Iosue 8
1 dixit autem Dominus ad Iosue ne timeas neque formides tolle tecum omnem multitudinem pugnatorum et consurgens ascende in oppidum Ahi ecce tradidi in manu tua 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 Ahi et regi eius sicut fecisti Hiericho 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 Ahi et electa triginta milia 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 accedemus 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 fugere nos 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 sequentibus 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 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 insidiarum locum sederuntque inter Bethel et Ahi ad occidentalem plagam urbis Ahi 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 vallis media erat
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 milia autem viros elegerat et posuerat in insidiis inter Bethaven et Ahi 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 multitudinis occidentalem plagam urbis adtingerent 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 Ahi 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 Israhel cesserunt loco simulantes metum et fugientes per viam solitudinis
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 Ahi et Bethel remansisset qui non persequeretur Israhel 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 Ahi 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 hii 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 Israhel quod capta esset civitas et fumus urbis ascenderet reversus percussit viros Ahi
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 Ahi adprehendere viventem et obtulerunt Iosue
Then they seized the king of Ai and brought him to Joshua.
24 igitur omnibus interfectis qui Israhelem ad deserta tendentem fuerant persecuti et in eodem loco gladio corruentibus reversi filii Israhel 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 eo die conciderant a viro usque ad mulierem duodecim milia hominum omnes urbis Ahi
They killed 12,000 men and women.
26 Iosue vero non contraxit manum quam in sublime porrexerat tenens clypeum donec interficerentur omnes habitatores Ahi
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 Israhel 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 vesperum et solis occasum praecepitque 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 Israhel 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 Moses famulus Domini filiis Israhel et scriptum est in volumine legis Mosi altare de lapidibus inpolitis 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 Mosi quod ille digesserat coram filiis Israhel
As the Israelis watched, Joshua wrote on stones the laws that [Yahweh had given] to Moses previously.
33 omnis autem populus et maiores natu ducesque ac iudices stabant ex utraque parte arcae in conspectu sacerdotum qui portabant arcam foederis Domini ut advena ita et indigena media eorum pars iuxta montem Garizim et media iuxta montem Hebal sicut praeceperat Moses famulus Domini et primum quidem benedixit populo Israhel
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 Moses iusserat reliquit intactum sed universa replicavit coram omni multitudine Israhel 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.
