9 and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the ^xfear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land ^ymelt away before you. 10 For we have heard ^zhow the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and ^awhat you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you ^bdevoted to destruction.¹ 11 And as soon as we heard it, ^cour hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God ^din 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, ^qtheir hearts melted and there 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 in the hill country and in the lowland all along the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, ^mthe Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, ⁿheard of this, 2 they ^ogathered together as one to fight against Joshua and Israel.

3 But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done ^pto Jericho and ^qto 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, ^cheard ^dhow Joshua had captured Ai and had ^edevoted it to destruction,¹ doing to Ai and its king ^fas he had done to Jericho and its king, and ^ghow the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, 2 he^{2 h}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 it 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, ⁱgathered their forces and went up with all their armies and encamped against Gibeon and made war against it.

1 When Jabin, king of Hazor, ^fheard of this, he sent 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 Arabah south of Chinneroth, and in the lowland, and in Naphoth-dor on the west, 3 to the Canaanites in the east and the west, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites in the hill country, and the Hivites under Hermon in the land of Mizpah. 4 And they came out with all their troops, a great horde, ^gin number like the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots. 5 And all these kings ^hjoined their forces and came and encamped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.