The Day the Sun Stood Still 2 UDB The people of Jerusalem became very afraid because Gibeon was an important city, like the other cities that were so important that they had their own kings. Gibeon was larger than Ai, and all of its soldiers were experienced. BSB BSB: So Adoni-zedek and his people were greatly alarmed, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were mighty.
3 UDB So King Adoni-Zedek sent a message to Hoham the king of Hebron, to Piram the king of Jarmuth, to Japhia the king of Lachish, and to Debir the king of Eglon. BSB BSB: Therefore Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent word to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon, saying,
4 UDB In the message he said, "Please come up and help me attack Gibeon because the people of Gibeon have made peace with Joshua and the Israelites." BSB BSB: “Come up and help me. We will attack Gibeon, because they have made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.”
5 UDB So those five kings who ruled all the groups who were descendants of Amor—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon—came to Gibeon with all of their soldiers and surrounded the city to fight against it. BSB BSB: So the five kings of the Amorites—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon—joined forces and advanced with all their armies. They camped before Gibeon and made war against it.
7 UDB So Joshua and all his army, including the soldiers and his best fighting men, marched up from Gilgal. BSB BSB: So Joshua and his whole army, including all the mighty men of valor, came from Gilgal.
8 UDB Then Yahweh said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of those armies! I will enable your army to defeat them. None of their soldiers will resist you." BSB BSB: The LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for I have delivered them into your hand. Not one of them shall stand against you.”
9 UDB Joshua's army marched all night and arrived very early in the morning. BSB BSB: After marching all night from Gilgal, Joshua caught them by surprise.
10 UDB And Yahweh caused their enemies to become confused when they saw the Israelite army. Joshua led the army and he killed them—a great number of them were killed at Gibeon, and he came after the rest of them as they were going up the road to Beth Horon. He also killed them along the road that goes to the cities of Azekah and Makkedah. BSB BSB: And the LORD threw them into confusion before Israel, who defeated them in a great slaughter at Gibeon, pursued them along the ascent to Beth-horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah.
12 UDB On the day that Yahweh enabled the Israelite army to defeat the Amorites, Joshua said to Yahweh while the Israelite people were watching, "Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, be still over the Valley of Aijalon." BSB BSB: On the day that the LORD gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the LORD in the presence of Israel: “O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.” 13 UDB And the sun stood still and the moon did not move until the Israelite army killed their enemies. Was this not written in the Book of Jashar? "The sun stopped while it was in the middle of the sky and did not set for about a whole day." BSB BSB: So the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation took vengeance upon its enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? “So the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.”
14 UDB On that day, Yahweh performed a great miracle. There was never a day like that previously, and there has never been a day like that since, when Yahweh did this kind of thing because a human being asked him to. On that day Yahweh truly went to war for Israel. BSB BSB: There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD listened to the voice of a man, because the LORD fought for Israel.
15 UDB Joshua and all Israel with him returned to their camp at Gilgal. BSB BSB: Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal.
The Victory at Makkedah 16 UDB Now the five kings ran away and hid themselves in a cave at Makkedah. BSB BSB: Now the five kings had fled and hidden in the cave at Makkedah.
17 UDB Then someone told Joshua, "We found those five kings hiding in a cave at Makkedah!" BSB BSB: And Joshua was informed: “The five kings have been found; they are hiding in the cave at Makkedah.”
18 UDB When Joshua heard that, he said, "Roll some very large stones over the entrance of the cave, and leave some soldiers there to guard them. BSB BSB: So Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave, and post men there to guard them.
19 UDB But do not stay there! Pursue your enemies! Attack them from behind! Do not allow them to escape to their cities, because Yahweh your God will help you triumph over them." BSB BSB: But you, do not stop there. Pursue your enemies and attack them from behind. Do not let them reach their cities, for the LORD your God has delivered them into your hand.”
20 UDB So Joshua's army did what he told them to do. They killed almost all of the enemy soldiers, but a few of them survived and were able to reach their cities. BSB BSB: So Joshua and the Israelites continued to inflict a terrible slaughter until they had finished them off, and the remaining survivors retreated to the fortified cities.
21 UDB Then Joshua's army returned to Joshua, who was still in their camp at Makkedah. No one in the land dared any longer to criticize the Israelites. BSB BSB: The whole army returned safely to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah, and no one dared to utter a word against the Israelites.
22 UDB Then Joshua said, "Open the entrance of the cave and bring out to me those five kings!" BSB BSB: Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me.”
23 UDB So the soldiers brought those five kings out of the cave—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon. BSB BSB: So they brought the five kings out of the cave—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon.
24 UDB When they brought those kings to Joshua and forced them to lie on the ground, he summoned all the Israelite soldiers and he said to the army commanders, "Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings!" So the commanders did that. BSB BSB: When they had brought the kings to Joshua, he summoned all the men of Israel and said to the army commanders who had accompanied him, “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So the commanders came forward and put their feet on their necks.
25 UDB Then 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!" BSB BSB: “Do not be afraid or discouraged,” Joshua said. “Be strong and courageous, for the LORD will do this to all the enemies you fight.”
26 UDB Then Joshua killed each of the five kings with his sword and hung their bodies from five trees. He left their bodies to hang on the trees until sunset. BSB BSB: After this, Joshua struck down and killed the kings, and he hung their bodies on five trees and left them there until evening.
27 UDB At sunset, Joshua told them to take the bodies down from the trees and throw them into the cave where they were hiding. So the soldiers did that, and then they put those large rocks at the entrance of the cave again. And the bones of the kings are in that cave even to this day. BSB BSB: At sunset Joshua ordered that they be taken down from the trees and thrown into the cave in which they had hidden. Then large stones were placed against the mouth of the cave, and the stones are there to this day.
28 UDB That is how Joshua's army attacked and captured Makkedah. They killed the king and everyone else in the city. They did not leave even any living creature alive. They did to the king of Makkedah the same thing that they had done to the king of Jericho. BSB BSB: On that day Joshua captured Makkedah and put it to the sword, along with its king. He devoted to destruction everyone in the city, leaving no survivors. So he did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho.
Conquest of the Southern Cities 29 UDB Then Joshua and all Israel went southwest from Makkedah to Libnah and attacked it. BSB BSB: Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Makkedah to Libnah and fought against Libnah.
30 UDB Yahweh enabled the Israelites to conquer that city and its king. Joshua killed everything that lived in the city; he did not spare even one person. Joshua killed the king of Libnah just as he had killed the king of Jericho. BSB BSB: And the LORD also delivered that city and its king into the hand of Israel, and Joshua put all the people to the sword, leaving no survivors. And he did to the king of Libnah as he had done to the king of Jericho.
31 UDB Then Joshua and his army went south from Libnah to Lachish. He surrounded the city and waged war against it. BSB BSB: And Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Libnah to Lachish. They laid siege to it and fought against it.
32 UDB On the second day of the battle, Yahweh gave the city to the Israelites, and they conquered it. They killed everything that lived in it, including all the people. He did at Lachish the same thing that he had done at Libnah. BSB BSB: And the LORD delivered Lachish into the hand of Israel, and Joshua captured it on the second day. He put all the people to the sword, just as he had done to Libnah.
33 UDB King Horam from Gezer and his army came to help the soldiers of Lachish, but Joshua's army defeated Horam and his army and did not allow even one of them to remain alive. BSB BSB: At that time Horam king of Gezer went to help Lachish, but Joshua struck him down along with his people, leaving no survivors.
34 UDB Then Joshua and his army went west from Lachish to the city of Eglon. They surrounded it and attacked it. BSB BSB: So Joshua moved on from Lachish to Eglon, and all Israel with him. They laid siege to it and fought against it.
35 UDB On that same day, they captured the city and killed everyone in it, just as they had done at Lachish. BSB BSB: That day they captured Eglon and put it to the sword, and Joshua devoted to destruction everyone in the city, just as he had done to Lachish.
36 UDB Then Joshua and his army marched from Eglon up into the hills to the city of Hebron. They waged war against it BSB BSB: Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron and fought against it.
37 UDB and captured it. They killed the king and every living thing, as they had done at Eglon. They did not leave one person alive. BSB BSB: They captured it and put to the sword its king, all its villages, and all the people. Joshua left no survivors, just as he had done at Eglon; he devoted to destruction Hebron and everyone in it.
38 UDB Then Joshua and his army turned and went to the city of Debir and waged war against it. BSB BSB: Finally Joshua and all Israel with him turned toward Debir and fought against it.
39 UDB They captured the city and its king, and they also captured the nearby villages. Then they killed every living thing in it; they did not allow even one person to stay alive. They did to these people the same as they had done at Hebron and Libnah. BSB BSB: And they captured Debir, its king, and all its villages. They put them to the sword and devoted to destruction everyone in the city, leaving no survivors. Joshua did to Debir and its king as he had done to Hebron and as he had done to Libnah and its king.
40 UDB In this way, Joshua and his army conquered the entire southern part of Canaan. They defeated the kings who ruled the hill country, the southern Judean wilderness, the lowlands, and the foothills. They killed every living thing in those places, just as Yahweh, the God of Israel, commanded them. BSB BSB: So Joshua conquered the whole region—the hill country, the Negev, the foothills, and the slopes, together with all their kings—leaving no survivors. He devoted to destruction everything that breathed, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded.
41 UDB Joshua's soldiers killed people in all the cities from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza, including all the country of Goshen to Gibeon. BSB BSB: Joshua conquered the area from Kadesh-barnea to Gaza, and the whole region of Goshen as far as Gibeon.
42 UDB In one campaign, Joshua's army conquered all the kings and took possession of all their territory because Yahweh, the God of Israel, was fighting for them. BSB BSB: And because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel, Joshua captured all these kings and their land in one campaign.
43 UDB Then Joshua and his army returned to their camp at Gilgal. BSB BSB: Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal.
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