Joshua 8

Modern

Literal

The Conquest of Ai

¹Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. See, I have delivered into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land.

¹And YHWH said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid, and do not be dismayed. Take with you all the people of war and arise, go up to Ai. Behold, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land.

²And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set up an ambush behind the city.”

²And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and to its king; only its spoil and its cattle you shall take as plunder for yourselves. Set up to you an ambush for the city behind it.”

³So Joshua and the whole army set out to attack Ai. Joshua chose 30,000 mighty men of valor and sent them out at night

³And Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai, and Joshua chose thirty thousand mighty men of valor, and sent them away by night.

⁴with these orders: “Pay attention. You are to lie in ambush behind the city, not too far from it. All of you must be ready.

⁴And he commanded them, saying, “Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, from behind the city. Do not go very far from the city, and all of you be ready.

⁵Then I and all the troops with me will advance on the city. When they come out against us as they did the first time, we will flee from them.

⁵And I and all the people who are with me will approach unto the city. And it shall come to pass, when they come out against us as at the first, that we shall flee before their faces.

⁶They will pursue us until we have drawn them away from the city, for they will say, ‘The Israelites are running away from us as they did before.’ So as we flee from them,

⁶And they will come out after us until we have drawn them from the city, for they will say, ‘They are fleeing before our faces as at the first.’ And we will flee before their faces,

⁷you are to rise from the ambush and seize the city, for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand.

⁷and you shall rise from the ambush and seize the city, for YHWH your God will deliver it into your hands.

⁸And when you have taken the city, set it on fire. Do as the LORD has commanded! See, I have given you orders.”

⁸And it shall come to pass, when you have taken the city, that you shall set the city on fire. According to the commandment of YHWH you shall do. See, I have commanded you.”

⁹So Joshua sent them out, and they went to the place of ambush and lay in wait between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. But Joshua spent that night among the people.

⁹And Joshua sent them out, and they went to the ambush, and stayed between Bethel and between Ai, on the west side of Ai. And Joshua lodged that night in the midst of the people.

¹⁰Joshua got up early the next morning and mobilized his men, and he and the elders of Israel marched before them up to Ai.

¹⁰And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and mustered the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the face of the people to Ai.

¹¹Then all the troops who were with him marched up and approached the city. They arrived in front of Ai and camped to the north of it, with the valley between them and the city.

¹¹And all the people of war who were with him went up, and drew near, and they came before the city and camped on the north side of Ai, and the valley was between them and between Ai.

¹²Now Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set up an ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.

¹²And he took about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Bethel and between Ai, on the west side of the city.

¹³So the forces were stationed with the main camp to the north of the city and the rear guard to the west of the city. And that night Joshua went into the valley.

¹³And they had set the people, all the army that was on the north of the city, and its rear guard on the west of the city, and Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley.

¹⁴When the king of Ai saw the Israelites, he hurried out early in the morning with the men of the city to engage them in battle at an appointed place overlooking the Arabah. But he did not know that an ambush had been set up against him behind the city.

¹⁴And it came to pass, when the king of Ai saw it, that they hurried and rose early and went out—the men of the city—against Israel into battle, he and all his people, at an appointed place before the face of the plain. And he did not know that an ambush was against him behind the city.

¹⁵Joshua and all Israel let themselves be beaten back before them, and they fled toward the wilderness.

¹⁵And Joshua and all Israel were struck before their faces, and they fled by the way of the wilderness.

¹⁶Then all the men of Ai were summoned to pursue them, and they followed Joshua and were drawn away from the city.

¹⁶And all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue after them, and they pursued after Joshua, and they were drawn away from the city.

¹⁷Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel, leaving the city wide open while they pursued Israel.

¹⁷And there was left not a man in Ai and Bethel who did not go out after Israel. And they left the city open and pursued after Israel.

¹⁸Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Hold out your battle lance^a toward Ai, for into your hand I will deliver the city.” So Joshua held out his battle lance toward Ai,

¹⁸And YHWH said to Joshua, “Stretch out the battle lance that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out the battle lance that was in his hand toward the city.

¹⁹and as soon as he did so, the men in ambush rose quickly from their position. They rushed forward, entered the city, captured it, and immediately set it on fire.

¹⁹And the ambush arose quickly out of its place, and they ran at the stretching out of his hand, and they entered the city and took it, and they hurried and burned the city with the fire.

²⁰When the men of Ai turned and looked back, the smoke of the city was rising into the sky. They could not escape in any direction, and the troops who had fled to the wilderness now turned against their pursuers.

²⁰And the men of Ai looked behind them, and they saw, and behold, the smoke of the city ascended to the heavens. And there was not power in them to flee here or there, and the people who had fled to the wilderness turned back on the pursuers.

²¹When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that smoke was rising from it, they turned around and struck down the men of Ai.

²¹And Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city ascended, and they turned back and struck down the men of Ai.

²²Meanwhile, those in the ambush came out of the city against them, and the men of Ai were trapped between the Israelite forces on both sides. So Israel struck them down until no survivor or fugitive remained.

²²And these came out of the city to meet them, and they were in the midst of Israel, these from this side and these from this side, and they struck them down until he left to him no survivor or escapee.

²³But they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.

²³And the king of Ai they took alive, and they brought him to Joshua.

²⁴When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai who had pursued them into the field and wilderness, and when every last one of them had fallen by the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and put it to the sword as well.

²⁴And it came to pass, when Israel had made an end of slaying all those dwelling in Ai in the field, in the wilderness where they pursued them, and they had fallen (all of them by the edge of the sword until they were consumed), that all Israel returned to Ai and struck it with the mouth of the sword.

²⁵A total of twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai.

²⁵And all who fell that day, from man and to woman, were two and ten thousand—all the men of Ai.

²⁶Joshua did not draw back the hand that held his battle lance until he had devoted to destruction^a all who lived in Ai.

²⁶For Joshua did not draw back his hand with which he stretched out the battle lance until that he had devoted to destruction all those dwelling in Ai.

²⁷Israel took for themselves only the cattle and plunder of that city, as the LORD had commanded Joshua.

²⁷Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel plundered for themselves, according to the word of YHWH that He had commanded Joshua.

²⁸So Joshua burned Ai^a and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolation to this day.

²⁸And Joshua burned Ai and made it a heap forever, a desolation to this day.

²⁹He hung the king of Ai on a tree^a until evening, and at sunset Joshua commanded that they take down the body from the tree and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And over it they raised a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day.

²⁹And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until the time of the evening; and at the going in of the sun, Joshua commanded that they should take down his corpse from the tree and cast it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raise over it a great heap of stones to this day.

Joshua Renews the Covenant

³⁰At that time Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal to the LORD, the God of Israel,

³⁰Then Joshua built an altar to YHWH, God of Israel, on Mount Ebal,

³¹just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses: “an altar of uncut stones on which no iron tool has been used.”^a And on it they offered burnt offerings to the LORD, and they sacrificed peace offerings.

³¹as Moses the servant of YHWH had 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 has not wielded iron.” And they offered on it burnt offerings to YHWH, and they sacrificed peace offerings.

³²And there in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua inscribed on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written.

³²And he wrote there on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written before the faces of the sons of Israel.

³³All Israel, foreigners and citizens alike, with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the LORD facing the Levitical priests who carried it. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded earlier, to bless the people of Israel.

³³And all Israel, and its elders, and its officers, and its judges, stood on this side and on this side of the ark before the priests, the Levites who bore the ark of the covenant of YHWH, as the sojourner as the native. Half of them were toward the front of Mount Gerizim, and half of them toward the front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of YHWH had commanded, that they should bless the people of Israel at the first.

³⁴Afterward, Joshua read aloud all the words of the law—the blessings and the curses—according to all that is written in the Book of the Law.

³⁴And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and the cursings, according to all written in the Book of the Law.

³⁵There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua failed to read before the whole assembly of Israel, including the women, the little ones, and the foreigners who lived among them.

³⁵There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourner who was living among them.