The Day the Sun Stood Still

10 Now Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured Ai and devoted it to destruction[fn]—doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king—and that the people of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were [living] near them. 2 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 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 “Come up and help me. We will attack Gibeon, because they have made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.”

5 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.

6 Then the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: “Do not abandon your servants. Come quickly and save us! Help us, because all the kings of the Amorites from the hill country have joined forces against us.”

7 So Joshua and his whole army, including all the mighty men of valor, came from Gilgal.

8 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 After marching all night from Gilgal, Joshua caught them by surprise. 10 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. 11 As they fled before Israel along the descent from Beth-horon to Azekah, the LORD cast down on them large hailstones from the sky, and more of them were killed by the hailstones than by the swords of the Israelites.

12 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.”[fn]

13 So the sun stood still

and the moon stopped

until the nation took vengeance

upon its enemies.[fn]

Is this not written in the Book of Jashar?[fn]

“So the sun stopped

in the middle of the sky

and delayed going down

about a full day.”[fn]

14 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 Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal.