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28 Joshua captured Makkedah on that day, and he struck it and its king with the edge of the sword;[a] he utterly destroyed it and everyone that was in it. He did not leave behind a survivor. So he did to the king of Makkedah just as he did to the king of Jericho.

Joshua’s Conquest of the South

29 And Joshua passed on, and all of Israel with him, from Makkedah to Libnah, and he fought against Libnah. 30 And Yahweh also gave it into the hand of Israel, and its king and all the people in it he struck with the edge of the sword.[b] He left in it no survivor. He did to its king just as he did to the king of Jericho.

31 And Joshua passed on, and all of Israel with him, from Libnah to Lachish, and he laid siege to it[c] and fought against it. 32 And Yahweh gave Lachish into the hand of Israel, and he captured it on the second day. He struck it with the edge of the sword,[d] and everyone in it, just as he did to Libnah.

33 Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish, and Joshua struck him and his people until he left no survivor behind.

34 And Joshua passed on, and all of Israel with him, from Lachish to Eglon, and they laid siege to it[e] and fought against it. 35 And they captured it on that day, and he struck it with the edge of the sword,[f] and all the people that were in it on that day he utterly destroyed as he had done to Lachish.

36 And Joshua went up, and all Israel with him, from Eglon to Hebron, and they fought against it 37 and captured it, and they struck it with the edge of the sword,[g] its king and all its cities, and all the people that were in it; he left behind no survivor, as he had done to Eglon, and he utterly destroyed it and all the people that were in it. 38 Then Joshua returned to Debir, and all of Israel with him, and they fought against it, 39 and he captured it and its king and all its cities, and they struck them with the the edge of the sword,[h] and they utterly destroyed all the people that were in it; he left behind no survivor, just as he had done to Hebron. Thus he did to Debir and its king what he had done to Libnah and its king.

40 So Joshua struck all the land—the hill country, the Negev,[i] the Shephelah,[j] and the slopes[k]—and all their kings; he left behind no survivor, and all that breathed[l] he utterly destroyed as Yahweh the God of Israel commanded. 41 Joshua struck them from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza, and all the land of Goshen up to Gibeon; 42 all of these kings and their land Joshua captured at one time, because Yahweh the God of Israel fought for Israel. 43 And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.

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Footnotes

  1. Joshua 10:28 Literally “the mouth of the sword”
  2. Joshua 10:30 Literally “the mouth of the sword”
  3. Joshua 10:31 Literally “he camped opposite it”
  4. Joshua 10:32 Literally “the mouth of the sword”
  5. Joshua 10:34 Literally “they camped opposite it”
  6. Joshua 10:35 Literally “the mouth of the sword”
  7. Joshua 10:37 Literally “the mouth of the sword”
  8. Joshua 10:39 Literally “the mouth of the sword”
  9. Joshua 10:40 An arid region south of the Judaean hills
  10. Joshua 10:40 Or “lowlands”; a geographical region on the western edge of the hills of Judea
  11. Joshua 10:40 The slopes of the hills of the western Jordan to the Dead Sea region
  12. Joshua 10:40 Literally “all of the breath”

Israel Destroys the Southern Towns

28 That same day Joshua captured and destroyed the town of Makkedah. He killed everyone in it, including the king, leaving no survivors. He destroyed them all, and he killed the king of Makkedah as he had killed the king of Jericho. 29 Then Joshua and the Israelites went to Libnah and attacked it. 30 There, too, the Lord gave them the town and its king. He killed everyone in it, leaving no survivors. Then Joshua killed the king of Libnah as he had killed the king of Jericho.

31 From Libnah, Joshua and the Israelites went to Lachish and attacked it. 32 Here again, the Lord gave them Lachish. Joshua took it on the second day and killed everyone in it, just as he had done at Libnah. 33 During the attack on Lachish, King Horam of Gezer arrived with his army to help defend the town. But Joshua’s men killed him and his army, leaving no survivors.

34 Then Joshua and the Israelite army went on to Eglon and attacked it. 35 They captured it that day and killed everyone in it. He completely destroyed everyone, just as he had done at Lachish. 36 From Eglon, Joshua and the Israelite army went up to Hebron and attacked it. 37 They captured the town and killed everyone in it, including its king, leaving no survivors. They did the same thing to all of its surrounding villages. And just as he had done at Eglon, he completely destroyed the entire population.

38 Then Joshua and the Israelites turned back and attacked Debir. 39 He captured the town, its king, and all of its surrounding villages. He completely destroyed everyone in it, leaving no survivors. He did to Debir and its king just what he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and its king.

40 So Joshua conquered the whole region—the kings and people of the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills,[a] and the mountain slopes. He completely destroyed everyone in the land, leaving no survivors, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded. 41 Joshua slaughtered them from Kadesh-barnea to Gaza and from the region around the town of Goshen up to Gibeon. 42 Joshua conquered all these kings and their land in a single campaign, for the Lord, the God of Israel, was fighting for his people.

43 Then Joshua and the Israelite army returned to their camp at Gilgal.

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Footnotes

  1. 10:40 Hebrew the Shephelah.