Episode 82: Joshua stops the sun

(Joshua 10)

10 ¹ When Adonizedec, the king of Jerusalem, heard about how Joshua killed everyone in Jericho and Ai, and made peace with the Gibeonites and were living among them, he suggested that the neighboring kingdoms unite to attack Gibeon.

² So he sent messengers to the surrounding kingdoms, saying,

Come help me smite the Gibeonites, since they have made peace with the Israelites.

⁵ So the five Amorite kings went to fight against Gibeon.

⁶ The men of Gibeon sent a message to Joshua, saying,

Come save us from the Amorite kings who are gathering together against us.

⁷ So Joshua and his mighty men of valor came to fight the Amorites.

⁸ God said to Joshua,

Don't be afraid of them. I have delivered them into your hand.

⁹ So Joshua attacked.

¹⁰ And God fought the Amorites at Gibeon, killing them with a great slaughter, and chasing them along the way. ¹¹ He cast down great stones from heaven, and they died.

God killed more with hailstones than Joshua's soldiers killed with the sword.

¹² Joshua said to God,

Sun, stand still upon Gideon; moon, stand still in the valley of Ajalon.

¹³ And the sun and moon stood still for about a day, until Joshua finished killing his enemies.

Five kings are hung on trees

^15-16 When Joshua returned to the camp at Gilgal, he heard that the five Amorite kings were hiding in a cave. ¹⁸ He said,

Roll a great stone in front of the entrance and post guards to make sure they don't escape.

²¹ After he finished slaughtering the Amorites, Joshua said,

²² Open the cave and bring out the five kings.

²³ So they brought the five kings to him. ²⁴ He said to his captains,

Put your feet upon the necks of these kings.

So they did.

²⁵ He said to his captains, “This is what God will do to all of your enemies.”

²⁶ Then Joshua killed the five kings and hanged them on trees. They hung there until the evening.

²⁷ Then they took down the bodies and threw them into the cave. They are there to this day.

Joshua kills everyone in seven kingdoms

^28-41 God delivered these kingdoms into Joshua’s hand: Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Gezer, Eglon, Hebron, and Debir. He killed all their kings, and destroyed everything that breathed, as God commanded. ⁴² Joshua took all these kings and their land because God fought for Israel.