Joshua 8
1 The Lord said to Joshua, “Don't be afraid or downhearted! Take all the fighting men with you and attack Ai, for I'm handing over to you the king of Ai, his people, his town, and his land.
And the Lord said to Joshua, Fear not, nor be timorous: take with thee all the men of war, and arise, go up to Gai; behold, I have given into thy hands the king of Gai, and his land.
2 You will do to Ai and its king what you did to Jericho and its king. However, this time you may keep for yourselves the plunder and the livestock. Set up an ambush behind the town.”
And thou shalt do to Gai, as thou didst to Jericho and its king; and thou shalt take to thyself the spoil of its cattle; set now for thyself an ambush for the city behind.
3 So Joshua and all the people got ready to attack Ai. He chose thirty thousand of his best fighting men and sent them out at night.
And Joshua and all the men of war rose to go up to Gai; and Joshua chose out thirty thousand mighty men, and he sent them away by night.
4 He ordered them, “You lie in ambush behind the town, not far away. All of you need to be ready.
And he charged them, saying, Do ye lie in ambush behind the city: do not go far from the city, and ye shall all be ready.
5 When I and the rest of the men with me approach the town, the defenders will run out to attack us just like before, and we'll run away from them.
Land I and all with me will draw near to the city: and it shall come to pass when the inhabitants of Gai shall come forth to meet us, as before, that we will flee from before them.
6 They'll chase after us as we draw them away from the town, because they'll say to each other, ‘They're running away from us just like before.’
And when they shall come out after us, we will draw them away from the city; and they will say, These men flee from before us, as also before.
7 While we're running away from them, you will get up from your ambush positions and take the town for the Lord God will hand it over to you.
And ye shall rise up out of the ambuscade, and go into the city.
8 Once you've captured the town, set it on fire, as the Lord has instructed. Now follow your orders.”
Ye shall do according to this word, lo! I have commanded you.
9 Joshua sent them out, and they went to lie in ambush between Bethel and the west side of Ai. But that night Joshua stayed with the people in the camp.
And Joshua sent them, and they went to lie in ambush; and they lay between Baethel and Gai, westward of Gai.
10 Early the next morning Joshua got up early and gathered the people and went up to attack Ai, accompanied by the elders of Israel.
And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and numbered the people; and he went up, he and the elders before the people to Gai.
11 All the fighting men who were with him approached the front of the town, and camped there on the north side, with a valley between them and Ai.
And all the men of war went up with him, and they went forward and came over against the city eastward.
12 He took about five thousand men and had them lie in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the town.
And the ambuscade [was] on the west side of the city.
13 So the army took up their positions—the main army to the north of the town, and the ambush to the west. Joshua went that night to the valley.
14 As soon as the king of Ai saw the situation, he and all his men rushed out early in the morning to attack the Israelites where they had before, at a place overlooking the Jordan valley. He didn't know about the ambush waiting on the other side of the town.
And it came to pass when the king of Gai saw [it], he hasted and went out to meet them direct to the battle, he and all the people [that were] with him: and he knew not that there was an ambuscade [formed] against him behind the city.
15 Joshua and the Israelites allowed themselves to be driven back, and ran away in the direction of the wilderness.
And Joshua and Israel saw, and retreated from before them.
16 All the men of the town were called out to chase after them, and as they pursued Joshua they were drawn father from the town.
And they pursued after the children of Israel, and they themselves went to a distance from the city.
17 There wasn't a man left in Ai and Bethel who didn't go out to chase the Israelites. They left the town wide open as they pursued the Israelites.
There was no one left in Gai who did not pursue after Israel; and they left the city open, and pursued after Israel.
18 Then the Lord told Joshua, “Hold up the spear in your hand and point it at Ai, because I'm giving it to you.” So Joshua held up the spear in his hand and pointed it at the town.
And the Lord said to Joshua, Stretch forth thy hand with the spear that is in thy hand toward the city, for I have delivered it into thy hands; and the liers in wait shall rise up quickly out of their place.
19 As soon as they saw this signal the men lying in ambush got up and rushed into the town. They captured it, and quickly set it on fire.
And Joshua stretched out his hand [and] his spear toward the city, and the ambuscade rose up quickly out of their place; and they came forth when he stretched out his hand; and they entered into the city, and took it; and they hasted and burnt the city with fire.
20 When the men of Ai looked back they saw the smoke rising up into the sky from the town. They had nowhere to run to, because the Israelites who had been running away towards the wilderness now turned on their pursuers.
And when the inhabitants of Gai looked round behind them, then they saw the smoke going up out of the city to heaven, and they were no longer able to flee this way or that way.
21 For when Joshua and the Israelites saw that the ambush group had captured the town, and that smoke was rising from it, they turned around and attacked the men of Ai.
And Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambuscade had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city went up to heaven; and they turned and smote the men of Gai.
22 The men from the ambush also came from the town and attacked them, so they were caught on the middle, with the Israelites on both sides. The Israelites cut them down—not a single man survived or got away.
And these came forth out of the city to meet them; and they were in the midst of the army, some [being] on this side, and some on that; and they smote them until there was not left of them one who survived and escaped.
23 Only the king of Ai was captured alive, and he was brought before Joshua.
And they took the king of Gai alive, and brought him to Joshua.
24 When the Israelites had finished killing the men of Ai who had chased them towards the wilderness—once they had all been cut down by the sword—the whole Israelite army returned to the town and killed everyone living there.
And when the children of Israel had ceased slaying all that were in Gai, and in the fields, and in the mountain on the descent, from whence they pursued them [even] to the end, then Joshua returned to Gai, and smote it with the edge of the sword.
25 Those who were killed that day numbered twelve thousand, men and women—all the inhabitants of Ai.
And they that fell in that day, men and women, were twelve thousand: [they slew] all the inhabitants of Gai.
26 For Joshua had continued to hold up his spear until all the people of Ai had been destroyed.
27 Only the livestock and plunder were taken from the town by the Israelites, as the Lord had instructed Joshua.
Beside the spoils that were in the city, all things which the children of Israel took as spoil for themselves according to the command of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Joshua.
28 So Joshua burned the town of Ai, making it permanently into a heap of ruins where no one lives to this very day.
And Joshua burnt the city with fire: he made it an uninhabited heap for ever, [even] to this day.
29 He killed the king of Ai and hung his body on a tree until evening. When the sun went down Joshua ordered the body taken down. They threw it down in front of the entrance to the town gate and piled a heap of rocks over it which is still there today.
And he hanged the king of Gai on a gallows; and he remained on the tree till evening: and when the sun went down, Joshua gave charge, and they took down his body from the tree, and cast it into a pit, and they set over him a heap of stones until this day.
30 Then Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal for the Lord, the God of Israel.
Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord God of Israel in mount Gaebal,
31 He did what Moses, the servant of the Lord, had told the Israelites to do, as recorded in the book of the Law of Moses: an altar of uncut stones which no one has worked with iron tools. On the altar they made burnt offerings and friendship offerings to the Lord.
as Moses the servant of the Lord commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the law of Moses, an altar of unhewn stones, on which iron had not been lifted up; and he offered there whole-burnt-offerings to the Lord, and a peace-offering.
32 There in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua inscribed on the stones a copy of the Law of Moses.
And Joshua wrote upon the stones a copy of the law, even the law of Moses, before the children of Israel.
33 All the Israelites, the elders, the officers, and the judges stood in two groups facing each other with the priests, the Levites, and the Ark of the Lord's Agreement between them. (Included were the foreigners as well as the native born.) Half of them stood in front of Mount Gerizim, and half in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses had ordered, for the blessing of the people this first time.
And all Israel, and their elders, and their judges, and their scribes, passed on one side and on the other before the ark; and the priests and the Levites took up the ark of the covenant of the Lord; and the stranger and the native were there, who were half of them near mount Garizin, and half near mount Gaebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord commanded at first, to bless the people.
34 Then Joshua read out the whole Law—all the blessings and curses recorded in the book of the Law.
And afterwards Joshua read accordingly all the words of this law, the blessings and the curses, according to all things written in the law of Moses.
35 Joshua read out every word of Moses' instruction to the whole Israelite assembly, including the women, the children, and the foreigners who lived among them.
There was not a word of all that Moses charged Joshua, which Joshua read not in the ears of all the assembly of the children of Israel, the men, and the women, and the children, and the strangers that joined themselves to Israel.
