Yosua 8
1 Yehowa gblɔ na Yosua be, “Mègavɔ̃ o, eye dzi megaɖe le ƒowò o. Kplɔ aʋakɔ blibo la yi Ai, elabena ɣeyiɣi la de na mi azɔ be miaɖu Ai dzi. Metsɔ Ai fia kple eƒe ameawo katã de asi na mi.
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 Miatsrɔ̃ wo abe ale si mietsrɔ̃ Yeriko kple woƒe fia ene. Ke azɔ ya la, miate ŋu atsɔ woƒe nuwo kple woƒe nyi siwo mieha la woazu mia tɔ. Na ameawo nade xa ɖe dua godo.”
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 Ale Yosua dzra ɖo hena aʋahoho ɖe Ai ŋu kple eƒe aʋawɔlawo katã. Etia eƒe asrafo nyuitɔwo akpe blaetɔ̃ ɖo ɖa le zã me;
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 egblɔ na wo do ŋgɔ be, “Mide xa ɖe dua ƒe akpa kemɛ, migade megbe tso dua ŋu fũu o, eye minɔ ŋudzɔ na wo dzi dzedze.”
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 Egagblɔ na wo be, “Ne míaƒe aʋakɔ blibo la ho aʋa ɖe Aitɔwo ŋu la, Aitɔwo ado go ava kpe mí na aʋawɔwɔ abe ale si wowɔ zi gbãtɔ ene.
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 Ekema míade asi sisi me, eye woakplɔ mí ɖo va se ɖe esi woƒe aʋawɔlawo katã ado go le dua me. Woagblɔ be, ‘Israelviwo gale sisim abe ale si wowɔ zi gbãtɔ ene!’
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 Ekema miado tso afi si miede xa ɖo, age ɖe dua me, elabena Yehowa miaƒe Mawu atsɔe na mí.
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 Mitɔ dzo dua abe ale si Yehowa ɖo na mí ene. Esiawoe nye nye ɖoɖowo na mi.”
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 Ale wodze mɔ zã ma me yi ɖade xa ɖe Betel kple Ai ƒe ɣetoɖoƒe gome, le esime Yosua kple aʋawɔla bubuawo tsi asaɖa la me le Yeriko.
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 Esi ŋu ke ŋdi kanya la, Yosua yɔ aʋawɔlawo, eye woawo kple Israel ƒe ametsitsiwo ɖo ta 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 Yosua kple aʋawɔla siwo nɔ eŋu la yi ɖe dua ƒe agbo gãtɔ gbɔ, woƒu asaɖa anyi ɖe anyiehe lɔƒo, eye balime aɖe nɔ asaɖa la kple Ai du la dome.
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 Eɣla ame abe akpe atɔ̃ ene ɖe dua ƒe ɣetoɖoƒe lɔƒo, le Betel kple Ai dome.
He took about five thousand men and set them in ambush on the west side of the city between Bethel and Ai.
13 Woɖo asrafoawo ɖe aʋawɔwɔ ŋu, ame geɖewo nɔ dua ƒe anyiehe lɔƒo, eye mamlɛawo nɔ dua ƒe ɣetoɖoƒe lɔƒo. Yosua tsi balime la le zã ma me.
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 Ai fia kpɔ Israelviwo ɖa le balime la godo, eye wòkpe aʋa kpli wo le Araba gbedzi ŋdi kanya, ke menya be futɔwo de xa ɖe dua godo o.
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 Yosua kple eƒe Israelviwo si to gbegbe la abe ɖe nugbe menyo na wo o ene.
Joshua and all Israel let themselves be defeated before them, and they fled toward the wilderness.
16 Ale Ai fia ɖe gbe na eƒe asrafo siwo katã nɔ dua me la be woati Israelviwo yome. Ale dutaʋlilawo vɔ le dua me;
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 asrafo aɖeke kura meganɔ Ai alo Betel o. Gawu la, woʋu Ai ƒe agbowo da ɖi siãa.
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 Yehowa gblɔ na Yosua be, “Tsɔ wò akplɔ do ɖe Ai lɔƒo, elabena matsɔ du la ana wò.” Yosua wɔ nenema.
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 Esi xadelawo kpɔ Yosua ƒe dzesia ko la, wolũ ɖe dua dzi, ge ɖe eme eye wotɔ dzoe.
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 Aitɔwo ƒe aʋawɔlawo nye kɔ kpɔ megbe, kasia wokpɔ dzudzɔ la wòyi ɖatɔ keke dziŋgɔli. Mɔ aɖeke meganɔ anyi na sisi o, elabena Israelviwo, ame siwo si ɖo ta gbegbe la, trɔ hena aʋawɔwɔ kpli wo azɔ.
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 Yosua kple Israelviwo katã kpɔ be yewoƒe amewo xɔ dua, eye wotɔ dzoe, eya ta wotrɔ hede asi Aitɔwo wuwu me.
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 Israelvi siwo nɔ Ai dua me la do go tso dua me, eye wode asi Aitɔwo wuwu me tso megbe. Ale Aitɔwo tsi Israelviwo dome, eye wowu wo katã, ame ɖeka pɛ gɔ̃ hã metsi agbe alo si o,
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 negbe Ai fia, ame si wolé kplɔ vɛ na Yosua.
They kept the king of Ai, whom they captured alive, and they brought him to Joshua.
24 Esi Israelviwo wu Aitɔ siwo nɔ dua godo vɔ la, wotrɔ yi dua me, eye wowu ame siwo katã ganɔ dua me.
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 Ale wowu ame akpe wuieve siwo nye Aitɔwo katã la gbe ma gbe.
All those who fell that day, both men and women, were twelve thousand, all the people of Ai.
26 Yosua lé eƒe akplɔ do ɖe Ai du la gbɔ va se ɖe esime wowu Aitɔ mamlɛa.
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 Aitɔwo ƒe lãwo kple kesinɔnuwo ko wometsrɔ̃ o, elabena Israelviwo ƒe aʋawɔlawo tsɔ wo na wo ɖokuiwo. Yehowa ŋutɔe gblɔe na Yosua be woate ŋu atsɔ wo.
Israel took only the livestock and the plunder from the city for themselves, just as Yahweh had commanded Joshua.
28 Ale Ai trɔ zu gli gbagbã siwo woli kɔe ɖi va se ɖe egbe.
Joshua burned Ai and turned it into a heap of ruins forever. It is an abandoned place to this day.
29 Yosua de ka ve na Ai fia ɖe ati aɖe ŋu, ke esi ɣe nɔ to ɖom la, eɖee tsɔ ƒu gbe ɖe dua ƒe agbo ŋgɔ. Wofɔ kpe gãwo li kɔ ɖe edzi. Kpeawo gali va se ɖe egbe.
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 Le esia megbe la, Yosua tu vɔsamlekpui aɖe na Yehowa, Israel ƒe Mawu la ɖe Ebal to la gbɔ
Then Joshua built an altar to Yahweh, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal,
31 abe ale si Mose, Yehowa ƒe dɔla ɖo na Israelviwo be woawɔ ene. Etui abe ale si woŋlɔe ɖe Mose ƒe Segbalẽ la me ene be, “Tsɔ kpe siwo womegbã alo kpa o la tu vɔsamlekpui nam.” Yehowa gblɔ nya sia tso Ebal to la ŋuti. Nunɔlawo sa numevɔ kple ŋutifafavɔ na Yehowa le vɔsamlekpui la dzi.
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 Yosua ŋlɔ Mose ƒe Se Ewoawo dometɔ ɖe sia ɖe ɖe vɔsamlekpui la ƒe kpeawo dzi le Israelviwo ŋkume.
There, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses.
33 Azɔ la, Israelviwo katã, woƒe ametsitsiwo, kplɔlawo, ʋɔnudrɔ̃lawo kple amedzro siwo nɔ wo dome la ma ɖe akpa eve me. Akpa ɖeka tsi tsitre ɖe Gerizim to la te, eye akpa evelia hã nɔ Ebal to la te. Nunɔlawo kɔ nubablaɖaka la nɔ akpa eveawo dome hena yayranyawo xexlẽ. Wowɔ esia abe ale si Mose ɖo na wo gbe aɖe gbe ene.
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 Yosua xlẽ yayranya kple fiƒodenya siwo katã Mose ŋlɔ ɖe Yehowa ƒe Segbalẽ la me la na wo.
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 Exlẽ se siwo katã Mose de na wo kpɔ la hã na ameha blibo la, si me nyɔnuwo, ɖeviwo kple amedzro siwo nɔ Israelviwo dome la hã nɔ.
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.
