Joshua 10

• 1. Now Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, heard that Joshua had captured and completely destroyed Ai and killed its king, just as he had destroyed the city of Jericho and killed its king. He also learned that the Gibeonites had made peace with Israel and were now their allies.
• 2. He and his people became very afraid when they heard all this because Gibeon was a large city--as large as the royal cities and larger than Ai. And the Gibeonite men were mighty warriors.
• 3. So King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem sent messengers to several other kings: Hoham of Hebron, Piram of Jarmuth, Japhia of Lachish, and Debir of Eglon.
• 4. "Come and help me destroy Gibeon," he urged them, "for they have made peace with Joshua and the people of Israel."
• 5. So these five Amorite kings combined their armies for a united attack. They moved all their troops into place and attacked Gibeon.
• 6. The men of Gibeon quickly sent messengers to Joshua at Gilgal, "Don't abandon your servants now!" they pleaded. "Come quickly and save us! For all the Amorite kings who live in the hill country have come out against us with their armies."
• 7. So Joshua and the entire Israelite army left Gilgal and set out to rescue Gibeon.
• 8. "Do not be afraid of them," the LORD said to Joshua, "for I will give you victory over them. Not a single one of them will be able to stand up to you."
• 9. Joshua traveled all night from Gilgal and took the Amorite armies by surprise.
• 10. The LORD threw them into a panic, and the Israelites slaughtered them in great numbers at Gibeon. Then the Israelites chased the enemy along the road to Beth-horon and attacked them at Azekah and Makkedah, killing them along the way.
• 11. As the Amorites retreated down the road from Beth-horon, the LORD destroyed them with a terrible hailstorm that continued until they reached Azekah. The hail killed more of the enemy than the Israelites killed with the sword.
• 12. On the day the LORD gave the Israelites victory over the Amorites, Joshua prayed to the LORD in front of all the people of Israel. He said, "Let the sun stand still over Gibeon, and the moon over the valley of Aijalon."
• 13. So the sun and moon stood still until the Israelites had defeated their enemies. Is this event not recorded in The Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the middle of the sky, and it did not set as on a normal day.
• 14. The LORD fought for Israel that day. Never before or since has there been a day like that one, when the LORD answered such a request from a human being.
• 15. Then Joshua and the Israelite army returned to their camp at Gilgal.
• 16. During the battle, the five kings escaped and hid in a cave at Makkedah.
• 17. When Joshua heard that they had been found,
• 18. he issued this command: "Cover the opening of the cave with large rocks and place guards at the entrance to keep the kings inside.
• 19. The rest of you continue chasing the enemy and cut them down from the rear. Don't let them get back to their cities, for the LORD your God has given you victory over them."
• 20. So Joshua and the Israelite army continued the slaughter and wiped out the five armies except for a tiny remnant that managed to reach their fortified cities.
• 21. Then the Israelites returned safely to their camp at Makkedah. After that, no one dared to speak a word against Israel.
• 22. Then Joshua said, "Remove the rocks covering the opening of the cave and bring the five kings to me."
• 23. So they brought the five kings out of the cave--the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon.
• 24. Joshua told the captains of his army, "Come and put your feet on the kings' necks." And they did as they were told.
• 25. "Don't ever be afraid or discouraged," Joshua told his men. "Be strong and courageous, for the LORD is going to do this to all of your enemies."
• 26. Then Joshua killed each of the five kings and hung them on five trees until evening.
• 27. As the sun was going down, Joshua gave instructions for the bodies of the kings to be taken down from the trees and thrown into the cave where they had been hiding. Then they covered the opening of the cave with a large pile of stones, which remains to this very day.
• 28. That same day Joshua completely destroyed the city of Makkedah, killing everyone in it, including the king. Not one person in the city was left alive. 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 city and its king. They slaughtered everyone in the city and left no survivors. Then Joshua killed the king of Libnah just as he had killed the king of Jericho.
• 31. From Libnah, Joshua and the Israelites went to Lachish and attacked it.
• 32. And the LORD gave it to them on the second day. Here, too, the entire population was slaughtered, just as at Libnah.
• 33. During the attack on Lachish, King Horam of Gezer had arrived with his army to help defend the city. But Joshua's men killed him and destroyed his entire army.
• 34. Then Joshua and the Israelite army went to Eglon and attacked it.
• 35. They captured it in one day, and as at Lachish, they completely destroyed everyone in the city.
• 36. After leaving Eglon, they attacked Hebron,
• 37. capturing it and all of its surrounding towns. And just as they had done at Eglon, they completely destroyed the entire population. Not one person was left alive.
• 38. Then they turned back and attacked Debir.
• 39. They captured the city, its king, and all of its surrounding villages. And they killed everyone in it, leaving no survivors. They completely destroyed Debir just as they had destroyed Libnah and Hebron.
• 40. So Joshua conquered the whole region--the kings and people of the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills, 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 Goshen to Gibeon.
• 42. In a single campaign Joshua conquered all these kings and their land, 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.

Joshua 11

• 1. When King Jabin of Hazor heard what had happened, he sent urgent messages to the following kings: King Jobab of Madon; the king of Shimron; the king of Acshaph;
• 2. all the kings of the northern hill country; the kings in the Jordan Valley south of Galilee; the kings in the western foothills; the kings of Naphoth-dor on the west;
• 3. the kings of Canaan, both east and west; the kings of the Amorites; the kings of the Hittites; the kings of the Perizzites; the kings in the Jebusite hill country; and the Hivites in the towns on the slopes of Mount Hermon, in the land of Mizpah.
• 4. All these kings responded by mobilizing their warriors and uniting to fight against Israel. Their combined armies, along with a vast array of horses and chariots, covered the landscape like the sand on the seashore.
• 5. They established their camp around the water near Merom to fight against Israel.
• 6. Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them. By this time tomorrow they will all be dead. Cripple their horses and burn their chariots."
• 7. So Joshua and his warriors traveled to the water near Merom and attacked suddenly.
• 8. And the LORD gave them victory over their enemies. The Israelites chased them as far as Great Sidon and Misrephoth-maim, and eastward into the valley of Mizpah, until not one enemy warrior was left alive.
• 9. Then Joshua crippled the horses and burned all the chariots, as the LORD had instructed.
• 10. Joshua then turned back and captured Hazor and killed its king. (Hazor had at one time been the capital of the federation of all these kingdoms.)
• 11. The Israelites completely destroyed every living thing in the city. Not a single person was spared. And then Joshua burned the city.
• 12. Joshua slaughtered all the other kings and their people, completely destroying them, just as Moses, the servant of the LORD, had commanded.
• 13. However, Joshua did not burn any of the cities built on mounds except Hazor.
• 14. And the Israelites took all the captured goods and cattle of the ravaged cities for themselves, but they killed all the people.
• 15. As the LORD had commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua. And Joshua did as he was told, carefully obeying all of the LORD's instructions to Moses.
• 16. So Joshua conquered the entire region--the hill country, the Negev, the land of Goshen, the western foothills, the Jordan Valley, and the mountains and lowlands of Israel.
• 17. The Israelite territory now extended all the way from Mount Halak, which leads up to Seir, to Baal-gad at the foot of Mount Hermon in the valley of Lebanon. Joshua killed all the kings of those territories,
• 18. waging war for a long time to accomplish this.
• 19. No one in this region made peace with the Israelites except the Hivites of Gibeon. All the others were defeated.
• 20. For the LORD hardened their hearts and caused them to fight the Israelites instead of asking for peace. So they were completely and mercilessly destroyed, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
• 21. During this period, Joshua destroyed all the descendants of Anak, who lived in the hill country of Hebron, Debir, Anab, and the entire hill country of Judah and Israel. He killed them all and completely destroyed their towns.
• 22. Not one was left in all the land of Israel, though some still remained in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.
• 23. So Joshua took control of the entire land, just as the LORD had instructed Moses. He gave it to the people of Israel as their special possession, dividing the land among the tribes. So the land finally had rest from war.

Joshua 12

• 1. These are the kings east of the Jordan River who had been killed and whose land was taken. Their territory extended from the Arnon Gorge to Mount Hermon and included all the land east of the Jordan Valley.
• 2. King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, was defeated. His kingdom included Aroer, on the edge of the Arnon Gorge, and extended from the middle of the Arnon Gorge to the Jabbok River, which serves as a boundary for the Ammonites. This territory included half of the present area of Gilead, which lies north of the Jabbok River.
• 3. Sihon also controlled the Jordan Valley as far north as the western shores of the Sea of Galilee and as far south as the Dead Sea, from Beth-jeshimoth to the slopes of Pisgah.
• 4. King Og of Bashan, the last of the Rephaites, lived at Ashtaroth and Edrei.
• 5. He ruled a territory stretching from Mount Hermon to Salecah in the north and to all of Bashan in the east, and westward to the boundaries of the kingdoms of Geshur and Maacah. His kingdom included the northern half of Gilead, the other portion of which was in the territory of King Sihon of Heshbon.
• 6. Moses, the servant of the LORD, and the Israelites had destroyed the people of King Sihon and King Og. And Moses gave their land to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
• 7. The following is a list of the kings Joshua and the Israelite armies defeated on the west side of the Jordan, from Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, which leads up to Seir. (Joshua allotted this land to the tribes of Israel as their inheritance,
• 8. including the hill country, the western foothills, the Jordan Valley, the mountain slopes, the Judean wilderness, and the Negev. The people who lived in this region were the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.) These are the kings Israel defeated:
• 9. The king of Jericho The king of Ai, near Bethel
• 10. The king of Jerusalem The king of Hebron
• 11. The king of Jarmuth The king of Lachish
• 12. The king of Eglon The king of Gezer
• 13. The king of Debir The king of Geder
• 14. The king of Hormah The king of Arad
• 15. The king of Libnah The king of Adullam
• 16. The king of Makkedah The king of Bethel
• 17. The king of Tappuah The king of Hepher
• 18. The king of Aphek The king of Lasharon
• 19. The king of Madon The king of Hazor
• 20. The king of Shimron-meron The king of Acshaph
• 21. The king of Taanach The king of Megiddo
• 22. The king of Kedesh The king of Jokneam in Carmel
• 23. The king of Dor in the city of Naphoth-dor The king of Goyim in Gilgal
• 24. The king of Tirzah. In all, thirty-one kings and their cities were destroyed.

New Living Translation: 68 of 324 days.