Joshua 8
1 And YHWH says to Joshua, “Do not fear, nor be frightened, take with you all the people of war, and rise, go up to Ai; see, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land,
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.
2 and you have done to Ai and to her king as you have done to Jericho and to her king; only spoil its spoil and its livestock for yourselves; for you set an ambush for the city at its rear.”
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.”
3 And Joshua rises, and all the people of war, to go up to Ai, and Joshua chooses thirty thousand men, mighty men of valor, and sends them away by night,
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
4 and commands them, saying, “See, you are ones lying in wait against the city, at the rear of the city, you do not go very far off from the city, and all of you have been prepared,
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.
5 and I and all the people who [are] with me draw near to the city, and it has come to pass, when they come out to meet us as at the first, and we have fled before them,
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.
6 and they have come out after us until we have drawn them out of the city, for they say, They are fleeing before us as at the first, and we have fled before them,
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,
7 and you rise from the ambush, and have occupied the city, and your God YHWH has given it into your hand;
you are to rise from the ambush and seize the city, for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand.
8 and it has been, when you capture the city, you burn the city with fire, you do according to the word of YHWH, see, I have commanded you.”
And when you have taken the city, set it on fire. Do as the LORD has commanded! See, I have given you orders.”
9 And Joshua sends them away, and they go to the ambush, and abide between Bethel and Ai, on the west of Ai; and Joshua lodges on that night in the midst of the people.
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.
10 And Joshua rises early in the morning, and inspects the people, and goes up, he and [the] elderly of Israel, before the people to Ai;
Joshua got up early the next morning and mobilized his men, and he and the elders of Israel marched before them up to Ai.
11 and all the people of war who [are] with him have gone up, and draw near and come in before the city, and encamp on the north of Ai; and the valley [is] between him and Ai.
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.
12 And he takes about five thousand men, and sets them [for] an ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west of the city;
Now Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set up an ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.
13 and they set the people, all the camp which [is] on the north of the city, and its rear on the west of the city, and that night Joshua goes on into the midst of the valley.
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.
14 And it comes to pass, when the king of Ai sees [it], that he hurries, and rises early, and the men of the city go out to meet Israel for battle, he and all his people, at the appointed time, at the front of the plain, and he has not known that an ambush [is] against him, on the rear of the city.
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.
15 And Joshua and all Israel [seem] struck before them, and flee the way of the wilderness,
Joshua and all Israel let themselves be beaten back before them, and they fled toward the wilderness.
16 and all the people who [are] in the city are called to pursue after them, and they pursue after Joshua, and are drawn away out of the city,
Then all the men of Ai were summoned to pursue them, and they followed Joshua and were drawn away from the city.
17 and there has not been a man left in Ai and Bethel who has not gone out after Israel, and they leave the city open, and pursue after Israel.
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.
18 And YHWH says to Joshua, “Stretch out with the javelin which [is] in your hand toward Ai, for I give it into your hand”; and Joshua stretches out with the javelin which [is] in his hand toward the city,
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,
19 and the ambush has risen [with] haste, out of its place, and they run at the stretching out of his hand, and go into the city, and capture it, and hurry, and burn the city with fire.
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.
20 And the men of Ai look behind them, and see, and behold, the smoke of the city has gone up to the heavens, and there has not been power in them to flee here and there—and the people who are fleeing to the wilderness have turned against the pursuer—
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.
21 and Joshua and all Israel have seen that the ambush has captured the city, and that the smoke of the city has gone up, and they turn back and strike the men of Ai;
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.
22 and these have come out from the city to meet them, and they are in the midst of Israel, some on this [side], and some on that [side], and they strike them until he has not left a remnant and escaped one to them;
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.
23 and they have caught the king of Ai alive, and bring him near to Joshua.
But they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.
24 And it comes to pass, at Israel’s finishing to slay all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness in which they pursued them (and all of them fall by the mouth of the sword until their consumption), that all of Israel turns back to Ai, and strikes it by the mouth of the sword;
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.
25 and all who fall during the day, of men and of women, are twelve thousand—all men of Ai.
A total of twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai.
26 And Joshua has not brought back his hand which he stretched out with the javelin until he has devoted all the inhabitants of Ai;
Joshua did not draw back the hand that held his battle lance until he had devoted to destruction all who lived in Ai.
27 only the livestock and the spoil of that city has Israel spoiled for themselves, according to the word of YHWH which He commanded Joshua.
Israel took for themselves only the cattle and plunder of that city, as the LORD had commanded Joshua.
28 And Joshua burns Ai, and makes it a continuous heap—a desolation to this day;
So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolation to this day.
29 and he has hanged the king of Ai on the tree until evening, and at the going in of the sun Joshua has commanded, and they take down his carcass from the tree, and cast it to the opening of the gate of the city, and raise a great heap of stones over it until this day.
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.
30 Then Joshua builds an altar to YHWH, God of Israel, in Mount Ebal,
At that time Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal to the LORD, the God of Israel,
31 as Moses, servant of YHWH, commanded the sons of Israel, as it is written in the Scroll of the Law of Moses—an altar of whole stones, over which he has not waved iron—and they cause burnt-offerings to go up on it to YHWH, and sacrifice peace-offerings;
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.
32 and he writes there on the stones a copy of the Law of Moses, which he has written in the presence of the sons of Israel.
And there in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua inscribed on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written.
33 And all Israel, and its elderly, and authorities, and his judges, are standing on this [side] and on that [side] of the Ark, before the priests, the Levites, carrying the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH, the sojourner as well as the native, half of them in front of Mount Gerizim, and the half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses servant of YHWH had commanded to bless the people of Israel at the first.
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.
34 And afterward he has proclaimed all the words of the Law, the blessing and the reviling, according to all that is written in the Scroll of the Law;
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.
35 there has not been a thing of all that Moses commanded which Joshua has not proclaimed before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the infants, and the sojourner who is going in their midst.
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.
