The Sun Stands Still

¹As soon as Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, heard how Joshua had captured Ai and had devoted it to destruction,1 mdoing to Ai and its king nas he had done to Jericho and its king, and ohow the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, ²phe2 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. ³So 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 qit has made peace with Joshua and with the people of Israel.” ⁵Then 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, rgathered their forces and went up with all their armies and encamped against Gibeon and made war against it.

⁶And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua sat 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.” ⁷So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and tall the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor. ⁸And the Lord said to Joshua, u“Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. vNot a man of them shall stand before you.” ⁹So Joshua came upon them suddenly, having marched up all night from Gilgal. ¹⁰wAnd the Lord threw them into a panic before Israel, who3 struck them with a great blow at Gibeon and chased them by the way of xthe ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah. ¹¹And as they fled before Israel, while they were xgoing down the ascent of Beth-horon, ythe 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.

¹²At 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,

z“Sun, stand still at Gibeon,

and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.”

¹³And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,

until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.

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. ¹⁴aThere has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded the voice of a man, for bthe Lord fought for Israel.

¹⁵So cJoshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.

Five Amorite Kings Executed

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

²²Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me from the cave.” ²³And 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. ²⁴And 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. ²⁵And Joshua said to them, h“Do not be afraid or dismayed; be strong and courageous. iFor thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.” ²⁶And afterward Joshua struck them and put them to death, and he hanged them on five trees. And jthey hung on the trees until evening. ²⁷But at the time of the going down of the sun, Joshua commanded, and kthey 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.

²⁸As for lMakkedah, 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 mjust as he had done to the king of Jericho.

Conquest of Southern Canaan

²⁹Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Makkedah to nLibnah and fought against Libnah. ³⁰And 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 mas he had done to the king of Jericho.

³¹Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Libnah to oLachish and laid siege to it and fought against it. ³²And 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.

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

³⁴Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Lachish to qEglon. And they laid siege to it and fought against it. ³⁵And 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.

³⁶Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to rHebron. And they fought against it ³⁷and 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.

³⁸Then Joshua and all Israel with him turned back to sDebir and fought against it ³⁹and 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.

⁴⁰So Joshua struck the whole land, the hill country and the Negeb and the lowland tand the slopes, and all their kings. He left none remaining, ubut devoted to destruction all that breathed, just as the Lord God of Israel commanded. ⁴¹And Joshua struck them from vKadesh-barnea as far as Gaza, and all the country of wGoshen, as far as Gibeon. ⁴²And Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time, xbecause the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel. ⁴³yThen Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.