Joshua 9; Joshua 10; Joshua 11

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Joshua 9

1 All the kings west of the Jordan River heard about these things: the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. They lived in the mountains and on the western hills and along the whole Mediterranean Sea coast.
2 So all these kings gathered to fight Joshua and the Israelites.
3 When the people of Gibeon heard how Joshua had defeated Jericho and Ai,
4 they decided to trick the Israelites. They gathered old sacks and old leather wine bags that were cracked and mended, and they put them on the backs of their donkeys.
5 They put old sandals on their feet and wore old clothes, and they took some dry, moldy bread.
6 Then they went to Joshua in the camp near Gilgal. The men said to Joshua and the Israelites, "We have traveled from a faraway country. Make a peace agreement with us."
7 The Israelites said to these Hivites, "Maybe you live near us. How can we make a peace agreement with you?"
8 The Hivites said to Joshua, "We are your servants." But Joshua asked, "Who are you? Where do you come from?"
9 The men answered, "We are your servants who have come from a far country, because we heard of the fame of the Lord your God. We heard about what he has done and everything he did in Egypt.
10 We heard that he defeated the two kings of the Amorites from the east side of the Jordan River -- Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan who ruled in Ashtaroth.
11 So our older leaders and our people said to us, 'Take food for your journey and go and meet the Israelites. Tell them, "We are your servants. Make a peace agreement with us."'
12 "Look at our bread. On the day we left home to come to you it was warm and fresh, but now it is dry and moldy.
13 Look at our leather wine bags. They were new and filled with wine, but now they are cracked and old. Our clothes and sandals are worn out from the long journey."
14 The men of Israel tasted the bread, but they did not ask the Lord what to do.
15 So Joshua agreed to make peace with the Gibeonites and to let them live. And the leaders of the Israelites swore an oath to keep the agreement.
16 Three days after they had made the agreement, the Israelites learned that the Gibeonites lived nearby.
17 So the Israelites went to where they lived and on the third day came to their cities: Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath Jearim.
18 But the Israelites did not attack those cities, because they had made a promise to them before the Lord, the God of Israel. All the Israelites grumbled against the leaders.
19 But the leaders answered, "We have given our promise before the Lord, the God of Israel, so we cannot attack them now.
20 This is what we must do. We must let them live. Otherwise, God's anger will be against us for breaking the oath we swore to them.
21 So let them live, but they will cut wood and carry water for our people." So the leaders kept their promise to them.
22 Joshua called for the Gibeonites and asked, "Why did you lie to us? Your land was near our camp, but you told us you were from a far country.
23 Now, you will be placed under a curse to be our slaves. You will have to cut wood and carry water for the house of my God."
24 The Gibeonites answered Joshua, "We lied to you because we were afraid you would kill us. We heard that the Lord your God commanded his servant Moses to give you all of this land and to kill all the people who lived in it. That is why we did this.
25 Now you can decide what to do with us, whatever you think is right."
26 So Joshua saved their lives by not allowing the Israelites to kill them,
27 but he made the Gibeonites slaves. They cut wood and carried water for the Israelites, and they did it for the altar of the Lord -- wherever he chose it to be. They are still doing this today.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Joshua 10

1 At this time Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had defeated Ai and completely destroyed it, as he had also done to Jericho and its king. The king also learned that the Gibeonites had made a peace agreement with Israel and that they lived nearby.
2 Adoni-Zedek and his people were very afraid because of this. Gibeon was not a little town like Ai; it was a large city, as big as a city that had a king, and all its men were good fighters.
3 So Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem sent a message to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon. He begged them,
4 "Come with me and help me attack Gibeon, which has made a peace agreement with Joshua and the Israelites."
5 Then these five Amorite kings -- the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon -- gathered their armies, went to Gibeon, surrounded it, and attacked it.
6 The Gibeonites sent this message to Joshua in his camp at Gilgal: "Don't let us, your servants, be destroyed. Come quickly and help us! Save us! All the Amorite kings from the mountains have joined their armies and are fighting against us."
7 So Joshua marched out of Gilgal with his whole army, including his best fighting men.
8 The Lord said to Joshua, "Don't be afraid of those armies, because I will hand them over to you. None of them will be able to stand against you."
9 Joshua and his army marched all night from Gilgal for a surprise attack.
10 The Lord confused those armies when Israel attacked, so Israel defeated them in a great victory at Gibeon. They chased them along the road going up to Beth Horon and killed men all the way to Azekah and Makkedah.
11 As they chased the enemy down the Beth Horon Pass to Azekah, the Lord threw large hailstones on them from the sky and killed them. More people were killed by the hailstones than by the Israelites' swords.
12 On the day that the Lord gave up the Amorites to the Israelites, Joshua stood before all the people of Israel and said to the Lord: "Sun, stand still over Gibeon. Moon, stand still over the Valley of Aijalon."
13 So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped until the people defeated their enemies. These words are written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and waited to go down for a full day.
14 That has never happened at any time before that day or since. That was the day the Lord listened to a human being. Truly the Lord was fighting for Israel!
15 After this, Joshua and his army went back to the camp at Gilgal.
16 During the fight the five kings ran away and hid in a cave near Makkedah,
17 but someone found them hiding in the cave at Makkedah and told Joshua.
18 So he said, "Cover the opening of the cave with large rocks. Put some men there to guard it,
19 but don't stay there yourselves. Continue chasing the enemy and attacking them from behind. Don't let them get to their cities, because the Lord your God will hand them over to you."
20 So Joshua and the Israelites killed the enemy, but a few were able to get back to their strong, walled cities.
21 After the fighting, Joshua's men came back safely to him at Makkedah. No one was brave enough to say a word against the Israelites.
22 Joshua said, "Move the rocks that are covering the opening of the cave and bring those five kings out to me."
23 So Joshua's men brought the five kings out of the cave -- the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon.
24 When they brought the five kings out to Joshua, he called for all his men. He said to the commanders of his army, "Come here! Put your feet on the necks of these kings." So they came close and put their feet on their necks.
25 Joshua said to his men, "Be strong and brave! Don't be afraid, because I will show you what the Lord will do to the enemies you will fight in the future."
26 Then Joshua killed the five kings and hung their bodies on five trees, where he left them until evening.
27 At sunset Joshua told his men to take the bodies down from the trees. Then they threw them into the same cave where they had been hiding and covered the opening of the cave with large rocks, which are still there today.
28 That day Joshua defeated Makkedah. He killed the king and completely destroyed all the people in that city as an offering to the Lord; no one was left alive. He did the same thing to the king of Makkedah that he had done to the king of Jericho.
29 Joshua and all the Israelites traveled from Makkedah to Libnah and attacked it.
30 The Lord handed over the city and its king. They killed every person in the city; no one was left alive. And they did the same thing to that king that they had done to the king of Jericho.
31 Then Joshua and all the Israelites left Libnah and went to Lachish, which they surrounded and attacked.
32 The Lord handed over Lachish on the second day. The Israelites killed everyone in that city just as they had done to Libnah.
33 During this same time Horam king of Gezer came to help Lachish, but Joshua also defeated him and his army; no one was left alive.
34 Then Joshua and all the Israelites went from Lachish to Eglon. They surrounded Eglon, attacked it, and
35 captured it the same day. They killed all its people and completely destroyed everything in it as an offering to the Lord, just as they had done to Lachish.
36 Then Joshua and the Israelites went from Eglon to Hebron and attacked it,
37 capturing it and all the little towns near it. The Israelites killed everyone in Hebron; no one was left alive there. Just as they had done to Eglon, they completely destroyed the city and all its people as an offering to the Lord.
38 Then Joshua and the Israelites went back to Debir and attacked it.
39 They captured that city, its king, and all the little towns near it, completely destroying everyone in Debir as an offering to the Lord; no one was left alive there. Israel did to Debir and its king just as they had done to Libnah and its king, just as they had done to Hebron.
40 So Joshua defeated all the kings of the cities of these areas: the mountains, southern Canaan, the western hills, and the slopes. The Lord, the God of Israel, had told Joshua to completely destroy all the people as an offering to the Lord, so he left no one alive in those places.
41 Joshua captured all the cities from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza, and from Goshen to Gibeon.
42 He captured all these cities and their kings on one trip, because the Lord, the God of Israel, was fighting for Israel.
43 Then Joshua and all the Israelites returned to their camp at Gilgal.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Joshua 11

1 When Jabin king of Hazor heard about all that had happened, he sent messages to Jobab king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Acshaph.
2 He sent messages to the kings in the northern mountains and also to the kings in the Jordan Valley south of Lake Galilee and in the western hills. He sent a message to the king of Naphoth Dor in the west
3 and to the kings of the Canaanites in the east and in the west. He sent messages to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Jebusites in the mountains. Jabin also sent one to the Hivites, who lived below Mount Hermon in the area of Mizpah.
4 So the armies of all these kings came together with their horses and chariots. There were as many soldiers as grains of sand on the seashore.
5 All of these kings met together at the waters of Merom, joined their armies together into one camp, and made plans to fight against the Israelites.
6 Then the Lord said to Joshua, "Don't be afraid of them, because at this time tomorrow I will give them to you. You will cripple their horses and burn all their chariots."
7 So Joshua and his whole army surprised the enemy by attacking them at the waters of Merom.
8 The Lord handed them over to Israel. They chased them to Greater Sidon, Misrephoth Maim, and the Valley of Mizpah in the east. Israel fought until none of the enemy was left alive.
9 Joshua did what the Lord said to do; he crippled their horses and burned their chariots.
10 Then Joshua went back and captured the city of Hazor and killed its king. (Hazor had been the leader of all the kingdoms that fought against Israel.)
11 Israel killed everyone in Hazor, completely destroying them; no one was left alive. Then they burned Hazor itself.
12 Joshua captured all of these cities, killed all of their kings, and completely destroyed everything in these cities. He did this just as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded.
13 But the Israelites did not burn any cities that were built on their mounds, except Hazor; only that city was burned by Joshua.
14 The people of Israel kept for themselves everything they found in the cities, including all the animals. But they killed all the people there; they left no one alive.
15 Long ago the Lord had commanded his servant Moses to do this, and then Moses had commanded Joshua to do it. Joshua did everything the Lord had commanded Moses.
16 So Joshua defeated all the people in the land. He had control of the mountains and the area of southern Canaan, all the areas of Goshen, the western hills, and the Jordan Valley. He controlled the mountains of Israel and all the hills near them.
17 Joshua controlled all the land from Mount Halak near Edom to Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon, below Mount Hermon. Joshua also captured all the kings in the land and killed them.
18 He fought against them for many years.
19 The people of only one city in all the land had made a peace agreement with Israel -- the Hivites living in Gibeon. All the other cities were defeated in war.
20 The Lord made those people stubborn so they would fight against Israel and he could completely destroy them without mercy. This is what the Lord had commanded Moses to do.
21 Now Joshua fought the Anakites who lived in the mountains of Hebron, Debir, Anab, Judah, and Israel, and he completely destroyed them and their towns.
22 There were no Anakites left living in the land of the Israelites and only a few were left in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.
23 Joshua took control of all the land of Israel as the Lord had told Moses to do long ago. He gave the land to Israel, because he had promised it to them. Then Joshua divided the land among the tribes of Israel, and there was peace in the land.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.