Old/New Testament
Chapter 10
Conspiracy against Gibeon.[a] 1 Now Adoni-zedek, the king of Jerusalem, heard that Joshua had taken Ai and had totally destroyed it, doing to Ai and its king what he had already done to Jericho and its king, and also how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were living near them. 2 He and his people were shocked, for Gibeon was one of the larger cities, large enough to be one of the royal cities. It was larger than Ai, and all its men were mighty warriors. 3 Adoni-zedek appealed to Hoham, the king of Hebron, Piram, the king of Jarmuth, Japhia, the king of Lachish, and Debir, the king of Eglon, saying, 4 “Come up and assist me with an attack on Gibeon, for it has made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.”
5 The 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, and all of their armies went up and encamped outside of Gibeon to attack it. 6 The Gibeonites sent a message to Joshua who was in his camp at Gilgal saying, “Do not abandon your servants! Come up quickly to us and save us. All of the kings of the Amorites who live in the hill country have gathered forces against us.”
Joshua Rescues Gibeon. 7 So Joshua and all of his fighting men went up along with his most valiant warriors. 8 The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them. I have delivered them into your hands. Not one of them will be able to withstand you.” 9 Joshua marched from Gilgal all night and took them by surprise. 10 The Lord routed them before Israel. They killed many at Gibeon, chasing after them on the road leading up to Beth-horon, slaying them all the way up to Azekah and Makkedah. 11 As they were fleeing before the Israelites on the road from Beth-horon to Azekah, the Lord hurled down large hailstones upon them, so that more of them were killed by the hailstones than had been killed by the swords of the Israelites.
12 On the day that the Lord delivered the Amorites up to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the Lord in front of the Israelites saying, “O Sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the valley of Aijalon.” 13 So the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation had taken vengeance upon their enemies. Is this not written about in the Book of Jashar?[b] The sun stood still in the middle of the sky and delayed going down for a full day. 14 There had never before been a day like this, and never will be again, a day when the Lord listened to the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel. 15 Joshua and all the Israelites with him then returned to the camp in Gilgal.
16 Five Kings Executed. These five kings fled and hid themselves in a cave at Makkedah. 17 Joshua was told, “The five kings have been found hidden in a cave at Makkedah.” 18 Joshua said, “Roll large stones over the mouth of the cave and assign men to guard it, 19 but do not stay there yourselves. You must chase after your enemies and attack them in the rear. Do not allow them to enter into their cities, for the Lord, your God, has delivered them over into your hands.” 20 When the Israelites had finished all but wiping them out, and those few who remained had slipped into fortified cities, 21 all the people returned safely to Joshua at the camp in Makkedah. No one uttered a sound against the Israelites.
22 Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave, and bring those five kings out of the cave to me.” 23 So they brought those five kings out of the cave to him: the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon. 24 When they had brought those five kings to Joshua, Joshua summoned all of the men of Israel and said to the leaders of the army who had gone out with him, “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.”[c] So they drew near and put their feet on their necks. 25 Joshua said to them, “Do not fear or be dismayed. Be strong and courageous. This is what the Lord will do to all of your enemies against whom you are going to fight.” 26 Joshua then struck and killed them, hanging them from five trees. They were left hanging from the trees until the evening. 27 At sunset Joshua ordered that they be taken down from the trees and cast into the cave where they had been hiding. They placed large stones at the mouth of the cave that are still there today. 28 That same day Joshua conquered Makkedah. He put it and its king to the sword, wiping out all of them. He did not leave any survivors. He treated the king of Makkedah the same way he had treated the king of Jericho.
29 The Conquest of Southern Canaan. Joshua and all the Israelites then moved on from Makkedah to Libnah, and once there they attacked Libnah. 30 The Lord handed it and its king over into the hands of the Israelites. They put everyone in it to the sword. He left no survivors. He treated its king the same way he had treated the king of Jericho.
31 Joshua and all of the Israelites then traveled from Libnah to Lachish, making camp outside of it and attacking it. 32 The Lord handed Lachish over[d] into the hands of the Israelites who took it on the second day. They put everyone in it to the sword, just as they had done at Libnah.
33 Horam, the king of Gezer, had come up to assist Lachish. Joshua defeated him and his army, leaving no survivors. 34 Joshua and all of the Israelites then traveled from Lachish to Eglon. They camped outside of it and attacked it. 35 They captured it that same day, putting everyone in it to the sword. He totally wiped it out, just as he had done at Lachish.
36 Joshua and all of the Israelites went up from Eglon to Hebron and attacked it. 37 They took it and put everyone to the sword, including its king, its dependent towns, and all of its inhabitants. He totally destroyed it and killed everyone in it, just as he had done at Eglon.
38 Then Joshua and all of the Israelites turned back to Debir and attacked it. 39 He took it and its king and all of its dependent towns. He put them all to the sword. He totally destroyed it and killed everyone in it. He left no survivors. He treated Debir and its king the same way he had treated Hebron and also Libnah and its king.
40 So Joshua struck down the entire land, the hill country, the Negeb, the western slopes and the mountain slopes and all of their kings. He left no survivors, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded. 41 Joshua conquered from Kadesh-barnea up to Gaza, and the whole territory of Goshen up to Gibeon. 42 Joshua captured all of these kings and all of their lands in one campaign because the Lord, the God of Israel, was fighting for Israel. 43 Then Joshua and all of the Israelites returned to the camp at Gilgal.
Chapter 11
Conquest of the North. 1 When Jabin, the king of Hazor, heard about this, he sent to Jobab, the king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph, 2 to the kings from the north who lived in the mountains, in the Arabah south of Chinneroth, in the western slopes, and in the highlands in Naphath-dor in the west, 3 to the Canaanites who lived in the east and the west, to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites who lived in the mountains, and to the Hivites who lived below Hermon in the land of Mizpah. 4 They went out along with all of their armies. There were as many of them as there is sand on the shore of the sea, along with a very large number of horses and chariots. 5 When all of these kings gathered together, they went and camped around the waters of Merom to do battle with Israel.
6 The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow, around this time, I will deliver all of them up to be slain by Israel. You are to hamstring their horses and burn their chariots.” 7 Joshua and the whole army with him surprised them at the waters of Merom and attacked them. 8 The Lord delivered them into the hands of the Israelites who defeated them and pursued them to Greater Sidon, to Misrephoth-maim and to the valley of Mizpah in the east. They continued to slay them until there were no survivors. 9 Joshua did as the Lord had directed: the horses were hamstrung and the chariots were burned.
10 Joshua then turned back to Hazor and he captured it, putting its king to the sword. (Hazor had been at the head of all of those kingdoms.) 11 They also put everyone in it to the sword. They totally destroyed it, not leaving any survivors, and they burned Hazor to the ground. 12 Joshua captured all of these cities and their kings and he put them to the sword. He totally destroyed them, as the Lord had commanded Moses, his servant. 13 But as for the cities built upon mounds, Israel did not burn any of them except for Hazor which Joshua burned. 14 The Israelites carried off the cattle and the spoils from these cities for themselves, but they put every person to the sword, totally destroying them and not leaving any survivors. 15 Whatever the Lord had commanded Moses is what Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did these things. He left nothing undone[e] from everything that the Lord had commanded Moses.
16 Joshua’s Conquests as Ordered by Moses. Joshua conquered the entire land: the hill country, the Negeb, the whole of Goshen, the western slopes, the Arabah, and the mountains of Israel with their foothills, 17 from Mount Halak and the uplands toward Seir, up to Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon beneath Mount Hermon. He captured all of their kings and he struck them down, putting them to death.
18 Joshua waged war upon all of these kings for a long time.[f] 19 The Israelites conquered them all in battle. They did not make a covenant of peace with any city except with the Hivites who lived in Gibeon. 20 It was the Lord himself who had hardened their hearts so that they fought against Israel and thus he might totally wipe them out, exterminating them without mercy, as the Lord had commanded Moses to do.
21 It was at that time that Joshua went and crushed the Anakim[g] from the mountain country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, from all of the hill country of Judah, and from all of the hill country of Israel. Joshua totally wiped them out along with their cities. 22 No Anakim were left in the land of the Israelites. The only ones who survived lived in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. 23 So Joshua conquered the entire land just as the Lord had directed Moses to do. Joshua gave it to Israel following their tribal divisions, and there was a respite from fighting in the land.
Chapter 12[h]
Conquered Kings East of the Jordan. 1 These are the kings of the land that the Israelites conquered and of which they took possession on the other side of the Jordan, from the Arnon River up to Mount Hermon, including the entire eastern side of the Arabah. 2 There was Sihon, the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon and ruled from Aroer which lay on the banks of the Arnon River. The middle of the river up to the Jabbok River formed the boundary with the Ammonites. This included half of Gilead. 3 He also ruled over the eastern Arabah from the Sea of Chinnereth to the Sea of Arabah (the Salt Sea), the road to Beth-jeshimoth and southward below the slopes of the Pisgah. 4 There was also Og, the king of Bashan and its territory. He was the last of the Rephaim,[i] and he lived in Ashtaroth and Edrei, 5 and reigned over Mount Hermon, over Salecah, and over all of Bashan up to the boundary with the Geshurites and the Maachathites, as well as half of Gilead, up to the boundary with Sihon, the king of Heshbon.[j] 6 Moses, the servant of the Lord, and the Israelites conquered them. Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave them into the possession of the Reubenites, the Gadites, and one of the halves of the tribe of Manasseh.
Kings Conquered West of the Jordan. 7 These are the kings of the land that Joshua and the Israelites conquered on this side of the Jordan, the western side, from Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon up to Mount Halak and the uplands toward Seir. Joshua gave it into the possession of the tribes of Israel according to their tribal divisions. 8 There was the hill country, the western slope, the Arabah, the mountain slopes, the desert, and the Negeb which belonged to the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 There was one king from Jericho, there was one king from Ai (which is near Bethel); 10 there was one king from Jerusalem; there was one king from Hebron; 11 there was one king from Jarmuth; there was one king from Lachish; 12 there was one king from Eglon; there was one king from Gezer; 13 there was one king from Debir; there was one king from Geder; 14 there was one king from Hormah; there was one king from Arad; 15 there was one king from Libnah; there was one king from Adullam; 16 there was one king from Makkedah; there was one king from Bethel; 17 there was one king from Tappuah; there was one king from Hepher; 18 there was one king from Aphek; there was one king from Lasharon; 19 there was one king from Madon; there was one king from Hazor; 20 there was one king from Shimron Meron; there was one king from Achshaph; 21 there was one king from Taanach; there was one king from Megiddo; 22 there was one king from Kedesh; there was one king from Jokneam in Carmel; 23 there was one king in Dor (in Naphath-dor); there was one king of the nations in Gilgal; 24 there was one king in Tirzah. There were thirty-one kings in all.
39 Mary Visits Elizabeth.[a] In those days, Mary set out and journeyed in haste into the hill country to a town of Judah[b] 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb.
Then Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And why am I so greatly favored that the mother of my Lord should visit me? 44 For behold, the moment that the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that what the Lord has said to her will be fulfilled.”
46 The Canticle of Mary.[c] And Mary said:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
48 For he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant;
henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
49 The Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 His mercy is shown from age to age
to those who fear him.
51 He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has routed those who are arrogant in the desires of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has come to the aid of Israel his servant,
ever mindful of his merciful love,
55 according to the promises he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
56 Mary remained with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned to her home.
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