Josué 8
Dios Habla Hoy
Los israelitas toman la ciudad de Ai
8 El Señor le dijo a Josué: «No tengas miedo ni te desanimes. Toma a todo tu ejército y ponte en marcha contra la ciudad de Ai, pues yo te daré la victoria sobre el rey de Ai y su gente. Su ciudad y sus territorios serán tuyos, 2 y tú harás con Ai y su rey lo mismo que hiciste con Jericó y su rey, aunque en este caso podrán ustedes quedarse con las cosas y los animales de los vencidos. Prepara un ataque por sorpresa, por la parte de atrás de la ciudad.»
3 Josué se preparó con todo su ejército para marchar contra Ai. Escogió treinta mil guerreros, a los cuales envió de noche 4 con esta orden: «Oigan bien: vayan por la parte de atrás de la ciudad, escóndanse cerca de ella y manténganse listos para atacar. 5 El resto de la gente se acercará conmigo a la ciudad, y cuando los de la ciudad salgan a atacarnos, nosotros huiremos de ellos, como la vez pasada. 6 Ellos nos perseguirán cuando huyamos de la ciudad, pues pensarán que otra vez nos han puesto en fuga. 7 Entonces ustedes saldrán de su escondite y tomarán la ciudad, pues el Señor su Dios se la va a entregar. 8 Una vez que la hayan tomado, quémenla, tal como el Señor lo ha dicho. Es una orden.»
9 Entonces Josué les dio la orden de partir, y ellos fueron y se escondieron entre Betel y Ai, al oeste de Ai, mientras que Josué pasó la noche en el campamento. 10 Al día siguiente, Josué se levantó muy temprano y pasó revista a su gente. Luego se puso al frente de ellos, junto con los ancianos de Israel, y se dispuso a atacar Ai. 11 Todos sus hombres se acercaron a la ciudad por la parte de delante, y acamparon al norte de ella, teniendo el valle entre ellos y la ciudad. 12 Josué escondió unos cinco mil hombres entre Betel y Ai, al oeste de la ciudad, 13 de modo que el ejército quedó repartido en dos grupos, uno escondido al oeste de la ciudad, y el otro en el campamento, al norte. Josué se adelantó aquella noche hasta la mitad del valle.
14 Cuando el rey de Ai vio la situación, se dio prisa y salió con todo su ejército para luchar contra los israelitas en el valle del Jordán, sin saber que otros israelitas estaban escondidos detrás de la ciudad. 15 Josué y sus hombres fingieron ponerse en fuga, y huyeron de los de Ai por el camino del desierto. 16 Entonces todo el ejército de Ai recibió órdenes de perseguirlos, y al perseguir a Josué se alejaron de la ciudad. 17 No hubo un solo hombre de Ai ni de Betel que no saliera a perseguir a los israelitas; pero en sus ansias por perseguirlos dejaron indefensa la ciudad. 18 Entonces el Señor le dijo a Josué: «Da ya la señal de atacar la ciudad de Ai, que yo te la voy a entregar.»
Josué dio la señal, ordenando el ataque. 19 Entonces los que estaban escondidos salieron rápidamente de su escondite, se lanzaron contra la ciudad y la tomaron, prendiéndole fuego en seguida.
20 Cuando los hombres de Ai volvieron atrás la mirada, vieron que el humo de su ciudad subía hasta el cielo. No tenían escape por ningún lado, porque los israelitas que antes huían hacia el desierto, ahora se lanzaban al ataque. 21 En efecto, al ver Josué y todos los israelitas que los que se habían escondido habían tomado ya la ciudad, y que le habían prendido fuego, se volvieron y atacaron a los de Ai. 22 Luego, los que habían tomado la ciudad salieron de ella, de modo que los de Ai quedaron atrapados entre las dos fuerzas israelitas, las cuales atacaron a los de Ai hasta matarlos a todos. 23 Sólo dejaron con vida al rey de Ai, al cual capturaron y llevaron ante Josué.
24 Después de matar a filo de espada a todos los de Ai que habían salido a perseguirlos, los israelitas regresaron a Ai y mataron a los que quedaban. 25 Aquel día murieron los doce mil habitantes de Ai, hombres y mujeres, 26 pues Josué mantuvo la orden de atacar la ciudad hasta que los destruyeron a todos por completo. 27 Los israelitas se quedaron con los animales y las cosas que había en la ciudad, como el Señor le había dicho a Josué, 28 y Josué quemó Ai y la dejó en ruinas para siempre, tal como se ve todavía. 29 Al rey de Ai lo colgó Josué de un árbol hasta el atardecer, y cuando el sol se puso, mandó que lo bajaran y echaran su cadáver a la entrada de la ciudad, y que amontonaran piedras encima de él. El montón de piedras está allí todavía.
Josué lee la ley en el monte Ebal
30 Entonces Josué construyó en el monte Ebal un altar al Señor, el Dios de Israel, 31 tal como Moisés, el siervo del Señor, se lo había ordenado a los israelitas, y conforme a lo que está escrito en el libro de la ley de Moisés: «Un altar de piedras sin labrar.» Entonces los israelitas ofrecieron holocaustos sobre el altar, y presentaron sacrificios de reconciliación. 32 Luego, en presencia de los israelitas, Josué grabó en las piedras del altar la ley que Moisés les había dado. 33 Entonces todo el pueblo, tanto los descendientes de Israel como los extranjeros, y todos los ancianos, oficiales y jueces, se pusieron a los lados del arca de la alianza del Señor, frente a los sacerdotes levitas que la llevaban en hombros. Para la bendición del pueblo de Israel, la mitad de ellos estaba del lado del monte Guerizim, y la otra mitad del lado del monte Ebal, tal como lo había ordenado desde el principio Moisés, el siervo del Señor.
34 Después Josué leyó cada una de las palabras del libro de la ley, tanto las bendiciones como las maldiciones. 35 No hubo una sola palabra de todo lo que Moisés había mandado, que no leyera Josué ante toda la comunidad de Israel, incluyendo a las mujeres y niños, y aun a los extranjeros que vivían entre ellos.
Joshua 8
EasyEnglish Bible
The Israelites destroy Ai
8 Then the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Do not be afraid. Continue to be brave! Take the whole army with you and go to attack Ai. This time, I will give the king and all his people to you. I will also give to you the city and its land. 2 You must destroy the city and its king as you destroyed Jericho and its king. But this time you may take their valuable things and their animals for yourselves. Hide some of your men behind the city, so that they are ready to attack.’
3 So Joshua and the whole army marched towards Ai. Joshua chose 30,000 of the best soldiers and he sent some of them out at night time. 4 He said to them, ‘Listen carefully. Go and hide behind the city. Stay near to it. Be ready to attack! 5 In the morning, I will march towards the city with our other soldiers. When we get near to the city, the enemy's men will come out of the city to fight against us, as they did before. Then we will turn round and we will run away. 6 They will chase us away from the city. They will say, “The Israelites are running away from us, as they did before.” We will continue to run away from them. 7 Then you must leave the place where you have hidden. Go into the city and take it. The Lord your God will give it to you. 8 When you have taken the city, start to burn it. Do what the Lord has told you to do. Be sure that you obey my commands.’
9 Then Joshua sent the men away. They went and they hid on the west side of Ai, between Bethel and Ai. But Joshua stayed with his other soldiers that night.
10 Early the next morning, Joshua took the army to march towards Ai. He and the leaders of Israel marched in front. 11 The soldiers who were with Joshua marched up to the city. They stopped in front of it, on the north side. They put up their tents there, where there was a valley between them and the city. 12 Joshua had already sent about 5,000 men to hide on the west side of the city, between Bethel and Ai. 13 The whole Israelite army was ready to fight. Most of them were with their tents on the north side of the city. The other soldiers were hiding on the west side of the city. That night Joshua went down into the valley.
14 The king of Ai saw that Israel's army had arrived. Early the next morning, the king and his army hurried out of the city. They wanted to fight against Israel's army at the same place as before, on the hill near the Jordan Valley. But the king of Ai did not know that some Israelite soldiers were hiding behind the city. 15 Joshua and his army let the men of Ai chase after them. They pretended to be afraid. They ran towards the desert. 16 The king told all the men who remained in the city to chase the Israelites. So they continued to chase after them, far away from their city. 17 No men remained in Ai or Bethel. They all chased after the Israelites. There was nobody left to keep the city safe.
18 Then the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Hold out the spear that is in your hand. Point it towards Ai. I am now giving the city to you.’
So Joshua held out his spear towards Ai.
19 As soon as he did this, the men who were hiding behind the city came out quickly. They ran into the city and they took it. Immediately, they used fire to burn it. 20 The men of Ai looked behind them and they saw smoke in the sky above the city. But they could do nothing to escape. The Israelites who had been running away from them now turned round to fight them. 21 Joshua and his army also saw the smoke. They knew that the other group of soldiers had taken the city. So they turned round and began to attack the men of Ai. 22 Now the Israelites who had gone into the city also came out to fight. So the men of Ai were in between the two groups of Israelite soldiers. The Israelites killed all the men of Ai. 23 Only the king of Ai was still alive. They caught him and they took him to Joshua.
24 The Israelites killed all the men who had lived in Ai. They killed them when they chased them towards the desert. Then the Israelite soldiers went back to Ai and they killed everyone there. 25 All the people of Ai died on that day. That was 12,000 men and women. 26 Joshua continued to point his spear at Ai, until his army had killed every person who lived there. 27 But the Israelites took the valuable things and the animals for themselves. That was what the Lord had told Joshua. 28 Joshua burned the city and he broke down its walls. It is still like that today. 29 He hanged the king of Ai on a tree. He left his body there until evening. At sunset, Joshua told his men to cut the body down. They threw it on the ground outside the city's gate. They covered it with a heap of stones. Those stones are still there today.
Joshua reads God's law to the people
30 Then Joshua built an altar on Ebal mountain, to worship the Lord, Israel's God. 31 He built it as the Lord's servant, Moses, had told the Israelites to do. Moses had written this on the scroll of God's laws. The law said, ‘You must build an altar with whole stones that you have not cut. Do not use any iron tools on them.’[a] They made burnt offerings on the altar to worship the Lord. They also made sacrifices as friendship offerings. 32 The Israelites watched Joshua as he made a copy of God's Law on the stones. This was the Law that Moses had written. 33 All the Israelites stood on each side of the Covenant Box, with their faces towards the priests who carried it. The leaders, officers, and judges were there, as well as foreign people who lived with the Israelites. Half the people stood with their backs to Mount Gerizim. The other half stood with their backs to Mount Ebal. Moses had told them to stand like that when the Lord wanted to bless them.[b] 34 Then Joshua read the whole Law aloud to them. He read the blessings and the curses, as they are written on the scroll of the Law. 35 Joshua read aloud every command that Moses had written. He read it to all the Israelite people. The women, children and the foreign people who lived with them also listened.[c]
Footnotes
- 8:31 See Deuteronomy 27:5-6.
- 8:33 See Deuteronomy 11:29.
- 8:35 God had punished the people of Israel because they did not obey him at Ai. They were very careful to do just what God had told them after that. They were very happy when God helped them to win the fight. When Joshua read the Law to them, they listened with great care.
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