Joshua 8
1 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. See, I have delivered into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land.
And the Lord said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou discouraged: take with thee all the people of war, and arise, go up to 'Ai; see, I have given into thy hand the king of 'Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land.
2 And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set up an ambush behind the city.”
And thou shalt do to 'Ai and to its king as thou hast done unto Jericho and its king; only its spoil and its cattle shall ye take for booty unto yourselves; but lay thee an ambush for the city in its rear.
3 So Joshua and the whole army set out to attack Ai. Joshua chose 30,000 mighty men of valor and sent them out at night
So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against 'Ai: and Joshua chose out thirty thousand mighty men of valor, and sent them away by night.
4 with these orders: “Pay attention. You are to lie in ambush behind the city, not too far from it. All of you must be ready.
And he commanded them, saying, Behold, ye shall lie in wait against the city, in the rear of the city; go not very far from the city; and be ye all ready;
5 Then I and all the troops with me will advance on the city. When they come out against us as they did the first time, we will flee from them.
And I, and all the people that are with me, will approach unto the city; and it shall come to pass that, when they come out against us, as at the first time, we will flee before them;
6 They will pursue us until we have drawn them away from the city, for they will say, ‘The Israelites are running away from us as they did before.’ So as we flee from them,
And they will come out after us, till we have drawn them from the city; for they will say, They flee from us as at the first time: and we will flee before them.
7 you are to rise from the ambush and seize the city, for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand.
And then shall ye rise up from the ambush, and take possession of the city; and the Lord your God will deliver it in into your hand.
8 And when you have taken the city, set it on fire. Do as the LORD has commanded! See, I have given you orders.”
And it shall be, that as soon as ye have seized the city, ye shall set the city on fire; according to the word of the Lord shall ye do: see, I have commanded you.
9 So Joshua sent them out, and they went to the place of ambush and lay in wait between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. But Joshua spent that night among the people.
And Joshua sent them off: and they went to lie in ambush, and remained between Beth-el and 'Ai, on the west side of 'Ai; but Joshua lodged that night among the people.
10 Joshua got up early the next morning and mobilized his men, and he and the elders of Israel marched before them up to Ai.
And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and numbered the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people, toward 'Ai.
11 Then all the troops who were with him marched up and approached the city. They arrived in front of Ai and camped to the north of it, with the valley between them and the city.
And all the people of war that were with him went up, and drew nigh, and came opposite the city, and encamped on the north side of 'Ai; and the valley was between them and 'Ai.
12 Now Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set up an ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.
And he took about five thousand men, and set them as an ambush between Beth-el and 'Ai, on the west side of 'Ai.
13 So the forces were stationed with the main camp to the north of the city and the rear guard to the west of the city. And that night Joshua went into the valley.
And the people, all the camp that was on the north of the city, and its ambush on the west of the city got ready; and Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley.
14 When the king of Ai saw the Israelites, he hurried out early in the morning with the men of the city to engage them in battle at an appointed place overlooking the Arabah. But he did not know that an ambush had been set up against him behind the city.
And it came to pass, when the king of 'Ai saw this, the men of the city hastened and rose up early, and went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at the time appointed, before the plain; but he knew not that there was an ambush against him in the rear of the city.
15 Joshua and all Israel let themselves be beaten back before them, and they fled toward the wilderness.
And Joshua and Israel feigned themselves beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness.
16 Then all the men of Ai were summoned to pursue them, and they followed Joshua and were drawn away from the city.
And all the people that were in 'Ai were called together to pursue after them; and they pursued after Joshua, and were drawn away from the city.
17 Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel, leaving the city wide open while they pursued Israel.
And there was not a man left in 'Ai or Beth-el, that went not out after Israel; and they left the city open, and pursued after Israel.
18 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Hold out your battle lance toward Ai, for into your hand I will deliver the city.” So Joshua held out his battle lance toward Ai,
And the Lord said unto Joshua, Stretch out the spear that is in thy hand toward 'Ai; for into thy hand will I give it. And Joshua stretched out the spear which was in his hand toward the city.
19 and as soon as he did so, the men in ambush rose quickly from their position. They rushed forward, entered the city, captured it, and immediately set it on fire.
And the ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he stretched out his hand; and they entered into the city, and took possession of it, and hastened and set the city on fire.
20 When the men of Ai turned and looked back, the smoke of the city was rising into the sky. They could not escape in any direction, and the troops who had fled to the wilderness now became the pursuers.
And the men of 'Ai turned [and looked] behind them, and they saw, and, behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven; and they had no power to flee this way or that way; and the people that had fled to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers.
21 When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that smoke was rising from it, they turned around and struck down the men of Ai.
For when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had seized the city, and that the smoke of the city ascended: they turned back, and smote the men of 'Ai.
22 Meanwhile, those in the ambush came out of the city against them, and the men of Ai were trapped between the Israelite forces on both sides. So Israel struck them down until no survivor or fugitive remained.
And the others issued out of the city against them; so that the Israelites had them in the middle, some on this side, and some on that side; and they smote them, until there was not left of them one that remained or escaped.
23 But they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.
And the king of 'Ai they caught alive, and brought him to Joshua.
24 When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai who had pursued them into the field and wilderness, and when every last one of them had fallen by the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and put it to the sword as well.
And it came to pass, that, when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of 'Ai in the field, in the wilderness wherein they had pursued them, and when they were all fallen by the edge of the sword, until they were consumed, All the Israelites returned unto 'Ai, and smote it with the edge of the sword.
25 A total of twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai.
And [the number of] all that fell in that day, both of men and women, was twelve thousand, all the people of 'Ai.
26 Joshua did not draw back the hand that held his battle lance until he had devoted to destruction all who lived in Ai.
And Joshua drew not back his hand, wherewith he had stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of 'Ai.
27 Israel took for themselves only the cattle and plunder of that city, as the LORD had commanded Joshua.
Only the cattle and the spoil of that city Israel took as booty unto themselves, according to the word of the Lord which he had commanded Joshua.
28 So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolation to this day.
And Joshua burnt 'Ai, and made it a ruinous heap of desolation for ever, even unto this day,
29 He hung the king of Ai on a tree until evening, and at sunset Joshua commanded that they take down the body from the tree and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And over it they raised a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day.
And the king of 'Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide; and at the going down of the sun, Joshua commanded, and they took his carcass down from the tree and cast it at the entrance of the city gate, and they raised over him a great heap of stones, [which is] even unto this day.
30 At that time Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal to the LORD, the God of Israel,
Then did Joshua build an altar unto the Lord, the God of Israel on mount 'Ebal,
31 just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses: “an altar of uncut stones on which no iron tool has been used.” And on it they offered burnt offerings to the LORD, and they sacrificed peace offerings.
As Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stones, over which no one had lifted up any iron tool; and they offered thereon burnt-offerings unto the Lord, and sacrificed peace-offerings.
32 And there in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua inscribed on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written.
And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel.
33 All Israel, foreigners and citizens alike, with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the LORD facing the Levitical priests who carried it. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded earlier, to bless the people of Israel.
And all Israel, and their elders, and the officers, and their judges, stood on this side and on that side of the ark, opposite the priests the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, the stranger no less than the native born: half of them turned toward mount Gerizzim, and the other half of them turned toward mount 'Ebal; as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded, to bless the people of Israel at first.
34 Afterward, Joshua read aloud all the words of the law—the blessings and the curses—according to all that is written in the Book of the Law.
And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, all, just as it is written in the book of the law.
35 There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua failed to read before the whole assembly of Israel, including the women, the little ones, and the foreigners who lived among them.
There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded, which Joshua did not read before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the stranger that walked in the midst of them.
