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And the Lord said to Joshua, Neither dread thou, nor be thou afeared; take with thee all the multitude of fighting men, and rise thou, and go up into the city of Ai; lo, I have betaken into thine hand the king thereof, and the people, and the city, and the land.

And thou shalt do to the city of Ai, and to the king thereof, as thou didest to Jericho, and the king thereof; soothly ye shall take to you the prey (but this time ye can take the prey for yourselves), and all [the] living beasts; (and this time,) set thou ambushes, either ambushments, to the city behind it.

And Joshua rose, and all the host of fighting men with him, for to go up into Ai; and by night he sent (away) thirty chosen thousand of strong men; (And so Joshua, and all his army of fighters, rose up to go into Ai; and he chose thirty thousand strong men, and sent them away in the night;)

and he commanded to them, and said, Set ye ambushments behind the city, and go ye not further; and all ye shall be ready (and all of ye be ready to fight);

forsooth I, and the tother multitude which is with me, shall come on the contrary side against the city; and when they shall go out against us, as we did before, we shall flee, and turn the backs, (and I, and the other multitude who be with me, shall come on the opposite side toward the city; and when they shall go out against us, we shall turn our backs, and flee, as we did before,)

till they pursue us, and be drawn away further from the city; for they shall guess, that we shall flee them as we did before. Then while we shall flee, and while they pursue,

ye shall rise from the ambushments, and shall waste the city; and your Lord God shall betake it into your hands. (ye shall rise up from ambush, or from lying in wait, and shall destroy the city; and the Lord your God shall deliver it into your hands.)

And when ye have taken it, burn ye it; (yea,) do ye all things, as I have commanded to you.

And Joshua let go them, and they went to the place of [the] ambushments, and sat betwixt Bethel and Ai, at the west coast of the city of Ai. Forsooth Joshua dwelled in that night in the midst of the people. (And Joshua let them go, and they went to the place of ambush, and sat between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city of Ai. But Joshua stayed that night in the midst of his people.)

10 And he rose (up) early, and numbered his fellows, and he went up with the elder men in the front of the host (and he went up with the elders at the front of the army), and was compassed with the help of (his) fighters.

11 And when they had come, and had gone up against the city, they stood at the north coast of the city, betwixt the which city and them a valley was in the midst. (And they came toward the city, and arrived at the north side of it, and there was a valley between them and the city.)

12 And Joshua had chosen five thousand men, and he had set them in [the] ambushments betwixt Bethel and Ai, in the west part of the same city. (And Joshua chose five thousand men, and he put them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.)

13 And all the tother host dressed the battle array to the north, so [that] the last men of the multitude reached to the west coast of the city. Then Joshua went in that night, and stood in the midst of [the] valley;

14 and when the king of Ai had seen this, he hasted (and rose up) early, and went out with all the host of the city, and he dressed (the) battle array against the desert; and he wist not that ambushments were hid behind his back. (and when the king of Ai had seen this, he hastened, and rose up early, and went out of the city with all of his army, and he directed the battle array toward the wilderness; but he did not know that men were hidden in ambush behind his back.)

15 Forsooth Joshua and all the multitude of Israel gave place, feigning dread, and fleeing (away) by the way of (the) wilderness;

16 and the men cried together, and with gladness stirred themselves together (and with gladness stirred themselves up), and they pursued the men of Israel. And when they had gone away from the city,

17 and soothly not one had (been) left in the city of Ai and Bethel, that pursued not Israel, and they left the cities open, as they had broken out, (and truly there was no one left in the city of Ai, who did not pursue Israel, and they left the city wide open, when they had broken out,)

18 the Lord said to Joshua, Raise up the shield that is in thine hand, against the city of Ai; for I shall give it to thee. And when Joshua had raised up his banner against the city of Ai, [the Lord said to Joshua, Heave up thy sword that is in thine hand, against the city of Ai; for to thee I shall take it (for I shall deliver it to thee). And when he had heaved up the sword over against the city,]

19 the ambushments, that were hid, rose up anon; and they went to the city, and took [it], and burnt it. (those in ambush, who were hid, rose up at once; and they went into the city, and took it, and set it afire.)

20 Forsooth the men of the city, that pursued Joshua, beheld, and saw the smoke of the(ir) city ascend till to (the) heaven(s); and they might no more flee hither and thither; most(ly) since they that had feigned flight, and went to (the) wilderness, withstood strongliest against the pursuers (now strongly withstood their pursuers).

21 And Joshua saw, and all Israel, that the city was taken, and that the smoke of the city went up; and he turned again, and killed the men of Ai. (And Joshua, and all of Israel, saw that the city was taken, and that the smoke of the city went up; and then they turned, and killed the men of Ai.)

22 And also those men that had taken and burnt the city, went out of the city against their enemies, and they began to smite the middle men of their enemies (And those men who had taken and set the city afire, now came out of the city against their enemies, and they began to strike down the enemies who were in their midst); and when their adversaries were slain behind and before, so that no man of so great [a] multitude was saved,

23 they took also the king of Ai living (they took the king of Ai alive), and they brought him to Joshua.

24 Therefore, when all the men were slain, that pursued Israel fleeing to desert, and had fallen by sword in the same place, the sons of Israel turned again, and destroyed the city of Ai. (And so, when all the men were killed, that Israel had pursued fleeing to the desert, and they had fallen by the sword in that place, then the Israelites turned back, and completely destroyed the city of Ai.)

25 Forsooth they that felled down in the same day, from man till to woman, were twelve thousand of men, all men of the city of Ai. (And they who fell that day, from the men unto the women, were twelve thousand people, yea, all the inhabitants of the city of Ai.)

26 For Joshua withdrew not his hand, which he had directed on high holding up his banner [that in height he put up holding the sword (that he had put on high holding up his sword)], till that all the dwellers of Ai were slain.

27 And the sons of Israel parted to themselves the work beasts (And the Israelites divided among themselves the work beasts), and the prey of the city, as the Lord commanded to Joshua;

28 and Joshua burnt that city (and Joshua burned down that city), and made it an everlasting burial.

29 And he hanged the king thereof in a gibbet, till to the eventide, and the going down of the sun. And Joshua commanded, and they putted down his dead body from the cross; and they casted forth him in that entering of the city, and gathered on him a great heap of stones, which heap dwelleth till into present day. (And he hanged its king upon a gallows, or a tree, until the evening, and the going down of the sun. And then Joshua commanded, and they took down his dead body from the tree; and they threw him forth at the entrance to the city gate, and gathered upon him a great heap of stones, which heap remaineth there until this present day.)

30 Then Joshua builded an altar to the Lord God of Israel in the hill of Ebal, (Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord God of Israel on Mount Ebal,)

31 as Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded to the sons of Israel, and (as) it is written in the book of Moses’ law, an altar of stones unpolished, that iron hath not touched. And he offered thereon burnt sacrifices to the Lord, and he offered also peaceable sacrifices; (as Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded to the Israelites, and as it is written in the Book of the Law by Moses, yea, an altar of unpolished stones that iron hath not touched. And he offered on it burnt sacrifices to the Lord, and also peace offerings;)

32 and he wrote on the stones the Deuteronomy of Moses’ law, not all the book, but the ten behests only, which he had declared before the sons of Israel. (and he wrote on the stones the Deuteronomy of the Law by Moses, not all the book, but only the Ten Commandments, which he had declared before the Israelites.)

33 And all the people, and the greater men in birth, and dukes, and judges, stood on either side of the ark, in the sight of (the) priests and deacons, that bare the ark of the bond of peace of the Lord; as a comeling, so and a man born in the land; the half part of them stood beside the hill Gerizim, and the half part of them stood beside the hill Ebal, as Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded. And Joshua first blessed the people of Israel. (And all the people, and the men of great age, that is, the elders, and the leaders, and the judges, and the officers, stood on either side of the Ark, before the priests and the Levites, who carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord; a stranger as well as someone born in the land; half of them stood facing Mount Gerizim, and half of them stood facing Mount Ebal, as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded. And first Joshua blessed the people of Israel.)

34 And (then) after these things he read all the words of blessing and of cursing, and all things that were written in the book of (the) law.

35 Joshua left nothing untouched of these things that Moses commanded; but he declared all things before all the multitude of Israel, to women, and little children, and to comelings that dwelled among them. (Joshua left nothing untouched of those things that Moses commanded; yea, he declared everything before all the multitude of Israel, including the women, and the little children, and the newcomers, or the foreigners, who lived among them.)

Ai Destroyed

Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid;(A) do not be discouraged.(B) Take the whole army(C) with you, and go up and attack Ai.(D) For I have delivered(E) into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land. You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder(F) and livestock for yourselves.(G) Set an ambush(H) behind the city.”

So Joshua and the whole army moved out to attack Ai. He chose thirty thousand of his best fighting men and sent them out at night with these orders: “Listen carefully. You are to set an ambush behind the city. Don’t go very far from it. All of you be on the alert. I and all those with me will advance on the city, and when the men come out against us, as they did before, we will flee from them. They will pursue us until we have lured them away from the city, for they will say, ‘They are running away from us as they did before.’ So when we flee from them, you are to rise up from ambush and take the city. The Lord your God will give it into your hand.(I) When you have taken the city, set it on fire.(J) Do what the Lord has commanded.(K) See to it; you have my orders.”

Then Joshua sent them off, and they went to the place of ambush(L) and lay in wait between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai—but Joshua spent that night with the people.

10 Early the next morning(M) Joshua mustered his army, and he and the leaders of Israel(N) marched before them to Ai. 11 The entire force that was with him marched up and approached the city and arrived in front of it. They set up camp north of Ai, with the valley between them and the city. 12 Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. 13 So the soldiers took up their positions—with the main camp to the north of the city and the ambush to the west of it. That night Joshua went into the valley.

14 When the king of Ai saw this, he and all the men of the city hurried out early in the morning to meet Israel in battle at a certain place overlooking the Arabah.(O) But he did not know(P) that an ambush had been set against him behind the city. 15 Joshua and all Israel let themselves be driven back(Q) before them, and they fled toward the wilderness.(R) 16 All the men of Ai were called to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were lured away(S) from the city. 17 Not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who did not go after Israel. They left the city open and went in pursuit of Israel.

18 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Hold out toward Ai the javelin(T) that is in your hand,(U) for into your hand I will deliver the city.” So Joshua held out toward the city the javelin that was in his hand.(V) 19 As soon as he did this, the men in the ambush rose quickly(W) from their position and rushed forward. They entered the city and captured it and quickly set it on fire.(X)

20 The men of Ai looked back and saw the smoke of the city rising up into the sky,(Y) but they had no chance to escape in any direction; the Israelites who had been fleeing toward the wilderness had turned back against their pursuers. 21 For when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that smoke was going up from it, they turned around(Z) and attacked the men of Ai. 22 Those in the ambush also came out of the city against them, so that they were caught in the middle, with Israelites on both sides. Israel cut them down, leaving them neither survivors nor fugitives.(AA) 23 But they took the king of Ai alive(AB) and brought him to Joshua.

24 When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the wilderness where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it. 25 Twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai.(AC) 26 For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin(AD) until he had destroyed[a](AE) all who lived in Ai.(AF) 27 But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the Lord had instructed Joshua.(AG)

28 So Joshua burned(AH) Ai[b](AI) and made it a permanent heap of ruins,(AJ) a desolate place to this day.(AK) 29 He impaled the body of the king of Ai on a pole and left it there until evening. At sunset,(AL) 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(AM) over it, which remains to this day.

The Covenant Renewed at Mount Ebal

30 Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal(AN) an altar(AO) 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(AP) had been used. On it they offered to the Lord burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings.(AQ) 32 There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua wrote on stones a copy of the law of Moses.(AR) 33 All the Israelites, with their elders, officials and judges, were standing on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the Lord, facing the Levitical(AS) priests who carried it. Both the foreigners living among them and the native-born(AT) were there. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal,(AU) as Moses the servant of the Lord had formerly commanded when he gave instructions to bless the people of Israel.

34 Afterward, Joshua read all the words of the law—the blessings and the curses—just as it is written in the Book of the Law.(AV) 35 There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read to the whole assembly of Israel, including the women and children, and the foreigners who lived among them.(AW)

Footnotes

  1. Joshua 8:26 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
  2. Joshua 8:28 Ai means the ruin.