The Sun Stands Still
1Now Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had taken Ai and totally destroyed10:1 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verses 28, 35, 37, 39 and 40. it, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and that the people of Gibeon had made a treaty of peace with Israel and had become their allies. 2He and his people were very much alarmed at this, because Gibeon was an important city, like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were good fighters. 3So Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem appealed to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish and Debir king of Eglon. 4“Come up and help me attack Gibeon,” he said, “because it has made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.”
5Then the five kings of the Amorites—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon—joined forces. They moved up with all their troops and took up positions against Gibeon and attacked it.
6The Gibeonites then sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: “Do not abandon your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us! Help us, because all the Amorite kings from the hill country have joined forces against us.”
7So Joshua marched up from Gilgal with his entire army, including all the best fighting men. 8The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you.”
9After an all-night march from Gilgal, Joshua took them by surprise. 10The Lord threw them into confusion before Israel, so Joshua and the Israelites defeated them completely at Gibeon. Israel pursued them along the road going up to Beth Horon and cut them down all the way to Azekah and Makkedah. 11As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the Lord hurled large hailstones down on them, and more of them died from the hail than were killed by the swords of the Israelites.
12On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel:
“Sun, stand still over Gibeon,
and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”
13So the sun stood still,
and the moon stopped,
till the nation avenged itself on10:13 Or nation triumphed over its enemies,
as it is written in the Book of Jashar.
The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. 14There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!
15Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal.
Five Amorite Kings Killed
16Now the five kings had fled and hidden in the cave at Makkedah. 17When Joshua was told that the five kings had been found hiding in the cave at Makkedah, 18he said, “Roll large rocks up to the mouth of the cave, and post some men there to guard it. 19But don’t stop; pursue your enemies! Attack them from the rear and don’t let them reach their cities, for the Lord your God has given them into your hand.”
20So Joshua and the Israelites defeated them completely, but a few survivors managed to reach their fortified cities. 21The whole army then returned safely to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah, and no one uttered a word against the Israelites.
22Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me.” 23So they brought the five kings out of the cave—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon. 24When they had brought these kings to Joshua, he summoned all the men of Israel and said to the army commanders who had come with him, “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So they came forward and placed their feet on their necks.
25Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous. This is what the Lord will do to all the enemies you are going to fight.” 26Then Joshua put the kings to death and exposed their bodies on five poles, and they were left hanging on the poles until evening.
27At sunset Joshua gave the order and they took them down from the poles and threw them into the cave where they had been hiding. At the mouth of the cave they placed large rocks, which are there to this day.
Southern Cities Conquered
28That day Joshua took Makkedah. He put the city and its king to the sword and totally destroyed everyone in it. He left no survivors. And he did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho.
29Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Makkedah to Libnah and attacked it. 30The Lord also gave that city and its king into Israel’s hand. The city and everyone in it Joshua put to the sword. He left no survivors there. And he did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho.
31Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Libnah to Lachish; he took up positions against it and attacked it. 32The Lord gave Lachish into Israel’s hands, and Joshua took it on the second day. The city and everyone in it he put to the sword, just as he had done to Libnah. 33Meanwhile, Horam king of Gezer had come up to help Lachish, but Joshua defeated him and his army—until no survivors were left.
34Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Lachish to Eglon; they took up positions against it and attacked it. 35They captured it that same day and put it to the sword and totally destroyed everyone in it, just as they had done to Lachish.
36Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron and attacked it. 37They took the city and put it to the sword, together with its king, its villages and everyone in it. They left no survivors. Just as at Eglon, they totally destroyed it and everyone in it.
38Then Joshua and all Israel with him turned around and attacked Debir. 39They took the city, its king and its villages, and put them to the sword. Everyone in it they totally destroyed. They left no survivors. They did to Debir and its king as they had done to Libnah and its king and to Hebron.
40So Joshua subdued the whole region, including the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills and the mountain slopes, together with all their kings. He left no survivors. He totally destroyed all who breathed, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded. 41Joshua subdued them from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza and from the whole region of Goshen to Gibeon. 42All these kings and their lands Joshua conquered in one campaign, because the Lord, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.
43Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal.
ፀሓይ ቆመች
1የኢየሩሳሌም ንጉሥ አዶኒጼዴቅ፣ ኢያሱ ጋይን ይዞ እንደ ደመሰሳት10፥1 የዕብራይስጡ ቃል በዚህም ሆነ በቍጥር 28፡35፡37፡39 እና 40 ላይ ሙሉ በሙሉ በማጥፋት ለእግዚአብሔር መስጠት ማለት ነው።፣ እንደዚሁም በኢያሪኮና በንጉሥዋ ላይ ያደረገውን ሁሉ፣ በጋይና በንጉሥዋ ላይ ማድረጉን፣ የገባዖን ሰዎችም ከእስራኤል ጋር የሰላም ውል አድርገው በአጠገባቸው መኖራቸውን ሰማ። 2በዚህም እርሱና ሕዝቡ ደነገጡ፤ ምክንያቱም ገባዖን እንደ ነገሥታቱ ከተማ ሁሉ ታላቅ ከተማ፣ በስፋቷም ከጋይ የምትበልጥ፣ ሰዎቿም ብርቱ ተዋጊዎች ነበሩ። 3ስለዚህ የኢየሩሳሌም ንጉሥ አዶኒጼዴቅ፣ ሆሃም ወደ ተባለው የኬብሮን ንጉሥ ጲርአም ወደተባለው የየርሙት ንጉሥ፣ ያፊዓ ወደ ተባለው የለኪሶ ንጉሥና ዳቤር ወደተባለው የዔግሎን ንጉሥ በመላክ፣ 4“ወደዚህ ወጥታችሁ አግዙኝ፤ ከኢያሱና ከእስራኤላውያን ጋር ሰላምን መሥርታለችና ገባዖንን እንምታ” አላቸው።
5ከዚያም አምስቱ የአሞራውያን ነገሥታት ማለት የኢየሩሳሌም ንጉሥ፣ የኬብሮን ንጉሥ፣ የያርሙት ንጉሥ፣ የለኪሶ ንጉሥና የዔግሎን ንጉሥ ያላቸውን አስተባብረው፣ ሰራዊታቸውንም ሁሉ ይዘው በመውጣት ገባዖንን ወጓት።
6የገባዖንም ሰዎች በጌልገላ ወደ ሰፈረው ወደ ኢያሱ፣ “በተራራማው አገር የሚኖሩ የአሞራውያን ነገሥታት ኀይላቸውን አስተባብረው ተሰልፈውብናል፤ እኛን ባሮችህን አትተወን፤ ርዳን፤ ፈጥነህ በመድረስም አድነን” ሲሉ ላኩበት።
7ስለዚህ ኢያሱ ምርጥ የሆኑትን ተዋጊዎች ሁሉ ጨምሮ ሰራዊቱን በሙሉ ይዞ ከጌልገላ ወጣ። 8እግዚአብሔርም ኢያሱን፣ “አትፍራቸው፤ ሁሉንም አሳልፌ በእጅህ ሰጥቻቸዋለሁ፤ አንዳቸውም እንኳ ሊቋቋሙህ አይችሉም” አለው።
9ኢያሱ ከጌልገላ ሌሊቱን ሁሉ ሲገሠግሥ ዐድሮ ድንገት ወረራቸው። 10እግዚአብሔርም የአሞራውያንን ነገሥታት በእስራኤል ፊት አሸበራቸው፤ በገባዖን እጅግ መታቸው፤ ወደ ቤትሖሮን በሚያስወጣውም መንገድ ሽቅብ ተከተላቸው፤ እስከ ዓዜቅና እስከ መቄዳም ድረስ አሳድዶ መታቸው። 11ከቤትሖሮን ወደ ዓዜቃ ቍልቍል በሚወስደው መንገድ ላይ፣ ከእስራኤላውያን ፊት በሚሸሹበት ጊዜ፣ እግዚአብሔር ከሰማይ ትልልቅ የበረዶ ድንጋይ አወረደባቸው፤ በእስራኤላውያን ሰይፍ ካለቁት ይልቅ በወረደው የበረዶ ድንጋይ ያለቁት በልጠው ተገኙ።
12እግዚአብሔር አሞራውያንን ለእስራኤል አሳልፎ በሰጠባት ዕለት፣ ኢያሱ እግዚአብሔርን በእስራኤል ፊት እንዲህ አለው፤
“ፀሓይ ሆይ፤ በገባዖን ላይ ቁሚ፤
ጨረቃም ሆይ፤ በኤሎን ሸለቆ ላይ ቀጥ በዪ።”
13ስለዚህ ሕዝቡ ጠላቶቹን እስኪበቀል
ድረስ10፥13 ወይም ሕዝቡ እስኪያሸንፍ ድረስ፣ ፀሓይ ባለችበት ቆመች፤
ጨረቃም አልተንቀሳቀሰችም።
ይህም በያሻር መጽሐፍ ተጽፎ ይገኛል።
ፀሓይ በሰማዩ መካከል ቆመች፤ ለመጥለቅም ሙሉ ቀን ፈጀባት። 14እግዚአብሔር የሰውን ቃል የሰማበት እንደዚያ ያለ ዕለት ከዚያ በፊትም ሆነ ከዚያ በኋላ አልነበረም፤ እግዚአብሔር ለእስራኤል ተዋግቶ ነበርና።
15ከዚያም ኢያሱ ከመላው እስራኤል ጋር ጌልገላ ወዳለው ሰፈር ተመለሰ።
አምስቱ የአሞራውያን ነገሥታት ተገደሉ
16በዚህ ጊዜ አምስቱ የአሞራውያን ነገሥታት ሸሽተው በመቄዳ ዋሻ ተደብቀው ነበር። 17ኢያሱም አምስቱ ነገሥታት በመቄዳ ዋሻ ውስጥ ተደብቀው መገኘታቸውን ሰማ፤ 18እንዲህም አለ፤ “ትልልቅ ድንጋዮች ወደ ዋሻው አፍ አንከባሉ፤ ጠባቂ ሰዎችንም በዚያ አቁሙ፤ 19ጠላቶቻችሁን አሳድዷቸው እንጂ ችላ አትበሉ፤ ከበስተ ኋላ ሆናችሁም አደጋ ጣሉባቸው፤ ወደ ከተሞቻቸው እንዳይገቡ ከልክሏቸው፤ እነሆ፤ እግዚአብሔር አምላካችሁ በእጃችሁ አሳልፎ ሰጥቷቸዋልና።”
20ስለዚህ ኢያሱና እስራኤላውያን እስከ መጨረሻው ደመሰሷቸው፤ የተረፉት ጥቂቶቹ ግን ወደ ተመሸጉት ከተሞቻቸው ለመድረስ ቻሉ። 21ከዚያም ሰራዊቱ ሁሉ በደኅና ተመልሶ፣ ኢያሱ ወደ ሰፈረበት ወደ መቄዳ መጣ፤ በእስራኤላውያንም ላይ አንዲት ቃል የተናገረ ሰው አልነበረም።
22ኢያሱም፤ “ዋሻውን ከፍታችሁ እነዚያን አምስቱን ነገሥታት አውጥታችሁ አምጡልኝ” አላቸው። 23እነርሱም አምስቱን ነገሥታት ማለትም የኢየሩሳሌምን ንጉሥ፣ የኬብሮንን ንጉሥ፣ የያርሙትን ንጉሥ፣ የለኪሶን ንጉሥ የዔግሎንን ንጉሥ አውጥተው አመጡለት። 24እነዚህን ነገሥታት ባመጡለትም ጊዜ፣ ኢያሱ መላውን የእስራኤልን ወንዶች ከጠራ በኋላ አብረውት የመጡትን የጦር አዛዦች፣ “ወደዚህ ቅረቡና እግሮቻችሁን በእነዚህ ነገሥታት ዐንገት ላይ አድርጉ” አላቸው፤ እነርሱም ወደ ፊት ቀርበው እግራቸውን በነገሥታቱ ዐንገት ላይ አሳረፉ።
25ኢያሱም፣ “አትፍሩ፤ አትደንግጡ፤ በርቱ፤ ጽኑ፤ እንግዲህ በምትወጓቸው ጠላቶች ሁሉ ላይ እግዚአብሔር እንደዚሁ ያደርጋልና” አላቸው። 26ከዚያም ኢያሱ ነገሥታቱን መትቶ ገደላቸው፤ በአምስትም ዛፎች ላይ ሰቀላቸው፤ ሬሳቸውም እስኪመሽ ድረስ አልወረደም ነበር።
27ፀሓይ ለመጥለቅ በማዘቅዘቅ ላይ ሳለች ኢያሱ ትእዛዝ ሰጠ፤ ከዚያም የነገሥታቱን ሬሳ ከዛፎቹ ላይ አውርደው ቀድሞ ተደብቀው ወደ ነበሩበት ዋሻ ውስጥ ጣሏቸው። በዋሻውም አፍ ትልልቅ ድንጋዮች አኖሩ፤ ድንጋዮቹም እስከ ዛሬ ድረስ በዚያ ይገኛሉ።
28በዚያች ዕለት ኢያሱ መቄዳን ያዘ፤ ከተማዪቱንና ንጉሥዋንም በሰይፍ ስለት መታ፤ አንድም ሰው ሳያስቀር በውስጧ ያለውን ሁሉ ፈጽሞ ደመሰሰ፤ በኢያሪኮ ንጉሥ ላይ ያደረገውንም ሁሉ፣ በመቄዳ ንጉሥ ላይ አደረገ።
የደቡብ ከተሞች መያዝ
29ከዚያም ኢያሱና ከእርሱ ጋር የነበሩት እስራኤላውያን በሙሉ ከመቄዳ ወደ ልብና ዐለፉ፤ ወጓትም። 30እንዲሁም እግዚአብሔር ከተማዪቱንና ንጉሥዋን በእስራኤል እጅ አሳልፎ ሰጣቸው። ኢያሱ ከተማዪቱንና በውስጧ ያለውን ሁሉ በሰይፍ ስለት አጠፋ፤ አንድም ሰው አላስተረፈም። በኢያሪኮ ንጉሥ ላይ ያደረገውንም በልብና ንጉሥ ላይ ደገመው።
31ከዚያም ኢያሱና ከእርሱ ጋር የነበሩት እስራኤላውያን በሙሉ ከልብና ወደ ለኪሶ ዐለፉ፤ ወጓትም። 32እግዚአብሔር ለኪሶን አሳልፎ ለእስራኤል ሰጠ፤ ኢያሱም በሁለተኛው ቀን ያዛት፤ በልብና እንዳደረገው ሁሉ እዚህም ከተማዪቱንና በውስጧ ያሉትን ሁሉ በሰይፍ ስለት ፈጃቸው። 33በዚህ ጊዜ የጌዝር ንጉሥ ሆራም ለኪሶን ለመርዳት መጣ፤ ኢያሱ ግን አንድ እንኳ ሳያስተርፍ ንጉሡንና ሕዝቡን መታቸው።
34ከዚያም ኢያሱና ከእርሱ ጋር የነበሩት እስራኤላውያን በሙሉ ከለኪሶ ወደ ዔግሎን ዐለፉ፤ ወጓትም። 35በዚያኑ ዕለት ያዟት፤ በሰይፍም ስለት አጠፏት፤ በለኪሶ እንዳደረጉት ሁሉ እዚህም በውስጧ የሚገኙትን ፈጽመው ደመሰሷቸው።
36ከዚያም ኢያሱና ከእርሱ ጋር የነበሩት እስራኤላውያን በሙሉ ከዔግሎን ወደ ኬብሮን ወጡ፤ ወጓትም። 37ከተማዪቱንም ከንጉሧ፣ ከመንደሮቿና በውስጧ ካሉት ጋር ሁሉ አንድም ሰው ሳያስቀሩ በሰይፍ ስለት ፈጇቸው፤ በዔግሎን እንዳደረጉት ሁሉ እዚህም ከተማዪቱንና በውስጧ ያለውን ሁሉ ፈጽመው ደመሰሱ።
38ከዚያም ኢያሱና ከእርሱ ጋር የነበሩት እስራኤላውያን በሙሉ ወደ ኋላ ተመልሰው ዳቤርን ወጓት። 39ከተማዪቱን፣ ንጉሥዋንና መንደሮቿን ይዘው በሰይፍ ስለት ፈጇቸው፤ በውስጧ ያለውንም ሁሉ አንድም ሳያስቀሩ ደመሰሱ፤ በልብናና በንጉሥዋ እንዲሁም በኬብሮን ያደረጉትን ሁሉ እዚህም በዳቤርና በንጉሥዋ ላይ ደገሙት።
40በዚህ ሁኔታም ኢያሱ ተራራማውን አገር ኔጌቭን፣ የምዕራቡን ቈላና የተራራውን ሸንተረሮች ጨምሮ ምድሪቱን በሙሉ ከነገሥታቷ ጋር ያዘ። የእስራኤል አምላክ እግዚአብሔር ባዘዘውም መሠረት፣ እስትንፋስ ያላቸውን ሁሉ ፈጽሞ ደመሰሰ፤ ማንንም በሕይወት አላስቀረም። 41ኢያሱም ከቃዴስ በርኔ እስከ ጋዛ እንዲሁም የጎሶምን ምድር ሁሉ እስከ ገባዖን ድረስ በሙሉ ያዘ። 42ኢያሱ እነዚህን ሁሉ ነገሥታትና ምድራቸውን ያሸነፈው በአንድ ዘመቻ ብቻ ነበር፤ የእስራኤል አምላክ እግዚአብሔር ለእስራኤላውያን ተዋግቶላቸዋልና።
43ከዚህ በኋላ ኢያሱ ከመላው እስራኤላውያን ጋር ጌልገላ ወዳለው ሰፈር ተመለሰ።
