Joshua 8

¹And Jehovah said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed: take all the people of war with thee, 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;

²and thou shalt do to Ai and her king as thou didst unto Jericho and her king: only the spoil thereof, and the cattle thereof, shall ye take for a prey unto yourselves: set thee an ambush for the city behind it.

³So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up to Ai: and Joshua chose out thirty thousand men, the mighty men of valor, and sent them forth by night.

⁴And he commanded them, saying, Behold, ye shall lie in ambush against the city, behind the city; go not very far from the city, but be ye all ready:

⁵and I, and all the people that are with me, will approach unto the city. And it shall come to pass, when they come out against us, as at the first, that we will flee before them;

⁶and they will come out after us, till we have drawn them away from the city; for they will say, They flee before us, as at the first: so we will flee before them;

⁷and ye shall rise up from the ambush, and take possession of the city: for Jehovah your God will deliver it into your hand.

⁸And it shall be, when ye have seized upon the city, that ye shall set the city on fire; according to the word of Jehovah shall ye do: see, I have commanded you.

⁹And Joshua sent them forth; and they went to the ambushment, and abode between Beth-el and Ai, on the west side of Ai: but Joshua lodged that night among the people.

¹⁰And Joshua arose up early in the morning, and mustered the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai.

¹¹And all the people, eventhemen ofwar that were with him, went up, and drew nigh, and came before the city, and encamped on the north side of Ai: now there was a valley between him and Ai.

¹²And he took about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Beth-el and Ai, on the west side of the city.

¹³So they set the people, even all the host that was on the north of the city, and their liers-in-wait that were on the west of the city; and Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley.

¹⁴And it came to pass, when the king of Ai saw it, that they hasted and rose up early, and the men of the city went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at the time appointed, before the Arabah; but he knew not that there was an ambush against him behind the city.

¹⁵And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness.

¹⁶And all the people that were in the city were called together to pursue after them: and they pursued after Joshua, and were drawn away from the city.

¹⁷And 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.

¹⁸And Jehovah said unto Joshua, Stretch out the javelin that is in thy hand toward Ai; for I will give it into thy hand. And Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city.

¹⁹And the ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand, and entered into the city, and took it; and they hasted and set the city on fire.

²⁰And when the men of Ai looked behind them, 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 fled to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers.

²¹And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city ascended, then they turned again, and slew the men of Ai.

²²And the others came forth out of the city against them; so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side: and they smote them, so that they let none of them remain or escape.

²³And the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua.

²⁴And it came to pass, when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness wherein they pursued them, and they were all fallen by the edge of the sword, until they were consumed, that all Israel returned unto Ai, and smote it with the edge of the sword.

²⁵And all that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai.

²⁶For Joshua drew not back his hand, wherewith he stretched out the javelin, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.

²⁷Only the cattle and the spoil of that city Israel took for prey unto themselves, according unto the word of Jehovah which he commanded Joshua.

²⁸So Joshua burnt Ai, and made it a heap for ever, even a desolation, unto this day.

²⁹And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until the eventide: and at the going down of the sun Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree, and cast it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raised thereon a great heap of stones, unto this day.

³⁰Then Joshua built an altar unto Jehovah, the God of Israel, in mount Ebal,

³¹as Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of unhewn stones, upon which no man had lifted up any iron: and they offered thereon burnt-offerings unto Jehovah, and sacrificed peace-offerings.

³²And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote, in the presence of the children of Israel.

³³And all Israel, and their elders and officers, and their judges, stood on this side of the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, that bare the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, as well the sojourner as the home-born; half of them in front of mount Gerizim, and half of them in front of mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of Jehovah had commanded at the first, that they should bless the people of Israel.

³⁴And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the law.

³⁵There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners that were among them.

Joshua 8

¹Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. See, I have delivered into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land.

²And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set up an ambush behind the city.”

³So Joshua and the whole army set out to attack Ai. Joshua chose 30,000 mighty men of valor and sent them out at night

⁴with these orders: “Pay attention. You are to lie in ambush behind the city, not too far from it. All of you must be ready.

⁵Then I and all the troops with me will advance on the city. When they come out against us as they did the first time, we will flee from them.

⁶They will pursue us until we have drawn them away from the city, for they will say, ‘The Israelites are running away from us as they did before.’ So as we flee from them,

⁷you are to rise from the ambush and seize the city, for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand.

⁸And when you have taken the city, set it on fire. Do as the LORD has commanded! See, I have given you orders.”

⁹So Joshua sent them out, and they went to the place of ambush and lay in wait between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. But Joshua spent that night among the people.

¹⁰Joshua got up early the next morning and mobilized his men, and he and the elders of Israel marched before them up to Ai.

¹¹Then all the troops who were with him marched up and approached the city. They arrived in front of Ai and camped to the north of it, with the valley between them and the city.

¹²Now Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set up an ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.

¹³So the forces were stationed with the main camp to the north of the city and the rear guard to the west of the city. And that night Joshua went into the valley.

¹⁴When the king of Ai saw the Israelites, he hurried out early in the morning with the men of the city to engage them in battle at an appointed place overlooking the Arabah. But he did not know that an ambush had been set up against him behind the city.

¹⁵Joshua and all Israel let themselves be beaten back before them, and they fled toward the wilderness.

¹⁶Then all the men of Ai were summoned to pursue them, and they followed Joshua and were drawn away from the city.

¹⁷Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel, leaving the city wide open while they pursued Israel.

¹⁸Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Hold out your battle lance toward Ai, for into your hand I will deliver the city.” So Joshua held out his battle lance toward Ai,

¹⁹and as soon as he did so, the men in ambush rose quickly from their position. They rushed forward, entered the city, captured it, and immediately set it on fire.

²⁰When the men of Ai turned and looked back, the smoke of the city was rising into the sky. They could not escape in any direction, and the troops who had fled to the wilderness now became the pursuers.

²¹When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that smoke was rising from it, they turned around and struck down the men of Ai.

²²Meanwhile, those in the ambush came out of the city against them, and the men of Ai were trapped between the Israelite forces on both sides. So Israel struck them down until no survivor or fugitive remained.

²³But they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.

²⁴When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai who had pursued them into the field and wilderness, and when every last one of them had fallen by the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and put it to the sword as well.

²⁵A total of twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai.

²⁶Joshua did not draw back the hand that held his battle lance until he had devoted to destruction all who lived in Ai.

²⁷Israel took for themselves only the cattle and plunder of that city, as the LORD had commanded Joshua.

²⁸So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolation to this day.

²⁹He hung the king of Ai on a tree until evening, and at sunset Joshua commanded that they take down the body from the tree and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And over it they raised a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day.

³⁰At that time Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal to the LORD, the God of Israel,

³¹just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses: “an altar of uncut stones on which no iron tool has been used.” And on it they offered burnt offerings to the LORD, and they sacrificed peace offerings.

³²And there in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua inscribed on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written.

³³All Israel, foreigners and citizens alike, with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the LORD facing the Levitical priests who carried it. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded earlier, to bless the people of Israel.

³⁴Afterward, Joshua read aloud all the words of the law—the blessings and the curses—according to all that is written in the Book of the Law.

³⁵There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua failed to read before the whole assembly of Israel, including the women, the little ones, and the foreigners who lived among them.