The Sun Stands Still

1 As soon as Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, heard how Joshua had captured Ai and had devoted it to destruction,^{1 m}doing to Ai and its king ⁿas he had done to Jericho and its king, and ^ohow the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, 2 ^phe² feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were warriors. 3 So Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, to Piram king of Jarmuth, to Japhia king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon, saying, 4 “Come up to me and help me, and let us strike Gibeon. For ^qit has made peace with Joshua and with the people of Israel.” 5 Then 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, ^rgathered their forces and went up with all their armies and encamped against Gibeon and made war against it.

6 And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua ^sat the camp in Gilgal, saying, “Do not relax your hand from your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the hill country are gathered against us.” 7 So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and ^tall the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor. 8 And the Lord said to Joshua, ^u“Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. ^vNot a man of them shall stand before you.” 9 So Joshua came upon them suddenly, having marched up all night from Gilgal. 10 ^wAnd the Lord threw them into a panic before Israel, who³ struck them with a great blow at Gibeon and chased them by the way of ^xthe ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah. 11 And as they fled before Israel, while they were ^xgoing down the ascent of Beth-horon, ^ythe Lord threw down large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword.

12 At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,

Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. 14 ^aThere has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded the voice of a man, for ^bthe Lord fought for Israel.

15 So ^cJoshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.

Five Amorite Kings Executed

16 These five kings fled and hid themselves in the cave at ^dMakkedah. 17 And it was told to Joshua, “The five kings have been found, hidden in the cave at Makkedah.” 18 And Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave and set men by it to guard them, 19 but do not stay there yourselves. Pursue your enemies; ^eattack their rear guard. Do not let them enter their cities, for the Lord your God has given them into your hand.” 20 When Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished striking them with a great blow ^funtil they were wiped out, and when the remnant that remained of them had entered into the fortified cities, 21 then all the people returned safe to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah. ^gNot a man moved his tongue against any of the people of Israel.

22 Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me from the cave.” 23 And they did so, and brought those five kings out to him from the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon. 24 And when they brought those kings out to Joshua, Joshua summoned all the men of Israel and said to the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him, “Come near; put your feet on the necks of these kings.” Then they came near and put their feet on their necks. 25 And Joshua said to them, ^h“Do not be afraid or dismayed; be strong and courageous. ⁱFor thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.” 26 And afterward Joshua struck them and put them to death, and he hanged them on five trees. And ^jthey hung on the trees until evening. 27 But at the time of the going down of the sun, Joshua commanded, and ^kthey took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves, and they set large stones against the mouth of the cave, which remain to this very day.

28 As for ^lMakkedah, Joshua captured it on that day and struck it, and its king, with the edge of the sword. He devoted to destruction every person in it; he left none remaining. And he did to the king of Makkedah ^mjust as he had done to the king of Jericho.

Conquest of Southern Canaan

29 Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Makkedah to ⁿLibnah and fought against Libnah. 30 And the Lord gave it also and its king into the hand of Israel. And he struck it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it; he left none remaining in it. And he did to its king ^mas he had done to the king of Jericho.

31 Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Libnah to ^oLachish and laid siege to it and fought against it. 32 And the Lord gave Lachish into the hand of Israel, and he captured it on the second day and struck it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it, as he had done to Libnah.

33 Then Horam king of ^pGezer came up to help Lachish. And Joshua struck him and his people, until he left none remaining.

34 Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Lachish to ^qEglon. And they laid siege to it and fought against it. 35 And they captured it on that day, and struck it with the edge of the sword. And he devoted every person in it to destruction that day, as he had done to Lachish.

36 Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to ^rHebron. And they fought against it 37 and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword, and its king and its towns, and every person in it. He left none remaining, as he had done to Eglon, and devoted it to destruction and every person in it.

38 Then Joshua and all Israel with him turned back to ^sDebir and fought against it 39 and he captured it with its king and all its towns. And they struck them with the edge of the sword and devoted to destruction every person in it; he left none remaining. Just as he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and its king, so he did to Debir and to its king.

40 So Joshua struck the whole land, the hill country and the Negeb and the lowland ^tand the slopes, and all their kings. He left none remaining, ^ubut devoted to destruction all that breathed, just as the Lord God of Israel commanded. 41 And Joshua struck them from ^vKadesh-barnea as far as Gaza, and all the country of ^wGoshen, as far as Gibeon. 42 And Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time, ^xbecause the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel. 43 ^yThen Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.

Conquests in Northern Canaan

1 When Jabin, king of Hazor, heard of this, he ^zsent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph, 2 and to the kings who were in the northern hill country, and in the ^aArabah south of ^bChinneroth, and in the lowland, and ^cin Naphoth-dor on the ^dwest, 3 to the Canaanites in the east and the west, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the ^eJebusites in the hill country, and the ^fHivites under ^gHermon in the land of ^hMizpah. 4 And they came out with all their troops, a great horde, in number ⁱlike the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots. 5 And all these kings joined their forces and came and encamped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.

6 And the Lord said to Joshua, ^j“Do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow at this time I will give over all of them, slain, to Israel. You shall ^khamstring their horses and burn their ^lchariots with fire.” 7 So Joshua and all his warriors came ^msuddenly against them by the waters of Merom and fell upon them. 8 And the Lord gave them into the hand of Israel, who struck them and chased them as far as ⁿGreat Sidon and ^oMisrephoth-maim, and eastward as far as the Valley of ^pMizpeh. And they struck them until he left none remaining. 9 And Joshua did to them ^qjust as the Lord said to him: he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.

10 And Joshua turned back at that time and captured ^rHazor and struck its king with the sword, for Hazor formerly was the head of all those kingdoms. 11 And they struck with the sword all who were in it, devoting them to destruction;^{4 s}there was none left that breathed. And he burned Hazor with fire. 12 And all the cities of those kings, and all their kings, Joshua captured, and struck them with the edge of the sword, devoting them to destruction, ^tjust as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. 13 But none of the cities that stood on mounds did Israel burn, except Hazor alone; that Joshua burned. 14 And all the spoil of these cities and the livestock, the people of Israel took for their plunder. But every person they struck with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them, and they did not leave any who breathed. 15 ^uJust as the Lord had commanded Moses his servant, ^vso Moses commanded Joshua, ^wand so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.

16 So Joshua took all that land, ^xthe hill country and all the Negeb and ^yall the land of Goshen ^zand the lowland ^zand the Arabah ^aand the hill country of Israel and its lowland 17 ^bfrom Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, as far as ^cBaal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon below ^dMount Hermon. And he captured ^eall their kings and struck them and put them to death. 18 Joshua made war ^fa long time with all those kings. 19 There was not a city that made peace with the people of Israel except ^gthe Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. They took them all in battle. 20 For it was the Lord’s doing ^hto harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be devoted to destruction and should receive no mercy but be destroyed, ⁱjust as the Lord commanded Moses.

21 And Joshua came at that time and cut off ^jthe Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua devoted them to destruction with their cities. 22 There was none of the Anakim left in the land of the people of Israel. Only in Gaza, ^kin Gath, and in Ashdod did some remain. 23 So Joshua took the whole land, ^laccording to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses. ^mAnd Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel ⁿaccording to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war.

I Will Walk with Integrity

A Psalm of David.

Paul’s Defense Before Agrippa

1 So ^lAgrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense:

2 “I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today ^magainst all the accusations of the Jews, 3 especially because you are familiar with all the ⁿcustoms and ^ocontroversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

4 ^p“My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among ^qmy own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. 5 They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that ^raccording to the strictest ^sparty of our ^treligion I have lived as ^ua Pharisee. 6 And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in ^vthe promise made by God to our fathers, 7 ^wto which ^xour twelve tribes hope to ^yattain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope ^zI am accused by Jews, O king! 8 Why is it thought ^aincredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

9 ^b“I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of ^cJesus of Nazareth. 10 ^dAnd I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority ^efrom the chief priests, but ^fwhen they were put to death I cast my vote against them. 11 And ^gI punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them ^hblaspheme, and ⁱin raging fury against them I ^jpersecuted them even to foreign cities.

Paul Tells of His Conversion

12 “In this connection ^kI journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. 14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me ^lin the Hebrew language,¹ ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and ^mstand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, ⁿto appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17 ^odelivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—^pto whom I ^qam sending you 18 ^rto open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from ^sthe power of Satan to God, that they may receive ^tforgiveness of sins and ^ua place among those who are sanctified ^vby faith in me.’

19 “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to ^wthe heavenly vision, 20 but declared first ^xto those in Damascus, ^ythen in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also ^zto the Gentiles, that they should ^arepent and ^bturn to God, performing deeds ^cin keeping with their repentance. 21 For this reason ^dthe Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. 22 ^eTo this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so ^fI stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what ^gthe prophets and Moses said would come to pass: 23 ^hthat the Christ ⁱmust suffer and that, ^jby being the first ^kto rise from the dead, ^lhe would proclaim ^mlight both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

24 And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, ⁿyou are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” 25 But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, ^omost excellent Festus, but I am speaking ^ptrue and ^qrational words. 26 For ^rthe king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” 28 And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be ^sa Christian?”² 29 And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day ^tmight become such as I am—except for ^uthese chains.”

30 Then the king rose, and ^vthe governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them. 31 And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, ^w“This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.” 32 And Agrippa said to Festus, ^x“This man could have been set ^yfree if he had not appealed ^zto Caesar.”