1
And Jehovah said to Joshua , Fear not , neither be dismayed. Take with thee all the people of war , 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 .
2
And thou shalt do to Ai and to its king as thou didst to Jericho and to its king; only, the spoil thereof and the cattle thereof shall ye take as prey for yourselves. Set an ambush against the city behind it.
3
And Joshua arose, and all the people of war , to go up to Ai . And Joshua chose thirty thousand valiant men , and sent them away by night .
4
And he commanded them, saying, See , ye shall be in ambush against the city , behind the city : go not very far from the city , and be all of you ready.
5
And I and all the people that are with me will approach to the city ; and it shall come to pass when they come out against us , as at the first , that we will flee before them.
6
And they will come out after us till we have drawn them from the city ; for they will say , They flee before us , as at the first ; and we will flee before them.
7
And ye shall rise up from the ambush and take possession of the city ; and Jehovah your God will deliver it into your hand .
8
And it shall be when ye have taken the city , that ye shall set the city on fire ; according to the word of Jehovah shall ye do. See , I have commanded you.
9
And Joshua sent them forth; and they went to lie in ambush, and abode between Bethel and Ai , on the west of Ai . And Joshua lodged that night among the people.
10
And Joshua rose early in the morning , and inspected the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel , before the people to Ai .
11
And all the people of war that were with him went up, and drew near , and came before the city ; and they encamped on the north of Ai ; and the valley was between them and Ai .
12
Now he had taken about five thousand men , and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai , on the west of the city .
13
And when they had set the people, the whole camp on the north of the city , and their ambush on the west of the city , Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley .
14
And it came to pass when the king of Ai saw it, that the men of the city hasted and rose early , and went out against Israel to battle , he and all his people, at the appointed place before the plain . But he knew not that there was an ambush against him behind the city .
15
And Joshua and all Israel let themselves be beaten before them; and they fled by the way of the wilderness .
16
And all the people that were in the city were called together to pursue after them; and they pursued after Joshua , and were drawn away from the city .
17
And not a man remained in Ai and Bethel that went not out after Israel ; and they left the city open , and pursued after Israel .
18
And Jehovah said to Joshua , Stretch out the javelin that is in thy hand toward Ai ; for I will give it into thy hand . And Joshua stretched out the javelin that he had in his hand toward the city .
19
And the ambush arose quickly from their place , and they ran when he stretched out his hand , and came into the city , and took it, and hasted and set the city on fire .
20
And the men of Ai turned and saw , and behold, the smoke of the city went up to heaven , and they had no power to flee this way or that way ; and the people that fled to the wilderness turned upon the pursuers.
21
When Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city , and that the smoke of the city went up, they turned again, and slew the men of Ai .
22
And the others went out of the city against them; so they were in the midst of Israel , some on this side , and some on that side ; and they smote them, until they let none of them escape or flee away.
23
And the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua .
24
And it came to pass when Israel had ended slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field , in the wilderness wherein they had chased them, and they had all fallen by the edge of the sword , until they were consumed, that all Israel returned to Ai , and smote it with the edge of the sword .
25
And so it was, that all who fell that day , men as well as women , were twelve thousand , all the people of Ai .
26
And Joshua did not draw back his hand , which he had stretched out with the javelin , until they had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai .
27
Only, the cattle and the spoil of the city Israel took as prey to themselves, according to the word of Jehovah which he had commanded Joshua .
28
And Joshua burned Ai , and made it an everlasting heap of desolation to this day .
29
And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until the evening ; and at the going down of the sun Joshua commanded , and they took his carcase down from the tree , and threw it down at the entrance of the gate of the city , and raised upon it a great heap of stones , [which remains] to this day .
30
Then Joshua built an altar to Jehovah the God of Israel , in mount Ebal,
31
as Moses the servant of Jehovah had commanded the children of Israel , as it is written in the book of the law of Moses , an altar of whole stones , over which iron had not been lifted up. And they offered up burnt-offerings on it to Jehovah , and sacrificed peace -offerings .
32
And he wrote there on the stones a copy of the law of Moses , which he had written before the children of Israel .
33
And all Israel , and their elders , and their officers and judges , stood on this side and on that side of the ark before the priests the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of Jehovah , as well the stranger as the home-born [Israelite]; half of them toward mount Gerizim, and the other half of them toward mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of Jehovah had commanded , that they should bless the people of Israel , in the beginning.
34
And afterwards he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse , according to all that is written in the book of the law.
35
There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua read not before the whole congregation of Israel , and the women , and the children, and the strangers that lived among them.