Daily Text and Bible Reading: Wednesday, March 11 [Press play below]

10.1 As soon as King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured Ai and devoted it to destruction, doing to Ai and its king just as he had done to Jericho and its king, and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and remained among them,
10.2 he was greatly alarmed, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities. It was greater than Ai, and all its men were warriors.
10.3 So Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent this message to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon:
10.4 “Come to my aid, and let us attack Gibeon, because it has made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.”
10.5 At this the five kings of the Amorites—the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon—gathered together along with their armies, and they marched on and encamped against Gibeon to fight against it.
10.6 Then the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal: “Do not forsake your slaves. Come quickly! Rescue us and help us! All the kings of the Amorites from the mountainous region have gathered against us.”
10.7 So Joshua went up from Gilgal with all the fighting men and the mighty warriors.
10.8 Jehovah then said to Joshua: “Do not be afraid of them, for I have handed them over to you. Not one of them will be able to stand against you.”
10.9 Joshua came against them by surprise after marching all night long from Gilgal.
10.10 Jehovah threw them into confusion before Israel, and they inflicted a great slaughter on them at Gibeon, pursuing them by way of the ascent of Beth-horon and striking them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah.
10.11 While they were fleeing from Israel and were on the descent of Beth-horon, Jehovah hurled great hailstones from the sky on them as far as Azekah, and they perished. In fact, more died from the hail than from the sword of the Israelites.
10.12 It was then, on the day that Jehovah routed the Amorites before the eyes of the Israelites, that Joshua said to Jehovah before Israel: “Sun, stand still over Gibeon, And moon, over the Valley of Aijalon!”
10.13 So the sun stood still and the moon did not move until the nation could take vengeance on its enemies. Is it not written in the book of Jashar? The sun stood still in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to set for about a whole day.
10.14 There has never been a day like that one, either before it or after it, when Jehovah listened to the voice of a man, for Jehovah was fighting for Israel.
10.15 After that Joshua together with all Israel returned to the camp at Gilgal.
10.16 Meanwhile, the five kings fled and hid in the cave at Makkedah.
10.17 Then it was reported to Joshua: “The five kings have been found hiding in the cave at Makkedah.”
10.18 So Joshua said: “Roll large stones over the mouth of the cave and assign men to guard them.
10.19 But the rest of you should not stop. Pursue your enemies and strike them from the rear. Do not allow them to enter into their cities, for Jehovah your God has given them into your hands.”
10.20 After Joshua and the Israelites had finished inflicting a very great slaughter on them, to the point of wiping them out except for some survivors who escaped and entered into the fortified cities,
10.21 all the people returned safely to Joshua at the camp at Makkedah. Not a man dared to utter a word against the Israelites.
10.22 Then Joshua said: “Open the mouth of the cave and bring the five kings out of the cave to me.”
10.23 So they brought to him from the cave these five kings: the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon.
10.24 When they brought these kings to Joshua, he summoned all the men of Israel and said to the commanders of the fighting men who had gone with him: “Come forward. Place your feet on the backs of the necks of these kings.” So they came forward and placed their feet on the backs of their necks.
10.25 Then Joshua said to them: “Do not be afraid or be terrified. Be courageous and strong, for this is what Jehovah will do to all your enemies against whom you are fighting.”
10.26 Then Joshua struck them and put them to death and hung them on five stakes, and they remained hanging on the stakes until the evening.
10.27 At sunset Joshua ordered that they be taken down off the stakes and thrown into the cave where they had hidden themselves. Then large stones were placed at the mouth of the cave, and these remain to this very day.
10.28 Joshua captured Makkedah on that day and struck it with the sword. He devoted its king and everyone in it to destruction, letting no survivor remain. He did to the king of Makkedah just as he had done to the king of Jericho.
10.29 Then Joshua together with all Israel went from Makkedah to Libnah and fought against Libnah.
10.30 Jehovah also gave it and its king into Israel’s hand, and they struck it and everyone in it with the sword, not letting a survivor remain in it. So they did to its king just as they had done to the king of Jericho.
10.31 Next Joshua together with all Israel went from Libnah to Lachish and camped there and fought against it.
10.32 Jehovah gave Lachish into Israel’s hand, and they captured it on the second day. They struck it and everyone in it with the sword, just as they had done to Libnah.
10.33 Then Horam king of Gezer went up to help Lachish, but Joshua struck him and his people down until not one survivor remained.
10.34 Then Joshua together with all Israel went from Lachish to Eglon and camped there and fought against it.
10.35 They captured it on that day and struck it with the sword. They devoted everyone in it to destruction on that day, just as they had done to Lachish.
10.36 Then Joshua together with all Israel went up from Eglon to Hebron and fought against it.
10.37 They captured it and struck it, its king, its towns, and everyone in it with the sword, not letting any survivor remain. Just as he had done to Eglon, he devoted it and everyone in it to destruction.
10.38 Finally Joshua together with all Israel turned toward Debir and fought against it.
10.39 He captured it, its king, and all its towns, and they struck them down with the sword, devoting everyone in it to destruction, not letting any survivor remain. He did to Debir and its king just as he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and its king.
10.40 Joshua conquered all the land of the mountainous region, the Negeb, the Shephelah, and the slopes, and all their kings, not letting any survivor remain; he devoted everything that breathed to destruction, just as Jehovah the God of Israel had commanded.
10.41 Joshua conquered them from Kadesh-barnea to Gaza and all the land of Goshen and up to Gibeon.
10.42 Joshua captured all these kings and their land, all at the same time, because it was Jehovah the God of Israel who was fighting for Israel.
10.43 Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal.
11.1 As soon as Jabin king of Hazor heard of it, he sent word to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, the king of Achshaph,
11.2 the kings who were in the northern mountainous region, those in the plains south of Chinnereth, those in the Shephelah and on the slopes of Dor to the west,
11.3 the Canaanites to the east and the west, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites in the mountainous region, and the Hivites at the base of Hermon in the land of Mizpah.
11.4 So they came out with all their armies, a vast multitude as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore, together with very many horses and war chariots.
11.5 All these kings agreed to meet, and they came and camped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.
11.6 At this Jehovah said to Joshua: “Do not be afraid because of them, for about this time tomorrow, I am giving over all of them slain to Israel. Their horses you must hamstring, and their chariots you must burn in the fire.”
11.7 Joshua together with all the fighting men then launched a surprise attack against them along the waters of Merom.
11.8 Jehovah gave them into Israel’s hand, and they defeated them and pursued them as far as Great Sidon and Misrephoth-maim and the Valley of Mizpeh to the east, and they struck them down until no survivors remained.
11.9 Joshua then did to them just as Jehovah had told him; he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots in the fire.
11.10 Moreover, Joshua then returned and captured Hazor and struck down its king with the sword, because Hazor had formerly been the head of all these kingdoms.
11.11 They struck down everyone in it with the sword, devoting them to destruction. Not a breathing thing was left. Then he burned Hazor in the fire.
11.12 Joshua captured all the cities of these kings and defeated all their kings with the sword. He devoted them to destruction, just as Moses the servant of Jehovah had commanded.
11.13 However, Israel did not burn any of the cities that stood on their mounds except Hazor; it was the only one Joshua burned.
11.14 All the spoil of these cities and the livestock, the Israelites plundered for themselves. But they struck every human with the sword until they had annihilated each one. They did not let anyone who breathed remain.
11.15 Just as Jehovah had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that Jehovah had commanded Moses.
11.16 Joshua conquered all this land, the mountainous region, all the Negeb, all the land of Goshen, the Shephelah, the Arabah, and the mountainous region of Israel and its Shephelah,
11.17 from Mount Halak, which goes up to Seir, and as far as Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon at the base of Mount Hermon, and he captured all their kings and defeated them, putting them to death.
11.18 Joshua waged war with all these kings for quite some time.
11.19 There was no city that made peace with the Israelites except the Hivites inhabiting Gibeon. They conquered all the others by war.
11.20 It was Jehovah who allowed their hearts to become stubborn so that they waged war against Israel, in order for him to devote them to destruction without any favorable consideration. They were to be annihilated, just as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
11.21 At that time Joshua wiped out the Anakim from the mountainous region, from Hebron, Debir, Anab, and all the mountainous region of Judah and all the mountainous region of Israel. Joshua devoted them and their cities to destruction.
11.22 There were no Anakim left in the land of the Israelites; they remained only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod.
11.23 So Joshua took control of all the land, just as Jehovah had promised Moses, and then Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel by their shares to be divided among their tribes. And the land had rest from war.
12.1 Now these are the kings of the land whom the Israelites defeated, whose land they took possession of on the east side of the Jordan, from the Arnon Valley up to Mount Hermon and all the Arabah toward the east:
12.2 King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon and ruled from Aroer, which was on the rim of the Arnon Valley, and from the middle of the valley, and half of Gilead as far as the Valley of Jabbok, the boundary of the Ammonites.
12.3 He also ruled over the Arabah as far as the Sea of Chinnereth toward the east and as far as the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, to the east in the direction of Beth-jeshimoth, and toward the south under the slopes of Pisgah.
12.4 Also the territory of King Og of Bashan, who was one of the last of the Rephaim and who lived in Ashtaroth and Edrei
12.5 and ruled in Mount Hermon, in Salecah, and in all Bashan, as far as the boundary of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and half of Gilead, to the territory of King Sihon of Heshbon.
12.6 Moses the servant of Jehovah and the Israelites defeated them, after which Moses the servant of Jehovah gave their land as a possession to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh.
12.7 These are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the Israelites defeated on the west side of the Jordan, from Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon and as far as Mount Halak, which goes up to Seir, after which Joshua gave their land to the tribes of Israel as a possession by their shares,
12.8 in the mountainous region, in the Shephelah, in the Arabah, on the slopes, in the wilderness, and in the Negeb—the land of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites:
12.9 The king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which was beside Bethel, one;
12.10 the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one;
12.11 the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one;
12.12 the king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one;
12.13 the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one;
12.14 the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one;
12.15 the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one;
12.16 the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one;
12.17 the king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one;
12.18 the king of Aphek, one; the king of Lassharon, one;
12.19 the king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one;
12.20 the king of Shimron-meron, one; the king of Achshaph, one;
12.21 the king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one;
12.22 the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam in Carmel, one;
12.23 the king of Dor on the slopes of Dor, one; the king of Goiim in Gilgal, one;
12.24 the king of Tirzah, one; a total of 31 kings.