¹And it came to pass when Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured Ai and had obliterated it – that as he did to Jericho and its king, so he did to Ai and its king – and that the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and they were in their midst, ²that they were very afraid, for Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and it was larger than Ai, and all its men were warriors. ³So Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem sent messengers to Hoham king of Hebron, and to Piram king of Jarmuth, and to Japhia king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon and said, ⁴“Come up to me and help me, and we will attack Gibeon, because it has made peace with Joshua and the sons of Israel.” ⁵So five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon gathered together and went up – they and all their companies – and they encamped against Gibeon and waged war on it. ⁶Then the men of Gibeon sent messengers to Joshua, to the camp in Gilgal, and they said, “Do not let your support for your servants fail. Come up to us quickly and save us and help us, because all the kings of the Amorites – the inhabitants of the mountain range – are gathered up against us.” ⁷So Joshua went up from Gilgal – he and all the military people with him – and all the valiant warriors. ⁸And the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for I have delivered them into your hand. Not a man of them will stand before you.” ⁹And Joshua immediately went to them; he went up from Gilgal all night. ¹⁰And the Lord routed them before Israel, and he struck them with a great blow in Gibeon, and he pursued them on the ascent road to Beth-Horon, and he struck them down as far as Azekah and as far as Makkedah. ¹¹And it came to pass, as they fled from Israel, while they were on the descent of Beth-Horon, that the Lord cast great stones at them from heaven, as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more that died by the hailstones than they whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword. ¹²Then Joshua spoke to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorite before the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,

“Sun in Gibeon, stand still,

And moon too,

At the Valley of Aijalon.

¹³And the sun stood still,

And the moon stood in place,

Until a people had taken vengeance on their enemy.”

Is it not written in the Book of the Upright?

“And the sun stood in place

Half way across the sky

And did not hasten to set

For a complete day.”

¹⁴And there was nothing like that day, before it or after it, in that the Lord obeyed man, for the Lord fought for Israel. ¹⁵Then Joshua returned, as did all Israel with him, to the camp in Gilgal. ¹⁶And those five kings fled, and they hid in a cave at Makkedah. ¹⁷But it was reported to Joshua as follows: “The five kings have been found hiding in a cave at Makkedah.” ¹⁸Then Joshua said, “Roll large stones across the entrance to the cave and appoint men over it to guard them. ¹⁹But don't you stay. Pursue your enemies and attack them at the rear. Do not let them go to their cities, for the Lord your God has delivered them into your hand.” ²⁰And it came to pass, when Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished striking them down with a very great blow, until they had been finished off, that the remnant escaped from them and went to the fortified cities. ²¹Then all the people returned to the camp – to Joshua – Makkedah being secure, and no-one criticized any of the sons of Israel. ²²Then Joshua said, “Open the entrance to the cave and bring out to me those five kings from the cave.” ²³And they did so, and they brought those five kings to him from the cave – the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon. ²⁴And it came to pass, when they had brought these kings out to Joshua, that Joshua called for every man of Israel and said to the leaders of the men of war who had gone with him, “Approach, place your feet on the necks of these kings.” So they approached and placed their feet on their necks. ²⁵Then Joshua said to them, “Do not fear and do not be afraid. Be strong and take courage, for so the Lord will do to all your enemies with whom you are waging war.” ²⁶And after that Joshua struck them and killed them, and he hung them on five trees, and they were hanging on the trees until the evening. ²⁷And it came to pass, at the time of sunset, that Joshua gave command, and they took them down from the trees, and they cast them into the cave where they had hidden, and they placed large stones at the cave entrance, which are there to this very day. ²⁸And Joshua captured Makkedah that day, and he struck it with the edge of the sword, including its king. He obliterated them, along with every person in it. He did not leave a remnant remaining, and he did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho. ²⁹Then Joshua and all Israel with him crossed from Makkedah to Libnah, and he fought against Libnah. ³⁰And the Lord delivered that too into Israel's hand, and its king, and he struck it with the edge of the sword, along with every person in it. He did not leave a remnant remaining in it, and he did to its king as he did to the king of Jericho. ³¹Then Joshua and all of Israel with him crossed from Libnah to Lachish, and he encamped against it, and he fought against it. ³²And the Lord delivered Lachish into the hand of Israel, and he captured it on the second day, and he struck it with the edge of the sword, along with every person in it, just as everything he did to Libnah. ³³Then Horam king of Gezer went up to help Lachish, but Joshua struck him and his people, not leaving him a remnant remaining. ³⁴Then Joshua and all Israel with him crossed from Lachish to Eglon, and they encamped against it, and they fought against it. ³⁵And they captured it on that day, and they struck it with the edge of the sword, along with every person in it. On that day he obliterated it, just as everything he did to Lachish. ³⁶Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron, and they fought against it, ³⁷and they captured it, and they struck it with the edge of the sword, and its king, and all its cities, and every person in it. He did not leave a remnant remaining, just as everything he did to Eglon. And he obliterated it along with every person who was in it. ³⁸Then Joshua and the whole of Israel with him returned to Debir, and he fought against it. ³⁹And he captured it and its king, and all its cities, and they struck them with the edge of the sword, and they obliterated every person in it. He did not leave a remnant remaining. Just as he did to Hebron, so he did to Debir and its king, and as he did to Libnah and its king. ⁴⁰And Joshua struck the whole land – the mountain range and the south and the low lying land and the ravines – and all their kings. He did not leave a remnant remaining, and he obliterated every breathing creature, as the Lord God of Israel had commanded. ⁴¹And Joshua struck them from Kadesh-Barnea to Gaza, and all the land of Goshen to Gibeon. ⁴²And Joshua captured all these kings and their land in one go, because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel. ⁴³Then Joshua and all Israel with him returned to the camp in Gilgal.