The Day the Sun Stood Still

10 At this time Adoni Zedek was the king of Jerusalem. This king heard that Joshua had defeated Ai and completely destroyed it. The king learned that Joshua had done the same thing to Jericho and its king. The king also learned that the people of Gibeon had made a peace agreement with Israel. And those people lived very near Jerusalem. ²So Adoni Zedek and his people were very scared. Gibeon was not a little town like Ai. Gibeon was a very big city—it was as big as any royal city.* And all the men in that city were good fighters. So the king was afraid. ³Adoni Zedek, the king of Jerusalem, talked with Hoham, king of Hebron. He also talked with Piram, king of Jarmuth, Japhia, king of Lachish, and Debir, king of Eglon. The king of Jerusalem begged these men, ⁴“Come with me and help me to attack Gibeon. Gibeon has made a peace agreement with Joshua and the people of Israel.” ⁵So these five Amorite kings joined armies. (The five kings were the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon.) Those armies went to Gibeon. The armies surrounded the city and began fighting against it. ⁶The people in the city of Gibeon sent a message to Joshua at his camp at Gilgal. The message said: “We are your servants! Don’t leave us alone. Come and help us! Hurry! Save us! All the Amorite kings from the hill country have brought their armies together to fight against us.” ⁷So Joshua marched out of Gilgal with his whole army. Joshua’s best fighting men were with him. ⁸The Lord said to Joshua, “Don’t be afraid of those armies. I will allow you to defeat them. None of those armies will be able to defeat you.” ⁹Joshua and his army marched all night to Gibeon. {The enemy did not know that Joshua was coming.} So it was a complete surprise when he attacked them. ¹⁰The Lord caused those armies to be very confused when Israel attacked. So Israel defeated them and won a great victory. Israel chased the enemy from Gibeon on the road going to Beth Horon. The army of Israel killed men all the way to Azekah and Makkedah. ¹¹Then the army of Israel chased the enemy down the road from Beth Horon to Azekah. While they were chasing the enemy, the Lord caused large hailstones to fall from the sky. Many of the enemy were killed by these large hailstones. More men were killed by the hailstones than by the swords of the soldiers of Israel. ¹²That day the Lord allowed Israel to defeat the Amorite people. And that day Joshua stood before all the people of Israel and said to the Lord: “Sun, stop over Gibeon. Moon, stand still over the Valley of Aijalon.” ¹³So the sun did not move, and the moon stopped until the people defeated their enemies. This story is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky. It did not move for a full day. ¹⁴That had never happened before. And it has never happened again! That was the day the Lord obeyed a man. The Lord really was fighting for Israel! ¹⁵After this, Joshua and his army went back to the camp at Gilgal. ¹⁶But during the fight, the five kings ran away. They hid in a cave near Makkedah. ¹⁷But someone found them hiding in that cave. Joshua learned about this. ¹⁸Joshua said, “Cover the entrance to the cave with large rocks. Put some men there to guard the cave. ¹⁹But don’t stay there yourselves. Continue chasing the enemy. Continue to attack them from behind. Don’t let the enemy get back to their cities. The Lord your God has given you the victory over them.” ²⁰So Joshua and the people of Israel killed the enemy. But some of the enemy were able to go to their cities that had tall walls around them and hide. These men were not killed. ²¹After the fighting, Joshua’s men came back to him at Makkedah. None of the people in that country were brave enough to say anything against the people of Israel. ²²Joshua said, “Move the rocks that are covering the entrance to the cave. Bring those five kings to me.” ²³So Joshua’s men brought the five kings out of the cave. They were the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon. ²⁴They brought the five kings to Joshua. Joshua called all his men to come to that place. Joshua said to the officers of his army, “Come here! Put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So the officers of Joshua’s army came close. They put their feet on the necks of the kings. ²⁵Then Joshua said to his men, “Be strong and brave! Don’t be afraid. I will show you what the Lord will do to all of the enemies that you will fight in the future.” ²⁶Then Joshua killed the five kings. He hanged their bodies on five trees. Joshua left them hanging in the trees until evening. ²⁷At sunset Joshua told his men to take the bodies down from the trees. So they threw the bodies into the cave where the kings had been hiding and covered the entrance of the cave with large rocks. Those bodies are still in that cave today. ²⁸That day Joshua defeated Makkedah. Joshua killed the king and the people in that city. There were no people left living. Joshua did the same thing to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho.

Taking the Southern Cities

²⁹Then Joshua and all the people of Israel traveled from Makkedah. They went to Libnah and attacked that city. ³⁰The Lord allowed the people of Israel to defeat that city and its king. The people of Israel killed every person in that city. No people were left alive. And the people did the same thing to that king as they had done to the king of Jericho. ³¹Then Joshua and all the people of Israel left Libnah and went to Lachish. Joshua and his army camped around that city and attacked it. ³²The Lord allowed them to defeat the city of Lachish. They defeated that city on the second day. The people of Israel killed every person in that city, just like they did in Libnah. ³³Horam king of Gezer came to help Lachish, but Joshua also defeated him and his army. Not one of them was left alive. ³⁴Then Joshua and all the people of Israel traveled from Lachish to Eglon. They camped around Eglon and attacked it. ³⁵That day they captured the city and killed all the people in the city. This was the same thing they had done to Lachish. ³⁶Then Joshua and all the people of Israel traveled from Eglon to Hebron. Then they attacked Hebron. ³⁷They captured the city and all the little towns near Hebron. The people of Israel killed every person in the city. No one was left alive there. This was the same thing they did to Eglon. They destroyed the city and killed all the people in it. ³⁸Then Joshua and all the people of Israel went back to Debir and attacked that city. ³⁹They captured that city, its king, and all the little towns near Debir. They killed every person in that city. No one was left alive there. The people of Israel did to Debir and its king the same thing they did to Hebron and its king. This was the same thing they had done to Libnah and its king. ⁴⁰So Joshua defeated all the kings of the cities of the hill country, the Negev,* the western foothills, and the eastern foothills. The Lord God of Israel had told Joshua to kill all the people. So Joshua did not leave anyone alive in those places. ⁴¹Joshua captured all the cities from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza. He captured all the cities from the land of Goshen (in Egypt) to Gibeon. ⁴²Joshua captured all those cities and their kings on one trip. Joshua did this because the Lord God of Israel was fighting for Israel. ⁴³Then Joshua and all the people of Israel returned to their camp at Gilgal.

royal city Strong well-protected cities that controlled smaller towns nearby. Negev The desert area south of Judah.

Defeating the Northern Cities

11 Jabin, king of Hazor, heard about all these things that happened. So he decided to call together the armies of several kings. Jabin sent a message to Jobab, king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, the king of Acshaph, ²and to the kings of the north, in the hill country and in the desert. Jabin sent the message to the kings of the Kinnereth,* the Negev,* and the western foothills. Jabin also sent the message to the king of Naphoth Dor in the west. ³Jabin sent that message to the kings of the Canaanite people in the east and in the west. He sent the message to the Amorite people, the Hittite people, the Perizzite people, and the Jebusite people living in the hill country. He also sent the message to the Hivite people living below Mount Hermon near Mizpah. ⁴So the armies of all these kings came together. There were many fighting men and many horses and chariots. It was a very, very large army—it looked like there were as many men as grains of sand on the sea shore. ⁵All of these kings met together at the small river of Merom. They joined their armies together into one camp and made plans for the battle against Israel. ⁶Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Don’t be afraid of that army. I will allow you to defeat them. By this time tomorrow, you will have killed them all. You will cut the legs of the horses and burn all their chariots.” ⁷Joshua and his whole army surprised the enemy. They attacked the enemy at the river of Merom. ⁸The Lord allowed Israel to defeat them. The army of Israel defeated them and chased them to Greater Sidon, Misrephoth Maim, and the Valley of Mizpah in the east. The army of Israel fought until none of the enemy was left alive. ⁹Joshua did what the Lord said he would do—Joshua cut the legs of their horses and burned their chariots. ¹⁰Then Joshua went back and captured the city of Hazor. Joshua killed the king of Hazor. (Hazor was the leader of all the kingdoms that fought against Israel.) ¹¹The army of Israel killed every person in that city. They completely destroyed all the people. There was nothing left alive. Then they burned the city. ¹²Joshua captured all of these cities. He killed all of their kings. Joshua completely destroyed everything in these cities. He did this the way Moses, the Lord’s servant, had commanded. ¹³But the army of Israel did not burn any cities that were built on hills. The only city built on a hill that they burned was Hazor. This is the city Joshua burned. ¹⁴The people of Israel kept for themselves all the things they found in the cities. They kept all the animals that they found in the city. But they killed all the people there. They did not allow any people to be left alive. ¹⁵Long ago the Lord commanded his servant Moses to do this. Then Moses commanded Joshua to do this. So Joshua obeyed God. Joshua did everything that the Lord had commanded Moses. ¹⁶So Joshua defeated all the people in that whole country. He had control over the hill country, the Negev, all the area of Goshen, the area of the western foothills, Jordan Valley, and the mountains of Israel and all the hills near them. ¹⁷Joshua had control of all the land from Mount Halak near Seir to Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. Joshua captured all the kings in that land and killed them. ¹⁸Joshua fought against those kings many years. ¹⁹Only one city in all the land made a peace agreement with Israel. That was the Hivite city of Gibeon. All the other cities were defeated in war. ²⁰The Lord wanted those people to think they were strong. Then they would fight against Israel. This way he could destroy them without mercy. He could destroy them the way the Lord had commanded Moses to do. ²¹The Anakite people* lived in the hill country in the area of Hebron, Debir, Anab, and Judah. Joshua fought them and completely destroyed all those people and their towns. ²²There were no Anakite people left living in the land of Israel. The only Anakite people that were left alive were in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. ²³Joshua took control of the whole land of Israel, just as the Lord had told Moses long ago. The Lord gave that land to Israel just like he promised. And Joshua divided the land among the family groups of Israel. Finally, the fighting ended and there was peace in the land.

Kinnereth The area near the Sea of Galilee. Negev The desert area south of Judah. Anakite people Descendants of Anak. They were a family famous for tall and powerful fighting men. See Num. 13:33.

Kings Defeated by Israel

12 The people of Israel had taken control of the land east of the Jordan River. They had all the land from Arnon Ravine to Mount Hermon and all the land along the eastern side of the Jordan Valley. Here are all of the kings the people of Israel defeated to take this land: ²{They defeated} Sihon, the king of the Amorite people living in the city of Heshbon. He ruled the land from Aroer at the Arnon Ravine to the Jabbok River. His land started in the center of that ravine. This was their border with the Ammonite people. Sihon ruled over half of the land of Gilead. ³He also ruled over the eastern side of Jordan Valley from Lake Galilee to the Dead Sea (Salt Sea). And he ruled from Beth Jeshimoth to the south to the hills of Pisgah. ⁴{They also defeated} Og, king of Bashan. Og was from the Rephaite people. He ruled the land in Ashtaroth and Edrei. ⁵Og ruled over Mount Hermon, Salecah, and all of the area of Bashan. His land ended where the people of Geshur and Maacah lived. Og also ruled half of the land of Gilead. This land stopped at the land of Sihon, the king of Heshbon. ⁶The Lord’s servant Moses and the people of Israel defeated all these kings. And Moses gave that land to the family group of Reuben, the family group of Gad, and half the family group of Manasseh. Moses gave them this land to be their own. ⁷The people of Israel also defeated kings in the land that was west of the Jordan River. Joshua led the people in this land. Joshua gave the people this land and divided it among the twelve family groups. This was the land that God promised to give to them. This land was between Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon and Mount Halak near Seir. ⁸This included the hill country, the western foothills, the Jordan Valley, the eastern mountains, the desert, and the Negev.* This was the land where the Hittite people, the Amorite people, the Canaanite people, the Perizzite people, the Hivite people, and the Jebusite people lived. Here is a list of the kings the people of Israel defeated: ⁹the king of Jericho 1 the king of Ai near Bethel 1 ¹⁰the king of Jerusalem 1 the king of Hebron 1 ¹¹the king of Jarmuth 1 the king of Lachish 1 ¹²the king of Eglon 1 the king of Gezer 1 ¹³the king of Debir 1 the king of Geder 1 ¹⁴the king of Hormah 1 the king of Arad 1 ¹⁵the king of Libnah 1 the king of Adullam 1 ¹⁶the king of Makkedah 1 the king of Bethel 1 ¹⁷the king of Tappuah 1 the king of Hepher 1 ¹⁸the king of Aphek 1 the king of Sharon 1 ¹⁹the king of Madon 1 the king of Hazor 1 ²⁰the king of Shimron Meron 1 the king of Acshaph 1 ²¹the king of Taanach 1 the king of Megiddo 1 ²²the king of Kedesh 1 the king of Jokneam in Carmel 1 ²³the king of Dor at Mount Dor 1 the king of Goyim in Gilgal, ²⁴and the king of Tirzah 1 Total number of kings 31.

Negev The desert area south of Judah.