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29 He hung the king of Ai from a tree until that evening. When the sun was setting, Joshua ordered that they should take his body down from the tree and toss it down at the entrance to the city gate. They piled a large mound of stones on it, which is still there today.

30 The Altar on Mount Ebal.[a] Joshua then built an altar on Mount Ebal to the Lord, the God of Israel 31 as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded the Israelites to do in the book of the law. Moses had written, “It is to be an altar of unhewn stones that no one has touched with iron tools.” They offered burnt offerings to the Lord there, and also sacrificed peace offerings.

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Footnotes

  1. Joshua 8:30 Gathered on Mount Ebal, near Shechem, the tribes have their first celebration in the Promised Land, in keeping with the order given them through the mouth of Moses (Deut 27). This celebration with its proclamation of blessings and curses is an element in the renewal of the covenant (Deut 28).

29 He impaled the body of the king of Ai on a pole and left it there until evening. At sunset,(A) Joshua ordered them to take the body from the pole and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And they raised a large pile of rocks(B) over it, which remains to this day.

The Covenant Renewed at Mount Ebal

30 Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal(C) an altar(D) to the Lord, the God of Israel, 31 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(E) had been used. On it they offered to the Lord burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings.(F)

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