“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: 2 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: lay thee an ambush for the
city behind 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. 4 And he commanded them, saying, Behold, ye shall lie in
wait against the city, [even] behind the city: go not very far from the
city, but be ye all ready: 5 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
(For they will come out after us) till we have drawn them from the city;
for they will say, They flee before us, as at the first: therefore we
will flee before them. 7 Then ye shall rise up from the ambush, and
seize upon the city: for the LORD your God will deliver it into your
hand. 8 And it shall be, when ye have taken the city, [that] ye shall
set the city on fire: according to the commandment of the LORD shall ye
do. See, I have commanded you. 9 Joshua therefore sent them forth: and
they went to lie in ambush, and abode between Bethel and Ai, on the west
side of Ai: but Joshua lodged that night among the people. 10 And Joshua
rose up early in the morning, and numbered the people, and went up, he
and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. 11 And all the
people, [even the people] of war that [were] with him, went up, and drew
nigh, and came before the city, and pitched on the north side of Ai: now
[there was] a valley between them and Ai. 12 And he took about five
thousand men, and set them to lie in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on
the west side of the city. 13 And when they had set the people, [even]
all the host that [was] on the north of the city, and their liers in
wait on the west of the city, Joshua went that night into the midst of
the valley. 14 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 a time appointed, before the
plain; but he wist not that [there were] liers in ambush against him
behind the city. 15 And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were
beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness. 16 And all
the people that [were] in Ai were called together to pursue after them:
and they pursued after Joshua, and were drawn away from the city. 17 And
there was not a man left in Ai or Bethel, that went not out after
Israel: and they left the city open, and pursued after Israel. 18 And
the LORD said unto Joshua, Stretch out the spear that [is] in thy hand
toward Ai; for I will give it into thine hand. And Joshua stretched out
the spear that [he had] in his hand toward the city. 19 And 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
hasted and set the city on fire. 20 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 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 And the other 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.”
“23 And the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua. 24
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 chased
them, and when they were all fallen on the edge of the sword, until they
were consumed, that all the Israelites returned unto Ai, and smote it
with the edge of the sword. 25 And [so] it was, [that] all that fell
that day, both of men and women, [were] twelve thousand, [even] all the
men of Ai. 26 For Joshua drew not his hand back, wherewith he stretched
out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.
27 Only the cattle and the spoil of that city Israel took for a prey
unto themselves, according unto the word of the LORD which he commanded
Joshua. 28 And Joshua burnt Ai, and made it an heap for ever, [even] a
desolation unto this day. 29 And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree
until eventide: 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 thereon a great heap of
stones, [that remaineth] unto this day.”
“30 Then Joshua built an altar unto the LORD God of Israel in mount
Ebal, 31 As Moses the servant of the LORD 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 hath lift up [any] iron: and they
offered thereon burnt offerings unto the LORD, and sacrificed peace
offerings. 32 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 And
all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on
this side the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, which
bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, as well the stranger, as he
that was born among them; half of them over against mount Gerizim, and
half of them over against mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the LORD
had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel. 34
And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and
cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law. 35
There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not
before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little
ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them.” (Joshua 8:1-35
AV)
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