When we heard this, we were very frightened. Now our men are afraid to fight you because the Lord your God rules the heavens above and the earth below!
Naaman and all his group returned to Elisha. He stood before Elisha and said, “Look, I now know there is no God in all the earth except in Israel. Now please accept a gift from me.”
When all our enemies heard about it and all the nations around us saw it, they were shamed. They then understood that the work had been done with the help of our God.
As the king’s order went to every state and city, there was joy and gladness among the Jewish people. In every state and city to which the king’s order went, they were having feasts and celebrating. And many people through all the empire became Jews, because they were afraid of the Jewish people.
The leaders of the tribes of Edom will be very frightened; the powerful men of Moab will shake with fear; the people of Canaan will lose all their courage.
This is a message about Egypt: Look, the Lord is coming on a fast cloud to enter Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble before him, and Egypt’s courage will melt away.
Their hearts will melt with fear, and many people will die. I have placed the killing sword at all their city gates. Oh! The sword is made to flash like lightning. It is held, ready for killing.
Where can we go now? The spies we sent have made us afraid, because they said, ‘The people there are stronger and taller than we are. The cities are big, with walls up to the sky. And we saw the Anakites there!’ ”
Then the officers should also say, “Is anyone here afraid? Has anyone lost his courage? He may go home so that he will not cause others to lose their courage, too.”
All the kings of the Amorites west of the Jordan and the Canaanite kings living by the Mediterranean Sea heard that the Lord dried up the Jordan River until the Israelites had crossed it. After that they were scared and too afraid to face the Israelites.
The people of Ai killed about thirty-six Israelites and then chased the rest from the city gate all the way down to the canyon, killing them as they went down the hill. When the Israelites saw this, they lost their courage.
The Gibeonites answered Joshua, “We lied to you because we were afraid you would kill us. We heard that the Lord your God commanded his servant Moses to give you all of this land and to kill all the people who lived in it. That is why we did this.