Joshua 10:3-23
So Adoni- Zedek, the king of Jerusalem, made an appeal to Hoham, the king of Hebron. He appealed to Piram, the king of Jarmuth. He appealed to Japhia, the king of Lachish. He also made an appeal to Debir, the king of Eglon.“ Come up and help me attack Gibeon,” he said.“ Its people have made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.”Then the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon gathered their armies together. Those five Amorite kings moved all their troops into position to fight against Gibeon. Then they attacked it.Joshua was in the camp at Gilgal. The people of Gibeon sent a message to him there. They said,“ Don’t desert us. We serve you. Come up to us quickly! Save us! Help us! All the Amorite kings from the central hill country have gathered their armies together to fight against us.”So Joshua marched up from Gilgal with his whole army. The army included all his best fighting men.The Lord said to Joshua,“ Do not be afraid of them. I have handed them over to you. Not one of them will be able to fight against you and win.”Joshua marched all night from Gilgal. He took the Amorite armies by surprise.The Lord threw them into a panic as Israel marched toward them. Then Joshua and the Israelites won a complete victory over them at Gibeon. The Israelites chased them along the road that goes up to Beth Horon. They struck them down all the way to Azekah and Makkedah.The Amorites tried to escape as Israel marched toward them. They ran down the road from Beth Horon to Azekah. Then the Lord threw large hailstones down on them. The hailstones killed more of them than the swords of the Israelites did.So the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel. On that day Joshua spoke to the Lord while the Israelites were listening. He said,“ Sun, stand still over Gibeon. And you, moon, stand still over the Valley of Aijalon.”So the sun stood still. The moon stopped. They didn’t move again until the nation won the battle over its enemies. You can read about it in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky. It didn’t go down for about a full day.There has never been a day like it before or since. It was a day when the Lord listened to a mere human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!Joshua and his whole army returned to the camp at Gilgal.The five Amorite kings had run away. They had hidden in the cave at Makkedah.Joshua was told that the five kings had been found. He was also told that they were hiding in the cave at Makkedah.He said,“ Roll some large rocks up to the opening of the cave. Put some men there to guard it.But keep on going! Chase your enemies! Attack them from behind. Don’t let them get back to their cities. The Lord your God has handed them over to you.”So Joshua and the men of Israel had complete victory over them. They killed almost every one of them. But a few escaped. They went back to their cities that had high walls around them.Then Israel’s whole army returned safely to Joshua. He was in the camp at Makkedah. No one in the land dared to say anything against the Israelites.Joshua said,“ Open up the cave. Bring those five kings out to me.”So Joshua’s men brought the kings out of the cave. They were the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon.
