Joshua 8
1 Joshua te BOEIPA loh, “Rhih boeh, rhihyawp boeh. Pilnam kah caemtloek boeih ke namah taengla lo lamtah Ai te paan hang laeh. Ai kah manghai neh a pilnam khaw, a khopuei neh a khohmuen khaw nang kut ah kan tloeng he so lah.
Then Yahweh said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or discouraged [because of what happened at] Ai. Lead all of your soldiers and go there again. I will help you to defeat the king of Ai, his people, and his city, and [enable you to take] his land.
2 Te dongah Ai neh a manghai te Jerikho neh a manghai na saii bangla saii bal. A kutbuem neh a rhamsa te namamih ham poelyoe uh. Khopuei kah a hael ah namah kah rhongngol te khueh,” a ti nah.
Your army will do to the people of Ai and their king like what you did to the people of Jericho and their king. But this time [I will permit you to] take all their possessions and keep them for yourselves. But first, tell some of your soldiers to [hide behind] the city [and] prepare to suddenly attack it.”
3 Te dongah Joshua neh caemtloek pilnam boeih loh Ai te tloek ham thoo uh. Te vaengah Joshua loh tatthai hlangrhalh hlang thawng sawmthum te a coelh tih khoyin ah a tueih.
So Joshua led all his army toward Ai. He chose 30,000 of his best fighters/warriors and prepared to send them out during the night.
4 Te phoeiah amih tea uen tih, “Khopuei hael ah khopuei aka rhongngol thil rhoek te nangmih loh so uh. Khopuei neh bahoeng lakhla uh boel lamtah hueltue la boeih om uh.
He said to them, “Listen carefully. Some of you must hide on the other side of the city. Do not go far from the city. Just be ready [to attack].
5 Kamah khaw kamah taengkah pilnam boeih long khaw khopuei ke m'paan uh pawn ni. Lamhma kah bangla mamih aka mah ham ha moe uh atah amih mikhmuh ah n'rhaelrham uh ni.
I and the men who are with me will march toward the city [in the morning]. The men in the city will come out to fight us, like they did before. Then we will turn around and start to run away from them.
6 Te vaengah khopuei lamkah mamih n'cing duela mamih hnuk han hloem uh saeh lamtah amih mikhmuh kah n'rhaelrham uh vaengah lamhma kah vanbangla, 'Mamih mikhmuh lamkah loh rhaelrham uh coeng, 'ti uh saeh.
They will think that we are running away from them like we did before. So they will chase us away from the city. While we are running away,
7 Te vaengah nangmih loh rhongngol kung lamkah thoo uh lamtah khopuei te huul uh. BOEIPA na Pathen loh na kut dongah han tloeng bitni.
[those of you who are hiding come out and] rush into the city and capture it. Yahweh your God will enable you to conquer it.
8 Ana om saeh, khopuei te na loh uh vaengah khopuei te hmai neh hlup uh. BOEIPA kah olka bangla saii uh, so lah, nangmih te kang uen coeng,” a ti nah.
After you capture the city, burn it. Do what Yahweh has commanded us to do. Those are the orders I am giving to you.”
9 Te dongah Joshua kah a tueih rhoek te rhong la cet uh tih Ai khotlak kah Ai neh Bethel laklo ah ngol uh. Tedae tekah hlaem ah Joshua tah pilnam lakli ah rhaeh van.
Then Joshua [prepared to] send some of them to [hide and] wait between Ai and Bethel, which was west of Ai. But Joshua stayed with his other soldiers that night.
10 Joshua khaw mincang ah thoo tih pilnam tea soep. Te phoeiah mah neh Israela hamca rhoek tah Ai pilnam mikhmuh ah cet.
Early the next morning, Joshua gathered his soldiers together. Then he and the other Israeli leaders led them up to Ai.
11 Pilnam caemtloek boeih loh a taengah cet uh tih thoeih uh. Khopuei hmaia pha uh vaengah Ai tlangpuei kolrhawk laklo, laklo neh Ai laklo ah rhaeh uh.
They all set up their tents close to Ai, just to the north of the city, where all the people of the city could see them. There was a valley between them and the city.
12 Te phoeiah hlang thawng nga tluka khuen tih khopuei khotlak Bethel neh Ai laklo ah amih te rhongngol la a khueh.
Then Joshua chose about 5,000 men and told them to go and hide just west of the city, between Ai and Bethel.
13 Pilnam te khopuei tlangpuei rhaehhmuen boeih neh khopuei tuitun ah hnukdawn la tluep a khueh Joshua loh khoyin ah kol la cet.
So those men did that. The main group of soldiers was north of the city, and the others were hiding west of the city. That night Joshua went down into the valley.
14 Tedae Ai manghai loh a hmuh vaengah khopuei tongpa rhoek te baang thoo tih Israel mah ham caem la cet uh. A pilnam pum loh Arabah hmai kah tingtunnah ah om uh dae khopuei kah a hael aha rhongngol thil te ming pawh.
When the king of Ai saw the Israeli army, he and his soldiers got up early the next morning and quickly went out of the city to fight them. They went to a place east of the city, but they did not know that some Israeli soldiers were hiding behind the city.
15 Amih mikhmuh ah Joshua neh Israel pum loh kolong uh tih khosoek long la rhaelrham uh.
Joshua and the Israeli soldiers [who were with him] allowed the army of Ai to push them back. They ran toward the desert.
16 Te dongah amih hloem ham Ai khopuei kah pilnam pum te a hueh tih Joshua hnuka hloem uh dongah khopuei lamloh bang cing uh.
The men in Ai were ordered to chase after Joshua and his men. So they left the city and started to pursue the Israelis.
17 Israel hnuk aka hloem mueh hlang te Ai neh Bethel ah om pawh. Khopuei tea ah oem la a hnoo uh tih Israel tea hloem uh.
All the men of Ai and the men of Bethel pursued the Israeli army. They did not leave even one man in Ai to defend it. The [gates of the] city were left wide open.
18 BOEIPA loh Joshua taengah, “Na kut dongkah soe neh Ai ke nuen lah, na kut dongah kan tloeng bitni,” a ti nah. Te dongah Joshua loh khopuei ke a kut dongkah soe neha nuen.
Then Yahweh said to Joshua, “[Lift up] your spear [and] point it toward Ai, because I am going to enable your soldiers to capture it!” So Joshua pointed [his spear] toward Ai.
19 Te dongah rhongngol loh amah hmuen lamkah koe thoo tiha yong uh vaengah a kut te a phuel pah. Te vaengah khopuei la kun uh tiha buem uh. Khopuei te khaw hmai neh kuelha hlup uh.
When the Israeli men who were hiding saw that, they rushed out from the places where they were hiding and ran into the city. They quickly captured it and set it on fire.
20 Ai kah hlang rhoek loh a hnuk la mael uh tiha hmuh uh vaengah khopuei kah hmaikhu loh vaan la tarha luei hang coeng. Tedae heben hebang la rhaelrham ham khaw a hmuen om voel pawt tih khosoek la aka rhaelrham pilnam long khaw a khuplet la han hloem coeng.
When the men of Ai looked back, they saw smoke rising from their city. But they could not escape, because the Israeli troops stopped running away.
21 Rhongngol loh khopueia buem tih khopuei kah hmaikhua luei te Joshua neh Israel pum loh a hmuh vaengah Ai kah hlang rhoek te kupleta tloek uh.
Joshua and his men saw that the men who had been hiding had captured the city and were burning it, and they saw the smoke rising. So they turned around and started to attack the men of Ai.
22 Amih mah ham khopuei lamkah aka coe rhoek te khaw he ben he bang la Israel loha laklung aha om sakuh. Te dongah amih te amah taengah rhaengnaeng neh hlangyong paih mueh laa ngawn uh.
Meanwhile, the soldiers who had captured the city came out [and attacked them from the rear]. So the men of Ai were caught between the two groups of Israeli soldiers. None of the men of Ai escaped. The Israelis fought until they killed all of them. Only the king of Ai was still alive.
23 Tedae Ai manghai tea hing la a tuuk uh tih Joshua taenglaa khuen uh.
Then they seized the king of Ai and brought him to Joshua.
24 Ai kah khosa boeih te Israel loh a ngawn tih a khah sak phoeiah te khosoek lohma kah te khaw a hloem uh tih cunghang ha neh boeiha cungku sakuh. Amih te a cing phoeiah Israel tah boeih mael uh tih Ai te cunghang ha neha tloek uh.
While they were fighting, the Israeli army pursued the men of Ai into the fields and into the desert, and killed all of them. Then they went to Ai and killed everyone who was there.
25 Tekah khohnin ah Ai kah hlang boeih tongpa lamloh huta hil thawng hlai nit la boeih cungku uh.
They killed 12,000 men and women.
26 Ai kah khosa rhoek te boeiha thup hlan khuiah Joshua loh a kuta yueh mueh la soe neha nuen.
Joshua continued to point his spear [LIT] toward Ai, until all the people in Ai had been killed.
27 Tedae khopuei kah rhamsa neha kutbuem tah BOEIPA loh Joshuaa uen olka vanbangla Israel loh amamih hama poelyoe uh.
The Israeli soldiers took for themselves the animals and the other things that had belonged to the people of Ai, just like Yahweh had told Joshua that they should do.
28 Te phoeiah Ai te Joshua loh a hoeh tih tihnin due, kumhal kah imrhong khopong la a khueh.
Joshua and his soldiers burned Ai city and caused it to become a pile of ruins. It is still like that today.
29 Ai manghai te khaw kholaeh tue due thing dongaha kuiok sakuh. Khomika tlak vaengah tah Joshua loh a uen vanbangla thing dongkah a rhok tea hlak uh tih khopuei vongka kah thohka aha voeih uh. Anih sokah lungto, lungkuk khaw tihnin due lungkuk la muep ngang.
Joshua hanged the king of Ai on a tree and left his corpse hanging there until the evening. At sunset Joshua told his men to take the king’s corpse down from the tree and to throw it on the ground at the city gate. [After they did that], they piled a lot of rocks on top of the corpse, and that pile of rocks is still there.
30 Te vaengah Joshua loh Israel Pathen BOEIPA kah hmueihtuk te Ebal tlang aha suem.
Joshua [told his men to] build on Ebal Mountain an altar for Yahweh, the God [who is worshiped by] the Israeli people.
31 BOEIPA kah sal Moses loh Israel ca rhoek a uen tih Moses kah olkhueng cabu dongaha daek vanbangla, hmueihtuk lung khaw a hmabuet la om tih thi hnonah pawh. Tekah soah BOEIPA ham hmueihhlutnah khawa nawn uh tih rhoepnah hmueih khaw a nawn uh.
They built it just like Moses, the man who served God [well], had written previously in the laws [that God had given to him]. They made it from stones that had not been cut using iron tools. The Israelis then offered sacrifices to Yahweh that were burned completely on the altar. They also offered sacrifices to restore fellowship with Yahweh.
32 Te vaengah Israel ca rhoek kah mikhmuh aha daek Moses olkhueng te rhaepnit la lungto dongah pahoia daek.
As the Israelis watched, Joshua wrote on stones the laws that [Yahweh had given] to Moses previously.
33 Te vaengah Israel pum neh a hamca rhoek khaw, rhoiboei rhoek neh laitloek rhoek khaw BOEIPA kah paipi thingkawng aka kawt Levi khosoih rhoek hmaikah thingkawng khatben khatbang ah pai uh. Lamhma ah Israel pilnam yoethen paek ham BOEIPA kah sal Mosesa uen vanbangla Yinlai neh tolrhum mupoe loh Gerizim tlang hmai ah hlangvang, Ebal tlang hmai ah hlangvang omuh.
The Israeli leaders, the officials, the judges, and other Israelis were there, standing nearby. Many people who were not Israelis were also there. Half of the people stood [on one side of the valley] below Ebal Mountain, and the other half of the people stood [on the other side of the valley] below Gerizim Mountain. The sacred chest was [in the valley] between the two groups. That was what Moses had previously commanded that the people should do when [Yahweh was about to] bless them.
34 Te phoeiah olkhueng cabu khui ah boeiha daek vanbangla yoethennah neh rhunkhuennah olkhueng ol te boeiha hoe.
Then Joshua read [to the people] all that [Moses] had written previously. That included what Yahweh had taught them and the ways [that he promised] to bless them [if they obeyed his commands], or to curse them [if they disobeyed them].
35 Moses kah a uen olka dongah aka om pawt boeih te tah Joshua loh Israel hlangping pum neh huta camoe taengah khaw, amih lakli ah aka pongpa yinlai taengah khaw hoe van pawh.
All the Israelis gathered together [to listen]—the men, the women, and the children. The (foreigners/people who were not Israelis) who were living among them also listened, while Joshua read all the commands that Moses had written.
