him, to ^(J)Hebron; and they fought against it. ³⁷ And they took it and struck it with the edge of the sword—its king, all its cities, and all the people who were in it; he left none remaining, according to all that he had done to Eglon, but utterly destroyed it and all the people who were in it.

³⁸ Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to ^(K)Debir; and they fought against it. ³⁹ And he took it and its king and all its cities; they struck them with the edge of the sword and utterly destroyed all the people who were in it. He left none remaining; as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir and its king, as he had done also to Libnah and its king.

⁴⁰ So Joshua conquered all the land: the ^(L)mountain country and the ^[e]South and the lowland and the wilderness slopes, and ^(M)all their kings; he left none remaining, but ^(N)utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the Lord God of Israel had commanded. ⁴¹ And Joshua conquered them from ^(O)Kadesh Barnea as far as ^(P)Gaza, ^(Q)and all the country of Goshen, even as far as Gibeon. ⁴² All these kings and their land Joshua took at one time, ^(R)because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel. ⁴³ Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.

The Northern Conquest

11 And it came to pass, when Jabin king of Hazor heard these things, that he ^(A)sent to Jobab king of Madon, to the king ^(B)of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph, ² and to the kings who were from the north, in the mountains, in the plain south of ^(C)Chinneroth, in the lowland, and in the heights ^(D)of Dor on the west, ³ to the Canaanites in the east and in the west, the ^(E)Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite in the mountains, ^(F)and the Hivite below ^(G)Hermon ^(H)in the land of Mizpah. ⁴ So they went out, they and all their armies with them, as many people ^(I)as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude, with very many horses and chariots. ⁵ And when all these kings had ^[a]met together, they came and camped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.

⁶ But the Lord said to Joshua, ^(J)“Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow about this time I will deliver all of them slain before Israel. You shall ^(K)hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.” ⁷ So Joshua and all the people of war with him came against them suddenly by the waters of Merom, and they attacked them. ⁸ And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel, who defeated them and chased them to ^[b]Greater ^(L)Sidon, to the ^[c]Brook ^(M)Misrephoth, and to the Valley of Mizpah eastward; they attacked them until they left none of them remaining. ⁹ So Joshua did to them as the Lord had told him: he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.

¹⁰ Joshua turned back at that time and took Hazor, and struck its king with the sword; for Hazor was formerly the head of all those kingdoms. ¹¹ And they struck all the people who were in it with the edge of the sword, ^(N)utterly destroying them. There was none left ^(O)breathing. Then he burned Hazor with fire.

¹² So all the cities of those kings, and all their kings, Joshua took and struck with the edge of the sword. He utterly destroyed them, ^(P)as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. ¹³ But as for the cities that stood on their ^[d]mounds, Israel burned none of them, except Hazor only, which Joshua burned. ¹⁴ And all the ^(Q)spoil of these cities and the livestock, the children of Israel took as booty for themselves; but they struck every man with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them, and they left none breathing. ^15 (R)As the Lord had commanded Moses His servant, so ^(S)Moses commanded Joshua, and ^(T)so Joshua did. ^[e]He left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.

¹⁷ For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was ^(A)rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.

The Glorious Company

¹⁸ For you have not come ^[a]to ^(B)the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and ^[b]darkness and tempest, ¹⁹ and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it ^(C)begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. ²⁰ (For they could not endure what was commanded: ^(D)“And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned ^[c]or shot with an arrow.” ²¹ And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, ^(E)“I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”)

²² But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, ²³ to the ^[d]general assembly and church of ^(F)the firstborn ^(G)who are registered in heaven, to God ^(H)the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men ^(I)made perfect, ²⁴ to Jesus ^(J)the Mediator of the new covenant, and to ^(K)the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things ^(L)than that of Abel.

Hear the Heavenly Voice

²⁵ See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For ^(M)if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, ²⁶ whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, ^(N)“Yet once more I ^[e]shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” ²⁷ Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the ^(O)removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.

²⁸ Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we ^[f]may ^(P)serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. ²⁹ For ^(Q)our God is a consuming fire.