Tanakh & Talmud. Various Authors

and their judges, stood on this side the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, that bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, as well the stranger as the home-born; half of them in front of mount Gerizim and half of them in front of mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded at the first, that they should bless the people of Israel. ³⁴And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the law. ³⁵There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that walked among them.

      9And it came to pass, when all the kings that were beyond the Jordan, in the hill-country, and in the Lowland, and on all the shore of the Great Sea in front of Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard thereof, ²that they gathered themselves together, to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord.

      ³But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai, ⁴they also did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine skins, worn and rent and patched up; ⁵and worn shoes and clouted upon their feet, and worn garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and was become crumbs. ⁶And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said unto him, and to the men of Israel: 'We are come from a far country; now therefore make ye a covenant with us.' ⁷And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites: 'Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a covenant with you?' ⁸And they said unto Joshua: 'We are thy servants.' And Joshua said unto them: 'Who are ye? and from whence come ye?' ⁹And they said unto him: 'From a very far country thy servants are come because of the name of the Lord thy God; for we have heard the fame of Him, and all that He did in Egypt, ¹⁰and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth. ¹¹And our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying: Take provision in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them: We are your servants; and now make ye a covenant with us. ¹²This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you; but now, behold, it is dry, and is become crumbs. ¹³And these wine-skins, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they are rent. And these our garments and our shoes are worn by reason of the very long journey.' ¹⁴And the men took of their provision, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord. ¹⁵And Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the princes of the congregation swore unto them.

      ¹⁶And it came to pass at the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbours, and that they dwelt among them. ¹⁷And the children of Israel journeyed, and came unto their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. ¹⁸And the children of Israel smote them not, because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by the Lord, the God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured against the princes. ¹⁹But all the princes said unto all the congregation: 'We have sworn unto them by the Lord, the God of Israel; now therefore we may not touch them. ²⁰This we will do to them, and let them live; lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath which we swore unto them.' ²¹And the princes said concerning them: 'Let them live'; so they became hewers of wood and drawers of water unto all the congregation, as the princes had spoken concerning them. ²²And Joshua called for them, and he spoke unto them, saying: 'Wherefore have ye beguiled us, saying: We are very far from you, when ye dwell among us? ²³Now therefore ye are cursed, and there shall never fail to be of you bondmen, both hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.' ²⁴And they answered Joshua, and said: 'Because it was certainly told thy servants, how that the Lord thy God commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; therefore we were sore afraid for our lives because of you, and have done this thing. ²⁵And now, behold, we are in thy hand: as it seemeth good and right unto thee to do unto us, do.' ²⁶And so did he unto them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, that they slew them not. ²⁷And Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of the Lord, unto this day, in the place which He should choose.

      10Now it came to pass, when Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it; as he had done to Jericho and her king, so he had done to Ai and her king; and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among them; ²that they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty. ³Wherefore Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent unto Hoham king of Hebron, and unto Piram king of Jarmuth, and unto Japhia king of Lachish, and unto Debir king of Eglon, saying: ⁴'Come up unto me, and help me, and let us smite Gibeon; for it hath made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel.' ⁵Therefore the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves together, and went up, they and all their hosts, and encamped against Gibeon, and made war against it. ⁶And the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying: 'Slack not thy hands from thy servants; come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us; for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the hill-country are gathered together against us.' ⁷So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he, and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valour.

      ⁸And the Lord said unto Joshua: 'Fear them not; for I have delivered them into thy hand; there shall not a man of them stand against thee.' ⁹Joshua therefore came upon them suddenly; for he went up from Gilgal all the night. ¹⁰And the Lord discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon; and they chased them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah. ¹¹And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, while they were at the descent of Beth-horon, that the Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died; they were more who died with the hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword.

      ¹²Then spoke Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel; and he said in the sight of Israel:

      'Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon;And thou, Moon, in the valley of Aijalon.'¹³And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed,Until the nation had avenged themselves of their enemies.

      Is not this written in the book of Jashar? And the sun stayed in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. ¹⁴And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel.

      ¹⁵And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal.

      ¹⁶And these five kings fled, and hid themselves in the cave at Makkedah. ¹⁷And it was told Joshua, saying: 'The five kings are found, hidden in the cave at Makkedah.' ¹⁸And Joshua said: 'Roll great stones unto the mouth of the cave, and set men by it to keep them; ¹⁹but stay not ye; pursue after your enemies, and smite the hindmost of them; suffer them not to enter into their cities; for the Lord your God hath delivered them into your hand.' ²⁰And it came to pass, when Joshua and the children of Israel had made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter, till they were consumed, and the remnant which remained of them had entered into the fortified cities, ²¹that all the people returned to the camp to Joshua at Makkedah in peace; none whetted his tongue against any of the children of Israel. ²²Then said Joshua: 'Open the mouth of the cave, and bring forth those five kings unto me out of the cave.' ²³And they did so, and brought forth those five kings unto him out of the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon. ²⁴And it came to pass, when they brought forth those kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the chiefs of the