New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
Joshua 10
1
Adoni-Zedek was the king of Jerusalem. He heard that Joshua had taken Ai. He found out that the city had been set apart to the Lord in a special way to be destroyed. He heard that Joshua had done to Ai and its king the same thing he had done to Jericho and its king. Adoni-Zedek heard that the people of Gibeon had made a peace treaty with Israel. He also found out that they were living among the people of Israel.
📍 Jerusalem
People
2
The things he heard alarmed him and his people very much. That's because Gibeon was an important city. It was like one of the royal cities. It was larger than Ai. All of its men were good soldiers.
Reference
3
So Adoni-Zedek, the king of Jerusalem, made an appeal to Hoham, the king of Hebron. He appealed to Piram, the king of Jarmuth. He appealed to Japhia, the king of Lachish. He also made an appeal to Debir, the king of Eglon.
Reference
📍 Locations
People
4
"Come up and help me attack Gibeon," he said. "Its people have made peace with Joshua and the people of Israel."
Reference
5
The kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon gathered their armies together. Those five Amorite kings moved all of their troops into position to fight against Gibeon. Then they attacked it.
📍 Locations
6
Joshua was in the camp at Gilgal. The people of Gibeon sent a message to him there. It said, "Don't desert us. We serve you. Come up to us quickly! Save us! Help us! All of the Amorite kings from the central hill country have gathered their armies together to fight against us."
Reference
7
So Joshua marched up from Gilgal with his whole army. The army included all of his best fighting men.
Reference
Parallel theme
Joshua 8:1
8
The Lord said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them. I have handed them over to you. Not one of them will be able to fight against you and win."
Reference
10
The Lord threw them into a panic as Israel marched toward them. Then Israel won a great battle over them at Gibeon. They chased them along the road that goes up to Beth Horon. They struck them down all the way to Azekah and Makkedah.
Reference
📍 Locations
Parallel theme
Psalm 18:14
Joshua 16:5
Joshua 16:3
Joshua 15:35
References Lord
Isaiah 28:21
Joshua 10:11
Judges 4:15
11
The Amorites ran away as Israel marched toward them. They ran down the road from Beth Horon to Azekah. As they ran, the Lord threw large hailstones down on them from the sky. The hailstones killed more of them than the swords of the men of Israel did.
Reference
📍 Locations
Parallel theme
Judges 5:20
Revelation 16:21
Revelation 11:19
Psalm 11:6
Ezekiel 13:11
References Lord
Isaiah 28:2
Isaiah 30:30
Genesis 19:24
12
So the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel. On that day Joshua spoke to the Lord while the people of Israel were listening. He said, "Sun, stand still over Gibeon. Moon, stand still over the Valley of Aijalon."
Reference
📍 Valley of Aijalon
Parallel theme
Habakkuk 3:11
Isaiah 38:8
Psalm 148:3
Psalm 19:4
Joshua 10:13
Job 9:7
References Lord
Isaiah 60:20
Isaiah 28:21
Deuteronomy 4:19
Zechariah 2:13
13
So the sun stood still. The moon stopped. They didn't move again until the nation won the battle over its enemies. You can read about it in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky. It didn't go down for about a full day.
Reference
People
14
There has never been a day like it before or since. It was a day when the Lord listened to a mere man. You can be sure that the Lord was fighting for Israel!
Reference
Parallel theme
Isaiah 38:8
References Lord
Deuteronomy 1:30
Exodus 14:14
Joshua 10:42
Joshua 23:3
Luke 17:6
15
Joshua and his whole army returned to the camp at Gilgal.
Reference
References Israel
Joshua 10:43
16
The five Amorite kings had run away. They had hidden in the cave at Makkedah.
📍 Makkedah
17
Joshua was told that the five kings had been found. He was also told that they were hiding in the cave at Makkedah.
📍 Makkedah
18
He said, "Roll some large rocks up to the opening of the cave. Put some men there to guard it.
Reference
Parallel theme
Matthew 27:66
19
But keep on going! Chase your enemies. Attack them from behind. Don't let them get back to their cities. The Lord your God has handed them over to you."
20
So Joshua and the men of Israel completely destroyed them. They killed almost every one of them. But a few escaped. They went back to their cities that had high walls around them.
Reference
Creation
Joshua 8:24
21
Then Israel's whole army returned safely to Joshua. He was in the camp at Makkedah. No one in the land dared to say anything against the people of Israel.
Reference
📍 Makkedah
22
Joshua said, "Open up the cave. Bring those five kings out to me."
23
So Joshua's men brought the five kings out of the cave. They were the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon.
📍 Locations
24
The men brought them to Joshua. Then he sent for all of the men of Israel. He spoke to the army commanders who had come with him. He said, "Come here. Put your feet on the necks of these kings." So they came forward and placed their feet on the necks of the kings.
Reference
Kingdom
Psalm 110:5
Parallel theme
Romans 16:20
Malachi 4:3
Psalm 107:40
Psalm 110:1
Psalm 18:40
Psalm 91:13
Judges 8:20
References Israel
Deuteronomy 33:29
25
Joshua said to them, "Don't be afraid. Don't lose hope. Be strong and brave. This is what the Lord will do to all of the enemies you are going to fight."
Reference
Good
Joshua 1:9
Parallel theme
2 Corinthians 1:10
Romans 8:37
References Lord
Ephesians 6:10
Deuteronomy 7:19
1 Samuel 17:37
26
Joshua struck the five kings down and killed them. He stuck a pole through each of their bodies. Then he set the poles up where people could see the bodies. He left them there until evening.
Reference
Parallel theme
Joshua 8:29
27
At sunset Joshua ordered his men to take the bodies down. So they took them down and threw them into the cave where the kings had been hiding. They placed large rocks at the opening of the cave. And the rocks are still there to this very day.
Reference
28
That day Joshua took Makkedah. He killed its people and their king with the sword. He totally destroyed everyone in it. He didn't leave anyone alive. He did to the king of Makkedah the same thing he had done to the king of Jericho.
Reference
📍 Makkedah
People
Word
Joshua 6:21
29
Joshua moved on from Makkedah to Libnah. Israel's whole army went with him. They attacked Libnah.
Reference
📍 Locations
30
The Lord also handed that city and its king over to Israel. Joshua destroyed the city. He and his men killed everyone in it with their swords. He didn't leave anyone alive there. He did to its king the same thing he had done to the king of Jericho.
31
Joshua moved on from Libnah to Lachish. Israel's whole army went with him. The men took up their battle positions. Then Joshua attacked Lachish.
Reference
📍 Locations
Parallel theme
Joshua 10:3
32
The Lord handed it over to Israel. Joshua took the city on the second day of the battle. He destroyed the city. He and his men killed everyone in it with their swords. He had done the same thing to Libnah.
📍 Locations
33
While all of that was happening, Horam had come up to help Lachish. He was the king of Gezer. But Joshua won the battle over him and his army. No one was left alive.
Reference
📍 Locations
People
34
Joshua moved on from Lachish to Eglon. Israel's whole army went with him. They took up their battle positions. Then they attacked Eglon.
Reference
📍 Locations
Parallel theme
Joshua 10:3
35
They captured it that same day. They totally destroyed everyone in it with their swords. They had done the same thing to Lachish.
📍 Lachish
36
Joshua went up from Eglon to Hebron. Israel's whole army went with him. Then they attacked Hebron.
Reference
📍 Eglon
37
They took the city. They destroyed it and its villages. They killed all of its people and their king with their swords. They didn't leave anyone alive. They totally destroyed the city and everyone in it. They had done the same thing at Eglon.
📍 Eglon
38
Joshua turned back and attacked Debir. Israel's whole army went with him.
Reference
📍 Debir 1
Parallel theme
Joshua 15:15
39
They took the city, its king and its villages. They totally destroyed everyone in Debir with their swords. They didn't leave anyone alive. They did to Debir and its king the same thing they had done to Libnah and its king. They had also done the same thing to Hebron.
📍 Locations
40
So Joshua brought the whole area under his control. That included the central hill country and the Negev Desert. It included the western hills and the mountain slopes. It also included all of the kings in that whole area. Joshua didn't leave anyone alive. He totally destroyed everyone who breathed. He did just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded.
41
Joshua brought everyone from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza under his control. He also brought everyone from the whole area of Goshen to Gibeon under his control.
Reference
📍 Goshen 2
42
He won the battle over all of those kings and their lands. He did it in one campaign. That's because the Lord, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.
Reference
43
Then Joshua returned to the camp at Gilgal. Israel's whole army went with him.
Reference
References Israel
Joshua 10:15
Summary of Joshua 10
Joshua 10 depicts one of Israel’s most significant battles of conquest of the early Canaan. After Gibeon’s alliance with Israel, five Amorite kings launched a war against Gibeon, and Joshua fought and defeated the enemy. Additionally, the chapter recounts a famous story of the sun’s standstill. Joshua then continued to war and conquered several cities in the southern region of Canaan.
The king of Jerusalem, Adonizedek, learned that Joshua had conquered Ai and utterly destroyed the city. He also discovered that Gibeon had allied with Israel and been incorporated into Israel’s territory, and the Gibeonites were a walled city. The king of Jerusalem realized that the alliance between Gibeon and Israel made them stronger and threatened his kingdom. He sent messages to the kings of Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon. The five kings raised their armies and surrounded Gibeon and launched a siege on it.
At once, the Gibeonites sent a message to Joshua with a request to help them to rescue their city from the enemy’s siege. Gibeon was right on the outskirts of Joshua’s camp in Gilgal. Joshua gathered his army and set off to Gibeon. The night before the battle, the Lord warned Joshua that he would not win the fight if he continued.
Joshua fought a surprise battle with the Amorites, and the Lord promised that Israel would have a great slaughter of the enemy. The God of Israel commanded Joshua to stop the enemy, and the Lord hurled stones at their army. The chapter notes that more of the enemy died from the hailstones than from the Israelites’ swords.
Joshua’s next step was one of the events described by biblical writers as ‘hardest of all’. Joshua called upon the Lord to stop the enemy, and the Lord told him to make the sun stand still over Gibeon and the moon over the valley of Ajalon.
Joshua 10 records the Lord stopped the sun, and the moon stood still until Israel had completed its revenge on its enemies. Indeed, the chapter says that the day was as long as the night. Remarkably, the Scripture notes that there was no day like this before or after Joshua’s time, and the Lord had heard the voice of a man.
The battle has been interpreted by various scholars in different ways. The Scripture describes a divine intervention that enabled Israel to achieve victory over the Amorites. Whatever interpretation the readers may put on the sun’s standstill, the battle is a classic example of how the Lord gave Israel great victories over its enemies.
The five kings fled the battle and hid in a cave at Makkedah, and Joshua was informed that they had been discovered. Joshua ordered the cave to be walled up with great stones while the fighting continued. Joshua told his men not to be distracted from finishing the battle by the discovery of the kings and ordered them to pursue the enemies.
Joshua’s men pursued the fleeing enemies and brought the kings out of the cave when they had finished cutting off their enemies’ retreat. The Israelite commanders were ordered to put their feet upon the kings’ neck, and Joshua encouraged his commanders and reminded them not to faint and be strong because the Lord would give them great victories over their enemies.
The kings were then executed and hanged on trees until evening, and their bodies were thrown into the cave where they had been hiding, and large stones were heaped on them.
After Joshua had finished his business with the five kings, he continued with the southern campaign and conquered Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Eglon, Hebron, and Debir. Throughout the campaign, Joshua continued to destroy all the cities and their inhabitants, as per the directions of the Lord.
The campaign was notable because the king of Gezer came to the aid of Lachish, but Joshua defeated him and pursued him. The chapter narrates the southern campaign as a swift and successful enterprise in which Joshua conquered hill country, the south, the lowlands, and the hilly slopes of the wilderness.
The battle is recorded with much success as Joshua recounts his great and mighty victories. The successes were attributed to God because the entire campaign was not the victories of Joshua and Israel but those of the Lord. The chapter repeats that the victories came as the Lord fought for Israel.
However, Joshua 10 also shows how the decision in the previous chapter came to bear on Israel. Joshua had made a covenant with Gibeon, and so, when the five kings waged war against Israel, they had to answer to Joshua. The incident shows that the Canaanite kings feared the power of Israel.
The conquest of Jericho and Ai must have made them realize that they could not beat Israel in direct combat. Gibeon’s decision to make an alliance with Israel prompted the southern kings to declare war on Gibeon. However, the siege of Gibeon gave Israel an opportunity to fight the five kings and defeat them.
The main message of Joshua 10 is God’s involvement in all the campaigns that Israel was fighting. The Lord confused the enemies of Israel, threw stones at their camps from heaven, and responded to Joshua’s prayer concerning the prolongation of daylight. The God of Israel brought great victories to Joshua’s army.
Joshua 10 is also a chapter that shows how Joshua was an outstanding leader of Israel. Joshua was a man of action, and his actions speak of a committed leader who cared for his people. When Joshua heard the news that Gibeon had been besieged, he acted immediately. He raised his army, fought and defeated the enemy, pursued them, and encouraged his commanders to continue with the fight. Instead of Joshua wasting time after the great victory at Ai, he began the southern campaign almost immediately after the victory.
The last verses show that Joshua had completed his southern campaign and returned to Joshua’s camp in Gilgal. The southern enemies of Israel had suffered greatly from Joshua’s victories. Thus, Joshua chapter 10 records a massive advance of Israel in the war against the Canaanites. Starting from Gibeon’s battle, Joshua fought against the five kings and then launched a successful southern campaign.
The king of Jerusalem, Adonizedek, learned that Joshua had conquered Ai and utterly destroyed the city. He also discovered that Gibeon had allied with Israel and been incorporated into Israel’s territory, and the Gibeonites were a walled city. The king of Jerusalem realized that the alliance between Gibeon and Israel made them stronger and threatened his kingdom. He sent messages to the kings of Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon. The five kings raised their armies and surrounded Gibeon and launched a siege on it.
At once, the Gibeonites sent a message to Joshua with a request to help them to rescue their city from the enemy’s siege. Gibeon was right on the outskirts of Joshua’s camp in Gilgal. Joshua gathered his army and set off to Gibeon. The night before the battle, the Lord warned Joshua that he would not win the fight if he continued.
Joshua fought a surprise battle with the Amorites, and the Lord promised that Israel would have a great slaughter of the enemy. The God of Israel commanded Joshua to stop the enemy, and the Lord hurled stones at their army. The chapter notes that more of the enemy died from the hailstones than from the Israelites’ swords.
Joshua’s next step was one of the events described by biblical writers as ‘hardest of all’. Joshua called upon the Lord to stop the enemy, and the Lord told him to make the sun stand still over Gibeon and the moon over the valley of Ajalon.
Joshua 10 records the Lord stopped the sun, and the moon stood still until Israel had completed its revenge on its enemies. Indeed, the chapter says that the day was as long as the night. Remarkably, the Scripture notes that there was no day like this before or after Joshua’s time, and the Lord had heard the voice of a man.
The battle has been interpreted by various scholars in different ways. The Scripture describes a divine intervention that enabled Israel to achieve victory over the Amorites. Whatever interpretation the readers may put on the sun’s standstill, the battle is a classic example of how the Lord gave Israel great victories over its enemies.
The five kings fled the battle and hid in a cave at Makkedah, and Joshua was informed that they had been discovered. Joshua ordered the cave to be walled up with great stones while the fighting continued. Joshua told his men not to be distracted from finishing the battle by the discovery of the kings and ordered them to pursue the enemies.
Joshua’s men pursued the fleeing enemies and brought the kings out of the cave when they had finished cutting off their enemies’ retreat. The Israelite commanders were ordered to put their feet upon the kings’ neck, and Joshua encouraged his commanders and reminded them not to faint and be strong because the Lord would give them great victories over their enemies.
The kings were then executed and hanged on trees until evening, and their bodies were thrown into the cave where they had been hiding, and large stones were heaped on them.
After Joshua had finished his business with the five kings, he continued with the southern campaign and conquered Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Eglon, Hebron, and Debir. Throughout the campaign, Joshua continued to destroy all the cities and their inhabitants, as per the directions of the Lord.
The campaign was notable because the king of Gezer came to the aid of Lachish, but Joshua defeated him and pursued him. The chapter narrates the southern campaign as a swift and successful enterprise in which Joshua conquered hill country, the south, the lowlands, and the hilly slopes of the wilderness.
The battle is recorded with much success as Joshua recounts his great and mighty victories. The successes were attributed to God because the entire campaign was not the victories of Joshua and Israel but those of the Lord. The chapter repeats that the victories came as the Lord fought for Israel.
However, Joshua 10 also shows how the decision in the previous chapter came to bear on Israel. Joshua had made a covenant with Gibeon, and so, when the five kings waged war against Israel, they had to answer to Joshua. The incident shows that the Canaanite kings feared the power of Israel.
The conquest of Jericho and Ai must have made them realize that they could not beat Israel in direct combat. Gibeon’s decision to make an alliance with Israel prompted the southern kings to declare war on Gibeon. However, the siege of Gibeon gave Israel an opportunity to fight the five kings and defeat them.
The main message of Joshua 10 is God’s involvement in all the campaigns that Israel was fighting. The Lord confused the enemies of Israel, threw stones at their camps from heaven, and responded to Joshua’s prayer concerning the prolongation of daylight. The God of Israel brought great victories to Joshua’s army.
Joshua 10 is also a chapter that shows how Joshua was an outstanding leader of Israel. Joshua was a man of action, and his actions speak of a committed leader who cared for his people. When Joshua heard the news that Gibeon had been besieged, he acted immediately. He raised his army, fought and defeated the enemy, pursued them, and encouraged his commanders to continue with the fight. Instead of Joshua wasting time after the great victory at Ai, he began the southern campaign almost immediately after the victory.
The last verses show that Joshua had completed his southern campaign and returned to Joshua’s camp in Gilgal. The southern enemies of Israel had suffered greatly from Joshua’s victories. Thus, Joshua chapter 10 records a massive advance of Israel in the war against the Canaanites. Starting from Gibeon’s battle, Joshua fought against the five kings and then launched a successful southern campaign.