26. Then Joshua killed the five kings. He hung their bodies on five trees. And he left them hanging on the trees until evening.
27. At sunset Joshua told his men to take the bodies down from the trees. Then they threw their bodies into the same cave where they had been hiding. They covered the opening to the cave with large rocks. They are still there today.
28. That day Joshua defeated Makkedah. He killed the king and completely destroyed all the people in that city. He killed them as an offering to the Lord. There was no one left alive. He did the same thing to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho.
29. Then Joshua and all the Israelites traveled from Makkedah. They went to Libnah and attacked it.
30. The Lord allowed them to defeat it and its king. They killed every person in the city. No one was left alive. And they did the same thing to that king as they had done to the king of Jericho.
31. Then Joshua and all the Israelites left Libnah and went to Lachish. They camped around Lachish and attacked it.
32. The Lord allowed them to defeat Lachish. On the second day Joshua defeated it. The Israelites killed everyone in that city. This was the same thing they had done to Libnah.
33. During this same time Horam king of Gezer came to help Lachish. But Joshua also defeated him and his army. There was no one left alive.
34. Then Joshua and all the Israelites went from Lachish to Eglon. They camped around Eglon and attacked it.
35. That day they captured Eglon. They killed all its people and completely destroyed everything in it as an offering to the Lord. This is the same thing they had done to Lachish.
36. Then Joshua and the Israelites went from Eglon to Hebron and attacked it.
37. They captured it and all the little towns near it. The Israelites killed everyone in Hebron. No one was left alive there. This was the same thing they had done to Eglon. They completely destroyed the city and all its people as an offering to the Lord.
38. Then Joshua and the Israelites went back to Debir and attacked it.
39. They captured that city, its king and all the little towns near it. They completely destroyed everyone in Debir as an offering to the Lord. No one was left alive there. Israel did to Debir and its king the same thing they had done to Libnah and its king. This was what they had done to Hebron.
40. So Joshua defeated all the kings of the cities of these areas: the mountains, southern Canaan, the western mountain slopes and the eastern mountain slopes. The Lord, the God of Israel, had told Joshua to completely destroy all the people as an offering to the Lord. So he left no one alive in those places.
41. Joshua captured all the cities from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza. And he captured all the cities from Goshen to Gibeon.
42. He captured all these cities and their kings on one trip. He did it because the Lord, the God of Israel, was fighting for Israel.
43. Then Joshua and all the Israelites returned to their camp at Gilgal.