The Conquest of Canaan

1 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, the attendant of Moses, 2 ‘Moses my servant is dead. Come, cross the Jordan here, you and all this people, into the land which I assign to them, to the Israelites. 3 Every foot of ground you tread I assign to you, as I promised Moses. 4 Your frontier will stretch from the desert to Lebanon, from the great River, the river Euphrates, over all the land of the Hittites, to the great Mediterranean Sea westward. 5 No one will be able to hold their own against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will never fail you nor forsake you. 6 Be strong, be brave, for you will put this people in possession of the land which I swore to their ancestors that I would give them. 7 Only be strong and brave, mindful to carry out all your orders from my servant Moses, turning neither to the right nor to the left, so that you may succeed wherever you go. 8 This book of the law you should never cease to have on your lips. You must pore over it day and night, that you may be mindful to carry out all that is written in it, for so will you make your way prosperous, so will you succeed. 9 These are my orders: be firm and brave, never be daunted or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.’

10 Then Joshua ordered the officers of the nation 11 to go through the camp and command the people to ‘Prepare food, for within three days you are going to cross the Jordan here and enter into possession of the land which the Lord your God assigns you for your very own.’

12 Joshua also said to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh, 13 ‘Remember what Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you when he told you that the Lord your God would settle you here and give you this region. 14 Your wives, your children, and your cattle can remain in this land which Moses assigned you east of the Jordan, but you must march across under arms in front of your kinsmen, every fighting man among you, to assist them, 15 until the Lord settles your kinsmen like yourselves, until they get possession of the land which the Lord your God assigns to them. Then you can return to your own region and occupy the land assigned you by Moses the servant of the Lord on the eastern bank of the Jordan.’

16 They answered Joshua, ‘Whatever you command us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17 As we obeyed Moses in everything, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses! 18 Whoever rebels against your orders, and will not listen to what you say by way of command, will be put to death. Only be firm and brave.’

2 From Shittim Joshua sent two men secretly as spies to explore the country and especially Jericho. When they arrived they went into the house of a prostitute called Rahab and stayed there. 2 The king of Jericho was told that two men of Israel had come in that night to find out about the country, 3 so he sent a message to Rahab to ‘Bring out the two men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they are here to find out all about the country.’ 4 The woman, who had taken the men and hid them, said, ‘Yes, the men did come to me, but I did not know where they came from, 5 and just about the hour for shutting the town gate, when it was dark, the men went off. Where they went, I do not know. Quick, pursue them, for you will overtake them.’ 6 Now she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under some stalks of flax which she had arranged on the roof. 7 The pursuers went by the road to the Jordan, as far as the fords, and as soon as they left the town the gate was shut. 8 The two men had not lain down before the woman came to them on the roof and said, 9 ‘I know that the Lord has given you this country, and how the terror of you has fallen upon us, until all who live here are trembling before you. 10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Reed Sea before you when you left Egypt, and how you treated the two Amorite kings on the east of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you wiped off the earth. 11 As soon as we heard it, our hearts trembled and everyone became utterly dispirited because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. 12 Now then, since I have dealt kindly with you, pray swear to me by the Lord that you will deal kindly with my family, and give me a sure sign of it. 13 Swear that you will spare the lives of my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters and all they have, saving us from death.’ 14 The men replied, ‘Our lives for yours – only you must not breathe a word about our errand. Then we will deal kindly and honestly with you when the Lord gives us the country.’ 15 Then she lowered them by a rope out of the window, for her house was on the town wall. She stayed on the town wall. 16 She told them, ‘Get away to the hills, lest the pursuers come across you. Hide yourselves there for three days until the pursuers return, and then make your way back.’ 17 The men told her, ‘We will not be bound by this oath to you, which you have made us swear, 18 unless, when we enter the country, you tie this cord of scarlet thread outside the window through which you let us down. You must gather your father and mother and brothers and all your family inside your house. 19 Anyone who crosses the door of your house into the street, their blood be on their own head, we are not to blame. But if a hand is laid on anyone inside the house, then that person’s blood be on our head! 20 But remember, if you breathe a word about our errand, we will not be bound by the oath you have made us swear.’ 21 ‘As you say,’ answered the woman, ‘so be it.’ So away they went, while she tied the scarlet cord to the window. 22 They went into the hills and stayed there for three days, until the pursuers returned (the pursuers looked for them all along the road and could not find them). 23 Then the two men came down from the hills and crossed over to Joshua the son of Nun, telling him all that had happened to them. 24 They said to Joshua, ‘The Lord has put all the country into our hands. Everyone who lives in this land is trembling before us!’

3 In the morning Joshua rose, and he and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and reached the Jordan, where they passed the night before they crossed over. 2 Three days afterwards the officers went through the camp 3 and gave this order to the nation: ‘When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the priestly Levites, then set out and follow it, 4 so that you can learn the ford by which you are to cross, because you have never crossed here before. Only, you must not come close to the ark. Between it and you there must be a space kept of two thousand cubits.’ 5 Then Joshua said to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow, the Lord will do wonders among you.’ 6 To the priests he said, ‘Lift the ark of the covenant and go in front of the people.’ So they lifted the ark of the covenant and went in front of the people. 7 And the Lord said to Joshua, ‘This day I begin to exalt you in the sight of Israel, to let them see that as I was with Moses so I will be with you. 8 Order the priests who are carrying the ark of the covenant to stand still in the Jordan as soon as they reach the edge of the water. 9 Then Joshua told the Israelites to come and listen to the words of the Lord, their God. 10 Joshua said, ‘This is to let you see that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail evict before you the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites. 11 See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing the Jordan in front of you. 12 Now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, a man from each tribe. 13 Whenever the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the water of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be stopped. The waters which are flowing down, they will be dammed up.’ 14 And when the people left their tents to cross the Jordan, headed by the priests who carried the ark of the covenant, 15 as soon as the bearers reached the Jordan and the feet of the priests dipped in the water at the edge (for the Jordan overflows its banks all the time of harvest), 16 the waters that flow down stopped and were dammed up at a distance, at Adam (a town beside Zarethan), while the waters that flow away to the sea of the Arabah (the Dead Sea) were cut off and failed. In this way the people crossed, opposite Jericho. 17 The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood still on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, and all Israel crossed on dry ground until the whole nation had finished crossing.

4 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2 ‘Take twelve men from the nation, a man from each tribe, 3 and order them to take twelve stones out of the Jordan from the spot where the feet of the priests stood firm. They must carry these stones across and place them on the spot where you spend the night.’ 4 Joshua called the twelve men of Israel whom he had ready, one from each of the tribes. 5 and said to them, ‘Cross in front of the ark of the Lord your God through the Jordan, each of you taking a stone on his shoulder, one for each of the tribes of Israel. 6 They are to be a sign for your nation. When in the future your children ask what these stones mean, 7 tell them it was because the waters of the Jordan were stopped before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, stopped when it crossed the Jordan. These stones will be a memorial for Israel for all time.’ 8 The Israelites followed Joshua’s orders. They lifted twelve stones out of the Jordan, as the Lord had commanded Joshua, one for each of the tribes of Israel, and carried them over along with them to the spot where they spent the night, laying them down there. 9 Joshua also had twelve stones set up in the middle of the Jordan on the spot where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. They are there to this day. 10 For the priests who carried the ark stood in the middle of the Jordan until all was finished that Joshua was told by the Lord to enjoin upon the people, all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people hurried over, 11 and when all the people had finished crossing, the ark passed over, the priests advancing to the front of the people. 12 The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh passed across under arms in front of the Israelites, as Moses had ordered them, 13 about forty thousand men equipped for war, crossing under the eyes of the Lord to the plains of Jericho to fight. 14 The Lord exalted Joshua that day in the eyes of all Israel. They stood in awe of him as they had stood in awe of Moses all the days of his life. 15 Then the Lord said to Joshua, 16 ‘Order the priests who carry the ark of the testimony to step up from the Jordan.’ 17 Joshua ordered the priests to step up from the Jordan, 18 and whenever the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord came up from the Jordan, whenever the soles of the feet of the priests were lifted on to the dry ground, the waters of the Jordan flowed back into their place and overflowed their banks as before. 19 It was on the tenth day of the first month that the people came up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern side of Jericho. 20 The twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan were set up by Joshua at Gilgal. 21 He said to the Israelites, ‘When in the future your children ask what these stones mean, 22 tell your children that Israel crossed the Jordan here on dry ground, 23 for the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had passed across, as the Lord your God had done to the Reed Sea, which he also dried up before us until we passed across it – 24 to let all the nations on earth know how strong is the hand of the Lord, that they may stand in awe of the Lord your God for all time.’

5 Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings by the Mediterranean heard how the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan in front of the Israelites until they had got across, their hearts trembled and they were all dispirited, on account of the Israelites.

2 It was then that the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites once more.’ 3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at the Hill of Foreskins. 4 Joshua circumcised them for this reason: all who had left Egypt, all the male warriors, had died during the journey through the desert after leaving Egypt. 5 These who had left Egypt were circumcised, but none of the people who had been born in the desert after leaving Egypt had been circumcised. 6 For forty years the Israelites had journeyed in the desert until the whole nation of warriors who had left Egypt had perished, because they would not listen to what the Lord said, and because the Lord had sworn to them that he would not let them see the land which the Lord had sworn to their ancestors that he would give us, a land abounding in milk and honey. 7 So their children, whom the Lord raised up instead of them, were circumcised by Joshua, since they had not been circumcised on the journey. 8 After the circumcising was over, the whole nation remained where they were in the camp until they had recovered. 9 Then said the Lord to Joshua, ‘And now I have rolled off you the scorn of the Egyptians.’ Hence the name of the spot was called Gilgal[fn], and is so called to this day.

10 When the Israelites were in camp at Gilgal they kept the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, on the plains of Jericho. 11 The day after the Passover they ate some of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and roasted grain. 12 And that very day the manna ceased, once they ate the produce of the land. The Israelites no longer had manna, but ate hereafter the food of the land of Canaan. 13 Joshua was one day near Jericho when he looked up and saw a man standing before him, holding a drawn sword. Joshua went up to him and said, ‘Are you for us, or are you for our enemies?’ 14 ‘Neither,’ he answered, ‘I am here as the captain of the host of the Lord.’ Then Joshua fell on his face to the ground and worshipped, saying, ‘And what has my Lord to say to his servant?’ 15 The captain of the host of the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is sacred.’ Joshua did so.

6 Now Jericho had shut its gates against the Israelites. No one left the town, and no one entered it. 2 Then the Lord said to Joshua, ‘I am putting Jericho into your hands, with its king and all its fighting men. 3 For six days you and all your men at arms must march round the town once a day, 4 with seven priests carrying seven rams” horns as trumpets in front of the ark. On the seventh day march round the town seven times, and the priests must blow a trumpet blast. 5 As soon as they blow a long trumpet blast on the horns, when you hear the sound, then all the people must raise a mighty shout, and the wall of the town will fall down flat, until every man of you can march in, straight in front of him.’ 6 So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and told them to lift the ark of the covenant and let seven priests carry seven rams” horns as trumpets in front of the ark of the Lord. 7 Then he told the people, ‘Forward, march round the town, with the armed men in front of the ark of the Lord. 8 Let the seven priests with the trumpets of rams” horns go ahead in presence of the Lord, blowing the trumpets, and followed by the ark of the covenant of the Lord. 9 Let the armed men go in front of the priests who blow the trumpets, and let the rearguard follow the ark, the trumpets blowing.” 10 To the people Joshua said, ‘You must not shout nor cry, you must not say a word, until I tell you to shout. Then shout.’ 11 He had the ark of the Lord carried round the town, going round it once. Then all retired to the camp and passed the night there. 12 Next morning Joshua rose, the priests lifted the ark of the Lord, 13 and the seven priests carrying the seven rams” horns as trumpets kept on in front of the ark of the Lord, blowing a blast, preceded by the armed men, with the rearguard after the ark, the trumpets blowing as they went. 14 On the second day they marched round the town once, and then retired to the camp. This they did for six days. 15 On the seventh day they rose at dawn and marched round the town seven times. This was the only day they marched seven times round it. 16 The seventh time, when the priests blew their blast, Joshua said to the people, ‘Shout, for the Lord has given you the town. 17 It will be dedicated to the Lord by destruction, the town and all in it. Only Rahab the prostitute will be spared, she and all who are with her in her house, because she hid the messengers whom we sent. 18 As for you, hands off any of the spoil which has been dedicated, lest you desire it and take some of it! That would be the ruin and undoing of the camp of Israel. 19 No, all the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must come to the treasury of the Lord.’ 20 Then the people shouted, at the trumpet blast, and when the people heard the sound of the trumpet blast and raised a mighty shout, down the wall fell flat, until every man could march in, straight in front of him. In they marched and so they took the town, 21 They massacred all in the city, men and women, old and young alike, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, giving no quarter. 22 But Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the country, ‘Go to the prostitute”s house and fetch the woman out, with all she has, as you swore to her.’ 23 So the young spies went and brought Rahab out, with her father and mother and brothers and all she had, all her family. They placed them outside the camp of Israel. 24 The town and all in it they burned up. Only the silver and gold and all the articles of bronze and iron they put into the treasury of the Lord. 25 Rahab the prostitute and her family and all she had, Joshua spared. She lived among the Israelites, as do her descendants to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. 26 Joshua then laid this oath upon the people:

‘Cursed before the Lord be the man

who starts to rebuild this town of Jericho!

At the cost of his oldest son will he lay its foundation,

and at the cost of his youngest son will he erect its gates.’

27 The Lord was with Joshua, and the fame of him spread all over the land.

7 But the Israelites broke faith with regard to the spoil which had been dedicated. Achan the son of Karmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, who belonged to the tribe of Judah, took some of it, and so the anger of the Lord blazed against the Israelites.

2 Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which lies close to Beth-aven on the east of Bethel, ordering them to go up and spy out the land. They went up and spied out Ai 3 and came back to Joshua, saying, ‘All the nation need not go up. Let only about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not make all the nation toil up there, for there are few people at Ai.’ 4 So about three thousand men marched up. But they ran away from the men of Ai. 5 The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of them, and chased them from their gates as far as Shebarim, killing some others at the descent. The hearts of Israel trembled and became weak as water, 6 and Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the ground upon his face before the ark of the Lord until evening, he and the elders of Israel, with dust upon their heads. 7 ‘Ah, Lord God,’ said Joshua, ‘why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan, only to hand us over to the Amorites to be killed? Would that we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan. 8 O Lord, what can I say, after Israel has run away from its enemies? 9 The Canaanites and all who live in the land will hear of it and surround us and wipe us off the earth. Then what will you do for your great honour?’ 10 ‘Get up,’ said the Lord to Joshua, ‘why are you lying on your face there? 11 Israel has sinned. They have broken my covenant which I commanded them to keep, they have taken some of the spoil which had been dedicated to me, stolen it, acted deceitfully, and hidden it among their own goods. 12 That is why the Israelites cannot stand up against their enemies and why they run from their enemies, because they have brought themselves under the dedication by destruction! I will never be with you again, unless you remove everything from among you which was dedicated to me. 13 Go and consecrate the people. Tell them to consecrate themselves for tomorrow. Tell them this from the Lord the God of Israel: There is a thing dedicated to me among you, O Israel. You cannot hold your own against your enemies until you put that thing away from you. 14 So in the morning you will be brought before me by your tribes, and the tribe which the Lord takes by lot must come with its clans, and the clan which the Lord takes by lot must come with its families, and the men from the family which the Lord takes by lot must come one by one. 15 Then he who is taken by lot, in possession of the object dedicated to me, must be killed, he and all his family, and their bodies burned, because he has broken the covenant of the Lord, because he has committed a scandal in Israel.’ 16 In the morning Joshua rose and brought Israel before the Lord by their tribes. The tribe of Judah was taken by lot. 17 Then the clans of Judah were brought, and the clan of the Zerahites was taken by lot. The clan of the Zerahites was brought, family by family, and the family of Zabdi was taken by lot. 18 Then Zabdi brought his family man by man, and Achan the son of Karmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, belonging to the tribe of Judah, was taken by lot. 19 Joshua said to Achan, ‘My son, confess to the Lord, the God of Israel, own up to him. Tell me what you have done, do not hide it from me.’ 20 Achan answered, ‘Truly I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I did. 21 When I saw among the spoil a splendid mantle from Shinar and two hundred shekels in silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. The mantle is hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the money under it.’ 22 So Joshua sent messengers, who ran to the tent, and there was the mantle hidden inside the tent, with the money under it! 23 They took them from the tent and brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites, who laid them before the Lord. 24 Then Joshua and all the Israelites took Achan the son of Zerah and the silver and the mantle and the bar of gold and his sons and his daughters and his oxen and his donkeys and his sheep and his tent and all that he had. They brought them to the valley of Achor. 25 ‘Why have you undone us?’ said Joshua. ‘The Lord will undo you this day.’ Then all Israel stoned him and his family to death. They burned the bodies with fire and stoned them with stones, 26 and over them they raised a great cairn of stones. It stands there to this day. Then the Lord relented from his fierce anger. So the name of the place is called the Valley of Achor[fn] down to this day.

8 Then said the Lord to Joshua, ‘Don’t be afraid or dismayed. Take all the warriors with you and march up to Ai. I put into your hands the king of Ai with his people and his town and his country. 2 Treat Ai and its king as you treated Jericho and its king, except that you may take the spoils and cattle in it for yourselves. Lay an ambush for the town to the west of it.’ 3 So Joshua and all the warriors started off for Ai. Joshua picked out three thousand veterans and despatched them by night 4 with orders to ‘Lie in ambush to the west of the town at its rear. Do not go too far away but be all ready. 5 I and all the troops who are with me will move against the town, and when they come out against us, as before, we will run off, 6 until we draw them away from the town, for they will think we are running from them as before. Then, as we run away, 7 you must start out of your ambush and seize the town. The Lord your God will put it into your hands. 8 As soon as you have seized the town, set it on fire, and carry out the Lord”s command. These are my orders.’ 9 So Joshua despatched them, and they went to the place of ambush, remaining between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. Joshua spent the night in the camp in the valley.

10 Joshua rose in the morning and mustered the nation. Then he and the elders of Israel led them against Ai. 11 All the nation, that is, the armed men who were with him, marched up close to the town and camped on the north of Ai. Between him and Ai lay a valley, 12 so Joshua took about five thousand men and put them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the town. 13 The main army were thus stationed to the north of the town, with the ambush laid to the west. Joshua passed that night in the middle of the valley. 14 When the king of Ai saw this, he and his men made an early start. In the morning they rose and marched out to fight Israel at the expected place near the Arabah, not knowing that an ambush had been laid behind the town. 15 They beat Joshua and all Israel, who fled in the direction of the desert. 16 All the townsmen of Ai were called out to pursue them. They allowed themselves to be drawn away from the town. 17 Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel, and in their pursuit of the Israelites they left the town unguarded. 18 Then said the Lord to Joshua, ‘Stretch out the javelin in your hand towards Ai, for I put Ai in your power.’ 19 And as soon as Joshua stretched out the javelin towards the town, the men in ambush rushed into the town and captured it, and hurried to set the town on fire. 20 So that when the men of Ai turned round to look, there was smoke rising from the town! They had no chance to flee this way or that, for the Israelites who were flying towards the desert turned upon their pursuers. 21 Seeing that the men in ambush had captured the town and seeing the smoke rise up from it, Joshua and the Israelites turned and attacked the men of Ai, 22 and the men in ambush rushed from the town to join them, so that the men of Ai were caught between Israelites, some on one side and some on the other. They were slaughtered until not a man escaped or remained alive. 23 The king of Ai was taken alive and brought to Joshua.

24 When the Israelite had finished slaughtering the townsmen of Ai who had run into the desert and when they had cut them down, giving no quarter, all Israel then returned to Ai and sacked it. 25 All the population of Ai fell that day, both men and women, twelve thousand in all. 26 Joshua never withdrew the hand that held his javelin until he had massacred all who lived in Ai. 27 Only the Israelites took the spoils and cattle of the town for themselves, as the Lord had given orders to Joshua. 28 Ai itself Joshua burned, and made it a heap of ruins. To this day it lies desolate. 29 Joshua hung the king of Ai on a tree until evening. At sunset Joshua ordered his body to be taken down from the tree and thrown down at the entrance to the town-gate. They raised a cairn of stones over it, which is there to this day. 30 Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, on mount Ebal, 31 as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the Israelites, according to the directions written in the law book of Moses. It was an altar of undressed stones, to which no man had ever taken an iron tool. They sacrificed burnt-offerings to the Lord upon it, and recompense offerings. 32 Also he wrote on the stones there a copy of the law of Moses, writing it in presence of the Israelites. 33 All Israel, both native Israelites and foreigners, with their elders, their officials, and their judges, stood on each side of the ark in presence of the priestly Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord. Half of them stood in front of mount Gerizim and half in front of mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord had previously commanded the people to be blessed. 34 Then Joshua read aloud all the terms of the law, the blessing and the curse, exactly as it was written in the law book. 35 There was not a word of the orders of Moses which Joshua did not read aloud before all the assembled Israelites, with the women, the children, and the foreigners who accompanied them.

9 When this was heard by all the kings west of the Jordan, in the highlands and the lowlands and all along the coast of the Mediterranean as far as Lebanon, then Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, 2 gathered as one to attack Joshua and Israel. 3 When the citizens of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, 4 they went to work craftily. They took provisions in old sacks on their donkeys, and old mended wineskins, 5 with old patched sandals on their feet and old clothes on their bodies. The bread they took was all dry and crumbling. 6 They went to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal and said to him and to the Israelites, ‘We have come from a far country. Please make a treaty with us.’ 7 “The Israelites said to these Hivites, ‘Perhaps you live in our country, so why should we make a treaty with you?’ 8 ‘We are at your service,’ they said to Joshua. ‘But who are you,’ Joshua asked, ‘and where do you come from?’ 9 ‘From a country very far away,’ they said, ‘and we have come on account of the Lord, your God, for we have heard of his fame, of all he did in Egypt, 10 and of all he did to the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan who reigned at Ashtaroth. 11 Our elders and all our people told us to take provisions with us for the journey and to go and meet you and say, “We are at your service. Please make a treaty with us.” 12 This bread we took hot out of our houses on the day we started, and there, you see, it is dry and crumbling by this time! 13 These wineskins were new when we filled them, and you see they are torn. These clothes and shoes of ours are worn out, owing to the long journey.’ 14 So the Israelites tried some of their provisions, never asking the Lord for advice. 15 Joshua made peace with them and made a treaty with them to spare their lives, and the leaders of the community swore an oath to them. 16 Three days after they had made the treaty, they heard that the men were neighbours, living in the same country! 17 On the third day, as the Israelites marched forward, they came to their towns, Gibeon, Kefirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath Jearim. 18 The Israelites did not kill them, because the leaders of the community had sworn an oath to them by the Lord, the God of Israel. The community all grumbled against the leaders, 19 but the leaders all replied, ‘We swore an oath to them by the Lord the God of Israel! We cannot now touch them. 20 We must grant them the favour of their lives, or wrath will come upon us over the oath we took to them. 21 Let them live,’ said the leaders. So they became woodcutters and watercarriers to all the community, as the leaders directed. 22 Then Joshua called for them and asked them, ‘Why have you deceived us by saying you came from far, far away, when you live in the same country as ourselves? 23 A curse on you! You will forever provide us with slaves for the temple of my God, woodcutters and watercarriers.’ 24 They answered Joshua, ‘It was because we, your servants, were assured that the Lord your God had ordered his servant Moses to assign you all the land and to destroy all the people living in it. That put us in terror of our lives before you, and so we did this. 25 Well, we are in your power! Whatever you think right and fair to do to us, do it.’ 26 This then, was how Joshua treated them: he saved them from the Israelites and kept them from being murdered, 27 but he made them that day woodcutters and watercarriers for the community and for the altar of the Lord, wherever the Lord chooses. As they still are.

10 When King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured Ai and sacked it, treating Ai and its king as he had treated Jericho and its king, and that the citizens of Gibeon had made terms with Israel, 2 he and his men were in terror. For Gibeon was a large town, like a royal city, larger than Ai, and all its men were stout fighters. 3 So King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem sent 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, saying, 4 ‘Join me and help me to storm Gibeon, for it has made terms with Joshua and the Israelites.’ 5 So the five Amorite kings – the king of Jerusalem and the king of Hebron and the king of Jarmuth and the king of Lachish and the king of Eglon – all mustered and marched up with all their armies to besiege Gibeon and attack it. 6 The Gibeonites sent a message to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal, telling him, ‘Don’t abandon your servants! Quick, come up to rescue us, help us, for all the Amorite kings of the highlands have mustered to attack us.’ 7 Joshua marched up from Gilgal with all the troops and all the veterans. 8 The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Don’t be afraid of them, for I put them into your hands. Not a man of them will hold his own against you.’ 9 So Joshua made a sudden attack: he made a night march from Gilgal, 10 and the Lord threw them into a panic before the Israelites, until the Israelites routed them with heavy slaughter at Gibeon and then chased them along the road to the ascent of Beth-horon, routing them all the way to Azekah and Makkedah. 11 As they ran from the Israelites, at the descent from Beth-horon the Lord rained huge hailstones from heaven upon them, all the way to Azekah. They died of these. Indeed, more died by the hailstones than by the swords of the Israelites.

12 It was on the day when the Lord handed over the Amorites to the Israelites that Joshua said to the Lord before Israel,

‘Sun: stand over Gibeon!

Move not, moon, from Aijalon vale!’

13 And the sun stood still, the moon moved not,

until the nation had taken vengeance on their enemies,

(Is not the song written in the book of Jashar?) The sun stood still in the middle of the sky, and was in no hurry to set for nearly a day. 14 Never was there a day like that, before or since, when the Lord listened to the cry of a mortal man. For the Lord was fighting for Israel. 15 Then Joshua returned with all the Israelites to the camp at Gilgal.

16 The five kings fled, and hid themselves in the cave at Makkedah. 17 When Joshua was told that the five kings had been discovered, hiding in the cave at Makkedah, 18 he said, ‘Roll some large stones at the mouth of the cave and post men to guard it, 19 but you must not stop pursuing your enemies. Strike down their rear, let none of them get into their towns, for the Lord has put them into your power.’ 20 When Joshua and the Israelites had finished slaughtering them, until they were wiped out, and the survivors had got away into the fortified towns, 21 the army all safely returned to Joshua at the camp at Makkedah. And no one from that area dared say a word against any of the Israelites. 22 Then Joshua ordered the mouth of the cave to be opened and the five kings brought out to him. 23 This was done. The five kings were brought out, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon. 24 When these kings had been brought before Joshua, he called for all the men of Israel and told the army commanders present to come forward and put their feet on the necks of the kings. They came forward and did put their feet on the necks of the kings. 25 Don’t be afraid,’ said Joshua, ‘neither be dismayed. Be firm and brave, for so will the Lord treat all the enemies against whom you fight.’ 26 Then Joshua struck them and killed them. He hung their bodies on five trees, and on the trees they remained hanging until evening. 27 At sunset Joshua ordered the kings’ bodies to be taken down from the trees and thrown into the cave where they had hidden themselves. Some large stones were laid at the mouth of the cave, and are there to this day. 28 The same day Joshua stormed and sacked Makkedah, killing its king and utterly destroying it and all it contained, until not a single person was left. He treated the king of Makkedah as he had treated the king of Jericho, 29 From Makkedah Joshua and all Israel passed on to Libnah. They attacked Libnah, 30 and the Lord put Libnah and its king also into the hands of Israel. Joshua sacked the place and massacred all within it, leaving not a single person alive. He treated the king of Libnah as he had treated the king of Jericho. 31 From Libnah, Joshua and the Israelites went on to Lachish, besieged it and attacked it. 32 The Lord put Lachish and its king also into their hands, and on the second day Joshua captured it, sacking it and massacring all within it, as he had done to Libnah. 33 King Horam of Gezer came up to the relief Lachish, but Joshua defeated him and his army until not a survivor was left to him. 34 From Lachish Joshua and all the Israelites continued on to Eglon, besieged it and attacked it, 35 and captured it the same day. They sacked the place and massacred everyone within it, exactly as he had done to Lachish. 36 From Eglon Joshua and the Israelite army passed on to Hebron and attacked it. 37 They captured it and sacked it, killed the king, destroyed the townships and every living person in them, leaving not one alive, exactly as at Eglon. He wiped the place out and everyone within it. 38 Then Joshua and the Israelites wheeled round to Debir and attacked it. 39 He captured it with its king and all its townships, sacking. them all and massacring every living person, until not one remained. As he had treated Hebron, so he treated Debir and its king, just as he had treated Libnah and its king.

40 Thus Joshua captured the whole country, the highlands, the Negeb, the lowlands, and the slopes, with all their kings. He left no one alive, but massacred every living creature, as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded. 41 Joshua routed them all from Kadesh-barnea to Gaza, with all the land of Goshen, as far as Gibeon. 42 All these kings and their country Joshua captured in a single campaign, because the Lord, the God of Israel, fought for Israel. 43 Then Joshua and the Israelites returned to camp at Gilgal.

11 When Jabin the king of Hazor heard this, he sent to King Jobab of Madon and to the kings of Shimron and Achshaph 2 and to the kings in the north, in the highlands, in the Arabah south of Chinneroth, in the lowlands, and in Naphoth-Dor to the west, 3 to the Canaanites on the east and on the west, to the Amorites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites in the highlands, and to the Hittites at the foot of Hermon in the land of Mizpah. 4 They all sallied out, with all their forces, a huge host, as numerous as the sand on the seashore, with a multitude of horses and chariots. 5 All these kings joined forces and went to encamp at the waters of Merom, to attack Israel. 6 But the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Do not be afraid of them. Tomorrow about this time I will hand them over to Israel all dead men. You will hamstring their horses and burn their chariots.’ 7 Joshua and all his troops made a sudden attack upon them beside the waters of Merom. They made an onset, 8 and the Lord put them into the hands of Israel, who routed them, chasing them to Great Sidon and Misrephoth-maim and the valley of Mizpeh eastward. They routed them and left not one alive. 9 Joshua treated them as the Lord instructed him. He hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots. 10 Joshua then wheeled round and captured Hazor, cutting down the king of the place (for Hazor was formerly the most powerful of these realms). 11 They massacred everyone in the place, wiping them out, until not a living person was left, and Hazor was burned to the ground. 12 All the towns of these kings and all the kings themselves Joshua captured and massacred, wiping them all out, as Moses the servant of the Lord had ordered. 13 (Towns standing on their own mounds of earth, however, the Israelites did not burn, except Hazor alone, which Joshua burned.) 14 All the spoil and cattle of these towns the Israelites took for themselves. But they massacred all the people until they were wiped out, and not a living person was left. 15 As the Lord had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses had commanded Joshua, and Joshua obeyed. Of all that the Lord had commanded Moses, Joshua left not a thing undone. 16 In this way Joshua captured all that country, the highlands, all the Negeb, all the land of Goshen, the lowlands, the Arabah, the highlands and the lowlands of Israel, 17 from Mount Halak that rises to Seir, as far as to Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon at the foot of Mount Hermon. He captured all the kings and put them to death. 18 Joshua was a long time warring with all these kings. 19 Not a single town would make peace with the Israelites, except the Hivites who inhabited Gibeon. All the rest had to be captured by fighting. 20 It was the Lord who made their hearts stubborn enough to battle with Israel, so they were all wiped out, destroyed without mercy as the Lord had commanded Moses. 21 It was then that Joshua went and wiped out the Anakim from the hills, from Hebron, Debir, Anab, and all the highlands of Israel and of Judah. Joshua massacred them and sacked their towns. 22 None of the Anakim was left in the land of Israel. It was only in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod, that some still lived. 23 In this way Joshua captured the whole country, as the Lord had told Moses. Joshua assigned it to the tribes of Israel by their divisions as their own property. And so the land had rest from war.

12 The following are the kings of the country who were routed by the Israelites and whose land was seized east of the Jordan from the Arnon Gorge east to Mount Hermon, with all the Arabah eastward: 2 King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon and ruled from Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Gorge and over half of Giliad – down the gorge as far as the Jabbok River, which is the frontier of the Ammonites, 3 and over the Arabah as far east as the lake of Chinneroth, as far as the sea of the Arabah, the Dead Sea, in the direction of Beth-jeshimoth, his southern frontier running under the slopes of Pisgah, 4 There was also the territory of Og, the king of Bashan and one of the survivors of the Rephaim, who lived at Ashtaroth and Edrei, 5 reigning over Mount Hermon, Salecah, and all Bashan, as far as the frontier of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and over the half of Gilead as far as the frontier of King Sihon of Heshbon. 6 These kings were routed by Moses the servant of the Lord and the Israelites. Moses the servant of the Lord assigned their land to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh as their holding. 7 The following are the kings whom Joshua and the Israelites routed west of the Jordan, from Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak that rises to Seir. Joshua assigned their land to the tribes of Israel as their holding, according to their divisions, 8 in the highlands, the lowlands, the Arabah, the slopes, the desert, and the Negeb, the country of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: 9 There was the king of Jericho, the king of Ai, beside Bethel, 10 the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, 11 the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, 12 the king of Eglon, the king of Gezer, 13 the king of Debir, the king of Geder, 14 the king of Hormah, the king of Arad, 15 the king of Libnah, the king of Adullam, 16 the king of Makkedah, the king of Bethel, 17 the king of Tappuah, the king of Hepher, 18 the king of Aphek, the king of Lasharon, 19 the king of Madon, the king of Hazor, 20 the king of Shimron-meron, the king of Achshaph, 21 the king of Taanach, the king of Megiddo, 22 the king of Kedesh, the king of Jokneam in Carmel, 23 the king of Dor in Naphath-dor, the king of Golim in Gilgal, 24 the king of Tirzah – thirty-one kings in all.