Joshua 8
1 Then said Yahweh unto Joshua—Do not fear nor be dismayed, take with thee all the army, 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;
Then the Lord said to Joshua, Have no fear and do not be troubled: take with you all the fighting-men and go up against Ai: for I have given into your hands the king of Ai and his people and his town and his land:
2 so shalt thou do unto Ai and to her king, as thou didst unto Jericho unto her king, save only, the spoil thereof and the cattle thereof, shall ye take as your own prey, —set thee an ambush for the city, behind it.
And you are to do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king: but their goods and their cattle you may take for yourselves: let a secret force be stationed to make a surprise attack on the town from the back.
3 So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up to Ai, —and Joshua chose out thirty thousand men, the mighty men of valour, and sent them forth by night.
So Joshua and the fighting-men got ready to go up against Ai; and Joshua took thirty thousand men of war, and sent them out by night.
4 And he commanded them, saying—See! ye, shall be lying in ambush against the city, behind the city, do not go very far from the city, —so shall ye all be ready.
And he gave them their orders, saying, Go and take up your position secretly at the back of the town: do not go very far away, and let all of you be ready:
5 But, I, and all the people who are with me, will draw near unto the city, —and it shall be, when they come out to meet us, as at the first, then will we flee before them;
And I and all the people with me will come near the town, and when they come out against us as they did before, we will go in flight from them;
6 so will they come out after us, until we have drawn them away from the city, for they will say, Fleeing before us, as at the first! therefore will we flee before them.
And they will come out after us, till we have got them away from the town; for they will say, They have gone in flight from us as before; so we will go in flight before them;
7 Then, ye, shall rise up out of the ambush, and take possession of the city, —and Yahweh your God will deliver it into your hand.
Then you will get up from your secret position and take the town, for the Lord your God will give it up into your hands.
8 And it shall be, when ye have seized the city, then shall ye burn the city with fire, according to the word of Yahweh, shall ye do, —see! I have commanded you.
And when you have taken the town, put fire to it, as the Lord has said: see, I have given you your orders.
9 So Joshua sent them forth, and they went into ambush, and abode between Bethel and Ai, on the west of Ai, —but Joshua lodged that night in the midst of the people.
So Joshua sent them out: and they took up a secret position between Beth-el and Ai, on the west side of Ai: but Joshua kept with the people that night.
10 And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and mustered the people, —and went up—he and the elders of Israel, before the people, to Ai.
And early in the morning Joshua got up, and put the people in order, and he and the chiefs of Israel went up before the people to Ai.
11 And, all the people of war who were with him, went up, and drew near, and came in, right before the city, —and pitched on the north of Ai, with, a valley, between them and Ai.
And all the fighting-men who were with him went up and came near the town, and took up a position on the north side of Ai facing the town, with a valley between him and the town.
12 And he took about five thousand men, —and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west of the city.
And taking about five thousand men, he put them in position for a surprise attack on the west side of Ai, between Beth-el and Ai.
13 And, when the people had set all the host that was on the north of the city, with the rear thereof on the west of the city, then went Joshua, during the night, into the midst of the valley.
So all the people were in their places, the army on the north side of the town and the secret force on the west; and that night Joshua went down into the valley.
14 And it came to pass, when the king of Ai saw it, that they hasted, and rose up early, and the men of the city came out to meet Israel for battle, he and all his people, at an appointed time, before the waste plain, —he not knowing that there was an ambush lying in wait for him, behind the city.
Now when the king of Ai saw it, he got up quickly and went out to war against Israel, he and all his people, to the slope going down to the valley; but he had no idea that a secret force was waiting at the back of the town.
15 So then Joshua and all Israel suffered themselves to be smitten before them, —and fled, by the way of the wilderness;
Then Joshua and all Israel, acting as if they were overcome before them, went in flight by way of the waste land.
16 and all the people who were in the city were called out to pursue them, —and they pursued Joshua, and so were drawn out away from the city.
And all the people in Ai came together to go after them; and they went after Joshua, moving away from the town.
17 And there remained not a man, in Ai or Bethel, who had not gone out after Israel, —and they left the city, open, and pursued Israel.
There was not a man in Ai and Beth-el who did not go out after Israel; and the town was open and unwatched while they went after Israel.
18 Then said Yahweh unto Joshua—Stretch out with the javelin which is in thy hand, towards Ai, for, into thy hand, will I deliver it. So Joshua stretched out with the javelin which was in his hand, towards the city.
And the Lord said to Joshua, Let your spear be stretched out against Ai; for I will give it into your hands. So Joshua took up his spear, stretching it out in the direction of the town.
19 And, the ambush, rose up quickly, out of their place, and ran, when he stretched out his hand, and entered the city, and captured it, —and hasted, and set the city on fire.
Then the secret force came quickly from their place, and running forward when they saw his hand stretched out, went into the town and took it, and put fire to it straight away.
20 And the men of Ai turned behind them, and looked, and lo! the smoke of the city had risen up towards the heavens, and there was in them no strength, to flee this way or that way, —moreover, the people that were fleeing to the wilderness, turned back upon the pursuers.
Then the men of Ai, looking back, saw the smoke of the town going up to heaven, and were unable to go this way or that: and the people who had gone in flight to the waste land were turned back on those who were coming after them.
21 Yea, when, Joshua and all Israel, saw that the ambush had captured the city, and that the smoke of the city had risen up, then returned they, and smote the men of Ai.
And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the town had been taken by the surprise attack, and that the smoke of the town had gone up, turning round they overcame the men of Ai.
22 And, the others, came forth out of the city to meet them, so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side, —and they smote them, until there was left them none to remain or to escape.
Then the other force came out of the town against them, so that they were being attacked on this side and on that: and Israel overcame them and let not one of them get away with his life.
23 And, the king of Ai, they caught alive, —and brought him near unto Joshua.
But the king of Ai they made prisoner, and took him to Joshua.
24 And it came to pass, when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness whither they had pursued them, and all of them had fallen by the edge of the sword until they were consumed, then all Israel returned to Ai, and smote it with the edge of the sword.
Then, after the destruction of all the people of Ai in the field and in the waste land where they went after them, and when all the people had been put to death without mercy, all Israel went back to Ai, and put to death all who were in it without mercy.
25 And so it was, that all who fell that day, both of men and of women, were twelve thousand, —all people of Ai.
On that day twelve thousand were put to death, men and women, all the people of Ai.
26 Now, Joshua, drew not back his hand which he had stretched out with the javelin, —until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.
For Joshua did not take back his hand with the outstretched spear till the destruction of the people of Ai was complete.
27 Nevertheless, the cattle and the spoil of that city, Israel took as their own prey, —according to the word of Yahweh, which he commanded Joshua.
But the cattle and the goods from that town, Israel took for themselves, as the Lord had given orders to Joshua.
28 So then Joshua burned Ai, —and made of it an age-abiding heap—a desolation, [as it remaineth] until this day.
So Joshua gave Ai to the flames, and made it a waste mass of stones for ever, as it is to this day.
29 And, the king of Ai, hanged he on a tree until eventide, —but, at the going in of the sun, Joshua gave command and they took down his dead body from the tree, and cast it in at the opening of the gate of the city, and raised up over it a great heap of stones—[which remaineth] until this day.
And he put the king of Ai to death, hanging him on a tree till evening: and when the sun went down, Joshua gave them orders to take his body down from the tree, and put it in the public place of the town, covering it with a great mass of stones, which is there to this day.
30 Than, built Joshua, an altar, unto Yahweh, God of Israel, —in Mount Ebal:
Then Joshua put up an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, in Mount Ebal,
31 as Moses, the servant of Yahweh, commanded the sons of Israel, as it is written in the scroll of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stones, whereon had not been wielded any tool of iron, —and they caused to go up thereon, ascending-sacrifices unto Yahweh, and sacrificed peace-offerings.
In the way ordered by Moses, the servant of the Lord, as it is recorded in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of uncut stones, untouched by any iron instrument: and on it they made burned offerings and peace-offerings to the Lord.
32 Then wrote he there, upon the stones, a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote, in the presence of the sons of Israel.
And he made there on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, writing it before the eyes of the children of Israel.
33 And, all Israel, and their elders and officers, and their judges, were standing on this side and on that side of the ark, before the priests the Levites, who were bearing the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, as well the sojourner as the home-born, half of them over against Mount Gerizim, and half of them over against Mount Ebal, —as Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded to bless the sons of Israel, first of all.
And all Israel, those who were Israelites by birth, as well as the men from other lands living with them, and their responsible men and their overseers and judges, took their places round the ark, in front of the priests, the Levites, whose work it was to take up the ark of the Lord's agreement; half of them were stationed in front of Mount Gerizim and half in front of Mount Ebal, in agreement with the orders for the blessing of the children of Israel which Moses, the servant of the Lord, had given.
34 And, after that, read he all the words of the law, the blessing and the cursing, —according to all that was written in the scroll of the law.
And after, he gave them all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, as it is all recorded in the book of the law;
35 Them was not a word of all that Moses commanded, —which Joshua read not before all the convocation of Israel, with the women and the little ones, and the sojourner who was going on in their midst.
Reading to all the meeting of Israel, with the women and the children and the men from other lands who were living among them, every word of the orders which Moses had given.
