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And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal; when he had performed all things related to the end of this chapter, where this verse should have been inserted.

16 But these five kings fled, and hid themselves in a cave at, or 17 near to Makkedah. And it was told Joshua, saying, The five 18 kings are found hid in a cave at Makkedah. And Joshua said,

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Roll great stones upon the mouth of the cave, and set men by 19 it for to keep them till the pursuit is over. And stay ye not, [but] pursue after your enemies, and smite the hindmost of them; suffer them not to enter into their cities for the LORD 20 your God hath delivered them into your hand. And it came to pass, when Joshua and the children of Israel had made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter, till they were consumed, that the rest [which] remained of them entered in21 to fenced cities. And all the people returned to the camp to Joshua at Makkedah in peace: none moved his tongue a gainst any of the children of Israel; so it was when they came out of Egypt. See on Exodus xi. 17.

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Then said Joshua, Open the mouth of the cave, and bring 23 out those five kings unto me out of the cave. And they did so, and brought forth those five kings unto him out of the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of 24 Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, [and] the king of Eglon. And it came to pass, when they brought out those kings unto Josh. ua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the captains of the men of war which went with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of them. This was not done out of pride and contempt of their dignity, much less with a design to insult them; but to prove that God had fulfilled his firomise in bringing them and their country into subjection to them, and as an encouragement to them and the 25 people to proceed in attacking the other kings and cities. And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the LORD do to all your 26 enemies against whom ye fight. And afterward Joshua smote

them, and slew them, and hanged them on five trees and 27 they were hanging upon the trees until the evening. And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun, [that] Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and cast them into the cave wherein they had been hid, and laid great stones in the cave's mouth, [which remain] until this very day.

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And that day Joshua took Makkedah, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof he utterly destroyed, them, and all the souls that [were] therein; he let none remain and he did to the king of Makkedah, as he did unto the king of Jericho.

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Then Joshua passed from Makkedah, and all Israel with 30 him, unto Libnah, and fought against Libnah: And the LORD delivered it also, and the king thereof, into the hand of Israel, and he smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that [were] therein: he let none remain in it; but did unto the king thereof as he did unto the king of Jericho.

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And Joshua passed from Libnah, and all Israel with him, unto Lachish, and encamped against it, and fought against it; 32 And the LORD delivered Lachish into the hand of Israel, which took it on the second day, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that [were] therein, according to all 33 that he had done to Libnah. Then Horam king of Gezer, came up to help Lachish; and Joshua smote him and his people, until he had left him none remaining.

34 And from Lachish Joshua passed unto Eglon, and all Israel with him; and they encamped against it, and fought against 35 it And they took it on that day, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that [were] therein he utterly destroyed that day, according to all that he had done to Lachish.

36 And Joshua went up from Eglon, and all Israel with him, 37 unto Hebron; and they fought against it: And they took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof and all the cities thereof, and all the souls that [were] therein; he left none remaining, according to all that he had done to Eglon; but destroyed it utterly, and all the souls that [were] therein.

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And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to Debir; 39 and fought against it: And he took it, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls that [were] therein; he left none remaining: as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir and to the king thereof; as he had done also to Libnah, and to her king.

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So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings= he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that 41 breathed, as the Lord God of Israel commanded. And Joshua smote them from Kadeshbarnea even unto Gaza, and all 42 the country of Goshen, even unto Gibeon. And all these

kings and their land did Joshua take at one time, because 43 the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel. And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal, to their families, to share the spoil, and return thanks to God in his tabernacle, which was placed there.

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REFLECTIONS.

HERE is an instance of the strange malignity sinners

have against those who were once their companions, but are now joined to the Israel of God. Satan and his agents stir up their rage against those that make peace with God. Angels welcome their conversion with songs, devils with fury, and their old companions with scorn. Let young converts expect this, and not think it strange, nor be discouraged; if God be for them, none can be against them; none rationally will, none successfully can.

2. How glorious does God appear in his dealings with his people, and how awful in his judgments upon his enemies! Rather than the Canaanites should escape from Israel, storms of hailstones overtook and destroyed them, and did not hurt Israel. There is no fleeing from God; he can easily shoot out of his treasure hailstones, which he reserves against the day of battle and of war, Job xxxviii. 23. What a fearful thing is it to fall into the hands of the living God! and how vain is it to attempt escaping his indignation! What a wonderful miracle was the stopping of the sun! God kindled it up at first; and it is he who directs the motions of the earth, the moon, and the sun. He can stop them without causing any confusion, and set them all in motion again. All, as the psalmist says, are his servants. Let us adore the wisdom of this miracle. Some have strangely objected against it, that it was unworthy of God to work such a miracle, to give one inconsiderable nation an advantage over another. But shall man be wiser than God? He saw it fit; and there are good reasons which we also can see. Joshua was obliged to support his friends and guard his people; it was necessary to rescue the proselytes. But it was chiefly designed to display the being and perfections of God to the whole world; not only to give them an high idea of Israel, as God's people, but high and just ideas of the God of Israel. Almost all the heathen, especially the Canaanites, worshipped the hosts of heaven; the sun and moon, as the king and queen of heaven. This miracle demonstrated the power of JEHOVAH, as superior to their gods; and showed their impotency, when he could make even them contribute to the ruin of their worshippers. There was nothing extraordinary in Joshua's sucHailstones they might think proceeded from natural causes; but the other was a plain, evident, and indisputable miracle. It had a tendency to prevent the Israelites from falling into this wretched idolatry, and to engage the Canaanites to submit, and become subjects to JEHOVAH; and to induce other nations, who could not but see and own this miracle, to adore almighty God, who does according to his will among the armies of heaven, and the

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inhabitants of this lower world. How happy is the church under the divine care, who has all elements and all worlds at his command! Blessed is the people whose God is the Lord!

3. Let the success we have experienced in our spiritual war fare over some enemies, make us resolute and courageous. It should animate us against our fears, and excite and support our courage, for there is still the same power and grace in God. Let us go forth in an humble dependence on him to fight for us, to bring every enemy into subjection, and to bruise Satan under our feet; and we shall at length be more than conquerors over all our enemies, through him who loved us.

CHAP. XI.

This chapter gives an account of the conquest of the northern parts of Canaan; Providence kept them quiet for a while, till Israel was refreshed, and fit to begin another campaign.

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ND it came to pass, when Jabin king of Hazor, whe was the chief king of that part of the country, had heard [those things,] that he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to 2 the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph, And to the kings that [were] on the north of the mountains, and of the plains south of Cinneroth, and in the valley, and in the 3 borders of Dor on the west; [And to] the Canaanite on the cast and on the west, and [to] the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the mountains, and [to] the Hivite under Hermon in the land of Mizpeh, who 4 all united against Israel, as a common enemy. And they went out, they and all their hosts with them, much people, even as the sand that [is] upon the sea shore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many; a prodigious army, with horses and chariots, armed with iron weapons, and thought they should 5 easily destroy the Israelites, who only fought on foot. And when all these kings were met together, they came and pitched together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel.

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And the LORD said unto Joshua, who went to ask direction from him, Be not afraid because of them :* for tomorrow about this time will I deliver them up all slain before Israel : thou shalt hough their horses, cut their sinews, and thus unfit 7 them for war, and burn their chariots with fire. So Joshua

*We can scarcely suppose that Joshua was afraid; but some of the people might be discouraged by their number, and horses, and chariots; therefore Joshua is directed to encour age them in the name of the Lord, and to assure them of success: and he fixes the time

came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly; and they fell upon them before they were aware, or had time to draw up in order of bat8 tle. And the LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them unto great Zidon, a chief city of Syrophenicia, which lay on the coast of the Mediterranean sea, and unto Misrephothmaim, or, the salt pits, (in the Hebrew, burnings of waters) and unto the valley of Mizpeh, eastward; and they smote them, until they left them none re9 maining. And Joshua did unto them as the LORD bade him, he houghed their horses, and burnt their chariots with fire. This showed his readiness to obey God's command, and his firm confidence in his power and promises; for no doubt it was an act of great selfdenial to destroy the horses and chariots, which would 10 have been so useful in their further conquests. And Joshua at that time turned back, and took Hazor, and smote the king thereof with the sword, that is, Jabin, the chief of these confederate kings, who had escaped to his own city: for Hazor before11 time was the head of all those kingdoms. And they smote all the souls that [were] therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying [them :] there was not any left to breathe: 12 and he burnt Hazor with fire. And all the cities of those kings, and all the kings of them, did Joshua take, and smote them with the edge of the sword, [and] he utterly destroyed 13 them, as Moses the servant of the LORD commanded.

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[as for] the cities that stood still in their strength, that were not destroyed in the attack, nor utterly ruined in the taking of them, Israel burned none of them, save Hazor only; [that] did Joshua burn, as a warning to the others, and because the 14 king thereof was chiefly concerned in raising this last war. And all the spoil of these cities, and the cattle, the children of Israel took for a prey unto themselves; but every man they smote with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them, neither left they any to breathe; they left none to molest 15 them, or to infect them or their posterity by their idolatry. As the LORD commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so did Joshua; he left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses.

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So Joshua took all that land, the hills and all the south country, and all the land of Goshen, and the valley, and the plain, and the mountain of Israel, and the valley of the same; either the mountainous part of the country, or, as some think, Bethel, the mountain were Jacob once lived, and where he was 17 first called Israel. [Even] from the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir, even unto Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon under mount Hermon and all their kings he took, and smote 18 them, and slew them. Joshua made war a long time with VOL. II. LI

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