Joshua 8
1 Then Yahweh said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or discouraged [because of what happened at] Ai. Lead all of your soldiers and go there again. I will help you to defeat the king of Ai, his people, and his city, and [enable you to take] his land.
Afei, Awurade ka kyerɛɛ Yosua sɛ, “Nsuro anaasɛ mma wʼakoma nntu. Fa wʼasraadɔm no nyinaa na kɔto hyɛ Ai so, ɛfiri sɛ, mede Aihene, ne nkurɔfoɔ, ne kuropɔn ne nʼasase ama wo.
2 Your army will do to the people of Ai and their king like what you did to the people of Jericho and their king. But this time [I will permit you to] take all their possessions and keep them for yourselves. But first, tell some of your soldiers to [hide behind] the city [and] prepare to suddenly attack it.”
Wobɛsɛe wɔn sɛdeɛ wosɛee Yeriko ne ne ɔhene no. Nanso, saa ɛberɛ yi deɛ, motumi fa asadeɛ ne anantwie no. Ma wʼasraafoɔ no nkɔtɛ kuropɔn no akyi.”
3 So Joshua led all his army toward Ai. He chose 30,000 of his best fighters/warriors and prepared to send them out during the night.
Na Yosua ne Israel akodɔm no siim sɛ wɔrekɔto ahyɛ Ai so. Yosua yii akodɔm ɔpeduasa, somaa wɔn anadwo,
4 He said to them, “Listen carefully. Some of you must hide on the other side of the city. Do not go far from the city. Just be ready [to attack].
hyɛɛ wɔn sɛ, “Monkɔtɛ wɔ atɛeɛ a ɛwɔ kuropɔn no akyi na monyɛ krado mma ɔko.
5 I and the men who are with me will march toward the city [in the morning]. The men in the city will come out to fight us, like they did before. Then we will turn around and start to run away from them.
Sɛ yɛn asraafoɔ no to hyɛ Ai so a, Ai mmarima bɛfiri adi abɛko, sɛdeɛ wɔyɛɛ kane no, na yɛbɛdwane.
6 They will think that we are running away from them like we did before. So they will chase us away from the city. While we are running away,
Yɛbɛma wɔataa yɛn ara kɔsi sɛ wɔn nyinaa bɛfiri kuropɔn no mu. Na wɔbɛka sɛ ‘Israelfoɔ no redwane sɛdeɛ wɔyɛɛ kane no.’
7 [those of you who are hiding come out and] rush into the city and capture it. Yahweh your God will enable you to conquer it.
Afei mobɛfiri mo atɛeɛ hɔ ntɛm so akɔfa kuropɔn no, ɛfiri sɛ, Awurade, mo Onyankopɔn de bɛma mo.
8 After you capture the city, burn it. Do what Yahweh has commanded us to do. Those are the orders I am giving to you.”
Monto kuropɔn no mu ogya sɛdeɛ Awurade ahyɛ no. Monim deɛ ɛsɛ sɛ moyɛ.”
9 Then Joshua [prepared to] send some of them to [hide and] wait between Ai and Bethel, which was west of Ai. But Joshua stayed with his other soldiers that night.
Enti, wɔfirii hɔ anadwo no kɔtɛɛ Bet-El ne Ai atɔeɛ fam ntam. Nanso, Yosua deɛ, ɔkaa nnipa no mu wɔ wɔn atenaeɛ hɔ anadwo no.
10 Early the next morning, Joshua gathered his soldiers together. Then he and the other Israeli leaders led them up to Ai.
Adeɛ kyee anɔpahema no, Yosua nyanee nʼakodɔm maa wɔde wɔn ani kyerɛɛ Ai a Israel ntuanofoɔ ka wɔn ho.
11 They all set up their tents close to Ai, just to the north of the city, where all the people of the city could see them. There was a valley between them and the city.
Wɔkɔbɔɔ atenaeɛ wɔ Ai atifi fam a bɔnhwa da wɔne kuropɔn no ntam.
12 Then Joshua chose about 5,000 men and told them to go and hide just west of the city, between Ai and Bethel.
Anadwo no, Yosua somaa akodɔm mpem enum sɛ wɔnkɔtɛ Bet-El ne Ai ntam wɔ kuropɔn no atɔeɛ fam.
13 So those men did that. The main group of soldiers was north of the city, and the others were hiding west of the city. That night Joshua went down into the valley.
Enti, ɔmaa akodɔm no mu fa kɛseɛ gyinaa kuropɔn no atifi fam a na atɛfoɔ no bi nso wɔ kuropɔn no atɔeɛ fam. Yosua ankasa deɛ, ɔtenaa bɔnhwa no mu anadwo no.
14 When the king of Ai saw the Israeli army, he and his soldiers got up early the next morning and quickly went out of the city to fight them. They went to a place east of the city, but they did not know that some Israeli soldiers were hiding behind the city.
Aihene hunuu sɛ Israelfoɔ no wɔ bɔnhwa no fa nohoa no, ntɛm so, ɔne nʼakodɔm nyinaa sɔree anɔpahema kɔtoaa Israelfoɔ no, to hyɛɛ wɔn so wɔ Araba. Nanso, na ɔnnim sɛ atɛfoɔ bi wɔ kuropɔn no akyi.
15 Joshua and the Israeli soldiers [who were with him] allowed the army of Ai to push them back. They ran toward the desert.
Yosua ne ne Israel akodɔm no dwane kɔɔ ɛserɛ no so yɛɛ sɛdeɛ Aifoɔ no adi wɔn so,
16 The men in Ai were ordered to chase after Joshua and his men. So they left the city and started to pursue the Israelis.
enti Aifoɔ no frɛɛ mmarima a wɔwɔ kuropɔn no mu no nyinaa ma wɔbɛtaa Israelfoɔ no. Ɛyɛɛ saa maa wɔn nyinaa firii kuropɔn no mu.
17 All the men of Ai and the men of Bethel pursued the Israeli army. They did not leave even one man in Ai to defend it. The [gates of the] city were left wide open.
Anka obi biara wɔ Ai anaa Bet-El a wankɔtaa Israelfoɔ, na wɔgyaa kuro no maa ano daa hɔ.
18 Then Yahweh said to Joshua, “[Lift up] your spear [and] point it toward Ai, because I am going to enable your soldiers to capture it!” So Joshua pointed [his spear] toward Ai.
Awurade ka kyerɛɛ Yosua sɛ, “Fa wo pea no kyerɛ Ai so, na mede kuropɔn no bɛma wo.” Enti, Yosua yɛɛ sɛdeɛ wɔhyɛɛ noɔ no.
19 When the Israeli men who were hiding saw that, they rushed out from the places where they were hiding and ran into the city. They quickly captured it and set it on fire.
Yosua nyamaa atɛfoɔ no ara pɛ, wɔsɔree pankran bɔ wuraa kuropɔn no mu. Wɔfaa kuropɔn no na wɔtoo mu ogya.
20 When the men of Ai looked back, they saw smoke rising from their city. But they could not escape, because the Israeli troops stopped running away.
Aifoɔ no hwɛɛ wɔn akyi hunuu sɛ wisie kumɔnn aduru soro, na wɔannya baabi ankɔ, ɛfiri sɛ Israelfoɔ no a wɔdwane kɔɔ ɛserɛ so no danee wɔn ani taa wɔn.
21 Joshua and his men saw that the men who had been hiding had captured the city and were burning it, and they saw the smoke rising. So they turned around and started to attack the men of Ai.
Ɛberɛ a Yosua ne Israelfoɔ a wɔaka no hunuu sɛ atɛfoɔ no afa kuropɔn no, na wisie ayɛ kumɔnn wɔ ewiem no, wɔdanee wɔn ho bɛto hyɛɛ Aifoɔ no so.
22 Meanwhile, the soldiers who had captured the city came out [and attacked them from the rear]. So the men of Ai were caught between the two groups of Israeli soldiers. None of the men of Ai escaped. The Israelis fought until they killed all of them. Only the king of Ai was still alive.
Israelfoɔ a na wɔwɔ kuropɔn no mu firii akyire hyɛɛ aseɛ kunkumm atamfoɔ no. Enti Ai mmarima no dii nsensɛn mu na wɔn nyinaa wuwuiɛ. Anka obi biara.
23 Then they seized the king of Ai and brought him to Joshua.
Ai ɔhene nko ara na wɔkyeree no anikann de no brɛɛ Yosua.
24 While they were fighting, the Israeli army pursued the men of Ai into the fields and into the desert, and killed all of them. Then they went to Ai and killed everyone who was there.
Ɛberɛ a Israelfoɔ akodɔm kunkumm Ai mmarima a wɔpue firii kuropɔn no mu wieeɛ no, wɔsane kɔɔ kuropɔn no mu kɔkunkumm wɔn a wɔaka wɔ mu nyinaa.
25 They killed 12,000 men and women.
Enti ɛda no, wɔkunkumm nnipa a wɔwɔ Ai nyinaa; na wɔn ano si mpem dumienu.
26 Joshua continued to point his spear [LIT] toward Ai, until all the people in Ai had been killed.
Yosua sɔɔ ne pea no mu saa ara kɔsii sɛ obiara a ɔte Ai no, wɔsɛee no pasaa.
27 The Israeli soldiers took for themselves the animals and the other things that had belonged to the people of Ai, just like Yahweh had told Joshua that they should do.
Anantwie ne agyapadeɛ a ɛwɔ kuropɔn no mu nko ara na wɔansɛe no; Israelfoɔ no ankasa faeɛ, sɛdeɛ Awurade hyɛɛ Yosua no.
28 Joshua and his soldiers burned Ai city and caused it to become a pile of ruins. It is still like that today.
Enti, Ai bɛdanee mmubuiɛ esie ne asase bonini de bɛsi ɛnnɛ.
29 Joshua hanged the king of Ai on a tree and left his corpse hanging there until the evening. At sunset Joshua told his men to take the king’s corpse down from the tree and to throw it on the ground at the city gate. [After they did that], they piled a lot of rocks on top of the corpse, and that pile of rocks is still there.
Yosua sɛnee Ai ɔhene wɔ dua bi so gyaa no dua no so kɔsii anwummerɛ. Owia kɔtɔeɛ no, Israelfoɔ no yii amu no de no kɔtoo kuropɔn no ɛpono ano. Wɔhyɛɛ aboɔ esie wɔ ne so a ɛda so wɔ hɔ bɛsi ɛnnɛ.
30 Joshua [told his men to] build on Ebal Mountain an altar for Yahweh, the God [who is worshiped by] the Israeli people.
Yosua sii afɔrebukyia maa Awurade, Israel Onyankopɔn, wɔ Ebal bepɔ so.
31 They built it just like Moses, the man who served God [well], had written previously in the laws [that God had given to him]. They made it from stones that had not been cut using iron tools. The Israelis then offered sacrifices to Yahweh that were burned completely on the altar. They also offered sacrifices to restore fellowship with Yahweh.
Ɔdii nkyerɛkyerɛ a Mose a ɔyɛ Awurade ɔsomfoɔ atwerɛ wɔ Mmara Nwoma no mu sɛ, “Fa aboɔ a wɔntwaeɛ na wɔmfaa adwinnadeɛ nsensenee ho si afɔrebukyia ma me.” Na wɔbɔɔ ɔhyeɛ afɔdeɛ ne asomdwoeɛ afɔdeɛ maa Awurade wɔ afɔrebukyia no so.
32 As the Israelis watched, Joshua wrote on stones the laws that [Yahweh had given] to Moses previously.
Na Yosua twerɛɛ Mose Mmara no guu afɔrebukyia no aboɔ no so wɔ ɛberɛ a na Israelfoɔ no rehwɛ no.
33 The Israeli leaders, the officials, the judges, and other Israelis were there, standing nearby. Many people who were not Israelis were also there. Half of the people stood [on one side of the valley] below Ebal Mountain, and the other half of the people stood [on the other side of the valley] below Gerizim Mountain. The sacred chest was [in the valley] between the two groups. That was what Moses had previously commanded that the people should do when [Yahweh was about to] bless them.
Afei, Israelfoɔ nyinaa, ahɔhoɔ ne ɔmanfoɔ, ntuanofoɔ, adwumayɛfoɔ ne atemmufoɔ nyinaa, wɔkyɛɛ wɔn mu akuo mmienu. Ekuo baako gyinaa Gerisim bepɔ ayaase ɛnna ekuo baako nso gyinaa Ebal bepɔ ayaase. Akuo mmienu yi dii nhwɛanimu. Na Lewifoɔ asɔfoɔ a wɔso Awurade Apam Adaka no gyinaa wɔn mfimfini. Wɔyɛɛ yeinom nyinaa sɛdeɛ Awurade ɔsomfoɔ Mose nkyerɛkyerɛ a ɔnam so hyiraa Israelfoɔ no teɛ.
34 Then Joshua read [to the people] all that [Moses] had written previously. That included what Yahweh had taught them and the ways [that he promised] to bless them [if they obeyed his commands], or to curse them [if they disobeyed them].
Afei, Yosua kenkanee nhyira ne nnome nsɛm a Mose atwerɛ wɔ Mmara Nwoma no mu no kyerɛɛ wɔn.
35 All the Israelis gathered together [to listen]—the men, the women, and the children. The (foreigners/people who were not Israelis) who were living among them also listened, while Joshua read all the commands that Moses had written.
Asɛm biara a Mose ahyɛ no, Yosua kenkan kyerɛɛ ɔman mu no a mmaa, mmɔfra ne ahɔhoɔ a wɔne Israelfoɔ no teɛ no nso ka ho.
