1 ¶ And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed; take all the people of war with thee 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.

The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid. Take all the men of war with you and go up to Ai. See, I have given the king of Ai into your hand, his people, his city, and his land.

2 A nd thou shalt do to Ai and her king as thou didst unto Jericho and her king; only the spoil thereof and the cattle thereof, ye shall take for yourselves. Lay thee an ambush for the city behind it.

Do the same to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Take only its riches and its cattle for yourselves. Hide men behind the city to fight against it.”

3 ¶ So Joshua arose and all the people of war, to go up against Ai; and Joshua chose out thirty thousand mighty men of valour and sent them away by night.

So Joshua and all the men of war got ready to go up to Ai. Joshua chose 30, 000 strong soldiers, and sent them out during the night.

4 A nd he commanded them, saying, Behold, ye shall lie in wait against the city, even behind the city; do not go very far from the city, but all of you be ready.

He told them, “See, you are going to fight the city from behind it. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you be ready.

5 A nd I and all the people that are with me, will approach the city; and when they come out against us, as at the first, we will flee before them

I and all the people will come near the city. When they come out to meet us as they did before, we will run from them.

6 ( for they will come out after us) until we have raptured them out of the city; for they will say, They flee before us as at the first. Therefore, we will flee before them.

They will come out after us until we have taken them away from the city. For they will say, ‘They are running from us as they did before.’ So we will run from them.

7 T hen ye shall rise up from the ambush and take possession of the city; for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand.

Then you will come out of your hiding place and take the city. The Lord will give it to you.

8 A nd when ye have taken the city, ye shall set the city on fire. Ye shall do according to the word of the LORD. See, I have commanded you.

When you have taken the city, set it on fire. Do what the Lord says. See, I have told you.”

9 T hen Joshua sent them forth, and they went to lie in ambush and abode between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai; and Joshua lodged that night in the midst of the people.

When Joshua sent them away, they went to the hiding place. They waited between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai. But Joshua stayed that night among the people.

10 A nd Joshua rose up early in the morning and numbered the people and went up he and the elders of Israel, before the people against Ai.

Joshua got up early in the morning and gathered the people. Then he went up with the leaders of Israel in front of the people to Ai.

11 A nd all the people of war that were with him, went up, and drew near and came before the city and pitched camp on the north side of Ai; now there was a valley between them and Ai.

All the men of war who were with him went up and came to the front of the city. They stayed on the north side of Ai. There was a valley between him and Ai.

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

Then he took about 5, 000 men and hid them between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.

13 A nd the people, all the camp that was on the side of the north came near to the city, and their ambush on the west of the city. And Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley.

So they put the men in their places. There was the army on the north side of the city, and the secret army on the west side of the city. But Joshua stayed that night in the center of the valley.

14 W hen the king of Ai saw it, he rose up early in the morning and made haste with the men of the city to go out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at a time appointed, before the plain; but he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city.

The king of Ai saw this. So the men of the city were quick to get up early and go out to meet Israel in battle at the chosen place near the desert plain. But he did not know that there was an army hiding behind the city.

15 T hen Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them and fled by the way of the wilderness.

Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten in front of them. And they ran away into the desert.

16 A nd all the people that were in Ai were called together to pursue after them; and they pursued after Joshua and were raptured from the city.

All the people in the city were called together to go after them. They went after Joshua, and were taken away from the city.

17 A nd there was not a man left in Ai or Bethel that did not go out after Israel; and because they pursued after Israel, they left the city open.

So not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who had not gone out after Israel. They left the city open and ran after Israel.

18 T hen the LORD said unto Joshua, Stretch out the spear that is in thy hand toward Ai; for I will give it into thy hand. And Joshua stretched out the spear that he had in his hand toward the city.

Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Hold out the spear that is in your hand toward Ai. For I will give the city to you.” So Joshua held out the spear that was in his hand toward the city.

19 A nd those of the ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand; and they entered into the city and took it and made haste to set the city on fire.

The men who were hiding got up in a hurry from their place and ran when he held out his hand. They went into the city and took it, and were quick to set it on fire.

20 A nd when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and, behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that way; and the people that were fleeing into the wilderness turned back upon their pursuers.

When the men of Ai looked back, they saw the smoke of the city going up to the sky. They had no place to run. Then the people of Israel who had been running away in the desert turned against those who went after them.

21 T hen Joshua and all Israel, seeing that those of the ambush had taken the city and that the smoke of the city ascended, they turned and slew the men of Ai.

Joshua and all Israel saw that the men who had been hiding had taken the city. They saw the smoke from the city, so they turned around and killed the men of Ai.

22 A nd the others issued 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 so that they let none of them remain or escape.

The others came out from the city to meet them. The men of Ai were caught in the center of Israel. There were some on one side and some on the other side. They killed until no one was left alive. No one got away.

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

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

24 A nd when Israel had finished slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness in which they chased them, and when they were all fallen on the edge of the sword until they were consumed, all the Israelites returned unto Ai and smote it with the edge of the sword.

Israel killed all the men of Ai in the field and in the desert where they had run after them. All of them were killed with the sword until they were destroyed. Then all Israel returned to Ai and destroyed it with the sword.

25 A nd so it was that all that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai.

All the men and women of Ai died that day, 12, 000 in all.

26 F or Joshua did not draw back his hand with which he stretched out the spear until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.

Joshua did not put down his hand he used to hold out the spear until he had destroyed all the people of Ai.

27 B ut the Israelites took the beasts and the spoil of the city for themselves, according unto the word of the LORD which he had commanded Joshua.

Israel took only the cattle and the riches of that city for themselves, as the Lord had told Joshua.

28 A nd Joshua burnt Ai, and made it a perpetual heap, desolate unto this day.

So Joshua burned Ai and destroyed it forever, as it is to this day.

29 A nd he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening, and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcase down from the tree and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city and raise a great heap of stones upon it, that remains unto this day.

He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening. When the sun went down, Joshua had them take his body down from the tree and throw it down at the gate of the city. They put many stones over it, and they are there to this day.

30 ¶ Then Joshua built an altar unto the LORD God of Israel in Mount Ebal,

Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, at Mount Ebal.

31 a s Moses, the slave, of the LORD 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 no one lifted up any iron tool; and they offered burnt offerings upon it unto the LORD and sacrificed peace offerings.

It was built just as the Lord’s servant Moses had told the people of Israel, as it is written in the book of the Law of Moses. It was an altar made of stones which had not been cut. No one had used an iron object on them. On the altar they gave burnt gifts in worship to the Lord. And there they gave peace gifts in worship.

32 H e also wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written in the presence of the sons of Israel.

There Joshua wrote on the stones the Law of Moses in front of the people of Israel.

33 A nd all Israel and their elders and officers and their judges stood on one side and on the other near the ark, before the priests the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, the strangers, as well as the natural born among them, half of them over against Mount Gerizim and half of them over against Mount Ebal, as Moses, the slave of the LORD, had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel.

All Israel stood on both sides of the special box, in front of the Levite religious leaders who carried the special box of the agreement of the Lord. Strangers stood there as well as those born among the people, with their leaders and heads and men who judge between what is right or wrong. Half of them stood in front of Mount Gerizim. The other half stood in front of Mount Ebal. They did just as the Lord’s servant Moses had told them before. They prayed for good to come to the people of Israel.

34 A fter this he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law.

After this Joshua read all the words of the Law, the good and the bad that will happen. He read all that is written in the book of the Law.

35 T here was not a word of all the things that Moses commanded which Joshua did not read before all the congregation of Israel with the women and the little ones and the strangers that walked among them.

There was not a word of all that Moses had said which Joshua did not read. He read it in front of all the people of Israel, with the women and children and strangers who were living among them.