9 and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, ^band that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land ^cmelt away before you. 10 For we have heard how the Lord ^ddried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and ^ewhat you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to ^fSihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction.¹ 11 And ^gas soon as we heard it, ^hour hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for ⁱthe Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.

1 As soon as all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites ^owho were by the sea, ^pheard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts ^qmelted and ^rthere was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel.

1 As soon as all the kings who were beyond the Jordan ^jin the hill country and in the lowland all along the coast ^kof the Great Sea toward Lebanon, ^lthe Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, heard of this, 2 they gathered together as one to fight against Joshua and Israel.

3 But when the inhabitants of ^mGibeon heard what Joshua had done ⁿto Jericho and ^oto Ai, 4 they on their part acted with cunning and went and made ready provisions and took worn-out sacks for their donkeys, and wineskins, worn-out and torn and mended,

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.

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.