Joshua 8
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.
