Iosue 8
1 Dixit autem Dominus ad Iosue: Ne timeas, neque formides: tolle tecum omnem multitudinem pugnatorum, et consurgens ascende in oppidum Hai. ecce tradidi in manum tuam regem eius, et populum, urbemque et terram.
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.
2 Faciesque urbi Hai, et regi eius, sicut fecisti Iericho, et regi illius: praedam vero, et omnia animantia diripietis vobis: pone insidias urbi post eam.
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.”
3 Surrexitque Iosue, et omnis exercitus bellatorum cum eo, ut ascenderent in Hai: et electa triginta millia virorum fortium misit nocte,
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.
4 praecepitque eis, dicens: Ponite insidias post civitatem, nec longius recedatis: et eritis omnes parati.
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].
5 ego autem, et reliqua multitudo, quae mecum est, ascendemus ex adverso contra urbem. Cumque exierint contra nos, sicut ante fecimus, fugiemus, et terga vertemus:
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.
6 donec persequentes ab urbe longius protrahantur: putabunt enim nos fugere sicut prius.
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,
7 Nobis ergo fugientibus, et illis persequentibus, consurgetis de insidiis, et vastabitis civitatem: tradetque eam Dominus Deus vester in manus vestras.
[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.
8 Cumque ceperitis, succendite eam, et sic omnia facietis, ut iussi.
After you capture the city, burn it. Do what Yahweh has commanded us to do. Those are the orders I am giving to you.”
9 Dimisitque eos, et perrexerunt ad locum insidiarum, sederuntque inter Bethel, et Hai, ad Occidentalem plagam urbis Hai: Iosue autem nocte illa in medio mansit populi,
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.
10 surgensque diluculo recensuit socios, et ascendit cum senioribus in fronte exercitus, vallatus auxilio pugnatorum.
Early the next morning, Joshua gathered his soldiers together. Then he and the other Israeli leaders led them up to Ai.
11 Cumque venissent, et ascendissent ex adverso civitatis, steterunt ad Septentrionalem urbis plagam, inter quam et eos erat vallis media.
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.
12 Quinque autem millia viros elegerat, et posuerat in insidiis inter Bethel et Hai ex occidentali parte eiusdem civitatis:
Then Joshua chose about 5,000 men and told them to go and hide just west of the city, between Ai and Bethel.
13 omnis vero reliquus exercitus ad aquilonem aciem dirigebat, ita ut novissimi illius multitudinis Occidentalem plagam urbis attingerent. Abiit ergo Iosue nocte illa, et stetit in vallis medio.
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.
14 Quod cum vidisset rex Hai, festinavit mane, et egressus est cum omni exercitu civitatis, direxitque aciem contra desertum, ignorans quod post tergum laterent insidiae.
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.
15 Iosue vero, et omnis Israel cesserunt loco, simulantes metum, et fugientes per solitudinis viam.
Joshua and the Israeli soldiers [who were with him] allowed the army of Ai to push them back. They ran toward the desert.
16 At illi vociferantes pariter, et se mutuo cohortantes, persecuti sunt eos. Cumque recessissent a civitate,
The men in Ai were ordered to chase after Joshua and his men. So they left the city and started to pursue the Israelis.
17 et ne unus quidem in urbe Hai et Bethel remansisset qui non persequeretur Israel (sicut eruperant aperta oppida relinquentes, )
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.
18 dixit Dominus ad Iosue: Leva clypeum, qui in manu tua est, contra urbem Hai, quoniam tibi tradam eam.
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.
19 Cumque elevasset clypeum ex adverso civitatis, insidiae, quae latebant, surrexerunt confestim: et pergentes ad civitatem, ceperunt, et succenderunt eam.
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.
20 Viri autem civitatis, qui persequebantur Iosue, respicientes et videntes fumum urbis ad caelum usque conscendere, non potuerunt ultra huc illucque diffugere: praesertim cum hi, qui simulaverant fugam, et tendebant ad solitudinem, contra persequentes fortissime restitissent.
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.
21 Vidensque Iosue et omnis Israel quod capta esset civitas, et fumus urbis ascenderet, reversus percussit viros Hai.
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.
22 Siquidem et illi qui ceperant et succenderant civitatem, egressi ex urbe contra suos, medios hostium ferire coeperunt. Cum ergo ex utraque parte adversarii caederentur, ita ut nullus de tanta multitudine salvaretur,
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.
23 regem quoque urbis Hai apprehenderunt viventem, et obtulerunt Iosue.
Then they seized the king of Ai and brought him to Joshua.
24 Igitur omnibus interfectis, qui Israelem ad deserta tendentem fuerant persecuti, et in eodem loco gladio corruentibus, reversi filii Israel percusserunt civitatem.
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.
25 Erant autem qui in eodem die conciderant a viro usque ad mulierem, duodecim millia hominum, omnes urbis Hai.
They killed 12,000 men and women.
26 Iosue vero non contraxit manum, quam in sublime porrexerat, tenens clypeum donec interficerentur omnes habitatores Hai.
Joshua continued to point his spear [LIT] toward Ai, until all the people in Ai had been killed.
27 Iumenta autem et praedam civitatis diviserunt sibi filii Israel, sicut praeceperat Dominus Iosue.
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.
28 Qui succendit urbem, et fecit eam tumulum sempiternum:
Joshua and his soldiers burned Ai city and caused it to become a pile of ruins. It is still like that today.
29 regem quoque eius suspendit in patibulo usque ad vesperam et solis occasum. Praecepitque Iosue, et deposuerunt cadaver eius de cruce: proieceruntque in ipso introitu civitatis, congesto super eum magno acervo lapidum, qui permanet usque in praesentem diem.
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.
30 Tunc aedificavit Iosue altare Domino Deo Israel in monte Hebal:
Joshua [told his men to] build on Ebal Mountain an altar for Yahweh, the God [who is worshiped by] the Israeli people.
31 sicut praeceperat Moyses famulus Domini filiis Israel, et scriptum est in volumine legis Moysi: Altare vero de lapidibus impolitis, quos ferrum non tetigit: et obtulit super eo holocausta Domino, immolavitque pacificas victimas.
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.
32 Et scripsit super lapides Deuteronomium legis Moysi, quod ille digesserat coram filiis Israel.
As the Israelis watched, Joshua wrote on stones the laws that [Yahweh had given] to Moses previously.
33 Omnis autem populus, et omnes maiores natu, ducesque ac iudices stabant ex utraque parte arcae, in conspectu sacerdotum qui portabant arcam foederis Domini, ut advena ita et indigena. Media pars eorum iuxta montem Garizim, et media iuxta montem Hebal, sicut praeceperat Moyses famulus Domini. Et primum quidem benedixit populo Israel.
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.
34 Post haec legit omnia verba benedictionis et maledictionis, et cuncta quae scripta erant in legis volumine.
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].
35 Nihil ex his, quae Moyses iusserat, reliquit intactum, sed universa replicavit coram omni multitudine Israel, mulieribus ac parvulis et advenis, qui inter eos morabantur.
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.
