Study Desk

So these five Amorite kings joined their armies together. (The five kings were the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon.) Their armies went to Gibeon, surrounded the city, and began fighting against it.

So Joshua marched out of Gilgal with his whole army. His best fighting men were with him.

Joshua and his army marched all night to Gibeon, so it was a complete surprise when he attacked them.

The Lord caused those armies to be very confused when Israel attacked. So Israel defeated them and won a great victory. Israel chased the enemy from Gibeon along the road going up to Beth Horon. The army of Israel killed men all the way to Azekah and Makkedah.

So the sun did not move, and the moon stopped until the people defeated their enemies. This story is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky. It did not move for a full day.

So Joshua and the Israelites killed the enemy. But some of them were able to go to their cities that had tall walls around them and hide. These men were not killed.

So Joshua's men brought the five kings out of the cave—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon.

When they brought the five kings to Joshua, he called all his men to come to that place. He said to the officers of his army, "Come here! Put your feet on the necks of these kings." So the officers of Joshua's army came close and put their feet on the necks of the kings.

At sunset Joshua told his men to take the bodies down from the trees. So they threw the bodies into the cave where the kings had been hiding and covered the entrance of the cave with large rocks. Their bodies are still in that cave today.

So Joshua defeated all the kings of the cities of the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills, and the eastern foothills. The Lord , the God of Israel, had told Joshua to kill all the people, so Joshua did not leave anyone alive in those places.

King Jabin of Hazor heard about everything that had happened. So he decided to call together the armies of several kings. He sent a message to King Jobab of Madon to the king of Shimron, to the king of Acshaph,

So the armies of all these kings came together. There were many fighting men and many horses and chariots. It was a very large army—it looked as if there were as many men as grains of sand on the seashore.

So Joshua and his whole army surprised the enemy and attacked them at the river of Merom.

Long ago the Lord commanded his servant Moses to do this. Then Moses commanded Joshua to do this. So Joshua obeyed God. He did everything that the Lord had commanded Moses.

So Joshua defeated all the people in that whole area. He had control over the hill country, the Negev, all the area of Goshen, the western foothills, the Jordan Valley, and the mountains of Israel and all the hills near them.

The Lord made those people feel brave enough to fight against Israel. This was so that Israel could destroy them completely without mercy just as the Lord had commanded Moses to do.

So that land included all the towns on the plain and all the area that King Sihon of the Amorites had ruled. He ruled in the town of Heshbon, but Moses had defeated him and the leaders of the Midianites. Those leaders were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. (They all fought together with Sihon.) All of them lived in that country.

The land that was given to Reuben stopped at the shore of the Jordan River. So the land that was given to the family groups of Reuben included all these towns and their fields that were listed.

So that day Moses made a promise to me. He said, ‘The land where you went will become your land. Your children will own that land forever. I will give you that land because you really believed in the Lord , my God.'

So give me the hill country that the Lord promised me that day long ago. At that time you heard that the strong Anakites lived there and the cities were very big and well protected. But now, maybe the Lord will be with me, and I will take that land just as the Lord said."