Joshua 8
1 Then the Lord said to Joshua, Have no fear and do not be troubled: take with you all the fighting-men and go up against Ai: for I have given into your hands the king of Ai and his people and his town and his land:
And Jehovah said to Joshua, Fear not, neither be dismayed. 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 are to do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king: but their goods and their cattle you may take for yourselves: let a secret force be stationed to make a surprise attack on the town from the back.
And thou shalt do to Ai and to its king as thou didst to Jericho and to its king; only, the spoil thereof and the cattle thereof shall ye take as prey for yourselves. Set an ambush against the city behind it.
3 So Joshua and the fighting-men got ready to go up against Ai; and Joshua took thirty thousand men of war, and sent them out by night.
And Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up to Ai. And Joshua chose thirty thousand valiant men, and sent them away by night.
4 And he gave them their orders, saying, Go and take up your position secretly at the back of the town: do not go very far away, and let all of you be ready:
And he commanded them, saying, See, ye shall be in ambush against the city, behind the city: go not very far from the city, and be all of you ready.
5 And I and all the people with me will come near the town, and when they come out against us as they did before, we will go in flight from them;
And I and all the people that are with me will approach to the city; and it shall come to pass when they come out against us, as at the first, that we will flee before them.
6 And they will come out after us, till we have got them away from the town; for they will say, They have gone in flight from us as before; so we will go in flight before them;
And they will come out after us till we have drawn them from the city; for they will say, They flee before us, as at the first; and we will flee before them.
7 Then you will get up from your secret position and take the town, for the Lord your God will give it up into your hands.
And ye shall rise up from the ambush and take possession of the city; and Jehovah your God will deliver it into your hand.
8 And when you have taken the town, put fire to it, as the Lord has said: see, I have given you your orders.
And it shall be when ye have taken the city, that ye shall set the city on fire; according to the word of Jehovah shall ye do. See, I have commanded you.
9 So Joshua sent them out: and they took up a secret position between Beth-el and Ai, on the west side of Ai: but Joshua kept with the people that night.
And Joshua sent them forth; and they went to lie in ambush, and abode between Bethel and Ai, on the west of Ai. And Joshua lodged that night among the people.
10 And early in the morning Joshua got up, and put the people in order, and he and the chiefs of Israel went up before the people to Ai.
And Joshua rose early in the morning, and inspected the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai.
11 And all the fighting-men who were with him went up and came near the town, and took up a position on the north side of Ai facing the town, with a valley between him and the town.
And all the people of war that were with him went up, and drew near, and came before the city; and they encamped on the north of Ai; and the valley was between them and Ai.
12 And taking about five thousand men, he put them in position for a surprise attack on the west side of Ai, between Beth-el and Ai.
Now he had taken about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west of the city.
13 So all the people were in their places, the army on the north side of the town and the secret force on the west; and that night Joshua went down into the valley.
And when they had set the people, the whole camp on the north of the city, and their ambush on the west of the city, Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley.
14 Now when the king of Ai saw it, he got up quickly and went out to war against Israel, he and all his people, to the slope going down to the valley; but he had no idea that a secret force was waiting at the back of the town.
And it came to pass when the king of Ai saw it, that the men of the city hasted and rose early, and went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at the appointed place before the plain. But he knew not that there was an ambush against him behind the city.
15 Then Joshua and all Israel, acting as if they were overcome before them, went in flight by way of the waste land.
And Joshua and all Israel let themselves be beaten before them; and they fled by the way of the wilderness.
16 And all the people in Ai came together to go after them; and they went after Joshua, moving away from the town.
And all the people that were in the city were called together to pursue after them; and they pursued after Joshua, and were drawn away from the city.
17 There was not a man in Ai and Beth-el who did not go out after Israel; and the town was open and unwatched while they went after Israel.
And not a man remained in Ai and Bethel that went not out after Israel; and they left the city open, and pursued after Israel.
18 And the Lord said to Joshua, Let your spear be stretched out against Ai; for I will give it into your hands. So Joshua took up his spear, stretching it out in the direction of the town.
And Jehovah said to Joshua, Stretch out the javelin that is in thy hand toward Ai; for I will give it into thy hand. And Joshua stretched out the javelin that he had in his hand toward the city.
19 Then the secret force came quickly from their place, and running forward when they saw his hand stretched out, went into the town and took it, and put fire to it straight away.
And the ambush arose quickly from their place, and they ran when he stretched out his hand, and came into the city, and took it, and hasted and set the city on fire.
20 Then the men of Ai, looking back, saw the smoke of the town going up to heaven, and were unable to go this way or that: and the people who had gone in flight to the waste land were turned back on those who were coming after them.
And the men of Ai turned and saw, and behold, the smoke of the city went up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that way; and the people that fled to the wilderness turned upon the pursuers.
21 And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the town had been taken by the surprise attack, and that the smoke of the town had gone up, turning round they overcame the men of Ai.
When Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city went up, they turned again, and slew the men of Ai.
22 Then the other force came out of the town against them, so that they were being attacked on this side and on that: and Israel overcame them and let not one of them get away with his life.
And the others went out of the city against them; so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side; and they smote them, until they let none of them escape or flee away.
23 But the king of Ai they made prisoner, and took him to Joshua.
And the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua.
24 Then, after the destruction of all the people of Ai in the field and in the waste land where they went after them, and when all the people had been put to death without mercy, all Israel went back to Ai, and put to death all who were in it without mercy.
And it came to pass when Israel had ended slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness wherein they had chased them, and they had all fallen by the edge of the sword, until they were consumed, that all Israel returned to Ai, and smote it with the edge of the sword.
25 On that day twelve thousand were put to death, men and women, all the people of Ai.
And so it was, that all who fell that day, men as well as women, were twelve thousand, all the people of Ai.
26 For Joshua did not take back his hand with the outstretched spear till the destruction of the people of Ai was complete.
And Joshua did not draw back his hand, which he had stretched out with the javelin, until they had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.
27 But the cattle and the goods from that town, Israel took for themselves, as the Lord had given orders to Joshua.
Only, the cattle and the spoil of the city Israel took as prey to themselves, according to the word of Jehovah which he had commanded Joshua.
28 So Joshua gave Ai to the flames, and made it a waste mass of stones for ever, as it is to this day.
And Joshua burned Ai, and made it an everlasting heap of desolation to this day.
29 And he put the king of Ai to death, hanging him on a tree till evening: and when the sun went down, Joshua gave them orders to take his body down from the tree, and put it in the public place of the town, covering it with a great mass of stones, which is there to this day.
And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until the evening; and at the going down of the sun Joshua commanded, and they took his carcase down from the tree, and threw it down at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raised upon it a great heap of stones, [which remains] to this day.
30 Then Joshua put up an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, in Mount Ebal,
Then Joshua built an altar to Jehovah the God of Israel, in mount Ebal,
31 In the way ordered by Moses, the servant of the Lord, as it is recorded in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of uncut stones, untouched by any iron instrument: and on it they made burned offerings and peace-offerings to the Lord.
as Moses the servant of Jehovah 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 iron had not been lifted up. And they offered up burnt-offerings on it to Jehovah, and sacrificed peace-offerings.
32 And he made there on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, writing it before the eyes of the children of Israel.
And he wrote there on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written before the children of Israel.
33 And all Israel, those who were Israelites by birth, as well as the men from other lands living with them, and their responsible men and their overseers and judges, took their places round the ark, in front of the priests, the Levites, whose work it was to take up the ark of the Lord's agreement; half of them were stationed in front of Mount Gerizim and half in front of Mount Ebal, in agreement with the orders for the blessing of the children of Israel which Moses, the servant of the Lord, had given.
And all Israel, and their elders, and their officers and judges, stood on this side and on that side of the ark before the priests the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, as well the stranger as the home-born [Israelite]; half of them toward mount Gerizim, and the other half of them toward mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of Jehovah had commanded, that they should bless the people of Israel, in the beginning.
34 And after, he gave them all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, as it is all recorded in the book of the law;
And afterwards he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the law.
35 Reading to all the meeting of Israel, with the women and the children and the men from other lands who were living among them, every word of the orders which Moses had given.
There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua read not before the whole congregation of Israel, and the women, and the children, and the strangers that lived among them.
