Yosua 8
1 Afei, Awurade ka kyerɛɛ Yosua se, “Nsuro anaasɛ mma wo koma ntu. Fa wʼasraafo no nyinaa na kɔtow hyɛ Ai so, efisɛ mede Aihene, ne nkurɔfo, ne kuropɔn ne nʼasase ama wo.
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 Wobɛsɛe wɔn sɛnea wosɛe Yeriko ne ne hene no. Nanso, saa bere yi de, mutumi fa asade ne anantwi no. Ma wʼasraafo no nkɔtɛw kuropɔn no akyi.”
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 Na Yosua ne Israel nsraadɔm no sii mu sɛ wɔrekɔtow ahyɛ Ai so. Yosua yii asraafo mpem aduasa, somaa wɔn anadwo,
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 hyɛɛ wɔn se, “Monkɔtɛw wɔ ahintawee a ɛwɔ kuropɔn no akyi na monyɛ krado mma ɔko.
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 Sɛ yɛn asraafo no tow hyɛ Ai so a, Ai mmarima befi adi abɛko, sɛnea wɔyɛɛ kan no, na yebeguan.
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 Yɛbɛma wɔataa yɛn ara kosi sɛ wɔn nyinaa befi kuropɔn no mu. Na wɔbɛka se ‘Israelfo no reguan sɛnea wɔyɛɛ kan no.’
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 Afei mubefi mo ahintawee hɔ ntɛm so akɔfa kuropɔn no, efisɛ Awurade, mo Nyankopɔn de bɛma mo.
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 Monto kuropɔn no mu gya sɛnea Awurade ahyɛ no. Munim nea ɛsɛ sɛ moyɛ.”
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 Enti wofii hɔ anadwo no kɔtɛw Bet-El ne Ai atɔe fam ntam. Nanso, Yosua de, ɔkaa nnipa no mu wɔ wɔn atenae hɔ anadwo no.
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 Ade kyee anɔpahema no, Yosua nyan nʼakofo ma wɔde wɔn ani kyerɛɛ Ai a Israel ntuanofo ka wɔn ho.
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 Wɔkɔbɔɔ atenae wɔ Ai atifi fam a obon da wɔne kuropɔn no ntam.
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 Anadwo no, Yosua somaa asraafo mpem anum sɛ wɔnkɔtɛw Bet-El ne Ai ntam wɔ kuropɔn no atɔe fam.
He took about five thousand men and set them in ambush on the west side of the city between Bethel and Ai.
13 Enti ɔmaa asraafo no mu fa kɛse gyinaa kuropɔn no atifi fam a na atɛwfo no bi nso wɔ kuropɔn no atɔe fam. Yosua ankasa de, ɔtenaa obon no mu anadwo no.
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 Aihene huu sɛ Israelfo no wɔ obon no fa nohɔ no, ntɛm so, ɔne nʼakofo nyinaa sɔree anɔpahema kɔtoaa Israelfo no, tow hyɛɛ wɔn so wɔ Araba. Nanso, na onnim sɛ atɛwfo bi wɔ kuropɔn no akyi.
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 ne ne Israel nsraadɔm no guan kɔɔ sare no so yɛɛ sɛnea Aifo no adi wɔn so,
Joshua and all Israel let themselves be defeated before them, and they fled toward the wilderness.
16 enti Aifo no frɛɛ mmarima a wɔwɔ kuropɔn no mu no nyinaa ma wɔbɛtaa Israelfo no. Ɛyɛɛ saa maa wɔn nyinaa fii kuropɔn no mu.
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 Anka obiara wɔ Ai anaa Bet-el a wankɔtaa Israelfo, na wogyaw kurow no maa ano daa hɔ.
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 Awurade ka kyerɛɛ Yosua se, “Fa wo peaw no kyerɛ Ai so, na mede kuropɔn no bɛma wo.” Enti, Yosua yɛɛ sɛnea wɔhyɛɛ no no.
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 Yosua nyamaa atɛwfo no ara pɛ, wɔsɔree pankran bɔ wuraa kuropɔn no mu. Wɔfaa kuropɔn no na wɔtoo mu gya.
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 Aifo no hwɛɛ wɔn akyi huu sɛ wusiw kumɔnn aduru soro, na wɔannya baabi ankɔ, efisɛ Israelfo no a woguan kɔɔ sare so no dan wɔn ani taa wɔn.
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 Bere a Yosua ne Israelfo a wɔaka no huu sɛ atɛwfo no afa kuropɔn no, na wusiw ayɛ kumɔnn wɔ wim no, wɔdan wɔn ho bɛtow hyɛɛ Aifo no so.
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 Israelfo a na wɔwɔ kuropɔn no mu fii akyi hyɛɛ ase kunkum atamfo no. Enti Ai mmarima no dii nsensɛnmu na wɔn nyinaa wuwui. Anka obi biara.
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 Ai hene nko ara na wɔkyeree no anikann de no brɛɛ Yosua.
They kept the king of Ai, whom they captured alive, and they brought him to Joshua.
24 Bere a Israelfo nsraadɔm kunkum Ai mmarima a wopue fii kuropɔn no mu wiee no, wɔsan kɔɔ kuropɔn no mu kokunkum wɔn a wɔaka wɔ mu nyinaa.
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 Enti da no wokunkum nnipa a wɔwɔ Ai nyinaa; na wɔn ano si mpem dumien.
All those who fell that day, both men and women, were twelve thousand, all the people of Ai.
26 Yosua soo ne peaw no mu saa ara kosii sɛ wɔsɛee obiara a ɔte Ai no pasaa.
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 Anantwi ne agyapade a ɛwɔ kuropɔn no mu nko ara na wɔansɛe no; Israelfo no ankasa fae, sɛnea Awurade hyɛɛ Yosua no.
Israel took only the livestock and the plunder from the city for themselves, just as Yahweh had commanded Joshua.
28 Enti, Yosua hyew Ai ma bɛdanee mmubui siw ne amamfo de besi nnɛ.
Joshua burned Ai and turned it into a heap of ruins forever. It is an abandoned place to this day.
29 Yosua sɛn Ai hene wɔ dua bi so gyaw no wɔ dua no so kosii anwummere. Owia kɔtɔe no, Israelfo no yii amu no de no kɔtoo kuropɔn no pon ano. Wɔhyɛɛ abo siw wɔ ne so a ɛda so wɔ hɔ besi nnɛ.
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 Yosua sii afɔremuka maa Awurade, Israel Nyankopɔn, wɔ Ebal bepɔw so.
Then Joshua built an altar to Yahweh, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal,
31 Odii nkyerɛkyerɛ a Mose a ɔyɛ Awurade somfo akyerɛw wɔ Mmara Nhoma no mu a ese, “Fa abo a wontwae na wɔmfaa adwinnade nsinsenii ho si afɔremuka ma me” no so. Na wɔbɔɔ ɔhyew afɔre ne asomdwoe afɔre maa Awurade wɔ afɔremuka no so.
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 Na Yosua kyerɛw Mose Mmara no guu afɔremuka no abo no so, bere a na Israelfo no rehwɛ no no.
There, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses.
33 Afei, wɔkyɛɛ Israelfo nyinaa; ahɔho ne ɔmanfo, ntuanofo, adwumayɛfo ne atemmufo nyinaa mu akuw abien. Kuw baako gyinaa Gerisim bepɔw ayaase na kuw baako nso gyinaa Ebal bepɔw ayaase. Akuw abien yi dii nhwɛanim. Na Lewifo asɔfo a wɔso Awurade Apam Adaka no gyinaa wɔn mfimfini. Wɔyɛɛ eyinom nyinaa sɛnea Awurade somfo Mose nkyerɛkyerɛ a ɔnam so hyira Israelfo no te.
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 Afei, Yosua kenkan nhyira ne nnome nsɛm a Mose akyerɛw wɔ Mmara Nhoma no mu no kyerɛɛ wɔn.
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 Asɛm biara a Mose ahyɛ no, Yosua kenkan kyerɛɛ ɔman mu no a mmea, mmofra ne ahɔho a wɔne Israelfo no te no nso ka ho bi.
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.
