Study Desk

And they went to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, "We have come from a far land; so then make a covenant with us."

So our elders said to us and all the inhabitants of our land, ‘Take in your hand provisions for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, "We are your servants; so then make a covenant with us."'

So the leaders took from their provisions, but they did not ask direction from Yahweh.

But all the leaders of the congregation said, "We have sworn to them by Yahweh the God of Israel, and so we cannot touch them.

This we will do to them: we will let them live so that wrath will not be on us because of the oath we swore to them."

And the leaders said to them, "Let them live." So they became woodcutters and water carriers for all the congregation, just as the leaders had said to them.

And they answered Joshua and said, "Because it was told with certainty to your servants that Yahweh your God commanded Moses his servant to give to you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land before you, so we were very afraid for our lives because of you, and so we did this thing.

So then, look, we are in your hand; do with us whatever seems good and right in your eyes."

So he did this to them: he saved them from the hand of the Israelites, and they did not kill them.

And it happened that when Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua captured Ai and had utterly destroyed it (just as he had done 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 were among them,

So Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem sent word to Hohman king of Hebron, to Piram king of Jarmuth, to Japhia king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon, saying,

So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the fighting men with him, all the best warriors.

And they did so, and brought him these five kings from the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon.

And when they brought these kings to Joshua, Joshua called all the men of Israel and said to the commanders of the fighting men who had gone with him, "Come near, put your feet on the necks of these kings." So they came near and put their feet on their necks.

Joshua captured Makkedah on that day, and he struck it and its king with the edge of the sword; he utterly destroyed it and everyone that was in it. He did not leave behind a survivor. So he did to the king of Makkedah just as he did to the king of Jericho.

So Joshua struck all the land—the hill country, the Negev, the Shephelah, and the slopes—and all their kings; he left behind no survivor, and all that breathed he utterly destroyed as Yahweh the God of Israel commanded.

So Joshua, and all the fighting men with him, came against them suddenly at the waters of Merom, and they attacked them.

Just as Yahweh commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did; he left nothing undone that Yahweh had commanded Moses.

So Joshua took all this land: the hill country, all the Negev, all the land of Goshen, the Shephelah, the Arabah, and the hill country of Israel and its Shephelah,

Just as Yahweh commanded Moses, so the Israelites did; and they allotted the land.