Ἰησοῦς Nαυῆ 8
1 καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρὸς Ἰησοῦν μὴ φοβηθῇς μηδὲ δειλιάσῃς λαβὲ μετὰ σοῦ τοὺς ἄνδρας πάντας τοὺς πολεμιστὰς καὶ ἀναστὰς ἀνάβηθι εἰς Γαι ἰδοὺ δέδωκα εἰς τὰς χεῖράς σου τὸν βασιλέα Γαι καὶ τὴν γῆν αὐτοῦ
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.
2 καὶ ποιήσεις τὴν Γαι ὃν τρόπον ἐποίησας τὴν Ιεριχω καὶ τὸν βασιλέα αὐτῆς καὶ τὴν προνομὴν τῶν κτηνῶν προνομεύσεις σεαυτῷ κατάστησον δὲ σεαυτῷ ἔνεδρα τῇ πόλει εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω
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.”
3 καὶ ἀνέστη Ἰησοῦς καὶ πᾶς ὁ λαὸς ὁ πολεμιστὴς ὥστε ἀναβῆναι εἰς Γαι ἐπέλεξεν δὲ Ἰησοῦς τριάκοντα χιλιάδας ἀνδρῶν δυνατοὺς ἐν ἰσχύι καὶ ἀπέστειλεν αὐτοὺς νυκτός
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.
4 καὶ ἐνετείλατο αὐτοῖς λέγων ὑμεῖς ἐνεδρεύσατε ὀπίσω τῆς πόλεως μὴ μακρὰν γίνεσθε ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως καὶ ἔσεσθε πάντες ἕτοιμοι
He ordered them, “You lie in ambush behind the town, not far away. All of you need to be ready.
5 καὶ ἐγὼ καὶ πάντες οἱ μετ’ ἐμοῦ προσάξομεν πρὸς τὴν πόλιν καὶ ἔσται ὡς ἂν ἐξέλθωσιν οἱ κατοικοῦντες Γαι εἰς συνάντησιν ἡμῖν καθάπερ καὶ πρῴην καὶ φευξόμεθα ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτῶν
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.
6 καὶ ὡς ἂν ἐξέλθωσιν ὀπίσω ἡμῶν ἀποσπάσομεν αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως καὶ ἐροῦσιν φεύγουσιν οὗτοι ἀπὸ προσώπου ἡμῶν ὃν τρόπον καὶ ἔμπροσθεν
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.’
7 ὑμεῖς δὲ ἐξαναστήσεσθε ἐκ τῆς ἐνέδρας καὶ πορεύσεσθε εἰς τὴν πόλιν
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.
8 κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο ποιήσετε ἰδοὺ ἐντέταλμαι ὑμῖν
Once you've captured the town, set it on fire, as the Lord has instructed. Now follow your orders.”
9 καὶ ἀπέστειλεν αὐτοὺς Ἰησοῦς καὶ ἐπορεύθησαν εἰς τὴν ἐνέδραν καὶ ἐνεκάθισαν ἀνὰ μέσον Βαιθηλ καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον Γαι ἀπὸ θαλάσσης τῆς Γαι
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.
10 καὶ ὀρθρίσας Ἰησοῦς τὸ πρωὶ ἐπεσκέψατο τὸν λαόν καὶ ἀνέβησαν αὐτὸς καὶ οἱ πρεσβύτεροι κατὰ πρόσωπον τοῦ λαοῦ ἐπὶ Γαι
Early the next morning Joshua got up early and gathered the people and went up to attack Ai, accompanied by the elders of Israel.
11 καὶ πᾶς ὁ λαὸς ὁ πολεμιστὴς μετ’ αὐτοῦ ἀνέβησαν καὶ πορευόμενοι ἦλθον ἐξ ἐναντίας τῆς πόλεως ἀπ’ ἀνατολῶν
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.
12 καὶ τὰ ἔνεδρα τῆς πόλεως ἀπὸ θαλάσσης
He took about five thousand men and had them lie in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the town.
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 καὶ ἐγένετο ὡς εἶδεν βασιλεὺς Γαι ἔσπευσεν καὶ ἐξῆλθεν εἰς συνάντησιν αὐτοῖς ἐπ’ εὐθείας εἰς τὸν πόλεμον αὐτὸς καὶ πᾶς ὁ λαὸς ὁ μετ’ αὐτοῦ καὶ αὐτὸς οὐκ ᾔδει ὅτι ἔνεδρα αὐτῷ ἐστιν ὀπίσω τῆς πόλεως
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.
15 καὶ εἶδεν καὶ ἀνεχώρησεν Ἰησοῦς καὶ Ισραηλ ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτῶν
Joshua and the Israelites allowed themselves to be driven back, and ran away in the direction of the wilderness.
16 καὶ κατεδίωξαν ὀπίσω τῶν υἱῶν Ισραηλ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀπέστησαν ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως
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.
17 οὐ κατελείφθη οὐθεὶς ἐν τῇ Γαι ὃς οὐ κατεδίωξεν ὀπίσω Ισραηλ καὶ κατέλιπον τὴν πόλιν ἀνεῳγμένην καὶ κατεδίωξαν ὀπίσω Ισραηλ
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.
18 καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρὸς Ἰησοῦν ἔκτεινον τὴν χεῖρά σου ἐν τῷ γαίσῳ τῷ ἐν τῇ χειρί σου ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν εἰς γὰρ τὰς χεῖράς σου παραδέδωκα αὐτήν καὶ τὰ ἔνεδρα ἐξαναστήσονται ἐν τάχει ἐκ τοῦ τόπου αὐτῶν καὶ ἐξέτεινεν Ἰησοῦς τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ τὸν γαῖσον ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν
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.
19 καὶ τὰ ἔνεδρα ἐξανέστησαν ἐν τάχει ἐκ τοῦ τόπου αὐτῶν καὶ ἐξήλθοσαν ὅτε ἐξέτεινεν τὴν χεῖρα καὶ ἤλθοσαν ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν καὶ κατελάβοντο αὐτὴν καὶ σπεύσαντες ἐνέπρησαν τὴν πόλιν ἐν πυρί
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.
20 καὶ περιβλέψαντες οἱ κάτοικοι Γαι εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω αὐτῶν καὶ ἐθεώρουν καπνὸν ἀναβαίνοντα ἐκ τῆς πόλεως εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν καὶ οὐκέτι εἶχον ποῦ φύγωσιν ὧδε ἢ ὧδε
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.
21 καὶ Ἰησοῦς καὶ πᾶς Ισραηλ εἶδον ὅτι ἔλαβον τὰ ἔνεδρα τὴν πόλιν καὶ ὅτι ἀνέβη ὁ καπνὸς τῆς πόλεως εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν καὶ μεταβαλόμενοι ἐπάταξαν τοὺς ἄνδρας τῆς Γαι
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.
22 καὶ οὗτοι ἐξήλθοσαν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως εἰς συνάντησιν καὶ ἐγενήθησαν ἀνὰ μέσον τῆς παρεμβολῆς οὗτοι ἐντεῦθεν καὶ οὗτοι ἐντεῦθεν καὶ ἐπάταξαν ἕως τοῦ μὴ καταλειφθῆναι αὐτῶν σεσωσμένον καὶ διαπεφευγότα
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.
23 καὶ τὸν βασιλέα τῆς Γαι συνέλαβον ζῶντα καὶ προσήγαγον αὐτὸν πρὸς Ἰησοῦν
Only the king of Ai was captured alive, and he was brought before Joshua.
24 καὶ ὡς ἐπαύσαντο οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ ἀποκτέννοντες πάντας τοὺς ἐν τῇ Γαι τοὺς ἐν τοῖς πεδίοις καὶ ἐν τῷ ὄρει ἐπὶ τῆς καταβάσεως οὗ κατεδίωξαν αὐτοὺς ἀπ’ αὐτῆς εἰς τέλος καὶ ἀπέστρεψεν Ἰησοῦς εἰς Γαι καὶ ἐπάταξεν αὐτὴν ἐν στόματι ῥομφαίας
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.
25 καὶ ἐγενήθησαν οἱ πεσόντες ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ἀπὸ ἀνδρὸς καὶ ἕως γυναικὸς δώδεκα χιλιάδες πάντας τοὺς κατοικοῦντας Γαι
Those who were killed that day numbered twelve thousand, men and women—all the inhabitants of Ai.
For Joshua had continued to hold up his spear until all the people of Ai had been destroyed.
27 πλὴν τῶν κτηνῶν καὶ τῶν σκύλων τῶν ἐν τῇ πόλει πάντα ἃ ἐπρονόμευσαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ κατὰ πρόσταγμα κυρίου ὃν τρόπον συνέταξεν κύριος τῷ Ἰησοῖ
Only the livestock and plunder were taken from the town by the Israelites, as the Lord had instructed Joshua.
28 καὶ ἐνεπύρισεν Ἰησοῦς τὴν πόλιν ἐν πυρί χῶμα ἀοίκητον εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ἔθηκεν αὐτὴν ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης
So Joshua burned the town of Ai, making it permanently into a heap of ruins where no one lives to this very day.
29 καὶ τὸν βασιλέα τῆς Γαι ἐκρέμασεν ἐπὶ ξύλου διδύμου καὶ ἦν ἐπὶ τοῦ ξύλου ἕως ἑσπέρας καὶ ἐπιδύνοντος τοῦ ἡλίου συνέταξεν Ἰησοῦς καὶ καθείλοσαν αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου καὶ ἔρριψαν αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν βόθρον καὶ ἐπέστησαν αὐτῷ σωρὸν λίθων ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης
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.
Then Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal for the Lord, the God of Israel.
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.
There in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua inscribed on the stones a copy of the Law of Moses.
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.
Then Joshua read out the whole Law—all the blessings and curses recorded in the book of the Law.
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.
