1 T he 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.

And Jehovah 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;

2 D o 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.”

And thou shalt do to Ai and her king as thou didst unto Jericho and her king: only the spoil thereof, and the cattle thereof, shall ye take for a prey unto yourselves: set thee an ambush for the city behind it.

3 S o 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.

So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up to Ai: and Joshua chose out thirty thousand men, the mighty men of valor, and sent them forth by night.

4 H e 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.

And he commanded them, saying, Behold, ye shall lie in ambush against the city, behind the city; go not very far from the city, but be ye all ready:

5 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.

and I, and all the people that 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 will flee before them;

6 T hey 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.

and they will come out after us, till we have drawn them away from the city; for they will say, They flee before us, as at the first: so we will flee before them;

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

and ye shall rise up from the ambush, and take possession of the city: for Jehovah your God will deliver it into your hand.

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

And it shall be, when ye have seized upon 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 W hen 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.

And Joshua sent them forth; and they went to the ambushment, and abode between Beth-el and Ai, on the west side of Ai: but Joshua lodged that night among the people.

10 J oshua 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.

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

11 A ll 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.

And all the people, even the men of war that were with him, went up, and drew nigh, and came before the city, and encamped on the north side of Ai: now there was a valley between him and Ai.

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

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

13 S o 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.

So they set the people, even all the host that was on the north of the city, and their liers-in-wait that were on the west of the city; and Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley.

14 T he 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.

And it came to pass, when the king of Ai saw it, that they hasted and rose up early, and the men of the city went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at the time appointed, before the Arabah; but he knew not that there was an ambush against him behind the city.

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

And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness.

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

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 S o 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.

And there was not a man left in Ai or Beth-el, that went not out after Israel: and they left the city open, and pursued after Israel.

18 T hen 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.

And Jehovah said unto 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 was in his hand toward the city.

19 T he 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.

And the ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand, and entered into the city, and took it; and they hasted and set the city on fire.

20 W hen 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.

And 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 fled to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers.

21 J oshua 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.

And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city ascended, then they turned again, and slew the men of Ai.

22 T he 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.

And the others came forth 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.

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

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

24 I srael 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.

And it came to pass, when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness wherein they pursued them, and they were all fallen by the edge of the sword, until they were consumed, that all Israel returned unto Ai, and smote it with the edge of the sword.

25 A ll the men and women of Ai died that day, 12, 000 in all.

And all that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai.

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

For Joshua drew not back his hand, wherewith he stretched out the javelin, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.

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

Only the cattle and the spoil of that city Israel took for prey unto themselves, according unto the word of Jehovah which he commanded Joshua.

28 S o Joshua burned Ai and destroyed it forever, as it is to this day.

So Joshua burnt Ai, and made it a heap for ever, even a desolation, unto this day.

29 H e 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.

And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until the eventide: and at the going down of the sun Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree, and cast it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raised thereon a great heap of stones, unto this day.

30 T hen Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, at Mount Ebal.

Then Joshua built an altar unto Jehovah, the God of Israel, in mount Ebal,

31 I t 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.

as Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of unhewn stones, upon which no man had lifted up any iron: and they offered thereon burnt-offerings unto Jehovah, and sacrificed peace-offerings.

32 T here Joshua wrote on the stones the Law of Moses in front of the people of Israel.

And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote, in the presence of the children of Israel.

33 A ll 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.

And all Israel, and their elders and officers, and their judges, stood on this side of the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, that bare the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, as well the sojourner as the homeborn; half of them in front of mount Gerizim, and half of them in front of mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of Jehovah had commanded at the first, that they should bless the people of Israel.

34 A fter 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.

And afterward 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 T here 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.

There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners that were among them.