Joshua 8
1 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.
Yahweh said to Joshua, “Do not fear; do not be discouraged. Take with you all the people of war. Go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land.
2 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.
You will do to Ai and her king as you have done to Jericho and her king, except that you will take the plunder and the cattle for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the city.”
3 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.
So Joshua got up and took all the men of war up to Ai. Then Joshua chose thirty thousand men—strong, courageous men—and he sent them out at night.
4 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.
He commanded them, “Look, you will lie in ambush against the city, behind it. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you be ready.
5 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.
I and all the men with me will approach the city, and when they come out to attack us, we will run away from them just as before.
6 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.
They will come out after us until we have drawn them away from the city. They will say, 'They are running away from us as they did the last time.' So we will run away from them.
7 And ye shall rise up from the ambush and take possession of the city; and Jehovah your God will deliver it into your hand.
Then you come up out of your place of hiding, and you will capture the city. Yahweh your God will give it into your hand.
8 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.
When you capture the city, you will set it on fire. You will do this when you obey the command given in the word of Yahweh. See, I have commanded you.”
9 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.
Joshua sent them out, and they went to the place of ambush, and they hid between Bethel and Ai to the west of Ai. But Joshua slept that night among the people.
10 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.
Joshua got up early in the morning and got his soldiers ready, Joshua and the elders of Israel, and they attacked the people of Ai.
11 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.
All the fighting men who were with him went up and approached the city. They came near the city and camped on the north side of Ai. Now there was a valley between them and Ai.
12 Now he had taken about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west of the city.
He took about five thousand men and set them in ambush on the west side of the city between Bethel and Ai.
13 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.
They positioned all the soldiers, the main army on the north side of the city, and the rear guard on the west side of the city. Joshua spent that night in the valley.
14 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.
It came about when the king of Ai saw it, he and his army got up early and rushed out to attack Israel at a certain place that was overlooking the Jordan River valley. He did not know that an ambush was waiting to attack from behind the city.
15 And Joshua and all Israel let themselves be beaten before them; and they fled by the way of the wilderness.
Joshua and all Israel let themselves be defeated before them, and they fled toward the wilderness.
16 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.
All the people who were in the city were called together to go after them, and they went after Joshua and they were drawn away from the city.
17 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.
There was not a man left in Ai and Bethel who had not gone out to pursue Israel. They abandoned the city and left it open as they pursued Israel.
18 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.
Yahweh said to Joshua, “Point that spear in your hand toward Ai, for I will give Ai into your hand.” Joshua held out the spear that was in his hand toward the city.
19 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.
The soldiers hiding in ambush quickly rushed out of their place as he reached out with his hand. They ran and entered the city and captured it. They quickly set the city on fire.
20 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.
The men of Ai turned and looked back. They saw the smoke from the city rising into the sky, and they could not escape this way or that. For the Israelite soldiers who had fled into the wilderness now turned back to face those who were pursuing them.
21 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.
When Joshua and all Israel saw the ambush had captured the city with the smoke rising, they turned around and killed the men of Ai.
22 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.
The other soldiers of Israel, those who had gone in the city, came out to attack them. So the men of Ai were caught between the armies of Israel, some on this side and some on that side. Israel attacked the men of Ai; none of them survived or escaped.
23 And the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua.
They kept the king of Ai, whom they captured alive, and they brought him to Joshua.
24 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.
It came about when Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the field near the wilderness where they pursued them, and when all of them, to the very last one, had fallen by the edge of the sword, all Israel returned to Ai. They attacked it with the edge of the sword.
25 And so it was, that all who fell that day, men as well as women, were twelve thousand, all the people of Ai.
All those who fell that day, both men and women, were twelve thousand, all the people of Ai.
26 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.
Joshua did not draw back his hand with which he had reached out while holding his spear, until he had completely destroyed all the people of Ai.
27 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.
Israel took only the livestock and the plunder from the city for themselves, just as Yahweh had commanded Joshua.
28 And Joshua burned Ai, and made it an everlasting heap of desolation to this day.
Joshua burned Ai and turned it into a heap of ruins forever. It is an abandoned place to this day.
29 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.
He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening. When the sun was going down, Joshua gave the command and they took the king's body down from the tree and threw it in front of the city gates. There they set up a great heap of stones on top of it. That heap remains there to this day.
30 Then Joshua built an altar to Jehovah the God of Israel, in mount Ebal,
Then Joshua built an altar to Yahweh, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal,
31 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.
just as Moses the servant of Yahweh had commanded the people of Israel, as it was written in the Book of the Law of Moses: “An altar from uncut stones, on which no one has wielded an iron tool.” He offered on the altar burnt offerings to Yahweh, and they sacrificed peace offerings.
32 And he wrote there on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written before the children of Israel.
There, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses.
33 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.
All Israel, their elders, officers, and their judges stood on both sides of the ark before the priests and Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of Yahweh—the foreigner as well as the native born—half of them stood in front of Mount Gerizim and the other half stood in front of Mount Ebal. They blessed the people of Israel, just as Moses the servant of Yahweh had commanded them at first.
34 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.
Afterward, Joshua read all the words of the law, the blessings and the curses, just as they had been written in the book of the law.
35 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.
There was not one word from all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read in front of the assembly of Israel, including the women, the little children, and the foreigners who lived among them.
