Joshua’s army defeated the descendants of Amor when God made the sun stand still

1Later, Adonizedek, the king of Jerusalem, heard that Joshua’s army had captured Ai town and had destroyed everything in the town. He heard that they had done to the people of Ai and to their king the same thing that they had done to the people of Jericho and their king. He also heard that the people of Gibeon city had made a peace treaty with the Israeli people, and that the people of Gibeon were now living near the Israelis and being protected by them.

2Because of that, he and the people whom he ruled became very afraid, because Gibeon was an important city, like the other cities that had kings. And even though Gibeon was a larger city than Ai and all its soldiers were good fighters, they thought Joshua’s army might defeat them.

3So King Adonizedek sent a message to Hosham the king of Hebron city, to Piram the king of Jarmuth city, to Jarmuth the king of Lachish city, and to Debir the king of Eglon city.

4In the message he said, “Please come up with your armies and help me to attack Gibeon, because the people of Gibeon have made a peace treaty with Joshua and the Israelis.”

5So those five kings who ruled all the groups who were descendants of Amor—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Debir—came up with all of their soldiers and surrounded the city. Then they prepared to attack it.

6So the people of Gibeon sent a message to Joshua while he was in the camp at Gilgal. They said, “We are your servants. So do not forsake us. Come up to us quickly and save us! Help us, because the kings of all of the groups descended from Amor and their armies have joined their forces and have come from the hilly area to attack us!”

7So Joshua and all his army, including the soldiers who were his best fighting men, marched up from Gilgal.

8Then Yahweh said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of those armies! I will enable your army to defeat them [IDM]. None of them will be able to ◄resist/fight and defeat► your army.”

9Joshua’s army marched all night and arrived very early in the morning.

10They attacked their enemies before anyone knew that they had come. Yahweh caused their enemies to ◄become very confused/start running in all directions► when they saw the Israeli army. As a result, the Israeli army defeated them very severely at Gibeon and killed many of them. The rest of them fled along the road that goes up to Beth-Horon. But the Israeli army pursued them and killed them all along the road that goes to Azekah and Makkedah towns.

11As they fled in front of the Israeli army, Yahweh threw down huge hailstones from the sky. As a result, more of them died from hailstones falling on them than died as a result of the Israeli army killing them with swords.

12On the day that Yahweh enabled the Israeli army to defeat the groups who were descendants of Amor, Joshua said to Yahweh while the Israeli people were listening, “Yahweh, cause the sun to stand still over Gibeon, and cause the moon to not move when it is over Aijalon Valley.”

13And that is what happened. The sun stood still, and the moon did not move, until the Israeli army defeated their enemies. That is what has been written in the book that Jashar wrote. The sun stopped while it was in the middle of the sky, and did not ◄set/go down► for about a whole day.

14On that day Yahweh did a great miracle that someone asked him to do. There was never a day like that previously, and there has never been a day like that since. Yahweh was certainly fighting for the Israeli people!

15After Joshua’s army defeated their enemies, they all returned to their camp at Gilgal.

Joshua’s army defeated the armies of five kings

16While the enemy soldiers were fleeing from Joshua’s army, their five kings also fled and hid in a cave at Makkedah town.

17Then someone told Joshua, “We found those five kings, hiding in a cave at Makkedah!”

18When Joshua heard that, he said, “Roll some very large rocks to the entrance of the cave so that the kings cannot escape, and leave some soldiers there to guard it.

19But do not stay there! Pursue our enemies! Attack them from behind! Do not allow them to escape to their cities, because Yahweh, our God, will enable you to defeat/kill them. [IDM]”

20So Joshua’s army did what he told them to do. They killed almost all of the enemy soldiers, but a few of them were able to reach their cities and be safe inside the walls of the cities.

21Then Joshua’s army returned to Joshua, who was still in their camp at Makkedah. No one in the land dared to criticize [MTY] the Israelis.

22Then Joshua said, “Open the entrance of the cave, and bring out to me those five kings!”

23So the soldiers brought those five kings out of the cave—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon.

24When they brought those kings to Joshua and forced them to lie on the ground, he summoned all the Israeli soldiers, and then he said to the army commanders, “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings!” So the commanders did that.

25Then Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid of any of our enemies! Never be discouraged! Be strong and courageous. This is what Yahweh will do to all the enemies you will fight!”

26Then Joshua killed each of the five kings with his sword, and told his soldiers to hang the bodies of the five kings on trees. So they did that, and they left the bodies hanging on the trees until sunset.

27At sunset, Joshua told them to take the bodies down from the trees and throw them into the cave where they had been hiding. So the soldiers did that, and then they put those large rocks at the entrance of the cave again. Those rocks are still there.

28That is how Joshua’s army attacked and captured Makkedah. They killed the king and everyone else in the town. They did not leave anyone alive. They did to the king of Makkedah the same thing that they had done to the king of Jericho.

They conquered the southern cities

29That same day, Joshua and his Israeli army went southwest from Makkedah to Libnah city and attacked it.

30Yahweh enabled the Israelis to conquer [MTY] that city and its king. They killed everyone in the city; they did not ◄spare anyone/allow anyone to remain alive►. They killed the king of Libnah just like they had killed the king of Jericho.

31Then Joshua and his army went south from Libnah to Lachish city. They surrounded the city and attacked it.

32On the second day of the battle, Yahweh enabled the Israelis to conquer [MTY] the city. And like they had done at Libnah, they killed everyone [DOU] in the city.

33King Horam from Gezer city and his army came to help the soldiers of Lachish, but Joshua’s army defeated Horam and his army, and did not allow any of them to remain alive.

34Then Joshua and his army went west from Lachish to Eglon city. They surrounded the city and attacked it.

35On that day, they captured the city and killed [MTY] everyone in it [DOU], just like they had done at Lachish.

36Then Joshua and his army went west from Eglon up into the hills to Hebron city. They attacked the city

37and captured it. They killed the king and everyone else, just like they had done at Eglon. They did not allow anyone to remain alive.

38Then Joshua and his army turned south and went to Debir city and attacked it.

39They captured the city and its king, and also captured the nearby towns. Then they killed everyone [DOU]; they did to the people there the same thing that they had done at Hebron and Libnah.

40That is how Joshua and his army conquered the entire southern part of Canaan. They defeated the kings who ruled the hilly area, the dry southern area, the western foothills, and the eastern slopes. They killed everyone [DOU] in those areas; they did not allow anyone to remain alive.

41Joshua’s soldiers captured all the cities from Kadesh-Barnea city in the far south to Gaza city near the coast, including all the Goshen area, and north to Gibeon city.

42At that one time, Joshua’s army conquered all the kings and captured all the territory that they ruled. They were able to do that because Yahweh, the God whom the Israeli people worship, was fighting for them.

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