²⁶ Then Joshua put the kings to death and exposed their bodies on five poles, and they were left hanging on the poles until evening.

²⁷ At sunset^(A) Joshua gave the order and they took them down from the poles and threw them into the cave where they had been hiding. At the mouth of the cave they placed large rocks, which are there to this day.^(B)

Various Laws

²² If someone guilty of a capital offense^(A) is put to death and their body is exposed on a pole, ²³ you must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight.^(B) Be sure to bury^(C) it that same day, because anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse.^(D) You must not desecrate^(E) the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

³¹ Now it was the day of Preparation,^(A) and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses^(B) during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down.