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.

Now the Lord said to Joshua: “Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; take all the people of war with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, 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 you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its cattle you shall take as booty for yourselves. Lay 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 against Ai; and Joshua chose thirty thousand mighty men of valor and sent them away 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, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind the city. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you be 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.

Then I and all the people who are with me will approach the city; and it will come about, when they come out against us as at the first, that we shall 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.

For they will come out after us till we have drawn them from the city, for they will say, ‘ They are fleeing before us as at the first.’ Therefore 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.

Then you shall rise from the ambush and seize the city, for the Lord 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 will be, when you have taken the city, that you shall set the city on fire. According to the commandment of the Lord you shall 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.

Joshua therefore sent them out; and they went to lie in ambush, and stayed between Bethel 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.

Then Joshua rose 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 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. Now a valley lay between them 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.

So he took about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel 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.

And when 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, 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.

Now it happened, when the king of Ai saw it, that the men of the city hurried and rose early and went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at an appointed place before the plain. But he did not know 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.

So all the people who were in Ai were called together to pursue them. And they pursued 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.

There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. So they left the city open and pursued 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.

Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Stretch out the spear that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out the spear 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.

So those in ambush arose quickly out of their place; they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand, and they entered the city and took it, and hurried to 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 to heaven. So they had no power to flee this way or that way, and the people who had fled to the wilderness turned back on 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.

Now when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that the smoke of the city ascended, they turned back and struck down 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.

Then the others came out of the city against them; so they were caught in the midst of Israel, some on this side and some on that side. And they struck them down, 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.

But 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 where they pursued them, and when they all had fallen by the edge of the sword until they were consumed, that all the Israelites returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword.

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

So it was that all who fell that day, both men and women, were twelve thousand—all the people 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 did not draw back his hand, with which he stretched out the spear, 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 livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as booty for themselves, according to the word of the Lord which He had commanded Joshua.

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

So Joshua burned Ai and made it a heap forever, a desolation to 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 evening. And as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his corpse down from the tree, cast it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raise over it a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Joshua Renews the Covenant

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

Now Joshua built an altar to the Lord 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 the Lord had commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses: “an altar of whole stones over which no man has wielded an iron tool. ” And they offered on it burnt offerings to the Lord, and sacrificed peace offerings.

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

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

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.

Then all Israel, with their elders and officers and judges, stood on either side of the ark before the priests, the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, the stranger as well as he who was born among them. Half of them were in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded before, 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 blessings and the cursings, 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 had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, with the women, the little ones, and the strangers who were living among them.