9 When all the kings a-west of-a the Jordan—in the hill country, in the Shephelah, and along the entire coast of the Mediterranean Sea up to the vicinity of Lebanon, the [land of the] Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—learned of this, 2they gathered with one accord to fight against Joshua and Israel.
3But when the inhabitants of Gibeon learned how Joshua had treated Jericho and Ai, 4they for their part resorted to cunning. They set out b-in disguise:-b they took worn-out sacks for their asses, and worn-out waterskins that were cracked and patched; 5they had worn-out, patched sandals on their feet, and threadbare clothes on their bodies; and all the bread they took as provision was dry and crumbly. 6And so they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We come from a distant land; we propose that you make a pact with us.” 7The men of Israel replied to the Hivites, “But perhaps you live among us; how then can we make a pact with you?”c
8They said to Joshua, “We will be your subjects.” But Joshua asked them, “Who are you and where do you come from?” 9They replied, “Your servants have come from a very distant country, because of the fame of the LORD your God. For we heard the report of Him: of all that He did in Egypt, 10and of all that He did to the two Amorite kings on the other side of the Jordan, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan who lived in Ashtaroth. 11So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country instructed us as follows, ‘Take along provisions for a trip, and go to them and say: We will be your subjects; come make a pact with us.’ 12This bread of ours, which we took from our houses as provision, was still hot when we set out to come to you; and see how dry and crumbly it has become. 13These wineskins were new when we filled them, and see how they have cracked. These clothes and sandals of ours are worn out from the very long journey.” 14The men b-took [their word] because of-b their provisions, and did not inquire of the LORD. 15Joshua established friend-ship with them; he made a pact with them to spare their lives, and the chieftains of the community gave them their oath.
16But when three days had passed after they made this pact with them, they learned that they were neighbors, living among them. 17So the Is-raelites set out, and on the third day they came to their towns; these towns were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. 18But the Israelites did not attack them, since the chieftains of the community had sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. The whole community muttered against the chieftains, 19but all the chieftains answered the whole community, “We swore to them by the LORD, the God of Israel; therefore we cannot touch them. 20This is what we will do to them: We will spare their lives, so that there may be no wrath against us because of the oath that we swore to them.” 21And the chieftains declared concerning them, “They shall live!” And they became hewers of wood and drawers of water for the whole community, as the chieftains had decreed concerning them.
22Joshua summoned them and spoke to them thus: “Why did you de-ceive us and tell us you lived very far from us, when in fact you live among us? 23Therefore, be accursed! Never shall your descendants cease to be slaves, hewers of wood and drawers of water for the House of my God.” 24But they replied to Joshua, “You see, your servants had heard that the LORD your God had promised His servant Moses to give you the whole land and to wipe out all the inhabitants of the country on your account; so we were in great fear for our lives on your account. That is why we did this thing. 25And now we are at your mercy; do with us what you consider right and proper.” 26And he did so; he saved them from being killed by the Israelites. 27That day Joshua made them hewers of wood and drawers of water—as they still are—for the community and for the altar of the LORD, in the place that He would choose.
10 When King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem learned that Joshua had captured Ai and proscribed it, treating Ai and its king as he had treated Jericho and its king, and that, moreover, the people of Gibeon had come to terms with Israel and remained among them, 2 a-he was-a very fright-ened. For Gibeon was a large city, like one of the royal cities—in fact, larger than Ai—and all its men were warriors. 3So King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem sent this message to King Hoham of Hebron, King Piram of Jarmuth, King Japhia of Lachish, and King Debir of Eglon: 4“Come up and help me defeat Gibeon; for it has come to terms with Joshua and the Israelites.”
5The five Amorite kings—the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, with all their armies—joined forces and marched on Gibeon, and encamped against it and attacked it. 6The people of Gibeon thereupon sent this message to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: “Do not fail your servants; come up quickly and aid us and deliver us, for all the Amorite kings of the hill country have gathered against us.” 7So Joshua marched up from Gilgal with his whole fighting force, all the trained warriors.
8The LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for I will deliver them into your hands; not one of them shall withstand you.” 9Joshua took them by surprise, marching all night from Gilgal. 10The LORD threw them into a panic before Israel: [Joshua] inflicted a crushing defeat on them at Gibeon, pursued them in the direction of the Beth-horon ascent, and harried them all the way to Azekah and Makkedah. 11While they were fleeing before Israel down the descent from Beth-horon, the LORD hurled huge stones on them from the sky, all the way to Azekah, and they per-ished; more perished from the hailstones than were killed by the Israelite weapons.
12On that occasion, when the LORD routed the Amorites before the Israelites, Joshua addressed the LORD; he said in the presence of the Israelites:
“Stand still, O sun, at Gibeon,
O moon, in the Valley of Aijalon!”
13And the sun stood still
And the moon halted,
While a nation wreaked judgment on its foes
—as is written in the Book of Jashar.b Thus the sun halted in midheaven, and did not press on to set, for a whole day; 14for the LORD fought for Israel. Neither before nor since has there ever been such a day, when the LORD acted on words spoken by a man. 15Then Joshua together with all Israel returned to the camp at Gilgal.
16Meanwhile, those five kings fled and hid in a cave at Makkedah. 17When it was reported to Joshua that the five kings had been found hiding in a cave at Makkedah, 18Joshua ordered, “Roll large stones up against the mouth of the cave, and post men over it to keep guard over them. 19But as for the rest of you, don’t stop, but press on the heels of your enemies and harass them from the rear. Don’t let them reach their towns, for the LORD your God has delivered them into your hands.” 20When Joshua and the Israelites had finished dealing them a deadly blow, they were wiped out, except for some fugitives who escaped into the fortified towns. 21The whole army returned in safety to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah; no one so much as snarledc at the Israelites. 22And now Joshua ordered, “Open the mouth of the cave, and bring those five kings out of the cave to me.” 23This was done. Those five kings—the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of La-chish, and the king of Eglon—were brought out to him from the cave. 24And when the kings were brought out to Joshua, Joshua summoned all the men of Israel and ordered the army officers who had accompanied him, “Come forward and place your feet on the necks of these kings.” They came forward and placed their feet on their necks. 25Joshua said to them, “Do not be frightened or dismayed; be firm and resolute. For this is what the LORD is going to do to all the enemies with whom you are at war.” 26After that, Joshua had them put to death and impaled on five stakes, and they remained impaled on the stakes until evening. 27At sunset Joshua ordered them taken down from the poles and thrown into the cave in which they had hidden. Large stones were placed over the mouth of the cave, [and there they are] to this very day.
28At that time Joshua captured Makkedah and put it and its king to the sword, proscribing itd and every person in it and leaving none that escaped. And he treated the king of Makkedah as he had treated the king of Jericho.
29From Makkedah, Joshua proceeded with all Israel to
