約書亞記 8
1 耶和華對約書亞說：「不要懼怕，也不要驚惶。你起來，率領一切兵丁上艾城去，我已經把艾城的王和他的民、他的城，並他的地，都交在你手裏。
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 你怎樣待耶利哥和耶利哥的王，也當照樣待艾城和艾城的王。只是城內所奪的財物和牲畜，你們可以取為自己的掠物。你要在城後設下伏兵。」
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 於是，約書亞和一切兵丁都起來，要上艾城去。約書亞選了三萬大能的勇士，夜間打發他們前往，
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 吩咐他們說：「你們要在城後埋伏，不可離城太遠，都要各自準備。
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 我與我所帶領的眾民要向城前往。城裏的人像初次出來攻擊我們的時候，我們就在他們面前逃跑，
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 他們必出來追趕我們，直到我們引誘他們離開城；因為他們必說：『這些人像初次在我們面前逃跑。』所以我們要在他們面前逃跑，
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 你們就從埋伏的地方起來，奪取那城，因為耶和華－你們的上帝必把城交在你們手裏。
[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 你們奪了城以後，就放火燒城，要照耶和華的話行。這是我吩咐你們的。」
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 約書亞打發他們前往，他們就上埋伏的地方去，住在伯特利和艾城的中間，就是在艾城的西邊。這夜約書亞卻在民中住宿。
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 約書亞清早起來，點齊百姓，他和以色列的長老在百姓前面上艾城去。
Early the next morning, Joshua gathered his soldiers together. Then he and the other Israeli leaders led them up to Ai.
11 眾民，就是他所帶領的兵丁，都上去，向前直往，來到城前，在艾城北邊安營。在約書亞和艾城中間有一山谷。
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 他挑了約有五千人，使他們埋伏在伯特利和艾城的中間，就是在艾城的西邊，
Then Joshua chose about 5,000 men and told them to go and hide just west of the city, between Ai and Bethel.
13 於是安置了百姓，就是城北的全軍和城西的伏兵。這夜約書亞進入山谷之中。
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 艾城的王看見這景況，就和全城的人，清早急忙起來，按所定的時候，出到亞拉巴前，要與以色列人交戰；王卻不知道在城後有伏兵。
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 約書亞和以色列眾人在他們面前裝敗，往那通曠野的路逃跑。
Joshua and the Israeli soldiers [who were with him] allowed the army of Ai to push them back. They ran toward the desert.
16 城內的眾民都被招聚，追趕他們；艾城人追趕的時候，就被引誘離開城。
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 艾城和伯特利城沒有一人不出來追趕以色列人的，撇了敞開的城門，去追趕以色列人。
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 耶和華吩咐約書亞說：「你向艾城伸出手裏的短槍，因為我要將城交在你手裏。」約書亞就向城伸出手裏的短槍。
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 他一伸手，伏兵就從埋伏的地方急忙起來，奪了城，跑進城去，放火焚燒。
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 艾城的人回頭一看，不料，城中煙氣沖天，他們就無力向左向右逃跑。那往曠野逃跑的百姓便轉身攻擊追趕他們的人。
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 約書亞和以色列眾人見伏兵已經奪了城，城中煙氣飛騰，就轉身回去，擊殺艾城的人。
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 伏兵也出城迎擊艾城人，艾城人就困在以色列人中間，前後都是以色列人。於是以色列人擊殺他們，沒有留下一個，也沒有一個逃脫的，
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 生擒了艾城的王，將他解到約書亞那裏。
Then they seized the king of Ai and brought him to Joshua.
24 以色列人在田間和曠野殺盡所追趕一切艾城的居民。艾城人倒在刀下，直到滅盡；以色列眾人就回到艾城，用刀殺了城中的人。
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 當日殺斃的人，連男帶女共有一萬二千，就是艾城所有的人。
They killed 12,000 men and women.
26 約書亞沒有收回手裏所伸出來的短槍，直到把艾城的一切居民盡行殺滅。
Joshua continued to point his spear [LIT] toward Ai, until all the people in Ai had been killed.
27 惟獨城中的牲畜和財物，以色列人都取為自己的掠物，是照耶和華所吩咐約書亞的話。
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 約書亞將艾城焚燒，使城永為高堆、荒場，直到今日；
Joshua and his soldiers burned Ai city and caused it to become a pile of ruins. It is still like that today.
29 又將艾城王掛在樹上，直到晚上。日落的時候，約書亞吩咐人把屍首從樹上取下來，丟在城門口，在屍首上堆成一大堆石頭，直存到今日。
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 那時，約書亞在以巴路山上為耶和華－以色列的上帝築一座壇，
Joshua [told his men to] build on Ebal Mountain an altar for Yahweh, the God [who is worshiped by] the Israeli people.
31 是用沒有動過鐵器的整石頭築的，照着耶和華僕人摩西所吩咐以色列人的話，正如摩西律法書上所寫的。眾人在這壇上給耶和華奉獻燔祭和平安祭。
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 約書亞在那裏，當着以色列人面前，將摩西所寫的律法抄寫在石頭上。
As the Israelis watched, Joshua wrote on stones the laws that [Yahweh had given] to Moses previously.
33 以色列眾人，無論是本地人、是寄居的，和長老、官長，並審判官，都站在約櫃兩旁，在抬耶和華約櫃的祭司利未人面前，一半對着基利心山，一半對着以巴路山，為以色列民祝福，正如耶和華僕人摩西先前所吩咐的。
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 隨後，約書亞將律法上祝福、咒詛的話，照着律法書上一切所寫的，都宣讀了一遍。
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 摩西所吩咐的一切話，約書亞在以色列全會眾和婦女、孩子，並他們中間寄居的外人面前，沒有一句不宣讀的。
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.
