Joshua 8
1 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.
And the Lord said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou discouraged: 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 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.”
And thou shalt do to 'Ai and to its king as thou hast done unto Jericho and its king; only its spoil and its cattle shall ye take for booty unto yourselves; but lay thee an ambush for the city in its rear.
3 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.
So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against 'Ai: and Joshua chose out thirty thousand mighty men of valor, and sent them away by night.
4 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.
And he commanded them, saying, Behold, ye shall lie in wait against the city, in the rear of the city; go not very far from the city; and be ye all ready;
5 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.
And I, and all the people that are with me, will approach unto the city; and it shall come to pass that, when they come out against us, as at the first time, we will flee before them;
6 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.
And they will come out after us, till we have drawn them from the city; for they will say, They flee from us as at the first time: and we will flee before them.
7 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.
And then shall ye rise up from the ambush, and take possession of the city; and the Lord your God will deliver it in into your hand.
8 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.”
And it shall be, that as soon as ye have seized the city, ye shall set the city on fire; according to the word of the Lord shall ye do: see, I have commanded you.
9 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.
And Joshua sent them off: and they went to lie in ambush, and remained between Beth-el and 'Ai, on the west side of 'Ai; but Joshua lodged that night among the people.
10 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.
And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and numbered the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people, toward 'Ai.
11 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.
And all the people of war that were with him went up, and drew nigh, and came opposite the city, and encamped on the north side of 'Ai; and the valley was between them and 'Ai.
12 He took about five thousand men and set them in ambush on the west side of the city between Bethel and Ai.
And he took about five thousand men, and set them as an ambush between Beth-el and 'Ai, on the west side of 'Ai.
13 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.
And the people, all the camp that was on the north of the city, and its ambush on the west of the city got ready; and Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley.
14 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.
And it came to pass, when the king of 'Ai saw this, the men of the city hastened and rose up early, and went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at the time appointed, before the plain; but he knew not that there was an ambush against him in the rear of the city.
15 Joshua and all Israel let themselves be defeated before them, and they fled toward the wilderness.
And Joshua and Israel feigned themselves beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness.
16 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.
And all the people that were in 'Ai 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 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.
And there was not a man left in 'Ai or Beth-el, that went not out after Israel; and they left the city open, and pursued after Israel.
18 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.
And the Lord said unto Joshua, Stretch out the spear that is in thy hand toward 'Ai; for into thy hand will I give it. And Joshua stretched out the spear which was in his hand toward the city.
19 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.
And the ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he stretched out his hand; and they entered into the city, and took possession of it, and hastened and set the city on fire.
20 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.
And the men of 'Ai turned [and looked] behind them, and they saw, and, behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven; and they had no power to flee this way or that way; and the people that had fled to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers.
21 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.
For when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had seized the city, and that the smoke of the city ascended: they turned back, and smote the men of 'Ai.
22 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.
And the others issued out of the city against them; so that the Israelites had them in the middle, some on this side, and some on that side; and they smote them, until there was not left of them one that remained or escaped.
23 They kept the king of Ai, whom they captured alive, and they brought him to Joshua.
And the king of 'Ai they caught alive, and brought him to Joshua.
24 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.
And it came to pass, that, when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of 'Ai in the field, in the wilderness wherein they had pursued them, and when they were all fallen by the edge of the sword, until they were consumed, All the Israelites returned unto 'Ai, and smote it with the edge of the sword.
25 All those who fell that day, both men and women, were twelve thousand, all the people of Ai.
And [the number of] all that fell in that day, both of men and women, was twelve thousand, all the people of 'Ai.
26 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.
And Joshua drew not back his hand, wherewith he had stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of 'Ai.
27 Israel took only the livestock and the plunder from the city for themselves, just as Yahweh had commanded Joshua.
Only the cattle and the spoil of that city Israel took as booty unto themselves, according to the word of the Lord which he had commanded Joshua.
28 Joshua burned Ai and turned it into a heap of ruins forever. It is an abandoned place to this day.
And Joshua burnt 'Ai, and made it a ruinous heap of desolation for ever, even unto this day,
29 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.
And the king of 'Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide; and at the going down of the sun, Joshua commanded, and they took his carcass down from the tree and cast it at the entrance of the city gate, and they raised over him a great heap of stones, [which is] even unto this day.
30 Then Joshua built an altar to Yahweh, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal,
Then did Joshua build an altar unto the Lord, the God of Israel on mount 'Ebal,
31 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.
As Moses the servant of the Lord 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 no one had lifted up any iron tool; and they offered thereon burnt-offerings unto the Lord, and sacrificed peace-offerings.
32 There, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses.
And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel.
33 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.
And all Israel, and their elders, and the officers, and their judges, stood on this side and on that side of the ark, opposite the priests the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, the stranger no less than the native born: half of them turned toward mount Gerizzim, and the other half of them turned toward mount 'Ebal; as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded, to bless the people of Israel at first.
34 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.
And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, all, just as it is written in the book of the law.
35 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.
There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded, which Joshua did not read before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the stranger that walked in the midst of them.
