Display of Executed People

²² “If anyone is found guilty of an offense deserving the death penalty and is executed, and you hang his body on a tree, ²³ you are not to leave his corpse on the tree overnight but are to bury him that day, for anyone hung on a tree is under God’s curse.^(A) You must not defile the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.^(B)

²⁹ He hung^[a] the body of the king of Ai on a tree^[b] until evening, and at sunset Joshua commanded that they take his body down from the tree.^(A) They threw it down at the entrance of the city gate and put a large pile of rocks over it, which still remains today.

²⁶ After this, Joshua struck them down and executed them. He hung^[a] their bodies on five trees^[b] and they were there until evening.^{(A) 27} At sunset Joshua commanded that they be taken down from the trees^(B) and thrown into the cave where they had hidden. Then large stones were placed against the mouth of the cave, and the stones are still there today.^(C)