¹ And Jehovah saith unto Joshua, `Fear not, nor be affrighted, take with thee all the people of war, and rise, 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 hast done to Ai and to her king as thou hast done to Jericho and to her king; only, its spoil and its cattle ye spoil for yourselves; set for thee an ambush for the city at its rear.'

³ And Joshua riseth, and all the people of war, to go up to Ai, and Joshua chooseth thirty thousand men, mighty ones of valour, and sendeth them away by night,

⁴ and commandeth them, saying, `See, ye are liers in wait against the city, at the rear of the city, ye go not very far off from the city, and all of you have been prepared,

⁵ and I and all the people who [are] with me draw near unto the city, and it hath come to pass when they come out to meet us as at the first, and we have fled before them,

⁶ and they have come out after us till we have drawn them out of the city, for they say, They are fleeing before us as at the first, and we have fled before them,

⁷ and ye rise from the ambush, and have occupied the city, and Jehovah your God hath given it into your hand;

⁸ and it hath been, when ye capture the city, ye burn the city with fire, according to the word of Jehovah ye do, see, I have commanded you.'

⁹ And Joshua sendeth them away, and they go unto the ambush, and abide between Bethel and Ai, on the west of Ai; and Joshua lodgeth on that night in the midst of the people.

¹⁰ And Joshua riseth early in the morning, and inspecteth the people, and goeth up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai;

¹¹ and all the people of war who [are] with him have gone up, and draw nigh and come in over-against the city, and encamp on the north of Ai; and the valley [is] between him and Ai.

¹² And he taketh about five thousand men, and setteth them an ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west of the city;

¹³ and they set the people, all the camp which [is] on the north of the city, and its rear on the west of the city, and Joshua goeth on that night into the midst of the valley.

¹⁴ And it cometh to pass, when the king of Ai seeth [it], that hasten, and rise early, and go out do the men of the city to meet Israel for battle, he and all his people, at the appointed season, at the front of the plain, and he hath not known that an ambush [is] against him, on the rear of the city.

¹⁵ And Joshua and all Israel [seem] stricken before them, and flee the way of the wilderness,

¹⁶ and all the people who [are] in the city are called to pursue after them, and they pursue after Joshua, and are drawn away out of the city,

¹⁷ and there hath not been left a man in Ai and Bethel who hath not gone out after Israel, and they leave the city open, and pursue after Israel.

¹⁸ And Jehovah saith unto Joshua, `Stretch out with the javelin which [is] in thy hand towards Ai, for into thy hand I give it;' and Joshua stretcheth out with the javelin which [is] in his hand toward the city,

¹⁹ and the ambush hath risen [with] haste, out of its place, and they run at the stretching out of his hand, and go into the city, and capture it, and hasten, and burn the city with fire.

²⁰ And the men of Ai look behind them, and see, and lo, the smoke of the city hath gone up unto the heavens, and there hath not been in them power to flee hither and thither -- and the people who are fleeing to the wilderness have turned against the pursuer, --

²¹ and Joshua and all Israel have seen that the ambush hath captured the city, and that the smoke of the city hath gone up, and they turn back and smite the men of Ai;

²² and these have come out from the city to meet them, and they are in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that, and they smite them till he hath not left to them a remnant and escaped one;

²³ and the king of Ai they caught alive, and bring him near unto Joshua.

²⁴ And it cometh to pass, at Israel's finishing to slay all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness in which they pursued them (and they fall all of them by the mouth of the sword till their consumption), that all Israel turn back to Ai, and smite it by the mouth of the sword;

²⁵ and all who fall during the day, of men and of women, are twelve thousand -- all men of Ai.

²⁶ And Joshua hath not brought back his hand which he stretched out with the javelin till that he hath devoted all the inhabitants of Ai;

²⁷ only, the cattle and the spoil of that city have Israel spoiled for themselves, according to the word of Jehovah which He commanded Joshua.

²⁸ And Joshua burneth Ai, and maketh it a heap age-during -- a desolation unto this day;

²⁹ and the king of Ai he hath hanged on the tree till even-time, and at the going in of the sun hath Joshua commanded, and they take down his carcase from the tree, and cast it unto the opening of the gate of the city, and raise over it a great heap of stones till this day.

³⁰ Then doth Joshua build an altar to Jehovah, God of Israel, in mount Ebal,

³¹ as Moses, servant of Jehovah, commanded the sons of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses -- an altar of whole stones, over which he hath not waved iron -- and they cause to go up upon it burnt-offerings to Jehovah, and sacrifice peace-offerings;

³² and he writeth there on the stones the copy of the law of Moses, which he hath written in the presence of the sons of Israel.

³³ And all Israel, and its elders, and authorities, and its judges, are standing on this side and on that of the ark, over-against the priests, the Levites, bearing the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, as well the sojourner as the native, half of them over-against mount Gerizim, and the half of them over-against mount Ebal, as Moses servant of Jehovah commanded to bless the people of Israel at the first.

³⁴ And afterwards he hath proclaimed all the words of the law, the blessing and the reviling, according to all that is written in the book of the law;

³⁵ there hath not been a thing of all that Moses commanded which Joshua hath not proclaimed before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the infants, and the sojourner who is going in their midst.

¹ And the people see that Moses is delaying to come down from the mount, and the people assemble against Aaron, and say unto him, `Rise, make for us gods who go before us, for this Moses -- the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt -- we have not known what hath happened to him.'

² And Aaron saith unto them, `Break off the rings of gold which [are] in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring in unto me;'

³ and all the people themselves break off the rings of gold which [are] in their ears, and bring in unto Aaron,

⁴ and he receiveth from their hand, and doth fashion it with a graving tool, and doth make it a molten calf, and they say, `These thy gods, O Israel, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.'

⁵ And Aaron seeth, and buildeth an altar before it, and Aaron calleth, and saith, `A festival to Jehovah -- to-morrow;'

⁶ and they rise early on the morrow, and cause burnt-offerings to ascend, and bring nigh peace-offerings; and the people sit down to eat and to drink, and rise up to play.

⁷ And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Go, descend, for thy people whom thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt hath done corruptly,

⁸ they have turned aside hastily from the way that I have commanded them; they have made for themselves a molten calf, and bow themselves to it, and sacrifice to it, and say, These thy gods, O Israel, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.'

⁹ And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `I have seen this people, and lo, it [is] a stiff-necked people;

¹⁰ and now, let Me alone, and My anger doth burn against them, and I consume them, and I make thee become a great nation.'

¹¹ And Moses appeaseth the face of Jehovah his God, and saith, `Why, O Jehovah, doth Thine anger burn against Thy people, whom Thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand?

¹² why do the Egyptians speak, saying, For evil He brought them out to slay them among mountains, and to consume them from off the face of the ground? turn back from the heat of Thine anger, and repent of the evil against Thy people.

¹³ `Be mindful of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, Thy servants, to whom Thou hast sworn by Thyself, and unto whom Thou speakest: I multiply your seed as stars of the heavens, and all this land, as I have said, I give to your seed, and they have inherited to the age;'

¹⁴ and Jehovah repenteth of the evil which He hath spoken of doing to His people.

¹⁵ And Moses turneth, and goeth down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony [are] in his hand, tables written on both their sides, on this and on that [are] they written;

¹⁶ and the tables are the work of God, and the writing is the writing of God, graven on the tables.

¹⁷ And Joshua heareth the voice of the people in their shouting, and saith unto Moses, `A noise of battle in the camp!'

¹⁸ and he saith, `It is not the voice of the crying of might, nor is it the voice of the crying of weakness -- a voice of singing I am hearing.'

¹⁹ And it cometh to pass, when he hath drawn near unto the camp, that he seeth the calf, and the dancing, and the anger of Moses burneth, and he casteth out of his hands the tables, and breaketh them under the mount;

²⁰ and he taketh the calf which they have made, and burneth [it] with fire, and grindeth until [it is] small, and scattereth on the face of the waters, and causeth the sons of Israel to drink.

²¹ And Moses saith unto Aaron, `What hath this people done to thee, that thou hast brought in upon it a great sin?'

²² and Aaron saith, `Let not the anger of my lord burn; thou -- thou hast known the people that it [is] in evil;

²³ and they say to me, Make for us gods, who go before us, for this Moses -- the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt -- we have not known what hath happened to him;

²⁴ and I say to them, Whoso hath gold, let them break [it] off, and they give to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf cometh out.'

²⁵ And Moses seeth the people that it [is] unbridled, for Aaron hath made it unbridled for contempt among its withstanders,

²⁶ and Moses standeth in the gate of the camp, and saith, `Who [is] for Jehovah? -- unto me!' and all the sons of Levi are gathered unto him;

²⁷ and he saith to them, `Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Put each his sword by his thigh, pass over and turn back from gate to gate through the camp, and slay each his brother, and each his friend, and each his relation.'

²⁸ And the sons of Levi do according to the word of Moses, and there fall of the people on that day about three thousand men,

²⁹ and Moses saith, `Consecrate your hand to-day to Jehovah, for a man [is] against his son, and against his brother, so as to bring on you to-day a blessing.'

³⁰ And it cometh to pass, on the morrow, that Moses saith unto the people, `Ye -- ye have sinned a great sin, and now I go up unto Jehovah, if so be I atone for your sin.'

³¹ And Moses turneth back unto Jehovah, and saith, `Oh this people hath sinned a great sin, that they make to themselves a god of gold;

³² and now, if Thou takest away their sin -- and if not -- blot me, I pray thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written.'

³³ And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Whoso hath sinned against Me -- I blot him out of My book;

³⁴ and now, go, lead the people whithersoever I have spoken to thee of; lo, My messenger goeth before thee, and in the day of my charging -- then I have charged upon them their sin.'

³⁵ And Jehovah plagueth the people, because they made the calf which Aaron made.