Jos 8 | ABEn | STEP | And the lord said to Joshua, You should not fear, nor should you be timid. Take with you all the men, the ones making war, and rising up ascend unto Ai! Behold, I give into your hands the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land.

‏ Joshua 8

CHAPTER 8 Ambush at Ai

1 And the lord said to Joshua, You should not fear, nor should you be timid. Take with you all the men, the ones making war, and rising up ascend unto Ai! Behold, I give into your hands the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land. 2 And you shall do to Ai, and to her king in which manner you did to Jericho and to her king. And her spoils and her cattle you shall despoil for yourself. But place for yourself an ambush for the city to the rear of her. 3 And Joshua rose up, and all the people, the warriors, so as to ascend to Ai. [³chose ¹And ²Joshua] thirty thousand men, mighty in strength, and sent them by night. 4 And he gave charge to them, saying, See that you lie in wait the city, behind the city greatly! and you shall all be prepared. 5 And I, and all the ones with me, will lead forward to the city. And it will be as whenever [⁴should come forth ¹the ones ²dwelling ³in Ai] to meet you, just as also the day before, and we fled from their face, 6 that whenever they should come forth after us, we shall draw them away from the city. And they will say, They flee from our face in which manner before; and we shall flee from them. 7 And you shall rise up from the ambush, and you shall go into the city, and you shall obliterate the city, and [³shall give ⁴it ¹the lord ²our God] into our hands. 8 And it will be when ever you should seize the city, burn it by fire! According to this matter you shall act. Behold, I have given charge to you. 9 And [²sent ³them ¹Joshua], and they went to the ambush, and sat in place between Beth-el and between Ai, from the west of Ai. And Joshua lodged that night in the midst of the people. 10 And Joshua rising early in the morning, numbered the people. And they ascended, he and the elders of Israel, before the face of the people, against Ai. 11 And all the people, the warrior, the one with him, ascended. And going, they came right opposite the city from the east. And the ambushes of the city were from the west. And they encamped from north of Ai. And the valley was between it and Ai 12 And he took about five thousand men, and he stationed them in ambush between Beth-el and Ai, west of Ai. 13 And he arranged [²the ³people ¹all] of the camp, which was from north of the city, the ends of it west of the city. And Joshua went that night in the midst of the valley. 14 And it happened as [⁴beheld ¹the ²king ³of Ai], that he hastened and rose early. And there went forth the men of the city to meet them straight on into the battle, he and all his people at the opportune time, in front of the Araba. And he did not know that an ambush against him is behind the city. 15 And [⁵beheld ⁶and ⁷withdrew ¹Joshua ²and ³all ⁴Israel] from in front of them. 16 And the people fled by the way of the wilderness, and [⁵grew in strength ¹all ²the ³people ⁴of Ai] to pursue after them of the sons of Israel. And they departed from the city. 17 They did not leave behind any one in Ai and in Beth-el who did not pursue after Israel. And they left the city being open, and they pursued after Israel. 18 And the lord said to Joshua, Stretch out your hand with the javelin, the one in your hand, against the city, for into your hands I gave it. And the ones in ambush shall rise up quickly from out of their place. 19 And Joshua stretched the javelin and his hand against the city, and the ones in ambush rose up quickly from out of their place. And they went forth when he stretched out the hand. And they entered into the city, and overtook it. And hastening they burned the city in fire. 20 And [⁴looking about ¹the ²inhabitants ³of Ai] unto the rear of them, and they viewed the smoke of the city ascending into the heaven; and no longer had they anywhere to flee here on this side or here on that side. And the people fleeing into the wilderness turned upon the ones pursuing. 21 And Joshua and all Israel beheld that [³took ¹the ²ones in ambush] the city, and that [⁵ascended ¹the ²smoke ³of the ⁴city] into the heaven; and turning they struck the men of Ai. 22 And these came forth from the city to meet them. And they came in the midst of the camp, some of these here and some of these here. And they struck them until there was not one being left behind of them being delivered and escaping. 23 And the king of Ai was seized alive, and they led him to Joshua. 24 And it happened as [⁴ceased ¹the ²sons ³of Israel] killing all the ones in Ai, and in the plains, and in the mountain upon the descent of which they pursued them, that all fell by the mouth of the broadsword, by it unto completion. And Joshua returned to Ai, and struck it by the mouth of the broadsword. 25 And it came to pass that all the ones falling in that day, from man and unto woman -- twelve thousand, all the ones dwelling in Ai. 26 And Joshua returned not his hand which he stretched out by the javelin until he devoted to consumption the whole of the ones dwelling Ai. 27 Except the cattle and the spoils in that city [⁴despoiled ⁵for themselves ¹the ²sons ³of Israel] according to the order of the lord, in which manner the lord gave orders to Joshua. 28 And Joshua burned the city by fire, and he established it for an embankment into the eon, uninhabited until this day. 29 And the king of Ai he hung upon [²tree ¹a twin]. And he was upon the tree until the time of the evening. And at the setting of the sun Joshua gave orders, and they lowered his body from the tree, and they tossed him into the cesspool before the gate of the city, and set over him [²heap ³of stones ¹a large] until this day. 30 Then Joshua built an altar to the lord God of Israel on mount Ebal, 31 as [⁵gave charge ¹Moses ²the ³attendant ⁴of the lord] to the sons of Israel, as it is written in the law of Moses, An altar [²stone ¹entirely], upon which [²was not ³put ⁴upon ⁵it ¹an iron tool]. And he transported there whole burnt-offerings to the lord, and a sacrifice of deliverance.

Joshua Writes the Second Copy of the Law

32 And Joshua wrote upon the stones the second book of the law, the law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the sons of Israel. 33 And all Israel, and their elders, and their magistrates, and their scribes, were coming near on this side and that side [²the ³ark ¹before]; and the priests and the Levites lifted the ark of the covenant of the lord; and the foreigner and the native born were there; the halves of them neighboring mount Gerizim, and the halves neighboring mount Ebal, as [⁵gave charge ¹Moses ²the ³attendant ⁴of the lord ⁸to bless ⁹the ¹⁰people ¹¹Israel ⁶at ⁷first]. 34 And after these things Joshua read the whole sayings of this law, the blessings and the curses, according to all the things being written in the law of Moses. 35 There was not a word from all which Moses gave charge to Joshua, which [²did not ³read ¹Joshua] into the ears of all the assembly of Israel, to the men, and to the women, and to the servants, and to the foreigners going with Israel.