Joshua 8
1 Hahoi BAWIPA ni nang ni taket hanh. Na lungpout hanh, nang koe kaawm e ransanaw abuemlah kaw nateh, thaw nateh Ai kho lah cet haw. Ai siangpahrang hoi ahnie taminaw ahnie khopui, ahnie talai, nange na kut dawk na poe han.
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 Jeriko khopui hoi siangpahrangnaw e lathueng na sak awh e patetlah Ai kho hoi siangpahrangnaw e lathueng hai na sak awh han. Hatei teh na lawp awh e hno, saringnaw hah namamouh hanelah na la awh han. Khopui e hnukkhu lah ramveng hah na ta awh han telah Joshua koe a dei pouh.
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 Joshua hoi ransanaw abuemlah ni Ai kho tuk hanelah a kamthaw awh. Joshua ni athakaawme ransanaw 30,000 touh a rawi teh, karumsaning vah a patoun.
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 Nangmouh ni hote kho tuk hanelah abuemlahoi coungkacoe awm awh. Khopui hoi kahlatlah cet awh hanh. Lungkânging lahoi kâhruetcuetcalah awm awh.
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 Kai hoi rei kaawm e abuemlah ni khopui rek ka hnai awh han. Taminaw ni ahmoun e patetlah na tuk awh hanelah a tâco awh toteh, maimouh ni ahnimae hmalah yawng awh.
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 Ahnimouh ni hai na pâlei awh nahanelah khopui thung hoi tâcawt awh vaiteh, khopui hoi a kâhla awh e hah panuek awh hoeh vaiteh, na pâlei awh han. Bangkongtetpawiteh, ahmoun e patetlah maimae hmalah a yawng awh toe ati awh han.
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 Hahoi nangmouh ni taran ring na laihoi hmuen alouklouk hoi na thaw awh vaiteh, khopui na tuk awh pawiteh, nangmae BAWIPA ni nangmae kut dawk na poe awh han.
[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 Na tuk teh, na tâ awh torei hmai na sawi awh han. BAWIPA ni kâ na poe e patetlah na sak awh han telah kai ni bout ka dei telah ahnimanaw koe lawk na thui.
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 Joshua ni a patoun e patetlah ahnimouh ni taran a ring awh teh, Bethel kho hoi Ai kho a rahak dawk Ai khopui hnukkhu lah ao awh. Joshua teh hote karum vah ahnimouh koe ao.
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 Amon vah a thaw teh, taminaw hah a parei hnukkhu, Isarel miphun kacuenaw hoi cungtalah Ai kho hmaloe a cei sin awh.
Early the next morning, Joshua gathered his soldiers together. Then he and the other Israeli leaders led them up to Ai.
11 Joshua e ransanaw abuemlah ni a pâlei awh teh, khopui teng a pha awh torei teh, kho e atunglah rim a sak awh. Ahnimouh hoi khopui a rahak ravo buet touh ao.
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 Hahoi Ai kho a hnukkhu, Bethel khopui a rahak dawk taran ring sak hanelah, tami 24,000 touh hane a ta.
Then Joshua chose about 5,000 men and told them to go and hide just west of the city, between Ai and Bethel.
13 Hottelah khopui koe lahoi Ransanaw a pawp sak teh, hnukkhu lahoi hai taran koung a ring sak teh, Joshua ni hote karum vah, ravo lungui ao.
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 Hote hnonaw hah Ai siangpahrang ni a hmu navah kho thung tongpanaw pueng teh, karanglah kârakueng awh leih, Siangpahrang teh, tami abuemlah hoi Isarel miphunnaw tuk hanelah, kâdawk e atueng dawk, hmuen tanghling koe a cei awh. Kho e hnukkhu lah ramveng ao tie hah panuek awh hoeh.
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 Joshua hoi Isarel miphunnaw abuemlah ni ka sung e patetlah kâsak awh teh, kahrawng lah a yawng awh.
Joshua and the Israeli soldiers [who were with him] allowed the army of Ai to push them back. They ran toward the desert.
16 Ahnimanaw pâlei hanelah, Ai siangpahrang ni kho thung kaawm e tongpanaw pueng hah a kaw teh, Joshua a pâlei awh. Kho hoi a kâhla toe tie panuek laipalah hoehoe a pâlei awh.
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 Isarel miphunnaw ka pâlei hoeh e Ai hoi Bethel kho thung vah, tongpa buet touh hai awm hoeh. Kho teh a aw lah a ceitakhai teh, Isarel miphunnaw hah a pâlei awh.
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 BAWIPA ni nang ni na patuep e tahroe hah Ai kho koe lah nue haw, hote kho teh nange kut dawk na poe han atipouh e patetlah, Joshua ni a patuep e tahroe teh hote kho koe lah a nue.
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 A nue navah ramvengnaw ni tang a thaw awh teh, karanglah a yawng awh, khothung a kâen awh teh hmai a sawi awh.
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 khonaw ni hnuklah a khet navah kho thung ka kang e hmaikhu teh, kalvan lah a luen e a hmu awh navah, na lahai yawng hane awm hoeh toe. Kahrawng lah ka yawng e taminaw hai ka pâlei e naw ni bout a tuk awh.
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 Ramvengnaw ni kho thung e hmaikhu ka luen e hah Joshua hoi Isarel miphunnaw abuemlah ni a hmu navah, bout a ban awh teh, Ai khonaw a thei awh.
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 Alouke taminaw ni kho thung hoi a tâco awh teh, khikpacu laihoi a tuk awh dawkvah, Ai kho e taminaw hah buet touh hai pâhma laipalah a thei awh.
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 Ai siangpahrang hah a hring lah a man awh teh, Joshua koe a hrawi awh.
Then they seized the king of Ai and brought him to Joshua.
24 Isarel miphunnaw ni tanghling dawk kaawm e naw, kahrawngum kaawm e naw, Ai miphunnaw abuemlah tahloi hoi koung a tâtueng awh hnukkhu, kho thung bout a kâen awh teh, tahloi hoi a thei awh.
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 Hot hnin vah, Ai kho e tami tongpa napui 12,000 touh hane a due awh.
They killed 12,000 men and women.
26 Ai kho thung e tami pueng abuemlah be a raphoe awh hoehroukrak Joshua ni tahroe a nue e kut teh hno hoeh.
Joshua continued to point his spear [LIT] toward Ai, until all the people in Ai had been killed.
27 Hateiteh, BAWIPA Cathut ni Joshua koe lawk a thui e patetlah saringnaw hoi, kut hoi a hmu awh e hnonaw hah Isarel miphunnaw ni amamouh hane a kuem awh.
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 Joshua ni Ai kho hmai a sawi teh, sahnin totouh, raphoe e songnawng lah ao awh.
Joshua and his soldiers burned Ai city and caused it to become a pile of ruins. It is still like that today.
29 Ai siangpahrang teh, tangduem totouh, thing dawk a bang awh teh, khohmo torei Joshua ni lawk a ceng e patetlah, a ro teh thing dawk e a la awh teh, kho longkha koe a tâkhawng awh. A ro e van vah talungnaw a racawt sin awh. Hote talung a racawt awh e teh, sahnin totouh ao.
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 Hahoi Joshua ni Ebal mon dawk Isarel miphunnaw e BAWIPA Cathut hanelah thuengnae khoungroe a sak awh.
Joshua [told his men to] build on Ebal Mountain an altar for Yahweh, the God [who is worshiped by] the Israeli people.
31 BAWIPA e san Mosi ni Isarel miphunnaw hah lawk a thui e teh, Mosi e kâlawk cauk dawk thut e patetlah sum hoi sak e hnopai hno mahoeh. A hoeh rae talungnaw hoi thuengnae khoungroe na sak vaiteh, BAWIPA hanelah, hmaisawi thuengnae sathei, roum thuengnae satheinaw hoi a bawk awh.
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 Joshua ni hote talung dawkvah Mosi e kâlawk phung hah Isarelnaw e a hmalah bout a thut.
As the Israelis watched, Joshua wrote on stones the laws that [Yahweh had given] to Moses previously.
33 Isarel miphunnaw yawhawi poe han a ngai dawkvah BAWIPA e san Mosi ni lawk a thui e patetlah Isarel miphunnaw, kacuenaw, ukkungnaw, lawkcengkungnaw, vaihmanaw, Levihnaw ni a hrawm awh e BAWIPA lawkkam thingkong, avoivang lah a kangdue awh teh, miphun katang hoi, ramlouk e taminaw khuehoi, Gerizim mon dawk tami tangawn, Ebal mon dawk tangawn ao awh.
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 Kâlawk cauk dawk thut e patetlah yawhawinae lawk hoi, thoebonae lawknaw pueng hah a touk pouh.
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 Joshua ni Mosi e lawk thui e pueng lawklung buet touh hai pâhma hoeh. Napui camo ramlouk e khuehoi, Isarel miphunnaw rangpuinaw hmalah koung a touk pouh.
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.
